Mark looks from side to side as he walks into a disused warehouse, a carrier bag of take away food in his hand. Inside the warehouse, the Doctor is still at the laptop while Jack uses his manipulator; both look up as Mark walks in, his face still grim from the capture of his family.
"How was it?" Jack asks.
"I don't think anyone saw me. Anything new?" Mark replied.
"I've got this tuned into the government wavelength so we can follow what Saxon's doing." Jack says, waving the Manipulator on his arm.
"Yeah, I meant about my family." Mark corrects.
"It still says the Jones family taken in for questioning. Tell you what, though, no mention of Leo." The Doctor says, looking up from the laptop to look at her companion.
"He's not as daft as he looks." He says with a smile which quickly fell. "I'm talking about my brother on the run. How did this happen?" He asks, handing chips from the bag of our the Doctor and Jack.
"Nice chips." Jack says, sitting down near the Doctor who pushes the laptop away for the time being and unwrapped the chips given to her.
"Actually, they're not bad." She says and pops one into her mouth. Mark sits opposite Jack and who turns to look at her, both of the exchanging a look before Mark nods in the Doctor's direction who was obliviously eating her chips and watching the laptop for any news concerning Saxon.
"So, Doctor, who is he? How come the ancient society of Time Lords created a psychopath?" Jack asked the Doctor who sighed, knowing this would eventually come.
"And what is he to you? Like a colleague…" Mark asks.
"A friend, at first." The Doctor answers and Mark raises an eyebrow.
"At first?" Jack asks, raising his eyebrows suggestively and the Doctor scowls but stays silent. Jacks eyes widen and he lets out a shocked laugh as he looked at the Time Lord in front of him who he was sure would be blushing if she wasn't.. Well, the Doctor.
"I thought you were gonna say he was your secret brother or something." Mark says after a few seconds, wondering how something concerning the Doctor could be so simple; the Doctor and Jack stare at him.
"You've been watching too much TV." The Doctor finally says, causing Mark to chuckle half-heartedly.
"But all the legends of Gallifrey made it sound so perfect." Jack says.
"Well, perfect to look at, maybe. And it was, it was beautiful." The Doctor leans back as memories of Gallifrey, her home, overtook her. "They used to call it the Shining World of the Seven Systems. And on the Continent of Wild Endeavour, in the Mountains of Solace and Solitude, there stood the Citadel of the Time Lords… The oldest and most mighty race in the universe…looking down on the galaxies below…sworn never to interfere…only to watch… Children of Gallifrey, were taken from their families at the age of eight to enter the Academy. And some say that's when it all began. When he was a child… that's when the Master saw eternity. As a novice, he was taken for initiation, it's a gap in the fabric of reality through which could be seen the whole of the vortex. You stand there, eight years old…staring at the raw power of time and space, just a child. Some would be inspired…some would run away…and some would go mad."
"What about you?" Mark asks as the Doctor finally falls silent.
"Oh, the ones that ran away. I never stopped." She says as though it were obvious, placing another chip in her mouth. All three looked up though at the sudden noise of Jack's manipulator who immediately jumped into action, pressing the necessary buttons to find the source of the beeping.
"Encrypted channel with files attached. Don't recognize it." He says.
"Patch it through to the laptop." The Doctor says, grabbing the laptop and typing whilst Jack stared uneasily at the Doctor.
"Um, since we're telling stories, um, there's something I haven't told you." He says, putting the mysterious message onto the laptop through his manipulator and preparing himself for the Doctor's reaction as the Torchwood logo appears onscreen.
"You work for Torchwood." It wasn't a question but Jack nodded, not looking her in the eye; he knew that her eyes would betray the calm atmosphere she gave off.
"I swear to you, it's different. It's changed. There's only half a dozen of us now." Jack tries to justify himself, facing the Doctor now who was staring angrily down at him through her black framed glasses from where she sat.
"Everything Torchwood did and you're part of it?" She asks, wondering how he could betray her - how he could betray Ross! - like that.
