Elsewhere (Chapter 11)

Chapter 11 (Tears Before Bedtime)

The disappearing portal had distracted the few Kro’Tenk foot soldiers long enough for the forces of planet Earth to fight back,

In Huxley, Bambera’s troops made a final assault on the remaining warriors, forcing them to scatter through the town.

Roxanne watched on, concerned, as Lilly, still caked in dry, blue alien blood joined in with the UNIT soldiers as they charged against the creatures.

In the days to come it was reported that a number of the creatures had escaped, but that UNIT weren’t concerned as they posed no real threat. They would find the occasional creature hidden in woodlands or in the sewers, but they were slowly mopping up the remaining survivors.

What concerned Roxy was what would happen to Holly.

And what would become of Lilly.




One Week Later




Holly and Roxy were sat on a bench in the cemetery. Holly stared down at a simple, white wooden cross with the name “Carole Smith” written in black paint on it.

“Sad, isn’t it?” she said.

“What is?”

“That all that remains of Carole Smith is this pathetic white cross. She probably died during the 1960’s or something.”

“How could you possibly know that?” said Roxy, with a laugh.

“Because all of these graves are marked with people who died in the 60’s.”

Roxy sighed. “I see the council are dithering over how best to tackle the repairs to the town centre.”

Holly shrugged. “You know what they’re like.”

“Yeah.” Roxy turned to Holly. “You’re leaving, aren’t you?”

“Yep,” said Holly. “The Doctor forgave me. Told me that I had another chance. We both said things in the heat of the moment.”

“So we need to say goodbye then,” said Roxy, holding back her tears.

“Not forever,” said Holly. “I’ll be back.”

“I don’t think you will.”

“I have family,” said Holly. “Of course I’ll be back.”

“Not forever though,” said Roxy, echoing Holly’s words. “You’ll flit back every now and then to see them, but this isn’t your life anymore. Your life is up there in the box with that torch-shining lunatic and the blonde psychopath.”

“She’s not a psychopath,” said Holly.

“Isn’t she? I told you how she killed that Kro’Tenk captain back in the library. She’s dangerous.”

“It’s just the way she is,” said Holly. “It was self defence.”

“Just keep telling yourself that, Hols.”

“Please, Roxy, let’s not argue.”

Roxy smiled and then relaxed. “I’m sorry. I’m just…I’m going to miss you.”

Holly took her hand and squeezed it tightly. “We’ll always be friends, you soppy sod.”

“Of course we will,” said Roxy. And then the two friends gave each other a hug.

In the years to come Roxy found out that Carole Smith was actually only a toddler when she had died in 1963. She had missed out on so much of the world. Of the twentieth century. But she also wondered if there was another alternate reality out there somewhere were Carole Smith was still living her life as an OAP, being with some grandchildren maybe and reflecting on a life filled with love and hope.

Somehow this comforted her.

“Do you love her?” asked Roxy to Holly as the sun began to set over the cemetery.

Holly didn’t answer. She felt her chest tighten.

“Come on, it’s a simple question. Do you love her?”

Holly turned to Roxy and just smiled.




Sixty miles away Richard Hicks sat in the passenger seat of a UNIT:X Landrover as he watched his wife and two children in a nearby children’s playground. He smiled sadly as he watched his wife try and round their kids up, both of them refusing to obey, instead wanting another five minutes on the slide.

And then he saw the tall, dark-skinned man sat on the bench next to her, his arm almost draped over her shoulder, but not quite.

Sat next to him in the drivers seat was Faith Crossland. She looked at him and exhaled. “His name is Toby Gilchrist.”

Richard nodded. “She moved on.”

“Don’t blame her,” said Faith. “She’s not over you. Not by any stretch of the imagination. She met him at a centre for people who have recently lost loved ones. They aren’t together, but she needs his friendship right now.”

“To help her get over me,” said Richard flatly.

“We can organise you being reintroduced to her,” said Faith. “What Stark did was wrong, but I can arrange for it to be put right.”

“No,” said Richard quickly.

“No?”

“I need time to process it. To process everything that happened to me.”

“But the longer you leave it the closer they may become. You may find it hard to come back from the dead.”

“I just need time,” said Richard. “I don’t know who I am anymore.” He looked at his hand as he clenched and unclenched his fist. “Can you take me back to the Doctor now?”

Faith nodded. “Doctor it is.”




Lilly stood in the large, ornate, Victorian-esque TARDIS shower. She’d showered a number of times since the final battle in the town centre, but somewhere - somehow - she could still see the blue blood smeared all over her face.

She turned the shower on and began scrubbing again as hard as she could. She felt sick to the stomach with what she had done. Holly had been understanding, but she didn’t want to understand it. She didn’t want this anger anymore.

And somewhere she could hear her father’s laugh - the Masters laugh - echoing around her skull.

And she scrubbed.

And she scrubbed.

And she cried.

And she scrubbed.




Stark swirled his ice cube around his whiskey glass and then took a swig of it. He nodded to Bambera. “Sure you won’t have one, Winifred?”

