Here's the next one! Sorry, it's been forever, but I sort of struggled to get back into the mindset of Hawthorne for a bit there. Managed somehow and while I think this might be a bit short, I hope to continue this fic as much as I can!

And for those following my other fics, I'm working on it, but it's slow going at the moment. I'm in the mood to write Doctor Who, but every time I go to write something I need to write, my mind just stalls. I have started a few new ideas though, which I might post [anyone want to see the Doctor with a dog? ;) ] but I'm going to try and get back into the swing of things. I'll post another update on my profiles for now.

But please enjoy and let me know what you think! As I said, had a bit of a tough time with this at first, and I want to make sure people are still interested in this one and that it's turning out okay despite my struggles.

"Oh, black tie," the Doctor grumbled, fiddling with his cuffs. "Whenever I wear this, something bad always happens."

"It's not the outfit, that's just you," Martha argued as I tugged at the tie around my neck awkwardly.

"I've never worn a suit in my life," I murmured. "Are they always so uncomfortable?"

"You could have worn a dress," the Doctor shrugged, and I waved my hands.

"N-No, no, no. I'd rather be covered up, thanks." I turned to Martha, embarrassed. "N-Not that there's anything wrong with dressing up!"

Martha raised a brow but smiled. "It's fine, Hawthorne. Some people just don't like dressing up. Anyway, I think it suits you, Doctor. In a… James Bond kind of way."

"James Bond? Really?"

Martha chuckled as we approached Lazarus Laboratories, lightly slapping my hand away from my chest. "And you need to stop fiddling with it," she grumbled, tightening my tie once more as I grimaced.

"Sorry. I'm a bit nervous. I-I… I've never been to a party before."

She blinked in surprise. "Not one? Not a, a college frat party or a high school prom or anything?"

I fidgeted uneasily, resisting the urge to loosen the tie once more. "No. I was homeschooled partially and, um… didn't really have… well… friends."

I jumped when the Doctor draped an arm across my shoulders, leaning forward with a grin.

"Well, it's a good thing you've got us then! We can show you all sorts of things. Eating, drinking, dancing."

"I-I-I don't think… A-Aren't we here to find out what they're doing?" I stuttered out, face flushed at the mere thought of what I'd end up like on a dancefloor. "I-I don't even know how to dance!"

"I can teach you!"

"Since when do Time Lords know how to dance?" Martha scoffed, shooting him a playful smirk.

"Oi! I can dance!" He huffed as we entered the reception area and I eyed the machine set up in the center.

His gaze though, was on the tray of food passing by.

"Oh, look! They've got nibbles!" He smiled, taking a few and handing me one. "I love nibbles."

I eyed the food in uncertainty, but once he tossed one into his mouth, I did the same. "They're a bit… different. What are they supposed to be?"

"Hors d'Oeuvres," he replied. "A sort of bite-sized snack for cocktail drinking. It's a fancy party thing."

"Huh," I murmured before I noticed Martha speaking with a woman who could only be her sister, Trish.

"…And mum, she's coming too. Even dragging Leo along with her."

Martha grinned. "Leo in black tie? That I must see. This is, uh, the Doctor."

The Doctor smiled, mouth full of food, but shook her hand. "Hello."

"And this is Rebecca Hawthorne."

I managed a small grimace of a smile, already feeling more than out of my comfort zone with all the bustling people. Thankfully, she didn't mind.

"Are they with you?"

"Yeah."

"But he's not on the list," she said, making me pause. "How did he get in?"

"They're my plus one."

"Sorry," I muttered, unable to help feeling curious. "But you said he's not on the list? Does that mean I am?"

She nodded, checking her tablet. "Yes. One Doctor Rebecca Hawthorne. Ph.D. in Astrophysics and Quantum physics; Masters in mathematics and computer science. Personally invited by Mr. Saxon himself."

"I-I-I'm not—I-I mean, I am, b-but..." I wasn't sure what to say, having frantically started waving my hands in a vain attempt to make her stop giving away my accomplishments out of sheer embarrassment. I don't even know who Mr. Saxon is, much less how he knows about my degrees when I earned them in another universe!

"You're kidding," Martha breathed out, whereas the Doctor was grinning enthusiastically.

"Well, now, Becky. Hiding a bit more than your basic smarts then, aren't you?"

"I-I wasn't—"

He just chuckled, ruffling my hair as I ducked my cherry-red face into my hands in embarrassment. "Just having a bit of fun. So, this Lazarus, he's your boss?"

"Professor Lazarus, yes. I'm part of his executive staff," Tish said as Martha nodded.

"She's in the PR department."

"I'm head of the PR department, actually."

"You're joking."

"I put this whole thing together."

"So, do you know what the professor's going to be doing tonight?" The Doctor asked, looking at the machine in the center of the room. "That looks like it might be a sonic microfield manipulator."

I gaped at him in surprise. "I thought it looked familiar!"

"You've seen one before?"

I nodded. "We had one in our lab. Used it to do cell regeneration on plants and eventually it became the catalyst for early gene splicing and the creation of duplication. By altering the genetic makeup of species through sonic waves we were able to build more advanced versions of individual species, saving a nearly extinct form of wheat that was able to increase crop yields."

Tish leaned over to Martha. "They're science geeks. I should have known. Got to get back to work now. I'll catch up with you later."

She walked off as I sheepishly rubbed the back of my neck.

"Science geek? What's that mean?" The Doctor asked as Martha tried to find a polite way to explain.

"That you're obsessively enthusiastic about it."

"Oh, nice!"

"I-In a bad way, Doctor," I muttered, making his smile falter. "It's a bit of an insult."

The Doctor though leaned over towards me. "You wanna get a closer look at the manipulator?"

My eyes widened as I nodded. "Oh, yes!"

He chuckled and we moved right up beside it, giving it a once over until Martha was called to by an older woman—her mom—and brother.

"Mum!" Martha beamed, hugging her tightly.

After the craziness we've just had, I can see why. I fidgeted though, uneasy with families, much less mothers. They only reminded me of my own with their fights and shouting. I winced, wringing my hands before tugging once more at my tie until I heard my name.

"These are friends of mine. The Doctor and Rebecca Hawthorne."

Her mother eyed us both, suspicious. "Doctor what?"

"No, it's just the Doctor," Martha corrected. "We've been doing some work together."

Her brother took the initiative and shook our hands before the Doctor shook her mothers. I tried to avoid doing so, remaining tucked just on the other side of the Doctor and therefore out of reach.

"It's lovely to meet you, Mrs. Jones. Heard a lot about you."

"Have you? What have you heard, then?"

"Oh, you know, that you're Martha's mother and… Um, no, actually, that's about it. We haven't had much time to chat. You know, been busy," the Doctor fibbed, making us even more suspicious in her mother's eyes than before.

"Busy? Doing what, exactly?"

"Oh, you know. Stuff."

"Um," I jumped in, feeling bad for leaving the Doctor to this on his own. "We were discussing patents for the hospital. 3D printed organs, microfiber plant-based skin grafts, and the like. She is our 'in' to see the, um, head of the hospital. If we could convince her, then… Possible money in the future for both parties."

"Is that so?" She hummed, looking at least somewhat convinced ad the Doctor draped a hand over my shoulders in an attempt to boost my confidence as he stepped in.

"Of course! That's the word I was forgetting. Patents!"

She still didn't seem to like the Doctor very much, but we were saved from further scrutiny by the man of the hour tapping on his glass to get everyone's attention.

"Thank you," I breathed to the Doctor when he'd turned around, giving my shoulders a squeeze. "I-I'm not usually so…"

"Nah, don't worry about it. Never been to a party, stuck in a crowd, dealing with strangers. It's no wonder your anxiety is acting up. Just let me know if you need anything. I might have some medication in my pocket somewhere if you need it, though we really should get you started on something regular once this mess is over."

