Chapter Twenty One
The Valeyard felt sick to his stomach as he followed Theta, Adam and Alan back towards the med bay. This was where the path of darkness had led him, watching while three versions of himself became mindless, evil slaves living only to do the Master's bidding and now the forth, his own clone, was about to be next. Anger rose up within him but this time it was being directed at the right person and he longed to do to the Master what he did to Theta, Adam and Alan.
They led him into the med bay and the Valeyard breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed that John hadn't been turned yet. He swallowed hard when his clone turned his eyes to him and stared at him with pure hate.
"Ah, there you are…"
The Master trailed off when he noticed the Valeyard's hair.
"What's this?" he said, pointing to it.
The Valeyard hurriedly thought up an answer.
"I did that to distinguish myself from the new slaves," he said, pointing to the three in front of him.
"Ah, good idea. Especially since this one is about to join them," the Master said, giving John an evil grin.
John glared at him silently. Suddenly the Valeyard had an idea.
"Let me speak to him alone," he said, gesturing to John. "I wish to say something to him before he undergoes the change."
The Master and Hoshi stared at him silently for a moment before the Master nodded.
"Everyone out!" he ordered.
The three slaves turned and followed the Master and Hoshi out the door. The moment Alan shut it, the Valeyard hurried to John's side.
"Well, congratulations, after all these years you finally get to see me be a mindless slave again so enjoy it," John spat at him.
He paused when he noticed the Valeyard was staring down at him sadly. He looked harder into his eyes and then his own eyes widened.
"Doctor?" he said, hope rising within him.
"I'm sorry, John, I truly am," the Valeyard said.
"You…you're yourself again?" John said.
The Valeyard nodded.
"How?"
"Our Rose and Namid, they helped to get through to me," he replied.
"Is that why you came to get her?" John asked.
"I s'pose so. I wanted to know if she still had feelings for me but ever since I took Namid…no, wait, it's been going on a lot longer than that. Ever since I became the Valeyard, the Doctor within me kept screaming at me to change back. Rose and Namid helped convince me that I was wrong. Oh, John, I'm so sorry. I was wrong about you as well. You're not a worthless clone. I'm glad you're alive."
John smiled at that.
"What about Rose though, our Rose," he said.
"I'm not going to interfere. You and she are married and I respect that. I just want your forgiveness."
John smiled softly.
"You have it," he said.
"Thank you. And I will undo all of this, what's happened to your brothers and everyone else. This is all my fault. I should have opened the front doors and sent the Master and Hoshi tumbling out into the vortex. I still have no idea what he's doing with everyone but I'm determined to find out and rescue them. The trick is rescuing you without the Master cottoning on that I've changed."
"Let him change me then," John said.
"John, no."
"Yes. I have faith that you can change us back. I don't want you ending up the same way, not after you've gone back to being yourself. Just stay back and let the Master change me. It'll buy you time to figure out what he's up to and find a way to stop it."
"I promise I'll bring you back to your old self, John."
John smiled.
"It's nice to hear you say that instead of the usual, I'll get you for taking Rose away from me speech," he said to him.
He shook his head.
"No, Rose is entitled to be with whomever she wants. Her happiness is all that matters."
"Agreed," John replied.
"Just as long as you treat her the way she deserves to be treated, I'm happy."
"I do. I treat her like the queen that she is," John said.
"Good," he said.
John frowned when he noticed his hesitation.
"Is there something else you want to say to me?" he asked.
"Yes, but I'm afraid to say it," he said.
John gave him a wry grin.
"You, afraid to tell me something, there's a switch," he said.
He sobered up.
"Tell me, please," he said.
The Valeyard sighed.
"Namid…Namid knew I was lonely and she offered to be my daughter and I could be her second father if I went back to being a good guy."
John grinned.
"Really? She musta got that from me and Tara. Tara did the same thing to me," he said to him. "What did you say to her?"
"I told her yes, but…"
"But?"
"But…now I'm not so sure."
"Why?" John asked.
The Valeyard rubbed the back of his head.
"I don't wanna interfere with your family. I had no right to do that without asking everyone and I'm sure the Doctor won't want an old enemy being co-parent to his daughter and…"
"Wait, can I ask you something," John said.
