"It's Gallifrey," Ailla said as she stepped back from the computer, awe in her voice as she looked out over the rippling portal. The tiniest sliver of sense was all that kept me in the chair. If anything moved out there, a leaf, a blade of grass, shit, if the wind looked at me wrong, you can be damn sure I was running. She stepped forward, her hand outstretched.

"Don't-" my panic had overwhelmed the part of my brain that remembered Ailla was a son of a bitch who totally deserved whatever was waiting for her out there. Idiot brain. "Don't go out there." I finished lamely.

"That's my home." She sounded happy to see it. Boy was she about to be disappointed.

"It's really not." She spared me a dark look. "Not anymore." Really, if anyone was going to get devoured by undead zombies, I nominate her. And then the Professor was a close second. Why was I insisting on talking her out of this?

"What do you know about it?"

"I've been there. Sort of. It's…it's not pretty."

"Don't be ridiculous," she scoffed, turning back to the portal. "There's no way you could have been there."

"Yeah, sorry. You got me. This is just part of my brilliant scheme to foil your plans. You're too damn crafty for me." Fear had given way to irritation pretty fast, maybe even record fast. I should be keeping track. "I have been there, and it was shit. Everything you remember is broken. It's not like what you saw with me. It's a war zone where everyone lost. It's just full of more time lords with a hankering for murder." It seemed to be a running theme with their kind, which was all kinds of unsettling.

"You're lying." She snapped, but there was a hint of doubt as she looked through the portal. Whatever she had been expecting to be waiting for her beyond the window to Gallifrey, clearly wasn't there. Boiling hot air rolled into the cool room, that along with the smell of ash and burning.

"She is not." The Professor said quietly. I looked up, surprised to hear him weighing in at all, but he was staring at me in a peculiar way. As soon as Ailla turned, the calm exterior reappeared and I wasn't sure I had seen it at all.

"What?" Now you could hear the fear in her voice.

"She used to have nightmares. Of Gallifrey. It was burning." He spoke in that cold detached tone as he turned his gaze from me to Ailla. "She may be wrong about Gallifrey, but she is not intentionally misleading you."

"Well it doesn't matter, I'm still-" the metal walls of the room shrieked in protest as the portal shrank. It didn't just shrink though, I felt like I had been pulled forward. Hell, everything had been pulled forward. What the hell was going on. "What's wrong?" Ailla's voice wasn't just slightly uneven now, she was actually worried. Good, because a room eating portal was on my list of things to flip out about, at least we were on the same page there.

Gallifrey suddenly flickered, and then vanished all together, leaving only a star filled black expanse through the hole in the wall. But then it reappeared. And the room made a tearing sound as it was devoured slowly by the portal.

"What did you do?" She shouted. I looked away from the portal and realized that she was talking to me.

"What do you think I did?" The question was only made slightly more ridiculous by the fact that I was still laying on the floor, and as far as she knew, strapped to a chair. "Used my mind powers to fuck up your day?" Who knows, maybe my superpowers finally did pan out. I sort of expected to realize it when it happened, but what was important, was that Ailla's plans were getting screwed up. Her jaw tightened as she stared at me, and then she strode forward, her eyes intent on murder.

Whoops.

"Did you remember to account for the dark particle acceleration?" The Professor's voice cut her just short of reaching me.

"Of course I did," she hardly spared him a glance. Well, that was a short-lived reprieve. She knelt next to me and grabbed a handful of my shirt. "Now answer me, what did you do?" She shook me hard enough that my skull cracked against the back of the chair and Jesus that didn't feel good.

"Ailla." The Professor barked from behind her. I was a little too rattled to give a snappy remark so I just kind of made an "ugh" noise. Staring up into the abyss of desperation in Ailla's face made me strongly suspect that it didn't matter if I had done it or not. She reached for her hip, and even in my slightly dazed state, I immediately recognized the cool sting of metal against my temple.

