A/N: Profuse apologies! I am bad. Bad is what I am. Hope to keep to a better schedule soon! Hope you're all having a lovely spring!

When I managed to regain my senses, I wasn't feeling well rested like the last time a time lord had ninja'd me to sleep. It was actually kind of leaning the opposite direction. That was unfortunate. So was the chair I was strapped to. Well, that was more alarming than unfortunate. Or, both. And probably bad. All kinds of bad, possibly, very bad.

Maybe I was just rushing to conclusions. Maybe I suffered a seizure or something and needed to be restrained. That was a possibility.

I mean, that was still in the 'not good' category. But it was loads better than where my thoughts were leading me. Some kind of screwed up torture skinning murder- I don't know. But there was a lot of gore involved. Someone, mother, should have probably stopped me from watching those kinds of shows when I was a kid because they really weren't helping me stay calm right now. Looking at my surroundings didn't help either since I knew exactly where I was. That stupid stupid room from hell. The holodeck. Bane of my existence. Why had they even built one here? Bad shit always went down on the holodeck, why didn't the TARDIS know that? Don't tell me she didn't have time to catch up on her television watching while the Doctor was busy getting himself into trouble. It was a bit larger than the last time I had seen it. Still dark gray walls, but they spread out from where I was sitting, resulting in a long hallway filled with giant black arcade games? Probably not, but they were tall, black, and seemed to involve buttons. None of them looked like Pac-man though. Just as well, since I was terrible at it.

Movement caught my attention when I recognized the only other person in the room, walking between two of the black columns. "Ailla?" Of course it was her. Couldn't be someone I wanted to see. At this point, I'd rather see slender man waiting at the end of the hall-No. Wait. This was the room that fed off thoughts right? Never mind about slender man. I was kidding. Haha. Good one. Jesus, let's not make things any worse. Please, just this once.

"Oh good," Ailla said in a tone that wasn't remotely cheerful. "You're awake." I waited for her to offer any kind of explanation as to why I was…you know, tied to a fucking chair. But she wasn't interested in that, apparently. "There we go," she said as she finished fiddling with a few dials on the mysterious arcade boxes. "There was some override that prevented the particles from solidifying while you were unconscious."

"That's great, glad you settled that. Why the hell am I strapped to a chair?"

"Fitz," she finally stopped what she was doing long enough to focus her attention on me. "I want you to know how very sorry I am about all this. It's not personal in the least. I like you, I really do. But," always a 'but' isn't there? She was using her best placating tone so I was already irritated with her. "This is the fate of an entire race. The Time Lords. I can't just let them die, not if there's a way to prevent it. Your ability to manipulate the interface has given me a way to do that."

Uh huh. Right. Super. Whatever captain crazy was serving, I wasn't interested. I was now on the brink of a killer headache and there was an itch directly on the center of my nose that no amount of nose twitching had managed to slay. Whatever was going on, it was over. Now.

"Go ahead and untie me and we can talk about it, alright?" I was partly talking through clenched teeth to keep myself from screaming it at her. Plus, if I threatened her, it would probably just bounce off her perfectly toned muscles like a shower of warm gummy bears.

"I can't do that." She smiled sadly, which wasn't remotely reassuring. Okay. Calm down. Count to ten, screaming isn't going to help. One…two…

"Are you fucking crazy?" I said, lurching half out of my chair, only to realize it didn't really matter since it was heavy as hell and I was still definitely attached to it. "Just untie me god dammit!" So counting to ten had been a tad optimistic. Should have tried for three. Then again, my current situation probably didn't call for my limited manners, so maybe it didn't matter if I had a total meltdown.

"You have to understand, this isn't just for me, or my people. This is for the entirety of the universe. They keep people, civilizations, whole worlds safe. This is important."

