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Chapter Text

The takeoff from Logopolis went as normal as it could have, outside of the fact that they were traveling in the Master’s TARDIS. However, it was when the TARDIS’s cloister bells began to sound, alarming them all to some unknown impending danger. Tegan, the Doctor’s new companion (well, she sort of forced her way into that situation), looked around the console room worriedly.

“What’s happening?” Tegan demanded rather loudly. All it took was the Master to shove her out of the way as he circled the console of the TARDIS. The poor girl looked as if she was about to break into tears.

“It’s the CVE,” said the Master, looking at the Doctor with an expression that sent a tingling sense of fear down the Doctor’s spine. “It’s expanding instead of contracting, and its gravitational field is intensifying.”

The Doctor’s mind snapped into action and weighed their options quickly. “Have you engaged the gravitational damper?”

“Yes, of course I have, Doctor,” the Master answered sharply. “The engines are operating at 110%.”

“Gallifrey will know where you are shortly at that rate.” The Doctor knew that after finding out that the Master had managed to procure another TARDIS, the Time Lords would most certainly put an end to him drawing power from the Eye of Harmony, leaving them without any power and in the worst possible position to go through the CVE if they should have to.

“We’re still being pulled towards the CVE, Doctor,” said the Master. It appeared that the Master was attempting to reprogram the navigation computer. The dematerialization circuit was flashing, indicating that they were traveling in ordinary space and that dematerialization was an impossibility at this point. “Gallifrey is the least of my concerns at this point,” the Master continued.

“Why don’t you help him, Doctor?” asked Tegan from where she was watching the view screen. One could indeed see the CVE from here. It was growing larger, instead of compacting as the monitor had theorized it would. But it wouldn’t be enough to stop the entropy field from spreading out across the universe. “We’re about to be pulled through that giant hole in space!”

The Doctor shared Tegan’s concern, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. “I can’t.”

“Why not?” questioned Tegan indignantly. And why wouldn’t she be angry? She was bearing witness to one of the most powerful forces in the universe gaping open before her. The CVE was not just a way to channel entropy between universes; it was also a bridge to another universe. One the Doctor had hoped he would never have to experience again.

“The Master’s TARDIS console only responds to the Master’s biodata print.” The Doctor explained. “If I touch it….”

“He’ll be hit with a million volts of Archon energy.” The Master finished the Doctor's sentence for him, grinning devilishly as he did. Tremas’s body had accentuated the Master’s devilish personality perfectly. Each time he looked at the Master now, he would be reminded of how cruel the Master truly was. Tremas had been a sharp-minded, compassionate fellow. One of the few people he had come to respect in a short period of time. Tremas had sacrificed his Keepership to save him and Adric. He deserved much better than to be possessed by the evil monster the Master had become over his lifetime. Tremas deserved to be at home on Traken, raising his brilliant daughter Nyssa instead.

“You mean he’ll be electrocuted,” guessed Tegan. The girl was quick-witted in most things and had much potential. It had been both a curse and a blessing she’d gotten lost in his TARDIS. Her eagerness to please and to do as she was told when she thought it was the right course of action had brought a sort of semblance of loyalty he hadn’t expected to experience in someone he had only known for almost half an hour. But when she expressed her opinion openly, he knew that like so many of his other companions before, it would do nothing more than get her into trouble on most occasions.

The Master laughed darkly, basking in his sick sense of humor as he said, “More than that, my dear, he’ll cease to exist.”

It was then Tegan surprised him. Adric would have demanded the Master to take action through threat of violence. Romana would have used cold logic, and Leela, her knife. “Can’t you two put aside your petty differences for now and try to solve this problem together?” asked Tegan, demanding cooperation between the two Time Lords. “We’re going to be sucked through that thing and killed if we don’t do something about it now!”

The Master, of course, didn’t care if she lived or died. He didn’t seem to care for anything but himself now. “We’ll survive, isn’t that correct, Doctor?” gloated the Master.

The Doctor glanced at the worried Tegan and then looked back down at the console panel he was working at. “I’ve never taken a human through a CVE before,” the Doctor confided honestly. “So it’s a possibility. I’d say she has a fifty percent chance of surviving. And then there’s you, Master.”

Of course, the Master hadn’t recognized all the variables available. He hadn’t thought about the consequences of his previous actions. “What are you getting at, Doctor?”

“Your new body, Master,” the Doctor pointed out. “It’s not completely Gallifreyan any longer, is it?”

The implication of not being completely Gallifreyan seemed to have registered on all levels of the Master’s devious mind. “Help me steer the TARDIS away from it, Doctor.” The Master tapped in a few commands into the operations computer.

But how far could the Doctor trust the Master? Not very far at all. “How do I know I can trust that you’ve disconnected your booby-trapped console, Master?” The Doctor had every reason to be wary of the Master. After all, they were here trying to avoid being thrown into another universe. A universe that was ripe for the picking as far as the Master was concerned.

“I suppose you’ll have to trust me, Doctor,” responded the Master maliciously. Trust was something to be earned. Trust was something the Doctor never really had for the Master.

“Oh hell’s teeth, since I’m the third wheel here…” said Tegan in a huff. The Doctor quickly realized what Tegan intended to do.

“No, Tegan, don’t,” yelled the Doctor, but before he could stop her, she did something incredibly brave, and incredibly stupid. She walked over next to the Master and put her hand on the console. Did the girl have a death wish? But nothing happened to her. She just stood there, staring and waiting for the Doctor to make the next move.

The Master laughed at the Doctor. The Master’s deep, dark cackle made the Doctor’s skin crawl as the Master said, “You see, Doctor, the Archon energy field has been disconnected from my console, as I said it was.”

“What’s going on now?” asked Tegan, after turning her attention to the viewscreen.

The Doctor ran a quick scan of the nearby space, and from it, he received a surprising result. He looked up from the readout panel and looked at the CVE himself through the viewer and said, “It seems the CVE is stabilizing on its own.”

“But we’re still caught in its gravitational field.” The Master added, still trying to work out a solution to their problem.

“We’re at 120% on the engines,” said the Doctor. The Doctor knew that back on Gallifrey, whoever was the Castellan was probably making a report on this incident to the Time Lord High Council right about now. It was a choice between continuing to overload the capacity of the engines up to 200%, after which they would burn out, or taking their chances and going through the CVE.

An explosion erupted from the panel nearest the Master. Tegan yelped, and the Master surprisingly shielded her from the array of flying sparks that were continuously erupting from the console panel. The Doctor frowned at the wisps of smoke that floated in the air nearby after the Master had put out the small fire that had started with a small hand-held extinguisher.

“What was that?” asked Tegan, shoving the Master away from her. That wasn’t surprising at all. The Time Lord had murdered her Auntie. The Doctor still felt bad about that.

“The gravitational damper has been damaged,” said the Master. The Doctor understood what the Master had meant. The damper was working still, but not at full capacity. It would have to be replaced as soon as they could manage it.

“What does that mean?” Tegan demanded from the Master, tugging on his sleeve. The Doctor smiled slightly. Full of fire, this one, the Doctor thought. At least it was the Master who was on the receiving end of that temper of hers and not him.

The Master shoved Tegan away from him. She landed with her back against the wall near the viewscreen. “It means we’re going into the CVE, you pathetic fool,” said the Master, shouting at her over his shoulder.

And then it was the Doctor’s turn. He had turned his attention back to the console’s navigation systems, trying a maneuver that had saved him in his TARDIS time after time. “Do something! I don’t want to die!” Tegan snapped at the Doctor.

“I’m trying,” said the Doctor, snapping back at her. It was no good, though. The Type 80 TARDIS was just too vast for the same maneuvers to be effective this time. They were going into the CVE.

“Stop yelling at me,” Tegan demanded, almost to the state of crying. “The both of you. It’s not like I wanted to be here!”

“Come over here, Tegan, stand next to me,” ordered the Doctor. It was all he could do for her. That and pray to the ancient Gods of Gallifrey. Which would help very little because the Doctor didn’t believe in them.

“Why?” asked Tegan, clearly in tears by now. She had been watching the so-called giant hole in space grow larger and larger in the view screen as they approached the CVE.

“Just do it,” he demanded, reaching across the console and grabbing her arm. He pulled her away from the Master. This garnered the Master’s attention, whose expression had hollowed into something that appeared to resemble regret. “I haven’t time to explain everything,” snapped the Doctor at Tegan.

“I’m scared, Doctor,” Tegan confided, wrapping her arms around his waist, burying her face into the layers of his scarf. The Doctor responded by wrapping his arms around her shoulders and patting her on the back, glaring at the Master the whole while. If the Master hadn’t interfered, this whole mess would have been avoided. It was the Master’s fault that this was occurring. Completely and utterly his fault. It just added to the things that the Doctor would never forgive the Master for.

