A/N: Hello there, I'm Wild Vivid Imagination, and this is my first posted Doctor Who fanfiction. This is just the prologue, but I'll be posting the first chapter later tonight. If you like, please review. If you don't like something, tell me so that I might be able to improve it.

Warnings for this chapter: There's a tiny bit of slash (one kiss), but that's just in this chapter, and you can blame my characterization of the Eighth Doctor for being stubborn and too romantic for his own good... And there might be some tiny hints of Doctor/Master in later chapters too, but you can ignore it if you want to.


Prologue

~In which the Doctor locks the Time War and gives the Master his last goodbyes~

~DW~

It all started with a Dalek. All right, not just one Dalek. Quite a lot of Daleks, actually. Chasing the Doctor and him. Screaming at them.

"YOU ARE THE DOC-TOR AND THE MAS-TER! YOU WILL BE EX-TER-MIN-ATED!" Hearing them all scream that at the same time over and over again was actually beginning to hurt his ears. However, the Master had more urgent worries. The fact that the Daleks were shooting at them with lasers. And that he -the great Master of all- was currently weaponless. It was the Doctor's fault -of course that stupid pacifist would insist that they should escort the Moment, of all things, to the capital without bringing one single weapon except for the Doctor's worthless sonic screwdriver, and that would hardly count as a weapon anyway.

"Run faster!" the Doctor's voice called, bringing him back from his thoughts. This incarnation had a really lovely voice, the Master decided, even though this was only his second time interacting with him, and that time in San Francisco he'd been to focused on getting out of that nasty, Human corpse and into a proper Time Lord body to bother thinking of such things as his arch-nemesis's voice. The body the man in front of him was currently using to run for his life with, could've been his if things had went differently. Then, that lovely voice would've been his, the Master realized. What a missed opportunity... (Well, at least he had a proper Time Lord body now. Thanks to that lovely Lady President... Romanadvoratrelundar, was it? Stupid her for being too scared to let him work with the Doctor until this point in the War, though...)

"This way, Master!" the Doctor called, casting a quick glance at the Master, and started running faster. When he started to think about it, the Master decided there were quite a lot of things about that body he liked. Those eyes, for example. Such a gorgeous blue colour... And the hair. The way those beautiful auburn curls flowed through the air as their owner ran for his life... And those Victorian-style clothes. They suited that body perfectly... Oh, and the way the word Master rolled off the tongue of that body. There had never been any version of the Doctor who said his name like that...

...At that moment the Master realized that he was having fantasies about his arch-nemesis in the middle of a very crucial situation that might decide the fate of the entire Universe. That had the potential to be quite awkward... if it had been the first time it happened to the Master... ... ...

...Well, it wasn't. (Trust me, it really wasn't.)

The Master quickly gathered his thoughts and focused completely on following the Doctor while dodging laser beams all the way. They could see the gate that lead to the capital now. If they just could reach it, there was still hope. If they gave the Moment to Rassilon (the Master didn't quite understand why they had to revive him of all persons to take over after Romana, it was quite unnecessary really), they might be able to win the War. The Master didn't know exactly what the Moment did, but he knew it was a very powerful weapon and the Doctor had been sent out to fetch it, and the Master had been assigned to help him. If it hadn't been for the fact that the Master knew that his home planet was in danger, he would've stolen the Moment and tried to use it for himself.

The Master cast a gaze behind them, and could see that the Daleks weren't quite as close to them as they had been a just a little while ago. Now they just had to reach the gate!

...It would've worked out well, really, if the Doctor hadn't tripped over a rock.

As he fell to the ground with a little grunt of pain and the Master sprinted past him, it seemed like a brilliant idea to just run for his life and leave the Doctor behind, at first. Then, he realized that the Doctor still possessed the Moment. Then, his survival instinct kicked in and told him to abandon the Doctor to his fate and keep running. Then, he made the mistake to turn around and look into the Doctor's blue, pleading eyes that seemed to say, Koschei, I'm your best friend, don't leave me... All his logic told him to run, but his hearts told him not to, but then again, when did he ever listen to his hearts?... ... ...

