LOSS AND HEALING

Chapter Twenty One

The moment Eleven opened the door, he froze when he heard soft crying from the direction of the sofa. He and Ten glanced at each other and headed out of the unfinished room. They walked over to the sofa by the fireplace and looked behind it. Eleven's hearts lurched when he saw Michelle cuddled up in a fetal position, fully dressed and sobbing with tears running down her face.

"Shelly?" Eleven said while Ten knelt down beside him.

"I came down to get you cause Mommy said it was time to go and I went to the door and you were arguing," Michelle said, wiping her tear filled eyes.

Eleven cursed softly, mentally berating himself for not making his other self go with him into the TARDIS where Michelle couldn't hear them. Ten swallowed hard and leaned in so his face were inches from her face.

"I'm sorry," Ten said, his voice choking. "We didn't mean to upset you. We just had a bit of a row but it's over now, yeah," he said, stroking her hair.

"You said he was gonna die soon," Michelle said to Eleven while Eleven laid his hand on her face.

"Love, he can't be here forever, I think I told you that before," Eleven said as gently as he could. "Eventually, he has to become me."

"So soon?" Michelle said.

"Well, it's not going to be tonight but yes, it will be soon," Eleven said. "I know it's confusing but he will live on in me, love. He won't be completely gone and that's the point I was trying to make to him."

"You said I might die too," Michelle said.

"No," Ten said while Eleven mentally cursed himself again. "Love, we were talking about all the people who have traveled with have had to leave us at some point, either by accident or design. Not everyone has ended up dead. You did see Martha, Jack and Sarah, right? But that's a risk you'll have to take if you want to do this someday and we were talking about that. Love, please don't cry and be upset, not today, alright? We're not arguing now, everything is cool."

Michelle sat up and Eleven put his hand on her back while she swallowed hard and wiped the tears from her eyes. Ten put his hand on her head while Michelle looked at him.

"When you die, where do you go?" she said.

"Um…I become him," Ten said, pointing to his counterpart.

"I know but does this body go somewhere?" Michelle said, pointing to his chest.

Ten and Eleven looked at each other.

"Um…I don't really know," Ten said. "I go to sleep for a moment or two and I wake up as the next Doctor. I don't think this body will go anywhere, certainly not to where Amy and Rory went…at least not until I permanently die, I suppose."

Michelle looked at Eleven and then she got up on her knees and looked into his eyes.

"Trying to see him in you," Michelle said, pointing to Ten.

Eleven chuckled and Ten smiled.

"And?" Eleven said.

Michelle stared intently at his face.

"You don't have much eyebrows," she said, running her finger along the hairs on his brow.

"I thought you were looking for my other self, not inspecting my eyebrows," Eleven said, amused while Ten chuckled.

"Yeah but…you really don't have much eyebrows. Mommy has an eyebrow pencil if you need it."

Ten laughed hysterically while Eleven shot him a look.

"No thanks, I'm fine," Eleven said, pressing on Michelle's nose.

"Shelly, we're ready to go," Lori called down.

"Are you alright?" Ten asked Michelle.

Michelle nodded.

"Are you?" she asked him.

"I think so. I'm gutted that we caused you to cry, especially on your birthday and I'm sorry about that. It won't happen again," he said, standing up and opening his arms.

He picked her up and held her against him while he smiled at her. Michelle looked back at Eleven while he followed them to the stairs.

"You know, I could go get Mommy's eyebrow pencil for him," Michelle said to Ten.

"Put a sock in it, Bookworm!" Eleven said as Ten and Michelle giggled.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Ten had to suffer more embarrassment after Lori noticed her daughter had been crying and he and Eleven had to explain why before apologizing profusely. Michelle stuck up for them and told her mother not to be angry but Ten still felt bad and he wondered if perhaps coming here had been a bad idea. By the time they got outside, Michelle was fine and was walking near him, smiling and excited at the idea of celebrating her birthday. Ten decided to ride with Uncle Dan and Aunt Ruth and expected Michelle to ride with her family but when he got in the back seat of the SUV, Michelle told her mother she was gonna ride with him and she got in beside him.

"If you're gonna leave soon, I wanna spend some time with ya," Michelle said to him.

Ten felt a lump come to his throat and he smiled tenderly at her. He looked over when Jack opened the other door and climbed in beside him. They watched while Sarah Jane and Martha got into Tom and Alicia's car while Eleven rode with Jim in his truck and Lori took the children in her car. Eleven had turned off the crystal before they left but Ten figured Amy and Rory were riding with them somewhere or thinking themselves to Chuck-E-Cheese and meeting them there. Michelle and Jack closed their doors and waited for Dan and Ruth.

"You okay?" Jack asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ten said.

Dan and Ruth came out and got in the car. They followed Lori and Tom and Alicia while Jim followed them. Michelle was quiet, glancing out the window at the countryside while they drove. Ten wondered if she was still upset over their argument but was choosing to hold it inside like he would do. Jack glanced at Michelle and then began to talk aloud to Ten, telling him if he remembered being on the Valiant. Ten, recognizing what he was doing, said he did and Jack and he talked about it. Michelle perked up, hearing another story of their adventures and she turned her head away from the window and listened quietly while they discussed their year in captivity. Now even Ruth was listening, turning her head slightly in the passenger side seat to listen while Ten descibed being old and being abused by the Master.

"You were very old?" Michelle finally asked.

"I was very, very old. The Master aged this body until I was one hundred years old. I was an old man with a balding head and snow white hair."

Michelle was staring at him and Ten guessed she was trying to imagine him as an old man. As he stared at her, he suddenly realized she would have been alive during that year and his hearts lurched imagining her being struck down by the Toclafane or even worse, becoming one of the Master's slaves and working on his missiles. He quickly put the disturbing thought out of his mind and he and Jack spent their time answering questions she and Dan and Ruth had about that year and their time in captivity.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Chuck-E-Cheese was located in a large strip mall on the east side of Indianapolis on Highway 40. The area was surrounded by stores and restaurants and there was heavy traffic even at this time of night. After Michelle got out, she hurried to find her sisters and brother and quickly told them what Ten and Jack had said to her. They looked for Martha and found her with Eleven, River and Sarah Jane, chatting casually with them while they waited to go inside with the others. Michelle and her siblings walked over to Martha and Michelle tugged on her sleeve.

"The other Doctor and Jack said that you walked the Earth when they were prisoners on board this flying ship," Michelle said to her.

Eleven laughed at the stunned look on Martha's face.

"Oh, so that's what they were discussing in the other car, eh?" Martha said, amused.

"Walked the Earth?" River said with a frown.

Martha glanced behind her and saw everyone else was ready so she told them what happened while the children followed her into Chuck-E-Cheese.

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