Molly drew in a sharp breath. Executed?

She turned back to look at the family in front of them. The boy, Aleksei, couldn't be more than thirteen, and was crippled to boot. The youngest of the daughters looked no older than eighteen. The whole family was to be executed? Even the children?

The Doctor gave him a concerned look. "You okay?"

Molly nodded quickly. "Yeah." She had seen a lot worse traveling with the Doctor, deaths worse than these, but it still seemed so unfair. The worst part was knowing that there was nothing they could do to change it.

The family seemed to grow more nervous and defiant in the face of the Doctor and Molly's whispering. The man, Nicholas, glared at them stiffly and asked, "What have you gathered us for?" There was a certain dignity to his tone, a carry-over from his days as Tsar, she supposed.

The Doctor blinked in surprise, seeming to have forgotten that the family could see him in his conversation with Molly. "Oh, you know, routine inspection and all that. How're you lot getting along here?"

The family seemed surprised at the Time Lord's amiable tone. It took a few moments for Alexandra to respond. "As well as can be expected, with these Bolsheviks treating us like animals," she replied stiffly. There was something so contemptuous in the way she said Bolsheviks, and something so regally haughty in her manner. It was like she was still acting like the Tsarina.

Molly flinched at her words. "Yeah, sorry about that. Yurovsky doesn't seem very pleasant."

Alexandra blinked in surprise at her words, uncertainty in her eyes, but she quickly regained her composure. "Hardly," was all she said.

One of the daughters – Molly was pretty sure the proper title for them was Grand Duchess – took a tiny step forward. It was the second oldest –Tatiana, she believed. The girl was dangerously thin and pale, with short auburn hair and guarded gray-blue eyes. In a measured tone, she asked,"Yurovsky said you'd have questions, so what do you want to know?" The girl grasped her mother's hand; Molly hadn't realized the woman's hands were trembling slightly until then. The Grand Duchess didn't give any sign of noticing her mother's distress, instead staring coolly at the Doctor and his companion.

"Oh, no questions, just routine inspection, you know, government making sure you lot haven't escaped." the Doctor told them quickly, trying to sound dismissive. "But as long as you're here, any complaints? Anything at all?"

Alexandra opened her mouth to answer, but to Molly's surprise, Aleksei beat her to it. "Well, there was something I saw last night," he admitted.

Grand Duchess Tatiana shot the boy a sharp look. "Aleksei, we don't need to bother these people with that," she told him.

"No, it's fine," the Doctor assured her. His voice remained pleasantly cheerful, but Molly could see by the set of his jaw that he wasn't enjoying this any more than she was. Talking to the family like nothing was wrong, all the while knowing they had days left to live. It felt dirty.

Aleksei brightened at the Doctor's encouragement. In a low voice he told the Time Lord, "The other night, I woke up pretty late. The door was open a crack, and I could see this eye looking in. It was like this big yellow cat's eye, staring into the room. I think it saw me looking, cause it blinked and disappeared. I couldn't see the rest of it, but I could see this sort of shadow leave the door. It seemed pretty tall." Aleksei seemed almost excited about what he'd seen, proudly boasting his experience.

Tatiana gave Aleksei a disapproving look, while the youngest daughter, Grand Duchess Anastasia, let out a snort of laughter. "I wish I could've come up with that one," she chuckled. "It's a fine tale, little brother, but aren't you getting a little old to be believing in monster stories?"

Molly blinked at the Grand Duchess in surprise. Anastasia Romanov, the famed "survivor" of the Romanov assassination. She remembered the animated movie about her, and all the rumors and stories of the surviving daughter, but she wasn't sure of how true any of it was.

"It's true," the former heir insisted stubbornly in response to his sister. "I know what I saw."

The oldest daughter, Olga, spoke up in a tired tone. "Aleksei, please, save your stories for another time." Her gaze flickered to the two travelers, suspicion flashing there, before returning to her brother. "I think you've been spending too much time with Anastasia."

The youngest Grand Duchess looked mocked insulted. "Why do I always get the blame?"

Olga gave her a smile. "Because it's usually where it belongs, Tatya." Anastasia's grin widened at her sister's jest, seeming pleased. It had probably been far too long since the family had reason to laugh.

The Doctor had listened to Aleksei's tale with a slight frown, looking both thoughtful and worried. Molly could tell he was taking the heir - the Tsarveich, she would later learn the term was - and his story seriously. It made sense. Wherever they went, danger and aliens always seemed to follow. Why shouldn't the Tsarveich's monster be real? They'd faced far more impossible things before.

