Molly hurried quickly to the closet Shira had indicated, still reeling from what had just happened. She had just messed with a fixed point in the biggest way possible. The Doctor probably wouldn't approve, he might not even go along with it. But she had to try.

She finally reached the closet Shira had told her about. The door was locked, but a quick zap from the sonic screwdriver soon fixed that. Holding her breath, she slowly pushed the door open. "Doctor?"

As light spilled into the room, she saw his still form sprawled on the ground. Relief at seeing him again rapidly faded into horror. "Doctor!" Molly hurried to his side, relaxing as she realized he was unconscious, not dead. She didn't have time to wait for him to wake, so she began shaking his shoulder, slowly at first, then faster. "Come on, Doctor, wake up!"

The Time Lord started awake, shooting up to a sitting position. He turned to Molly with a confused expression that soon faded into a grin. "Molly! Come to save the Time Lord in distress, then?"

Molly couldn't help but grin in relief. The Doctor was okay, the Romanovs were okay, and they were really getting out of here. "And more." As she and the Doctor rose to their feet, her tone became more urgent. "Doctor, listen, there's something I need you to do, and I don't have time to explain. You need to tell a guard to tell Yurovsky we're leaving, then get to the TARDIS and park it in the Grand Duchesses' room."

The Time Lord's brow furrowed in confusion. "What? Why?" His eyes narrowed. "What's going on?"

Molly shook her head. "There's no time, Doctor. You have to go now. Please, just trust me."

The Doctor stared at her in baffled confusion a moment, then shook his head. "Right, ok. To the TARDIS then." He gave Molly a last confused glance, then hurried off.

The pathologist let out the breath she'd been holding, then turned and headed back towards the Romanovs' room, hurrying as quickly as she could without seeming conspicuous.

SCENEBREAK

Once back in the room, she was greeted by seven terrified Romanovs.

"What's going on?"

"What about those aliens?"

"Are they going to come after us?"

"Where are we going?"

Molly hurried to assure them. "It's fine, everything's fine, you're getting out of here?"

"How?" The question came from Nicholas, who looked scared even through his calm expression.

She turned to him with a slight smile, relief mingling with anxiety. This could still go wrong. They could still be caught. "I mentioned before that we have a spaceship? It's of the disappear-and-reappear variety, and the Doctor's going to teleport it in here. You're getting out, Nicholas, you and your whole family. The Khaynens are giving you a way out without anyone ever knowing."

Olga frowned. "But that alien, she said they'd use our bodies to take over Russia. We can't let them do that!"

"Don't worry," Molly said in a low voice, "they won't."

"But how do you know?" Anastasia pressed.

Molly dodged the question, instead glancing around the room quickly before herding the family into a corner. "Come on, we need to leave room for the TARDIS to land, can't have her landing on us."

As they were hurried into the corner, Aleksei asked, "What about Dr. Botkin? And Nyuta? And Trupp?"

Molly felt a flash of guilt. She wasn't sure of the specifics, but she did know that people besides the Romanovs, some of their servants, had also been assassinated alongside them. "We have to leave them," she mumbled. "The Khaynens are only covering for you."

Nicholas frowned, expression suddenly becoming hard. "These people have followed us willingly into our exile," he told Molly firmly. "They are as close as family. There is no way I'm leaving them behind. Not after everything they've done for us."

The pathologist put a hand on the former Tsar's shoulder, forcing him to look her in the eyes. "You have to," she told him simply. "I'm so sorry, but it's them or your family. I'm giving you the chance to save your daughters, your son, your thirteen-year-old son. If there were any other way, but right now, you don't have a choice."

"Then we're not leaving." Nicholas told her firmly. "We've been fine here for a year, we'll be fine longer. It's all of us or none."

Molly felt a rush of frustration. "You can't do that!"

"Why not?" the former Tsar asked with frustration.

"Because you'll die if you stay!"

The words were met with a sudden silence. The family all slowly turned to her, all wearing matching expressions of horror. For a long time, no one spoke. Molly dropped her eyes guiltily. Finally, Aleksei spoke up in a small voice. "What?"

Molly sighed, passing a hand over her face. For a moment, she wondered if this is what it felt like to be the Doctor. In a slow voice, she began to explain, "This ship, the Doctor's ship, it's a time machine too. We're from the future, and we've seen it. You and your family will die in four days' time if you stay here. There are orders from Moscow to kill you by firing squad. Normally, we stop things like that, me and the Doctor, but there are some things that just can't be changed, events that can't be touched. They have to happen for universe to function. Your family's death is one of them." She strode up to Nicholas, looking him calmly in the eyes. "Nicholas, there is just this one chance to save your family. We can't take everyone, you can never rule Russia again, and you can never be known as the Romanovs. It sucks, and I'm sorry, but that's how it is. Stay and die, or leave everything and everyone behind and live."

