Last of the Time Lords?, a doctor who fanfic

This story needs a bit of background. See, it started out with a vague idea of an unmentioned companion between the Doctor's first meeting with Donna and meeting Martha. She saved his life, he brought her to the TARDIS, etc. Then, after seeing "Utopia" - "Last of the Time Lords" and growing attached to the Master, I wanted to write a story about him. So, I had to save his life and have the Doctor "keep" him in the TARDIS.

After this little idea, I decided it would be cool if I combined these two stories into one. So, that's what I did.

But then I had to change her to being between Martha and Donna's main companionship with the Doctor. And that was fine. It was totally worth it.

Enjoy.

(The Master)

"The Axons! Remember the Axons? And the Daleks! Please... we're the only ones left. ...REGENERATE!"

I chuckled. "How about that? I win," I whispered. The Doctor's expression was pitiful; tears spilling out into his face.

"Please! Please, please, please. You've got to! I don't know what I'd do!"

I winced. It was hard holding back an instinct I was born with, not to mention the bullet smarted. I had to contain the regenerative energy, otherwise automatic reflexes would take over.

The drums...

They were getting louder. No... They were getting softer. Soon, very soon. Yes... I wouldn't hear them for a while. I smirked up at the Doctor, enjoying his pain. "If... you want it so badly, then... do it yourself," I sneered. I was running out of breath to speak.

His eyes widened, then the faintest hint of hope glimmered in his eyes. "If you insist." He places his hand on the wound, closing his eyes. Then I realized what he was doing.

"No!" I struggled to get away, but was too weak to move. I felt a breeze blow through the room, and the pain began to ebb away. I groaned as the wound closed, sealing itself in an instant. The Doctor opened his eyes and breathed a sigh if relief.

"It worked," he said breathlessly. "I'd never tried using that on another person."

"You fool," I said. I still felt weak. I might go out any second. "You just wasted almost 50 years of your life. Did you really want that?"

The Doctor shrugged, wiping his eyes. "You once tried stealing all my remaining regenerations. I don't see how different this is."

I began to argue again, but was interrupted. Or, at least, I thought I was being interrupted.

The drums had gotten louder.

I tried to ignore them, which I had been trying to do for who knows how long, but to no avail. They felt more intense now; the pounding rattling my skull. It overwhelmed me, and before I could respond, everything went black.

Bum-bum-bum-bum...

I awoke with my head pounding. Not that it wasn't pounding while I was out, but it was more... clear.

I was lying on the ground, somewhere I didn't recognize. My hands weren't cuffed behind me anymore. I didn't have time to process where I was. My vision was cloudy.

Suddenly, a door opened and the Doctor walked in. He held out his hand to help me up, but I pushed it aside.

"Ma...ster... come... on... take... my... hand..." Everything was moving at half-speed. I tried to concentrate on his words, attempting to decipher it. Then the pain started.

My entire body was aching, a sharp pain shooting through one of my arms. I glanced down to see scratches and bruises everywhere.

"Wha... happen...?" I slurred.

He kneeled next to me and helped me sit up, putting his arm around me to support me. "Mob... riot... police... arrested..." He helped me stand. "Come... on... TARDIS... leave... go... now..."

The Doctor helped me limp out of the room. I didn't know where I was, and I didn't care. He was taking me. I would be stuck with him.

We arrived at the TARDIS what seemed like hours later. I had regained most of my senses by then, and as soon as we walked through the doors I broke free of his grasp and attempted to run away. I got about five feet away before I collapsed. He helped me up again and walked me to the back of the TARDIS. There was some sort of doorway there. He gestured for me to step through. I didn't have much of a choice. As soon as I stepped in between the two walls I turned. There was something fishy about this. I tried to take a step closer to him, but my feet were stuck fast.

Moving quickly, he grabbed my arms and chained them to either sides of the doorpost. I was too weak to fight, so I let him.

I'm not sure what happened after that. I must have blacked out again, because when I woke up the Doctor was sitting in a chair in front of me, holding... a banana?

