Who: Romana III & IV and Leela (Guest appearance by the Master) What: Regeneration Tiemz Where: A warehouse downtown then an alley a little ways away When Early Evening on the 22nd Rating: Medium for compromising position talk :) Status: Complete, log :)
Leela was really not liking this Romana. She now knew the meaning of the War Queen. Sure, Romana had told her about it, but actually experiencing that version of her friend was something else. She didn’t like this Romana at all. She was harsh and not nice. Romana really was different in this version. But even so, Leela was going to do her job correctly as bodyguard and not let anything happen to Romana if she could help it. So she went to find Romana to see if she needed anything. The last thing she’d expected to find Romana doing was being in a compromising position with the Master. As was custom, she did knock before entering, though she didn’t wait for a come in, which in retrospect she should have.
Seeing Romana and the Master that close only caused Leela’s blood to boil. She reverted back to the state she’d been in before the nice Romana had been killed. When she’d been suspicious of the Master and Romana, and the Master doing something evil to the female Time Lord. Her hand twitched towards her knife, wanting to run it through both of the Master’s hearts. But that would undoubtedly prove suicidal for her at the moment, and she no longer had a death wish. She left her knife, one of the ones Romana had given her, sheathed, but she scowled at the Master. She then looked at Romana.
“I see that you are busy. I shall return later. When you are alone.” Again, Leela shot a pointed glare towards the Master before turning on her heel and leaving.
The Master could only chuckle and shake his head. “She’s quite eloquent for a savage.”
Romana for her part was highly irritated at the interruption. Her little savage of a bodyguard had been more and more annoying of late, never letting her have time to herself, never giving her a break away from her. But Romana was smarter than the Sevateem Warrior. And she’d managed to break away sometimes. And as many of those times as she could manage were spent finding the Master. Oh he fascinated her. She wasn’t sure what it was anymore than she was sure she could stop letting him in to whatever twisted husks of hearts this regeneration had deigned to keep. Or maybe it was just what it was, base and ill advised. But it was her choice to make and she would not have it interrupted.
“My savage has her uses” said the former president, climbing off his lap with a final kiss that seemed to promise more. “Get back to work. I’ll make sure Leela knows better than to tell the Doctor what she saw. She does so enjoy running to him and you know how he’d get if he knew about this. He’s not the brightest I know but he’s ever so plucky when it comes to his companions. And not willing to do what needs to be done. Not like you.”
With that, the War Queen, readjusted her clothing and followed Leela to the alley outside running to catch up with the warrior before she reached the corner. How had she even... “How did you know where I was Leela? And more to the point what right had you to interrupt me. You are supposed to be a bodyguard yet all you seem to do is meddle and interfere. I should really have you apologise to the Master. Do you think you could manage to make something sound sincere?”
The Master did always hate the companions the Doctor kept. Most of them were little more than whining, pathetic little humans. But there had been a few that were able to fight and make even him think they had something of worth. The Doctor always did make strange choices in his companions, though. But in the end, the lot of them, save for a select few, were pathetic humans. And the fact that Leela had interrupted his alone time with Romana only added to his hatred of the little savage. He’d have to deal with her at some point. Romana wouldn’t like it if he took out her bodyguard, but he couldn’t stand the woman and did wonder why the War Queen would keep such a creature.
He smirked at Romana, returning her kiss. “Back to work it is. And no, the Doctor is weak and won’t do that. The last thing we need is him poking around. Then we’d really have no alone time.” The Doctor always had a knack for poking his nose into things that didn’t concern him. When Romana left, the Master went back to doing what he’d been doing before her arrival, all the while waiting for her to return.
Leela had almost made it out of the alley, intent on, of course, running to the Doctor and telling him. He always knew what to do and right now he was really her only friend. When she heard Romana, she closed her eyes, hating that tone so much. After a moment, she opened them and looked at the Time Lady. “You forget that it is my business to know where you are at all times. And I am also a tracker.” Even in a city, Leela could track people relatively easily. Using those skills made her feel better, more at ease because they were at least familiar to her.
