The Time Ladies of Torchwood.
A/N. The First bit of this chapter has suggestions of a sexual nature.
" Damn, Romana. I feel like I've just died and gone to every heaven in religion." The Doctor groaned. Even with his Time Lord metabolism, what he and his new lover had just done all night would make Cassanova himself go through a hundred heart attacks in rapid succession.
Romana smirked," Yes, but think of what a way to go." Her eyes twinkled suggestively. The Doctor smiled, thinking that would be a lot nicer to die from sex that from radiation poisoning. The two laughed as they cuddled in the bed of their hotel room. The Doctor was about to fall asleep again when Romana asked him a question he hadn't expected.
" Doctor, when are we going to work on that scanner?"
" Well, we've been in Paris for a day. We've got time. Why, you want to go now?" The Doctor smiled at his own suggestion. Romana hit him in the chest.
" Ow." He moaned.
" Serves you right, here I am asking you when we're going to look for other members of our people and you tease me." Romana sniffed.
The Doctor wrapped his arms around the pouting Time Lady. " Sorry."
Romana giggled.
Both Time Lords were asleep when it happened. It was a voice in their heads, and they both woke up when their telepathic senses picked it up. Both lovers jumped awake, Romana wrapped the sheets around her chest as she examined the new presence which was in the exact same part of her brain as the voices of the only other members of her race. Romana glanced at the Doctor and noticed he too was awake, he looked shell shocked by the sudden and unexpected presence of another Time Lord.
" You heard it too?" Romana asked.
The Doctor nodded briefly, examining the latest presence. He knew this one, he should since when Time Lords came close together their voices became louder, not enough for a headache, but a pleasant soothing sound. Romana shut up, seeing the Doctor concentrate on the latest presence. It was almost indistinct, like the Master's had been when he'd left for the 21st century. This one was closer, and it's temporal distance was only a day or two, most likely a day. She closed her eyes and did the same.
When they realised who it was, their eyes snapped open and they stared at one another.
" The Rani." They said together.
Paying the hotel they were staying in, the Doctor and Romana - and Romana's new things, of course - left for where the Rani's voice was coming from. The voice was now louder. It had been night when they'd left, now it was almost dawn. They'd only been gone a few hours.
Jack was waiting for them at Roald Dahl pass, he looked desperate, almost as if his world had been turned upside down. Both Time Lords knew how he felt.
" Doctor, Romana." He said briskly, coming to meet them.
" What's happened Jack?" The Doctor asked, now convinced that Jack had had something to do with the return of the Rani. He needed to know what had happened for the other Time Lady to return in the first place.
Jack explained as they walked," It's Tosh. Toshiko Sato, my computer and tech expert. She saw the TARDIS like the rest of my team, but one of the others asked what a box was doing in our base. I told them it was your TARDIS. As soon as Tosh and Gwen heard the word, it was like they'd been put in a kinda trance."
The Doctor and Romana stopped, Jack doing the same. The couple looked at one another. Two Time Ladies? Why could they only hear one? They knew the Rani could hear them too, they were saying be calm, we'll be there soon.
" So let me get this straight," Romana interjected, " Two of your staff went into a trance when they heard the word TARDIS? Then what?"
Jack sighed, " I explained that the TARDIS was a time machine, that it belonged to a Time Lord called the Doctor."
" Wait," The Doctor held up his hand as he looked meaningfully at Jack, " You used the words Time Lord and TARDIS?"
" Yes," Jack admitted.
" Then one of your people took out a fob watch, then opened it, right?" The Doctor pressed.
" Yes. I didn't know, Doctor. How could I have known?" Jack asked. The fact he'd had not one but two Time Lords in his employ for so long was unbelievable.
Jack led the Doctor and Romana into Torchwood. The Doctor looked with interest at the functionality of the base, the computers, the couches...it was like Jack, really. Torchwood London had been like an office centre, but this one was more utilitarian than that base. It was also much smaller than the base in London.
Jack led them down to a part of the base that screamed dungeon to the pair.
" You put them both down here?" The Doctor asked angrily.
He should've expected it. Aside from the Doctor and Romana, the only other member of the Time lords that Jack had met was the Master. Jack was simply looking out for his pure Human workers, but the Doctor was still annoyed that the Rani was imprisoned like this. The fact he didn't know who the other Time Lady was another concern.
