**Let's meet the Seventh Doctor and Ace! So, not gonna lie, during my "research" for this fic I fell in love with Ace. She sounded like such a cool character, with an arc and everything! I highly recommend you read her page on the TARDIS wiki. I'd recommend watching her episodes, too, but unfortunately, most of the Seventh Doctor's videos were lost/not saved/etc. Info about his adventures comes mainly from prose, comics, and audio books. Still, go check them out. It was interesting to see how a cold manipulator like the Seventh Doctor could walk out of the Time War a depressive war veteran. Seven sought out his enemies to eliminate them "for the greater good"; Nine just wanted everyone to live for once.
The scene below is from the end of the TV episode "Remembrance of the Daleks" (season 25). I learned something new today: the climax in this episode is the destruction of Skaro (home planet of the Daleks), arguably the first major battle of the Time War. Neat!**
Theta felt his beak hit a wall, quite literally. He grumbled curses under his breath at the TARDIS' navigation skills and opened his eyes. At first, he thought he was seeing things – was he on a pastel planet? And were those…flowers?
"What is that?"
"Who are you?"
Theta jumped and turned to face the two voices, spoken in sync from somewhere behind him. He discovered that he wasn't on some other planet, he was on Earth. The pastel flowers were part of the wallpaper of a large room, perhaps where humans might gather. In front of a door was two people: a woman in black and a man in a brown. They stared at him like he'd just dropped through the roof. Which, considering the circumstances, wasn't too far off.
Then he saw the black object in the man's hand, and Theta raised his wings threateningly. That was a gun if he ever saw one.
"What's it doing?" The man yelled. He raised his weapon, and Theta began to snarl.
"Mike, stop!" The woman practically dragged the other human's arm down. "Can't you see it's not from Earth?"
The man, Mike, stared at Theta in suspicion. "Yeah, but, Ace, what if it's with the Daleks?"
Daleks?! Theta crouched and glanced at the room's only window. It was too large, too clear; a Dalek could see through it easily…
He felt ashamed for his fear, even though it was justified. He'd been told stories of the Daleks as a kit, when his mother would use them to explain why gryphes de stellis were always on the move. She would explain (in vivid detail) how the Dalek's blast rearranged organs instantly, to the point where armies that fought the creatures never needed doctors – there were never any wounded to treat. Then, at the very end, she would spread her wings wide and remind Theta and his siblings that the damned things could fly! Theta could feel the same shivers crawl down his spine at the thought.
The woman, Ace, opened her mouth to answer, but even she stared uncertainly at the strange creature in the room. Theta silently applauded her for her caution as well as her optimism – she was probably a companion to the Doctor.
Speaking of… Where's the Doctor? Theta asked.
The two humans flinched at his squawks. "It could be a scout," Mike hissed.
Ace shook her head. "What are you trying to say?" She mused.
Theta kneaded at the wooden surface underneath him out of habit. He figured neither of them were the Doctor himself – he would have been recognized right away if that were the case – but the Doctor couldn't be far away. He hadn't yet been to a "scene" in the Doctor's life where the Time Lord wasn't close by.
Suddenly, a ringing sound came from behind the humans.
Mike frowned. "You stay there," he told Ace.
"It might be the Doctor," she replied, moving to stop him. "Put the gun down, Mike. It's too late for that. Come on, Mike, who are you going to shoot with it, anyway?"
"Just stay there."
Ace clearly wanted to protest further, but she backed away from the door all the same. Theta crept closer to her, trying to appear as docile as possible. His tail knew when danger was near, and it was twitching like mad. The Doctor wasn't there, he knew it. That Thief of Time wasn't one for pleasant doorbell-ringing.
But then again, Theta thought, Daleks didn't ring doorbells, either.
Mike opened the room's door, and through it Theta saw that they were near the front door to the house – the source of the ringing, no doubt. He hoped Ace didn't have a weapon her. Maybe they'd have a chance if they just surrendered outright?
