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Adelaide Brooke would save the Doctor. He told her that. As he walked across the compound in the direction of the TARDIS, he forced himself to listen to them. He listened to their horror and fear. He listened as one by one they were taken by the Flood. His hearts broke as the calm voice of Roman told the others to leave him; informed them of just one drop…
Then Ed was taken and with his last ounce of humanity, he blew up the shuttle. The Doctor was flung through the air. He landed, surrounded by fire and debris. And it reminded him of the Time War from so long ago. Suddenly, his mind flooded him with thoughts of all the times he mentioned Gallifrey being gone, or of him being the last of the Time Lords. He stood and looked about him. Finally he heard one clear voice among the many comments he was making to himself. A voice so strong, so challenging, “Just save someone! PLEASE!”
He could do that. He could save someone for Donna. He would save someone for her, because she could never remember. She deserved to have as many people saved in her honor as possible. He glanced down at his hands; his hands that had all but killed his best friend. He turned and looked over the landscape of Bowie Base One, burning around him and his decision was made. He was the very last of the Time Lords. There was no one left to enforce their ridiculous rules of ‘not interfering.’ They would not be able to force regeneration upon him to punish him for meddling! There would be no one to stop him this time!
The Doctor felt it as the Time Lines slammed back into place with the suicide of Adelaide Brooke. He heard a haunting song. It was so familiar and then that fiery ginger voice broke through again, “I think sometimes you need someone to stop you… So you can take cheap shots?... Great Big Outer Space Dunce…. She’ll help you; we both will…. I’m all right too… Every bit as important as Time Lords, thank you!.... Lacking that little bit of human, that go instinct that comes hand in hand with Planet Earth.”
As the memories of his beloved companion slammed into him, he fell to his knees. He chocked back a sob; even without being here, she was stopping him. He had betrayed her memory he had saved those he knew he shouldn’t and became arrogant in his success. The song grew louder and then he recognized it, “I’ve gone too far.” He turned to face around the corner, “Is this it? Is this my death?” But just as suddenly Ood Sigma was gone…
When Wilf brought him to the café and he saw Donna. He had no choice but to weep. He missed her, oh how he missed her. He missed her more than he had any other companion. When he said, “I needed…” Oh he needed Donna, just as Wilf said. He needed her to stop him and instead he had invalidated her memory by using it as a reason to do everything he had always sworn not to. Her memory wasn’t enough to hold him in check. He needed her…
The least he could do was ensure that she would be cared for, at least financially. She had found a husband, she still had her mum and Gramps, and a little bit of money would be all that was needed so she would have the opportunity to travel, to live her dreams without worrying about putting the food on the table. But he knew Donna, she would never keep it selfishly to herself. He knew he could trust her to accept the gift and share it. And even if it wasn’t quite in his own honor, he hoped that a small part of her would somehow remember.