Chapter 28 - Tell Your Fortune

True to the Doctor's word, they reached the tower within five minutes. It wasn't guarded, but it did look incredibly hard to get into. The entrance had numerous security fields protecting it as well as armed guards patrolling the building. Undeterred, the Doctor led them around the exterior looking for a way in, until he spotted an access gantry up the side. He checked for any cameras, then led Jack and Seth straight to it.

Without any words exchanged, Jack offered the Time Lord a leg up to get to the hanging ladder. Then Doctor hauled himself up to get to the platform, before offering a hand down for Seth, and then Jack. They then began to ascend the ladders, managing to get two thirds of the way up the building before finding the next portion was locked.

The Doctor looked at Jack, gesturing to a window next to them that afforded a view inside a dark, unoccupied office. 'Can you get it open?'

Jack nodded, pulling out his gun and firing into the glass three times. He then began to ram the glass with his shoulder until it fragmented. The Doctor commenced clearing as much glass as he could before he clambered through, Seth and Jack following.

'They might have movement sensors,' the Doctor said, glancing back at Seth and Jack as he moved forward. 'So careful where you…'

Suddenly the alarm began to shriek at a deafening volume.

'Intruders on floor twenty-one!' a voice cried through an overhead system.

'... Step,' the Doctor finished redundantly, looking down at his leg hanging in mid-air through a laser beam. He looked at Seth. 'Top floor, floor thirty, wasn't it?' he said, and ran out of the door into the corridor. It was clear of people, and there was a lift at the other end. He moved straight to it, hammering the call button with his palm, hopping from foot to foot as Seth and Jack skidded to a halt next to him.

A door banged open somewhere behind them as the lift began to come up from floor ten, Running footsteps commenced, along with shouts. The Doctor looked back past Seth and Jack, just in time to see a group of armed security run around the corner.

'There they are!' one cried, and the shots began.

The Doctor checked for any cover they could use, but they only had two doors available, both of which led to dead end rooms. He realised that they had nowhere to hide as the security ran straight towards them, firing. The lift was at floor eighteen. They'd be dead long before it reached them.

'Get in the corner!' Jack yelled.

There was another round of fire, and Seth screamed in pain. The Doctor grabbed him and threw him to the floor, then dived for the lights. Immediately the corridor was plunged into darkness, and the running footsteps stopped.

'Where'd the lights go!?'

'Doesn't matter, they're trapped!'

More shots fired. The Doctor tried to dive back to the corner, when he felt something hit his hand. For a moment he thought it was Jack grabbing him, when suddenly it began to burn. Then it was like fire instantaneously shot through his entire body. He screamed out, only just hearing Jack call out his name before he lost all control of his limbs, and hit the floor.

Jack heard the Doctor scream, and immediately he started to panic.

'Doctor!' he called, just before a body hit the floor. 'Shit!'

The lift doors opened, the light inside illuminating them. Without a moment's hesitation Jack grabbed Seth and the Doctor and hauled them into the lift, the Doctor writhing on the floor. The immortal whacked the button for the top floor. The doors closed before security could get there, and the lift began to ascend.

'Shit, shit, shit,' Jack breathed, dropping to check them both. 'Seth, Doctor!'

He checked Seth first, mentally preparing his war medical training for bullet wounds, but there was no blood. Confused, he checked the Doctor, but there was no blood on him either.

'What is it?' Jack asked the Time Lord who was still writhing; crying out. He was choking, staring up at Jack with wide, pain-filled eyes.

'C-can't…' he groaned, unable to stay still as his legs kept moving around as if trying to find a comfortable position. 'Aurora…tonk…clonk…'

'Aurora?' Jack asked, gaping. The Doctor was about to have a seizure. 'You can't! Not now!'

'Oxy...oxy… brain…'

Jack quickly took his overcoat off, folding it up and placing it under the Doctor's head. The Doctor was clearly in discomfort, curling into himself. One arm covered his face, whilst the other was wrapped around his stomach; his entire body gently rocking back and forth.

Then he stopped moving.

'I've got you, got you,' Jack told him, brushing back the Doctor's hair from his eyes. 'You're okay. I promise, you're okay.'

