Immitation Limitation (10/RomanaII)

In the skies above the planet Zarus, several large, spherical white objects floated peacefully. Inside them, hundreds of amorphous, white, sentient blobs mastered the clean white controls. The formed appendages, tools, and mouths when needed, but otherwise they remained in their blobby state.

"Course set?"

"Check."

"Coordinates set for Jacarra?"

"Confirmed."

They spoke with flat, high pitched, identical voices that had no inflections. Several of the blobs formed eye stalks and fixed their gaze on the large screen.

"Launch," said the leader and the others obeyed.

Deep in the ships, the engines roared to life. The pretty planet below them got smaller and smaller as the deep, wild black above them got bigger and bigger until-

"Engage jump drive."

And suddenly the planet below the fleet was gone, and they were passing star systems in seconds.

***

In the TARDIS, Romana walked into the console room, running her fingers through her, currently wet, blonde hair. She was freshly showered and changed.

"I must say, Doctor, I never realized how uncomfortable ceremonial Gallifreyan garb was until I went back. Glad to be out of it now."

She smoothed her pink skirt suit with the palms of her hands before stepping up next to him.

"So," she asked, "what's the plan? I'd quite like somewhere peaceful, myself." She picked up a console component, which had broken off entirely earlier and examined it. "Though I daresay I might need to help you patch up your TARDIS again before we go anywhere."

The Doctor paced around his time machines central control console, flipping buttons with one hand as the other rested nonchalantly rested in his right pocket, shifting through the seemingly endless items he had stored inside of it. When the echoing sound of Romana walking up the spiral staircase reached his ears, The Doctor had already made his way back to the scanner; his back turned to her as she approached him.

The Doctor chuckled at Romana's remarks about the garbs on Gallifrey, "You chose to wear them, not me" he remarked, "When they gave me mine, they said i always had to wear it..well..let's just say i found a way around that." he stopped as he glanced back over to her, "Why do you think i wore that scarf all that time?" he joked. Turning his attention back to the controls, The Doctor rubbed the back of his head, "I think i still have it laying around somewhere...don't remember where though..." he mumbled, "Might be in the spa in the library..".

Stopping, The Doctor listened to Romana's final remarks on a new set destination and the cleanliness of his TARDIS. Frowning comically, The Doctor turned towards her, "Oi! What do you mean?" he asked, taking the part of the console out of her hand, "I was going to use this for something...everything you see laying around i've got plans for..i..i just need to remember what they were". Looking at the part more carefully, The Doctor pondered what he was going to do with it before the light bulb switched on in his mind, "Oh yes!" he proclaimed, "I was going to return this actually. I was borrowing it from a high king on Jacarra...i think i'm passed due about...well...give or take a couple hundred years. But she shouldn't mind too much, we're good friends...i hope".

"I chose to become Lady President," she corrected. "Not my fault the mandatory clothing is absolute rubbish." She emphasized the 'mandatory,' having heard of his short stint as President. She shook her head, smiling with amusement.

She crossed her arms and leaned against the TARDIS, facing the Doctor. "You borrowed a Plasma Resonance Circuit from the High King of Jacarra? What could you possibly have needed one for? Come to think of it, what was Jacarra doing with one? Aren't they pretty primitive, technologically speaking?"

The Doctor cocked his head to the side as his mind finished registering the last part, "Well..." he began to reply, "In the beginning they were. For the first couple thousand years but then there was a spike of intelligence in their time stream. Bringing them from primitive technologies like...horse bound carriages for example to high tech galaxy crossing space ships within just a couple hundred years". Keeping his attention on the control console, The Doctor walked around it as he pressed buttons, yanked levels and pumped the regulator.

