As I returned across the lands I'd known
I recognized the fields that I'd once made
Had to stop in my tracks for fear
Of walking on the mines I'd laid


If I built this fortress around your heart
Encircled you in trenches and barbed wire
Let me build a bridge, for I cannot fill your chasm
Let me set the battlements on fire.
	--Sting



CHAPTER 3:  FORTRESS


	The Doctor was trying to find his study.  He knew where it was, but he couldn't find it.  The 
TARDIS' interior configuration was growing more and more unstable by the day...he supposed it 
was a reflection of the confusion in his own mind that he was desperately trying to keep at bay. 
 Damn Theo, anyway...she often seemed to delight in shaking up his mental balance.
	He came around a corner and was faced with a door.  He opened it, hoping it would be the 
study.  No such luck, it was Ace's room.  With a frown, he closed the door and went back the way
 he'd come.  After a few more turns he came to another door.  With a sigh, he tried it.  Ace's 
oom again.  
	"Blast!" he exclaimed, hands on his hips, staring into his old companion's chambers.  A 
small smile creased his lips as his eyes ticked over her tape deck, her empty cans ready for
 charging with nitro-nine, pieces of her battle armor...the objects in the room were a veritable 
chronology of her long tenure with him.  And how much had he made her into what she was today? 
 How different would she have been had she not known him?  Ace had built impressive walls 
around herself...but he'd been there, handing her bricks and mortar.  Now he wasn't sure anyone 
could breach those walls, not even him...or especially him.  Without realizing how he got there, he
 found himself standing inside her room, fingering the black silk of her old jacket as it hung on a 
hatstand he'd given her.  "Why do you keep bringing me here, old friend?" he murmured to the air. 
 He sat down in front of her mirror, wondering what he was doing here.
	"Maybe the TARDIS is trying to tell you something," came a familiar voice from behind him.  
The Doctor smiled and looked in the mirror at the figure standing in the doorway behind him.  It 
was a tall, imposing man with piercing blue eyes and a shock of blond hair that almost seemed to 
glow, his pale skin set off by his uniformly black clothing, a double breasted black suit over a 
black turtleneck.  A gold medallion was pinned to his lapel in the same place where a soldier might
 wear ribbons.
	"I don't need the TARDIS to tell me that she still haunts my thoughts."
	"Especially since Theo already told you that."
	"Yes, and she's not the only one."  The Doctor looked at his own reflection and sighed.  "I 
wonder what everyone wants from me all of a sudden."
	The man came forward to stand behind the Doctor.  "You know, Doctor, that's the first 
question I've ever heard you ask where it sounded like you didn't know the answer."	
	The Doctor was silent for a few moments, then stood and went to the door.  His visitor didn't
 move.  In the doorway the Doctor spoke without turning around.  "What are you doing here, Angel?"
	Angel shrugged.  "Well, I wouldn't want your life to get boring, now would I?"
	"Little danger of that, I'm sure."  The Doctor waited.  He wasn't sure quite what to think.  
He'd had a number of conversations with Angel but still didn't feel like he knew him that well...just
 that he was an unbelievably ancient Guardian, a true immortal...unlike Theo who was a human 
being...and that he was intensely loyal to the Guardian, having had to work hard to gain her trust 
after Seth's betrayal.  Angel had been everywhere and seen everything, and in his presence the 
Doctor felt an unfamiliar awkwardness.  He wasn't used to being in the company of beings far
 older and more experienced than himself...add to that Angel's great physical power and the Doctor
 felt like an amateur.  He had the impression that Angel had definite reasons for stopping by, but 
if Angel didn't want him to know what those were, he wasn't going to find out.  "Let's have some 
tea, shall we?" he said, starting down the corridor.  Angel followed, closing Ace's door after 
him, a ripple passing across his inscrutable face.


	Theo was sitting at the head of a large oval conference table, her elbows resting on its 
glossy surface, her hands over her face.  She was attempting to preside over the usual weekly
staff meeting but today for some reason it had descended into chaos.  Vargo was yelling something
 about CVE's to Ratcliffe, Daniel and Rozoloff were arguing loudly about office supplies, of all 
things, and the other 6 members of Theo's senior staff were all trying to get their own words 
in over everyone else's words.  She was just contemplating a nice attention-getting bolt of 
plasma energy over their heads and damn the hole it'd put in the wall when she was rescued by
 Miryam.
	Miryam was Theo's chief of intelligence.  She was a beautiful feline humanoid with soft 
mauve fur who liked to dress in flowing diaphanous pastel-colored robes that allowed her 
flexible, graceful body room to move.  She burst into the room without knocking.  Her sudden 
entrance and the urgency in her golden eyes quieted the room in a hurry.  She hurried around 
the table and leaned over to whisper urgently in Theo's ear.  The Guardian's eyes widened and 
she jumped up.  "Meeting adjourned," she said.  


	"Where are you headed?" Angel asked.
	"Not sure.  I was thinking of dragging out my old randomizer.  With my companions gone, 
I might just take some time and wander for awhile."
	"Think you might go back to Gallifrey?"
	The Doctor looked at him blankly.  "Why would I do that?"
	"Oh, I don't know...homesickness?"
