A/N: Hello all! I just wanted to mention that I wrote a one-shot holiday fluff that's AU this universe, so you should like...check it out. Because it's only going to make sense to you people. That's right, I wrote it for you folks. Not for the rest of them. They don't understand, they're inferior.

I finally worked up my nerve to approach Rhysik at the rear of the ship. It was slightly more elegant than the last time too, since instead of crawling over on hands and knees, I managed to stand. My hands still flung out wildly as I walked across the boats deck, like we were in some kind of storm, instead of this being the most peaceful tranquil fucking water ever invented. Still. Better than crawling. I had to celebrate the small things.

"I think it's my turn." I said with a sheepish smile. Actually, it had probably been my turn to steer for the last hour or so. But after my first attempt, what with my unnaturally high voice and vice like death grip, I think Rhysik had taken it upon himself to try and quietly skip me. But that was rude of me, and really, I didn't have the energy needed to sustain a total panic attack for sixteen hours straight of sailing. My fidgeting had gradually worn down around hour eight, and I was practically a mermaid at this point. Of course, it didn't stop me from profusely sweating the whole time, or getting a queasy feeling whenever I more than glanced at the water. Still. It was better than it was.

"Are you sure?" He asked, apparently not much impressed with my barely concealed terror.

"Yeah, you've already done more than your fair share. I'll be fine."

"Of course you will," he smiled broadly and I was only a little dazzled by him. "We are nearly there." He pointed out toward the skyline and I could see a hint of something that might be an island.

"Sure," I snorted. Apparently, he picked up on my disbelief.

"Time and distance are different here Fitz, we shall be back in your universe very soon now." That almost managed to make me feel a bit better as my hands latched onto the boom, this was the closest to the edge of the boat I had been in several hours, and already I was regretting my decision to replace Rhysik as he strode to the front. I leaned my weight against it and held to it like a drowning woman.

Hah.

Why did we even need someone watching the sails? It wasn't like the wind moved in any direction other than the one we needed. The Doctor had explained that the wind literally only existed for our purposes. Something about saving programming space. But no one had bought my 'let's just tie it off and leave it' argument, so everyone had taken a couple shifts leaning against the boom, heading in the general direction of home.

Rhysik settled down next to Ailla, who hadn't woken unless it was her turn to steer. In the full light, it was easy to see she really had been in trouble. Jagged lines down her shoulder were an angry red that surrounded freshly torn skin, mostly covered with a bandage. She hadn't complained about it once. Just another humbling attribute to put on the long list of why she was, and always would be, better than me. Couldn't even properly hate her when she was wounded like this. But part of me tried anyway.

Movement caught my eye and I saw the Doctor wandering back my way. He was giving me that funny look as he approached. Like he desperately wanted to open his big mouth and talk about things I wasn't really interested in getting into just then. Probably because I had pulled a bit of a scene back on the beach when we were leaving. Sort of refused to travel with the Professor. And I hadn't really been polite about it. Yes, it was because I was being a snot. But, I had been enough of an adult not to scream 'BECAUSE HE KISSED HER, THAT'S WHY' so I felt that earned me some credit. Of course, at the very least, the Professor probably knew what my problem was.

And now apparently, so did the Doctor.

But you know what? It was good to get it out of my system, right? Okay, but avoiding people wasn't really getting it out of my system. More 'passive aggressively burying it deeper'. Maybe that would work just as well. A new breakthrough in the psychology community. Also. I was sailing across the creepiest sludge ocean ever, for the second time, after surviving a nosedive down stairs in a spooky cave, and narrowly not being murdered by a pissed off time lord prisoner of war. I was entitled to be in a shitty mood just now.

"How's it going?" The Doctor erased the look with a smile as he approached. Having a natural affinity for sea legs since most of his walking on solid ground was just basically stumbling around anyway.

"Just peachy." There wasn't any effort to make it extra snide, but at this point, it was pretty obvious how miserable I was. "I'm thinking about joining the Navy when we're done here. Maybe become a professional scuba diver. That's a thing, right?" It almost made me feel sick to even say that.

"You know, you don't have to steer. I'd be more than happy to take over." He said, his genuine concern sucking the joy out of my pity party.

