The Time Inbetween

[The Second Doctor]

The Dark Lord had landed in a city this time. 

Unfortunately, he still was the bitter, wicked person he had been lately. The difference was, he was actually getting tired of it. He had lost so many friends friends, killed so many people, and destroyed so much potential in the past few months that he knew he was beyond hope of redemption.

He felt the cold metal of a gun in his hand, and remembered what he was there for. Getting out of the Tardis, he spotted the target.

Evidently, the target spotted him, as they were off, running away. In seconds the Timelord was in pursuit. 

He turned a corner, but the person was gone. But that wasn't what he was shocked about. Standing a few feet in front of him, back turned, was Susan Foreman. 

He could hardly believe it. He wouldn't have believed it if weren't for the burn marks across her arm. 
"Excuse me, you look like someone I know," he said, tapping her shoulder.

[Susan Foreman]

Susan Foreman was in the process of very serious business.

“Take it like a man, you idiot,” she grumbled under her breath, crouched down in front of a dog. It glared back up at her silently. “Oh come on,” she hissed, shoving the bacon in front of its face irritably. It turned its head stubbornly. “Am I really that bad of a cook?” she asked, blue eyes watering slightly. It continued to stare at her, snubbing the bacon she’d slaved over.

Well, to hell with the beast.

She stood up and crossed her arms, dropping the bacon on the ground. The dog sniffed at it, sighed, and walked away. Susan rolled her eyes and leaned against the building, resting her forehead against the cool, brick building. She’d been trying to hone in on her kindness as of late. She had even taken up cooking to feed the stray animals around her apartment complex.

A figure brushed by her roughly, and she hissed out angrily. She dug in her pockets for her apartment key, prepared to go back inside. She was just going to curl up on her couch with a cup of hot chocolate, watch some gory horror movies, and fall asleep. She’d wake up the next day. Repeat the process. And again and again, until finally she stopped living.

“Excuse me,” a voice said, and her mind immediately buzzed with familiarity, “you look like someone I know.” Alec tapped on her shoulder, and she whirled around grabbing his hand happily. A grin nearly split her face, and she glanced around him, looking for that irritating blonde or any form of company.

Say something, idiot, her mind hissed.

Words, Arkytior! she snapped at herself. Say something! Anything!

“The weather. It’s… chilly,” she said lamely.

Smooth.

“I… haven’t seen you in a while,” she said, trying to recover from her comment about the weather. She stepped a bit closer to him, wondering whether it’d be acceptable for her to hug him. She lowered her head. “I thought you gave up on me.”

Egocentric aren’t you? her mind pressed.

She stepped backwards, clearly flustered at this point. She hadn’t spoken to any form of humanoid for around seven months. Her social graces – having been frankly lacking from the beginning – were severely out of practice. “I-I mean, I’m not trying to assume that you came for me. I just…” she trailed off, looking anywhere except at him. “Chocolate. Do you want to come get some hot chocolate with me?” she offered.

[The Second Doctor]

Susan- he was glad it was Susan, not some random look-a-like -certainly seemed happy to see him.

“The weather. It’s… chilly,” she said, trying to make conversation.

He shrugged.
"I suppose so. Would you like my jacket?" Alec offered, which he thought was kind all things considered.

“I… haven’t seen you in a while,” she said, stepping a bit closer, “I thought you gave up on me.”

The Timelord found it hard to look into her eyes suddenly.
"I...I'm sorry." he said.

"I didn't mean to. I've been confused lately. It wasn't your fault." he looked back at her, smiling.

She stepped back, and he did too, realizing the awkwardness of the situation.
“I-I mean, I’m not trying to assume that you came for me. I just…” she trailed off, “Chocolate. Do you want to come get some hot chocolate with me?”

Alec smiled warmly.
"Sure, thanks." he replied.

[Flynn Delta]

Flynn storms about his TARDIS, bored out of his mind. He had caught the tea robot clean his ENTIRE weapon collection, which was no easy task by the way, he had read every book he owned.
so now he walked and walked and walked he tried ever so hard to decide on something to do, but to no avail just when he was about to give in, he got it, he knew what he was going to do! He ran at top speed to his console room to do the thing that would end his boredom. He ran and he ran he even passed a fan!. He finally reached the room that would lead to someone's doom. he raced around the console going as as fast as he can pulling levers in a fever. Then it starts the moaning the groaning, His TARDIS moves and and he shouts at the topitty top of lungs
"Take to the one, Take me to Alec Harrison!"

