The Master had never worked so fast in his life. The books didn't specify how long it took for someone to die of the Vortex poisoning, but he'd already been sick over a week. And with the Doctor's strength and life force draining so quickly, he knew he didn't have as much time as he would have hoped for. There was a tap at the door, and he briefly looked up to see Clara holding a tray with a sandwich and tea.

"I know it's not much, but it's the only edible thing I can make." She said apologetically, setting it on the floor beside him.

"Thank you." He said, grabbing half of the sandwich and taking a bite, his other hand still rapidly typing. Clara stood there, watching in amazement as he tampered with the TARDIS with a skill that could only be that of a true master.

Days passed, days that the Doctor did not have to waste. River did not leave his side, and Clara did everything she could, helping the Master on occasion. She was passing the Master his tools when they heard River cry for help. They immediately dropped everything and ran, the worst thought at the front of their minds.

When they reached the room, they found the Doctor violently seizing in his bed. River stood beside him, crying, terrified. "It's okay, he'll be okay." The Master promised, not having the slightest idea whether or not that was true. He grabbed the Doctor's wrist, trying to keep him from hurting himself. The heat was unbelievable, literally burning his hand. He ripped the blankets off of him without hesitation. "We have to get his fever down. Now, ice! As much of it as you can get, quickly!" River and Clara ran out, and within the minute they returned with several large bags of ice and they began to wrap large chunks of it with rags, placing it all around his body. Once his body temperature began to cool, the seizing ended. He lay still, his breathing rapid and labored.

"We're running out of time. I have to keep working." He left without another word, his mind dragging him into another flashback.

"What do you think dying is like, Karion?" Amias sat up in his hospital bed, staring out the window.

"I don't like to talk about those things, Amias." Karion said uncomfortably. This was the first day they'd allowed him to see his friend, because he'd finally awoken.

"Don't you ever wonder?"

"Not really."

"I thought I was going to die. What would you have done if I'd died?"

"You didn't die."

"Yes, but what if I did?"

"I would have been sad."

"How sad?"

"Very sad."

Time went on, and it looked like Amias was getting better, but they said his brain was still injured. Karion went to see him every day. One day, they were sitting there, talking as usual, when Amias's face suddenly went blank. His eyes were hollow and wide, and it seemed as if the world had slowed as he fell back against his pillow, unresponsive. "Amias? Amias?! AMIAS!" Nurses came swarming in, pushing Karion back, away from his friend. Machines were everywhere. Amias lie still, he seemed dead.

After being reassured that everything would be fine, they sent Karion home. His father explained to him that Amias's brain was so badly damaged that he might not ever be the same, that he might never be healthy again. He might have to be in the hospital a lot, and take special medicine forever. And that was only if he lived. "No." Karion said to his father. "That won't happen. I won't let that happen."

"Some things cannot be fixed, even by a Time Lord, Karion."

"I won't let him die, Father!"

The next day, they allowed Karion to see Amias. He was very weak once again, unable to sit up. Karion entered quietly, taking his usual seat without saying a word. "I think I'm dying, Karion." The young boy said. Karion stood, moving closer.

"No, you're okay. They're gonna fix you up and you're going to be okay." Amias reached out his hand, and Karion took it, a shimmering film of tears blurring his eyesight.

"Know that you don't have to be what they tell you to be. You can go on adventures, Karion. Please do that. Even if I don't die, I want you to know these things." Karion wiped his eyes. "Don't be sad. No matter what, always remember that the only person you need to be, is the person you are…" He let go of Karion's hand to place his own over his friend's heart. "here."

In the end, Amias made it. He pulled through, more than anyone thought he would. No extra hospital stays, no special medication. He got better, but by the time he did, the Master and the Doctor were already taking the place of the two young boys, the best friends who had once dreamed of traveling the universe together.

The Master found himself once again in the TARDIS console room, fighting against the clock. Back in the bedroom, the Doctor was slowly awakening. He immediately reached for one of the rags nearby him, coughing into it. Pulling it away, they all saw it was stained with blood, and not just a few specks. "It's alright, I promise." He said to them, settling back into his bed. The last thing he wanted was for them to see how much it truly hurt.

He slept for most of the next two days, and when he wasn't sleeping, he was violently coughing up blood. The end was drawing near, and he knew it. He began to make plans.

River held his hand tightly, whether or not he was sleeping. She wanted him to know she was there, that she always would be. Clara tried to help whenever she could, but in the end felt utterly useless. And the Master stayed in the console room the entire time, trying to make it all work.

"I think I've got it!" He shouted, at the end of that second day. Clara, who had been in the console room with him, looked up with a mixture of hope and shock. He ran to the Doctor's bedroom, where he had just finished a painful coughing fit. River had heard what the Master had said, and stood ready. "Hey, old friend. Let's give this a shot, shall we? Sorry, this'll probably hurt." He was too weak to say anything in protest, but he winced when the Master lifted him.

Once in the console room, the Master laid him on the ground, where River was waiting to take him into her arms. The Master flipped a few switches, hit a few buttons, and typed into the computer at light speed. Then, he pulled a final lever and paused, looking towards the Doctor expectedly. At first, they thought it had gone wrong, that it was useless. But then, just before the last ember of hope died, a golden light from the center of the TARDIS reached out to her thief.

