2.

"Eat this," Tegan ordered, shoving the croissant and coffee under The Doctor's nose. The fierce Australian woman had forced the Time Lord into a chair in the room closest to the infirmary, which happened to be one of the libraries. The Doctor tried to protest. He never ate in his libraries—this was one custom from his home world he could never overcome. Tegan glared at him and said, "You haven't slept or eaten since we landed in the Pars System. I know you don't behave like a normal person, but you do need food. Now, please, Doctor: eat."

"I am a normal Time Lord," The Doctor persisted, stubbornly. He clung tightly to Peace as though the baby could shield him from Tegan's glare. "Humans spend so much time eating and sleeping. It's so terribly inefficient."

"I am not moving from this spot until you eat the croissant." Tegan crossed her arms and tapped her crimson-painted nails against her biceps.

"In case you hadn't noticed, Tegan," The Doctor said, irritated, "my hands are a little occupied, at the moment. So, unless you plan to feed me, yourself—"

"Oh, right," Tegan said, and held out her arms. "Well, give her here, then." When The Doctor hesitated to surrender the baby to her, her face fell. "Doctor, I do know how to hold a baby."

Seeing the suddenly vulnerable look on Tegan's face, The Doctor hastened to explain. "It's nothing against you, Tegan, but Thionic babies require their caretakers to be in supreme control of their thoughts and emotions, and I'm not sure humans can achieve that level of telepathic restraint. I don't…" He trailed off.

"'You don't' what, Doctor?"

The Doctor tucked the blanket more snugly around Peace in an uncharacteristically protective gesture. "I don't want to traumatize Peace any further," he said. "I'm rather afraid of putting her down, to be honest."

Tegan's entire demeanor changed. She melted into the chair next to the Time Lord. "Oh, Doctor, I'm so sorry. I didn't know she would be upset if you let someone else hold her. I'm really quite stupid when it comes to aliens, as you know."

"Yes, well…" The Doctor bit his lip, "I think she might be all right if Nyssa would hold her. Trakenites are telepathic, to a certain extent." He smiled slightly. "I am quite hungry, now that you mention it."

"All right, so let's call Nyssa." Tegan turned around and hollered, "Nyssa! The Doctor needs you!"

"No, Tegan," The Doctor hissed, "you'll wake—" But, it was too late; Peace began to cry loudly, squirming in The Doctor's hold. "Now, look what you've done."

"Sorry," Tegan said, truly regretful. Then, she frowned. "Hey, it's not like it's all my fault. I was just trying to help you!"

"Sometimes, your help can be a bit of a hindrance!"

"I don't think that's at all fair!"

Peace's volume and pitch shifted into an ear-piercing note. Tegan and The Doctor both flinched. "Apparently, she does not like to be woken by shouts," The Doctor said, trying to quiet the baby with a small rocking motion.

"What's the matter, Doctor?" asked Nyssa, as she and Adric hurried into the library. "We heard Tegan shout. Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," The Doctor snapped. Peace cried louder and waved her tiny arms, hitting The Doctor's pale jumper as she did so. The contact with the baby's minuscule fists made The Doctor start. "Oh," he said, sounding shocked, "oh, of course. I'm being very thick, today, aren't I, Peace?"

"Is she all right?" Adric asked. "I've got some nutrient gels, if she needs sustenance. Or, maybe we should find some milk? Do Thionic babies drink milk?"

"She's reacting to my agitation," The Doctor said. "I'm tired and hungry, as Tegan pointed out, and when I got annoyed at Tegan, I lost control of my telepathic aura." He shook his head and sent Tegan an apologetic look. "I do apologize, Tegan: here I was, explaining how inferior humans' telepathy was, and I've gone and upset Peace, myself."

"It's all right, Doctor. I've at least slept and eaten since the Pars System fiasco. I shouldn't have been so pushy when you haven't had either in days."

The Doctor made a noise of acknowledgement, but his focus was directed mainly on Peace. He took several deep breaths and relaxed into the plush chair on which he sat. His fingers stroked her cheeks in the way Adric had simulated in front of the other companions earlier that day. Within moments, Peace's cries died down. She stared up at The Doctor, her crystalline blue eyes fixated on his face. Although she didn't fall back asleep, she curled up into the Time Lord's arms and made no further disagreements with this position.

The three other TARDIS inhabitants cast one another significant looks while The Doctor dropped his head onto the high back of his chair. "Here, Nyssa," The Doctor said, in a voice of forced tranquility, "take Peace, and think only of safety, warmth, and comfort. Keep your telepathic signals calm and welcoming."

"Doctor, some Trakenites are nearly as telepathically dull as humans," Nyssa said, but she stretched out her arms, nonetheless. The Doctor stood and carefully transferred his burden to the young Trakenite woman, who maintained slow, even breaths and a placid expression as she received the Thionic baby. "There, there, Peace," Nyssa cooed, with a smile. "Give The Doctor a moment to eat and drink, before Tegan force feeds him."

"Don't give her any ideas, Nyssa."

