Author Note: Hey everyone! Wow, it's been a while since I wrote anything, but certain episodes of Doctor Who recently have inspired me! I'll admit, keeping in character with the Twelfth Doctor has been a little tricky, so at times if I slip into Tennant or Smith's Doctors, I do apologize, but then the way I see it, they're all the same character anyway, so that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! Haha.
First of all, do I really need to do the disclaimer? Oh I suppose I'd better. Though do I really need to tell you all that I don't own Doctor Who? The only thing I do own is the character of Aeryn (who's name can be pronounced either Erin or Air-in) and who you'll meet very shortly. (She's also on the front cover that I made, styling it like the actual Doctor Who books for the 12th Doctor).
Anyway, a little background info on this story. I started writing it after Face the Raven, so of course at that time I had no idea how Heaven Sent or Hell Bent would go. But since watching both those episodes, I've gone back and tweaked a few areas of this story to accommodate them as well. Think of this as basically an alternative ending in which the Time Lords refused to let the Doctor extract Clara from her timeline and he was never able to save her. What would he do next?
Well I'd like to think he'd do something like this. Hope you enjoy!
Lush grasses sprinkled with flowers of all colours and shapes graced the hilly meadow in the clearing at the edge of the great forest. The snow that had covered it throughout the winter months was all but gone now with only a few small stubborn patches left, though they were already succumbing to the spring rays of sunshine that shone down over the area, giving everything a slightly golden hue.
Beyond the meadow's borders off in the distance, shining waterfalls spilled into fast flowing river, and petals from a nearby cherry blossom floated by on the warm breeze. Puffy clouds drifted across the shining blue sky above and it had become a place full of life and full of love, full of warmth and full of softness, after a harsh, cold and bitter winter.
Clara would have loved this place, the Doctor thought to himself sadly as he stood in the doorway of the TARDIS, leaning against the frame and surveying the surroundings dejectedly. Under normal circumstances, he'd have enjoyed this place too. It was very beautiful, he had to admit. But without the infectious enthusiasm of a certain bubbly young woman exclaiming and reveling in the beauty of it all as she twirled about on the spot, pointing out the various sights and wonders of this natural heaven, he just couldn't find the will to enjoy it by himself. Travelling alone was no fun. It never had been. That was why he always took his friends along with him. But it was too soon for that, and he simply couldn't bring himself to find anyone else.
Not yet.
Not when the pain was still too fresh and raw, the hurt still too much to bare.
But he'd keep on, just as he'd always done. Running away from his hurt and his pain. He'd run away from Gallifrey when they'd refused to let him use the time extraction machines to save Clara, and he'd keep running until it didn't hurt any more, just like he always did. To hell with the Time Lords and their stupid rules. To hell with the raven that had stolen his best friend from him. To hell with it all!
After he'd stolen another TARDIS and returned to London, to his beloved time machine, he'd sent the stolen TARDIS on a one way trip back to Gallifrey, hopped in his own and headed for the stars. And now, for whatever reason when he'd allowed her to pick the destination for him as a distraction for his tired, grief-stricken mind, she'd chosen to come here, to the planet Elysium, in the Darkrose Peninsula.
He'd sniffed at the irony of the name when he'd first read it on the monitor, not at all impressed. Because Elysium in Greek mythology was supposedly a place at the ends of the Earth where certain favoured heroes were conveyed by the Gods after death. It also could be translated as a place or state of perfect happiness.
Well, he couldn't have felt any less like a hero right then. How could he be any sort of a hero after everything he'd done recently? And everyone he'd failed?
And he certainly wasn't happy. He was the polar opposite in fact, and he wondered if this was some cruel joke his beloved machine was playing on him. But the TARDIS always took him where he was needed, even if it wasn't where he wanted to be, so he was willing to trust her judgement in this instance, and believe that it hadn't been a malicious joke on her part.
So, determined not to lose himself to the depression of his loneliness and grief again, he stepped out onto the soft, springy turf and reached behind him to pull the door closed, before giving the wood work an affectionate pat.
