"'Ey, Doc, what's all this dust? I feel like I should be sneezing, but…" Graham trailed off, following a few of the glittering particles as they fell.

"This, my friends," the Doctor smiled wide as her companions looked at her. "is something the locals call 'hornswoggle powder.'"

They bore into her as if she'd grown a third eye.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ryan asked.

The blonde beamed, "I'm glad you asked!" her friends just rolled their eyes and chuckled. She would have done this even if they hadn't asked. "Now, 'hornswoggle' is originally an English word, if you can believe it. It means to deceive or cheat somebody. That is to say, the powder is usually used as a component of a lot of pranks."

Her fam still weren't quite following, but she could tell they were interested.

"It can be gathered from its plants just by shaking them. It's kind of like a pollen that can do more than spread. It has next to no effect on whoever inhales it, which is why you aren't sneezing. And don't worry, it's completely harmless to humans.

"Usually, hornswoggle powder is mixed into food or drink. Once ingested, the 'victim,'" she used her fingers as air quotes, "sort of becomes a compulsive liar. It's the opposite of a truth serum; any answer they try to give will be the opposite of the truth. Most of the time it's used as a party trick or silly prank among the adolescent population."

She paused.

"Sometimes, though," her expression darkened slightly. "Sometimes it's used among criminals or corrupt officers. It can be snuck into food or injected into the victim to cause them to lie. In the case of interrogation, it's used to get false confessions out of people for personal gain, or to target a rival organization."

Yaz, Graham, and Ryan weren't sure what to say in response. The tone of the conversation had changed abruptly and had caught them off guard.

"Not today, though!" the Doctor was smiling again, much to the relief of her companions. "Not here. Right now, we're safe as bugs in a rug."

"Doctor, that's not how the saying goes." Yaz laughed, trying to correct her friend, but was blissfully ignored.

The Doctor led them deeper into the lush greenery, giving them fragments of information on some of the flora. Sometimes she would gasp excitedly and eagerly point out a funny-shaped flower. Other times she would grow comically serious and give a plant as wide a girth as she could manage.

One time, she tripped over a brightly-colored root and pouted as her friends teased her.

"I'm telling you, those root plants hate humanoids!" she had claimed.

"Why didn't we get tripped, then, Doc'?" Graham retorted.

The Doctor had stammered, "I - Well - Uh, it must have just got confused."

Her cheeks flushed pink when she was subject to more playful laughter from her fam, and they marched on through the expansive naturescape.

After a while of wandering through massive leaves, Yaz grabbed the Doctor's attention.

"Doctor, what's this one?" she was pulling lightly on a large red-hued petal.

A puzzled look flitted across the Time Lord's face.

"Oh, I don't know," she remarked. "I don't think I've seen it before."

The Doctor's vision blurred slightly, and she couldn't seem to focus her eyes on the flower. She squinted, trying her best to make out the details she thought she detected.

But, to no avail. Her eyes were crossing and her head spun. She rested against a pillar.

That pillar had been there before, right?

"Doctor, are you alright?" Yaz asked, and the blonde's eyes finally focused.

Her friend was standing next to a hanging rug. Where were they?

"Yeah, I'm not. I mean, I am. I'm fine." she dismissed her worry with a wave of her hand.

The Doctor shook her head, eyes adjusting to the department store she found herself in.

"What happened to the plants?"

The trio of companions just stared confused at their friend.

"What plants? We're looking for a couple of rugs, remember?" Graham's eyes pierced the Doctor's, trying to peer into her mind and decipher what was going on.

Oh, yeah. She had insisted they take a break from adventures and look for rugs to put in the TARDIS lounges. She must have become distracted, or bored. She must have been daydreaming.

Why was her head beginning to pound with each rapid heartbeat?

Why was she so, so tired?

Her hands dragged across her face in an attempt to wipe the fatigue from her features. She stumbled slightly, struggling to keep herself walking when she was hit with an intense wave of exhaustion.

"Doc'? You okay?" Ryan caught her by the elbow before she tumbled to the floor.

