Gambit || Closed

The questions catch him off guard. They were her typical insulting questions but this time, he couldn’t shrug them off. It was hard enough to pretend he was doing his job, let alone think of something clever to say back to her. He wasn’t much of an actor. DB was better at pretending his intentions were something entirely different and it was that very man that put him in this position now.

In all honestly, he never wanted to betray the citadel. He would always be loyal to them to a certain extent but it wasn’t a lie that what was going on at the CIA was beyond what they normally did. Killing people for the sake of one man didn’t make any sense. Capturing people that obviously knew nothing made even less sense. These prisoners did nothing to help them in their search. They were merely taking up space in the already crowded non-violent sector. Letting them go wouldn’t deter them from getting the Doctor.

“I’m trying to help you,” he admitted in a whisper. “Do you want to get out of here or not?!”

To be honest was dangerous, to lie miserably would cost his life. He’d take the risk with Rose now in the hopes that things would go smoothly and he could get back to his comfortable life. Nothing could possibly make him go down the road of rebellion permanently. Why Markello decided to do so was beyond him. The excuse of a debt wasn’t enough of an explanation.

“Move back,” he instructed before standing up and punched the passkey into the nearby codelock. The invisible forcefield holding Clara and Rose locked inside flickered for a moment before deactivating. Without another word, he ordered them forward with a cock of his head. He then turned his attention to the cell adjacent to them, knowing if they tried to run they’d be stopped. 

This cell contained David and Mickey. They were so close to Rose, yet out of their view. The area was set up to be this way in order to stop prisoners from interacting with one another and given the fact that the two within the cell were so brutally beaten during the interrogations they were silent most of the time, finding themselves far too weak to make much of a fuss. This weakness made it much harder to get them out of their particular cell.

“Get in a line now!” Did he sound authoritative? He certainly hoped so because at this point he needed to get back into the lie DB set up.

    Rose watched him, tense through the shoulders right down to the balled fists at her sides. If Rose could spit fire she surely would; they couldn’t exactly trust Azner after the hell he’d put them through. After she’d watched him beat the hell outta the Doctor. That day had been the beginning of a complete nightmare. If she had any other real choice or opportunity, she would have told Azner to stuff it somewhere unpleasant and carry on.

    There wasn’t a better opportunity than this. Rose looked down the hall left and right, not daring to go too far from her cell right away. This just seemed a little too good to be true after everything they’d been through, but it also seemed like the kind of plan that some infamous Time Lord could be behind.

    “Right, so you’re doin’ this why again? Las’ time I checked you kind of hated our guts or somethin’ right?” Rose looked over her shoulder into the cell with Ixto and Jerrick, then shared a concerned look with Clara. Were they just going to leave the Siren behind to his fate too? Things were happening almost too quickly for her liking, but she was easily distracted when she saw Mickey and David-- she’d wondered what’d been done to David. The poor child… The mere look of him made Rose clench her jaw to keep from spitting sass back at Azner.

    “Mickey what’d they do t’you, my god…” Rose resisted the urge to reach out and touch his arm or check David over. It reeled through her head that they’d beat a child. A CHILD. For answers he very  clearly didn’t have. If she hadn’t been sure before that things had gone too far-- which was blatantly clear as she remembered the blood and gore of that awful day-- she was definitely sure of it now. This needed to end.

    “Think you’re forgettin’ someone aren’t you?” Rose hissed to Azner.

Gambit || Closed

That’s all he needed to hear. Azner was giving in enough that the plan he hatched would work. A beggar couldn’t be a chooser and he certainly wasn’t going to try now. If Azner wanted to remain primarily on the side of the Master, so be it. In the end, it wouldn’t matter as long as everyone he came for were safe.

“No, of course not. Your precious reputation will remain intact. Markello, on the other hand, is willing to forego his reputation. So here’s the plan!” He clapped his hands together and gave them a good rub. You’re going to get us into New Shada Prison planet. I’ll be heading to the control room once we’re inside. Markello will stand guard near the non-violent sector and you, you will go in to get the prisoners as if you’re doing a routine interrogation. Once they’re outside the sector Markello will intercept. I highly suggest putting on your best shocked face when he does. After that, I’ll take the lead.”

Next he pointed at Markello. He still had the gun pressed against Azner’s head. “Markello, get rid of the force field. We need to head out now.”

He stood there until Markello had did as he was told. Then he made his way back to Azner’s TARDIS. The two CIA agents in tow. They said nothing as the Doctor flew the TARDIS to the adjacent prison planet. He landed her in a place where no one would bother to look and set their plan in motion. DB said goodbye to the agents and made his way to the control room. It was the command centre to the entire planet. If they were to get out he’d need to get control of it. He’d deal with that while his two new partners did the rest.

Azner, now alone, walked into the non-violent sector. He tried his best to seem normal, though he was internally shaking. If anything went wrong he’d be the next one behind those cells or worse, in one of the torture chambers.  He wouldn’t let that happen. There was no way he’d ever allow himself to be put in that position.

Walking up to Rose’s cell first, he bent down to get a better look at her. They had obviously been doing the starvation technique with the lack of plates in her cell. A part of him didn’t care but he wondered what DB would think about it.

“Hello, Rose, are you ready for your next interrogation session?” He asked, playing the part as best he could.

    The passing time spend on New Shada could only be described as hell. Prison was one thing, but this place was like the Guantanamo of space; Rose had felt more in the past few weeks like a breathing object than a human being. The loss of her hair, and the inability to understand the people around her made her uneasy at the best of times, and terribly homesick and depressed at the worst of times. The days she’d spent waiting for the Doctor seemed in vain; she’d spent countless hours planning her own escape, trying to get word of anyone else in prison that might have heard of her.

    She’d gotten along well with her cell mate. Clara was a witty woman, and they’d been happy to share in conversation and woes. It wasn’t so bad being across the way from Ixto-- at least she was able to keep an eye on her friend while he was recovering-- recovering from a gunshot wound to the head. Somethin’ she didn’t even know was possible until it happened.

    One of the worst nights in prison was listening to him cry. After he’d lost his child-- hearing him beg for help and not being able to do a damn thing about it. It had been soul shattering. She still didn’t know where David was. That night it had sunk in how hopeless their situation really was. There wasn’t going to be some daring rescue, the Doctor wasn’t coming. Azner had been right.

    And that’s how it’d been for months. She’d gotten used to routine. She’d thought long and hard about the universe she left behind for this one. She’d had so much faith in the Doctor, and it had brought her so far away from home. Their faith in this one man with two hearts had broken them. Or maybe it had been the nights that she’d dreamed of being back home with her friend Erin. Or going back in time to be with John--John Smith.

    She might have given up on being rescued, but there was no way Rose Tyler was going to spend the rest of her life in prison. She was going to have some serious questions for the Doctor the next time that she saw him, but there was no way she was about to turn her back on him the way it felt like he’d done to them. So her plans changed. She started to try and get as much information as she could about their cells, the planet, and their coordinates.

    When Azner came to see her, Rose was ready for him. Interrogation? Easy-- but somethin’ wasn’t right.

    “Bit out of the blue don’tcha think?” She squinted her eyes at him, suspicious. “I thought I told you everythin’ I know-- which isn’t a whole lot. Unless you’ve got some other questions for me? What are you interrogating me about this time? Why th’ Doctor wears th’ tie that he does? Why th’ pinstripe suit? Starting to think you have a big crush on him ya know?” She snapped at him, unhappy with seeing his face anywhere near them.

Zugzwang || Closed

None of the events that happened phased Rhadaman. Everything was child’s play compared to the atrocities he saw in the days of the time war. Doing things like this was how he survived. Sometimes force was the only way to get things accomplished when you were dealing with people like the Doctor. He was a dark man, clever enough to fool everyone into believing he was a good man. At least Rhadaman didn’t pretend he was something he wasn’t.

He wouldn’t start pretending now so he showed no mercy towards David. The time lord was a child, but he played an important role in all the attacks. The Doctor used him because they shared a face and it wasn’t done blindly. David knew what he was doing. He wasn’t an innocent. Because of that, rhadaman wouldn’t allow his age to steer his choices. That would be illogical.

Illogical things wasn’t something time lords entertained. Logic stood above everything else, even emotional pulls. Detachment of those emotional cues were how they survived as long as they did. Though most of the time logical meant standing by while things happened, when the war started it was the same detachment that driven them. When someone died they didn’t mourn like humans would. They kept pressing on, using everything in their might to destroy the enemy. He was still doing that now.

