Thank you shouts to daffodilTARDIS, fallenavalon, Tai Greywing, The Tenth Doctor's Companion and Rusty4Coke!
LittleGinny15: Grins, what comedies? Erm, My Family, Blackadder, dinnerladies, My Hero … can't remember what else I watched, now. More than that, though! ;D I can't believe it's all over. Poor Rose, we'll miss her. Still, she can live on within our stories, can't she? Thank you for reviewing again, hon! Means a lot, it really does! xXx
Doobrey Ferkin: Thank you! I've definitely taken that stem of advice. 'Be Yourself'. Wow, it works, just thought I'd tell you. I now officially have a social life! And it feels damn good to say it! The whole love/hate relationship … I'd like to say you won't have to put up with it much more, but I'd probably be lying … so sorry about that. Still, I think I'm gonna officially class it as a part of my style of writing, just because I seem to be using them a lot lately. They just provide such good break off points for the chapters! If I can avoid them, at least once, I will, but don't hold me to that! ;D Thanks for reviewing, and all your help has been amazing! xXx
Whoops, is that the date? Eek, didn't realise it'd been that long since my last update. Time's just flown lately, what with the end of school and my newly acquired out-every-night policy. Can't and won't complain, 'cause I love it! But apologies for such a long wait! Here you go, and thanks for your patience!
Disclaimer: Not mine, yadda, yadda, yadda, you all know the drill by now …
Reference to (although you may not know it yet, you will by the time we've finished ;D) 'Resurrection of The Daleks', Peter Davison. (Cookies to anyone who can spot it before it's revealed!)
This one was a killer to write, so apologies if it doesn't all make complete sense. I will make it make sense before the end, even if that means coming back and rewriting it again … anything you don't understand, let me know, 'cause I just can't seem to find what's gone weird with it … Trust me, it didn't make much sense to me, either. But enjoy, anyway!
Two Plus Two Makes Problems
Rose felt the plummeting atmosphere immediately, and her blood ran cold. Goosebumps erupting up her arms, she stopped in her tracks and blinked, her breath freezing in her throat. Staring about, her eyes sharp, she hesitated as the teens passed by, walking quickly in an attempt to keep up with the Master. Hermione was leaning against Ron, whose arm was held securely around her waist to provide support, and they were whispering urgently to one another. Ginny was rushing on ahead, her body tense and her eyes focused squarely on their destination; the Master's ice-sculptured time ship, while the twins appeared strangely distant from it all.
So what wasn't right?
"Wait, stop!" she called, suddenly. As the wizards obliged, the Master turned and sighed in exasperation, throwing his arms impatiently up into the air. Obviously forced exasperation, at that.
"Oh, for Heaven's sake! What is it now?" he demanded, pointing a few metres ahead of them. "The TARDIS is over there! Why stop inches from it when we've got enough to be getting on with already?"
Rose glared at him, but it lacked any sort of conviction.
"Something isn't right. This was too easy," she announced, glancing around the chamber again. Every nerve was on end, and she shuddered visibly.
"And that's a bad thing?" Ron muttered, peering at her through narrowed eyes. "I say we count our lucky stars and get out of this place as fast as we can. Come on, Rose, we don't wanna be hanging around down here any longer than we have to. Like he says, we're there, practically. Let's just concentrate on finding Harry and the Doctor, rather than dwelling on our ease of escape, yeah?"
Rose shook her head.
"I can't, Ron," she replied, her expression serious. "Can none of you feel it? Something is really wrong, here."
"Look, they're right, Rose. We need to get away from here, now!" Ginny said, tensely. "Harry and the Doctor may need our help. It isn't safe."
"Exactly," Rose murmured, glaring at the TARDIS. Her expression unconvinced, she turned to the Master, her eyes narrowed. "I don't trust you," she stated, bluntly, "and I have a really nasty feeling about that TARDIS of yours."
"Oh, here we go," the Master murmured, glaring back. "Look, Little Miss Prissy, is this really the right time to be having trust issues?"
"You've come so incredibly close to killing me, Hermione and the Doctor within the space of a few short hours! Can you really blame me for not trusting you? How do we know that the second we step through those doors we won't be shot down, or something?" Rose demanded, her temper simmering just below boiling point. "You don't need us for anything, after all!"
