I know it's been a while.
Understatement of the millennium, McKenzie thought to herself, but what else could she say? Sorry their timelines hadn't been in sync for thousands of years? Sorry she was too busy grieving to reach out to him sooner? Sorry she was too scared to consider the truth? There was no use going into it all on paper—or rather, in text. He would know what she meant, she was sure. He always did.
The thing is, I need your help and your advice. I need you. Please.
Needed him more than she had ever needed him, needed him with the certainty that only he could help her.
I'm scared.
And wasn't that the truth, the one she didn't want to admit? The fact of her fear, and worse, the reason for it.
Something's happened, and I don't know what to do, and I need to talk to you. You're the only person in the universe who can help me now. You're the only person in the universe who understands what's happening to me. Please, please come.
"Hey."
McKenzie whipped round, her eyes widening slightly as she came face to face with the Doctor. "What?"
The Doctor hesitated, walking over to her. "Are you okay?"
"'Course," she lied, hating how easy it was and at the same time, loving it. At least she could reassure him. "You?"
"Good," he replied distractedly, his eyes flickering toward her phone, held behind her back. "Something interesting?"
She pressed send discreetly, showing him a random article from her search history instead. "Just, you know... reading."
He raised an eyebrow. "The savannasaurus?"
"Originally nicknamed Wade," she added, nodding earnestly. "I was thinking, we could totally go meet some dinosaurs. Find a T-rex and not get swallowed by it, for once."
"Oh, come on!" He rolled his eyes, completely distracted. "That was one time!"
***
In a bar three galaxies away, a man wearing a World War II greatcoat sat in the corner, nursing a double shot of whiskey. The bartender headed over, handing him a message in an envelope. "This came in for you."
"Thanks." The man took it and, once the bartender had returned to his post, opened it. He read the message, swallowing. Then, with a frown like thunderclouds over the ocean, he knocked back the rest of his drink and left the bar. Stepping into the shadows, Captain Jack Harkness activated his vortex manipulator and disappeared from sight.
~~~
YOU ARE READING
One Last Chance |6| The Ascension
Science Fiction✅ approx. 215,000 words After the horrors of the war against Thanos, the Doctor and McKenzie are finally together again, albeit missing a limb. But that isn't the only thing they are bereft of. The death of their son cut them to the core and they wi...
