And They Bravely Ran Away, Away [closed for now]

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

(OOC: Continued from And They Bravely Ran Away, Away

This particular post was from a Skype session. Hence the reason for the POV shifting.)

The thought of Alec becoming the second husband to an old lady gave a visual image that made it hard for her to keep her laughing in, looking to the side it seemed Robin had the same problem. He eyes just looked at him wit mirth as the old man went on. "I think my fiancee's rites will be enough for tonight if it's too much of a hassle. You weren't prepared" She said kindly and followed the old man, interlocking her arm with the Meddlers.

The great pruplish building surprised her, she had never seen such a material before. Was that some sort of marble..? It was the interior that made her smile though, the ever ocurring hexagonal shapes identifid with The Meddler. It felt familliar, almost like home. Yes she had come to see his TARDIS like home. Robin was depicted on the wals, with his responcibilities. It was somewhat surreal to see an ancient fresco of a man in a three piece moden suit. If modern day future ever found this..

"So, Atlantis. What did you think?" he said behind her and she turned around to him, the smile still on her face.

"I take back what I said, you do take me to nice places! But where is the Would Be King? Wouldn't he have noticed our presence by now?"



He frowned at the questions. "I... don't know," he admitted. "And, frankly, that bothers me immensely."

He sank down into one of the reclining couches, resting his chin on his cane. "He's just about the only being in the Spiral Politic I can sense the presence of, at least without these," he waggled his hand, causing the light to sparkle and glint on the platinum webbing. "And I think it's safe to assume he can do the same."

He glared moodily out the window. "We're not different enough in our thought processes, I guess. So, if he's not here yet, that just means that he hasn't noticed me. And when he notices me..."

A sigh. "I'm positive, from what I heard the alternate me say in the Great Library, that this 'new' Gallifrey is in some fashion allied with the Could've-Been King. That means they'll be after us in force."

Then he smiled - a little forced, true, but a genuine smile. "But we've got until that happens to enjoy ourself, and the rites won't take place until sundown. Care to go explore the city?"

---

Moments where Robin did not know things wee naturally things to worry about. She knew of his connection to the Would Be King, they were more or less like twins. The webbing of the platinum wiring in his hand glinted in the sunlight and caught her eye, so had never questioned him about how he aquired it. It was just.. there one day. Yet if the Woud be King had not noticed him yet, it meant he had to be either far away or not on Atlantis at all.

"Are you sure he's even here, love?"

He was right, if the Would Be King was involved, they'd be after us. Her eyes widened suddenly, realisation dawning on her.

His eyes became unfocused as he concentrated. "No," he said distantly. "He's not. I can't tell you how far away he is, not without alerting him to my presence, but he's a long way away."

"Do they know he's in basic DNA you? Perhaps that's why they keep finding us so fast, they have his scent for the dog to lock on, so to say. You know how fast they got us last time, I'm nt sure we'd even gt untill the night. In Cardiff we barely had an hour."

The Meddler thought on that. "I don't think the DNA is an issue," he said slowly. "Even without the Could've-Been King, they've got my biodata anyway, courtesy of the other Meddler. And I'm inclined to think that Cardiff was a fluke. The Guard had already been there - we missed them by scant minutes, remember? They probably had people watching out for any stragglers."

Then he frowned. "On the other hand, they knew us by sight. We have to assume that they at least know about our actions on Gallifrey, and that word has gotten out about our second escape from them as well. And they've surely noticed that they can't fortell my actions..."

He thought, furiously, for several minutes. "Biodatic tracking will be limited to a planetary range, thanks to the modifications I've made in our TARDIS. But we have to assume they'll monitor Earth, at least."

Suddenly, alarmed, he rose. "We have to go, now!" he said, catching her hand. "We're putting these people in great risk by staying here."

[sisilaya]

She was not so sure if it had been a chance encounter in Cardiff, but she decided not to question him. Problem was that with both Sidhe on his heels and new the new Gallifreyans, they had to be extremey careful.

"On the other hand, they knew us by sight. We have to assume that they at least know about our actions on Gallifrey, and that word has gotten out about our second escape from them as well. And they've surely noticed that they can't fortell my actions..."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that Robin.. it never hurts t be on the safe side.." she said carefully. But he continued on.

"Biodatic tracking will be limited to a planetary range, thanks to the modifications I've made in our TARDIS. But we have to assume they'll monitor Earth, at least."

"And remember how some other race on earth is still after your hide as well? It was a miracle we didn't run into any Sidhe at the time, now I think of it."

Yet suddenly he was alarmed and rose, grabbing her hand and pulling her up too. She looked at him, confused.

"We have to go, now! We're putting these people in great risk by staying here."

She had started running with him without a word, racing back to the TARDIS. She called back to him as they did.