Nothing was spoken towards Rose as he walked forward, grabbing David by the arm and pulled him to his feet. Rhadaman would drag him if he had to. “You either get up now, blondie, or I will shoot you next." 

He started dragging David towards his TARDIS, keeping an eye on Rose. He’d give her only a minute to stand and follow. If she knew what was good for her she wouldn’t protest.

    Something inside of her burned; determination, perhaps? Certainly, nothing would be the same for any of them after today. The moment felt empty to her, while the air felt charged and ready to break. Like the sinking unease after a storm. Or was this the eye? The center? Would they enter a period of calm before everything fell apart again? Things, she thought, could not possibly be worse. And then she kicked herself for thinking it. Like she’d challenged the universe to simply prove her wrong.

    “Be careful with him, yeah? He’s not a doll!” Rose stood shakily, her knees still uneasy. Whatever Ixto had done, it’d left a ringing in her ears that she hadn’t quite noticed until that moment. Her stomach turned, and she felt a sick sort of thrill. Adrenaline. It was the only thing keeping her upright-- keeping her calm. Keeping her from breaking. There would be no more tears shed for what had just happened.

    “N’ what happens now?” She did follow him. One foot after the other. Like there was any other choice. “You use us as examples on another part of the planet? Or do we jus’ go back to prison and rot there until you can use us again? Do we even get a trial for all of this? No judge or jury just… this?” Rose glanced toward the blood in the sand, briefly closing her eyes so that she wouldn’t lose her composure.

    A startling thought occurred to Rose-- Had Ixto done all of this because he knew they wouldn’t get to go home? Had he seen something that she hadn’t? Was doom already upon them? She thought about the possibility that Ixto, being a pacifist, had seen no way to fight, and had given himself as a sacrifice because there was simply no other way. And what kind of shape would he be in, now that she was certain he’d survived? Was it really that hopeless?

    No. He  wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t just give up on them. He was too much like the Doctor that way. He wouldn’t throw away his life if it meant the rest of them would die-- she was certain. The Doctor would come for them. He always came back for her. Always

Zugzwang || Closed

Azner struggled desperately to get away from his boss. He didn’t want to be apart of this anymore. Solas’ death was enough. They would have to get the Doctor another way. This wasn’t right.

“If we do this then we are no better than him! We don’t kill innocent lives! I won’t do this!” He shouted, trying to pull back from Rhadaman’s grip.·The cold metal of the gun against his hand sickened him. He didn’t want it in his hands any longer.

No matter what he did Rhadaman wouldn’t let him go. What’s worse, Ixto turned around to face him. He felt his stomach lurch. If Rhadaman made him fire he would see the lights go out in the other man. He couldn’t stand even imaging seeing that so he closed his eyes.

As he did ixto mounted his attack. The scream that came out of the siren’s mouth struck him like a ton of breaks. In all his years on Gallifrey II, he had never felt something quite like the effects of this defensive noise. His entire body locked up and the pain from the resonance felt like his ears would pop.·It was everything they feared a siren could do and more.

He wanted to drop the gun, but the stiffened muscles in his fingers gripped the gun harder, including the trigger.·When the gun went off he knocked backwards, feeling full effects of the paralysis.·He had no idea if he actually shot ixto or not. It had all happened so fast

     It happened so fast that Ixto couldn’t even react. There was nothing that would ever compare to being shot in the head, and it was quite possibly the worst injury that a Siren could experience. The first thing that happened was an intense pressure against his inner ear. The only reason he’d not been rendered deaf was because he’d raised his barriers before he’d screeched. 

     That didn’t stop the terrible ringing that came, and then the intense pressure on his skull as it cracked and shattered. From close range like that, Azner would be covered in his blood and brain matter. Ixto would not remember the thoughts that came after being shot, nor would he really remember how it felt before his brain shut itself off and his vision went completely black. And he fell. Ixto fell. Crumpling into himself like a wet piece of paper and slumping to the side. Everything in his body let go as Ixto succumbed, a dark stain appearing through the crotch jumpsuit, along with a swell of blood cascading out of his mouth and nose. 

     One…. two…. three… four.  

                     Four seconds was how long it took Ixto’s healing process to kick into gear. The inner most injuries were taken care of first… and in that process a fever began to strike the body. Nutrients being provided through the breakdown of fat all but stopped. The breakdown completely stopped as his body made priority of head wound over fetus. Oxygen and nutrients no longer flowed to the womb as Ixto’s heart had slowed only to a necessary beat of near flat line. When his body detected a foreign substance in the bullet, all hope was lost for the small creature inside of its host. 

     It took 45 seconds together for Ixto’s lungs to begin to swell and expand with air. Deep breaths of 20 seconds in, and 40 seconds out made it almost undetectable unless one was looking directly at him, searching for forms of life. Soft cracking noises came from his head as pieces of skull began to grow and stretch over the exposed parts of the brain to protect it from further damage or invading bacteria. Next, the flow of blood was stopped from the mouth and nose, and the wounds clotted so they would no longer bleed, but the open wound remained as his body focused on the injuries deeper.

      Ixto wasn’t dead… but to anyone looking at him, he would appear that way. Unless they knew what they were looking for. 

Another gunshot went off, but the Doctor didn’t look over the bush to see who it was. The silence indicated who was Rhadaman’s next victim and in a way, he had already prepared himself for Ixto’s death, starting at the end of Ixto’s speech. Deep down inside he knew Ten was aware Ixto would die today, too. When he decided to fight instead of give himself in he risked one more person’s death. What was important–what they needed to focus on was knowing Ixto’s death would be the last death today.

He just needed to finish the device. The silence helped him tremendously. There were no more distractions from his work and less than a minute after the gun went off, the altered vortex manipulator sprung to life, a light shining on it to indicate it was working.

“Got it!” he exclaimed, spinning towards his parallel self and strapped the vortex manipulator back onto his wrist.

 "Listen to me very carefully because this is important. You’re going to take my sonic screwdriver and you’re going to run to the nearest telecommunication tower. Don’t look back. Just run. What’s important is setting off that pulse and nothing else that’s happening.” He was slightly treating Ten like a companion, rather than an equal, but he remembered what he was like when he was Ten’s age. Losing someone close to them often times made them lose sight of the big picture. Sometimes they needed someone to refocus them and DB was the only one there to do it in that very moment. 

“I’m staying behind.“ He knew there was a possibility he’d be knocked out too from the pulse and if he did, it was all right. One Doctor down wouldn’t stop them from ending this. However, if he didn’t he would get a head start on getting to the group. Every second counted so if he could, he would run to them first. “Now, go.”

The Doctor let out a shaky breath at the sound of the gun. Ixto was shot. He couldn’t save him and what’s worse, he died because ten didn’t give himself in. His death was Ten’s decision–a sacrifice for the rescue of many. It was totally and utterly his fault. He had played god by making the decision to fight. Sickened by the power he allowed himself to hold, he found himself drifting off into the recesses of his mind. The pain and guilt of everything tearing at him mentally.

So distracted by Ixto’s death, it was several moments before he really heard his parallel-self speak. What he said felt insulting at first. He knew what he had to do. He wasn’t someone that needed instruction on. At the same time, had DB not spoken, Ten might have wasted precious time dwelling on all the bloodshed, instead of saving the others still alive.

                  He gave him a small nod, verifying he understood the plan.

Collecting himself, he took the Sonic Screwdriver from his parallel self, gripping it tightly, and stood up. Straight after he started running into the open field towards the nearest tower. The cover he once had was gone so he hoped the device his parallel-self created actually worked. Otherwise, they’d finally know his location.

Rhadaman cried out in pain when Ixto screamed, feeling the effects of this attack. Instead of falling right over, he dropped down to his knees. He tried to fight it with every fiber of our being. When the paralysis started to creep up on his body he closed his eyes, allowing himself to fall into a trance. There was no way he would allow that inferior beings take him over completely.

Going into this trance did, however, leave him incapacitated to do anything for a few minutes. He had no way of telling it was safe to come out of it so staying under longer was safer. Once he did regain full consciousness, he stood up, his legs wobbling underneath him, and looked at the scene. Azner laid upon the ground looking like a weak idiot though the blood upon his clothes were one good thing. Rhadaman knew that meant the siren had been shot. At least he managed that.

His gaze darted in the direction of what he hoped to be a dead body but was it? Right before his eyes he saw the bullet wound in the siren’s head start to heal itself. It was biologically impossible. No one he had seen could survive a shot like that so how did Ixto? Rhadaman had to know.

