oOo

The Doctor made his way back to Nyssa and Tyrel's quarters a few hours later. He raised his hand to knock when he heard Nyssa's voice from behind him. "Hullo, Doctor."

"Hullo!" He turned to face her. "I thought you were still inside." He'd been gone several hours, longer than he'd realized, and had spent the last fifteen minutes finding his way back to the nondescript door that led to Nyssa and Tyrel's quarters. Not that he was lost, exactly; he would vigorously defend his right to not immediately be able to return to a place he'd only seen once, should anyone challenge him on it.

"I wanted to take your data chip down for analysis," she explained. "It seemed the sort of thing I shouldn't put off till the last moment. And Tegan needed a bit of a lie down."

"Of course." He stepped back to give her room as she reached for the handle of the door. Her fingers tightened on it, then loosened as she turned to look at him. He looked back, cocking his head inquisitively. "What is it?"

"She's taking it better than I would have thought." Nyssa spoke in hushed tones, although she knew how difficult it was to hear things on the other side of the door. Unless Tegan had her ear pressed up against it or unless Nyssa started shouting, her conversation with the Doctor was and would remain private. "It's almost beyond belief, that the Master would do something like that."

"I've never underestimated his capacity for evil," the Doctor began, but Nyssa shook her head.

"Neither have I." Matter-of-fact words from a woman whose entire family, whose entire world, had been destroyed by the Master's evil. "I just would never have believed he'd dirty his hands in so..."

She groped for the word, and the Doctor supplied it. "So personal a way?"

Nyssa nodded. "Exactly. It seems more in character for him to have opted for a technological solution to creating a viable fetus and force-aging it to suit his needs. Such technology exists, after all; he might even have come here and made me do it, if he'd wanted to."

"He did it this way to cause maximum pain to the maximum number of people," the Doctor replied softly, but his eyes were hard. Diamond hard, tritanium hard. "And in that, he succeeded." He fell silent, and Nyssa hesitantly reached for the door handle. "Well. Time to face the music, eh?"

He waited until she opened the door, then followed her inside.

Tegan was sitting on the sofa. "Thanks for the use of the bed," she said to Nyssa, but her attention was on the Doctor. "Did you tell him?"

She shook her head. "We just got back," she hedged as she sat down next to her friend. "Shall we tell him now?"

Tegan nodded, then looked up at the Doctor, waiting expectantly across from the low table that separated them. "I'm staying here."

The Doctor stared at her, surprised. "Don't you want to go home?"

She shook her head, and Nyssa slipped a supportive arm around her friend's shoulder. "We've talked it over, Doctor. Everyone on Earth thinks Tegan is dead. Her friends and family have already mourned her, and it would be very difficult to explain not only why she's alive but also the circumstances of her pregnancy. I'm sure I don't have to point out to you how much easier it will be for Tegan if she's living on a medical station when she has her baby, especially since the father wasn't from Earth." She smiled. "Besides, for selfish reasons, I would like very much to be a part of my brother's life."

Of course. Nyssa had reacted to Tegan's news exactly as the Doctor had hoped. "If you're sure?" he asked Tegan, fighting a sudden surge of disappointment that she wouldn't be returning to his TARDIS with him, that he wouldn't be escorting her home after he settled the business with his son and Ace.

She nodded. "One hundred percent."

He turned his attention back to Nyssa. "And Tyrel doesn't mind?"

"Tyrel thinks it's a smashing idea." Tyrel himself stepped out of the kitchen, holding a loaded dinner plate in each hand. He placed them on the table, and everyone sniffed appreciatively at the delicious aroma. "Tyrel has been trying to get his wife to at least act as if she has a life outside her office and her duties to the station."

"I did take the time to marry you," she pointed out with a smile. She gave Tegan an encouraging squeeze before walking over to hold the door for her husband as he ducked back into the kitchen, only to reemerge with two other plates. "Besides," Nyssa continued, returning her attention to the Doctor, "it's not as if Tegan will be sharing our living quarters."

"And now Nyssa will have someone to fuss over besides the patients. And me," Tyrel added cheerfully. He poured glasses of wine, including a small one for Tegan. "Gather round, everyone; dinner is served." He helped Tegan to her seat while the Doctor joined them. "Only one glass for you tonight."

"Thank you." Tegan decided she liked Nyssa's husband, and not just because of the dimples. He'd been given only the barest sketch of the circumstances surrounding her pregnancy, but had whole-heartedly embraced the thought of her joining them on Terminus.

The Doctor remained standing beside his chair, obviously not entirely convinced. "Are you absolutely certain?" he pressed.

She nodded. "It's what I want, Doctor." She sipped her wine and deliberately changed the subject. "Now. What exactly are we eating? I don't think I recognize any of this, but it smells fantastic!"

