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Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the very old, very obsolete, and very unreliable laptop I'm using to write this.
Author's Note: AU of Last of the Time Lords, one shot. I encourage anyone who reads this to come up with their own continuations from the ending point. It's not so much a story as a challenge, really. All I ask is that if you do respond to this challenge, please message me to let me know where to find it and read it.
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Fear and Death
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"I've been wandering for too long. Now I've got someone to care for."
Of course, nothing could ever go the way the Doctor planned. No, that would be too easy. The sound of the gunshot echoed through the room, and the Master staggered backwards. Instinctively, Jack rushed to the source of the latest problem, stepping between Lucy and her victim, "Put it down." he ordered her. She didn't even seem to hear him, though she didn't resist when he placed a hand on the gun to force her to lower it.
He glanced over his shoulder to see the Doctor catch his nemesis before he could fall to the ground, "I've got you."
"Always the women." the Master whispered in an ironic tone. As if he actually found this funny.
"I didn't see her." the Doctor said. It almost sounded like an apology.
Jack pulled the gun from Lucy's unresisting hands and stepped away from the would-be murderess. Not exactly surprising, given the company she kept for the last year and more. His hands subconsciously removed the ammo from the weapon, and set both down separately without a word.
"I'm dying in your arms. Happy now?" he heard the Master say, still sounding far too amused in spite of the pain. Jack had been shot through the heart a few of times, he knew how much it hurt. Although, it was one of the quicker ways to go... only better way was a bullet to the brain.
"You're not dying, don't be stupid. It's only a bullet. Just regenerate."
"No."
"One little bullet, come on."
"I guess you don't know me so well. I refuse."
Quite suddenly, Jack felt a burning in his left arm. One of the more recent injuries from the torture that the Master had personally inflicted on him, which for some unknown reason hadn't healed over his last three deaths. He glanced down at the wound to see that the scar had rearranged itself. Into two very familiar words.
Bad Wolf.
In literally an instant, as if time froze as the thoughts crossed his mind, he felt a strong sense of irony, amusement, he could almost hear Rose laughing in his head, and the certainty that Martha would explain the joke to him later, if he asked. But also a command. 'You know death. Share that knowledge.'
As if from a mile away, he heard the Doctor's voice again, "Regenerate. Just regenerate. Please. Please! Just regenerate, come on!" the pleading tone in his voice was painful to hear. Suddenly her command made perfect sense. However much the Master may have done to hurt them, it would hurt the Doctor so much more to lose him. And she didn't want him to be hurt like that. Not again.
"And spend the rest of my life imprisoned with you?" the Master asked, in the most hateful and cruel tone possible, given the amount of pain he must be in. A human would be dead already, but then again Time Lords do have two hearts so that probably explained that.
"You've got to, come on. It can't end like this. You and me, all the things we've done. Axons, remember the Axons? And the Daleks."
'Yes, who could forget those.' Jack thought with bitter irony, taking a couple of steps closer to the two Time Lords. He wasn't completely certain what she had meant by 'share that knowledge', but he had a very good guess. If the Master was refusing to regenerate, he was effectively committing suicide just to spite the Doctor. If he knew what death really felt like- what was waiting in that darkness- he might change his mind pretty fast.
"We're the only two left." the Doctor said, his voice finally cracking. Jack could see the tears running down his face now, "There's no one else. Regenerate!" That last was yelled at the top of his voice. It was meant to sound like an order, Jack was sure, but it just ended up sounding like a desperate plea.
"How about that. I win." the Master whispered.
"You wish." Jack said coldly. He was now standing right next to the two, a part of his mind really hoped the Master perceived it as looming ominously. Both Time Lords looked up, startled out of their twisted little heart-to-heart, as Jack knelt down next to them.
It wasn't something Time Agents usually learned to do, but between that, Torchwood training, watching the Doctor, and over a hundred years to try to train himself, he had a fair idea of how direct telepathy was supposed to work. He'd managed to communicate remotely with his old Time Agent partner telepathically, but that was based on a close emotional connection. He'd also learned simple empathic senses from Torchwood. All he needed to do here was show a memory, it shouldn't be too difficult.
