Catalysts Don't Show Mercy (Susan Foreman/The Doc)

[The Second Doctor]

When I left home I kept on leaving.

I tried so hard just to keep breathing.

I got so far but none of it matters.

'Cause in the end all my life shatters.

Alec sang to himself in the dark of the night. His voice was average, didn't sound horrible, but wasn't top-notch. He didn't sing a lot anyways. But the words rang true to him. The friendless jerk who knew it and didn't care. The Doctor called himself a lonely god. He didn't know the meaning of the words.

The streets of London at night were cold and damp. More so today, Christmas Eve. It was sort of a ritual for Christmas to go bad here, it happened every time. Now it was his turn to set the Doctor straight. He needed the perfect trap for a mind every bit as clever as his, if a lot more of a hopeless do-gooder. If it all went right, the good Doctor's seventh incarnation would be trapped in a few measly hours. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, for one thing, all he had were ideas right now. He had painstakingly found information that the Doctor was coming to this place this Christmas, and he had instantly thought up a plethora of ideas to catch him. Something would have to work, wouldnt it?

[Susan Foreman]

She just couldn’t get out of England.

Susan looked down at the Vortex Manipulator on her wrist. The burns painted her arm red and white, and sometimes she wondered if she should just give up. It was obvious that she wasn’t up to snuff. She couldn’t control Time with the ease her elders could. She took the strap off and put it in her jacket pocket, wrapping it around herself tightly. At least she had gotten the time period right this time. Her last adventure had taken her outside of 76 Totter’s Lane, 1963. Before she had gathered her senses properly, she’d seen her original incarnation disappear inside of the junkyard, Ian and Barbara following soon after.

The memory had grated her nerves. How could she have been as naïve as she’d been? And the urge to rupture the timeline had made her almost take a step forward. She wanted to warn Ian and Barbara away; tell them that Susan was just meeting a boy and their suspicions were unfounded. If they hadn’t stumbled over the TARDIS… how would her life have turned out? Would she have been abandoned by her beloved grandfather? She wanted to hug her younger self, tell her that sometimes even the people you love very dearly can hurt you.

But she didn’t. She’d made herself leave.

She took a seat on a bench, drawing her knees against her chest. Her teeth chattered against the cold, and she muttered something about how she should have been in Jamaica this time of the year. The darkness wasn’t something she minded at all; she was used to showing up during the night. Despite it being Christmas Eve, the streets were unusually quiet, lacking the last minute shoppers and parades and parties. (She’d been stuck in the future, how was she to know that unusual things kept happening during Christmas?)

The voice caught her attention. She raised her hand slightly, peering over her kneecaps with deep blue eyes. It was him again. Found me, she thought drily.

Unintentionally, her mind was quick to remind her. He doesn’t want to be friends anymore. Remember?

“Hello,” she said, just above her normal speaking volume. If he kept walking and ignored her, she could always say that she had tried. If he heard her… well, then she supposed she would deal with the blows as they came. He certainly had a repertoire of harsh words reserved just for her.

[The Second Doctor]

Don't need anybody- I'm better off alone.

I'll drive 'em off with shattering tones.

If ever my soul I try to mend.

I'd lose my mind and need a-

"Susan!" he ended his mental song.

He tried to hide his joy, and did a pretty good job all things considered. How long had he wanted to find her...? He had been lucky enough to find Sarah Jane and came to terms with her, but he had known Susan couldn't be swayed by simple saving a someone else's life, she would likely be skeptic about that somehow.

"Listen, I've done a bit of soul-searching and I've tried to change." he told her.

Alec sat down beside Susan on the bench. He made sure not to sit too close, as he wasn't sure how forgiving she'd be.
"I'm sorry for how I treated you." he said.

If he knew Susan, she would probably have something snarky to say, or just downright deny the idea of him being sorry. 