He bent down, placing his hand near the siren’s face to see if he was still breathing. There was breath upon his hand.  A part of him felt the sudden rush of excitement. Maybe this thing wasn’t useless after all. Whatever genetics he had could possibly be used for their advantage when creating war loomed time lords.

Dashing to his own TARDIS next, he banged on the door. “Boooys! It’s your time to shine!" Within seconds, several armored men came out of his TARDIS, guns and fire torches at the ready. "This entire street has committed treason by mingling with the inferiors. Burn it down. The Doctor’s TARDIS, too. Don’t worry, boys, the defenses are down.”

                                              “Burn it all.”

Confident in each step he took back to the group, once more he knelt down to Ixto. “Looks like you’ll come in handy after all, my friend." He turned towards two of the men that emerged from his TARDIS. "One of you take him to my TARDIS and the other wake up Azner. He still has work to do.”

He wasn’t done. Not quite yet. If he knew the Doctor, he would try something. Rhadaman wouldn’t allow him to get the upper hand so he decided to take two of the prisoners with him as well, leaving two others for Azner to finish what he started. His choice was simple. There were two among the four that the Doctors held just a bit more dearly than the others. 

                                                  Rose and David.

They would come with him. Even if the Doctors tried anything they would not get their most precious. “Blonde girlie and cry boy, get up!”

     Five minutes. Approximately five minutes and her entire world had fallen to hell. Never before in her life had she been this scared. First Solas, and then Ixto. What made this experience so different? She’d seen people die. She’d watch them get mowed down in cold blood as hostages. Maybe it was easier because they were people she didn’t really know. Not always. Not like Ixto. She’d been through having her ‘mum’ die. Watching her dad get struck down by a car-- but it wasn’t like this. After most of those acts, she wasn’t the one covered in blood. Those hadn’t happened because people were tryin’ to capture the Doctor. The Doctor hadn’t been able to save either of them.

    It might have been the sheer level of gore from the wound. Or maybe it was the startling, and deafening cry that Ixto had let out. Rose had had to move quickly to catch David before he hit the ground ass the poor boy’s body went limp. She’d been staring right at her friend when the front of his skull had shattered from the bullet and covered her and the younger Time Lord in his blood. The Time Lord who couldn’t stop sobbing had seen the worst of it. That cry had completely immobilized David, and he’d looked like he’d been painted red. She couldn’t imagine the level of trauma that this boy had been through in the last couple of weeks.

    Rose covered her mouth and choked back another cry. She would have been willing to die for the Doctor, but she’d never expected Ixto to do something like this. This had happened because he’d stepped in to shut her up.  He’d been her friend. Ixto hadn’t ever done anything to hurt anyone before. He made daisy chains for gods sakes-- and now he was laid out on the ground when he was only defending her; her and the Doctor. He’d seen her through when the Doctor had taken off and left her without a word. He and Sin had placed her with Erin and made her at home in this universe. He’d even been there through the rough nights-- the stories about her miscarriage. And now what? It wasn’t just one life snuffed out, it was two.

    Or was it? Her cries stopped as she noticed the exit wounds beginning to patch themselves up. She almost let go of David to go to Ixto, but she stopped herself and hoped that maybe Rhadaman wouldn’t notice. If they left him here, and he healed, Ixto could go for help. Hope soared through her until Rhadaman approached Ixto, and Rose felt her heart plummet to her feet. The best she could do now was care for the boy in her arms.

    Using the edge of her sleeve, Rose gently wiped away the blood on David’s face, making sure to get it away from his mouth and nose the best that she could. Was this Time Lord just a child? He looked young. Younger than she’d ever seen one. Despite his paralysis, she could see into his eyes.

    “He’s gonna be okay,” she whispered. “We’re gonna be just fine. You n’ me, yeah? M’not gonna let anything happen to you. Just-- just lookit the sky,  yeah? Lookit the sky.” Rose tilted David’s head so that he wouldn’t have to stare at her bloodied face, or at Ixto’s undignified body.

    Her head snapped up when Rhadaman spoke directly to her. She clutched David’s shirt lightly and glared daggers in the man’s direction, as if her gaze alone would cleave him in two and stop all of this madness.

    “Whad’ya mean get up?! Can’t you see he can’t? He can’t get up! N’ I really hope you don’t expect me t’ jus’ pick him up and carry him! He needs help! Proper help!”

Zugzwang || Closed

    “Enough,” Ixto shushed Rose softly and set a hand upon her shoulder. He was exhausted, and standing had left him even more weary. Though his body didn’t show it, it shone in his eyes. Ixto left arm stayed firmly wrapped around David, his thumb softly petting over his shoulder as he tried to think positive thoughts. He remembered Time Lords had telepathic touch, and if he was touching David the last thing that he wanted was for the child to feel his fear. So he thought positively, and kept himself drawn close as a source of comfort.

    “Do not give him the satisfaction. We– all of us know the Doctor for who he is. Things are going to be okay. It’s going to be just fine,” he tried to stay confident in that claim. He refused to let Azner have the satisfaction of seeing him break and crumble. Ixto would stand strong, with a pleasant and friendly smile on his face without a shred of doubt in his brother. He trusted his family on their word.

    “It was once said to me that a true measure of someone’s character was not by how he treated those with the same rank, but how he treated those he had authority over. This man’s actions will speak for themselves when the time comes. Confrontation is not the answer. We are the people he has authority over,” he reminded her gently. Making him angry would simply not go well in their favor.

    “It will be okay,”  he repeated in confidence, and locked his eyes with Azner’s. 

“Very wise words, siren,” a man complimented from behind Azner.

He was leaning against Ten’s TARDIS casually, listening up until this point but had to speak when he heard Ixto speak of how one treats those he has authority over. The words rang close to his hearts.

This man seemed like a new player in the game, but he had been there all along. Some may say he was Azner and Markello’s ultimate superior though, that was a stretch. The line of people above him was long. However, Azner and Markello did take orders from him so the definition of boss was accurate.

“Azner forgets his professionalism when he feels at an advantage. Please forgive him.” Pushing on the TARDIS, he stepped forward towards the group. “I don’t think I’ve properly introduced myself. I’m Councillor Rhadaman, the head of the detective branch.”

His long legs whisked around to face the group. Though his interest was in Ixto, he needed to adress Rose aswell. Ever so delicately he hiked his trousers up and bent down in front of Rose.

“Such powerful emotions humans posess. You are like fire in a forest.” He licked his lips, tilting his head slightly as he looked Rose over. “You must love him but love demands sacrifice. Are you willing to give up your soul for him?”

    Rose was grateful Ixto was there as a tool for grounding. It was as if the man radiated peace and understanding. But there was something about his eyes. Something in the way he faced confrontation with a friendly calm that reminded her of the Doctor. And suddenly, she felt much less alone than she had before. These were the Doctor’s friends. Associates. The best of the best. Azner may have thought that he was at an advantage, but their gathering gave Rose hope. Hope that they would not be taken advantage of.

    The question, however, squashed out that feeling and replaced it with something else. Unease. Talking about her soul as if it was something tangible for trade. She thought perhaps it would be in her best interest to be quiet, letting the silence ring out between them like an unfired gun just ready to be shot. Her gaze was comprised of bullets, and her mouth would be the trigger. Ixto had already had to silence her once.

   What she was about to say must have been visible on her face, because she wouldn’t get to say it. She had been about to admit that she loved him. She was going to say that he was worth fighting, and worth dying for. But then what would have happened? Would that have opened her up to being killed? Worse? She wouldn’t have had to know, because Ixto spoke before she could.

Zugzwang || Closed

There it was, ten figuring out something was up. He wasn’t completely clueless after all. It also meant DB’s facade was no longer a secret and that was all right. It was better that way. He couldn’t let himself lie like this anymore. It wasn’t him.

The reason he had to lie in the first place wasn’t far from his thoughts. David and Solas were still in danger. That’s why even with Ten right in his face, angry as ever, he kept flying the TARDIS. He had to see it to the end. Whatever end that might be. He had miscalculated his words just a bit. Maybe if he had said it when they arrived it would be perfect timing, but this definitely wasn’t a good time.

They were almost at the destination. In just a few more minutes, he could respond to Ten. He wouldn’t leave him wondering. Though, he knew his response would be vague.

“Why don’t you see for yourself?” He asked, looking towards the TARDIS doors.

Ten narrowed his eyes at DB. That wasn’t the answer he was looking for. It did, however, spark some curiosity. He allowed himself to indulge in it and walked out of the TARDIS. Whatever he wanted to show him it better be good.

