Author's Note:

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed since the last chapter was posted. You all got me up off my lazy butt to write this next chapter. So here's a big, grateful wave to: gallifrey calls now, MountainLord-92, SawManiac211, MayFairy, EmmaMarie, Daughter of the Master, TheWickedHeart, Guest, yulicee (x 2), irishartemis, sailormajinmoon, EDZEL2, evilpinklollipop, TheWritingKat, JessieDear13, Lost Moon, Geraldine, GuesssWho and Theta'sWorstNightmare.

To guest:- Thank you very much, you're amazing too! Very glad you are so eager to find out what happens. Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter too!

To sailormajinmoon:- I love Rory and he deserves some BAMF moments. I'm very excited to be having a chance to be writing him, for once. So hopefully people will keep giving me feedback, to let me know if I'm getting him right. There will still be plenty of sexual tension between Koschei and 'Kat'. The Master doesn't give up that easily, no matter what age he is, LOL. Thanks so much for your review :)

To LostMoon:- Aw ta, always so nice to know people are enjoying my romance scenes, as I do find them tricky to write.

To geraldine:- Hooray, welcome back aboard, so lovely to hear from you again \O/

No warnings at all for this one...wow, who'd have thought? :P Hope you all enjoy it anyway!

- Chapter Eleven -

"How can you see into my eyes like open doors?
Leading you down into my core, where I've become so numb.
Without a soul my spirit's sleeping somewhere cold,
Until you find it there and lead it back home.

Wake me up inside, wake me up inside,
Call my name and save me from the dark.
Bid my blood to run, before I come undone,
Save me from the nothing I've become!"

- Evanescence, Bring Me To Life

Keeping his weapon steadily trained on Hart's back, Rory watched the other man turn his attention to the sonic screwdriver, deftly manipulating the unfamiliar controls, apparently searching for the correct frequency to calibrate to his wrist-strap.

"So..." Hart said casually as he worked, breaking the heavy silence that reigned in the dim cavern. "Been friends with this Doctor for long?"

"A while," Rory responded in a clipped voice, unwilling to give away too much information. He might need this man to help save the Doctor, but it didn't mean he trusted him, not by a long chalk.

Hart slanted a knowing look at his face and then nodded. "Changes you, doesn't it?"

"What?"

"Time Lords. They're larger than life, aren't they? They just wander through the Universe, changing everything they touch. Things, places...and especially people. They don't even realise they're doing it, half the time," Hart replied, his eyes now fixed on connecting the two devices in his hands. "You start off travelling with them for what you think are your own reasons. But then, after a while, those reasons seem to get blurred in your head and you find yourself doing things you'd never dreamed you'd be doing. And before long, even though you know it'd be much more sensible to walk away, you find you can't, because you're addicted to the high of it all, the excitement, the thrill of it. You're addicted to being with them and you can't give it up, even though they turn your life upside down."

Rory stared at him incredulously. It was almost as if the man had looked inside his head and seen exactly what was there - all the turbulent, conflicted, jumbled emotions he felt towards the Doctor.

"You...you sound like you know what you're talking about," he said shakily.

Hart gave a small smirk. "I should," he answered. "After all, you only have to put up with one of them. I've got two on my plate. Double trouble, you might say."

"You travel with two Time Lords?"

"Yeah, I told you. The tiny redhead and the surly blonde. Your Doctor's daughter and her boyfriend...husband...whatever he is."

Rory felt the words race through him like an electric shock, as suddenly everything began to make sense. "Tejana and the Master? Are they the friends you've been talking about? I've never met them, but the Doctor and Amy told me about them. So the little redhead that came here to see the Doctor...she's his daughter? But that can't be right - Amy told me she had long black curly hair."

"She did," Hart confirmed. The screwdriver was fitted neatly into a small port in the side of the wrist-strap by now and was emitting a consistent hum. The screen of the wrist-strap was glowing green and winking on and off. "She regenerated not long ago. New hair, face, body, everything...same sexy, fiery little bundle of energy, just in a much smaller package."

But Rory was hardly listening. "The Doctor can't remember his own daughter," he said in stunned astonishment.

Hart glanced up sharply. "What d'you mean, he can't remember her?"

"The cracks in time. They erase you from history. The Doctor says it's as if you were never born at all," Rory explained. "That's what happened to me. I was killed and swallowed up by a crack. My fiancée Amy couldn't remember that I'd ever been in her life, because I never actually existed."

"No," Hart shook his head in emphatic denial. "No, that can't have happened to Tejana. There's been some sort of mistake. I remember her. Even you remember that she exists."