"What?" I snarled. My voice was weak, but at least I COULD talk. He waved the fruit at me.

"I thought you might be hungry." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Please. How do you expect me to eat when you've got me chained up here? I refuse to be fed like a helpless infant."

He smiled. "When you're hungry enough, you'll eat." We were silent for a moment, then something that had been bothering me just popped out.

"I was dying. You used up your own energy to save me. Why?"

He never answered.

Weeks later, I'm still chained here. The Doctor's just wandering around, not sure what to do. He decided to return to earth for a day.

Of course, he can't take ME out there; I'd start another riot, possibly be murdered. Eh, it's not like I cared, but he still left me here. Now, hours later, he stumbles in with a girl in tow.

A girl. A human girl.

"What, you're replacing me already? Who's the lucky companion this time?" I called as he lay her down on a cot. She was young, VERY young; around 14, I'd say. But something was wrong. She wasn't chatting with the Doctor like she should have been; not exclaiming the TARDIS was "bigger on the inside", nothing. "What, this one mute?"

He covered her with a blanket, tucking it under her chin. He then stormed over to me. "She's hurt."

I rolled my eyes. "Look how much concern I give. Do you expect me to care?"

"She's dying!" He whispered, eyes furious and blazing; spit flying into my face.

"So? It's not like-" I glanced over at her again, and saw something strange. "That's odd."

"What?" He asked.

I shook my head. "Not until you apologize."

He glanced about nervously, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry," he said through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry...?" I prompted.

"I'm sorry... Master." He gritted out. I smiled.

"Apology accepted. Now, about what I saw..." I pointed to the girl. "Did you ever take a close look at her necklace?"

He looked in the direction I was pointing, and gasped. He ran back over to her and carefully removed the pendant from around her neck.

"Well?" I said. "You going to show me or not?"

He absentmindedly came to stand before me, the pendant shining silver in his hands. "It's- it's-"

I nodded. "Why, so it is. A something something fob watch."

The Doctor looked up, his eyes meeting mine were wide with shock. "She's a..."

"Doctor..." Came a weak voice from the other side of the room.

He rushed back over to her, but not before whispering to me, "Do. Not. Say. Anything." I grinned, letting him know I wasn't promising anything.

"What is it, Riylie? I'm here."

She broke off in a fit of coughing, wincing as she did so. "Where... where are we?"

"We're in my ship." Before she could respond, the Doctor put a finger to her lips. "Would you believe me if I told you this is a time machine?"

She struggled to sit up. "Really?"

He nodded. "Really. And... I'm not really... human."

"What?" She had a look of confusion on her face.

"I'm a Time Lord. I'm from a different planet, across the universe. This ship, it's called the TARDIS. I travel through time and space with it."

She shook her head. "How do I know you're... telling the truth? Prove you're... an alien."
The Doctor thought for a minute. "Here. Give me your hand." She did. He took it and placed it on his chest. "Do you feel that?" He asked as he moved it to the other side. Her eyes widened.

"You have... two... hearts?"

"Yep." He tried to smile at her. Then he held the watch. "Do you know what this is?" She shook her head.

"It's just an old watch. It doesn't work; it doesn't even... have a chain." The Doctor placed it her hand.

"Have you ever opened it?"

"No..." Riylie looked up at him. "Should I?"

He nodded. "If you want to." I could see that look in his eyes, even from across the room. He thought it would save her.

She tried to open it, but was too weak. "I... can't... Doctor." He held her other hand.

"Yes, you can. I know you can. Just push the button and open it."

She tried one more time. I knew she wouldn't last long. This was her last chance. She pressed it, and...

Pop! The watch sprang open. Golden light danced from the watch as she stared; her eyes almost closed.

"Doctor..." She whispered.

"What is it?"

She smiled at him. "Thank you for... showing me this place." Then her eyes closed.

"No..." The Doctor said. "No, no, no, no, no! It should have worked!"

Then, a burst of light filled the room. The Doctor backed away, astonished. I stared into the center of the light, and saw her changing. She really WAS a Time Lord! She was regenerating!

