Chapter 10

The Doctor didn't sleep through the night, concern for his friends preventing him from resting. Sam was still ill and contagious with ZBI, although that stage of the disease would likely break within the next few days due to the medicine he'd been taking. He'd still need time to convalesce but at least he would be safe and no one else would contract it. Glad, on the other hand, was going to be an ongoing project with her well-being. While she was healed physically - her injuries were fairly easy to repair with his medical equipment - her mental state would be an issue for a long while, though he was certain that she would get better with time and some tender loving care. As for Pelz, the Time Lord had set his broken bones and provided as much advanced healing technologies as he could. Additionally, although his Meridicon friend would pass off his injuries as 'a part of his job', the fact was he'd been tortured almost to his death and would also likely have some psychological scars. Like the other two, it would take time before he could discuss what the next step for Pelz would be. For the time being, drifting in the time vortex was the best option.

Walking to the infirmary, he went up to Pelz, noting that he was awake. "Feeling better?" he questioned, standing over his prone friend. He looked at a readout showing Pelz's latest physical condition, nodding at what he was seeing before redirecting his gaze towards the Meridicon. "Think you're up to a bit of a stroll?"

"Stroll? I can't believe I'm still alive and you're talking about going for a walk?"

"Well, I'd be the one walking, actually. Thought you'd like to get out of the infirmary, maybe see the gardens."

"Gardens? Where are we? I don't remember leaving that blue box of yours."

"We're still in my blue box and will be for a while. Decided to put us in the time vortex until you're healed. Doesn't mean you can't enjoy a garden every now and then." Going past the couch, he located a wheelchair and brought it around. "Your ride. Want me to help you?"

"Briztlets, man, I haven't become a helgleg, you know." He groaned as he moved to get into the chair, not complaining when the Doctor moved in to guide him, providing the support he needed to keep from falling to the floor. When finally seated, he grumbled a 'thanks,' although the Doctor understood the sound was not from lack of gratitude but rather the loss of self-reliance.

"You're extremely lucky," the Time Lord commented, pushing him out of the infirmary and down the corridor. "I keep telling you to stay out of trouble but you keep contradicting my orders. I mean, I appreciate your holding Mikon's men back while I got Glad out of there. But next time, try not to get yourself mangled in the process."

"It really wasn't what I was trying for but they sort of insisted." The Meridicon sighed. "How's she doing? How far had they..." He didn't complete his thought, knowing the man behind him would know what he was thinking.

"Glad's fine. Only roughed her up. Brave girl, my dear Glad," he added, admiration in his voice.

"She's lucky." His neck tensed showing how upsetting his story was to tell. "When the madam was trying to find a..." His voice turned sour. "...suitable companion for me, you wouldn't believe what I saw. It was awful. What these people are doing is a crime against all that's good and right."

"I know," the Doctor replied quietly. "Believe me, I want to go back and free all of them but they'll only be replaced with other souls."

"Someone must stop them."

"Absolutely," the Gallifreyan replied. "And someone will, eventually." Pushing the chair through an open door, he grinned as Pelz gasped in disbelief. "Told you I was taking you to the garden."

"It's beautiful. This small box holds all of this? What other wonders are there in your ship?"

"Let's see... several other different gardens, several libraries, a couple of movie theaters, music rooms, storage rooms, a few swimming pools... There was a stable once but I decided that the horses weren't conducive to traveling in the time vortex. Couple of garages for motorized vehicles, a few art galleries, a couple of wardrobes... I think that's a good part of it."

"A good part of it. Don't you know for certain?"

"Well, I haven't really had time to explore it properly."

"And you've had this box for how long?"

"It's changed over the years."

"You know, I don't think you'll ever cease to amaze me. Hard to do but you've got the ability to do it."

The Gallifreyan grinned broadly at the compliment, pushing him further into the garden before stopping beside a bench. Locking the wheels in place, he found a seat on the bench, stretching his long legs out before him. "Love this garden. Best flora from my favorite planet."

"And that would be?"

"Sol 3. Otherwise known as Earth."

"That planet's under quarantine. Nasty plague from what I've heard. Reports question whether the humans will survive it."

"They'll survive. They're indomitable."

Pelz was quiet for a long moment. "You mentioned a time vortex before. Does that allow you to see Earth's future?"