Glancing over to her, The Doctor smiled, "Now you wouldn't want to go check out it out" he began, "That'd be dangerous and completely mad. An unknown reaction to seeing me..an old alien race just grasping the concept of space travel after inventing the car twenty years before. Now why would a Lord President of Gallifrey want to go on a journey like that?" he rhetorically asked her. Leaning back, The Doctor rested his hand on the main lever as he looked over to her and locked eyes with the Time Lady, "Especially if she has to travel with a mad man...even if he has a nice suit..and great hair" he stopped as he sniffed, "But that'd be up to her...miss Lord President".

"The Lord President wouldn't..." Romana said with a wide grin. She tried to imagine the current Lord President gallivanting across Time and Space with the Doctor. The image it gave her made a giggle rise from her throat.

She followed him around the console, resting her hands at what could be considered the "co-pilot" wedge. She matched his gaze, just as light-hearted and childlike as it had been centuries ago.

"... but Romana might. Go on, Doctor, pull the lever. Let's go visit Jacarra."

Grinning widely, The Doctor yanked down the main lever, sending the TARDIS in a trembling roar as it spun into the time vortex. Grabbing the sides of the control console, The Doctor peered over to Romana as he laughed; normally he would have been focused on making the flight as least bumpy as possible for his traveling companion but with Romana on board he didn't feel the need to. There was something about having Romana by his side at the TARDIS control console that felt right above all others, it made him think of the happier days, the days long before the war and the horrors that preludes it.

With one final jerk toward, the TARDIS landed on Jacarra, the scanner wiped around in front of The Doctor at his forceful command. Once making sure they had landed on the right planet, The Doctor stood up straight and looked one final time over to Romana as he began to walk down the ramp, "So who is coming with me this time? Fred or Romana?" he joked, memories of his first moments with the Time Lady flashing before his eyes as he spoke. Putting on his trench coat, that was previously draped over one of the supporting coral columns by the door, The Doctor looked back to Romana then gestured towards the door with his head, "Time Ladies first, Allons-y".

The ride was a lot more turbulent than she ever remembered it being. Possibly because the Doctor was too busy laughing to actually do anything about it. So instead, Romana did, between calm smiles and matronly looks. She landed the TARDIS as smoothly as possible, then followed the Doctor to the door.

"Oh I don't believe Fred would care for this sort of adventure," she said, pulling on her own pink jacket. It was the same one she had worn the first day she had changed into her current body.

She stepped outside onto the planet of Jacarra. Trees dotted the hilly landscape where native animals grazed. They had arrived at the break of dawn. The ground was still misty and the town before them still relatively silent. The town itself was interesting to look at. The houses were homely, of dark wood. Each had a chimney, although none were giving off smoke in the chilly morning. To the side of some of the houses Romana could see dark green, rounded vehicles that looked as if they belonged in the air. In fact, the closer she looked, the more advanced technology she could see. Looking farther away, she could see a high tower.

"I suppose that's where your high king is?" She nodded her head towards it. "Might be a bit early for a visit. In my experience, royalty don't usually like waking up before tea time."

The Doctor nodded, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the shift in sun light from the interior of the TARDIS to the outside world of Jacarra. Once adjusted, The Doctor geared his attention over to the higher tower that loomed over the smaller town beneath it. A smile emerged on his face as his mind began to recall the experiences he had both within the tower and on the planet as a whole, "Oh yes". The Doctor finally replied, catching the circuit in his hand before stopping and peering down to it, "Although...you may have to keep a keen eye open" he warned Romana, "She doesn't like..other women intruding upon her. And let's face it..your kind of intimidating..with all that pink and all".

Sniffing, The Doctor placed both hands into his pockets and strode down towards the town, the edges of which quickly came into view and before he knew it, the sound of his shoes hitting cobblestone echoed up to his ears. Eyes glared at the passing form of The Doctor as he moved through the familiar town. But the smells welcomed him back with open arms. Baked goods and burning wood flowed through his lungs like waves before pouring out of his nose as he exhaled. "Blimey..." The Doctor mumbled, "Talk about a warm welcome..all we need now is for a horde to run out from the sides with pitch forks and torches screaming for my head on a stake".

