Love is a stranger in an open car To tempt you in and drive you far away... Love is a danger of a different kind To take you away and leave you far behind
It's savage and it's cruel and it shines like destruction Comes in like a flood and it seems like religion It's noble and it's brutal it distorts and deranges And it wrenches you up and you're left like a zombie... --The Eurythmics
Chapter 6: STRANGER
As the TARDIS materialized in the Rotunda Angel was there waiting for it. The doors opened and an anxious-looking Doctor emerged to rush up to the deputy Guardian. "Where's Ace? Is she all right?" he asked, grasping Angel's black- clad arm. "She and Romana are over at the med complex," Angel said soothingly, laying a hand on the Doctor's shoulder. "She'll be fine, relax." The Doctor sighed and shut his eyes. The TARDIS doors opened again and the other Doctor and Romana stepped out. "Well, Doctor! Been awhile since we've seen *you.*" "Hello, Angel. Is Ace..." "She's fine," Angel said. "I'll take you over there, follow me." He turned and started down the hallway. "I'll say this, Doctor, your timing was good. She wouldn't have lasted much longer. That Dalek stun weapon is ruthless...it's almost worse than being outright exterminated. This...this lets you linger." He glanced over at the Doctor's pained face, wondering what had possessed him to babble on about this particular subject. "Sorry, Doctor." "It's all right. She's fine, we're fine, everything's...fine." He sighed. Add that to his impressive list of lifetime lies. They came into the medical complex and the first sight that greeted them as they came into the treatment area was the TARDIS. Romana was at the desk talking to a Guardian, but when they came in she excused herself and walked over. "Oh, Doctor, you made it!" She looked at the younger Doctor and herself. "You all made it," she said, smiling. The younger Romana looked away, seeming a bit disoriented. The Doctor was looking about anxiously. "Where..." he began, then he spotted Ace sitting on a bed in a nearby glassed-in treatment room, talking to Theo. She turned her head and saw the newcomers. A wide grin broke out over her face and she hopped off the bed and burst out of the treatment room. She ran to the Doctor and flung her arms around his neck. He stood stiffly for an instant then hugged her back. The others watched, smiling, as they embraced. "Cor, never a dull moment, eh? There were a few times I thought sure we'd never see each other again," she murmured, kissing him...and wondering why he didn't really kiss her back. When she'd returned from her plain ordinary non-life-threatening visit to Maire's he'd kissed her till her lips hurt, for heaven's sake. "Are you all right?" he asked, drawing back to look into her face. "Really?" She nodded. "They fixed me right up. I'm good as new...really." Her eyes narrowed as she examined his face. "You don't look so good, though. What's wrong?" she asked softly. He smiled thinly. "Nothing." He stepped away and looked towards the others. Ace turned to them, increasingly puzzled at his odd behavior...and something *was* wrong. "Is *everyone* all right? All present and accounted for?" "Quite," the younger Romana said. Her older self stepped forward. "Ace...do you think we might speak alone for a moment?" She wanted Ace to know exactly how she and the Doctor had found the Dalek ship. "Sure," Ace said, her brow furrowing more. *Everyone* was acting strangely. She glanced over at her husband, who had a look of vague discomfort on his face. The other Doctor looked confused and somewhat apprehensive and the younger Romana looked downright suspicious. This is a cheerful bunch, she thought. We've just thwarted Fenric and we all escaped with our lives. Why is everyone so bloody tense? Romana took her arm and they went into a closed-in treatment room across the hallway. Ace sat down on the edge of the bed and Romana shut the door after them. "Ace...you might be wondering how the Doctor and I found you." "Well, I hadn't really gotten round to thinking about it but now that you mention it, yes." Romana sighed. "It turns out that I'm a wolf of Fenric too." Ace's eyes widened. "You? How?" "Seems that when the Doctor and I went to Constantinople and he played the chess game, I didn't stay in the TARDIS as I thought I had. I snuck out and I was intercepted by Fenric. He suppressed my memories of the encounter." Ace leaned forward. "Did Fenric use you, Romana?" The Time Lady looked away. "It's okay. Don't be ashamed of it. It's beyond your control." "Yes, he did. But it worked out in the end...it tipped us off that I was a wolf, and that meant that the TARDIS was able to use me to find you." Ace nodded, finding it hard to get worked up over these revelations...and she had some concerns of her own. "Great. Listen, Romana...what's wrong with the Doctor?" "What do you mean?" "Don't tell me you didn't notice. He was so distant...he's never like that. It seemed like it was all he could do to hug me!" She looked up at Romana, a worried look on her face. "What's going on?" "I don't