Chapter 36

Galadriel yawned loudly as she blinked away the sleep from her eyes. Spending the night in the Smith Inn had been absolutely wonderful. First they watched Night Court, during which she laughed so hard that her sides hurt. After that, Harry told her stories about his travels with the Doctor. When she went to bed, she had dreams filled with images of Zygons, Daleks, and Sontarans, all of whom Harry had to describe in detail. She also got to hear about a strong woman named Sarah Jane Smith and how she had travelled with them. She wished she could meet Sarah Jane some day. She sounded like a wonderful person to know.

Rubbing her eyes to gain some moisture, she stood up from the bed and looked once again at the room she had slept in. It certainly was beautiful. And the bed was so comfortable and luxurious. She truly felt as if she had been treated like a princess. Glancing at the clock on the nightstand, she noted that it was past eight o'clock. Harry and Sally had indicated that breakfast would be ready by that time. She smiled widely as she grabbed Squee and hurried downstairs.

"Good morning, Glad. How would you like your eggs this morning?" Sally asked when she saw the girl walk into the kitchen. She and Harry were all ready dressed.

Glad looked on Sally with a slight frown. "On a plate?"

"Well... yes. Of course," the woman responded trying to fathom if this was a rude response or not.

Harry spoke up, noting the girl's confused expression. "What she means is… how do you like them fixed? Poached, scrambled, fried, boiled..."

"You can make them more than one way?" she questioned with wide eyes. "My papa only made them one way on the farm. He just broke the egg and cooked them in a pan."

"Fried then," Harry hazarded.

"But I can try them other ways," she put in quickly when she realized that they were going to make them the same way she had had before. "The Doctor says it's good to... expand your palette. I guess that means it's good to try lots of different things."

"Why don't I do a nice poached on English muffin?" Sally offered. "That's what I was going to fix for Harry."

"Okay," the girl agreed readily. She didn't know what poached meant but if Harry was going to have his eggs that way, it had to be good.

As Sally worked her magic in the kitchen, the grinding sound of the TARDIS returning made its presence known. A few minutes later, the Doctor and Sam walked into the Smith Inn.

"Buongiorno!" the Time Lord greeted with a wide grin as he entered the kitchen, his arms wide to accept acknowledgement of his arrival.

"Doctor!" Glad cried out, rushing to hug him. "I had the best time last night. We watched this really funny tapestry... film... and Harry told me all about you and him and this wonderful woman name Sarah Jane Smith and we had hot chocolate, which is absolutely fantastic by the way, and chocolate chip cookies!"

"Wow! Hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies. That's special," the Gallifreyan agreed, returning the hug. Looking on her, he frowned slightly. "Where's your robe?"

"Robe?"

Sam explained, "It's a covering you wear over your nightclothes. It's especially proper when you're visiting, although Mom wouldn't let us come to the table without one."

"I thought you said I wasn't supposed to wear anything over my nightclothes, Doctor," Glad said with a frown at the alien.

"That's when you are actually in bed. When you are outside of your bedroom, you should have a robe on."

"But, you didn't give me one. And you never had a problem with me in my nightclothes outside of my bedroom before."

"Let the child be," Sally called out from the stove. "There's no one here but us at the moment and she obviously doesn't understand the etiquette. I'm sure she will the next time you visit us, Doctor."

"Besides," Harry added, "you shouldn't talk. I've heard stories from Sarah about you walking around the console room wearing only your nightshirt."

Glad gave him a knowing smile, figuring that she had just won a victory by the look on the Doctor's face.

"Katie used to have a big fluffy blue robe. Maybe you'd like one like that," Sam pointed out.

"Harry and Sally just said that I don't need a robe."

"I said you don't need one now," Sally corrected. "However, the Doctor and Sam are quite right that under other circumstances... such as when you're not with family... you will want to wear one."

"Ah," the girl realized the distinction. Letting the subject pass quickly, she looked up at the Doctor's face, her arms still around him. "Sally's making breakfast. She's making poached eggs." She gained a grin in reply from the Gallifreyan.