"Change it back. Right. Now." She whispered. Nervous laughter bubbled up in my chest, I stuffed it down, but not enough to stop the crazed grin from appearing on my face. She wasn't going to be able to tell the difference between hysterical panicked Fitz and smug with victory Fitz. The fact that the latter didn't actually exist was something she might have known if she had stuck around a little longer.

Holy shit I am actually going to die this time. It was impressive how having a gun pointed at my head gave me all kinds of clarity. And some fantastic memory. Like the exact pattern of brain spatter that had occurred after I'd squeezed the trigger on the Unwritten a few days prior. That was going to be me. Possibly with less gray matter, but still.

"Enough." The Professor was directly behind her now, but not stupid enough to try and wrestle the gun from her. "It was me." Ailla's eyes unfocused above me, slowly processing what she had heard.

"What did you say?" her voice was a harsh whisper, and just as scary as it had been a moment before. She turned to him, but the gun was still digging into my temple. My hands were sweating, but I still had a tight grip on the screwdriver. Of course, I wouldn't be able to use it fast enough to make a difference at this point, but it was a miracle I still remembered that I had it.

"I've compromised the machines. They've overheated and feeding the power back into the source. Since they're unable to stabilize, the ship is trying to expel the source before it explodes." He still spoke dispassionately, but every muscle in his body was wound tight like a spring. There wasn't any doubt in my mind that if she pulled the trigger he would be tearing her to pieces a second later. That was touching, aside from the fact that having the Professor on my side wouldn't really make up for the bullet shaped hole that would be in my skull.

"I don't understand," she frowned, finally releasing my shirt so my head dropped painfully against the chair again. I should work on that neck strength. The gun was still aimed at me, but she was standing now, facing the Professor. "You said to put the circuits into the ships power, not the source."

"Yes. I said that."

"Well why would you…if you knew…" she paused, looking back over her shoulder to make sure I hadn't gone anywhere. Damn, probably would have been a good idea to go somewhere when she had been distracted. Oops. She returned her gaze to the Professor and I started to very subtly squirm out of my constraints. "Why? Why would you throw everything away? Our people? Our world? All of it. Everything. Stars above, why Koschei?"

"You know as well as I do that the odds of us succeeding in opening both gates simultaneously were highly unlikely. Harnessing the Unwritten to take on the Dalek's as well would have been far beyond our capabili-"

"Was it her?" Ailla pointed in my direction, reminding me that she had a deadly weapon still aimed in my face. I froze. As a point of interest, I had not actually forgotten. Not by a long shot. The Professor's jaw stiffened.

"Ailla-"

"Was it?" I resisted the urge to laugh, it wasn't all that hard to do since I wasn't remotely in the mood for laughing. But if she thought someone, especially me of all people, could have any effect on what the Professor did or did not do, she had another thing coming.

"Yes." He said in a clipped tone.

Okay, a couple of things. No. It couldn't have been. This was just another one of his bullshit lies. I wasn't falling for it. Not again. And again. Just. No. Not even if there was a hint of that desperation in his eyes that I had seen in the medical bay. Nope. Not buying it.

Maybe buying it a little.

But also, now is probably not the best time to be admitting that. You know. With a gun pointed at my head.

"Of course." She said with a bitter smile and I watched her finger tighten on the trigger. I couldn't move, it was like I was glued to the chair. Don't be afraid. It'll be over before I get a chance to remember how much dying sucks.

The Professor was already diving at her, I wish I had time to call him an idiot, because that's how I would willingly spend my last few seconds. But then I realized she was already turning. She wasn't going to shoot me, she was going to shoot him. I tried to call out a warning, but it sort of came out as "Likot!" and he had already slammed into her, sending them both over my shoulder out of view. The room screeched again and I might have heard the crack of the firearm, but things were happening too fast as I was trying to squirm my way out of the chair. My legs flailed in the air as I did the least coordinated backward somersault ever to get my legs beneath me again.

