Last chapter everyone! I'm not as happy with it as I would like (but then again I never really am). Thank you to everyone for sticking with me through the end, your reviews and comments have meant so much to me. I hope you like your ending!

Time seemed to freeze. Cora's eyes widened as she leaned over the bannister, reaching over it for Mrs. Hughes. As if she could have done anything from her position. Robert shouted after her a moment after Carson before turning away, his face now one of pain and confusion. Robert looked up at Cora then, and there were tears in Cora's eyes, making Robert's face blur together. The rope gave a mighty yank from the other end again, and Cora fell backwards on her butt landing in the doorway of the master bedroom.

Robert climbed over the banister a moment later, clambering over to Cora and wrapping his arms tightly around her. She buried her face in his neck and started to sob, huge gut wrenching tears. Whether they were for Mrs. Hughes, Carson, her and Robert, or exhaustion she didn't know. The rope gave another yank and she gasped and cried out as she was pulled off of her feet again. Robert caught her.

"What do we do?" She gasped out, clinging to Robert again. "What do we do?"

"We can't leave her," Robert replied, a defeated tone in his voice.

"What if she's dead?!" Cora cried, another sob escaping her. "What if he killed her?!"

"What if she's not?" Cora and Robert turned to see Carson standing in the doorway. He was hunched over slightly, as if he was bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"Carson…" Robert started.

"Don't. M'Lord." Cora had never heard Carson speak so crisply to her husband before. Robert opened his mouth and closed it again, surprised at Carson's unaccustomed rudeness.

But when Robert walked over to Carson, he didn't see anger or defiance. He saw weariness and determination.

"You CAN'T," Robert's voice cracked. "You don't know where to look, how long you'll be gone…"

"I have to try," Carson responded. The rope pulled again and Cora turned around and yanked it one time. The tugging ceased.

"But what if you…" Robert tried and he stopped, overcome with emotion.

Carson looked at his boss and tears filled his own eyes, despite his will to keep them away.

"What if you don't come back? What if you lose your life? I could never live with myself."

"M'Lord…this is my decision," Carson responded. "You should not feel responsible."

"You are one of my oldest and dearest friends, Carson. How could I not?" Robert almost looked offended. Carson put his hand on his employer's shoulder. "This is something I have to do."

"Are you sure?"

"I can't live without her."

Robert looked into Carson's eyes and saw truth. He turned around to look at Cora who smiled back at him lovingly.

"We will try to help from the other side," Robert said, sniffing quickly to hide his emotion. "Godspeed, my good man. Make sure you come back the way we came."

Carson nodded as he untied the rope from his waist.

"Carson?" He looked up at Cora who crossed the room. She kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you for everything."

He smiled before turning around and walking out of the room.

"Are we ever going to see them again?" Cora whispered.

"I think so," Robert replied. He took his wife's hand and they stepped together into the portal.

DA

Carson could not let himself admit fear. If he did, he would lose his cool. He stopped at the bottom of the steps, and looked up. He felt a strange tugging sensation in his chest briefly before it disappeared. He knew they'd gotten home. He couldn't help but feel his chest swell with pride. If nothing else, he had reunited Lord and Lady Grantham. And that was enough to keep him going.

Where the man went with Mrs. Hughes or where to look, he didn't know. He took a seat at the bottom of the steps and decided to wait. After all, he had all the time in the world.

DA

Robert opened his eyes and sat up, his wife sitting up quickly beside him. They looked up to see Mary, Edith, and half of the household staff standing over them.

"Papa!" Mary shrieked, diving into his arms, much like she did as a small child. He clutched her tightly to him. "You made it back!" She pulled away and touched his face. "We were all so worried."

Cora was getting to her feet and turned to a man that Robert didn't recognize. "There was…there was this man…and he grabbed her…Carson went back…and he doesn't know where to look…" she was gasping the story out. The man took a step to the side and looked down at Carson and Mrs. Hughes' lifeless bodies before looking up at Cora again.

"Who is this?" Robert asked suspiciously

"It's the Doctor," Cora replied simply before turning back around and facing the Doctor. "A man. There was a MAN and he came from nowhere and grabbed Mrs. Hughes and took her with him and Mr. Carson has gone after her."

"What did he say?!" The Doctor grabbed her by the shoulders.

"I…I don't…." Cora pulled back suddenly looking confused. She turned to Robert.

"Something about promises and going home? He wanted to come back with us," Robert responded shrugging slightly.

"Shit," The Doctor said and he started pacing.

"What is it?"

"Time warg," he replied, rubbing at the stubble on his chin. "He's gonna want to come here…we will have to trick him…he can't possibly…"

Cora let out an exasperated sigh and faced her husband, gesturing to the Doctor.

