In an empty pub, on the outskirts of London, three men piled into the pub, taking over a section of the pub, with one man checking for anyone outside, before rejoining the others.

The men introduced each other, before they began their conversation.

"Do they know where you are?" Hamon began as he looked between Herman and Pete.

Herman, puffing smoke in between words as his faithful wooden pipe hung on the side of his mouth, responded that River thinks he's gone for the night, that he'll be back in the morning, she trusts him enough that she didn't ask any questions. He's known taking breaks away from the city, that it wasn't out of character for him.

Pete responded afterwards, telling Hamon that Jenny thinks he's gone out to drink with some old friends from his cricket days, she also trusts him enough that she didn't ask questions, either, and knows that Pete goes hours out of the city to drink with his friends frequently that it's not an issue.

Nodding, Hamon looked towards Herman, taking a deep breath for exhaling smoke from his wooden pipe, and asked what he came up with during his assignments.

Reaching into his olive-green stitched pocket as his wooden pipe bobbed in his mouth, smoke pluming, Herman brought out several coins, all the same type as the coin his former headmaster showed him, stacking them on the scratched pine table, as he tells them, "I counted, it's all here, except the one you have."

Hamon asked about the professor, Herman briefly took out his wooden pipe and adjusted it in his mouth before he says that Professor Stanford was dead when he got there, don't know much about the details, but it's evident where this conversation's going.

Looking at the coins, Pete asks what they are, and he's told it's lyr, an old currency that once was, no longer saw use on Gallifrey, forgotten like everything else.

"It was risky, y'know, someone could've saw me," Herman pointed out he risked a lot going through the troubles stealing the coins from the students, using tears and rifts to do it without them realizing the thefts.

Had to make sure that if anyone so much as caught a glimpse of him, they were mistaken.

He made it clear that the professor's death wasn't his doing, that he thinks it's related to what they're talking about, tonight.

As he nods, Hamon says it didn't surprise him about the professor's death, before asking Pete if he knew why he was called here tonight.

Shaking his head, Pete said he wasn't sure what the topic was for him to properly gauge his responses.

"You knew Mackie, correct?" Hamon began asking questions and Pete affirmed that he knew him, causing the usually stoic Herman's eyes to glisten as he heard the familiar nickname.

Hamon asks how well, Pete told him enough to know that Mackie entrusted him with his secret.

"And that secret is what we're here tonight to talk about," Hamon sighed as he took a spot at the table with the two men looking at him.

A deep exhale, Hamon looked between the men, before telling them, "Gentlemen, we come here tonight, because there is a thread shared between us. One that should've been cut years ago, but persists."

His dark eyes illuminated under the dome light above the table they're sitting at as he uttered the cursed name, "Alhazared. Alhazared al Jinn."

Herman's reaction caused confusion with Pete, as he asked who he was, and his temper rose when Hamon tells him that it's the man who killed Mackie and Matilda.

Tilting his head as his blond hair cascaded to the side of his head, Pete demanded to know who this Alhazared was, but Herman's adamant of discussing the details, before Hamon reminded him that the Council can't touch them on Earth.

He's tired of following their rules, damning them of their inefficiencies, and their excuses, causing this insanity in the first place!

He calmed himself before tells Pete.

"He was… a bright young boy. He was one of the brightest of the whole school, we thought he would excel beyond school, become the Prime, even, and we were right," Hamon grimaced towards the end of his sentence as he summarized who Alhazared used to be, before elaborating what kind of a man he became. "We were right, but very wrong.

Shocked, Pete asked who else knew about him, and Hamon told him, just them, nobody else.

Shaking his head disdainfully, Herman showed displeasure that Hamon kept this from his nephew, but Hamon adamantly said, "It's not his fight."

Pointing at him, Pete tells Hamon that it's much his fight as theirs, he's the Doctor.

"I do not want him involved. This started long before he existed," Hamon refused.

His caramel eyes glistening under the light, Pete deduced why Hamon won't tell Theodore, "You think he won't notice, is that it, how do you know he hadn't already?"

