Chapter 12

Lima, Peru

June 2009

It took the Doctor a few minutes to inform Doris of Sam's plans, putting himself as a willing participant - he told himself that it was only to ease his friend's mind. The look of appreciation and love on Doris' face filled the Time Lord with guilt, knowing that he didn't intent to help Sam in any way. After once again assuring Glad that she would be well cared for in Doris' hands – and giving her a key to the TARDIS to allow her access to it - he followed Sam out of the house, borrowing the Brigadier's Jeep. He let the physicist drive as he watched the landscape pass.

It was a few hours before the cityscapes slowly turned into country and then into mountains. Neither of them has spoken to each other during the trip, though it was obvious that the Doctor still disapproved of Sam's given mission.

Finally, once they were truly close to the mountains, Sam stopped the Jeep. He turned to the Doctor. "Okay. I know you're not really keen on this whole thing. Right now, though, as much as you think this is wrong, I need the right directions to get to Alistair's location. If I can't trust you to give them to me, I'll have to wait for Al." He paused. "I really don't get you, though. This is your friend we're talking about."

"It has nothing to do with Alistair," the Time Lord murmured. He sighed and then quietly gave Sam the directions that he needed to get to the Brigadier. After a long pause, he looked at Sam. "I do want to save him."

Sam heard the compassion in the Doctor's voice. He realized that in many ways, the Doctor was where he was the first time he'd visited Beth's life. He truly felt he couldn't help Al regain the love of his life. It wasn't until after Sam had met the bartender that he realized that it was something he had to do. It was part of the reason he knew now that the Doctor was wrong about fighting him. "I know. And I will save him. I'll save him and space-time will not be destroyed."

"Oh, I wish I could believe you. I really do. But I'm afraid I'm going to have to fix what you are about to destroy." The Gallifreyan's voice took on a haunted tone.

"You won't have to fix anything."

"Yes. I will," he replied softly. He looked over at Sam, his eyes seeming to grow old instantly.

Sam started up the Jeep and headed in the direction he knew held his destiny. He'd save Brigadier General Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart and show the Doctor there was more in heaven and earth than were dreamt of in his Time Lord philosophies.

Another long journey up the mountains filled their time before the Doctor put a hand on Sam's arm. "Stop here," he instructed. "We have to go the rest of the way on foot."

"How far is it?"

"About nine or ten hours away," he answered, stepping out of the Jeep just as it stopped. "It's getting to be nightfall so we'll have to set camp for the night. Too dangerous going up when it's this dark." Seeing the concern on Sam's face, he assured him, "I'm not deliberately delaying you. Alistair will be fine until we reach him. Well... I say fine... Still... ex-military. He can take care of himself for the most part, even at his age."

"Yeah. I know the type."

The Doctor gave him a smile. "I had a feeling about him," he commented, opening the back of the Jeep to pull out the needed equipment.

Sam looked at the Doctor strangely. "Huh?"

"Your friend Albert," came the clarifying response. The Time Lord handed Sam a couple of large rucksacks. "Ex-military, am I right? One of the higher ranking officers?"

Sam nodded and smiled. "Yeah. Rear Admiral, retired." He added, "You know, he was an astronaut during the Apollo program."

The Doctor stopped in his motions. "No..." he stated, his voice sounding stunned. "Waitaminute… waitaminutewaitaminute! Wait…a…minute! Calavicci! Of course! Captain Albert Calavicci! Why didn't I see it before? I'm old and thick!"

Sam again stopped to look at the Doctor. "What?"

"Captain Albert Calavicci!" the alien reiterated. "Apollo! Aw! He's brilliant!" His face dropped. "Just don't tell him I said that. Not sure that he'd ever let me live it down."

"You're... um... saying Al's brilliant? The guy you called an obnoxious little man? What changed your mind?" Sam asked. It wasn't that he didn't agree with the Doctor, just wanted to find out why the sudden reversal.

"Well... it's all a matter of context, isn't it? I mean, before, he was just an annoying little man... Well, he still is annoying but that's beside the point. But I had no idea that he and he were the same person. I mean, who would have thought that, given how he's continually closing his mind to the possibilities of the universe and yet believing in non-existent paranormal phenomenon. I mean, I really didn't get to talk to him much the first time I met him and even then it was only for a few minutes while he was preparing for launch. Amazing little creatures, you humans. Putting yourselves into tiny little rockets and launching yourselves into space with nothing to protect you from vacuum except a primitive metal shell. And here was Albert Calavicci, astronaut extraordinaire! Mind you, if it weren't for him and me putting our brilliant minds together, that mission would have ended disastrously."

