Who: Leela and K-9 What: Leela's having a breakdown and is hiding from people. SHE NEEDS A DOCTOR. When: Tonight Where: An abandoned building on the outskirts of Lawrence Rating: PGish. Nothing too bad.
So many things had happened. Leela no longer knew who to even trust. Romana was dead. The Doctor wasn't here. And Leela was pretty sure several people wanted her dead for the things she had done under Alema's influence. She was avoiding the complex, not wanting to return to her room there for fear she'd be killed on sight. True, she had apologized for what she'd done, but trust seemed to fickle in this world. It reminded her far too much of what had happened Gallifrey. Too much lying and backstabbing for her liking. No one seemed to value trust and truth here. She once said that trust meant nothing on Gallifrey, and she could say the same for this world. These people were nearly as bad as some of the Time Lords. Everyone was out for themselves. That was a concept Leela didn't like. She'd help others whenever she could, fight to right wrongs, but she never did anything just to gain herself more power. Her actions were always guided by survival and a sense of doing right. Leela's primitive mind didn't always understand the things around her, but she was far from stupid. In fact, she was highly intelligent, able to take advanced concepts and put it in terms she could understand.
But now she was alone in a world that was not her own. She had no home anywhere. Her home planet wasn't even settled yet, her people didn't exist. Even if she managed to somehow get back to them, would they even take her? She had been exiled from the Sevateem before the Doctor had arrived and changed her life. She'd jumped into the TARDIS and forced him to take her with him, mostly because she felt he needed to be protected. Then when they'd gone to the Doctor's homeworld of Gallifrey, she'd met and fallen in love with Andred. She stayed on the planet when the Doctor left, and she married Andred, though the rest of the Time Lords looked down on her. But once she met Romana, she'd found a true friend. When Romana got into politics, Leela stayed by her side, acting as a bodyguard. When Romana became President, she was appointed Presidential Bodyguard. And she took her job seriously. She did it well, at least until the Pandora mess started.
"Oh K-9, I miss her. I cannot believe she is really dead." Leela lamented, hugging her knees against her chest.
"It is my conclusion that she is only dead in this world, Mistress. Romana still exists in our own reality." The robot dog chirped back.
"But how can that be? I do not understand."
"Allow me to explain, Mistress."
"No K-9, you do not need to explain. I would not understand." Leela sighed and closed her eyes as K-9 fell silent. She really didn't know how much more of this world she could take. Romana had told her of the things that had happened on Gallifrey, of Andred's death. Leela had divorced him because he'd lied to her and deceived her about still having been alive, but she still loved him with all her heart. Even now, she still loved him, but she wouldn't sacrifice her ideals and beliefs to stay with him. She did not like being lied to, and his deception was the end of their relationship. But when Romana had said she'd killed Andred, Leela really didn't know how to feel. Of course, it was under Pandora's influence, but part of her had blamed Romana. It was why she couldn't forgive her friend for that, but they had managed to move past that.
Romana had always been so strong and intelligent, and now she was gone. Leela wished she had been taken instead. She didn't fit in anywhere anymore. She was just a refugee, and this planet was almost as cold as Gallifrey was. No longer did she have someone like Romana to depend on to explain things or to just talk to. All she had was K-9, and half the time she didn't understand the things he said. For once, Leela didn't know where to go from here. She wanted to run, but where would she go? This planet was strange, and she would be conspicuous anywhere she went. The only people that would even accept her were the ones in Lawrence, but she was certain they would sooner kill her than let her be around them anymore.
For the first time in a long time, Leela started crying. She couldn't believe the things she'd done because of Alema's hold over her. She felt horrible for attacking those poor Jedi. They didn't deserve it, she knew that, and Leia had been nice about it, which she really hadn't expected at all. But she couldn't help but feel like her emotions weren't her own. She felt weird, violated, and on top of that she was still grieving for Romana. Well, more like truly grieving for her finally. Alema had gotten a hold of her before she could properly grieve and move on. Now it was all coming down on her and she couldn't handle it. So she just cried, letting it out the only way she could. It didn't take long before her crying turned into hard sobs. She buried her face in her knees, just letting her emotions come out, so hopefully sometime soon she could put together some sort of plan for what to do. But for the meantime, all she would do is sit there and cry, knowing she couldn't do anything else right then. Perhaps soon she would find the answers and peace she needed, but that time wasn't now.