A/N: Hallo to the people. Thank you all for your continued support of this story.
If there are any questions about any part of this story that you think needs further explanation PM me and I will explain it in my next author's notes.
Hugs and such. :D
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Dinner was a quiet affair. Joshua had finally come out of the TARDIS to eat and the lot of the them were gathered round the conference room and eating their food in silence. They'd chosen to let Ianto and Jack sleep in and not a one doubted they would sleep through the night.
When the night was coming to an end and the rubbish had been tossed in the bins, Owen and Tosh yawned loudly and looked at the new recruits.
"We're headed home, you lot should do the same. Usually the rift is quiet at night." Owen said and They all looked at him curiously.
"Nope. We're staying here in case we're needed. We've been hired to keep the hub going and if we went home that would defeat the purpose." Micah said, taking a sip of the coffee Jazz had made them.
"None of you have been properly trained." Owen pointed out and the group continued to stare at him.
"Tosh walked me through the programs. I'll fiddle with it and learn the rest on my own, won't be hard really. We can all drive, all of us have weapons training so we know what to do there and Ianto's written a detailed account on every common alien we could encounter so...what's the problem again?" Julie asked flipping a page in the magazine she was reading.
"Everything you need is in the autopsy bey. We're a phone call away." Tosh said, smile on her face as she grabbed her gear and left the hub.
"You die it's on you." Owen said leaving the hub with a sense of calm. He knew they could handle themselves and he desperately needed a night off.
"Nice man!" Joshua said standing and gathering the coffee cups.
"He's worried." Jazz said.
"Yeah, worried." Julie said with an eye roll.
"Come off it, you know he is." Kayla said looking pointedly at her sister, who was engrossed in one article or another.
"I'm going to go read Saben his night story." Micah announced, hand in his coat pocket, fiddling with his pocket watch. He'd never had so much of an interest in it before. He'd had it for what seemed like forever and until today he'd practically forgotten it existed.
"I'll join you." Joshua said, wanting to check on the fragile baby.
"If I didn't know any better I'd say you two love the little shit." Jazz teased.
"Can we come?" Julie asked, knowing they were all wanting to see the baby.
"I don't see why not. Don't interrupt my story though." Micah warned, leading the way towards the TARDIS.
"What is that blue box anyway?" Kayla asked.
"It's called the TARDIS. Time and relative dimensions in space." Micah said stopping in his tracks at having known this.
"What does that mean?" Julie asked, looking at the shocked expression on Micah's face.
"Um...it means it's bigger on the inside." Micah said, not really wanting to say more. He was making himself panic, but maybe he'd heard the Doctor explain the TARDIS and he'd just retained the information. Yes, that had to be it.
Rubbing the pocket watch for comfort, Micah led the way towards the medical bay in the TARDIS, barely registering the ooohs and ahhhs that came from Julie and Kayla. He wasn't registering much of anything at the moment.
"Hello 'just the Doctor'." Joshua said, snapping Micah out of his worry.
"Hello Doctor. Meet Jazz, Kayla and Julie. I've come to tell Saben his night story, I promised Ianto."
The Doctor nodded, not trusting his voice this close to Micah.
Micah pulled up a chair and took a seat, barely noticing Kayla and Julie cooing Saben and Jazz just staring down at the beautiful baby. She'd been hesitant to believe he existed but the proof was right in front of her now and she smiled brightly. Ianto and Jack made beautiful babies.
"Once upon a time in the farthest reaches of space there was a planet full of people." Micah started and Jazz snorted.
"Still working on that story?" Jazz asked and Micah frowned.
"I told you not to interrupt me." Micah admonished and Jazz lowered her head and apologized.
"This planet was located in the farthest corners of the universe and it was known as Gallifrey." The Doctor looked up at Micah then, shock and sadness in his eyes.
"And on this planet lived the Time Lords. They were a beautiful people who were said to have been born with two hearts so they were capable of twice as much love as any other creature in the universe.