[Susan Foreman]

Well, he heard her. She hugged her legs tighter to her chest as he approached, a wary smile on her face. She didn’t hate him like the man seemed to think she did. It probably didn’t help that she was just as lousy as expressing her emotions. She could be sincerely happy and still whip out her biting, snarky remarks. “Listen,” he said, and Susan raised her head back up obediently, a thin eyebrow arched, “I’ve done a bit of soul-searching and I’ve tried to change.”

She covered her mouth, stifling her laughter forcefully. Susan put her forehead back against her knees, thoroughly amused by the man’s words. As he sat down on the bench beside her, her barely-supressed giggles stopped. “Oh… you were serious?” she asked. “Well… how is that working out for you?” Susan inquired. Her words could be taken as disbelieving, but her tone didn’t contain nearly as much malice as it usually did.

Susan put her feet back on the ground, stretching out her limbs languidly. “I’m assuming you meant change for the better, but I suppose that’s a matter of opinion.” There. The cold in her voice matched the weather that was cutting through her jacket.

“I’m sorry for how I treated you.”

Memories of the harsh and bitter words resurfaced. She swallowed thickly, remembering how very unfond of those words she’d been. Why was he bringing them up? She’d finally mastered ignoring her past, pushing back the memories until she could pretend for a moment that she was normal. That anything about the abandoned, lost, idiotic Time Lady was normal. Bah. She wondered, sometimes, just how ashamed her grandfather would be of her.

But then she thought of ripping apart everything he loved, perhaps the things and people he cherished more than she, and it was okay. She’d hurt him, too. One day.

She was tempted to hide her face in her knees again – just in case she began crying, you see – but decided that if he she cried, it was better to let him stew in his own guilt. “I’m sure you are,” she said blandly, neither sarcastically nor sincerely. “You didn’t do anything to me,” the Time Lady lied unconvincingly. “It’s Sarah Jane Smith you should be apologizing to.”

She put her hands in her lap, rubbing the burns on her arm idly. “Why are you here? Felt the sudden urge to change the timeline again?” she asked, her lame attempt at joking off the past even irritating her.

And how could she blame anybody for leaving her with jokes like that?[/font]

[The Second Doctor]

Alec had expected a smart remark, something sarcastic to drive him off. That was probably what she wanted. To make him go away. Instead, she laughed in his face. It had taken days trying to find the right words, and she didn't care, she laughed at him mockingly, reminding him of the day his family had been burned to death, the man who did it laughed at him, just like Susan did now. He slid as far away from her as he could on the bench, looking at his feet.
"I don't see what's so funny." he said quietly.

“Oh… you were serious?” she asked. “Well… how is that working out for you?”

She said it as though she didn't mean it quite so scornfully, but Alec remembered that that was Susan's method. Get you to trust that she doesn't hate you then contradict it with crueler words than he could think up. His only motivation to stay seated was to repeat to himself that he deserved this, that he had acted the same way.
"It's working out fine." he said hoarsely, suddenly wishing he hadn't forgotten his hat. If he were only hide his eyes, she would know how vulnerable he felt after his attempted confession.

“I’m assuming you meant change for the better, but I suppose that’s a matter of opinion."

It finished off the list if things he'd not expected her to do. Laughing, scorning, and now she mocked him. He was having trouble accepting that he deserved all that.
"I'm assuming so." he answered back, his tone as quiet as before.

“I’m sure you are,” she said blandly, sounding not sarcastic nor sincere. “You didn’t do anything to me,” Susan claimed.

“It’s Sarah Jane Smith you should be apologizing to.”

Alec gulped. "I..." he started meakly, "I already did."

“Why are you here? Felt the sudden urge to change the timeline again?” she asked, Alec taking it as a cold reminder of how she still hadn't forgiven him, despite her claiming she had. Again something in his shoes intensely drew him in.

"I'm here because I though I knew you better. I though I knew a Susan who was willing to give me a second chance. I apologize for wasting you time finding out I was wrong." he said dryly.

