A Star In Her Eye

After seeing Bill onto the bus the Doctor and Charlie walked back across the quad.
"So what now?" Charlie asked.
The Doctor replied, "I'm gonna go back to the TARDIS and try and work out what this thing is. And you are gonna go hang out with your friends in the quad."
"Oh crap, I forgot about that. But what if it's dangerous?"
"I'll be fine."
"But..."
"Charlie."
"Fine, but you call me if there's a problem."
"No."
"No! You can't keep shutting me out like this. You couldn't have saved Clara or River. No one could so you have to stop blaming yourself. I'm not arguing with you, I'm telling you. Call me, okay?"
"Okay, deal."
Bill unlocked the door to her flat and heard the shower running. Knocking on the door, she called out to her foster mum, "Hey, I'll make you a cuppa for the bath."
As she walked into the kitchen her phone rang. "Hello?"
Bill's pulse began to race as the voice on the other end was that of her foster mother, Moira.
"Sorry I'm not there, love, but I think we both know it's time I treated myself."
"Are you back with Neville?"
"Why would I be back with Neville after last time? Why do you think I'm such an idiot?"
"Well, you're calling from his phone... Is there someone staying at the flat?" Bill asked glancing towards the bathroom
"Of course not, no. What are you talking about?"
"Errrr, nothing. Never mind. I'll see you tomorrow."
Suddenly the water stopped running and a splashing of water could be heard.
"Is someone in there? Is that Barry? 'Cause she's with Neville and it's not my fault."
Bill grabbed an umbrella and edged towards the bathroom.
"Sorry I need to know who's in there. I'm coming in. Make yourself... decent."
Taking in one last deep breath, Bill stormed into the room. The last drops of water gurgled down the plughole. Bill surveyed the rooms and her eyes quickly fell on the shadowy figure stood behind the shower curtain.
"If that's Barry, let's not make this worse... Just say it's you."
Hesitantly, she edged towards the silhouette behind the shower curtain. Closer and closer. With a swift pull, Bill swiped the curtain aside to find no one stood there. Just a few drops of water draining away. Bill watched as the final drips trickled down the plughole and staring back up at her through the limescaled rim of the plug hole was a starry eye. A whole galaxy concealed in an iris. Heather. Bill gasped and fell back against the sink in shock, before scrambling for the door and racing out of the flat and down the high street, bumping carelessly into passers by, thinking only of where she was heading to, or rather who. The Doctor.
Charlie exited his dorm and slowly walked towards the quad where most of his friends were waiting. Mat, Olaolu and Pharez went up to him to greet him and then they all sat in a circle on the grass of the quad.
"Who we still waiting on?" Pharez asked.
"Lauren's nearly here and Charlotte and Liv are just leaving their dorms," Emily said.
"Oh my god, Stevie got lost again," Christie announced causing the group to burst into laughter.
"This girl, I swear to God. She only lives on the other side of the campus..." Mat laughed.
"I'll go find her," Joe said.
"I'll go with you," Will said following after him.
Charlie sat down next to Milly who appeared tense. Taking her hand, he asked her, "Are you sure you're okay?"
Before she could reply, Bill came sprinting through the quad wearing a shocked yet fearful expression. She ran straight past them but Charlie called out anyway. "Bill?!"
The whole group suddenly began to spring to life asking questions but Charlie was still looking towards the way Bill went as he realised he had seen that look before. Something was happening. Something alien.
With a whoosh and a slam, the door swung open as Bill burst into the room. A state of shock was plastered on her face. She frantically scanned the room and grabbed the wooden chair in front of the Doctor's desk and jammed it in front of the door handle. The Doctor glanced up from the phial of puddle liquid he was analysing, "Hello Bill..."
Bill made no response but looked on in terror as water began to seep in under the door.
"What's that?" The Doctor asked.
"I'll tell you what it isn't. It isn't a freak optical effect..."
