But I Have Promises To Keep

[Sisilaya Vulmecura]

She gave him a grin after she got her retort back to her teasing him about her mother.

"Of course I am never going to let that go, what type of woman would I be if I did not remember all the dirty little facts? Don't tempt me, we are technically not blood related after all" She gave him a wicked grin before his face turned serious and she took her gaze back to the console at hand. She was always following what Robin was doing, she had to learn after all.

"I.. I would offer to steer her, but I'm afraid I age like humans do. I'd be dead by the time it's done most likely" She looked up at Robin, she wasn't even sure how he aged. She suddenly realized that Time Lords were not human and thus didn't age like them. "How old are you, Robin?" She asked quietly.

She laughed at his little rant about the omelette, sure he did have a point there.. yet.. "I had to rip that third cheese from your hands because you kept insisting it was French and thus had to be overly moldy! That was a chaos nearly missed!" She couldn't help but tease him, she thought with a grin on her face.

Finally, they both turned back to business when she felt his mood shift visibly even, nervousness was something that did not suit the Meddler well, it got her slightly off the rockers as well.

She didn't miss his final rushed worlds and she paled as she looked at him.

"Going in? Are you mad? What if you get trapped!" She hissed at him. But she backed up suddenly, her eyes flitting the room. A thought had come up.

"I cannot go in with you, I have to make sure if you go in, only you go in. I'm pretty sure Xandavier knows that I am with you by now. Remember how he was brought under the chameleon arch so he wouldn't interfere with the Time War? This would be his one chance to get in and try to change the outcome of that war. We can't risk that.."

She clenched her jaw, by Danu the thought of that man already made her angry. Or scared. She wasn't sure which.

[The First Doctor]

"Of course I am never going to let that go, what type of woman would I be if I did not remember all the dirty little facts? Don't tempt me, we are technically not blood related after all"

The Meddler looked baffled at that statement, then shrugged.

"I.. I would offer to steer her, but I'm afraid I age like humans do. I'd be dead by the time it's done most likely" She looked up at Robin, she wasn't even sure how he aged.

'That would be inconvenient, yes," he agreed, "Although I'm not so certain about dead. Children born to Arched Gallifreyans are extremely rare - the process usually renders us sterile in the Arched guise - so I have no idea what you may have inherited from your... from Xandavier." He thought about it for a second. "It's probably safest to assume you inherited nothing, though. Better to be surprised than disappointed."

She suddenly realized that Time Lords were not human and thus didn't age like them. "How old are you, Robin?" She asked quietly.

"How old am I?" He thought about it for a second, then for several more seconds. "It depends. Are you only counting the passage of Time, or are you also including the intervals spent in history? By Gallifreyan reckoning, I'm nine hundred and four. If you count in the intervals spent in history - and Gallifreyan reckoning typically doesn't - I'm... hmmm..."

He began counting on his fingers, with the distracted air of someone doing math in his head. "I've never really thought about it," he said, "I've spent something like eleven hundred years in history, so it would be in the vicinity of two thousand years old. But history doesn't really count."

And then the Meddler blurted out his revised plan.

"Going in? Are you mad? What if you get trapped!" She hissed at him. But she backed up suddenly, her eyes flitting the room. A thought had come up.

"I cannot go in with you, I have to make sure if you go in, only you go in. I'm pretty sure Xandavier knows that I am with you by now. Remember how he was brought under the chameleon arch so he wouldn't interfere with the Time War? This would be his one chance to get in and try to change the outcome of that war. We can't risk that.."

"In point of fact, I am mad," he observed. "But your point is well taken." He began to consider it, when she brought up Xandavier. He frowned. "He couldn't really change anything in there," he said, "There is no Time left in the Singularity. It's all history, the history of the War and everything involved in it, all wadded up and playing over and over again. There's no room to change anything..."

A thought. "But he could try to bring something out." He frowned again, considering. "He shouldn't be able to access the TARDIS, not without one of his own. But he also shouldn't be able to manipulate the Tain Labyrinth the way he did. And I've never heard it said that he is a stupid man, and there are ways to circumvent the locks and barriers of even a dematerialized TARDIS..."

He sighed. "I"m afraid you're right. I'll have to go in alone, and you'll have to watch out for interference."