The Timelord didn't get up, though he intended to.

"I'm done lying," Alec claimed, "I came here to capture your grandfather. I suppose I can tell you because you don't care how so sorry I really am."

[Susan Foreman]

It seemed as though every time she opened her mouth, she ended up offending the poor man in front of her. Her laugh – which hadn’t been brought on because she’d been mocking him – made him move away from her. She frowned, tempted to grab him and bring him back beside her. Her hands remained in her lap, her nails clawing at the burnt skin. As long as it distracted her from the emotional wreck sitting beside her, she didn’t think it was necessarily harmful.

“I didn’t…” she trailed off and sighed. The last time she’d tried to apologize about her behavior, he’d told her that she didn’t mean it. And yet there they were, dancing around apologies. Clearly both parties could at least tolerate the other’s company, although saying that would make her seem both heartless and impatient. Given the way he acted around her, he was probably already under the assumption that she was heartless and impatient. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh.”

Why did everything she said have to sound so bitter?

She smiled weakly at him, trying desperately to show him that she didn’t mean to hurt him. “I’m glad,” she said, referring to his comment about how the change was working out fine. “Are you… happier?” she asked tentatively. She doubted if the broken Time Lord could ever be really happy again, but obviously he hadn’t gone jumping off any Big Bens. That was a definite improvement.

“If she forgave you, then I have nothing to hold against you.” Well, except for the way he nearly made her cry, want to throttle him, and then beat herself with a metal pan all at the same time.

She looked over at him and found him staring down at his shoes rather intently. She leaned over and also stared at his shoes, moving closer to him. For her part, she felt things were going rather well. She hadn’t been (intentionally) mean, and he hadn’t tried to kill her yet. She was, for the most part, unaware that Alec was having pretty different feelings about this get together. That being said, his next words cut through her even more than the cold.

“I’m here because I thought I knew you better. I thought I knew a Susan who was willing to give me a second chance. I apologize for wasting your time finding out I was wrong,” Alec said.

Susan covered her mouth quickly, barely supressing the sharp intake of breath the words had caused. They were cutting and, from her standpoint, completely unfounded. She hadn’t meant for everything she had said to rub him the wrong way. She looked up from his shoes, studying the Time Lord’s face solemnly. “I don’t know what you mean. I’m willing to give you a second chance. And a third, and a fourth. I’ll give you all of that if you do the same for me.”

She waited, patiently, for him to get up, to storm out of her life once more. Instead, he continued. “I’m done lying. I came here to capture your grandfather---” and nothing after that was heard. Well, to be fair, she did hear it, but it was a mindless prattle that she blocked out. The first thing that struck her was that he hadn’t come for her, which hurt her more than she cared to admit. The second thing was that he was going to capture the Doctor. (So he’d come for the grandfather but got the granddaughter. How very typical of her life.)

Susan grabbed his arm tightly, trying to assure herself that he couldn’t leave. “Capture? And then? What will you do then?” she asked, her smile wide. In her eyes was the cruel, childish glee that fills a child thrillingly when they discover a dead animal in their yard. She let go of him, dropping her arm beside her. “I’m going to help,” she told him, neither asking for permission nor caring about it.

“I want him to die.”

[The Second Doctor]

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh." Susan said.

She sounded sincere, but he couldn't be sure.

"Are you...happier?" she asked.

Alec smiled a little.
"Yes, actually. Believe it or not, I actually have a few friends now. I met your aunt, actually. Well, she wasn't one of the friends... But I have some!" he said cheerfully.

"If she forgave you, then I have nothing to hold against you.”

"Well, thank you for saying that, but you really do." he admitted.

He decided not to tell her, as she already knew, and neither really wanted to talk about it.

“I don’t know what you mean. I’m willing to give you a second chance. And a third, and a fourth. I’ll give you all of that if you do the same for me.”