Sam considered the flood of words that flowed over him non-stop. When the Doctor ended, he asked, "So which incarnation were you?"

The Doctor blinked at him for a moment. "Umm... fifth?" He tugged at his ear as he concentrated on finding the answer. "No! Fourth! Teeth and curls! And a really long scarf. Love that scarf! Still have the first one I wore in the TARDIS." He winced slightly. "Unraveled the second one trying to find my way to the zero room after I regenerated."

"So, you've met Al before, huh? Strange that you didn't recognize him."

The Time Lord sniffed slightly. "Well... he is a bit older now and it was a long time ago for both of us. He wasn't quite so... parochial back then."

"You think Al's parochial?"

"He came back from being scared of ghosts dressed as if he were the grocery list for a Dragon without considering the fact that he's a hologram."

Sam rolled his eyes before defending his buddy. "He knew he was a hologram. He was just making sure that the Dragon couldn't get him even if he was. I know that sounds pretty dumb but think about it. There were a lot a hokey things going on at that point. Why not an alien something that could pull a human back through space-time to eat it? Al was just being... in his way... practical."

"There's practical and parochial. And when you are using superstition to make irrational decisions, that's very parochial."

"Okay, fine." the physicist stated to end that particular discussion, instead going back to the previous one. "So... when you met him before, what exactly did the two of you figure out?"

"Oh, I think that's for you to ask Albert, not me." He grinned widely at him.

"I hope I remember to do that."

"You going to set up camp? Lovely night out. Evening sleeping under the stars?"

He paused. "Yeah. Probably should fix something for dinner."

"Molto bene!" The Gallifreyan practically skipped over to their chosen site, gathering an armload of dried wood and strategically placing it on the ground before pulling out his sonic screwdriver and lighting the makeshift fire. Setting a couple of sleeping bags around the campfire, he then sat cross-legged on one as he watched Sam open a can. "What is that?" he questioned with a frown.

"You brought it," Sam pointed out. "It's some kind of beef stew." He lifted the lid and looked inside. "Not the way Mom used to make it." He dumped it into the pot he'd pulled out of the backpack.

"I just took what Alistair keeps in his Jeep for his little excursions into nature." The alien leaned forward to look into the pot. "Doesn't look too bad."

"You never had Mom's cooking." Sam set up a holder to keep the pot over the fire. As he gave it a stir, he turned back to the Time Lord. "I'm not surprised you'd be impressed by Al. He's one of a kind, you know."

"I didn't say it was the best beef stew in this area of the Mutter's Spiral," the Doctor clarified at Sam's words. "But at least it looks like it won't taste like someone's left shoe." Giving Sam a smile, he supported his weight on his elbows. "And, yes, Albert Calavicci is definitely one of a kind. He has a unique way of looking at science, you know."

"Yeah. He was one of the few who believed in my dream. Most people thought I was nuts." Sam looked into the fire, his mind back at the beginning of Al's and his partnership. "Without Al, I wouldn't be here right now."

"Well, of course they did. Aren't all geniuses a little crazy? But see, that's exactly why Albert is brilliant! He sees what other people don't. He may not understand it in minute scientific detail... But you show him a transdimensional equanomagnetic linear logistic manipulator and he can tell you exactly what it's for without the scientific goobledigookish explanation."

Sam nodded vigorously. "Yeah. That's Al."

"Like I said... brilliant! Really, how many human beings can do that? And I have never met a man more loyal to his own species. Mind you, his attraction to females reminds me a little too much of Jack... or is that the other way around?" He shook his head. "Anyway, if it weren't for him... well, and me, of course... his entire crew would have died on that Apollo mission."

"I've never heard that. Al's been generally quiet about that mission. I figured it was secret or something." He smiled. "I remember hearing him read Genesis though, from up there," Sam said, nodding to the night sky.

"That was my idea." Seeing the look on Sam's face, he admitted, "Not really. But it was beautiful, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. It was," the leaper agreed. "I really didn't realize Al was the same guy when I first met him at Star Bright, but I remember watching that on TV as a kid."

"Is that heated?" the Time Lord changed the subject abruptly, nodding to the pot over the fire.