"What?"
He smiled.
"Will you be my brother?"
The question stunned the Valeyard. He stared at him in silence, not sure if he heard him right.
"After all I've done and tried to do to you, you wanna be brothers?" he said to him.
"I was always a bit jealous of Alan and Adam because they enjoyed a relationship with their Doctors while you were stuck away in Volag Nok hating me. Don't get me wrong, I love them all dearly, the Doctor and Theta have been good to me, but they were never my Doctor. When you told me that you'd changed back to your old self, the first thing that popped into my mind was we could be brothers now and I don't know about the others, but I'm chuffed that Namid offered to be your daughter. You need someone like her in your life just like I needed Tara."
John chuckled.
"Must be a quirk for us in our universe, we seem to enjoy adopting other people's children," he added. "But anyway, I mean it, if you wish to be my brother, I'll accept you completely and once that lot goes back to normal, I'll plead for them to take you in to our family."
"Funny, that's what Rose said as well."
"Well, Rose can see what I see and we both know that you need to be surrounded with love so you don't go back to the way you were before. So how 'bout it, old man? Wanna have a clone for a brother?"
The Valeyard swallowed hard.
"More than anything," he replied softly.
John beamed.
"Then that's what you are to me from here on out," John said to him.
"And you are my brother from here on out," the Valeyard said. "Having said that, I can't let you go through with this."
"You have to; it's the only way to buy you some time to find out what he's doing. Don't worry, we'll be alright. I trust you, Te'lesau, I know you won't let me down."
He chuckled when the Valeyard teared up at hearing John call him beloved brother.
"Stop that, you have to be the big, bad Valeyard, you know," he teased.
"I will rescue you. Come Hell or high water, I will find a way to turn you and the others back," he said in a choked voice.
"I know you will. That's why I'm volunteering to undergo this. Don't worry, just pretend to be the Valeyard and keep him from suspecting anything," John said. "Having said that, you better finish this conversation before he does suspect you."
The Valeyard nodded. He hesitated a moment and then lowered his head to John's. John smiled as they touched foreheads and briefly touched one another's minds.
"Hurry, Te'lesau, before he suspects you," John said softly.
"You're extremely brave, my brother," the Valeyard said.
"Well, that's cause I was cloned from the bravest bloke around," John replied.
The Valeyard smiled and gave him a tender kiss on the forehead before he straightened back up, composed himself and walked over to the door.
"I'm finished now," he said to the Master and Hoshi.
"Bout time, what'd you do, list off every grievance you ever had with the man?" the Master said, coming back inside with Hoshi.
"I wanted him to know how worthless he is and how much I will enjoy seeing him enslaved," the Valeyard forced himself to say.
"Well, you're very long-winded, but then again, you were the Doctor," the Master replied.
The Valeyard suddenly had a thought.
"Speaking of, where is the Doctor? I wish to speak to him as well," he said.
"He's being held in a locked and sealed room at the end of the corridor. But if you go now, you'll miss the fun," the Master said, gesturing to John.
The Valeyard glanced at him and saw John nod his head slightly in approval.
"You have this well in hand," he said to the Master. "I want the Doctor to know what has been done to his family and that he will soon die."
The Master shrugged.
"As you wish."
"What exactly are you doing with him and his family and where are the other slaves?"
"Ah, I sent them into the maze."
"Maze, what maze?" the Valeyard said.
"The one I asked the TARDIS to create for me."
The Valeyard raised his eyebrow.
"The TARDIS created it for you?" he said. "My TARDIS created something for you?"
"Ah, ah, ah, it's not your TARDIS, it belongs to the Rani," the Master corrected.
"Yeah, right, whatever. What maze?" the Valeyard said.
The Master grinned as he walked over to John. At the same time, Hoshi stepped back, leaned back against the wall and kept an eye on the Valeyard. John glared up at the Master as he ran a finger down his cheek.
