Last of the Time Ladies
Author's note: Sorry if anyone slips OOC, Doctor Who hasn't been on for a while, so I might not have some of the characters quite right. But still, enjoy, read, and don't forget to review
Chapter 1 - Discovering the Truth
Melanie ran, it was all she could think to do. Through the back door, straight through the house, out the front door, down the street, past the bins outside number 72, round the corner, and straight on, until she skidded to a halt in a secluded alleyway. "Why me?" she muttered, breathing heavily, "Why is he after me?"
"Because I know." the stranger who had been hurtling after her appeared infront of her only means of escape.
"Know what?" She said with a puzzled frown, "I thought Torchwood only dealt with aliens, and I'm no alien. You can test my DNA and everything, there's nothing alien abou-"
"How do you know about Torchwood?" he raised a quizzical eyebrow.
"I know I shouldn't have," she looked down at her feet sheepishly, "But I couldn't resist seeing if the rumours were true."
He looked like he was going to get angry, but instead he laughed and said, "Nice work, kid. I suppose since you hacked in, you already know who I am."
"Captain Jack Harkness." Melanie smiled, "Amazingly managed to fight in both world wars and still be alive today. What's your secret? That wasn't mentioned on the Torchwood database."
"I can't say, not until you know. And for that, you're going to have to come with me back to HQ." he said, after some thought.
"Sorry, no can do." she walked casually past Jack, but he grabbed her shoulder and pressed a button on his watch.
-----
Before Melanie could so much as ask even one of the millions of questions buzzing in her head, she fell face first onto the floor of Torchwood HQ in Cardiff.
"What the hell was tha-" she began.
"Don't ask." Jack interupted.
"So, what's this thing that you know that I don't know?" she asked, standing up and dusting herself down.
Jack didn't answer, but started rifling through one of the drawers of a steel grey filing cabinet, until he produced a piece of paper from it. The strange symbols drawn on it were surprisingly neat. "Aha!" he grinned, "Here you go, this should explain a lot."
She took the paper from him. It looked old, much older than her, but the print itself was preserved perfectly. "Sorry, can't read it." she said apologetically. Of course, this was a lie. Miraculously, she could read it quite fluently, with the odd spot of difficulty, but if she admitted this, it would no doubt lead to Torchwood executing several tests, which would lead to a lot of frustration and confinement for her.
"Come on, of course you can." he said, then the puzzled expression lifted from his features, "Oh, I see, you don't want any fuss over being an alien. Don't worry, we're not interested in locking you up or anything, it's just a friend thought you should know the truth."
"Right. First question," she said abruptly, "This birth certificate says I'm over 900 years old. How is that even possible?"
"Gallifreyans-namely Time Lords and Time Ladies-don't die of old age." Jack explained, "Also, you have this neat trick that lets you cheat death, s'called regeneration. I think you're the only 900 year old that hasn't had to use it."
"Next question," she said immediately, "If I was born on Gallifrey, how did I end up on Earth?"
"Ah, well, you see," He said, clearly trying to word it so that Melanie wouldn't be offended, "Normally, Time Ladies were less authorative than the Time Lords, and did as they were told. You weren't quite so obedient, and the Time Lords feared that you overthrow them. So, rather than letting you grow up and be a renegade, when you were just four years old, they sent you to sleep for a long time. But then, during the Time War, for some reason you started to wake up. The Time Lords panicked, so they made you human and sent you to Earth in the first year they found, which happened to be the dawn of the twenty-first century."
"And lastly, what happened to the Time Lords and the Time Ladies after the Time War?" she smiled, "Can I go and see them and Gallifrey?"
Jack was about to answer when another voice interrupted, "Sorry, sweetheart, they're all gone. They burnt in the Time War, and Gallifrey went with them. It's all gone. Except me."
Jack and Melanie turned sharply to see a middle-aged man standing in the 'doorway' of a filing cabinet.
"You!" Jack narrowed his eyes, "How are you still alive? You died, she shot you, you chose to die! You'd better leave right now or I swear I'll-"
The stranger laughed, "Don't worry, I'm leaving. But I'm leaving with her." He pointed to Melanie.
"Can someone please explain what's going on?" she asked as calmly as she could manage.
"He's lying." Jack said, "He's not the last Time Lord. I know another, he's called the Doctor, go with him, not-"
"Oh, come on, Jack, don't be stingy." the stranger said mock sulkily, "I found her first. And besides-"
"Who exactly are you?" Melanie interrupted with a puzzled frown.
"I'm the Master." The Master grinned, "And I know all about you, Melanie."
"Leave her be." Jack snarled.
"But don't you want Gallifreyans to escape the brink of extinction and start again?" The Master smiled, and Melanie blushed a violent shade of red.
"Not if you're at the head of it." Jack said fiercely.
"'Fraid it's not your choice, Captain." The Master grabbed Melanie's arm. She tried to twist out of his grip, but it was no good. And Jack's last words before she was dragged aboard the Master's TARDIS/filing cabinet were three little words: "He'll save you."