Sam checked the food and found it bubbling. "Hand me a plate and I'll dish some up for you.

The Doctor complied, waited patiently for the makeshift cook to dish out the stew, and accepted it back from him. Digging a fork into the meal, he took a bite. "Not bad. Not a gourmet meal on Gantra Sixteen. But not bad."

"Well, I don't know anything about Gantra Sixteen, but I'll agree with you." Sam dished out his own plate and started eating as well.

The two men ate in silence, after which the Doctor cleaned up the remnants of their dinner and put the plates and utensils away in the Jeep. Returning to the campfire, he slumped back down and, lying uncovered, stared up at the sky. "Yeti," he said suddenly.

"Huh?" Sam asked again at the sudden word.

"When Alistair and I first met, we were fighting Yeti."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me," Sam said dryly. A memory came to him. "Al and I once saw Bigfoot."

"Didn't happen to be a robot being controlled by the Great Intelligence in an attempt to take over the Earth, did it?"

Sam shook his head. "I don't think so. He helped get a vehicle that had gone off the road back on course. Seemed like a nice enough creature. Just wanted to be left alone."

"Just making sure. Didn't want to think that Sasquatch's good name was being tarnished."

"I take it you and Alistair won?"

"Oh, yes," the Doctor agreed with a grin. "Well, sort of. The Great Intelligence escaped but there aren't any more Yeti running around London. So, what about you and Albert? There's got to be a story there."

Sam smiled. "You could say that. When I first met Al, he was going to take out a vending machine with a hammer."

"A hammer? I can think of better ways to disable a vending machine. Why use a hammer?"

"It took his dime. He wanted vengeance."

"If he gets that upset over a dime, I'm glad I never took that bag of jellies he'd left on the table."

Sam shook his head. "It was a different time for Al. He was going through some problems. I'm sure when you met him, he would have given you the jellies. He's always been generous."

"He seemed that sort at the time, which is why hearing about him attacking a vending machine with a hammer comes as a surprise to me. What kind of problems?"

"Al had been a prisoner of war. Flashbacks had been haunting him and he'd been drinking heavily to deal with them. I helped him find a healthier way. Best decision I ever made was to help him find his way again."

The Time Lord's eyes instantly showed his age at Sam's words. In that moment, he completely sympathized with Albert Calavicci. "He's lucky to have you, Sam Beckett. So lucky."

"It's mutual," Sam answered honestly.

"You have no idea what you mean to him," the Doctor continued. "You really don't."

The leaper grinned at the Gallifreyan. "He's my Sancho. My best friend." The grin turned rueful. "Just once, I wish I could just take his hand again and pull him into a bear hug. I think I miss that more than anything."

The Time Lord returned a weak, but honest, smile back to Sam. "You will. Hug him." He took a slow breath. "I understand Albert, now," he stated bluntly. "Oh, I so understand him. So much more than you ever will. And I hope you never understand him as I do, Sam. There are some things that no one should ever know. And Albert and I do."

Sam's head tilted and a confused look crossed his face. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Have you ever been in a war? Have you ever been a prisoner of war?"

The human stammered. "I'm not sure. I've been in situations that I've been a prisoner and I've experienced war first hand, but I simply don't remember if I've been a prisoner of war."

"Then I hope, if you ever were, that you never remember." There was a pause. "I still have nightmares from it." He huffed slightly. "But then again, you probably already guessed that based on my current sleeping habits. Or rather lack thereof."

Sam nodded. "Yeah. The one memory I do have of being in a war still occasionally haunts me. I so wanted to have my brother survive and as a result a young woman died who wouldn't have. And, because of me, Al spent another two years in total hell." He huffed out a breath. "Al said that he made the choice when he told me to go after Tom, and Maggie won the Pulitzer posthumously, which is what she wanted. Still..."

"No Reapers popping in from out of nowhere?" The Time Lord shook his head slightly to negate his own question. "Obviously not, or you wouldn't be right here right now."

"I've never seen these Reapers you're speaking of are and I've never seen anything that would tell me that what I'm doing is wrong. In fact, there have only been incidents that show I'm doing what I'm supposed to, even if certain factions don't want me to."

"What factions? You know, the more you talk about your 'missions', the more I'm thinking that you are being manipulated."

"Well, there was one time that... um... well, it sure seemed like the Devil impersonated Al. He wasn't too happy with my fixing things. Then there was Lothos."

