CHAPTER SUMMARY: The Fighter reveals her past crime that lead to her exile as she teams up with the Doctor to stop the Master. The Time Lord couple reconcile.

The Exiled Time Lords

Chapter Two: Terror of the Autons - PART 2

Featuring: 3rd Doctor, 3rd Fighter, the Master (Delgado) and Jo Grant

The Fighter liked to usually pride herself on being prepared for anything, but she certainly wasn't prepared for a reunion with her best friend, and now her husband, all in no time flat. It didn't help having this messenger Time Lord here, marking her as a criminal before she could explain herself to the Doctor.

Then again, at this point it was typical of the Time Lords interfering in her life and only making things worse, passing judgement before listening to reason.

"And why are you warning us about the Master?" She was truly curious, not understanding what was going on.

The Time Lord messenger narrowed his eyes at her once again, giving a dry chuckle. "As if you don't already know?! You're the reason he's loose, after all. You broke him out of Shada!"

Her eyes went wide. "What? I-I didn't know he was in Shada..." It didn't make sense. Shada was the prison planet for the Time Lords. She had never known her husband to do anything wrong since they were together.

"Even so, you're the one who set him free, along with a bunch of other prisoners! You know the crimes you've committed as much as the tribunal does. You're lucky we've decided to grant you an exile and not something FAR worse for what you've done." the messenger greatly reminded her. The Fighter looked down, accepting her guilt.

The Doctor watched suspiciously before getting back on subject. "The Master was always known to cause trouble."

"He'll certainly try to kill you, Doctor. The tribunal thought that you ought to be made aware of your danger."

The Doctor gave a small, sarcastic smile. "How very kind of them."

"You are incorrigibly meddlesome, Doctor, but we've always felt that your hearts are in the right places. And that is why we're leaving the Fighter in your capable hands. Maybe you can rehabilitate her." This caused both childhood friends to look at each other before the messenger continued. "But do be careful. The Master has learnt a great deal since you last met him."

"I refuse to be worried by a renegade like the Master. He's a- he's an unimaginative plodder."

The messenger gave a knowing look. "His degree in cosmic science was of a higher class than yours."

The Doctor suddenly looked embarrassed, causing the Fighter to hold back her remarks, knowing now wouldn't be the right time to make jokes in her current situation. "Yes, well, er, yes, well, I, I was a late developer."

"Would you call that little surprise unimaginative?"

"What?"

"Look through the door, but be careful." the messenger pointed out to him.

The Doctor carefully opens the door a crack to see a string run from the top of the door to a cylinder balanced on a console. "A volatiser. If that thing should fall-"

"It'll explode and probably destroy this research centre completely. You see, he's rigged it up so that opening the door will make it fall. Such an amusing idea." The Fighter's eyes widened, wondering exactly why her husband would do such a thing.

The Doctor sighed. "Well, you'd better think of a witty way of dealing with it." However, a dematerialisation sound was heard as the two started to watch the messenger take off. "Now, wait!"

He tipped his hat off to them. "Oh, good luck!" And then he was gone from their sight for good, leaving them to face it together.

The Fighter would have enjoyed it if it weren't for the judgemental look the Doctor was giving her. Then again, she couldn't quite blame him. After all, she felt guilty for the crimes she had committed. "Right now we have more important matters at hand, but once we get back to UNIT HQ, you are going to tell me EVERYTHING! No dodging questions or cleverly avoiding answers. I want to know exactly who I'm working with, otherwise I'm sending you back for the Time Lords to deal with you. Understand?"

"Yes, Doctor!" she replied, sounding like the typical soldier much to his annoyance. But at least he knew she was serious.

"Now, when I open the door, you rush in and catch the bomb before it falls, okay?" The Fighter nodded. "On 3...1, 2, 3-"

The Doctor reopened the door a little and felt for the end of the string before stepping back as the Time Lady burst in, catching the volatiser just before it hit the floor. She let out a breath, giving him a smile. "Just like old times."

"Good, now I'm sure you know how to dismantle it?"

"Of course." she said, starting to unscrew the top of the cylinder.

At that moment, Captain Yates finally caught up with the Time Lords. "Any luck?"

"Keep back." The Doctor warned, keeping a careful eye on the Fighter as she worked.

"What's that?"

"A bomb."

"A bomb! Is it defused?" Yates exclaimed with panic.

The Fighter sighed, giving him a smile as she passed it to the Doctor. "It is now."

"Where on earth did you find it?" he asked before remembering the person behind him, introducing the Time Lords to him. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Er, this is the Director."

