The Braxiatel Collection

"…I have never harmed you," Braxiatel was explaining to Benny. "I have never purposely placed you in a position I felt you couldn't handle. And I think my actions saving the refugees, alone, has proven that I am trying to help mitigate the damages of this war."

Benny looked away. "I know. I've been awful to you. I'm just…" she took a deep breath. "You can't blame me for being upset."

"We've all lost friends, Bernice," Braxiatel told her.

"And you more than the rest of us," Benny agreed. Looking on him, for the first time in a long while, with nothing but sympathy. "This… Andextrion. You knew him well, didn't you? You haven't been the same since we heard news about that battle on Olyntra."

The Battle of Olyntra.

It had been one of the only battles fought in the same time period as the Collection.

Which meant they'd all been provided with up-to-date news coverage, the entire time.

Perhaps it was because they could finally see what effect it had on him, in real time. Or because Braxiatel had finally been unable to hold back his emotions and pretend to be above it all.

But the Collection looked on Braxiatel more sympathetically, since then.

"Andextrion and I… knew one another, at the Academy," Braxiatel replied. "Childhood friends. And he was a political supporter for many years, afterwards. I…"

He trailed off. Trying to staunch the flood of emotions that kept trying to drown him.

Struggling to remain calm and unshaken.

"Well," Braxiatel said, somewhat quieter, "I suppose none of that matters, now."

"You don't always have to pretend to be above it all," Benny told him. "Maybe it would help if you just… let it out. I mean, this can't be the first person you knew well who's died in this war."

Braxiatel said nothing to this.

"If you need someone to listen," Benny assured him, "I promise, I can…"

Something shot through the Collection. A sudden crack, in the air, which seared straight into Braxiatel's mind.

A telepathic communication, across time and space.

A Time Lord communication.

And everything else faded into nothing, as it echoed through Braxiatel's mind.

"Braxiatel?" Benny was saying, her hands now on his shoulders. Shaking him. "Irving?"

He blinked.

Then focused on her. And the outside world.

"Ah, Bernice," Braxiatel said. "Yes, I apologize. A… communication. From my own people. I regret, those have never been quite as pleasant as when we were able to use hypercubes." He turned around, trying to head back towards his desk. But stumbled.

Benny caught him.

"You look white as a sheet," Benny said. "And you're shaking. What is it? What did they say? Is…?" She cringed, as a nasty thought crept into her mind. "Is it over? Did they lose?"

"On the contrary, Gallifrey is still standing and everything is fine," Braxiatel replied, shaking Benny off. He composed himself, enough to reach his desk. "But I'm afraid, Bernice… that this is goodbye."

"Goodbye?" Benny seemed alarmed. "Brax… Irving… what's happened? Are we in danger? What's going on?"

Braxiatel activated a secret compartment in his desk. And brought out a bracelet-sized time ring.

"The Collection will be safe," Braxiatel assured her. "Everyone here will be fine. The protections I've installed, here, against the Daleks should hold against even the strongest barrage." He slipped the time ring into a pocket. "But… I cannot remain. I have things I must attend to. Alone."

He pushed past Benny.

Out the door to his study.

"And I must prepare," Braxiatel said.

They watched as Braxiatel finished packing, and put the last few of his affairs, at the Collection, in order.

"Peter was right," Bev commented. "He's really not the same Braxiatel as before."

"Even during the last occupation, he always seemed… in control," Adrien remarked. "I've never seen him like this."

"I have," Benny whispered. "In the Dynadum prison, when he thought… he'd just lost everything. And he knew there was no hope… for anyone."

All eyes turned to Benny.

"The War isn't going well, is it?" Peter guessed. "He's going off to fight."

"We don't know that," Adrien insisted. "Could be that his people found him, and he's running away to hide from them."

"No," Benny said. Her eyes still on Irving Braxiatel. "Peter's right. Whatever was in that message… it's convinced him to leave the Collection behind. And fight on the front lines."

"And his behind-the-scenes master-plan?" Bev prompted.

"I don't know," said Benny. Her voice shaking. "I… don't know if there ever was one."

They all went very quiet, then.

Thinking through the implications.

"If the Daleks have won," Adrien put in, hesitantly, "and gotten their hands on all that time technology…"

"I know." Benny put her arms around Peter. And kissed him. "I know."

Braxiatel finished his conversation. Then, spotting Benny, Peter, Adrien, and Bev, went over to them. His stride a little too slow and his face a little too pale.

Something was dead, in his eyes.

"How long until the Daleks invade?" said Peter. "How long do we have left?"

Braxiatel planted a smile on his face. "Why, the rest of your natural lives, of course! You're all perfectly safe. No danger."

All of them shot him pointed looks.

None believed him.

"Now," Braxiatel continued, still in a too-cheerful voice. "I'm certain the Collection is in safe hands. I've downloaded anything I think you'll need into Joseph, so you shouldn't have any problems. And if anything should go wrong… well…"

He faltered.