I nodded, not pleased to be having to return to medication to manage my problems, but I did get through the days much easier with them. I took a deep breath and let it out, hoping to focus on some science the elderly Lazarus was spewing out instead of the closeness of the crowd. Unfortunately, it was less science and more show.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Professor Richard Lazarus and tonight I am going to perform a miracle. It is, I believe, the most important advance since Rutherford split the atom, the biggest leap since Armstrong stood on the moon. Tonight, you will watch and wonder. Tomorrow, you will wake to a world which will be changed forever."

I blinked, glancing up at the Doctor as Lazarus stepped into the machine. "Who's Armstrong?"

He groaned. "Oh, we're going to have to update you on this universe's history too. Just how different was it?"

My gaze dropped. "More than you know."

The machine was started up, pillars spinning around it before an alarm began to blare and the machine began to spark dangerously. My eyes widened alongside the Doctor's.

"Something's wrong."

"It's overloading!" I exclaimed, rushing over with him to the computer systems.

He pulled out his sonic as the controls smoked and sparked, hopping over the table as I did the same, typing away quickly to try and understand the unfamiliar systems and how to shut down the machine.

"Somebody stop them!" Lady Thaw demanded. "Get them away from the controls!"

"If this thing goes up, it'll take the whole building with it. Is that what you want?" The Doctor snapped at her as I grimaced.

"The systems are locked! I can only redirect the power supply, but with him in there, doing so might kill him!"

The Doctor looked around before spotting a large power cable and yanking it from the machine. It slowed finally and Martha hurried over as the Doctor and I followed, afraid of what we'd find when we opened the door. Instead of a dying old husk, however, Richard Lazarus stepped out looking decades younger and thrilling the crowds.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Richard Lazarus. I am seventy-six years old and I am reborn!"

"It can't be the same guy," Martha muttered in disbelief as Lazarus was photographed beside his elderly wife. "It's impossible. It must be a trick."

"Oh, it's not a trick. I wish it were," the Doctor muttered.

"What just happened then?"

"A sonic microfield manipulator uses sonic, or sound waves to alter the genetic sequence of things. Add a strand here, delete one there, switch a few around. Lazarus basically rewrote his DNA. I won't know the specifics unless I see the results on paper, but I believe he somehow managed to isolate the gene for aging and—"

Martha cleared her throat and Hawthorne paused, mouth open to say more, but understanding dawning on her.

"Ah, um…" She chewed on her lip for a second as the Doctor cracked a small smile at her ramble, explaining simpler.

"He changed what it means to be human." He stepped over towards Lazarus as the man scarfed down some of the food being passed around. "Energy deficit. Always happens with this kind of process."

Lazarus eyed him. "You speak as if you see this every day, Mr…"

"Doctor. And well, no, not every day, but I have some experience of this kind of transformation." The Doctor suddenly pulled Hawthorne forward with a grin. "Hawthorne knows more though if you don't want to take my word for it."

"I, um… O-Only with plants, really. J-Just the theory, mostly," Hawthorne stuttered out, not used to being put in the center of attention.

"That's not possible," Lazarus scoffed, and Hawthorne surprisingly bristled.

"Using hypersonic sound waves to create a state of resonance?"

Lazarus took a second to eye her now. "You understand the theory then."

"My lab used it to do cell altercation on plants and to create the catalyst for early gene splicing and possibly the beginnings of cellular duplication," she countered, proving herself and making the Doctor's grin widen with every word.

He was proud to have found a companion with this sort of intelligence, much less one that would hold her ground when treated poorly. He had hoped she would but wasn't sure with her more sheepish demeanor. He was grateful he wasn't proven wrong.

"Which is why," he jumped in, "we know enough to know that you couldn't possibly have allowed for all the variables."

"No experiment is entirely without risk," Lazarus challenges, chin up proudly.

"That thing nearly exploded. You might as well have stepped into a blender."

"You're not qualified to comment," Lady Thaw huffed, and he was surprised when Hawthorne argued that point.

"I have a Ph.D. in Astrophysics and Quantum physics. Does that make me not qualified?"

Lady Thaw took a step back when Lazarus pushed her away by the shoulder.

"Then, you must be Doctor Rebecca Hawthorne! My apologies, but this was a simple engineering issue. What happened inside the capsule was exactly what was supposed to happen. No more, no less."

Hawthorne had been thrown off by the recognition and Martha took that chance to add her own piece.

"You've no way of knowing that until you've run proper tests."

"Look at me. You can see what happened. I'm all the proof you need."

"This device will be properly certified before we start to operate commercially."

"Commercially? You are joking. That'll cause chaos!" Martha exclaimed.

"Not chaos, change. A chance for humanity to evolve, to improve," Lazarus argued calmly, no one noticing Hawthorne's breath catching in her throat at his words.

"This isn't about improving. This is about you and your customers living a little longer."

"Not a little longer, Doctor. A lot longer. Perhaps indefinitely."

"No one should live that long," Hawthorne muttered, drawing his attention to her. "Humanity wouldn't be able to handle it. The strain it puts on the mind, the body. Humanity wouldn't evolve, it would stagnate."

Lazarus cracked a terse smile. "Then, that's where our opinion will differ, Miss Hawthorne."

"Richard, we have things to discuss, upstairs," Lady Thaw interrupted, and he nodded.

"Goodbye, Doctor, Miss Hawthorne. In a few years, you'll look back and laugh at how wrong you were." Lazarus reached for Hawthorne, but she backed away—not comfortable with the contact.

So, he switched his target to Martha, kissing the back of her hand before leaving with his wife.

"Oh, he's out of his depth. No idea of the damage he might have done," the Doctor murmured, giving Hawthorne a look and clasping her shoulder, making her flinch. "You all right? Sorry for putting you on the spot like that. Thought you might be able to educate him a little."

Hawthorne shook her head, bowing it and trying to take a deep breath to calm her anxiety. "S-Sorry. I just…"

"It's all right. Let's get out of the crowd for a bit," he comforted her, leading their little trio out of the busier area. "I really am proud of you though, Hawthorne, standing up for yourself like that."

Martha nodded eagerly. "Yeah. I honestly didn't see that in you, but you really showed them, didn't ya?"

Hawthorne flushed, tugging on her ear lobe. "I, um… I-I had a really strict professor. He was really nice but tended to… force us to do things we weren't comfortable with in order to ensure we knew how to handle ourselves when facing criticisms on our work."

"He sounds like a great guy," the Doctor smiled, and she nodded.

"I learned a lot from him. He was… He was the first person who really understood me."

The Doctor ruffled her hair, making her grimace and immediately shoot her hands up to fix it. "And now you've got us!"

"Yup," Martha beamed. "So, what next?"

"I say we do our own tests," the Doctor hummed. "We've got a fully qualified scientist right here and I'm sure this place has plenty of labs."

"Lucky I've just collected a DNA sample then, isn't it?" Martha smirked, holding up the hand Lazarus kissed.

"Oh, Martha Jones. You're a star. Think you can figure out what's going on with him, Becky?"

Hawthorne nodded with a smile. "Oh, absolutely."

"Well then, let's get started."

I stared in shock at what I saw on the screen and even the Doctor was stunned.

"Amazing."

"What?" Martha asked, confused.

"Lazarus's DNA."

"I can't see anything different."

I pointed to the screen. "Watch."

The DNA strand on the screen flickered, changing into something different.

"Oh, my God. Did that just change? But it can't have."

"But it did," the Doctor disagreed.

"It's impossible."

"And that's two impossible things we've seen so far tonight. Don't you love it when that happens?" The Doctor beamed, whereas I was more hesitant.