But when Romana mentioned apologizing to the Master, Leela couldn’t repress an eye roll. “Why should I apologize to him?” She was far too proud to even consider such a thing. She would sooner stab the man than attempt being cordial towards him. After all, he was an evil man and she knew he’d been doing something to Romana before, and he would probably do it again. She needed to make sure that didn’t happen. “I think you know I could never sound sincere to him unless it was expressing my hatred of him.”
Romana rolled her eyes, there was no sense in arguing with the creature and she was a fool to ever have tried. The girl was a savage and little else. The Master was right, and he was right in so many things, if only she’d considered them earlier and not fawned over the Doctor like all the rest, how different things could have been. Maybe they could have saved Gallifrey, maybe they could have wrested her Presidency back from Rassilon. But she had been weak then. Until she’d realised she needed to be strong. Needed to do everything in her power to survive the hell befalling them all. Leela hadn’t understood. Not really. How could she?
“Oh but lying is so easy. Like when I say I feel sorry for killing Andred? You see all the signs, I drop my eyes, fidget, tilt my mouth just slightly, and I say...It was Pandora, she did this, she caused it. I could never have stopped her, I took no pleasure in watching the life blood bleed from your husband.” Romana laughed then, a cold crisp laugh tinged with all the coldness and darkness of the things this regeneration had done in the name of her people.
Of protecting herself.
“Oh Leela, we both know you’re not going to tell the Doctor anything. You’re going to sit here in this dirty alley and you’re going to wish that you could. That maybe something would change and you wouldn’t be dealing with me. That the Romana you trust and respect will return. But the truth is she was weak, she fawned over the Doctor, she hung on his every word. And Galiifrey needed something more than our precious Doctor. Gallifrey needed me. And then I decided it needed the Master. And you know what savage? Earth needs him too, much as it doesn’t know it yet. But it will. And you will tell the Doctor nothing of what you saw. Not that he’d believe you over me anyway.” It would be too easy to lie to the Doctor, tell him Leela hadn’t seen what she thought she’d seen. Especially if she got there first.
“What did you think you were going to say?” she said, walking backwards at speed toward the sidewalk, she was hardly paying any kind of attention, so focused was she on the savage girl.
As much as Romana saw no sense in talking to Leela, Leela saw no sense in talking to this Romana. Not when she was so cold and condescending. Leela had once thought the Doctor was condescending towards her with calling her a savage and then always taking credit for ideas she had come up with. But that was nothing compared to a conversation with this Romana. It did seem that this version of Romana loved to go for the juggular in people. Leela hated the topic of Andred, and even now it was still a sore spot for her, as it probably always would be. It had been bad enough that Andred had deceived her, but then he’d died at Romana’s hand? All the pain and anger she had about his death came back to her in that moment. The part of her that sought justice for his murder willed her to plunge her knife into Romana’s chest. But Leela could never do that, even to a cold and cruel Romana that seemed to take pleasure in what she said.
As Romana walked backwards, Leela fixed her with a glare. There was pure hatred in it because a part of her did hate the woman in front of her. A part of her would never forgive Romana for what had happened. But she could never take revenge. She had to make peace with herself and move on. “Why would the Doctor not believe me? Why are you so confident that he would believe you over me? Just because you are a Time Lord just as him?” Leela crossed her arms, inwardly feeling like she was back on Gallifrey. Oh she’d been aware of the way the Time Lords viewed her, as someone beneath them. She’d just ignored it all. “I think the Doctor would value anything I had to tell him. Especially if it concerned you and involved the Master.”
If it involved her and the Master. How dare she? How dare that little savage even consider talking to her like that! She was a Time Lady, she was a former president and she was above all else the War Queen. “And what if I tell him you’re possessed, someone weak and stupid like you would get so easily possessed after all, wouldn’t they Leela?” Yes that would do nicely, tell the Doctor Leela had been foolish enough to get herself possessed and that Romana had done all she could to stop it but...