[Susan Foreman]

To make things even more awkward, he was responding to her awkward. “I suppose so,” he said, appearing as though he didn’t really think so but was trying to make it look as though she wasn’t… nuts? She looked at the ground, kicking herself for letting something as lame as that pour from her mouth. “Would you like my jacket?” he offered. She shook her head, cheeks flaming. It was working out entirely too… beautiful, wasn’t it? They were reunited at last, he was offering his jacket up to her, and… what else?

What else, little Arky? her mind hissed out quietly.

“No. I’m fine. Weather’s fine. Not chilly at all. I just… uhm, I…” she floundered, looking around. “Keep your jacket. It’s fine. I mean. You’re fine. In your jacket.” Oh, beautiful. Now she sounded even more like an idiot than ever before.

“I… I’m sorry.” Oh, hang Rassilon on a cross and call him the King of Barbecue. She had opened her big mouth, and she had said the worst possible thing that could have ever been said in this situation. Susan stared down at her feet, not having the courage to take back what she’d said. “I didn’t mean to. I’ve been confused lately. It wasn’t your fault.”

Say something, her mind reminded her helpfully.

With that, she spilled out her invitation for hot chocolate. Once he accepted, she grabbed his hand and led him off to around the building. “Excellent! You won’t regret it. You see, I make fantastic hot chocolate. Very hot and… well, very chocolate,” she rambled, unlocking her apartment door and pulling Alec inside.

The apartment itself was almost depressingly bare. She spent the majority of her time curled up on the couch, hands over her ears as she tried to ignore the sounds of the world, counting up as high as she could. She paused, biting her lower lip as she let go of the man’s hand. “Not a lot here, but it’s not like I have anybody to decorate for,” she muttered.

Not as though she had been a regular little homemaker when she lived with David and Alex, but it wasn’t as though Alec were interested in hearing about that. The most she had done was ensure that her curtains and furniture matched and reminded Alex to clean his room every so often.

The hot chocolate! her mind snapped, pulling her out of her thoughts. She blinked, returning to the present, where she was standing entirely too close to Alec for her own comfort. She stepped back quickly, slightly lacking in grace. “Right. The hot chocolate. Just… sit. Over there. Please.” she said, scrambling into the kitchen and pulling down the pot.

She wouldn’t be surprised if Alec slipped back out and left by the time she was done making the drink. Why shouldn’t he? She’d done nothing but offend him and be awkward. She would leave, if she were in his position.

[Flynn Delta]

Flynn's TARDIS materialized in the room, as a joke he had set it to take the form of a Police box, he stumbles out the stench of alcohol on his breath.
"Well, Well, Well Alec harry son,what you doing here wait never mind I don't care" He has a bottle of Brandy in his hand "Have you ever tried this stuff, until now I never did I love it! Anyways" He smashes the bottle against a wall "I'm here to kill you, get over here!"
He charges Alec with the broken bottle.

[The Second Doctor]

Alec stepped inside, smiling at her comment about her hot chocolate.
"That sounds great." he said.

He hardly had time to register what she said next before a Tardis- a blue box -appeared in her living room.
"The Doctor...?" he stumbled over the words. What was he doing here?

Of course not. Flynn stepped out, obviously drunk. Alec frowned as he smashed his bottle against her wall, flinching at the sharp edges created. He tilted his head, and the Tactician charged.
"Hey, wait, let's talk this out like civilized people." he proposed.

[Flynn Delta]

The sensible side of Flynn was screaming to accept Alec's offer but the alcohol had made sure that would not happen.

The drunken Flynn scoffs at Alec's proposal of peace.
"Talk? The time for talking is over! Now sssssh! , time to sleep.....FOREVER!!!!"

Flynn buries his broken bottle into Alec's left heart. then backs off finally reaching his senses but to late.
"What have I done?!"

[Susan Foreman]

She’d been busying herself inside of the kitchen, quite determined to make the best dang hot chocolate Alec Harrison had ever tasted in his life, when she heard it. The ineffable, fluctuating sound of time and space. Coming from – of all places in the world – her living room. She placed down the chocolate on the counter and padded over to the living room. Ah, and there it was: the TARDIS that looked astonishingly like her grandfather’s, but didn’t feel the same as it. Such as the time in the alley – all those months ago, from her perspective – when Alec had run away from her.

