THE GALLIFREY CHRONICLES, THE FALL OF GALLIFREY

Romana emerged through the shiny brass revolving door into the grand and ornate corridor that lead to the CIA offices. She walked slowly passed the gold panels on the walls. Above her, she could hear the Gallifrean children singing from the Academy. Finally, she reached the office and entered the room.

Narvin heard her soft foot steps and looked up from his desk. "You are home then," he said in an icy tone. "Romana, I can't keep doing this with you."

"I needed some time away from you." She glanced over at him.

"I can't just drop everything because you decided to come home. I am busy now. I will see you at home tonight."

Romana leaned against the dusty blue walls, noticing the stack of data files all in a neat line. He was busy, she realised, not brushing her off like she thought.

"We need to talk." She sighed as she squeezed her eyes shut, remembering when her and Narvin had loved each other. It had all been so exciting sneaking around but now the revelation of his activities were known to her she could not pretend any longer.

"Is it the baby, are you okay?" He looked up with a hint of concern.

"I'm fine."

"Well, I am busy as you can see." She walked around him and rested her hands on his shoulders, expecting something but nothing happened. She wasn't sure how she felt for him anymore.

Over the last few months he had rejected her and pushed her away. Did he even want her, want to marry her? Maybe he wanted someone else, it wasn't uncommon for Time Lords to have more than one life partner, but she thought Narvin was different. He wouldn't want more than one woman would he?

"Narvin, did you ever want me" Her voice quivered.

"Romana, please we cant do this here. I will see you at home tonight."

That answer told her everything she needed to know.

Feeling rejected, she walked towards the door. "Don't bother I don't want you there." With one final glance she walked out, heading straight for the presidential office, not even noticing Narvin had followed her, calling her name.

Finally catching up with her, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into her office and into her chambers.

"You told me you were committed to me. I am beginning to think I am not good enough for you."

"Romana, please you know that's not true."

"Oh do I, do I really?" she shouted. "You reject me. You never come home and when you do, you don't until the middle of the night. Because you are with some tart"

"I have explained. I have been busy working-"

"That's all you care about." She spun around as she swayed on her feet before Narvin took her arm, gently supporting her. "I don't need your help, I can manage. I don't want you here now go! I just want Braxiatel." The tears started to fall down her face. "I just want Brax," she said quietly through her tears.

"Romana-"

"Now, Co-ordinator."

He grabbed her and pulled her close to him and kissed her fiercely. She pulled away and slapped him straight across the face.

"How dare you! You think you can treat me like a fool then try to kiss me like I'm going to fall back into your arms."

"Go on then, run to Braxiatel! Isn't that what you always do?" he hissed angrily, grabbing her arm.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"You two have been so close for so long, and for all I see he could be the father of your child."

He knew he should never of said those words but he was sick and tired of Romana's scenes. She constantly had to have the last say, he was tired of her being too emotional and he was tired of her tears, her tantrums, and how she wouldn't talk to him about what happened.

He knew she thought about it. He could see it in her eyes and it scared her. He could see it quite clearly.

It scared him that she was that close to suffering some kind of break down unless she talked about what happened and every day they drifted further apart, and she drifted more and more into Braxiatel's arms. He was losing her to him and he knew it.

They still had those days when her eyes lit up when she saw him but those days were few and far between. She frowned more than she smiled. It was almost like he was a memory, a bad memory she wanted to forget and when he walked towards her she didn't even look at him.

Then there was Braxiatel. She looked at him like she used to look at him. The way her eyes lit up and the way she smiled at him. The way she touched him and rested her hand on his shoulder or her head against his shoulder.

Then there was the way she laughed when she was with Braxiatel and he wrapped an arm around her holding her close to him. He didn't know what their relationship was. Was it just meaningful glances and touches? But he knew it was only a matter of time before he lost her completely and it was his fault. Or was it?

She changed after her kidnap ordeal and he had no idea what she went through. There were days when he saw Brax leaving her room and Narvin being Narvin was convinced they were sleeping together. He had been wrong so many times.

Then there were times when they were in a meeting together and he saw Braxiatel's hand under the table reach for hers and she would smile at him.

"That would suit you very nicely, wouldn't it?" Romana said angrily.

"Yeah, maybe it would!" spat Narvin, giving as good back to her.

"You pig. You selfish, unpleasant, power mad pig. I hate you! It is Braxiatel's baby!" she screamed. "And I am glad its not yours."

She had never meant to tell him in an argument, and she could never take the words back. She could never prevent the hurt in his eyes, knowing Narvin wanted the baby to be his.

"Fine!" spat Narvin.

"Well that's just great." Pushing passed Narvin, she charged towards the bed room and grabbed Narvin's things and attempted to throw them out of the window.

"Stop it! You are making a fool of yourself," he said as he tried to restrain her.

