Authors Note: This is the final chapter in my fic for the storm and wolf challenge over at Live Journal. Thanks again to naughtybunny23 for your beta services. I absolutely loved writing this last chapter so please let me know what you think.

Just after Karl left, the med bay computer beeped once again signaling the readiness of the antidote. By the time Karl had returned with his precious cargo, the Doctor had administered the dose to Agathon who remained in stasis in order to speed his recovery. The Doctor had also decided that he didn't need another person on board demanding answers to questions he simply could not give.

The Doctor next prepared a special gel that had similar properties to the antidote in which to clean each piece of the Imperial Easter Egg. It was all just about ready when Karl carefully placed the egg on the table. He opened it, and with reverent, gentle hands proceeded to show the Doctor and Rose what was inside.

They could not help but marvel at the beauty and exquisite artistry of the piece. The exterior of the egg was of white enamel simulating an actual shell. When opened it revealed a beautifully proportioned golden ball that represented the glowing yellow yolk. Karl showed how this too could be opened and inside nestled within a bed of soft suede lay a small hen exquisitely made from yellow, white and red gold. She had two precious rubies for eyes and her body could be opened by means of a concealed hinge near the base of her tail. Inside the little hen another surprise awaited. There was an audible gasp from Rose when a miniature diamond replica of the Imperial Crown was revealed. Suspended from the crown hung a small ruby pendant.

As each beautiful piece was unveiled even the Doctor was forced to admit that although he had seen many astounding sights in his travels, this intricate creation stood out in its uniqueness and craftsmanship. He treated with great reverence each piece of the Imperial Egg that Karl handed to him. He cleaned each item with the gel substance, his touch almost a caress, giving patient unfailing attention to every enameled surface and golden feather alike. Each piece was than treated to a gentle rinsing before the TARDIS used a simple process to tenderly leave the portions of the egg dry and free of the Plemigamatropod's poison.

The Doctor turned to Karl. "Give it a few minutes and each piece will be as if nothing had ever happened to it. I've seen many things in my time, Karl, but this-" gesturing to the parts of 'the Hen' laid out before them, "-is workmanship that is only found in one person amongst millions. Very impressive."

"That," broke in Rose cheekily, "is the most sincere compliment you'll ever get, Karl, because the Doctor very rarely gives them."

"Oi, that's not true," he protested in mock indignation but his smile showed that he was not really offended. He never could be at her. He faced Karl once more. "Your brother will be fine, too. All traces of the poison both within and outside of his body, including what was on his clothes, has gone. I'll wake him shortly but he'll still be quite groggy which is probably just as well. Means not having to give him an explanation about what has transpired over the last few hours. I'll help you move him back to somewhere he can rest in your workshops and leave it to you to come up with a story about what happened."

"You wouldn't have to change the story much anyway," declared Rose. "As the Doctor said earlier assassination attempts on the Tsar would not be a new thing and you don't need to tell him what sort of poison it was. Just tell him he's lucky that his brother had a good Doctor on hand who ensured he'd be up and about for the big day."

"Tomorrow, yes," exclaimed Karl. "You must come, please, as my personal guests … although," he faulted, "I still do not know who you really are and let's not start up with the fake names again. Who are you really?"

The Doctor smiled. "We're just friends, Karl. Friends who happened to be in the right place at the right time."

Karl returned his smile. "Well, I confess I had hoped for a less cryptic answer than that but it would be ungrateful for me to complain considering all you have done for my brother and me. The offer to come as my guests to the Royal Imperial Court tomorrow still stands. If I may be so bold, I think you, Rose, would definitely make an impression amongst the young bloods that reside at the palace."

Rose warmly thanked Karl for his compliment before persuading him to take a small tour of some of the TARDIS's rooms. The tour ended in one room where the two sat and watched the constellations of the night sky form and change depending on choice of season and planet. Karl felt almost bereft when it was time to go but understood that there were more pressing matters for him to attend to. He followed Rose back to the console room where he immediately began to reassemble his prized creation with gentle hands. After completing his task he returned his attention to the Doctor and Rose.

"Well, Doctor, I think it's time I took my brother home. I must say that although I did not foresee or need this adventure it has been exciting and something I will always remember." Seeing the look of consternation on the Doctor's face he hurriedly continued. "Do not worry, my friend. I promised before that I will not reveal what happened today. I owe you everything so it's a promise I intend to keep."

"Thank you, Karl," replied the Doctor gratefully before turning away from him. He crossed over to Agathon's bedside and proceeded to awaken him from the sleep stasis. Karl bade Rose farewell before he and the Doctor carried Agathon from the TARDIS to a bed in one of the Faberge workshops.

"You should be able to lift the quarantine now, Karl but burn those gloves you wore the other day so no one else touches them by accident." He was surprised to see the jeweller wince at his request. "Is there a problem with that?" he queried.

