The Doctor staggered into the TARDIS, his goodbyes finished, and, as the Ood said, his song ending. His body felt weak and hot. He could barely drag himself to the TARDIS console and, all the while, his head pounding. 1-2-3-4. 1-2-3-4. A voice echoed around the TARDIS from behind him.
"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes." The Doctor turned and stared at the man leaning in the doorframe of the TARDIS, whose smirk was quickly dropping off his face at the sight of the Doctor.
"Rassilon, Doctor what have you been doing to yourself?" The Doctor stared at him and then turned away.
"Doctor? Doctor…Doctor! Are you alright?" The man's hair gleamed blond in the TARDIS' light and he strode forward, grasped the doctor's arms spinning him around to face him. The Doctor's face remained bowed and he muttered under his breath in response the question.
"You're not real, Master. You died with all the others. Burned with Gallifrey." The Master gaped at him and shook him, forcing the Doctor's gaze from his black suit into his eyes.
"I'm here, Doctor. I'm real," The Master stared into his eyes, his voice calm and level, "What happened to you?" The Doctor tore his eyes away from the Master's and drew in a deep breath before speaking emotionlessly in a monotone.
"Radiation, right after the time lock closed, he knocked four times." The Master stared at him, his face a mixture of shock and confusion.
"Who knocked, Doctor?" The Master queried compassionately.
"Wilfred Mott." The Doctor replied tearily before breaking into great, gasping sobs and sinking to the floor, the Master's arms encircling him as the Master knelt next to him. The Doctor continued to sob unabashedly, muttering about how he had to save and he couldn't leave him, while the Master just comforted him and rubbed his back. When the Doctor's sobs had quieted, the Master softly asked him a question.
"Thete, what have you been doing since then?" The Doctor looked up, astonished by the use of his old name, startled into replying.
"I was saying goodbye to everyone, saving them if I could because I wouldn't see them again." Tears roll down his eyes as he gazes at the Master in sorrow. The Master grabs him and pulls him into a hug while murmuring to the Doctor,
"You fool, couldn't drag yourself to a hospital or even the TARDIS med bay first?" the Master feels the Doctor's head moving against his chest and loosens the hug. The doctor's head remains down and shaking from side to side as he replies.
"Their lives were worth more…" The Master feels a rage build in his heart as he shouts at the Doctor.
"More than what, Doctor? Yours?" The Doctor's body starts to slump back as a whisper escapes his lips.
"Always…" As the Doctor falls into unconsciousness, hears a voice shouting his name as the world goes black.