" I had no choice, it was okay with Gwen, she looked really out of it, but this other woman..she's something else, nothing like Tosh. I'll leave you both down here, but I'll be watching." Jack said sheepishly before he left the cells.
The Doctor and Romana were left alone, left with the Rani. Sighing, the Doctor led them down to the only occupied cells. One of them contained a woman with long dark hair, with a vacant expression on her face. The Doctor recognised her as Gwyneth, the Welsh serving girl he'd met on an earlier trip to Cardiff.
Finally, they came to the cell where the Rani was in. As soon as the Doctor and Romana came into direct view, the Rani turned around. She'd certainly changed, her new oriental features made her looks as attractive as her last incarnation. Like the other girl, Gwen, the Doctor had met her before. She was that doctor she'd met when the Slitheen had taken a normal pig and sent it dive bombing to the planet. That girl was nothing like the Time Lady the Doctor was seeing at the moment.
" Hello, Rani." The Doctor whispered.
The Rani was silent for a moment, taking in her two fellow Time Lords. " Doctor, Romana. How long am I going to be locked in here?" Blunt and to the point, just like the Time Lady the Doctor knew.
" We're going to let you out now, but first tell us what you remember last."
The cold hard look on the other Time Lady's face cracked as she remembered the events that led her to using that damn watch. " I'd only just made it to my TARDIS, but I wasn't the only one." Rani's voice was quiet, solemn. " Gallifrey was falling apart, but I made it to my TARDIS. As I left, the planet blew up. My body became saturated in temporal radiation from the explosion, then I regenerated, but my TARDIS, Doctor, my TARDIS was heavily damaged. She had no choice but to place my mind inside that fob watch. I was shaken from the change, when I felt the Arch on my head, it was too late, added to that being deaged to childhood. I've been trapped in that watch for years."
The Rani had been let out of her cell, and she was sitting down with the others. The members of Torchwood remaining, a quiet man called Ianto Jones, and Owen Harper, a cynical but dedicated doctor, and Jack, watched her cautiously. Rani had caused quite a mess before they'd managed to lock her up. Jack wondered where the Doctor was, and wondered if he was inside the TARDIS. That didn't make sense, surely he'd want to stay with Rani first.
" What I don't understand is, how is it that Tosh had a mother? She also worked for UNIT at one point, how could she've stayed Human for so long?" Jack asked.
Rani sent him a withering look, the disdain she had for his immortality making her voice more cutting. " Sato's parents adopted Toshiko, and they told her when she was thirteen. But she still loved them unconditionally. As for UNIT, I doubt Toshiko was in much of a position to recognise the name Doctor. It's a common enough title."
" What about Gwen?" Owen asked quietly.
" We search her flat for the watch, we must know who she is." Jack decided.
Romana caught Rani's eye. They both knew where the Doctor was, they just decided not to tell Jack and his team.
The Doctor sighed as he held the watch in his hand. It had taken him the best part of an hour to find the damned thing. Gwen Cooper, as her human persona was called, had kept the watch in a simple wooden box. That was the trouble with the type of perception filter the fob watches used, they put in the desire to bury the watch so then they'd be undetected. Some Time Lords would simply carry them as a sort of keepsake, Rani and the Master were certainly in that category.
The Doctor took a breath, and gently put a finger on the watch and connected to it with his telepathy. He listened to the voice for a moment, and pulled away with a smile.
" Where's the Doctor?" Jack asked, getting worried about the Doctor and the possible trouble his friend was getting himself into now. The two Time Ladies were calm, but they wondered why Jack wouldn't automatically believe that the Doctor wasn't already at Gwen's flat and looking for the watch. The news of another Time Lord would make the Doctor desperate. Their calm was convincing Jack and the other members of Torchwood they knew where the other Time Lord was, but in their minds they'd opened up a telepathic conversation. The Time Ladies would've spoken verbally if the humans weren't around to listen in. Rani's question was the one Romana had expected.
Are we the only ones left?
Rani's question wasn't a surprise. Romana had expected it, but she'd wanted the Doctor to come back and deal with the other Time Lady before they got down to business. Romana decided to get on with it, but she'd expected the Rani to hear the Master's voice by now. She opened the link with the Rani.
No. Another survived, someone you know well during your time at the academy. The Master. He fled to the end of the universe, made himself Human so then neither side would find him. He returned, and tried to force an alternate timeline into becoming the primary one. He built a paradox machine inside the Doctor's TARDIS to bring back in time the twisted remnant of the Human race,who'd become disembodied heads in shells.BitliketheDaleks.Romana said through the link.
