Sorry for the wait! I'm in Ireland for the next month or so doing archaeology work so I'm not as available to write. I don't expect to be updating often until I'm back home, so sorry about that. I will be trying to update this though, as it's something I'm in the mood for and will have some time for on the weekends.


I sat on the jump seat as the Tardis chirped and hummed, traveling through the vortex to our next destination as the Doctor fiddled with Martha's phone. My mind was drifting idly, not lingering on much of anything after spending over a month focusing on everything I could. I closed my eyes with a soft sigh, running a hand through my hair before my leg was pushed off my knee. I frowned lightly at the Doctor, who'd nudged my crossed legs aside to get my attention.

"What?"

He nodded toward Martha. "Superpowered her phone; figured I'd do yours next."

"No need," I hummed, closing my eyes again and leaning back against the seat with folded arms. "Smashed it a few trips back."

He raised a brow. "What for?"

I peered an eye open. "Government kept trying to drag me into alien affairs and I was trying to live an easy life that time around."

"And look where you ended up," he teased, making me snort just before the Tardis lurched, sending him careening into me on the jumpseat.

He caught himself before we collided, arms on either side of my shoulders and his nose nearly brushing mine. There was a brief second of pause between us before the Tardis jolted back the other way and his back hit the edge of the console, making him wince. He turned hastily and checked what was happening on a monitor that blared at him.

"Distress signal! Locking on!" He said, reaching a foot up onto the console and holding a lever down before I threw myself forward with a swing of the Tardis to take over.

"You just go running to distress signals?" I shouted over the noise in disbelief. "It could be anything!"

"Someone's in trouble!" He countered as I groaned.

"You're proving my point! You go looking for trouble!"

He bumped hips with me as he came over to press a button nearby, smirking mischievously. "Maybe a little."

The ship jolted to a stop, nearly sending the three of us to the floor before he popped his head up with a grin.

"Come on! Let's go have a look!"

I sighed as Martha hurried out after him and I took my time, less eager to throw myself into trouble than either of them. Upon stepping out into a sweltering metal room though, I grimaced, removing my coat and hanging it up in the Tardis as Martha tossed her coat in as well.

"Venting systems," the Doctor explained. "Working at full pelt, trying to cool down. Wherever it is we are. Well, if you can't stand the heat."

I hurried after him, hoping that the next room would be cooler as I rolled up the sleeves of my white button-up shirt and undid the top few buttons, but it wasn't much better. Already I was sweating as a group of people came rushing at us once we were out of the room full of steam.

"Get out of there!"

"Seal that door, now!"

The leader of the group confronted us as the others with her closed the door and sealed it.

"Who are you? What are you doing on my ship?"

"Are you police?" Another crew member asked, making me frown as the Doctor answered.

"Why would we be police?"

"We got your distress signal," Martha explained while I stayed quiet, suspicious about how this was starting off.

They send out a distress signal, don't appear to be expecting us—or any people, really—and question whether we're police? What did they do that made them worried we'd be police? If Martha or the Doctor were suspicious as well, neither showed it. Martha had drifted off toward a porthole while the Doctor glanced briefly at the ceiling.

"If this is a ship, why can't I hear any engines?"

"It went dead four minutes ago."

"So maybe we should stop chatting and get to Engineering, Captain," one of her crew spat as the overhead comm announced secure closer getting activated. "The ship's gone mad!"

Another crew member came rushing over, but I spotted Martha's surprised look and headed over to join her at the porthole. She saw me out of the corner of her eye and hesitantly moved away so I could see what she'd noticed and a chill went down my spine even in the sweltering heat. A swirling orb of red and yellow was in the distance of space, but seeming to grow ever closer with every passing second. The sight of it held my attention for a moment, something about it unsettling and equally mesmerizing.

This was my first experience actually in space and I chalked up the strange feeling to that. This was a sun, sitting out there in the dark void of space, and I was seeing it first-hand from a spaceship of some kind. Photos couldn't do this sort of scene justice and I was rather reluctant to move away from the porthole when the Doctor was brought over by Martha to look out as well. The crew of the ship, on the other hand, were not nearly as excited about their position.

