Author's Note:

Good evening (well, it is evening in Australia ;P)!

Huge thanks to everyone who took the time to reassure me that my "info-dump" chapter wasn't too boring :)

So, lots of gratitude to: MayFairy, gallifrey calls now, EmmaMarie, Theta'sWorstNightmare, Imorgen, MountainLord-92, TheWritingKat, irishartemis, TheWickedHeart, sailormajinmoon, yulicee (x 2), SawManiac211, Aietradaea, Lost Moon, JessieDear13 and Geraldine. Your feedback was all incredibly welcome.

**PS. Why DO so many people on this site read regularly without reviewing? I have never understood that and it makes me a bit sad :S**

To sailormajinmoon: Thanks so much for continuing to review. Yep, the bruises the Doctor discovered on Tejana's wrists in the first chapter are from where the Chaos-Master has been draining her life energy, without her realising. And there is a bit more of the Pandorica and a bit more of Borusa in this chapter, so I hope you enjoy! XXX

To Lost Moon: Hello again, my friend! Very glad it is all falling into place for you, since that means my explanatory chapter has been successful \O/ As always, thank you for the feedback.

To Geraldine: Thank you! Hope this chapter is a prompt enough update for you :)

BIG WAVE TO MAYFAIRY, WHO IS BASICALLY AN AWESOME PERSON - if you like 11/OC fics, go and read her story "Deafening Silence".

Okay, as I mentioned to a few people, I've had to cut this chapter in half, since it was going to be around 10,000 words long otherwise. SO it didn't end up quite where I wanted it to, but hopefully it is still OK.

- Chapter Thirteen -

"God, give me grace to accept with serenity,

the things that cannot be changed.

Courage to change the things

which should be changed,

and the wisdom to distinguish

the one from the other."

- Reinhold Niebuhr, The Serenity Prayer

Slowly, ever so slowly, the heavy walls of the Pandorica began to slide back. Ignoring the Chaos-Master, the Doctor's eyes remained glued to the ever-widening gap, his neck muscles tight with tension as he waited to discover the identity of his rescuer.

To his astonishment, as his vision adjusted, the dark figure standing in the gap resolved into a young man wearing the uniform of a Roman Centurion.

"Rory!" he exclaimed in overwhelming relief. "How did you do that?"

"I didn't," his friend responded bluntly, gesturing back over his shoulder. "He did."

As the walls retracted even further, the Doctor realised Rory was standing beside a man he had never seen before. The stranger had closely-cropped brown hair and a hard, arrogant face. He was dressed in what appeared to be a bright-red 18th century Hussar's jacket, dark jeans and high leather boots. Even though his left arm was in a sling, he still managed to give off an aura that hummed with danger.

"Hart!" the Chaos-Master rasped, obviously recognising the newcomer.

The man named Hart did a double-take. "Blondie!" he said in an incredulous voice. "What the hell?"

"Don't just stand there, get me out of here!"

Hart flipped open the vortex manipulator on his right wrist and moved towards the Pandorica, obviously intent on releasing the black-dressed Time Lord. The Doctor was so used to the real Master working alone, it had never even occurred to him that the Chaos-Master might have an accomplice on the outside. What was worse, this man looked alarmingly competent. If he'd managed to crack the Pandorica's external security, dismantling the internal restraints would be child's-play to him.

"NO!" the Doctor shouted. "Stay back!"

Halted by the sharp urgency in his voice, the ex-Time Agent paused in the doorway.

"Don't listen to him!" the Chaos-Master hissed. "I have to get free! Ana's in trouble! She needs me!"

"I'm telling you, keep away from him!" the Doctor ordered. "He doesn't want to help Tejana, he only wants to hurt her."

The Chaos-Master made a derisive sound. "You were on Mnemosyne with us, Hart! You know that isn't true. Ana belongs to me. He just wants to keep us apart because he's angry about the baby!"

"I want to keep them apart because he's trying to kill her!" the Doctor insisted. "If you release him, there's no telling the harm he'll do!"

