The Two Doctors and Hatters
Space station infrastructure
Peri struggled with her attacker, trying to throw him off her, but whatever the creature was, it was far stronger then she was. She cried out in panic and fear, feeling tears welling up in her eyes as she tried with all her strength to push him off her, when something clanged against one of the metal pipes and the creatures grunted and stilled, half collapsing on top of her.
Gasping for breath, she managed to roll him away from her, throwing it a quick look to make sure that it really was unconscious. Not that she could really be sure, since she couldn't see its face, but when it made no further move to attack her, she scrambled to her feet and carefully began to make her way back the way she had come, balancing on top of the girders.
"Thanks for your help, Doctor, Hatter," she muttered angrily as she threw one last look towards the covered creature. She might have expected the Sixth Doctor to take his time coming to her aid, but the Fifth Hatter? That seemed strange. That's when she caught sight of a hand clutching onto one of the girders and the top of the Time Lady's sunhat, "Hatter!" she cried, alarmed, and hurried forward.
She reached for the Fifth Hatter and struggled to help pull her back up, both women scrunching up their faces from the effort, until the Time Lady was fully up, breathing heaver then normal as she fell against one of the pipes, her hat sitting on an odd angle.
"Thank you, Peri," the Fifth Hatter said after a moment as the human woman sat back, trying to catch her breath. She gave her a small, apologetic smile, "I think I ought to take back what I said about Time Lords having better balance then humans".
Peri waved her off, "It's fine".
She eyed her for a moment, her smile replaced with a concerned look, "I heard you scream, are you alright?"
"I think so," she frowned, looking back over towards the creature, "I think it knocked itself out on one of the pipes".
"Hmm…" the Time Lady hummed thoughtfully, casting a look over towards the creature, "It appears to be a humanoid," she remarked, "Possibly a survivor from the attack upstairs. This place would be a good hiding place".
Peri looked wary, "Couldn't it be one of the people behind the attack?"
"Again, possibly, though I doubt it," she shook her head, turning back to Peri, "Why else would it be hiding down here? Still, it would be wise to be wary until we know more," she added with a small frown before carefully standing, rubbing her hands together and straightening her hat, "Come on".
She began to head back towards the ladder, but Peri grabbed her arm, stopping her, "Shouldn't we check it first?" she asked worriedly, nodding back over to the creature.
The Fifth Hatter glanced back toward the creature, shrugging, "Right now, my main concern is why the Doctor hasn't come running to our rescue," she told her, her tone very serious and worried, "It's very unlike him, even in this regeneration," she rolled her eyes fondly, "He does so love to play the dashing hero in moments like this".
"The dashing hero?" she repeated, raising a knowing eyebrow at the Time Lady.
She sighed and gave her a quick look, "Come along, Peri," she said firmly, really not wanting to get into that sort of conversation right now.
The Time Lady led the way back towards the ladder, but they were only a short distance away when through the dark, they caught sight of the Sixth Doctor dangling from some cables above the girders on their level, appearing to be unconscious with his head lolling onto his shoulder. They hurried forward, moving to stand on each side of his legs.
"We're going to need to pull him down and try to guide him down onto that platform," the Fifth Hatter quickly instructed Peri, gesturing over to where a platform was just behind the ladder.
"Is he…" Peri began fearfully, her eyes wide.
"I need to check first," she cut her off, keeping her mind fixed on the task at hand, refusing to think of any other possibility. She didn't think that he was…dead, she would have felt it, she was sure of that, but even still, something had happened to him and now she needed to try and work out what.
Carefully, they worked together to tug the Sixth Doctor down, trying to gently guide him onto the platform as he came loose from the cables, but he was too heavy for even the two of them to do much more then try and insure that he didn't end up hitting his head against the metal platform as he landed heavily on his front. The Fifth Hatter quickly fell to her knees beside him and rolled him onto his back, pulling his head into her lap.
"Doctor?" Peri called to him, crouching on the other side of him, "Wake up! Come on!" she tried, glancing at the Time Lady, "What's wrong with him?"
The Fifth Hatter checked his pulse and sighed in relief to find both his hearts working, "He's going to be okay," she assured the girl, seeing how worried she was. She lifted up one of his eyelids and checked his pupils, once again pleased to find them working normally. She lightly began to tap his cheeks, "Come on, sweetheart," she said loudly to him as his eyes started flickering, "Wake up, Doctor, come on".
He began to toss his head in her lap, "What is it?" he mumbled, still half unconscious.