Then a hand twitched. Then it was the shoulder. Then it spread like wildfire as his entire body was suddenly jerking and thrashing as his muscles contracted and relaxed entirely of their own accord. Jack could do nothing but sit there and watch, desperately trying to figure out why the Doctor was doing this. Something in the tranquilliser? It had to be. But what could've done this to a Time Lord? Was it a poison? What about Rose?

Finally the seizure fell to a stop, and Jack checked his breathing. Still going. Seconds later the Doctor opened his eyes, staring up at Jack groggily.

'Doctor?' Jack asked nervously.

'Where'm I?' the Time Lord asked, slurring.

'We're in the lift, we're heading straight to Geranda's floor. I need you for this bit. Please stay with me,' Jack almost begged.

'Amakay,' the Doctor muttered. 'Sorry.'

'Seth.' Jack turned back to the teenager, who was still unconscious. 'Seth.' He shook him, but the teen didn't react. 'Geez, what the hell did they put in you two?' Jack looked at the Doctor, who was attempting to sit up. 'Whoa, take it easy. You just had a seizure.'

'I hadda seizure?' the Doctor asked with a clearer voice, frowning.

'I think it was something in whatever they fired at you.' He searched where the Doctor had been hit, eventually turning over his hand. It was red and swollen in the centre of his palm. It wasn't a bullet. It had to be a microtranquilliser filled with something that Time Lords couldn't handle. 'What kinda drug can make you have a seizure?'

The Doctor's eyes flickered to the lift panel. 'Ah think we've got bigger prob'ems, Jack,' he said, using the railing to pull himself to his feet. Jack followed his gaze, and realised the lift was stopping. As it came to a halt the Doctor nearly fell over, so Jack dived to grab him. Seconds later, the doors parted.

It was a huge, luxurious room full of colour. It was plush, with deep red and gold upholstery and seemingly hundreds of scatter cushions dotted about everywhere. The air was thick with pleasant incense, and the only living being was a woman sitting in a beautiful chair behind a table, dressed in carefully embroidered clothes and expensive jewels, the only part of her face visible being her mouth. She was facing them.

'Tell your fortune, Time Lord?' she asked in a voice that crackled like a newly-lit fire, smiling at him.

Jack looked at the Doctor, whose eyes had narrowed. 'Geranda. You were expecting us,' the Time Lord realised.

Geranda smiled a little more. 'Why do you suppose I allowed you to come, boy?'

Still supporting himself on the wall, the Doctor stepped forward out of the lift, so Jack followed, dragging Seth.

'Then you must know why I'm here,' the Doctor said.

'I can read it on the winds,' she said, and gestured to the chair opposite to her. 'Tell your fortune, Time Lord. Fly among the stars of your future.'

The Doctor didn't move, so neither did Jack. 'Tell me how to fix myself.'

Geranda persisted with her smile. 'Play with me, boy. Do you not wish to know the fate of you and your family? Stare with me into oblivion, and you will find the answers you seek.'

Suddenly a beeping sound came from the direction of Geranda. Geranda pressed her palm.

'Ma'am, we have intruders. Are you well?'

'Go on,' Jack said, his eyes narrowing. 'Turn us in.'

Geranda just persisted with her smile, lifting her palm to her lips. 'I am fine, the intruders are not here. Search the other areas.'

She turned it off, and fell silent.

'Why did you do that?' the Doctor asked.

She didn't answer, just waiting for him to sit down. Jack looked at his best friend, who hovered momentarily.

'Don't,' Jack said quickly.

The Doctor looked at him, shooting a half-smile before he stepped forward to sit on the chair Geranda had indicated. She pulled a tissue from a jewel-encrusted box on the table in front of her, handing it to him.

He took it, obviously confused.

'Heal your wounds, Time Lord,' she informed him. It was only then Jack realised he was having another nosebleed. The Doctor quickly dealt with it, staring hard at Geranda as she pulled out a crystal ball from under the table, placing it between them. She then took several sticks of incense, lighting them. They burned gently in her hand, which was adorned with tens of fantastical rings.

'Science, rationality,' Geranda began, waving her free hand over the ball. 'Dismiss them. Dismiss your thoughts. Become empty. Open your mind to all possibilities.' She waved the hand full of lit incense under his nose. 'Fly through the clouds and into oblivion, Time Lord.'

