Chapter 3: Reunions in TARDIS Blue

The pain died down and Annalise crashed onto the floor. Her head throbbed as she lifted it off the cool metal floor. Slowly, she gingerly picked herself up and brushed off her pants, which were covered in a fine golden powder. It looked like she'd been massacred by hundreds of giant dandelions. Her stomach churned as she rushing over to a small screen that was connected to the center of the console, she had to know what she looked like.

It seemed that, though her insides had felt as if they'd been steamrolled, her face had remained the same. She was unchanged, kind of. Despite her appearance's lack of new features, she had vast wells of knowledge, and was seeing herself in a whole new light. And her eyes, oh her eyes; they looked so old, so sad, so wise. She had the eyes of a sage old man who approached you in the world market and offered crystals to balance your chakras.

"Ooh, hello there." Anna tugged at a curl of her hair, which went just below her chin, "Still blonde, huh. No changes, good, no need to get new IDs."

"Yeah, changing them is the worst!" The Doctor complained, before his expression hardened. "Who are you anyway?"

She ignored him, flouncing around the open space. "I must say, it's good to be out of that watch. Twenty five years in there really takes its toll. Oh!" She clicked her teeth together, relishing the sound. "Well this is certainly an odd place to end up in, I would've expected Gallifrey."

"Who are you!" The Doctor pressed, though he was overjoyed to find another of his species, he was wary. No use getting his hopes if it turned out to be a trick.

"I could ask you the same, timelord," She sung out before freezing. "Oh." Her face had fallen into one of utter despair and she clutched her head. "They're coming back, my memories. They're gone aren't they, all of them. Our people."

Tho Doctor's expression almost completely mirrored hers. The man had somehow managed to fit shame, sorrow, and emptiness into one twisted, twisted expression. Like he was flirting with the idea of running out the door of the TARDIS instead of answering her. "I'm so sorry, but we're the only ones left. They're all gone."

"All gone," She repeated forlornly. "And the Daleks?"

"I thought they were, but somehow they keep on cropping up."

Anna's expression stayed upset, but it slowly began to twist into one of suspicion. "How'd you survive then? You should be dead like the rest."

"I could ask you the same!" He retorted, but she didn't budge, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. The Doctor sighed loudly. "Pushy, aren't you? I was banished. But I managed to nab a TARDIS-- long before then --and escape."

"Yes, but that's not the full story, is it?" Annalise questioned, desperate to know of her race's fate, of their race's fate. "What are you hiding?"

He didn't respond, avoiding her piercing gaze. Martha, thoroughly confused, figured the two should have a moment in private to work out their history and muttered a hasty goodbye. Her footsteps echoed as she returned to her room, and the Doctor still hadn't uttered a sound. Giving a breathy sigh, Anna walked over, stepping lightly on the balls of her feet, as if scared she would break something. . . perhaps the thick tension present in the room. Once she was within a meter or so of him, she lunged with the lithe movement of a tiger and pressed her fingers to his temple; not in a 'time to die!' way, more like a 'time to read your mind' way.

He pushed her back quickly. "Not a chance! Get out of my head."

"What are you hiding?" She put her hands on him once more, and like before, he swatted them away.

"You're mad!"

"Just a bit!" She chirped cheerfully, sending a roguish wink his way. "Now c'mon, I deserve to know."

He crossed his arms, mirroring Annalise's former position. "Tell me how you survived first!"

"I broke out of prison just before the Dalek's culling of the place. Then, I chameleon-arched myself into a human baby and used the emergency exit machine to get to Earth."

He stared at her in shock, which gave Anna an opportunity to get into his head once more, this time learning about everything. Images flooded past.

When he finally pushed her away, she looked shocked. A single (aesthetic as hell) tear ran down her cheek as she reached her arm out to him and murmured a single word.

"Theta?"

Or tried to murmur, it came out with a curl of golden steam, before she collapsed onto the cold metal of the TARDIS floor.

•••
Darkness.

She was alone. In solitude with only her thoughts for company.

And they were dangerous companions at even the best of times. No wonder she was a bit mad. Perhaps it would've been better if she had stayed in the fob watch. Let her chameleon-arced human form live a life of normalcy.

A life of forgetfulness.

No aliens to worry about, no remembering all she'd lost, no cold, dark cell; no loneliness. Just a family and hidden issues of abandonment.

But no wonderment and magic, a soft voice in her head added, No him.

It wasn't one of her regulars, the voices that spoke whenever she was alone. This one was feminine, softer and comforting. The room was speaking to her-- no, not the room; the TARDIS was the one talking.

She was a fairly old girl, by the look of it. Anna flicked on the light. Yeah, not a new model, no more recent than a type-45.

