Amy's phone rang and Twelve held up a hand to stop Jack and the Master, who were arguing again. "That'll be Eleven." He said. "Amy, go ahead and answer the phone."
Amy hesitated, but flipped open the phone and held it to her ear.
"Amy! Oh, Amy! I'm so sorry!" The Doctor was panting into the phone, and Amy frowned.
"What?" She asked bluntly.
"I escaped, but not before they took Rory." The Doctor told her. "They, they killed him. He's dead, Amy. Again! It's all my fault!"
"Doctor," Amy tried to interrupt.
"And I kept yelling at him! The whole time, I just kept yelling at him. You know the last thing I said to him, Amy?" The Doctor continued, seeming to get more frantic as he talked.
"Doctor!" Amy tried again.
"I said "Oh, shut up, Rory!" That's what I said! I told him to shut up! I didn't think they would kill him! And I don't know if I can bring him back this time! Everybody has to die eventually! He can't keep avoiding it forever! Maybe this is the real time! Oh my gosh, I'm so, so, very sorry! Oh, Rory." His voice was cut off, as he apparently stifled a sob.
"DOCTOR!" Amy shouted, effectively shutting him up. "Rory's fine!"
"…What?" The Doctor asked.
Amy laughed. "Of course he's fine, you moron! He's always fine."
"But, Amy, he's not here!" The Doctor said. "I saw them take him away, and he's gone now, there was an explosion or something and I can't find him anywhere!"
"No, you probably can't." Amy said. "Because he's standing right here, next to me."
"What!? How did he get there!?" The Doctor demanded. "And where are you anyway!?"
"Duh!" Amy laughed. "We're in the TARDIS! Twelve told us what was happening, so we flew down and picked him up. He's fine. Oi!" This was directed at Rory. "Come here, and tell the Doctor you're fine!"
Rory walked over and reluctantly took the phone. Holding it up to his ear, he sighed. "Hello, Doctor," he said.
"RORY!" Said the Doctor. "You're alive!"
Rory shrugged. "…Yeah," he said simply.
"Well then, I'm sorry for yelling at you. Now, what did Amy mean by Twelve?"
"Oh," Rory said. "Well, it's… it's you. Well, I guess it's the next you, or something. He showed up and told River what was going on, so she, the Master, and… um, the last you, I guess, all worked together to fix the TARDIS, and then they flew down and picked me up. We should be down there to get you soon."
"Well, why haven't you come to get me yet?"
"Well, Twelve told me that he needed to give you a chance to call before we picked you up." Rory said as explanation, though he sounded pretty confused about it himself. "He didn't tell me why. But don't worry; we'll come get you soon."
The Doctor sighed on the other end of the phone. "Of course he did," he said bitterly. "So I'm that kind of man, then? Always giving them a chance to reflect."
"I'm not sure what you mean." Rory confessed.
"Oh forget it." The Doctor told him. "I guess I had it coming. Anyway, can you come get me soon? Because I've been here for a while, and I would like a chance to see what I'm going to look like."
"Yeah, we'll be on our way soon, the Master just wants to make a few… quick repairs." Rory said, glancing to the corner where the Master had turned back to his work. "I think he likes the TARDIS more then you do."
"Tell Pond that I'll see her soon." The Doctor said, and then the phone clicked off.
Rory hung up the phone and handed it back to Amy. "He says that he'll see you soon." He told her. Amy grinned.
"He really sounded worried, didn't he?" She said, pocketing the phone. "Why do you think Twelve didn't want to pick him up with you?"
"Well," Rory frowned. "I'm not sure. The Doctor – our Doctor – said that Twelve would give people a chance to reflect, maybe he'd wanted the Doctor, Eleven, to reflect on something."
Amy considered that. "But what would he reflect on?" She asked. A groan sounded from across the room. Amy and Rory looked over to see the Master glaring at them as he worked on the TARDIS engines.
