Of course they would conspire. His TARDIS had always had a soft spot for Romana: possibly because he did, or maybe just because she had bothered to read the manuals, he'd never been sure. Either way, her TARDIS was enough of her that his wasn't going to let it go until he'd been inside.
He didn't mention it to the girls. He just frowned, like the behavior of the second TARDIS was as much a puzzle to him as it was to them, and offered to have a look at it. There would be no avoiding it now, he knew. He could have given in with better grace, but if Ace threw him a worried look or three then he pretended not to notice.
Rose, at least, was visibly excited about seeing another TARDIS. That was something, he thought, though stepping through the mirror filled him with nothing but nostalgia. Romana's fondness for reflective surfaces had begun in E-space, and she was now the only positive association he had with the things.
The inside was just as he remembered it. She'd changed it a few times since she had appropriated it, centuries back, but she'd always left the hat rack by the door and the dog bed in the corner. Rose would appreciate the color scheme, he thought absently as she followed him through the mirror. Her fourth had liked pink as much as her second.
Ace didn't, though. He shook himself out of his funk long enough to give her a meaningful glance. "Don't have to leave it the way it was, y'know. She gave it to you."
"I know." Ace looked uncomfortable. "I just... it's not mine, I don't think. Not really."
"Really," he said firmly. "It is. It needs you, Ace."
"Yeah?" She was staring at him, and he thought she might understand. Always had been a smart one, Ace. "Well... do what I can, anyway."
"Good." He nodded once. What she could do was plenty. "Now let's see if--"
He didn't take more than a single step toward the controls before Romana appeared in a flash of light on the other side. No warning, no fanfare but for the light, and he heard Rose exclaim in surprise. No comment from Ace, though--and there wouldn't be, if she'd already gotten a message like this.
"Hello, Doctor." Romana's image was smiling at him, and he couldn't look anywhere else. "If you're seeing this, then I'm afraid it's all gone very badly. I've packed K-9 into the TARDIS and sent him off to find you or Ace, and this message may be the last time you ever see me."
She was ginger. For some reason, that surprised Rose. Bright red curls framed the face of a tall woman caught in what she supposed was some sort of hologram. The woman didn't move from where she was, anyway, and she seemed to be talking only to the doctor, like the rest of them weren't even there. Maybe it had been programmed for him, triggered by his presence or something?
"I don't have time to say some of the things I wanted to say," the woman continued, and she sounded surprisingly normal for someone who was apparently anticipating her own death. "So I'll just have to say everything."
Rose snuck a glance at the doctor. She realized belatedly that there was no need for secrecy, since the only thing he was paying any attention to was the hologram. So she watched him openly, but saw nothing past that expressionless stare.
"I love you," the woman was saying.
Now Rose turned to stare at her too. Really?
The woman seemed to reconsider her words. "Well, except for your sixth, 'cause you were hellishly obnoxious. But my third was a bit of a prat too, so I suppose we deserved each other."
Rose couldn't tell if that was meant to be accusatory or forgiving. The doctor seemed to find it funny, though, and his expression finally relaxed into something like a smile. "Prat, indeed," he muttered.
"I'll always love you," the hologram added. Obviously just a recording, then, not interactive or anything. "Remember that."
The doctor had gone quiet again, but she thought maybe the look on his face was answer enough. Who was this person who could say "I love you" to a man like the doctor and not have him turn it into a joke? Who could tell him he was obnoxious and get nothing but a smirk in response? Really... not even a wounded sort of sniff?
The president of Gallifrey, Ace had said. But he'd been in trouble with Gallifreyan law more often than he'd been tolerated by it, if the stories he and Ace told were true. How did someone like that get to be the president's boyfriend? And how come the president hadn't come up in any of those stories, anyway?
"I know what you're trying to do," the woman was saying, oblivious to Rose's questions but somehow looking right at where the doctor was standing. "And I know why."
Rose didn't, but she'd have liked to. This had to have something to do with the way his planet had been destroyed, right? Too bad the hologram didn't seem to respond to anything... she would've liked to ask it a few questions.
