Finding Forgiveness

by LizzeXX

10/OC -Time Lady- The Doctor has finally come clean to Mac, a Time Lady, about only some of his actions on Gallifrey that hurt her deeply. But many more things are still left unsaid. How will their healing relationship go when they land on Mars? What will they do with the Gate waiting? What will happen when the Time Lord and Gallifrey returns? Second in the Time Lady Memoirs.

2. The Next Doctor - Part 2

The Next Doctor - Part 2

Mac glanced over as she saw Rosita pacing before them just outside a set of barn doors, more like stable doors really, "Doctor!" the woman shouted as she saw them walking over, running towards them to hug the other Doctor, "I thought you were dead!"

"Now then, Rosita," the other Doctor pulled away just a little, "A little decorum."

"You've been gone for so long," she pointed at him, before huffing at the two Time Lords, "He's always doing this, leaving me behind. Going frantic."

"I know the feeling," Mac muttered, making the Doctor look at her.

There was more to it than just a remnant of when he'd run off from her telling him she loved him. It was like…like it was bigger than that.

'Word of your exploits didn't just come from watching you on Earth,' was all she offered him silently for his look.

He was a little worried and a little touched at that. Touched that she was both starting to speak to him in his mind again. It was a trait for Time Lords, they were a largely telepathic people. They could read the minds of others, see their minds, tamper with their minds if they had physical contact and ample concentration. Within their own people, there was like a faint buzz in the back of their minds, the chatter of their people, more like their faint presence. It had been annoying before, an annoyance that they could easily push to the back of their mind but now with just each other…it was nearly gone. He could faintly feel her beside him in the back of his head.

For her to start talking to him again, it meant she was slowly forgiving him for at least one harm he'd done her. It wasn't strange or odd, that they could communicate via their mind, it was something all on their planet could do. Mostly they had generic mental walls to keep out others, no one really pried into the minds of a Time Lord either. But they could communicate using their mind if they wished.

He was touched for that, and…he was touched that she'd apparently been aware of some of the things he'd gotten into when off-world. That she knew of some of the things he'd done and, apparently, been worried for him. It gave him hope that, despite how angry she'd been, she DID still care for him a little.

But he was worried because she was quiet, in his head, a little too quiet, her voice was faint, like a whisper. He wasn't entirely sure what that meant, if it meant she was hesitant to speak to him. To speak to someone in their mind meant that, at that moment, your own mind was open to them. He wasn't sure if she was still guarding her mind or if there was just…something wrong with their telepathic abilities.

"What about the TARDIS?" the other Doctor asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Rosita smiled at that though, "Oh, she's ready. Come on," she quickly took the other Doctor's arm and led him off.

"I dunno about you," the Doctor glanced at Mac, "But I'm looking forward to this."

She let out a long breath, "I'm not looking forward to telling him the truth."

He had to nod to that as they followed the man into the stables, stopping when they nearly walked into a suitcase. The stables were fairly small, only meant to house a couple horses it seemed. But it was filled with clothes and cases and boxes. The stalls seemed to serve as different rooms as well as there were no horses there. They could see a cot in one, a washing basin in another, a small table in a third, and that was just the ones in sight.

"You were right though, Rosita," the other Doctor was continuing to speak, not noticing their glances, "The Reverend Fairchild's death was the work of the Cybermen."

"So, you live here?" the Doctor frowned at that.

"A temporary base, until we rout the enemy."

"Did you break the TARDIS or something?" Mac had to wonder, already rubbing her head at the thought the Doctor could break the time capsule so thoroughly he'd be forced to live in a barn…it was something he'd manage to do.

"The TARDIS is magnificent, but it's hardly a home," the other Doctor chuckled shaking his head as he entered a stall, the one with the wash basin and began to rub his face.

"And where's the TARDIS now?" the Doctor looked around, wondering if it might be disguised as one of the stalls.

"In the yard."

"Er...what's all this luggage?"

Mac frowned, eyeing the boxes and turned to them, pulling another magnet out of her pocket and running them alongside a stack of them.

"Evidence. The property of Jackson Lake, the first man to be murdered. Oh, but my new friends are fighters, Rosita, much like myself. He faced the Cybermen with a cutlass and she rigged a directing rod for a weapon. I'm not ashamed to say, he was braver and she calmer than I. They were quite brilliant."

Mac paused as the magnet caught on something and stood, pushing the top case off the stack so she could root through the one that was caught.

"That's another man's property!" Rosita cried, seeing her moving, the Doctor coming to stand on the other side of the case, watching her.

"Well, a dead man's," the Doctor defended, seeing Mac pull her glasses down to dig further in, "How did you two meet, then?" he looked at Rosita, trying to distract her.

"He saved my life," Rosita shrugged, "Late one night, by the Osterman's Wharf, this...creature came out of the shadows. A man made of metal. I thought I was gonna die. And then, there he was. The Doctor. Can you help him, sir? He has such terrible dreams. Wakes at night in such a state of terror."

"He's not the only one," Mac mumbled.

The Doctor looked at her for that. He'd noticed this trip that she still made remarks, even if they were less biting and even more under her breath. It was like she really was trying not to let him hear her but…well, Time Lords had quite good hearing and, well, he was a bit embarrassed to say that he often heard her even when she wasn't trying to be heard. It was like his mind and ears just automatically zeroed in on her voice, like it still wasn't used to it being there, to HER being there, and just picked up on her faster and easier than normal.

He was worried now. He'd had nightmares of what he'd done during the war, yes, he managed to control them though. They'd…faded a little with the more people he met, the more people he helped, the longer his companions stayed with him. They were getting a little better. He could admit that they got a bit worse when Mac started to travel with him, most of her remarks really had gotten to him deeply, but…he could tell they'd soon start to fade. To find out that SHE was having nightmares, that she was STILL having nightmares…

He'd have to keep an eye on her.

He wouldn't wish nightmares like that on anyone.

"Come now, Rosita," the other Doctor chuckled as he stepped out of the stall, a towel around his neck, "With all the things a Time Lord has seen, everything he's lost, he may surely have bad dreams."

"Yeah," the Doctor swallowed.

"Infostamp," Mac called, pulling one out that was stuck to the side where the magnet was, "Property of one Mr. Jackson Lake apparently."

"But how?" the other Doctor seemed startled by that.

Mac blinked and looked at him, pushing her glasses up, "You've had all this luggage sitting around and you didn't go through it to see what might be in it?"

