Gemini Rising

The Gemini Archives Book 1
by Jill D'Entremont

Ace Gallagher and James Harley are seemingly average siblings in the modern-medieval town of Fortanya, Spades. But when a mysterious man called The Doctor arrives with peculiar news—followed shortly by a race of time-travelling creatures—Ace learns she is more than what she thinks she is.

Originally written & illustrated November 2011
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Chapter 1

My eyes were wet.  My knees hurt from kneeling on the hard floor.  My chest hurt from holding back sobs.  But I didn't care.  I held on to the lifeless hand of Dorian as if I could keep him with me by that action alone.

The door opened behind me and a few footsteps entered.  I glanced back for a moment.  

It was James.  He didn't say anything; he only looked at the bed I was leaning on with concern.

I turned back to Dorian.  He was breathing very, very slowly, but his eyes were now open.  He looked dazedly behind me as James softly stepped over to the bed.

"Ace," he said, almost as a whisper.

I didn't say anything.  I had to bite my lip to avoid crying.

"You need to go..."

I shook my head immediately.  "No, I can't."

"James..."

The tall young man behind me perked up.  "Y-yes?" he stammered.

"You need to get Ace down to the arena..."

"Dorian," I interjected.

"No... listen..." he closed his eyes as he squeezed my hand as tightly as he could in his condition.  A deep brush burn was still visible on the palm of his hand.  I had first noticed it a few days ago, and it had never healed.  "Don't pass this up because of me..." he said, his voice becoming increasingly strained.  "You need to get out there."

I was dressed in solid black; a black dress shirt, black vest over that, and black slacks.  This was the majority of my costume for the performance my friends and I would hold that evening in Fortanya's great arena. I had slipped away from the others to visit Dorian, who had been slowly growing weaker as the days progressed.  Dorian was supposed to be in the performance too, but he was so frail now, it was a wonder he could still speak to me.

I took a deep breath.  "I can't without you."

"Then do it twice as well for me."

I gazed at him from under the messy brown hair that hung in my face, frowning.

"James, please watch out for her."

I turned my head slightly.  I had forgotten James was there; he was always so quiet.  He was still quiet, even when faced with giving Dorian a response.  The main reason, however, was because of his stutter.  He often couldn't get his words out, so he wouldn't say anything at all.  After twenty-seven years of it, one gets used to sitting back and allowing others to speak.

"I'll do... I'll do whatever you ask of me," he said carefully.  "Sh-she is my sister."

Dorian smiled and closed his eyes.

James was not really my brother, but we had grown up together and were so similar that we became best friends in no time.  We even looked like we were related—with darker hair and a similar build—except for the fact he was a good bit taller than me.  He really did watch over me (literally and figuratively), and it was a good feeling having a big brother to look out for me for once.  Of course, James enjoyed having a little sister to look out for him too.

"Good," Dorian said at last.  "Now get down to the arena or you'll be late..."

I didn't move at first, but I finally bit my lip and rose from my knees.  I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and hugged him.  It was awkward with him lying on the bed, but I didn't care.  His hands slid weakly around my back, and I refused to move for a long time.  When I pulled away, I brushed the dark blue hair from his forehead and managed to smile.

He smiled back at me; a tired, yet grateful smile.  "Now go get 'em," he said.

I nodded my head and felt James' hand across my back.  "I'll be singing all of it for you," I said quietly.

Dorian didn't say anything, but the warm smile was still there.

With that, James and I turned and left the room.  Walking away from him in this state was one of the hardest things to do, but since James was behind me, I refrained from turning back and sobbing further.  We needed to get to the arena anyway.

- - -

"Well there you are!! I don't know how you manage to be almost late for every performance!" Ed was complaining as James and I made our entrance backstage.  It was almost laughable to see him scolding us in his priestly garb.

"Shut up," I sneered, nudging him with my elbow as I passed him to get to my coat hanging on the coat rack.  "I was visiting Dorian."

"How is he?" Athena asked, stepping between me and James.

James instinctively looked in my direction, not speaking.

I slipped one arm into my maroon coat.  "I don't know." I lied.  "He hasn't gotten any better, but I don't think he's gotten any worse..."

"Five minutes, guys," Vance called as he walked backstage from one of the wings of the arena.

"Are you going to make it?" Athena stepped up closer to me.

I looked back at her as I smoothed out my coat collar, completing my guise as Edgar Allan Poe, despite being a woman beneath it.

"I'll be okay," I said, sighing a bit.  "I just... worry ..."

"I know," Athena put her hand on my shoulder.  "But he's strong; you know he'll pull through."

I nodded blankly.  She hadn't heard what the doctor had told me when I had first arrived at the hospital that evening.  He said they had run out of things to do.  Dorian's illness wasn't responding to any treatment they tried, and they had no idea what could be causing it.

"Three minutes—Poe, are you even ready yet??"

"Yes I'm ready!" I rolled my eyes, stepping away from Athena.  I took off my glasses and slipped them into my coat pocket, successfully removing everything that wasn't part of my costume.  "What about you, Mister Newspaper Editor?  We're both on first you know!"

Vance gave me a hurried glare before disappearing into the wings again.

Most of my friends, including Vance, Ed, Dawn, Mioko, and Athena, performed roles in our musical based on the life of Edgar Allan Poe. Dorian usually played an extra, but he had one song towards the end of the performance where he took the role of an election candidate.  It had been decided that tonight's performance would have James play this role in his place.  We all were a little worried with James' stammer getting in the way, but once he started singing during our practice, we were blown away at how clear and powerful his singing voice was.  The talent of my friends impressed me to no end.

"One minute!  Get ready, the entr'acte is about to start!" Vance hurried in.

I took this as my cue and followed him to stage left.  I brushed my fingers through my hair one last time as we stood in the wings, waiting for our cue.

"You're going to be able to do this, right?" Vance asked me just as the familiar notes of our performance's first song rose onto the stage.

"It's not like I can back out now," I replied.  Pausing, I stood up a little straighter.  "But I'm doing this all for him."

Vance gave me a glance, the lights on the stage just barely catching his glasses.   He nodded slightly, then turned his face towards the stage.  I did the same.

I blinked.  A tall figure was at the other end in the shadows of the right wing.  When I blinked again, the figure was gone.

"Come on!" Vance tugged at my coat and we stepped out onto the stage.

Chapter 2

"...But all I see, and all I seem is but a shadow of a shadow of a dream within a dream; free as the wind—lighter than air!  Free from the jealous minds, the scornful, bitter words won't hurt me there! And I will live forevermore... if you remember me, I am immortal!"

I held out my arms as I held out the note.  I paused when the music prepared for the final, powerful phrase.  Tilting my head back only slightly, I took in a deep breath.

"I am immortal!!"

I ducked down into the darkness as the lights went down after the last breath of my final note was sung.  Thunderous applause began, and in the darkness I could see many in the crowd rising to their feet in ovation.  I smiled, a tear in my eye.  It always moved me to perform and see approval on so many faces, but it touched me even more tonight considering the already-emotional state I was in.

"Ace!!  That's the best performance you've ever done!" Mioko said happily as I snuck into the wings.  The lights on stage had just popped back on for the curtain call.

I grinned at him.  "Thanks.  You were great too, you know!"

"Not like you, Mister Poe." He grinned, nudging me. The others had walked back onto stage for their bows, and then Mioko ran on stage with Athena and Dawn.  After their bow, Ed walked on to hearty applause, and he then gestured in my direction.

Smirking, I stepped back into the spotlight.  I had tears in my eyes again as the crowd cheered for me, and I could only shake my head and bow to their calls.

- - -

The infirmary doctor met us in the hallway as we walked towards Dorian's room.  There was a look of worry and possibly fear in his face.  The smiles we all had on—smiles ready to tell Dorian about the success of our performance—quickly faded.

"How is he?" Ed asked after a moment.  Although I stood at the front of the group, I found it very hard to speak.  The doctor's expression was scaring me.

The doctor looked down, his teeth clenched together.

"We lost him."

The words cut me like knife into my chest.   I became completely numb.  I couldn't move.  I couldn't speak.  I barely understood what he had just said.

"...Lost...?" Mioko repeated in a barely audible whisper.

"About ten minutes ago..." the doctor said.  "He... simply stopped breathing... we were unable to revive him."

My knees buckled and I fell back against James.  His strong arms quickly steadied me.

I broke away shortly after, running past the doctor and into Dorian's room.  I staggered and fell to my knees before I was halfway across the room, finally crying out in a sob.  I saw it.  I saw his lifeless form.  It looked cold and still.  I couldn't bear to see it.  He was gone... that wasn't him anymore.  He was gone...

James found me on the floor and knelt behind me, taking his arms and wrapping them around my chest.  I pulled against him as I leaned forward, crying harder than I had ever cried.  I didn't hold back anymore. There was no point in holding back.  Dorian was gone.  Ten minutes ago... it was as if he had waited until our performance was over...  and then he was gone.  Those three words repeated in my head over and over...

He was gone.

- - -

For the last two days James had been doing most of the talking for us; I just couldn't do it.  It was too hard.  Everything reminded me of Dorian and when I remembered him I started crying.  I was more or less a completely useless mass of a person ever since Dorian died.  Therefore, James felt it best that I get away from familiar surroundings or a few days to help clear my head and adjust to life without one of my best friends.

James and I started off on the road to the north, headed in the general direction of Balti.  We set out on foot, thinking the walking would help to clear our heads as well.  The beginning of our journey was spent in a solemn silence.  Neither of us wanted to speak, even if we could.  But the sounds of the road were around us, from the wind in the trees to the birds singing and calling out to each other in the sky.  We passed through a town and got to hear the calls of children playing in a field and the laughter of a friendly conversation in an outdoor café.  It was comforting, and I was thankful for that.

As evening fell, we had traveled a third of the way.  James found us an inn in a small town to stay in for the night.  When the innkeeper asked for our names, James nodded.

"James Harley and Ace Gallagher." He said.

The innkeeper gave us a suspicious look.

"He's my brother," I clarified as he eyed us, "We just have different last names due to... family things."

It was then the innkeeper smiled and nodded understandingly, and he wrote our names into his book.  "Welcome, then, James and Ace."

We had barely entered our room and closed the door when James shook his head.  "Do s-sibling not usually travel together?"

"That's why I figure I'd clarify." I said simply, setting my bag beside one of the two small beds. "I'd rather people not think we were dating, after all."

James looked down at the old carpet that covered the floor with a bit of a smile playing on his lips.  "That makes sense," he finally spoke.

He sat down at the small desk on one side of the room and opened a book.  I was just about to head into the bathroom to change clothes when a loud thud like a bolt of lightning crashed outside our window, followed by a whirring sound like gears of a clock.  James immediately shot out of his chair and peeked through the curtains.  I ran over to him shortly after to take a look myself.

"What was that?" I asked, as if he knew better than I did.

"I—I don't know," he squinted.  He pulled off his reading glasses and looked harder into the night.

I wore glasses too—only for the opposite reason he did.  I kept mine on as I looked cautiously, and I finally thought I caught a glimpse of a box-shaped shadow past the trees.  "Do you see that?" I asked, pointing.

James squinted again.  "What?"

"That box-thing there,"

"The... sm-small house...?"

Something walked out of the small-house-or-box-thing.

I instantly shrunk back against James, wondering if the figure could see us peering through our window.

A faint green light could be seen waving back and forth, as if the figure were holding it.  It stopped soon after.

"Should... should we go see what... who it is?" I asked carefully.

"Do you think we should?" James replied bluntly.

It was then we noticed the figure coming closer.  He was walking straight for our window.

