The sun descended faster than Max imagined a star could, it was like the orb just hopped off the ledge of the universe into dive. A dry blue sky turned deep magenta, stars became easier to see with each deeper shade. The atmosphere was different any other place Max saw, constellations radiated like diamonds, comets shooting by with blazing tales, and distant clusters of planets grouped together that could be seen even from millions of miles away. The idea that this might be the source of all life did seem slightly more possible considering the highlights above them. A curious thought occurred while the Doctor pulled out a glowing sphere that radiated warmth while floating off the ground in a bubble of heat.

"You told me this place 'might' be the source of all life in the universe, but you've never looked to be sure?"

"Nope," the Doctor said. "That possibility alone makes it suicide to dare try. The slightest ruffle to the history of existence, and life's extinguished before it even started. Some things are… just not worth finding."

"Like your grave."

The Doctor paused while she unfurled a blanket and sleeping bag, a chill filled the air but neither women paid it much mind.

"Yeah," the Doctor said after a moment. "Never a good thing to know too much about your future. It would sabotage possibly every decent thing that may come your way."

"Have you ever found yours?"

This time the Doctor took a long moment to stare out at the darkness before responding.

"Yes, I did. A group called the Silence tried to arrange my own fate to keep the Time Lords from returning. Didn't agree to die then, and my people managed to change the game. Gave more… a booster shot that let me continue on. And here I am, new cycle of regenerations, the second in a new line of Doctors." The camp was finished as she ended her explanation.

Max and the Doctor sat facing each other, the orb's light illuminated their bitterness.

"This was what was on your mind while on the Tardis. Nice to finally have it out in the open." Her tone expressed anything but relief.

"I've been stuck on a time machine for a 'month', Doc. The fact that it took me this long to get a bit of pathos scares me. Chasing that Doctor-Adventure high scrambles the brain. Do you count on that?"

The Doctor smiled half-heartedly.

"Actually, you picked up on it faster than most of my companions have. Some never tried to pay much attention to it."

"And what happened to the ones that stuck around too long?"

Her silence answered what she could never dare speak in words. Max closed her eyes, annoyed but not cruel enough to clearly ignore that the Doctor did care for those she traveled with. Leaning in, Max spoke after she knew what she really wanted to confront.

"What the Hell am I to you?" Max said. "I'm not as smart, strong, or capable of defeating alien armies like I'm playing with dominoes. But you seem to keep us around until we break or something breaks us. Sure, you get hit hard sometimes but you can bounce back. Do you just need someone to talk to so you don't go crazy?"

The Time Lord was the first to look down, shadows were cast over her features in the dim glow of their orb. She remembered those odd moments where a companion decided to act on their volition, to actively do something crazy. To finish a calculation on a ship set to explode, to reunite with a suddenly long-dead husband, and to face the raven in place of another. The deaths seemed pile up more now than the survivors. Her earliest companions most likely had passed away a long time ago, but with time being relative they could be dead for centuries or never born at all. When she had her 12th face, that sadness for how the Doctor must stand alone in the end almost compelled her to not move forward.

"Losing a companion is like losing a piece of my soul, Max," the Doctor said. "The first few times I got companions were accidental, acquiring people that are forced to join me on my travels, I didn't have much control of the Tardis back then. But eventually things changed, soon my companions and destination were both things I could decide on."

She looked up at Max with a sincere smile.

"I have nothing but respect for you trusting a madwoman in a box."

The young woman sighed as she leaned back on the blanket, looking up at the stars for a moment. Her eyes reflected their cosmic brilliance. When she turned her focus the Doctor again, the anger had subsided, slightly.

"I know you care about us, Doc, and you try to help everywhere you go. But why do this? You saved my life, but that was just random. You dive right into Hell and don't know if it's possible to claw back out. What made you… get involved?"

The Doctor had no way to tell how wide of a scope Max was talking about, and decided that the best way would be the beginning.

"It depends on when you ask me. Did I run away from Gallifrey's eldritch prophecies of doom, did I want to see if good could do more than survive in a universe that worships the triumph of evil, or did I want to help my granddaughter not lose faith in life by traveling with and then in honor of her? Could be all three or none of them, I've been at this for so long that sometimes I'm just traveling out of habit. I guess, the most honest way I describe it, is that I'm selfish. The universe cries out, knowing somethings wrong, and I decide to help stop the screaming. I interfered for so long, I've become a necessity to keep the universe in one piece even though that might mean breaking it sometimes."

"I think if it were a simple excuse, Max, I'd solve it and never travel again, but those screams… would haunt me forever."

That was just about everything she never dared to say out loud. The charm of Dust was how it never asked for anything but gladly embraced all the little secrets hidden away. Sand could never be affected by petty things like the sorrows of time, the penultimate time travelers because they would be all that's left when the universe mirrored everything that now surrounded them. But Max wasn't sand.

Her companion's face was now the one in shadow. She spoke her own truth out into the darkness as much as to the Doctor.

"I never knew my family, but there is one person on Jaret V my heart calls home. Candace Werrin, she's a librarian, involved with the archiving the various logs of people who visit our hub planet. When we first met, she asked me if I had clearance to be there in the docking bay on one of my trips spying on the travelers. I have No clue what exactly I rambled out in response, but it got me her number. You remind me of her, both blonde. We'd been together for four years, I was even thinking rings… but the one time Candace was away to chronicle some a diplomat's arrival, the Sponsors took me."

Max's form shuddered with emotions she'd rather be only slightly seen in the dark.

"They would have killed her, something about 'compromising the product', so her demanding to talk to me would mean death. They let me send a message, monitored to make sure nothing slipped, and so I expressed to Candace how I would sorely miss our reading sessions."

Max allowed her face to be seen, tears refracting light.

"I hate reading, and she knew it. Candace had a way of knowing what I meant even if I never said the words. She stopped messaging, mixed blessing because that I also meant I had no clue whether they simply didn't kill when I wasn't looking… 'dealing with uncertain variables'. I'm scared to come home because it might be empty. Worse, because of what it took to keep off the chopping block in the Rift Games, I don't want Candace to not… see the woman who loves her in those eyes."

"I guess," Max said with sad smile. "We all run from something."

The Doctor listened to it all, not saying a word. She closed the distance and embraced her friend. Max made not attempt to reject the offer, but soon wrapped her own arms around the Doctor.

"Say the word, and I take you home." The Doctor said.

"R-Really?"

"The second we left, like nothing happened. My offer stands whenever you need it. This… is nothing you need to worry about. The past… never really going anywhere. That's My mixed blessing, but it never needs to be yours, Max."

The Doctor and her companion held each other for a long time, making amends all the unseen pains they both endured. They eventually pulled apart, the Doctor was surprised when she processed the time and concluded that barely an hour passed. Some things had way of taking only as much time as it needed, the Time Lord thought.

"Thanks, Doc," Max said. "I might take up that offer, but only after we finish this tomorrow. It'd be a bit embarrassing to come to a new planet and have the only highlight be crying in the dark."

The Doctor and Max laughed a little, relieved to find some form of peace. There was still the Hills of Memory, but the Time Lord wasn't too concerned. In fact, once they got past that madness, she'd be able to share a rare secret, hidden from all the universe.

The Legacy of the Doctor.