Chapter Two: Reunions

He laughed, and then Martha did turn to look at them. Rose was standing a few feet behind her, looking for all the world as if she was totally and completely at home. The Master circled her, expression intent.

"Oh, I like you," he said as a slow smile spread across his face. "You're feisty!" He continued to move around her, but she stared straight ahead. "There's something…off, about you." He was close now, close enough to touch her, close enough to see her pulse throbbing in her neck, to smell the vanilla and almonds in her shampoo—and something else. He stopped perpendicular to her, his chest inches from her side, his lips centimeters from her ear. "You reek of the Time Vortex." He shifted and licked her cheek. "I can taste it on your skin." His voice was low, intimate, and sent shivers of revulsion down Martha's spine—and he wasn't even touching her. She didn't know how Rose could stand so still, could keep her eyes focused on the soldiers in front of them instead of on the monster beside her.

"So that's who you are!" His face was jubilant. "You're Rose. You absorbed the Time Vortex itself, the heart of the TARDIS. And then you got lost. Little girl wandering through the forest alone," his voice dropped lower, threatening, "until she found a wolf."

"You've got it wrong." Rose turned her face to stare at him, lips and nose almost brushing his. "I'm the wolf."

"You were the wolf," he corrected her. "The Doctor took it out of you, took away your fangs and claws. Now you're just Red Riding Hood, defenseless little girl." The easy smile dropped from his face and the light disdain from his voice. "When I kill you, I want the Doctor to watch. I want to see his face when I cut open your chest and pull out your single, human heart." His face twisted into a grimace. "To the Valiant, Martha Jones, Rose Tyler. Let's not keep the Doctor waiting."


The Master was nowhere to be seen. Jack Harkness glanced around the bridge of the aircraft carrier Valiant. Francine and Tish, both dressed in demeaning maid outfits stood across from him, also under heavy guard. Clive was next to them. The Doctor was at Jack's right, closer to the controls, still in his cage.

The Master had a lot to answer for. He murdered millions, no, billions. He tormented the Jones family relentlessly. He killed Jack over and over and over again. He reduced the Doctor to living like an animal, trapped and tortured. For a year he held them here, delighting in their misery and pain like the sadist he was. Rage bubbled within Captain Jack Harkness. Their attempt at escape had failed. The Master's screwdriver had isomorphic controls. He, and he alone, could use it, and the Doctor's screwdriver was broken—destroyed by the Master.

He wanted to make the Master pay. He wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine—kill him over and over again until he ran out of regenerations, and then withhold the last death; he wanted to lock him in a prison for ages and let him rot, wrap him in unbreakable chains forged in the heart of a dwarf star and listen to him scream out his loneliness and despair. He pushed the feelings down. Whatever he thought, the Master was a Time Lord, and that made him the Doctor's responsibility, not his own. Despite their differences of opinion, and the fact that the Doctor left him stranded on Satellite five, Jack would stand behind whatever he did to the Master. Even if he let him live.


The doors to the room burst inward as the Master strode onto the bridge of the Valiant, followed by his wife and retainers. He grinned at Jack and slapped Tish's bum on his way to the Doctor. Jack dug his fingernails into his palms until he could feel blood dripping down his hands. Francine hugged Tish to her and Clive watched the Master go, cold hatred written in every line on his face. The Master stopped by the Doctor's cage.

"I have a surprise for you," he said. A mad grin twisted his face. "I do hope you enjoy it." He bounded up the stairs to stand on the control platform, and turned to face the door. "Bring them in!" he commanded.

The double-doors opened again, and two women entered the room, escorted by four soldiers. The one on the left was Martha Jones. The other was unfamiliar. She was taller than Martha, with brown hair a little longer than her shoulders. It obscured her face, which was downcast and turned away. The soldiers marched them to just below the stairs to the control panel. The Master descended.

"Saint Martha," he spat. "Say goodbye to your family. It's the last time you'll ever see them. But you, Doctor. I thought you might like to say goodbye to her." He grabbed a handful of the brunette's hair and pulled it cruelly, twisting her face up and around so that Jack and the Doctor could see.

He stopped breathing. It was Rose. She was older, and no longer blonde, but it was Rose. The Doctor remained silent. "She's pretty, I'll give you that," the Master sneered. "Luscious lips, this one." He bent his head and kissed her with bruising intensity. A low growl built in Jack's throat. He ached to rip her away from him, to drive his fist into the Time Lord's face until it was a mass of broken bone and blood. The Master jerked his head away from Rose with a sharp cry. He touched a finger to his tongue. It was coated in blood. "Bitch!" he snapped and back-handed her, hard. She rocked back, but kept her balance. Deliberately she bent over and spat on the ground at his feet. Jack grinned. "You'll never guess where I found her," the Master continued, conversationally as he glared at Rose. "She was helping Martha, can you believe it? You went and replaced her, and what does she do? She takes care of the new kid."