"Wakie-wakie, Doctor," she smiled down at him slightly, lightly running a hand through his hair, before looking up to Peri, "Here, help me to sit him up," she carefully eased the Doctor up as Peri grabbed his arms, pulling him up into a sitting position.
He blinked slowly as he blearily looked at them, seeming confused, "Oh, Hatter…" he gave himself a sharp shake, his eyes widening in alarm as it all came back to him, "What happened?" he questioned almost at once, looking back and forth between the two women as he struggled to stand, rubbing his face, "Peri, why'd you scream?"
Peri sighed, "That thing you thought was an animal attacked me," she informed him, making him frown at her, "And it's human, we think".
"If you hadn't screamed I wouldn't have triggered that stun jet," he scolded her slightly, and she sighed again, "I was expecting there'd be one," his frown grew as he glanced at the Time Lady, shaking his head, "It's can't be human. They haven't reached this part of the galaxy".
"Don't scold the girl for being attacked, Doctor," the Fifth Hatter gave him a stern look, "It's not her fault, and it appears to be a humanoid".
"Come and see," Peri said to him, nodding back down towards where they had left the creature.
The Sixth Doctor sniffed the air, grimacing, "Vorum gas," he remarked, carefully beginning to lead them back towards the creature, "An ordinary person would have been unconscious for hours".
"So would you if we hadn't dragged you clear of it," Peri pointed out to him as she followed behind the Time Lords.
"Ah, but we're not quite ordinary, are we?" the Time Lady commented, smiling slightly as she glanced back to her, "We're Time Lords, therefore we can close our respiratory passages should we detect anything dangerous in the air, " she explained to her, shrugging, "Think of it as being an automatic response and quite a useful one at that".
They made it back to the platform to find the creature still exactly where they had left it, covered by its blanket as the Time Lords stepped onto the platform, looking down at it curiously as the Sixth Doctor slipped his hands inside his trouser pockets.
Peri frowned at them, looking confused, "Well, then, how did you breath?" she asked, looking at the Doctor.
He laughed slightly, "With difficulty," he replied, exchanging a look with the Time Lady, "I'll explain one day, if the Hatter doesn't".
"I really should try and track down one of the Gallifreyan biology books," the Fifth Hatter said thoughtfully, "Obviously, they would need to be translated first, but they should be quite insightful as to just how a Time Lord works. Regeneration, body temperature, and ooh…" she broke into a broad smile, reaching up to tap the side of her head, "The brain, personally my favourite organ".
"Yes," the Sixth Doctor nodded along with her, before crouching beside the figure, eyeing it carefully, "It certainly does appear to be humanoid," he agreed, glancing at the Time Lady as she knelt beside him and back down to the figure, "So it finally mustered the courage to attack".
Peri stepped closer and crouched on the other side of the figure, "I think it was my fault," she told them, looking slightly guilty now that she had calmed down, "It was just protecting its nest," she gestured around at a few other blankest that had been scattered around the platform.
"Understandable," he commented, reaching forward and pulling the figure over, making the blanket fall off, revealing the figure to be a human man in his mid-twenties, dressed in dirty overalls with patches of grease covering his face. The Time Lords gasped, their eyes widening as they stared down at the man, unable to believe their eyes, "Jamie?" he exclaimed, shocked.
"What?" Peri asked, edging closer to Jamie, surprised to find that they actually seemed to know him.
"This is…" the Fifth Hatter trailed off, looking completely amazed as she stared down at the Scottish man. It had been centuries since the last time she had seen him and yet, she would have recognised him from anywhere, "It's Jamie," she breathed, shaking her head as she looked at the Doctor.
"How did he get here?" the Sixth Doctor wondered aloud, looking even more amazed then the Time Lady to come across his old companion. He frowned, "He should be with me".
"Well, he's not now, Doctor," Peri reminded him, wondering if he was having another memory lapse, "Not anymore".
"No, that's right," he nodded, his frown deepening even more as he looked at the Time Lady, "But if he's here, where am I?" worry crossed his face as his eyes widened slightly as his gaze grew more intent as he looked at the Hatter, "And were you with us?"
The Fifth Hatter shrugged, taking his hand, and giving it a comforting squeeze, "I don't know," she sighed, looking back down to Jamie. She wasn't overly concerned about her past regeneration, at least not at the moment. She was far more concerned about what had happened to the Doctor's past regeneration.
He followed her gaze, "I must have been here, Peri," he said to her, glancing back up to the human woman as Jamie began groaning softly.