"And what possible motives would I have for that?" he shouted back, furious.
"You didn't mind me killing the Doctor before, did you? You found it highly amusing, as I recall. So what's changed?"
"I did mind, actually," he raged, storming forwards to stop in front of her, so close she had to blink and step backwards to keep him in view. Almost nose to nose, the rage in his eyes was somewhat disturbing, but Rose refused to break it. He paused, eyes skating her features, then he reached forwards, one finger stroking her cheek and sending shivers coursing along her spine.
"I did mind. I minded terribly, in fact," he spoke quietly, his eyes blazing. Rose shivered as he pulled away. "I was worried for a moment, you know. Worried he was dead and, even more so, worried for myself. I couldn't have that, you see. No, I thought, that would be disastrous, if he was dead. So it was lucky for all of us that he survived your attack, Rose. And more lucky for me than I would care to admit."
Rose frowned.
"Why? What did you need him for?"
The Master flicked a speck of dust absent-mindedly from the cuff of his sleeve and smiled. "Which version of the truth do you want? The one I gave him?" Rose shrugged, and his smile widened. "Yes, that is the safest, I don't mind confessing. Okay then, my TARDIS was damaged."
Rose snorted in disbelief.
"That's it? Because he can repair your ship? That's the only reason you wanted him, is it?"
"Oh, my dear, no!" he laughed, stepping back and grinning evilly at her. "Just because that's what I told him doesn't make it the truth, now, does it? There's nothing wrong with my TARDIS."
"So why did you tell him there was?"
"Do you really think I'd be stupid enough to tell you that?"
Fuming, Rose stepped forwards, glaring daggers at his indifferent grin. She stopped in front of him, almost nose to nose once again, although it was the Master who had to step backwards this time. Her voice was low, dangerous, unnatural.
"You're just a liar. A worthless, good-for-nothing liar with a revenge kick, aren't you?" Rose spat, disgusted. The Master laughed again, coldly.
"Indeed, one could say that … or … I prefer to see myself as a survivor. Those who follow orders tend to live longer than those who rebel."
Rose paused, her brain aching.
"Wait, wait a minute, orders from who?"
"All in good time, my dear. All in good time."
"Orders from who? Who's after the Doctor?" Rose demanded, cold fury pulsing through her veins.
"It's Voldemort, isn't it?" Ginny asked, suddenly, her face dark and her eyes blazing. "That's who you're working for. You're working with Voldemort."
"That name means nothing to me, Miss Weasley. I do not know who I am working for, and neither would I tell you if I did."
Rose laughed, a twinge of hysteria hidden behind her cold, disbelieving cackle.
"How the Hell can you not know who you're working for?"
"I don't, Rose, accept that and be done. We are wasting time here, and I know for a fact that your Time Lord friend is going to be the one paying the price when the clock finally stops."
"Which brings us back full circle," Hermione interrupted, shaking her head. "How can we trust you, knowing that you're after the Doctor?"
"Who says I'm after the Doctor?" the Master asked delicately.
"You just did! You said you were following orders!" was Fred and George's incredulous response.
"And is there proof to suggest that I'm not secretly working with the Doctor against the one who gave me the orders?"
Rose paused, flustered.
"Well … well, no, not really, b-but -"
"Then you should know that that is exactly what I am doing. We came to an agreement while you were unconscious, my dear. We are going to work together to find out how we both came to be here. I was as surprised as you were to end up in the Underworld, believe me."
"And that's just it. I don't believe you! The Doctor would never agree to that!"
"Well start believing it, or things are going to become incredibly difficult for you, Miss Tyler!" the Master snapped back, turning on his heel and pacing the remaining few steps to his TARDIS. Rose glared after him, fuming, and turned to see the teens staring back at her with identical scowls on their faces. At their silent questions of what had just happened, she sighed, shrugging, and waved half-heartedly at them to follow him. Ginny paused, letting the others pass her wordlessly as the Master fumbled with a tiny key, pulling it free of his pocket.
"You're right, Rose," she murmured, shaking her head. "We can't trust him. But I don't really think we have a choice in the matter at the moment. He's the only one who can trace the Doctor, isn't he?"
