After that first day, the rest of the week followed the same pattern, a comforting if somewhat predictable routine. Each morning, Jack would pick her up. Kate had mentioned the driving duty would rotate, but so far, it had only been Jack. She thought about bringing it up, but in the end, she chose not to. Jack would do whatever Jack wanted to do.

Her mornings were spent working alongside Osgood and the team. Slowly, she was beginning to click into their strange sense of humour. At first, it felt like they spoke a different language, one filled with inside jokes and cryptic remarks, but now she found herself quipping along with them. By Thursday, she had even joined them for lunch, an event that Jack teased her about relentlessly.

"Oh, look at you, making friends!"

O had shared his yoghurt with her when he'd noticed her looking at it. She hadn't meant to imply she wanted it, she'd just been looking at it, intrigued why an adult was eating a chocolate yoghurt with chocolate buttons in it. Although she'd had to admit, it was delicious. The next day, he brought two, a silent offering that made her smile.

Plus, she had been diligently working on Alina's homework—the journal. The first night, she'd sat at the dining table, staring blankly at the empty page in front of her. The simple journal sat there, waiting, but her mind was anything but cooperative. The silence around her pressed in, and for a moment, she thought about giving up, leaving it untouched. Then her phone vibrated.

Alina Pearce: Write in it. Anything. Start with one word.

She'd sighed, reluctant but feeling the push of Alina's encouragement, and scrawled a single word. One word turned into more. Soon, the page was filled, her thoughts spilling out in a messy, but oddly therapeutic, stream of consciousness.

Wednesday evening, Jack had stopped by, unannounced, and dropped off three pregnancy books.

She had rolled her eyes but, later that night, found herself leafing through one, curiosity getting the better of her. That same night, she had typed into Google: 'What is nesting?', 'What do I need for a baby?' The sheer amount of information that she'd ended up reading through had left her brain fried.

Hally had also started taking her work laptop home with her, feeling slightly guilty that she was leaving the office around 1 p.m. each day. She felt like she could do more, so she'd begun doing extra bits and pieces in the evenings to make up for it.

On Thursday afternoon, she dragged Ianto into a home store. He seemed the most likely person to know about paint colours, and her instinct had been spot on. He helped her choose samples, explaining the subtle differences between shades she would never have noticed on her own. She left with several testers and that evening, she applied them to the walls of the nursery.

By Saturday morning, she was back at the store, confidently selecting the paints she'd decided on. When Jack heard her plans to start painting, he'd warned her to YouTube it first, otherwise she'd end up making a mess. She'd scoffed at him, insisting it couldn't be that difficult, but later—when she was alone—she did exactly what he'd suggested. This, she was slightly thankful for as she definitely would have started without covering the furniture, the carpet or taping the ceiling and skirting…

The entire weekend was spent painting the nursery. It felt like progress, especially if she ignored the fact that she'd had to sit and hysterically cry in it for about forty-five minutes before she could bring herself to pick up a paintbrush. Followed by intermittent tears every four to five hours, but each time, she picked herself back up and kept painting.

She had survived a whole week. It had been alright. She considered it a success, she decided as she sat herself down at the dining room table, flipping the journal open onto the next blank page. She still felt like a ten-year-old writing in a diary but Alina had assured her that it could be as simple and as nonsensical as she wanted. It didn't need to be concise or eloquent.

'I finished painting the nursery today. I still cried, but afterwards, I felt better. I like it. The walls are all green, light green. I think Ianto called it 'Catkin Green', whatever that means. I bought some stencils. Painted trees. Just on one wall, the wall next to her cot. Painted out a hill in orange, painted some slightly darker orange grass. The trees have silver leaves. I'm not really sure why but it just felt right. Gallifrey won't be her home, but it's still a part of her. I wanted her to see the silver leaves. Maybe I did it because Koschei is there. I am sad today. I keep crying. I'm sad because watching Koschei paint a nursery would have made me smile. I'm sad because I had to do it on my own. I know I didn't have to, I know I could have asked Martha or Jack or anyone but it wouldn't have been the same. I wanted to do it with Koschei. Or even with The Doctor. I wouldn't have minded that. I mean, I'm fucking angry at him, but it still would have been nice. If he was here. He should be here.'

Alina

Monday and Tuesday were going to be busy.