"I won't be long," he told her, even as his fingers found and began to trace over the remnants of one of the painted flowers that had adorned the front of the TARDIS for several weeks. The Time Vortex had burned away most of the graffiti, but a few flowers remained. They would vanish in time as well and the TARDIS would return to her familiar blue once more. Surprisingly she hadn't kicked up a fuss at being the canvas for Rigsy's tribute, however, and the Doctor had half heartedly teased her for a time about how she'd never really hated Clara after all. In the end, the TARDIS had been just as fond of her as he'd been. She wouldn't have allowed Rigsy to even get close with his paints, otherwise, let alone completely cover her in beautiful decorations in a floral tribute to the Impossible Girl.
Turning away, he looked to the sky. It was late afternoon, by his reckoning, so that didn't leave him much time to find out exactly which part of Elysium the TARDIS had brought him to, or why. Better get started then.
Hearing the distant sound of voices coming from behind him, in the depths of the huge expanse of forest that stretched as far as the eye could see in either direction, he figured this would be as good a place as any to start. Digging his hands into his trouser pockets, he started off.
He hadn't ventured very far into the forest, however, when he was stopped short by a terrified weasel bursting out in front of him. The creature skidded to a halt, ears pinned back flat against it's head, teeth bared, breathing hard. The Doctor knew a hunted creature when he saw one, but was helpless to do anything as the weasel took off again in a mad dash towards the cover of a fallen log.
Moments later a foxhound charged out of the bushes, baying and barking loudly as it followed the scent of the weasel. It charged straight past the Doctor and started to dig furiously around the log, scrabbling and scratching as it tried to get to the weasel, which was backed away inside, it's fur on end, hissing and snarling in fright.
"Hey, get lost! Go on, beat it!" The Doctor snapped, waving his arms at the dog. "Pick on someone your own size!"
Surprised, the dog backed away as the Doctor waved furiously at it, but only for a moment, before it curled it's lips back, bared it's fangs and began to growl furiously.
"Oh don't you give me that!" The Doctor growled right back. "Go on, get out of here! Leave the poor thing alo-"
The crack of a gunshot echoed throughout the forest, and several birds squawked in fright, launching from their perches among the branches of the trees. A man came striding through the undergrowth, a rifle in hand, muzzle still smoking a little, and whistled. The Foxhound obediently trotted back over to come to heel by his side, and he crouched down, reached into the log and pulled out the limp, lifeless weasel.
"Good lad Copper," he praised the dog, rubbing him affectionately between the ears. And then, seemingly for the first time, he noticed the Doctor. "Greetings stranger! Here to help? There's plenty of the little buggers to go round."
"That-" The Doctor raged as he stormed forward, "-was an innocent creature!"
"They're vermin," the guy shrugged as if this answered everything, slinging the rifle back over one shoulder and tucking the weasel's tale into his belt so that it hung limply by his side, next to five others that the Doctor had only just noticed – their tan fur slowly staining dark crimson as the blood slowly drained from them.
Normally, the Doctor wouldn't have cared so much about one little weasel. Yes, he hated innocent beings suffering, but he also understood the circle of life. Death was a part of that circle, whether he liked it or not. But killing for survival was one thing. Killing for sport was a whole other thing entirely.
And recent evens had changed his whole perspective on this circle, anyway. He'd seen enough death to last him a lifetime.
Storming forward, he grabbed the hunter by the collar, almost choking him in his anger. "You had no right to end a life like that! NO RIGHT!"
"It was vermin!" the hunter protested again as beside him, the foxhound began to growl, it's hackles rising as it sensed that it's master was in danger.
"Human beings are vermin!" The Doctor all but screamed at him. "Yet I've spent the last two millenia defending you! Saving you stupid little idiotic apes from the big wide universe! And this is the thanks I get?!"
"Kye….everything all right, man?" another hunter asked, stepping cautiously from the shadows of a large oak, rifle in hand.
"Oh, more of you silly little apes," the Doctor let go of the man called Kye and stepped back as all around him, hunters appeared, circling him with their rifles at hand in what he supposed was meant to be an intimidating gesture. Too bad he wasn't in the mood to humour them. "So who's in charge around here?"
"That would be me," one of the older members of the group stepped forward. The Doctor looked him up and down, then snorted in amusement.
"No seriously, who's in charge around here?" He asked again, looking to each man in turn. Then he made a vague gesture to the trees, and by extension the kingdom around them. "Who's in charge? The Head Honcho? The Big Guy? Your Lord and Master?"
"That would be the Governor," Kye stuttered. "Governor Storm."
