The End of Time (2), Part 2.

"Come on!" the Doctor called through his teeth as he and the Hatter, who was using one hand to hold on tightly to a railing just behind them while helping him to pilot, sent the ship speeding at an alarming rate towards the Earth. After a moment, they hit the atmosphere, "Come on…!"

"You are blinking, flipping mad!" Addams shouted at them, gesturing angrily.

"Oh, we know!" the Hatter laughed, knowing that she really ought not to be enjoying herself, but…well, how could she not?

"You two!" the Doctor glanced around to see that Wilf and the second alien hadn't moved, "What did we say? Lasers!"

"What for?" the second alien asked, his eyes half closed against the bright golden glow coming off the atmosphere outside the window.

The Time Lady shook her head, looking over to him, "Because of those nasty things called missiles!" she yelled over all the noise, "The Master's going to be throwing everything that Earth's got at us, and we're going to have to fight it!"

The man blinked in alarm and ran off towards the laser pods, Wilf running to the second pod. The ship broke free of the atmosphere, hitting the bright blue and sunny sky of Earth as they flew further towards the ground, and skimmed across the ocean.

"We've got incoming!" Addams suddenly called to them, looking at the navigation system.

"Oi!" the Hatter shouted to Wilf and the second alien, "Open fire, right now!"

The Doctor turned the ship sharply, only just avoiding a missile, and causing the Time Lady to let off a string of Gallifreyan curse words as she almost lost her grip on the railing, "Open fire!" he repeated loudly, "Come on, Wilf!"

Finally, they began shooting there lasers at the missiles, managing to hit and destroy a few, all the while the Doctor continued to weave and duck the ship around, when things finally seemed to settled down and they levelled out.

"And there's more!" Addams announced, and the Time Lady groaned loudly, "Sixteen of them," her tone turned sarcastic, "Oh, and another sixteen!"

"Get to the rear gun lasers!" the Hatter ordered her quickly, glancing back over to her, watching as she struggled to her feet, and began running out of the room, struggling to stop herself from being tossed around.

"You two, open fire!" the Doctor shouted to the two men, sounding even more urgent, knowing that there was a storm of missiles right behind them, "Now!"

The lasers started firing again, causing several missiles to explode in mid-air as the Doctor ducked and severed the ship from side to side, just trying to avoid being hit.

"Doctor, look out!" the Time Lady called suddenly, noticing on one of the screens a missile heading towards them from the two men's blind spot.

He quickly spotted what she was talking about, growing even more determined, "No, you don't!" he turned the ship upside down in a full circle, causing the Time Lady to let out a yelp, Addams screamed from behind them before they levelled out again, giving Wilf and the second alien the chance to destroy even more missiles, ducking more violently then before, "Come on! Fire!"

They served out of the way of the last missile, and as it exploded, the force caused the entire front window of the ship to smash, sending shards of glass flying at the Time Lords as they threw themselves towards the floor, shielding their faces. The Hatter winced, her hat flying off somewhere as she felt a shard cut her left arm, but it didn't seem to be very deep, thankfully.

"Lock the navigation!" she yelled over to Addams, who had returned to her seat at the navigation controls as she straightened, her eyes half closed against the presser of the wind flying through the broken window, and the pain.

"Onto what?" Addams asked, loudly.

"England!" the Doctor replied, "The Naismith mansion!" they allowed her a few moments as they finally reached land, flying over it, "Destination?"

"Fifty klicks and closing!" she reported, "We've locked on to the house. We are going to stop, though?" she grew slightly worried when they didn't answer, there gazes fixed in front of them, "Doctor, Hatter? We are going to stop?"

Wilf stumbled onto the flight deck, "Doctor?" he called over to him as the second alien entered the room, "Doctor, you said you were going to die…!"

"He said what?" Addams demanded.

"But is that all of us?" he continued, "I won't stop you, sir, ma'am. But…is this it?"

The Hatter glanced at the Doctor, wincing again, but this time not from pain, but because of the bitter, hard look on his face before she looked over to Wilf, "Oh, you've still got a good few years left in you, Wilfred," she smiled at him, "We would never take that away from you".

The Doctor aimed the ship at the mansion, only just pulling up right before hitting it. He turned to the Hatter, who gave him a determined look, and he smiled grimly as he took her hand, running over to a hatch in the floor a short distance away from the controls. They knelt on the ground, pulling the lid off, and tossing it to the side, and he pulled out the gun with one hand still tightly in the Time Lady's. They looked up and meet Wilf's eyes, giving him a nod.

The Hatter swallowed, trying to prepare herself for what was to come, knowing that the impact, or though wouldn't kill them, certainly wouldn't be pleasant either. She glanced at the Doctor, who meet her eyes, giving him a small smile, and…they jumped through the hatch, hands still interlocked. The force of the wind and presser around them as they plummeted down towards the mansion was so strong that they almost lost their grip on each other's hands, but they somehow managed to hold on as they crashed painfully through the large glass dome in the ceiling of the mansion, landing heavily on the very hard, marble floor, right in the middle of the room.

The Time Lady gasped for breath, one side of her face pressed painfully onto the floor, arching all over as she could feel multiple cuts all over her body and face, her clothing had been torn and sliced through from the glass, and she could already feel blood beginning to trickle from the cuts and abrasions. She struggled to open her eyes to see that the Doctor was in a similar state to her, right beside her, panting for breath, but somehow, amazingly, had actually managed to keep hold of the gun.

He groaned loudly as he tried to lift the weapon, struggling to try aiming it across the room, where in the place of the Gate, surrounded by a bright white light, stood Rassilon himself with four Time Lords behind him, two of which, a man and woman, with their heads bowed and faces covered. He struggled for a moment with the gun, but he was too weak, and his hand fell limply to the floor with a clatter, gasping for breath.

"My Lord Doctor," Rassilon began as he stepped forward, watching them, his tone almost angry, "My Dame Hatter," he cast her a long look, seeming to be actually enjoying seeing them in pain as he looked across the opposite end of the room, and over to the Master, "My Lord Master," he smirked slowly, "We are gathered for the end".

