Note 1: I realize original characters are quite frowned upon, but with the Law & Order aspect, it cannot be entirely helped. Appearances are fleeting.

Note 2: This is a note about the world I am writing in. Basically, it takes place some years after "The End of Time". Gallifrey came through the Time Rift. Thanks to some clever maneuvering and clever plans and just plain cleverness on the part of the Doctor working with the Master (resentfully coerced into helping) the Dalek fleet was sealed back inside the Time Lock and Gallifrey was safely maneuvered into its own orbit around the sun, completely intact.

Needless to say, this came as quite a shock to the inhabitants of Sol III. Not only have they encountered alien life forms, but their entire planet has suddenly appeared in the sky. (Because of its proximity, Earth's seasons and tides have been dramatically affected.) Furthermore, the aliens look exactly like humans on the outside.

U.N.I.T. helped calm some of the fear on the part of world governments, but it took quite a while for humans to get used to the idea, especially as revelations about the aliens never seemed to cease. From learning of the two "sub-species" of the aliens to the differences between the two and what they could do. While the world governments extended an official welcome to the aliens, local welcome was limited, met with suspicion and even hostility.

Fast forward. Humans and Gallifreyans are living in an uneasy peace with tight regulations on who can come and go from each planet. The humans, having never needed an intergalactic immigration system, bumbles around with it. They don't want to be seen as unfriendly, but they want to appear strong. It fails miserably and most Gallifreyans can easily jump between planets. Meanwhile, Gallifrey keeps their system in a near-stranglehold with a waiting list nearly two years long.

Nevertheless, cultural exchange happens, especially the exchange of lives. An agreement was reached that if someone died or something happened, justice was dispensed based on the victim's race, regardless of who the perpetrator was.

In all of this, Time Lords are kept on a strict watch. Gallifreyan Time Laws still stood, with additional regulations prohibiting any more human passengers in Tardises. Regular Tardis inspections and filing flight plans are also included in the new laws. All of this is supervised by the Celestial Intervention Agency (CIA). This irritated the Time Lords and many left to pursue their own adventures. When the humans tried to restrict Tardises and other time travel use further, the Time Lords merely laughed.

The humans also pressed for the Gallifreyans' superior technology, but to no avail. They pressed for everything the Gallifreyans had, but the Gallifreyans remained stalwart and nothing was given. Commerce in and out of Gallifrey is little more than a trickle.

After a time, it comes to pass that Gallifreyans could get a job, own property, and live on Earth. However, Gallifreyan law prohibits the "changing of citizenship." It took much longer, but humans could do the same things on Gallifrey, though the entire resident-human population numbers about five hundred, all kept within five miles of the Capitol and kept under heavy watch.

As far as specific people:

Rassilon remains Lord President of Gallifrey, having become very, very popular among the common Gallifreyans for his handling of their sudden new space-time accommodations. He is not, however, terribly popular with the Time Lords with his implementing of new Time Laws. He still dreams of taking Gallifrey into a purely-conscious era, though this dream had to be set aside in lieu of most unfortunate events.

Romana is head of the Gallifreyan Justice Department, overseeing all cross-cultural cases. She doesn't mind the humans as long as they stay at a distance. In person, she can be ruthless, called by her counterparts in U.N.I.T., "the Lawyer" (making fun of a Time Lord's Tardis name).

After having his body chemistry stabilized, the Master was locked up in the Gallifreyan Institute for the Dimensionally Insane, an asylum for former Time Lords who had been driven mad from too much time travel.

The Doctor saved Wilfred from the radiation and did not die or regenerate himself. He is named the official ambassador between Gallifrey and Earth, though he could hardly imagine a more droll job. He often slips away on day-adventures in his Type 40, Mark III Tardis. If he doesn't return on his own, his "supervisors" the CIA are often dispatched to tow him home.

When not trying to outwit his captors, he can usually be found in the officially ordained Gallifreyan Consulate only a few blocks from U.N.I.T. headquarters.

As mentioned before, the peace between Earth and Gallifrey is very uneasy. Instead of a Hollywood coexistence, and far cry from an equally Hollywood annihilation, the relationship between the two is a bit like old racial tensions after the American Civil War. In some areas, Gallifreyans were quite welcome and treated as equals or near-equals. In other places, a bit of barbed wire and a shotgun made a quick point. But in most places, Gallifreyans could walk freely, but could not expect a warm welcome or fair treatment from everyone.

Consulates like where the Doctor works are frequent targets of drive-by obscenities, graffiti, and an occasional mob…


"As you can see, the area has been taped off for three blocks in either direction as police work to round up suspects, perpetrators, and witnesses," the anchorwoman reported formally. "The estimated damage is about seventy-thousand pounds, or about twenty-three thousand pandaks, and the body count is up to fifteen."

"I told you it would come to this," Romana spat, standing next to the Doctor and surveying the damage.

The Consulate had been torched; if it wasn't made of brick, it would be little more than a pile of charred rubble on a barren lot. Spray cans and silly string mixed with shells and empty clips. The bodies had long since been taken away, but the chalk remained. Blood stained the pavement. Broken glass littered the sidewalk below windows where Molotov cocktails had been meticulously launched. There was more glass inside where rocks had been thrown.

"Humans," Romana scoffed. "They turn my stomachs."

"Oh, come now, they're not all that bad," the Doctor said. "Just…misdirected."