The wolf is at the door.

The little-girl-who-wasn't-a-girl's words blazed through his mind. Rose was back. But the wolf, she couldn't mean—

"Only here's what I don't understand. She doesn't go around calling herself 'Rose Tyler.' No, she tells everyone she's the 'Bad Wolf.'" He snorted. "That's worse than 'the Doctor,' for a name." He leaned his face close to Rose's exposed throat. "Now, why would she go and do that?" The Doctor said nothing, but he stared at Rose like he'd seen a ghost. Maybe he had. "Don't feel like talking today? No matter. I don't need you to talk to kill them." He shoved Rose away. She staggered, but didn't fall.

The Master resumed his place on the control platform, and pointed his laser screwdriver at Rose and Martha. "Kneel." They did so. Rose glanced at Jack and the Doctor. "200,000 ships set to burn across the universe," the Master proclaimed. "Today, Earth goes to war!" He pressed the intercom button on the side panel. "Is the fleet prepared?" An affirmative crackled over the speakers. He glanced at his watch. "Three minutes to align the black hole converters. Counting down!" A digital display began beeping away the second. "I never could resist a ticking clock." Deliberately he stalked down the stairs, until he was only a few feet away from Rose and Martha. "When the countdown reaches zero, you will both die." He straightened, assuming a position of nobility like he was some great orator out of history. "Bow your head."

180

They did so, but Martha couldn't keep a faint smirk off her face. "And so it falls to me, as Master of all to establish from this day, a new order of Time Lords. From this day forward—"

It was too much. Martha snickered, and then Rose laughed, loud and scornful.

The Master stopped, a muscle in his jaw twitching. "What—what's so funny?"

"Do you really want to know?" Rose asked.

"Know what?"

"What the Bad Wolf is."

He rolled his eyes. "Enlighten me."

130

Her head was high now, her eyes flashing. "The Bad Wolf is me and the TARDIS, together, acting as one. She's alive, and you tore her to pieces and crafted her to sustain something that normally would pull her apart. She's screaming, and I can hear her in my head. So I ought to thank you, because that's why I'm here. You brought me here." Her voice was triumphant. "And I brought Martha Jones. Everywhere she went, I made sure you wouldn't get to her. I made sure she got what she needed to end this."

100

"That's fascinating and all, but I destroyed the gun," he pointed out.

"A gun?" Martha asked incredulously. "A gun in four parts. A gun in four parts scattered across the world." An expression very like pity stole across her features. "And you actually believed that?"

The superiority was draining ever-so-slowly from the Master's face. "What do you mean?"

The Doctor spoke then. "As if I would ask her to kill." He didn't look at Rose, instead, he focused on the Master.

80

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I've got both of them, all of you, exactly where I want you."

"Except that I knew it would happen." Martha was grinning now, the picture of frightened obedience long gone. "The resistance knew about Professor Dougherty's son, and I used that to get me here, where I needed to be, when I needed to be."

"None of this matters!" the Master cried. "You're still going to die!"

"Don't you want to know what I was really doing when I was walking the Earth?" Martha asked.

60

He rolled his eyes. "Go on then, tell me."

"I told a story. That's it. No guns, no bombs, just words." Her voice swelled with confidence, growing louder and louder. "I told them about the Doctor, I told them my story, and I told them to pass it on, to tell everyone they could so that the whole world would know."

"So faith and hope—that's your plan?" Derision dripped from his voice.

30

"No. I gave them an instruction," she replied as she stood. "I told them that if everyone thinks of one word at one specific time—"

"Nothing will happen! Prayer, is that your weapon?"

"All across the world, one word, one thought, one moment—but with fifteen satellites."

The Master froze. "What?"

4

"The Archangel Network," Rose put in. She was standing as well. "The telepathic field connecting the entire human race. Every man, woman, and child thinking one thing: Doctor."

0

Flickers of light surrounded the Doctor's cage. The Master stared at him. "Stop it!" he yelled. "Stop it now!" The light coalesced, forming a blinding cocoon around the Doctor.

"You can't stop it." His voice boomed out from inside the light. "Because that's the one thing you can't stop them doing, you can't stop them thinking!"