The other man had the decency to look red-faced. "No, no, not exactly Doctor. It's just that my wife gave me those gloves only last week so I'm just thinking about what story I'm going to tell her for losing them." Suddenly he started laughing and the Doctor could not help but join him.

Karl's laughter subsided first and he regarded the Doctor once more with curious eyes.

"Ask me the question that's in your head, Karl."

"You seem to know things, Doctor, like the fact that my brother and I would definitely be at court tomorrow. You knew about the egg for the Tsar. I know it sounds silly but when you said you were from another world I think you also meant the future, didn't you?"

There was a bittersweet tone to the Doctor's voice as he answered the other man's anything but simple questions. "I can't tell you that. I'm sorry but I will say this to you. You'd better get that unique mind of yours working on a new design for the next royal commission. I have a feeling you're going to be quite busy."

A long moaning yawn came from the bed that held Agathon.

"I think that's my cue to leave," said the Doctor. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Karl."

"Likewise Doctor, goodbye," he replied as they shook hands warmly. Without a further word the Doctor exited the room, made a hasty return back to the TARDIS and Rose.

Karl moved to his brother's side and took his hand. "Welcome back, Agathon. Trust you to sleep through all the excitement."

Back in the TARDIS Rose waited for the Doctor's return. She laughed softly to herself as it hit home that once again their simple little trip had escalated into another big adventure. Well at least they had given the running a miss today. As the Doctor entered the ship she saw his eyes light up at seeing her waiting for him. Jumping off the seat she ran over and hugged him tightly, an embrace that he joyfully returned.

After he released her the Doctor walked over to the console and piloted the TARDIS into the Vortex. He stood back from the console, bearing a huge grin, relishing in the sweet success of a quest fulfilled.

"So," he began. "That didn't quite turn out like we thought."

A giggle lifted from Rose's throat before she spoke. "Aha, and how was today any different from our other unexpected adventures?"

"Well, we didn't have to do much running."

"No," said Rose, still laughing. "No, that was a nice change but just as well since the psychic paper was a no go."

The Doctor laughed along with her. "Yeah, well every now and then you meet people smarter than the rest of you apes." He pulled her into another quick hug, and then released her before continuing. "Smart people include you too by the way. You did brilliantly today."

Rose blushed at his compliment. She loved it when she proved she could hold her own alongside him. It had been a thrilling adventure today, meeting Karl Faberge and getting to see first hand his exquisite creation but it was all the more special because she got to share the fun and high drama with her best friend. However there was one point about today that bothered her and she spoke to the Doctor of her concern.

"Do you think Karl will ever tell anyone about what really happened? I know he said he wouldn't but do you think that's possible? It's a huge secret to keep."

"It would be hard but I believe him. I did think about going in and erasing his memories but something in my head told me I didn't need to. That there was a reason for me not to take his memories away … oh," he suddenly gasped and his hands flew to his head.

"Doctor, tell me what's wrong," pleaded Rose as she moved closer to him.

"Oh," he repeated. "It's okay, Rose, really I'm fine. You remember me telling you back in Cardiff that time is not a straight line?"

"Yes."

"Well it appears that I've met Karl Faberge before. I just made myself forget."

"Forget, what for? Why would you do that and how come you can suddenly remember now?" questioned Rose, obviously flustered.

The Doctor sighed. "It's complicated, Rose, but I can make myself forget things that have happened. It's not something I do all the time but occasionally circumstances crop up where it's imperative I not remember. This was one of them."

"Doctor, I'm confused."

"I know Rose and I'm sorry. I'll try to explain as best I can. The memory is locked away inside my brain until it's safe and the right time for me to remember again. You see I met Karl for the first time when he was an old man. It was October in the year 1918. I won't bore you with the reasons I was there but it was connected with the outbreak of the Revolution. When I met him he was not the man we met today. Sadly he looked drained of life. The Bolsheviks had nationlised the House of Faberge and it was no more. Karl saw the works of his lifetime disappear before his very eyes and it was killing him."

"Oh no," whispered Rose. "The poor man."

"Yeah, he took it very hard but times were coming when he would be in even more danger. By now he was almost 82 years old, a threat to no one you would think but I knew if he stayed in St Petersburg his life would be in danger. Two of his sons had already been imprisoned. I managed to convince him to take the last diplomatic train to Riga and then he moved on to Germany and after finding that he could never go back to Russia, finally arrived in Switzerland."

At this point of the story the Doctor paused, a glimmer of wetness appeared in his eyes but he blinked ferociously until Rose thought she had imagined it.

"Go on, please, Doctor," she said encouragingly.

