"You have heard the charge against you," the presiding Time Lord, and member of the High Council, Goth began as he and his colleagues stared down at the impish little man standing before them, "that you have repeatedly broken our most important law of non-interference in the affairs of other planets. What have you to say? Do you admit these actions?"
The impish man, a member of their own race known as the Doctor, looked on defiantly but he was deeply frightened of what his fate could be, and he knew he had to be on his guard and be careful. "I not only admit them, I am proud of them," the Doctor declared. "While you have been content merely to observe the evil in the galaxy, I have been fighting against it." "It is not we who are on trial here, Doctor, it is you," the third Time Lord pointed out. The Doctor snorted, "No, no, of course, you're above criticism, aren't you? You just can't accept you yourselves are also to blame. That's the problem with you," he went on blithely, ignoring how much danger he was in since he needed to make his points. "The Time Lords had sat back and watched too long. Its time to wake up." "Do you admit that these actions were justified?" Goth asked in disbelief at the idea the Time Lord's strictest policies of non interference were wrong. "Yes, of course, I do. Give me a thought channel and I'll show you some of the evils I've been fighting against," the Doctor said, pointing to the screen. The Time Lords glanced at one another. They nodded, just as the Doctor knew they would. When the Doctor felt the telepathic link to the Thought Channel, he considered what he was going to show them. When he'd had the idea of telling the Time Lords about the evils he'd fought against, he'd simply planned to tell them what the universe was full of.
But then he changed his mind.
If he was going to survive, he would need to tell the Time Lords what was out there, and what would happen to time. He would need to give them a reality check.
The Doctor began when he showed them the alternate timeline he'd seen with the alternate WOTAN, which took over people's minds, and eventually led to World War 3, and a fascistic dictatorship led by General Louise Bamford, who wanted to use time travel to fight another war, only for others to try to use time travel to prevent the events taking place in the first place.
The Time Lords looked on. Time Lord minds were vast, capable of perceiving dimensions beyond what a mere human or many other beings in the cosmos could perceive themselves, and they were capable of seeing what was meant to be and what wasn't. Right now, their time senses immediately telling them that these events were never meant to be.
They watched as the Doctor's original incarnation time travelled back in time, to dispose of Dalek time travel technology which had been left on the planet during a previous visit, which led to the research in the first place; at the same time, they had a meeting with a younger Bamford, and had a more beneficial effect on her, negating the timeline, before the First Doctor went further in their timeline and stopped WOTAN.
But the Doctor was not finished. He showed them the alternative timeline he'd mentally perceived taking place when that insecticide he'd dealt with back in his first incarnation, during an attempt to return Ian and Barbara home was used on the whole world, causing terrifying ecological damage. As that adventure had unfolded, and more of the mystery had revealed itself, the Doctor had perceived a terrible timeline unfolding, where every form of insect life died out, and with it plants found it increasingly impossible to spread their seeds, and thus were unable to grow.
This led to a mass extinction event, wiping out many of the Earth's life forms within a decade, before humanity followed suit, as they lacked the technology to properly deal with the crisis.
That timeline was, fortunately, averted when the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Susan stopped the insecticide from being used, after they had telephoned the authorities, even if they had been reduced to the size of an inch after the doors of the TARDIS opened.
The Time Lords were shown more potential timeline changes; the possibility of the Dalek invasion of Earth's Operation De-Gravitate succeeding which would have transformed the whole planet into a battleship, which would see the end of the human race, and the rise of their empires and Federations, which would drastically change and transform history for millions of years to come.
The attacks by the Cybermen on the planet, all of which could see the rise of Cyberman empires which would further destabilise the timelines, as humanity was either rendered extinct, or they were destroyed.
The Doctor had no qualms about betraying his fellow renegade Time Lords; he showed them the alternative timelines the Master would have created on Desolation, after his TARDIS had fallen apart, just to regain his freedom, he had wanted to turn the whole world into a war-torn graveyard, only to have the power to go on, and cause even more damage.