"Yes!" The Doctor leapt into the air, grinning widely. "I knew it!" I just stood there and stared.

Because, you know, I was kind of stuck.

But something else happened in that moment, too.

The drums got louder.

(Riylie)

Two men...

A blue box...

Shadow and brightness...

Blue light...

Red light...

And a sound...

One, two, three, four...

Over and over, in my head.

One, two, three, four...

Drums. It's the sound of drums. Why drums? Why me?

"Riylie..."

I opened my eyes and saw the Doctor sitting next to me. "Doctor?"

He gave a sigh of relief. "You're alright."

"Well, of course I am. It's not like- wait."

"What?"

"My voice. It sounds... different."

Then came a long explanation of how I was a Time Lord and I had been turned into a human by this thing called a "Chameleon Arch" and some sort of "regeneration" process. Apparently, all Time Lords had this ability. I was different now.

"Doctor, while I was out, I had this... dream."

"What was it about?"

I took a deep breath. "Well, it was about this man... and you were there, too. This man and you... you were shadow and brightness, but the same. You were different as could be, but you were the same. And there was this sound..."

"What sound?" The Doctor look very intrigued and slightly frightened.

"It was this... drumming, I suppose. Always in a pattern. One, two, three, four. And it didn't stop, it just got louder."

"What?"

The voice came from somewhere in the back of the TARDIS. I squinted, trying to make out who it was. "Excuse me?" I called as I stood to move closer.

"Riylie, don't," The Doctor warned. I ignored him, and walked towards the voice.

"What did you say about drums?"

It was a man, shackled to what looked like a doorway. It didn't look very secure, but seeing as this was a time-traveling TARDIS thing, I didn't question how strong the chains were. He had light brown hair and brownish-grey eyes, and he was staring at me like I was the last person on earth.

"What was that sound you heard?"

I was slightly confused. "I said it sounded like... drums. Always in a pattern; one, two, three, four." I absentmindedly began tapping the pattern on my arm, and the man suddenly stood up straight, like a jolt of electricity had been sent through his body.

"Four... beats?"

I nodded. "Yeah. And the weird thing is, it hasn't stopped. Usually when you wake up, you forget everything, right? Well, not only can I remember it perfectly, I can still hear the drums. One, two, three, four..." I closed my eyes. "And it's not fading. It's... It's getting louder; more intense."

The Doctor, who had joined me, put his hand on my shoulder and began to pull me away. "You don't need this."

"Doctor," The man's eyes were full of shock. "She can hear them."

"No, she can't. It's all in her head."

"It's all in my head, too. Listen!" He burst out, eyes hardening for a second. Then, he turned on me. "You can hear the drums." It wasn't a question.

"Yes..." I said slowly.

"Four beats... Over and over and over. The same sound. Never stopping, never quieting. One, two, three, four."

I nodded again, the Doctor still tugging on my shoulder. "Stay away from him. You're just imagining it."

"You know she's not." The man began tapping his fingers on his chains in the same pattern. "She knows. She's the same. She can HEAR it," he whispered.

The Doctor finally pulled me away, and we went back to the bed I had been lying on. "Who is he?" I asked as he gently pushed me down.

He took a deep breath, trying to figure out what to say. "He is... a Time Lord as well. His name is... The Master."

"Master? What's that supposed to mean?" He pretended he didn't hear me. "Doctor..."

"Look, you're tired. Regeneration takes up a lot of energy; believe me, I know. You need to rest. You don't need this."

"But why is he here?" I insisted. "Tell me!"

"I'm here because he doesn't trust me to leave and never come back. I'm his prisoner here; unable to leave, trapped with that constant drumming that keeps on going, never stopping, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four..." His fingers kept the beat. I could hear it from across the TARDIS; the same pattern as me, the same tempo, the same drumming, drumming, drumming... My eyelids began to feel heavy. That pounding still sounding in my ears, I fell into a deep sleep.

(The Master)

She can hear it. The drums. She can hear them. I couldn't believe it at first, but now I see she was telling the truth.

The constant drumming...