	"I've never been homesick for Gallifrey in my life, Angel.  I only go there when I'm asked
 to specifically.  I might consider going there to visit my old friend Romana...that's an idea, 
actually," he added to himself, thoughtfully.
	"I'm surprised that the Time Lords don't utilize your talents more often, Doctor."
	The Doctor smiled and nodded noncomittally.  He stood and went to refill his teacup.  He 
picked up a lump of sugar, having to concentrate to stop his hand from shaking.  He was in a 
great deal of danger and prudence was called for.  He spoke, his back to Angel.  "Why don't you 
tell me who you really are, and why you're so curious about Gallifrey?" he said evenly.  He 
turned slowly around.  Angel stood up.
	"Why, I'm Angel, Doctor.  I'm your friend."
	"No you're not.  Angel knows very well why I seldom visit Gallifrey, and he knows of my...reputation among other Time Lords."
	Angel's beatific features creased into an uncharacteristic smirk.  "Well, I guess I've no 
one to blame but myself."  The Doctor watched as the form of Angel slid into someone else's...
another tall man, but there his resemblance to the real Angel ended.  His features were dark 
with malice, and his long, straight black hair was tied back in a ponytail.  His olive-complected 
face must have once been very handsome, but now it seemed...twisted.   "I've wanted to meet 
you for a long time, Doctor," he said.  "I'm..."
	"Seth.  You must be Seth."
	"Ah.  I see you've heard of me.  That speaks well of you, Doctor...I'm not what you'd call 
a public figure.  Those who know my name must be well-connected indeed."
	"What do you want?"	
	Seth chuckled.  "Oh, nothing that you'd give willingly."  Before the Doctor could get a word 
out Seth darted forward, grasped the Time Lord's arm and they both vanished.


	Theo burst through the doors of her office, her clothing melting into her uniform as she 
walked.  Miryam hurried behind her.
	"Where is Angel?" Theo barked.
	"He was called to the Philos sector early this morning...they've got such a problem there
 with Legion infiltrators."
	Theo sighed.  "All right.  I'll need your help on this one, Miryam."
	"Of course, Guardian," said Miryam.  
	"Tell me again, what exactly did Constantine say?"
	Miryam took a deep breath.  "He said that early this morning Seth returned to the Legion
 with a prisoner, a small man he'd never seen before.  Seth bragged that he was finally adding
 a Time Lord to his Legion."
	Theo's jaw worked.  "Are you sure it was the Doctor?"
	Miryam nodded.  "This Time Lord fit the Doctor's description, and Seth addressed him by 
that name as well.  Also, one of the scouts I sent to investigate reported the TARDIS adrift, 
unoccupied, in the Vortex."
	Theo shook her head.  "Seth must have taken him from it...but that doesn't explain how 
he could have gotten in.  The TARDIS is a protected environment, Seth would have not been able
 to enter without a key."
	"Who has keys to the Doctor's TARDIS?" Miryam asked.
	"Aside from the Doctor himself, I have one and so does Angel.  He gave them to us long ago. 
 Other than that I don't know."  She yanked open a drawer of her desk.  "Mine is here where it's 
supposed to be, and I know that Angel keeps his with him at all times."  She sat down, her brow
 creased, tapping her ring on the polished desktop.  "He must have found some way..."  She 
looked up at Miryam.  "Is it possible he's had another Time Lord among his Legion for some time?
  If he had access to the mind of any Time Lord, he could use that person's knowledge of TARDIS 
systems to devise a away around them."
	Miryam shook her head after a moment's consideration.  "No, I'm sure I would know about 
it.  Constantine is an excellent source...it's taken him years to rise through the Legion ranks and
 he assures me that there is very little that goes on in the Stronghold he doesn't know about."
	Theo nodded.  "He's a very important soldier, Miryam.  We must be careful to guarantee 
his safety."  She shook her head as if to clear it.  "Well, at any rate I'm sure we'll find out soon 
enough.  Miryam, you and I are going to the Stronghold."
	"Theo, let me remind you that the last time we mounted a frontal attack against Seth we 
took twenty thousand Guardians and we *weren't* attacking his very headquarters!"
	"No, Miryam, I don't want a full squadron, I don't want advance scouts, and I don't want 
a frontal attack.  This is too important.  Seth's conversion process takes several days at least,
 maybe more on a Time Lord's brain, and I want to get the Doctor out of there before he's made
 any progress on him.  A more subtle approach is clearly called for," she said, putting on her 
gloves.  Miryam sighed inwardly.  The gloves were intended to protect Theo's mortal hands 
from prolonged energy bursts.  Theo was pulling her John Wayne routine again...and when that
 happened it usually meant that it was time to duck and cover.  "Miryam, I need you to find Ace
 for me.  I'm not exactly sure where she is, but being the talented spy you are I'm sure you'll
 be able to find her."
	Miryam's whiskers twitched in consternation.  "You're joking, right?  You can't seriously 
want to involve her in this?"
	Theo bit her lip.  "Miryam, if I don't let her help, she'll never forgive me or herself."
	"That's hardly a rational argument."
	"Then I'll be irrational.  Just find her, and meet me at the Stronghold in one hour."  The 
Guardian swept out of the room, leaving Miryam staring open-mouthed after her.


