People were struggling to stay on their feet as the wild winds picked up around the Citadel. The Tenth Doctor could tell that the reaction was much more intense than what he'd seen back in Russia, probably because it was a much larger construction so would need a greater force to topple it. The gorge underneath the building was swirling with white pulses of energy and light, as if it were some sort of oversized mutated swimming pool. The waves were crashing about, spilling over. The whirlwind began to rise, wrapping itself around the Citadel. The glass dome was the first to shatter under the intense pressure. The Doctors grew worried that people were going to get hurt from the falling shards but, as the pieces started to rain down upon them, a purple force field erupted from the ground, protecting everyone. River Song had a cocky smile on her face as everything worked as planned. They'd seen the Sontarans protect themselves against the Nebulous device's effects so had reasoned that they could do exactly the same. The Curator had been the one to figure it out, something that he'd only boasted a little bit about before Sarah Jane, Clara and River had all threatened to hit him at the same time.

Now with less apprehension, they could all watch in grim satisfaction as the torrent continued to grow. An almighty groan rumbled through the air, scaring some of the people who had escaped. They stood there and watched as the largest of the towers slowly crumbled to the ground, creating a dirty black and orange cloud that the force field blocked from getting too close. The device was working - it had taken out the central structure of the Citadel which the emitter was attached to. The Twelfth Doctor looked up as the golden energy that had been shooting out of it gave one final pulse before fading from existence. They all let out a collective sigh of relief as the rift shrank slightly. He presumed that it wouldn't be an instant thing to happen, for it to finally disappear. It was a massive tear through time - he could allow it a few more minutes to lose its waning energy. He was just thankful that they'd somehow managed to stop its cause. He said they - he hadn't done anything. He owed so much to all the people that were beginning to crowd around him and his past selves, and to one person in particular especially. He looked around, hoping to see her gorgeous face. She wasn't here yet, which troubled him. He couldn't start to think how happy he'd be when he saw her again. If he saw her again, that dark part of his mind whispered. Now wasn't the time to be thinking like that.

Following the main tower, the other parts of the Citadel began to fall, pulling the bridges down with them. He didn't know what to think as he saw it happen in front of him. He had accomplished something that the Dalek's had strove for for centuries. Maybe they'd give him a medal. He wondered whether the Daleks had a variation of the concept of a medal. It was probably being rewarded with not being exterminated straight away. He'd take it. But there had been a time when he had fought to keep that Citadel standing in the darkest days of the Time War. How many people had perished to defend it? And now, as it slammed against the ground to produce one final avalanche of smoke and dust, it was no more. The symbol of Gallifrey was no more. In a sense, the planet he had known and grown up on had perished with it. That's why he felt he'd completed the prophecy. Whatever was built in its place, if anything was, would signal a new dawn for the Time Lords. At least, he hoped it would.

"Look at what you've done." A tired, raspy voice sounded from the ground. Rassilon was sneering at him and his dark eyes were boring into Twelve's own like he was hoping, through sheer willpower alone, he could burn a hole in his head. Why couldn't he just realise that he'd lost? "Are you happy? You've destroyed the one chance your people had of living again! Can you live with so much blood on your hands? We were wrong. We should have always been fighting a war against you, not the Daleks."

"I am happy actually. Because everyone you can see around you…" Rassilon glanced around, not liking all of the dark looks he was receiving. "...saved me from myself. I was going to do something much worse because I'd lost hope. I should have realised that hope is the one thing in the universe that persists, no matter what. You can't destroy hope. As for what I've destroyed...all that's gone was your last chance of ruling supreme forever. I'll take that as a win every day of the week. The people will survive. Because they have the one thing that everyone needs: hope."

"It's easy for you to wax lyrical about the situation because you haven't seen what it's truly like. It has been easy for you, being able to fly away like you always do. I had to stay."

The Doctor looked up at the ever fading rift, letting out a long sigh. "Well, this time I think I have to stay. There isn't enough energy to get us through to the other side. Trapped."

"If we are actually stuck here," River spoke up, walking towards them, "can I have the honour of killing him?"

