Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who
A Second Chance
Chapter IV
Jenny wondered if Hope and Anthony had enjoyed their honeymoon. She imagined they had, and they were probably exploring the universe in happily married bliss, miles and miles from Messaline with only each other on their minds. "Excuse me, prime minister?" Elysian's soft voice interrupted her thoughts. "Oh, call me Jenny. What can I do for you?" she asked.
"Um, actually we were wondering, if you'd care to come have lunch with us" explained Elysian, gesturing to Damon, Andred and Leela. Jenny smiled gratefully. "That would be lovely, and it just so happens I have an hour to spare before I need to get back to my paperwork" she answered with a displeased grimace. The five of them went to Andred and Leela's cottage and squeezed into the kitchen, sitting around the small table.
For lunch they ate beef and potato stew. "Where does the meat come from?" asked Leela. She hadn't seen any animals being farmed, and when she'd offered to hunt for lunch, she'd been told there were no creatures that they knew of to hunt. "Oh, it's genetically engineered. The original colonists brought samples of red and white meat with them that we can extrapolate fresh supplies from whenever we need to" Jenny explained matter of factly.
Halfway through the meal, there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it" offered Damon, being the nearest, and got to his feet. He opened the front door of the cottage to find Hope and Anthony standing on the other side. "Oh! What are you two doing here?" he asked, standing aside to let them in. He returned to the kitchen and said "Prime minister – I mean, Jenny – it's, your sister…" Hope appeared in the doorway with a big smile on her face.
"Hope!" Jenny cried enthusiastically. They hugged one another tightly, and began speaking altogether in their excitement. "What are you doing here? I thought"-
"Jen, it was amazing! There was a whole beach and" –
"-adventures and running around saving planets"-
"-island, then Ant wandered off and"-
"-the way we've got new books for the library!"
"-chased by them and it was so funny!"
The two young Time Ladies looked at one another, and then burst out laughing. Hope grinned and pulled Anthony to stand next to him. "We've got so much to tell you!" she enthused, "Anthony and I are Connected!" announced Hope with such glee that everyone applauded, only to pause and wonder… "What does that mean?" asked Elysian.
"We don't know! It's a bond, it's our bond. Oh, let's show them the thing!" Hope encouraged Anthony, tugging on his arm. "Show us what thing?" Leela asked impatiently. Hope and Anthony looked at one another, nodded, and then began to talk…in tandem. "We were having the most wonderful time" Anthony began, "on our honeymoon, it was absolutely" – continued Hope.
"-magical, nearly perfect. The villa was brilliant, the beach was"-
"-utterly gorgeous, and the…hang on, that thought wasn't about the beach" Hope realised, blushing slightly. Anthony gave her an affectionate smile. "Um, okay, you're finishing each other's sentences...because you can read each other's minds?" Elysian deduced. Hope beamed at her and nodded. "Exactly, we formed a telepathic link. Anthony figured out how to use it all by himself; well, I taught him a little, but he just used his ingenuity" she said lovingly, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Now it was his turn to start blushing.
This time everyone was eager to congratulate the couple, but Elysian continued to frown in thought. "Elysian, is everything okay?" asked Anthony, noticing her pensive expression. "I'm sorry, I was just thinking about what you said…you said 'we were having the most wonderful time', shouldn't it be 'we had'? I'm not an expert on grammar, but the way you said it, rather suggests that something went, well, wrong" she reasoned, looking as if she hoped she was wrong.
All eyes turned to Hope and Anthony, who sighed and nodded. "We visited the town that lay close to our beach, and a little boy was killed in a crash" Anthony revealed, and there were gasps of dismay all round. "His name was Louis Frayne" Hope murmured, hard gaze fixated on the grain in the table. Anthony put his arm around her waist and threaded their fingers together.
"I'm sorry, Hope" Jenny said sympathetically. "It's alright" replied Hope, looking up at her, "because he did not die in vain. I won't allow it". Jenny swallowed, recognising the look in her sister's eyes…it was the same determined, driven expression that she'd worn when the universe had been in peril. "Hope, what are you saying?" she asked, all the time wondering if she really wanted to know…
Very slowly, Hope smiled at her. There was no malice in the smile, but it sent a shiver up everyone's spine, it was so unsettling. "There's a village in Africa, called Matumaini. Children are dying there, right now, from syphilis, and I'm going to help them. I'm not just going to cure them, I'm going to make them regenerate" she revealed. Andred promptly did an impressive spit-take.
"What!" he exclaimed, staring at Hope in horror, "do you have any idea what repercussions that could have?" he demanded, and Hope pouted. "I only meant once. They'd only need to regenerate once, and the syphilis in their bodies would be destroyed" she explained as if it were all perfectly logical. "Um, but wouldn't it be simpler to cure the syphilis instead?" asked Damon.
"My parents tried to do just that, and ended up getting worshipped; but I don't see how it matters as long as they're alive" answered Hope. Something occurred to Jenny. "Hope, does dad…do our parents know about this?" she asked, and Hope scoffed. "No way, I'm not telling them. They'll never agree…but what about you? Are you in or not?" she inquired.
"It's nonsense! Humans aren't meant to regenerate; even if you did succeed in this insane scheme, the repercussions, why the Shadow Proclamation alone…" Andred turned to Anthony earnestly and said "Anthony, you're a reasonable man, tell her she's being irrational".