The clash of wills between the two Time Lords was tremendous, the pressure inside the tiny, cramped space of the Pandorica building like a storm, all of it focused on Hart, the tension thick enough to choke on. Hart's eyes narrowed as he looked assessingly back and forth between the two prisoners. "I don't know exactly what the deal is between you two," he snarled angrily. "But I do know that if Tejana's in trouble, Blondie here is her best chance of getting out of it. And that has to come first, as far as I'm concerned!"

With that, he continued to move towards the Chaos-Master, who gave the Doctor a sly, triumphant grin. But before Hart could activate his wrist-strap, there was a sound of whirring servo-mechanisms. To the Doctor's shock, he saw Rory raise his right arm and thrust it squarely into Hart's back. At the end of the young centurion's arm, in the place where his hand should have been, he could see a hi-tech laser pistol protruding.

Oh, Rory! he thought helplessly, suddenly realising that his so-called friend was actually a Nestene duplicate like all the others, constructed from plastic and primed with Amy's memories, his miraculous return from the dead nothing more than part of the Chaos-Master's plot to capture the Doctor. The only positive thing was, for whatever reason, this particular Nestene duplicate appeared to still be on his side.

"The Doctor told you to stop!" Rory told Hart in a cold voice. "So back off!"

Hart froze into instant immobility, as if paralysed by the weapon pressing into his spine. "You know what, kid?" he said over his shoulder. "You're really starting to annoy me. And people who annoy me don't tend to last very long."

"Yeah?" Rory said. "Talk to the hand!" He gave Hart another warning jab in the back, just for emphasis. "Now, move it!"

Slowly and carefully, Hart started to step backwards out of the Pandorica, with Rory keeping him covered all the way. The Doctor was never sure quite what happened next, but all at once, despite his injured arm, Hart seemed to twist around like lightning, a long, sharp knife gleaming in his other hand. The Doctor gave a shout of warning, but it was too late. There was a short, vicious scuffle, in the middle of which, Rory's laser weapon discharged in a blaze of light, taking a sizeable chunk out of the stone floor. But at the end of it all, once the dust settled, Rory was left kneeling on the ground with Hart standing behind him, the knife held threateningly to the young centurion's throat. Tiny beads of sweat were standing out on Hart's forehead and he was breathing more heavily than before, but other than that, his damaged left arm didn't appear to be slowing him down at all.

"Now, from what I've seen so far, kid, I'm willing to bet you're not much more than a pile of circuit boards and software," he purred silkily. "So it'll be interesting to see how you manage without a head!"

The Doctor felt a blast of realisation explode inside him as the Chaos-Master's earlier words flashed through his brain: "...in the battle that followed, the two Time Lords and their human associate managed to temporarily defeat me." Their human associate...who could that possibly have been except for Hart? Whoever this man was, it was apparent he thought he was dealing with the real Master. He was as much a victim of the imposter as Tejana was. All that was left was to make him see it.

"Listen to me!" the Doctor yelled. "I know we've never met before, and you've got no reason to trust me, but I gather you're a friend of Tejana's, right?"

"I travel with her," Hart shrugged, as if the curt words were the closest he was prepared to get to an admission of friendship. He nodded towards the other Time Lord. "And with Blondie."

"Don't waste time talking to him!" the Chaos-Master cut in frantically, desperate to finish the conversation before it began. "Stop pissing around and get me out! Now!"

However, the Doctor had Hart's attention now and he wasn't about to waste the opportunity. "If you were with them on the planet Mnemosyne, then you know the creature they fought," he continued relentlessly. "The creature that looked just like the Master."

"Yeah, so? It was destroyed." But even as he said the words, Hart's eyes shot across to stare at the other Time Lord, a light of horrified awareness dawning in his eyes as he realised what the Doctor was getting at. "I saw it destroyed."

The Chaos-Master struggled wildly against the imprisoning restraints, its face contorted with black fury. "Don't listen to him! Don't listen to him! GET ME OUT!"

"Not destroyed, merely temporarily inconvenienced," the Doctor corrected. "It tricked Tejana into bringing it back, by making her think she was saving the real Master."

"No." Hart shook his head firmly, but he continued to stare at the Chaos-Master, doubt written all over his face. "No, she would have known. She could always tell the difference between them."

"Exactly! I told you, he's talking rubbish!" the Chaos-Master snarled. "I'm the Master, Hart, you know that!"

