The Two Doctors and Hatters

Entrance hall

Dastari and Chessene forced them all to walk through the streets of the city and back to the house, Dastari in the lead, while Chessene walked behind them with her gun aimed at their backs. They made their way back through the gates leading into the courtyard and up the set of steps to the main door, walking inside the entrance hall, only to find that the place was in a complete shambles. Glass had been shattered all across the floor, doors had been knocked off their hinges, and furniture had been tossed around on the floor. The entire place look like a bomb had gone off close by.

"Well, this is…lovely," the Fifth Hatter remarked, taking it all in with a faintly amused air, glancing at Dastari and Chessene, both of whom seeming as surprised by the mess as they were.

"All the broken glass does let a nice breeze in, though," the Second Hatter commented, the corner of her mouth twitching as she shared a look with her future self.

The Second Doctor grimaced slightly, casting his eyes around the place as he adjusted his coat, "Oh, my word, what a mess!"

"Hmm," the Sixth Doctor nodded, giving the Time Lady's a quick smile before turning to Dastari and Chessene, "I think, perhaps Dastari, you ought to sack your Chatelaine".

Chessene narrowed her eyes at him, aiming her gun at him, "Shockeye!" she called, and Shockeye stepped into the room, holding something in his hand, having changed out the frock coat.

"Yes?" Shockeye asked.

She frowned at him, "What has happened here?" she questioned, waving a hand around at the broken glass and furniture scattered everywhere.

"It seems that Group Marshall Stike vaporised his spaceship…and himself," he told them, not seeming overly concerned, "I found this," and he held up the object in his hand, which turned out to be a severed, lower Sontaran leg that was still covered in black armour and bright green blood.

The Fifth Hatter grimaced, while the Second Hatter made a face and looked away from the leg. She had a feeling it was the green blood that just made it all the more worse.

"So he survived the Coronic Acid?" Dastari said, looking around Shockeye to Chessene.

"Obviously," Chessene replied, a short edge to her tone as she looked back to the Time Lords, Jamie, and Peri, "Down to the cells," she handed the gun to Shockeye, who started waving it at them to follow her as she began walking over to the cellar door, glancing back over her shoulder to them, "You know the way, I think".

Reluctantly, they did as they were told and followed after her as she opened a door, making her way down a set of steps and into the cellar with Dastari, while Shockeye walked behind them with the gun aimed at their backs. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they made their way over to the Kartz-Reimer modal, the door having been left open. Dastari and Chessene began examining it closely, frowning at it.

"The control box has been moved," Chessene said to Dastari, looking worried as he moved inside the module, taking a closer look inside at the controls, "Is it damaged?" she questioned.

Dastari continued to examine the module carefully as the Fifth Hatter glanced at the Sixth Doctor, who had a faint smile of his face, almost as if he was trying not to laugh. He caught her eye and gave her a wink, making her even more curious as to just what he had done.

"The Briode Nebuliser's missing," Dastari informed Chessene after a moment, his eyes widening slightly, and growing even more panicked that such a crucial piece of equipment was gone.

The Sixth Doctor smirked slyly, reaching inside his waistcoat pocket, "Do you mean this?" he asked innocently, raising his eyebrows as he held up the Nebuliser.

"Oh," the Fifth Hatter breathed to herself, breaking into a broad smile. She ought to have known that the Doctor would have been involved somehow, no doubt having needed to form a plan at the last moment. And she had a feeling she knew just what he had done, because she would have done the very same thing, "You clever, sneaky man," she muttered, feeling quite proud of him.

Chessene eyed the Sixth Doctor suspiciously, "Why did you remove it?"

He continued to smirk, "Because it contains my Symbiotic print," he answered calmly.

She grabbed the Nebuliser off him and passed it to Dastari, not taking her eyes off the Sixth Doctor, "Return this to the machine," she ordered him.

Dastari frowned at the Sixth Doctor, taking the device, "How did your Time Lord print get onto this?" he questioned.

"Stike forced me to prime and use the machine".

Dastari, seeming to believe him, stepped inside the module and inserted the Nebuliser into the inner control box.

Chessene looked thoughtfully at the Sixth Doctor, "There is a simple way of testing whether you are still trying to deceive us," she remarked, glancing at Dastari, who stepped back out of the module, giving her a nod. She turned to Peri, "Come, girl".

"No!" Jamie shouted as he and the Second Doctor moved to help pull Peri away from the woman, but the Second Hatter grabbed their arms, pulling them back slightly with a pointed look. She knew the Doctor, regardless whether he was a future version or not, and she could tell that the Sixth Doctor had done something. She couldn't work out just what, yet, but she could practically see it written all over his smug face.

"Come, girl," Chessene repeated, this time firmer as she grabbed Peri's arm, dragging her away from them and over the module, forcing her to sit inside the machine. Peri looked worriedly at the Sixth Doctor and Fifth Hatter, but they both nodded, the Time Lady giving her a comforting smile. Chessene closed the door and moved around to where Dastari was standing a short distance back from the device, holding a large control box in his arms that he had removed from inside the device, "Now we shall see," she said, giving Dastari a nod.

Dastari looked down at the controls in his arms, typing something into it, and a whirring sound rang out around the room from the module. Peri squeezed her hands inside the module, still looking very nervous, looking over to the Fifth Hatter and Sixth Doctor, just as the sound grew louder and the module dematerialised.

The Sixth Doctor smiled smugly over at Dastari and Chessene, "There you are," he said happily.

"Kartz and Reimer performed many experiments like this," Dastari informed them, not sounding overly regretful, "The subjects always vaporised into the time stream".

"Peri won't," he said confidently, smirking at them. The Fifth Hatter could have hugged him for having thought of such a clever plan, he very might have just given them the very thing they needed to stop this entire thing, "And she hasn't got any Symbiotic Nuclei, I can assure you," he added, almost mockingly.

Dastari frowned slightly, glancing at Chessene, who gave him another nod. He looked back to the controls and hit a couple of buttons, looking over towards the spot that the module had sat, just as it began to slowly materialise in the exact same spot with Peri still sitting inside, looking relieved as she caught sight of the Time Lords again.

Chessene stepped over to the module and pulled the door open, "Out," she ordered her curtly.

