Chapter Two

"Stirring speech, sir, well done."

The Master looked over at the aide standing by the door. He forced a smile onto his face and nodded at the sycophantic fool.

"Thank you, Hobson." He said politely.

"May I be the first to wish you luck and hope that you have a long and successful term." Hobson said.

The Master nodded.

"Again, thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some paperwork that needs my attention."

"Oh yes, yes, of course sir." Hobson said backing up. "I'll be available if you need anything. Anything at all."

The Master smiled and nodded. He waited until Hobson was out of earshot before looking at Lucy Saxon who was standing beside him.

"Can you believe some of the ass kissers around here?" he said pointing to him. "I'm surprised he didn't get down on his hands and knees and lick my shoes."

Lucy smiled and nodded. The Master raised her hand and kissed it. She really was a charming woman. When he first found her, she had been living out on the streets, a homeless vagrant begging for spare change. He hadn't bothered to find out who she was when he hypnotized her and enslaved her mind. She did tell him her first name was Lucy, but that was all he knew about her. Her married name, Saxon, and her past history had been thought up by him and planted in her mind as part of the hypnotic suggestion. Originally, he was just going to use her as part of his scheme to take over the office of Prime Minister. After all, it looked better for him if he were married. But, now he found he was growing quite fond of his new bride. He had always ridiculed the Doctor for taking humans along with him when he traveled, but now he could see why he did. It seemed not all humans were worthless. But, just because he had feelings for Lucy didn't mean he was going to release her from his influence and have her blab to the press about him. That wouldn't do at all. Taking her hand in his, he led her away towards his office.

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"May I help you sir?" The receptionist said looking up at the alternate Doctor and Rose.

"Yes, I wish to see Prime Minister…um…"

He noticed the Times lying on a nearby table with the headline HAROLD SAXON ELECTED PRIME MINISTER.

"Harold Saxon." The alternate Doctor finished looking back at the receptionist. "I wish to speak with Harold Saxon."

"And what is this regarding?" the receptionist asked.

The alternate Doctor smiled.

"Well, let's just say that I'm a colleague from back home." He said.

"I'm sorry, sir, Mister Saxon is not seeing anyone at the moment. He's busy. Perhaps if you come back another time?"

"No, I wish to see him now."

"He is busy, sir."

"So am I, which is why I made time to come over and talk to him."

The receptionist sighed.

"Sir, he is not seeing anyone. I…"

Rose gasped when the alternate Doctor punched her hard in the face.

"He WILL see me!" he snarled at the unconscious receptionist.

He tugged Rose's arm.

"Come along, Rose." He said cheerfully. "Mister Saxon's expecting us."

Rose shook her head as she walked with him.

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The Master put his head in his hand while he scanned the mounds of paperwork on his desk. Lucy sat quietly in a chair beside him.

"Ugh, humans, always complicating things. I mean, come on, how many forms do you really need to sign to get a law passed? Just go on TV, tell the world what you want done and then enforce it by any means necessary if they won't comply. You don't need to chop down an entire forest for that. Bunch of bureaucratic nonsense if you ask me."

He sighed.

"Still, if I have to play this game for awhile, I will."

He looked over at Lucy.

"Dear, why don't you go have a lie down? I'm gonna be busy for awhile."

Lucy nodded and stood up. The Master smiled at her as she exited the room.

He looked back at the paperwork.

"Now, let's see, If I can figure all this out." He said shuffling through them.

He tapped the end of his pen on his chin while he read through one of the forms. As he tapped, he suddenly became aware that he was tapping along to the drumming in his head. Sighing, he laid the pen down by the forms and put his head back in his hand.

He got halfway through the form when he heard someone knocking on the door. He glanced up and sighed.

"Great, Hobson's back for more ass kissing, I bet." He muttered.

He cleared his throat.

"Come in." he said.

The door opened and the Master jumped out of the chair not believing what he was seeing.

"You? How did you get here?" he said.

The alternate Doctor raised his eyebrow.

"I walked down the hall and found your office." He said.

"No, how did you get back?" the Master demanded.

The alternate Doctor frowned.

"Back from where?" he said. "I just got here!"

The Master looked at him and looked at the blonde girl standing beside him.

"Where are they?" he demanded.

"Where are who?"

"The…your two companions! Where are they now?"

