Chapter 24: Caged

For the 400th time, the Doctor paced around the tiny cell he and Missy shared, who swore he'd worn a hole in the ground by now. He muttered unintelligibly, trying to hatch up an escape plan.

"Will you stop that!?" Missy snipped, sitting on one of the hard white beds. His incessant back-and-forth had exhausted her already thin patience. "You're driving me insane!"

She winced at the irony. She had just yelled at Clara for the same thing only a few weeks before. It was scary how alike the two of them were becoming.

The Doctor finally stopped, plopping down on the bed opposite to her with a creak. Rubbing his face with his hands, he ran his fingers through his hair nervously. He flexed his jaw, bringing up a hand to rub at the dark bruise which had formed there.

Scratching at his wrists where the handcuffs bit into his skin, he had to fight the panic welling up in his mind. His hearts raced, his pulse thumping hard in his ears. This could not be happening again.

It had been hours since their capture and they still hadn't heard from anybody yet. The silence drove their anxiety into the stratosphere. What was stopping them from executing the Doctor right now? Or Missy too, for that matter? As draconian as the laws on this planet were, it was a legitimate worry.

And where was Clara? He had programmed the vortex manipulator to the date of the murder, but who knows if it actually worked. It had been quite damaged. Dread pooled into a pit in his stomach. Clara could be anywhere in time and space. All he could do was hope that she was alright. The worry made him nauseous.

Suddenly, there was the shriek of a metal latch and the door swung inwards. A tall Kapponian officer stepped into the cell, closing the door behind him. Missy raised her eyebrows. She knew that face.

"Officer Drychek," she greeted in her sweetest voice. "What a pleasure."

The Doctor shot her a look of confusion. "You know him?" he asked.

"Oh yeah," Missy waved her hand, "me and Butchie here go way back."

"Butchie?" he asked, incredulous.

"Long story," she chuckled. "I'll tell you about it later."

The officer cleared his throat. "Anyway," he began, "I managed to convince my superiors to let me take the case."

He looked the Doctor straight in the eye and shook his hand sincerely. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Yeah, good to meet you too, who are you?" the Doctor asked, still distrustful. Missy was not known for having the most trustworthy of friends.

He pointed to the shiny brass nametag on his uniform. "The name is Drychek. I have been helping your friends with your case." He crossed his arms. "I believe you are an innocent man."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. Missy had somehow managed to find the one sympathetic Kapponian on the planet.

"They wanted to execute you again right away," he admitted gravely. "But I managed to buy you a couple of days so I could investigate further."

"Well, it's better than nothing," Missy shrugged. "We'll have to make it work."

The officer reached forwards with a small key. Missy held out her cuffed hands. Twisting the key in the lock, the metal handcuffs clattered to the floor. Turning around, he did the same for the Doctor. He rubbed at his raw skin, grateful to finally be free of those cursed cuffs.

"Thank you, dearie," Missy crooned. "Those weren't my best pair of bracelets."

"I figured you'd want out of them," Drychek mused, pocketing the key.

"Well," Missy batted her eyelashes flirtatiously. "Not always."

The Doctor blushed at Missy's implication. He coughed to break up the tension in the room. "Thank you, officer," he grated out. "For everything."

The young Kapponian nodded. "Of course. I'll keep on the case, see if I can find out anything else."

He addressed Missy, crooking a smile. "Of course," he chuckled, "it would be easier if someone hadn't stolen the evidence."

"Bah," Missy dismissed with a flick of her wrist. "It was useless anyway."

He hummed, unconvinced. Reaching for the handle, he yanked the door open. "I'll be back later. I'll let you know if I find out anything else."

"Thanks, Butch," Missy said, rare sincerity in her voice.

With that, the door clicked shut. The metal latch squealed harshly as it was locked back in place.

Missy glanced at the Doctor, catching his gaze. He stared back, wincing at the swollen black eye and scabbed-over cut marring her face. He reached out, tenderly cupping her uninjured cheek. "I'm sorry I got you into this, Missy."

Leaning into his touch, she sighed. With the contact, a jolt shot through their minds.

Missy's eyes widened. "I'm a Time Lady again," she realized. "Maybe our previous mind meld didn't work because I was still human."

"You made yourself human?" He furrowed his eyebrows, hand dropping from her face.

"Yeah, otherwise it's practically an instant arrest on this racist planet," she chuffed like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I needed a disguise."

He opened his mouth to ask something else but Missy brushed him off. "Anyway, I'm back to my old self now. They destroyed my fob watch."

She got up from the bed and stood over him. "Scooch over," she motioned. He obliged, making room for her to sit down next to him.

"Now," she slapped her hands to her thighs for emphasis. "Let's try that mind meld again."

The Doctor recoiled. "I don't think that's a good idea, Missy. You remember what happened last time."

"Yeah, yeah, but Clara said you're better now."

"Missy–" he warned.

"Look, Doctor," she insisted, "if you can remember what happened that could be a valuable lead."