Heather began to take firm from the water - her face and lips pale, her eyes dark and lifeless and her hair wet and plastered to her head. Bill continued, "And it's following me."
Curious, the Doctor stepped towards Heather, reaching out.
"No, no, what are you doing?" Bill exclaimed.
"I'll tell you what let's just pop into my box." The Doctor said, ushering Bill towards the TARDIS.
"Your box? What good is getting in your box gonna do?"
"What an extraordinarily long and involved answer this is going to be..." They stepped quickly into the box and snapped round to look at the Heather creature and observe its movements, the Doctor grabbing the 'Out of Order' sign off the door in the process.
"How do we stop it getting in? We're trapped in here!" Bill worried.
"Nothing gets through those doors."
"Uh, but they're made of wood... They've got windows!"
Bill continued to look through the window at Heather, oblivious to the Doctor walking down the ramp and turning on the power to the TARDIS console room behind her.
"Look, this is all mad, I know, but that's the girl I told you about. Heather. Only I don't think its really her. I know this is hard to believe. I know you're not exactly a sci-fi person..."
Bill stopped mid-sentence when she turned to see the column and the console light up before the whole room illuminated.
"Time And Relative Dimension In Space. TARDIS for short. You're safe in here and you always will be. Any questions?" The Doctor smirked at Bill's reaction. She stood in confusion for a few moments and after she stopped gawping she was able to ask, "Is this a knock-through?"
"Well in a way yes."
"Look at this place. It's like a..."
"Spaceship."
"...Kitchen!"
"A what?"
"A really posh kitchen, all metal. What happened with the doors though? Did you run out of money?"
"What you are standing in is a technological marvel. It is science beyond magic. This is the gateway to everything that ever was or ever can be."
Bill strolled around the room as the Doctor gave his speech. Her head poked out from behind the central column and she asked, "Can I use the toilet?"
"Pardon?"
"I've had a fright. I need the toilet..."
"It's down there, first right, second left, past the macaroon dispenser."
"Thanks."
As Bill descended the stairs Nardole came up in the other direction.
"Oh, human! Human alert. Do you want me to repel her?" Nardole asked, gesturing towards Bill.
The Doctor replied, "She's just passing through. She wants to use the toilet."
"Oh, I'd, er, give it a minute if I were you," Nardole said to Bill.
A deep growl from within the TARDIS caused the room to shake.
"What was that?" Nardole asked.
"We have an incursion on campus. Extra-terrestrial. We're under attack. Let's move!"
The TARDIS began to hum and whirr as it dematerialised from the Doctor's office.
"Oh my god! This isn't just a room is it?" Bill said excitedly.
"No, it's not just a room." The Doctor replied.
"This is a lift!"
Moments later the TARDIS materialised under the university outside the entrance to the hyper-dimensional vault.
"Well, come on then!" Nardole called.
They emptied out of the box into the cellar underneath the university and headed straight towards two heavily carved ornate doors with Gallifreyan symbols adorning it.
"No interference here as far as I can see. The vaults secure." The Doctor noted.
Bill stepped out of the TARDIS, her eyes wide with fascination. "So your box can move? It can go anywhere it likes?"
"Mmm. Good innit?" Nardole replied, he and the Doctor not leaving the control pad at the door to the vault.
"Anywhere at all in the whole university?"
The Doctor scanned the control pad with the sonic screwdriver. "Is it my imagination or is this taking longer than normal?" He said to Nardole.
Bill poked her head back inside the TARDIS. "Hang on. The room's still inside the box. This isn't a knock through."
"No." The Doctor replied sarcastically.
"Doctor! It's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside!" Bill exclaimed excitedly.
Nardole held his hand out to the Doctor to shake, "Wa-hey! We got there!"
The Doctor shook his hand and rolled his eyes.
"How is that possible? How do you do that?" Bill pondered.
Nardole stepped away from the door to the vault and approached Bill.