"You mean at some past time?" Peri asked, wanting to make sure that they were all on the same page.
Jamie started stirring and he awake with a start, looking panicked to find three complete strangers kneeling beside him, his eyes wide with fear.
"It's okay, Jamie," the Fifth Hatter quickly tried to assure him, keeping her voice calm and gentle, reaching out to touch his shoulder, "Shh, just calm down…"
"Keep away from me!" Jamie shouted, shoving her hand away, growing even more distressed.
"It's all right," the Sixth Doctor said calmly, but firmly, grabbing Jamie's arm and pinning it down onto his chest to stop him from lashing out again as he reached inside his coat pocket.
"Keep away!"
He withdrew a leather pack and handed it to Peri, "Open that," he instructed her, his hands full with trying to keep Jamie from lashing out, while the Time Lady made soothing noises, running a hand through Jamie's dirty hair. She hated seeing Jamie so distressed, he might not have been one of her companions, but she had grown to be quite fond of him during their time together.
Peri took it and began opening the pack, revealing the inside to be silver, "We're your friends, we won't hurt you," she tried to calm Jamie.
"Keep away!"
"Shh, it's okay, Jamie," the Fifth Hatter said soothingly, trying to give him a soft smile as he continued to try and struggle against her and the Doctor.
"Keep away! Keep away!"
"Jamie!" the Sixth Doctor called firmly, noticing that Jamie's distress was growing even worse, "It's all right!" Peri held the pack towards him and he reached over Jamie to grab a long, silver piece of medical equipment, similar to a needle, only with a squared end that had sharp points. Jamie tried to resist against the Time Lady's hand as she gently pushed his head to the side, revealing his neck, and the Doctor stuck the probe into his neck, making Jamie still as he grabbed a second one, sticking it into his neck once more, knocking him out fully, "Don't worry," he leaned back, watching as Jamie calmed, "It'll help him to relax".
"Relax?" Peri repeated, staring at him, alarmed, "You've killed him!"
"I can't believe I'm going to say this, but don't be over dramatic, Peri," the Time Lady shook her head at her, looking amused as she exchanged a look with the Sixth Doctor, "We were both very fond of Jamie in the old days".
She frowned slightly, still looking down at Jamie, "He's not moving".
"No," the Sixth Doctor nodded, "His nervous system's temporarily paralysed," he shrugged, "He'll be fine shortly".
"Doctor…" Jamie suddenly murmured, his voice slurred, "…Hatter…"
The Time Lady blinked, looking slightly surprised as the Doctor leaned closer to him, "Yes, Jamie?" he asked.
"He's not talking to you two," Peri realised, looking across to them.
"Yes, I think you might be right," the Fifth Hatter agreed, eyeing Jamie thoughtfully.
"They…killed the Doctor and Hatter," Jamie mumbled.
"I'm afraid he's deranged," the Sixth Doctor sighed grimly, standing as looked back down at Jamie sadly, "It's often the effect of extreme fear".
The Time Lady frowned, not looking completely convinced by the Doctor's theory, "Perhaps…" she said slowly, before shaking her head, looking up to him, "But it does prove that my past self was with you when all of this happened," she looked back to Jamie's dirty face, sighing heavily, "Oh, I wonder how long he's been here, alone. He must be starving, you saw the state of that kitchen, and he could certainly do with a bath".
"Nothing ever changes," he remarked, almost fondly.
She lightly battered his leg, casting him a scolding look, "Don't be mean, Doctor".
"Killed the Doctor and Hatter…" Jamie slurred again as the Sixth Doctor stepped off the platform, looking around as he carefully balance on the girders.
"Jamie?" Peri began, moving closer to him.
"They killed the Doctor and Hatter…"
"Can you hear me?" she tried, placing a hand on his arm, trying to give him a gentle smile, "My name's Peri. I'm your friend," Jamie's eyes flickered open, looking up into her face blearily, as if he was only half seeing her, "Do you understand?"
"Friend?" Jamie repeated slowly.
"Friend," she nodded quickly, encouraged by his apparent comprehension of the word.
He tried to move closer to her, trying to reach for her hand, "They killed the Doctor and Hatter," he insisted, obviously desperately trying to make them understand.
"Oh, Jamie," the Fifth Hatter said sadly, grasping his hand.
The Sixth Doctor stepped back over to them, frowning down at Jamie, "He seems very sure of that," he commented, his eyes flickering worriedly over to the Time Lady, almost as if to check that she was still sitting there and hadn't been erased.