"I didn't think it was significant," the other Doctor blinked, "It was just his luggage, hardly had time to unpack even. Why? Is that significant?"

"Doctor, the answer to all this is in your TARDIS," the Doctor turned to him, "Could we see it?"

The other Doctor smiled at that, "Mr. Smith, Ms. Noble, it would be my honor. Come, this way," he gestured them to follow him as he led them to the back of the stables and out into a yard behind it…where a rather large, rather crude hot air balloon was sitting in the middle of the yard, "There she is! My transport through time and space. The TARDIS."

"You've…got a balloon," the Doctor blinked at it.

"I hadn't noticed," Mac rolled her eyes at that, the Doctor had quite a knack for stating the obvious, didn't he?

"TARDIS," the man nodded, "T-A-R-D-I-S. It stands for Tethered Aerial Release Developed In Style. D'you see?"

"That is…something," Mac agreed.

"I like it," the Doctor shrugged, "Good TARDIS. Brilliant. Nice one."

"Inflated by gas?" Mac glanced at the other Doctor as THE Doctor moved closer to look at it, "Or…"

"We're adjacent to the Mutton Street Gasworks," he nodded, "I pay them a modest fee. Good work, Jed," he moved over to a young boy that was tending to the balloon, slapping a small wad of notes into the boy's hand.

"Glad to be of service, sir," the boy smiled, he always seemed to get a bit more from the (other) Doctor than most other customers. He was a very gracious tipper.

"You've got quite a bit of money," the Doctor observed.

"I didn't think the Doctor carried money," Mac remarked, it was rather frustrating that he didn't.

"Oh, you get nothing for nothing," the other Doctor chuckled at that, "How's that ripped panel, Jed?"

Mac glanced up at the cloth that made the balloon, spotting the rip that had been repaired, "All repaired," the boy nodded, "Should work a treat. You never know, maybe tonight's the night, Doctor. Imagine it, seeing Christmas from above."

"Well, not just yet, I think. One day, I will ascend. One day soon."

"You've never actually been up?" the Doctor looked back over at him.

"He dreams of leaving, but never does," Rosita murmured.

"I can depart, in the TARDIS, once London is safe," the other Doctor defended.

"That's a change," Mac remarked, before wincing, she hadn't meant to say that, it just sort of…slipped out then.

The Doctor gave her a smallish smile and a nod for it though. He knew, it really would take her a little bit of time to truly come to terms with the fact that he hadn't betrayed her like she thought he had. It would take time for her anger to settle, centuries of it didn't disappear in the blink of an eye. He was honestly surprised more stinging remarks hadn't made it through before that one.

The other Doctor didn't seem to notice though as he stared up at the balloon, "And finally, when I'm up there... Think of it, John, imagine it Ms. Noble. The time and the space."

"The perfect escape," the Doctor breathed.

"What exactly are you trying to escape from though?" Mac looked at the other Doctor, though her gaze actually landed on the Doctor himself.

That was one thing she'd never known, why had he left Gallifrey when he had? She'd made the remark once that he'd been trying to escape his wife but…that had been when she couldn't understand if he'd really loved her and that was why he was going to marry her (why run from his wife if he'd wanted her so badly?) or if there was something else. But she really didn't know.

"I…I'm not sure," the other Doctor admitted.

"Do you want us to tell you?" the Doctor inquired, "Cos I think we've worked it out now," he glanced at Mac as she nodded, "How you became The Doctor. What do you think? Do you want to know?"

"More than anything," the man nodded.

"We should go back in then," Mac gestured at the stables, "It…you'd best sit for it."

The other Doctor looked between the two of them, but headed back into the stables with Rosita, moving to sit on a few crates in the middle as the Doctor and Mac sat across from them.

"The story begins with the Cybermen," the Doctor began, "A long time away, and not so far from here, the Cybermen were fought and they were beaten, and they were sent into a howling wilderness called The Void, locked inside forevermore. But then a greater battle rose up, so great that everything inside The Void perished. But, as the walls of the world weakened, the last of the Cybermen must have fallen through the dimensions, back in time, to land here. And they found you."

Mac nodded along, knowing he was talking about the Battle of Canary Warf, how they'd been locked into the Void with the Daleks. But when the walls of the worlds started to fracture because of the Dimension Cannon, and the Dalek's work started to seep through across worlds and into other areas of them, the Cybermen were able to escape the Void and enter this world just as Rose had escaped the parallel world into this world through the cracks.

"I fought them, I know that," the other Doctor agreed, following along so far, "But what happened?"

"Jackson Lake happened," Mac took up, "He found the Cybermen as they entered this world. Mr. Lake, you said, was new to town, had just moved here," she gestured around, "With his luggage, likely all the money he possessed as well. He grabbed an infostamp to stop them when they attacked and broke the seal, just like you did in Fairchild's home. He fought them off."

"But he's dead," the other Doctor disagreed there, "Jackson Lake is dead. The Cybermen murdered him."

"Where's his body then?" Mac countered, "Why do YOU have all his luggage? Why does the Doctor, a man who never carries a penny, have so much money on him?"

"I told you the answer was in the fob watch," the Doctor nodded at it, "Can I see?" the other Doctor hesitated before he reached down and handed the Doctor his watch, only for the Doctor to turn it over and reveal the 'J.L.' that was inscribed on the back of it, "The watch is Jackson Lake's."

Rosita blinked at that and looked at the man, stunned, "Jackson Lake is... you, sir?"

"But I'm the Doctor," Jackson insisted as the Doctor handed Mac the watch again, the woman opening the back of it, pulling the small workings out of her pocket and examining the pieces, slipping her glasses down in the process.

"You became the Doctor because the infostamp you picked up was a book about one particular man," the Doctor turned, pointing the stamp Mac had found at the wall and pressing the button, displaying all the past incarnations he'd had, right from his first one, "The Cybermen's database. Stolen from the Daleks inside The Void, I'd say, but it's everything you could want to know about the Doctor."

Jackson blinked and stiffened when the man before him appeared on the wall as well, "That's you!"

"Time Lord, TARDIS, enemy of the Cybermen," the Doctor shrugged, "The one and the only. You see? The infostamp must have backfired, streamed all that information about me right inside your head."

"I am nothing but a lie…" the man breathed.