"No no no no no, you can't do this!" The Master aimed his screwdriver at the light, but the beam was absorbed harmlessly.

"But I can. I've had a whole year to attune myself to the psychic network and integrate with its matrices." The light elongated, growing taller as the Doctor's form regressed back to his original appearance.

"I order you to stop this!" the Master screamed.

"Order all you like. I have one thing to say to you."

"No!" He pointed the screwdriver at Rose and Martha. "I'll kill them!"

The Doctor stretched out his hand, and the screwdriver flew harmlessly to the floor several feet away. "Tell me the human race is degenerate now, when they can do this!" He lifted his arms, and the light, the energy bore him aloft. Martha ran to her family. Tish and Francine pulled her into a tight hug while Clive wrapped his arms around all of them.

Jack watched Rose. She stood, eyes closed, head tilted back, a small smile playing across her lips as the wind generated by the psychic energy whipped her hair around. She was back. He still couldn't believe it was true. Rose was back.

The Doctor drew near the Master, who was backing away. "You can't! It's not fair!"

"I'm sorry," he said as he continued his inexorable path. "I'm so sorry, but you know what happens next."

"No!" He backed away, his hands over his ears, until he hit the wall and dropped to the ground. The energy began to fade and the Doctor descended. He walked to the Master, dropped to his knees, and wrapped his arms around the struggling Time Lord. "I forgive you," he said softly.

"No!" The Master continued to writhe, his hands over his ears. "No! My children!"

The Doctor sprang up from his place on the floor. "Jack! The TARDIS! Destroy the paradox machine!"

He nodded and gestured to the four soldiers. "You men, with me! We've got some maintenance to carry out!" They dashed from the room. The Master was struggling with Jack's Vortex Manipulator, but Rose ripped it out of his hands and tossed it to Martha.

"You're not going anywhere," she said quietly.

The Master laughed, and held out a small remote control. "I've still got this."

"We've got control of the Valiant," Martha pointed out. "You'll never be able to launch."

"I don't need to launch," the Master snarled. "Inside every rocket is a black hole converter. I push this switch and the entire world will explode. Just like Gallifrey."

"Weapon after Weapon after Weapon, and all you do is talk and talk and talk." The Doctor stalked over, hands in his pockets, to stand beside Rose in front of the Master. "All through the years, disaster after disaster, I've had the greatest secret of them all." He regarded the other Time Lord calmly. "I know you. If you push that button, you'll destroy the Earth, and yourself, and that's something you can't do. You never could. You cling to life whatever way you can." He held out his hand. "Give it to me."

The Master stared at him for a moment, and then grudgingly gave him the remote control. The Doctor pocketed it, and turned to face Rose.

"Rose Tyler," the words were like a caress. A soft smile played about his lips as he cupped her face in one long-fingered hand. Martha found she was holding her breath. Her own feelings for the Doctor gnawed on her insides, but there was something so right about the two of them together. Maybe it was the way her eyes closed as his hand brushed against the skin of her cheek, maybe it was the expression on his face—so different from any she'd seen before, or maybe it was the way he said her name, the warmth in his voice and the blinding brilliance of her answering smile.

Something on the control platform beeped. He grinned at Rose, and dashed up the steps. She followed. "I expect a proper hello from you after this is sorted!" she called after him.

"We have incoming! The Toclofane," he said the word as if it left a disgusting taste in his mouth, "are returning to protect the paradox machine."

"Jack will fix it," Rose said confidently. "Although, I'd like an explanation as to what he's doing here obviously alive and well along with that hello."

"When this is sorted," the Doctor agreed, his eyes lingering on her face.

"The Toclofane are disappearing!" Tish cried. The Doctor and Rose turned, and sure enough, the metallic spheres of death wavered and vanished like a mirage on a hot day.

"He did it!" Rose cried. The bridge began to shake violently.

"Doctor!" Martha called as she tried to remain upright. "What's happening?"

"Everybody down!" he yelled as he grabbed Rose and pulled her to the floor. "The paradox is broken; time is reversing!" The past year was unraveling, subsuming itself into the proper timeline and they were at the eye of the storm. It was like being at the epicenter of an earthquake. The universe bucked and shifted around them as they clung to each other. When it calmed they were lying on the floor a year ago. Various officials sat at the table or stood clustered around. The body of President Winters lay sprawled on the floor behind his podium. Two UNIT soldiers grabbed the Master and slapped handcuffs on his wrists.