Peri slowly stood and made her way out of the module, moving to stand beside the Fifth Hatter, who wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "You did very well, Peri," the Time Lady whispered to her comfortingly, giving her a small smile.

The Sixth Doctor raised his eyebrows at Dastari and Chessene, "Satisfied?" he asked, still with a hint of mocking in his tone.

Chessene narrowed her eyes at him before turning to Dastari, "Dastari, chain these creatures up," she commanded him, clasping her hands together down her front.

"Creatures?" the Second Hatter exclaimed, looking offended as she pointed a finger at Chessene, "I don't think there's any need for name calling!"

"Chain us up?" the Sixth Doctor repeated indignantly, "After I've handed you the secret of time travel on a plate!" he shook his head, "Come on, Chessene. Where's your gratitude?"

"Dastari!" Chessene called sharply.

Dastari grabbed the gun from out of his pocket, aiming it at them as he grabbed the back of Peri's top, shoving her forward and away from the Fifth Hatter, "Come on," he waved the gun at them, forcing the Time Lords, Jamie, and Peri to move over to the other side of the cellar and over to two pillars, "Come along".

He set to work chaining the two Hatter's and Peri up around a pillar by shackling their hands to the floor, working quickly as he did so, avoiding making eye contact with them. Once he had finished with the women, he stood and forced the two Doctor's over to the second pillar opposite the women, setting to work shackling them in a similar fashion, before standing after he had finished with them, stepping towards Jamie with his gun aimed at him.

Jamie eyed him carefully, his eyes flickering down to the gun, not noticing Shockeye creeping up behind him, licking his lips hungrily.

"Jamie, behind you!" the Second Hatter shouted, her eyes widening in alarm as she realised that he hadn't seen Shockeye.

Sadly, it was too late and Shockeye managed to catch Jamie's arm and bend it around his back, causing Jamie to cry out in pain and surprise, "Get your hands off me!" he cried, trying to struggle against the alien, but it was useless and only resulted in hurting his arm even more.

"Ah, steady, my beauty!" Shockeye chuckled, licking his lips, eyeing Jamie greedily as he forced him over towards the stairs. All the Time Lords and Peri could do was watch on, fearfully, "Oh, there's some juiceful meat on this one, Chessene!" he grinned over his shoulder towards the woman.

"Jamie!" the Second Doctor called worriedly, trying to look around the edge of the pillar to watch as his companion was forced up the stairs and out of sight, still groaning loudly in pain.

"Let him go!" the Second Hatter tried desperately, trying to pull against her restraints. She glared up at Dastari, "This is utter madness, Dastari! He's an innocent in all of this, surly even you can see how wrong this is?"

Dastari ignored her, but she could tell that what she had said had some effect, if only a small one as his jaw clenched. He moved past her and over to where a wooden table was sitting a short distance in front of the two Doctor's, and held up the key's for the shackles, daggling it teasingly at them before dropping it onto the table with a smirk.

The Second Doctor immediately started trying to reach his foot out towards the table, scrunching up his face from the effort, but it was pointless and he gave up after a moment, "You might at least say goodbye!" he snapped angrily after Dastari as the man turned and headed for the stairs, disappearing up them. The moment he was gone, the Time Lords started struggling against the restraints and he glanced at the Sixth Doctor, "You're almost as clever as I am," he remarked quietly.

Peri frowned over at them, "What does he mean?" she questioned, confused.

"The Briode Nebuliser," the Second Hatter said thoughtfully, raising an eyebrow at the Sixth Doctor, "You sabotaged it, didn't you?"

The Sixth Doctor smirked slyly at them, looking quite proud of himself, "Pared the interface," he told them.

"Very clever, sweetheart," the Fifth Hatter smiled broadly at him, giving him a wink. That's exactly what she would have done, sometimes it really did surprise her just how much she and the Doctor thought alike.

"Precisely what I would have done," the Second Doctor nodded with a small, approving smile.

"But it worked, didn't it?" Peri continued to frown at them, still very confused as to what they were talking about.

"I left a thin membrane so it would work once," the Sixth Doctor explained to her, still looking quite smug with what he had done, and feeling even more pleased with himself after the Fifth Hatter's compliment. He glanced at his past self, trying to lean towards him, "I knew she'd want to test it".

The Second Doctor sighed, growing impatient, "There's no need to be so smug," he huffed slightly, and the Sixth Doctor gave him a slightly annoyed look, "We've got to get Jamie out of that butcher's hands!"

Both Doctor's looked across to the Hatter's and Peri, "Can you reach that wheelchair?" they asked in unison, their eyes landing on Peri, who was nearest to the wheelchair on the other side of the pillar.

"I'm not elastic!" Peri shook her head at them, glancing over to the wheelchair, rolling her eyes slightly. She could barely wrap her fingers around her wrist, let alone try reaching for something.

"Try stretching your legs out," the Second Hatter said to her, eyeing the distance between Peri's foot and the wheelchair, "You might just be able to hook your foot onto the footrest if you stretch your leg out far enough".

"Just give it a try, Peri," the Fifth Hatter encouraged, seeing the doubtful look on the girls face.

Peri sighed slightly, "Can't you just use that laser pen?" she looked at the Fifth Hatter.

"Laser pen?" she repeated, staring at her, when she remembered that she had threatened Shockeye with a laser pen, "I don't have a laser pen, Peri. I lied!" Peri groaned loudly, while the others gave them strange and confused looks, "I'm a Time Lady, I don't go about with laser pens in my pockets…" Peri threw her an annoyed look, making her wince, "Though, perhaps in the future I really ought to build one".

Realising that there was no other choice, Peri huffed slightly and tried to pull herself as far away from the wall as she could, reaching out her leg, managing to hook her foot onto the base rung of the chair.

"Good girl!" the Sixth Doctor smiled broadly at her.

"That's it, Peri!" the Fifth Hatter cheered.

Peri paused, looking back to them, unsure of just what they had in mind, "What's the idea?"

"Push it over towards him," the Second Doctor instructed her, nodding to his future self, who slumped against the wall and reached out a leg towards the wheelchair.

"Why?" she frowned, shaking her head, "He's not going anywhere!"

"Don't argue, Peri," the Fifth Hatter sighed slightly, giving her a stern look, "Just do it. Everything will become clear soon enough".

