Ace of Spades.
Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Hatter, and Ace.
The Hatter sighed heavily, resting her chin on the palm of her hand, swinging her legs back and forth as she sat in her favourite armchair that she liked to keep off to the side of her console room, a small wooden side table covered in a pile of books beside it. She loved that chair, it wasn't too soft, nor too hard, but just perfect for her. She loved cuddle up in it, her knees curled under herself more often than not as she read one of her many wonderful books, sipping a cup of tea, and simply enjoying relaxing in it.
Sadly, not even her favourite chair was going to stop herself from almost going insane with boredom, and a bored Hatter was a very, very dangerous thing.
It had been six weeks since her companion, Lily Winter's had left, returning back to Earth, and in those six weeks that she had been left alone, she had…well, managed to get herself arrested, tried her hand at gardening, which turned out to be a very big mistake. The flowerbeds still hadn't recovered, apparently she had somehow managed to turn the soil toxic, so she had decided that she should never ever be allowed anywhere near gardening tools, and that she certainly wasn't going to tell the Doctor on her latest fail at gardening. He already teased her as it was, no need to give him even more.
She had also tried drawing again…ah, she wasn't even going to think about that disaster, and had been sure to burn all the evidence, but the six weeks hadn't been totally bad, she had spent a week alphabetising all of the bookcases lining her console room, which, of course, didn't last longer than two days before the perfect order of it started giving her a headache just from looking at it, so she had spent another week unsorting the entire place.
Basically, she had done everything and anything just to try and stop the boredom.
She sighed again and cast her eyes around the room. She supposed that she could go on an adventure, but it just wasn't the same without a companion, she guessed that she had grown used to having someone around, and now she started to realise just how much she had enjoyed it. She had even caught herself talking to herself more than once, which may not be unusual for her, but it was still a little unsettling when she realised that she had actually replied to herself. Yet another thing she was going to keep to herself.
Suddenly, a ringing sound sounded through the room, causing her to jump out of her chair, coming to land in an ungraceful heap on the floor with a loud yelp that she was very pleased no one was around to hear. She blinked and pulled herself back up onto her feet, slowly making her way over to the phone on the console that was still ringing.
"If this is a wrong number again, I am going to have to change my number," she remarked, shaking her head tiredly, before grabbing the receiver and holding it up to her ear, "Hello?"
"Hatter!" a Scottish accented voice on the other end exclaimed, sounding both relived and delighted, "Are you alright?" the tone quickly turned to concern, "I've been trying to call you for day's now, I was about to come searching for you myself".
A bright smile spread itself across the Time Lady's face, "Doctor, perfect timing, I was going insane with boredom," she told him happily before frowning, remembering what he had said, "Wait, you've been trying to call me? I haven't…oh," she trailed off, narrowing her eyes at the Time Rotor.
"What?" the Doctor asked, and she could tell by his tone that he was frowning.
"My TARDIS has been…ah…unhappy with me of late," she explained, shifting, "I may or may not have accidently left a bathtub running and fell asleep while reading".
"Surly your alert system would have told you?"
"Not if that alert system has been in need of maintenance work for the past two hundred years. Oh, you know what it's like, you plan to do something and the next thing you know you have a bathtub flooding your bedroom two hundred years later, but the girl hasn't seen it that way, so she's probably been ignoring your calls".
The Doctor sighed on the other end, but she could hear a hint of amusement in his tone as he spoke, "And you where the one who passed your TARDIS exam".
"If I recall, there wasn't anything on that written exam, nor the actual examination about bathtubs overflowing," the Hatter pointed out.
"Which, apparently, is a very good thing or else you wouldn't have received top marks".
"Yes, well…" she coughed, feeling her cheeks heat up, and was quite pleased that he couldn't see her face, "Enough about me, tell me why you called?"
"You're my best friend," he replied, almost sounding hurt, but she knew it was just an act, "Can't I call my best friend?"
"Of course you can, sweetheart, but you usually just send me a message. A phone call is rather a surprise coming from you," she frowned before sighing, using her free hand to rub her forehead, "Oh, please don't tell me that you're in jail and this is your one phone call, so your using it to ask me to come get you and Ace out?"