"Shouldn't we have realised that before we landed here?!"

She could see the spot where they left the TARDIS in plain sight now.

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

"And remember how some other race on earth is still after your hide as well? It was a miracle we didn't run into any Sidhe at the time, now I think of it."

Her words interrupted his train of thought about how the Time Lords could be tracking them. "Huh? Another... you mean the cuckoos?" He waved his hand dismissively. "Bah, they're... well, not harmless. Not even before my last trip to Yith. But, as long as I stay out of their spacetime zones, we manage ignore each other well enough..."

The Meddler's voice trailed away as he caught the look she was giving him. "What? Oh! You mean the Sidhe! Yeah, some of them either didn't get the memo or don't believe it. We'll need to be careful of them as well. I can't imagine the havoc if the Time Lords or the Sidhe were to descend on Atlantis in force. It would be a slaughter on all sides."

Suddenly, alarmed, he rose. "We have to go, now!" he said, catching her hand. "We're putting these people in great risk by staying here."

He turned and sprinted through the door and up the street, cane in one hand and the Dreamweaver's hand in the other, ignoring the looks the passers-by were giving him.

"Shouldn't we have realised that before we landed here?!"

"Yes!" he shouted, "We - I, since I'm the one that brought us here - should have!"

The hill with the Shrine of Anakatosouris was a good mile outside the city walls, and the Meddler led them both at a near-sprint the whole way. But then, less than a thirty meters from the TARDIS, he skidded to a halt and looked around wildly. "something's coming..." he said.

There was a surge of Sidhe-flavored psychic energy to the left of the shrine. A moment before, there had been nobody near the spring that gushed from the shrine. Now, there stood a handsome Sidhe with eyes like a hawk and a mouth filled with razors, armed and armoured in glass and silver. He bowed.

"My Lord Robin. And my Lady the Dreamweaver. I trust that I find the both of you well, on this lovely day?"

"You do, my Lord Malekirith," the Meddler answered warily. "And to what do we owe the honor of your company?"

"Why, my Lord Robin," Malekirith smiled. "I have come to ask a favor of you."

The Meddler glanced at the Dreamweaver. "What favor?" he asked cautiously, aware of a feeling of deja vu.

"Why, that you will do me the honor of drawing your blade so that my Lord Findovar may be avenged." He smiled. "If you will do me this single honor, I will count myself the most fortunate of men."

[sisilaya]

Her eyes narrowed by instinct as soon as she felt the psychic energy that she recognised by now. She wasn't surprised when the handsome Sidhe with the razor sharp teeth appeared before them, instantly taking her place before Robin so the other Sidhe would have to go through her to get to the Meddler.

She raised her chin in suspicion as the male bowed before them. Other then her name, it was like she was being ignored in the conversation. Malekirith was quite clearly trying to target Robin alone.

She was having none of that after he politely forced the Meddler into a duel to the death.

"Why, that you will do me the honour of drawing your blade so that my Lord Findovar may be avenged." He smiled. "If you will do me this single honour, I will count myself the most fortunate of men."

"I was with the Meddler the day Lord Findovar was murdered, Lord Malekirith. If Robin Goodfellow had murdered him, I would have known and handed him over to the Courts myself."

She took a step closer to the Sidhe, her back straight she she sized up the taller man as her eyes started to glow softly.

"Is it revenge you seek or your Master, something barbaric that humans consume their lives with it. Or is it justice you seek for his death? Because if it is the latter, I suggest you listen to us very carefully. Because even you Seelie often fall prey for being short sighted."

She turned back to the Meddler, a little bit more then an arm length away from the Sidhe before them.

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

The Meddler bristled a little as the Dreamweaver stepped between himself and Malekirith. He examined the sensation, and found himself slightly amused to realise it was caused by a general sense of chivalry - a feeling that he should be the one protecting her.

Where did that come from? he wondered. Certainly not from my upbringing...

And then Findovar challenged him to a duel.

"I was with the Meddler the day Lord Findovar was murdered, Lord Malekirith. If Robin Goodfellow had murdered him, I would have known and handed him over to the Courts myself," she declared, before he could speak.

The Sidhe lifted an eyebrow. "I beg you, my Lady the Dreamweaver, to take no offense at my words - for I intend no slight, and I cast no shadow on your honor. But I must point out that my Lord Robin is one of the Lords that Lived, capable of traversing time as easily as you or I may move through space." He smiled, and gave a short bow. "Your willingness to defend your leman does you credit, but we both know that no ordinary alibi will serve to clear one such as he."

The Meddler blinked. He had to give Malekirith credit - that was a good argument. But still... "My dear Viscount Ordoway," he began with a shallow bow of his own.

"My Lord," Malekirith returned the bow.