"Misdirected. Ha! Listen to you, a regular politician. Misdirected." She shook her head. "They are violent and cruel and so pitifully small-minded. And then their minds are opened to a universe that's larger than their petty differences and they can't handle that knowledge."

"Is Gallifrey so different? How often have the Chapters gone to war, hm? Aren't those petty differences of our own?"

"We were working to choose a President, not squabbling over strips of land or foolishly wasted natural resources. Or maybe you've spent too long away from the home you abandoned and have forgotten?"

"I didn't abandon Gallifrey, Romana. I just got lucky and escaped."

"And left us to die."

"And got a new perspective, watching everything from the outside. Do you think I didn't dream every night about dazzling silver leaves humming under twin suns? About the spires and ancient corridors?"

"I've heard this all before, Lord Doctor," Romana said dismissively, using his formal title. "Regardless of your feelings between home and Sol III, someone needs to be punished for this."

"I agree," a new voice said.

The Time Lords turned to see a middle-aged man approaching.

"Sorry, who are you?" the Doctor asked.

"Detective Sergeant Ronnie Brooks, at your service, sir. I'm afraid my partner is home sick with the flu."

"Tragic, to be sure," Romana said spitefully. "What do you want? Shouldn't you be out detecting or something?"

"I have been, ma'am."

"And? Have you arrested anyone?"

"There are men still working on that. However, I merely wished to inquire of the Ambassador. Are you hurt, sir?"

"No, thank you." The Doctor shot Romana a look. "Someone already came by and interviewed me."

"Thank you."

Romana stopped him before he could leave. "And you will let us know when you find anything." It wasn't a question.

"Of course, Lady Romana."

"That's Lord Romana, sir."

"What?"

Romana was ready with a tart reply, but the Doctor stepped between them and put a hand on the detective's shoulder. "Why don't we walk and talk?" His tone and expression left no room for argument.

"My apologies, sir," Brooks sighed once they were out of earshot. "I still don't understand-"

"Don't worry about it; Romana's always been a bit spiteful. She couldn't keep Presidency longer than one hundred fifty years."

"And here ten years would seem significant."

"Yes…Anyway, calling a female Time Lord a Time Lady is considered an insult. You might as well kill someone yourself for as personal as she'll take it."

"I guess I forgot. They had a seminar on racial differences, and look how well it did me."

"Hm…Well, no human could hope to please Romana. Not many Gallifreyans can please her either. The best you can do is get a good lead on this case and turn it over to her so she can take care of it."

"And that will make her happy?"

"No, it'll just make her hate you a tiny bit less."

"I see."

"How about this? You work on this case, and leave Romana to me."

"I should like that very much, sir."

"Good man."

The Doctor clapped him on the back and left. Romana was right where he left her.

"And?" she demanded.

Seeing this would not be a productive conversation, he merely sighed and turned to go down the street where he'd parked the Tardis after escaping the mob.

"You can't expect them to solve this case so soon," he told her, spinning around and walking backwards.

"I can and I will," she informed him haughtily.

He turned back around. "If you're so worried, do some investigating on your own!"

"Maybe I will!" She snorted indignantly. "Maybe I will…"


"Well?" one cop asked as Brooks approached. "How did that go?"

"About as well as could expected." He accepted a cup of coffee and a donut.

"That well, huh?"

"No, just a tiny bit less than bad."


"They are insignificant," Rassilon said dismissively, taking a slow lap around the room. "They'll bumble around for a little while, rounding up…suspects and—heh—witnesses and find a few kids who threw a few rocks. Things got out of hand and…" He shrugged and sat down heavily. "The rest is history." He took a sip of tea. "What are you so worried about, Romana?"

"The kids could rat on us."

"A couple of sixteen year old children covered in ink and piercings, high on hallucinogenic fumes, and have nothing to their names, no personal accomplishments, are going to accuse the highest authority on Gallifrey of ordering a mob at their own Consulate. Do you honestly think anyone would buy that? And, because of the Criminal Origins Act, we can deal with them and make it so they are never believed by anyone."

"What about Lord Doctor? Of all the Consulates, did it really have to be his?"

"Of course it did. He's spent so much time with the humans, he's practically one of them. They trust him, he trusts them. He'll follow the investigation, see how well it's going, and accept whatever they find."

"You know he won't just sit back and watch."

"Romana-"

"He has a tendency to meddle, Lord President. You know that. You also know that he will go to great lengths to uncover any investigation, any conspiracy. And when he finds out-"

Rassilon pounded his fist on the table, tipping over the tea. "Enough!" He scowled and used a cloth to wipe up the mess. "We will deal with the Doctor if necessary. There is nothing he can find that we haven't planted to be found."

"Fine. But what about the unrest here at home? You know at least the Gallifreyans will be calling for retaliation. The Time Lords may jump in to defend one of their own."

"The Lord Doctor was never very popular with the Time Lords, not in school, not out of school, not anywhere. And given his role in the Time War, he is hardly in a position of leverage. His ambassadorship was merely to give the humans a measure of security, giving them someone they'd worked with in the past."

"But how will we quell-?"

"As I recall, you are head of the Justice Department, not Relations."

"We don't have a Relations Department."

"Of course we do. It's me. Now then, leave the Lord Doctor and the unrest to me. You just keep an eye on the investigation, have the CIA at the ready, and take over as soon as possible."

"But-"

"You are dismissed, Lord Romana."

She huffed, but there was nothing to be done. "Of course, Lord President."

And she left.