"I'd actually like to do that," Jack said, cocking his gun and pointing it in the President's direction with a large smile. "I'm suddenly all trigger happy."

"The glory of the Sontaran race would be satisfied with his blood!" Strax shouted maniacally. Vastra placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"I think a lot of people here would want the privilege of ending his life," Ten pointed out, kneeling next to the old man. It wouldn't take a lot. Just one shot. Anyone could do it without a second thought. "But that's not who I am. I have never been that man and I don't want to start now."

"You're just going to let him live? After all that he's done?" Jenny asked, pulling on his jacket sleeve. "How many people have died or suffered because of what he did?" The Doctor could see in her comments what she truly was - a soldier. It wasn't her fault; she'd been born that way so that she could serve in a war. That callous and black and white mindset would be difficult to move on from.

"I know what he's done. But we are better than him. That's why I do this, Jenny. To keep telling myself that there are still people out there that are better than him and all the others like him. You're so much greater. Don't stoop to his level." She nodded her head, which eased a weight on his weary hearts.

"Think about it," Eleven piped up. "He wanted to punish us by making us watch the Earth crumble as Gallifrey rose again. Isn't it fitting that we punish him by making him live through Gallifrey rising again as something grander?"

Rassilon rolled his eyes. "You think that this is grander? A pile of rubble in the middle of a desert? What this is, is us being condemned by your hand."

"What this is, is complete and utter...potential. Gallifrey now could be whatever the people decide. The Gallifreyans who didn't have a voice before. The possibilities are endless. Yes, I think that's much grander than what you wanted to accomplish."

"And we can help them realise that potential," Martha said but her voice was laced with sadness. It made the Doctors look at all of his companions. The only people that had been condemned were them. They couldn't leave. They couldn't get back to Earth. Because they'd wanted to save him, they'd lost their lives. He felt a massive swell of guilt inside of him. He couldn't understand how they were still smiling.

"I'm sorry," Twelve muttered dejectedly. "Your families...your friends…"

"Will be able to live because of what we've done," Mickey strongly responded. "Once that rift properly closes, you said the effects would be reversed. I'd gladly spend the rest of my days here knowing that the rest of humanity could go on." They were too strong for their own good at times, he thought with a quiet pride.

"There's worse places to end up on," Graham commented. "It looks like quite a nice spot. I'm already the house I'll build right over there." His smile dropped. "Grace would love it here. She won't even know what happened to me." Yaz squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"She'll be proud of you," she said quietly. She didn't know the other woman or what their relationship was like but she knew how she'd feel. Because she was feeling the same way towards him too. She wanted to be selfish and remind him that she had family too but knew that they were all going through the same thing. It made her realise that she had taken her family for granted, not fully appreciating them when she really should have. She wouldn't get to bicker with her sister in that good-natured way they did. She wouldn't get to listen to her dad's latest conspiracy theories, looking at him as if he were a mad man when they both knew that meant how much she loved him. She wouldn't get to cook with her mum or be entertained by her Nani's life stories. She'd wanted adventure more than anything else and now it had taken her away from the greatest adventure that was sitting right underneath her nose.

"If there's a way of sending a message to UNIT through the Tardis, I could ask them to get in touch with your families," the Doctor said for what good it would do. It wouldn't bring them back. "At least then they'll sort of understand what happened to you. And why you did it."

"Thanks," Graham said in a small voice but the Doctor knew that he meant it.

"We appreciate it," Yaz added. He was about to move to speak to Amy and Rory when he spun around. That sound. He'd wanted to hear that sound so much. That wonderful, familiar groaning sound. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about her and surely this meant that she was okay. She'd managed to get out before the Citadel had collapsed. A Tardis began to appear, a silver cylinder. A base model, he realised. They'd been smart enough to get to the workshop. He was the first one to meet it, placing a shaking hand on its cold outer surface. The doors opened after a moment, a strange electronic sound. He remembered his Tardis having that same noise back in the day, when he'd been colour blind for centuries. He took a step back, looking in to see the plain white console room.