"Forty-two minutes until we crash into the sun," the Captain explained, tearing the dazzling image of the sun away as the seriousness of our situation settled into my mind.

"You're crashing?" I breathed, getting ignored as the Doctor whipped away from the porthole and faced the captain.

"How many crew members on board?"

"Seven, including us."

"We transport cargo across the galaxy," her crewmate informed us gruffly. "Everything's automated. We just keep the ship spaceworthy."

"Call the others. I'll get you out," the Doctor declared confidently as he headed back toward the door we'd come from.

"What's he doing?"

"No, don't!" The Captain shouted before the Doctor was blown back by a blast of steam and heat.

A crew member went to reseal it as Martha moved to the Doctor's side and he stared in worry at the room being shut off from us once more.

"But my ship's in there!"

"In the vent chamber?"

"It's our lifeboat!" The Doctor tried to explain as I brought a hand to my head, trying to wrap my mind around what was going on.

"It's lava."

"The temperature's going mad in there. Up three thousand degrees in ten seconds, and still rising," the woman by the door told us.

"Channeling the air. The closer we get to the sun, the hotter that room's going to get."

"We're stuck here," Martha understood as I turned to the Doctor.

"The Tardis, will she be—"

"She'll be fine," he said confidently, getting back to his feet. "She's dealt with worse. We need to fix the engines then. Steer the ship away from the sun. Simple. Engineering down here, is it?" He said, starting off in a direction with the rest of us following in a bit of a daze for very different reasons.

The crew followed out of curiosity about this new man who stormed into the ship and seemingly took control of a chaotic situation. Martha followed because she knew the Doctor was safe and would get us out of here. I followed simply because I wasn't sure what to do. Being an immortal on Earth, I was an expert in a lot of things. Arts, history, antiques, medicine, you name it. Here in space? On a ship I didn't know the first thing about? Crashing into the sun? I was lost and out of my element. I wasn't used to that and while it might have been fun in another scenario, not having a clue while in danger was not my idea of entertainment.

"Blimey do you always leave things in such a mess?"

I moved up beside the Doctor, carefully picking my way through the parts and wires scattered through the room.

"Oh, it's wrecked!"

"Pretty efficiently too," the Doctor noted, moving toward a console at the head of the engine while I trailed behind him like a lost pet. "Someone knew what they were doing."

I watched the crew spread out to try and find some missing crew mates and attempt repairs on the engine, still uneasy with what was happening.

"Oh, we're in the Torajii system!" The Doctor cooed with a grin, looking over at Martha and me. "Lovely. You're a long way from home, Martha. Half a universe away."

"Yeah, feels it," she muttered, not exactly comfortable herself.

The Doctor frowned and went over to ask the Captain something as I watched the crew toy with parts that had been torn off their engine. I winced at a rather vivid memory.

A group of grease-stained military guys were standing around a large vehicle waving wrenches at one another. I shook my head fondly at their antics, watching them from under the hood of a different vehicle wondering how they could do it when war hovered so closely over our heads.

It wasn't too painful a memory and I was able to shove it away rather easily when the gruff crew member—Scannell—shoved his way past me to get to the engine controls. An error tone rang out when he tried to get it started, frustrating him as he stormed back to check some wires.

"No response. They're burnt out. The controls are wrecked. I can't get them back online."

"Oh, come on," the Doctor drawled, removing the glasses he'd put on. "Auxiliary engines! Every craft's got auxiliaries."

"We don't have access from here. The auxiliary controls are in the front of the ship," the Captain explained.

"Yeah, with twenty-nine password-sealed doors between us and them. You'll never get there in time."

"Can't you override the doors?" Martha asked Scannell.

"No. Sealed closure means what it says. They're all deadlock sealed."

"So a sonic screwdriver's no use," the Doctor murmured.

"Nothing's any use. We've got no engines, no time, and no chance."

"Oh, listen to you. Defeated before you've even started. Where's your Dunkirk spirit?" The Doctor complained, looking at the crew present. "Who's got the door passwords?"

"They're randomly generated. Reckon I know most of them," one man said, introducing himself. "Sorry. Riley Vashti."