"You know why I have to try to stop you," Ms. Hologram told the doctor. Then she added, "That doesn't change anything. It never has, for as long as we've known, and it doesn't now."
Yeah, that was a question. They were Time Lords, they knew everything there was to know about time: the past, the present, the future... so had they known what was going to happen to their planet? They must have, right? Why couldn't they stop it, change it somehow?
"I know you never wanted to be alone," the woman said quietly, and Rose looked away when the doctor shot a sideways glance at her.
"Don't let yourself be the last." The hologram sounded sterner now. "Finish Ace's training, if she'll let you. Then find someone else, and train them too."
The red-haired woman broke into a smile suddenly. "You're not a bad teacher, you know. No matter what everyone else says."
"Oh, ha ha," the doctor muttered, folding his arms. The humor sounded half-hearted at best. He was trying, though. That must be a good sign.
"If you're seeing this," the woman continued more seriously, "then I know what happened. You took our past in your hands. It seems only fair that we trust you with our future."
A little afraid to look anywhere else, Rose found herself staring at the hologram as the woman lifted her left hand above her head. The right one joined it, and then she deliberately placed them on top of her head, one after the other. She looked almost relaxed, as though she were just having a bit of a stretch.
"Goodbye, Doctor," the curly-haired woman said with a smile.
The hologram vanished in a flash of light.
For a long moment, no one moved. Rose didn't know what to say, and Ace didn't seem to be any better off. So they were waiting for the doctor to say something. Except that he was off somewhere in his own little world... or maybe not little at all. Maybe it was just, literally, his own world.
Then, suddenly, he looked away from the TARDIS console and pinned Ace with a piercing look. "K-9?" he asked sharply.
"Sorry," she said, shaking her head. "If he's about, I've not been able to find him."
The doctor looked away. "You won't," he predicted. "He stayed with her."
"But she was going to send him off," Ace protested. "She said--"
"He figured out what she was planning," the doctor interrupted. "He would have done. Made sure she couldn't pull it off. He wouldn't have left her."
He paused, then added under his breath. "Stubborn robot. Deserved each other, they did."
When he stopped talking, the room was silent again but for the background hum of Ace's TARDIS. It was the only one that seemed sure of what it was doing. After a moment, though, Ace must have decided it had the right idea, because she walked over and leaned up against the console directly in front of the doctor.
"So," she said deliberately. It seemed Ace was not a woman who liked being ignored. "The president and the professor, eh? You made a handsome couple."
Rose held her breath, but the doctor just gave her a sort of absent smile. "S'pose so," he remarked noncommittally.
That wasn't quite what she'd expected, and Ace seemed taken aback too. "How long d'you know her?" the other woman pressed. This got a more typical response.
"None of your business," the doctor told her. His tone was pleasant, but he clearly didn't see any need for her continued questions.
Ace just as clearly did, and she gave Rose a pointed look. Right, like she wanted to get involved. Rose grimaced at her, but Ace just tipped her head toward the doctor with unmistakable impatience. That was nice, just drag her into it like she was--
Wait, what was she thinking? This was the doctor, and she was his companion.
Of course she wanted to get involved.
"So how long d'you know her, then?" Rose asked innocently.
The doctor spared her a brief glance. "Three hundred seventy-seven years."
"So that's just courting, yeah?" Ace pressed. "Barely even got to know her?"
The doctor shot another look in Rose's direction, this time rolling his eyes. "She's got a mouth on her, this one."
"Learned from the best," Ace said with a smirk.
The doctor snorted. "Butter me up all you like," he declared. Ace finally got a look from him, and it was as amused as ever. "Still not telling you who Fred is."
An odd expression took over her round face, and Ace tilted her head toward the place where the hologram had appeared. "It's her, isn't it. She's Fred."
The doctor's stare lasted only a second before he turned it on the central column of Ace's TARDIS. "Oh, thanks a lot, you," he told it indignantly. "Anything else you want to spread around while you're at it?"
"Wait, who's Fred?" Rose wanted to know. "The hologram woman? I thought you knew her," she added, frowning at Ace.
