Her hand ached. The pain spread from her fingers to her elbow, but she didn't want to tell him to stop holding her head. He had stopped a while back and had interlaced his fingers with hers which lessened the pressure. But still, his grip was terribly tight.

Tegan took a couple of jogging steps and came along side the Doctor. "Doc?" She was slightly out of breath and the words tumbled out of her lips.

He stopped and tilted his chin to allow his eyes to survey the surrounding scenery. When he didn't answer her, she growled under her breath. "Cripes, it's not like I don't exist, you know. You're holding my hand tight enough."

His eyebrow arched over his right eye and he slowly lowered his gaze to look at their interlocked fingers.

With a sigh, Tegan took another couple of running steps to keep up with him. It was hard to keep traction under her feet in her heels. The ground was like polished onyx and stretched as far as she could see, smooth like glass. There were no rocks or gentle rolling hills…there was only an occasional break like a crystal angle, jutting out of the ground like an accident waiting to happen.

"Does it bother you?"

She frowned, a lips a pout of red. "No, no…but…"

"It's only a short time until we're out of here," he supplied. "I think it would be better if we stayed in contact."

"I'm not going to die on you," she emphasized, reassuring and lifted their hands so that he could see them easier. "At least not without taking you with me…"

"Hmmm," he commented, drawing out the comment with the breath.

Tegan sighed as he started off again. Her steps echoed; the hollowness of the heels sounded harsh against the ground. His expression, she decided was too schooled to be natural. After about ten minutes, she couldn't take the silence (she had never been able to keep quiet) and began to talk again. Her words echoed in the vast closeness about them.

"I'll never complain about my hometown being desolate again."

"That's rather a new take for you," he wryly replied.

"This is horrible," she clarified. "It's so empty."

The Doctor jumped down a slight lip in the ground and reached up to lift her down. While his hands were still on her waist, while she was in mid-air, he asked: "You miss your hometown?"

"No," she said quickly. "Why do you think I left, Doc? Or that I took the job I did?"

"I hadn't considered it," he replied with a mild look. With that, he released her waist and took her hand again.

Tegan sighed. "Well, it's not as though I don't want to see my family again. I do-"

"Do you miss them?" The words were crisp and concise, echoing in the space around them.

His tone made her throat tighten. He sounded hurt? Saddened? "Yes and no," she admitted. She glanced down at their hands as he entwined his fingers with hers again. "I don't miss them all that much, because it doesn't cross my mind to miss them. When I think about them, I would like to see them again."

"And if I told you I would take you to visit them, if you would like?" The Doctor's voice was succinct and almost matter-of-factly.

Tegan smiled and glanced at him. His gaze was turned inward, as if he were examining his own soul. "We should continue in this direction. The rift isn't far away. I can feel it."

"Doc, why-"

"Trapped in a lifestyle, you should never be," he explained gruffly. "And if you are going to stay with me, I would rather you do it without any regrets…"

"Cripes, Doc, I'm not going to die."

"Everyone dies, Tegan. Everyone has their time. But death or not-"

Tegan frowned and surveyed the scenery for a moment. "You would know if I had any regrets, Doc. I'm a mouth on legs."

"Hmmm."

In a flurried, hurried attempt to change the subject, she ventured onto a touchy area for her. "So this joker person…"

"Will undoubtedly find us again, although his power is weakening-"

"Yeah," Tegan breathed as she stumbled a little to keep up with him. "That's what I wanted to ask you….what's this about probability?"

"Probability is a sort of odds calculation, Tegan-"

"Maths," she spat.

"Well, yes." Her outburst brought a small smile to his face. "Exactly that, Tegan, maths. It's what our lovely Universe is based upon."

"And this person is showing us…" she frowned as she tried to remember what the Doctor had said. "Probabilities, possibilities and-"

"Uncertainties, exactly," he offered. She could hear a bit of cheerfulness coming back into his voice. "He first showed us, choices in time (at a certain time) and the outcome of those choices- hence probabilities. When he stopped us the last time, he showed us possible occurrences in our lives based upon our current position and trajectory. But…" he punctuated the air with one finger. "He is using our mental state as a launching pad for a possibility."

Tegan rubbed her brow wearily. "Hell's teeth, Doc, all I wanted to ask: whether or not we should expect next. I didn't want a lecture on maths."