Alina's usual schedule with Hally had been packed tighter, as Kate had requested her assistance in "debriefing" the team members who had worked on Hally's trial and "checking in" on those now involved in her integration. Why Kate avoided calling it what it truly was—counselling—Alina wasn't sure, but she allowed her to refer to it as she wished.

She had offered Kate an appointment, which the older woman had politely declined.

Alina hadn't taken it personally.

Someone as put together as Kate Stewart most likely already had a therapist.

After sending out emails and calendar invites, she had managed to squeeze most of the sessions into Monday and Tuesday. Jack, who she had been scheduled to see the following week anyway, had been bumped up to the top of her list. Unsurprisingly, he'd complained about it, tried to wriggle out of it like usual. So, to ensure he couldn't pretend he was busy she'd ambushed him in his office and simply done the session there.

They'd been speaking roughly once a month since she'd joined the Torchwood team, sometimes less if Jack managed to evade her, but she was getting much better at pinning him down.

Owen, was still as slippery as ever.

Sitting across from Jack in his office, Alina watched as he huffed, leaning back in his chair with a look that suggested he had a million better things to do.

"Busy?" she asked, eyebrow raised.

"Yes," he replied, crossing his arms.

"With what?"

"Just... stuff," he mumbled, shifting in his seat.

"Mmhmm." Alina nodded. "So, how are you?"

"Grand, thanks," Jack shot back, his tone flat and dismissive.

"You know I have to sign off that you've actively participated in this, right?" Alina cocked an eyebrow at him, her tone pointed but light. "Kate wants to make sure everyone has properly 'processed' Hally's introduction. As she put it."

Jack rolled his eyes. "This is why I hate corporations. What's wrong with just getting on with it?"

Alina hummed softly, not pushing back but letting the silence prompt him to continue.

When he didn't offer anything she tried again. "When she turned up on your doorstep," she finally asked, "how was that?"

Jack crossed his arms tighter, his expression hardening. "It was fine. Annoying. It was 3 a.m. Why can't time travellers ever show up at a reasonable hour?"

Alina left a gap, hoping he'd fill it in. Jack, however, shrugged, resisting her silent cue.

"You could have left her to her own devices," she suggested.

"I could have," Jack admitted, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"But you didn't. Why?" Alina prodded gently.

Jack gave a half-smile. "Knight in shining armour, me."

Alina let out a soft breath, smiling in response. "How did Ianto feel about it?"

"I don't know. You'd have to ask Ianto."

She gave him a knowing smile. "You didn't talk about it?"

Jack hesitated. "Well… yes. Of course, we did."

"So then answer my question."

Jack's mouth twisted in reluctance. "Surely you'll ask Ianto."

"Yes, but right now, I'm not asking Ianto what he thought about it. I'm asking you what you think Ianto thought about it. There's a difference. Now answer the question, Jack."

Jack huffed, shifting uncomfortably. "He was… impossibly patient and understanding."

"Right…?" Alina prompted, sensing there was more.

"But I know he's not happy about it."

"Did he say that?"

"No, but I can tell," Jack replied, a hint of defensiveness creeping into his voice.

"Why do you think he wouldn't be happy?"

Jack sucked on the back of his teeth, clearly irritated by the direction the conversation was taking. "It just... changes things."

"Between the two of you?"

"No… not like that," Jack said, shaking his head slightly. "Just, her being here. Things have changed. She takes up… She needs someone, she needs support. But it means I have less time for… everything else."

"Including your relationship with Ianto?" Alina asked, her tone even but probing.

Jack shrugged, confirming her suspicion with the small gesture.

"She is integrating well, Jack. I think you can delegate a few more things out…"

He sighed deeply. "I know, I just feel responsible…"

"You feel responsible for her?" Alina raised an eyebrow.

"No… I feel… partly responsible for what happened," Jack admitted, his voice quieter now.

Alina hummed thoughtfully, making a note of that for another time. "But you're still angry at her."

"Yes," Jack said firmly, though his expression lacked the conviction.

Alina's mouth twitched. "Because… you don't seem all that angry."

Jack's eyes flashed, his voice sharpening. "Well, I am."

"Mmhmm. If you say so."

"I do say so. I am angry at her."

"What about?"

Jack clenched his jaw, clearly uncomfortable. "Everything. All of it. The Valiant, resurrecting him, New York, everything."