“Do you know I don’t think I need a bodyguard any longer” she said coldly. “Since you already failed me once I don’t see what the need would be to keep you on. Consider yourself relieved of any ridiculous bond or debt you might feel to me. It turns out you see that all I need is him. We have a plan you see, a way to stop all this that no one has ever considered and its brilliant.” Leela was glaring at her, all fury and hurt and sadness all wrapped up into one over Andred. “He never even realy loved you, I hope you know that? Your Andred, he used to tell the others about his savage little wife. Do you really think someone like him could have had true feelings for you? You’re nothing Leela, a joke, a pathetic joke that will never be anything more. Just go, no one wants you here, not even the Doctor. He tired of you quickly didn’t he, and this one will tire of you too.”
She was moving backward still as she spoke, there was no way she could have seen the swerving car until it was too late. It sent her into the air only to slam her to the ground just as quickly. No No, NO. This was not the ending befitting a War Queen. Romana deserved better than this. “Savage” she called, trying to goad the girl into just ending her. “...You don’t...deserve to be named among the companions...Leela always...playing at being someone better.” Romana grabbed at the knife from Leela’s hip. “...Aren’t you angry...aren’t you willing to...kill.”
Leela almost couldn’t believe her ears. Romana would tell the Doctor she was possessed. In that moment, she was glad this Romana knew nothing of her past possession, otherwise there was no doubt she’d throw that back in Leela’s face. In retrospect, she should’ve expected such a plan from the War Queen. Though the plan would fall apart when the exorcism and Devil’s Trap wouldn’t work. But even so, it would cause trouble long enough for Romana to come up with some other plan, some other way of getting rid of her. “I would not fall prey to a demon so quickly. Even you should know a warrior like me would be hard to take down.” But the truth was it was easy for her to get possessed. Well, when she wasn’t wearing her amulet that was. But ever since Romana had exorcised the demon out of her, she’d made sure to never take her amulet off, and if it fell off she’d get the chain fixed and put it back on. Leela refused to be possessed again, to be a prisoner in her own body.
Romana’s words hurt, cut her deeper than any weapon ever could. As much as Leela tried to not pay attention to what the War Queen was saying, she couldn’t help but let them sink in. “A plan to end this war? And how many innocent casualties will it include? How much destruction will be left in the aftermath?” And how sane could the plan even be? The Master was off his rocker on his best days. But then Romana was driving the knife in further and twisting it with her further push of the Andred topic. Leela clenched her teeth tightly and felt rage pump through her. Of course Andred loved her, she believed that. But when he’d deceived her, he had tried to win her back, tried to make her understand. But her pride got in the way and she couldn’t forgive him or trust him again. Once someone lost her trust, it was lost for good. And Romana was getting dangerously close to losing hers.
Leela was about to say something when she saw the car hit Romana and send her flying. Her eyes went wide with shock. How had she not seen the car before? Well, it was hard when she’d been getting blinded by anger and pain, getting her deepest wounds picked at by the vulture that was the War Queen. As Romana reached for her knife, Leela’s hand got there first, pulling it from its sheath. Oh it would be so easy to end the War Queen for good, to stab her through both hearts. Oh she was angry, angry enough to kill. She gripped the knife tightly, tight enough for her knuckles to turn white. “I am angry enough to kill.” She stood over Romana, shocked that she’d even consider such a thing. But even as she stood there seething and hurting, she couldn’t do it. Somewhere in there, the Romana she respected was still there. Her friend was still there, still a part of the damaged War Queen. “But I will not kill you. You are still Romana, and I told you once that I would not seek revenge on you.” She kept a hold of the knife in case Romana tried to grab for it again. The next move though would probably be to get Romana to some secluded place for her regeneration. Leela knew what happened when Time Lords got badly injured, she’d lived on Gallifrey long enough to understand that.
