"I thought I told you two to run!" The Doctor shouted, catching sight of Corl and Moira ahead of him as he and Orel sprinted down the corridor. "I know I'm good," he looked over his shoulder just to make sure, "but better safe than sorry!"

Leslie and Moira stood planted on the spot, staring at him.

"Well? Going to run?" The Doctor said, amazed that they were still stationary. "Remember the big time eating monsters?"

"Doctor." Ortel added quickly.

"Not now Travis. Trying to save some lives. Get running."

"Doctor, we're here."

"What? Oh." The Doctor replied, smiling apologetically to Moira and Corl. "What are we waiting for then? Let's get inside!"

"We can't." Corl said, visibly on the verge of tears. "It hadn't even occurred to me. Geoffrey.."

"Leslie," The Doctor replied, attempting to comfort her. "We can mourn him later. But right now we need to end all of this." He contemplated saying more, about how, if this all went to plan he could bring Haim and Jaran back, but held back at the last moment. What if he couldn't? It wasn't fair to get her hopes up.

"It's not that." She sniffed. "There is only one key." She gestured to the large silver door behind her, a card reader on the wall next to it. "And Geoffery had it. That was the only one"

"Well," The Doctor beamed, walking across the corridor, his head held high. "You say that, but was it, really?"

"Yeah." Ortel confirmed. "Security measure. Only Mister Haim had access to the core."

"Bit of a silly security measure, don't you think?" He looked to Moira, who was staring at him, just as confused as the others. "You mean you've not worked it out yet?" He looked at her, a small grin spreading across his face. "That does make me feel better!"

"What are you talking about?" She snapped, her patience for him weakening.

"Well, we need to get through a door, right?" He turned, addressing all three of them.

"Yes." Corl replied sharply.

"And there's only one key, right?"

"Yes." Ortel was the one to reply this time.

"A key." The Doctor stared at Moira, looking at her neck. "A card key."

She looked at him for a moment, before following his gaze to her neck. What was he looking at? All that was there was her necklace.

A silver chain, with a rectangle attached.

A rectangle, which, on closer inspection looked as if it had been quickly attached to the chain, so it could easily be pulled off.

"You mean?" She said, disbelieving, pulling at the silver object as it came loose from the chain. "This? This is the key?"

"I think so." The Doctor nodded with a smile. "You've had it all this time!"

"It can't be!" Leslie exclaimed. "There was only ever one key!"

"Apparently not." The Doctor smiled again, as he took the object from Moira and twisted it about in his hands, a look of almost affection on his face.

"But how?" Moira asked quietly.

"Never mind that just now." The Doctor said quickly, leaping in to action. "We probably don't have much time before my," he corrected himself as Ortel shot him a look, "our Time Pane becomes nothing more than Time Shards. Ooh, I like that one too. Anyway," he reached for the door, key in hand, "let's see just what this Time Core is, shall we?"

The Doctor slid the card key in the door, resulting in a satisfying beep before the door released a soft hiss as it started to slide upwards. The Doctor stood, fidgeting with excitement, bouncing from side to side as the door slowly opened.

Moira watched him, the look of intrigue on his face, the excitement she could tell was building inside him. But somehow, it felt wrong. He shouldn't have been excited about what was through that door. What it was, she wasn't quite sure, not yet, but she knew they would all find out soon.

Eventually, the door had opened enough for the Doctor to go through, ducking a little, too impatient to wait for it to open all of the way. He reached for his glasses in preparation.

"Now then!" He exclaimed, "What do we have…"

He stopped slowly, looking around the huge room. The floor was covered with the same metal mesh as the rest of the facility, cables flowing together towards the centre of the room. To the large circular console, with the large glowing tube that ran all the way to the incredibly high ceiling.

"No." The Doctor shook his head. It had been an option, he knew that. He just wasn't prepared for it.

He stood still for a few moments, just taking it in. Cables had been twisted around the central column, the modifications made by whoever had found it all those years ago so that it could fulfil their needs, their needs to study what was meant to be forbidden.

"It really can't be." The Doctor shook his head slowly as Moira, Ortel and Corl stood by his side. "It really can't be."

"Doctor," Corl asked, concerned, "what is it?"

"It's a TARDIS. Your Time Core is made from a TARDIS."

**

"What is it?" Ortel said finally, breaking the silence. "What's a TARDIS?"

"The ship of the Time Lords." Moira answered. "Of his people."

"I thought they were all gone." The Doctor said as he ran a frustrated hand down his face. "I should have known! Agh! But I was so close minded! So last of the Time Lords, I didn't consider it a possibility. Not really."

"It's ok Doctor." Moira smiled, feeling compelled to place an arm around him. "Not even I knew that this was going to happen. The Doctor smiled back, taking her hands in his and turning them over her palms face up.

"You do know what this means, don't you?" He said softly, glancing at the marks on her hands, scored in to the skin.

"I think I've always known." She smiled solemnly. She glanced towards the console at the centre of the room, the TARDIS control panel, staring at two specific levers mounted on a board, which was apparently added by the humans who had scavenged the machine.

