Author's Note: This scene is just wonderful. I love this scene.

I actually got a review that made me laugh today. The person pointed out that this story is "a mystery wrapped up in an enigma, hand picked by a liar to use as a diversion to prevent the truth hiding in plain sight from being recognized as a forgery for the real fake answer." I really liked that description. It's very fitting for a story where basically all the main characters have been lying to you for most of the narrative.

I actually wrote an author's note yesterday that I subsequently deleted because I thought no one would care, but apparently, some of you do, which is great! So if you look back at some of the earlier chapters in this story, you'll start noticing a few minor details that are intriguing. This is part of what took me so long to write this story. For instance, every time the Doctor reveals a fact that Lantro's supposed to find shocking, but which he already knows, there's always a small pause before he reacts to it. That's the tiny little delay in which Lantro is thinking, "How does he expect me to react to this?" There are a small number of times that Lantro doesn't pause, and these are because he is genuinely surprised. Also, note the times Lantro reaches into his pocket, now that you know his gun is in there.

Despite all these nice little clues, I will confirm that the reviewer is correct. At the moment, you don't have enough information to work out the full truth. I promise that you will. But at the moment, you don't.

But this scene brings you a lot closer than you were at the end of the last scene.

"Bivazeer," the Doctor muttered. His eyes lit up, and he smiled at Mutajar. "Of course! You've narrowed it down. One of us must have the watch."

"Either have it," said Mutajar, "or know where it is." She stepped forwards. "Bivazeer was your friend, Doctor. He knew all about your travels and companions and boundless curiosity. He transformed himself into a member of your favorite species on purpose."

"To make sure I'd be able to find the watch," the Doctor realized, "and wake him up." He tapped his chin, tilting his head to the side to consider. "I see..."

Lantro crossed his arms. "I'm telling you, Zeera's human."

The Doctor's eyes lit up. "Actually, now that you mention it," he said to Mutajar, "Bivazeer did hand me the strangest note just before he died." He scratched his head, struggling to remember. "You know the sort of thing. A set of coordinates. A series of people to talk to. The planet name 'Galia-4'."

Lantro turned on the Doctor. "What?!"

"I mentioned a note when we first met — and you asked me why I was here," the Doctor said, as he started rummaging through his pockets. "Remember? That whole 'secret pockets' comment?" He winked. "Turns out, my pockets already have secrets." He pulled out some taffy, a piece of string... "Let's see, let's see... note, note..." He pulled out a satsuma. Blinked. Held it up, squinting. "Oh, hello. I thought I lost you back at Jackie's."

Mutajar's eyes glowed with eagerness and greed. "Hurry, Doctor. Hurry!" She shifted the gun so it was aimed at Lantro. "Give me Bivazeer — or this human dies!"

"You've got to be kidding me," Lantro muttered. Pointed at the Doctor. "Him?! You're threatening my life based on him?"

Mutajar laughed. "Make me a better offer."

Lantro blinked. "What do you mean?"

"You have looked everywhere for it," said Mutajar. "He is the one Bivazeer intended to find it." She grinned. "Each of you, if alone, would lie and dither and bluff. Each alone would defeat my plans. But together..." Her eyes narrowed. "I know you have it, Agent Lantro."

Lantro crossed his arms and said nothing.

"Bivazeer will call to him," said Mutajar, her voice very low but somehow very powerful. "Wherever you've hidden it, the Doctor will find it." She took a step towards Lantro, keeping the gun trained on him. "Are you really going to put your life in the hands of Zeera's murderer?"

For a long moment, Lantro said nothing.

Then he snickered.

"You realize I'm not killing him for the watch, right?" Lantro asked Mutajar, jerking his thumb over towards the Doctor. "I mean, if you really want a reason, I got twenty. He's obnoxious. Annoying. Sanctimonious. He wants to shut this place down. He wants to stop the arms sales. I could go on all day." He shrugged and stuck his hands into his pockets. "So go ahead. Let him search. He won't find anything. There's nothing to find." His eyes narrowed. "She's human."

"Oh, give it up, Lanty boy!" the Doctor complained with a sigh, dropping the string and the taffy to the floor. "Her name's Zeera Bev, and you don't think she's Bivazeer? She knows how to hack a TARDIS, she's been in charge of all the Time Lord technology around here, and you've been systematically killing anyone who might be able to guess her secret." He drew out a Betamax tape of the Little Mermaid, a miniature golf trophy, and a stapler. "Oh, and me! You brought me here." He nodded. "Yep — seems to me the Apos'alu has worked this one out 100% correctly. I mean, why else would I be here, if not for Bivazeer?"

Lantro glared at the Doctor. "I didn't..." He yelped, as the Doctor threw the satsuma at him to shut him up.

"Still looking! Won't be a minute!" the Doctor said, continuing to clear out his pockets. "Let's see... note... note..." He pulled out a book. Squinted at the cover. "'One Thousand Ways to Play the Cello While Standing on Your Head.'"