"He's destabilized the cell structure," I muttered, eyeing the readings. "Manipulated the coding in the protein strands. He's changed his genes and rearranged them in order to become younger, but it's caused a mutation. Something in his DNA isn't letting it stabilize."

"Something's trying to change him," the Doctor agreed.

"Change him into what?" Martha worried.

"I don't know, but I think we need to find out. Any clues, Becky?"

I shook my head. "I've not seen anything like this before. I've altered DNA sequences on simpler things like plants, but even when we got to animal testing, they always stabilized. We made sure they stabilized with a stabilizing compound. We didn't want to risk it otherwise, especially since we were going to eventually look at human cloning. I-I don't think humanity in this time period has the technology to create that compound. We practically had to develop a whole new element."

"Hold on, how do you know all this?" Martha asked and I bit my lip for a moment.

"I-I'm sort of from another universe? One where technology was far more advanced than here. I, um… actually think that's part of the reason I can't die."

The Doctor blinked at that. "Well, that's new. Have a new theory then, Becky?"

"Maybe? But, um… w-we should probably focus on the mutating Lazarus, shouldn't we?"

He cracked a smile, thankfully not pushing me for now. "You're right. We'll talk later then. Don't think you're getting out of it," he teased, managing to get a small smile from me as well.

"That woman said they were going upstairs," Martha reminded us, and we hurried up to his office as quickly as we could, but both he and his wife were gone. "This is his office, all right."

"So, where is he?"

"Did we miss him?" I wondered.

"Dunno," Martha mused. "Let's try back at the… reception."

We both turned, following her gaze only to see a set of skeletal feet sticking out from the other side of a desk and my heart leaped into my throat. We hurried over, but the moment I saw the deceased Lady Thaw, I had to step away. I wrung my hands together and clenched my eyes shut, desperately pushing out images of corpses I'd seen after my mistake and fighting to control my breathing. I-I can't keep panicking like this. I j-just need to focus on what m-my therapist taught me.

"Do you have problems a lot, Rebecca? These anxiety attacks?"

A young girl clenched her rabbit close, tucking her face against its head with a small nod.

"And is there anything that helps you?"

"M-Mr. Smith."

He smiled softly. "Your rabbit then. But you don't always have him with you, right? What do you do then?"

She bit her lip, unable to tell him that she just panics until everything goes dark and quiet and she's left on her own. He seemed to understand though, putting down his notebook and drawing her gaze back to him.

"How about we try a few things, hm? A few tricks to help you when you don't have Mr. Smith. Let's say, you're in a noisy place. A crowd in a shopping center and you've lost your mum. Now, you start to panic, right?"

She nodded, already feeling her breathing picking up pace at the thought of being all alone in a crowd.

"So, you should try to find someplace quiet first, or out of the way, just to be safe."

I moved to the lifts for the office, shaking and leaning against the wall, unnoticed by the Doctor and Martha for now.

"Then, close your eyes so you're not scared of all the people around you."

My eyes were clenched shut as tight as I could, not wanting to see the corpse only feet away.

"Now, give your hands something to hold. The end of your shirt, perhaps. No, no. Not yourself. You might get hurt," he said, tugging the girl's hands off her upper arms.

I gripped the edge of my tuxedo jacket tight, focusing on the fabric between my fingers.

"There you go. Now, I want you to softly breathe in, nice and slow. As slow as you can and I want you to think of something else."

"W-W-What?"

"Well, you like space, don't you? And history?"

The girl nodded.

"Try thinking up something about those. Constellations, historic events or dates, stars or planets in the sky. Think of questions you have about the world and breathe in and out for everyone you come up with."

I took a stuttering breath in. Wonder where the Tardis gets all her clothes? And I breathed out. Does she make them? Does the Doctor collect them? Breathe in. What is Lazarus changing into? Some sort of animal? Breath out. Maybe he's egressing further into childhood since he's altered the genes responsible for aging? My breaths were calm now and the tight feeling in my chest had eased, just in time for the Doctor to look around and notice I'd moved.

"Beck? You okay?" He asked, lightly touching my arm and making me snap my eyes open in surprise.

"Y-Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay." I swallowed thickly, pointedly keeping my gaze away from the body to avoid a recurrence of my earlier panic. "I-I'm not good with… death."

"Oh. Oh, I'm sorry. Stupid," he smacked his forehead. "Idiot, I am. Didn't mean to forget about that. You sure you're all right? You're a bit pale."

"P-Panic attack, but I-I'm okay," I said, managing a smile. "I-I handled it."

He looked pleasantly surprised but clasped my shoulder. "Good on you. I know that's not easy. I'll try to warn you ahead of time, or help you through it if I can, the next time it happens."

Neither of us wanted there to be a next time, but I assumed it was probably inevitable with all the Doctor's travels. Yet another reason to work on getting over it. If we were on the run, it could be a life or death situation if I were to freeze up every time someone… We stepped into the lift to head back to reception and the Doctor quickly informed me of what they learned from the body they'd found.

"Energy deficiency can make his body capable of doing that?" I questioned and the Doctor shrugged.

"Apparently, though we still don't know exactly what he's changing into. The best thing we can do is find him and get him isolated to prevent anyone else from getting hurt or killed."

I swallowed thickly, nervousness creeping up on me and I was grateful when the Doctor grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Don't worry. We'll figure this out."

So he said, but upon stepping out into reception, we all became worried at the lack of the man himself.

"I can't see him."

"He can't be far. Keep looking."

"Could he have bypassed us on the lifts?" I worried.

"It's possible."

Martha got stopped by her brother for a minute and I grabbed the Doctor before he could wander too far off, making him double back with me as she informed us of what she'd learned.

"With Tish!"

Not good. What else wasn't good, was the fact that Martha's mother chose that moment to want to have a talk with the Doctor.

"Ah, Doctor."

He promptly ignored her, looking to Leo. "Where did they go?"

"Upstairs, I think. Why?"

"You were right, Becky. Let's go."

"Doctor—" Martha's mother was cut off as we hurried past her, spilling her drink. "I'm speaking to you!"

"Not now, mum!" Martha called back as we hurried to the lifts.

We got all the way back up to Lazarus's office, but they weren't there.

"Fluctuating DNA will give off an energy signature. I might be able to pick it up," the Doctor said, pulling out his sonic. "Got him."

"Where?"

He pointed up the sonic up, following the signature, and my eyes widened.

"They're on the roof!"

A set of stairs later left me panting and out of breath as the Doctor cut into Tish and Lazarus's conversation.

"Falls the Shadow."

"So the mysterious Doctor knows his Eliot. I'm impressed," Lazarus hummed as I frowned.

Who? I shook it off, figuring it was another difference between our universes as Martha tried to coerce her sister away from Lazarus while the Doctor kept him busy.

"I wouldn't have thought you had time for poetry, Lazarus, what with you being busy defying the laws of nature and all."

"You're right, Doctor. One lifetime's been too short for me to do everything I'd like. How much more I'll get done in two or three or four."

"Doesn't work like that. Some people live more in twenty years than others do in eighty. It's not the time that matters, it's the person."

"But if it's the right person, what a gift that would be."

"Or what a curse. Look at what you've done to yourself."

"Who are you to judge me?" Lazarus turned then, eyeing me. "And you are of the same opinion? Surely, as a woman of science, you could see the logic in what I'm saying."

My head ached for a moment, a sense of wrongness making my stomach twist uneasily. Something else I should ask the Doctor about. These spontaneous headaches and flashes of visions can't be normal, even if I am from another universe… Right?

"I-I…" I took a breath, trying to steel myself. "I understand the need to want to live longer. To feel like your life was wasted and that there's so much more you're missing out on."

I could feel the Doctor's eyes on me, but I resisted the urge to see what sort of expression he was making.

