I'm sorry it took so long...I've been having a bit of difficulty with getting everything to line up until the end of the story. Regardless, please R&R!


The TARDIS tried to fight back, but the Doctor overrode the system. He locked the coordinates. He had six hours to kill. He sat up on the jumpseat and stared at the console. It took him roughly two hours before he realized just how far he had gone. Just how much he had screwed everything up. Not just with him and Athena, but with the entire universe. He'd never be able to fix this. Well, he could fix the universe, but not with her. He had attacked her. He almost willed himself to regenerate into a new man, one who would deserve Athena. His survival instinct told him not too, but he came so close to committing this regeneration's suicide.

After another four hours and three minutes the TARDIS landed in an alleyway in 2059 London. The Doctor grabbed his coat, stepped out of the TARDIS, and immediately saw Athena and some man talking closer towards the opening onto the street. Neither of them had noticed him yet. The ground was covered in snow and Athena wasn't even wearing a jumper. He instantly saddened, she had been living like this for at least a week.

"Stop touching me." Athena said, pushing the man's hand out from under her shirt.

"Oh, come on Minny." He said, pressing himself closer to her. He put his hand under her shirt again and the Doctor could feel his blood boiling. No doubt she'd gone back to her previous life, desperate.

"I said stop it, Danny." He grabbed her hip and slammed her into the wall, pushing himself fully against her.

"I paid for you last night. I can do what I want." He ground his hips into her.

"Yeah, last night. So fuck off."

"Oh, come on." He kept pushing into her and the Doctor stood there, too frozen to do anything but watch. His Athena. Or Minny…he'd have to ask her about that.

Athena snaked her hand into the man's back pocket and pulled out a lighter. After a couple of tries she managed to light it and hold it up against his shirt. It didn't take long for it to catch fire. He yelped and jumped off of her. He beat the flames out and examined his skin, noticing a small burn.

"Bitch, you'll pay for that." He pressed his hand against Athena's throat, slamming her back into the wall again. She groaned and grabbed his wrist, twisting it. The Doctor could hear a bone snap. Danny winced so instead he pinned Athena against the wall with his body.

The Doctor snapped out of his daze and stalked over, pulling the man off of her and throwing him into the opposite wall. "I believe she said to 'Fuck off.'" He grinned down at the man, who was smaller in height, but had much broader shoulders and was of sturdier build.

"Back off, Stretch." He snapped back, pushing himself off of the wall.

"Yeah, back off Stretch." Athena echoed. She noticed the Doctor's split lip. It looked fresh, like it had just happened. He hadn't waited to come get her.

"See, the thing is," the Doctor continued, ignoring both of them, "She's mine."

"This whore? She's anybody's who can pay. Not even that expensive, are you, Minny?" Danny taunted while moving some of her hair behind her ear and lightly patting her cheek. She glared at him and snarled. She pulled a cigarette out of a box in her pocket, stuck it between her lips, and lit it with Danny's lighter.

"Yeah…well, she's mine." The Doctor repeated before turning his attention back to Athena. He cleared his throat, "How's our child, Ath—Minny?" He finished with a bit of disgust in his voice.

"What?" Danny asked, looking at both Athena and this new man.

"Yeah, our child. How is it?" The Doctor asked, cocking his head to the side. Athena scoffed. "I suggest you leave, unless you want to learn what the color of your insides are." The Doctor threatened Danny, pulling a knife out of his pocket at the same time. Athena rolled her eyes and took another drag on her cigarette.

"You think you're a match for me?" Danny responded, cocky. The Doctor faltered, he wasn't expecting that response. Athena gave the Doctor a look that told him to always be prepared for a comeback.

"Well…I…I was—" Danny socked the Doctor in the jaw. The sheer force caused the Doctor to stumble backwards onto the pavement, dropping the knife in the process. Danny was standing proud, flexing his fingers after what he thought was a rather impressive show of dominance. He didn't notice that Athena had picked the knife up. In a flash, Athena had Danny backed up against the opposite wall of the alley, knife pressed to his jugular and her cigarette almost touching his face.

"I suggest you leave him alone, Danny boy." Athena whispered.

"You feel sympathy for the guy that knocked you up, huh? Left you on the street, like a common whore." Danny chided.

