A shooting pain shoots up my arm as I slide down the second hand. My other hand grabs onto the hour, foot kicking off the minute, to keep from falling to the ground. The clockwork machine shifts under the sudden impact, but I can't let go. Luz needs me.

As I grunt to keep steady, I lock my arm around the hour hand. The electricity pulsing through it burns my skin, my hands. With trembling fingers, I reach towards the lug nut beneath all the pieces that tell time. I wrap my hand around it, turning. Turning until it's loose.

"Argh!" I pull my arm back as the pain becomes unbearable. Looking down at my hands, I see my skin is seared, blood dripping down my wrists. Yet, behind me, I can still hear Luz. When I look back, I see her struggling, trying to pull herself up.

To get the world to stop, I must fix the time. It's hard to focus with the heat, the ache, but I can't stop.

"Don't let go, Luz!" I turn back towards the clock and give the lug nut one more twist. The hands of the clock shift in weight slightly, dipping down. They try to take me with them, but I slap my hands against the clock's face to keep steady.

I can't fall. Not now.

"Frank, I'm scared!" Luz cries. The sound of her voice shatters my soul. "I can't get up! I can't!"

I know you can't. Using my legs, I keep my body firm against the clock as I push the minute hand down to the number five. I force it back against the clock's face, making sure it's secure. Just hold on for me.

"Frank!"

I move next to the hour hand. It takes one hard kick from my leg to push it down towards the number six. With the two pieces so close, I struggle to find a place to stand. It takes all of me to keep steady as I push my chest against the clock.

"Luz, I'm almost done!" I call down to her, to reassure her, as I reach back for the second hand. The culprit of this entire disaster. I wrap my hand around its golden center and with a I have, I force it up towards the twelve, stopping notches before the number.

It creaks as I push it flat against the other pieces. Not letting go of it, I reach down for the lug nut in the center, but my hand is so burned, I can't grip it. Tears well up in my eyes as I try.

I'm almost done. I just need to secure it.

"Frank!" Luz screams my name again. I look down towards her and see her fingers slip towards the edge. Only her fingertips keep her in place. The lava from the Earth has taken away most of the floor, there's nowhere for her to lift her foot.

My heart breaks. Screams. I force my mind to turn off for just one moment, taking the second I'd stolen from Earth for over a week, and use it to ignore the pain, ignore my rapid heart. I wrap my hand around the lug and turn, turn, turn until it's tight. With my chest, I force the pieces in place. The clock turns blue, bright, alive. I change with it, feeling the light ignite my soul. And as the second hand finally moves that much needed notch on the clock, the time changes, progressing the minute fourteen days overdue, I fall.

I push myself off the clock. With the dimension force of the Earth's clock still in my hands, in my arms, I jump over the massive hole in the ground. I land on the floor below, but stumble. My feet slide across the pieces of fallen brick and stone, and I use the ruble to push me forward.

"Luz!" I'm inches from her, reaching an arm out for her to grab. My fingers touch hers right as she falls and I grab her, holding her tight as she dangles. The tears in her eyes reflect mine as I slide to the edge to keep her from falling into the pits of Earth.

"Don't let me go!" she screams.

A roar erupts from the hole she's in, as if the Earth is yelling at us, scolding us. With Luz in the hole, it cannot close and heal itself. But I know it will do it if it needs to. And with the clock in repair, moving along another minute, I know we have no time.

"Climb!" I tell her. "Come on!"

She grabs me with two hands. Her nails dig into my skin. I hiss, but the sudden pain doesn't compare to what my body has already gone through. Won't compare to what I might go through if she falls.

Don't die on me. As she struggles to move up my arm, I pull. Gritting my teeth, clenching my jaw, I push all of my strength into my arm. My chest forces the floor beneath me to split, but the rest of it slowly closes in around us.

I can't lift her. Come on, Frank! Lift her!

The clock ticks wonderfully above us, without error, without struggle. The sound should be pleasant, but it isn't. All I hear is my heartbeat. And her.

Looking down at her, I see her. And I see the fires erupting from the lava miles below her feet. It bubbles, creating steam that obscures her face. For seconds at a time, I can't see anything but her eyes. I tell myself it's all I need to give me strength. But no matter how hard I pull, my body is spent. I can only keep her from falling.

"Frank..." Luz stops her whimpering. As she holds me, a look of peace settles on her face. The ground shifts closer, pieces of stone fall into the lava beneath her, but it doesn't make her flinch. She looks into my eyes. "You're hurt, its okay," she whispers.