He could tell that Ko Sharmus and Cassandra were the first ones to exit the time machine, being patted down and hugged by everyone else, all thankful that they'd survived. He could tell but he didn't pay them any notice. His eyes were completely trained on the young, brown haired woman that halted just before she came out too. A myriad of emotions flickered over Clara's face as she looked at him, stared at him. Anger because he'd left her yet again, not listening to her cries of anguish, ignoring her pleas for him to see reason. Sadness because he'd betrayed her, sadly not for the first time. But also...pure happiness because they were back together again despite all of his efforts. He should have started berating her for going against what he had said and for dooming herself to a lifetime on Gallifrey. But he couldn't. Because he was secretly thrilled that she was standing there where he could just reach out and touch her and realise that everything would be okay. He didn't dare make the first move though. He was letting that be down to her. She was the one who had been wronged after all.

Then the largest smile he'd ever seen on her lit up her face. It made all of his worries disappear in an instant. She closed the distance between them, holding onto him tightly as he picked her up and spun her around with a gleeful shout. She laughed and he could only laugh too. It was an infectious sound. He never wanted to go a day again without hearing it. That was his internal promise to them both. He eventually dropped her back to the ground, conscious that everyone else was watching, including the President who was still being heavily guarded. Clara smoothed down her hair as she recovered her composure, a nervous habit she had. And the Doctor was nervous as well because he still could tell that the hurt was bubbling away under the surface. She no longer could hide her emotions from him. She'd trained him too well.

"Why should I have known that you wouldn't stay on Earth when I told you to do exactly that?" he asked with a mock roll of his eyes.

"Because I wanted to hit you in person for thinking that you could do this on your own," she replied with a glare. He grimaced and shied away from her.

"Thankfully you haven't done that yet."

"Yet being the main word, Doctor. What did I tell you never to do again?"

He looked at the ground. He could sense that his former selves were judging him for being so meek in front of her. "Something about not abandoning you?" He spoke in a low tone, practically a mumble, since he was so ashamed of his actions.

"Exactly. And yet you did that."

"And yet I did."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to do one last good thing. I wanted to make sure that you lived. Breaking my hearts was the easiest way of doing that, regardless of how much it hurt me."

"But it also hurt me!"

"I know, I know." He was happy when she allowed him to grab her hands. It was another way of reassuring himself that she was actually real. "And I knew it would. But I thought that it was best for you to hurt and live. And I assumed you would be able to move on from me after a while."

"How could I ever move on from you, you idiot?" She was smiling at him now. "You need to realise that you're the best person I've ever met and nothing you say will change that."

"So you're not angry with me?"

"No. I'm not angry with you. I explicitly told them all before we left that you wanted me to be angry because then I wouldn't think straight. I'd be too angry to actually beat you up."

"That plan failed spectacularly then."

"Because I could never be angry with you. I care about you too much to harbour such feelings towards you. Which is why I'm fine if we're stuck here. You can be Lord President now. But one where everyone knows the wife is secretly in charge." The Doctor raised her eyebrows and Clara's eyes widened. She hadn't meant to phrase it like that. Her cheeks felt like they were on fire and she couldn't meet his eyes. She couldn't believe that she had just blurted that out. Wife! He'd probably try and run into the rift and take his chances now rather than risk staying with her when she was obviously a psycho hell bent on marrying him. Maybe she was a little but he didn't need to know that! "Umm...did I just say that? Forget I said that. I meant to say...uh…"

He pulled her closer, planting a chaste kiss on her lips. "I know what you mean. And you should have realised by now that I'm happy with you being in charge."

"That's too much of an insight into your bedroom logistics," Jack playfully moaned. "Why could you never have been as submissive with me?"

The Doctor glared at the other man. "Because you're not small and pretty."

"You don't think I'm pretty?" Jack pouted dramatically, making Clara laugh. She was holding onto the Doctor's arm, resting her head on it.

"So there's no chance of us getting back through the rift in time?" she wondered. They could see the tear closing above them. It was becoming a thin line compared to the gaping hole it had just been.