"Well, first you have to imagine a very big box fitting inside a very small box."
"Okay..." Bill replied in fascination.
"Then you have to make one. It's the second part people normally get stuck on."
The Doctor interrupted, "Can we shut up, please? Busy, busy. I need to know if there's any interest in what's inside this vault."
"Why, what's inside it?" Bill asked.
"Something I don't want anyone being too curious about."
"So you put it in the middle of a university?"
"Ooo, valid point. Yeah, nice." Nardole said.
"Either the creature came here specifically for what's in here, or it's just a coincidence." The Doctor explained.
"It's just a coincidence." Bill decided.
"Well, we can't know that for sure."
"Yeah, we can. It was here for ages before it did anything. If it had work to do, why would it lie around in a puddle?"
"I don't know. Maybe it's a student?"
"Oh, banter. It's good, this. Your go again." Nardole chuckled.
Suddenly water began to flow down the steps to the cellar.
"Nardole, we need to move away from the doors and towards the TARDIS."
Heather began to form from the puddle as the trio edged their way towards the safety of the TARDIS.
"What if it attacks us?" Nardole questioned.
"Well, that's the good news. It means it's not interested in what's inside the vault. It just wants to kill us."
"Oh."
"Run!"
The Heather creature let out a piercing screech and the Doctor, Bill and Nardole hurried into the TARDIS and shut the doors. The Doctor raced up to the console closely followed by Nardole.
"What are you doing?" Nardole questioned
The Doctor replied, "Let's take this thing for a run. But first, I have a promise to keep."
Joe and Will had managed to locate Stevie and they now sat in a circle as Liv and Charlotte.
"Liv, why have you got a bag of food?" Emily asked.
"What? Charlie said this was a midnight feast?" Liv replied, perplexed.
"But it's 9 o' clock..." Olaolu pointed out.
"Yeah, sorry, it was the easiest way to convince you to come..." Charlie grinned.
Liv opened her mouth to reply with a sarcastic remark and when a strange whirring noise erupted from behind them and suddenly a blue box flashed into existence. Bill raced out of the box, doubling over, trying not to be sick. The Doctor ignored her and beckoned towards Charlie, "Charlie, we've got a situation."
Out of nowhere, Heather appeared on the grass next to the group. Bill walked cautiously towards her whilst the other students retreated backwards slowly.
"Bill, be careful," Charlie said.
"Hello," Bill said to Heather.
"Hello," Heather replied.
"You scared me."
"You scared me," Heather repeated.
Bill stepped towards Heather and saw water pouring from her mouth and running off her hands. Her body was soaked as the water continued to flow from her.
Horrified, Bill said, "You're dead!"
"You're dead!"
Heather leapt forward at Bill who turned and ran back towards the group.
"Everyone in!" the Doctor shouted.
"What in there?" Charlotte questioned.
"Oh just go!" Milly demanded.
With everyone bundled into the console room, the Doctor bounded up to the controls and set the TARDIS.
"Yes, it's bigger on the inside. Deal with it. No time. Everyone, shut up!"
Charlie sidled up next to Bill and Nardole as he watched the expressions of his friends as they took in their surroundings.
"Oh. My. God." Lauren exclaimed.
"Woah," Olaolu said.
Liv looked around in shock before opening a bag of popcorn and distracting herself with its sweet taste.
"This place is huge!" Mat exclaimed.
"Some sort of spaceship?" Christie asked.
"See, spaceship." The Doctor turned to Bill.
"How does it do that?" Will asked.
"It's bigger on the inside though. Like, actually bigger." Charlotte said.
"Yeah, just a bit," Pharez replied.
"Looks a bit retro," Emily said.
"I like it," Joe replied.
Stevie looked around at the overwhelming sights surrounding her. She couldn't comprehend how such a vast space could fit inside such a small box. It was all too much and before she knew it, her eyes rolled back and everything went back as she collapsed onto the floor. Joe hurried over and Milly walked up to Charlie, Nardole and Bill. "This is amazing! What is this place?"
