Perchance to Dream (Sisi)

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

Midhir's TARDIS
The Time Vortex
Approximately 360 years after the events of Torchwood 1944: The New Lords of Time.
Approximately 3 years after the events of Enter the Labyrinth.

Midhir stared at the navigational displays of his TARDIS, chewing on his lower lip. It had seemed so simple, when he'd said it to his new bride. "We should go visit my parents. Tell them we got married. Let them meet you."

That was two and a half years ago.

Centuries ago, in a raging fit of paranoia, the Meddler had disengaged and destroyed every tracking device integrated into a TARDIS and fitted it with it's own ersatz Eye of Harmony. It was the closest thing to a 'stealth' TARDIS Gallifrey had ever seen. And it made it damn near impossible for even his family to track him down.

Not that the last two and a half years hadn't been fun. He and Andromeda had seen exotic places, gotten into trouble, helped some people out. The kind of thing you ended up doing, really. But now? Now he'd finally found his father's TARDIS, sitting in chronosynchronous orbit over early 21st century (Anno Domini reckoning) Earth.

"Leave it to dad to be parked near some massive spacetime anomaly, too," he muttered. Then he reached over and flipped a switch. "Andi? Honey? I've found them, and for real this time. We should be in docking postion in less than half an hour, ship time."

He checked the readouts again, and blinked in surprise. "That's... odd. I've never seen mom or dad pull more than about 12% of the potential power of Suicide Jack. And they're using nearly 90%. What's going on?"

Rotating the circular console on it's axis around the time rotor, he set the communications station to the family frequency. "Hey, mom. Dad. It's Midhir."

No response. He frowned. Even if they were both off the ship, Tonks should be answering.

"Hello?" he tried again. "Tonks? Moorg? Anyone?"

Still no response. He couldn't even be certain they were receiving.

For the first time in his life, Midhir began to really worry about his parents.

Doctor Who

Perchance to Dream

[sisilaya]

When she opened her eyes she groaned at the bright light that harassed her senses. Squeezing her eyes shut she covered them with a hand, trying to block it out. It took a while before the rest of her senses started waking up.

Why was there this bright light?

She opened her eyes curiously, to find out the light was not as bright as she first though, actually there was no light at all. Just.. white. White. Everywhere there was white. White that made her skin even look paler then it already was.

Was she sleeping? Was she dreaming?

She forced herself up, or tried to only to realise there was nothing there supporting her, she was floating. She gasped and trashed, only to find that her feet did hit solid ground now and she flailed momentarily to keep her balance. She took a deep breath once she had both her feet on what seemed solid ground she took a moment to look down at herself.

She was wearing a white chemise, a golden-like rope tied double around her waist in a greek-style fashion. Her bare feet look fragile on the white floor made of a material she could not place.

There was a whole thing about this place she could not place.

"Where the hell am I?" She muttered softly.

___________________________________________________


The Dreamweaver was lying on the marble floor of the Meddler's TARDIS console room, sprawled onto her side and breathing shallowly. Her hair was sprawled out over her face, her cheek stuck to the cold floor. Unmoving. She wouldn't be sleeping there.

There was a person kneeling next to her in white robes, floating about their form like air. Short ginger hair surrounded the young person's face, beautiful with a set of bright blue eyes the colour of the morning sky. A worried smile graced the young man's lips as his pale hand traced over the Dreamweavers hair. It took a close look to see that this person was actually male.

"What have they done to you?" His soft tenor voice echoed gently.

He shouldn't have been here, but all he remembered was feeling a tug at his navel and appearing next to this unconscious woman.

"If Robin has something to do with this.." He muttered softly.

"Hey, mom. Dad. It's Midhir."

He turned his head to the speaker that was build in the console, a brow raising. He looked down at the unconscious woman before him.. was she his mother?

"Hello?" he tried again. "Tonks? Moorg? Anyone?"

He sighed and shook his head, hesitantly looking at the console panel, there was a green button flickering next to the speaker. He looked back at the woman before him, she was still unmoving, and then back up to the console. He pushed the green button.

"I don't think either of them is going to reply." He said hesitantly, his voice not showing any hostility. His eyes flickered, his robes giving a tug as if a breeze just took up. He looked down to the unconscious woman at his feet again.