"Then what're you waiting for, Riley Vashti? Get on it."

"Well, it's a two-person job. One, a technish for the questions, and the other to carry this. The oldest and cheapest security system around, eh, Captain?"

The Captain gave him a small smile. "Reliable and simple, just like you, eh, Riley?"

"Try and be helpful, get abuse. Nice."

I thought about offering to help, not knowing what I'd be able to do here, but before I could, Martha threw a hand up.

"I'll help you. Make myself useful."

Riley looked relieved to have company and as Martha went to go, the Doctor stopped her with a word of warning.

"Oi. Be careful."

"You too."

He watched her go for a moment before I came up beside him.

"Doctor, there's something going on here that we're missing."

"You noticed it too?" He muttered, glancing at me from the corner of his eye before turning his gaze to the Captain nearby.

"The only people scared of police are those who have something to hide from them and those discriminated by them, and they don't look like the latter."

"They won't tell us easily."

"No one ever does but they will have to come to their senses if things get worse and we can't find a way to help."

He frowned slightly. "Are you asking me to not save them?"

"No. I'm just saying that if you can't figure things out in time—"

"You don't trust me?"

I clenched my fist, resisting the urge to remind him how long we'd known each other. "I'm not—"

"No, you just said—"

His retort was cut short when the Captain rushed over and moved between us.

"You. You said you're a doctor?"

"Yes. Well—"

"Come with me. Now."

He didn't have much of a choice as she grabbed him and hauled him off with me begrudgingly rushing after them, not wanting to be left standing around. Humans can't have changed that much. I might actually be able to do something. Yet, when I ended up in the med bay I felt more lost than ever.

There was a man squirming under the arms of a young woman—the medic of the ship—and another crew member while lying on something that looked reminiscent of an MRI machine. It wasn't an MRI and despite everyone here looking human enough, none of the equipment they had was anything I recognized.

"Help me! It's burning me!" The sick man wailed, making me wince at old memories attempting to bring themselves to the forefront of my mind.

"I'm not a witch! I told you I'm not!"

"Burn!"

"Burn the witch!"

I grimaced, doing my best to shove the memory back only for another to take its place.

"Help! Help me! Please! I'm not sick! I'm really not!"

"No point in yelling. They all say the same thing and nobody listens."

"But I'm really not! I made a mistake! Please! You have to believe me!"

I grit my teeth and brought a hand up to my head, clenching my eyes shut for a moment. Stop it. We've gone over this. That time away from the Doctor was specifically so we wouldn't have this problem. We just need to focus on what's happening now. Ground yourself. You have to. I tugged painfully on my hair, trying to turn my focus to what was going on in front of me.

"He went mad," the other crew member explained to the Captain. "He put the ship onto secure closure, then he set the heat pulse to melt the controls."

"No way. He wouldn't do that," she argued, given the sick man—her husband, Korwin—had apparently been the one to sabotage the ship.

"I saw it happen, Captain."

The Doctor moved in then, speaking calmly to Korwin. "Korwin? Korwin, open your eyes for me a second."

"I can't!"

"Yes, course you can. Go on."

"Don't make me look at you, please!"

"All right, all right, all right. Just relax," the Doctor said then, grabbing something from nearby. "Sedative?"

The medic nodded and he injected it into Korwin's neck, making the man go slack.

"What's wrong with him?" The Captain demanded as the Doctor rattled off what he'd found with his sonic a moment ago.

"Rising body temperature, unusual energy readings."

None of this makes sense to me. A fever and something else. An infection? I pursed my lips, folding my arms over my chest and just staying near the door where I had been. I wasn't of any help here either, so I just needed to stay out of the way.

"Stasis chamber," the Doctor remarked, gesturing to the MRI-styled machine. "I do love a good stasis chamber. Keep him sedated in there. Regulate the body temperature. And, just for fun, run a bioscan and tissue profile on a metabolic detail."

"Just doing them now," the medic replied.

"Oh, you're good. Anyone else presenting these symptoms?"

"Not so far."

"Well, that's something."

"Will someone tell me what is the matter with him?" The Captain demanded.