She even hears the same tempo as I do. It's incredible.

I'm not the only one.

She looks so much like... well, me. The hair, the eyes, at least in this regeneration.

I thought I could hear her mind. Just for second, I heard her thoughts. She had seen me before. I was in her dream. The drumming started when she saw my face.

Slightly unsettling.

I haven't cared about anyone else for a long time, but... I think I feel sorry for her. I feel like... it's MY fault she hears them. If I wasn't here, would she still hear them?

As the thought struck me, I was shocked at myself. I was considering something that would benefit another? Not that I could leave anyways, but I had still thought it.

Even if I did leave, would that be enough? I didn't want that poor girl to be doomed to listen to those incessant drums for the rest of her life... like I was. If I left and she still heard them, was there anything that could make them stop?

If I-

No. Not an option. She can just learn to live with it.

Or could she? I didn't. It drove me to the point of madness. Even now, chained as a prisoner of the Doctor, trapped on the TARDIS, they were still as loud and insistent as ever. Of anything, they had gotten louder.

I told her, if anything went wrong, she was to kill me. That was the plan. Some plan. It did NOT work out as hoped.

The Doctor, being the compassionate, lonely man that he is, used some of his own regeneration energy to heal the wound. I was going to escape the drums, finally get away, I was going to win, and he interfered.

The drumming...

It's worse now, with that girl here. I think she must have made it worse. The sound reverberating inside both of our heads, making it louder; more intense.

If only I could talk to her. If only the Doctor would give me the chance. If only...

If only I could help her escape these drums that drive me mad.

(The Doctor)

It couldn't possibly be the same drums. She's just imagining it. Making it up. Pretending.

It's just a trick. Yes, some sort of trick the Master has conjured up to get her to... do something. I don't know.

Did she really hear it? Was it real? In my whole life of knowing the Master, I have never caught on to that sound.

Drums...

It's absurd.

She's sleeping now. I wonder why she saw me in her dream. And that other man... I glanced over at the Master, still chained to the doorframe.

No. It couldn't be. She had never even seen him.

But, still...

I shrugged off the question. I could ask her when she woke up.

...even if the answer scared me.

(The Master)

Riylie awoke a few hours later. She was having a whispered conversation with the Doctor, but I picked up bits of it; enough to know they were talking about me.

After a few minutes, she walked back over to me; looking straight into my eyes.

"You're really a Time Lord?"

That was her question? I rolled my eyes. "Yes. Didn't the good Doctor tell you that already?"

She looked me up and down. I couldn't read her expression as she half-turned and held her hand out to the Doctor. "May I have the key, please?" He blinked.

"What?"

"The key. You know, the one that unlocks those chains?"

I stared at her, confused, as she grabbed the key from the Doctor and began to unlock my bindings.

"What- what are you-"

Riylie smiled. "I'm letting you out."

"Why?" I shook my head. "I assume he told you about me, and you still trust me enough to let me go?"

"Not completely," the Doctor said firmly. "You're still staying in the TARDIS."

She finished, and my arms fell limply to my sides. Ooh, I hadn't been able to move them in forever! I wiggled my fingers, trying to get the blood flowing again. I looked back up at her.

"Thank you... I suppose." I took a step forward, and my vision went fuzzy. The Doctor rushed forward and caught me. "Whoa..." I muttered. Riylie put an arm around me.

"Come on, I think YOU'RE the one that needs to lie down."

The drums were getting louder.

I lay down on the cot for a few minutes, trying to collect my thoughts. Then, I sat up and gestured for Riylie to sit next to me.

"Riylie... That's your name, isn't it?" She nodded. "Alright. The drums. You can hear them, but none of us know why." She nodded again. I took a deep breath, glancing over at the Doctor. "Listen, there's this thing Time Lords can do; sort of like... peeking into your thoughts. It doesn't hurt, but I need to see why you can hear them. Alright?"

She nodded one more time. "Okay. How does it work?"

"Come here." I placed my hands on either side of her head and pulled her closer, closing my eyes as I did so.

