Thanks to dwatlaskrhtcm for being such a loyal reviewer. And, thanks to everyone who's still reading this. Enjoy!
Melissa walked into Jack's office knowing that whatever he said, she wasn't going to like it. He and the Doctor had had a long, private discussion yesterday while she had been stuck in the TARDIS infirmary letting the tissue regenerator reconstruct her calf muscles. She knew most of the conversation had been about her, and she was prepared to be quite prickly if they had decided to become overprotective. The words that came out of Jack's mouth, however, shocked her completely.
"I want you and Martha to go out for a coffee."
Flummoxed, she tried a hint of belligerence. "Is that an order?"
Looking up from the reports he was pretending to read, he answered brusquely. "Yes."
"And what if I refuse?"
He deliberately leaned back in his chair. "I told you yesterday what would happen if you can't work out your problem with Martha."
"But-!" She sputtered, trying to think of a retort that wouldn't make her sound like a bitch, or worse yet, a whiny child. "Fine," she snapped.
"Good. Meet her by the fountain in fifteen minutes."
When she slammed the door to his office on her way out, he grinned. That had gone much better than he had expected. Now, if the Doctor could only have the same success with Martha.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Martha cheerfully entered the TARDIS looking for the Doctor. At first, she couldn't find him. When she noticed a portion of the floor grating around the console had been taken away, she almost threw her hands up in exasperation.
"I don't think you're up to maintenance work yet, Doctor. It was only yesterday you were hooked up to a chest tube."
Spryly, he popped out of his cramped work space to stand a few feet in front of her. "I'm fine, Martha. The tissue regenerator was able to fix everything."
Before his former companion could comment, he added with a hopeful expression, "I just wanted to ask you if you'd be willing to go out for a cup of coffee."
"I'd love to!" Seeing her reaction, he felt very guilty for what he was about to say next.
"Good, Melissa will be waiting by the fountain in fifteen minutes."
The happy smile on her face instantly changed to a look of stunned confusion. "What?"
Hiding his unease, he patiently explained. "You and Melissa will be working together for the foreseeable future. The two of you need to come to some sort of understanding, or someone's going to get hurt. Captain's orders, I'm afraid."
"But—"
She closed her mouth. Jack had been reserved with her after the stranch incident yesterday. If he was the one who had come up with this stupid scheme, then she was going to have to play along.
Encouraged by her lack of protest, the Doctor's face split into a relieved grin. "That's the spirit!"
Walking reluctantly out of the TARDIS, Martha groaned.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Martha and Melissa walked silently to Starbuck's, ending up there because it was convenient. They ordered separately, and they might have even sat at different tables if Jack's threat hadn't prompted Melissa to frostily ask Martha to pick a table.
Sitting down, they played with their beverages for a few minutes before the young physician finally broke the ice. "You're not going to pour one of those into the other, are you?"
Melissa had bought two separate drinks, a grande chai latte and a double shot of espresso, and the Doctor's former companion wasn't quite sure what she intended to do with them. Plus, she had also purchased a doughnut and a muffin, even though the Time Lord had eaten three of the bagels Ianto had brought in that morning.
Looking startled, Melissa reddened. "I'm thirsty, and I like them both. I'm going to drink them separately, though."
Curious, she looked at what Martha was drinking. She had a cup of plain, black coffee, although she didn't seem to be taking any pleasure in it.
"Get used to black coffee in med school?"
"No," she admitted after a pause. "I got used to it this way the year I walked the Earth. I was lucky to get coffee most of the time. Learned to be appreciative no matter how bitter it was." Then, because she really wanted to know, she asked hesitantly, "Do you remember that year?"
"The part I lived through," she answered without thinking. Seeing Martha's guilty expression, however, she quickly added, "I'm sorry."
"For what?" The young medic couldn't think of anything for which Melissa might need to apologize, except perhaps being frigid towards her since her arrival.
"I'm sorry you had to go through any of that year. I wish I had killed that bastard when I'd had the chance."
"You could have killed the Master on Gallifrey?"
