A/N: Thanks so much for all the positive feedback! I'm working on some of the episodes you guys requested. I have the next chapter planned, but after that I think I'll start doing some of the requested stuff.

Many thanks go to grapejuice101 for helping me with ideas and giving me suggestions.

I woke up to see the Doctor's face hovering over me. He let out a relieved sigh and pulled me up by the shoulders, then wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug. "I was so worried," he breathed into my hair.

"What… What happened?" I asked as I looked over his shoulder. For some reason, I couldn't quite remember where I was or what was happening.

The Doctor pulled back and gently cupped my cheek. "I don't know. The Trickster did something to make them all disappear."

A dull ache in the back of my head made me groan and I grimaced slightly. "Oh, my head."

"The Trickster threw you against the wall. From the force that you impacted the wall, I'd be surprised if you didn't have a concussion."

"Wait, the Trickster? Doesn't he have something to do with… Sarah?" I wondered, grimacing again when a sharp pain shot through my skull. "Oh God, I have the worst headache."

"I thought so," the Doctor sighed with a shake of his head. "Memory loss, headache, loss of consciousness. Concussion."

"A concussion? But… What happened? I don't remember…"

The Doctor placed his hands on my temples and pressed his forehead against mine. "Just focus on remembering what happened, alright? Close your eyes and focus."

I followed the Doctor's instructions and closed my eyes. There was a sudden presence in my mind, as if another person had somehow entered my thoughts. I tried to pull away from the Doctor in confusion, but he tightened his grip on my head and pulled me back towards him.

"Doctor?"

"Hush. Just focus on remembering."

Then I realized that the strange presence in my mind was something much more than that: it was the Doctor pushing his consciousness into my own. I gasped and my hands flew up to press against his temples. The events just before I had blacked out flashed across my mind's eye and I found myself suddenly remembering.

The mental connection between us was too overwhelming in long stretches of time, so I pulled out of the Doctor's arms with a gasp. I fell onto my back, the world spinning around me. There was a flash of gold around the Doctor's hands that disappeared only seconds later.

"Theta?"

"Do you remember?"

"Y-Yes. What was that, that gold flash?"

"What do you remember?" the Time Lord questioned, ignoring my own question completely.

"Everything." I ran a hand through my hair and felt for the sore spot at the back of my head, only I couldn't find it. "I feel perfectly fine. But you said I had a concussion."

"I was wrong."

"Wrong?" I echoed incredulously. "But-"

"It doesn't matter. You're fine now, so check on the other two," the Doctor instructed, pointing to the unconscious figures of Clyde and Rani.

"That was regeneration energy, wasn't it? You healed me."

"Check them. Now."

I didn't appreciate the demanding tone he had used with me, but I knew better than to argue with him while the others might be in danger. I quickly crawled over towards the two teenagers and sighed in relief when I saw that they were only unconscious and not something worse. The Doctor had already started to wake Luke up, so I started trying to wake Rani up first.

"Rani? Rani, wake up." I gently shook her by the shoulder and then stopped when she grunted in protest. "Rani, wake up. We need your help."

"Mm?"

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes. "Y-Yeah, I think so. What… happened?"

"Don't worry. Everything's gonna be fine, I promise. Just let me wake Clyde up."

I crawled over to Clyde and put a hand on his shoulder. "Clyde? Clyde, can you hear me? I need you to wake up." I leaned over the boy and lightly patted my palm against his cheek, hoping that would jar him from his sleep. "Clyde, wake up."

He suddenly jerked awake, his eyes flying open to stare up at me. I smiled and he was silent for a moment before he finally spoke up. "Oh, I'm in heaven," he said with a grin. "Best way to wake up."

Then I remembered that Clyde, according to both Rani and Sarah, had a crush on me. I felt my cheeks flush and I leaned back onto my knees. I cleared my throat and awkwardly rubbed the back of my neck, trying to look anywhere but at Clyde's face.

"Who are you?" Rani asked behind me.

Clyde and I turned to face the others. The Doctor and Luke had already gotten up and the Doctor flashed Rani a wide grin. He stepped forward and grabbed her hand, pulling her to her feet.

"Hello, Rani. And that will be Clyde," he added when he spotted Clyde and I sitting together. "I had a friend named Rani once. Well, I say friend. Well, her name wasn't actually Rani. But that's a story for another time and not important right now."