"So, you do agree."

I shook my head, facing Lazarus as confidently as I could. "No, because the Doctor's right. I could experience a lot in the time I have left, and while it might not be enough time for me to experience everything, it allows me to open the doors up for others to experience things they never might have if I hadn't been around in that short time to show it to them."

Lazarus scowled, displeased with my answer, but the Doctor stepped up beside me and slipped his hand into mine, adding to the proud feeling I felt at those words. Even if I may be unable to die now, I don't want to let it go to waste. I want to use this extra time to help others, experience the world, see things and experience things I should have in those first twenty-some-odd years of my life when living seemed not worth it. Then, I grimaced, seeing Lazarus's body crack and snap until he towered over us as some mutated form of a giant-sized scorpion.

"What's that?" Tish breathed out in shock before the Doctor tightened his hold on my hand.

"Run!"

The group hurried back to reception the alarms blaring and the entire facility on lockdown with the imminent threat of Lazarus storming down the stairs.

"Tish, is there another way out of here?" The Doctor asked, looking around and seeing the number of people now trapped inside with a monster they didn't even know about yet.

"There's an exit in the corner, but it'll be locked now."

"Martha, Becky, setting fifty-four. Hurry," he said, tossing the sonic to Martha as she took off. He didn't wait to see if Hawthorne had followed, rushing up onto the raised platform by the machine in the center of the room to get everyone's attention. "Listen to me! You people are in serious danger! You need to get out of here right now!"

"Don't be ridiculous," a woman scoffed. "The biggest danger here is choking on an olive."

Lazarus was quick to prove her wrong when he stormed into reception, jumping down from the upper level and sending the crowd into a panic. Tables were thrown and Leo was knocked to the ground protecting his mother as Martha finally got the door open and ushered people out. Lazarus though approached a woman who was frozen in shock.

"No! Get away from her!" The Doctor shouted, but his hearts stopped.

He was too far away. There was no chance of saving her and he grimaced, turning away slightly only for the woman's scream to continue. His eyes widened as Lazarus stomped around in annoyance and he soon saw why. Hawthorne had jumped up and grabbed the stinging tail, protecting the petrified woman long enough for her to run off, but leaving herself dangling from the dangerous appendage as Lazarus whipped it around to shake her off. The one plus side tot his was that Lazarus was too distracted by her to bother any remaining injured or frozen guests, but the downside was when he finally did manage to flick Hawthorne off—throwing her across the room.

"Rebecca!" The Doctor shouted, fear running through his veins as she hit the wall hard, falling through a table and not getting up.

His fear for her doubled when Lazarus started to head over and the Doctor grit his teeth.

"Lazarus! Leave her alone!" He called out, drawing the beast's attention to him "What's the point? You can't control it. The mutation's too strong. Killing those people won't help you. You're a fool. A vain old man who thought he could defy nature. Only Nature got her own back, didn't she? You're a joke, Lazarus! A footnote in the history of failure!" He mocked purposely, drawing Lazarus away from reception and running down a corridor.

He had to keep as many people as he could safe. He could only hope Martha got to Hawthorne to ensure she was okay until he could figure this out.

"What's the Doctor doing?" Tish asked, having seen him making a target of himself.

"He's trying to buy us some time. Let's not waste it. Leo, look at me. Focus on me. Let's see your eyes. He's got a concussion. Mum, you'll need to help him downstairs," she said, handing her some ice in a napkin. "This'll keep the swelling down. Go! I'll be right behind you. Tish, move! We need to get out of here, but I need to find Hawthorne first. Keep them safe."

Tish nodded, hurrying their family towards the doors as Martha quickly opened the main door for them before returning to search the reception for a sign of Hawthorne—though not without some complaint from her mother.

"Hawthorne! Hawthorne! B-Becky! Oh, please be okay," she murmured, hearing a groan and rushing over to where she saw a hand pushing off an upturned table. "Becky!"

She immediately went into doctor mode, seeing blood on her temple and how she blinked tightly as though trying to clear her vision.

"Becky, look at me. I need to check for a concussion."

"'m fine," Hawthorne argued, shaking her head only to bring a hand up to it when she did with grit teeth.

"You're obviously not. Focus on me for a minute."

Hawthorne tried, but Martha winced.

"Definitely a concussion. You need to get out with the others." She grabbed a napkin and dabbed at the blood on her forehead. "Might need stitches for that too."

"N-Not without the Doctor," Hawthorn pressed.

"You're in no shape to go after him, and I wasn't about to leave him on his own. I'll go after him, but you need to stay safe."

Hawthorne was stubborn though, pushing off the wall and getting to her feet with another shake of her head, steadier this time. "You'll need all the help you can get, and I—"

"No," Martha said seriously, moving to stand in front of her with a glare. "How do you think the Doctor would feel if you went in there like this? You have a concussion, Hawthorne. A serious one, and if you go in there now, all you're going to do is add to whatever problems the Doctor has to deal with. How's he supposed to stop this and keep you safe?"

Hawthorne winced, shrinking back under Martha's glare and the woman sighed.

"I'm not trying to be mean, but you have to look at it from every point of view, yeah? I'll go after him. I've got to get back his sonic anyway. You just go outside and get looked at by paramedics, then you can help us. Okay?"

Hawthorne nodded solemnly, but Martha could see it. She was tense, unable to focus and still rather unsteady on her feet. She even thought she could hear a bit of a wheeze in her breaths, but until she was able to properly look at Hawthorne, there would be no time to address it. She led Hawthorne to the doors, handing her off to Tish with strict instructions to get her seen by medical professionals as soon as they showed up, before hurrying back inside to help the Doctor deal with Lazarus.

She couldn't do it. She felt terrible for slipping back inside the moment Tish had her back turned, but Hawthorne's heart was racing in fear. And for once, it wasn't fear for her own personal safety. She feared for the Doctor. For the first person to look at her and believe in her, make her smile and laugh, the first person to be proud of her. And she was afraid of upsetting him, of losing him. She hadn't known him that long, but how could she not get attached? She'd shown him the impossible—a person not of this universe—and he'd accepted it. He'd taken her in when she had nowhere to go and to run out now and leave him on his own when he was in trouble? She couldn't do it.

She'd never been a reckless person. Quite the opposite, in fact. And sure, her experiments could get a little out of hand, but she would much rather hide under a desk in fear of the large scorpion-like Lazarus than face him. But wasn't that what the Doctor was doing now? And she'd faced people before. People who scared her.

"Useless child!"

"Miss Hawthorne."

And now he was facing something that undoubtedly scared him, and she couldn't stand by and let that happen. Even if there was nothing she could personally do to help, she wanted to be there by his side, and that was something she'd never felt before. He kept doing that, making her feel and experience things so very new to her. She reckoned she owed him one and this was it. So, even with her lungs burning, a pained stitch in her side warning her of a possible cracked rib, and a throbbing headache, she pressed onward. She ran through the facility, mind racing as she climbed the stairs. He'd need something to stop him. A-A weapon of some kind. There's only one place he could get something like that here. She stopped on the stairs and leaned over the railing, looking back down the way she'd come.

"The machine!"

A grin broke out on her face as she scrambled back down, grimacing when there was a loud explosion somewhere else in the building. Don't think about it. He's drawing its attention, making it follow him and that will undoubtedly lead him here. The machine is the best chance he's got of reversing this and that's something I can actually help with. She rushed back down, hopping the desk and immediately regretting it when a sharp pain ran up her side, forcing her to double over with a wheeze. D-Definitely cracked. She shook her head, wincing as her vision took an extra moment to right itself.

"No, no. Come on. You've dealt with this sort of thing before," she murmured under her breath, leaning on the tabletop and starting to get the machine set up so plugging it in wouldn't just set the machine off.