Romana stopped and looked down at herself in confusion. "Since when is pink an intimidating color anywhere? Well... except on Orthrus V, I suppose." She jogged back up to the Doctor, mumbling. "Intruding... I don't intrude on anyone. If either of us is an intruder, it's you."

Despite what she was saying, however, she was feeling quite differently. As they walked down the gravel path of the town, Romana felt very much like an intruder. The people in the wooden houses, although poking their heads out of their holographic windows curiously at the pair, wore faces of distrust. The small mechanical pieces they wore on one side of their head beeped and lit up like mad. Romana had the sneaking suspicion that those devices were used to communicate with each other without having to speak.

Up ahead of them, was a plump old man who appeared to be a fruit seller. He took one look at the pair of Time Lords, dropped his hovering fruit stand, and ran at full speed back the way he came, behind some houses.

"Doctor... I don't think we should be here. Perhaps we should go back to the TARDIS and materialize closer to the palace."

She grabbed his sleeve and began to back up, but was stopped by a sharp point in the back of her neck. Without moving her head, she looked over to the Doctor to see the tip of a sword at the back of his neck, as well.

"Hands in the air," a gruff, angry voice behind them stated. Romana obeyed, raising her hands level with her shoulders. "State your business, strangers."

The feeling of the light tug on his sleeve, caused The Doctor to glance back over his shoulder to his frightened friend, "Oh come on Rom-" he went to say before the cold edge of a sword placed itself at the back of his neck. Gulping, The Doctor slowly raised both hands to his sides and extended out the device for the guard to see. "The Doctor and Romana here to return a borrowed favor.." The Doctor answered, nervously waiting for the guards reply after he spoke, especially when the guard snatched the device from The Doctor's hand.

After inspecting the Plasma Resonance Circuit, the guard released a sigh then removed the edge of the sword away from The Doctor and Romana's neck. "We'll escort you" The guard roared, nudging The Doctor forward towards the looming building in front of them. The people inside of their homes only moved farther back into them after seeing the guards, It's almost as if they fear them.. The Doctor thought as he looked over to a home on his left. The eyes of a small child peered through the window blinds before realizing The Doctor was returning his gaze and quickly retreated back into his home.

"What's wrong with your people here?" The Doctor asked the guard behind him, "Don't ask questions, just walk" the guard quickly hissed a reply. Glancing back to Romana, The Doctor whispered, "Stay close" before looking back to the tower just as they approached the gate.

Romana walked along at the Doctor's side. She too looked at the native people, but what the Doctor observed as fear of the guards, she saw as fear of the two of them. She and the Doctor were an aberration. They didn't belong.

She wracked her brain, trying to think of a reason they would have to fear the two of them so deeply, but nothing conclusive was forthcoming.

Most likely an inter-species war, Romana thought, as they were marched through the large white doors of the palace. It must have gone badly and they learned that aliens are not to be trusted.

They were led to the throne room: a large, open area with white walls and gold accents. A second story balcony wrapped around three sides, supported by gold tipped columns. At the back of the room were two large sets of doors, and between them a red dais, upon which sat a single red and gold throne. Upon the throne sat a woman. She was slender, and a few inches shorter than the Doctor. Her dark brown eyes fixed on the pair the moment they walked in. Her caramel skin was barely contained in the deep blue, low cut dress, and her black hair was styled elegantly.

"Princess Mylea," the Guard said, then bowed deeply. "These strangers were found in the village of Autem."

The Princess gave them a hard look. "Who are you?" She demanded.

"Well I'm Romana and this is the Doctor. We mean you no harm, I can assure-"

"Shut up." The princess suddenly snapped with clear annoyance. She turned to the guard. "What were they doing?"

"I don't know, my lady. But the man had this on him." He approached the princess, and handed her the plasma resonance circuit. She turned it over in her hands carefully, before looking the Doctor in the eyes.

"What were you doing with this?"