Alina nodded, thoughtfully. "Do you think… maybe, that perhaps you're feeling something else? Not anger, but something else, and the anger is simply easier to acknowledge?"

"No," Jack replied, his voice clipped. "I'm just angry."

"Alright," Alina said, giving him a small smile. "Perhaps you and Ianto need to have a chat about boundaries. If you're feeling like you're missing out on time with Ianto to help her, maybe it's time you talked to him about it."

Jack shifted in his seat, not meeting her eyes. He stayed silent.

"Talk to Ianto, Jack," she repeated, her tone more firm this time.

He waved a hand, dismissive but not entirely resistant. "Fine. I'll talk to Ianto. Are we done?"

Alina clicked her pen, signalling that she was indeed conceding. "Until next time, yes."

Sessions with Toshiko and Martha had gone much smoother, which was exactly why Alina had scheduled them that way. She needed a buffer of successful sessions around her inevitable run-ins with Jack—and well, Owen.

She could deal with the rebuff from Jack. Jack was old, practised at dodging her questions, and skilled at evasion. But Alina was slowly breaking him down, one small crack at a time. Occasionally, he'd let his guard down and actually let himself be honest with her.

But Owen? Owen was impossible.

"Ok, I'm here. Shall we just get this signed off so I can go back to living my life?" Owen's voice dripped with sarcasm the moment he walked in.

Alina gave him a tight smile, already bracing herself. "Just a few questions, Owen."

He laughed lightly, flopping down onto the sofa with a dramatic sigh. "Go ahead," he said, settling in, as if daring her to try.

She kept her voice calm and even. "How are you feeling?"

"Good. Fine. Wonderful," he responded immediately, his tone dripping with false cheer. "Hally being back has literally zero effect on me. I like her. She brought me back to life." He shot Alina a grin that was more a challenge than anything else. "And no… before you ask, that doesn't mean that I feel indebted to her. She's fun. I've got more work to do with her being here and pregnant, which is a bit blurgh, but otherwise, easy peasy."

Alina held his gaze, refusing to be drawn into his game. "You're not concerned about her?" she asked, pressing further.

"Nah. People give birth all the time," Owen shrugged, as if that was the end of the conversation.

"That isn't really what I meant," Alina replied, keeping her voice steady.

"So be more specific," Owen shot back.

Alina took a slow breath, refusing to let him rush her. "You're not experiencing any concern, or any fear, or any anxiety about her being back on Earth? No thoughts or feelings that she might be a danger?"

Owen smiled again, the same unbothered grin. "Nope."

They stared at each other for a few silent moments, Alina waiting for any crack in his facade. But there was nothing. Just Owen, completely closed off, deflecting her at every turn.

Finally, Alina let out a breath of resignation. "Fine. Off you go, Harper."

Owen stood up, that cocky grin still plastered on his face. "Always a pleasure," he said, with a mocking little bow before turning to leave.

Alina watched him go. Owen was impossible. But she had expected nothing less.

Alina spent her lunch preparing for Hally's appointment. She needed to gauge Hally's mood before attempting to probe into the topic she wanted to broach. They'd avoided it before, back on the Valiant. But then it had been extremely fresh. Today, though, she was curious to see how Hally would react, if she would be as forthcoming as usual. It had initially surprised Alina—Hally's willingness to open up. Sure, there were things Alina had to tease out of her, but Hally seemed to want to talk, to share, to understand herself.

As per their routine, Jack dropped Hally off, and the session began with Hally handing over her journal. She sat quietly, waiting for Alina to skim through the new entries. The first time she had done so, Hally had jokingly said it made her feel like Alina was grading her. Alina rarely asked about any topics raised in the journal immediately. Instead, she would quietly jot down notes to circle back to.

She flipped through the latest entries, flicking through her own notebook to pause under her section marked 'The Doctor', she added a quick scribble: Acknowledges sadness and disappointment. In the section noted 'The Master', she wrote: Progressing through milestones without him is a challenge. She underlined it, reminding herself that they needed to dive deeper into that soon. Preferably this week.

When she finished, she handed the journal back to Hally. "Good. Thank you. How has it been, writing things down?"

Again, Alina was surprised—and pleased—that Hally had actually been doing it, and doing it properly. Although, Hally did tend to be quite good at doing what she was told, depending on who was doing the telling.