Type-40, actually.

"Oh wow," Annalise breathed out, slightly in awe. She was in a price of history. "You wouldn't happen to be the one from that old museum back on Gallifrey, would you?"

The door creaked open before the TARDIS could answer. And there he was, Theta. Her Theta.

"You're so old." Was the first thing that came out out of Annalise's mouth; she'd always been oozing with tact-- note the sarcasm. Honestly, it was surprising anything had made it out of her mouth, given the massive foot in it at all times. Quickly, she attempted to mend her previous statement. "Your eyes. . . so old. What happened to you Theta?"

He didn't respond, just continued to stare. His brown eyes bored into her own. Completely enraptured by them, she didn't notice how close he was until their noses were nearly touching.

She thought he was going to kiss her, but suddenly his hands were on either side of her head, and his mind was in hers.

"No." She pushed him away, knowing it was slightly hypocritical. But she hadn't been quick enough, he'd gleaned one bit of information.

"Rulan." Her name rolled off his tongue, as it always did. "Rulan Delta."

"Theta." She mimicked his style, adding only one word. "My Theta Sigma."

And then they were hugging, their laughter bubbling out of their throats and breaking whatever silence had followed the Doctor's proclamation. Because they were there, they were whole, and they were alive.

Anna-- no, Rulan wasn't sure how long they stood there, rocking back and forth in their tight embrace, but it was Martha who broke them apart.

"So she's awake?" The British girl questioned, effectively breaking up their moment. "Not comatose?"

As if on cue, another puff of golden energy curled out of Rulan's mouth, a lot of memories had been stored in her fob watch.

"I need pudding-- as much chocolate pudding as you have."

The bemused Doctor simply put his arm around her and led her to the kitchen.

•••
"So are you two like, timelord soul mates or whatever?" Martha voiced her thoughts as Rulan spooned pudding into her mouth.

The timelady nearly choked and spat chocolate dessert everywhere as the Doctor adopted a deer-in-headlights look in response to his companion's question.

"NO!" The two chorused loudly.

"As if I would date him!" Rulan coughed out childishly, looking frazzled.

"Like she could ever find a catch as good as me!" The Doctor scoffed with a fake air of superiority. Standing up, he got a cloth napkin (colored the same blue as the TARDIS' exterior) and wiped off the specks of pudding coating his kitchen counter.

To say Martha was confused was the understatement of the century, "So why are you two acting like," She paused thoughtfully, struggling to find the right word, "Lovers? No, that isn't it. . ."

"We're best friends," Rulan explained, and Martha nodded, smiling a bit wider, something that didn't go unnoticed by the other girl. A sly grin worked its way onto the Timelady's face, it seemed yet another young lass was smitten with her friend. He'd always had a natural charm about him. "Thete and I go way back. Unfortunately, I was imprisoned shortly before he ran off, and was unable to go with him."

"Who says I'd've invited you?" The Doctor pointed out rudely.

"Oi! Do not sass me Theta Sigma!"

"Why do you keep calling him Theta?" Martha questioned as Rulan became preoccupied once more with her food.

"Et wath 'is nitnam in the daca." Was what Martha heard Rulan say around a mouth full of pudding.

"Where are your manners Ru'?" The Doctor muttered, shaking his head. He sat back down and tossed the chocolate-covered napkin into a hamper a few feet away.

The Time Lady in question just smiled and kept speaking, this time with an empty mouth, "It was his nickname in the Deca, our posse of eleven at the academy."

"Why call it the Deca if there weren't ten of you?"

"Irony, mostly," Rulan explained, just as the Doctor said.

"We had only wanted ten."

"Wait, really?" His best friend asked, knitting her eyebrows together. "Who wasn't originally supposed to be in the group? Jelpax?"

"Ushas," The Doctor corrected. "she wasn't originally supposed to be in the group, but Varnell liked her."

"Whatever happened to her after I was imprisoned?"

"She chose the name the Rani and one of her lab mice bit the president's cat and caused the president himself to regenerate."

It was really quite a story, just the kind you'd expect from someone as dramatic as Ushas. Or the Rani, as she had become. Though it was a pity she hadn't killed Rassilon. The lord high president was quite a pain. Under his negligent and monopolized rule, Gallifreyan society was always one step away from a complete coup d'etat. Personally, she had been hoping the head council general, Milligrant, had done just that. Rulan didn't voice her thoughts to the Doctor though, she didn't want to bother his companion by starting a debate about the politics of her home world. Their opinions had always differed, his being much more subdued. All-in-all, it wasn't surprising she'd been the one who'd ended up in prison, her peace-preferring friend would've been eaten alive-- at least, back then he would've. Rulan wasn't so sure now; he seemed. . . different, a changed man. And she intended to find out what had caused the dark, haunted look that mirrored hers almost directly.