Jack's eyes shot open as the Doctor suddenly sagged in the chair as though he'd just been hit around the head. Geranda held up a hand to Jack without even looking in his direction.

'You will disturb the aether flow, Immortal,' she said.

'What the hell are you doing to him!?' Jack demanded to know, ignoring her. He stepped forward, pulling out his gun and pointing it directly at Geranda.

Geranda ignored him. 'Time Lord, you are in oblivion. What do you see?'

'The dark,' the Doctor croaked, his body limp but his eyes wide open, staring sightlessly ahead of him.

'Beyond the darkness. Beyond oblivion. What is beyond oblivion?'

'It's too dark,' the Doctor muttered. 'I can't see.'

Jack just stared, panicking. He didn't know what to do. Was she hurting him?

'But you can,' Geranda encouraged, waving a little more incense under the Doctor's nose. He sank in the chair even more, and Jack reaffirmed his grip on his gun. He was acutely aware he only had one shot left. 'See beyond the darkness, boy. There are many sights beyond it. What do you see?'

'I see…' the Doctor whispered, his brow furrowed. 'I see… colour. There's colour.'

'How bright?'

'It's blinding.'

'Colour indicates a dramatic future, full of life and virility. What is beyond the colour?'

'I'm… I'm in the clouds.'

'Who is there, Time Lord?'

'My family.' The Doctor smiled. 'Everyone's there. I'm hugging them.'

'This vision means you shall soon all be reunited. You miss them, but you will return to them stronger than before. For you have been sick, have you not? But all will be well soon.'

Jack gawped at her. 'How can you know that?'

Geranda ignored him. 'Look above you, Time Lord. What do you see?'

'There's… there's a boy, playing. He's smiling.'

'You shall have a male heir,' Geranda said, waving her hand over the crystal ball once more. 'He smiles and plays – he shall be healthy, handsome and full of life. What is happening now, Time Lord?'

The Doctor suddenly flinched, contorting in the chair. 'No… No...he's falling!'

Geranda didn't lose her smile. 'Watch more closely, Time Lord.'

The Doctor's brow furrowed, his eyes still staring transfixed ahead of him. 'No...he's not falling… He's flying. He's flying to me. He's sparkling, like the stars.'

'Your male heir shall take your place when he has flown enough in the stars,' Geranda said, putting her incense into a tray and taking a new one, lighting it. 'But you cannot stay beyond oblivion forever, Doctor. Return to us, and be safe on your journey.'

She waved the new incense under the Doctor's nose. He slowly rose back to reality, blinking erratically.

'Doc, are you okay?' Jack asked quickly, still pointing his gun.

'What was that?' the Doctor asked, barely able to get the words out.

'A fortune, Doctor. Do you believe in such a future?'

'That's not possible, not here, not now,' the Doctor murmured, sitting up.

Geranda was still smiling. 'Yet it has questioned your beliefs.'

The Doctor just stared at her, his eyes wide.

Geranda indicated the incense sticks on the table. 'Kaipo Malga. Have you heard of it? It is a potent hallucinogen.'

'You faked it!' Jack realised.

Geranda laughed. 'Of course, Immortal. Harmless, yet potent. I implanted word suggestions, Time Lord. I mentioned your family, so you would think of your family. I kept calling you boy, so you would envisage a boy. I told you to play with me, as he played. I have smiled as he did, and given no negative language so you would not feel in a state of threat. I told you that you would fly among the stars of your future, as your boy did. My skill is a simple magic trick using word suggestions and a harmless, short-term hallucinogen. But you already worked that out, I'm sure.'

'But you knew he'd been sick, you knew he was missing his family,' Jack insisted.

'To be in the situation you are, you must have been ill in some fashion, and you must also be missing your family, it's only natural,' she replied.

'But why?' the Doctor asked, frowning.

'Your experience was all falsified, yet it made you momentarily question your beliefs. The Va'A'gnorns visit me regularly so they might experience what you just did, and they are not logical like you. They believe in my words. Perhaps now you will understand them better, and how strongly they believe they are fated to rule. Please, use this.'

'You want them to lose power,' the Doctor realised. 'And you want me to do it.'

