━━━━━∙⋆⋅⋆∙━━━━━
THE DEATH OF THE
DOCTOR
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A WEEK HAD PASSED SINCE HOLLIE HAD SPOKEN TO AMY ABOUT HER TROUBLES WITH THE DOCTOR. Since Amy and Rory left for their next honeymoon adventure, Hollie had kept to herself. She felt drained from her efforts with the Doctor, as if she were merely the current girlfriend, while her past self loomed like the ex he couldn't move on from. It weighed on her, so she decided to step back, giving him space to do whatever he wanted.

By now, she wasn't overly bothered by it. Instead, she spent her time drifting between her art room, the library, the kitchen, and the observation room.

She had lost count of how many days had passed since she last spoke a word to him. At first, she guessed four, then reconsidered and settled on three—for now. Then, her mind drifted further back, wondering just how long it had been since they were at the Pandorica, since she had regenerated. Days and weeks blurred together. It had been too long, far too long. Three months? Hell maybe it had been longer? However long it was the Doctor was still in denial and unable to move past the fact that she had changed.

Her thoughts returned to the present, recalling how many days had passed since they last exchanged words longer than a single sentence. Her mind wandered as the Time Lord sat beside her, tinkering with the machine under the red planet's sky—the red planet he had gotten them stuck on. Suddenly, with all the time in the world to speak to him, she found she couldn't muster a single word.

And so she sat in silence beside him, staring straight ahead, her brow slightly furrowed while the Doctor worked on the device he'd fashioned from space junk—something she knew he'd tell her off for calling just that. He'd be offended if she referred to it as junk; it was such a him thing to do.

She thought back to how they found themselves on the planet. They had fallen into a trap set by the Shansheeth, large bird beaked almost ostrich like birds that wanted to steal the TARDIS, something about 'the wasteland of the crimson heart'—an old battlefield apparently waiting to be explored.

The answer was five. It suddenly popped into her head. Five days since she had last spoken to the tweed-wearing Time Lord until he broke the silence as if it was nothing.

He had rushed into her art room, almost scaring her and ruining the careful artwork she had been crafting. It was the TARDIS—obviously. The blue box in the middle of 'Sardicktown'. Snow surrounded it, falling to the ground, resting peacefully on top of the box. For a box so out of place, it looked so right to her, so beautiful.

It was very Doctor-like for him to suddenly want to spend time with her again, as if he had remembered she was on the vast spaceship with him. He was practically begging her to explore an old battlefield, and of course, Hollie being Hollie, couldn't say no when he gave her those big green, energetic eyes of his.

It was sickening.

What made her feel even more sick was the text she received from Amy minutes after the TARDIS had been taken by the Shansheeth. Apparently, the Doctor was dead?—which was odd because he was right beside her and very much alive.

Unless he was an alien. She quickly shook her head at that thought, he already was an alien, but, what if he was a shapeshifting alien and someone had actually killed the Doctor.

So much for her being his rescuer if that had happened.

But he obviously wasn't dead or a shapeshifter, no one could pretend to be him that well, especially when he turned to her with his eyes full of sadness a few hours after he started to make the device to somehow get them back on Earth. He probably didn't even realise he looked so sad but she could see it.

Hollie could always see it, she wasn't stupid, she spent enough time looking into that ridiculous mans eyes.

Hollie was deep in her thoughts regarding the whole matter of his stupidly green eyes before she blinked when she noticed that the Doctor, who had been working on the device to get them off the planet disappeared, a teenager in his place, the machine the Doctor had been working on began to let out deep beeping noises.

"Doctor!" The young teenage boy exclaimed, his eyes wide as they frantically scanned the very red planet he now found himself on.

"Woah." Hollie quickly stood up, standing beside him. She placed a hand on his shoulder, she had no idea where he came from but he was terrified. "It's okay. You're good."

The boy blinked at her. "Who are you?"

"Hollie Aria." She greeted. "Don't worry we'll be fine." She reassured before muttering: "I hope." She forced a smile to try and reassure him. "Now what's your name?"

"Clyde Langer." He answered.

"Nice to meet you Clyde." She nodded and then gave the machine a thoughtful look, frowning at it. "Why are you suddenly beeping..."