"Milly, welcome to the TARDIS. It stands for Time And Relative Dimension in Space. It's a spaceship. This is the Doctor, Bill and Nardole." Charlie said.
"Yes, lovely now hush!" The Doctor interrupted. "It's not interested in the vault, it's chasing us. Let's give it a proper challenge. Let's see how far she's prepared to go."
"But what about my friend? What about Heather? Can you save her?" Bill asked.
The TARDIS engines stopped. They'd landed.
"First things first. Let's see if we can survive her." The Doctor said walking through the TARDIS doors. Nardole shrugged at Bill as they all followed him outside onto a bright sunny harbourside overlooking a modern cityscape.
"But..." Bill stammered.
"Yes," the Doctor replied.
"We've moved again."
"We have."
"It was night."
"Yep."
"Now it's day."
"Definitely day."
"Oh, my God! Have we travelled in time?"
"No, of course not. We've travelled to Australia!" the Doctor said, stepping aside to reveal the Sydney Opera House.
Bill burst into the women's bathroom, splashing water on her face. The Doctor stepped in after her.
"How are you doing?"
"How do you think?"
"Right. Um, how do I help?"
"Can I ask you a personal question?"
"No."
"Can I anyway?"
"Yes."
"Are you from space?"
"No, of course not. Nobody's from space. I'm from a planet like everybody else."
"This planet?"
"No, not specifically this one."
"Doesn't make sense, then."
"What doesn't?"
"TARDIS. If you're from another planet, why would you name your box in English? Those initials wouldn't work in any other language!"
"People don't generally bring that up."
"It looks like a phone box."
"Yes. Er, well, that's the cloaking device. It sort of hides itself." the Doctor replied, looking pleased with himself.
"It's hidden itself as a box with 'pull to enter' on the front?"
"Uh-huh. It's stuck. It's supposed to blend in, but it's, it's broken."
Bill let out a small laugh when suddenly water began streaming from one of the mirrors.
"Doctor..."
The Doctor and Bill burst out of the toilets into the cafe.
"Out, out! Everybody out! Shark attack!" The Doctor yelled as Heather slid out of the toilets with a piercing screech, causing everyone to scatter, fleeing in different directions.
"Where are we going?" Milly asked, everyone now back inside the TARDIS.
"As far as we can. She made Australia in a minute. Let's see what she can really do." The Doctor answered.
"Sir, we're leaving Earth. What about the vault?" Nardole reminded him.
"Oh, we're fine. If there's any trouble, I'll get a message on this." The Doctor gestured towards the psychic paper. "Let's see how long it takes her to get here."
The Tardis stopped again.
"Where are we?" Bill asked.
"Other end of the universe. Twenty-three million years in the future. Oh, yes, it's a time machine too."
The group stepped out onto an alien planet with extraordinary rock formations, on top, all wind carved arches and glittering fluorspar crystals.
"So this is somewhere else? This is a different planet? Not Earth, a different one?" Bill asked.
"That's the general idea," Charlie replied.
"That's different sky? Is it made of something different? What is sky made of?"
"Lemon drops. " The Doctor said.
"Really?"
"No, but wouldn't that be nice?"
"You can be very silly sometimes, you know that? So how do we know this water thing is actually dangerous?" Nardole said.
"Ah, because most things are."
"Mmm, that's true. "
"Why? Is everything out here evil?" Bill asked.
"Hardly anything is evil, but most things are hungry. Hunger looks very like evil from the wrong end of the cutlery. Or do you think that your bacon sandwich loves you back?"
"That's cheery," Liv added, staring down at her popcorn curiously.
"So what is it, and what was it doing on Earth?" Nardole asked.
"Well, there were scorch marks on the concrete where we found it. Could have been left by a shuttlecraft. The puddle, what did it look like? I mean, if that was a car, what would you say that was?" the Doctor replied.