"It's been okay," Hally said. "Some days are easier. But once I start writing, it does sort of just flow…"

"That's good. Sometimes all we need is to acknowledge what we're feeling. Put a name to it, explain it to ourselves, and it helps us move through it."

"Yeah… no, it's helping. It is."

Alina smiled. "Good. How are you feeling today? How was the weekend?"

Hally nodded, seeming more settled than the last time they'd spoken. "I think I'm feeling okay. Good, even. I kept myself busy over the weekend, which I think helped. I mean, I cried a lot, but it's left me feeling… weirdly okay. Slightly lighter." She let out a self-deprecating laugh, and Alina gave her an encouraging nod.

"I like it," Hally continued. "I like coming in. Feeling like I've got something to do." There was a hint of sadness behind her smile. "I like being around Jack, Torchwood." She smiled fondly. "Working with Osgood and O… and everyone."

Had she just blushed…?

"It's nice. Being surrounded. Having a base. It was strange. I didn't expect to like it. It's quite settling."

Alina wanted to double-check that.

"How about the team you're working with? Do you like them?"

Hally smiled again. "Yeah, I do. They're nice. Osgood is… well, Osgood. Nadia is funny… in a weird, macabre sort of way…" She laughed. "And I like O…" Her mouth curved into a small smile. "Despite the painful awkwardness, he's…"

No, she was definitely blushing.

"…sweet."

Well, that was something she'd need to keep an eye on.

Alina cleared her throat, coming to the decision that they could broach the subject she wanted to. If anything just to move the topic away from O.

"Good," she said, with a smile, flicking through her notes. Clicking her pen, she glanced at the page she had prepared before meeting Hally's eyes. "Well, today, I'd like us to talk about Rose Tyler."

Alina watched Hally's face closely, reading the flicker of emotions that crossed it—fear, concern, definitely trepidation.

"Ok…" Hally agreed, though her body language said otherwise. She seemed hesitant, her posture guarded.

"The topic makes you uneasy?" Alina gently prodded, hoping Hally could put into words her immediate reaction.

Hally bit her lip, rolling it between her teeth, as she often did when searching for the right words. "It's… conflicting."

Conflicting. It was an interesting answer, but vague. She pressed further.

"In what way?"

Hally's eyes flicked off to one side, recalling her thoughts. "Well… it's like there are two versions of Rose Tyler in my head… and I feel quite different about both of them…"

"Can you describe what you mean for me?"

Hally nodded slowly. "There's the first Rose Tyler… the first human I met with The Doctor. The Rose Tyler who was so young and bright and a friend. The Rose Tyler who travelled with us. The Rose Tyler who taught my Dad how to exist again… who taught me how to exist around The Doctor. She was like a sister, I think. A friend. Compassionate but stubborn. Through her, I learned how to be around The Doctor. How to tell him when he was wrong." Hally smiled slightly, a memory evidently crossing her mind. "The Rose Tyler we travelled with… and then the Rose Tyler we lost. And it was sad, and The Doctor and I grieved for her. I thought we were grieving the same thing, but even at the time, I could tell there was something else… something deeper for him. I thought it was because he'd loved her… or maybe part of me thought he blamed me for losing her…"

Hally's mouth twisted as she bit the inside of her lip, her expression clouded by the memory. "And then… there's the other Rose Tyler. The one that's my mother." Her brow creased with a deep frown. "But it's such an abstract concept to me. It just doesn't seem to fit with the other Rose. I can't make them co-exist."

Alina scribbled another note—has not come to terms with the identity of her mother. Abstract concept.

"Maybe it's because she didn't know either… for most of it. Because we never had that type of relationship. But I can notice the difference now… I can see when it changed. When they knew. They were different. They treated me differently. But then she was gone, and then I found out, and… I don't know… maybe if I hadn't found out the way I did, maybe if The Doctor had sat me down and explained it from the beginning, I could marry the two up, but I just can't get it to sit. Even when she came back… and we both knew… It wasn't like… I don't know. I'm not really sure what I imagined it to be like, but it wasn't suddenly like she was my mother. She was still just Rose Tyler."

Hally let out a bitter laugh.

"She didn't know how to be my mother any more than I knew how to be her daughter."

Alina quickly noted—empathy for RT? Is she as angry at her as she is at The Doctor?

