I don't own Doctor Who.
Happy Christmas. I hope you have a great, merry time.
What if the Second Doctor chose his new incarnation and that incarnation worked with UNIT? Determined to escape, the Doctor is prepared to do whatever it takes to regain her travels in time and space.
Please let me know what you think.
The Time Lady Exile.
The Trial.
"You have heard the charge against you, that you have repeatedly broken our most important law of non-interference in the affairs of other planets. What have you to say? Do you admit these actions?" The Time Lord leading the court with two others asked, looking down at the defendent, a renegade Time Lord known as the Doctor.
The Doctor looked very out of place among the regal Time Lords, in their black robes trimmed in white. He was a very small man with an ancient looking frock coat which looked like it was on its last legs, and he wore equally battered check trousers. He had a lined, craggy face that was both humorous and rather comical underneath a mop of black hair in a Beatles cut, although the Time Lords didn't know anything about Earth pop music, but there was no denying the renegade Time Lord had a strength of will. His eyes were pools of intelligence containing a barely hidden razor sharp intellect.
The Doctor had been silent when the Time Lords had unveiled the charges against him, and it was an extremely long list. He had spoken only when they had asked questions and when they had wanted clarification of something, otherwise he had kept silent. And he had strengthened his mental barriers, but it was almost pointless. It had been a century since he had been home on Gallifrey and the Doctor was beginning to wonder if the price of his decision to save those human soldiers was worth it.
The Doctor, now in his second - and hopefully not the last - incarnation, had been travelling the universe in his TARDIS which he had stolen from Gallifrey and he had travelled the universe ever since. When he had originally left with the intention of just exploring the universe where the only true responsibility he'd had was to look after Susan before he had met Ian and Barbara, two nosy schoolteachers who'd been curious about the girl's knowledge and followed her back to the TARDIS.
When the humans had travelled with him, the Doctor had begun to realise he couldn't obey the Time Lords' laws of non-interference and he had begun interfering slightly. After a long time of travelling with a number of companions from Ian and Barbara all the way to Victoria, Jamie and now Zoe although he had no doubt the Time Lords would send the two of them back to their own times, and regenerating into his current incarnation, the Doctor's time had run out.
For a moment the Doctor thought about the almost never-ending struggle with the War Games. A race of aliens known only as the War Lords had come up with a plan to conquer the galaxy, using an army of brainwashed soldiers from different periods of Earth's history, and they had used the help of a renegade Time Lord to help them with their plans. The Time Lord gave them access to basic Time Lord technologies and historical information about the various time periods to make the whole scheme more authentic for the human soldiers. The War Lord aliens had found a planet - or they'd terraformed some kind of environment to fit in with the period - and they had isolated the different soldiers into zones from the Roman Zone, the American Civil War Zone, and the First World War zone. But it was a mess. The scheme was already too complicated for it to work properly since the War Lords' control over the humans slackened with several individuals realising something was wrong. By the time the Doctor, Zoe and Jamie had arrived, the scheme was beginning to fracture.
After a long struggle after he and his companions realised something was very wrong and it seemed to stretch across several points in history, the Doctor had eventually discovered the cause and they had raised a resistance army to stop the renegade Time Lord and his alien allies. But the technology the Time Lord had given the War Lords had begun to decay, so the Doctor had been struggling to work out how to help. But there was no other way. He would have to summon the Time Lords to get involved. He had sent a hypercube to Gallifrey, a Time Lord messaging system which acted like a miniature TARDIS, that contained a record of everything that had happened since the Doctor had arrived on the planet and an appeal for help.
Once the hypercube had been sent off, the Doctor, knowing precisely what would happen if the Time Lords caught hold of him, tried to escape but he was hampered not only by the stupid questions from his allies, but by Jamie and Zoe as well. The Doctor had never really spoken about his past, or his reasons about leaving Gallifrey. He hadn't even spoken about Gallifrey at all or the power the Time Lords had at their disposal. And now he was left wondering if maybe he had, then they would have helped him to escape rather than hound him with cross examinations. Since Jamie and Zoe were still trapped in the TARDIS bay as far as he knew, the Doctor imagined they were regretting not listening to him about leaving as soon as they could.
But right now, the Doctor didn't know what was going to happen.
