The Curator sat staring out of the window on one of the Statiomaster's trains as he and Kara travelled back to their TARDIS.
"Penny?" Kara asked.
The Curator turned to look at her.
"What do you mean?" he replied.
"It's a saying, penny for your thoughts."
He chuckled, "There are many and varied thoughts going through my head right now. I promised the Stationmaster I wouldn't do that any more and yet I did it again without thinking."
"You just want to keep your friend safe." Kara replied.
"I do but it's like he said I wouldn't even think about taking you with me into a situation like that and you have no regenerations. Look at what's happened to you already."
Kara smiled, "You already saved me when we first met. I can take care of myself, so can the Stationmaster."
"So where do you want to go next?" the Curator asked changing the subject.
"I thought we had to go and see this Serena Targer?" Kara replied.
The Curator groaned, "She can wait just until we've been somewhere fun."
"Is she really that bad?"
"The first time I met her I was travelling with my wife. She's a bounty hunter and a damn good one too. She's made a lot of enhancement to her body. One of the many things she can do is interface with any computer system at all. She managed to break into the TARDIS and take it. Sarah and I managed to steal a vortex manipulation device from a museum and take it back. The next time we met we had to work together to catch the most vile man I have ever met. If you can think of a crime there is a very good chance that he has committed it. We left as allies, but she could always be a problem. She can wait."
"But can she find the Keeper?" Kara asked.
"If anyone can find him then she can. I loathes me to say this, but she is the best. Anyway where do you want to go?"
Kara thought for a moment before giving him a big smile, "Somewhere that you've never been before." she replied.
The Curator was impressed with the reply, "Somewhere new it is then."
As the train arrived at it's destination the Curator helped Kara down from the locomotive carriage. The Curator looked at his watch.
"How long have we been gone?" Kara asked.
"Ten minutes by the look of it." the Curator replied. He took Kara's hand and they walked back into the TARDIS.
The Curator walked up to the TARDIS console and began to type in the coordinates.
"So where did it all begin?" Kara asked, "Where is it that we're going?"
"After the Doctor told me what he was going to do I raced back to the unit as fast as I could. After I'd landed all I did was shout a place and a date far away from where we were and told them they had to head there straight away. That's where we're going."
"Where was it?"
"The Moors on Earth. All I said was the year 1800. I arrived first on new years day and waited. Over the next five months the others all arrived. It's where the Keeper told us that he'd make me pay for not giving him the choice to die with the others on Gallifrey."
"But the others didn't die." Kara said.
"We didn't know that back then. Other than the Messenger none of the others know other than the three of us."
As he finished speaking he brought the TARDIS to life. The bolts of lightening fired down from the ceiling to the console.
…...
The Warden and the Stationmaster both stood on the Moors waiting for the Curator and Kara to arrive.
"This is certainly a blast from the past." the Warden said.
"It doesn't seem that long ago at all does it. 500 years really isn't a long time at all is it?" the Stationmaster replied.
"It certainly wasn't for the Curator." The Warden replied.
"Does he ever mention it to you?" the Stationmaster asked.
"Once. We were keeping our heads down as a group of Daleks passed us, about a year ago. He said that even though he was in stasis for all that time, he was having flashes. Like memories of what the Tzeraat were doing to him while they had him."
"At least we found him." the Stationmaster replied.
"You know he doesn't mean to annoy you when he says things about dangerous missions. Being at the end of your regenerations for the first time in all of our lives has suddenly made us aware of time. You helped to make him who he is today, he cares too much, you know that."
"I know. Remember you've had as much input into him as I have."
The Warden chuckled, "The price we pay for taking a rookie soldier under our wing."
"We're not soldiers any more."
"Yes we are. We just don't have ranks any more." the Warden replied.
"If for some reason I don't make it into the Time Bubble you will still go won't you?" the Stationmaster asked.
"Don't talk like that." the Warden replied, "It's always been the three of us and that's not going to change, no matter what."
"The Order of Trinity," the Stationmaster said, "We'll never be free of that name."
"We need it, it helps remind us of what we did."
"I don't think we'll ever forget that. I still have nightmares about that day. Have you ever told anyone you've travelled with about the Event?"
The Warden shook his head, "No. Where would I even begin? We wiped out an entire race, there's no way to sugar coat that."
"We did what we had to." the Stationmaster replied.
"I know. For what it's worth, I still have nightmares about it as well." the Warden replied.
As he finished speaking they all heard the noise of the Curator's TARDIS arrive. Moments later the doors opened and Kara walked out followed by the Curator who carried the Messenger's body wrapped in a white cloth. The Stationmaster and Warden had already created a pyre and the Curator placed the body on there.
"He may have been an old bastard but he didn't deserve this." the Curator said as he stood next to his friends.
"I remember when he was assigned to our unit. He had a much younger face but he was still at heart that same cranky old man." The Stationmaster said.
"Here's to our brother, taken from us to soon." The Warden said.
"Here here." The Curator and Stationmaster said together.
The Stationmaster took his laser screwdriver out of his pocket, "See you on the other side old friend."
The Stationmaster fired the screwdriver at the pyre and it erupted into flames.
…...
The Muse sat alone on the banks of the river Seine in 1902. She had kept to herself a lot since the 9 Time Lords had gone their separate ways. She had travelled with the occasional companion. The last of which, Liam, had just left her to live his life. She laid back on the ground and looked up at the stars, trying to decide where she would go next.
"Muse is that you?"
The Muse sat up, startled. She calmed as she saw the Keeper walking up to her. She stood but took a step backwards.
"I haven't seen you in hundreds of years. Your face is different, yet it's obviously you Keeper." Muse replied.
"The same with you. I know what I said the last time I saw you all but I am here as a friend. After all this time I hold no ill feelings to any of you any more." the Keeper replied. "I didn't even know you were here. I was just walking when I saw you."
"What do you want?" the Muse asked.
"I thought we could catch up, come, walk with me."
The Muse looked at him for a moment. The knife in the back of her belt there in case she needed it.
Half an hour later they were both walking and laughing with each other.
"So how many regeneration's have you had?" the Muse asked.
"Eight so far, you?" the Keeper replied.
"Four, I'm doing well." the Muse said.
The Keeper reached into his pocket and took out a small circular device with two prongs on each side.
"Have you ever seen one of these before?" Keeper asked handing her the device.
"No what is it?" the Muse asked.
"Press the button in the middle. It's quite a unique little trinket."
As the Muse pressed the button the little device came to life.
"Ouch!" the Muse yelped. Suddenly the prongs on each side buried themselves into her hand. Eight needles came out of the bottom and inserted themselves into the palm of her hand.
"Keeper what the hell is this?" the Muse asked trying to pull it off her hand.
"Don't struggle, it'll come off when it's done." he replied darkly.
"Done what?"
"Taken your regenerations." he replied with a smile.
She fell to her knees, the pain coursing through her body. She watched through her skin as golden regeneration energy surged down her body and into the small device.
"It was a gift from those I work with. They tried to use it on the Curator once, when they had him captive, but it would appear once you have unlimited regenerations things like this won't work. But the Tzeraat managed to get it working all the same. I'll get the Warden last, make the Stationmaster and Curator watch as I take his life and then gut him in front of them."
As the last of the Muse's regeneration energy left her, the device let go and fell to the ground.
"Keeper why?" she said as she struggled to get to her feet.
He bent down and picked up the device, "To make your energy my own. And my name is no longer the Keeper, it's the Wrath."
He took a hunting blade from his jacket and stabbed it into her stomach before twisting the blade.
"That's for siding with the Stationmaster and his lackeys, when you should have sided with me."