She finally reached around the back, plugging back in the cord the Doctor had yanked out before to get the machine started.

"No, no, no. I'll have to do a system's reboot," she grimaced, one arm wrapped around her side as her eyes skimmed the readings as quickly as possible. "We honestly don't have time for this, but I don't have a choice."

She began rebooting the system, hearing footsteps the next level up hastily coming down. No time at all. Come on. This is something I can do to help. That's all I ever wanted, was to help.

"This is all your fault!"

"You could help us, Miss Hawthorne. Help us change the world."

She grit her teeth, eyes widening when the system finally booted with a chime and she began to furiously type and adjust knobs and switches. If I could just reverse it—

"Becky!"

"Not now!" She called back to the Doctor and Martha as they rushed into the room. "I've nearly got—"

"No time!" The Doctor shouted, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her into the machine with himself and Martha just as Lazarus skid across the tiles into the reception room with them.

"Are we hiding?" Martha asked.

"No, he knows we're here, but this is his masterpiece. I'm betting he won't destroy it, not even to get at us," The Doctor replied, not realizing Hawthorne's ears were bright red due to her face being pressed to his chest.

"But we're trapped," Martha argued, fidgeting a bit in the tight space that was barely holding the three of them.

"Well, yeah, that's a slight problem."

"You mean you don't have a plan?"

"Yes, the plan was to get inside here?"

Martha eyed him over Hawthorne's shoulder. "Then, what?"

"Well, then I'd come up with another plan." He finally looked down at Hawthorne, raising a brow. "And what were you doing, exactly, Hawthorne?"

"I-I, um—"

"I thought I told you to leave with Tish!" Martha scolded. "You have a concussion, Becky!"

"What!" The Doctor yelped, hastily pushing her back so he had room to get to his sonic to scan her, only for both women to cringe.

"Hey!" Martha snapped. "Watch it!"

"Sorry," he murmured, realizing it would be a bit harder than he thought to get to his sonic, which was in his front coat pocket.

"I-I…" Hawthorne tried again to speak, pointedly keeping her head bowed and eyes on the floor—her hands pressed against the Doctor's chest to try and keep something between her and him.

She wasn't used to being this close to anyone, much less the Doctor.

"I, um, was trying to r-reverse the process."

His eyes widened. "That's brilliant! Did you finish?"

Hawthorne winced, shaking her head. "I-It needed to reboot, and the data was showing that they hadn't made it to be reversible."

His smile fell. "Not good then."

And just when I thought I could help…

"So, what now?" Martha asked, wincing when her elbow hit the wall of the machine.

She was right up against the door and worried she would somehow accidentally open it at this rate.

"We improvise. Becky, can you get my sonic? It's in my front right pocket."

Hawthorne nodded, trying to reach her hands up high enough to slip into his pocket while also doing her best not to think about what she was doing. As it was, being stuck in a small cramp space like this was making her anxious. Her breathing had picked up a bit, making the Doctor frown lightly when his ears picked up the wheezing after each breath. Martha said concussion, but could it be worse?

"H-Here," Hawthorne said, managing to slip the sonic into his hand and he plastered on a smile, knowing that questioning her now would only make the situation worse.

"Excellent! Budge up a bit." He sank down to the ground, muttering apologies to Hawthorne and Martha and pulling up a panel in the bottom of the machine.

"I still don't understand where that thing came from. Is it alien?" Martha asked once he'd gotten to work.

"No. For once, it's strictly human in origin."

"Human? How can it be human?"

"T-There's all sorts of possibilities coded into our DNA," Hawthorne explained, trying to keep her attention on something else other than the small space and the Doctor tucked just under her legs. "Humans evolved to become the way we are now. I-I suppose if you take all the possibilities of what we could have been and put it together…"

"So, it's a throwback?"

Hawthorne winced at a headache, shaking her head slightly at the afterimage of Martha having this conversation with the Doctor.

"Some option that evolution rejected for you millions of years ago, but the potential is still there. Locked away in your genes, forgotten about until Lazarus unlocked it by mistake."

"It's like Pandora's Box."

"Exactly. Nice shoes, by the way, Beck."

Hawthorne flushed again, fidgeting in her Converse that matched the Doctor's own. "T-The dress shoes pinched my toes."

"Ah, these are better for running anyway." He glanced up briefly, flashing her a reassuring smile and keeping her distracted as he stopped sonicking the wires he held and gave her a quick scan instead.

Not good. Three cracked ribs, concussion, and spiking adrenaline levels that could lead to a panic attack if we're not careful, or worse—given the state of her ribs. The machine hummed then, glowing blue and Martha grabbed Hawthorne's arm, leaning around her to look at the Doctor fearfully.

"Doctor, what's happening?"

"Sounds like he's started the machine."

"And that's not good, is it?"

Hawthorne fidgeted, eyeing the ceiling. "I-I didn't finish the sequencing. Because it's not reversible, it's still set to rejuvenate. We'll turn into him."

Martha paled as the Doctor worked faster.

"Well, I was hoping it was going to take him a little bit longer to work out how to get it started."

"Y-You'd think claws would make it more difficult," Hawthorne replied with a nervous chuckle that ended with a cringe and her hand wrapping around her side.

"Hang in there, Beck. Nearly done."

"Well, what're you doing?" Martha questioned in concern.

"I'm trying to set the capsule to reflect energy rather than receive it."

"Will that kill it?"

"When he transforms, he's three times his size. Cellular triplication. So, he's spreading himself thin."

Hawthorne's eyes widened. "You want to overload his system with energy!"

"Who cares! We're going to end up like him!" Martha wailed, the machine nearly finished.

"Just one more!"

The machine went off then, but the blast flared outward, throwing Lazarus away and leaving the trio safe as the machine powered down. Carefully, the Doctor stood back up and pushed open the door, coming out while ensuring that things actually were safe.

"Oh, I thought we were going to go through the blender then," Martha muttered, climbing out with Hawthorne on her heels.

"Really shouldn't take that long just to reverse the polarity. I must be a bit out of practice," the Doctor hummed.

"You've really got to teach me how to use that," Hawthorne replied, earning a small smile from him.

"Maybe I'll show you how to make one."

He could read the enthusiasm on her face at the idea before they found Lazarus lying naked on the floor not far away.

"Oh, God. He seems so human again. It's kind of pitiful," Martha murmured, and the Doctor eyed the man sadly, tucking Hawthorne into his side just in case she had another episode.

"Eliot saw that too. This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang, but a whimper."

The paramedics finally showed up then, moving to take away Lazarus' body as the Doctor lightly prodded Hawthorne in the side, earning a cringe.

"And you need to be more careful. What were you thinking, jumping on him like that?"

Hawthorne looked away sheepishly. "I didn't want anyone else to get hurt."

"And instead, you got hurt. What am I going to do with you, eh? Talk about reckless. You and me, we're going to have a talk about the value of a life—particularly your own. Cracked ribs and a concussion?"

Hawthorne winced, holding her side as Martha went to join up with her family a little bit ahead. "I wasn't trying to get hurt."

The Doctor's expression softened. "But you're not exactly going out of your way to prevent it either. I'm just worried, Becky. Can't have you getting hurt every adventure, and…" He paused, hesitating for a minute as he eyed her reaction. "And you're important to me."

He saw the flash of surprise before she hastily covered it up with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. She doesn't believe me.

"All right. I-I'll try to do better."

He pushed past the ache in his hearts for the woman standing before him who couldn't believe in his honest words due to her past and managed a small smile in return. "I should hope so, or I might just have to tie you to the bed in the Tardis med bay." He loosened his bowtie as Martha's mother finally headed over. "Ah, Mrs. Jones. Still haven't finished our chat."

