The Story So Far Cataclysm Urban Decay So Long Legend Reality Bomb Once Upon A Memory Three Night Engagement '70s Cutaway The Millennium People I The Millennium People II Cutting The Threads The Convocation Nova Mondas Denouement I: Sacrifice Denouement II: Paradox Denouement III: Gift 
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Denouement III: Gift by Andie J. P. Frankham This is the Gift... “Brad,” the Doctor breathed... Brad smiled and bowed. “That’s right, Doc. The one and only.” He walked up to the Doctor and whispered in his ear. “Well, that is not strictly true. Nothing one and only about me anymore.” He winked at the Doctor and placed a hand on the Time Lord’s grey hair. “Come on, we haven’t got much time.” This is the Gift... “Oh look, Doc, someone’s dead.” The Doctor opened his eyes. He knew this place; after all he had been here before. More importantly, he had not only been here before he had been here now. The battered green Volkswagen Scirocco in front of him was a bit of a give away. “Why are we here?” He turned to face Brad, and was quite shocked to see Brad looking the way he had when they had first met. “Don’t you realise the paradox you can cause?” To that Brad just laughed. “Paradox! Don’t tell me about paradox, Doc. I know all about that, believe me.” There was something very dark about the look Brad gave the Doctor. The two men stood there, eyeing each other. One big and greying, the other short and looking younger and more vibrant than ever. “Anyway,” Brad continued, “you ain’t here this time around.” “I’m not? Then where am I?” “In England. Mid-1970s. Exiled by the Time Lords, still enjoying your third incarnation.” Brad waved it away. “Point is I am here, Doc. Look.” The Doctor walked over to the green car. What he saw made him gasp. Brad was in the car, his body leaning over the steering wheel, his neck twisted at an impossible angle. Despite the fact that it was Brad dead in the car the Doctor felt strangely detached. He turned on the living Brad. “What is this?” “This, Doc, is the reality you were trying to restore.” Brad joined the Doctor beside the car. “A reality in which I am dead and you are exiled on Earth back in the ‘70s.” He opened the car door and pulled his dead self out of the car. “Why did you want to restore things, Doc?” Looking at his old companion in double, the Doctor could think of no good reason. He turned away. Behind him he could hear Brad tutting. “Come on, Doc. What’s the problem? Not like you haven’t seen me dead before.” That hit him like a spear between his hearts. With his back still to Brad the Doctor whispered, “I’m sorry, Brad. I should have paid more attention to what you were going through. I could have prevented your death.” Brad stroked the dead Brad’s face and shook his own head. “No, Doc, you couldn’t. No matter how you played it I would have died.” The Doctor turned back to Brad. “So, does this mean you are going to haunt me? To make me feel more guilty than I already feel?” He sighed and stroked his grey beard. “Go ahead. You might as well. I could have helped you, but I didn’t.” “Ah, Doc.” Brad started to glow as he reverted back to his naked form. “There is more. Come on.” This is the Gift... Sept 27th 1975 - April 12th 2001 Ignit Natura Renovatur Integra The Doctor looked down at the tombstone, oblivious to the storm raging around him. “I’m sorry, Brad...” he mumbled. Untouched by the storm, Brad walked up to the tombstone. “Yeah, I know you are, Doc. Odd feeling looking at your own tombstone.” He knelt on the wet grass. “But, you know, the body underneath the ground is just that. A body.” The Doctor shook his head. “No, Brad. It is all that remains of you in this reality. The real reality.” He bit his lip and sniffed. “I am so sorry.” Brad waved his hand over the tombstone and the date changed. “What about this, then, Doc? Is this better for you?” The Doctor read the inscription. “December 23rd 2101.” His eyes glazed over. “Stop this, Bradley. You can not make me feel any guiltier than I make myself feel. Katarina, Sara. You.” He dropped to his knees. “My fault. Always my fault.” Brad reached for the Doctor, but the big man pulled back. Brad sighed. “Doc, you’re missing the point.” “No.” The Doctor looked up, his face contorted in anger. “No, you are missing the point, Brad. It is my fault. For hundreds of years I have been travelling through time and space. Picking up