"What do you know about the Zygon?"
Arthur fell silent, stopped playing the ukulele and responded with an expressionless stare at the Doctor. It had been a week since he had arrived in the Tardis with a version of the Doctor that seemed to forgive him. They travelled to the Phosphorus Carousel of the Great Magellan Gestadt, saved a planet from the Red Carnivorous Maw, and named a galaxy Alison. Strangely, there was neither Donna nor Delaney in the Tardis and Arthur wasn't sure if he needed to ask this without hurting him.
But during those adventures, he knows the Doctor wants to ask something. He never prodded him, simply let him be ready and enjoy his company.
He could tell him about them built like humanoids with large, cone-shaped heads. Or the venom sacs in the tongue. Or the deeply ingrained fear of fire. Or the capability to produce electricity bolts from their hands. Or there are many Zygons living as humans per Operation Double. But all he can say is, "They can shapeshift." He frowns. "Why?"
"There's a whole nest out there on the run, and I've lost track of them."
"You want to investigate these Zygons? Didn't they all perish during the Time War?"
"Not all of them. Some survive and create many hidden hives. In particular, the missing hive of the Under Wave. You're a psychic, and I could use your foresight regarding this."
Ah. That's why he didn't ask him much sooner. "You don't need to feel guilty about it," he shrugs. He had a good hunch where this might be going. "They're on Earth, as you might have suspected. A time eddy knocked them back a few centuries. But I'm not 100% sure you would like where they landed."
The Doctor waves his hand. "We had dealt worse. What could be worse?"
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Arthur smirks as he prepares the picnic.
He had got the pleasure to see the discomfort Doctor had tried to seduce Queen Elizabeth the First. The man believes that making the supposed Queen fall in love with him shall work well. What he didn't predict, however, is that she is indeed in love with him and tries so hard to marry him. He just holds his laughter every time the Doctor comes to him and began his rambling on how disgusting the Queen's breath is.
He glances at the Tardis parked on a meadow overlooking a river. Like he predicts, a second later, the Doctor rides out on a horse, Elizabeth the First riding behind him, arms wrapped around him.
"Allons-y!" He grinned. She laughs and the horse whinnies. "There you go, Your Majesty, what did I tell you? Bigger on the inside!"
"The door isn't," she pointed out. "You nearly took my head off. It's normally me who does that."
"Picnic is ready!" Arthur shouted.
"Ooo, I'm hungry! Let's eat!"
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Elizabeth and the Doctor are lying on a blanket having a picnic. The Queen has her head on the Doctor's lap. The horse grazes behind them as Arthur quietly observes Alison.
"Tell me, Doctor, why I'm wasting my time on you and Mister Jonas. I have wars to plan," Elizabeth the First remarked.
"You have a picnic to eat?" Arthur shrugs and sips his wine, holding the grimace in his mouth.
"You two could help me."
"Well...Arthur helping you prepare the picnic, I'm helping you eat the picnic," the Doctor said and popped a grape in her mouth.
"But you have a stomach for war. This face has seen conflict. It's clear as day," she alluded, caressing his face.
"Oh, I've seen conflict like you wouldn't believe. But it wasn't this face. But never mind that, Your Majesty, up on your feet!" He stands and holds his hands for her. "Up, up!"
"How dare you?! I'm the Queen of England!"
"He's not English," Arthur quipped, almost making the Doctor snort. But he can't do that. Not without murk up his plan.
He kneels in front of her. "Elizabeth, will you marry me?"
Oh, my dear, sweet love. Of course I will!" She agreed, leans in to hug him, before the Doctor stands up quickly.
"Ah! Gotcha!"
"My love?"
"One! The real Elizabeth would never have accepted my marriage proposal. Two! The real Elizabeth would notice when I just casually mention having a different face. But then the real Elizabeth isn't a shape-shifting alien from outer space! And…" he holds out a handmade device. "Ding."
"What's that?"
"It's a machine that goes...ding! Made it myself. It lights up in the presence of shape-shifter DNA. Ooh. Also it can microwave frozen dinners from up to 20 feet and download comics from the future. I never know when to stop."
Arthur glances at Alison, the horse. His gut feeling told him something very weird about the horse. Almost as if…as if the horse isn't an actual one.
Oh crap.
"My love, I do not understand," Elizabeth confessed.
"I'm not your love. And yes, you do! You're a Zygon."
"Doctor," Arthur called.
But the Queen interrupts. "A Zygon?"
"Oh, stop it, it's over!" The Doctor huffed. "A Zygon, yes. A big red rubbery thing, covered in suckers. Surprisingly good kisser."
"Doctor," the Time Lord tried again, which he ignored.
"Think the real Queen of England would just decide to share the throne with any old handsome bloke in a tight suit…"
Arthur watches in the corner of his eyes as the horse whinnies and slowly transforms. "Doctor!"
"What?" He turns to see the horse is gone and an alien is standing there. "Oh. It was the horse!"
"Know what that means?"
"I'm going to be King!"
"You're going to be King," Arthur repeated and took both the Doctor and Elizabeth by the hand, run to a stone ruin. "Run!"
"What's happening?" Elizabeth asked.
"We're being attacked by a shape-shifting alien from outer space, formerly disguised as my horse," the Doctor replied.
"What does that mean?"
"It means...we're going to need a new horse."
"And a better place to picnic," Arthur added as they press against either side of the entry as the Zygon goes past.
Elizabeth frowns. "Where's it going?"
The Doctor goes over to her. "We'll hold it off, you run. Your people need you."
"And I need you alive for our wedding day."
After she kisses him passionately and runs away, the Doctor mumbles, "Oh, good work, Doctor, nice one! The Virgin Queen? So much for history!"
"Only you could do that," Arthur dryly said as they ran into the other side, away from the ruins.
The Doctor's smacking his machine. "Come on! Know you're there!"
They hear the Queen's scream not far from their position. The duo run through the woods but stop when the Doctor sees a rabbit snuffling for food on the top of an overgrown stump. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa...Oh, very clever."
Oh boy. He actually thinks this rabbit is a Zygon. "Doctor—"
"Whatever you've got planned, forget it. I'm the Doctor. I'm 904 years old. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I am the oncoming storm, the bringer of darkness—"
"And that's just a normal rabbit," Arthur interjected.
"Oh."
"Yeah. Oh."
"Okay. Carry on. Just a...general...warning," he trailed off before smacking the device.
Arthur snorts. "Next time, try to ask," he advised.
"Doctor! Arthur!" Elizabeth yelled.
They run towards the call and find the Queen's lying on the ground. "Elizabeth!" The Doctor helps her stand.
"That thing...explain what it is! What does it want of us?"
"That's what I'm trying to find out. Probably just your planet."
"Oh come on," Arthur blurted as he spotted another Elizabeth. He dreaded that this might happen. Clearly the universe didn't listen to him.
"Step away from her, Doctor, Arthur. That's not me, that's the creature," the Other Elizabeth stated.
"How is that possible?" The First Elizabeth frowns. "She's me. Doctor, she's me!"
The Doctor takes out his machine once again and aims it at them, while Arthur simply looks between both Elizabeth, using his foreknowledge to identify which is which.
"I am, indeed, me," the Other Elizabeth remarked as they both circled each other. "A compliment that cannot be extended to yourself."
"Extraordinary!" the First Elizabeth exclaimed. "The creature has captured my exact likeness. This is exceptional."
"Exceptional? A Queen would call it impertinent."
"A Queen would feel compelled to admire the skill of the execution, before arranging one."
"Ah! It's not working!" The Doctor complained, shaking his device.
"This Zygon is good," Arthur concluded. "Able to mask its presence perfectly well."
"One might surmise the creature would learn quickly to protect itself from any simple means of detection," the First Elizabeth noted. The machine goes ding.
"Clearly you understand the creature better than I. But then you have the advantage," the Other Elizabeth noticed.
A fissure opens in the air above them.
"Back, both of you, now!" The Doctor warns as he steps at front, shielding Arthur behind. "That's a time fissure, a tear in the fabric of reality. Anything could happen!"
A fez lands at his feet.
"Didn't see that coming?" Arthur teased. "Wait for it."
"Wait for what?"
He got his answer when the Eleventh Doctor (the one in bowtie) and Second Arthur (still a child) suddenly emerged from the fissure and landed on the ground, with Arthur landed above the Doctor.
The Eleventh Doctor groans. "Sunny, would you mind?"
