Chapter 98

He'd left his TARDIS with one of the TARDIS technicians; to deal with the N-Forms that Ollistra had requested he procure, especially as he was one of the few Time Lords alive who had encountered and survived an encounter with them. There were hardly many Patrexes that knew even of their existence, let alone had the experience to capture them. Utilising them for the war would, he considered fortunate not up to him, they would be deployed to several fronts where they could do the best work against their enemy.

The technician would need to extract them from the zero room, he'd had to materialise around them to capture the N-Forms, and extracting was something best performed by a Time Lord suited to materialising another TARDIS around his, without initiating Time Ram. His TARDIS' dimensional stabiliser having taken some damage during an encounter outside of the Daleks' battle lines. Yet he'd still managed to hit a time bomb as he dodged some of the Daleks' allies as he departed the main battle area.

Walking through Ollistra's chambers they were surprisingly quiet, for Ollistra at least, she always had monitors, monitoring her own part of the war, away from the War Council's purview there was always something that had to have her own touch; strategising away.

Entering her office without a sound he looked at her desk, always something different, some new project she had her hands in.

But as he cast his gaze, something caught his eye. Space Station Zenobia.

"That rings a bell," he said to himself. One didn't forget being put on trial, especially by a corrupt council of his peers. It wasn't the first time he'd been put on trial, nor the last.

But Space Station Zenobia had been moth balled, long before the war began, and it wasn't meant to be used, for anything, not with its access to the Matrix in place there, an especially ropey access door he recalled.

It was always useful as a bolt hole for the Matrix, it shouldn't have been used, for any reason. Especially with the Daleks bombarding their communication defences lately.

He had seen as he'd walked through the Capitol more recruitment for the sky trenches around Gallifrey. The Transduction Barriers having failed on the last Dalek bombardment were undergoing further modification at Lord President Rassilon's behest, while remaining in operation albeit at 50 per cent strength, likely complicating matters for the technicians.

Rassilon had also proclaimed that nothing could get through the sky trenches. That proclamation remained true. He hoped it would remain so. After the last war he never thought he'd see battlements return to Gallifrey.

Briefly checking the coordinates of Space Station Zenobia "Clever, very clever" he muttered to himself as he looked over the remainder of Olistra's notes he left the chamber quietly.

Returning to the TARDIS cradles he found his favourite TARDIS technician there holding a damaged dimensional stabiliser.

"Fabian! You've fixed my dimensional stabiliser," he greeted.

"Yes, another new part for your ancient TARDIS, if you'd stolen a less faulty one-" he began with a grin.

He interrupted him. "You wouldn't have as much fun helping me fix her."

"Got rid of the N-Forms for you, your zero rooms are in an awful state," Fabian commented and then added. "Much like the rest of your architectural configuration, I've had to alter the control room; add more of the supports in."

He sighed, he'd had to reset the control room a while ago. The loss of the library and tea making facilities in the control room had been a disappointment. But the timber on the console had been drastically damaged when the Daleks had shot at his TARDIS, a lot of the books and filing cabinets had also been damaged. He'd needed to run to the secondary control room when it had happened. "Needs must Fabian, needs must."

"Can offer you a battle TARDIS, been through plenty if you'd like," Fabian offered in a teasing tone gesturing at the battle-scarred TARDISes behind him, knowing the Time Lord in front of him would reject the offer, it was how their conversations went.

He patted the outer shell of his TARDIS, it too was covered in battle damage. The exterior blue presented by the chameleon circuit was scratched, chipped and covered in soot and other forms of damage. Still the sign was illuminated, the light still flashed when it left or arrived. It was still his. "We've still got plenty of adventures left Fabian."

"Right you are," Fabian said with a nod as the Time Lord slipped his key into the lock.

He didn't look back to Fabian. Didn't say goodbye, never said that. Too many friends and enemies already lost.

Inside, there were now large supports, they were almost organic, something from deep within the TARDIS' architectural configuration, supporting the control room space. The roundels still lit the room, but the console had gained another foreign piece. A new dimensional stabiliser. Newer than what had been in his TARDIS when he'd borrowed it, but still older than those other TARDISes that Fabian serviced.