"I know. Rhysik said that too. But, it's fine." Even the Doctor looked pretty roughed up from his fun trip under a pile of rocks. Whatever, I was traumatized too. This better qualify for my good deed for the day for the next several years.

"Atta girl," he grinned, bumping my shoulder with his fist. "Though I was also asking about…" his voice trailed off as he looked over his shoulder. Ailla and Rhysik were completely oblivious to our conversation. "Well, asking for different reasons."

"Yeah, I know what you meant." Contrary to popular belief, I wasn't actually an idiot. Most of the time.

"Ah, right. Though you might, clever girl like you," his smile became more forced as he sensed my hostility growing. "So you. Uh. Are you doing alright? You know…about some things that may have happened?" If this was awkward for me, it seemed like it was about a thousand times worse for him.

"Are you kidding me right now?"

"I…" He searched for some kind of response and failed. "Oh, I don't know. Donna asked me what you were on about and suggested, rather strongly might I add, that I have a bit of a chat with you. She was concerned."

"I don't need a chat. Thanks."

"Well…Donna seemed to think that perhaps-"

"Donna doesn't think anything, cause she doesn't know what's going on." Seemed rude, but I knew the Doctor was unlikely to repeat my words because he was just as likely to get a lashing for it from Donna as I was. Besides, she hadn't been there. So she really didn't know what was going on, because I hadn't told her and I knew for damn sure the Professor hadn't.

"Ah, yes. Well, technically she didn't know anything. But she was asking questions and I may have mentioned, er…something about Ailla's little. Er. Gesture." His eyes had darted everywhere on the ship as he spoke, everywhere but directly at me.

This was not happening. This can't be happening. This was a dream, a horrible, trippy nightmare and I'm going to wake up, and none of this will have happened.

Still waiting for that.

"Thanks for that." Dragging my hand across my face hadn't washed away any of the humiliation I'd been feeling, nor had it woken me up.

"You seemed upset, we were both worried." He insisted.

"I was, okay?" Admitting it actually was a bit of a relief. "I was a little upset," well, that was a lie. "But it's fine. I'm fine." More lies, piled on top of lies. "And I really don't want to talk about it."

"Oh," he looked disappointed for a split second until he let out a relieved breath. "Good. Excellent. Because I'm honestly rubbish at this. Really, genuinely rubbish. I had no idea what I was supposed to say."

"I'll put in a good word with Donna. You made a valiant effort." Except now not only did the Professor know what I was miserable about, but so did Donna, and the ever oblivious Doctor. So that basically meant everyone, and thing, in the universe knew now, right?

"I appreciate it." He started to turn, but stopped and spun back to face me. "Incidentally," I groaned inwardly. His admission should have meant that we were done, but apparently, today was just not my day. "And I'm not saying that my opinion on the matter means anything, but I've seen kissing. All kinds, I've seen truly important kisses. And that, that didn't even register on-"

"Doctor?"

"Yes?" He stopped his wild hand gestures to look at me again.

"You have to stop talking."

"Yes, alright. I was only saying-"

"No. Now. You have to stop now." He snapped his mouth shut, looking briefly ruffled before the familiar smile returned to his face.

"Alright, absolutely. Well done on retrieving the time vortex." He patted my shoulder and this time I was pretty sure we were done talking about boy problems. Please Jesus let this be the end.

"Oi!" Donna's voice traveled across the water from the other boat. The Doctor and I both turned to see we had gone a bit off course, which was probably my fault. "You planning on joining us?" That was when I realized that the island was right there. Donna was already guiding her ship to shore while we were kind of drifting sideways.

"Yes, yes. I've got it. I can guide the TARDIS through time and space, I think I can handle one measly boat!" He waved his hand at her dismissively as he turned to help push the boom, first the wrong way, and then correctly. He looked up to see if I had noticed, I had. "Of course, I may be a bit rusty. No matter. We'll get there."

He was right though, we were nearly there. For the first time, I genuinely wasn't picturing my death. If I'd been capable of swimming, I could have probably jumped off the ship and made it there easy. Hell, even if I jumped off now, the odds of me washing up on shore were pretty good too. Of course, I'd probably be dead. Still, progress was being made, and a tremor of hope flickered to life in my chest. There was even the deep blue of the TARDIS outlined on the sandy beach. We were going home.