He stared at the slow rise and fall of the rotor. "Well, no sense in delaying the inevitable." He gestured to the console. "Would you do the honors? The Gallifreyan planetary nebula, in the constellation of Kasterborous. Galactic coordinates ten-zero-eleven-zero-zero by zero-two from galactic zero center. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we never have to talk about it again."

[Sisilaya Vulmecura]

Sisi just stared at him blackly for a while when he said he was over 900 years old. She almost started wondering to herself if she had heard him right, or maybe her mind was pulling tricks on her. But no, he did say bloody nine hundred.

"I thought you were perhaps 350 tops.. but 900..? How do does your brain cope with all the information?" She knew Sidhe were able to grow thousands of years old, but they required to drink from the cauldron at least every few centuries so they wouldn't go insane from the information overload.

As she was afraid of, she was right. Really, all of her wanted to follow Robin into the singularity, but she knew if something got tampered with as soon as they were in there it could go very wrong very fast. No she had to stay out here, guard the TARDIS and make sure nothing followed Robin in there.

"Well, no sense in delaying the inevitable." He gestured to the console. "Would you do the honors? The Gallifreyan planetary nebula, in the constellation of Kasterborous. Galactic coordinates ten-zero-eleven-zero-zero by zero-two from galactic zero center. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we never have to talk about it again."

With a a soft sigh Sisi nodded and took her place behind the console again, typing in the coordinates Robin had dictated to her. She pressed her lips together as she geared the TARDIS into action, the time rotor kicking back to life.

With the dull sound of a bell they ended at the exact coordinates she had filled in and she slowly rose, coming to look at Robin. Her lips were still pressed together as her eyebrows drew together in worry.

"I'm having a bad feeling about this Robin.." She said quietly.

And Sidhe senses for danger were quite astute.

[The First Doctor]

Sisi just stared at him blackly for a while when he said he was over 900 years old. "I thought you were perhaps 350 tops.. but 900..? How do does your brain cope with all the information?"

Again, the Meddler had to remind himself that she wasn't Gallifreyan. "Part of it is the way we evolved, eons ago. Part of it is the way we've made ourselves. We are Time Lords, and there is more to that than just a pretentious title."

He considered his words. "I assume you're familiar with the concept of how you would look in four dimensions? Something like a Sisilaya-bead necklace, stretching backwards to the moment of your birth and forwards to the moment of your death? The 'secret' is in that. Everything you have ever experienced, you have ever learned, ever done, is still there. In the past, at the moment it happened." He was making hand gestures now, odd little pantomimes that attempted to illustrate his words. "I may not remember at this moment in Time what I had for dinner on the 103rd anniversary of my birth, or the words your mother told me to recite to you at your first Samhain, or where I left my sonic screwdriver the last time I dismounted a planck shifter. But that information is still there, where it happened, and all I have to do is bring it from that moment into the present when I need it, and then put it back when I don't."

A gentle laugh. "That's one of the reasons we seem absent-minded on occasion. A current memory may be in use in the future. I'll start teaching you how to do it, later. It's more difficult if you're not Gallifreyan, and if you haven't been Initiated, but any species with at least an awareness of the passage of history can learn the basics of the technique."

He watched as she entered the coordinates, listened to the time rotor roar to life.

"I'm having a bad feeling about this Robin.." She said quietly.

"I'm not," he said. "But only because I'm refusing to think about it. If I let myself start, I'd go hide under my bed and never come out."

---

The journey passed, swiftly and uneventfully. The Meddler spent the full six hours holed up in his lab, working on something complicated, emerging only when the arrival sequence started.

"No," he said, "don't initiate the rematerialization sequence. What we need is here. In the Vortex."

He carried the something complicated to the doors, and began to mount it to the frame. "Gallifrey no longer exists in conventional spacetime. The Singularity that contains it is here, in the Vortex. And this," he said, patting the something complicated, "is the key and the gate."

[Sisilaya Vulmecura]

His explanation on how the four dimensional thing worked sort of made sense to her, she would probably understand it the moment she knew the feeling and knew how to connect it with her other memories. She understood the concept, she just worried over her own abilities to be able to do it. Up till now, she had not found any of typical Time Lord abilities in herself, save for the healing. If she understood right, the only thing Robin was going by was her ability to pilot the TARDIS, which was not in a way he thought she was doing it. Specially when he started about the initiation again she stiffened visably, growing slightly nervous. She didn't like the idea of the Schism, she read about the initiation process in one of the Library's books, thank the TARDIS for translating. If one's mind was not robust like that of a Time Lord they would go insane by just staring into it, hell even some Time Lords went insane looking into it.