companions. Taking them from their lives, their homes. And why? I like to think it is to help them see the bigger picture. Broaden their horizons. But I am fooling myself. It is because I want to show off. ‘Look at me, look how clever I am’. And it costs them.” “But, Doc, it didn’t cost me. I should have died back on Earth. But I didn’t. The Master set things in motion. Both of our paths were altered. Reality was altered, and it adapted us to help the universe survive.” Brad took the Doctor’s hands in his own. “I was meant to go with you. But, either way, I was to die. On Earth in 2001, or on Nova Mondas in 2101. It was meant to be.” “No!” the Doctor yelled and pulled away from Brad. He got to his feet and shouted even louder. “No!” “Doc...” “No, Brad,” the Doctor said in a softer tone. “ ‘It was meant to be’ is no excuse. I paid no attention to you beyond my own showing off. I was so caught up in my own problems that I did not see yours. If I had, I could have prevented them. I could have prevented your death.” “How?” One word, and it contained all the questions one life could ever ask. The Doctor’s answer was equally as simple and as complex. “Because I am the Doctor.” This is the Gift... “Who was it that said ‘all the galaxy’s a stage’?” Brad asked. “William Shakespeare. Although you will find he said ‘world’ and not ‘galaxy’, Brad.” Brad smiled. For a moment the smile reminded the Doctor of something else, but then it was gone. Brad was speaking. “Actually I was thinking of Q, Doc. From Star Trek. But he was wrong, at least in my case he was. In my case all the universe is a stage.” Brad waved his hand around. “One big stage for me. Full of anomalies, paradoxes, quantum irregularities... all my stage.” The Doctor looked out at Brad’s stage, and cleared his throat. He had to admit it was quite a breathtaking site to behold. The universe was laid out before them like a patchwork blanket. Each patch a different galaxy. The Doctor looked at Brad. “What has happened to you?” “I’ll show you.” Brad reached out and pulled the universe towards them. He reached out with his free hand and grabbed the Doctor’s. “Come on!” They jumped.... This is the Gift.... The Doctor glanced around. They were in Burnside St, Portland. Again. Along the street there was a battered green Volkswagen Scirocco, smashed against a fire hydrant. And in the driver’s seat, head torn open by a violently smashing against the steering wheel was a younger Brad. The Doctor’s face crumpled. “Brad, you have all ready shown me this. I don’t need to see it again.” “Ah, but this time it will be different.” Brad walked over to the car. “Last time you saw what would have happened, had the universe not been altered. This time see what has happened. What has really happened...” Brad clicked his fingers and things started to happen. The Scirocco was no longer against the fire hydrant; instead it had stopped a few centimetres before it. The younger Brad was still in the car, this time rubbing a nasty bruise that had appeared on his head. Surrounding the car was a group of Dommervoy. The mannequin like figures converged on the car; one of them sat on the same seat as Brad. The Doctor frowned, quite horrified by the site of one of those scavengers sharing the same quantum space as Bradley. He addressed the glowing Brad. “I really do not...” “Hush. And pay attention.” So the Doctor did. It was quite bizarre. The Dommervoy started moving Brad like a puppet. Out of the car, a quick glance back, and they were off. To meet me, the Doctor realised. The glowing Brad was next to the Doctor. “You getting it yet, Doc?” “I am beginning to, yes. Where to next then?” Brad put a finger to his mouth while he thought about it. “How about... Forum? Yes, let’s go forward by six months.” This is the Gift... A large hall. Shadows dancing around the edges. A pool of light shone on two people in the middle of the room. Brad and the Faceless One. They were in some kind of communion, the Faceless One resting his hands on Brad’s head. Both had their eyes closed, concentrating. “This is what happened when I was in conference with the Millennium People?” the Doctor asked. He looked at Brad and blinked. “Changed again?” Brad looked down at his own person. His naked body had become thin and even more featureless than before. He ran his hands over his face and sighed in relief. “At least I still have my own face.” The Doctor peered at