Where the fam meets some old friends.

And we're back again. This one is back to normal length and I hope you enjow it :)
Thank you for all your reading!

River, it turned out, knew exactly who Ryan, Yaz and Graham were. Her explanation of how that had come to be was futile at best, but it was impossible to get anything else out of her. She had, however, assured them that no, she wasn't the Master, and yes, the TARDIS was indeed the Doctor's and she liked River very much indeed. That had been enough to convince them that she wasn't one of the bad guys.

'I've been trying to find the Doctor for some time now,' River explained once they were all settled in the Tardis kitchen with Tea. No custard creams, digestives instead. Thank goodness.

'How did you even get inside the TARDIS?' Yaz wondered, frowning at River. 'The Doctor said no one can get in - and she's the only one who can fly her anyway.'

Ryan snorted. 'Sometimes.'

'Oi! That's the Doc you're talking about!'

'Oh, but he's right, Yaz. In her two thousand years, she still hasn't learned to pilot a TARDIS properly. But I can - she taught me. The TARDIS, that is, not the Doctor. Came in quite handy when I had to take the driver's test on Gallifrey - I still wonder how she passed that, though Romana did mention she - well, he, then - barely scraped by.' River shrugged and set to continue, but Ryan interrupted her.

'But the Doc said that Gallifrey was destroyed - we've been there, we saw it, everything burned. If no one survived, then how can you be here?' he wanted to know and Graham sent his grandson a proud smile. All very good and very valid questions. River seemed to agree as well, because she nodded, trying to think how to best explain.

'If you were on, say, the moon, or sometime else, and someone came to destroy the earth in the now. You would not be affected yourselves, wouldn't you? Because you're far away and out of harm's reach.' They nodded and she gave another shrug. 'It's simple as that. Well, it's actually a little more complicated, but as far as explanations go, that's what's most relevant for you.'

'Was there anyone else off planet?' Everyone turned to Graham now and from the looks of it, the question wasn't one either Yaz or Ryan had even considered. River, on the other hand, gave a small nod.

'There was. Which neither the Master nor the Doctor know, though it is imperative that the latter does - which is why Romana sent me here.'

'So, what can we do to help you find the Doctor?'

'That's what I don't know yet. But first, why don't you tell me what exactly happened before she dumped you here?'

So that's what they did, with the TARDIS parked in the vortex over tea and biscuits, recalling their last adventure with the Doctor before she disappeared and left them behind.

'Oh, and then there were these giant space rhinos again!' Ryan added all of a sudden when they were almost done with their tale. They had only mentioned them in passing before, but Ryan couldn't shake off the feeling that they were a lot more important. River seemed to agree, because suddenly, all her attention was focused on him.

'Space rhinos? You mean the Judoon?' she wanted to know, and they all nodded.

'That's what the Doc called them, yes. Why? Is that important?'

'Yes, Yaz, it is.' River stood up, dumped her mug in the sink and headed towards the control room, the fam hot on her heels, albeit slightly confused.

'Do you know where the Doc is, then? With those Judoon things?' Bless Graham, always asking the relevant questions. River shook her head in answer to that, then nodded before turning to them with a frown.

'I have a suspicion where she is and when, and I think I know how to get her out without staging a prison break.'

'Yeah, that might be a bit difficult.' That must be the police officer in Yaz speaking, but River just waved her off.

'Oh, I got plenty of experience breaking in and out of prison - but usually it's just myself, not someone else, and if she's in the Judoon wing of Stormcage, it might be better if they don't see me there.' She turned to them with an innocuous smile. 'They already had to rebuild an entire wing last time I paid it a visit. Luckily for us -' flip a lever, turn two dials, push a button, flip another lever, much more coordinated than the Doctor, '- I got marital rights and Romana's help.'

Whoever this Romana was, Yaz thought, she must be very influential, considering how often River had mentioned her in the brief time they'd known her. She was so focused on contemplating that, the other part of what she had said completely slipped past her until Graham pointed it out again, carefully eyeing River.

'Did you just say marital rights?'