"Sounds like a countdown." Clyde muttered, eyeing it.

Hollie blinked as the teenager suddenly disappeared, replaced with the Doctor on the ground with a pained expression on his face while his breathing was ragged and sharp. "Doctor!" She darted to him on the ground, looking over him worryingly. "What happened?"

The Doctor waved her away, jumping up quickly and rushing over to the device. "Come on, come on." He muttered, shaking it briefly.

Hollie groaned as the Doctor was suddenly replaced again with Clyde. "Oh come on!" She huffed as Clyde also complained:

"No, no, no! Don't slow down. Take me back."

"Can it be my go next?" The blonde grumbled and looked up a the suns in the sky, using her hand to shield her eyes. "I think the suns are starting to burn me."

"Take me back!" Clyde begged again, hitting the machine lightly.

Hollie turned to him. "That will probably make it worse." She remarked, the machine was still beeping and Hollie walked around it thoughtfully. "Now what would the Doctor do..."

Suddenly, as if the Gods above were answering her question the Doctor along with two older women appeared, one a brunette who looked to be in her late 50s, early 60s. The other woman had light blonde hair and only looked a year or two older than the brunette.

"Okay, I didn't expect three people that time." Hollie hummed.

The Doctor looked as the machine started to beep loudly again and he rushed over to it. "No, no, no, no. Let's get you working properly. Stop." He huffed.

The brunette looked around while her body stayed frozen in place. "Where are we?"

"The Wasteland of the Crimson Heart." The Doctor announced, standing up and pointing behind him. "Planet Earth's that way. Bit of a long walk." He remarked and held his hand out to the brunette. "Sonic, please."

She handed it over, the other woman slowly turned around and took in the sight of the red planet behind them, the multiple suns shinning in the sky as the smoke from the old battlefield rose.

Hollie watched the other woman turn around at the gasp. "It's so many years since I was on another planet."

"Me too." The brunette announced.

Hollie smiled, looking between them. "Miss it?"

The older blonde nodded. "All the time."

And the brunette frowned at the young blonde woman. "Sorry, I haven't asked, who are you?"

"Hollie Aria. She's with me." The Doctor answered, not even turning away from the device to look at them as he waved a hand in their direction. "Hollie this is Sarah Jane Smith and Jo Grant. They both used to travel with me."

Hollie pointed at them both, smiling. "Which face?"

"Three" Jo answered.

"Mainly Four, Sarah Jane added, "but I met Ten a few times."

The Doctor rolled his eyes and huffed slightly and tore his attention from the device to their direction. "Do you have to Hollie? I am a bit busy."

She shrugged. "It's not every day I get to meet your past companions." She defended before turning back to them. "What was he like?"

Sarah Jane smiled. "He was wonderful, Four had curly hair and a long scarf that got caught in everything and was always so unpredictable. He had this way about him. You'd think he wasn't paying attention, but really, he saw everything."

"He was wonderful." Jo smiled. "He was so theatrical and a velvet jacket and a cape!" She smiled brightly.

"He hasn't lost his dramatics then." Hollie smirked slightly.

"Do we really have to reminisce right now?"

"Just reminiscing about the chaos you always leave behind." She shrugged casually.

"You'd think I was the problem here." He rolled his eyes.

"You are the problem Doctor. We're stuck here because they want you dead!"

"Oi!" The Doctor huffed at her, narrowing his eyes briefly. "I can't help it, that's not my fault."

"Sure it's not." She rolled her eyes at him.

He shook his head and gave the device his full attention again. "Hopefully this shouldn't take long."

Hollie shrugged and perched herself on a nearby rock while Jo found one slightly further away and looked at the Doctor in wonder as he worked. Sarah Jane knelt beside him with her sonic lipstick. "Did it hurt?" Sarah Jane asked softly. The Doctor looked at her for a moment. "I mean, the regeneration. That last body of yours, was he okay in the end?"

Hollie looked at the Doctor, she didn't have to meet his eyes to answer that question, she knew from her own experience and while she hadn't thought much about how it felt for herself at the time she knew it did. They were just so busy fixing the universe she didn't even pay attention to it.

"It always hurts." The Doctor replied softly before pointing at something else that needed Sarah Janes sonic lipstick. "And there."

