Chapter 18

Alex was giggling but he didn't like it. There was a knot in his stomach that was telling him the whole situation was wrong but he couldn't help himself. The massive amount of Hype that the Keeper had given him over the course of the night had overloaded his mind, making him giddy and, at the same time, frightened. He could feel his heart beating a little too quickly, his respiratory bypass preventing him from hyperventilating. His logic wanted the feeling to stop so that he could regain a sense of normalcy. His addiction made him want more, especially thanks to the entrancing light show that played in his mind.

"Nere'i, where is Lord Rega?" a familiar voice questioned, disturbing the pattern in his mind. He didn't know why the voice kept asking that question but he really wished it would stop. Although the name Rega did bring about other images. Towering silver trees with sunlight beaming through them, making the forest shine. And in the forest, completely contrary to the silvery-leafed trees, were Earth woodland creatures dressed in medieval garb. A fox and a bear in particular stood out in his mind as a rooster – okay, so that wasn't a woodland animal – strummed on a lute and sang. The absurdity of the vision made him giggle again and he started to sing along with the rooster:

Robin Hood and Little John
Walkin' through the forest
Laughin' back and forth
At what the other'n has to say
Reminiscin' this 'n' that
And havin' such a good time
Oo-de-lally, Oo-de-lally
Golly, what a day

The Keeper's eyes widened slightly at the lyrics. "Robin Hood." He recognized the name immediately. According to Ranetl, it was Rega's code name while Alex's was Will Scarlett. Previously, he'd thought they were just random irrelevant references. Now, with the Nere'i on Hype and having been questioned repeatedly about Rega's whereabouts, he wasn't so sure. If Lord Rega is this Robin Hood and, as the Nere'i sang, Robin Hood walks through a forest… Leaning forward, he spoke into the prisoner's ear. "Nere'i, where's Robin Hood's forest?"

Alex opened his mouth for a moment, apparently about to answer, before he shook his head. "You're not fooling me, Sheriff. You want to know where Rega is because he's Robin Hood. Not telling you. I will never betray Maid Marion and she's with Robin Hood so I'm not telling you where he is so that she stays safe."

The Time Lord snarled in anger and frustration. He was so certain that the Hype would have succeeded in loosening the prisoner's tongue and cause him to reveal the location of Rega. His confidence had been raised with Alex's childish song but he wasn't sure how much more Alex could take of the narcotic without irreparable damage to his brain. Despite what he had told him before, the Keeper wanted him to at least be sane enough to function as a slave… once he offered up the information. That left only one last option. He was going to have to up the ante yet again.

When the morning had come, Jakobb went to do his regular duties, ensuring the staff had their morning meal and everything was ready for the Keeper to partake in his own respite. But when fifteen minutes had passed the normal time the master of the estate took his meal – being a Time Lord, he was always punctual – Jakobb wondered what held the Gallifreyan from his normal routine. He instructed the chef to pull the meal from the table, with the knowledge that he may have to make a fresh meal at a moment's notice. Leaving the den, Jakobb first went to the Keeper's suite and then to his office before realizing the Time Lord was in the interrogation room, torturing Alex for information.

He found the Keeper standing in front of Alex, who was strung up by his wrists once again. In the Keeper's hand was the device that Jakobb had come to call 'the pole'. Pole was an inaccurate term for the implement of torture, though, as it was used to electrocute a victim. But that wasn't what worried Jakobb the most. It was the wildness in Alex's eyes that said he wasn't quite right in his head. It was a look Jakobb has seen many times on drug users, more specifically on addicts of the drug known as Hype. While an effective medication for humans, the chemical made Nere'ii, Gallifreyans, and Time Lords susceptible to suggestions, mood swings, and hallucinations. Right now, the drug seemed to be making Alex giddy despite the menacing figure in front of him.

Realizing that he couldn't help Alex for the moment, Jakobb approached the Keeper cautiously, unsure how the Time Lord would react to being interrupted. "My lord, you missed morning meal. Is there anything wrong?"

The Gallifreyan paid him no attention, his focus on Alex, who was singing a song about Robin Hood.

Robin Hood and Little John
Runnin' through the forest
Jumpin' fences, dodgin' trees
And tryin' to get away
Contemplatin' nothin'
But escapin' and finally makin' it
Oo-de-lally, Oo-de…

"One more time, Nere'i," the Time Lord interrupted the song. "Where's Robin Hood's forest?"

Jakobb's eyes widened with realization at the question. It had been right in front of him the whole time and yet he hadn't made the correlation between Rega's code name and the Earth legend until right at that moment. If he had realized it before, he would have told the Keeper, bringing about the downfall of Rega and all his people. Now, with his drug-induced ballad, Alex had inadvertently told the Time Lord exactly where Lord Rega was… but the Gallifreyan had no reference to make the translation. Jakobb wasn't about to give him the necessary reference.

