Chapter Sixty-Five: Broken Trust
Storybrooke – Present Day
While Emma went off on her own task in proving Tamara had a hand in Regina's disappearance, the Doctor rushed to the TARDIS with Clara, David, and Mary Margaret in tow. During their trek to the blue police box, David had been trying to make sense of the Doctor's earlier presumption that Regina was his only way of getting to Trenzalore. "How is Regina going to help you get there?" He asked once inside the TARDIS. "She only stole your memories – and you can't have a memory of a place you've never been to, can you?"
"It wasn't just my memories Regina stole; it was my whole essence." The Doctor elaborated. "The soul of a Time Lord is capable of having vast knowledge of the universe. It knows of time and space inside-out, upside-down, downside-up, forward, and backward. Regina has been unable to control that essence, which is why she has been seeing not just my whole lifespan, but that of the entire universe."
"She shouldn't have that kind of ability," said a shocked Mary Margaret.
"She shouldn't even be alive." The Doctor enunciated. "The mind and soul of a Time Lord can have overwhelming side effects on humans. I've witnessed it happen with Rose Tyler and Donna Noble – nearly killed them both."
"What makes Regina so special?" Clara asked.
"Her magic." The Doctor specified. "It was magic she used to take my essence out of me, and her magic has been something of a shield her whole life. But I fear that it won't help her for much lo—ACK!"
All of the sudden, the Doctor doubled over in pain, clutching his head.
"DOCTOR!" Clara, David, and Mary Margaret all cried, rushing to his aid.
"Doctor, what's wrong?" David asked.
The Time Lord's body convulsed on the floor of the console room as if he were receiving electroshock therapy. The room and people around him momentarily changed, shifting to another setting – one that was grungy and foul-smelling – with different people standing over him. He saw a man with short, balding hair staring menacingly at him and repeatedly asking, "Where's my father?" Accompanying this man was Tamara, who the Doctor could see plain as day in his brief vision.
In addition to feeling the agonizing pain from the shocks, the Doctor felt like he was tied down, unable to move his wrists. He felt helpless, angry, and afraid – all the emotions the actual person suffering from the torture had felt there. There was no doubt in his mind that this person was Regina. When their mental link severed unexpectedly, the Doctor found himself in full control of his body and senses again; the pain in his head and body were still there, but he was otherwise fine.
"Doctor?" Mary Margaret whispered in concern. "What's wrong?"
As soon as he was able to catch his breath, he updated them on his sudden experience: "It's Regina. I know where she is." He tried to stand up but found slight difficulty in doing so, leaving David and Mary Margaret to help him on his feet. "David, hand me your phone. I need to call Emma." David had done so, and the Doctor selected Emma's name in the list of contacts on David's phone. Once he heard Emma pick up, he quickly said, "Emma, listen. We don't have much time. Regina has been kidnapped. She's being held someplace where there are sardines. My guess would be the seafood cannery at the docks."
"I'm here at the docks right now with Neal." Emma alerted.
"We'll meet you there." The Doctor informed. "Oh, and Emma…you were right – Tamara is behind this."
There was silence over the phone after the Doctor revealed the information to her. "We'll be here when you arrive," said Emma, who had a hint of anger and determination in her voice. The Doctor did not have to guess that the anger came from Tamara's betrayal of Neal's trust, and she was unquestionably determined to bring her to justice.
"That can't be right," said the baffled Neal, who was sneaking through the cannery with a gun-drawn Emma. "The Doc had to have made a mistake. We saw Tamara at the beach."
"Which is right by the docks." Emma justified. "Are you seriously going to deny the evidence after the most brilliant man in the universe confirmed it for us?"
"I'm just saying that it sounds like we're following on a hunch." Neal said.
"Trust me – with the Doctor, there are no hunches."