know...maybe he's just tired. Perhaps you should ask him." Ace crossed her arms over her chest. "Don't worry, I will." There was a knock at the door. Romana turned and opened it up to find the Doctor standing there. "Romana, I wonder if I might speak to my wife alone?" he said, rather too politely. Ace and Romana exchanged a glance, and Romana nodded and stepped aside. The Doctor entered, his hat in his hand, avoiding Ace's eyes. Romana left the room, shutting the door behind her. Ace stood. "Okay, buster. What's going on here? What's wrong?" He looked up at her. "A great deal." His face...Ace sighed and walked over to him, taking both of his hands in hers. "Tell me what it is," she said softly. "Whatever it is, we can work it out." To her shock he pulled away from her and retreated across the room. It was tantamount to a rejection of her support. "Doctor, what's with you? You've never withdrawn from me like this before, what's..." "Ace, I can't take this anymore," he exclaimed, cutting her off. "I can't *do* this anymore!" He turned half away and put a hand over his eyes, his breath rattling. Ace backed up a bit, feeling a lead weight settle into the pit of her stomach. "Can't do what?" she asked tightly. He whirled on her. "This! Us! I can't do it!" Her eyes widened, and she strode over and grabbed him by the shoulders. "What are you saying?" He didn't answer but broke away and turned his back. Ace felt cold all over. He couldn't mean it. It was just a reaction to recent events. "Doctor, we've been through worse than this before and come out all right." "You don't understand," he said dully, his back still to her. "Then explain to me what's going through your mind." "You almost died." "It wasn't the first time, and it probably won't be the last," she said, forcing a smile. He turned then and fixed her with an intense gaze that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. "Suppose I'd had to sacrifice you? Suppose it had come down to you or the timeline?" Her jaw worked. "You would have made a decision." He shook his head. "I don't think I would have been able to." He sighed. "As a Time Lord I should be prepared to sacrifice one life to preserve the timeline or in the furtherance of a greater good...but if that one life were yours I don't know if I could do it." His voice caught a bit at the end. Ace swallowed over a lump in her throat. "Look, it's no use worrying about things that might have happened. It's over." "It's not over!" he cried with sudden vehemence. "It'll never be over! Don't you see? It didn't come to that this time, but what about the next time? And the time after that? There might come a time when I don't have a choice!" Ace felt the first twinges of anger at his typical self-indulgent angst. "Doctor, that's *my* problem. If I know the risks of traveling with a Time Lord and I choose to stay with you anyway, who are you to say otherwise?" "Who am I? I'm your husband!" "Don't you dare pull that," she said through clenched teeth. "Yes, you are my husband...and that means we stay together, you know, for better or for worse! Till death do us part!" "Not a death that I've let you in for!" They stared at each other for a moment, the words hanging in the air between them. His expression was terrible, bleak and resigned. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he could force his next words out of his throat. "Ace...you need to get away from me. As far as you can and as soon as you can." Once he'd said the words he shut his eyes for a moment, the muscles in his jaw grinding. Ace backed away, her hands trembling, till her legs hit the bed and she couldn't back up any further. "You're leaving me, aren't you?" she whispered. He looked away, silent. Her hands gripped the bed's top sheet convulsively. This wasn't happening. "Remember Odelphus?" he said, barely loud enough to hear. She nodded, unable to speak. "You asked me if it was worth it." "You...you said it was worth anything." He looked at her wordlessly. She sank down on the edge of the bed. "You've changed your mind," she said flatly. It was not a question. He looked guilty and ashamed...and miserable. He couldn't even meet her eyes. "For your own good you need to be far away from me, Ace," he said. "If anything happened to you because of me...I don't think I could live with myself." He leaned on his brolly, still not looking at her. An icy mask of calm fell over Ace's eyes, fury rising in her that was too large to express. "You bastard," she said coldly. He looked up, surprised. "This isn't about me at all." "Ace..." "God, you're so predictable! You never change, do you? You probably even think you're justified in doing this for the good of the universe or some other such bullshit!" she cried. Her fingers dug into the mattress. She was shaking all over and trying not to think about what this might mean. "You don't understand..." he said imploringly. "I understand. I understand perfectly. Remember who you're talking to, *Professor.