The Doctor tried to keep a level head during the questioning process but it became harder as time progressed, especially when the princess snapped at Romana for speaking. When the attention was turned to the device and himself, The Doctor silently gulped and stepped forward, "I was borrowing it.." he quickly replied, "You can ask..your predecessor. I'm The Doctor, clear it up with her".

The princess paused after listening to The Doctor, her mind fighting with her better judgement on whether or not to actually listen to the man or just toss him out of the towers top floor. "My mother..." She started, "Was killed by alien intervention. The stars fell from the skies and rained fire upon our people...they took our queen and left our people devastated Doctor. She called for you..but you never answered...it has been years under my reign and i have protected us all this time. I am not about to let another alien scum to trick us. Throw them into the dungeon!!!".

Thrusting up from her throne, the princess pointed at The Doctor and Romana with tearful glaring eyes. The guards shot to the sides of the two invaders and nudged them towards a door to the far left of the throne room, "Move!" they roared. Making sure Romana did not leave his side, The Doctor quickly took her hand before he was nudged forward once more and forced to move towards the door against his will. The last thing he wanted was to be seperrated from Romana and not knowing what they would do to her. Just another problem he had to fix. Taking one last look at the princess, The Doctor saw her flop back down into her throne with the device in hand, her head lowered just as his view was cut off as he walked through the frame of the doorway.

Princess Mylea turned the circuit over and over in her hand. Over and over, over and over, over and over. She finally made a decision. She got up and walked purposefully up the stairs to her grandmother's room.

She was in bed, as usual these days. A book in her hand and reading glasses on the tip of her nose. She looked up as Mylea entered the room.

"My dear Mylea, what troubles you?"

"Strangers, grandma. A man and a woman. They had this with them." She showed her the plasma resonance circuit.

The old woman frowned. "A man and a woman you say? What were their names?"

"He called himself the Doctor."

*~*~*~*~*

The dungeon was a typical dungeon. Cold, damp, cramped. The cell they were held in had one small window that Romana couldn't squeeze through and steel bar door.

Romana rapped a knuckle against a bar, resulting in a low ringing.

"Well," she said, "That could have gone a lot better. Any ideas?"

The Doctor was shoved into the cell as he steel bar door roared shut behind him; the guards muttering something as they took one last look at the pair then sauntered off. The Doctor grunted as he dusted off his suit and trench coat, "Not at the moment no" he replied in a mumbling fashion, scrutinizing the steel door behind him then up at the bared window across the room, "The sonic wouldn't do anything...cells too primitive".

With a sigh, The Doctor walked over to the nearby small bed, took off his trench coat, flung it to the edge of the bed then sat down. Releasing a sigh, The Doctor cuffed his hands underneath his chin, "Trouble is...if i could speak to the princess i spoke to last time then i could clear things up but...until then i guess we'l just have to manage". "Besides Romana" He started again, glancing over to her with his childish grin appearing, "We've both fit into a blue phone box before. This should be plenty of space".

He tried to ease the tension from the situation with his words and false facial expression as his mind processed all the possible outcomes. Why were the townspeople so scared? Where is the princess i know? Why don't they recognize me? These questions and more spiraled through his head ,like the never ending time vortex, in search of answers. Answers that would soon arise...or so The Doctor hoped.

Romana turned sharply around to glare at the Doctor. Not really to see if he was kidding, but more to tell him that he had better be. Then, heaving a sigh, she sat next to him on the cot. She put her hands down behind her back, leaned back, and looked at the ceiling.

"What was she like, this princess of yours? Maybe you knew something about her that you could tell this one to gain her trust. Some secret she shared to you, or something important she'd done... Or someone... You haven't been mucking about with royals again, have you?" She paused, frowning in thought. "'The stars fell from the skies and rained fire upon our people.' she said. What could that have been?"

After a moment's silence, Romana continued "It sounds to me like an incursion... but who would just bombard the village without wiping out all the people, then... what, give up? Move on? That doesn't make sense. Something doesn't make sense."

