Mindwipe

Chapter 19

-/-

When Osgood had been flung back into her own body it had been to the burning sensation in her lungs like she had been holding her breath for too long. She had spluttered, coughing up the mud that lingered in her mouth and coated every crevice like a second layer of skin. Those first rasping breaths had been some of the most painful and yet beautiful moments of her life; laying there in a pool of now stagnant mud she had mused philosophical on how much better it was to be alive than not.

Then she remembered why she was alive.

Missy...

Then tears sprang to her eyes and trickled down her cheeks barely making a dent in the mud that caked every inch and itched most unpleasantly. Her already poor vision now blurred something terrible as she reached around for the Time Lady recognising her by the length of her skirt if not her features. Running her hands up Missy's too still frame Osgood searched for any sign of life, her hands lingering at her chest pushing aside wet clothing desperate for any sign of a single let alone a double heartbeat under her palms. It was so faint and slow that at first Osgood could barely make it out but there was something there.

Yet a heartbeat was pointless if Missy couldn't breathe.

Osgood knew from UNIT files that Time Lords had a secondary respiratory system. Not that there was much detail about what that actual meant, after all no UNIT scientist had actually dissected a Time Lord and The Doctor had been unusually reticent to discuss his species biology. She knew it meant they did not need to breathe in the way a human would but Osgood didn't know how long the bypass system would supply The Mistress's needs and she had already been trapped in that mud for far longer than Osgood had.

So there was nothing else for it...

Wiping the excess mud from Missy's mouth Osgood forced herself to remember her lifesaving training. Like with any of her practical induction training Osgood had struggled somewhat with the first aid portion. In particular the mouth to mouth portion but back then it had been far easier to blame it on the vile double train track braces she had still been forced to wear and which had made maintaining a seal around the dummy's mouth rather more difficult for her.

She had never had to use her training on a real person before and Osgood fumbled with positioning Missy's head, lifting her chin to in theory clear her airway before bending down and covering the Time Lady's mouth with her own. One breath in and Osgood turned her head to make sure Missy's chest was actually rising. It was and that had Osgood sighing in relief even as she waited a moment before pushing another breath into the Time Lady.

Then suddenly Missy tensed beneath her and Osgood recoiled back as those blue eyes opened...

Confusion...Curiosity...A look of shock as her gaze fell on Osgood...

It must have been some sort of sixth sense but as Osgood stared down into those familiar bright blue eyes she was convinced that there was something other than Missy behind them and she felt her heart sink down into her stomach.

Had it all been for nothing? Was it no longer The Mistress in control of that body but that monster that Missy had been so protective of?

Only one thing was certain in Osgood's mind was that monster couldn't be allowed to walk out of here in a Time Lord body. It had caused enough mayhem and death whilst trapped in its previous form and in control of a body that could go anywhere and could regenerate if killed was unacceptable. Yet there was a way to stop it, if a Time Lord was killed whilst regenerating then they would die just like anyone else.

The gun...Seb's gun it had to be somewhere around here.

Pulling away from Missy's body Osgood searched quickly, moving from body to body until she found the one she was looking for. Her hand closed around the gun that was still in Seb's hand. Prising loose the fingers as she pulled it free Osgood was surprised to feel the fingers press back slightly before releasing her.