"I'm sorry. Is your big plan just to bring back every single inhabitant of the god damn planet and put them on the ship? Is that really it?" That seemed stupid, even for me, and I had a high margin for stupidity in my own plans, so that was saying something. "Isn't there also a big hang up with a whole 'time lock' around Gallifrey?" In actuality, I had no idea how big of a deal that was, I had sort of tuned out when the Doctor was explaining it. But the gist was that he couldn't go back. Right?

"You're right. That was a problem. But then you brought me this," Ailla walked a few steps closer to where the only other fixture in the room was. A small clear pedestal, lit from below, the top was a glass case. She opened it and pulled out a familiar looking pocket watch.

"What the hell-" I tried reaching for my jacket, only to remember I was strapped down. She couldn't have the gall to rifle through my pockets to steal my stuff, could she? But then I was sharply reminded that she had knocked me out and tied me up. Maybe she had plenty of gall.

"Exactly what was needed to maintain the connection. A piece that had broken through the barriers already." Ailla smiled as she looked at the watch a moment longer before returning it to the case. "Don't you see? This was all meant to happen. Rassilon escaping from the time war in his madness, finding and using you. Bringing the Professor to find the Unwritten."

"How can that possibly mean anything? You're just naming off a bunch of random things that happened." I hoped to god Rassilon and the nightmare he had brought wasn't meant to happen. Because then that meant the universe was a real fucking asshole.

"There's no such thing as coincidence." Ailla said seriously. What utter bullshit. A time lord, who could, theoretically, go any direction in time and space that they wanted, to change anything, anywhere; somehow believed in fate.

"Fine. Go for it. Bring a couple billion people here. We'll have a party. It'll be great." I focused my efforts on twisting out of my bindings instead of arguing with her since she had absolutely no damn sense.

"I'm not going to bring them here. I just need to open the doors between Gallifrey and the Matrix." She pressed her hand against the nearby wall where if I squinted, I thought I could see a hazy outline of some kind of portal. But I could also be imagining it. "These computers, they're replicas of the Matrix. With you powering them, making them real, I can bring back the Unwritten."

"Er…" my struggles paused, only briefly. "Isn't that exactly what you didn't want to do? Save the Unwritten?" My mind was the crappy one, so why couldn't she remember trying to bite the Doctor's head off for suggesting the same thing.

"I'm not going to save them," she spat, violence overtaking her serene face for a brief moment. "I'm going to use them." Her eyes trailed to the wall opposite and there was another hole faintly outlined. A cold sweat broke out across my skin. She was going to fill the nightmare room with nightmare people. This was just great. Maybe if I asked nicely, she could fill this place with water and I could just die from sheer terror. "Use them to win the war and save my people."

"I don't think they're interested in helping you. They nearly killed us. They might have killed Rhysik." Her nostrils flared, apparently unhappy about that. It was nice to know there were still some people she cared about. Even if I didn't happen to be on that list.

"They won't have a choice. We can control them now."

"Oh, you think the Professor wants to get in on this?" I snorted. "Yeah. Sign him up. This whole thing sounds like a real bang up idea."

"I know he does because he knows what's at stake. Gallifrey is trapped in the war. They're fighting the same battles over and over again. You think he would willingly damn his own kind to that existence? Would you do that to your own people?" The confidence I had been feeling suddenly plummeted. I didn't have an answer for her. And now it seemed impossible to convince her for one simple reason. She might have been right.

"I thought so." She said quietly, walking back to the nearest computer.

"Well, why aren't we all talking about it then? Why isn't the Doctor helping you? Why do you still have me tied up?"

"Because the cost is too great." She said, sighing and staring at the floor blankly.

"Oh, you think starting a war with an army full of rabid dogs isn't going to end with rainbows and sunshine?" My snark was a little problematic, might be a bad idea to be mocking the crazy time lord. But the part of me that worried about keeping myself in check was buried deep underneath the part of me that was freaking the hell out.