"No!" he exclaimed, actually sounding shocked by her assumption.
The Hatter shrugged, forgetting for a moment that he couldn't see her, "Can you really blame me when it comes to both our history with getting arrested?"
"No," he laughed this time after a moment, making her smile before he suddenly became serious, "But you aren't completely wrong…"
"I never am when it comes to you," she sighed warily, "Okay, just tell me".
"Better yet, I'll send you the coordinates and you can come see me yourself," he coughed, and she could hear fabric rustling together on his end. She narrows her eyes, not liking how mysterious he was being.
"Very well," she agreed after a moment, eyes still narrowed, "See you in a tick, then".
She placed the phone back down on the console, frowning for a moment, before she shook her head, and moved around to her monitor to find a set of coordinates flashing across it. She quickly entered the numbers into her own TARDIS, setting off, and coming to a stop a moment later.
A smile crossed her face as she glanced at the screen again, to see the Doctor standing in his own console room in front of her TARDIS, his arms crossed behind his back, looking both excited and impatient. She was almost tempted to take her time to walk out, but her own inpatients to see her best friend rivalled her love for teasing him for once, so she jogged around her console, and over to the doors before throwing them open and stepping out.
"Doctor!" she cried joyfully, practically knocking him off his feet as she lurched herself on him, her arms tightly around his neck. It was a good thing that they were the same height or else it might have been a little awkward.
"Oh!" the Doctor gasped as the wind was knocked out of him, but he quickly recovered and hugged her back, chuckling slightly, "Missed me, then?"
The Time Lady drew back, unwrapping her arms from around his neck, much to his disappointment as she took a step back, "Missed you?" she tried scoffing, but they both knew she was only joking, "Don't be ridicules".
He smiled at her, nudging her side, "Oh, of course. I don't know what I was thinking".
"Yes, I often find myself wondering the same thing about you," she nodded, appearing to be completely serious, "Now, I do believe it's about time you tell me what is going on, Doctor," she fixed him with a look.
The Doctor winced slightly and stepped over towards his console, moving around it, very obviously avoiding her eyes, "Ah…well, you must promise me not to be to mad with me, Hatter," he glanced at her before quickly looking away again.
The Hatter sighed heavily, her eyes narrowing as she moved around the other side of the console, "You know, whenever someone says that to me, it usually means that I'm going to end up mad," she remarked, her tone surprisingly light.
"Yes, well…"
She looked at him for a long moment and glanced around the room, a frown settling on her face, "Doctor…" she began, turning back to him, suddenly looking concerned, "Where's Ace? I would have thought that she would have come and said hello?"
He winced again, "She's…well," he finally told her, making some of the worry clear from her face before she frowned again, "She doesn't know that you're here yet".
"Doctor," the Time Lady grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to face her, "Just tell me what is going on, or else…"
"Or else…?" he raised his eyebrows, seeming to be almost amused.
The Hatter gave him a sweet smile and smacked the back of his head, causing him to yelp and quickly start rubbing it, muttering that he knew he ought to have worn his hat, "Or that, sweetheart," she replied sweetly.
"Yes, yes, yes," the Doctor nodded quickly, still rubbing the back of his hand as he made sure to take a step out of easy slapping distance, "Ace is…angry with me. She is refusing to even come out of her room, let alone talk to me".
"What did you do?"
"Me?" he exclaimed, looking outraged that she would ask such a thing.
"Yes, you," she sighed, crossing her arms across her chest, "Oh, stop acting so dramatic. We both know that you did something to upset the girl, and I can't very well fix matters if I don't know".
"Who said that I want you to fix this?" the Doctor asked, frowning at her.
She gave him a look, "Why else would I be here and why else would you be so terrified to tell me what was wrong?" she rolled her eyes, "Honestly, you would have thought you had been told you live with Davros for a year".
He sighed and leant heavily against the console, looking over to her, "You know, sometime I think that your too clever for your own good, my dear, Hatter," he commented, giving her a fond smile.
