(no subject)

"Doctor?"

*metallic clatter*
"Yes Ace? Ah, hand me that... that... thing there, thank you. Now, what do you want?"

"Doctor, there's sommat I have to..."

"Just one moment, Ace... ... ... Ah, there you are, you little scoundrel. Ace, pliers please? No, not those, the other ones. The other other ones. Yes, thank you. You were saying?"

"Yes, you see, I..."

"Hit the temporal relays, would you?"

"I... what?"

"Temporal relays. The red switches just to your left there. Give them a start, would you?"

"Sure. Mmmmm... there?"

"Yes... ah, that is better. Now, what were you saying?"

"I... oh yes. You see, Professor, I haven't been on..."

"Do I have grease on my nose?"

"Professor!"

"It's a fair question, Ace. No need to get worked up about it."

*sigh*
"No, Doctor, you don't."

"Ah. Good."

"... Doctor? What are you doing under there anyway?"

"Oh, just a bit of upkeep. She's an old girl, you know, needs a bit of constant fine-tuning to keep her at her best."

"Oh. You free now then?"

"Of course. You wanted to tell me something, Ace?"

"Yes, you see, I was exploring the other day, and..."

"No time now, Ace. The TARDIS is landing. Tell me later, alright? Off we go!"

"Right."

(no subject)

She's whistling as she strolls down the TARDIS' halls, her hands in her pockets, her pack slung over her back. It's been an interesting week or so, but Ace is ready for a break, and knows if she asks the Doctor for one they're sure to land in some particularly ugly problem. Besides, she's missing her boyfriend.
She slows as she reaches the corridor she's been looking for. Let's see, four doors down from the right... She stops, dumbfounded. Where there was once a door, one quite like every other door in the long hallway, there's only a blank wall. Frowning, she runs her hands over it, looking for a hidden latch, but it is what it appears to be - simply a wall and nothing else. Hot fury like a nitro blast erupts, and she slams her fists against the wall where there is no door.
"You can't do this!" she cries, despite the fact that the TARDIS already has. She rails at the unresponsive ship. Eventually she wears herself out, and the sense of loss she felt momentarily when she first returned to the TARDIS returns full-force. For a few seconds that last forever, all she wants to do for the concievable future is stay curled up against the wall that is not a door, but Aces are made of sterner stuff than that. Glowering at the wall, she adjusts the strap of her pack, and begins checking doors. The TARDIS has moved rooms before. If the doorway is still here, she'll find it.
Somehow.

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Hours later, she ends up in what she has long called 'The Rain Room'. It looks like a very well-decorated victorian parlor in what is probably a massive manor house, and through the windows a well-tended English garden can be seen through a grey mist of rain. It's a quiet room, silent except the steady tick of a grandfather clock and the soft dripping of the rain. It's one of Ace's favorite rooms. She's curled up on a sofa, watching the rain fall, and trying not to think about how she can't find a certain door.

(no subject)

"Oy! Tin'ead! O'er here!" It's almost too easy to wing the half-brick at the distracted guard's head, nailing him square between the eyes and dropping him where he stands.
"Ace, that was hardly necessary." Tsks the Doctor from behind her. "Violence should be a last resort, not a first." Ace doesn't look repentant at all as she slings her pack over her shoulder.
"He had a gun, Professor, and according to the locals, this lot isn't afraid to get messy." The Doctor seems to accept the point, as while he doesn't lose his disapproving look, he doesn't argue any further either. There are no other guards between the pair and the solid metal door marked with a red warning sign: DANGER, EXPLOSIVES.
As they slip inside the bunker, Ace lets out a low whistle of surprise and awe. There are enough land mines, hand grenades, packets of C4, and other sundry explosives to provision a small army, and have plenty of spares left over. But this stockpile isn't what the pair are here to find.
At the opposite side of the bunker, nearest to the massive bay doors, are stacked a series of rockets, laying on their sides so that they almost resemble a row of tree-trunks.
"We've got to disarm all that lot?" Ace asks, a bit overwhelmed as she looks down the row.
"Yes, or there will be the most bloody, unprovoked attack in the history of your species tomorrow morning, all in the name of progress." The Doctor spits, disgusted. Ace doesn't comment on that, knowing it will only earn her a lecture on morality and the rightness of non-violence.
"Right. I'll start on that end, you'll start on this, and we'll meet somewhere in the middle?"
"Correct. And remember Ace, no experimenting. These bombs are very tempermental. One wrong move..." Ace cuts him off, grinning broadly.
"I know, I know, boom. I'll be careful... I'm always careful, Doctor." As she heads down the row, she can hear the Time Lord muttering behind her, soemthing about 'flippant humans'. She laughs to herself for a long time after that.

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"Wicked!"
"Ace, we can't stay here."
"But... Professor..."
"No."
"You go on. I'll catch up."
"Aaaaaaace..."
"Really! I'll... be right there."
"..."
"It's educational!"
"Now I know you're up to something."
"I just want to watch."
"We can come back later. Or earlier, I should say. When they first started."
"... Promise?"
"Promise."
"Brilliant!"
"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?"
The pair walk off together, the crash of cannonfire punctuating the naval battle going on just offshore from the island they had landed on.

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"Ace! Ace! Here!" A young man, tousle-haired and bronzed, waves his hands frantically. Between them, several determined and fierce-looking youths, male and female, stand in the way. Ace grins ferally. She's lost her coat at some point, and is now clad in shorts and a t-shirt. Some signal Ace can't see makes her opponents charge en masse. Taking her hard-earned prize with her, Ace dodges through the crowd, moving as if she were hurrying through a minefield with an army of Daleks behind her. She can hear one of her opponents hot on her heels, and knows she won't be able to stay free much longer, so she kicks...
The ball sails, skimming over the short-cropped grass. The young man pounces on it, taking it and racing over the green as Ace shouts encouragement.
"Goooooooooooooooooooooal!" A cheer goes up from the sidelines, and the players file off the field, all in high spirits. Ace snags a water bottle and flops down on the grass.
"Enjoying yourself?" Ace grins up at the man standing over her.
"Yes. Want to play?"
"No." The Doctor smiles at his cheerful companion. "However, I think there is something you should know." Ace suddenly looks apprehensive.
"What?"
"Half-time is over."

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There are many frightening things in the galaxy.
Dalek invasion armies.
Raging epidemics.
Gods gone mad.

Ace with a sledgehammer.
"So this whole wall comes down, yeah?"