"Do you happen to know a woman with long red curling hair and a leather suit?" He asked hesitantly.

"My name is Ariel. I'm not exactly sure how I got here, or how this woman ended up laying unconscious here on the floor."

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

Midhir was about to try the communications panel again, when a voice responded.

"I don't think either of them is going to reply." The voice was soft. Hesitant. Faintly familiar, like the echo of something he felt he should recognize.

But he didn't. And that was alarming. Dad had secured his TARDIS against intrusion centuries ago.

"Do you happen to know a woman with long red curling hair and a leather suit?" the maddeningly familiar voice continued, still hesitant.

"Mom!" The word escaped unbidden at the description. "You... who the hell are you?"

"My name is Ariel. I'm not exactly sure how I got here, or how this woman ended up laying unconscious here on the floor."

"Ariel?" Midhir echoed, anger and confusion mingling in his voice. The temptation to act, to simply transmit himself through the carrier beam of the communications array and appear, was strong. But he checked the urge. The docking sequence wasn't difficult, but he didn't trust his TARDIS to do it unsupervised. And Andi was nowhere near ready to try it.

"All right, Ariel," he said, the words snarling through gritted teeth. "We'll be boarding in four minutes. Stand by."

---

Eight minutes.

He'd been unconscious for eight minutes.

Slowly, the Meddler took stock of his situation. He wasn't onboard the TARDIS. There was soil and grass pressing against his body and face, and a gentle breeze over his back. It was possible that someone could have mistaken this locale for the Conservatory. But the subtle vibrations of the engines were missing.

Carefully, he looked up. He was in a forest. Ancient oaks stood tall and strong, casting deep shadows over what was either a rising or setting sun. Setting, he decided. The air was warm, with the ambient temperature beginning to cool.

He sniffed. The air smelled... odd. There was something wrong. Something out of place. But what...?

There was a sound like the buzzing of insect wings. Motion in the corner of his eye caught his attention, as a softly glimmering creature dressed in leaves, no more than a hand in height, crouched on a tree branch. It cocked its heart-shaped head to one side, curiously.

"Good evening," the Meddler said, opting for manners as the better part of value.

It chirped something back. The accent was strange, and it took the Meddler a moment to realize it was a variant of ancient Greek.

---

Andromeda hadn't joined him in the control room yet, and Midhir felt obscurely glad for that. He was well aware by now that, if pressed, she could handle herself in a fight. But, he was dealing with something that might have invaded his father's TARDIS and harmed or...

No. No reason to think that. Not yet.

The door of his TARDIS opened and he stepped through, rapier drawn. The sight of the familiar grey stone primary control room should have felt welcoming, but the sight of his mother crumpled on the floor made it seem cold and hollow.

A figure - most likely this 'Ariel' stood by the console, looking down at her. "You!" Midhir ordered, pointing with his blade. "Step away from her, slowly, and explain yourself!"

[sisilaya]

"All right, Ariel," he said, the words snarling through gritted teeth. "We'll be boarding in four minutes. Stand by.

He shook his head, sighing softly. He'd be a fool not to notice the venom in those words, it would promice the coming of a fight most likely. He had been hoping to avoid this.

It didn't take long for the doors to burst open and a man with curling red hair to burst through with his rapier drown. Ariel looked positively disappointed, but he straightened himself all the same for the oncoming storm that fastly approaching.

He smiled inwardly. A Tempest.

"You!" Midhir ordered, pointing with his blade. "Step away from her, slowly, and explain yourself!"

Ariel did as he was told and raised his hands in a surrendering gesture as he slowly stepped away from her body, his feet never quite touching the ground as his robes flowed with him.

"I told you before, I mean no harm. I suggest we get your mother to safety first and then I'll explain everything to you. She's been unconscious ever since I got here, which has been at least a good ten minutes now."

The man before him reminded him of someone.. but he couldn't quite place it yet. Strange.

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

"I told you before, I mean no harm. I suggest we get your mother to safety first and then I'll explain everything to you. She's been unconscious ever since I got here, which has been at least a good ten minutes now."