"Well..." The Doctor started, "Civilizations when faced with something they've never dealt with before tend to relate it to things they understand. This one knows a few things about the stars..and has been through some wars. So falling stars and the image of great big balls of flame might not be exactly what happened but...it definitely paints a good picture".

Running his tongue across the front of his teeth, The Doctor thought for a moment then continued, "Yeah..the bit about the people is weird. I mean, that'd be the first ones you go after so they don't raise alarm to the higher authorities. Calm them down or make them think it was something else while you settle down, set up camp and shift everyone's attention away from you".

Glancing over to Romana, The Doctor smirked then replied to her question pertaining to the princess, "Well....she's a bit like me to be honest" he started, "Completely mad...comical at times, good looking of course. But none the less brilliant...". He paused as he looked back to the steel bars holding them within the cell, "I met her a long time ago" he continued, "Changed right i front of me..well...the room behind me..several times actually". Getting up, The Doctor walked over to the bars and gave them a good tug before sighing and flopping his hands down to his sides, "Now the princess i knew in this castle was nice too but...there was always something off about her. Like she knew something....never did find out what it was. Just sort of asked to borrow what i needed then popped off without a further thought...i can see that familiarity within her granddaughter".

Romana had just opened her mouth to respond when someone appeared at their cell. The princess and two guards.

"Come with me," she said as the guards opened the cell door.

Romana glanced at the Doctor. That was fast, she thought.

She led the two Time Lords out of the dungeons and up the stairs to her grandmother's quarters. Inside, the Queen still sat in her bed, but upright now.

"The Queen wishes to see you," Princess Mylea explained.

Queen Mara looked at Romana, noted her existence, and moved on. The moment she laid eyes on the Doctor, her eyes sparkled and a smile broke out.

"You're late," she told him. "And you don't look a day older. Most unfair of you."

The Doctor gazed upon the older version of the woman he once knew long ago. The feeling of sadness overwhelming him as his eyes locked onto yet another friend, companion, that he had to see die. The friends he knew that died of age, while on his travels, or just left him to never return, all flashed before his eyes like a movie projector as he approached the woman.

Noticing her smile, The Doctor returned the gesture with a half heart one of his own as he squatted by her bedside and took her hand, "Hello" he said gently, "Don't get too emotional now. I aged a few hundred years since we last met...well...not a few...maybe one or two. Don't remember...don't keep track". He stopped speaking as he sniffed, glancing down at the bed then moving back up to the old queen, "When i left this place, people cheered..." he started again, "Now i normally wouldn't accept it or even brag about it...but....when i arrived they hid and had fear in their hearts. I need you to tell me.....what is going on?".

"About 10 years back, strangers appeared. They looked like us, they acted like us, but they didn't have the facial implant." She tapped at the device attached to the side of her face. "I knew they weren't what they appeared to be, and so did my son. And then our people started disappearing."

"Including my mother and father," Princess Mylea added. "We knew it had to have been the strangers fault. So we executed them."

The Queen nodded. "We did, we did. And some of our people came back. Said they had been trapped in a cave. But my son and his wife... they never returned. I don't know what the strangers wanted... but I know there must still be some out there!"

"Except we can't say what we think, even though most of our people think the same." Mylea said.

"It'd be a witch hunt," Romana said. "Neighbor would turn on neighbor, accusing them of being one of these strangers."

"Precisely," the Queen nodded. "And we never had the means to search any of them out... until now." She looked at the Doctor, asking with her eyes for him to help them.

The Doctor listened intently to the story as it was told, both by the Queen and her daughter. Turning his attention back to the Queen, The Doctor nodded and rubbed her hand with both of his, "I will do everything i can to bring them back..i promise. You'l just have to trust me..one last time".

Getting up, The Doctor rubbed the back of his head as he began to think deeply on the matter, "Now lets see...how to draw one out. Well..i mean we could go house to house but that'd take too long..before we could find them, they'd know we were coming and jet off. No..we need something that wouldn't draw too much attention to it..Romana and I stick out like a sore thumb as it is right now, last thing would be waving a sonic screwdriver at them".

