The dedication tugged at his hearts a little. The same dedication he'd felt in some of his earlier selves.

"I know. My younger self staved off the initial crash, but he was ripped away before he could assist through the end of the process." He patted Avon's chest sympathetically, guiding him out past the business still going on, toward his strange little timeship.

The little man could usually be petulant and unpleasant himself, but he was exhausted himself after the ordeal. After Davros and the Borg Queen, and nearly losing another companion.

"We stopped his brother. You'll help me work out what's wrong with him and we'll come out of this completely victorious. There's no other option. We need to prove their brand of hate doesn't take the victims they suppose it does."