"You are, no doubt, aware that I have been cleared of these scurrilous charges by a tribunal called by the King of the Courts of Spring?"

"Of a certainty, I am aware," Malekirith agreed. "And yet, I find the results... questionable. We all know that my Lord Midhir has cause to be biased in your favor."

The Dreamweaver took a step closer to Malekirith, her eyes burning. "Is it revenge you seek or your Master, something barbaric that humans consume their lives with it. Or is it justice you seek for his death? Because if it is the latter, I suggest you listen to us very carefully. Because even you Seelie often fall prey for being short sighted."

Malekirith took an involuntary step backwards at the look in her eyes, and only his rigid discipline kept him from reaching for his blade. "Then..." he said, struggling to keep a hint of fear from his voice, "Then I shall listen, my Lady the Dreamweaver. And carefully, at that."

The Meddler smiled at the Dreamweaver as she turned back towards him. And then his gaze grew distant, as if he were looking or listening for something. "We may need," he said, cautiously, "to postpone this discussion..."

[Koschei]

He lept from improbable world to improbable world, taking rapid shortcuts through spacetime by passing through universes that never expanded, or in which time flowed backwards, or faster, or slower. A thousand times he saw sights that no living being had seen before, and a thousand times he had to fight the temptation to stop and examine what he had seen.

But he was furious, and that fury gave him the strength to resist.

And then he was there, standing atop the Shrine of Anakatosouris, the universe adjusting itself to believe he had always been there. And before and below him stood a Sidhe he didn't know, and his lovely goddaughter Sisi, and...

"And the Meddler," he snarled, softly.

He stepped again, taking a shortcut through a neighboring history where the Temple had been built atop the mountain, and emerged on the ground next to his possible self.

"You pig," he roared, shoving the Meddler backwards. "You cold-hearted bastard!"

The Meddler staggered backwards, startled.

"You yeanbhrjlisahouizhre!" he thundered, lapsing into a offensive Gallifreyan word for people that prey on children.

"Is this..." the Sidhe began, "Do my eyes decieve me, or are there now two Robin Goodfellows?"

The Meddler staggered backwards again, and then barely brought his conceptual blade up in time as the Could've-Been King launched a vicious assault, hacking and chopping at him with his own blade of pure idea. "You abandon the Specialist and your own children!" he roared in time with his blows, forcing the Meddler back. "You almost drive her to suicide!" Tears of rage and pain streamed down the King's face. "And then, to top it off..." his eyes flicked towards the Dreamweaver, and his face contorted in fury, "Our own goddaughter, you filth!"

The Meddler managed a desperate disengage, and the two versions of the Time Lord stood, glaring at each other. "I'll kill you, you loathsome drudge!" the Could've-Been King thundered, launching himself forward again.

[sisilaya]

The Sidhe didn't seem impressed by her given alibi for The Meddler it seemed.

"I beg you, my Lady the Dreamweaver, to take no offense at my words - for I intend no slight, and I cast no shadow on your honour. But I must point out that my Lord Robin is one of the Lords that Lived, capable of traversing time as easily as you or I may move through space." He smiled, and gave a short bow. "Your willingness to defend your gentleman does you credit, but we both know that no ordinary alibi will serve to clear one such as he."

"You've got a point there, Lord Malekirith. But I have not strain from the Meddlers side ever since I he found me. I'm confident I would have know if he had been murdering so many."

She looked back at the Meddler, a small smile on her face. "That, and I'm afraid that an insult at my fiancée is also a direct insult to me."

As expected, the Sidhe did not buy it. She smiled, such suspicious creatures they were. Robin and he mixed words, until she finally decided to push a certain button she knew all Sidhe had. Their disgust of humans and their pride for justice. The raw power that came from her as her eyes glowed also seemed to help.

When Robin's cautious voice told them they might have to continue some other time she had already stilled, tensing. The hairs on her neck rose before she had seen him.

"And the Meddler,"

Her face whipped around to the ginger haired man that stood atop a hill a little distance away from them. Mixed feelings came to her as she saw him. Rage at what he had done to the Sidhe, how he had been the cause of them being hunted.

But also, that childlike feeling came up in her. Something she thought had been gone for a long time. That same joy she had felt while she was a child and Robin Goodfellow had come to pay them a visit.

That latter feeling was soon gone as he started hacking into her Robin, the two of them fighting like dogs. Or better, The Would be King fighting like a crazed bulldog and the Meddler trying to do as much damage control as he could.

"Is this..." the Sidhe began, "Do my eyes decieve me, or are there now two Robin Goodfellows?"