"No, no, no, no, no," the Doctor quickly set down the stamp, ignoring the small curse in Gallifreyan beside him when a piece Mac was working on slipped, though neither Jackson nor Rosita seemed to hear her, "Infostamps are just facts and figures. All that bravery. Saving Rosita. Defending London town. Hmm? And the invention, building a TARDIS. That's all you."

"And what else?" Jackson looked back up at him, urgent, insistent, "Tell me what else?"

The Doctor paused, not quite sure what else there was to say, "There's still something missing, isn't there?"

"I demand you tell me, sir. Tell me what they took!"

The Doctor frowned, truly not sure what else there was to say, what other mystery there might be.

"This watch," Mac held it up as it started to tick again, her snapping the back into it once more, all fixed up, "It was a gift, wasn't it?"

Jackson looked at her, startled that she knew, startled that…that he was just remember that yes, it was. He nodded and Mac handed it back to him.

"I'm sorry Mr. Lake," she began, "But…for this day and age…a pocket watch would be something a…a wife would give her husband."

The Doctor stiffened at that, looking back at the luggage, it WAS an awful lot for just ONE man to need.

"Infostamps are so basic it wouldn't be able to completely replace your memories unless you WANTED them to," Mac continued, moving her glasses onto her head, "Unless you didn't want to remember what they were replacing and blanked them out yourself. That's called a fugue state."

"Midnight," Rosita whispered as she heard bells going off in the distance, Jackson just staring right at Mac with wide, stunned eyes at what she'd said, "Christmas Day."

"I remember..." he breathed, starting to blink rapidly, "Oh, my God..." he hunched over, pressing his hands to his eyes as he realized what she was saying and it hit him again, the memory, the one he'd buried just as she said, "Caroline. They killed my wife. They killed her!"

Rosita moved closer to him, putting an arm around his shoulder to comfort him as he started to weep for his loss.

The Doctor and Mac looked down as the two stamps before them started to beep at the same time. The Doctor grabbed them both and stood, moving in a circle till the beeping got louder in one area and headed over there, not even needing Mac's magnet as the moment he opened the top suitcase he spotted and entire chain of stamps lying there.

"Oh..." he pulled them out, tossing he two he'd been holding to Mac, "You found a whole cache of infostamps."

"But what is it?" Rosita looked between them, "What's that noise?"

Mac moved the two stamps to one hand and rubbed her head, "It's an activation alarm," she mumbled, "They're on the move."

"Come on!" the Doctor cried, rushing out the door with Mac after him, Rosita hesitating to check on Jackson first.

The Time Lords ran out onto the street to see a parade of small children walking down the road, an old man walking, more like marching, behind them, his face blank, two small earpods on his ears that were blinking in a most un-1851 like fashion.

"What is it?" Rosita gasped as she joined them, "What's happening?" she squinted into the dark spotting the old man as well, "That's Mr. Cole. He's Master of the Hazel Street Workhouse. Maybe he's taking them to prayers."

"I doubt it," Mac shook her head.

The Doctor rushed over to Mr. Cole, walking alongside him as the women rushed after him, "Can you hear me? Hello? No? Mr. Cole, you seem to have something in your ear," he eyed the pods, "Now, this might hurt a bit, but if I can just..."

He was about to flash the sonic on the pods when Mac pushed his hand down, "Are you out of your mind!?" she hissed at him, "I read the reports of Adeola in Torchwood, you do that you kill him."

"He's already dead," the Doctor countered.

"There's always a chance of undoing the programming, but he has to be alive for it to work!"

The Doctor seemed about to argue more when he spotted one of the Cyber-creatures off to the side, around a corner, watching them, "They're on guard," he murmured, slipping the sonic back into his coat pocket, "Can't risk a fight. Not with the children."

"But where are they going?" Rosita shook her head.

"All need a good whipping, if you ask me," Jed remarked as he joined them.

"No one asked you," Mac sent him a glare. The thought of anyone striking a child was just…completely loathsome to her. It was just…cruel and she couldn't imagine anyone ever lifting a hand to a boy or girl like that. Perhaps it was the differences in culture, with children being so treasured on Gallifrey, cases of child abuse were few and very far between.

"There's tons of 'em," Jed shrugged, not at all affected by her glare, "I've just seen another lot coming from the Ingleby Workhouse down Broadback Lane."

"Where's that?" the Doctor turned to Rosita for guidance.

"This way!" Rosita turned, rushing off with the Doctor and Mac following her through the side streets, nearly stumbling back when they came to another line of children being led by yet another old man with earpods in, "There's dozens of 'em!"

"Where are they going though?" Mac shook her head, "Why are they taking the children?"

The Doctor glanced at her only a moment before he reached out and took her hand a moment. He loved children, he did, he had them himself and it always made every adventure and trip that involved them that much more personal to him. But he knew it was actually just a little worse for Mac, having never had the chance to be a mother except for Teddy, having lost that chance and to know she'd never get it. She always had a softer spot for children, even before she'd lost that ability to have them. She had always been such a mother hen to everyone, even if she didn't act like it now he knew that the part of her that loved children and felt responsible for them had carried over.

They looked to the side as the old man led the children right up to a rather large set of wooden, double doors, "You will continue. You will enter the Court of the Cyberking."

"No!" Mac's eyes widened at that, feeling the Doctor's grip on her hand tighten as well.

A Cyberking? There was a Cyberking involved? They had to get the children out of there! But before they could even take a step up to try and interfere, one little boy tried to do the same, to flee…only for one of the furry-metal creatures to come out of the shadows and block his way, making him scramble and fall backwards. More of the creatures appeared, herding the children on towards the doors.

"March," the old man ordered, "That is an order. March!"

Mac squeezed the Doctor's hand back as they were forced to watch the children enter the doors until they were slammed shut.

"That's the door to the sluice," Rosita squinted, trying to see more in the dark, "All the sewage runs through there, straight into the Thames."

"There'll be no getting in that way," Mac murmured, seeing the creatures had remained outside the doors, acting like guards.

"Yeah, that's too well guarded," the Doctor agreed, "We'll have to find another way in," he pulled his hand away from Mac and turned to go…only to jump back, nearly right into the two women, when he saw that there were two Cybermen standing behind them, "Whoa! That's cheating, sneaking up! Did you have your legs on silent?"

The Cybers just stood there, silent, making them think they might be able to get an escape in as they hadn't automatically fired at them yet…but before they could take a step, a woman in a red dress made her way over, just strolling along, casual as ever, until she stopped right between the Cybermen and stared at the three of them.