"Some sort of infection. We'll know more after the test results. Now, allons-y, back downstairs," he told them, though the Captain hesitated. "Hey. See about those engines. Go. Hey. Go."

The Doctor started for me over by the door, calling back behind him. "Call us if there's news. Any questions?"

"Yeah, who are you?"

The Doctor paused, doubling back with a small smile. "I'm the Doctor. Come on, Fallon."

I followed him as we went back to Engineering with the others. I stood nearby as the Doctor and crew members messed with various things until the Doctor glanced at me—one of many not-so-subtle glances he'd been giving me for a while now.

"Everything okay?"

I frowned over at him. "We're crashing into the sun because you followed a distress signal from a ship full of people acting suspiciously. What do you think?"

He rolled his eyes, stopping what he was doing and facing me fully. "That's not what I meant, Fallon. I'm talking about you. You've been quiet."

I turned away as he went back to messing with the console. "Maybe I've just got nothing to say," I muttered. "I don't know anything here. I've never been to space."

"We were in New New York."

"You couldn't look out a window and see a sun in the middle of nothing," I countered, "and what exactly am I supposed to say? I can't help with the engine. I'm a doctor and I couldn't tell you anything about what was going on in the med bay. So, sorry if I'm just trying to stay out of the way."

His head snapped up but I didn't want to see what sort of expression he was showing. "Fallon, I didn't mean… You're plenty helpful."

"It's fine," I grumbled. "You don't need to placate me. Just… get us off this ship."

He went quiet as I rubbed at my forehead in frustration. I was starting to get a headache and I wasn't sure if it was just stress from the situation or the ever-growing heat on the ship. The Doctor went to check in with everyone; Abi in the med bay working with the data on Korwin and Martha with Riley doing some sort of quiz to get the doors opened up.

"Who had the most number ones, Elvis or the Beatles? That's pre-download."

"Elvis," the Doctor said the same moment I answered.

"The Beatles."

We both frowned at each other, swapping answers.

"No, Fallon's right. The Beatles."

"No, it's Elvis."

Martha popped in over the comms. "Yeah, I'm asking someone else."

"Sorry," the Doctor apologized. "We are a bit busy."

I was still stuck on the question though. "Or maybe it is The Beatles? What was that one remix?"

"Here Comes The Sun," the Doctor rattled off before groaning with a complaint. "Don't distract me. No, resources. So, the power's still working, the generator's going. If we can harness that. Ah!" He called out eagerly, having come up with a plan, it seemed.

"Use the generator to jump-start the ship," the Captain said, understanding his line of thinking too.

"Exactly. At the very least, it'll buy us some more time."

"That is brilliant."

"I know. See? Tiny glimmer of hope."

"If it works," Scannell muttered, voicing my own thoughts.

"Oh, believe me. You're going to make it work," the Captain scolded and I moved away from the Doctor and toward him.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked, getting a frown from the man. "Even if it's just holding tools and passing you things. I know it sounds stupid, but I could do with giving my hands something to do."

"Fine." He threw a hand towards something on the floor. "Grab that, strip the wires."

I nodded solemnly, knowing that there'd be no point in arguing after asking for something to do. It was mildly annoying to be treated like an incompetent child but it wouldn't be the first time. Anything. I just need something to occupy myself… God, I should've stayed home. I'm so useless here. The comm went off though, drawing my attention to the Doctor as he answered Abi.

"Doctor, these readings are starting to scare me."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Korwin's body's changing. His whole biological make-up. It's impossible… This is med-center. Urgent assistance requested," Abi suddenly said, voice tight and sounding scared. "Urgent assistance!"

"Stay here! Keep working!" The Doctor shouted at the group of us over by the engine, rushing out with the Captain and Scannell following not much later.

"You're not going with them?" A crew member asked me; a young woman who eyed me curiously. "You're with that guy, right? The Doctor?"

"I just… I'm sort of out of my depth, is all," I explained, lifting up the wires I'd stripped. "I've never worked on a spaceship but I've done other things. I just figured keeping my hands busy helping you would keep me out of the way."