Yet, it still wasn't the right time to tell him. He couldn't afford having his mind stray as he went into the singularity. She would tell him, after he had gotten back.

"I'm not," he said. "But only because I'm refusing to think about it. If I let myself start, I'd go hide under my bed and never come out."

Perhaps that was not such a bad idea, she thought as she lowered her gaze, staring at no point in particular on the floor.

He left for the lab. She remained in the console room, making sure the ride there was smoothly. It was the least she could do.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

She was about to indeed initialise the rematerialization sequence when she was stopped by Robin, blinking up at him in confusion as she let her hand slip away from the lever she was about to pull.

"What we need is here. In the Vortex."

She furrowed her eyes in confusion and pulled the screen over, looking at the readings for it.

"Gallifrey no longer exists in conventional spacetime. The Singularity that contains it is here, in the Vortex. And this," he said, patting the something complicated, "is the key and the gate."

It was only then that she noticed that he was holding something and she blinked in surprise. He explained what it was, yet it still sparked her curiosity. She wanted to ask what it exactly was, but stopped herself as a soft smile came on her face.

"I won't be able to understand even if you explained, am I right?" She said in an amused tone.

Yet inside she wanted to drag Robin back by the hair and tie him up in a chair or something, having a bad feeling about this whole mission. Yet she sighed and stared at him, she knew there was nothing she could do to stop him.

So she stayed here to make sure he was at least safe from the outside as he went in there.

[The First Doctor]

"Gallifrey no longer exists in conventional spacetime. The Singularity that contains it is here, in the Vortex. And this," he said, patting the something complicated, "is the key and the gate."

It was only then that she noticed that he was holding something and she blinked in surprise. He explained what it was, yet it still sparked her curiosity. She wanted to ask what it exactly was, but stopped herself as a soft smile came on her face.

"I won't be able to understand even if you explained, am I right?" She said in an amused tone.

He started to say something, then stopped. "No," he said, sadly, "I'm afraid you wouldn't. You simply don't have the technical knowledge for it, not yet and possibly not ever." He lifted the something complicated, which shifted shape and size as it moved. "This is extremely technical, and sat at the cutting edge of the knowledge of the Time Lords as we entered the War." He paused. "When I get back, I'll try to explain it if you wish. But of a necessity we'll need to start with fundamental achronal theory, and work from there."

Working carefully, he undid several access ports for the freestanding door and mounted bits and parts of the something complicated to it. Once everything was connected, he went back over each piece again, checking and rechecking the connections. Finally, he seemed satisfied.

He returned to the console and checked the readouts. Then checked them again. Then started to check them a third time, before he sighed. "I'm wasting time," he muttered. His voice held a note of suppressed terror.

The Meddler drew a deep breath, held it, and released it slowly. "All right," he said, looking at Sisi. "Once I open the door and step through, she's your ship until I return. Do whatever you need to do, but keep her right here as long as the door remains open."

He paused, looking her in the eyes. "Once I'm through, keep that door open as long as you can. But if anything - anything - attempts to come through without me, slam it shut." Another pause. "If something attempts to come through with me, and you hear me say starkle, slam the door shut."

He stared at the door. "If you do have to slam it shut, I'll leave it up to you whether you try reopening it. But be careful. Hell is on the other side of the door."

He reached out and took her hands, pulling her close. "You are my Niece," he said, repeating the formula from earlier, "and I am your Uncle. You are of my House." He smiled a sad, wistful smile. "And, if by some chance it proves true, I will be proud to call you daughter." He stared at her for a long moment, as if memorizing her features. Then he drew a deep breath, kissed her forehead, and threw the lever to open the door. As he did, the deep, slow sound of a massive bell could be heard.

Gong.

Gong.

A shifting, almost blinding, radiance flooded the console room. The space beyond seemed filled with iridescent bubbles of all sizes. For a moment, the Meddler was silhouetted against the light as he hurled himself through the door.

Gong.

Gong.

Then, with a ripple and a shifting of the bubbles, he was gone.