"So...what do we have here?" she eyed them, her eyebrow quirking.

"Just walk towards me, slowly," the Doctor ushered her over, starting to stutter in alarm at seeing a human standing so close to the mental men, knowing she likely had no idea what they were or how much danger she was in, "Don't let them touch you."

"Oh," the woman chuckled, "But they wouldn't hurt me, my fine boys. They are my knights in shining armor. Quite literally."

"Even if they've converted you, that's not a Cyber speech pattern. You've still got free will. Step away..."

"There's been no conversion, sir," the woman seemed rather unamused with how he wasn't listening to her, "No one's ever been able to change my mind. The Cybermen offered me the one thing I wanted."

"Immortality?" Mac guessed, that seemed to be the main reason for it, to live forever in a metal body.

"Liberation," the woman corrected.

"Who are you?" Rosita glared at her.

"You can be quiet," she snapped at Rosita, looking at her as though she were a worm underneath her boot, "I doubt he paid you to talk. More importantly, who are you?" she turned her attention to the Doctor and Mac, "With such intimate knowledge of my companions?"

"Like we'd tell you," Mac began at the same time the Doctor stated, "I'm the Doctor."

'Stop using your mouth and start using your brain,' Mac's voice came over to him, 'Them not knowing you means you're not a threat.'

He winced at that, that was probably true. He hadn't quite thought of it like that though, he'd just sort of seen it as a way to get them to stop an attack, that was normally how it went, he shouted stop and people stopped. But if they didn't know who he was…and even more, he knew they thought Jackson was him, him shouting out that he was the Doctor wasn't going to do anything.

"Incorrect," one of the Cybermen stated, "You do not correspond to our image of the Doctor."

"Yeah," the Doctor began slowly, seeing Mac looking around for something to use to try and help get them out of the situation, "That's cos your database got corrupted. Oh, look, look, look!" he pulled the infostamp with his information on it out of his pocket, "Check this! The Doctor's infostamp," and threw it to them, "Plug it in. Go on, download."

Mac bit her tongue to keep herself from asking if he was just completely mad, knowing he'd only do that, give them access to the fact that HE was the Doctor if he had a plan…or at least she was really hoping he had a plan. Half the time his antics were hard to keep herself from shouting at him for. It was just…he was so foolish and foolhardy so much of the time, he never had a plan and that was where a lot of things got hard and dangerous.

"The core has been damaged," the second Cyber that he'd tossed it to declared, "This infostamp would damage Cyberunits."

Mac let out a breath and glanced at the Doctor, so that had been his plan then? She hated to admit it but…she really was having a hard time trusting him. To know what he was doing among other things. She was trying, she said she'd try, she just…kept thinking about Donna and how she'd trusted the Doctor, how she'd wanted HER to trust him again too. She was trying so hard not to make remarks, to remind herself that he hadn't betrayed her and that he was trying his best. But…she couldn't trust him completely, not knowing he'd been willing to burn Gallifrey just for the sake of stopping the Daleks and knowing the Daleks kept winning.

She was trying though, but her mind kept going to other things the man could have done differently to stop so many things. It was hard to trust someone who would kill an entire planet.

"Oh, well," the Doctor shrugged, "Nice try."

"You didn't really think that was going to work did you?" Mac rubbed her head, this was just getting to be too much right now…especially when the Cyber's hand beeped, making them look back over at him.

"Core repaired," it stated, "Download," it pressed a button and the plate on its chest dropped down allowing it to insert the stamp, downloading all the images of the Doctor.

"We should get ready to run," Mac murmured to the Doctor.

"Yeah…" he nodded, subtly reaching out to take her hand, but she was rooting through her pockets of her jacket to see if there was anything in them that could help.

"You are the Doctor," the Cyber pointed at him as it pulled the stamp out.

"Hello!" he offered the metal man a little wave.

"You will be deleted!" the first Cyberman jerked out his arm as well.

"Oh, but let me die happy!" the Doctor threw out his hands, glancing at Mac, trying to buy her some time, "Tell me, what d'you need those children for?"

"What are children ever needed for?" the woman in red smirked, "They're a workforce."

"Children are not a workforce," Mac looked at her, momentarily forgetting the items she was trying to look through, "They are children, they are treasures!"

"What are they a workforce for?" the Doctor held a hand back to Mac, signaling for her to be quite just this once as he asked the question, they needed to know what they were doing with the Cyberking. If they were a workforce, there was a chance the Cyberking wasn't completed yet.

"Very soon now, the whole Empire will see," the woman smirked, "And they will bow down, in worship."

"And it's all been timed for Christmas Day. Was that your idea, Miss..."

"Hartigan," she gave a demure nod of her head, "And, yes, it's the perfect day for a birth, with a new message for the people. Only this time, it won't be the words of a man."

"What birth?" Mac frowned.

"A birth, and a death. Namely, yours," she turned her head to look at the Doctor, "Thank you, Doctor. I'm glad to have been part of your very last conversation. Now," she sighed, sounding bored as she looked at the Cybers on either side of her, "Delete them."

"Delete!" the Cybers raised their arms again.

The trio flinched back when a sudden bolt of light flew out and struck the Cybers from behind, causing their heads to explode and their bodies to collapse, allowing them to spot Jackson standing behind them with an infostamp in his hand, "At your service, Doctor, Ms. Noble," he winked.

"Shades!" Hartigan started to cry out, now seeing herself defenseless, "Shades!"

"For the woman you claim to be, you rely on others too much!" Mac spat out at her.

"Just run!" the Doctor grabbed her arm, "Come on! You too Rosita!"

"Shades!" Hartigan continued to shout, wanting more protection even though they were running away.

"One last thing," Rosita turned, proving Hartigan's desire not unfounded as she punched the woman right across the face, sending her spiraling to the ground.

"Can I say, I completely disapprove!" the Doctor called.

"You would!" Mac snapped, though it was more a snap of them trying to escape a deadly situation than his desire not to fight…though, he could tell, it was just a little bit of that too.

"Come on!" he gestured to Rosita, the four of them running off, racing around a corner, down quite a few more streets, before they stopped to try and let the humans catch their breath.

"We need a way into the sluice," Mac turned to the humans, "Give us one."