She turned back to Lord Malekirith, her eyes burning. "Well, this saves me the trouble of explaining. The ginger haired fellow, that is the murderer of your Master you seek. Technically, those two are the same person, but at the same time they are not. They both have their individual thoughts and deeds. His name is the Would be King, he is like a clone, an earlier split off from Robin Goodfellow. They both have the same energy patterns, but they are two individual persons. For once, it'll only the looks that determines who is who."

Finally, the two seemed to stop fighting and she took a step forward, her face turning to anger at how he accused Robin of molesting her, his face contorted in fury as he stared at her.

She snarled and the glamour dropped in an explosive manner, her rage finally exploded. A massive wall of raw Sidhe energy flew into the side of the Would be King before he could attack the Meddler again, crashing him to the ground with a loud crack. She materialised on him again, straddling and pinning hi shoulders to the ground as she snarled.

"How dare you" She struck him across the face hard, leaving a dark red imprint behind that started welting almost instantly.

"You are so consumed with yourself that you cannot see what is right in front of you bloody face!" She spat and grabbed his collar in her fists, shaking him.

"He left the Specialist because I left, you blathering MORON!" She roared, her hands tightening on his collar dangerously, her eyes ablaze. "You were not there at the meeting, were you? If you were for once where you're bloody needed to be you would have known! Did you even know what her plans for the 'New Gallifrey' were? Do you? She wanted a new Time Lord empire where the Time Lords ruled as Gods, smothering new life and new idea's if she didn't think it was the right time! If she is suicidal now, then perhaps she should consider what she would have done to whole civilisations"

She gave him a good shake, she had never been this enraged before and the air around her wavered with barely controlled glamour.

"If you are so concerned about her, then why didn't you help her, comfort her instead of murdering off my mother's people"

Tears were leaking down the side of her brightly glowing eyes and down her cheeks, her teeth gritting while her emotions conflicted between anguish and anger. She did feel guilty for leaving the Specialist as they did. But with her plans, there was nothing else she could do. She couldn't be a part of such a thing, it killed free will before it was even born. She could not be a part of that.

She had never expected The Meddler to follow her.

"He followed me because I left. He never forced himself onto me, I love him more then anything I've ever had. He saved my mother from my father's hands. If it wasn't for him I would have still been in that hell hole fighting for my sheer existence. Now you tell me, why is it so wrong that I love him and for once get the same love in return?"

She shook him by the collar, her green dress by now had disintegrated and revealed the leather armour beneath it, her leather clad fist tightening so hard on his collar it was starting to cut off his air supply.

"TELL ME!" She roared in his face, she had completely forgotten about the other two around them by now.

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

"You pig," the Could've-Been King roared, appearing from nowhere and shoving the Meddler backwards. "You cold-hearted bastard!"

He stumbled, caught off guard by the sudden attack, then lurched backwards as the King threw a kick at him. "You yeanbhrjlisahouizhre!"

The Meddler practically snarled at the term, drawing his conceptual blade. Before he could set to and really try to murder his doppelganger, though, the Could've-Been King threw a series of berserk attacks at him - abandoning all science and subtelty for heavy blows that threatened to smash through his defenses. And the whole time, the King kept shouting mad accusations at him.

"You abandon the Specialist and your own children!"

"You - oof - you're insane!" he shouted back. "They aren't my children!" Even as he said it, though, guilt stabbed through him. Guilt, and a sudden thrill of doubt about the children. Could it be..? No, no it can't. We haven't... we would have known... "The Guardians made her pregnant, in the Singularity!"

The King ignored him, raving about driving the Specialist to suicide. But then... "And then, to top it off..." his eyes flicked towards the Dreamweaver, and his face contorted in fury, "Our own goddaughter, you filth!"

The Meddler twisted, pushing the King away, hate burning in his eyes. "Don't. You. Dare!"

"I'll kill you, you loathsome drudge!" the Could've-Been King thundered, launching himself forward again.

Lip contorted in a snarl, the Meddler braced himself to receive the attack. And then a concussive wave of pure force smashed into the King, hurling him to the side. There was a crack of thunder and the Dreamweaver appeared on him, pinning him to the ground.

The Meddler started forward, determined to murder the creature he'd spawned once and for all, when a powerful hand took hold of his arm.

"My Lord Robin," said Malekirith, "I believe your fiancee - and may I express both my joy at your happiness and my sorrow that I shall now have no hope that she may cast her eyes my way? - has matters well in hand. Perhaps, if we allow her a moment, she shall resolve both our problems to our complete satisfaction."

[Koschei]

He had no idea what had struck him. One moment he was bracing to attack the Meddler, the next he was rolling and bouncing uncontrollably along the mountainside. Before he could regain his bearings, there was a thunderclap and something - someone was straddling his chest and pinning him to the ground.

"How dare you" She struck him across the face hard, leaving a dark red imprint behind that started welting almost instantly.