"No," she stated bitterly. "I could have killed him here, in Cardiff. I met him when he was Minister of Defense. I could sense who he was, but I wasn't allowed to kill him."
"You weren't allowed?" Martha's coffee was now forgotten.
"The Bad Wolf wouldn't let me." Agitated, Melissa drank down her espresso like she was throwing back a shot of whiskey.
Martha's lips curled into an ironic half-smile. "Good old Rose. Even when she's gone, she's still here."
The Time Lord looked at her wryly. "That's one way to put it."
Melissa didn't really consider Rose and the Bad Wolf to be the same entity. Rose didn't remember her time as the Bad Wolf. And, a being that held all the power of time and space would have a far different perspective than a nineteen year old girl. But, she sensed a fledgling rapport with the new Torchwood medic, and didn't want to ruin it by arguing semantics.
Eating her cake doughnut, which was definitely not as satisfying as a Krispy Kreme, she searched for another topic of common interest. Martha spoke first, however, deciding to confront the one issue neither one of them was comfortable talking about.
"I'm sorry your children were killed in the Dalek attack. I know you think they would have survived if you had been a Time Lord."
For a while, Melissa gave no indication that she was going to respond. She sipped her chai latte, her eyes downcast. Just when Martha thought that there was no point in staying, the older woman looked up, her expression austere.
"I despised you, you know. My kids had been killed by my most hated enemy, an enemy that destroyed my people, my planet, and almost everyone I have ever loved. I needed someone to blame." Locking eyes with the young doctor, she confessed resolutely. "I hated you, Martha Jones, until I read my daughter's diary."
"Why?" This definitely wasn't the reaction she had been expecting.
"Because Susan knew about the watch for almost a year. She was planning on giving it to the Doctor at graduation. She was scared I wouldn't want to be her mother anymore, scared I wouldn't love her, and she wanted to finish high school before that happened."
"But that's horrible!" Martha blurted out her comment without thinking, and seeing the effect it had on Melissa, she was instantly apologetic. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel worse. It's just, your daughter must have been dealing with a lot of guilt and worry all that time. It must have been really hard for her."
"It was. And I understand why she was afraid. She'd had so much change in her life. She just wanted everything to stay the same for once. She wanted me to stay the same. It was easy to forgive her, and when I did, I found I could forgive you."
"Then, why've you been acting all—?" She shrugged, not knowing how to politely finish her sentence.
"Why have I been acting like the ice queen around you?"
The young woman nodded slowly, wondering what Melissa was going to say next. This conversation had taken a turn she never would have imagined.
"Well, for one thing, if you had told the Doctor about the watch, Susan wouldn't have had to go through what she did. She never would have been forced to agonize over that choice. And, yes, it may be irrational to be upset about that, but I am."
"And," she continued, her voice suddenly laced with anger. "You assumed I was going to be like that bastard. I can't decide if that was an insult to me, the Doctor or our entire species. The Master was insane, and perverse, and enjoyed causing others pain, and I think Lucy deserves a medal for being the one who finally killed him."
"I'm sorry. You seemed so nice. I thought that it was better to have you human than to risk your entire personality changing."
"The Doctor tried to explain all that to me," she finally admitted. "And, I'm trying to accept it, Martha. But you have to try, too. You're going to have to trust me."
"I can—"
Whatever Martha might have said was interrupted by the deafening roar of three Judoon ships rumbling overhead as they landed by the bay. The two women recognized the ships immediately and took off running. They met the Doctor, Jack, and the rest of Torchwood outside on the Plass near the water fountain. A stream of Judoon were methodically scanning and marking every person on the nearby streets, shops and office buildings as they continued their inexorable progress towards the Rift. And marching determinedly in their wake was the Shadow Architect, flanked by the Shadow Oracles.
"Shit. I was hoping they'd be late for a change. Ianto, get the disrupters from the armory."
"Don't bother, Captain. We're vastly outnumbered. Adding disrupters to the mix is only going to get someone hurt."
"What? I'm just supposed to let them take you for trial, Doctor? They're not known for accepting a claim of extenuating circumstances."
"If that's what's necessary to keep these people safe, then yes!"
