Walk The Earth: Doctor Who/Studio C [Book 2]

The Reset Button

The Reset Button

"Everything back to normal. Planet Earth restored. None of it happened. The rockets, the terror. It never was... We're at the eye of the storm. The only ones who'll ever know." -the Doctor

Fog.

The world was fog.

At some point, the Doctor had let go of her, the adrenaline had worn off, and the world was once more... normal.

Could it really be?

Mallory hadn't moved from the corner she found herself in, watching the proceedings with detached interest. She knew they were going to sort this out somehow, but right now she wanted no part of it. She had found a spot up on the second level of the bridge, and no one had poked their head up far enough to see her yet.

The Doctor was on the phone with UNIT until the moment two of their planes touched down on the Valiant's landing strip. He and Mark—the perfect bridge between UNIT and those on the Valiant—were busy sorting out what they were going to tell the planet. Even without the Year to worry about, both the American President and the British Prime Minister were dead, one at the hand of the other. Not even counting the fact the deaths of the British Cabinet, the stories of the Master's Toclafane, and the fact that right now the Doctor, Jack, and Mallory were still considered terrorists.

And her husband was dead.

That was the worst part of it all, for her to lose him mere hours from the end. If she shut her eyes she could imagine him here with her now, holding her tight and laughing with relief that they had done it, that the world was saved and they could move on with their lives.

She half-expected him to be there when she opened her eyes, but found only cold, empty space and it crashed down on her all over again that he was never going to be there by her side again.

With the Year undone, she realized dully, they wouldn't even be able to go down and find his body.

She must have dozed off at that point because the next thing she knew there was a voice at her ear. Instinct had her eyes flying open and her limbs ready to roll away, leaving her yelping as her injured wrist collided with the wall.

"Sorry," came a voice, and her eyes finally focused on the Mark's face.

"What's... where?" she started, glancing around at the unfamiliar surroundings for a moment before it clicked. The Valiant. "Oh."

"UNIT's got us transport back down to the planet," Mark explained quietly, before glancing over. "What happened to your hand?"

"F-fell on it when I... when..." She cut herself off, scrubbing her good hand over her eyes and annoyed at herself for being unable to answer him without a stutter. She felt like a child—the woman who had walked the earth and managed to defeat that Master, reduced to one wrong word away from a blubbering mess after the fact.

"Hang on, they brought a med team up, let's get that looked at," Mark said. The Doctor hopped up the stairs, likely looking for Mark, opening his mouth to speak then shutting it abruptly at the sight of them.

Mallory glanced between the two. "Can't we just use the TARDIS infirmary?" she asked, wishing she didn't sound so plaintive. Not only did she want to see the ship again, she desperately didn't want to deal with strangers at that moment in time.

A moment later, she wished she hadn't asked, for the Doctor's lips settled into a line as the Time Lord plainly held back a grimace. "There is no TARDIS infirmary at the moment," he said. "A paradox machine takes a lot of power, the Master had to—" He paused, cutting himself off. "All the rooms have basically been uploaded into storage. Only thing she's got right now is the primary and secondary console rooms, and she hasn't got enough power to bring the rest back yet."