The Doctor stood in silence, his gaze locked on the central pillar of the TARDIS, wrapped in a tangle of cables, the green glow it was emitting breaking through the gaps. He's experienced so much in his long life, good things, bad things, terrible things but there were some things he was never prepared for. He had spent so long thinking something like this, meeting another of his kind again, would never happen but then it did, all the way at the end of the universe. And after that, after the year that never was, the Doctor was even more convinced that it would never happen again.

But here he was. Standing in what had once been a TARDIS, being spoken to by a being who claimed to be the same as him. A Time Lord.

Suddenly the silence was broken.

"Doctor," Corl said softly, "who is she?" The Doctor turned to her quickly, attempting to keep his composure.

"Go." It was said in a harsh, commanding tone, one which shocked even the Doctor. "Please." He added, more kindly. "Please, go."

Corl looked as if she was about to argue, when Ortel put his hand on her arm and gave her a look.

"Doctor, take this." He handed the Time Lord the radio from his belt. "Just in case."

The Doctor nodded and gave the young soldier an appreciative smile as the two humans left the room, the silver door sliding closed behind them.

"This can't be." The Doctor gasped eventually, possibilities running through his head. "You just can't be."

"I am Doctor." Kali replied, her voice echoing around the room. "In a way."

"What do you mean? You said you were a Time Lord?"

"Yes. I was, once."

"Well, what are you now?" The Doctor was growing impatient. He was so used to being the one with all the answers, it just felt so wrong to be clueless.

"I'm just an echo." Kali replied. "A shadow of my consciousness burnt in to the heart of this TARDIS, All my thoughts, memories, all there. Just not my body. That's why you couldn't sense me Doctor. Because technically, as things go, I don't exist."

"But how?" The Doctor exclaimed, throwing his hands above his head. "A TARDIS has a link with its owner, sure, but absorbing their consciousness?" He realised he was growing confrontational, with no real reason. Maybe he was just used to arguing by now. "That can't happen." He shook his head, knowing that evidently, it had.

"You made it happen Doctor." Kali replied. Her tone was blunt, not angry or accusing, just stating the facts.

"Me?" The Doctor queried, his eyes wide. "How is this anything to do with me?"

"I was in my TARDIS when it happened." Came the reply. "When the last great Time War ended."

"When I ended it." The Doctor corrected sadly, as things started to piece themselves together in his head.

"You had to. It was the only way. I do not now how, but as I died a reaction occurred between my former self and this TARDIS allowing it to completely absorb my consciousness, integrating me in to itself."

The Doctor sighed deeply, looking down at the floor. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Why did it never seem to end? Why did the Time War keep coming back to him, to remind him of what had happened. Of what he had done. All his actions had seemed to do was cause death and destruction. Ultimately, they had done little good. The Daleks had returned time after time, through some loophole or another, yet the Time Lords were still gone. All that the war had left of them was the Doctor himself, who continued to run afraid to look back, the Master who had given his own life in favour of travelling with his enemy and the consciousness of Kali, trapped for so many years within the heart of a TARDIS. Granted, he had had some great times since the end of the war, but standing here now, the Doctor had to wonder if it was all worth it.

"Don't be." Kali reassured him. "It had to be done. The War had to end. None of this is your fault." There was a pause. "I didn't want to involve you. That's why I allowed the girl to exist."

"Moira." The Doctor said quickly, looking up at the pillar. "Her name was Moira."

"Quite." Kali replied. "I needed a way out. I want this life to end."

"And you'd end the lives of all of the humans on board too?"

"No. You don't understand." Kali interjected. "None of them would die. Those creatures feast on the energy within an individual, not the physical form. If they had reached me, this TARDIS would remain intact, it could have kept the humans safe, it would just be my consciousness that would be gone and that in turn would have made the creature vanish. I would be free, the physical shell of the TARDIS would remain intact and the humans would be safe."

"So why Moira? What has she got to do with any of that?"

"Very little." The reply was cold, uncaring. "All that was needed to summon the creatures was for a being to exist that shouldn't. After that I had no use for her."

"So you let her exist?" The Doctor challenged. "You let her exist, and now she's stuck in a loop. A loop that I had to create. She just keeps going round, keeps on running, keeps on suffering."

"I had to Doctor." Kali replied, unmoved by the Doctors' sentiments. "I just want to be free. No existence must be better than this existence. For years I tried to work out ways to escape from here, but each way involved the humans on board dying."

The Doctor looked at the console curiously.

"I got the impression that wouldn't bother you? After all they've done to you, to your TARDIS?"

"Of course it would Doctor. They don't deserve to die. They were only doing what they do best."

"And what's that?"

"Just being human. You of all people must understand that Doctor."

"Yes." He smiled. "I think I do. But why was Moira different?"

"Because without me, she would not exist She was a sacrifice I had to make. I just wanted to be free. It feels as if everything is slipping away. I've even started to forget what is like to travel through time, to fly through the vortex. I would rather not live than never fly again."