He could hear the echo of the braking engines fire frantically trying to stop them. It would do them no good. It was too late. They were about to pass into another universe, where the Doctor might lose both a new friend and an old nemesis all at once. Tegan’s embrace tightened as the surroundings grew whiter and whiter, and they all began to feel the effects of passing through the barrier of the universes enter the room. “Brave heart, Tegan,” said the Doctor to Tegan. It was all he could think to say to her. He wasn’t even sure if she heard him.

And then someone screamed as if they were being ripped to atoms.

Chapter Text

The Doctor blinked his eyes open. He was still in the Master’s TARDIS but on the console room floor. It only took a moment to realize that he was alone there. Long ago, the Doctor had read a lengthy study on spacefaring races. Some races gave up on spacefaring after only a few disasters, while the majority of spacefaring races, as the subject implied, endured countless disasters. Exposure to cosmic rays, gamma rays, and the other trillion dangers of space exploration brought with it. Only a small percentage of the majority realized they needed to engineer their physical bodies to withstand that particular way of life. Even smaller still were those who used time travel in tandem to traverse vast reaches of space, and only a minuscule percentage of the successful spacefaring races developed the technology to successfully traverse universes as though they were on a trolley going from one universe to the next.

The Time Lords had begun the technology that would allow them to explore universes when they simply lost interest in spacefaring and discovered the politics of ruling the space-time vortex. That had been a bleak time in Time Lord history, also known as the dark times. Along that line of thought, the Doctor realized the limits of Time Lord physiology. The Time Lords had no doubt performed a miracle when engineering a body for temporal and spatial travel, but to traverse other universes? The searing nerve pain he felt emanating from his spine to every part of his body simply let him know they hadn’t quite gotten the part about traversing universes right yet. There was no pain last time because his TARDIS had compensated for it. But since this wasn’t his TARDIS, there was nothing he could do but wait until the pain became bearable before he could stand up and conduct a search—if the Master’s TARDIS didn’t mind him poking around. The Doctor closed his eyes and simply waited.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been searching, but according to the bioscanner, there was at least one other humanoid on board the TARDIS with him. He turned down another corridor and opened the door and asked, “Hello? Anyone there?”

On the floor, the young one who had boarded his TARDIS by accident was curled in a ball on the floor of the room. While he wasn’t sure how Tegan ended up here, he was happy it was Tegan he was going to be traveling with instead of the Master. “Oh, there you are,” said the Doctor, sounding more chipper than he felt.

Tegan raised her face towards him and said, “Yeah, here I am.”

The Doctor knelt next to her and tried his best to avoid kneeling on his scarf. “How do you feel?” he asked, checking her pulse. It was steady. Her respirations were slightly higher than normal, but he would expect something like traversing a universe to do that to anyone.

The young Earth woman sat up and steadied herself. “Like I’ve got electricity running through my entire body. But it doesn’t hurt much anymore. It just feels strange.”

“That’s your central nervous system adapting to the new universe,” he explained. “It’ll go away in a couple of hours.” At least, he hoped it would.

The young Earth woman looked startled, as any Earth person from the 20th century would. “New… what?”

“Come along,” he said, helping her to her feet. “We’ve got to steer the TARDIS to somewhere to feed these instructions to the CVE.” She didn’t need to know that he also had to link himself to the Master’s TARDIS.

“But where’s the Master?” Tegan asked, looking around the room quickly. “What happened to him?”

The Doctor admired this Earth person for a moment. There was little true compassion in the universe. Most people would have given the Master’s fate not a second thought had he murdered someone close to them, like the Master had murdered Tegan’s Auntie.

But yet here she was, asking about what happened to him, about his fate. That was something to be admired in a person. “He didn’t make it.” The Doctor didn’t truly know the Master’s fate, except that he wasn’t here to argue the point that he hadn’t made it.

“But I made it,” she argued, as if that would mean the Master should have too.

“Yes, well, you didn’t exactly have the corrupted powers of the Keeper flowing through your body as he did,” he explained before he exited the room where he had found her, expecting her to follow him.

The loud clopping of her heels let him know that she had followed him closer than he anticipated. In fact, now she was blocking the passage that led directly to the console room. “I want you to know I didn’t understand a word you just said.”

“Simple physics, really. The Master had a positive charge about him when we entered the CVE,” he explained. “Apparently, this is also a positively charged universe, so you could say he can’t exist in this universe.”

“Is he… is he dead?” She looked worried. As if it had been a choice of either him or her to make it through the CVE when it was more the Master’s fault than a normal if-then scenario. Had the Master not meddled in Traken, then there would have been a chance that the three of them, instead of two, would have made it.

“Highly unlikely,” said the Doctor, knowing it would take more than getting bumped out of a CVE to destroy the Master. “He was probably bounced back to Earth or some other primitive planet. He could be anywhere at any time in that universe,” explained the Doctor, emphasizing the words that universe.

“Earth, primitive,” she replied haughtily. “I have you to know I disagree with that.”

“Of course you would, because you haven’t seen Gallifrey,” argued the Doctor, who managed to push her aside and sweep past her.

“At this rate, I probably won’t,” she grumbled behind him as they both entered the dark and gloomy console room.

“Well, at least the Master deactivated the Archon energy field before he was expelled out of his TARDIS,” said the Doctor as he started to program the console for the link-up. Then he realized something had changed. He was no longer in the other universe, and something else had changed. “And this has put off the inevitable, it seems.”

“What inevitable?” she asked.

The Doctor looked at her. It seemed he would be traveling with her for some time, and she might need to know sooner rather than later about what was supposed to occur in relation to him. He’d have to depend on her solely. “Can I trust you with a secret, Tegan?”

Tegan crossed her arms in front of her and looked directly at him. “I don’t see how you have much choice.”

She had a point there, the Doctor thought. “Yes… well… we hardly know one another, do we?”

“Yeah, I think I knew you for about twenty minutes, and then I found myself gutting a computer for you,” she groused in response.

“As well as you risking your life for me not two hours after we met,” said the Doctor, referring to the Archon energy field that could have killed her within a nanosecond had it been active on the console. “That was very foolish of you, by the way,” the Doctor scolded Tegan.

“I know my place in the pecking order of things, Doc,” she explained to him. “I don’t know how to save the universe, and it seems that you do. So if I needed to sacrifice my life in order to save yours so you could save the universe, then that’s how things would have gone. No worries.”

The Doctor stopped his search for the linking program for a moment and pondered what she just said. “Suddenly, I feel overly important.”

“Nothing overly about it. You are important. You’re going to save the universe… right?” she said, as the Doctor went back to his search for the linking program.

“That’s what I hope to do at least,” he admitted. It was all about timing, and he had a feeling their time was running short. It took days to link with the TARDIS, and then there was the mapping of this universe that had to be done. Time was against them.

Chapter Text

It had been hours since the link-up with the Master’s TARDIS had begun and hours still since he started the mapping program. The clatter of heels became louder and louder until Tegan appeared in the console room… again.

“Ah, there you are,” said the Doctor as if he hadn’t seen her all day when in fact, if he calculated right, this was the fourth—”

“I thought your TARDIS was crazy,” said Tegan, apparently not only out of patience but out of breath as well. Had she been running in those ridiculous shoes of hers? “This one is even worse.”

The Doctor felt slighted at her accusation. “My TARDIS crazy?!”

“Yeah, all those winding corridors; it’s how I got lost in there in the first place,” she admitted, her face showing that she was none too pleased about the event.

“Well, once you figure out the pattern to the corridors, it’s really simple to get around the TARDIS.”

“Easy for you to say,” she said as she joined him next to the console.

“Of course it’s easy for me to say, I’m the Doctor after all,” he said proudly.

“Well, compared to this TARDIS, Doc, yours is a cakewalk.”

“Why do you say that?”

“At least I was able to get somewhere in yours. This is the fourth time I’ve come back to the console room.”

“Yes, well, this is a Type 80 TARDIS. It’s rather a monster in size and complexity in comparison to mine.”

He could feel her eyes boring into the back of his head then. “And you know how to fly this one, right?”

“Of course I do. All Time Lords are certified to fly Type 80s. It’s the Type 40s that take a bit of finesse and good old-fashioned know-how to fly,” he admitted. The statement was true. It was like being licensed to fly a commercial airliner, with all the flight information pouring over the computers, most likely capable of telling you if a bee landed on the wing or not; whereas flying a Type 40, you took the same commercial pilot and asked him to fly across the Atlantic in a plane with no windows. They could do it, but it would take some innovation and talent to reverse-engineer their flight capabilities, not to mention brushing up on navigational skills. Some would find flying the windowless plane easier than flying a commercial jetliner or vice versa.

Time ticked by in silence. His linking with the TARDIS was going well, but Tegan had fallen silent. He found the silence uneasy, so he decided on making small talk with her. He flipped a switch to see how the progress was going on the mapping.

“Well, she’s mapping this sector now,” said the Doctor, trying to ease into some sort of conversation with the Earth woman.

“How long will that take?” Tegan naturally asked.

“About twelve standard hours,” he said, not being completely forthcoming.