* I know you better than anyone." In spite of herself Ace felt tears welling in the corners of her eyes. "You can't handle the distraction of worrying about me, can you? You don't want to risk all that *inconvenience* that might result if something did happen to me. You're too..." She trailed off. "Loving me makes you feel vulnerable, and you can't deal with it." "It's too hard!" he exclaimed before he could stop himself. He sighed and hung his head. She nodded ruefully. "And our marriage doesn't mean enough to you to make it worth the effort." She sniffed and swiped a hand across her eyes. A tear trickled down his cheek. "I'm doing this for you," he murmured. "You're better off..." "Stop saying that!" she screamed, her clenched fists jabbing at the air. "The worst part is that you probably even believe it! You're not doing this for me, you're doing it for yourself!" The Doctor's face went blank. Ace recognized it as the expression he wore when he was pushing all his emotions away. She could feel desperation clawing at her...this *was* really happening. She was losing him. He turned and walked towards the door, moving like a zombie. Ace put her hands over her face. "Did you ever love me?" she whispered hoarsely as his hand fell on the doorknob. He froze. "Or was it all just an experiment to see what would happen?" He spoke without inflection, not turning. "You'll never know how much I love you. I'm sorry." Her hands fell away and she looked up at the ceiling, numb. "Is that all?" "What else?" He opened the door and went through. He paused on the threshold and looked back. She still sat stiffly on the edge of the bed, her hands in her lap, staring at the wall. "Goodbye, Ace," he said flatly, and closed the door. Ace felt as though she was going to throw up. She swallowed hard, unable to get her mind around the fact that her husband had just left her. She stood, holding herself gingerly as if she were afraid she might tip over. She took a deep breath and held it, closing her eyes...get ahold of yourself, Dorothy McShane. She opened her eyes and felt a bit better. She took a few more deep breaths and felt her mind settling back under her own control a little at a time. She became aware of pain in her hands...she raised them to eye level and saw with no real surprise the palms laced with half-moon shaped cuts where her fingernails had dug in. She stared at them for a moment, then went over to the sink and began methodically washing the blood away.
Romana shut the door to the treatment room and walked over to the group gathered in the waiting area, the TARDIS standing patiently in the corner. Theo looked at her questioningly. "He wanted to talk to her alone," Romana said. "What's going on?" Theo asked. Romana shook her head. "I don't know...but I have a very bad feeling. While we were in Constantinople he kept saying things that...well, let's just say they made me wonder." There didn't seem to be much else to say. They stood around waiting, a tangible feeling of dread hanging around them although no one could have really said why. After a few minutes they heard Ace yell "Stop saying that!" They exchanged glances. The Doctor shook his head. "I couldn't possibly be that stupid," he muttered. The younger Romana looked up at him dubiously. Romana went to Theo, seated in the waiting area, and leaned over to whisper to her. "Shouldn't we do something?" Theo glanced up at her. "Absolutely not," she said, her jaw tight. The door to the treatment room opened and the Doctor stepped halfway through. He turned back and they all heard him say, "Goodbye, Ace." Theo sighed and shut her eyes. He shut the door behind him and stood there for a moment, his face alarmingly blank. He turned then and walked purposefully towards the TARDIS, not looking at any of them. The Doctor reached out and grabbed him by the arm as he passed. "What have you done?" he said, his voice low. The Doctor shook the hand off, his face still stony. "Get out of my way," he said, each word falling like a block of ice from his lips. "Where are you going?" the older Romana asked, coming forward. "Nowhere. I'm just going. I'm not going to right a wrong or protect a civilization or save the universe." He pulled out his TARDIS key and unlocked the door. "For the moment Time can find another bloody Champion." He disappeared into the TARDIS, the door slamming shut behind him. It dematerialized with a wheeze, leaving the three Time Lords and Theo to stare at the empty space it left behind, their mouths hanging open. Theo and Romana exchanged a glance and simultaneously headed for the treatment room where Ace was. The Doctor looked down at his companion. She cast a glance at him and then started after them but he put out a hand to stop her. "Romana, wait for me in the TARDIS." "Why? I want to see if Ace is all right!" "Let me worry about that. Please...we'll be leaving soon. We have to resume our journeys as if none of this ever happened." He looked down at her, his eyes serious. Romana sighed. "All right." She turned and headed back to the Rotunda. The Doctor watched her until she disappeared around the corner, then followed Theo and Romana into the treatment room.
