A/N This is the final chapter actual chapter. There'll be a small epilogue to finish up. I hope you've enjoyed the ride. It's been a blast writing this all. This part has a small appearance from the Doctor.
Anja
Memories 3
The main hub was unusually quiet, usually when they left Astra alone to work there was the sound of continuous typing, or her swearing in frustration at something, but today there was nothing. Coming around the center pillar, Ianto couldn't see her at her desk. Coming from the other side though, Jack saw her on the floor, "Astra!" He was beside her in mere seconds. As her checked her vitals, his eyes drifted towards the pocket watch, just centimeters from her fingers, "No... No... Please no..." He begged.
Taye knelt beside her, "Let me." Jack relinquished his hold on the young Torchwood officer, the last time he'd come into the Hub to find one of his people on the ground like this, they'd died. He looked at Ianto. He knew he was thinking about Toshiko too. Especially after the voice that they'd heard. They watched as Taye gently lifted her, she groaned, but didn't wake. They followed him to the medical bay where he placed her on the table. Her face contorted with pain momentarily, till it disappeared mostly. Jack and Ianto watched as Taye checked her over, "I... Can't find a reason why..." He said after almost half an hour.
Jack looked down at the pocket watch in his hand. It didn't make any sense to him. The Master hadn't suffered when he'd changed and according to Martha neither had the Doctor. He came down the stairs and went to the table holding Astra, "Why'd you open it?" He took a deep breath, "Keep an eye on her..." Taye nodded and Jack went to her work station. He pulled up the Hub's security footage. He saw her, working at her desk, then checking the vault security footage. He watched as she got up and went down there. She spoke to Rhiley, she showed him the watch. "But why?" He said to himself softly. He saw her work a little more then she opened it. Jack watched in horror as it unfolded on the black and white security footage. He convinced himself that if she hadn't spoken to Rhiley, she never would've opened the pocket watch and therefore she would be fine.
He got up and headed for the vault. He stormed right up to Rhiley's cell, "What the hell did you do?"
Rhiley looked at Jack, surprised, "Nothing."
"Bull shit! She spoke to you and now she's unconscious!"
Rhiley stood up, "I didn't do anything to her. I wouldn't hurt her. I swear. I'm supposed to protect her!"
Jack glared at the man, "What did you say to her then?"
"Now that I can answer. I told her to open the watch."
If it was possible, Jack's glare became worse, "WHY? For the love of god, why? Everything was fine! Now she's dying and if she doesn't there's a chance that she's not who she is and she'll try to kill us just like he did!" Jack turned on his heel and started out.
"She's not who she says she is Boe, she's Romi," Rhiley said calmly.
Jack's eyes went wide and he turned back to the cell, "What?"
"I tried to tell you she wasn't dead, but you wouldn't listen to me!"
"That's not possible... If she's Romi then that means Romi's..." Jack turned and ran out of the vault. He ran to the medical bay where Taye was running more thorough scans, "Her heart, how's her heart?"
Taye looked up confused, "I... I was just about to get you about that..."
"What? Tell me."
"She has two."
-T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D-
Jack sat in his office, contemplating what was happening. It had been two days since Astra had collapsed, each of them were taking turns by her side. Usually, when one of them got too injured for the hub's medical set up, they'd be transferred to the A&E, but he couldn't risk anyone asking about the two hearts. He silently thanked who ever it was he believed in that she was currently staying with Gwen and not in her own apartment with the girls from the University. He looked through the papers on his desk.
He needed to find the Doctor. He needed him now more then ever, but he had no way to contact his friend. He slammed his hand down on his desk. Some papers went flying off and floated down to the floor. "Damn it Astra!" He cursed rather creativly in a few different languages. He had no way to contact the Doctor and he knew it. He looked at the pocket watch. He picked it up from his desk. He felt like crying. They couldn't lose her.
