THE GALLIFREY CHRONICLES, THE FALL OF GALLIFREY

A/N Beta read by Lady Catkin. Please review

Disclaimer I own nothing

It was Damon's first day in his new job protecting the President's daughter. He had a feeling Braxiatel was not happy about it and despite his feelings for Emmaline, he still desperately cared for her. It was fair to say that he was not happy one bit about the relationship between Braxiatel and Emmaline and he was not exactly alone in that.

He stood outside the Presidential offices, dutifully waiting for Emmaline to emerge. "Damon" she greeted him cordially, with a small smile and a nod. He blushed as he stared at her for a few micro spans longer than he should have. She was incredibly beautiful in his eyes and she was wasting her life on someone like Braxiatel. Braxiatel who to Damon was not remotely worthy of her love.

He had spent the day by her side, never leaving her without her specifically asking him too. Either way, he was never far away. After a few hours of this, she finally relaxed enough to actually talk.

"Are you happy Emmaline?" he managed to ask her, "with him?"

Emmaline hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath. "He truly makes me happy and I do love him, but sometimes I think one day he will grow bored with me."

"I would never grow bored of you," said Damon as he gently touched her face, tracing his fingers down her lips, over her chin before dropping them down to his side.

"Be with me Emmaline," said the young Time Lord.

"I can't" she whispered. "Braxiatel is-"

"Too old for you. You know he's older than even the Doctor. Centuries older in fact. That feels oddly wrong."

"You know age means very little on Gallifrey," replied Emmaline.

"I could make you happy" Damon quietly insisted as he leaned in to kiss her. His lips brushed gently against hers and for a moment she kissed him back, before coming to her senses.

"No, we can't," whispered Emmaline harshly, feeling confused over her feelings. She loved Braxiatel didn't she? Then how could she do this to him?

Unknown to her, he had seen the whole thing.

"I love you Emmaline" pleaded Damon, taking her hands in his, his eyes begging her to reconsider her feelings for the older Time Lord. "I want us to be together again and if you loved him, you wouldn't have kissed me just then. You wanted this too I think," he said, unsure, hoping he hadn't pushed too much.

"No, I never wanted this! Not like this," she pulled away from him. All he saw was the inner conflict in her eyes.

Emmaline did love Damon very much, but she was not in love with him. She wondered if she had ever been in love with him or was she in love with the idea of being in love?

Braxiatel on the other hand made her crazy for him and she knew it. He set her on fire with little more than a look. He was the reason the blood pumped round her body and the reason she breathed. He had completed her like no other Time Lord had and she could never be without him. His kiss, his touch, everything about him made her yearning for more. Her desire for him made her desperate for him. She had torn down every barrier he placed around himself over the centuries, to not let anyone in. She had broken them down without realising she had.

Damon knew Braxiatel had interfered in his life on more than one occasion, he just could not prove it. It was a feeling, he believed if not for him, Emmaline would still be his and they would be happy! Instead, he had this feeling that twisted and turned in him like a vindictive knife every time he saw them together – him with his hands on her. It made him sick and he was going to have it out with him one way or another. He left Emmaline, avoiding her bewildered look and entered the Chancellor's office.

"Ahh, Damon," he said "how are you finding your new job?"

As Damon glanced around the large homely office, there were a few works of art stacked against against a wall. Marble busts of people he did not recognise adorned a long red wood shelf behind his desk. Probably part of his collection thought Damon to himself. His eyes flittered down to his desk as he approached it, where a picture of Emmaline caught his attention. It was a picture of her in her current regeneration with Braxiatel. She had her arms draped around him and they looked happy. He could not, he would not believe this was normal - it felt wrong . He must be centuries older than her, maybe more than that!

"I heard about you and Emmaline."

"So, you know" he replied evenly, folding his hands together on the desk before him.

"You can't possibly love her. I love her." Damon blurted out, almost wanting to kick himself for being so tactless.

"Love," scoffed Braxiatel, still not taking his cool stare from Damon. "What would you know about love?"

"I love Emmaline. That is all I need to know."

"You can't really give her the love and care she craves. If you knew her and loved her like I do, you would of course know this."

"And you can I suppose?"

"Oh indeed. I don't doubt she has some affection for you but that's nothing compared to how she feels for me." Braxiatel sat back in his chair with an air of quiet ease.

"She kissed me," Damon admitted, hoping to gain the upper hand.

"Yes" he said, matter-of-factly "I saw your oh-so-pitiful performance out there, but remember, it's me she comes home to. At night it's my bed she's in. At night it's me she turns to when she's scared and not you."

Damon clenched his jaw and desperately tried not to let Braxiatel see that he had managed to deliver a killer blow.

"When we were together you seduced her, my girlfriend. Your own student" he spat out the last word, to register some of the disgust he felt. This simply made Braxiatel shrug.

"I am not proud of my actions. I regret them in a way, however, Emmaline is the one who pursued me this time. ."

"You are lying!"

"I can assure you I am not. Emmaline means the world to me."

"Then let her go! Give her a chance to be truly happy."

"You might have to accept that I am better for her than you are. Consider that."

"You are old enough to be her-"

"Enough! I think Emmaline has made her choice and she has chosen to be with me. She is special, more special than you can ever realise. You profess that you love her, yet if you truly did love her, you would want her to be happy more than anything, even at the cost of your own happiness. I know that if her meagre affection for you made her happy then I would of course stand aside, despite how much it would hurt me."

Damon considered for a moment of all Brax had said. "Tell me what you want her for. It has to be something good. You are going to a lot of trouble." He paused for a moment . "Whatever you are planning I will stop you."

"That sounds like a threat. Was that a threat Damon?"

"No, it's a promise."

"You know, I think it's you that Emmaline needs saving from. Now if you don't mind I have things to do." With that, Braxiatel signalled the end of the conversation by waving his hand briefly in the direction of the door and turned his attention to one of the many data sheets strewn across his desk.

"You won't get away with this," Damon spat angrily as he left the room.

Braxiatel sighed to himself as he heard his door slam shut. He had never wanted it to be this way. Emmaline was the most important thing - the way she made him feel was incredible; she had made him look at life so differently, the way she saw the universe, the wonder he saw in her eyes when she experienced seeing something new for the first time. He found her truly humbling and awe inspiring. He loved seeing that wonder on her face and in her eyes.

He was so in love with her that he could hardly breathe when they were in the same room together. It had grieved him earlier seeing that kiss between Emmaline and Damon, wondering for a moment perhaps if she had indeed grown bored of him. He had been concerned that she was reaching that point in her life when she wanted to be around people her own age and for that he did not blame her.

Suddenly the door creaked open and there she was.

"Emmaline," he breathed heavily, seeing her and within moments she was kissing him as her arms came around his waist. As he deepened the kiss, wanting nothing more to kiss her all day, he felt all concern melt away.

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