"But it was so fleeting… anyway. I mean, I'm an adult. I'm hundreds of years older than her. How could she possibly be my mother now? I could tell she felt guilty about it. I could tell she needed something from me. Reassurance, maybe. I don't know. When I looked at her, I could see that she needed to feel like she'd somehow been a part of my life." Hally frowned, deep in thought. "So I showed her. Only briefly. Fragments. I left out… bits. I showed her my life so she could feel like she'd been there…" As Hally spoke Alina could see that she was simultaneously realising that the concept annoyed her. Not deeply, just a flicker of irritation.

Alina had a thought—a question forming in her mind. She knew Hally's upbringing well; they had discussed it before. She knew Time Lords went to the Academy at eight, but she wanted more details about what it had looked like before the Academy. Back on the Valiant, when Alina had initially asked her, Hally had said she couldn't really remember. It had been so long ago. All she could recall was their house, the general atmosphere of being around, with The Doctor distant and his wife at the time almost ignoring her.

Alina wondered if this missing period could hold anything valuable. Information about those early years might help her figure out what Hally had missed in terms of parental nurturing or example-setting. It wasn't something she could ask Hally directly—she was too young to remember clearly. And asking The Doctor wasn't really an option either.

Hmm… Perhaps she could ask him…

"I'm not even really sure why I did it… It felt a bit like closure at the time, but I think maybe more for her than for me."

Alina nodded, offering a soft hum of acknowledgement. She flipped to the back of her notebook, making a quick note—O. Parents. H. If anyone happened to glance at it, it would look vague enough.

"Are you angry at her? Rose?" she flicked her gaze back up to Hally.

Hally took her time, considering the question. "I think… a little. I think… maybe that's one of the reasons I've separated them. So I can be angry at Rose Tyler, my mother, without it bleeding into being angry at the Rose Tyler in my memories. The one I actually spent time with. It seems… unfair to be angry at both of them."

Alina nodded, taking in Hally's words. "But you're not angry at her in the same way you're angry at The Doctor? Despite the fact that taking you to Gallifrey was the same decision for both of them?"

Hally shook her head. "No. Which I know doesn't make sense but… I don't know. Maybe it's because she's not around to ask. I would ask her, what happened, but I can't. She was just human… maybe she did argue with him, maybe she did fight him, I don't know. It's obvious the drive… the decision to do it came from him. She wouldn't know about paradoxes and fixed points like that. What choice did she have?"

Alina hummed softly, scribbling a few more notes on her pad. "But you consider The Doctor's choice flexible?"

Hally shook her head, grimacing. "No. I know he didn't have a choice either." She let out an irritated huff, the frustration clear in her voice. "I'm angry at him for a lot of things. I know—when I think about it, when I actually consider it—that neither of them had a choice. They had to put me on Gallifrey. It was fixed. I can forgive them for that. What I can't forgive him for is not telling me about it. Not telling me Rose was my mother when he knew. Not telling me after we'd lost her. Not… planning better so that his younger self didn't avoid me. Not leaving me anything, a hint, or a whisper that I wasn't just their daughter who they inexplicably didn't like, that I wasn't some unexplainable freak with weird powers no other Time Lord had." Her face hardened into a scowl. "I'm angry because he should have known better. He should have done it better."

Alina hummed thoughtfully, her pen scratching more notes onto the paper. "It might seem like a slightly stupid question, but would you say that this experience you have of your own parents is perhaps the largest driving force for you being so intent on settling here with your own daughter?"

She already knew the answer, but she wanted Hally to say it.

Hally nodded, her expression softening slightly. "Yes. Definitely. I can't... I've promised myself that I'm not going to repeat their mistakes."

Alina nodded back, affirming her response. "And… we spoke about it briefly last week, and I know you must have thought about it, but is that also what's stopping you from going after The Master yourself?"

Hally nodded again, the weak, hopeless sadness settling across her features like a shadow. "Yeah..." Her voice was quieter now, weighed down with resignation. "I've thought about it. I've thought about all the possible ways I could try and find him, but there just isn't one that doesn't put her in danger. That doesn't risk me accidentally having to leave her and I just… I just can't."

Alina nodded once more, flipping the page in her notebook and jotting down a note for a future session: M—make sure it doesn't translate into bitterness. She turned a few more pages, making another note: Pregnancy—signs of control? Protectiveness? Something to keep an eye on.

