The Mara tried to take her over, tried to use her once again as a conduit into the waking world, this time rather more directly," the Doctor said. "We'd drifted apart for various reasons, including Adric's death and other shake-ups to the TARDIS crew."

"And her being taken over by the Mara brought you back together?" Ace decided to allow him to skip over the details in this case. As long as he kept talking, she was willing to make the occasional allowance.

"Indirectly," the Doctor agreed. "Funny how the Mara was instrumental in facilitating our personal relationship; I doubt she'd feel any gratitude toward it for that even when we weren't disagreeing with each other," he mused.

"So the Mara took her over, and then?" Ace prompted.

"She started having nightmares again..."

oooOooo

Tegan was screaming. The Doctor shot bolt upright in bed, eyes automatically turning toward the pillow next to his, but she wasn't there. Nor had she been, he remembered as he pulled himself to his feet, reaching automatically for his dressing gown. She hadn't come to him since their arrival on and subsequent departure from Manussa, the Mara's home world. The place where it had tried to use Tegan yet again as a vessel through which it could return to existence.

He could still hear her screaming, but now that he was fully awake he realized the screams were ringing through his mind rather than his ears. Nightmares, he thought with a shiver of sympathy as he strode for the door.

He blamed himself for underestimating the depth of the trauma that second assault on Tegan's essence, her self, had caused. They'd been heading for Earth and a place for her to rest when they'd ended up hip deep in a crisis that had taken his full attention for far too long. She'd come through it with her usual aplomb in spite of believing for a longish period of time that he was dying, but was completely shut off to him personally once they were back on board the TARDIS. And of course, adding a new member to the crew always threw off the interpersonal dynamics...especially since Tegan had made it quite clear that she neither trusted nor approved of Vislor Turlough, no matter how Nyssa tried to convince her to give the boy a chance.

Her anger at the Doctor, and his own hurt at her lack of faith in his judgement had conspired to keep them apart just when she needed him most. As he hurried along the corridor, the scream still echoing through his mind, he cursed himself for seven kinds of a fool.

"Doctor? Are you all right?"

Of course. Turlough. The lad did have an inconvenient knack for being precisely where the Doctor least expected--or wanted--him. Perhaps Tegan had a point...He banished the unkind thought from his mind. "Ah, Turlough. What are you doing up and about?"

The young redhead shrugged his narrow shoulders, hunching in that half-defensive manner he used when he thought he'd been caught doing something he ought'nt. "Couldn't sleep. You either? You were talking to yourself," he added. "Muttering, really. Bad dreams or something?"

"Or something," the Doctor agreed absently, his mind already half-gone from the conversation. "Go to the kitchen and fix yourself something warm to drink, that should do the trick." He started walking again; Turlough had to back up hastily to avoid being trod upon.

"What about you, Doctor?" he called after the Time Lord. Who ignored him, barely registering the boy's question over the continued screaming in his mind.

When he arrived at the room Tegan shared with Nyssa, he hesitated, unsure if he should knock or just go in. Nyssa knew that sometimes Tegan slept elsewhere, but he wasn't entirely sure if she knew where exactly her friend was during those nights. He and Tegan had never talked about their private relationship, and he assumed she wanted to be as discreet about it as he did. But the longer he hesitated, the louder the screams became, until he could no longer bear it. He pushed open the door, drawing a sigh of relief as he realized Nyssa wasn't there. She must be working late in her lab, he concluded, then moved over to Tegan's bed and crouched next to it.

She was sleeping, just as he'd suspected, but a restless sleep. The screams in his mind were echoed by soft whimpers and moans as she tossed her head back and forth on the pillow and thrashed her legs and arms about. "Tegan," the Doctor murmured gently, grasping one flailing hand in his and holding it close to his hearts. "Tegan, can you hear me? You're having a nightmare."

With a gasp she came fully awake, half-rising from her bed and staring at him in confusion. "Doctor? What's wrong?"

"You were having a nightmare," he repeated patiently. "It woke me up."

She gaped at him. "Woke you up? Was I screaming or something? If it was loud enough to wake you up," she added with some of her usual pepper, "then it bloody well must have blasted Nyssa out of the room." She looked over at her friend's bed and registered surprise at her absence. "In the lab, is she? Then why hasn't she come running as well?"

"Because I doubt she heard you," the Doctor replied. She hadn't taken her hand back; a good sign. "You were only screaming in your mind."

Her stare was full of wonder and the tiniest thread of fear. "You heard me in your mind?" she whispered. "How?"

He shook his head. "I'm not entirely sure," he admitted with a smile. "But you're awake now; with any luck, you'll sleep easier the rest of the night." He started to rise, then stopped as her hand tightened on his.

"Don't go, not yet." Tegan glanced around the room, then pulled her hand away long enough to get to her feet and pull on her dressing-gown and a pair of slippers. "I'll come with you." Then, suddenly shy, she added: "If you don't mind."

He smiled. "Of course not. I've still got a kettle in my rooms. Some tea will do us both good."

Tegan's answering smile was tentative, but her grasp on his hand was strong. "Right. Tea it is, then." She allowed him to lead her out of the room, glancing automatically down the corridor and blushing as she realized what she was doing. "I feel like a teenager again, sneaking around behind my mum's back," she murmured.

The Doctor merely smiled, although he privately agreed with her assessment. As Tegan started down the main corridor, he tugged her toward a side hall. "Turlough's in the kitchen, having a sleepless night of his own," he explained. "Let's let him drink his cocoa in peace, shall we?"

At the mention of Turlough's name, Tegan had stiffened, but she relaxed again as she followed the Doctor down "the scenic route" to his rooms. Once there she'd curled up in what he had unconsciously started thinking of as "her" armchair while he fixed the tea.

They drank in companionable silence; when Tegan finished hers, she sighed contentedly and turned her gaze on the Doctor, regarding him out of thoughtful eyes. She stared at him so long he began to wonder if she wasn't falling asleep with her eyes open, but then she spoke. "I've missed you."

"I haven't gone anywhere," he pointed out lightly, then gave it up. She knew that he knew exactly what she was talking about. "I've missed you too," he admitted, holding out his arms questioningly.

She pulled herself out of her chair without hesitation, climbing into his embrace with a gentle kiss. He held her close, breathing in the scent of her and wishing he hadn't been so stubborn.

As if reading his thoughts, Tegan spoke: "I'm too damn stubborn, that's my problem. I was scared that I'd lost you, then I was mad at you about Turlough and I let it come between us because being mad is so much easier than being frightened. And then the Mara…" Her voice trailed off as he felt a shudder cross her frame. He tightened his hold as she whispered: "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry as well, for letting it go on this long," the Doctor replied softly. He kissed the top of her head; she looked up at him, and he kissed her on the lips as well, lingering over that one until she squirmed slightly in his embrace and grinned at his sudden discomfiture.

"I've missed this as well," she whispered, her grin turning wicked as she wiggled, quite deliberately, in a manner calculated to remind him that she was a woman and he was a man.