Dying Embers by Dr Dave
Summary: An alternate ending to Resurrection of the Daleks.
Rating: All Ages
Categories: Fifth Doctor
Characters: Tegan Jovanka, The Doctor (5th), Turlough
Genres: General
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: None
Published: 2003.09.18
Updated: 2003.09.18
Dying Embers by Dr Dave
Chapter 1: Complete Story
Author's Notes:
Dying Embers
An Alternate Ending To Resurrection of the Daleks
Turlough watched in stunned silence as the Doctor cradled Tegan’s body.
It didn’t make any sense. They had won hadn’t they? The Daleks had been destroyed and their duplicates were too unstable to cause the upheaval of society. But somehow Lytton’s guards had come upon them opening fire. It happened too quickly to comprehend.
The warehouse was silent now. Tegan’s labored attempts to breathe the only sounds.
"Don’t leave me Tegan, not like this!" the Doctor yelled at her as he tore her blouse to check the wounds. Two shots to the chest.
The look in his eyes told her that even the TARDIS couldn’t help her now.
"Don’t have much choice now, do I Doctor?" she said as blood began to trickle from her mouth.
The Doctor’s voice was frantic. "No when you leave, you’ll….you’ll just…leave. Leave for a happy life….. After a furious argument… with me of course. I’ll have done something to anger you…..And you’ll just be fed up… and….and leave. You’ll meet someone….you’ll….fall in love and start….. a new life like Susan….. or Leela. Or I’ll just take you home. Or…"
Tegan weakly moved her fingers to his mouth to quiet him. "I’ve been with you long enough to know that there’s very few happy endings in the universe Doctor. Death has been a part of my life since I joined you."
The Doctor closed his eyes and turned his face away, his brow furrowed in anguish.
"It’s not your fault Doctor," she whispered watching the tears well up in his deep blue eyes as he looked at her once more. "Death is a part of life isn’t it? And when I think of all the people we’ve helped, the times we have saved the whole universe…"
"Come on, where’s my Tegan? Rabbits! Hell’s Teath! And….and all that. You’re not even fighting." The Doctor stared into her eyes. Dying embers of a fire that had burned so brightly in his life.
"I’m part of your timeline now Doctor. This is part of your timeline. Just like Adric. I didn’t understand why you couldn’t change things then. I do now."
The Doctor’s emotions overtook him and he held her closer to him. She felt his tears on her cheek.
"Brave heart, Doctor. I did fall in love you know."
"I know," he whispered. " I know"
He gently kissed her lips. She returned his kiss warmly and then began to fall away from him.
Turlough watched in shock as Tegan’s arms dropped away from the Doctor’s neck.
She was gone. He had not really known either of them long and had no idea how much they had meant to each other. He could tell that a part of the Doctor had died with her.
The Doctor picked Tegan up and carried her into the TARDIS.
"Let’s take her home, Turlough…," he said with a wavering voice. "I promised her that. I promised it to her twice. Maybe for once in my godforsaken lives I can keep one."
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