"So sorry," the Doctor said sounding anything but.

"Well?"

The Doctor sighed. "Fear is the only emotion strong enough for him to exploit at this distance."

"Great…"

"Cheer up, Tegan," he said with a smile. "My advice is to keep your mind a blank as possible."

She sighed and shook her head. "And this rift…how does that work?"

He blinked his eyes and continued to stare off in to the middle distance. "Like the vortex," he explained after a moment. "When the joker or whatever else you would like to call him, destroyed the caretaker here, the maintenance of the Axis has fallen apart. It left weaknesses in the encapsulation of current time and current space. The rift I can sense, but it will make more sense in a physical way to your eyes."

"But how," she started and then changed verbal tactics. "You said we have to travel in the vortex in the TARDIS. Even if there is a breach….and…"

"Yes, it is…the same vortex; yes, it is dangerous. And no, not necessarily do we need the TARDIS. I can exist for a short time. Long enough to travel elsewhere…to the TARDIS possibly…"

"So I'll stay?"

"No, the Axis will collapse too quickly…"

"But…"

The Doctor swallowed and his hand tightened on hers. "Yes, well…I think being in close proximity to me will afford you some protection…"

Tegan gave a dubious look. "How close?"

"Very."

With a sigh she shook her head. "Sounds like a rum idea to me, I must say."

"Must you?"

Tegan gasped suddenly as an icy wind whipped about her. Before she could speak, the Doctor pulled harshly on her hand and brought her flush against her side. Ahead of them, there was a swirling vortex of wind and rain. Even ice crystals danced in the matrix swirl. "Is that the-"

"No, I would sense being this close…no, no…I think it's our friend-"

"Correct, Doctor…." Rasped a voice. It shook the air, a reply from the spinning vortex.

Tegan tried to take a step back, but the Doctor's hand restrained her. The vortex swirled around them like a landlocked water spout. "Touching…"

"Quite," the Doctor rumbled in response. "You've failed."

"You're desperate," the voice responded back quickly.

Tegan squirmed as the vortex swirled around and then through her. As she shivered, both terrified and erotically teased, the Doctor's hand grounded her, his cool fingers entwining and holding her.

It was elemental; it was frightening.

Her eyes fluttered closed and then she felt rocked, vibrated. When she opened her eyes, she was standing in the console room. The ground shook beneath her feet with rhythm giving her moments of freedom and moments when she clung to the console. A pair of familiar legs stretched out from the pedestal and as she bent down, she saw the Doctor braced against the metallic surface. His long legs were used as leverage to keep him there.

His face was contorted in pain. Electrodes marred his fair unlined skin; they covered most of his brow, cheek and neck.

Something was wrong; something was dreadfully, horribly wrong.

Tegan gasped as she knelt by him; his face was so white he looked like a ghost. His skin was ice cold to the touch, but was covered in perspiration. He blinked his eyes open, weary and unfocused. Their blue was full of pain. "I can't…" he grunted through grit teeth. "I can't maintain the influx…Tegan…I can…redirect…to take…the most…the shockwave…but…I ….have to…."

She didn't know what was going on, but the twisted crumpled look of pain on his face was explanation enough for her. Her hands cupped his cheeks as his hands and feet blindly looked for, struggled to find leverage. "Cripes, Doc…"

"If….I don't….help…the TARDIS…she'll be lost…won't be able…to…control…"

Tegan pressed her palms flush against his cheeks. He was shivering, quivering with errant power from the TARDIS.

"Lost…Tegan, we'll be lost…"

"Doc…." She tried to draw his attention. "Doc…it's Tegan…"

"World destroyed…if don't…control…" he rasped out. "TARDIS will…redirect…she needs…my help…"

The situation became crystal clear as suddenly she heard a voice. "Choose, poppet…Choose…"

Tegan leaned close to her friend. "Doc…don't…Hell's teeth…you'll…"

"I don't know…." He muttered, clearly in pain. "But we…could…be…lost in time…for years…"

The voice grew stronger. "Longer than your lifetime, human. Longer than you could possibly fathom…contained as you are by stinted mortal definitions. Choose…" the voice rasped and then chuckled. The rest of the words were lost in a giggle that felt like it ripped the flesh from her bones.

"Choose what?" Tegan yelled as she stood. Another vibration shook the TARDIS and she braced herself against the console. "What choices! I only see a bully manipulating us!"