"Yes, ah, okay. That's all really. Karl never got over the loss of his company nor the grief at being exiled from Russia. He died in Lausanne in 1920. I sometimes wonder if he would have been better off staying in Russia," he finished regretfully.

Rose laid her hand on his arm in a gesture of comfort. "You did what you thought best, Doctor. You tried to save his life and that's a noble thing to do, something that I'm sure he always remembered. Did he, I mean, when you met him in St Petersburg in 1918 … did he recall who you were?"

"Yeah, he did Rose. He said he remembered it all as clearly as if it had happened just yesterday. Got somewhat miffed with me because I hadn't changed so therefore looked better than he did."

"Did he mention me at all?" she asked hopefully but the Doctor shook his head.

"No I'm sorry, not by name he didn't. He did however make mention that I had with me a blonde woman who was pretending to be my wife. Of course that threw me and was probably part of the reason I made myself forget. I hadn't met you yet and it wasn't a good thing for me to know that and that I would be meeting a younger version of Karl in the not too distant future."

He raised his hand to his temple again as more of the locked memory resurfaced.

"I was helping Karl pack his case for his journey to Riga and while I was there he gave me two boxes. One of them was marked 'The Constellation' and the other was unmarked but he was clear that I take both. 'The Constellation' was one of the last two Imperial Eggs that his house had created in 1917 but he had not gotten a chance to complete it. I took it with me to keep it safe and the egg disappeared off the radar, presumed broken and missing."

"Oh, but they did find it," broke in Rose excitedly. "I remember now as part of that TV show that they actually found the egg in 2001. It was dark blue glass and had carvings of the constellations on it. It was found in a box alongside some other things in the basement of –"

"Of the Fersman Mineralogical Museum," finished the Doctor gleefully. "And the constellation carvings were meant to be the stars that were out the day that Tsar Nicholas Romanov's son, Alexei, was born."

"Yes, that's right… but … oh my! You … you put it there," she breathed, the look on her face incredulous.

"Yep," he grinned, feeling rather smug. "That was me."

Rose leaned over and punched him in the arm. "You think you're so good, don't you?"

"Yep."

The two laughed together but very soon she was back to asking him more questions.

"You mentioned a second box, Doctor. Did you ever look at it?"

"No. I didn't Rose. Karl told me not to open it until the right time. I never understood back then what he meant by that and then when I made myself forget everything that small detail was also lost. But" he stated enthusiastically, "I'm guessing that since my memory of that encounter has come back then it's safe enough to look at it now."

Upon finishing his last sentence he bounded down the hallway to his bedroom. When he returned Rose could see he held a medium sized box. With shaking hands he slowly opened it and for a moment three hearts skipped a beat and breathing was forgotten.

"Oh my," gasped Rose as she finally remembered to take a breath. "Doctor, it's like the Constellation Egg."

"Indeed, Rose, but this one isn't set into the rock crystal like the other one was and look, the carvings of the constellations are different." He looked up at Rose just in time to see a puzzled look on her face. "What is it?" he asked softly.

"Doctor, can I have the egg for a minute? I just want to check on something."

He handed the precious gift over to her and watched as she quickly padded from the console room. Eight minutes and forty seven seconds later she returned, tears in her eyes.

"Rose, what's wrong?" he asked his voice deep with concern.

She ran her fingers gently over the carved pattern of the stars. "Doctor, these stars are the ones Karl saw today, here on the TARDIS, in the constellation room. How? I mean we were not even in there very long. How could he memorize them so well in such a short time?"

"I don't know, Rose but somehow he did. Every single star is correctly positioned and I should know because the constellations in that room today were from Gallifrey." He remained lost in thought for a few minutes longer but excitement over the gift was quickly encouraging him to open the outer casing of the precious gift, revealing the new surprise inside.

Karl did not disappoint them. Standing tall within the walls of the egg sat a perfect replica of the TARDIS. The semi precious stone had been cut whole and carved with such precision one could find no fault anywhere. There was a delighted squeal from Rose when further inspection revealed a tiny intricate key that slotted into an equally tiny lock on the door of the TARDIS. When turned the mechanism allowed for the TARDIS doors to swing open, finally revealing the egg's last surprise.

If three hearts had skipped a beat earlier they certainly jumped two or three now. It was quite obvious that the egg's creator had spent many loving hours recreating the main room's interior décor, right down to the bicycle pump on the console. Standing next to the jump seat, holding hands, were miniature versions of them. The Doctor wearing his usual black leather armour and Rose in her beautiful blue gown.

Neither of them could speak but could only gaze at the wonder of this most amazing gift. Rose eventually took the Doctor's hand but still they did not utter a word. They could only stand there, hands joined mirroring the actions of their miniature selves.

Finally the Doctor, using his free hand, removed a decorated piece of paper from the box. On the paper in an elegant hand were four words.

"From Faberge, with Love."