Bad Wolf (Entry One of The Diaries of a Teenage Time Lady)

A Look To The Past

Finally, a little bit about Anna's mother. You might be a bit surprised. ;)

***

Rose froze where she stood, not sure if she heard the Doctor correctly. "You're sure?" she asked carefully. "You don't have to if you don't - "

"If you hadn't told that Dalek to kill itself, I would have shot it, and I think you know that as well as I do," he interrupted. "It'll do me good to talk about her."

"OK," Rose sat down as the Doctor got two mugs out. "Tell me about her, then."

"The first thing you should know about her is she's as good as her name," the Doctor leaned forward. "I'm a doctor, but you know that's not the only thing I'm good at. The Regent was all diplomacy. She could be forced into a peace conference between the Daleks and the Time Lords and could settle an agreement with not one shot fired if she had tried."

"How the hell did the two of you work?" Rose couldn't help but ask. The Doctor raised an eyebrow, and Rose blushed. "I mean, the two of you just sound so - "

"Different?" the Doctor guessed. Rose blushed redder, and he chuckled. "Opposites attract . . . and the marriage was set up."

"They did that on Gallifrey?" Rose frowned.

"Arranged marriages? Oh, yes," the Doctor confirmed, rolling his eyes. "Bloody stupid, but they worked. Couldn't see myself with a Chosen, so - "

"OK, I'm not a Time Lord, Doctor," Rose held up her hands, interrupting him. "Tell me what a Chosen is."

The Doctor gave her an amused look. "The only time you can break up an arranged marriage is if you fall in love with someone else before the time comes for the marriage to take place. In that case, if both of you agree, the arrangement is broken, and you take each other as Chosens."

"You chose who you married," Rose summarized.

"Exactly," the Doctor nodded. "I'd heard of the Regent's reputation, but I'd sure as hell never thought she'd be my wife. Didn't exactly work together so well at first, but we got along eventually."

"It'd be a bit awkward if you didn't," Rose pointed out.

"I know," the Doctor nodded. "Part of what it was, I suppose, is that she agreed that the Time Lords . . . aren't as perfect as some races portray them."

"Really?" Rose blinked.

"The human race isn't always as perfect as I portray it," the Doctor pointed out.

Rose shrugged. "We're humans."

"So, she did what she did best," the Doctor took a drink of his tea. "The moment she could, she took a seat in the Time Lord Senate and worked to gain the Time Lords' trust. She was the youngest and the quickest to gain a seat on the High Council, which was where she started picking apart some of the most devious plots the Time Lords could have made."

"When was Anna born?" Rose asked.

The Doctor thought back. "Not long before my last encounter with my old friend," he answered. "Time passes differently, as you know, when you travel in the TARDIS, so I don't know for certain what was happening when she was born."

"Did she fight in the War?"

"No," he shook his head. "She worked with the High Council, trying to find ways to end it. And one was so horrible . . . " He shook his head. "She contacted me about it and told me to get Mara away, as quickly as I could. I couldn't leave the fighting at the time, so she left the Council mid-session, found Mara, and found a single teleport to take her somewhere safe. I tell you, some Time Lords in a temper are a sight to see, but never mess with the Regent when her family's in danger," he smiled sadly. "She fought her way out of the Citadel and triggered the teleport to take Mara away. It wasn't the best teleport system, since it delayed, but it worked. But before the teleport engaged . . . "

"The Regent was killed," Rose finished softly.

"Yes."

Rose shook her head. "She went down fighting."

"Yeah, she did," the Doctor nodded with a small smile. "She was a fighter."

"So's Anna," Rose smiled. "You should've seen her, Doctor. She was exhausted, but she never once stopped running."

"I believe it," the Doctor shook his head fondly. "You nearly died for her today, Rose. That's not something she'll forget easily."

"I won't forget it, either," Rose shook her head. "And I don't want to. If anything, it'll encourage me to work harder. I don't plan on letting her down."

"You better not," the Doctor warned playfully.

"Or what, I'm off the ship?" Rose grinned, her tongue between her teeth.

The Doctor smirked. "I don't think I could get rid of you if I tried."

Rose giggled, finishing up her tea and standing to put it on the counter. As she stood there, watching the Doctor finish, she hesitantly said, "Doctor?"

"Mmm?" he looked up.

"What that Dalek said," she carefully said. "About not being able to save the woman you love . . . "

His eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to respond, when the TARDIS suddenly jerked, hard enough that Rose was thrown to the floor, narrowly avoiding the edge of the counter. "Whoa!" she shouted.

"What the hell was that?" the Doctor shouted, running out the door.

"Doctor, what was that?" Rose hastily got to her feet, hanging onto the wall to help her get out.

"No idea," he shook his head. "Go get Mara, because whatever this is - " The TARDIS tilted again, and both of them were thrown against the wall. " - the TARDIS doesn't like it," the Doctor finished, running for the console room.

Rose hurried down in the other direction, running to get Anna, as the Doctor ran into the console room, one of the screens lit up red with blinking Gallifreyan on it. The Doctor took one look and groaned. "Fantastic."

***

Chances are she was the one backing him up and cleaning up any mess he made on Gallifrey. :P So, bit of a different person than the Apocalypse, eh? A diplomat, serving as both a Senator and a Councilor, and a silver tongue if she could make the Daleks and Time Lords have peace conferences (according to the Doctor). The regeneration she was on at the time of her death is portrayed by Indira Varma.

So, something's up that the TARDIS doesn't like . . . wonder what it is. If I were reading, I would check in when the fifth book of "Apocalypse Rising" finally updates. }:) *wink wink*