She promptly slapped him hard across the face making Hawthorne flinch at his side and take a step back as Martha gaped.

"Keep away from my daughter."

"Mum, what are you doing!"

"All of the mothers, every time," the Doctor muttered, giving Hawthorne a reassuring glance. "I'm fine, really."

He reached out slowly, catching her hand and giving it a squeeze before she could pull back, her eyes locked on Francine with something akin to fear. Reminds her of her own mum. Need to be careful. A panic attack in her condition would be the opposite of good. He rubbed his thumb over the back of her knuckles, grateful when she finally gripped his hand in return. Good. Keeping her grounded. Definitely going to have to work with her on this. She seriously needs help. He cleared his throat, not really listening as the family in front of him argued about whether he was a good or bad man. He'd heard it all before anyway. No point in dwelling on it.

Then, there was a loud crash and he hastily took off, dragging Hawthorne with him only to find the ambulance that had once held Lazarus's corpse had crashed, leaving two bone-dry husks in the back.

"Lazarus back from the dead. Should have known, really," he muttered, Martha and Tish rushing up as well as Hawthorne winced and stepped away from the ambulance.

"Where's he gone?" Martha asked as the Doctor used his sonic to try and find out.

"That way. The church."

"Cathedral," Tish corrected. "It's Southwark Cathedral. He told me."

The Doctor nodded, leading the way and following the signal on his sonic as they entered the cathedral.

"Do you think he's in here?" Martha asked, seeing no sign of the man in the darkened church.

"Where would you go if you were looking for sanctuary?" The Doctor asked, walking them up to the altar where Lazarus was huddled in a shock blanket on the other side.

"Came here before, a lifetime ago," Lazarus murmured. "I thought I was going to die then. In fact, I was sure of it. I sat here, just a child. The sound of planes and bombs outside."

"The blitz."

"You read about it," Lazarus concluded, but the Doctor shook his head slightly, eyeing the man as he shook and spasmed.

"I was there."

"You're too young."

"So are you."

Lazarus chuckled, before letting out a cry of pain when his body cracked dangerously. "In the morning," he said, one he was in control of himself once more. "The fires had died, and I was still alive. I swore I'd never face death like that again. So defenseless. I would arm myself, fight back, defeat it."

"That's what you were trying to do today?" The Doctor asked, seeing movement out of the corner of his eye and giving Hawthorne a glance.

She'd closed her eyes, wrapping her arms tightly around herself to hide her shaking hands and mouthing something to herself. The Doctor could just barely make it out in the dark.

"You're not there. You're fine. Focus. The war is over."

He frowned slightly, even more so when he got Lazarus's response.

"That's what I did today."

"What about the other people who died?" The Doctor questioned, searching for some form of compassion to help him make the decision of what he was going to try and do with the man in front of them.

"They were nothing. I changed the course of history."

Hawthorne flinched, but the Doctor set his concerns about her aside for now, facing the problem in front of him first. He'd speak with her again back on the Tardis.

"Any of them might have done too. You think history's only made with equations? Facing death is part of being human. You can't change that."

"No, Doctor. Avoiding death, that's being human. It's our strongest impulse, to cling to life with every fiber of being. I'm only doing what everyone before me has tried to do. I've simply been more successful."

"Not being able to die isn't living!" Hawthorne suddenly snapped, making the Doctor wince.

He should have put a bit more focus on her. She was shaking worse now, one hand wrapped around her injured side and the other tangled in her hair. Her uncharacteristic shouting had only added to his concerns over her mental health considering that the topic of discussion was immortality and humanity. The Doctor felt that being able to die, fearing death and making the most of your limited time is what made a human, human. Hawthorne, being someone who was apparently unable to die, believed the same but that meant she was struggling with her own humanity. Was she human if she couldn't die? And if not, then what was she?

The questions had her in a small panic, making her wheezing more audible and causing the Doctor to grit his teeth, annoyed that Lazarus was the one causing her to feel inhuman.

"Look at yourself!" He snapped at the man. "You're mutating! You've no control over it. You call that a success?"

"I call it progress," Lazarus argued, thankfully turning his attention away from Hawthorne as Martha tried to help her get under control. "I'm more now that I was. More than just an ordinary human."

"There's no such thing as an ordinary human."

Lazarus spasmed again and Martha whispered under her breath to the Doctor.

"He's going to change again any minute."

"I know. If I can get him up into the bell tower somehow, I've an idea that might work."

"Up there?"

Martha looked up, mind racing as Lazarus finished and snarled at him.

"You're so sentimental, Doctor. Maybe you are older than you look."

"I'm old enough to know that a longer life isn't always a better one," the Doctor murmured, giving Hawthorne a small glance only to frown when he didn't see her. Did she run out? "In the end, you just get tired. Tired of the struggle, tired of losing everyone that matters to you, tired of watching everything turn to dust. If you live long enough, Lazarus, the only certainty left is that you'll end up alone."

"That's a price worth paying."

"Is it?"

"I will feed soon," Lazarus growled.

"I'm not going to let that happen," the Doctor countered, eyes racing in search of Hawthorne as Martha seemed to notice her missing as well.

"You've not been able to stop me so far."

"But I have."

Their eyes snapped to Hawthorne as she leaned against the wall near the door to the staircase that would lead up to the bell tower.

"Hawthorne, don't," the Doctor said, seeing what she was planning and not having a good feeling about it.

She cracked a hesitant smile. "S-Sorry, but I can't die, right? S-So, I'd rather be the one in the life-or-death chases than risk you getting hurt."

"Rebecca!" He shouted as Lazarus snarled.

"Immortal? We'll see about that!"

He lunged forward and the Doctor cursed when Martha and Tish rushed after Hawthorne as well. He needed to get into position if he wanted to get her out of there in one piece. Oh, we're definitely having a talk when we get back.

"Hawthorne!"

I winced at the Doctor's shout, hearing the growls and snarls a bit of the way down and hasty footsteps approaching as Martha and Tish hurried up the stairs after me. Oh, he is very not happy with me. I peeked out of the arch beside me and looked down to see him frowning up at me.

"Take him to the top. The very top of the bell tower, do you hear me!"

I nodded. "T-Top! Got it!"

"Hawthorne, come on!" Martha shouted, grabbing my arm as Tish ran up ahead and we hastily hurried after her—Lazarus getting ever closer.

My side ached, like the worst muscle cramp in the world as my ribs strained under the pressure of running. I was having a hard time catching my breath, wheezing far worse than I had been as we made it to the top.

"There's nowhere to go. We're trapped!" Tish shouted, and I shook my head.

"T-The Doctor wanted us here. He can stop Lazarus here."

"All right, so then we're not trapped. We're bait."

"He knows what he's doing. We have to trust him," Martha tried to coax her, just as Lazarus stepped onto the wooden scaffolding with us. "Stay behind me. If he takes me, make a run for it. Head down the stairs. You should have enough time," Martha warned Tish.

"But—"

"Just do it, Tish!" Martha snapped as I moved before her. "Becky, don't you dare!"

I shook my head though, facing Lazarus with as much courage as I could muster. "You should both go. I can't die. I've already done so, and you've seen it. I can buy you time, but you should just go."

"We're not leaving you!"

"Martha, just do it!" I shouted, hating how eerily similar I sounded to my own mother and wincing.

There was a reason I didn't shout. I didn't want to be anything like her.

"You'll die!"

"Not for long."

"But the Doctor, he—"

"He's the first person to believe in me!" I yelled, silencing her as I grit my teeth against the pain and ever-growing fear in my body. "A-And I want to do this for him. I-I need to do this."