"Sun's a bit dim. Thought we would have more time." The Doctor said with a frown as he looked to the sky. The large globe that was still smack in the center of the sky, as it had been for the past three days, was now dulling in color and brightness, almost grayish. Even watching it, I could see the light ebbing away, readying to plunge us into darkness. But we were going to get out of here, so it was something to push to the back of my mind.

The boat jerked beneath us, throwing me across the boom and the Doctor stumbled down to his knees.

"You steer us into a sandbar or something?" I scowled at him, sucking in a deep breath to replace the one that had been forcibly knocked from my lungs.

"No, there aren't any…" He looked over the edge of the boat, his eyes trying to pierce the shadowy waters. That was just fine, he could do all the looking he wanted because I sure as hell wasn't going to. The boat rocked once more, and I was only slightly more prepared. The wood beam smacked me in the chest again and I heard the vortex drop from my jacket, hitting the ground with a heavy thud.

"They are coming for it." Rhysik said as he pulled a knife from his belt. He pulled Ailla's half-sleeping form closer to the center of the boat.

"Are…are you joking?" He better be joking. No, he was joking. There was no alternative. None that my brain was willing to accept. This time, instead of a small bump, the entire left corner of the raft hoisted up into the air and fell with a loud slap against the water.

"No." Rhysik answered, but it wasn't really necessary.

"But it's still light out," I argued, as though my superior logic would save me. Sure, they'd all just go home once I pointed out they shouldn't be here. Because Ailla had promised. Or, maybe it wasn't them at all. Maybe this place had whales. Computer generated whales. That were friendly. Yeah.

"The light keeps them at bay most of the time, but it grows darker now, and they know we have the time vortex. They will try and retrieve it. It is their only means of escape. And ours."

That was right when the boat keened sharply sideways and I watched as the cube skittered across the deck.

"Oh shit." I released my death grip on the boom and threw myself at the little silver box full force. My fear of dying in the ocean was quickly overwhelmed by the fear of never escaping if I let this stupid thing sink beneath the water. Because then someone would have to retrieve it. Which was especially unappealing now that I knew there were things down there waiting for us. Things that were not friendly whales named Shamu.

"Fitz, get back to the middle!" The Doctor was shouting. That was about the same time I realized how close I'd actually gotten to the edge.

Probably sound advice. The cube was firmly in my hand and I used my free arm to push myself to my knees, slowly turning back toward the center of the ship.

"Doctor?" Donna's voice carried over the water again, this time, alarmed. Of course, they weren't having any sea creature trouble, they weren't the ones with the trophy.

"It's alright Donna, get to the TARDIS!" He shouted as he pushed the boom to capture the wind, trying to propel us to the beach before anything worse happened. "And stay out of the bloody water!" He added as an afterthought. "Fitz, did you get-"

"I've got it." My voice was tight as I took a halting crawl forward, holding it out for him to see. Just then, there was another tremendous effort to topple the boat, one that made my single arm not nearly enough to keep me stable. My free hand flailed uselessly at the air as I fell sideways, but there was nothing to grab onto. My shoulder knocked against the deck and my momentum continued to carry me right to the edge of the ship where I caught sight of the Doctor's panicked face just before I slipped over the side. My hand smacked sharply against the corner of the boat as I went, for a moment I thought I'd lose the stupid vortex, but I stubbornly cramped my hand around it. Everything relied on me keeping hold of this thing, otherwise we were screwed. But, it occurred to me, that since I was falling down to the ocean where who knew how many monsters were waiting for me, we might be screwed anyway.

My back hit the water and only a second later the cold seeped through my clothes. It was so fiercely biting that it felt like tiny knives piercing into every inch of exposed flesh. Somehow, it was thick too, and my limbs, once they finally reacted, moved slowly in the viscous liquid. Hard to tell if it was the gut wrenching fear, or the weight of the water that made it feel like I was slowly being crushed in the darkness. Everything was spun around as I tried to see, my eyes stinging in the putrid water. That might have been the sun, somewhere near my shoulder, I reached out and tried to pull myself forward. I had seen people swim, maybe it wasn't too hard to learn when your life depended on it. This line of thinking had a familiar ring to it, like the last time I'd drowned.