Ianto paused, suddenly unsure. While the Time Lord and the immortal glared at each other, Melissa caught Ianto's attention. With a few discreet hand motions, she offered to take his burden. The Welshman gratefully gave a slight nod and watched her slip away.
After a second, Jack gave in. "Fine, no disruptors. They're too many of them for it to matter anyway."
"What's the plan, boss?" Mickey looked directly at the Doctor, understanding that Jack had just ceded his authority to the Time Lord.
"I'm going to speak to the Shadow Architect. I'm sure she'll be able to listen to reason." "Besides," he added cheerfully, "if there's one thing I know how to do, it's talk!"
While the Doctor's answer didn't reassure Gwen or Ianto, Jack, Martha and Mickey had anticipatory grins on their faces. It was at this point, however, that Jack and the Doctor realized that Melissa was missing, and both instantly sobered. Jack demanded to know where she had gone.
"She's gone to the armory," Ianto volunteered as he watched the mass of Judoon march ever closer. Dryly, he added, "I guess she had a different plan."
The Doctor gave the archivist a sharp look, but refused to be baited. The Judoon were practically on top of them, and he couldn't follow her now even if he had wanted to.
Racing to the tourist entrance of the Hub, Melissa slipped between the cog wheel doors as soon as they widened enough to let her inside. She frantically ransacked the armory, finally finding a stunner advanced enough to knock out the Judoon, although she would have preferred the demat gun. Impatiently, she stood on the lift as it slowly ascended.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Emerging undetected from the Hub, she studied the scene before her. The Doctor was standing in the open, facing the Judoon, while Jack and the rest of the team stood slightly behind him. An older, grim-faced woman who could only be the Shadow Architect stood in front of him, flanked by several of her aides. Her pale red eyes were filled with anger, and she was demanding that the Doctor surrender to the Shadow Proclamation. Knowing she had to act quickly, Melissa gathered a reserve of energy, and concentrating intently, matched her body against the flow of time.
The scene in front of her froze. Calmly, she walked to the center to stand near the fountain. She was dismayed by the sheer number of Judoon, but she raced through the Plass, firing the weapon at the tough aliens. Each time, the discharge raced out of the barrel only to stop in midair. By the time she had targeted all of the one hundred twenty Judoon, she was weak and trembling. She shoved those reactions aside to take her place in front of the Doctor. She'd felt his disapproving gaze upon her the entire time, but he had remained still, unwilling to jeopardize her safety by breaking her concentration.
All of a sudden, she could feel another gaze upon her, a gaze so completely foreign yet somehow familiar. Accepting the mental touch, she felt the breathtaking presence of the Bad Wolf. In that instant, the Wolf unlocked parts of her mind, and she could see with a clarity she never knew she possessed. With a fierce joy, she smiled dangerously, more than ready to confront those who would threaten her mates.
To everyone except the two Time Lords, it seemed as if Melissa had appeared from thin air, firing a weapon faster than they could see, incapacitating the Judoon in an instant. Cowed by her display of power, the Shadow Architect was nevertheless too proud to admit defeat. Standing a mere six feet away, she continued to make her demands known. The Shadow Oracles, however, were more prudent, and retreated a few yards.
"The Doctor will be handed over to my custody to stand trial for willfully ignoring a lawful order given to him by the Shadow Architect, or this planet will suffer the consequences."
"I address the Shadow Proclamation in the name of the Bad Wolf." Melissa's voice boomed over the wail of distant sirens, and had such a ring of command that even the Doctor and Jack made no move to stop her.
Knowing that her words would be instantly transmitted to every world that was a signee to the Shadow Proclamation, she smiled pleasantly before beginning in a voice of authority that brooked no argument.
"The Doctor is a citizen of Sol 3, a level five planet, and therefore cannot be held under the Shadow Accords. Moreover, the Doctor is a Time Lord. His race was never a signatory to your treaties and cannot be expected to be bound by your laws.
When the Shadow Architect made a move to protest, Melissa stopped her with a single glare. "You are foolish! Twenty-seven worlds were stolen by the Daleks. Twenty-seven worlds you could not find. The Doctor defeated the Daleks and returned those same twenty-seven planets to their proper orbits without your help or interference."
