oOo

"So you see, it's all a bloody great mess," Ace was saying, somewhat breathlessly, when Kyris caught up to them in the corridors leading back to the auxiliary control room. The doors remained marked and the corridors had mercifully stopped rearranging themselves, making the trip the fastest he had ever managed.

"So it would appear." It was wonderful to hear his father's voice again, doubly wonderful to see a none-the-worse-for-wear Noni walking with the others. "Kyris!" the Doctor caught sight of his son and smiled a relieved smile.

"I knew we'd find you!" Noni called out exultantly. She detached herself from Ace, with whom she had been walking arm-in-arm, and raced over to give Kyris a hug that threatened to squeeze the breath out of him. He hugged her back, his eyes never leaving those of his father.

To Kyris' unasked question, the Doctor smiled. "She's safe, she's fine, just like I told Ace." He hesitated. "You know where I took her..."

"To your first self," Kyris replied with a nod. "I know. I guess you felt you had to, but as you can see, we're both alive and well and I'm sure you know we'd like to take her back." Ace nodded a vigorous confirmation, echoed Noni.

"We can't be too hasty about such a decision," his father cautioned. As expected. "You have to tell me everything that happened first. In detail," he added, glancing at Ace with a wry smile. "Five minutes of run on sentences highlighting the events since you were kidnapped do not count as a full explanation." He frowned. "You might start with the fact that Tegan is alive and pregnant?" That had been the most confusing part of Ace's breathless account of their time on the Master's TARDIS.

Kyris glanced at Noni. Who glared right back at him, knowing immediately what he was thinking. "Oh no you don't! I'm not leaving without hearing about what happened! I can handle it, no matter how bad it gets."

"It gets very bad."

The bleak tones belonged to Tegan, who chose that moment to put in an appearance. She'd changed into an A-line dress that fell past her knees, not her usual style. That, coupled with its deep navy color, betrayed its probable origins in the Master's wardrobe room. In spite of its generous lines, it did very little to hide her obvious condition. "Hallo, Doctor. I wasn't going to come see you, but I changed my mind." Her chin jutted out. "I wasn't going to let what happened..." Her voice caught, then steadied. "I wasn't going to let what the Master did to me," she corrected herself, very deliberately, "keep me from seeing you." She managed a wry twist of the lips that passed for an attempt at a smile. "If I start running now, I'll never stop." Her voice held a slight tremor by the end of her carefully prepared speech, but her expression remained steady.

The Doctor's eyes were sympathetic. "Ace said you were pregnant, but she didn't tell me, uh, any other details. This is Noni, by the way. My friends Leela and Andred's daughter."

"Pleased to meet you," Tegan responded automatically. "I just wish it was under more pleasant circumstances." They'd been walking as they talked, and found themselves close to Ace and Kyris' room. "In here," she said abruptly, pushing the door open and stepping inside. "If you don't mind," she added belatedly as Ace followed her in.

"No problem," Ace reassured her as she plopped onto the bed. Kyris joined her there, while Noni chose the chair nearest the door. Tegan and the Doctor remained standing, and she spoke as if only to him. His face darkened as she told her story, while Noni responded with an initial gasp of shock followed by silence enforced by the hand she immediately clapped over her mouth. She'd said she could handle hearing what happened to the others, and now she had to prove it, even though all she felt like doing was finding the toilet and throwing up.

When Tegan fell silent, pale and trembling but head held high, the Doctor only made two comments: "I'm quite certain if we analyzed your food from your period of captivity, we'd find any number of fertility agents sprinkled in them. And I'd very much like to take a look at that room a little later, if you don't mind." Tegan nodded.

Kyris took up the narrative thread, periodically interrupted by Ace; relief had brought out an unexpected tendency to babble in her, at least in this case. When he described the field imprisoning Tegan and what the Master had done to her, Noni could no longer stand it; with a faint retching sound, she dashed for the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her.

She came back out, feet dragging, as Kyris was describing the energy field the Master had attacked him and Ace with. Ace patted the bed next to her, reaching out for Noni and offering a reassuring hug. She was quite pale, but offered a wan smile and turned her attention fully to Kyris and his continued explanation.

After sparing a glance to make sure his young traveling companion was going to be all right, the Doctor returned his attention to his son, his glance sharpening. "Describe it for me again," he ordered. "Don't leave anything out."

They went over it, slowly, with Tegan offering her perspective as well, but there wasn't much to go on. "There must be something in the TARDIS databanks," the Doctor finally said. "I'd better have a look. It wasn't directly connected to the Master's, er, 'specialized' program, so there should be some record of what he did." He raised an admonishing finger as Ace opened her mouth to object. "I will bring you to Susan only after I find out what the Master did to you. I doubt very much his only goal was to cause you immediate and short-lived pain. I find the residual weakness very telling, especially as it was also relatively short-lived."

"He was just trying to keep us from helping Tegan," Ace protested. Stridently.

"She was inside a TARDIS-generated force field," the Doctor reminded her. "They're invulnerable to almost everything, certainly anything you or Kyris could have done. No, he merely timed it for when you when you moved toward her. It was all part of the games was playing before he made his own move."

Ace looked mutinous, but Kyris took her hand in his, and she subsided. "I just want to see my daughter," she muttered.

"I know, so do I," Kyris agreed. "But my father's right; if the Master's done something to us, something I'm not detecting, then we need to know." His gaze turned inward.

Ace jumped to her feet, suddenly restless. She'd been patient, she'd give the Doctor the whole story, just like he asked, and now it was time. Time to do something, anything. As she launched into another argument with him about retrieving Susan, she failed to notice the troubled expression that passed over Kyris' face.

He stopped Ace's arguing with a raised hand and a simple "No." She subsided, unwillingly.

"Come on, Noni. I'll get you some tea," she said, with a final glare at the Doctor. Which he ignored. She took the younger girl's hand in hers and led her out of the room. Noni followed, docile enough, while Tegan made up her own mind.

"I'll take you there, now, so you can see it before you get too involved in figuring out what the Master did to Ace and your son." She had to go, now, while she was determined, otherwise she might never be able to face that prison. And it felt important to do so.

The Doctor glanced doubtfully at Kyris, who appeared to be mentally struggling with something. "Kyris? Do you mind?"

"No, go ahead," came the distracted response. "I'll meet you in the Console Room later."

The Doctor shrugged, then swept his arm toward the door. "After you."

Tegan moved, quickly, before she could change her mind.