"I'm ahead of you!" Jackson grinned, "My wife and I were moving to London so I could take up a post at the university. And while my memory is still not intact, this was in the luggage," he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a wad of documents with legal stamps on them, "The deeds, 15 Latimer Street. And if I discovered the Cybermen there, in the cellar, then..."

"That might be a way in!" the Doctor realized, "Brilliant!"

"But there's still more," Jackson frowned, "I remember the cellar...and my wife. But I swear there was something else in that room," he shook himself out of his thoughts, "If we can find that, perhaps that's the key to defeating these invaders. So...onwards!" he cheered, turning to head off, leading the way.

The Doctor opened his mouth only for Mac to make her 'stop talking' sign and give him a look, "Don't."

He rubbed the back of his head, glancing at Rosita, knowing she wouldn't take kindly to telling her to stay back, especially not when Mac was going with them…and he just realized that neither Jackson or Rosita knew she was a Time Lady did they?

"Come on," Rosita shouted as she ran off after Jackson, leaving them little option but to follow.

~8~

Jackson was the first person into the cellar of 15 Latimer Street, quickly taking out the lone Cyberman that was standing in the middle of the room, acting as guard for a rather large tunnel entrance cut into the wall in the side of the room, firing the infostamp at it.

"What is that?" Mac frowned as she and the Doctor ran in with Rosita, making their way to the base of the cellar where an odd device was set up in the middle of the floor, like a scepter standing straight up and being powered like a battery, "It…looks like a Dimension Vault," she murmured, pulling her glasses down for a better look.

She had made one or two in the weapons' factories, along with other Prison Ships for Daleks and such.

"Must've been guarding it," the Doctor glanced at the fallen Cyber, "What do you think?" he pulled his own glasses on to eye the scepter, "Stolen from the Daleks again?"

She nodded, "I think that's how they managed to get through time."

"Jackson," the Doctor turned to the man to see him looking around the cellar, a frown on his face, "Is this the thing you couldn't remember?"

"I don't think so," Jackson sighed, rubbing his head, "I'm...I just can't see. It's like it's hidden."

Mac shook her head and stood, "It's useless right now," she gestured at the Vault, "It needs more time to power up."

"Right," the Doctor nodded, waving them all towards the tunnel entrance, "Come on! Avanti!"

And with that, they all took off for the tunnels, ducking low at times, but manage to make it inside with relative ease. They moved slower than they would have liked, but with little warning that the Cybers were going to be there they had to be cautious not to run right into any of them, especially since they only had the two infostamps at hand and they had to reserve their energy and firepower.

"What do the Cybermen want?" Rosita whispered, trying to be quiet.

"To turn every human into them," Mac answered quickly, almost automatically, feeling quite sure that the Doctor would have lied and come up with some sort of reason for them to be there so as not to frighten Rosita, but she wouldn't have that, "They extract your brain and attach it to a metal armored suit," she glanced back at Jackson, "I feel terrible to say Jackson…but it was a blessing your wife was killed instead of converted."

Jackson swallowed hard but had to nod, he still retained enough memory of the Cybermen to know what conversion was and what it entailed even if she hadn't said it so bluntly just before. He…he didn't want that for his wife, to have her go on with her thoughts controlled and thinking like a Cyberman, feeling nothing. He didn't want to remember his wife like that, in a way it was a blessing his last memory of her was as a human.

"Shhh…" the Doctor put a finger to his lips as they came to a larger archway, able to hear noise coming from it. They peered in and stared in sorrow at the large work room beyond, the children all there, dirty and sweaty and tired but being forced to work.

"Upon my soul," Jackson breathed.

"What is it?" Rosita squinted, making out some sort of intricate metal work in the back, unlike anything she'd ever seen.

"It's an engine," the Doctor murmured, "They're generating electricity. But what for?"

"The Cyberking, I'd guess," Mac gave him a look.

Jackson nearly jolted forward at the mention of that, recalling that too from the Doctor's memories, "We can set them free!"

But the Doctor and Mac quickly pulled him back, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no..." he turned and ran back the way they'd come, a thought striking him, especially at Mac's reminder of the Cyberking, "Power at 90%!" he read off a panel in the wall, the last one he could remember seeing as they'd passed it, "But if we stop the engine, the power dies down, the Cybermen will come running. Ooh," he frowned, tapping the image as it flickered and new information appeared, "Hold on. Power fluctuation."

"That shouldn't happen," Mac stepped up with her glasses still on her nose, watching as the flicker happened again.

"It's going wrong?" Jackson guessed.

"No…" Mac frowned, eyeing the data intently, the Doctor letting her, knowing that the Cyberking was like a giant weapon and Mac would know better what was going on than he would, she'd actually made the weapons, he'd just used them in the end, "The software…it's like it's rewriting itself. And that shouldn't happen. A Cyberking is programmed for one purpose but it's like someone's overwriting that.

The Doctor tugged her back as a surge struck the panel, "What the hell's happening?" he stared at it, "It's out of control!"

"It's accelerating!" Jackson pointed out, "96%, 97..."

Rosita looked at the Time Lords in alarm, "When it reaches 100, what about the children?"

"They won't care about the children," Mac muttered, "They're just the workforce and when that hits 100, the workforce won't be needed anymore.

"Come on!" the Doctor turned with a cry, rushing back down the tunnel towards the workroom, knowing that they had mere seconds, with the way the power was increasing, to get to the room and stop the Cybers.

And indeed they did only have seconds for just as they burst in the Cybers had readied to attack. The Doctor tossed Rosita the infostamp he'd nicked off the ground when the Cybers by Hartigan had fallen, and she used it along with Jackson to take out the lingering Cybermen in the room.

"All of you, out!" the Doctor called to the children, "D'you hear me? That's an order! Every single one of you, run!"

"Go!" Mac gestured to the exit, ushering them on, "Now! Quickly! Go!"

"All of you, come on!" Jackson pushed a few children on, "As fast as you can, come on!"

"There's a hot pie for everyone, if you leg it!" the Doctor added.

"Oi!" Mac huffed, "Don't lie to children!"

The Doctor winced at that, he really should take to carrying more money, shouldn't he?

"Go!" Jackson called to the last few children.

"Rosita, get them out of the sluice gate!" the Doctor ordered, "And once you're out, keep running! Far as you can! Come on, come on, come on."

"Faster!" Mac nudged a child on, "Faster! Go quickly!"

"Turn right at the corner!" Rosita ran after them, "Fast as you can, and don't stop! Keep running, keep running!"