Alec lit up, look at Susan.
"Really? That's...well, thank you!" he said, his day getting better already. From this standpoint, he looked passive/agressive to the max, and looked socially awkward, which wasn't quite true. Not anymore.

"Oh, sorry for the misunderstanding." he said, attempting to laugh it off like it was nothing.

It was about this time that he noticed her arm, a concerned look on his face. He pulled his sonic screwdriver out of his jacket and set it to a certain function, reading 'Burn Heal' in Galifreyan.
"May I? It won't heal completely, but it'll help." he offered


He told her his proposition, she seemed strangely intrigued.
"I'm going to help." it obviously wasn't a question.

"I want him to die." Alec was astounded.

"Then... You'll get what you want. Good to know we're finally seeing eye to eye." he commented, still a bit shocked.

[The Seventh Doctor]

The Seventh Doctor, sat alone in his library, with most of the lights off, a book stained with tears on his lap, a bowl of jelly babies that was nearly empty on the chair side table.
Ace had left, they fought and she left. Companions had left him before and each time it hurt but this was different he had not felt this kind of pain, since he left Susan, his beloved granddaughter, behind, maybe this was why Ace's leaving hurt so much because Ace was like had become like a Granddaughter to him. His thoughts drift to Susan, he had to leave her behind, didn't he? She deserved to have a chance raise a family with that man David. The Doctor is ripped from his thoughts by something quite strange A Piece of Psychic Paper he had recently acquired had a message on it the message read as follows

'The Time lord known as Alec Or The Dark Lord Is attempting to capture You.
why not give give him what he wants? - A Close Friend'
A date, location and picture of Alec is on the bottom of the paper
His Sadness turns to anger
'Why can't anyone ever give me a break?! Just because I'm The Doctor doesn't mean I don't feel pain and need some Privacy! If Alec wants to me so bad then he's dang well going to get me!' He shouts into the vast emptiness.
He races to The Console Room and begins to recklessly Pilot The TARDIS to the time And Location Of Alec.
in a scene similar to The Christmas Invasion TARDIS landing The Doctor's TARDIS lands narrowly missing Alec. The doors fly open and The Doctor charges Alec and hits him right in the face with his umbrella, making a Sickening smack the umbrella breaks upon impact do to the sheer force of the hit.
The Doctor's expression show his anger.

[Susan Foreman]

“Really? That’s…well, thank you!” he said, sounding considerably more cheerful. She grinned, feeling less like a monster with each word. And his apology for his misunderstandings? Icing on the cake. “May I?” he asked, looking at her arm. She pulled it in closer to herself, cheeks flushing brightly. “It won’t heal completely, but it’ll help,” he continued. She shook her head. What was the point? She couldn’t even touch the dang thing without it sparking in her hands. Any healing that he accomplished would just go right back to normal when he left her.

“No,” she said, offering a small smile to him. She was touched by his offer, but… this was all her fault anyway. The burns. The whole reason that she had to travel with a Vortex Manipulator. If she hadn’t fallen in love with a human – a human of all things in the universe – her grandfather wouldn’t have urged her to go. Urge. She wondered how many others he’d ‘urged’ out of the TARDIS.

The man seemed taken aback by her personal vendetta against the Doctor. Which she found slightly strange and a little endearing, because if anybody had the right to hate the Doctor it was his own flesh and blood. He’d left her trapped and abandoned and utterly alone. What had he done to Alec? “Good. Because I—” Any melodramatic villain speech that she was going to spew out ended abruptly when the TARDIS nearly slammed into them. She leapt off the bench, her lanky figure practically seething with rage.

It was the TARDIS – well, his. A man popped out, looking perhaps as angry as she did, ignored her completely, and thwacked Alec with an umbrella. This all happened in the course of the time it took her to breathe out, her fists clenched dangerously. And, before she could gather her wits about her, her fist was in her grandfather’s face and a bony knee in his groin.