Athena pressed the cigarette with the tip of her tongue so that it was close enough to Danny's flesh to start singeing it. "I'm going to say this one more time. You leave me and 'Stretch' alone, and I won't kill you today. Have we got a deal?" She dug the blade into his skin and watched as several drops of blood exuded from him. Danny nodded and Athena pushed off of him. Danny clasped his hand over his neck and took off running.

Athena took another drag on her cigarette and threw the knife down at the Doctor's feet, who was still lying on the ground and staring up at her. "You're welcome." She growled before beginning to walk past him, back down the alleyway.

The Doctor clambered up onto his feet. "Wait…Athena, wait!"

Athena didn't stop walking. She quickened her pace. She saw the TARDIS not too far ahead of her and she figured she'd start running as soon as she passed it. While she was formulating this plan, she didn't hear the Doctor come up behind her until he placed his hand on her shoulder and whipped her around to face him.

"Smoking, really?" The Doctor yanked the cigarette out of her mouth and threw it on the ground, stomping it out.

"It's my body, I can do what I want." She snapped back.

"Not when you're pregnant with my child, you can't."

"That's exactly why I'm smoking."

"Oh, so you started smoking again. And fucking for money too, yeah? That's just great, I'm so glad my time with you meant nothing. You back on heroin too? Cocaine? Good stuff, no?" He saw the hurt look on her face and he started silently reprimanded himself until he felt Athena's knee in his groin. He was thankful for his Time Lord physiology. Yes, it hurt, but not nearly as much as it did humans. It hadn't taken long for Athena to get her toughness back. "It's my body, I can get rid of your demon child if I want to."

The Doctor straightened back up and put his hands on her hips, pushing her against the wall. She squirmed for a moment, but she had missed his touch, despite everything that had happened. It had been nothing but cold, painful touches for a week. His was warm. But she knew she shouldn't enjoy it.

He played with the hem of her shirt. He worked it up with one hand and unbuttoned her jeans and unzipped them slightly with the other. He felt Athena tense up. He moved the fabric of her jeans over just enough so he could see the tattoo on her hip that read 'companion' in Gallifreyan. He traced it. "You're mine, Athena." His voice was hoarse. "Mine." His eyes met hers and he fought back tears.

"Was." She reminded.

"Are."

"No, I'm not."

"I'm about to die." He was surprised he was able to say it so defiantly.

"What?" All of the hardness in her features had faded. Her eyes softened and she took in a breath. "What do you mean?"

"My song is ending." He quoted.

"I don't understand."

"You were starting to fade. You may not remember. Carmen, from San Helios? She can see things…Ood Sigma appearing in London, last week for you, after everything…that solidified it. I don't have much time left."

Athena had no idea what Ood Sigma was, but she desperately wanted to say 'Good', walk away, and leave it at that. But she couldn't. She couldn't bring herself to. Despite everything that had happened between the two of them, she still loved him. She'd never admit it; his ego would blossom if she ever did. But more importantly, he'd probably continue to abuse her.

"Come with me." The Doctor said, distracting her from her train of thought. "Please." He was begging. "I need you." Athena didn't budge. "We could go back to Mykonos, yeah? Or Odelf? Anywhere you'd like, Athena. Anywhere."

"No."

"Please? One last trip? Then I'll drop you off wherever and whenever you want and I'll leave you alone. I'll go die and leave you alone."

Athena pulled his hands off of her hips and zipped her jeans back up. She put another cigarette in between her lips. "Please, stop." His eyes were welling up again. "I'm begging you. Maybe, just maybe, this one—"

"Don't." Athena growled. "Just don't." She studied him for a moment then sighed and put the cigarette back in the box. The Doctor smiled a little. "I'm not going with you." The Doctor's smile faded. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"Why not? Are you fucking kidding me? You attacked me on the TARDIS. In my room. I'm not going back there. I'll take my things back, sure, but I'm not travelling with you anymore."

"Okay…" the Doctor had worked it out. "Okay, come get your things then. I'll help you pack, if you want."

"I'd appreciate that."

"Yeah…come on." He held his arm out for her and she briskly walked past him. He sniffed the air and caught up with her. They reached his TARDIS and the light pulsed, signaling that she hoped Athena would be joining them again. The Doctor opened the door and held it for Athena. She walked inside and the Doctor followed her. "I'm so sorry for this." He mumbled under his breath.

