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AN: More of a reflective chapter as the Doctor and Bella discuss things, but we move on to the main action next chapter; hope you like it

The Perils of Lorindar

With our enemy's identity established and a speculative idea about Omega's motives, the five of us were relatively free to rest and plan our next move. Snow had sent her mirrors out around us to deflect most casual attempts to observe our current actions via magic- according to her, anything that could get through her current spell would only do so by alerting us to their presence- so we could afford to take some time out without worrying about being caught off-guard. Danielle and Snow were resting in our remaining carriage while Talia stood on guard somewhere, leaving the Doctor and I to sit by the campfire and talk about the implications of this latest development.

"So… Omega was a big problem for you in the past?" I asked, once I was fairly sure that none of our companions could hear me; as much as I was coming to trust the three of them, some things were probably just too complicated for their frame of reference.

"Let me put it this way; the first time I fought him, it took three of me to stop him," the Doctor replied, smiling slightly at the surprised look on my face before he continued. "He's never really operated on a large scale, but his ambitions and power potential make him exceptionally dangerous; he just never got the chance to act on a broader scale."

"So… he's a god-like being… who's never acted as one?" I asked, surprised at that news. "I mean, he never actually tried to be a god in our world?"

"Mainly because he never really got around to it; his focus was always on escaping his current environment rather than asserting his power here," the Doctor said. "Really, his reputation among my people was what made him particularly dangerous; his second attempt to escape only happened because he was able to make contact with someone on Gallifrey who thought that getting Omega back was all that mattered."

"You didn't agree?" I asked.

"Respect for a past act can only excuse someone's present sins up to a point, no matter how significant it was," the Doctor explained. "As I told Omega when I first met him, I had respected him as our greatest hero for all my life before I knew that he'd survived, and I tried to assure him that most of my actions against him when he returned in our second encounter were based around my ignorance of his identity… but, regardless of my respect for what he achieved, I just cannot accept his attempts to return here if he seeks to claim power simply because of what he once was."

"That… sounds fair," I said, nodding in understanding. "I mean, creating a power source for an entire civilisation doesn't exactly qualify you to rule it…"

"To say the least," the Doctor said solemnly, shaking his head in a pitying manner. "He was worth respecting in the past, but now… he's just insane."

"And even if he deserved that kind of power… freedom to do what one man allows isn't freedom?" I asked, remembering something I'd read once that sounded appropriate in this situation.

"Precisely," the Doctor said. "He only ever talked about wanting his freedom the first time I met him, but the second time I encountered him he was determined to take control of Gallifrey's central computer systems to further his own agenda. Even in a best-case scenario, he'd probably have demanded and received total control of Gallifrey if he'd returned home- everyone was certainly willing enough to hand over to Rassilon when the Time War started- but even if we gave him that power, it would have gone to his head sooner or later."

"Power corrupts?" I said, looking at him in surprise; I understood the Doctor's point, but I couldn't believe he was discussing it as though it was an inevitable fact. "But surely-"

"The temptation is too great, Bella," the Doctor said firmly. "I've twice held the most powerful object in the known universe in my hands and discarded it to prevent myself being tempted, and I once fought an entity whose primary goal to give everyone their perfect worlds would have caused significant side-effects for the universe as a whole beyond the moral consequences; even the best intentions can be corrupted."

I thought about trying to assure the Doctor that I didn't believe he'd go that far, but when I paused to think about it, I had to admit that he had a good point; could anybody be trusted with the kind of power he was talking about?

This was a far bigger question than I'd ever expected to find myself thinking about as a real possibility, but the more I considered it, the more I understood the Doctor's point. I liked to think of myself as a good person, but I couldn't be sure how I'd cope if I had the power to do anything I wanted; I could start out doing the right thing and end up killing people just because I didn't like them…

"It's not easy, is it?" I said at last, looking back at my friend.

"No, it's not," the Doctor agreed. "It's nice to think that we wouldn't be tempted, but there's no way to be sure, and there's always the possibility of what could happen in the future; today's enemy could be tomorrow's salvation, the devastating war I stop now could be the catalyst to prevent further such wars ever happening again…"

His voice trailed off, but I could still understand what he was thinking about.

