Ash hadn't expected Seska to say that and he voiced his disbelief.

"Suicide, not him."

Martha spoke as well. "I thought Time Lords couldn't commit suicide."

Seska put the device down that he'd been scanning the Doctor with.

"I don't understand it myself, but you're right, Time Lords can't commit suicide, the survival instinct is too strong. But I overheard my parents arguing over it, so I did some research. It's something only Time Lords as old and as powerful as my mother can do. They can override the instinct. But even then it's only when something too terrible to comprehend happens, the loss of a bond-mate or the knowledge that they are going to do something unforgivable."

He placed a hand on his mother's arm. "I thought the TARDIS had done this...but now. She wouldn't push him that far, wouldn't force him to make this choice."

Ash was the first to speak. "He chose to do this? What could he do that would be that bad?"

"That's why I wanted to come here. I need to connect with my mother. But I need someone to monitor both mother and myself."


The argument could be heard by those that weren't in the office.

"There's no way I'm letting you do this!" Jack yelled.

"You don't have a say in it!" Seska retorted.

"Yes I do. This is Torchwood and I'm in charge, and I say no!"

"Then he'll die!"

"You don't know that. You said yourself you don't understand it. I'm not risking you being dragged down with him."

"I never knew you were such an unfeeling bastard."

Seska stopped for a moment; then a look of contempt crossed his face.

"This is jealousy, you hate the fact that he loves my father and not you. You'd rather see him dead than let anyone else have him!"

Seska was yelling now, his face contorted with rage.

A sharp crack filled the room as Martha slapped him hard across the face.

"Enough! Jack would never do that and Jack, if you won't let me, I'm sure UNIT will. So both of you button it and think about the two boys that'll be motherless if he dies!"

Both Jack and Seska looked suitably chastened.

She turned to Seska. "Now, what do you need?"


Jack wasn't happy; he'd been hurt by the accusation. Yes, he loved the Doctor...but he would never. He still had nightmares about that night; the night the Doctor had attempted the same thing.

That black swirling vortex and the tug of war he'd had.

The Doctor's cries still haunted him and the scream as he'd driven the device into the base of the Doctor's skull.

As he watched Martha attach sensors to the Doctor and to Seska, he wondered if he'd made the right decision. Hadn't the Doctor suffered enough? Wouldn't it be kinder to let him finish what he had started that night?

No, he couldn't think like that; Martha was right, there were two young boys who needed a mother, even a damaged one. He was going to stay in this room until it was over, and deal with whatever the outcome was.

He watched as Seska settled in the chair next to bed and placed his hands on the Doctor's head.

"First sign that you're in trouble, I'm pulling the plug," he said.


Seska had expected his mother's mind to be a morass of colour, but it was still and dark.

If his mother was still here, he must be hidden of too far gone.

It was hard for him to see anything; the dark was all invading. He could feel the pressure of it on his own mind; like falling into a deep hole.

A flash of gold caught his eye...his mother was still here.

"I nkow you're still here mother. Why are you hiding from me?"

The darkness was suddenly gone and in its place was something he'd only seen in the TARDIS archives.

He was standing in a rocky landscape; a huge mountain loomed in the distance. But his attention wasn't taken by that; it was taken by the sight of his mother, standing on the edge of what looked like a huge hole.

He approached quietly and stood next to him.

"It's beautiful," he said.

"You would think so. It's called Senserai. Our distant ancestors thought this was the entrance to the underworld...hence the name. Senserai was the god of hell."

"I didn't think we were ever that uneducated."

"Even after we were enlightened, there were some who believed this place was full of the spirits of lost souls."

"Lost souls?" Seska asked; hoping that his questions would distract his mother.

"Time Lords, grief stricken after the loss of loved ones or driven insane by the knowledge of some future act. Unable to kill themselves, unable to go back, they would wander here, until they starved and died."

Seska was shocked, but his mother laughed. "Oh yes, we're such an altruistic bunch...but unlike those poor bastards, I can jump."

Seska's hearts almost froze when his mother took a step forward, almost on the edge.

"Mother, no," he said, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

He wanted to put a hand out to stop him, but he was afraid of the reaction he would get.

His hearts started to beat again when his mother stepped back, but the relief was only short as his mother turned and snarled.

"Go away."

Seska felt himself being pushed back, but he wasn't having that. He pushed back and said.

"You are not killing yourself."

"Please...I have to!"

The vitriol was gone from his mother's voice, replaced by desperation.

"Go...just go...please!"

Seska shook his head and didn't move. "Come away from the edge."

He took a step towards his mother and he took another step back.

"Seska, please. I don't want to..."

His hearts lurched when his mother took another step back and the earth beneath his foot crumbled. He could hear it bounce and tumble into the dark hole.

"Mother, please, just stop!"

His mother seemed to hesitate but then took another step. This time the earth didn't just crumble, a whole section disappeared and his mother went with it.

"No!" Seska cried and threw himself forward and by sheer luck he grabbed his mother's arm.

Pain ripped through his shoulder as it took all of his mother's weight.

He started slipping forward and he dug his feet into the dirt, stopping the slide forward.

His mother's strained tones suddenly said.

"Let go...let me go."

"No mother."

"Please, it's the only way to stop it."

Seska suddenly shot forward and this time he couldn't stop it and mother and son fell into the darkness.