The next day at work Ace is sitting at the computer looking over some of the Zygon stats when she gets a phone call from her office. "Hello," Ace answers her phone in a slightly different voice.

"Dorothy, you have someone here asking for you. She used both the names Dorothy McShane and Ace."

"Did she say her name?"

"Shreela."

"Keep her there. I haven't seen her in decades."

"I will."

"I'll be right over." Ace gets up and walks over to Kate. "Kate, I have someone asking for me at A Charitable Earth."

"From your face it is someone amazing."

"Just one of my best friends from Perivale, that I haven't seen since 1989."

"Go ahead, it has been quiet, give Graham what you were working on."

"Will do."

She heads over to Graham and kisses his cheek, "someone's happy."

"I am, remember me telling you about Shreela?"

"I do."

"She is over at A Charitable Earth, Kate has told me to go and give you what I was working on."

"What is it?"

"The Zygons, we check up on them from time to time, I was just doing that."

"I'll get right on it, you go see Shreela."

"You're amazing."

"And you're Ace."

"Graham," Ace says as she shakes her head and walks away. She quickly heads over to her building. "Where is she," she asks her assistant.

"I showed her your office."

"Thank you." Ace walks to her office to see her old friend. "Shreela."

"So Ace or Dorothy?" Shreela who still has curly long black curly hair asks her childhood friend.

"I go between both of them now."

"You do?"

"When it comes to this place I am Dorothy, but everyone else calls me Ace."

"Everyone?"

"My friends, and my partner."

"What kind of partner?" Ace walks over to her desk and grabs a picture of her and Graham taking over Christmas.

"He is the man I love."

"You're in love?"

"I am, and our relationship is more based on emotional connection."

"Not physical?"

"Let's just last year I saw the Doctor again and they implanted a hologram of them in me and two others. Each time Graham and I try to get physical we get interrupted by the one you met."

"That must be hard."

"It is, though we are getting to know each other rather well. Minus the Doctor, the only other person to know me like this was Manisha."

"You are definitely happy."

"I am, now what about you?"

"I am doing ok, it's the high school." Ace sighs.

"The school I was kicked out of?"
"The same one, we need a speaker for the graduation."

"You want someone who never graduated to talk about how great it is to be graduated."

"I."

"Shreela, I know a lot of people who graduated who would be great to talk to everyone."

"I want you, you are the most successful person to come out of Perivale High."

"I'll think about it. I have a speaking engagement in Oxford coming up."

"Really?"

"I do a couple every year, this year it is a two day event that Graham and I are using as a week away."

"You must really love this Graham."

"I do, and it's thanks to the Doctor and the Master we met."

"He makes you happy. Last time I saw you happy when you and the Doctor saved all of us, but this is a different happy."

"Traveling with the Doctor was the first time I was happy since Manisha died, though I have been happy the past many decades, I am more than happy now."

"You are glowing."

"Thank you Shreela, how about you, you married with kids?"

"I married Derek, we have a daughter and in a few months will have a granddaughter."

"When did that happen?"

"After everything happened and you disappeared again, we started seeing each other, got married, had a kid in 96, and she found her person while still in high school. Got married shortly after graduating in 2014."

"They waited almost 10 years to have a kid?"

"They did. Went to Uni and traveled for a few years."

"What do they do?"

"Both work in offices."

"That's good."

"It is."

"Do you have any kids?"

"Nope, A Charitable Earth is my baby."

"And your Nitro-9."

Ace smiles, "and my Nitro-9. Two things I created are widely different from each other."

"Do you still do that?"

"Shh, someone who runs a charity shouldn't be making anything like that."

"Ace, you have always had this big heart."

"Ok?"

"You have while you didn't like the popular kids and spit on them at times."

"I was what 14/15."

"You were, are you still in contact with the Doctor?"

"Not exactly, it is a lot to explain and it's complicated. Is there something else you wanted to ask? I was hoping you just wanted to catch up. I rushed over from what I was doing with a bunch of friends who knew the Doctor both before and after me."

"Is there anywhere we can go where there would be limited interruptions?"

"You mean like here, my office where everybody respects me."

"Come on Ace."

"Shreela the only interruption we can get is if I get a phone call from UNIT about some alien trying to harm people and there is no Doctor around."

"What about your boyfriend?"

"He said to enjoy catching up with you. Now what is really going on besides you wanting me to speak at Perivale High."

"Nothing."

"You sure?"

"I am."

"Ok, umm," Ace's phone goes off.

"I thought you said we wouldn't be bothered."

"I did.''

"Go look."

Ace looks at her phone quickly, "it's just Graham wondering if we want him to bring us some dinner."

"He takes care of you?"

"I don't need taking care of."

"You never have, but he wants to."

"Sorry, we do that, take care of each other."

"That is what a couple does."

"I am learning that. It feels good."

"It does, though with you it is probably different."

"Because someone actually wants to take care of me is it? Graham isn't the first one to care for me, you know."

"I do Ace."

"It was Manisha's family, they were planning to talk to my Mum before they were firebombed."

"I didn't know that."

"Of course not, nobody did. After that happened Manisha hated everyone like I did, until Mel and the Doctor came around."

"They cared about you?"

"Mel is the one that told the Doctor to take me on. The Doctor was my best friend for years."

"Now it's Graham."

"Yes Graham is one of my best friends, I have a few of them now."

"That's not surprising you are loyal and a great person." There is a knock on the door. "Would that be Graham?"

"Probably." Ace gets up and walks to the door. "Hey Graham."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Graham looks at Ace reading her eyes.

"Tell me later, I love you;" he hands Ace the bag of food and kisses her cheek quickly.

"I love you too." Graham leaves and Ace turns to face Shreela.

"He can read you."

"Sometimes scarily well. Hungry?"

"I think I should get going."

"Come on stay and eat, knowing Graham he bought enough for a small army."

"Ok, only if you tell me why he asked you that?"

"You were acting like I was a loner in school when you knew there was you, Manisha, Midge, Harvey, Derek and I."

"We were the outcasts."

"The trouble making ones." They eat their meal after they are finished, Ace tells Shreela, "listen I will think about giving a speech at the school."

"Thank you and just think you can show Graham your old haunts."

"They have probably changed."

"They have, but that is everywhere. I really should be going. It is getting late and I want to get home."

"Shreela give me your number real quick, so I can get back to you on my answer." Ace gives Shreela her phone and Shreela is shocked to see a picture of Ace and Graham with squished faces as her lock screen.

"There you go, and cute picture."

"Thanks," Ace shoots her a quick text, "that is from me so you have my number. Let's not wait 30 years next time."

"Ok, bye Ace," Shreela gives Ace a hug which Ace accepts and hugs her back. Sheerla leaves and Ace heads home knowing she will have a visitor at her house when she gets back. She is thankful that they have exchanged keys, so he wouldn't be waiting in his car.