He stared from his office out over the hub. There was a solemn attitude over the hub now. No one knew what to do. He'd asked Martha if she could contact him, but it turned out she'd taken her phone back from him. He slammed is desk again. He hated being useless, but he hated feeling useless even more. Taye had been monitorng her non stop and the only thing he knew was that she was in constant pain. Her brain activity was through the roof and no one had a clue why she wouldn't wake up. He looked solemly at is computer. Work... They hadn't worked in days. UNIT was picking up the slack for them. His computer suddenly flashed and the Doctor's face appeared. Jack stared as if it was some sorrt of dream. Was it possible to wish hard enough for something and for it to happen?
"What's going on there Jack?" The Doctor asked.
Jack shook his head, "I don't know..."
The Doctor's expresion turned serious and cocerned, "Jack? I'm picking up perculier signals from your place. What's going on?"
Jack looked at the screen, "She opened it..."
"Who opened what?"
"The pocket watch... The silver pocket watch... She opened it..." Jack replied.
"Like..." The Doctor started.
"It's the same!" Jack snapped, then held it up for his friend to see.
The Doctor took a sharp breath as he saw the small device, "Who is she?" The Doctor asked.
"My tech, she's a twenty one year old kid named Astra!" Jack said, "She's always had it and I ignored it, now she's dying!"
"Dying? Jack, what happened when she opened it?"
"I don't know. She collapsed two days ago. We can't wake her up and her brain activity is through the roof... I need your help... She's a Time Lord... She has two hearts!"
"I'll be there soon."
-T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D-
Soon couldn't have come fast enough for Jack. Since he'd spoken with the Doctor, he'd paced around the hub driving everyone mad. That had been an hour ago. Now he was randomly assigning tasks to people that were totally nonsense.
"For heavens sake Jack," Gwen finally cried, "Your friend will be here, just have some patience. For a man who waited a hundred and fifty years for this guy to show up, you can't even wait an hour?"
Jack stopped pacing and slumped in the chair across from Gwen, "I'm sorry. It's just... The last time I saw that pocket watch, I also saw the end of the world. I'm scared."
"Of what Jack?" Ianto asked.
"That she becomes like him..."
That's when he heard it, the whooshing sound of the Time rotar, coming into existance, "I've heard that sound before..." Gwen said.
Jack smiled, "That's him."
He jumped up and headed for the lift. Ianto and Gwen nodded and followed him to the invisible lift. Taye stayed in the medical bay with Astra. Up on the surface, Jack could see the TARDIS just a few feet away from the water tower.
-T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D-
The Doctor hovered over the young woman. There was no doubt about it. She was a Time Lord, but he couldn't find any reason as to why she wasn't waking up. He knew how the process was supposed to work. He made his way to Jack, "I don't know... Do you know of anyone that would've been with her when she did it?"
Jack thought and his mind brought him to the conversation with Rhiley, "I think I do, come." Jack lead him down to the vault and they stopped outside the cell, "Rhiley has some 'theories' about Astra. Personally I think he's just trying to cover for his crime."
The Doctor looked at the man in the cell, "Ok, let's hear it."
"Hear what?"
"What happened with Romi and why you think she's now Astra," Jack said.
The Doctor noted the distaste in his friend's voice, but said nothing, allowing the other man to speak. "I found her, near Bernie's. Some goons had attacked her. I helped fight them off, but she was badly injured. She asked me to take her to Bernie's, which I thought was ridiculous, but she insisted. Turns out she had the key to that cupboard no one could ever open. I uh... well, I thought she'd been hit in the head a few too many times, but boy was I wrong. That cupboard, it wasn't a cupboard at all, it was a ship and it was HUGE on the inside. She said it could travel all through time and space far better and safer then our Vortex Manipulators."
"A TARDIS?" Jack asked.
Rhiley thought, "Yes, that's what she called it.
The Doctor shook his head, "That's not possible, mine's the last in existance. Where is it now?"
"Still in Bernie's."
"What happened next?" The Doctor asked.