Rose nodded once, a curt, impatient nod.
"And I'm worried that tracking the Doctor means sending him into an even greater danger. There's no way the Doctor would work with him, no way on this Earth. He may have trusted the Master enough to bring us here, but he wouldn't work with someone so deceitful to bring down whoever's behind all of this. I'm sure he's wondered as much as we have just how involved the Master really is, and it must have occurred to him that it could well be him who's brought us here, no matter what stories he's told. He's after the Doctor, I can feel it. We need to warn him, Gin!"
"Yeah, but how?" Ginny asked, hopelessly. "We need to track them first! And only the Master can do that!"
Rose paused, frowning in concentration. Suddenly inspired, she turned to Ginny, her eyes glowing with determination.
"Alright, then. We play along. We let the Master take us to the Doctor … but we find him and Harry before the Master can. We find them, and warn them; tell them everything the Master's said, everything about following orders, his stories about working with the Doctor, everything!"
Ginny nodded in agreement and smiled grimly.
"He might even have worked it out for himself, Rose."
Rose grinned.
"Y'know, he probably has, an' all."
Walking in step, they made for the now open door of the Master's TARDIS, just as the others stepped inside. Ginny stepped through first, but Rose paused again, a hand on the door frame.
The feeling had returned.
And so had the Goosebumps.
She grimaced and pulled her hand away.
"Gin!" she whispered, urgently. Ginny poked her head out of the door again, and Rose indicated the other side of a near-by genuine sculpture a few metres behind the Master's TARDIS. Ginny caught the message and followed, glancing back momentarily at the Master, who was standing beside the console of his ship, muttering to himself.
Rose grasped her arm quickly and pulled her down, crouching behind the sculpture with a fierce look burning within her eyes.
"I felt it again," she murmured, hurriedly.
"What?"
"That … that feeling that there's something amiss, something really bad. And it was when I touched his TARDIS! We can't go in there, Gin!"
Ginny simply stared at her. Rose rubbed unconsciously at her arms, and sighed. Hit by a sudden thought, she looked up, frowning.
"Why did he let us find out about all of that?" she whispered, directly. Ginny shrugged.
"Trying to prove a point? That he's honest and that we should trust what he says about working with the Doctor?" she suggested, her voice equally hushed. "Maybe he thought if he gave away enough to convince us, like about him getting orders from somewhere, we'd stop questioning his loyalties. Fat lot o' good that's done for him, 'cause I trust him even less now than I did before." Rose shook her head quickly, sparing a glance at the door before turning back to Ginny.
"No, I don't think that's it," she replied, frowning. "I mean, why make such a show of exasperation when I told you all to stop if it's just because he's trying to prove himself? No, I think he's playing for time."
"Will you two hurry up!" came an impatient shout from within the TARDIS.
Ginny looked up, murmuring, "doesn't sound like it, sounds more like rushing, to me." She straightened slightly, a hand cupping her mouth as she shouted back; "I dropped my wand and Rose is helping me find it! Give us a minute, will you!"
Silence replied. Ginny grinned and dropped down again, her expression dropping at once.
"Why would he be playing for time? Do you think he doesn't want us to find the Doctor?"
Rose shook her head.
"No, something else. He needs the Doctor, I know he does, so he's obviously going to be taking us to find him ... " and she trailed off, her eyes wide with comprehension. Suddenly fearful, she glared at the TARDIS door again, her expression dark. "It's about us," she whispered, resolutely.
"Sorry, you've lost me," Ginny replied, shaking her head in confusion. Rose grabbed her shoulders quickly, squeezing them gently but firmly, and Ginny stared at her.
"Think about it," she countered, "what's the one thing he's after, right now?"
"The Doctor," Ginny answered.
"And don't you think we could be a problem?"
"No, not really," Ginny said, her eyes wide. "How could we be a threat to him? We want to find the Doctor as much as he does."
"Exactly!" Rose exclaimed, quietly. "But for a different reason! Don't you see? I was right! He does want the Doctor, and he is working against him! We're not, so we're a threat! He isn't going to want us running to the Doctor with everything he's just told us, is he?"
"So … so why did he tell us, again?" Ginny countered, stumped.