The Professor had rolled further away and Ailla was staring dazed at the ground. The pistol had skittered out of her hands and she dove for it.

"Stop!" I shouted, bringing the laser screwdriver up. I didn't look very intimidating on my hands and knees, but I tried to put what vehemence I could in my glare to reassure her that I was dangerous. Ailla looked up, startled to see that I was suddenly out of the chair.

"Fitzgerald, leave it- Where did you get that?" The Professor shot a deadly look my way, but he didn't get up so there wasn't much he could do as I stood, keeping the screwdriver leveled at Ailla. Her confusion turned to amusement, which was…well, it was frankly a little unsettling.

"Suppose that's the Professor's screwdriver?" Ailla asked with a pitying smile. She didn't wait for an answer. "He's probably not bothered to tell you how protective he is of his toys. Shame about that." She went for the pistol again and I could feel my resolve starting to shrivel. I might actually have to shoot her. What an asshole. God I really didn't want to do this. Even if she was a bastard. And she definitely was.

"Ailla-" my voice wavered and it was obvious to both of us that I didn't have the heart to stop her. Which is when she turned to the Professor to finish the job she had started. But I still had business to settle with him, so that meant it was important that he not die. Orange light ripped a jagged line through the air, striking Ailla in the shoulder as she screamed and flew forward. There was a horrible long moment where I wasn't sure she was breathing, but then I saw her move and I regained feeling in my legs enough to keep from falling over. It was hard to tell if the trembling was from relief, or from being in this room for so long.

Ailla groaned as she rolled over slowly, the confusion having settled back on her face again. "You can't have…" she muttered.

"I can. I did. Now lose the gun before I aim this at something you want to keep." It was still held loosely in her grip. She didn't move to aim it at me, but she also didn't let it go.

"The…isomorphic controls…" She looked between me and the Professor, who looked equally surprised for whatever reason. "She can't-"

"Alright. But I did. Moving on." I marched forward, determined to look like I wasn't on the last of my reserves as I kicked the gun away from Ailla's outstretched hand. The room shook and made more horrible crunching noises which reminded me that I may have only temporarily avoided death and maybe I should work on making it a more permanent thing. "Now, how do you turn this thing off?" I said as I walked over to the closest console. It could have been in Russian and I would have had better luck figuring out what to do with it. Hell, maybe it was in Russian. What did I know? All that I could tell, was there wasn't a friendly 'off' button anywhere handy. Because of course there wasn't. "Anyone?"

"You don't." Ailla glared at me balefully from where she was still crouched on the ground.

"Super. Thanks for the input." I turned to the Professor who was slowly making his way to his feet. Finally, what a lazy ass. "How do I turn it off?"

He blinked slowly, finally focusing on my face. "You don't."

"Jesus Christ. You guys are both such a fucking pain in my ass-"

"But I can slow it down," he interrupted as he shuffled over. "Watch her." He nodded as he came up behind me.

"Oh, are we on the same side now?" I snapped. Possibly being a little rude. It was strange that he didn't offer a snide comment in return. Instead, he started to press buttons in what I would have called a random order, but he looked like he knew what he was doing. "Well…but, shouldn't we be leaving instead of slowing things down?" That did seem logical, well, to me anyway. Now that we've gotten past the whole 'Ailla trying to kill us' bit.

"We could. But then the ship will explode." He said it so causally that I nearly missed it.

"I'm sorry, what? Why the hell is the ship going to explode? How could that- You're shot…" the annoyance melted out of my voice when I turned back and realized there was a reason he had taken so long to get off the ground. There was a hole in the back of his jacket, and a large stain that I suspected wasn't raspberry jelly.

"I noticed." He muttered, still busy with whatever the hell he was doing. You know, too cool to acknowledge that Jesus Christ being shot hurts.

"Well. Fine. Super. You'll just…slowly bleed to death here, the ship is going to explode. I'm going to have some kind of a stroke. Glad we've got everything sorted."