Robert walked over to the Doctor and grabbed him firmly, shaking him slightly. "What…is…a…time…warg?"

"Would you…" he wrenched his arm from Robert's grasp. "They're like parasites; they latch onto your mind and don't let go!"

"But how can you get him away from her?!" Cora interjected.

"You have to trick them," the Doctor conceded.

"Trick them?" Robert asked. "Trick them into letting go?"

The Doctor nodded solemnly.

Cora and Robert exchanged a glance.

"Is there any way to kill them?" Cora inquired.

The Doctor shook his head. "We have to hope that Mr. Carson…that Mr. Carson is able to bring her back."

Cora looked over at Robert again. He saw something in her eyes he didn't recognize. Regret? Shame? He wasn's sure. He reached for her hand but she had already turned around and kneeled next to Carson. She took Carson's hand in her own.

"You've always been one of the bravest men I've ever known," she said quietly. "You helped bring me home. Please. Please bring Mrs. Hughes home too."

Robert kneeled next to his wife and placed his hand over hers.

DA

Carson stared up at the ceiling in the foyer. He had never noticed the intricate designs before. He'd been living in this house for thirty years and he had never noticed that tiny little detail. He sighed and lowered his gaze resting his head in his hands.

A person could go mad in a place like this, he thought to himself. He went to stand up when he suddenly felt a strange tingling in his right hand. Frowning, he looked down at it. A moment later, the sensation grew more powerful. It spread a warmth through his body that he had never felt before. As if someone had lit a fire in his stomach.

He stood up purposefully. "I'm going to take you back with us," he announced to the hallway. The brusque stern tone was back in his voice.

"Oh, I thought you'd never ask."

Carson jumped at the voice and turned to see the man standing by the door at the library. He was leaning against it, picking at his teeth with a toothpick nonchalantly.

"Where is she?" He growled.

"I'll bring her with me," he shrugged.

"We aren't going anywhere unless you let me speak with her." The sensation suddenly left Carson's hand and he felt a coldness seize ahold of him. The time warg noticed the change and frowned slightly. "You were just…" he started.

"Mr. Carson?" Elsie peered around the man's shoulder hesitantly, before taking a step out from the library. The time warg made a sudden movement forward and then stopped, letting Elsie past.

"What are you DOING here?" She emphasized as she crossed the foyer and stopped next to him by the master steps. She looked angry.

"I couldn't just LEAVE you with that…"

"Where are Lord and Lady Grantham?!" She interrupted, her face suddenly stricken.

"They made it back, they made it back," Carson reassured her. "It's just me. I wouldn't let them stay."

"You shouldn't have stayed either! You could die down here!"

"So could you!" Carson growled his voice reverberating around the walls. The time warg yawned and looked around the room, clearly bored.

"We are getting out of here," Carson whispered. "I'm taking him with us and we…"

"No you can't!" Elsie cried.

"What other choice do we have!?" He whispered harshly.

"You could have just left me here and saved yourself!"

There was a pause and Carson took a step back. "Do you really value my life that much more than your own?"

Unbidden, tears welled in Elsie's eyes and spilled over. Carson, shocked, at her reaction gaped like a fish. Mrs. Hughes covered her face with her hands, miserably.

"Mrs. Hughes, I…" he took a step forward and stopped again, the tingling returning to his hand. He gasped and held his hand up in front of him, but it still didn't look any different. Hearing his exclamation, Mrs. Hughes picked up her tear-streaked face from her hands and looked at Carson.

"You're…you're…" she frowned slightly. "Mr. Carson you are glowing!"

"What?" He asked her, looking down at his hand again. "I just….it's my hand!" He exclaimed thrusting it towards her face.

Mrs. Hughes reached forward and touched his hand.

"Did you see that?!" Cora exclaimed, turning to Robert. "Did you see her move?"

"Cora, darling, I didn't see anything," Robert sighed. "You are just imagining things…"

"No, I know what I saw!" Cora cried. "Her hand twitched."

"Now you're saying that they BOTH moved? Look…" Robert removed his hand from Cora's.

Carson and Mrs. Hughes locked eyes. Hers were wide and frightened, his full of relief. He closed them briefly and opened them again. Mrs. Hughes looked down at her hand touching his and then let go.

"No, no!" Carson reached forwards and took her hand in his.

"Mr. Carson, what are you…" she started.

"Did you just see that?"

"See what?" She was lying to him, he knew it.

"We share some sort of connection with Lord and Lady Grantham now," Carson responded, gazing down at his hand in wonder. "If we just…"

"Oh a connection is it?" The warg had appeared out of nowhere. Elsie jumped slightly as he stood by her shoulder.

"Yes." Carson squared his shoulders proudly.