"Because he's planned something that's gonna get us out of the way," Rose hurried, her eyes now darting around the chamber. "I knew I could feel something, something out of place in here. Something wrong! It's him! He's done something! And he's told us because he isn't going to expect us to get to the Doctor in time!"
Ginny paled.
"I'm getting pretty sick and tired of waiting!" the Master shouted, furious. A moment later, he was standing in the doorway. Rose and Ginny jumped up, Ginny pulling her wand from her pocket as she did so.
"Found it!" she called back, and they hurried forward. The Master shook his head and retreated back into the TARDIS.
"We can't go in there, Gin!" Rose muttered, desperately. Ginny pointed at a hallway off the chamber, but then gasped.
"The others!" she shot back, terrified. "They're already in there!"
Rose's eyes widened in horror and they stared at each other.
"We can't leave without them!" Ginny said, turning as she spoke and heading straight for the TARDIS.
"No, Gin, wait!"
But Ginny was running full speed to the open door. Terrified, Rose shot after her, stopping just behind and staring in shock as Ginny pushed through with brute force.
"About time!" came a snap, and Rose frowned. "Where's Rose?"
"Sh-she's, she's coming," Ginny replied, stuttering.
"Call her in, Gin!"
The relief Rose felt flow through her at the sound of Ron's voice was overwhelming. But it was quickly replaced by out-right confusion. Had she been wrong? Maybe the Master was working with the Doctor after all, if he hadn't harmed the others …
Suddenly furious with herself for wasting so much time, she pelted through the doors after Ginny, who was now standing at the top of the ramp, staring at her brothers and Hermione as they waited beside the console.
"You alright?" she asked, nervously. Ron, Hermione, Fred and George all nodded, confused. The Master slammed his thumb down on a large button and the doors swung shut behind Rose, sending her three feet into the air with shock.
"All finished? Good, so can we get on with this, please? Only I've got a meeting in about two hours' time, and I don't really want to miss it."
Hermione stared at him, her eyes now narrowed slits.
"A meeting with who?" she asked, suspiciously.
"And that would be your business, how, exactly?"
"Just curious, that's all," she replied, quietly. "You did just say you were as surprised as us to end up here … so I was just wondering how it came to be that you could have the time … after being here mere hours … how you had the time to arrange a meeting with somebody in a world you've never been to before, a world where you never expected to turn up in."
"I have contacts, my dear," he leered, avoiding her gaze. Hermione glanced up at Rose, who was watching the Master with a shrewdly calculating expression. Rose noticed her looking, and she nodded, before something sitting dangerously on the edge of the console caught her attention.
A small, wooden box.
She stared at it, her heart racing. Hermione had spotted it, too. Discreetly raising her wand, the girl waved it slightly, and her eyes narrowed with fury as she turned back to Rose. And Rose took her look at face value; whatever Hermione had seen inside that box was intended for them. After a moment's pause, she spoke up.
"Found him, yet?" she asked, airily.
"The tracing of a Time Lord's genetic biodata is an incredibly strenuous task, Miss Tyler," he snapped back in reply. "So as it happens, I have not found the Doctor, no."
Rose nodded her understanding.
"Yes, of course," she said, cheerfully. Ron, Fred and George were all staring at her. Ron opened his mouth, the question; 'what are you so happy about?' ready on his lips, but Hermione and Ginny had caught on already. Hermione elbowed him, whispering to him as inconspicuously as she could, while Ginny grasped her wand tightly within the pocket of her robes. Rose stepped up to the console, staring indifferently over the Master's shoulder as he punched strange codes and symbols into the computer. "And you do, of course, know what you're doing?"
"Such a ridiculous question, Miss Tyler."
"Of course it is, I'm sorry," she laughed. Ginny was edging around the console, while Ron's eyes widened in surprise as Hermione straightened up. He glanced across at Rose for clearance, who nodded once, and turned to Fred and George, muttering to them what had just been revealed to him; the contents of the small, wooden box.
"What do you want?" the Master asked suddenly, halting his fingers and grasping the console with both hands as he waited for Rose's reply.
"Who, me?" Rose asked, smiling. "Oh, nothing! Nothing at all! We just want to find the Doctor, don't we, Gin?"