The Doctor and the Hatter stared up at him in agony as they both tried to help each other to their knees, groaning and wincing with every clumsy movement they made, before finally pulling themselves up right, and leaning against one another for support, panting for breath. The Doctor cast the Hatter a worried look, swallowing painfully as he took in the bleeding cut on her lip that was trickling blood down her already bruised chin, a nasty cut ran across her left cheekbone, and her hair was completely wild looking with knots and tangles, bits of broken glass caught through it. He ran his eyes down the rest of her, taking in the tattered sleeves of her white shirt, now splattered with blood, her waistcoat was torn, though her trousers had fared better, being leather, and as had her boots.

"Listen to me," he slowly looked up at Rassilon, crying out desperately, "You can't!"

"It is a fitting paradox that our salvation comes that the hands of our most infamous child," Rassilon cut across him, looking over to the Master.

The Hatter laughed hollowly, her voice sounding strained from pain, "Oh, you think he's saving you?" she scoffed, shaking her head weakly, "Can't you see what he's doing?"

"Hey, no, hey!" the Master called over to them, putting his finger to his lips, looking slightly annoyed, "That's mine. Hush," he cast them glares before looking back to Rassilon, holding out his arms, "Look around you," he told him proudly, "I've transplanted myself into every single human being," he shrugged, "But who wants a mongrel little species like them? Because now I can transplant myself into every single Time Lord," he smirked as Rassilon inhaled deeply, "Oh, yes, Mister President, sir! Standing there all noble and resplendent and decrepit. Think how much better you're going to look as me!" he gestured to himself.

Rassilon raised his eyebrows, smiling almost mockingly as he held up his left hand, covered in a metal gauntlet that began to glow bright blue. The Master's smile vanished as the Time Lady swallowed, eyeing the glove carefully, having witnessed herself just what it could do as Rassilon opened his hand, and all around the room, the Master's copies began shaking their heads rapidly, just as they had when they had been changed.

"No, no, don't!" the Master cried, looking frantically around at them all, sounding like a child, "No, no, stop it!" he demanded at Rassilon, "No, no, no, don't!"

Rassilon simply watched on calmly as every human returned to normal, almost collapsing as their heads stopped shaking, "On your knees, mankind," he ordered the humans.

The humans stared at him, frightened as they fell to their knees.

"No, that's fine," the Master shook his head, a note of desperation entering his voice as he looked back to Rassilon, "That's good, because you said 'salvation!' I still saved you!" he pointed at him quickly, "Don't forget that!"

The entire room began shaking and a dull rumbling sound echoed around them as the Doctor and Hatter exchanged a look.

Rassilon smiled broadly as he looked up at the ceiling, "The approach begins!"

The Master looked at the Doctor and the Hatter, frowning in confusion, "Approach of what?" he asked them.

"'Somethings returning,'" the Doctor replied, glaring at him angrily through clenched teeth, "Don't you ever listen? That was the prophecy," he shook his head, "Not someone, something!"

"What is it?"

"Oh, you fool!" the Hatter almost cried with anger and frustration, "The Time Lords aren't just bringing back the species, they're bringing Gallifrey back!" she shouted at him as his eyes winded, "Here and now!"

The room shook even harder, the rumbling noise increased as they looked up at the shattered remains of the dome to see the burning red and orange planet appear in the sky above them. The humans screamed in panic and fear, running as fast as they could out of the room, all the while Rassilon watched on, still smiling. The Master fell to his knees, his face filled with victory.

"But I…I did this," he laughed, "I get the credit!" he looked to Rassilon, "I'm on your side!"

"Come on, get out of the way!" the Doctor and the Hatter looked up and over to see Wilf running into the room, pushing through the humans, "Doctor? Hatter?" he paused as he noticed them.

A man pounded frantically on the glass door of one of the radiation compartments, catching Wilf's attention, "Help me, please!" he begged desperately, "Somebody, please…"

"All right!" Wilf called, hurrying over to him, "I've got you, mate…"

The Doctor's eyes winded as all he and the Time Lady could do was watch, helplessly from the ground, "Wilf, don't…" they tried to call to him.

It was too late, Wilf opened the second compartment door and stepped through, "I've got you," he told the man, hitting the red button on his door, trapping himself inside as he released the other man, "Come on. Go on".

The Doctor and the Hatter groaned, hanging their heads weakly, the Time Lady blinking back tears as the second human man escaped.

The room shook violently as the Master glanced up at Gallifrey in the sky above them, "But this is fantastic, isn't it?" he grinned, trying to mask the fear in his voice as he looked back to Rassilon, standing slowly as he glanced at the Doctor and the Hatter, who both looked at him furiously, "The Time Lords restored!"

"You have no idea what you're even talking about!" the Hatter snapped at him, shaking with anger as his eyes widened slightly at the fury in her voice, "You weren't there to see the things that were born, and if the Time Lock's broken…" she shook her head, swallowing thickly, "Then that mean's everything's coming through, and I'm not just talking about the Daleks!"

"But the Skaro Degradations," the Doctor continued, just as angry as the Time Lady, if not more so, "The Horde of Travesties, the Nightmare Child, the Could-have been King with his army of Meanwhiles and Never-weres," his faces darkened, "The War turned into hell!"

"And all those people who died trying to fight against those beings," the Time Lady added, shaking her head as she glared at the Master, "You never asked, not once, about what happened to my sister. You might never have cared for her, not really, but you never asked," her tone turned cold with barely supressed fury, "She was killed protecting a group of children, and now look what you have done! You have allowed her murders to return, and you don't even care, do you?" she looked away from him in disgust, "The War turned into hell, and now hell is descending upon us all".

The Master, looking slightly paler then before, swallowed as he looked back to Rassilon, "My kind of world," he smirked, but he still looked startled by what they had told him.

"Just listen!" the Doctor shouted at him, "Because not even the Time Lords can't survive that!"

"We will initiate the Final Sanction," Rassilon smiled slowly, "The end of time will come at my hand," he glanced at the Doctor and the Hatter, "The rupture will continue until it rips the Time Vortex apart!"