"It's closing quickly. There's no guarantee that it wouldn't close as we attempted to fly through it. We'd be stuck in the void. I know you just blew up the main building here but it's still better than that alternative. Good work, by the way. I haven't known someone as good with explosives since an old friend of mine left me. Ace would be proud."

Clara curtsied. "Why thank you, good sir. I tried my best. Now what's our next move? I'm hungry. Surprisingly so. Running about and destroying things really makes you work up an appetite."

The duo walked over to the General, Ko Sharmus and Cassandra, who were the closest to Rassilon. Twelve smiled warmly at them, an action that surprised them greatly. It was nice to see the usually grumpy incarnation be more jovial.

"I've got to thank you for helping Clara," he greeted them. "She probably would have been too stubborn to get to a Tardis if it weren't for you."

She hit him on the arm. "Don't think you can get away with remarks like that anymore, mister," she said dangerously. "You've got a lot of making up to do, which means you have to be on your best behaviour."

"Yes, ma'am."

She hit him again when she sensed the high level of sarcasm he was using. The Time Lords chuckled at the interaction. They'd been so willing to help her because they knew how important she was to him and had seen how strong she was on her own too. They were a perfect match if there ever was one.

"She didn't really need helping," Ko Sharmus admitted. "She wanted us to leave her to do it." That prompted the Doctor to glare at the woman by his side, who now had a sheepish look on her face.

"Why would you do that?" he asked in disbelief.

Clara shrugged innocently. "Because all it was, was pressing a button. Even I can do that without assistance."

"You just struggled to deal with the Master on your own," Cassandra helpfully added. Clara's eyes narrowed at her.

"He would have been perfectly fine not knowing that. You have no idea what you've started now."

"The Master?" he practically yelled, causing some of the others to jump.

"I hadn't met him before so he didn't know who I was. Older version with white hair. Even more psychotic than the others, I reckon."

"What did you do with him?"

"I...let him leave with his head still on his shoulders. Despite everything, I...couldn't kill him." He placed his arm around her shoulders.

"Good. I wouldn't want that on your conscience. And it would have messed up the time lines massively just as we were fixing them."

"Do you think he got out in time?" the General wondered.

"I have no doubt about that. He's always been a survivor." His eyes drifted to the rift again, weakening with every moment. "He probably risked flying through it. Did it just in time, I bet."

"What about the others?" Clara asked him carefully. She glanced over at Missy with a calculating glare. She looked like she didn't know what to do, keeping away from everyone. "Why's Missy with you but not the younger one?"

"Because she's the reason we got away from Rassilon. Knocked him out. Only briefly." They all looked at him in bewilderment.

"Why would she do that?" Clara basically shrieked. From what she had seen, the other woman was one of the most evil creatures ever created. She had turned Danny into a Cyberman. There was no way that she could believe she would be capable of turning good. But she knew that the Doctor would want to believe it because he seemed to have a weakness, an unwillingness to see sense, when it came to her. All she wanted to find out was why this was the case.

"I simply don't know. Maybe...maybe I finally made some progress with her. I was meaning to talk to her but I don't know where to start." He had a melancholy look on his face, thinking back on all the times he'd failed to make his long time friend come to his way of thinking. "As for the other...he's probably fighting through the rift too. I wonder if I'll ever see that face again."

"Don't sound too eager about that happening." She meant it as a joke but realised that he might have actually been sad about it. His gaze was unfocused, directed on something in the distance. The Doctor let out a tired sigh.

"Any tips on what we should do then?" the General said, hoping to distract him. He turned to observe the wreckage that remained of the Citadel, grimacing slightly.

"Rebuild. That's all that you can do. I mean, that's all that we can do, I guess. And ensure that Gallifrey is never ruled by men like him ever again."

"What should we do with him then?" Ko Sharmus inquired. Rassilon hated being spoken about as if he weren't there in front of them. It was the main reason why they were talking like that.

"Lock him up. I want him to be kept alive but that doesn't mean he has to enjoy the rest of his life." The Doctor's dark tone troubled Clara and she had to hold his hand again to calm him down a bit.