"Yeah, I'm...fine. Just...need some...rest…" her eyelids weighed heavy in her vision. She could feel herself slipping into unconsciousness and onto the floor.

Yaz's head throbbed.

She could feel herself suspended from something, crucifixion-style. Her wrists held her weight and strained in their restraints. She couldn't feel or move her legs, but she could tell they pulled her body toward the floor. Her head hung past her shoulders, her neck seemingly out of service.

Slowly, she found herself able to lift her head.

Her eyes adjusted to the dark room she was in. Dim blue lights dotted the floor beneath her, the only indication of the size of the room. It wasn't huge, but it was big enough to hold various tables with miscellaneous items she couldn't make out.

Across the room, a white light flicked on underneath another person in the same position as she.

"Doctor?" she attempted to call out, met only with a weak rasp. None of this made sense.

She couldn't remember how she got here, why she was being held here, why it was just her and the Doctor. Everything was fuzzy in her mind. She thought she could recall something about being chased, but by who, or what, or why, wasn't clear.

The light below the Doctor flicked off. Had that been just to tell Yaz that she was trapped and so was the only person she thought could save her?

Everything was all wrong.

She tried again to speak into the heavy silence, but her mouth didn't connect to her brain and no sound escaped.

A tear fell from her eye, dropping silently to the cold floor. Her head screamed as it tried to keep her from falling into another disturbed slumber.

It was no match. Her mind turned to black.

Shouting and screaming echoed around and through her ears.

"Doctor!" Yaz cried. Where was she?

Clouds of smoke and ash littered the darkened sky above her head.

What was happening?

War. She could sort of remember.

It wasn't meant to end like this. The Doctor had assured them, they could prevent this. Where was she now, when humanity was busy slaughtering each other? Where had she gone and left her companions for dead?

Yaz blinked tears from her eyes. She couldn't tell if they were from shock or because the parched air burned them.

A gust of hot air cleared smoke to her left, and she could barely make out an unconscious heap of someone.

Her tired legs carried her toward them, view of a singed blue-grey coat and dirtied blonde hair spread across her vision.

The Doctor.

She felt herself running now, huffing to reach the woman lying on the rumbling earth.

"Doctor? Doctor, are you alright?" she heard no response.

Her hands took in a wrist, aching to find a pulse.

Barely there, the telltale Time Lord heartbeat.

Thank the gods.

She gently shook the woman, hoping that she would wake up.

A strangled breath left her lips, a much needed sign of approaching consciousness.

"Yaz? That you?" she barely managed a whisper.

The young woman only nodded, grabbing the Doctor's hand and squeezing.

Her hand clamped around nothing. The Doctor had disappeared. But, how? She had just been in front of her, stirring to life before her eyes and now she was gone.

Everything was all wrong.

Sobs tore from her aching lungs and the cries turned to hacking coughs as she inhaled too much smoke.

The Doctor couldn't be dead. Yaz refused to think about that. She was just alive in her hands but had seemingly dissolved into a memory within a fraction of a second.

Nothing was making sense.

What had happened here? Who were they fighting? Why were they fighting?

Breaths came and went quickly, leaving Yaz feeling light-headed and unable to stand. She slumped to the dirt, defeated and worn.

A heavy throbbing returned with force. It pushed her further toward the ground, capturing her in immense pain.

Pathetic cries tore from her throat as her ears lost the sounds around her and filled with the rush of blood through her head.

Her head jerked before her eyes popped open.

The dark room again. Where was this place?

A sinister chuckle echoed behind her and a chill ran down her spine. She knew that laugh.

"Yasmin, Yasmin, Yasmin," the voice teased. "I always knew you were a favorite of hers." the figure who possessed the voice pointed to the Doctor. He stepped into the light.

Even though Yaz had known it was him, her breath still caught in her throat.

"What do you want from us?"

Another deep laugh.

"The usual, I think. Pain, drawn out. Suffering." he smiled. Her stomach turned.

He paused a moment before turning on the light on the Doctor's "pedestal," of sorts.