"You people are really, really, stupid." He said. "Twelve wanted to give Eleven a chance to think about what the roman guy meant to him. He wanted Eleven to think that he was dead so that he would look back on how impatient and altogether pig headed he was when he and the roman were being a distraction. Duh."
"He wanted him to reflect on me?" Rory asked, confused. "Why? It doesn't really matter, does it?"
"Of course it matters!" The Master rolled his eyes at the ceiling. "Obviously, it matters. You can't go through life taking advantage of someone just because you can. As far as I can tell, he wasn't acting very much like the Doctor to you. As far as I can tell, he was acting more like me. And don't get me wrong, I'm all for that, but he needed to be jolted back into the Doctor." Here the Master stood and leaned against the wall.
"He was obviously under pressure," He continued, inspecting his nails. "Trying to get things done and running for his life and answering phone calls, and if, in those stressful moments, you got treated unfairly and your needs were neglected, then so be it. You're just Rory the Roman, you'll get through it. Because you're like me, you're like Harkness, you always get through it. And he needed to understand that you mattered. Just like Harkness matters to him, he needed to see that he can't risk you, either."
There was silence in the room as everyone stared at the Master in amazement. He didn't seem to notice and continued talking.
"Well, Twelve probably remembered how good it was that he was made to reflect." The Master said, looking at Rory. "Now you know that the Doctor cares about you, and the Doctor knows that he cares about you. I think that that's a good thing, you know. Every so often everyone needs a chance to reflect. And when they reflect they find out what matters most. Twelve wanted Eleven to reflect so that he would know that you're one of the ones who matter the most."
"That. Was. AWESOME!" Jimmy shouted. The Master blinked and looked around at everyone staring at him.
"What?" He asked in confusion.
"That was really deep." Kara said, surprised.
Martha shook her head. "Who knew he had that in him," she said.
"It wasn't that deep." The Master frowned.
Jenny laughed in disbelief. "It was really deep." She said. "I think you're going soft."
"Nope, not me." The Master said, turning back to his work to indicate that this conversation was over. Ten and Twelve exchanged half excited, half amused, grins behind his back and Donna looked hopeful, like she had been waiting for some proof that the Master wasn't as bad as he said he was.
"Is it the hair?" The Master said after a couple of minutes, moving a hand through his blond hair absently and looking bewildered. "It's the hair isn't it?"
"What?" Jack asked, confused by the Master's train of thought.
The Master looked at him with a far away expression in his eyes. "I think it's the hair. You go blonde and suddenly you're a good guy. Because if you think about it, even before the whole get out of the way' thing, I was trying to save a civilization, how was I supposed to know they were evil?"
"Yes, but you tried to save it at the expense of another," Twelve said, more as if he were giving the Master something to think about instead of accusing him.
"Oh, don't try and make me feel better." The Master said, looking as if he was disappointed. "Really, I think I would've turned everyone back to themselves after I got bored of being everywhere at once." He bit his lip and continued running his hand through his hair. "I think it was the explosion. When Lucy tried to stop my revival, I think it affected me in more ways then I thought. Because I wasn't good until a little bit after that."
"Can someone explain to me what he's talking about?" Amy sighed. "Who's Lucy? And what explosion is he talking about?"
"Lucy was the Master's wife." Jack told her, frowning. "He took her to the end of the universe to watch the human population die. All of us prisoners felt sorry for her, as we watched her grow more and more like us, and we watched the life drain out of her beautiful face. Poor girl."
"Well, you can all be proud of her." The Master sighed. "Because if it was really the explosion that turned me into a good guy, then she's to blame for it."
"Or to be thanked." Ten pointed out. "After all, you're here. You're alive and breathing. It really can't be that bad to be on our side."
The Master squinted as he thought. "I don't know." He said, sounding frustrated. "Do I like it? Do I hate it? Do I excel at it? Is it something that I want to keep doing? Is being a good guy something that disgusts me? Or is it something that, perhaps, excites me? I feel like I'm riding some weird high that I can't get off of. That I don't know if I want to get off of."