The Director held his hand out for them to shake. "How do you do? I hope you realise the police have already investigated this matter."

"Where's Lethbridge Stewart?" the Doctor asked, ignoring the man.

"He and Miss Grant are questioning the staff." Yates replied.

"Huh. A fat lot of use that'll do."

The Director nodded. "After all, it's hardly an international matter, is it?"

The Fighter listened in quietly as the Doctor continued to question the man. "I understand you've lost a couple of scientists."

"Yes. Professor Philips and his assistant, Goodge." The Doctor picks up a half eaten hard-boiled egg from the table causing the Fighter to share a curious suspicious look with him, thinking it rather odd. The Director was oddly calm about it. "Goodge must have left in quite a hurry."

"Yes. Yes, he must." The Time Lord replied, grabbing a sandwich box, opening it before exclaiming at the sight inside. "Oh, no!"

"What's wrong?" Both Yates and the Fighter said.

"Look for yourself."

They all gasped, spotting a man shrunk down inside the box, sitting in a slumped position. The Director finally realized the situation and where one of his missing employees was. "It's Goodge!"

The Fighter was still finding it all hard to believe that her husband was capable of this, but if she had to face her truth, then this was part of it too.

Returning back to UNIT HQ, the Doctor quickly got to work, observing the bomb as the Fighter sat beside him, awaiting her eventual questioning. Jo and Yates were still in the room, his new assistant questioning him enthusiastically. "What is a Nestene?"

"Ask Captain Yates. He had the job of clearing up the mess last time."

The soldier the Fighter had been eyeing flirtatiously earlier walked around, sounding almost confident of what he was talking about before realizing he wasn't. "Oh, a Nestene? Er, it's a bit difficult to describe, exactly."

"A Nestene is a ruthlessly aggressive intelligent alien life form." answered the Doctor.

"Well, what do they look like?"

"Well I expect myself their basic form is analogous to a cephalopod."

"What's a cephalopod?"

"An octopus. I thought you took an A-Level in science."

"I didn't say I passed." smiled Jo as the Time Lady couldn't help cracking a smile as well. "Urgh, an octopus."

The Doctor continued to explain. "They manifest themselves as a disembodied, mutually telepathic intelligence."

"But if they're disembodied, how can they hurt us?"

"They make themselves bodies when they need them." Yates finally stepped in, knowing the answer to that one at least.

Jo raised an eyebrow. "You mean like Frankenstein?"

The Fighter watched as the Doctor got up, putting on a heat reflective apron and gloves before sitting back at his bench. "No. They have a natural affinity for plastic. Now, if you've quite finished asking questions?"

The blonde looked down. "Sorry. Just forget I'm here."

"At least we should be ready for them this time." Yates commented optimistically.

The Doctor hated to burst his bubble. "Too late, Captain. They're here already."

Jo's eyes widened. "What?"

"The radio telescope is their bridgehead. They used that to contain energy into that surviving Nestene unit." The Brigadier entered the room as the Time Lord looked up, addressing the man. "Brigadier. Look, that unit must be discovered within the next hour."

The soldier sighed. "Yes, I'm well aware of the urgency of the situation, Doctor. If we had some idea where it's been taken-"

"Well, try the plastics factories, man." he snapped. The Fighter raised an eyebrow, wondering who was really the one in charge here, because the Doctor was acting like he was.

"Yes. I'll set up a search straight away. Yates."

"Right, sir."

Jo jumped up. "Can I help, sir? Please?"

"Very well, Miss Grant."

"I'll start by making out some lists."

This gave the Doctor his chance to finally work in peace and question the Fighter about earlier as they watched the humans leave them alone in the laboratory. It was silent between them before he started his questioning, giving her a look. "So, care to explain exactly what happened earlier and not dodge it?"

The Fighter took in a breath, preparing herself. "Yes." She could already feel the adrenaline rushing through her body of everything she had experienced, forcing herself to face it properly this time. "The Master left Gallifrey not too long after you did with no explanation. I thought it was my fault because…" she paused, swallowing the lump in her throat as she spoke of the sensitive subject. "Because of what happened with our daughter." The Doctor recalled the terrible situation, having gifted the Master a dark star alloy brooch as a condolence of what happened. "Then the High Council started thinking I was responsible for it as well, along with your disappearance from Gallifrey. They thought I helped you both escape somehow being the commander of the Chancellery Guard and all."

He sighed, knowing the truth all too well. "But that wasn't the case. You would have stopped us from running if you knew."