She nodded, using the device before asking another question. "So how did you two end up in this place?"

"Yeah Doctor," Hollie gave him a pointed look, she crossed her arms at him, "how did we end up here?", Sarah Jane and the Doctor turned to look at her.

The Doctor huffed slightly at her tone. "The Shansheeth lured me. A mighty old battlefield, just begging to be explored." He shrugged. "Because I'm travelling with Amy and Rory, now." He explained nodding at Hollie for a brief moment. "They got married and Hollie's their best friend. We dropped them off at a honeymoon planet, which isn't what you'd think. It's not a planet for honeymoons, it's a planet on a honeymoon. It married an asteroid. Then they nicked the TARDIS. The Shansheeth, not Amy and er..." He trailed off. "Fortunately, I had all this wreckage to build a space swapping doo-dah thingummy wotsit."

"Nice name." Hollie snorted.

"The naming isn't important Hollie." The Doctor grumbled slightly, he couldn't help but crack a small slight smile though.

"So, you've a married couple in the TARDIS." Jo pointed out.

The Doctor nodded. "Mister and Mrs Pond."

"I only left you because I got married." Jo looked at him. "Did you think I was stupid?"

The Doctor stopped working on the machine in front of him, turning to face Jo properly now, a frown creased his forehead.

"Why do you say that?"

"I was a bit dumb." The older woman muttered with a sigh. "Still am, I suppose."

He straightened and walked away from the device he had been fixing, his hands finding themselves in his pockets as he walked towards her. "Now what in the world would make you think that, ever, ever, ever?"

She shrugged as the Doctor came to rest on a small rock beside her. "We'd been travelling down the Amazon for months, and we reached a village in Cristalino, and it was the only place in thousands of miles that had a telephone, so I called you. I just wanted to say hello. And they told me that you'd left, left UNIT, never came back." Hollie watched Jo as she spoke, a small frown on her face. Her eyes flickered to the Doctor briefly. "So I waited and waited, because you said you'd see me again. You did, I asked you and you said yes. You promised. So I thought, one day, I'd hear that sound, Deep in the jungle, I'd hear that funny wheezing noise, and a big blue box right in the middle of the rainforest. You see, he wouldn't just leave. Not forever. Not me. I've waited my whole silly life."

Thoughts suddenly swirled in Hollies mind, would he do that to her eventually? Once he's truly had enough of being reminded of her dead previous self, would he just drop her off back in Leadworth like it was nothing? Like nothing that they had been through mattered? Like he didn't care for her?

Worry bubbled up inside her at the idea, she didn't have anywhere else to go, other than the TARDIS. Amy and Rory weren't going to live in Leadworth anymore, she knew that much and Hollie couldn't exactly keep living with her best friends parents, that would be weird.

She really had nowhere to call home now.

Hollie was pulled out of her thoughts as the Doctor chuckled softly while shaking his head at Jo. "But you're an idiot."

"Well, there we have it." Jo chuckled herself almost sadly.

"No, but don't you see?" The Doctor questioned with a small smile. "How could I ever find you? You've spent the past forty years living in huts, climbing up trees, tearing down barricades. You've done everything from flying kites on Kilimanjaro to sailing down the Yangtze in a tea chest. Not even the TARDIS could pin you down."

Jo frowned at him as it all clicked together and she pointed at him. "Hold on. I did sail down the Yangtze in a tea chest. How did you know?"

"And that family." He hummed thoughtfully. "All seven kids, twelve grandchildren, thirteenth on his way. He's dyslexic but that'll be fine. Great swimmer."

She tilted her head at him, watching him carefully. "So you've been watching me all this time?"

"No." He told her, his smile falling slightly. "Because you're right, I don't look back. I can't. But the last time I was dying, I looked back on all of you. Every single one. And I was so proud."

Hollie studied him for a moment as doubt washed over her again. He really was going to just leave her one day wasn't he?

Jo shook her head smiling. "It really is you, isn't it?"

"Hello." He smiled back at her.

Hollie jumped slightly with the other two when Sarah Jane suddenly blew into a whistle. "Sorry, but we've got that lot back at home with the Shansheeth." She reminded.

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, yes. And I still need you, Jo." He nodded at her and frowned. "Now, that bag of yours, I can smell blackcurrant. Is it buchu oil?"