He did turn toward me then, probably to give me a stern telling off about my attitude, but he flinched as he moved, twisting in a way that reminded him he had a hole through his torso. He grasped for the console and, despite still being furious with him, I caught his arm, keeping him from collapsing entirely.

"Fitzgerald," he said as he stood slowly. "You need to leave. I can maintain the room from here, but it will continue to feed off you if you remain."

"I'm not going without you," there may have been other reasons that I didn't want to leave him, but I made sure he knew the most prevalent one right now was so that I could just kick his ass later. "Both of you." I shot a look over my shoulder at Ailla.

"Yes, take her with you." He nodded quickly. "The Doctor will take care of it." Apparently that was all of an explanation I was going to get from him, because he turned back to the console. Fine. He could just rot here. I turned and made it a full two-steps on fury alone. But then I stopped.

I wanted to go, I really really did. My eyes kept unconsciously sliding toward the portal that continued to shrink and flit between Gallifrey and just a terrifying amount of empty space. It was smaller, but not so small that a zombified hippo couldn't waddle through. That was reason enough to make a run for it. I made it one more step toward Ailla before giving a resigned sigh and turning around. My legs ached with the effort of moving at all, but I walked back to the Professor.

"Hey," I said, laying my hand on his arm. Partly to get his attention, and partly because those three steps felt like a marathon. His face was drawn as he turned, but he mustered up a scowl for me anyway. As he opened his mouth for a scolding, I shook my head. "No. I really don't have the energy for it. Just listen. You've been a real shithole, and I'm unbelievably furious about that. Really. Just," one of my hands unconsciously started to strangle the air. "Anyway. But I still…I can't leave you behind to get exploded, or eaten by dead people, or…or bleed to death. Okay?" And if he needed me to explain why I couldn't let that happen, then I really was going to strangle him. Just as soon as I had the energy for it.

His face softened, only slightly, and he swallowed before answering. "Fitzgerald. I will be fine. You will not."

That was incredibly unfair. Acting like he cared just to get what he wanted. That was some bull-

"Yes, well, I think if my ship were about to blow up, I would know about it." The Doctor's voice interrupted us, walking in through a recently opened door while looking rather annoyed with Jack who was right behind him.

"Doctor, there were three separate alarms going off in the control room."

"Yes, well, those were archived alarms. Hardly worth noticing. Besides, I had music playing." They had yet to acknowledge that we were in the room.

"Doctor, I could hear it clear from the library. And I was underwater." Jack finally looked up, aware that the hallway they had been marching down had changed.

"Don't give me that look. You can't honestly expect me to play Rossaplaction music quietly-" The Doctor too became aware of his surroundings and looked around.

"About bloody time," the Professor muttered.

"Hello," the Doctor gave a strained smile. "Would anyone care to explain just what precisely is going on?" He raised an eyebrow, but no one was in any rush to speak. "Such as why every retrograded alarm on this ship has suddenly gone off? Or perhaps- Are you bleeding?" He squinted in the direction of the Professor. He may have been slightly more blood soaked than the rest of us. What, with the gunshot wound, and the head butting. "Honestly, I leave you alone for five minutes." He muttered, dragging a hand over his face. Sure, he was the put upon babysitter who was tired of dealing with our shenanigans. What a joke. If anything, he was the catalyst for this insanity. He always was.

"Nobody move!" Ailla shouted. She was up and moving…and armed. Dammit. Wasn't I supposed to be watching her? Shit. Shit shit shit.

"My bad." I mumbled. I couldn't see the Professor, but I was pretty sure I could feel his eyes trying to set the back of my head on fire right about now.

"Ailla? What's wrong?" The Doctor started to walk toward her, but she jerked her arms in his direction, leveling the pistol at him.

"Everything is wrong. Now stay where you are, or you get to find out first hand why the Professor is bleeding."