"He already did" Hope cut in before Anthony could speak, "why do you think I'm only planning to give one small village a second chance? If it were up to me, then death itself would end" she revealed, much to the shock of everyone in the room. "You want to end death?" Elysian squeaked in surprise. Andred stood up suddenly and glared at Hope. "Little girl, you are messing with things you don't understand" he snapped harshly, only to get slapped in the face.
Hope scowled angrily at him. "I am not a little girl, Andred, and I understand this perfectly well. I understand that people are dying pointless deaths, and that I have the intelligence and resources to stop those deaths" she stated bluntly. Anthony stared at her. "Um, Hope…you do just mean in Matumaini, right? Because you did say you wouldn't go too far" he reminded Hope, who stared hard at him.
"Yes, I did" she agreed quietly, "…but personally, I don't think I'm going far enough". Anthony's jaw dropped. "What? No, Hope, you promised!" he cried, and Hope glared at him. "So you're against me too, then? Fine, I don't need you. I don't need any of you" she retorted, spinning on her heel and stalking out the kitchen. "Come on sis, you really are being irrational now" Jenny called after her. The only answer was the thud of a slamming door.
Anthony slumped against the stove and dragged his hands down his face. This visit home had swiftly fallen into a complete disaster…were he and Hope cursed or something? Why couldn't they just be happy? "The girl's mad, utterly mad" said Andred, not bothering to keep his voice down. A minute later Anthony's hands were grasping his shirt. "Don't you dare talk about my wife that way!" he snarled.
Leela leapt at Anthony to defend her husband, Jenny intercepted her to protect Anthony, and an all-out brawl almost erupted when –
"STOP!"
Everybody turned and stared at Elysian, who had just yelled at the top of her lungs. With tears in her eyes she admonished them, "Stop fighting! I can't stand it. Just stop, please". Damon handed her a handkerchief to blow her nose on, whilst the others looked embarrassed and ashamed. "Sorry, Andred" apologised Anthony, "I over-reacted; I guess all our emotions are running high right now".
Andred nodded. "Apology accepted, and I'm sorry I called Hope mad, it's just, this plan of hers…" he trailed off with an awkward look. "I know, I did try to talk her out of it. I really did, but…the thing is, she wasn't thinking straight just now. I know Hope, and she doesn't want to stop death…she told me she wanted to end senescence, old age" Anthony explained.
"I'd like to never age" Leela commented; the thoughts of everyone present turned to a universe with ageless humans and Time Lords…working together, perhaps? "It would be nice if people didn't have to deal with old age" Jenny said thoughtfully. "It would, but there are just too many obstacles. I doubt your parents will allow this, and the Shadow Proclamation certainly won't" Andred rebutted.
Elysian beamed at them. "This is what we need, a discussion! A proper debate, one side arguing for curing senescence, and the other arguing in favour" she announced. There were nods and murmurs of agreement. "We'll have the debate first thing tomorrow; right now I need to make sure Hope is okay" said Anthony, before moving to depart. Before he could, Andred called him back.
"I'm afraid we'll undoubtedly be one different sides of the table in this matter" said Andred, "and I just want to let you know there'll be no hard feelings" he added, holding his hand out to shake. Anthony took it and nodded. "For the record, you might not have been born a Time Lord, I believe you're going to become an admirable one. All you really need is a title" Andred chuckled. "…Yeah" Anthony agreed, before leaving to find Hope and reconcile with her. The gears of his brain began to turn…
Meanwhile, Hope was walking along on the road through the centre of the town. So lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice that she was approaching the security booth on the edge of the town. "Excuse me, ma'am" the Hath on duty bubbled at her. Hope looked listlessly at him. "Might I ask where you're going?" the Hath asked her, and she shrugged. "I wish I knew".
Hope flopped down right there on the roadside and sat with her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. She'd been so sure that Jenny would be on her side, at least…she'd thought Anthony was…and then they'd turned on her. No, they didn't turn on me the rational side of her mind whispered, they were just concerned. I over-reacted.
Hope huffed. "I didn't overreact" she muttered under her breath. I should have explained it all better, more calmly. "They weren't listening; at least not to me".
"Well, well, well" a laconic drawl came from nearby. Hope looked up to see the Master smirking at her, flanked by two armed guards. "I see that Anthony realised his mistake and kicked you to the kerb…literally" he grinned. Hope rolled her eyes. "What do you want, Master?" she grumbled. "To offer my aid in this, your hour of need. Consider it my first step towards full reformation…you know, because that's the only way I'll get rid of these charming gentlemen" the Master said sarcastically. His guards remained stoic.
The Master gestured to the ground besides Hope. "Mind if I join you?" he asked. Hope sighed and got to her feet. "Leave me alone, Master. This is none of your business" she said dejectedly, before striding away back into the town. She walked into Anthony further along and he held her to his chest like she might disappear if he released her. She stiffened.
Anthony pulled back. "Hope, listen. I'm sorry, we all are. Elysian convinced us to hold a debate, talk this all out properly. We're having it tomorrow at eight o clock…will you come?" he asked. She'd raised her barriers when she'd stormed out of the cottage, and he couldn't tell if she was still angry with him. When she hugged him back and lowered her barriers he knew the answer.
I'll come…and thank you for not abandoning me.
That could never happen. Come on, let's not worry about this until tomorrow.