She tried, she really did. She wanted to pull the energy out of him, but it was melded too deeply with the Time Lord himself. To take the energy would be to take his soul. It began to withdraw. "No, no, NO!" The Master said, typing more into the computer. "This has to work, it has to!" It was futile, there was no way the energy could be removed, not after it had a thousand years to weave and embed itself into his very being. The TARDIS's light returned to the depths of the console.

Clara fell to her knees, her last shred of hope dissolved. River simply sobbed more, clutching tighter to her dying husband. The Master kept trying, moving different things all around the console. Finally, he gave in with an angry, desperate yell he swept his arms over his strewn papers, all of them scattering around.

"NO!" He threw himself against the console, burying his face in his hands.

"It's… okay…" The Doctor said, struggling to get his breaths. "Time… to face it… head on... It's over… and it's okay…"

"IT'S NOT OKAY! IT'S NOT OKAY! IT WILL NEVER BE OKAY!" The Master bellowed. The Doctor simply smiled weakly, struggling to even lift his head. "I LEFT YOU! ALL OF THIS TIME! IT'S NOT OKAY, NOTHING WILL EVER MAKE IT OKAY!"

"It's… not your fault…" The Master didn't answer him, how could he? "I have… one last… request…"

"Anything." He said, suddenly determined. If there was something the Doctor wanted, then he was going to get it for him.

"The… The Library… the planet… you know it… Any time after… the year it was… vacated… preferably near… the Core…"

"Of course." The Master didn't ask questions, merely set the coordinates. They were soon gliding through space, landing in the Library control room. He picked him up out of River's lap, and they all made their way out. They all knew they didn't have much time left.

The Doctor's body was bony, degraded. He was a shadow of the man he used to be. Now, this was all he wanted. Because after this was all over, he wanted to be home. Home. That's where he was going.

The Master laid him on the ground, once again in River's lap. Clara kneeled on the left side, the Master on the left. He looked up at them, smiling. "It's okay… I promise. It's… It's okay." His breaths became shorter and there was more time in between them. He looked to the Master, whose tears were finally falling unrestrained.

"Don't go." He begged. "Please." The Doctor held out his left hand and placed it over the Master's heart.

"Here…"

"Don't be sad. No matter what, always remember that the only person you need to be, is the person you are…" He let go of Karion's hand to place his own over his friend's heart. "here."

The Master nodded, reaching out and grabbing his friend's clenched hand, letting him know that he understood. He would never go back to who he was before. The Doctor turned to Clara. "I'm… so sorry… Clara."

"Please, don't be sorry. Don't you dare be sorry. You gave me a life worth something."

"Your life… was always… worth something…"

"I'm sure it was. But the life you gave me was better than anything I could have ever dreamt of." He nodded, and looked up and his wife, who tried to stifle her sobs.

"My… My love…"

"I'm here."

"This… isn't… goodbye… I'll see you… again… It'll be… okay…"

"I would do anything to take your place."

"I… know… River…"

"Please, don't leave me! Don't do this!" He squeezed her hand to calm her slightly.

"Do you… do you remember… Jim the Fish?" River half chuckled, half sobbed.

"I do…"

"And… Germany?"

"How could I forget?"

"Our… wedding day?"

"It definitely wasn't average."

"Well… River Song… just like… that day… I need you… to trust me." She sobbed harder. "Do you… Do you trust me?" She nodded through her tears.

"Yes, yes, I trust you." She looked down at him, his head resting in her lap. He reached his hand up and tugged a strand of hair behind her ear, staring into her ocean blue eyes, the ones he fell in love with.

"Then, trust me… when I say… that I could never… leave you…"

"Okay."

"Goodbye… is only for now… my love… not… forever…"

"Goodbye then, Sweetie." She sobbed again. "Goodbye." She bent down and kissed his lips, and as she pulled away for the last time, his breath left him.

His left hand unclenched, and a small piece of technology fell into the Master's hand. He stared at it with confusion for several moments before realizing what it was. He looked to the Core. "He had a plan…" The Master stood and lodged the ghosting communicator into the Core.

River clutched the body of her husband to her chest, rocking him back and forth as she cried out, her screams echoing throughout the Library. Clara still held his hand, body wracking with sobs. The Doctor is dead.

The Master's heart ached to tell them, to explain that the Doctor was still alive, in a way. Sure, it might not last forever, but it was simple. But on the communicator, the Doctor had scribbled a short note: "Don't tell them. It's River's future." So, he allowed them to mourn, and when River was ready, they took the body back into the TARDIS, where everything seemed a bit dimmer. The entire universe would be like that now, without him.

But for the Doctor, he was finally free from the pain of the past weeks. He stood in the middle of the field in his favorite attire, complete with tweed jacket and bowtie. River ran to him, throwing herself into his once-again strong arms, and he swept her off the ground, spinning her in circles.

"Hello, Sweetie." She whispered, their noses touching.

"Hello, River."

FIN