"Your friend will regenerate under that much strain. Take that as you will…"

Tegan's gaze flew back to the Doctor's face. "You monster…" she said menacingly. "How—"

"Save him, you will not destroy the planet below, but you will destroy any chance you have of ever going home, of ever seeing your family…"

Tegan narrowly glared at the spinning vortex as it materialized fully in the console room. The rain whipped out and grazed her skin, hurting like little knives, pricking her skin. "How can you! You bloody bastard. It's not an issue…"

"Save him and you'll be forced to live a life other than your own. You never…"

Tegan's voice was coldly infuriated. She stood her ground as her hair and clothes were pressed against her skin with water and wind. "It's not an issue! If I leave him connected, he'll die, he'll regenerate and he might keep regenerating…"

"Very good, human, and here I had heard your kind were stupid."

"But this isn't anything to hate him for, to lose faith in him with!" Tegan shouted. The vortex increased in shear, spinning madly in the face of her threat. "You've failed!"

The vortex spun around the console and neared her; she swore she could see a sneering face in the wind and rain. Even as it touched her skin, she lifted her chin in defiance. "Have I? Have I, pitiful human? Choose and either way you would never be able to live with yourself."

The vortex swirled away, leaving her in a vacuum of silence that only the Doctor's labored breathing filled.

Tegan fell to her knees and crawled closer to him. Her hands found their place on his cheeks again. His eyes were unblinking yet unfocused. Looking at him, she saw everything, all of the pain, all of the happiness, adventure and terror her travels with him had brought. She saw her childhood, too…her mother and father, siblings, happiness around the family table. She blinked back tears as she cupped his cheeks and searched his eyes. "Hang on, Doc…I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm going to get these things off of you."

She bit her lip and unsuccessfully kept the lump in her throat at bay as she carefully began to disconnect the electrodes. When the last one was free of his skin, the pain in his eyes and face eased and he slumped forward against her. She held him even as she braced herself and him against the console pedestal as the TARDIS began to tilt and spin. She could almost feel the TARDIS hurtling through space; a proverbial wide pitch into the pavilion. As she closed her eyes, she said quietly for the both of them: "What was it you always told me, Doc? Where there's life, there's hope? There was no other choice; I couldn't see you die. I couldn't. If that means I never get home; it means I never get home. Hell's teeth, I'm not going to hate myself, I'm not! I'm not!"

Tegan came back to her own mind feeling the Doctor's arm about her waist. A few blinks brought his face into clear view. He was saying her name softly and when she recognized him, he bestowed a smile on her. "There's always hope where there's life," he reassured. He steadied her; his arm tight about her waist as the vortex came forward and engulfed the both of them.

The Doctor saw her, sick and pained as she lay prone on a metal table. Everything looked so cold; her skin held strange colorations like a rash. He bent over her and clasped his hand to her brow. She was hotter than the flame. With a groan, she muttered his name.

"Yes, I'm here," he reassured, his fingers tracing her brow.

He adjusted her so she looked more comfortable and then centered his gaze on the ghostly apparition of swilling smoke. "Another of your games, I suspect. Poison?"

"Poison," the voice confirmed.

"External conveyance or…"

"Through your own stupidity and ego…"

"Ah, yes," his eyes fell to Tegan as she arched on the metal slab, her hands reaching out blindly. He caught one of her hands and held it while his eyes searched her face. "You've done this before; you've made her die. Why the repeat performance?"

"This time you have a choice, Doctor…"

"I should have known," he muttered and then raised his eyes to the vortex. "Hmm? What will it be? Give a regeneration for her? I've already faced that eventuality and did so willingly!"

"Nothing so simple, Doctor…" the voice rumbled. A curtain drew back on the window nearest him to reveal a matching room with another sick woman on a table.

"You don't know what planet you're on, my dear errant Time Lord. That woman in there could be your own mother. She could be the President of the Nine, the force that kept the Daleks at bay. She could be anyone, anywhere. She is poisoned with the same material your Tegan is…and between them is one antidote. Sure death will occur to the one it isn't administered to….whom do you choose?"

The Doctor's eyes watched the other woman. He could feel the press of time, the influx and mixing of time lines. The woman could have been anyone…probabilities swirled around her and touched his mind. The lead weight of anguish squeezed his throat, and pain was in his hearts. And then probability disappeared, possibility diminished until it collapsed into a singularity.