When the two women came into the room Ace was standing at the sink washing her hands. Romana went over to her and looked over her shoulder, wincing at the angry half-circle shaped wounds in Ace's palms. "Ace..." She turned towards them, her face unconvincingly neutral. Romana didn't know what to say. "Are you all right?" she managed lamely. Ace sighed and dried her hands. "I will be. It'll...it'll just take some time," she said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "What in the world happened?" Theo asked softly. "Please...don't ask me right now. Maybe it was inevitable." "Don't say that," Romana said. It hurt her hearts to see Ace so...resigned. "Perhaps this is just temporary." Ace snorted brief laughter. "No, I don't think so." The Doctor came into the room then. Ace couldn't look at him. He moved to stand next to her. "I feel like I should apologize," he said. Ace shook her head. "This isn't your fault, Doctor. And I'm not entirely sure it's his either. Of all people, I should have known better than to think we had a chance in hell." The Doctor grasped her by the shoulder. "Don't you for one second even think of blaming yourself," he said. "I'm the one backing out like a coward." Ace looked up into his face. "Why are you doing this to me?" she asked softly. "You were the first and only thing in my life I thought I could count on." The Doctor looked back down at her, a helpless expression on his face. "I wish I could give you a good reason...but I don't know what we've been through, I can't see into the future of my own mind." Ace nodded, dropping her eyes. He stepped back a bit. "What will you do now?" he asked, mock- casually. She sighed. "I hadn't gotten that far yet. I suppose I'll go back to France...try to pick up where I left off." She put one hand over her eyes. "I can't even think right now. I can't believe that my marriage could have fallen apart so fast." She looked at Theo, sitting across from her in a chair, her face imploring the Guardian for explanations. "One minute everything's fine...then a timestorm comes along, another villain is defeated and suddenly it's all over. I just can't downshift that fast." The Doctor shifted his weight and drew himself up to his full six feet three inches, smiling confidently. Romana raised an eyebrow...that was his typical compensation posture for moments when he was most unsure of himself. He cleared his throat. "Well...why don't you come with me, Ace?" She looked up at him, her eyebrows shooting into her forehead. "With you?" "Yes. With me and Romana in my TARDIS. You certainly could be a great help to us...and for myself I'd like to have you along," he said, the last phrase tacked on a bit embarrasedly. Ace thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Thanks, but no. That wouldn't be right. I don't belong with you." She got up and stood facing him. "Besides, you and Romana have to continue on as if you'd never met me, and eventually get to Constantinople and defeat Fenric." Her voice dropped a bit. "That, at least, has to work out all right in the end." "But I...I won't remember you," he said. "I've met myself, and the TARDIS won't let me remember why or how." He looked at his shoes. "I'd rather not forget you," he said. Ace smiled up at him gently. "We'll meet again," she said. "And we both know that we can't risk contaminating the timeline. Go on your way, have your adventures, live the life you're supposed to live...and I'll see you in a hundred years or so." She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. "But thanks for asking." He nodded and smiled, moving towards the door. Halfway there he stopped and turned back. "You show amazingly little hostility towards me considering what I've just done to you." Ace crossed her arms across her chest. "You don't deserve my hostility, Doctor. *I* don't obsess over things that haven't happened yet," she said bitterly. "You're quite a remarkable woman," he said. "And I must be crazy." He glanced at Theo and Romana and left the treatment room. The three women sat in tense silence for a few moments. Unable to stand it any more, Romana stood up, went to Ace and hugged her. After a moment Ace hugged her back, her eyes dry but her skin clammy. Theo sat and watched them, her thoughts tumbling. She couldn't believe he'd done it. Just when she thought she had the Doctor figured out, he threw another curve at her. "Ace," she said, "I think you should stay here for at least a few days. You *were* hit with a stun discharge, and you need some time to yourself." Ace pulled away from Romana a bit and looked at the Guardian. "Thanks, Theo, but I just want to start putting this behind me." "I'm a bit surprised you're not thinking of ways to get him back," Romana said. "You're not one to just take your lumps quietly." Ace's face hardened. "It