She smiled, far more cheerful than Scannell. "Well, the ship's a wreck so we could do with the extra hands. I can show you anything you don't know. If you've worked on other things, I'm sure you'll pick it up quick."

I was grateful for the kind face in this situation, letting Erina show me things that needed work that I could do. The names of parts on the engine were things I'd never heard of but after a bit of working through fixing things and hearing her rattle off their basic function, I was able to compare a lot of it to planes and cars that I'd worked on in the past. I almost began to enjoy myself when a scream cut through on the comms. Erina and Ashton looked between one another in concern before Ashton turned to Erina.

"We need more equipment for this. Get to the storage area."

Erina sighed. "Yeah, alright."

I stood as well. "Is it okay if I come? I can carry things if you want."

"Sure," Erina chirped with a smile while Ashton shrugged.

"Do what you want."

So, we left to go get equipment from another area of the ship. The storage area wasn't too far and Erina seemed more relaxed with someone with her, especially after that scream. She rattled on about other things though, being the type of person who tried to pretend things weren't going poorly in order to cope. I didn't mind. She spoke mostly of things I never heard about, letting me know that I needed to study up on a lot of things if I were to keep staying with the Doctor. But… if things keep turning out like this… I pushed the thought from my mind for now just as the Captain spoke up over the comm.

"Everybody, listen to me. Something has infected Korwin. We think he killed Abi Lerner. None of you must go anywhere near him, is that clear?"

Ashton answered. "Understood, Captain. Erina? Get back here with that equipment."

Erina groaned but answered him back with the nearest comm as I adjusted a pack of tools I'd taken for her. "Whatever you say, boss." She scoffed once she finished and gave me a look as she mocked her crewmates. "Go there. Come back. Fetch this. Carry these. Make drinks. Sweep up. Please, kill me now."

I cracked a small smile. "Low end of the ladder?"

"Yeah, something like that. The Captain doesn't get as much shit because her husband was in charge and there's plenty of female captains nowadays, but engineers? Please."

I hummed, muttering under my breath. "Some things never change."

Erina closed the locker only to jolt, and suddenly start screaming. I couldn't even figure out what was happening before she was gone and I was facing Korwin in a welding mask. My mind couldn't work it out, where Erina went, what had happened. She'd just been there, but now there was nothing but a scorch mark on the wall with her tools lying on the floor.

I was grabbed by the throat, dropping my own tools and cringing as I was slammed against the lockers. I grimaced, facing Korwin in confusion.

"W-What are you d-doing?" I questioned, understanding that he must've done something—he must've killed Erina. "Y-You can't kill me. It won't work."

Korwin tilted his head almost curiously as I cracked a bitter smile.

"G-Go ahead. Do it. I-I'm immortal. I'll just come back."

The comms chimed then, echoing the Doctor's and Martha's voices.

"Doctor, we're through to area seventeen."

"Keep going. You've got to get to area one and reboot those engines."

Korwin turned toward the comm then back to me, his grip around my throat loosening slightly. "They are getting too far. We must share the light."

"S-Share the light? What does that mean? What are you saying? You're not even Korwin, are you?"

He turned back to me, tightening his grip once more and making me choke as he placed another hand on my forehead. "An immortal…"

My skin started to burn, sending my heart racing and memories flooding back far more vividly than before until the pain was too much and I let out a scream.


The Doctor stopped what he was doing with a small frown, looking down the hall. McDonnell stopped as well, eyeing the stranger that so quickly took charge of her ship.

"What? What is it?"

"Nothing. Just thought I heard something," the Doctor murmured before turning around. "We need to get back to Engineering, quickly."

They headed down toward where the engine was but were pulled to a halt in the storage area when Martha's panicked voice chimed in over the comms.

"Doctor! One of the crew's trying to jettison us! You've got to help us!"

He turned to McDonnell and Scannell seriously. "Stay here. I mean it this time. Jumpstart those engines!"

He doubled back, missing the charred mark that the other two had found, and nearly ran headfirst into someone. He breathed a sigh of relief at catching Fallon, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her along behind him.

"Perfect! I'm going to need extra hands. Come on!"

He pulled her along after him, hoping to make it to the escape pod Martha was trapped in, only to get stopped once more. Someone was standing in front of the door; a welder's mask over their head.