For a long time, no one spoke. The family all seemed overwhelmed by the options she'd presented, and the heavy price that came with each. Die a horrible death or abandon friends to the same death, leaving home behind forever. Each was wrapped up in their own thoughts and worries, each struggling with the terrible choice she'd given them. Then, one by one, the family members turned to each other. Looking at the ones they would be giving up if they stayed. Then, one by one, they joined hands, and turned as one to Molly. The whole family, hand in hand, each gave a nod of consent.

Tatiana spoke for the whole family. "Together. We'll go together."

Molly gave a wide smile, warmed by the family's devotion to each other. It was human love, human devotion like this that made the Doctor so in awe of the human race. It was why they worked so hard to protect innocents.

Before she could respond, a vworp, vworp, vworp, rang through the room. She whirled around to watch a familiar blue box slowly materialize in the opposite corner. After the TARDIS finally solidified, the door swung open to reveal the Doctor. He grinned at Molly, only for his expression to become one of horror as he saw the Romanovs. His face closed off completely, eyes hardening. "What is this?" he asked Molly coolly.

Molly shook her head urgently. "Not now, Doctor. I can explain later."

"Molly, we can't take them with us, you know that. I told you already – "

"Not now!" she snapped more firmly. The Doctor fell silent, but still looked unhappy. Molly stepped up to the TARDIS, looking the Time Lord right in the eyes. "Doctor, there's no time to explain. I've trusted you, so many times. I've always trusted you. So just this once, this one time, trust me."

The Doctor gave her an evaluating look, his eyes the eyes of a Time Lord, ancient and harsh. Many aliens far greater than little Molly Hooper had turned away from such a glare. Molly didn't flinch. For once, she knew she was right, and she wasn't letting the Time Lord abandon this family when there was still a way to save them.

Finally, he flicked his eyes away. Without a word, he stepped out of the way, leaving the entrance to the TARIDS open. Molly felt a rush of relief. She turned back to the family, gesturing urgently. "Come on, quickly, guards could come in any minute."

Still looking wary, the Romanovs filed one by one into the TARDIS, followed by Molly, who closed the door behind them. While they gawked at the console room, she turned to the Doctor, who was still watching them with a carefully blank expression. "Quick, Doctor, send us into the Time Vortex. Then I can explain."

Without a word, the Time Lord made his way to the console, solemnly performing the flight sequence. With the usual violent shaking, which sent a few of the Romanovs tumbling to the ground, the TARDIS flew into the Vortex. Molly could see the Doctor relaxing slightly as they got farther from the fixed point, but he still seemed serious as he turned back to Molly. "Alright. Time to explain."

Molly snuck a quick glance at the family she had saved. Whatever came next, they were worth it. She launched into her explanation, starting from right when the Doctor was taken. The Time Lord listened with an unreadable expression, up until she mentioned the fight with the Khaynens. His eyes softened, concern evident in his expression. "You were injured?" he asked worriedly.

The pathologist had almost forgotten about her shoulder. She'd been ignoring the pain all day, but lifting heavy buckets had taken it's toll, and now the pain had returned in the form of a burning ache. She shrugged. "Yeah, but it's fine."

For the first time, one of the Romanovs interrupted the conversation. "No, it's not fine." Alexandra stepped forward, her steely Empress expression back in full force. "You promised you'd get stitches the first chance you got. Time to make good."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Stitches?" he repeated anxiously. "You didn't say it was that bad." He took in her expression, sighed, then grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the hallway. "Come on, you, med bay, now."

He led her, ignoring her protests, to the med bay, the Romanovs following silently. When they got there, she sat reluctantly on one of the tables, letting Tatiana and Alexandra get to work on her shoulder wound. As they worked, she continued her explanation, ending with the fate of the Khaynens and the choice they'd made. "The fixed point is still in place, Doctor. As long as there's a Romanov family to die, what does it matter that it's the right one?"

The Time Lord's eyes had flashed with pain when he was told of the Khaynen's fate, but his disapproval had completely faded now that Molly had explained herself. "You're right," he admitted. "I can still feel the timeline. Nothing was disturbed when the Romanovs left. You made the right call."

Molly let out a breath of relief. "Good." The two Romanovs finished on her shoulder, which was neatly stitched up and cleaned. She extended her arm experimentally, admiring their work. "Thanks, Tatiana. Alexandra."

"It's nothing," Tatiana said lightly, "compared to what you've done for our family." Her tone was light, but her expression carried the true weight of gratitude behind her words. Molly gave her a small smile in response.

From his spot by the door frame, Nicholas sighed, hanging his head. "I can't stop thinking about those aliens," he admitted quietly. "They're going to die in our place. They'll never even know what's coming. It doesn't seem fair, somehow."