"That's suicide!" the Master said sharply, looking at him in alarm.

"We will ascend to become creatures of consciousness alone. Free of these bodies, free of time, and cause and effect, while creation itself ceases to be".

The Doctor and the Hatter looked at the Master, raising their eyebrows, "You see now?" they questioned him, "That's what they were planning in the final days of the War," they exchanged a dark, painful look.

"And that's why I gave him the Moment," the Hatter went on, closing her eyes tightly, taking a deep breath as she remembered that night, that awful night that he came to her and told her, how he had begged her to come with him after she had given him that device, and how she had refused, making him promise her that he would find someone to be there for him. The War had been too much for her, the death of her children, and the loss of so many other's had almost destroyed her to such a point that she no longer felt like she could go on, the pain and grief was simply too much for her to bear any longer.

She had acted selfishly, she freely admitted that, and the moment that she realised what she had done, the agony she was putting the Doctor through, she had known that she needed to fix it, somehow, but it had already been too late. He had left, and it was too dangerous to try sending him a message, knowing that any form of communication was being watched…and that's when she formed the plan to escape the only way that she knew she could, by becoming human. It wasn't the most ideal escape plan, not when she couldn't be sure that the Doctor would even find her, but she hadn't had much of a choice.

Sadly, the plan hadn't gone completely right. She had thought that he could at least find her by recognising her face, but on her way to her TARDIS, she had been hit by a Dalek's laser. She hadn't even seen the shot coming, just the sound of glass smashing, and the suddenly the terrible pain in her back. Luckily, the Dalek hadn't even noticed her, and she had managed to half stagger, half crawl to her TARDIS, but the damage had already been done, and regeneration had set in. She suspected that was why she had such trouble remembering her time as a human, because she had still been regenerating when she had become human, quite honestly, she was amazed her plan had worked, let alone that the Doctor had still managed to find her, even with a brand new face.

The Doctor took the Hatter's hand, his body still feeling weak as he squeezed it gently, his thumb running across her cut knuckles. He could practically feel her guilt coming off her in waves, knowing that she was remembering that night, and even though he had spent years angry and grief-stricken, completely confused as to why she had refused to come with him, he understood now, and was simply relieved to have her back, "And I had to stop them," he finished, looking back at the Master.

"Then…" the Master swallowed, looking troubled by the information as he looked back to Rassilon, "…take me with you, Lord President," he held out his arms, "Let me ascend into glory!" he fell to his knees.

Rassilon looked at him, his face turning to a look of disgust, "You are diseased," he spat at him, and his face fell, "Albeit a disease of our own making," he shook his head, "No more," he raised his gloved hand and it began to glow, preparing to aim at the Master, when…a loud click echoed around the room.

The Doctor had pulled himself to his feet and was pointing the revolver at Rassilon, his finger on the trigger, ready to fire as the Hatter painfully pulled herself to stand beside him, swallowing hard as she looked from the Doctor, to the gun, and over to Rassilon.

"Choose your enemy well," Rassilon warned them as he paused, "We are many. The Master is but one".

"But he's the President," the Master called to them from behind them, "Kill him, and Gallifrey could be yours!"

The Doctor narrowed his eyes and whirled around, aiming his gun at the Master instead as Rassilon lowered his gloved hand. The Hatter's eyes flew back and forth from Rassilon to the Master, her mind racing.

"He's to blame, not me!" he shouted at the Doctor, his eyes widening when he sighed suddenly, realisation crossing his face, "Oh...the link is inside my head," his shoulders slumped slightly, "Kill me…the link gets broken, they go back," the Doctor's face hardened as his hand holding the gun shook slightly, and the Master's eyes narrowed at him, "You never would, you coward!" they stared at each other for a long moment and his face faulted, looking almost fearful, "Go on, then," he nodded to him, "Do it!"

For a long moment the Doctor didn't move, his finger on the trigger twitched as the Hatter shook her head, "Sweetheart, please," she quietly pleaded with him, stepping closer to him, because despite everything that the Master had done, there had once been a time when they had been friends, and she most certainly didn't want to see the Doctor kill him. She swallowed, "There has to be another way…"

Her voice seemed to snap him out of his thoughts and Doctor whirled around again, aiming the gun at Rassilon.

"Exactly!" the Master practically laughed, "It's not just me, it's him! He's the link! Kill him!"

The Time Lady sighed heavily, throwing him a dark look, "Oh, would you shut up?" she snapped at him, "Because unless you want to end up annoying me enough to shot you myself, then I suggest you be quiet".

"The final act of your life is murder," Rassilon remarked, eyeing the Doctor, "But which one of us?"

The Doctor's eyes hardened, preparing himself when he heard the Hatter suddenly gasp beside him. His eyes flew to look at her, afraid that the Master had done something to her behind his back, only to see her staring at something ahead of them. He followed her gaze and his entire face softened as he caught sight of the woman standing behind Rassilon lift her head, and uncovered her face, looking back at him with tears running down her face. His Mother.

Movement from the other side of Rassilon caught both their attention as the man uncovered his face, his eyes coming to rest on the Hatter. Unlike the woman, he wasn't crying, but the look on his face was unlike anything the Time Lady had ever seen on his face before, so sad and soft, but yet so proud.

"Father…" the Hatter breathed, her eyes filling with tears as she stared back at the man, hearing his voice whisper through her mind that he was so proud of her. Never before had her Father ever once said that he was proud of her, he hadn't even told her siblings that, and for him to be there, obviously having voted against Rassilon's plan…it was indescribable.

"Think," his voice whispered through her mind, "My cleverest, wildest child, you always did allow yourself to be distracted so easily, even as a girl. You must focus, you already know the answer, now you need only allow yourself to see it".

And then…it hit her.

"Doctor," she spun around so fast that she felt dizzy, wincing slightly as her battered body protested, but she ignored it. The Doctor immediately pulled his eyes away from his Mother, his eyes looking a little wetter than normal, and she felt a wave of guilt wash over her for having interrupted them, but she forced it away as she lowered her voice so only he could hear, "The Master's machine, if you shoot it, then the link will be broken. You don't have to kill anyone".