Jo blinked and dug into her bag, bringing out a small vial while nodding. "Hand-picked in Mozambique."

"Oh, perfect. These circuits need connectivity." He took it from her and poured a few drops onto the device. "Wonderful. Little tiddly drop. That's it." He grinned at them. "What a team."

Hollie sighed to herself from where she sat. Yeah... what a team.

She remained perched on the small rock while the Doctor finished working on the machine, using Sarah Jane's sonic lipstick and Jo's buchu oil. Her fingers absentmindedly tapped against her leg as she watched them.

The Doctor stood back from his work. "There. That should work. Intergalactic molecular streaming, with just a hint of blackcurrant."

"But what'll happen to Clyde?" Sarah Jane asked, concerned.

"No, no, no, I've fixed it." He grinned. "All I needed was you two. Oil and sonic." He linked arms with them. "Now we can go back and Clyde can stay where he is."

Hollie sighed audibly this time as she stood up. "I'll just stay here, I suppose," she muttered, her arms crossing.

The Doctor frowned, puzzled. "Why would you do that?"

"Well, you just needed them, right?" Hollie raised her eyebrows, her tone sharp, eyes fixed on him.

The Doctor untangled his arms from Sarah Jane and Jo and he turned towards her, confusion giving way to exasperation.

"Hollie, that's not what I meant." His voice had an edge, but he softened it, trying to ease the growing tension.

She stepped closer, arms still crossed. "Well, it sure sounded like it." She glanced at the former companions, her lips pressing into a thin line. "You said you just needed them—so where do I come into this?"

The Doctor's face tightened at her question. He took a step towards her and gently reached for her hand. "You come into this in more ways than you know, Hollie."

But she pulled her hand away, her frustration clear. "Really?" She scoffed. "That's all you've got?"

The Doctor sighed, glancing at the machine now beeping more urgently. "This isn't the time. We'll talk about it later."

Hollie rolled her eyes. "Convenient," she muttered, her voice laced with bitterness.

The Doctor's expression hardened, and he shot her a sharp look. "It's not convenient, it's necessary. I do need you, Hollie—you just didn't have the sonic lipstick or the buchu oil."

Hollie swallowed at the firmness in his tone, but said nothing. Her gaze flickered to Sarah Jane and Jo, both of whom remained silent. Sarah Jane, her face softening, offered Hollie a small, knowing smile and held out her arm.

Without a word, Hollie linked arms with the older woman. The four of them disappeared in a flash of light.

When they reappeared Hollie frowned at the very long corridor they were in,

She snapped her head in the direction of Clyde shouting. "Doctor!"

"Maybe leaving Clyde in the same place wasn't such a good idea." The Doctor remarked as he ran over to where the noise was coming from, a large metal grill screwed into the wall.

"Look out, stand back." Sarah Jane pulled out her sonic lipstick and used it to loosen the grill.

"Ah! Ventilation shafts." He remarked, nudging Sarah Jane with his elbow. "That takes me back. Or even forwards." He grinned and climbed inside. Hollie sighed and climbed in after him.

"Hurry up." Clyde screamed. "We're getting boiled alive."

"Hold on." The Doctor shouted down to them. "We're coming."

"Don't worry, Santiago, I'm here." Jo shouted down.

"Doctor!" Sarah Jane suddenly screamed a moment before Hollie heard Jo also cry out. The Doctor stopped ahead of her and looked around, Hollie shuffled as best as she could to give him view of the behind them as she looked around too.

"Jo? Sarah?" He called back.

"They're roasting us!" Clydes voice echoed down.

The Doctor looked behind him before looking forward again. "Sarah... Argh!" He huffed.

Hollie looked back again before she started to slowly move backwards. "I'll go back for them."

"No!" The Doctor suddenly snapped and she blinked. "No, you're not." He added softer and squeezed his eyes shut. "I can't risk you too, Hollie. Not again."

Hollie shook her head, her voice firm. "Doctor, I'll be fine. I'll handle it—you get the kids."

"Hollie!" he snapped, his frustration rising. "Stop! You don't get it—they could kill you!"