“Twelve hours,” said Tegan in what seemed complete disbelief and horror. “But that CVE thingy?!”

The Doctor checked the scanner once more to confirm his suspicion. “It’s stable for now. Care for a little reckie about the Master’s TARDIS?” he asked Tegan. The last thing he needed was her telling him how bored she had become.

Tegan gave him a guarded look from where she had stood by him in silence for hours. “I’m afraid to,” she admitted.

The Doctor made his way over to where the door led to the internal corridors and opened it. “Why not? The Master’s just your run-of-the-mill evil Time Lord. No one special,” said the Doctor, giving her one of his brilliant smiles he was famous for.

Chapter Text

Tegan dragged her paintbrush, loaded with bright red, across the canvas—until she pulled it back mid-stroke and decided that had been a mistake. Like this whole situation, she thought to herself, had been a mistake.

"You’re not even supposed to be on this TARDIS."

That was what he’d told her only an hour ago. In her mind, that meant she was either supposed to be dead or serving tea on a plane bound for Australia—not stuck in the middle of a time-spacecraft painting whatever this was on an easel, with a mad scientist who called himself the Doctor.

The door to the so-called Art Room opened, and the Doctor bundled in, his ridiculously long scarf trailing behind him as he flicked through a book. “How’s that portrait of yours coming along?” he asked absently.

Tegan frowned at him, then back at the painting. “Awful. I’ve never worked with paints before,” she admitted.

The Doctor was still thumbing through his book. “I’m afraid you’re turning out to look more like Bozo the Clown,” she muttered. “Any luck with the Master’s library?”

He shrugged. “It’s mostly standard Time Lord reading material, save for a few books on how to conquer the universe.”

“Now I know you’re joking.”

“No, I’m not,” said the Doctor, turning the front of the book towards her. “See?”

Tegan squinted at the cover. “See what? Looks like a bunch of gibberish to me—couple of triangles, circles, and a few dots here and there.” It was more like the mathematical equivalent of a Picasso than any language she could recognise.

The Doctor blinked. “Can’t you read the title?”

“Nope.”

“Ah.” He closed the book and looked at her. “Come here, Tegan. Look into my eyes.”

Tegan hesitated. In no stretch of the imagination did the Doctor look like Bela Lugosi in those old Dracula films, but they hadn’t exactly known each other for years. It had been hours—though at least he hadn’t made a pass at her. He seemed far too preoccupied for that.

Still, now he wanted her to stare into his eyes.

One only lived once. Well, she did, anyway.

Tegan sighed, put down her brush and paints on a nearby crate, and walked over. “What exactly are you going to do?”

“I’m connecting your mind to the TARDIS’s translation circuits,” the Doctor informed her.

“You can do that?”

“Yes,” he said.

She barely had time to react before a peculiar sensation ran through her head. A tiny vibration, almost like a bee buzzing around inside her skull.

“There,” the Doctor declared. “All done.”

Tegan wobbled slightly. “I feel dizzy.”

“That’ll pass in a few seconds.”

She blinked and frowned. “Hang on. If you just connected me to the translation circuits, that means… you already speak English.”

“Of course,” said the Doctor, as if that were obvious. “The Master and I both do. Though it’s quite a relief to speak Gallifreyan again—English is such a cumbersome language.”

“Cumbersome language?”

His ego was a mile high. It wasn’t the first time he’d insulted Earth, either. When he’d called it primitive earlier, she’d assumed he was joking, but the more she saw of the TARDIS, the more she believed him.

“Now, read the title.”

Tegan looked down at the book again. This time, the letters had rearranged themselves into something she could actually read.

“How I Conquered the Universe,” she read aloud, then paused, scowling. “By… a mouthful of syllables.”

“What?” The Doctor looked at the cover again, then nodded. “Oh yes, his name would be a bit cumbersome for an English speaker.” He seemed entirely unfazed. “Never mind that. Back to your portrait, then.”

Tegan rolled her eyes and walked back to her easel. The Doctor spun on his heel, a swirl of maroon and curls, and made for the door.

“Where are you going now?” she asked.

“Back to the console room,” he said, pausing by her painting. “The mapping should be done.”

He took one look at her work and recoiled.

“Great Gallifrey…” he muttered. “You were right. That portrait of me does look more like Bozo the Clown.”

Tegan sighed heavily.

She had tried to warn him.

Somehow, she’d used the wrong colour for his hair, which had ended up as a mess of red spirals surrounding an oblong head. His skin was a ghostly white, his eyes were a mix of black, green, and blue blobs, and his mouth—his massive, accidental red-lipped mouth—stretched from one side of his face to the other.

It was deplorable. A two-year-old could have painted it better.

“I told you I’m no good at this,” she muttered.

The Doctor, to his credit, tried to find something positive. “Well, at least you got the symmetry right.”

Oh sure. His off-kilter eyes were above the nose, which was above the overly large, ridiculous mouth. And everything was contained in a circle.

Oh—except for his ears.

Lord.

She hadn’t given him ears.

The Doctor patted her shoulder. “Keep trying. I’m sure you’ll get it, given time.”

She didn’t believe that for a second.

“Back in two shakes,” he added, then disappeared out the door, leaving her to suffer the full horror of her own painting.

Tegan picked up her brush, determined at the very least… to give Doc Bozo a set of ears.

Chapter Text

Tegan opened the door she hoped led to the console room. She eased it open, but it still made enough noise to disturb him.

“Ah, there you are.”

“Here I am again.”

Tegan leaned against the console. The Doctor was busy on the opposite side, presumably still tinkering with the navigation system.

“How come I was able to find the console room so quickly this time?”

“The TARDIS helped you find your way.”

“I see.” That was convenient. “Any luck?” She hoped he was having more success with his work than she’d had with her portraits.

“No, the TARDIS is still scanning.”

“Oh.” So much for luck.

“Why the long face?”

“I think you already know why,” she muttered. “And besides, what’s going to happen to your friends?”

“My friends?”

“You know—Adric and Nyssa.”

“Oh… well… I’m afraid the Time Lords will have to interfere on their behalf.”

“How?”

The Doctor finally paused in his work—or whatever it was he was doing by pressing buttons and flipping switches. “Tegan, I really haven’t time to answer all your questions.”

“Sorry, it’s just… there’s no one else to talk to around here.” She could talk to herself, but she was afraid she might start answering.

“You could continue painting.”

“Well, about that…”

“What?”

“I’m afraid I’ve used up all the paints.” Tegan picked at the dried remains of colour still clinging to her nails.

“What? There was enough there to last for forty paintings or so.”

“How long do you think we’ve been here, Doc?”

“About a day.”

“And forty-four paintings later…”

The Doctor’s head snapped up. “You’ve painted forty-four paintings already?”

Tegan nodded. Maybe now he’d get the message.

“Yeah. I was incredibly bored. So I painted. And now I’ve got no more paints, which means I’m bored again.”

The Doctor stared at her for a long moment as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. Then he shook his head and returned to the console.

“You sound so much like a child, Tegan. I don’t know whether to scold you or send you to your room without supper for using all the paints.”

Tegan rolled her eyes. “I’m twenty-one, I’ll have you know. Not a child, Doc.”

“Where have I heard that before?” he mused, scratching his head. “But never mind that.”

He glanced down at the console, considering. “I suppose while the TARDIS is finishing the scan, we could land and have a look around. See if we can find more paint for you… and maybe a computer or two for me.”

Chapter Text

Tegan stepped out of the TARDIS, pulling the door shut behind her. As she suspected, there was a chill in the air. Thankfully, she’d had the foresight to dig a thick fur coat out of a seemingly unused section of the wardrobe. It was, of course, black—like everything else inside the Master’s TARDIS.

The sky wasn’t all that different from Earth’s—blue, with a single sun. Nothing like Star Wars, she thought. That explained why the grass was green, too.

The TARDIS had landed on an open plain, surrounded by tall grass. A few feet away, the Doctor was crouched, pulling up handfuls of it and inspecting each blade as if it might hold the meaning of life.

Tegan turned and glanced at the TARDIS behind her, frowning.

“Why does the Master’s TARDIS look just like yours? A police box.”

The Doctor crossed the small distance to the TARDIS in question and patted it as if he were proud of it.

“Yes, well… I had to tinker a bit with the chameleon circuit. Luckily for us, the police box form was still in the recent files section of the chameleon circuit buffer. Otherwise, we’d have a difficult time finding it again.”

He pulled something from his pocket and passed it to her. A key.

“In case we get separated, come back to the TARDIS and wait for me. And don’t touch anything in the console room.”

Tegan turned the key over in her hand. “How did you make this?”

Did he have a locksmith’s shop in that thing as well? Next, he’d be telling her the Master had a whole ocean tucked away in there!

“More questions…” The Doctor sighed like an exasperated parent.

Before she could protest, he was already striding away towards some unknown destination.

Tegan groaned and hurried after him, secretly loathing the height difference between them. His long legs meant she had to run just to keep up.