"Doctor, Hatter…" Jamie mumbled sleepily.
Peri looked at the Time Lords, "Is it possible?" she questioned, concerned.
"Of course not!" the Sixth Doctor waved her off, almost rolling his eyes at the question, "We exist, therefore we are, and was".
She sighed, shaking her head tiredly as she turned back to Jamie, "Don't go through all that irrefutable logic again".
"Hmm?" he hummed, before a thought occurred to him and his head snapped around to look at the Time Lady, who was following the same train of thought, "Oh, yes, I remember," he said, recalling what had happened earlier that day to both him and the Hatter, "That mind-slip in the TARDIS".
"That would make much more sense now," the Fifth Hatter remarked slowly, remembering the incident herself.
Peri looked back up them, "You did say you were both being put to death," she reminded them worriedly.
"So we did," the Sixth Doctor agreed, nodding as he cast his eyes around them, "I wonder if it could have been here?"
"Don't ask me," Peri said quickly, shaking her head, "I don't understand any of this".
"Nor do we," the Time Lady admitted as the Doctor stepped over Jamie and knelt beside her, "At least, not yet," her eyes landed on Jamie and the corner of her mouth twitched, "Though, I do believe I have a good idea just who might be able to help us," she carefully leaned over Jamie and turned his face to look at her, giving him a kind smile as he tried to pull away, "Shh, everything is okay, Jamie, just look into my eyes," she told him softly, looking into his eyes intently, and Jamie stilled once more, a blank look crossing his face, "That's it, now focus on the sound of my voice. Doesn't it make you feel sleepy? And your eyes, they feel heavy, so heavy you just want to go to sleep," Jamie's eyes slowly flickered closed and her voice grew softer, until it was just above a whisper, "Sleep, Jamie, just sleep. Sleep, and dream of why you came here," his eyes closed fully and his body relaxed. She let go of him, letting his head fall back as her tone returned to normal volume, growing commanding, "Jamie, tell me why you came here with the Doctor and the Hatter?"
"To see Dastari," Jamie answered, his voice flat and his eyes stilled closed.
"And did you see him?" the Sixth Doctor asked him.
"Aye. They had an argument".
"The Doctor and the Hatter had an argument with Dastari?" the Fifth Hatter questioned, frowning as she exchanged a look with the Sixth Doctor, "What was it about?"
"The Time Lords".
They exchanged another wary look, "What happened then, Jamie?" the Sixth Doctor turned back to him, "Can you remember?"
"There was a battle. The knights came and killed everyone".
"The knights?" he repeated, looking confused as the Time Lady looked blank, too, trying to figure out just what that was supposed to mean, "What were they like, Jamie? Can you tell us?"
"They had a sort of armour. Heavy with no necks," the Time Lords looked at each other, realisation crossing their faces as they worked out just what race he was talking about, "And…their hands were just two great fingers. They killed everyone," suddenly, he sat up, his eyes growing wide with panic, "They killed the Doctor and Hatter!" he cried frantically, "I saw them!"
"It's okay, Jamie!" the Fifth Hatter quickly cut in, placing a hand on his forehead, gently pushing him back down, "Everything is alright now, Jamie," she assured him gently, meeting his eyes, "Just sleep now. Sleep".
Jamie relaxed and his eyes slipped shut as he fell asleep once more, his breathing turning deep and heavy. Once he was calm again, the Sixth Doctor carefully removed the two probes from his neck, sighing heavily as he handed them back to Peri to put away in the pack, before standing, "He just gave a reasonable accurate description of the Sontarans," he said grimly, looking back down to Jamie.
"Who?" Peri asked, folding the pack back up and standing, glancing at the Time Lady, "And what did you do to him?" she nodded down to Jamie.
"Oh, just a little bit of hypnotism," the Time Lady told her, shrugging as she also stood, "It's been a long time since I last used it, though," she looked at the Sixth Doctor beside her, "The Master isn't the only one who can hypnotise your companions, apparently".
"At least you use it for good," the Sixth Doctor responded, giving her a small smile before turning serious, taking her hand, "Let's see if anything's recorded in that computer," he remarked, turning to head back towards the ladder, purposely ignoring Peri's first question.
Peri frowned, glancing back to Jamie as she followed them, "But…but what about Jamie?"
"Oh, he'll be all right," he waved her concern off, "Sleep's the best thing for him right now".
They headed back to the ladder leading up to the control room and began climbing it, the Sixth Doctor first, then Peri, and lastly, due to wearing a skirt, even with shorts, the Fifth Hatter. It didn't take them long to reach the top and find another platform to stand on as they located a section of wall panelling that they pulled off, climbing through and back into the main station, finding themselves standing in a corridor.