"You want to torture me? Is that what you've come to, Doctor?" The disgraced Time Lord just didn't know when to keep his mouth closed.

"You deserve a lot more than just torture. How many people have you killed? Not just with this plan but also over the years too? I wouldn't lose a lot of sleep over your justifiable death, even if I don't sleep that much anyway. But the little bit that I would lose wouldn't be worth it."

"We still need a leader," the General pointed out. "The people need to be unified. They'll all be wondering what has happened today. We need them to band together if this planet is to have as hopeful a future as you seem to dream of."

"Then pick a new leader," the Doctor retorted dismissively. He then realised that they were all looking at him pointedly. He put his hands up. "No. No chance. Not in a billion years. I don't want to be President!"

"You're already President of Earth," Clara reminded him.

"But I wouldn't get a plane here! What would be the point?"

"If not you then who? I'm a General, not a politician."

"The last thing that Gallifrey needs is a politician. But it also doesn't need someone with sole knowledge of military tactics. I think there's only one choice to be made." The Doctor enjoyed how the General's and Ko Sharmus' eyes slowly lit up as they figured out who he meant. They both turned to Cassandra, who looked at them in shock.

"Me?" she asked in a high pitched voice. "But...I'm just a technician! I wouldn't know where to begin with being a leader!"

"Oh, please," Ko Sharmus said. "It makes perfect sense. You've been the one leading us from the start. And nobody knows our technology as well as you. You'd be the ideal person to help us rebuild."

Cassandra began to smile. "I'll need some help."

"You're going to have a lot of people by your side," Clara reasoned, observing the people trapped. There were two people still missing but that mystery was solved as another Tardis appeared, off to the side from the others. Its groan was more tired than usual but it still managed to materialise. The Curator and Sarah Jane stepped out, slightly dishevelled from the obviously turbulent flight.

"Sorry about the wait," he apologised. "The old girl really doesn't like short trips. But what are all of you still doing here? Don't you realise that the rift is about to close on us?"

"If you haven't noticed," Ten said, "There's no way of us getting through. It'd close with us stuck in it."

"Tell me, how quickly should the rift have closed once the conductor was destroyed?"

"Pretty quickly," Eleven answered with a confused look.

"And yet, it is still clinging on. I wonder why that is." His gaze drifted over to Clive, who was struggling to ascend the sandy hill they were on top of. Twelve followed his eyes line and was initially confused why his focus was on that man in particular. But then it all clicked into place.

"Ohhhhh," he let out a guttural noise as he spun around in excitement. "I am Doctor Idiot today!" He started charging over to the now bemused figure, some of the others following him behind closely.

"What is it? What's going on?" Clive asked nervously, worrying that he'd made some sort of mistake. This was his first alien planet, after all. Maybe there was some strange custom he'd overlooked that you had to do when causing a mass evacuation. He hadn't really done much. He'd just herded everyone through the main doors whilst the other people he could see made sure those who were complaining learnt to keep their mouths shut. "Have I done something wrong?"

"Quite the opposite! You wonderful, wonderful man!"

"Doctor," Clara murmured by his side. "You're doing that thing where you're talking about something that you haven't yet explained to the rest of us."

"What did I say you were, when we first met back at UNIT?" Twelve asked Clive. Ten and Eleven smacked their heads in realisation and delight, figuring it out just a few moments after their future self.

"Brilliant," Ten exclaimed. "That's...astoundingly brilliant."

"More than brilliant," Eleven expanded. "The greatest luck I've ever had and I've had a lot during the years."

"Doctor!" Amy shouted in a disgruntled fashion. "I swear to everything that's holy, if you don't tell us what has got you acting even stranger than usual, I will smack you so hard that you won't have to worry about being stuck here anymore." Clara grinned at the ginger woman; the Doctor definitely had a type.

"Go on," Twelve continued, more urgently now that they were facing multiple threats of bodily harm. "What did I say?"

"That...I was important," Clive awkwardly answered, still not believing it. "That, because I told Rose about you, that meant all of these people eventually met you too." He didn't know whether that was actually a good thing - he could tell that their lives had changed considerably because of the time traveller. His life definitely had and he hardly knew him.

