TRIAL OF A TIME LORD: THE VALEYARD

Chapter Twenty Six

"What did he mean by him being the one that kidnapped River?" Alan asked as they waited for the Valeyard to wake up and the Doctor thought for a few seconds.

"I don't know. Brother, what is...Where's Duer?" the Doctor asked as they looked around and the Valeyard softly moaned.

"He's...in...the dream world...too. I took him...and his bitch...and the mind...freak...and was...going to...kill them...after I...killed you," the Valeyard said then passed out.

"Rainbow, can you find Uncle Duer?" he asked and Namid closed her eyes.

"Yes," she said as she opened her eyes and ran down the hallway, grabbing Hamish's hand as she ran.

"Carefully, Lass, I'm still blind, you ken," he said as she nodded and they ran down the passageway then stopped at a large door. The door hissed opened while they ran into the room and Namid felt her hearts hurting. Frankie, Cameron and Duer were in tubes as Duer's face contorted in pain and she turned Hamish toward her, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"They're in tubes like the ones my daddy's lives were in. Do you think you can wake all three of them up at the same time?" she said as he thought for a few moments and nodded.

"I can try," he said as she kissed his cheek and his ears turned pink. She led him to the tubes when she placed the stick on the floor and he placed his hands on the tubes with Frankie and Duer in them. She felt his body grow ridged as she whispered a soft prayer and gently stroke his hair.

"Where do I begin?" the Master asked as he walked around the table and tapped the bone saw in his hand. Duer was lying naked on examination table as he looked up at him and growled. He tried to think of Koschei, who came from Amato's universe but never became the Master, and closed his eyes. He didn't want to taint their friendship by what the Master was about to do to him and took a deep breath. "Oh, are you scared?"

"Not really. Do you want to know why?" he said, opening his eyes and the Master moved closer until they were face to face.

"Enlighten me!" he said when the door behind him opened and Lucy led Frankie and Cameron into the room.

"Well, for one thing, it's not a good idea to make him mad," Duer said as he glanced over at Cameron and winked at him.

"Love, he doesn't know how to do it. I asked him and he just laughed at me," Frankie thought and Duer sighed.

"What's he on about?" Cameron asked as he walked closer and the Master slid his arm around Cameron's shoulders then kissed his ear.

"Tell me, Cam, do you like mirrors?" Duer asked when Cameron's eyes went wide and he shivered. "Ah, you don't, do you?"

"Fuck off," Cameron said as he shoved the Master away from him and walked to Frankie.

"I mean I love making faces in the mirror. You should give it a try," Duer said and felt guilty about working on Cameron's fear of mirrors. There weren't any in his bedroom or bathroom at the house and he winces at reflective surfaces. Having one's mind live in a mirror world for two hundred years would do that to a person.

"Make him stop," Cameron shouted as the Master slapped Duer's face and Frankie held Cameron, turning his face away.

"That will be quite enough!" a voice said as the Master and Lucy turned around and looked at Hamish standing in the doorway.

"What the hell?" The Master asked as Frankie smiled and turned Cameron to face Hamish. Cameron had installed sonic devices that allowed Hamish to navigate his house and she hoped that seeing one of his best friends would snap him out of it.

"Cam, look at him," she whispered as Cameron looked at Hamish and blinked. Letting go of Frankie, Cameron walked to Hamish as Hamish looked at him and Cameron blinked.

"Hamish, you have to shock him out of it. That's how I got Frankie to remember me," Duer thought as the Master walked to Hamish and tapped him.

"Um, not to be rude, but who the hell are you?" the Master asked as Hamish looked at him then at Cameron and sighed.

"Dinnae tell Lucy that I did this, aye?" Hamish thought and Frankie softly smiled.

"Tell her what?" she thought when Hamish took hold of Cameron's head and kissed him full on the lips.

"Hey!" the Master said when Hamish moved back and Cameron blinked his eyes a few times then looked at the Master. The Master watched as Cameron's eyes went black and little tiny line crept up his neck and along his cheeks. His hair blew around his head as a blue light surrounded him and he floated off the floor. "Ok, that's new."

"You fucking son of a bitch!" Cameron shouted as he wiggled his fingers and the Master gasped, falling to the floor.

"Leave him alone!" Lucy said as Frankie sighed then balled her hand into a fist and punched her in the face. Lucy crumpled to the floor as Frankie flexed her fingers and smiled.

"Oh, yeah, that felt so good!" she said then walked to the table and started removing the straps that held Duer to the table. "You know, if we were alone, I would ravage you right now."