"Two? I only have one. Are you blind?" the alternate Doctor said gesturing to Rose.

The Master reached into the top drawer of his desk and pulled out a gun. He aimed it at the alternate Doctor as Rose tried to get behind him.

"I'll kill you, Doctor, I swear I will! I'll shoot you until you are dead!"

The Doctor frowned.

"Wait, you know who I am?"

"Of course I know who you are, idiot! I just left you and your buddies stranded in the future. Now tell me how you got back!"

The Doctor stared at him for a moment and then it started to sink in.

"Oh, I see. You mean my double." He said.

The Master frowned.

"Double? What the hell are you talking about?" he said.

The alternate Doctor pulled Rose inside and closed the door behind them.

"Sit, Rose." He said pointing to the chair beside the desk.

Rose obeyed while the alternate Doctor walked to the front of the desk. The Master pointed the gun at him nervously. The alternate Doctor sighed. He pulled up another chair and sat down in front of the desk.

"Put the gun away and let me explain." He said.

The Master eyed him warily for a moment, and then he slowly put the gun back in the open drawer.

"This better be good." The Master said keeping his hand by the gun.

The alternate Doctor cleared his throat.

"I assume since you are a Time Lord that you know all about alternate realities." He said.

"Yes…"

"Okay, well, I am the Doctor from an alternate reality." He said. "I used a void crossing device to come here because I am on the run from the Gallifreyans in my universe."

"O…kay…"

"This is Rose." He said pointing to her. "She was sucked into my reality by accident when she and your Doctor fought and defeated an invasion force made up of Daleks and Cybermen."

The Master frowned, but said nothing.

"Now…even though I resemble the Doctor from this reality, I am nothing like him. Her Doctor is a spineless do-gooding wimp. I am a brave, strong, regal Time Lord."

Rose snorted. The alternate Doctor ignored her.

"Now, unlike her Doctor, I think that the Time Lords are superior and we were created to rule over all the lesser beings of the universe."

The Master perked up at that.

"That is why I came here. You see, when I heard that Gallifrey had been destroyed---"

"I'm sorry, wait, what?" the Master said.

"Gallifrey? It's been destroyed."

"It's been what?"

"Destroyed! Are you deaf as well as blind?"

The Master glared at him.

"Don't talk to me like that, if you know what's good for you."

He gasped when the Doctor slammed his hands down on the desk and lunged across it.

"And don't threaten me!" he snarled in his face. "I kill without a thought and I have no problem killing you even if you are a Time Lord, so don't piss me off! You got that?"

The Master stared at him ,wide-eyed, and nodded. The alternate Doctor sat back down in his seat.

"Now, as I was saying, Gallifrey is destroyed. You are not aware of that?"

"No."

"Why? Have you been here on Earth or something?"

"No, I was living as a human in the year 100 trillion."

The alternate Doctor stared at him.

"I'm sorry; I don't think I heard you right, you said you were a human living 100 trillion years in the future?"

"Yes."

"You're a human?" the Doctor said confused.

"No, not anymore, I used the chameleon arch to turn me into a human."

The alternate Doctor frowned.

"Chameleon arch? What the hell is that?"

"It turns a Time Lord into a human." Rose said.

The alternate Doctor stared at her.

"How do you know?"

"Because my Doctor did it a few months ago when he was being hunted by aliens. He made himself human, so he could hide out in England in the year 1913."

The alternate Doctor's eyes bugged out.

"He willingly turned himself into an ape? Rassilon, the more I hear about this man, the more I want to commit him." He said.

He looked at the Master.

"Okay, so why exactly did you do it?"

"To escape the Time War."

"Why did you want to escape it?"

"I didn't want to fight, so I fled to the year 100 trillion and made myself human so they wouldn't find me."

"Wow, talk about being desperate not to fight." The alternate Doctor muttered. "So, how did you become a Time Lord again?"

"I put myself into a watch and when I opened it, I realized who I was again."

"You put…yourself…into a watch?" the alternate Doctor said slowly.

"I put my memories and my personality into a specially made pocket watch. The watch protected that part of me while I was human."

The alternate Doctor put his elbow on the desk and put his head in his hand.

"Hmmm, interesting. So…what made you decide to return to normal then?"