Maybe...maybe she would get her friend back if Romana regenerated. Maybe Romana would be nice again and Leela could just forget everything that had just happened. Well, at least she wouldn’t talk about it or bring it up. She would remember, she had a long memory for these things.
Leela was weak, weak and feeble and unable even to end her life. But Romana would not lose her life on the streets, to a stupid human veichle. She just refused. “Just do it savage. Just...” But dammit she was weak herself, not mentally, oh no, she always had her inner strength, but she’d regenerate and she’d lose herself. Lose the War Queen. To some weak feeble human tainted thing. “...I don’t want...He needs me Leela. He needs me or it won’t work as well don’t you understand. I am the War Queen of Gallifrey and he is my flawed genius and I will get my world back even if I have to see this one burn to do it.”
“Lucifer can’t have his apocolypse if there’s nothing to...” Ugh it was getting hard to breathe now, harder and harder and she could feel the regeneration beginning, there were too many injuries, she couldn’t hold it off until she got to the Master, she couldn’t protect herself. She just had to let it happen. She just had to give in and hope for something she could use.
“I don’t want to be weak savage. Not like you, or your Andred, or your precious bloody Doctor she spat. “I want to be strong for him don’t you understand and I was, I was and we were building something so beautiful, the world would have bow....” No it wasn’t working. She wouldn’t reach him, Dark cold eyes turned to Leela. “Well do something savage? Get me out of here. I will not die in a road. And if I am going to regenerate I would rather it be away from prying eyes. Do it now if you still have any loyalty?” Romana didn’t understand quite how broken she was, not the way Leela did. Leela could see it in her, the War Queen, twisted and broken, formed in the blood of her people. Willing to win at all costs.
But going to die, no matter what she did, die and come back...changed.
The way Romana spoke of the Master made her sound insane. She didn’t quite understand why Romana was this adamant about getting back to the Master and work with him. From all she’d seen and heard of the War Queen, she was mentally strong, but right now she was almost anything but mentally strong. She seemed to be coming unhinged, though that was perhaps due to the fact she was facing regeneration and didn’t want to. People did tend to show strange behavior when confronted with death. Leela believed they showed their true selves when faced with the Reaper, and here the great War Queen of Gallifrey was falling apart.
But she couldn’t dwell on anything. She needed to get Romana somewhere safe, somewhere out of prying eyes. She sheathed her knife and nodded, not bothering to even respond to Romana verbally. What was there to say anyway? Leela bent down and helped Romana up, holding most of the Time Lady’s weight. It was hard to tell what was broken and what wasn’t, but she did her best to not cause any more pain than Romana all ready felt. She then quickly moved back down the alley. There had been a nook Romana could hide in while regenerating. Once she arrived at the appointed spot, Leela set Romana down, now completely hidden from view. Leela took a couple steps back, knowing she shouldn’t be too close right then. Still she said nothing, but she looked at Romana, hoping the one that came out on the other side of the regeneration was the one she’d known here. Or if it wasn’t, hopefully it would be a nicer Romana. Leela wouldn’t be able to take another War Queen.
She could feel it, all the cells in her body seeming almost to be aflame, it wasn’t long now, and at least Leela had gotten her out of the road. It was a far cry from her last regeneration, a dirty alley in a city populated by fools and far away from the Time Lord she’d grown to... well not care for but grown to want around her anyway. What would he do now? Would she even still feel the same. Oh she hoped she would. Her eyes met Leela’s furiously, tinged now with a golden glow and full of hate and rage for the one that had caused this before all too suddenly the War Queen was gone, hidden in a haze of golden light that surrounded her, bathed her. And changed her, hair lengthening turning a vibrent red. Eyes lightening. The angle of her face changing, gaining a few inches in height and losing one or two at the waist.
And then for a few moments there was nothing. The light vanished and Romana lay where she had slumped, definitely one more familiar to Leela.