I narrowly ducked backwards as James flung the curtains closed.  He looked at me with a frightened look on his face.  "He—he-he s-saw us," he stammered.  "Wh-who—"

I had to put a hand on his shoulder to calm him.  Whenever he got flustered, it was even harder for him to get words out.

A series of light taps was heard on the window.  James shot straight up and turned around.  The curtains were still closed.

"Okay..." I said as calmly as I could, "I'll go out to the front of the inn and see who it is,"

"Not w-without me," James added quickly.

"Then let's go."

I grabbed my black jacket and we left our room, walking down the hallway to the main room of the inn.  I was admittedly a little spooked myself, but I tried to remain calm as I stepped out into the night outside.

"Ah! Hullo there!"

Immediately a thin man in a tweed jacket hurried up to us.  When he came into the light of the oil lamp posted on the side of the inn's front door, I noticed how young he looked.  But at the same time, there was something very old about him.  I couldn't quite pin it down.  His hair was light brown and parted in such a way that it fell across part of his forehead, and he wore a bowtie on his collared shirt.

"W-were you kn-knocking on our window?" James asked.

The newcomer looked up at James, an act most people had to do.  "Yes, and I do apologize," he said with a nod.  He had an odd accent—not one that was native to this part of Spades, or to the Tallelands in general.  "I was just looking for you and surprised myself when I found you so quickly."

"You were looking for us?" I asked incredulously.

The man fidgeted with his jacket and bowtie, almost as if he couldn't quite hold still.  "Just you, actually."

I stepped back.  "Me? Why?"

His expression faded.  "Hm, you don't know... Well, then I have some explaining to do."  He spun on his heels and started back where he had come from.  "Would you care for some tea?"

James and I looked at each other.  "Um," I began.

"What's wrong—do you not drink tea?" the mysterious man continued, walking backwards.

"I..."  I scratched my head.  "I do, but..."

"Right!  You can't just walk off into the night with a strange man—where are my manners..."  He was standing in front of me in a matter of moments, extending a hand.  "I'm The Doctor. I'm here to help."

I took his hand cautiously.  "I'm... Ace."

"Ace!  Intriguing name.  Sounds like a gambler's name.  I bet you'd play a mean game of rummy..." He spouted off quickly.

I blinked, finding it very hard to find a word or two to answer with.  He was still holding my hand, although he had stopped shaking it.

"I'm James," my brother said protectively, holding out his hand, "James Harley.  And she's my s-sister."

The Doctor took his hand.  "Ah yes!  Brother and sister!  I thought you two looked related.  A pleasure, James."

"Now why are you looking for me?" I asked again.

A funny look came upon The Doctor's face.  "Well, Miss Ace..." he said after a moment.  "I suppose there's only one simple way to ask..."  He looked back towards the trees outside our room's window and seemed to contemplate the best way to begin.  

He then looked back towards me with a peculiar gleam in his eye.  "...Are you a time-traveler?"

Chapter 3

James and I stood in the middle of a very large control-room, filled with electronic wires, knobs, screens, and levers on varying levels of metallic walkways.  We were in complete awe, and probably mild shock, as we surveyed our surroundings.

"Yes, yes; it's bigger on the inside." The Doctor said in a tone that made it clear he had been met with this reaction before.

"This... is all inside... the box thing?" James managed to say, his eyes wide.

"The TARDIS, yes." The Doctor stepped back over to us.

When The Doctor had asked about my time-traveling ability, my interest in the matter was piqued.  No, I wasn't a time-traveler, but I was familiar enough with the subject thanks to knowing a time-traveler.  I had to wonder how he could have linked me with one in the first place, so James and I agreed to follow him to hear the rest of his story.

I looked at The Doctor as James slowly started to wander away.  "So you're a time-traveler." I said succinctly.

"You've got it.  A Time Lord, to be specific."

"And the TARDIS is your time machine?"

"Right again.  You catch on quickly."

I raised an eyebrow.  The Doctor was smirking at me.

"So how did you figure I'm a time-traveler?" I decided to cut to the chase.

The Doctor gestured me to follow him, and we walked up a ramp to the central console of the TARDIS.  "You see, the TARDIS can monitor a great number of things.  It can pick up time streams and patterns and the like."  He pressed a button and some dots appeared on a screen.    "Most people only have one time stream—like a time line.  Your life runs in a straight line through time; nothing out of the ordinary, and perfectly normal."

I watched as he pressed a few more buttons, and the screen zoomed in on one of the dots.  I squinted my eyes as one of the dots began to break into a web-like pattern.

"You, however, are not."

"That's... me?"

The Doctor looked at me. "Your time stream—or should I say streams... Odd, too, because it hasn't been doing this for very long... you can see where it begins to break apart here..."

This barely made sense to me, but I knew that couldn't be a good thing.  "So... how?"

The Doctor reached into his inside coat pocket pulled out a small object that looked like a tool of some sort and pointed it at me.  It buzzed and glowed green at the tip as he waved it, and I recognized this as the green light I had seen earlier.  "Don't worry, it's just my sonic screwdriver," He said in passing as he slipped the device back into his coat, "If you aren't a time-traveler, something else is causing your time stream to go all wibbly-wobbly."

"Wibbly-wobbly??"

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "It's jutting around irregularly."

"I know what wibby-wobbly means, I'm just trying to figure out how!"

The Doctor was about to answer when James' voice came from down the hallway.

"Is—is this... a swimming pool??"

"Agh!  Wait!"  The Doctor almost leapt over the railing and disappeared down the hall.  "Please don't wander until I can give you a proper tour!"  He pulled James back into the room and sat him down on a bench.  

"But... this place is... a-amazing!" James said in awe, "It's... architecturally m-mind boggling..."

The Doctor seemed pleased.  "Well of course; it's my TARDIS.  It's downright sexy."

I cleared my throat.

The Time Lord glanced up and me and seemed to jerk forward as if he had just remembered what he was doing.  "Anyway," he stepped back up to me, "I came across this odd mass of a timeline and had to seek you out.  To be honest," he turned his head slightly, "I was almost hoping you were another time-traveler.  We're so... few and far between..."

He had turned his head even further away upon his last phrase, and he was now looking toward the open door of the TARDIS.  Just outside, past the trees, was the window of James and I's room at the inn.

I looked out the doorway with him.  "So... what do I do about it?"

"Not much you can do if you're not the one doing it."  The Doctor turned away and walked around the central console.  I peeked around the tube in the center and watched him flip a few more switches.  "There are a number of things that could be causing it, so it's a matter of figuring out which one it could be..."

"I do know a time-traveler," I said after a moment.  I figured it was about time to mention it.

"You do?" James and The Doctor asked in unison.

"His name is Phoenix... I'm not entirely sure where he is now... or when he is," I leaned back against the railing on the platform, "But... maybe he knows something."

"Brilliant," The Doctor's face was lit with excitement.  "If we could find him, he may help us figure this out!"  He looked at me expectantly, as if waiting for me to offer up any more information.

I had to think for a moment.  Here I was, trying to go on a simple trip to Balti with James just to get away from everything—and now I was suddenly being cast into a new quest thanks to my 'irregular time stream.'  It would be lying to say I wasn't a little overwhelmed.

"I know somewhere where he might be," I said at last as I rubbed my forehead.  "It's his own sort of... secret place.  Dorian and I actually came across it by accident..." I trailed off.  I had just spoken Dorian's name.  I had just thought back to a memory with him.

The Doctor must have noticed, as his tone greatly lightened.  "Dorian?" he asked softly.

I had to turn away, and I crossed my arms tightly against my chest.

"A good friend."  James said for me, "He p-passed away a few days ago..."

A look of absolute concern spread across The Doctor's face.  "Oh..." he whispered, very carefully placing a hand on my back.  "I'm so sorry..."

I didn't start crying this time, but I remained still.  It was awkward for someone I had just met to be so supportive, but I couldn't help but feel comforted by this simple act.

"Why don't you both go on back to your room," The Doctor said after a moment, "We can set out to find Phoenix in the morning."

I nodded without saying a word and turned towards James.  The Doctor used the hand on my back to usher me gently down the ramp to meet him.  When I was standing beside him, The Doctor stepped back and put his hands in his coat pockets.

"Good night, Doctor," James said.

"Good night," he replied, smiling lightly as he rocked on his feet.

The time-traveler stood in the doorway of the TARDIS and kept watch as we walked back to the entrance of the inn.  I glanced behind once when we reached the doorway, and I saw him slip back inside and close the blue door.  There was something very odd about this man called The Doctor.  Something very odd indeed...

Chapter 4

In the daylight, The Doctor's TARDIS was a bright shade of royal blue. It looked large enough on the outside to fit two, maybe three people inside—though we knew that wasn't the case once you were in it. The title across the top proclaimed POLICE CALL BOX—quite an interesting disguise for a time machine.

The Doctor pushed open the door of the TARDIS for me and smiled.  I smirked and walked inside.

"So, Miss Ace, where are we off to?" The Doctor asked, stepping beside me.

"You can drop the 'Miss' for one," I said plainly, "But this place is outside of Fortanya along the river and towards Norwell.  It's really hard to find, especially if you're looking for it."

The Doctor smiled as he began plugging in words on one of the screens.  "Sounds like a good place for a time-traveler's haven."

"Your TARDIS can find it?" I had to walk over to where he was standing at the controls, "Does it have a map or something?"

"It has a sort of positioning system," he grinned proudly.   "Is it in this odd crater-shaped bit on the north of the river?"

I was impressed. "Yeah, that's it," I looked at the screen and saw what looked like an elevation map made out of colored lines.  I could remember the crater part well; Dorian and I had to try and climb out—much to Dorian's dismay.  The poor kid was terrified of heights... I found myself smiling at the memory, which surprised me as soon as I noticed.

"Well, then, let's see if Phoenix is home!" The Doctor very animatedly pulled on a lever, and the TARDIS rose to life.  I stepped back out of my daydream and held on to the railing behind me.  Humming and whirring emerged from the central console, and the floor began to vibrate from the power.  James ran over to us on the ramp and grabbed the railing himself, and with a grin on his face, The Doctor pressed a large button.

By the time I had figured out we were actually moving, the humming began to slow and come to a stop.  The floor gave one strong shake, and I heard a loud clunk.

James stood up straight.  "Is that it?"

"Of course that's it.  We're in a time machine, remember?" The Doctor was really soaking this in.

"Phoenix could have gotten here quicker with his medallion." I said nonchalantly—and purposefully.

The Doctor's ego deflated.  "What do you mean, quicker?"

"If he's here, I'll show you." I smirked.

The Doctor stepped up close to me.  "How will you show me if it's his medallion?"

I pulled open the door of the TARDIS and looked back at him.  "I used it once."

We stepped out into the green paradise of Phoenix's hideaway in the mountain crater.  A small inlet from the Jinisi River ran through its middle, bubbling up from under the crater's high walls. Tall, leafy trees populated one half of the area, creating a foggy forest canopy.  The other side was grassy and staggered with small trees and flowers.  The high, rocky walls of the crater surrounded us in the enclosure; the diameter almost as large as the arena we had performed at in Fortanya days earlier.

James was once again in awe, and even The Doctor seemed impressed.  

"Not bad," he said, looking around.  "Not bad at all..."

I shivered a little as a cold wind blew.  I had left my jacket back in the TARDIS.

"Oh, here," The Doctor removed his tweed coat and slipped it around my shoulders.

I stood, almost dumbfounded, inside his large jacket.  "...But... what about you?"

"I'm fine," he said, now down to a cream-colored shirt and red suspenders clipped to his navy blue slacks—and the same maroon bowtie from the day before.   I thought I caught him shiver himself, but he quickly added, "It's quite brisk; I like it."

He was eyeing his surroundings much like a child discovering something new.  He seemed to notice something and started off after it.  James followed him in a similar manner.