Alex shook his head at the Time Lord's demand. "Not gonna tell you. Why? Because you're the Sheriff of Nottingham." He laughed at his own words, clearly pleased with himself.

The Keeper gave him a slight smirk as he raised the pole, pressing the translucent end into Alex's side. The contact instantly sent electricity surging through his body.

Alex shrieked and writhed, desperately trying to escape the torturous touch of the rod. No matter how he pulled away, straining against the bonds that held him to the table, the Time Lord ensured the rod left his skin for no more than a second, callously watching his victim suffer from his onslaught.

From the side, Jakobb watched his master torture Alex, noting a hint of glee in the Keeper's eyes that grew the longer he tortured Alex. The Time Lord wasn't just punishing him to get information from him. He wanted him to suffer and he was enjoying hearing him scream. When the prisoner began to convulse, Jakobb knew he had to act.

Ripping the pole from the Time Lord's hands, Jakobb turned on him and pressed it into his side, catching the Keeper completely off-guard and bringing out a bellow of agony. The Gallifreyan dropped to his knees and then to the floor, writhing as the electrical current took away his ability to control motor function. Nevertheless, Jakobb continued his assault. Now that the Keeper was at his mercy, what had started out as stopping him from torturing Alex became an act of revenge: for torturing Alex, for torturing him, for causing him to betray the cause and people he believed in, for every person the Keeper had ever caused harm. The Keeper lost his voice from the screaming but Jakobb continued to press the rod into his chest. His victim started to convulse but the assault didn't stop. Only when the Time Lord stopped moving did Jakobb stop and stare at the immobile form, unsure what he had done or how he felt about it.

A moan from behind brought him back to the reality of the situation. He didn't know if he had killed the Keeper or not – he doubted it, given how resilient Time Lords were – but he wasn't willing to hang around to find out. He needed to get Alex and him out of there and off the estate as quickly as possible. Undoing his restraints, he caught Alex and carried him out of the room. He stopped briefly to ensure that the door was locked from the outside using a unique locking code to prevent anyone from getting in or out without a bit of hacking. He then cautious carried Alex through the mansion to his suite, making sure that none of the staff saw them.

Laying Alex on his bed, he quickly rummaged through his belongings for suitable attire. Finding one of his evening outfits – he liked to look the part when he visited "friends" – he quickly dressed Alex in the clothes before collecting the satchel he'd hidden the night before. Seeing that Alex was still incapacitated, he again picked him up in his arms and, with the same caution as before, made his way to the estate's garage, where two private transportation vehicles were available for the Keeper's use.

Jakobb smiled to himself. So far, so good, especially considering the risk of taking action so early in the day. It wouldn't be long until one of the staff wondered what was taking him so long to come back from checking on their master and go looking on their own. They'd find the interrogation room locked and call in the Imperial Chancellery Guard, who would discover that the door was locked on the outside and would easily hack the code. Then the guards would find the Keeper, which would cause an all-out manhunt. That meant he had an hour, maybe two, to get as far away from the estate as possible without being seen by any of the multiple security cameras throughout the Citadel. His smile faded immediately into a frown. It really would have been better to do this at night, while the whole estate was asleep. But since that was no longer an option, better to do things as quickly as possible.

Deciding not to focus on what could go wrong at the moment, he hurried to one of the transports – the Keeper's favorite, a sleek and fast sports model – and put Alex in the backseat. He then slipped into the driver's seat and, with a push of a button – again, he thanked Time Lord ego for thinking the chances of their property being stolen by their slaves an impossibility – zoomed quietly out of the garage and then off the estate. Thanks to Alex's musical slip-up, he knew exactly where they needed to go: Robin Hood's forest.

Figuring out a way to leave the Citadel undetected was proving to be more complicated than Jakobb had planned. His original plan of slipping through the main city gates was contingent on Alex's ability to walk, the cover of darkness, and a well-spent bribe to the gate's guard. As it was, Jakobb had to rethink the entire plan, especially since he didn't think Alex would be able to function rationally even if he were conscious.

The first thing he needed was to ditch the Keeper's transport as it would be reported as stolen. He knew the lower levels of the city were his best option under the circumstances. Driving to the needed neighborhood, he found a secluded area – an alley – to park and turned to check on his passenger. He was startled to find Alex staring at him with slightly glazed eyes that held repressed fear.

"You're awake," Jakobb stated, shaking his head afterwards at the absurdity of saying the obvious.

