This one's short; apologies for that, but since the trailer came out, this was begging to be written, so the plot will pick up next week. Anyway, thanks for the follows/favorites/reviews! Please keep the reviews coming!

Chapter V

[There's greatness in you, but there's not an ounce of humility. You think that you can't make mistakes, but there's going to come a moment when you realize you're wrong about that, and you're going to get yourself and everyone under your command killed. -Christopher Pike, Star Trek: Into Darkness]

He was living all of his lives simultaneously. Being trapped in his own time stream was complicated and painful. His life was so long; Time Lords lived too long in his opinion. Reliving moments he wished he could change without being able to do anything about it hurt more than the loss of his people. He could do so much more.

Looking out over the red grasses, the Doctor kept his eyes on the Citadel sitting on the horizon. For such a corrupt place, it was magnificent. Wind rustled through the grass, the orange light shining on through the late evening. Soft footsteps approached from behind the Doctor, subsequently followed by a mind reaching directly for his attention. He looked down to his right and saw the dark hair of his wife, Eir.

She looked up to meet his eyes, a smile breaking across her face. "They have named her Arkytior," she said joyfully, but as refined as always. Showing a smile was rare for her. She was stoic and polite, raised to be the perfect Gallifreyan, but he knew her passion. She loved him with both her hearts, but he could not return the feelings. He was a century older than her, the marriage was politically advantageous for both parties and their families.

"A granddaughter," the Doctor said plainly, still staring out at the Citadel. Blimey, he'd forgotten how overwhelming having an entire race of people in his mind could be. The link shared with his TARDIS (well, in the future) flared up in his mind, and he thought of the translation. The closest English translation for Arkytior was Rose. A smile grew as he thought of his old friend, a young human woman who had taken his hearts without intention of giving them back.

When he lived this moment for the first time, he had been as pleased as a stiff old man could be at the news. Now, he felt elation and sorrow. Some of his best memories had been with his granddaughter and Ian and Barbara, but he never knew what happened to her after she married David. He left her and never looked back. It would have hurt too much.

At least he had the opportunity to skip the incredibly unpleasant moments. Being trapped in his time stream was horrible, having to relive the trauma of his earlier lives, but it gave him a chance to see people he lost so many years ago. But terror was there, unwilling to leave him be.

The Time War was always just around the corner, his greatest secret was tormenting him from a time that was drawing nearer and nearer. Sometimes he had the feeling that the Great Intelligence was still there, watching him, but he destroyed them at every chance he got (which was rare because Clara, his Impossible Girl, did such a beautiful job).

Someone was watching him, waiting in the shadows to burst into light.

He was sitting on a boulder in the valley between the Mountains of Solace and Solitude, watching the Citadel and knowing that the final hours were almost upon the Time Lords. They were making terrible decisions, had become vain and dangerous. Only the Doctor was capable of stopping them, and that was the most difficult decision he had ever had to make. Destroy his family, his children, his grandchildren, his friends, his people, his home planet just to destroy his enemy. Of course, the question could be asked of who was the enemy? The Daleks, the Time Lords, or the Doctor himself?

"The moment is coming," a low voice said from beside him.

The Doctor turned his head to the left, meeting familiar brown eyes. Eyes he had forgotten, eyes he would always remember. Her hair was long and messy and golden. She was not dressed as a Time Lady, nor as a Gallifreyan, for she was neither. How could he have forgotten this moment? It was only now that he remembered that this had ever happened.

"What?"

Her face was sad and determined. "You know," she said, offering him a hand.

The Doctor took it, wishing he would never have to let go, wishing she had not let go of the clamp just to save the Earth. He looked between her eyes, watching as something golden began to glimmer within them. "Who are you, really?" he asked, afraid that he already knew the answer.

"I am the Bad Wolf," she responded. "I create myself."

"That's what I was afraid of," he said, tearing his eyes away from hers.

She raised a hand to turn his chin back to face her. "You are in possession of the Moment. You are the only one who is able to use it. Rassilon fears you. The prophecy will unfold, but not now. You know what you must do."

The Doctor searched her eyes once again, nodding. "Yeah, s'pose I do." And then, with the greatest conviction and the firm belief that he had never done this before, at least not in his normal time, lifted his fingers to wrap his hand around the back of her neck. He pulled her to him and kissed her like he should have from the first time he grabbed her hand whispered 'run.' Their lips move against each other, her hands pressed against his chest, feeling his double heartbeats.

When their moment ended and she pulled away, he physically ached at the loss of her. If he had to relive that last day in Torchwood, the Doctor didn't know if he would be able to live any longer. "I am coming for you, Doctor," she said. "It will be soon."

And just as he blinked, she disappeared.

Only a little while later, he heard that glorious sound of the TARDIS materializing. He had never been so happy to hear his ship's engines, knowing what lay beyond those blue doors.

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