Was his hand broken? Probably.
Did he really care? No, not really.
The Doctor wasn't sure how many times he had gone through the cycle. It may have been one, it may have been a billion. All he knew was that he'd moved a couple of billion years from when he'd left the Earth. The stars had changed too much to suggest otherwise, as did the fact that he hadn't time travelled anywhere. Whatever cycle he was being put through, whatever torture was befalling on him, he just knew that on the other side of the wall of diamond was his home and his wife.
He just had to fight through.
Pounding again and again.
No more telling secrets he didn't want told. No more bowing down and being obedient to the monsters that had trapped him away. He was stronger, faster, smarter than they could ever hope to be and all it did was make him angry. He wasn't a pawn in their games. He was going to escape on his own terms, even if that meant dying over and over again to do so.
The monster behind him crawled ever closer. It never got faster but its pace never slowed either. And now he was trapped in a tunnel of Harder than Diamond, with no escape and no plans to run away. He just needed to get through. That was his only thought, his only goal. Make it through to the other side.
He'd had enough of pondering what was waiting for him on the other side.
He'd had enough of missing his wife. He'd had enough of realising that there was, more than likely, only two possible places she could be. She was either on the TARDIS, waiting for him, or trapped in her own personal hell. He'd had enough of the fear that, rather than fighting her way out, she was submit to being captured and he'd find nothing but a shell on the other side.
He'd had enough of knowing that this trap they were both in had been the direct cause of the death of Clara Oswald. He could put that on the backburner. He could deal with that later. All after he was free.
He had to keep focused otherwise he was never going to make it out alive. He was certain of this because, dotted around with the messages of 'Bird' and 'I am in 12', were warning of thinking about his wife. Her name, scribbled in the dirt, with a big 'NO' next to them. He'd left a few of them himself. All reminders, just in case he felt himself falling into the pit of loneliness and despair that threatened to overwhelm him. He needed to get out. He'd promised he would find her again. He had to find her again.
And that was how he'd found himself with a, most definitely, broken hand, beating down the Harder than Diamond wall that stood between him and his escape. Over billions of years, the Doctors before him had paved the way. He just had to add his own…
Crack.
He blinked, dumbfounded, as the frosted diamond crumbled and cracked, letting in the sound of a howling wind and a light brighter than anything he'd ever seen. He turned around to watch the creature crumble and fall, revealing that all along it had been a machine.
He couldn't believe it, he was free.
He turned back into the light, squinting his eyes as he stepped into it, feeling the wind, feeling the warmth as he stepped through the portal he had exposed. He couldn't see where he was going and he was even more confused by the sand dunes he appeared on. After being trapped in a castle for so long, he'd expected greenery.
He turned to watch the portal disappear and the device that had generated it fell to the ground.
He bent over, picking it up. His confession dial. In the middle of it sat a miniature castle, just like the one he'd been trapped in, surrounded by water. He slowly waved his hand over it to close it back up again. Now he was out and free, everything made so much sense. There was only one race that could harness the power of his confession dial like that. There was only one race who would know what it could possibly hold, and only one race that would care.
A small child ran up to him as he looked around where he'd been dropped off. He spotted the domed city in the distance, now repaired from the damage the Time War had caused on it.
He bent at the waist, getting close to the child's face so he could meet their gaze. "Go to the city," he instructed. "Find somebody important. Tell them I'm back. Tell them I know what they did and I'm on my way." He reached out, placing a hand on the young child's shoulder. "And if they ask you who I am, tell them I came the long way 'round." His lips pulled into a snarl. "And I'm coming for her."
The child took off, running towards the city and he straightened, staring at the city once again. Somewhere, in there, stood the Time Lords. Rassilon and his guard, and the Council, and everyone in between. Somewhere, in that glass dome, was his wife.
And he would find her again.
~0~0~0~
Rassilon wasn't known for his patience, or his mercy, or really anything that made him any less than absolutely feared. Kenossium wasn't stupid enough to take this fear into account when addressing the
"Has she started talking yet?" Rassilon asked as they swept down the hallway towards the lower dungeons.
"No, my Lord President," Kenossium replied. "She's just been pacing." He tried his hardest not to glance at Rassilon's forehead, which was now sporting a rather impressive gash from where the Time Child had smashed her forehead against his.
"Has she been fed?"
"No, Lord President," he said. "As per your orders, no one has entered the cell since she was placed inside."
There were guards posted outside the cell in question, two soldiers who didn't even react to the approach of the two authority figures. "And the bells?"
"We are investigating them as we speak. You must know, though, Lord President, what they mean."
"Of course I do," he snapped, insulted at the slight of his intelligence. Just because his body was older did not mean his mind had followed suit.
With a nod of his head the guards opened the cell door, stepping in first. Kenossium followed suit, then Rassilon stepped inside.
Danni stopped pacing, smirking at the two like she was seeing two old friends who she hadn't seen in a while. "Oh, a visit," she crowed. "Well, call me flattered."
"You will speak when spoken…" Rassilon started, already angry with her impudence.
"You're in trouble, aren't you?" she interrupted. She motioned up to the ceiling with one figure. "I know the sound of a cloister bell anywhere. It's the soundtrack to my life, really, if you think about it, and that is a lot of bells ringing. Something bad is happening, isn't it?" She spun on her heel, turning on the spot to start her pacing again. "And, as I'm currently in residence in your finest facilities, I'm going to guess my husband has finally landed."
