oOo

Inside the TARDIS, the two Doctors continued their interrupted conversation.

"Now will you tell me what you expect me to do?" The question was quietly asked, but there was a feeling of implacability about it. He wasn't doing another thing on his future self's say-so, not until he got some answers. The only reason he'd been willing to enter the TARDIS for this conversation was that it was, indeed "his" TARDIS; his future self had shown his own TARDIS sitting quietly behind a small grove of trees at the back of Lavinia's tidy garden.

"I expect you to remain on Earth for the next ten years and raise your daughter whilst I ensure that the timeline the Guardians are so concerned with remains intact." He spoke reluctantly, but he spoke.

"Ten years?" The Doctor's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "And then what?"

"And then you'll understand why things had to happen the way they are happening," his future self said softly. Sadly. "There's a great deal of tragedy in your future. I know, because for me it's in my past. Which is why I'm fighting so hard to give you those ten years. So I can remember them when I find the present…unbearable."

"That sounds ominous. But then, I can hardly expect thing to come up rosy when confronted with a future self, which presupposes my own demise," the Doctor replied, tension underlining every word, even in the face of his relaxed stance. Appearances, appearances, always appearances… "Nor when I've discovered a rather unsettling connection to the Master, the White and Black Guardians, and the entire bloody universe, for that matter." Ah, there was the visible expression of tension, the balled fists, the stiff posture, the mouth set in a hard, angry line.

The dark-haired man nodded. "Unfortunate, but unavoidable. And now it's time to fix things to everyone's satisfaction."

"That's a tall order," his blonder self retorted. "Especially since we seem to be talking about mutually exclusive points of view."

"Not entirely," his later self countered, sounding smug. "I've found a way to work around that."

"Which is?" the fifth Doctor prompted impatiently.

"We're taking this TARDIS and going back to the point in time when you told Peri you couldn't bring her with you," the Doctor's future self said. "Only this time, you'll agree to let her join you." He appeared to be waiting to see the effects of his words on his younger self.

"I don't think the quiet family life in South Croydon is what she'd consider an adventure." This was exactly what he'd expected to hear, and he let his other self know it by offering a slight smile.

His future self frowned, both at the flippant response and the knowing smile. "Don't be ridiculous; she's not going to come stay with you here. You're simply going to speak the words you were supposed to say. You're going to welcome her aboard the TARDIS."

"And then what? Don't tell me that's all I need to do to set time aright." The Doctor's tone was deliberately provocative, but his future self refused to be provoked.

"Actually, it is," he said simply. "Then, when you're ready to resume this vagabond life of ours, she'll be there, in exactly the same moment as when you left her."

His fifth self shifted uneasily. "You mean to freeze her, trap her in a moment of time?"

"Do you have a better idea? As you said, South Croydon is a pleasant holiday for us but hardly the adventure of a lifetime for her," his older self pointed out. "She'll remain on your TARDIS, invisible, and won't even notice the passage of time. It's the perfect solution. Unless you want to leave Tegan and the baby," he added, somewhat spitefully.

The fifth Doctor stiffened. "Of course not. You should know that."

"I do," his later self affirmed. "When I said this was the best solution, I wasn't just making it up as a I went along; I know that it's the best solution. You'll have to trust me on this." He held eye contact, carefully refraining from any urge to make it telepathic as well. He'd managed to avoid any such contact the first time he and his fifth self had met and hoped to continue doing so. It was vital that his younger version remain unaware of the full scope of his meddling, past and yet to come.

The fifth Doctor was quiet for a long time, standing with his hands in his pockets and his chin tucked down, gazing at nothing. "Very well," he finally said, looking up at his counterpart. "I'm willing to go along with you on one condition."

His future self didn't so much as blink; apparently he'd been expecting this. "I'll explain everything to you once we've done it. I'll leave nothing out. You have my word."

"I have to say good-bye."

"Of course." He pulled the lever and let himself out.

Ace was standing there, apparently waiting for just this moment; she darted past him without a second glance and came to a stop by the Time Rotor. The fifth Doctor shook his head and continued into the house.

"Don't worry, Ace, I wasn't planning on leaving without you." The Doctor grinned, but Ace recognized the signs of strain.

"That's just because you need me to do something," she replied cheerfully. He gave her a sharp look, then a slow smile spread over his features, unforced this time. "I knew it!" Ace smacked her right fist into her open palm. "What is it, then?"

"You'll see when the time comes." Ace rolled her eyes at his evasive response, but it was what she'd expected to hear so she didn't push.

Back in the house, the Doctor was saying his good-byes. "At least this time we know it might be a while before you return," Sarah Jane murmured as she hugged him. He returned the hug, kissed Lavinia on the cheek, solemnly shook Harry's hand, then turned to Tegan.

"I'll bring Lanie down," Harry volunteered. Sarah Jane murmured something about helping him, then she and Lavinia, who offered no excuse, left the kitchen together.