"An oil leak? So it's space engine oil?" Bill suggested.
"Intelligent oil. Super intelligent space oil. No, part of the ship itself. Shape-shifting fluid that becomes anything it needs to be."
"Seriously?"
"But it spent ages laying around being a puddle. What changed? Your friend. She looked into it, didn't she? More than once."
"So?"
"Maybe it saw something it needed. What was she like, your friend? What did she want? What did she need?"
"I think she wanted to leave."
"You see?"
Charlie said with sudden realisation, "The puddle found a passenger."
"A left-behind droplet of a liquid spaceship. A single tear drop, alone in a strange world. Then, one day, it finds someone who wants to fly away."
Leaving the others talking, Bill began to explore the surface, looking into a strange rock pool.
"Not just a passenger. More than a passenger, it found a pilot, so it ate her." the Doctor continued.
"So why is it chasing this one?" Nardole asked,
"Everything wants, everything needs."
"But why does it want her?"
"I don't know. I don't know everything, Nardole. I don't have it all written down."
"You act like you do." Charlie cut in.
"I act like I do because I don't."
"It must be looking for something.~" Nardole suggested.
Bill bent down over the rock pool, as Heather's face rose up slowly to the surface.
"Of course it is, everything is." The Doctor replied.
"But what?" Charlie asked.
"What, in the end, are any of us looking for? We're looking for someone who's looking for us..."
Without warning, Heather screamed, grabbing Bill's face, and trying to pull her down.
"Bill! Bill! Quick!"
The Doctor and Nardole pulled Bill free and quickly rounded up the group.
"Back to the Tardis!" the Doctor shouted as a geyser erupted from the puddle and forming Heather's face behind them.
"Okay, it's fast. It time travels. It never gives up." the Doctor, said, thinking out loud as the TARDIS zoomed across space.
"Plan! Basic sterilisation. We're going to run that thing through the deadliest fire in the universe."
"Yes, that sounds excellent! The deadliest fire in the universe! That's definitely good!" Nardole said excitedly.
"How do we do that?" Bill asked.
"The only way we can. We run through it first." The Doctor answered.
"Less good now!" Nardole added.
Suddenly the TARDIS shook and Nardole looked at the scanner.
"No, not there. I don't like it there!" He wailed as Charlie came over to see the screen, a look of concern spreading across his face.
The Doctor grabbed an old sonic screwdriver from his collection, sat on his cluttered desk.
"Nardole!"
"I don't like there," Nardole repeated.
The Doctor threw the sonic screwdriver to Nardole, who caught it.
"I want you running interference. Can you do that?"
"Can I say no, sir?" Nardole asked.
"No."
"Yes, then."
"Thank you."
"But no really."
"It's okay, I'll go with him," Charlie assured the Doctor, taking his own sonic screwdriver from his pocket.
"Right, you lot stay here," the Doctor said, heading for the doors.
Milly, Mat, Olaolu and Liv approached Charlie.
"Woah, woah, woah, you heard the Doctor. You wait here."
"Yeah, nice try." Olaolu rebutted. Charlie raised an eyebrow.
"Look, we're coming whether you like it or not," Milly said. The others murmured in agreement as they pushed past him.
"Okay fine, but you stay close at all times, this is gonna be dangerous."
"Where are we?" Bill exclaimed.
"Well, we're basically in the middle of a war. No, but, well, it's a war zone, and this is just your basic skirmish. And it's not as bad as it sounds, I promise you. Come on, I've got friends here, old friends." The Doctor assured her.
"Oh..." Nardole's face screwed up as he braced himself for what awaited him.
"I say, friends..." The Doctor said as he stepped out into a futuristic corridor.
"The Doctor is detected! Seek! Locate! Destroy!" A Dalek screeched in the distance.
Nardole was close to tears. The Doctor and Bill ran through explosions with Liv, Milly, Mat and Olaolu following behind. Charlie stepped and walked up to Nardole who was at the back of the group.