The Doctor looked up at the pillar with sympathy. He had been faced of the prospect of not travelling various times in his life, and each time it broke his hearts to think he would never experience that feeling of rushing through the Vortex, that feeling of stepping out in to a brand new time.

"I want you to know that I don't agree with what you did to Moira." The Doctor said sternly. "But I know why you did it. So I'm going to help you."

Suddenly the floor shook beneath the Doctor's feet.

"It's too late Doctor." The voice had faded a little. "I feel my time is running out. My song is ending. It had taken years to gather enough power to manipulate the Vortex enough to allow the girl, Moira, to exist. Just speaking to you is draining me. I'm dying. "

"You can't." The Doctor said loudly. It was an order more than anything else. "If you die this TARDIS dies with you, falls in to the Rift, along with the humans inside. And I'm not going to let that happen."

"There's nothing you can do Doctor." The complex shook again, more violently this time. "I can't hold it much longer. We are going to slip in to the Rift."

"I can use my TARDIS." He scratched his head. "If I get everyone on board,"

"There is not enough time." Kali interrupted. "You will not be able to get to it in time."

The Doctor was looking closely at the console now, circling around it studying the controls, and modifications that the humans had made.

"In that case," he said thoughtfully, "why run to one TARDIS when there's another right here. I've done quite enough running for one day anyway." He held Ortel's radio to his ear. "Geoffrey, it's the Doctor."

"Hello Doctor!" The voice buzzed back. "Everything ok I hope? There's been some shaking up here but I assume it's just because of the Rift,"

"It's fine." The Doctor interjected. "Now, Geoffery, listen. I need you to get everyone, and I mean everyone, to the bottom of the facility. Right to the bottom. Not the floor above the bottom, but the very bottom."

"But Doctor, it's just a maze of cables and pipes down there feeding the whole facility."

"Well, I'm sure they won't mind some company." The Doctor answered, fiddling with some controls on the console.

"I won't pretend I understand Doctor." Haim replied. "But I trust you. I shall evacuate everyone to the bottom of the facility immediately."

"Good man!" The Doctor exclaimed, shutting the radio off.

"What are you doing Doctor?" Kali's voice questioned as he buzzed around the console, flipping various switches and buttons frantically. Suddenly, she realised his plan. "You can't. It takes a crew of six Time Lords to pilot a fully functioning TARDIS, let alone one in this state of disrepair. Even then, it would be impossible." Her voice was growing weaker. "There is not enough power."

"Then I feed power from the rest of the facility, converting it through the circuits of the TARDIS." The Doctor muttered, busy with the job at hand.

"That needs at least two people. You can't do this on your own."

The Doctor stopped for a moment, his gaze back on the central pillar.

"I've had some practice. Now, just need some co-ordinates." He paused for a moment, before it struck him. "Oh yes! I don't know how you did it, but thank you Moira!"
"What are you talking about?" Kali demanded. "There is no power, no nearby planets. You'll kill us all! It's hopeless."

"I like hopeless!" The Doctor placed a hand on a large lever, a wide grin on his face as he pulled it, full of energy. "Trust me Kali, even if it's just one more time, you're gonna fly!"

**

The sky was a beautiful blue, contrasting against the green of the grass, which seemed to stretch for miles. The area was unspoilt, untarnished by the large city which was looming in the distance. The wildlife was very similar to that of earth, as were the local plant life, which had made the planet an ideal choice for colonisation all those years ago. It had soon been decided to learn from the mistakes of the past and leave wide areas of the planet untouched by human hands, just left to natures doing.

Even the sounds of the city were inaudible here, just those of the tweeting birds and buzzing insects. And the loud groaning of ancient engines accompanied by an odd whistling noise. Birds scattered as the screeching grew louder and louder. Those curious enough to remain saw a large shape appear from nowhere. A large dome, wrapped with silver, a large hole crossing several sections of glass near the top. The sunlight reflected off the whole structure, creating a marvellous light effect.

It would not last long however. Moments later the noise returned to break the short lived silence, and the dome slowly faded away. However, left where it had so briefly stood were a large group of confused looking humans.

Corl let go of Haims' hand embarrassedly as the hundred or so uniformed individuals gazed around them at their new surroundings. How amazing, she thought. This was probably the first time some of them had seen such a sight. Untainted nature, a clear sky, a bright sun.

"It's gone." Geoffrey said looking her in the eyes. "I don't know what he's done, but it's gone."

"Are you ok?" She said, with genuine concern. She knew what the facility had meant to him, all of the work he had put in. "I know that place was your life." He smiled back at her.
"You always said there were some things that we should leave well alone." He took her hand in his once more. "Besides, I can have a new life now." She looked up at him, as if she was unsure as to what he meant. "A new life here with you." He smiled. "Speaking of which, do we know where here even is?"

Corl looked around her, there couldn't have been a more perfect place. But how had the Doctor managed to find this place? How had he known?

Then it became obvious. The Doctors' final promise to Moira.

"I'm going to guess," Corl replied to Haim, looking to Ortel with a grin, "that this Geolera."

**