"I helped with that." I shrugged. Neither of them bothered looking in my direction, which was probably for the best.

"Listen, whatever he did to you, I can promise you, he will pay for it." The Doctor shot the Professor a dark look. "If anything, it's my fault for believing he would change-"

"Shut. Up." Ailla's voice was deadly serious. I do believe she planned on shooting the Doctor. I raised the screwdriver, ready to fire again if I had to, but the Doctor, reading my thoughts, pointed a single finger in my direction and then locked eyes with me.

"Fitz, put that bloody thing down before you hurt someone." It wasn't the tone that you argued with and I had dropped my arm before I really registered what I was doing. Damn, that was a neat trick. "Now, Ailla. Perhaps you can explain just what he's gotten you involved in."

"He didn't do anything. I did this. And I'm going to finish it." She said determinedly. The room made another horrible shrieking noise as the ground bucked up beneath our feet to really drive her point home.

The Doctor looked confused, but only briefly. "What is it you plan on finishing?"

"Doctor, we don't have time. You need to get Fitzgerald out of here immediately. The vacillator is feeding power into the source, if you don't-"

"Still not going without you." I shot the Professor a dangerous look.

"Dammit Fitz," he scowled. When did he start using that name? "We don't have-"

"She's not going anywhere." Ailla said, turning toward us. "Get away from the computer."

"What, will you shoot me again?" He asked with a twisted smile, not moving from the console.

"I'll make sure it sticks this time."

"Professor, just do as she says." The Doctor's voice was quiet with a fury that was now entirely focused on Ailla. He didn't seem to be a fan of the gun. Or idle threats.

The Professor shook his head. "As soon as I release this, the room starts to deteriorate around us. It will take the entire ship with it."

"That's rubbish. The TARDIS would delete it before it became a threat-"

"Which would be fine, except for Fitzgerald and her special skills." They both looked at me, like it was somehow my fault.

"What the hell are you saying-"

"I said no!" Ailla shouted, angry that she didn't have all the attention in the room I guess. She moved so quickly I didn't realize what her plan was until her arm was around my throat like a vice. She dragged me a few steps back from the computer but I was pretty much a limp noodle. The suddenness of it knocked the screwdriver out of my hand so I didn't even have that going for me.

"Ailla, just wait. Think about what you're doing." The Doctor wasn't as angry now, really he just sounded desperate. "If you don't let her go, we all die here."

"I have to save them. I can save them. I'm sorry it's come to this, but I have to do this. Professor, get away from the computer." She said, leveling the gun at his head.

"Save them?" The Doctor frowned. His eyes briefly pulled to the swirling portal in the wall as it flickered to Gallifrey. There was understanding in his eyes then. "Ailla, you can't-"

"You destroyed them. But I can bring them back. This is the only way. Now get the hell away from the computer," she turned her attention back to the Professor, but he still stayed where he was. So she turned the gun toward me. "I don't need her anymore. You know that. Step. Away." I was still definitely afraid, guns would do that to you. But I realized, rather suddenly, that she didn't want to do this. The Professor didn't have to step away. She could just shoot him, and he would drop, like a sack of bricks. Problem solved. But instead, she was threatening him, and me. It wasn't much to hold onto, but it was enough to keep me from dissolving into a puddle of ugly crying. So that was something.

The Professor worked his jaw slowly, clearly considering it for a moment. I shook my head faintly. "No." He said. Whether it was because of me, or the fact that he decided he just didn't care anymore, I had no idea.

"You don't think I've tried to save them, Ailla?" The Doctor stepped forward and she spun to face him. "You don't think I haven't come back countless times to try and repair all those lives I tore apart? Stars Ailla, I have. I've tried over and over again. But it's always the same. I can't save them, because they'll just tear themselves, and the universe, apart." His face was twisted with agony and I tried to swallow back the lump in my own throat. He wasn't just saying this to be convincing. He was finally admitting the truth, after wanting to deny it for so long. He looked like he'd rather light himself on fire than admit that his own people could never be recovered. "It's too late Ailla. They can't be saved."

