Their questions go unanswered for a few beats, but only that long, as they're shown into a room with a conference table and several chairs.
They're in said room alone--just Gabriel, Savannah, Lan, Jack, the Doctor, and the Castellan. No guards accompanied them, but two had stopped to flank the outside of the doors, which are now closed behind them.
"The rumours that we are at war," the Castellan answers, looking at the rest of them. "They're more than rumours. Gallifrey is at war. A war it hasn't seen the likes of for millennia."
His eyes find the Doctor's, but the Doctor's mind is carefully shielded. He remembers a few of the tricks his previous self used to use, after all.
"You were going to call me to help you, weren't you?" the Doctor asks after a beat. It sounded like a collective you.
"The Lady President wanted to from the beginning. The others ... stalled such actions."
"I don't doubt. Ferain, still angry, probably others. What of you?" The Doctor finds a chair and leans on it, but doesn't sit.
The Castellan breaks his gaze from the Doctor's. "Leela wished to have you return. Her faith is strong. K-9 advised me the same--"
The Doctor breaks him off. "Yes, but you?"
"Can you do it again? Save Gallifrey like you've done before? Like you've saved countless other worlds?"
There's a pause. The two Time Lords stare at each other, but their shielded minds give up very little. The Doctor's gaze breaks first, this time. He looks at the others as if to warn them not to speak again. Looks about the room. Drops his gaze to his own hands.
"You know I can't answer that," he starts. At the change in the other's expression, he continues. "You also know I'll do everything in my power to help. And that's all that I can say."
The Time Lord didn't exactly look mollified, but he looked a little less desperate.
no subject
They're in said room alone--just Gabriel, Savannah, Lan, Jack, the Doctor, and the Castellan. No guards accompanied them, but two had stopped to flank the outside of the doors, which are now closed behind them.
"The rumours that we are at war," the Castellan answers, looking at the rest of them. "They're more than rumours. Gallifrey is at war. A war it hasn't seen the likes of for millennia."
His eyes find the Doctor's, but the Doctor's mind is carefully shielded. He remembers a few of the tricks his previous self used to use, after all.
"You were going to call me to help you, weren't you?" the Doctor asks after a beat. It sounded like a collective you.
"The Lady President wanted to from the beginning. The others ... stalled such actions."
"I don't doubt. Ferain, still angry, probably others. What of you?" The Doctor finds a chair and leans on it, but doesn't sit.
The Castellan breaks his gaze from the Doctor's. "Leela wished to have you return. Her faith is strong. K-9 advised me the same--"
The Doctor breaks him off. "Yes, but you?"
"Can you do it again? Save Gallifrey like you've done before? Like you've saved countless other worlds?"
There's a pause. The two Time Lords stare at each other, but their shielded minds give up very little. The Doctor's gaze breaks first, this time. He looks at the others as if to warn them not to speak again. Looks about the room. Drops his gaze to his own hands.
"You know I can't answer that," he starts. At the change in the other's expression, he continues. "You also know I'll do everything in my power to help. And that's all that I can say."
The Time Lord didn't exactly look mollified, but he looked a little less desperate.