"It's you, Fitz. You're the only one who can sustain the computers long enough to open both gates. But just barely. When the Unwritten make the transition from the Matrix to Gallifrey, I'm afraid you…well, you won't survive the process." She looked at me, with a completely level gaze. And I snorted. Then dissolved into laughter. I mean, she was joking right? Now the ominous music would start to play louder dun dun DUUUUUN. My laughter slowly died as she continued to stare at me, now in a pitying way.

"You're not serious."

"I am." She said without any hesitation. No diabolical laughter followed her pronouncement. Which would have been nice if she did, because clichéd evil villains were always making mistakes. Ailla wasn't really giving off that vibe. She was striking me as more of the cool calculated genius that slaughters all sorts of people before anyone even knows what's going on. And I was getting the sinking feeling that I was a red shirt from Star Trek here.

"Jesus Ailla, don't do this. You can't just declare war and toss me up as some kind of collateral damage. Do you even know how crazy-"

"It's not up for negotiation." Her voice was devoid of emotion as she turned back to her computer. Busy with something more important than listening to me beg for my life apparently. The sinking turned more into a drowning feeling now. This was really happening, she had really lost it and she really didn't give a damn. The first thing on my list was to throw a tantrum like a toddler, for all the good it would do me. "I'm sorry," she said, before I could get started. "This isn't easy for me. But I'm not going to change my mind. This is the right decision. Everyone will know your sacrifice though. I promise you that."

"That's great. Make sure my plaque says something pithy like 'wish I didn't have to die because some lunatic decided she knew what was best for the universe and stabbed her friend in the back'. It'll be a nice reminder to the kids about betrayal and cold blooded murder." The chair lurched beneath me with my efforts, but still got me effectively nowhere. Actually, my wrists were starting to ache, and that headache was now full blown. That wasn't really the kind of progress I had been looking for though.

"I know you're upset and I wish there were more time to discuss all of this, but with your…limitations. Well, there are many things that still need to be done, and little time to do it."

"Sure. Don't let me hold you back. Just a living human being. I can see how that might be annoying!" I shouted at the back of her head, but she had already started to work again. Busy with, you know, manufacturing my death. This was just fantastic. The leather on my wrists wasn't coming loose anytime soon and I was pretty sure I could scream until my voice went hoarse and no one would hear me here in this stupid room. Because it was evil. It was a bastard. It was going down if I survived all of this.

No. Not if. When.

When I survived all of this, I was going to brick this room up behind a big damn wall. And then I was going to light it on fire. And then I was going to- Actually, I'd probably be pretty beat from building a brick wall. And the fire would be hard to work in if I'd already barricaded the room off…Whatever. The point was, me and this room, were through. Just as soon as I got out. Which would be any second now. Once I figured out how to get out of this fucking chair. And warn the Doctor.

Or…

Ailla turned and moved further down the room, to another of the computers. I looked around. There had to be a way to get a warning out, and I knew just the digital idiot to help me with that. "Hey," I whispered behind me, hoping my voice wouldn't carry. The hum of the TARDIS itself seemed to mask it pretty well. "Hey voice thingy that looks like the Doctor." My voice began to strain and I started to suspect that not only was I going to die, I was going to die whispering to myself and looking just as crazy as Ailla. But the air nearest my head crackled to life and a sigh of relief escaped my throat. "Thank god." I said, my eyes focusing on the back of Ailla to make sure she was still unaware.

The Doctor stood there, his arms clasped together, doing absolutely nothing useful. "How about you get me out of here?" I struggled in the chair to make it obvious what I was talking about. I was ready to bolt as soon as needed, there was no urge in me to stick around and try and stop Ailla. Playing the hero wasn't very tempting, especially since I knew she could drop me like a wet rag just as soon as she wanted. Escape. And look for backup. That was the plan.

"Yes, well. There's a bit of a hang up there." He twisted his hands together, looking sheepish.

"No. I don't want to hear any of your riddle soaked timey bullshit. Undo. The. Straps." My voice was growing louder, but it was hard to hold back when safety was so close and the TARDIS was being a complete moron about it. "Now."

