The Master watched Mariah Harkness running through London with her darling Captain Jack, Martha Jones and The Doctor. CCTV was genius. Martha was calling her brother, and he was listening; waiting for the right moment to intercept.
"Leo! Thank God. Leo, you've gotta listen to me. Where are you?"
"I'm in Brighton. Yeah we came down with Boxer. Did you see that Saxon thing on telly?"
"Leo, listen to me, don't go home, I'm telling you, don't phone mum, or dad, or Tish, you've gotta hide."
"Shut up."
"On my life, you've gotta trust me. Go to Boxer's, stay with him, don't tell anyone, just hide."
"Ooh, nice little game of hide and seek, I love that!" The Master smirked to himself. "But I'll find you, Martha Jones. Been a long time since we saw each other, must be, what? One hundred trillion years?"
"Let them go, Saxon! Do you hear me?! Let them go!" Martha yelled into her phone.
The Doctor took the phone from Martha. "I'm here."
The Master's eyes widened and he snatched his phone from his pocket. "Doctor."
"Master." The Doctor replied.
"I like it when you use my name."
"You chose it…Psychiatrist's field day."
"As you chose yours. The man who makes people better. How sanctimonious is that?" The Master scoffed.
"So Prime Minister, then." The Doctor made small talk with him.
"I know! It's good, isn't it?" The Master grinned to himself.
"Who are those creatures? There's no such thing as the Toclafane, that's just a made-up name, like the bogeyman." The Doctor demanded.
"Do you remember all those fairy tales about the Toclafane when we were kids? Back home? Where is it, Doctor?"
"Gone."
"How can Gallifrey be gone?"
"It burnt."
"And the Time Lords?" The Master asked, stunned by the Doctors bluntness.
"Dead. And the Daleks More or less. What happened to you?"
"The Time Lords only resurrected me because they knew I'd be the perfect warrior for a Time War. I was there when the Dalek Emperor took control of the Cruciform. I saw it. I ran. I ran so far. Made myself human, so they would never find me, because I was so scared."
"I know."
"All of them?" The Master replied incredulously. "But, not you."
"Which must mean I was the only one who could end it. And I tried I did, I tried everything."
"What did it feel like, though? Two almighty civilisations burning. Oh, tell me, how did that feel?"
"Stop it!"
"You must have been like God." The Master's eyes closed as he imagined the scene.
"I've been alone ever since. But not anymore." He listened to the Doctor's voice and how it turned desperate. "Don't you see? All we've got is each other."
"Are you asking me out on a date?"
"You could stop this, right now! We could leave this planet, we can fight across the constellations, if that's what you want. But not on Earth!" The Doctor pleaded with him.
For a moment The Master considered, watching them on his laptop. "Too late."
"Why d'you say that?"
"The drumming. Can't you hear it? I thought it would stop, but it never does. It never, ever stops, inside my head. The drumming, Doctor, the constant drumming."
"I could help you, please let me help."
"It's everywhere. Listen, listen, listen!" The Master's voice lowered dangerously as he tapped the desk, his eyes closing. "Here come the drums…Here come the drums."
"What have you done? Tell me how you've done this? What are those creatures? Tell me!"
"Ooh look, you're on TV!" The Master smiled sadistically
"Stop it! Answer me!" The Doctor's voice became harsh.
"No, really, you're on telly! You and your little band, which, by the way, is ticking every demographic box. So congratulations on that. Look, there you are!" The Master chuckled.
He saw them all look towards the television sets in a store window, listening to the news report 'also identifies himself as The Captain. They are known to be armed and extremely dangerous.'
"You're public enemies number one, two, three and four! Oh, and you can tell handsome Jack that I've sent his little gang off on a wild goose chase to the Himalayas, so he won't be getting any help from them. Now go on, off you go. Why not start by turning to the right?"
"He can see us!"
"Ooh, you public menace! Better start running! Go on! Run!"
"He's got control of everything."
"What do we do?"
"We've got nowhere to go." Jack looked in terror towards his beloved wife; the Master sneered.
"Doctor, what do we do?"
"Run, Doctor! Run for your life!" The Master commanded. "Oh, and you can also tell Jack to just try and keep his darling half Time Lady safe…"
"We run." The Doctor answered his companions
"I said, 'RUN'!" The Master yelled, and the Doctor obeyed…as the line went dead, he spoke again. "Oh, run…run Mariah Harkness…just try…I'll take you from handsome Jack…I'll take you for my own…
The Doctor, Martha, Jack and Angela watched as The Master taunted Martha's hand-cuffed family. Martha breathed in sharply. "Oh, my God!"
"Don't move." The Doctor warned.
"But-"
"Don't!"
"I'm gonna kill him!" Martha breathed.
"What say I use this perception filter to walk up behind him and break his neck?" Jack suggested, Mariah placed a hand on his arm gently and shook her head as the Doctor turned to Jack.
"Now that sounds like Torchwood." The Doctor replied, eyes disapproving.
Jack shrugged and placed a hand over Mariah's. "Still a good plan."
"He's a Time Lord. Which makes him my responsibility." The Doctor reasoned. "I'm not here to kill him. I'm here to save him." He paused. "Aircraft Carrier Valiant."
"That's a UNIT ship, at 58.2 North, 10.02 East." Jack replied.
"How do we get on board?" Martha asked blankly.
"Does that thing work as a teleport?" the Doctor nodded towards Jack's vortex manipulator.
"Since you revamped it, yeah." Jack replied, letting go of Mariah's hand. "Coordinates set."
"Not you Mariah." The Doctor shook his head at her as she moved to grab onto the teleporter. "He wants you…you can't go up."
"If I don't and something happens to any of you, I'd never forgive myself." Mariah replied sternly. "I'm coming."
"Not the first time she's said that." Jack smirked and she glared at him momentarily then…they vanished.
They all groaned as they appeared on board the Valiant.
"That thing is rough!" Martha cried.
"Oh, I've had worse nights!" Jack replied as he cast a wicked grin at Mariah. "Agh! Welcome to the Valiant."
"It's dawn… Hold on, I thought this was a ship. Where's the sea?!" Martha said fearfully, looking out the window.
"A ship for the 21st century." Jack answered and looked to Mariah. Protecting the skies of Planet Earth."