Martha hesitated but soon nodded as Lazarus began to try and find a way across the large gap separating him from us. His tail swung around, and we ducked as the pipe organ below began to play loudly, echoing in our ears. The railing behind me cracked under a swipe of Lazarus's tail and when I turned around, it was too late. The tail hit me hard in the side, knocking my breath out of me and sending pain radiating up my spine as something in me snapped. I choked, feeling a sense of weightlessness for a split second before my hand reached out and grabbed the edge of the platform. My arm ached at the strain of holding me and my ribs burned as my muscles pulled taunt.

Lazarus jumped over the gap and began trying to jab at my hands with his pincers as Martha shouted to try and stop him to no avail. I narrowly dodged a pincer through the hand, but it left me dangling by one arm as black spots of pain began to swarm my vision. The organ went off even louder then, making Lazarus flail in agony as my own ears began to ring. I was losing my grip though, but Lazarus lost his first, tumbling over the side and to the ground below. The organ cut off and hands suddenly grabbed my arm, making me peer my eyes open to see Martha and Tish hanging onto me as they tried to pull me up.

"Martha! Rebecca!" The Doctor called out from below as I was pulled back onto the platform, struggling to breathe.

"We're okay!" Martha called back, before seeing my trouble. "Hawthorne—Becky's struggling to breathe!"

"We need to get her to the Tardis! Can you get her down here!"

Martha nodded, getting Tish to help me up and trying to calm me down as I gasped for breath. Once at the bottom of the stairs, she leaned me up against a pillar as the Doctor hurried around the corner, sonic scanning me immediately once he skid to my side.

"What did I say?" He snapped, grimacing at the reading before moving his hand to check my ribs. "Reckless. Why are you so…" He closed his eyes for a second before letting out a breath of exasperation and standing. "We need to get you to the Tardis. Martha, stay here with her and I'll bring it over. Keep her conscious and breathing, and… Well, you know."

"I-I…" I winced at my raspy voice, giving the Doctor a look when he stiffened—refusing to look at me for the moment. "I-I just… w-wanted to… help."

His eyes snapped to me and for a second, I saw the harsh cold eyes of my mother, before he let out a soft sigh and ruffled my hair like he always does.

"Then, help me by keeping safe. Please," he begged, brushing his hand over my cheek and wiping a tear away. "You're going to give me grey hairs with all the worrying you're making me do."

I let out a short chuckle that was ended quickly by pain, which sent the Doctor rushing back for his ship.

"I didn't know he could play," Martha said, trying to keep me occupied to prevent me from slipping into unconsciousness.

I winced when the image of her hugging the Doctor came to mind.

"I didn't know you could play?"

"Oh, well, you know, if you hang around with Beethoven, you're bound to pick a few things up."

"Hmm. Especially about playing loud."

"Sorry?"

"B-Beethoven," I muttered with another small laugh.

"What?"

I shook my head. "H-He's the Doctor… H-Had to have… learned it from… s-someone. Why n-not… B-Beethoven?"

Martha smiled as the wheezing of the Tardis drifted into the room and the Doctor hurried back in from outside.

"Did you learn to play from Beethoven?" Martha asked him, earning a surprised look.

"Sorry?"

"The organ," she replied, helping me up onto my feet.

"Oh, well, if you hang around him long enough, you're bound to pick up a few things."

"Especially playing loud," Martha quipped as my brows furrowed.

This is what I saw but… different. What exactly are these visions? Even before, I saw Martha hanging over the edge, being bait for Lazarus. I… I'm never in them either. It's almost like… like before. When they began to alter time, killing Stalin, changing the future. I felt that. I could tell how wrong it was. Am I… Am I catching glimpses of an alternate timeline? I blinked with a cringe at the light now shining in my eyes, turning away from it slightly as my head ached.

"Becky, hold still. I need to check on your concussion," the Doctor chided.

I hadn't even realized when I'd gotten to the med bay.

"You okay?" He asked, seeming to have realized my confusion.

"I, um…" I inhaled with a curious frown, realizing I was breathing normally. "W-What did you do?"

"You don't remember?"

I hesitated, not wanting to worry him—not wanting to be a burden. "I… I was thinking."

"What were you thinking about?" He asked, surprising me by not questioning why I didn't remember him treating me.

"I…" Do I tell him? I said I was going to give him my theory about why I was here, but if I tell him that… If I tell him about feeling the changes in a timeline… Won't I have to tell him everything?

"You don't have to tell me if it's that hard for you," he said quietly, glancing at my hands that I quickly relaxed so they weren't twisting the sheets of the medical bed in a white-knuckle grip. "But if you do, I'm willing to listen and believe in the impossible even for a minute." He gave me a soft smile, lowering his sonic and turning to grab some things from a metal cart nearby.

He… He deserves to know… I've… I've held back long enough, haven't I? I can't keep going like this, hiding everything. Either… Either he'll help, or he'll leave me. Might even punish me, which I would deserve. As it is, I've… I've started to get attached. Any further a-and… I closed my eyes, sagging as I let out a long, shaky breath.

"I-I… I invented a time machine," I started, drawing his attention back to me and he turned to face me fully. "But the… the government had been watching me at some point. I-I don't know when. So, when I finished…"

"You're clever, Miss Hawthorne…"

"We've already taken your machine."

I wrapped my arms around myself, unable to look at the Doctor. "T-They took me a-a-and offered me a position. In my universe, we were on the brink of war and they… they wanted me to…" I swallowed thickly, feeling the Doctor's eyes on me and resisting a shiver. "They wanted me to show them how to use it to stop the war."

"Did you?"

"No!" I shouted, whipping around to him before wincing and shrinking away. "I-I mean… I-I never wanted to. I… I only lasted two months."

I choked and gagged, being yanked out of the water trough with a gasp of air.

"Help us and then all of this will stop."

A blade dragging down my back slowly, dripping blood onto the concrete floor.

"It's up to you, Miss Hawthorne."

The Doctor touched my hand and I jerked away, eyes wide and bordering a panic attack, but the sight of his calm caramel eyes helped me calm down.

"What happened?" He murmured, and I bit my lip.

"I-I… I was tortured. They w-wouldn't let me refuse… I-I'm used to pain, but that was…"

The sound of crunching bones as the pressure on my hand grew until they snapped.

"I-I-I never wanted to hurt anyone," I cried, tears falling as my shaky hands pawed at my face to try and stop them in vain. "B-But I had no choice. I-I thought if they could see, if they understood—"

"Rebecca," he muttered softly, pulling a hand from my face. "What did they do?"

"T-They changed history," I breathed. "T-They gave me a date a-and coordinates. I-I-I didn't know where or when it was. They—A-Agent Rivers, he… he killed Stalin."

The Doctor blinked then, suddenly confused. "What?"

"S-Stalin. H-He killed him. T-The man w-who was responsible for World War II."

"Becky, that was Hitler. Adolf Hitler."

Now, it was my turn to frown. "N-No. Stalin committed genocide, started World War II with Italy a-and Germany and Japan."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Oh. Oh, in your universe, history was different. In this universe, Hitler started World War II. That agent killed our equivalent of Hitler." His face paled. "Oh, no. No, no, no. He… He killed our equivalent of Hitler meaning…"

"H-He caused a-a severe ripple in time," I explained. "With Stalin dead, everything was turned upside-down. Hitler—our Hitler—h-he took over where Stalin left off. When we went back to our time… I-I didn't notice it at first, but… we were all speaking German. Germany had won World War II. W-When we were on the brink of a war with China before, we were now in the middle of World War III against Japan, Africa, Spain, and Italy. S-Space travel was set back dozens of years, technology more advanced than ever began to surface before the basic transportation. M-My universe was falling apart a-a-and it was all my fault."

"It wasn't your fault."

