Untold Knowledge (Doctor Who x Genius Fem! Oc) [Book 1]

Chapter 16: Rise of the Cybermen

"There are millions of people in this world, but in the end it all comes down to one. I still panic sometimes, forget to breathe; but I know that there's something beautiful in my imperfections: the beauty that he held up for me to see. The strength that I will never be able to say."
-- Kirsten Dunst as Nicole Oakley (Crazy/Beautiful)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She drew him toward her with her eyes alone, their faces naturally inclining in anticipation. Then, after far to long, they were finally connected. The moment their awaiting lips gently collided, their understanding of the universe shifted; subtly, massively, irreversibly. The Doctor was suddenly filled with euphoria and deep astonishment as she taught him how wise she was, how she ruled him, put him off the map of comprehension then lured him back. Breathing deeply, he felt as though he was once again just a boy astonished by the abundance of knowledge and things worth learning opening up before his very eyes. Neither of them could get enough, the world around them fading away into oblivion.

As they slowly parted, their eyes remained closed as he rested his forehead against hers. Massive smiles took hold of their expressions while they caught their breath.
"Well, you done done me in, you bet I felt it
I tried to be chill, but you're so hot that I melted
I fell right through the cracks
Now I'm trying to get back
Before the cool done run out
I'll be giving it my bestest
And nothing's gonna stop me but divine intervention
I reckon it's again my turn
To win some or learn some" 
As he softly sang to her, his heart felt as though it would burst with his deliriously powerful joy. Her adoring smile being all he needed.

Echo took his hands into her own again and began slow dancing with him as they both sang together. 
"But I won't hesitate no more, no more
It cannot wait, I'm yours"

Unbeknownst to the jovial couple, both Rose and Mickey had stopped skating to witness such an extraordinary development. He was smiling with happiness for them while Rose struggled to identify what exactly she was feeling. Sure, she had met him first and had become one of his closest mates first and was well aware of her friendzone status. She'd even had thoughts and yearnings of being involved with the indescribably kind Time Lord. Now that it was obvious who he truly fancied, she wanted nothing more than to give them her full support. Though her jealousy seemed to have a mind of its own. No matter how overwhelming it became, however, Rose refused to make her issues others problems in any capacity.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hanging out in the console room, the Doctor and Rose were telling of previous adventures while Echo and Mickey listened with amused focus. When she looked up at the sir standing beside her, the dimension hopper then noticed how he was still holding the button down as the Doctor had asked him. Following her gaze, the Time Lord furrowed his brow in confusion. "Er, what're you doing that for?"

"Because you told him to." she answered with a knowing look going his way.

Both Rose and Echo struggled to retain their laughter as the Doctor answered with intense amusement shining brightly within his gaze. "When was that?"

Mickey then began to sense there was something amiss, considering how the girls were practically dying; horribly failing at hiding any of it. "About half an hour ago."

"Er, you can let go now." he muttered as he kept most of his attention on the silently laughing brunette.

"Well, how long's it been since I could've stopped?" He, of course, then knew the answer and the reason behind it.

"Ten minutes?... Twenty?... Twenty-nine?..." he revealed as he too had to forcefully keep his own laughter contained.

This truth hit a very sensitive nerve for the mechanic. "You just forgot me!" he accused as a wave of annoyance washed through him yet again.

Echo then looked at her paramour, interested on how the Doctor was going to get out of the situation. "No, no, no. I was just, I was, I was calibrating. I was just-- No, I know exactly what I'm doing." Within seconds of such an outrageous lie, the time rotor exploded in a flurry of blinding sparks and flames, the Tardis jerking around violently. By instinct alone, the Time Lord wrapped his arms around her as they were both thrown to the grating below.

After one last final jolt, the room was dark and pregnant with deafening silence. Both she and her love jumped to their feet and looked to the dark, empty time rotor with horrified expressions. "No..." came Echo's emotional whisper, tears swiftly forming and blurring her vision. She then felt her sir pull her into a hug as his wide eyes remained fixed on the console. 

"What? What's happened?" Rose asked with immense concern; especially after seeing how impacted they both were.

"The time vortex is gone." the Doctor answered in his own bewildered devastation. "It's just gone. She's dead... The Tardis is dead." Echo pressed her face into his shirt in an attempt to stop herself from crying. If it were any other machine, she'd be able to repair it without a problem. But this was the Tardis. A beautifully alive being that had been there when her thief needed her most, and had been able to find and unite her loved ones with someone worthy of each other's undivided love and affection like none other.

But Rose didn't quite understand who the Tardis truly was. "You can fix it, though, right?"

He shook his head as he held Echo closer without realizing. "There's nothing to fix. She's perished. The last Tardis in the universe. Extinct..."

Echo then tilted her head back to look up at him, her sorrowful features on full display. "Where've we landed?" she inquired quietly.

The Doctor looked at her and got a hold on his racing thoughts. "We fell out of the vortex, through the void, into nothingness. The lost dimension as you call it..." 

"Otherwise known as London." they suddenly heard Mickey say from the open door. Such a comment made them all look at him with confusion written all over their faces. "London, England, Earth." he continued after they had followed him outside. "First of February this year. Not exactly far flung, is it?" Mickey said as he looked at a newspaper he had found on the ground.

Yet Echo could immediately feel just how different the Earth they now were on was. Without saying a word, she looked at her watch to see exactly where they had ended up. The Zeppelins crowding the sky being just one of the major clues of their displaced location. It was when they all had noticed the giant flying footballs did she speak up. "This would be dimension F97-6D. They've currently had eleven 9-11s, giant telepathic spiders with a taste for human and fruits that can talk. Though kiwis here are complete assholes and willfully insulting. " she listed off as she set her grief over the death of the Tardis aside for the time being, knowing they'd need her intellect in order to somehow get back to their original universe in dimension A176.

Just then, she saw Rose walk towards an advertisement screen with a smiling man holding what looked like some kind of soda or health drink. "He's still alive..." she muttered in shock and longing. "A parallel world and my dad's still alive..."

Without hesitation or delay, the Doctor moved in front of her to block the view. "Don't look at it, Rose. Don't even think about it. This is not your world." he stated firmly, refusing the past a chance to repeat itself.

Rose looked at her with a tearful gaze, "But he's my dad and--" Just as she touched the advert, a short film of four seconds was triggered; simply saying, 'Trust me on this.' "Well, that's weird. But he's real." the blonde said with a hopeful smile, gradually over taking her features. "He's a success. He was always planning these daft little schemes. Health food, drinks and stuff. Everyone said they were useless. But he did it."

This prompted him to block her field of view once more, but much more intensely than before. "Rose, if you've ever trusted me, then listen to me now. Stop looking at it. Your father's dead. He died when you were six months old. That is not your Pete. That is a Pete. For all we know, he's got his own Jackie, his own Rose. His own daughter who is someone else, but not you. You can't see him. Not ever." Unable to even speak, the blonde companion slowly walked over to a nearby bench and sat down; keeping her leaking eyes on the sidewalk below her shoes. With a heavy sigh, the Doctor then looked at Mickey. "Keep an eye on her." he said with a troubled expression. Without receiving a response, he took Echo's hand into his own, then walked back to the lifeless phone box so they could try and get their beloved home back to how she deserves. No matter what happened, giving up was never an option. Therefore, they never would.