"You're…you're lying." She whispered, but she could see it in his face just as well as I could.

"You know I wouldn't." He sniffed as he took another step forward. "Ailla, look at what you're doing. You're going to kill Fitz? For what?"

"For our people," she said, but without much conviction. That was a nice start, but she still had a gun pointed at my head.

"Our people did this. They did it to themselves. They made the Unwritten into the monsters that they are. They would have obliterated everything whole and good in the universe, simply so they could continue on. Ailla," he shook his head. "Our people are broken. They're not worth it."

She knew he was right, and I knew she had finally been convinced by the way air was allowed to flow through my windpipe unimpeded again. She tossed me to the side, which I hadn't expected at all, so I stumbled and then fell forward, nearly crashing into the computer. She darted forward and snatched the pocket watch from the pedestal where it was sitting. The Doctor lurched for her, but she was already running back for the increasingly unstable looking portal.

"I'm not giving up on them." She said, looking back over her shoulder once at us before she dove through the portal.

"Ailla don't do this!" The Doctor shouted, but it was too late. She was gone, and with one last creaking shudder, the portal itself snapped shut. The Doctor sagged as he stared at the wall that was continually crushing tighter into a lump of metal.

"Doctor," the Professor broke the silence. Well, the silence of us. The room itself still sounded like a trash compactor. I was also feeling freakishly lighter as I pushed myself to my feet, like I was floating in water. It was a welcome relief to my exhausted limbs and I decided not to question it.

"That'll be the life support failing." Jack chimed in helpfully. Great, so that was probably bad.

"Fitzgerald, you need to leave." The Professor said as I latched onto the computer, feeling like my legs were nearly ready to float away.

"And I'm not leaving you, no matter how far you shove that stick up your ass." We didn't really have the time to argue, and I really didn't have the energy, so I thought I'd just be blunt about it. "I feel like I've been pretty clear about that."

"You-" he looked very nearly like he was going to try and argue anyway. I readied my eye roll, but he decided against it. Instead, he reached out with one arm and grabbed the back of my head, pulling me against him for a surprisingly tender kiss. That had been…unexpected. It was over before I had the chance to appreciate it, because then he had pulled back. "I'm sorry Fitzgerald. But everything is going to be fine."

"Liar." Nothing was going to be fine. Ailla had tried to kill me, actually, tried to kill everyone. And then vanished through a portal. I didn't even know if she'd survive that. Whatever the hell that was. Now the ship was imploding. Fine was not the word I would have used.

Instead of replying, he put his hand against my chest and shoved. With my new lack of gravity, I went spinning backward without hitting the ground. "Doctor! Get her out!" The Professor shouted.

"Right." The Doctor nodded as he grabbed me from behind, turning me midair and sending me sailing for the wall. Crap. "Jack, the door!" The metal door slid open and suddenly I was in the brightly lit hall of the ship.

And just as suddenly, reconnecting with gravity. And the floor. Hard.

"Oh god…" everything hurt. Every muscle, bone, scrap of flesh. All of it. I pushed myself up from the floor slowly with the room spinning, but I managed to keep breakfast down. For now. With great effort, I got to my feet, and then stumble toward the door, reaching for button that would open it so I could get to the idiots I was planning on murdering.

But the button and door both vanished. I hadn't even blinked but it was just…gone.

"No way." I stared at the wall, trying to wait it out in the hopes that I'd just suffered a really unusual seizure. Nope. It was still just a wall. Just an empty wall where a door used to be. "No." I said a little more forcefully. "No. No. No. No." If I said it enough times, maybe the door would appear. I started to bash my fist against the wall, just to let it know I meant business. The door couldn't be gone. It just couldn't be. Because if it was gone. Then the room was gone. And the people who were in the room…

No.