would be an exercise in futility, Romana. Besides...I'm not sure I want him back right now." At that moment the door opened and the Guardian doctor who'd treated Ace entered the room. Theo stood. "Hello, Gregg. You have the test results on Ace's neural functions?" Gregg smiled at his patient, who looked nervous again. Dalek stun weapons had been known to leave the brain a bit scrambled. He motioned for her to sit on the bed and put his index finger briefly on her temple, checking her vital signs. "Are you feeling all right, Ace?" he asked. "Physically, fine," she said. "Good. Your tests were all negative. You don't appear to have suffered any neurological damage. Pretty lucky," he said. Ace let out a breath. "Well, that's good news at least," she said, sliding off the bed. Theo and Romana both smiled. Any good news was welcome right now. Gregg, however, wasn't finished. "You got stunned on a Dalek ship?" "Yes. Long story." "Well, you should really try and avoid that kind of thing. In your condition you shouldn't be taking on Daleks," he said, smiling as if sharing a joke with her. Ace looked at him blankly. "My condition?" she asked, confused. Theo's heart sank. Oh God, she thought...please let him be talking about hypoglycemia or something. She glanced at Romana behind Ace's back and saw similar thoughts in the Time Lady's shocked blue eyes. Gregg's eyes flicked from Ace's questioning expression to Theo and back to Ace. "Um..." "What are you talking about?" Ace said, anxiety creeping into her features. He stepped closer and put a hand on her arm. "Ace...were you unaware that you're pregnant?" Theo leaned forward, watching Ace's face. Her apprehensive expression fell as the slow realization dawned. Gregg looked on, alarmed, as her arms crept around her torso until she was hugging herself, her eyes wide and staring. She backed up slowly, retreating from their stares, until her back hit the wall and she slid down it until she was sitting on the floor, her arms clasped around her knees. Theo bent and extended a hand to touch her but Ace swatted it away. "Could everyone leave me alone...please!" she said, the last word coming out as a half-swallowed moan. Theo backed off and nodded to Romana and Gregg. They left the room, Ace still sitting silently on the floor, her head bowed down on her knees.
The Doctor came into the console room where Romana was waiting for him. "Is everything okay?" she asked. "I think Ace will be fine," he said softly, checking the randomizer. "No thanks to me." He hit the dematerialization controls and the time rotor began rising and falling. Romana put a hand to her forehead, feeling muzzy all of a sudden. She looked over at him. He was staring off into space, a puzzled expression on his face. "Where...where were we going?" she asked. He shook his head as if to clear it. "Who knows? That's the beauty of a randomizer. You leave Paris for destinations unknown." She put her hands on her hips. "Well, you were going to fix K9's laryngitis...hadn't you better get to it?" "Of course, of course. Hm. I feel a bit odd. As though I'd skipped over a few minutes." "Probably the bouillabaisse isn't agreeing with you," Romana teased. "Very amusing, I'm sure. Where's K9? High time he got his voice back. K9!" he called, leaving the console room. Romana watched the column rise and fall for a moment. Hopefully their next destination would be more of a holiday than Paris had been.
"What should we do? We can't leave her like this," Romana said. She, Theo and Gregg stood in a small huddle outside the treatment room. "How far along is she?" Theo asked. "Thirty four days," Gregg answered. "Not far at all." "And...everything's all right? The fetus wasn't harmed by the stun discharge?" "No, everything is normal. The only residual effects we've ever seen with the stun weapon are neurological ones, and she tested clean for those." "Well, I guess that's something." "We can't leave her like this," Romana repeated. "She's just lost her husband and now she finds out she's going to be a mother! She can't possibly be equipped to deal with all this by herself." Theo sighed. "Ace is a very strong woman, but I'm forced to agree with you. No one's that strong. I'll try and convince her to stay here for a few days, but beyond that I can't very well tie her to a chair. She'll do as she pleases whether we like it or not." Romana appeared deep in thought. "No, she'll come with me, in my TARDIS." Theo looked at the Time Lady, surprised. "Your TARDIS? You live on Gallifrey, Romana. There's this little matter of you being President." "Oh, pish posh. My duties for a typical day usually amount to about twenty minutes of bureaucracy and hand-holding that my assistant could take care of just as easily. I've been feeling the wanderlust for a time and I've had serious thoughts about