"Just before you arrived, he was gloating about how he was draining her life energy, killing her slowly, bit by bit!" the Doctor said urgently. "He told me how he's been stealing her regenerations to maintain his existence in this reality. I wasn't on Mnemosyne – how else would I know all this?"

Hart frowned, obviously processing what he was being told, working it all out in his head. "She's usually such a gutsy little thing, but lately she's been so tired all the time..." he murmured, his eyes dark with concentration as he thought back. "She said it was just the pregnancy. But it wasn't, was it?" His head shot up, his face tightening in sudden rage. "It was you! I should've seen it before! You filthy, parasitic son of a bitch! I thought I'd killed you back on Mount Boreas!"

The Chaos-Master barked out a malicious laugh, all pretence falling away as the vile creature saw that the game was up. "Don't give yourself so much credit, little man. It'd take so much more than you to get rid of me. Why do you think I allowed you to come with us in the TARDIS? For your winning personality? You were a distraction, you idiot, nothing more! While Tejana was worrying about your stupid jacket and your pathetic little quest to find Captain Freak, I could get on with the more important things. Like organising her father's enemies into an Alliance against him. Oh, and draining her dry of life energy, of course. But every man needs a good hobby, right?"

With one quick, rough gesture, Hart shoved Rory aside and stepped forward, brandishing the gleaming knife in front of him. "You really don't want to know what my favourite hobbies are, you piece of shit!" he hissed dangerously. "And this time when I kill you, I'm going to make sure you don't ever come back."

"Wait!" the Doctor interrupted. "You can't kill him!"

"Oh yeah?" Hart ground out, the razor-sharp knife blade now only inches away from the Chaos-Master's face. "Fundamental rule of the Universe, Doc – if it has a physical body, it can be killed. So just watch me!"

"No! The only reason this thing has a physical body is because it's used the power of the Cruciform to form a symbiotic link with my daughter!" the Doctor snapped. "Until I know exactly where she is and what's happened to her, I can't be sure she's free of him. If they're still linked when you destroy him, I don't know what will happen to her. In her weakened state, the shock might kill her as well!"

Hart hesitated, as the sense of the Doctor's words penetrated the red haze of anger enveloping his brain, gradually winning out over the urge to kill. Slowly and reluctantly, he lowered the knife.

The Chaos-Master looked up into his eyes and grinned evilly. "Ohhhh, poor Captain Hart!" it jeered. "So close and yet so far. Better luck next time!"

The savage expression on Hart's face didn't change. Nevertheless, he bent down and slotted the knife into one of his boots, which was where - the Doctor now realised - it had originally come from during the fight with Rory. "All right, Doc," he said in a flat voice. "You win. For now. So what do you suggest we do with him?"

"Thank you," the Doctor responded, his muscles uncoiling in relief. He really hadn't been sure how that was going to go. Hart was an unknown quantity, an extremely loose cannon in a very bad situation. "For the time being, I think it's best he stays right where he is. I've got an exploding TARDIS to sort out first."

Doing her best to hide her mounting anxiety, Tejana served the two senior Time Lords with their metheglin, conscious the whole time of Borusa's penetrating gaze resting on her face.

Taking refuge in obeisance, she made a deep curtsey, directed at them both. "Is there any other way I can serve you, my Lords?"

Borusa took his time about replying and the fraught moment seem to stretch on forever. She could almost feel the droplets of perspiration gathering at the nape of her neck and sliding down her back. It was an old trick, using the pressure of silence to make a guilty party crack, making them feel as though they had to fill the void with words, their own vibrating nerves betraying them into saying too much. Borusa had used the tactic on her before, when she had misbehaved as a student. But recognising the ploy for what it was did not make it any easier to withstand. She still found herself biting her tongue, to stop herself from babbling like an idiot.

Then a sharp knock at the door shattered the tension, nearly giving her a heart-attack. At last, Borusa's gaze shifted away from her, leaving her feeling like a butterfly that had escaped from a pin.

"Come," he ordered peremptorily.

The door slid open, revealing a tall, dark-haired Time Lord, dressed in long, formal robes. His face was so attractive that Tejana couldn't help doing a double take. However, the second glance revealed that his eyes were like chips of ice, disdainful and domineering, while his thin lips had a supercilious cast, as though he was permanently sneering at the rest of the world. Suddenly, he didn't seem quite so handsome after all.