"Absolutely all we want," Ginny grinned back, continuing to edge around the console.
The Master turned to Rose, the distrust radiating from him in waves.
"What are you up to?" he asked, quietly, glaring at her.
"Nothing! I just want you to hurry up, that's all! Can't wait to see the Doctor again!"
A small smile twisted the corners of his lips as he turned away.
"Oh, working too slow, am I? Sorry, I shall try harder in future. And if it eases your discomfort at all … we're moving already."
Rose glanced momentarily at the column. And so they were.
"We are indeed," she said, her happy façade momentarily flaring to a stroke of pure glee at the thought of meeting up with the Doctor again. But she wouldn't yet … they still didn't know where they were moving to …
Fred and George moved across to Rose, stopping either side and leaning casually against the console, arms folded. But folded and encasing their wands. They, too, now knew what was encased within that little, wooden box ...
"So we're outa there, then," Fred said, smiling.
"Never to return," George added, his face breaking, too.
"Which means we won't be needing those," Ron called, pointing offhandedly at the box that was perched perilously on the edge of the column. The Master stopped mid-movement, his face blank.
"Ahh, you saw it," was all he would say.
"Yes, we saw it," Rose replied conversationally, nodding. "Pretty hard not to, actually. So … tell me … if you really are working with the Doctor … and you really are helping us to reach him … why did you need to stock up on vials of purple mutating water?"
"How did you know what was in there?" he asked, frustrated.
"Me!" Hermione called, beaming.
"Never underestimate a seventeen-year-old witch," Rose added, grinning evilly. "So, back to my question, why are they on board this ship, if you're working with us?"
"Insurance," the Master answered, returning to work with an indifferent shrug.
"Right, so they're in no way going to be used to stop us, then." Rose laughed, her fists clenching. "That was a relief. I thought for a minute there, there was something you wanted us to keep stumped about. As if you were hoping to use them on us to force us to keep a little something from the Doctor. Maybe, say, something about your as-good-as confession about forcing the Doctor on board your TARDIS by lying about its condition."
"Oh how silly, why should I do that? They are simply there so that I have something to use as a weapon against anything that may harm us once we reach the Doctor."
"Because that's where we're going, right? Yeah, of course it is," Rose grinned. "You wouldn't lie to us."
Hermione stepped forwards, soon flanked by the twins, Ron and Ginny. Five wands whirled out from inside their pockets around him, and the Master froze.
Stepping in front of the Weasley's, her arm steady, Hermione addressed him directly, Rose moving in behind her and placing an encouraging hand on her shoulder.
"So if these are just for insurance," she began, turning quickly to catch the box as Ginny - who had been standing directly beside it after moving into position - threw it across to her. She turned back, waving it absently in front of his face, and continued, "And you're working with us … working with the Doctor … and are in no way taking hostile action against us … why are there no orange antidotes in here?"
She paused, her voice dangerously low. And then whispered threateningly, waving her wand to emphasise her point, "Me, Rose, Ginny, Ron, Fred, George and Harry. We're all working with the Doctor … And we all stand directly in your path to him. Seven of us. So I must ask … if you really are working with us, and you really do expect us to take your accounts of helping the Doctor as the truth … why, then, are there seven vials of that potion? Exactly one for each of us?"
Vague, simple images were swimming across the view-screen of the machine, but she couldn't see them. Not any more. She didn't need to. She could see them well enough within her own burning mind.
But something was wrong.
The pain was fading.
They weren't her memories …
Suddenly terrified, she threw her head to the side, attempting to see his outline, despite her burning eyes. And a blink later, he swam into view before her, clear as crystal. "What … what have you done?" she murmured, glaring at him.
"Discovered the truth. Oh, yes, we know all about your mind link with the Doctor, you know." The words cut through her like ice, searing her hearts as the machine worked on tearing at her brain.
"You can't! You'll kill him!" she cried, shaking her head desperately, but her attempts to free herself were rendered useless.
"Oh?" came the amused response. "How so?"
"Don't you understand? If I can't help him, there won't be anything left for you to find!" she gasped.