"Governor Storm, eh? And he sent you out here today to kill these poor defenceless creatures?"
"It's a weasel cull," the elder hunter nodded. "We're following orders."
"It's an extermination! And of course you're just following orders. Like good little soldiers, I'll bet," the Doctor growled, rounding on him. "What's your name soldier?"
"Why do you need to know my name?"
"So I have a name to pin the blame on!"
"I'm not telling you until you tell us who the hell you are, and what your problem is!"
"My problem? MY problem?" The Doctor barked an incredulous laugh as he spun on the spot, looking to them all and addressing them all as one, raising an accusing finger to each in turn. "My problem is you lot!"
"And who are you, sir?" the elder hunter asked sharply, his own temper rising now to match the Doctor's. The Doctor looked to him for a moment, and smiled a cold, humorless smile.
"I'm the Doctor. And I wish to make a formal complaint against this mass murder that you're all guilty of. Take me to your leader!"
Aeryn Storm wasn't expecting the call from the hunters so soon. Sitting behind her desk, she'd been engrossed in some paperwork – notices of marriage that needed accepting or declining, planning permission by the Head Teacher over in Cheen village to extend a couple of the classrooms, a request for a permit by Farmer Cole to place traps in his field that would scare away the creatures that kept eating his crops.
She was so engrossed in fact that she didn't notice the communications terminal blinking at her until it began to bleep sharply. Biting back the cry of surprise, she dropped the current folder of paperwork back on the desk and reached out quickly to take the call, worried that it was some sort of emergency.
"Governess Storm speaking."
"Pardon the interruption, Milady Governess," Darl, one of the veteran hunters apologized sincerely, his voice ringing clearly into the office.
"Is everything all right, Darl?" She frowned, sitting up straighter in her chair.
"Not exactly, Ma'am. We, uh...we've encountered a stranger in the woods and, well, he's demanding to see your father. He doesn't agree with the cull. I think he's one of those activists."
"Did you tell him you had the Governor's permission?" she huffed. Those bloody activists were a real pain! They complained and kicked up a fuss about everything. Literally everything! Cutting down trees was cruel, killing vermin was cruel, eating meat was cruel, picking fruits and vegetables was cruel, plants had feelings too...it never stopped. Anything and everything was apparently cruel to them, and not for the first time, Aeryn found herself wondering how the hell they survived, if everything was 'cruel' and 'hurt something's feelings'.
"Yes Ma'am. That's why he's demanding to see your father now. Said he wants to make a formal complaint."
"My father's busy," she groaned, placing her head in her hands as she knew what was coming next. As second in command, it was down to her to deal with things in her father's absence. Wondering if she'd end up regretting it, she sighed and looked up again. "Do you know who this guy is?"
"Said his name was the Doctor, Ma'am."
"The Doctor?" Now he had her attention. "Tall guy, silver hair, fierce eyebrows?"
"His eyebrows aren't the only part of him that's fierce, Ma'am!"
"Bring him in, Darl. I'll speak to him myself."
"Yes Ma'am," Darl replied obediently, before signing off.
The Doctor was back? Well that was great news! Aeryn was relieved beyond measure. Not only because she didn't have to deal with one of those bloody activists, but also because it was the Doctor. She knew the Doctor. He'd listen to her, and hopefully she could get this whole mess sorted out without her father ever having to find out. With any luck, Clara would be with him as well. She'd missed their girly chats since their last visit.
Standing up and stretching, because she'd really been sitting down for far too long, she gathered up the stacks of paperwork, shuffled them into a neat pile and set them on the shelf behind her desk, ready to return to later. Then she took her cloak from the back of the chair and fixed it over her suit, smoothing out a few imaginary creases. Might as well make herself presentable to the Doctor after all, so that he could see how high she'd now climbed since their last meeting. She wondered briefly if he'd approve, or be proud of her achievements.
Then, in one final preparation, she pressed another button on her communications terminal and waited patiently.
"Yes Milady Governess?" someone answered politely. "How can we serve you?"
"I'm shortly going to be receiving an unexpected guest. Could you bring up a tray of refreshments please? I'm sorry it's such short notice, but as I said...his arrival was rather unexpected."
"Of course Milady, I'll bring something up right away."
"Thank you." Letting go of the button, she wandered over to the mirror hanging on the far side of the room and adjusted a few strands of hair that had fallen from her braid. Then she eyed herself critically for a long moment.