As Alina glanced up, she noticed Hally's eyes had softened, her expression distant, as if lost in thought. Whatever had captured her mind seemed to bring her a rare moment of peace. Alina let her be, watching the way Hally's hands rested gently on the swell of her stomach.

"Good," Alina finally said softly, her gentle tone pulling Hally back to the present. "I think that's good for today." She offered Hally a warm smile, which was returned.

Alina texted Jack, letting him know they were done. As expected, he appeared at her door barely two minutes later, hovering in the doorway as Hally stood to leave. Just as she was about to go, Alina had a thought.

"Did you buy anything yet? For her?"

Hally's face shifted slightly, and she shook her head. "No... but I decorated. That was a step."

Alina hummed in response, her tone teasing but firm. "I want you to have bought something by Wednesday. I want to see receipts," she said, the command clear.

Hally let out a small huff, playful. "So demanding," she muttered, more to Jack than Alina.

Jack, playing along, raised an eyebrow. "I know... who hired her?"

She managed to fit Ianto in late afternoon, gently pushing him, as usual, to speak openly to Jack. The next day was another full calendar, packed with sessions. Alina flitted through everyone in Osgood's team. It felt like overkill for Kate to request it, but it gave her an excuse to schedule a non-suspicious interaction with O, so she went along with it.

She scheduled him just before lunch, fully intending for it to overrun. Though, knowing him, he might sit there for the scheduled 15 minutes pretending to be O, in which case her lunch break would remain intact. Still, she doubted it.

She started, as she had done with the others, after all, there were forms to fill out.

"How are you?" she asked, glancing up from her notes.

"Fine," he replied curtly. The way he said it wasn't completely out of character for O, but there was an underlying edge of impatience to it. She suppressed a smile.

"Wonderful," she shot back in the same tone. He shifted, his eyes flicking around the room momentarily, and she smirked, realising what he was doing.

"There aren't any cameras or recording devices, if that's what you're worried about," she offered, her tone calm but reassuring. She continued, still holding that professional smile. "Kate wants me to check in with everyone working with Hally. See how you're finding it."

O cleared his throat. "It's fine. She's… nice," he finally settled on, the word landing awkwardly.

She snorted a laugh, watching his eyes flash with irritation. "Nice?" she teased, unable to resist.

"Well, what do you want me to say?" he shot back.

Well, the pretence had fallen far faster than she'd thought it would. He must be in a mood. She hummed softly, still smiling. "Well… some of the others have said things like, 'She's settling in well,' or 'I have no cause for concern,' that sort of thing."

O... no, not O anymore. The change was immediate. The softness in O's face had disappeared, the lines sharper now, his previously amber eyes now dark and glaring right at her. The Master scoffed. "Alright. 'I have no cause for concern. She's a wonderful addition to the team, and I can't wait to get to know her better,'" he quipped, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Is that better?"

"Much. Thank you," she replied, jotting down his response quickly, signing it off.

He rolled his jaw, a sharp click in the motion. Alina wondered briefly what had him so irritated, but she figured it was probably a mix of things. Not being able to touch his wife. Having to waltz around pretending to be O twenty-four-seven. The added stress of having Alina rumble his little disguise. Yes, that would do it. Alright. He was in a mood.

She'd have to baby him a little.

"I had a question..." Alina began, keeping her tone casual.

"You usually do," The Master shot back, glancing at the clock. He was no doubt considering if it would look strange for O to leave his session after only three minutes. He remained, so he must have considered it a risk.

"It's mainly to create a clearer picture, and I was wondering if you knew—though you might not—but Hally, before she went to the Academy, she lived with The Doctor and his then-wife, right?" Alina's tone was conversational, though there was an edge to her curiosity.

The Master made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat, something like a begrudging "yes."

"Do you know what that dynamic looked like? I know she's mentioned half-siblings. At the time, I assume she thought they were her full siblings. But I mean in terms of where her parents were, what they did, day to day?"

"Why don't you just ask her?" His response came low, with a hint of a threat woven into his words. The atmosphere shifted slightly, tension simmering beneath his exterior.

Alina, unfazed, flashed him a bright smile. "Well, you see, at the time, she would have been a baby." She cocked her head to one side, her smile never wavering. "And you would have been much older. You might actually remember."