"Wait a minute," Clyde interjected as he jumped to his feet. "How'd you know my name?"

Rani pointed at the Doctor. "Diana said… You must be. It's you, isn't it?"

The Time Lord smiled and nodded. "That's me."

"The Doctor."

The Doctor approached me and extended a hand to help me up. He put an arm around my waist and grinned. I flushed again when I saw Clyde's eyes fall to where the Doctor had placed his hand.

"That's him," Luke said with an adoring smile.

Clyde raised an eyebrow. "I hope you're as good as Sarah Jane and Diana say you are," he said.

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, you know journalists, always exaggerating and my Diana can elaborate a little sometimes. But yeah, I'm pretty amazing on a good day."

"On any day," I added with a coy smile.

K-9 suddenly spoke up, some of his gears whirring. "Master, query. Where is Mistress Sarah Jane?"

The Doctor's face lit up and he dropped his arm from around my waist to gesture excitedly at the dog. "K-9! Did you miss me? Did you miss me, eh?"

But the dog wouldn't be distracted by the Doctor's excitement. "Repeat. Whereabouts of Sarah Jane? Where is she?"

"Where are we?" Clyde asked.

The Doctor was looking around the room as if it would somehow be able to tell him something. "There's been a dimensional shift. Time's moved on but us, and this entire building, we've been left behind."

"There's nothing out there," Rani said from her spot by the window.

I walked over to look out the window and all I could see was white nothingness. Clyde and Luke came up behind me and looked out over my shoulders.

"I said all along," Clyde began with an 'I told you so' tone, "I knew there was something wrong about all of this. And what exactly is going on?"

"I'll explain later," the Doctor answered half-heartedly.

All three kids suddenly started speaking at once, asking a dozen different questions that I couldn't even understand in their panic. The Doctor reached into his coat and pulled something out and started spinning it, causing a loud racket to interrupt the children and effectively silence them.

"Take after Diana's example and shush!" he shouted. "Here's the answer to all your questions. Yes, that was the Trickster. Yes, we're trapped. Yes, I'm the only one who can get us out of the trap. Yes, I'm going to bring Sarah Jane, and your mum and dad, and all the others back safe, but I can't do any of it without you."

Clyde scoffed and raised an eyebrow. "You need us?" he asked incredulously.

"Just like Sarah Jane needs you," the Doctor answered with a smile.

"But my mum and dad," Rani interjected. "Where are they?"

"Safe," I answered for her. "I don't know where they are, but I know that they're safe and they're not going to be hurt. I promise, Rani."

Luke grabbed Rani's elbow and whispered, "Just go along with them, Rani. I saw them both save the world."

"Spoilers, Luke," I reminded the boy with a smile. "Haven't been there yet."

"Sorry," he muttered.

"And actually you helped me save the world, Lukey boy," the Doctor added. "Right. Come on, we can use the TARDIS. I assume everybody knows what the TARDIS is? Unless you've really not been paying attention." When nobody protested, the Doctor smiled and bounded out of the room. "And, allons-y!"

But when we all ran out into the hallway, the TARDIS was gone.

"Oh, no, no, no, no!" the Doctor cried. "It was there! It was right there!" The sound of the TARDIS trying to materialize suddenly echoed through the hotel. "Wait, wait, wait!"

Rani turned to me with a gasp. "That noise! I've heard it before, we both have!"

"That was the Doctor," I told the girl. "That's the sound the TARDIS makes."

The Doctor nodded, staring hopefully at the space the ship was trying to materialize in. "That was me trying to break through. Got knocked back by the Trickster."

"Temporal schism is preventing TARDIS materialization," K-9 informed us.

"Wait a minute. That's the TARDIS?" Clyde asked, pointing at the blue box as it materialized. "It's just a wooden box."

I smiled knowingly at Clyde and shook my head. "The TARDIS is so much more than that, Clyde."

The Doctor was bobbing on his toes and moving his hands about, trying to encourage the TARDIS to materialize fully. "Come on, you can do it. More power. Come on!"

The TARDIS wheezed a few more times, sounding incredibly sick and weak, before it finally faded away into nothing.

"Okay, got no TARDIS," the Doctor sighed as he scratched the back of his head. "It can't materialize here until time moves forward."