"Yeah, but we're time travellers, both of us. The Doctor says travel in the Time Vortex alters your perceptions in subtle ways and this is one of them."

"So I can remember people who have never actually been born? Oh, great, that's bound to be useful. Hooray for me!" Hart said sarcastically. "One big hole in your brilliant theory though, Julius Caesar – this Doctor travels in time. Why can't he remember her?"

The young centurion scowled blackly. "I told you, my name's Rory. And as for the Doctor, Tejana's his daughter, a part of his direct history. His entire timeline has been changed. He can't possibly remember her."

"But it's not irreversible, right? You said it happened to you and you came back."

Rory's eyes dropped miserably to the evil-looking weapon protruding from his hand. "Yeah, I came back. But I'm not sure how. And I'm not sure what as. I mean, look at me. I'm not exactly human any more, am I?"

Hart didn't reply, his brow furrowed in deep thought. The green glow of the screen on the wrist-strap had stopped flashing. The ex-Time Agent detached the sonic screwdriver and went to slip it into the pocket of his jacket, until Rory held out his hand in silent demand and he reluctantly handed it back over.

"So, you think the Doctor is the only one who has a chance of fixing this unholy mess?" he asked.

"You said it yourself. The Time Lords are larger than life," Rory replied with a wry, tight smile, recalling all the impossible situations the Doctor had got them out of before. This one had to be the granddaddy of them all - Rory had turned into a monster, Amy was dead, the Doctor was imprisoned, the Universe was destroyed. And yet, despite it all, his unwavering faith in the Doctor wouldn't allow him to give up. It was a tiny ember of hope that still warmed him from the inside out, no matter what. "If anyone can do it, he can."

"Right, then," Hart said briskly. "In that case, you'd better stop wasting my time and let me get on with getting him out, hadn't you?"

With that, the ex-Time Agent turned back to the Pandorica, as if opening it had been all his own idea and Rory was nothing more than an annoying bystander. For a brief instant, Rory's gun arm twitched angrily. The part of him that was no longer human was sorely tempted just to shoot the obnoxious stranger and get it over with. But then he forced himself to relax. Like it or not, he needed Hart, even if he was an ass. He was still waiting for the part where the other man started to grow on him, but he sincerely hoped, for both their sakes, that the Doctor's prediction would come true and it would happen soon.

Everything was still and quiet as Tejana made her way back along the darkened corridors of the staff quarters. It was still very early in the morning and no-one was stirring yet, even the other servants, who were always the first to rise to begin breakfast preparations. It seemed she had been asleep in Koschei's bed for a few hours only. If she was very lucky, perhaps no-one would even have noted her absence.

Despite her pressing sense of urgency, she had to stop and rest a few times against one of the walls, taking deep breaths in an attempt to steady herself. It wasn't just the physical effects of Anzor's attack, which were bad enough. She was also starting to get flashbacks of the assault, the helplessness and horror she had felt when he had brutishly pressed his aroused body against hers, the terrible, soul-shattering knowledge that she was not strong enough to stop him doing whatever he wanted, no matter how fiercely she struggled.

The intense delayed reaction made her tremble from head to toe, her skin crawling where her intended rapist had touched her. Nothing had changed since Councillor Rohan had violated her, so many centuries ago. She was so much older now, so much wiser. She had fought and killed so many times since then. And yet, when it came down to the wire, none of it had helped to protect her. The shaking intensified as the pain and the rage and the self-despite roiled inside her like a poison, her eyes glittering with bitter tears she refused to shed. The only thing that prevented her from falling to pieces altogether was the memory of waking up in Koschei Oakdown's arms. He said he hadn't saved her, but she didn't believe that. The coincidence of his presence at the time of the attack was far too great. In her timeline, the Master had sworn that he would never allow anyone to ever harm her again. She didn't know exactly what had happened to stop Anzor, but - no matter how stupid it sounded - she couldn't help believing deep in her hearts that her life-mate was somehow keeping his promise, even though she was lost in a timeline that was so far removed from their own.

Her fingers moved to her lips, feeling again the enticing shape of the young Koschei's kiss. The passionate heat of his desire had burnt away the disgusting sensation of Anzor's mouth ravaging hers. Now, instead of the depravity of rape, all she could taste was the memory of pure sensual pleasure. She wondered how the Master would feel about her ardent reaction to his younger self. Would he be amused...or would he be angry? Then again, she reflected dully, perhaps he would never know. If she couldn't reverse the effects of the crack soon, maybe he would never even exist as she had known him. Oh gods, every single thing she did here ran the risk of changing the future. If she inadvertently changed Theta's future, she might never be born at all, thereby making it impossible to restore her timeline. Not only that, if he never ran away from Gallifrey, if he never became the Doctor, the terrible impact of that loss on the rest of the Universe was beyond imagining.