"We seem to be spending an awful lot of time saying good-bye lately." Tegan's words tried to be flippant, but only ended up sounding forlorn.

"My future self assures me that if we do this, then we won't have to say good-bye again for a long time," the Doctor replied, taking her in his arms. He wasn't about to tell her about the ten-year limit they still had to face. He kissed her gently, lovingly. "If what he tells me is true, it's a simple matter of altering a single moment of time in my own past. That one thing will put the universe into the right shape, so to speak, as far as the Guardians are concerned."

"What if something goes wrong?" Tegan couldn't help asking. "What if the Master shows up? You said he's the other Champion, and he certainly takes a great deal of joy in ruining things for you."

The Doctor shook his head. "He won't, because he didn't. I told you, I'm returning to a single moment in time; he didn't alter it in the first place, I did, so he won't be there when I put it back the way the universe apparently thinks it should be."

"Right, if you say so." She looked and sounded unconvinced.

"Tegan, there are risks in everything we do," he pointed out. "Especially under these circumstances."

She sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I know, I know. I've always known; you don't fall in love with a Time Lord and expect things to go smoothly."

"I suppose the same applies to falling in love with an Earth woman." The words came out easily, without conscious thought, but caused the same reaction in both speaker and listener; they froze, staring into each other's eyes with identical expressions of surprise. "Did I just say that?" the Doctor finally asked.

"You did," Tegan confirmed breathlessly. "My only question is, did you mean it?"

The Doctor tilted his head to one side, thinking about it. Thinking hard. "Yes," he finally said. "I meant it. I would never say something just because I thought you wanted to hear it. And I wasn't planning to say it, it just came out." He smiled, then laughed aloud. "Yes, I meant it. I love you. You make me feel younger than I have in centuries, you and Lanie." He pulled her close for another kiss, holding her tightly, feeling her joy as she held him just as tightly. "Now you say it," he whispered.

Tegan poked him on the shoulder. "You already know," she chided him. "I told you ages ago. I love you, I've loved you for a long time, you great idiot, and I'll keep loving you, no matter what." She sobered abruptly. "Even if you don't make it back to us," she said in a low voice, her eyes clouding.

"Oh, I'll make it back, you can count on that," the Doctor vowed. "I want to be around to see Lanie grow up."

"And teach her how to run the TARDIS and take her on trips to the moon and back," Tegan added, sounding resigned. But not upset, which the Doctor took as a good sign. "I know I can't keep her earth-bound forever, and I don't want to. I might even let you take me with you," she added. "Once all this is straightened out." She frowned. "The only thing I worry about is Susan."

"Susan?" The Doctor looked puzzled for a moment, but then his face cleared. "Oh, you mean how Susan ends up with my first self?" That hadn't occurred to him, and he kept his voice deliberately light as he answered her. "I suppose we'll just have to wait and see. After all it's difficult to worry about my granddaughter when her mother is still just a baby!" Not to mention the fact that his memories of that time weren't exactly easy to access.

"I guess," Tegan replied. She brightened. "At least now we know how she got her name!"

"We do?"

Tegan looked embarrassed. "I never finished telling you, did I?" She shook her head ruefully. "Sorry, I guess it just slipped my mind. Everyone else knows, of course, so I just sort of forgot." She grinned impishly. "Lanie's still a bit young for me to chastise her by calling her by all her names! She's Elaina Vanessa Susan, after my gran and my aunt and my mum…" Her voice trailed off as she realized the Doctor was staring at her, that his grasp on her waist had tightened almost painfully. "What is it, what's wrong?"

The Doctor found himself caught in the grip of a memory, from so long ago it almost seemed to belong to another person. Which, technically, it did. His first self to be exact.

"I like Susan, it's a good name, even if it's not my first name. I'd rather you called me that, please."

They were in the TARDIS, that much was clear. Standing in the Console Room, facing each other. Was there someone else there? He couldn't tell, he only had eyes for the young lady who'd just been introduced to him as his granddaughter.

He deliberately shook off the memory. "Nothing," he lied. "Just thinking about what I have to do when I leave. Which I should do now," he added. "It's taking them rather a long time to bring Lanie down, don't you think?"

"On purpose, I'm sure," Tegan replied, but she was still staring at him with concern in her eyes. "Are you sure you're all right?"

He nodded. "I'm fine." He kissed her again. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Since we'll be in control of the TARDIS," he added, "there shouldn't be any temporal issues like there were when the Guardians hijacked her."

"All right," Tegan said. "Let's go find Lanie so you can say good-bye." She didn't say anything else, although he could see she wanted to press the issue.

He was glad she didn't. He had a few things to discuss with his future self, especially regarding the disquieting possibility that had just occurred to him. "I expect you to remain on Earth for the next ten years and raise your daughter." Susan had been about 10 or 11 when she'd come to live with his first self on the TARDIS, he remembered that quite distinctly.

He was very interested in finding out what his future self knew about it.