I smirked and shook my head, slipping my arms into his jacket's sleeves.  "Phoenix!" I called, stepping away from the TARDIS.  Large stepping stones made it possible to cross the stream at certain intervals, and I started towards them to see if Phoenix was somewhere in the shady area.  "Sorry to bother you—if you're here—but... um, my friends and I have a question..."

Birds called to each other in the trees, but there was no human response.

The Doctor was suddenly at my side and he reached into the coat I was wearing.  I was about to retaliate when he produced the sonic screwdriver out of the inside pocket.  My face red, I watched as he began to wave the buzzing device around.

"Wh-what are you doing?" James asked, ducking as the device was pointed in his direction.

"I'm trying to see if he's here," The Doctor said thoughtfully.  The green light went off and he let his arm drop.  "And he is."

I turned around to see where James and The Doctor were looking, and there at the edge of the trees stood the silent figure of Phoenix clad in a purple-gray cloak.

"Hey!" I said, stepping across the rest of the stones to greet him.  

His worn face pulled to a smile as he put an arm around by back to give me a light hug.  "I find it ironic that the only time I've had visitors here, it's been you." he said sheepishly.

I had to laugh.  "Well, you know me..."

"You have a lovely place here," The Doctor piped up, standing on the first of the stepping stones.

I took Phoenix by the arm and we walked over to him.  "This is The Doctor," I introduced.  "And that's my brother, James."

Ever the shy, introverted character, Phoenix simply nodded, "H'llo."

"The Doctor is a time-traveler... like you," I said carefully.

It was then I realized just how similar the two time-travelers were.  Both had that same young-and-yet-old look—though admittedly Phoenix looked a little more worn.  Both had expressions that seemed to tell of the adventures they had been on—both good and bad.  And both had eyes you could look into and almost see all the years that they had seen...

"You have a machine," Phoenix said after a moment, noticing the TARDIS behind us.

"You have a medallion," The Time Lord replied.

The blue gem medallion hung on Phoenix's neck.  The gold band that wrapped around it curled up and hooked onto a thin gold chain.  It looked like such a simple device, but there was a great power within it.  Phoenix held it up gently in his fingers, saying nothing.

"Outstanding..." The Doctor hunched over and walked up to Phoenix, eyeing the bauble delicately.  "It's like... a... a medieval vortex manipulator..."

"A what?" I asked, quickly finding myself ignored.

"Where did you find this?" The Time Lord stood back up.

Phoenix looked at the medallion.  "I created it," he said simply.

"Brilliant!" The Doctor cooed.  He then finally turned toward me.  "And you said you used this before?"

The man in the dark purple-gray cloak crossed his arms.  "She tried stealing it from me once."

My face flushed and I shrugged.  "Yeah... but I had a good reason..."

The Doctor turned back to Phoenix.  "Did you show her how to use it?"

"No,"

"So how did you know how to use it?" He asked me.

"I don't know," I threw up my hands in exasperation.  "I just... did."

A very peculiar expression came upon The Doctor's face.  It was as if he had just noticed something very important—or realized something very dire.

"We... we're here to talk about Ace's t-t—time stream, aren't we?" The quiet James tried getting us back on topic.

"Time stream?" Phoenix repeated, eyeing The Doctor.

"Oh... right," The Doctor shook his head slightly.  He reached towards me and slipped the sonic screwdriver back into the pocket of the coat I wore. "We're hoping you may know the cause for Ace's apparent time-stream shredding."

Phoenix looked more than a little baffled.  "Say that again?"

The Doctor looked up.  "Well, it's like this—Ace here has a very disrupted time steam in that it doesn't go from one point to another, but more like five places at the same time.  Not exactly five, though, it was just the first number I could think of.  It's more or less a strange mess of timelines that recently started sprouting outward in a sort of web—much like a time-traveler's."

Phoenix paused to take in this information.  It made a little more sense to me the second time, although it was still just far enough out of my comprehension that it bothered me.  "So... you're noticing she has different paths..." he said gently.

"Yes."

Phoenix's eyes cast downward in thought.  "...Could you come with me for a moment, Doctor?" he said at last.

"Of course," The Doctor nodded.   He stepped toward the cloaked man and turned to look at me and James.  We looked fairly pathetic when we realized we were being left out of the conversation, but the Doctor merely waved at us and said they would be right back after their time-travelers-only discussion.

I tried hard not to worry about what they could have been discussing.  It was clearly about me, and I hated that I had no idea what it entailed.  I was already wound up from not understanding how my timeline had gone askew.  I crossed my arms inside The Doctor's oversized sleeves and huffed.

"You know they've got to tell you when they figure this out," James tried to comfort me as we sat on the plush grass on the other side of the stream.  "Phoenix m-must know why—and th-then The Doctor will know how to help."

"Yeah..." I said dismissingly.  I gazed up at the high crater walls and remembered how not long ago I had been in this very place with Dorian at my side.  That was the first time we had truly gotten to know each other.  From then on, he had always been my best friend.  I could tell him anything and I could trust him with my life.  He even went on to show how much he trusted and cared for me.  I struggled against thoughts of wishing I could love him, but either way, we would have always remained very close friends.

The Doctor and Phoenix emerged from the trees and walked towards us.  I hopped to my feet in seconds and bounded over to the stream to meet them, my eagerness more than apparent.

"It's not anything Phoenix is doing," The Doctor said nonchalantly.

I slumped over slightly.  "Wait... really?"

"B-but it seemed like—"

"No," the Time Lord interrupted James, "He thought it had something to do with your escapades with his medallion in the past, but your line starts breaking after that."

"So... so then how is this happening?" I asked incredulously, "How is it my timeline's screwing up if no one's doing anything?  And—and is this a bad thing?  Am I going to just poof out of existence like I almost—"

I stopped short.  The Doctor had his hands on my shoulders and was looking at me strongly.

"Now listen..." he said calmly, "You are fine—there's nothing wrong with you.  This is just something that needs to be investigated in case there is something much greater at work here.  There could be something starting here—but we won't know exactly what until we discover the source of the fraying."

My face had flushed.  The Doctor's smooth words had effectively calmed me.  I couldn't help but stare back into his green eyes silently.

He slowly released me and turned back to Phoenix.  "I do thank you for your help.  At least we know we need to investigate elsewhere."

Phoenix nodded with a blank, yet pleasant, expression.  "Of course."

"I suppose we'll be on our way, then."  The Doctor smiled.  "Until next time, sir."

"Until next time," Phoenix had finally smiled a little in return.  "It was good to see you, Ace; and it was good meeting you, James."

"Th-the same to you," James replied kindly.

I waved back and started after The Doctor.  We entered the TARDIS and left Phoenix's cove, closing the blue doors behind us.

"So now what..." I mumbled, standing at the base of the ramp as The Doctor went back to the controls.

"Now we take a moment to figure out where to go from here..." said the Time Lord.

I sighed and removed myself from his jacket, carrying it back to him.

"You can hang onto it for now if you'd like," he said, smiling gently, "When we go back outside you'll need it."

"I do have my own jacket with me," I tried.

"It's all right," he insisted.

I looked at the brown tweed coat in my arms.  "Thanks," I said.

Chapter 5

The three of us had gone back to where we had started in the small town on the road to Balti.  James had remembered a small café down the road from the inn, so once The Doctor parked his TARDIS, the three of us walked down to get us something to eat.

"So, D-Doctor, where are you from?"

"Gallifrey." The Doctor replied simply, sipping a cup of tea, "About 250 million light years away from you."

The two of us blinked.

"Oh that's right—the technology here isn't quite caught up with the other places I've been." He said, rubbing his chin, "It's far away.  Very far away."

"On another planet??" I asked.

"Yes.  Why is it you're the only one who seems to understand what I'm talking about?"

I raised my eyebrow, noting James' disappointed expression.  "Don't you talk bad about my brother."

The Doctor raised his hands.  "No, that's not what I meant—it's just you understand all these things that... oh, no..."

James and I confusedly looked at The Doctor as he slowly rose from his chair, gazing behind us with a serious look on his face.  As soon as we turned around to try and figure out what was going on, a huge creature burst through the large picture window at the front of the café.

The beast roared, standing on a collapsed table with huge, clawed feet.  It stood on its hind legs, had cloth and armor covering its midsection, and its massive chest was human in appearance beneath a thick layer of brown fur.  Muscular arms tore at the air as it brandished its claws.  Its face was hidden beneath a metallic mask, but long, pointed teeth were easily visible.

Screams and cries had broken out as the lunch crowd fell into a panic.  The Doctor immediately grabbed me and pulled me towards him, and he held out a hand for James.  

"Not so fast, Doctor!!" The beast growled.  Its voice was harsh, as if its very roar was being modified to form words.  "Hand her over and we'll spare any further damage!"

"I don't think so," The Doctor replied boldly, holding me tightly against him.

I peaked over his jacket collar in fear.  He had just said to hand her over... there was only one her...

"You're making a mistake, Doctor," the creature continued.  It stepped off of the broken table and growled.  Fur on the back of its neck was bristling.  "You don't need to bother with her.  Give her to us.  We can take care of her..."

"Ace, you have my jacket," The Doctor whispered sharply, "Get the sonic screwdriver and point it at the door."

"Th-the—what—"

"Quickly! Point it at the door!"

I regained enough composure to reach into the jacket and pull out the sonic screwdriver.  I pointed it at the door beside the angry beast and it immediately shot out a green light.

At once the door flew open and slammed into the creature's back.  It roared out, grasping the door with its claws.

"RUN!!" The Doctor yelled.

The three of us took off in the opposite direction and ran into the kitchen.  There was no one left inside, as they had all taken this route before us.  The back door was wide open, and we raced through it and back in the direction of the TARDIS.

We had barely reached the time machine when the beast flew past us and turned around, all four of its feet digging into the dirt to stop its movement.

"I have no business with you!!" The Doctor yelled angrily, protectively shielding me against this menace.

"You are correct—I have business with her!" It lunged forward and stretched out its claws.

The Doctor pulled me aside but was caught on the arm.  He spun backwards as the force of the beast drug him down.  I staggered back, my mind racing as I wondered what to do next.  

James had ducked in the opposite direction, and he grabbed a large rock from a nearby home's walkway and threw it in the beast's direction.  It made contact with the back of its head, and it staggered to the ground, stunned.  

"Come on!!" The Doctor called, straining as he got to his feet.

We ran into the open door of the TARDIS, just as the creature recovered enough to race after us.  It thrust its muscular arm into the door as The Doctor tried closing it.  James ran back and pushed with him, but the beast was strong and not giving up.

Worriedly glancing around the room, I ran up the ramp to the console of the TARDIS.  I had no idea how to work the machine, but I found myself knowing exactly which levers to pull and buttons to press.  In seconds, I had started up the TARDIS with a great hum.

The Doctor's face went pale as he whipped his head around to see me at the controls.  He wasn't able to speak before the creature forced its snarling head into the crack in the door.

I threw all of my weight on a large button and at once the TARDIS began to move.  The creature fell away immediately and the door was slammed shut.  James slid down the wall in relief as The Doctor threw the lock.

We were all breathing hard, standing or sitting in a stunned silence.  James kept his head against the wall in an effort to recover.  The Doctor's worn face looked up at me in a sort of shocked expression as he cradled his wounded arm.  I stood at the controls, unsure of where to start first.

"You controlled my TARDIS," The Doctor said at last.

I nodded slowly, eyeing the control panel.

The Doctor took a step forward.  He paused, looking to the side for a moment, and then he walked towards me.  "How..." he whispered.

"What was that thing?" I asked.

"A Kronolin," said the Doctor.  He quickly descended back into thought.  "...Of course that's why... that's why they're after you... they know..."

"Doctor!" I demanded.