Moving around the console he keyed in the coordinates, the old girl didn't need him to input the codes for the transduction barriers, those she could deal with herself. But the coordinates, especially where Space Station Zenobia was hiding, those she couldn't find on her own. Moving around he quickly dematerialised his TARDIS, leaving the relative safety of Gallifrey's local space time and sending his TARDIS off, and away to a space station that had been reactivated, for some reason unknown.

-/

There were TARDIS cradles ready to receive a TARDIS, he ignored those as he piloted his TARDIS around the space station, looking for a far away spot to materialise in.

There was a cargo hold, but there were some odd temporal reading coming from that.

"Maybe a chronon loop?" He wondered to himself as he piloted his TARDIS around as he settled on a location to materialise.

-/

Stepping out he looked around the corridors, they were the same as he recalled, back in his sixth incarnation.

It seemed so long ago, Inquisitor Darkel, the Valeyard and the CIA's machinations. Along with the Master.

He smiled, remembrances of simpler times. "And carrot juice," he continued his mental thoughts out loud.

Walking along the corridor he found an active terminal, with no security, though why should there be? This space station was one of the most protected stations that wasn't actively being used in the war.

"Waym and Voran, and one prisoner," he said reading through the data, there wasn't anything more except stating that there were three TARDISes on this station and a handful of soldiers.

There was nothing that stated who the prisoner was, only what he could gather from where he was. That the prisoner was dangerous enough, or had enough secrets that warranted them being interrogated on a secret space station.

That usually meant a traitor, one who would be sent to Rassilon, for him to conduct his experiments on them.

Those experiments were...distasteful, he thought, but, if they brought success in the war? Then perhaps...

Walking away from the interface he allowed his feet to carry him towards where his senses told him something was happening.

Something, it seemed quite dangerous as he approached he could hear the sounds of a Cloister Bell, and the screams of a Time Lord in distress.

He heard the sounds of footsteps dragging two bodies and then silence again.

Walking calmly he passed two soldiers who looked shocked and then surprised to see him.

"Sir," they both said, coming to attention.

He nodded. "What happened?"

"Lord Voran sir, he regenerated, Lord Waym ordered he be taken to a functional TARDIS to recover."

"To attempt to recover," interjected the other soldier.

He nodded. "Waym he is..."

The first soldier pointed to a set of doors. "Through there sir he's-"

"In the court chambers, of course," he said as he realised where he was standing.

Walking into the chambers they looked like they'd been repaired since he'd left them, and now recently damaged.

"Do-" Waym began with surprise.

He silenced the younger Time Lord with a look as he appraised the equipment around him. "Mind bending equipment? Your prisoner must be very strong mentally Waym if you're employing such a dangerous form of interrogation. The mind probe not enough for you?"

Waym focused in on him with a look. "Voran ordered me to remove the safe guards I put in place. His regeneration is on his own head. Cardinal Ollistra wanted the information extracted from the prisoner."

He looked over the remains of the equipment again. "Ollistra must have desperately wanted information extracted for Voran to use this equipment," he paused. "Built by you Waym? It's very good, lethal, but good. Who was the prisoner?"

"Is, he survived. He interfered in the Ribos Operation," Waym explained. "And escaped a Ferutu planet."

"Of Skaro Degradations?" He asked, Waym nodded. "I know of it, nothing should have escaped that, not even the Daleks are meant to, that was their mistake with that planet, fortunately for us."

Waym nodded. "The prisoner is fascinatingly dangerous."

"Is Waym? The prisoner managed to trigger a regeneration in a Time Lord and survived?" He asked incredulously.

Waym nodded.

"I think I'll go and look in on your prisoner Waym, you look after your partner in crime," he said as he left the court room.

The prisoner was inside a zero cell. It would keep him alive, fed and watered without all that messing about with those things, and healthy, relatively so until information could be extracted from him.

Causing the regeneration of a Time Lord certainly marked him out as a dangerous prisoner.