"I asked her what was going on. She said the Council was after her. She thought it had been about breaking you out of jail," He nodded to Jack, "But apparently someone told them she wasn't human. They were going on about her being the Last of the Time Lords, which she said was ridiculous because that's who she was looking for."
"She was looking for me?"
Jack looked surprised, "She did always say she was looking for a special kind of Doctor..."
"Anyway, she was scared. I'd never seen her so scared. She got me to do some things in the ship. She changed..." Rhiley continued, "She said she would be human, but she couldn't remember who she was."
The Doctor nodded, "I know how it works from there."
"But she never said her body would change!" Rhiley cried.
The Doctor turned back to him, "She regenerated while changing? Oh Rassilon she should be dead!" The Doctor paced the corridor inbertwine the cells, "It does explain why she's not waking up though, bad regenerations result in Regeneration Sickness. I've suffered it before too, but...She regenerated years ago from what you're saying."
Jack looked at he Doctor, "So, what can we do for her?"
The Doctor stopped pacing and looked right at Jack, "I don't know... She should be taken to Gallifrey..."
"But Gallifrey's gone..." Jack finished.
The Doctor nodded sadly, "I don't know Jack, I really don't know..."
"You know Doc, I really hate it when you say you don't know..." Jack said, watching him pace, "What about the TARDIS?"
"What about the TARDIS?"
"It's the closest thing to Galifrey that we have around here," Jack said, "If Astra's really a Time Lord then wouldn't the TARDIS be able to make some kind of link with her?"
The Doctor nodded, "Yes, yes and then I might be able to figure out who she is..."
They made there way out of the vault, leaving behind a bewildered Rhiley. Jack went down to the medical bay and picked Astra up from the table.
"Jack..." Gwen said, surprised.
"We have an idea," Was all he said, before heading up to the main hub to join the Doctor, who was talking with the others.
"What idea Jack?" She asked.
Jack sighed, he had no idea how to explain it to them, but the Doctor answered first, "Come."
They headed towards the cog door, the TARDIS was now parked within the Information Center. As they went past the coat rack, the Doctor stopped, "Who's is this?" he asked, pointing at Astra's ghastly scarf.
"Astra's," Ianto answered.
The Doctor picked it up tenderly, as if remembering some fond memory, "What is it, Doctor?" Jack asked.
"It's mine... Well, no, not mine, but identical to the scarf I wore in my fourth Regeneration... My fourth regeneration... Princess Astra of Atrios..." He looked up at Jack, "Your friend, said he thinks she's your friend Romi, right?" Jack nodded, "Years ago, I had a companion, we couldn't stand each other, Romanadvoratrelundar, I called her Romana though. She was a Time Lord, the only Time Lord I ever traveled with. She took the form of Astra of Atrios..."
"You mean... Our Astra is your Romana..." Taye said, confused.
"Well... It looks that way... But... Romana left in e-space..." The Doctor frowned, he put the scarf pack on the coat rack, "Let's get your friend to the TARDIS..."
The Doctor opened the TARDIS to let everyone in, he wasn't used to having so many people in the TARDIS and he hadn't since tey'd taken the Earth home. It brought back bad memories. But they were Jack's friends. Jack then took over and lead the way to the medical bay, all around them the TARDIS seemed to be glowing warmly, as if welcoming them, or some one in particular. Jack gently laid Astra down and looked at the Doctor, "My brilliant idea kind of stopped here..."
The Doctor placed a reassuring hand on Jack's shoulder, "Let the old girl work some of her magic."
Jack seemed comfortable inside the TARDIS and moved within the room, but Gwen, Ianto and Taye hovered near the door to the medical bay. The Doctor took his Sonic Screw Driver from his pocket and scanned Astra. They waited.
Astra felt herself drifting... The Darkness called to her. Enticed her. It was so easy to just let everything go and give into the darkness. The all her pain go. But the light... The day, the living... It seemed so far away... So hard to get to. So difficult, so painful to deal with. She felt the love of her friends. Yes, they were her friends. She knew them. Some of them twice... The living. She wanted to be with them she had to. She wasn't done yet. She needed more time. Time to find... Who? The Doctor... To tell Boe... Jack the truth about so many things... Home... Familiy... She wanted to live. She wanted to be with them...
