Caroline and the Doctor walked over to Danny.
Caroline put a hand on his shoulder. “How do you feel?”
“Relaxed,” smiled Danny, “but tired.”
“Well done, young man,” said the Doctor, patting Danny on the shoulder. “You beat them.”
Danny laughed as he crossed over to the wall and sat down. “I still don’t quite know how.”
“When that Apparite was inside you, it was there physically as well. Even though it was gone it left some of it’s power there. You were, essentially, partly turned into one of them.”
“And what about you?” asked Caroline, looking suspiciously at the Doctor.
“I’m not from this planet,” he smiled. “I suppose they didn’t have the same effect on me.”
There was a huge crack of thunder and the heavens opened up. Rain pelted down on the snow and started to melt it away. The three of them ran and took shelter in one of the church doorways.
“The snow will melt now,” said the Doctor, looking up at the rain clouds in the dark night sky. “The weather will return to normal.”
Caroline shook her head. “I still don’t quite understand. I mean we never knew what they wanted with me or why they looked like ghosts.” She thought for a moment. “We don’t even know where they came from and where are they now!”
The Doctor put his hands in his pockets and sighed. “I wish I could answer all of your questions, Miss Parker, but I’m afraid until we come up against our cloaked friends again we won’t know any answers.”
“Brilliant,” said Caroline. “So if I want answers we have to meet them again?”
“I’m afraid so. And I’m afraid that that won’t be the last we see of them. They’ll be back. Remember that although the crack is closed, they can still fade across from time to time. They’ll never be fully gone.”
Danny, who had been keeping quiet decided to speak. “There’s one thing you two are not spotting here.”
“And what’s that?” asked the Doctor, looking around him.
“Where did those other two people go?”
Danny was right. During the chaos of the last few minutes, Margot and Ben had disappeared.
Danny and Caroline were sitting in the church, trying to dry off when the Doctor emerged from the doorway that led to the crypt.
“Any luck?” asked Caroline.
“Unfortunately not,” said the Doctor. “They’ve vanished. No sign of them at all.”
“Great! So more unanswered questions,” grumbled Caroline. “I’m starting to feel like we’re in an episode of Lost!”
The Doctor laughed. “Wait until you see the film.”
“So what are we going to do about them?” asked Danny.
“They clearly knew more than they were letting on,” said Caroline. “Like, loads more.”
The Doctor sat down, looking visibly frustrated. “I don’t like to be kept in the dark, but I promise we’ll find the answers out eventually. Which leads me onto the next item on the agenda.”
Caroline stood up and held out her hands. “Oh, no, no, no. I’ve already told you that I’m not going with you.”
“You have to,” said the Doctor. “The ghosts clearly had an interest in you and the only way for you to get answers is to come with me. You too, Danny.”
“Me?” said Danny, looking confused.
“Yes, you,” said the Doctor. “You’ve had one of them in your head. I need to make sure you’re in the clear with that one.”
“You mean it could still be in there?” Danny looked concerned.
“No, but those powers might be. I need you both where I can see you. Where I can keep track and try and help you.”
“I’m not going,” said Caroline bluntly.
“Why not? Are you scared?”
“Don’t be stupid,” spat Caroline. “I just…believe in getting on with real life.”
“Caroline, I’m not saying that you have to abandon your world completely, but you could at least give it a go. See how you feel.”
“No,” she said again, arms folded and her back to the Doctor.
“Pretend it’s a holiday. You can come away, we can investigate you and then I can get you back here.” He paused. “To your supermarket.”
She whirled around and looked him in the eye. “It’s not that bad.”
“It is,” he said quickly. “You know you don’t want to be there.”
“I’ve already said I’m gonna leave anyway. I’ll find a new job. Pursue a career.”
“Or travel in time with me,” said the Doctor quietly.
Caroline sighed. “And space, I suppose?”
“New planets,” grinned the Doctor. “Aliens. Monsters. Robots. Lovely stuff.”
She looked down at him. He refused to stop grinning.
“Well?” he asked, still grinning.
“I’m gonna regret this,” she said, resigning herself to the fact that she had no way out of this. “But only if Danny goes,” she added quickly.
“I’m game,” said Danny. “As long as you get me back for Christmas day. I’ve still got my family to see, you know?”
“Excellent!” said the Doctor, jumping up and clapping his hands together. “Let’s get going then.”
“What about the town. Won’t people ask questions? There are buildings in bits all over the town centre.”
“They’ll blame it on the weather,” said the Doctor quietly. “Humans always find ordinary explanations for extra-ordinary situations. The town will rebuild and start again.”
“And this time travelling thing?” asked Danny.
“Yes,” said the Doctor, opening the door to the outside.
“Do we need passports?”
Down in the crypt of the church the room that had been empty all of this time was suddenly a hive of activity. All around the room people sat at banks of computers, monitoring readouts and typing in figures onto keyboards. Amongst the dozen or so people stood Ben and Margot. They were deep in conversation with a striking strawberry-blonde haired woman who looked to be in her early thirties. She wore jeans and a black, leather jacket and had her eyes folded. She looked tired, but she listened intently to Margot and Ben.
“It’s a miracle the Time Lord didn’t find us,” said the strawberry-blonde woman with an American accent.
“Blame Ben,” said Margot.
“I won’t blame him,” said the woman calmly, “but we do need to be much more careful in the future. Do you hear me, Ben?”
Ben looked down at the ground. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t want all of our work to be undone just because we wanted to see if that Doctor could cope.”
“The ghosts are our concern,” said the woman. “If things hadn’t worked out, I would have stepped in. You know that, Ben.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
The woman smiled. “Go put your gear back on. You’ve got a sermon to give in the morning,” she said, nodding her head towards the vicars outfit he had worn earlier on.
“What about me?” asked Margot.
“Back to station 5,” said the woman. “We’ve got to monitor any more escapes.” She sighed. “Maybe one day this will all be over.”
“Maybe the Doctor can help us,” said Margot.
“Maybe. One day. He couldn’t this time. I so wanted him to fix this thing for good, but until then I’m determined to deal with this ourselves. We caused the problem and we’ll deal with it.”
Margot nodded. “You’re doing the best you can, Jayne.”
The woman - Jayne - smiled. “Thank you. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
Jayne left the room and made her way into an ante-chamber. She looked at her hands which glowed an orange colour. She looked to be in some distress and started shaking as her hands glowed brighter and brighter. Then, as soon as they had started, the glowing stopped.
Jayne closed her eyes and smiled. It wasn’t over yet.
1982
A couple sat in their living room. In the woman’s hands was a baby. It was still and silent, sleeping peacefully.
“What shall we call her, Tony?” asked the woman with the long, dark hair.
“Does it matter?” asked Tony, glumly.
“Of course it matters,” said the woman. “She’s ours.”
Tony gave a slight chuckle. “Call her what you like, Cath.”
Cath looked down at the baby. “How about Caroline?”
“That’ll do,” said Tony, getting up and crossing over to the TV. The Big Match was on. He went back to the armchair and sat down.
“You’ll learn to love her,” said Cath. “You’ll soon realise how important she is.”
Tony looked at Cath and then at the baby. “She’ll be nothing but trouble. You heard what they said: keep her safe. One day bad people will come for her. Are you sure you want to get involved in that?”
Cath smiled and looked down at the baby. “What could anyone possibly want with her? She’s just a baby.”
“Just a baby,” repeated Tony. “I wish.”
Cath looked at Tony with a sad face and then back down at the baby. “Poor little Caroline.”
The End
Next Time: Children of the Universe
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