The Time Lady smiled back at him, "I thought that there was no such thing as being too clever, Doctor," she responded cheekily, making him laugh for a moment before they both became serious again, "Okay," she took a deep breath, fixing him with a stern look, "Tell me what happened?"
"A few days ago Ace and I came across a being called Fenric, and in order to stop him, I was forced to brake Ace's faith in me," the Doctor explained to her, sounding regretful, "The things that I had to say…" he looked away, shaking his head, "I hurt her, Hatter, I used her, and now…now she won't talk to me or even see me".
"Oh, dear," the Hatter murmured, feeling a pang of sympathy for both Ace and the Doctor. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, before opening her eyes again and looking at him, "Well, I can certainly understand why she would be so hurt," she said after a moment, "She looks at you as a Father-figure, you know?"
"That was another thing," he cleared his throat, "She meet her Mother and Grandmother. Her Mother was a baby, but it was still difficult".
"Goodness, it sounds as if poor Ace was put on an emotional rollercoaster," she shook her head, her eyebrows raised, and looked back at him, "Well, then, I had best go and try and sort this out".
She began walking off down the hall, but she paused, looking back as the Doctor called, "Thank you," he gave her a grateful smile, "I don't know what I would do without you".
She smiled back at him, "Good thing that you will never have to find out," and continued on her way through the halls of the TARDIS, finding her way easily and soon enough she was standing outside a wooden door with Ace's name engraved in elegant, loopy silver writing. She paused, taking a deep breath, and knocked lightly.
"Go away!" Ace's voice shouted from behind the door, sounding very upset, and even a little like she had a head cold, "I told you that I don't want to talk, Professor!"
"Ace!" the Hatter knocked again, calling calmly through the door. She wasn't a stranger to calling through bedroom doors and trying to talk to an upset or angry teenager, after all, she had raised four Time Lords, and two of them had been girls, "It's the Hatter. Can I please come in?"
There was silence for a moment before Ace replied, her voice sounding closer to the door this time, "I don't want him to come in".
Despite the situation, the Time Lady found a small smile crossing her face, "I promise you that he's not here, Ace," she assured her, "And I'm not here for him, I'm here for you".
More silence followed before slowly, the door opened slightly, and Ace's head peeked around the small gap. Her eyes quickly flew around the empty hallway, making sure that the Time Lady was telling the truth before she nodded, and opened the door wider, "Get in, then," she told her.
The Time Lady gave her a small smile and stepped through the gap, closing the door behind her as Ace crossed her arms, trying to look indifferent as she walked over to her unmade, bed, sitting on it. Sheets, pillows, and blankets had been thrown all over the place, some having landed on the floor while the rest of the room appeared to be in a similar messy state with clothing littering the floor.
The Hatter, unable to stop herself, laughed slightly as she cast her eyes around the room, "Well, I didn't think it was possible to come across a bedroom that was messier then the Doctor's room was in the Academy," she remarked as she stepped over a pair of jeans and one boot.
"The Professor wasn't a neat freak, huh?" Ace asked, crossing her arms behind her head, and leaning back against her bed's headboard, still trying hard to appear indifferent.
"Well, he was a teenager once," she shrugged, casting her a small smile as she stepped over a leather jacket and T-shirt, moving over to the side of the room to take a closer look at a band poster that was stuck to the wall, one that she didn't recognise, "As shocking as that might be, we were both teenager's once, doing typical teenage things".
"Oh, yeah?" she raised her eyebrows, sounding skeptical, "What kind of things?"
"Oh, we used to play pranks of our teachers, sneak out of school…"
"You guys snuck out of school?"
"Of course," the Hatter grinned, giving her a wink over her shoulder, "We managed to find an old passageway with a locked door that led out to this big field outside the school, lined by trees, and the area that the passage was in hadn't been used in three centuries, so it was relatively safe".
"So you guy's ever bunk off class?" Ace asked curiously.
The Time Lady coughed, shifting slightly, "Ah…once".
"Once?" Ace gave her a look, clearly unimpressed.
"Oi! Skipping class I was a big deal for me, a little less so perhaps for the Doctor, but it took him two months to talk me into skipping our history class, since we both found the subject dreadfully dull. Anyway, I only did it the once, and he never tried to talk me into it again. He said that my stressing and worrying about being caught made him so nervous that it just wasn't worth it. I still think that I wasn't that bad, I only had two panic attacks, for Rassilon's sack!"