"Had my encounter with the Devil as well. Well... maybe it was the Devil. Certainly was something I never had encountered before." The Doctor frowned. "But what or who is Lothos?"

"He's... something, someone... that is working in time similar to me."

"Another time traveler changing history 'for the better' left, right, and in between without thinking about the consequences. Terrific,"came the sarcastic response.

"That's not it at all," Sam said, sounding somewhat defensive.

"Competition trouble?" the Doctor queried, the sarcasm still strong.

Sam's eyes narrowed as his anger and disgust at Lothos came to the fore. "No. Lothos' project is a... a... flip side of Quantum Leap. He tries to tear things apart. Make them worse. Hurts the people he leaps." Sam thought back to Alia and hoped that she was okay wherever she was.

"Ooo, can't have that!" the Gallifreyan protested. "I may not like you hopping about from time period to time period, changing things around. But at least you're not hurting anyone. Well, for the most part. At least, I'm assuming, based on what I know about you, that you aren't deliberately hurting anyone."

"Of course, I wouldn't deliberately hurt anyone. That wouldn't be right." He paused. "Although I've had to kill before. I never thought that would happen in my life."

The Doctor laid flat on the sleeping bag at Sam's words, his eyes sad. "I'm sorry," he told him softly. It was almost as if he was taking the blame for Sam's actions, regardless of the circumstances that had caused Sam to take a life.

Sam nodded. "First time that I actually meant to kill another being, the woman was about to kill my brother. If I hadn't shot her, he would've died. Again. I couldn't let that happen."

"Can't remember the first time I deliberately killed someone," came the quiet answer. "I know I had no other choice. But, eventually, it infects you. It becomes so easy to kill." His voice grew hard as he spoke, though it was obvious that the harshness was directed at himself. "At least, until you've actually done it. Then it's the hardest thing in the universe."

There was a long lull in the conversation as both men sat, considering what they had told each other.

"Well... we're a cheery lot, aren't we?" the Doctor suddenly commented, his eyes still gazing up at the sky. "Suppose we had better sleep. Need to be well rested for our rescuing Alistair tomorrow."

"I was thinking the same thing," Sam said. He did a double take at the words the Doctor spoke. "Our rescuing Alistair? I thought you didn't approve."

"I don't," the Time Lord hedged. "Well... not entirely. Still... I have a feeling that somehow someone or something is manipulating your leaping, preventing the Reapers from crossing into our reality. And the possibility of saving my friend... He's more than a friend, actually. Alistair has saved me so many times, in so many ways. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for him." He didn't tell Sam the dark thoughts that ran through his mind - thoughts of doing whatever was necessary should the Reapers make an appearance.

Sam smiled. "Well, nice to have your support. Now let's get some sleep."

The Doctor made a slight nod at Sam's words, lying silently as he looked up at the starlit ceiling above them. He just hoped that tomorrow wouldn't have him freeing his dear friend - only to kill him for the sake of the rest of planet Earth.

The two men went to sleep and slept peacefully through the night. It was just past dawn when Sam, wrapped up in a dream was awoken.

"Sam," a gravelly voice pushed through the dreams of the physicist. "Sam, wake up. Come on, buddy."

"Let him be," another voice put in with slight annoyance. "We've got time."

Sam opened one eye and saw the brightly colored clothing pallet that was his best friend. He had to admit that waking up to a rainbow was somewhat disconcerting, but then again, this was Al. "I'm awake," he said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Aww, Albert! Why'd you have to wake him up? He needs as much rest as he can get."

The Admiral turned his head towards the Time Lord, who was stirring something over an open fire. "If you don't mind, I'm trying to talk to my friend here." He returned his gaze towards Sam. "So, how's it going with...?" He gestured over his shoulder towards the Doctor.

Sam stretched to work the kinks out of his neck. "Good." He gave a yawn and then asked, "How far are we to Alistair's location and have you found out any more about the kidnapping?"

"You're close enough to make it in a day, about ten or eleven hours on foot, depending on the terrain and the direction you go. As for the rest, there really isn't much to go on concerning the actual kidnapping. From what little we were able to get, Sir Alistair was apparently out shopping when a group of four armed men physically pulled him off of the street and threw him into a non-descript van. After that, he wasn't seen until early tomorrow morning. The person who found his body didn't stick around to give his name or anything but he was described as being about 5'10" tall with curly brown hair and wearing a Halloween costume."