Back on the War Games' planet, the War Chief, the renegade Time Lord had said the Time Lords wouldn't show any mercy to them before he had set up the hypercube. He was right. They were both renegades, both of them had stolen Time Lord technology. Both of them had flouted Time Lord laws. And the Time Lords possessed extremely harsh punishments at the disposal, and now the Doctor was left terrified about what was going to happen to him now.
The charge of stealing a TARDIS, even an outdated one, was a trivial offence compared to the non-interference laws. But he didn't know what the Time Lords would do after what he had done, summoning them when he was aware of what they'd do to him if they caught him.
"I not only admit them, I am proud of them," the Doctor said in an almost defiant voice that he couldn't help. "While you have been content merely to observe the evil in the galaxy, I have been fighting against it."
The Third Time Lord interrupted, "It is not we who are on trial here, Doctor, it is you."
"No, no, of course, you're above criticism, aren't you."
"Do you admit that these actions were justified?" The first Time Lord asked, speaking the last word of his question almost incredulously.
The Doctor seized his chance. Perhaps if he could take advantage of this moment and showcase everything he had done, then perhaps he could justify everything he had done so then the Time Lords would not think he had just meddled in history like the Monk did on a regular basis without any true idea of what he was doing. If there was one thing he knew about the Time Lords, it was that they were fair.
"Yes, of course, I do," the Doctor walked over to the screen. "Give me a thought channel and I'll show you some of the evils I've been fighting against."
He hoped this worked, but the Time Lords would see no reason why they shouldn't do as he asked. Indeed, the Time Lords shared a look and nodded at one another before looking back at him. The Doctor gazed up at the screen, projecting an image of a Quark on it. "The Quarks, deadly robot servants of the cruel Dominators, they tried to enslave a peace loving race."
Even as he began speaking, the Doctor had already formed the rest of his case in his mind. Then there were the Yeti, more robot killers, instruments of an alien intelligence trying to take over the planet Earth.
But another part of his mind urged him that he needed to go much further, he needed to show the Time Lords proof of some of the events that he had seen, particularly the moments which showed that he had preserved history as well as he had known it. He knew he could show them all a sample of the evils that he had encountered over the years in the TARDIS, but he wanted to do it in a way that would not see him sentenced to dematerialisation, where his entire history would be snuffed out like a puff of smoke.
The face of a human appeared on the screen, an old man with glasses. "This is Professor Zaroff," the Doctor explained for the benefit of the Time Lords, "a brilliant scientist on Earth who went insane and came up with a plan to aid an ancient human civilisation known as Atlantis to drain the waters of the planet into the planets core, destroying Earth and severely altering history."
As he spoke, the Doctor showed them a mental projection of the potential timeline which would have resulted if Zaroff had won and if he hadn't gotten involved. All Time Lords had the ability to see what was and what was never meant to be, with potential timelines included. When he had fought Zaroff in Atlantis with Jamie, Ben, and Polly, the Doctor had seen glimpses of what would have happened to Earth had he failed.
"How much of this is fact?" The third Time Lord asked.
"All of it," the Doctor answered as he projected more potential timelines of what would happen to the cosmos if Earth was ripped out of the equation. Earth's history was full of fixed points given the planet was a nexus point in space and time, and those were rare in itself and they were important for the timelines to unfold.
"We shall investigate that particular case, Doctor," the first Time Lord said. "Please, continue. I believe you have far more to show us."
The Doctor projected another sequence of images on the thought channel screen, showing a chubby faced man wearing a monk's habit in a crumbling corridor. "The Monk. One of our own people, a Time Lord renegade who plotted to change the outcome of the Battle of Hastings on Earth, a fixed point in time and space, while he had only a vague idea of what would happen to history in the aftermath. He planned on introducing technologies and sciences many centuries before humanity was prepared for them, potentially even advanced space travel where medieval warlords would be roaming the stars, changing established history throughout the universe."
He almost felt bad about exposing the Monk's actions to the Time Lords, but if he could carry on revealing what he had been doing over the years then perhaps he could survive. While he and the Monk had been friends once, a long time ago, there was too much between them to even consider themselves friends anymore.
Another sequence of images crossed the screen on the thought channel.
"What is that, Doctor?" The third Time Lord asked, his voice sounding uncertain.