"You are so consumed with yourself that you cannot see what is right in front of you bloody face!" She spat and grabbed his collar in her fists, shaking him.

"S-Sisi?" he choked out, more shocked than injured. "What..?"

"He left the Specialist because I left, you blathering MORON!" She roared, her hands tightening on his collar dangerously, her eyes ablaze.

He goggled, still stunned that he was being attacked by... well, by the woman he still thought of as his little Sisi. "But..." he managed.

She shook him vigorously, shouting about the goals the Specialist had outlined at her meeting.

"If you are so concerned about her, then why didn't you help her, comfort her instead of murdering off my mother's people"

"I WAS helping her!" he roared back, grabbing her wrists so he could breathe. "I needed their power, so I could help her!"

He took a deep breath. "She's not like me - she's not a freak and a monster and a criminal! She deserves better than life in the post-War Spiral Politic!"

Tears leaked from his eyes as well, pain and loss and unrequited love mingling with the fury he felt towards the Meddler. "He got everything we ever wanted - love! Happiness! Understanding! And he threw it away! Threw her away! Threw it away, so he could..."

His voice choked, fury and horror combining to nearly strangle him. Suddenly, he twisted and vanished in her grasp, falling through a version of reality where the Meddler had never come to Atlantis. He lept to his feet and threw himself, steping back into the actual universe again, reaching for the Meddler's throat.

"How could you do that to my goddaughter?" he bellowed, filled with a sick fury.

There was another thunderclap, and Sisi smashed him to the ground.

"He followed me because I left," Sisi shouted back, shaking him. "He never forced himself onto me, I love him more then anything I've ever had. He saved my mother from my father's hands. If it wasn't for him I would have still been in that hell hole fighting for my sheer existence. Now you tell me, why is it so wrong that I love him and for once get the same love in return?"

She shook him by the collar, smashing his head into the dirt. "TELL ME!"

The fight seemed to go out of the Could've-Been King. "That's all..." he whispered. "Nothing." He reached up, wiped a tear from her eye, and scrubbed at his own eyes with the back of his hand. There's nothing wrong with that."

He looked at the Meddler. The old, dull hatred for his duplicate was there - the hatred caused by incompleteness - but the fury was gone. "I'm... sorry," he whispered. "I just... I did so much, so much to just... just get her to look at me for once. He had everything I wanted, and when I read that letter..."

There was another blink in reality, and the Could've-Been King was sitting on the ground next to Sisi, his arms wrapped around his knees. "I thought he'd just thrown it all away," he whispered, miserably. "I brought Gallifrey back, in hopes that she'd smile at me, and I thought he'd just thrown her away..."

[sisilaya]

"I WAS helping her!" he roared back, grabbing her wrists so he could breathe. "I needed their power, so I could help her!"

He took a deep breath. "She's not like me - she's not a freak and a monster and a criminal! She deserves better than life in the post-War Spiral Politic!"

"You don't help someone at the cost of others!" She roared back at him, her fingers digging into his skin as he held her writs. "You only became a monster and a criminal when you started killing the Sidhe! And if someone wants to rule over the universe in a way that is more choking them in an unknown dictatorship then actually freeing and inspiring growth is a criminal offence to me!"

She was surprised to see the tears leak from his eyes, and her hands loosened on his collar.

"He got everything we ever wanted - love! Happiness! Understanding! And he threw it away! Threw her away! Threw it away, so he could..."

"Love, happiness and understanding is something one has to earn, not something you can just demand. And you don't earn it by harming others.." She said quietly. What he said hit close to home, she had been exactly like him in her teenage years, where she missed her mother and the love and happiness of her home. Instead she had been in a war zone where al that she loved died around her faster then she could hold onto it.

Her hands tightened again as he started twisting, then he was just gone and she blinked as her hands hit the ground. She looked up immediately, her head snapping around till she found him. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw him ready to attack the Meddler again.

"How could you do that to my goddaughter?"

"Oh no you don't" She snarled and slammed into him again, pinning him to the ground once again.

"He followed me because I left," She shouted at him again, shaking him. "He never forced himself onto me, I love him more then anything I've ever had. He saved my mother from my father's hands. If it wasn't for him I would have still been in that hell hole fighting for my sheer existence. Now you tell me, why is it so wrong that I love him and for once get the same love in return?"

She shook him by the collar, smashing his head into the dirt. "TELL ME!"

The tears started to leak from her eyes, her pupils still brightly aglow, very much like her mother's was whenever she had been angry. Her hands fisted themselves in his shirt again, but desperately instead of anger. Was it really so bad that she fell in love with her godfather? She never realised he had slacked beneath her.

"That's all..." he whispered. "Nothing." He reached up, wiped a tear from her eye, and scrubbed at his own eyes with the back of his hand. There's nothing wrong with that."