"Sounds sorta like you, Al," Sam quipped.

"Oh, haha," Al answered with a glare.

"Actually..." the Doctor spoke up, walking over to hand Sam a bowl of hot oatmeal. "It was a New Year's Eve costume."

Sam took the bowl. "What?" he asked, wondering about the description. He also acknowledged receiving the food. "Thanks."

"The outfit Albert's describing. It was a New Year's Eve costume. Not a Halloween costume. Though, it probably could have been used for Halloween as well."

"How would you know that?"

"Umm... because..." The Time Lord focused on the bowl in his own hand, stirring the oatmeal for a long moment. "I was wearing it."

"You... were...' Sam started in surprise before the compassion in his eyes took over. "Oh, Doctor. That must have been horrible, finding your friend murdered."

Al rolled his eyes. "He's reeling you in, Sam. He doesn't even come close to fitting that description."

"I fit the description then," the Time Lord stated.

Sam looked at Al. "It doesn't matter, Al. It's possible."

"I'm telling you, it isn't!" Al insisted vehemently.

Sam took a deep breath and sigh of tiredness. "Al, this guy is on his tenth life. When he 'dies,' he doesn't exactly die. He regenerates. He's looked very different in the past."

"Really," Al said. "Well, he doesn't look or act a day over eleven."

"I'm nine hundred years old!" the Doctor protested. "As if you're to talk, with all those sports cars you've got hiding in your garage."

"I'm a collector," Al stated with dignity. He looked at Sam. "How did he know that? You been telling him about me?"

"Actually... I've been telling him about us," the Gallifreyan corrected and then smiled widely. "Isn't that brilliant?"

"What?" Al asked. "I've never met you before this leap. At this point, I'm still not sure that was a good idea."

"Oh, yes, we have. Albert Calavicci, astronaut extraordinaire. Husband to Elizabeth, father of four daughters. You are so very proud of them, especially your youngest, whom you and Beth nearly lost."

Al's eyes narrowed as he looked at Sam. "You have been talking about me."

The Doctor spoke up, not giving Sam a chance to reply to the accusation. "He hasn't been telling me about your family, Albert. I already knew that from when we met before. Met Beth, actually. Marvelous woman. You're very lucky."

"Yes... I know that. But how could you possibly know about my children unless Sam's been filling you in?"

"Met them too," he replied. "We had a lovely dinner, us seven. You, me, Beth, your three eldest and little Julianna. Tell me, how is her heart condition?"

Al blinked. "That's even more specific."

"Is she still taking those meds I told you to give her? Mind you, she's probably an adult now so her prescription has no doubt changed to suit her age. But still, would hate for her to have a heart attack."

"The meds you told me to give her? An old friend..." He looked at Sam. "A doctor, like you..." He turned back to the Gallifreyan, "...found her heart condition and prescribed meds. He certainly wasn't you. For one thing, he was taller and he had a mouth of big teeth."

"An antiarrhythmic, to be precise. For her irregular heartbeat," the Time Lord replied. "Teeth and curls, that was me. Gave her a jelly baby for being such a good little girl."

"You're telling me you're Dr. John Smith?" Al's eyes widened.

The Doctor scratched his head. "Now that I think of it, I actually was taller. A good two inches."

Al's face clouded with confusion. "But you're... he's... well, was... I mean..."

Sam smiled at Al's confusion. "It's all do to with that Time Lord thing. I may have been traveling for twelve years in others' auras. He just travels longer and changes. Still not a normal existence." Sam thought about it. "Well, not normal for a human. I guess for a Time Lord, from what I understand, sort of par for the course."

"Well, par for the course for me, anyway." The Doctor hesitated then shifted the focus back on what he was more interested in, namely talking about him and Al's first meeting. "That was about three hundred years ago for me."

Al turned to Sam. "I can't believe this putz is the same person. That guy was really amazing."

Sam shook his head. "Same guy, Al."

"Putz?!" the Time Lord huffed. "There's gratitude for you. Save someone's life, he calls you a putz." He put a large glob of oatmeal in his mouth.

Sam looked at the Doctor. "That's just Al. He didn't mean anything by it."

"Could have fooled me," the Gallifreyan commented, his mouth full.

"Getting back on the subject," Al put in. Seeing the frown on the Doctor's face, he clarified, "Sir Alistair."