"The Doctor was confined to his Confession Dial," the General explained. "He has since broken free. We require his location to reduce the danger Gallifrey is facing."
Danni stared at him for a moment before laughing heartily. "Oh, I get it," she said. "You're all afraid of him, aren't you?"
"You will not disrespect us!" Rassilon shouted and she shook her head.
"I'm not disrespecting you," she told him. "I'm mocking you. I'm openly mocking you." She looked to the General. "Was I- Was that not clear?" She placed a hand on her chest. "I thought I was being quite clear, but I've been trying to be nice for a while now so maybe I've lost the skill."
The General glanced at Rassilon, wary of how the Lord President was reacting to the cocky woman in front of him. "Time Child, I do not believe you understand the severity of your situation," he tried diplomatically.
The jovial look on her face dropped instantly. "I understand completely," she said. "You let Koschei go. You let Missy out into the universe. I was kidnapped, tortured and abused. You killed my best friend." Her voice hardened, her own anger breaking through. "You tore me from the Doctor and, I have no doubt, have hurt him. I understand completely what is going on, General. None of you scare me, you've just made me angry."
"Time Child…"
"Tell me," she started loudly, once again cutting him off. "Why am I called the Time Child?"
Kenossium glanced, yet again, at Rassilon to make sure he wasn't overstepping when he replied. "You are not in a position to ask questions," he replied firmly.
"Why not?" she asked. "What else do I have to do here? We're Time Lords, we have all the time in the universe."
"You are not a Time Lord," Rassilon snapped, raising his gauntleted hand up to point at her, as if warning her of her actions. "You are a mongrel, a defect."
"Actually, I'm a child," she corrected. "Your species was ancient and dusty when I was just a twinkle in my father's eye and a mistake on my mother's resumé. I was conceived in a TARDIS, and born in one too. According to stories I've been told I spent the entire pregnancy in there. I'm a child of a TARDIS, I'm a child of Time, more than you ever will be." She shrugged. "But, more than anything, I'm the Time Child because you called me it. And you call me it because Koschei called me that, and I call me that because Koschei call me that, and you call me that because I call myself that and it became legend so you took the name for your stuffy prophecies and high-and-mighty attitude. I'm one, big, walking paradox. I create myself." She grinned. "I learnt that from a very good and old friend of mine."
"Silence! This is irrelevant," Rassilon snapped. "This has nothing to do with the location of the Doctor."
She nodded. "No, I know," she replied. "I'm just wasting time until I escape." She leant in a little close. "And I will. I always escape."
"You are outnumbered and unarmed," the General reminded both of them.
"I know," she replied again. "But you're not."
His mind immediately went to the gun on his belt. He turned to the Lord President. "Perhaps we should instruct our men to come in unarmed," he suggested quietly.
"Good idea," Danni praised. "Of course, it took four of your finest men to get me into this room and the first thing I managed to do was headbutt your ineffectual President. But, yes, come see me unarmed. I do love an unprepared army."
Rassilon stalked forward, against the advice and wishes of his General. "Your insolence is wearing thin, Child," he snarled. "Your precious Doctor would not want to find you scattered across this cell."
"I'm not going to be in this cell," she said confidently. "I'm going to escape. I always escape." She tilted her head slightly. "Honestly, your security is appalling and I've escaped from more fortified places than this."
"You think you're better than us?" Rassilon scoffed.
"I know I'm better than you," she corrected lightly. "First, though, I'm thinking that gauntlet of yours would be handy. Fancy giving me it?"
He turned away from her. "This is pointless," he declared. "Leave her to rot."
Danni sighed. "Oh, none of you ever make this easy, do you?"
She rushed forward, hands out, and grabbed him, pulling him close. He yelled in surprised pain as shoved him to the floor, falling on top of him and pinning him down. She took a swing at him first, dazing him, with every intention of pinning his hands by his head so she could get the gauntlet off.
Oh, but punching him felt so good. She could feel his grunt as her fist moved his lower jaw and something inside her growled in delight. Her whole thought process derailed and she went back in for another swing. And another. Suddenly the man underneath her wasn't her way to escape, he was the cause for all of her pain and he was going to pay. She was going to take out her anger, and her pain and her grief out on him.
The General was quick to rush over to pull her off before she could get any more punches in, but she grabbed his arm, twisting it until she had a good grip and he didn't. Her teeth were bared and her eyes were almost black and feral as she bit his hand. She didn't break through his gloves, but it hurt enough for him to shove her away from both of them and to the floor.
She scrambled up again, rushing over to him with her eyes firmly on the weapon that sat on his belt. It was a rookie move, really. Having the weapon within easy reach was never a good idea. It may have showed off that you were armed, but it made an easy target for anyone you wanted to keep it away from.
Which, in this instance, was the snarling woman who had attacked him.
He took another hit with a little surprise at the strength behind it but moved out of the way as his men grabbed both of her arms and pulled her back. She thrashed against them, an almost feral look on her face. Given half the chance he was certain she would have ripped them all to shreds.
"You won't get away with this!" she shouted. "I'm going to burn this planet!"
"Secure her," he ordered, flexing his fingers slightly. He'd never been bitten before, their foes tended to be a bit more civilised than that. He helped Rassilon of the floor. "Are you alright, Lord President?"