"Don't suppose you know what we do next then?" The Doctor shrugged. "I kind of expected some kind of disaster going on here, temporal energy flowing all over the place, fire, Bad Wolf, that sort of thing. But nothing. Not a sausage."

"Doctor." Ortel said suddenly, his tone obviously masking fear. "Listen."

"Well then!" The Doctor said loudly, vaulting over one of the handrails towards the console as he heard the shaking through the nearby corridor. "Seems like time is running out!"

Another almighty crash sent Corl flying to the floor, grazing her hand on the metal floor. Moira quickly rushed to her, helping her up.

"What did he mean?" She looked to the Doctor, his Sonic Screwdriver buzzing away over the various controls. "What does all this mean?"

"It means I'm it." Moira said, just as cryptically. Corl was about to respond when the whole room shook again.

"They're getting closer!" The Doctor grimaced, sparks flying from the control as he worked away on it. "I'm sorry." He said, looking up at the glowing column. "I'm so sorry.

"What are you doing?" Ortel asked, stepping closer to the Time Lord, who made no attempt to reply.

"Reversing the chrono-energy flow from the TARDIS." Moira explained, grabbing Ortel's arm, and pulling him away from the Doctor."

"Got it in one!" The Doctor exclaimed suddenly. "Knew you would! Bet you knew you would too! Something is drawing those things here, so by reversing the energy flow, maybe I can manipulate it to appear as if everything's ok! All hunky dory!"

"No." Moira stated defiantly, striding towards the Doctor. "That's not what happens. And you know that too."

"It's what I'm going to make happen." The Doctor turned to her, looking her straight in the eyes. "I promise."

"No Doctor. You only promise me one thing."

"And what's that? The Doctor leaned forwards, his mind set.

"Promise me you will remember. Remember Geolera." With no warning, Moira lunged at the Doctor, throwing him to the floor away from the console, the metal key card and Sonic Screwdriver flying from his hands.

The Doctor looked up from the floor, completely shocked as he straightened his hair the best he could.

"You're determined, I give you that." The Doctor said, getting to his feet as he watched Moira hold the key to her necklace, pointing the Sonic Screwdriver at them both. "You need to press the big button." He advised, watching as it glew, buzzing with power. "That'll do." He nodded as Moira looked down at her handiwork, the key and necklace reattached.

"Are you sure about this?" The Doctor looked at her, a serious look of concern on her face. Moira did not respond, instead throwing the Screwdriver back to the Doctor, who caught it with one swift movement.

"This is how it happens." She replied finally, turning to the console. "Here they come."

Ortel and Corl threw themselves away from the walls of the room as the now familiar roaring of the Reapers echoed around them, the wreckage of the walls crashing around them as they scurried away from the monstrous creatures. Each one was snarling fiercely, cracking their tails and wings, thirsty for the energy of time.

Moira blanked it all out. She knew she had to. She focused on the control panel in front of her, trying to remember what happened next. With a sudden realisation, she pulled at strange blue ball sat at the bottom of the console. Sparks flew from it, followed by a soft blue-green glow.
"No." The Doctor shouted to her, looking over his shoulder as he stood with Corl and Ortel, backed against a metal handrail. "Stop it!" He cried, watching as Moira ripped more pieces from the console. "You're destroying the temporal regulators! The energy will go mad!" He looked back to the snarling Reapers as they swooped around the room, playing with him again.

The glow was increasing, but not as she had remembered. No pain, not yet. That was it! Moira looked down at a set of levers set in to the console, looking carefully at their shape as she held her hands out in front of her. The scars stared back at her, those mysterious scars.

Mysterious, until now.

She placed her hands on the levers and pulled quickly, her eyes closed. She knew what was coming, and braced herself for the pain.

With little warning, the console erupted in a bright light, full of blues, greens and yellows. The central column was pulsing rapidly now, screeching, almost screaming. Or was that her? She couldn't tell. Her hands were burning as the energy flowed through her, around her. She could let go, but knew she mustn't.

"This can't be it!" The Doctor screamed, over both the noise of the Reapers and Moira. "That energy is so volatile, so random! It couldn't possibly…Of course!" He ducked back under the handrail, glancing quickly at Ortel and Corl as they cowered from the Reapers. They were closing in now, apparently unphased by the temporal energy being unleashed in the middle of the room.

The Doctor stood tall, pointing the Sonic Screwdriver towards Moira.

"I told you it would make sense!" He shouted. "I don't like it, but it makes sense. Well, in a way." He paused slightly. "Well, not really."

"Don't!" Moira shouted at him. He was trying to stop her, she knew it. He was trying to change things. But they couldn't be changed. Such were the plans of Moirae.

It was then that it all became clear. At that moment, the only moment in her whole life, everything made sense. It hadn't before, and it never would again. There was only this moment. She understood all of it. Why she was here, how she had known it all and what the Doctor was doing. He was part of it. He was making it happen.

The energy seared around her, the pain so intense now. But it was almost over, she knew that. It was time. Time to say goodbye. He had done so little, but so much at the same time. Looking through the cloud of temporal energy that was surrounding her, Moira looked at him, the Doctor, the Lord ofTime, his face slowly fading away.

"Doctor!" Or was it her fading away? She couldn't quite tell. "Thank you!"