	The Doctor and Seth reappeared in a long, dim room that looked like it belonged in a medieval
 castle.  It was made of dark stone and lit with sconces.  The Doctor looked around, a bit surprised
at this decor after the softly lit, pleasant Domain of Theo and her Guardians.  Seth began leading 
him towards a set of double doors at the end of the room.
	"Lovely place you've got here," the Doctor commented.  "Must be marvelous for Halloween
 parties."
	Seth chuckled.  "I know it's excessively cliched, Doctor, but this is the Black Guardian's 
idea of a low profile."  The doors opened by themselves as they approached and the Doctor 
stopped short upon entering the room.  Seth jerked him along, but the Doctor wasn't able to 
restrain himself from gazing around the chamber.
	They had entered what could only be described as a throne room.  A huge chamber at least
 four stories in height, all stone arches and flying buttresses and 20-foot cast-iron chandeliers.
  The place would have had a sort of Gothic beauty were it not for the air of decay that hung 
about like a haze and the many Legion guards stationed about, their red robes and concealed faces
 sinister.
	Seth dragged the Doctor by the arm past the dais at the head of the room to a small side 
door.  He opened it and tossed the Doctor inside.
	"Seth, what are you planning this time?" he asked.
	"Oh, don't tax your little Gallifreyan brain about it, Doctor.  There's nothing you can do 
about it.  Best to sit and hope for rescue."  Seth grinned at him and shut the door.
	Sighing, the Doctor looked about.  He was in surprisingly large room for a jail cell.  It 
was almost like a small apartment.  He sat down on a couch and contemplated his situation.  It 
didn't take a genius to deduce that Seth had decided to add him to the ranks of Legion soldiers.  
He'd heard rumors about Seth's conversion process, but hadn't ever heard of anyone resisting.  
He knew it took several days or longer, depending on the strength of the subject's brain.  The 
Doctor's mind, out of force of habit, immediately began to contemplate methods of escape...then
 he had to laugh at himself.  He was locked in a castle beyond the realm of ordinary time and space, 
surrounded by an inexhaustible army of supernatural, immortal, telepathic beings drawing upon 
an infinite reservoir of dark power.  There was nothing he could do to save himself.  His only hope 
was, as Seth had jested, rescue.  


	Theo arrived in the netherworld that Seth called his home, at a small waystation some 
distance from the Stronghold where she had arranged to meet Miryam.  A few miles in front 
of her, silhouetted against the purple sky, was an unnaturally steep, sharp mountain, rising 
like an accusing finger from a perfectly flat, arid desert plain.  Its sides were sheer and sharp...
the only way in or out was by teleportation or transport via one of Seth's Legion.  Perched atop
 this granite edifice was a stone castle which seemed almost to grow from its mountainous 
foundations, a thorny tangle of turrets and stone facades.  It looked like something out of a 
second-rate comic book, but it had a definite air of danger about it.  This was Seth's Stronghold, 
and not even Theo would come here without good reason.  She stared up at it thoughtfully, the 
winds of this between-place whipping at her hair and blowing her cape out behind her in billows.
	She stood waiting with her gloved hands on her hips, considering a number of ways that 
she could go about this.  Seth would sense her presence quite easily once she entered the castle,
 but would not be able to pinpoint her location.  She'd have to move quickly once inside.  Her face,
 usually so open and amiable, was grim and dangerous, the face of a warrior about to mount a 
questionable operation.
	She turned as Miryam appeared beside her, one paw on Ace's arm.  Ace rushed to Theo's side.
	"What's going on here, Theo?  Miryam wouldn't tell me."
	Theo laid a hand on her shoulder.  "Ace, Seth has the Doctor in his Stronghold, there on the 
hill.  The best intelligence indicates that he plans to...to convert him."
	Ace's eyes widened and her fists clenched.  "Well, we're going to get him out, aren't we?"
	Theo stared into the woman's eyes for a moment, then nodded.  "That's the idea."  She turned
 to Miryam.  "Miryam, I need to you find Constantine.  Perhaps he can help us...but only attempt 
mental contact, we mustn't endanger his life or his cover.  I don't need to tell you that we'll need 
to move fast once we're inside.  I don't know where Seth keeps his...new recruits, shall we say.  
Perhaps Constantine can tell us that.  Now.  We'll both have to try and shield our minds as much 
as we can, but we must assume that we'll be detected so stay out of sight and avoid the Legion 
as much as you can.  Go."  Miryam nodded and vanished.  Theo turned to Ace.  "Ace, you stay 
close to me, understood?"
	Ace nodded.  "Theo, why did you have Miryam fetch me for this?  I'm glad you did, but 
what can I offer?"
	"More than you think, Ace.  If Seth has begun converting the Doctor, and who knows how
 the process will affect a Time Lord's brain, it might be difficult to get him away.  I'm counting 
on you to give him something to focus on.  Seth's influence can be very powerful...the fact that
 he himself was converted speaks to that.  Understand?"	
	Ace nodded.  She stepped forward and stared up at the Stronghold.  "They've got him in 
there?" she said in a low, angry voice. 
	"Yes."
	"Looks like something out of a yellowback horror novel."
