Rubbing his hands across his face and through his hair, which is thoroughly mussed by this point, The Doctor stands, stretches, and turns toward the door of the Library. "Let's move to the Console room. I have a feeling we'll be needed there shortly. I should be receiving a proximity alert once the signal at the aperture recognises Rose's mental signature. Your little Plan involves a whole lot of jigger-pokery, so I had better get started on my part of it. Yours is more like pure sorcery." The Doctor looks back and finishes with a smile wanting to reassure the Sphynx that he means it, he will help...he believes.

Now, it's her turn to nod. She felt him come to the decision, and she smiles broadly back at him. "Sorcery! Indeed Doctor, perhaps it appears so to Time Lords," she smirks. "My actions I do with will alone, but do not mistake them for simple or illusion. What I and the Child contemplate is quite dangerous to us as well, but that does not change the necessity. I do not have enough language to attempt to tell you what I will be doing, I could share it with you, if you need the knowledge?"

"Nope! I'm not finished with that last batch." He says, wincing, "I trust you." The Doctor lets lose an enormous breath."Phew! That feels great! Now I have someone else to share the ending of the Universe with. We can blame each other in our final micro-seconds instead of just myself!" His says this last teasingly with an eye-roll and a flinging of his hands into the air as he reaches the Console.

The TARDIS and the Sphynx give him identical snorts of amusement.

Several hours later finds the Doctor well down in the bowels of the TARDIS, reconfiguring the stability circuits and taking advantage of the moment to fix several other lingering issues within reach. For once in their life together, the TARDIS is visibly helping him by lighting up the connections that need to change, the ones that have always actually needed fixing, and zapping him when he gets distracted by something completely unrelated.

#timing/focus/700 years!#

"Ow! Dammit, would you stop that. I wasn't going to doing anything to the variable phaz...OW! I just thought it would fit better over there, but obviously you don't agree, so fine...FINE! Why are you sort of helping me now? You know how much easier this would be if you'd 'helped' before? And a Time Lord running out of time, is an oxymoron, thank you!"

#Snort/Rose/you never asked#

"Oh, I see who the favourite is now. And to think all these years I've..." Well above his head he hears a new beeping start.

Looking up, he sees the Sphynx peering down at him. "Doctor, it is time." Nearly strangling himself not once, but twice in his haste to extricate himself from the morass of wires, tubes, and hang-y...things, he finally pulls his long lanky body up through the grating and rushes to the Console checking the readings. It is indeed the proximity alert. Letting out a triumphant whoop he looks expectantly to the Sphynx seeing if her part is complete.

"So, are we ready?" he asks excitedly.


While the Doctor is reworking connections to help her Child maintain the position at the volatile event horizons between this Universe, the Howling, and the Parallel Universe, as well as steadily siphoning an energy stream from the dying star to fuel the communications the Doctor already has in place, the Sphynx has been working on the star, and preparing herself for what is to come.

From the outside, the creature who refers to herself as the Sphynx, stood to the side of the console limbs loose and head back. She is in general completely still, but every so often the feathers of her wings will lift and settle as if in a breeze, and the colours of them are constantly shifting, growing brighter or darker seemingly at random intervals.

Snapping to consciousness a minute or two before the alert sounds, the Sphynx takes the time to catalogue where the parts of herself are for the upcoming battle. It isn't going to be a fight between entities of any sort, the star is glad for its dying to have purpose and meaning and is doing its best to finish everything she needs. It is going to be a battle of energies through several of the higher dimensions, and merely a tiring struggle here on this plane.

She, who has danced with comets and lit stars from pockets of dust, has never done anything this complicated. The Doctor thought the creation of the Eye of Harmony was difficult, this makes that Universe altering event look like lighting a stove. She will not tell him that, though. He is worried enough, and it's about to get worse. She has just caught a glimpse of Rose through the boundaries, and the Doctor is not going to be happy. She turns to walk to the open grating and looks down towards the Doctor as the beeping commences, "Doctor, it is time."


"Yes Doctor everything is in place. We can begin." She knows he needs reassurance, so she gives him a smile she hopes is convincing. The feelings she's having has started her hearts to pounding, and she isn't so sure about this whole living thing anymore, no matter how lovely tea is.

It must have been good enough, with a matching grin of his own the Doctor starts flipping switches with one hand and typing madly at the keyboard watching the monitor closely. After nearly a minute of this he steps to the side of the console with sonic his in hand, takes a deep steadying breath, and looks over at the Sphynx with a nod. She strides down the ramp to the doors of the TARDIS with determination and throws them open wide. In the centre of the doorway there's a dinner plate sized undulation in the fabric of space. Concentrating on it the Sphynx can just make out parts of what looks like it might be a beach: clouds, grey light, and what seems like in the distance, but also right there, a blurry woman shaped form. Looking over her shoulder at the Doctor, she nods that she's ready.

He's a little bothered by the look in her changeable sun coloured eyes (is that sympathy), but he's too giddy to pay it any mind. He's about to see Rose, talk to Rose, and if everything happens the way the Sphynx and the TARDIS intends, hold Rose. This is about to be the second best day since, "Run!"

Taking another steadying breath he points the Sonic at the Console and presses the button.

"Rose. Hello? Rose?"

"Doctor?! I can hear you but I can't see anythin'. Are you coming?" His grin couldn't get any wider, finally herring Rose's voice for the first time in a year.

"Oi! Hang-on!"

The Doctor adjusts the setting on the sonic, and tries again. Dammit! The holographic waveform projector looked like it was working just fi...

At that moment an image of Rose pops into the TARDIS. An image of a very thin, very bald Rose. Just as the image had resolved the wind had blown the scarf from her head as she tries to reach for it.

"Rose!" The Doctor blurts.

"Oh, Doctor."