"Wasn't it?" I argued, looking at him with as much sincerity as possible. "I invented the time machine. I allowed them to use it. I wasn't able to stop them o-or change anything. They put me in house arrest and continued to use my time machine to mess it up more and more and more. It hurt so much. Everything w-was so wrong a-a-and…"

I brought a hand up to my head, remembering the pain I'd been in and feeling the phantom aches.

"Hold on. It hurt? Becky, are you… are you time-sensitive?" He suddenly pulled out his sonic, giving me a once over and frowning at the device. "It's impossible. You're only human. That amount of sensitivity to changes in time is beyond your capabilities."

"I-I don't know," I muttered, pulling my hand away and giving him a worried look. "I… something happened after that. I… They hadn't taken my miniature prototype. I was able to m-make a sort of haphazard replica. I-It was dangerous and… unprotected. I hadn't expected to…"

He sagged a bit, understanding. "You didn't expect to survive."

I shook my head, bowing it slightly. "I-I just wanted to last long enough to warn myself. B-Before the government found out before I finished it."

His eyes went wide. "You crossed your own timestream."

"I-I know," I whined, tugging at my hair. "It was stupid. I could have ripped an even bigger hole in the universe, in time itself, b-but I didn't know what else to do! P-People were dying because of me! I-I had to stop it! I… I had to try… but Rivers followed me."

"I'm sorry, Miss Hawthorne… But I can't let you do that."

"I warned my younger self a-and she was going to destroy it. He shot me a-and then… t-then he shot her."

"A paradox," the Doctor murmured. "He actively caused a paradox. By killing you before you finished the time machine, the time machine shouldn't have existed. You wouldn't exist."

"He could have taken the notes about how it works to the past, gotten someone else to finish the time machine," I argued. "He… He never needed me once he got me to show him how it worked."

"But if he killed you, then how did you end up here?"

I cracked a wobbly smile then, surprising him. "I-I was just too clever. I took the prototype a-and locked myself inside my original time machine. I a-actually wrote a paper about it once. What would happen if you put a time machine inside another time machine?"

The Doctor's eyes went wide in understanding and I let out a bitter chuckle.

"I-I had no idea, really. I-I had hoped it would cancel the existence of both time machines with me in it. But… B-But I think my other theory w-was more accurate. I-I think… I think that's why I can't die."

"How do you mean?" He murmured.

"I think setting off my prototype inside the time machine forced them into a never-ending loop o-of existence and non-existence. So, I-I exist here and when I die—"

"You don't exist. You get thrown back into your time machines only for their force to throw you back out again at a different time," he breathed out and I nodded.

"I-It's just a theory, b-but it's better than the others." I hesitated though, having seen his reaction to my supposed time sensitivity. "T-The thing is, I… I keep getting these headaches."

"Headaches?"

I tapped my temple. "S-Short ones. A brief flash of pain, but… but I catch glimpses of things. Events."

He frowned in thought. "How do you mean?"

I bit my lip for a moment, thinking about how to explain my theory. "I-I think… I think I'm still time-sensitive, as you said. I'm from another universe. I-I'm not meant to be in this one, so my presence alone changes things and… and when I do, I get a headache. I-I see a brief glimpse of how things were supposed to go if I weren't there. Martha was supposed to be the bait for Lazarus. You and her were supposed to share a bed back with Shakespeare. You were supposed to have had the heart attack caused by the witch. I… I keep seeing these things, how I've changed events and… and I…"

"You're scared," the Doctor said, seeing how I'd begun to quiver again and wring my hands tightly.

"I-I've already caused s-such a big mess in my universe. I-I don't want to do the same here, but I-I-I'm already changing things. H-How long before I… b-before I end up hurting someone? Creating a paradox? I-I'm responsible for a World War. A-A-All those people… I-If I do that again… I-If I cause a-another genocide, a-another war, I-I-I don't think… I-I can't… I-I—"

The Doctor got up and held me, even as I struggled in his arms.

"N-No. No! Y-You can't! Y-You c-c-can't!" I sobbed, pushing against his chest, but his arms held me tight against him. "W-W-Why? H-How can you just…I-I'm a-a terrible person! I-I k-killed people! It's a-all my fault a-and now—"

"And now, you're safe," he said calmly, breath brushing over my ear. "Oh, Rebecca. I'm so sorry."

"N-N-No," I choked. "N-No. I-I-I hurt people."

"No, you didn't. That agent hurt people. He caused that catastrophe, not you. You did your very best, Rebecca. You had only the best intentions. The world just wasn't ready for it. Just like you said."

"I-I… I c-could mess things up here."

"You won't. I promise," he murmured, holding me tight and letting out a shaky sigh of his own. "I swear."

"Y-You can't know that."

"I don't have to," he said, pulling away a bit and wiping the tears from my face. "You're a good person, Beck. I've seen it. Every second I've been with you, all I've seen is someone who's been through a lot of pain, but also someone who's smiling at new discoveries. A person who sees the joys in everyday things and works her hardest to be as happy as she can. You only try to help people, even when they've only ever been cruel to you. You're an amazing person, Becky, I don't doubt that."

"B-But the visions—"

He shrugged. "You're time-sensitive and thankfully, you're not getting those visions before things happen, or I'd have to work with you a little more on not altering events. There's no harm in knowing how something's already changed."

I couldn't believe him. "But I'm changing things! I-I could cause someone t-to—"

"It wouldn't be because of you," he argued. "Believe it or not, but one new person in the universe doesn't mean time revolves around them. Time is able to adjust to small changes. If something is different while you're around, it's because time is simply adding you into the equation. If, say, I get hurt because you were two inches to the left, causing me to be two inches to the left as well, that doesn't make it your fault. It makes it the fault of whoever hurt me, understand?" His expression softened. "You've already put so much blame on yourself, Becky. There's no need to add more."

"W-What's… What's going to happen?" I murmured, still scared about what this meant, but he smiled.

"Well, Martha's on board for good now and you need at least another day or so of rest to ensure your ribs are completely settled. After that? Who knows! Maybe I'll let you pick this time. Past or future."

I looked at him in shock. "Y-You're not going to leave me? O-Or lock me up?"

"Why would I do that?" He asked, stepping away completely and ruffling my hair as he always did. "You're of no harm to anybody, Becky. Time-sensitive, ridiculously clever, never-dying, human Becky. You and me? We're going to run like we've never run before."

And just like that, it felt like the world had finally lifted from my shoulders. Tears started to well up once more and the Doctor hastily scrambled about to try and keep me from crying, but I let out a laugh. Quite possibly the first true, happy laugh I'd made in decades, stopping him in his tracks.

"T-Thank you, Doctor. I-I just… T-Thank you."

He cracked a smile and gave me another brief hug and a kiss to the top of my head. "If anyone should be thanking anyone, I should be thanking you."

"Me? What for?"

"Well, I've got a life-long traveling buddy now. Never really had one of those before."

My heart sank, realizing what he meant as he turned away and dug around for something nearby. He's only got humans. He lives for who-knows-how-long and all this time, he's only ever had to watch them leave or die or fade away. And now… now I'm the same. It made me feel lonely, but only for a moment before I realized he was right. We had each other now, and I'd really lucked out finding him that night when I'd appeared in that alleyway.

"Oh, by the way! I found this in the console room earlier and remember you said something about a rabbit," he hummed, holding out a very familiar face that made my eyes widen.

"Mister Smith!" I gaped, taking it from him and looking it over. "It's… H-He's exactly the same. Everything! It's…"

The Doctor's hand rested on my head, drawing my gaze back up to him. "Gift from the Tardis then. How lucky is that? She must adore you."

I cracked a grin, finally feeling happy for the first time in a long while and hastily pulling the Doctor into a hug of my own.

"I can't thank you enough."

He just chuckled and pat my back. After all, this was going to be the beginning of a very long friendship.