said face, as if to make sure. Yes, it was Brad’s face. Sharp bone structure, muscular. But the grin Brad wore was not his own. The Doctor had seen it before, though. “As I said, Doc, we haven’t much time. Look and learn.” Brad pointed at the two figures in the light. Once again the Dommervoy was occupying the same space as the other Brad. The Faceless One released Brad’s head and spoke. The Doctor could not hear the words, but that did not seem to be too important. What was happening held much more importance to the Doctor. The Faceless One stood up and it became clear that the Dommervoy was also sharing his space. A few sharp words passed between the Faceless One and Brad. The Dommervoy turned the Faceless One away, and as one they walked into the shadows. Brad and his Dommervoy remained sitting. The Doctor turned to his Brad. “I don’t get it. Why are the Dommervoy...?” His voice tailed off. “Oh dear.” The Doctor looked over at the other Brad and put his hand over his mouth. “Oh dear. The Dommervoy have possessed you and the Faceless One.” Brad shook his head, his eyes turning into pinpricks of blackness. “No, Doc. The Faceless One and I are the Dommervoy.” The Doctor blinked. Brad’s grin. A Dommervoy grin. “How?” This is the Gift... Dank. The clang of metallic echoes all around them. Slowly the Doctor’s eyes adjusted to the low light. Part of him wished they hadn’t. Human corpses lined the corridor as far as the eye could see. But, upon closer inspection, the Doctor could see that most of the corpses had metallic elements grafted onto their very bodies. He looked around, but there was no sign of Brad. Something deep inside him warned the Doctor against calling out to Brad, so, instead, he walked down the corridor until he came to a juncture. It branched off into a further six corridors, each of these lined with partly cybernised corpses also. The Doctor swallowed. “Over here,” a voice whispered from one of the corridors. The Doctor followed the voice and found Brad. The young man (former young man!) was looking even more Dommervoy-like now. His movements were slow and exaggerated. The Doctor was reminded of a very creepy ballet dancer. His face was losing the features distinctive to Brad. All that remained was the scar above the left eye. The Doctor shuddered. “Time almost up?” he asked. Brad nodded, the grin never leaving his lips. “Yes. Almost. Which is why we must hurry, Doctor.” Brad moved off, and the Doctor could not help but notice that his old companion was gliding a few inches off the floor. Repressing the urge to shiver the Doctor followed him. Brad led the Doctor into another corridor. That in itself came as no surprise to the Doctor, but what he saw in that corridor did. Two Cybermen were looming over the human Brad, who was struggling to his feet. Behind Brad stood a partly cybernised man. In all his travels the Doctor had got used to seeing cybernised people, he didn’t like it, but he had got used to it. But seeing someone he knew in that state had a different effect on him. “Get away from them!” he bellowed. No one paid him any heed. Brad tapped him and the shoulder. The Doctor turned to his old companion to see a slowly wagging finger in his line of vision. “They do not know we are here, Doctor. We cannot interfere.” “Then why bring me here?” The Doctor turned away angrily, impotent with rage. “To observe.” The Doctor snorted. The human Brad looked from the Cybermen up at the Scholar. He closed his eyes and the Cybermen began to wobble. Not in the sense that they shook, but they seemed to fluctuate, as if unsure whether they existed anymore. The Scholar yelled out in pain and the validium around him bubbled. It was as if reality was being distorted. The Dommervoy that shadowed Brad helped the young man to his feet and forced him to run. The Doctor and the other Brad watched. “So, can we do anything yet?” the Doctor asked, tartly. Brad did not look away from the scene in front of them. The Cybermen stabilised and after checking to make sure that the Controller’s new body was okay, gave pursuit. Brad nodded his head slowly. “Now we follow...” This is the Gift... The Cybermen fired their weapons at Brad’s retreating form. The energy beams missed him, but continued on. They made contact with the energy barrier protecting the outer wall of the Factory. Brad was too busy looking at the floor as he ran to notice the build up of mixed energy