A/N: Sicarius: Funny? I didn't realize I was so good at writing two characters I've only seen for ten minutes on screen. xD
The Zygons looked up as they heard a mechanical whirring echo through the Black Archive. A blue box was materializing at the end of a hallway.
The Doctor had been rather surprised to find that he had been able to infiltrate the Black Archive without any problems whatsoever. Apparently, the Zygons had been wreaking their havoc on the UNIT headquarters, and had, possibly by accident, taken down the TARDIS shields.
The Doctor swung out of the TARDIS, smiling at the Zygons in a seemingly friendly manner, though it looked quite ominous in the dim light of the room and the dark aisles surrounding him. "Hello!"
"Doctor!" The regular Zygon hissed. "What are you doing here?"
He steepled his fingers as his other selves and the Master stepped out of the machine behind him. "I am here for some information, that I'm sure you will willingly provide for me."
"Why would we do that?" Osgood Zygon snapped.
"Because…" He spread his hands wide, holding his screwdriver. "…I just activated a nuclear warhead that will detonate in…" He paused. "Fifteen minutes!"
"What?" The Master hissed in his ear.
"How do we know that you aren't trying to fool us?" McGillop Zygon growled, stepping forward.
"That." He pointed to his left, ignoring the Master behind him.
High on a shelf was something that looked like a giant digital clock, which was now beginning to count down from fifteen minutes in big red numbers.
"You would sacrifice yourself and your past incarnations and another Time Lord for the sake of London?" The regular Zygon inquired.
"Yes." The Doctor said, a dangerous glint in his eye.
"I didn't agree to this!" The Master whispered furiously to him. "I don't know what you have, but I have a fiancée, and I am not about to get blown up for the sake of some stupid human town that I don't even like, even if they are Zygons!"
He turned to face him, talking quietly so that the other Doctors couldn't hear. "Look, I have a wife too, and you know that. I promise, we'll get out of this."
The Master stepped back, obviously not satisfied, but he remained silent.
"Now," He turned back to face the monsters. "You provide me with the information I want, or we all get blown to bits. Your choice."
The Zygons glanced at each other, seemingly debating in silence.
"Fine!" Osgood Zygon snapped, after a long moment of silence. "What do you want to know?"
The Doctor stepped forward. "First, I would like to know how you and your… cohorts implanted yourselves in those paintings."
"Stasis cubes, idiot!" She snapped.
The War Doctor and Ten both groaned in unison, turning in a circle. "Ah, I should have known!"
"Ah, ah, ah." The Doctor chided, waving an admonishing finger in her direction. "No name calling, or I will feel compelled to call of our agreement! Though, that does make sense. Tis a shame that didn't occur to me before. Tell me, how many of you broke out of the paintings?"
"More than you can imagine!" The regular Zygon hissed, its yellowed fangs bared in a sinister grin. "We've hid ourselves since the 1500s, back then when the earth was less… suitable. We decided to preserve ourselves until now, when this planet is far more comfortable."
The clock hit thirteen.
"That's why the Zygons were in the 1500s!" Ten practically shouted, causing everyone present to jump slightly as his voice echoed around the large room. He grinned like a madman at the aliens. "Implanting yourself in stasis cubes, a slice of frozen time! Preserving yourselves until a better time, with no signs of time progression at all!" He waved his hands around. "Brilliant!"
The Doctor pointed. "Ah, much like the painting we saw the other day! You're not half bad!"
"Hey!"
He directed his gaze back to the Zygons. "Another question. Are my friends still alive?"
McGillop Zygon smiled. "For now."
The War Doctor wandered away, feeling he was no longer needed for the proceedings. As he walked away, he eyed the clock, which was now at twelve. He had time.
Amongst the many shelves and bins filled with interesting and potentially deadly items, he came across a corkboard. He approached the board slowly, staring at it in wonderment.