	"Seth always did have a flair for the flamboyant," Theo commented, then slipped an arm
 around Ace's waist.  "Hold on," she said and suddenly they were airborne and zooming across 
the desert towards the mountain.  They reached the base and shot straight up.  Ace shut her 
eyes against the vertigo that seized her, clinging to Theo tightly.  She opened her eyes as they
 reached the top and gasped to see the stone walls of the Stronghold rushing towards them.  
"Close your eyes, Ace," Theo said.  "We're going through the wall."  Ace shut her eyes tightly, 
and felt a brief flash of clamminess and crushing closeness.  They alighted on a hard surface.  
Ace opened her eyes and found herself in a dim, close corridor that looked deserted.  She checked
 her weapons automatically, and to reassure herself.  Theo nodded to her and they began moving 
down the corridor.  


	In his throne room, Seth sat slouched on the massive black mahogany throne mounted on the 
dais.  He could sense Miryam and Theo in his castle, somewhere.  He smiled to himself, and did
 nothing.


	Theo moved slowly, casting her mind carefully through the castle's occupants.  She could 
find no trace of the Doctor, but that didn't mean anything.  Seth had the ability to shield him 
from her probing.  They had not yet encountered any Legion, which was a stroke of luck.  She 
turned to say something to Ace, only to discover that the woman was no longer beside her.  
Ace stood some distance back, motionless, her face downcast.  Theo, her brow furrowing, 
went back to her.
	"Ace, what's wrong?"  She reached out to grasp her arm, and at that moment Ace looked 
up at her.  Theo jumped.  A foreign intelligence shone from Ace's hazel eyes and her features 
were utterly blank.  She cocked her arm back as if to throw a fastball, and in her hand appeared 
a round metal object which was all too familiar.  Theo reacted quickly, but not quickly enough. 
 She lunged for Ace's neck, intending to knock her unconscious and get her back to the Domain 
fast, but as she moved forward Ace's arm came down with preternatural swiftness and snapped
 the damping collar around Theo's neck, cutting her off from the power of the Guardians.  Theo 
fell to her knees, her hands clutching at the cold metal band, feeling the power drain from her
 body.  She looked up at Ace's impassive face as she towered over her.  Ace drew her gun, 
cocked it, and pressed the barrel against Theo's temple.  Theo steeled herself...in her present 
condition a bullet would end her life easily.  Ace did not fire, but the two stayed there, motionless
 in tableau, for some moments.  Finally four Legion soldiers appeared to surround the powerless
Guardian.
	"You will go with them," Ace said.  The voice was hers, but it was without inflection, 
and also noticeably missing Ace's London accent.  Theo stared up at Ace for a moment, trying 
to probe her mind.  The collar might cut her off from her powers, but her mental abilities did 
not depend upon a link to the Guardians and were thus her own.  But it was no use.  Ace's mind
 was shut up tight.
	"Do I have a choice?" she asked.
	The Legion hauled Theo to her feet and dragged her down the corridor.  Theo craned her 
neck around to stare after Ace as she stood there in the middle of the corridor, a stranger in 
a friend's body.


	Seth paced, waiting.  The room was full of Legion, including most of Seth's aides and 
advisors, lurking in the shadows around the room's periphery.  They, like him, were waiting 
for something to happen.  Seth looked towards the side door behind which the Doctor waited and 
made a small motion to the Legion soldier who stood guard there.  The soldier entered the 
antechamber and momentarily emerged, the Doctor in tow.  He shoved the Time Lord onto the
 steps leading to the dais where Seth stood, looking pleased with himself.
	"Perhaps you illogically hope for rescue after all," he sneered.  The Doctor said nothing. 
 "Well, I'm glad to disappoint you," he said, gesturing to the doors.  On cue, they opened to admit 
four Legion, dragging Theo between them.  They shoved her forward into the bare center of the
 room, where she stumbled and fell to the cold floor.  The Doctor gasped and started towards her, 
but was restrained by two guards.  She was...she was chained up.  He couldn't believe that Seth 
would treat her so harshly.
	"Seth, this is brutal.  Release her at once," he barked.  Seth looked amused at the Doctor's 
commanding tone.  
	Theo spoke up.  "The chains aren't necessary, Doctor," she said.  The Doctor was slightly 
relieved at her voice...at least she sounded like herself.  "This collar robs me of my power.  He
 just enjoys seeing me humiliated," she said, getting to her feet.  She stared at Seth.  "Aren't 
you going to kill me?  What are you waiting for?  You finally got close enough to slap a collar on
me, isn't that what you wanted?"
	Seth chuckled low in his throat.  "Ah Theo, only you would be so egotistical to assume that 
this must be about you."  He strolled over to the Doctor, held motionless by the Legion soldiers 
grasping his arms.  Seth grasped the Doctor's chin in two fingers and forced him to look into his 
face.  "A Time Lord," he said, his tone suggestive of a gourmand facing a feast of duck l'orange 
and wine.  "I've wanted control of one for a long time."
	"You must already have one," the Doctor said.  "How else could you have gained access to 
my TARDIS uninvited?"