"The old regime was destroyed at Canary Wharf. I rebuilt it, I changed it. And when I did that, I did it for you, in your honour." The Doctor only glares at him before opening the file which was a video of a woman none of them recognized.
"If I haven't returned to my desk by 2200 hours, this file will be emailed to Torchwood. Which means, if you're watching this, then I'm… Anyway, the Saxon files are attached. But take a look at the Archangel document. That's when it all started. When Harry Saxon became Minister in charge of launching the Archangel Network." The screen changes from the woman talking to show a graphic of a spinning Earth with satellites.
"What's the Archangel Network?" The Doctor asks and Mark looks at her, wondering how she didn't know something as popular as Archangel.
"I've got Archangel." He answers, pulling out his mobile. "Everyone's got it."
"It's the mobile phone network." Jack says, hoping he wouldn't receive a Doctor glare for speaking. When he didn't, he carried on . "'Cause, look, it's gone worldwide. They've got 15 satellites in orbit. Even the other networks, they're all carried by Archangel."
The Doctor reached into her jacket and pulls out her screwdriver, pointing it at Mark's phone for several seconds as Jack and Mark watched.
"It's in the phones!" She finally shouts, pulling the phone to her eyes as though she could see into it. "Oh, I said he was a hypnotist! Wait, wait, wait. Hold on." She taps the phone against the table - whilst Mark refrained himself from jumping up to save his precious phone - and it begins to beep in the same rhythm that had surrounded them earlier. "There it is. That rhythm, it's everywhere. Ticking away in the subconscious." She says, looking down at the phone with mild awe.
"What is it, mind control?" Mark asks looking a little afraid.
"No, no, no, no. Subtler than that. Any stronger and people would question it. But contained in that rhythm, in layers of code… Vote Saxon. Believe in me. Whispering to the world. Oh, yes! That's how he hid himself from me. 'Cause I should have sensed there was another Time Lord on Earth. I should have known way back. The signal cancelled him out." She says, feeling like they were closer to stopping him than they had only ten minutes before.
"Any way you can stop it?" Jack asks and the Doctor leans back, running her hand through her hair.
"Not from down here. But now we know how he's doing it." The Doctor replies.
"And we can fight back." Mark says in a cheerful voice, causing the Doctor to grin at him.
"Oh, yes!" She says and starts taking apart Mark's mobile and laptop before asking Martha and Jack for their TARDIS keys and taking out her own. She then uses her sonic screwdriver to weld circuitry from the phone and computer to the keys before tying them to a string so they could be worn as a necklace.
"Three TARDIS keys, three pieces of the TARDIS with low-level perception properties because the TARDIS is designed to blend in." Mark and Jack exchanged an amused look at that; the TARDIS blended in as much as the Doctor did. "Well, sort of, but… Now! The Archangel Network's got a second low-level signal. Weld the key to the network and… Mark," She looks over at Mark and takes a step back. "look at me. You can see me, yes?"
"Yep!" Mark says, not knowing where this was going.
"What about now?" She asks, slipping the key over her neck. As soon as the key was around her, Mark's vision shifts to the left and he blinks, trying to focus his eyes on where he knew the Doctor was but couldn't look at. Jack chuckles as he watches him.
"No, I'm here. Look at me." She says with an amused smile as Mark's eyes once again moved away from her.
"It's like…I know you're there but I don't want to know." Mark says, still trying to look at her.
"And back again." She announces, taking the key from around her neck. "See? It just shifts your perception a tiny little bit. Doesn't make us invisible, just unnoticed." She says cheerfully, taking a few steps forward before freezing and turning around to face Mark. "Oh, I know what it's like. It's like—it's like when you fancy someone and they don't even know you exist. That's what it's like. Come on!" She walks away and Mark and Jack just stay there, watching her before Mark looks over at Jack who gave him a sympathetic smile.
"You too, huh?" He asks and Mark nods slightly before following the Doctor out, Jack following quickly.
*Doctor Who*
The Doctor, Mark and Jack were walking out onto the streets, each of them looking around as though expecting Saxon to jump out on them.
