It was safe to say that Zoey was pissed, really pissed, they had been waiting 5 hours for the Master and the Doctor to find their way back after playing the gallant heroes and so far there had been nothing, zilch, zip. Oh she could still feel them both in her head, but no longer in their usual annoying intensity, all she could hear were quiet murmurs, distant echoes of conversation. She let out the breath she didn't realise that she had been holding, and rose from her seat, to fiddle with the console before kicking it angrily, which earned her a sharp mental jab from the Tardis and a really sore foot. She could leave, she knew that she could, they had gone through those time windows knowing that they couldn't get back, and she knew painfully that she couldn't go and get them, so her only choices were to leave and continue alone, or stay and wait. She chose to wait, for Rose's sake, and for the Doctor, at the moment she was too annoyed to even consider waiting for the Master. She felt betrayed by him, he had kissed Reinette! Kissed her, full on proper kiss, and what had she got? Not a bloody thing! Sure that was selfish but what did he expect from her? They had been getting closer over the past year and a half and he knew that, she slumped back down onto the captain's chair and sighed, it wasn't fair, after everything he hadn't even considered how she might have felt if he just left. She heard footsteps pad into the control room and she turned to see Rose, rubbing her eyes violently to hide the tears.

"Hey" Zoey said softly, looking at Rose with wide eyes, also starting to brim with tears she was trying to hide.

"Hey, any sign of them?" Rose asked, the begging tone in her voice was painfully evident

"No, I'm sorry, there's just nothing" she groaned and rubbed her face with her hand "I'm going out of my mind here" she admitted, her voice resigned, Rose gulped, she had only heard Zoey speak like that once, and it was a time that still sent shivers down Rose's spine, it was when the Doctor had sent them both back from Satellite 5, after he had blocked Zoey's memory of how to get back to him and the Master, it was terrifying.

Defeat

Rose moved to the Captain's chair and sat down beside her, hoping to provide some sort of moral support, she looked into Zoey's eyes to see the time lords emotions finally betraying her, there was a storm in those eyes, Rose could see everything that Zoey was feeling, pain, loss, frustration, anger, love. The last one didn't shock Rose, not at all; she knew how Zoey felt about the Master even if she didn't.

"Why did he do it Rose?" Zoey asked letting her head fall back so that she could stare at the ceiling.

"Do what?"

"Just leave, without even saying a word"

"I don't know, really I don't, maybe he was afraid"

"Of what?"

"Saying goodbye, maybe he knew that if he said anything to you then he wouldn't be able to go through with it, that he would have to stay, and he knew that he couldn't do that, he knew he had to help the doctor, just like before"

Zoey nodded, turning to Rose and saying "I saw by the way"

Rose blushed, knowing immediately what Zoey was talking about, it was the searing kiss she and the doctor had shared before he left "Oh" was all Rose could say back to her, she was about to defend herself when Zoey snapped her head up, her eyes alert, she leaned forward as if straining to hear something, and then she grinned, grabbing Rose's hand and pulling her off of the chair, shouting for Mickey in the process, she hurtled out of the Tardis over to the fireplace.

"Zoey what is it? What have you heard?"

"The noise in this ship, it's pitched up at least 60Htz, something is still working" she grinned foolishly bouncing on her heels as she waited.

"I can't hear anything" Mickey said, the fear of humiliation clear in his voice

"You and Rose wont, you're human" Zoey grinned to him, and Mickey smiled, finally he wasn't being ridiculed

"Does that mean?" Rose asked not daring to believe what she was thinking

"Yep, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1" Zoey counted on her hand and the fireplace swung around revealing the Doctor, the Master...and Reinette.

The grin that had lit up Zoey's face was wiped away and replaced with a cold stare, anger surged through her as she took in the sight before her. Reinette stood with a small smile on her face, her hand on the Masters arm.

"Hello, I don't believe we have met, I'm" Reinette only managed part of her sentence before Zoey answered quickly through gritted teeth "I know who you are, if you'll excuse me", turning on her heel and storming back into the Tardis slamming the door behind her.

"Oh Master you've really done it this time" Rose said as she turned to chase Zoey before pausing and turning back to kiss the doctor soundly "Nice to have you back" she whispered, looking to Reinette in a clear gesture of ´Hands offˋ, then running back to the Tardis in search of her best friend.

"Well that was awkward" the Doctor said nonchalantly, ignoring the stunned look from Mickey and Reinettes raised eyebrows, instead focussing on the Masters down cast face, yep he had it bad, his love for Zoey clear in unguarded eyes. Placing his hand on his best friends shoulder, he gave it a tight squeeze, causing the master to look up and offer a weak smile.

"Come on lets go inside" the doctor announced, taking Reinettes hand and leading her in, leaving a stunned Mickey and a downtrodden Master to follow in silence.

***

Zoey paced around her room, she needed to be doing something, anything that would stop her from ringing the Master's neck, she picked up the alarm clock that she had for decoration and hurled it against the wall as hard as she could throw it. The sound of the clock hitting the wall wasn't enough so she searched for something heavier, finding an old stereo she must have bought when she first came to Earth, she picked it up and threw it, the satisfying thunk as the stereo shattered against the wall calmed her a little. She fell to her bed and was subjected to a ten minute tirade from the Tardis that would make even the old Master wince, but she tried not to care, she had to do anything to stop her becoming catatonic. Her mind tried to fathom why Reinette was here, surely this messed up the timelines, and she could feel the gentle pressure in her head of time moulding around the new direction that Reinettes life had taken. A soft knock at the door disturbed her from her thoughts.

"Come in Rose"

Rose pushed the door open slowly, walking into the room "How did you know that it was me?"

"No one else knocks" Zoey said trying to smile

"He really got you this time huh?"

"Yeah, I just don't know why, I need to know, I need to solve the puzzle, I'm like House. I have the Rubik's complex"

Rose snorted "Yeah you are in that respect, needing the answers and all that, if you didn't think of it then it isn't possible, that kind of thing"

"Yeah"

"Look, I think you should come into the control room" Rose said, plunging into the deep end, watching Zoey's eyes flash dangerously.

"No way am I going in there with her"

"Zoey, come on, just walk in like it hasn't bothered you, Reinette is a bitch, she knows that this is getting to you and she's loving it"

"So you want me to go in there and pretend everything is ok?"

"Well, yeah"

"Rose, I'm a lot of things but I'm not a masochist"

"Control room. Now" Rose demanded as she stood up

"No"

"Then she has already won" Rose said as she left the room

"Wait!" Zoey shouted as she got up and followed Rose out of the room

"What made you change your mind"

"Zoey Saxon never loses" she grinned, but Rose couldn't hide from the slightly menacing tone in her voice