I've decided to speed up this story a little bit. Again, I don't own Doctor Who or the franchise. Still, I can dream.

Peri.

Romana and Martha had spent a month in Australia before moving to the U.S. Romana had found Australia a beautiful place in spite of the carnage and devastation the Master had wrought over the country. Romana had smiled at the sheer nature of the place, and swore that she would return here and drag the Doctor with her. It would be like Paris, but in the summer.

Martha ran a hand through her head, " Let's go, I just want to sleep." her voice and body language showing Romana just how knackered she truly was.

Romana nodded in full agreement. They'd spent their first night in America speaking to the slave workers of the local state - one of the Master's states, not one of those the Americans had used to separate their country into pieces - and they'd spoken about the Doctor. It had taken them 3 hours because of the number of people there, but they'd succeeded. The state of the workers angered Romana, they were emaciated, worked almost to death, left to shelter in inhuman conditions, whilst the Master and his bitch wife Rose was living in luxury. Bastard.

" Let's hope that they spread the word without the state leader cottoning on. The last time something like that happened meant a three month hunt through Asia." Romana said, shuddering at the thought of Asia. Quite a few people had died to cover their retreat.

Romana hoped it was worth it. In spite of the manifestation of the Fourth Doctor's assurance that the message was being carried, Romana still couldn't stop the doubts. She just hoped that it worked. It was a genuine pity that the Tenth Doctor hadn't come up with a better idea for the disposal of the Master. It would've saved Romana and Martha the problems they had with shelter, food and water.

They were just about to leave when a woman with an American accent spoke from behind, " Excuse me, can I have a word with you ?"

Romana and Martha turned around and saw the woman. She wasn't very tall, she was quite short. She had short dark hair, even though she was middle aged she, like Sarah Jane Smith, had still good looks. Her eyes were liquid pools of intelligence, and she had a look of someone who'd seen a lot. Romana got a good look at her, there was something familiar about her…..

The woman stepped forward and held out her hand, " I'm Perpugillium Brown, Peri for short. I travelled with the Doctor when he dressed as a cricketer and later, he dressed like a man who'd stepped into the middle of an art competition."

Romana gasped. Peri Brown ! The Fifth Doctor's last companion, and the first of the Sixth Doctor. The poor girl that had endured the violent and erratic episodes of the Sixth Doctor's personality, even being strangled by the Doctor after his violent regeneration after Androzani Minor. The girl who'd put up with it and helped him through the worst of that chaotic and unpredictable time.

That alone told Romana how strong this girl was. It had all ended, of course, like all good things. The problem was the Time lords had meddled in the Doctor's past around the time of his Sixth life, making Peri's life hard too chart. Romana herself had rescued Peri, feeling that marrying that war monger, King Ycarnos, had been a fate worse than death.

The Human had been grateful that someone had cared, the beauty was that Romana had told her what had happened, the whole episode had been confusing, one account said that Ycarnos had married her, one account had said she'd died. It was so irritating, so like the Time lords.

Romana had done it because she felt that Peri, as a fellow companion, deserved more than the unwanted meddling of a bunch of prejudiced and moronic Time lords.

Peri had surprised Romana with her intellect, and her perceptiveness. It still surprised her when the Human woman looked her over with recognition in her gaze, of course, Peri had seen Time lords in other bodies. It was natural that she'd recognise Romana.

" You've regenerated, Romana. You look good." Peri smiled. " By the way, thanks for rescuing me."

Martha gasped, " How do you - ?" she forgot about the rescuing part, for which Romana was eternally grateful. She didn't need questions from Martha right now.

Peri smiled at Martha, putting the younger woman at ease, " I've met enough Time lords in my lifetime to know them. I've seen regeneration before." Here she looked at Romana, puzzlement in her gaze, " Speaking of which, I thought you Time lords were supposed to prevent things like this, " she waved her hands around the devastation.

Romana sagged and Peri, being highly perceptive when it came to body language, knew that something terrible had happened. It didn't help that Martha was watching with a sympathetic eye.

Romana took a deep breath and looked Peri straight in the eye, " The Time lords are dead."