And as for Koschei...if she became sexually involved with him here as 'Kat', how would that affect what they were to each other in the future? Especially since she knew she could never join with him without revealing exactly who and what she was, whether she wanted to or not. As strong as her psychic barriers were, they would never be enough to keep him out of her mind during the heated intimacy of sex – anyone else, maybe, but not him, never him. Even if she was permanently stuck here, even if Lady Tejanakaturadilena had vanished from history forever and all that was left for her was to live her life out as Kat the Shabogan servant girl, she couldn't allow him to know his future - the torment and eventual insanity brought about by the drums; his wandering, lonely, loveless life as a renegade, at times barely clinging to the pitiful shreds of his existence; his bitter enmity with the Doctor, the friend he had once cherished so dearly; the twin betrayals of Rassilon and Kelios; the horror and pain of the Time War; the humiliating defeat that became the Year That Never Was. Because if he ever found out, naturally he would try to change it all...and who knew what temporal catastrophe would eventuate from that?

Just the thought of all the possible twists and permutations of her predicament made her head hurt. She had to face the truth. Even if she never managed to leave here, Koschei Oakdown was not for her. And maybe it was just as well. The Koschei of this time wanted her, but he didn't love her and probably never would. Not the way the Master of her future did. Once, back when she first lay with him in the Matrix, merely wanting him had been more than enough for her. When she had taken his hand and followed him into his TARDIS, she had never expected there to ever be any more than lust and desire between them. But things had changed since then. They had been through so much just to stay together. Their baby had not been conceived through lust alone, but through love. And now she could never settle for any less.

Gritting her teeth, she pulled herself upright and forced herself onwards. Giving up wasn't in her nature. Whatever happened, she had to find a way get back to her own Master – there was no other alternative she was prepared to live with. Gathering herself together both physically and mentally, she made a supreme effort and managed to negotiate the remainder of the corridor leading to the room she shared with Dyoni. At her touch, the door slid back silently and she stole into the dark room beyond. She only managed to take two or three steps forward before the light snapped on, revealing the other maidservant sitting up in bed and glaring at her, arms crossed in anger.

"Where have you been?" Dyoni demanded. "I was worried!" Then her gaze slipped down over Tejana's body, eyes widening as she took in the borrowed tunic, dwelling accusingly on the betraying golden oak trees embroidered at the cuffs. "But I see now that I was concerned about nothing. My congratulations, Kat, for succeeding where so many other servant girls have failed before you. I expect Lord Koschei made it worth your while?"

At the contemptuous insinuation in her voice, Tejana finally snapped, the traumatic events of the past few days wearing her down at last. White-hot fury erupted along her veins, like lava flowing from a volcano. History might have forgotten that Tejanakaturadilena had ever existed, but inside Kat's small body, the Time Lady was still very much alive - far too much alive to tolerate being unjustifiably sneered at by a servant girl.

"Don't you dare...don't you DARE...look down your nose at me, you supercilious cow!" she spat, shaking with rage. "You were worried! Why exactly was that, Dyoni? Because you knew! YOU KNEW! And you didn't bother to warn me, did you? You just let me walk right into it!"

All the colour drained from Dyoni's face, leaving it a sickly green colour. "I...I don't know what you're talking about..."

"I'm talking about THIS!" Tejana shouted, stripping off Koschei's tunic and revealing the ruined dress beneath. "I'm talking about Anzor, son of Drall, the sick, twisted psychopath with the galvaniser! Am I ringing any bells yet?"

Dyoni's hand came up to cover her mouth, as if she was about to be sick. A whimper rose from her throat like a wounded animal.

"He cornered me in the Refectory," Tejana continued in a voice like a knife. "He tortured me with his galvaniser and he would have raped me, if it wasn't for Koschei Oakdown. But that's no surprise to you, because that's what happened to Minya, isn't it?"

Dyoni gave a choked sob, her eyes locking on to Tejana's face in anguish, as if begging her to stop. But Tejana wasn't in the mood to be merciful. "ISN'T IT?" she persisted. "Why didn't you warn me, Dyoni? Why didn't you tell me about Minya?"