The Master inhaled slowly, his dark eyes fixed on her. The energy radiating off him was palpable, starkly contrasting the mild presence of O. It was mildly impressive, the difference. Even in the way he occupied the space around him, The Master was commanding, exuding control over the entirety of her office. Alina shifted slightly, crossing one leg over the other.

"She had two older siblings, yes. But they were much closer in age. She was far younger than them."

"So they didn't mix much," Alina observed.

"No," he replied curtly.

"And her adoptive mother?"

The Master's face remained impassive, but something flickered in his eyes—something dark. "That woman wasn't any kind of mother. They simply existed within the same house."

"Hally said it was an arranged marriage?" Alina pressed, her frown deepening.

"Yes. There wasn't anything there other than a contract and an obligation. She wanted two children. She had them. That was about it."

Alina's face creased further in confusion. "So, who raised her? Who fed her? Children aren't independent."

"Most Time Lord Households have staff. They would have done it. It wouldn't have been out of the ordinary. Some families did it that way."

Her frown remained on her face as she noted what he'd given her down, a few moments of silence stretching through the room as he waited for her.

When Alina finished writing and glanced back up, the air seemed to thicken. His expression had changed—no longer impatiently stewing, instead, his features had shifted into something sharper. His dark eyes gleamed with a new intensity, a spark of excitement flashing beneath the surface, like a predator catching the scent of its prey.

A slight chill prickled at the back of her neck, her instincts alerting her to the shift. His posture had shifted, leaning back into the sofa with a dangerously edged calm. Exuding a smug confidence. The corner of his mouth curled upward in a small, knowing smile.

"There's something that isn't making sense," he said smoothly, his voice softer, more controlled than it had been a moment ago. He was playing with her, his tone lighter, but no less dangerous.

Alina didn't drop her gaze, nor did she do anything to signal that he was unnerving her. "What?" she asked, her voice steady.

The Master's smile was a stark contrast to O's. It was a show of teeth, predatory and calculating. He shifted, propping his arms against the back of the sofa, his eyes considering her with deliberate slowness before he spoke. "Why haven't you asked me what I'm doing here?"

She hesitated, attempting to find the right words. But he was quick to pounce on her uncertainty.

"Hmm." His eyes lit up with a malicious gleam. "Exactly." The word drawn out with a soft purr. "Why haven't you confronted me? Asked me why I'm here if I'm not here to whisk my wife away?" His face was smooth, his smile light, radiating a sense of total ease.

She cleared her throat. "I had assumed—"

He cut her off sharply, leaning forward as if to warn her. "No. No, no, no because I know you're smart. But you're not that smart." The smile had vanished, replaced by a glimmer of irritation in his eyes. "It is quite a leap… for you to immediately comprehend the situation." His voice soft with a patronising lilt, he asked, "Why wouldn't you tell her?"

She suspected this was his way of retaliating for her outing him outside the courtroom. She slowly set her notepad and pen down. "Would you like me to?"

"Ah. Avoidance. Alina. It doesn't suit you." He clipped, his tone dropping into a tight, warning edge.

She fixed a calm look onto her face. "If you had let me finish. I had assumed, considering you are here and she is here, and it would take you less than five minutes to take her onto your TARDIS or whatever brought you here, that there's a pretty steadfast reason why you haven't. You're not one to play by the rules, so it's either a rule even you can't break, or it's self-preservation. Which leads me to assume that you in fact shouldn't be here. That this isn't the right time for you to be here, hence why you are hiding your presence." She offered firmly, not leaving any moments of weakness for him to interrupt her again.

His lips curved into a small, satisfied smile as he leaned back once more. "Quite the flurry of perfect assumptions."

She kept her eyes locked with his. "Perhaps you're just predictable."

"Or perhaps…" He pretended to check his nails, feigning nonchalance. "You have a source of information."

"That's quite the assumption."

"Quite." He shot back a genuine smile, clearly enjoying the exchange.

She shrugged. "Perhaps I will tell her then."

He snorted, dropping the predatory façade and slipping back into his confident ease. "You wouldn't. It would blow a hole in the universe."

"Exactly as I'd assumed." She clipped, taking that as a win.

He made a childish face at her, momentarily dropping his control over the situation. Willingly, she'd admit, but it gave her a chance to regain the upper hand.

"Be careful. She likes O, she can't get too close."