"What, so we're trapped here, wherever this is?" Rani exclaimed.

"No. Because what have I got?" the Doctor asked with a grin. "I've got my brilliant wife-"

"Girlfriend," I corrected with a blush.

"Girlfriend, apologies. And I've got K-9."

"Affirmative," the dog answered.

"And I've got you three. And any friend of Sarah Jane Smith is a friend of mine."

Clyde furrowed his brows in confusion. "But where is this? What's happened to the rest of the world?"

K-9 started whirring and his ears moved back and forth. "Our present location: nowhere, no when."

"No when?" Luke repeated incredulously.

The Doctor gestured with a nod to something behind us. "Look at the clocks," he said.

We all turned around and the first thing I saw was a wall clock, the second hand running in a loop in the space of a single second on the clock. That was when I remembered something else, something the Doctor hadn't figured out yet: while we were stuck in a single second, Sarah was stuck in another second.

Luke's eyebrows shot up. "Time's stopped."

"What?" Clyde replied in surprise. "You're joking."

"No, wait," Luke added. He pointed at a digital clock that had frozen on a specific time. "Time hasn't stopped. This second's on a loop. Twenty three seconds and twenty three minutes past three o'clock."

I nodded unconsciously, smiling slightly. The Doctor glanced at me for a moment before continuing with Luke's train of thought. "And we're caught inside it. In this one second," he told us.

Clyde shook his head. "But again, where is Sarah Jane?" he asked.

The Doctor looked at me again as he answered Clyde's question. "I think she's right here. Am I right?"

I nodded again. "Yeah. She's here."

"So we've been kept behind in this second?" Rani clarified.

K-9 wiggled his ears. "Affirmative Mistress Rani."

"But the rest of the world, Mum and Dad and everyone else, they've moved on from here, forwards in time. Why has the Trickster trapped us here?"

The Doctor scoffed, trying to encourage the girl to think. "Oh, come on, Rani! You know the answer to that."

She looked to me and then to Luke and Clyde. "We're Sarah Jane's friends, all of us. Her best friends."

"Yeah. Which means?"

Rani smiled and jumped in excitement when she figured it out. "Hostages! He can use us to get at her."

I smiled proudly at the girl. She'd figured it all out faster than I ever would have back home.

"We've met the Trickster before," Clyde spoke up, "but we've never found out who he is."

The Doctor took his coat off and tossed it to Luke, who folded it in half and set it on the ground. "The Trickster is a creature from beyond the universe. Forever trying to break in to our reality, manifest himself. He's one of the Pantheon of Discord."

"That's a good name for a band," Clyde said as he looked up at me from the corner of his eye and flashed me a wink.

I flushed and quickly looked away. I still couldn't believe that Clyde Langer had a crush on me, of all people. The Doctor hadn't noticed Clyde's wink and was instead impressed with his clever idea. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and extended it so he could inspect the center.

"Yeah, actually, not bad," he praised the boy. "The Trickster's an eternal exile, who exists to wreak havoc. But we can fight him, the six of us. And we can win." His sonic screwdriver suddenly started beeping, which made the Doctor burst into a smile. "Oh! Ha, that's it. A time trace. Just a hint of Sarah Jane. Oh, she's close."

Sarah's voice suddenly echoed through the room. "Doctor, where are you?" she called, her voice sounding distant and ethereal.

Rani shivered. "What was that?" she asked as she ran a hand along her arm. "Felt like someone just walked over my grave."

"That was Sarah," I said. "She's here."

The Doctor cried out and grinned, his sonic still beeping. "Oh, oh, oh, she's here! She's here! Sarah!"

"Sarah Jane," Rani corrected. "She doesn't like being called Sarah."

"She does by us. K-9?"

"Scanning, Master," the dog said.

Sarah's voice called out again as a vision of her suddenly appeared and then disappeared. "Doctor! Doctor!"

"Mum!" Luke cried as he stepped forward with an outstretched arm. "That was her."

The Doctor shook his sonic slightly. "K-9, isolate the time trace."

"Affirmative, Master."

The Doctor waited a moment before asking, "K-9?"

The dog's ears wiggled again and his nose extended a few inches. "Temporal schism divided in two, Master."

"Yes, of course. We're trapped here in 3:23:23. and Sarah Jane's trapped too, just in another second."