"Sounds wonderful," Sam responded. "Can I help you with anything?"

Harry, seeing that the Doctor was still unable to move without dragging the young girl with his every move, pointed out that Sam and Glad could help set the table.

"Oh!" Glad exclaimed, realizing that her position was hindering the Doctor's movements. "Sorry. It's just been such a great night! I'm so excited!" Releasing her hold, she moved to go do as Harry suggested, much to the Time Lord's mixed feelings of relief and chagrin.

Once the two had gone into the dining room to take care of their tasks, Harry turned to the Doctor. "I take it you were successful in your endeavors?"

The Doctor nodded as he responded in the affirmative. "Wasn't too difficult. Well, actually it was but that's neither here nor there." Reflexively, he scratched his right wrist where a bandage was barely visible under his shirt sleeve."

The action caused Harry to note the bandage as well as to scrutinize the Gallifreyan a little more closely. "If I didn't know better, I'd guess you've been tangling with a Dragon again."

"Well..." he responded, his tone raised to indicate, without words, that Harry had come very close to his suppositions.

"Whatever would you want to do that for?" Sally asked as she plated the various foods. "I was never so happy as when Harry was able to get that monstrosity out of the parlor."

"It's not that I wanted to do it but I couldn't leave all that with UNIT now, could I? I mean, I understand that they're protecting the Earth and everything but Dragon's secretion isn't something to dabble with. Last thing we need is for someone to get an idea of making the ultimate biological weapon."

"I didn't think about that when they took the Dragon way," Harry admitted.

"Went in and picked it up," he said as if it were the easiest thing to do. He furrowed his eyebrows slightly. "Mind you, we did run into complications. Had to hurry a bit at the end and I'm sure that didn't help us since it likely was the cause of our current predicament."

"Predicament?"

The alien sniffed slightly. "Krazan's sort of stuck on the ramp going up to the console."

"All of that is fascinating," Sally interjected, "But if we don't get this food to the table, it's going to be cold... and there is nothing worse than cold poached eggs and cottage fries."

"Fair point," the Doctor conceded, accepting a plate of food and carrying it to the table before taking a seat.

Harry was slightly snickering at the knowledge of the problem as he also carried out a plate. "You certainly find yourself in the most interesting predicaments, Doctor."

The five of them enjoyed the simple but wonderful breakfast, discussion moving back to Glad's evening with the Sullivans and what stories Harry had related to her. Her descriptions of what Zygons looked like gained a wide-eyed expression from Sam and a little laugh from the Doctor, who shook his head slightly in disagreement of its inaccuracies while acknowledging the similarities.

When they were finished, the Doctor leaned back. "Sally, that was magnificent. Sometime you will have to show me how you do that."

"Says the man who gave me the pointers," she complimented back.

"Well, pointers," he agreed. "Not perfection." Standing from the table, he took Glad's arm, encouraging her to stand. "Even though we'd love to stay and visit some more, I'm sorry but we've really got to go."

The innkeepers looked at each other before Harry stood and walked over to him. "We knew that time was coming, Doctor. If there's one thing for certain... you aren't one to stay anywhere for long."

The Doctor chuckled slightly at Harry's reply. "Well, you know me, Harry," he answered, smiling with a bit of whimsy in his eyes. He gently pushed Glad towards the hallway. "Come, my dear. Time to go. Go get your things." Seeing her glances towards the table, he noticed that her rubber duck was sitting at her place. "I'll get Squee. Go on."

As Glad did what she was asked, the four adults said their goodbyes. When she returned, it was her turn. She gave both Harry and Sally a heartfelt hug which they returned, telling the Doctor they were welcome back anytime. The three time travelers gave waves to the Sullivans as they exited the kitchen and then proceeded to the TARDIS.

As they made their way to the TARDIS door, Sam asked, "So... to the museum?"