Peri, still seeming confused, carefully pushed the bottom of the wheelchair over towards the Sixth Doctor, who managed to reach out and pull it towards him as it came towards him, "That's it!" he commented happily.

They watched as he carefully manoeuvred the chair with his feet over to the table with the key sitting on top of it, slowly moving it beneath the edge of the table, hooking the footrest part of the chair under a wooden rung below the table.

"What do you think?" he paused, eyeing the table and wheelchair in front of him.

"It might work," the Second Doctor remarked thoughtfully, "It's worth a try".

"You're going to need to do it quickly, though," the Fifth Hatter added, sounding slightly concerned. One wrong move or jolt and the entire plan would be destroyed, leaving them with no chance of escape, "One quick action, that's all you need".

"And do try to at least get the key to come towards you," the Second Hatter said warily, almost sounding amused, despite the situation.

Slowly, the Sixth Doctor pushed the bottom the wheelchair further forward, wanting to try and make sure that it was in exactly the right spot, "That's it," the Second Doctor murmured, watching tensely, "Easy does it".

Once he was sure it was in the right position, he nodded to himself and moved his foot up to wedge between the gape in the seat of the chair and the back, needing to be able to tip the chair upwards, "Right," he muttered to himself before he pushed his foot downwards, flipping the chair upwards, knocking the table sideways and sending the keys clattering onto the ground. Quickly, he reached out with his foot and dragged the key over to him across the stone floor, managing to kick it up to his hands.

The Fifth Hatter closed her eyes tightly, tilting her head back against the pillar, feeling relief wash over her as the Sixth Doctor set to work undoing his shackles, "Oh, thank Rassilon that worked," she breathed.

The Sixth Doctor quickly managed to unlock the shackles after some moving around, giving his wrist a shake with a small grimace. He glanced at his Second self before shaking his head, dashing over to the Fifth Hatter, who blinked in surprise at him, but shuffled forward slightly to allow him better accuse to her own restraints as he carefully inserted the key into the lock.

Suddenly, a scream sounded from above them, coming from Jamie. They all looked up, their eyes widening.

"Never mind me, Doctor!" the Fifth Hatter shook her head frantically at him, her voice urgent, "Go and save Jamie!"

He nodded, giving her a apologetic look as he leaped back onto his feet and made a dash for the stairs, "They keys!" the Second Doctor called after him, exasperated and very worried about Jamie.

He paused and carefully slid the keys across the floor, back over to the Fifth Hatter, who was once again surprised by the action, having expected that he would give it to his past self. As he ran up the stairs, disappearing from sight, she quickly set to work trying to unlock her restraints, trying to twist her body slightly to reach. She only hoped that Jamie would be okay.

The entrance hall…..

As the Sixth Doctor reached the top of the cellar stairs, he carefully opened the door and poked his head into the entrance hall, wincing as the sound of Jamie crying out painfully rang out from the open kitchen door, followed by the sound a some sort of machinery humming. Seeing his chance, he darted over to the bottom the main stairs and hurried up them, carefully looking over the banister, just as Dastari walked in through the front door and entered the kitchen, an unsettled frown on his face as he heard Jamie's cries.

"What are you doing?" Dastari's voice came a moment later.

The machinery sound stopped, "Tenderising the meat," Shockeye's voice replied, sounding quite pleased with himself as Jamie moaned, "Oh, see how the flesh is marbling," he continued eagerly, "That's the fatty tissue breaking up".

"You should kill him first, surely?" Dastari's voice came again, sounding mildly alarmed.

"It works better on a live animal," he answered in a condescending tone, just as the sound of the machinery started again and Jamie cried out loudly. The Sixth Doctor winced at the sound.

"It looks very painful".

"That's simply a…a nervous reflex," he told him, the sound of the machinery stopping once more, "I've been butchering all my life. Primitive creatures don't feel pain in the way that we would," the machinery started again and Jamie moaned loudly, while the Sixth Doctor could only listen on, shaking his head, horrified. Shockeye laughed gleefully, stopping the machinery, "Now this is the part, I always say, where you can tell a butcher from a botcher," he said after a moment, seeming to be moving around the kitchen, "The meat should always have a clean edge".

Suddenly, Chessene stormed into the entrance hall, seeming to have come from the cellar. The Sixth Doctor leaned back from the banister, listening carefully, "Dastari, you fool!" she snapped furiously, marching into the kitchen, "One of the Time Lords has escaped!"

"That's impossible!" Dastari gasped.

"You couldn't have fastened the manacle properly," she spat.

"I tell you I did!"

"Don't argue! It's vital that he be caught and killed".

"Chessene, listen to me," Dastari's voice grew softer, forcing the Sixth Doctor to lean further over the railing to hear. He thought he could detect a hint of worry entering the man's voice, "To kill a Time Lord would mean destruction of everything we've achieved. The Gallifreyans have powers we've not even dreamed of!"

But Chessene seemed to be beyond reasoning with, "Kill him, I tell you!" she practically shrieked furiously, "Kill him!"

The Sixth Doctor waited, listening intently as a moment passed before Dastari reluctantly emerged from the kitchen, grasping the gun in his hands, a very troubled expression written across his face as he stormed outside into the courtyard, obviously believing that the escaped Time Lord would have attempted to leave the house. He felt a wave of relief, knowing that while he was outside searching, that would give the others time to get themselves free.

"This will only take a few minutes, madam," Shockeye's voice came again, sounding completely unaffected by the fight that had just occurred, "I thought we could have the saddle and the haunches for supper".

"Never mind that now, Shockeye!" Chessene shouted at him, turning her anger onto him, "I want that Time Lord found!"

Chessene stormed out of the room, looking furious as she headed outside the main doors. Shockeye followed behind her out the door, looking annoyed that he was being forced to leave his cooking for later. The Sixth Doctor waited for a moment, wanting to make sure that they were really gone before he quietly hurried down the stairs and ran across into the kitchen to find Jamie lying on his back, strapped to the large table by bits of cloth, unconscious.

He hurried over to him, running his eyes over him quickly for any injuries, "Jamie," he called quietly to him, leaning over him as he lightly tapped his face, "Jamie, can you hear me?" Jamie moaned, still half unconscious as the Doctor looked around and caught sight a large knife sitting on one of the kitchen benches. He dashed over to it and grabbed it, using it to cut the binding around Jamie's ankles and his right wrist, "Jamie," he hissed, trying to give him a shake as he simply moaned painfully, "Wake up".