taking a sabbatical and doing some traveling. I think I'll do so, and I'll take Ace with me. I'll welcome the company, and I have to believe that no matter what she might say, Ace really won't want to go through this alone." Theo nodded. "That would be ideal, if she'll go along with it." "Could you send someone to Gallifrey and fetch my TARDIS for me?" "Cheerfully. And I'll nip off to the Doctor's TARDIS and collect Ace's things. I'm sure he didn't think of that when he left in such a hurry." Romana looked concerned. "Will you tell him about...you know." Theo pursed her lips and shook her head. "It's not my place to tell him. If she wants him to know, she'll have to tell him herself. Now that I think about it, I'll probably have one of my Guardians take care of fetching her stuff. I can't say he's my favorite person in the cosmos at the moment." "I'm going to order a prenatal workup for her," Gregg said. "We can have it done this afternoon." "Good, you do that," Theo said. Gregg took off down the hall, flipping through Ace's chart as he walked. Theo turned to Romana. "I'll have Angel go to Gallifrey...would you like him to tell your assistant about your...sabbatical?" "No, I'll take care of it. That'll be our first stop after we leave here." Theo looked off to the side for a moment, her eyes unfocused, giving the necessary orders. The door to the treatment room opened and Ace came out, her face dry and clear. She calmly walked up to the two women. "Theo, could you arrange to get my stuff..." "It's already taken care of," she said. "And Gregg's going to have one of our obstetricians examine you." Ace smiled. "Thanks." She looked off for a moment, thinking. "I feel a bit foolish saying so...but I'm not sure anymore that I want to be alone after all this." She looked down at her shoes. "I guess it doesn't mean you're weak to admit you need support." Theo smiled at her. "Ace, that's a lesson most humans never learn. We've just been talking about some options you might consider." Ace looked from one to the other. "Really?" "I'd like you to come with me in my TARDIS," Romana said. "We can travel together, see some sights, and I can help you get ready." Ace looked touched. "Oh, Romana...but won't that be a problem for you? What about Gallifrey?" "What about it? If they need me they can reach me. After all, the Doctor was President in absentia for ages before he was finally deposed. I need to be out in the universe again, too many years on Gallifrey really stifles the intellect. What do you say?" she said, smiling. "That'd be perfect," Ace said softly. "I'm...I'm really touched that you'd do that for me." "Nonsense, you'd be doing me a favor. Traveling alone isn't nearly as much fun." A wheezing thump filled the room...it sounded strange to Ace, who could tell by the sound that it wasn't his TARDIS. Another door appeared in the waiting room wall, and after a moment Angel emerged. "Is this what you needed?" he asked, smiling. "I'm gratified it still works properly," Romana said. "It hasn't been off the planet in years." "Ace's things are already aboard," Angel said. Ace shook her head in amazement. "You guys sure work fast." "They often throw that back at me when I accuse them of not doing anything," Theo said archly. Angel grinned. "To which we reply, we're not loafing...we work so fast we're always finished." Ace laughed briefly...it was a familiar sound that was music to Theo's ears. "Well, I should check some things on board," Romana said. "I'll be in the TARDIS if you need me." She disappeared through the facade of the ordinary door and Angel excused himself and headed for the Rotunda. Theo turned to Ace. "Ace, sit down," she said soberly. They sat side by side on the couch in the waiting area. "Your prenatal exam is this afternoon, but I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't talk to you about your options." She reached out and took Ace's hand. Ace gripped it tightly, not looking at the Guardian. "I can feel your confusion and your anger, and I'm not really even trying to. It's too soon for you to even know what you're feeling about the separation, let alone your pregnancy. I'm not trying to influence you, I'm just letting you know that if you need time, help, or just someone to listen, I'm here. I'll help you with whatever you decide to do." Ace leaned back, one hand over her abdomen. "I know what you're getting at, Theo, and I appreciate your support more than I can say...but I'm going to have this baby. I can be a good parent, whether I'm alone or not." Theo smiled. "That was never in question, Ace. I know that your child will be an extraordinary person, and I look forward to knowing it." Ace met Theo's eyes, then on impulse leaned forward and hugged her. Theo held her tightly, relieved, knowing that whatever happened, Ace would be okay.