"You know." Rulan brushed her hair back out of her eyes with a thoughtful expression, changing the subject for both her sale and his own. "I never got to chose an official name. I mean, there's my real name, and my nickname, and then I guess Annalise, because of the fob watch. . ." She trailed off. "I'll have to think about that."

Without another word, she stood up and left the room.

"Well that was sudden." Observed Martha.

Not a moment later, the girl raced back in, grabbed her bowl of pudding, and sprinted out.

"That's Rulan for you," The Doctor said slowly, looking thoughtful. The expression disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, though, as he lept out of the green plastic bar stool he'd been occupying, "Let's go somewhere!"

"Mood swing-y much?" Martha commented happily, jumping up to follow him back into the console room. "Where're we off to then?"

Rulan entered the room just before the Doctor could reply. Her outfit had changed, she was wearing something much more fitting to her personal style, or at least the style of the regeneration of her that had chameleon arched herself. The timelady's hair was in a high ponytail and she was wearing a tattered olive green jacket. Underneath, was a simple white shirt and pair of jeans. It all looked ratty, as if it was swiped from the shelves of a rundown vintage shop. Trashed blue Oxfords covered her feet, a glimpse of striped sock peeping out from a hole in the sole. The Doctor's eyes widened upon seeing her.

"Hey!" She greeted nonchalantly, tiny specks of chocolate still present on the corners of her mouth.

"You know, I've call you trashy before, but I never thought you'd take it literally. You get that out of a dumpster?" The Doctor prodded with a playful grin.

"You offend me, good sir."

"You have, er-" Martha gestured to the top of Rulan's head, at a single strand of hair, just behind her bangs, that was sticking straight up.

"Oh I know," Rulan assured her. "It won't flatten, the little idiot has a mind of its own."

Martha stifled a small laugh, before nodding approvingly, "I like it, very. . ." She trailed off.

"Rubbish?" The Doctor supplied.

Rulan adopted a hurt look before she perked up and reached into the pockets of her jacket. After nearly putting her entire arm in the pocket, she drew out a small metal model of a duck and a white leather wallet.

"You still have the duck?" The Doctor looked shocked. "How did the TARDIS find it?"

Rulan gave him a sly grin. "Well, it would appear that someone kept my room in the TARDIS database. I just went in there and grabbed it, along with my psychic paper and vortex manipulator."

A look of badly-masked disgust overcame the Doctor's face. " I should've trashed that lousy thing ages ago. Compared to my sports car of a sexy, that manipulator's a broken bicycle."

"Um," Martha spoke up. "I'm afraid I'm a bit lost. What's with the duck?"

"Glad you asked!" Rulan explained happily, while the Doctor shook his head back and forth emphatically. "You see, when we took an Academy field trip to the factory where sonic devices are made-- before the Doctor destroyed it!" She shot him a look.

"Hey! It has banana trees now, and I like bananas. Bananas are good!"

"Whatever. Basically, he got a sonic screwdriver, and our other classmates got things of a similar nature."

The Doctor picked up the story for her, speaking in a tone that was far too condescending for his friend's liking. "And Rulan, being the special person she is, decided to make a tiny duck into a sonic."

Grinning widely, his friend grasped the duck, and tapped its beak lightly.

That's when all hell broke loose.

A colossal quacking sound filled the room and a jet of mauve light flew from the tiny animals beak to a door down the hall. The door in question swung open with a loud bang, and the smug timelady slipped the duck back into her pocket.

"The only mundane things it doesn't work on are bread and actual ducks. Ovens also tend to make it go a bit haywire." Rulan stated proudly, "So unlike the Doctor's, it works on wood!"

"Only sometimes!" The timelord protested smugly, "Remember the Kaelm incident, it didn't work then."

"That because you wrenched it out of my hands you twat, it proves nothing!"

The Doctor ignored her and started flipping switches, causing the TARDIS to shudder and take off. Martha held on to a chair for dear life. The Doctor calmly stood there, buffing his nails to show off.

That is, until Rulan came up behind him and gave him a shove. "You left the brakes on, you dolt! No wonder you never passed the driving test, honestly!"

She got an offended look in response. "I like the whooshing noise!"

"Well I like safety!" The timelady countered.

"If it wasn't safe don't you think I would've turned it off by now?"

"Because you don't know how to turn it off," Rulan coughed into her hand.

"Anyways," The Doctor exclaimed loudly. "We've just landed in Cardiff."