"That's enough!" The Doctor bellowed. "What do you want? Why this ship? Tell me."

Ashton didn't respond, punching his fist through the controls for the escape pod instead, sending the Doctor's hearts into his throat. He couldn't move forward though, not without risking Martha by getting himself hurt. So, when Ashton approached him, he held firm, tucking Fallon behind him protectively.

"Come on. Let's see you. I want to know what you really are."

Ashton was nearly touching him, he was so close, and he lifted a hand to raise the visor on his mask. Suddenly though, he doubled over in pain. The Doctor fumbled as well, having to grab Fallon when she faltered too, tugging her a step away from Ashton until they both recovered and Ashton watched them for a second. He stared long and hard before stomping past them both, leaving the Doctor with more questions than answers.

As soon as he was out of the hallway though, the Doctor rushed toward the escape pod controls, turning on the comms for a moment.

"McDonnell? Ashton's heading in your direction. He's been infected just like Korwin."

"Korwin's dead, Doctor," Scannell replied solemnly, giving the Doctor time to see if there was anything he could do with the controls.

"He's not."

"Not now, Fallon," the Doctor said shortly, cursing and hitting the broken controls as he shoved past Fallon to look through the porthole separating him from Martha. "I'll save you! I'll save you!"

He cursed again as she drifted even further away, struggling to think about what he could do. He had to find a way to bring the pod back. He knew the basics of how the pods worked, the magnetics involved that held the pod in place and how they were released. Then, he had an idea and connected to the comms again.

"Scannell! I need a spacesuit in area seventeen now!"

"What for?"

"Just get down here!" He bellowed, knowing they were short on time if the plan he thought of was going to work.

"It's too late," Fallon said, sending a boiling rage through him for a moment as he forced himself to hold it back as best he could.

"It's not. I can save her."

"You can't save anyone here. It's their fault and they need to pay for that."

He whipped around to her angrily, only to stop short. She was staring at the porthole, eyes reflecting the light of the sun outside. Or so he thought. When she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye though, a cold chill rolled down his back.

"Fallon, your eyes—"

Her once blue eyes were now a swirling of yellow and red, burning brighter than was natural for a human. He wasn't sure what to make of this and before he could question her or what she'd said, Scannell rushed over with an orange spacesuit. The Doctor had to make a choice at that moment. Worry about Fallon, or put the suit on to rescue Martha and Riley.

I'm sorry, Fallon. He grabbed the spacesuit and started to put it on as Scannell watched him in worry.

"I can't let you do this."

"You're wasting your breath, Scannell. You're not going to stop me," the Doctor countered, having explained the plan to him already.

"You want to open an airlock in flight on a ship spinning into the sun. No one can survive that."

"Oh, just you watch."

"You open that airlock, it's suicide. This close to the sun, the shields will barely protect you."

"If I can boost the magnetic lock on the ship's exterior, it should remagnetize the pod. Now, while I'm out there, you have got to get the rest of those doors open. We need those auxiliary engines."

"It's too late," Fallon said, repeating herself once more with a cold look that shut Scannell up too. "You're all going to burn."

The Doctor turned to her, determined. "I'm not going to lose her or Fallon, so you better be ready when I get back. I won't let you have her."

Fallon frowned as he pulled on his helmet and stepped out into the airlock. He grimaced at the heat he could feel from being so close to the sun but kept his gaze turned away as he clambered to the end of the escape pod bay and looked for the lever that would remagnatize the pod. It was further than he expected, but secured his footing and leaned out of the bay to reach for it.

It strained his shoulder and arm to try and grab at the case covering the lever, barely managing to get it off and knowing he'd need even more strength to pull the lever itself. He stretched for it, crying out at the strain, but managed to get his fingers wrapped around it and yank it back. He faltered back into the bay, turning and stumbling to the doors back. The pod was already shading the bay he stood in and if he didn't want to be crushed, he needed to leave. He took one small glance over his shoulder and froze.