"When did I get so thin?" she spoke aloud, raising a hand to her jaw and frowning. She looked tired as well. Pale and withdrawn. And her hair was definitely so much darker than she'd ever remembered it being before. It was almost as black as night now. Not such a good look for meeting the Doctor, but there was little she could do about it in such short notice.
She turned sharply as a commotion kicked off outside the room. Before she'd taken three steps towards it, however, the door was thrown open and the Doctor charged in, five men in tow, each of them with their hands bound behind their backs and linked by one long piece of rope, that the Doctor was dragging behind him.
"Over there," he barked, pointing them towards the far wall. "Stand. Stay! And on pain of death, nobody take a selfie! I can blow this entire place if I see so much as a single thing I don't like, and that includes karaoke and mime, so take no chances!"
Then he turned to Aeryn, before looking all around. "You're not the Governor. You must be his secretary. Run along and fetch him for me, there's a good girl."
"Doctor?" Aeryn asked, taken back by his attitude. "Doctor, it's me. Don't you...don't you remember?"
He studied her up and down. "Should I know you?"
"You don't remember," she realised with a sigh. "It was a long time ago, I suppose."
"Who are you?" the Doctor asked again, waving an impatient hand. "And how do you know I'm the Doctor?"
She stepped forward and looked up into his cold, furious eyes. "We've met before, Doctor. A long time ago, granted. Well it was for me. I guess you can just skip between times as and when you like. But trust me, we have met." She glanced past him, to the now empty doorway, expecting to see someone else. "Where's Clara? Her day off, I'm guessing? Wait…..you do let her have days off, don't you? Course you do. She couldn't teach otherwise…."
His eyes narrowed dangerously. "Shut up."
"Excuse me?" She asked, once again taken back by his attitude.
"I said shut up!" He snapped. "Not one more word. Do you hear me? Zip it!"
"But-"
"Ah!" He held up a finger sharply, and she immediately fell silent. "Now go and fetch the Governor. He and I need a little chat."
"The Governor's busy," she glared, standing taller all of a sudden, not at all liking this attitude of his. "So you can deal with me."
"His secretary? Pfft. No thanks."
"I'm his daughter, actually!"
"Oh?" The Doctor's eyebrow raised curiously, though he was still incredibly wound up about something. Something had put a bee in his proverbial bonnet and he was in a foul mood because of it. "Fine then, next best thing. What are you going to do about this lot?"
"Why do I need to do anything?" She asked, confused.
"We haven't done anything!" The hunter called Kye protested then, speaking up for the first time. "He took it upon himself to place us under arrest! Said we were gonna pay for what we'd done!"
"Oh you're going to pay, all right!" The Doctor rounded on the five men sharply. "Because let me tell you, I have seen enough death to last a thousand lifetimes! Innocent creatures that never hurt anybody! Thousands upon thousands of them, slaughtered by monsters like you! Monsters who think it's sport to pray on supposedly 'lesser' beings! I'm tired of it all! Tired of death and unforgivable actions and innocent creatures paying the price for the mistakes or the greed or the lust for power of others! Tired of people using death as an excuse! A means to justify an end! No more! Do you hear me?! NO MORE! Enough is enough!"
"We were just doing as we were told!" Kye argued back. Then winced at the sharp intake of breath from the Doctor.
"EXCUSES!" The Doctor roared. "NO MORE! You will pay, and maybe finally people will learn from your example!"
"Are you going to kill us?" Darl dared defiantly now, tugging his hands free of the ropes at last, surprised at how quickly the knots had come undone. The Doctor apparently wasn't very good at tying people up, it would seem.
The other men followed suit and now back on an even footing again, they all squared their shoulders and formed rank against the raging man before them.
The situation had spiralled rapidly out of control, and Aeryn knew if she didn't regain order quickly, all hell might literally break loose.
"If that's what it takes to stop you, then yes!" The Doctor cracked his knuckles as he raised himself to his full height, preparing for a fight.
"You kill us because you're tired of death?! Oh yes, that makes so much sense!" Kye retorted, bunching his hands into fists. "Pot, kettle, black much?!"
"Enough, all of you!" Aeryn snapped. But no-one was listening to her.
"No one else will die! Not on my watch!" The Doctor had also balled his hands into fists.
