Quantum Survivor

Hero

After hearing him admit that he wished for death, I knew how to help.

"Cup of tea. That's what you need." I got up and headed towards the kitchen.

"What?"

I rolled my eyes, "Every time you regenerate, you always need tea. Whether it is dinner or the actual drink, you always need tea."

"How do you know about that?" He was following me. Good to see that even in a depressed state, he is curious.

"I told you, the Tardis brought me here. Told me what to do and how to help."

I started the kettle and pulled out some Earl Grey tea, a nice calming tea. I also opened the cabinet to get some jammy dodgers, I remember how much he will love them.

I set down a mug with swirling designs. The Tardis huffs, as it isn't a tea cup, but gets over it as the Doctor is clearly a bit happier just by seeing the cup.

"Susan used to use this cup, and only this cup. How did you know?"

I shrug, not wanting to tell him that I knew almost everything about him. 

I sat across from him with a plain tea cup, "Should we keep swapping stories."

He shook his head. I figured he would, I was surprised he had already opened up this much. Maybe he had just felt that alone.

"After your tea, we are going out." I finished my little bit of tea and went to the control room. I input a time and a place that would mean little to nothing to him and waited.

When he finally came in, I pulled the lever-leaving the breaks-on to leave.

"What is that horrid noise?" Oh. I was the one to cause that? Cool.

"A sound that'll one day symbolize hope."

He came over to the scanners, "Where are we?"

I turned them off, "It's no fun if you see." I led him to the doors and opened them. We were on the planet Oberon.

He took a whiff, "I don't think I've been here before."

Of course he wouldn't remember. "Daleks came here once. In fact, I think it was supposed to be today."

He stiffened, "Why did you bring me here?" His voice was cold and dark.

"Come on. We are here to watch a show." I took him back to the Tardis and reparked it directly above Oberon.

"What show?"

I sighed, "One day, there is going to be a man who travels the stars in order to help them. That man is a hero. I need to see if that man is gonna be here."

The Dalek ships came and stared to shoot the planet below. The Doctor shouted at me, "You're just gonna let all those people die?! You knew this would happen, why not stop it?!"

"I could ask you the same thing. You know how to fly the Tardis, you save them."

"I can't." His voice cracked, "I can't."

We both stood witness as the Daleks destroyed another planet. Then it flew off, not detecting us on their scanners.

"What about that hero? Why didn't he show up?" He looked lost.

I shook my head, "We just haven't found him yet."

I went to the controls and parked us on Earth, "This is one of my favorite places."

He didn't try to look at the scanner, he just followed me out the door.

"Central Park, New York." I stated and sat down. I patted the grass next to me and the Doctor sat too.

"Sorry that you had to watch that. I really wanted that to be some whole 'it gets better from here' lesson. Or, maybe a 'the weight of the world doesn't rest on your shoulders alone'." I lied, I thought that he would jump in a save the planet. I wonder why I never dreamed of this. If I had, I would know how to help.

He nodded silently. Saying it was okay, but not meaning it.

We sat in silence for a couple minutes, "Why do you like it here so much?"

"New York was the place for a new beginning. A gateway to the New World. 'Give me you tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breath free.'" 

"Sounds nice." We watched as people walked by, ignoring a blue box and two people that came out of no where.

Yeah. It would to you. I know that once I'm done here, my time is up.

"What else should I know about you?" He tried to nudge more out of me. He wanted to avoid the silence that he could hear the screams in.

I ponder for a bit, what could I tell him that wouldn't spoil his future? "I'm dying. I prayed to the Tardis to do one last thing with my life and she brought me here. She saved me, like she did you."

"What did she save you from?"

I laughed, "My most dangerous enemy... Myself. I was foolish. I wanted to save what little family I had left so, I sacrificed myself for them."

"That isn't foolish. And if it was, then I am foolish too. I would throw myself into the Time Vortex if it meant my family could come back."

"I guess that is what makes you a hero." I mutter under my breath.

Too soft for him to hear tough, "What?"

"I said, That is what makes you a coward." He furrowed his eyebrows. Before he could get upset, I defended my statement, "Your family would want you to live. To do something good with the life that you still have. Don't pity the dead, Doctor. Pity the living, for they are the ones that are wasting away in fear. Don't pity yourself, pity those that have absolutely no one at their side."

"And who's at my side?" His voice sharp.

"The Tardis. Me. The ones that you love. They are always with you, in your darkest moments they give you the strength to turn to the light. And when you stand too tall, they are the ones to remind you that you are not a god, but a man."

The Eleventh Doctor had been a coward. He had forgotten all that he had lost. He hadn't listened to those by his side when they said he stood too tall. He ran to danger with his thumb on the trigger. The Ninth Doctor, the man next to me now, is a hero. He is soaking in the advice I give. He remembers the pain. And one day, he will fight with words and love.

This Doctor is a hero.

***