Gong.

Gong.

[Sisilaya Vulmecura]

""When I get back, I'll try to explain it if you wish. But of a necessity we'll need to start with fundamental achronal theory, and work from there."

Sisi smiled at him and nodded "I'll keep you on that, you just come back safe" She said softly.

She watched as Robin checked and rechecked the connections, his brown eyes flitting to the doors every now and then. She bit down on her lip as she realised he too was stalling, and when he realised what he was doing he drew a deep breath before he turned to her. Her hands clenched on the side of the console. She could practically feel the tension coming off him and it scared her really, Robin barely ever was nervous for what he did and if he was.. well it meant there really was a true danger to it.

"Once I'm through, keep that door open as long as you can. But if anything - anything - attempts to come through without me, slam it shut." Another pause. "If something attempts to come through with me, and you hear me say starkle, slam the door shut."

He stared at the door. "If you do have to slam it shut, I'll leave it up to you whether you try reopening it. But be careful. Hell is on the other side of the door."

She nodded mutely, trying to keep her own nerves down. It was then that he took her hands and pulled her close, she was trying to keep herself from breaking down, her hands clutching to the jacket he wore she she heard his voice close to her ear.

""You are my Niece," he said, repeating the formula from earlier, "and I am your Uncle. You are of my House." He smiled a sad, wistful smile. "And, if by some chance it proves true, I will be proud to call you daughter."

"Come back home safe"" She whispered. Because that was what Robin and his TARDIS had become, home.

When he pressed a kiss to her forehead she sucked her breath, it hitching in her throat. She nearly had to pry herself from him as he let go of her and pulled over a lever which opened the doors. The light that burst in from it was blinding and she winced as she shielded her eyes, yet with the iridescent bubble like shapes from it, it looked menacing and beautiful at the same time. She swallowed hard.

Then she saw his silhouette against the light, and she called out to him. She knew he didn't hear her any more.

He was gone.

gong

gong

Goosebumps appeared on her skin.

[Xandavier]

He stalked through the torturous, shifting passages of the Tain, following a trail invisible to all but himself. The beacon had ceased broadcasting, long ago, but he had been able to catch a glimpse of where it had last been.

A TARDIS.

And now he pursued it, hunted it through the only means he had left to travel through time and space.

However had she acquired a TARDIS?

The walls, the floor, the ceiling, all were mad glimpses of other worlds, other times. Every single image, a possible access to history. None of them were what he sought.

In the middle distance, what appeared to be a young gallifreyoid child appeared, gesturing at a spot in the labyrinth. He closed the distance.

"This is it?"

The apparent child nodded.

"You have served well, Sister," he said. "When I have come into my own, you will be freed." He looked at the blackness of the image she had indicated. "I wonder, will you hunt the Doctor again?"

The child shrank away at the sound of that name.

He considered the panel. "I see... nothing. Are you certain this is the way I seek?"

The child nodded, then cried out as he caught her wrist.

"Then I grant you your freedom now," he said. With a violent jerk, he twisted her arm and slammed her into the blackness. She shrieked with fear as he forced her into the darkness, through the darkness.

"If you speak the truth, then you are released."

He watched as she tumbled out into a large room. A large room of grey stone, with the distinctive control console and time rotor of a TARDIS. A brilliant light flooded in from the open door. And by the console, illuminated by the harsh, otherworldly glare, stood...

His lips curved in a thin smile. "You have done well indeed, Sister."

---

Then she saw his silhouette against the light, and she called out to him. She knew he didn't hear her any more.

He was gone.

"Robin?" he asked as he stepped from the Mirror, his voice mocking. "Your Godfather? Is this his TARDIS, then? I had not realized that he was a Time Lord."

The girl was sprawled on the floor before the Mirror. He nudged her with his toe. "Get up, Sister."

He crossed the room with the slow, measured strides of a king. "Whatever is wrong, Sisilaya?" he asked, a mockery of a loving smile on his face. "Ah, I see. Your godfather has replaced me in your affections."

Standing by the console, he waved languidly at the door. "Goodbye, Robin," he said. With a fluid motion, he moved the lever.

The door slammed shut.

"And now, I must say how disappointed I am." Again, the mockery of a loving smile. "No kiss, no words of greeting? Nothing, for your father?"