Suddenly, she bolted upright, gasping for breath. Jack was by her side in an instant, the Doctor scanned her again, "Regeneration Sickness."
She groaned in pain and curled into herslef, trying not to scream in agony. Jack nodded, but held her close, "Boe?"
Jack looked down at her and smiled, "Yeah?"
She was about to speak, when she cringed. The Doctor spoke up, "It's going to be like that for a while."
She groaned, but when she spoke there was a hint of playfulness in her weak voice, "And what would you know you old coot?"
The Doctor laughed, "I can't believe it..." Then he turned serious, "What in Rassilon's name are you doing here Romana?"
She groaned again and looked up, "It's a long story my old friend."
"Ok... Let me get this straight, Astra is in fact a Time Lord... What ever that is... But who shouldn't be here and knows Jack, John and the guy in the vault and should be dead?" Gwen asked, "Did I miss anything?"
Taye shrugged, "I don't know..."
She held her head for a moment, "Jack didn't kill Rhiley did he?" She asked.
"No, he's alive..." Jack said.
"I think we have time for that long story..." Ianto said.
Astra/Romana nodded, "Yes... Yes, I suppose you do... You might want to sit down though... TARDIS, if you don't mind?"
Several chairs appeared for them to sit on, the Doctor smiled sadly, "She still likes you."
"Well, I never broke her!"
"He should stop all that Jiggery Pokery stuff shouldn't he?" Jack commented.
Astra/Romana nodded, "Yes... Or at least learn how to do it properly."
"Ok, enough with the picking on me!"
She smiled weakly and looked at her friends, "About twenty years ago, well, about thirty-five if you include the time I spent here and in the Time Agency... I settled down on Earth, in the Alternate universe that I was living in after I had left e-space," She glanced at the Doctor, "You didn't get into too much trouble over that did you?"
He shrugged, "Just a little. You know the council."
"More old coots!" She said.
The Doctor laughed sadly, "Yes... Yes they were... Do... Do you know?" He certainly liked this regeneration, she was more fun then the first Romana that he'd met.
She nodded, "I know about Gallifrey. I met some friends of yours, that's why I'm here..." She sighed, "Anyway, where was I? Right, settling on Earth. I never really did see what you liked about humans? Do now of course... I'd been involved over the years with Torchwood, vastly different from here... But I was asked to take over in Cardiff, so I did. I needed a reason to stay put. I saw about three different teams go through the hub in those years, but about a year or so before I left I meet this guy, he's not from around there, but he knows his stuff. Mickey and Jake worked for Torchwood One and a little later went back to Mickey's world-"
"Mickey? As in Mickey Smith?" The Doctor asked.
She nodded, "That would be him."
"You met Rose then..."
She nodded again, "Yes... Rose Is why I'm here."
"What?" Jack asked.
"I can see what you liked about her," Astra/Romana said to the Doctor, "She's an amazing woman."
The Doctor and Jack nodded, "Yes she is!"
"I was supposed to bring you back to her... But I got stuck..." She paused as she cringed with pain, "My TARDIS got damaged and I did the only thing I could, I set a path to the fifty-first century..."
"Where we met," Jack concluded.
She nodded, "Yeah... I already knew all about you though..."
"Rose..." Jack said..
She nodded again, "I... Kind of used the Agency to find parts for the TARDIS..." She looked directly at Jack, "I never planned on falling for Rhiley... I just wanted to find that old coot... " She pointed to the Doctor, "And go home... To my team and my family..."
"Would you stop calling me an old coot Romana," The Doctor interupted, "And... Your family?"
She frowned at him, "You're four hundred years older then I am, you're old and I have a son..." She said softly, "But that's not the point. Things went seriously wrong after we broke you out of jail Jack. The first time I mean, not the recent one," She clarified, "I don't know how they found out about me... I was careful... Always, but... I guess my codes were a little obvious..."