What he did see when he walked beyond the TARDIS wasn’t good. The sight was the furthest from good and left him horrified. A few miles off he saw Azner standing behind six people on their knees. The very six people that were taken by the CIA because of him.

In that moment, it dawned on him why DB asked him on this trip. It also answered his question. The performance was DB playing him for a fool and leading him into this obvious trap. There were no adventure or supplies for him. There was only deceit.

All the trust he had for DB shattered as he stared at the group, leaving a pit of anger in his hearts. Had the TARDIS’s landing alerted Azner to their location he would have showed his anger. The silence was a blessing in disguise. Though that blessing would be short lived. He needed to get out of there now. 

Azner stood waiting, with his hands in his pockets, waiting for the Doctors arrival. He had all the patience in the world and there was no reason he shouldn’t. The trap was fool-proof because the stakes of going against it would cost lives.

It left him feeling smug–very smug. It wasn’t his plan, but he was playing a major part in it. He basked in that and decided to rub dirt in the wound a bit more.

“How long do you think the Doctor will take before he saves your lives?” He asked the prisoners, knowing the Doctor wouldn’t be saving them this time, "That’s who he is, right? The big hero that saves lives.“

    The time that Rose had spent in New Shada Prison had possibly been the worst time of her life so far. It served her no purpose to reflect upon it, staring at Azner with something almost akin to hate in her eyes. Anger? Resentment? Outrage? Any of those terms would be appropriate. What made her even more angry were the two people to her left. Rose barely heard them, but the one that looked like the Doctor was sobbing quite loudly. Loud enough to be completely heartbreaking. And the man with blond hair, Ixto, was doing his best to comfort them.

    None of them deserved to be here. But the display of innocence before her being torn asunder by Azner made her furious. They were scared, and he was gloating like a bloody child. Throwing their defeat in their faces like it was something to be proud of. It was disgusting, and if looks could kill, Rose would have done some serious damage to Azner. This was not how she’d ever imagined being reunited with her friends. 

    “Y’ just don’t get it do you? What you’re doin’ is wrong! Look at them! You think they deserve something like-- like this?! You think now is the time t’ be all high and mighty like this is just some game? It’s not! These are people! People who don’t deserve t’ be treated like you’re just gonna throw them away! Like their lives don’t even matter! This isn’t about bein’ saved! It’s not about faith, or believin’ that he’s gonna save us!” Rose could feel tears welling up in her eyes from the sheer amount of rage boiling from her.

  “You think you’re so high n’ mighty but you’re not! Look at what you’re doin’!”

New Shada prison planet || Closed

“You’d have to be human to have humanity and don’t be stupid.” He didn’t mean to be insulting, but she was letting her fear get the best of her. It would be fatal in the end. ·“If you fight back they will only treat you worse. If you’re not a terrorist act like one! Be cooperative! Get through the system without a fight and prove they have no reason to believe you’re a danger!”

There was nothing in the process that he believed was right, but it was a place like this that kept people in line. He knew how well it worked. No one waned to end up here so they didn’t break the law. Renegades wouldn’t even cross the line too far. That’s why it had its purpose, even if treatment was poor.

The treatment Rose would get wouldn’t be kind or show any·‘humanity.’ It was no wonder she was so scared, but Markello didn’t understand something. She was going to deal with this over protecting the Doctor. Someone he wasn’t so certain deserved it. Had she just cooperated with them she’d be a free woman so he needed to know what she saw in him.

“Forget about who is in power, I need to know something. Why do you have such loyalty to the Doctor? Why would you risk your life for him? Do you really know him? It’s one thing to see him when he’s taking you on adventures and showing off, it’s another thing to see him at his most vulnerable. No one is more raw than when they face battle.”

There was no way for·Markello·to truly know how much Rose knew the Doctor. The files merely said they traveled together and may have been romantic. Those two things helped him come to the assumption that she only saw him through rose colored glasses.

“Let me tell you a story–one I’m sure he’ll never tell you. I met him on the military training base, but he refused to take part in the training, especially combat training. The drill sergeants used to shout at him all the time and he would casually say some sassy little line. We all admired him because he was the·rebellious time lord that would do things we didn’t dare do. You wouldn’t imagine the admiration we had for him after one incident in particular. He must have gotten tired the drill sergeants because one day during combat training after a typically yelling session he forcefully grabbed my gun out of my hands, aimed at a target that was ridiculously far away, shot one round, and hit that target with ease! We all had our jaws dropped and he just handed me back my weapons, then said, ‘I don’t need training.’ It was outstanding. He was the only one in the group that fought in the last great time war and you could tell by his skills. They are phenomenal. He could be a career soldier, but he refuses to fight. What’s worse, he would willingly abandon us because of this refusal.”

“When we were finally deployed we went to tenebris, the most battle torn territory. We were being massacred and instead of fighting he left in his TARDIS. That wasn’t just going AWOL, that was desertion. He abandons people when it gets hard. I don’t see him being any different to you. More importantly, If he believes in some cause he will do anything it takes. I’ve seen it first hand. Upon his return, he never used his own hands but started trying to stop his own people from killing the filorumba by making others into weapons. That’s why these attacks fit his pattern. He loves these lower lifeforms more than the lives of his fellow time lords.”

    This truly wasn’t fair. But what was, really, in the grand scheme of things? The universe didn’t deal in fair, and that had been made abundantly clear. Life simply wasn’t fair. Her mind weighed heavily on her options and what had brought her to this exact moment in her life. The choices she’d made and the people around her. Were they worth it? She’d asked herself the same question a million times, only because she knew the answer would be yes. She knew the answer, and that’s what fueled her.

    She knew the answer to Markello’s question before he’d even asked it. And her immediate thoughts called into question whether or not she deserved what she was getting. Markello’s story didn’t surprise her in the least. It made her queasy some, thinking about all those lives that were lost in the war on Gallifrey. All of those people that were angry because someone could have done something and they didn’t. But Rose had known. She’d known that Gallifrey was destroyed… more… she knew the weight of the decision that destroyed it.

    It had kept her up at night, thinking about the fact that the Doctor had knowingly, and willingly snuffed out the lives of thousands of people in an impossible decision. He’d made a choice when there was simply no right answer, and sometimes that was how life worked. Sometimes there just wasn’t a right course of action, and someone had to be brave enough to choose the lesser of two evils. That person had been the Doctor. Who knew better than Rose Tyler who had laid next to John Smith and listened to his nightmares?

    “If you think you’re scarin’ me you’re wrong,” Rose answered firmly, unshaken by what Markello had told her. “I know him. I do. I know him prob’bly better th’n anyone else does. Him n’ I are more alike than you think we are. You think I don’t know about what he’s capable of? We travelled together. He and I. Me n’ him. We went on adventures, yeah, but if you think all he ever did was show me the tourist spots then you’re really mistaken. Because it’s more th’n that you know? The universe isn’t just tourist spots and friendly aliens. It’s genocide, and collapsing worlds, and refugee camps. There’s war, and there’s awful, terrible people out there.

    “There’s the daleks, and the cybermen, and slitheens, and beings made of plastic. There’s chimeras, and weepin’ angels, sicorax-- n’ so much more out there. They’ve tried to wipe out our planet-- they’ve tried to kill out all the humans and every single time the Doctor was there for us. He stood between the humans and whatever threat wanted to kill us, or enslave us. But that’s not just earth. That’s every adventure. It’s not just about seein’ the universe and maybe bringing home a-- a cool T-shirt! It’s about saving lives!

    “It’s about the people he makes better! Needless violence isn’t him. It just isn’t! His name is the Doctor and he chose it for a reason! Don’t you understand that? Don’t you get it? He doesn’t abandon people. Not really.” Rose felt her chest clench, thinking about Tentoo and how he’d run after her miscarriage. But he would have come home. He would have if he hadn’t died first. And she knew that. It was one of the only things that brought her peace about his death. He wanted to be by her side as much as she wanted him there. The Doctor, Ten, he’d proven that when he’d put himself knowingly in harm’s way when he’d tried to meet with her.

    “He doesn’t abandon people. Not really. Not the people he loves. Sometimes he has to walk away, but when you need him. Being his companion doesn’t just make you disposible. When you really, really need him… he will always come back. Did you ever think maybe he’s not savin’ the time lords cos you don’t need savin’? You can try t’ scare me off him, but I’m not goin’ to abandon him either. Never.”

New Shada prison planet || Closed

Markello stopped what he was doing and turned towards her. He couldn’t really make any promises. It wasn’t his authority to, but he could make assumptions based on what he knew. There was president. He could tell her about that. It was all he really could do.

