ghost2

Title: Triad
Author:

ghost2
Rating: PG
Word count: about 1200
Characters: Five/Nyssa/Tegan
Summary: Five/Nyssa/Tegan crackfic, set after Arc of Infinity.

The situation the Doctor had feared had indeed come to pass.

He had occasionally wondered if something was going on between Tegan and Nyssa back before they had deposited Tegan at Heathrow, and now he was sure. Tegan and Nyssa were involved with each other. That was why Nyssa had begun to spurn him. She had initially turned to him because of Tegan's absence. Now that Tegan was back, the Doctor was superfluous.

Oh, Nyssa hadn't said this in so many words, but her attitude spoke volumes. She no longer flirted or came to his room at all hours of the night or held his hand. She held Tegan's hand, though. Nyssa and Tegan were constantly in each other's company, heads together, whispering and giggling. They spent endless hours cooped up in their shared room. Moreover, they excluded him from their whispered conclaves, broke off conversations when he appeared, and eyed him shiftily. How much more obvious could they be?

Indeed, he almost wished Nyssa had simply remained on Earth with Tegan to begin with. That way, his presence wouldn't be an issue.

For a time, he had simply pretended not to find anything amiss and hoped he somehow was wrong, but then his suspicions had been confirmed. The Doctor recalled a telling snippet of discussion he had overheard the previous week. He had been about to enter the library when voices from inside stopped him. Sternly overriding the twinge of guilt he felt at the act, he paused outside and casually listened.

"Maybe it's time we just told him," Tegan was saying.

"No!" came Nyssa's reply. "The results could be disastrous. It's too big a risk."

"And your way is better?" Tegan responded. "Hiding and whispering and getting nowhere?"

"I am trying," Nyssa said. "It's just so much harder than I had expected."

Tegan barked a laugh. "Oh, I always thought it would be more difficult than you did. You know what he's like. I think it's time we just hit him with it. No more of this nonsense and secret-keeping."

"What if he hates the idea and makes us leave the TARDIS? It's too risky. We'll just have to work our way around to it."

"But he's so oblivious to it all. At this rate, it'll take years."

Nyssa sighed. "I suppose. Maybe we should--"

"Wait!" Tegan exclaimed. "Where is he right now?"

They fell silent; the Doctor slunk away, and in privacy pored over the sketchy contents of the secretive conversation. Despite his best efforts, he could not come up with any explanation other than the obvious: Nyssa and Tegan's friendship had developed into something more and they were afraid to tell him, concerned he would disapprove. He wished they trusted him more, but it was partly his own fault that they didn't. He immediately vowed to let them know he had accepted the situation and would not hold it against them.

That evening, he found them together in the kitchen. It was as good a time as any to make his speech.

The Doctor cleared his throat. Nyssa and Tegan stared at him. For a moment, no one spoke. Then Nyssa said, "Doctor, there's something we should probably tell you."

"No, please, let me say this first. It's important." He fixed his gaze on the cupboard above their heads and rattled off, "I have nothing but the greatest respect for both of you, and I hope you will be very happy together. No hard feelings," he brightly assured them before turning abruptly to leave, thinking it best to allow them to digest this information in solitude.

"What the hell!" Tegan exclaimed behind him.

As the Doctor strategically retreated, he reflected on her reaction. He wasn't quite sure why Tegan would respond in such an indignant manner. Perhaps it was an Australian thing? A product of her times? Just Tegan being Tegan? All of the above?

To the Doctor's dismay, the tension did not ease over the week following his overtures to Tegan and Nyssa; if anything, it increased. Once, he noticed Tegan looking at him with an expression very like pity on her face. Then she slowly shook her head, though he had no idea why and didn't want to ask. Too much had already been said.

Nyssa and Tegan appeared to share this opinion, to a point. After a full week had gone by, the Doctor looked up from his latest busywork at the console to find them blocking the only viable exit from the room.

"Doctor, we need to talk," Tegan announced. "We don't like the atmosphere around here lately. We know it all has to do with Nyssa's and my big secret." She emphasised the final two words.

"Yes, the secret that has made life on the TARDIS so strained these last few weeks," the Doctor said wearily. "The secret I don't even care about. I told you both, I know what it is and it isn't an issue for me."

"Well, it is for us," Nyssa replied. "Your very serious speech proved you had misinterpreted everything."

"We were wondering how someone could be so blind," Tegan said. "Then we thought maybe you were just stupid."

"Or naive," Nyssa politely interjected.

The Doctor stared at them. "Whatever are you two going on about?"

Nyssa sighed. "Come on, Doctor. Don't be coy. We've heard the rumors about you and Romana."

"Both of her," Tegan interjected. "We were wondering something. Was Susan really your granddaughter? And were Jo and Jamie and Leela and Steven and all the others really just friends?"

"But some of them were better friends than others were, right?" Nyssa said. "Or are you asexual? That's what Adric thought."

Finally, she and Tegan both paused and the Doctor, who had finally begun to pick up on what this conversation was truly about and just how wrong he had been about recent events, squeezed in an answer. "Oh, no, I'm not asexual. I couldn't start anything with Adric because of Romana. She was here first and she always said she didn't want to share me, but I think she just didn't find Adric very attractive."

Nyssa and Tegan exchanged glances before Tegan spoke. "Then you actually would be interested in a threesome with us?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Certainly, why not? Don't you think I ever get tired of merely fixing the TARDIS, saving planets, and dealing with hostile, ungrateful strangers? Besides, it's about time I saw some benefit from having you two on board. That was a joke!" he hastily added. "You know, it would hardly be the first time for me. Dodo and Steven and I got on quite well. And of course, so did Jamie and Victoria and I, Jamie and Zoe and I, the Brigadier and Benton and..."

"That's enough. We believe you!" Nyssa interrupted.

"Oh, good." The Doctor thought it best that he'd convinced them before he'd reached the bits involving Sarah and K9. They might not understand the beauty of that particular relationship. But he still had one pertinent question. "What I'm wondering is, why didn't you ask me directly to begin with instead of dodging around the subject for so long?"

Tegan and Nyssa exchanged another glance before Tegan replied. "If we'd known you were going to be this easy, we would have!"