'You are a good man, Doctor,' Geranda said. 'You are known to be a saviour of worlds. I beg you. Please save this world. There is nothing but pure evil running through the Va'A'gnorns, formed by generations of dictators who train their children to think they are beyond normal people. They are fueled by money, power, and they believe their position to be eternal. You are the only person who can save us, and now you know how dangerous they really are.'

The Doctor slowly nodded.

'You are suffering with two consciousnesses inside your head,' she said. 'You wish to know how to fix it. That's why you came here, as the previous Time Lord came to visit my great grandmother.'

'Yes,' the Doctor affirmed. 'Can you help me?'

Geranda nodded, getting up. Her jewellery clinked as she moved across the room to a desk where she opened a drawer and pulled out a small bottle, half-full of black liquid. She moved back, and gave it to him.

'This is what my great grandmother gave to the last Time Lord,' she said.

'What does it do?' the Doctor asked, examining the bottle.

'I do not know. My great grandmother's writings have been lost. All I know is that the last Time Lord took this, and left.'

'Seriously?' Jack asked, annoyed. 'We went through all this and that's the best you've got?'

'Jack,' the Doctor said firmly, and Jack obediently shut up. 'Do I drink it?'

'I believe so,' Geranda said.

The Doctor looked at the bottle again, before suddenly there was a loud beeping from the corner, and they all looked over to see a screen had turned itself on. There was the Va'A'gnorn logo, spinning in the centre.

'This is an announcement from the great and glorious leader, Pargeont Va'A'gnorn. Listen attentively.'

The picture came on to reveal Pargeont Va'A'gnorn, dressed resplendently and sitting in a throne.

'This is an address to the human known as Seth, the brother of Elliott.'

The Doctor and Jack immediately looked down at the boy. He was sitting up, having just come around.

'I'm afraid the underground has been exposed. Your brother was among many of those taken, executed for treason. He informed me during interrogation that you are with the Immortal. If you wish to see your brother's body, I strongly suggest that you escort the Immortal to the nearest government official.'

'That was an announcement from the great and glorious leader, Pargeont Va'A'gnorn. Praise him, citizens.'

Silence.

Jack felt cold. He looked at Seth, who was still staring at the screen.

'No,' Seth suddenly snapped. 'No. No. No!'

'Seth…' the Doctor began.

'No! Shut up!' Seth screamed, tears erupting from his eyes. 'He's not dead! He's okay! He's always okay! Whatever Va'A'gnorn did, it wasn't that! He's lying!'

No one said anything. Seth stopped, staring at them in the heavy, thick, and unbelievably cold silence.

'No. Don't you dare, don't you dare!' Seth screamed.

'Seth…' the Doctor tried again.

'Shut the hell up!' Seth cried. 'This is your fault! And you!' he directed at Jack. 'I hate you! Both of you!'

He ran over to the Doctor, commencing pummelling his fists on the Time Lord's chest. His lean, underfed frame meant his punches were weak, so the Doctor just let him do it until he ran out of energy and sagged, holding onto the Doctor's shirt with clenched fists. The Doctor hugged him as the teenager shook, sobbing relentlessly.

For a while, there was only the sound of Seth sobbing. Eventually the Doctor pulled back, pocketing the liquid.

'Time to pay Pargeont Va'A'gnorn a visit,' the Doctor announced, gazing at Seth, who looked up at him with red eyes. 'I'm fed up with him killing people I like. He won't get away with this, Seth. I promise.'

'You will be wanting passage to the Va'A'gnorn mansion,' Geranda supposed, standing up again. She walked over to a curtain, and pulled it back to reveal a transmat. 'This will take you directly to the Va'A'gnorn residence.'

The Doctor nodded. 'Thank you. Seth?'

'Yeah?' the boy croaked.

'It's going to be dangerous. You don't have to come. I'll find Elliott's body and we can give him a proper burial.'

Seth stood up straight, wiping at his eyes. 'No, I'm coming,' he said.

The Doctor didn't even fight with him. He just nodded again, and moved over to the transmat.

'Ready?' he asked Jack and Seth.

'Ready.'

'Ready.'

'Molto bene,' the Doctor muttered, and stepped into the transmat.

A/N: Oh, this feels like an ultimate confrontation coming up! :o I'll review reply this chapter so feel free to grill me on whatever you desire!