"Ah, my Lord Oakdown," Borusa said in unctuous welcome. "To what do we owe this pleasure?"

Tejana stared fiercely at the floor, keeping her features carefully schooled, intent on showing nothing of the violent reaction that had just arced through her. Lord Oakdown. Her life-mate's father. After everything they had discovered on Mnemosyne, after all this man had put his two sons through, just the thought of him made her feel sick. How could she have ever thought he was good-looking? Now that she knew who he was, her hatred and contempt were so strong at the sight of him, it took everything she had not to stalk over and slap him across the face until he bled from every orifice.

"I heard of the attack on the Lord President's son," Lord Oakdown replied. "As my son is also a student here, I thought it would be wise to discover what measures are being taken. My commiserations, Your Supremacy."

"Thank you, Marnal," Drall said, inclining his head sadly in acceptance.

Borusa gestured towards one of the other chairs facing his desk. "Please, have a seat, my Lord. We were just discussing the situation. Can I offer you some metheglin, perhaps?"

"I thank you, but no," Lord Oakdown said, seating himself gracefully. Tejana could see the row of beautifully-embroidered golden oak trees stitched around his cuffs and the hem of his robes. It made her think of Koschei, holding her close as he slipped his tunic over her head, and the wild urge to hit his father came back even stronger than before.

"Very well then," Borusa nodded, before returning his steely gaze to Tejana. "Kat, you may go. I will summon you if we require anything further."

She murmured, "Yes, my Lord," and bobbed another curtsey, before making her escape as quickly as possible, in case he changed his mind.

Or, perhaps, in case she did something she would end up regretting for a very long time.

Fionnula didn't say much when Tejana reported back to her that, so far, the hunt for Anzor's attacker had been unsuccessful. She merely gave a curt nod of acknowledgement and ordered Tejana to rejoin Dyoni and the other maidservants in attending to the Senior Accommodation wing. But as she turned away, Tejana couldn't help noticing a certain glint of satisfaction in her eyes. Whatever the Time Lords might think, the Chancellery Guard were not going to get much help in their mission from the servants of the Academy, that was for sure.

Dyoni and the others had already finished cleaning the male section of the Senior Accommodation wing by the time Tejana arrived, and had started on the female section. Tejana felt a sharp, little twinge of disappointment and crossly pushed it away. She was far too old to be acting like a love-struck teenager. Bumping into Koschei again could only cause more problems and she had enough of those already. Theta was the one she should be looking for – she badly needed to find out what data he had uncovered about the cracks. Surely, in the immense, centuries-old conglomeration of Time Lord knowledge, there had to be some information that could help her get back to her own timeline. A sense of frustration welled inside her. There was nothing she would like more than to race across to the data archives in the Endless Library and undertake the search herself. But she was supposed to be a servant, not a Time Lady, so that avenue was closed to her. Instead, she had to be patient and rely on her young father to dig something up. The only comforting thing was that, knowing the Doctor and his fascination with puzzles, she guessed he wouldn't leave it alone until he did.

When Tejana found Dyoni, she was busy making up a bed in one of the rooms. To Tejana's surprise, she was humming a merry tune as she worked. Tejana had never heard her make any kind of happy noise before. Further up the corridor, one of the other servants was actually whistling. The change in atmosphere from the previous days was astounding, as if an enormous storm had broken and passed over, leaving everything fresh and shiny and new.

Dyoni looked up with a smile. "Oh, there you are, Kat! Why don't you start up at the other end of the corridor and work down? That way I'll meet you in the middle."

"B-ut...shouldn't I stay here with you?" Tejana queried uncertainly, taken aback by this unprecedented change in procedure. "Isn't it the rule that we have to work in pairs?"

The other girl's smile widened, dimples dancing in her cheeks. "Not any more," she said in a low, conspiratorial voice. "He's gone now and we're all safe again, thanks to you."

Tejana shook her head, looking around in alarm in case someone had heard. "Ssssshhhhhh, Dyoni, I told you – I didn't do anything!"