"Yes, yes. Exactly! You are a fixed point in time, mainly because of all the times we've saved planets and civilisations."

"It's not like with Amy and Rory," Eleven said. "Although their deaths are locked, time would be able to heal if they were to...miss it. Because they don't massively affect the state of the universe from 1930s New York."

"I'm trying to not take that as an insult," Rory moaned.

"But you're just too vital," Ten concluded. "The rift can't close until you're through and placed back into your actual time. Because, otherwise, time would still be irreparably damaged. You're currently a massive paradox! Normally, I'd be annoyed and disgusted by your presence since it would mean I haven't done my job properly but, just this once, it's working in my favour."

"So...we can get back to Earth...because of me?" Clive wondered.

"Bingo!" Twelve shouted. Clara couldn't remember seeing him so happy. He did always love finding out new things in the nick of time. "Everyone get to a Tardis. Doesn't matter which one. We know that we have enough time to get through because the rift will give us all the time we need. But the ship with Clive in should go last. Just to be on the safe side." Everyone hurried over to the blue boxes, making their choices. With Ten, there was Jack, Jenny, Wilf, Martha, Mickey, and Hayley. With Eleven, there was Amy, Rory, Brian, River, Nardole, and the Paternoster Gang. Heading towards Twelve's Tardis were Graham and Yaz, with Clara and the Doctor lagging behind with Clive. After the disastrous flight before, only Sarah Jane was brave enough to go with the Curator.

Twelve looked at the three Time Lords one last time. "I don't know how long it will be until Gallifrey can return safely."

"We've waited this long. We can wait a bit longer," the General said solemnly.

"You could come with us. Live out your days on Earth. Join us on our adventures."

"Someone needs to keep this planet going."

"And we now have the perfect leader to do that," Ko Sharmus added. Cassandra blushed. Clara hugged them all in turn, saving the tightest for the other woman.

"Good luck," she whispered. She started walking back towards the Tardis, guiding a bewildered Clive with her. She stopped to look back, noticing the Doctor eyeing up Missy. She realised that he had to do this alone and so decided to wait inside the time machine. He stood in front of her, Missy not looking at him. She had an unreadable expression on her face.

"I guess you're going to keep me here," she said. "To pay for my sins."

"No," came his simple reply. She looked up at him with startled eyes. "For all you've done, one good deed won't rectify it all. But you can continue to prove to me that you want to come good. By coming with me." He stretched out his arm, his hand waiting for hers. He was laying his hearts bare in front of her. He wouldn't be able to cope if she rejected him now.

"Won't your precious Clara get jealous like she normally does?"

"She understands. That doesn't mean she likes you."

"I'd hate it if she did."

"What's your answer then?" She looked down at his hand, back to his eyes, and then his hand again. There was one moment of hesitation as she clenched and unclenched her hand in a fist but then she took his. They walked over to the Tardis, sending one last look at the Time Lords who waved at them. It would be a long time before they were back here, they knew that. Inside the ship, Clara eyed them dubiously as they entered but kept her thoughts to herself. The Doctor hurriedly moved over to the console, flicking switches with a mad grin. He was beyond happy. He was ecstatic.

"Is this flight going to be a bit smoother than the last?" Graham asked. "My back is still suffering from when we got here."

"Not a chance. This could quite possibly be the bumpiest ride of my long life. And that's just thrilling." He pulled the dematerialisation lever down, the room shuddering around them. Outside, the General, Ko Sharmus and Cassandra watched as the Tardises vanished one after the other. The rift suddenly blared a brilliant yellow. It seemed to swell for just a second, turning a blood red. They were worried that something horrendous had happened as they attempted to traverse the temporal fracture. But then it died down, a groan rumbling through the air. They stood back as a wind swept around them, blowing sand and small rocks through the air. They were forced to cover their eyes to protect themselves and, when they looked back up, once the wind had settled, they were both happy and distraught at what they saw.

The time rift was gone.