“New Shada prison planet. It’s adjacent from Gallifrey II. Actually, if you look to the east on a clear night you can see Gallifrey II in the sky.” He was making the place seem pretty. It wasn’t pretty. Prisons never were and this was an entire planet dedicated to incarceration.

Finishing typing in the password to unlock the invisible shield, he stepped into the cell. This was when he should have used force, but he wasn’t going to. Instead, he held his hand out towards her to help her up.

“No. No one is killing you. You have the human advantage," he explained, keeping his hand out towards her. "If you keep your head down and do as you’re told they’ll be lenient.”

“The worst part of all of this will be the intake.” He paused to think for a moment. There were two options. Keeping her in the dark or giving her a heads up. It didn’t take him long to decide to tell her exactly what was going to happen. 

“They’ll split everyone up by species and bring you into the designated species intake centres. They’ll then tell you to remove all articles of clothing and they’ll search you thoroughly. Once that’s complete you’ll be brought to a decontamination room. It’s not pleasant and I hope you’re not partial to that hair because they’ll likely shave it off.” He waved his hand to show the act of shaving. “Most of the workers here are from tenebris’ universe and they still think humans pick nits out of each other’s hair and eat it. They don’t want that sort of infestation so cutting one’s hair is the solution.”

Everything he was saying was to warn her. He hoped she would be more cooperative with a heads up. If she planned to get through this smoothly she needed to not fight. 

“After decontamination is done they’ll bring you to medical. That’s where they’ll get the prison uniform. You’ll be evaluated medically and given several pills. My advice is unless you don’t want kids in the next twenty years you should probably cheek the little green pill. The others are important to take. They’ll prevent you from catching anything nasty going around the prison." Pulling a face, he decided not to explain exactly what was going around the prison. "Everything else is easier. You’ll scanned into the computer system and cataloged. They might give you a tattoo implant but if you’re not convicted it can be removed. Lastly, they’ll bring you to an interview room to see if your case is trial worthy, death worthy, or you can leave in 48 hours. It’s under a truth field so don’t bother trying to lie. I’ll try to do the interview, but I can’t make any promises.”

Rose started at Markello in horror. He had to be jokin’ right? There was no way that they were actually going to do that to her. They had to have some scans or somethin’ that would do that kind of work for them. They were one of the most advanced races in the universe. But the serious look on the Time Lord’s face told Rose that he was definitely not just having a laugh at her expense. She thought about fighting, screaming, or bolting through the halls of the TARDIS like a madwoman. Even she knew that’d be useless. Ten’s TARDIS had some security protocols, and she was ancient. There was no doubt that this TARDIS would have security up the wazoo.

“So… I’m actually goin’ to get probed by aliens?” She asked rather dubiously. It felt unreal to her. Everything around her felt so surreal. She couldn’t even cry. “N’ they’re gonna do this, and shave all my hair off. Because you can’t be bothered to see that-- that humans don’t actually bother grooming each other like actual monkeys?! We aren’t animals! We’re people! There should be some sort ov rights! Regulations to this for humanity!” It was clear that she was scared, a tremor running over her shoulders. Rose crossed her arms to try and seem more fierce and keep her trembles to herself.

“Human advantage my arse! This is ridiculous! M’ not some bloody-- some-- terrorist! And what’ll they do to me if i refuse to let them probe me? Refuse to let them shave off all my hair and treat me like some animal! Do I get a lawyer? Anything?” Rose had never felt quite this far away from home. Home being the feeling she got having adventures with the Doctor.

This… This was not an adventure. This was serious. This wasn’t just the ‘get captured by the enemy to figure out their plan’. This was being imprisoned by one of the most powerful species in the entire universe. This was a very low chance situation, and not the kind that she lived for with the Doctor. There was going to be no immediate rescue. There was no slipping out at the last possible moment.

Had she really known what she was signing up for this time around? These questions hit her, and Rose straightened her jaw, clenching it with a hard swallow. Of course it was. When there was the threat of “Death… or worse.” she had shrugged off the ‘Or worse’ part. Parallel universes were bad. Losing her husband was life destroying. If she could get through all of that, she could survive this too. After all, she destroyed the Dalek Emperor… and how many comparisons were there between Daleks and Time Lords?

“You lot are goin’ to really regret this you know? This isn’t going to end well for any ov us. Not with him in charge ov ya.”

New Shada prison planet || Closed

markellothecerulean:

    Rose was frustrated, irritated, and afraid. Afraid didn’t show as easily as the other two. It never really had when it had come to Rose Tyler. She was always the tough girl, and there was no fighting with her when she set her mind to it. If she had decided that she didn’t know where the Doctor was, then nobody was going to get the answer out of her-- no sir! Even if they had locked her in a cell aboard a TARDIS. A TARDIS being one of the most impenetrable ships in the entire universe and beyond. She was just stubborn enough to sit there and scoff when threatened with the face of forever.

    Inside, though, nothin’ was all right. Rose had been replaying the scene in her head over and over of the Doctor getting  the stuffin’ beaten out of him. She had to keep reminding herself that that very man had told her that the easiest way to find out someone’s plan was to get captured. She was captured. It was going to be okay. She’d been in worse situations before-- so she thought. Reality begged to differ. This was the tightest spot that Rose Tyler had ever found herself in. Without help, she was more than potentially screwed.

    Part of her was relieved to see that it was Markello coming to get her. She much prefered him to Aznut. Or whatever his name was. There was something about him that just seemed easier to relate to. Maybe it was in his face. He jus’ simply looked -kinder-. But she said nothing, and did nothing as Markello opened the cell. She waited a good minute before she decided to stand.

    “Inside where exactly? Where are we if ya don’ mind me askin’. Gonna be spending some time here, I think I’d like t’ know at least a little bit about it, yeah? What exactly is going to happen now?” Absently, Rose rubbed the bruise on her wrist. She’d pulled so hard on her cuffs that she had damaged them pretty bad. They’d been swollen for some time, and looked fairly painful. “Gonna kill me? Worse?”

Unforeseen Consequences || Closed

The pavement was cold against his hands as he gripped it tightly, knuckles going white against the sheer force of him trying to remain upright. It was times like these when he realized how old he was and how frail he truly had become. Years ago could have mustered enough strength to push past the injuries he sustained. He would ignore it long enough to overcome everything against him. Now, his body cried desperately for sleep and all he wanted to do was give into it.

Giving in would be the easy road but he knew he couldn’t do that. Rose was still in danger. Azner may have been knocked out, but Markello was still there, ready to take over. He didn’t know what Markelllo was capable of. He could be just as violent as his partner and Rose could be his target. The Doctor couldn’t let that happen. He could see that he was already walking back to her so there was no more time to waste. He had to muster any adrenaline he had left to save her.

“Leave her alone!” He shouted to Markello.

Clenching his jaw, he stared directly at the CIA agent, mentally preparing himself for what he had to do next. Standing—That was what he needed to do. Slowly, he lifted one hand off the ground. It was one thing he was able to do but as he tried to push himself completely up everything around him seemed to spin, causing him to lose his footing. He landed in the pool of his own blood, gasping from the pain that radiated through his body.

“Rose…” He breathed as he turned his gaze to her. He paused for what seemed like a lifetime and stared at her blurred image in the distance. It seemed like her name was all he could say, but then he whispered, “…I’ll save you.”

He repeated ‘I’ll save you’ silently. Despite himself he closed his eyes. There was determination, but it couldn’t win the battle with his tired body. He felt sleep taking over when Rose shouted to him. At first her voice was an echo in a tunnel but the more she spoke, the louder she got.

                            ‘I’ll be fine! You need to go now!' Those were the first words he heard clearly and she was right.

Though the Doctor’s instincts were to help her, she was capable of helping herself. There was so much he had seen her do her do on her own and even after all these years he still believed in her. Nothing would change the fact that she was Rose Tyler, defender of the Earth. If anyone could get out of this mess she could. The Doctor certainly couldn’t do much now, even if he didn’t want to admit it. Running was his only option.

The moment he heard her shout 'run’ he opened his eyes and grabbed his arm. Pushing his suit back, he revealed the vortex manipulator Sin had told him not to use. He had almost decided not to bring it, but it was a good thing he didn’t do that. It was his only escape now.  He gave Rose a nod to show her he would get out of there. He then pressed a button on the vortex manipulator. A flash of blue light surrounded him and he was gone.

Markello’s eyes widen when he saw The Doctor whack Azner with a can. He couldn’t believe it but at the same time he wasn’t surprised. Azner had forced the Doctor to defend himself. The only thing he could have done was stopping him. If he was in the same position he would have done much the same, if not something far worse.

