The Man That Once Was
The Doctor has reigned Gallifrey as Lord President since the Time War. Driven mad by power he has one goal in mind: the utter and absolute extinction of the Daleks. Until one day a seemingly ordinary human girl attempts to steal his most precious possession just to bring a little hope to the entire universe.
Chapter 1
The Doctor stood at the end of the Hight Council chamber, his back facing the room along with his obligations and his eyes set on the land in front of him. Gallifrey. He had spent so many centuries running from it and even more centuries ruling over it. It seemed that with him there were only two extremes – fight or flight.
And fought he had. Even though the Doctor had tried his best to outrun the Time War it had had a habit of catching up with him, haunting him until he had decided to end it once and for all over 1200 years ago. Thanks to him the children could now continue to run across the fields of red grass like he had done as a boy, thanks to him the Daleks were now almost on the brink of extinction. Almost. But almost wasn't good enough. The Doctor, Lord President of the Supreme Council of Gallifrey and all his dominions, Holder of the Wisdom of Rassilon, Preserver of the Matrix, Guardian of the Legacy of Omega, the Oncoming Storm, the Cruel Tyrant, the Slaughterer of the 10 Billion, the Vessel of the Final Darkness, the Beast, the Predator. He had so many names, so many titles for a man with such a simple goal – to destroy every last Dalek in existence.
Most of them had perished in the Time War after he had chosen to take arms but every now and then there was still talk of a sighting and when that happened he sent out a small army that was only to return with the dead and empty tank of a Dalek or not to return at all. Of course many of the soldiers had deserted before risking the Doctor's wrath by coming back empty handed but some were still successful even now. Sometimes, when he was sure that the Daleks had occupied a planet he himself would lead the attack – or blow the planet up altogether to make sure he had gotten even the last, stinking, well disguised Dalek puppet.
The door to the High Council chamber opened behind him and the Doctor heard the distinct sound of the Castellan of the Chancellery Guard clearing his throat.
"Lord President, we have-"
The Doctor shot around, glaring at him. This regeneration that they had granted him after his last one had died of old age in office was blessed with very distinct facial features and a set of eyebrows that could make a grown man shiver under the Doctor's gaze. He had been an authority figure for over a thousand years, it was about time he looked the part. Sure, this regeneration had also come with a hint of madness and an impatience to deal with idiots such as the Castellan but the Doctor had decided that it was a small price to pay and that he could live with that for a few centuries.
"How many years have you served as Castellan?" the Doctor asked him in a calm but threatening manner.
The man opened his mouth. "That would be 374 years and two regenerations," he replied eventually.
"And how many times have I told you to address me not as Lord President but as Doctor?"
"Many times, sir," he swallowed hard.
"Good," the Doctor said, putting on a false smile, "Maybe one day it will sink into your pudding brain. Now, what is it that you wanted to tell me?"
The Castellan straightened his shoulders. "Sir, we've heard reports about strange goings-on in the Dalek Asylum. As you know, we've placed it under constant surveillance according to your orders."
"Yes, yes," the Doctor waved his hand impatiently. He had given that order after a failed attempt to destroy the planet, realizing it could only be done from inside the planet itself, "I know my own orders. What's happening? Are they waking up?"
"We don't know," the Castellan admitted warily, as if waiting to be struck by the Doctor's fist at any given moment, "The men instructed to observe everything that happens around the planet have picked up on signals emitting from the centre. They say they hear music."
The Doctor frowned. "What kind of music?"
The Castellan retrieved a communicator from his robes and switched to live feed. Immediately the High Council chamber was flooded with an all too familiar melody, one the Doctor hadn't heard in centuries but still recognized after only a few notes.
"Carmen," he said more to himself than anyone else.
"Excuse me?"
The Doctor shook his head, tearing free from his precious memories of Earth and the time he had spent wandering this silly little planet. He told himself he was needed here, that only he could rid the universe of those tank-clad abominations but the truth was that he missed it terribly.
"Carmen," the Doctor repeated, "An opera by Georges Bizet. From Earth. Why is a Dalek listening to Earth music? Has anyone been down there to check?"
At the mere suggestion of it the Castellan's eyes widened in horror. "No, sir," he almost panted.
"Well, ask around if there are any suicidal Time Lords who would like to give it a try," he said and turned to face the window again. The sight of Gallifrey used to have a calming effect, reminding him of what it was that he fought for.