The sun twisted and writhed with the same red-yellow glow that he'd seen in Fallon's gaze and as the pod blocked the sun's light he stumbled through the airlock and pulled to a stop in front of Fallon. Not Fallon. Somehow Fallon got infected. No, not infected, possessed. She's completely taken over but… but she's different from the others. How?

"Doctor!" Martha cheered, relieved as she rushed toward him from the airlock as McDonnell and Riley joined them all as well.

The Doctor, though, lifted an arm up, placing himself between them and Fallon as he eyed her with a serious frown.

"Doctor what's—"

"Stay back."

"I don't understand," McDonnell muttered, looking between them in uncertainty until those burning eyes were set on her and Fallon tipped her head with a frown.

"It's your fault, Captain McDonnell."

The Doctor looked at McDonnell briefly as she ordered Riley and Scannell to finish with the security doors, leaving them out of this.

"Doctor?" Martha questioned as well, and the Doctor turned back to Fallon.

"Who are you?" He asked, having an idea but wanting it to be confirmed.

Fallon didn't even look in his direction, still speaking to McDonnell. "You did this. You took it from me, mining it for cheap fuel."

"I-I don't—"

"It's the sun," the Doctor breathed, making them all look at him as he finally got the big picture. "You mined the sun for fuel without scanning for life. The sun, that sun is sentient and you just scooped a piece of it out."

"What do you mean? How can a sun be alive? Why is she saying that?"

"Look at her eyes," the Doctor bit out, thrusting a hand at Fallon. "Actually look! It's in her!"

"Oh my God," McDonnell breathed as Fallon took a threatening step forward with a snarl on her face.

"Humans! You grab whatever's nearest and bleed it dry! You should have scanned!" She snapped and the Doctor lightly nudged the group further away from her, cautiously.

"It takes too long. We'd be caught. Fusion scoops are illegal."

"And look what you've caused instead," the Doctor countered in frustration. "People are dead, McDonnell. Your crew, your husband. That sun is a living thing and it's screaming because of you."

"We…We didn't know."

"Ignorance will not save you. Nothing will," Fallon snarled as the Doctor faced her, speaking to the two behind him.

"Go. You guys need to make sure they get to the engines. Vent them and that will release the sun particles in the fuel. It's the only way to stop it."

"What about her?"

"I'll deal with her. Just go!"

The two took off and Fallon took another step forward only for the Doctor to step in her way.

"Come on. Let's talk," he urged. "Must've been a while since you had a real voice and people to listen. Talk to me."

"I've nothing to say to you, Time Lord," she spat.

"Yeah? Well, what about that? How are you doing that? Is it a sort of possession? Are you accessing memories? Thoughts? Is there still a bit of Fallon in there that you can't hide? Better yet, how is she not like the others? Because I figured out what makes her different." He reached up and tapped one of his cheeks. "Her eyes are open."

Fallon stopped trying to move past, simply eyeing him for a moment. "She burns as any other but the body of an immortal burns forever."

The Doctor's hearts sank at that, mind whirling around the thought that Fallon was dying right now, constantly dying and in pain while this sun held control over her. With that concern though, came anger and rage.

"She has nothing to do with this. There are other ways to deal with this! Killing these people doesn't get you what you want!"

Fallon seemed to burn slightly hotter, taking a threatening step forward as he stood his ground cautiously. "They got what they deserved. Ignorance is no excuse for tormenting me, for tearing me apart. They will die and my soul returned. They deserve to burn." She turned then, staring at the wall, and a smirk forming on her face. "Even she admits it."

The Doctor frowned but soon understood. "You're connected. All the infected, the possessed. That's how you've been picking them off. You're sharing information, learning from the other pieces you've planted in people. It's why you've been one step ahead this whole time. You had Korwin though, why take Ashton? Why Fallon?"

Those burning eyes turned back to him, smirk fallen. "You were getting too close. I will take back what's mine."

"That's what we're trying to do," the Doctor pressed, stepping toward her now. "Don't you see? I sent them to vent the engines! To give you back what they stole! Sabotaging them now will only prevent that. They can't tell others about you if you kill them all!"

"You dare threaten me?" Fallon snarled, misunderstanding him.

"No! If they tell others, they can protect you! They'll make sure no one ever does this again!"