However, he knew the Doctor couldn’t have done much worse. After he hit Azner. Markello noticed he looked completely weakened and defenseless. It had to have been his only spark on energy so Markello turned around to run back to Rose. He needed to secure her inside his TARDIS before doing anything else.

The Doctor’s shouting fell on deaf ears. Markello wasn’t afraid of him. There wasn’t anything he could possibly do or at least that’s what he thought. He didn’t take into account that he might have a vortex manipulator to escape. He came on a plane after all. But he did have one and he did use it. Markello saw the flashing light on the corner of his eyes and he spun around.

“No…NO! THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!” He shouted. He high-tailed it to his TARDIS, passing right by Rose. He needed to try to trace the teleport.

He nearly slipping on the glass floor of his TARDIS when he tried to rush to his console. He saved himself from a face plant by grabbing onto the handbrake. Pulling himself up, he desperately flipped switches. It was too late. The only information he gathered were fragments. Something about a parallel world jump and nothing else.

He slammed his hands on the console in frustration. Even if Markello wasn’t entirely sure of the Doctor’s guilt, he knew the magnitude of failing this mission. The higher ups were getting tired of them being outsmarted by the Doctor. They wouldn’t forgive them for losing him again. Markello knew punishment would fall on him too, which upset him more. But then he remembered, Rose knew the Doctor’s habits. Maybe she knew where she went.

He rushed out of his TARDIS and right over to her. Manhandling her roughly, he spun her towards him. “WHAT PARALLEL UNIVERSE WOULD HE GO TO?”

    Rose started at the Doctor as the blue light shrouded him; then he was gone. In a brilliant crack, the Time Lord disappeared into nothing, like he was never there. She recognized the Time Vortex Manipulator-- Ixto and Sin used to share one when they would come and go about her. That meant that he really did have a good chance of escape, didn’ he?

    The next thing that sunk in was that she was well and truly alone now. The next part of whatever happened was her own decisions and her own smarts. So she did one thing. She gave herself one minute while Markello was distracted. She took one minute to let herself be angry, to be upset-- to cry. A handful of tears burned in her brown eyes, a mixture of hurt, sadness, and rage. There was no way that she was just going to let them take him. It was then she made the decision that… yes. She was still willing to give her life for this two hearted alien.

    Her minute to be emotional passed, and Rose wiped her eyes firmly on her sleeve, just in time for her to face Markello, who seemed to come barrelling out of his TARDIS like a mad shark, on the trail of blood. When he laid his hands on her, Rose bit into her lip and started up at him solemnly, and with an even voice she spat back at him:

    “I don’t know.” Truly, she didn’t have any idea where the Doctor went. She had no plans to further antagonize these guys. There was no telling what they’d do to her if she made them even angrier. “Your friend’s in a bit of trouble I think, yeah? Hit n’ the head? That can’t be good for him I’d think... D’ya think?” She was more sincere in her worry than she wanted to admit. Even if Azner was a giant ass who’d almost killed the Doctor… that didn’t mean he himself deserved to die. 

    “Not an expert, but aren’t Time Lords a bit top heavy? I mean-- hit em once in the head and they go flat out. Can’t imagine he’s doing the best. I really don’t know where the Doctor went, and you’re jus’ wasting his time n’ asking me.”

Unforeseen Consequences || Closed

It all happened so fast. Markello couldn’t believe it. Azner was a hot-tempered time lord but he never used this sort of violence. He’d stun them first. What the Doctor said must have struck him to the core. Markello couldn’t think of any other explanation. But he knew he didn’t want to believe his boss had this side of him in him all along.

Markello trembled at the sight. It was all too familiar. He’d seen people lose their life from fights like this on the battlefield. The Filorumba used any means necessary to attack their military and when they were out of arrows their fists were the next best option. Their fists and their teeth. Seeing the Doctor being bludgeoned like this brought back triggering memories. He couldn’t move—he couldn’t even think properly. Everything around him started to go black and he could hear the sounds of events of the past. Things that weren’t really there but felt so real.

If Rose wasn’t there he would have went into full meltdown mode. When she tugged on his grip she pulled him back to reality. He wasn’t on the battle field. He was standing in a Montana street. He repeated that a few times in his head, trying to calm down. Trying to help stop this fight required him to regain control of his emotions.

He turned his attention to her, letting out a shaky breath. “I have to do this….” He pulled out some handcuffs and strapped one end on her wrist. The other end he placed on an out of commission payphone.

Turning his attention back to the scene he noticed that the humans walking on the street took notice to the fist fight. Some stopped for a moment, looked at the two men on the ground, and kept walking. A few pointed at it and spoke to each other. One seemed to be calling the authorities. And then there were those insensitive few that pulled out their smart phones and started recording it. Calling attention to themselves was the last thing they should be doing. They were ‘alien police’ on another planet. Their business there had nothing to do with the native population. The CIA wouldn’t be happy about this. If Azner didn’t get in trouble for his violent outburst, he would be in it deep for calling attention to himself.

“Hey…HEY! Stop filming this! What the ever living fuck is wrong with you?!” He shouted. He had learned a few curse words from his time on Earth. They seemed to be offensive enough to use now. That, however, was the only thing he said because he needed to turn his attention towards the fight.

“AZNER, THAT’S ENOUGH!” He held his hand out towards Azner as he stepped forward. It was then that he noticed his hands were still trembling. He wasn’t fully out of his spell. “He’s been punished enough. Just stop!”

There was a distinct stinging in Azner’s knuckles that resonated up his arm. The brute force of knucklrd to cheekbone scraped his skin. He wasn’t sure if the blood on his hands were from the Doctor or himself. It was too blurred together. Everything about what he was doing felt like a blur. He was completely someone else.  

                                                         He had lost it.

What replaced him was a man full of so much rage that nothing else mattered. Not the people who gathered, not consequences, or anything that was happening around him. He only cared about letting out the rage he pent up for so long. It was a sweet release.

That is why when Rose started to cry he ignored her. Nothing she could have said would stop him. At this point, Azner wanted the Doctor dead. It was one way to rid the would of him. There was a ‘wanted dead or alive’ warrant out for him. If Azner killed him no one back at the CIA would care. They may even praise him. The great Gallifrey II terrorist dead at last. Azner couldn’t think of any reason someone would be angry about that.

What didn’t make sense to him about all of this was how the Doctor barely defended himself. There were so many legends about him. He had commanded armies, walked among gods, and people feared him throughout the universe. Yet, here he was now, pathetically trying to cover his face instead of fighting back. It did make Azner waiver slightly—his attack slowing down. There was a chance the Doctor wasn’t what people made him out to be. Maybe he truly was innocent. But those thoughts quickly dissolved. It was replaced by Azner figuring the Doctor wanted him to believe this. It was a manipulation tactic. It had to be.

With this new determination, it seemed like he nothing would stop him but Markello’s shouts made him turn in his direction. Rage was still within his eyes as he stared at his partner. “This is none of your concern! Go back to the girl!”

The Doctor felt lethargic and dazed. Though the pain was still present, his body was trying desperately to block out the assault.  It would be easier that way. Yet, he could feel his head knock backwards with each blow and the metallic taste of his blood in his mouth. He could hear his involuntary cries of pain and gasps for breath. All of it was quickly becoming too much for him, but he knew he couldn’t give up. There were far too many reasons for him to live for.

That was when the thoughts of fighting back struck him again. It quickly became apparent that his initial decision wasn’t right. Azner wasn’t going to stop until he was dead. Though he had slowed down, the sheer look of murder in his eyes showed his intent. The Doctor needed to do something, but it was a matter of waiting for the right moment.

It came in the form of Markello distracting him. Azner had turned away, giving ten the advantage at last. He had to act fast. The Doctor knew that in any moment he could turn back around so wasted no time in striking the younger time lord in the sensitive nerve cluster on his shoulder–and it should have worked, but the Doctor was far too weakened from the assault to strike with much force. The only effect on Azner was some pain.

He let out a shaky breath and turned his head to the side, looking for anything he could use as a weapon. Lying just slightly out of arms reach was some canned food that fell out of his knapsack when he hit the ground. He reached his arm out, straining in the attempt to grab it.

“Come…on….” He whispered in encouragement to himself. Closing his eyes, he willed himself to inch closer to the can and it worked. He grabbed ahold of it and whipped his arm towards Azner, striking him in the only other sensitive spot on a time lord—his temple.

