〖 〗

, the Time Lord will emerge." Jeremy sighed. Valarie felt Timothy wiggling in her grasp.

"What are you doing?" She whispered as he fished in his coat pocket. Much to her surprise he drew out a fob watch. The fob watch. Timothy had been the one who had it the entire time. He looked at it and the family. He popped it open. A pale, glowing orange light came from the watch and it made a terribly odd sound. The family, clearly hearing the noise that they were so desperately chasing, looked around in confusion. Martha, taking the chance grabbed Jenny and managed to free herself from her. She flipped their situation, now holding Jenny by the neck and pointing the gun at Jeremy. Timothy shut the watch and it stopped just as soon as it had started.

"Alright, one more move and I shoot." Martha threatened.

"Oh, the maid is full of fire!" He teased.

"And you can shut up!" She yelled before firing a warning shot into the ceiling.

"Careful, son of mine." Clark warned. "She is all that stands between you and living forever."

"Shoot you down then?" He aimed his gun at Martha and Jenny.

"Try it." She growled.

"Are you sure you can pull the trigger? You look scared."

"Scared and holding a gun. Doesn't sound a good combination. Wanna risk it?" The two stayed silent. Finally, the family caved and lowered their weapons. They shoved Joan back to John.

"Get everyone out of here." Martha commanded to them. When no one moved she boomed a "Now!" People began to scramble. Valarie pushed Timothy towards Joan and John.

"You stay with them okay?"

"But-"

"That wasn't an optional thing. Go!" She told him, caring deeply for his safety but also for the fob watch he harbored in his pocket. As the room emptied She came to Martha's side.

"Val, go." Martha warned.

"Martha, you know I won't-" Martha fired a second warning shot into the ceiling before repeating herself. Hesitant, Valarie left the room with haste. Outside everyone regathered with each other. Not long after she had left the room Martha came running out. Valarie now searched the crowd for Timothy only to see his small frame vanishing into the fog as he ran.

"Martha I have to go get Timothy."

"I'm sure he will be-""

"He has the fob watch." She told her as she broke from the group into a sprint down the foggy, dark path after him. She cried his name as she chased him, adrenaline filling every part of her body. Here she was, a maid in nineteen-thirteen, wearing an elegant nightgown while chasing a schoolboy in a suit down because the fob watch he harbored carried everything the man she loved was was in it. If under any other context this had happened, she would have believed she was going mad.

He would not even glance at her as he ran. Falling over her gown she lost him as he entered the school building. She peeled herself from the mud groaning loudly as it now weighed on the front of her gown and was in parts of her hair and on her neck and cheeks. She grabbed parts of the dress in fists to keep it from her feet as she entered the building. Inside the building boys bustled, carrying the guns they had used for practice. Some as young as ten wielding rifles.

Oh god, she thought. They are sending these boys to war.

The boys took positions outside, Valarie glancing. The one commanding them was John. It made a knot form in her stomach; she knew the Doctor would be absolutely sick at the notation of sending children to war.

She climbed the floors of the school.She could hear footsteps running but who was to say if it was him or not. She eventually paused by a wall, out of breath and tired.

She began to weep against it. Crying in complete silence for if she made a sound the family could hear, even cupping a hand over her mouth. Her hands smelt of the wet earth and dust from the building. Then a noise. The same one that the watch had emitted when Timothy opened it. She looked towards the rooms in the hall. A light shined from under a door. She began to scramble against the wall for it, her knees terribly tired. She opened it and to a speck of relief Timothy stood. He held the watch towards the ceiling. He looked to her as she barrelled at him, reaching above for it as the two fumbled for the watch.

"Give it to me!" She whispered. Timothy fought her.

"No!" They tumbled over one another.

It landed in his hands and he clutched it to his chest.

"Timothy, please."

"How do I know you won't do what they will?" He asked, fear evident in his eyes. She sighed. He was so, so, scared.

"Because the Doctor is a special man. Much more special then you could imagine. And everything he is in there. Please, we need him." She pleaded. "I need him." She was too out of breath to muster anymore words.

Footsteps echoed in the halls. Both heads swiveled towards the door. Valarie moved into action, scooping him up again and dragging his wiggling body towards a closet. She shut them in, clamping a hand over his mouth and another over the fist that contained the watch. They both stood in silence as they heard the family briefly come in, smell the air and the move on to another room. She removed her hand, allowing him to breath.

"I'll go with you." He whispered, out of breath.

"What?"