	Theo winced and hung her head.  She knew the answer to that...it just slapped a damn damping 
collar on her.  Seth smiled cruelly and turned away from the Doctor to motion to the door on the
other side of the dais.  It opened and Ace walked mechanically out to stand next to Seth.  The 
Doctor's eyes followed his companion, not quite sure what to think.  Theo watched the unfolding 
scene with great interest as Ace stood silent, staring expressionlessly at the Doctor.  
	"You've done very well, my dear," Seth crooned at her.  "Thanks to you I have the Time
 Lord and the Guardian."  The Doctor's face creased into a rictus of horror.
	"Ace," he whispered.  "Oh, no..."  He was shaking his head in disbelief.  "No!" he cried, 
straining against his captors.  Theo ground her jaws together.  This was intolerable.
	Seth smiled at the Doctor's struggles, enjoying his little games.  He turned back to Ace.  
"Where is the other spy, the one called Miryam?"
	Ace silently motioned to the door, and to Theo's chagrin it opened again to admit two more
 Legion, dragging Miryam with them, collared and chained, just as Theo was.  They flung her to 
the ground next to Theo.  Miryam hissed at them, baring her impressive fangs, her ears flattened 
against her skull.
	Seth smiled.  "Excellent."  He began walking slowly around Ace, contemplating her thoughtfully.
  "Who are you?" he asked.
	"I am Legion.  I serve you."
	"Of course.  Can you sense the woman called Ace?"
	Ace's head cocked to one side briefly before answering.  Theo watched, thinking.  Ace's body 
looked like an android accessing data.  "Yes, she is here."
	Theo leaned over and whispered to Miryam.  "Listen to how he's talking to her," she said.
	"I know.  Ace must not be converted yet."
	"Converts are fully integrated beings...he's talking to her as if she's more than one person.  
He must be only superimposing the will of one of his soldiers upon her...she's possessed by one of 
the Legion."
	"Why is he bothering with this show and tell?"
	"Oh, it's for the Doctor's benefit, I'm sure.  It always helps to have converts spiritually 
broken before they go into the chamber," she said tightly.  Upon the dais, Seth continued.
	"Is she still complete?"
	"She is weak, but she is all here."
	The Doctor stared at this obscene spectacle, cursing himself, Seth, Theo, anyone he could 
think of.  Seth was using Ace as an instrument of the Doctor's own conversion...his companion,
 his Ace.  He bit his lip hard enough to bring blood.  He'd die before he let Seth convert her as well.
	"Tell me, Legion...does Ace know this Time Lord before us?"
	"Oh yes, she knows him well.  She has traveled with him."
	Seth regarded the Doctor's tortured face speculatively.  "Tell us, then...how does she feel a
bout him?"
	Ace's face remained almost expressionless...for a moment, Theo thought she saw a flash 
of consciousness, but it was quickly gone, if it had ever been there.  "She..."  Ace's head cocked
 to one side for a moment again.  "She is in love with him," she finally said.  This statement 
prompted a number of varied reactions.  Theo sighed and her shoulders slumped...that had been 
exactly what Seth had hoped to hear.  The gathered Legion murmured amongst themselves, and 
Seth's mouth curled into a self-satisfied smirk.  As for the Doctor, upon hearing those words, 
something inside his chest, centuries old and well hardened, loosened and fell away.  His head fell 
to his breast and a half-sob escaped his lips before he could bite it back.  He raised his head with 
a considerable effort and looked into her strange eyes.  Seth walked over and leaned into the
Doctor's face.
	"How does that feel, Doctor?  Your friend loves you...and yet she will help me destroy you.  
More than just destroy you, actually...by helping me convert you to my Legion, she will help me 
to *undo* you."
	The Doctor did not look at him.  He kept his eyes focused on Ace's face, no matter how blank 
it was.  "Seth, if it's the last thing I do..."
	"I know, I know, you'll destroy me."  Seth straightened up.  "Like I've never heard that before." 
	He walked a few steps away then turned back.  "Tell me, Doctor, are this young woman's 
feelings reciprocated?  Has a Time Lord finally learned to feel love?"  He stared into the Doctor's
 face, his eyes narrowed.  "Hmm...yes, I see that you have...but you're not just a Time Lord, are 
you?"  The Doctor looked up at him sharply.  "Don't worry, Doctor, I understand.  I was in love
 once, too."  He smiled smugly at Theo, who glared angrily back.  "It was nice while it lasted, I
 suppose.  I can't say as I remember it that well."  He strolled over to Ace and stroked the back
 of one hand across her cheek.  Ace remained motionless, but the Doctor shuddered for her.  
"She is lovely, I admit."  He stood behind her and leaned on her shoulder.  "But I don't suppose 
that's why you love her, is it?  What, then?  Her spirit?  Her courage?  Her..."  Seth made 
searching motions in the air with one hand, looking sarcastically for the right word.  "...strength
of character, is that it?"  He looked at the Doctor questioningly.
	"You wouldn't understand," the Doctor said quietly, keeping his eyes on Ace's.  He could 
swear they looked different than they had a moment ago.  Theo studied Ace's face closely.  The
 muscles of the woman's jaw were clenching and unclenching.  Seth roared laughter, unobservant.