"Allows me to travel to Earth's future. And her past. But not just Earth. Anywhere in time and space, actually." The Doctor glanced at his friend, watching for his reaction at this latest bit of information.

"I knew you were a Time Lord but I didn't realize that meant you could truly go to any time. Must be fascinating."

"Oh, it's brilliant!" the Gallifreyan exclaimed. "I've seen so many wonderful things and I haven't even scratched the surface of the universe. Saw the beginning of the universe once. A bit violent for my tastes. Wasn't at all pleasant. Now you want a good place to go? Victorian London. Just... avoid 1888. Not a good year."

"You've also see horrible things too, though, right? Like Mikon's organization and probably worse."

"I don't let the bad things affect my view of the universe," he told Pelz, his tone firm.

"Must be nice to be able to choose what you see. Ignore the evil that people do to each other due to greed and hate. I'm so sick of all of it but I can't get those scenes out of my mind."

The Doctor sat up at Pelz's words, a frown on his features. "You think I ignore all that is wrong in the universe?"

"You said you don't let the bad things..."

"Pelz, if I ignored the evils in the universe, your home planet would still be in the middle of the worst civil war it had ever seen! You know me better than that and, frankly, I'm offended that you think so little of me."

The Meridicon looked at his friend with sorrow. "I'm sorry. I know what you did. Saw it with my own eyes. I shouldn't expect one person, even a Time Lord, to be able to stop those things." He looked away, ashamed of his doubt.

Seeing the expression on his friend's face, the Gallifreyan reached out and put his hand on his shoulder. "The key to everything is a positive outlook, no matter what the situation. You're right. I've seen some terrible things. But then I remember that I have friends like you and the universe is that much better."

Feeling the touch of the Gallifreyan's hand, Pelz looked up again. "I'm glad we became friends as well. You don't know what the war was like on Meridia before you came and ended it. It was as if people had lost their minds, their souls. People torn from their homes, families devastated. The weapons they used..." He paused. "Then you came and I thought I'd seen a miracle. But once the peace was established, you left and we had to figure everything on our own. Well, you saw how far from fairness and compassion we still are."

The Time Lord removed his hand, his face becoming somber as Pelz spoke. "I fix a problem, I move on. That's how I work," he said, his tone low as he looked away from the Meridicon's gaze.

"I'd always hoped you'd return. But when the Time Lords and the Daleks died, I thought I'd never see you again."

"So you said before. Good thing you were wrong."

Pelz didn't answer for a long time. Finally he responded. "I wish you hadn't returned."

The Doctor turned his head abruptly towards him. "What?"

"If you'd never come back, Glad would never have been taken by the monsters my world has created. If that hadn't happened..." He allowed his words to trail off, the reality not spoken.

"If I hadn't come back, my friend would have died from Zante's Bronchial Influenza. As for Glad, do you think I wanted her to be taken? That I don't think about how I should have kept a better eye on her or, better yet, made her stay in the TARDIS?"

"You came to Meridia for the medicine for Earth's plague? How would you be able to break through the quarantine to take it to your friend?"

The Doctor sighed, standing and walking a short distance, already feeling where this conversation was going. "He wasn't on Earth when he contracted it."

"Then where? It hasn't spread beyond there."

"Lastiarus in the future. By then the plague had dissipated from Earth and was no longer considered a threat to general populations. But my friend is from Earth's distant past, before the plague even took root, and he didn't have the immunity to fight it on his own. I had to procure the medicine and I'm insuring that it doesn't become Beckett's Bronchial Influenza."

Pelz tilted his head, trying to understand what his friend was inferring. His eyes widened as accusation entered them. "You brought the plague to my planet? Civil war wasn't enough? Devastation by disease would be the result if it was released. How could you?"

"He's under quarantine and has been since we left Lastiarus. Meridia was never in danger of being contaminated."

"How do you know? You weren't able to save your own people."

The Time Lord's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Don't go there," he warned.

The detective saw the swift change in the Gallifreyan's demeanor. He'd seen that look several times during their search for the girl. He'd also seen that look before when he'd been on the battlefield, looking into his commander's eyes. He suddenly realized that he'd never seen the friend that stopped his planet's bloodbath with that bridled rage. Intensity, yes, but not this. "Can you take me back to the infirmary?" he asked quietly.