Even more damning was what would have happened had the War Chief succeeded in helping the War Lords, and their plans for the human soldiers; the Doctor had seen several possibilities if the War Lords and the War Chief had made different decisions; in one potential timeline, the humans would have fought themselves to the bitter end, before they were forced to grow armies using progenation machines which genetically warped them into super warriors; in another, the War Chief, clearly taking inspiration from the Cybermen, would have partially transformed the surviving soldiers into cyborgs, and that was only two of them.
There were others, that were much, much worse.
The Doctor took a deep breath at the end - projecting so many thoughts like that was time consuming and draining - and he addressed the trio of Time Lords, "All of these evils, I have fought. True, I am guilty of interference, but I have always tried to stay on the right side of history. However while I am guilty of interference, you are just as guilty of failing to use your great powers to help those in need!"
The three Time Lords were silent besides glancing at each other. They had just seen many potential timelines which would have upset the Web of Time, and projected history; while they ignored some changes to the timelines, there were some things they refused to ignore. "Is that all you have to say?" Goth asked. The Doctor was indignant, after showing them all of that, that was it. "Well, isn't it enough?" "Your defence has been heard and will be carefully considered, but you have raised difficult issues," Goth said as he looked down in thought. "We require time to think about them. You will be recalled when we have made our decision."
The Doctor made a face.
Xxxxxx
The Doctor couldn't help but let out a laugh as he watched Jamie chasing after a redcoat after he'd been taken back to his home time. It was a little while after his trial. The Time Lords had left him alone for a spell, before one of them brought Jamie and Zoe to him so they could both say goodbye.
The trio had tried to escape, even if the Doctor had doubted it would work. And it didn't.
The three had said their final goodbyes, and in the moment he'd been saying goodbye to Zoe, the Doctor had seen the sad heartbreak in the girl's eyes, which was too much to bear.
Zoe had known they would never see each other again. The Doctor had not said anything, he had to much respect for Zoe to patronise her when she knew something was true.
There was no way they could ever meet. The moment they arrived in their times, their memories of their travels would vanish. The Doctor didn't understand why the Time Lords were even going that far; Jamie and Zoe were harmless, but that was the Time Lords for you. Their obsession with keeping secret and in the shadows of the universe had made them xenophobic to the point of obsessiveness. They simply didn't care to mix with others.
The Time Lords had allowed him to see his two friends returning to their lives, even if it hurt him a great deal to know he would never see them again.
The sight of the three Time Lords killed any laughter in his throat. "They will both continue their lives as if nothing had happened," Goth said calmly.
The Doctor wanted to throttle him; he would never see Jamie and Zoe again, and Goth was writing the whole thing off as if nothing was happening.
Still, he knew he couldn't put this off, not anymore. "Yes, very efficient. Now then, what about me?" He asked bluntly, wanting them to get to the end of this.
"We have accepted your plea that there is evil in the universe that must be fought, and that you still have a part to play in that battle."
The Doctor couldn't believe his ears. "What? You mean that you're going to let me go free?"
Goth turned to one of his colleagues - the Doctor wondered more about the third Time Lord, who had spoken very little, and whom seemed more content to merely observe - before turning back to the Doctor, "Not entirely. We have noted your particular interest in the planet Earth. The frequency of your visits must have given you special knowledge of that world and it's problems."
The Doctor nodded slowly in agreement, "Yes, I suppose that's true," he said thoughtfully, "Earth seems more vulnerable than others, yes."
"For that reason you will be sent back to that planet," the ghost of a smirk was on Goth's face.
The Doctor sighed with relief, wondering what this was leading to, "Oh, good."
"In exile," Goth was smirking openly now.
"In exile?" The Doctor repeated with a sinking feeling in his hearts.