"What are you—" The Doctor placed his fingers on each of her temples and willed her unconscious. She slumped over in his arms and he carried her to their room. The TARDIS refused to open the door for him so he sonicked it open and laid her down on their bed. He pushed her hair out of her face and smirked down at her. "My Athena." He whispered. He kissed her forehead, covered her with a blanket, stood up, and walked back to the console room. He threw his overcoat onto the jumpseat and set the coordinates for Odelf.

The TARDIS fought back as much as she could, but the Doctor had rewired her so that she couldn't shut down on her own anymore. The Doctor sent the TARDIS into the Time Vortex but she was able to divert them back to Earth. She changed the coordinates and the Doctor ran back to the monitor to change them back. She flipped switches back up and the Doctor had to run to flip them back down. After several minutes of battling, the TARDIS landed them on Oahu in the Hawaiian Island chain. She couldn't get them back to London, the Doctor was fighting her with everything he had and it had thrown her off of her plans to return Athena. She could tell that Athena did not want to be onboard and she was desperate to keep them on Earth at the very least.

The Doctor was fiddling with the controls, trying to get them moving again, when he heard a resounding "Doctor!" make its way through the hallways. It didn't take long for Athena to run into the console room. She located the Doctor and stormed towards him, "What the hell do you think you are doing?" She shouted, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"Taking you on a trip." He responded, distracted by the TARDIS console and trying to get them back into the Time Vortex. "I'm taking you to Odelf. You loved the xylein, thought you'd like to see them again." He kicked the console, "That is if the TARDIS decides to cooperate!"

"No, no. You're kidnapping me." She accused.

"I've kidnapped you before. You said so yourself. Why is this time so different?" He examined her. She was dirty. She had new cuts on her wrists. He walked over to her. She backed away but he was quicker, he wasn't nearly as tired. He lunged at her and grabbed her hand. "Let me try to take care of you, please." He kissed the cuts on her wrist and they began healing. "I still love you, Athena."

"Like hell you do." She tried to pull her hand out of his grasp but he held on. "Let go of me." The Doctor grabbed her other hand and kissed the cuts on that wrist too, allowing them to heal. He let go of her hands and turned back to face the console and began fiddling with the controls again. "Why are you doing this?"

"I can't be alone and neither can you." He turned back to face her, leaning against the console. "I miss you."

"Yeah, yeah you really do. You must really love me too, seeing how you treated me."

"Athena…"

"Don't you 'Athena' me, Doctor. You attacked me."

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it." She snapped back. "You're a bastard, just like all the others."

"Let me try to fix it." He pleaded.

"How? How could you possibly fix this?" He took several steps towards her and she backed away. "Don't you come near me."

"I can wipe your memory." He offered.

"That is the cheater's way out, Doctor."

"But you'd be happier."

"But it'd be wrong." She took in a shuddering breath, "It would all be so wrong." She glared at him, "Why? Why did you do it?" He didn't respond. He looked down at his feet. "Why didn't you stop?"

"I don't know." She opened her mouth to retaliate but he cut her off. "Just…something happened. I wasn't myself. Take me destroying Gallifrey, losing all of my friends, and then add your miscarriages and your death back in Galveston to that…I'm surprised I didn't snap sooner. It was just a matter of time, really." Athena stared at her feet and bit her tongue. "Apparently we're in Hawai'i. Oahu to be exact." The Doctor started up again. "Go out and have a look. We can explore a bit, if you want."

"I don't want to be anywhere near you." Athena whispered.

"Right." The Doctor choked out his response. "Understandable. Go out and explore. Have some fun. I'll be here when you want to leave. I'll try to get her to take us back to London. I think we're in the Moanalua Gardens." He looked at the monitor. "Yep, Moanalua Gardens. They're beautiful."

Athena had no desire to explore anywhere. She just wanted to go to some room on the TARDIS, lock the door, and hide. But the Doctor was onboard the TARDIS. She took a deep breath, walked down the ramp towards the door, and walked outside. The Doctor stared at the door when she slammed it shut. He moved over to the jumpseat and watched her on the monitor. She just stood outside and looked around. The Doctor desperately wanted her to come back inside but he watched as she put her hands in her pockets and slowly walked away. He jumped up and expanded the camera's view. He watched for hours. Athena never went more than a hundred meters from the TARDIS. She just kept pacing back and forth on the lawn that the TARDIS had landed on, occasionally staring back at the TARDIS.

