Thank you to everyone who read the Taragrea arc! I do have a slightly smaller original arc planned after this (a two-parter) but I plan on having an intermission between then.

Trigger warning for this story arc: Mentions and acts of Kidnapping/Slavery; tl;dr's will be available at the end of each chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any affiliated books

They spent the next day searching the city in a grid, checking every alley or hiding place, awkwardly not talking about what had happened the night before. Chloe stumbled upon 8's TARDIS, but she didn't dare go near it, instead making note that her current Doctor didn't double back to search.

"Any luck?" The Doctor asked as they met up for the 10th time, making her shake her head.

"No, and you might not want to go in my area for a while," she answered. "I don't get how she could just… vanish like this. Could she have possibly been transmatted when we were led away?"

"The others were still there. Too risky, especially with the future companions not knowing what was going to happen." He paused, looking around. "Maybe we're being idiots." he grabbed her hand and started to tug her back to the area where the wedding had been.

"Officer Marloon Oswin, job status: terminated." she read aloud before setting the pad down. "They fired her the second they dragged us off… why?"

"They couldn't enslave you, so they got the next best thing," he murmured. "I'm sorry. I should've noticed it sooner."

"You couldn't have," she argued. "There was no way of knowing until now." There were a few moments of silence before he spoke up again.

"I'll find her," he promised, and Chloe smiled.

"I have no doubt."

The Eighth Doctor appeared at her side a few days later while she was struggling to understand the different things in the market. She glanced up at him with a tight, stressed grin. "Hello," she greeted.

"Need any help?" he offered, and she could feel herself starting to smile.

"Any chance you could tell me what is what and how to cook it? The woman we're staying with, she… well, future you is busy, so I'm on my own trying to figure it out, and we can keep ordering out." She went to reach out for a fruit that vaguely looked familiar, but he caught her hand.

"Perhaps not that," he advised. When she looked at him with a tilted head, his eyes just tightened a little. "Aspirin."

"Oh, thank fuck you stopped me," she breathed. "I seriously need help,"

The Doctor laughed and motioned her away from the killer fruits.

Five days after Marloon's disappearance, there was a letter pinned to the door, which she ripped off before the Doctor could see it.

Come alone to the harbor

And attached to it? An image of a bruised Marloon and 8th Doctor, scowling at the camera. From the background, she could see the very faint reflection of the echo himself. Crumbling the note up and throwing it into a corner, she paced the hall, doing her best not to make any noise as she debated.

One hand: She didn't go, the echo's purpose was fulfilled, and she and the Doctor managed to carefully go on for another three months, but 8 would get sold into slavery, or worse, killed...

Other hand: She would manage to successfully save an echo, save the 8th Doctor, as well as possibly shut down a slavery ring, but there was always the chance that she'd be taken with no way of being tracked…

Because I know the second I turn brave is the second I die…

Sighing, she stopped in front of the door, closing her eyes. I'm going to die no matter what, she thought, be it today or tomorrow, everyone dies eventually.

She didn't even bother putting on her jacket as she walked out of the house.

"Can't you do something?" She heard Marloon moan as she walked down the pier. In the hazy glow, she could see two people standing absolutely still on raised platforms, and her stomach was sinking with every step.

"Now, these platforms can be very unstable," Eight was saying. "One wrong move can-"

"Let me guess, explode the pier?" she finished, making them flinch. "Are they linked or separate?"

"Separate," Marloon answered. "These are used for capital punishments. Only one person can get off, so long as someone new immediately replaces them. After that, both will blow if they try to move."

"That's disgusting," Chloe said, realizing what she had to do.

Realizing what had been changed.

Because if Marloon hadn't been there, it would've been 9 in her place, and the timeline would be messed up no matter what. So, she looked at the alien echo, who nodded slowly, before going to the Time Lord. "Chloe?"

"Move," she ordered, pushing him off. The circle, which had been glowing blue previously, was now flashing red, and when she stepped on it, both hers and Marloon's turned green.

"What have you done?" Eight asked, aghast, and the two women just smiled at him sadly.

"It's our job to keep the timelines, Doctor," the redhead answered. "This regeneration doesn't end here, nor will the one that I travel with."

"But you'll die if either of you so much as moves. The timeline-"

"Will compensate," she interrupted. "Time is always in flux, and I am the one thing I cannot account for in this dimension. If removing me from the equation means everything becomes normal again, then so be it."

"When did you get so brave?" Marloon half-joked half sobbed.

"When I realized I was walking to my death," she answered, giving her a sad smile as well. "You usually say something, dear."

Marloon nodded, her eyes going glassy for a second before she let out a breathless laugh, looking at Eight. "Run, you silly, clever boy, and remember."