The older man shrugged him off. "We don't have time for this," he snapped. "Make her talk. We must find the Doctor."
~0~0~0~
The Doctor didn't have a plan, and he needed one. Fast. Usually, when he didn't have a plan, he would pretend he did until one worked itself out in his brain. Everyone who knew him knew this practice of his, and it almost always led to the perfect plan that would save the day.
But he didn't have a plan, and he didn't even pretend to have one. There was no one to pretend to. Danielle was nowhere near and it was only pure guesswork that he assumed that she was in the Capital. If the Time Lords really were trying to get information out of him, keeping Danielle was a very easy and clever move on their part. It was, probably, the best way to get him to do anything at all.
It just happened that, on this day, with the pain they had both had to suffer through, it wasn't going to work at all.
He walked through the desert but didn't make his way towards the city. He found himself unable to even consider going in its direction until he could save Danni and punish them in the process. He knew this all came down to Rassilon, so he needed a way to get the man off the planet. Then he could find Danni, free her, and they could find a way home.
He took his jacket off, flinging it over his shoulder as the heat began to wear him out. He hadn't forgotten the heat of desert from his childhood and, while he didn't have anywhere to go at that particular moment, he didn't want to overheat before he could save her and take her back home to the TARDIS, where they could both move on.
His step faltered. He hadn't spent too much of his time thinking about Clara, but he knew that Danni's time would be split between trying to find him and mourning the loss of her best friend. He was mourning the loss of their best friend. Danni's mantra had always been to save Clara above everyone else and he still echoed that, even if he'd never said it. He would miss her as much as he hadn't trusted her. There was a reason he went to her first, above Jack and above River, when Danni had been taken by Missy. He never wanted her to…
He needed to get back to the TARDIS. He needed to get them both home.
Home…
He stopped in his tracks then turned, heading in the direction to the barn that he knew wasn't far out from the city. Where he'd grown up, where he'd dreamt of the stars, and where, apparently, he'd met his wife for the very first time. He didn't remember it, but she'd told the tale to him with enough detail that he knew that she wasn't making it up. It was amazing how intertwined they had become over the years.
He wasn't bothered if anyone saw him as he entered and climbed up the ladders to the platform where he'd slept many a night. He was actually a little surprised by how much it didn't feel like home. He felt nostalgic, and fond, but not like he wanted to stay. He just wanted to go home. He was so tired. And his hand really did hurt.
Looking around at the hay and the benches that had been his makeshift bed, he was both happy to see that nothing had changed, yet rather disappointed because he'd been alive a rather long time and it was just another piece of proof that Gallifrey was trapped in its own history. Nothing ever moved forward.
Well, that was why he was there. Time to mix it up a bit.
The cloister bells could be heard coming from the city, despite the distance away. They must have known his intentions. The city was worried. Good.
The door to the barn opened and he didn't need to turn around to know who had walked in. Nothing ever changed, and neither did she.
"Why are they ringing all the bells?" she asked in her whiny voice. He hadn't missed that. "Never heard so many. What's gone wrong this time? All the fuss they're always making." She paused as she finally caught sight of him. "You up there! You're not supposed to be there," she scolded. She wasn't afraid, like most people would be at an intruder. No, she was just annoyed he was breaking the rules. "I've just put all of that back. It's for the boys, if any of them want to come…"
She trailed off as she finally saw his face. He watched the confusion, then the realisation, then the heartbreak, fall across her face in quick succession. It was nice to see her.
"They'll kill you," she stated as a warning.
"Most likely," he replied. She smiled fondly again. "They have my wife."
She pulled her face. "Is it still…" He shook his head and she looked like he'd told her that the illness she'd been suffering from had gone away. "I never liked her. I hope this one's worth dying for."
"She's worth living for," he said. He headed down the ladders onto the main floor of the building. This building held so many memories. "I'm not leaving," he declared. "I'm famished. Are you still a terrible cook?"
He pretended like that was his plan. Now he had an audience he could pretend and, in pretending, a plan was starting to form. Now he had a witness to his failure it drove his pain away from his grief and pain and to his future. But, until the plan decided to jump out at him, all he was doing was waiting. He knew the Lord President would come soon. He just had to wait.
~0~0~0~
The first scout came while he was about to eat his soup. He had to admit that was a bit of a blessing because he had gathered quite a crowd and while he liked to show off, he was just eating and it was all a bit uncomfortable.
"Doctor, you will lay down any weapons on your person and accompany us to the capital."
He just drew a line in the sand. Literally, of course, because the Time Lords never really understood subtly.
"You will come back immediately," the scout said. There was a pause. "Please. We have your mate. You will accompany us to the capital."
He didn't worry. He knew pulling Danielle as a card was the last of their options before Rassilon and his little minions would appear. They'd shown their hand incredibly quickly.
Then Rassilon sent his finest guards. The General greeted him out on the sand and the Doctor was certain the Lord President would be watching over everything. They would finally be face to face soon.
He still didn't have a plan. All he had was an idea or two trying to join together but he'd worked for less. He took his time, putting his jacket back on, checking himself in the mirror. He looked solemn and determined. Attack Eyebrows and everything. He didn't need a plan. He'd never needed a plan, he just needed to win and, with those eyebrows, it was inevitable.
He hadn't expected quite the lever of anger when he finally saw the High Council, but he had been able to keep it in check. He'd mastered the art of calming his anger of the years. He knew exactly when to realise it, and it was wasted on some stuffy aristocrats.