And, unfortunately, she was right.

The Doctor’s long strides made him difficult company. Tegan was running just to keep up.

But that wasn’t the worst of it.

“My feet hurt.”

“I’m not surprised,” the Doctor called back over his shoulder. “I did warn you.”

“Well, can’t we stop for a moment?”

“There’s a village up ahead.”

Tegan squinted. Sure enough, there was a village in the distance. She could see women milling about, doing daily chores, but no sign of any men.

Before she could comment, she ran straight into the Doctor’s back.

He’d stopped.

Tegan barely had time to yelp before she was heading for the ground—until the Doctor caught her.

“Something’s not right,” he murmured.

“You don’t have to tell me twice—my feet are killing me.”

“Will you stop complaining about your feet and be quiet so I can think?”

“Compassionate, aren’t you? You’re about as warm-hearted as a porcupine.”

“Porcupine? That’s it! Needles!”

“What?”

“Those towers over there—look at them. They look like aerials.”

Tegan followed his gaze. There were tall structures in the distance, definitely resembling aerials.

“But the village looks like something out of the Middle Ages.”

“Unless…”

“Unless what?”

“Well, back in Brisbane, some of the old farms were built in the early 1800s, but they still had aerials. The owners never bothered rebuilding—just kept repairing the structures.”

“But look at their clothes.”

Tegan observed the villagers again. Their outfits were handmade, simple—certainly not modern.

“They don’t look advanced.”

“No,” the Doctor agreed. “Come on.”

“But what about my feet?”

“Come on, Tegan!”

Before she could protest, the Doctor grabbed her hand and dragged her forward.

It was painful, but she managed.

Tegan gritted her teeth against the ache in her feet. They’d been walking for hours, judging by the position of the sun. Or maybe the days were just shorter here.

She wasn’t about to ask Doctor Know-It-All. He’d just tell her to be quiet again.

Finally, the Doctor released her hand, and she was able to slow her pace.

Good.

He could march on ahead without her.

Tegan trailed behind, grateful for the relief.

The Doctor approached a villager—a man dressed slightly better than the others.

“Hello there! I’m the Doctor and—”

The Doctor glanced over his shoulder and frowned.

Tegan was nowhere near him.

He sighed.

“That’s Tegan back there,” he told the man. “She’s having problems with her feet.”

The villager studied them both before nodding. “We had a couple recently move out of the village. Perhaps you and your wife can rest there.”

Tegan barely registered the comment before the Doctor spluttered.

“Wife? Oh, I believe you’re gravely mistaken.” He laughed awkwardly. “Tegan is my… well… she’s just Tegan.”

The villager’s expression darkened.

“A woman travelling with a man who isn’t her husband?” he said coldly. “That is expressly forbidden on Drusenda.”

“Oh, I see,” the Doctor muttered. “Now, about these aerials—”

“Hell’s teeth, Doctor!” Tegan snapped as she finally caught up. “Do you realise my legs aren’t as long as yours? You could’ve waited.”

“Not now, Tegan.”

The Doctor turned back to the villager. “The aerials. And you said your name was—?”

“I didn’t,” the villager replied stiffly. “But I am Ronick. I am the chieftain here. There will be an inquiry.”

The Doctor didn’t like the sound of that.

“An inquiry into what?”

Ronick folded his arms.

“Into why she is travelling with you,” he said. “Without being your wife.”

Tegan scoffed. “You’ve got to be joking.”

“Such a trivial faux pas,” the Doctor muttered. “I’m sure these aerials will prove far more interesting.”

Ronick’s expression hardened. “Trivial?” he echoed. “It is punishable by death.”

Not another one of these planets.

The Doctor knew Tegan well enough to know this would not go over well.

“You’ll kill someone over who they’re allowed to travel with?” Tegan demanded.

“Not just someone,” Ronick said. “The both of you.”

“Well, there you go, Tegan. We’ve been found out.” The Doctor backpedalled, throwing his arm around her. “And you said it was a good idea to elope and run away.”

Tegan elbowed him sharply in the ribs.

“You cannot blame this on me! You’re the one who dragged me here!”

The Doctor swallowed the wince and carried on as if nothing had happened. “Well, you were the one complaining about your feet. So here we are.”

He turned to Ronick, still keeping his arm around Tegan.

“Now, about those aerials.”

Ronick pulled away, his expression unreadable. “It’s getting close to sunset. The two of you should retire to your new home.”

“What?”

Tegan exploded forward. “Are you mad? I’m not—”

Before she could finish, the Doctor grabbed her and squeezed her shoulders.

Hard.

A silent warning.

“Thank you, Ronick,” the Doctor said smoothly. “Your kindness is greatly appreciated. Now… where exactly is this place you’re lending us for the night?”

Chapter Text

A hovel was certainly the best way to describe the place they’d been given for the night.

The space was little more than a single room, sectioned off into different areas. There were no walls separating the kitchen from the dining space, the bedroom, or what could generously be called the living area. A primitive hearth sat in the middle of it all, the only thing dividing the bed from where food was prepared.

No wonder the previous residents had moved out. The place was completely unhygienic.

Tegan quickly made her way to the only seat in the home—one of two wooden chairs at the so-called kitchen table. She didn’t care where it was, so long as she could sit down.

With a sigh of relief, she eased her feet out of the wretched heels that had tormented her all day.

The Doctor, who had been staring absently out the front window, turned and crossed the room. He took the other chair across from her.

“Why did you do that?” she asked.

“Do what?”

“Stop me from giving him a piece of my mind.”

The Doctor leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “If women here aren’t allowed to travel without a husband, how many of them do you think are allowed to speak their mind? I have a feeling these people take their laws very seriously. One slip-up and we could both end up dead.”

“No, just me.”

If what the Doctor had told her about regeneration was true, he’d just become a different person.

“But there’s a greater game at play here,” he added.

“So, did you get any information about those aerials outside?”

“No…”

Before he could elaborate, the door creaked open, and a young man—about her age—stepped inside, smiling.

Tegan blinked.

People here just walked in without knocking?

“Greetings,” the man said cheerfully. “I’m Cassis, son of Ronick and Kayla. I hope I’m not interrupting.”

Tegan barely had time to process this before he completely ignored the Doctor and walked straight towards her.

It was blatantly obvious that he was far more interested in her than in whatever message he’d been sent to deliver.

The Doctor, clearly unimpressed, leaned back in his chair. “No, you’re not. I was just having a conversation with my wife, Tegan.”

Tegan’s stomach sank.

Cassis set the tray he was carrying down on the table, his eyes still locked onto hers. It was almost flattering.

Then she said, “Hello.”

And his smile vanished.

His entire demeanor changed.

Tegan felt it before she saw it—his gaze hardened, flirty curiosity turning to barely concealed anger.

He turned sharply to the Doctor.

“Could you please remind your wife of the rules?” Cassis said, his voice clipped. “She is not allowed to address me.”

“What? That’s ridiculous!”

Before she could stand, the Doctor moved swiftly, stepping between her and Cassis.

“Tegan,” he said, his tone dangerously sharp, “you wouldn’t want me to get angry with you again, would you?”

Tegan nearly recoiled at his sudden shift in attitude.

What was this? A game?

But she caught the look in his eyes—a warning.

He was playing along.

Oh, wonderful.

Still, she knew when she was being told to shut it.

“Have it your way,” she muttered.

Cassis seemed pleased. “That’s telling her, sir.”

The gorgeous young man had turned into a misogynistic pig in a matter of seconds.

“I hear tell that some women need a whipping or two to put them in their proper place.”

Tegan’s fists clenched.

That was it. That was the limit.

But before she could launch herself at him, she caught the Doctor’s subtle movement—he waved her off, discreetly, behind his back.

Tegan gritted her teeth. Fine.

Instead, she grabbed a piece of fruit from the tray and took a very aggressive bite.

It tasted familiar—like an apple, but with a hint of cinnamon. Like breakfast cereal.

She focused on the flavour, chewing deliberately.

She was furious, but food was food. It wasn’t going to fix her aching feet, but at least it would get rid of the hunger.

Meanwhile, the Doctor carried on as if nothing had happened.

“I doubt that will be necessary for Tegan,” he said pleasantly. “We’re newlyweds, you see.”

Cassis brightened. “Here for your honeymoon, then?”

“Um… something like that.” The Doctor leaned forward. “Now, what can you tell me about those aerials?”

“Aerials?”

“The tall structures at the four corners of the village.”

“Oh! You mean the pylons.”

“Yes, of course. Those. What are they for?”

“Communication with the empire, of course. Haven’t you seen them before?”

“Of course we have. Right, Tegan?”

“Hundreds of times,” she said flatly.

If they were playing this game, she might as well commit to it.

“Well, then you should know that they’re across the entire planet,” Cassis explained. “The empire uses them to transport envoys here.”

“For what purpose?”

“They arrive every twenty-five years. Didn’t you know that?”

“Of course I did. Right, Tegan?”