...Oh, to hell with it. (This single time, he told himself.)

The Master turned around and quickly hauled the Doctor onto his back, and started running again. Now he suddenly wished he had that human body from their last meeting. At least that one had been tall and muscular, probably enough to carry this incarnation of the Doctor without problems... This one was fine too, but not quite strong enough to do it without problems. With the Doctor's arms wrapped around his neck, he almost tripped several times as he ran towards the gate and carried the Doctor to safety.

As they finally reached the gate and the Master tried to pull it open, it was locked. Naturally. Why would it just stand open for anyone to march in? That would be stupid, even for the naturally arrogant Time Lords. The Master was just about to shout for the guards as he realized that there were no guards there either. Now this was just getting stupid. And the Daleks were gaining on them for every second. The Doctor showed no sign of panic though, simply pulled out his sonic screwdriver and let it make strange noise. Somehow, that seemed to affect the gate, and it began to open, slowly but surely. As quickly as he could, the Master made a great effort to pull them both inside, and then pushed the gate back to close it. He let out an actual sigh of relief as he heard the gate's lock snap shut.

"We did it." the Master stated as he let the Doctor tumble off his back. As the Doctor sat down on the street, the Master felt a twinge of something that definitely was not worry for the other Time Lord, oh no, and asked: "What happened, Doctor?"

"I must have twisted my ankle." the Doctor said as he seemed to be inspecting his right foot. He gave the Master a smile. "Ah, well, it doesn't really matter anymore. We did it, Master. We did it." Somehow, the Master could now see something strangely sad about the Doctor's smile, and it gave him a bad feeling. A very bad feeling.

"So... We'll just get it to the Lord President now, and we'll be done with this mission." the Master stated, hoping that the bad feeling was just paranoia. The Doctor's smile became even more saddened, and he shook his head slowly.

"Oh, Master... You really thought we would, didn't you?" The Doctor let out a laugh, but there was no joy in the laugh, only sorrow and guilt. "I'm sorry, Master. I'm going to let everyone down... But I can't go on with this."

"What do you mean?" the Master asked, getting very suspicious.

"The Moment." the Doctor said softly. "No one told you what it really was for, did they? Of course not. They knew you wouldn't want to do this. We don't stand a chance anymore, Master. The Moment isn't a weapon -it's a last resort."

"What are you doing, Doctor?" the Master hissed as the Doctor pulled the Moment out of his pocket. (It was so small, for something so powerful...)

"The Moment is a device programmed to cause a Time Lock." the Doctor whispered. His voice was so desperate now, so helpless. "I'm so sorry, Master, but I really can't see another way out anymore..."

"A Time Lock?!" the Master hissed, realization dawning upon him. "Doctor, are you insane?! It will kill us all! Time Lords, Daleks... There'll be nothing left of either!" The Doctor looked back at him, then let out a deep sigh.

"I know. But the Daleks have to die anyway, and the Time Lords aren't really worth saving anymore. Haven't you notice what Rassilon is planning to do?! That End of Time business... I have to stop them... The Daleks and the Time Lords!"

"Why do you have to have such a god damn hero complex?!" the Master shouted, his fury rising as the drums in his head began beating louder. "We'll die too, Doctor! You and I!" He then added, gentler: "I don't want to die. Not again."

"I should've guessed that." the Doctor said, smiling a sad smile again. "Well, actually I did guess it. So I made a plan to save you, Master." The Master couldn't help but notice one strange detail about the Doctor's choice of words.

"Me? What about you? Are you going to set me loose on the Universe while you are stuck inside a Time Lock?!" he asked angrily.

"Oh, it's not going to be you. Not in that sense of speech." the Doctor said softly and pulled something out of his pocket. The Master was quick to notice that it was a Chameleon Arch in the form of a golden pocket watch. Or more correctly, it was the Chameleon Arch he'd stolen earlier in the War while he was planning to run away and hide at the end of the Universe as a human. However, the Chameleon Arch had mysteriously disappeared a few hours after he had gained it...

"You stole my Chameleon Arch!" the Master yelled furiously.