“What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” she snarled, snatching the umbrella bits out of his hand. She trembled, torn between asking Alec if he were all right and beating her idiotic grandfather to a pulp.

[Seren Ash]

It was at the point that all of these odd things happening, that a small blue box smacked into the side of the TARDIS. A small glowing blue box, that was definitely something of importance. Too bad it had been lost in time, and had gone to the first TARDIS that was tied to the Doctor, that it could find. Which meant it was sent back in time for the Doctor, which was forward for the women in the message. Unfortunate, for the both of them.

Message

Doctor, this is Archivist. I'm alive, I ran. I ran so far away. But I'm alive, I want you to find me. I meant my words, that I whispered to you that day in the Square. I will trust you, care for you, no matter what time or place i am. No matter if I have to do something I'll regret, which I do. I have to hide, I can't really explain why, but I have to hide.

Doctor, I want you to find me. I'm going to lock away my Time Lord self, and I need you to look for me. I'll be a human, but you'll know me. You'll know me. My name will be Seren Ash. Look for me Doctor, I'll be searching for you in my heart.

[The Second Doctor]

Alec heard the sounds of a Tardis with it's breaks on fly past him. He felt the gush of wind and a blow to the head that sent him sprawling into the street. He blinked heavy as a little blood got in his eye, and he realized a shard of the broken umbrella having left a nasty-looking gash across the left side of his face. The Timelord immediately jumped up and walked back over to the Tardis, vengeance in his grin.
"Susan," he said, gathering up a fist, "I hope you don't mind..." he drove it into the Doctor's face with all the power the umbrella had had, "...If I hit your grandfather."

The Dark Lord was just about to hit him again, when messenger cube hit the Tardis. A little box hit the big box.
"Oh, not now." he said, his face warping in agitation.

[Ace]

Ace could almost see the end of the time tunnel up ahead making her turn the throttle on the motorcycle more, not that it would make the bike go any faster she was already pushing her trusty little two wheel friend to it’s limit but she tired anyway. She hoped when she opened the time tunnel it had been close enough to get to earth at the right time and not have to open up another tunnel. “Must go faster, must go faster.” the end of the tunnel was getting closer till; she came busting through the opening of the tunnel on her motorcycle. Letting off of the accelerator slowing down and reaching down to unbuckle the guns on her leg holsters, she slammed on the breaks causing the bike to squeal to a stop a couple of feet away from the others.

Ace quickly swung her leg over the bike dismounting it while simultaneously pulling out both of her guns. Walking quickly up to the group she pointing one gun at the woman and one at the man “Move towards him again and I will put a bullet in both your heads. Understand.” flew she turned her eyes towards the Doctor “Doctor, how you doing over there?” she tilted her head as the little cube came flying by “Oh this day just keeps getting better and better.”

[Susan Foreman]

“Susan,” Alec said, and she looked at him, blue eyes alight with childish glee again, “I hope you don’t mind if I hit your grandfather,” he finished. She grinned, exposing her canines. Obviously she didn’t mind. Although if she were honest, something wasn’t matching up. She watched the box crack against the TARDIS and tilted her head, annoyed by the lack of decent timing. Didn’t the sender realize this was the day she took her long-deserved revenge? Alec seemed to share the same sentiment. She was about to drive her high heel into the Doctor’s face when she heard what suspiciously sounded like a motorcycle appear next to her.

The woman slowly moved her head to the girl on the motorcycle, lips curling into a smile. “Move towards him again and I will put a bullet in both your heads. Understand?” the girl asked. Susan moved her body to face the girl, blue eyes scanning her quickly. She took a step closer to Ace, her hands behind her back and a warm, pleasant smile on her face.

Didn’t this little girl know that Susan Foreman dealt not with physical attacks, but of the mental variety?