But Dyoni ignored her protest and serenely continued smoothing out the bed-clothes. "You say that," she replied. "But it isn't true. Ever since you arrived, things have been different. You brought change with you, Kat. We can all feel it."

Oh gods, Tejana thought frantically. Change is the last thing I want to bring. And if Borusa and the other Time Lords ever get to hear these stupid rumours...

"Please, don't say that, Dyoni! You'll only get me into trouble!"

"It's all right! Don't be afraid, Kat, none of us will ever give you away, I promise."

Tejana could have screamed in frustration. It was like banging her head against a brick wall. "There's nothing to give away. I didn't do anything!"

However, it was apparent that Dyoni wasn't going to believe her, no matter what she said. The other girl had decided that 'Kat' had mystically saved them all from Anzor and nothing was going to dissuade her. Tejana couldn't help wondering how much of this arrant nonsense Fionnula had heard. Was that why she had been chosen to go up to Borusa's study, in an attempt to find out how much the Time Lords knew? Surely the Head Housemaid didn't believe in a pack of stupid fairy-tales about Shabogan witch-women? Cursing under her breath, Tejana left the room and stalked up to the end of the corridor, her arms laden with a pile of fresh linen.

At first, she was much too annoyed to notice the ethereal melody drifting from the last room. But as she drew nearer, the music seemed to wrap around her, stroking her senses and subtly soothing her anger.

Inside the room, Millennia of the House of Brightshore sat in front of a laser harp, gently trailing her fingers along the glowing red beams contained within the octagonal frame of the instrument, her cloud of long blue hair softly falling down to curtain her face.

Tejana almost forgot to breathe as she stood watching from the threshold, transfixed by the exquisite cascade of sound. It was passionate and joyful and alluring. It seemed to pour through her, filling her soul like an empty vessel, pure and clear and sweet, beautiful and yet painful, singing of an innocence she had lost a very long time ago.

For several moments that seemed more like an eternity, she just stood and listened, tears springing to her eyes at the heart-rending beauty of it.

Then Millennia gave a small, deep sigh and dropped her hands away from the harp. Slowly, as though waking from a dream, the blue-haired girl raised her head and focused on Tejana in the doorway.

"Oh, hello," she said in her usual charming, vague way. "I didn't notice you there."

And that was Millennia all over, Tejana thought, remembering the sadness in Five's eyes as he had described his old friend. Any other Time Lord would have known I was there in an instant, but not her. Always too wrapped up in the childlike world of her imagination, always safe in her land of dreams...

"Forgive me, my lady," she answered. "I've come to make up your room, but I didn't want to interrupt such lovely music."

Millennia's pretty face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Oh, did you like it? It's an Otherstide present for Lord Rallon. It's supposed to be an aria – a musical expression of how I feel for him." Her face fell again. "But I can't seem to get it right. It just doesn't seem...big enough. I love him so much and I just can't get it all into the music. Do you think he'll understand what I'm trying to say?"

A lump rose in Tejana's throat as she remembered the terrible, haunting scene of Rallon's death, deep in the realm of the Celestial Toymaker, his shattered form held in the fifth Doctor's arms, twisted and mutilated beyond description. The young Time Lord had been trapped by the Toymaker for centuries as his unwilling host and had eventually triggered all twelve of his regenerations at once to defeat the evil being inhabiting his body. Tejana could still hear that terrible, rasping, faltering voice...Millennia? Millennia, my love...I'll miss you most of all. Are you there? And before the Doctor could tell him that Millennia was already dead, Nyssa had fallen to her knees beside him and had taken Rallon's brittle hands in her own. I'm here, my love. I'll always be with you. Rallon had sighed in contentment, believing her to be the woman he had been going to marry. I...love...you... Then, with one last breath, he had died, still clinging to Nyssa's hands.

Tearing her mind away from the awful images, Tejana forced a smile to her face, the beautiful notes of the aria still ringing in her head, both her hearts heavy with grief at the unutterable tragedy she knew was waiting in the wings for this girl. Millennia didn't have long now before she and Rallon made the fatal mistake of joining Theta on his joy-riding expedition to the realm of the Toymaker, only to end up trapped for centuries. Even now, the remains of her young life were being measured by the inexorable ticking of the clock.