Then caught himself, and resumed his previous disposition.

"…I'm certain Beverly, here, will have an escape route," Braxiatel announced, with a grin at Bev. "Isn't that right?"

Still.

No one said a word.

"Cheer up!" Braxiatel urged them. Picking up his valise. "This isn't a funeral. Whatever happens, the Collection will survive. Perhaps… I'll even drop in for a visit, sometime."

"When?" Benny asked.

Braxiatel froze.

Then turned away from them. "I'd better go."

"Irving," Benny said. "Please. What's…?"

"It's been a pleasure getting to know you," Braxiatel told them, taking out his time ring. "All of you." He punched in the coordinates. Then looked up, at them. All masks falling away, in an instant.

Revealing a scared, desperate man. About to leave.

And knowing… he'd never come back.

"Take care of yourselves," he said. "Please."

Then he activated his Time Ring, and vanished from the Collection.

Gallifrey, during the Time War

Braxiatel's arrival in the Panopitcon was met, as he had suspected, with clarions and alarm bells. And no sooner had Braxiatel had time to blink, he found himself surrounded by the Chancellery guard. All heavily armed, and ready to escort him.

But his Time Ring had still been let through the transduction barrier.

As he'd suspected.

"No need for the show of force," Braxiatel informed them. "You wanted me here. It's why you sent me that message in the first place."

Sure enough, the alarm bells and clarions shut off.

And the Chancellery guard all bowed, as the Lord Rassilon entered the room. A string of Time Lords behind him, in a fawning and devoted entourage.

"Braxiatel," Rassilon said, with that smooth, silky voice of his. He raised up his hands, examining Braxiatel. "The prodigal son, drawn back into the fold. To aid his people during their darkest hour."

"I did so before, my Lord," said Braxiatel, bowing. "And was exiled, as a result." He stood up, straight, once more. Meeting Rassilon's eyes with his own. "You know why I've returned. It's why you sent me that message, telling me she was missing. Now… where did you leave her?"

Gallifrey, present-day

"Your own free will?" Jenny cried.

Braxiatel couldn't meet her eyes. "I wonder, sometimes," he muttered, "if leaving the Collection… was what made my plan fail. Perhaps… if I'd had more time to control the effects of what I'd put into motion…"

Jenny shook her head. Still couldn't believe it. "So why did you join in?" she insisted. "You knew you could win this for the Time Lords, if you stayed out of it until the last minute! What made you give that up?"

Braxiatel said nothing for a very long time.

"Gallifrey," he said, at last. "My duty to Gallifrey. That's all."

Gallifrey, during the Time War

"A terrible tragedy!" Rassilon was saying, now that he was alone with Braxiatel. "Lost in the retreat, during the Battle of Cavab. One moment, she was there, fighting. And the next… we simply lost track of her. We do, naturally, regret the loss…"

"Cavab, in the Auroran Sector," said Braxiatel. Trying to remember the coordinates. "Around… alpha nine seven two, if I'm not mistaken."

Rassilon seemed suitably impressed.

"And judging by the ambient chatter from the other Time Lords, nearby," Braxiatel continued, "the battle took place in the Melonian Era, 7871. Around the time at which Ryoloi sculpted his famous masterpiece, 'The Bells of Clarfax.' His best marble work, I believe."

"Do I take it," Rassilon said, "that you've come to ask for a TARDIS, so you may search for her?"

Braxiatel bowed, deeply. "My Lord."

Gallifrey, present-day

"My first mission, during the war," Braxiatel told Jenny, "was to the planet Cavab, in the Auroran Sector. Do you know it?"

"One of the famous lost planets," Jenny recalled. Her face bent, as she recalled it. "It sort of… flickers into existence for a second or two. A blaze of light illuminating the whole system. Then… it vanishes. For centuries at a time."

"A result of the war," Braxiatel said. "A planet caught trapped in its last few seconds of existence. Forever."

Jenny took this all in.

Said nothing, her face dark and her eyes grim.

"You've heard stories like this, before," Braxiatel guessed.

"Almost no one ever talks about the war," Jenny replied. "Except to yell at one another about the battles they've fought in or haven't fought in. Whenever I ask, they just say, 'have you ever heard of such-and-such planet?' Usually a planet that's been twisted out of time, or destroyed, or made uninhabitable. And then they tell me they were there when it was destroyed."

Braxiatel had supposed this to be the case.

"And nothing else," Jenny concluded.

"They don't want to remember," said Braxiatel. "I went to Cavab, when it was on the verge of collapse. I needed to rescue some… prisoners of war, who'd been left behind." He shuddered, at the memory. "There was almost nothing left of the planet. And as I left… I had to watch it die, behind me."

"That's a big risk, to rescue some prisoners of war," Jenny said. "Anyone important?"

Braxiatel gave a small laugh.

"Some might say so," he muttered.