"'Could' and 'would' aren't the same thing," she shot back, shuffling backwards faster. "I can handle this. The kids are important, and there's no way you're squeezing past me to get to Sarah Jane and Jo."

The Doctor sighed sharply, hitting the side of the ventilation shaft as he turned. "Great," he muttered under his breath.

Hollie continued, making her way to the end of the shaft. The second she was halfway out, her eyes widened as she felt a pair of large feathered hands grab her roughly from behind.

"Get off me!" she yelled, kicking out as she struggled in the grip of the Shansheeth. "Get your feathers away from me, beaky!"

The Shansheeth held on tight, ignoring her struggles as it dragged her towards Colonel Karim, who strode over with a cruel smile. "Hello, Rescuer," Karim greeted her, her voice dripping with condescension.

Hollie frowned, her attempts to break free slowing as the words sank in. Her eyes flicked between Sarah Jane and Jo, both restrained by other Shansheeth. "Excuse me?" she demanded.

"Don't play games with me," Karim snapped. "Where's your TARDIS key?"

Hollie smiled, then let it turn into a smirk. "Don't have it on me. I'm rubbish at remembering it..." She shrugged, nodding at a corridor. "It's inside. Now you'll never get in there."

Karim's eyes narrowed. "Fine. Take her away. We don't need her anyway—we have these two. Place them in the Memory Weave."

"The what?" Hollie's frown deepened as the Shansheeth began dragging her off. "The memory what?"

Karim didn't even bother to turn around. "The Memory Weave. And it's none of your concern." She waved a hand dismissively. "You're just in the way now."

Hollie gritted her teeth as she was hauled towards a small, nearly empty room. The Shansheeth shoved her into a chair, and as if on cue, another one appeared with thick rope, tying her securely in place.

"You really think this'll hold me?" Hollie scoffed, glaring at the feathered alien. "I've escaped Silurians and survived being shot at by Cybermen... technically," she muttered. "A chair and some rope? Pathetic."

The Shansheeth paid no attention to her taunts as they tightened the ropes before leaving the room, shutting the door behind them, leaving her alone in darkness.

"Brilliant," Hollie muttered to herself. She struggled against the ropes, testing their strength, but they didn't budge. "Great."

Time passed slowly, and she could feel her frustration growing. She swore she'd been in the dark for hours. "You're not just going to leave me here, are you?" she muttered, feeling the anger bubbling up again. "Let me go, you overgrown chickens!" she shouted. "When I get out of here, I'll pluck every feather off your stupid beaky heads!"

As if answering her, she heard a familiar voice from the other side of the wall. "Hollie?"

"Doctor?" she called back sharply, not meaning to sound so angry, but the frustration was hard to contain.

Thankfully the Shansheeth were too bloody stupid to even think about locking the door and it opened, revealing the Doctor. Clyde and two other children stood behind him, eyes wide.

Hollie wiggled, trying to free herself, and just as she did, the chair tipped over, crashing to the ground with her still tied to it. "Ow!"

"Hollie!" The Doctor rushed over, quickly working on the ropes to set her free. "Are you okay?"

"Do I look okay?" she grumbled, wincing slightly as her head throbbed. "Stupid birds."

The Doctor couldn't help but chuckle as he finally got the last of the ropes off. He helped her to her feet, giving her a small smile.

"Better?" he asked, his tone softer now.

"Better," she replied, managing a small smile in return.

"Good." He ran past the children... and a blue alien and down the corridor. "Now, let's go find Sarah and Jo!"

Hollie quickly followed, eyeing the odd bright blue alien that only came up to around her hip, and that was being generous. The children followed her, she wasn't entirely sure if the Doctor even knew where they were supposed to be going until she heard a faint humming and the unpleasant cries of pain from behind two large metal doors.

The Doctor pressed his ear to the metal. "They've started."

Hollie frowned and looked up at him, whatever he was talking about and whatever Karim mentioned about a 'Memory Weave' was obviously happening now and very much not good.

She watched him try and open the doors and huff. "They've sealed it off." He muttered with a frown and then spoke louder through the door. "Jo, Sarah, can you hear me?"

"They want the key." Sarah Jane shouted back, suddenly it all clicked in Hollies head, she should have realised when Karim demanded her key, whatever they were doing would somehow create a key... "They've got the TARDIS, and a Memory Weave."