Jack laughed, "Now that I know what a Time Lord is, yeah, I'd say so!"
She sighed and bit her lip as she curled up in pain again, "I had Rhiley take me to my TARDIS, there I used what power was left in her to change me and hide me. I told him to set my Vortex Manipulator for Wales twenty-first century... I don't know what went wrong, maybe because I regenerated he did something wrong, I wound up in New South Wales instead and several years early."
The others had been watching and listening. To say they were confused was an understatement. Taye got up and went over to her, "But what does it all mean? Who are you?"
It was obvious he was hurt. She'd been his link to Torchwood, his guide, now he didn't even know if she was the same person. She reached out her hand to him and he took it, "I'm still me. When... When we regenerate our personality changes too. Honestly? You probably know me better then I do. The old me... The one Jack knew was more serious, loving, grown up..." She smiled weakly, "Before that..."
"You mean when you took Princess Astra's body?" The Doctor interupted.
She frowned at him, "Yes, when I took Astra's body. I was more fun then though, right?"
The Doctor nodded, "You were a pompus ass before that!"
"I know... I'm... Very clingy like this..." She replied. She sat up slowly, untangling herself from Jack. She grabbed her head, "Ugh... five hundred years of memories..." She groaned.
"It's not the memories. It the Regeneration Sickness," The Doctor said, "You're a few years over due."
She nodded slowly, "Umm... My TARDIS is still at Bernie's... And she's too broken to fly, K-9 is there too, waiting for me."
"Jack and I can get her... Where did you get a TARDIS from?"
"Umm... The other universe... She was in a scrap heap. But when you have the key..." She started, "She's this one... Yours from the alternate universe..." She looked at the Doctor, "Did Jack ever tell you my full name?"
The Doctor shook his head, "No, I don't believe he did."
She smiled, "Astra Gayle Lifrey... It was all i could do to leave a clue as to who I was."
The Doctor looked at Jack, "You didn't pick up on Gayle Lifrey... Gallifrey?"
"I did, when we first met, but... It sort of slipped my mind..."
"Yeah. He's getting dopey in his old age," Romana replied, "He'll be able to join us soon!"
The Doctor nodded then looked from Romana to Taye, "Where were these two when the earth was stolen?"
"Astra... Romana was in Australia," Jack replied, "And Taye... Where were you Taye?"
"At my old Navy base," Taye said, still staring at Astra, "My CO's funeral. I came back to Cardiff but i couldn't get into the hub."
Roman shrugged, "I tried to get back, but no planes were flying and I left my Vortex Manipulator at the hub."
"Romana, Rose and Mickey came back... And Rose has gone back to the Alternate universe..." The Doctor said, remore filling his voice, "She couldn't stay here. Not anymore..."
-T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D-
Romana walked around the console room, "You've changed the desktop theme..."
"You like it?" The Doctor asked.
She nodded, "Yeah..."
He came over to her, "Are you Ok?"
Romana looked at him, her young face with her eyes as old as time, just like him, "I don't know... I need to go back! They need me."
He shook his head, "When the earth got stolen they found a way through. The void collapsed and I made sure I sealed every last whole this time. I had to! Or everything would rip apart..."
She nodded, "So you've said..." She tuned away from him and continued walking around the TARDIS console. A few steps later she turned back to him, "Is it true?"
"What?"
"What Rose said about Gallifrey? Are you... We... the only ones?" She asked.
He nodded, "Well... The Master survived... But... He messed up again... He died last year, shot... refused to regenerate..."
She looked down, then to the side, anywhere but him, "What now?"
"Whatever you want..."
She laughed, "Whatever I want... Right..." She took a deep breath and walked to the TARDIS door, "I... I don't know what I want now Doctor. I can't go home..." She opened the door and walked out into the Tourist Centre. Looking around at the familiar room. She smiled sadly, then walked out the door into the Pass...