	"Oh, I'm sure.  How perfectly commonplace.  I never cease to be amazed at the predictability 
of humanoid species.  Really, they're all the same."  He twirled a strand of Ace's hair around his 
finger.  "And after all those years of traveling together, you only discover your feelings for 
each other *now,* as you're both facing the annihilation of your very beings?  I think that's 
the most tragic thing I've ever heard."  He left Ace and strolled to the wall next to his throne. 
 "How delightful," he said, and snapped his fingers.  The wall behind the throne opened up as the
 throne slid to one side.  Behind the wall there was a small chamber containing only a perfectly
ordinary straight-backed wooden armchair.  Seth turned back towards the assembled company
 and then looked at his prisoner...his brow creased briefly.  Theo smiled grimly...Seth was no 
doubt puzzled as to why the Doctor wasn't sobbing on the floor yet.  The Guardian's breath 
quickened...like the Doctor, being helpless was what she hated most, and that's exactly what she
 was.  She'd tried to speak to the Doctor telepathically several times already, but in anticipation 
of his upcoming conversion he'd thrown up every mental barrier he could muster, and she could 
not get through.  She wanted to ask Miryam if she'd managed to call for help before she was 
captured but didn't want to tip off the Legion goons.  So she stayed silent.
	Seth didn't let his disappointment show for long, though.  He turned to Ace.  "My dear, it's 
time to lead the Doctor to his new career."  Ace walked forward.  The Legion soldiers holding the
 Doctor backed off as she approached.  She grasped his arm with a strength that was not her own
 and started to lead him towards the chamber, but he reached out and grabbed her other wrist.  
She looked at him, startled.
	"You don't have to do this, Dorothy," he whispered urgently.  "You're stronger than he is."  
Seth, hearing this, yawned lazily.  The Doctor continued, fixing her rapidly shifting eyes with his.
  "He doesn't control you yet.  You have free will, you can take back your own body."  The hand 
that was clamped on the Doctor's upper arm began to shake, tremors which spread to her upper 
body and neck.  Ace's face screwed itself into a grimace of effort, her teeth bared, her eyes 
quinched shut.
	"Get...get out of my head!" she grunted through clenched jaws.  She threw back her head 
and cried out loudly.  Seth's face darkened and he started towards them, but before he reached 
them, Ace vented another cry of frustration and then the mask of blankness fell over her features 
again, and the trembling stopped.  Theo's face fell...so close.  Seth's face settled back into a smug
 smirk.  Ace shook the Doctor's hand off her wrist and hauled him before her to the conversion 
chamber.  She shoved him unceremoniously into the wooden chair.  Immediately, the wood of the
 chair flowed up and around his wrists and ankles and neck, imprisoning him there.  Ace reached
 up to the ceiling and pulled a clear glass cylinder down over his head.
	"Do something," Miryam hissed at Theo.
	"I wish I could," Theo snapped.  "It's up to them now, I'm afraid."
	"What if he manages to convert him?"
	"Then God help us," Theo muttered.
	Ace moved to the wall next to the chamber and placed her hand upon the lever switch which
 would start the conversion.
	"Ace, look at me," the Doctor said, his voice cutting through the activity in the hall clearly.
  The command in his tone was enough to stay Ace's hand upon the lever, and she looked at him.  
His face was composed, but his eyes were intense.  "I love you, Ace.  Don't do this...don't leave 
me again," he said, as if it were her in the conversion chamber instead of him.
	Ace's left hand was upon the lever.  Theo could see her shoulders rising and falling and the 
muscles of her left arm bulging.  She realized suddenly that Ace was simultaneously trying to 
pull the lever and resisting it.
	Seth stepped forward.  "You are my servant!  Do it!" he roared
	"No, I won't!" Ace cried, her gloriously Cockney accent echoing through the hall.  "I must," 
came the flat voice of the Legion within her.  She raised her right hand to the lever and pushed up 
on it, trying to keep it from lowering, while her left hand pressed down upon it.  "I won't help 
you hurt him!" Ace cried.  "Make him one of us," said the Legion.  Seth rushed forward, intending 
to push her away and throw the lever himself, when suddenly Ace cried out and whipped her 
head towards him.  To Theo's shock, an energy bolt emanated from the woman's forehead and 
struck Seth, knocking him back against the throne room wall.  "Get away from me, you creep!"
	"How the hell did she do that?" Miryam asked.
	Theo, open-mouthed, took a second to answer...her attention was captivated by the scene 
on the dais.  "Uh...well, possession is a two-way street.  If the Legion inside her needs access 
to her brain and thoughts, then she can also get access to his Legion powers, if she's properly 
motivated.  I guess she is."  Seth's soldiers tried to rush the dais but found they cound not 
mount the stairs.  Seth himself was struggling to his feet, rubbing his head where he'd cracked
 it upon the stones.
 Ace's body twisted on its feet as her arms struggled for control of the lever.  Two voices 
coming from her mouth, Ace and her Legion possessor battled for her mind.
	"I must obey my orders!"
	"Snog off, toerag!"
	"He will be converted..."
	"No, I won't do it!"
