The Shadowmen

Prologue

Prologue

The Doctor was dreaming. Not the happy kind of unicorn-candy land dreams. The nightmare kind of dreams. The ones where you end up screaming, drenched in sweat. And it wasn't just any nightmare. He was dreaming about his long gone friends.

First was Rose. He watched, helpless, as Rose let go of the lever. He yelled, terrified, as she flew into the rift. He stared, shocked, as her dad appeared to save her. He listened, heartbroken, as he knew she was pounding on the wall to try and see him, screaming, "LET ME BACK. PLEASE. LET ME BACK," sobbing all the while. He cried, dead inside, as he tried to say, "Rose Tyler, I love you."

Next, Donna. He saw her touch his old hand, trying to stop her, knowing what was to come. He saw the Meta-Crisis Doctor forming, knowing what he would do. He saw Donna save reality, smiling at her brilliance. Then, he saw her, crying, as he removed her memories of all she'd seen. He saw her smiling, not knowing what she had done, how the whole of reality owed their lives to her, Donna Noble.

Then, Clara. He watched as she somehow became a Dalek and a Victorian Governess, having no idea who he was, but still saving him. He saw her fight the Daleks by becoming one, erasing him from their memories, and effectively weakening the entire race. He saw her fight the Great Intelligence, by using her wits to alert him to the danger. He saw her die, twice, in order to save him, the Doctor, and saying, "Run. Run you clever boy, and remember." He knew he would see her again someday.

Finally, the Ponds. Amy and Rory. He fell from the sky, and became the Raggedy Doctor. He smiled, and said, "Come along, Pond." He got Amy and Rory married, and they brought him back from not existing. He watched them mourn him, as he died, but not really. He watched them realise River was their daughter, and find out River killed the Doctor. He watched as he let them save their marriage. But then, he watched as they jumped from a building in Manhattan and died. He watched as Rory was taken in time and appeared six feet under the ground, dead. He, in an attempt to save at least one, cried to Amy, "Come along, Pond. Please." He sobbed as his two best friends were taken from him and how he never got to say goodbye. He read the Afterword that Amy, his Amelia, wrote to him. And cried as the little girl waiting in the garden, was told of how the story of Amelia Pond finally ended.

That was all the Doctor could withstand, and he woke up, drenched in sweat, not ready to ruin someone else's life. But he had a duty, to the universe. Time to ruin somebody else's life.