'Yes, I did, why? Oh, don't tell me she never mentioned me,' she groaned once she saw the puzzled looks on their faces. She rolled her eyes. 'She really needs to stop doing that, she always forgets to mention me to her new assistants. I take it she never talked about me?'

They all shook their heads and after a moment of awkward silence, it was Graham who gently answered. 'We asked her if she had anyone, but she said her family was gone.' He shrugged awkwardly. 'We just assumed she meant dead.'

'Yes, well, of course she thinks that, she's not yet meant to know better. I did die, by the way. Got uploaded into a library - long story.'

'But you're alive now.'

'Well, obviously. But I wasn't always and I'm much older than when the Doctor last saw me. Ran into my own parents again the other day, hadn't seen them since, oh, heaven, well before I died. Not that it matters now, we need to get the Doctor out of prison first, everything else can wait. Come on, spit spot, don't dawdle.' And she strode out of the TARDIS, leaving a very perplexed fam behind.

'I guess we follow her?' It wasn't really a question and with a shrug, the three of them followed her outside.

It still seemed to be England, 21st century too, by the look of the cars on the street. They were parked in someone's drive this time, in front of a rather big, slightly posh house and next to a pale green car. River was already at the door, pushing it open to let herself in. They hurried after her, looking around curiously.

''s this your house?' Ryan wanted to know and River let out a small laugh.

'Certainly not. I live on the moon.'

'Right. Of course you do.'

'River! You're back! Ohhh, are those our latest replacements?'

'Yes. They are,' River answered with a grin and stepped aside so they could enter the parlour. It was occupied by two women, both impossible to judge age wise - they could have been any age between 30 and 65 and no one would be able to claim they were lying.

'Ms Smith?' Everyone's eyes snapped to Graham as he stared at the woman sitting in the armchair, a notepad on her knees. She smiled and River gave a satisfied nod.

'Ah yes, you two have already met, wonderful. Since you already know Graham, these are Ryan and Yaz - darlings, this is Sarah Jane Smith. This is her house, and currently our base.'

'Right. Granddad, you have some explaining to do later.' Ryan had only whispered the last part loud enough for Graham to hear but couldn't help eying Sarah Jane cautiously. River, on the other hand, had already stepped towards the other woman, the one who had greeted her just before. She gave all of them a quick once-over now, then muttered something that made both River and Sarah Jane snort in amusement. Before anyone could ask about it, though, River nodded at them.

'Now, Ryan, Yaz, Graham, may I introduce you to Romanadvoratrelundar, Lady President of Gallifrey.'

They all stared at her, the woman with the unpronounceable name (for earth standards, that is). It was one thing to hear the Doctor talk about Gallifreyan costumes but it was a wholly different thing to suddenly stand in front of their leader. Who didn't seem to be all that much older than Yaz - but then again, so did the Doctor and she had repeatedly said she was over two thousand.

The woman grinned at them. 'Call me Romana.'

They silently stared at her and for a moment, she eyed them thoughtfully before shrugging. 'Or Fred. I always liked Fred.'

It was clear from the looks on their faces that Sarah Jane, River and Romana were waiting for Ryan, Yaz and Graham to react, but they were just staring at them wide eyed, obviously uncertain what to make of the entire situation. Eventually, it was Yaz who put in words what all three of them had been thinking.

'But...the Doctor said everyone on Gallifrey died.' Her eyes darted to River, remembering what she had explained earlier about there being some survivors. 'I thought, well, I guess I thought that you meant there had been a few travellers who were off planet, not the President.'

Romana waved her off. 'We received ample warning that destruction was heading for Gallifrey. It was a simple matter of ensuring that people were evacuated.' Her gaze darkened. 'Many wouldn't listen, didn't believe there could be such danger looming over us when we had just finished rebuilding after the last Time War.'

'Gallifrey was time locked,' River explained when she saw their confusion. Not that they could make much sense of that, but they decided to just nod along for now. When Romana flopped herself down into the armchair she had occupied before their arrival and River made herself comfortable in another one, they all took the cue and settled on the sofa, waiting for instruction or information or whatever was going to happen next.