The sight of his mother, crumpled on the floor at the feet of a stranger, made Midhir want to lash out. But there was something - some quality in the stranger's tone of voice - that made him hesitate. Slowly, almost reluctantly, he lowered and then sheathed his sword.

"All right," he said, forcing calm into his voice. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt." He hesitated, then released the hilt. "But you'd better have a damn good explanation fo this."

---

From beneath a chair, he watched the scene unfold with interest. Ariel was clearly out of danger, for the moment at least, so there was no reason to emerge from hiding.

The newcomer - a handsome young man, copper-haired and brown eyed and bearded, looked a bit like a masculine version of Ari. He spoke softly into a badge he wore clipped to a black leather gauntlet, then scooped his mother up. With a meaningful glance, not quite a glare, he indicated that Ariel should follow.

Slowly, he crept from beneath the chair, wincing at the soft clanking of the fine chains that wrapped his furry body. Then, just in time, he scrambled back under the chair.

A woman had entered the vaulted room, now. Copper-haired as well, and nearly the spitting image of the newcomer's mother. If you ignored the vine-like tattoos on the side of her neck and face, that is. Hurrying past the central column, she followed after Ariel and the newcomer.

Slowly, carefully, he crept out again. Satisfied that there would be no more surprises, he scampered after the party as fast as his squirrel legs could carry him.

---

Ancient Greek.

The Meddler cast back through his memories, dredging the language back to his mind. He hadn't had to speak this in centuries.

Finally, satisfied that he could be intelligible, he tried again. "Good even to ye. Whither art ye bound?"

Awkward. But it would get smoother, as he listened to the winged creature speak.

"Over hill, over dale," answered the creature. "Through bush, through brier. Over park, over pale. Through flood, through fire." It - the creature resembled a slender and prepubescent human - shrugged. "I do wander everywhere, swifter than the moon's sphere."

He blinked as the statement brought back memories. Oh, no, he thought. No, no, no... "And... do you serve the fairy queen?"

The creature laughed. "Aye, to dew her orbs upon the green." It peered at him, slyly. "But... either I mistake your shape and making quite, or else you are that shrewd and knavish sprite call'd Robin Goodfellow. Are you not he?"

The Meddler stifled a groan.

---

It was almost more than he could stand.

All of his memories of his mother were of an active, vibrant woman. A woman filled with life, with energy. It was almost more than he could bear, looking at her like this - still and silent and unresponsive. Only the tremendous corona of psychic energy that surrounded her made him confident she was still alive.

He watched, eyes wide with concern, wishing he could do more to speed the examinations Andromeda and the Infirmiry were making. But, despite things he'd picked up over the decades, he was no doctor.

Finally, driven to be doing something he turned to face the mysterious Ariel. "So. Explain. How did you get into the TARDIS? And what happened to my parents?"

[sisilaya]

"All right," he said, forcing calm into his voice. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt." He hesitated, then released the hilt. "But you'd better have a damn good explanation for this."

Ariel's eyebrows furrowed a bit in worry, worry that he did not really have a good explanation for what happened it. It as much mystified him as it did to this young man. He watched as the woman, this man's mother (How they did not look that much in age difference made him wonder if they were of the Courts too) was lifted into strong arms and he himself was given a look that could have withered a rose. He followed regardless.

For a short moment he took up the woman that followed them, vine like tattoo's travelling up her neck and side of her face. He raised a brow, the woman was nearly a splitting image of the man's mother that was being carried. Were they twin's? Wait no, she smelled human, the other woman clearly did not.

It did not take long till they reached an infirmary of sorts, and he took his distance as the two people took care of the woman, the 'twin' woman was clearly a healer. He could appreciate that.

It was heartbreaking to see how helpless the man felt, there was nothing he could do even though she was just a human. Funny how fate could work out at moments like that.

It didn't take long till that frustration was pointed at him.

"So. Explain. How did you get into the TARDIS? And what happened to my parents?"

He held his hands up as he had before, but now in more of a way to shush the hostility of the man beside him.

"I do not know how I got here to be honest, I'm not even sure I know what a Tardis is." He swallowed nervously "All I know is that I felt a tugging sensation at my navel, and the room suddenly changed violently around me. I appeared in that room just in time to catch your mother from cracking open her head on the floor, I had no idea what was going on either, or how I got here for that matter. I wish I did, honestly."

