Where Waves crash and Journeys end (Doctor Who/Broadchurch)

19

Alec couldn't believe a bit of this. The Doctor had to be wrong, he just had to. He was an ordinary human, a police officer working in the most boring place in the world. He had to investigate a murder case, a childs' murder...he wasn't some kind of alien. For as long as he could think, Alec Hardy had lived on Earth, not on a foreign planet somewhere in outer space. He had been born on Earth. Broadchurch was his home, not anything else. Even if he sometimes had the strange feeling he didn't belong there. 

Maybe...just maybe...his parents hadn't been from Earth. Maybe they had raised him here, not knowing that a terrible war would destroy their planet...so they had left him. And they had died while their only son was fighting his very own war in his head. Without someone giving him shelter. Without love. Without friends. Just him and his thoughts. 

A lost son, found by another after years of pain. 

"I...I need some fresh air!", Alec stuttered as he finally could speak again. Tears started to burn in his eyes, his heart raced. He quickly wiped them away and reached for the TARDIS door, rushing outside. Alec began to run, over the hills to an unknown point only he knew. He was running so fast, he soon felt like flying. After a long while, he stopped in front of a beautiful sight, dropping down in the grass. From up here, you could see the city lights, with the church in the background and the beach...from up here, Alec felt free. Just for a moment, his head was empty, his thoughts silent. Even his heart skipped a beat. 

If only things would be so much easier...no worries, nothing. No war. Just peace. If only people would be there to make things right instead of making them more difficult. If only people could be more...human. 

That was the last he could think of before Alec finally got overwhelmed with tiredness, the night wrapping its dark blanket around him like a soft embrace. 

"You should have told him!", Rose says as she comes back in the console room. With Alec gone, the 22-year old suddenly feels strange. Maybe he just went outside for a walk to relax, but there's something she has never felt before. Not even with The Doctor. 

Her friend looks at her, there's denial in his eyes. 

"I already did!", he mumbles and gets up from the chair, pacing around the room in quick steps. He's so old and so wise. He has seen things others would never dream to see. Has experienced death a million times. Every time, he has woken up with a new body, a new face. Whatever he has chosen to become, Rose Tyler has never cared about. According to her, her Doctor is the same man as he always has been. 

After a while, The Doctor turns to the console: 

"We'll leave. Now!" 

There's no single emotion in his voice. No single drop of courage. It's all gone. 

If she only could figure out why...

"I'm not leaving without him!", Rose shouts, putting her hand over his. Deep down, she reaches for The Bad Wolf to come, slowly pulling it up to the surface. Tears start to stream down her glowing eyes, golden strings bursting out of her body. Surrounding The Doctor, fire burns in his eyes. 

"My Doctor. My lovely Doctor...", The Bad Wolf raises its ancient voice. 

"Didn't you hear it? Didn't you hear about the last survivor of the Time War? It's not you, Doctor...oh, I've listened to many stories, many myths, many tales...look at you. Look at you, you lonely man, flying around in your box, watching the stars...seeking adventure, seeking others who survived. Saving others to forget. Saving others cause you're kind. It's your destiny, Doctor...you were chosen a long time ago. Chosen from time itself. But there was another...another by your side, another child...another Timelord. Bond very close to each other, saving each other. Then, one day, the war came. And you failed. You've failed to save your own kind, Doctor...even if it was only one. One child, seeking for you...seeking for the one who should have rescued him. And now, look at you - what kind of man would do that to a child? You with your brave hearts, your will to survive...tell me, Doctor. Tell me..."

This time, he doesn't resist. He doesn't scream it just should stop. He's just listening. The Bad Wolf is right. There was one he couldn't save. One being a threat to all Timelords in existence. So they punished him. They wanted him to suffer, so they made sure he did. Just a child, ripped from his family...ripped from him. After all those years, it still doesn't know. He doesn't know. 

When time shall come, he'll know. But how many he has left, it's written in the stars.