"Of course, I never for a moment thought that it was the Time Lords," the Sixth Doctor called back to the women as he led them down the corridor and into a large room, the control room of the station.
The room itself was quite similar to Dastari's office, only without his added flair for modern artwork and globes. On one wall, a part of it was floor to ceiling mirrors that greeted them as they entered, a small raised platform had been placed before it, while across on the other end of the room was several control panels and a large screen with a big, comfy looking chair sat before it for the technician.
"Come on," Peri scoffed at him, remembering very clearly just how badly both Time Lords had reacted to the possibility that their people might have been behind the attack. She couldn't remember ever seeing them turn so pale before. She rolled her eyes, "You had your doubts".
"She does have a point, Doctor," the Fifth Hatter agreed, stepping past them to look at the mirrors curiously, finding it a little odd to come across such a thing in a control room, but as far as she could tell they were just ordinary mirrors. She turned back to them once she had straightened her hat, "And I have to admit, I did feel that there might be a chance that they could have been behind it".
"Well, I only doubted it because of that last entry in Dastari's log," the Sixth Doctor tried to defend himself, a frown crossing his face as he moved further into the room, "They must have forced him to write that before they killed him".
Peri looked between them, "But why would they want to frame the Time Lords?" she questioned.
"Frame?" he repeated, looking as if he had never heard the term before.
"Make them appear guilty when they weren't," she clarified.
"I see," he nodded, understanding, "Set them up," he smiled slightly but it quickly faded, his expression turning troubled as he looked at the Time Lady, who looked just as concerned as he did, "I don't know," he shook his head and stepped up to the controls, looking down at them, "They're rabidly xenophobic. They probably thought the Third Zoners were getting too powerful and might align themselves with the Rutans," he pressed a couple of the controls and sat in the technicians chair, spinning it around to face the screen, hitting another button, "Is that the answer?" he asked the computer.
"No speak," the computer replied.
He raised his eyebrows, exchanging a look with the Time Lady, who appeared almost amused, "'No speak,'" he mocked slightly, turning back to the screen, "What kind of language is that?"
"Central fault. No speak".
The Fifth Hatter sighed, shaking her head, the amusement she felt before fading. That sort of talk was going to wear pretty thin, very quickly, especially when trying to work out what, or if any involvement the Time Lords might have had, "Oh, dear," she looked at the Doctor, "It looks like we disconnected one of the computer linguistic neurons. Still, the data bank should still work, try that. It might take longer and end up giving us a headache, but it's better than listening to that".
They watched as information began to stream rapidly down the screen, too fast for Peri to read and understand, but the Time Lords watched it intently. The human women sighed slightly and turned away, heading back over towards the mirror, "Doctor, Hatter?" she began.
"Hmm?" the Sixth Doctor hummed, only half listening, his eyes fixed on the screen.
"Who are the Rutans?" she questioned, looking back over to them.
"Oh, the Sontarans and the Rutans are old enemies," he informed her, tapping the control panel before him to move through the information faster, "They've been fighting each other across the galaxy for so long they've almost forgotten what started it".
"Think of it as being that game, Chinese Whispers," the Fifth Hatter added, her eyes still fixed on the screen, "The story has become so mixed with myth now that they'll never find a way to end the war. It will just keep going, which, I'm sure, the Sontarans must be thrilled about".
"Ah!" the Sixth Doctor suddenly called, finding what they were looking for, smiling slightly as he glanced at the Time Lady beside him, "There's the Kartz and Reimer work".
Peri stepped closer to the mirror and stepped up onto the platform, laughing as she caught sight of her own reflection, "Oh, I look a mess," she remarked, adjusting her top.
"Well, that makes sense now," the Time Lady sighed, shaking her head as she looked at the screen, "That explains why the Time Lords would wish to monitor the experiments done by Kartz and Reimer. I must admit, I did suspect that experiments with time travel might be involved".
"Hmm," the Sixth Doctor hummed in agreement, frowning as he looked at her, "If the holistic fabric of time were ever punctured, it'd be like putting a pin into a balloon," he looked back to the screen, narrowing his eyes slightly, "The Universe would simply collapse".
Peri, only half paying attention to the Time Lords, glanced back over to them from the mirror, "Shall I go and see if Jamie's okay?" she asked as they stared off into the distance, appearing to be deep in thought.