"It's not that I wouldn't like to. You've been quite entertaining as far as companions go. Really, I'm quite fond-" my icy glare stopped him quite suddenly. "Yes. Well, I've been a bit…my systems have been compromised."

Nope. That's not what I wanted to hear. Not in the least. "Then uncompromise them. You're a sentient time traveling spaceship. I'm sure you can figure something out-"

"Don't bother with the interface. I've disabled it. Needed to focus all of the energy on the computers themselves." Ailla's toneless voice broke through my rant and I felt my blood chill. For a moment it was the fear of being caught, and then it dawned on me that she didn't care, because she had preemptively stopped it.

"Yes. There is that." The voice interface scowled over his shoulder but Ailla hadn't even bothered to look up. So completely unconcerned by our activities that we didn't even warrant more than a mild warning. What a horrible witch. And something that rhymes with 'witch'. And several other inappropriate words most commonly used by sailors. If there was ever a time for me to develop superpowers to kick her overconfident ass, now was it.

…

Well. So maybe that's not going to pan out.

"So you're useless." I glared up at him. Silly to blame the ship, but it was the most convenient at the moment.

"Oi, no need for that-"

"Fitzgerald?" My head snapped up so fast I was surprised my spine didn't shatter. The Professor stood in the open doorway, but it shut behind him as he stepped inside. He frowned at me. "What are you doing here?"

"Me?" That was the question he was asking? I was tied to a chair in a chamber filled with Ailla and her pack of oversized laptops and he wanted to know why I was just hanging out? "Are you kidding me? Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs over here is-"

"Professor," Ailla had heard him and was walking back toward us. If I was lucky, maybe he could talk enough sense into her to get me out of this chair. If I was really lucky, he'd just clobber the hell out of her and we could make a run for it. "You're late."

What? What did she just say? He was expected? Seriously? She had invited him to the crazy party? And he wasn't acting remotely surprised to be here. Or even concerned.

"Yes, I got a bit…" His eyes looked me over briefly before giving Ailla his full attention. "Sidetracked. I didn't realize you'd have company." So it was no big deal that I was being held hostage. Super.

"Sorry, I meant to explain. The computers themselves wouldn't be enough. I can reroute the energy field long enough to make it last, but just barely. Is this a problem?" There was a hint of threat in her voice.

"You're god damn right it's a problem." I shouted at her. "Professor, she's going to bring those psychopaths back and then she's going to kill me." I strained against the chair as he finally looked at me again. His cool eyes met mine, and then looked away. Dismissive.

"Not particularly. You don't worry that the Doctor will protest? You know how sentimental he gets about these things."

It felt like I had been kicked, several times. Breathing like a fish in concrete. Struggling to understand just what the fuck was going on. What he had said to me, before. He couldn't have just been…Of course he could. He was a psychopath. That's what they were good at. They lied and manipulated to get just what they wanted. They didn't feel things like guilt or remorse because they didn't feel anything at all. That's why he was able to lead that pack of bloodthirsty killing machines. That's exactly what he was. Ailla glanced my way briefly. It was like I was a pesky mosquito. They were only hesitating to squash me because it might stain the wallpaper.

"Of course he will. But it'll be too late by then." Too late because I'd be dead and unable to appreciate the look of fury on the Doctor's face when he realized what they'd done to me. Unable to appreciate his threats of throwing them out into space. Of course, those would be empty promises. They would have saved Gallifrey, something he had wanted so desperately to do. What was one mouthy little human compared to billions of lives? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. He'd be angry for a while, sure. Donna would be too. Actually, Donna might hold a solid grudge on my behalf. But none of it would matter, because I'd be dead.

This sucks.

"Well then, it's not a problem." The Professor shrugged and smiled sideways at Ailla. My insides crumbled to dust and ash. Time lords were just the worst. The fucking worst. "Let's get to work."