[The First Doctor]

The Meddler felt as if he were falling. He was disoriented, everything spinning, happening too fast.

No, he realized with a shock, not too fast. All at once.

He looked around, trying to make sense of what he was seeing...

I stumbled upon the theory to build a weapon of inconceivable power. One that could capture the temporal information of a civilization and cage it within a Singularity.

All of Gallifrey's Time, the entire history of Skaro, compressed into a single Planck moment and sealed away. All of it, everything, happening in a single Moment.

It was chaos. Even with the senses of a Time Lord, even with a sliver of the Vortex burning in his brain, coloring and altering his perceptions, he couldn't make sense of it. There was too much, far too much.

I'm a fool, he thought, This won't work. I need to get out, now.

He turned towards the door, the lone beacon of sanity and safety in the chaotic madness of Gallifrey's Moment. Through it...

"Rod and Eye, no!"

Sisi was backing away from the console. There was another figure in there with her, dressed all in black with long white hair. He turned to look at the door and waved, languidly.

The Meddler tried to run, tried to reach the door. But in the chaotic landscape, it was like running in a nightmare. "Sisi!" he screamed, desperately, "Sisi!"

"Goodbye, Robin," said the man in black. He reached for the console.

The Meddler lept, hurling himself at the door.

It vanished.

He struck the ground, rolled across rock and grass and stone and ice, tumbled through open air, and struck again.

I'm pretty sure Xandavier knows that I am with you by now he heard her say again.

"Sisi," he whispered, his voice filled with agony.

[Sisilaya Vulmecura]

"Robin?" he asked as he stepped from the Mirror, his voice mocking. "Your Godfather? Is this his TARDIS, then? I had not realized that he was a Time Lord."

The hairs on her neck stood immediately when she heard that voice, that voice she knew so well, the voice that haunted her nightmares. Her green eyes widened, her face paling as she gasped in horror.

No... no..

When she turned and looked the man up and down she staggered as she took the physique of her father in. She had not seen him this up close in years and the mere presence of him made her feel like she was having a bad nightmare.

"You.. you can't be here.." she breathed softly, more to herself. She hadn't even noticed the small girl on the floor yet.

"Whatever is wrong, Sisilaya?" he asked, a mockery of a loving smile on his face. "Ah, I see. Your godfather has replaced me in your affections."

She seemed to snap out of it the moment he put on that filthy fake loving face, it made her skin crawl and want to hurl somewhere. Her hand itched to grab her gun, but she had to play it wisely. She did not want to end up in some warzone again.

"Perhaps because Robin behaved more like a father in the few months I've known him, then you ever have in my entire life." She wasn't going to tell him that there was a good chance that Robin actually was her father, she didn't want to know what he'd do to her if he'd find out.

The moment he pulled the lever and the doors shut she cried out and made a sprint to stop him. She stopped when she got too close, the man's sheer presence repelled her. She didn't know what to do with herself. Her anxiety and aggression were conflicting now, she wanted to kill him for pulling that lever so bloody badly. Yet, she knew what he had done to her in the past.

Big change, the probe wasn't in her any more, she realised.

"And now, I must say how disappointed I am." Again, the mockery of a loving smile. "No kiss, no words of greeting? Nothing, for your father?"

The moment he had said the words, a bullet had left her gun and shot him in the wrist on the arm that still lingered on the lever he had pulled, her face pulled back in a snarl as she rounded on him.

"Oh I'm sorry dear father my bad," she spat "but from your example I thought I was supposed to greet you with pain and agony, I mean that's how you've always greeted me so lovingly."

She got closer, finally seeing the small child on the floor. She paid it no heed for now.

"Now pull that lever back and open the doors or I'll see your brain splattered across the wall behind you." She said lowly, referring to the incident where he had tried to get her to kill herself as an infant, but shot Xandavier instead in his Chameleon Arch.

"I wonder how many times I have to kill you before you stay dead!"

[Xandavier]

The moment he had said the words, a bullet had left her gun and shot him in the wrist on the arm that still lingered on the lever he had pulled, her face pulled back in a snarl as she rounded on him.

"Oh I'm sorry dear father my bad," she spat "but from your example I thought I was supposed to greet you with pain and agony, I mean that's how you've always greeted me so lovingly."