in front of him. A mighty explosion ripped through the corridor, throwing Brad high into the air. This is the Gift... “The Dommervoy Loci,” Brad said, as they appeared outside of the Factory. Before them the three Dommervoy Loci were standing over the dead body of Bradley DeMars. They were talking, but the Doctor could not understand what they were saying. All he could hear was “tick” and “tock”. He placed a hand over his left heart and let out a deep sigh. “Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to see you like this again?” Brad nodded. “Yes, I do, Doctor. I remember the pain in your eyes when you tried to reach me before I transferred.” “Transferred?” “Yes, Doctor. You see that explosion destroyed the body that was Bradley DeMars. But Brad himself had died on Earth in 2001, as he was supposed to have done. Since then the Dommervoy had been using his body, to seek out the paradoxes.” “You mean I had been travelling with the Dommervoy all that time?” The air shimmered around them, and once again they were standing before the universal stage. The Dommervoy that the Doctor had known as Brad continued. “Yes. To all intents and purposes the Dommervoy knew itself to be Brad. The memories, the personality. Everything. But it was never really Brad. We needed your TARDIS to seek out the paradoxes while we grew our own strength. And we needed to show you what the new universe was. And what your place in it is.” The Doctor was silent for a moment. Then he shook his head sadly. “But I still do not know that.” The Dommervoy nodded. “Then I shall tell you. There are dark times ahead for the Federation in the 26th Century, and you are the key player in bringing about the lasting peace. I cannot tell you how.” “I know. I must find that out for myself.” The Doctor took a deep breath. “Tell me, then, what are the Dommervoy?” “We are Order, Doctor. Like in any reality Chaos and Order exists. And we are the Order of this reality. The Dommervoy sort out the paradoxes, the anomalies. We bring order out of the chaos of the newborn reality. Like the Faceless One. He was part of Chaos incarnate. You know it as the Millennium People.” “What? But they are the Gods of this universe. The Lords of Time.” “No, they only like to believe that. They are Chaos. We have been able to bring Order out of only one of them. But that bringing of Order has freed at least two others.” “Yes, the Bloke and the Scholar.” The Doctor looked at the Dommervoy sharply. “But the Scholar is dead. One of the Cybermen. Not what I would call free.” “Perhaps not, Doctor. But, for all their faults, the Cybermen do know order. They call it logic.” Again the Doctor snorted. “Well, obviously we shall differ on that opinion.” The Dommervoy nodded. “But, what about the Bloke?” the Doctor continued, “you sent him back home.” “He shall be returned to you, Doctor. He has seen Chaos, and you have seen Order. Together you shall bring about peace.” The Dommervoy turned away, and the Doctor frowned. “The time has come for you to return to your new home, Doctor.” “Alpha Centauri?” The Dommervoy nodded and turned back to the Time Lord. “Yes. But before you go there are two things you must know. You were right about your preoccupation with your own problems. If that is not put aside you and Nick will never be able to succeed. Nick is becoming more and more human, and he will need your help, your guidance, and your concern.” “Nick? That is the Bloke’s name?” Again the Dommervoy nodded. “It will be. A name he himself shall choose in time. The second thing is, Doctor, that if we ever meet again you will not know who I was. You will understand who the Dommervoy are, but you will never know that I was Brad.” The Doctor’s face became solemn. “So, Brad is dead?” “Do not be sad, Doctor. Brad lives on in your memories. And this is my Gift to you...” This is the Gift... “Come along, Brad,” the Doctor said as he strode back to the TARDIS. His confident stride faltered, and the Doctor turned towards the silence behind him. “Bradley?” Brad stood, hands thrust firmly in his pockets, a stern expression on his face. “I’m not coming with you, Doc.” The two friends stared at each other across the space between them. It was Brad who broke the silence. "I don't know how well you've understood me, Doctor. I don't even know if you truly can, since you are an outsider by choice." He sighed. "When you're gay in the society I'm from, you