It was almost impossible for Rani not to hear the Master's name and not react, her hatred of the other Time Lord filling her. That parasite survived? Rani screamed through the telepathic link. Romana winced at the rage she was feeling from the older Time Lady.
I'm afraid so,Romana replied.
Just as the Torchwood people were about to make a move to find the Doctor appeared as the vortex manipulator landed him inside the hub. Jack the others jumped, their guns ready.
" It's alright," Rani jumped up, she knew from her memories of Toshiko's time as a member of Torchwood that these people sometimes went in guns blazing first and then asked questions later. The last thing the Time Lord race needed was the Doctor being shot down as he materialised.
Jack angrily stalked over to the Doctor, " Where the hell did you go?"
" Where do you think I went, Jack?" The Doctor asked calmly. " I went to find another member of my race, and I did." The Doctor showed him the fob watch he'd picked up. Jack moved back as if the Doctor was holding something hot infront of him, the Time Agent's hand moved slowly to his gun. Even though he wanted the Doctor to find other members of his people, the last thing Jack wanted was a female version of the Master to appear. He was going with caution.
The Rani stood up, " Do you know who it is inside that watch?"
The Doctor's smile surprised them, " Oh yes!" Turning to Jack, the Doctor said, " Bring her up here, I don't want to awake her in a cell. She wont appreciate that."
Reluctantly, Jack left for the cells. Owen and Ianto following, the two men wanted answers. Owen started, " Jack, who are they? First there's this big blue box that you call a TARDIS, next thing we know Tosh isn't Tosh, but an alien called the Rani. Now Gwen's found to be a member of the same race. What's happening?"
Jack leant against the wall, a breath escaped him. " There are legends among the Higher races of an almighty race of people that mastered travel in time and space. These people created machines that travel effortlessly through space and time, the box is one of them. This race was the oldest and most powerful race in the universe, or at least they were. This race was called the Time Lords. They came from a planet called Gallifrey. The Time Lords looked down on the universe, observing all races. Finally they fought a war with another powerful race, the Daleks."
Both Ianto and Owen had heard that name before, it didn't take them long to place the name, " Those pepperpot things that fought in the battle of Canary Wharf?"
Jack nodded grimly, " The same. The Daleks fought the Time lords, showing them that they'd become complacent. The Time Lords fought a good fight, but they were losing. Finally they were destroyed, their planet gone. Only 5, that I know of, survived. 3 of them, soon to be 4, are here. Another Time Lord left Earth a while ago."
" What'll happen, Jack, to Gwen?" Ianto asked.
Jack sighed sadly, " Gwen never truly existed guys, she's just an illusion. The watch the Doctor had contains this Time lady's true personality. From the way the Doctor's acting, it's someone he knows."
It was sad for the three men to know that Gwen wasn't the person they thought she was, part of them wanted to stop this from happening. But it would be cruel of them to do that.
Memories assaulted the nearly catatonic Gwen Cooper as Ianto, Owen and Jack solemnly escorted her up to where the three Time Lords were waiting.
" Someday, I shall come back. Yes, I shall come back..." The voice of an old man was saying.
" I want to stay!" A girl's voice shouted in her mind.
Another memory assaulted her, this time showing her on a barren piece of land. Nearby was a short, stocky man with black hair flecked with grey, he looked like the devil himself. He was weak, but his will was strong. He held in his arms, like a baby, an object.
" No! He yelped. It's my tool to power! You can't have it! You can't! His voice sounded weaker, like he was putting all his strength into his shout.
A girl glared at him coldly, and Gwen realised with a shock that this girl was her, somehow. How could it be though? Gwen didn't understand it. " I'm destroying it in five seconds," she stated. " If you're still holding it then - so be it!" Gwen shivered, her mind unable to comprehend what was happening.
The memory shocked Gwen, and she managed to pull herself out of it in time. As she did she saw the people nearby; a tall handsome man with messy hair, a beautiful woman with dark blonde hair and green eyes. The other one was Tosh, but this woman was different. Identical to Tosh in every way, this woman was more confident than her best friend.
" Tosh, what's happening?" Gwen asked. She was scared, not just because of the memories, the way her friends were treating her were making her think she'd done something wrong. Her mind was in tatters.
Rani folded her hands, " It's alright, Gwen." She said, she could see how the girl was scared, and didn't want to alarm her.