"Are we still in the future?" Bill asked.
"No. This is the past." The Doctor replied.
"Doesn't look like the past. Are we safe here?"
"Well, that's up to Nardole and Charlie, so probably not..."
"Oi! We can hear you back here!" Charlie called.
They ran down the corridor following after the group, using the sonic screwdrivers to spark control boxes as they went.
"Oh! Oh, another. Oh! Oh, another. Keep moving, Doctor!" Nardole shouted.
"Where are we going?" Milly asked.
"Into the fire. Come on."
Milly and Liv and Mat and Olaolu exchanged worried glances as the sounds of gunfire and screaming grew louder.
Suddenly a man in a white suit with silver dreadlocks stumbled out of a corridor up ahead.
"Move! Move! Move!" the silver-haired man said.
"Who are those guys?" Liv asked
"Never mind them, it's who they're firing at. Come on."
Milly looked back hesitantly and her and Liv walked back to where Charlie and Nardole were.
Meanwhile, The Doctor, Bill, Mat and Olaolu ran around a corner and stopped at the sight of an oversized pepper pot on wheels armed with a gun and a very aggressive looking sink plunger. A Dalek.
"What's that?" Olaolu asked.
"The deadliest fire in the universe. Take cover." The Doctor replied
"Identify! Intruder! Identify!" The Dalek commanded.
The Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at the Dalek's eye stalk, saying, "Scan this device and identify me!"
"You are the Doctor. You are an enemy of the Daleks!"
"Oh, yes, I am!"
"Wait, what!" Mat exclaimed.
"Exterminate!"
The Doctor dragged Bill out of the way as the Dalek fired whilst Mat and Olaolu dived in the other direction. The Dalek's fire goes straight through Heather who was suddenly behind them.)
"Exterminate," Heather repeated.
"Exterminate!"
"Exterminate."
"Right, I think that's all of them!" Charlie said.
"We make a good team," Nardole said high-fiving him.
Noticing, Milly and Liv approaching Charlie asked, "You okay?"
"We thought it'd be safer back here,"
"Well don't worry girls, I can keep you safe." Nardole winked.
"There's a time and a place, Nardole..." Charlie pointed out.
Ignoring him, Nardole continued, "Oh yes I once took on a whole army of Terrabeserkers. Nothing scares me..."
He was cut off by the deafening yell of a Dalek behind them. "Exterminate!"
"Ah!"
A laser beam erupted from the Dalek's gun and exploded against the wall next to them.
"RUN!" Charlie shouted, leading the way closely followed by Milly. Liv followed behind whilst Nardole remained the closest to the Dalek at the back. Suddenly with the shock of it all, Liv's bag of popcorn slipped from her hand.
"No!" Liv exclaimed as she ran back to get it.
Nardole ran past then turned on his heels when he realised.
"Liv!" He called her but she didn't hear over the explosions.
Charlie and Milly turned back just in time to see a laser beam pierce through Liv's body, illuminating her body with radiation and exposing her skeleton as her organs were rearranged internally leaving her unable to scream as her life left her body.
"NO!" Milly screamed.
She started to turn back towards her lifeless friend but Charlie grabbed her arm and ushered her down the corridor as they and Nardole tried to escape the Dalek, narrowly getting away with their lives.
"What was that thing?" Bill asked.
"A Dalek." The Doctor responded.
"A what?"
"A Dalek."
"What's a Dalek?"
"Never mind. It's a Dalek"
"That's not explaining. That's just saying a word. What's a Dalek?"
"It's an alien war machine. The deadliest alien war machine ever devised."
"Fat, though."
"Sorry?"
"It'll never get through that door. It's too wide."
"It's a tank. A tank driven by a super-evolved mutant programmed to wipe out all other lifeforms, so please keep your voice down."
"It's got a sucker on it."
"It's also got a gun."