His eyes had drifted aside, but they snapped back onto me after my outburst.

"Why are they after me??"

"Because..." he said cryptically, "you're part-Time Lord."

I stepped away from him, finding my back against the railing of the platform.  "What do you mean?" I asked uneasily.

"My TARDIS is isomorphic—only I can control it because it is linked to me—unless you're another Time Lord," he said, shaking his head.  "And of course... that's why your time stream is frayed... somehow you've become part-Time Lord...  And the Kronolins have figured it out..."

James stepped up behind The Doctor.  "Sh-she's a time-traveler??"

"She certainly has the propensity... after all, you controlled Phoenix's time medallion without knowing how."

"But earlier you said that this frayed time stream business happened after that," I said quickly.

"I just said you had the propensity for it to start with," he tried to clarify, "Anyone can control a vortex manipulator if they try hard enough—but only a Time Lord can control a TARDIS."

I bit my lip and looked down.  I was still in the Doctor's coat, and I felt even smaller within it.  "So we answer one question with another... How would I have suddenly become part-Time Lord?"

"I'm not sure..." The Doctor also averted his eyes.  "But I'm afraid the Kronolins may know.  Having even a fraction of a Time Lord's power could render you as an incredible asset to a race as demented as they are..."

"Why do you say she is only p-part T-T—Time Lord?" James was looking at me worriedly.

"Because she's still human," The Doctor pressed his hand against my chest carefully.  "Only one heartbeat; a true Gallifrayan has two hearts."

He took my hand and pressed it against his own chest.  Sure enough, a double heartbeat rose beneath my fingers.  I looked into his eyes, still bewildered from everything that had happened.   His chest was warm, and he was strong.  I was weak, cold, and afraid.

One of us reached forward first, but either way I ended up against him, holding him tightly as I tried not to slip back into an emotional, useless state.  His good arm held me back; the other, wounded, hung down at his side.

"They will not have you," he whispered firmly, "I won't let them."

We stepped apart, looking at each other for a moment.  What was it about him that was drawing me in all of a sudden?  I had realized early on there was something different about him.  Whether it was because he was taking charge and protecting me, my desire to have someone to latch on to, or some combination of the two, I couldn't help but stare at him longingly.

"Is your arm okay?" I asked softly.

"It will be," The Doctor seemed to blush, but he turned towards the console and looked away almost as quickly.  "Thankfully Time Lords cannot be infected with the Kronolin virus often spread by their claws... Anyway, we'd better see where you just whisked us off too."  He eyed the readings on a screen and tilted his head back with a confused expression.  "We're in a town called Fortanya in the year 488 D.R.—D.R.? Oh that's right; you all have a different counting system here,"

My face flushed.  "Um—we don't have to get out here," I said quickly, "At least not in this time,"

The Doctor looked at me with a wry smile.  "Why not?"

I pressed my lips together.  "How much did Phoenix tell you?"

"He told me how you went back in time to try and save your father's life... oooh is that when we are!" He grinned and rocked on his heels.

"Just change the year to 510!" I said, trying to pry my hands around his on the console, "Let's keep things in the present, shall we?"

"Why?" The Time Lord continued to play coy as he grabbed my fingers.

"Because I almost screwed everything up here and I don't want to do it again!" I admitted exasperatedly.

"Ah yes," The Doctor finally moved and my arms fell against the console from my momentum, "You took the hard way to learn how fragile time really is..."

I huffed, pushing the glasses back up on my nose.  I could her James chuckling behind us.

He pointed his hands at the console, motioning me to pilot the TARDIS myself.

Still not quite sure how I did it the first time, I turned to the controls and found my hands moving to the proper buttons and levers.  The TARDIS rose up and landed twenty-two years into the future; my present.

"Nicely done, Ace," The Doctor smiled.

I shrugged and turned away from the controls, adjusting the large coat on my shoulders.  "So now what?"

"Let's go outside and see how you did!" The Time Lord almost danced down the ramp and towards the door.  James and I chuckled at him and followed.  The Doctor then unlatched the door and opened it, gesturing me to go first.  I stepped outside.

Clawed hands grabbed me by the front of The Doctor's coat and pulled me away.  I screamed as soon as I recognized the beasts surrounding me as the Kronolins.

The Doctor and James also cried out, but they were quickly grabbed and held away from me.

"Ah, Doctor, you forget how easy it is for us to detect your time machine when you stay so close to the same place..." The leader of the band of Kronolins said with a toothy grin.

I struggled against the Kronolin that held me, looking to The Doctor in fear.

"Let her go!" The Doctor hissed.

"Sorry, she is ours now.  Pity it took you so long to figure it out..." The leader Kronolin looked toward the creature holding me and nodded.  He, in turn, grasped me tighter as he held up his other arm.  A device with a small screen and a few buttons was strapped to his forearm.  Another Kronolin stood by, ready to activate the device.

The Doctor writhed against the Kronolin holding him, using all of his strength to pull away—to no avail.  "NO!!" He called out as the beast gripped even harder with his claws, "Ace—we will come for you—we will save you—please—just stay strong!!"

For a moment I caught his hazel-green eyes.  He was terribly afraid, but there was an intense determination behind the fear.

And then everything was gone in a flash of light.

Chapter 6

I was thrown against the hard metal ground of a space ship.  I winced as my knees and the palms of my hands throbbed, and I looked up into the stark light shining in my eyes.

"Benghor... at last, you bring her to me," said the silhouetted voice.

I squinted through the light and could barely make out the creature seated on a captain's chair of sorts.  Behind him was a semi-circle of control panels, each being monitored by a small crew of Kronolins.

The leader Kronolin, Benghor, stood over me.  "It took some work, General; The Doctor fought back harder than we expected.  He appears quite drawn to this one."

The General sneered and grunted.   "He will no doubt attempt to rescue her; therefore, all crew must be on high alert."

"Yes, General," Benghor said.

I let my eyes wander for only a moment, but the grunts of the Kronolin General recaptured my attention.  He stood and began to pace the floor.  He wore more armor and cloth than the other Kronolins, possibly due to his status.

"So, she is indeed half-human and half-Time Lord," said the General, almost as if posing it as a question, "And she exhibits none of the side-effects known to previous meta-crises?"

"It does not appear so," Benghor replied, "She is in near-stable condition; a human body with the latent consciousness of a Time Lord.  Surprisingly the consciousness is not aggressive enough to overpower her human body."

The General bent down and sniffed a few times. "Not yet, at least."

I shrunk back as much as I could, but Benghor put his knee against my back to keep me from moving.  

"Interesting," he noted.  "Such a breakthrough on its own is enough to make her a prized possession... but as you know, we have greater plans for her."  Chuckling in his gruff voice, he waved me away.  "Take this Half-Lord to the brig until we arrive on Kronon."

"Yes, General." Benghor grabbed the neck of The Doctor's jacket and pulled me roughly to my feet.  As I was carted down the stairs into the darkness of the brig, all I could focus on was the words The Doctor had told me.  We will come for you—we will save you—please—just stay strong...

- - -

It seemed like hours before the ship arrived at its destination and I was retrieved from the prison cell.  I was dragged up flights of stairs and then back to the large control room.  Benghor held up his arm, displaying the device strapped to it.  He then grabbed me with his other hand and looked at the three other Kronolins joining us, also with devices.

The General stood from his seat and came towards us.  "Have you set the proper coordinates on the manipulators?" he asked Benghor.

"We have, General.  Will you be coming?"

"I trust you to oversee this operation."  The General eyed me.  "You are to insure she performs her duties as planned—and see she is not harmed.  We do not know if she can regenerate, and we cannot risk it."

I blinked.  Regenerate?  At least that meant they would be keeping me alive.

Benghor grasped me tighter.  "Yes, General."  He nodded to the others and they activated the vortex manipulators.  We were again engulfed in a bright light for a moment, and then we stood on the ground of the very dark, bleak terrain of Kronon.

Wide-eyed, I surveyed my surroundings, though there was not much visible in the darkness.  Only a few otherworldly lights shone from points on the ground, lighting rugged mountains and oddly-shaped rock formations.

"Come, Half-Lord," Benghor gave me a shove.

I staggered forward, shooting him a glare as we started towards a warehouse of sorts.  When we entered, I immediately noticed a tall, mechanical object at the far end of the room.  It was similar in shape to The Doctor's TARDIS, only it looked as if the outer casing had been stripped down.  As we walked closer, gears and pipes were visible on its hexagonal exterior.  It was overall a dark silver with obvious smoke damage on a few of its sides.

That was when it hit me.  Only a Time Lord could operate a TARDIS.  These Kronolins found another TARDIS.  And now they needed a Time Lord...

I stopped walking and Benghor had to push me to get me started again.

"Keep moving!" He growled in my ear.

"No!" I stepped away from him and turned to face him.  "I know what you want me to do and I'm not doing it!"

The three other Kronolins took positions around me so I wouldn't be able to run away, and they glanced at Benghor as he sneered at me.  "I don't believe you have a choice, Half-Lord."

"I think I do," I said, trying to feel as brave as I sounded.

"You were brought here to activate this TARDIS," Benghor's teeth glimmered under his mask, "And you will activate it."

"Oh?" I took a step back.  The three Kronolins repositioned themselves to keep me surrounded.  "And... and what happens if I do this??"

I reached into The Doctor's coat and pulled out the sonic screwdriver.  It buzzed and glowed green, but nothing happened.

Benghor snarled and backhanded the device, causing the screwdriver to fly across the room and clatter across the metal floor.  I couldn't see where it landed, but it sounded like it was now in more than one piece.  I was quickly reminded of the beast before me, and I turned forward to see the angry Kronolin growling in my face.

"You will activate this machine." He said, the words almost inaudible above the snarling.

I bit my lip, leaning as far back as I could.  "Oh yeah?" I muttered coldly, "What are you going to do if I don't?  Hurt me?  Kill me?  You heard what your general said..."

Benghor did not move; he merely loomed over me with even narrower eyes.

"You didn't think this through very well," my confidence was growing, "You can't do anything to me.  So how are you going to make me activate that TARDIS?"

I could see the rage growing in his eyes as he clenched his clawed fist.  I then realized that even though the General told him I couldn't be harmed, this small fact was not going to stop Benghor now.

In one swift movement he had grabbed me by the shoulder and thrust me down to the ground.  I landed hard on my knees, barely hitting the metallic ground with my palms instead of my face.  I had scarcely risen to my elbows when Benghor's clawed foot pressed onto my back and shoved me back down.  He grabbed my hair and pulled my head up growling sharply.

"Hey, you overgrown throw-rug!!"

Benghor dropped me, and all five of us whipped our heads around to see James standing at the door of the warehouse.  He was wearing glasses and somehow managed to look scared out of his wits and angry at the same time.  But that hadn't been his voice we had heard.

"Yes, that goes for all of you–except Ace of course!"

Somehow The Doctor's voice coming from James, but I couldn't figure out how.

"So, Doctor, you send a human to do your work," Benghor glared at James, "What can this human possibly do to stop us??"

"He can do this!!"

At once a high-pitched screech—like the feedback of a faulty microphone—came from James' direction, and the Kronolins fell to their knees almost immediately, clutching at their ears.

It was slightly mind-numbing even for me, and I barely noticed James running towards me until he had gathered the broken sonic screwdriver and ran past the disabled Kronolins.

"Great—hang on, Ace!  James, push the red button!"

I looked up at James as he held onto me.  The voice had come from the thick-rimmed glasses he was wearing.  He was also wearing his own vortex-manipulator on his arm, and he quickly pressed the said red button.  In a flash, we were back on the TARDIS.

"Excellent work!" cried The Doctor excitedly as he pulled a lever, "And now, we're off!!"

