Doctor Who and the Echoes of Time

The Prison of the Autons: Epilogue

The Doctor watched as the enclosure that had surrounded them the last few days split open and descended until he was no longer closed off from the rest of the planet. He exited his exhibit and began walking the way he knew Ruby had gone off.

It was just as Ruby had described, and it was beautiful. Architecture worthy of all the praise that he could give. The green water below shone beautifully due to the moss that lay on the bottom of the ocean.

"Doctor!" Ruby ran towards him from the distance.

"Ruby!" The Doctor opened his arms wide and a moment later she ran into them, hugging him back at the same time he hugged her. "You did wonderfully" he said as he looked around and noticed the other exhibits had opened like his had, they were all empty now. Their inhabitants all placed back at the moment after they had been taken.

"Thanks" Ruby gave The Doctor back his sonic screwdriver which he quickly slipped into his pocket. "What is this place Doctor?"

The Doctor smiled coyly and looked around again. "As I said, it's a zoo" he walked up to the edge of the bridge and put his arms on the railings, staring down at the water. "I can't say I know where we are. I've never seen a place like this"

Ruby took her place by The Doctor's side and leaned against the railing. The two were silent for a moment. "How are you feeling?" The Doctor finally asked.

"Fine" Ruby frowned as she looked away. "I remember everything"

"Good" The Doctor nodded as he wondered what was wrong.

"Everything" Ruby repeated that word and The Doctor finally understood her meaning. "Both lives, real and fake. And they both feel so... so real"

"And now your friend, whom you feel you've known for your whole life, is dead" Ruby nodded as she covered her face with her hand, tears starting to fall down from beneath that hand.

The Doctor pulled Ruby into a hug and ran his hand through her hair. "Except he's not dead. Not anymore. He's back home, living the life he was always meant to live"

"A life without me" Ruby whispered as her tears continued to fall onto The Doctor's shoulder. "A life as a completely different man"

"Yes" The Doctor spoke as he got that weird sense of Deja Vu again, the one that he had felt every time he was around (y/n). It was stronger now, as if setting time right again had caused some sort of change that would affect him as well as (y/n). "And even if that hurts, you have to remember that it's wonderful. You saved him, gave him a real life. One final gift to him from an old friend"

Ruby nodded before pulling away and wiping away her tears. "Right" she nodded slowly. "Right"

The Doctor decided now to change the subject. "So where did the Tardis end up?"

Ruby let out a small laugh at that. "The habitat systems decided it was a piece of junk that had somehow gotten inside"

"Junk!" The Doctor gasped over dramatically.

"It teleported the Tardis to one of the moons. Apparently that's where the people of this planet put all their trash" Ruby shook her head as she pointed to many moons shimmering above their heads.

The Doctor grimaced, not appreciating them ruining their moons that way. "Well we should go and grab it then" he pointed to a habitat about a mile away. "See that? There's a Dalek saucer there. Should still be able to fly"

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"He's so young" Ruby shook her head as she watched from beside the Tardis as a kid ran excitedly past a tree, only to accidentally run into his sister, smashing their heads together.

"Ouch" The Doctor let out a small laugh as the little girl stood up and started yelling at her brother.

The yelling continued for another couple seconds before the girl laughed, kicked her brother in the arm, and ran away. The boy quickly got up and chased after her. "Siblings are strange" Ruby shook her head.

"That they are" The Doctor couldn't help but smile widely again. He snapped his fingers and the Tardis doors opened. "Ready to go?"

Ruby frowned but nodded. "Can't stand around watching children forever I suppose. Don't want to seem like a creep"

The Doctor shrugged. "It's the seventies. You can keep watching if you want, nobody will think much of it"

Ruby let out a small laugh at that as The Doctor went back into the Tardis. "I'll stay out here for another minute then"

The Doctor nodded and left her alone, heading to the tardis console and looking on one of the monitors as he typed something in.

Ruby continued to watch the playing children for another minute. Due to the false memories in her head every instinct she had was trying to make her go over and join in on their game, to play with her friends. She resisted those urges. She was an adult, not a child. And these versions of them didn't even know her.

Finally Ruby let out a sigh. "Bye" she whispered as she looked at (y/n) and his sister. She turned and walked into the Tardis, closing the doors behind her.

The Doctor didn't look away from the monitor as Ruby walked up to the console. "I'm ready" she said as she rubbed her tired eyes.

"Right" The Doctor nodded as he finally looked to her. "Looks like he lives a decent life" Ruby gave him a confused look. "(Y/n)"

"Just decent?" Ruby asked with a frown.

"Decent isn't bad" The Doctor shrugged as he looked again to the monitor. "Most people live decent lives. Good lives are rare, precious"

"So what happens to him?" Ruby asked The Doctor with a small smile.

"It's a good life until his sister passes when he's about twenty" Ruby frowned at that. "After that... well maybe he dies as well, maybe he lives to a hundred and six. I can't find any records of his life, not anywhere" he smiled and looked to Ruby. "You know what that means?"

Ruby shook her head, looking confused.

"It means that maybe... just maybe, that instead of our time with him being over there's a chance our adventures with him have yet to even begin" Doctor Who quickly flipped a lever and the Tardis took off, leaving this time and the boy behind.

Word count: 1157

(Now that this arc is over I'd really like to get everyone's opinions on it. Any feedback you can give is appreciated, whether positive or negative. I want to make this book as good as possible so that we all enjoy it. It'll be a little bit before I start publishing the next arc since I want there to be a bit of time between arcs)