She nodded. "Exactly. But...they didn't believe me and had clearly made up their minds. I didn't take it well, so-"

"So, you stole a TARDIS and ran away." He knew it all too well himself. This at least made the Fighter start to feel better, seeing her friend understanding her reasons.

However, her heart started pounding away, recalling what happened next with great fear and disgust, knowing this would change his outlook on her forever. Taking in a shaky breath, she continued. All she could do was tell him what happened, but she couldn't quite point out the exact truth yet. "I was shot by one of my guards members and regenerated not long after, finding myself in Victorian, London. I- I met a mysterious man there, got myself into trouble-" she started to break down sobbing, feeling that familiar bitterness and pain that was a poison she couldn't recognize before. "Did some terrible things that I can't take back, took some lives, and obviously broke into Shada…" The Doctor reached out a hand to her, trying to comfort her the best he could, seeing she was clearly guilty for what she had done, even if he didn't know the full extent of what happened. "I-I was just SO MAD , Doctor. I was in pain, and mad, and felt abandoned. I didn't know how to cope with it and I know now what I did was wrong. All I want now is to do better and make up for it!"

"It's okay." he reassured her, gathering the understanding where she was coming from now. "The important thing is that you know it is wrong and you're trying to do better, right?" She nodded furiously. "Don't forget that, then. Hang onto it. I'll be here to help you through it."

The Fighter began to wipe away her tears, feeling bad about losing her cool. She hoped this new regeneration wouldn't go around crying so easily like her first. Although it felt good to know she wouldn't be alone this time, getting her past off her shoulders.

A little while later, the Brigadier came back into the lab with some files, having gotten the location of the Time Lord in question. The three of them read the files together as the Doctor and Fighter explained.

"And you're convinced this man is working with the Nestenes?" the Brigadier asked.

"Oh, I should think by now he'll be calling himself their Commander in Chief. Vanity's his weakness." the Doctor shared a look with the Time Lady before realizing his experiment was done. "Ah, there you are. It should be cooked by now." He opens a kiln, pulling out the cylinder the Fighter had dismantled earlier.

"This, er, this device of his. Is it very powerful?"

"Oh, I should say roughly equal to a fifteen megaton bomb." the Fighter responded.

The Brigadier's eyes widened. "Really? Well, the research boys'll be glad to get their hands on this."

However, the Doctor gave him the unfortunate news. "Too late, Brigadier. I've boiled out the contents. The weapons that you have on Earth are quite nasty enough as it is."

Jo had gone to the factory to gather the lists as ordered by the Brigadier, starting with Farrel Autoplastics. However, she found herself in quite the pickle, caught by the very men responsible for everything happening.

Once the Master used his powers of hypnotism over her, bringing her to the office, he started to question her. "Who went to the Radio Telescope Station?"

"Myself, the Brigadier, the Fighter and The Doctor."

"So...she's with the Doctor. Of course." He chuckled, happy to at least know where she was now. Just not happy to know it was by the Doctor's side. "As I thought. Curiosity is his weakness. Well, I should have to see that it's satisfied. You will return to UNIT with a negative report. You found nothing suspicious. Everything was in order."

"Yes. Everything in order." Jo replied.

The Master kept looking into her eyes, making sure she obeyed the orders. "When you leave this room you will have no memory of meeting me, only Mister Farrel."

"Only Mister Farrel."

"Your instructions are already implanted. You will obey them without a further word from me."

"I shall obey."

"Good."

Benton placed the ammo box found in one of the employee's abandoned cars on the bench. The Fighter noticed all the chains fastened around it, raising an eyebrow. That must be the Nestene unit.

However, Jo surprised the Time Lady suddenly. "Fighter, go to these coordinates immediately." She said, handing her a piece of paper.

"What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. The blonde just turned her attention back to the men in front of them.

"That's not an issue padlock, is it?" Yates questioned, looking at the box.

"No. I'll try and find some keys." Benton said.

"I can open it." Jo replied, suddenly taking out a bunch of skeleton keys.

Yates chuckled. "A key for every occasion, eh?" However, the Fighter couldn't shake an odd sensation coming over her, questioning why Jo had given her random coordinates...at least until she studied the girl's behavior. Even though she hadn't known her for very long, Jo seemed...almost like a soldier obediently following orders. "Doctor, we've got the box down here." the Captain yelled.

"Good. I'll be right down." he shouted from the staircase.