The TARDIS shot away from this strange planet and went far into deep space, far into a distant time.  When the TARDIS arrived at this unknown point, The Doctor let out a sigh of relief and leaned against the control panel.

"How's that for a rescue?" he smiled tiredly.

I gave James a grateful hug and answered him with a hint of sarcasm.  "You have perfect timing, at least."

"Of course I do," The Doctor walked down the ramp to join us.  "What's the matter; don't I get a hug?"

I smirked and gave him a hug.  He hugged back for a little longer than I was expecting.

"The D-Doctor could see and hear everything I could see and hear using these glasses," James removed the thick spectacles, "And he gave me a vortex-m-manipulator with the coordinates of the TARDIS' location already set, so all I had to do was press a button."

"So that's how you did that," I took the glasses before The Doctor could grab them.

The Doctor plucked the glasses from my hands shortly after. "I would have done it myself, but I needed to be here to activate the TARDIS the second you got back on board.  I had a feeling they would be bringing you here to Kronon, but I was able to find your location thanks to the sonic screwdriver's emissions.  I knew we wouldn't have much time before they detected our presence."

"Speaking of activating a TARDIS," I started, bringing us back to the severity of the predicament.

The Doctor shook his head.  "They have one they want you to pilot."

"Bingo."

"I figured half as much.  Their race relies on vortex-manipulators, but a TARDIS is far greater in power and capability.  There are places you just can't get to without a TARDIS..."

"Why aren't they going after you if—if you are a Time Lord too?" James asked The Doctor.

The Time Lord shrugged.  "I believe they think they can overpower Ace easier than they can me—no offense to you, Ace."

I waved it off.  "They also said something about me not having side-effects of a meta-crisis—or something like that,"

The Doctor let out a short, exasperated laugh.  "They think you're a meta-crisis?"

"What is a meta-crisis?" James and I asked in unison.

But as The Doctor thought about it, his smile faded.  "Oh... well, I suppose that would work, wouldn't it..."

I rolled my eyes and put my hands on his shoulders.  "Can you please stay with us and explain something all the way through for once?"

The Doctor's face flushed and he stepped back.  "A meta-crisis is a merging of a human with a Time Lord.  The results are usually disastrous, with the Time Lord's consciousness being too great for a human body to handle."

"That's what the General said," I pointed out, "He said the Time Lord consciousness isn't very strong... yet." I added with an odd look in my eye.

The Doctor frowned.  "They seem to know a lot about this.  We're not free from them, either... they won't stop that easily..."

I sighed and took off the coat The Doctor had given to me earlier that day.  "Well, I've officially had enough of talking about all this..." I set it on the railing and started down the ramp.  "I want to be normal and not have to think for a few minutes..."

James glanced at me and then back at The Doctor.  The Doctor, meanwhile, was still frowning.  He jumped down to my level as I started down one hallway to the room I was borrowing.

"Ace," he said, walking after me.

I turned around, my arms crossed.

"I know a very good way to help you clear your head." He said, leaning in the doorway of my corridor.

"Oh?" I sat down on the small cot.

He fidgeted with his bowtie.  "Would you come with me?"

I felt my face flush.  The Doctor was being awfully cute and concerned.  I decided to play it up a little, just to see what he would do.  "Give me a little bit." I said after a moment.

"All right." He nodded, "Whenever you're ready."

I watched him almost nervously turn away and walk back down the hall.  It would be lying to admit I didn't want to see what he had planned, so I changed clothes and freshened myself up, and this time I grabbed my own jacket.

Chapter 7

I didn't see James when I walked out into the quiet control room.  I didn't see The Doctor at first either, but I soon found him underneath the console on a lower level.  I walked over and poked my head in.

It took him a minute, but he finally looked up from the pieces of the sonic screwdriver and grinned.  "Ah, there you are." He said cheerfully.  He was wearing his jacket again.  It fit him a lot better than it did me.

"Can you fix it?" I pointed towards the screwdriver.  It seemed to have more or less split in half.  

"Of course," He gathered the pieces and slipped out from under the console.  He then casually opened the pocket of my coat and slipped them inside.  "But they'll be safer with you for now."

"You sure about that?" I smirked.  "I seem to be the Kronolins' most wanted."

"I thought you didn't want to think about that right now." The Doctor smirked back, standing up and taking my hand.

"Touché," I commented.  "So where do you want to go?"

"Well!" The Doctor started towards the door.  "You know how Phoenix has his secret hideaway?"  He gestured to the door.

I smiled and stepped up to him.  "You have a place too?"

"Take a look for yourself," he proudly opened the door.

I took a step outside the TARDIS door and was immediately struck by the beauty of our location.  Rolling green hills went on for miles.  Bent trees covered in lush foliage dotted the landscape.  Thought it was nighttime here, the twin moons in the sky above cast a cool glow over the land.

"It's beautiful," I mused dreamily.  After a moment, I turned back to him.  "Is James coming?"

"No," The Doctor seemed to blush, "Though I did ask him if I could bring you...  I figured I should clear it with your big brother."

I chuckled embarrassedly.  "You really did that?"

"Of course!  He's bigger than I am—I don't want to upset him."

I broke out into a laugh, finding it very hard to hold back.

The Doctor laughed too.  "I do believe that's the first time I've seen you laugh that hard,"

I smiled as I looked down.  "There hasn't been too much to laugh about recently."

The Doctor put his hand on my back and we started into the deep green field.  "I understand.  First you lose a friend, and now you get all this excitement.  I don't blame you for wanting to get away..."

"I bet you feel the same way sometimes, being a time-traveler and all."

The Doctor nodded slightly, silent for a moment.

We walked a little further, and then we stopped and sat down on the grass.  I flopped backwards on the ground, looking up at the hundreds of the stars above us.  I heard another flop as The Doctor did the same, laying his head near mine.

We were both quiet for a while, but soon The Doctor spoke up.

"Do you still feel safe with me?" he asked.

I looked up, despite not being able to see him.  "Of course I do," I said truthfully, "I feel safer with you than without you..."

"Even after I got you in danger?"

"You got me out of danger,"

"But I got you in it to start with,"

"Something tells me the Kronolins would have found me either way.  I'm thankful you were here so you could save me."

The Doctor paused.  "It always happens, though...  I try to help someone, and then they get in more danger.  I keep telling myself to stay away—to leave people be.  But..."

"But you can't since you have a good heart—two of them, actually."

The Doctor rubbed his face.  "If you knew half of the things I've done..."

"I still wouldn't care." I said, turning my head slightly to see him from the corner of my eye.

The Time Lord sighed.  "You're too kind..."

"I'm being serious." I insisted, "If you knew half the things I've done you'd know I'm not innocent as I look."

The Doctor sighed again, silenced.

"I'm just saying we all have parts of our past we're not proud of... but that's why we have a future, right?"

I couldn't see him, but I had a feeling The Doctor was looking in my direction.  This was verified when he propped himself up on his shoulder to lean over me.

"Are you always this optimistic?"

"It's not worth being upset if you can help it." I replied.

The Doctor looked away.  "Is that how you got through losing your friend Dorian?"

This time I had to sigh a little.  "Sort of."

His eyes wandered to the necklace I was wearing.  "What's that?"

I lifted my chin.  "What?"

"Your necklace—who's that on it?"

I lifted the ornate silver medallion.  A small black and white portrait was at its center.  "Edgar Allan Poe." I said matter-of-factly.

"The horror writer from nineteenth century America?"

"Yep."

"So you enjoy wearing the portraits of horror writers around your neck?"

"No," I frowned.  "Just one of them."

The Doctor chuckled and rubbed his eyes.  "I see.  Something about you being a fan of Poe doesn't surprise me..."

"I think he's great." I stretched my arms over my head.  "My friends and I even put on a musical of his life.  I play Poe."

"But you're a woman,"

"So?" I eyed him suspiciously.

He shrugged.  "Good point."  His mind obviously in thought, The Doctor shifted on his shoulder.  "...Was Dorian part of the show too?"

"He was."

"Something tells me," The Doctor stated carefully and almost nervously, "you were quite fond of him."

I smiled a little, looking at the stars, "I guess so... but—really, he's always been a good friend to me."

"If you could have him back," The Doctor asked cryptically, "would you still pursue his love?"

I had to think about this question.  Dorian himself had more or less told me he wasn't the right one for me.  I often dreamed he was, but it was almost as if my daydreams had faded into reality when I lost him.  "...I'm not sure," I said at last.  "I want him as a friend... but..."

He looked at me.  "What's changed your mind?"

I pressed my lips together.  Dare I say it?  Dare I say what I was really feeling?  Was it too soon?  Was it true?  Did it matter at all?

"You have."

The Doctor froze.  His eyes gently fell upon me, his lips parted.  It was clear he wasn't sure how to respond.

I looked away as my face flushed.  I shouldn't have said it.  It was way too soon.  I barely knew The Doctor.  I was just latching onto him because he was protecting me.  But there was something about him... something I felt that was different than anything I'd felt before.

"To be honest..." The Doctor said slowly, his hazel-green eyes looking deeply into mine.  "You're starting to change my mind on a few things as well..."

A smile came to my face.  It spread across to his.  He shifted to his back and laid down again, taking my hand in the process.

- - -

The peace in our serene location had lulled me into a light sleep beside The Doctor, but I should have known the peace wouldn't last.  We were both shocked back into consciousness when a hoard of Kronolins made their way into our midst thanks to their vortex-manipulators.

Absolutely shocked they had discovered such a hidden place, The Doctor leapt to his feet faster than I had seen him move since I met him.  He was immediately grabbed and contained, just as I was secured in the fur-covered arms of the General.

"How in the hell did you get here??" The Doctor cried angrily.

"Do you think you're the only one with sensors able to detect this woman?" The General sneered.  "How do you think we found her in the first place?"

"Doctor," I tried, but the General wrapped his clawed hand around my mouth.

The Doctor thrashed in the Kronolins' arms.  "Don't you hurt her!!"

The General began to chuckle in a low, rumbling growl.  "I'm surprised at you, Doctor... Benghor said you were awfully close to this one... I see it is true after all."

The Doctor grimaced angrily.   "All right, I give up!  Take me with you instead—and let her go!"

"A noble offer, but we will not bargain with Time Lords," said the General.  "We intend to take both of you with us—to ensure our wishes are carried out."

"What do you mean?" The Doctor yelled.

"If this Half-Lord doesn't do what we ask, we'll make sure she knows the consequences."

On cue, one of the Kronolins holding The Doctor grabbed him by the neck.

I shrieked, muffled under the General's hand.  I had unfortunately proven his point, as he started laughing again.  "Good... let us return to the ship."

With a flash, the vortex-manipulators had transported me back onto the Kronolin's ship, this time with both me and The Doctor held prisoner.

- - -

We stood again before the silver, smoke-damaged TARDIS in the warehouse on Kronon.  Though I had fought back as much as I could as I was being pushed towards the time machine, I was more worried and defeated than angry.  I also worried about James—alone on The Doctor's TARDIS.  The Doctor had briefly mentioned that it would be possible to return to him at the exact time we left—but we had to get out of this predicament first.

"Benghor, take her into the TARDIS.  When we are sure it is functional, we will board with you."

I frowned dejectedly, eyeing The Doctor.  He looked the most defeated out of the two of us; I'm sure it because he felt he had put me back into danger and he couldn't do a thing about it.  He had tried to fight against them when we were on the ship, but they backhanded me and forced him to stop very quickly.

"Come, Half-Lord." Benghor's hand went around the back of my neck and he pushed me towards the silver TARDIS.  With one last look at The Doctor, I opened the door with a loud creak and stepped inside.