Clyde crossed his arms over his chest. "Hold on. You said you'd explain later. Well, it's later," he said smartly. "Please explain."

The Doctor sighed. "The Trickster doesn't want us helping Sarah, so he's separated us, trapped us in two different seconds."

Sarah's voice called out again from the second floor, this time calling both the Doctor's name and mine.

"Doctor! Diana!"

I didn't even wait for the Doctor; I just bolted up the stairs as fast as I could. I stopped at the top of the stairs and looked around the hallway.

"Sarah? Sarah, where are you?" I knew she most likely couldn't hear me, but I hoped that if by some miracle she heard me she would know help was on its way. "Sarah, we're coming for you!"

The Doctor, Rani, and Clyde came running up the stairs after me. The Doctor had his sonic extended in front of him and he was following its signal. "This way!" he shouted as he raced past me.

Rani, Clyde, and I ran after the Time Lord as he bounded through a door. We skidded to a stop almost immediately when we realized what room we had just entered: it was the wedding room.

"How did we end up here again?" Rani wondered as we all looked around in confusion.

"It's a spatial loop mixed up with a temporal loop," Clyde said.

Rani and I looked at the boy in surprise. I was amazed that he had figured that out, even though it really wasn't that hard to understand.

"How did you work that one out?" Rani asked with a raised eyebrow.

Clyde must have noticed my impressed reaction because he smirked and his tone turned proud. "Well, we've been doing this for a while now. I have taken notes."

The Doctor was running around the room with his sonic in front of his face. "Come on, come on, come on, Sarah," he muttered. "Let me find you."

"Hang on, though," Rani interjected. "This is mad! The Trickster, he's this all-powerful immortal who wants to cause chaos throughout the stars, and he wants Sarah Jane to get married. What does he get out of that?"

The Doctor ignored Rani's question and I couldn't answer because I couldn't remember enough information. "She's here," the Doctor mumbled. "If I can narrow the link ratio-"

"Doctor!"

Rani, Clyde, the Doctor, and I turned towards the voice and we were greeted with the sight of the Trickster dressed in black robes instead of white ones. The Doctor, casual and disarming as ever, strolled over towards the Trickster with his hands stuffed in his pants pockets.

"Ah. You look better in black," he said with a smirk. "Or is white the new black?"

"At last. Doctor," the Trickster sighed. "I could feel this moment reverberating back through the ages. The meeting of the Pantheon of Discord and the last of the Time Lords."

"I've known the legends of the Pantheon since I was a little boy. I've fought your shadows and your changelings. I never thought we'd actually meet."

The Trickster chuckled. "And I know the legends of the Doctor. The man of ice and fire, who walked among gods, who once held the Key to Time in his hands. Now he is surrounded by children."

The Doctor looked back at Rani and Clyde, then to me. "They're my friends," he said in defense as he looked back to the Trickster. "Which reminds me, you're looking a bit lonely for a Pantheon."

"I embody multitudes. And who are you, the man who has lost everybody, to talk to me of loneliness, when the Gate is waiting for you?"

"He hasn't lost everything," I said, finally speaking up. I had somehow found my courage and stepped forward to grab the Doctor's hand and face the Trickster. "He hasn't lost me. I'm still here and I'm not leaving him."

"Ah, yes. The Doctor's wife."

"Girlfriend, actually," I snapped. "And what do you know about me?"

The Trickster smiled. "The girl lost in time, scared and alone. A wolf in sheep's clothing."

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Never mind that," the Doctor said lowly. "Tell me what you've done to Sarah."

"Sarah Jane Smith is my prize," the Trickster sneered. "Even you, Doctor, didn't realize how wonderful she is."

The Time Lord narrowed his eyes and his hand tightened around mine. "What do you want with her?"

"What I always want from any of those I visit. Her agreement. Goodbye, Doctor."

Without another, the Trickster vanished into thin air. The Doctor turned to me and his eyes quickly searched mine. I could almost see the thoughts flying through his mind. Then he gasped and I knew he had figured it out.

"Her agreement," he breathed. "The power of words. She says I do, and- Yes, that's it!"

"That's what?" Clyde wondered.

The Doctor dropped my hand and walked towards the other two. "She promises to love and honor her husband, the wedding ring goes on and then she's agreed to it. She's totally under the Trickster's power. Marital bliss, but she forgets all about this. She starts living a new life."