"I do," Ace said. "At least, I did. But... the TARDIS said--"
"Her name's Romanadvoratrelundar," the doctor interrupted. "First time we met, I told her it was either Romana or Fred, and she picked Fred." He shrugged, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "So I called her Romana."
"Yeah, I can see why you got on," Ace said dryly.
"Yup." The doctor beamed. "Nothing better for a relationship than a little aggravation early on. And some in the middle. All the way along, actually. Makes you appreciate things."
Rose stared at him, and he happened to glance at her before she could look away. "What?" he wanted to know. "What's that look for?"
She blinked, shaking her head a little. "I'm just... surprised to hear you all--" She stopped and frowned at him. "Hang on. Isn't that sort of, I don't know, domestic?"
"What?" he repeated.
"You..." She waved helplessly. "Being all googly-eyed over a girl. It's sort of... it just seems a bit off, is what I'm saying."
"Does it ever," Ace muttered.
"Googly-eyed?" the doctor repeated indignantly. "That a technical term, then? Do I look googly-eyed to you?" He peered at her, leaning forward and widening his eyes until he did indeed look a bit googly. "Well? Do I?"
She couldn't help laughing at him, pushing against his shoulder ineffectually as she tried to make him back off. Or rather, pretended to try, since even at his oddest it wasn't like she wanted to get rid of him or anything. "You look like a loony," she protested, giggling when he crossed his eyes at her.
"Really? Don't feel like a loony." He gave her a concerned look and straightened up. "Maybe it's you."
"Oh, that's just typical, isn't it," she teased. "It's not you, it's me."
"Sound like you're dating," Ace put in. "Classic rejection psychology."
"Rejecting me, are you?" the doctor demanded. He gave Rose a smirk. "See how long it takes you to figure out the TARDIS by yourself."
About to retort that he was more likely to reject her, she was brought up short by that possibility. "Could I?" she asked speculatively.
"No." He looked offended that she would even ask, and that made her laugh.
"Well, you're the one who brought it up," she pointed out. "You're always sending me 'round the console to push this or hold that and I figured, might help if I actually knew what you were on about."
"Trust me," Ace interrupted. "It really doesn't."
"Oh, like you were such a big help," the doctor scoffed. "You with your roomful of explosives and your, 'What's all that shaking?' and 'Couldn't you work on our landings?' and 'I think it would have been better to fly away from the black hole...'"
"You wouldn't need so much help if you had a proper slave circuit," Ace informed him. "The Type 40s were meant to be operated by six people, and no matter how fast you leap about you haven't got twelve arms."
"I've got a slave circuit," the doctor protested. "I have!"
Ace gave him a skeptical look, and he shrugged.
"Well, it's never worked quite right," he admitted. "But I've got one."
"Six people?" Rose repeated. "Is it really meant to have six people working it?"
"Yeah," Ace answered, but she didn't get any further before the doctor disagreed.
"No," he said firmly. "Picked her up from the shop just the way she is, I did. Not meant to be any other way."
Ace snorted. "Nicked her from the repair shop, he means."
"Shut up, you." The doctor wasn't looking at Ace, though--he was looking at her TARDIS.
Ace just smirked. "Come on, Professor, everyone on Gallifrey knew that. They all said you'd got the oldest TARDIS still in operation, and anyone sensible would have given it up years back."
"Couldn't exactly put in an order for a new one, could I? Think you'll find they don't take kindly to freelancers complaining about the quality of stolen merchandise." The doctor still wasn't looking at her, although now his gaze was drifting idly around the console room.
Before Rose could ask about the "stolen" bit he added, "Besides, she's a good old girl. She's got me this far, and we've a long way to go yet."
His gaze settled on something, and he declared, "Aha!"
She and Ace exchanged glances as he strode across the room. "Stolen?" Rose mouthed, and Ace grinned.
Tipping her head back to indicate Rose should join her by the console, Ace kept one eye on the doctor as she murmured, "Exiled, he was. Long time ago. Didn't take. Grabbed that TARDIS he's got now and made off with it. Caught a couple of times, escaped or bargained his way out of it."