"Go!" the Doctor got the last child out after her, "Quick, quick," he paused, spotting a gauge just beside the door, "It's some sort of starter motor…"

"Are all the children out?" Mac looked around, focusing on that more than the motor for the Cyberking.

Jackson spun around, looking every which way he could, trying to see if there might be any frightened children hiding…and saw only one, a very familiar little boy at the top of a very tall platform, staring down at him. He gasped, a pain hitting his head as he stared at the boy, "That's my son..." he breathed, before shouting for help, "My son. Doctor, Ms. Noble, please! My son!

The two Time Lords ran over, "What?!" the Doctor shouted as they looked up.

"They took my son. No wonder my mind escaped! Those damned Cybermen, they took my child. But he's alive, Doctor! Frederic!"

"Frederic can you jump down to us?" Mac called up to him.

"No, he's too scared," Jackson shook his head, knowing how his son was, "Stay there!" he yelled to his boy, "Don't move! I'm coming," he turned and rushed for the stairs that would lead up to the platform but a large explosion blocked the way, fire starting to blaze before him, "I can't get up there. Fred!"

"They've finished with the motor," the Doctor looked at Mac as she looked around for some way to get up there, "It's going to blow up."

"What are we going to do, Doctor?!" Jackson cried, "What are we going to do?!"

"There!" Mac pointed, "Grab the rope!" she pushed the Doctor over to a rope hanging right in front of the platform, she waited till he grabbed it and pulled out an army knife from her pocket, cutting into the rope.

"What are you doing?!" the Doctor called to her.

"Just hold on!" she snapped, managing to get through the entire rope, cutting off the Doctor's next words as the rope began to fly up with him with it, being pulled by a weight that was dropping, bringing him right to the top of the platform.

Mac looked up, watching intently as the Doctor managed to get Frederic to climb onto his back and hold on as he used the rope to swing off the platform and made his way slowly down to the ground.

"Merry Christmas!" the man cheered, handing the boy over to his father as Jackson hugged his son tightly.

Mac watched the display with a smile that was a hint sad, seeing father and son…it hurt, it always stung her to see happy parents and their children, knowing she could never have that, especially not with a child. It had been nice, with Teddy, she treasured that moment always, but…there was just something about having a baby or a child in your arms that was different. She shook her head so she could focus and get back to helping the humans and the Doctor, the four of them quickly turning to escape as explosions and fires sprang up around them.

~8~

The trio of adults…well, two adults, 1 Time Lord and 1 actual child, ran into the cellar of 15 Latimer Street, thankful that there were no Cybermen following them, they'd likely all teleported to the court of the Cyberking though.

"Get him out of here," Mac ushered Jackson towards the stairs with Frederic as the Doctor paused by the scepter, trying to get it out of its casing as an explosion went off in the tunnel.

"Come on, Doctor!" Jackson called, though he didn't slow his pace at heading for the exit at all, "Hurry up!"

"Gotcha!" the Doctor beamed as the scepter was released and ran after them, the small group of them stepping out onto the street…in the middle of chaos, people running around, screaming, and a rather large crudely made Cyberman standing in the middle of the city, "It's a Cyberking," he breathed, hearing it was one thing, actually SEEING it was another.

"And a Cyberking is what?" Jackson looked over at them, feeling like he should know, like he had known at one point, but that it was escaping him right now.

"A large Cyberman that can force conversion on millions," Mac told him, "We have to stop it," she murmured before taking off towards it.

"Mackenzie!" the Doctor shouted, quickly turning to Jackson, "Take him south, go to the parkland."

"But where are you going?!" Jackson grabbed his arm as the Doctor nearly ran off too.

"To stop that thing."

"I should be with you!"

"Jackson, you've got your son. You've got a reason to live."

"And you haven't?" Jackson breathed.

"I do," the Doctor admitted, "And she's just run off towards it," he pulled his arm out of Jackson's hold and ran off after Mac.

"God save you, Doctor," Jackson breathed before turning to run off with Frederic, heading south as they were told.

~8~

"Mackenzie!" the Doctor caught up with her just outside the stables, grabbing her arm and tugging her back to stop her running.

"Doctor we don't have time," she turned to him.

"I know," he panted a bit, though more from how fast his hearts were racing than the run, "Just…don't…don't wander off," he tried to joke, giving her a small smile.

She blinked at him, not quite understanding for a moment before she got it, he didn't want her to run off without him, "You wandered off first," she reminded him, before she turned and rushed through the stables to the back.

The Doctor sighed, knowing he couldn't argue with that, he'd 'wandered off' first and far more times than she had, he owed her…quite a few really, so he ran after her, stopping only when the open trunk that he'd found the line of infostamps in caught his eye. He rushed over to the case and grabbed the row of stamps before he followed Mac outside where she was talking to Jed.

"What the hell is that thing, sir?" the boy asked, seeing him coming running out of the stables too.

"Jed, wasn't it?" he moved to the boy's side, "Jed, I need your help! I'll give you five pound notes for it!"

Jed blinked, "Alright. What d'you want me to do?"

"The TARDIS is gonna fly!" he grinned.

"I was just asking him what he mended the tear with," Mac rolled her eyes at him, it WOULD be just like the Doctor to get into the hot air balloon and forget it had been torn earlier.

"Will it hold?" the Doctor looked at her.

She nodded, "Yeah."

He grinned again and ran to the basket, tossing in the stamps and the Vault before he hopped in and turned around.

"You're flamin' bonkers, sir!" Jed called as he rushed to the ropes.

"It's been said before," he shrugged, looking over at Mac and holding out a hand to help her in, "You coming?"

She shook her head, "It's a small basket," she told him, "It won't fit us both."

"It will," he insisted, holding out his hand more but she stepped back, so he rolled his own eyes and lunged forward, grabbing her hand and half pulling her into the basket with him, he was NOT about to leave her on the ground where she could be hurt. He wound an arm around her waist holding her close, the two of them nearly pressed against each other in the small basket, it really actually WAS quite small now that there were two of them in there, "See," he gave her a tense grin, praying that she wouldn't slap him for what he'd done, "Perfect fit!"

Before Mac could even open her mouth or try to scramble back out of the basket, Jed let loose the last rope and the balloon started to rise with a "God's luck to you!" called up to them by the boy.

"Best help me out," the Doctor remarked, turning to untie the sandbags, needing to get higher.

