"Give them a chance, Doctor!"

"You cannot be serious, Romanadvoratrelundar. They are strangers, and humans none the less. No. I do not like it."

"I think with your experience and my intelligence we can handle any perceived threat."

"And if we can't? What then, hmm?"

Romanadvoratrelundar flashed an encouraging smile at the two school teachers. "I'm sure they only mean the best. They do care for Susan."

"My dear, I've been traveling a lot longer than you have. I know more about the universe than you do."

"And I graduated from the Academy, with a triple first mind you, while you couldn't pass your piloting exam. Perhaps we should ask the person in the middle of us? Susan, what do you think?"

The young girl looked pleadingly at the Doctor. "Oh, please Grandfather, please?"

The old man growled and acquiesced, with a dark look towards Romanadvoratrelundar that he had perfected over the years. "They can come with us."

"What?" exclaimed the other four as the Doctor launched the TARDIS into flight.

"So if we-"

"No, no, no, we should-"

"But then-"

"Ah! This is so much fun!"

"I know!"

The Doctor and Jamie just stood off and watched Zoe and Fred play with the various wires and the super computer. The crisis was averted, and now they were trying to make it work again without it attempting world domination.

"What's your opinion on this?"

"I figure iffin I nod and smile e'ry time they try ta explain it ta me, they'll stop soon enough."

"Quite right, Jamie. Quite right."

It wasn't bad enough that he had to be exiled on Earth and forced to regenerate, locked out of his TARDIS, and all that went along with that bundle of joy.

No, it wasn't bad enough because now he had to work for UNIT.

"I think the Doctor's just bitter about being stuck here," Romana said to Liz with a smirk as the Doctor once again started a small fire trying to get his TARDIS to work.

"All he wants is someone to hand him test tubes and call him brilliant."

"Doesn't he though?"

"I can hear you girls talking, you know."

"Good because Brigadier just showed up!"

"One more thing, your name."

"What about my name?"

"It's too long. By the time I've called out, 'look out'- What's your name?"

"Romanadvoratrelundar."

"By the time I've called that out you could be dead." He paused for a moment. "I'll call you Romana."

She sighed. "I don't like Romana."

"It's either Romana or Fred," he replied, exasperated.

"Alright. Call me Fred."

"Good. Come along Romana."

"Can it, Adric!"

Tegan laughed. "Told you I wasn't the only one who thought the same."

The young boy sniffed. "It seems there's only room for one genius on the TARDIS."

Fred's lips twitched as her head slightly tilted. "Only one genius? Me, I graduated from the Academy with a triple first."

She was toying with Adric, baiting him. Lucky for him, the Doctor and Nyssa entered. "I've lost my sonic-"

"You can borrow mine."

"Thank you, Fred."

"Doctor, she was-"

"No time for personal grudges, Adric. It's on to the next adventure."

"Romana Romana Romana-"

"Please call me Fred. And change your wardrobe. It's an affront to common sense."

"I like it. It puts people off. Gets them thinking about my exterior, not puzzling over how I'm about to defeat them."

She raised a single eyebrow. "And you can't do that in calmer colors?"

"No."

"It won't help you in your trial."

"Not another one."

"Afraid so. You keep them distracted with your coat. I'll gather your defense."

"Doctor, it's not right."

"It doesn't matter if it's right; it has to be done."

"You're going to rip her to pieces!"

"It will be better for her in the end. She'll be stronger for it. I know."

Romanadvoratrelundar shook her head slowly. "Doctor, you're so brilliant but you can't just take a young girl from her home and-"

"But this isn't her home. She has none and I intend to teach her to make home in herself."

"You're going to teach her to close herself off from everyone."

"Nonsense. Nobody does that."

"You do."

"All this talking and my tea has gone cold."

The Time Lady couldn't help but smile. "You can't avoid the issue."

"Don't deny you're not interested in her Nitro-9."

Romanadvoratrelundar blushed, admitting it.

"There has got to be another way!"

"You were the President yourself before Rassilion came back. You know I'm right."

"And you were too."

The Doctor stared into his console. "There's no way to win. I know what you are thinking and no."

"We can't we seal it off? Seal the war away before anything worse than the daleks slips in?"

"The Nightmare Child is already here."

Romana shook her head. "No."

"There's no other way. I can only save us." He paused, his anguished face echoing her own. "You know it's true. I know you wanted better, dreamed of greatness, mending broken bridges and broken Time Lords."

She didn't blink at his blatant reading of her. "End the war, Doctor. End it before I end you."

Rose, or, as Fred called her, "the blonde," watched with fascination as the two last Time Lords bickered. Undoubtedly, both were jealous that Jack split his attention equally.

"Such hard work. But worth it," she murmured to herself, mimicking their voices.

In the end, Rose had no doubt Fred would win. She had an innate ability to find "higher ground" and stay there, resolute and almost sullen until the Doctor gave up and went off to put up some more cupboards.

Rose would trail after him, offering Fred tea, who always accepted.

A/N: I meant to do all 11 Doctors. And I plan to, eventually. But with all the hullaballo over the 50th and a regeneration, I can't touch the last two at the moment.