Chapter 4:

"DOCTOR!" Gracie usually did not resort to screaming, but in this case, to be fair, she was panicking. The Doctor, paying the vendor on the streets of Rome, quickly took his purchase and ran towards his student, making it just in time to see her being dragged away by a Roman soldier.

"Oi, oi! You, there! What do you think you're doing?" The Doctor shouted at the soldier.

The soldier turned around. He was a very big and bulky man, had a very noticeable scar on his face that made him look very threatening, and his beady dark eyes only spoke of danger, which made the Time Lord slow down with caution. Of all the people she could have bumped into, did it have to be Mr. Scary? the Doctor thought to himself.

"What does it look like I'm doing, you idiot? I'm arresting this harlot for stealing my lunch," the man retorted, " And she will pay dearly." he snarled the last bit in Gracie's face.

"For the last time, I'm telling you, I most certainly did not steal your lunch!" Gracie shouted defending herself, shrinking away from his face, "I'm not even hungry!"

"Save it for the court, love." The soldier sneered, already making up his mind that she had eaten his hard-earned lunch.

"Wait, wait, just hold on a mo," said the Doctor trying to think as fast as he could of how to remedy the situation. Failing to think of anything better, the Doctor did what he least wanted to do.

"Here, wait, I can pay you, rather handsomely too," he said as he pulled out his sonic screwdriver, "see this, this can open almost any door in creation."

"Every door in creation except those made of wood, of course," he added under his breath, "Think about it, access to anywhere you choose. Is that not enough to buy her freedom?"

The guard stood silently considering the bribe, but invariably retorted, "Not enough."

The Doctor really could not think of anything else to give, "Please, what else could you want."

The guard looked down at the Time Lord's shoes, "How about those shoes? Never in my life have I seen such craftsmanship."

The Doctor looked down at his feet and back to the guard and sighed. "Fine. Do we have a deal?"

The man sniffed and wiped his nose, "And that pretty pot you've got there." He nodded to the Doctor's recent purchase.

"Ha!" The Doctor's mouth gaped at the impertinence of the guard, "Of all the…" he was about to let loose his arsenal of insults, but was interrupted.

"Do you want this brat back or not!" the thug tightened his grip on Gracie's wrist, causing her to whimper.

"Ow…" the girl glared piercingly at her captor.

"I hope you know, I just paid for this," the Doctor tried to beg, "It was going to be that little girl's gift to her sick grandfather!" The guard didn't seem phased by the Doctor's appeal.

"Fine…" the Time Lord clenched his teeth, and closed his eyes momentarily. "Now, do we have a deal?" he seethed.

The huge man smiled crookedly, "Yeah, deal." He pushed Gracie, but did not return her immediately, "First the shoes, the pot, and your...thing, then I will let her go."

Muttering under his breath at the ludicrousness of the situation, the Doctor bent down and untied his shoes, dropped them before the guard, and placed the pot next to his footwear. Gracie was less than a foot away, but the guard would still not let go of her. With another sigh of defeat he handed the sonic screwdriver over to the man and at last Gracie was in his arms, terrified.

"Pleasure doing business with you!" the guard laughed as he took his spoils and disappeared around a corner.

The Doctor sat down on a stone and buried his face into his hands. The little girl sat down next to him and watched as he groaned.

"I promise you, I didn't take his lunch! I didn't even know he had a lunch…" she tried explaining.

"Gracie, it wasn't your fault," the Doctor interrupted and looked at her, resting his chin on his left hand, "I know you didn't." He patted her back, and sighed once more.

"Thank you…" Gracie quietly patted his arm back. "For, you know, giving up your things for me…"

"You are very welcome," the Doctor smiled at his pupil, "I told you I would do my best to keep you safe…" he started messing up her hair, "Even if that meant I had to go barefoot for a while."

Gracie chuckled, as she fixed her hair.

"Excuse me, sir?" An elderly man walked up to the curious pair and bowed slightly, "It appears that you are missing your sandals."

The Doctor stood up and looked down at his feet, "Well, yes, actually...had a bit of a rough day."

Gracie got up and stood behind the Doctor to size up the new face.

"Yes, yes, I know of your troubles," he pointed up to one of the houses, "I unfortunately witnessed the robbery."

"Oh, really?" The Doctor looked back at the house.

"Yes, I am truly sorry," he patted the Doctor's shoulder, "Augustus has been a menace to society this past year. Many an innocent man has been caught in his clutches and extorted. You're lucky you got away with giving so little."

"You knew we were being robbed," Gracie stepped out from behind the Doctor, "and you didn't help us?" Her eyes narrowed at the old man.

"I can see you are judging me for my actions, my dear, and that is fair. Every man, or in this case, little girl, is entitled to their own thoughts, but remember, little girl, not all that you judge is judged correctly, or justly. But, alas, if I had helped you and your father, there would have been far dire consequences. First of all, knowing Augustus, he would not have let you go at my appearance, contrary to what you would think, hoping he might get more out of me as well. Second of all, the presence of more people would have made him more inclined to do you violence. Neither of those outcomes would have been desirable. So I waited until such a time as this to come out, and offer you and your father some assistance." The old man smiled at Gracie, and the girl retreated behind the Doctor.

"I guess those are good reasons…"Gracie mumbled out of sight of the elderly man.

The Doctor chuckled, and held out his hand to their aid, "And who do I have the pleasure of meeting?"