"My body's previous owner gave me the idea," the Master said to him. "About the Labyrinth movie and the maze the girl had to go through in order to win back her baby brother. I decided to create a maze of my own, one that the Doctor must run. In it, I have placed his beloved family members at random locations. They are sealed away inside the walls with a clear barrier in front so the Doctor can see them. The Doctor need only touch the barrier and they are set free. However, the Doctor will be running against the clock and when the clock runs down, whoever is not free will die courtesy of a special poison gas I found in the Rani's laboratory. A gas I believe that will kill a Time Lord or Lady stone dead.
The Valeyard fought to keep his composure as John let out a stream of curses at the Master.
"Don't worry, my little clone. You're not destined for a cell. You see, you and your altered brothers will be set free in the maze to stop the Doctor or at the very least, slow his progress. That and a few clever death traps I've set up at random spots. I figured I'd make his and his family's destruction entertaining for us," he said to the Valeyard. "And there you have it, the clever plan I thought up. Brilliant, huh?"
"Very," the Valeyard said as calmly as he could.
His hearts ached when he saw how brave John was being and rage filled every inch of his being until he literally had to force himself to keep still. He longed to snap the Master's neck and thought he could get away with it but Hoshi was another matter. He had seen some of her power when she transformed briefly back into her fox form but he was unsure just how powerful she really was and he couldn't risk attacking the Master until he knew for sure just what she was capable of. He knew that his best bet lay in speaking to the Doctor and warning him before he was forced to go into the maze. That and he wanted to beg his forgiveness as he had done with John. Lastly, he wanted to get away from the med bay because he knew he wouldn't be able to keep his composure while he watched his brother scream. He hated leaving him alone with his deadliest adversary and his paramour but he knew John would want him to warn the Doctor about what was going to happen. So as calmly as he could, he told the Master he wanted to speak to the Doctor.
"Down the corridor to your left," he said to him. "I'll get started with Cloney Boy here while you fulfill your need to gloat."
The Valeyard glanced at John and hurriedly touched his mind again before the Master could feel him doing it. Then, he turned and forced himself to go out into the corridor. As soon as the door was closed, he hurried down to the end of the hallway and ordered the TARDIS to unseal the door. To his relief, the TARDIS complied and he took out his sonic screwdriver and unlocked it. The Doctor was sitting on the floor of the metal, empty room. He stood up and glared at him as he closed the door and locked it.
"We haven't much time," the Valeyard said, handing him the screwdriver.
The Doctor took it and stared at it for a moment before he looked into the Valeyard's eyes.
"You're….you've changed back," he finally said.
"Yes, and I beg your forgiveness for everything I've done. It was John's Rose and Namid that finally convinced me to change and I assure you, they're both safe inside a sealed room," he replied. "I wanted to talk to you because I found out the Master's plans for you and because I wanted to tell you that I accepted Namid's offer to become her father. "
The Doctor smiled at that. Suddenly John's screams echoed down the corridor.
"That's John. I wanted to stop the Master but he went ahead and underwent the enslavement to buy us time," the Valeyard said. "Before the Master did that, I talked to him privately and begged his forgiveness and he became my brother."
The Doctor grinned.
"Then I also offer the same thing," he said to him.
The Valeyard was shocked.
"You want to be my brother?"
He chuckled.
"Might as well, seeing as how we're both gonna share Namid now," he said to him.
"Then I accept."
He briefly embraced the Doctor before he hurriedly told him what the Master's plans were. The Doctor sighed and shook his head when he finished.
"Koschei, you demented son of a bitch, always out to hurt the innocent in your quest to kill me," he said.
"I'll help you as much as I can but take my screwdriver for protection. I don't know what kind of death traps he has in this maze but I'm sure they won't be pleasant."
The Doctor nodded.
"Thank you, not only for warning me but for changing back to your old self."
"Well, like you said, I'm rubbish at being the villain," he replied.
The Valeyard sighed sadly when John's screams continued.
"I better get back there. The Master already suspects me as it is."
"Then go and don't worry, we'll defeat him and find a way to free our family and brothers," he said. "And trust me; the others will want to be your brothers as well once they hear about this."
"Thank you. Good luck, Doctor."
"You too, my brother. Be careful."
"And you."
The Doctor nodded. He put the screwdriver deep inside his trouser pocket and watched quietly as the Valeyard left the room and sealed the door back up.