"And you don't think Omega's a good choice to have that kind of power?" I asked.

"To say the least," the Doctor explained, looking at me with a tense uncertainty that reminded me of when we'd discussed the Time War on the Wayfarer. ""At the heart of it all, what Omega wants more than anything is to be free, but he's still made it clear that he'll pursue any means to achieve that goal. He's often talked about being willing to cause destruction, and he attempted to subvert Gallifrey's computer networks and bring them under his control during our last encounter, but even if he's never actually done it, I can't forget that the universe was only saved because I stopped him, not because he decided against it."

"Talking of Gallifrey…" I said, uncomfortable about bringing this up but knowing that it had to be addressed. "I mean, he's a Time Lord…"

"If you're worried that his position will make me reluctant to fight him, don't," the Doctor said firmly. "I've fought Omega before, and I've fought Rassilon on other occasions; as much as I might not want to be alone, I'm not going to condemn this world to Omega just because I don't want to be alone. If he was just trying to call for help, I might sympathise, but if he's killing people to be free…"

The Doctor shook his head grimly. "Regardless of my sympathy for him, I can't let him continue; as a Time Lord, his actions are my responsibility, which means I have to ensure that he remains where he belongs."

"That's… something else I was wondering about," I said, looking curiously at him. "From what you told us about Omega… well, if he wanted to go back to the anti-matter universe the last time you saw him, why would he be trying to come back here?"

"Who knows?" the Doctor said, shrugging uncertainly. "His time in isolation drove Omega mad, so it's hard to know how he's thinking any more; he probably thinks I'll want to help him as he's a Time Lord, and we know he's wrong about that…"

He shook his head, sighing in frustration for a moment before he turned away. "My respect for Omega as a hero ended the day he tried to drain Gallifrey's power and threaten the universe just to escape his own prison; there's nothing he could offer me in exchange for my aid that I would want."

I wondered if the Doctor was lying on some level, but I also decided that I wasn't going to over-analyse the situation any more than I had to; things right now were complicated enough without me starting to doubt his commitment.

"Excuse me," the Doctor said, suddenly standing up. "I… need to think."

With nothing else to be said to that statement, I simply nodded briefly at him as he walked away, leaving me to turn my attention back to the fire and think about her recent talk.

We were about to go up against one of the most powerful individuals that the Doctor had ever encountered, aided only by a trio of fairy-tale characters in a world of magic, and we didn't even know why our enemy was doing this…

"Your friend is an interesting man."

"Talia?" I said, looking around to see the dark-skinned princess standing behind me, a slight smile on her face as she looked at me. "How long-?"

"Long enough," Talia said, as she moved to sit down beside me. "You believe his story?"

"Well… let's just say I've seen him do enough over our time together to recognise that doubting him wouldn't be a smart thing," I said, hoping that she wouldn't ask me to explain too much of what the Doctor had told me; apart from anything else, there were parts of it I still didn't understand. "I know he can seem eccentric, but trust me, he'll do everything he can to protect Lorindar."

"I believe that," Talia said, sighing as she looked after the Doctor, who had paused on the edge of our small camp to stare up at the sky. "I just have to wonder if that will be enough if this Omega's as powerful as he says…"

I wasn't sure what I could say to that question without making this talk more complicated, so I settled for placing a reassuring hand on Talia's shoulder. For a moment, she jumped slightly as I made contact, but seemed to relax as she identified me as the source of the moment, looking over at me with a brief smile

"Get some rest," she said at last, still smiling slightly at me as she stood up. "We can start looking for this 'Omega' person in the morning."

I took Talia's advice and lay down in the front of the fire- I'd never really thought about camping, despite the Cullens' usual cover for their hunts, but now that I had the chance to do this I could understand the appeal- trying to calm my thoughts as I looked over at where the Doctor was staring thoughtfully up at the sky from his position beside the carriage.

I might be in an incredible place facing potentially unbeatable odds, but I was still with the Doctor; that would have to be enough…