Neither of them moved for a long moment, "Peri, it is possible!" he suddenly breathed, his eyes widening.
"What?"
"That we were killed here," the Fifth Hatter clarified, looking slightly paler then normal. She reached across and placed a hand on the Doctor's shoulder and he covered it with his own hand, both taking comfort in each other presences, "That could explain why we collapsed in the TARDIS," she continued, her voice sounding soft, surprisingly devoid of emotions, "And that weakness that we both felt".
Peri stared at them, worry crossing her face as she hurried back over to them, "But…but you said you couldn't be dead then and here now," she reminded them quickly, hoping they had made a mistake by forgetting that remark.
"Yes," the Sixth Doctor nodded, his mind racing, "But if we arrived here during a time experiment, caught in an embolism and therefore outside the time flow…" he paused, frowning deeply, trying to make sense of it all, "But if we were dead then and here now…" realisation crossed his face as he looked at the Time Lady, "It means that we were at the very epicentre of the engulfed chaos," he finished quietly.
"I…I don't understand," Peri said after a moment, shaking her head.
The Fifth Hatter swallowed slightly, tightening her grip on the Doctor's shoulder, "It means, Peri," she began slowly, trying to sound calm while her hearts raced in her chest, "That the Universe has started to collapse and there's nothing that can be done to stop it".
Peri paled, looking fearful, "How…how long will it take?"
"For everything to end?" the Sixth Doctor looked at her grimly, "A very few centuries".
She suddenly laughed, the colour returning to her cheeks, "Centuries?" she repeated, looking highly amused as he stared at her, surprised. She shook her head at them, "Well, if it's going to take that long, I'll go and see if Jamie's any better."
And with that, she strolled out of the room, still laughing to herself slightly as the Sixth Doctor sighed, covering his face with his hand.
"She can't comprehend the scale of it all," he remarked after a moment, looking at the Time Lady.
"Well, to a human, a century is quite a long time," the Fifth Hatter pointed out tiredly, shaking her head, "So of course she won't see it the same way that we do, considering our longevity".
"Yes, I suppose you are right, my dear," he agreed, nodding grimly as he spun the seat around to face her properly, "The eternal blackness. No more sunsets," he stood from his chair and stepped over to the secondary controls, turning to look at her with a sad smile, "No more Gumbejacks…"
The Time Lady sighed slightly, "Oh, don't remind me about that damn fishing trip," she muttered to herself, being careful to make sure he didn't hear, knowing his love for fishing. She couldn't believe that she had spent possibly the last few hours of her life fishing, bored out of her mind. That was certainly not how she thought she would spend her final hours.
"Never more a butterfly," he continued sadly, oblivious to what the Hatter had said. He sighed heavily and looked across to the end of the room, when his eyes widened in alarm, "Peri!" he shouted.
The Fifth Hatter jumped and whirled around, gasping as she caught sight of Peri trapped inside a glass tube that went from the floor to the ceiling, withering in agony, silently screaming as she beat against the glass as a blue light shone from above her. She hurried back over to the controls, trying to find a way to get Peri out as the Sixth Doctor ran to her side.
They began hitting the buttons, looking up every now and then to see if it had worked, only to look up and find Dastari withering in silent agony in the tube instead of Peri. They paused and exchanged a quick look, wondering what was going on, when they clicked the buttons again, and Dastari was replaced with the Second Doctor, also appearing to be in agony.
"What…" the Time Lady breathed, her eyes widening as the Second Doctor was replaced with her own Second regeneration, also in agony, her hat askew and her glasses missing.
The Sixth Doctor, who quickly clicked the button, unable to watch the Second Hatter appear to be in so much pain, and she was replaced by Peri, then Dastari, and even his own current regeneration, withering in pain, quickly followed by the current Hatter. He turned it off, staring at the tube for a long moment.
"Oh, of course," the Fifth Hatter suddenly gasped, a smile spreading across her face as she worked it out, her head snapping over towards the mirror, "It was the mirror," she realised, shaking her head at herself for not working it out sooner, "I knew it was a strange place to have a mirror".
"And you would be quite right," the Sixth Doctor smiled at her, his eyes twinkling with excitement at the discovery.
Footsteps sounded and Peri returned, "Doctor, Hatter," she called to them as she entered, Jamie walking beside her, looking much more calm and refreshed from his time asleep.
Jamie stopped short upon seeing the Time Lords, "They're not the Doctor and Hatter I know," he frowned, pointing an accusing finger at them.
