Show me the stars

The Star Whale

AN: I don't own Doctor Who, or any of the characters. I don't own you either.
Your POV
"The Doctor. Old drinking buddy of Henry 12, tea and scones with Liz 2, Vicky was a bit on the fence about you, weren't she? Knighted and exiled you on the same day. And so much for the Virgin Queen, you bad, bad boy!" Liz said, laughing.
"Liz 10?" The Doctor asked.
"Liz 10, yeah. Elizabeth 10th, and down!" Liz confirmed, and Amy pulled you down. Liz produced her gun, and fired at the two Smilers that had been following you. Liz laughed, and said, "I'm the bloody Queen, mate. Basically, I rule."
You, The Doctor, Amy, Mandy and Liz had been walking for a few minutes now. To be honest, you weren't quite sure where you were going. As you entered yet another hallway, you were greeted by another large tentacle behind a cage. "There's a high speed Vator through there. " Liz said, shutting the door behind you. "Oh yeah, there's these things. Any ideas?" Liz asked.
"Doctor, one of those was coming up through the road earlier." You said, as he scanned the tentacle with the sonic.
"It was like a root." Amy added, agreeing with you.
"Exactly like a root." The Doctor replied. "It's all one creature, the one we were inside, reaching out. It must be growing throughout the mechanisms of the entire ship."
"What, like an infestation?" Liz asked. The Doctor nodded, and Liz frowned. "Someone's helping it. Feeding it. Feeding my subjects to it!" She exclaimed angrily. "Come on, we've got to keep moving." She demanded. Mandy ran after her quickly, whilst you and Amy hung back with The Doctor. "Doctor?" Amy questioned.
"Oh, Amy." The Doctor said softly. "We should never have come here." You watched silently as The Doctor walked past you and Amy.

By the time you reached your destination, you were quite tired of walking. It took you a moment to realise where you were. You were actually in the Queen's bedroom! For some reason, several glasses of water were on the floor, and it reminded you of when the Doctor had put that glass of water on the floor. That seemed like it had happened an eternity ago. "Why all the glasses?" The Doctor questioned. "To remind me every single day that my government is up to something." Liz responded bitterly. "And it's my duty to find out what."
"A queen going undercover to investigate her own kingdom." The Doctor said, picking up Liz's mask.
"Secrets are being kept from me!" Liz snapped back. "I don't have a choice. Ten years I've been at this, my entire reign, and you've achieved more in one afternoon."
"How old were you when you came to the throne?" The Doctor inquired.
"40." Liz replied. "Why?"
""You're 50 now? No way!" Amy exclaimed, as you ran a brush through your hair. Liz had allowed you to wash the sick out of your hair, as she had with Amy, but your clothes were still slightly covered. They'd dried out, so the smell of sick had faded.
"Yeah, they slowed my body clock. Keeps me looking like the stamps." Liz answered.
"And you always wear this in public?" The Doctor asked, still holding the mask in his hands. You wondered what his obsession with that mask was. "Undercover's not easy when you're me." Liz answered. "The autographs, the bunting."
"Air-balanced porcelain." The Doctor mused. "Stays on by itself, because it's perfectly sculpted to your face."
"Yeah, so what?" Liz asked.
"Oh, Liz." The Doctor said softly. "So everything." Before anyone else could speak, the door opened and a man walked in. You felt as though you'd seen him before, but you couldn't place where you'd seen him. "What are you doing?" Liz demanded to know. "How dare you come in here?"
"Ma'am, you have expressed interest in the interior workings of Starship UK." The lead man stated coldly. "You will come with us now."
"Why would I do that?" Liz asked, as the man's head turned around revealing the head of a Smiler. "How can they be Smilers?"
"Half Smiler, half human." The Doctor stated.
"Because that's not weird at all." You added.
"Whatever you creatures are, I am still your queen." Liz said. "On who's authority is this done?"
"The highest authority, ma'am." The half Smiler, half human answered.
"I am the highest authority!" Liz insisted.
"Yes, ma'am. You must go now, ma'am."
"Where?" Liz asked.
"The tower, ma'am."