A convulsion of pain twisted the other girl's expression. "Because she's my little sister!" she wailed, tears streaking down her face as the words poured out of her like a torrent. "And she was beautiful. So beautiful! Bright, lively, always laughing. She was promised to be married to a boy who she'd loved from childhood. She had everything in front of her, every hope, every expectation, every dream. And then one day, he caught her, making up his room alone. I was supposed to be with her, but I'd been called away. I never thought...I never knew...or I would never have left her." Dyoni looked up at Tejana, her face a mask of horror and despair as she relived the terrible events all over again. "The things he did to her, the agonies he put her through...by the time I found her, he had broken her mind, utterly and completely...and now there's nothing left. It's as though a light went out inside her that day. She doesn't think or talk. She doesn't know any of the people who love her. She just sits in my father's house, rocking back and forth like a child and staring at the wall, forever dead inside, even though she still breathes."

Tejana sank down to sit on the edge of her bed, her legs giving out from under her, all her anger draining away at the anguish in the other girl's voice. "Oh gods, Dyoni, I'm so sorry...I'm so, so sorry."

"He was never punished. Because he's the President's son and Minya was just a servant. Everyone knew what he'd done, but we were all forbidden to speak of it, unless we wished to face severe reprisals," Dyoni said, her face hard and bitter. "Then you came and they just slotted you into Minya's place, as though she had never even existed, as though she just didn't matter. They even gave you her bed, here in this room. I wanted to warn you, Kat, I really did. But I knew that if anyone found out I had said anything, I would lose my position. My entire family are dependent on the Time Lords for their livelihood. I couldn't risk that. So I tried to watch over you instead, tried to be with you as often as I could, to protect you. I knew he would never try anything if he couldn't get you by yourself. But tonight, you just disappeared and I couldn't find you. I tried to tell myself that it couldn't happen again, that he wouldn't dare...but the truth is, I let you down, just like I let my sister down."

With that, she dropped her head into her hands and began to weep jaggedly, as if every sob was being torn out of her. Tejana stared at her, suddenly understanding the reason for the claustrophobic way Dyoni had treated her ever since she had arrived, always careful never to leave her alone inside the Academy buildings. "No!" she said, unsure how to comfort the distraught girl. "No, don't say that. You didn't let me down. And you didn't let her down either. Dyoni, Anzor is totally insane. Nothing you could have done would have stopped him, in my case or in Minya's."

"I'm her big sister!" Dyoni snarled. "I had a duty to protect her. I should have sent her to run that errand, and then it would have been me instead of her. But I was tired of making beds and I wanted a break. So I left her there, all by herself."

"There was no way you could have known what he would do," Tejana said. "Listen to me, Dyoni. I'm going to make sure Anzor pays for what he's done. I don't know how and I don't know when, but I promise you, I will settle his account."

Even as she said the words, she inwardly cursed her lack of knowledge about Anzor's future. She knew what happened to every single member of the Deca, but before arriving in this time, she had never even heard of Anzor. Damn it, why had the Doctor never mentioned him? Was it because he died young in punishment for his crimes? Or was it just because the Doctor left him behind the way he did everyone else ion Gallifrey and never thought of him again? Had he continued to rape and maim and possibly even kill, unimpeded, all the way up until their planet was destroyed in the Time War? There was no way of knowing. If she kept her promise to Dyoni and killed him herself, here and now, she would probably be changing history. But right now, she didn't care. Surely history could only be improved if a monster like him was removed before his time.

Dyoni gazed at her with tear-filled eyes. "Why is it that I believe you, Kat? There's something about you that's different from everyone I've ever met."

That's probably because you've never met one of the Neverwere before, Tejana thought dryly. I'm about as different as it's possible to get.

Aloud, she merely said, "Come on, we'd better start getting ready. Fionnula will be expecting us at breakfast preparation very soon and I don't want to be late."

"But, Kat...are you well enough? If Anzor tortured you with his galvaniser..." Dyoni ventured uncertainly. "Shouldn't you rest?"

"Don't worry about me, I'm stronger than I look," Tejana shrugged, even though she knew that it was going to be far from easy, despite her rapid healing. "And I can't afford to get into any more trouble with Fionnula." I can't afford to have any more attention drawn to me, full stop.

Dyoni looked as if she wanted to argue further, but Tejana turned her back to start getting changed and didn't give her the chance.

When they arrived in the kitchen, they found that the possible tardiness of a couple of her staff was the last thing on Fionnula's mind. Tejana sensed it as soon as she walked in. The air was electric, the entire place buzzing with animated whispering, bubbling over like a cauldron full of gossip.