Glancing over to a nearby closet as he bit the edge of his thumb nail, The Doctor's mind sparked an idea and he turned to Romana, "What about like old times? Dress up to match with the general population and investigate? Put a hat on me and i'd be unrecognizable and put anything that isn't pink or red on you and you'd be good".

"I can provide you both with clothes," said the Princess. "And a facial implant."

"Yes about those. I'd like to examine one, if I may. You say these strangers didn't wear them; there must be a reason why."

"I'll have my brother bring one up for you to examine, if his useless self shows up today. In the meantime, let me show you two to your room."

The room they were being provided wasn't too far away. All the way to the left in a T-shaped hallway, the Princess opened the door to a large white and gold decorated bedchamber with the promise that she would be back shortly with appropriate attire for them both.

Once she was gone, Romana turned to the Doctor with a smile that suggested laughter. "I think we should inform her that we're not a couple."

The Doctor childishly leaped onto the bed as soon as the door locked shut behind him. His arms reaching out and hugging the bed as his body fell onto it before his ears got wind of what Romana had said. "We can if we want" He replied to her as he peered back over to Romana, "Or we can do like we've always done...just leave it up for them to decide".

Swinging to the edge of the bed, The Doctor leaned over and rested his head into the cuffs of his hands, "Thing is...." he mumbled, "I think i've seen this before..well...it was different. Lots of things were different. But they were fueled by propane and attacked Charles Dickens...highly doubt this is connected but still". Sighing, The Doctor let himself fall straight back onto the bed.

Romana shook her head, still with a small smile. "I don't recall too many people assuming we were romantically involved."

There wasn't much else to say before the Princess and a few slaves returned with garments for them both. Romana was fitted into a dress, dark blue and gold, floor length, and with reasonable chest and arm coverage. She was then presented with the facial implant.

"Before you connect me to that, I need to know what it is," Romana said.

"It's the Doctor," the princess explained. "It detects illness and injury and if it can, it fixes it. If not, an alarm sounds, letting us know to visit the healers."

"The Doctor," Romana repeated, with a weighted glance at the man, now dressed in black and gold. She made a mental note to remind herself to force the Doctor to explain just what it was he did last time he was here. "Alright, stick it on me, if you must."

The princess pressed the silver device up against Romana's temple. For a moment nothing happened, and then suddenly Romana felt several thin tendrils break the skin and locate themselves around her skull. The shock of it made her gasp, but there was very little pain.

"Your turn, Doctor," the Princess said, holding up the implant meant for him.

The Doctor arched his eyebrow, trying to keep himself from saying anything as he laid eyes on the finely dressed Romana across the room. Then the implant was held up to his face, moving his eyes away from Romana and focused down onto the small device. Taking it, The Doctor quickly put it in and activated it, scrunching at the slight pain it caused as his face was morphed into a different form to disguise his real one beneath it. "Congratulations princess...you've replicated regeneration to near perfection...well...all you'l need is a glow..and a few sparks, but still" The Doctor joked before he realized what his voice sounded like. A hint of a Scottish accent....it can't be

Bolting over to the mirror, The Doctor half expected his previous incarnations face to be there but instead it was of an older mans. His lightly grey haired curling at the top, wrinkles folding at the edge of his smile (Peter Capaldi *cough cough*).

"Well at least it isn't what i thought it was going to be" The Doctor commented on his new facial appearance, "Now only if this outfit had a dash of red...red would go well with this face". Shrugging, The Doctor looked away from the mirror and turned to Romana and the princess, "Alright then. Allons-y everyone, no time to waste. Besides, the shorter time i have to look like this, the better" he joked.

Romana's eyebrows immediately shot up.

"That's... I've never seen that happen before! How is that possible?" The princess gasped.

"Logically, it shouldn't be." She stepped toward the Doctor, frowning. "I know what your next regeneration is supposed to look like, and this isn't it. You've completely skipped a regeneration. ... Are you alright?"