The Doctor knew the Time Lords, like himself knew that image was automatically wrong. "It's an alternative timeline showing a radical change to Earth's history, as a cause of WOTAN - Will Operating Thought Analogue, a primitive artificial intelligence with none of the important safety protocols to prevent it from becoming dangerous. In the timeline you just witnessed, WOTAN took over people's minds, leaving the victims suffering extensive brain damage. The artificial intelligence was destroyed, but it resulted in the banning of telephone technology and other advanced forms of communication before the tensions led to an alternate World War 3. When I arrived in the timeline, the people there were hopeful they could use time travel technology supplied to them by the Cybermen to win the war, changing history. When I arrived, and with vague accounts of WOTAN's origin and my limited control over the TARDIS, I couldn't do much but stop their research in to time travel. When I eventually encountered WOTAN later, I was able to stop it before it caused any significant damage, negating the timeline, and I helped the humans under its control recover without any significant damage."
The first Time Lord nodded, and the Doctor knew he was going to order a complete investigation. That alone gave the Doctor some hope, because if the Time Lords saw the benefits of his interventions, then perhaps they would let him go, but he wasn't going to hope too much.
"Continue," the first Time Lord said simply. The Doctor took a deep breath. "Let me show you the Ice Warriors, cruel Martian invaders, they tried to conquer the Earth too." With the thought channel, the Doctor projected his most recent encounter with the Ice Warriors, showing them Slaar's plan to use Earth's T-Mat, and he also projected potential timelines that he had perceived when he had arrived, such as the extinction of humanity, which would have changed history again.
The Time Lords watched, their senses telling them these timelines were wrong, a timeline where the Martian invaders enslaved the survivors of Earth who were desperate just to breath, and went on a wave of conquest using their new world's resources to help to conquer and terraform hundreds of worlds, beginning wars which were never meant to take place.
"The Ice Warriors were not the only race to try to conquer Earth. So did the Cybermen," an image of a Cyberman appeared on the screen, and the Doctor projected another potential timeline where the Cybermen aided by Tobias Vaughn would have converted the entire human race into beings like them, with no emotion and were totally cybernetic, before they went off to begin wars against every race that they could convert, "half creature, half machine."
The Doctor took a deep breath as he prepared to show them the last enemies that he had encountered.
"But worst of all were the Daleks," he protected an image of a Dalek on the screen, "a pitiless race of conquerors exterminating all who came up against them. They have tried to change the history of the universe on several occasions. First, they tried to transform Earth into a mobile starship, second they constructed a series of machines like the TARDIS, and they used one of them during a scheme where they would use temporal based weapons All these evils I have fought while you have done nothing but observe. True, I am guilty of interference, just as you are guilty of failing to use your great powers to help those in need!"
The first Time Lord exchanged a look with his colleagues briefly. "Is that all you have to say?"
"Well, isn't it enough?"
"Your defence has been heard and will be carefully considered, but you have raised difficult issues. We require time to think about them. You will be recalled when we have made our decision."
X
In the TARDIS bay, Jamie and Zoe were still yelling for the Time Lords to let them out of the forcefield. The door to the TARDIS was opened after they had seen the War Lord and his guards vanish before they'd both tried to walk back inside the ship before the forcefield was thrown up around them. Jamie and Zoe were both beginning to realise how much trouble they were in and why the Doctor had been so determined to get away from the War Games planet as soon as he could, and now they were kicking themselves for not leaving when they'd had the chance.
Both humans were terrified.
They were on a planet where the Doctor was frightened and he seemed to have accepted his fate, and it was something both Jamie and Zoe had problems accepting and understanding.
"Let us out!" Jamie called.
Beside him Zoe yelled, "We want to see the Doctor. Let us out of here!"
Mercifully the force field was turned off, and one of the Time Lords from the War Lord's trial was standing there in his black and white robes. His expression was cold, unemotional.
Controlled.
Zoe herself was chilled, remembering how Leo back on the Wheel and several of her colleagues had called her a 'computer' or 'all brain and no heart' but she had a feeling these people were even more cold and more like the Cybermen than she was. "Follow me," the Time Lord commanded, clearly uncaring about their shouting and their demands to see the Doctor.
"Where are we going?" Zoe demanded, refusing to move until she had answers and when she saw the Doctor.
"We're going to send you home. Back you your own world and your own time," the Time Lord replied.
