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[love_dont_roam]

All right, I think I officially know more about Time Lords than I ever wanted to know.

In other things. Mum says hi. I had...a passable Valentine's Day. Nothing really beats taking a bag of ice to a guy in the infirmary so he can nurse his wounds on a holiday.

Not the worst in history, but at least nothing insane happened, right? What was it like

Comments

[Private]

[timesbureaucrat]

[Narvin is trying very hard to hide how deeply uncomfortable he is about Rose knowing all about the Time War. He's terribly afraid that the file might say, or even just imply, things about *him* as one of Rassilon's left hand men during the war. On top of that, anything to do with Rassilon makes him deeply uncomfortable and slightly crazy.]

Lord Rassilon created us. You care about the Doctor, so remember that. Whatever you think of Lord Rassilon now, he once was the man who founded our civilization, shaped our biology, and, with Omega, gave us access to Time. Without Rassilon, the Doctor would not exist. The TARDIS would not exist. They are the direct descendants of his vision, products of his legacy. Every Gallifreyan is. That's why I can't-- [He cuts himself off before he says something *far* too personal. He licks his lips. His façade is slipping a bit.]

He's made mistakes of judgement, but his loves his people, wants us to survive. [Wants *some* of them to survive. He'd killed Narvin. Narvin's eyes dart to the

[Private]

[love_dont_roam]

[Rose is likewise trying to listen to him without rolling over in her head how she would contradict some of the things he is saying. She wants so much to argue, but even hearing him talk this way -- especially given their last discussion and how it went -- she can at least read that there's a lot of emotion in there that she hadn't given him credit for before.]

It looks to me like he was a lot of things once, Coordinator. Maybe that gives you something to remember fond of him, but it doesn't make what happened and what very nearly happened not evil. [She frowns, considering her words carefully a moment.] Y'know there's a saying on earth, that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. He mighta wanted to save the Time Lords. I believe he did. But that don't make his actions anyone else's fault but his. He's got free will.

[Private] (Poor Rose always ends up dealing with PTSDed Time Lords)

[timesbureaucrat]

[He snarls.] I know the saying, Miss Tyler. There's another Earth saying I like: the ends justify the means. We were dying. We used whatever weapons we had to. Even atrocities like--

[He stops. Most of his anger drains from his face as quickly as it had sparked. He speaks more quietly.]

We couldn't let the Daleks win.

[Quieter still, speaking almost to himself and looking almost a bit lost like he's not quite sure how Time Lord ideals got so distorted or how to find the right ideals again.]

We were supposed to protect the universe.

[Private]

[love_dont_roam]

He was going to destroy it, Coordinator. The whole universe. He was going to do exactly what the Daleks wanted to do all along and he coulda done it faster and more efficiently than they could have hoped to, and thank God the Doctor --

[She stops, realizing that she's getting angry too] I'm sorry it happened in the end. I am. [But she's not sure, fresh from learning all that, if she means it when she says it]

[Private]

[timesbureaucrat]

[A few weeks ago, he would have responded with anger right back. Probably thrown in a few insults about the Doctor for good measure. But right now the shame surrounding his attempt to steal Una's time machine--nearly shooting Kay all to support a leader who'd rejected him and a policy he'd never been comfortable with--is still too close. He nods and speaks flatly.]

I know. The Final Sanction was never the answer.

[Private]

[love_dont_roam]

I'm sorry -- for whatever harm he's caused you. I mean that.