Rani gasped. "Forgetting about her old life protecting the Earth."

Clyde's eyes widened as he realized what that meant. "And the planet's wide open, so aliens can just barge in?"

The Doctor nodded seriously. "Without Sarah, without you lot saving the world from your attic in Ealing, there'll be chaos and destruction. Meat and drink to the Trickster."

"As if she's gonna say yes," Clyde scoffed.

I nodded. "Sarah would never say yes. She knows what the Trickster wants somehow and she's never going to give in. She knows if she does then the world could be destroyed."

"But she will, won't she? Because we're here."

The sound of the TARDIS trying to materialize suddenly sounded in the room again. A smile lit up my face and I felt a spar of hope in my chest. With the TARDIS, there might be a way to stop the Trickster.

"TARDIS!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Beautiful. Yes! It's homing in on me. Emergency program, protecting the pilot. Of course. Partial materialization."

Only the doors of the TARDIS had appeared in the room, the space around them sparking with bright blue electricity. Luke ran into the room as the doors became clearer. He looked between the doors and the Doctor.

"What's happening?" Luke asked over the sound of the engines.

The Doctor pointed to the blue electricity. "Look, that's pure artron energy! TARDIS power! Equal and opposite to the Trickster's power. That's how we can fight him!"

The Doctor suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me after him. He reached into his coat and took out his TARDIS key, trying to open the doors as quickly as possible. He jumped inside and then pulled me in behind him.

"Run!" he called to the kids.

Clyde stepped forward first, but he was pushed back by some kind of wind-like force field. One of them called the Doctor's name as they fought against the force propelling them back. The Doctor grabbed hold of the door with one hand and leaned out to reach for Clyde's outstretched arm.

"Come on, all of you!" the Time Lord shouted. "Get in! Come on now!"

He managed to grab Clyde's hand and started to pull him inside when the strange force started to tug him out of the ship. I quickly wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled him back, straining against the force of what could only be the Trickster's work.

The Doctor's hand suddenly slipped from Clyde's and the doors slammed shut. We both stumbled back onto the metal grating and the TARDIS took off on her own. I pushed the Doctor off of me and ran for the door, trying desperately to open it.

"Clyde!" I shouted. "Clyde!"

"Diana, stop," the Doctor groaned as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Clyde!"

The Doctor grabbed me by the shoulders and spun me around. "Diana, stop! We lost him. We can't go back to them."

"But we have to! A-All I can remember is that he gets hurt!"

"Diana, we will find a way to stop the Trickster," the Doctor assured me. "I promise. I will do whatever I have to stop him. Now I need your help piloting the TARDIS. Can you do that?"

I swallowed the worried tears that already started to form in my eyes. Nodding, I answered softly, "Yes. I can do that."

There was a lot of shouting and panicking, but the Doctor eventually managed to get me to co-pilot the ship with him. The TARDIS finally managed to materialize in Sarah's time loop and the Doctor rushed for the door. He opened the doors and leaned out with me right beside him.

Sarah was standing in the wedding room with her fiancé Peter. Her eyes were red and she was chewing nervously on her thumbnail. When she saw the Doctor and I , sighed sighed our names in relief and stepped towards the TARDIS.

"Oh, Doctor."

"Got to be quick," the Doctor said quickly. "The TARDIS can't stabilize. One of the kids is keeping the Trickster busy for the moment, I think. Oh, those three are just brilliant."

But Sarah didn't smile. "Doctor, what can I do? If I say no, we're trapped here forever. If I say yes, I condemn the world to the Trickster. Either way I lose. There's no way out."

The Doctor's face fell and his eyes turned sad. "It all rests with you, Sarah. Your greatest challenge. The hardest thing you'll ever face in your life."

"What is it? Tell me what I've got to do."

"You've fought the Trickster before. You know how he operates, how he can be defeated."

Sarah shook her head and looked to Peter. "Oh, no. No."

I looked between Sarah and the Doctor in confusion. Once again, I couldn't remember what the price of the Trickster's trap was. But when the Doctor spoke to Peter, a feeling of dread settled in my stomach.

"I know you're a good man, Peter," the Doctor said. "I'm so sorry."