Hamon's hesitance comes from him believing that if Theodore isn't made aware, Alhazared won't notice, but Pete poked a firm hole in that belief, saying that he's as much a target as them.

"He's also mine," Herman stubbornly said that the man's become his target and Pete turned towards him, asking him what he done to rouse Herman's ire further.

Briefly closing his eyes, Herman explained that he didn't know the man, he was exiled before Alhazared's time, but knew enough from Hamon to connect the dots, learnt his connection to Mackie's death, and enough to know what he did in a time before.

Reaching into his olive-green stitched pocket once again, Herman brought out stacks of loose pages with writings on them.

Looking at them, Pete asks what they are, and Herman tells him that he hunted down an alien that wrote about humans, found it writing about River, made it tell him why, and it's a blur what happened after that, but after looking over the pages, Herman sought someone's help ensuring that the events that transpired in the pages never happened.

"He's already killed, headmaster. He'll kill, again. I won't let him kill my little girl. Not again!"

After losing his only home and life, Herman worked hard to reclaim what little he could, having River in his life helped him, and he won't let the events in the papers happen, he'll do whatever it takes to keep her from dying for him.

He knew of something that stirred in the corners of the Council's minds that they tried to suppress, he heard rumours, and stories.

An abomination, they'd call it.

Disappeared when they tried to kill it and it hasn't been seen since.

There's been dozens of rumours of the abomination showing up, though they've been egregious, there's some truths to them.

Even if that twat refused to believe that his creation's capable of that sort!

Looking towards his former headmaster, Herman inquired, "Has it shown up since then?"

Hamon couldn't lie to him if he tried, Herman knows him, and he admitted that he hadn't seen the abomination of a man recently.

He comes and goes, seemingly on a whim.

Cold and calculating, just like his originator.

Seeing Pete confused, Hamon gave context, Alhazared experimented during his time in Gallifrey, in secrecy, but it was discovered and he was sentenced to death for his treacherous ways, before escaping his execution.

The Council wanted to destroy everything in its path tied to him, alas, they couldn't kill the one experiment that gotten away.

Somehow, it gained a mind of its own, that much Hamon knows, not just its own mind, it developed gifts that Hamon suspected was Alhazared's attempts at extending his life, empowering him when he would transplant his mind into the body.

Perhaps the reasons why his experiments failed was due to the powers he gave the body, not fully realizing the ramifications.

"You can't trust it," Hamon warns that Herman couldn't trust the abomination wrapped up in the form of a strange man with the illuminating blue eyes, but Herman wasn't deterred.

Blinking, Herman says, "Maybe. I bet you, though, he hates him, too."

A failed experiment of Alhazared, no doubt he attempted to try to kill it when he discovered that it gained a sentient mind of its own, and that left an impact on the experiment, convincing Herman he has a chance swaying it to help him.

Even Frankenstein's monster realized what a terrible person his creator was, even if it's improbable for a sewn corpse to have a working brain.

Getting up, Herman decided to ransack the pub's liquor cabinets, while they discussed their situation, a trail of plumbing smoke followed him as he gone over to the worn counter with deep cuts in the wood grain.

"What're we going to do?" Pete inquired what they're supposed to do with the knowledge they're sharing, now, while Herman gave his answer to the tune of throwing ice in a glass.

As the ice clanked inside the glass, Herman says, "I know what I'm going to do."

Shaking his head, his stiff hair hardly moving underneath his hat, Hamon warned, "He'll kill you."

Snorting as he poured himself a drink, Herman responds, "So what, I'm already dead. Haven't you read the papers, or did they get rid of them, too?"

Tilting his head as he stares at Herman confusingly, Pete asks him, "What are you going to do?"

Lifting the glass up to his lips, Herman says in a rare loud voice, "What any father would!"

He angrily drank from his glass, balancing his lit wooden pipe, as Hamon tried to reason with him, "Herma— "

Herman wouldn't hear it, shaking his head angrily as he stated, "Forget it! I've made up my mind, headmaster. Even if I must die, that bastard isn't taking my daughter away from me, I accepted my losses on Gallifrey, headmaster, but not her!"