"Get off me!" She struggled out of his grasp but he held her tightly as she screamed insults at him.

They were distracted by Braxiatel's appearance. "Narvin, get out now!" he said in a low, dangerous tone. A tone that said he would side with Romana no matter what, and a tone that made it obvious that Braxiatel was serious. He had quite a dark look in his eyes.

"She's not sane, she does not do sane things!" he spat. "She is mental," he said, pointing a finger at her.

"Now, Narvin!" Braxiatel demanded.

"Oh, you are really loving this aren't you?" said Narvin in a accusatory tone. He took one last look at a tearful Romana before storming out. The door slammed loudly behind him.

"Oh Romana, why?" He slightly chuckled at her antics.

She looked at him with a determined, defiant look, one he had not seen since she had been his student.

"Mock me, Braxiatel, and you will regret it."

"I wouldn't dream of it, My Lady. Come on tell your Lord Chancellor all about it."

He guided her to the sofa as she pressed herself into his shoulder. As she cried, he wrapped an arm around her. He had gotten used to seeing Romana like this and he hated it. He waited for a few moments for her tears to die in her throat.

"What's wrong, Romana?" he asked softly, wiping a single tear from her face. They were so close now. He just wanted to kiss her tears and pain away, for her to be the Romana she used to be.

"Me and Narvin. He has not touched me since-"

"Since you were abducted?" he asked.

"I really thought he was the one. I keep making the same mistakes over and over again."

She looked sadly into Brax's eyes and all she could think of was kissing him and Rassilion it would be so easy to become his again. Just one kiss, that's all it would take, but no, she could not be that selfish and have what she wanted.

She could imagine him kissing her hard, carrying her to bed, placing her softly on the bed. How right it would all feel. She was tired of been lonely, tired of pretending she was happy when she clearly wasn't.

"Are you sure he's not the one?" he said, looking lovingly into Romana's eyes. He sighed deeply. If only Romana was still his, he would never hurt her in any way. He would take care of her and be happy to stay completely by her side, but he had to settle for just been her friend.

"I don't know," Romana said quietly. She had loved Narvin, she truly had, and he had cheated on her. He claimed it was once but how could she be sure? But now all she could think about was Braxiatel..

She thought about him coming to her quarters and taking her for himself and it was wrong, it was plain wrong.

Braxiatel had a dark side to him, a dark side she had seen. She knew what he was capable of, but that danger, that passion within him, she longed for it.

She realised during her pregnancy that he had put up with her insults, her moods, even her tears. He had been a comfort to her when she had felt down right miserable. He had been there with his comforting words and a shoulder to cry on and she longed to feel his kindness again.

Narvin on the other hand had become nothing but distant and cold towards her. They had spend many a evening screaming insults at each other, before he would storm off in the night, and during the day Romana would not even look at him. The atmosphere in the office was tense and unbearable with the President and Co-ordinator at each others throats, even in the high council meeting you could sense the tension.

Braxiatel did his best to try and cool the situation and deal with it the best he could, but so often he felt he was stuck in the middle. There was never any love lost between Braxiatel and Narvin, his only concern was Romana's welfare and this situation was clearly not helping her or the babies.

He was sick and tired of seeing Romana in that state. He sometimes wanted to tell Romana to pull herself together; she was not the strong President he had grown to know, her emotions were all over the place. But he bit his lip and said nothing. Besides, he really did not want to end up on the wrong side of Romana.

There was one time she told him she loved him, but she had been so out of it, he doubted she even meant it. He was afraid she would harm herself and he gave her a herbal tea to make her sleep, and as she fell he caught her up into his arms.

"I do love you, Braxiatel," she had mumbled into his shoulder as he carried her to her room. He knew he had to take her own care into his own hands as nobody else seemed to care. He felt guilt, like this was partly his fault, after all she was pregnant with his children.

Romana walked the short distance to the CIA office and quietly entering the room, but he never looked up or acknowledged her.

"Narvin," she said quietly.

"What is it, Romana?" he asked coldly. "I am quite busy today."

"When are you coming home?" she asked.

"I am not!" he spat, getting up from his chair. "I don't know what you want from me these days."

She reached for him, but he stepped back from her.

"I cant keep doing this," he said finally. He wasn't sure what to do. The visit from Braxiatel earlier had shaken him and now he wondered if Romana really was serious ill.

The room seemed to spin around her as she fell to the ground, instantly Narvin was by her side. "Romana!"

She cried out in pain as she clutched her stomach

"Is it the baby?" he asked, full of concern. He knew it was not his baby but he still cared.

"I feel sick, so sick," she mumbled. "I'm sorry, Narvin," she whispered as she felt her emotions over power her once more.

He wrapped her in a solid embrace, tracing her jawline with his finger, sending chills down her spine. Romana breathed heavily at his touch, looking into his eyes. No, she would not fall back into his arms after what he had done. She would not be weak like her own mother had been, while her father had a string of affairs.