Then, finally, as he was sat, turning his Confession Dial around in his hands and wondering just how often he'd died, Rassilon showed his face. His old, tired, ugly face. The Doctor never paid any attention to people's appearance. Rassilon just oozed ugliness.
And he made the Doctor so angry.
The Time War was all his fault. The death, the destruction, the loneliness all came back to Rassilon and his self-aggrandising need to always win and be right. How many lives had it stolen? How much of his life had it stolen?
He stepped out into desert and met him stood on the other side of the line he'd drawn. There wasn't a word spoken and he was rather happy to see that Rassilon could see the anger in his face. He was also rather pleased to see the large cut on his forehead, and the bruising that was starting to show. It was as if someone had attacked him. He had absolutely no doubt over who it was and it gave him a little swell of hope; she was still fighting.
Rassilon held his hand out, as if expecting some sort of truce and the Doctor's blood boiled at the idea that he thought he had forgiveness. That he had the right to forgiveness. He smiled slightly in his disbelief and, in return, took out his Confession Dial. He dropped it on the line.
"Get off my planet."
He hadn't expected the words to fall from his lips so soon and, evidently, neither had Rassilon. But they felt right and he wasn't about to back down. Everything on this planet would be a lot better without Rassilon in the way, bringing the whole race down, destroying everything that it meant to be a Time Lord.
Plus, if his guesses were correct, then Danni must have hurt him for a reason. It was more of a warning than a command. If he'd laid a figure on his wife then he was too angry and grief-stricken to worry about his actions.
"We needed to know," Rassilon explained. "You have information about the Hybrid. A danger to us all. If you'd told us what you knew, you could've walked out of there."
"Get off my planet."
"You have nothing, Doctor. Nothing! Do you know what I have, out here in the Dry Lands, where there's nobody who matters?" He leant in closer, a smirk on his face. "No witnesses."
"Me too."
If Rassilon had been trying to scare him, it hadn't worked. He didn't feel threatened by the man stood in front of him. He just didn't care. He just wanted him off his planet. He just wanted the Time War to end, to get his wife, and to go home, and the Lord President was stood in his way.
Rassilon, on the other hand, didn't take too kindly to his own threat. He stood a little straighter, offended, and he looked him dead in the eye. "Take aim!" he ordered his soldiers. "Aim at the Doctor!" He stormed over to the General. "Fire on my command."
But his men wouldn't do it. They wouldn't shoot the Doctor and he wouldn't stand by his side. It appeared he was a War Hero to most. He hadn't really expected that, but if it got him where he wanted to be then he'd take the mantel with open arms. He let everyone move over to his side of the line, letting Rassilon know exactly where they all stood; against him.
Even his General, eventually, chucked down his gun and stepped over the line. He leant in close to the Doctor. "Your wife, sir, is being held in the cells underneath the spire," he explained. "I thought you would like to know that she headbutted the Lord President."
The Doctor smirked slightly. "I would like to know that," he confirmed as Rassilon was taken away, humiliated. "She's alive?"
"Yes, sir," the General replied. "Would you like to be taken to her?"
Yes. It was an easy question to answer, which made the shake of his head even harder to do. He couldn't pick her up without a plan, not yet. She had been taken because of him. Throughout his time in the Confession Dial he'd seen the panic on her face, hear her screaming, at just the sight of being restrained against her will again. He may have sent Rassilon away but there was no chance they'd just let him walk off the planet.
Plus, he had a promise to keep. A promise she made him make every time there was a little bit of danger. A promise that Ashildr broke but one he intended to keep if it made her happy. And now, with Gallifrey at his disposal, one he could fix again.
He was going to save Clara Oswald.
~0~0~0~
Danni laughed. It was a manic, joyful, loud and powerful laugh that most would think would sound foreign coming from her mouth and yet she didn't do anything to keep it back. She then groaned as she stretched her back, trying to get the ache out of her spine. It only worked a little.
"They've found him?" she asked. "Or did he come out to see them?"
The two guards shared a look. "The Doctor is currently on his way back to the city," one explained, as per his command. "The Lord President will not be joining him."
"Now, that is interesting," Danni purred. "Does that mean our little BDSM game is over?" She shook her wrists, listening to the metal clink together. She laughed again; it was a nice sound.
"No, ma'am," the other guard said. "Until you have been neutralised as a threat you are to remain."
She pouted. "Aw, here was me thinking you were coming to be nice to me," she replied. "If you had, I might have spared you. Now you're just going to burn like the rest of your pathetic species. That's a shame, I liked you." She nodded over to the slightly shorter of two. "Especially you, Tim."
He frowned. "My name is not Tim," he said. She was sure they weren't supposed to interact with her, but Tim in particular didn't seem well-trained. She assumed he was one of the replacement soldiers from the Time War.
"Oh, I don't know your name," she replied. "But in my head, you're Tim and he," she nodded to the other one, "is Fuck-knuckle. You make a good team."
Fuck-knuckle didn't seem too happy at his name and walked over to her. Silently he picked up the metal device hanging around her neck and she opened her mouth willingly to let him put it inside, tightening it up so that she could no longer speak.
"You will remain in our custody until we have orders otherwise," he told her. She tilted her head to the side, gesturing like she was trying to talk. He watched her for a moment then removed the device again.