"Too late." Karim's voice is just about heard through the wall. "Full activation!"

"Concentrate." She heard the Shansheeth order Sarah Jane and Jo. "Think of the key."

The Doctor abruptly pulled back from the door, glancing around as if he'd spotted a solution. "Right, try to find another way in," he directed, darting toward a panel of nearby controls. Hollie stepped back, moving to scan the wall opposite, while the children tugged helplessly at the door.

The young boy with tousled brown curls huffed in frustration. "We need a bulldozer."

Without a beat, the Doctor pulled his TARDIS key from his pocket and held it up. "I've got the original here. It's yours if you let them go!"

Hollie's eyebrows shot up. "Wait—I thought I had the original?"

The Doctor gave her a sheepish look. "I may have swapped it with a backup... after the second time you, er, misplaced it." He shook his head quickly. "Not the time!"

Hollie's eyes widened just as Clyde, shouting in frustration, charged at the door, wielding a silver fire extinguisher he'd grabbed from the wall. He slammed it against the door with all his might.

"It's not budging," Clyde grumbled, tossing his makeshift weapon aside.

"The memories coalesce!" one of the Shansheeth declared, its voice full of triumph. "The key, it takes shape."

At the control panel, the Doctor stilled, his gaze sharpening with that familiar gleam that told Hollie he'd just had an idea. She felt the corners of her mouth twitch in faint relief.

"What do we do, Doctor?" Clyde's voice trembled with urgency. "What now?"

Hollie's frown deepened as a thought struck her. "What if you force them to think of something else?"

"What?" Clyde and the girl beside him questioned. The Doctor on the other hand grinned.

"Because the Shansheeth are making them remember!" He straightened, laughing.

"I know." Clyde replied with a frown.

"Then don't you see?" He asked.

"I don't see anything." He huffed.

The Doctors eyes flickered to Hollie. "You are wonderful."

She smiled as the Doctor stood up and used the computer in front of him. "Opening comms! Sarah, Jo, can you hear me?"

"The key, it's almost ready!" Sarah Jane sobbed.

"Listen to me, both of you. I want you to remember."

"We are doing. That's the trouble." Sarah Jane replied.

"No, no, no, no." The Doctor rushed to the door, gripping the handle with urgency, his voice a steady command as he spoke through to them. "I want you to remember everything. Every single day with me. Every single second."

"What's he doing?" Karim's voice echoed, laced with confusion.

"Because your memories are more powerful than anything else on this planet. Just think of it. Remember it. But properly—properly. Give the Memory Weave everything. Every planet, every face, every madman, every loss, every sunset, every scent, every terror, every joy, every Doctor. Every me."

"I remember!" Sarah Jane's voice broke through, raw and full of emotion.

Hollie grinned as the computer blared, "Memory Weave overloading."

"I remember!" Jo gasped, her voice overlapping with Sarah Jane's.

Karim's hiss filtered through. "We need that key! What is happening?"

"Initial target lost." The computer responded with detached efficiency.

"The device is overloading." One of the Shansheeth warned, its mechanical tone tinged with tension. "Too many memories. Too many."

"Reverse it!" Karim's bark was full of desperation now. "Bring that key back!"

Hollie exchanged a grin with the Doctor, his eyes alight with that signature mischief as he looked toward the trio of children standing nearby. "Come on, all of you. Tell them, tell them."

Clyde stepped forward, his voice growing louder as he spoke to Sarah Jane. "Think of us, Sarah Jane. Remember Maria and her dad, and all the stuff we did, like the Gorgon."

"Yeah, and the clowns, and the zodiac!" Rani added, her eyes shining with the intensity of her memories. "And the Mona Lisa!"

Hollie's eyebrows lifted, her lips twitching in amusement. The Mona Lisa? She opened her mouth to ask but snapped it shut when the computer's voice rose to a frantic pitch: "Weave starting to self-destruct!"

"It's blown a circuit!" Sarah Jane's voice sounded louder now, stronger, as though she and Jo were free from their constraints.

"I can't get out!" Jo's frustration was audible as she banged against the door.

"I've got you!" Sarah Jane reassured her.

The Doctor's expression shifted, his face a canvas of worry as he stepped back from the door, muttering. "Now we're in trouble. The Weave's going to blow, and we can't get them out."

