Chapter Text
“No, stop it, no!”
The little man stopped, slowly removing his hands from his face. He was still him, still the same old Doctor. He’d knew he’d have gotten it out somehow, escaped, and found himself...
“Where am I?” he asked, looking at the desolation around him.
“Ah, there you are my boy,” said a familiar voice. The Cosmic Hobo turned to see the grandfather sitting on a rock, dressed in Gallifrey’s finest.
“But that’s not possible,” the Cosmic Hobo said. “You’re me. And if you’re here that means...” He stopped and looked around in earnest, spotting the chasm before him.
The Grandfather let out his signature chuckle, resting gently on his walking stick.
“So I didn’t escape,” the Cosmic Hobo said, his face a distortion of glumness.
“I’m afraid not,” said the Grandfather. “You know what must be done.”
“But I don’t want to,” said the Cosmic Hobo, stamping his foot like a petulant child. “I had so much more I was going to do. More adventures with Jaime and Zoe and- It’s not fair. I did the right thing and this is how I get thanked, hmm? This is where this sort of treatment leads me?”
“Come now, we both know you were always going to do the right thing,” the Grandfather said. “You knew you couldn’t get those people home. You stuck by the promise we made. But now it’s time to move on.”
“Is it scary?” the Cosmic Hobo asked, looking over the cliff’s edge.
“A little,” admitted the Grandfather. “Granted I had some children to help guide me.”
The Cosmic Hobo shot a puzzling look at the Grandfather, who stayed annoyingly coy.
“Well let’s hope the next one keeps my fashion sense,” said the Cosmic Hobo and, with one last look, disappeared over the edge.