The Doctor had known bringing the Time Lords in to deal with the War Lords and their Games would be trouble, but he'd been pressed for options; he had considered trying to find a way of prolonging the use of the SIDRATS the War Chief had given the aliens for their scheme, but they had been breaking down, and there was no time to look for the War Chief's own TARDIS.
And now it looked like he was going to be punished severely for his crimes. His friends were gone, and they had no memory of him beyond their first meeting.
Poor Zoe…
Poor Jamie….
"You will be sent to Earth in the 20th century, and will remain there for as long as we deem proper," Goth continued, "and for that period the secret of the Tardis will be taken from you."
The Doctor was outraged, "But you, you can't condemn me to exile on one primitive planet in one century in time!" Another thought occurred to him. "Besides, I'm known on the Earth. It might be very awkward for me."
But Goth had a solution to that. "Your appearance has changed before, it will change again. That is part of the sentence."
"What? You can't just change what I look like without consulting me! Do I even get a choice?"
Goth held up a hand for silence. "Yes, you do. You will have an opportunity to choose your appearance, Doctor. But choose quickly, for time is not on your side."
The Doctor opened his mouth, but he turned silently to face the screen.
"Here is your first choice," Goth said.
A man with a big bushy beard appeared on the screen.
"Oh he's too old!"
An overweight man with dark hair appeared next.
The Doctor groaned, "Well he's too fat, isn't he?"
A sketch showing a thin faced man with a moustache appeared.
"No, he's too thin," the Doctor rolled his eyes before he turned to the Time Lords. "No, no, no, none of these faces will do at all. It's ridiculous. Variety. I want something different."
A dangerous hint of warning crept into Goth's patient voice. "You're wasting time, Doctor. What do you mean by different?"
"Oh, I don't know," the Doctor thought through what he could have that would satisfy this part of the Time Lords' judgement, and then he thought of his old friend, the Corsair. How he'd regenerated into a female incarnation. The Doctor had often considered the possibilities of regenerating into a female, himself.
Regeneration was like the links in a chain, with each incarnation being a step up, where the Time Lord could learn and grow.
"I've got it. Try female sketches," the Doctor requested.
The Time Lords exchanged a long suffering glance, but they nodded.
The Doctor turned around and studied the next image. And he stopped when he saw it, and he stepped closer to take a look. The new face showed a beautiful young woman, with long thick dark hair and dark eyes, and a thin face, with dark skin. She appeared to be in her thirties, if he was reading it right. She had the appearance of someone with a zest for life, and right now the Doctor wanted to enjoy life.
The Time Lords noticed the way he was silent, but before they could speak, the Doctor nodded. "That's more like it," he said, "that one."
"This is your choice?"
"Yes," the Doctor turned around. "If I am going to change again, I need to make the most it."
The moment he said that, a world of possibility opened up for him.
When he regenerated, he would be exiled to Earth and be in one place for the first in a long time without the TARDIS working for him, even though it was a temperamental, ruddy old thing. But when he did regenerate, then he could actively enjoy life while he worked on the TARDIS.
The Time Lords bowed respectfully. "Of course. Perhaps, one day, you will be allowed to travel through time and space again."
The Doctor closed his eyes, but nodded, not trusting himself to say anything rude even if he felt he had the right to.
The third Time Lord spoke up. "You have a choice of where in C-20th Earth you wish to reside in, Doctor. We must know before your mind is affected by the post regenerative trauma."
The Doctor considered. Logically he should ask to be sent to 1970s Earth. There, his next incarnation would spend her exile working for UNIT, but he didn't want to. His last thought about there being different possibilities filled his mind; instead of being miserable and wanting to leave Earth to the point of making dangerous mistakes, he wanted to enjoy life like a human.
As for UNIT…well, there was plenty of time to work there for the Brigadier, if the situation called for it. After all, even an exiled time traveller was still a time traveller.
At the same time she could do so much more, maybe get a job… as bleak as that sounded.
And truthfully, there was only one place to go…
The Doctor lifted his head and took a deep breath….
"1980," he announced.