He grumbled, unable to deny the logic in her words. It could be the only chance he had, the only way to save his life. Defeated, he gave her a slight nod of permission. He had nothing to lose anyway.

"Now," Missy pressed her gangly fingers to the Doctor's temples and closed her eyes. "Let's see who framed you."

Not so gently, Missy pushed her way into the Doctor's mind. Thoughts and feelings fluttered around everywhere, but behind walls, creating an impenetrable maze. She huffed, exasperated. "Doctor, you need to let me in."

He balked but knew he had no choice. Reluctantly, he lowered his guard. The walls crumbled, setting all the thoughts and feelings free. They spun and danced around Missy. Guilt, anxiety, and fear permeated into her mind through the bond as if they were her own.

She tensed her jaw, brushing them aside so she could see clearly. Her glowing violet essence weaved through the memories, searching for that wall she had encountered last time. The key to this mystery was within whatever laid beyond.

The bonfire from earlier was now a raging inferno, consuming everything in its path. It threatened to take over his entire mind. Missy shielded her eyes against the light. Remembering what it symbolized, she scowled. She had to go through it. It was the only way to get to the wall.

Approaching the great conflagration, she cautiously reached a hand into its flames. They licked up her arm greedily, setting her alight. Memories and thoughts flooded into her mind like a tidal wave.

Clara. Everything was about Clara. How she talked, how she looked, how her perfume smelled, her big expressive doe eyes. Her passion, her anger, her ferocious tenacity.

'What a sap,' she thought to herself, keeping her own mind guarded.

Pressing on, the heat intensified as she got closer to the source– his bond with Clara. It crackled and pulsed like a living thing, stronger than ever before. Memories played all around her like movies: Clara saving his life, helping him take a bath, sharing a bed with him, their first kiss.

Missy grimaced. He loved Clara so much it ached, and she knew that he would destroy the universe for her.

But what would he do for her, his oldest friend?

Searching through the flames, she was barely able to make out the faint purple glow of her bond with the Doctor. It was nearly completely drowned out by the all-encompassing golden light.

Jealously bubbled up in her hearts like a poison. What had been festering in her mind for the past few weeks finally came to a head. Choosing a human over his own kind, it was traitorous, disgusting, immoral.

Missy sneered. Rage created a fire of its own in her mind, burning hot and wild. How dare he reject her, especially for a human? A comparative insect! After all she had done for him the last few weeks, she deserved some love too.

She waved her hands through the memories to dissipate them. She ran through the blaze as quickly as she could, angrily shoving emotions and visions aside as she went. She could not stand another minute of that bullshit.

Suddenly, she ran into something hard and solid. Stumbling back, she nearly fell on her ass. Tentatively, she reached out, feeling the forcefield shimmer beneath her hands.

She smiled. Finally, she had reached the wall. Finding the crack she had made last time, she jammed her hands into it, prying it apart.

Back in reality, the Doctor cried out. Pain stabbed into his brain like an ice pick through his ear. Just like last time, his hearts began to flutter in his chest. They battered against his ribcage furiously. His breathing picked up almost to the point of hyperventilation. Electricity tingled in his fingers and toes.

He furrowed his eyebrows, concentrating on persuading his runaway hearts to slow down. He needed to let Missy do this. He balled his hands into fists. All he could do was grit his teeth and bear it.

Missy yanked harder and harder, feeling much stronger than before. The wall creaked and groaned, beginning to fracture. Grunting, she shoved a leg into the widening break, wedging it open just enough. She just needed to get past the forcefield. She did not need to hurt him further by breaking down the entire wall.

Squeezing and contorting herself through the crack, she finally popped out on the other side. Darkness enshrouded the area. Unable to see anything besides her own purple glow, Missy had to feel her way around.

Advancing into the forbidden part of his mind, she reached a cliff. Nearly falling over the edge, she wheeled her arms around to regain her balance. Back on solid ground, she squinted her eyes to see in the darkness. The vast abyss extended forever in every direction. Lights flickered faintly in the depths. Orange and red like the gates to hell itself.

Missy held back, afraid. There was nowhere else to go, and she was definitely not going to retreat now. The trench represented the deep recesses of his mind, the place where his darkest memories hid themselves.

Missy walked right up to the edge until her toes were dangling off the precipice. Reminding herself that it was not a real cliff, not real gravity, she psyched herself up. It could not hurt her. With outstretched arms, she took another step, plunging into oblivion.

False air rushed past her face as she fell, whipping her hair around into all directions. The hidden memories she had been searching for suddenly pierced into her brain. Recoiling, she grimaced with a silent scream of pain. It was so much at once.

Balling her fists until her nails stabbed into her palms, she focused hard. Time slowed down. Her rapid descent decreased into a gentle soaring. The flow of information reduced to a trickle, allowing her to actually take a look at the memories as they fluttered past.

One by one, fragments of the locked away events began to condense together. The full picture came into view, playing out in front of Missy as if she were there. She watched it all unfold, but in a way far different than the police report had described.

Her eyes widened. Butch was telling the truth.

The Doctor had been framed.