	The Doctor was struggling against the chair that enveloped him, but to no avail.  Theo 
looked wildly around the room for any assistance whatsoever.  Chaos was taking over in the 
throne room as the Legion scrabbled around the foot of the dais and Seth tried to fight his way 
through his own soldiers.  Theo scrambled to her feet and ran towards the dais, pushing her way 
through the Legion, who paid her no mind.  Ace was still screaming and struggling.  As Theo 
stumbled up the dais stairs and fell out onto the stones, she was just in time to see Ace's right 
hand fling itself off the lever.  
	"You cannot resist me," cried her Legion occupant in triumph.  
	"Doctor, I lo...love..."  Ace's words melded into an anguished scream as her left hand threw
 the lever.  Immediately the glass cylinder around the Doctor's head filled with green plasma e
nergy and his body stiffened.  Somewhere Ace heard Seth's triumphant laughter ringing out.  
"No!" Ace cried and flung herself onto the dais.  She ended up lying on her side, staring into 
Theo's eyes.  "Help," she managed and her right hand flung a bolt of plasma directly at Theo's 
neck.  It struck her squarely and threw her over heads of the Legion troops halfway across the 
throne room...the pain was intense.  She struggled to sit up and suddenly felt the welcome 
sensation of power flooding her cells.  She stood to discover the damping collar hanging in pieces. 
 She swatted them away from her neck.  Bracing her feet, she flung her arms wide, smashing the 
chains that bound her.  She rushed over to free Miryam. 
	"You take the Legion, I'll handle Seth," she barked.  Miryam nodded and began working her 
way methodically through the Legion soldiers.  Theo leapt over the mass of guards and landed on 
the dais.  She scooped up Ace's body and pressed the heel of her hand against the woman's 
forehead.  Closing her eyes, she drew the invading Legion presence out of Ace's mind into her 
own.  Ace slumped, weakened.  Holding her with one arm, Theo concentrated on the alien presence,
 her eyes slitted, and pulled it physically out of her mind.  The Legion soldier's energy was 
extracted into the palm of her hand, and she snuffed it out with a flick of her wrist.  She gripped
 Ace by the shoulders and shook her.  "Are you all right?"  Ace nodded, rubbing her forehead.  
She looked towards the conversion chamber to see the Doctor in the chair, his brain under attack.
	Ace tried to rush into the chamber but was stopped by a invisible barrier.  She lunged at the
 lever and tried to push it upwards.  "No, you can't," Theo said.  "It'll..."  Her words were cut off
 as she was hit full in the chest by a strong energy bolt.  She fell back and regarded Seth as he 
dvanced upon her.  She started to get up but he was already there.  He clamped his hands on her 
shoulders, forcing her down to her knees.  She cried out, her jaws clenched, and Ace watched in
 horror as green plasma energy flowed from Seth's shoulders through his hands to envelop the 
Guardian.  Ace kept struggling with the lever, which stubbornly refused to move.
	"Doctor, can you hear me?  I'm going to get you out of there," she cried at the chair where 
the Doctor sat stiff and motionless, his knuckles white.  She looked over at Theo and Seth.  Theo 
raised her arms, and her hands began to glow with white fire.  Her face tight with the effort, she 
leaned down and grasped his ankles.  Seth threw his head back, shaking, as white plasma spread 
up his legs to envelop his entire body except his hands.  The two stayed that way, stalemated, 
as Miryam fought to keep the Legion off the dais and Ace tried to find a way to stop the conversion. 
 Things were looking bad.  More and more Legion kept pouring into the throne room.  Miryam kept 
firing at them, but she couldn't hold them off forever.  Seth and Theo were each struggling 
within each other's energy but neither of them were gaining any ground.  Ace was about to try a
nd physically push Seth away from Theo when a streak of white...white *something* came through
 the roof of the throne room and hit Seth, knocking him backwards.  Theo bounded up from the 
ground, rubbing her wrists, to see Seth fighting off an enraged Angel.  Ace let loose a loud cheer.
  "Ha HA, the cavalry's here, you shitheads!" she yelled deliriously.  The throne room started to 
look like a meteor shower as Guardian soldiers descended upon the Stronghold.  They advanced 
upon the Legion, beating them back to the great Hall beyond the throne room.  Seth sent Angel 
flying with a well-placed kick to the chest.  Angel started to go after him again but Theo 
stopped him. 
	"I'll handle him, help Ace," she barked.  Seth was hovering about ten feet above the ground. 
Theo launched herself at him.  The force of her impact drove them both through the throne room
 wall and they disappeared into the space outside the Stronghold.  Angel rushed over to the 
conversion chamber.
	"There must be a way to get him out," Ace cried.
	"No, the process has to run its course.  To interrupt it could be fatal.  Brain shock."
	"If it runs its course he'll be a bloody Legion!"
	"We don't know that...it might not even work on a Time Lord."
	"I can't take that chance," Ace said grimly.  "I can't let him become one of them.  He'd 
rather die.  Besides, if he goes into brain shock he might regenerate."
	Angel looked down into the young woman's determined eyes.  "Are you sure about this?"
	"Yes," she said.  "I have to get him out of there...now."
	Angel nodded.  "All right.  I can probably disrupt the force field long enough for you to get 
in there."
	"How do I get him out of that freaking chair?"