Watching as Jo began to unfasten the padlock and open the lid to the box, the Fighter finally clicked it all together just as the Doctor came down the staircase, realizing the same thing. "Stop her! That's a bomb!"

Yates tried to stop her, but Jo kicked him in the stomach, still trying to go for the box and follow orders from the Master. "I've got to open it! I've got to!"

"Sorry for this!" the Fighter said, before throwing the girl onto the ground as the Doctor grabbed the box and flung it through the window, into the canal. Not a second after the explosion was heard.

Benton sighed. "There's going be some complaints about that you know, Doctor."

"My dear Sergeant, if that box hadn't been tied, you wouldn't be here to receive any complaints."

"Yes sir. I mean, no, sir."

"What gave you the idea it was a booby trap, Doctor?"

"She did." He said, pointing at Jo and sharing a knowing look with the Fighter.

"He's hypnotized her. She gave me these coordinates from him." The redhead said, getting up from the floor and handing them to her friend who looked it over before helping the blonde up who was staring blankly.

Yates waved his hands in front of her. "Hypnotized her?!"

"One of her husband's usual traits." the Doctor sighed, handing the paper back to the Time Lady. "Why else do you think she tried to blow us all to pieces? Come on, my dear, come and sit down over here. Get a chair, Captain Yates. Come on, you sit down here. There. Good."

"Well, I understood that under hypnosis it was impossible for-"

"You thought that under hypnosis it was impossible for a subject to be persuaded to do anything that was against his nature?"

Yates nodded. "That's right."

The Fighter sighed. "Well, it's a fallacy, Captain. The Master can completely control the human mind."

"So he can just take over anyone he likes?"

The Doctor stepped in, explaining the situation. "No, not quite. No, some minds are stubborn enough to resist hypnosis. In any case, it doesn't last. Away from the Master's influence, the mind struggles constantly to free itself."

Looking over the blonde, Yates continued to ask. "Is she in some sort of a trance?"

"I think the current jargon is schizoid dissociation. It's because she was forced to do something against her will and her conscious mind refuses to accept the fact. The result is a deep trauma."

Now it was time for Yates to look at the Fighter with wide eyes. "And you married this man?"

The Time Lady nodded. "Yes, I did." She looked down at the paper, realizing what she had to do now. This was her chance to prove herself and to also reunite with her husband. "And I'm guessing since he planned for me to be the only one to escape that explosion since he had Jo give me coordinates to his exact location, I might as well keep up the ruse and see my husband after all these centuries."

The Doctor glanced up at her. "Are you sure you'll be alright?"

She cracked a confident smile at him. "Oh, you know me, Doctor…"

It was time for her to give him a talking to now. After all, she was pissed at him for leaving Gallifrey as well, and wasn't known for backing down from a Fight - even if it was against her own husband.

The Fighter was quickly off to the Farrel Autoplastics factory, already coming up with her plan on how to approach this reunion with the Master. She had to keep her racing heart under control, not letting her emotions get the best of her this time. After all, she was furious with him for leaving when she needed him most.

Making her way to the factory door, she knocked and got one of the employee's to let her in, already awaiting her arrival of course. She followed them up to the main floor, before walking through the door, shooting her husband a look. " Colonel Masters? You can't be serious? Is that the best you can come up with, dear?" She sighed, calling him out on his alias.

He brushed off her comment, half expecting a witty remark, smiling at her. "It's good to see you again too, my dear wife."

"Sure. Then why did you leave?" She was going straight for the shots. It was obvious she was mad at him. Luckily, she was the only one able to get away with speaking to him like that so far.

"Come now, I know I didn't exactly leave on the best of terms-"

She couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah. You could have at least left a note or something instead of just up and leaving. I was left to face the consequences of your actions!"

"Let me make it up to you now." he persuaded.

"Oh, no you don't! You aren't going to charm your way out of this one, Master! I won't let you." However, they both knew she would. He always had a way with her, and he didn't even have to use hypnotism to get it too, even if this new incarnation of hers was flirty. As his brown eyes locked with her blue ones, she finally recognized he had looked different from the last time they saw each other. "You've regenerated…"

"So have you."

She gave him a face, looking over his new face. "I don't like it. It has more of a certain, cocky confidence to it."

The Master couldn't help but chuckle over her comment. "But, don't I always?!"

Oh, he always knew what to say, causing her to bite her lip. "So, what incarnation are you on?"

"I've lost track." he admitted with no care in the world.

This took her by surprise before she answered herself. "I'm on my 3rd one."