Opening the door he saw a huddled figure, a mess of rags of clothing huddled on the floor, he wondered aloud who he might be.

He stepped in, allowing the door to slide close rather than present a point of escape for the prisoner.

The prisoner was pushing himself with his shaking legs, towards the wall in a practised movement.

Looking around the zero cell there was nothing else of the prisoner's to indicate who he was.

Then he spoke, and at first he didn't recognise the voice.

"I wondered...if I'd be visited by a Doctor," the prisoner coughed looking up at him and laughed as he saw his expression.

"Harry Potter, what are you doing here?" He said, his hearts breaking, to see one of his oldest, and certainly the youngest of his oldest friends here; a prisoner of the Time Lords.

"Being tortured by the Time Lords mostly Doctor," Harry said looking up at him.

His hair was matted with sweat, and he was making a concerted effort to control his shaking, the effects of the zero cell would soon have an effect and begin to restore him.

"Wasn't sure I'd see you again," Harry was saying.

He frowned. "Again? Harry?"

Harry closed his eyes. Shaking his head, the spasms seemingly becoming easier to control.

"I..." he faltered. "I have to get you out of here," he said finally. The consequences...be damned. No one would look kindly on this situation. Waym especially had participated in the triggering of a regeneration of a Time Lord, an act such as that could not be ignored.

He walked over pulling him up off the ground.

Harry slumped against him and hugged him, still shaking slightly.

"We have to move now Harry, while there is still confusion on the station," he said softly to the young human who'd been tortured by his own people.

-/

Harry held onto the Doctor, still shaking, almost ready to cry at having his friend arrive.

Even if there had been something of shock and surprise on his face, he'd not been expecting him when he'd come into the cell.

He'd worn a hard expression.

His rough leather jacket smelt of danger, of explosions and dead Daleks. There was splatter on the back as he held onto the older man. The Time Lord.

The man didn't make him feel safe, not here on this station, but he at least presented a sign of some respite.

"We have to move now Harry, while there is still confusion on the station," the Doctor said softly.

Harry nodded, forcing himself to regain control of himself. The shaking was subsiding as he stepped away from the Doctor. "A new look for you, I thought it was all frock coats and then..." he trailed off.

"The Sisterhood intervened, I was needed, for the war," he said turning away from him.

Harry raised an expression of surprise at his back. The Doctor, Doctors, they'd never alluded to his presence in the Time War. Although they'd never alluded to his various visitations in the past...so...but this was significant for the Doctor especially so given the fervour with which the northern one talked about it.

Stepping up to the door the Doctor opened it by just looking at it. "Some sort of retina scan?" Harry asked his back as he tried to control the shakes.

"Come on, this way, my TARDIS is down here Harry, we need to-" the Doctor began, Harry cut him off.

"I need to get to the cargo hold," he paused to take a calming breath "they've probably got it in a temporal prison there."

-/

"I need to get to the cargo hold, they've probably got it in a temporal prison there." Harry gestured the opposite direction.

"Temporal prison?" He started to say as Harry turned down the corridor. "A chronon loop?"

Harry nodded, he was still leaning against the walls as he walked.

He went over to him, pulling him against himself to support the younger human.

"How did you come to be here Harry?" He asked.

Harry snorted a laugh. "A Time Lord who doesn't know everything?" He tensed. "I wouldn't put it past Voran to create you to try and trick me, but I think he's too mental for that."

The venom with which Harry spoke of Voran suggested he had endured a lengthy period of forceful interrogation.

"I am here of my own volition Harry," he paused. "And it is me."

"I know, because I didn't recognise you, if Voran did it, he'd have chosen a face I know. I don't think Voran's creative enough to create you," Harry said as he stood a little straighter. "Think I can walk on my own."

-/

Harry allowed himself to be carried by the Doctor, he'd deliberately started to support himself against the wall, just in case this was a ruse, he would exploit it for every opportunity. He'd noticed as they were walking the Doctor had what appeared to be a sonic screwdriver on his belt across his chest. He'd felt it when he'd hugged him but not realised what it was until they were walking down the corridor.