He reached out with his left hand and touched the side of the Master's face, two fingers on the temple like he'd seen the Doctor do on several occassions. He noticed the Doctor's eyes flicker to the scar on his forearm, and all confusion seemed to vanish from the Doctor's face.
The Master, on the other hand, let out a loud scream. Whether it was pain or fear, Jack wasn't sure. The memory he was sharing held both. He always told those who asked that he never saw or felt anything when he died. That was a lie, one of those kind lies intended to comfort the mortals he cared for.
Blackness. Freezing cold. An infinitely powerful, cruel and soulless presence watching, waiting. Blood and ice. And this was only the first few seconds, Jack never stayed there long enough to really see that malicious being, for which he had always been grateful.
When the Master's eyes opened, he glared at Jack. If looks could kill. Then again, even that wouldn't bother Jack too much in the long run. "Fuck you." he hissed angrily.
Jack rolled his eyes, and muttered under his breath, "First time for everything." before speaking more audibly, "No thanks."
The Doctor, who had obviously heard Jack's muttered remark, looked like he might have laughed if he wasn't already so emotionally drained.
But then the Master's body tensed and a brilliant golden light engulfed him. Both the Doctor and Jack backed away rather quickly. "What, exactly, did you show him?" the Doctor asked, staring at Jack with undisguised amazement.
"Death." Jack answered rather bluntly. No need to go into the details right now. Certainly not when there were more than half a dozen mortal humans in the room who might freak out if they ever knew what he did about death. Or maybe what he knew of it was hell? He didn't care to think too much on that subject.
But then a loud noise like a whip cracking drew everyone's attention back to the Master. Blue lightening was crackling around him, flashing through the golden light of the regeneration. Judging by the shock and fear on the Doctor's face, that most definitely was not supposed to happen.
Sparks continued to flash around the Master, and the golden light flared up brighter in reaction to it. "Is it meant to take this long?" Jack asked warily.
"No." the Doctor answered fearfully.
Almost two minutes passed, during which all they could see of the Master was that golden glowing light and the blue lightening. Jack could smell the distinct aroma of burned electronics. Then rather suddenly, with one last spark of blue light and the burning smell becoming almost intolerable, it stopped.
There, on the floor where the Master had been, lay an unconscious boy. No older than seven or eight, with black hair and very pale skin. Both Jack and the Doctor stared, dumbstruck, for several moments. In fact, though Jack couldn't see the rest of them, he was certain the entire room was totally stunned.
'Someone to care for, indeed.' Rose's voice flickered through Jack's mind, the echoing melodic voice to be associated more with the Bad Wolf than her normal self. And when Jack glanced at his arm the scars had completely vanished.
She was right, though. This was exactly what the Doctor had asked for.
The Doctor was the first to move, kneeling next to the child and checking his pulse. He then spotted the source of the horrific smell, and gingerly picked up the ruined laser screwdriver from the ground. It was smoking and a few crackles of that blue lightening sparked over it as he picked it up. He dropped it rather sharply, shaking his hand as if burned.
"Lazarus thing?" Jack asked.
"Probably." the Doctor muttered. Now touching the side of the unconscious child's face, to initiate a telepathic connection. He didn't close his eyes, though. Jack could see them darting as he saw something no one else could. Then he looked up, "He's actually regressed to childhood. He won't remember anything past this age." he frowned, "There's a block, as if the memories are still there, but even I can't access them."
He pulled his hand away. Now satisfied that the Master was unharmed, however much he may have been changed, and looked up at Jack rather sternly, "Your arm?" he asked sharply.
"Yeah." Jack replied, calmly. As if that was all the answer that needed to be given. Really, it was. They both knew the meaning of it.
The Doctor seemed to think for a moment, then muttered rather quickly, "She spread those words through time. Not just to her relative past, but also to my relative future?"
"Wouldn't be surprised." Jack answered, now grinning, "You did want someone to care for, didn't you?"
The Doctor rolled his eyes and laughed weakly, "I suppose I did."
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