Mac let out a quiet huff by pulled out the spray bottle she'd had when they'd met Agatha Christie and sprayed it at the fire above them, making it blaze even more, helping them go higher and higher when coupled with the Doctor's releasing sandbags.

In no time at all they were equal with the Cyberking, which spun around to face them, revealing Hartigan sitting in between a row of Cybermen, a metal band on her head with wires in it, her eyes completely black.

"Excellent," the woman sneered, her voice echoing out from the large metal man, "The Doctor! Yet another man come to assert himself against me in the night. And you," she glared at Mac, "Are a traitor to our gender!"

"You do realize you're standing with at least a dozen mental MEN, yes?" Mac scoffed, trying to pull the woman's attention to her as the Doctor wrapped the line of infostamps around his wrist and arm and sonicing it.

"I RULE them," the woman countered.

"I'd rather be equal to a man than better than a man," Mac remarked.

"Then you are a fool!" the woman spit.

"Miss Hartigan," the Doctor cut in, ready, "I'm offering you a choice. You might have the most remarkable mind this world has ever seen. Strong enough to control the Cybermen themselves!"

"I don't need you to sanction me."

"No, but such a mind deserves to live! The Cybermen came to this world using a Dimension Vault. I can use that device to find you a home. With no people to convert. But a new world where you can live out your mechanical life in peace."

"I have the world below, and it is abundant with so many minds, ready to become extensions of me. Why would I leave this place?"

"Because we'll stop you if you don't," Mac warned her.

"What do you make of me?" she cackled, "An idiot?"

"A rather big one if you were unable to realize the Cybermen were manipulating you," Mac agreed.

Hartigan's eyes narrowed into slits of anger, "Destroy them!" she shouted.

"One day," the Doctor muttered to Mac, "Your mouth is going to get me in trouble."

"That's YOU Doctor," she countered, before standing as far back as she could while he thrust out his arm, firing a beam at the device on Hartigan's head, putting all the energy the stamps could afford into it till it was gone.

Hartigan looked around and smirked, seeing she was completely unharmed, "I have made you a failure. Your weapons are useless, sir."

"It would be," Mac agreed, "If he'd been trying to kill you."

The Doctor nodded solemnly, "All I did was break the Cyberconnection, leaving your mind open. Open, I think, for the first time in far too many years," he looked into her eyes, eyes that were no longer black but their normal color again, "So you can see. Just look at yourself. Look at what you've done," he watched as the Cybermen turned to her, free now that her hold on them was gone, "I'm sorry, Miss Hartigan. But look at what you've become."

They watched tensely as Hartigan looked at the Cybers and the burning city, all too aware of what was going to happen now that she was in the chair but without any control. She screamed as the energy ran out of her brain, through the machine, the pain of it all coursing through her and into them, causing the Cybers to explode, causing the Cyberking to break down at its joints.

The Doctor looked down, hearing a beep, "Oh," he grumbled trying to reach down for the Vault, but unable to get it in the cramped space, "Now you're ready!" he tried to wiggle himself lower, much like when he and Martha had been trapped in Lazarus's machine.

"Oi!" Mac smacked the top of his head, "Hands!"

"Sorry!" he winced, having had to grab one of her claves to steady himself, "Got it!" he cried, standing up quickly with the Vault in his hand, he glanced at it and then her, "Care to do the honors?" he held it out to her.

She eyed it a moment, "You…sharing credit now?"

He shrugged, "I'm modest," he gave her a small smirk.

She rolled her eyes at him but took the Vault and aimed it at the Cyberking, firing at it just as it fell, pulling the entire structure into the Vault and preventing it from landing on the Town below.

A moment later a cheer reached them, shouting and clapping sounding up to them from the small crowd that had gathered below, all the towns people, with Jackson right before them, applauding them.

"Bravo!" they could hear Jackson call, "Bravo, sir!" the Doctor chuckled at that and rang a small bell for them as the applause grew louder, "Bravo, Doctor."

He smiled down at the crowd till he saw Mac looking at him, a hint of a small smile on her face, "What?"

"Nothing," she shook her head, "I just…I like this you better," she offered, "The one who saves worlds instead of…" she let it hang, not wanting to say it but not being able to stop the rest of what she'd said from coming out.

He nodded though, "Me too."

~8~

The Doctor and Mac walked with Jackson through the market what seemed like not even an hour later, the people already getting to work picking up their stalls and repairing the damage.

"The city will recover, as London always does," Jackson agreed with the work, "Though the events of today will be history, spoken of for centuries to come!"

"I'm sure it will," Mac mumbled, though…it did strike her as odd that this event had happened yet there was nothing about it told in the future.

"Funny that," the Doctor seemed to be of the same sentiment about it.

"And a new history begins for me," Jackson sighed, "I find myself a widower, but with my son and with a good friend," he smiled as he saw Rosita tending to Frederic, Jed beside them.

"Now, take care of that one. She's marvelous."

"Jed as well," Mac added, giving the Doctor a pointed look that the young man had helped them as well and it wouldn't be fair to only care for Rosita.

"Yes," Jackson chuckled, "I could use an assistant for my lectures," he agreed, "And Frederic will need a nursemaid and I can think of none better. But you're welcome to join us. We thought we might all dine together, at the Traveler's Halt, a Christmas feast, in celebration, and in memory of those we have lost. You won't stay?"

"Oh, you know me," the Doctor shrugged as they reached the TARDIS.

"No, I don't think anyone does."

"Not even me," Mac nodded.

The Doctor looked at her with a frown on his face only to have it lighten a little bit. It wasn't said in anger or hurt, that she didn't know who he was anymore, that he was a monster or something to her, but more…an understanding that she hadn't tried to get to know the new him. That she…she wanted to.

That was something they both needed to do, together, just…get to know each other once more.

"Oh!" Jackson cried out with delight as he spotted the TARDIS, "And this is it! Oh, if I might, Doctor? One last adventure?"

"Be my guest," the Doctor unlocked the door for him.

"Oh..." Jackson beamed, rushing right in and looking around in awe, "Oh, my word. Oh," he made his way to the console, reaching out as though to touch it but just looked up at the rotor, "Oh, goodness me. But this is...but this is…"

"Don't say bigger on the inside," Mac rubbed her head at that.

"Nonsense!" Jackson supplied instead, making the Doctor laugh.

"Well, that's one word for it!" the Time Lord smiled.

