The First Ones.
Susan walked inside her grandfather's TARDIS, smiling at the familiar warmth that the old ship held for her. Memories of leaving Gallifrey came unbidden into her mind, Ian and Barbara stumbling into the TARDIS where they met the Thals, the Daleks, the Sensorites, that time they were shrunk to the size of an inch.
The Doctor and Romana had shut down the console room the Master had abused and cranked a new one into the position of the temporal core. The old control room would repair itself, though it was truly doubtful if it would be used again.
Romana was checking over the TARDIS systems when Susan walked in looking around. She smiled warmly, but shyly at Susan. The two Time Ladies had known each other, fought side by side against the Daleks. Although Romana had better qualifications than the Doctor, Susan was a prodigy compared to her. The Rani and the Doctor had taken it upon themselves to train and teach the girl, and Rani had been a hard taskmistress. By the time Susan had been in her 80s, she had already mastered arts and abilities Time Lords 3 or 5 times her age learnt.
Susan seemed happy for her grandfather's new relationship, but Romana still worried about it. She enjoyed the friendship with Susan, and she didn't want to lose it. Susan was important to the Doctor, and Romana didn't want the Doctor to choose between her and his granddaughter.
" Hi, Susan," Romana said brightly, but her uncertainty stopped her from saying anything else.
Susan smiled back, then her smile faltered slightly when she saw the concern on the other Time Lady's eyes. " What's wrong?" She asked. Startled by the ease Susan saw the uncertainty on her face, Romana sighed when she realised that it would do no good to hide her worries.
Susan walked over to the woman she hoped would be her step grandmother and took her hand in her own, " What's wrong?" she asked again.
Romana looked away, hoping that she wouldn't sound like a child, " I'm just worried about forcing the Doctor choose between you and me."
Surprise registered in Susan's eyes, " What, why would you say that?"
Romana closed her eyes, her fears now sounding foolish even to her, but she explained them to Susan. " When I travelled with your grandfather, he told me stories about you. At the time I was a naive, foolish Time Lady, head full of Time lord propaganda. I thought he was a sentimentalist at times, but as time passed I fell in love with him. When I was called home, I saw the look of hurt and heartbreak on the Doctor's face, I thought he'd never get over it. When we fell into E - space, I thought the Doctor was beyond happy. When we met the Tharils and I stayed on to free them from slavery, I thought he would die from heartbreak all over again. I made many mistakes in my last incarnation, but we were able to make peace, the Doctor and I.
" I didn't really have time to tell him how I felt, the war took precedence over both our lives." Romana looked down, her emotions about to crack her perfect Time Lady control.
" When I met you, I saw that what the Doctor said about you was true, he told me that you were a sweet, lovable girl. He was right," Romana looked up into Susan's eyes and saw the depth of compassion in those dark orbs. " I - I didn't want the Doctor to choose between you and I when I told him how I felt, I was going to, hopefully when the war ended. But then Gallifrey was lost, I was hurled at a planet out of time, and I'd honestly believed I was the last of our people. When he rescued me, I thought 'thankgod,I'vegotachance,' I wanted to kiss him, but I was afraid that he only wanted a friendship. You know, love is a dirty word on Gallifrey," Romana added bitterly.
Romana's bitterness was shared by Susan. Gallifrey had been a decadent society living on the laurels of the Time Lord's many and varied scientific and technical achievements. The people were no better, the Time Lords had been like vegetables; Susan had met people before the war who called the Time Lords 'ancient,dustysenators.Sofrightenedofchange,' and the sad part was they were right. The Time Lords hadn't advanced much after the time travel breakthrough, once every 150 years or so a new form of TARDIS or time travel device, but that was it.
The traditions of Gallifrey and the Time Lords were clear, but they didn't allow any leeway.
Families arranged marriages for genetic diversity, not for love. Both Time Lord and Time Lady in a betrothal were expected to be of the usual stock of Time Lord life, but love was rarely present during those marriages. There were exceptions of course, the Doctor's first marriage. It hadn't been a match made in heaven, both Time Lords had hated the dull and pointless life on Gallifrey, and the two had loved each other. But it wasn't the fairytale kind of love that was clearly between Romana and her grandfather.
Susan could understand the fear Romana had afterall, even though it was silly.
" Yes, I do know," Susan replied to Romana's bitter question. " It was the decadence of Time Lord society and a number of other issues that made many leave Gallifrey first. I know you're worried Romana, but really, you don't need to worry about me. You make my grandfather happy, and that's all that matters."
Romana didn't look convinced, tears rolling down her eyes. Susan sighed when she saw the look, " Listen, did I hate you when we fought at the Battle of Time Rift 457? Did I give off any vibes that told you I loathed you?"
" Well, no..."
" Then why would I hate you. I love you, I love you for making my grandfather happy again. I'm forever grateful for that." Susan said sincerely.
Romana smiled a watery smile, " Thanks Susan."
" Although there is one thing..." Susan went on, trailing off.
Fear gripped Romana's hearts as she whispered, " What?"
Susan grinned, delighted that she'd teased the usually controlled Time Lady, " Make sure I'm there to see you two getting married and having children."
Romana's hearts lifted at the mental image of her and the Doctor marrying and starting a family. Strange, back home she'd never thought of herself as a motherly type, but with the Doctor, she'd met kids like Adric and others. She'd adored them all. The thought of Adric, and how he tragically died made her sad, but happy in the knowledge that she'd had a child near her.
" I think we can arrange that, big granddaughter," Romana smiled.
The Doctor followed Susan and Romana into the Rani's TARDIS. It had changed a lot since the time he'd been here in his sixth incarnation, during that business in Killingsworth with the Master. The Rani's TARDIS then had been a silver version of his own TARDIS, the console had been a blackish grey, with a silver ring time rotor.