"I'm here now, I should never have abandoned you." He leaned forward and gently kissed her. She found herself kissing him back, wrapping her arms around his waist as if she had no control.

Finally they pulled apart. "I'm sorry," he mumbled into her hair. "I love you too much to lose you. I was scared for you when you were taken and now you are back. I was afraid to touch you, to do anything that hurt you. I don't know what that monster did to you and it makes me angry." As his fears poured out of him she held him tightly, crying against his chest.

"I was so scared, Narvin. Scared and alone. I didn't know what he would do to me. I didn't- "she broke of mid sentence as her emotions poured out of her and wouldn't stop as the memories played back into her head. Her whole body trembled and shook but she was aware of Narvin's strong arms around her.

He gently touched her face with his fingers, not knowing how to make it better. He wanted her to feel safe, to not have this level of fear and pain inside her. All he knew was he wanted to kill Bainbridge until he was out of regenerations not knowing Bainbridge was already dead. Finally, he felt her relax as she rested her head on his shoulder, and they sat on the floor holding each other.

"I was drowning on the wastelands where he dumped me, once he had enough of torturing me, beating me-"

"Go on," he encouraged. But she let out a soul wrenching sob as the tears streamed down her face, as if she could not physically say the words and it was causing her distress as she clung to Narvin.

He had never seen Romana so tearful. He gently placed his hands on her head to see into her mind.

There was the corridor in Romana's head, he had thought she would imagine doors to keep him out, but she simply let him see. All the doors in her mind were broken and shattered and it all felt cold and dark. She was broken inside. He could feel her trembling and shaking as if she was emotionally too weak to shut him out.

Then he saw the memories. It was sickening, but the more he ventured into her memories the more distressed she got and when she got herself distressed the baby also got distressed.

He pulled out of her head. He had tried to keep her calm but without success and reluctantly knew he had to contact Braxiatel.

"You have to keep her calm," he said. "If you cant, she's going to deliver that baby.

It's far too soon. I will be there shortly."

"Romana," said Narvin, kneeling down before her. "Take a deep breath." But the more she tried the more she started to panic. Laying on the ground she clutched her side as she cried out in pain.

"I cant lose my baby," she whispered. "Please save my baby," she managed to gasp.

Narvin stroked her face. "You need to do this, Romana, try and take a deep breath." Finally he heard the sound of foot steps as Braxiatel and Leela ran in, followed by a medical team.

Braxiatel rushed over to where Romana lay. "Out of the way, Narvin," he ordered with a gentle wave of his hand. He took her hand, helping her to sit. "Romana, look at me," he said softly, taking in her panicked look. "Take a deep breath," he said quietly, "you can do this. I need you to concentrate on your breathing."

Finally she took a few calming breaths before the pain stopped, as she rested her head on his shoulder, and quietly sobbed.

"Braxiatel," she kept repeating his name over and over again as she nuzzled into his shoulder.

"It's all right, the baby's fine," he said softly. "Just relax." He wrapped an arm around her as he felt her relax before helping her up, letting her lean against him. "I'm here now." He helped her up, linking his arm with hers. "You need rest. Let us get you to your chambers."

Narvin headed towards Romana.

"I think you have done enough damage! What were you attempting to do to get her in that state?" he snarled at Narvin.

"Trying to help her instead of brushing what happened to her under the carpet. Maybe you should try it sometime," Narvin snapped.

"Quiet, Narvin," Leela ordered as Braxiatel departed with Romana. "You say you care for Romana, but you are the one always trying to pull her down. That is not caring, Narvin."

"And Braxiatel?"

"At least he shows concern for his President. You are not there when she needs you."

"She doesn't need me, she has you and Braxiatel for her needs."

"Sometimes I wonder if you truly love Romana," Leela replied, before she walked out of the office.

Braxiatel gently led her to her rooms. Instantly she reached for him as she felt one arm hook around her waist, and she wanted him to want her as much as she wanted him. She wanted to kiss him hard, to feel there's something still there to fight for.

He put a finger to her lips.

"Romana, don't do this because you simply want some comfort. You know I would do anything for you, even die for you, but I could not bear to see you regret it the next day and for me to be that person you go to because you want comfort. Please don't make me be that person."

He waited patiently now, looking at her with interest as he gently helped her into her bed. But she made no move to reach for him again.

"Braxiatel, do you wish things had been different for us?" she mumbled.

"Are you regretting your decision?" Braxiatel asked.

"I feel he no longer cares about me, what I need, and the babies."

"Then he is a fool." He pressed a kiss to her head. "Anyone would be lucky to have you."

"Even you?" she asked, as she started to relax while sleep overcame her.

"Even me," Braxiatel whispered quietly. Then he departed from the room, knowing that had been the most truthful thing that had come out of his mouth this week.

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