Rose leaned against the wall, her eyes closed. A truly spectacular headache was building behind her left eye. Being at the heart of a frayed Time stream was an experience she was not eager to repeat. Travelling via Dimension Cannon was hard enough. She grinned. Of course, now that she'd found the Doctor she doubted that transport would be a problem. Still, it they weren't in the clear yet.

Cleaning up the Master's mess had taken hours. UNIT had wanted to keep him in custody, as he was a dangerous alien, but the Doctor persuaded them that he was a bit beyond what they could handle. Dangerous didn't begin to describe him. Then, of course, they had to explain what was going on to the assorted World Leaders and officials who were present. Despite years working at the parallel Torchwood and dealing with a fair number of situations similar to their current circumstances, Rose was exhausted. She would be glad when she and the Doctor could adapt his usual plan of action, i.e. swan off before anyone had the chance to ask them to explain or participate in the clean up.

She opened her eyes as footsteps drew closer to her. Jack, still filthy from his time spent in the bowels of the Valiant, grinned at her. "Never did get a proper hello from you," he said nonchalantly.

"Come 'ere you!" She opened her arms and he swept her into a hug. She laughed as he spun her around. "Okay Jack, you can put me down, now!"

"How did you do it, Rose?" He set her down but kept hugging her. "The Doctor said you were gone—trapped in a parallel world."

"I was." Her voice was quiet. "For a long time, I was. But then something happened, I'm not sure what. The Dimension Cannon started working, and I ended up in this universe. Not in the right time, of course." Her voice was thick with irony. "Not even in the right galaxy. Had to mug a couple dozen time Agents to get the right parts after my transport burned out. Traveling dimensions is hard on tech, apparently. And even after it was fixed I had to track him down and make sure I didn't disrupt the time lines."

"I'm glad you're back."

She pulled away enough to smile up at him. "Me too, Jack. Me too. Although I'm not sure how you can be here."

"That's a story for later," Jack promised. He glanced around the room. They were alone, except for Martha, her family, and Lucy Saxon. He pitied the woman. The Master was not an easy person to live with. And while her part in the situation angered him, he knew that she'd been through just as much Hell as Martha's family, if not quite as much as he or the Doctor.

As if the Time Lord knew Jack was thinking of him, he strode into the room, pushing the Master ahead of him. "What are you doing with that one?" Jack asked, dropping his arms from around Rose so that she could go to the Doctor.

"He's a Time Lord, that means he's my responsibility," the other man stated as he took Rose's hand. "He'll come with us on the TARDIS. I can keep an eye on him there, and keep him safe."

The Master sneered. "Go with you, as what, your pet? Travel the stars with you and your human bit of skirt? I'd rather die."

"That can be arranged." Francine's voice cut through the room. They turned to stare at her. She stood apart from her family, a revolver clenched in her hands. It was aimed at the Master. "You murdered billions of people," she spat. "You are a monster."

"Is this why you love human beings, Doctor?" the Master enquired, mockery written in every line of his body. "The greatest monsters of them all."

"Shut up!" Francine cried. "You tortured my family, you tried to kill my daughter, why shouldn't I kill you?"

The Doctor moved to place himself between her and the Master, but Rose pushed him back. She moved slowly, like she was trying to help a wounded animal. "You're Martha's mum, right?" She flashed a smile at Francine. "She talked about you. You slapped the Doctor the first time you met him." The smile returned. "My mum did the same thing." She was almost between them now. The Jack glanced at the Doctor. He was tense, hands curled into fists, fairly vibrating with the desire to shove Rose out of the way.

"Thing is, you don't want to do this, not really. You think it'll make you feel better, but it doesn't. It makes you feel worse."

"You don't understand," the older woman ground out between clenched teeth.

"I was there," Rose replied. "I followed Martha wherever she went. I saw it down there. I've wanted to lash out, to hurt someone because they hurt me, but pain doesn't negate pain. If anything, it increases it."

"No!" she yelled. "He's a monster!" She closed her eyes and squeezed. A shot rang out.

The Doctor frantically looked around the room. Martha and Tish were standing against the wall, looking dazed. Jack was all ready next to Francine, who had dropped the gun. He kicked it away from her. The Master stood where he was, unharmed and unconcerned. Then the Doctor saw where Jack was looking. He followed Francine's horrified gaze—to Rose. A brilliant red stain was spreading across the gray material of her jacket. She pressed her hand to her stomach and pulled it away. It was covered in blood. Her blood.

"Oh," she said softly. "Well." And then she collapsed.