Hollie's head snapped to him, her eyes wide. "What?"

"Can't escape," he murmured.

"Weave now entering detonation phase." The computer's tone remained cold, mechanical.

A loud bang reverberated from the other side of the door, and Hollie's blood ran cold. She felt a surge of dread twist in her chest, only to grow worse as she heard Karim's strained voice, filled with panic. "I can't unseal the doors! The power line is gone. Argh!"

"Doctor?" Sarah Jane's voice was barely audible through the door. She was banging loudly, the sound growing more desperate. "Doctor, I can't get out."

The Doctor rested his forehead against the door, frustration etched into every line of his face. "I can't open it."

"No sonic screwdriver," Sarah Jane realised, her tone resigned.

"It's inside the TARDIS," he admitted, his voice low and tense.

"And we can't get in, because guess what?" She let out a hollow, bitter laugh. "We stopped ourselves getting the key. Oh, that was clever."

"I just want to say, I'm so glad I saw you again," Jo spoke up softly, her words weighted with emotion. "I waited all this time, and it was worth it. Every second." She paused, her voice becoming wistful. "Funny thing is, though, your funeral turns out to be ours instead."

The Doctor's head lifted, a glimmer of excitement lighting his eyes. He repeated, almost to himself, "My funeral?"

"Doctor," Sarah Jane's voice cracked with vulnerability. "All of you—you'll look after Luke for me, please?"

But the Doctor shook his head, his voice suddenly filling the room as he pounded his fist against the door. "No, no, no, no! But listen—my funeral. Don't you see? It's my funeral."

"With a lead-lined coffin!" Sarah Jane and Jo echoed simultaneously from the other side. Hollie let out a relieved laugh despite herself, the sound filled with exhilaration.

"How much time have they got?" The Doctor asked the small blue alien, his voice firm with urgency.

"Big bang, ten seconds," the alien replied flatly.

The Doctor grabbed Hollie's hand, squeezing it as he called out to the others, "Come on!"

They all bolted down the corridor, the Doctor leading with Hollie and the children close behind, the vibrations of the impending explosion shaking the walls around them.

Just as they ducked behind a wall, the doors burst from their hinges, sending a fireball into the corridor. The blast shook everything around them, and smoke billowed thickly into the air. Hollie coughed, waving her hand to disperse the fog. When the Doctor finally stood, he shot a questioning look at the girl from earlier.

"What do you mean, the Mona Lisa?" he asked with a frown, his voice laced with intrigue.

Hollie laughed, shaking her head as she caught her breath. "I want to hear about that one too." She nudged him lightly with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Poor Leo."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, catching her tone. "Leo? Poor Leo?" he echoed, feigning innocence before a wry smile crossed his face. "Oh, don't tell me you think I was actually jealous of old Leonardo."

She shrugged, grinning. "Who said anything about jealous?"

The Doctor's face softened in mock offence. "Hollie, I'm a Time Lord. Leonardo and I simply had a... spirited rivalry."

"Of course," she teased back, giving him a knowing look, "just a rivalry."

He shot her a pointed look before moving forward, finally entering the chapel. Hollie grimaced as she watched the little blue alien walk in, sniffing the smoky air and wrinkling its nose. "Smells like roast chicken."

The Doctor ignored the comment, stepping up to the coffin. With a confident flick, he lifted the lid, revealing Sarah Jane and Jo inside, both slightly disheveled but beaming up at him. The Doctor's face softened, a smile breaking through as Hollie and the children crowded around, peering down.

"It was a trap," he announced, examining the coffin with admiration. "But also the solution. That's so neat, I could write a thesis on it." He looked back at them, his expression bright. "Come on, you two. Out you get."

Hollie watched as he began to help them out, shaking her head in amusement. "Always with the grand escape,"

The Doctor simply grinned. "Oh, this is one to remember, wouldn't you say?"

Jo nodded, her smile warm and sincere. "Definitely one to remember."

Hollie watched as Jo stood, glancing briefly at the TARDIS before turning to the Doctor as he helped Sarah Jane to her feet. "Can I have the key?" she asked, nodding toward the TARDIS. "I just... want to shower, if that's alright?"