The Sixth Doctor looked over to him, raising an eyebrow, "I am too, Jamie McCrimmon," he replied.
"It's nice to see you looking better, Jamie," the Fifth Hatter smiled at him, giving him a little wave as he blinked at them, "Now, I know this is probably quite confusing," she continued, her voice growing gentle as she spoke, not wishing to overwhelm him, trying to choose her words carefully, "But we are…another aspect of your Doctor and Hatter, just as they are of us".
"Eh?" Jamie looked at them blankly as he and Peri came to a stop before them.
The Sixth Doctor sighed slightly, "I was him, he will be me," he tried.
"Just as she's me, she will be me," the Time Lady added, pausing, "Just without the glasses and obsession with capes".
He continued to look at them, frowning, very confused, "Who will I be?" he questioned, pointing to himself.
The Sixth Doctor sighed again, holding up his hands, deciding that they really weren't going to get anywhere if they kept this up. He looked at Peri, who was casting Jamie a sideways look, "Peri, look at this," he told her, turning back to the controls, hitting the buttons again.
Peri followed there gaze across the room to find what appeared to be herself trapped inside a tube, screaming in silent agony. Her eyes widened in horror, "Doctor, it's horrible!" she gasped, her head snapping back around to look at him, "Stop it!"
"Life like, isn't it?" he commented, watching the image, seeming quite unaffected by it now that he knew it wasn't real, though, he knew that he wouldn't be able to stomach watching either of the Hatter's images being tortured, "Or rather, death like," he finished, switching it off once more.
"But that's how they killed the Doctor and the Hatter," Jamie insisted, nodding at the tubes, "I saw it!"
"But it wasn't really us, Jamie," the Fifth Hatter told him, shaking her head, "We've started to work it out now," she gestured to herself and the Doctor, "They created this and left it behind to make it appear as if mine and the Doctor's past regeneration had been killed, but it was only ever an illusion".
"Who?" Peri asked, looking at the Time Lords as they stepped over to them.
"The Sontarans," the Sixth Doctor answered at once, prepared for her question, "They wanted to prevent any investigation into our disappearances, which means we must have been held captive somewhere".
"But…but why am I in it?" Peri nodded over to the tube, frowning.
"Ah, that was a mistake on their part," the Time Lady remarked, smiling slightly, "They forgot to turn off the animator switch, so when you looked into that mirror…" she pointed across to the mirror, "It then copied your body print".
Jamie's eye brightened, "So you don't think the Doctor and the Hatter's dead?" he questioned, quickly correcting himself, "I mean, my Doctor and Hatter".
"Indeed, not," the Fifth Hatter's smile grew even wider, very happy now that things were starting to fall into place.
"And if we're not dead in that form," the Sixth Doctor went on, looking quite pleased, too as he pointed at the tube, "It means our theory about the embolism is also wrong," he smiled slightly, exchanging a look with the Time Lady, "Well, this begins to have all the hallmarks of a conspiracy".
"What sort of conspiracy?" Peri asked them.
"A plot," Jamie pointed at her, looking quite pleased with himself as he turned back to the Time Lords, missing the strange look Peri gave him. The Time Lady struggled to hold back a laugh.
"That's right, Jamie," the Sixth Doctor nodded to him, "A plot to kidnap me, the Hatter, and Dastari as well," he turned away from them, his hands in his pockets, "And he's about the only bio-geneticist in the galaxy capable of isolating the symbiotic nuclei of a Time Lord".
"So that's how you control the TARDIS," Peri laughed slightly, giving them a sly smile as she looked in-between the Time Lords, "Symbiosis".
"Or try to control it, in the Doctor's case," the Fifth Hatter remarked, shooting the Sixth Doctor a teasing look, but her jovial mood quickly faded as she sighed, "But that's beside the point," she turned back to the others, "If the Sontarans were to get their hands on unlimited time travel, I dread to think what would happen. They would be invincible, not even the Time Lords would be able to stop them then".
The Sixth Doctor nodded along with her, looking determined, "We must find out where they're holding us," he touched his mouth thoughtfully.
"How could we do that?" Jamie questioned, stepping closer to them, gesturing his hands around him, "They could be anywhere".
"Well, there is a way…" the Time Lady began slowly, a frown crossing her face as she looked back to the Sixth Doctor, "We both managed to contact ourselves during the mind-slip".
"I'll try telepathy," the Sixth Doctor decided after a moment, shrugging slightly, "It's about our only chance".
