A/N: Looking back over my old drabbles, I thought about what if Eleven were to actually encounter the Valeyard? I then proceeded to write this:
"Doctor, there's got to be a way… What if we–" Amy began as she approached him around the time rotor.
"No-no-no-no-no! You can't tell me!" the Doctor cut her off mid-sentence, waving his hands in her face in a shushing motion. "If I know, then he'll know. You're gonna have to beat him without my help. I'm sorry."
"How will he know? If he can read your mind, he could just as easily read ours," Rory observed shrewdly from his other side.
The Doctor bowed his head and shook it dismissively. "No, it's not about reading minds; that requires physical contact. He would know if you told me because… he is me."
Rory blinked. "What?"
"Doctor, you said the Dream Lord was you, too… Is he the Dream Lord?" Amy asked hesitantly.
"No! But, if it helps? Worse; the Dream Lord was only a projection – the Valeyard has corporeal form."
"But how can that be? It's not the psychic pollen again?"
"I shouldn't have even said that much…" the Doctor muttered, turning away.
"Doctor, how can we fight him if we don't know what he is?"
"You know what he is, Rory, I just told you, he's ME! I'm the Valeyard! Or I will be… someday."
"What do you mean?" Amy asked uncertainly, but the Doctor remained silent.
Finally, River spoke up. "Regeneration. You're saying that this Valeyard is a future regeneration of yourself?"
"Yes. Yes, River, that is exactly what I'm saying."
Amy couldn't believe her ears. "But, if he's supposedly your future… then how do you know he's you?"
"Because I've met him before, Amy."
"You've… met him before?" Rory repeated, incredulous.
The Doctor sighed, resigned, and nodded. "Five hundred years and five regenerations ago, he tried to steal my remaining lives to solidify his own existence. I had thought him defeated then, but I was wrong… He came back." Suddenly, his voice raised in pitch as he screamed, "He keeps coming back! They always come back!" He slammed his hand on the console, making the TARDIS ring out a chime that might have been indignant or placatory; whatever it was, it managed to return the Doctor to his senses. "I'm sorry, old girl," he muttered, stroking her gently before looking back at his companions. "I'm sorry," he said again, "but you're on your own." He then turned and walked sullenly to his room, leaving Amy, Rory, and River at a loss in the console room.
A/N: This isn't really a story so much as a random cutscene; there's no plot behind it, no ideas as to how the Valeyard came to be wherever they are – nor a location for them to be in the first place – and no plan for how they'll solve it really. Don't ask me to finish it because the only thing I can think of is that the TARDIS will tell the Doctor they're doing something that they're not so that he'll come rushing to their aid and that will tie in with how they beat the Valeyard because he thinks what they're doing is what the TARDIS told the Doctor they were doing… wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey, write it yourself if you'd like, just credit me for the inspiration if you post it. ;D