"Oh, I'm not all that interested in finding him, my dear. I just want him out of the way. Which is why I've adapted this technique of memory extraction. We'll simply take his memories from you. Quite ingenious, really. Killing when the subject could be light-years away. A fascinating concept that I must be congratulated on, don't you think?"
Teri felt her hearts stop, as his words floated around her pounding head.
We'll simply take his memories from you. Killing when the subject could be light-years away.
His memories from you …
Suddenly furious, Teri stilled her struggles, knowing they were pointless, now, anyway.
"Killing the Doctor through my mind? You've got no chance!" she rumbled.
Voldemort laughed, the sound echoing around the room, bouncing from the walls. "And how did you intend to stop me?"
"Believe me, I will!" she promised.
"My Lord!"
Still laughing disbelievingly, Voldemort turned to the door of the lab and nodded as a rather flustered-looking guard stepped over the threshold. He smiled dangerously at her, and departed into the corridor with him, leaving Teri staring blindly at unfamiliar memories and crazed creatures from far off galaxies. Creatures she had never seen before, and probably never would. Creatures from the Doctor's past.
"I will stop you if it's the last thing I do," she muttered to the empty room, as whatever Voldemort had been told by his Head Guard sent him retreating through the corridors, slamming the door shut behind him. "There is one sure-as-Hell way I can help the Doctor, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let you stop me!"
Steeling herself, his face – her own memory of him, this time – swam before her eyes, and consequently on the view-screen, too. She smiled grimly, as the pressure in her head began to build. The assault on her mind strengthened, but the scream she wanted to make never left her throat.
Instead, with an enormous effort of will, the connection was reversed.
"How did this happen?" he raged, his cloak billowing out behind him as he stormed through the corridors, wand whipping out with a flourish.
"We don't know, My Lord. Nobody knows how they penetrated the barriers. There is a large group up on the first floor, though."
"Then we must meet and greet them. Shame on me, where are my manners? Guests at my disclosed establishment should be made as uncomfortable as possible. Come, I know a quicker way."
The Doctor fell to his knees with a cry of pain, as a searing sting, sharp as red-hot barbed wire snagged through his head. Hands instantly tearing at his hair, he fell sideways, convulsing.
Harry turned at the shout, and spotted his writhing outline through the beam of wand-light.
"Doctor!" he shouted, running back. Their Tour-Guide-Voice was also recalled, almost automatically, as though drawn to the Doctor's side.
"It has started," It murmured, suddenly, sadly, and Harry turned in time to see a pair of blazing blue eyes flicker into life a few feet from him. "I fear we may be too late."
"Harry, get back!" the Doctor gasped, sending Harry to an urgent stand-still, feet above him.
"Why?"
"I … I've h-had this … before," he ground out, his mind on fire. "I know … what's going on!"
But just as suddenly as it had come, the pain vanished. The Doctor was left lying on the ground, pain bursting from almost every other part of his body, but nothing but a dull headache to suggest anything had ever happened to his mind. Breathing heavily, he forced himself to his feet, grimacing.
"What happened?" Harry asked, quietly, offering an arm until the Doctor could regain his balance.
"I, er, I think I know what's going on," he said after a moment's pause. "I don't know how, and I don't know why, neither do I completely believe it … but I do think our friend here knows somebody who does. We'd better go and see your Master."
"How many floors are there in this place, again?"
"Three. First floor, ground floor and cellar."
Jack nodded and made for the staircase, Luna and Neville following at an equally hurried pace.
"Then we go up first, help out your mates, and then get down to the cellar and find Teri. A place like this, take anyone for questioning and it'll always be down in the cellar. Must be in the handbook."
"What handbook?" Luna asked with uncharted interested.
"'The Evil Genius's Guide to World Domination', or something. There's gotta be a book on it, by now, I mean it's been going on for ever!"
Neville grinned.
"You want evil books? Try reading 'A History of Magic'."
"Sounds taxing," Jack agreed.
"Taxing? You'd have to be suicidal!"
Snorting, Jack took the stairs two at a time, gun out and pointing. The shouts and bangs from above pounded through his ears and he grinned somewhat manically.
"Back in action, boys and girls!" he shouted, gleefully. "God, I could never get tired of this!"