Peace seemed intrigued by the new face hovering above her. Nyssa's dark, spiraled hair, peaches and cream skin, and pale blue eyes provided a new color palette for the baby to analyze. She wiggled her head side to side to gain a better angle against Nyssa's arm, so she could take in more of her new caretaker. "Hello," Nyssa said, and couldn't stop smiling.

"She likes you," The Doctor said, smiling, as well.

"You can still feel her?" asked Adric, surprised. "Even when you're not touching her?"

"Yes, yes, that's how high-level telepaths function with their young. They have constant telepathic communication. For parents, the connection lasts for a lifetime. You see, on Gallifrey—"

"Eat, Doctor!" Tegan said, and pushed the croissant even closer to him.

Nyssa looked up from Peace long enough to mouth 'mating rituals' at Adric while The Doctor made a defiant retort to Tegan's demand. Tegan would not relent, and he quickly surrendered and devoured the croissant in three bites. Adric stifled a snort of amusement and Nyssa nearly smirked, but the two teenagers returned to tranquil expressions when their older companions looked their way.

Within hours of being discovered by The Doctor, Peace the Thionic baby quickly settled into a bizarre little life on board the TARDIS. Because of her telepathic nature, The Doctor and Nyssa were the only two people on board the time-and-space machine who could completely satisfy her needs. Tegan and Adric took their turns holding and entertaining the baby when the telepathy-sensitive beings had to shower or eat or lock themselves in a room to regain their sanity.

The first time Adric had been forced to hold the baby, he had panicked and had nearly dropped her, but he had quickly learned how to cradle her gently in his arms. Tegan had no problems with the mechanics of childcare, but she did lack the calming aura to keep Peace from squirming incessantly, her human emotions too much stimulation for a baby without any control over her own telepathic abilities. What Tegan lacked in emotional control, she tried to make up in exuberant affection. When it was her turn to watch Peace, she would borrow The Doctor's sonic screwdriver and shine different colored lights on the wall to capture the baby's attention. She would stoke the baby's head and hands. Sometimes, she would chatter on in a ridiculous, high-pitched voice while Peace listened in fascination.

The times the other three TARDIS travelers spent taking care of Peace were relatively few. The Doctor was surprisingly attentive to his new charge. He held Peace on one arm and steered the TARDIS with the other, talking shop with Adric and Nyssa all the while. If his ship rolled, The Doctor would calmly grab hold of the nearest stationary part and stay upright while Nyssa, Adric, and Tegan pitched to the floor. The Time Lord made sure Peace never mussed a hair on her head or acquired a single bruise on her small, chubby body, and he would scold any of his companions if they mishandled her. However, when he caught the others giving him amused looks, The Doctor would declare firmly, "I'm going to locate her family as soon as possible. She's got to go home within the week!"

With Adric and Nyssa as his assistants, The Doctor followed up on his declaration. He ran more scans on Peace to pinpoint strands of her DNA for familial traits, then posted trans-spatial messages to the Thionic planetary news centers in an attempt to find the baby's family. The TARDIS crew acknowledged that the most likely scenario was that the baby had been kidnapped or orphaned far away from Thion, but they wanted to try the simplest route to finding her relatives first. "We'll wait in the vortex for a few days, to see if Thion will contact us," The Doctor said. His companions had not objected.

By her fourth day on the TARDIS, Peace had a cradle scrounged up from a forgotten room full of Gallifreyan paraphernalia, a set of three outfits scavenged from the huge wardrobe from which The Doctor picked his own clothes, and a modest box full of objects that could serve as toys for a baby with a physiology and developmental pattern similar to a Gallifreyan. She slept in Nyssa's bedroom, lulled by the Trakenite girl's soft breathing and peaceful mind. Then, every morning, The Doctor would steal quietly into Nyssa's room and take the baby out before she could wake the teenager.

For reasons neither Tegan nor The Doctor could fathom, Adric had taken it upon himself to find the perfect formula for Peace to eat. Tegan would assure him that cow's milk with added supplement would work well enough for a week or two, but the Alzarian boy insisted that a baby as complex as Peace required sophisticated nourishment. He worked on the right mixture for several hours, then emerged from the lab with a triumphant shout. When he presented the bottle of "refined" formula to The Doctor, the Time Lord found it impossible to disappoint him. They fed the formula to the baby, and The Doctor reported that her hunger seemed more satisfied than in previous feedings.

Adric beamed, and his older companions both smiled until he left the room. Tegan faced The Doctor. "You were lying about the formula. Peace was just fine with the cow's milk."

"Tegan," The Doctor said, "sometimes, you have to stretch the truth about a telepathic baby's digestive harmony." As Tegan rolled her eyes, he said, much more seriously, "Adric needs to be useful. He feels threatened by this new person on the TARDIS."

"What?" Tegan posed in comedic shock. "You've sensed something about someone's emotions that I haven't? Are you feeling all right, Doctor?"

"Oh, you think you're so hilarious," The Doctor said, but Peace giggled in his arms, betraying his affronted air. Tegan laughed at him, but it was a kind laugh.