"I will go with you."

"What made you change now?" She whispered in annoyance.

"Because," he showed her the sealed watch again, "he speaks to me from here. He told me 'trust her. Go with her to the cottage in the woods.'"

Valarie sighed in relief. Even entrapped in a watch, the Doctor was helping her.

--

Timothy knocked at the door. The cottage they had been instructed to was the one the TARDIS had been concealed within. The door was sealed. With a groan of the wood it opened. To Martha he presented the watch. Her eyes went between it and Timothy's face, and then up to Valarie who gripped his shoulder. She looked filthy and tired. Martha wasn't sure what had happened since she had seen her last, but in that moment she did not care. There was the thing they needed. She pulled the two in and sealed the door again. In turn she presented it to John.

"Please, just hold it." She begged.

"It told me to find you. It wants to be held." Timothy added on.

"You had it this whole time? Why didn't you return it?" Joan asked. John stared at it in a mixture of fear and disgust. Here he was, being asked to erase who he was entirely and become someone anew.

"Because it was waiting. He was waiting."

"Why waiting?" Joan pondered further.

"I've seen him." Timothy continued."He is like fire, and ice, and rage. Like the night and the storm in the heart of the sun."

"Stop it." John whispered.

"He in ancient and forever. He has burned at the center of time and can see the turn of the universe."

"Stop it!" He commanded.

"And, he is wonderful."

The earth shook. Outside fireballs struck the ground with great force. The family had launched a large scale attack. They were growing very impatient. John, upon seeing this, took the watch from Timothy and finally held it.

"He, he's sleeping." He mumbled.

"Then how could he speak to me?"

John drew a deep breath.

"Oh, well low level telepathy really but quite remarkable for a human but you were most likely just born with it." With another deep breath John came to, not understanding what words he spoke. For a second, there was the Doctor again. So close to the surface but the barrier of the watch held him from fulling emerging. John looked petrified.

"Is that how he talks?" He asked, voice shaking.

"That was him." Valarie sighed, dirty face begging. "Open it and he is back."

"And you two knew?" he asked of the two. "Why would you know I will have to leave and die and allow me to do this? To fall in love with her?" He asked as Joan now dug through a journal. It was the journal containing John Smith's dreams.

"He didn't think of that happening." Valarie explained as they drew closer.

"He didn't think of that? What sort of man is that? What sort of man doesn't think he will fall in love?" He asked. The words did leave a sting in Valarie's chest.

"So I am just supposed to die when he wants me to? You two are my executioners?" he asked on the verge of tears.

"You don't understand, you have never met him." Martha explained.

"He is everything," Valarie inputted, "He is everything to this universe. He is everything to me and he doesn't even look at me twice but I absolutely love him to pieces. And I pray he can't hear me in there now." She confessed into the open, allowing her feelings to override. She felt no relief in confessing to John. John looked at the watch closely before stepping back from them and holding the watch out. "And they want to consume what he is. The family needs his energy to survive or they will die in three months. Like mayflies. Their clock is close to midnight, John."

"What if I just give it to them? They can have him and I can continue to live." He bargained.

"Because then it ends in destruction." Joan joined in. "I never read your journal to the end. You give him up, they become immortal and breed and bring destruction not just to Earth but across the stars. Martha, Valarie, Timothy, would you leave us alone please?" The three looked among each other. With hesitance they departed the two lovers to make a dreadful choice. And while Valarie felt deep envy for Joan, she understood her. And in a way, she understood John or loving her.

After some time John emerged from the cabin, full speed running. He paused to gaze upon those waiting, his face still contorted in that sadness and fear. He then turned and ran towards the source of the fireballs, the danger itself. Valarie and Martha looked to one another, scared John had just slipped by the give the Doctor who.

Joan emerged, her face wet with tears.

"He, he did it. John did it." She whimpered. The two girls offered her arms to fall into and she did, crying into them as they held the grieving woman. She had just lost the love of her life.

--

The chaos stopped and he returned. His hands were shoved in his coat pockets as he approached them.

"Is it done?" Martha asked. He only smiled. She cheered and raced to hug him tightly having missed him so much. They stayed embraced for so long before she finally let go. He then looked to Valarie who stayed seated and played with the fabric of her dress. He approached, opening his arms wide for an embrace. She rose as if she was going to take it before stepping away.

"No, I can't." She weakly explained. "My gown, it's filthy. Look." She showed the gown in all of its dirty glory. "Even my face. I'll get it on you." She explained, motioning to the dirt on her nose, cheeks and chin.