"Doctor, stop!" Aeryn cried furiously. "All of you stop!"
" 'No one else will die', he says!" Darl turned to his men, encouraging them, gearing them up for the fight that was to come. "Except us, it would seem!"
"I've faced far worse than you," the Doctor growled menacingly. "You think I'm scared? I'll show you the meaning of scared!"
"Doctor please!" Aeryn cried, begging him to hear her. Begging him to stop. But he couldn't. He was lost to his rage and his anger, and if he wasn't stopped soon, then someone was going to get hurt, and he would end up regretting this moment for the rest of his life. Because it may well be five on one, but she knew who the victor would be. And it wouldn't be the hunters.
She cast about the office furiously for something, anything, to help her. And then she caught a sudden wave of something – was that grief? - emanating from his mind. She hadn't even been using her powers at all, yet it hit her hard, it was so intense that she'd felt it without even trying. And then she knew what she had to do.
She didn't make a habit of reading people's minds normally – at least not without their permission. It was an invasion of privacy, and most people got rather defensive if they found out she'd seen inside their minds. But perhaps this time, just this once, it would give her the knowledge she needed to stop the Doctor before it was too late. Because whilst she'd met him before, a long time ago, he was still a stranger to her, and she got the feeling that he could be a very powerful and dangerous man, given the right motivations. But likewise he wasn't without reason. If she could find the right leverage, she could perhaps make him finally see sense?
Closing her eyes, she delved deep into his mind, extending her powers, letting them search and explore. His mind was so vast, so complicated with so many shut off doors and dead end corridors that it would have been so easy for her to get lost and never find her way back. But just as she was about to withdraw completely and give up, she saw her.
Young, brunette, small and petite, strikingly beautiful and bright eyed, smiling at something or other in the memory that Aeryn had now come across. Aeryn knew her name. Knew her better than she knew the Doctor in fact, because she'd met her too, again a long time ago. And the feelings the Doctor clearly held for her – well, that could just be the leverage Aeryn was looking for. It wasn't just this one memory he had either. There were more and more, flickering rapidly in quick succession, some where she was smiling, others where she was angry, some where she and the Doctor were hugging, some where they were arguing, one where the two of them were walking past a raven's cage in some strange little alley…
The wave of grief hit her with such force then, that she was literally propelled from his mind – kicked out violently and the door slammed shut in her face. But it didn't matter. She'd seen enough.
Keeping her eyes closed but focused on that one particular face, she listened to the voice she'd heard speaking to the Doctor, in his mind. And then she let the transformation happen – the familiar warm tingling sensation as every cell in her body changed in some form or another. She lost a few inches in height – she could tell that much even though her eyes were still closed – and her hair was shortening so that it sat about her shoulders.
When the warmth faded and she opened her eyes again, she took a deep breath and hoped and prayed that this would work.
"Doctor! For God's sakes, will you stop?!"
Her voice sounded strange now – a different voice, not her own – but one that had come from her mouth none-the-less.
The Doctor froze instantly. And then very slowly turned on the spot, his face morphing from one of anger into one of shock and disbelief, as he took in what he was seeing. Almost as if he were seeing a ghost.
Even the hunters had frozen, stunned by what they were witnessing. It was enough to give them pause, at least, and suddenly the intensity of the situation and the adrenaline of the coming fight drained away. They backed down first, but would the Doctor follow suit?
Before he could process everything and work out that it was just a trick and he wasn't truly seeing who he thought he was seeing, she pressed on. "Do I have your attention?!"
"Yes," he whispered quietly, his voice taking on a suddenly different emotion altogether. Great and terrible sadness…
But why? Why was he so upset by her taking on the appearance of Clara Oswald? Had something happened to Clara? Was that why she wasn't here with the Doctor now?
"Please, Doctor...let them go. What they've done is terrible, but look at them!" She begged him now, letting go of the restraint she'd been struggling with, whilst holding onto the physical transformation. As soon as she let go, she could feel the warm tingling again, as her cells realigned, she grew those few inches taller, her hair lengthened again back into it's twisted braid and she felt like herself once more.
Albeit with a trickle of blood slowly seeping from her nose. But that was a small price to pay, considering.
He stared at her for a moment longer in disbelief, before finally his face hardened and the sadness was locked away, back behind the severe mask she had come to associate with being his normal, impassive face in the short space of time that she'd known him.