“Leela!” she said excitedly, still confused from the regeneration, still not entirely aware of her surroundings bar... “Oh this...this isn’t Gallifrey is it. This is a place that...oh...oh” she said almost all at once before slumping again. She remembered so little of it but the things she did remember. “He...I...the things I....” She should just have finished it, the things the War Queen had put her friends through, how could anyone want that, how could anyone care for her anymore. Why would they want to, and the Master...
Oh it was probably wise not to think of him.
“I...should apologi...was my accent always this...no no sorry apologies. I need to, to you because the thing I...she...I...the things she said they’re not what I think, not really, cruelty was how I...she...got by and I don’t know what to do with that now. It’s not here but I still remember it and what it very nearly caused and I... Can you just take me to the Tardis... I should talk to him probably. It would make sense wouldn’t it. And Rose and Amy and...well maybe not the Master right now, that might not be wise...Oh Leela, he and I...I don’t even know where to begin.”
She babbled, apparently. Hopefully that was just when nervous, she was sure it would get decidedly annoying otherwise. But she’d missed her bodyguard and her friend. It felt like she had been away from her for an awfully long while.
Leela saw the look Romana gave her just before the golden light enveloped her, and she knew the War Queen blamed her for what had happened. True Leela could’ve just reminded her that walking backwards towards a street wasn’t a good idea, but she hadn’t. But one couldn’t exactly think about safety when they were having the argument they’d had. When the golden light enveloped Romana, Leela closed her eyes and turned her head away, not wanting to be blinded by it. After all, she’d been blinded before, and she really didn’t want to go there again. She liked being able to see.
When the light faded, she was relieved to see the Romana she had known before. This was a good sign, one that said she’d be nicer this time around. And then came the post-regeneration confusion. Even with Romana apologizing, and despite the argument that had happened only moments before, all Leela could think about was how good it was to see this Romana again. There were tears in her eyes, ones of relief, but also the ones she’d kept inside since Romana’s body had been left on the complex doorstep, the ones she’d refused to shed except in private.
“You really have no idea how good it is to see you,” she finally managed to say. Oh she heard everything Romana had said, but right then the only thing that mattered was that Romana was alive and back. Without much thought, Leela knelt beside Romana and actually hugged the woman. Hugging wasn’t exactly something Leela did very often, but this situation definitely called for it. She held onto Romana for several moments before she pulled back and looked at her. “I know the War Queen was harsh, you do not need to apologize for her.” She wouldn’t say it was okay because really it wasn’t. And the topic of the Master was a rather sticky one, and she still wondered if she should tell the Doctor about it or not. “Yes I will take you to the TARDIS.” Leela didn’t want to jump into this topic right this moment, but hopefully after Romana was more clear-headed they could talk more. Not that apologies would make anything better or change the past, but there were other things to talk about.
Hugged, she was being hugged. Was hugging a...Oh she liked hugging. Hugging was a thing that she liked now, and so she hugged back. It seemed like the thing to do. Just as going to the TARDIS did of course. They’d go there, Romana would sneak in, the old girl would let them in and she’d find her room and she’d hide there. Oh yes, hide there until she was ready to face the people she’d largly ignored or been horrid to. Yes that was definitely the thing to do.
Decision made she released the Sevateem Warrior and clamoured to her feet. The tallness was mildly unnerving and walking wasn’t entirely easy either. “Will there be tea?” she asked, still mildly confused but remembering that often the TARDIS meant readily available tea and that this Kansas they were in did not understand it quite as well. Americans, from what she knew the only noted thing they’d done with tea was chuck a lot of it in Boston Harbour.
“Such a waste...” she said aloud about a topic she’d been bimbling on about in her own mind. Leela of course wouldn’t have a clue about any of it but that was alright. Everything would be alright now. Once she got to the TARDIS and once Leela talked to the Doctor. After that Romana would decide on what to do about the rest, about the things she wasn’t letting her mind dwell on.
They reached the street as another car flew by. “I don’t believe I’m a fan of cars.” she said simply as they walked. Likes. Tea and Hugging. Dislikes. Cars.