AUTHOR'S NOTE: Chicklet is a friend of this author and very big fan on the Tenth Doctor.

WHEN IN ROME. THAT'S ITALY, NOT NEW YORK

The Fifth Doctor, Margaret and Babs were drinking their after dinner drinks on a patio in Rome. A string quartet played softly in a far corner.

The "Mission: Impossible" theme suddenly burst forth and Margaret jumped. "Sorry, that's my cell phone," she said apologetically. After a brief conversation, she rose from the table. "Sorry. That was my muse. Apparently, she wants to concentrate on the crossover I have half done."

"That's the one you've got me playing a minor role in, isn't it?" the Doctor said petulantly.

"Only part way through. We've only just started the big ending," Margaret replied.

The Doctor snorted, folding his arms. "I'm supposed to be the hero."

"Don't worry, you'll get to save the universe--again. You always do."

The Doctor turned away. "Not good enough."

Margaret threw a helpless look over to Babs, who shrugged. "He gets like this with me, too."

"Fine," Margaret replied. "I'll just have to concentrate on the other fandom's characters."

"Fine," the Doctor replied.

"But don't come crying to me that you didn't get a big enough part after it's published."

The Doctor looked up sharply. "Published?"

"I'm going to submit it for publication in a fanzine. Didn't I tell you?"

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "No, you didn't."

Margaret grinned. "Ah. Well, you weren't in the other two I submitted. Must've slipped my mind," she said tauntingly as she headed for the door.

The Time Lord practically jumped to his feet. "Now just a moment, I want to know more about this."

"I thought you weren't interested..."

The Doctor gave Babs a helpless look. "Doesn't she realize an audience unfamilar with the series has be to handled differently than the established fanbase?"

Babs broke into a broad smile. "You'd better make sure she gets it right, then."

The Doctor nodded, dashing to the door.

Babs sat back, awaiting further randomness. Unfortunately, it came in the form of a black hole appearing overhead, out of which Adric was spewed.

"Oh, damn," Babs moaned. "There's goes a lovely evening."

A large bull suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "No problem, Ma'am. I'll take care of this rabble."

Adric let out a terrified scream. "It followed me!"

"No, no," Babs replied, waving a hand in the air. "That not one of the bulls from Barcelona. That's a Nimon."

The Nimon slung Adric over his shoulder and strode off.

Babs drew a deep breath and leaned back in her seat.

"Excuse me, may we join you?"

Babs turned to see the Tenth Doctor and Chicklet.

"We were supposed to meet Margaret," the Doctor explained.

"Oh, she got called away by her muse," Babs replied. She held out a hand. "Please, join me. They're supposed to be hooking up an IMAX screen in a few minutes."

The Doctor's eyebrows went up. "Really?" He pulled out a chair for Chicklet before taking a seat himself. A waiter brought a fresh pot of coffee just as the nine story high movie screen came to life.

"Does this have surround sound?" Chicklet asked.

"Do you want it to?" Babs replied.

"Um, I'm not sure. I'm still trying to figure out how they got into that position."

The Doctor cocked his head to one side. "I never realized Nyssa was so…limber."

"How long d'you think it'll take before they overload Turlough's server?" Babs asked conversationally.

"The feed is routed through the TARDIS. It can't be overloaded."

"That's not very random," Chicklet observed.

The Doctor gave a wry smile. "Just wait and see what happens when the randomizer cuts in."

"Why?"

The giant screen flashed. Suddenly Tegan vanished to be replaced by Romana I. Jack let out an alarmed cry just before he vanished to be replaced by Ian Chesterton.

"What the hell," was all Turlough got out before he disappeared and was replaced by Jamie McCrimmon.

"Hello, lassie," Jamie grinned.

Nyssa opened her mouth to scream but vanished before she could make a sound. She was replaced by Leela.

As chaos erupted on the screen, Babs turned to the Doctor. "So…where did the others go?"

The Doctor replied, "You do not want to know."