She had not expected to feel his hand on her face, and her expression turned to one of relieved surprise, the angry glow in her eyes dimming to show her shimmering green eyes again. She choked softly and released his shirt, one of her leather clad hand coming to rest over the one resting on her cheek.

"There's nothing wrong with that."

"Thank you" She whispered quietly, closing her eyes for a moment before she released his hand.

"I'm... sorry," the King whispered. "I just... I did so much, so much to just... just get her to look at me for once. He had everything I wanted, and when I read that letter..."

Once again, he vanished from beneath her and she was left crouching on her hands and knees. She had felt him reappear beside her before her eyes even found him. He felt so much like her Robin, but it was his emotions that made him different from the Meddler. She sighed softly and instead of getting up, she crawled over and wrapped her arms around him from behind him, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"You are not the Meddler, and that is not a bad thing. Perhaps it's time you stopped living in his shadow and stopped comparing yourself to him. You're not him, you'll never be and it would be horrible if you were. For there should be only one of someone, no matter how much they are alike. Start living for yourself, make your own future.. and make your own mistakes."

She tightened her arms around him, and not in a hostile way but in a hug. Because really, she had the feeling no one had ever done this. She sighed softly and placed a kiss on his temple.

"Perhaps you should give yourself a name. A new name. 'The Would be King' is such a mouth full" She said with some mirth "Don't ask me though, I'm horrible with names. I'll start calling you Bob or something." She said with a lopsided grin.

"I thought he'd just thrown it all away," he whispered, miserably. "I brought Gallifrey back, in hopes that she'd smile at me, and I thought he'd just thrown her away..."

"He didn't.. there was no other thing we could do. I never expected him to follow me when I left, but he did and I am happy that he did." Her eyes widened when he admitted that he had been the one to bring the new Gallifrey back, her breathing stopped for a moment.

"You brought Gallifrey back..?" She whispered, stunned. "You've brought us all in danger by bringing them back. because on the new Gallifrey there already is a Specialist.. and a Meddler. And everyone else it seems. They're hunting us down, they will get to you too in the end."

She turned around to face him, sitting on her knees before him. Holding his shoulders she forced him to look into her eyes. Her expression was not one of hatred or anger, but of worry.

"How did you do it..? Please.. we need your help if we're all to survive."

She pulled on his arms gently, forcing him to release his legs and open up his posture. She took him in her arms again, sighing as she rested her chin on his shoulder again. She softly whispered in his ear.

"How could you ever thing you're not worthy enough when you've brought back a dead race single handedly on your own?"

She looked up at Robin, bringing a small smile to her face.

[Koschei]

Sitting there, wrapped in a mixture of misery and guilt and anger, the last thing he expected was a hug. But his goddaughter, with whom he'd just been having a blazing row, had thrown her arms around him.

"You are not the Meddler, and that is not a bad thing. Perhaps it's time you stopped living in his shadow and stopped comparing yourself to him. You're not him, you'll never be and it would be horrible if you were. For there should be only one of someone, no matter how much they are alike. Start living for yourself, make your own future.. and make your own mistakes."

The Could've-Been King sighed. "But I am the Meddler. I have his... my... memories. Eight hundred and some years of them. Everything, right up to the moment we diverged in the Orrey, during the War." He shook his head sadly. "I'm not a clone, Sisi. I'm not just a copy. I'm what he could have been, if he'd just made a few different choices."

He sighed again. "Maybe you're right. But it's hard, knowing that the person that is is walking around, and that you were just a discarded historical possibility."

Sisi responded by hugging him tighter, and placing a quick, affectinate peck on his forehead. It reminded him of happier times, teaching her to play Catch-Old-Jack on Belaine Eve, watching her toddle about and show off her rag doll, waking her on Midsummer to meet the Sidhe.

Things he'd never actually done.

"Perhaps you should give yourself a name. A new name. 'The Would be King' is such a mouth full" She said with some mirth.

"Could've-Been King," he corrected reflexively.

"Don't ask me though, I'm horrible with names. I'll start calling you Bob or something." She said with a lopsided grin.

"Fred," he suggested, deadpan. "Call me Fred. It worked for Lady President Romanadvoratrelundar, after all."

The glimmer of good humor didn't last. "I thought he'd just thrown it all away," he whispered, feeling a desperate need to try and make his goddaughter understand. "I brought Gallifrey back, in hopes that she'd smile at me, and I thought he'd just thrown her away..."

"He didn't.. there was no other thing we could do. I never expected him to follow me when I left, but he did and I am happy that he did."

"I hate his guts, Sisi," he muttered. "But, for you, I'll try to make peace."