"Stole? Oh no, not really. More like, I borrowed it and programmed it for you." the Doctor explained. He tried to stand up, not so easy with his twisted ankle but he managed, and then proceeded to hang the pocket watch around the Master's neck.

"Programmed it?" the Master questioned. "What did you do, Doctor?"

"When I use the Moment, the Chameleon Arch is programmed to activate immediately and you will become human. The Moment only destroys Time Lords and Daleks inside the Time Lock, so if you're human, my TARDIS will be able to get you out of the Time Lock without harming you. She'll take you to 20th century Earth. You'll be safe there..."

"But I won't be me." the Master stated. "I'll be a human. A human identity that you made for me." The Doctor gave him another smile.

"It's a good identity, I promise... I wouldn't give you anything else than the best..."

"That's beside the point! If I don't figure out how to open my pocket watch, I'll grow old and die as a human!"

"I know." the Doctor said, his voice filled with regret. "But you'll die anyway, Master, so it's better to do so on Earth in peace than die in this hell where everyone's deaths will be slow and painful."

"What about you, Doctor?" the Master changed the subject suddenly, as if he had realized something.

"What about me? Oh. Well... I don't have a Chameleon Arch on my own." the Doctor said sheepishly. "I'll die here, Master. I'll die to end the Time War..."

"No!" the Master panicked. He couldn't do this, he just couldn't... "You can't do this, Doctor! If you die..." He couldn't manage to finish that sentence, maybe it was because of the Master's stupid pride. There were too many words he wanted to say. If the Doctor died... the Master had nothing left to live for? Nothing left to fight for? No one to compete with? No one to have sweet dreams and horrible nightmares about? The Master couldn't imagine his life without the Doctor. There couldn't be one without the other.

"It'll be all right, Master." the Doctor said kindly, placing his hand on the Master's cheek, brushing the Master's brown beard gently with his fingers. The Master heard a TARDIS materialize behind him, and through the corner of his eye he saw the Doctor's old Type 40, still stuck as an Earth police box, appear from thin air.

"You can't do this." he whispered in horror as the Doctor began pushing him towards the TARDIS. "Please, Doctor, don't do this to me. Why me? Why did you give me the Chameleon Arch?"

"Because I want you to live out your full potential." the Doctor said. "You'll become a bright human professor, you'll be respected and admired... You, if someone, need to get a little appreciation..."

"I don't want to! Let me stay with you, Doctor!"

"No! Live a good life, Master!" The Doctor had now pushed him up against the TARDIS doors. "Here. Take the TARDIS key. And my sonic screwdriver. Oh, and my psychic paper too! Also, here's a fake ID for your human self." He handed said items to the Master.

"I won't do this, Doctor." the Master hissed. "I'm not going to leave without you. Why can't you save yourself instead, Doctor?"

"Because I can't live with the shame of double genocide on my shoulders." the Doctor said, his voice soft with regret, guilt and shame. "You know that I can't."

"So you're going to make me live instead?!" the Master yelled, now desperate. "Doctor, if you die, I won't have anything left to live for!" There. He said it. And it seemed to affect the Doctor too, because he stared at the Master, looking surprised.

"Oh, Master." he then mumbled and pressed his lips quickly to the Master's own. (This incarnation really was a romantic one...) "I'm so sorry that I have to do this to you." He pulled away almost immediately, and pushed the Master through the TARDIS doors and closed them again.

"Doctor, let me out!" the Master tried to open the door by pushing it open violently, but the Doctor pressed it shut again. How he was able to hold back against the Master even with a twisted ankle was beyond the Master's imagination.

"I can't!"

"But you have to!"

"Sorry!" the Doctor yelled. "Farewell, Master! Live! For me!"

"Doctor!" the Master screamed desperately, but at that moment, the TARDIS began to make dematerializing sounds, followed by huge tremors as the TARDIS began to break through the newly forming Time Lock. At the very same moment, the Master felt the Chameleon Arch activate.

The last thing he felt before the Chameleon Arch erased his memories, was the most pain he had felt in his entire life as the rest of the Time Lord race was erased from existance.


Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. If I did, why would I be writing fanfics?