He had been right in the middle of gathering up the courage to face his master.. Queen Titania.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She felt like she had been walking for a good hour, and her scenery still did not change. Everything was still white. Stark white. She felt her eyes start to burn from the overdose of white light on her retina.

She was slowly getting more and more agitated, her pace increasing, her panic slowly creeping up on her more and more. She'd go mad in here if she remained trapped her for much long.

"Hello? Anybody? ANYBODY?" She yelled, frustration starting to catch up with her.

No response of course, like all the other times she tried. She stomped her foot on the floor for lack of anything to kick against.

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

"I do not know how I got here to be honest, I'm not even sure I know what a Tardis is." He swallowed nervously "All I know is that I felt a tugging sensation at my navel, and the room suddenly changed violently around me. I appeared in that room just in time to catch your mother from cracking open her head on the floor, I had no idea what was going on either, or how I got here for that matter. I wish I did, honestly."

Frankly, Midhir didn't want to believe him. Her. Whichever.

In truth, it also bothered him that he couldn't figure it out. He was usually able to pick genders out, but this Ariel could have been a pretty young man or a handsome young woman. His type, too.

Breathing.

But, pretty or handsome, he was also married now. His eye shouldn't wander, and his hands certainly shouldn't.

Plus, he really wanted to lash out. But there was too much truth in the man's (woman's?) words, and posture, and emotions. It could still be a ploy, but...

Well...

He swallowed, and forced himself through some of the centering exercises he'd learned. "All right," he finally said, voice controlled. "I believe you. Or, at least, I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt."

He hesitated, then moved to stand behind Andromeda, staring over her shoulder at the Infirmary readouts. "Heavy delta wave activity," he read aloud, frowning. "No indications of physical trauma... extraordinary psi field activity... psychoenergetic energies being replenished at... that can't be right!"

Stunned, he looked down at his mother. "If those displays are correct - and they should be, but... well... I mean - she's asleep. And drawing on Suicide Jack to burn psychic energy at a ridiculous rate."

Another pause, while he forced himself to think through the situation. Finally, he sighed. "I'm going to need to call my sisters in on this, Andi." He went silent again, gazing down at his mother's dreaming form. "I wonder what she's dreaming about?"

---

"Hello? Anybody? ANYBODY?" She yelled, frustration starting to catch up with her.

Her voice didn't even echo in the yawning white emptiness. It seemed to fall muted from her lips, deadened by the emptiness around her.

And then the whiteness seemed to pulse and shake, trembling in time to something almost too vast to be sound.

FROM THE WORLD BEYOND BEYOND...

Impossibly far away, a hole seemed to yawn in the white sky.

FROM THE LAND PAST HOPE AND FEAR

The ground shook, harder and faster, and the hole yawned wider.

I BID YOU, DJIN...

Now the air itself seemed charged with anticipation, like the moment before the lightning strikes.

NOW APPEAR!

With that roar of thunder, the hole expanded to fill the world. Seconds later, the Dreamweaver found herself standing in a cave. The air was cool and still on her skin. Guttering torchlight glittered off of heaps of precious metals. And seated on the floor, cross-legged and focused on a pearl ring, sat a young man. He was dark of skin and dark of hair, wearing patched breeches and a threadbare vest, dirty and in need of a haircut. He looked up at the Dreamweaver, a mixture of surprise and triumph in his eyes.

"You've changed your appearance," he said, leaping to his feet and giving her an approving once-over. His voice sounded much the same as the thunders that had shook the white prison.

He bowed, as politely as he could. "I am Rashid Ala ad-Din. And, as you are the djinn of this ring, and as I am the master of the ring, I must - respectfully - command you to free me from this cave."

(And the Dreamweaver's part of the tale continues in Itty-bitty Living Space!)

[sisilaya]

Ariel took a long look at the man, a bit too long and intense one would say, but he wasn't used to human standards after all. He knew the man was attracted to him, he could smell it, the subtle hint of pheromones lacing the air around him. He couldn't blame him as azure eyes went over his wife, standing in his shadow. She seemed slightly nervous with the situation. He caught a whif of her scent.

Ah. Human. That explained. He gave her a gentle smile to try and calm her nerves. It earned him a glare from her husband though.

