Touch The Sky: Doctor Who/Studio C [Book 3]

A Hundred Thousand Goodbyes

A Hundred Thousand Goodbyes

(Interlude—Recognizable dialogue from 'Journey's End' and deleted scene)

Because he's your son.

The rest of the TARDIS—the rest of the Earth, even—was celebrating giddily, giving shouts of triumph and throwing around embraces like confetti as Planet Earth was returned to her place in the sky. The only ones who weren't were Mallory and Cyndi.

The former sank to the jumpseat with limbs that felt like lead, fingering the stitching of the seat absently and trying to stretch away the dull, pulsing ache in her back. She glanced over, catching the eye of the equally quiet Cyndi before the redhead's gaze darted away.

Because he's your son.

She couldn't have meant what that sounded like... could she? Surely Mark Spencer, the ever-collected and confident UNIT consultant she'd met in the thick of the worst year of her life, couldn't be some future version of the child inside her.

Could he?

"You sound like my mother," he'd teased her on occasion. She'd usually chosen to take it as a lighthearted compliment, though Mark never spoke of his family with her. Now that she thought about, she couldn't remember a single mention of anything to do with his parents.

No, she thought. No way.

His unfailing confidence back in the Year that they were going to fix everything, no matter how bad things got... It couldn't have been because he already knew how it turned out. His determination to get her and Matt to start speaking again must have been the interest of a friend, not a personal investment in his parents' relationship.

Mallory told herself that, yet every piece of the puzzle fit perfectly. They'd even talked about naming the baby Mark at one point. Surely it couldn't be that Mark was Mark?

Much more pressingly—whether this whole thing was true or not—where was he?

She got her answer to that just a few moments later. The TARDIS landed with a bump, so much slighter than usual with so many pilots that it was almost unnoticeable. "Ooh, and we've got a visitor," the brown Doctor said, peering at the monitor. A few curious glances were sent his way, but it was Matt who finally glanced over at the screen.

"Cyndi," he said quietly. She looked up at him, her face a perfect mask over whatever emotions were coursing through her at that moment. Instead of saying anything more, Matt simply gestured her to the door.

~~~

A blast of heat hit the redhead as she stepped through the door of the TARDIS, but she hardly paid attention. Her eyes met Mark's for only a moment before they dropped to her feet. "You made it, then," she managed. With the Reality Bomb destroyed—and the timeline of Mark's future birth still intact—it seemed he'd simply been returned to exactly where he'd disappeared.

His arms were crossed and his posture stiff, but both tone and eyes were tender when he finally spoke. "Cyndi."

"What?" she snapped.

"Is everyone okay?" he asked, stepping toward her with concern written all over his face.

"Yes," she said. "There does appear to be two Doctors, but that seems to be beside the point."

Mark blinked at her twice, then shook his head and seemed to decide to finish that conversation later. "So what's wrong?"

Once again, her gaze dropped. "I told them," she finally admitted softly. "I told them who you were."