Back to your own world and your own time…
Zoe remembered how panicked the Doctor had been before he'd sent that box off to this planet, and how he had been determined to send them off. She now realised he had been trying to protect them from being caught with him; she didn't know what was worse, the fact he had been prepared to go off on his own, or the fact he had been trying to spare them a different kind of pain that was similar. There was no doubt in her mind now that the Time Lords would have done this if they'd just stayed with Villar, Russell and the others, but it would have been less painful since they didn't know what would happen to the Doctor.
"Oh no, not without the Doctor," Jamie instantly refused; Zoe winced, wondering if the Scot would get his way. She wanted to see the Doctor again, but she didn't know what would happen if they both pushed the Time Lords.
"This is his world. He must stay here."
After the story the Doctor gave - Zoe wondered if it was true or just part of the truth; she could understand the desire to escape and explore, the Doctor always showed a fascination and childish delight just wandering about, but she didn't really think it possible for someone to just leave their world for so long, but then she didn't really know how long Time Lords lived or could live baring accidents - Zoe knew such a sentence would kill him. What would happen if he stayed? Would he try to escape again when the Time Lord's security became lax - she wasn't taken by it since the War Lord's guards had attacked and stormed the trial so easily despite how merciless the Time Lords had punished them? Zoe didn't know.
"Well, what's going to happen to him?" She asked, unsure if she even wanted to know.
"He is awaiting the result of his trial."
Jamie and Zoe didn't understand or know what kind of charges would be dropped on the Doctor, but they wanted to see him. Now.
"Aye, well, I'm not going till I see him."
"Oh, please, can't we see the Doctor?" Zoe wailed, losing control.
The Time Lord walked slowly to them, dropping his voice as he gazed at them both with something Zoe thought was sympathy. Were Time Lords even capable of that type of emotion? "You have become attached to him?"
"Aye, we've been through a lot, you know," Jamie said.
"Please let us see him," Zoe pleaded.
The Time Lord came to a decision, "Come with me."
"Aye," Jamie said, but Zoe wondered if the Time Lord was leading them into a trap. But she followed the Time Lord, her eyes following him and darting left and right. Her mind was awash with so many questions about the Time Lords. Who were they? What was the name of the planet? How powerful were they? Was their name just a title or did it have a deeper meaning? Sadly she would likely never know.
To Zoe's delight and surprise, the Time Lord had brought them to the Trial room and they saw the Doctor was reclining on the floor, playing clock patience. When he lifted his head at their footsteps, he leapt to his feet, beaming with delight and worry at the same time.
"Jamie! Zoe!" The Doctor called.
"Doctor!" Zoe called, and she ran to him with Jamie… …only to be stopped by a forcefield. Zoe wondered if it was how the Time Lords typically said goodbyes with since they seemed to have a fondness for them.
"I've brought your friends to say goodbye," the Time Lord explained.
"Oh, switch this thing off," Jamie snapped in irritation.
"We can't say goodbye through a forcefield," Zoe explained, although she didn't know if they were trying the Time Lord's patience or not.
To her surprise and delight the Time Lord nodded his head. "Very well. I shall leave you together. for a little while."
Zoe blinked after him in surprise, wondering what had made him give in so easily. And it struck her that they couldn't really do anything, and even if they did manage to escape back to the TARDIS, could they really escape?
"Oh, thank you," the Doctor called gratefully as the forcefield disappeared and the Time Lord left. Once he was gone, Jamie and Zoe ran forwards and hugged the Doctor, who hugged them back. "Jamie! Zoe!"
"Doctor!" Zoe felt herself beginning to cry, hating that they were saying goodbye like this. "What are they going to do to you?" Jamie asked.
"Oh, nothing much. I expect they'll to make me listen to a long boring speech about being a good boy. They like making speeches," the Doctor replied while he fiddled with his hands.
"Well, I think it's time you left them again," Zoe said decisively; she'd had enough of the Time Lords and she wanted to get away from them. Now. But the Doctor seemed to have accepted his fate, which horrified Zoe who remembered telling the Dulcians that submission led to slavery during that trip to Dulkis, her first trip in the TARDIS. Well now, it looked like all spirit had left the Doctor and he was letting the Time Lords win.
"Well, that's easier said than done."