Taking his hand, the elderly man chuckled as well, "My name is Seneca the Younger. Perhaps you have heard of me?"

At this the Doctor smiled as if meeting a very old friend, "Why, yes, of course, the advisor to Emperor Nero himself!"

"Former advisor, mind you, for a couple of years now. In fact, I was just here visiting my nephew, Lucan, on my way home to perform an order of his." The old man seemed to become grave at the mention of his duty, and the Doctor's smile also fell.

"Oh, I...I see…" The old Time Lord shook his hand once more. After a strange exchange of glances from the Doctor, Gracie cleared her throat to snap her babysitter out of the creepy staring.

"Well, why don't we stop this dilly dallying and get inside to find you some suitable sandals, shall we?" The old man smiled once more, and guided them into the nearby house.

As they stepped into the house, they were greeted by three Roman soldiers sitting at the table eating some sort of stew. The Doctor and Gracie stood still by the door staring at what seemed like a bad situation.

"Oh, don't mind them," Seneca chuckled as he witnessed his guests' reactions to the soldiers. "They are merely here as a formality…" one of the soldiers grunted, slightly insulted, "You know, to be sure I see through the order. Which, of course I will," he reassured the soldier, "but it seemed necessary to someone higher up that I have a few escorts."

He cleared off some of his other chairs in the room and made room for the two at the table.

"Sit, sit, relax your tired feet," he walked over to the vase containing more steaming stew. "Would you like to have something to eat, my guests?"

The Doctor smiled at the other soldiers that now stared at the two, "Why, yes, actually, I would enjoy some stew."

"Me as well," piped Gracie trying to avoid the soldier's gaze.

After a few moments of clattering, both the Doctor and Gracie ate in what seemed like complete silence as Seneca went to get his nephew from the other room. When their hosts finally entered the room once more with two pairs of sandals, it seemed the curtains of silence parted.

"I wasn't quite sure how big your feet were, Master…uh?" Seneca asked as he entered behind his nephew.

"Oh, my apologies, my name is the Doctor." The Time Lord wiped his mouth with his sleeve as he answered.

"And I'm Gracie." The girl wanted to do anything but pay attention to the soldier's intimidating gaze.

"A physician! My, that will come in handy," Seneca chuckled sadly at his own joke, and Lucan looked sadly at his uncle, "anyway, I had Lucan bring out all our spare sandals and we'll see what we can make work." With that he bent down near the Doctor and took one of the pairs from Lucan. "Thank you, Lucan," the old man smiled at his nephew.

"Should I do that for you, uncle?" Lucan tried to kneel down next to his uncle, but Seneca stopped him.

"No, no, he is my guest, and I shall be his host," he chuckled at his nephew's enthusiasm.

He then proceeded to fit a pair to the Doctor's feet, and found that it just barely fit him.

"Ah, see, it was destined for us to meet." The old man smiled wildly, "Now we can finally get this extra pair of sandals off of our hands. Freeing up some space for something else."

The Doctor chuckled and helped Seneca get up again with Gracie holding the other pair for the old man. With minimal grunting he got up again and thanked his guests for helping him.

Banging his hand on the table, the insulted soldier stood up, "Enough of this stalling, Seneca. You have your orders from the Emperor and it is time we continued with them."

One other soldier stood up in agreement, but the last of the soldiers stayed seated, and looked from Seneca to what seemed to be his senior officer and back again.

"Marcellus, stand, now, and help escort the old man out the door to perform his duty," barked the first soldier to the soldier sitting.

"Yes, sir," Marcellus stood up, and gently started to guide the man out the door.

"Wait, wait, please, let me say goodbye to my nephew," Seneca pleaded with the senior officer.

"That was the reason that we stopped here in the first place, and that was several hours ago!" The senior officer growled, impatience oozing from his words.

"Yes, yes, but he also provided you and your soldiers stew, and in return for his hospitality, I believe he is owed a proper goodbye…" Seneca retorted as respectfully as he could.

The senior officer thought for a moment, tsked, and sighed, "Fine, say your goodbye and let us be on our way. The day light is waning."

"Thank you, sir, thank you," the old man bowed as he made his way to his nephew.

"Goodbye, my dear boy. Remember all that I have taught you, take courage and be courageous, dear Lucan." The old man smiled a tired smile, and held out his hand for a handshake.

Lucan nodded, hid a tear, and heartily took his hand, "Of course, uncle, of course. Goodbye, uncle, and may your journey be all you hope it to be."

Turning to the senior officer, Seneca sighed, "Now, don't forget to thank Lucan for his delicious stew, all of you," and slowly, he made his way out of the doorway.

As the soldiers escaped a few words of thanks, the Doctor shook his hand firmly, patted his shoulder, and followed the crowd.

Lastly, Gracie also shook his hand, "Thank you for the stew, Mr. Lucan. It was delicious."

Lucan couldn't help but smile at the little girl, "You are very welcome, child." And with that Gracie ran after the group.

Catching up to the Doctor, Gracie whispered to the Doctor, "Doctor, what's our plan now?"

The Doctor was silent for a few moments as he followed the soldiers behind Seneca the Younger.

"I'd like to follow Seneca for a while, if that's okay with you."

Gracie nodded, "Yeah, I want to know what he's got to do for the Emperor."

I don't think you actually want to, thought the Doctor. He already knew what was going to happen, but maybe, just maybe, he could help the wise old man, and hide what was happening from her. Maybe.