"I am here of my own volition Harry," the Doctor stated with some passion.

Harry stated he knew so. "I think I can walk on my own," he said as he slipped the sonic screwdriver out of the Doctor's belt.

-/

Harry didn't look like he could still walk unassisted, but seemed to be forcing himself upright. Fortunately they had arrived at the doors to the cargo hold.

Stepping up to the entry plate the doors opened, Harry rushed inside and his body language changed to one of relief upon seeing the chronon loop encased craft.

"A Dalek timecraft?" He exclaimed as Harry turned around, and aimed his sonic screwdriver at the now closed door, fusing the lock.

"Harry!"

-/

Harry rushed over to the nearest console and concentrated, hoping for the miracle of TARDIS translation to be on his side.

It wasn't, but the memory of the shadow of the ghost of the...whatever. His other self, from that other universe, it lingered, like someone whispering in his ear as he tapped the symbols on the control panel.

"Temporal prison...off," he said with flourish as the temporal prison flared and disappeared.

The Doctor was standing a short distance from him. "Temporal prison. That's the Daleks' description of a chronon loop."

Harry turned around to look at the Doctor. "You know me, fascination with the Daleks, you told me all those tales of them, and what I got up to in the 1970s taking them apart."

-/

He watched Harry, casually try to explain his knowledge of the Daleks. "And that timecraft Harry? Few of those were ever created, it's not something you could casually come across."

-/

Harry smiled sadly and turned as he heard the doors to the Timeship open.

"Harry? What are you doing out there?" Called a voice.

"I'm here Oswin, safe," Harry called back. "Close the inner doors," Harry looked back to the Doctor.

Harry walked over to the Doctor, as though to say farewell, and then punched him in the left shoulder, right in the vulnerable nerve cluster. Something he didn't think he'd have to do, to his oldest friend. He tucked the Doctor's sonic screwdriver back into the Doctor's belt. "This way it'll look like you didn't let me escape," Harry said softly stepping back as the Doctor collapsed.

"Harry!" He called out as he sank to his knees.

Harry walked backwards, "I'm...Sorry...got to...have to..." he shook his head and darted into the Timeship.

-/

He winced, pushing himself up, he had forgotten that Harry knew about that nerve cluster and regretted still, telling Alistair about it. Kadiatu knowing it was bad enough. Harry had obviously uncovered it through the same means as Kadiatu had.

He never thought Harry would use that information on him.

He watched as the timecraft, as its buzzing and electric whistling filled the room as it dematierialsed.

Its sound and disappearance reminding him of something as it did so, but he wasn't quite certain as to what for the moment as his biology adjusted to the blow inflicted on his nerve cluster.

Picking himself up he closed his eyes as he thought over Harry's final expression as he looked at him. It hadn't been of concern, or worry or excitement to have returned to his timecraft. It was one of sheer terror, exhaustion and above all fear.

-/

He had walked the opposite way around the station, through the disused portions of the super structure back to the corridor where he had left his TARDIS, pausing only to download the station's files and reports that had been entered in and any information regarding Harry that had been recorded.

Dematerialising his TARDIS he set her into a temporal orbit, away from prying eyes and Dalek weapons as he retreated to the storage fields for the previous controls rooms.

The previous was hidden behind tall double mahogany doors. He could have accessed the telepathic circuits inside the current control room on his current console. But he had found that the old girl responded better to contextually relevant environs.

Being in storage had not helped the stability of this room, the roundels were showing through from behind the wood architecture. Most of the clocks has fallen over and cracked and the bookcase was missing a lot of its books. Most had been transferred to the new library beside the new control room.

Moving around the console he put his hands on the telepathic circuits; willing his mind and the TARDIS's memories back to when he'd sabotaged that facility, back in his previous body, when he'd still been a doctor.

He'd been knocked unconscious getting back to the TARDIS, he'd thought that the TARDIS's HADS had got him inside and dematerialised. He'd woken up to the Cloister Bell ringing and the vortex generator on the blink. There'd been some string attached to the console. He'd put that down to his forgetfulness at the time. He had been knocked quite hard on the head, he'd woken up with thoughts of ghosts and ghouls and lunch on lake Geneva with dear old Byron and Shelley.

