Saturday rolls around and she goes to the meeting on time, but Graham is running late. Everyone has them sit next to each other.
"Hello for another week of the support group." Graham greets those who are there, "Sorry I am late today, I hit traffic."
"Traffic can be hell," Ace says, Graham looks at her with a small smile, but she looks away. Tegan, Nyssa and Yaz sigh a little bit at that.
"Who here can remember some fights with the Doctor," Tegan brooches the subject. "Ace, I know you had a few with him."
Under his breath, "She is not an emotional cripple." Though only Ace hears what he said.
"Graham do you have something to share?" asks Yaz, "I know you fought with her after Grace died and we got whisked off to an alien planet."
"You just said it."
"As Tegan said there were a few of them. He never told me the reason we were going somewhere and didn't seem to care when there was a death or many deaths. Some of our fights I would run away." Graham turns towards her trying to connect eyes with her. She avoids it, "Our last one I said we were never mates, and left him."
"Your first time seeing them was before we started this right?"
"Yes, it was. I am glad that I went to that volcano though," she finally looks at Graham and their eyes meet for the first time in a week. They both see hurt reflected in the other. They don't notice Ian talking for about a minute.
"Another fight we had was when Barbra had to pretend to be a deity and she had to do a whole bunch of things and so did he." Ace and Graham finally get out of their trance.
"So all of us had fights with the Doctor about letting people die."
"You know," Jo starts to speak up and looks at Ace and Graham, "before my Cliff and I got married. We did not know each other long before we did tie the knot. At one point in my last adventure when I met Cliff, Cliff and I got into a fight and I stupidly went out on my own so he could do the antidote. After everything Cliff proposed to me and the Doctor gave us, well more me a gorgeous crystal that we still have to this day."
After the meeting Graham follows Ace out of the room, "Mind if I sit here?" Ace gestures for him to take a seat.
"Graham, I am sorry for avoiding you all week. After the fight, I went into a mode I haven't been in a while. I also spent all my time not working in my bomb shelter."
"That explains it,'' he says genuinely.
"What do you mean?"
"I called you Monday and showed up at your house to no answer."
"I got your call, I just didn't know what to say to you."
"Do you know now?"
"You were right about something happening between Glitz and I back when I was a teenager."
"That is not something I want to be right about."
"Not long before the Doctor and Mel showed up, he took me to his ship and, well,"
"Did he?"
"Yes he did. I haven't slept over at any guys house or flat since. Minus the Doctor who said he did something to him after Mel was safe, is the first to know."
"Ace," she leans her head on his shoulder. "I know there is nothing I can say, just know that I love you and I promise not to tell anyone."
"Thank you."
"You should know that Tegan and Nyssa suspect something happened too."
"I know." They sit there until Tegan comes up.
"I am glad you two made up," she sees Ace's eyes, "or," her eyes turning a darker shade.
"We made up Tegan, you can put away the protective older sister."
"It will never be put away, just as I know the protective younger sister is ready to pounce when needed. What is wrong?"
"Something I will tell you when I am ready."
"Whatever it is, I am glad you told somebody."
"The Doctor already knew."
"Then I am glad you told someone you see regularly.'' Graham's arm wraps around Ace's shoulder. Tegan walks away to meet up with Nyssa and Yaz. "They made up."
"Good, are they having a moment?"
"Yes, they are. Ace just opened up to Graham. She said she will say more when she is ready."
"Well, I gotta go, Ryan signed me up for online dating and I have a date tonight."
"Give us details when you get home."
"I will, since you two are you know here, can one of you be my person that calls if I need an escape?"
"Of course we can, we have done that for Ace."
"Even though you were in Australia?"
"Yep. We pretended to be someone at the foundation a number of times." Yaz just laughs and walks off. The other two just stand there to watch Ace and Graham in conversation.
"Can I come over tonight?"
"Of course you can. Are you sure?"
"No, but I am in my 50s, I should be able to spend the night with someone that I love at their flat."
"Of course, and I can just hold you all night."
Ace looks deep into his eyes and only sees love and understanding, "that sounds great."
"Was it really traffic that made you late today?"
"I went to Sheffield to visit the place Grace died at."
"You did?"
"Yeah, it is the first time I hadn't been there since it happened, I thought I saw her. She just smiled at me like the way she smiled at me when I was training Ryan to ride a bike. She knows that my heart is growing for you." Graham stands up and offers his hand to Ace, "Come on it's getting dark." She takes it and he walks her to her car. She notices that his car is right next to hers. "I was hoping that I would be able to talk to you no matter what. Even if it was just to make sure you were ok. I haven't been sleeping for the past week."