"Oh, Dyoni, have you heard?" one of the other maids gasped, grabbing Dyoni's arm in breathless excitement.

"Heard what?" Dyoni asked in bewilderment.

"It's Lord Anzor," the maid exclaimed, her tone rich with prurient satisfaction. Clearly Dyoni hadn't been the only servant to hate and fear the sadistic young Time Lord. "They say he's been attacked by a ghost."

"A ghost?" Tejana queried sharply. "What do you mean, a ghost?"

"He was in his room. It was triple dead-locked from the inside, but something managed to get in," the maid replied. "The other boys heard him screaming and eventually managed to break the door down, but there was no-one inside but him. He was as stiff as a board, they say, and his face was all distorted in terror, as though he had seen an unspeakable nightmare come to life."

"Is he dead?" Dyoni asked in a hushed voice.

"No, he's in a coma. They can't rouse him, no matter what they do," the girl replied. "He's in the Sanatorium, but the medics haven't been able to do anything for him. They say he might stay like that forever, nothing more than a vegetable. President Drall is distraught – Lord Anzor was his only son. The Chancellery Guard are everywhere inside the Academy, trying to discover what happened to him."

Oh, gods, the Chancellery Guard, here, Tejana thought apprehensively. That's all I need!

Dyoni swung around to stare at her. The other girl's eyes were wide with fear and awe. It wasn't too difficult to decipher what she was thinking. No sooner had Tejana promised that Anzor would pay and now he had, in such a fitting way and in mysterious circumstances. The conclusion she would reach was inevitable.

"They say that among the Shabogans there are still witch-women, the last descendants of the Pythia from the Dark Times," Dyoni whispered in wonder. "I never believed it until now."

"They say," Tejana echoed tartly. "They seem to be saying a lot of things today, whoever 'they' are. I'm not a witch-woman, Dyoni. And I can assure you, whoever is responsible for this, it wasn't me. I admit I would have killed him with pleasure for what he did, but I had nothing to do what happened to him."

Dyoni nodded solemnly, obviously not believing a word of it. "It's enough for me that my sister is avenged," she said. "Your secret will always be safe with me."

Tejana was about to protest again, but at that moment, Fionnula stood on a chair amidst the uproar and clapped her hands for quiet. Along with the rest of the servants, Tejana and Dyoni turned to face her.

I didn't do it, Tejana said to herself, as everyone slowly settled down into silence. But who did?

There was only one person she knew who had the skill and the vindictiveness and the motive to suddenly attack the Lord President's son in this elusive, almost preternatural way. The Master would never allow an assault on his lifemate to go unpunished. And this kind of revenge was very typical of his ruthless and violent nature. But the Master was far away. Here, in this place and time, there was only young Koschei. Would he be capable of doing something like this at this point in his timeline? It seemed very unlikely, but she couldn't think of any other reasonable explanation.

"Attention, everybody," Fionnula commanded. "Listen to me. By now, you've all heard the news about Lord Anzor, son of Lord President Drall. All of us know Lord Anzor. Some of us have had...dealings...with him before."

An undercurrent of dark muttering swept through the crowd in response to her words. Evidently, none of the 'dealings' the servants had with Anzor had been pleasant.

"Nonetheless..." Fionnula continued, holding up her hands for quiet. "Nonetheless, we still have jobs to do. And whatever our reaction to these events, we will continue to perform our tasks to the best of our ability, is that understood? The Academy is depending on us and we won't let them down."

Again a rumble rippled through the assembly of servants, this time of grudging assent.

"Very well," Fionnula nodded. "Let's get on with it, then. We have breakfast to serve. Dismissed." Her gaze flicked toward Tejana. "Kat, I need to see you, please."

Tejana raised her eyebrows. Now what? Weaving through the dispersing servants, she crossed over to the Head Housemaid, who was stepping down from her chair.

"Yes, ma'am?"

Fionnula flicked a critical eye over her, as if searching for something to find fault with. Tejana stiffened, but held her temper. She had learned by now that this was not anything personal, it was just Fionnula's way.

"What happened to your lip, Kat?" the woman asked abruptly.

"I ran into a door in the dark this morning," Tejana answered, without hesitating or dropping her eyes as she told the lie.

"I see. Then you will learn to be more careful in the future, I trust," Fionnula sniffed. "Lord President Drall has arrived. He is closeted with Lord Borusa in his study. Naturally, he is very distressed. Since you are the upper house maid assigned to serve Lord Borusa, I wish you to wait on them and to find out whether there is anything they require."