He moved around the table, sighing slightly as Jamie made no move to wake, and reached to cut the binding around Jamie's left wrist, when Shockeye suddenly entered the room and grabbed the Sixth Doctor from behind, wrestling him away from Jamie before he could even try to fight back. Shockeye twisted the Doctor's wrist and kicked his stomach, forcing him to let go of the knife as he reeled back, crying out in pain.

The Sixth Doctor scrambled around to the other side of the table, trying to put it between him and Shockeye as he aimed the knife at him, a nasty glint in his eyes, "I thought you might return to help the primitive," he remarked, eyeing the Doctor closely.

The Sixth Doctor made a desperate dash to try and release Jamie's left arm, but Shockeye caught up with him and slashed his knife at him, cutting the Doctor's leg, making him yelp in pain, grabbing at his cut leg, feeling the blood beginning to trickle out of the wound as he quickly tried to hobble out of the room as fast as he could.

Luckily, for him, Shockeye seemed to hesitate in the kitchen, giving him a few extra moments to half run, half hobble across the entrance hall and out the front door into the bright sunlight. He stumbled and slipped on the steps outside, sending him crashing onto his back, groaning loudly as he clutched his bleeding cut. He wanted to check it, to see just how deep it was, but he knew that he wouldn't have enough time to waste.

He cast a quick look back through the open door, checking to make sure that Shockeye wasn't about to catch him, before struggling to climb back onto his feet. He quickly limped across to the courtyards gate and out it, trying to think of a plan, just as Shockeye stepped out through the doorway, holding the knife.

The Sixth Doctor didn't wait to see if he was following him as he ran off into the countryside surrounding the house, hoping a plan would present itself to him.

…..Meanwhile, in the cellar…..….…

After quite a bit of twisting and turning, the Fifth Hatter finally got herself free from her restraints and stood, rubbing her wrist as she carefully slide the keys across the floor to the Second Doctor, deciding to return the favour…or, at least, the future favour.

"Will you be okay?" she asked them, looking over Peri, the Second Doctor, and her past self, slightly concerned about leaving them behind. When Chessene had checked on them and discovered that the Sixth Doctor has escaped, she had been furious. Luckily, she had thought that he had taken the keys with him to return to release them later, but even still, the Fifth Hatter couldn't help but feel just a little worried about leaving them behind.

"We'll be fine," the Second Hatter assured her.

"Just leave us," the Second Doctor added, and she imagine that he would have been waving her away if he could have, "Go, my dear!"

"Be careful, Hatter!" Peri called after her, looking worried.

The Fifth Hatter flashed them a bright smile, nodding to Peri before running over to the stairs, dashing up them, pausing she reached the door. Slowly, she opened the door and peeked out into the entrance hall, but once she was sure there was no one there, she hurried out and over to the kitchen, carefully stepping inside.

Jamie was half lying on top of the table, looking groggy as he grabbed a knife, using it to cut the rope holding his left hand to the table. The Fifth Hatter moved to help him, "Jamie!" she hissed, making sure to keep her voice down.

"Hatter," Jamie blinked slightly, letting her take the knife and cut the rope, "Where's the Doctor? I mean, my Doctor and Hatter?" he asked, correcting himself.

"Still in the cellar," she told him, putting the knife on the table, not noticing the way that Jamie's eyes lingered on it for a moment, far too worried about what might be happening to the Sixth Doctor, "They might need some help," she sighed, looking at him hopefully, "I don't suppose you know where my Doctor went?"

"Sorry, no," he shook his head.

She nodded, not surprised, "Are you alright?" she cast her eyes over him.

"I'm fine, you just focus on your Doctor".

She gave him a small smile, patting his arm as she stepped over to the kitchen table, peeking around it carefully before hurrying across the entrance hall, heading over to the front door.

Jamie grabbed the knife the moment she left the room, "Right," he almost growled, eyeing the sharp edge, "I'll have that Shockeye, so I will".

And with that, he stormed out of the kitchen, heading for the cellar door.

…..…The cellar…..…

The Second Doctor and Hatter, both having managed to free themselves, quickly helped Peri to unlock her restraints, taking her hands and helping to pull her up onto her feet.

"Come along, Peri," the Second Doctor said to her, pulling her along with them, heading for the stairs, "It's time we were off".

"Okay," Peri nodded, more than happy to get out of the cellar.

They hurried over to the stairs, only to stop short, their eyes widening as Dastari casually walked down the stairs, coming to a stop at the base of them, not seeming surprised to see them free, "Chessene wants me to kill you," he informed them, raising the gun in his hand, aiming it at them.

The Doctor, the Hatter, and Peri held up their hands in surrender, exchanging a worried look.

…..….The front door…..…..

The Fifth Hatter ran out of the front door, blinking slightly as the harsh glare of the sun hit her. She started down the steps, only to stop as she caught sight of what appeared to be blood smeared across one of the steps.

"Oh, please tell me that's not what I think it is," she muttered to herself, swallowing slightly as she knelt beside the stain, reaching out a finger to touch it. It was still fresh, even in the hot sun it hadn't yet had time to dry, which meant that it could have only have just been spilt.

She leaned closer to it and examined it closely, sighing heavily as she realised that her fear had been true. The stain was darker then human blood would have been, but even still, she couldn't quite tell for certain. It might have been an Androgum's blood.

She took a deep breath, trying to prepare herself, needing to make sure just who the blood came from, "The things I do for you, Doctor," she said to herself, and reached out to touch the blood, grimacing as she lifted her finger up and licked it. The moment it made contact with her tongue, she gaged and tried to spitting it out, clawing at her tongue, "Damn you, Doctor," she groaned, making a mental note to brush her teeth with the strongest tooth paste she could get her hands on for the next month.

Still, at least now she had confirmation. She was positive it was the Sixth Doctor's blood and now, she got to spend the rest of her life trying to supress this little memory. Lovely. With that comforting thought in mind, she stood, wiping her finger on her skirt, and jogged down the rest of the steps and over towards the courtyards gate, following the trail of blood. If he wasn't bleeding to death, she was never going to forgive him.

…..The Grounds around the house….

