Out With the Girls
"So where to ladies?" said the be-goggled Ace as she shifted Bessie's gears.
"Well, I thought we might go to the Promenade. It's a shopping area downtown." Doris shouted over the wind that whipped past Bessie's windshield.
"Sounds good to us." Shou Young yelled forward after getting a head nod from Brigadier Bambera.
"The Promenade it is!" Ace answered. She pressed the gas pedal a bit harder anxious to see what the Doctor's old car could do.
Half an hour later the archway of the shopping center beckoned the ladies as they emerged from the car. They made their way to the directory and studied it like a treasure map.
"Gordon Bennett, they have a spice shop! Oh, I am definitely going there." "A spice shop Ace? I wouldn't have taken you for a gourmet." said Shou. Her friend laughed. "I'm not, but you would be amazed at what the Professor can scrape together. He can do anything: entrees, soups, desserts. My first day traveling with him, I had to beg him to stop cooking. I was absolutely stuffed. Unfortunately the Tar… um, our transport is running low on cooking supplies at the moment so I would like to replenish the stores."
"That sounds nice, but I do believe I would rather head towards 'Page by Page' they have the most splendid gardening section." mused Doris as she pointed to a book shop on the other side of the Promenade.
"I'll come with you Mrs. Lethbrige-Stewart and Shou Young can go with Ace. After our recent unpleasantness I think it would be better if we at least stayed in pairs." said Bambera. "Agreed," said the older woman, "but let's meet up again in two hours at the café." The three other women nodded before the group split to head in separate directions.
"So tell me Brigadier, do you have any family at home?" Doris inquired kindly as they walked. "My mother and five younger brothers are still home, yes ma'Am." answered the soldier.
"Do call me Doris won't you please, we are friends now after all." "Only if you promise to never call me Winifred." The brigadier smiled.
"It's a deal. Five brothers though, that must have been interesting." Said Doris. "It was. Sometimes I miss those ruffians." Bambera opened the door for Doris as they entered the bookstore.
"I noticed the way Sir Ancelyn looks at you, my dear, I do believe he is in love with you. Are you inclined towards the domestic life at all?" "I hadn't truly thought about it before, but after this whole mess with the Doctor I am ready to believe anything is possible." The two women shared a laugh as they headed into the stacks of literature.
"Hey Shou, hold up a moment won't you." said Ace as she stopped in front of a drug store. "Sure, did you think of something else you need." Ace nodded, blushing a little.
"Well, see, when I joined the Professor I only had a few changes of clothes and personal items. I have plenty of clothes now but personal items are scarce. I'll just pop in real quick like and we can head on."
"Alright. So do you like traveling with the Doctor?" asked Shou.
Ace's eyes lit up like fireflies. "It's indescribable. Every day I feel like my wildest dream has come true. Only…" she lowered her gaze as they both entered the store.
"Only what?" Shou asked.
"I don't know how long the Professor will want me around."
"Are you kidding, he freaking dotes on you!" her friend insisted.
"I know he cares about me, I am just afraid that he will get tired of all of my questions, there are times when he won't answer me and he seems to get very annoyed that I won't leave off pestering him. I'm worried that he sees me as some dumb kid." Ace said as she grabbed some items from the shelf.
"Why? How old are you anyway, Ace?" Shou asked.
"That depends, what year is this?"
"1992. How do you not know that?"
"It's a long story, but if it is 1992 then technically I guess I'm about 21 or 22 depending on the month." Shou stared at her friend in confusion before continuing.
"Technically? Well if you are that old I don't see how the Doctor could see you as a child." Ace gave her companion an enigmatic half smile.
"I was only sixteen when I met him." "Oh." Said Shou obviously confused. "But I thought you have only been traveling together for two or three years."
"Again, long story." said Ace as she grabbed a few more cans of deodorant before heading to the checkout.
"Bambera, what do you think about this one?" asked Doris as she held up a rather expansive book on azaleas.
"Is the Brigadier a student of botany?" her tawny friend inquired.
"Well, no, but he is a perfectionist, and the azaleas are his personal favorites."