They rounded a corner and pelted through the first floor corridor, coming to a sliding halt outside the only open door in the hallway. Jack glimpsed a grand but disturbingly dark room beyond the open door, complete with marble floor and towering marble pillars. He paused.
"Wait a minute, are there dungeons in this place?" he asked, suddenly confused.
"No, only those rooms, like the one you were locked in. This isn't his 'house house', it's just his 'house', if you know what I mean," Neville replied, frowning. "It's his lab, a hide-out located a little better than his hillside manor."
Jack stared at him, dumbfounded.
"So where was I being kept before? His 'hillside manor' would have dungeons, wouldn't it?"
"I guess so," Neville said, failing to see any logic to Jack's rambling.
"So … falling through a black pit transported us from his house to his labs with nary a word. That's some magic," he admitted, reluctantly impressed.
"Come on!" Luna shouted from the doorway. "They might need our help!"
Shaken from his wonderings by her shout, Jack bolted for the door, leaving a privately disgruntled Neville running on after him.
Harry stopped in his tracks, catching the Doctor by the arm before he could walk past. The Doctor stared at him, his eyebrows raised, and Harry folded his arms.
"What's going on?" he asked, bluntly.
The Doctor shook his head.
"Not until I know for sure, Harry."
"Look, I know what I saw, Doctor. I know because I've seen things like it before. That was a mind assault, someone's gotten into your head. And I only know one person insane enough to work like that. Trust me, and tell me what you know. What if he tries it again? I need to know what's going on so I can talk to our friend about it."
The Doctor grinned.
"Like the logic in that, Harry, well done."
"Thanks," Harry grinned back. "Taught by Hermione, you often pick up little tricks like that. So come on, what's there to know about all this?"
The Doctor frowned.
"There's a mind link, somewhere. Which is what I meant about not knowing how or why. My people had ways of communicating away from speech, and that was one of the ways. Our minds were connected, not easily noticeable, but if you looked and thought hard enough, you could link with any other Gallifreyan. And as far as I'm aware, no other species can directly connect with a Time Lord. And yet … that attack was somehow established through someone else. I have a strong idea as to what technology is behind it, because I've come across similar technology in the past. Intended for me, but activated through someone else, through someone who has a link with me ... But I can't think why it stopped so soon, or who it was."
"What do you mean, 'stopped so soon'?"
"Well, they can't have had the time to find whatever it was they were looking for if they cut the search after a few seconds. They were looking for something, but at the same time, that attack would have drained everything, should it have continued. It nearly did, the last time I experienced it. Had they left it on, I'd be dead, right about now, in fact."
Harry nodded, and unfolded his arms. Frowning, he scrunched his eyes and scratched absently at his head.
"So, making a mental note, what do we need to find out about while we're here? Well, there's what we came for, obviously, which is the names and locations of the three … or possibly two … missing Horcruxes, finding out who saved you using a transference of mental energy after Rose attacked you, who's got a mental connection with you and how, who the Hell's behind the sudden attack-of-every-Beast-from-your-memory stunt, and where the Hell the others have got to. Piece o' cake, we'll be outa there in ten, twenty tops."
The Doctor nodded vaguely, rubbing at his head. Harry looked across, worried.
"You alright?" he asked.
The Doctor nodded again, but his grimace was enough to convince Harry that something wasn't right.
"What is it?"
"Nothing, just a head-ache. Probably thanks to that violation of privacy back there," the Doctor replied, forcing his hand down and turning back to Harry.
He froze, something clicking into place.
"Harry, you're a genius!" he shouted, suddenly.
"Am I? How so?" Harry asked, perplexed.
"'The Attack-of-every-Beast-from-you-memory' bit! That's what they were looking for! They're after Creatures and Enemies from my past!"
Harry gaped at him.
"And how did you work that out?"
"Think about it! So many creatures from my past coming after us, things that shouldn't exist in your world! Why else would they be here? They've been summoned in an attempt to ... ahh," and he trailed off.
"Summoned here to ... what?"
"Well, either kill me, or ... dunno, war party, maybe? Army of aliens, perhaps? That might make sense. Could be anything. Just guessing, so we should add that to our list of 'to-asks'. Who needs an army of aliens, why they need an army of aliens ... if anyone needs an army of aliens should be the first one of the three we ask, I think."