The Doctor sighed, and he stood up. He walked slowly towards Gwen so as not to startle her. He held up the watch and opened it. Gwen had no time to react as a stream of gold light encompassed Gwen, and entered her before vanishing. The woman took a deep breath, then blinked. The other three Time Lords heard a new voice in their heads as the Time Lady was awakened. She looked at her hands, as if she'd never expected to see them again, then she looked round and caught sight of the others. She ignored Jack, Ianto and Owen, focusing on the Time Lords.
" Grandfather?" She whispered when she caught the Doctor's eye.
The Doctor's eyes were filling with tears. He'd dreamt of being reunited with his granddaughter, Susan, since the war ended. He'd honestly thought she was dead. He nodded, holding his arms open. With a cry of 'grandfather' Susan leapt into his arms. Romana and Rani shared a smile before they got up.
" Hey, what about me?" Rani asked sounding hurt.
Susan looked into Rani's face, " Grandmother?" Rani nodded, tears in her own eyes. Susan leapt at her, squeezing the life out of her. Romana coughed, getting Susan's attention.
Susan was in hugging mode as she hugged Romana as well.
The members of Torchwood left to run errands, but the Time Lords didn't really care. They were just delighted that they were together again.
" So Gallifrey's truly gone, the Time Lords tried to go through with the Ultimate Sanction?" Susan asked sadly.
The Doctor nodded, " Yes, I managed to use the Moment to stop him. I managed to reach my TARDIS and leave, as I did the Eye of Harmony exploded, saturating my body with radiation. I regenerated, believing I was the Last one. Then I met Romana, and later the Master."
Susan jumped at the mention of that hated Time Lord. " You met the Master?" She growled.
The Doctor knew the history between the two of them, the Master had unleashed a group of Daleks in the aftermath of their 22nd century invasion of Earth, all to steal a matter transmuter. The Master stole the device that could change any material into something else, he'd wanted to use it to hold the cosmos to ransom. The Master then made two fatal mistakes - he'd shot David Campbell, Susan's human husband. The two of them had had problems, with Susan's Time Lord DNA she didn't age like a human, so she had the same appearance as she did when the Doctor had left her on Earth. David, on the other hand, tragically aged. The Master shooting him had stopped the two of them from reconciling with each other.
Secondly, the Master hadn't realised Susan was a Time Lady. That mistake cost him dearly. Susan had destroyed the matter transmuter, and the Master had become a crippled burnt out corpse, one that would dedicate himself to renewing himself. Susan stole the Master's TARDIS, and made it hers. Understandably, there was an enmity between them.
" He hid at the end of the universe, hiding his mind inside a fob watch, like you two did. He returned, stole my TARDIS, and fled to 21st century Earth after I locked the controls so he couldn't leave that time and move freely through time and space. The Master made many trips into the future, seeing what happened to the end of the Human race. He saw them, I think he had a hand in making them what they became, become a race that makes the Daleks look tame. They retreated into spheres, discarding their humanoid forms until they were left with just a head, and became a race he called the Toclafane." The Doctor explained, knowing Rani would react to that. He wasn't disappointed.
Rani scoffed, " What? The Toclafane, and I thought he hated nursery rhymes."
" I know, Rani. But that's what he did. He came up with this insane plan to use them to conquer their own ancestors. He built a paradox machine inside my own TARDIS, and drew them back to this time. For a year in an alternate timeline he tried to force into becoming the primary one, the Master ruled with a reign of terror, with one plan. To create a new Time Lord Empire." The Doctor shook his head at the sheer stupidity of it all.
The other Time Ladies couldn't believe this, " A new Time Lord Empire, is he mad?" Rani asked rhetorically; she knew how questionable the Master's sanity was. She'd spent 30 years locked in the same TARDIS with him after a confrontation with the Doctor's sixth incarnation. Sent hurtling towards the outer reaches of the universe, the danger in the Rani's TARDIS was compounded with a growing rapidly thanks to time spillage. The dinosaur's neck broke on contact with the ceiling of the Time machine. The Master claimed, like a fanatic who'd met his god, that he was indestructible. The Rani, the Doctor and the Master had been friends at one point, centuries ago on Gallifrey. The Rani recalled how arrogant she'd been then, but her arrogance meant nothing to the growing insanity of the Master. When she was exiled from the planet, and forced to travel the universe, she heard stories of the Master, how he ignited interstellar wars, how he'd threatened the fabric of the universe with the destruction of Logopolis. When she'd met the Master, she'd been in her 2nd incarnation, her previous life. Now in her third life, Rani winced at the biting remarks she'd hurled at the already unstable Master, but it made no difference. The Master had obviously reached new heights of madness this time, building a dictatorship whilst perverting the very image of the Time Lords was just like him.