"Maybe later," Duer said as she helped him lift his head and he looked at Cameron then at Hamish. "Mind telling me what the hell's going on?"

"You do ken that you're..." Hamish started to say when the Master flew through the air and crashed into the wall, sliding slowly to the floor. "Uh, Cameron, could you nae do that right now?"

"Let me asked you this, Ham, is this a dream?" Cameron asked with a grin. The one thing Cameron Douglas wasn't was stupid and Hamish nodded. "Then allow me a little fun, eh?"

"Pa-paw?" Hamish asked as Duer thought for a few seconds then looked at Cameron.

"Yeah, go ahead," he said and Frankie lowered his head. Cameron wiggled his fingers as the Master flew through the air and Hamish walked to the table, looking down at Duer. "Hello, mind tell us how you can see all of a sudden?"

"Well, honestly, I'm nae sure. I ken that I can see when I dream, so that could be why. Do you ken when the Valeyard grabbed you?" Hamish asked and Duer sighed.

"We were in the kitchen, having a planning session for Cam's birthday, when these big creatures burst through the wall and grabbed us."

"I tried to blast them back out the hall but they knocked me out," Cameron said when the Master slammed into the ceiling and grunted.

"What I don't get is why the Valeyard took us. I'm not the Doctor. The Doctor is," Duer said and Hamish nodded.

"And Imiko killed him," Cameron said as he twirled his fingers in circles and the Master was spinning in the air like a pinwheel.

"That's the thing, Pa-paw, he told the Doctor that he isnae his Valeyard," Hamish said and Frankie helped Duer sit up, after covering him with a blanket.

"Then who's Valeyard is he?" Duer asked.

"He says he's from Uncle Adam's universe," Hamish said and Duer's eyes went wide.

"No, that's impossible! My Valeyard is dead! Adam killed him!"

"He just said that he was the one that kidnapped River an' mentioned Uncle Adam by name," Hamish said as he and Frankie helped Duer to his feet and Duer sighed, watching the Master fall to the ground in a bloody heap.

"Then I guess it's time to wake up," he said then looked down and blinked. "I hope I have some clothes on or this is going to be embarrassing."

Frankie smiled as she kissed his cheek and they closed their eyes, fading away.

(Adam's universe)

John and Nigel were stunned by the fact that they were able to sneak into the black SUV as it moved down the street and Tony held the wheel tightly in his hands. Nigel had made sure that the CCTV cameras didn't see them sneaking out of the TARDIS as he looked at the screen and was typing on the keyboard. Adam thought it would be safer for him to use an imager after their visit with the weevils and Nigel liked the idea of looking like his father. He had checked and was sad to find there wasn't a Captain Jack Harkness in Adam's universe but he was puzzled by an article he found.

"Hey, Adam, I found a picture of you on the web but the name's wrong. It says that he was some actor and he, and his family, vanished," Nigel thought and Adam, who was sitting in the passenger seat, sighed.

"That would be my friend David. He looks just like me, or I look like him, and Pete was using him as bait to draw me out of hiding. I found out and moved him and his family somewhere safe," Adam thought and Nigel nodded.

"I get that, but people like him have fans. Didn't someone report seeing him?"

"He's not on this planet."

"You took them to another planet?"

"No, I took him into the future."

"Isn't Torchwood around in the future?"

"Well, yeah, but I took him to when it was finally disbanded."

"What about your father-in-law? Wasn't his family still around?"

"Come to think of it, no, there was no mention of his bloodline anywhere."

"What does that mean?" John asked and apologized for listening in.

"I have no idea," Adam thought then looked at Tony and Tony smiled at him.

"Right, Munson, I want you to debrief the others while I take Keys, Bain and Carlisle to the mansion and tell the Commander that I'll have my report on his desk in the morning," Tony said and Greg Munson nodded. Adam arch an eyebrow at Tony as he softly shrugged and Adam smiled, shaking his head. After dropping the others off, the SUV headed down the street and Adam felt his hearts thud in his chest. It had been a long time since he had set foot in the Tyler mansion and he sighed, watching the SUV moving up the driveway. The SUV stopped at the stairs as they opened the doors and the spotlights bathed them in a blinding white light.

"Holy crap, this isn't a home, it's an armed camp," John thought as he looked at the people in black body armor patrolling the grounds and Adam nodded. Tony led the way as they headed for the stairs and Adam sighed, balling his hands into tight fists.

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