“Well, well, well, Alec Harry Son, what you doing here?” Flynn asked, stumbling out of his TARDIS. Susan’s fists clenched and she grabbed a kitchen knife, clutching it so tightly that her knuckles were white. “Wait, never mind, I don’t care,” the drunken Time Lord said. Susan felt repulsed by the taste. David had taken to the bottle quite a few times during their relatively long marriage, but he’d never been as pugnacious as Flynn was being. Sure, they’d gotten into quite a few fights, but that was mainly over Susan accidentally ‘hiding’ the extra-strength Tylenol during his hangovers.

Oh – and then the man decided it’d be real cool to slam a bottle against her wall. “I have neighbors!” she said, scandalized that the man had the nerve to waltz into her home and break brandy on her wall. What kind of self-righteous, over-bearing, obnoxious horse crab was this man anyway? She walked towards him, not quite realizing his intention until he spelled it out for her.

“I’m here to kill you, get over here!”

“What?” she asked lamely. She stepped forward once more, poking this man with the butcher knife. “There is no killing here, thanks. If you feel the misguided need to extract your unwarranted revenge, please take it outside. I don’t want to stab you but—”

And then Flynn stabbed Alec in one of his hearts. The knife clattered to the ground, her face draining of color. He’ll regenerate, her mind hissed out a reminder. Kill the other, it whispered to her, making her fists twitch. Kill him, kill him.

“Alec?” she whispered, tentatively wrapping an arm around him. She glared up at Flynn, teeth gritted angrily. “Go away before I kill you,” she snarled, quite willing to take back her earlier statement of how there most certainly was not to be any killing inside her apartment.

[The Second Doctor]

Alec’s breathing changed from the moderately quick pace it had been when the drunken Timelord entered to the sickeningly slow and hoarse croaking he was emitting now. He stumbled backward and fell to the ground. His eyes were wide open, but they were glowing that amber of regeneration. With one last look of anger and disbelief at Flynn, every bit of exposed skin released a burst of energy violently.


Seconds later, Alec had made his way to the restroom. His hands reached for the faucets and he brought cool water into his face. He didn’t dare look yet, until he had drenched and dried his face. He gasped at his new appearance, reveling at the differences. His cherished golden eyes were replaced, his hair was brownish, and his face was less jagged.

When he finally found the nerve to show his face again, he felt exposed and embarrassed, hoping Susan would still like him in his new form, and his expression was rather sour.
“I, uh, I’m…sorry.” He was sorry for having to regenerate, despite that it wasn’t his fault.

The Galifreyan looked at his feet, to hide his face. He cast off his fedora, he felt as if he didn’t deserve it. He felt…different, he wasn’t “The Dark Lord,” anymore, he hated that title. That was he title of a villain, and a murderer. He didn’t want it anymore.
“I’ve…decided, that…I don’t want to be called the Dark Lord any longer.” He stated.

[Susan Foreman]

Susan sat on the floor of her living room, dragging her fingernails irritably down the wooden boards. She never let her gaze leave Flynn. The other Time Lord seemed to have come to his senses – it just took a senseless act of violence to accomplish such a feat – but there was still the fact that he just attempted to murder her best friend. Blue eyes moved over to the knife, and she picked it back up again. She’d never killed anyone before (she thought she had done it in for the Master, but he was irritatingly akin to a cockroach) but she had been the cause of many deaths.

Maybe – just this once – she could spill the blood of a fellow Time Lord.

But just as she was contemplating lopping off the man’s head – and ensuring that he didn’t get the chance to regenerate – Alec walked sheepishly out of her bathroom. But she had never witnessed anybody regenerate besides herself – and she hadn’t even been close to death. Therefore, she was slightly unsure how to react upon his new change. “I, uh, I’m….sorry.”

“Why?” she asked, frowning slightly as she stood up. The butcher knife still in hand, she walked over to him, a slightly puzzled expression on her face. “I don’t understand why you’re apologizing, when that—” cue a dark look towards Flynn “—stabbed you.”

“I’ve… decided, that… I don’t want to be called the Dark Lord anymore.”

She refused the urge to laugh, remembering the last time he’d been serious and she’d accidentally shot him down. “It never really suited you to begin with,” she said quietly, looking down at his feet as well. “I… erm, I mean… the change… it isn’t something bad, you know? You’re still pretty cute. The manly kind of cute.”