"Others will come," Fallon argued. "They will bleed me dry out of greed like these humans."

"They won't. I swear it," he said seriously. "I swear on my species, I won't let them hurt you again."

Fallon let out a breath, a hint of steam fogging the air around her as the computer called out how little time they had left.

"Please. Just let them go," the Doctor begged, hoping that they'd come to some sort of understanding.

The comm pinged then and Fallon whipped around with a snarl.

"Riley, Scannell? I'm sorry," McDonnell announced before Fallon let out a roar of pain and grabbed at her head.

"Fallon!" The Doctor called, reaching out to grab her and keep her upright.

"D-Damn her," Fallon hissed. "The last… I'm the last." She whipped around to the Doctor then, eyes blazing. "You."

The Doctor let her go, but she grabbed him instead, easily slamming him against the wall with a strength he didn't know she possessed. "Stop. Stop this! We're trying to help you!"

"The blood of your species doesn't matter to me," Fallon snarled, her fist clenched around his coat starting to steam. "You did this to me and now it's time for you to burn."

"Fallon!" The Doctor shouted, growing desperate as he felt the heat from her hand starting to scald his skin. "Fallon, I know you're in there!"

Her eyes were more gold now than before, seeming to shine brighter as he cringed and fought to get away. He grabbed ar her wrist and cringed, feeling his skin burn at the contact but refusing to let go.

"Fallon, you have to hear me! You can stop it! I swear you can! This isn't you! If you can break through, even for a moment! Ah!" He grit his teeth, biting back against the pain. "Please! Please, Fallon! I know you don't want to do this! You're not this kind of person!"

"You don't know me!" Fallon roared back, tears slipping down her cheeks unwillingly, leaving tracks in the dirt on her face. "You don't know what I've done!"

"I know! I know that and I'm sorry! I'm sorry you've had to live through those things but Fallon, I know you're stronger than this! Don't let this thing beat you! Don't let something force you to make these sorts of decisions!"

"I don't have a choice!"

"You always have a choice!" He cried back, starting to get lightheaded and losing his strength as he felt his insides begin to burn. "Y-You… You always… have a choice."

The ship jolted then, throwing them to the ground, and Fallon's grip on him slackened. He took a minute to catch his breath, grabbing hold of her as the ship jerked around and the comms announced that the impact had been averted.

"They did it," he breathed, clinging tight to Fallon with a tired, choked laugh. "They did it, Fallon."

Martha came running in then, looking at him in concern but he gave her a small crooked smile and she sank to the ground in relief, glad he was okay. Fallon hadn't stirred though and the Doctor moved her to see her face, concerned as he placed a hand on her forehead. She's still warm but it's better than before.

"Is she okay?" Martha asked. "Is… Is the sun gone?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I think so, but I'm not sure if she's all right. It said…" He stopped, remembering what the sun had said about Fallon dying consistently while possessed. "I-I need to get her back to the Tardis. She could still be in danger."

He stood, scooping her up and holding her close as Martha moved up beside him.

"But she's immortal, right? She should be fine."

The Doctor grit his teeth, holding back from saying something he didn't want to say. Because while he'd had this discussion with Fallon, he hadn't explained anything about his feelings on her immortality with Martha. Getting angry with her here wasn't the right thing to do.

"It doesn't matter," he said instead. "Her being immortal doesn't mean we should care any less."

Martha was quiet, a bit taken aback by that and a bit shameful at how inconsiderate she'd sounded. "Sorry. No, you're right."

"We'll talk about it later. Meet me back at the Tardis. Bring the crew too. I need to have a word with them before we go. This can't happen again."

She nodded and watched him leave, that bitter feeling of jealousy rising up again before she squashed it back down. She was beginning to realize that Fallon had been right about one thing… Her feelings for the Doctor shouldn't exist because he didn't even look her way. It was one-sided and that was growing more apparent every trip. Even the ones where Fallon wasn't around, Martha was constantly trying to get him to look her way and he was still focused on other things.

"Still," she muttered under her breath as she turned around with a hint of frustration. "I'd have more of a chance if Fallon wasn't taking him for herself."