Time and Twinford (the unlimited rice pudding remix)

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

They return to the TARDIS, and after a quick jaunt forwards in time, are back in LB's office, seconds after they left.

"Sorted," says Ace smugly, slamming the eyestalk she ripped off of Nine-Live's hand onto LB's desk.

"Excellent," says LB. "I don't want to know about any of it."

"Don't you?" The Doctor joins Ace, as do the other three. "It's a thrilling tale, honestly, albeit rather shorter than I was expecting it to be -"

"Thank you Doctor," sighs LB, "sir. But I think I'll pass. You saved the town. That's enough for me - I don't need to know the grisly details."

"Very well, then. We'll meet again, LB," says the Doctor with a little bow and a tip of his hat.

LB rolls her eyes. "Yes, no doubt. At some point across time, I suppose." She turns to Hitch, and shoves every single scrap of paperwork on her desk in his direction. "Hitch, please deal with this. I may get paid a frankly extravagant fee near-daily in the process of keeping this town and this state safe from any number of things, but it still isn't nearly enough to compensate for the aliens. I'm going home."

Hitch looks like he's going to argue for a moment. "I need to take Ruby and Clancy - "

"We don't need a babysitter," Ruby argues, but the Doctor raises a hand and smoothly interrupts.

"It's all right," he says. "I can walk them home."

--

So Ace and the Doctor head out of Spectrum Eight with Ruby and Clancy, emerging very close to Chatterbird Square, and the four of them spend a pleasant ten-or-so minutes walking to Clancy's house and chatting about all and any topics that come to mind - mostly about chemistry, oddly enough.

"No, look, it's super simple," Ace is arguing in Clancy's direction when they finally reach Ambassador Row. "You just need to make sure the nitroglycerin is fully stabilized before you take it out of the sodium bicarbonate - that's the most dangerous part since the rest is chemical mixing and that's just like cooking, honestly -"

"And the safety goggles," the Doctor interjects, rather insistently. "It doesn't matter how careful you are in the lab. There's always the chance that something can go wrong. But really now, Ace -"

"I feel like I should be taking notes," Clancy admits. He appears genuinely interested in the conversation. "All right, but where do I get all this stuff? I don't think the school chem lab would let me borrow the, uh, what was it... sulphuric acid?"

"I could probably steal some," Ruby volunteers, just as Ace says, "you can make it at home!"

"Ace," says the Doctor warningly.

"All you need is a car battery," Ace explains eagerly. "You just hack it open, drain the acid - use gloves seriously that stuff gives well-nasty burns - and then you heat it until -"

"Aaaaace," goes the Doctor, louder this time.

Ace is still talking over him. "Now getting the nitric acid, that's the hard part - you might actually need to steal that stuff," she adds with a slight frown.

"ACE."

"Ow, Professor, get off - what is it?"

He gives her a severe look that is very professorial in manner. "Stop corrrrrrupting the youth," he trills at her.

"Hey, I like being corrupted," Ruby protests. Clancy murmurs agreement.

The Doctor holds up his umbrella magnanimously, bringing an end to the conversation. "We're here," he says.