"I'm never not going to be a threat," she told him happily. "You're all going to die, and it's not going to be because of the Doctor, it's going to be because of me. He might have been able to save you, once. Not anymore." And she opened her mouth, ready to let him silence her again.
~0~0~0~
The Doctor had gone to see the cloisters himself. The shadows of the maze-like area were something he hadn't been able to enjoy as his anger built up again. It came in waves and, talking to his old friend Ohila, brought on a bigger wave than he had been expected.
They all wanted to know about the hybrid. About this creature that was supposed to destroy the universe, and Gallifrey, to heal its broken hearts.
Heal her broken hearts.
Was it any wonder he didn't want to talk about it? That he'd put himself through a torturous few billion years to keep quiet and escape instead of ending his own suffering? It wasn't the first time the word had cropped up in their life. It wasn't the first time it had cropped up in his life, either. How was he supposed to know about the Hybrid, something even the Time Lords feared, without seeing hints of it in his wife? The woman who was part human, part Time Lord. A hybrid of two warrior races?
Sure, he understood the misconception of the hybrid being a Dalek and Time Lord. They were both warrior races and far superior to most in that regard. But a Dalek and a Time Lord. Really? How was that even supposed to work? In the mythos and the grandeur prophecies commanded they always forgot the logic of the suggestions. A Time Lord, no Time Lord, would ever willingly bond with a Dalek and no Dalek would allow anything so impure to survive.
But a Time Lord and a human? He'd been taught from such a young age about the way the humans spread across the universe. Usually it was as a warning, to explain why they didn't interfere as the humans did. The universe may not find them as terrifying as the Daleks, but quite frankly he always thought they were. He loved humanity with both of his hearts, but they could be terrifying.
And down below them all, in a cell, was the perfect mix of them both. A human who could regenerate, who could be emotional and rash. A woman who had the entirety of time to heal her wounds and a universe that had given her many. A woman who he loved more than time itself, more than his TARDIS and his home, but who he had seen devastated by grief and pain. He'd seen the way his Danielle had held Ashildr against the wall and promised revenge and he knew that there was no way she was going to back down from it. And he knew he would never stop her. He wouldn't want to. He didn't want to. He fought his way out of his torture chamber to find her, but after that he would willingly follow her anywhere.
And it was frightening, but he was happy to. He was happy to burn the universe around her to see her happy.
And it wouldn't do. He knew that. He knew that she needed help he was never going to be able to provide because he'd lost her to madness once and he wasn't going to do it again.
He needed help, and there was only one person in the universe that it could be. The only person who loved her as much as he did, but who wouldn't enable her anger.
He looked out at the table he was sat at. Ohila was sat at the other end, the General walking around it. Apart from another couple Sister of Karn, there was no one else left in the Council Chamber. He had made sure of that.
"What colour is it?" he asked the General about the Hybrid. Perhaps, if he knew more about what the prophecies said about it, he could rule out his wife. Maybe she was just one big coincidence.
"I don't know," the General replied, confused. The Doctor rolled his eyes.
"Prophecies, they never tell you anything useful, do they?" he retorted.
From the other end of the table, Ohila shot him a look. "This is no time to play the fool."
"It's the end of the universe. It's the only time I've got," he pointed out. "And you want me to keep you all safe."
"Can you?" the General asked. No, beseeched. That was a good word and the Doctor liked the sound of it.
"I'll need help, obviously," he pointed out.
"Gallifrey is at your command," the General promised. His mind immediately began whirring into gear. He finally had a plan.
"Oh, not from you lot. No, you'd cramp my style. Look at your hats," he retorted. "I'm going to need the use of an extraction chamber, to talk to an old friend."
~0~0~0~
The Extraction Chamber was white a clinical. Everyone who was in there averted their gaze as he walked in, like they were paying him respect. Once again the Doctor's skin crawled at the idea of helping any of them after what they had done to him. After what they had done to them.
He looked to the General, who had followed him in like a dutiful puppy. "My wife," he started. "Where is she, again?"
"In the cells," the General replied.
"Why?" he asked. "Why the cells and not the Council Chamber?"
The General shifted slightly on the spot, obviously uncomfortable in his answer. "The Hybrid is thought to be a cross between the Daleks and the Time Lords," he explained. "But it was considered… unwise to not consider the possibility that the Time Child was also a viable candidate. And our Lord Pre—" The Doctor shot him a look at he cleared his throat. "It was thought that if we had your wife then you might be more inclined to help us."
That the Doctor didn't doubt at all. He was, thought, surprised that the Time Lords had thought of her as an option for the Hybrid. Usually, if they had decided something, nothing could sway them.
"You thought keeping my wife in a cell would make me more inclined to help you?"
"We kept her confined as a precaution," the General insisted. "We believed it to be safer for everyone involved. Would you like…"
"No," the Doctor snapped before he could even finish it. "I want no one near her. No guards, no soldiers. I want her left alone. Is that understood?"
"Sir, I must…"
The Doctor glared at him. "You want my help?" he asked. "Do what I say."
The General bowed his head slightly. "Of course." He turned, setting off stage one of the Doctor's plan. His hearts started to race. He knew how little time he had to work with and he knew that it was all a delicate balance of events that he had to keep in place.
With everyone under the explicit instruction to do exactly what he said, it was quick to get the portal open to the moment of Clara's death. He watched her take her final steps and saw Danni run out after her just as the Raven was about to hit her in the chest.