"All right," he finally said, voice controlled. "I believe you. Or, at least, I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt."

"I'm not asking for miracles, Sir." He said softly, watching as he moved behind his wife to look at the readouts on the screen.

"Heavy delta wave activity," he read aloud, frowning. "No indications of physical trauma... extraordinary psi field activity... psychoenergetic energies being replenished at... that can't be right!"

Stunned, he looked down at his mother. "If those displays are correct - and they should be, but... well... I mean - she's asleep. And drawing on Suicide Jack to burn psychic energy at a ridiculous rate."

It brought wonder to Ariel as well, what this woman was doing, why she was unconscious and why she was going through energy as such a fast rate. Even he knew, without all the forlorn terms the man was using, that burning so much energy was a bad idea.

"I'm going to need to call my sisters in on this, Andi." He went silent again, gazing down at his mother's dreaming form. "I wonder what she's dreaming about?"

This man had sisters? Interesting to know. Specially since his mother didn't look a day older then this man actually was. It didn't take a fool to learn that this woman was more connected to him then one would think. They were practically the same, he could feel this, but her magic was decidedly different. Something he had never seen before.

He whirled around, there was nothing he could do, and he hated it. He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose at his own frustration.

"Robin, where are you." He sighed softly.

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

Midhir hesitated. He knew Andi was more than capable of taking care of herself. And of taking care of his mother - particularly with the Infirmary at her disposal. But he'd also learned that he was rather protective of his wife, and he was unsettled by what had happened here.

Finally, he made a decision. Slipping his arms around Andi's waist, he murmured "I'll be back in a bit - I'll need the console to call Morgaine and Meri. Just call if you need anything." He kissed the back of her neck, then added: "Oh, and if mom wakes up? Just tell her who you are. She'll be both confused and excited, to hear that we got married."

Reluctantly, he released his wife. "You," he said, pointing at Ariel. "Come with me."

---

He scrambled after Ariel and the oddly-familiar young-looking man, taking care to keep Ariel's slender form between them. As the man rounded a corner he lept, clambering up the back of the youth's chiton to the accompaniment of the dull, high clattering of his chains.

Pausing for an instant to see if the young-looking man was watching - he wasn't - he nipped lightly at Ariel's earlobe. "Hey," said the Puck, his whispering squirrel's voice high-pitched, "sorry it took so long. You all right?"

[sisilaya]

Andromeda couldn't help but lean back in her new husbands embrace, something that was still rather new to her but she was slowly getting used to it. Like the rest of his life. Barely two months ago she was still leading him through the Amberwoods, unwillingly and capable of using every bad word to him that had ever existed to mankind. Or Sidhekind. Or whatever.

Most of it had been out of fear for what he was, not so much what he did. She'd been taught to fear the Sidhe and so he had been an unwilling guest that just refused to leave her be. Yet somehow he had managed to worm his way into her heart, because he had been kind. And after he'd been on death row by her own tribe and only marriage could save him.. well.. she just couldn't let him die like that.

And so now she had a new husband, an one she had thought the last to be, the King of Spring. A time travelling Spring King.

Still, she had to rub her eyes several times as she looked down at his mother, feeling like she was looking in a mirror, or an identical twin she had never known of. She did her best to try and keep the woman stable, but her hands were slightly trembling at the bizarreness of the whole situation. He had never prepared her for this.

"I'll be back in a bit - I'll need the console to call Morgaine and Meri. Just call if you need anything."

"I.. will." She replied to him softly, feeling him place a warm kiss in her neck.

"Oh, and if mom wakes up? Just tell her who you are. She'll be both confused and excited, to hear that we got married."

She gave a shuddering laugh as she watched the readouts on the woman. She was used to herbalogy, magic and the sorts, not such advance technology. But she had two months to get used to Midhir's TARDIS's infirmary, only this one was much bigger.

"Asides the fact that she'll think she's looking in a mirror as soon as she sees me? You have a lot to explain love, once this is all over." She murmured softly, slight amusement apparent in her voice.

She watched as he and the strangely familliar airy man left the room. She still couldn't shake the fact that she felt that man who named himself Ariel, while walking didn't exactly touch the floor. He seemed to float at all times.