"Neither have I." Ace gets in her car. "Can I follow you?"
"Anytime.'' Graham gets in and makes sure that Ace is following him as he exits the area. He orders some food for them while stopped at a red light so it would be there by the time they get to his place. "Hello Ace," says as she exits her car. "I ordered some food while at a red light. I hope that's ok."
"It is." They walk up the stairs to see a bag waiting for them.
"Hopefully you are ok with some generic fast food."
"I am," they enter his flat. Ace shrugs off her jacket and puts her overnight bag on the couch. "Graham."
"Yes?"
"Are you sure you are ok with just holding me tonight?"
He walks up to her, "I love having you in my arms any which way I can have you in them," he kisses the top of her head, "plus we have fallen asleep before just in the others arms."
"We have, haven't we." She hears their stomachs rumble, "I guess we should eat now." They sit down to eat and just talk.
"Do you want to watch some tv?"
"No, I am tired from this week. Do you mind if we go to bed?"
"Of course not, do you want one of my shirts to sleep in or do you have something in your bag?"
"I would prefer one of your shirts. I have both sleep pants and a sleep shirt, but I will prefer one of your shirts." Graham smiles as he shows her to the bedroom and takes out one of his shirts. She puts it on and they get into bed after Graham changes into some sleep clothes. They crawl into bed.
"You know Christmas is vastly approaching."
"I know."
"Ryan phoned me that he won't be here this year. I was wondering if you want to spend it with me; that and Boxing Day.''
"Let me see what Nyssa and Tegan are doing, we usually spend it together."
"Ok." He tightens his arms around her for the rest of the night as they peacefully fall asleep and stay asleep until late hours of the morning. When Ace wakes up she can feel Graham pulling away.
"What are you doing?"
"What do you mean?" Ace follows him.
"Oh, that is what you are doing?" She can feel Graham blushing. "Thank you."
"I just want to help you be comfortable."
"You are a great boyfriend."
"I," she kisses him.
"You don't need to say anything, you are the most understanding relationship I have ever had." Graham blushes at that.
"You want me to make you something to drink?"
"Please, a coffee." Graham whistles out of the bedroom almost running into a corner making Ace laugh. She lays flat on the bed waiting for Graham to be back when smoke starts to surround her. "Not again," Graham comes back to see she isn't there. Thinking she has gone to the bathroom picks up her clothes and folds them. After a while he gets worried and heads to the bathroom.
"Ace," he says at the door, then knocks, "Ace are you in there," wait a few beats, "I am coming in." He opens the door to see the bathroom empty. "ACE WHERE ARE YOU. THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" He starts to run through his flat with the only signs that she was here is her bag and the clothes from the day before. He gets out his phone and calls Ace's, he hears the ringtone. He falls to the couch and calls Tegan.
"What's wrong Graham?"
"Her phone is here, her overnight bag and clothes from yesterday." Graham says in a flash.
"Slow down, start from the beginning," She beckons Nyssa over to her "I put you on speaker phone."
"Ace she is gone, I was making us some coffee, and when I got back to my room she wasn't there. I thought she was in the bathroom, so I waited a few minutes and went to check on her. I knocked a few times then went in and she wasn't there either. I ran through my flat and she was nowhere to be found. I tried to call her phone, but it was still in my room. I then called you."
"Ok Graham, I am going to call UNIT and Nyssa and I will get to your flat. Text her your address."
"Ok."
"Graham, we will find our girl ok."
"I already lost someone I loved."
"You will not lose her, I promise you. We have a few people that can call a certain number and we can go anywhere in space and time."
"I know."
"Ok Graham I will call you after I call UNIT and when we are on the way," Nyssa is already waiting for her in the car.
"How is he?"
"Not well, he is thinking of Grace too. I am going to call UNIT."
"After this I think I will take Ace up on her offer."
"I understand and Kate will too. I think Graham will also need a break from everything too."
"Yeah," Nyssa's phone goes off with the address.
"Hello?"
"Kate, Ace was just kidnapped from Graham's. Nyssa and I are on the way. You may want to send some people over there to look through the bedroom."
"What do you mean?"
"Ace vanished from Graham's apartment even though all her things that were with her there last night are still there including her phone."
"Ok, I will get Martha to call the Doctor, if she vanished like that something is amiss."
"I know."