The Time Lord crouched down so he was level with the seated Tsarveich. His tone was serious as he asked, "Aleksei, when did you see this?"

"Two nights ago."

Before the Doctor could continue his questions, Alexandra cut in sharply. "Why are you questioning my son? You must have something better to do than interview a child about his dreams." The Doctor and Molly's calm attitudes must have lessened the gear of them, if the Tsarina was willing to scold him for that.

"It wasn't a dream, Mama," Aleksei insisted. "I really did see it."

The Doctor nodded thoughtfully, ignoring Alexandra. "Right then. Aleksei, you think you could show ms where you found that eye?"

The Tsarveich nodded confidently, looking excited. "Sure!" The rest of the family looked scared, as though worried the Doctor would take Aleksei away and never bring him back. Not an unfounded fear, Molly reflected uneasily.

The Doctor seemed to realize their distress, for he turned to Tsar Nicholas and added, "If it's alright with you. In fact, you should come, I could use the help."

The Tsar looked thoughtfully at his excited son for a few moments before giving a slow nod. "Very well." His calm tone seemed to soothe his family, who began nodding in quiet acceptance. Molly felt a pang of guilt. They were trusting the Doctor and her, but these were people they couldn't save. It felt like a betrayal.

The Time Lord nodded briefly. "Right. First, I think we'll need a quick chat with Yurovsky. We'll need to stay around a bit longer than expected. Come on, Molly. We'll meet you lot back here in a few minutes."

They turned and started towards the door, leaving the bewildered suspicious family behind.

SCENEBREAK

The two travelers followed the guard Ivashov for a few minutes in silence. Molly couldn't get the family's fate out of her head. It just seemed too horrible. How could they kill all of them?

After a few minutes, the Doctor launched straight into a quiet lecture, as though replying to Molly's unasked question. "Tsar Nicholas II was twenty-six when his father died, leaving him untrained and unprepared for the throne. He was never a really popular leader, or a good one. Russia was obliterated in a war with Japan, leaving them weak by the time World War I rolled around. No one was ready for the war, least of all the Tsar, but he thought he could handle it. He fired the highly popular commander-in-chief of the army and took over himself, despite limited military training. The war was a train wreck after that, and ol' Nicholas had basically painted a big red target on the back of his head. The army revolted, and he was forced to abdicate the throne. A provisional government took over, then the Bolshevik communists, who've been holding the Tsar and his family prisoners for the last year or so."

Molly frowned."I get why they deposed him then, but why kill him, and his family? Why now, if they've been keeping him prisoner for so long?"

"Because Russia's in the middle of a civil war," he explained. "Supporters of the Tsar have risen up against the Bolshevik. They lose, eventually, but they have the Bolsheviks worried enough to destroy the rebels' reason to fight."

The pathologist nodded to show her understanding, but inside her mind whirled with images of the family. "How?" she asked quietly.

The Doctor stared stonily ahead, clearly as affected by the hopelessness of it as she was."In five night's time they'll be told they're being moved to the cellar to keep them safe from nearby fighting, and the family will believe it. They'll be told to line up, along with a few loyal servants. Yurovsky will come down with a firing squad, read the family their sentence of execution, and before the family can do more than look shocked, they'll be shot down." He gave her a short side glance. "Anastasia doesn't survive, by the way." Molly blinked at him, surprised by his shrewdness. "I saw you looking at her earlier, but no, she dies with the rest of the family."

"How did the survival rumors get started then?" she asked curiously, trying to push the image of the family bleeding their lives out from her mind.

"The family's bodies were found years after the war, so no one was quite sure who was who. Eventually, though, they figured out two of the bodies were missing; Aleksei and one of his younger sisters, either Maria or Anastasia. Of course, humans being what they are, they just love a good story of survival and hope, no matter how ridiculous it is. A few people after that pretended to be one of the surviving children, most famous of them being Anna Anderson, who pretended for several years to be Anastasia. She even gained the approval of some of the Romanovs' surviving family members. A few years later, though, two more bodies were found, the two missing children. Everyone was accounted for, and no one had survived, yet the stories lived on, as they tend to."

Molly's mind went back to the family they'd just seen, and the boy in the wheelchair."Speaking of Aleksei, why's he in the chair?" Based on everything she'd heard so far, she wasn't sure she really wanted to know, but it couldn't be worse than everything she'd already heard."

"Hmm? Oh, right, the wheelchair. Aleksei's got hemophilia," he explained. "Y'know, stops the blood from clotting, makes you bleed out way longer than you should. A bruise for him turns into massive swelling and pain, which is what's happened now. You might've noticed his knee's swollen. That could be from weeks or even months ago, with his condition. He'll be in that chair for the rest of his life, what's left of it."