seem to be up against things from the start. Their families and friends teach kids that there is something wrong with being gay. We have to fight against this all our lives, to come out of the closet. Because so many people assume that no one they know is gay, you have to keep doing it.” Seeing the look on the Doctor's face, Brad quickly added, "I'm not talking about you, obviously!" He laughed, nervously. "Travelling with you, Doc, is like being in the biggest closet of them all. Being in the TARDIS is a safe place to be. And every time we land somewhere, I have to decide about the need to out myself all over again.” Another sigh, and Brad's head dropped. "So the temptation is there - to go into that safe closet and never come out as a gay man again. Just to be a traveller. And if I do that, all the stupid homophobes have won. I'll be hidden away and none of them will ever need acknowledge my difference again. I won't let them win, I will not be beaten by people whose minds and souls are so withered. So I need to get out of the TARDIS, out of the closet, and live a life where I am not just passing through, where I can make a real difference to other people who have to hide their differences. If I don't, then it's my mind, my soul that will wither." He looked the Doctor straight in the eye. "It's time for me to go. Thank you for giving me a place to be safe enough to realise what I need to do to be myself." A smile on his face, the Doctor closed the distance between them with a few long strides and grasped Brad's hand warmly. Impulsively, Brad leaned forward and pecked the Doctor's bearded cheek. Both stepped back, looking slightly embarrassed. "You seem to have your future well in hand, young Bradley," beamed the Doctor, "whereas mine will continue to fall as it may." "You'll be all right?" the young man asked, suddenly feeling cold. "If I'm ever only 'all right', we'll both have something to worry about." The Doctor stepped further back, drawing the TARDIS key from his pocket. "I'd best go before one of us changes their mind..." Brad DeMars stood looking at the spot where the TARDIS had been for a full fifteen minutes after the dematerialisation sound faded. Then he rubbed his eyes, tossed the hair out of his face, and laughed. And walked off to live the rest of his life. The Doctor opened his eyes and looked around him. He was sitting on the base of the stone edifice; all around him the plaza was a mess. Alpha Centaurians and other races wandering around, wondering what had happened. The Doctor rubbed his head. Now that was something he could understand. He wasn’t too sure what had happened himself. He had a sense of what had happened but no details. For absolutely no reason that he could fathom the Doctor let out a loud bellowing laugh. A little distance ahead of him a girl turned and looked at him oddly. She was human, dressed in a black jacket with long brown hair. “What’s so funny, mate?” she asked. The Doctor shook his head. “Oh nothing. Just realised how wonderful life is, and the simple realisation of that made me laugh.” He reached out his hand. “I’m the Doctor, by the way.” She accepted the hand. “All right. I’m...” She stopped and rubbed her temples. The Doctor was all set to ask her what was wrong when a voice called out to him. He turned and found the Bloke walking towards him. His companion looked a little troubled. “Oh, it is so good to see you!” The Doctor grabbed his companion in a big bear hug. “Nice to see you, too, Doctor!” Once the Doctor had let him go the Bloke smoothed his clothes back down and straightened his sunglasses. “Have you any idea where I have been? I have never seen anything like it. Just pure chaos.” The Doctor smiled. “Quite so. Chaos indeed.” The Doctor placed a hand over his companion’s shoulder. “Well, we have things to do. First off we must pick up Falex, then we need to find a base of operations.” “We do?” “Oh yes. If I am to be stranded in one time for a while then I intend to make use of it. And a place to operate from would be a good start. Somewhere from where we can conduct our business, live and eat, and start work on a new time machine.” The two of them made their way through the underwater plaza. “We have lots to do. And I for one intend to be ready,” the Doctor concluded. And together the Doctor and the Bloke made their way into the future... 
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