A cold hand closed around my wrist, and I screamed, letting out all the precious air I had gathered before submerging beneath the water. The bubbles that flooded into my face suggested I had been swimming the wrong fucking direction, but my new underwater friend reminded me that finding the surface was the least of my problems. The hand tugged, dragging me deeper into the dark.

Hell no. That was not happening.

I used the leverage its grip gave me to spin my legs around, kicking viciously as my heart threatened to burst in my chest. The fingers released me as the creature screamed in a gurgled way, my boot hopefully connecting solidly with its face. But as I struggled to gain some altitude, I felt its claws slash at my thigh, a hot brand searing its way through the icy chill of the water. I would have screamed if there had been any air left to do so. It was probably another ten seconds before my body betrayed me and tried to test the theories of water breathing. The fingers were still buried in my leg, snagged on the seams of my jeans as it tried to continue pulling me down. Another hand reached across my body, grabbing the fist that was still tightly clasped around the time vortex. My fingers were torn from the box as pain and lack of oxygen overcame my initial surge of adrenalin that had given a valiant effort in keeping me alive. My lungs burned and my whole lower body was throbbing, this was the end. At least it wasn't falling from a ladder.

There was a flash of light so bright and so sudden I thought that maybe I'd suffered a heart attack and died. But then I couldn't be dead, because there was another rush of fresh pain when my leg was released, and my body started to float. A strong arm gripped me around my middle and pulled me up, bringing me toward the light above the water. When we breached the surface, I gasped in a breath of mostly air, though my violent coughs suggested I'd jumped the gun a little. There was still that arm wrapped around my chest, helping me stay afloat, which was really handy, because my mental abilities probably weren't good enough to get my arms to work in any kind of cooperative manner just then. Not that any attempts at swimming would have gotten me anywhere but in a circle. Or more probably, back down below.

"Hold onto this." Rhysik's booming voice spoke from behind my shoulder as he held out the time vortex.

"Got it." I choked out, clasping the cube in both my hands. This wasn't going anywhere. Provided another three-hundred pound man didn't try and muscle it from my grip while I was drowning.

Once we'd reached shallow water, he'd finally had to hoist me up to my feet, realizing I wasn't going to do it on my own. The water that had soaked into my clothes made me about a thousand times heavier than normal, and there was no way I could put any weight on my right leg.

"Are you alright?" He released his grip and as soon as he did, I crumpled in a heap. He grabbed my arm before I could fall completely.

"Sort of got my leg," My teeth were chattering and my voice was still raspy from the water. When my eyes trailed down to survey the damage, I could see pale flesh exposed beneath a long tear in my jeans, and two raw bloody lines carved into my leg. If I hadn't been sick before, I was definitely feeling it now. Man, that looked like a lot of blood oozing out of my leg.

"Oh. It is okay." Rhysik recovered quite quickly after seeing the damage. "You're going to be alright." He was taking this all in stride. Maybe it wasn't that bad? It looked bad. Really bad. He scooped my legs out from under me, earning a pained hiss as he jostled my leg in his grip, but at least I wasn't trying to stand on it any more.

"Fitzgerald!" Someone was shouting my name, really loudly. There was just no need for that. I was right here. "You're bleeding, what the hell happened?" The Professor appeared at my shoulder, the concern in his voice was quickly replaced with fury. Like it had somehow been my fault that I'd been mauled by some deep-sea time lord. So unfair.

"Don't worry, I'm super duper." My voice started to slur and I was pretty sure I would have passed out already if I hadn't been shivering so badly.

"I've got her." Rhysik said as he strode past the Professor. "We need to get inside. They will be back." Didn't need to specify who 'they' were.

"Yes, of course…take her to the ship." The Professor said stiffly as he vanished from my view. "And, thank you." If there was any energy in me left, I would have laughed. But when I caught sight of him again over Rhysik's shoulder, he looked stricken. Like he'd actually been sincere. Appreciation? Gratitude? I'm not sure those were concepts the Professor was familiar with.

"I did not do it for you." Rhysik said dismissively. That might have been flattering if I knew if he had done it for me, or the time vortex. But now wasn't the time to worry about that. Now was the time for my vision to tunnel and my head to slowly droop against his shoulder. Consciousness was just a little too far beyond my capacity, so I stopped that nonsense.