Like The Doctor's TARDIS, this one was larger on the inside, thought it didn't seem nearly as large or as impressive.  It had one main room and appeared to have one other corridor below the central control panel.  The only light at the moment was from the open door we had entered, but the little I could see painted the room as dusty and disheveled, with black marks in certain areas where sparks had sprung forth.  This TARDIS had gone through quite a lot recently; it still smelled like smoke.

"Turn it on," Benghor commanded.

I pushed away from him and walked up to the control panel.  He stayed close behind me, eyeing my every move.  I was very nervous, fearing that if I wasn't able to power the machine, The Doctor or I would pay the price.

"Are you sure it even works?" I asked hesitantly.  "It looks pretty beat up—"

"Turn it on!" Benghor repeated, breathing down by neck.

Hoping to have the same success as The Doctor's TARDIS I looked over the controls of the silver TARDIS.  Once again, my Time Lord consciousness quickly took over, and I found myself adjusting levers and switches until I could turn a final switch to bring the TARDIS back to life.  To the continued astonishment of my human consciousness, it worked.  

At once, a strange rush of feeling ran through me.  It was as exhilarating as riding a horse through a jousting arena at full speed, or racing across the rooftops of Fortanya.  I shivered, not from cold, but from excitement.  The gentle whirring sound of gears and mechanics rose to my ears, and warm glow of the panel lights shone on me.

How I've missed you...

I shook my head.  How I've missed what?  What did I miss?

My beautiful TARDIS...

I lowered my eyebrows.  My beautiful TARDIS...?  This is my TARDIS?

"Good." Benghor's clawed hand gripped my shoulder as The General stepped on board, with the Doctor and the other Kronolins close behind. "You are now to pilot this craft to the planet Gyrphyn in the Castor star system 1,000 Kronon years prior to this date."

"There aren't any planets in the Castor star system!" The Doctor piped in.

"Silence!" The General barked, "There is one 1,000 Kronon years from now..."

I bit my lip.  My confidence wore off quickly, and I was now worrying whether or not I needed to attempt this action.

Do it... do it and drop them off on that God-forsaken place.  Take the Doctor and leave all of them stranded.

I smirked and flipped a switch.  The Doctor looked towards me somewhat fearfully, and I began plugging in buttons and switches.   The sole control screen lit up and the coordinates appeared on it.  I pulled a lever and the silver TARDIS roared, shook, and left the planet and millennium.

Chapter 8

The General pushed his way to the window of the silver TARDIS door.  "Yes... yes," he hissed, "We are here!"

The other Kronolins rushed towards him as the General flung open the door.  The Doctor took this chance to run towards me, but another Kronolin pulled him backwards by the collar of his coat.  I barely had a moment to react before Benghor grabbed me similarly. They carted us both outside, leaving the whirring TARDIS behind us.

Gyrphyn was incredibly warm, and one of the large stars of Castor was large and high in the sky.  The ground even felt warm beneath our feet.  I eyed the Doctor as we stood on the steaming land.

"This planet is highly unstable," The Doctor commented, "I'm sure you're aware of this,"

"We don't need lectures from you, Doctor," said the General.  "We are here for a specific task that will not take long.  Kremon, lead the troop to the mine.  Benghor and I will watch our Time Lords and await your return."

"Ace, get out of here," The Doctor whispered as the Kronolins spoke to each other.  "Take the TARDIS and go."

"I can't without you." I pleaded fearfully.

"Yes you can—I'll find my own way off and find you.  Please—go!"

He'll find you.  He always does.  You have a chance—take it—now!

I slammed my elbow into Benghor's chin—one of the few areas of his face not covered by his metallic mask—and broke free from his grasp.  I took off towards the silver TARDIS as fast as I could run.

"Aghh!" Benghor roared and bounded after me, swiping at me with his claws.

The force alone knocked me to the ground, but I had been badly cut across the back of my leg.   The wound stung as blood ran down to my knee and I struggled back to my feet as quickly as I could.

Behind me, The Doctor had performed a similar move as a distraction, causing the General to cry out for help from Benghor.  Growling, the Kronolin turned away from me as the hair bristled on the back of his neck.

I limped into my TARDIS and threw the switch as I slid to the control panel.  The TARDIS made a sort of grinding sound and seemed to strain a bit, but we escaped the planet shortly after.  I didn't know where I had sent myself, but the screen was quick to flicker and display my current location.

The Tallelands.  Spades.  Fortanya. Year 510 D.R., Daethos' Reign, local time.  Date, 20 Nov—

The screen went off completely.  I turned away and left the TARDIS idling as I staggered to the door.  I stepped out onto the cobblestone streets, almost as if I needed to make sure I was back in my home town.

I just so happened to pick my old alley between the Fortanya Tavern and the old blacksmith's shop; however, there were quite a lot of people here, and they looked at me confusedly as they passed.   Thankfully my silver TARDIS didn't look like a police call box from another time and place, but it still stood out quite a bit.

I was taking a few steps while looking in another direction when I literally ran into Dorian.  We both hit the ground thanks to our momentum.

"Ace??" my friend inquired incredulously.  He rubbed the palm of his hand; it had been scuffed from the fall and seemed to be bleeding a bit.  "What are you doing over here?  I thought you were helping James at the theater."

My face was pale.  I wasn't sure what I was supposed to say in this sort of situation.  Part of me was still stunned to even see him alive and well, considering he was dying the last time I spoke to him.

Dorian eyed my leg.  "Ace, your leg—"

"I'm all right, just..." Dorian's scuffed hand tenderly took hold of my leg, "I—I was helping James up in the rafters again and caught myself."

"Ace this is pretty deep, you need to get this bandaged," he said worriedly, blood on his hands.

"That's where I'm headed," I scrambled to my feet.  "I'll see you later on, okay?"

Dorian was still looking at me worriedly.  "...Okay,"

I started back to the alley but quickly diverted my path across the street to the general store.  I couldn't risk walking back to my TARDIS with Dorian nearby.  I went inside and spied on him through the window until he shook his head and started back down the road.

I sighed in relief, though I had no idea what would happen later on when the current me would get home from the theater and no longer have a gash on her leg... I shuddered at the thought.  There were times time-traveling just seemed far too complicated.

Get a bandage for your leg; Dorian's right.  Then you need to move the TARDIS into a more discreet location.

I walked up to the counter and asked the shopkeeper for a bandage.   Thankful I had a few coins with me to pay him, I left the shop and darted into my TARDIS, closing the creaking door behind me.

"All right... I just need to move this thing out into the outskirts of town and... and wait..." I frowned.  Something didn't seem right about that.  But I wasn't in my present, so I couldn't risk walking around and meeting a past version of myself.  I already came too close to messing something up when I had run into Dorian.

I threw the lever and attempted to change my physical location.  Almost immediately the TARDIS began making a terrible noise like the grinding of gears together.  A spark flew from the top of the central column.

"Ahh, stop!" I tried switching a few things but the noise would not be averted.

The crash damaged more than I thought.

"What crash?"  I stopped talking as soon as I realized I was asking myself a question.

This isn't good...

No, it wasn't.  I finally managed to power down my TARDIS completely, and as soon as the lights went off, the haunting sound of the whirring slowly dying away was more than a little unnerving.  I waited in the darkness for a moment, taking deep breaths.  I was beginning to think the worst.  I had flown off course and stranded myself who knows where without anyone else knowing where.

I slowly made my way through the darkness, guiding myself by the light of the small window in the door.  I winced as I walked, surprised that my leg still hurt as much as it did.  I didn't have time to worry about it, however, and I ignored it as I limped to the window.  It looked dim and gray outside, and it seemed like I had landed in a junkyard of sorts.   I pushed open the creaky door and was struck by a cold wind.

It was immediately obvious I was in a junkyard, but the extent of it was more mind-boggling to me.  In every direction the pile of rubble went on endlessly; there seemed to be no end.  Curious, I managed to find footholds in the gears and piping that surrounded my hexagonal TARDIS in order to climb on it.  I got to the top and stood, bracing against the wind as I pulled my scarf tighter against my neck.

Unfortunately, my higher vantage point didn't offer any new developments in my location.  Broken pieces of machinery, concrete, and other rubble completely covered the landscape.  A thick layer of clouds hid the sun, creating a dim gray sky overhead.  I could even see fog—or was it dust—covering areas of the ground below me.

I shivered as I crouched down on top of my TARDIS.  There was no one in sight.  No one anywhere near me.  There were only endless miles of rubble.  I didn't know where I was.  I didn't know when I was. I shouldn't have gone anywhere.  Now my TARDIS was broken and I was stranded.  I was trying hard not to panic, freak out, or otherwise become a whimpering mess.

There has to be a way to signal someone.

I perked up.  The Doctor had given me the pieces of his sonic screwdriver.  He tracked me down the last time using the emissions from the screwdriver.  I fished out the pieces from my pocket and looked at them.  I saw how the halves could be reassembled, but I wasn't sure how to keep them that way.  I looked down over the edge of the TARDIS's roof.  I was surrounded by junk.  Surely I could find a piece of string or duct tape or something in there.

I climbed down, almost falling from the pain in my leg.  Scavenging for only a moment in the rubble, I found a stained blue ribbon.  I reassembled the sonic screwdriver and wrapped the ribbon around it to hold it firm.  Immediately the device gave off its familiar green glow and buzzing sound, and I felt a bit of relief despite its occasional flickering.

Good. Now where are you?

I pointed the mostly-functional device at the barren landscape.  The information seemed to rise into my thoughts.

The Tallelands.  Spades.  Fortanya.

"No way... this is not Fortanya... this... this can't be Fortanya..."

Year 8000 D.R., Daethos' Reign, local time. Date, 20 November.  No life detected in range.

My jaw dropped.  I froze completely.  The green light flickered and went off.

"No..." I whispered, finally managing to shake my head.  "There's... there's nothing here... there is no Fortanya, Spades..."

You're a long way away from your present.

I turned and limped back into my TARDIS as quickly as I could.  I tried in vain to start the machine, but it would not be roused.  I slid backwards onto the platform on the verge of tears.  I was stranded in my hometown thousands of years in the future where there was absolutely nothing but rubble.  I wouldn't be able to survive here; not without food or water.

The Doctor will find you.  He told you he would.

I shuddered against the cold wind blowing into my dark room.  How will he ever find me?

He will be led by the sonic screwdriver.  He will be led by you.

But what if he can't get off that planet?  What if the Kronolins hurt him?  They hurt me; my leg hurts like hell... if I don't die of starvation I'll die from this wound.

Stay strong.

I swallowed.

Stay strong.  He will find you.  Just stay strong.

Chapter 9

I opened my eyes slowly.  It was still light outside.  It was exactly as dim as it had been the last time I had woken up.  I was starting to wonder if there was even a set day or night anymore.  Either that, or I had been sleeping a long time.  

I had tried multiple times to restart the silver TARDIS.  I even tried looking at the mechanics—to no avail.  I had worked myself down, and my sanity was wearing as thin as strength.  I managed to fire off the sonic screwdriver a few more times, but I was losing hope by the hour.  I felt completely helpless, and that alone killed me more than anything.

I tried to move but found that my leg was going numb.  I felt sick and exhausted, despite sleeping for the last couple of hours—or days—or however long it had been.

Don't give up.

I'm not giving up.  I strained against the pain in my leg and sat up straighter, leaning against the central console for support.  I just feel terrible.

He's coming.

I closed my eyes and let my head droop between my shoulders.  I sure hope so.

Look up.

I gazed up slowly.  Something was moving outside.  I was so out of it, this barely registered in my brain.

A figure stepped into the doorway of my TARDIS, blocking most of the light from the outside.

"Ace!!"

I perked up, trying to make out his silhouette as if I couldn't believe it was really him.  "Doctor?"