The Doctor frowned, deep within his mind racking the abnormality in her behavior towards him. Perhaps John had offended her deeply, he had no way of knowing nor remembering. He looked down into his coats pockets and dug before pulling a black handkerchief. He unfolded it and cupped a hand under her chin, holding her face in place gently. He raised it and began to gently wipe at the dried mud on her cheeks and nose. He noticed her face transition from a tired pale to a deep red, the flesh of her cheek under his thumb becoming hot to the touch. She looked like she was going to cry. She shook the look off swiftly and grabbed at his arms gently.

"Oh, what are you my mum? Cleaning me up and such?"She smiled.

"No, if I were your mum I'd do this." He took a clean end of the handkerchief and licked it, before trying to press it to her skin. She squealed trying to push it back. The two laughed.

She then practically lunged to hug him and buried her face in his chest, unbeknownst to him to hide the sadness that was on her face. While she was happy he was back, seeing him made a cord snap within her and all those bad emotions would have to come out before they were gone.

--

The Doctor had wanted to give Joan a private goodbye. Martha and Valarie opted to wait in the TARDIS to get cleaned up and change. Valarie emerged from the corridor back to the console room, toweling at her damp her. For once, she smelt of her floral perfume again rather then outside and dust. Martha looked to her.

"Hope I never have to see that blasted thing again." She sighed.

"Well, with him you never know." Martha retorted "Come on, lets go see if he is on the way back now."

The two opened the wooden door, the smell of wet earth and grass after a rain flooding their senses as they stepped into the damp air. Marching up the hill came the Doctor, having also changed back into his typically clothing.

"Right then, molto bene." He greeted.

"How was she?" Martha asked. His eyes refused to meet theirs.

"Time we moved on."

"If you want me and Val can-"

"Time we moved on." He restated, insinuating nothing they could say would help Joan heal. The only thing that could heal her would be time. Valarie couldn't help but feel deep sympathy for her. Joan was a widow before they arrived. Now two of her lovers had died in a sense.

"You know, back there, I would have said anything to get you to change." Valarie injected. What she had boldly stated was still stuck in her mind and now that she was aware he had heard her she was all the more mordified.

"Oh! Yeah, of course you would, yeah." He replied awkwardly. She felt that, and continued to try and ensure him of the lie.

"I wasn't really-"

"Oh no, no." He reassured her he took no deeper meaning in her plea. Valarie sighed, looking him over and wondering if he really believed her or not.

Something about the idea of him reciprocating was almost completely impossible to her. The Doctor was so much more then she could ever be. It was like a small, red dwarf star being enamored by a massive sun that could swallow its entire galaxy if it willed so. She felt she must have just been but a speck of dust compared to all the wonderful people -human or alien alike- he had come to know.

"Come on. Best we go now." He announced, walking towards the TARDIS.

Over the hill came a small body. Timothy climbed the hill towards them to give a final goodbye.

"Tim, Timothy, timber." The Doctor greeted with a smile.

"I just wanted to say goodbye. And thank you. Because I've seen the future and I know what's coming. It's coming, isn't it? The biggest war that's ever happened?" He spoke in reference of World War One, which begin in only a years time.

"You don't have to fight." Martha sympathized.

"But I think we do."

"You could get hurt." Valarie sighed, hoping that if she gets to the future if she looks for Timothy he is either alive and old, or died happy and old.

"But so could you two. But me saying that won't stop you from traveling with him, will if?" He asked. The two fell silent knowing he had finally figured them out. The Doctor stepped forward and presented him with the fob watch.

"I can't hear anything." Timothy informed him.

"I know, it's just a normal watch now. But keep it for good luck." He placed it in his hands and shook them. Martha hugged Timothy tightly.

"Oh, be careful out there." She finally let go after a long embrace. Valarie hugged him as well.

"Please let me get home and find out your still kicking. Oh!" She pulled back, still grasping his shoulders. "October eighth, 1987. Look me up then." She smiled. Timothy looked at her as he thought before it clicked.

"You are born seventy-four years from now?" She only smiled as they stepped back, waved a final farewell and stepped in the TARDIS.

And somewhere, deep down, without the Doctor having to tell or show her, she knew Timothy would make it. He would be alright.

They all would be alright.

——

I want to thank you all deeply for the love you've shown this far and the kind words :,) I also have another story in the works so I'm kinda just on a roll lol :)