Chapter Thirteen

Arching back the Valeyard cried out until his voice cracked. Gulping for enough breath to scream again he fought bitterly with the nylon cord that kept his wrists bound behind his back. It was clear that the Realtor didn't take prisoners on a regular basis as he was currently laying on the cement floor of one of the empty basement storage rooms rather than a proper cell. Although the phobia the Valeyard had of being restrained was enough to send him into a panic it was the small metal octopus-like device latched onto his chest that was truly tormenting him. He had spent hours thrashing trying to remove it, but it was firmly anchored to his flesh.

The Realtor had set the blood collecting device to run through its decontamination program on an endless loop. The Valeyard's system didn't react to the process any better than the Doctor's had. However the Doctor had managed to deal with the searing pain better, being somewhat in control of the situation had helped, knowing it was only temporary had also been an advantage. Those two facts combined with his thousand years of true experience in keeping calm in situations that would drive other's mad had made the experience unpleasant, but bearable. Alone in the dark room the Valeyard didn't have any such strengths to fall back on.

As the device's radiation continued to eat into his chest the Valeyard twisted and pulled at his trapped wrists. Ignoring the blood that soaked his hands he fought until he finally became physically too weak to struggle. Laying still for a moment with the device still lancing through his pounding heart the Valeyard closed his eyes and broke down into tears. He had tried multiple times to call upon the crystal to slip into the Vortex, but it didn't respond properly and only caused a flaring pain in his wrist that only made his situation worse.

"I hope this little experience is teaching you something."

Jerking violently at the calm deep voice the Valeyard snapped his eyes open. Seeing the delusion of Rassilon once again the Valeyard bared his teeth at him like a cornered animal. With renewed energy he roared in a combination of pain and rage. He managed to sit up and push himself back from the illusion until his back was up against the wall. Sweat rolled off the Valeyard's skin and dripped from his hair from the hours of agony. An overwhelming nauseating dizziness spun his senses bringing him close to passing out. His shallow rapid breathing from the persistent effects of the decontaminating device was not making matters any better. Staying awake but shaking uncontrollably the Valeyard glared spitefully at Rassilon.

"You know if you want something done, do it yourself...don't torture someone else into doing it for you." Rassilon suggested.

"Stay away from me!"

"You do realize that this is only the beginning, right?" Rassilon asked as he stepped up and looked down on the Valeyard with mock pity. "That little bug on your chest doesn't even really cause all that much pain and look at you, you can barely manage it. And trust me your future at the Realtor's hands holds far worse, he's just warming up."

The Valeyard tried to prove that he was coping just fine by demanding of his body that it stop trembling. However it was a hopeless cause, Rassilon's words were twisting his already tangled stomach as his fear of the future started to make his present even hard to deal with. The device on his chest clicked and reset its program to start again. The brief second of relief that the reset allow him only served to make the gnawing pain worse when it started again.

Rather than screaming the Valeyard convulsed as he was sent into a spell of violent drying heaving. Rassilon waited patiently for the Valeyard to recover. Getting his stomach somewhat under control the Valeyard turned away from Rassilon and weld his eyes shut like a child trying to hide from the monster in his closet. Rassilon's mirthless chuckle raked against the Valeyard's ears.

"Of course it won't end here either. The Realtor's not stupid, he's not going to kill you. He'll torture you until he grows bored of his revenge and then he's going to sell what is left of your broken body and spirit to the highest bidder." Rassilon continued in a conversational tone. "The Doctor has some very powerful enemies out there that would pay any price for the chance to take him apart slowly. Since you've convinced even yourself that you're the Doctor you'll have to stand in his place."

"Stop it!" The Valeyard cried.

"At least the Minyan's weren't malicious, imagine what someone who actually wanted to cause you pain could do."

The Valeyard staggered to his feet to charge at Rassilon. He only managed a few steps before the breathtaking agony in his chest dropped him back to his knees. Screaming in pain and frustration he didn't bother getting back up again. Bowing his head in defeat the Valeyard stayed on his knees as he shook like a leaf in the wind as the device reset itself once again.

"I know what you're doing and it's not going to work." The Valeyard whispered.

"What do you think I'm doing?"

"You're trying to push me over the edge so that you can take control."

"No, well...sort of. I've certainly been trying to guide you, for all the good that's done me." Rassilon admitted. "Of course how can I control you when you can't even control yourself? You're a caring lover one second and a raging psychopath the next."

"Leave me alone!"

"You've got too much power, not enough strength." Rassilon shook his head sadly. "It was my original intention was to just eventually take over, push you into the same corner of your psyche that I'm currently stuck in, but recently I've come to a realization."

"Realization?"

"Your mind is a mess and it's not good enough for me."

"Then get out of it!"

"I'm working on it. Although maybe if we worked together we could both get what we want. You need to stop fighting me."

"Why should I trust you?!"

"What choice do you have?"

Rassilon smiled brightly and suddenly vanished, which didn't stop the Valeyard snarled a nasty string of obscenities at him between his ground teeth as the decontamination device suddenly bit down harder. As much as the delusion infuriated him at least Rassilon had been a distraction from his cruel reality. Now unable to focus on anything other than pain and panic the Valeyard once again degraded into senseless screaming.

Desperate to tear the evil device off his chest the Valeyard redoubled his efforts to free his hands from the tight cord around his wrists. When he found that he was still unable to free himself the Valeyard laid back down on his side. Closing his eyes the Valeyard broke down into tears once again. The next time the device reset itself the Valeyard found his voice and wailed with a heartrending cry.

"I...can't...I can't do this...not again." The Valeyard whimpered.

The Valeyard started reconsidering the idea of fighting against Rassilon. If the phantom in his mind was willing to spare him this life it might be worth giving in to him. He was just about to call out to the delusion when he felt a cool soothing touch brush his check.

"Don't give up." A delicate female voice whispered. "Don't let Rassilon take you."

"River?"

The Valeyard brought his head up to look around, but didn't see anyone. The voice hadn't been River's, but at the same time it was familiar.

"Who's there?" The Valeyard asked the empty room. "Help me...please."

"Seek the Doctor before it's too late."

The Valeyard had heard that same advice from the voice before. Resting his head back on the hard ground he couldn't help but feel that it was already too late. Breathing deeply despite the lancing pain in his chest the Valeyard began to invite the strange tugging on his thoughts that was drawing him towards a peaceful darkness. The woman's voice didn't return but the Valeyard gasped sharply as his mind was suddenly flooded with a renewed desire to fight.

Before the Valeyard had a chance to question his new found courage there was a commotion outside the door. Fearful that the Realtor was coming to hear him scream the Valeyard battled to his feet and backed into the corner. His chest heaved for breath as he waited for the door to open. In his panic the Valeyard yanked at his bound wrists with all that remained of his strength resulting in a sharp cracking sound as damaged crystal under his skin broke.

The Valeyard collapsed to the floor just as he saw River stepping in through the door. She rushed over and dropped to her knees next to him. She reached down and ripped the metal octopus off his chest which offered him an instant relief from its effects. He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath as he took a moment to enjoy the release. River was trying to speak to him but her voice sounded far away. When River ran her hand through his hair the Valeyard was struck by a memory of Aleena doing the same to him. He furrowed his brow as he held onto the new thought, unlike the other memories he had of her in this one he wasn't afraid or even angry with her, in fact he'd never felt safer.

"Valeyard?"

"River...I...I remember something...something that doesn't make any sense... I remember..."

"What do you remember?"

"My mother."