The Master paused and then sighed. "It's the hair, isn't it?" He asked Ten. "I'm infected because I'm blonde. Like your daughter or Bad Wolf over there. Blonde hair equals good guy. That must be it."
"Must be." Ten lied, trying to hide his satisfied grin. The Master shook his head and turned back to the wall of the TARDIS, stroking it absently and frowning thoughtfully as if he was the one who was reflecting now.
"Well..." Ten said after a moment. "I guess we ought to go get Eleven now, am I right, Doctor?"
Twelve nodded, smiling a little. "Yes," he said. "Yes, now's the time. Let's go!"
As the TARDIS rematerialized back in the same open room they had found Rory in, River opened the door and stepped through. Eleven was leaning against the wall, looking at the TARDIS with a frown, and River smiled.
"Hello, sweetie," she said.
"It's about time you lot showed up," he said testily, straightening up and walking towards the TARDIS. "It's so boring, standing around in an empty room."
"Sorry," River said, her eyebrows raised. "Think about that next time you're late picking me up!"
"Right," Eleven said, pointing his finger over his shoulder as he walked past her into the TARDIS. "Noted."
"Whoa, you're right," Jack said to Amy as Eleven came in. "He is pretty goofy looking."
"Oi!" Eleven said with a glare, before his face broke into a smile. "Hello, Jack," he said. "It's been while."
"Doctor," Jack said with a smile.
"Oh, come here!" The Doctor said with a grin, pulling Jack into a hug. "And you too, Miss Martha Jones," He said, reaching over with his free arm and pulling Martha into the hug.
"Oh, but it's Smith now, isn't it?" He asked, pulling out of the hug and smiling at Martha, who nodded.
"Yeah," she said. "There's got to be a Smith on board!"
"And speaking of Smiths!" The Doctor said, turning to Mickey and patting his shoulder. "Congratulations, Mickey the Idiot, on taking my leftovers. Oh, didn't mean to say that. Sorry." Changing the subject quickly, Eleven turned to Donna. "Earthgirl," he said. "You remember me!"
"Oi," Donna said. "I just remember skinny over there. Not you, bowtie spaceman."
"Oh, gimme a hug anyway," Eleven said. "And Rose! How nice to see you again!"
With a look from River, however, Eleven had to forego the hug with Rose.
"Yes, yes, we're all triply introduced," The Master said in irritation. "Now then, paradox machine over our heads, can we PLEASE get back to the plan?"
"Right," Eleven said.
"Doctor," Ten said, putting his specs on and frowning at Eleven. "What can you tell us about the Tenissfuin?"
"They're definitely the Tenissfuin," He said. "The language, the knowledge, everything about them fits with legend. The security around the place is very refined. However, Rory and I found something while we were running around."
"Nearly dying," Rory inputted. "Is that what you were so excited about?"
"Yes, sorry about the shouting," The Doctor said. "I just really wasn't expecting it is all. What we found was the heart of the Paradox, coincidentally enough, located in the heart of the ship. "
"Right then," John said. "Whatever plan we come up with will have to revolve around how to destroy that machine."
"We'd better get to it then," Jenny said. "We don't know how long they're going to wait before they begin 'consuming' everything."
"Yeah, that'd be good," Craig said. "I'm not really looking forward to finding out what that means."
"Let's get to thinking then," John said.
Eleven, Ten, Twelve, John, and the Master began pacing back and forth, seeming to just narrowly miss each other while they walked in circles. Everyone watched them anxiously, waiting for them to think of a plan.
"You," John began, pointing at Eleven, who held up a hand to stop what he was going to say.
"Small window, floor one, recently repaired so that no more intruders could get inside." He said, answering some unasked question, much to the befuddlement of the companions.
"Maybe the TARDIS…" Started Ten, but here the Master stopped him as he flung his arm out dramatically, just missing hitting John on the head.
"No, too noisy," He said.