His eyes widened and he smiled slowly, turning back around to the Master, his gun aimed, "Get out of the way," he told him.

The Master eyed him before it hit him what he was going to do, a smile slowly spreading across his face as he dove to the side, just as the Doctor pulled the trigger, and hit the device holding the Whitepoint Star. The device exploded into flames, severing the link.

He and the Hatter turned back to face Rassilon as wind began rushing around them, "The link is broken!" they called to him as he glared at them, furious, "Back into the Time War, Rassilon! Back into hell!"

Gallifrey flickered above them, slowly being pulled back.

"You'll die with me, Doctor and Hatter!" Rassilon shouted at them, raising his gloved hand.

They exchanged a look, unflinching, "We know," they replied.

The Doctor's Mother and the Hatter's Father covered their faces, bowing their heads as Rassilon's glove began glowing…

"Get out of the way," the Master suddenly ordered calmly from behind them, rubbing his hands together.

They both spun around to look at him, their eyes widening into disbelief as they stepped back, watching on as the Master drew his arm back and fired a bolt of energy right into the middle of Rassilon's chest, sending him staggering backwards.

"You did this to me!" the Master yelled furiously at him, "All of my life!" he sent another bolt of energy into his chest with his other hand, "You made me! One!" his face flickered to a skeleton's as he shot another bolt, moving closer to Rassilon, who was sent crashing to his knees, leaning against his staff, "Two!" another bolt, "Three!" and one final blast, "Four!"

With that final bolt, he stepped right up to join Rassilon and the other Time Lords as the white light increased around them, almost blinding the Doctor and the Hatter as they narrowed their eyes against it, watching as the Master was pulled back to Gallifrey with the others, and the planet faded from above them.

…

The Doctor blinked slowly, finding himself lying on his back in the middle of the mansion, the Hatter lying right beside him, slowly blinking awake, too. She meet his eyes and smile at him as she reached out and ran a finger down the side of his cut face.

"Sweetheart, you're alive," she commented, her voice sounding softer than usual, "I thought that…" she trailed off, swallowing hard.

"I know," he nodded, his eyes lighting up as he carefully rolled onto his side, looking over towards the place that the Rassilon had been, "I'm alive," he broke into a grin, his eyes coming back to rest on her as he grabbed her gently, pulling her closer to him, and hugged each other tightly, the Doctor kissing the side of her head, hardly noticing the tangles and knots in it. Slowly, they pulled away from each other as they carefully sat up, "I've…there was…" he shook his head, his voice trembling slightly with relief, "I'm still alive!" he half laughed, half sobbed as the Hatter joined him, when…

Four knocks sounded.

They both froze as the sound of someone knocking on glass echoed through the room. The Time Lady gasped, her hand flying to her mouth in horror as the Doctor's eyes widened, knowing what that sound meant.

Another set of four knocks sounded, and another.

They swallowed and looked over to the radiation booth to see Wilf trapped inside one compartment, knocking. He paused and waved weakly to them.

"They gone, then?" he called to them, nodding when they didn't say anything, "Yeah, good-o. If you could…let me out?"

The Doctor stared at him for a long moment, nodding sadly, "Yeah…" he slowly climbed to his feet, helping the Hatter, who was blinking back tears.

"Only…this thing seems to be making a bit of noise," he continued, anxiously as he gestured around the booth as the machine hummed loudly.

The Hatter swallowed thickly, "It's…ah…" she paused, her voice trembling as she tried to compose herself, "The Master…he's left the nuclear bolt running," she informed him, stepping closer to the glass, "And now…now it's gone into overload".

"And that's bad, is it?"

"No," the Doctor shook his head, "Because all the excess radiation gets vented inside there," he gestured to the booths, "Vincocci glass contains it. All five hundred thousand rads, about to flood that thing".

"Oh," Wilf tried chuckling, "Well, you'd better let me out, then".

The Time Lady looked at him, sighing, "I'm afraid that it's gone critical, Wilf".

The Doctor nodded, "Touch one control and it floods," he added, reaching inside his pocket and pulling out his sonic screwdriver, "Even this would set it off".

"I'm sorry…"

"Sure," he murmured, slipping the sonic back inside his pocket.

"Look, just leave me," he told him.

"Okay, right then, I will," he agreed, smiling bitterly, "Because you had to go in there, didn't you?" he wondered into the middle of the room, not looking at him, "You had to go and get stuck…oh yes!" he paused, swallowing thickly as his bottom lip trembled. He turned around and looked at the Hatter, who tried to give him a comforting smile, "Because that's who you are, Wilfred," he continued grimly, "You were always this. Waiting for me all this time…" he looked down.

"No really, just leave me," Wilf held up his hands, "I'm an old man, Doctor. I've had my time".

"Well, exactly! Look at you. Not remotely important…"

"Doctor," the Hatter cut across him sharply, stepping over to him, and grabbing his hands, making him look at her, "Sweetheart, please, shouting at the world isn't going to change anything," he took a deep breath, closing his eyes tightly as she watched him sadly, "We've both known this was coming…"

"It's not fair," he opened his eyes and looked at her, his voice low, "We had just started, there's so much I can do…that we can do, and now…" he trailed off, a lump forming in his throat.

"Do you really think that this is the end? No, this is just a new chapter in a very, very long story, sweetheart. This changes nothing, it never has before, and it most certainly won't now," she took a deep breath and held out her hand, "So, come on. If we're going to do this, then we might as well do it right now…"

"No," the Doctor's eyes winded and he took a step back, staring at her as he shook his head, "If I'm going to regenerate…then I'm going to do it alone".

"Doctor…"

"Promise me, that you won't trigger your own regeneration," he pointed at her firmly, looking determined, "Promise me, Hatter, because right now the only thing keeping me going is the thought of you," she opened her mouth, looking ready to argue, "Besides…" he smiled slowly, knowing just what to say to make her agree, be it very reluctantly , "…I'm going to need someone to take care of me, and we both know how badly I handle regenerations".