It isn't fair! Tejana thought passionately, sudden rebellion surging inside her. One word from me and I can change it all. They can be together, the way it should have been, before Theta interfered. They can get married, have children, live a long and happy life...

However, as much as she longed to warn Millennia, she knew that she couldn't. If the Celestial Toymaker didn't absorb Rallon, the Doctor might never be able to eventually defeat him, which would have been disastrous for the Universe. Millennia's tragedy had happened centuries before Tejana was born. It was over – done and dusted – and she wasn't able to change it. Dyoni was wrong, she wasn't a saviour. And Koschei was wrong – just because you were a Time Lord didn't give you the right to do whatever you wanted. But knowing all that didn't make her feel any better about any of it.

"I thought it was wonderful," she answered huskily, careful not to meet Millennia's eyes. "And I think...I'm sure...Lord Rallon already knows exactly how you feel, my lady."

Millennia smiled back happily. "It's Kat, isn't it?" she said, as Tejana moved across to start stripping the bed. "You cleared our table at dinner the other night. Theta was looking for you earlier."

Tejana's hands tightened on the sheet she was holding. "He was?"

"Yes. I distinctly remember him asking me if I'd seen you today."

A small fizz of excitement buzzed inside Tejana's stomach. It could only mean that her father had something to tell her, something to do with the cracks. Trying to keep her voice calm, she asked, "You don't happen to know where he is right now, do you, my lady?"

"Oh, yes," Millennia responded. "He's in an Infinite Regression Mathematics class with Koschei. Which, by the way, he's failing, so hopefully he's keeping his mind on what he's supposed to be doing." She paused for a moment, as if puzzling over what to say, and then added seriously, "You need to be careful with Theta, Kat. You'd be better off with Koschei."

Tejana's eyes widened in shock and her head shot up as if her neck was a loaded spring. "I beg your pardon?"

"I know it's none of my business," Millennia continued, a flush colouring her cheeks. "And I know the entire Deca thinks that I'm stupid and vague and don't notice things. But I see more than they realise and I couldn't help noticing the way Koschei looked at you the other night at dinner. It can't be easy for someone in your situation, Kat, but if you were thinking of making a...liaison...with one of them...well, I just thought I should warn you. I've known them both for such a long time and I love them both dearly, but Theta... You have to understand, Theta's wonderful and warm and caring and he attracts others, like a beacon of light. But he doesn't like being responsible for people. Maybe one day, he will learn how. However, right now, all he wants to do is to escape out into the Universe and run until he can't run any more. If you get involved with him, you'll only end up being left behind."

Tejana stared at her, suddenly remembering what it felt like to be a lonely eight-year-old child, abandoned by the only parent she had left. She'd never actually had a choice about whether or not she got involved with the Doctor, fate had taken care of that. But she had still been left behind, nonetheless. Millennia's words were almost like a prophecy, in a weird, backwards sort of way – a prophecy that would one day come true.

"And...Koschei?" she whispered, almost afraid to ask.

"Koschei comes across as arrogant and domineering and obsessive," Millennia replied. "And he is all those things. Nevertheless, he will always take care of what is his, that's just his nature."

You were never stupid, Tejana thought incredulously. You saw them all so clearly, more clearly than they ever saw themselves. Why, oh why, Millennia, could you not see what was coming for you?

The stunned expression on Tejana's face evidently made Millennia uncomfortable, because she gave a self-conscious laugh and began to apologise. "I'm sorry, Kat, I shouldn't interfere in your life. I suppose it's just that Rallon and I are so perfectly happy together and I want the whole world to be as happy as we are!"

As she spoke, she twirled her fingers across the beams of the laser harp, releasing another flood of glorious melody. Tejana never knew what she would have said in reply to this innocent, heart-breaking comment, because at that moment there was a loud smashing sound and a furious scream of rage echoed from further up the corridor.

Another Author's Note:

Okay, so I had to include a bit about the love story of Rallon and Millennia, because I think it's so terribly sad. If anyone is interested in the canon behind this, it's from a Fifth Doctor novel called "Divided Loyalties", by Gary Russell. Maybe one day I will write a story about it, since I love a good tragedy.

Next chapter: The Master reveals himself to Tejana on Gallifrey...