He laughed. "Alright, whatever. Now are we going to go or what? I'm getting very impatient here."

Carson turned back to Mrs. Hughes. "Do you trust me?"

She looked at him for a moment. "What do you mean, do I trust…?!"

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course," she responded simply.

"Then hold my hand, and don't let go, no matter what."

"But what if we…" she interrupted, her voice rising in fear.

"No matter what," he finished.

She looked at him for another minute before nodding again. She took his hand.

"I felt it that time! I saw them!" Robert exclaimed.

"No, no don't let go!" Cora yelled back at him.

They turned to look at the Doctor who looked positively astonished.

"What is going on?" Mary's voice resounded in their ears.

"I can see them," Cora smiled through her tears. "I can see them, they are…they are ok!"

"Can you tell them what to do?" The Doctor kneeled next to Cora and Robert. "Can you tell them how to get out of there?"

"I'm not sure," Robert answered, looking over at his wife.

"We have to try," Cora's voice took on a tone of grim determination. "No matter what, we have to try."

"The time warg is attached to Mrs. Hughes. Carson has to offer something up in return to trick him into letting her go."

"We should bait him," Robert responded confidently.

"Yes, and then once he's let her go we pull you all back at once."

"But how will she know when he's let go?"

The connection suddenly broke. The warg had wrenched Mrs. Hughes' hand free from Carson. "That's enough hand-holding we…"

"I seem to recall agreeing to take you back only if you leave her alone." Carson's voice was ice.

He eyed Carson suspiciously for a moment before letting her go. Carson took her hand again, nothing.

He looked at Mrs. Hughes, his face questioning, but she merely bit her lip and shook her head. She still looked frightened and Carson wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and tell her how much he….

"Can we PLEASE go?" The warg interrupted again. "When my impatience runs out…."

"Yes, yes of course. Mr. Carson, I believe that you know the way back." Mrs. Hughes gestured towards the steps. He nodded before leading her up the steps, followed closely by the warg. They got to the top, he reached the front of the bedroom door and paused for a moment. Taking a deep breath, he continued into the bedroom.

He stopped in front of the time portal, placing his foot on it gingerly. His foot disappeared momentarily before he pulled it back.

"On three, alright? One….two….three." Mrs. Hughes followed Carson onto the portal. She took his other hand in hers, gripping them tightly. She squeezed her eyes shut. Carson leaned forwards and rested his forehead on hers as the familiar sucking feeling beneath their feet took over.

DA

Just when Robert was beginning to lose hope, he felt a surge in his gut. And he knew. He looked over at the spot beside the bed and a moment later, Carson and Mrs. Hughes materialized, the warg in tow. He grinned like a wolf descending on a flock of sheep. But his smile quickly disappeared.

"What is this?" He asked, his voice rising in anger. He glanced around the master bedroom, taking in the frozen bodies of the Downton staff and the Doctor.

"Your Lordship!" Elsie went to walk over to Robert but Carson gripped her hand harder. Remembering at the last second, she took a step backwards.

Carson exchanged a knowing glance with his employer.

Robert was standing awkwardly next to a small machine, his back up against it. It almost looked like Robert was holding someone's hand, but Carson thought maybe that was just an illusion.

"What is going on?" the warg asked again, a note of fear in his voice. "Why are you here?"

"Because I am taking her place," Robert responded. "You are going to let her go and I will take you home."

Carson and Mrs. Hughes exchanged a quick, harried glance before calming when they saw the look on Robert's face.

"And what would be in it for me to take you instead?" It raised an eyebrow and crossed its arms.

Robert shrugged. "Nothing. But then again, there is nothing in it for me either. I'm doing something selfless, have you ever heard of the word before?"

"I'm not quite sure that insulting him…" Carson started but the warg just laughed. "You're a bold one."

"Well, do we have a deal or not?" Robert asked, his face still calm and stony.

He stared at Robert for another moment before nodding slowly. Robert gestured to Carson and Mrs. Hughes who walked gingerly towards Robert as if worried that he might fall over.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Carson whispered to Robert.

Robert didn't respond, he merely continued to stare at the warg intently.

"Your Lordship?" Elsie asked desperately. Suddenly she felt as if a weight lifted off her shoulders. She lurched forward slightly. "Oh my goodness." She put her other hand to her feet. "I feel as if someone…"

She was interrupted, however, because in that brief moment, Robert had taken ahold of Carson's hand.

Elsie gasped and gripped Carson's hand tighter as she felt the world around her picking up and spinning. She felt as if she was on one of those carnival rides, except much worse.