"I didn't bring him here!" Lantro shouted. "I hate him!" He held out his hand, expectantly. "Look, I'll prove it. Give me back my gun and I'll kill him for you."

The Doctor tossed the book aside. "Lantro, Lantro, that's just proving her point! You know I'm going to find it. You want to kill me before I can get my hands on it." He pointed to the blinky device on Mutajar's ear. "Communications hacker. Been letting her listen in on all Stenman's calls." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone cord that had gotten hopelessly tangled. "So she's heard the truth from Stenman's own mouth. You brought me here — not just for the watch — but because you're plotting to cut Stenman and Hoyer out of the business."

"Stenman thinks I'm...?" Lantro smacked himself on the forehead. "Paranoid idiot."

"Well," the Doctor shrugged, "when you start arguing about how to split the pie, people get suspicious." Pulled a rubber fish out of his pockets. "'Didn't pay her enough,' you said."

"They don't," Lantro snapped, crossing his arms. "The deal was an even four-way-split. Not a three-way-split where the fourth one has to pay compound interest on a loan from the third." Looked down at the ground, and muttered, "I'll get them for this..."

"Enough!" Mutajar shouted, her voice so loud that the stones in the walls trembled and the other occupants in the room all winced and covered their ears. "Doctor, give me Bivazeer, or Lantro dies."

"Oh, for crying...!" Lantro threw up his arms. "Look at him! He doesn't have a note. He's lying to save himself."

"No! No, I have it somewhere!" the Doctor cut in, taking a half a teacup out of his pocket. He tilted it, wondering where the other half had gone. "Just, one thing, before I find it..." He dropped the half teacup, so it smashed into shards across the floor. "...why should I?"

Lantro sighed, like the Doctor was such an idiot. "Because, obviously, she'll kill you if you don't."

"She'll kill me either way," the Doctor countered. "And you. And Zeera. Don't kid yourself." He turned back to Mutajar. "So tell me, Apos'alu, why should I help you? Why would I hand my friend over to you, when I know it'll mean the death of both Bivazeer and Zeera Kardeni?"

"To save your companions, of course," said Mutajar, simply.

The Doctor rubbed his hands together. "Ah, that old chestnut." Then, a little more pointedly, "Where are they?"

"Alive," said Mutajar, "for the moment. But moments change very quickly."

Yimi emerged from the Doctor's back. "Seo's still alive? But I thought..."

The Doctor shoved her back behind him again.

"You know I'm telling the truth," said Mutajar. "You built this prison. You know how it works."

"Yes — well, be fair, Biv did all the tricky bits," the Doctor admitted. "But, yes, you're telling the truth. That's for sure." He glanced at Yimi back behind him. "And what about poor — sorry, what was your name, again?"

"Yimi," Yimi said.

The Doctor winked at her. "What about poor Yimi, back here?" He turned back to Mutajar, pointing a thumb behind him. "I'm not finding anything for you until you guarantee she'll be safe."

"I have a better offer," Lantro put in.

All eyes turned to him.

"Well, let's face it — the Doctor's only here for one reason: to threaten me." Lantro, leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets. "I mean, look at him! He's got no note. No clues. He's clearly just telling you what you want to hear and stalling for time." He shrugged. "Now, I'm not saying I've got the watch, and I'm not saying I don't. My story is that Zeera is, and always has been, human, and I'm sticking to that. But since the Doctor's willing to bargain with her life..." His eyes narrowed. "All right, Apos'alu. Let's start talking terms."

The Doctor face palmed. "Lantro, I'm not..."

"Don't lie to my face, Doctor," Lantro cut in, sharply. "I know exactly what you're doing. That's why I want you dead. Like I said before — this isn't my first rodeo."

"You want me to kill the Doctor?" Mutajar guessed.

Lantro laughed at this. "Yeah, I'm guessing I don't have to ask for that." Gestured at Mutajar. "You said he built your prison. You probably hate him more than I do."

"No. But he will die." Mutajar stepped towards Lantro again. "I'm guessing that means you want me to save Zeera Kardeni."

"Yeah, you'd think, huh?" Lantro gestured between the Doctor and Mutajar. "But the thing is, right now, I'm picking between two people pointing a watch at Zeera's head. And I'm thinking..." He turned to the Doctor, "one of them really wants to kill her with it," Turned to Mutajar, "and the other... not so much."

"Lantro..." the Doctor warned.

"It sounds to me like Bivazeer beat you — how many times, now?" Lantro said to Mutajar, ignoring the Doctor. "Two? Three? You don't want him to come back any more than I do. He beat you when you were at full strength. What chance do you stand against him now, when you're part-human and barely holding yourself together?"

Mutajar said nothing.

"But if you're anything like me," said Lantro, "the thing you'll get a real kick out of is getting to see your greatest rival reduced to a mere frightened human, kneeling before you and begging for her life. So no — I'm betting you're gonna keep her alive anyways."