The sun was just about to set. The TARDIS had gotten confused by the battle she and the Doctor had had and it had taken her a while to work out the date, but she finally did. She showed the date on the screen and the Doctor quirked up an eyebrow. The Doctor studied it for a moment and then sprung up from the jumpseat and ran to the library. He pulled out a book of historic calendars and compared the date to the traditional Hawaiian calendar. The date fell during the Kaloa nights, which were one of the nights when the Nightmarchers made their way through islands.

The Doctor cursed and sprinted back to the console room. He switched the monitor back to the view of the outside of the TARDIS. He scanned it for Athena and found her about forty meters away from the TARDIS. But in the distance, he saw dim torch light and he felt his blood run cold. He pushed himself off the console and ran towards his bedroom. The TARDIS knew what was happening. She threw the door open for him and he ran in and grabbed his overcoat, quickly put it on, and ran back through the halls to the console room and out the doors.

He scanned the lawn for her and saw her roughly fifty meters in front of him. He couldn't shout to her, he would attract the attention of the Nightmarchers. He had completely forgotten that their path ran through the Gardens.

He started sprinting towards Athena. Her back was to him as she continued her wandering. It didn't take him long to get to her. He grabbed her shoulders as he barreled into her. "What are you doing?!" Athena shouted. The Doctor pushed her onto the ground so that she was lying on her stomach. He laid down on top of her and spread his overcoat over both of them. "Get off me!" She shouted. She was turning hysteric.

"You need to be quiet." The Doctor whispered, his voice raspy.

"Get the fuck off of me!" She screamed. She began thrashing and she screamed again. The Doctor covered her mouth. He could feel her tears on his hand. She bit his hand and he dug his fingers into her side. He looked up and he noticed the torches were coming towards them. He could hear the drumming that signaled their arrival.

"If you aren't quiet, Athena, they are going to kill you." He felt a vibration against his hand, like she was trying to speak. He probably would have heard it, but his blood was pounding too loudly in his ears. "The Nightmarchers. They're the spirits of ancient Hawaiian soldiers. If you look at them they kill you. I forgot they came through here." He felt Athena still and tense up beneath him. "Just be quiet until they're gone. They're coming this way, so stay still and quiet." He kissed her temple, just in case it was the last time he got to kiss her.

The torches got closer and the drumming got louder, signaling that the marchers were getting closer. They were only several meters away from them now. The Doctor turned his head to face the ground and forced Athena's head down as well. He felt several feet kicking him. He felt Athena shift and jolt under him and he assumed that she was getting kicked too. After several minutes the Doctor felt several pairs of feet walking over his back.

The drumming continuously faded. It took several more minutes before the Doctor couldn't hear it anymore. He mustered up the courage to look up and he didn't see a single torch in sight. He climbed off of Athena and pulled her up to his chest. They sat on the ground while he held her to his chest, rocking them slowly. "Are you okay?" Athena asked after several minutes.

"Yeah…yeah. I'm okay. Are you okay?" He lifted her off of his chest and examined her face, taking in every detail.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just scared."

"They're gone now. They're gone." He assured her, smoothing down her hair.

"Can we go back to the TARDIS now?" Athena asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"Of course we can." The Doctor stood up and helped her up. She was shaking. "Are you okay? Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" He asked, gripping her arms to hold her up, afraid she may fall over. Athena made eye contact with him. His eyes were welling up with tears but they had that hopeful look in them that they so often did. She could see that the old Doctor was back. He wasn't the Time Lord Victorious anymore, he was her Doctor again. He broke their eye contact and looked down at her abdomen then back up at her face, "Are you sure you're okay? I pushed you really hard, I'm so sorry."

Athena smiled. "I'm okay, yeah."

"Don't feel faint?" She could hear the concern weighing heavily in his voice.

"A bit." She replied somewhat honestly. She was shaking and that made her feel faint, but she knew she wasn't going to faint like she did whenever she lost their child. She was shaking out of nerves more than anything. She wanted to see what he would do. She wanted to make sure he really was the Doctor again.

His eyes widened in terror. He began shaking a little bit but took in a deep breath and stilled himself. He wrapped his arm around her back and supported her. "You can let go of me, Doctor." Athena half-heartedly demanded. "Not if you're feeling weak, I'm not." He countered. He walked them back to the TARDIS and she opened the doors for them. He walked them up the ramp and helped her onto the jumpseat. "Do you need anything?" The Doctor began again, "Food? Something to drink? Anything at all?"