"Don't run. Don't shout. Just keep your voice down. Draw attention to yourself and the spell is broken. Just keep to the shadows." The Doctor says, clutching the key tightly in her hand and walking between Mark and Jack.
"Like ghosts." Jack supplies helpfully and the Doctor nods, allowing her eyes to focus on Jack and give him a small smile of appreciation
"Yeah, that's what we are. Ghosts." She says and all three place a key around their necks before heading into the city.
*Doctor Who*
"And as the eyes of the world turn towards Great Britain, sources indicate that Air Force One has landed on British soil tonight."
Saxon and Lucy arrive, arm in arm, with an escort to greet the American President on the tarmac. Saxon looked positively gleeful as he looked over at the older man who was scowling deeply.
"Mr President, sir!" Saxon says with a salute and President Winters glares at the man in front of him. How he got elected Prime Minister of Great Britain, he'll never know!
"Mr Saxon. The British Army will stand down. From now on, UNIT has control of this operation." He says, not bothering with a proper greeting, instead choosing to show Saxon that he was in charge.
"You make it sound like an invasion." Saxon says amused, though only Lucy picked up on this.
"First contact policy was decided by the Security Council in 1968. And you've just gone and ignored it." President Winters says and Saxon just sighs.
"Well, you know what it's like. New job, all that paperwork. I think it's down the back of the settee. I did have a quick look. I found a pen, a sweet, a bus ticket and uh…have you met the wife?" He says pulling Lucy forward slightly and as he did he caught sight of three figures stood on the tarmac in the distance. Well, this just got more fun, he thought with a grin as he turned to face President Winters who had ignored Lucy.
"Mr Saxon, I'm not sure what your game is but there are provisions at the United Nations to have you removed from office unless you are very, very careful. Is that understood?" Saxon mimes zipping his lips and President Winter's fists clenched. "Are you taking this seriously?" He asks and Saxon nods. "To business. We've accessed your files on these…Toclafane. First contact cannot take place on any sovereign soil. For that purpose, the aircraft carrier Valiant is en route. The rendezvous will take place there at 8:00 am." The President glared as Saxon tries to talk through zipped lips. "You're trying my patience, sir." He says and Saxon slowly makes a shownof unzipping his lips.
"So America is completely in charge?" He asks, wanting to grin at how stupid this ape was.
"Since Britain elected an ass, yes. I'll see you onboard the Valiant." He says, turning on his heel to leave before Saxon pipes up.
"It still will be televised, though, won't it? Because I promised, and the whole world is watching." He says and President Winters stops to think.
"Since it's too late to pull out, the world will be watching. Me." He finally says, quickly walking away to a car that was waiting.
"The last President of America." Saxon says to Lucy, watching the President walk away. "We have a private plane ready and waiting. We should reach the Valiant within the hour." He says before motioning for Lucy to go first. "My darling." He says with an almost mocking smile on his face, knowing that the Doctor, her human companion and the freak were watching.
Saxon turns back to watch President Winters drive away, turning back and looking at the area with the Doctor, Mark and Jack are standing. He debates whether or not to wave when a siren announces the arrival of a police van. The doors open and the Jones family are pulled out. The Doctor, Mark and Jack watch as Saxon runs up to them, greeting from them as though they were the best of friends.
"Oh my God." Mark breathes, watching as Saxon taunts her family who were being treated as though they were criminals, something Mark wished he could forget.
"Don't move." The Doctor warns him.
"But…" Mark tries to protest but was stopped by a single word from the Doctor.
"Don't." Jack watched, wondering what it would take for Mark's faith in the Doctor to be broken, because he had a feeling that the Master would do so. The three watched as the Jones family was transferred to a Land Rover.
"I'm gonna kill him." Mark announces and Jack nods in agreement whilst the Doctor stood there in silence.
"Say I use this perception filter to walk up behind him and break his neck?" Jack says and the Doctor turns her head quickly.
"Now that sounds like Torchwood." She hisses angrily and Jack matches her stare.