"I'll give you a room," the Doctor told him, going to unlock the wheels before pushing Pelz out of the garden. He took him through the hallway and into a plush bedroom, pulling the chair up to the side of the bed. Once again locking the wheels, he paused before offering his hand. "Do you need help into the bed or would you rather sit and read?" He gestured to a reading chair on the other side of the wheelchair.

Pelz looked into the Time Lord's eyes, now seeing hurt and pride merged. "I think I'd like to sleep for now."

Nodding slightly, the Gallifreyan gently helped his friend out of the chair and guided him onto the bed, trying to keep from jostling his battered body further. Once he was sure that the Meridicon was comfortably situated, he told him, "If you need anything, just call for me. I'll be here as soon as possible."

The answer was quiet but it was true. "I appreciate your help and I'm sorry if I hurt you."

"I know you didn't mean it," the Doctor murmured in return, going towards the exit. "Get some sleep." He shut the light off before closing the door.

Taking a deep breath, he started towards the console room, his thoughts focused on the conversation he'd just had with his old friend. While he and the Meridicon hadn't known each other for long in the grand scheme of time - perhaps a total forty Meridian days between this visit and his previous one - they had developed a friendship strong enough for him to know that Pelz's attitude during their talk was anything but normal for him. In the span of only a few hours, his friend had shifted from entrepreneurial private detective to war veteran with the weight of all that experience pulling him downward in a spiral. The Doctor knew that feeling all too well, had seen it happen to himself. If it hadn't been for Rose Tyler's healing influence, he wasn't sure he still wouldn't be as angry with the universe as he had been. Pelz's emotional scars were deep, the Doctor realized, dating all the way back to the Meridian Civil War. The tortured he'd suffered at the hands of Mikon and his men were only the catalyst for the opening of old wounds. The Gallifreyan knew he needed to find a way to heal his old friend's spirit as well as his body.

In addition, there was the problem of Glad. She too was severely traumatized by the events in Mikon's mansion, though her emotional scars were not as deep as Pelz's. While warm drinks and biscuits were wonderful temporary solutions, they wouldn't alleviate the nightmares she'd been having. Glad needed somewhere she could feel comfortable, somewhere away from people for a while. She needed as much help as Pelz to recover from her own terrible experience.

As for Sam, he still had the problem of being trapped in Rose Tyler's life. They couldn't return to Earth for at least another couple of weeks, as Sam was still contagious with ZBI although that was likely to change soon. He would, even after he could no longer pass on the virus, need time to recover his health as the illness would leave him weak.

Reaching the console room, the Gallifreyan sat on the jumpseat, his eyes staring at nothing as he reviewed all of these thoughts. There was one more condition to the whole situation. They couldn't stay in the time vortex indefinitely. Maintaining stability in the vortex took a lot of power and he could sense the strain it was causing the TARDIS. They would need to land somewhere and soon.

After several minutes of thinking on the problem, the Time Lord stood up and moved to the console, walking around it as he set coordinates. He knew the perfect spot for his friends to recover, isolated from the rest of the universe and restful.

The TARDIS had just landed when Glad walked into the console room, looking as if she hadn't had a decent night's sleep in ages. The Doctor walked up to her and gently cupped her face before pulling her into a hug. "It will get better," he assured her.

She smiled. "I'm glad to be back on the TARDIS. I thought I'd never see her again."

"She's your home for as long as you want her to be," the Time Lord told her. Then, with a smile, he pulled back and looked at her. "I was thinking... how about a holiday? Somewhere quiet and peaceful. No people. Just the earth and the sky above us... and a tent. Definitely will need a tent."

"What about Sam?"

"Well, as long as he keeps a good twelve feet away from you... and he's within a quarantine field..." Seeing the look on her face, he explained, "He's still contagious. And the last thing you need right now is a bout of Zante's Bronchial Influenza."

"You mean if I get close to him I'll get sick?"

"Yes, you will," the Doctor answered her. "Remember? That was the reason I wouldn't let you into his room at all."

She nodded. "I guess I forgot."

"That's okay. Only natural." He started guiding her towards the outer doors.

As they moved towards them, she hesitated. "No people?"

"No people. Just some very friendly creatures."