The man hesitated in front of the closed door. Then, gripping his gun tightly, Mike threw the door open. At first, Theta saw confusion cross his face. Then it turned to fear, just as something zapped him in the chest and sent him flying.
Ace gasped and backed further into the room. Theta's fear rendered him mute for the first time in his life. His inital reaction was to fly away as fast and as far as possible, but he couldn't. Ace would be defenseless otherwise.
When Mike's killer entered the room, Theta was as confused as the male human was. It was a girl; small, young, and entirely human. But the stoic determination in her eyes was anything other than those three traits, and it made Theta's hackles rise. Summoning his last ounce of bravery, he jumped in front of Ace and began to emit a low growl.
The girl didn't even glance at him. She smiled at Ace with a smile that would have been cute in any other situation. Theta knew it was pointless – her "death ray" was clearly a projectile – but he flapped his wings and cawed anyway. Hopefully this "Ace" had a weapon up her sleeve after all.
"Dalek, you have been defeated. Surrender. You have failed."
The words weren't shouted, but their volume carried easily through the thin walls of the house. The girl in front of Theta froze.
"It's the Doctor!" Ace whispered, no doubt grinning as much as Theta was.
"INSUFFICIENT DATA." A Dalek voice, for sure. It was coming from outside, the same direction as the Doctor, but Theta wouldn't be comfortable with that voice until it was several galaxies away from him.
"Your forces are destroyed," the Doctor continued. "Your home planet a burnt cinder circling a dead sun."
"THERE IS NO DATA."
"Even Davros, your creator, is dead."
A loud blast nearly shattered Theta's ear drums. He jumped back, his tail hitting Ace behind him as shards from a mirror fell on them. He snarled at the girl; she must have taken aim while they were distracted. If Ace's panicked breathing was any indication, she must have missed.
"You have no superiors, no inferiors, no reinforcement, no hope, no rescue."
"YOU ARE LYING. THERE IS INSUFFICENT DATA."
"You're trapped a trillion miles and a thousand years from a disintegrated home."
"OUT OF CONTROL!"
"I have defeated you." The Doctor didn't sound entirely pleased by this fact, but he wasn't entirely saddened by it, either. "You no longer serve any purpose."
"CANNONT COMPUTE. UNSTABLE." The Dalek's voice was much louder now.
Ace gasped as the girl in front of them grabbed her head and started swinging back and forth, squealing like a pig. Theta prepared to pounce if she tried anything.
The Dalek screamed one last time: "UNSTABLE!"
Then, instead of a concussive blast, Theta heard the sound of something gently disintegrating.
The little girl in front of them collapsed, silent but not dead. Ace wasn't as wary as Theta was; she walked straight to the child and hugged her right there on the floor.
"It's alright," she cooed. "Don't worry. It's all over now."
From outside, Theta's sensitive ears picked up the Doctor muttering, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust."
The griffin relaxed for the first time that trip. It really was over.
After a few moments, the girl started to wake up, just as a stranger walked into the room. He wore a plain, tan suit, and would have been unremarkable if not for two features: his weary, cold eyes and his peculiar choice in sweaters.
"Doctor," Ace said. "Are they gone?"
The Doctor nodded in response, but he was staring at Theta. The griffin stared right back, unflinching.
Ace looked between them. "Do you know what it is?"
"He is Theta, Ace. A gryphes de stellis." The Doctor smiled, but to Theta, the smile looked more strained on this incarnation than his previous ones. "He's popped up before, in my many lifetimes."
Theta glanced at the girl. You should help her, Doctor.
The Time Lord emitted a clipped "ha". "You know I'm not exactly medicinally trained."
"Can it really speak?" Ace asked. The girl in her arms had fully woken up and stared at Theta in an awed silence.
"In a way."
Theta felt the pull again. Perhaps his "purpose" here, if that's what could be called, was finished. Gotta fly, Doctor. Maybe next time I see you you'll have better fashion sense.
The Doctor smiled – a real smile this time – and waved. Ace saw this and hurriedly said, "Good-bye, Theta. Thank you!"
Theta nearly asked, For what? But he was already gone.
