oOo
Ace paced. There wasn't much else to do, really. Inconvenient, letting the Master get that close to her, and how stupid was it to forget that temporal grace wasn't just a means to protect Susan? The gun, useless hunk of metal, still lay on the floor of the Master's console room, unless he'd gone to pick it up after locking her and Kyris in their separate rooms.
Pace, pace, turn. Ace kicked the bed in frustration. But carefully, sure to hit only the mattress and without enough force to make herself stumble. She'd already had one bad scare today, and one was one too many. She cradled her mid-section lovingly, feeling Susan moving as if nothing had happened. Resilient, that's what she was, her and her mother both. Resilient.
Pace, pace turn. As she moved, she counted under her breath. When she reached 100 she stopped, listened at the door, then turned and began pacing again. She reached a second hundred, then a third. After that one she went into the loo and got a drink of water, then shut the door and gave in to the pressure on her bladder. "You'd best not have that gadget on me now, Professor, or you'll be in for an eyeful," she muttered to herself.
Her body's needs taken care of, she stepped back into the main room. Had enough time passed? She hesitated, then nodded firmly to herself. It had to have been enough. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she reached down and plucked her shoes from her feet, then turned them upside down over the spread and shook them carefully.
Ace smiled as the small lock-picking tools rattled loose. They'd been killing her toes, but she hadn't had time figure out a better hiding place. She reached up into her hair, working a pair of slim wires loose from her braids. Those never left her side, er, hair. Especially since the beginning of this particular escapade. "Come in right handy, you will," she muttered as she painstakingly re-braided her hair.
She regarded her kit thoughtfully. Lockpicking was a skill she'd acquired in a past so remote as to seem to belong to another person. It wasn't one she'd practiced professionally, so to speak; she'd never burglarized anyone. But as a teenager she knew a chap who knew a chap, one who was happy to teach her the skills needed to enter a place covertly.
Or, conversely, to leave one.
Ace got up to examine the door. She lowered herself to her knees to peer more closely at the locking mechanism, then grunted in satisfaction. Just like the ones on the Doctor's TARDIS. As expected. It would take her less than five minutes to get it open; the question was, when? She bit her lip in uncharacteristic hesitation. On the one hand, she had to get to Kyris so they could coordinate their plans, maybe even talk a little. On the other hand, the Master might show up at any time. It was a risk, but one she was willing to take. Wanted to take. Just as she wanted to see Kyris.
No, she amended silently, she needed to see him. Consequences be damned; if the Master caught her out of her room and confiscated her tools, then they'd be no better off than he already thought them. But if she could slip unnoticed into Kyris' room, and the two of them could come up with some sort of plan--one they both agreed to--that was worth the risk. If the Angels were looking down on her, then she'd even be able to slip back into her own room, with the Master none the wiser.
Decision reached, she set to work.
oOo
Kyris sprang to his feet at the sound of the door opening. He braced himself for whatever the Master had planned next, then gaped in surprise as Ace slipped into the room, closing the door gently behind her. "How did you get out? What if the Master catches you--"
"Yeah, great to see you too," Ace snapped as she walked up to him. Before Kyris could formulate a response, she was in his arms, head resting against his shoulder. "No, really, it's great to see you." She hugged him fiercely, and he held her, chin resting on top of her head as he savored the moment.
When she finally, reluctantly, pulled away, he took her hand and steered her to the edge of the bed. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see you, to know that you're all right." His voice turned shy. "You and the baby--"
"Patience," Ace interrupted firmly. Had to keep him thinking of her by that name; no sense giving the Master any more information. "I want to call her Patience." Never mind the name destiny had in mind, if you believed in such things. Wishing might not make it so, but Ace was game to try.
"Patience." Kyris felt a foolish grin slip over his face. He hadn't allowed himself to think about the baby, had focused completely on getting the information his father would need to get them out of this jam. "How are you? How do you feel?"
"I'm great, the baby's fine, and I really wish we could go into it right now, but I should get back to my room before the Master comes looking for me." Ace smiled to soften the necessary harshness of her words and put his hand on her stomach. So he could feel baby kick. "I just wanted to see if you had a plan yet."
Rapidly, with his eyes full of wonder as he felt the tiny taps beneath his palm, Kyris told her how he'd (hopefully) relayed their destination coordinates to his father. Ace listened intently. When he finished, she nodded, then pulled his hand gently away, kissed it, and rose to her feet. Disappointment flashed in Kyris' eyes, then he was all business. "Wherever we're going, my father will be there to meet us."
"So all we have to do is either get outside or get him back inside," Ace finished. "Right. You know when we materialize, right? You can feel it? I can on the Doctor's TARDIS, but he says she's a noisy thing compared to this machine."
"It's more of a shiver, less of a shake," Kyris agreed. "Subtle, but you should still be able to sense it, especially if you're expecting it."
"So when it materializes, I'll come get you and we'll surprise the Master and get out of his TARDIS. If the Doctor got your message, then he'll be waiting." Ace glanced up at the ceiling, as if she could somehow see the data reader peering down at them. "And if he's watching now, then he knows that we'll do everything we can to help him. I won't muck it up this time," she added darkly.
"You probably kept the Doctor from trading himself for me," Kyris said quietly. "You gave him time to come up with a better plan."
"And nearly got myself killed. And the baby." She backed toward the door, but stopped before she reached it. "Kyris, this is all right with you, isn't it? I mean, I know it's not what you expected, what we planned--"
"But it's what happened." With three quick strides he was back in front of her. "Ace, I'm happy. Scared, but happy. I'm glad it turned out to be you." He took her in his arms, tilting her face up for a deep, satisfying kiss.
"I have to go," she breathed against his lips, and he nodded, eyes open as he pulled back, released his hold on her. It was a battle to keep his arms against his sides, to keep his face expressionless as she cautiously opened the door and stuck her head outside for quick look. Then she was gone, locking the door behind her.