“Sure.”

Cassis barely gave her a glance.

“When are they due to arrive again?”

“Within the week, sir. They’ll be here to collect their tribute.”

The Doctor’s expression didn’t change, but Tegan could feel his focus sharpen.

“What’s their tribute?”

“Women, sir.” Cassis scoffed. “For a man of the world, you don’t seem to know much.”

Tegan’s grip tightened on the remains of her fruit. She tossed it into what she assumed was the rubbish bin.

“You can say that again.”

“If your wife continues to talk like that,” Cassis added casually, “you can always send her as part of the tribute and find another woman for yourself.”

Tegan froze.

The Doctor gasped.

“Send Tegan as tribute?” He clutched his chest as if the very idea had wounded him.

Theatrics. Absolute theatrics.

“Absolutely not!” the Doctor declared. “Why, I adore her! And she adores me, right, Tegan?”

Tegan smiled too brightly. “Oh, I’m completely head over heels for him.”

“She doesn’t sound very convincing,” Cassis observed.

“Well, we had a long walk today,” the Doctor continued smoothly. “And she was wearing impractical footwear. You know the sort—always trying to impress their husbands by how much torture they’re willing to endure to prove their love.”

Cassis nodded knowingly. “Confidence issues. Yes, I know the type.”

Tegan barely held herself back from punching him.

The Doctor gave a tight smile. “Well, thanks for the chat, Cassis. But I’d better feed her, or she’ll be up all night screeching about this and that. I’d hate to have to whip her on our wedding night.”

“You better not,” Tegan said through gritted teeth.

“If you need help,” Cassis offered, “we have village stocks. They’ll teach her a thing or two about humility.”

“Of course,” the Doctor said, moving towards the door. “Good night.”

As soon as Cassis was gone, Tegan exploded.

“I can’t believe it! They treat women like—”

“Keep your voice down!” the Doctor hissed. “Do you want them to hear you speaking to me like that?”

“I’ve had enough of this place! I’m leaving.”

She tried to stand, but her feet betrayed her.

The Doctor caught her shoulders, holding her steady. “If you step outside, they’ll throw you in the stocks.”

Tegan scowled. “But they think we’re married!”

“Yes,” the Doctor sighed. “Well… it could be worse.”

“Oh? How?”

“They could believe you’re my mother instead.”

Tegan stared at him.

Then she grinned.

At least he had some kind of maddening sense of humour.

“Now,” he added, “we need to get you some proper shoes.”

Tegan rolled her eyes. “Said the pot to the kettle.”

The Doctor gave her a winning smile. “Back in two shakes.”

A hovel was certainly a better way of describing the place they had been given to spend the night. It was nothing more than a home that was sectioned out into small areas. There were no walls separating the kitchen from the dining room, the bedroom and the living space. The primitive hearth was the only thing that separated the bed and the kitchen. No wondered the previous residents had moved out. The place was completely unhygienic.

Tegan quickly made her way to the only seat in the home. One of the two chairs at the table that could be arguably be the kitchen. Despite the fact she was seated near the food preparation area Tegan eased her feet out of the wretched heels that had been nothing but a monster to her feet.

“Why did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Stop me from giving him a piece of my mind.”

The Doctor had been staring out the window out of the front room. He turned and made his way to the other chair which was on the opposite side of her own. Despite her pain wracked feet she gave him her full attention.

“If women here aren’t allowed to travel without their husbands, how many of them do you think are allowed to speak their mind? Besides I have a feeling these people take their laws very seriously. One slip up and we could both end up dead.”

“No, just me. You’ll just end up being another person.”

If everything that the Doctor had said about regeneration could be believed. But there a greater game afoot to be had.

“So did you get any information about those aerials outside?”

“No…”

Just then the door to the hovel opened and a young man her age walked in. He was all smiles. What kind of place was this if people could just walk in without knocking?

“Greetings. I’m Cassis, son of Ronick and Kayla. I hope I’m not interrupting.”

The young man ignored him, and walked around the Doctor and headed straight to the table. It was clear that the young man was attracted to her.

“No, you’re not; I was having a small conversation with my wife, Tegan.”

Tegan's heart sunk as soon as the Doctor said that. The young man set the tray down on the table without breaking contact with her. It was flattering.

“Hello.”

It was after she had said that his smile had turned into a frown. His eyes went from flirty to anger. Cassis in fact turned on his heel and faced the Doctor.

“Could you please remind your wife of the rules? She’s not allowed to address me.”

“What? That’s ridiculous.”

The Doctor moved quickly over to where she was and spun around; placing himself between her and Cassis.

“Tegan, you really wouldn’t want me to get angry with you again, would you? Please stop talking to this young gent.”

Well, he had certainly changed his tune in a hurry. He had gone from friendly to threatening. But she knew when she was being told to shut it. It was just a matter of agreeing with it.

“Have it your way.”

“Thanks so much for that, sir…um…”

Cassis was such an oddball. On one hand he was polite to the Doctor and on the other he was rude to her.

“Doctor.”

“Doctor who?”

“Just Doctor. Now what is it you came here for?”

“Father and Mother bids you welcome. The food is a welcoming gift from our family.”

A gift was a gift.

“Great, I’m starved!”

“Will you just shut it?! Clearly, Cassis is talking to me and you ought to know your place by now!”

Tegan did everything she could not to-

“That’s telling her, sir.” The gorgeous young man had turned into a misogynistic pig. All right before her eyes.

“I hear tell that some women need a whipping or two to put them into their proper place.”

“What?!”

There was a limit to her silence and the young man had just crossed it. Whipping women to put them in their place. But then she noticed that the Doctor was discretely waving her off with his hand behind his back so she backed down. At least for now. She took a fruit that looked similar to an apple from the tray and bit into it. It tasted like an apple but with a hint of cinnamon sprinkled in it. It was a flavor that hinted at a breakfast cereal she once had but more fresh. It was an apple pie orgy in mouth but no baking needed. Tegan ignored the men as she indulged herself with food that had been brought to them. It didn't take the pain away from her feet but it certainly ended the hunger she had been feeling since they arrived in the village.

“I doubt that will necessary for Tegan. We’re newlyweds you see.”

“Here for your honeymoon then?”

“Um…something of that sort. Now what can you tell me about those aerials?”

“Aerials?”

“The really tall structures that are based on the four corners of this village.”

“Oh you mean the pylons.”

“Yes, of course, those. What are they for?”

“Communication with the empire, of course. Haven’t you seen them before?”

“Of course we have. Right, Tegan?”

“Hundreds of times.”

It was a lie but who cared? Obviously not the Doctor. She would play his little game. It was obvious that the Doctor was just trying to get the young man to talk to him about the structures.

“Well then you should know that they’re across the entire planet. The empire uses them also to transport their envoys here.”

“Mind if I ask for what purpose do these envoys serve?”

“They arrive every twenty five years, didn’t you know that?”

“Of course I did. Right, Tegan?”

“Sure.” Again a useless bit of information.

“When are they due to arrive again?”

“Within the week, sir. They’ll be here to collect their tribute.”

“What’s their tribute?”

“Women, sir. For a man of the world you don’t know much.”

Tegan tossed the 'apple' core into what she had gathered was the rubbish bin.

“You can say that again.”

“If your wife continues to talk like that to you; you can always send her as part of the tribute and find another woman for yourself.”

“Send Tegan as tribute?” The Doctor acted mortified at the thought. The more she stayed with this Doctor the more she appreciated his acting skills.

“Absolutely not! Why I absolutely adore her. And she adores me, right, Tegan?”

“I’m completely head over heels for him.”

“She doesn't sound very convincing.”

“Well, we had a long walk today, so her feet hurt. And she was wearing impractical footwear. You know the sort, always trying to impress upon their husbands by how much torture they’re willing to go through to prove that they love them.”

“Confidence issues. Yes, I know the sort. Doctor.”

It was then Cassis was lucky that her feet were killing her. Or else she would have bunged the ingrate in the nose.

“Yes, thanks for the chat, Cassis, but I better feed her or she’ll be up all night screeching about this and that. I would hate to have to whip her on our wedding night.”

“You better not.”

“If you need any help with her, we have a village stocks that we can put her in to teach her a thing or two about humility and respect for us males.”

“Of course. Good night.”

The door closed and with Cassis gone it was a good time as in to let her anger become unhinged. “I can’t believe it! They treat their women like…”

“Keep your voice down! Do you want them to hear you speaking to me like that?”

“I’ve had enough of this place. I’m leaving!”

And she would have if it hadn't been painful to stand.

The Doctor knelt in front of her and took her by the shoulders. “Don’t you understand? You step outside without me or without having a proper reason to be out there, they’ll throw you in the stocks and maybe you’ll even have to endure a public flogging because of your behavior. Not all worlds are as progressive as Earth in equitable treatment between the sexes.”

“But we can’t stay here. They think that we’re married.”