"Sorry!" He said before standing up, allowing him to stand up as well.
The Tenth Doctor stands and puts on the fez as he stares at the newcomers. He leans his head on Third Arthur. "Is that?"
"Yep," he giggled. "They're us. Future You and Past Me."
Second Arthur gawked at them and even more gawked at two Elizabeth. "What the hell?"
"Language," both Doctors scolded before looking at each other properly.
"Oh, that is skinny. That is proper skinny. I've never seen it from the outside. It's like a special effect," Eleventh Doctor commented, walks over, and takes the fez. "Ha! Matchstick Man!"
They both reach into their jacket pockets and Tenth Doctor reveals his sonic first, while Eleventh Doctor reveals his screwdriver and activates it with a flourish. Meanwhile, both Arthurs simply wave their hands, mirroring each other.
"You're the one with three Rivers," Second Arthur remembered.
"And you haven't gone to Tranzelore," Third Arthur verified. He barely remembers those 900 years growing up and living his life as a husband. It felt like a distant story to him.
"Compensating?" The Tenth Doctor guessed, taking two Arthurs back to their fathers.
"For what?" His future self inclined.
"Regeneration. It's a lottery."
They each close their sonics, flip them and put them away in a mirror image.
"Oh, he's cool. Isn't he cool? 'I'm the Doctor and I'm all cool. Oops, I'm wearing sandshoes!'" He mocked, pointing at his own shoes.
"At least it's not a fez," Second Arthur uttered.
"Or a stetson," Third Arthur teased.
"Oi!" The Eleventh Doctor whined, offended that his own son detest fez and stetson. He probably got that from River.
"What are you doing here?" The Tenth Doctor demanded. "Me and Adult Arthur were busy!"
"Oh, busy? I see, is that what we're calling it, eh?" He puts the fez on. Eh?" He bows at the Queens. "Hello, ladies."
"Don't start."
"Does he always like this?" Second Arthur shook his head.
Third Arthur shrugs and sighed exasperatedly, remembering how Fugitive Doctor and Thirteenth Doctor constantly arguing. "The Doctor is always like that. Just get used to it." He glances at the Eleventh Doctor. "We didn't do this for fun. I mean, it's fun. But we did this because one of them is a Zygon."
"Urgh…" both Eleventh Doctor and Second Arthur grimace, knowing what the Tenth Doctor had done with two Queen Elizabeth the First.
There is a whooshing as the fissure opens above them. Both Doctors each put on their glasses and look up. They then look at each other and point at the other's eyewear. "Oooh, lovely!"
Third Arthur rolls his eyes and speaks to the Queens. "Your Majesties...probably a good time to run."
"But what about the creature?" They both questioned.
"Elizabeth, whichever one of you is the real one, turn and run in the opposite direction to the other one. We'll meet you sooner."
"Of course, Mister Jonas!" They said before running in the opposite direction of each other.
Second Arthur blinks. "Well, that was easy." Then, he glances at the Tenth Doctor. "You know they had venom sacs in the tongue. And you still kiss them?"
"Getting the point, thank you very much," Tenth Doctor hissed.
"Nice," Eleventh Doctor smirks.
"Doctor? Arthur? Is that you?" Clara called from the fissure.
"Everything's good in there?" Delaney asked as well.
Third Arthur beams. "Hello, Clara, Dela! Can you hear me?"
"Wait," Claudia said this time. "DAD?!"
"One and only."
"How did you get there?"
"What do you mean how I got here," Third Arthur frowns. "I time jump."
"But two of you can't be at the same time!" She argued.
"Well," the Eleventh Doctor fretted, glancing at his younger self. "About that…"
"Where are you, anyway?" Delaney asked.
"England 1562," the Tenth Doctor replied.
"...is that past you, Doctor?"
"Unfortunately," the Eleventh Doctor answered. His younger self glared at him, rather offended.
"Can you come back through?" Kate inquired.
"Physical passage may not be possible in both directions," Third Arthur doubted.
"Hang on! Fez incoming!" Eleventh Doctor informed and throws fez into the fissure.
"...Nothing here," Clara told them.
"So where did it go?" Second Arthur asked.
War Doctor trudges across the desert, a sack over his shoulder. "Time Lords of Gallifrey, Daleks of Skaro," he said to no one. "I serve notice on you all. Too long I have stayed my hand. No more. Today, you leave me no choice. Today, this war will end. No more. No more."
Bad Wolf looks at War Doctor beside her. "Then that's your punishment. If you do this, if you kill them all, then that's the consequence. You...live. Gallifrey...you're going to burn it...and all those Daleks with it but all those children too. How many children on Gallifrey right now?"
"I don't know," the old man replied.
Third Arthur inhales deeply. There's one more who will join them. "Spoilers," he responded.
"I hate you," Second Arthur grunted.
"Okay, you used to be me, you've done all this before, what happens next?" The Tenth Doctor asked his future self.
The Eleventh Doctor immediately says, "I don't remember."
"How can you forget this?!"
"Two people in the same timeline?" Third Arthur reminded him.
"Precisely!" Eleventh Doctor denoted. "You're obviously not paying enough attention. Reverse the polarity!"
The Doctors each take out their sonic screwdriver and use it on the fissure.
"Doctor?" Second Arthur called.
"Yes?" They both replied.
"There's two of you."
"Yes?"
"One reversing it, and another reversing it back again. You're just circling it over and over." Third Arthur bragged before giggles, finding it super amusing that two versions of his father can be this clueless.
There is a whoosh of air as the War Doctor comes through, landing on his feet, carrying a fez. Both Doctors quickly usher both Arthurs to stand behind them. "Anyone lose a fez?" The War Doctor asked around.
"You," the Tenth Doctor gasped. "How can you be here? More to the point, why are you here?"
"Good afternoon. I'm...looking for the Doctor."
"Well...you've certainly come to the right place."
"Good! Right!" He glances at four of them before smiling kindly. "Well, who are you boys? Oh, of course! Are you his companions?"
"His companions?" The Eleventh Doctor choked.
"They get younger all the time! Well, if you could point me in the general direction of the Doctor…" He stops as each Doctor holds up his sonic screwdriver and activates it, while Young and Adult Arthur point at each Doctor they're currently accompanying. "Really?"
"Really," Second Arthur reported.
"They're me? Both of them?"
"Mhmm," Third Arthur mumbled, nodding.
He nudges at the Eleventh Doctor. "Even that one?"
"Yes!" The Eleventh Doctor grumbled.
"You're my…future selves."
"Yes!" Both Doctors snapped, rather annoyed that their youngest self was having a hard time believing it.
"Am I having a midlife crisis?"
Third Arthur snorts, recalling Twelfth Doctors during his stays in the mediaeval era with Bors' crew. "Wait until you see the Scottish one."
"What?" The War Doctor reacts, takes a step forward to speak with him, but the other Doctors back up a step and aim their screwdrivers at him, once again shielding both Arthurs. "Why are you pointing your screwdrivers like that? They're scientific instruments, not water pistols. Look like you've seen a ghost!"
Both Doctors lowered the sonics, putting it.
"Still...loving the posh, gravelly thing. It's very convincing," Tenth Doctor mused.
"Brave words, Dick Van Dike," Eleventh jokes.
"Encircle them!" A loud order that Third Arthur knows as Lord Bentham can be heard. And before he can react, many soldiers circle the Doctors and Arthurs, aiming their pikes at them. Eleventh and Tenth stand back-to-back, their sonics back out and aimed at the soldiers. Once again, shielding both Arthurs away from eyesight. "Which of you is Arthur Jonas? The Queen of England is bewitched. I would have Arthur Jonas' head."
Second Arthur cast a glare at his future self. "What did you do?" he hissed.
"Nothing!" Third Arthur insisted. "He always assumes I'm a warlock for making the Queen fall in love with the Doctor."
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Why?" Delaney asked her husband. She's used to the unexpected. But since Kate's call about the discovery of a painting about the last day of Gallifrey, Queen Elizabeth the First's special request, the case of the disappearing painting's contents, Delaney has found three versions of the Doctor and two versions of Arthur on the same timeline.
Either this is some kind of universe joke or Bad Wolf has something to do with it all.
"I won a bet with him. He got jealous," he answered.
Claudia glances at Clara, adjusting the lapel of her leather jacket. "Should I be concerned that humans can be dense from jealousy?"
Clara rolls her eyes before noticing Kate returns. "I think there's three of them now," she informed her.