A memory flashed across my mind's eye and I remembered what Sarah had had to sacrifice when she last encountered the Trickster: her parents. Sarah would have to give up somebody this time as well and judging by the Doctor's words, it was going to be Peter.

Just past Sarah and Peter, Clyde and the Trickster suddenly appeared. Their right hands were clasped together and blue artron energy was crackling between them. Clyde was screaming in pain and his entire body was shaking violently.

"Clyde!" I screamed in time with Sarah.

"I can't hold it!" he shouted through his pain.

A few seconds later, he released the Trickster's hand and collapsed onto the floor. I pushed past the Doctor and leapt into the room. I slid to my knees and gathered Clyde's body in my arms as Sarah rushed to his side.

"Oh, Clyde," I breathed as I looked over his unconscious body. I could hear the TARDIS dematerializing in the background, but focused instead on Clyde.

The artron energy had most likely been too much for his young, human body to properly handle and while I knew he would be alright, I couldn't help but worry for him. Sarah ran a hand over Clyde's cheek as tears gathered in her eyes.

"He's gonna be fine," I told her. "I promise."

Sarah looked past me at Peter, who was standing behind me and watching everything. "Peter, I do love you," Sarah said, "but the Doctor's right. There is another way out."

"Do not listen to her lies!" the Trickster sneered. He had collapsed from the shock of the artron energy and was still weak.

"Your accident," Sarah continued. "He can only talk to people who are about to die. He comes to them in that final moment. He gives them back their life."

Peter's brows furrowed in confusion and he shook his head. "What do you mean?"

Sarah stood up and approached her fiancé. "Clyde and Rani said your house was empty. Why did you never let me see your house? You died in that accident, Peter. But he needed you, so he kept you half alive. And if we got married the bargain would be complete. He would bring you back to life."

Peter smiled and shook his head again. "Your love brought me back to life. How can that be wrong, to save a life?"

Sarah turned and pointed at Clyde's unconscious body. "Look at this! This is what he'll do to millions of people unless-… unless you break your deal with him."

I looked over my shoulder at Peter and I could see the pain written across his face. "But I'll lose you. I'll die. I don't want you to be alone."

Sarah was holding back tears. "I love you, but I can't love you. You said you'd do anything to save me. If you love me…, then you know what you have to do," she said as she sat down beside me.

The Trickster protested and cried out, but Peter had apparently made up his mind. He smiled at Sarah one last time before approaching the Trickster's weakened body. "You got one thing exactly right," he told the creature. "Sarah Jane and I, we were made for each other. We're the perfect match. And I know what she would do."

"But I chose you because you didn't have the strength!" the Trickster cried.

Peter smiled knowingly. "You really don't know my Sarah Jane, do you? She gave me the strength." Tears had already started to form in my eyes. "And I withdraw my agreement!"

"No!" the Trickster screamed as he vanished.

Peter looked back at Sarah once the Trickster was gone. "So, here I go," he said. "I wish I'd always known you."

A tear ran down Sarah's cheek as she gazed up at the man. "I love you, Peter."

Peter extended one arm towards Sarah. "And I love you, Sarah Jane Dalton."

Once those words were spoken, Peter's body dissolved into nothingness. Sarah stared at the spot where he had once been and let out one sob before bowing her head. She bent over Clyde's body and cried silently as the Doctor, Luke, and Rani ran into the room with K-9 close behind.

"Mum!" Luke exclaimed as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Luke! Doctor! Oh, Doctor," she sobbed.

The three crouched down around Sarah and I. "My Sarah Jane," the Doctor praised as he kissed her cheek. "You did it. The trap's broken. Time's moving forward again, We're going home."

Clyde woke up with a gasp as the room began to shake. The entire building felt like it was crumbling and falling apart as we were all sent back to our time.

"Hold on!" Luke shouted.

My vision started to go white and I leaned over Clyde, wrapping one arm around him and the other around the Doctor. I pressed my head into the Time Lord's chest and squeezed my eyes shut as the shaking became more violent.

Suddenly, the shaking stopped and when I opened my eyes again I was back in the wedding room. Everyone had been returned to their places in the chairs and Sarah was back at the altar, only this time she was alone.

Luke stood and walked over to his mother, placing an arm over her shoulder as she turned to face her guests. "I'm sorry everyone," Sarah began, her voice trembling only slightly. "But I'm afraid the wedding is cancelled."