"Then it's perfect. I am sure he will appreciate the gift." said Bambera.
"I think he deserves it. He did come back home to me, and he is working hard in the garden right now." mused Doris.
Bambera chuckled a little before saying "If I know the Brigadier he has probably recruited Ancelyn and the Doctor to do most of the work."
"Why do you say that?" asked Doris. "He is a military commander. If it were me I would have done the same thing." Bambera smiled.
"I suppose you are right. I do wish he would roll the grass though, the exercise does him good."
"I'm sure the Doctor will make sure he does his fair share."
"Yes about that Doctor fellow, who is he? My Alistair wasn't going to go to Carrberry until he found out the Doctor was involved." said Doris.
"That's classified information."
"Oh, dear I was afraid of that". Doris's shoulders drooped showing her disappointment at the non-information.
Bambera smiled at her "I can tell you one thing. The Doctor is a true and faithful ally, but I would never want to be on his bad side."
"I suppose it is a good thing that he is our friend, then." said Doris feeling a bit better.
"Yes", Bambera nodded "it's a very good thing."
"Ace! They have saffron… and cumin… and Oh My God is that yellow curry powder!?" Ace exclaimed with delight as she added the aforementioned spices to the already overflowing basket.
"Gees, girl, you would think you were stocking the royal kitchens. How can you afford all this stuff anyway? I never could on my salary." Shou asked a little concerned.
"Well, don't tell the Professor, but the Brigadier was so impressed with the way my Nitro-9 took care of that underwater spacecraft that he had the UNIT office requisition a few bottles." said Ace before lifting a finger to her lips for the universal shush signal.
"Nice."
"Yep, it's good to be able to get the Professor something with my own money. He usually pays for everything and it makes me feel like such a mooch." confessed Ace.
"I'm sure he doesn't see it that way." Shou comforted.
"Even if he doesn't it still bothers me. See, before I met him I was on my own. It was rough but I managed to take care of myself. Now though, well, let's just say I don't want to become too dependent on the Professor."
Shou nodded her understanding as the two girls headed to the cashier. "Do you think we should start to head to the café?" she asked when Ace had made her purchase.
"Sure, but this time, drinks are on me." Ace said with a smile.
"I do believe I bought entirely too many books." said Doris as she placed her twin shopping bags on the café table.
"Well, I think you will have all the gardening information, you will ever need." answered Bambera as she tucked her own small literary purchase into one of her numerous pockets.
They sat down and ordered a couple of gin and tonics while they waited for their other friends. A few moments later they saw Shou and Ace enter the restaurant a bit out of breath.
"Hello and where have you too come from in such a hurry?" asked Doris kindly.
Shou shot an evil look at Ace before answering. "We had to take Ace's purchases to the car because they were too much to carry around. Then we realized we were a bit late so we high-tailed it here. What are you two having….oh that looks good." said Shou as the server produced the older ladies' drinks. "I'll have a vodka and sprite, please."
"Yes ma'Am and what can I get for you miss?" he asked Ace.
"I'll just have a Svartan Rum Slider please." The surprised server raised his eyebrows at the request.
"I'm sorry miss, but I don't think we have any Svartan Rum. May I bring you something else?" Ace rested her head on her hand for a moment as she lost herself in thought. "Hum, guess I will try a vodka and sprite as well then, thanks."
"Very well miss, I will be right back with your drinks." He said as he turned to walk away.
Doris , Bambera, and Shou watched him go with great interest. Shou couldn't help voicing her opinion. "He's a looker isn't he?" she said with appreciation.
"Indeed, I remember when the Brigadier was that young. He cut a fine figure as well." Doris smiled back at her. When they turned around however they noticed their friend had missed the whole thing.
"Yo, Ace", Shou said snapping her fingers in front of the girls face, "Earth to Ace."
"Huh, sorry did you say something?" said Ace as she snapped out of her thoughts.
"The cutest guy ever just took our order and you didn't even check him out."
"Oh, our server, he seemed nice", she looked over to see their server leaning over the bar. "Decent bum though."
Bambera chuckled at the two girls from the other side of the table. "What are you laughing at?" asked Ace defensively.