"It's got a gun and a sucker? Why? They run out of guns?"
"Bill, please."
"Is there a Dalek out the back with no guns and two suckers that's really hacked off?"
"I don't know. I've never asked because I've always been too busy running away. Now please, shhh."
"One more question."
"Oh, you do surprise me."
"Why do they keep saying exterminate?"
"Because they want to kill us."
"Wouldn't it be quicker to just say kill?"
"Do we really want them to save time?"
"Good point."
"Now, let's go find the others." The Doctor said taking her hand and running down a corridor in the opposite direction to before. A laser beam flew over their heads exploding into the wall in front of them.
"Exterminate!"
The Doctor and Bill turned slowly. Was this the end?
"Ex... ter... min... ate."
"That's wrong. I know my Daleks, and that's wrong. Oh, I see."
"You see what?"
"This isn't a Dalek. Look. Look at the eye."
In its eyestalk, the Dalek did not have a blue light like normal, but a human eye. A human eye with a star in it.
"Heather." Bill realised.
Water started to pour off the Dalek before it dissolved, and Heather stood up.
"Heather," Heather repeated.
The Doctor walked around Heather, so she had to turn away from Bill.
"Interesting. You had a gun but you didn't use it. Why? You've already taken one person from the Earth. I'm going to let that pass because I have to, but I will not let you take another. Go. Just go now. Fly away. Why won't you just go?"
"Oh, my God. I understand! The last thing she said to me. She promised she wouldn't leave without me."
"Her last conscious thought, driving her across the universe. Never underestimate a crush."
"What do we do?"
"She's not chasing you, she's inviting you. Release her. Release her from her promise."
"You have to let me go," Bill said hesitantly.
"You have to let me go." Heather copied.
"I will."
"I will."
"I really liked you." Bill's voice grew shaky.
"I really liked you." Heather's voice also grew shaky, almost as if she was still alive.
Heather reached out to Bill, and Bill raised her hand.
"Bill, don't. Don't! Don't. Don't! Bill, let go!"
Bill and Heather clasped hands, and Bill was thrown into a whirlpool with Heather as the whole of the universe in all its beauty unfolded around them.
"Bill, listen to me. Whatever she's showing you, whatever she's letting you see. It's a lure, it's a trap. She's making you part of her, and you can never come back!" The Doctor said to her subconscious.
"I see what you see. It's beautiful." Bill said to Heather.
"Bill, let go! You have to let go! She is not human anymore."
"Goodbye, Heather."
"Goodbye, Bill."
Bill let go and she stumbled back into The Doctor's arms
"Bill!"
Heather dissolved into a puddle as Charlie, Milly and Nardole arrived along with Mat and Olaolu.
"Wait where's Liv?" Mat asked.
"I'm sorry. The Daleks... They killed her." Charlie said.
Mat and Olaolu were overcome with shock. The two of them went over to Charlie and Milly and began to talk as Nardole approached Bill and the Doctor.
"They alright?" The Doctor asked.
"Hard to say at the minute. I'm alright though," Nardole replied.
"You all right?" the Doctor turned to Bill.
"Yeah, I think so."
"You don't look alright," Nardole said, furrowing his brow.
"She's fine." The Doctor said, leading the way back towards the TARDIS.
"That's the Doctor for you. Never notices the tears." Nardole crossed his arms and followed after.
"I don't think they're mine..." Bill said.
They were close to the TARDIS now when they came back across Liv's lifeless body.
"Another one. Another life lost on my watch," the Doctor said.
"Doctor, don't blame yourself," Charlie replied.
The Doctor gave no response, just picked up Liv's corpse and carried it back to the TARDIS. Nardole went first and held open the door as the Doctor carried Liv in, causing a cacophony of cries to break out.
An atmosphere of solemnity and gloom hung in the TARDIS. No one was speaking. Charlie signalled to the Doctor with his eyes to speak to him in the corridor. The door opened with a metallic clunk as Charlie and the Doctor walked down the stairs and into the corridor connected to the console room. Once the doors were shut Charlie turned to the Doctor.