The Doctor's face dropped noticeably at his words, suddenly somber again.

Al continued to lay out what information they'd been able to determine as the Doctor and Sam finished their breakfast. By the time the oatmeal was finished and the dishes were washed and put away, the two men pulled on their packs starting up the trail.

Al hit the handlink to open the door and called after them. "Hey, since it's going to take you a while to get where you're going, I'm going to get some work done. Maybe get something to eat. I'll check back with you in a few hours." With that, he exited the Imaging Chamber, knowing that Ziggy would let him know if he needed to hurry back to them for any reason.

DWQLTWDWQLTW

Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean

March 30, 2010

The Master was pushing back into the leather chair on his Lear jet, Peri in a matching chair next to him as they headed back to Australia after finishing the last of their world-wide PR tour. "Brilliant, my dear. Simply brilliant. Of course, I'm not surprised that my wife would see the potential of the information Lothos obtained from hacking the ultra secret files at the Pentagon. A separate power grid. No wonder it's been taking so long to pinpoint them."

Peri Saxon smiled at her husband. "Naturally, I had to ensure that our plans remained on schedule by suggesting to Lothos that the power be cut from their complex at the same time as Pi comes online, giving you the time you need to write a program to take control of their computer. It wouldn't do to have any kind of resistance to our plans, especially from a time traveling meddler like Samuel J. Beckett."

"Absolutely. Don't want any Reapers finding their way into our new empire. When they show, well, as the saying goes, there goes the neighborhood... and the planet... and likely the universe."

"Amazing that they haven't already claimed this planet, what with Lothos and Beckett making such a mess of things."

"That has me confused as well. From the files I've seen, their level of meddling is simply not acceptable. There must be some form of shield. I'll have to uncover it. Could come in handy to change things with immunity."

"Perhaps the Time Lords just keep correcting the imbalances," she suggested. "You did say that they watched over the universe and kept time from collapsing on itself."

"I don't think so. There just isn't a Time Lord stamp on Beckett's and Lothos' activities."

"Perhaps Beckett and Lothos never actually did anything that caught the eyes of the Reapers."

"Maybe," the Master replied, though his voice indicated that he seriously doubted the possibility. Taking a breath, he leaned forward to pick up his glass of bourbon and sipped on it for a moment. "At any rate, it doesn't matter. Soon neither of them will be a problem."

Peri smiled. "You're close to harnessing the power of the black stone."

"I have the schematics for the prototype chamber drawn up. Completely in my own memory, of course. Can't have HAL get a hold of this technology. However, once we have Earth under our feet, I will build the chamber, use the Eye to make you a goddess, and then we'll use it to conquer the rest of the universe one star system at a time. By then, we should also have a TARDIS available, especially after we take Gallifrey."

"You haven't told me much about your home planet. What is it like?"

The Master regarded the drink in his hand for a moment. "The planet itself... Gallifrey is gorgeous. Fields of red grass everywhere, trees with silver leaves when in bloom, majestic mountains serving as backdrop to enormous cities under glass domes, a light orange sky illuminated by two suns... The sky turns dark burnt orange when the suns go down. Absolutely stunning. The Time Lords themselves, however... old, stagnant, dusty people too afraid to take the power they possess and use it as it should be. The whole Time Lord race should be rulers of the universe. Instead, they sit there like lumps, afraid to make the tiniest waves. Cowards all of them."

"Red grass and silver trees? Sounds beautiful."

"Oh, it is. And very soon, my love, you will see it in person, just as soon as I find the means to take you there. A TARDIS would be lovely. The Doctor has one I could annex. And I have no doubt that he'll show up on this piece of dirt sometime. I just don't want him to find me until I'm ready for him to do so."

"He's the one that's hurt you before."

He looked at her with haunted eyes. "You have no idea, darling."

"Then, I want him to be hurt. I want him to feel the pain you had to feel. Tell me you'll let me hurt him for you."

Reaching up, he cupped her face with gentleness reserved only for her. "As you wish, my Periwinkle." At that moment, the plane started to descend. "It appears we are nearly at our destination," the Time Lord commented, removing his hand and allowing the private attendant, who was passing by, to take his empty glass.

"You are so good to me, my love."

"Of course, I am," came the reply with a knowing grin. "Someone has to be. Rassilon knows your mother isn't going to be."

She sighed. "Yeah."