The Doctor nodded wordlessly, reaching into his pocket for the key. Just as he handed it over, he paused, holding it back a moment longer. "We'll be in the console room if you need anything."

She nodded, muttering a quick "okay, thanks" before taking the key and heading toward the TARDIS doors.

The familiar hum of the console room enveloped her as she stepped inside, and she let out a small sigh, allowing herself a moment of comfort in the quiet. She slipped the key back into her pocket and made her way past the console, down the winding corridors toward her room.

Once inside, she noticed her own key still lying on her desk and couldn't help but let out a soft laugh. She remembered when he'd given it to her—for the second time. One day, I'm putting this on a chain around my neck, she thought with a faint smile. Safer that way, at least until some TARDIS-thieving feathered funeral directors came calling again.

Shaking her head with a small smile, she slipped into the shower. As the hot water flowed over her, washing away the grime of the day, her mind replayed the Doctor's distance. It was a subtle distance, almost guarded, especially when compared to the warmth he had so easily shared with Sarah Jane and Jo. It was strange, almost painful—the contrast between how he acted with her now and the easy affection he had shown his former companions.

Hollie frowned, scrunching her face slightly as she rinsed off. She knew she had to get to the bottom of it somehow because there were moments—almost moments—when everything between them felt fine. More than fine. In those rare glimpses, they flirted, laughed, connected as if nothing had ever shifted. But those moments were so rare now, so fleeting, she couldn't ignore the ache they left behind.

After her shower, Hollie dried her hair and quickly plaited it before slipping into black joggers, a dark green hoodie, and her trainers. She wasn't planning to leave the TARDIS again anytime soon; one adventure was rare enough with the Doctor these days—two in a row seemed nearly impossible.

When she returned to the console room, the children were nowhere to be seen. The Doctor leaned casually against the console, inspecting his screwdriver, while Jo stood nearby, gazing at the console with a faint smile of reminiscence. Sarah Jane's eyes lit up as she noticed Hollie come in.

Hollie didn't say anything as she walked up to the Doctor, holding out the key in the palm of her hand. He gave her a small smile, took it, and pocketed it.

She opened her mouth to say something, but Jo's voice filled the silence, drawing both Hollie's and the Doctor's attention. "Still the same old TARDIS," she murmured, nostalgia thick in her tone. "Doesn't matter what's changed; it still smells the same. No. I've got to say goodbye, or else I'd stay with you forever. Besides, I probably couldn't keep up any more. I'd get you into trouble with the Time Lords."

Hollie's gaze shifted to the Doctor, who hummed slightly, keeping a casual tone as he flicked a control on the TARDIS. "Yeah, we'd better go. You know me, always things to do. Hollie, you can pick where we go next."

She blinked, slightly surprised that he was letting her decide, but nodded and turned to Sarah Jane. "It was lovely meeting you."

Sarah Jane smiled warmly, a hint of understanding in her expression. "Take care of him, yeah?"

Hollie returned her smile. "Of course."

Sarah Jane held her gaze a moment longer, her eyes softening with a knowing look. "And yourself."

Hollie's brow furrowed slightly, a bit confused. "Okay...?"

Sarah Jane just gave her a small, understanding nod, glancing briefly in the Doctor's direction before looking back at her. "You'll understand soon enough."

Before Hollie could ask what she meant, Sarah Jane turned to the Doctor with a chuckle. "It's daft, though, because we were both saying we had this theory that if you ever died, we'd feel it. Somehow, we'd just know. But that's silly, isn't it?"

The Doctor's face softened, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth. "I don't know... Maybe not. Because between you and me, if that day ever comes, I think the whole universe might just shiver."

With a chuckle that lightened the weight of his words, he gave his older companions a reassuring start toward the exit. Sarah Jane and Jo laughed, shaking their heads, and turned to give Hollie and the Doctor a final hug before stepping out of the TARDIS for the last time, leaving behind only memories and a few smiles in their wake.

─── ｡ﾟ☆･*.☽ .* ☆ﾟ. ───

I REALLY don't know how I feel about this chapter... I don't know if its because I have the next chapter written already and I am so excited for it to be polished but something about it doesn't sit right with me.

ANYWHO we finally got a chapter finished YIPEE.