Mutajar hesitated. "Then... what do you want?"

Lantro grinned, his eyes twinkling. "I want to see you do it."

Mutajar raised an eyebrow.

"I want to see you murder that smarmy Time Lord Bivazeer," said Lantro, "who's hiding in that watch, just waiting to leap out and kill Zeera at a moment's notice. Because, after all these years searching for him, knowing what he's going to do and hating his guts for it, I just really, really want to see that motherfucker die."

The Doctor ran his hand down his face, disappointed and disgusted.

"If you know where the watch is, Doctor, hand it over," Lantro snapped. "Otherwise, I'd say you've got no bargaining chips." He turned back to Mutajar. "Just leave me Zeera — and let me see you kill Bivazeer. And I'll hand it over."

Mutajar advanced on him, a smile creeping up her face. "Look me in the eye and tell me — will that make you happy? Watching a Time Lord die? Watching that Time Lord die?"

"Don't," the Doctor said.

Lantro looked straight into Mutajar's eyes. "Yes. Like you wouldn't believe."

In three steps, Mutajar was directly in front of Lantro, pressing the barrel of the gun against his forehead.

Lantro didn't flinch. Just kept his eyes fixed on hers.

"You are filled with so many lies, Lantro," Mutajar whispered, still not breaking his gaze. "So much deceit. So much hate. So much lust for revenge." Her lips twitched into a smile. "I see them through you. I see your soul."

The smugness on his face began to falter, then turned into a silent scream — as he could no longer break Mutajar's gaze.

"And through your eyes, I see the truth," said Mutajar. "You don't have the watch. You don't even know where it is! But you think the Doctor does — and you'll kill him, take it, and hand it over. Because you've spent so long trying to save her, so long hating the Time Lord that would kill her, that you would do anything to see him burn." Her grin spread, as Lantro gasped in horror. "But that's the thing, Time Agent Lantro. Bivazeer and Zeera are one and the same."

Little specks of emotions — hatred, revenge, anger, desperation — rose from Lantro's body in blobs that turned into little piranhas, circling him hungrily before turning on him and tearing at his skin.

"Look into my eyes and watch what I have planned," said Mutajar. "Watch your 'Zeera' scream. Watch her writhe and suffer and die. Watch the way I will throw her into the depths of her worst nightmares, so that her terrors and sobs and screams will sing me to sleep at night. Because she is Bivazeer. And making you see her in pain makes my revenge worthwhile."

Lantro screamed, as his emotions and desires, greed and ambition and revenge, grew even more vicious and snappy and eager for blood. His brain was already beginning to melt, as he watched Zeera's death inside Mutajar's eyes.

The Doctor spun around and grabbed Yimi by the shoulders. "You believe the Apos'alu is a god, yes?"

Yimi could barely speak. "I... um..."

The Doctor shook her. "Quickly! Quickly!"

"Yes!" Yimi said. "Yes, I..."

The Doctor smiled at her, then wrapped an arm round her shoulders, leaned in, and pointed at the wall behind them. "That wall doesn't exist. It's an illusion."

"But you ran into it earlier," Yimi protested, "and..."

Lantro began to writhe, his screams growing even louder.

"Trust me," the Doctor begged. He shoved his hand over her eyes. "Look behind the wall. Use your belief. What do you see?"

"I..." Yimi squeaked, "I don't..." But she could feel something, so close to the Apos'alu. A sort of power. She could see through it — not with her eyes, but with her mind. "A dark place. A bad place." She focused, and it became clearer and clearer. As if she had her eyes open. "A land of ifs and what-ifs and never-weres. A river of ghosts. The ground sighs with maybes and better-nots. Nothing is steady, everything is changing. Always changing." She began to walk towards the wall, her hand outstretched. "There's someone in the middle. I can see her!"

"Who is it, Yimi?" the Doctor pressed. "What does she look like?"

"It's... I don't know... featherless," Yimi said, concentrating. She took another step forwards. "Chained up. It's..." She gasped, her eyes opening. "It's Seo!" And before she even knew what she was doing, she was running forwards, towards her friend. "She's alive!"

Mutajar looked up, breaking Lantro's gaze.

She only just caught the wall ripping itself apart around Yimi and the Doctor and allowing them through. Mutajar howled with rage, dropping Lantro to the ground and racing after them. She smacked into a solid wall.

The Doctor and Yimi were gone.

"No, no, no!" Mutajar pounded her fists against the wall, but it remained solid. "Get back here! I will kill you for this!"

Lantro groaned from his spot on the ground.

Mutajar glanced back at him. Narrowed her eyes. And shot him through the forehead.

Then turned the gun on herself.

Both their bodies slumped to the floor, lifeless.

The vortex manipulator on Mutajar's wrist faded away, leaving nothing but a tan mark to show where it had been.