The Rani's 4th incarnation favored a more retro look, or it could merely have been the TARDIS. It mixed futurism with a Victorian laboratory. The console itself was a mix, similar to the Doctor's, with touch sensitive screens and panels, with more old fashioned levers and switches. The Doctor wondered if the last Rani would've liked it compared to the new one, but the new one didn't seem to care.
The rest of the console room was full of shelves with books, instruments and neatly arranged bottles and instruments from thousands of worlds and times the TARDIS had visited for the Rani. The Doctor remembered on his last visit the tanks with embryos, these were now absent. They could be in another part of the ship. There was a massive table with a neurochemistry set. The decor was in dark blue, making it more vibrant than the cold silver it had been before.
Rani led her fellow Time Lords over to the console where the fob watch she had hidden inside was connected to the telepathic circuits. The fob watch rested on a nest of wires that went all over the console, and plugged into the holographic scanner.
" Is it ready?" Romana asked, looking over the console and noting how well Rani had made the scanner.
Rani nodded proudly, " Yes, I just need to turn it on."
The Rani slowly moved her hand over to the switch that would channel rift energy into the watch, and use the left over telepathic energy to locate others like itself, but her hand faltered on the switch which was unusual for someone as closed off as the Rani. The Doctor gently rested his own hand on her own. Romana followed suit, followed closely by Susan. Grandmother, grandfather, granddaughter and hopeful step grandmother to be looked into each others eyes. Taking a deep breath, they activated the switch to the scanner. The sound of rising power built up and up.
Susan let go, and left the Rani's TARDIS, followed by the other three. The three TARDISes, the last three TARDISes the Time Lords thought existed still were lined up next to each other. The Rani and Susan had landed their machines near the Doctor's, and they'd connected their ships together.
Susan marched into her own TARDIS, it was less advanced than her grandmothers. The Master had, for some reason, favored Mark Two TARDISes whilst her grandmother and grandmother had, respectfully, favored a Mark One and a Mark Three in that order. Susan's TARDIS was similar to the Doctor's rather than the Rani's. The console room was circular, supported by columns with the console dominating the centre with the time rotor reaching to the ceiling, but that was where the similarities ended. Susan's TARDIS was more a living room with comfortable couches near the walls, a bookshelf next to it with a number of beanbags.
On the console rested a scanner resembling the one in the Rani's ship, except this one wasn't just wires, there were other electronic components.
" Mine's bigger than yours," Susan said cheekily at the Rani.
The Rani glowered at her. Susan sobered, and they repeated the process like they'd done in the Rani's TARDIS. The scanner was turned on, and they went inside the newly repaired Doctor's Type 40 TARDIS. The Doctor was like a nervous schoolboy, earning him looks of both exasperation from the Rani, rolled eyes from Romana, and a look of laughter in his granddaughter's.
" Okay," The Doctor said, then he hesitated when he went towards the scanner he and Romana had made using the fob watches used by himself and the Master. He was about to turn it on with the old fashioned train lever he'd found lying around, when he found Romana's delicate and dainty hand on his arm.
Slowly the Doctor looked at the woman he loved, Romana's eyes were full of love as they looked into one another's eyes.
" This is it, Doctor," She whispered, taking her hand off his forearm and wrapping her hand around the lever. Romana leant forward and caught the Doctor's lips in a searing kiss. The Doctor and Romana deepened the kiss, letting their souls mix as they pulled the level down. The TARDIS scanners and telepathic circuits, working in tandem with her sisters and the rift, did it's job.
In London, a man working in a train yard as a mechanic got up, wiping the grime and sweat from his brow. He was cursing the government for making cuts in his sector, but then he stopped as words like " ...TimeLord...regeneration...Gallifrey...TheDoctor...TheRani...LadyRomanadvoratrelundar...timevortex...Daleks...thenightmarechild...Rassilon...Omega..." echoed throughout his skull.
Almost like he was in a trance, the man reached into his pockets and pulled out a fob watch...
In another part of the country, a heavy set policeman wearing a shabby suit marched wearily but in a state of complete alertness, paused as he heard the same thing heard by the mechanic. Almost like he was hypnotised, the cop walked home. When he reached his flat he found the watch in a draw. He flipped it open...
The politician was smiling as she walked out of her meeting in parliament. When she got out, she slumped slightly. She was tired, and when she left the House of commons, she drove home in her expensive car. When she got back to her lovely townhouse, the spell hit her. Like a woman possessed, the politician walked into the house. She marched slowly to where a fob watch lay on her dresser...
The Family was sitting down to dinner when it hit them all. Father, mother, three daughters and two sons, paused as they stopped laughing. The spell echoed throughout their heads, dredging up memories. As one they left their half eaten meals, and they walked to their respective bedrooms where their fob watches had laid, undisturbed until that moment. None of the family had ever seen or questioned the coincidence of them owning such a watch.
It didn't matter when they flipped them open and they became their real selves again...
The school teacher and his adopted daughter were sitting in their house, the teacher was old and almost decrepit, but he was still keeping himself busy. The girl was smiling as she watched TV and watched X factor. They were so busy with their occupations that when the spell hit them they dropped everything...
In Tibet, the Monk sat in a meditative state. He was old, almost emaciated, but he was a powerful figure with an equally powerful will. Revered by the other monks, he had the air and calm of someone who'd spent their entire life in a monastery. But there was more to the man than that. He heard on a subconscious level the signal being sent along the Cardiff rift.
Opening his ancient eyes, the monk smiled as he heard the voices in his head. " At last..." he whispered as his voice trailed away. Closing his eyes, he focused on the mental energy, and opened his mind.
It was time for the others to hear him...