“No thank you, Roger,” she said. “I’m looking forward to going back home.”

The Doctor turned and smiled at her. “Are you sure you don’t need my help to round up the rest of the Kro’Tenk?”

“We’re fine, Doctor,” Bambera managed a smile. She had met the Doctor a few times before, but this incarnation of him was much quieter, much more subdued. He calmed her as well. “It’s good to see you again.”

“You too, Winifred,” smiled the Doctor.

“You’ll have to drop in on myself and Ancelyn sometime,” she said as she got up from the desk.

“You can count on it,” said the Doctor.

Bambera smiled again and then saluted him. The Doctor responded with his own, more casual salute and then nodded. “As you were.”

Bambera turned to Stark, gave him a curt nod, and then made her way out of the office.

“All’s well that ends well,” said Stark, after the door had shut.

“How’s your bruise?” asked the Doctor, pointing to the purple side of Stark’s face.

“I should have him locked away,” said Stark, angrily.

“You had him killed,” said the Doctor, quickly. “Well, you know what I mean.”

“Indeed I did,” said Stark. “Ah, I suppose I should let the chap off.”

“Did your UNIT bods get a chance to look at Aldridge’s TARDIS. It won’t open for me. I’ve put enough power into it to light it up like a Christmas tree, but it won’t activate.”

“Afraid not,” said Stark. “I had the others do some tests, but it’s beyond them.”

“But not beyond you, Roger,” said the Doctor. He leaned back in the chair. “Oh well, I’ll take it away with me then. See what I can do.”

“You do that, old boy,” smiled Stark.

The Doctor got up to go and then turned back. “I suspect we’ll see each other again.”

“Oh, naturally,” smiled Stark.

The Doctor held his hand up to give him a mock wave and then turned to exit.

“And for god sake, man,” continued Stark, “Stop thinking about Jacarthia. That place is finished. We can’t change it now. Not after all this time.”

The Doctor turned back to him and then turned to leave once more.




The TARDIS was sat on the same hill it had stood on in the other dimension when Bessie pulled up with Faith, Richard, the Doctor and Holly inside her.

Lilly was waiting by the TARDIS with the doors open, the wind gently whipping at her blonde hair. She was eager to get away and she smiled when she saw Holly.

Faith helped Richard out of the car and handed him a holdall.

“Are you sure about this?” she asked him.

“Absolutely sure,” said Richard.

“What’s going on?” asked Lilly, frowning at Richard.

“I’ve asked Richard to come along with us,” said the Doctor, taking his holdall. “To help him clear his head and sort himself out.”

“Thanks again, Doc.”

“Don’t mention it, Mr Hicks.”

“Just call me Richard, eh?”

“Is this wise?” asked Lilly.

“It worked out with me,” said Holly, flashing her a smile.

“He’s not my type though,” said Lilly, flashing Richard a dark look.

“Richard is a guest,” said the Doctor. “I’ll show you around.”

“Wait,” said Faith, walking up to the Doctor. “I never got a chance to say thank you.”

“For what?” asked the Doctor, as Richard hovered near the entrance to the TARDIS.

“For saving us. For stopping us from using Oliver’s bloody satellite dish weapony thing.”

“Don’t mention it, Mrs Crossland.”

Faith leant in and gave him a kiss on his cheek. “If you ever get fed up when the twenty-something lovers and lost middle-aged men have all left you, you know where I am, hey?”

The Doctor smiled. “Your seat’s already reserved, Mrs Crossland.”

She laughed.

“Take care of Bessie as well. I’ll be needing her next time I look in on you and Mr Stark.”

“Will do, sir,” said Faith, saluting him. And then she turned to go. As she got into the drivers seat of Bessie, Faith took out her phone and made a phone call. She waited a few moments and then her face broke into a huge grin,

“Hey, sweetheart, it’s Mummy here. I’ve missed you.” She looked at the Doctor as he guided Richard into the TARDIS. “Yeah, I’ve just realised how much this world means to me. How’s Daddy doing?”




Holly waited until Richard and the Doctor had disappeared into the TARDIS and then turned to Lilly.

“You okay with this?” said Lilly, thumbing back towards the police box.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Holly. “None of it matters. Only here and now. And you.”

Lilly narrowed her and eyes and looked a little bemused. “Beg your pardon, Dangerfield?”

“All that matters is you.” She took Lilly’s hands and looked at her deep, green eyes. “Do you get it?”

Lilly nodded. “Yeah, but, what about Roxy and your family and all the-”

Holly put a finger to her lips. “All that matters is you.”

Lilly didn’t blink as Holly leaned in and kissed her on the lips. For a moment the universe stood still. They could have had an army of Cybermen flying over their heads, yet neither would have noticed. After what seemed like a blissful eternity Holly broke free.

“Do you get it yet?” she asked again

Lilly nodded as she continued to look at Holly. “Yeah, Dangerfield, I get it.”




The Beginning