Romana adjusted a few controls on her console, excited to be once again at the helm of her TARDIS. Satisfied with the new readouts, she went down the corridor and looked around. Angel had put Ace's things in the room directly across the hall from her own, which was perfect. Her gaze flicked over many familiar objects...things were mostly put away and in their proper place such that it already looked like Ace's room. She turned and headed back to the console room, thinking of what to do next. They'd spend a few days here, probably, and then a quick trip to Gallifrey to arrange her sabbatical. Then she'd ask Ace where she'd like to go, of course they'd have to stop in Constantinople, then she fancied a bit of a stopover at... Romana looked up, frowning. Constantinople? Why had she thought of that? Clearly she had to go there. The year 323 to be precise. In order to set things straight she'd have to kill Al-Amjad's ancestor, so that the chess game wouldn't... She whirled, her eyes wide. That thought couldn't have come from her mind. Fenric was putting ideas into her head again. "No," she said to no one. "I'm never setting foot in Constantinople again, never. Things will stay as they are." She felt a little better. The urge to go there in 323 was gone. She idly examined her dimensional stabilizer, resuming her thoughts about their itinerary. They'd probably end up spending some time on Earth, Romana knew that Ace had friends there...and she'd been meaning to take a trip to Lakyertia. The indigenous population there was so terribly indolent, they didn't deserve their planet. It'd be best to wipe them all out. A little of that 32-YT biotoxin she'd picked up on Thaiun dissolved in their water supply should... Romana slapped herself in the face, hard, breaking the flow of those horrible thoughts. "Fenric!" she screamed at the ceiling. "It won't work! First you try to get me to alter Turkish history, now you're trying get me to mess with the Doctor's timeline! I won't help you!" She pressed her fists to her temples, wishing she could pull his fingerprints off her soul...but maybe she could. "I know you can hear me, Fenric," she said, low and threatening. "You've been putting ideas in my head, now it's my turn. If I ever again so much as suspect that you're trying to influence me...I'll regenerate." She paused. "You're used to dealing with humans, Fenric. Regeneration would change my entire physiological makeup...from your point of view, I'd be a different person. I doubt your curse could survive it. So you'll either leave me alone forever...or you'll lose me completely. Either way, you won't have me as one of your wolves anymore, you hear?" Her eyes scanned the console room, though what she was expecting to see she didn't know. She straightened up, her hands falling to her sides. Nothing. No whoosh of Fenric leaving her mind, no evil laughter as his spectre left her side...just nothing. Neither were there any alien thoughts in her mind that she could detect. She sagged against the console, hoping he'd gotten the message. After a moment, she took a deep breath and went off to the cloister room for a much-needed meditation.
Davros watched the viewscreen as the lead renegade ship suddenly canted violently to one side. "RENEGADE SHIP IN DISTRESS...LEAD SHIP DISENGAGING." "EXCELLENT," Davros cackled. "THE OTHER SHIPS WILL BE EASILY DEFEATED. OUR WEAPONRY IS SUPERIOR." "RENEGADE SHIPS RETREATING." "RESUME COURSE...DAMAGE CONTROL TO LOWER HULL." "I OBEY," said the bridge commander, screeching orders to its underlings. Davros turned and rolled towards the interrogation room. His last remnants of a human brain felt glee at the prospect of resuming his interrogation of the Time Lady...hopefully she wouldn't be too cooperative. He'd never had an adequately logical excuse to torture the Doctor before now. The guard Dalek opened the door and Davros rolled in...to find the cell empty. He whirled to face the guard Dalek. "THE DOC-TOR AND THE TIME LADY HAVE ESCAPED! SEARCH THE SHIP! THEY MUST BE LOCATED!" He rolled back onto the bridge, his thoughts racing and the elation over the defeat of the renegade Daleks fading fast. The bridge commander approached. "EMPEROR. THE HUMAN WOMAN HAS ESCAPED." "IMPOSSIBLE! THERE IS NO WAY OUT OF THAT CELL!" "SHE HAS ESCAPED." "SHE MUST BE FOUND!" Davros exclaimed, his whole torso quaking with fury. Always that cursed Time Lord managed to defeat him. "EMPEROR. INTERNAL SCANS UNABLE TO LOCATE THE PRISONERS. PRISONERS ARE NO LONGER ABOARD THE SHIP." "THEY CANNOT HAVE ESCAPED!" Davros yelled. "THEY ARE NO LONGER ABOARD THE SHIP." Davros screeched in frustration. He turned towards the bridge commander and vaporized him without preamble. Another Dalek rolled forward to take over the position. "SET COURSE FOR HOME PLANET SKARO," Davros yelled at the new bridge commander. "IT IS TIME WE ASSUMED OUR RIGHTFUL POSITION AS THE SUPREME DALEK RACE! THE DOC-TOR CANNOT ELUDE US FOREVER! SOON ENOUGH EVEN HE WILL YIELD TO OUR POWER!" The small fleet of ships turned and streaked off towards the Skaro system to meet their destiny.