Molly felt a pang of guilt. The Khaynens' fate was her fault. She'd subjected them to a violent and painful death. Even after what they'd tried to do, she'd never meant to kill them. It went against everything she and the Doctor worked for.

The Doctor's expression softened, eyes warm with sympathy. He reached out and grabbed Molly's hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. "You gave them a chance, Molly," he reminded her softly. There was no accusation in his eyes, only sad understanding, the eyes of a man who had done terrible things and could still forgive them in others.

Molly smiled sadly, still guilty but glad of the Doctor's understanding. The Time Lord smiled back, then turned to Nicholas, giving the Tsar a knowing look. "Your family lived, Nicholas," he reminded the former Tsar quietly. "Think about that. Your family is alive. You get to live out your lives." He turned back to Molly as he added, "Thanks to her."

The pathologist blushed slightly. "Thanks to us," she tried to correct.

"Thanks to you," the Doctor corrected firmly. "I didn't do anything. This was all you, Molly. You saved this family." There was so much pride in his expression.

Molly was still a little flustered, but for the first time, she allowed herself to really believe the Doctor's praise. She had saved the family. Her, no one else. She'd gone against the rules, she'd figured out how to beat them and a plan to go with it, and she'd saved those deemed unsaveable. She was the hero this time.

Feeling a new surge of confidence, she turned to Nicholas, offering a warm smile. "You know, the Khaynens were a bit like you," she said casually. "A royal family driven out by their own people. But you know the difference? All they wanted was their power back. They didn't care about the people they had to hurt to get there, or even about each other. They were willing to turn on each other to get as much power as they could. You? You're a real family. You care about each other, and about your county. That love, that caring, that's what makes you worth saving. That's why I did it."

Nicholas returned her smile, looking more assured. The family huddled together, sharing their joy over being alive. Looking forward to all the years ahead.

SCENEBREAK

"Here we are then."

The Doctor stilled the TARDIS, then hurried to the door. He opened it with a grand gesture, watching as the Romanov family slowly made their way outside. Earlier in the med bay, he had been able to find a pill that lessened Aleksei's hemophilia, so that he simply bled more than normal, rather than being unable to form blood clots. He could walk again since the swelling in his knee had gone down, and now he would be able to live a more normal life.

They were by a road somewhere in the country. A car slowly drove by, which the family watched with wide eyes. The Doctor and Molly followed them out, watching their reactions carefully. "The year 1991, somewhere in Russia. The Bolsheviks and their Soviet Union have fallen." He watched the Romanovs carefully as he added, "There's no royalty here anymore. The country's adopted a federal republic. You won't ever be able to tell people who you really are." He leaned carefully against the TARDIS, crossing his arms over his chest. "It won't be easy either. The country's trying to pick itself back up, picking up the pieces after the Soviet Union fell apart. There's new technologies, new values, new issues and struggles. It's been over eighty years. You might have trouble adjusting."

"But there's good things too," Molly added with a smile. "There's so many more opportunities. Women can be doctors," she said with a quick glance at Tatiana, "people can marry who they want, and so many more jobs exist than you ever could have thought of. The world is more or less at peace right now."

Nicholas looked at his family, then turned back to Molly with a nod. "I think we'll be okay," he told her with a smile.

At last, it was time for goodbye. One by one, the Romanovs came up to hug Molly goodbye. Anastasia gave her a tight hug, smiling sadly as she pulled back. "Will we ever see you again?" she asked.

Molly gave her a mischievous grin. "Well, it's a time machine after all. You never know."

Maria gave her a sad goodbye, followed by Aleksei and a more composed Alexandra and Nicholas. Tatiana hugged her tightly, then pulled back, emotion flooding her eyes. "I don't know how to thank you for what you've done for my family," she said softly.

The pathologist just smiled, warm pride flooding her chest. "You don't have to. It's what we do."

Olga was the last to say her goodbyes. "I'm sorry I didn't trust you," she said ruefully. "We owe you our lives."

Molly just grinned, pulling the young woman into a tight hug. "Just be great out there, alright? Really live." Like I wouldn't have if the Doctor hadn't come along.

The former Grand Duchess gave her a confident grin, looking so different from the tired girl from the House of Special Purpose. "Don't worry," she promised, "we will."

The family started off down the road, helping to support the still wobbly Aleksei. The Doctor and Molly watched them until they were gone, reflecting on the family and what had been done to save them.

It's over. High school is finally freaking over. I am now officially a college freshman. :D I can't even say how excited I am to be done with high school. Thank you so much to everyone who wished me luck.

So this episode is over. I hope you guys liked it. I won't say what episode is coming next, but I will say it's a canon episode. ;)