I could see everything. Her parents had used the Chameleon Arch to change her into a human when she was child to protect her from the Time War and sent her to earth. She had been left at someone's doorstep, with no one to care for her. I saw her entire life... and I heard the drums.

I tried my best to home in on the sound, trying to find out what triggered it. What I found made me gasp.

It was me. I was there. I don't know why, or when, but I was there. And the drums were coming from me.

"Oh... The constant drumming... Over and over... Driving that poor little boy mad. Forced to look into the Untempered Schism, and hearing that sound; just that sound, over and over and over, in his head, and no one believed him," Riylie murmured.

"What?" I said, breaking the connection. She wrapped her arms around me, resting her head against my chest.

"It must have been terrible."

I was stunned for moment, stiff and unsure as she hugged me. Then, as if breaking some spell, I awkwardly wrapped my arms around her.

"You saw... You saw me."

"Yes," she muttered, "I saw you. You poor little boy."

I shook my head and began to pull away. "You saw... After seeing everything I did, you would still stay in the same room as me?"

"Well, yes." She smiled up at me.

Something about that smile triggered something within me. I smiled back, and then it happened.

My head exploded in pain. The pounding drums, getting louder and louder...

"Ah!" I cried as I pulled away from Riylie. My hands clutched at my head, my face twisted in pain. I could just barely make it out, but she was having the same reaction.

"Doctor!" I cried, "Quick! Get her... away..." He nodded in understanding, then grabbed me by the arms and pulled me back to my chains. I collapsed onto the ground, still cradling my pounding head.

The drums...

It had never hurt before. What had happened?

This thought just barely ran through my head before I fell over, and the world went dark.

(Riylie)

I can't believe this. I just don't understand. The Doctor won't let me near the Master anymore.

"But why not?"

"Because he's dangerous to everyone he comes into contact with; especially you. I won't let you near him if it means putting you in danger."

He was quite firm on this. I don't understand why. The Master's not dangerous. He's just... misunderstood. He needs someone.

I spent the rest of the day sulking in the TARDIS. The Doctor tried to cheer me up by taking me to see New New York, but we ended up getting chased off the planet for something he did last time he was there.

I could stop thinking about what I'd seen in the Master's head. Strange thing, though, was when we left the TARDIS the drums were quieter. They didn't stop, but they weren't as insistent.

(The Master)

I sat back there for days. I couldn't let her near me. It might... I didn't know what it might do.

When she touched me... It became unbearable. Imagine the loudest sound you can think of. Multiply it by one hundred. Add an earsplitting explosion of pain in your head, and you might have the tiniest bit of understanding of what I felt.

It must have been even worse for her. She hasn't had to spend her whole life with a continuous soundtrack of drums running in the background of everything she does.

After a few days had passed with the Doctor checking in every so often, he and I agreed we had to talk. He told Riylie to wait outside the door, and then entered.

"Alright, about Riylie. I know-"

"No. I'll talk, you listen." I interrupted. He began to protest, but I cut him off. "You know what I'm going to say." I glanced around the room. "You've felt it, too. Something isn't right, and it's not your new best friend."

He shook his head. "I don't know what-"

"Paradox, Doctor. Say it. I'm a paradox." He began shaking his head more violently, denial in his eyes.

"No."

"I was supposed to die on the Valiant."

"No!"

"And by saving my life, you've created a paradox." I persisted.

"No! Don't say that! You're-"

"A paradox!" I shouted. "My death was a fixed point in your life, and now time is bending. And you knew! You would destroy the world to save an old friend. Well, even though I have disagreed with you countless times, I can agree with this:"

"No," He whispered.

"Changing history for personal gain never works. Something always happens. It has to be made right."

(The Doctor)

The Master tossed something to me and I caught it, not realizing what it was until it was in my hand. "No!"

"Come on, Doctor! Make things better."

I shook my head, tears filling my eyes again. "I won't."

"You have to. Come on," He yelled. "Shoot me!"

My hand was shaking, but I couldn't drop the weapon. The barrel of the gun was aimed for the Master, its cold trigger waiting to be pulled.