Her face turned stony as she continued to berate the Shadow Architect. "I am the Emissary of the Bad Wolf, and I have a message for you, Architect. Do not attempt to harass the Doctor again. He has saved many worlds of the Shadow Proclamation and beyond, and will save countless others in time to come. The Bad Wolf also commands that you not attempt to punish this planet. It is defended. For you are tiny, Architect, and WE ARE NOT ALONE!"
Raising her hands above her, she allowed the Bad Wolf to channel the energy necessary to breach the Void. Suddenly, the plaza was buffeted by strong winds and a metallic groaning. Slowly, three black, cylindrical TARDISes winked into existence in a neat triangle around the fountain.
It was as if time exploded, and no one knew where to look first. Waves of young, black-clad Time Lords marched rapidly and precisely out of the three ships to form a giant protective cordon around the Doctor and those who stood with him. They filled the entire Plass, numbering in the thousands.
The Doctor stared dumbfounded along with everyone else until a group of sixteen elder Time Lords finally appeared at the door of the TARDIS nearest the confrontation. Purposefully, they walked towards him. Immediately recognizing the broad shouldered, tall blond man who was leading the delegation, he sank to his knees in shock.
The Judoon were just waking up, but noticing they were surrounded and vastly outnumbered, they seemed little inclined towards violence. As the Shadow Architect and her aides made a hasty retreat, they followed, their ships taking off noisily near the bay.
Melissa dropped her hands, scarcely understanding what she had done as the power of the Bad Wolf left her. She fell heavily to the ground, unconscious. Jack, who had seen her collapse, was at her side in an instant, cradling her body and inexplicably shouting for Owen. The rest of the group barely noticed; they could only look on in amazement as every single Time Lord on the Plass knelt before the Doctor.
Slowly standing, the leader of the Time Lord delegation approached and reassuringly laid his hands on the Doctor's shoulders. Bending down, he spoke dryly in his ear. "Better stand up, Bro, or else the young ones will get their knees dusty and Flavia will have my hide. She hates cleaning those uniforms."
Struggling to comprehend with a distracting buzzing in his ears and his vision tunneling, the Doctor let the man clasp his left arm and pull him upright. He seemed to sway a little, and the man warned, "Don't you dare faint, Thete. You need to take control of the situation, quickly. The last thing we need is Borusa asserting his authority here."
Hearing his hated nickname had the desired effect, and the Doctor stiffened his legs, taking a deep breath to banish his lightheadedness. Striding confidently to the contingent of senior Time Lords, he enthusiastically pumped Flavia's hand. She was tall and willowy, her long brown hair tangling as it flew in the strong breeze.
"Flavia! I can't begin to tell you how wonderful it is to see you, all of you, actually." His eyes scanned the group, recognizing all of them instantly, including Borusa.
"High Lord President, it is indeed an honor to finally be reunited in our rightful universe." As his face betrayed his distaste for the title, Flavia's eyes beseeched him, flicking briefly in Borusa's direction.
Accepting the inevitability of the title for the moment, the Doctor raised his hand in a gesture for the rest of them to stand. As one, thousands of Time Lords stood silently on the Plass, anxiously awaiting the words of a legend.
They would have to wait. Hearing Jack's shouts, the Doctor raced towards Melissa's still form. "Hurry up, Brax!" he cried over his shoulder when his brother failed to follow.
By then, Jack was frantic. His memories had returned with a vengeance, and he was temporarily caught in the past, shouting for Owen, not understanding why his medic did not appear. When the Doctor reached both of them, he lightly placed his right hand Jack's shoulder. His friend stared at him in confused disbelief.
"You're dead!" Then, trusting his eyes more than his mind, he pleaded with his friend. "You've got to help her, Doc! The last time she did this, she injured her temporal lobe and lost her sense of time. Owen knows what to look for. Help her, please!"
Although Melissa's condition was the focus of his concern, the Doctor took the time to study Jack for a moment. "Your need to rest, Captain."