__________________________________________________________________


"You," a finger was crooked at him "Come with me."

"As you wish" He replied kindly and followed the red haired man out, leaving his young wife behind. It was intriguing to see that his wife seemed to pay better attention to small detail then the man did himself, while she herself was only human. Or so it seemed.

Following the man through the corridors their silence was long stretched, neither of them willing to say to much to the other. Ariel

"You haven't exactly told me your name yet, or where I am." He asked carefully "I gather that that woman I found is your mother, even though she doesn't look a year older then you."

He felt a nipping at his earlobe and a small voice whispering in his ear shell. It tickled slightly. His eyes widened at the sudden sensation.

"Hey," said the Puck, his whispering squirrel's voice high-pitched, "sorry it took so long. You all right?"

His eyes rolled in relief, sighing softly. Thank the Lords that Robin was here. He tilted his head slightly in Robin's directed. A small squirrel hiding in his strawberry blonde locks.

"I'm fine," he murmured softly. "Would help if you didn't hide, Robin. I have no idea what's going on."

He hoped the other man hadn't heard much of that.

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

"Oh, and if mom wakes up? Just tell her who you are. She'll be both confused and excited, to hear that we got married."

"Asides the fact that she'll think she's looking in a mirror as soon as she sees me? You have a lot to explain love, once this is all over." She murmured softly, slight amusement apparent in her voice.

"There's a resemblance, yeah," Midhir allowed, resting his chin on her shoulder. "I mean, the Specialist's reaction to you proved that. But you don't look that much alike - your timespace imprint and your mental signatures are significantly different."

It was tempting to hang around and explain more reasons why she didn't look all that much like his mother. And then move on to the many, many things that he found particularly appealing to her. And from there, move on to demonstrating in several creative ways just how appealing he really did find her. But the fact that a stranger was aboard his father's ship and his mother was in a coma helped kill the mood.

Reluctantly, he released his wife. "You," he said, pointing at Ariel. "Come with me."

---

"I'm fine," Ariel murmured softly. "Would help if you didn't hide, Robin. I have no idea what's going on."

"Well," the Puck whispered back, "if I wasn't hiding, the irritible young man up there would be all over me." A pause. "Not in a fun kind of way either. More of a 'magic and blade' kind of way, and I've never been a huge fan of rough trade and safewords."

He could feel Ariel's irritation in the set of his shoulder, and the Puck continued on. "Seriously, though, I've got reasons."

By now, they'd reentered the vaulted dome of the primary control room. The Puck watched with some interest as Midhir operated controls.

"Meri? Morgaine? It's Midhir. When you get this, we've got a family emergency. Mom's in a coma, dad seems to be missing, and the rest of the crew hasn't turned up. As soon as you can, meet me at dad's TARDIS. It's located at..." he rattled off a string of coordinates. "See you two soon."

With that, he turned to look at Ariel. "All right," he said, leaning his hip against the console. "From the top, tell me everything you YEOW!"

The last cry came when, unexpectedly, the Puck vaulted from Ariel's shoulder and hurled himself at Midhir. In less than the space of time required to reach him, the Puck's form stretched and shifted and changed, becoming a wiry man decked in leather and furs and wrapped in chains. With a clatter of metal and a thud of flesh on stone. the Puck smashed Midhir to the floor.

The brawl - a vicious thing of dirty infighting - lasted less than a minute. A minute of clawing and choking and biting, of air charged with psychic slashing and stabbing, of space distorting as the Sidhe Lord and the Fae rippled and teleported around. Midhir was centuries old, and skilled in a number of physical and mental fighting techniques. But the Puck was thousands of years old, and better.

Still, blood streaming from a broken nose and a split lip, he was breathing hard as he rose. There was a clattering as he unwrapped his chains from the young Time Lord's throat. "There," he gasped. "He's out, but not dead. He'll just... wake up with a terrible headache, soon."

The Puck wiped a woad-stained hand across his face and flicked blood to the floor, then offered Ariel his hand. "C'mon," he grinned, "I've managed to steal enough of his memories that I can fly his ship. Let's get out of here, before he wakes up or his sisters get here."

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

Earlier...