She realized that it was a nonsensical complaint but still—married to him? A nearly complete stranger. We

“Yes, I know. Well…I suppose it could be worse.”

“How so?”

“They could believe that you’re my mother instead.”

“How’s that worse?” It was a joke. And he knew it, given the smile that had exploded across his face then. Good for him. At least he had a sort of maddening sense of humor. She found herself quick to reciprocate his smile.

“Then again you’re probably more suited for that role than this one. But that doesn’t matter right now.”

“And I suppose you’re going to tell me what does?”

“Getting you into some practical shoes and clothing, that’s what matters the most at this point.”

“Said the pot to the kettle.”

“What?” The Doctor examined his own clothing.

“Oh this, yes, well it will have to do for the time being. But you’re the one who is the proverbial sore thumb here. Back in two shakes.”

It wasn't her thumb that was sore. Within a moment he was off. He opened the door and paused for a moment then the Doctor turned to her.

“Do not leave this home for any reason outside of it being on fire. You do understand, right?”

To be honest that would be the only reason why she would even get up out of the chair.

“I guess so. But you do promise to be quick, right? I don’t like it here.”

“Of course I promise to be quick about it. After all it’s our wedding night.”

Tegan rolled her eyes at his little nuptial joke after he had disappeared outside.

“Wonderful.”

Chapter Text

Despite it being early evening, there was a distinct chill in the air, which made climbing the pylon even more difficult.

Not that anyone questioned why he was out and about.

As he suspected, the only people still outside were the men. His assessment of this backward society had been correct—an extreme patriarchal system, rooted in deep-seated misogyny.

It was the sort of place the Master could rule with impunity.

Clearly, the Empire—whoever they were—already did.

They kept this society under control by taking their women.

To what end?

That, the Doctor didn’t know.

But for now, he had to focus on something he could control—determining if the so-called pylons were capable of transmitting the programming to hold the CVE open.

With that, he climbed higher.

“Is your wife giving you a hard time, Doctor?”

The Doctor froze mid-climb.

He looked down.

Ronick was standing below, watching him.

“Who?”

“Your wife,” Ronick said. “I believe you call her Tegan.”

“Oh, her.” The Doctor exhaled as if he’d forgotten she existed. “No, she’s been absolutely splendid.”

“Then why else would you be climbing the pylon?” Ronick asked. “Other than to publicly denounce her?”

Publicly denounce her?

The Doctor frowned, then scaled down a few feet and jumped to the ground. If only to prove a point.

“Oh, that.” He dusted himself off. “I was just curious.”

“Curious about what?”

“How it works.”

Ronick smirked. “The control room is that way,” he said, pointing beyond the village. “But only the elders are allowed inside. If you get caught without permission…”

He trailed off.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. “And what’s the penalty for that, Ronick?”

Ronick’s smirk didn’t waver.

“Death, of course.”

The Doctor sighed. “Of course it is.”

“It’s the only penalty for any violation on this world,” Ronick continued. “I’m sure you know that by now.”

The Doctor wasn’t surprised—not really.

But he still found himself baffled by the sheer absurdity of it.

A world where women were already scarce, and yet they’d kill anyone for anything?

“How practical,” the Doctor muttered. “And where’s the justice in that?”

“No one violates the law,” Ronick said simply. “It is the supreme deterrent of criminal intentions.”

The Doctor scoffed. “And if you violate the law to save someone? To protect an entire civilisation? Do you still kill the hero?”

“Yes, of course,” Ronick replied, as if it were obvious. “I’ve heard there are dissenters to the order of our world. I do hope you’re not one of them, Doctor.”

The Doctor held his gaze.

“My life would be forfeit,” he said. “I understand.”

“As well as your lovely wife’s life.”

Somehow, the Doctor doubted that.

Ronick’s smile sharpened.

“Now, Doctor,” he said, “why are you really out here on this most joyous occasion? Surely your wife is waiting in anticipation of what is to come tonight.”

“What?” The Doctor blinked.

Ronick raised an eyebrow. “It is your wedding night, after all.”

The Doctor stared at him.

Then he did the only thing he could do.

He lied.

“Clothes,” he said quickly. “I was searching for clothes. For my wife.”

Ronick let out a full belly laugh.

“On the pylon?” he snorted. “That’s rich! I’ll have my wife bring her some in the morning.”

The Doctor stormed into the house as if he were being chased by the devil himself.

He carefully closed the door, glancing out the window.

Ronick was still outside, speaking with two guards.

After a moment, Ronick walked away, disappearing into the darkness.

The Doctor turned around.

Tegan was already in bed.

He crossed the room and sat beside her, contemplating their situation.

“Tegan?”

“Mmm?”

She answered sleepily, somewhere between truly trying to sleep and pretending to.

The Doctor’s eyes flickered to her abandoned shoes.

The insides were streaked with dark red.

Blood.

He swallowed.

“We have to get out of here.”

Tegan rolled over, blinking at him blearily.

“Why?”

“Because this world only has one punishment for everything.”

She frowned. “What is it?”

“Death.”

Tegan stared at him. “That’s ridiculous.”

“I know,” the Doctor said. “But we need to leave immediately.”

She groaned. “But we can’t.”

The Doctor frowned. “What? Why not?”

“My feet,” Tegan muttered. “They’re covered in blisters.”

The Doctor sighed.

Then a shadow passed the window.

He froze, watching it.

A guard.

He tracked the movement, waiting.

When the shadow finally disappeared, he turned back to Tegan.

And then, without a word, he scooped her up into his arms.

Tegan yelped.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake! Put me down!”

“No.”

“This is worse than pretending to be married to you!”

“Tegan.”

She huffed. “Fine. But I hate this.”

The Doctor sprinted towards the edge of the village.

Until—

“And where do you think you’re going so late after curfew?”

The Doctor swung around.

A guard.

One of Ronick’s men.

“There’s a curfew?” the Doctor asked.

The guard frowned. “Did your wife just address me?”

The Doctor inhaled sharply.

“No,” he said smoothly. “I threw my voice.”

The guard scowled. “What are you doing out here?”

“I thought I’d take her out for a moonlight stroll.”

The guard squinted. “In your arms?”

“Well, her feet are hurting.”

“I understand,” the guard said. “But the curfew is in force now. You cannot leave the village.”

The Doctor sighed. “Fine. I lied. I was taking her somewhere to get her feet treated.”

The guard rolled his eyes. “She’s just a woman. Who cares if her feet hurt?”

The Doctor gritted his teeth.

“I care very much,” he said coldly. “Now, move aside, or I shall sic her on you.”

The guard paled.

“…Ronick will hear of this.”

“Tell whomever you like.”

The guard bolted.

“What a terrible guard,” the Doctor muttered.

He took off into the night.

Later, when they were finally hidden away, Tegan wrapped her arms around him.

“What was that?” she whispered.

“Remember what I said about the guard?”

“Yes…”

“That’s probably what they’re guarding against.”

A low growl rumbled from the darkness.

Tegan stiffened.

“Rabbits,” she muttered. “It sounds huge.”

“Then it probably is.”

She clung to him.

“What do we do?”

“Lie still and pretend to be dead.”

There was a long silence.

Then—

“Unless,” Tegan said, “it likes to eat dead things.”

The Doctor sighed.

“Oh, well,” he murmured. “I suppose I’ll just offer it a jelly baby instead.”

Tegan rolled her eyes.

“…Remind me never to marry you, Doctor.”

“Why?”

“Because your wedding nights are for the dogs.”

Despite it being early evening there was a bit of a nip in the air, which made climbing the pylon difficult. As he suspected no one questioned about why he was out and about. In fact the only people who seemed out and about were the men. His guess of this backwards societies norms had been correct. An extreme patriarchal society that harbored an extreme misogynistic view. It was places like this that the Master could rule with impunity, and obviously the Empire, whoever they were, did. The Empire kept them under control by taking their women away. To what end, he wondered. But for now he must concern himself with determining the suitability of the so called pylon of transmitting the programming to hold the CVE open. With that, the Doctor began to climb higher.

“Is your wife giving you a hard time, Doctor?”

The Doctor looked down from the pylon and saw Ronick standing below.

“Who?”

“Your wife. I believe you call her Tegan.”

“Oh her. No she’s been absolutely splendid.”

“Then why else would be climbing on the pylon other than to publicly denounce her to the village?”

The Doctor scaled down the small distance and jumped down if nothing but to prove to the native that he was a force to be reckoned with. Apparently, the man had an unhealthy fascination with his new companion who was doing a tip-top job posing as his wife.

“Oh that, I was just curious.”

“Curious about what?”

“How it works.”

“The control room is that way should you want to see how it works. But only the elders of the village are allowed in there. You get caught going in without permission and you and your wife will pay the penalty for you trespassing there.”

“And what penalty is that, Ronick?”

“Death, of course. It’s the only penalty for any violation on this world, Doctor. I’m sure you know that by now.

Not that he was surprised to hear that...but he was for some odd reason. A world where women were scarce yet they would kill anyone for anything. How absurd was that?