The five of you were forced by the creatures to a much darker part of the Starship UK. A large drill looking thing was constantly zapping something through a grate, and all you could hear was a loud, persistent banging. "Where are we?" Amy asked, looking at the Doctor. "The lowest part of Starship UK." The Doctor replied. "The dungeon."
"Ma'am." A man greeted, appearing ahead of you.
"Hawthorne." Liz said, almost as if she was surprised. "So this is where you hid yourself away. You've got some explaining to do."
"There's children down here. What's all that about?" The Doctor questioned. You looked up, to see that he was right. Several children of about Mandy's age were down in this dungeon. "Protestors and citizens of limited value are fed to the beast. For some reason, it won't eat the children." Hawthorne explained. "You're the first adults it's spared. You're very lucky."
"Yeah, look at us! Torture chamber of The Tower of London." The Doctor said sarcastically. "Lucky, lucky, lucky! Except, it's not a torture chamber, is it? Well, except it is. Except it isn't! Depends on your angle!" You raised an eyebrow at his ranting, wondering what on Earth was going on.  "What's that?" Liz asked, as everyone gathered around one of the gated off holes in the floor. You leaned over, and saw something that shocked you. It appeared to be a brain, and this was what the laser was zapping every few seconds. "Like I said, depends on your angle. It's either the exposed pain centre of big fella's brain being tortured relentlessly, or it's the gas pedal. The accelerator. Starship UK's go faster button" The Doctor said.
"I don't understand." Liz replied.
"Don't you?" He questioned. "Try, go on. The spaceship that could never fly, no vibrations on deck." You let a strangled cry, as you understood what was going on. You finally understood why you'd want to forget about this. "This creature, this poor, trapped, terrified creature. It's not infesting you, it's not invading, it's what you have instead of an engine!" The Doctor shouted, anger evident in his voice. "And this place down here is where you hurt it, where you torture it, day after day, just to keep moving!" Liz's expression softened, as she stared at the laser. "Tell you what." The Doctor said. "Normally it's above the range of human hearing." He ran towards the far corner of the room, and pulled one of the grates off the floor. Once he'd done this, another large tentacle emerged. The Doctor pulled out the sonic, and pointed it at the tentacle. "This is the sound none of you wanted to hear." He said, as you suddenly heard it. It was a combination of a roar of pain, and a shriek. It was horrible, and you just wanted it to stop. You went to cover your ears, as it got louder and more desperate. "Stop it!" Liz yelled. The Doctor turned the sonic off, and thankfully, the screaming stopped. Silence fell, as all eyes turned to Liz. "Who did this?" She asked Hawthorne, her voice cold. "We act on instructions from the highest authority." Hawthorne answered.
"I am the highest authority." Liz repeated. "The creature will be released. Now." When Hawthorne didn't respond, she snapped, "I said now! Is anyone listening to me?"
"Liz." The Doctor said, producing her mask again. "Your mask."
"What about my mask?" Liz asked.
"Look at it." The Doctor answered, throwing it to her. "It's old. At least 200 years old, I'd say."
"Yeah, it's an antique. So?" Liz questioned.
"An antique made by craftsmen over 200 years ago and perfectly sculpted to your face." The Doctor said. "They slowed your body clock alright, but you're not 50. Nearer 300. And it's been a long old reign." Liz seemed astonished by this statement. She stared at her mask in disbelief, her hands shaking. "Nah, it's ten years." Liz insisted. "I've been on this throne ten years."
"Ten years, and the same ten years over and over again, always leading you here." The Doctor replied, leading her to a booth with two very familiar buttons. "What have you done?" Liz asked Hawthorne quietly.
"Only what you have ordered." Hawthorne answered. "We work for you ma'am. The winders, the Smilers, all of us." With these words, Hawthorne loaded up a video of Liz 10. You watched in silence, as she explained that the creature under the ship was called a Star Whale, and that as the world was burning, it had just showed up. Like a miracle. And then they'd built the entire ship around it. The explanation finished with Liz being given a choice. She could either allow the Star Whale's torture to continue, or abdicate and let the creature go, but the ship would disintegrate. "I voted for this?" Amy asked, clearly upset by what she had seen. "Why would I do that?"
"Because you knew if we stayed here, I'd be faced with an impossible choice. Humanity or the alien." The Doctor answered. "You two took it upon yourselves to save me from that. And that was wrong. You don't ever decide what I need to know."
"I don't even remember doing it!" Amy cried. You looked at the Doctor.
"I'm sorry." You said quietly. He completely ignored you, and continued,
"You did it. That's what counts."
"I'm... I'm sorry." Amy said.
"Oh, I don't care!" The Doctor said, his tone angry. "When I'm done here, you're going home. Both of you." After saying that, he walked away from the pair of you. "Why?" Amy called. "Because we made a mistake? One mistake? I don't even remember doing it!" You tried to pull Amy back, as you didn't want to anger the Doctor even more. "Doctor!"
"Yeah, I know." The Doctor said. "You're only human."
"What are you doing?" Liz asked.
"The worst thing I'll ever do." The Doctor answered. "I'm going to pass a massive electrical charge through the Star Whale's brain. Should knock out its higher functions; leave it a vegetable. The ship will still fly, but the Star Whale won't feel it."
"That'll be like killing it." Amy said quietly.
"Look, three options." The Doctor said, looking up from what he was doing. "One- I let the Star Whale continue in unendurable agony for hundreds more years. Two- I kill everyone on this ship. Three- I murder a beautiful, innocent creature as painlessly as I can. And then I find a new name because I won't be The Doctor anymore."
"There must be something else we can do. Some other way." Liz said.
"Nobody talk to me. Nobody human has anything to say to me today!" The Doctor shouted. You and Amy took a step back, as you realised something. You were actually afraid of the Doctor.  You honestly didn't think that would ever happen. Amy bit back her words, as both you and her went to join Mandy in the far corner. You brought your legs up, and wrapped your arms around yourself. Closing your eyes, you attempted to ignore everything that was going on around you. You tried to focus on better memories. You didn't want to go home to your ordinary life. Not after all this. "Doctor, stop!" You heard Amy shout, as you re-opened your eyes. "Whatever you're doing, stop it now!" Amy grabbed Liz's arm and pulled her towards the booth. You got on your feet, wondering what she was doing. "Amy! No!" The Doctor shouted, running to stop whatever she was doing. You ran over in time to see Amy slam Liz's hand down on the abdicate button. Silence fell yet again, until the beast let out a ginormous roar, and the floor began to shake violently. "Amy, what have you done?" The Doctor asked.
"Nothing at all." She confidently replied, as the floor stopped shaking just as quickly as it had begun. "Am I right?"
"We've increased speed!" Hawthorne exclaimed.
"Yeah, well, you've stopped torturing the pilot! Gotta help!" Amy remarked, high-fiving you.
"It's still here?" Liz questioned. "I don't understand."
"The star whale didn't come like a miracle all those years ago. It volunteered." Amy explained. "You didn't have to trap it, or torture it. That was all just you! It came because it couldn't stand to watch your children cry. What if you were really old, and really kind and alone? Your whole race dead, no future. What couldn't you do then?" You smiled, realising where she had gotten all this from. You glanced at the Doctor, who thankfully seemed to have calmed down. "If you were that old, and that kind, and the very last of your kind. You couldn't just stand there and watch children cry." Liz and Hawthorne looked at each other, and stayed silent, thinking about what they'd done.