"Still a good plan." He shrugs, turning back to look at the proceedings before him.
"He's a Time Lord, which makes him my responsibility." The Doctor says, her eyes following Saxon. "I'm not here to kill him. I'm here to save him." She says and Jack scoffs.
"I can think of many ways you can save him," He says with a smirk before looking down at his manipulator, almost laughing at the Doctor's expression which was torn between shock and outrage. "Aircraft carrier Valiant. It's a UNIT ship at 28.2N and 10.02E." Jack announces, changing the subject from the Doctor and her mission to save the Master.
"How do we get onboard?" Mark asks, willing to change the subject from the man who had captured her parents and was a possible competitor for the Doctor's hearts.
"Does that thing work as a teleport?" The Doctor asks Jack.
"Since you revamped it, yeah. Coordinates set." He says and the Doctor makes sure that they were all touching the manipulator before activating it. They all arrive in an engine room aboard the Valiant and Mark and Jack groan.
"Oh, that thing is rough." Mark says, clutching his head.
"I've has worse nights." Jack says, cracking his neck. "Welcome to the Valiant."
"It's dawn." Mark says, walking towards a porthole on the wall. "Hold on, I thought this was a ship. Where's the sea?" He asks, looking down at the Earth below them.
"A ship for the 21st century. Protecting the skies of planet Earth." Jack says as they both look out of the porthole.
*Doctor Who*
Saxon and Lucy walk into the bridge of the Valiant which also acted as a conference room. They look around, noticing the secret service agents, various military personnel as well as camera crews preparing for the event.
"I want the whole thing branded in my sort of honest, not the United Nations'. Got that?" They both hear President Winters say and Saxon walked up to him, Lucy faithfully following.
"Anything I can do? I could make tea or isn't that American enough? I don't know, I could make grits. What are grits, anyway?" He says and President Winters grits his teeth in annoyance.
"If you could just sit." He says and Saxon turns around, making a face at Lucy.
"Misery guts. What do you think? It's good, isn't it?" He asks as he pulls out a chair for Lucy who sits, looking around the ship.
"It's beautiful." She says and Saxon smirks.
"Some of my best work." He says and leans closer to whisper. "Ministry of Defence. I helped design this place." He sits beside her with a smug smile. "Every detail."
*Doctor Who*
The Doctor, Mark and Jack run through the maintenance corridors; the Doctor stops and looks down another corridor when she hears one of the most glorious things sounds in the back of her head.
"We've no time for sightseeing!" Jack shouts back at her, pulling Mark to a stop and looking back at the Doctor.
"No, no. Wait. Shh, shh, shh. Can't you hear it?" She asks.
"Hear what?" Jack asks after he and Mark exchange a look, wondering if the Time Lord had finally lost her mind altogether.
"Doctor, my family's on board." Mark says, fully prepared to start running again.
"Brilliant! This way!" The Doctor says with a smile, walking down the corridor and running through some more, Jack and Mark following behind her. The Doctor opens a set of doors to reveal the TARDIS and she grins, looking at her wonderful blue box.
"Oh, at last!" She says, walking up to the TARDIS.
"Oh, yes!" Mark laughs.
"What's it doing on the Valiant?" Jack asks but was ignored as the Doctor opens the door and all three walk in to see a very different interior which was bathed in red.
"What the hell's he done?" Jack asks in horror, walking closer to the console.
"Don't touch it." The Doctor warns Jack in a grave voice.
"I'm not going to." Jack says.
"What's he done though? Sounds like it's… sick." Mark says and looks at the console which had been stripped of certain parts and caged off.
"It can't be. No, no, no, no, no, no, it can't be." The Doctor says, looking at the console closely but not touching it.
"Doctor, what is it?" Mark asks, coming up behind the Doctor.
"He's cannibalised the TARDIS." The Doctor says in a horrified voice, staring up at the roof of the console room with wide eyes and her jaw open in shock.
"Is that what I think it is?" Jack asks, catching on quickly as to what was wrong.
"It's a paradox machine."