If they were being honest, all three of them felt a little inadequate. Sarah Jane clearly knew what was going on and what she could do about it, if her hushed conversation with Romana was any indication. Romana herself was President of Gallifrey, need they say more? And River, well. Neither of them was quite sure yet what to make of her, but for now, she seemed the most approachable of the three of them. She watched them settle down, then gave them a warm smile.

'Perhaps you are wondering what we are all doing here, at Sarah's house,' she began and they nodded. River sighed deeply. 'You were right earlier. Gallifrey has been destroyed and has become inhabitable. But there are refugees, stranded in TARDISes currently parked on the moon - working chameleon circuits, so they are safe there for now. But we can't leave them there forever, so we are currently trying to find an uninhabited planet for the Gallifreyan people to settle at.'

'Mr Smith has found several options,' Sarah Jane interrupted - apparently, both she and Romana had been listening to their conversation as well.

'Mr Smith?' Ryan asked, curiously. 'Your husband?'

'Goodness, no!' She shook her head. 'Mr Smith is my computer.'

'Your computer has a name?'

'Nevermind that Yaz, her computer can detect empty planets!' Clearly, Ryan was intrigued by the prospect and Sarah Jane didn't seem to mind, for she gave him a smile.

'He can - mind you, he's not your typical everyday computer. He's a xylok,' she explained and River and Romana shared an exasperated look.

'An alien computer and a robot dog - I'm still not over that, Sarah.'

'Oi, don't you say anything about K-9, you've got a K-9 too!' All three of them snickered at that and only when Sarah Jane saw their baffled looks, she tried to control herself again. 'K-9 is my dog,' she explained. 'He was a gift from the Doctor.'

'Yes, and he's not even in the country - can you two shut up or should we move to the kitchen?'

'We'll behave,' Romana said, mock glaring at River, who narrowed her eyes at her and Sarah, both of them clearly still amused but now serious again.

'Right, where were we?'

'Looking for planets,' Graham noted helpfully and River nodded.

'Yes, of course. We are currently trying to find a planet of the right size and at least one sun at the right distance.'

'Doesn't there need to be, you know, the right atmosphere too?'

'Good thinking, Yaz, but no. We do have time machines, we can just nip forward and get a terraforming device to take care of that. It'd be helpful to already have a breathable atmosphere, of course, but it's not immediately necessary. But what is much more important is the people who are the refugees.'

'Gallifrey was very corrupt,' interrupted Romana and River seemed happy to leave the floor to her. 'I was President before the last Time War, then I had to flee the planet because the council decided to resurrect Rassilon. The war didn't go well.' Here, she glanced at River, who seemed much paler than moments before, and gently squeezed her hand. 'I was in a parallel universe for most of it, but once the Doctor removed the time lock and Gallifrey wasn't hidden in a pocket universe anymore, once Rassilon was dealt with, a few trusted people came to find me.

'But not everyone agreed I should have been made President again, some were actively conspiring against me.' Here, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before soldering on. 'When I got the warning that Gallifrey was about to burn again, not everyone believed me. Many thought it was just a ruse, some sort of putsch to verify my power, or to put someone else in place.

'What's left of Gallifrey is a fraction of the people who used to live there. Half the capital refused to evacuate. Most of Arcadia stayed too. Some because they didn't think it was necessary, some because they didn't want it to be true and refused to believe, some for political reasons - it doesn't matter. Some of the smaller cities, almost the entire population from the countryside did listen. Some families, they thought they could weather the danger to come but send their children away. It was all very hush hush. More than half the children we have evacuated are orphans now.

'And those who listened and left, many of them didn't believe me either, they followed because they trusted me. But in the hustle to get people off planet and out of danger, there was no time to plan ahead for what would come after.' Romana swallowed. 'Less than two billion people followed me and survived. More than half of them are children - or what we consider children on Gallifrey - and the adults are in shock. Right now, all we can do is find us a safe place to recuperate. If there was ever a time I needed to be the President trusted by her people, it is now. And I need the Doctor's help.'