"Exiled?" Rose echoed, careful to keep her voice quiet. Not that she didn't think the doctor could hear them, but if they whispered he might pretend not to notice. "What for?"
"Dunno," Ace admitted. "Never said. No one on Gallifrey would tell me, either. Don't think most of 'em know, honestly."
"Life lesson, that," the doctor called from the other side of the room. "Nothing endears you to a planet like a good mystery. Good to keep in mind when certain people on said planet would like to see you..." He waved one hand dramatically. "Disappear."
Turning away from the panel he'd been fiddling with, he held something up in triumph. "Got it. She always did carry a backup, see. Must have left it for you."
Ace squinted at it, but Rose recognized it right away. "She had a sonic screwdriver?"
Ace gave her an odd look. "A what?"
Rose blinked, surprised by the question. "Sonic screwdriver? Looks like a little torch, does... everything under the sun?"
"Hums?" the doctor added. When they both looked at him, he added helpfully, "That's the sonic part."
"How can you not know what a sonic screwdriver is?" Rose wanted to know. "He's never without it."
"Well." The doctor cleared his throat. "There was the time it got destroyed by a giant lizard. Started a bit of a fire, I'm afraid. Didn't have time to build a new one for a while... Just before San Francisco, actually."
He gave Ace an oddly apologetic look, but she seemed to understand. "After my time, then," she said.
Rose frowned, not quite getting it. "What happened in San Francisco?"
"Got shot," the doctor said briefly. "Anyway, think this is yours." He tossed the device to Ace, who caught it with both hands.
"What do I do with it, then?" she wanted to know.
"Whatever you want," he replied. "Drive screws. Open locked things. That's the latest model, so it'll probably make you breakfast if you ask it nicely."
"Probably?" Rose repeated. "You mean that's not your design?"
"Actually--" He fished his own out of his pocket and held it up to the light. Squinting at it like he'd never seen it before, he offered, "This one's hers. Funny idea she had, that it could respond to thought control. Much more versatile than the old one."
"Your old one," Rose guessed. "She made you a new one?"
The doctor snorted. "Not a chance. Made her own when she saw how useful mine was. Took me years to swipe it without her noticing. Had to do it all over again when she upgraded," he added. "Most inconvenient."
"God, you're a regular thief!" Rose exclaimed. "Is there anything you won't nick?"
"Your makeup's safe, if that's what you're worried about," he told her.
"Oh, thanks," she retorted. "That's so reassuring."
"Thought it might be." He beamed at her.
She put a hand on her hip. "Are you going to fix this TARDIS, or what? 'Cause I hear a lot of talk but I'm not seeing a lot of fixing."
"All done," he announced. "Think you'll find you're free to go now," he told Ace. Then he caught Rose's eye again and asked, "Satisfied?"
"You didn't do anything," she protested.
He tapped his temple. "Magic powers," he said smugly. "Off we go, then." He spun away and made for the door, calling over his shoulder, "Take care of yourself, Ace. Don't get in any trouble. Meet us back here tomorrow. Bye now!"
"Hang on," Ace called after him. "Tomorrow?"
"Well, you heard her." He paused by the door. "Finish your training. Interested?"
Ace didn't hesitate. "I'll be here."
"Good." The doctor looked pleased. "Rose?"
"I'll be here too?" she teased, making no move to join him by the door. "Nice to meet you, Ace."
"Yeah." The other woman gave her an assessing look that relaxed into a smile. "You too. Take care of him, will you?"
"Still here, me," the doctor objected. "Gonna see you tomorrow."
"Yeah," Ace said wryly. "The difference is, for me it actually will be tomorrow. For you it'll probably be like a hundred years from now."
It could be, Rose realized. And if it was, then she was wrong. She wouldn't be here too. It was a troubling thought, and she sort of wished she could un-think it.
All the doctor did was repeat, "I'll see you tomorrow." Pointedly, she thought.
Before she could follow him to the door, though, Ace touched her arm and she looked back in surprise. As soon as she saw her face, though, Rose knew what she wanted. "I will," she promised.