Athena put her arms around the Doctor's neck and pulled him to her. He stiffened up a bit before he realized she was hugging him rather than strangling him. He straightened up slightly and moved closer to Athena and wrapped his arms around her back. He pulled her to him and they both tightened their hold on the other.

"I'm not forgiving you." She mumbled into his coat.

"I know." He replied, kissing the top of her head.

"I'll probably never fully forgive you."

"I understand." He rubbed soothing circles on her back. "I wouldn't blame you if you never forgave me."

"I don't care if you'd blame me or not." Athena felt the Doctor chuckle slightly. She smiled into his coat. Yeah, she would never fully forgive him. But it was now so obvious to her that he'd still do anything to protect her, even if it meant using his own body as a shield. It meant the world to her. And she found that she was still willing to do anything to protect him too.

That night, Athena took the first shower she had had in at least a week. The Doctor waited for her in their room. He kept himself busy by reading. Once Athena got out of the shower she looked at herself in the mirror. She had lost a significant amount of weight in the past week. Well, she didn't have much to lose in the first place. But as she stood at profile, she could see that her abdomen protruded slightly, emphasized by the lack of fat everywhere else on her body. It scared her. But she knew it wouldn't be much longer before this one was dead too. She picked her dirty clothes off of the floor and got redressed and walked back into their bedroom.

"So…" Athena started, breaking the silence. The Doctor laid his book down and looked up at her. He smiled at her. "When are you taking me back to London? My London. 2009 London."

The Doctor's smile immediately faded. "What do you mean?"

"You don't expect me to stay here, do you?"

"Where would you go if I took you back?"

She hadn't thought of that. She hadn't thought of that when she ran off last week. She never thought of that. "I…somewhere just…anywhere I guess."

"I'm not letting you leave."

"You're just going to hold me prisoner, then?"

"No, no not that. I just…I don't want anything to happen to you, Minny." He gave her a teasing smile. Athena, who had been trying to remain stern, couldn't help but smile. "Why Minny?" He said with a bit of confusion in his voice. Athena laughed, "Short for Minerva." Realization dawned on the Doctor's face, "Oh…I get it." He held his hand out for her. She hesitated at first, but then she slowly began walking towards him. "Am I making a mistake, Doctor? Be honest."

The Doctor didn't answer at first. His smile faltered, but he maintained it. "I had time to think, Athena."

"And?" She urged, stopping halfway to the Doctor.

"I'm a bastard who doesn't deserve you. And I'm not just saying that to get you back." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I can never make it up to you. I know I can't. But I want to try to prove to you, every day of your life, that I love you. You deserve nothing less than that." He pushed himself up from his chair and stood up, but made no move towards her. "It's up to you. Come back with me and we'll travel, we'll stay away from problems as best as we can. Or, or I can take you somewhere else. Anywhere in the universe, any time. And, as much as it would break my hearts and part of me hopes it would break your's as well, as awful as that sounds, I'll leave you there. And you'll never hear from me again."

"Do you really mean that Doctor? Or is it just a ploy to get me back on the TARDIS?"

"I really mean that. I don't want to hurt you again."

Athena stared at him. "I hope you aren't expecting an answer right away."

"No, I want you to think about it. Take your time, even. We can explore the island a bit if you'd like." He stuck his hands in his pockets and shook his head, "Don't want you to make the wrong decision." Athena nodded her head. "In fact, while you were in the shower, I put the TARDIS on lockdown. She won't leave this spot, unless under threat, for seventy-two hours. That way you can think everything through. We can still come inside and whatnot, just can't go flying off is all."

"Thank you." Athena whispered. As she released a breath she didn't realize she was holding, she felt all her muscles ache and her limbs increase in weight.

"I think it's time you get some rest, Athena."

"No…no I'm fine." Part of her was too anxious to fall asleep.

"Do you want me to leave the room?" Athena didn't respond. "I'll take that as a yes. Take your time, Athena. I'm not asking you to forgive me. Make the decision that is best for you." The Doctor picked up the book he was reading. "If you need me, I'll be in the library. Good night." He left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Athena stared at where he had been standing. It took her several seconds to process everything. The Doctor was leaving her alone. She couldn't quite understand. All of their time together, he had never voluntarily walked away from her for an extended period of time. She decided to think about it later and instead crawled into bed. She fell asleep instantly, despite the conflicting emotions and thoughts coursing through her heart and head.