"Oh come on, we've been in tighter situations than this," Jamie argued as he voiced their confusion for the Doctor's attitude.
"Well, you don't know the Time Lords, Jamie. I do." The Doctor argued back.
Zoe hated seeing him like this, and she hoped that between herself and Jamie, they could reignite the Doctor's spirit. "Oh, you're not just going to give up, are you, Doctor?" She asked, hoping she could get through to him.
"Of course he's not,' Jamie argued as if the whole idea was ridiculous. "Are you, Doctor, eh?"
The Doctor looked between them uncertainly as he replied. "Well. Oh, all right, but we may find it a bit difficult getting out of here."
Meanwhile Jamie was looking for the forcefield but he didn't find one anywhere.
"Hey, they've forgotten to switch that thing back on again."
The Doctor was puzzled, "Forgotten?"
Zoe shared his worry since the Time Lords had seemed very punctual about the forcefields. But she wasn't going to let this opportunity go to waste. "Well, that's all we need, isn't it? Now we can get away.
"Yes, yes, of course," the Doctor conceded. "Come on!"
X
The three time travellers managed to get to the TARDIS bay safely enough without encountering any other Time Lord, but while Zoe was curious of that strange mist place with the stepping plates, she wasn't going to waste time asking questions. All she wanted was to return to the TARDIS and get away from here.
Zoe smiled when she saw the TARDIS, but it was wiped away when the three Time Lords appeared. They didn't looked peeved by the way they'd tried to escape. In fact they looked unaffected by everything.
The third Time Lord said, "There is no escape, Doctor."
Zoe watched as the fight left the Doctor, and he stopped in the bay, but typically at the sight of the Time Lords Jamie ran up against a forcefield when he tried to escape again. The third Time Lord added, "It is time to say goodbye to your friends."
"There must be something we can do?" Zoe asked the Doctor desperately, unsure of what the Time Lords would do to her and Jamie if they were sent back to their own times.
The Doctor sighed, "No Zoe, not this time. Well, goodbye, Jamie," he held out his hand for Jamie to shake as he lost all hope of getting away. Jamie looked desperately at him, determined not to let the Time Lords win, "But Doctor surely we could-?"
"Goodbye, Jamie."
Jamie realised it was hopeless after all, "I won't forget you, you know."
The Doctor grinned back, remembering better times, "I won't forget you. Don't go blundering into too much trouble, will you?"
"Oh, you're a fine one to talk." Jamie replied.
Meanwhile Zoe was looking down at the floor, upset by what was going on. They would never see the Doctor again, somehow she knew that only too well.
She wished she had known enough about the Doctor to help him get away from the War Games planet and escape without asking him questions while the other members of the resistance had questioned the Doctor about why he was so desperate to escape. And now it was too late. This really was goodbye. She would never again see Jamie or the Doctor again. She would never again see the past and the future in the TARDIS. She would never have the joy of having the wardrobe room to herself where she could experiment (she smiled mentally when she remembered Isobel in London during that mess with Vaughn and the Cybermen; they'd really bonded even if modelling had never been something Zoe had ever in her life considered).
Now it was all gone.
And there was nothing she or Jamie could do about it. She lifted her gaze as the Doctor said, "Goodbye, Zoe." Zoe studied him carefully, seeing the pain and hollowness in his gaze. This was likely killing him on the inside as it was her and Jamie, "Goodbye, Doctor. Will we ever meet again?"
The Doctor smiled at the question, "Again? Now, Zoe, you and I know, time is relative, isn't it?"
With that, Zoe knew the Doctor would never see them again, whether it was because the TARDIS just would not work, if the Time Lords let their guard down enough for him to escape again, or because…something was going to happen to them, but there was nothing she could do as she and Jamie were led to the SIDRAT the War Lord guards used. They both stopped at the threshold and waved goodbye before it dematerialised.
Inside the SIDRAT, Zoe looked at Jamie frightened. Suddenly she felt herself becoming drowsy….
X
The Doctor grimly watched as the SIDRAT dematerialised carrying his companions - former - companions away back to their own times and places. He knew from Zoe's expression she hadn't believed him when he'd told her without saying it that it was possible they would meet again in the future, but he knew it wasn't going to happen, and Zoe had caught that.
He hated that.