She tried to close her eyes but images were flashing through her mind at the speed of light. She saw a young Dowager Countess holding the hand of a little boy with bright blue eyes, Cora Levinson twirling around on a dance floor, a wedding, Charles Carson dancing on stage with a man she didn't recognize, Cora holding a baby in her arms, Lord and Lady Grantham sobbing over Lady Sybil's lifeless body, Carson singing in his pantry while shining the silver….

And that's when she felt the tug on her arm, she chanced a glance backwards to see the warg grabbing onto her hand. She desperately attempted to shake it off, but images continued to flow unbidden through her mind…..a nightly stroll, Robert scolding a young girl with bouncy golden curls, Cora discussing something with O'Brien…

"Do you ever wish you'd gone another way? Worked in a shop or factory? Had a wife and children?"

"Do you?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Sometimes."

Mrs. Hughes looked up at Carson. He was already looking at her, his eyes glistening.

She started to let go of his hand and she felt the spinning start to slow. She turned to look at the warg as it grinned up at her, devilishly. It started to let go of her hand as well, thinking she was slipping.

She reached back up and gripped Carson's hand tighter. The warg lost its grip, screaming as the spinning suddenly picked up speed again. And then everything went black.

DA

Carson opened his eyes. He was lying in Lord and Lady Grantham's master bedroom. He sat up quickly and noticed Lady Grantham stirring beside him.

"Your Ladyship?" Carson asked, confused. "Are you…alright?"

"Yes, I'm…I'm quite alright Carson thank you," she smiled a bit as she sat up gingerly. "What are you…" she stopped and then gasped realization dawning on her.

"We…we were" she grabbed Carson then and hugged him fiercely.

Carson pulled out of the hug. "How did you know…?"

Cora held his hand briefly. "A connection. We share some sort of connection now." She smiled at him.

Carson looked on the other side of Cora to see Robert sitting up as well, and Mrs. Hughes on the end.

Carson half crawled over to her, grimacing at the sudden pain in his knees. He felt one hundred years old. "Is it here, does it have you are you…?"

"I'm FINE" she said, exasperated. "It fell away. We were spinning and I…"

"There is something I've been trying to say to you" he interrupted firmly.

"Mr. Carson…" she warned, looking around. But no one seemed to be watching them.

"My answer is yes."

"I told you that we shouldn't…what?" She paused, looking up at him. Confused, she opened her mouth and then closed it again.

"My answer is yes. I do wish I'd gone another way. With you."

Tears filled her eyes again and she attempted to wipe them away on her sleeve. "Don't tell me you are growing soft on me now, Mr. Carson," she half choked out, half laughed.

"I think about you night and day. I worry about you when you're gone, and my favorite part of the day is saying goodnight to you. And in the future, in the woods…when I thought that you had died…"

"I love you, Charles Carson," she blurted. She put a hand over her mouth and then started laughing. Big guffaws that made her bend over double. She took a deep breath and lifted her head back up.

Carson took her chin in his hand, leaned forward, and planted a gentle kiss on her lips. It was quick, and when he pulled away, she looked utterly shocked. A beautiful pink color began to creep up her neck and to her cheeks, and her entire face was suddenly red. And then she was beaming, taking his big hands in her own.

Cora snuck a glance across the room before turning back to face Robert. She bit her lip and grinned at him before leaning in and hugging him to her. "Have I told you how much I love you?" She whispered against him.

He pulled out of the hug and caressed her cheek with the back of his knuckles. "I love you more than life itself," he breathed before kissing her gently on the nose.

"Doctor what happened? How could we see one another?" Elsie had stood up and walked over to him, as he muttered to himself and threw pieces of the time machine into a container.

"You could see us too?" Robert asked them, shocked.

"It only happened when we all held hands," Cora responded.

"Sometimes…when people time travel together…especially when people bring each other along…" he paused looked down at a screwdriver and placed it carefully into his pocket. "They develop some sort of mental connection with one another. It's very strange." He eyeballed another piece of a machine before shrugging it and throwing it into the container.

"Why?" Carson asked.

"When your minds and bodies are separated, sometimes, they can become intertwined in some ways. In this case, you all have a piece of each other now."

"Will we always have this connection?" Mrs. Hughes asked hesitantly.

"Well. Yes." He smiled and closed the container with a little bang. "And I have to go."

"Already? But how can we ever repay you for helping us?" Cora breathed. "Surely we can pay you or…?"

"No payment required, ma'am." He nodded. "Just saving the universe."

They all exchanged a confused glance with one another. He smiled again mysteriously before turning to leave the room. "Perhaps we will meet again."

Cora looked over at her husband. Robert shrugged and then smiled, taking her hand in his own. He looked over at Carson, taking his hand too. Carson gripped Mrs. Hughes' on the end.

And they knew that everything would be alright. Because they were together. They were home.