Ace nodded, and the doctor didn't say anything. As they stood outside and watched Ace's TARDIS disappear, though, she felt fingers brush against hers. She turned her hand over without looking down, and cool fingers clasped hers tightly. She squeezed back, leaning against him briefly as they stared at the blank wall where the mirror had been.
This time it didn't come back, and she wondered what he had really done. Had he fixed something while he was looking for the sonic screwdriver? Or maybe there hadn't been anything wrong with it to begin with. Maybe Ace had just wanted him to see that message.
Maybe the TARDIS had wanted him to see the message.
She didn't ask, and they made their way back to the familiar blue phone box in silence. He put on a cheerful expression as soon as they stepped inside, and the first thing he asked her was where she wanted to go next. It gave her a sort of sinking feeling when she understood that Ace had been right.
"Tomorrow" for Ace would not be "tomorrow" for him. And it might be "never" for Rose.
She'd met a lot of people she knew she would never see again. In fact, at this point, the number of people she'd never see again probably outnumbered the people she could actually look up on the internet and track down if she wanted to. She was fine with that. But she'd looked forward to knowing Ace a little better.
Still, she picked a place with oceans and beaches and island drinks, and then promptly regretted it when they got embroiled in a feud between the Spear Heads and the Banana People. Only with the doctor, she thought, falling into bed that night. Or the next day. Probably the day after the next day, actually. She was going to make the doctor get her a watch that worked someday.
She'd thought she would sleep right through, dead to the world until she'd got over the most recent bout of chaos and was up for the next. Instead, she found herself blinking blearily at an open door only a few seconds after she'd closed her eyes. There was someone in it.
"Well, don't just stand there," she muttered, and by the way her voice sounded she guessed she'd been asleep for a bit more than a few seconds. "C'mere. And shut the door, would you?"
At least he took his jacket off before he squeezed into bed with her. She wondered distantly if he'd ever slept in Ace's room. She rather thought not. She hadn't known him then, but even she could see that the war had changed him.
She didn't sleep straight through after that, either, but he didn't keep her awake all night. His voice only interrupted her dreams once, and she woke up enough to mumble, "Shh, s'okay," before he quieted. When he called her "Romana," she figured he was talking in his sleep and she patted around for his hand in the darkness. She found his arm, decided that was close enough, and she curled her fingers around the sleeve of his jumper as she drifted back to sleep.
He lay awake for a long time after that, staring at the ceiling and willing the warmth from Rose's hand to seep into his hearts. She'd heard him say Romana's name, he was sure. And she didn't even ask... just whispered to him and petted him and went back to sleep. Like nothing in the universe could bother her here, in the safety of her room.
Once the TARDIS had been that safe place for him. Once it had represented everything that made him different from the rest of them. Now it was just a symbol of everything they had been. His curiosity had made him a rebel, and his defiance had made him an anachronism... perpetually out of time.
It wasn't so bad when he didn't think about them, really. And he should be so good at it; he'd had so much practice. He ought to be able to just pull out one of the old stories and slip into it like a comfortable coat.
He was on the run. He was in exile, fleeing scandal, heading into hiding. Anything that meant the emptiness in his mind was a good thing. He never wanted to see his home planet again, after all. He was desperately afraid of being trapped there for good. He couldn't stand the place, the people, the time. He was better off alone.
Rose didn't believe him when he said it. He'd almost stopped trying to convince her, except that sometimes he thought she might leave and if he had to argue the subject with her then he didn't want her to think he had an ulterior motive. He did what he did because he wanted her to be happy. Not because he needed her to be.
Romana had never believed him either.
One of the cat pins she'd given him dug into the fingers of his free hand, rescued from the pocket of his jacket and clenched in his fist since he lay down. It was just a stupid cat, nothing to get excited over. But he carried it with him everywhere and he couldn't let it go now. It was the last gift he would ever receive from a fellow Time Lord.
He was so alone. Funny that he'd never realized how much Gallifrey defined his existence until it was gone. It had meant so much to him that he was running from something, not just... running. Aimlessly, without direction, running because to stop meant he would have to think again.
It wasn't so bad when he didn't think about them, really.