The Sixth Doctor half limped, half ran down a slope, looking back behind him every now and again to check just how close Shockeye was, but luckily he was still quite a bit ahead of the other man. He winced with every step as it sent a sharp pain up his leg from the cut, still clutching onto it, trying to stop the bleeding as it continued to trickle down his leg and over his fingers.

He looked back over his shoulder and forced himself to move faster as he noticed that Shockeye had started catching up on him, waving his knife around, "Your run has nearly ended, Time Lord!" he called after the Doctor, chasing after him down the slope as the Sixth Doctor skidded slightly down the hill, groaning painfully as it sent a sharp pain through his leg, but he forced himself on, "Give up, Time Lord, you cannot escape Shockeye o' the Quauncing Grig!" he shouted after him.

The Sixth Doctor made it into a small valley-like area with a dip between two hills. He limped through the long grass, panting heavily, the pain taking an extra toll on him and forcing him to work twice as hard to try and stay ahead of Shockeye. He noticed something nestled in the grass under a tree and hurried over to it, almost falling face first as he reached it.

A butterfly net had been left lying in the grass, along with a small bag, a camping lamp, and a small jar with some sort of white powder inside. He looked it over curiously and grabbed the net, vaguely recalling Oscar mentioning that he had been out hunting for moths when they first meet him. He shook his head, sitting the next back down in the grass as he cast a quick look over his shoulder, but Shockeye was nowhere in sight.

He returned his attention back to the equipment and sat down on the ground, wincing painfully and grabbing his leg as the movement caused it pain. He took a few steady breaths, trying to push the pain away as he reached for the jar, unscrewing the lid to find that the top half of the jar had been filled with a thick layer of cotton wool. He lifted it off the white powder and lifted the jar up to his nose, giving it a curious sniff, recognising the smell immediately as cyanide.

Slowly, an idea came to him and he glanced back over his shoulder. He couldn't possibly overpower Shockeye, not with his leg, nor could he continue to run from him for much longer, but perhaps there was another way to end this…though, he wasn't entirely pleased with the idea, it was the only one he could think of. Even still, he knew that the Fifth Hatter was going to be furious once she found out, or maybe if was a better word. It would only upset her, surely if she didn't ask then he wouldn't have to tell her? He sighed heavily, shaking his head at himself. Oh, who was he fooling? He would probably end up telling her the moment she asked about his cut, he would just have to prepare himself to face her anger.

Carefully, the Sixth Doctor placed the cottonwool onto the lid of the jar, pouring some of the cyanide powder onto it. He found a canteen in the bag and undid the lid, pouring some of the water onto the cyanide, causing it to smoke lightly. He replaced the canteen in the bag and grabbed the butterfly net and the cottonwool, climbing back onto his feet as he moved to hide behind the nearest tree, waiting.

Luckily, he didn't have to wait long as Shockeye reached the valley-like area a moment later, looking around, licking his lips as he panted. He grabbed the large sword hanging on his hip and removed it from his belt, holding it one hand and the kitchen knife in the other. He slowly approached the tree that the Doctor was hiding behind, pausing as he looked down at the equipment on the ground.

"Oh, the blood is warm and salty, Time Lord," he growled hungrily, inhaling deeply as his eyes flew around him, completely oblivious to the Sixth Doctor standing behind the tree right in front of him. He sniffed again and stepped closer to the tree, moving around it slightly, holding his knife's out at the ready, "I know how near you are!" he called, rounding the tree, his gaze fixed on the trees around him.

The Sixth Doctor snuck up behind him and forced the net over Shockeye's head, causing him to cry out in surprise as he shoved the poisoned cottonwool onto Shockeye's mouth and nose, pressing it firmly against his face. He tried to fight against him, but his attempts were weak as the poison began taking affect the moment he inhaled it. He clawed at the Doctor's hand, coughing badly against the cottonwool, but as the Doctor began to slowly lower him down towards the ground, his hands grew weaker and his coughing stopped completely.

He held the wool over his face for a few moments longer as he let Shockeye go onto the ground, wanting to make sure that he was really dead before he let go of the wool and straightened, sighing heavily as he looked down at him, "Your just desserts," he told him, shaking his head.

"Doctor!" the Fifth Hatter's voice rang out a short distance away, sounding very worried.

The Sixth Doctor felt all the colour drain from his face as his head snapped behind him to see the Time Lady running down the slope, one hand holding her hat on as she looked around widely. He looked back down to Shockeye's body, but he knew that it was too late to try moving him. He only hoped that he could make her understand.

"Doctor!" she shouted again, when she caught sight of the Sixth Doctor standing just behind a tree a short distance ahead of her. She broke into a relieved smile and ran over to him, her eyes flying straight to his leg where she could see blood staining his trousers, "Doctor, I was so worried," she told him, throwing her arms around him before he could even blink, burring her face into his neck, "Thank goodness I finally found you, was starting to worry you had bleed to death under a tree…" she trailed off suddenly, tensing in his arms.

She pulled back from him, her eyes fixed on the ground behind him, a look of horrified realisation crossing her face that made him feel ill just seeing it, knowing that he had caused it, "Let me explained," he began quickly, reaching to grasp her arms.

The Hatter jumped back from him, batting his hands away from her with a furious look, "No, don't touch me!" she snapped, moving away from him, her eyes fixed on him as he swallowed, hard, holding up his hands, "You want to explain?" she hissed and pointed down to Shockeye's body, "You want to try to explain to me how the hell you ended up murdering someone?"

"It was self-defence!" the Sixth Doctor said at once, flitching at the word 'murder'. He had seen that look on her face before, but never directed at him. No, that was the look she had given the Master before, "He was going to kill me…and you".

But that only seemed to increase her anger and she suddenly marched up to him, slapping him, "Don't you dare try to bring me into this," she breathed, glaring at him as his head snapped sideways at the force of the slap, the sound echoing around them. She was breathing heavily, almost breathless she was so angry, "Don't try to use me as an excuse in your actions, not this time, not when I had nothing to do with it".

His hand flew to his sore cheek, his eyes wide. He might have under calculated just how angry she would be. He took a deep breath, "Hatter, please," he tried again, "It was self-defence, I didn't have a choice!"