"You had a panic attack over skipping class?" she stared at her before bursting out laughing, shaking her head, "You? Seriously, the woman who can go up against Dalek's spun out over skipping one class that you didn't even like?"
The Hatter felt her cheeks heat up and she coughed again, "Yes, well, I was only a child," she looked away, scratching the back of her neck uncomfortably, "I've come quite a long way since then, not to mention that my parents and teachers were very scary back then".
Ace shook her head again, "That's only making it worse, Hat".
The Time Lady sighed, pinching the bridge, "You know, I do wish that I hadn't told you about that old nickname," she informed her, "I only told you because of your nickname for the Doctor".
"Speaking about him," she said, throwing the closed door a dark look, "He sent you, didn't he?"
"Yes," the Hatter nodded, seeing no reason to lie, "He's awfully sorry, Ace, and very guilty".
"He treated me like I was a piece from one his chess games!"
"Not a chess piece, more of an Ace of Spades," the Time Lady replied, trying to lighten the mood a little, but Ace only glared at her. She winced and held up her hand, "I apologise, that was a little insensitive of me," she offered her an apologetic smile and moved to sit at the end of her bed, ignoring the messy covers, "Ace, you have every right to be angry and upset with the Doctor…"
"But because he's your best friend you're going to take his side," Ace scoffed bitterly at her, looking away from her.
"I'm not taking any sides, not even the Doctor's," the Hatter told her firmly, Ace only rolled her eyes, obviously not convinced, "You still don't believe me?" she sighed.
"He's your best friend".
"Best friend or not, that doesn't mean that I have to agree with everything he does. Now, granted, I can understand that he did what he thought was the only thing that he could do, but there could and should have been a better way. I hate it that you were hurt and I wish that I could have been there to do something, but what has happened has been happened. It can't be changed".
"He's changing, Hatter," Ace turned back to her, frowning, "It's like…this darkness is taking over him, and I don't know what to do," she looked at her, seeming almost hopeful, "You see it, right?"
The Hatter swallowed and reached over, taking her hand, "I do," she agreed, trying not to show just how troubled she actually felt by the Doctor's change in personality since his regeneration, "And it is…concerning. I've seen what that darkness consuming him could do to him…" she shivered as the Valeyard flashed across her mind, but she quickly pushed the memory away, "But we won't let that happen," she said firmly, turning back to Ace, "We can't, for his sack".
"What's happening to him?"
"Ace, when you live the lifestyle that he and I live, fighting against some of the very darkest of beings in the Universe day in and day out, would it truly be surprising if some of that darkness didn't rub off?"
Ace frowned again, seeming to be thinking over what she had said, "Yeah…but you're not like that".
The Hatter meet her eyes, "Perhaps I'm just better at hiding it?" she suggested before shrugging, "Regardless, we need to keep an eye on him. Both of us, because I can't do it on my own," she gave her a small smile, raising her eyebrows, "Now, I know that you haven't forgiven the Doctor, but I do believe that we can continue to work on that, and while doing so, we can keep an eye on the Doctor without him knowing, too".
She eyed her for a moment, "What's your plan?" she asked after a moment.
"Well…" the Time Lady's smile turned sly, "I don't have a companion, and have been going insane with boredom, so what if I was to take the Doctor up on his offer to travel with him on a few adventures, and you and I can watch over him, and work on rebuilding your trust with each other, hmm?"
"So…we would be tricking him, then?" she asked slowly, a smile starting to spread across her face.
The Hatter grinned at her and winked, and Ace was yet again reminded just how devious the Time Lady could be.
Well, this one-shot is obviously after 'The Curse of Fenric' and the Hatter would have still been with the Doctor and Ace throughout 'Survival'. Such a typical thing for the Hatter to do, mange to find a way to keep an eye on the Doctor, fix his and Ace's relationship, and all the while tricking him. Oh, and not to mention being entertained.
If anyone has any suggestions for one-shots, feel free to tell me. Please review :)