She didn't ever remember the silly bit, but each echo was different, so she shrugged it off as being a Marloon thing and watched as the Doctor struggled before conceding and leaving the pier."

"Now what?" Marloon, no, Clara, asked, and she could feel tears starting to sting her eyes.

"Now we wait for the Doctor I travel with,"

He was running to them just as Marloon started to struggle to stay away some 5 hours later. He somehow ran faster the more detailed he got until he was in front of her, breathless and looking scared. "Chloe, what were you thinking?"

"That I had to help keep the timelines intact," she answered, holding out the photo. "They're rigged to explode if either of us moves."

"The one who didn't move goes first," the alien woman murmured. "Five-second delay."

For a second, her mind did the math. The Doctor and I can get out of the radius in five seconds. She immediately felt awful as soon as the thought was finished. "How's the sonic?" she asked instead, somehow already knowing the answer as the Time Lord shook his head.

"Completely drained."

She did her best not to notice how her voice broke as she spoke next. "Any luck with the spare inhibitor?" Another regretful no, and she felt at her wit's end. "So end of the line then."

"No, it's not," Clara argued. "You've still got a long way to go, remember?"

"Anything can change," the Doctor said for her. "You were brought here in 1998, and now…" she reached out and grabbed his hand, squeezing it. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Both her and Clara said at the same time, and it took her a moment too late what was going to happen, as the Doctor tackled her, sending them both into the water below as the heat and debris chased after them.

In the wake of Clara's death, the Shadow Proclamation was informed and swiftly raided the system, setting off slave revolts and mass riots over dozens of other systems.

As for Chloe and the Doctor, when they drug themselves out of the ocean and onto the very beach they had originally landed on, neither spoke a word as they got up and made sure the other was physically ok before returning to the house, where a package in loopy handwriting was waiting.

It was addressed to her, and a type of tiredness washed over her as she realized that her watch had barely moved an hour.

"That my old handwriting," the Doctor murmured, and she offered the package to him, watching as he opened it and then grinned. "Fantastic. No wonder we couldn't find it. I had given it away!" From the box, he fished out a sphere, and faintly, she realized it was the node they had spent days searching for.

"Cool," she murmured. "Let's skip ahead, get the spare and leave then,"

A brief pause lasted as she turned to go to the backyard area, where the TARDIS was, but it was quickly broken. "Chlo, we should talk?"

"About what?" She half snapped before shrugging. "I should've known better than to try and save an echo, that was on me. But I don't regret it."

"And if she had accidentally stepped off? Fallen asleep? Fell? How would I explain to Rose why I would be coming back without you?"

"Oh, sure, it's just Rose who would have an issue with it," she bit out. "She knows the risks, Doctor. She'd understand." Oh, god, what the hell was she saying? Was this the argument, or was it something worse?

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, 'just Rose would have an issue with it'?" he demanded.

Just apologize and say you're tired and have a brainstorm- "I'm not the one who said a name and apparently meant it," she scowled. "I made it fucking apparent from day one how I felt, but I thought I knew there was no chance in hell this in any scenario would happen. So when this did happen? When last night happened? But hey, I did a good thing without the Doctor's permission, so guess who's in trouble now!" Shut up! For the love of god shut up!

"Last night should've never happened," he said, half pissed and half… shocked? Something wasn't right here. "I don't sleep with my companions. When we get the TARDIS up and running again, I'll lock our memories of this."

"And it's finally said," she huffed, feeling tears in her eyes. Whether they were frustrated or sad, she didn't know, only that… it hurt.

Everything hurt.

She just wanted to go home.

Shaking her head, she stepped further away from the Time Lord. "Just… fucking take me back to Rose."

As she entered the house, her eyes went to a small music box that had fallen to the floor last night. Within it? A truth field.

He knocked on her door (she blocked it with her dresser, despite the TARDIS's displeased hums) after a few hours.

"Chloe?" his voice was quiet. "Can we talk?"

What could she even say to him? She shook her head to clear it, curling deeper into a ball. They had gotten into another big fight when she tried to help him install the node, and all she could think of was the things she had said on Taragrea IV.

Then, an idea.

"January 21st, 2005, 10:30 am," she called out. "Go talk to my younger self if you want to talk to me so badly."

TL;DR - Heavily implied that Chloe and 9 slept together, Chloe and 8 meet again. After being told to go to the pier, Chloe finds Marloon and 8 hostage. Chloe takes 8's place, and Marloon agreed to sacrifice herself to save Chloe, thus fulfilling her echo duty. The fight mentioned in chapter 19 happens, and Chloe tells the Doctor to go talk to her younger self for answers.

If you see something wrong, have a question, or just want to let me know what you think, please, leave a comment!