"I'll stay awake and keep an eye on you," the Fifth Hatter said, following after him as he moved across to a raised platform bench against the wall, lying on his back across it, "And I'll make sure nothing interferes," she added, her eyes flickering briefly to Jamie and Peri as they joined them. She turned to them, giving them a very serious look, trying to make them understand just how dangerous what the Doctor was going to do was, "Now, you two, don't touch him, got it?" her tone was stern as she spoke, "While a Time Lords mind is out of there body, any type of contact can sever the astral link and kill them. He's going to appear to be unconscious for a little while, but don't worry, it's perfectly normal".
Peri frowned slightly, looking at the Doctor, who had closed his eyes and had his hands resting on his chest, "How long will you be?" she asked him, a little worried.
"Hmm?" he blinked, turning his head slightly to look at her, "Oh, seconds, hours, days. Who knows?" he shrugged, closing his eyes once more, "There's no such thing as time on the astral plane".
Peri sighed and turned away from him as the Time Lady stepped over to them, casting mildly concerned looks over her shoulder to the Sixth Doctor, knowing very well how easily something like that could go wrong with just the slightest loss of concentration.
"I think your Doctor's worse than mine," Jamie muttered to Peri, looking slightly amused.
"Oh, trust me, Jamie," the Fifth Hatter smiled at him, patting his arm, "They're all as bad as each other".
….…Somewhere…..…
The Second Doctor felt a sharp jab in his right arm as distantly, he heard the sound of a church bell ringing. The place felt cool, almost as if it was underground, and as his eyes flickered open and everything slowly came into focus, he realised he was lying down on something. A bed of some kind, possibly a hospital? He couldn't quite tell.
He looked up and frowned slightly to find Dastari stood above him, holding a piece of medical equipment that looked like a small gun. He assumed that must have been what they had used to bring him out of his drug induced sleep.
Suddenly, he remembered that he hadn't been alone at the station, the Second Hatter and Jamie had been with him, and a dull sense of panic washed over him. He could vaguely sense another Time Lord presence close by, which he assumed must have been the Hatter, and he felt relief knowing that she was still alive.
"Hatter…" he mumbled, his words slurred, "…Jamie…"
…..…..Space station, the control room….….….
"Hatter!" the Sixth Doctor suddenly cried out, his eyes still closed as the Fifth Hatter could only stand back and watch, already prepared for what he might say, while Jamie and Peri jumped, rushing over, "Jamie!" he called out, whimpering slightly.
"What's happening to him?" Peri asked, turning to the Time Lady.
"He's saying what the Second Doctor says," the Fifth Hatter told them, watching the Doctor's tense face worriedly. Carefully, she moved closer to him and knelt of the floor by the side of the bench, making sure not to touch him, "Doctor, it's time to wake up," she said loudly to him, keeping her voice gentle, "Come back, sweetheart".
He breathed deeply, his eyes still closed, "Where…I am?" he questioned, his voice sounding confused and slightly slurred, "Am where I?"
"Doctor?" Peri tried, glancing at Jamie.
His eyes suddenly opened and he stared up at the ceiling for a long moment, "Peri," he finally turned his head to look at them, "Jamie," his eyes landed on the Time Lady and he smiled slightly, "Hatter. Was I away very long?"
"Just minutes," Jamie replied.
"Boing!" he called suddenly, making the others stare at him, wondering what he was going on about. Even the Time Lady was eyeing him strangely, "Boing!"
Peri and Jamie exchanged confused looks as the Fifth Hatter stood, "What?" Peri frowned.
"Bells, my dear!" he announced, leaping to his feet and grabbing the Hatter, swinging her around happily before she could even blink at him, "Come on!" he looked back to Peri and Jamie, growing even more excited, "There isn't a moment to lose!"
He grabbed the Fifth Hatter's hand and turned, marching out of the room, forcing Jamie and Peri to hurry after them.
"Where are we going?" Peri asked quickly, startled by his sudden energy.
He stopped suddenly, almost causing them to run into him, looking thoughtful, "Can't quite remember," he remarked, shaking his head, "Something to do with getting my hair cut," and with that, he turned and strolled out of the room, humming Rossini's 'The Barber of Seville'.
"Well, I'm glad your trip on the astral plan didn't cause any damage," the Fifth Hatter commented quietly, eyeing him, seeming unsure whether she should be amused or concerned.
And I have finally finished the last chapter for this story, but now that it's finished I'm not sure if there's any point to writing an original chapter. What do you think? It would basically just be the Hatter's saying goodbye to their Doctors. Tell me what you thought, please review :)