Zoe had grown so much, well they both had. The idea of them leaving was horrible, but what upset him the most was what would likely happen to them inside that SIDRAT.
And he would never see them again. This was exactly what he had been trying to avoid for years since he had originally left Gallifrey with Susan in the first place. He had not revealed his history to Ian or Barbara once to protect them from the Time Lords, and now it was his undoing since he had continued that trend ever since down to his last companions.
"They'll forget me, won't they?" The Doctor asked the Time Lord nearest to him.
The Doctor knew the Time Lords being one himself. He knew their methods. He knew what was likely going to happen to Jamie and Zoe now they were no longer with him. "Not entirely," the second Time Lord replied to his surprise, he had assumed they'd wipe the slate clean. "They will be returned to a time just before they went away with you. They will remember their first adventure with you, but nothing more. But come along. Your fate has been decided."
X
The Doctor watched on the trial chamber view screen as a confused Zoe walked down a corridor that he recognised as being from the Wheel she'd worked on before that business with the Cybermen before the tall blonde form of Tanya appeared. "Oh, Zoe," the woman greeted the dark haired girl as the last sounds of the SIDRAT echoed through the air.
But Tanya quickly realised something was not right with Zoe, and she looked at the younger woman with concern. "Zoe, are you all right?"
Zoe turned to Tanya with a bright smile, "Oh, yes." "Are the Doctor and Jamie gone?"
"Yes, I've just seen them off."
"Well, we'd better get back to work, you know. There's a lot to be done if we're going to get the Wheel back to normal," Tanya said as she looked through a sheaf of papers that were likely status reports following the Cybermen's attack, but she quickly saw that Zoe really looked lost, confused, like she knew she wasn't meant to be there. The Doctor looked on, knowing he shouldn't get his hopes up, but he couldn't do anything more than hope. "Are you sure you're all right?" Tanya asked.
Zoe smiled, "Oh, yes. I thought I'd forgotten something important, but it's nothing."
The Doctor watched on with sinking hearts. He would really miss Zoe and he cursed the fact she had just lost the chance to experience more growth in her life. "Right, come along then."
"All right, I'm coming," Zoe replied before she looked back before the image faded. The Doctor turned to the Time Lords worriedly, "She'll be all right, won't she?"
He knew Zoe had a much more sharper mind than some, but the Doctor wondered if Zoe would start remembering their time together in the TARDIS. If she did, then what would happen?
"Of course," the first Time Lord replied with a reassuring tone.
"What about Jamie?" The third Time Lord pointed to the screen, "Look."
The Doctor turned again to the screen and he watched as the image of Culloden Moor materialised on the screen with Jamie appearing wearing full highland dress that he remembered so well following his visit with Ben and Polly and stopping that slaving business.
Pipes were skirling as a Redcoat aimed his musket at Jamie's back as the Scot stood up, looking around befuddled, and the Doctor could see his old friend knew something just was not right.… but then the instincts of his as a fighter kicked in as he realised he wasn't alone. He turned around and dropped to the ground just as the soldier fired his musket off. The bullet didn't even touch Jamie, but it was enough to ignite his temper.
Jamie lifted himself up, glaring angrily at the soldier, "Try to murder a McCrimmon, would you? Well, I'll show you! Creag an Tuire!" The Doctor snickered when he watched as Jamie charged the Redcoat, swinging his sword while the man tried to reload his single shot gun. The soldier wisely gave up and fled with the angry Jamie on his tail.
The Doctor's snickering changed to laughter - while it was horrible the way Jamie and Zoe were both forced to say goodbye to him and how their memories were removed, seeing this brought back fond memories of their time together even if the looks on their faces would haunt him for a long time.
The first Time Lord broke in, "They will both continue their lives as if nothing had happened."
The Doctor sobered, "Yes, very efficient. Now then, what about me?"
He had been waiting a very long time for this verdict. After Jamie and Zoe were sent off, the Doctor had been led away from the trial, and he had been told he was being put to work by the Celestial Intervention Agency. They had essentially taken him out of Gallifrey's time and was forced to work with them before he was returned to this point of Gallifrey's time so his sentence could finally be announced. The CIA had seen the advantages of using a renegade of his skill and they hadn't hesitated to take advantage of him, and he had learnt that his work would be used to decide his fate. He had been forced to work with them for over 300 years. With them, the Doctor was forced to deal with the Players, especially their agent known as the Countess, and several others whom the CIA wanted dealing with.