Choking back tears as he drank his liquor, Herman refused to let Alhazared take his little girl away from him, again.

After seeing what the events in the pages transpired, what Alhazared did to his adopted daughter, Herman doesn't care if he had to die to do it, he won't let the man take away the only anchor he had keeping him sane all these years.

Seeing how much he loved her, seeing himself in the slightly younger Time Lord, Pete asks, "What about River, how do you think she'll feel when she finds out what you're planning?"

Resigned as he rested the empty glass with the ice clanking against the sides on the dusty counter, Herman answered, "She's a strong woman. I've no doubts this will devastate her, but in time, she'll understand. And she'll help you all with his downfall. She's my River, the giver of life and death."

Herman made peace with his choice.

He's considered persona non grata to the Council, no one will speak up for him, too afraid of the Council exiling them out of retribution, and he didn't want Hamon risking his clout doing so, either.

As far as Gallifrey's concerned, he's good as dead, who'll care to acknowledge his own death?

Looking at him, Hamon brought up, "What if you're wrong?"

Pouring himself another drink, Herman gave his response to the tune of the expired vermouth pouring into the glass, "They've always said I was, headmaster."

The day he flipped the switch, the day they exiled him, he was wrong.

He was wrong about a lot of things, but this time, he's sure as hell, he isn't wrong.

Pete watched as Herman knocking back his drink as he smoked in between, asking him, "You mean it?"

Resting his empty glass once again, Herman gestured with his free hand as he explains his reasoning.

"I did not spend my four-hundred and some years in exile just to quit, now. You can continue lying to him, headmaster, but it will cost you, too," Herman pointed at his former headmaster, warning him that continuing to lie to Theodore about what happened won't end well, it's not protecting him from the real threat.

Crossing his arms over the table, Hamon insisted it wasn't Theodore's fight, but Herman wouldn't hear it as he came around the counter looking at his former headmaster.

"Mackie? Medi? His wife? Was it theirs? Headmaster, he's coming and delaying this will only hurt your nephew. You of all people, know this," Herman vehemently believed there's nothing to gain keeping the truth from Theodore, it'll only cause more problems than it's worth.

Alhazared doesn't care about rules, he never had, he willingly broke them to extend his life, experimenting with the forbidden knowledge, hell, his knowledge ended up in the body of a dead woman who lived centuries!

Who knows who else was harmed by the man's attempts?

"He's already killed Mackie, are you willing to let him kill David, too?" Pete pointed out that Hamon's unwillingness threatened more than just Theodore.

Bringing up his daughter, lord knows what went through that man's mind when he killed Matilda, what reason he had leaving Jenny alive, if not traumatizing her at a young age, or possibly coming back for her, to get to Pete.

Hamon insisted, "I only need more time!"

It's difficult work trying to find everything he needed, talking to people who'd listen, but Hamon insists that with enough time, he can stop the madman.

Coming towards the table, Herman tells him, "Time was never on our side, headmaster."

Pete agreed with Herman, saying, "He took her from me. I won't let him take Jenny, too. How many more, Hamon?"

Raising his hand, Herman insisted they do something, while talking, Pete recalled the journal that Mackie sought, believing it belonged to Alhazared, that it was the key.

Nodding, Hamon says it indeed was, reaching behind him, grabbing something from a bag resting against the chair.

Resting on the centre of the table, the men looked at the disheveled journal, worse for wear.

"I thought the Council had it destroyed when he showed his true colours," Herman sees the old journal, looking like it went through the wringer, as Hamon told him that it'd seem the Council "accidentally" let it slip through its fingers, as with everything else.

The abomination must've stolen it when it gained sentience, for what purpose, Hamon can't say.

Unfortunately, there's missing pages in the journal, leaving it incomplete, but that's not unexpected with the abomination.

"You believe he's hiding something?" Pete's caramel eyes glistened with intrigue hearing about the missing pages.

