The Gallifreyan Bloodline

XIV

Susan hadn't been looking quite as cheerful as of late - Foreman supposed that all the work she'd been forced to do to support the Doctor ended up giving such a small amount of results in the end. It evidently ended up wearing her down, and there didn't seem any way for her to regain her happier moments quite yet.

It certainly pained Foreman to see just how much it hurt her, but there wasn't much he could do except attempt to help push the efforts to find Gallifrey forwards. At the same time, he found the efforts to find Gallifrey were draining him just the same. It took all of his energy and tugged at his soul - he might never escape it at this rate.

He wished Susan could keep that smile of hers on her lips long enough to let him feel more motivation towards getting any of this done, but it wasn't his place to push her. He just wanted to have something to keep pulling him forwards. Before this point, he'd been focused on Susan as a means of propelling him forward - now that couldn't possibly work.

Perhaps Foreman now had to focus on doing something on his own. By cheering up Susan, he would simultaneously support her and himself in their efforts. It would be killing two birds with one stone, yes, but it would also end up being excessively difficult. He never knew just quite how to cheer her up.

Foreman would just have to do his best to make this all work out in the end. He needed to make sure he did something...just standing around would not help at all. Foreman could help Susan if he simply got to working, no matter how much effort it took. He took it as his responsibility to help her along even if it meant he had to sacrifice something of his own.

Even though the Doctor's idea to start moving towards focusing on the TARDIS as a possiblity to connect to Gallifrey had been a brilliant one, it hadn't been very successful. Every trail they found ended up being a false one, leading them to small planets without anything to redeem them.

All their efforts kept leading them to dead ends. Every sign that things were about to go up ended up being false. Foreman tried to keep his thoughts positive no matter what, but this became more and more arduous as things went onwards. He found very little to give him any sort of motivation and the lack of progress just made things feel worse and worse.

Nevertheless, he didn't have much of a choice except to continue moving forwards. He would have to continue serving the Doctor, continue trying to support Susan while abstaining from being her father, continue doing all the foolish things the three Time Lords did in their attempt to find Gallifrey.

But as he was alone in the TARDIS control room, he felt as if he didn't have to worry about having any sort of resposibilities beyond taking inventory of his own thoughts. There was no Susan to look out for, no Doctor to order him around. This was a rare moment of peace, one that he needed to make sure to take advantage of while he still could.

Before he knew it, he would be surrounded by all sort of issues which he had nearly no control over. These few moments of peace ended up taken over by his worries about the future, something which made him feel rather irritated. Time might be entirely twisted within the TARDIS, but Foreman could sense that someone would come bounding in soon.

As much as he adored Susan, he would rather keep her off as well. After all, she often ended up signifying that the Doctor was following behind and would show up before him. She also managed to give him all sorts of thoughts about what he could and could not say to him.

"Another day of this great progress," Foreman grumbled to himself, walking around the perimeter of the TARDIS's console room. He might just keep walking in this circle for ages, as it would make just as much sense as attempting to do something to find Gallifrey in the TARDIS. He was giving just as much back to the universe as anything else.