"I have his address in records. I will meet you guys there."
"Bye Kate." This is the one time safe driver Nyssa doesn't follow the rules of the road and exceeds the speed limit as much as the car in front of her will allow until she can pass it without causing a wreck. Tegan calls back Graham. "We will be there soon."
"Thank you."
"Just stay where you are Kate is going to get people over and call Martha to call the Doctor. Want one of us to call Yaz?"
"I already did, she is on her way too."
"Good, you should also let her know that one of us is calling The Doctor and we don't know which one will turn up."
"I will." They pull up to the flat and both run up the stairs. Tegan doesn't even knock and walks straight into the flat to see Graham with his head in his hands shaking. Tegan doesn't even notice Nyssa taking something out of her pocket and goes to the location she assumes the bedroom is in.
"Graham," she tries to get his attention, "Graham we are here."
He lifts up his head, "Tegan?"
"Yes, it's me. Nyssa is?"
"Where is she," Graham says with panic in his voice.
"In here," she shouts from the bedroom, "I have this device that I created that can tell anything that happened in the past 24 hours."
"Graham you stay here, ok."
"I will stay here." Tegan goes and heads to Nyssa's voice, "when did you create this?"
"I have been working on it ever since you and Ace saw the Doctor last."
''That long?"
"Yes, I know when they show up trouble will follow."
"I am glad you have that."
"Me too, now go Graham needs someone right now, I texted Yaz that the Doctor might be coming here, so it might be best if she lets you and I here to help Graham out."
"Good, especially we might run into her timeline."
"I know, stupid paradoxes."
"Agreed, I am heading to Graham again, please keep talking to us."
"I will, love you."
"Love you too," Tegan goes back to Graham to see Martha with him. "It seems when it comes to people that we all care about there is no manners." She says trying to get Graham to laugh.
"Mickey is at the door making sure only people from UNIT enter."
"Ok, Nyssa is in the bedroom with a device that she has been working on for a while."
"She has been working on something?"
"She always is." Tegan sits back next to Graham while Kate enters the flat and Nyssa comes into the room looking dejected.
"She disappeared from some smoke."
"Smoke?"
"Hi Kate, since before I started back at UNIT I have been working on this gizmo that helps me see up to 24 hours in the past."
"Smoke, what smoke, I didn't smell anything."
Kate sits on the coffee table, "On the way here I looked through notes mentioning sudden disappearances, excluding the ones that mention a blue police box, there were four more. One of which had smoke in it. The last time there was smoke was 35 years ago."
"35 years ago? That was when Ace was whisked away from her home as a teenager."
"It was, though as I know from my dad Fenric was defeated."
"There has to be someone else then. No one would take someone so wonderful." They hear a noise. Graham gets out to see his Doctor coming out, "you find her," he takes a step closer, Tegan gets up and grabs her arms, "I already lost one person I love because of aliens. You help me find her!"
"I promise Graham, but first how long have you been away from me?"
"A number of years, in fact you recently saw me, and because of trying to."
"Doctor let us in the TARDIS it will be better if you have all of us with you, you can't know more just know that we have seen each other again. We will let you know how to act when you see us next after we save Ace." Tegan pushes Graham into the TARDIS followed by everyone else.
Nyssa shoves her device into the Doctor's chest, "Hook this up to the console, and before we take off and use your sonic to take a sample of his bedroom." the Doctor snaps out of her daze from being talked to like that by three of her former companions. Head to do what Nyssa says.
"Ok then, so Ace disappeared not too long ago by smoke that's reading," she looks at what it says, "not that again, everyone do you know how to fly the TARDIS, if we want to follow this quickly. They all go to where they were when they helped pilot it last time. The Doctor plugs in both in the device Nyssa made and her sonic. "This should help too." With one last pull of a lever they are off.
"Is Yaz still with me?"
"Doctor now is not the time?" Graham is getting angry at the Doctor's diversion tactic.
"Is she still alive?"
"Yes! Now can we focus on finding my girlfriend!"
"We can," The TARDIS starts to rematerlize on a planet that only the Doctor knows." She rushes out. "You guys search for Ace, and here," she throws the sonic to Graham. "You might need this, I need to find the person responsible." The Doctor storms out of the TARDIS.
"She must know who it is, come on Graham."
"It better not be Glitz." He follows everyone out. "Should we split up to cover more ground?"
"Good idea Graham."
"Tegan and Nyssa you go straight, Martha and Mickey you go right. Kate you handle coms here." Graham says as he runs out.