Chapter Two
Gasps all over the courtroom. One of the aliens turned to Yaz, whispering, "Is that really the Doctor? Like, the legendary Doctor?"
"Um...yeah."
The alien frowned. "Why is she defending that monster?"
Graham leant over. "What'd he do?"
The alien opened their mouth to respond but Rassilon pounded his fist on the table. "Order in the courtroom!" He eyed the Doctor, exasperated. "Doctor, you do realise-"
"I know who he is," she said, ice in her voice. "I know what he's done. A lot of the worst of it he did to me."
"Then-"
"He still has a right to representation. And as a Time Lord of the Pyrdonian Chapter, I am permitted, by Gallifreyan law, to provide it."
Rassilon's face flushed red and he grew very tense.
"Gallifrey is gone," he hissed. The companions gasped, looking amongst themselves and then to the Doctor. They could feel how intensely she was avoiding meeting heir gaze. "Destroyed...by him. Gallifreyan law no longer applies."
The Doctor's voice was equally quiet and considered. "This is the trial of a Time Lord by a Time Lord defended by a Time Lord." She started to pace the courtroom. "Wherever the location, our law applies. If any citizenry had survived-"
"There are some."
"What?" she said.
"There are a few surviving Gallifreyan refugees. Some are on the planet now."
The Doctor was struck dumb, a faint smile pulling at her lips, her eyes wide. "Then, while they live, Gallifrey-" Her voice cracked, she disguised it by clearing her throat, "Gallifrey stands."
She turned to face the courtroom, risking a glance in her companions' direction. Yaz mouthed, 'I am so sorry' at her, Graham was covering his mouth and shaking his head in horror and Ryan was struck dumb. The Doctor couldn't hold their gaze, a look of shame on her face. She recovered quickly. "We must not discard the better parts of Gallifrey, and that includes her due process. Even for the man who burnt her to the ground."
"This is not your decision, Doctor!" Rassilon snapped. She turned back to face him.
"Have you taken his plea yet?"
"This is insubordination-"
"The condemned may speak. Even the worst war criminals were permitted that during the Last Time War, as well you should remember."
Rassilon fumed, but he didn't seem to have a comeback. Next to them in the docks, the fam noticed some of the gallery watching with rapt attention. None of them cared for the Master, that much was clear, but they were captivated by the Doctor's presence, by the way she spoke to Rassilon.
"Who is the judge?" Yaz whispered to her neighbour.
"Don't you know? Rassilon is one of the founders of Gallifrey."
Rassilon all but slumped back in his seat. "...All right, Doctor. If you must. How does your client plead?"
She turned to the Master and something odd passed over her face as they locked eyes, the same look the companions had seen in the TARDIS. The Master was the same, an intensity to his stare like no one else was in the room but them.
Rassilon banged his fist on the table. "No telepathy in my courtroom!"
They simultaneously broke eye contact, the Master snickering while the Doctor looked sheepish. He settled back in his seat.
"Go on, love. You can tell him."
Just then there was a commotion outside. All eyes turned to the doors, but the indistinct yelling stopped as quickly as it had started. All eyes turned back to the Doctor.
"Right. The plea. My client is not guilty," she said, pausing to allow for the gasps, "By reason of insanity."
The Master chuckled and Rassilon stood, incensed. "Ridiculous! You make a mockery of this court!"
"I most certainly do not," she retorted, planting her hands on her hips, "I would be here all day if I went through everything."
"But he admits it?" Rassilon snapped. "He admits what he did?"
The Master was about to speak but the Doctor caught him in another intense look. Rassilon pounded the desk again. "I said no telepathy!"
The Doctor ignored him, her voice quiet when she spoke again. "Of course he does," the Doctor said, not breaking eye contact with him. "He admitted it to me."
Yet more gasps in the courtroom. The fam locked eyes and Yaz mouthed 'the message?' to the others. Graham nodded, his face grim. Again the Doctor looked nervously in their direction; they all tried and failed to smile reassuringly.
"If that is the case, then your plea is the same as guilty. And we-"
"Not so fast," she snapped. "Not guilty means you cannot sentence him to death."
The Master groaned. "Here we bloody go..."
"Throw him in an oubliette and lose the key for all I care-"
"Thanks ever so, love."
"-but executions are long out of practice on Gallifrey and I fail to see why they should start again now."
Rassilon cleared his throat, a tired look on his face. "Doctor, this is beyond the pale. This carry on is a pointless farce, a waste of our time."
"Too right. Since when did it become common practice to not have a jury?"
"This is a charge of high treason! No jury is necessary and the pool of survivors hardly big enough to justify one!" Rassilon glared down at her. "Your selective distaste for bloodshed has no place here. The traitor will be executed by my hand."
She approached him, her eyes cold. "And you? Has anyone tried you for your crimes against Gallifrey?"
Rassilon paused. "I don't know what you mean."
"Except that you do." She looked back at the Master, an unspoken plea in her eyes. "There was a secret, a secret that drove the Ma - my client to madness. Just like the drums did years ago."
The Master set his jaw, glaring hard at her. "Well played, love," he muttered.
"I will not stand for this foolishness, Doctor. This is nothing more than you trying, yet again, to save your schoolfriend from the chopping block. It is clear to me you have no love for Gallifrey at all."
The room went deathly silent.
The Doctor tensed, face contorting with barely contained rage and suddenly the Master was on his feet, with a snarl of, "You ungrateful bastard-"
She grabbed him by the shoulders, holding him back from jumping over the dock at Rassilon. The elder Time Lord hmphed, sitting once more.
"Frankly I would be quite happy to have rid of you both. The Master wouldn't be the violent trash that he is without your encouragement."
The Doctor went white.
Rassilon folded his arms. "Nothing worse than meddlesome Time Lords who don't know how to stay in their place. You are incapable of being impartial in this matter, Doctor, and your presence tires me."
Scattered boos cane from the gallery. Rassilon scowled.
The Doctor recovered herself. "Personal attacks? Not exactly suited for-"
Just then the yelling outside started again and a man suddenly burst into the room, tears streaming down his face as he rushed the aisle. "MURDERER!" he cried, levelling a weapon at the Master. The Doctor pulled him behind her and then there were two bangs before guards outside leapt at him and dragged him to the floor.
Everyone was on their feet as he was dragged back up, still yelling and screaming. Then he stopped cold.
The Doctor was leaning against the Master's dock, a confused look on her face. She had one hand on her side and when she let go, blood began to well up beneath it.
"Huh," she said, turning to the Master. "Look at that."
"What are you doing? Just regenerate," he said, frowning. Her face crumpled with concentration, then cleared with understanding. She put a hand back to the wound, trying to quell the flow.
"I can't," she said.