"How do you expect me to rest when she's like this? I have to know she's going to be all right!" Peering behind his friend, he again shouted. "Owen! Got damn it, Owen Harper, where are you?"
"Captain." The Doctor's voice demanded obedience, and his former companion immediately turned to him. "Do you trust me, Jack?"
Confused, he nevertheless nodded. Placing his hands on the immortal's face, the Doctor quickly eased him into sleep, laying him gently on the ground. Ianto, who had grown increasingly troubled as Jack called out for the dead medic, nervously approached the Doctor while the rest of Torchwood stared in stunned silence.
"Sir."
"He's going to be alright, Mr. Jones. He's had a shock, and he needs time for his mind to process it. Organize some of the Time Lords and get a stretcher to take him back to the Hub. He should be fine when he wakes up."
Before Ianto could leave, the Doctor added, "I need you to find a space for everyone to congregate. Millennium Center, the stadium, a school, I don't care. And they'll probably need food. Call the Brigadier and have some UNIT troops sent here, just in case there are any more surprises today." Ianto left quickly to do the Doctor's bidding.
Jack taken care of, the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver to scan Melissa, but Braxitel was already putting his hands on her face to mentally search for injuries. After a few seconds, he pulled away, giving a terse account. "Shock, exhaustion, psychic feedback where something extremely powerful overwhelmed her defenses and a partially healed skull fracture. What the hell have you two been up to?"
Seeing the annoyed and frankly possessive look on his brother's face, Brax quickly reassured him, "I just did a surface reading, strictly medical. I'm a doctor now too, Bro, well, at least a human one."
Ignoring the thousands of questions waiting to be answered, the Doctor grinned at his brother. "Tell me at least one of those TARDIS's has a fully stocked, functioning trauma center."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Shouting assurances to the senior Time Lord delegation as he lagged behind Brax, the Doctor carried Melissa to the nearest TARDIS. While he impatiently waited for the door to open, he quickly studied his brother. Braxitel was tall and fit in a broad, Viking sort of way. His hair was blond and spiky; his eyes were deep blue, and he had a dimple on his chin. He also had a few lines around his eyes, but they were the kind you earned from spending most of your time in the sun.
"So, Brax," he finally began, although he was sure his brother would notice the underlying emotion in his voice. "I can't tell you how happily gobsmacked I am to see you alive, but do you mind telling me how you managed that? Or how you managed to save the children? Last I knew they were in the bunker on Arcadia, and when the planet fell-" He couldn't finish; memories of what the Daleks did to Arcadia were still too painful to recall with words.
His brother looked at him in confusion. "Emma saved the children. Surely, she told you?"
"She doesn't remember anything that happened at Arcadia. Nor does she know how she survived the War."
"Whoa." Brax prepared Melissa for the medical diagnostic before replying. "I assumed you would know our situation. There's a lot to tell you in a short amount of time."
"Yes, like how Lord Borusa happens to be walking around. Last I saw him he was a stone effigy on Rassilon's tomb."
"You'll have to ask your bond mate. All I know is that the plan was somehow fucked up royally, and when she came back from her audience with Rassilon, Borusa was tagging along, acting like the insufferable prick he's always been."
There were so many unknowns in his explanation that the Doctor didn't even try to understand it. Instead, he snorted in amusement over his brother's choice of words. "Spend a few years on a parallel Earth and decide to go native, did you?"
Brax gave him a sunny smile. "You would not believe some of the expressions I picked up! I spent a year or two riding the California waves in my misspent youth to keep my persona authentic. The babes working at Doctors Without Borders thought I was hot."
"No doubt." He smiled back, still unable to believe his good fortune. He was sitting in a TARDIS that wasn't his own, talking to his brother of all people, while thousands of young Time Lords congregated in Cardiff. His head was so stuffed full of the mental buzz of his species that he felt somewhat giddy.
Just then, Flavia rushed into the medical bay, briskly checking Melissa's condition for herself. Satisfied, she turned to give the Doctor a warm smile, only to be wrapped up in an enthusiastic hug.
"Flavia! I can't tell you how wonderful it is to see you!"