"This story isn't about all of them, mind you...just two of them. They were so lonely before they met each other..." Micah stopped.
The Doctor's eyes filled with tears. Before he could draw attention to himself, he stood and slowly walked towards the door saying something about needing to have a walk about, and he left, leaving behind very confused people.
The Doctor was baffled at the situation. He'd never seen or heard of a Time lord, turned human, who could remember anything about their time as a Time lord.
Continuing to walk around the TARDIS wasn't helping and the more he walked about the more anxious he became. He wouldn't push Micah to open the watch, but he desperately wanted him to. It would answer so many questions. Was he The Magician, or just a random human who knew too much for his own good.
The human aspect seemed less and less likely the more the Doctor thought about it. No human knew anything about Gallifrey, well unless the Doctor had told them about his home planet, and if he'd ever said such a thing to Micah, he would have remembered. He'd usually stuck to female companions, since the male humans tended to be brutish. They were rash and tended to jump into situation unprepared, so he tended to stick to the emotionally vulnerable females to keep his murderous tendencies at bey. He didn't need his horrible personality traits magnified. He needed them quelled and his companions had done well in helping him with that.
He exited the TARDIS and walked around the hub. No one was about, Jack and Ianto were still sleeping, so that left the hub quite empty and quite. Well, except for the Pterodactyl who was screeching at the top of her lungs for some form of attention.
The Doctor looked up at the prehistoric beast, smiling as he watched her fly around the hub. He wondered if they'd named her, which wouldn't be a surprise given Jack's tendency to bond with any living creature. He also wondered where they'd found her. He hadn't exactly talked to the others about much regarding Torchwood 3. He'd always hated Torchwood, for what they stood for, but Jack had been right. He'd been trying to make a difference in the world. He wouldn't kill anything unless he had no other choice, and those times were rare and far between.
The people he chose, he chose well, with the exception of Gwen, who'd proven herself a right pain in the ass and the Doctor quite disliked her. He didn't really like to use the word hate, knowing the connotations it held, but if he had to, he would use that word for Gwen. That woman was bigoted and atrocious and he hoped she would be properly dealt with.
The Doctor sighed. He wanted to take his mind off the situation and the walk seemed to have done him well. He would eventually return to the TARDIS and to Saben, but for right now he wanted to wonder about and think.
He wanted to remember the Magician as he'd been, but the more time he spent with Micah, the less he remembered...he felt he was losing himself and his life the more he looked at the man. He just hoped to retain a bit of who he was.
With a resigned sigh he made his way back to the others. If he were gone too long they'd know something was wrong. He might be a busy body, but even they knew he wouldn't leave Saben's side for long. That child had the whole team wrapped around his finger and he'd barely even moved since he'd been born.
"Nice of you to join us." Micah said, watching the Doctor make his way back to the medical bay.
"I was bored." The Doctor said, feigning nonchalance but the others could see his reddened eyes and his down demeanor. They knew, but they didn't mention anything and the Doctor was glad for it.
"So, what happened to M?" Jazz asked, bidding Micah to finish the story.
"M? Oh...M, the Time Lord. Well, when he saw D leave the war to save himself and their unborn son, he fought for as long as he could to give D a chance to run and when he was sure D was safe, he hid himself and ran to a far off planet, knowing D would come for him when the time was right. I believe one day they'll find each other...because what's the point of a happily ever after if they die alone?" Micah finished and Jazz looked ready to sob and a look at Kayla and Julie confirmed how sad the story must have been.
"What do the initials stand for?" Joshua asked and Micah shrugged.
"I don't know what D stands for, haven't figured it out yet, but I think M is for Magician...he was particularly interested in the impossible." Micah answered and Jazz snorted.
"You're acting like they existed. They're part of your fantastic stories. Don't give them identities, it'll consume you."
The Doctor stood stock still as he listened to the story's ending and his trembling hand moved up to cover his stomach. If M was the Magician he knew what the D stood for and he fell to the floor dissolving into a fit of tears.