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(Disclaimer: Trust me, if I owned either Inuyasha or Doctor Who, you would know.)

—Jail-time Chats—

The next couple of days passed with boredom and only stories to pass the time as they tried to figure out a way out of their situation.

"If worse comes to worse," Kagome murmured, curled up on the ground as she leaned against the stone wall. "I can try to take out the guards when I ask for a restroom break."

The Doctor didn't answer her at first, and she turned to see him staring down at her with a pained expression on his face. She straightened unconsciously, concerned. "I never should have taken you here," the Doctor muttered darkly and he gave a sharp shake of his head. "Stupid, stupid, stupid. I should have known better, really. This always happens."

Alarmed, Kagome scampered over to put herself in front of him, and she slipped her hands through the bars and grasped his shoulders to hold him still. "Whoa, pause for a minute. What are you going on about?"

The Doctor stopped short, and he looked down at her with a look so full of sorrow and earnest regret that it sent a pang to her heart. "Oh, Kagome, I am so sorry."

Kagome's eyes flew wide open. "Okay, whoa, stop that. Explain, because you are not making any sense and frankly it's scaring me a bit."

The Doctor looked away, taking a shuddering breath. "This always happens. One way or another," he said, his voice hoarse. "I indulge myself and take a companion to see the universe, the stars and the planets out there, and it always end the same… Dead, hurt, changed—it doesn't matter, I always lose them." He brought his hands to his head, clutching—fingers threading through his short, spiky locks, digging into his scalp.

Kagome said nothing, breath stolen as the words tumbled from his mouth like a confession. She didn't even know what to say, so she stayed silent, letting him finish,

His voice dropped into a hiss. "I should have taken you back to the Feudal Era like you asked—you have enough to worry about with that artifact of yours, without me adding to your responsibilities." His hands fell into his lap; he shook his head. "I just… couldn't help myself."

Kagome's breath hitched. Stepping back from him, she stared him with widened eyes. "You… you know?"

The Doctor didn't look at her; he only waved his hand at her and her aghast tone. "Oh, I already worked out who you were a while back," he said, as if it wasn't big news. "Shikon Miko, time-traveler, meant to fight the half-demon Naraku over the Shikon no Tama."

Kagome went still, the blood in her veins freezing.

"And there's no point in asking me if you've won or not," the Doctor added, as if in an afterthought. "Because time is relative. Until it happens to you personally, it can always change."

Kagome took a moment to fully process his words, and after a moment of heavy silence, she finally broke it. "I wasn't going to ask. I… I don't really want to know," she told him in a hushed breath. "Either we lose and I know that I'm walking to my death as well as those of my friends, or we win and I have to deal with the pressure of it while hoping I don't screw something up."

The Doctor looked up at her, brown eyes dark and soulful and hurting. "I was hoping," he confessed, "That taking someone like you, more prepared, it wouldn't end so badly. It was too tempting not to and I had to take a chance. I was just too selfish to ignore it. And now it'll be my fault for what happens then if I don't get you back."

"Oh my God," Kagome finally snapped, causing the Doctor's eyes to widen and his eyebrows to shoot up. She stared at him through defiant, narrowed eyes, hands propped on her hips. "Will you stop it—stop blaming yourself for what's happened?"

At that, the Doctor's face darkened, lips thinning and pulled tight. He opened his mouth to retort, but Kagome beat him to it.

"You were lonely." The Doctor froze, mouth still parted. "I could see it in your eyes—you've lived hundreds of years, people passing through in a blink of an eye, but no one ever staying," Kagome went on, ignorant to how the Doctor seemed to withdraw within himself as each and every word struck home. "They can't. And you've known hardship and loss, you've taken lives, and you wear the blame like—like some obligation! Take a pill and get over yourself. You're not to blame for every bad thing that's happened. They weren't your responsibility, they were consenting adults." She turned on him, glaring, as if daring to contradict her. "Just like I am. I could've said no, but I didn't."

No matter how much the Doctor wanted to accept her words as truth, to let them sooth the guilt, he just couldn't. "You don't know. I'm older—I've lived so long, I should have known better. To me, you all might as well be children!"

Her lips twisted in a scowl that could only be described as furious. "Oh, so you're smarter? You're wiser and more powerful, just because you're older? Just because we're human and you're not?" she hissed, and then her eyes widened in astonished realization.

She took a step back, an incredulous, bitter laugh spilling forth and the Doctor's eyebrows snapped together, a little alarmed. "Oh my God, you're just like him!" she exclaimed, and the Doctor knew she was talking about that best friend of hers—the one that sent her away; the one who, unknowingly, sent her to him. "Us puny little humans just can't think for ourselves, can we? So you've got to send us off, because you know better," she said, words dripping with sarcasm and disdain as she threw her hands up in frustration. "And that arrogance of yours has you blind to the fact that it's not your decision to make!"

And through the course of this shout, the Doctor watched, his eyes growing sadder and widening with each word. "Perhaps he's not blind," he interjected when he saw his chance. "Perhaps…" he trailed off, voice dropping to a whisper. "Perhaps he just wants to protect you." He didn't know whether they were talking about her friend, himself, or both—and he wasn't sure Kagome knew either.

Kagome whirled on him, clutching at the bars that separated them, grip tight and white-knuckled as she snapped. "Oh, and what would you know! He's done this before, and it never works. He needs me—they need me. Oh, he may be stronger, he may think he knows more than I do, but it isn't his choice! It's my choice because it's my fault and if it wasn't for me no one would have died or gotten hurt and this is the only way I can make up for it!"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "So you're paying penance, then?" he mused quietly, and oh, that had a hurtful pang of familiarity to it. "Is that it?"

Kagome froze, the fire of fury boiling within her burning out in a wink, and she sagged to her knees. "No," she murmured. "Not just that. It's about doing what's right, and it wouldn't be right to let them fight and risk their lives while I get to be excused from the danger when I was the one who brought destruction to their era in the first place. I need to do what I can to help them, to save them, to prevent as many deaths as I can." She took a slow, steadying breath. "Because I can do it. I have the ability to do the right thing, so I just can't just sit back and watch."

The Doctor looked to the ground, folding his hands into his lap, both unable and unwilling to argue after that.

Kagome shook her head suddenly, huffing under her breath in wry amusement. "Why are we talking about me? We were talking about you," she muttered. She peered up and their eyes locked. "Answer me this, Doctor?"

Warily, he peered up at her and nodded. "Yes?"

"Did they know this was dangerous? Your companions?" she asked, her voice back to the gentle tone she had used on him in the beginning. "Did they know there were risks? That travelling time and space with you wasn't all fun and games?"

The Doctor looked away. A frown was fixed on his lips, as if he didn't want to admit it. But, faced against Kagome's expectant silence he eventually gave his answer, albeit in resignation. "Yes, they did."

"At the very least, did you try your hardest to make sure they were safe?"

The Doctor sighed, but he nodded nonetheless.

Kagome reached through to grab the Doctor's shoulder, giving him a comforting squeeze. "Then you did your best, and face it, that's all you can do."

I both hated and loved this. It was honestly a pain to write out the argument, and all the angst, or at least at first anyway. Then it all just started spilling over, and I had to watch myself lol. I just hope it wasn't too much. Writing intentional angst isn't my forte—any angst I usually write is usually purely accidental, haha.

Well, in any case, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Your thoughts?

Till next time,

RainLily^^

A big huge honking thanks to these awesome reviewers!

Lorelei evans, sukeet, Purplediamon, SilverontheRose, fierynightangel, Bunny.W.K, EternalTimeLord, MiniRoonie, Library Ghost 01