The straight forward way Romana had said those five words brought Peri up. Peri, like many of the Doctor's former companions, had very little knowledge of the Time lords, she'd thought of them as people who looked down on the Universe. To hear of their demise…it stunned her.

" How ?" Peri gasped.

Romana motioned for her and Martha to sit down. For the next hour, Romana laid it all down, the Time war, the Dalek advances, the Curciform falling, the Master's resurrection. She told Peri about the Ultimate sanction, well, the basics about it anyway. When she did, both Humans gasped in horror.

" Your people would do that….?" Peri trailed off, horror in her face.

Romana nodded, " I'm not happy about it. I was the president once, but I was deposed, like I told you. The council went behind my back, brought the Master back. Then everything went straight deeper into hell."

Peri shook her head in disgust, " I can't believe you guys would be so stupid enough to bring that monster back. I still have nightmares about him."

" How many times did you meet the Master ?" Martha asked curiously, so far very few of the Doctor's former companions had met the insane Time lord. Tegan Jovanka had told Martha horror stories of the Master, how he'd murdered her aunt in a senseless attack, how he'd tried to kill the Doctor, causing him to regenerate into his fifth self, how he'd destroyed a good portion of the cosmos, something even the Daleks hadn't managed to do, and how he'd destroyed an entire species apart from a girl called Nyssa.

Martha was still jealous of the former companions, but she knew she had no real reason to be.

Romana didn't offer any excuses, " Believe me, if I'd have had my way the Master would've stayed dead. When I found out I couldn't believe it, the council, hell the entire planet knew the Master's deadly reputation."

Peri's face was like a mask, tight and drawn, " What happened when the bastard ran away ?"

Romana sighed, " The council were surprised, dunno why. I could see it a mile off. I never met the Master, but once you've been with a renegade Time lord for a while, then you get ideas about them in your mind."

Romana reached into her backpack and took out a bottle of lukewarm water and took a sip. She offered it to Peri, who took it and took a swig. She didn't grimace. Taste meant nothing now.

" Speaking of renegades, the Rani was involved in the Time war. She was one of the few that told me about the plan to wipe out all life."

Peri jumped at the name, fortunately not dropping the bottle, " The Rani ? I remember her, how she drained the brain fluid in the brains of miners so then she could experiment on it."

Romana nodded, ignoring Martha's reaction that it wasn't just the Master who caused humanity harm. Individual Time lords varied as much as Humans did, Martha must see that by now.

" I know."

Peri didn't seem satisfied, " Did she have any regrets ?"

Romana had personally fought alongside the Time lady, who'd taken the term " ice queen " too whole new heights. During the war, the Rani had gathered a reputation as a deadly, cunning and vicious fighter. Many Daleks had died because of her.

During that time the Rani had told her she'd seen so much grief and pain, that she'd seen the way she'd been before the war, that she'd cried her eyes out. Romana recalled having to hold the Rani in her arms as she sobbed.

Romana looked Peri straight in the eyes, " Yes, she did. She cried her eyes out in my arms after she watched her daughter die during one of the earliest battles of the war."

After their meeting, Peri promised to spread the word of the Doctor to the few companions Romana and Martha hadn't met.

Martha looked at the profile of her friend, " She seemed okay."

Romana nodded, " Peri has come a long way."

" What did she mean by rescuing by the way ?"

Romana sighed, " It's a long story. The Doctor visited a planet, Ravolox. It was like Earth in many ways, same climate, same mass, everything. It was so like Earth that it was Earth. The Time lords had moved it, just to maintain a few secrets."

Romana's voice was cold with rage, " I don't know too much myself, but I do know the Doctor was put on trial for it, for interfering," she sneered at the word. " In a later adventure, Peri was thought to have died. In fact, she was still alive. When I came back and I found out, I hit the roof. I decided to intervene. I got Peri home and explained to her as best I could."

Martha frowned, " How could the Time lords do that ?"

Romana looked back at her, " I don't know, they were corrupt. It happens in every government. It happens all the time."

They carried on with their journey.