She looked very confused and he didn't blame her, but he held his hand out for her like he had done in his own time stream a lifetime ago. "This way," he instructed. "I can save you!"
It took her another moment, but she followed him out into the Extraction Chamber. She looked around at the whiteness and the people and she still didn't seem to quite understand what was going on.
"Doctor? Where am I? Is this the TARDIS?" she asked. He should have been surprised that she could feel the Time Lord-ness of the room, but he wasn't and his face began to pull into a scowl.
"No, of course not," he retorted. "Would I have…" He cut himself off. She'd died and he still couldn't help but feel annoyed at everything she said. He didn't have time for his own anger. "It's a planet."
"What planet?"
He shrugged. "Basically, my place."
She took it at face value, looking at all of the people watching again. "I was about to die," she stated, pointing behind her. "I should be dead." She glanced at the open doorway that led to the moment the Raven was going kill her.
"Forget about that. It doesn't matter," he told her shortly. She looked back at him.
"Why?" she asked, brows furrowing slightly. He glanced over to the General, who she was sure was looking at her like he pitied her.
"Danielle," was his one-word reply. She straightened slightly. If the Doctor had saved her because Danni was in trouble, she was absolutely fine with that.
"Hang on," she said, her frazzled brain finally catching up with herself. "Your place?"
"Yeah."
"What do you mean 'your place'?"
"My place," he repeated as if it should have answered everything. He raised his eyebrows, shooting her a pointed look and she put it all together. His place. A planet. No TARDIS but it felt like on.
"You don't mean…" she started and he nodded. "Gallifrey?"
"Gallifrey," he confirmed. She looked around again with a new appreciation. She had been on Gallifrey before, but it was only for a moment as she had walked through a painting, then again in a barn in the middle of nowhere. She'd never met any other Time Lords other than the Doctor and Danni.
"Okay. Er, hang on, wait." She started pacing, then put her hand on her head. Something had to be wrong with her. Her head hurt. Something wasn't right. "What? What? Did I miss something?"
"Well, we're several billion years in the future and the universe is pretty much over, so, yeah, quite a lot," he retorted. She frowned, ignoring his tone and trying to find the source of her headache.
"Young lady, Miss Oswald." She looked over at the man in the armour with the deep voice. "I'm afraid we only have a very few minutes with you."
She didn't recognise him. She walked over to the Doctor's side, looking the man over. "Who's he?" she asked her friend.
"According to the Doctor, you can tell us something about the creature known as the Hybrid," the General continued like she hadn't asked the question. She also had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, and she had never heard of anything called the 'Hybrid' at all.
The pause showed her what was wrong. Her hands went up to her ears. There was a faint ringing of silence, as if the world around her was incredibly too quite for what it should be. The ringing hurt. "Oh. Oh, that's weird. What's wrong with my ears?" she asked.
"Nothing," the Doctor dismissed. "It's a side effect."
She shook her head. She knew that wasn't right. Something wasn't right with her ears. "Oh, it's weird. Everything sounds wrong. I can hear you. I can hear you fine. It's like, I don't know, it's like, er. It's like something's missing."
The General stepped forward. "Doctor, we have to tell her. We always tell them."
"Tell me what?" she asked him before looking up at the Doctor. "What's he talking about? Doctor? Doctor, what's going on?"
He really didn't want to tell her. He was wasting time as it was with the whole charade. Now he had her alive he just needed to get her out and down to the cells below them. While he still had a breath left in his body he wasn't going to let Danielle get hurt by the loss of her family. He wasn't going to suffer the loss of anyone else. He'd lost two of Danni's bodies, he couldn't lose anyone else!
"Clara, there's a sound you've been living with every day of your life, but you've learned not to hear," he explained. "Your heartbeat." She blinked, surprised. "Your physical processes have been time looped. Frozen between one heartbeat and the next. Even your breathing is just a habit. You don't need it."
Her hand went to her neck looking for her pulse but she couldn't feel it. She quickly felt her chest for her heartbeat, but there was nothing there. There was no pulse in the wrist. She held her breath and realised that it didn't feel like she was holding her breath at all. She really was frozen. Walking around on Gallifrey but also frozen in time.
"Although you are currently conscious and aware, in fact, you died billions of years ago," the General explained as kindly as he could.
Clara looked up at the Doctor. He looked furious, like he was about to kill the man where he stood. She hadn't seen that anger on his face in a long time. "Doctor?"
"We have extracted you at the very end of your time stream to request your help," the General continued. "Once we're finished here, you will be returned to your final moments. Your death is an established historical event and cannot be altered. I'm sorry."
The Doctor was still ignoring her and glaring at the man in armour. She grabbed his arm and pulled him around. "Doctor, will you just talk to me!"
"I'll try not to break your jaw," he replied, much to her confusion.
"My jaw?" she repeated.
"I wasn't talking to you." He turned, taking a swing at the man in the armour. As he stumbled, the Doctor grabbed his gun from his waist and aimed it directly at him.
,"Doctor, you can't do this. You know you can't," the General told him.
"No, General, I don't know that," he snarled before trying to aim at everyone at once. His eyes were scanning across the room to make sure no one came too close. Clara stared up at him, horrified. "Everybody, stay exactly where you are! No moving about. On pain of death, no-one take a selfie!"
