Gallifrey

Of course there was a welcoming party. The surprise was that it consisted of only two people, one male, one female, both in Chancellory Guard uniforms. The Doctor stopped short at the sight of them, while Ace and Kyris braced for trouble. The woman, a slender brunette, stepped forward, and the Doctor took two steps to meet her.

"Doctor?" Her voice was questioning.

He nodded. "Yes, it's me."

"Doctor!"

Ace and Kyris exchanged puzzled glances as the woman flung her arms around the Doctor, an embrace which he enthusiastically returned. "Leela! How wonderful to see you! And Andred, you're looking well."

The man had stepped forward, almost shyly, as if unsure of his welcome, but the Doctor reached out to clasp his hand, then pull him into the embrace he still shared with the woman. Leela. Another old companion, one that Ace had always had a sneaking admiration for. Never heard that one scream. Ever.

Now that she was closer, Ace spotted the sheathed dagger strapped to the woman's thigh, the non-regulation leather boots rising to mid-calf, the tip of another dagger in some kind of shoulder harness peeking from beneath her hair.

While Ace and Kyris held back out of deference to the Doctor's reunion with his old comrades-in-arms, the three of them were babbling like any group who haven't seen each other in a while. Years, Ace guessed; maybe not since the Doctor's fourth self, the one who'd fought off the Sontarans with this very couple, among others.

"Leela, Andred, I'd like to introduce you to my current traveling companions." The Doctor gestured Ace and Kyris forward.

Kyris shook hands with them both. Andred shook Ace's hand as well, but Leela frowned and squinted at the younger woman before taking her hand in her firm, no-nonsense grip. "You are pregnant."

Ace, startled by the unexpected pronouncement, stepped back, staring at Leela in astonishment as she jerked her hand away. "What? I mean, how did you--how could you--?" She looked at the Doctor.

He shook his head and smiled. "I didn't tell her." The smile turned impish. "Cross my hearts."

"But I'm not showing that much!" Ace protested, ignoring the Doctor's sudden playfulness to glance down at herself to make sure that statement was still true. It was.

"Is it a secret? Have I caused trouble?" Leela asked, a worry line creasing her forehead.

Ace shook her head. "No, not a secret. You just surprised me, is all." How the bloody hell had she known, if the Doctor hadn't told her?

"Is this why you have returned, Doctor? Because of the baby?" was Leela's next question.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, it is." The Doctor turned serious again. He looked around uncertainly. "When I announced my arrival, I expected a rather larger welcoming committee."

"You have many friends on Gallifrey, Doctor," Andred put in. "Some of them have a great deal of influence. You won't be bothered while you're here, for however long you stay."

"Yes, well, that could change once I explain the situation to the Council," the Doctor muttered. He pushed his hat more firmly on his head and clutched his brolly to his chest. "Is there somewhere we can talk in private before I present myself before that august body? This is Ace and Kyris, by the way, the proud soon-to-be parents."

Leela frowned. "You are welcome in our home, Doctor, but if you do not wish to go before the Council, then why are you planning to do so?" She started walking, the Doctor by her side.

It was the Doctor's turn to frown as he fell into step beside her, Andred, Ace and Kyris immediately following. "I can hardly just show up and not expect them to want to interrogate me; they always have in the past."

Leela shook her head. "It has been a long time since you were last here, Doctor. Much has changed."

"Intriguing though I find that statement, I shall wait until we are someplace more private to question you about it," the Doctor murmured, but he shot the lithe brunette a speculative glance as she quickened her pace in acknowledgment of the implied urgency of his words.