"It was by accident. I ignored the watch because it had a perception filter on it. When I finally focused my attention on it, i opened it up and when I was restored, I suddenly realized who I was and who the Doctor was and---"

"Whoa, wait, stop right there!" the alternate Doctor said holding up his hand. "The other Doctor went to the year 100 trillion?"

"Yes."

"Seriously?"

"Yes." The Master said frowning.

His frown deepened when the alternate Doctor threw back his head and roared with laughter.

"Omega's orifice, did the dumb shit really think I went THAT far in the future?" he said. "I mean, wow, I never in all my lives would have even considered going to the year 100 trillion."

He looked at Rose.

"Gotta hand it to ya, your sweetie does know how to think outside the box!"

She glared at him as he roared with laughter.

The Master looked over at Rose.

"What is going on?" he said gesturing to the alternate Doctor.

"What's going on is I have had a couple of run-ins now with your Doctor. He caught me one time and imprisoned me on my Gallifrey. I escaped and used a void crossing device to come back over here and put a little chip in his pets' heads. A chip, I might add, that Rose still carries in her head although at the moment it's lying dormant. Anyway, I put a chip in her and Martha's heads and sent them to assassinate the Doctor. It would have worked too if we hadn't gone to this desert planet and got captured by this race of snake men. The Doctor managed to disable the chips and get them back. We found each other and he insisted we battle to the death in front of all these snake men. We fought and at the last minute, they sent in this huge snake that the Doctor killed. He then demanded that they free him and Rose and Martha and they grabbed the leader, but when I asked to go along with them, the Doctor refused and set all these warriors on me. Luckily, my psychic link with my TARDIS was strong enough that I could mentally send out a distress signal and he came and formed around me protecting me from the warriors. I dispatched the two warriors that ended up in the TARDIS with me and used it to get away. I then found out where my double had gone, impersonated him and kidnapped his beloved. Now he's on a search for us and apparently he thought I went to the year 100 trillion."

He put his hands behind his head and leaned back in the chair.

"And that's where he found you, eh?" he said. "So, I take it from your reaction when I walked in that he's still there?"

"Yes, I took his TARDIS and used it to come back here."

Rose gasped and shook her head.

The alternate Doctor grinned at her.

"Hear that, Rose? Dumb-dumb and Martha are trapped 100 trillion years in the future. How will they ever get back to you now?"

"He'll find a way. He always finds a way." Rose muttered.

The alternate Doctor chuckled.

"That's what I love about her. Her blind faith in her sweetie is so endearing." He said to the Master. "So, what about you? Now that you're back and Prime Minister, what are your plans?"

"Why should I tell you?" the Master said narrowing his eyes.

The alternate Doctor's mouth dropped open.

"I think you should tell me because it seems as if we're on the same side here." He said angrily. "It seems to me that we both want the Doctor dead, so why not join forces and work together?'

"Excuse me; didn't YOU hear what I've been saying? The Doctor is trapped in the year 100 trillion, I have his TARDIS and there is no way back."

The alternate Doctor sighed.

"As much as I want to believe that, I wouldn't breathe easy just yet. Rose's faith may be childish, but the Doctor does have brains enough to figure out a way to escape, I'll begrudge him that. Until we know for sure he's dead, I think it would be safer to stick together."

The Master regarded him silently.

"How do I know this isn't a trick, and you're just like my Doctor? How do I know you're not THE Doctor and you're just saying all this so I'll let down my guard?"

The alternate Doctor sighed.

"Rose, tell him." He said gesturing to the Master.

"He's telling the truth. He's not the Doctor from this reality." She said.

"How do I know you're not playing along?"

"You don't, alright?" the alternate Doctor said angrily. "I guess you're just gonna have to trust me, otherwise, we're gonna get nowhere with this."

The Master eyed him trying to decide whether or not to trust him. Even if this Doctor was different, he was still the Doctor and he didn't really feel all that comfortable letting him in on his plans. Still, if he was just as committed to destroying his Doctor as he was, perhaps he could be useful should his Doctor ever decide to rear his ugly head again. Slowly, he nodded.

"Alright, I'll trust you...for the moment anyway." The Master said.

The alternate Doctor smiled.

"Excellent! I could always use more help killing my dimwitted double. Now…he said," slapping his hands together. "What's the plan?"

Rose swallowed hard pushing back the rising fear as the two men leaned in close and the Master began to whisper his plans.