TRIAL OF A TIME LORD: THE VALEYARD

Chapter Seventeen

A loud scream echoed down the passageway as Namid and Hamish felt Alan's pain roaring inside their heads and Hamish held tightly onto Namid's hand.

"Daddy Alan," she said softly but refused to cry and Hamish gently squeezed her fingers.

"He will be alright, mo ionmhuinn oileanach," Hamish said and she softly laughed.

"It's been a LONG time since you called me your dear student!" she said and he tilted his head to one side. She felt the confusion in his mind as she stopped and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"The Doctor said that my family and I are still alive in the future but am I still...?"

"As River Song told me many times, spoilers," she said but knew he couldn't see her smile. "It means I can't tell you anything or things will change."

"But they are changing," he said and she sighed, patting his shoulder.

"All I can tell you is you are still an amazing teacher!" she said and he nodded. Taking his hand, they headed down the passageway but were unaware that someone was following close behind them.

In Adam's universe, Adam and John looked at the screens while Nigel tried to figure out where they were and Adam placed his hand on top of Nigel's hand.

"It can't be," Adam said as he balled his hand into a fist.

"Where are we?" John asked.

"This is my universe. This is where Duer dropped me and Marion off all those years ago."

"Right, we have to get out of here," John said as he started moving around the console and Nigel looked from him to Adam.

"What's wrong with us being in your universe?" he asked and Adam sighed, brushing some hair out of his eyes.

"The Torchwood on this world has an A.P.B. out on me and my brother," he said and Nigel's eyes went wide.

"Fuck, what did you guys do?"

"We existed," Adam said as he sighed and sat down hard on the jump seat.

"Blast, she's not moving!" John said as he ran his fingers through his hair and Daisy grumbled around them.

"She isn't going to move," Adam said as he stood up and walked to the console. He ran his fingers along the console when he looked up at the rotor and sighed.

"I still don't get why she thinks that she and the Valeyard came from this universe," John said.

"They did, but what I don't get is how she ended up in the Doctor's universe. I KILLED my Valeyard! I know I did!" Adam said and gently thumped his fist on the console.

"Did you see the body?" Nigel asked.

"Uh, no," Adam said then told Nigel about what happened and his stay at Crystal Waters. "Though, now that I think about it, I was in the ICU section for a few months. Marion told me that I was critically ill."

"What was wrong with you?" John asked.

"According to my brother, I was dying. He said it was some sort of degeneration. The doctors said that I had to have a complete blood transfusion or I would die."

"Where did they get that much blood?" Nigel asked.

"My brother keeps a supply of his own blood in case of emergencies in his TARDIS' medical bay. It didn't take a genius to see that we were the same blood type, so he filtered out the Time Lord genes from the blood and we used it. That was the second time I came close to taking a dirt nap," Adam said with a slight smile and they nodded.

"Did he ever see the body?"

"I don't know. We never talk about it."

"Then there's a slim chance that the Valeyard survived, took Daisy and left."

"No, I shot him in both hearts. He has to be dead."

"Then why are we here?" John asked when he looked at the screen then saw the black, windowless van and people dressed in black body armor filed out of the back of the van. "Ah, shit, it's Torchwood."

His mother was so proud the day he told his parents that he was joining Torchwood and his father pulled some strings to ensure that he made Commander straight out of the academy. The members of his squad grumbled about "the Boss's kid" being in charge but he had proven time and again that he the man for the job.

"Squad A, go left, Squad B, go right, the rest of you will come with me!" Tony said as he held the scanner in his right hand and the rifle on his back dug into his shoulder. All the Torchwood rifles were equipped with rounds coated in a chemical that was poisonous to Time Lords and a part of him felt ill with the thought of killing someone he thought as family.

"No, they are the enemy!" a part of his brain yelled at him and he sighed, heading into the alley. Torchwood scanners had picked up an energy signature that matched that of the TARDIS' energy signature and he watched as his men and women searched the alley. They were in radio silence as they headed onward when Tony stopped and looked at a large stack of crates.