Azner fell onto the Doctor’s side with a thud, finally freeing him from the attack. Slowly turning over, the Doctor allowed himself to catch his breath. A mixture of blood and spit dripped from his mouth onto the ground as he tried to process what just happened. No matter how surreal it was, he was just glad to be alive.

    That had to be one of the most terrifying things that Rose had witnessed in a very long time. Watching someone she loved get nearly beaten to death was not what she had planned on when she’d agreed to meet with him that evening. Just a few hours ago, everything had been fine, and now here she was chained to a bloody phone box. She pulled at her wrist uselessly, trying to move close enough that she might have been of some help-- she felt so useless. There weren’t even any sizable rocks near by for her to toss.

    She watched Markello with hopeful eyes as  he approached, but something wasn’t right. He seemed just as scared as she was, if not more. The thought only lasted a brief second in her mind before her eyes were drawn back to the Doctor, mouth agape as she started at his bloody and broken form. It took every bit of willpower to bite back the tears and cover her mouth with one hand. A yell of complete frustration left her as she pulled her wrist again, and started to look for anything to dislodge herself. She would give that Azner a smack if it was the last thing she ever did.

    Her attention was drawn back to the scene at the sound of a crack-- something against something else rather solid. She turned just in time to see Azner fall, and the Doctor drooling blood onto the pavement. Her eyes scanned their surroundings, looking at all of the people who just stood there and did nothing. So like the human race. To just stand and stare when someone was in trouble. It only enraged her more. More and more she’d wished that she’d brought Erin. Even if he was a germaphobe, at least he would have done something to defend them.

    “Doctor! God-- are you okay?! Get out of here!” She pulled hard again on her wrist. “Get up! Please! Get up!” Her throat strained from her commanding cry, pulling so hard on her wrist that she thought she might dislocate it. There were definitely going to be bruises to show for this… whether that was on her or on them, she wasn’t entirely sure yet.

    “Get the hell out of here! I’ll be fine! You need to go now!” She had to make sure that he would run. That he would go-- he could save her later, she was sure of that. In the state he was in now, there was no chance. Not with another CIA Time Lord still there. Rose was confident that she could handle this. She’d been captured and been through worse, hadn’t she? She’d been on her own, destroyed the emperor of the Daleks, and looked into the heart of the TARDIS. She’d done her share of standing on her own. She didn’t need the Doctor playing hero right now.

                                 “RUN.”

Unforeseen Consequences || Closed

All he wanted was the Doctor to stop talking so he could drag him back to his TARDIS. The entire thing seemed to drag on longer than Azner had the patience for. The thought of grabbing him mid-sentence crossed Azner’s mind. That very thought quickly dissipated when the Doctor said three simple words regarding his cousin.

                                                              ‘he deserved it.’

It didn’t matter if they were the end of a more complex sentence, alluding to Jonathan being the culprit to the arena flooding. To Azner the two men were one in the same and if Johnathan believed his cousin deserved his death, then the Doctor did as well. This fact triggered a deep seeded anger within the young time lord. The Doctor could have said anything else without a reaction but saying his cousin deserved his death was one step too far. Any sort of control he once had was lost. What was left was a surging rage that burst out of him in the form of violence.

Without a second thought drew his arm back and swung his fist into the Doctor’s nose. It was the first time he ever punched someone and it wasn’t exactly what he expected. The assumption he had was the pain would be one sided, but he felt the sting of the blow on his knuckles. Despite this he knew he must have done something right because he watched the Doctor lost his footing and hit the ground. The impact spilled the contents of the man’s onto the concrete.

He didn’t waste time thinking about his knuckles and lifted his foot from the pavement, striking the Doctor roughly in the rib cage. The gasping noise that escaped the Doctor was ignored. Everything regarding the pain he inflicted didn’t phase him. He tuned it out as his body seemed to go into auto pilot. The moment he could he moved on top of the Doctor and started pounding him in the face with all the might he could muster. They were thoughtless, sloppy blows. Some hit their target, some missed poorly. It didn’t matter if he missed, for every punch that hit its target felt like a release. It expelled the past seven months of frustration and anger. In an odd way, it was something Azner needed.

The Doctor didn’t brace himself for the punch and felt the full force of the blow. It knocked him over roughly onto the ground. He was surprised it didn’t knock him out. There were too many times that happened, yet this time he was fully awake. A part of him wished he was knocked unconscious because the amount of pain he felt made him dizzy. His hands rose to grasp his nose, the shooting pain from it forcing his eyes shut. There was an instant throbbing sensation as blood pooled in his nose.

He had no time to collect himself before Azner kicked him in the side. The impact forcefully pushed the air out of his lungs, leaving him gasping for breath. Each breath he took in was stained and his body wanted to recoil. He tried to allow himself to turn onto his side, but that turned out to be futile. Azner was on top of him seconds later, throwing punches against his face.  Every contact to his skin caused excruciating pain. One particular blow to the eye blurred his vision. He knew he needed to defend himself somehow. If he didn’t there was a chance it wouldn’t end well.

There was the option of fighting back, but he didn’t want to do that. He knew exactly why Azner was reacting this way and it wouldn’t do any good to strike him back. It was also a moral dilemma. Fighting wasn’t something the Doctor liked to do but at the same time he knew this wasn’t normal circumstances. He had to make a split-second decision and that was to throw his arms up in attempt to block the assault. At least for that moment. If his survival came down to striking back he would.  Until then this felt like the best option.

    The moment Azner broke away into a run, it was like the air became thick with the electricity of conflict. Though Rose couldn’t particularly see a version of this that didn’t end badly, there was no way for her to anticipate what had happened next. She was right; the Doctor was a different man. He wore the same face, but he was so much older. So much heavier in what he carried in his eyes. The moment she’d seen him, she knew. Maybe not how things would unfold, or the magnitude of the situation that they’d found themselves in-- but talking wasn’t going to get them out of this one.

    And talking was what the Doctor did. Except he had a reflex that made him keep talking and talking-- even when he was about to push the line. Rude and not ginger, as he’d put it. And he was still rude, and despite the fact that he’d regenerated into the same face a few times, he was still not ginger. Rose barely heard the facts herself, but allowed them to sink in word by word-- they felt completely unreal to her. Of course he’d been there, and she was certainly grateful to hear his side of things. She knew that he couldn’t be responsible for something like this. That just wasn’t the Doctor. He’d been there saving people’s lives-- and he couldn’t save everyone. Rarely were there days that the Doctor was able to save everyone. But the Doctor kept talking-- talking until facts began to push the line. She certainly saw the punch coming from a mile away when the Doctor had said those three simple words.

                  ‘He deserved it’.

    Even if he was right, this was no time to bring it up. This was no time to be talking about who deserved what, or why. The facts-- he should have just stuck to the facts. Though, Rose was sure that the dread in her stomach was right about one thing: whatever happened from this point onward was out of their control. She was going to smack him herself-- except Azner kept going. The brutal assault caused Rose’s mouth to fall agape. Blood. Azner was drawing a lot of blood, and from where she stood, it looked a lot like he was going to be killed. She’d seen him get socked once or twice before, and he’d always gone down like a rock in water. One punch might be understandable, with a different set of morals, and a deeper understanding of the situation. But Rose didn’t understand just what Azner had lost, and this was way too much. Rose squeezed her eyes shut, unable to watch the Doctor bludgeoned by the other Time Lord.

    “Stop it! Just stop!” She cried out, and jerked her arm against Markello’s grasp. “That’s enough! Stop it! You’re going t’ kill him!” Rose screamed in distress. “Didn’t you hear anything he said?!” She turned to Markello with a look of near desperation in her eyes.

    “You’ve got to stop him! Please! Do something. He doesn’t deserve this. I’m beggin’ you-- do something to stop him! ”

Unforeseen Consequences || Closed

Markello stared at her in confusion. The confusion stemmed from him wondering why she brought up someone looking tired. One’s exhaustion didn’t matter right now. The pair of them could have stopped sleeping for years, but it didn’t change the fact that they had to capture the Doctor. If she was trying to manipulate him with words it wouldn’t work because his mind processed things in a literal sense, not a figurative sense. These sort of word plays wouldn’t work on him. At least not in the way most would hope for. Especially because in the back of Markello’s mind the sentence felt familiar.

However, he did feel insulted. Her sentence made it seem like he wasn’t smart. That was something he instantly disliked. He knew even if he was the dumbest time lord on Gallifrey II he would still be ten times smarter than a human.A time lord’s deeply ingrained knowledge of superiority kicked in for Markello. It was something he typically didn’t display but being faced with the possibility of a ‘lesser species’ insulting his intelligence made it surface. There were a lot of things one could insult when it came to his species, but their intelligence wasn’t something they had a right to. At least, that was the general census on Gallifrey II.