"I want to get to her. To make her feel pain similar to what I feel all the time. I knew that, to do so, I would need you, Yasmin Khan." he sneered. "It's so obvious how she sees you. A lonely Time Lord, surrounding herself with friends and picking a pretty, young companion to flirt with. You're all the same, you know. You follow after her like lost puppies, and bend to her every will. You'd do anything for her. She's got into your head, and you won't be able to shake her from it. Trust me," he huffed. "I know how that feels."

Yaz felt sick. He was just saying this to get under her skin. She refused to think of his name, but it was almost like he was forcing it into her head.

Master.

"We're friends." she insisted, but the Master just laughed. "I'm a human. I know she's lonely, even though she doesn't let it show. But don't tell me that she relies on us only for personal gain. She's not like that."

"Oh, you have no idea what she's like. Did you know she and I used to kill our own people sometimes, for fun? You don't know the first thing about the Doctor, Yaz. You have no clue the monstrous things she's done."

"I don't believe you." she spat.

"It's true." A hurting voice came from the other side of the room.

"What? Doctor, no, you're not like that!" Yaz insisted.

"Yaz, I am like that. I was like that. I was horrible," she turned her attention to the Master. "But I decided to change. I decided I was better than that. Better than the killings, the hurt. Better than you." she spoke pointedly.

The man between them scoffed.

The Doctor breathed deep, "What were those visions we had? I'm assuming they were your creations?"

He smiled wide.

"Yes. Though, I had hoped to keep you both unconscious long enough to really dig the knife in."

"What do you want? Information? An admittance of defeat?" the Doctor's face contorted into a piercing question.

"Truthfully, I don't usually know," a sickening laugh sounded from his mouth. "I just like to see you suffer, as I have suffered. At the hands of you."

"Tell us what you want!" Yaz yelled, having found the courage to stand up for herself.

The Master just laughed again. He seemed to really love laughing at his victims, making a mockery of the hurt they went through.

"Oh, Yaz, do shut up." he sighed. "This isn't about you. I only needed you to get at the Doctor, because I'm sure we all know-"

"Enough." the Doctor snapped. "Let her go."

He appeared to think on the demand, as if he was actually considering it.

"Hm," he pondered. "No. I'm in your head, Doctor. I see your thoughts. I know what you think about her. I have the upperhand here."

Yaz's face held confusion, and maybe, just maybe a touch of hope. What did the Doctor think of her?

No. This was no time to pine over a woman who was currently in danger.

"I could kill her," the Master said nonchalantly, gesturing toward Yaz. "Take her away from you. What would you do then, Doctor? Would you continue pretending that you possess strong morals? Would you finally let humans see just how dark your soul is?"

"If you even lay a hand on her," the Doctor threatened.

Her words landed flat. She was restrained and powerless. There was nothing she could do to stop her best enemy from killing the young woman she admired so strongly.

But, she couldn't dwell on that now. She had to focus on finding a way out.

"I used those visions in your 'dreams' to gain access to your thoughts. The Doctor, a heart yearning but afraid to admit. You really are pitiful, aren't you?" he taunted.

She glared at him.

"And Yasmin," he turned. "A young woman from a stupid human town. Silly girl, longing after someone you hardly know. Do you know how old, how ancient she is? Compared to her, you're a mite on her shirt."

Yaz shook the hurt from her face. He was lying. He had to be. There was no way a being such as the Doctor would find herself caught up in feelings for a girl like her.

She cursed herself for wondering about that in such a life-threatening moment.

"Leave her alone." the Doctor pleaded. Her voice displayed the hurt she was suffering.

Yaz found herself held in the Doctor's gaze after she spoke. In her eyes she saw vulnerability like she'd never known the Time Lord to possess before. It was almost like she could see her own thoughts reflected in those hazel-colored irises.

A lost girl reaching for something to feel, to hold onto. Yaz had found that in the Doctor.

Had the Doctor found that in her?

The Master mocked his old friend with a nasty laugh.

