Chapter 8

Epilogue

A deep blue portal opened in the center of the Council room. An immensely tall, broad-shouldered figure hurriedly stepped through, the portal shutting immediately after him. His posture did not follow his large build; he was curling in on himself, shoulders hunched, head down, eyes looking at the polished floors of the room. One arm wrapped around his center while the other had his hand covering the back of his neck. He fidgeted every few seconds, taking the first hand down, shifting his feet, putting the arm back, bringing both hands together for a moment only to return to the first position again.

The Council was not there in full- only a select dozen that knew of this secret, that knew of the existence of this being. The Head Observant was there, of course, and addressed the figure with contempt.

"I believe you know why we have called you here today."

His movements immediately became more furtive, his hands shaking. "W-well, I, uh, guess it must be something, uh, well, important, b-but I really d-don't-" The silence compelled him to look at the Observant finally, and the unmoving, unimpressed stare froze him in his tracks. He gulped, nodding quickly. "Y-yes, I know." He whispered, just loud enough for them to hear.

A general noise of disapproval rolled through those gathered in the stands, and the figure immediately looks away again. The Head Observant watched him squirm for a moment, and felt an equal mixture of disgust and amusement. No matter what the others did against their wishes, they had this one wrapped firmly around their finger. The terror he had seen in his eyes was enough to assure him of that. And if that didn't convince anyone, the stain of scars around his wrists forever reminded the figure that he belonged to them. When he had had enough, the Observant silenced the rest of the Council with a wave.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself? Any explanation of how this could have possibly happened?" He said, knowing he had the figure's full attention, even if he wouldn't look at him.

He fidgeted for a few moment, then started talking quickly. "I was out in space- far away from Earth, like you said!- a-and I was just exploring this empty section of Andromeda and- and it-it just...appeared-!"

"It just appeared?" He interrupted, and the figure looked up in fear. The Council was obviously not falling for any of his lies. He looked away again, rubbing the side of his neck.

"W-well…" he muttered, shifting his feet against the floor. The Council remained silent. "M-maybe it..uh, didn't really...appear...on its own…" He mumbled, and as they watched his immense height was shrinking steadily- a subconscious defensive habit, they had seen it many times.

"Talk, then."

He grimaced, flinching in fear. "I uh...I." Then the dam broke, and it all came out in a rush. "I wasn't trying to do anything wrong, I was exploring other galaxies and I thought maybe I could try to open a portal to another dimension-"

The Council exploded once he said that, roaring obscenities and threats for his foolishness until they were silenced by their superior.

"You what?" The Observant seethed.

"You said not to mess with Earth! And I, well, I thought that maybe if I couldn't go to this Earth, I could try somewhere else and I just- It kinda-" He trailed off, motioning helplessly, squirming under the deathly glares of his overseers.

"It opened our world to an unknown place." The Observant said lowly. "It allowed an interloper to enter this dimension and wreck havoc on our work and the time stream!"

"I-it did what?" He replied, eyes wide in fear. "I-I-I didn't mean- didn't think-"

"Of course you didn't think!" The Observant shouted. "You are not supposed to think, you imbecile! You are supposed to be nonexistent until the time comes that we need you for our uses! You are insignificant, and your powers are not for your own amusement- they are a danger to everything, and the best use they have is to be tool for the Council, nothing more!"

The figure had his eyes squeezed shut, his arms wrapped tightly around himself and his shoulders hunched up to his ears in an attempt to protect himself from their torment. "I-I'm sorry! You're right, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I won't…-!" He hiccupped, then swallowed past a lump, going silent. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter, swallowing again, trying to get the lump out of his throat, trying to get the knot of terror in his gut to calm down, trying to get his hands to stop shaking, damn it! This wasn't the first time they had yelled at him, and there were far worse punishments than this.

As if reading his mind, the Observant said, "Now, as for your punishment." His eyes popped open, and he felt his very core shaking in fear. "You will seal the rip- permanently. Never attempt anything of the sort again. Afterwards, you will be locked away from your precious exploring-" He spat the work with as much contempt as he looked at the figure with. "-for as long as we deem suitable. Understood?"

There was a beat of silence before he looked up in shock. "R-really?" The figure seemed to practically fall apart in relief, smiling. "I-I mean- Y-yes! Yes of course! T-thank you-" He was stopped with a hand.

"You received mercy this once- do not expect it again. Now, go, leave us to our work."

He nodded hastily, another portal of deep blue opening with a wince from him. He nearly ran through, floating in a lazy line through the darkness of space on the other side of the closing portal.

Somewhere in the Andromeda galaxy again, he sat for a minute in shock over his luck. They hadn't figured it out. They hadn't figured out he had been the one to drag the Doctor here. They hadn't figured out that he knew about Clockwork. They hadn't figured out he was lying!

With a yell of exhilaration, he did a loop-de-loop, laughing uncontrollably as all the nerves and fear and worries drained out of him. His acting had fooled them- well, some of it wasn't acting. He was still pretty terrified of what they would do if they found out. All of that shaking and stuttering had been real; he had yet to gain the confidence to even talk to anyone without stuttering. It was a miracle he had been able to lie to the Council to their faces with only a mild bout of terror and lasting nerves in return.

He laughed again, putting a hand to his forehead. "Holy shit, I actually pulled that off." He muttered to himself, a habit he had formed in the many years of isolation. "And they still don't know!" He nearly shouted, a well of pride for his accomplishment opening up. "They're not even suspicious!" He laughed, quieting quickly in the comforting emptiness of space.

In a moment of calm reflection, he carefully pulled out a thin silver chain from under his shirt, a small charm dangling from it. He gazed at it under the light of the nearest stars, and smiled hopefully. "This plan will fix everything. I'm sure of it."

Hehe, I had an ungodly amount of fun writing this chapter. Damn it, i love nervous, stuttering characters, and i'm caught between guilt and delight re-reading this chapter. ^^; God, I'm abusing this character a lot in hindsight. You'll see what i mean more later.

So ends the first meeting of the Time Lord and the Master of Time. But will this be the last they see of each other? Definitely not! X3 This has been sitting in my head for much too long for me to just end it here! Don't worry, there WILL be a sequel! Multiple sequels probably….this will probably turn into its own little series with the level of thought, backstory, and plot development I have thought out and planned for this... I just have to GET to that juicy stuff without rushing past the build up, that's the hard part! X3 Cuz i can't just jump ahead and leave you lot hanging on by the skin of your teeth. ^^; But yeah. Expect more.

Also, if you do know who the mysterious figure is, weather from a guess from what you're seen/read on tumblr, or deviant art, or you're one of the lucky few I'm told about him, please please PLEASE, don't spoil it in the reviews! I've been cagey as it is about him!(And you have NO idea how much i've just been wanting to blabber on about him. seriously. ask my friends. T_T)

ANYWAY, please review! I love reviews, they're lovely little things.

Last thing- for the next bit, the next fic, i need opinions(well, they'd help). Should it have a classic enemy(If so, what/who?), or new one? Put it in the review please! (Both will happen, this just will help me decide which to do first)