Restless, the Puck prowled the twilight forests on the borders between Faerie and the waking world. Oberon - never King Oberon, not in the depths of his mind - was being a fool again. Again. His obsession with the changeling Titania - never Queen Titania - had taken was splitting the realm, threatening civil war.

The fact that he was calling someone else a fool was not lost on him.

As it always did at times like this, his captivity chafed at him. Certainly, Oberon was a good master - soliciting (and sometimes heeding) his advice, giving him a great deal of liberty - but he was still the Puck's master.

And you are a slave, whispered the chains wrapped around him.

With a cry of frustrated fury, the Puck tore at the chains. He sought to remember how to draw on the ancient powers he'd once possessed, in the days before the primal Chaos had been tamed. He'd been a god once, and he remembered.

But the power didn't come, and the chains held.

With a feral snarl of utter frustration, he threw himself down beside a stream. Glaring at nothing in particular, he picked up a stone and hurled it at a swiftly-passing naiad. She dodged lithely, pausing briefly to shake a fist at him before realizing who he was and dashing away downstream.

Freedom. Freedom for himself. For himself and for Ariel, if he could manage it.

Who was he kidding? The chains didn't just wrap his flesh. They bound his very soul...

A fearsome surge of power attracted his attention. It was ancient, this power - reminiscent of his memories of the most ancient of days, before time was.

He scampered up a tree, lept from branch to branch, pursuing it. And there it was, entangled with the mighty World Ash, shimmering like an unearthly fire. He lept, clung, scampered along the trunk faster even than Ratatosk, and found himself...

...somewhere else. A stone chamber, it appeared, somewhat like the temples of the Athenians or the cathedrals of the tedious priests of Rome. An altar of sorts sat in the center, merged with the World Ash, and figures stood about.

Two left the chamber in a hurry - he didn't catch their words, but they seemed in a rush. It was the other four that held his attention. The man was very nearly a mirror, a Puck unbound by chains. The woman in his arms could have been Ariel - were Ariel to take the form of a woman instead of a slender young man - but she veritably burned with power. Blazed with it.

She was the one, he realized. She was the one that had opened this gateway.

"Will mommy be all right?" asked one of the children - a girl, and clearly the child of this Puck and Ariel.

"The Doctor is getting some additional medical supplies from his TARDIS," the alien Puck said. "And then we can wake her up."

Wake her up..?

Another door opened, and a small child of indeterminate gender toddled in. "Ma! Dad!" it cried happily.

The Puck looked at the energies that blazed in the she-Ariel, and his eyes hardened.

"It's sorry I am for your wife and bairns," he snarled, lunging downwards from the World Ash. "But she represents my freedom!"

[sisilaya]

Everything went so fast he barely had time to respond. First the ginger haired man was looking like he was going to give a serious interrogation, then Puck had changed his shape and tackled the man to the ground. Ariel gasped and yelled.

"PUCK NO!"

But the Pan went on like a raging tornado and the two were flashing across the room as they fought. The fight ended sooner then expected when they both stilled, the Spring King falling to the ground like a sack of potatoes after the Puck had choked him unconscious it seemed.

"There," he gasped. "He's out, but not dead. He'll just... wake up with a terrible headache, soon."

Ariel paled at the sight of blood and grime they both wore, the Spring King worse then Puck did. Shocked eyes looked up at what he considered his best friend, his mouth open in disbelief. The puck offered him his bloody hand.

"C'mon," he grinned, "I've managed to steal enough of his memories that I can fly his ship. Let's get out of here, before he wakes up or his sisters get here."

CRACK!

With a loud crack Ariels hand struck across the Pucks face before he lunged himself at the other man, throwing him to the floor and following him with his own weight. When he broke the fall with Robin's body he fisted him by the collar, shaking him as his otherwise pale face drew red with anger, pale blue eyes flashing.

"You IDIOT! His mother is in a coma and you just made it worse! Why do you always try to solve everything with manipulation and violence!" he snapped. "I just wanted to help him find out what the hell is wrong with his mother! Not beat him to a bloody pulp!"

With a soft growl he got off his friend and stood up, looking at the unconscious Midhir. He felt terrible, what was he going to do now? He pinched the bridge of his nose.. things just got a lot more complicating..