"And there's nothing you can do at all?" Molly pressed desperately. She was so used to their usual method of ignoring the rules and actively saving people that sitting back and letting this happen was rubbing her the wrong way. Every instinct tugged against it, telling her to save the family like they saved everyone.

The Doctor's expression hardened. "Nothing at all. A fixed point is a fixed point. It's called that for a reason. The last time someone tried to change one, the world nearly ended, and the only way to save it was to let the fixed point play out the way it was supposed to." Usually, the Doctor was so friendly and normal (for a given definition) that she forgot he wasn't human. Not now. Now she could see the years in his eyes, hear the authority of a Time Lord in his tone. It unnerved her, along with what he was saying. It seemed so unlike the Doctor.

Still, she knew better than to press him about it. If the Doctor wasn't willing to break the rules to saves someone's life, then there was literally no way to break that rule. Instead, she decided to focus on something they could actually change. "So, you think Aleksei actually saw an alien? He is a kid, after all. He might have made it up."

The Doctor shrugged. "Maybe, but we can't take any chances. We can't let any aliens interfere with the fixed point. Besides, if there's an alien here, it'd explain why the TARDIS brought us here."

Molly chuckled drily. "Are you sure it's not just your driving?"

The Time Lord gave the first actual grin she'd seen from him since they entered the house. "Oi! My driving's fine, thank you."

Before she could retort, they arrived back in Yurovsky's office. The man seemed somewhat irked to see them again so soon. "Finished with them already?" he asked lightly. He seemed to have been expecting a more lengthy interview.

"Not quite,"the Doctor replied coolly. "In fact, we're just popping in to let you know we might need to stay the night." Molly shot him a surprised glance at this assessment, but offered no complaint. "There's a few more things I need to ask Nicholas and Aleksei about. I hope you don't mind."

Yurovsky still seemed somewhat suspicious, but all he said was, "Not at all. Feel free to stay as long as you need. We'll find a spare room for you to stay in."

"Actually," Molly spoke up, "we'll probably be fine staying in the Romanovs' rooms." That would keep them out of the range of guards, and it would let them stay close to the family that had alerted them to the aliens in the first place.

Yurovsky's eyes narrowed at the request, but after a moment he nodded. "Very well. The Doctor may stay with the deposed Tsar, and you, Citizen Hooper, may stay with the daughters." He clearly wasn't happy with the odd request, but whatever the psychic paper had shown him had left his hands tied.

The Doctor quirked his lips into a quick grin, but somehow it seemed empty and grim. "Right. Off we go then."

They started off for the door, but Yurovsky's voice made them pause. "Forgive me, but I'm not sure why you were sent here. As you can see, nothing has changed. It will commence as planned."

The Doctor's jaw clenched, and Molly could feel anger boiling deep in her chest. To refer to the murder of a family so casually, so heartlessly. She wished she could turn to the man and throw his hateful words back in his face, but she knew she couldn't. They had to play along.

Instead, the Doctor replied with a short, "It's like we said, just a routine check." With that, the two travelers turned and left, Yurovsky's narrowed gaze following them as they went.

SCENEBREAK

Right after they returned to the family, the Doctor got ready to follow the Tsar and his son. Molly was going to stay with the rest of the Romanovs and see what other information she could find. Before he left, she pulled him aside and asked quietly, "You think this alien is dangerous?"

The Time Lord shrugged. "Could be. But we need to find out. We can't let them interfere with the fixed point."

Molly flinched at the idea. Right, she thought bitterly, we can't let them die too early. But reminding the Doctor of that wouldn't help matters. He clearly didn't like this any more than she did, and badgering him about it would only make it worse for him.

Instead, she gave him a tight smile and told him, "Good luck."

The Time Lord nodded grimly, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. "Thanks."

Seeing that the Tsar and the Tsarveich were ready, the Doctor turned and followed them out of the room, leaving Molly alone with the doomed Romanov family.

Sorry for the wait - a week's worth of schoolwork after Disney caught up with me very suddenly this weekened. -_- Oh well, it's over now - sorta. There may be another delay this week and next, but after that I'm in the clear for the rest of the summer. :D

I don't know whether any of you heard about the thing with John Hurt and the 50th Anniversary. I won't say anything for those who want to avoid spoilers, but if you have, please message me, I need someone to rant with. And in the newest episode, HE SAID THE THING OHMYTIMELORD! :D

Anyway, I'll try to update again soon.

Also, my characterizations of the Romanovs come from the book and from their wikipedia pages, which are built based on accounts of the people who knew them when they were alive.