"Doctor, it's good to see you, too, although I think it would be better if you put me down." She laughed, untwisting her broomstick skirt as her feet found the floor. "You know, you almost act like you thought we were dead!"
Brax answered sympathetically before his brother could respond. "He did think we were dead. Something's happened to Emma; she doesn't remember Arcadia or anything afterwards."
Glancing at the unconscious woman, Flavia sighed. "It is not surprising that she has some memory loss, I suppose. Regenerating so many times in such a short span can't have been easy. I really don't know how she managed to stay focused enough to pilot the lead TARDIS in the middle of the apocalypse. Although, if she hadn't, we'd all be dead. But, surely, Doctor, once you knew she was alive, certainly you realized that something of the Greater Plan succeeded? Surely you hoped we were alive?"
Bewildered, the Doctor asked, "What Greater Plan?"
"Romana didn't-?"
Gazing into the Doctor's eyes, Flavia continued more somberly. "No, I can see she didn't. Perhaps the High Lord President did not wish to give you false hope. I am so sorry." Quietly, she asked, "How long have you been alone, thinking yourself the last?"
They were both looking at him in expectation, and the Doctor found that talking about what had happened to him since the Time War wasn't something he was prepared to do. However, it was equally apparent that they all needed to share information quickly. Looking at Brax first for permission, he raised his left hand to his brother's face and then brought his right to Flavia's.
As fast as the speed of thought, the Doctor saw all that he needed to know. Through Flavia's eyes, he saw the High Council futilely debating the need for a plan to save Gallifrey from the Moment of Unmaking. Then, incredibly, he witnessed Rassilon himself appearing in the Council chamber one month before the Daleks' last assault, offering himself as a sacrifice to save the planet.
The Council eagerly accepted his plan and his conditions. Emma was made Castellan at Rassilon's insistence, though she never knew the reason for her promotion. They put her in charge of the Greater Plan, as they were calling it, explaining that if the Moment was unleashed, one chance remained to save Gallifrey. Five TARDISes would be placed around Rassilon's tomb. They would draw the power of the Vortex and channel it through the great lord himself. The energy released from the Death Zone, due to its unique nature in the time stream, would protect Gallifrey from the Moment, where it would emerge unscathed on the other side, into a universe where the Daleks were no more.
It was a good plan, the Doctor thought, positively brilliant, but Brax showed him how easily it all went wrong. The Daleks' final assault began as a feint against Arcadia. Somehow, they had known that the Time Lord children were being sheltered there in case disaster could not be averted. The Council was in chaos; it would matter little if the Greater Plan worked if they could not save the future of their people.
So, Emma, with Brax and Flavia in tow, had teleported to Rassilon's tomb and had taken three of the TARDISes to the underground bunkers of Arcadia. By then, the bunkers were deadlock sealed; though that would do them little good against the weapons the Daleks had used that day. They had to waste precious time and energy reversing the deadlock, and by then the planet had already started to break apart. Emma was injured as part of the bunker collapsed, but she managed to rally the remaining guards and chaperones to evacuate the students into the TARDISes.
Before the Academy students could finish boarding, she remembered her promise to the ruler of Arcadia. She began to ferry the children of that world to Verona while waiting for the rest of the young Time Lords to enter the other two TARDISes. But her willingness to assist their allies cost them precious time.
Her task completed, the three TARDISes were sent into the Vortex as the planet was ripping apart due to the Time Bombs. It affected their dematerialization, and the ships did not return to Rassilon's tomb until the Moment was minutes from being unleashed. By then, it was a moot point. When they materialized in the tomb, there were only four TARDISes ringed around Rassilon; one had been stolen, and without it, the plan would not work.
Desperate to find a way to at least save the children, Emma left her TARDIS to speak to the great founder of Time Lord society. No one knew what had transpired between them, but Lord Borusa, newly revived from his stint as a stone effigy, accompanied her back to her TARDIS.
When the Moment hit, she led the ships in a crazy attempt to outrun the shockwave. It had overcome them, of course. Nothing could outrun the Moment, but somehow Emma managed ride it, steering the four ships in tandem and dropping them out of the Vortex to land on a blue-green planet.