"So is the Retcon ready to go airborne?"
"It is."
"Gas mask?"
"You know, I think you should forget as well. You're young, Charlie. You're still just a student and you need to live your life too."
"I made my choice. Give me the mask."
The Doctor handed Charlie a mask.
"Will they remember this?" Charlie asked.
"Yes. All they'll forget is any existence of Liv. It's harsh but it's easier for everyone than having to explain and comprehend what really happened. Right now the compound is airborne so don't take your mask off for 3 minutes while it's still circulating."
"Got it."
Bill sat by the Doctor's desk deep in thought as he stepped out of the TARDIS.
"The vault alarm went off, but it was nothing. A student was sick outside and it registered as a biological attack." he chuckled.
"I saw it all for a moment. Everything out there. She was going to let me fly with her. She was inviting me. I was too scared."
"Scared is good. Scared is rational. She wasn't human anymore."
"Will we see her again?"
"I don't see how."
Bill looked over at the Tardis.
"No, no, no, no. No, no. You have to forget about that."
"I don't see how I can."
"I do. Come here, Bill."
Bill stood up in front of him. "What's up?"
"I just want to fix something." The Doctor replied reaching for the temples of her head.
"Whoa! What are you doing?"
"Don't worry. This won't hurt at all."
"No, but tell me."
"Nothing."
"Yeah, because I think you're going to wipe my memory. I'm not stupid, you know. That's the trouble with you. You don't think anyone's ever seen a movie. I know what a mind-wipe looks like! "
"I have no choice. I'm here for a reason. I am in disguise. I have promises to keep. No one can know about me."
"This is the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me in my life. The only exciting thing!"
"I'm sorry."
"Okay, let me remember just for a week. Just a week... Okay, well, just for tonight. Just one night. Come on, let me have some good dreams for once... Okay. Do what you've got to do. But imagine, just imagine how it would feel if someone did this to you."
The Doctor thought long and hard about it as he remembered his last companion, Clara Oswald. His best friend, who he could no longer remember because his mind had been wiped. Bill's eyes were screwed tight as she prepared herself to lose her memory. The Doctor tapped her on the chin to get her attention.
"Get out."
"What?"
"You can keep your memories. Now get out before I change my mind! Don't speak, don't start, just run! Now. Go!" The Doctor's voice grew angry. The other students all stepped out of the TARDIS, leaving it empty as Nardole had remained at the vault. "And you lot can get lost as well!"
Bill grabbed her things and they all hurried out of the room. The Doctor's eyes fell on a picture of his granddaughter Susan.
"Shut up. You shut up as well." He said, turning towards the photo of his late wife, River Song who was recently deceased, due to saving his life. The TARDIS hummed in distaste.
"Will you all please just leave me alone? I can't do that anymore. I promised!"
The others approached the quad and Bill smiled to herself as she realised her memories were intact and Heather still lingered in her mind.
"It's a big universe, but maybe one day we'll find her." the Doctor, who was stood next to the TARDIS, said to Bill.
"What changed your mind?"
"Time."
"Time?"
"And Relative Dimension In Space."
He clicked his fingers and the TARDIS door opened.
"It means, what the hell?"
The group all smiled at each other as they ran into the TARDIS.
Later, in the TARDIS, Charlie approached the Doctor, who was bumbling around the library. "Will they remember about Liv?"
"Highly unlikely," the Doctor answered.
"Good. Because I don't want you remembering either," Charlie said.
The Doctor turned round to see Charlie stood there in a gas mask. His sonic screwdriver glowed and Retcon filled the room. The Doctor coughed and spluttered through the dense fog and he fell unconscious on his desk as he struggled to maintain his memories. Charlie slipped out of the library and removed his mask, feeling content that the Doctor no longer had any memory of Liv's existence.