"I see...I cloaked memory," he looked up at the ceiling. "You've still got secrets of your own haven't you old girl?"

It was the sound of a Dalek timecraft, that was what dragged and dredged up a memory for him.

Then the rest fell into place as he sorted through his own memories, even those from when he was unconscious, his unconscious meta-sense memory was given a frame work by the TARDIS's recollections; piecing what Harry had done into a continuous memory.

He had saved him.

And he had a Dalek timecraft then.

Given his appearance, he seemed to also be able to move at will through the war.

He had had a vortisaur in the TARDIS in that room, but that had been with Charley, long ago, just as Molly, Liv, and dear Mary Shelley too, but never with Harry. Harry had never travelled with him, not in any meaningful sense, just short hops through time. He shouldn't know how to operate a TARDIS, certainly not enough to allow a Dalek timescraft to materialise within or depart it. Nor be cable of combatting a Time Lord, enough to trigger a regeneration.

He shook his head. He would have questions for Olistra. Which she wouldn't answer, of course.

-/

Harry darted into the Timeship, dematerialising the Timeship far and away and deep into the vortex.

"We're safe Harry," Oswin had an arm on him. It was only then he realised he was shaking. Turning away from the controls he almost collapsed, shaking and crying into Oswin's arms.

-/

Later, Harry awoke. He was in his bed and he was naked. No, he thought, he had an oversized shirt on.

He panicked for a moment as he wondered if he was inside the mind of a Time Lord, if this was a different trick.

The door slid open a little bit and he tensed. "I've seen it all before Harry, cleaned you up," Oswin said from the door.

"Oswin..." Harry tried to say more but found his throat dry.

"Water on your side table Harry, I've got us on course for somewhere you can recover," Oswin said in a gentle tone.

"But..." Harry swallowed some water.

"I think you've taken a few hits for our mission to take a little break," Oswin teased gently.

-/

Harry stood under the shower for he wasn't sure how long. But time was passing, his fingers were becoming wrinkly. He had a feeling of needing to eat, and drink. Things he hadn't experienced in the however many days, weeks? However long he had been held captive.

And tortured.

And he had been rescued by the Doctor.

He hadn't really processed that his friend had rescued him. But he hadn't been expecting him. He hadn't come to rescue him, he'd just been there, accidentally.

Harry hadn't really known what he was going to do after defeating Voran. It was still a bit of a jumble in his mind.

He definitely remembered meeting the Prydonian Harry and the darkened universe Harry. It had given him some idea what it felt like when the Doctor met his other selves.

Except, he'd also seen a multitude of other Harrys. Other versions of himself, split or drawn in from other dimensions. Drawn in by what Voran had done, had tried to do, or something. He wasn't sure, wasn't sure how he was going to mentally process what he'd seen.

The power, that had been amazing, each of them, all of them, casting one spell to cast out the intruder in their mind, one collective thought.

He didn't remember much after that, Voran was gone and he'd woken up in his cell.

Finishing his shower, he towelled off his body, looking along it. There were no fresh signs of scars or other damages to his body.

"No, Harry, they're all up here," he said to himself, as though confirming the Time Lords had done something to his mind. He snorted to himself, shaking his head.

Inside his bedroom he saw his invisibility cloak and wand sitting on top of it.

Dressing in clean clothes; it was such a luxury after however long it had been, dressed in blood splattered and sweat soaked clothes. The Time Lords had never addressed or acknowledged that.

Tucking his wand and sonic screwdriver into opposite pockets he looked to the energy weapon and conventional gun he had near the door.

"Somewhere to recover," he said to himself. He'd faced torture by the Time Lords, he fancied he could face things with just his wand and screwdriver for the moment.

Outside the control room was empty, the coordinates revealed where the Timeship was.

"I hope the temporal prison didn't harm you," he said to the room. It didn't say anything. Harry didn't expect it to, but it was his Timeship.

