Title: First Time (2/4)

By: Sasusc

Genre: fluff, friendship

Rating: PG-13

Word Count: 1097

Summary: Ace wants her first time to be with the Doctor. Part Two takes place during The Curse of Fenric.

Notes: The dialogue is taken directly from the episode. The subtext is all mine. The second scene is the scene that started all of this.

She could honestly say that she was never that interested in babies before. Sure, some of them were cute and looked cuddly but she'd never fawn over them as much as she was doing now. Could it really be because she had sex?

The Professor had assured her that it was impossible for him to impregnate her on their one night together. His people were sterile-had been for the longest time. She hadn't thought about it until a few weeks after that night, and she brought the subject up to him. But it had got her thinking about what her life would have been like if she hadn't got swept up in a time storm that had transferred her to Iceworld.

Would she have a boyfriend? Would she be about ready to settle down with him and create their own family? Or would she be doing exactly what she was doing now-running around and traveling? It wouldn't have been on such a large scale as it was traveling with the Professor, of course, but it would be traveling none the less.

She sighed as she reached the door and opened it.

Kathleen was packing a bag.

Ace smiled as she walked into the room and shut the door firmly behind her. "Hi. How's the little horror?"

"Well, I've just fed her and put her down," Kathleen replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You should have told me." Ace sat down on the bunk and peered into Audrey's cot. She smiled down at the baby. Audrey cooed up at her as she kicked her feet. A funny fluttering feeling ran through her stomach when Audrey smiled at her. She decided to ignore it by asking: "Where will you go?"

"Oh, I'll manage. Frank's got shore leave in a few weeks."

"Who's Frank? You're boyfriend?"

Kathleen stared at her in disbelief. "No, my husband."

Ace was standing in front of her now, having left Audrey on her own. "Oh, I didn't know you were married."

"I've got a baby," Kathleen said, stating the obvious.

"Yeah, I just thought that…" Ace swallowed the rest of her words at the hurt on her friend's face. She had forgotten that this wasn't the modern world she grew up in, and where no one cared whether a girl was married or not.

"Well, you can stop thinking it, alright?"

"Oh, I…I didn't know…" Ace didn't know how to fix her mistake or even what to say to make it right.

Kathleen closed her eyes. Ace seemed to be more worldly than she was and her attitude and thoughts reflected that. "It's okay. It's okay." She smiled at Ace.

"Where is he?"

"He's in the Merchant Navy, Atlantic convoys," she said proudly.

"I used to think I'll never get married." Ace glanced away. Her previous thoughts were coming back to haunt her. "Now I'm not so sure. There's a lot of things I'm not sure about now."

The life with the Professor was great, fantastic even. She got to meet great people like Kathleen, and travel around the universe. She was now a part of history, getting to experience it instead of just learning about it. The future was at her fingertips just waiting for her to jump in and explore. When would she have time to find romance? Settle down?

Sympathetic, Kathleen replied, "It's the war, Ace."

She snapped out of her thoughts. "Yeah. Look, take care, won't you?" She needed to get back to the Professor.

"Thanks. You too."

"No, I mean really take care."

As much as she loved the Professor, there was some things she hated about him. He was very good at playing mind games. He liked holding all the cards and only revealing them whenever he deemed necessary-which was usually after the fact. It was frustrating. They were wasting time when they could have been done with all of this if only he had disclosed the information needed.

She marched up to the Doctor. "You know what's going on, don't you?"

"Yes."

The short answer only infuriate her even more. "You always know! You just can't be bothered to tell anyone! It's like it's some kind of game, and only you know the rules." The Doctor walked away from her. She followed him. "You knew all about that inscription being a computer program, but you didn't tell me! You know all about that old bottle, and you're not telling me! Am I so stupid?"

"No, that's not it." He shook his head. She was bringing up all sorts of things he wished she wouldn't noticed…or comment on.

"Why then? I want to know!"

"Evil," he muttered taking a quick glance at her. "Evil since the dawn of time."

"What do you mean?"

She was forcing him to question his methods and he didn't like it. "Will you stop asking me these questions?" He walked away from her again.

She pulled his coat as she shouted, "Tell me!"

He wheeled around. All his doubts and worries were feeding off of her fear and anger. "The beginning of all beginnings. Two forces only: good and evil! Then chaos. Time is born. Matter, space. The universe cries out like a newborn! The forces shatter as the universe explodes outwards. Only echoes remain. Yet somehow-somehow the evil force survives. An intelligence. Pure evil!"

"That's Fenric?"

Calming silently, he shook his head. He frightened her with his outburst. "No, that's just Millington's name for it. Evil has no name. Trapped inside a flask…like a genie in a bottle," he thought out loud.

"Can we stop it?"

"We need to get that flask."

Ace finally got a hold of her temper. Yelling at each other wasn't going to get them anywhere. Any disagreements she had about his methods would have to wait until they were safe from here. They needed a plan. "We can release Captain Sorin to help us. I can distract the guard."

Distract the guard? How was she planning to do that? "How?"

She looked straight into his eyes. "Professor, I'm not a little girl."

Her statement resonated in his head. Shock and a hint of jealousy-which he squished immediately-ran through him. When she had asked him to teach her about sex, he didn't think she would use it as nonchalantly as this. Never once had he calculated her using her newfound sexuality as a tool.

"Ace," he started, putting the right about of disapproval into his voice.

She smiled at him. "Don't worry about me. I'll be alright."

She took off before he could say anything more.