Back at Bannerman Road, Sarah and I were sitting in the attic with K-9 by our feet. I had an arm around her waist and her head was resting on my shoulder. She had changed out of her wedding dress and had cried her eyes out on my shoulder. But now she was done crying.

She sat up straight and sighed lightly. Standing up, Sarah tightened her arms around her waist and looked straight ahead. "Mr. Smith, I need you," she said softly.

I watched in awe as Mr. Smith opened up right inside the journalist's attic. "Welcome back, Sarah Jane. And welcome, Diana."

"Hi, Mr. Smith," I said as I stood up and walked over to stand beside Sarah.

The attic door suddenly opened and Rani, Clyde, and Luke walked in, all of them still in their wedding outfits.

"Mum, are you all right?" Luke asked as he wrapped the woman in a hug.

"I'm going to be fine," she assured her son. "I've got you, haven't I?"

"I can't believe the Doctor just ran off like that," Clyde said as he looked over at me. "Not very polite, is it?"

Sarah shook her head. "Sudden disappearing acts. That's him all over."

"Tell me about it," I mumbled.

Mr. Smith then spoke up. "Sarah Jane, escalation of temporal flux."

"Temporal flux escalating, Mistress," K-9 added.

The TARDIS then began to materialize right in front of us. Once she had fully materialized, the doors opened and the Doctor appeared. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the doorframe.

"What do you take me for, hm? Just thought I'd go the quick way." He peeked out and looked around Sarah's attic. "Oh, I like it in here."

"Can we have a look?" Rani asked excitedly.

The Doctor looked seriously at her. "What, in the TARDIS? My TARDIS?" he asked, his tone turning almost angry.

"Doctor," I scolded.

He smirked and nodded. "Course you can, yeah."

Clyde, Rani, and Luke all bounded forward, eager to get a glimpse at the inside of the TARDIS. Sarah and I followed them in and the Doctor closed the doors behind us. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me to him before I had taken more than a few steps inside.

"You jumped out of the TARDIS without knowing if it was safe or not," he said slowly.

"I was looking after Clyde," I answered with a smile.

The Doctor chuckled and leaned down to kiss my cheek. "Oh, and thanks for standing up for me to the Trickster, girlfriend."

I blushed and looked down in embarrassment. "Yeah, that just kinda slipped out," I mumbled.

"So where are you?" he wondered.

"Eighth incarnation. Trip to Narnia, magical snow, a blue mermaid. You remember."

"I see. So you've already been to the Quiraing, then?"

"I have."

"So you don't mind if I do this, then?" he asked before leaning in to kiss me on the lips.

Sarah cleared her throat and the Doctor and I immediately parted. She gestured with a move of her head to the others. I glanced across the console room and saw Clyde staring wide-eyed at us, as well as Luke blushing and Rani smiling.

"S-Sorry," I stammered as I pulled out of the Doctor's arms.

Clyde immediately turned away, his arms crossed over his chest again. I ignored Rani's giddy smile and Luke's awkward stare and walked over to address Clyde. I felt a little guilty that I'd kissed the Doctor in front of him, even though I didn't know the boy too well.

"Clyde? You okay?" I asked softly.

"Fine," he answered gruffly.

I leaned against one of the coral columns and sighed. "Hey, um… I just wanted to say that I think you were really brave back there. When you faced the Trickster? I never could've done that on my own. That was incredible."

"You think so?"

I smiled and nodded, placing a hand on Clyde's shoulder. "I do. You risked your life for everyone and I think that's amazing." I leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you."

Clyde's cheeks flushed a shade or two darker and he stood there in shock for a moment. I chewed nervously on my lip and wondered if maybe I had been too forward with him. Then he suddenly turned and grabbed my hand. My heart leapt into my throat and I was afraid that maybe I had given him the wrong idea.

"Um, Clyde-"

"Could we go for a ride?" Luke asked suddenly. "To the future, maybe?"

"Or back," Rani suggested. "We could see the dinosaurs!"

That sparked Clyde's attention and he dropped my hand to walk over to his friends. I let out a sigh of relief and leaned back against the column. That was a little too close for comfort.

"No way," Sarah said firmly. "For one thing, you were grounded by the Judoon. And your parents would never forgive me. Now go on, all of you."

