Doctor Who fic: Who Else? (3/?)
- Jun. 28th, 2012 at 1:14 PM
Title: Who Else?
Fandom: Doctor Who
Ratings: PG
Spoilers: s06e11: The God Complex
Characters: The Doctor
Summary: What does the Doctor see when he opens his door? Every chapter will contain a different possibility.
Disclaimer: I own neither Doctor Who nor any of its characters.
Previous:
1. The Doctor
2. The Master
The plaque read “11” and he could see his distorted reflection in the brass. He grabbed the knob and twisted, peering inside to find out what awaited him. “Of course,” he said, a sad smile forming on his face. “Who else?”
The universe, more or less, considers him a hero, the mystical man with the magic box who appears out of nowhere to save the day. But they don’t realize how selfish he truly is. He wants to be adored, so he steals away people and convinces them to trust him, to have faith in him; and he keeps them until they finally become disillusioned, pleading to return to their former lives so that they can grow up and forget him. The hardest part has always been in acknowledging that they’re right. He isn’t magic. He can’t always save the day.
And so the boy stares at him, accusingly. He died feeling unappreciated and unloved, far away from his home. It was wrong of the Doctor, he knew, to act like a petulant child when he was supposed to be the adult, the father figure toward the son he never had. He should have brought Adric home, shouldn’t have left him alone. It was no one’s fault but his own. He should have realized: every god demands a sacrifice.
This is the silent dread that whispers to him whenever he has the urge to invite someone new to follow him. The reminder of Adric. And every time another of his companions leaves in tragedy, it is Adric’s sorrowful eyes that gaze upon him in judgment. The truth is that everybody dies, and the Doctor knows that best of all.
But the grief did not overpower him; if it had that ability, he would have succumbed to it long ago. No, he knew this was not his time. Carefully, he closed the door again, placing a “Do not disturb” sign over the knob, and continued on his way.
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