Plot and Loophole Epilogue: Loose Ends and Librarian cliches YOU'RE NEW, said Death. WHERE'S ADRIC? WE'VE BEEN MISSING HIM. Tessa sighed. "Just show me how to get back where I belong. I should have known this would end up like everything else in my life. Now I've lost out to silly, infatuated Ruth and a bunch of insane science-fiction characters." IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH SCIENCE FICTION? asked Death with an edge to his voice. OR FANTASY? "You stood under the fridge all evening?" asked Nyssa, almost shyly. Adric was warily keeping his distance, but he smiled. "I knew you wouldn't be *that* obvious." "So," said Jamie to Vicky, "you're a librarian. You must read a lot of books." Vicky gave him a look. "OOK!" said someone else who had overheard. There was a silence broken only by the cry of someone struck by a well-aimed peanut. "Thank you," said Vicky. "Have a banana on me." "Ook." "Interesting design," said the Ainley Master, passing it back to the Movie Master. "Tasteful. You should see if the Sixth Doctor wants a copy..." He snatched it back. "I'll leave you to the bird-watching and gardening or however it is that you spend your time!" As he swept off, the other two looked at each other awkwardly. "It's not ... *true*, is it?" asked the Delgado Master. The Ainley Master laughed. "True? Only a fool would believe that nonsense." "Yes. Yes, of course. Ha ha ha. Ha." The original Master went to look for his copy of The War of the Worlds. The Ainley Master moved away. His secrets remained his own. "So, have I proved my point yet?" Liz said, "Yes. This version of me isn't going to shoot this version of you. Well, unless you do that every evening in the Round." "Good," said the Brigadier with a smile. "Next time I ask you for a dance, I don't want to be watching out for the murder weapon." "Next time?" The Eighth Doctor sat down next to Ruth. "So are you really in love with that short, bald guy?" Ruth said, "Please, don't talk about it. He's not short! And I wouldn't say bald, would you? Not entirely. Only in a good way." "Oh?" She sipped her drink. "In answer to your question, yes. But for the moment, I've been in so much fan fiction with him that I'm enjoying the break." "Shame," said the Eighth, but really, he reflected, he had enough romantic problems of his own. "I hope things work out." Ruth shook her head. "I don't think they can." Turlough approached Vicky. "So. You're a librarian. That must be interesting." She looked up warily. "Stamping books and saying 'shh'!" "Excuse me," said a voice behind him. Turlough turned to see Giles - he had a moment before the irate school librarian felled him with a punch. "Chance would be a fine thing," said one librarian to the other. "Like your bun, by the way." Vicky nodded. "Nice cardigan." "Really? I wasn't sure it was quite dull enough..." The Proprietor had been talking to Polly. "So where is that nice woman who was going to sort out my staffing problems? Has somebody scared her away?" "She didn't belong in here," said the Round's continuity cop. "She had to go!" All Doctor Who characters are copyright of the BBC; Spooks (or MI5) is copyright of the BBC and Kudos. This Time Round was created by Tyler Dion. For those who haven't seen Spooks (or MI5), Tessa was played by Jenny Agutter; Ruth Evershed by Nicola Walker (& it's really hard to do her justice without having Nicola playing the part). Still, it's an attempt at a tribute to a 'bonkers but brilliant' TV character who broke her desk lamp on the way in and Harry's heart on the way out. Ruth and Tessa never met, but would unquestionably know about each other! Especially outside reality. Hmm, it would have been fun if I'd let Juliet (Anna Chancellor) in... With deepest apologies to the Master, whose plotline in this seemed inevitable, but was partly inspired by Cyber Moggy's The Master's Secrets. Also references to several other TTR stories by various authors, including John Elliott (Alternative Possibilities) and Cyber Moggy (What's a Rule for Anyway?) - probably apologies required here as well. Vicky is hoping to leave the Round soon.