As the three kids all trailed out of the TARDIS, I walked back across the console room to stand by the Doctor again. He pressed a kiss to my forehead and then leaned back against the console. Clyde was the last to leave; he looked back at me before stepping outside and closing the door behind him.

"Is this the last time I'm ever going to see you?" Sarah asked once they were gone.

The Doctor stared silently at her for a moment. "I don't know," he finally answered. "I hope not."

Sarah nodded and smiled. "Goodbye, Doctor," she said as she started for the doors. "Until the next time."

"Don't forget me, Sarah Jane."

I immediately reached for the Doctor's hand and squeezed it. Sarah turned and shook her head, her eyes briefly lowering to our joined hands. "No one's ever going to forget you."

The Doctor smiled sadly at the door once Sarah left. I squeezed his hand again and smiled up at him. "Come on, Theta," I whispered. "Let's go."

He silently pushed himself away from the console and released my hand to pilot the TARDIS. As the ship dematerialized, he sighed and gazed down at the console. I could see that something other than his farewell to Susan was bothering him, although I couldn't understand what it was.

"Doctor?"

"Hm?"

"What's wrong?"

He looked up from the console and flashed me an unconvincing smile. "Nothing," he answered.

"The truth, Theta. What's wrong?"

The Doctor was silent for a long time. Every time he opened his mouth to speak, something seemed to stop him. He finally shook his head and turned away from me. I thought he was just going to ignore my question and try to distract me with another adventure, but instead he gave me an answer.

"The Trickster said the Gate was waiting for me. I don't know what he means."

The End of Time, I realized. The Master uses the Gate to create his master race.

"You know, don't you?"

I looked up from the console to see the Doctor looking at me. "Yes," I answered meekly. "I couldn't tell you. I still can't."

"My time is running out," the Doctor said simply.

"Theta, I can't say anything. There's too much at stake." The Master, Rassilon, Gallifrey's return. God only knows what might happen if I mess it up.

"I know. I just wish you could."

"Me too."

I watched him carefully and wondered what he was thinking. I knew he didn't want to regenerate and he was terrified of meeting his end, and I wished that I could do something to help him. But what could I do to comfort him when I knew he was going to die?

"You look like you could use a hug."

The Time Lord smiled and laughed just a little. "I wouldn't say no to one," he told me.

I walked around the console and wrapped my arms around his waist. "Well luckily for you, I happen to be an expert at both hugging and cuddling."

The Doctor laughed again, his laugh just a little happier the second time. He kissed me lightly on the lips before putting his arms around me and pulling me against his chest. I buried my head in his chest and closed my eyes.

"I love you," he whispered into my hair. "You don't have to say it back. I know you're still early, but I just need to say it. I love you."

It's okay, I thought. I think I love you too.

"Diana?"

"Mm?"

"You're fading."

"What?" I jumped back out of the Doctor's arms and looked down at my body, which was already starting to fade. "No! Not again. I-I'm not ready."

The Doctor gently ran his hand across my cheek. "I'll be there. Wherever you end up, I'll be there. You know that."

I closed my eyes and nodded. I didn't want to watch him fade away as I was taken to another time. I didn't want the reminder that I would always end up leaving him, no matter how badly I wanted to stay. But my eyes opened again when an ice cold wind blew against me.

"What the-?"

A chill ran up my legs and I looked down to see my feet buried in snow. I was still in my dress and heels, so I didn't have any way of keeping warm. Confused and absolutely freezing, I wrapped my arms around my torso and turned around. Standing a few yards away was an Ood.

"Ah!"

"Welcome, Diana Scott," the Ood said as it tilted its head to the side.

"Hi," I squeaked through my chattering teeth.

"He is coming."

I blinked once and then shook my head. "S-S-Sorry, what?"

"He is coming," the Ood repeated. "They are coming."

"Uh, what? W-Who's coming?"

"He is… returning."

"Returning? Who's-"

Just then, an image flashed across my vision. I stumbled back with a gasp and pressed a hand to my forehead as a drumbeat began to echo in my mind. The Master was standing before me, his head thrown back in laughter, and the four patterned beat of the drums echoed in my ears.

"He is returning. They are coming and he is returning."

A/N: Well, hopefully everyone enjoyed this. Leave me a review and tell me what you thought of the ending.