"You. When I was your age I would have gone all girly for a guy like that. But I suppose if I already had someone who took up most of my thought processes I would have been distracted too." She smiled as if she knew a secret.
"I was just thinking about the time I was a waitress. That was before I met the Professor." She sighed and became suddenly interested in the wood grain patterns on their table top.
"You were thinking about the Doctor, admit it." said Shou as she nudged her friend.
Ace nodded slightly, "Sometimes I don't know what to think about the Professor, he's so enigmatic. I mean, first he will tell me that I am brilliant, or something like what he said when he found us in the tavern..."
"'Ace's are rare', isn't that what he said?" asked Shou.
"right. But then he will leave me behind when he knows that all I want to do is watch his back. I just don't know what he wants me to be." She said dejected.
"You wouldn't doubt his feelings for you if you had seen him on the battlefield." said Bambera.
Ace looked at her questioningly and her gaze was joined eagerly by the others' before Bambera sighed and continued. "When he found out that Mordred had caused the fighting to distract him from what was happening with you at the tavern, he snapped. He trapped Mordred with his own sword threatening to kill him unless his mother let you go. Ancelyn was sure that the Doctor was going to kill him. He didn't of course, but Ancelyn told me he had never seen 'Merlin's' eyes become so dark. I don't know what his true feelings are but it is clear that he is fond of you."
Ace smiled a little "Thanks for telling me, it helps I think."
Their server reappeared with the last two drinks and their check. After receiving the chorus of thanks from the table he sauntered back to his workstation. This time however his progress was observed by the whole table.
When the women caught each other staring they all laughed.
"Doesn't have a thing on Sir Ancelyn though does he Brigadier?" pestered Ace, earning herself a patronizing smile from Bambera.
"So, Shou Young", she said deftly changing the subject," what are you going to do once your internship at the dig site is over."
"I suspect I will head back to the University to do my doctoral thesis." Said Shou with a shrug.
"You're a doctoral candidate already!" Ace exclaimed.
"That's wonderful." Said Doris.
"What are you writing your thesis on?" asked Bambera.
"It'll have some long boring title, but basically I am writing on evidence of extra-terrestrial interferences throughout history."
Ace had the unfortunate luck to be taking a drink when Shou's statement caused her to choke. She took a couple of rasping breaths as Shou hit her back.
"I think you should talk to the Professor about that." She wheezed.
Bambera shot a warning look at the coughing girl. "I don't know if that's a good idea miss Ace."
Ace cleared her throat one last time before she retort. "I said she should talk to the Doctor. It would be up to him whether he will talk back or not," she leaned closer to Shou before whispering conspiratively "but you should nag him until he does… hint hint."
Ace was rewarded with another glare from the soldier. "That's all I'm going to say," she said raising her hands in surrender, "promise".
The four women savored their beverages and each other's company as they settled into talking about their purchases for the day. Before they knew it, they had been there for hours.
"Well ladies what do you say we head back to our men folk." Doris suggested when she noticed the time. They all agreed and Ace and Shou offered to carry Doris's books back to Bessie.
"I want to thank you ladies for a lovely afternoon." Doris shouted to them as she drove the Doctor's car. "It is so refreshing to have someone other than Alistair to talk to for once."
"No, thank you!" said Ace.
"It was a nice break." added Bambera before Shou concluded with "It was a lot of fun, though I have more questions now than when we started, and you two", she lightly punched Ace and Bambera, "are no help."
They both laughed good naturedly at her. "It's classified." They chorused together.
"Do you think the men were able to manage while we were gone?" Doris asked as she turned onto the long driveway to her home.
The sight that met the foursome as they approached the house made them doubt that they could. "Told you so." Bambera couldn't help but say as she took in the sight.
Sir Ancelyn was sword fighting a runaway lawn mower.
Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart was hanging upside down by his feet that were caught in a stubborn patch of hanging vines at the corner of the house.
The Doctor was setting up a picnic table with more food than all the UNIT forces could eat in a month. He doffed his hat to the ladies as they piled out of the car.
"Welcome home!" he said exuberantly.
The End