"Oh, and I suppose you couldn't have knocked him out instead of…" she moved closer to Shockeye and knelt beside his body, gingerly lifting the cottonwool, examining it from a safe distance, careful not to breath any of it in, "Poisoning him with cyanide," she finished, throwing the cottonwool on the ground as she stood, crossing her arms across her chest

He opened his mouth, when he realised that she did have a point. He could have found a way to knock Shockeye out rather than kill him, even stunning him would have been enough. He sighed heavily, "I'm sorry," he finally said, but his tone grew stronger as he went on, "But I won't apologise for protecting myself," he made sure not to mention her again, even though a big reason for wanting to stop Shockeye had been because of her.

She narrowed her eyes at him, "There was another way, there's always another way, Doctor," she reminded him, anger still lacing her voice, "Killing him should have only been the very last resort".

"Yes," he nodded, unable to argue with that, "But at least now he can't hurt anyone else…"

"Don't go there, Doctor," she cut across at quickly, pointing a warning finger at him, "It was not up to you to decide what his punishment should be, so don't pretend as if it was," she looked away from him, reaching up to rub her forehead, "I mean, come on, Doctor!" she meet his eyes again, "Did your ego fall on top of your head? Because that's the only thing I could think of that would make you ever even think about doing something like this".

The Sixth Doctor almost laughed at the ego part, he knew very well what she thought about his smugness, and it was just such a typical thing for her to say, even when angry, "No, I don't believe it did," he replied, unable to help the hint of amusement in his tone, but it quickly vanished at the look she gave him. He cleared his throat and stepped closer to her, glad when she didn't move away from him, "You're right," he told her, and if it had been anyone else, he doubted he would have bothered to try so hard in defending himself, but he simply couldn't stand to see the look on her face whenever she looked at him, "There was other ways, and I'm sorry. I acted impulsively, perhaps".

She eyed him carefully for a long moment, her eyes narrowed as they searched his face, "Do you regret it?"

"Do you truly believe that I wouldn't regret taking a life?"

"Of course not, but the fact still remains that you did take a life, self-defence or not".

"I…regret that I have upset you and that I thought I had to take a life, but I don't regret protecting myself or anyone else".

The Fifth Hatter sighed heavily, closing her eyes tightly. She was still angry and she doubted that was going to fade anytime soon, she still felt the urge to hit him again, but she took a deep breath, and forced the urge away. She knew that he was telling the truth, in the moment he had believed that it was the only thing that he could do to defend himself and she could hardly get angry at that. She simply wished that it hadn't happened, that Shockeye had faced punishment that he deserved given to him by the proper authorities, but it was too late for that now.

She opened her eyes and looked at him, "We should get back to the others," she said suddenly, simply wanting to move on from the subject. There was nothing more that could be said or done to make it any better or change what had happened, and she was positive that if they continued to discuss it for much longer she was either going to hit him again or be physically sick, neither of which would make her feel better.

She began to turn away, but the Sixth Doctor caught her arm. She stopped short and gave him a sharp look, making him wince, quickly letting her arm go. That look said all it needed to, she certainly hadn't forgiven him, "I'm sorry," he said again, feeling that he needed her to know.

"Doctor, please, just leave it," she told him tiredly, but firmly, "You know how I feel, you are perfectly aware that what you did was wrong, you're not a child. There's no more that can be said, and I fear that if we keep talking about it I am going to be sick, so please," she took a deep breath, her jaw set as she meet his eyes, "Just stop talking about it. Later, once I'm not so angry with you that I feel like strangling, then we can talk about it, perhaps".

Deciding that it was wise to do as she said, he nodded and made to follow her as she started to walk again, but winced loudly as the movement sent a sharp pain through his leg. He had completely forgotten about his leg. The Time Lady moved to his side almost at once, her anger seeming to be droned out for the time being by concern for him. He couldn't help but wonder if getting his leg cut might have had some benefit after all.

"Let me see," she said sternly, kneeling on the ground and carefully moving the slit fabric away from the cut to get a closer look, "Hmm…" she hummed, examining it, "It's not very deep, I'll have to look at it closer when we get back to the TARDIS. For the time being…" she stood and reached inside her skirt pocket, withdrawing a piece of cloth and started tying it around the wound, making him yelp slightly, "Oh, stop fussing," she scolded, her anger flaring again, leaving her very impenitent dealing with him, "Just hold still while I tie this knot".

Slightly meekly, not wishing to provoke her anger any more than it already was, the Doctor did as she said and tried to stand as still as he possibly could, wincing painfully as she pulled the cloth tightly against the wound, not enough to cut of blood supply, though, and quickly tied a knot.

She nodded after a moment, seeming satisfied with her work, "That should be a temporary fix," she remarked, looking back to him, "Now, put your arm around my shoulders and we can head back up to the house".

"Did I ever tell you that your scary when your angry?" the Sixth Doctor asked after a moment, wrapping his arm around her shoulder's while she put an arm around his waist, the two of them setting off towards the house.

"And you just remember that in future, maybe it will stop you from doing anything like this again".

….…..The cellar….

Jamie slowly crept down the cellar stairs, holding the kitchen knife out in front of him as he glanced over to the middle of the room where he could only just see the Second Doctor and Hatter, along with Peri, standing before Dastari, partly hidden around a pillar a short distance from the Kartz-Reimer Module. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he heard a noise come from the cellar door, and quickly dropped down the last step and hurried to hide in the small alcove beneath the stairs.

He waited for a moment as footsteps sounded on the steps and Chessene appeared, holding a gun in her hand as she walked down the steps, completely oblivious to Jamie watching her. Carefully, he moved out of the alcove and quietly walked behind her, bent low as she reached the bottom of the stairs, heading over to the Time Lords and Peri.

"…I remember it very clearly, Doctor, Hatter," Dastari was saying to the Time Lords.

"There speaks the real, Dastari!" the Second Doctor broke into a broad smile, grabbing the other man's shoulders affectionately, while Peri and the Second Hatter watched on with wide, pleased smiles. They had finally managed to convince Dastari just how mad this entire plan of his truly was and he agreed to put a stop to it, "My old friend!" he went on happily.

"Oh, Dastari," the Second Hatter said brightly, patting his shoulder, only just holding herself back from hugging the man, "You have no idea what a relief it is to hear you speak reason again. You had us very worried for a while there," she told him, smiling as she glanced at Peri and the Second Doctor, "Now, I really think we ought to be getting out of here".