Way to go, Arky. Call the man cute. See how fast he makes you regenerate.

Susan put the palm of her hand on her forehead, trying to figure out if she had some sort of a cold that was making her make no sense whatsoever. “Listen, I’m not good with people – especially you – at the best of times, so I don’t know what to say. But if you’re worried about what I’ll think, well… no matter what form you’re in, you’ll still be my best friend,” she said, offering a small smile.

She looked between Flynn – whom she had no idea what to do with – and Alec. “I guess this means I shouldn’t finish the hot chocolate, huh?”

[Flynn Delta]

"I-I'm Sorry i didn't mean to... Alec I'm Sorry!" He approaches Alec, forgetting to release the bloody broken bottle,which he had pulled out of Alec's chest from his hand.

[Alec Harrison]

“Why?” Susan asked to his apology, a frown gracing her lips. “I don’t understand why you’re apologizing, when that—" a glare at Flynn “—stabbed you.”

Alec rubbed the back of his neck.
"For running out?" he offered, smiling weakly.

“It never really suited you to begin with,” she said quietly, looking down at his feet as well. “I… erm, I mean… the change… it isn’t something bad, you know? You’re still pretty cute. The manly kind of cute.”

Alec looked up and grinned.
"Thanks, I...think." a calm tilt of his head said he was joking about the last part.

“Listen, I’m not good with people – especially you – at the best of times, so I don’t know what to say. But if you’re worried about what I’ll think, well… no matter what form you’re in, you’ll still be my best friend,” she said, he appreciated the smile.

"Thanks Susan, you are too," he said, feeling a growing sense of awkwardness, "You always have been."

"I guess this means I shouldn't finish the hot chocolate, huh?"

Alec took a step back and sighed deeply.
"I guess not. I mean, unless you wanted to."

He turned his head to look at Flynn.
"I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to... Alec I'm sorry!"

Alec sneered.
"No, you stay away from me," he grabbed broken bottle from him.

[Susan Foreman]

“For running out?”

Susan looked around, flustered slightly to be talking about something that personal in front of company – especially the company that had caused it. “Oh, that?” she asked, voice light. She waved it off. “That didn’t bother me at all. I… uh, yeah. Hardly even realized you were gone. Really. I’m very stoic when it comes to that kind of thing,” she lied, her laugh a little too forced to sound natural. “Yeah, but do it again and I’ll make sure you can never run again.” She smiled politely at him and gave the knife a graceful twirl in her hands.

Just as she was about to suggest they go find out whether his new body liked hot chocolate or not, Flynn decided to speak.

“I-I’m sorry I didn’t mean to…” the man insisted. Susan glared coldly at him. Her grip on the knife tightened and she growled under her breath. This idiot drunkard had just made her dear friend regenerate, and Flynn thought he could just apologize? That certainly wasn’t the case. If Alec was too kind in this regeneration to set things straight with Flynn, then she sure as hell wasn’t going to let this drop. She stepped away from Alec, glaring down at Flynn – and in particular the bloody bottle still in his hands.

Kill him.

I can’t. I can’t kill him, I can’t kill anyone, she insisted silently.

Don’t let him live.

The man stumbled closer to Alec. “Alec I’m sorry!” he apologized, walking closer to Alec with the broken bottle still in hand.

He made Alec run from you once, remember? her mind whispered. Kill him before he kills Alec.


“No, you stay away from me,” Alec sneered, taking the broken bottle away from Flynn.

Susan stepped towards the drunken Time Lord.

She pressed the knife against his stomach lightly, eyes narrowed. “Listen,” she said quietly, sounding quite friendly, “I don’t like you. And this makes me like you even less,” she said. Susan backed off and pointed the knife at Alec. “If you touch him again, I can guarantee you things won’t end very nicely. For you. As for me, well, I couldn’t care less about your physical state at the end of our little meeting.”

Another bright smile, exposing her sharp canines. “Now! Pleasantries aside, would you care for some hot chocolate?”

[Flynn Delta]

Flynn grabs Susan's wrist and spins himself and her so they face the wall, the knife still pressed against his stomach.
"Sorry about this."
He propels himself forwards into the wall, thrusting Susan against the wall and the knife into his own stomach. He steps back and attempts to take the knife from Susan.