"There's a precedent for that," Kate shared, earning a frown from Claudia.
"What is that?" Lord Bentham demanded.
"Oh, the pointing again. They're screwdrivers! What are you going to do, assemble a cabinet at them?" The newest Doctor—War Doctor—mocked.
"That thing...what witchcraft is it?"
"Ah, yes! Now that you mention it, that is witchcraft, yes, yes, yes. Witchy-witchcraft," Eleventh Doctor said.
"Greetings, O Powerful Witch," Third Arthur greeted with a very mediaeval accent that's so terrible, Clara snorts lightly and Delaney just holds her stomach that's hurt from silently laughing. "What pleasure will you bring us today?"
"Let me try," Claudia offered and stepped closer to the fissure. "Listen to me, you mere mortal! For I, the wicked witch of the well, shall bring curse by summoning a plague upon this puny land if you lay a hand on these trustworthy travellers!"
"Plague might be a bit much," Tenth Doctor pointed out.
"But they buy it," Second Arthur verified.
"Your performance was terrible," Clara chuckled.
"Very terrible," Delaney specified.
"Mum!" Claudia yelped, grunting in embarrassment. "Dad, Doctor, what's going on?!"
"It's a...timey-wimey thing," Eleventh Doctor vaguely emphasised.
"Timey...what?" War Doctor inquired. "Timey-wimey?"
"I've no idea where he picks that stuff up," Tenth Doctor imparted.
"He picked it up after us," Third Arthur shared. "Which we taught from him. So technically, we know that phrase from each other."
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Elizabeth walks into the clearing.
"The Queen!" Everyone kneels down on the ground except the Doctors and Arthurs.
"You don't seem to be kneeling," Elizabeth noticed. "How tremendously brave of you."
"Which one are you? What happened to the other one?" The Tenth Doctor probbed.
"Indisposed. Long live the Queen!"
"Long live the Queen!" All the soldiers repeated.
"Arrest these men and the child. Take them to the Tower."
"That is not the Queen of England," the Tenth Doctor informed while pointing at her. "That's an alien duplicate!"
"And you can take it from him. He's really checked very thoroughly," Third Arthur reported.
"Oh, shut up!"
"Venom sacs in the tongue."
"Seriously, Arthur, stop it!"
"No, hang on, the Tower!" The Eleventh Doctor realised something before grinning. "Did you say the Tower? Ah, yes, brilliant, love the Tower. Breakfast at eight, please. Will there Wi-Fi?"
War Doctor looks flabbergasted at his oldest self. "Are you capable of speaking without flapping your hands about?"
"Yes."
"No," Second Arthur vouched.
"I demand to be incarcerated in the Tower immediately with my co-conspirators, Sandshoes, Grandad, Hippie, and Sunshine!" The Eleventh Doctor declared.
"Grandad?!" War Doctor fumed.
"They're not sandshoes!" Tenth Doctor huffed.
"They kinda are," Second Arthur admitted.
"I'm not a hippie!" Third Arthur protested.
"You do look like one," Eleventh Doctor shrugged and pats his shoulder.
"Silence! The Tower is not to be taken lightly!" Elizabeth barked. "Very few emerge again."
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Dear God, that man's clever. Come on!" Kate called and headed for the door.
"Where are we going?" Clara questioned as Delaney and Claudia followed behind.
"My office. Otherwise known as the Tower of London."
Claudia tosses her blue locks away. "Mum, about Kate—"
"She's not behaving like herself," Delaney ended.
"Oh, I thought I'm the only one," Clara muttered. "Any idea?"
"We will follow her for now," Claudia suggested. "I'll formulate a plan once we know more about our situation."
"Isn't that what the Doctor usually does? I mean, no offence, but I thought you could formulate your plan much sooner."
"Sometimes there's no problem with a made-up plan," Delaney justified. "The Doctor can be stupid sometimes, but his plan always does the trick."
▪︎︎︎︎▪︎▪︎
A Jailer shoves the three Doctors and two Arthurs into a cell. "Oi, you lot, get in there!"
"Ow!" War Doctor muttered as he shoves the last before the door is closed behind them.
The Eleventh Doctor picks up a long nail, holds it by the head in one hand and flicks the fingers of his other hand against it, causing a ting. He walks over to a wall and begins scraping. Meanwhile, Second Arthur glances at the door and the window that has the bar. Third Arthur simply sat down on a bench near the door, watching War Doctor scan the door with his sonic screwdriver.
"Five of us in one cell, that's going to cause some nasty anomalies if we don't get out soon," Tenth Doctor reminded them all.
"I don't think we can, anyway," Third Arthur told him, winking at his younger self. He knows the door never really shut. And, with Second Arthur in here, he can use the Time Vortex to blast the door open. But Third Arthur wants them to stay here a bit longer. "The door's lock shut. Even the sonic won't work on that, since the door's made of wood."
The War Doctor stops scanning and turns to face him. Truthfully, neither Arthurs had any chance to ever meet this version of their father, the one who ended the Time War using the Moment. Nine was too mistrustful to him, Tenth was too regretful to mentioned it, Eleventh was tried to forget, Twelfth rather adamant about his issue with the Time Lords after Trenzalore, and Thirteenth was remorseful about causing another extinction because the Master's action, she didn't like to talk more about Time War.
None of the Doctors really like to talk about the Time War, including War Doctor. Third Arthur is rather done with the secrecy and wants an honest conversation for once.
"Shall we ask for a better quality of door so we can escape?" The Eleventh Doctor inclined.
"What's the fun in that?" Second Arthur asked back, knowing his father's antics.
"Okay, so the Queen of England is now a Zygon, but never mind that, why are we all together? Why are we all here?" The Tenth Doctor contemplated. "Well, Second Arthur, me and...Chinny, we were surprised." He glances at the War Doctor. "But you came looking for us, you knew it was going to happen." He blinks then turns at Third Arthur. "So do you. Did you talk to him?"
"Never met him 'till today." His grey eyes narrowing at Bad Wolf, who's leaning against the wall behind the other Doctors. She smiles at him and his younger version, gesturing to them to stay silent about her presence, leaving War Doctor stunned that only he and two Arthurs can see the mysterious woman. "But whoever they are…I think they're not dangerous."
"Why?"
"Spoilers," both Arthurs replied.
The Eleventh Doctor huffs in a playful way. "I really hate that phrase. River shouldn't have taught you that."
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
A car pulls into the courtyard. Clara, Claudia, and Kate are in the back, while Delaney is in the front seat.
Kate is on her phone. "The Doctor will be trying to send us a message. We're looking for a string of numerals from around 1550, approximately. Priority one. Mrs Jonas?"
Delaney lowers the window and talks to the guard. "I'm going to access the Black Archive."
"Identification?"
"Does the name Delaney Redwood mean anything?"
The guard looked at her, stammering, before letting the car in.
Delaney nervously squeezed the side of her dress. Queen Victoria gave her a free hand regarding alien affairs. Her authority didn't just apply to Torchwood, it also applied to UNIT. As a result, Delaney got every access across the country without any issue whatsoever.
Including the Black Archive, a place Delaney actually hopes is a load of rubbish.
Still…she's not actually like the authority they gave to her. She remembers what Torchwood had done in the past in the name of Queen Victoria, all the heinous things they did, including Canary Wharf, the day things between the Doctor and Arthur just escalated to the worst.
The blonde stares at the front. The Doctor's not gonna be happy about this whole deal.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Kate leads Clara, Claudia, and Delaney through a metal corridor, the only bright light coming through the ventilator shafts. "The Black Archive. Highest security rating on the planet. The entire staff have their memories wiped at the end of every shift. Automated memory filters in the ceiling," she explained.
"Memory wiped? Kate, are you insane?" Claudia snarled, putting her hands on her hips.
"I assure you we did it with consent and keep a regular check on the staff."
"There's a reason memory wipe is forbidden on some planet, you know."
They come to a security door with a desk and guard off to the side. "We have access," Delaney said, holding up the pass rather reluctantly. But since they need to find the Doctor(s) and Arthur(s), she has no choice but to follow whatever plan Kate has.
"Of course, Ma'am," he nods, goes to the door and inserts a key.
Kate holds out her own key. "Atkins, isn't it?"
"Yes, ma'am. First day here," Atkins replied, taking the key from her and inserting the key in the second lock.
"Been here ten years," she clarified to them.
"I'm going to talk to Jack after this," Delaney murmured before Atkins opens the door and lets them in, closing it behind them. The room is a large warehouse of shelves filled with artefacts collected over UNIT's existence. Kate locks the door.
"Lock and key. Bit basic, isn't it?" Clara commented.
"Can't afford electronic security down here. Got to keep the Doctor or the Explorer out," Kate denoted and walked deeper into the collection.
"Claudia?" Delaney called.
The bluenette nods. "I'm ready," she assured her mother. "I guess this entire place is Tardis-proofed?
"He and his son really wouldn't approve of the collection," Kate answered.
"But you let us in?"
"You, Clara, and Dame Redwood have a top-level security rating from your last visit."
Delaney glances at a board covered in photographs. People she recognises as the Doctor's former companions. Some she knows, like Rose, Martha, Donna, Wilfred, Amy, Rory, Sarah Jane, and Clara. But some she didn't know much.
Claudia glares at Kate. "You used it on us?"
"Apologies. We have to screen all of his known associates. We can't have information about the Doctor, the Explorer, and the Tardis falling into the wrong hands. The consequences could be disastrous," Kate informed.
"I can see why the Doctor hates this place."
Ignore her comment, Kate walks over to a window and looks into a room that contains a small wrist-strap resting on a pedestal. The rest walk over and look in.
"What is that?" Clara asked.
"A vortex manipulator," Delaney realised.
"Bequeathed to the UNIT archive by Captain Jack Harkness, on the occasion of his death," Kate added. "Well, one of them. No-one can know we have this, not even our allies."
Clara frowns. "Why not?"
"Think about it! Americans with the ability to rewrite history? You've seen their movies."
"Jack will definitely ask for this device back," Delaney huffed and walked to the door behind Kate. Clara and Claudia follow behind, with Claudia looking more alert than usual.
"Okay, so this is how we're going to rescue the Doctor," Clara guessed.
"In a way," Claudia hinted.
Kate opens the door to the containment room. "I'm not sure there's enough power for a two-way trip. In any event, we don't know the activation code. The Doctor knows we have this, so he's always kept the code from us. Let's hope he changes his mind." She quickly answers the ringing phone. "Yes. Well, if you've found it, photograph it and send it to my phone."
Delaney eyeing both Osgood and McGillop who arrive in the archive. "Kate, why did these two enter the archive too?"
Claudia stands closer to Clara, holding her hand a bit tighter. Clara startled, wanting to ask the bluenette what's wrong, but decided not to since the girl looks deadly serious.
"Oh, they've probably just finished disposing of the humans a bit early," Kate replied.
"Of bloody course," Claudia cursed.
"The humans...?" Clara repeated before her eyes went wide open.
"Dear me! I really do get into character, don't I?" Fake Kate mused and transformed into a Zygon. Claudia gestures to Clara to back away. Her eyes focus on the manipulator.
Zygon Kate turns to face the others.
"The Under Gallery is secured," Zygon Osgood reported.
The photograph appears on Kate's phone. Delaney catches the numbers in it. Slowly, Claudia straps the vortex manipulator on her wrist and Delaney enters the numbers at high speed, while Clara observes the Zygons.
"Prepare to dispose of three more humans. We have acquired the device," Zygon Kate ordered.
"Yeah…about that…" Claudia interrupted them and felt so smug to see the horror on their faces.
Even Clara can't help but give one more jab. "Activation code, right?"
The Zygons growl. Delaney hits the final button and the three women disappear from sight.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
The War Doctor scans the door and the Eleventh Doctor continues to scratch his message, while the Tenth Doctor simply stays silent. Second Arthur's writing in his blue journal and Third Arthur humming Imagine by John Lennon, playing the ukulele he borrowed from Second Arthur. "You may say I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will be as one."
"In theory, I can trigger an isolated sonic shift among the molecules, and the door should disintegrate," War Doctor suggested, stopping Arthur from his humming.
"We need to calculate the exact harmonic resonance of the entire structure down to a subatomic level," Second Arthur pointed out.
"Even the sonic would take years," Tenth Doctor added.
"More like centuries," Third Arthur clarified.
"Oh, we might as well get started," the War Doctor coaxed and sat beside Third Arthur. "Help to pass the 'timey-wimey.'" That remark seems to get the Tenth and Eleventh Doctor's reaction as they stare back. "Do you have to talk like children? What is it that makes you so ashamed of being a grown-up?"
"I'm sure a certain someone once said that there's nothing wrong with behaving childish as a grown up."
"And pray tell, how do you know that?"
"Psychic."
"He's not wrong," Bad Wolf commented.
The War Doctor takes a good look at him and his child self. Sandshoes regard him like any companion. But Chinny reacted much differently. He's much closer to Arthurs, acts playfully and mostly protective like a parent will do to their child. "Well, Mr. Psychic, can you tell me why my future selves look at me like that?"
"It must be really recent for you," Tenth Doctor promptly said, cutting Arthurs from saying more than necessary.
"Recent?"
"The Time War, the last day. The day you killed them all," Eleventh Doctor accused him.
"The day we killed them all," the Tenth Doctor insisted.
"Same thing."
Third Arthur sighs sadly. "It's been many centuries for them. The pain, the agony, the loss…it's too much." He glances back at the War Doctor. "But you haven't done it…haven't you?"
"I don't talk about it."
"And we never will," Eleventh Doctor noted, grimly looking at both versions of his son before continuing scratching the wall.
"Go on. Ask them. Ask them what you need to know," Bad Wolf wheedled him.
The War Doctor looks down before looking up at his oldest self. "Did you ever count?"
"Count what?"
"How many children there were on Gallifrey that day."
Second Arthur shut his eyes while Third Arthur rubs his neck, looking around uncomfortably. He had asked him once. His father never answered, no matter how much he pestered…until now.
Eleventh Doctor stops and replies with the same words both Arthurs always got, "I have absolutely no idea."
"How old are you now?"
"Ah...I don't know, I lose track. Twelve hundred and something, I think, unless I'm lying. I can't remember if I'm lying about my age. That's how old I am."
"400 years older than me. And in all that time, you've never even wondered how many there were? You never once counted?"
He stops and faces his youngest self. "Tell me...what would be the point?"
"2.47 billion," Tenth Doctor harshly answered, glaring at his future self.
"You DID count!" The War Doctor gasped.
"Oh crap," Second Arthur mumbled in horror, covering his mouth. Those poor children…
"You forgot?!" The Tenth Doctor glowered and stared at the Eleventh Doctor. "400 years? Is that all it takes?"
Eleventh Doctor glares at his past selves. There's a child in here, and these two had the nerve to ask and answer such a question? "I moved on."
"Where?! Where can you be now that you can forget something like that?"
"Where? Where we lead a war in Demons Run and discover everything! When we found out a crazy cult had tortured Sunny just because he's our son!"
Silence in the air. Nobody said a word for 5 minutes.
Tenth Doctor seems to have lost his ability to breathe. His eyes go big, his mouth largely open, and his finger shaken so much, both Arthurs can hear the sound of it. "Son?" He muttered, like what the Eleventh Doctor just said is like a distant dream. "We had…a son?"
"We do, all these time," his future self exclaimed. Second Arthur confuses yet nervous the way he looks upset at Tenth, as if he had done something unforgiven. "And you replied to that by being an absolute asshole."
"That's impossible."
"Now we're talking about being impossible? What, because your puny brains rejected the notion that you're the father of a man you hate so much? Or is it because you've met the child version of Arthur? If only you hadn't been such an arsehole, then all your problems with Arthur and Delaney wouldn't have gone so badly. But no. Instead, you're acting like yourself. 'Oh, I'm the Doctor! I have to save everyone! It's not my fault if I fail. Blame that bloody secretive Arthur for all the deaths! I don't care if I ruin his feelings!'"
"Dad," Second Arthur interrupted him, earning more shock from the Tenth and War Doctor that he is the Doctor's son.
"Why do you think Arthur never told you about his past?" The Eleventh Doctor continued, not wanting to stop as Bad Wolf solemnly just watched the argument. "You never deserve his kindness. You and that…that Big Ear just gets angry to feel better. The only reason you start treating him good is because you discovered Arthur is a Time Lord. You and that asshat never did it before that, no matter what our companions said. Honestly, the fact that River manages to still care about you is a big miracle itself!"
"Dad, that's enough," Third Arthur entreated, separating them before they actually went physical. The Doctor's projecting his hatred towards himself. That sort of thing just hurts to see, knowing your own parents hate themself because of their failure and regret for treating you like dirt. Sure, it stings to experience that, especially after the incident at Torchwood Estate. But Arthur prefers to avoid discussing the issue further down the line. He didn't want to see more arguments and more accusations. It's just making him feel much worse than ever. "You know that's in the past. You don't need to reopen the old wound."
"I don't know who you are...either of you," War Doctor truthfully said, not sure to whom. "I haven't got the faintest idea."
"They're you in the future," Second Arthur answered. "The man who regrets everything...and the man who wants to forget everything. And there's more to come. The man who lost everything, the man who relearn everything, and the woman who repressed everything. That is what the Doctor becomes, the moment you choose to do it."
"No."
"No?" The Tenth Doctor imitated.
"Just...no!" He argued. Is this truly what his future shall become? Is that what he will bring to his…his own child?
The Eleventh leans against the pillar, covers his eyes and laughs bitterly. Oh, if only Ninth was here, listen to what War just said, to know the truth he desperately wants. How will he react when he found out? Angry? Upset? Happy? The Eleventh Doctor slightly wished Ninth was here. It would have been satisfying to know that the bastard realised he hated someone he would never do: his own child.
The Tenth Doctor glares at him, rather rattled. "Is something funny? Did I miss a funny thing?"
"Sorry. It just occurred to me. This is what I'm like when I'm alone," he glances at both Arthurs. "At least I'm not always alone."
Third Arthur smiles. "And you won't be."
Bad Wolf's now standing by besides Second Arthur as the Tenth Doctor tosses the sonic in the air. "It's the same screwdriver. Same software...different case."
"400 years!" War Doctor recalled.
Second Arthur chuckles. "Now you get it."
"At a software level, they're all the same device, aren't they? Same software, different case."
Tenth Doctor nods. "Yeah. So...?"
Understanding what his past self meant, Eleventh Doctor takes his sonic from his pocket. Together, he and the Tenth Doctor approach the door and watch War Doctor as he faces the door. "So, it would take centuries for the screwdriver to calculate how to disintegrate the door." He scans the door. "Scanning the door, implanting the calculation as a permanent subroutine in the software architecture and…" he turns and faces the others, missing the way Third Arthur's smile is getting bigger. "If you really are me, with your sandshoes and your dicky bow, and that screwdriver is still mine...that calculation is still going on."
The Tenth Doctor turns on his screwdriver and holds it up to his ear. "Yeah. Still going."
Eleventh also holds up his screwdriver. "Calculation complete."
"Same software. Different face," Third Arthur understood.
"Eh, 400 years in four seconds. We may have our differences, which is frankly odd in the circumstances, but I tell you what, boys, we are incredibly clever!" The Eleventh Doctor praised.
And that's what finally got Third Arthur. The dark-haired man cackled before Clara and Claudia barges into the jail, looking at the three of them.
"Should I be concerned that none of you check the door?" Claudia inquired.
"And if Adult Arthur goes mad?" Clara lilted.
"Sorry, sorry," Third Arthur wipes his tears and takes some time to breathe. "Just look at all your faces! I can't resist!"
"You know?" The Eleventh Doctor gasps and pouts. "You little…Dalek!"
"Knowing his mother," Delaney said as she entered as well. "Do you honestly believe your child is fully innocent?"
"Dela," Tenth Doctor muttered at her. It's been a while since he saw her. She looks…healthier…and content, compared to what happened to her after Arthur had…gone.
"Hi," she greeted him with a smile. She didn't have a good impression on him the day they met, but she admits, this version of the Doctor is one of many reasons she can be here. "New haircut?"
"Trying a new look."
"Hang on," Clara realised. "Three of you in one cell," she pointed at the Doctors, "Two of you in one cell," she pointed at two Arthurs, but her eyes narrowed at Third Arthur. "And you just stay silent the entire time?"
"I had my reason. Ask past me to stay silent," he shrugs before walking closer to his wife and giving a very quick kiss to her.
"Does that fascinate you enough, Your Majesty?" Delaney inquired outside.
Everyone just looks at the door as Queen Elizabeth the First enters the door. "Very much so, Mister Jonas, Dame Redwood," she confessed. "It's time I think you saw what's going to happen to it."
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
She leads them to a balcony overlooking the Zygon base where a number of the aliens are working at machines. "The Zygons lost their own world. It burned in the first days of the Time War. A new home is required."
"So they want this one?" Clara guessed.
"They had history with Earth," Second Arthur recalled. "But they're not ready."
"Also…far too primitive for them," Third Arthur shared.
"Commander...Why are these creatures here?" A Zygon asked, standing in the doorway.
"Because I say they should be. It is time you too were translated," Elizabeth ordered.
The Zygon growls, eyeing both Arthurs, and walks towards a glass cube resting on a pedestal.
"What exactly are you showing us, Your Majesty?" Claudia wondered.
"Patience, Miss Redwood. I believe you will find it fascinating," the Queen reassured her.
They observe as the Zygon earlier rests its hand on the top of the cube. There is a whirring and the Zygon is disseminated and pulled into the cube before reappearing in the painting.
"That's him! That's the Zygon in the picture now," Clara noticed, walking forward to look at the painting.
"It's not a picture, it's a Stasis Cube," Second Arthur corrected her.
"Time Lord art," War Doctor added. "Frozen instants in time, bigger on the inside but could be deployed as…"
"Suspended animation," Tenth Doctor and Third Arthur said at the same time, making these two grin at each other.
"Clever plan," Delaney admitted. "They stay inside. Then, some local humans will find it and put it somewhere else. When Earth's civilization is much advanced, they come out."
"You see, Clara. They're stored in the paintings in the Under Gallery, like Cup-a-Soups," the Eleventh Doctor explained. "Except you add time, if you can picture that. Nobody could picture that. Forget I said Cup-a-Soups."
"And now the world is worth conquering. So the Zygons are invading the future from the past," Clara concluded.
"Exactly!"
"And do you know why I know that you're a fake?" Tenth Doctor asked the Queen. "Because you're such a bad copy. It's not just the smell, or the unconvincing hair, or the atrocious teeth, or the eyes just a bit too close together, or the breath that could stun a horse - it's because my Elizabeth, the real Elizabeth, would never be stupid enough to reveal her own plan. Honestly, why would you do that?"
Third Arthur cleared his throat. "Because she's the real Elizabeth the First?"
Elizabeth rolls her eyes at the Doctor's oblivion. "My twin is dead in the forest. I am accustomed to taking precautions." She lifts the skirt and pulls a jewelled dagger from her garter. "These Zygon creatures never even considered that it was me who survived, rather than their own commander. The arrogance that typifies their kind."
Clara frowns. "Zygons?"
"She meant men," Claudia stated, looking at the men around. "No offence."
"And you actually killed one of them?"
"I may have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but at the time, so did the Zygon," she said and looked at the Tenth Doctor. "The future of my kingdom is imperilled. Doctor, can I rely on your service?"
"Well, I'm going to need my Tardis," he replied.
"It has been procured already."
"Ah!"
"But first, my love, you have a promise to keep!"
Delaney looks at her daughter. "Claudia?"
"On it." In a second, Claudia quickly knocks Elizabeth and leaves her unconscious on the floor. "Problem solved."
"You could just erase her memory!" The Tenth Doctor grumbled, recalling the same movement Jenny had done back in Messaline.
"Good thing Jenny taught you that," Clara murmured beside her.
Arthur smirks. In truth, he knew about the whereabouts of Jenny, his sister. The first time Arthur knew was when he was still in Trenzalore, where Jenny came to provide soldiers to protect Christmas Town. Jenny spent much of her time building Messaline into a better place, so she rarely went out with their adventures. However, there are times when Arthur meets Jenny outside of Messaline and the two of them go on adventures together as brother and sister.
Arthur doesn't know much about Jenny's origins, other than that she has the Doctor's genes. However, that doesn't make Arthur shy away from Jenny. He cares about his sister, and Jenny cares about him just as much.
"So," Arthur claps his hands together. "Since time is running out, we better get the Queen back to her chamber."
Claudia frowns. "But what about the letter?"
"That one? She never wrote it, actually. It was a psychic message in a psychic paper, delivered by one of us to attract your attention."
War Doctor blinks. "How did you know that?"
"Psychic," the rest of them responded.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
As soon as they put Queen Elizabeth back to her chamber, making sure all Zygons are all in the painting, and sending a psychic message, they run inside to the console.
The Doctor bangs on one of the panels with a mallet.
"You've let this place go a bit!" The War Doctor noticed.
"Ah, it's his grunge phase. He grows out of it," Eleventh Doctor replied.
"Don't you listen to them!" The Tenth Doctor said and pats the column.
Seeing that, Delaney nudges Eleventh Doctor. "Good thing Amy isn't here. She might say something."
"Or Rory," Second Arthur added and chortles besides Delaney, knowing his maternal grandfather can have some imagination as well.
An alarm continues to go off. The console sparks and the walls change to brightly lit white with rondels. "Oh boy," Third Arthur murmured. "Five of us from different timelines. Bound to get messy."
"Hey, look, the round things," Eleventh Doctor gestures.
"I love the round things," Tenth Doctor smiles.
Claudia looks at the wall. "What do the round things do?"
"No idea."
There is a beeping from a panel on the console and both Arthurs hurry over to flip the switch. The console sparks again and the Tardis changes to the Eleventh Doctor's interior.
"Fix the friction contrafibulator," Third Arthur finished.
His child version nods. "Stabilised."
The Tenth Doctor looks around. "Oh, you've redecorated!" His face turns into disgust. "I don't like it."
"Oh? Oh, yeah. Oh, you never do!" The Eleventh Doctor huffed. "Listen, we're going to the National Gallery. The Zygons are underneath it."
"Actually," Delaney interrupted. "The Zygons already in the Black Archive."
The three Doctors and two Arthurs turn and look at her.
"Do you think…?" Second Arthur asked his future self.
"Probably," Third Arthur guessed.
"Knowing Kate? Oh, she will," the Eleventh Doctor noted.
"Definitely," the Tenth Doctor added.
"Absolutely," the War Doctor chimed in.
Claudia irkly glances at five of them. "Okay, somebody wanna explain to us?"
"No need," Third Arthur replied and pressed a button that turns off the Space-Time Telegraph.
"In the event of alien incursion, the contents of this room are deemed so dangerous," Osgood informed. "It will self-destruct in…"
"Five minutes," Kate finished as they briefly heard a beeping noise. "There's a nuclear warhead 20 feet beneath us. Are you sitting comfortably?"
"You would destroy London?" Other Kate dared.
"To save the world? Yes, I would."
"You're bluffing."
"She's not," Second Arthur interjected.
"You once told me that you lead UNIT with science, Kate," Delaney reminded her the day they met. "Is this truly what science leads you to?"
"How…?"
"Space-Time Telegraph, Kate. A gift from me to your father, hotline straight to the Tardis," the Eleventh Doctor shared.
"Can't hide from a psychic," Third Arthur addressed. "Just a matter of time until I know about the Black Archive and the security protocol."
"Kate, don't do this," Claudia begged. "This is insane and you know it!"
"Switch it off," Kate ordered.
"Not as sorry as you will be. This is not a decision you will ever be able to live with!" The Tenth Doctor pointed out before looking at his future self, remembering the day Gallifrey was gone…and the day Arthur's gone.
Clara quickly grips the console as the Tardis rocks and shudders. "What was that?"
"Tardis-proof," Claudia recalled and winced. "Kate, turn it off and stop this!"
"I said switch it off!"
"Don't you dare—!"
The comm. get turns off.
"Sometimes I forget what happens when alien technology meets human stupidity," Delaney commented.
"Hey!" Clara protested.
"We don't need to land," Third Arthur suggested.
"Yeah, we do, a tiny bit," the Tenth Doctor stated. "Try and keep up."
"No, we don't!" The War Doctor realised what Third Arthur means as he picked up the stasis cube. "There is another way. Cup-a-Soup!"
"Huh," Claudia blinks, but smiling as she takes the telephone outside the control room. "Not bad, Dad." She quickly dials McGillop. "Mr. McGillop?"
"Miss Claudia? But that's not possible. I was just—"
"Just talking to us, I know. Nevermind that. I need you to send the Gallifrey Falls painting to the Black Archive."
"Of course. But…why would I take it there?"
"You'll see." She ends the call and returns with others. "All set!"
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Inside the painting of Gallifrey Falls, the three Doctors, two Arthurs, and three companions stand still, ready to burst out of the painting.
A Dalek comes up behind them. "Exterminate!"
Claudia takes out a large bazooka out of her sling bag and aims it at the Dalek. It screams as it rolls backwards, crashes through the glass of the painting, exploding.
Eight of them stride through the city following the path of the Dalek. The Doctors, Arthurs, and Claudia stride into the Black Archive and up to the table. Meanwhile Clara peers out from the painting as Delaney helps her out.
"Hello," War Doctor said.
"Good afternoon," Second Arthur greeted.
"I'm the Doctor," the Tenth Doctor introduced.
"And I'm the Explorer," Third Arthur added.
"Sorry about the Dalek," the Eleventh Doctor apologised.
"Not really," Claudia asserted, folding her arms as she strides to both Kates. "Katherine Sally Lethbridge-Stewart, you're seriously pissing me off now!"
"The countdown can only be halted at my personal command. There's nothing you can do," Kate persisted.
"I'll force you. Don't you think I won't."
"Not even you, the Doctors, or your fathers could."
"You're about to murder millions of people!" War Doctor pointed out.
"To save billions!" Kate countered. "How many times have you made that calculation?"
"Once. Turned me into the man I am now," the Eleventh Doctor answered. "I'm not even sure who that is any more."
The Tenth Doctor walks over to the head of the table and rests his hands on the table and leans over. "You tell yourself it's justified, but it's a lie. Because what I did that day was wrong. Just wrong."
"That sort of thing can haunt you forever," Delaney added grimly. "Trust me, Kate. This is the last thing you ever want."
Both Arthurs and War Doctor just frown, not understanding what she means. But the rest know what she means. Delaney feels accountable for causing the deaths during Canary Wharf because of her association with Torchwood.
"So," Third Arthur chimed in, he and his youngest self sat on each of the chairs. "To make sure no other mistakes happen again…we'll make you."
"How?" Kate demanded.
The Tenth Doctor stands behind Third Arthur, while the Eleventh Doctor stands behind Second Arthur. "Any second now, you're going to stop that countdown," he said, pointing at them. "Both of you. Together."
"Then you're going to negotiate the most perfect treaty of all time," the Eleventh Doctor added.
"Safeguards all round, fair on both sides," Second Arthur proposed.
"And the key to perfect negotiation is…" Third Arthur smirks. "Well…I'll let you decide."
The Arthurs push away from the table and stand. "So, for the next few hours…"
"Until we decide to let you out…"
The Doctors pull their sonics from their jacket pockets. The Tenth Doctor gives him a toss. "No-one in this room will be able to remember if they're human…"
"Or Zygon," the Eleventh Doctor finished.
"Hey, what's that?" Delaney suddenly asked, pointing in other directions. That distraction gave the Doctors a chance to use the sonics on the memory filter. The filter breaks down in sparks.
With the clock down to mere seconds, both Kates look at each other and say in unison. "Cancel the detonation!"
"Thank God it stops," Claudia admitted. "Imagine if it still goes on."
"Please don't," Clara hissed, didn't want to think about what would happen if the bomb really went off.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Both Kates begin negotiating with both McGillops. The Osgoods stand a bit away from the others, facing each other.
"It's funny, isn't it?" Original Osgood wondered. "If I'm a Zygon, then my clothes must be Zygon too. So, what happens if I lose a shoe or something?"
Other Osgood coughs. Original Osgood reaches into her pocket and pulls out the inhaler. Other Osgood looks at the original who puts a finger to her lips before taking the inhaler and using it.
"Hello Petro. Hello Nella," Third Arthur greeted them with a smile as Delaney stood beside him, holding hands together.
"Hello, Explorer," both Osgoods replied. "Hello, Dame Redwood."
"Sorry to bother you, girls, but I need some help."
"Which is?"
"Dad? Mum?" Claudia called as she and Clara approached him. "You called?"
Delaney looks around the room. "Does UNIT have the Vinvocci techs?"
"I think we had the simmers," Other Osgood recalled.
"Good. I want you two to be the face of peace. And also to teach Clara and Claudia how to be someone else," Third Arthur added.
Clara blinks. "Wait, what?"
"Let's just say…a precaution isn't wrong to have," Delaney admitted. Second and Third Arthur haven't said anything regarding the Nightmare Scenario. He had been very quiet about it. But Delaney can make some good guesses that it will happen in the future. "So, what do you say, Osgoods? Interest?"
Both women glanced at each other before smiling. "We're in."
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Can I sit with you?"
The War Doctor, who had been busy looking at the board that had all the pictures of his past companions, was startled to find a little boy with a flannel shirt and big backpack, tilting his head. Arthur Jonas, his son after the Time War. A boy who shares the same name as his firstborn. "Of course.."
He smiles and pulls up a chair and sits across from him. "What do you think?"
"Of what?"
"Of seeing your future. Do you change your mind?"
Bad Wolf smiles besides the confused War Doctor. "Told you. Your son's as clever as you."
Second Arthur pouts at her. "You know Dad's gonna be cross if he knows you're messing with his timeline."
"I've been doing this to you for a long time. He won't be mad. Well…hopefully not with this one."
The War Doctor takes a good look at his son. He might be 11-12 years old for Earth standard, but he has a gift not like any other, be it human children or Time Tots. And yet, his eyes…there's a pain and loss that this boy has suffered. If what his future self said is true…what had his son endured to be this resilient? "You're very sure of yourself, my child."
"He never talks about it," he shared. "Not to me, to Claudia, to Delaney, to any of his future companions. It's too much for him, especially after I was born. My father would change the outcome of the war."
"Including saving all these people and having you."
"I don't like seeing you living with guilt."
"But if I didn't do it, the people your father has saved might never have been saved. I might never meet your mother, you might never exist. And that includes your wife and daughter. I would never trade any of you just for being selfish." He sighs sadly and finally faces Bad Wolf. "Thank you…but I'm not changing my mind."
"Don't," he pleaded at both. But Bad Wolf looks at him with sadness before she and the War Doctor's gone. "Guys!" He called, getting everyone's attention. "He's gone! He's going to press the Moment!"
And that's all they need to know to go back.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Two Tardises materialise at the far end of the barn. The Tenth Doctor and Third Arthur step out of Tenth's Tardis, while the Eleventh Doctor, Second Arthur, Delaney, Claudia and Clara step out of the other. They look around the building, taking in their surroundings, as they walk over to the War Doctor and the Moment.
"We made it," Delaney breathed, never thinking she stepped in the Gallifrey before its destruction.
"But we shouldn't even be here," Claudia noted.
"These events should be time locked," the Tenth Doctor agreed.
"So something let us through," the Eleventh Doctor guessed.
"Bad Wolf," Second Arthur said.
Both Doctors look at the brunette boy. "Did you just say Bad Wolf?" They asked at the same time.
"Go back," the War Doctor pleaded, putting his hand on the button. "Go back to your lives. Take away your family from here and be the Doctor that I could never be. Make it worthwhile for them."
"All those years," the Tenth Doctor said as he stepped closer to the Moment. "Burying you in my memory."
"Pretending you didn't exist," the Eleventh Doctor added. "Keeping you a secret from our family, even from myself."
"Pretending you weren't the Doctor, when you were the Doctor more than anybody else."
"You were the Doctor on the day it wasn't possible to get it right."
"But this time…"
"You don't have to do it alone."
War Doctor just keeps staring at the hands of his future selves on the button. "Thank you," he whispered as Claudia wiped her tears away.
"What we do today…is not out of fear or hatred," the Tenth Doctor consoled. "It is done because there is no other way."
"And it is done in the name of the many lives we are failing to save," the Eleventh Doctor finished.
"Including yours," Third Arthur sobbed, eyes swollen red. Behind him, his youngest self hiding behind Delaney, silently crying. "Do this…your life will be tainted forever."
"Sunny…you, of all people, know to not mess with timelines."
"This is wrong," Claudia agonised. "We can't…I mean…those people…your people…!"
"Bad Wolf," Delaney murmured, knowing she's with them. "If you're here…tell us what happens in Gallifrey now."
Their surroundings suddenly change and the barn shows them nothing but destruction. Delaney observes a mother crying of her child. Both Arthurs watch Daleks destroy many remaining homes. The Doctors just observe as many Time Lords desperately try to escape and fail. Claudia and Clara spot corpses lying around.
"So many deaths, even now," Claudia lamented.
Clara looks at the Doctors. "These are the people you're going to burn?"
"There isn't anything we can do," the Tenth Doctor hopelessly said.
"He's right. There isn't another way, there never was. Either I destroy my own people or let the universe burn," his future self denoted.
"This is P-Pompeii…all over again," Delaney stutters at the reminder of that time. How she, Donna, and the Doctor had to make the hardest choice.
"It doesn't have to," Second Arthur remarked, closing his eyes, not wanting to see more destruction.
"What we need is a doctor," Third Arthur specified. "Not a soldier, not a hero…just a doctor."
"Delaney told me the name you chose was a promise. What was the promise?" Clara kindly asked.
"Never cruel or cowardly," the Tenth Doctor recalled.
"Never give up," the War Doctor said. "Never give in."
"So don't give up and give in," Claudia pleaded. "Let us help you. Let us find an alternative path."
Delaney glances at her husband as the vision disappears. "Do you have a plan?"
He sadly smiles. "Why make you so sure?"
"I have known you since adolescence, Artie. You smirks always mean you have a plan."
"Wait," the Tenth Doctor interjected. "Dela, Arthur…you're not actually suggesting that we change our own personal history, right?"
"We change history all the time," Claudia addressed.
"Actually…we might have been suggesting something far worse," Third Arthur hinted.
"What, exactly?" The War Doctor asked.
"We save Gallifrey instead."
"There's still a billion billion Daleks up there, attacking."
"Oh, of course. I know that."
"But," Claudia said, slowly realising. "There's something those billion billion Daleks don't know."
"Cos if they did, they'd probably send for reinforcements," the Eleventh Doctor commented.
"What?" Clara looks around. "What don't they know?"
"This time, there's three Doctors," Delaney declared. "And two Explorers."
The War Doctor immediately gasps. "Oh, yes, that is good! That is brilliant!"
"Oh, oh, oh! I'm getting that too! That is brilliant!" The Tenth Doctor beamed, jumps up and slaps the Tardis
The Eleventh Doctor just chuckles. "I've been thinking about it for centuries! And our family helps us out!"
"She didn't just show me any old future, she showed me exactly the future I needed to see!" The War Doctor concluded and looked at Arthurs. "And you know too!"
"Of course they know," Bad Wolf rolls her eyes. "They're the Explorers."
"So what are we doing? What's the plan?" Clara impatiently asked.
"The Dalek fleets are surrounding Gallifrey, firing on it constantly," Claudia began.
"The Sky Trench is holding, but what if the whole planet...just disappeared?" the Tenth Doctor suggested.
"Tiny bit of an ask," Clara doubted.
"The Daleks would be firing on each other," Third Arthur explained.
"They'd destroy themselves in their own crossfire."
"Gallifrey would be gone," Second Arthur noted. "The Daleks would be destroyed."
"And it would look to the rest of the universe as if they'd annihilated each other," the War Doctor asserted.
Clara frowns a bit. "But where would Gallifrey be?"
"Frozen! Frozen in an instant of time, safe and hidden away," the Tenth Doctor added.
The Eleventh Doctor nods. "Exactly!"
"Like a painting," Delaney laughed.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
"I think I got the connection," Second Arthur said. Immediately, the screen shows him, Clara, the Eleventh Doctor, in the room of the High Council of Gallifrey,.
"Hello, hello, Gallifrey High Command, this is the Doctor and the Explorer speaking," the Eleventh Doctor greeted.
"Hello! Also the Doctor, the Explorer, and Dame Redwood. Can you hear me?" The Tenth Doctor asked, with Third Arthur waves at them all while
"Also the Doctor," the War Doctor added, Claudia stood beside him. "Standing ready with Miss Claudia Redwood."
"Dear God, three of them!" The General mumbled. "All my worst nightmares at once!"
Third Arthur rubbed his back, looking awkward. "About that—"
Claudia rolls her eyes. "General. All of us have a plan."
"It's quite risky," Delaney said. "But we assured you, we'll do the best."
"We're flying our three Tardises into your lower atmosphere," the Eleventh Doctor informed.
"We're positioned at equidistant intervals round the globe," the Tenth Doctor added. "'Equidistant'…so grown-up!"
"Not the time," Delaney reprimanded him.
"We're just about ready to do it," War Doctor mentioned.
The General looks confused. "Ready to do what?"
"Freeze Gallifrey," Third Arthur announced
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Using our Tardises," the Tenth Doctor said. "We're going to freeze Gallifrey in a single moment in time."
"You know, like those Stasis Cubes?" The War Doctor specified. "A single moment in time held in a parallel pocket universe."
"Except we're going to do it to a whole planet," the Eleventh Doctor added.
"And all the Time Lords in it," Delaney finished.
"What? Even if that were possible, which it isn't, why would you do such a thing?" The General questioned.
"Because the alternative is burning," the Eleventh Doctor grimly revealed.
"And I've seen that," the Tenth Doctor testified.
"And I never want to see it again."
Third Arthur bit his mouth, something that caught the attention of her wife.
"We'd be lost in another universe...frozen in a single moment. We'd have nothing!" The General pointed out.
"You would have hope," the Eleventh Doctor promulgated. "And right now, that is exactly what you don't have.
"It's delusional! The calculations alone would take...hundreds of years."
Second Arthur smiles. "You don't have to worry about that, General. Helps on its way."
"Calling the war Council of Gallifrey, this is the Doctor," the First Doctor informed.
The Eleventh Doctor smirks. "You might say, I've been doing this all my lives!"
"Good luck!" the Second Doctor encouraged.
"Stand by," the Third Doctor stated.
"Ready?" The Eighth Doctor asked.
"Commencing calculations," the First Doctor remarked.
"Soon be there," the Fifth Doctor noted.
"Across the boundaries that divide one universe from another," Seventh Doctor noticed.
"Just got to lock on to his coordinates," Sixth Doctor addressed.
"And for my next trick...!" Ninth Doctor shared.
"I didn't know when I was well off!" The General stares in shock. "All 12 of them!"
One Time Lord beside the General shook his head. "No, sir...all 16!"
Second Arthur looks at the screen and manages to catch four newcomers briefly. One big, large eyebrow of the Twelfth Doctor. One bright hair and big smile of the Thirteenth Doctor. Then a dark young man with an orange shirt and brown plaid pants, winks in his direction. And lastly a man with a long blue jacket with very familiar eyes…
"You better hurry, General," Third Arthur reminded him. "The Daleks are on their way."
"He's right," the other Time Lord confirmed. "The Daleks know that something is happening. They're increasing their fire power."
"Do it, Doctor, Explorer. Just do it. Do it!" The General pleaded.
"Understood," Delaney called. "Doctors, are you—?"
"Geronimo...!" The Eleventh Doctor yelled and threw the switch.
"Allons-y!" The Tenth Doctor shouted and did the same.
"Oh, for God's sake!" The War Doctor huffed. "Gallifrey stands!"
With that, a bright shield shields the entire planet before it disappears, leaving nothing but 16 Tardis and the remaining of the destroyed Daleks.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Third Arthur sat on a chair, pouring the tea that he brought in his backpack and gave it to Delaney.
"We did it, didn't we?" She wondered, glancing at the painting. "Saving Gallifrey."
"Yeah."
"Then why did you look like that?"
He frowns. "Like what?"
"I saw it," she continued, rubbing the cup and sipping the tea. "When the Doctor mentioned burning Gallifrey to the High Council. You visibly flinched when the Doctor said that he didn't want to see it again." She takes one hand of Arthurs and grasps it, never letting go. "What happened?"
Third Arthur turns away. The image of the burning Gallifrey from distant future replaying in his mind. It's not something he likes to talk to his wife about. And he didn't want her to know after this day, after all the suffering and pain that they had seen. "We did save Gallifrey, yeah. But after that…nothing good happened."
Delaney closes her eyes. "What did they do?"
"Many things. One of them…you'll find out very soon."
"Trenzalore?"
"Trenzalore."
She sighs sadly, twisting the wedding ring on her ring finger. "I'm never going to make it out alive, right?"
Third Arthur fiddled around with his wedding ring in his pocket. He never wore it after regenerating and mostly kept it on his jacket. "You made me promise not to," he confessed and finally looked at her. Despite his hearts ache in her absence post-Trenzalore, there's a blessing in that. His wife won't be worried about Missy, the Nightmare Scenario, the Master, the Timeless Child, and the Division. She didn't have to know the pain their family will go through. "But we have the best of time."
"For how long?"
He smiles. "600 years."
The blonde woman gave a laugh that sounded sad and happy. "I'm glad," she cried.
"Me too," he agreed, kissing her forehead before they joined the others.
"I don't suppose we'll ever know if we actually succeeded," the War Doctor pondered. "But at worst, we failed doing the right thing, as opposed to succeeding in doing the wrong."
Clara shook her head, standing besides Claudia as they both drank their tea. "Life and soul, you are," the brunette girl commented.
"What is it actually called?" The Tenth Doctor asked his future self.
"Well, there's some debate. Either No More or Gallifrey Falls. Sunny?"
"You'll find out very soon," Second Arthur replied.
"What I don't get is who made this painting?" Claudia wondered. "Or how Queen Elizabeth got it in the first place."
"Maybe it's something we never figured out," Third Arthur shrugs. Even now, he didn't get any sense or vision about this painting.
"Something isn't meant to be known," Delaney mumbled, remembering what happened at Midnight.
"Well, gentlemen, ladies…" The War Doctor said, stands and walks over to them. "It has been an honour...and a privilege to work with you all."
"Likewise," the Tenth Doctor replied.
"Doctor," the Eleventh Doctor added.
"And if I grow to be half the man that you are," he turns to his son, his daughter-in-law, his granddaughter and his future. "I'm looking forward to meeting all of you."
"It will take a while, but you'll get there," Delaney assured him.
He's looking down. "I won't remember this, will I?"
"The time streams are out of sync," Claudia recalled something the Doctor once said. "None of us, except Dad, can remember."
"So…I won't remember that I will have another family after the war…or I tried to save Gallifrey, rather than burn it. I'll have to live with that. But for now, for this moment...I am the Doctor again." He quickly hugs four of them, whispers, "Thank you." After he looks at them one last time, he glances at the Tardises. "Which one is mine?!"
Both Arthurs snorted and pointed at the Tardis that looked rough.
"Thank you, boys," he said before finally entering the Tardis and disappearing.
"I won't remember either," the Tenth Doctor said after a moment and looked at Third Arthur. "So you might as well tell me…why?"
The black-haired Time Lord held his breath. Well, it's just a matter of time until he wants to know his reasoning. "You're not ready" he divulged. "Not because of the timestream or anything about it. But you…you're still grieving. Telling you that I'm your son as well as a Time Lord? You won't believe me. Heck, with you barely trusting me, that statement will make me more untrustworthy to you."
"But maybe I won't be like that. Maybe I will trust you more, just like I trust Rose."
"No, you won't. I had seen the way you behave with River. You're not exactly fond of Time Travelers. It's just your nature."
He winces, remembering the way he's getting more annoyed with River's secrecy back in the Library. He has a point. He doesn't like Time Travelers around. That's also one of many reasons why he was being harsh to Jack back at WW2.
"Even now," Third Arthur continued. "I can't say much to our family regarding the future. Too much at stake."
The Tenth Doctor frowns. "Like where is the place we're going that my future self doesn't want to talk about?"
"Like that."
The Eleventh Doctor grimances. "We saw Trenzalore...where we're buried. We die in battle among millions."
"That's not how it's supposed to be," the Tenth Doctor argued.
Claudia tugs her earlobe. "Arthur could—"
"No," the Eleventh Doctor interrupted with a hard tone on the bluenette. "That's how the story ends, nothing all of us can do about it."
Second Arthur turns to his adult self, who stares blankly at him. The boy sighs, a bit disappointed that his future self doesn't want to say anything or hint regarding the prophecy or the visions at Trenzalore. Guess he has to figure it all by himself, then.
"I won't say that," Third Arthur finally remarked.
"Anyway...good to know my future is still in safe hands," the Tenth Doctor said, put the tea on the chair, and pointed at Clara, Claudia, and Delaney. "Keep a tight hold on it, you three."
"On it!" Clara nods.
"We'll make sure of it," Delaney promised.
"Or tried to," Claudia added.
"Don't do anything stupid," Third Arthur warned to four of them, including his child self before following the Doctor back to the Tardis.
"You know, Arthur? We need a new destination, because…" the Doctor opens the door. "I don't want to go."
The Time Lord rolls his eyes before entering the Tardis. His dad can be dramatic as hell. "Any good idea where we should go?"
"Have you ever heard about the Cathedral of Contemplation?" He suggested, before the Tardis dematerialise.