Tejana dropped into a small curtsey. She wasn't sure if this was good news or not. On the one hand, she might be able to hear something that would give her a clue as to what was going on. On the other hand, with all the senior Time Lords now on the alert for anomalies, venturing too close to Borusa could be flirting with utter disaster.

"Yes, ma'am," she said softly.

"And I hope there is no need to remind you of the need for discretion," Fionnula told her stiffly. "Lord President Drall is very anxious to find out who has done this to his son. I see no need for any of my staff to...affect...the outcome of the investigation."

A small smile tweaked at the corner of Tejana's lips. Oh, you are very clever, aren't you? she thought. Behind those carefully phrased words, you're not forbidding me to hinder the investigation, you're forbidding me to help it along. You don't want the perpetrator to be caught any more than the other servants. You'd rather shake him by the hand for ridding the servants of Anzor's constant menace. As would we all.

"Yes, ma'am," she responded. "I understand completely."

"Yes," Fionnula said. "I thought you might."

Having no choice but to follow the Head Housemaid's instructions, Tejana made her way up to Borusa's study, cautiously testing her mental defences as she went, ensuring there were no loopholes or weaknesses that could give her away to the older Time Lord's sharp mind.

She had not got very far when an arm shot out of a dark alcove and grabbed her, dragging her deep into the shadows. She opened her mouth to scream, but a warm hand clapped forcefully over her mouth. "Sssshhhh, Kat...it's only me!"

Sagging with relief, she realised it was Koschei. He felt her relax against him and slowly removed his hand.

"What are you doing?" she hissed angrily. "You frightened me half to death!"

"After everything that's happened, I didn't think it was a good idea for us to be seen together," he said in a grim voice. "What the hell did you do to Anzor?"

"What did I do? I didn't do anything. I thought you did it!"

She felt him shake his head. "Not me. I kind of had my hands full last night, if you remember. Very pleasantly full."

Colour washed across her cheeks and she was very glad of the concealing darkness, so that he couldn't see the betraying blush.

"So," he continued. "If it wasn't me and it wasn't you, who was it?"

"I don't know. The Academy's crawling with Chancellery Guard. They've mounted a full scale investigation."

He snorted. "Yeah, and what's the bet their 'full scale investigation' miraculously fails to uncover the details of any of Anzor's little 'hunting trips'?"

"I'm on my way up to Borusa's study right now," she told him. "The Lord President is there with him. Maybe I'll be able to find out what they really think happened, instead of relying on all the gossip and innuendo that's floating around."

She felt his arms tighten around her. "Just be careful, Kat. They'll be looking for a scapegoat for this. I don't want it to be you."

"Koschei..." she began.

But before she could complete the sentence, he was kissing her again, his hands knotting in her hair as he thoroughly explored her mouth in the darkness, taking it and owning it. For a few, shocked moments, she couldn't find the will to resist. Almost without volition, her lips began moving under his, clinging, returning the pressure of his mouth as it drove relentlessly into hers. But then she pulled away, stepping back out into the dim light of the corridor, as angry with herself as she was with him.

"I've already told you, I belong to someone else!" she said furiously. "What part of that do you not understand?"

Following her out into the passageway, he gave her an unrepentant grin, his navy blue eyes laughing at her. "I understand all of it. I just don't care. Everything belongs to someone, one way or another. How would we ever get what we want if we didn't take what belongs to someone else?"

Tejana stared at him, hearing the echoes of his older self in his voice. "What makes you think you have the right, to take whatever you want? What makes you so special?"

His youthful face hardened and, again, she could almost see his older self looking out at her from behind his eyes. "Because I'm the heir of Oakdown. My family is one of the most wealthy and influential on Gallifrey. One day, I'll be President of the Time Lords. And the Time Lords are the oldest and most powerful race in the Universe. So I have every right."

Tejana said nothing. There was nothing she could say, no argument she could make that would change the path he was already beginning to walk. Instead, she turned away, her hearts heavy, grieving for what she knew he would become.

Fast as a striking snake, his hand seized her wrist and pulled her back. "Don't you ever turn your back on me, Kat!" he snarled. "Not ever!" Then, seeing her wince in pain, he slowly relaxed his grip. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. But the look on your face...what's so wrong with knowing what you want and going after it? That's what winners do!"

She shook her head sadly. "Because that's how other people get hurt, Lord Koschei. Every single time."

With that, she sank into a deep, respectful curtsey, before rising and walking hurriedly up the corridor, trying not to cry.