“Oh, you’re simply aces, kid,” she said, chuckling at her own joke. She took another step towards Ace, an eyebrow raised, as though she were waiting, challenging Ace to shoot her. “I’ve read a lot about you, my dear,” she said silkily, sounding a bit like a concerned friend. “Why are you defending him? Surely you’re not naïve enough to believe he… cares for you?”

No hint of malice in her voice, just a warm kindness. She looked back at the Doctor, now standing next to Ace. “He doesn’t care for anyone. Surely you’ve noticed?” Her mind immediately delved into the human’s, poking tentatively at memories. She withdrew from Ace’s mind and looked between her grandfather and the human girl. “He didn’t think twice about leaving you. Do you remember,” she dropped her voice quietly, leaning closer to Ace, “Northumberland? The Second World War? When you helped dear Fenric win that game of chess?” she asked.

She smiled sweetly and put her finger to her lips. “What was it that my grandfather called you? A social misfit? An emotional cripple? He called you evil, didn’t he? Well, why wouldn’t he? You did help Fenric win that darling little game, didn’t you?” she mused, exploiting the girl’s recollection of the events. “And you believed him when he said he didn’t mean it? Let me tell you something about that man, Ace, and you listen to me. We have a word for people like him. Traitor.”

“I’m his own flesh and blood. His granddaughter. He abandoned me. Left me to die alone with humans. He hardly cared when my husband died, or how my son was murdered,” there was an icy edge to her light, mellifluous voice now. “He cares only for himself. Not for you. Not for me. His actions speak volumes,” she said, now gesturing towards the broken umbrella and the blood running down Alec’s face.

She quirked an eyebrow at Ace. “My friend and I were only speaking when this madman came up and smashed him with an umbrella. Why shouldn’t we have hit him back? That was always your problem, Ace. You always followed him blindly, but why don’t you step back and examine the scene?”

[The Second Doctor]

Alec was not at all surprised by Ace's arrival. The Doctor had armies in his fingertips and galaxies at his feet.

The Timelord watched as Susan manipulatedly spoke to Ace. He couldn't help but admire her words and how she used them, twisting the human's very mind against the Doctor.
"I would watch where you pointed that gun, kid. I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself. Never could trust a child with a gun. That's what you are to him. Hundreds of years old, and that's just how far he can remember. You can imagine how bad his memory is in his...elderly state." a cruel grin came to his lips as he followed Susan's words.

"And you thought he cared?" Alec chuckled, "You're one of many, his...menagerie of the select few he picks up, only to throw you away, like trash. You're lucky to be alive." he continued.

He gestured to Susan.
"And my friend here," he used the word sparingly incase of any harsh feelings, "This is his very own granddaughter. He left her to die. And still think he cares? I'll let you in on a little secret." he leaned in closer.
"He's going to massacre his own world. My world. That's the good Doctor."

[The Seventh Doctor]

From behind him Alec hears
"if you plan on attacking someone it's not wise to ignore them"
The Doctor Grabs Alec's Arm and twists it behind Alec's back dislocating it then grabbing The other arm and holds him in place, he then slam the tip of His toe into the back of Alec's Knee forcing him to the ground, then securing his arm around Alec's neck tightly, so only a small amount of air is let in to his lungs.

"Now then, Hello Ace, you had perfect timing, I wish we could meet again under pleasant circumstances." He says masking the mixture of pain and joy of seeing her and his once beloved Susan again, voice trembles briefly ash says Ace's and Susan's names
He looks at Susan
'Hello Susan, i hope you don't actually think you will be able to mess with Ace, I have taught her every trick there is on manipulation and how to withstand it, now why don't you pass me that cube and we can talk this out. Oh and by the way Alec..." He Chokes him Alec for about 12 seconds "You don't get to talk about Ace that way. and Susan I thought you were raised better, the way you talk about humans makes you sound like the Master, who if i recall was the one who murdered your husband, acting like the man who killed your husband a great way to honor his memory, don't you think? Tell me how would David and Alex react to your behavior? Hmm?" he asks