Straining, I shake my head. Why is she saying this? I can save her. "Don't let go, Luz," I hiss, clenching my jaw. I can feel her grip loosen and without her balancing her weight evenly, I struggle. I squeeze my eyes shut. "Just climb. Pull!" Working with me, damn it!

Her hand wraps around my forearm. She doesn't let go, but she doesn't climb, either. I can tell she won't touch the sores on my arms. "You did your job, Frank," she whispers as fire roars and screams. "You did it."

"I didn't." Quickly, I shake my head. "I, I—"

She smiles. Please, you can't smile right now, Luz.

"I can save you!" My hand wraps around hers as I grip her elbow. I try to pull her up, sliding my chest back against the floor. She moves, but not enough. The floor is closing in. Lava slips off from the surface, falling back into the pits of Earth. Sweat blends with forming tears as I tug again, moving her just an inch. "Luz!"

"Your job isn't to save me," she whispers. Her eyes glisten. Sadness, not fear, is her emotion. I can just tell. "Your job is to save worlds."

I save worlds. As a Cog, my only job was to protect and save the planets sustaining so much life, creating so much love and care.

My job isn't done. Not until... With a groan, I pull again. I push back against the floor to lift her higher. "You're my world!" I growl through clenched teeth. I yank my arm back so hard my shoulder pops, Luz jerks in my grip, but doesn't lip go. She holds on tight, fingers digging into me. For the first time, I see her lift as her bright, sunlit eyes widen. "You're my world!" I say again.

Her mouth parts as she climbs up again. "Frank, I—"

"Stop!" I shake my head and yank again. "Just climb!"

She does. Her hand reaches up, sliding over the sores and wounds on the sides of my arm. The sensation burns. I bit my tongue to keep from screaming. But as she grabs my shoulder, I know she'll be okay. She's made it.

I turn my head and lock eyes with hers as she's above floor level, hands gripping my shoulders tight. Without saying another word, I loop my other arm around her waist and pull back as hard as I can, lifting her out of the gaping hole. When we roll onto the floor, Earth seals its wound. Steam pushes up from the slim crack left over.

She lies on my chest, breathing heavily, as she looks in my eyes. Her hands are sticky with my blood as she touches my face. "Frank, you said—"

The dust above us has changed, shifting back into the form of the beautiful stars of our galaxy. They swim around us, absorbing the smoke, like a natural band aid to the Earth. I listen to the clock's steady beats as I stop her sentence short with a kiss.

My hands, though sore, push into her curls to bring her head to mine. Her lips don't protest as I push them against mine. She gives in instantly, sighing as she turns her head. Our kiss deepens, the pain and anxiety in my chest lessens, and I give into her. Into this moment. And I can only relish the sensation of her body's natural warmth as her soul slides into me with each breath she lets free.

"Frank." Luz presses her forehead against mine.

I do the same to hers, ignoring the dirt on our skin. "You're my world," I whisper, lifting my eyes to meet her gaze. "I knew it the second I lay eyes on you. It was why I couldn't leave this planet. I couldn't bring myself to move from you."

The clock changes another minute. A quiet chime comes off of it as the hands on the face move without restraint.

I cup her face in my hands. Tears fall from her eyes. "I could not save this world without saving mine. I could not let you fall. I had to save you to ensure you can live. But you almost..." I squeeze my eyes shut. "Don't let my weakness let you slip. Don't give up on me."

I open them again to see her beautiful lips pulled down in a frown, steady tears streaming down her cheeks. Some fall on my face. "I know I have to leave and for answer for my crimes, but knowing my world is okay, you're okay, I can do that."

Luz sniffs at her tears, wipes her face. She takes in a long trembling breath before kissing me again, softer this time. "You're a jerk," she whispers against my lips.

My eyes widen. I'm taken aback. A jerk?

"You can't say this and leave me, you jerk." She searches my eyes. "You can't just..."

As I hold her, the communications device in my ear chirps. It's subtle, quiet, as if the vibrations and electricity from the clock distorted its connection. But it does, nonetheless, and as I look into Luz's eyes, I hear Leader Mikel's voice. There's no anger in his tone. No frustration.

He's... different.

"Franklin," he says, "I am proud of you."

|||

A/N: He did it! He fixed the clock! He saved Earth and his world! And the Leader who spent all the time belittling him... is proud. (But why???) One more chapter to go! <3