The Timeship was in a small grove of trees and artwork, it managed to fit in perfectly with the surroundings, despite not fitting in at all. But it didn't look like anything. Not like the Doctor's TARDIS. It was just...its own thing.

Making his way along the path to a gate he wasn't surprised to see Oswin sitting on a bench opposite the gate reading a book.

"Good book?" Harry asked as Oswin looked up from it.

She slipped a bookmark into it. "A bit dry," she said handing it to him.

"Genetic Politics Beyond the Third Zone" Harry read the title. "Gustous R Thripsted."

"You've heard of him?" Oswin asked surprised.

"I think the Doctor once mentioned him, he wrote a good guide book," he turned the book over to look at the blurb, but it was just a wrap around cover.

"It mentions the Time Lords," she commented as he handed it back to her, she slipped it into her tool belt.

"I may have to read it," Harry mused.

"Later, magic man, come on," Oswin said taking his arm.

Harry let himself lean on her, feeling as safe as he had in the Timeship outside in the real world. He let her walk him to a cafe.

As they ordered, real food, he wasn't sure when he'd last eaten, or drunken anything.

Then as the food was delivered Oswin looked to him.

Harry sipped his tea, closing his eyes, relaxing. "I wasn't sure if Barastabon was outside of the war."

"Seems they are, but they're aggressively neutral. I considered going to Hyspero for some proper relaxation. But..."

Harry laughed. "But you're too much of a dessert fiend Oswin," he paused, his thoughts darkening for a moment. "The Time Lords' mind probe couldn't handle that. That I travelled with a dessert obsessed associate, who might hold a whisk as much as weapon."

Oswin wrinkled her nose. "Not a whisk, not good at baking, like eating it. Gave up trying to bake soufflés a few decades ago."

Harry laughed.

"Do you want to...?" Oswin trailed off.

"Talk?" Harry shrugged. "More scars, the mental kind. Thought I knew what the mind probe felt like. Realised I didn't have the power set to full."

Oswin nodded. "They can be turned up remarkably high."

"I think I've experienced it all," Harry admitted.

"I should have come out, faced them with you Harry, that's what we're travelling together for," Oswin countered guiltily.

Harry shook his head. "If the Time Lords did what they did to me, I couldn't have them do worse to you Oswin."

"You're too kind Harry, way too kind," Oswin said as she forked a piece of cake into her mouth.

"I met the Doctor," Harry said after some silence aside from the sounds of eating between them.

"I gather he was the one you punched in the..." Oswin frowned. "Shoulder?"

"Sensitive area," Harry nodded. "Yeah, one I never met, I thought he went from coats and hair to leather jackets and being Northern."

Oswin raised an eyebrow as she forked a piece of cake. "A missing hidden Doctor?"

"He's never alluded to me being in the Time War," Harry pondered.

"Would he?" Oswin asked. "If it's part of your history?"

Harry shrugged. "Who knows."

"Who knows," Oswin agreed.

-/

A/N:

I wanted to finish last chapter on Harry's line, so I could lead into this chapter from the Doctor's point of view.

It meant that this chapter was going to be a little shorter, as it's the wrapping up of what happened last chapter.

In keeping with the War Doctor, Harry is the only one who refers to him as 'Doctor' when he's present in the room.

It's fortunate that the Daleks and the Doctor have different terms for the same thing. The temporal prison / chronon loop – are the same thing, named by different beings, which clues the Doctor into Harry's alliances.

Fabian is one of the technicians seen at the start of The Name of the Doctor who witnesses the Doctor stealing the TARDIS.

I wanted Harry telling Oswin to keep the doors closed to echo An Unearthly Child.

This probably isn't the last time the War Doctor appears in this arc. Timeline for the War Doctor this probably takes place before Big Finish's War Doctor audios.

Also apologies for the delay of this chapter. Kinda lost my muse for a few months, I went back, edited some old chapters and regained inspiration for the coming chapters. Realised I've been writing this story for close to nigh on 10 years, so a break every so often I feel is okay.