They turned towards the stairs, only to stop short as they found Chessene standing in front of them with her gun aimed at the Time Lords and Peri, blocking the way. She narrowed her eyes at Dastari, "I ordered you to kill these three," she snapped at him, looking very suspicious, "Why are they still alive?"

"There's been enough killing, Chessene," Dastari said firmly to her, looking regretful, "And it's my fault," he sighed, shaking his head grimly as she frowned at him, "I took an Androgum, a lowly, unthinking creature of instinct, and tried to set her among the Gods".

"I put myself among the Gods!" Chessene spat at him, glaring at him angrily before she threw a quick look over to the Time Lords and Peri, "And now I shall liberate my people!" she held her chin higher, turning back to Dastari, "With me as their leader we shall reign over all beings!"

Dastari made to lung at her, trying to get the gun out of her hands, but she shot him before he could barely move. He cried out painfully, collapsing onto the ground, dead, and Peri screamed, horrified by what she had just witnessed. The Second Doctor and Hatter grabbed her hands, trying to make an escape as they pulled her along with them around a pillar and the Module, making a dash for the stairs.

Chessene hurried around the pillar, cutting them off, "Stop!" she shouted at them, aiming her gun at them with a dangerous look on her face, and they skidded to a halt, knowing that they didn't have a chance of escaping now.

Knowing that they were about to die, they slowly raised their hands, trying to prepare themselves for what was about to happen, when Jamie snuck around the side of second pillar and threw his knife at Chessene. It hit her gun, causing it fire widely as she accidently dropped it, but luckily the shots completely missed the Second Doctor, Hatter, and Peri.

Chessene grabbed at her wrist and ran for the module door, realising that she was outnumbered, and pulled it open, quickly sitting down inside and closing the door, activating the device. The machine began shaking erratically, making a loud mechanical sound as smoke started billowing from out of the engines.

Jamie took a few steps back from the module and beckoned to the Second Doctor, Hatter, and Peri to join him, watching as a panicked look crossed Chessene's face inside the machine. The Time Lords and Peri edged over to Jamie, just as the Module suddenly exploded, causing them to flinch back as the door and panels flew off, sparking violently and Chessene emerged from the smoke with a loud scream pf pain, collapsing onto the floor. Peri and Jamie hurried forward, the Time Lords following at a slower pace as they gathered around Chessene's body.

Peri looked over to the Time Lords, looking slightly pale, "Is…is she dead?" she asked.

"Very dead, I'm afraid," the Second Hatter replied grimly, looking down at Chessene's face as little warts sprung up all over her face, her forehead grew more preannounced, and her eyebrows became very bushy and bright red, quite similar to Shockeye's, replacing the once pretty face.

"Molecular disintegration," the Second Doctor remarked, also watching the transformation, grimacing slightly, "Horrible".

"So…that's it, then?" Peri questioned, glancing back to the Time Lords, hoping that it really was finally over.

"Aye," Jamie nodded, when something suddenly occurred to him, "Except for that Shockeye!" he almost growled angrily, not having forgotten what had happened in the kitchen.

The Sixth Doctor and Fifth Hatter approached them from behind, the Time Lady keeping a steady arm around the Doctor's waist to help him walk, "He's been…er…" the Sixth Doctor began as they all turned to look at them. He glanced warily at the Fifth Hatter, "Mothballed," he finished.

The Fifth Hatter nudged his side sharply, shooting him a small glare, "Don't, just don't," she told him firmly, letting a touch of anger into her tone.

He winced slightly, both from the nudge and her tone, nodding quickly to her, "Yes, sorry," he muttered sheepishly. He caught sight of the very badly damaged Module, eager to move on from that previous subject, "My word, what a mess!" he remarked, looking slightly mockingly over to his past self, "It'll take you a while to put that back together again!"

The Second Doctor and Hatter exchanged a quick look as they stepped over to them, "That will not be necessary," the Second Doctor told him smugly, raising an eyebrow at the blonde Time Lady, "My dear?"

The Second Hatter grinned broadly, giving her Doctor a wink as she reached inside the pocket of her dress, "Ta da!" she called, withdrawing the TARDIS recall device from her pocket with a dramatic flourish, waving it around for the future Doctor and Hatter to see with a playful look, "I told you it was a good idea to take it with us," she said pointedly to her Doctor.

The Fifth Hatter laughed softly, almost seeming impressed by her past self, "Oh, you cheeky thing," she commented proudly. While a device like that would be something she would very much like to have, sadly, that device would only work on the Doctor's Type 40 TARDIS.

The Sixth Doctor's eyes grew wide as he saw the device, "A Stattenheim remote control?" he exclaimed incredulously, making to grab the device, but the Second Hatter skipped out of his reach, poking her tongue back to him. He looked at the device longingly, "Where did you get that?" he asked, almost sounding jealous of his past self, "I've always wanted one of those".

The Second Doctor smirked smugly at him, very much enjoying teasing his future regeneration, "Some of us have earned these little privileges," he informed him.

The Second Hatter held the device up and whistled loudly, giving her future self a wink as she did so, feeling very pleased with herself after witnessing the Sixth Doctor's little outburst. A moment past and the sound of the TARDIS engines echoed through the room as the TARDIS started materialising a short distance from them under an archway.

As the sound died down, the Second Doctor and Hatter stepped over to the door, and the Doctor grabbed his key from his coat, unlocking the door, pushing it open. He turned back to look over to where Jamie was standing beside Peri, "Jamie!" he called over to him, gesturing to him to go inside the TARDIS.

"Er, after you, Doctor," Jamie inclined his head to him.

"Oh, no," he smiled slightly, shaking his head at him, "After you, Jamie".

Jamie turned to Peri, holding out his hand towards her, "Goodbye, Peri".

Peri smiled at him, taking his hand and shaking it, "Bye," she replied to him, blinking in surprise as he kissed her cheek suddenly.

He grinned broadly, looking quite pleased with himself as the Second Doctor and Hatter exchanged amused looks. He turned and walked over to the Fifth Hatter and Sixth Doctor, waving to them, "Doctor," he said to them with a bright smile, "Hatter".

"Bye, Jamie," the Sixth Doctor nodded, returning the smile before focusing on the Second Hatter, his smile growing wider, "And goodbye, Hatter".