The blonde opened and closed her mouth, her eyes narrowing, "Oh, very clever," she glared at him, looking annoyed, "You just had to go and use solid reasoning against me".

"I know you," he simply shrugged, knowing that she would find a way to get him back later, but he couldn't let her regenerate just because he had, he couldn't. This regeneration of hers was still new, she had years left in it, and he wouldn't let her throw all of those years away just because of him. His face turned firm, "Hatter, promise me you won't find a way to trigger your regeneration, that you won't…purposely regenerate. Please, promise me".

She huffed angrily, crossing her arms across her chest, "Oh, and you just had to go and use my own rule against me, making me promise".

"It's the only way that I can be sure," he raised a grim eyebrow at her, "You wouldn't break a dying man's promise, would you?"

Her eyes turned hard, "Really? You're going to use gallows humour?"

"You have, if I remember".

"Yes, but that's me," she sighed heavily after a moment, her eyes filling with tears as she realised that he was right. She never broke a promise if she could help it, and she certainly couldn't break a promise made to the Doctor, especially made before he regenerated…but there also wasn't anytime to argue with him, to shout at him, because Wilf was quickly running out of time. She closed her eyes, resigning herself, before opening them again, and meeting his eyes, "Okay, I promise that I won't trigger my regeneration," she reluctantly assured him.

Relief passed the Doctor's face and he grabbed her, hugging her tightly, "Thank you," he whispered in her ear, holding her tightly for a moment before drawing back, and kissing her tenderly, "I love you".

The Time Lady smiled at him sadly, "I love you, too…" she tilted her head, giving him a threatening look, "You do realise that I'm going to get you back for this, yes?"

He winced and rubbed the back of his neck, "Oh, I know," he groaned slightly, shaking his head as he looked back to Wilf, turning serious, "Live to long, anyway," he remarked quietly.

"No," Wilf called desperately through the glass, shaking his head as the Doctor walked towards the second compartment, the Time Lady right behind him, "No, no, please, please don't!" he tried, "No, don't! Please, don't! Please!"

The Doctor placed his hand on the compartment handle, meeting his eyes, "Wilfred, it's my honour," he told him, taking a deep breath, preparing himself, "Better be quick!" he opened the door and stepped inside, "Three," he pushed the red button, releasing Wilf, "Two," he came running out and joined the Time Lady, who wrapped her arm around his shoulders, struggling to hold back tears, "One…" radiation filled the compartment and the Doctor cringed painfully.

"Sweetheart!" the Hatter cried and ran to the booth, not bothering to try holding back tears as they fell down her cut cheeks, but she could do nothing but watch as the Doctor groaned loudly, sliding down one of the glass walls, and onto the floor, curling in on himself. The Time Lady placed her hand on the glass, desperately wishing she could try comforting him, sobbing quietly as he convulsed with pain.

The lights in the booth died and the humming stopped completely as the power died.

The Hatter stared at him, tears still running down her cheeks, desperate to see him move, even just a finger to twitch to know that he was okay. Slowly, painfully so, he finally moved, and his hand moved away from his head. She sighed in relief, almost feeling weak at the knees just from the force of the emotion.

"What…" Wilf breathed, looking at him as the Doctor lifted his head, and pulled himself into a sitting position, "Hello," he said to him.

The Doctor frowned, looking slightly confused, "Hi".

"Still with us?" he asked worriedly, trying to add a bit of humour to his tone.

He pulled himself up on the controls, eyeing them, "The systems dead," he remarked, "I absorbed it all," he looked out to them, "Whole thing's kaput," he reached out to touch the door, and it opened, "Oh," he sighed, "Now it opens, yeah".

The moment he stepped out, the Hatter flew into his arms, still sobbing softly as he wrapped his arms around her, "Oh, sweetheart," she whispered in his ear.

He drew back slightly, "Don't cry, Hatter," he murmured, whipping her tears away, being careful of her cuts, "I hate it when you cry".

Wilf eyed the Doctor as they turned back to him, "Well, there we are, then," he commented, "Safe and sound," he paused, looking at their faces closely, "Mind you, you're both in hell of a sate. You've got some battle scares there," the Doctor rubbed his face and eyes, pulling them down to reveal a clean, healed face. His eyes winded in shock, "But they've…your face…" he exclaimed, pointing at him, "How did you do that?"

He frowned and looked down at his hands, turning them over to see that all the cuts and bruises had vanished, "It's starting," he looked up at him, "Still…" he turned to the Hatter, who tried to step back, knowing what he was going to do, but he gently grasped her hand, allowing some of his regeneration energy to transfer across to her, healing her cuts and bruises, "There, now," he smiled at her.

The Time Lady gave him a look annoyed, "You shouldn't have done that, Doctor," she frowned at him, "Now you're going to have less time".

The Doctor lifted her healed hand to his mouth and kissed, "It's worth it, so you're not in pain".

She shook her head, glancing at Wilf, "And this is why he's a sweetheart, even when he drives me insane".

….

The Doctor and the Hatter materialised across the road from the Nobles house, and stepped outside. The Time Lady winced as she tried to run a brush through her tangled hair, struggling to unknot it, determined to have it untangled before going or seeing anyone else. They looked across at the Nobles house, spotting Sylvia standing in the doorway, smiling broadly across at them. Wilf waved to her.

"Oh, she's smiling," the Doctor remarked, catching sight of her, and wincing slightly himself, "As if today wasn't bad enough," he shook his head and turned to Wilf, who was eyeing them as if he was worried they were about to disappear, "Anyway, don't go thinking this is goodbye, Wilf".

"We'll be seeing you again, soon," the Hatter added, smiling at him before it turned into a grimace as the brush caught in a tangle.

The Doctor glanced at her, looking slightly concerned, "Do you want me to…"

"Doctor, if you're going to offer to help untangle my hair, I suggest you don't," she warned him sharply, narrowing her eyes, and he quickly held up his hands, knowing better then to push his luck anymore then he had.

"What do you mean?" Wilf asked them, looking in-between them both, "What's that?"