The conversation remained casual until the meal was finished. Tyrel insisted on doing the clean-up, leaving the other three the privacy of the main room.

Tegan and Nyssa were sitting next to each other when Tegan chose to take up the thread of their earlier conversation. "I need to be with someone who can remind me why I shouldn't hate my own child." Her voice was subdued, a bit anxious. "Someone who'll love him unconditionally." Her voice dropped to a near whisper. "In case I can't."

She was being painfully honest, and the Doctor appreciated how much that honesty was costing her. "It would be so much easier to just lie to myself," she continued, as if reading his thoughts. "To lie to everyone and say I'm going to be fine, but the truth is I don't know if I'll be fine or not. I was still raped, this is still the Master's child, and he's still out there, somewhere. I want to be with people I know, people who can help keep us safe, who understand the danger."

"I doubt very much the Master would still want contact, since he's already been placed into a new body somewhere," the Doctor replied gently. "I don't think you have to worry about him coming after you, or trying to take the baby away..."

Tegan's smile was sad. "I'm not worried about him taking the baby," she said, dropping her gaze. Nyssa put a comforting arm around her shoulders. She looked up suddenly, straightened her posture. "I'm worried that if he did show up, I'd let him. It's going to take a long time for me to truly accept this baby."

"And I'll be there to help remind her why she has every reason to love him," Nyssa added, her own voice a little uneven, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "So you see, Doctor, this really is for the best."

He studied them, these two women who had traveled with his first his fourth and then his fifth selves. He remembered his almost paternal feelings toward Nyssa, his pride at her intellect, her ability to cope when everything and everyone she'd ever known was destroyed. He also remembered his somewhat more disturbing feelings toward Tegan, unexpressed desires and a continued awareness that she had gotten under his skin the way no other woman had since Romana had left him. Even six months pregnant, even haunted by the evil done to her in the name of the Master's unending desire to extend his life beyond its natural boundaries, she was beautiful. And on that note, I had best take my leave, he told himself wryly. There's reminiscing and there's reminiscing, and regrettably I have no time for either sort.

Ace and Kyris were still waiting for him to discover what the Master had done to them, and Noni was no doubt just as eager for him to return so she could see Susan again. She stubbornly held to that desire, especially now that his granddaughter's parents had been found.

"Very well, then," he found himself saying, clearing his throat uncomfortably. "If you're both sure..." Identical nods greeted his words. "I'd better go. I still have a few loose ends to tie up."

"You can't leave, not yet!" Nyssa exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "I have some information for you about what the Master did to Kyris and Ace." It wasn't good news, either; he could tell by the way her face clouded over. She disappeared into another room for a moment; when she returned, she was holding two nearly identical data chips. "This is your data, and this," she held up the second chip, "shows the results of what we discovered."

No, definitely not good news. He took the chips from her, slipping them into his jacket pocket. "Thank you."

"I wish it could be better news," she replied simply. She and Tegan both stood up, and Nyssa hugged the Doctor good-bye. "It was good to see you again, Doctor, even if it's a you I've not met before," she whispered before planting a soft kiss on his cheek. "I hope things work out for your son and Ace."

"So do I," he murmured in response, but his attention was already on Tegan, even before Nyssa stepped away from him, from them. Allowing them their own moment of privacy as she murmured something about seeing the Doctor in the kitchen when he was ready to leave. They watched her pass through the door, then returned their attention to each other.

"So. I guess…this is it. Good-bye." She'd never been good at good-bye. Ever. No matter what the reason, no matter who was leaving. She hadn't said a proper good-bye to Ace or Kyris or Noni, but it was too late for that now.

"I suppose it is." He wasn't going to do it, he wasn't going to try and change her mind, and she felt the tiniest bit of disappointment. Just like last time, he was taking her at her word, letting her go, respecting her terms. Just like last time, all she wanted was for him to talk her out of it. There was always a part of her that didn't want to let him go.

The Doctor's smile was sad as he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. "Good-bye, Tegan. If you don't mind, I'd like to come back after the baby is born and see how things are going." To see if you've changed your mind and want to go home, he really meant.

"Of course. Please tell everyone how grateful I am for everything they did for me. Even Ace," she added with a forced grin. "Let her know I'm not mad at her for making me tell her what the Master did to me, will you? I hate to leave her thinking I'm holding a grudge."

The Doctor nodded. "Of course."

She started to speak, to spill out the rest of her regrets and apologies, then stopped. They knew how she felt about them. Even Noni, even Ace. Anyone who survived the Master the way they had was connected by a bond even stronger than the bond forged by traveling with the Doctor. "Safe journey," was all she did say, then surprised them both by hugging him.

He returned the hug tightly, letting go when her own grip finally slackened. She kissed his cheek, and he turned and walked into the kitchen without a backwards glance. It was safest that way.