As the two were halfway through the cannery, they heard the TARDIS arriving close nearby. It was loud enough to echo throughout the entire cannery, possibly alerting Regina's kidnappers of their presence there. Rounding a corner, Emma and Neal saw the fully materialized TARDIS parked near piles of oil drums just as the Doctor, Clara, David, and Mary Margaret had exited it.
"Can you put your box on 'vibrate' or something?" Emma griped. "I think you just told Tamara that we're here with all those loud weird noises."
"Sorry. Parking brake issue. Keep forgetting about it." The Doctor said before handing walkie-talkies over to David and Emma each. "We'll maintain contact through these. Emma and Neal will search the main floor, while the rest of us search through the basement."
Everyone nodded in agreement with the Doctor's plan and split into their separate groups. David and Emma both kept their guns held high as they had Mary Margaret and Neal backing them up, while the Doctor kept his sonic screwdriver up high with Clara following close behind him. Down in the basement, the Doctor and Clara searched in the opposite direction of David and Mary Margaret, believing they could cover the area much quicker that way. As he traveled along a corridor, scanning with the sonic, the Doctor began to experience the electroshocks through his head again, keeling over and dropping his Gallifreyan tool.
"Doctor?" Clara uttered in distress.
"We're…getting closer," he said between heavy breaths. He picked the sonic back up and continued on the path, moving at a weaker pace. Clara reluctantly followed, seeing how much the pain had slowed him down.
It was not long before they heard shouting from one of the adjacent rooms down the corridor. The Doctor no longer needed the sonic screwdriver to lead them, opting instead to follow the furious shouts and the unbearable pain coursing through his head and down his body. The Doctor finally stumbled in the room that he had seen in his vision. There stood the man, sending repeated shocks through Regina, who was tied helplessly to the table. Tamara was nowhere to be seen.
"STOP!" The Doctor managed to yell in his weakened state.
Hearing him, the man stopped in his torture of Regina and turned to see the Doctor and Clara entering. Alarmed of their presence, he asked, "Who are you?"
The Doctor felt himself regaining some of his strength back. He saw that Regina drifted into an unconscious state on the table, receiving enough shocks to put her out of commission. He went to her and scanned her body from head to toe – mostly the head – with the sonic screwdriver. Watching what he was doing, the man seemed to be reminded of something similar that he witnessed from his past – another man who possessed a similar device and made a similar gesture with it.
He then saw that the stranger in front of him was wearing a bowtie and his eyes lit up. "Doctor?"
The Doctor's head shot up towards the man who seemed to have recognized him.
"You're the Doctor!" The man excitedly said. "Tamara was right. T-The face, clothes, and sonic screwdriver are all different, but…it's really you."
His eyes squinted as he gawked at the man, the Doctor was surprised that he knew so much about him. Before the Doctor could have addressed him, there was loud gunfire; the electroshock equipment exploded in fiery sparks.
"DON'T MOVE!"
It was David, arriving at the scene with his gun aimed directly at Regina's torturer. The man knocked over the damaged piece of equipment as a distraction against David, providing himself with the opportunity of escaping. The Doctor watched him leave with David making chase, still wondering who he was.
Mary Margaret then entered the room, rushing over to untie Regina from the table. "Is she alright?"
The Doctor barely caught her question. "Y-Yes…she's fine. Her vitals are all normal, although much of the Time Lord essence within her seems to have burnt out from the electroshocks."
"You mean she no longer has all that information on how to get to Trenzalore?" Clara questioned.
The Doctor shrugged. "It's uncertain to know for sure 'til we can get her back to the TARDIS."
David soon returned from his chase but without their suspect. "He got away."
"Who was that man?" Clara asked.
"His name's Greg Mendell." David said. "He's been a guest here in town since he got into a car accident on his way in. He's always seemed a bit suspicious ever since, and now we know why."
"Well, he seemed to know an awful lot about the Doctor." Clara indicated. She turned to the Time Lord and asked, "Do you even know him?"
The Doctor shook his head. "I have never met that man my entire life."