"I am careful. Don't tell me how to be careful. I was disrupting timelines back when your ancestors were still making finger paintings in caves." He clipped, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, but she likes him. She called him 'sweet'."

"She's supposed to like him. He's designed to be inherently likeable, harmless, adorable, sweet, whatever. Normal. Boring. Background music."

"When she spoke about him yesterday, she blushed."

He scoffed. "No, she didn't."

"She did."

"Why would she blush?"

"Because she likes him."

"But he is nothing like me. He is awkward and submissive and pathetic."

"Except he is also… most importantly, you." She caught him with a stern stare. "It might not be as obvious to her as if he were charming and confident and dominating, but she is still reacting differently to O compared to the other people she's working with." She hissed with frustration.

He sighed, looking bored. "She's just making a new friend."

"Yes. Except we're both fully aware that Hally doesn't just 'make friends'. She's not inherently a 'friend-making' type of person. It takes her a lot of time to consider someone a friend, so why, after one week, is she blushing when I say O's name?"

He shrugged. "I don't have an answer for you."

"I do." Alina clipped, growing impatient with his lack of concern. "It is perhaps because you have overlooked the fact that she is innately attracted to you in whatever form you happen to show up in. And one of these days she's going to realise it. She's going to connect the dots that maybe, maybe it doesn't make sense that she's strangely attracted to the dorky human, unremarkable scientist in her UNIT team but that perhaps that dorky human isn't a dorky human at all."

He levelled her with a piercing look. "You're getting awfully worked up about this."

"Oh, you are insufferable." She groaned.

The Master pouted theatrically. "No, I'm The Master. O is the 'sweet' one, remember?"

Alina had to take a deep breath to keep herself from throwing something at him. She reset. "What's stopping her from noticing you have two heartbeats?"

"Are you really grilling me on how I'm hiding from my own wife?" The Master asked, exasperation in his tone. "I am an expert at it. I have done it five times now, and each time she has never noticed until I wanted her to."

Alina opened her mouth to continue but then shut it. "Five? No… that is irrelevant." She shook her head, her frustration mounting. "And you wonder why she has trust issues. Five. Five?!" She let out an audible huff. "I am trying to ensure that the universe isn't going to implode because you can't stick to your own time zone."

He rolled his eyes and pulled back his sleeve slightly, revealing a simple silver chain around his wrist. "There. Alright? It signals out to anything that might be looking that I am human. Scanners, medical checks, someone putting their ear on my chest and listening will only ever pick up one heart. I passed the UNIT medical exam, didn't I?" He clipped. "It also works in tandem with the one around her neck to cancel out her bond to me. She feels me like I'm just a regular human. But thank you for your concern regarding my understanding of how important it is for her to not notice me." He growled.

"But my point is that she is noticing you," Alina persisted.

He clicked his tongue against his teeth. "She might be noticing O. I can't help that he's incredibly handsome." He shot her a smirk. "It's unfortunate. It's true. But he's nothing more than a friend. A comfort. Perhaps she blushes. Perhaps she might even develop a crush, but it is nothing to worry about. He's a human. It's like how you might look at a kitten. It's adorable and you want to touch it, feed it, and pet it. Nothing more."

Alina listened to him, shaking her head in semi-disbelief. "Fine." She conceded, realising she was never going to win an argument with him. She would just have to trust that he knew what he was doing.

He glanced at the time. "We ran over."

"Yes. But I planned for that. I'd scheduled lunch," she replied.

"How astute of you," he said, with a hint of sarcasm.

"Mmm."

He stared at her for a moment, then looked back at the door.

Alina raised an eyebrow. "Well, you can go now."

He simply continued to stare at her, irritated.

"What?"

"Well, I can't walk out like this."

"Like what?" she asked, genuinely puzzled.

"Me. I need to go back to being O."

"So go back to being O?" Alina suggested, staring at him as though he was being stupid.

He narrowed his eyes at her, his irritation flaring. "Not with you watching."

Her face split and a laugh fell from her. "Oh… I see. Performance anxiety. I get it. It's very common." She quipped, although she rose to her feet all the same, heading for the door.

His eyes narrowed further, and he glared. "Out. Before I accidentally kill you." Both of them knew there was absolutely no sincerity in his threat.

Alina snorted, moving to close the door behind her, calling over her shoulder with a lightly patronising hum. "Take your time."