THE VICTORIOUS TIME LORD AND THE BATTLE OF 9 11

Chapter Six

Rory got dressed in a hurry since he felt like he was being watched. He didn't know this Jack very well, but he got the sneaking suspicion that he liked men since he could sense his eyes on him while he stripped off his clothes. At one point, he hazarded a glance around and caught Jack looking at him seconds before he turned his head and went back to getting dressed. After that, Rory wasted no time dressing himself. The mullet and glasses were the last things to go on and he looked at them with distaste before putting them on. He could tell from the way Jack was snickering that he looked ridiculous and he was beginning to wonder if the TARDIS had a sadistic sense of humor.

He picked up his ID tag and studied it. While he was looking at it, it was enveloped in a flash of light and when the light faded, he saw a photo of himself in his wig and glasses. He looked at the name on the ID tag and noticed the TARDIS had given him a pseudonym.

"Cecil Bridges?" he read aloud. "I'm Cecil Bridges now?"

"I'm Arthur Smith."

Rory turned around and saw Jack standing behind him. He had on his wig and his ID tag was clipped to the lapel of his lab coat. The salt and pepper wig wasn't too bad on him; he figured it was a lot better than his disguise. The only problem was Jack had a youthful face that didn't match the gray in his hair. Jack shrugged when Rory pointed that out.

"If they ask, I'll tell them people in my family went gray early. Now come along, Cecil, we have work to do."

Rory rolled his eyes, clipped his ID tag to his lapel and followed Jack out of the room. They stepped outside and Jack shut the door behind him. He tested it to make sure it was locked and nodded when it was.

"Not that it would stop the psycho Doctor but Nine would have my head on a platter if it was unlocked and anyone could walk in," he explained to Rory.

"Do you really think they're gonna buy that we're a couple of random scientists?" Rory asked as they walked away.

"That's what acting is for, not to mention putting on the charm," Jack said. "I'm betting Torchwood is a big organization with a lot of researchers and surely they don't know everyone's faces."

"I hope you're right, I don't wanna end up captured," Rory said.

"Relax. You're talking to a former con artist. I know how to convince people I'm something I'm not. Just let me do the talking if they ask any questions."

Rory could picture his new friend being a con artist but he kept silent as they neared the Canary Wharf building. Rory glanced around but he couldn't see any sign of the Tenth Doctor. He didn't know whether to be comforted or nervous about that.

Jack went up to the front doors and confidently strode inside while Rory followed. They walked up to a receptionist at the front desk. A young woman that was in her early twenties with long brown hair that fell down her back and bright blue eyes. She had on glasses with thin gold frames and was dressed conservatively in a black pantsuit with a white blouse. She paused as she was typing something on a computer and looked at them.

"May I help you?" she said.

"Yes, I'm Arthur Smith and this is Cecil Bridges. We're from America. Harvard. We were asked to come here today to help with some research," Jack said to her.

"I wasn't told you were coming," the woman said, eyeing them both suspiciously.

"No? Oh, John, you idiot, I told you to tell them we were coming," Jack said, looking up at the ceiling.

"John, who?" the receptionist said.

"Smith?"Jack said hopefully.

To their relief, the receptionist nodded and Jack gave Rory a quick I told ya so look before he smiled warmly at the receptionist. She glanced at their ID tags.

"I'm sorry, I need to see some other identification just to be on the safe side," she said to him.

"Sure," Jack said, reaching in and pulling out the psychic paper.

He opened it up and showed it to her while Rory tried to calm his beating heart. The receptionist stared at it for a moment and then nodded.

"Very well, lift is on the left side at the back of the corridor, John Smith's office is on the 38th floor," she said, pointing to the hallway to her left.

"Thank you," Jack said. "Come along, Cecil."

The receptionist watched as they walked away. She waited and listened until she was sure they were out of earshot before she picked up the telephone receiver and dialed a two digit in-house number.

"Sir," she said, when someone answered. "Two men just came into the building and tried to pass themselves off as researchers. One of them tried to use a psychic device as an ID card. I went ahead and sent them up to the 38th floor. They claimed to know John Smith, but I have a feeling he was just picking a random name and happened to get lucky. Don't know if they'll actually stop at the 38th floor but I wanted to warn you so you can apprehend them….yes, sir. Yes, I'll keep an eye on the front door and I'll get Ted to guard it in case they come back this way. Very good, sir. Good day."

She hung up the phone and turned back to her computer, going back to her work while she kept alert for any sign of Rory or Jack.