"You brought Gallifrey back..?" She whispered, stunned. "You've brought us all in danger by bringing them back. because on the new Gallifrey there already is a Specialist.. and a Meddler. And everyone else it seems. They're hunting us down, they will get to you too in the end."

He laughed at that. "Oh, I know all about their Specialist. And their Meddler - pushy, pretentious little know-it-all, he is. I can't stand him."

The Could've-Been King shook his head. "And no, they're not hunting us down - not the way that makes it sound, anyway. They're wanting to bring in this history's Renegades, find out if they can trust them, and bring them back into the fold if they can." A shrug. "I told them it probably wouldn't work, but the Lord President insisted they try."

A pause. "It would be nice if they'd stop assuming everyone was a criminal at first, though."

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

The Dreamweaver and the Could've-Been King grappled, ending with the King pinned in the dirt. The Meddler started forward, sombra y corta, intending to take the thing's head off before it could recover.

A strong arm caught him by the bicep, stopping him short.

"Ah, my Lord Robin," Malekirith said with a smile. "'Tis your Lady that fights, now. T'would be unseemly - nay, unchivalrous - to interfere."

"This isn't about chivalry, Viscount," the Meddler snarled, tugging at the Sidhe's grip. "This is about killing that... that creature while I've got the chance..."

"Tis base and vile to interfere in a duel, Lord Robin."

"Let go of me!"

"Do you not trust your Lady?"

The Meddler rocked like he'd been slapped. Then he looked over at the Dreamweaver, who was now kneeling by a morose-looking Could've-Been King.

"Yes." Mentally, he parsed the question. "I mean, I trust her."

"I took that to be the meaning of your answer."

The Dreamweaver hugged the Could've-Been King. "Screw it," the Meddler snarled, "I'll have his head!"

"I hate his guts, Sisi," he heard the Could've-Been King mutter. "But, for you, I'll try to make peace."

The hatred didn't vanish. But the rage drained away, replaced by a hollowness and a sense of numb exhaustion. It was hard work, hating that much.

And then the Could've-Been King's words registered. He had transplanted this alien Gallifrey into the emergent universe. With a grunt of effort, he tore himself from Malekirith's grasp and siezed the Could've-Been King's lapels and dragged him to his feet.

"You brought them through?" he shouted into the King's startled face. "You? Do you know what they've done in their version of the Spiral Politic?"

"I..." the King started to say, angrily, and then stopped. Both versions of the Meddler seemed to be listening."

"Temporal bow waves," the Meddler said.

"About a dozen, I think," said the Could've-Been King.

[sisilaya]

She still did not understand fully how the King could think so little of himself. She sighed, her arms around him. She closed her eyes and took in that scent again and with with a smile she realised why it smelled so familiar and yet not like her lover. No, she grinned and realised this was what she remembered Robin to smell like, her uncle Robin when she had been a mere child. So even, scent changed with regeneration.

"I was never supposed to have been born. Under the Arch Time Lords are supposed to be sterile, but my mother had other thoughts. According to my father I am a flaw in history, I should have never been here. Even tried on several occasions to eradicate me from history to correct his mistake."

She gave a mirthless laugh and shook her head before she continued on "But did I care? No. I am here, and that is what matters. You are here, and that is what matters. Not who you're supposed to be or whether you should be here at all. You are here, so make the most of it. You've been given life, not all get that opportunity whether they should be there in time or not.

She grinned and chuckled "You're you, Freddie" She said with a laugh and messed up his hair like she used to do as a child.

"I hate his guts, Sisi," he muttered. "But, for you, I'll try to make peace."

"Well, it's a start. Beggars can't be choosers, right?" She said with a grin.

The grin disappeared from her face at his words when he explained he had brought back Gallifrey, she staggered for a moment, hardly believing her eyes. And this man had just deemed himself second hand outs when he had brought back a dead race all on his own?

"You brought Gallifrey back..?" She whispered, stunned. "You've brought us all in danger by bringing them back. because on the new Gallifrey there already is a Specialist.. and a Meddler. And everyone else it seems. They're hunting us down, they will get to you too in the end."

Before she could get a reply from the Could've-been King Robin had already grabbed him by the lapels of his coat and dragged him up on his feet.

"You brought them through?" he shouted into the King's startled face. "You? Do you know what they've done in their version of the Spiral Politic?"

She was about to intervene, pull Robin off him when they both stilled and seemed to be.. listening? She blinked, not really knowing what was going on.

Then, she heard it too. Well, hear, it was a weird sensation between hearing and feeling.

It was the weirdest things she had ever heard.

"Temporal bow waves," the Meddler said.

"About a dozen, I think," said the Could've-Been King.

"Talking of the devil.. that's them, isn't it?" She said carefully.

Then, a slow smile came to her face. Not a kind one.

"Who has a craving for plums? I know I do."

