The Girl Who Survived (Doctor Who)

Goodbye Love

"Good old dad. There you go." Stuart handed the phone to the Doctor.

"Just need to do a bit of charging up and then we can bring everyone back." The Doctor grinned happily.
He used the ever-versatile sonic screwdriver while the creatures battered at the doors. Pete and Rose were having a quiet chat. I looked back at them, and smiled at my friend.

-

"You, er, you never said why you came here in the first place. If I had a time machine, I wouldn't have thought 1987 was anything special. Not round here, anyway." Pete shrugged.

"We just ended up here." Rose lied.

"Lucky for me, eh? If you hadn't been there to save me." Pete smiled at his daughter.

"That was just a coincidence. That was just really good luck. It's amazing." Rose smiled sadly.

"So, in the future, are me and her indoors still together?" Pete referred to Jackie.

"Yeah."

"Are you still living with us?" Pete asked, eager to know about his family.

"Yep." Tears were fighting there way to Rose's eyes, but she quickly blinked them away.

"Am I a good dad?"

".....You, you told me a bedtime story every night when I was small. You were always there. You never missed one. And er, you took us for picnics in the country every Saturday. You never let us down. You were there for us all the time. Someone I could really rely on...." Rose said, reciting what her mum's stories had conjured up in Rose's head. A dream dad.

"That's not me." Pete sighed.

-

The Tardis was slowly materializing around the keys, "Right, no one touches the keys. Have you got that? Don't touch it. Anyone touches that key, it'll be, well, zap. Just leave it be and everything will be fine. We'll get out of here. All of us. Stuart, Sarah you're going to get married, just like I said." The Rebel smiled.

Outside, the car repeated its brief drive around the corner. Inside, the Tardis is fading in and out.

-

3rd Person POV

"When time gets sorted out-" Rose started. The three of them were now sitting down on a bench, watching the Tardis materialize.

"Everybody here forgets what happened. And don't worry, the thing that you changed will stay changed." The Doctor said.

"You mean I'll still be alive, though I'm meant to be dead. That's why I haven't done anything with my life, why I didn't mean anything." Pete snuck up on them, making the three turn around fast. The Rebel's hearts sank at the sound in the man's voice.

"It doesn't work like that." She tried.

"Rubbish. I'm so useless I couldn't even die properly. Now it's my fault all of this has happened."

"This is my fault." Rose darted to cry.

"No, love. I'm your dad. It's my job for it to be my fault." Pete cooed,

"Her dad? How are you her dad? How old were you, twelve? Oh, that's disgusting!" Jackie shrieked.
"Jacks, listen. This is Rose." Pete said to his furious wife.

"Rose? How sick is that? You give my daughter a second hand name? How many are there? Do you call them all Rose?" Jackie snarled.

"Oh, for God's sake, look. It's the same Rose!" Pete took baby Rose from Jackie and handed her to Rose.

"Rose! No!" The Doctor snatched her away, but it was too late. He gave the Abby back to Jackie, and a creature appeared inside the church.

"Everyone, behind us! We're the oldest thing in here." The Rebel instructed.

"Doctor! Rebel!"

The creature pounced on the Doctor and Rebel, then flew over to the Tardis. They touch, the Tardis and the creature vanish, and the key fell to the floor. Rose runs to pick it up.

"It's cold. The key's cold. Oh, my God, their dead. This is all my fault. Both of you. All of you. The whole world." Rose sobbed.

"This is it. There's nothing we can do. It's the end." Someone said.

As the creatures start scraping at the stonework outside, Pete watched the car drive around the corner again and again from the vestry window. He went back into the church and over to Rose, who is sitting on her own.

"The Doctor and Rebel really cared about you. They didn't want you to go through it again, not if there was another way. Now there isn't." Pete sighed.

"What are you talking about?" Rose raised her head.

"The car that should have killed me, love. It's here. The Doctor worked it out way back, but he, er, he tried to protect me. Still, he's not in charge anymore. I am." Pete said.

"But you can't." Rose sobbed.

"Who am I, love?" Pete asked.

"My daddy." Rose whimpered to her father,

"Jackie, look at her. She's ours." Jackie hugged a weeping Rose.

"I'm meant to be dead, Jackie. You're going to get rid of me at last." Pete joked softly, tears in his eyes.

"Don't say that." Jackie said sadly.

"For once in your life, trust me. It's got be done. You've got to survive, because you've got to bring up our daughter. I never read you those bedtime stories. I never took you on those picnics. I was never there for you." He spoke.

"You would have been." Rose's lip trembled, sobs ready to rack her body.

"But I can do this for you. I can be a proper dad to you now." Pete said, his voice wavering oh so slightly.

"But it's not fair." Rose cried.

"I've had all these extra hours. No one else in the world has ever had that. And on top of that, I got to see you. And you're beautiful. How lucky am I, eh? So, come on, do as your dad says. You going to be there for me, love? Thanks for saving me." Pete hugged his wife and daughter for the last time, and walked to the church doors, pushing them open.

Pete ran out of the church, clutching the vase. A creature spotted him. He runs to the corner, where the car appears. The driver flings his arm across his face.

"Goodbye, love." Pete closed his eyes, as pain overtook him.

The case was dropped, and broke. Rose ran out of the church, and the creatures had vanished. The Doctor and Rebel stood, arms crossed, waiting.

"Go to him. Quick." They said.

Rose ran to her dying father. This time, the driver stopped at the scene. Pete died gazing into Rose's eyes.

"What's that?" Sarah asked, no clue of what had happened for the past few hours.

Stuart's dad came out of the church.

-

Rose's Memory

"The driver was just a kid. He stopped, he waited for the police. It wasn't his fault. For some reason, Pete just ran out. People say there was this girl, and she sat with Pete while he was dying. She held his hand. Then she was gone. Never found out who she was."

Memory over

-

Rose kissed Pete farewell then stood up and looked at the Doctor and Rebel. The Tardis had relocated to outside the Tandoori across the road. The Doctor, Rebel and Rose walked away.