"Oh—Ace!"  In a matter of seconds The Doctor grabbed me from the ground and lifted me in his arms, cradling me tightly as I buried my head in his shoulder.  He rested his head against mine, breathing hard, almost as if he had been crying.

"I feel so bad," I whimpered, completely disregarding any appearances I was trying to keep around him.

"How long have you been waiting?" he asked worriedly, his voice barely a whisper.

"I don't know..."

"Doctor?" James' voice echoed from outside.

"I've found her," he called toward the doorway of my TARDIS.  "I'm so sorry, Ace—I tried to get here as accurately as I could once I caught the signal from the sonic screwdriver, but this wouldn't be the first time I've been a few days off..." He held me closer against him.

"At least you found me," I said softly.

The Doctor kissed my forehead.  "I told you I would."

I closed my eyes and rested against The Doctor as he carefully carried me outside and to his royal blue TARDIS.  James met us at the door, relieved and excited to see me.

"H-how is she?" He asked, following us into the chamber where The Doctor laid me on a cot.

"She's very weak; I'm not sure how many days she's been waiting,"

James shrunk back.  "Days??"

The Doctor raced into the other room and returned with a cup of water.  He helped me drink it, and then I laid back against the pillow.  The Doctor caringly brushed the hair from my forehead.

"How did you manage to get off Kronon?" I asked weakly.

"Same way you did—only a bit more erratic.  I got a hold of one of the Kronolins' vortex manipulators and skipped across a few planets until I could figure out where I was in relation to the TARDIS..."

I closed my eyes, his warm hand against my cheek.  "I was worried about you."

"I was very worried about you," he said.  "Your brother was terrified when I returned and you weren't with me..."

James was removing my boots so I could be more comfortable, and his face immediately showed a deep concern.  "Doctor," he said, noticing my wounded leg.

The Doctor looked in his direction and frowned.  "Oh no, your leg!  I saw that creature go after you..." He took my leg and inspected it, quickly rolling up my jeans to untie the bandage.  He shrunk back.  "He really got you, didn't he..."

"I'll get more water," James got to his feet and left the room.

I caught The Doctor's hand.  "Will the Kronolins find me?"

"I doubt it now." The Doctor said, "If it took me a few jumps through time and space, they'll be lucky if they manage to get off that planet before it implodes.  It was their own greed for the precious stones on that ball of rock that sealed their fate..."  He shook his head and then smiled kindly.  "Long story short, you're safe now."

I closed my eyes and nodded.  "Thank you."

- - -

James raced into the control room, finding the Doctor under the control panel in the process of recreating another sonic screwdriver.  It had been a day since The Doctor had found me in the wasteland of time I had been stranded in.

"D-Doctor—she—A-Ace is n—not—" he stammered, barely able to speak.

"What's wrong," he demanded, dropping the device and standing up.  It fell beside the sonic screwdriver with a blue ribbon tied around it.

"She—she's so sick—Doctor, I'm—I'm w-worried!"

"We're doing all we can," the Time Lord replied, sharing James' worry.

James frowned, pressing his lips together.  "But... it's—it's just like Dorian..."

The Doctor paled a little.  "What?"

"This is what happened to Dorian... he got ill and n-n—never got better... he was so frail and weak..."

The Doctor started towards the corridor with James close behind him.  He paused in the doorway and looked at me, lying on the bed.  I was somewhat awake, but not quite conscious enough to understand what they were saying.

"Her leg i-isn't getting better either," James said despondently, "Sh-she said that both of her legs now feel numb,"

The Doctor was idly rubbing his arm; the arm the Kronolin had injured in our first encounter with them.  His arm, however, was healing.

Thankfully Time Lords cannot be infected with the Kronolin virus often spread by their claws...

His eyes looked fiercely ahead.  "No... she may be part Time Lord but she is human enough to catch the virus..."

"V-virus??"

The Doctor ran past James and nearly skidded across the room on his knees, grabbing one of my hands tightly.  I couldn't move; my vision was fading quickly.

"Ace—Ace please, stay with me!"  He held on to my lifeless hand as if he could keep me with him by that action alone.  "I can find an antidote—if you stay with me!"

There's not enough time...

My body was going numb.  My vision was clouding.  My breaths were cutting short.

The Doctor's lip trembled, tears in his eyes.  "Please...!"

My eyes closed.

Goodbye, Doctor.  Until next time.


All was still.  The Doctor's head was bowed.  He cried silently, his hand still wrapped around mine.  James was somewhere in the back of the room, sobbing sorrowfully.

All was still, but a light was gathering in my fingertips.  The Doctor's wet eyes looked up, watching as a golden light began to shine from my hands.

He staggered backwards and held back his hands as James ran towards him, watching as the light spread through my body.  A smile that was both bewildered and relieved spread across his face.

My eyes opened, a golden light shining through them and filling the room. The light faded and I gasped for breath, sitting up almost immediately, shocked and breathing hard.

James did a sort of double take before he leapt forward and grabbed me in an embrace.  "Ace!!" his voice was muffled in my shoulder.

I hugged him, somewhat confused.  I couldn't remember what would have warranted such behavior.  I scanned the room quickly, recognizing it as the corridor I had been using in the TARDIS.

"Well, well..." The Doctor said, wiping his eyes quickly.  "So you do regenerate."

"I do what?" I blinked.  "...Are you crying?"

"Of course not, why would I be crying..." he wiped his eyes further.

"He was too c-crying." James said softly.  "We thought you'd died,"

"I died?" This further confused me.

The Doctor smiled lightly.  "Would you come with me?"

I looked at James instinctively.  He nodded towards The Doctor and I slowly got to my feet.  James stayed behind, smiling as we left the room.

"How much do you remember?" he asked as we entered the control room.

I thought hard.  "I remember coming back here after being out in that wasteland, but I barely remember anything after that..."

"That's common." He said, "What's uncommon is how your appearance stayed the same... I suppose your human nature is to blame for that."

"So I got sick when I was there?" I asked him, leaning against the railing.

He tilted his head.  "You got sick when the Kronolin scratched you.  They have a virus often living under their claws as a sort of defense mechanism.  Time Lords are immune, but then again, you're not fully Time Lord..."

"So the virus... killed me?  And then I regenerated?"

"Exactly."

I smirked.  "And you cried."

He scowled, his face red.  "So?"

I laughed and hugged him tightly.  He held me close for a long time before holding my shoulders and stepping back.

"Well, since we seem to have been given a second chance here, I suppose I'll let you know about one more..."  The Doctor turned me towards the control panel and pressed a few buttons.  The screen displayed the current date and time the TARDIS was resting at.

The Tallelands.  Spades.  Fortanya. Year 510 D.R., Daethos' Reign, local time.  Date, 1 November.

"November first... Doctor, this has already happened,"

He smiled at me.  "I did say this would be a second chance..."

"For me?"

"For Dorian."

I looked at him.  "Dorian...?"

"I can drop you back off early so you can see him again."

"But... he'll just die again, won't he?"

The Doctor shrugged.  "Dunno.  You never know what may happen."

I turned away.  "I don't know, Doctor... the last time I tried saving someone's life I almost wrote myself out of history..."

"Oh, this would be merging your time stream with your past self," he said.  He adjusted his bowtie nervously and looked down at me.  "In fact... if you do this, there's a good chance you'll forget much of what has happened.  Though, with you being all Time Lord-y all of a sudden, your memories may withstand the merge better."

"So it would be creating another one of these webs in my time stream," I made the connection, "and does this mean I've done this a few times?"

"Hard to say..." The Doctor rocked on his heels.  "Some of those frayed edges could have been caused years into your future.  I dare say none of them have actually happened yet as far as your consciousness is concerned.  Have you felt any déjà vu lately?

"...Every so often," I watched him curiously.

"That feeling is usually caused when you really have lived something before." He said matter-of-factly.

I shook my head.  "This is still so hard for me to understand...  I don't know what to do..."  This entire time, my only wish had been to being Dorian back.  I wanted nothing more than to have him with me again.  Now I had this chance, even if it was only for a short time... it would have been silly not to take it, right?

I turned my eyes upward and looked at him beneath the strands of brown hair in my face.  "Why are you doing this for me?"

The Doctor opened his mouth but wasn't able to speak.  It was almost as if his words he had been trying to say had disappeared when the time came to finally say them.   At last he bowed his head slightly and admitted, "Because I care about you... and I thought it would make you feel better."

My face flushed.  I looked at him with a deep concern and longing.

He looked similar to a puppy that had just been caught digging somewhere he wasn't supposed to get into.  His hazel-green eyes blinked a few times before he averted his gaze.

I had to smile, my own face a little flushed.  "I care about you too."

He smiled, though he refused to look at me.  "So, do you want to give it a try?"

I let out a deep breath.  "I think so."  We walked towards the door, stopping when we reached it.

"What about James?" I asked, pausing The Doctor's movements as he reached for the door.

"I'll drop him off at another time.  He won't know the difference, unfortunately."

I nodded.  I watched as his hand reached for the latch again.

"Wait,"

He paused again and looked at me expectantly.

"I'm going to see you again, aren't I?"  Somehow this hadn't crossed my mind during our entire discussion.  It seemed like a given, but suddenly I wasn't so sure.

The Doctor bent down and kissed my forehead.  "Of course you will.  It just may be a while."

"I'll wait for you, then." I could feel tears forming in my eyes.

He held open his arms and I hugged him as tightly as I could.  As I slowly pulled away, he smiled at me warmly.  He then turned and opened the door.   On the other side I saw the Edwards' home—where I and many of my friends lived as roommates.  I took a deep breath and started out the door.

Behind me, there was a loud whirring sound that quickly faded away.  I turned around and saw nothing.

"...That was weird.  I wonder what that was..."

Chapter 10

My eyes were wet.  My knees hurt from kneeling on the hard floor.  My chest hurt from holding back sobs.  I felt the terrible pangs of déjà vu.  Something kept screaming in my brain that what I was witnessing had already happened, but there was no way.  Dorian was dying; there was no way it had happened before.

The door opened behind me and a few footsteps entered.  I glanced back for a moment.  

It was James.  He didn't say anything; he only looked at the bed I was leaning on with concern.

I turned back to Dorian.  He was breathing very, very slowly, but his eyes were now open.  He looked dazedly behind me as James softly stepped over to the bed.

"Ace," he said, almost as a whisper.

I didn't say anything.  I had to bite my lip to avoid crying.

"You need to go..."

I shook my head immediately.  "No, I can't."

"James..."

The tall young man behind me perked up.  "Y-yes?" he stammered.

"You need to get Ace down to the arena..."

"Dorian," I interjected.

"No... listen..." he closed his eyes as he raised his hand slightly A deep brush burn was still visible on the palm of his hand.  I had first noticed it a few days ago, and it had never healed.  Something about that brush burn haunted me.  I knew something about it, but I had no idea what. "Don't pass this up because of me..." he said, his voice becoming increasingly strained.  "You need to get out there."

I took a deep breath.  "I can't without you."

"Then do it twice as well for me."

I gazed at him from under the messy brown hair that hung in my face, frowning.

"James, please watch out for her."

I turned my head slightly.  I had forgotten James was there; he was always so quiet.  He was still quiet, even when faced with giving Dorian a response.  "I'll do... I'll do whatever you ask of me," he said carefully.  "Sh-she is my sister."

"Good," Dorian smiled.  "Now get down to the arena or you'll be late..."

I didn't move at first, but I finally bit my lip and rose from my knees.  I put my hand on his shoulder and tried my best to smile.  All of this seemed so familiar, and I couldn't figure out why.

He smiled at me again; a tired, yet grateful smile.  "Now go get 'em," he said.

- - -

"Well there you are!! I don't know how you manage to be almost late for every performance!" Ed was complaining as James and I made our entrance backstage.