As soon as you were allowed to go, you returned to the TARDIS alone. With tears in your eyes, you sat on the stairs of the TARDIS staircase. You sighed. There was still a large part of you that feared that the Doctor was going to take you home. As you lay there, you could have sworn you heard a voice in the back of your mind. Y/N, he's not going to give up on you that easily. You're special to him. You wondered where the voice had come from, since it wasn't your own voice. You dried the tears away as the front door opened and Amy and The Doctor walked in. "There you are!" Amy cried. "You worried us for a moment there!" You sat up, as Amy sat beside you. "Have you been crying?" She asked. You shook your head. "No." You replied. "It's all in your mind." Amy laughed, and put her arm around you. "
What would we do without you, Y/N?"
"Crash and burn." You answered, playing idly with your TARDIS necklace. Before Amy could speak, the phone rang.
"People phone you?" Amy questioned.
"Well, it's a phone box." The Doctor replied. "Do you mind?" Amy got on her feet, and picked up the phone.
"Hello?" She questioned. "Sorry, who?" Amy leaned against the console. "No, seriously, who? Says he's the Prime Minister. First the Queen, now the Prime Minister. Get about, don't you?" The Doctor shrugged.
"Which Prime Minister?" He asked.
"Er, which Prime Minister?" Amy asked. "The British one."
"Which British one?" The Doctor asked.
"Which British one?" Amy repeated into the receiver. "Winston Churchill for you." She replied, handing him the phone.
"Oh! Hello!" The Doctor said cheerfully into the phone. "What's up?" He paused for a moment, before replying, "Don't worry about a thing, Prime Minister. We're on our way." With those words, he put the phone down and launched the three of you into your next adventure.
AN: And I'm going to end it there! Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoyed!