My Queen of The Garden

by aliceoakdown11

"This is where we've always been heading, you and I." The Doctor's daughter was always shunned on Gallifrey, now travelling with her father, can she learn to trust him while keeping from him her biggest secret? That she's unavoidably in love with his best enemy. The MasterXOC

90. Part 6 - Chapter 90

O had taken himself to the bathroom.

He'd stared at himself in the mirror.

Splashed his face with cold water.

Calm.

O was perfectly calm.

Wasn't he?

Yes. Calm.

Why would O be anything but calm?

Hmm, no, O might be anxious. His favourite Time Lord was on trial. He would be anxious. Not perfectly calm.

But not angry.

No, not angry.

And probably not, 'in love'.

Obsessed maybe.

Obsessed, he could work with.

Obsessed wasn't a stretch…

He stared at himself.

He wanted to rip that man apart.

Whitlock wasn't going to make it home…

His eye twitched.

Fuck.

An unfortunate car accident?

Wasn't nearly personal enough. No.

He had made her cry.

He had enjoyed it.

No, no, no, he wanted to watch as the life left this one…

No!

No!

O, did not murder.

O was calm.

He couldn't murder Whitlock.

He was supposed to be undercover.

Untraceable.

For fucks sake.

Why was he stressed?

He knew how this went.

He stared back at himself in the mirror.

Idiot.

He was an idiot.

He didn't need to be stressed. He knew how this went.

Obviously.

He could practically hear his younger self sneering at him. What have we become?

He could hear them being invited back into the courtroom outside, so he, no, O, took a deep breath and left the bathroom. O found his seat once more, looking around. His gaze trailed over the room, O wouldn't avoid looking across at Alina, O didn't have a reason to. She wasn't looking at him, instead she was watching as Henry brought Hally back into the room.

O's eyes followed her line of sight.

Calm. Calm. Calm.

I am the picture of calm.

She took a seat back up on the makeshift podium, tucking her hair back behind her ears one side at a time.

My beautiful wife.

No.

No. O, didn't have a wife.

She was just his favourite Time Lord.

Just, so.

He let out a slow breath.

But, she is my wife.

My pregnant wife.

There was a hot pit inside his stomach that yearned to go to her.

Fix it.

Fix this.

Take her away.

But he couldn't.

That wasn't how this went.

He covered his sigh with a cough.

He shouldn't have come.

This was harder than he'd thought.

He had been O for ages now.

Being O was easy.

Being O around her was fucking impossible.

He shouldn't have come.

No.

He had to.

He had promised himself.

So that far, far, far in the future he could tell her, he could show her.

She wasn't alone.

She'd never been alone.

---

Henry had guided her back to the chair she'd inhabited before. The one on the raised platform. She'd semi-hoped that perhaps she could slink back in and slump in the chair next to Henry, less visible to the audience. But not yet, no such luck. Henry had told her again, during the break that the worst was done. But, Hally was still living it. She was still shaking. Those photographs. The faces now burnt into her brain.

Whitlock had been right.

How had she known none of their names?

She had run away.

Completely and utterly.

She'd just left and ignored it. Just a black mark that if she kept moving, she could forget.

But they weren't just a smudge.

They had been people.

Actual people, with lives and jobs and families and she had wiped them out.

And at the time, she really hadn't stopped to think about it, she'd been so focused on herself and The Master.

Maybe she did deserve to be thrown into a cell and forgotten about. She might even have let them. But she couldn't. She couldn't dwell, or mope, she had to do what was best for their daughter.

And that involved not being locked away.

That involved a life.

A settled, safe life.

That was why she was here.

So, she settled back into the chair and focused on taking slow deep breaths, linking her fingers together and pressing them into her lap in an attempt to stop them shaking.

The man, the one in the centre of the table of five waited for everyone to take their seats before he spoke. She wondered briefly if he had introduced himself earlier and she simply hadn't been paying attention, or if they'd done so before she'd entered the room. Or perhaps, they hadn't.

"Mr Pearce, the floor is yours whenever you're ready."

Henry gathered up a few pieces of paper, his eyes roaming across them quickly before he moved in front of her. He didn't pace like Whitlock had, he didn't turn to address the audience or put on a show. He simply stood in front of her, offering eye contact. When his gaze met hers, his mouth turned with a small encouraging smile. "How long have you known The Master?"

" Known him?" Hally frowned. "Oh… umm… I really couldn't put an accurate number on it… I mean Gallifreyan time moves differently from Earth time and then there's the amount of time spent in the TARDIS, which is practically impossible to estimate. Then… well… we very rarely exist in the same time zone at once… so actually the amount of time I've known him might be totally different to the amount of time he's known me…" She realised, watching Henry's eyes twinkle with amusement, that she was nervously rambling. So instead, she gave him a rough, most likely hugely inaccurate ballpark. "Maybe 150 years?"

He offered her a small smile of thanks. "And… roughly how long have you been married to him?"

She let out a soft puff of air. "Umm, let's go with 120? Maybe? 100?"

He nodded. "Very briefly, just to make sure everyone is on the same page, you're the daughter of the Time Lord known as The Doctor, aren't you?" He had taken the clicker and on the screen brought up multiple photographs of her father on earth. "This man?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"And your husband is the Time Lord known as The Master, briefly known on Earth as 'Harold Saxon', correct?" Again he clicked, bringing up photographs of The Master, mainly press photographs of Harold Saxon, either alone or with her. She nodded again.

"Yes."

"Around 2007/2008 while 'Harold Saxon', The Master was heading the Ministry of Defence, you were travelling with your father, The Doctor." He clicked again, bringing up multiple photographs that already proved his point. She, The Doctor and Martha at Lazarus's event, The Doctor, Rose and herself at Torchwood.

"Yes."

"Then, shortly prior to being elected Prime Minister, you were being held at a secret facility in Kent, owned by The Saxon Foundation, correct?"

Hally offered him a smile. "I had no idea where it was, but yes."

"How long were you there for?"

"Four or five months I think? I'm not really sure."

"And during that time, you were not aware that the man Harold Saxon was in fact, The Master."

"No. I wasn't."

He offered her a kind smile, nodding. "Just to delve into that a little bit more, so there's no room for doubt, can you describe for me, the kind of bond you have with The Master? As it's different to say, a human marriage."

She nodded, he was putting her at ease, like a conversation between two friends rather than questioning in front of a room full of people. "Yes, ok, so we're married, yes, like a human marriage I suppose but then there's this other thing that Time Lords can do… I mean, they don't have to be married to do it, and you don't have to, well, often it doesn't work… anyway… umm, Time Lords can… huh, I'm not explaining this very well…" She gave herself a breath and tried again. "Time Lords are mildly telepathic, not like, Professor X level telepathic but we can communicate with each other inside our minds. But there has to already be a link present, so it's often between close friends, family or bonded pairs. But it takes some effort, sometimes skin on skin contact. When we got married we also 'bonded' with each other. It's usually irreversible and basically means that you've created the strongest kind of bridge to that person. Like, you're almost one person… in two forms… communicating telepathically requires no effort at all then and you know, you know when they're near, what they're thinking, feeling… all of it. You can, with effort block that bridge, but generally not for too long, something will generally bleed through."

Henry nodded in thanks. "Thank you. Well, then, it certainly might pose the question in some minds as to why you would claim to not know who Harold Saxon was all that time?"

Henry wasn't really questioning her honesty, not really, she could see that he was simply offering her a platform on which to explain, to explain before someone else, namely Whitlock could get back up and insinuate that she'd known the whole time. "The Master purposefully blocked me, in a few ways. He created Archangel, the satellite system, it broadcasted a signal worldwide which sort of cancelled him out? Which was why neither I nor The Doctor noticed him on Earth. Then, at the facility, he'd…" It suddenly struck her how nonchalantly she was recounting what The Master had done. How he'd lied to her. Kept her for months. How much it really didn't bother her anymore. She cleared her throat. "He had used a device, similar to one of the ones currently on my neck. A biodampener. It prevented me from being able to use my… power, and it blocked my mind completely, it inhibited everything basically. I was practically human. Additionally, The Master is… umm…" She considered how to phrase it without sounding like an idiot. "I'll call it hypnotism, because that's probably the most recognisable word for it. It's not quite mind-control. Compulsion? I don't know. Anyway, usually he wouldn't be able to… to me, but as I said… I was practically human."

Henry chuckled at her accidental insinuation, but moved along. "And this moment…" He clicked, bringing up a photograph of the moment Whitlock had shown the whole room earlier, the moment on the Valiant when she'd pulled a gun on The Master. "Was almost immediately after you realised who he was?"

She sucked on the inside of her mouth. "Yes."

"Now, Mr Whitlock would like the room to assume that this was some random act of violence, that perhaps you're unhinged, or unreasonable, but it wasn't, was it? Why did you pull a gun on him?"

She licked her bottom lip, wincing. "It seemed like the only option at the time, he had the whole planet on its knees. He had The Doctor, Martha, Jack… he was going to destroy the world and nothing was in his way. It just seemed like the only option…"

"You wanted to stop him."

"Yes."

"But…" Henry added, there was a slight hold in his voice, as though he didn't quite want to finish his sentence. "You didn't shoot him."

Her jaw clenched, her teeth grinding. She could tell by his tone that he wasn't insinuating that she should have shot him, but a put of guilt still opened up inside her chest. She shook her head. "No… I didn't shoot him." She could see the question on Henry's lips, so she started to answer it before he'd spoken because quite frankly she didn't want to hear him ask it. "I know. Why. Why didn't I shoot him?" She gave him a small smile as she stole the words from him. "Trust me I asked myself the same question for most of that year…" She let out a soft laugh. "I just…. Couldn't." She offered him a semi-apologetic shrug. "Despite all of it, despite how angry I was, despite the fact that he had the Earth hostage… I just couldn't kill him."

Henry offered her an encouraging smile, as though she'd said exactly what he'd hoped she would and he nodded. "Alright, now skipping forward a little. So, The Master was shot by Lucy Saxon on board the Valiant and you remained on Earth afterwards working with Torchwood Cardiff, right?"

"Mmhmm." She confirmed.

He flicked through a few accompanying photographs to confirm his point. "Then we get to June, 2008, when you assisted The Doctor in restoring the Earth and fighting the Daleks?"

She couldn't help the slight cock of her eyebrow at that, accompanied by the quiet, but still audible knowing snort from Jack.

"Yes…" She slowed the word, considering the best way to frame the next few words without coming across completely unlikeable. "Although… in that instance I'd probably consider that The Doctor assisted me, in fighting the Daleks but you know… that's just semantics." She smiled and despite his chuckle, Henry hummed with gentle reprimand. Keeping her just behind the line.

Well, he had told her to tell the truth.

"During which time you also simultaneously resurrected The Master?" He continued.

"Yes. He also… assisted."

"And afterwards, you, The Master and two human associates left for Hawaii, correct? Although, you were aware of parties interested in apprehending your husband for his previous crimes?"

She swallowed and nodded. "Yes. Look… it wasn't that I was happy with him getting away with what he'd done. I wasn't. But… no offence, but… neither UNIT nor Torchwood would have been equipped to actually contain him. And I'm not saying that I was trying to do you a favour because I wasn't, I was also being purely selfish. I just couldn't trust handing him over…" Her gaze briefly landed on Jack before she looked back at Henry, rolling her lip between her teeth as she considered. "I took him away because I thought that it was the easiest way to ensure no one could get hurt. He couldn't hurt them and they couldn't hurt him."

Henry nodded. "To confirm, you wanted a peaceful coexistence?"

"Yes." She offered a sympathetic smile. "It was wishful thinking, I know. But yes. I… we, wanted to be left alone. When the helicopters and the submarines and soldiers came I wasn't going to attack them. I was showing off… I was just showing them what I could do so that they'd back off. I didn't want to hurt anyone. It felt like the option that would cause the least damage… to just scare them away."

Henry hummed and nodded. "But you stayed on earth?"

She nodded. "Not out of choice… we didn't really have another option."

"Then you ended up in New York, where you perhaps by accident started Torchwood USA, before ending up in Cardiff to help Torchwood Three with a…" He let out a soft breath of disbelieving amusement "… T-Rex, among other things. Shortly after which, you, The Master and the entire Torchwood team were knocked unconscious."

She flinched slightly at the memory. "Yes."

"What do you remember about that?"

A frown settled onto her face. "Just pain really… in my mind. They must have used some sort of transmitter, I don't know, then there was gas. Then nothing."

"And the next time you woke up, was in this facility?" He brought up a photograph of herself lying in the hospital-like bed in the room.

She nodded.

"And you didn't know where you were?"

"No."

"Did you know, what you were about to do?"

"No…"

"Did you know, what they had done to The Master?"

She shook her head. "No. But I could feel him, I didn't recognise it as him at first…" She shook her head. "I panicked."

Henry nodded. "If you had known, how many people were around you… would you have done something differently?"

There were a few moments of silence, the only sound the noise of a nearby ticking clock on the wall. Eventually, she nodded. "Yes. I believe I would have."

Henry nodded again. He clicked, the image being replaced with the interior of the chip shop again. "Now, the two civilians in the shop. Did you want to hurt either of them?"

"No."

"Did you, in fact, injure either of them?"

"Oh… I mean, I'm not sure… they both walked away, if that's what you mean."

Henry hummed. "That would be because you did in fact not injure either of them." He offered her a small smile. "Could you have hurt them?"

She paused. "As in… I could have… I guess."

"But you purposefully didn't."

She nodded.

He clicked again and brought up the footage from Naismith Manor. "Now, we were previously shown a rather condensed version of this scene. I suggest we take a longer look." He played it from the moment Hally and The Master had gotten the gate working, The Master entering the gate. Alina and Jack arriving, Alina facilitating the de-escalation. The Doctor entering and causing chaos.

"Where's your TARDIS?" Her voice, desperate and shaking .

"Hally... just take a breath."

"Where. Is. Your. TARDIS?"

"Turn the machine off... and we can talk. I can help."

"Help?" The scene continued, not chopped up and edited as Whitlock's version had been . "How are you going to help me, Doctor? Save me from your precious humans, are you? I don't need your help. I am going to fix him, and we are going to take your TARDIS and go. So where is it?"

The Doctor appeared to be looking between the both of them, before he focused on her . "Hal... I know you're angry... I'm sorry but... let me help. Turn off the machine."

"I'm just healing him! That's it! If I turn this off, I've got nothing... Doctor, where is your TARDIS? Let me go... please..." She winced at the choked desperation in her own voice . "Just let me do this... I don't want to hurt anyone... please."

"He's not going to let you." The Master's voice crackled through the speakers. "After everything, he'll never not be on their side."

"If you won't give me the TARDIS, then I will take it." H

The Doctor visibly shifted on the screen. "Hally, no."

"Just remember, Doctor, you did this..."

"Doctor… just wait…" Alina's voice cut across them.

"We would have gone," The Master growled. "We would have left this filthy, stinking cesspit and ran."

"It would have been more than they deserved. I'm going to ask one last time..." She could hear the shake in her voice. "Where's your TARDIS?"

"Hally, just stop... just think..."

Henry let it play to the point just before she had flicked the gate switch. "Did you want to activate the gate?"

"No."

"In the clip, both you and The Master insist that you want to leave the planet, was that true?"

"Yes."

"And you needed The Doctor's TARDIS to do so?"

"Yes…"

"The Doctor, in this clip, seems to believe otherwise." Henry offered, his eyes flashing with an invitation for her to explain.

She nodded. "I think he thought that it had been our plan all along to use the Gate against the human race, for revenge or… I don't know."

"Why do you think he didn't just hand over his TARDIS? If he believed your threat was planet-wide?"

She shrugged. "I can't speak for why The Doctor does what he does…" She muttered, with a little more bite than intended. "But, I assume he imagined that he was containing us. 'Saving the Universe' from us." She couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"But, The Doctor was mistaken."

"Yes."

Henry moved on seamlessly. "Now, you're part human, aren't you?"

"Yes…"

"Your mother was a human."

Hally nodded.

"And you've spent a fair amount of time living here, fitting in, almost."

She nodded again. "Yeah, both in Cardiff and New York…"

"Now, during that time, you helped prevent multiple planet-wide catastrophes of extra-terrestrial origin, didn't you?"

She thought about it for a moment. "Yeah… yes, I would say so."

"In fact, it's a certainty that without you, some of those invasions or events of planetary destruction would not have been avoided."

"If you say so."

"I do." He gave her a smile. "And I have many incident reports to prove it." His smile widened into a grin as he clicked through multiple documents.

"And roughly, how many lives would you say you've saved while travelling with The Doctor?"

"Oh… I have no idea… I mean that's not really… we're not going around counting…" She exhaled a laugh. He gave her a smile.

"Billions? Whole planets?"

She nodded.

"And… would you say, that you would have been able to save as many lives without your power?"

She shook her head. "No."

"That day… the day you were already planning on bringing back The Master, the day when the planet moved and the Daleks came, you decided to help, didn't you?"

"Uhh, yeah."

"Even though what you'd actually planned to do that day was resurrect your dead husband, right?"

"Yes…"

"Why did you decide to help, instead?"

She frowned, as though he'd almost asked a stupid question, he offered her an encouraging smile. "Well… I just… no one could get hold of The Doctor so I…" She shrugged, not trusting her own answer. "I just did. I could help… so I helped."

Henry smiled and nodded.

"That's all from me." Henry gave her a pleased smile and moved back to his seat. The man in the middle nodded towards him before looking to Whitlock. "Anything else?"

Whitlock stood. "Just a quick one…" He hummed and stood up, turning on her quickly. Something nasty flickered behind his eyes.

"You didn't know where you were. You've confirmed this. So you didn't know if there were people around you? And yet you believe you would have done something differently had you known? Yet, you were also in shock. So which is it?"

She frowned at him. "I think all those can coexist. I didn't know where we were. I was unaware of how populated the area was and upon finding The Master I was in shock. But I believe, that if I'd known how many people would die… if I'd known how many people my actions would kill, I would have done something different."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "But, you are saying that if you'd walked into that room and your husband had been fine, all those people wouldn't have died."

He fixed her with a sharp, unkind look.

She rolled her jaw. "Possibly…"

"So, what I'm hearing is that the size of destruction is completely correlated to the damage done to your husband by a select few. You hold the entire human race accountable for the actions of a few?" Whitlock rattled off. He seemed generally irritated by her.

"No."

"So, at exactly what point would this level of destruction be acceptable to you?"

"Sorry?"

He clicked a few times, pulling up a video they hadn't seen yet. The Master's room, she could only tell because it was The Master who lay in the bed. A scene she hadn't seen. Paused. She noticed, with a frown, The Master's hair was still dark brown in the photograph. He wasn't alone in the room, there were people around his bed. Before her brain had properly registered the details of the photograph Whitlock had clicked and the video had begun to play.

The first thing that registered was the noise.

Screaming.

He was screaming.

Which reason quickly deduced meant that he was awake.

There was blood.

And he was screaming. Haunting. Agonising. Screaming.

Some sort of neural pathway kicked in because suddenly she was looking away from the screen. The noise didn't stop. She pressed her eyes closed. Somehow the image remained burned into her brain.

Henry was shouting something.

She took a slow deep breath.

The screaming stopped.

"… that is enough!" Henry barked. "That video has NO relevance to any line of questioning!"

"I disagree." Whitlock sneered.

Hally blinked her eyes open, her hands had moved to grip the edge of the table.

"Does that justify sixty-thousand deaths?" It took her a moment to realise Whitlock was talking to her again. She shifted her gaze up towards him.

Her voice came out weaker than she liked. "No."

"This is ridiculous and is only designed to antagonise." Henry called up towards them.

"No?" Whitlock hummed. "How many then?"

"Just one…" She growled back at him.

Whitlock sneered, his lips curling into a cruel smile as he clicked the remote again. A different clip began to play on the screen. Hally forced herself not to look up. Her eyes stayed locked on Whitlock, her glare sharp. But no matter how much she wanted to shut it out, she couldn't escape the noise. The sharp crackle of electricity. The grunts and groans of pain. She could hear The Master's voice—strained, ragged with exhaustion. He wasn't screaming this time; he was shouting, his voice cracking with agony.

Her hearts pounded furiously in her chest, white hot rage focused solely on the man in front of her. A small, bitter consolation flickered in her mind: those responsible for his suffering were already dead by her hand. She had seen to that.

The noise pressed in on her, the sounds so foreign to her ears. She'd never heard him scream before, never heard him cry out in agony. Her stomach churned. She wondered, just for a moment, if she could break through this biodampener. It wasn't as strong as the first one, after all. But she quickly crushed that thought.

Instead, she rose to her feet with a deliberate slowness. Even this simple action sent a ripple of concern throughout the room. The soldiers lining the walls, who had been mere silent observers until now, tensed visibly. A few of them reached for their weapons, their eyes fixed warily on her.

Hally moved with careful, measured steps, trying to convey that she was no threat. Though, she supposed, it was an impossible task. She shifted around the table, stepping down from the raised platform. One of the councilwomen snapped at her to stay seated, but Hally ignored her, continuing forward. She took three steps, until she was standing nose to nose with Whitlock.

She could see the fear there, hidden behind his smarmy exterior—a glimmer in his eyes, a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.

Good.

Two of the soldiers raised their guns when she reached out, their movements sharp and automatic. But Hally moved slowly, deliberately, plucking the remote from Whitlock's hand with a gentleness that belied her anger. She pressed a button, and the screen went dark, the sounds of pain abruptly silenced.

Hally turned her head, giving the armed men a pointed look that made them hesitate, their fingers hovering uncertainly over their triggers. Satisfied, she turned back and walked calmly to her seat, settling herself down with a measured breath.

"I think the point you're trying to make," she said, her voice steady, "is that you don't believe that I killed those people by accident. That instead, I chose to allow mass destruction. That I enacted revenge on the human race because I blamed them all for harming The Master."

A small voice in the back of her mind reminded her that, at the time, those thoughts had definitely crossed her mind…

"But to be honest with you, it doesn't really matter either way, does it?" she continued, her tone unyielding. "They're still dead. I'm not going to sit here and try to give you excuses. It happened, and they're dead, and I'm sorry. Now you can stand there and try to antagonize me. I dare say it might even work. But it's irrelevant, isn't it? It doesn't change whether I'm in the wrong, does it? It doesn't mean I'm suddenly less or more responsible for my actions. I killed them. Whether I meant to or not. I killed them."

Whitlock's face twisted into a scowl. "I think it makes a huge difference. An accident is one thing, but intent to harm changes everything and I believe that in both incidences, you wanted to cause harm."

Hally dropped any remaining pretence. "Respectfully, if that was true, if the whole time it had been my intention to murder thousands, to obliterate the human race, then why would I turn myself in now? Why am I sat here, volunteering myself to listen to you prattle on? If I wanted the whole human race dead, they'd be dead." She clipped, before she rolled her jaw and tried to shift her demeanour. "…I know that doesn't sound great," she continued, more measured now. "But what I'm very indelicately trying to say is this: I had no intention of causing harm, and I still don't. You want to paint me as some heartless monster, driven by revenge. Maybe it would be easier for you to believe that. Maybe it would make more sense if I were some mindless destroyer, something that only knew how to break and kill. It must be terrifying to think that all this power is concentrated in one person, all at my whim. I get it. Hell, it scares me, too. It's not reasonable and it's not right and I've been incredibly naïve to it because I never wanted it in the first place."

She leaned forward slightly, her gaze unwavering. "So, I understand why you're uncomfortable—why you're afraid of the idea that I could destroy the human race. But I don't want to. That's why I'm here, wearing these ridiculous handcuffs, subdued by two devices that basically do the same thing as one another, all to make sure that I don't. I am here because I don't want to be a threat. I am here to prove that I don't have to be."

She leaned back in her chair, releasing a heavy breath. Whitlock remained silent, the weight of her words lingering in the air. The courtroom felt thick with tension, every eye locked on her, waiting for what would come next. Hally glanced at Whitlock and, seeing no immediate response, gave a slight shrug. "Shall I assume I can stop talking about me now?" she asked, her tone almost casual.

The older man, sat in the centre of the council table cleared his throat, breaking the silence. "We'll adjourn for today and resume tomorrow."

Relieved, Hally was released from the witness box and returned to her seat beside Henry. As the courtroom began to empty, Henry gently guided her up, leading her back to the Zero Room. She snuck a glance his way once or twice on the way, unable to decipher the expression steady on his face. "Sorry... I think I might have lost my temper," she murmured, offering him a small, apologetic smile.

Henry responded with a gentle hum of agreement. "Hmm, just a bit. Although, I do think it ended up swinging in your favour." He said with a faint smile.

---

The next morning came too quickly, and soon she was right back in the suppressing beige of the courtroom. Although, thankfully, she was sat back next to Henry. They had moved on to bringing up witnesses, and as with the previous day, Whitlock had brought his witnesses up first. He introduced a man Hally didn't immediately recognize—a fairly plain-looking soldier in his early thirties, his hair in a strict buzz cut. He stood at attention, his expression hard and unreadable, as he prepared to answer Whitlock's questions.

"State your name for the record." Whitlock said.

"Officer Davis, George Davis." The soldier replied, his voice steady.

Whitlock gave a curt nod and then began his line of questioning, his tone sharp and precise. "Officer Davis, you were stationed on the Valiant during the events documented in the wiped timeline of 2008?"

"Yes, sir," Davis replied.

Whitlock leaned in slightly, his eyes narrowing. "During that time, did you observe Mrs. Oakdown—Hally—interacting with The Master?"

Davis hesitated for a moment before answering, "Yes, I did."

"And how did she seem to you?" Whitlock asked, his voice smooth but leading. "Was she ever in distress, or did she appear comfortable in her surroundings?"

Davis glanced at Whitlock, sensing where this was going. "She... seemed comfortable, most of the time. Sometimes they would argue... I never saw her without The Master."

Whitlock nodded, a small, satisfied smile forming on his lips. "She was never kept with the other prisoners, was she?"

"No, she wasn't." Davis confirmed.

"And in your observation, did she have some sort of control or influence over The Master?" Whitlock pressed.

Davis shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "It eventually seemed like that, yes. She usually ended up being by his side."

Hally didn't bother hiding her immediate eye roll.

Whitlock seized the moment, his voice gaining momentum. "While he destroyed the planet?"

"Yes."

"She stood by his side, while he destroyed the planet?"

"Umm… well, yes."

Whitlock hummed and smiled. "That's all from me." He shot Henry a smirk as he passed him to take his seat.

Henry walked to the centre of the courtroom, his expression calm but determined. "Officer Davis," he began, his voice steady and clear, with a hint of boredom, "did you ever actually speak with Mrs. Oakdown?"

Davis looked uncertain but answered truthfully, "No, I didn't."

Henry continued, "Were you ever alone in a room with her?"

Again, Davis shook his head. "No."

"What about The Master?" Henry asked. "Did you ever speak one-on-one with him?"

"No," Davis admitted, his tone more subdued.

"Did you know where The Master was holding Mrs Oakdown?"

"No…"

"Where was it that you saw them together?"

"On the bridge."

"That was it? You never personally saw them anywhere else together?"

"No…"

"But, surely, there were multiple people on the bridge too?"

"Yes…"

"So they weren't alone. You only ever saw them together, in a public place, also surrounded by others."

"Well…. Yes."

Henry paused for a moment, letting the silence hang in the air before he continued. "So, it could be said that you didn't know either of them at all, correct?"

Davis shifted again, clearly uncomfortable. "I suppose so, yes."

Henry nodded slowly, then glanced down at the papers in his hand. "You agreed earlier, 'She stood by and let him destroy the whole planet.' That's your opinion then, that she wasn't a prisoner?"

Davis looked conflicted. "No…"

Henry raised an eyebrow, cutting him off gently. "And yet, in your written statement, which you wrote shortly after the events on the Valiant for UNIT records, you seem to suggest something different. Let me ask you directly—what happened when The Master tried to destroy Japan?"

Davis hesitated, unsure of how to answer. "Um…"

Henry held up the paper, glancing at it before looking back at Davis. "Shall I read what you've written and signed?"

Davis swallowed hard. "...She stopped him."

Henry took a step closer, his voice firmer. "How did she stop him?"

The room was silent as Davis answered, stumbling over his words. "Uh, well, she... she was asking him to stop."

Henry leaned in, pressing the point. "And then?"

Davis sighed, defeated. "And then she punched him in the face…"

She really shouldn't smile, but she just couldn't help it.

Henry gave a slight nod, as if he expected this answer. "So, does that line up with your earlier agreement to Mr. Whitlock that she simply 'stood by'?"

Davis looked down, his face flushing with embarrassment. "No... No, it doesn't."

Henry turned to the council with a small, satisfied smile. "No further questions from me."

The next 'witness' took the stand: a woman in her forties, with short, greying hair and a nervous expression. Again, someone that Hally didn't even recognise. She wore a simple blouse and slacks, her hands fidgeting with a loose thread on her sleeve. The court clerk announced her name, "Karen Evans," but her focus remained fixed on the floor as Whitlock approached.

Whitlock gave her a reassuring nod, though his eyes were as sharp as ever. "Ms. Evans, you were one of the technicians present at Naismith Mansion when Mrs. Oakdown and The Master arrived, correct?"

"Yes," Karen replied quietly, her voice trembling slightly.

Whitlock leaned forward, his tone firm but not unkind. "And when you saw them, what was your impression? Did you find them frightening?"

Karen nodded, her eyes flickering with unease. "Yes, they were… scary."

Whitlock tilted his head, as if considering her words carefully. "How would you describe them?"

"They both looked awful, unhinged," she answered, her voice barely above a whisper. "They were on edge."

Whitlock nodded, seeming to take mental notes. "How long did it take them to fix the gate?"

"About an hour," she replied, her gaze still cast downward.

"And what happened after they fixed the gate?" Whitlock continued, his tone coaxing.

Karen took a shaky breath. "They were going to use the gate, but people rushed in. A man—The Doctor—he rushed in and tried to stop them, but it was too late."

Whitlock nodded, satisfied with her answer, and stepped back to his table. Henry stood, buttoning his jacket as he moved toward the witness stand, his demeanour calm and steady.

"Ms. Evans," Henry began softly, "you say that Mrs. Oakdown and The Master scared you. Why was that? Did they say or do anything at the time that made you fear them?"

Karen blinked, caught off guard by the question. "No… it was just a feeling," she admitted, hesitating.

Henry nodded thoughtfully. "I understand. And during the time from when they arrived to when they fixed the gate, did they behave in any way that was less than polite?"

Karen seemed to consider this, her brow furrowing slightly. "Well, no… they were fine… they didn't really talk to anyone else."

Henry gave a small, encouraging smile. "You mentioned earlier that they seemed 'unhinged.' Could you explain what you mean by that? In what way did they seem unhinged?"

Karen fumbled for words, clearly struggling to articulate her thoughts. "Well… they just seemed… all over the place. On edge. She was shaking. They were both pale."

Henry nodded again, his tone gentle but probing. "Right… so would you perhaps agree that the pair of them were weakened?"

Karen paused, then gave a tentative nod. "Yes."

"Injured, perhaps?" Henry asked, his voice patient.

"Maybe, yes," Karen conceded.

"But not 'unhinged' in the sense of being irrational or out of control?" Henry pressed.

Karen sighed, looking almost relieved to clarify. "No… I suppose not. Maybe… desperate?"

Henry continued, his voice even. "Did you ever speak one-on-one with either Mrs. Oakdown or The Master?"

Karen shook her head. "No, I didn't."

Henry turned to the council with a calm yet pointed expression. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm not entirely sure why Mr. Whitlock is calling upon character witnesses who have never even spoken to Mrs. Oakdown."

A short murmur of agreement spread through the seats behind her.

Interesting.

Finally, Whitlock brought up someone she actually recognised. The ash blonde hair and irritating swagger had Hally crossing her arms over her chest.

"Ms Isobel Knight."

The blonde on the stand nodded.

Hally's face fell into an immediate frown.

She hadn't known her under that name. All she'd known her as was 'Courtney'.

The stupid bitch who had stabbed her in the spleen…

Her face scrunched with distaste.

Whitlock stepped forward. "Ms. Knight, you were in close quarters with Mrs. Oakdown for around four months at the Saxon facility in Kent in late 2007 and early 2008, is that correct?"

"Yes," Courtney replied, her tone clipped but steady.

Whitlock continued, his eyes narrowing slightly. "During that time, can you confirm how many times Mrs. Oakdown assaulted you?"

Courtney's lips curled into a slight smirk. "Multiple times. Twice successfully. The other times, she tried, but she was restrained before she could do any real damage."

Whitlock clicked the screen up, playing the facility CCTV footage of the moment Hally had smacked 'Courtney' or Isobel or whoever the fuck she was around the head with a cafeteria tray.

"Can you confirm that the victim in this video is you?"

"Yes, I can."

Whitlock nodded, his gaze intense. "And, in general, how would you describe Mrs Oakdown's character during your interactions?"

Courtney didn't hesitate. "Violent. Quick to anger. Uncaring of the repercussions. Volatile."

Hally exhaled a sigh rather loudly, drawing the gaze of Whitlock before he turned back to his questioning.

"Based on your previous experience of her temperament, would you say you believe she is capable of intent to harm?"

"Definitely." Isobel clipped.

Whitlock finished and before he'd taken his seat, Henry had risen from his, buttoning his suit jacket as he approached the stand. His expression was almost amused, lips pressed tightly together. "Ms. Knight, could you please remind us of your profession?"

'Courtney' shifted slightly, uncertainty flickering in her eyes. "I'm… well, I'm—"

"You're an actress, aren't you, Ms. Knight?" Henry interjected smoothly, cutting her off.

"Yes," she admitted reluctantly.

Henry nodded, turning to address the audience. "And you were hired, as was everyone else at that facility. You were hired to do a job, isn't that correct?"

'Courtney's' posture stiffened. "Well, yes."

Henry walked back to his table and picked up a document, then approached her again. "In fact, here's your employment contract. You were specifically tasked with 'aggravating' Mrs. Oakdown, and you were compensated heavily for it, weren't you?"

Courtney's face flushed slightly. "She still assaulted me…"

Henry arched an eyebrow, pressing further. "Did she know where she was?"

"No," Courtney muttered, her confidence waning.

"Did she know why she was there?" Henry asked, his voice firm but not unkind.

"No," Courtney admitted again, her voice barely audible.

Henry's eyes narrowed. "And why didn't she just break herself out?"

Courtney hesitated, her gaze flickering to Whitlock for support. "She couldn't. She was incapacitated…"

Henry nodded, leaning in slightly. "And isn't it true that you ambushed Mrs. Oakdown and stabbed her?"

Courtney's face paled, and she swallowed hard. "Umm…"

Henry straightened, his voice cold. "You do know that's a crime, right?"

Courtney opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

Henry continued, cutting through her silence. "I know, you were under contract," he said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "But a contract doesn't absolve you of committing a crime, does it?" He clicked his tongue against his teeth. "Fortunately, for you this isn't a criminal court…"

Finally, Whitlock ran out of minor 'witnesses' and it was their turn.

Henry let out a slow breath of relief and called up none other than a certain Captain Jack Harkness.

Hally shuffled in her seat, slightly apprehensive that Henry had decided to bring Jack up first, especially as there was a high probability that Jack might not have only kind things to say about her. Rather the opposite. Jack didn't look at her as he passed her, settling into the chair with ease as he waited for Henry to start.

"Captain Harkness," Henry began, "can you confirm how long you've known Mrs. Oakdown?"

A small, amused smile tugged at the side of his mouth. "Well, as Hal rambled through earlier, time travel is complicated." He let out a soft hum. "I've known her for many years. Some travelling, some wiped timelines, some all in the wrong order and some on Earth."

Henry nodded, before continuing, "You employed her for around a year, is that correct?"

"Yes," Jack replied. "Just after the Valiant, she came and worked for me. At Torchwood."

Henry smiled slightly. "How did you find working with her?"

Jack let out a small chuckle. "She's stubborn as hell. Irritatingly perceptive. Kinda distracting. Surprisingly funny and for a time traveller, always late." His eyes glittered with amusement. "She was also great…" His mouth twitched, his smile taking on an edge of sadness. "She worked well with the team."

Henry nodded, then shifted his stance slightly. "You were present on the aircraft carrier Valiant during the documented year, were you not?"

"Yes, I was." The slight change in his tone would have meant nothing to most people in the room.

Henry pressed on, "Can you describe your interactions with Mrs. Oakdown during that time?"

Jack leaned forward slightly, his tone earnest. "Brief. She was angry. Short tempered. The Master had cut her off from the rest of us and had driven a wedge between her and The Doctor so she was lonely. Vulnerable."

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, not liking the picture he was painting. Although, she couldn't deny it was a truthful picture.

"She fought him, at almost every opportunity she could. She was concerned for the rest of us, at the detriment to herself. She was wedged in limbo, stuck between two impossible choices but she did her best to compromise and in the end, she helped put it right." For a brief moment, Jack's gaze found hers, before her eyes slid down to the floor.

"After The Doctor was released, she told us how to break the paradox, how to destroy the machine The Master had built."

"So, just to confirm," Henry said, raising his voice slightly for emphasis, "without Mrs. Oakdown offering that information, the paradox would not have been destroyed and that timeline may still be in occurrence?"

Jack nodded firmly. "Yes, that's correct."

Henry paused, letting the significance of that statement settle over the courtroom. Then, he moved on. "Let's discuss the situation with the Daleks. Can you describe what happened during that time?"

Jack took a deep breath, his face serious. "The Daleks, led by Davros, stole the Earth and twenty-six other planets and had created this bomb, a reality bomb, it would have wiped out everything. The whole universe. Everything. No one could contact The Doctor, so I suppose, a few of us banded together to see what we could do. Hally being one of them. I think she ended up on the Dalek ship before any of us…" His mouth curved with a wry smile. "She stopped the bomb from detonating. She took control of the entire ship, took out the Daleks."

Henry nodded. "So, again, to confirm, Mrs. Oakdown was instrumental in stopping the Daleks and Davros and saving the twenty-seven planets?"

"Yes," Jack replied emphatically. "She was."

Henry continued, "After that, what happened?"

Jack hesitated, his eyes darkening slightly with the memory. "Well, while saving the universe she'd also managed to resurrect The Master. Multitasking at its finest. When we landed on Earth they disappeared. We followed." Jack ground his jaw. "I wanted to bring him in for what he'd done on the Valiant, for what he'd done to… my friends."

Henry leaned in, his tone softer. "Eventually, you relented. Why?"

Jack sighed. "We realised that chasing them was causing more harm than good. They weren't an active threat, and we were wasting resources that could have been better used elsewhere."

Hally's eyebrow cocked at his phrasing, she was sure Jack had done no 'realising' for himself, rather he'd most likely been talked down.

Henry nodded. "When was the next time you saw Mrs. Oakdown?"

Jack thought for a moment, then said, "The next time was in Cardiff, someone had gotten their hands on a primitive time manipulation device that had previously been held by UNIT. Massive temporal anomalies were erupting, we were on the edge of complete temporal collapse. Timeline collision. End of the world stuff. She helped stop it."

Hally noticed that he'd chosen to avoid noting that The Master had also helped…

Henry pressed further. "So again, to confirm, she was instrumental in preventing this massive temporal collapse?"

"Yes," Jack confirmed. "If she hadn't shown up when they did, I don't know if we would have stopped him. Not without massive casualties anyway."

Henry nodded, pacing slowly in front of the council. "And that wouldn't be the first time she's saved the lives of your team, would it?"

Jack shook his head. "No, it wouldn't. I have personally witnessed her save the lives of Martha Jones, Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato while at Torchwood."

Henry continued, "And, going back to a moment ago, what happened after you'd stopped the collapse?"

Jack's expression darkened again. "They were taken. Captured, actually."

"And you couldn't find them?" Henry asked.

Jack shook his head. "No. We searched everywhere, but they had disappeared."

Henry nodded, then asked, "When was the next time you saw her?"

Jack's eyes softened. "When I came through the door of the Naismith Mansion."

Henry nodded. "And how would you describe her in that moment?"

Something passed across Jack's face. "Desperate. Terrified. Like a wounded animal backed into a corner. Both of them… I have never seen either of them so…" He seemed to chew on the word before he spoke it. "Broken."

She awkwardly stewed in her seat, leaning onto her elbow to stare intensely at the table in front of her.

Henry hummed. "And in that moment, did you believe she planned on causing anyone harm?"

Jack shook his head. "No. If she had wanted to hurt anyone, she would have done so the second we entered the room. But she didn't. She was waiting—she didn't want to hurt anyone else."

Henry paused, letting Jack's words settle. "Do you believe she meant to kill those people?"

Jack looked directly at Henry, his voice unwavering. "No. It was very obvious to me—and to anyone in that room with eyes—that she was falling apart. She was in shock. She had fallen well past control. Well past rational thought."

"And as we've seen, Mrs. Oakdown shot you…"

Jack hummed. "People do that a lot… hasn't left any marks yet." His mouth curved into a smirk. "She wasn't attempting to murder me, if that's what you're getting at."

Henry nodded. "And, in general, you've known Mrs. Oakdown for quite some time. How would you describe her character?"

Jack chuckled softly, a fond smile crossing his lips. "Still stubborn. Loyal. Fiercely and annoyingly so. Smart. Charming. Just… It doesn't matter what room she's in; she becomes unavoidable. You're unavoidably drawn to her. She's good. Maybe not all the time—she makes mistakes, and they're often pretty massive—but inside, she's good."

Henry nodded and gave Jack a smile. "Thank you."

He handed off to Whitlock who prowled over to where Jack sat, leaning over him as though attempting to intimidate him.

Good luck with that…

Whitlock's eyes narrowed as he studied Harkness sitting on the stand. He spoke with a deliberate, almost predatory tone. "What is your relationship with Ms. Oakdown?"

Jack leaned back, arms crossed casually. "I've known her a long time," he answered, keeping his voice light.

Whitlock's lips curled into a slight sneer. "That's not an answer to my question, though, is it? Do you like her?"

Jack shrugged, a half-smile playing at his lips. "Sometimes."

Whitlock didn't miss a beat. "Are you in love with her?"

Jack's expression remained unchanged. "No."

"Have you ever been in love with her?"

"No."

Whitlock pressed on, clearly unsatisfied. "Would you describe your relationship as perhaps more than friends?"

Jack shook his head, his voice steady. "No. We're friends. Sometimes we're barely friends."

Whitlock's eyes narrowed further. "Why is that?"

Jack's tone was frank. "Because I don't always agree with her choices."

Whitlock's eyebrows rose, sensing an opportunity. "So, you don't blame her for her mistakes, just her choices?"

"Yes."

"And which choices would those be?" Whitlock asked, leaning in.

Jack shrugged again, his expression calm but firm. "I don't always agree with how she will purposefully turn a blind eye to what The Master has done, to the people he's hurt, just because she's in love with him."

Whitlock's voice took on a sharper edge. "So… you disapprove of her choice in husband?"

Jack huffed, rolling his eyes slightly. "I guess so."

"Are you jealous?" Whitlock shot back quickly.

"No," Jack replied evenly.

Whitlock's gaze intensified. "But you would prefer it if she wasn't married to him?"

Jack hesitated, then answered honestly, "Maybe, but that doesn't make me jealous."

Whitlock smirked, sensing a crack. "But, if she wasn't with him, you would pursue her?"

Henry cleared his throat, his voice cutting through the tension. "This is all getting incredibly hypothetical."

Whitlock waved a hand dismissively and changed tack. "Have you had sexual relations with Ms. Oakdown?"

Jack laughed loudly, the sound filling the courtroom. "No."

Whitlock's expression tightened with frustration. "But you have kissed her, haven't you?"

Jack grinned, eyes sparkling with mischief. "I've kissed a lot of people." He winked at the jury, eliciting a few chuckles.

Whitlock's tone turned stern. "Answer the question."

Jack's grin widened. "Yes."

Whitlock pounced. "And when was that?"

Jack's face took on a mock-thoughtful expression. "Oh… God… must be, what, one hundred trillion years in the future?" He smirked, earning a few laughs from the onlookers.

Whitlock's patience was wearing thin. "So your judgment of her character could be clouded?"

Jack's amusement was palpable. "No. It wasn't that good of a kiss."

Another ripple of laughter moved through the courtroom. Henry couldn't help but smile as Whitlock conceded and he stood up, taking over the questioning. "Alright, as Mr. Whitlock is determined to drag this up… How old are you, Mr. Harkness?"

Hally let out a slow breath of relief as Whitlock took his seat, immediately very thankful that Armitage had apparently managed to remove all photographic evidence of their 'other' kiss.

Jack's grin returned. "Oh, well, I've lost count a bit over the years, but let's say I'm in the triple digits."

Henry nodded, keeping his tone light and conversational. "And... roughly… how many beings have you had sexual relations with?"

Jack chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Gee… I don't think I've ever counted."

Henry pressed, still smiling. "Over a hundred?"

Jack shrugged, his grin widening. "Yeah… we're most likely in the thousands…"

Henry smiled back. "And would you say you were 'in love' with all of them?"

Jack laughed. "Fuck no."

The room filled with another wave of amusement. Henry continued, "And similarly, how many beings have you kissed?"

Jack tilted his head, considering. "Oh… more… a lot more."

Henry nodded. "Were you in love with all of them?"

Jack shook his head. "No…"

Henry leaned forward, his voice more serious now. "Why did you kiss Mrs. Oakdown?"

Jack's smirk softened into something almost fond. "It was a joke. A private joke between friends."

Her own eyes softened, a gentle pang of nostalgia making itself known in her chest. She reached for the cup of water placed in front of her on the table, hoping to simply wash the feeling away.

Henry nodded in understanding. "Thank you. Is there anything else you'd like to say?"

Jack's expression grew more earnest, his voice steady. "You need to understand, Time Lords, they're not like us. They're smarter, faster, beyond anything you've ever known…and they've got the ego to go with it."

She let in an indignant inhale, choking, rather loudly on the water that had hit the back of her throat.

Jack's glittering eyes had landed on her, watching in relaxed amusement as she shot him a mediocre glare.

Jack continued, turning back to address the council. "She's a goddess. I've seen enough films to know you don't lock down a goddess, they only come back vengeful. She can help. She wants to help."

Henry brought up Owen and Tosh in quick succession with little interference from Whitlock. Both confirming Jack's version of events. "… the only reason I can sit here at all is because of her, so yeah… I might be slightly biased." Owen had quipped, shooting her a grin.

After lunch, the courtroom resumed and Henry called Martha Jones to the stand. Hally shifted uncomfortably in her seat, a familiar pang of guilt wriggling in her stomach. She braced herself, her forearms braced against the edge of the table as she watched.

Henry began with a calm but purposeful tone. "Martha, can you confirm how you know Mrs. Oakdown?"

Martha looked around the room briefly before meeting Henry's gaze. "Yes, I travelled with her for a period of time," she said. "We were on the TARDIS together, with The Doctor."

"And how long did you travel together?" Henry asked.

"Around a year or two?" Martha replied.

Henry nodded. "And how did you perceive her at that time?"

Martha hesitated for a moment, choosing her words carefully. "Strong. Resourceful. She was someone who could handle herself. Fiercely protective."

"What happened after that period?" Henry continued.

"Then we came across The Master." Martha took in a slow breath. "I wasn't on the Valiant during that time."

"In your opinion, based on what you did see was Mrs. Oakdown also a prisoner on the Valiant?"

Martha's expression shifted. "Yes, I would say she was a prisoner. Perhaps not in the obvious way. She was prisoner to him."

Henry pressed further. "Do you believe she was responsible for what happened?"

"No," Martha said firmly. "She helped stop him... in the end."

"You were also present on the Dalek ship, as a representative of UNIT, weren't you?"

Martha nodded. "Yes. I watched her take down the Daleks. She walked onto that ship, alone and she did that with no assurance that The Doctor would come, no assurance The Master was going to come back. She did it because she knew that the whole human race would be destroyed if she didn't. And it wasn't just us that she saved that day. Every single one of those planets exists because of her. The whole universe was at risk and yes, The Doctor was there." Martha's face curved with a fond smile. "But it was her."

Henry nodded slowly. "Then, afterwards, back on Earth, with The Master. You called UNIT to arrest him, correct?"

"Yes," Martha confirmed.

"But they left?"

"Yes, they did," Martha acknowledged, her voice tinged with a well-concealed strain.

"Did you believe she was going to hurt people?"

"No," Martha said, shaking her head. "I wasn't sure about him, but I had no doubt that she wouldn't hurt anyone."

Henry then asked, "You worked with her briefly at Torchwood and during the UNIT operation against the Sontarans. How would you describe her at that time?"

Martha took a deep breath. "She was similar, though perhaps more subdued. After leaving The Doctor and with The Master dead, she was just existing. Neither of them were speaking to one another."

"That surprised you?" Henry inquired.

"No," Martha replied. "They have a complicated relationship. It was expected after what had happened on the Valiant."

"Can you describe how you perceived that relationship?" Henry asked. "Had it changed from when you travelled with her to after The Master had died?"

Martha offered Hally a slightly apologetic look before answering. "Yes, it had changed. Initially, when we started travelling, it was odd. The Doctor didn't really treat her like she was his daughter. Maybe more like a friend or another companion. It was like they were close but simultaneously very distant. Sometimes she even seemed to parent him. I can't tell you how many times I watched that man try to 'sacrifice' himself to save a planet and she'd have to get in his way… Umm… but after the Valiant, I don't know, I wasn't there, I didn't see what changed but afterwards she didn't want to go with him."

Martha laughed softly. "Time Lords are really bad at communicating," she said, her tone a mix of exasperation and amusement.

There were a few hums of agreement from behind her, and Hally pouted slightly at the observation.

"Do you believe she meant to kill them?" Henry asked, returning to the core of the matter.

"No," Martha said with conviction. "Not ever."

Henry nodded. "That's all from me." He turned towards Whitlock, eyes flashing with permission.

Whitlock, who had been silently observing, shook his head. "Nothing from me."

When Henry finally called up Alina, a subtle wave of amusement rippled through a select few in the courtroom. Hally watched as the human took her seat, an apprehensive warmth creeping up her cheeks, knowing just how much Alina could say and just how many pairs of ears were listening.

Alina, who had been watching with a reserved but warm smile, exchanged a brief, affectionate glance with Henry. "Hi," she said, her voice soft and steady.

"Hi," Henry replied, returning her smile.

"Please, could you inform everyone of your relationship with Mrs Oakdown," Henry prompted, a slight edge of formality returning to his tone.

Alina took a breath, her professional demeanour settling into place. "I'm a behavioural psychologist. I was employed on board the Valiant at the request of The Master to provide psychotherapy and behavioural analyses of Mrs Oakdown," she explained.

Henry continued, "How long have you known Mrs. Oakdown?"

"Since 2007," Alina answered.

Henry's gaze sharpened. "Now, it gets a little complicated, doesn't it? Could you explain in as much detail as possible for transparency what happened on board the Valiant and how you came to work for Torchwood?"

Alina offered him a reassuring smile. "Certainly. As already brought to our attention there was an incident when a group of us travelled off the Valiant which resulted in my death. When the paradox was reversed, all of us, myself included were returned to our position prior to the initiation of the paradox machine. In short, I was no longer dead. But, I also had no memory of what had happened during that year, as it technically hadn't happened."

Alina caught Hally's gaze as she spoke, offering her a small smile of comfort, her eyes twinkling.

"When both Hally and The Master began popping up all over the news, social media, practically everywhere… I realised I'd been having very vivid dreams about an alternate timeline." She offered. "I sought out Torchwood and have regained a portion of my memories from that time since then."

Henry nodded. "How much of the memories on board the Valiant would you say you've retrieved?"

"Perhaps only 50%," Alina admitted. "I made notes during that time, extensive notes, which were left on board the Valiant and subsequently seized by UNIT. We were able to retrieve them."

"So, you have all the notes you created during that time?" Henry clarified.

"Yes," Alina confirmed.

"In terms of behaviour," Henry continued, "would you consider yourself an expert?"

"Yes," Alina replied confidently. "I have extensive experience in behavioural psychology."

"And," Henry pressed, "you're therefore the only behavioural psychologist to have any experience working with Mrs. Oakdown?"

"Yes," Alina confirmed.

"In your work with Mrs. Oakdown," Henry asked, "have you ever diagnosed her with or suspected a diagnosis of psychopathy, sociopathy, or narcissism?"

"No," Alina answered firmly. "I have not."

"Do you believe Mrs. Oakdown to be of sound mind, with decision-making awareness?" Henry inquired.

"Yes," Alina said.

Henry then shifted the focus. "I'm going to replay some of the footage seen earlier. If you could provide your professional opinion on the behaviour noted?"

Alina nodded, her expression becoming focused. Henry replayed two clips, first the footage of Hally at the facility when she'd found The Master and then at Naismith Mansion before she'd activated the Gate.

Henry's voice cut through the hum of the courtroom. "Could you describe the behaviour seen by Mrs. Oakdown in the first clip, in your professional opinion?"

Alina took a moment before speaking. "Mrs. Oakdown exhibits signs of extreme stress and trauma. There are no clear indications of malicious intent. Upon waking she shows signs of being disoriented, scared and cautious. Upon finding The Master her trauma response appears to escalate to an extreme of behaviour. She appears to shut down and resort to base, instinctual behaviours."

"And similarly for the second clip?" Henry asked.

Alina's gaze remained steady. "In the second clip, the behaviour is consistent with someone under significant duress. Again, there's no evidence of malicious intent. Mrs. Oakdown was trying multiple tactics in order to resist her eventual behaviour, and the circumstances show she was struggling with her actions rather than acting out of spite or ill will."

"Do you believe she wanted to kill those people?" Henry asked.

"No," Alina said decisively. "She did not."

"Do you believe she wanted to maliciously use the Gate?" Henry pressed further.

"No, she did not," Alina affirmed. "In fact, I would go so far as to say that if The Doctor hadn't walked into that room, she wouldn't have used the Gate in that manner."

Henry paused, then asked, "And, as Mr. Whitlock so kindly pressed the matter, in your professional opinion, would you consider sex to be inappropriate behaviour within the scenario Mrs. Oakdown found herself in?"

Alina's response was measured and professional. "Having sex could be a perfectly reasonable reaction. Stress responses vary massively and can be unpredictable under extreme stress and duress, which I believe Mrs. Oakdown was experiencing at the time. Using sex to cope with stress or trauma is well-documented and common. So, no, I don't find it to be inappropriate at all."

Henry nodded and gave her a final smile before he handed over to Whitlock, his eyes lingering on the man a moment longer than usual as they crossed paths.

Whitlock leaned forward, crossing his arms over his chest, his eyes fixed intently on Alina. "Do you acknowledge that Ms. Oakdown is powerful?"

"Yes, she is," Alina replied calmly.

"And in your professional opinion, is she emotionally stable?"

Alina hesitated, choosing her words carefully. "I think there's a difference between being emotionally stable under normal circumstances and under extreme stress."

Whitlock didn't miss a beat. "And you believe she's stable under normal circumstances?"

"Yes," Alina affirmed.

"And under extreme stress?"

Alina allowed herself a small sigh. "Most of us aren't."

"But most of us can't wipe out sixty thousand people," Whitlock shot back.

There was a heavy pause in the courtroom as his words sank in. Hally felt a knot tightening in her stomach. She hated the way he said it, like it was a fact, like it was something she would choose to do again.

Whitlock pressed on. "In your professional opinion, noting the emotional stability of Ms. Oakdown and even her limited knowledge of what she is capable of, would you consider Ms. Oakdown to be a safety concern?"

Alina sighed softly, her gaze shifting to Hally for a moment before returning to Whitlock. "Yes, she is a safety concern. Which is why measures have been put in place to reduce that concern. All of which Hally has been very accepting of."

Whitlock raised an eyebrow, leaning back slightly on his heel. "Can you take a look at this for me?" He didn't bother to wait for Alina to agree before he brought up another video. This, Hally recognised as the interior of the Naismith Mansion, the room where The Master had held The Doctor. Hally couldn't see herself, assuming the clip was from after she'd been escorted from the room.

On the screen, The Master remained motionless, his eyes glued to the door she had just exited through. Hally watched his expression, something burning intensely behind his gaze that she couldn't quite place. Even through the grainy footage, she could see the turmoil in his eyes, could sense the intensity of his thoughts.

The Master then clicked on his screwdriver, re-reading something, a soft hum escaping his lips as he began to pace back and forth. Hally could almost feel his agitation, his mind racing. She knew that look on his face, the way his hand ran over his stubble as he paced.

"Is… she alright?" The Doctor's voice cut through the quiet room. Even in the video, there was an undercurrent of worry in his tone.

The Master looked up at him, an unfamiliar expression on his face—uncertainty mixed with an unwilling fear that Hally rarely saw in him. "She's… fine," he replied, his voice quieter than usual, lacking its usual sharpness.

It dawned on her then what this was, she cocked her head to one her interest piqued.

"Where… we need… Doctor, we need your TARDIS," The Master whispered.

"Why…?" The Doctor's question was soft, cautious.

After a moment, The Master moved, pulling out The Doctor's screwdriver and thrusting it towards his face, holding it steady. The Master lowered the screwdriver but kept his eyes fixed on The Doctor. The look of complete, earth-shattering terror was now clear on his face. Her own stomach twisted. He didn't look angry, or disappointed. Just… afraid, uncertain.

The Master ran his hands through his hair, his voice low and filled with frustration. "That's why they didn't touch her…" he muttered, almost to himself. "I'm such a fucking idiot…"

"Well…" The Doctor began, his tone light, but Hally could hear the undercurrent of tension in his voice.

"Oh, you can talk," The Master snapped back, his voice edged with irritation. He groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. "I wondered why they didn't touch her… it should have been obvious. Fuck. Which means it was before…"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, his voice tinged with curiosity. "What?"

The Master groaned, his face dropping into one of awkward guilt. " I… hmm… I think I marked her."

"You think?"

"No… no, I did."

"What? That's practically archaic. Time Lords stopped 'marking' their bonded centuries ago. How did that even happen…? Well… no… don't tell me…"

"I didn't mean to," The Master whined.

"Yes, except you're not an idiot, so you would have taken…" The Doctor's voice trailed off awkwardly. "Precautions."

"Well… we were… in 1901."

Her own snort of amusement cut across the otherwise silent room, shaking her head.

"Alright, here is a proposal," The Doctor suggested, trying to shift the conversation. "You release me… we will take her to the TARDIS, where we'll leave her while we reverse…" He gestured around the room, towards the screens showing multiple versions of The Master. "This."

The Master watched him closely, eventually nodding. "Yes. Fine." He began to move away but then stopped, a thought occurring to him. He turned back to The Doctor, pointing a finger at him. "But this isn't us playing happy families… don't get any ideas, Grandad."

The Doctor paused momentarily. "I am assuming… seeing as you sent her out of the room, that we are of a similar opinion in terms of… not telling her… right now," The Doctor said quietly.

Her eyes narrowed towards the footage, scowling as The Master agreed.

"Mm. Not right now. Later."

"Mhmm."

The Master's eyes scanned the straps holding The Doctor to the chair. Hally could see the conflict in his gaze, the wariness. " If you double-cross me on this, Doctor…"

"This is bigger than us," The Doctor replied.

It took her a moment to realise that her eyes had blurred and she blinked furiously, shifting in her chair. Something within her chest ached.

They had been so close.

Whitlock stopped the footage and turned back to Alina. "So, her father and her husband decided to not tell her that she was pregnant, hmm?"

Alina let out a slow breath. "That is what is happening in the footage we all just watched. Yes."

"Why do you think that was?" Whitlock clipped back quickly.

Alina didn't hide the look of irritation that passed across her face. "Well, it would be semi-speculative but judging by The Master's behaviour it would most likely be because he didn't want to risk adding additional stress onto his wife. He appeared to be aware of the fragility of her mental state."

Whitlock hummed thoughtfully. "Do you think that might have been because they were afraid of her?"

"No," Alina responded firmly. "They weren't afraid. They were attempting to minimize stress."

"Because they considered that she might accidentally kill more people?" Whitlock pushed.

"I don't know. I'm not a mind reader," Alina replied with a slight edge to her voice. "I simply analyse behaviour."

"So, that could have been the reason?" Whitlock asked, not letting up.

"Theoretically," Alina allowed.

Whitlock's expression was stern. "Would you consider Ms. Oakdown's behaviour to follow rational patterns?"

"Yes, I would, actually," Alina answered without hesitation.

Whitlock leaned forward again, voice low and intense. "So, killing sixty thousand people is rational?"

Alina's expression remained calm, but there was a hint of frustration in her tone. "I'm not sure it matters when it was an accident. If she had purposefully gone out of her way to murder sixty thousand people while of completely sound mind, having experienced zero immediate trauma, and under no stress at all, then yes, that would be irrational behaviour and incredibly irregular considering that it wouldn't follow her usual behavioural patterns at all. But that isn't what happened. I think if you were to factor in the fact that 90% of her life exists within extremely stressful situations, unfamiliar territories, and constant mortal danger, her emotional stability is quite robust. Her patterns of behaviour are incredibly predictable."

Hally pulled a face.

"In fact," Alina continued, "of the two Time Lords that I've spent time studying, it's very easy to predict the behaviour of both of them, which makes it all the more obvious when they are doing something out of the ordinary. Like accidentally killing sixty thousand people."

Whitlock seized on her words. "You made an observation earlier that you believe she wouldn't have terrorized the whole planet if not for The Doctor. Are you suggesting that her actions were his fault?"

"No, that's not what I said," Alina clarified. "Her actions were her own. I was simply stating that before he entered the room, the situation was controllable, and she was not intending to proceed with activating the Gate on a planetary scale."

"So what changed?" Whitlock pressed.

Alina's expression softened. "The Doctor didn't take the time to understand what was happening before he took action. He assumed, wrongly, due to his own personal bias, that The Master and, therefore, by association, Hally were going to use the Gate to harm the human race. This caused her to panic and immediately shift into a position of defence, which resulted in a standoff between the two. Neither of them showed signs of conceding, and with the stakes rising, she shifted into offensive action. Again, it's a pattern they follow."

Whitlock's brow furrowed. "So, her reaction to The Doctor is to shift into harmful action?"

"No," Alina corrected. "On this occasion, it was her. The issue being that between the two, there is very little trust there. Surface-level trust. So, if they happen to hit any kind of impasse, any kind of disagreement, the pattern shows that one of them self-destructs, shifts into being on the offence, and inevitable harm is caused."

Whitlock's brow furrowed deeper as he processed Alina's explanation, clearly unsatisfied. He leaned forward, his gaze fixed on her. "So, we're to understand that we're at the whim of petty arguments between a father and daughter?"

"That isn't what I said."

"It would suggest to me a normalisation of violence to have such extreme reactions to disagreements between them, wouldn't you say?"

"No."

"Then, what is the alternative option, in your professional opinion?" Whitlock sneered.

Alina hesitated, her lips pressing into a thin line, but Whitlock had edged her into a corner. She glanced briefly at Hally, her eyes softening in a silent apology. Taking a deep breath, Alina settled. "It's not just a matter of violence, or extreme action, Mr. Whitlock. The reactions you see from both Hally and The Doctor are deeply rooted in their past experiences. Particularly for Hally, her response is tied to a complex history of childhood trauma and abandonment."

The courtroom fell silent. Hally's face paled slightly, but she didn't look away. Alina continued, her voice steady but gentle. "Hally grew up in an environment that wasn't conducive to normal behavioural development. From a very young age through into young adulthood, she had a non-existent support system, experiencing emotional neglect, and even moments of what could be considered unintentional parental abuse."

Alina continued, her voice had dropped into a matter-of-fact tone, simply reciting facts as though there wasn't an entire room of people listening to the intricate workings of Hally's psyche.

She had never wished for the floor to swallow her more.

"The Doctor wasn't intentionally abusive. He was neglectful, yes, but often in ways that he didn't fully understand at the time. He's a Time Lord—an alien with a different set of priorities and understandings of relationships. He didn't always realise the emotional impact his actions—or lack of action—were having on Hally. His tendency to rush into danger, to leave without warning, to prioritise the greater good over personal relationships... these were things he thought were necessary, but to a young child and impressionable teenager, it felt like abandonment."

Hally's eyes dropped from Alina finally, shifting her gaze off towards the wall.

"When Hally feels threatened or perceives that she might be left alone, especially by someone she trusts or loves, it triggers that deep-seated fear of abandonment. Her immediate response is to push back, to protect herself by any means necessary. It's a survival instinct, born from those early experiences of feeling neglected and alone. Her reaction at Naismith Mansion is a textbook example of this."

Whitlock cocked an eyebrow. "And what about The Doctor? What's his excuse?"

Alina sighed softly, choosing her words carefully. "The Doctor's reactions, on the other hand, stem from his need for control. As a Time Lord, he's accustomed to having a significant degree of influence over the situations he's in. He's spent centuries, perhaps millennia, navigating complex scenarios, often manipulating outcomes to save lives or protect the universe. It's ingrained in him to maintain that control, to be the one who understands what's happening and how to handle it."

She paused, letting the weight of her words settle in the room. "When faced with Hally's unpredictability, especially when it involves emotional outbursts or decisions he doesn't understand, The Doctor can become defensive. He's not used to being out of his depth, especially not with someone he cares about. It triggers a kind of panic in him—because if he can't control the situation, if he can't protect her in the way he thinks he should, he fears he might lose her. That fear of losing control and, by extension, losing her, causes him to react in ways that can be perceived as harsh or even harmful."

Alina hummed. "As I mentioned it's a pattern. A cycle of fear and reaction, one feeding into the other. Hally's fear of abandonment and her need to defend herself, combined with The Doctor's fear of losing control and his protective instincts, create a volatile mix. They're not intentionally trying to hurt each other, but their past traumas and fears drive them to act in ways that are often harmful to themselves and sometimes those around them. However, the point I was trying to make, Mr Whitlock, is that neither of them intends harm."

Hally felt naked, exposed, raw, as if Alina had pulled back a curtain on a deep wound deep inside her chest in front of a room full of the people who knew her best.

Well, she supposed it was half a blessing The Master wasn't here.

She swallowed the bile rising in her throat, keeping her eyes blinking steadily to keep any water at bay.

"Huh," Whitlock muttered, then narrowed his eyes. "What is there stopping her from doing it again?"

Alina sighed, her patience fraying. "I've already told you. She has accepted the measures UNIT wishes to put in place. The power she has has been contained and is being constantly measured. It will be a process."

Whitlock pounced on her words. "That implies you are simply issuing damage control. She is capable of murder."

Alina met his gaze steadily. "Everyone is capable of murder, Mr. Whitlock. Would you suggest we imprison everyone just to be safe?"

Whitlock pouted and without a word stalked from Alina back to his seat.

Hally kept her gaze glued to the left-hand side wall, now engrossed in counting the wooden slats that were glued against the bottom half. Although, her mind was betraying her.

Was that them?

She and The Doctor.

Was that what they did to one another?

She could immediately see it in what had happened at Demon's Run.

Almost as though Alina herself had been there.

They had done exactly that, hadn't they?

"Would you like a break?" Henry's voice, low and considerate cut across her thoughts.

She broke herself away from staring at the wall and moved her gaze to the table in front of her. "No. It's fine."

"Are you sure? We can take one, fifteen minutes?"

She shook her head. "I'd prefer it if they just moved on."

"Alright." He hummed, leaning across to move her glass of water closer to her. He didn't have to say anything, she took the cup and raised it to her lips, using the moment to recalibrate herself.

---

Henry glanced down at the papers in front of him, then looked up at the next person waiting to speak. "Ms. Stewart," he called out, his voice calm but firm. "How long have you been with UNIT, and could you remind us of your role within the organization?"

Kate Stewart nodded, straightening her posture. Her face was composed, revealing no hint of emotion. "I've been with UNIT for nearly two decades," she began, her voice steady and authoritative. "Currently, I serve as management within Scientific Research and Operations. My duties involve overseeing our various projects, coordinating with other intelligence and defence agencies, and ensuring the safety of our planet against extra-terrestrial threats."

Henry nodded. "Thank you, Ms. Stewart," he said. "Now, on to the matter at hand. In your professional opinion, do you consider Mrs. Oakdown to be an active threat to the safety of humanity?"

Kate took a moment before responding, choosing her words carefully. "No, I do not," she answered firmly. "I acknowledge and condemn the damage she has caused. The deaths that occurred were tragic, and there is no denying the impact of her actions. However, it's also crucial to recognise that she came to us. She came forward, willing to take responsibility and face the consequences."

The room was silent, all eyes on Kate as she continued. "I appreciate that Mrs. Oakdown wishes to take accountability for her actions. While the accidental deaths she caused are and should be the focal point of today's discussion, we must also consider the number of lives she has saved on this planet alone. If we were to further consider the countless times she has saved The Doctor's life, and the subsequent lives he has saved, the numbers become even more significant."

Henry leaned back slightly, watching her closely. "So, you would like it to be taken into account that her past actions in saving lives should factor into our decision today?"

Kate nodded. "Absolutely. That's not to say that saving seven billion lives multiple times absolves her of the deaths of sixty thousand. It doesn't. Those deaths are an indelible mark on her record. But her contributions cannot be ignored. Her experience, her knowledge—these are assets. To simply remove her from the equation or lock her away in a cell for an indefinite period would be a massive waste of resources. We are instead proposing an alternative."

Henry hummed. "And what exactly is this alternative?"

Kate took a breath, then began to outline their proposal. "With her power voluntarily neutralised as it is now, she could be an asset rather than a threat. We propose integrating her back into human society under controlled conditions. This would involve housing her in a secure location and employing her in a voluntary capacity. The plan includes rigorous security measures, constant surveillance, and regular behavioural therapy sessions to ensure she remains stable and does not pose a threat."

As Kate spoke, Hally listened intently from her seat, her eyes narrowing slightly. She realised, as Kate provided physical planning documents, blueprints and schedules that they had been working on this plan non-stop since she'd arrived, putting together every possible safeguard, every imaginable contingency to ensure that she was both useful and contained.

Henry nodded along. "And how long would this sentence last?" he asked.

Kate hesitated. "The duration could be set as a fixed time range, or it could be based on the number of lives she helps save during her integration period. The specifics would depend on further discussions and assessments."

Henry glanced around the room, noting the reactions of the other committee members. "And who would oversee this integration process?" he pressed.

"It would be a combined effort," Kate explained. "UNIT, Torchwood, MI6, and MI5 would all have roles in overseeing her activities, ensuring compliance with the terms set forth. The focus is not on her as a person but on the power she holds. The measures are about securing that power and ensuring it is never misused again."

Whitlock, who had been listening quietly, leaned forward, his face a mask of scepticism. "What if she decides to leave the planet?" he asked pointedly.

Kate didn't flinch. "That is a valid consideration, and we have accounted for it. Such actions would require approval under specific circumstances. Should she leave, the time on her sentence would pause and then restart upon her return. There would be no loopholes, no way to escape the consequences of her actions."

Whitlock's eyes narrowed. "And what about her child? Are you suggesting she would raise the child unsupervised under these conditions?"

Kate's expression softened slightly, though her voice remained firm. "There's no better person to raise her child than Hally herself. That said, the security measures we are proposing would ensure the safety of both Hally and her child."

Henry nodded. "Thank you, Ms. Stewart," he said. "I believe that covers all my points for now, Whitlock did you have anything else?"

The other man shook his head, leaning back into his seat once more.

With that, both Kate and Henry sat back down, the attention falling back onto the council.

"The committee will take a brief recess to deliberate on the proposal."

With that, the members of the council stood and began to file out of the room, speaking in hushed tones among themselves. Hally watched them go, a slight sulk forming on her face. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about everything that had been said. Part of her felt relieved at the possibility of a future that didn't involve confinement. But another part of her bristled at the thought of being under constant surveillance, her every move monitored and analysed. She didn't like it but it was the best option.

---

It took them twelve hours to finish their 'deliberating'.

---

"The committee has reached a decision," the central man announced. "After careful consideration and a thorough evaluation of the proposal put forward by Ms. Stewart and taking into account all testimonies and evidence presented, we have decided to approve the integration plan as outlined. Mrs. Oakdown will be released under the specified conditions."