"Cardiff?" Martha asked confusedly; she had obviously been expecting something grander.

"Ah," The Doctor explained, holding up a finger. "But the thing about Cardiff is that it's built on a rift in time and space-- just like California and the San Andreas Fault. The rift bleeds energy. Every now and then I need to open up the engines, soak up the energy and use it as fuel."

"It's a pit stop," Rulan interrupted. "Don't let his fancy-talk confuse you. Anyway, I'll be taking my leave now." The timelady walked to her room and picked up an already-filled rucksack. "Time to adventure off on my own."

"So you're not traveling with us?" Martha didn't sound too disappointed. Though the idea of having another woman on board certainly was appealing.

The Doctor frowned decided it was time for a conversation with his best friend. Pulling her out of the room he raised his eyebrows. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"What did I do this time?"

"I'm not sure what you mean?" Rulan had her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but she wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Why aren't you traveling with me, what did I do?"

The timelady snorted. "Ooh, look who's all high and mighty with a head full of hot air. Well Mr. Bighead, this may come as a shock to you, but the whole universe doesn't revolve around you. I have my own reasons." Her voice trembled slightly as she said reasons.

Gently, the Doctor tipped her chin up so they were eye-to-eye. He didn't even need to ask why her eyes were shining, it hit him like a block of cement to the face (an experience he'd been through not only once, but twice, and was something he wasn't keen to repeat). "Oh!" My could he be thick. "Oh, of course."

She nodded once. "Yeah. You get why I can't travel in the TARDIS with you. It's been awhile, but my memories are still fresh, blame the chameleon arch for that."

Her watery chuckle broke his hearts. "You couldn't bare it, even for a little. We just met again Ru', surely you can do at least one trip, for old times sake. I can help with the pain, I know I don't quite understand it, but--"

She cut him off with a passionate cry, an expression of shock on her face. A wave of rage flew through her. "You don't! How can you not? He was your best friend you selfish ass, your best friend. 'For old times sake', there are no 'old times' without him-- don't touch me!" She snarled out as the Doctor attempted to put a hand on her shoulder.

Rulan was visibly shaking. Her fists were balled up at her sides, which shuddered as shook took deep gulps of air to replenish what had been lost in her outburst. "He was your best friend." She repeated in distraught agony, quiet now. The anger had flooded out with her words, and now her pain was all that remained.

To say the Doctor felt like the biggest idiot in the entire Milky Way Galaxy was the understatement of the millennium. He was almost wishing for a block of cement. Of course." He breathed out in understanding. "I didn't realize. . ."

"Didn't realize you were being a massive prick?"

The Doctor let out a stunned laugh. "I had thought you were talking about your accident. Saying you couldn't travel with me because I couldn't drive the TARDIS well, and you couldn't do it for me."

A volley of emotions flashed through Rulan's face before she landed on understanding. She almost laughed at how ludicrous the thought was: that she wouldn't travel with her best friend because of the horrific incident that had occurred in her TARDIS. The one that was the reason she would never pilot a TARDIS again.

In a much softer tone, she spoke once more, "You understand now? Why I can't stay and travel with you?"

He nodded.

"Besides, three's a crowd, and I doubt Martha wants me around."

"Nonsense! Why wouldn't Martha--" Rulan silenced the timelord with a look. Shaking her head slightly, she chuckled and led him back into the main room of the TARDIS. He knew why.

When they entered, Martha was waiting, looking on the two expectantly. "Well?"

Rulan shook her head and lifted her rucksack once more, before sharing one last, long look with the Doctor. He broke eye contact first, slumping his shoulders helplessly and then nodding with a slight frown. "Alright then."

Rulan lept forward and hugged him tightly. "I have a feeling I'll see you soon; don't be a stranger Doctor! And you'd better pick up your phone when I call."

She pecked him quickly on the cheek, before flouncing out. The last thing she heard was Martha saying.

"Wait a minute. They had an earthquake in Cardiff a couple years ago. Was that you?"

Rulan breathed in a fresh spring breeze, stepping forward. She'd barely gotten four meters before someone slammed into her, not even glancing back before running towards the TARDIS. She could've sworn he was yelling 'Doctor!'.

Deciding she'd let her friend deal with whoever the stranger was, she tapped a random date and set of coordinates into her Vortex Manipulator and disappeared in a flash of blue light.

•••
Woo! How do y'all like the book so far? I like including these little notes to check in, so please comment with any questions, concerns, or suggestions.

Anyone wondering what this regeneration of Rulan looks like, I kinda picture her as similar to Eliza Taylor, who you might recognize from the tv show The 100.

Updates coming soon, love you guys.
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