He remembered Adam showing him how his TARDIS could change into anything and he carefully walked closer, scanning the crates. Sighing, he turned around but didn't have time to move when two pair of hands grabbed him and one of the hands cupped his mouth. He tried to fight whoever had a hold of him as he was dragged into the crates and the soft sound of doors closing echoed in the air.

"I still think this is a mistake," a voice said as Tony started to regain consciousness and a soft sigh echoed in his ears.

"I still think we should retcon him and kick him out into the street," another voice said and he tried not to move, knowing full well that any movement would alert them that he was awake.

"I am not going to retcon him." the last voice said and he felt someone touching his hair.

"Then you are an arsehole," was the last thing Tony heard when something stung his neck and he fell back to sleep.

"Tony?" a voice asked softly as Tony started waking up and a sharp pain pinched him between his eyebrows. Moaning, he slowly opened his eyes then blinked and looked at the face looking down at him.

"Hello," Adam said as he waved at him and Tony's eyes went wide.

"You!" he shouted then tried to sit up but the dizziness caused him to lie back down and he held his head in his hands. "What did you do to me?"

"I removed this," Adam said when the medical bay bed moved upward until Tony was sitting up and Adam placed a small metal disc encased in a clear plastic case in his hand.

"That's a control disc."

"Yep," Adam said with a nod of his head.

"You put this in my head?"

"No, I removed it from your head."

"Oh, right, you said that."

"According to the tests I ran, that thing's been in your head for years," Adam said while Tony looked at him then his eyes became tight slits.

"Yeah, well, that's because I wanted to forget you!" Tony said as he tried to get up but the dizziness came back and he flopped against the pillow. "I am going to love watching Dad dissect you!"

"Right," Adam said when he grabbed hold of Tony's head and sighed. "Believe me, Tony Boney, I really don't want to do this, but you have left me no other choice!"

"No! Don't!" Tony said as his fear filled his eyes and Adam sighed, letting go of his head. Instead of a twenty year old soldier, he saw the frightened face of the little boy he used to spin around in circles and helped him raid the refrigerator at two o'clock in the morning.

"Then let me do it," Adam said and Tony looked into his eyes, seeing the sadness looking back at him. Nodding, Tony watched while Adam placed his fingers against Tony's temples and closed his eyes. Tony softly laughed as Adam smiled and opened his mind. "Hmmm, now that doesn't look right."

"What doesn't?" Tony asked as Adam let go and opened his eyes.

"You memories about me, my family and my brother have been totally rewritten," Adam said with a frown and Tony nodded.

"Yeah, I know. It was my father's idea. He not only changed mine but Mom's as well."

"And Jackie let him do that?"

"No, I can still hear her screaming as he did it," Tony said softly and Adam's eyes grew dark.

"And you didn't stop him?" Adam demanded as Tony shook his head and Adam' hearts slammed in his chest.

In the distant future, Rain walked along the cobblestone path while the wind blew through her hair and she saw the tall figure standing near the large pond. The crystal blue waters shimmered in the moonlight as she stopped behind the figure and slowly reached out to touch the figure's back.

"She's gone, isnae she?" the deep voice asked as the figure turned around and Hamish looked at her. The cool evening wind blew his long black hair around his head as the moonlight shimmered in his ice blue eyes and he held the stick in his hands. He was on his sixth life and he was six feet three inches tall, with a muscular body and a face that should be in a fashion magazine. He never lost his Scottish accent and was wearing a tight t-shirt, jeans, leather boots and two gold hoops hung from his right earlobe.

"Yes," Rain said as he tilted his head to one side and smiled.

"Dinnae be sad, Rain. The one thing I ken aboot mo ionmhuinn oileanach is she always comes through," he said and slid his arms around her, the stick made a light clattering sound as it fell to the ground. Rain nodded as he kissed the top of her head and she looked up at him.

"It's not her that I'm worried about."

"Are you worried aboot the Doctor?" he asked and she shook her head.

"No, he's going to be fine. It's Alan and Adam."

"Aye, I remember that Alan gets tortured but what's wrong with Adam?"

"He got sick after Alan did and..." she said as she gently punched Hamish's chest and he looked down at her.

"Rain?" he asked and felt the sadness in her mind.

"They're dying," she whispered and the tears rolled down her cheeks.

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