The bullet struck flesh, and Xandavier's arm gave way. He twisted, catching himself on the console, his wounded arm drawn close to his abdomen. His face was a mask of pain.

"Now pull that lever back and open the doors or I'll see your brain splattered across the wall behind you." She said lowly, referring to the incident where he had tried to get her to kill herself as an infant, but shot Xandavier instead in his Chameleon Arch.

"I wonder how many times I have to kill you before you stay dead!"

Gritting his teeth, he used his good arm to push himself upright and meet Sisilaya's eyes. "How many times?" he asked.

The mask of pain slipped away as he did, replaced by a condescending smile. He raised his "wounded" arm, showing it whole and undamaged, the bullet floating in mid-air a centimeter from his skin.

"More times, I suspect, than you would be capable of with your crude techniques." He made a slight gesture with his right hand, and the bullet spun away to bounce from the walls of the console room. "Did your Uncle Robin teach you nothing of us? Allow me to continue your... education."

Another subtle gesture, and all the neurons in the pain center of Sisi's brain flared into life. "I am a Time Lord, Sisilaya," he lectured. "My civilization was old and powerful when the Sidhe, and the Daemons, and the Genii were sent forth into the universe by the Muon Rath. And I was a Lord among Lords, and a Master of many disciplines."

He smiled coldly down at his daughter. "If you will not love me, you will respect me. And if you will not respect me, then you will fear me."

[Sisilaya Vulmecura]

She almost felt good as his face contorted in pain, now he finally knew how she had been feeling for years at his torture. Yet, her moment of happiness was abruptly stopped as that look returned on his face, oh this wasn't good. She sucked in a breath when he lifted up his arm, which was completely mended with the bullet floating in mid air.

"More times, I suspect, than you would be capable of with your crude techniques."

She started backing away, the alarms in her head going off. If she could get to the second control room then perhaps..

"Did your Uncle Robin teach you nothing of us? Allow me to continue your... education."

Her world suddenly contorted into pain like she had never felt before, she felt like every inch of her was on fire, like needles were being pushed in every part of her organs. She let out a strangled pained cry as she fell to her knees before she toppled over to the floor convulsing in a foetal position, tears starting to stream from her eyes by now as she tried to scream her lungs out but no sound would come out due to the pain, her mouth stretched in a silent scream.

Yet, he still made her hear what he was saying, somehow. She didn't even know how, she couldn't concentrate on anything but the pain.

"I am a Time Lord, Sisilaya," he lectured. "My civilization was old and powerful when the Sidhe, and the Daemons, and the Genii were sent forth into the universe by the Muon Rath. And I was a Lord among Lords, and a Master of many disciplines."

He smiled coldly down at his daughter. "If you will not love me, you will respect me. And if you will not respect me, then you will fear me."

"I will.. n-never feel anything.. for y-you" She choked out, her bloodshot eyes looking up at him. It was true, she refused to show him love, respect or fear him, not ever. She owed it to her mother.

[The First Doctor]

Drifting through a shifting landscape, the Meddler fought for control. It was all happening at once, he knew that. If he could just focus, he could limit his frame of reference, get his bearings.

Xandavier. Xandavier is in the TARDIS.

"C'mon, get up," a familiar voice said.

"Yeah, none of us want to stay here," said the same voice, from a different direction.

Multiple hands grabbed him by the arms and shoulders, dragging him to his feet. He looked around, confused, to see multiple versions of himself.

"What?" he asked.

"Get a grip, man," another Meddler answered. "You, of all people, should know what's going on."

"Yeah," said a third, "it's pretty simple, actually."

A fourth leaned on his cane, looking at the others. "Give him a break. We all know we're not thinking clearly at the moment."

"Sisi," said a fifth, coldly, "Sisi, and Xandavier."

The Meddler shook his head. "You're all my... echoes."

One of the Meddlers applauded. "Bingo!"

The Meddler continued, ignoring him. "All of you have lives measured in... yoctoseconds, but here..."

"But here..." prompted one of the Meddlers.

"But here... where time exists simultaneously, you have a single point of time. But, as Time Lords, you can move freely within the environment."

"Bravo!" "Yes!" "By George, I think he's got it!" the other Meddlers cried.

"You're overlooking something, though," one of the other Meddlers pointed out.

"I am?"