Harry nodded mutely in agreement. Suddenly very aware of a pair of large, staring eyes, he rounded on their Guide, who was watching them, balefully.
"We really do need to hurry," the Voice said, quietly.
The Doctor stared at the Creature's eyes, smiling sadly.
"You know, for a Demon, you're not so bad, really," he said.
"This wasn't a life I chose for myself," the Voice replied, and the Doctor was surprised to hear real sadness behind his chipped but hushed tones. "Nor is it a life I would choose for my family. And yet that choice has been made away from my knowledge."
Harry felt his heart bleed for it.
"You're family's here, too?" he asked. The blue eyes slid up and down, as though the head to which they belonged to was nodding.
"Against all of my effortful attempts to prevent it, they were brought down, too."
The Doctor frowned.
"What are you?" he asked, curious. "Where are you from?"
"Yes, of course, you can't see, can you? Strengthen the light, Harry Potter."
"Why? You ran from it before," Harry reminded It. The eyes portrayed nodding again, and a small chuckle broke the endless black silence.
"Yes, but, if you're going to help my Master, then you don't seem so bad, yourselves. He may be round the wrong nut tree, but there's something a little different about you two, something I haven't seen since my days up tops. Just … don't tell anybody about this, or … well … "
"Yeah, we understand," the Doctor obliged, as the silence spiralled again, horribly. He glanced across to Harry, who was watching the eyes with a gleam of understanding sparkling within his own. He nodded, and Harry gave his wand a gentle shake, sending the ghostly rays of light a new spurt of energy. Not a lot … but just enough. Harry's jaw dropped, and the Doctor nodded in resigned understanding.
"You're … you're human!" Harry gasped, dumbfounded.
Standing before them was an incredibly ashen young man, his white skin pale as a ghosts' against the dim light emitting from Harry's wand. His pearcing blue eyes stood out a mile, wide and soulful, and his finely embroidered and impressive-looking clothes wouldn't have looked out of place at a Victorian Dress Party. Except they were damaged beyond repair, any charm and hints of high-class stripped clear of the tatty and faded cloth left over.
"But how can you get down here?" Harry asked.
"There is no time to explain. As I told you before, He is waiting. In short, I'm a wizard."
At that, Harry suddenly understood.
"You were taken for Magic," he realised. The young man nodded.
"I was taken, but my life was spared in exchange for my family name. I won't be killed for my Magic, unlike the rest who were taken with me. Instead, I work for Him … but at the cost of my wife and children."
"What, they're dead?"
The young man shook his head, a faint smiling ghosting his lips. "No, they work for Him, too."
"Oh," and Harry fell silent, incredulous.
The Doctor stepped forwards, a determined glare within his endless orbs as he stared at the youth before him.
"What was your name?" he asked, quietly.
"Chris. Chris Alland."
"Well, Chris Alland. As soon as you finish your shift tonight, you need to go home … or wherever it is that you stay down here, and grab your wife, and your children, and anything else you might have with you, and prepare to leave this place. For good."
Chris stared at him, eyes wide as saucers.
"Why?" he asked, surprised beyond tolerance. The Doctor grinned at him.
"Because I'm getting the lot of you outa here, that's why. This thing ends tonight."
Against the Doctor's thoughts that his new acquaintance would be happy about the idea of leaving 'Hell', the young man was as far from cheerful as it was possible to be.
He was terrified.
"You've got to be kidding me," he muttered, wildly, staring at the Doctor as though he had two heads. "No-one breaks out of this place, no-one! I'm telling you, it's a life-sentence, followed by a death-sentence, followed by a never-ending-soul-sentence. Non-stop, no backing out. Die or suffer endless torment, there's no in between. Getting out of this place is impossible!"
"Well, then," the Doctor exclaimed, brightly, slapping his hands together and hitting Chris on the back, "it's your lucky day. 'Cause, guess what? I do impossible all the time!"
Thanks for reading! And if anyone can review and offer me a pointing finger to direct me to where exactly all of the confusion's coming from, I'd be forever grateful, 'cause I just can't seem to find it. Anyway, thanks again, and because it's the holidays, I should get an update up by the end of the week … maybe …