"Shut up," I sneered, nudging him with my elbow as I passed him to get to my coat hanging on the coat rack.  "I was visiting Dorian."

"How is he?" Athena asked, stepping between me and James.

James instinctively looked in my direction, not speaking.

I slipped one arm into my maroon coat.  "I don't know." I lied.  "He hasn't gotten any better, but I don't think he's gotten any worse..."

"Five minutes, guys," Vance called as he walked backstage from one of the wings of the arena.

"I'm so worried," Athena frowned.  "But he's strong; I know he's got to pull through..."

I nodded blankly.  She hadn't heard what the doctor had told me when I had first arrived at the hospital that evening.  He said they had run out of things to do.  Dorian's illness wasn't responding to any treatment they tried, and they had no idea what could be causing it.  Even this news didn't seem terribly surprising to me; it was as if I had heard it before.

"Three minutes—Poe, are you even ready yet??"

"Yes I'm ready!" I rolled my eyes, stepping away from Athena.  I took off my glasses and slipped them into my coat pocket, successfully removing everything that wasn't part of my costume.  "What about you, Mister Newspaper Editor?  We're both on first you know!"

Vance gave me a hurried glare before disappearing into the wings again.

I adjusted my coat and started over to stage left, knowing Vance would be there shortly.  I brushed my fingers through my hair one last time as we stood in the wings, waiting for our cue.

"Okay... we're going to be fine... James is standing in for Dorian, so we'll be fine..." Vance said to himself as he walked up beside me.  The familiar notes of our performance's first song rose onto the stage.

"We just have to do this twice as good—for Dorian."

Vance gave me a glance, the lights on the stage just barely catching his glasses.   He nodded slightly, then turned his face towards the stage.  I did the same.

I blinked.  A tall figure was at the other end in the shadows of the right wing.  When I blinked again, the figure was gone.

...Doctor?

I shook my head.  Doctor who?

"Come on!" Vance tugged at my coat and we stepped out onto the stage.

- - -

"...If you remember me, I am immortal!"

I held out my arms as I held out the note.  I paused when the music prepared for the final, powerful phrase.  Tilting my head back only slightly, I took in a deep breath.

"I am immortal!!"

I ducked down into the darkness as the lights went down after the last breath of my final note was sung.  Thunderous applause began, and in the darkness I could see many in the crowd rising to their feet in ovation.

"Ace!!  That's the best performance you've ever done!" Mioko said happily as I snuck into the wings.  The lights on stage had just popped back on for the curtain call.

I grinned at him.  "Thanks.  You were great too, you know!"

"Not like you, Mister Poe." He grinned, nudging me.  The others had walked back onto stage for their bows, and then Mioko ran on stage with Athena and Dawn.  After their bow, Ed walked on to hearty applause, and he then gestured in my direction.

Smirking, I stepped back into the spotlight.  I had tears in my eyes again as the crowd cheered for me, and I could only shake my head and bow to their calls.

- - -

The infirmary doctor met us in the hallway as we walked towards Dorian's room.  There was an odd look on his face.  The smiles we all had on—smiles ready to tell Dorian about the success of our performance—quickly faded.

"How is he?" Ed asked after a moment.  Although I stood at the front of the group, I found it very hard to speak.  A pang of fear shot through me and I couldn't figure out why.

The doctor looked down, and then he glanced aside.

"He's going to be okay."

I froze for a moment.  That was different.  Something was very different. I broke away from the others and ran into the room.  I stopped short almost immediately.

"Hullo, Ace."

The Doctor stood against the wall beside Dorian's bed with a grin on his face.  At once, I knew exactly what had happened.  I remembered everything.  I remembered the Kronolins—I remembered all I had spoken to the Doctor about... I remembered my TARDIS... how could I have forgotten my TARDIS...

"Ace—who's that?" Ed stood behind me.

"He's The Doctor.  He's here to help." I said, smiling.

"So—so you h-helped Dorian?" James asked, looking at The Doctor curiously.

The Doctor pushed away from the wall, looking down at the sleeping Dorian.  "I did.  I recognized his symptoms as a rare strain of virus; thankfully I had an antidote I could administer just in time.  He'll make a full recovery.  The antidote's just made him a little drowsy."

Everyone rushed over to Dorian's side, and sure enough, our friend was sleeping soundly.  His dulled face was already warming with color.  It was almost unbelievable.

"Guys, if you'll excuse me for a moment," I said, stepping over to the man in the tweed coat, "Would you come with me, Doctor?"

He grinned almost mischievously.  "Of course."

As soon as we were in the hallway I turned abruptly on him.  "Could you have possibly come any later??" I said as loud as I could without drawing attention to our conversation.

The Doctor's smile faded and he looked at me incredulously.  "What do you mean?"

"Did you know why Dorian was sick??"

"Well, I mean, I figured it out, but—"

"So you could have saved him at any point, and you wait until the last minute??  I was so freaking worried—I didn't remember why at first, but it's because everything played out exactly as it had the first time up until mere minutes before he was supposed to die!" I shook my head and huffed, barely able to keep up with my own words. "For being a Time Lord, your sense of timing is crazy!  I mean, if you—"

He put his hands on the back of my head and leaned towards me, kissing me passionately on the lips—and otherwise completely silencing me.

He pulled away ever so slightly, looking hard into my eyes as our lips remained parted.  "What were you saying?" he asked.

"...I missed you." I whispered defeatedly.

He held me close again, wrapping his arms across my back.  "I missed you too."

We parted.  "So... how did you figure out what was wrong with Dorian?" I asked softly.

He stood up straight again but kept his hands around mine.  "I just so happened to notice you had accidently run into him after you'd picked up the Kronolin virus..."

My eyes widened.  "...The scuff on his hand!"

"He had injured himself and then came into contact with your leg, which passed the virus along to him."

"So this whole time it was my own fault he got sick..."

The Doctor rocked on his heels.  "It's not like you knew.  I barely knew until I remembered what James had said about your sickness behaving exactly like Dorian's... I did a little research and discovered what had happened, so I figured out an antidote and brought it here for him—and right on time, I might add."

I smiled and stepped back to lean against the wall.  "Yeah, yeah... you were exactly on time."  I looked at him more sincerely.  "Thank you."

He nodded.  "Of course.

I peeked into the room across the hall where the others were.  They were still otherwise occupied, so I remained in the hallway with The Doctor.  "There is something I never got a chance to ask you," I said, turning back to him.

"Yes?"

"When I got on that silver TARDIS and started it up," my eyes wandered as my mind slipped into thought, "I felt this rush of feeling...  I felt that it was mine."

"Because it was."

He had answered so plainly that I almost didn't realize what he had said.  "What do you mean?"

"Actually, how about I show you."  He said, putting an arm around my shoulders.  "I wasn't just scouting through time for a way to save Dorian while I was gone..."

- - -

I was walking down the lamp-lit streets of Fortanya on a road near the outskirts of town.  I had just finished a long day of work at the Sirius, the theater James and I were in charge of renovating, and I had gone home early as he closed the place up.

It was a clear night, a little chilly, but with a coat on it wasn't so bad.  Stars dotted the sky, easily visible this far from the main lights of town.  I could see one that looked even brighter than the rest.

I stopped short.  The star was still getting bigger.

I barely had a moment to react and run away when a machine popped, crackled, and whirred its way to make a hard landing beside the cobblestone street.  It didn't fall as hard as I would have expected, but it fell hard enough to create quite a bang.  If the houses on this street hadn't been vacant, there would have been quite a crowd gathered.

As it was, I was the only one around, although I was pretty sure James could have heard the crash back at the theater.  I looked on curiously from a safe distance, watching smoke rise from the tall silver object.  I had never seen anything like this before.

Suddenly, the door hissed open and someone seemed to fall out and onto the ground.

Concerned, I glanced around worriedly and took it upon myself to see what had happened.  I cautiously walked up to the figure, kneeling down beside the silver object.  I could feel the heat radiating from the machine, and the hissing from the gears was almost deafening.

The figure on the ground was hunched over and facing the ground, lying on the street awkwardly.  Long, dark hair was tied back in a ponytail on her head.  Her bare arms, cut and bleeding, were over her head, barely supporting herself on her elbows.  She began to tremble as she struggled to raise herself.

"Hey—are you all right?" I asked, hesitantly putting my hand on her shoulder.

She struggled and finally rocked her head back to look at me.  Blood ran from her mouth and down her forehead.  Her pale blue eyes were cold and distant.

I nearly gasped and pulled away, but she had managed to grab my hand.   She thrust her other hand towards me, grabbing the collar of my jacket below my neck.

At once, a golden light shone from her fingers and began to spread across her body.  The light seemed to wisp into the air, floating above us, before it fell back down and poured into my eyes.


I clutched the Doctor's arm as we watched the scene from across the street, hidden in shadow.  My eyes were wide; I couldn't speak at all, and I watched as my past self absorbed the light and collapsed to the ground.  The body of the Time Lord had vanished.

"When... when I woke up from that... I thought it had all been a dream..." I muttered.  "I thought I was so tired after working with James that I'd passed out..."

The Doctor patted my arm.  "I don't blame you.  It's not every day a dying Time Lord gives up her regenerative energy into you."

"Why?" I asked, still eyeing my past form lying motionless on the ground.

He shrugged.  "Sadly, we'll never know the true reason.  Perhaps she felt you were a better match for her consciousness.  She may have sensed you had an affinity towards time-travel.  Or it could have been an accident—not expecting someone to run up to her while she was regenerating."

"Who was she?"

He shrugged again, saying nothing.

"And there—the silver TARDIS!  So it is mine..." I pointed.

My beautiful TARDIS...

I smiled.  "It is beautiful."

"The Kronolins no doubt sensed this event and came here to investigate.  They were probably so stunned to see an unmanned TARDIS that they didn't notice how close you were to this location."

As if on cue, my past self stirred and sat up suddenly, looking around as if I had no idea what had just happened.  I heard James' voice, and I watched myself stagger to my feet as my brother ran towards me to make sure I was all right.  A look of intense fear and confusion filled my eyes as James and I started down the road.

"It just took being reunited with the TARDIS for me to realize the whole second consciousness thing," I said.  "I swear I can hear voices sometimes..."

The Doctor laughed, and we started back to his TARDIS hidden behind one of the vacant houses.  

"Is my TARDIS still sitting in the future?" I asked as we walked.

"It is.  In fact, we should probably go retrieve it—and by that I mean get it back into working order first."

I nodded.  "Sounds like a plan."  I stopped as we came up to the TARDIS, and he stepped aside from the door in a 'ladies first' sort of way.  I walked in but waited in the doorway when he didn't follow me.

"Well, Ace, you may be only part-Time Lord, but there are still two more things you need along with your TARDIS.  The first, is this!" He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a sonic screwdriver—the one I had wrapped in blue ribbon.  He grinned as I eyed it with mild surprise.  "It's back in working order, although I thought the ribbon to be a nice touch.  Therefore, I believe this to be yours."

I accepted the device with a smile.  "Thanks," I said.

The Doctor then eyed me curiously. "Secondly, you've got to have a nickname."

"I already have a nickname," I eyed him, standing in the doorway of the TARDIS.  "It's Ace."

"You need a Time Lord nickname!" He crossed his arms.  "And I have the perfect one for you... since you're both human and Time Lord with two consciousnesses..."  He paused for dramatic effect. "...Gemini!"

"Gemini," I repeated, nodding as I thought it over.

It's perfect!

"It's perfect." I smiled.  I took him by the waist and hugged him, and he wrapped his arms around my back to look into my eyes.

"Well, Gemini... shall we?" he asked, a warm, yet mischievous grin on his face.

I smirked.  "After you, Doctor."

---

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