His dark eyes fixated on the journal, the old Time Lord said, "Possibly. He's an abomination and knows it."

Confused, Herman asks Hamon why the abomination of a man gave him the journal now, and the old Time Lord sighed as he admitted that he wouldn't tell him, and likely won't.

Instead, he said one last thing to Hamon.

"He told me, the silence looms," Hamon explained what the strange man told him when they first met and what he said after they reunited before he gave the journal to Hamon.

Baffled, Pete asks what it meant, before Hamon says, "It means that in time, the battle comes to a head. When the looming silence falls over the battlefield."

Leaving Herman to snort, "Hmph! That's General Ham for you!"

Hamon raised his voice towards Herman as he settled, before calmly telling them both, "He survived once and I will ensure he doesn't, again."

Vowing that he'll kill Alhazared, Hamon wanted nothing more than destroy him from the inside out, prevent him from hurting anyone else.

It led Herman asking Hamon where he's been the last couple of centuries, why he hadn't raised his head until know, with Pete wanting answers, too.

Calming them, Hamon tells them, "I don't know. I know, he's not here."

The moment Hamon realized that Alhazared wasn't dead, he scoured this world, looking for any signs of his presence, only to find that he wasn't anywhere on Earth, but he wasn't satisfied, paranoid that in a moment's notice, he'll reappear here.

Leading Herman into badgering him further about his refusal telling his nephew about a real and dangerous threat, "You can't lie to your nephew forever. You know what that little putz can do."

Pete agreed with Herman, saying, "He killed her without me knowing. Was it sadism why he didn't take Jenny, too?"

Killing his wife in front of his baby daughter, that's not the work of just a killer, a sadistic one, at that.

Pointing at Hamon, Herman added, "If he hadn't already, he'll set his eyes on your nephew. Hell, maybe not him!"

What if the putz goes after Hammond or Odette? Anyone they know?

Agreeing, Pete insisted they do something, before it's too late, and he and Herman spoke to each other about how they can finally rid the universes, the presence of one of the most dangerous man in existence, while Hamon listened to them.

"What if we call favours?" Herman suggested they pool resources of people they know, people they can trust.

Thinking, Pete asks, "Like who?"

Scratching the side of his head, Herman pointed out, "Plenty of people lost someone to him. Lotta of them angry. Give them a reason, they'll throw their hats in, no questions asked."

As they're talking, Hamon spoke up, reminding them, "It'll be dangerous."

Smiling at him, Herman responded with, "Life isn't without its dangers, headmaster."

Hamon grew silent as Pete rubbed his chin, asking what Herman had in mind as the Time Lord went around the pool table, grabbed the pool cue from underneath, shooting the white ball at the multicoloured balls as they clattered against each other.

"Like I said: plenty of people have a bone to pick with him. Plenty of resources to draw from," Herman stared at the balls as they clanked against each other, against the sides of the table.

Hearing the balls fall into the holes, Pete inquired, "Do you think it's enough?"

Casually playing pool with himself, Herman stated, "No. But, it's what we have. Maybe it's enough. Maybe it isn't. We don't have the luxury. When I made those domes, I didn't have anything but a prayer."

Maybe pooling their resources isn't enough, but it's all they have to their names, and it's the only thing they have.

It's better than nothing.

Watching him play pool, Pete stood up and gone over to him, asking him, while he shot the white ball into the other balls, "What do you propose?"

As he watched the balls slammed into each other before going everywhere on the pool table, Herman's dark eyes following them, he tells Pete, "Well, my intuition may be outdated by a few centuries, but it's no coincidence he's alive."

Curious, Pete wanted an elaboration, to which Herman gave it to him as he walked around the pool table, gauging his chances in successfully scoring.