"Just keep looking," the Doctor told him, "We'll be there".

"Where are you going?"

He paused, glancing back at him, "To collect my reward".

They gave him a wave and stepped back inside the TARDIS, closing the door, and dematerialising.

…

The Time Lords carefully edged across a raised platform in an abounded warehouse, sneaking up behind a Sontaran, who was aiming a gun across the warehouse complex to where Martha Jones and Mickey Smith…or Martha Smith, as she was known now, were huddled together, peeking around the edge of a concrete wall with guns in their hands, completely unaware of the fact that they were looking the wrong way.

The Doctor raised a mallet in his hand and slammed it right into the probic vent, knocking the Sontaran out. The Hatter grinned and high fived the Doctor, stepping over the alien as they moved closer to the railings, watching the two humans, when Martha looked up and spotted them.

"They certainly do make a good team, don't they?" the Time Lady remarked fondly, giving Martha a little wave. She could already imagine the shocked look on her face.

The Doctor smiled broadly at her, wrapping his arm around her, "What is it with you and playing match-maker?" he raised his eyebrows at her, amused as Martha nudged Mickey's side, drawing his attention to them, "Especially considering how blind you were to my feelings for you".

She shrugged, "I have no idea, sweetheart".

"Hey!" Mickey stepped forwards, staring at them.

The Hatter waved to them again and slipped her arm through the Doctor's as they turned, heading back towards the TARDIS.

…

The Doctor and the Hatter watched as Luke Smith walked down the footpath on Bannermen Road, talking to someone on his mobile. He stepped off the curb, walking across the street, so busy talking that he didn't even look to see that a car was heading towards him. They sprang into action and sprinted across the road, the Doctor grabbing Luke around the middle, and pushing him back onto the footpath as the car's horn bleared as it drove past.

"It's you two!" Luke gasped, staring at them in shock, managing to keep hold of his phone.

The Time Lady gave him a stern look, "Always look both ways before crossing, Luke," she scolded, shaking her head, "Dear me, that could have ended very badly. I dread to think!"

The Doctor took the Hatter's hand, giving Luke a sympathetic look, knowing very well what it was like to be on the receiving end of one of her more motherly rants. He nodded to the teenager as they turned and began walking back towards the TARDIS.

"Mum!" Luke called urgently as he ran back across the street, making sure to look first as he reached his houses driveway, "Mum!"

"What?" Sarah Jane questioned as she jogged out to meet him in the driveway, "What is it?"

"It's them!" he pointed over to the Time Lords, "It's the Doctor and the Hatter!"

She looked over towards where he was pointing, her eyes widening slightly as the Time Lords paused as they reached the TARDIS, and looked back at her sadly. They gave her a little wave, both able to see her face pale, knowing exactly what must be happening, before stepping through the time machine doors.

….

Next, the Time Lords arrived in a space bar were a whole manner of alien races were gathered, but there main focus was on Captain Jack Harkness, who was sitting at the bar, drinking. The Doctor quickly grabbed a napkin and scribbled on it, before passing it to the Time Lady, who jotted something else down, before handing it to the bartender, telling him to give it to Jack.

They stepped around the side of the bar, making sure that he would be able to see them, watching as the bartended passed him the note, and nodded over towards them. Jack blinked in surprise at them and the Time Lady gave him a nod, a cheeky smile spreading across her face. He unfolded the napkin, looking at what they had written:

'His name is Alonzo'.

And underneath, in neat, loopy handwriting:

'Psychic anyone…?'

Jack's head snapped up to look at them, looking bewildered as Midshipman Frame from the Titanic sat on the barstool beside his, sitting his hat on the bar. The Time Lords nodded pointedly to the man, giving Jack a look as he glanced to the man beside him, and back to them. They lazily saluted him, the Time Lady looking as if she was holding back laughing as Jack straightened, giving them a proper salute, watching until they had walked away before turning to the man…

…

"No, it's not just a story, no," Verity Newman shook her head as the Time Lords stood behind a man who had asked if the book that she had written, 'A Journal of Impossible Things,' was real during her book signing in the middle of a bookstore.

The Hatter was somewhat surprised to discover that Nurse Joan Redfern from there time in 1913 granddaughter, shared striking similarities in looks. In fact, had she not known better, then she might have said that they were the same person.

"Every word of it's true," the woman continued to explain to her fan, "I found my Great Grandmother's diary in the loft, and she was a nurse in 1913, and she fell in love with this man called John Smith. Except, he fell in love with another woman, Ariana Hatter, and they we're from another world," she smiled almost sadly, "She fell in love with a man from the stars," she glanced down at her own book sitting in front of her, "And she wrote it all down".

She quickly signed the book before her and handed it to the man, who thanked her, and took the book, walking away. The Time Lords stepped forwards and slid a copy of the book across the table to her.

"And who's it for?" Varity asked, not looking up as she flipped the front page open, preparing to sign.

"The Doctor and the Hatter," the Doctor answered.

She nodded, "'The Doctor and the Hatter,'" she signed, "Funny, that's the name they used…" she trailed off, pausing as she slowly looked up to them, her eyes flying between them, stunned.

"Was Joan happy?" the Hatter questioned quietly, always having felt guilty for catching John's eye, and in a way for taking his attention away from Joan, "In the end, truly?"

Varity stared at them, nodding, "Yes," she replied, smiling slightly as the Hatter felt a weight lift off her shoulders, "Yes, she was," she looked at them curiously, "Were you?"

The Doctor smiled broadly and took the Hatter's hand, kissing it. They smiled at the woman and took the book, leaving the shop.

….

The Time Lords smiled somewhat sadly as they stood outside the gates of a church in front of the TARDIS, watching as Donna laughed with her friends and family, having just stepped outside the church after her marriage ceremony. She looked so happy and carefree as she posed for photos, happily chatting away to her guests. They had wished that they could have snuck inside to watch the ceremony themselves, even if it was only from the shadows, but the Doctor's regeneration was coming closer, and closer, and there simply wasn't enough time, not when they still had one last stop to make.