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

(OOC: To save myself time and effort, I combined the King and the Meddler's responses into a single post.)

The Meddler's grip on the Could've-Been King slackened, and he stepped away.

"Talking of the devil.. that's them, isn't it?" She said carefully.

"Yes," both versions of the Meddler said, simultaneously.

"My Lord Robin," interjected Malekirith, "My Lady the Dreamweaver..."

"That does seem an apt title for you, Sisi," added the Could've-Been King, smiling at the glare the Meddler gave him.

"I fear I have wronged the both of you. If you will but tell me who we face, why, I shall aid you."

"The Time Lords," said the Meddler.

Malekirith blinked, startled. "The Time Lords..? But, my Lord Robin..."

"Yes, yes," the Could've-Been King said dismissively, "They're all dead. And I brought them back. That's why I killed those three Sidhe Lords."

Then, a slow smile came to the Dreamweaver's face. Not a kind one.

"Who has a craving for plums? I know I do."

The Meddler snorted with amusement. "There's about a dozen TARDISes coming," he said, turning serious. "Even with your formidable powers, my love," he ignored the way the Could've-Been King bristled, "we are significantly outnumbered." A pause. "But how did they find us?"

The Could've-Been King slapped himself in the forehead. "Atlantis," he said with a grimace. "I said I was going to Atlantis when I left."

"And it's not like Atlantis is unknown to the Time Lords," added the Meddler.

"And they have our biodata," finished the Could've-Been King. "And, from what I heard about your little escapade in the Great Library, Sisi's psychic signature."

"Which means, my Lords?" asked a confused-sounding Malekirith.

"They can track us anywhere," said the Meddler with finality. "They can find us by following the Dreamweaver's mind, and pinpoint us with biodatic sniffers."

The Could've-Been King looked at his goddaughter. "Right. You two, scarper. I'll delay them for you." He smiled at the Meddler. "Not for you, you understand. If it was just you, I'd grab you for them myself. For our - my goddaughter."

The Meddler looked hard at the King, then nodded. "Thank you," he managed to say. He held out his hand to the Dreamweaver. "Shall we?"

[sisilaya]

"That does seem an apt title for you, Sisi," added the Could've-Been King, smiling at the glare the Meddler gave him.

"For I am the Dreamweaver, I'll make thee's dreams become reality." She quipped, a smile on her face as she planted her hands on her hips. She gave a laugh as she saw Robin glare at the King "No worries love, I'd only shag you if that's what you're thinking." She gave a wink, laughing at the Kings look of disgust now.

Soon enough, Malekirith had been informed of who they were facing and even though how improbable it was, they were still going to have to face them. She was just glad he was going to be a helping hand.

She cracked the plum joke, and Robin snorted, remembering what had happened the last time. She saw how the King just gave a blank look.

"I gave Alec Harrison and Sarah Jane Smith enchanted plums, you know, to aid in the budding a little. The moron next to you decided to eat one too and ended up snogging Alec instead so I had to cut my fun short." She smiled with a shrug, mouthing a Well, you did eat it! when Robin gave her a half glare for calling him a moron.

She wasn't too happy on hearing how exactly they had been found. She knew their escapade to the new Gallifrey had been a bad idea.. no matter how fun and exhilarating it had been.

"They can track us anywhere," said the Meddler with finality. "They can find us by following the Dreamweaver's mind, and pinpoint us with biodatic sniffers."

"Probably wouldn't help if I just became dumb" She deadpanned. Even though danger was closing in, she wasn't afraid it seemed. No, she was pumped up for battle, ready to punch her fist through someone's face and cheer while doing it.

"Right. You two, scarper. I'll delay them for you." He smiled at the Meddler. "Not for you, you understand. If it was just you, I'd grab you for them myself. For our - my goddaughter."

The Meddler looked hard at the King, then nodded. "Thank you," he managed to say. He held out his hand to the Dreamweaver. "Shall we?"

But instead of taking her lovers hand, she went over to the Could Be King and gave him a last hug and a kiss on the cheek, something she always used to do as a child.

"Don't get yourself killed, you hear me? I inherited mums gift for healing." With that she took one of her golden ear drops out and held it in her closed fist. Her eyes glowed for a moment and she placed the small jewel in the Kings hand, the gold shimmering with Sidhe energy. "Call on me if you need my help. Don't waste a regeneration on it."

With that she took her place by the Meddlers side again, taking his hand in hers. She saw that look on his face and pulled him in for a kiss before he could say anything "You knobhead" she whispered. good naturedly against his lips. She finally broke the kiss and looked towards Lord Malekirith, who was preparing for battle.

"Yes let's go. But are we taking him with us?" She motioned towards the Sidhe Lord. "We can't just leave him here, he'll be food for the dogs."