Susan's voice was filled with disgust, " After he runs away like a coward, how can he call himself a Time Lord?"
Romana shook her head, " I don't know. He took over after we'd arrived 18 months after he'd arrived," she added looking at the Doctor in annoyance. The Doctor held up his hands, " Hey, I'm not perfect. We didn't arrive on another planet did we?"
" No, but we could've arrived much earlier in the past." Romana said hotly, haunted by the memories of what she and Martha had seen on their year long journey.
Susan and Rani were amused by the bickering. Grandmother and granddaughter looked at one another and they knew the Doctor and Romana had gotten together at last.
" Grandfather, tell us what happened next." Susan asked quietly.
For the next hour the Doctor and Romana laid it all down, the activation of the paradox machine, the Toclafane attacking and killing their ancestors. The subject of Rose came up with the Doctor informing his old schoolmate and his granddaughter the kind of person Rose had been when she'd lived in their reality. Rani had jumped up in annoyance that a mere human had down the unthinkable and took the time vortex into herself, but she was delighted when she heard the part of her destroying the Dalek emperor. Romana took over and told her fellow Time Lords about her journey around the world, the nightmare the Master had created.
Rani was thoughtful, " This version of the Master, describe him. What was his character like in this regeneration?"
" He's just as cold, morbid, arrogant, vain and egotistical as he was in previous lives. He's not the dignified Time lord my third life fought continuously, he's the polar opposite. That Master was careful, he wasn't wasteful. This version of the Master was the sort of person that would kill someone, anyone on a whim. This Master is more like myself in my present incarnation, I know that I'm a bit crazy. I talk too much. This Master's the same, only his manner is more psychotic. I think it's a side effect of regenerating inside my TARDIS, the only safe place he could regenerate." The Doctor replied after a moment's thought.
The newest Master's personality was disconcerting to the Doctor; it was like meeting an evil twin with the same personality traits. The Master had been bombastic, loud and brash, but he was still the same iron fisted tyrant the Doctor knew him to be.
Romana carried on with her story seeing as Rani, Susan and the Doctor were too busy thinking about the Master. She told them about the near misses, the meetings with those previous companions; Susan had asked how Ian and Barbara were when she found out Romana had met them. Romana and the Doctor finished when they described how they'd used the psychic network, amplified by the Human race, to rejuvenate the Doctor to his youthful appearance. Grimly, Romana told them how the Master escaped.
Susan was grim, it was strange seeing such a normally bubbly Time Lady so grim. " So the Master's free to do whatever he wants, without the fear of the Time Lords stopping his more insane plans? Aside from us, he's the only member of our race left." Susan finished sadly. How could the Time lords be brought down like this?
The Doctor broke through her thoughts, " Actually we," he gestured to the woman sitting next to him, " don't believe we're the last Time Lords, the only ones aside from the Master. That's why we wanted to come here before you, Rani, returned." The Doctor leant forward and explained, " My TARDIS is still repairing herself, with our help of course, from the damage done by the Master. Can you feel your TARDISes?"
Rani and Susan concentrated on their TARDIS links. " Yes, I can feel mine." Rani replied, delighted her customised Time machine was in one piece. Susan nodded, " Mine too, grandfather."
The Doctor smiled, " Good. Tomorrow you can bring them here."
" Here?" Susan asked puzzled, wondering why her grandfather would need both of their TARDISes.
The Doctor nodded, " Yeah." He dug around in his pockets and brought out the fob watches, and the ones belonging to Rani and Susan. Rani got it quickly, and she smirked. " Good one."
Susan got it now too, " Yeah, link our TARDISes to the rift with these watches and find any telepathic traces."
" There's one problem though," Romana said breaking in, " how do we wake the Time lords up?"
The others were silent as they worked out the problem. Finally the Doctor asked, " What words describe a Time lord, would be noticed by a Time lord whilst being ignored by everyone else?"
Susan was the first to guess, " TARDIS, Time vortex, regeneration. Gallifrey. I see, you intend to broadcast those words through the rift as an activation signal."
" Yes." The Doctor replied. " We do it tomorrow. Me and Romana need to check on the TARDIS."
