WRAITHS OF THE RIPPER
Chapter Sixteen After choosing their outfits, everyone gathered in the console room. Ten opted to go first and Eleven lowered the arch and brought it to him while he settled down in the chair near the monitor. "Here we go again," Ten said, grimacing as he took the arch in his hands. "And no one here except John has ever witnessed this. The last time I did it, Martha was here and it wasn't pleasant for her…or for me." The Doctor took a silver fob watch out of his pocket and gave it to Ten. "Okay, like I said before, this fob watch is me," he said to everyone as he showed to them. "You lose this; you lose me so keep an eye on it. John, keep Rose back. I have a feeling she won't like this and she'll try to stop it." John came up behind Rose, took her by the shoulders and led her to the back of the group while Ten inserted the fob watch into the holder. He then put the helmet on his head and took a deep breath before he nodded to Eleven. Eleven pushed a button on the console and everyone gasped when Ten let out a monumental scream of agony as he held onto the helmet with both hands. Rose turned away, unable to watch his agony and John put his arms around her and held her close. The others were backing up in anguish and fear while Ten continued to scream, his body shaking while his biology was being rewritten. River glanced at Eleven and he gave her a brave smile when he saw the concern on her face. "It has to be done, River," he said to her. "We have to break our link with the other Doctors and the TARDIS." River nodded, not liking that her husband had to go through so much agony but knowing he was right. They had to have time to find the Ripper without being tracked in the meantime. Ten's screams finally stopped and he collapsed in an unconscious heap. Eleven directed John, Jack and Rory and they carefully lifted Ten up and carried him up the stairs towards the med bay. "He'll be unconscious for a couple of hours while the programming finishes," Eleven said to the women. "When he wakes, he'll be Detective Inspector George Sampson. He won't consciously remember any of this but he'll have enough subconscious awareness to be aware of his mission and what he needs to do and he'll have enough awareness to allow us to be around him. Well, maybe not the women playing the whores but on some level, he'll still remember all of you. And so will I." He waited for the men to return and called John and Jack to him. He handed John Ten's sonic and psychic paper and gave Jack his sonic and psychic paper. He then put Ten's fob watch in his hands. "You'll be entrusted with my fob watch," he said to Jack. "I want them separate from each other, just in case." Jack nodded. "Keep them safe, Jack," Eleven said, nodding to the women. "Don't worry, I will," Jack said. "John, you're in charge of the TARDIS. Get us where we need to be after I'm unconscious." "I will," John said, nodding. Eleven patted his shoulder. "I'm glad I had the opportunity to see you and Rose again and make amends," he said to John. "You're a good man." John nodded and smiled. A puff of air streamed out of Eleven's pursed lips as he took his fob watch and approached the chair. "River, stay back and Amy…" "I'm not watching, no worries," Amy said. "After what I saw, I can't watch it again." The other women murmured their agreement and they walked down the front steps to the front door, keeping their backs to Eleven while he put the fob watch in the holder and put the helmet on his head. He looked at Jack and John. "See you on the flip side, mates," he said to them. "Whenever you're ready, John." John walked to the console, his finger hovering over the button while he watched Eleven. Eleven nodded and John hit it. He came up beside Jack and put his hand on Jack's shoulder while Jack watched Eleven with silent anguish. Eleven hung on to the helmet and tried not to scream for the benefit of everyone there but in the end, it was too painful and a scream tore from his lips while his biology changed and became human. The women huddled close together and Sarah Jane held Rani while she held her hands over her ears and tried to shut out the agony coming from behind her. The screaming finally ended and she took her hands away while Sarah Jane hugged her tightly. They turned to see Eleven slumped in the chair, unconscious, while John took the fob watch out of the holder and gave it to Jack. "I can't believe they went through all that," Rani said as she and the other women came back up the stairs. "I can't believe you're going back to Victorian London." "What's the matter, Rani?" John said. "I thought you'd jump at the chance to meet your patron saint in the flesh." Rani averted her eyes when everyone looked at her. "I told you, I just followed the crowd," she said. "Following the crowd is boring, Rani, always be an original," Jack said. "But this is no time to split hairs or throw blame out. We need to get ready." "Yes, we'll fly the TARDIS to August, 1888 and once we're there, I'm going to take the telepathic circuit out of the console and put the whole thing a second out of sync so Ripper or anyone else won't be able to find it. For now, let's get the Doctor into the med bay so we can make sure they're alright before we let them wake up to their new identities."
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