He leaned to one side against the console, his shoulders slumped, staring blankly at the man in front of him, his throat dry, ever beat of his hearts seeming to take more effort than the last. He'd known this was going to happen, always. And yet he'd always kept running, always kept running from what he knew was his purpose, even though he knew it would catch up with him sooner or later.
The man stared back at him, his green eyes calm, like the sea before the oncoming storm. Running a hand through his greying beard, he opened his mouth, as though he was about to say something, before thinking the better of it and closing it. The younger looking man swallowed, then slowly pulled himself up from the console, his fingers clawing into the metal surface for all that he was worth. He never lost eye contact, not for a second, seeming to care about nothing else besides maintaining that bond, that connection. A stray lock of floppy brown hair fell in front of his face, but he didn't seem to notice, instead standing up straight and murmuring something, the words cutting through the still, cold air.
"I guess it's time, isn't it?"
The other man nodded. "You are correct, Timelord."
The Doctor huffed through his teeth, breaking eye contact for the first time as he looked downwards towards the floor, taking brief sideward glances at his pigeon toed feet. He knew without looking that the other man was frowning, looking at him with eyes cold as ice. He knew it just as much as he knew what was about to happen. What he'd always known would happen, sooner or later. And to be honest, what he expected to happen sooner, even if he'd rather it was never. Swallowing, he looked back up, meeting those green eyes with his brown ones.
"One rule though. Actually, plenty of them, but you already know that, don't you? Metatron."
A nod. "I do, Doctor. When my work is done, I will bring you back here. Unharmed and unchanged."
The Doctor took another heavy breath, the cold air rushing into his lungs causing something that felt like slight discomfort. But at the moment, that didn't matter. Even if he didn't trust the angel, he didn't have much of a choice. Whatever was going to happen, it was going to be vital to the fate of the universe itself. And the Doctor couldn't take any chances with that, not after what had happened before. He jumped slightly, being disturbed from his thoughts as he felt a hand being placed tentatively on his shoulder, the angel's fingers curling around the edge of it.
"Doctor, I do not have much time. Do you accept?"
The Doctor looked up, the dim glowing lights from the consol illuminating every part of his face, every line, every dip, every crack in that almost perfect mask. He swallowed once more, his expression more serious that it had been for a long time. And those events were not ones he wanted to remember.
"Yes."