Nine slowed his steps when he finally saw the other Doctor's TARDIS. He stopped and looked around but couldn't see any sign of Ten. Letting out an angry sigh, he headed towards the front door as he reached into his front pocket for his key. He paused again at the door, knowing that Ten could be inside. He couldn't hear anything beyond the door but that didn't mean anything. He knew that time was of the essence and he had to risk being caught if he was going to help his eleventh self. He quickly unlocked the door and threw it open, hoping to surprise his other self if he was inside. But the console room was empty. Nine stepped inside and quickly closed the door. His mind was shielded from his deranged future self but he could sense two versions of his mind in his own. For a moment, he paused and savored the sensation of feeling minds again before he headed towards the back door. When he reached it, he debated for a moment, wondering if he should try a mind link with his eleventh self so he could make sure he was in the TARDIS. It meant momentarily dropping his defenses and allowing his tenth self to sense his mind but once again, time was of the essence and he had to help his future self and get back to Canary Wharf before Ten knocked his other self out. He lowered the shielding around his mind and linked with his eleventh self.

Are you the eleventh Doctor? Nine thought to him.

There was a pause and he felt his mind being quickly scanned.

Yes, Eleven thought back. I'm a prisoner in the TARDIS.

I thought as much. Your companion, Rory, found me and Jack and I are here to help.

Is your TARDIS nearby? My other companion, Amy, is alright but she's been sedated and I don't want to leave her here.

We can take her with us. Actually, it's your TARDIS, mine was being repaired and was unreliable so I borrowed yours. Now, where are you?

Med bay. Be careful.

Nine raised his mental shielding and headed back towards the med bay. He kept looking around, expecting Ten to jump out and attack him. But he made it back to the med bay without incident. He entered and raised his eyebrow when he saw Eleven's outfit.

"What are you supposed to be, a Cambridge professor?" he said as he walked over.

"I'd rather wear tweed than leather," Eleven said. "Will you just set me free so we can get out of here?"

Nine glanced at the examination table.

"Amy?" he said, gesturing to her.

"Yes. She hasn't been harmed apart from that bastard punching her in the face. And if I see him, I'm gonna return the favor."

Nine noticed some bruising on her chin but other than that, she was unharmed. He felt the force barrier and sighed angrily.

"TARDIS, take down the force field," he said to the ceiling. "This is the Doctor and so am I. Let him go."

"On the contrary, keep him where he's at."

Nine spun around when Ten entered the room and smirked at him. Before Nine could react, Ten ordered the barrier extended and it enveloped Nine, trapping him with Eleven.

"You did a good job shielding your mind. Unfortunately, you didn't do it before you landed here and you weren't fast enough. I picked up your mind and realized what was happening. I figured you might try to free your other self so I hid in here and waited for you to find him. Now I have two Doctors and one companion out of the way. All I need now is Rory and…Jack? Good old Jack. And wouldn't you know it, it's before he becomes immortal which means he's vulnerable and he can be killed if necessary."

Nine stared at him in shock.

"You're actually considering killing one of your own companions?" he said in disbelief.

"I'll kill anyone who stands in my way," Ten barked at him. "No one is going to stop me from saving Rose. NO ONE!"

"So this is what I turn into, a scrawny, insane git," Nine said.

Ten snorted at that.

"Next to you, I'm an improvement," he said. "And…I'm definitely better than him…with the tweed and bow tie."

"Okay, will everyone shut up about my outfit?" Eleven said. "What about Amy, you gonna kill her as well?"

"That depends on if she behaves or not. If you all behave, I'll send you back to your time lines, unharmed. Try something and…well, I might have to get rough with all of you."

"I'd like to see you try something, Skinny Boy," Nine said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh yes, how incredibly witty and clever," Ten said. "No one could have ever come up with that little insult. Ten points to you for originality, Mister Leather Fetish."

"If you don't set us free, you're the one who's gonna get roughed up," Nine growled at him.

Ten let out a melodramatic yawn.

"Yeah, I'm really scared," he said with a smirk. "Tell ya what, why don't the pair of ya stay here and chat. You can reminisce with him and you can find out the future and once I'm finished knocking out my other self and bring him back here, you can chat with him and then once I'm done and Rose is back here safe and sound with me…then I'll decide what to do with all of you."

He gave them a malevolent look and turned to leave. But as he did, Eleven swore he saw his predecessor's eyes glow for a second. However, before he could be sure, Ten was whistling cheerfully while he walked out the door, leaving them alone inside the force field prison.

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