It was quiet between them as a silent, mutual understanding passed between the couple. Even after all these centuries apart, despite all that had happened, it was clear the bond between each other was still as strong as ever. The Master finally reached out towards her, lightly cupping her cheek as she let him. He was the only one who could tame the wild soldier she was as the Fighter cursed herself for melting under his touch.

After a minute, he finally broke the silence, reminding her as to why she was here in the first place. "I saw you on Shada…" he trailed off, leaving it as his way of questioning her, but also thanking her without actually saying the words.

The Fighter smirked, raising an eyebrow at him. "And what exactly were you doing on Shada yourself?"

"Time Lords."

She nodded. "Of course. You know, for having a non-interference policy, they seem to do a lot of interfering… at least in the lives of their own people."

The Master couldn't help but laugh, agreeing with the truth of that. He knew it all too well. It seemed he wasn't the only one who had problems with them once he left Gallifrey. He would never forgive the CIA for what happened with the Darkheart.

"Is that why you're on this primitive planet?"

His question took her off guard before she answered with a sigh. "Sort of. They've exiled me here as a punishment for what happened with Shada...and everything else." Raising up the sleeve of her dress, the Time Lady showed him the convict tattoo.

"And what about the Doctor?"

"Same boat as me. He rescued me from-" she bit her lip, holding herself back from speaking the very name that haunted her as she began to recall the traumatic incident that led to her current regeneration.

The Master noticed this, the gleam in his eyes gone as they narrowed. "What happened?"

She sighed. "It was nothing."

"You know, my dear, you can't keep secrets from me." he reminded her. "What happened?"

The Fighter knew he wouldn't let up on this. If she was in danger or someone hurt her, he wanted to do something about it. This was something she could only ever bring herself to tell him, not the Doctor. It was still too much to go through, even if she lightly touched on it with their childhood friend. "When I left Gallifrey, I woke up in the Victorian Era of Earth. I met a Time Lord called the Valeyard. I was so mad over everything that had happened that he promised me vengeance. All I had to do was listen to everything he said, but...it went wrong. Everything...went wrong." She took in a deep breath, trying to contain herself, but the Master could see the fear in her eyes and it made him livid inside. "It was like he was hypnotising me, but far worse! It...It was like he knew how to get inside my head already and knew everything about me." It still didn't make sense to her. In fact, it made her sick to her stomach even now, remembering trying to break free of it. "I broke into Shada looking for the one person who could help me beat him."

"And you did?" he asked.

She nodded. "But yet, things went wrong. The Valeyard managed to get the upper hand and…" The Fighter looked down at her abdomen where her past stab wound had been. "After that, all I can remember is falling from the sky, pain, regenerating and then waking up to find the Doctor by my side."

The Fighter didn't need their telepathic bond to tell he was pissed at the Valeyard for using and hurting his wife the way they did. Whoever this Valeyard really was, she knew that the Master would eventually track them down and stick it to them if she didn't first.

Now, it was her turn to ask him the question. "Your turn. What are you doing here? Just deciding to play with plastic and send explosive calling cards?"

"Did the Doctor find it as charming as you did?"

She smiled. "He chucked it out the window."

"Shame." he smirked before explaining himself. "I'm here to do what I do best, after all my dear: bring order to those who need it."

There was obviously no stopping him once his mind was made up. He was in this game for the long run. However, she could at least give him fair warning. He was her husband after all. "You do know the Doctor is going to try and stop you, love?"

He chuckled. "I don't doubt it."

"And if I have to intervene, know I won't be going easy on you because we are married." The Time Lady pointed out to him.

"I wouldn't want you to. I like the challenge."

They both exchanged smiles. "Thanks for giving me the head start." The Fighter chirped before walking through the door, making her exit. "I'm still mad at you, though!"

The Master's eyes were glued to where she was standing a few moments ago, chuckling as he realized she had just entered into the game between the Doctor and himself. He hated having to leave her alone on Gallifrey, but he couldn't very well let the Doctor get away scott free, especially after all he did to him with the Darkheart.

He was the Master . He would always get his way in the end.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Honestly, the scene with the Master and Fighter just kind of took off on it's own there. So, the Fighter's past crimes have been revealed, involving someone called the Valeyard. Hmmm...I wonder who that could be and how important it could be later on in this series? *wink wink*

Honestly though, you will get a chance to meet the Second Fighter eventually, and she's a FAR different person altogether. There is more to be revealed with the whole Valeyard thing later. But for now, the game is a foot with these Time Lords. See you in the next part!