"I think they've learnt their lesson, don't you?" She continued gently, stepping forward to appeal to him directly, forgetting everyone else in the room for that briefest of moments. "You wanted them to stop, and now they have. Isn't that enough? Can't you find the tiniest shred of forgiveness in one of those two hearts of yours?"
"How do you know I have two hearts?" He growled quietly, squaring up to her. So she stood her ground and answered with a pointed look of her own.
"You're not the only alien here, you know."
"No, I most certainly am not. You want me to deal with this lot? Then fine, but you hold onto that thought, because I'm not done with you yet."
"What's that supposed to mean?" She exclaimed as he turned his back on her, and stormed back over to the group of hunters, who hadn't dared to move since her revelation of her powers, except to bunch back together against the wall.
"Go on, all of you, get out," he told them now, pointing to the door. But when none of them immediately moved, he grabbed Kye by the scruff of the neck, hauled him forward and then all but threw him towards the door. "I said GET OUT! Before I change my mind! Go on! Get out!"
They didn't need telling again, and the four remaining men scampered out after their companion. It was safe to say they'd learned their lessons, and Aeryn knew that they wouldn't be causing trouble again. They knew better than to antagonize the Doctor any more. But what about the Doctor himself? Would he be the one causing her problems now?
She hoped not, but as he turned slowly back to face her again, she suddenly felt all the confidence drain away as if someone had pulled the plug. If looks could kill, she reasoned, then she'd probably have died about ten times over then. Maybe even a hundred.
"Thank you," she said the first thing that came to mind, just to break the awkward silence. His only reaction was to raise one of those suddenly incredibly fierce looking eyebrows. She gulped, took a step back – not afraid to admit that she was actually more than a little intimidated by him at that particular moment, and then found herself feeling the need to elaborate and explain, for lack of anything better to say. "For letting them go, I mean. I know you're tired of killing, and I understand. I really do. But it was necessa-"
"Oh no, you don't even go there!" He suddenly exploded, jamming an angry finger into her face so that it was mere millimeters from her nose. "You cannot justify their actions to me! And as for you - you had no right to do what you just did! NO RIGHT!"
"I-I..." she stuttered, trying to back away. But he followed her, stalking mercilessly, finger still raised to her face as he backed her into the desk and she almost fell, stumbling into it and banging her hip sharply. But she bit back the yell of pain, in lieu of the very angry Time Lord standing over her, breathing heavily, a fury unlike anything she'd ever seen before blazing in his eyes.
"I….I was just trying to help! You….you would have killed them!"
"Yes, I would have. And I am eternally grateful that you stopped me. But that's not why I'm cross! No, more than that. Furious, in fact! Do you want to know why I'm furious with you right now?!"
She wanted to say no, to tell him that whatever she'd done, she'd only been doing for the safety and protection of her father's people and that it really didn't warrant his anger. She didn't want him to lecture her like he'd lectured those poor, terrified men just moments earlier. Besides, she was the Governor's daughter – second in command of this whole kingdom! He was a stranger, and by default should have been deferring to her authority! So who the hell did he think he was, lording it over her like that and making her feel ten inches tall?
And yet despite his anger, there was something she DID actually want to know. And she had a feeling that that was in fact the reason he was angry. Not because she'd stopped him. But because of HOW she'd stopped him.
"Where is she?" She whispered, struggling to keep her voice from trembling, even as she once again looked to the door, expecting to see her. "Clara….where is she?"
"She's gone! And I don't know how you know about her, but let me tell you she was a far better woman than you'll ever be!" And without another word, he spun on his heel and stormed from the room, leaving her in a state of shock at his outburst. Sinking into the chair behind her desk, she massaged her throbbing hip and took several deep breaths to try and calm herself, though she very much doubted her heart would return to normal any time soon. At the moment it was currently trying to pound it's way through her rib cage, and the ragged breaths she continually pulled into her lungs kept hitching at the end, as though she'd been running and crying and screaming all in one.
Did the Doctor have this effect on everyone he met?
No, not everyone, she realised, leaning an elbow on the desk and resting her forehead in her palm. She'd seen inside his mind. She knew the kind of man he could be, and she knew that something so very terrible must have happened, to make him the man he was now. It didn't take a genius to work out what.