His words and actions only increased Alex's trepidation, causing him to inch away from Jakobb. Before the Human realized it, Alex quickly opened the transport's back door and bolted from the vehicle.

"Wait!" Jakobb cried out, hurrying to stop the frightened man.

Alex hadn't gotten far, though. Weakened from days of torture, very little food and water, and not having used his legs in two days, he collapsed under his own weight onto the concreted alley. Seeing Jakobb coming towards him, he scrambled away, desperate to put distance between them.

"Alex, take it easy! I'm not going to hurt you!" Jakobb assured, his hands up to show he was unarmed. "I promise." Slowing his approach, he continued to reassure Alex until he was two feet away and at eye level. He couldn't help but compare the Nere'i as he was now to the man he'd met only a week ago. The vibrant defiant man who'd shown no fear then was now more like a frightened animal, ready to flee at a moment's notice. "I'm not going to hurt you. In fact, I'm going to help you."

Alex lowered his eyelids slightly, thus showing his distrust and disbelief in Jakobb's words.

"I don't blame you for not believing me," Jakobb told him. "I hurt you and I didn't stop the Keeper from hurting you until much too late. I'm so sorry, Alex." He paused thoughtfully. "I know some Nere'ii are empaths. Are you an empath?"

Alex paused for a moment before giving him a nod, still wary of what Jakobb was going to do.

Jakobb slowly extended his hand towards him. "Take my hand. Feel what I'm feeling and really know how sorry I am."

His invitation to feel his emotions caused Alex to frown as he realized he should be able to feel Jakobb's emotions without touching him, as he had done a thousand times over in the past with others. The only thing he could feel at the moment was his own overwhelming fear. His mind was clouded with it to the point of paranoia. If he took Jakobb's hand, would he grab him, pull him closed, and slit his throat? Would he, Alex, become just another drug addict who got himself killed in the worst part of the city?

"Alex?" Jakobb questioned with concern, seeing him growing more afraid. His mind searched quickly to see if he did anything to scare Alex further. His eyes widened slightly as he realized the culprit of Alex's mindset. "Alex, it's the Hype. It's making you overly paranoid. You're going to go through a lot of ups and downs before withdrawal sets in and you're going to need someone to help you through it all. I'm here for you, Alex. I need you to trust me but the only way you're going to believe me is if you take my hand."

Alex took a shaky breath and swallowed, still uncertain of Jakobb's motives but realizing that he was right. The only way he was going to believe was if he could feel Jakobb's emotions. Slowly, he extended his hand and took Jakobb's.

The emotions struck him hard, bringing tears to his eyes. So much sorrow, anger and self-loathing yet also concern and determination. They were the emotions of a wounded soul desperately seeking redemption. Even in his befuddled condition, a single memory came to his mind, one that seemed so long ago and yet was less than a month before. The first time he had met Nona, she had very adamantly told him, "You must trust the wounded soul." He finally understood the meaning of her cryptic words.

"Jack," he whispered, gazing on him with sympathy. He understood the emotions coming from him all too well, having had them himself.

Jakobb didn't correct Alex's choice of name for him. Hell, Jakobb wasn't even his real name, just one he'd adopted when he joined the Time Revolt. If taking on the name Jack helped him to start a new life, so be it. Besides, he didn't like who he was when he was Jakobb all that much.

"Are we good?" he questioned, still holding Alex's hand. Getting a nod, he helped Alex to his feet and guided him back to the transport. "Do you think you can walk on your own? We've got a long way to go but we don't have a lot of time. We have to get to your encampment, give them the cure, and warn them."

Alex frowned slightly at Jack's words, his mind struggling to understand them. "You have the cure? How?" he asked softly.

"Stole it from the HST last night. Also destroyed the disease and all record of it from the archives," Jack replied as he reached into the vehicle to retrieve his satchel. He glanced at Alex, noticing how he was leaning against the transport. "You still haven't answered my question. Can you walk on your own?"

Alex assessed his physical condition and didn't like what he found. Every muscle in his body hurt from the days of torture he'd endured but could he walk on his own? He gave Jack a brief nod in answer to the inquiry. He didn't know if he could walk without assistance but he was going to try. Jack obviously wanted him to and a paranoid voice in his head told him he'd better walk or Jack would leave him behind.

Jack didn't know what was running through Alex's mind but, based on the way the half-Gallifreyan held himself, he could take a good guess. As such, he knew he needed to reassure Alex yet again that he was in no danger from him. "How about you do your best and, if you need to rest, we'll stop for a bit?"

Gaining another nod from him, Jack guided Alex out of the alley and onto the street.

Credit to Roger Miller, who wrote the song "Oo-de-lally" for Disney's Robin Hood.