It was only after landing that anyone comprehended the destructive forces to which her TARDIS had been subjected. The time rotor had cracked from the heat of the flames, and Emma was close to death, her lungs filled with smoke and her back badly burnt, even though her body was but seconds old. Her injuries went well beyond their capacity to heal at that time. All the ships had suffered damage, and unfortunately, the medical centers of each were offline.
Discovering they were on Earth, Brax made a hasty decision and used the Chameleon Arch on her, hoping that the humans could alleviate her suffering, if not save her life. Unfortunately, the Arch he used had been damaged, and her mind retained too much knowledge of her true self, surfacing at dangerous moments. Not knowing how long she would have to remain in such a state, he forced a much younger regeneration on himself and used another Arch. He would not leave her alone in any guise; she was his bond sister and his responsibility.
The point of view was Flavia's once again as she related how Borusa had chosen that moment to assert his authority over them all. Without Emma to refute him, he became the de facto leader of the survivors, using Rassilon's name as his justification for everything he did. Begrudgingly, he saw to it that Emma was treated by the humans, and made the two Chameleon Arched Time Lords his wards, telling their human selves that he was their grandfather.
Consolidating his power over the years, he created an entire town to house the last remnants of the Time Lord Academy. Pressing the other adults into becoming teachers, he brutally saw to it that every child and adolescent finished their studies. Emboldened by the lack of resistance, he began to speak about the return of Gallifrey, telling the students that one day the time lock would be broken, and he would return to Rassilon's tomb to rectify the Castellan's mistake.
Fearful of Borusa's power, Flavia had pretended to support him while working ceaselessly to undermine his authority. For every edict he issued, she secretly told her students another story of their home and their history, making the Doctor the subject of many of her tales.
When Borusa justified his authority by stating that he had been president, Flavia quietly told the tale of his entombment with Rassilon. Then, she happened to mention that the Doctor had served as president just prior to the beginning of the Time War, leading Gallifrey to a new age of enlightenment and democracy. When Borusa mentioned defeating the Daleks, Flavia pointed out that the Doctor already had, nobly sacrificing all he held dear to keep those hate-filled beings from scouring the universe. When Borusa viciously pushed the students to their limits and beyond, Flavia comforted them with amusing stories from the Doctor's youth, stories that usually ended with the Doctor playing some prank on Borusa or another pompous instructor.
Not knowing that Flavia was planting the seeds of discord, Borusa's personal attacks on Brax and Emma continued relentlessly, and that was where he made his mistake. While the students and most of the adults accepted Borusa's explanation that Emma and Brax remain human until their bodies matured, they did not accept the mental persecution Borusa bestowed on the two ignorant heroes. The Castellan and Cardinal had personally saved their lives, and it was easy to feel sympathetic towards them as their leader made them feel stupid and clumsy and unworthy each day of their human existence.
A few years later, some of the students were able to liberate Brax and his watch. Flavia secretly sent him to California to study until the age of twenty-five, and then she used the watch to restore him. During his years away, he had thrived as a human, earning a medical degree several years early, and enjoying the thrill and camaraderie of the California surfing community.
He returned to their society hidden in the bayous of Louisiana to lay down the law to Borusa. It was agreed that Emma would remain human until her twenty-fifth birthday, whereupon they would present her with the watch. She was also allowed to attend university.
Perhaps that was Brax's one mistake. Isolated and shunned for much of her life, Emma finally found a place where she was accepted for her great intelligence and sought after for her lively wit and stunning beauty. Secretly, she became involved with another undergraduate, a communications major who was attending college on a military scholarship.
She and Mark eloped on her twenty-first birthday, and she became pregnant just a month later. Abandoning her studies, she happily settled into life as a homemaker. Her pregnancy had blindsided Brax and Flavia. Borusa used it as an excuse not to turn her back, arguing that she would want to raise her human children as a human. They had no choice but to acquiesce. However, Brax took her watch into his safekeeping, not trusting Borusa to give it to her once her children were grown.