He turned to Tegan and swept her sweaty hair away from her brow.

"I cannot willingly participate in her death. That is a certainty. You've presented me with a challenge to my dogma and a challenge to my person. Which do you think would win, abomination? Where is the antidote?"

"How will you live with yourself?" The voice taunted. "You could be shaping-"

"The only certainty I can shape is my own life," the Doctor said as he took the vial.

"And if it was your life – all those thousands you could never help…all those worlds?"

The Doctor slowed and glanced down at Tegan's writhing body before he fixed his gaze on the apparition. :And what do I say of myself if I don't help a friend? Hmm?" He shook his head and levered Tegan away from the bed and slipped his leg beneath her head. As he stilled her arms, he opened the vial. "If I can travel the Universe and not help a woman whom I call friend, what sort of person am I? No no…" he emphasized.

"Emotions…"

"Are what life is all about," the Doctor finished, his voice powerful. He cupped Tegan's cheek and opened her mouth. "Come on, Tegan…bottom's up…"

"You are willing death on another."

"I'm willing life on one. If this were another place, another time, if I were assured that I could and would be given the chance…I would slow the effect of the poison in Tegan and synthesize the antidote with great effort. This, however, is not a situation in which I am giving any other choice…any other possible exit and I must make a choice. The question should be, given those instances: how could I wish death on Tegan?"

The Doctor poured the liquid between Tegan's lips and tilted her neck to allow her to swallow. He only had to wait a moment to see her eyes blinked and open, lucid and bright. He smiled gently.

"You could have sacrificed the entire Universe…."

With a grunt the Time Lord speared the now thick column of smoke with a glare.

"I saved a friend."

Tegan blinked her eyes at him. His hands still cupped the solid heat of her cheeks. After two breaths, he felt the pace of his beating hearts slow. They also found themselves in the center of a spinning vortex.

"You've failed," the Doctor shouted gleefully. "You've lost."

Tegan's hand touched his and he locked gazes with her. "Cripes, Doc, that-"

"Could have been anyone, Tegan…" he responded, yelling into the immense sound of the force of nature around them. "There was no choice given, but where there's a will-"

As he spoke, shouting, silence crashed down around them. He took a deep breath and lowered his hands from her face. Then, squinting, he surveyed the heavens. "Where there's life, there's hope; where there's a will there's a way, Tegan. He only gave me choices of death."

"Could you-" she started again and then sighed. Her voice sounded uncertain. "Could you have chosen the other way?"

His gaze returned to her. After a long moment, he shook his head. "I wouldn't, no. I could never risk your death, not willingly."

Tegan gave him a wide smile. In response, he became embarrassed and shifted his weight. After he cleared his throat, he looked around the area. "He can still find us, Tegan; we should move."

"But," she began as he took her hand again and pulled her along behind him. "But that time was so strange…it…he…"

"Do you question yourself, Tegan? Your actions, your decisions?"

"Sometimes."

He nodded and stepped over another jut of crystal and helped her down to the new level. "Ah, well…we all do, Tegan, in certain times. Did you question or feel bad that you made the decision you did?"

"No."

With a smile, he turned to her. "He counted on our self-doubt, on our regret of our actions and to hate ourselves in the process. It would have defeated us from the inside; he tried to get us to cause our own pain."

Tegan shook her head. "Hell, he-"

The Doctor gave a short snort of a laugh. "No, Miss Tegan, he doesn't know you very well, nor does he completely understand me."

After a half an hour, Tegan saw the breach of the Vortex. It was like a thousand fireflies dancing in an oil slick. "How beautiful."

"Yes, well, it will be a tad more dangerous than fireflies," he said casually. "But it is our only way out." The Doctor led her to it, slowly and as they neared, she felt him slip his arm around her waist. Then, as they stood on the brink of the fireflies, he slid his other arm around her shoulders.

It didn't feel awkward, she thought, to be enfolded in him. She slid his arms around his waist and heard him humph in response. "Now what?"

"We travel," his voice rumbled through his chest. "This is where it gets tricky."

"Bring it on," she muttered as the Doctor closed his eyes and took the last step to the vortex. As they were pulled bodily into the fireflies, she found she wasn't scared at all.