“And where’s the justice in that, Ronick?”

“No one violates the law. It’s the supreme deterrent of criminal intentions.”

“And if you violate the law in order to save someone’s life or perhaps an entire civilization, what then? Do you find it necessary to kill the heroes as well?”

“Yes, of course. I heard that there were some dissenters of the order that we have on our world. I really do hope you’re not one of them, because if so….”

“My life would be forfeit. I understand.”

“As well as your lovely wife’s life.”

Somehow, he doubted that.

“Now, Doctor, tell me why you are out of your home on this most joyous occasion? I’m sure your wife is waiting for you in anticipation of things to come this night.”

“What?”

“It’s your wedding night. I’m sure you’re not so completely inept that you don’t know what occurs during the wedding night.”

“Clothes. I was searching for some clothes for my wife.”

Ronick let out a full belly laugh then.

“On the pylon? That’s rich. I’ll have my wife bring her some in the morning.”

The Doctor entered the home as if he was being chased by the very devil himself. He carefully closed the door behind him and looked out the window. Ronick was busily talking with two men who the Doctor guessed were guards. After the Ronick had left the guards and walked into the darkness the Doctor turned around and noticed that Tegan had went to bed. The Doctor went over and sat next to her. He briefly contemplated their situation.

“Tegan?”

“Yes?”

She replied as if she was at that place between truly trying to go to sleep and trying to stay awake. His eyes caught sight of her abandoned shoes. Swathes of dark red decorated the insides of her shoes. It could have been something left over from their previous owners. The Master's cruelty knew no bounds. So she would able to put them on and wearing them, making their escape easier than most of his previous adventures.

“We’ve got to get out of here.”

Tegan rolled over then and she looked thoroughly confused at his revelation.

“Why?”

“Because this world only has one punishment for everything and that’s death.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“I know it is but we need to leave as soon as possible.”

“But we can’t.”

It was the Doctor's turn to be confused. He turned and faced her then.

“What? Why not?”

“My feet. They’re covered in blisters.”

A guard walked by. The Doctor eyed the shadow against the darken ground until it was gone. Then he for all intents and purposes sprinted towards the edge of town with Tegan in his arms. She had made a fuss about being carried. Saying that was worse than pretending to be married to him. But he didn't care about her complaints. There was no way in Gallifrey that he was going to let her wear those shoes again, even with bandaged feet. The Doctor continued his trek to the edge of the village. Until--

“And where the two of you believe you’re going so late after curfew?”

The Doctor swung around and found that it was one of the guards that Ronick had spoken to.

“There’s a curfew?”

“Did your wife just address me?”

This place was getting intolerable.

“No, I threw my voice. Oh, well, I thought I’d take her out for a moonlight stroll.”

“In your arms?”

“Well, her feet are hurting.”

“I understand, but I still can’t allow you to leave the village. The curfew’s in force now.”

“I lied actually. I was going to take her somewhere to get her feet treated.”

“She’s just a woman, who cares if her feet hurt.”

“I happen to care very much about the condition of her feet. Now move aside man or I shall sic her on you.”

“Ronick will learn of this.”

“Tell whomever you like.”

The guard moved quickly out of their way, running towards the other direction into the village. What a horrible guard! The Doctor made the be best of it and crossed out of the village and into the open plain.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“Yes, I did. As much as you think I enjoy playing their little male dominance game, I don’t. We arrived at the village two hours ago and I’m already tired of it.”

“I think I’m beginning to like you, Doctor.”

“Really? Well, don’t get too attached to me. We’re going to be hunted most of the night. If they do find me, I’ll make sure at least they won’t find you.”

“Hunted by whom? The villagers?”

“And whatever is out here that the villagers are afraid of to warrant them keeping an armed guard on watch.”

“Are you sure you can carry me all the way back to the TARDIS?”

He had to admit that despite his superior cardiovascular system, and night vision, he was still feeling rather weary of carrying her.

“I don’t think we have much of a choice. That’s the last time I’ll let you use the Master’s wardrobe. I should have known he’d booby trap something in there. He does have a rather sadistic kind of humor.”

“But shoes?”

“Putting blister inducing powder in them caused you enough pain to cripple you. I’m just glad he didn’t do that for anything else in there.”

A growl emerged from the darkness. Whatever it was judging from the direction it came from it was between them and the TARDIS. The Doctor looked around quickly and found a small depression in the ground. A crater would be more of an apt description of what it was. But it didn't matter, it's where they would be sleeping for the night. Well, at least Tegan would. He would be too busy more than likely trying to fend off—there it was again. A loud menacing growl. At the bottom of the crater he put Tegan down. The Doctor then took off his coat and then began to cover Tegan up with it. Especially her feet. The last thing she needed was for her feet to become infected. He then took his place next to her. The animal in the distance growled again. Tegan who had faced certain death more than once in the past week, wrapped her arms around him acting as though he could save her from the wild beast. It was flattering that such a person like Tegan would believe he could provide her comfort in a time like this.

“What was that?”

“Remember what I said about the guard?”

“Yes.”

“That’s most likely what they’re guarding the village from.”

“Rabbits! It sounds huge!”

“Then it probably is. Shush now, just lie still here and be quiet.”

“Pretend to be dead you mean?”

It amazed him how quickly Tegan caught onto the practically of actions in a survival situation. Perhaps he would keep her around as a survival consultant. Just for those companions who didn't understand the situation all that well. But would Tegan agree to such an arrangement? Probably not since he would have to pay her in Earth currency.

“Yes, that should keep us safe.”

“Unless, it likes to eat dead things.”

“Oh, well, then I’ll just offer it a jelly baby instead.”

He wasn't sure if she had been amused or not. But she had laughed a little bit despite her rolling her eyes away from after that remark.

“Maybe you should light a fire. You know to keep them away.”

“What? Why?”

“Works on dingoes.”

“But then the villagers will see us. No, the best thing to do is to lie still and wait till morning.”

They passed sometime between them. It might have been five minutes before she said: “Remind me never to marry you, Doctor.”

“Why do you say that?” Not that he was thinking of proposing anyway.

“Your wedding nights are for the dogs.”

Chapter Text

Something was poking him.

The Doctor stirred, frowning.

Tegan had been in no condition to forage for wood, let alone sharpen it into a makeshift spear.

Which meant…

Jab.

“Get up, you!”

“Wha—what?” The Doctor blinked blearily.

“I said, get up!”

The sun was already high in the sky—mid-morning, by the looks of it.

The Doctor turned toward where Tegan had been the night before.

Empty.

All that remained was his coat.

Slowly, he sat up, dusted off the fabric, then stood as instructed.

They’d found them.

And, evidently, they’d already taken her back to the village.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes. “Where’s Tegan? What have you done with her?”

The guard scoffed. “You’re lucky Ronick likes you.”

“Oh?” the Doctor drawled. “Why’s that?”

“Because he’s going to spare your life. And that woman’s.”

The Doctor arched an eyebrow. “Well, then,” he said smoothly, “I suppose I shall have to thank him.”

In truth, he’d rather strangle him.

But Tegan was a smart girl.

She’d sort them out.

Even if it meant talking them to death.

The guard smirked. “You already have,” he said. “You forfeited your wife as tribute.”

The Doctor froze.

“…What?”

“You really don’t understand what’s happening here, do you?”

An honest assessment.

The Doctor sighed. “I’m trying.”

The guard folded his arms. “Every man here must give a woman to the Empire as tribute. Usually, it’s his daughter.”

“But if he doesn’t have a daughter…”

“Then he gives up his wife.”

The Doctor inhaled sharply. “And that’s what happened?”

The guard nodded. “Correct, Doctor. You’ve spared Ronick’s wife from being sent to the Empire by offering your own in her stead.”

The Doctor’s fingers twitched against his coat.

Tegan.

Given in tribute to an Empire.

Well, he couldn’t have that.

“I demand to see Ronick,” the Doctor said.

The guard smirked. “As you wish,” he said. “But the tributes are being prepared for transport.”

The Doctor’s jaw clenched.

“I’m sure Ronick will let you say goodbye to your former wife.”

Former wife.

Well, they’d see about that.

The trek back to the village seemed shorter than the one away from it.

Under normal conditions, the Doctor would have sensed a temporal distortion field.

But this…

This felt different.

Of course, it was daylight now, and his escorts knew where they were going.

An oddity.

But not the priority.

Moments after stepping into the village, he was shoved forward—

Right into what appeared to be an administrative building.

Behind the desk, Ronick sat, pretending very hard to be someone important.

The Doctor cleared his throat.

Ronick looked up and smiled.

Then he extended his hand.

The Doctor didn’t take it.

After an awkward pause, Ronick withdrew his hand and turned his attention back to his work.

The Doctor folded his arms. “I wish to file a formal complaint,” he said flatly.

Ronick barely glanced at him. “A complaint?”

“Yes. Against you,” the Doctor said. “You dissolved my marriage without the consent of either me or my wife.”