"These people are unarmed," the General protested.
"So are you."
"Doctor, I will not let you leave here," the General told him. "That's the sidearm of the President's personal security. There isn't a stun setting."
"I will not let Clara die," the Doctor swore. She could only stare at the back of his head. What had happened? What was happening?
"She's been dead for half the lifetime of the universe," the General tried again, hoping to talk him down. "If you tried to change that, you could fracture Time itself. Doctor, Lord President, are you really going to take that risk?"
"For Danielle, I'll do anything," he replied and everyone in the room believed him. "Regeneration?"
The General straightened. "Tenth."
The Doctor nodded. "Good luck."
"You too, sir."
With one shot the man stumbled back, staggering as he very quickly began to die. The Doctor turned his attention quickly away from him and to the technitian behind him. "I want a neural block. Human compatible. Quickly! Come on!" he demanded. One was quickly given to him and he grabbed both it then Clara's hand, leading her out of the room. "Come on, quick!"
"Doctor!" Clara protested. "Will you just… just stop for a moment!"
"We can't!" he exclaimed. His mind was racing, his hearts pounding again. He knew he only had a small window and that they still might not escape even if they found Danielle quickly. But now he had almost everything she needed. He had himself - obviously - and Clara, and he was still working out how to get the TARDIS but he knew he'd get there. He knew he was going to win.
Clara stared at the back of his head as he practically dragged her away from the yelling and orders to catch them. "Where are we going?" she asked. "Where's Danni?"
"The prison," he snapped. "Stop asking questions!"
She rolled her eyes. It would seem that, even if she knew that he was softer towards her now, dying really hadn't changed his attitude at all. She was still happy to follow him, though, if Danni was in trouble. And if she was in the prison, chances were that something bad had happened.
She picked up her speed so she was less being dragged and more running alongside him under her own power. "Doctor, what did he mean? I am really dead?"
"No, you're not. You're almost dead. And that's good enough," he explained. He was trying and focus on finding the best way down to save prison level. The Citadel was so big. Bloody Time Lords, always showing off. "Danielle wants you alive, so you're alive. That's it. That's all that matters."
Clara stared at him like he had gone completely insane, but he didn't seem to notice and that worried her all the more. He hadn't saved her because she could be saved, he'd saved her regardless and that was concerning. She knew what time could be like. She knew the risks of messing around with it and he had done it to save Danni from grieving. The pit in her stomach grew, amplified by her lack of heartbeat.
This was worse than she could have possibly feared.
~0~0~0~
The prison level seemed like it should have been heavily guarded, but there was minimal staff and the Doctor had managed to bluff his way in. There were doors across each wall, each locked from the outside. The Doctor finally let go of her hand. "Find Danielle," he instructed, before rushing off and leaving her stood in the hallway.
"How-How am I supposed to open the doors?!" she called after him.
"Find a way!" he snapped, pulling out his sunglasses and putting them out. She watched him disappear down a set of stairs that seemed to lead to another area. She threw her arms out to the side.
"How the hell am I supposed to do that?!" she shouted after him but there was no reply. She placed her hands on her hips, looking at the rows upon rows of cells she was supposed to break into. The rows upon rows of cells that could hold any number of dangerous criminals.
"Great," she muttered. "Just great. I've been brought back to life only to die again." She took a deep breath and headed to the first door. "Right, please be nice to me," she begged quietly. "Please be nice." She looked over the lock. It had a panel on the front which was obviously a touch panel. She hovered her hand in front of it for a couple of moments, wondering if something would happen to her if she touched it. Then again, would the Doctor really let her get hurt?
She pressed her hand against it and it began to glow under her touch. Then the whole thing flashed red and it denied her access. She quickly pulled her hand away, looking back towards the entrance to make sure she hadn't triggered some sort of alarm.
No one came, but she didn't try again. For some reason it seemed like a bad idea to potentially get caught for breaking into a prison cell.
She took a step back, looking up and down the door. What the hell was she going to do?
~0~0~0~
The Doctor heard Clara call after him but ignored her, knowing that there was no way she was going to be able to get into any of the cells. They were all locked in such a way that only two guards at a time were able to unlock it. The hand scanners on the front were primitive technology for the Time Lords, but they were perfect for the job. That was why he needed his sunglasses. He also knew that the cells above would be empty. He knew the Council and the laws well; the only people kept in them were war criminals, people who caused ruckus and people who would hurt their prized civilisation. And they were at the end of the universe. There was no one left to fear.
Nobody except one.
He needed to keep Clara distracted while he found Danielle. She'd need a moment once she was free to understand that before he could explain that he'd saved Clara and that everything was okay. He needed a moment to prepare her, and he needed a moment to see her for himself.
One by one he opened the cell doors, his anxiety building as he found nothing inside. He knew he didn't have long. He guessed that, having just been saved the moment she was going to die, Clara was going to have more pep in her step.
The empty rooms just annoyed him as he continued, begging that she was in the next one. Then the next one. Then the next. He was so sick of seeing of empty rooms that he almost dismissed the one she was in as empty as well. But there, at the back, was his Danielle. She was stood upright, her hands attached to chains that went to the corners of the wall, her feet also restrained. She was stood straight due to the tautness of the chains, but that wasn't what caused him to rush over to her in panic.