The Doctor just wanted to know what was going to happen next. He had pushed to know what the outcome of Jamie and Zoe being sent back home would be for decades. But now he was satisfied, the Doctor was left wondering what the verdict would be for him. They weren't going to remove him from history, dematerialising him so he would never have existed.
He had done too much for them for that.
"We have accepted your plea that there is evil in the universe that must be fought, and that you still have a part to play in that battle."
The Doctor could not believe his ears, "What? You mean that you're going to let me go free?"
The Time Lords exchanged looks briefly, "Not entirely. We have noted your particular interest in the planet Earth. The frequency of your visits must have given you special knowledge of that world and it's problems."
"Yes, I suppose that's true," the Doctor replied in agreement although he was worried about where this was going; he hadn't failed to miss the way the Time Lord had said 'not entirely' to his question earlier. "Earth seems more vulnerable than others, yes." "For that reason you will be sent back to that planet."
"Oh, good," the Doctor replied, seeing a silver lining emerging; it wasn't that bad after all-.
"In exile."
"In exile?" The chill that passed through the Doctor's body was colder than the Himalayas and the vacuum of space combined as he repeated the sentence in horror as he realised what he was now inevitably doomed to become. "You will be sent to Earth in the twentieth century, and will remain there for as long as we deem proper, and for that period the secret of the TARDIS will be taken from you."
The Doctor was indignant at the sentence, but it stemmed from fear more than anything else. He knew now the Time Lords would make it impossible to use the TARDIS, and they would rip out the knowledge he had of how to make her operational again, "But you, you can't condemn me to exile on one primitive planet in one century in time! Besides, I'm known on the Earth. It might be very awkward for me."
"Your appearance has changed before, it will change again. That is part of the sentence."
The Doctor yelled, "You can't just change what I look like without consulting me!"
Calmly the Time Lord added, "You will have an opportunity to choose your appearance."
Surprised but grateful although he didn't really have any intention of regenerating ever again if he could help it - the first time had been a thoroughly unpleasant experience, and he was hoping to avoid it happening again, never mind it happening again another eleven times, "Oh, well, that's not so bad. But I warn you, I'm very particular."
"Here is your first choice." A man with a big bushy beard appeared, followed by other sketches. Instantly the Doctor made trouble, "Oh he's too old! Well he's too fat, isn't he. No, he's too thin. That one's too young. Oh now, that won't do at all. It's ridiculous."
The first Time Lord sighed. They were letting the fellow off lightly, and instead of acting humble he was kicking up this fuss without realising he was only making things worse for himself, "You're wasting time, Doctor."
"It's not my fault, is it? Is this the best you can do? I've never seen such an incredible bunch."
The First Time Lord considered letting this go. They could choose a face for the Doctor to assume with the next regeneration, but he didn't want to do that. He decided to make the Doctor remember where he currently was. "Silence!" the First Time Lord's voice boomed across the courtroom, making the Doctor jump in shock. "That is enough, Doctor. Remember, you are on trial. Now, we will offer you more alternatives for your next incarnation, and if you refuse to take the decision, the decision will be taken for you. What is it to be? You would be wise to remember where you are."
More sketches appeared on the screen, but this time the Doctor looked them through closely. "No, no, definitely not that one. Ah, hold on," the Doctor suddenly raised a hand when he caught sight of a new face.
A female face.
"That one has possibilities," the Doctor commented.
The first Time Lord exchanged a quick telepathic contact with his colleague and they felt this was better than nothing. "Very well," the first Time Lord said before the Doctor suddenly found himself transported into a void, his face was beginning to twist and change.
"Ah, what's happening? What's hap, what's happened?"
The first Time Lord said, "The time has come for you to change your appearance, Doctor, and begin your exile."
"Is this some sort of joke?" The Doctor protested. "No, I refuse to be treated in…. What are you doing?"
On the screen, the Time Lords watched as the Doctor took note of his suddenly glowing hands as the regeneration began. Nothing could stop it now as they programmed the regenerative energy with the next pattern. Over the channel they both heard the Doctor yell as he span downwards in a spiral, his body glowing, "No! Stop, you're making me giddy! No, you can't do this to me! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!"