Ronick’s smile widened.

“Oh,” he said, “but we did have your wife’s consent.”

The Doctor stared at him. “What?”

“She agreed to the dissolution.”

The Doctor’s hands curled into fists. “And why would she do that?”

“To save your life.”

He went still.

Ronick leaned back in his chair.

“While women are nothing more than servants and mothers on our world,” he said, “they do have certain rights.”

The Doctor arched a brow. “Oh, do they?”

Ronick nodded. “One of them is the right to dissolve an unhappy union.”

The Doctor narrowed his eyes. “And what constitutes an unhappy union?”

“If a marriage isn’t consummated on the first night,” Ronick said, “a woman may dissolve it the next morning.”

The Doctor folded his arms. “And that’s any of your business, is it?”

Ronick smirked. “She chose to dissolve it,” he said. “To spare you.”

The Doctor clenched his jaw.

For a society that treated women like property, they certainly didn’t seem to mind letting them trade themselves away.

He took a breath.

“I hope for your sake,” the Doctor said slowly, “that one day, the tributes you send to the Empire don’t open their mouths about what you’ve done to them.”

Ronick’s expression stilled.

“I imagine the Empire might have something to say about your treatment of these poor creatures.”

Ronick’s fingers tightened against the desk.

“Or…” the Doctor mused, “…perhaps it’s something else.”

Ronick’s brow furrowed.

“Perhaps,” the Doctor continued, “you’re so in love with your own wife that you’re afraid.”

Ronick’s lips parted.

“Afraid,” the Doctor said, “that her treatment under the Empire might be better than what she receives here.”

Silence.

The Doctor smiled.

Food for thought, Ronick.

Then, without another word, he turned on his heel and strode out the door.

He had a wife to steal back.

Chapter Text

It was hopeless.

Well… not really hopeless.

Just the kind of hopeless that came with being dragged from one place to another in the wee hours of the morning, forced to sign a fake document dissolving her fake marriage to the Doctor just to save his life—

Only to then sign another document, agreeing to replace Ronick’s wife as tribute to save herself.

Tegan exhaled, leaning her head against the cold metal bars.

Was all of this effort even worth it?

Was the Doctor still alive, or had they killed him anyway?

No visitors.

No news.

Nothing.

Then—

“How are the feet?”

Tegan’s eyes snapped open.

She looked up—

And there he was.

The Doctor, standing on the other side of the bars, grinning at her like an idiot.

How wonderful for him, being able to roam around freely as he liked.

“They still hurt,” she muttered. “What are you doing here?”

She was sure he’d get in trouble for this.

Then again, trouble seemed to be his natural state of existence.

“Well,” the Doctor said lightly, “I just thought I’d come say goodbye to my so-called wife.”

Tegan snorted.

“I guess you know it all by now.”

The Doctor leaned against the bars, blue eyes full of something that looked like compassion.

He wasn’t just here to say goodbye.

He wanted the whole story.

“Yes,” he admitted. “Most of it, anyway.”

Tegan sighed.

“I woke up early,” she began, “thought I’d see if I could find something for us to eat—and, well… they caught me.”

The Doctor’s expression darkened.

“Ronick was with them,” she continued, “and he threatened to kill you if I didn’t offer myself up as tribute.”

The Doctor exhaled sharply.

“I wonder if he bullies others in other matters as well,” he muttered.

Tegan huffed. “Oh, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

A pause.

Then she tilted her head.

“So,” she said, “are you here to rescue me?”

The Doctor smiled.

“No.”

Tegan stared at him.

“…What?”

“If I do,” he said simply, “they’ll kill us both before we even make it out of the village.”

“But you’ll be alive soon after that.”

The Doctor’s smile faded.

“Do you really think,” he said quietly, “that I put such a small value on a companion’s life?”

Tegan swallowed.

“I don’t know,” she admitted.

Then—

“I’m not your companion, remember?”

She scoffed lightly.

“I’m just a reluctant stowaway.”

She wasn’t the groupie type.

Except, maybe, if it came to David Bowie.

Then she might have to reconsider.

The Doctor tilted his head.

“Well…” he mused. “How about friends, then?”

Tegan blinked.

The Doctor offered his hand.

Would she like to be his friend?

Tegan hesitated.

Then, slowly, she shook it.

A rare smile tugged at her lips.

The Doctor grinned back.

“I can agree to that,” she said.

“Good.”

Tegan pulled her hand back—

And frowned.

Something small and cool was resting in her palm.

She looked down.

A glass cube.

Except… the top appeared to be lopped off, revealing the inside, tapering to a point.

A keepsake?

Something to remember him by?

“…What’s this?” she asked.

The Doctor’s voice dropped into something serious.

“It’s a homing beacon,” he said.

Tegan’s fingers tightened around it.

“Whatever happens, Tegan,” he murmured, “don’t lose it. Understand?”

She met his gaze.

“Yes.”

The Doctor nodded.

Then, just as quickly, he straightened to his full height.

“Well,” he said suddenly—loudly, as if someone were listening, “I suppose I’ll be saying goodbye then.”

Tegan stilled.

Oh.

Someone was listening.

And he knew it.

The Doctor winked at her—

Then turned and walked out.

Tegan sat there, still gripping the beacon.

It was good to know he was on her side.

But the sense of impending doom in her gut refused to go away.

She couldn’t run.

She couldn’t talk her way out of it.

And she had no weapon.

No wonder she felt helpless.

Tegan exhaled.

“…Goodbye, Doctor.”

Would she ever see her new friend again?

She hoped so.

Chapter Text

The wood was rough against her wrists and neck, biting into her skin every time she moved.

It was bad enough being thrown into the stocks—but did they really have to do it in the middle of the village square?

Tegan clenched her jaw, ignoring the gawking villagers as she shifted in place. She wasn’t going to let them see how uncomfortable she was.

What a fine mess this is.

She could almost hear the Doctor now.

No doubt he’s off somewhere, twiddling his thumbs, while I get to be the entertainment for the day.

Oh, he better show up soon, or so help her, when she got out of this, she was going to kill him herself.

A shadow passed over her.

“Well,” came the far-too-cheerful voice she’d been waiting for.

The Doctor.

“I must say,” he mused, rocking back on his heels, “you do have a knack for finding yourself in these predicaments.”

Tegan turned a deadly glare on him.

“Don’t. Start.”

The Doctor held up his hands in surrender.

“Just making an observation,” he said. “You know, I do believe this is the first time I’ve ever had to rescue a companion from the stocks.”

“Well, I’m glad I could provide you with a new experience, Doctor,” she snapped.

He grinned. “That’s the spirit.”

Tegan sighed heavily. “Are you actually going to get me out of here, or did you just come for the comedy?”

“Oh, Tegan, I always have a plan.” The Doctor glanced around. “Granted, this one’s a bit last-minute, but when isn’t it?”

“Just hurry up!”

A small gathering of villagers had started forming.

The Doctor’s expression flickered with concern, but he quickly recovered, adopting his usual nonchalant charm.

“Well, I’d hate to disappoint my wife on our wedding night,” he said loudly.

Tegan stiffened.

He was still milking that lie?

The crowd murmured in approval.

“After all,” the Doctor continued, “I should be punished instead. She did replace a tribute, and that was my doing, wasn’t it?”

Ronick stepped forward, frowning.

“And how exactly do you propose we punish you?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” the Doctor said innocently, leaning on the stocks. “A good chase always sounds fun, doesn’t it?”

Tegan froze.

“Oh, no,” she muttered. “Not again.”

Before Ronick could react, the Doctor sprang into action.

A snap—and suddenly, the stocks swung open.

Tegan nearly fell forward as her arms were freed.

She didn’t have time to question how he’d done it.

“Run now, complain later!” the Doctor shouted, already grabbing her by the wrist.

And she ran.

Pain flared in her blistered feet, but she ignored it, keeping pace with the Doctor as chaos erupted behind them.

Villagers shouted.

The guards gave chase.

But the Doctor was fast.

And—despite everything—Tegan trusted him to get her out of this.

Their mad dash through the village sent baskets flying, people diving out of the way—

And then, finally—

The TARDIS came into view.

“Doctor,” Tegan gasped, “please tell me—”

“Oh, of course I left the door unlocked,” the Doctor said, yanking it open. “What do you take me for?”

They stumbled inside.

Tegan turned, expecting the Doctor to slam the door—

Only to watch him lean out and wave at the guards.

“Lovely stay, we’ll be sure to leave a glowing review!” he called before slamming the door shut.

Tegan doubled over, hands on her knees, gasping for breath.

“Well,” she panted, “that was… awful.”

The Doctor grinned, straightening his coat.

“Oh, Tegan,” he said fondly, “welcome to traveling with me.”

She glared at him.

“I hate you.”

The Doctor beamed. “Oh, good,” he said. “That means we’re off to a brilliant start.”

Tegan let out a long, exhausted sigh.

And—despite everything—she couldn’t help but smile.