Ace sat on a bench in the Gardens, enjoying the feeling of the sunshine on her face. She and Romana would be leaving in a few hours and she wanted to take advantage of the outdoors, albeit ersatz outdoors, while she had the chance. Soon enough she'd be spending a lot of time in a TARDIS. Her hand rested on her abdomen. Her prenatal exam had verified that her child was healthy, a perfectly normal Gallifreyan female of just over a month's gestation. A daughter. Ace smiled vaguely. Her mind was torn in several directions. Part of her was happy about her pregnancy. Part of her looked forward to the experience, but mostly those joys were overshadowed by blacker and more powerful emotions. For the first time in many years, the future was a dark road she'd be forced to navigate by herself without headlights...for although she'd be with a friend, fundamentally Ace was once again alone. It felt too familiar, and that fact made her all the more miserable. It would be too easy to become accustomed once again to isolation. That had been a state of mind she hadn't been sorry to lose. The last two days had been a roller coaster. At times she felt so full of rage that she could scarcely contain it. She'd spent quite a bit of time with Angel in the gym practicing her hand-to-hand combat. He was an ideal partner because he couldn't be hurt no matter how much displaced aggression she put behind her punches, which came in handy for the many times when all she wanted to do was hit something until it felt as bad as she did. At other times she felt overwhelmed by confusion and frustration so bleak that it seemed completely bottomless. There wasn't a second that went by that some part of her mind wasn't thinking of him, or what he'd done, or how she felt about it. She didn't like it, and she tried to think of other things...but her mind was fixated on her situation and she was quite powerless to do anything about it. She hated her own inability to put it out of her mind, and she hated her own need, but she could not deny it. Anger and chaos aside, her prevailing emotional state was sadness. Sadness too profound for tears, of which she'd shed none. Sadness that her marriage seemed to be over, dread of a future without him in it, misery that her daughter might never know her father. Her rage notwithstanding, Ace was perfectly aware of how much she still loved him, and she was also aware that this was it. She was done. She'd never marry again or find someone else. Even when she got over this...which at the moment seemed impossible but which she knew was inevitable...she'd never again open herself up to this kind of pain. She wasn't afraid that she'd never recover, for she knew she would. What she wasn't sure of was the extent of the scarring. She stood up and walked along the path. She stopped to watch some ducks swimming in the pond, keeping her mind as blank as possible. She turned in a slow circle, looking around, and her eyes fell on a familiar large tree a few feet off the path. Sighing, she walked up the slight rise and sat beneath it, leaning against it wide trunk in the very spot where the Doctor had once sat while she'd lay on the grass next to him. She wished she could go back to that time over a year ago and warn herself...but would it do any good? And would she really want to erase the year they'd had? Yes, her brain answered. Anything not to feel the way I do now. But for herself, Ace wasn't so sure. We take good things away from even the most traumatic events. Her hand strayed again to her abdomen. How much good can I salvage from this catastrophe? Time will tell.
The Doctor slammed the TARDIS door behind him, but he could still feel their eyes boring accusing holes in his back. He leaned against the closed doors, breathing hard. He blindly rushed at the console and hit the dematerialization circuit, not caring where he was headed. Away from here was a good enough start. He stood there for a moment, numb. His mind kept trying to consider the wisdom of his actions and he was only able to keep it at bay with considerable effort. Self-hatred poured into his mind like tar and he gritted his teeth, knowing that it would pass. It always did. Finally he turned and strode down the corridor to their...to his quarters. He burst through the door. The first thing he noticed was that Ace's jacket was gone off its peg. He looked around...all her things were gone. He ran one hand through his hair. Theo moves fast, he thought. He jerked open the drawers one by one. All her clothes were gone. Her tape deck gone from its place on top of the highboy. Her earring box no longer on her nightstand. He ran around the room, tossing things left and right, searching everywhere he could think of for something, anything of hers. The locked case where she kept her battle armor wasn't in its spot in the closet. The key that opened it wasn't taped behind the mirror. The rows of books on the bookshelf had spaces in them where her books were gone. He tossed his way through the ones that remained, thinking that Theo must have missed one, just one...but all the books here were his. He turned in circles in the middle of the ransacked room, his hair sticking up in wild spikes, his eyes trying to look everywhere at once...then they fell on a paperweight on his nightstand. He pounced on it, grabbing it and holding it up before his face. It was a clear cylinder of solid crystal, and embedded in the center was a exquisite small spun-glass stylized representation of the Empire State Building, lit from within by phosphorescent minerals from Odelphus. It had been a present from her, and he'd never gotten her to reveal where she'd found it or whom she'd convinced to create it. He turned it over and over in his hands, not really seeing it. A motion caught his eye and he looked up to see his reflection in the mirror. His face was pale and his eyes had a strange crazy light in them. He was overcome with loathing at the sight of his own features, and without thinking he cocked his arm back and threw the paperweight at the mirror with all his strength, a strangled cry escaping his lips. This impulse spent, he fell to his knees in the middle of the chaos, the mirror shattered into a thousand shards, no longer able to show him the image of that man whom he no longer wanted to be.
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