Notes – Written for a kinkmeme prompt that wanted Layton to actually be a Time Lord (from Doctor Who) and Luke to be his assistant, with bonus points for Clive being another Time Lord and any shipping combination. Since I've always thought of Layton as being a Time Lord anyway and ship all combinations of those three, there was no way I could pass up the prompt. Set in an AU, but based after the third game with heavy spoilers for it.
"I had warned you before what could happen if you messed with the controls while we were driving, my boy," Layton said, steering the Laytonmobile back onto the correct course.
"Yeah, but it was totally worth it," Luke laughed, munching happily on the chunk of roasted mammoth he'd obtained from their last, accidental, stop through the time stream.
Yes, that was right; Luke was eating mammoth while travelling through time and space in an old car. How does one even begin to explain something like that?
Layton had tried to explain something similar to two different people and still didn't have the answer.
Most people would have a lot of trouble accepting that the kindly gentleman they worked with was actually an alien from a destroyed planet called Gallifrey, who was hundreds of years old despite looking to be in his late thirties and had a time travelling car. But neither Luke nor Emmy had ever batted an eyelid at any of this and had just gone about as if he was the same professor they'd always known. 'That explains why your eyes look like that then' was the closest to a reaction he'd ever got. He would never live that comment down.
But now Emmy was gone and it was just Luke travelling with him, keeping his secret quiet. Luke changed that way Layton played this Time Lord game. At first he wanted little to do with time travel, choosing a time zone he quite liked to set up shop, starting his life as a fake human and going about as if he had no connection to any of this supernatural stuff. He was not at all like the Doctor, who went on more adventures in one day then Layton could count on his fingers. But then Luke had somehow managed to change all that by asking why.
If you have a time travelling car then why do you just stay put?
If you like saving people so much then why don't you travel through time and save many more people?
And, most recently, if we're stuck in the Stone Age anyway why don't we try eating woolly mammoth?
The professor had no answers for any of these questions, except the one about the mammoth, which he'd never wanted to try because it sounded horrible and Luke would eat almost anything anyway. So because of this the two of them began travelling together, saving more people than they ever could by just staying in the same time period in London.
Luke was never put off by the danger, but Layton had sort of seen that coming considering that he hadn't been scared by any of their old adventures either. And thankfully he didn't ask those difficult questions like why had Layton never gone back in time to save Claire if he could or what would happen when Luke grew older but Layton remained the same. Some things just couldn't be changed and some questions best left unanswered.
The Doctor had no trouble going through so many assistants, knowing full well that he'd outlive them all, and so it seemed that neither of Layton's assistants had been bothered about it either. For the time being they were just fine.
"So where are we goin' anyway, professah?" Luke asked, looking over from his last bite of mammoth.
"We are going… well, we're going to mess with time a little," replied Layton, awkwardly.
"It's about time! Um, nevah mind the pun… What 'ave ya got planned?" Luke went on.
"Something that might surprise you," said Layton. Steering the Laytonmobile, his TARDIS, he came to a halt a few years ahead of what they regarded as their present time. "You're probably familiar with the progress of Clive's trial."
"Yeah…" Luke mumbled, looking down. Everything that Clive had done had been wrong, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to see the guy as the monster that the public did. Maybe because of the time they'd all spent together and maybe because the reasons behind Clive's madness had been almost pitiful.
"Well, I regret to say that the trial did not go well and Clive was deemed to be put to death," said Layton seriously.
"What! Is that even legal?" Luke gasped.
"Not usually… but in more extreme circumstances…" the professor sighed, "Clive is viewed as a terrorist of the highest danger and I don't doubt that Bill Hawks had some sway in convincing the people that this was the only way to deal with him."
"So we're goin' t' watch 'im be killed?" Luke pressed, horrified.
"Of course not," replied Layton, "Because Clive cannot be killed."
"Huh?" Luke looked at him in a way that demanded explanation.
Obliging, Layton answered, "He's not even aware of it himself and I'll admit that I wasn't for some time either, there's still a lot of questions as to how it's even possible, but I've discovered that Clive is a Time Lord like I am."
"Well, that's good news. I think…" Luke replied, uncertain if it actually was.
"Yes, but it leaves him in a rather difficult situation. When they try to kill him it won't work - he'll just regenerate. This will cause a lot of questions and become more trouble than it's worth. While I prefer to obey the laws of the justice system in this case I'm going to have to step in," explained the professor.
"So we're goin' t' rescue Clive?" Luke asked, seeming more cheerful than Layton liked about the thought of saving a criminal when he nodded in response, but he supposed it was Clive they were talking about so Luke's behaviour could be excused.
The timing was crucial for this to work. They knew that if they messed up once it would become almost impossible to fix their mistakes, so Luke followed Layton's directions and stayed in the car while the professor went ahead, getting by with a disguise and some clever use of psychic paper to convince the authorities that he was the one sent to supply Clive with the lethal injection.
Although this case was receiving much media coverage, when it came down to the actual injection Layton was granted his request to be left to do this alone, since Clive had no family who would want to see him for his final moments.
As soon as the door closed, leaving the two of them in the room, Layton knew that Clive recognised who he was.
"You're the one going to do this, professor?" Clive asked, hazy and disheartened by the situation.
"I would not be that cruel," corrected Layton, "We are here to save you."
"We?"
"Is that my cue?" Luke chimed, appearing out of the shadows.
"Professor, it looks like Luke has just brought your car into the room," Clive said, certain that he'd already been given the drug and was now hallucinating.
"It sort of bends space around it, rather difficult to explain," replied Layton, "But it's only temporary and the sooner we get you out of here the better."
None of that made any sense, but Clive was in no mood to argue. He walked unresisting as Layton led him to the backseat of the car, before Layton took the wheel from Luke and whisked them away. Seeing the surroundings dissolve into a mess of blue clouds and lightning definitely gave him a shock, however.
"I'm afraid you can't ever go back there," Layton started, "Your disappearance will become famous and people will know your face. But there are plenty of other places where we could go."
"What are you talking about?" asked Clive, trying to avoid looking out of the window.
"I'm referring to myself being a Time Lord, a being that travels through time and space via this car, and through some unforeseen explanation, you are also one," he was told.
"But that doesn't make sense…" Clive muttered, frowning.
Typical, he manages to tell two other people that he's an alien without them having any trouble accepting it and the one he gets the most doubt from is the one of the only other people it actually applies to.
"It will, just give it time and I'll provide you with a better explanation when I feel you are ready for one," said the professor, "For now, what matters most is just one question – do you want to be free?"
Clive thought back to the prison, to the feeling of having no one there and knowing that his only fate was that of death to keep the world safe from him. He thought of having no hope and that once again the only thing that could possibly save him had been Hershel Layton's outstretched hand.
All those things crossed his mind and he came to the conclusion that, yes, he might not understand any of this, but he wanted to be free.