We Will Rise |2| The Ascension

Chapter Nine: The Prophecy Of Boe

When the Doctor came to bed that night, McKenzie was nowhere to be seen. He frowned, and headed to the kitchen, thinking that was probably the best bet. Sure enough, when he entered, a certain redhead was sat on the counter, sipping a mug of tea and looking very thoughtful. "Evening, beautiful," he said, and she looked up, blushing. He raised his eyebrows, coming to stand in front of her. "You blush a lot. It's cute." That, of course, made her blush deeper, and he laughed.

"Stop it!" she complained, swatting at him, but laughed too.

The Doctor grinned. "What were you thinking about?"

"Something Boe said way back when we saw him for the second time, in that hospital. He told it me again before... well, you know. I think I finally figured it out," McKenzie stated, biting her lip. "He said, 'the brother you fear to be long gone is not so. The handsome soldier searches for the family he never had, for the sister he would destroy for. He will return after the fallen angels ascend.'"

"And?" the Doctor asked, confused.

McKenzie smiled. "I've only ever had one person I've called a brother. You used to call us twins, remember? And when we met him, he was pretending to be a soldier! And come on, if anyone is going to make a decapitated face think they're handsome, it's him. It's got to be Jack. We thought he was dead, right? But the Face of Boe says he's not. If Boe's right and Jack's alive, he's coming back."

"'After the fallen angels ascend', right."

"You don't seem very surprised," McKenzie frowned. Then an idea dawned upon her, a terrible, sickening idea. "You knew. When we left the Game Station, you knew he was still alive." She looked at him in shock. "Why would you leave him?"

The Doctor sighed. "Okay, first of all, he did die. You weren't wrong about that. But then it got a bit complicated. It'd be easier to show you."

"Show me then." So he did.

***

"I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words, I scatter them in time and space. A message to lead myself here." McKenzie's last self, the blonde girl with curly hair, stood before the Doctor and the Daleks, her eyes shining with golden light.

The Ninth Doctor stared at her, aghast. "Kez, you've got to stop this. You've got to stop this now. You've got the entire vortex running through your head. You're going to burn."

"I want you safe. My Doctor. Protected from the false god."

"You cannot hurt me. I am immortal," the Emperor of the Daleks claimed.

"You are tiny. I can see the whole of time and space. Every single atom of your existence, and I divide them. Everything must come to dust. All things. Everything dies. The Time War ends." McKenzie waved a hand in front of her, and all the Daleks dissolved.

"I will not die! I cannot die!" the Emperor cried, even as he too disintegrated.

"Kez, you've done it. Now stop. Just let go," the Doctor pleaded, staring up at the blonde girl.

"How can I let go of this?" she laughed.  "I bring life. The days he should have had."  She felt it as she brought Jack back to life.

"But this is wrong! You can't control life and death."

"But I can. The sun and the moon, the day and night." Her face twisted in pain.  "But why do they hurt?"

"The power's going to kill you, and it's my fault," the Doctor realised, tears in his eyes. He'd never imagined she'd do anything like this for him.

"I can see everything. All that is, all that was, all that could ever be."

"That's what I see. All the time. And doesn't it drive you mad?" he asked, tilting his head.

"My head..." she groaned.

"Come here." He opened his arms to her.

"It's killing me," McKenzie realised as she collapsed into his arms.

"I think you need a Doctor," he whispered, then kissed her, drawing the Time Vortex from her head.

***

McKenzie gasped as she came out of the vision, her eyes watering. "My head," she whimpered, echoing her previous words.

"Shh," the Doctor murmured, hugging her to him. "It's just the memories coming back. I'm sorry."

After a few moments, she pulled back to look at him. "I brought him back," she realised, her eyes wide. "Why—"

"Why didn't I wait for him?" McKenzie nodded and he hesitated, swallowing. "Well, because of you, of course. You'd just nearly died. And then I was actually dying. And by the time we were both alive and awake and not being attacked by the Sycorax... you thought he was dead. I didn't know how to tell you."

McKenzie stared. "He was my brother... And you just—" She cut herself off, taking a deep breath. "If that had been Rose, or me, or Mum... you'd have just left us there?!"

"Kez, I..." The Doctor sighed. "I don't know what to say..."

At that, her eyebrows shot up. "You don't know what to say?! He was our friend and you abandoned him!" She shook her head, angry tears pricking at her eyes. "I can't... I can't do this right now." She brushed past him, heading for the door.

"Wait!" the Doctor tried. "Kez, please... I love you."

She swallowed past the lump in her throat. "And I loved Jack. He deserved better than this." She left, and just the sound of her running footsteps hurt worse than if she'd slammed the door.

~~~