That was the mouthpiece she had keeping her mouth slightly open and her voice silenced. And there was a metal restraint around her neck. It reminded him too much of how the Dalek he had found deep in the bowls of Utah back when he was his Ninth self had been restrained.
"Danni!"
She was looking at him, but her face was devoid of the panic or fear that he was expecting from her. It didn't stop him for quickly looking around the contraption until he found the release, chucking it far across the room.
She worked her jaw slightly. "You know, that wasn't very nice," she said.
"What happened?" he asked. "Are you okay?"
She tried to nod. "I'm a biter," she stated offhandedly, like it wasn't a big deal.
He paused as he pointed his sunglasses at the lock for the one around her neck. "You bit someone?"
"Give me some credit," she replied, insulted. "I bit many people. Biting one person doesn't get you muzzled."
"They did mention you were being a bit of a menace," he commented. "I was rather impressed. And proud." The cuff fell to the ground and she tilted her head from side to side, cracking the stiffness out of it.
"What can I say? They pissed me off."
He frowned, concerned. He had expected panicking. He'd expected screaming and begging for him to let her free, like she had done when the teleport bracelet had first been clamped around her wrist. "You seem relatively calm for someone who's been chained up."
She snorted. "Oh please, they call this chaining me up?" she scoffed. "Missy once left me chained up until my knees gave way and I dislocated both shoulders on the way down to the ground. The way they've got be restrained here means that, when I get too weak, I'll just be suspended. It's quite amateurish. For a race of stuffy aristocrats, I expected better."
Her tone of voice sounded as foreign as her words should be. He made quick work of the rest of her restraints and she stepped out of them, stretching everything out. Once she was satisfied with how she felt, she gave a nod and looked at him. "Now what?" she asked. "Blow the fucker up?"
"No-No," he replied, stuttering slightly at the casual way she seemed to want to blow the city away. The coldness that she was radiating was disturbing. He suddenly wished he'd brought Clara down with him. "We're going to escape. There has to be a TARDIS we can steal to get home."
She stared at him, incredulous. "Seriously?" she asked him. "That's the plan? Theta, they killed Clara. They tore us apart. They let Missy get out of their sight! Why the hell would any of that get to stand?!"
"We're not letting it stand," he promised. "Danielle, you have to understand that staying isn't an option. I've got…" He glanced over his shoulder, hoping for a Clara who didn't appear. "There's things you don't understand."
"Where were you?" she demanded. "Where did they send you?"
He shifted slightly on the spot. "Oh, nowhere, I just came the long way 'round," he dismissed.
"No," she said almost instantly, looking at him expectantly.
"It wasn't that bad," he tried again.
"No," she repeated. He sighed.
"Alright, fine," he retorted. "I was trapped inside my Confession Dial. I had to keep dying to escape, but I was replaced by a copy of myself and I can't remember it. I fought billions of years as they tried to extract information from me that I was not willing to give. I was in pain, alone, and left to rot." His own anger spiked and he stopped, swallowing hard. "Now will you just…" He motioned to the door. "We have to leave."
She shook her head. "I'm sorry, do you actually expect me to leave?" She shook her head. "I'm not going anywhere until I found Rassilon and his stupid, old, smug face and ripped it off with my bare hands!" She was shaking slightly, her eyes wide with her manic rage. "We saved them! We spent five hundred years together on that godforsaken planet! I lost three hundred years of my life with my husband! And in return they did this to us! They broke my hearts and I'm supposed to just walk away!" She caught herself shouting and stopped, taking in little breaths. "Look," she started, calming herself down. "I know this is your home. And I know you love it, no matter what it became, but I don't. I can't leave it like this. Not after what they've done to us. Not after what they've done to you. It needs to go. It needs to end."
He stared at her, absolutely horrified. He'd expected her broken from being caged, but this was just what he'd feared. This was the Hybrid; standing in the ruins of Gallifrey, healing her broken hearts. Part human, part Time Lord and screaming in pain.
He nodded, swallowing hard again. He rubbed a hand over his face. Clara wasn't going to be enough. She was too far gone. "Alright, alright," he started. "If it's what you need. If it stops you doing it, I'm sure I can find something in the…"
"Doctor? Where the hell are you?"
Clara's appeared in the doorway, startling the both. The Doctor's hearts plummeted as he realised he had so quickly given into Danni's anguish to help him heal his own. He had been ready to blow up the entire city because of what the Council had done to them both.
Danni, on the other hand, felt her rage disappear as she smacked in the stomach by the sight of her best friend, now alive and looking relived to see her. "Danni!" Clara exclaimed. "Brilliant, can we go now? This place seemed to be empty. Luckily, because who knows what could have happened if I'd actually been able to get into one of the cells."
Danni shook her head once. "Clara?"
~0~0~0~
Sorry for the long break, again. I can't really keep up with weekly updates anymore, but I am really trying so I hope you can all bear with me.
Reviews!
Oh yeah - Thanks!
Authora97 - Hehe because I crave angst in all forms!
serenitysaiyan - I know! Hope you like this one :)
sam - I was a wreck writing it, so I feel ya
BlueFlame27 - I'm glad that came across, because I do think they are so complex! I mean, he hates her but he doesn't, she sees him as this rival for Danni's affection but doesn't really, and she wants to be friends with him and he wants to be friends with here and... ahh, I could go on forever!
bored411 - I'm not sure if saying I hope you enjoyed this one is appropriate, but I hope this follows on as you would want, at the very least :D