He grabbed her arm and turned her towards the door. It was the first display of anger he showed, but it also was him commanding authority. He wondered if he kindness made it easier to walk all over him, even insult him. That was something he wouldn’t allow so if it meant he had to be a bit more cruel he would do that.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to say, but I’m more clever than I come off to be,” He whispered as he guided her out the door. As he walked towards the TARDIS with her the ‘don’t you think he looks tired.’ went through his head. It was still a pointless statement, but he’d be damned if anyone said anything he couldn’t figure out. This was a side of Markello he hid in replacement for following orders.

 "Oh, I get it now. That’s something the Doctor said, isn’t it?” He knew he remembered it. Markello had read the Doctor’s file from top to bottom. “Do you really think either of us are dictators? We’re time lords doing our jobs. Azner isn’t even at the top of the CIA. He has superiors that he takes orders from and those superiors have people above them. Don’t you dare criminalize us for doing our job, Miss Tyler. You may not like it, but it’s not an evil thing.“

Azner followed behind them, unamused by the entire situation. It didn’t go as he planned and he hated that. It was the one pet peeve of his, but he would make due. He had to at this point.

“Stop trying to reason with her, Markello, she’s trying to upset you,” Azner commented with a shake of his head. Her words had no weight on him. “Oh no, I’m tired. It’ll be all over the projectogram that I’m too tired to work and then I’ll be sacked! I’m sooo scared! A silly little human said I’m tired so I must be incompetent to work!” He rolled his eyes. “Really now? That’s the best you got?”

It took everything within him not to shove her to the ground. He had to remain professional despite everything. Though the rage within him was so strong his ears were ringing. If she was trying to play the Doctor’s games then in Azner’s mind she was no better than him or at least she was a very well trained puppet. It would be her downfall. Azner would make sure of it.

The Doctor tried to make it to the tavern in the forty-five-minute deadline Rose set, but he got lost. There were a few wrong turns in his trip that lead him towards his destination the long way around. The lateness was a typical thing for the Doctor. He would either arrive somewhere really late or far too early. It could have been something that discouraged him but for him it didn’t matter how late he was, for his mind was focused on Rose.

Any thoughts of what possibly could go wrong were masked by the anticipation of seeing Rose once more. There was no denying the critical error he was making by focusing away from the CIA. The Doctor knew somewhere along the line he’d regret that decision. The hope was the regret would come at a much later date.  And with that hope he was left the type of feeling that clouded his mind from the bad experiences of days before, allowing him at least one good day.

Since the day he met her, she had swept him up in a whirlwind and he could never quite free himself from it. It may have seemed like he didn’t care about her anymore, yet that was far from the case. She would always be someone important to him no matter how many years they were separated. It would be impossible for him to completely forget someone that had such a huge impact in his life. Rose was one of those people and he hoped she felt the same way.

That’s why despite all the good feelings he had he couldn’t escape the nerves that stuck him. This nervousness was to be expected after a year of silence. He may be confident in how he views her, but he couldn’t be absolutely certain about how Rose felt.

The thought made his hearts pounded within his chest as he continued to walk. It was such a conflicting feeling. His body undergoing a very intense chemical and emotional warfare. For the average person, it would be hard to contain. The Doctor, on the other hand, managed to keep it rather hidden. The only signs of his current state was the breath he let out as he turned the corner onto the street the Tavern was located on.

It was terrible timing on the Doctor’s part. The moment he turned the corner was the exact moment Azner and Markello were escorting Rose towards their TARDIS. The Doctor was right within their view, unable to quickly hide somewhere else. He merely stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the three of them as he tried to figure out what to do next.

    Rose really had to come to terms with the fact that aliens were just not threatened by her. That was the last time she tried that tactic. It seemed like every time she tried to fake some sort of authority, or pull a little trick over, someone saw through it right away. Though, Markello had been surprisingly helpful in what he revealed when he was frustrated. That much she hadn’t expected. So maybe things didn’t work out like she wanted them to, but she did learn that they weren’t that high on the food chain-- which probably didn’t make her that big of a priority.

    There were a lot of things that she could say, but Markello was right in one regard. They were just doing their jobs. That meant that these two really did believe that the Doctor was some hardened criminal. They thought they were doing what was right. Solving crimes and protecting the universe. By some sort of moral standard that she might not have a grasp on, they might just be right-- even if she didn’t want to admit it.

    “All right then, not so rough. I was wrong,” she mumbled stubbornly, walking along cooperatively until she saw him. Standing there like the bloody idiot he was. This wasn’t going to end well, and that was a fact. She resisted the urge to call out to him, knowing that he could still possibly escape their sight… maybe… if they both went blind simultaneously.

    “Oh god,” she mumbled in annoyance, and arched both her brows, rubbing her forehead as if someone had just said something incredibly stupid. Yelling at him later was definitely on her list of things to do, she would just have to add another subject to yell about now. Even if he was being stupid, and even if she was annoyed, Rose still felt a flood of relief at knowing that she at least wasn’t going to have to deal with this totally alone… right?

     She was conflicted in shouting for him to run, but even from a short glance on him, she could tell that he wasn’t just standing there because he was a deer in the headlights. He’d stopped. And things were going to go south from here rather quickly. All of that running, and he’d blown it all...

                              Just for her.

Unforeseen Consequences || Closed

Markello saw that she was willingly surrendering so he lowered his gun. However, he kept it ready in case he had to point it at her again. If Azner yelled at him for this action he would deal with it. He didn’t want to go all gun-hoe on Rose or anyone for that matter. It just wasn’t in him anymore. 

“You are being arrested for suspicion of aiding and abetting,” he replied. “According to article 40 of Gallifreyan law, Whosoever shall aid, abet, counsel, or procure the commission of any indictable offence, whether the same be an offence at common law or by virtue of any Act passed or to be passed, shall be liable to be tried, indicted, and punished as a principal offender. We are on Earth, but the decree of intergalactic law states we can detain you on our home planet for forty-eight hours while we assess possible guilt.“ 

He didn’t mention that they were on a level five planet so the only way he could truly arrest her was to bring her to neutral ground. It was something she didn’t need to know. He would make it seem like she went with him willingly, which did mean he wouldn’t handcuff her. However, he planned to make a quick stop on the moon. That’s when he would restrain her properly.

"We’re going to take you to Gallifrey II, Miss Tyler. You don’t get a choice on the matter,” he continued. “You can go peacefully or we can take you by force. Don’t choose the second option.”

If she chose the second option Azner would be the one ‘taking her by force.’ It didn’t matter who she was Markello didn’t want that for her. Azner’s current anger didn’t bode well for anyone. She didn’t need to be a victim of it.

    She was fully alert now. The rush of adrenaline through her veins burned as it made her heart pump furiously in her chest. Pupils dilated, and palms sweaty, Rose Tyler had to make a crucial decision. Would she go peacefully? Would she fight? What would the Doctor do? He would run. But running simply wasn’t an option, and she wasn’t the Doctor. That was the whole reason that he needed her around. She had to think for herself. There were so many questions in her mind right now that she would need to ask at a better time. For now, she would simply surrender herself.

    It wasn’t difficult to discern that there was information still being kept from her. There was always more than met the eye during something like this. Her canine dug into the edge of her lip as she watched Markello with a certain spitfire rage in her eyes. It wasn’t directed at him, but she couldn’t see Azner with the direction she faced at the moment.

     “Y’ve got to be smarter than this,” she whispered. She didn’t plan to say much more on the subject, but there was clear discord between the soldier and the detective. This guy had to see that this wasn’t all it was made out to be. “You really believe in everythin’ that these guys are telling you? Don’t you think he looks tired?” And that was it, that was all she said before she fell into line.  

     Rose’s hands lowered down to her sides, but she kept them in full view, and kept her mouth shut. That rage did not fade from her eyes for one single moment. She refused to believe that her Doctor was capable of what they accused him of. Something deep inside of her needed to know the truth, though. She needed to talk to him, and know for sure. She needed to know that there was a reason for everything that’d happened. 

     She wasn’t willing to let it show that what Azner had done had shaken her faith in the Doctor to the core. But even with her faith shaken, her loyalty to him didn’t yet waver. She couldn’t let it; not right now when it was vital to every decision that she was about to make. She had to believe that he was right, or everything that she planned to do in his name would make her just as guilty as him. She would have the same blood on her hands.