	"I dunno, I've never done this before."  He braced his legs and placed his hands on the surface
 of the force field.  He pressed in on it with his shoulders and the field seemed to short out.  Ace 
rushed through into the chamber.  She stood over him for a second, her hands hovering nervously,
 not sure what to do.  The chair wouldn't let him go.  Maybe...a thought occurred to her.  She 
grasped the glass cylinder and yanked it upwards, off of his head.  The Doctor's body spasmed
a few times and then slumped.  The chair's outgrowths retreated from around his joints.  Ace
 let her breath out in a whoosh and slipped her arm under his back, dragging him from the chair. 
 He was dead weight unconscious...or she hoped he was just unconscious.  She managed to get 
him through the force field and lowered him to the dais.  Angel knelt beside them.  Ace laid her 
head on the Doctor's chest.
	"His hearts are beating but the rythm's irregular."  She pulled open his eyelids and peered 
at his eyes.  "He's not in good shape."
	Angel leaned down and easily picked the Time Lord's body up off the stones.  "Miryam, have 
the Guardians fall back by squads and return to HQ.  We're finished here."
	"What about Theo?"
	Angel's face was grim.  "She knows the way home."  Ace slipped her arm through Angel's 
and all three of them vanished.


	They reappeared back at HQ in what felt like a hospital, though it was unlike any Earth 
hospital Ace had ever been in.  A team of Guardians were waiting for them.  They stepped 
forward and wordlessly bore the Doctor away.  Ace started after them, but Angel held her back.
	"No, I have to go with him, I have to be there..."
	"Ace, you need to be examined.  You were possessed, remember?"
	"No, I have to be with him!  What if he wakes up for one second and I'm not there?  I'm fine,
 Angel, I'm..."  She trailed off as the world began to go gray.  Ace held onto Angel's arm as the 
corridor began to spin, and then she did what she'd only done once before:  she crumpled to the 
floor in a dead faint.


	She awoke in a bed.  A blue-uniformed Guardian was leaning over her, passing some sort 
of instrument over her right ear.  Angel was standing behind the blue Guardian, his arms crossed 
over his chest.  He smiled as he saw her eyes open.
	"Am I all right?"
	"All right," the blue Guardian said.
	"Why did I pass out?"
	"Possession, forcible expulsion, a firefight...I'd say it was overload.  But you're fine now."
	She sat up.  "Where's the Doctor?"  The blue Guardian and Angel exchanged a look.  "What?" 
she asked, a cold feeling settling into the pit of her stomach.  The Guardian silently left the room
 and Angel perched on the side of her bed.
	"He's in the next room.  He hasn't regained consciousness."
	"Has he regenerated?"
	"No.  We don't know whether that's a good sign or a bad one.  His brain...it's in shock, as I 
said it would be.  His brain patterns look all right, and physically he's stabilized, but it might be
 a little while before he wakes up."
	Ace looked up into Angel's blue eyes.  "Or never?"
	Angel nodded slowly.  "Yeah, or never."
	Ace swung her legs out of bed, forcing Angel to stand.  She was still in the clothes she'd
 been wearing before, but she was barefoot.  She stood up and took a deep breath.
	"Where are you going?"  Angel asked.
	"If you have to ask then you haven't been paying attention," she muttered as she left the room.


	She stood in the doorway of the dim room, her heart pounding.  He lay in the bed, still and 
silent.  It wasn't like a normal hospital room...there were no instruments, no oxygen tanks, no 
nurse call buttons.  Just a bed and a wide window.  Ace swallowed over a lump that felt about 
the size of a grapefruit.  She walked slowly to the side of the bed and sat down on the edge, 
looking down at the unconscious Time Lord.  Her chest hitched with contained sobs, but only two 
tears escaped to trickle down her cheeks.  She reached out a shaking hand and touched the side 
of his dear, familiar face.  Slowly, she leaned down and kissed him...but he did not move.  She 
sat back up, a rattling sigh escaping her lips.  This was the first time she'd seen him, really 
seen him, since...well, since.  She wanted to cry but didn't want to let it show.  She wanted to 
hope...but how could she when all she could think of were all the things they'd never said to each 
other?  Letting her hand rest on his face, she turned her eyes to the window.  There was no sunset 
nor sunrise in the Domain, this unreal place that the Guardians inhabited, but at this moment it 
seemed as if twilight was surely almost upon them.  She didn't know how long she sat like that, 
staring out the window, but she was startled out of her reverie by pressure upon her hand.  Her
 head whipped around to stare down...at his open eyes.  The pressure she'd felt was his hand upon
 hers.  Her mouth fell open slightly but no sound came out.  He smiled at her, and her lower lip 
trembled slightly.  Another tear tracked down her cheek.  He raised his hand to brush it away.  
They just looked at each other, saying nothing...and really, what needed to be said?  After a few
 moments, Ace swung her legs up onto the bed and lay next to him, her head on his shoulder, her 
arm across his chest.  
	The silence was broken by her whisper.  "Did you mean it?" she asked, not sure if she 
wanted to hear the response.
	"Yes," came the answer without hesitation.  Pause.  "Did you?"  A slight tremor in his voice.
	"Yes," she responded immediately.  His arm around her tightened briefly.  "Are you all 
right?" she asked.
	She felt him smile against the top of her head.  "Yes.  I think we both are."