"Complete and utter, wonderful nonsense! How very, very silly! Oh, no. I can't bear it! Oh," Jackson hunched forward, starting to rub his head, "It's causing my head to ache. No, no, no, no, no, no, no..." he turned and quickly made his way out of the box, "Oh! Oh, gracious. That's quite enough," he spun around as the Doctor closed the doors behind them, the Time Lords stepping out after him, "I take it this is goodbye?"

"Onwards and upwards," the Doctor nodded.

"Tell me one thing. All those facts and figures I saw of the Doctor's life, you were never alone. All those bright and shining companions! You have Ms. Noble!"

Mac blinked, as though just realizing she'd never properly introduced herself, "Um, actually…Time Lady," she pointed to herself.

"Truly!?" Jackson looked at her in a mixture of shock and awe, "Oh that is wonderful!" he reached out to shake her hand again, as though meeting a new her despite her being the same woman that had been there the entire time, "A pleasure to meet you!"

"You as well," Mac humored him.

Jackson smiled as he stepped back, before her words actually caught up with him and he looked at the Doctor, starting to blink and frown, "Then…no companions at the moment?"

"No," the Doctor answered.

"Might I ask, why not?"

"They leave," he shrugged sadly, "Because they should, or they find someone else. And some of them…some of them forget me. I suppose, in the end…they break my heart."

Mac looked down at that, he suffered all that, every time one left and she had had the nerve and gall to tell him that he didn't care about them. She truly hated some of the things she'd said to him in her anger.

"That offer of Christmas dinner, it's no longer a request, it's a demand," Jackson stated.

"In memory of those we've lost?" the Doctor eyed him as the man nodded, "Oh, go on then!"

"Really?" Jackson gaped at him.

"Looks like you've changed his mind," Mac mused.

"Not many people can do that!" the Doctor chuckled, "Jackson, if anyone had to be the Doctor, I'm glad it was you."

"The feast awaits," the man beamed, "Come with me! Walk this way."

"We certainly will, won't we?" he looked at Mac as Jackson started to walk off.

Mac hesitated for only a moment before nodding, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt," she offered and the Doctor grinned widely, the two of them walking off after the human.

"Merry Christmas to you, Jackson," the Doctor called.

"Merry Christmas, indeed, Doctor!" the man laughed, rushing over to his son to pick him up, speaking to Rosita and Jed about joining them as well as the Time Lords stood back.

"You know…" Mac began, "I don't think anyone really knew…" she looked at him, "Why DID you leave Gallifrey?"

He sighed, "You were actually right."

She blinked, thinking back to everything she'd said about his leaving the planet, "You wanted to escape your wife?"

"Yeah," he rubbed the back of his neck, "She…um…she wanted another child and I just…" he shrugged, his meaning clear, he just couldn't, "It took too much to get her the first round of kids, I only did that because it was our agreement, she married me for kids, I married her for…for you," he glanced at her, "I didn't…I couldn't…with…her…" he started to stutter at the end.

Mac nodded, thinking on that, understanding him all too well, kids were expected and…he'd essentially been forced to have his first few children, but after that…he couldn't seem to make himself do the same because of HER. She felt her hearts crack a little at that, knowing that even now, even in the future, if they ever moved past their issues and somehow managed to be what they once were…there would still be no children.

"Well, um…" the Doctor began again, "I don't…I don't want you to think but…um…"

"Just say it Doctor," she looked at him.

He just sighed and pointed up.

She blinked and looked above them where a small garland of mistletoe was hanging.

"I don't want you to think you have to," he finally got out, "Just because it's a human tradition. We…we're Time Lords, we don't have to follow it."

Mac looked at the mistletoe, and then him, and back, then out at the Christmas decorations, reminding her of the holiday, before she let out a soft breath. She looked at him once more and reached out to touch his cheek, turning his head as she leaned in to give him the smallest of kisses on the cheek, "When in Rome," she murmured as she pulled away, the Doctor staring at her with wide eyes for even that small kiss, "We ARE on Earth though, and it IS their tradition...Merry Christmas Doctor."

"Come my friends!" they heard Jackson call.

Mac glanced at the Doctor before she turned and made her way after Jackson, the Doctor just…standing there a moment longer, blinking as he lifted his hand to touch his cheek. He gave a small smile at how warm it still felt from her kiss.

Another step, small though it was, in the right direction.

A/N: Small tiny hint of a bit of...not sure what the pairing name is lol. On that note, I'm going to be posting a poll when I put up the first chapter of Waters of Mars for a pairing name. So we have today, Planet of the Dead, and the Wedding of SJS for anyone who'd like to submit a pairing name for the Doctor/Mac (Theta/Naery) ;) I'll put them all together and open the poll then and announce the winner in the last chapter of this story :)

I hope you enjoyed the chapter :) I'm very excited for little things that'll be coming ^-^

Some notes on reviews...

I'd probably freak out internally and just stare at the box for about 10 minutes wondering if it was really there lol :) And if I saw the 11s I'd probably just want to hug Angel, knowing what's coming for her :( I'd take her aside and tell her it'll be ok, even though I'm not psychic, to just 'have faith' ;) And then, as they left, I'd probably slap the Doctor in the back of the head lol :)

Yup, I'll be doing Death of the Doctor in the next story :)

They're not quite Chosens yet, they have to reciprocate their feelings when they say they love each other, and Mac's took confused at the moment to know if she still loves him or if she can love him again given what he did to their planet, murdering her entire family would be a bit hard to look past just yet :( But there's a very BIG hope for the future ;)

I'm sorry I haven't been on tumblr much :( Real life keeps pulling me away :( I surprised my Latin Club at the Met on Saturday, had a father/daughter day with my dad on Sunday, helped my sister on Monday to find a suit (never ever going to the mall for 10 hours straight ever again), and Tuesday I had 2 doctor appointments (just general checkups) and class :( I also have an exam this week so I'm hoping for more time to really get back on on Friday :)

Oh I got it ;) I really cannot wait to get to the Moment too, Mac will be in for...quite a rude awakening ;)

Oh they'll SO get together during 11 yup ;) She'll still snap at times, when tensions are really high (like Dalek level high) :) I can say someone might just slap him for what he did at one point, but I won't say who ;) Oh Rory, I love Rory, Mac'll be very close to him. She won't so much snap at Amy as a sort of 'fight fire with fire' sort of thing, two can play at that game ;) But she will have some things to say to her about how she treats Rory yup :)