I- I couldn't...

(Riylie)

The Doctor went to see the Master in one of the closed-off rooms in the back. He said they had to talk- in private. I agreed, thinking that maybe I could see him after they had talked. I was right, in a sense. But not the one I wanted.

Five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes passed. I heard muffled shouting, but neither of them emerged. I was starting to get impatient. I told myself if they weren't out in the next two minutes, I would go check on them.

Those two minutes never came.

After about 30 seconds, I heard it. That sound.

A gunshot, echoing through the TARDIS, followed by the Doctor's agonized cry, "No!"

I ran into the room, and the first thing I see was the Doctor holding a gun; standing still and staring, shocked.

Then I saw the Master.

...doubled over, clutching at his stomach. Blood oozed from between his fingers. He stumbled backwards, and I dashed over to catch him.

"It's alright. I've got you." I said. Then I glared up at the Doctor. "How could you?"

He shook his head, dropping the gun to the ground and coming to crouch beside us. "That wasn't me. I swear, I didn't even have my finger on the trigger."

I looked down at the Master. His face was twisted in pain. "What happened?"

"...necessary..." He muttered.

"What was necessary?"

He took a deep breath. "Doctor... didn't tell you. When he brought me here... I had been... shot... dying. Doctor... saved my life, but... my death was... fixed point in... his life. I was... supposed to die. If I didn't... something terrible would... happen."

"So, what then? You told the Doctor to shoot you?"

(The Master)

"Too... cowardly. Wouldn't... do it." Ah! It hurt even worse the second time.

"What did you do?" She pressed me. I didn't answer. I was really trying to concentrate on not blacking out just yet.

"He gave me the gun, and told me to shoot him. I said I wouldn't, and, well... I don't know why happened. My finger wasn't even touching the trigger. It just fired by itself." The Doctor looked down at me, understanding slowly dawning on his face. "You did it. You used some sort of trick to pull it from across the room."

I tried to grin. "Guilty as... charged." I grimaced. "Someone had to."

"No, no, no, no... it can't end like this!"

"This seems all to familiar," I joked. Then I became serious. "Doctor... There's something... I never... told you." I slowly revealed it, sitting in the palm of my hand. My ring.

"What-?"

"I... told Lucy... well, I was going to... come back. She was to... find the ring and..." I trailed off, leaving him to figure it out.

It was a few moments before he could say anything. "You- you lied!"

I nodded. "And, there's... something else. If- when this is used to... bring me back..." I took a deep breath. "I won't remember any of this. After what happened on the Valiant, I won't... remember anything."

(The Doctor)

I blinked tears out of my eyes. None of this? Not even Riylie? He won't remember any of this. I wanted to protest, but I knew if he remembered it would create an even bigger paradox. I just nodded.

Riylie closed her eyes and buried her face in his chest, sobbing. "Why not?"

He tried to explain, but his voice was so soft I couldn't hear what he was saying. She sat up again and wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" The Master asked.

"If I had just stayed out of the way, this wouldn't have happened."

He shook his head, then gestured for her to come closer. "I need to... tell you something."

"What is it?" She said, her ear inches from his lips.

He whispered something to her. I couldn't hear it, but I understood the look in his eyes.

His name.

The Master had told Riylie his name.

After we had stopped on earth to give the Master a proper burial, Riylie accompanied me back to the TARDIS. I had offered to take her home, but she wanted to stay with me. I have to admit I was glad. I didn't want her to leave.

I convinced her to lie down, and she curled up on the cot I had prepared.

"Doctor, about the drums..."

i froze. "What about them?"

She closed her eyes and sighed. "I can't hear them anymore." She looked up at me. "I don't want to forget. If they've faded..." She took a deep breath, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "Will my memories of him fade, too?"

I knew what she meant. I shook my head. "Even if we're the only ones, I promise you we will never forget."

We didn't really mention it after that, but I know she remembers.

Because sometimes, when she's sleeping, I can see her fingers twitching.

Tapping out a beat.

1, 2, 3, 4.