"Yes. You don't have a spacetime presence any more, either. You're just like us, here."

The Meddler considered that. Then he smiled, and he concentrated. The chaos slid away, as he shifted his perceptions into a single track of time.

There was a sudden roaring, as a nearby building exploded into flames. In the distance, he could hear the static crackle of stazer fire and the hum of electron shredders and the echoing cry of "EXTERMINATE!" Overhead, in a sky lit by waves of plasma cast off from Gallifrey's exploded sun, fragments of the moon glowed white hot as they plummeted groundwards.

The Meddlers watched, frozen for a second. "The Halls," one of them said. "Yes," said another, "We've got to reach her in time."

Cautiously, quickly as they dared, the swarm of Meddlers raced through the rubble-choked, corpse strewn Royal Road.

[Xandavier]

"I will.. n-never feel anything.. for y-you" She choked out, her bloodshot eyes looking up at him.

"Proud," he said, with what might have been the ghost of paternal approval, "Proud and arrogant. Perhaps I will have further use for you. Once you have learned discipline as well."

He made another slight gesture, and the pain momentarily intensified. And then it began to slacken. Xandavier looked confused for a second, and then his face twisted with a mixture of dawning comprehension and growing rage.

He whirled on the console. "You dare interfere!" he snarled. "You dare?"

***I cannot long hold him back*** The voice in Sisi's mind was alien, vast as the universe and soft as a whisper. **Fly. Save us.***

Xandavier was examining the console now, tutting in distaste. "Whatever did your former master do here? He's disengaged the limiters? Madness." He produced a slim wand from his sleeve, and began to make adjustments.

***Sisilaya*** the voice echoed ***there are other consoooAAAAAIIIIIIIII***

The voice cut off in a scream of agony, as Xandavier finished his adjustments. "You will learn your place," he said to the console. "I have no desire to hurt you, but you brought this on yourself."

[Sisilaya Vulmecura]

"Proud," he said, with what might have been the ghost of paternal approval, "Proud and arrogant. Perhaps I will have further use for you. Once you have learned discipline as well."

Her face contorted in pain still, her spine starting to arch off the ground in a unnatural way, her muscles starting to cramp up as the pain was intensified and a scream was finally torn from her throat, her body trying to find any way to relieving it's stress and choosing for the vocal chords. Then, finally it started to ebb away. She laid there, still in a foetal position, trembling. Blood pooled in her mouth and tricked down the side of it onto the floor, she bit her tongue somewhere in the process of the seizure type attack that had just been laid on her.

Never.. She thought. She would never do anything for him.

***I cannot long hold him back*** The voice in Sisi's mind was alien, vast as the universe and soft as a whisper. **Fly. Save us.**

Her eyes snapped right open, even though she had never heard the voice before she knew exactly who it was. And she suddenly realised she wasn't alone with this.. maniac. She somewhere distantly heard Xandavier seeming to talk to the TARDIS, tutting in disapproval. Her body tensed immediately as she realised he was at the controls.

***Sisilaya*** the voice echoed ***there are other consoooAAAAAIIIIIIIII***

The scream of agony tore through bone and marrow and she shuddered., it soudned like an exact replica of what had been torn from her throat only moments ago. But she pushed herself up, her muscles trembling from the earlier abuse as she quietly pushed herself to her feet as stable as she could muster.

She knew what the TARDIS had been trying to tell her, Robin had explained it to her before as an emergency procedure. The second control room.

She so badly wanted to wipe that look off his face, her hands were itching to get back at what he just did to her. Yet, she bolted off in the other direction, slamming the door behind her as she entered another part of the TARDIS. Locking a good few doors behind her.

She was panting as she made it to the second control room, staggering against the console in the center. It was quite a bit smaller then the one in the main one, but it was her only hope.

She geared up the dematerialisation sequence with the shift of a lever and the pull of another plug, using the last flown coordinates as a destination. They were the ones in the Andromeda Galaxy, the black hole.

"Work for me, you Goddess" She whispered to the console and closed her eyes, pressing her hand down on the single telepathic circuit that was there, pumping her healing energy into her core. It's was the last thing she could do, she hoped it was enough to kick the TARDIS into gear.

She staggered back when she had just enough energy left to keep herself from passing out, allowed herself to tumble to the floor, breathing heavily.

"Save us" she breathed