"He's experimented since they cut him loose. Don't think for a minute that little shite didn't stop after they ransacked his little lab. He knew his number was called from day one, he wasn't stupid. Maybe he is, hell. They were going to execute him, so he reacted. He made that thing to get a head start. Only something happened, didn't it, headmaster?" Herman looked over to the quiet Time Lord who acknowledged his deduction before Herman continued. "His little pet project got loose. Guess the Council didn't sign enough papers. Anyway. If he can't make a body to hide his mind in, maybe he just took one. You did always say our minds were our strongest weapons, right, headmaster?"

Attempting to follow Herman's elaborate story, Pete sought clarification, having gotten confused, asking how Alhazared took a body, which Herman shrugs as he summed, "The same way Medi took the machine, he stole it."

It didn't answer Pete's question as he gestured, wanting more details while Herman casually played pool, smoke coming from his wooden pipe as he felt the effects of his special blend.

"How?" Pete watched as Herman continued his game of pool.

Coming up with an explanation in a way that Pete can understand, Herman says, "Same way earwigs get in your ears. His mind wormed its way into some poor bastard's mind. Probably thought it was just a migraine. Hopefully he was dead the moment the bastard made himself home."

Describing it for him, Herman says that Alhazared survived his first death by sending his mind out in the unknown, until it reached someone that unknowingly let his mind in, and it took over in time.

Like a parasite.

Small headaches that go away, migraines that take hours, chronic migraines that seem endless, thoughts and feelings not their own, until it's too late to do anything, the original person good as dead.

Hearing this made Pete pale as he wondered who Alhazared took, but Herman said that they won't know the answer, it wasn't like they're able to undo the damage done, Alhazared effectively killed them, there's nothing they could've done, except avenge their wrongful death.

His caramel eyes lit with anger, Pete stared, "If he can possess someone, how do we mean to stop him?"

The answer didn't come from Herman, instead, it came from Hamon.

"We trap him," he said to the men as he stood up and joined them at the pool table.

If they killed him, he'll simply disappear into the ether, return, but if they trapped him, some fashion, he can't escape, they might have a chance dealing the killing blow.

Thinking it over, Herman nodded, agreeing with Herman's idea, saying, "Right. We set a trap for him, something he can't escape from, and when he's at his weakest, we'll get him."

Blinking as he's thinking to himself, Pete inquired, "How're we going to do that?"

Sighing, Hamon said that he's working on that while Herman continued playing pool, Pete exhaling sharply as he wondered aloud how they'll go about such a plan of this caliber, only for Hamon to assure him that he's working on it as they speak.

Looking at the time, Herman stopped playing pool, resting the pool cue on the table, before looking at the men.

"I did what I could, it ain't much, but it's better than what the Council would ever do. Maybe he's a bastard, too, but maybe, just maybe, he's a reasonable bastard," Herman informed them that he's leaving to find the strange man, to bargain for his adopted daughter's life, concluding he did what he could helping Hamon.

Seeing him set in his ways, Pete called out to him, asking what he planned to do, if the abomination of a man wouldn't help him.

Snorting, Herman responded, "Oh, don't worry, I may smoke more than a power plant, but I'm still sharper than those kitchen knives on the infomercials. I'll get him to help if he doesn't feel particularly charitable."

Whether the abomination liked it or not, he's helping Herman do something considered improbable.

The optics, Herman didn't care, he'll work them out as he went.

"Hermonculus," Hamon called out to him as he adjusted his olive-green stitched vest, readying to walk out of the bar, knowing that it'll be the final time the men would see him.

Turning his head, his curly hair stiffly moving, Herman looked towards his former headmaster, his hand outstretched.

Taking it, Herman shook his hand, before Hamon grabbed him, pulling him into a hug, as he hugged his former student for the last time.

"The Council has a lot to answer for," Hamon tells him, "but they'll never get me to change my mind. You were one of my best and brightest students. Though they will never admit it, you done your people proud."

Without his help, there was a great chance that the Daleks would've annihilated the Time Lords, the Council won't admit it, but Hamon didn't hesitate once telling Herman this.

Releasing him, Hamon watched as Herman bid him and Pete farewell, pouring out the ashes from his wooden pipe in the bin near the door, before stepping out of the bar, never to return.

THE END