"Museum," the Gallifreyan agreed, pulling out his key and opening the police box. The moment the Doctor opened the door, Glad frowned in confusion as he pulled out a step stool and placed it so that the three of them could step onto a large wooden box that covered the entire ramp going up towards the console.

"What happened to the TARDIS?" Glad asked. "It feels like winter in there."

"Oh, nothing," the Doctor tried to assure her. "Bit of a technical problem, that's all."

"Yeah... more like a logistics problem. I'd say it was a case of who happened to the ramp," Sam pointed out.

"I don't get it. Why are we getting in like this?" Glad questioned, ducking her head slightly as she allowed the Doctor to help her up the step stool and into the time ship.

"So we don't step on a Dragon," Sam stated as he followed her up. "And it's cold because we don't want Krazan to thaw." Once they'd crossed the box, Sam jumped down from the other end. He put his hands up to help her down.

"Step on a dragon?" Her eyes widened, not hearing Sam's explanation for the cold. She turned to the Doctor who was still behind her on the box. "There's a dragon under the box? Let me see!"

The Time Lord groaned at her words. "Sorry, not going to happen." He had followed his companions in before reaching down, bringing in the step stool up, and closing the door behind them. Going along the box, he tossed the stool to the side before carefully going around Glad and jumping down. Turning towards her, he made his own offer to help her.

The door to the Imaging Chamber opened to allow Jack to enter. He realized that he was standing with his head outside of a box where the ramp should be. "Why is this on the ramp?" he questioned. He ducked down to take a look inside. "Yikes," he commented as he stood again and walked through the apparition so that he was fully visible. "There's a Dragon in there."

"But I've never seen a dragon before!" She complained as she allowed the Doctor to help her down.

"I hadn't noticed," the Gallifreyan commented sarcastically to Jack's words. Hearing Glad's statement and seeing her confusion at his sarcasm, he softened his words as he responded to her. "You'll see live Dragons, dear girl. You don't want to see Krazan. He's a bit... well... dead."

"But... why'd you build a coffin over it in front of the door? Wouldn't it have been better to take it through the TARDIS and put it in a coffin elsewhere?" the girl pressed.

"She's got a point," Jack stated. "Not a very smart place to store a dead Dragon when you've got infinite space to put it in."

"We didn't have a choice," Sam stated, glaring slightly at Jack. "If everything had gone to plan, we wouldn't have left Krazan there. But anyone that's been around the Doctor for even a few days knows that isn't always what happens."

"Oi!" the Gallifreyan protested. "I'll have you know this... incident... is not indicative of what is normal."

"Oh, really? From the stories Harry told at breakfast..." Sam started.

"...and last night after we watched Night Court..." Glad put in.

"...and from what I've experienced since I leapt into Rose..."

"...and my experiences since you arrived in Camelot and invited me aboard..."

"...and remember, I had all that time with you in your previous incarnation," Jack added. "Wasn't any different then."

"All right! I take the point!" the Doctor proclaimed. Reaching into his pocket, he thrust the rubber duck he'd picked up for Glad towards her. "Here's your duck. Why don't you go get cleaned up and get into more appropriate dress?" His tone lightened with her as he spoke, the girl's sweet smile telling that the interaction was only friendly harassment.

Accepting the toy, the girl gave the Doctor a little kiss on his cheek before hurrying out the console room to do what he'd asked.

As Glad left the console room, he turned towards the two human males to give them each a friendly glare before turning to the console and setting the coordinates. "Now... quick hop to the museum to gather up those weapons we saw." He pointed to Sam as he spoke. "And find a hiding place for your artifacts, making sure that no one really can identify them within the next thirty or so years."

"Umm... just one question," Jack said, raising a finger to gain the Time Lord's attention. He pointed to the door. "How are you going to get those artifacts out of the TARDIS with a dead Dragon in the way?"

"We'll cross that ramp when we get to it," the Doctor stated, throwing the switch that took the time ship in to the Vortex, thus leaving Jack to ponder his words in an empty white room.