She moved forward a little quicker, eager to see the new world the Doctor had brought her to.

They walked out into a verdant and lush world. In the distance were mountains. They weren't so far, though, that one couldn't see the waterfalls. "It's beautiful," she exclaimed. "What's the name of this planet?"

The Doctor grinned with genuine delight at her words. "Like it, I take it," he commented. "I'm afraid it doesn't have a name. It's my personal paradise. I don't think any other sentient creatures found it and I'm not about to give its whereabouts. Well, if someone did find it, I think they'd feel the same way that I do about it. I just decided that a place like this... well, it should just... be. We can... go for a hike, take a swim, smell the local flowers, play with the jrulubees... anything you want. Perfect little getaway spot. One of the few planets in the entire universe where one can literally get away from it all. And the only people within a hundred billion miles you will see are me, Sam, and..." He stopped, realizing that Glad didn't yet know the man they'd left at Mikon's house had returned. "... and Pelz," he finished, wondering how she would react to the news.

"Pelz? He was the man that you were afraid for?"

The Time Lord nodded slightly. "He made it back to the TARDIS but... he wasn't well. They hurt him. Almost killed him. But he found a way to escape."

She blinked. "I'm glad." When the Doctor looked at her strangely, she clarified. "That he got away not that he'd been hurt."

"Yeah," the alien agreed somberly. "Me too."

"So, this place... we're just going to stay here for awhile? No more traveling?"

The Gallifreyan took a deep breath. "Not for a while. I think it would be best for everyone to just... relax. Gain some serenity."

She smiled. "I'd like that." She bit her lower lip. "Is Pelz a nice man?"

"Most of the time," he answered, thinking about how the Meridicon had spoken to him before. "He's a bit... shaken right now. Like you."

"Were they trying to make him..." she queried at the comparison to herself.

"No. No, they didn't. They hurt him but for different reasons. Mikon wanted to know where I'd taken you and Pelz refused to tell them. They didn't like that."

"So he was protecting me?"

A gentle smile of gratitude came to the Doctor's features. "Yes. But it wasn't easy for him to handle in the end and he's still hurt from what they did to him, in every way... physically, mentally, and spiritually."

"I want to see him. Thank him for what he did. Arthur always told his knights how important it was to protect the weak. At least, that's what my father told me. What Pelz did was follow what Arthur said even if he couldn't have known our king."

The Gallifreyan thought about Glad's words for a moment, considering their value. At the very least, it would be a start to the healing process for both of them. "That's a good idea, my dear. But Pelz is sleeping at the moment. Perhaps in a few hours. In the meantime..." He gestured to the green pastures and trees around them. "Where do you want to go today? As long as it's fairly close to the TARDIS, you can go anywhere you like. Maybe we'll find a couple of jrulubees."

"What are jrulubees?"

"Furry little things. Look sort of like tail-less mice but are a little bigger and have a lot more hair. Actually, more like a mix between a tail-less mouse and a hamster. Completely harmless and love to be petted. Thought about taking one as a pet but then I decided it wouldn't be fair to the jrulubee."

"A mouse? Those are awful! They get in your hay and grain and make an awful mess. That's why we had cat on the farm. To catch the horrid things."

"Right..." the Doctor murmured, realizing that the girl never would have thought of a mouse as a pet and had probably never even seen a hamster. "Well, jrulubees aren't about to get into your hay or grain and make an awful mess since there aren't any farms around here. They're really very timid creatures and they love to play."

"Well... maybe they'll be okay." Her eyes lit up. "Do you think we can go on that thing Sam told me about before he got sick?"

The Time Lord tucked his hands into his pocket, looking at her with questioning. "What thing was this?" he asked.

"He called it a 'picnic.'"

"A picnic!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Of course, we can go on a picnic! Throw together a few morsels in the kitchen, grab a basket and a blanket, pick a direction and just keep going until you find a nice little spot." He looked around. "I'm thinking by a lake or stream might be nice."

"That sounds wonderful." She looked at him shyly. "Can we even bring some of those cookies with the soft brown bits in them?"

"Chocolate chips. Sure. We can bring some biscuits... cookies... Whatever you want to call them." He took her hand. "Want to help me make lunch?"

She nodded and followed him into the kitchen.