It was a board, tacked to the point of no space with photos and papers and sticky notes and files and items, all about him. It contained pictures of every single one of his incarnations, even some he hadn't seen before, labelled appropriately according to the face, ranging from "grumpy old man" to "arrogant skittle man". There were photos of all his companions. He looked over each one of their faces sadly. All of them had long since gone. He had no companions in this form that did not deserve the name of "Doctor". His eyes rested on a particularly sad one. Susan. He hadn't seen her in hundreds of years. Where UNIT had gotten a picture of her, he wasn't sure.
There were pictures of his enemies. Daleks, Cybermen (new and old), Sontarans, Silurians, Sea Devils, the Rani, the Toraji Star (he had no clue about that one) Clockwork Droids, even Weeping Angels. A sticky note was stuck on the image of the Angel, stating: Don't worry! Psychic paper.
Items were stuck to the board, some of them leaning against the supports or laying on the floor underneath. There was a mask, a Dalek eyestalk, hats, umbrellas, a banana, a piece of celery, a burnt section of the TARDIS sign, a long colored scarf pooled on the floor, a pear. He remembered every single one that came from his past selves, though he remembered nothing about a banana and a pear. He shook his head. His younger versions had such odd cravings sometimes!
He looked over the amassed photos and papers again, spying a familiar face. The Master. Once again, they had captured him in every incarnation, even the revolting burnt version that he had taken on for quite a while.
"I'd say I've improved over time."
The War Doctor jumped slightly as the voice rang out behind him. He turned to see the Master standing there, hands behind his back.
"Whatever do you mean?"
"I'd say I've improved in appearance greatly in appearance." He said with an arrogant smirk, stepping forward.
"Hard to believe that you're the same man." The War Doctor said, glancing between the black-haired suave menace and the young, blond, insane man.
"Believe it, old man."
"Old man?" He scoffed. "Well, I guess you're not that wrong, but still, it would be nice if you showed me a shred of respect."
The mad Time Lord eyed his enemy. "You don't deserve any."
"You haven't changed at all." He paused. "Could it be possible that you hate humanity a little less, now that these future events have transpired with this future companion of mine?"
He shrugged. "Maybe. Just a little…"
Are you ready? The Moment murmured in his ear.
"I'm ready." He whispered.
The Master scowled at him. "Ready for what?"
Before he could answer, shouting broke out, the noise echoing loudly around the large room. The War Doctor and the Master ran to the source of the commotion, to find the Doctor struggling in the grip of the McGillop Zygon, the monster's hands around his neck. Another Zygon held Ten by the back of the trench coat.
The clock struck five.
"What happened?" The Master shouted.
"Uh…" The Doctor choked out as he wrestled the other man for control of his breathing passages. "A little help?"
The other Time Lord growled in exasperation and stepped forward, clearing the distance in two steps. He punched the man in the face, sending him sprawling backwards to the hard metal floor.
The Doctor stumbled, gasping for breath.
The Master grabbed him by the back of his coat, shoving him in the direction of the TARDIS, sending him flying. "Get in!" He turned to see that the Osgood Zygon advancing on him, fangs bared in a snarl.
The Doctor had freed Ten from the other Zygon and they now stood near the TARDIS with the War Doctor, gesturing for him to come on.
He took one last glance at the Zygons, and then ran for the time machine. As the Doctors saw him coming, they ran inside. The blond Time Lord ran in, slamming the door behind him.
"Good!" The Doctor clapped his hands, looking over the console. "Now we can get going!"
"What about the bomb?" The Master asked.
"Disabled it." Ten said, slipping his screwdriver back into his coat pocket.
"Doctor?" The War Doctor asked.
They both looked at him. "Yes?"
"The Moment is here. I am ready."
"Oh." The Doctor looked down at his hands, the horrors of the Time War filling his mind once again. Ten turned away, covering his face.
"You can just leave me at the farm house and…"
"No." The Doctor took a deep breath to clear his mind. "We do it together. All of us will be there." He glanced at the Master. "And I mean everybody."
Ten looked at him. "Even Clara and…?"
"Yes, even them." He flipped the switch and the TARDIS started up. "But first, we have to pick some things up."