"Do you want me to be scared? To be frightened that you may try to overthrow me to save some pathetic human girl? Please, Doctor. We both know I am worth so much more than her, and it wouldn't matter if she just," he made a "pop" sound with his mouth, "disappeared."

Defeat felt inevitable. Yaz and the Doctor were under the Master's control, suspended painfully before him and forced to endure whatever torture he wanted them to.

Yaz's head felt full of lead. Her heart ached. Would it really matter so little if she were to "disappear," as the Master put it? Did she mean so little to everyone?

"What was it for?" she asked.

He chuckled, "What?"

"The visions you gave us. You said you needed me to get at her, but what was the purpose?"

He sighed.

"For her, I just needed some silly little scenarios to keep her placated. Keep her unconscious while I worked on the bait." the Master wrung his hands as he paced between the women. "For you, Yaz, I needed something strong. I gave you nightmares of war and manslaughter. And where was she in these visions?" he smiled toward the Doctor.

The weary Time Lord just hung her head, no longer able to keep her gaze level.

"Nowhere to be seen. Left the battlefield, letting the humans kill themselves. Oh, and when she did appear," he turned to Yaz, "which I did not intend to happen, by the way. You have a very strong will," he laughed. "I had to quickly pluck her out. Couldn't have you thinking she'd actually help, now could I?"

Yaz glared. Then, a thought popped into her head. Surely the Master couldn't have been so dense.

Still, she lifted her head and gave him a smug smile.

"And why are you telling us? I mean, if you wanted me to doubt her so she'd feel weak, surely you'd keep that to yourself? I wouldn't think a Time Lord such as yourself would let slip such seemingly crucial information."

She heard the Doctor let out a soft laugh across the room.

"She's right, Master." she teased his name. With newfound strength, she raised her head to stare at her sworn enemy.

He didn't let his facade waver, but she could tell they'd struck him well.

"Didn't think this through, did you?" Yaz mocked.

To the side, Yaz could see the Doctor working herself free while she maintained eye contact with the Master. She did her best to hold his angered gaze while her friend quietly slipped from her constraints.

It almost looked like he was about to counter her argument, or to make more snide comments, before the Doctor came from behind and seemingly paralyzed him. His eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped back into her grip.

"Non-lethal stun device," she explained. "He may be one of the worst people I've ever known, but it's true what I said earlier. I've changed."

Yaz just nodded. She trusted the Doctor enough to know she was telling the truth.

Silence filled the air between them as the Time Lord worked Yaz free.

Behind her conscience, doubt clouded Yaz's thoughts of the Doctor. Was what the Master said true? It made sense, a boring little human made no comparison to a Time Lord. She couldn't help thinking that she might just be an accessory for the alien while they travelled.

With a final click of a cuff around her wrist, Yaz dropped to the cool ground beneath her. The Doctor caught and held her gently under her arms. She used her friend as an anchor while she attempted to gain the use of her legs back.

"Hey," the Doctor spoke softly. "It's not true, you know,"

"What's not?" Despite the question, Yaz was sure she knew.

A sigh blew past the Doctor's lips, "You aren't pathetic. I mean, no human is, but especially not you."

Yaz was able to support her own weight now and used the ability to lean back and look the Doctor in the eye. She could feel the sincerity behind the words, but she couldn't help the worry that tinged the edges of her thoughts.

"I'm serious," the Doctor said after a few minutes without a response. "He tried to get under your skin, it's what he does. But, it's not the truth."

She took Yaz's left hand in her right.

"Yasmin Khan, you are not and could never be pathetic. Especially not to me."

Now hot tears were starting to seep from Yaz's eyes. It wasn't her intention to cry, but the events they had just endured had caught up with her. And the weight of the words she was hearing just added to the oncoming flood.

It was all she could do to give the Doctor a weak smile.

"Come on," the Time Lord tugged lightly on her companion's hand and began to lead them toward what looked like a door.

"Time to leave the lies behind." she spoke these words as much to Yaz as she did to herself.

"Yeah," Yaz nodded. "No more lies."