"There is something else," the Castellan said carefully as if he was afraid of the Doctor's reaction, "There was an incident at the barn."
Again the Doctor shot around. The barn. The place where he kept it, heavily guarded by his best and most trusted men.
"What kind of incident?" the Doctor demanded to know, his voice angry and cold.
"Well," he spluttered, "A girl was caught breaking into the barn. She's not from Gallifrey."
For a moment the Doctor couldn't believe the words he heard. Gallifrey was shielded, no one could come or go without the Doctor's explicit consent – yet someone seemed to have managed to land a ship unharmed and undetected and not only that, the same someone had broken into the most heavily guarded and protected place on the entire planet.
"A girl, you say?" the Doctor asked in disbelief.
"Yes, a young woman. Shall we execute her like the others?"
The Doctor considered it for a moment. Thieves from all over Gallifrey had tried to break into that barn and at some point the Doctor had decided to put an end to it. Everyone who was caught attempting to steal it would be sentenced to death and shot again before they could regenerate. It was the only way he could think of to protect his most precious possession because who knew, one day he might need it again.
"No," he concluded after a moment, "Bring her here. I need to know how she managed to find a way past our barriers."
The Castellan nodded. "Very well, sir."
A few minutes passed before the sound of a woman's voice echoed through the corridors and the Doctor's mind ran wild trying to imagine what sort of woman could have achieved the unachievable. When the door opened and the Doctor turned around to look at her he was more than just a little disappointed. Tiny, wide face, large eyes and a funny nose – a perfectly ordinary girl. In fact, he wasn't entirely sure if she wasn't a dwarf.
The Doctor cocked an eyebrow at her. "Who are you?" he demanded to know.
The guards shoved her further into the room and the woman glared at them before she straightened herself up and raised her chin as high as she could. "I'm Clara," she said proudly as if her name alone was something to be proud of.
The Doctor considered her for a long moment. Nothing special about her from the outside. She was pretty, but he had seen many pretty faces. Maybe she was smart? How else could she have breached the barrier?
"Leave us alone," the told the guards that retreated immediately, closing the door behind them.
"Clara," he repeated her name, letting it flow over his tongue like a mantra, "Clara. Clara Clara Clara. Clara. Cla-Ra. Who are you?"
"My, you sound a broken record," she snorted, laughing at him as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.
Then again, maybe she wasn't so smart after all, insulting the Lord President, the man that was going to decide over her life. He eyed her with suspicion but not without some form of admiration. This woman was brave, he had to admit that much. Not many people dared to speak out against him these days.
"Who are you?" the Doctor repeated carefully and took a step forward to look at her from up close.
Clara giggled but now that he was standing right in front of her the Doctor could see the fear buried deep down in her eyes. "Again, broken record," she laughed nervously, "I'm Clara."
The Doctor growled in frustration. "This is leading nowhere," he said, "Tell me how you got here!"
"No," the woman shook her head, a light smile on her lips.
She was playing him, him – the Lord President, the Oncoming Storm, and this girl had the nerve to play him.
"Why not?" he demanded to know. The Doctor couldn't recall the last time someone had refused to answer his questions.
"Because," Clara began and turned away, slowly walking across the room towards the window before she turned back around to face him, "Once you know how I got here you're going to kill me. But you need to know so you can fix the breach, which means I'm alive for as long as I keep my mouth shut about it."
The Doctor squinted his eyes at her, considering his response for a long moment. He could have her executed, in fact, he should if only for the simply reason that she was playing games with him. The breach in the barrier? She was the first person in centuries to have found it, it was unlikely another person would be so smart and then he could just execute them as well. But the truth was that Clara intrigued him and the Doctor was nothing if not utterly bored. It could be fun to have her around for a little while until he either broke her or grew tired of her impertinence.
"Guards!" the Doctor yelled, keeping his eyes fixed on Clara just to see the fear sparkle up on her face when she thought she had forfeit her life.
The two guards that had brought her to him came barging back into the High Council chamber before they came to a halt to await the Doctor's orders. And he made sure to hesitate long enough to give them so as to stoke her fear a little more.
"Show this woman to a guest chamber where she can wash and change into clothes that aren't dusty. I will continue her interrogation over dinner tonight."
With a weird satisfaction he eyed the confusion that was displayed so plainly on her face as the guards took her arms and started leading her out of the High Council chamber but the Doctor turned around once more.
"And make sure she's very well guarded," the Doctor commanded, "I'm not letting her out of my sight before I have some answers."