Such was the situation for sixteen years, until the day one of the students, now a mature Time Lord in her own right, saw a vision of the Doctor's death by an ancient enemy, the Racnoss. As the stars in their universe began to slowly disappear, they planned their escape to the proper universe, hoping to aid the Doctor before his death became a reality.
Borusa, however, still wielded enough power that he refused to take Susan and Matthew with them, arguing that they belonged in their own universe. Desperate, Brax put the watch and a note for Matthew into the young man's backpack, sending them all through the Void in a powerful time storm. He hoped that it would send them back far enough for Emma to save his brother from the fate the seer had predicted. But the energy needed for such a precise storm had drained the remaining three TARDISes, causing them to become stuck in the dying Void.
As the Doctor received the startling information from the two Time Lords, he imparted it as well. He showed them his Ninth self, not caring if he lived or died, finding Rose and then Jack, and travelling with them until they were taken to the Gamestation in the expectation that the Doctor could defeat the Daleks yet again. He showed them the Bad Wolf and the Daleks turning to dust and Rose burning with the power of Time and Space and Jack's resurrection as a Fact.
Then, after he regenerated, they saw the Daleks yet again, and Rose being lost to another universe. He let them see Martha, and Jack and the Master, and all the Toclafane and the Paradox Machine and the Year That Never Was. He let them smell the smoke of the fire as he burned the Master's body, alone once again. After, there was Donna and her friendship, Jenny and her death, the Library and a girl named River Song, a planet called Midnight, and his supposed death, centered entirely on Donna and one single choice.
He pointed out how amazing Donna had been, stopping an alternate reality by sacrificing her own life. Finally, in a rush, he let them experience the Earth's disappearance and his confrontation with the Shadow Proclamation, the shock of seeing Davros and the Supreme Dalek, and the greater shock of seeing what Dalek Caan had accomplished. Then he showed them the Daleks' spectacular defeat, the creation of the DoctorDonna and his half-human self.
And throughout it all, he showed them Melissa, found injured on a mountain hours after her children had been rescued, building a new human life for herself because Susan and Matthew did not trust him well enough to give him the watch. She was intertwined with it all, never a significant part until his supposed death, but a friend and confidant and anchor to him nonetheless.
Finished, they withdrew into their own minds, staring at each other speculatively. The Doctor broke the silence first.
"I understand your motivation, Flavia, but I can't believe you turned me into some sort of hero. You've placed me in a position where I have to lead these children, and I don't know where you want me to lead them to. Have you thought of that, Flavia? Gallifrey is gone, and it will take years to grow enough TARDISes for everyone. What do you expect me to do in the meantime?
Brax winced. He had seen enough to know that his brother had been affected by Gallifrey's destruction much more than they had. His brother had been utterly alone, thinking himself the last, bearing the guilt of being the executioner of his own species, no matter that it was for the greater good. He could certainly understand why the Doctor would shun any position of authority.
"Look, Bro, you don't have to lead them anywhere. Right now, we just need you to talk to them, say hello. They don't fault you for what happened. Everyone knows that the final strategy was put to a vote by the entire population. They accept the decision of the majority and saw enough on Arcadia to understand why it was used." More gently, he added, "No one, least of all Flavia and I, blame you in any way. You did what you had to do."
"Did I?" he asked softly, searching for acceptance in his brother's eyes. "I killed Julix and Lexi, and Amathow and Romana and hundreds of thousands more. And yet, here you are. Did any of them really have to die?"
"I don't know," Brax admitted so quietly that he was almost whispering. "All I know is that there was a war, and we lost, but we are not defeated. And that's thanks to you and Emma."
Swallowing the lump in his throat the Doctor managed to nod. Brax kept his hand on his shoulder until he was able to speak. Finally, the Doctor briskly gave them instructions.
"Emma and I will address our people together. I'm sure they'll want to hear from her as well. In the meantime, find a human named Ianto Jones. He'll be wearing a suit. Help him get everyone settled and fed. They've waited over forty years; they can wait a little while longer."
Before the two could leave, he added dangerously, "And have a little chat with Lord Borusa. If he insists on spouting nonsense about reentering the Time War, let him know that Torchwood would be happy to let him have the use of one of their cells."