The Hatter grinned, her arm linked through the Doctor's as she noticed Minnie throw confetti over Wilf's head as they stood off to the side with Sylvia, who was laughing at her Father's face, when she looked over towards them and froze, her eyes widening as Minnie walked away. She quickly nudged Wilf's side, drawing his attention to them, and began making their way over to them.

"And here you are, eh?" Wilf remarked cheerfully as they reached them, smiling at them, "Same old face, didn't I tell you you'd be all right?" he nodded at the Doctor, "Oh! They've arrested Mister Naismith," he informed them, "It was on the news. 'Crimes undisclosed'. And his daughter. Both of them, locked up," he frowned slightly, looking at them curiously, "But I keep thinking, there's one thing you two never told me. That man and woman. Who were they?"

The Time Lady's smile faded slightly as she glanced at the Doctor, "That man…he was my Father," she replied quietly, looking back to Wilf, who blinked in surprise. She nodded sadly, "We never did have a close relationship. I've spent my entire life thinking that we had nothing in common, and it turns out I was wrong," she looked down at the ground, feeling her eyes prickling with tears, "We were far more alike than I ever thought".

He stared at her, looking shocked, "And that woman…?"

The Doctor cleared his throat, glancing over to Donna, who was busy chatting to another young woman, "We just wanted to give you this," he looked back to them, reaching inside his pocket and withdrew a small envelope, handing it to Wilf, "Wedding present," he smiled slightly, "Thing is, we never carry money, so we just popped back in time, borrow a few quid off a really lovely man…"

"Geoffrey Noble," the Hatter cut in, giving Sylvia a soft smile as she gasped, her hand flying to her mouth, "'Have it,' he told us," she continued as the other woman's eyes filled with tears, "'Have that on me'".

They watched as Wilf and Sylvia said there goodbye's to them and walked back up to the church, handing Donna the envelope. She opened it and seemed to frown at their present, a lottery ticket, before shrugging and tucking it down the front of her wedding dress, making the Time Lady laughed again, before marching off, calling to her new husband. Wilf and Sylvia exchanged wide eyed looks, barely containing there excitement as they looked back over to them. Wilf saluted them, looking close to tears as the Time Lords simply nodded, and stepped inside the TARDIS.

…

"Are you sure about this, sweetheart?" the Hatter asked gently as they stood in the shadows of an alleyway on the snowy Powell estate. She cast the Doctor a worried look in the dim light as she had her arm wrapped around his waist in an attempt to help supporting him as he leaned most of his weight against the side of a wall, "You don't have long".

He grimaced as he inhaled sharply, "Just need a minute," he muttered, trying to hold back the pain that was spreading throughout his entire body, growing stronger and harder to control, "I've managed to say goodbye to almost everyone…"

She sighed heavily, hating to see him in so much pain, but nodded, "I understand".

A moment past and he glanced at her, "I never understood something," he commented.

"And that's something new?"

Despite the pain the Doctor laughed, "See what I mean about teasing?" he shook his head fondly, "Anyway, what I've never understood was why you didn't say anything to me about Rose, about the way she treated you?"

The Time Lady gave him a long look, "I didn't want to cause a fight between you two," she eventually replied, "And you know me, I've always preferred to handle those sorts of things on my own".

He went to open his mouth when a voice cut him off, "I'm late now, I've missed it," Rose Tyler's voice drifted to them as they could hear her and another set of footsteps approaching, sounding annoyed, "It's midnight. Mickey's going to be calling me everything, this all your fault".

"No, it's not!" Jackie Tyler argued, "It's Jimbo. He said he was going to give us a lift, then he said his axle broke. I can't help it".

"Get rid of him, Mum. He's useless!"

"Listen to you, with a mechanic!" her voice turned sad, "Be fair, though. In my time of life I'm not going to do much better".

"Don't be like that," Rose sighed as they came to a stop just before the alleyway, giving the Time Lords a chance to see them as she rubbed her Mother's shoulder, "You never know, there could be someone out there".

Jackie shrugged, "Maybe…one day," she tried to sound hopeful, her face brightening, "Happy New Year!" she smiled broadly.

"Happy New Year!" Rose grinned, hugging her, "Don't stay out all night!" she told her as they pulled apart.

"Try and stop me!" she shot her a look as she walked away.

Rose crossed her arms across her chest, trying to keep warm as she began walking over towards her flats stairwell as the Hatter let go of the Doctor and stepped further back into the shadows, knowing that it was important for the Doctor to say goodbye to Rose by himself, but as he stepped forwards, he groaned in pain, slipping slightly down the wall.

Rose turned around, looking surprised, "You all right, mate?" she asked, sounding concerned.

The Doctor quickly straightened, "Yeah".

"Too much to drink?"

"Something like that".

She eyed him, "Maybe it's time you go home," she suggested.

"Yeah…" he agreed.

"Anyway…happy New Year!" she told him cheerfully.

"And you!" he grinned as she turned, heading towards the stairwell again, "What year is it?" he called after her.

She turned back to look at him, her eyes widening, "Blimey, how much have you had?" she laughed and he shrugged slightly, "2005, January the first," she informed him in a clear, slow voice.

"2005," the Doctor repeated, nodding, "Tell you what…I bet you're going to have a great year," he smiled at her.

"Yeah?' she raised her eyebrows, looking amused, "See ya!" she shot him a grin and ran over to the stairwell, opening the door, and looking back at him over her shoulder, before stepping through, and hurrying up the stairs.

The moment she was out of sight, the Hatter ran forward and wrapped her arm around the Doctor, just as he grunted painfully, leaning heavily against her as he placed a hand on the wall, "Shh, it's okay," she breathed soothingly to him, kissing the side of his head, "We can do this. Come on, let's get you to the TARDIS".

He was breathing heavily as they half staggered out of the alley, one hand on the wall for extra support, but soon enough he was forced to let go and lean on the Hatter as they struggled across to the other side of the complex to where they had parked the TARDIS. He winced in pain, grimacing as the Hatter continued muttering soothing words to him, just trying to keep him going, when his knees suddenly gave out and he collapsed onto the snow covered ground with a loud cry, taking her down with him.