"Goodbye, Doctor," the Second Hatter wiggled her fingers at him in a little wave, winking, "Well, for now, at least".

The Fifth Hatter smiled broadly at Jamie, moving away from her Doctor to give Jamie a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. She had always been quite fond of Jamie and had so wished thing's had ended differently for him, "Goodbye, Jamie," she said brightly, pulling away from him and moving to her past self, holding out her hand, "You will take care of him, won't you?" she raised an eyebrow at her, "And try not to annoy poor Alice and Max to much after their honeymoon?"

"Are we really the shaking hands type?" the Second Hatter questioned, but still took her hand and shook it.

"Would you have preferred a curtsy?" she resorted playfully, the corner of her mouth twitching.

The blonde laughed, letting go of her hand, "No, I would have stayed of Gallifrey if that was the case," she reached up to the glasses on her face, remembering that she had borrowed them, "Would you like these back?"

"You keep them, I doubt Lily will notice," she waved her off, shrugging, "Besides, you need them more then my pocket's do," she turned to the Second Doctor, giving him a hopeful look, "Do I get a hug, old friend?"

"For you, my dear, always," the Second Doctor grinned broadly, quickly sweeping her into a big hug. He caught his future regeneration's eye over her shoulder and they exchanged a quick, understanding look.

The Fifth Hatter gave him one last smile as she pulled away and walked back to the Sixth Doctor's side, missing the look that passed between the two Time Lords, "Keep an eye on the old gentlemen, will you, Jamie?" the Sixth Doctor said to Jamie as the Scottish man disappeared inside the TARDIS.

The Second Doctor turned back to him, "Do try and keep out of my way in future and in past, there's a good fellow," he told him haughtily, the two Hatter's scoffed quietly, exchanging amused looks, "The time continuum should be big enough for the both of us," he paused, casting his eyes over his future self as he pattered his stomach, "Just".

The Sixth Doctor shook his head at him, watching while the Second Doctor and Hatter started to head inside the TARDIS, "Do you know, I think I preferred you as an Androgum," he remarked to his back.

"Play nicely, Doctor," the Fifth Hatter scolded him lightly, giving her past self one final wave as the Second Doctor pointedly ignored the remark, stepping inside the TARDIS with the Second Hatter, closing the door behind them.

"He started it first," he defended himself.

"Oh, please," she rolled her eyes at him, laughing slightly, "He's you, therefore you started it right from the beginning. I'm afraid you can't use that excuse, not this time".

They turned back to watch as the TARDIS engines start again, filling the room with the grinding, wheezy sound as the time machine dematerialised. Seeing no point to staying any longer, the Doctor, the Hatter, and Peri walked up the stairs and entered the entrance hall, the Doctor still limping slightly and with an annoyed look crossing his face.

"Of all the conceited ingrates!" he complained loudly, throwing a look back towards the cellar door. The Hatter sighed slightly, having expected him to start ranting the moment his past self-had left, "Do you know, he almost succeeded in concealing my natural charm," he raised his eyebrows and pointed to his chest.

"What a waste that would have been," the Hatter mumbled to herself, sending his back a dark look. She certainly hadn't forgotten what had happened to Shockeye, nor did she expect that she ever would.

Peri frowned slightly, "Was that your TARDIS?" she asked him as they came to a stop in the middle of the entrance hall.

"Mmm," he nodded.

"I don't understand," she shook her head, her looking even more confused as she glanced at the Time Lady, "How can it be in two places at the same time?"

"But it's not at two places at the same time," the Hatter tried to explain to her, looking slightly amused by the question. Sometimes she forgot just how little human's understood about time travel, "Our TARDIS, or rather the Doctor's TARDIS is less than a five minute walk from here," she shrugged slightly as Peri still looked confused, "It's simply at a different point in time to the Second Doctor's TARDIS".

"Exactly," the Doctor nodded to the Hatter.

"Oh," Peri said slowly, still not completely understanding how it worked, but she doubted she ever would. Time Lord Science was just too hard for the average human mind to understand, she supposed.

He held out a hand towards the front door, "After you," he said to her.

She glanced at the door, a small smile spreading across her face as she turned back to the Doctor, "No, after you," she resorted playfully, making the Hatter laugh, remembering Jamie and the Second Doctor's interaction.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at her, realising what she was doing as he glanced back towards the cellar door, "No," he said a bit more sternly, "After you".

"Oh, there's really a simple way to end this," the Hatter cut in, smiling brightly at them, raising an eyebrow at them as she moved passed them, heading over to the front door, "I'll go first".

"And that, my dear, Hatter, is why you would have made an excellent judge," the Doctor commented, quickly catching up to her, linking his arm through hers.

"A judge?" she repeated, shaking her head, "Oh, no. Too much paperwork and formalities," she smiled at him, giving him a wink, "No, I think I'll stick to being a mad, hate wearing adventurer".

"Doctor?" Peri asked after a moment, a slight hint of worry in her tone, making both Time Lords look at her, "We're not going fishing again, are we?"

"Oh, I hope not," the Hatter breathed, her eyes widening with alarm at the very thought as she looked quickly to the Doctor. She was ready to make a run for her TARDIS once she got back to the Doctor's time machine and escape if that was the case.

"No," the Doctor told them, putting a hand on Peri's shoulder, "From now on it's a healthy vegetarian diet," he said, giving her a firm nod, "For both of us".

The Time Lady scoffed loudly, "I would like to see you try".

He raised an eyebrow at her, "You don't think I could become a vegetarian?"

"Oh, no, I believe that you could…I just don't think you would be able to last. I bet you'll crack within the first century".

He held his head higher, "Challenge accepted".

"Fine, and I'll be holding you to that," she warned, pointing a finger at him, "Now, can we please leave this place?" she sighed, casting her eyes around the room, "I've had enough of this house to last me for the next lifetime".

And with that, they turned and headed for the door, very glad to finally being leaving and put all the bloodshed that had transpired behind them.

One more chapter to go, and I have to say that I loved writing that fight scene between the Fifth Hatter and the Sixth Doctor. Also, did anyone catch the reference in here from a one-shot in Time and Space, Chapter 14? And I just couldn't resist making the future reference to the laser pen. I hope you liked it, tell me what you thought. Please review :)