The Time Lady, ignoring the pain that the fall had caused to her own body, immediately pulled herself up right, her eyes fixed on the Doctor as she pulled him closer to her, gently rocking him as he groaned in pain, "Just a little bit further, sweetheart," she murmured to him, her voice breaking slightly as she felt tears burning the corners of her eyes, "Just a few more steps…" she trailed off as she looked up to see Ood Sigma standing a short distance away.

The Ood raised his communication orb and it lit up, "We will sing to you, Doctor," he told them, his voice calm as the Doctor lifted his head to look at him, "The Universe will sing you to your sleep".

The Doctor took a deep breath and forced himself back to his feet, leaning against the Hatter again as they staggered determinedly over to the TARDIS as the sound of the Ood singing sounded in their heads.

"This story is ending, but the story never ends," Sigma said as they reached the doors.

The Hatter unlocked the doors and threw them open as they stepped inside. She helped him up the ramp, pulling his coat off as he tossed it over the Y-beam, before glancing down at his right hand and it glowed with golden, yellow regeneration energy. He swallowed and looked up at the Hatter, who tried to give him a comforting smile as tears began falling down her cheeks.

"Everything is going to be okay, Doctor," she assured him gently, "I'll be right here the entire time, you won't be alone for a second, understand?"

He closed his eyes tightly before opening them, his voice trembling, "I'm…I'm afraid".

"Oh, Doctor," she burst fully into tears and threw her arms around, him hugging him tightly as she felt him shaking. They simply stood there for a moment, holding each other until the Doctor pulled back, and stepped over to the controls. She watched as he hit a lever, sending them off into space.

He stared at the Time Rotor, watching as it went up and down before moving back around the console, coming to stand in front of the Time Lady, his eyes filled with tears, "I don't want to go," he whispered to her, sounding heartbroken.

She swallowed a sob, almost shaking as he badly as he was, "I'll be right here," she forced her voice to sound strong as she tried to smile through the tears, "I will see you on the other side, sweetheart".

The regeneration energy began swirling around his face, growing brighter and brighter as the Time Lady took a step back, preparing herself, knowing that because of how long he put it off, it was going to be violent. He took deep breaths and looked down at his right hand and then to the other to see that they were both glowing. He looked back at her, when he suddenly threw his head back, and the energy poured out of him.

Just as the Time Lady had expected, the energy shot out so violently that it exploded the windows on the doors and caused the console to spark violently, fires shot up everywhere as the Hatter jumped back, covering her head with her arms as debris began raining down, and the beams all around the room began collapsing, one just missing the Hatter, who threw herself to the floor.

She winced as she could hear the Doctor shouting in pain, when his voice suddenly changed, and the regeneration cut off. She quickly lifted her head to find herself looking the Doctor…well, the new him, anyway. He looked slightly shorter than his previous self, around 5'11, but looked even more gangly, not to mention younger, appearing to be in his mid-twenties, with thick, dark brown hair that had a quiff to it, his features seemed softer then before with a large chin that she just knew she was going to enjoy teasing him about.

"Legs!" the Doctor cheered almost at once as he looked down at himself, examining his new body, "I've still got legs!" he grabbed his leg and kissed his knee, "Good!" he dropped his leg and began patting his chest, "Arms!" he quickly found his hands, holding them close to his face, "Hands! Ooh, fingers!" he wiggled them excitedly, "Lots of fingers!" he moved up to his face, checking the side of his head, "Ears, yes!" he pressed his fingers to his eyes, "Eyes, two!" down to his nose, "Nose…" he seemed to frown slightly at its size, "…I've had worse. Chin…" he felt his chin, his eyes widening slightly, "Blimey!"

The Hatter pulled herself to her feet, brushing dust from down her front as she stepped in front of him, grinning up at him as he immediately focused on her. Standing in front of him she could see that his eyes were now green, "Oh, dear," she sighed mockingly, "You're still taller than me, this is very unfair".

"Hatter!" he cried joyfully and grabbed her, pulling her into a tight hug, before taking her by surprise, and kissing her, before jolting back, "No, no, no," he shook his head quickly as she blinked at him, "That, much more of that, later," he seemed to lightly scold himself, "First, am I ginger?"

She laughed slightly and ruffled his dark hair, "I'm afraid not, sweetheart," she replied and his face fell, "It's brown, darker than before, if anything, but it is a little longer," she raised her eyebrows at him, "What is it with you and wanting to be ginger…well, I suppose I'm the same with wanting an olive skin tone," she titled her head, "It would certainly be a nice change from always being so pale".

The Doctor frowned slowly as he began shifting around the spot, "There's something else, something important, we're, we're, we're…" he began tapping the side of his head when something banged loudly, jolting them as he automatically grabbed the Hatter, pulling her closer.

"Crashing!" the Hatter groaned loudly, pulling away from his arms, and dashing over to the controls, grimacing as she took in the mess they were in.

He, on the other hand, grinned and ran around the other side, looking across to her as they plummeted towards the Earth, "Geronimo!"

The next story is called 'Here We Go Again,' which is taken from a quote said by the Brigadier when the Third Doctor regenerated, so I thought it was appropriate…and I kind of ran out of ways to put 'Time Lady' into a story title. So, keep an eye out because I'll be posting the next story in a few hours.

Aww, goodbye Ten, but…hello Eleven! I wasn't planning to post this quite so soon, but you guys have just been so brilliant, plus, I'm very excited for Eleven. Anyway, we finally got a glimpse of how the Hatter ended up as a human on Earth, a bit of family history, and her dad made an appearance. I've always seen her father as being the parent who actually did care for his children, but was just so focused on his work that he didn't have time for them, while her mother acted like she did because she thought it was how she was supposed to, when she really didn't care very much at all.

Tell me what you thought, please review :)

Guest reviews:

Guest: I've always liked The End of Time, too…though, not so much Ten's regeneration. Ooh, season five is going to be very fun and interesting, I especially can't wait for The Lodger, since I can just see that turning into very fluffy filled chapters. Thanks for the review :)