"No, he's right." Twelve agreed. "They'd have their guards on us the moment we went through the door. We've really got to think here."
"Maybe separately?" John suggested.
"You don't mean one at a time?" Eleven said, looking stressed as he fixed up his hair a little.
"No, groups," John said.
"He's right. Well, I'm right." Ten said as he walked, half mangling his hair in his anxiety. "Well, John Smith is right. We can't go in one at a time, but if we go in separate teams…"
"Different groups, different missions." Eleven said, smiling.
"Two groups, one to sneak into Mordor…" The Master grinned.
"One for distractions, oh yes!" Ten exclaimed, looking excited once again.
"Um, is someone gonna tell me what's goin' on?" Rose asked, looking annoyed as she tried to follow the rapid conversation.
"I think they're… thinking." Jack said uncertainly, like he didn't quite know.
"Other windows?" John asked Eleven, but Twelve answered.
"No windows, no nothing." He said.
"Doors locked tight." Eleven put in.
"Ooh, I know." The Master said happily, raising his hand like a child would. "We'll blow it up!"
"No blowing anything up!" Ten protested. "We're here to help, not destroy them!"
"We may have to do just that." John started, biting his lip.
The Master groaned in frustration. "I didn't mean kill them!" He snapped. "Doesn't anyone have explosives that can take out a small percentage of the building, say a corridor or a wall like I suggested?"
"I've got explosives." Jack inputted.
"Actually that might work." Eleven said, continuing to pace. "Twelve, what do you think?"
Twelve groaned. "Am I going to have to quote River all the time?" He asked, exasperated. "No spoilers! I really wish I could tell you what to do, but I just can't. You'll have to just see for yourself."
"Fine then, how do we split the teams?" Ten asked. "We can't pick like in football or something, we've got to have reason behind choice."
"Amy's with me." Eleven started picking straight off. "And Rory."
"What?" Ten said disbelievingly. "I just said no picking teams!"
"Well, I want Donna." The Master snapped back at Eleven, ignoring Ten completely. "And… Jimmy! I want to know that they're in good hands, and whose hands are better then mine?"
"You can't just pick the people that you like best!" Ten protested, turning to look at the Master. "And, anyway, why would you get Donna?"
"Not like it matters." The Master sighed.
"What are you talking about? Of course it matters!" Ten said. "And before we pick teams, we've got to decide who leads what group. Group one; stealth mode, group two; distractions."
"The Doctor's gotta lead the distraction," Jack said, with a smirk.
"Yeah," Kara agreed. "Definitely the Doctor."
Amy laughed. "Of course," she said. "The Doctor's always being a distraction."
"Oh, you know it!" River agreed, smiling flirtatiously at Eleven. She seemed to be saying something other than what the other three had meant.
"Wait a minute," Rose interrupted, looking at the four of them. "Are you even talking about the same Doctor?"
Everyone looked at each other hesitantly, as the Doctors and the Master looked around in amusement.
"Eleven," Amy said.
"Twelve," Kara said.
"Ten," Jack exclaimed, looking at the other two incredulously.
"Eleven," River smiled. "Though I don't mind the others."
"We knew who you were talking about," The Master told her.
"Ten took off a perception filter in the middle of a televised meeting of world leaders on a war ship that was being invaded by deadly flying spheres, and then tried to charge that guy." Jack said, nodding toward the Master, who chuckled and looked off into the distance as if he were remembering good times past.
"Twelve flew an airplane into the World Police Headquarters, singing opera at the top of his lungs," Kara shot back. This time it was Jimmy chuckling and looking away.
"Well, Eleven jumped in front of a cyberman, waved his arms, and yelled 'Look at me, I'm a target'!" Amy said smugly. "That in itself screams distraction, literaly."
"Too bad Nine isn't here," Rose said thoughtfully.
Jack scoffed. "What would he do," he said. "Throw a banana at 'em?" Rose and all three of the Doctors laughed at this.
"Banana's are good," Eleven said, causing more laughs from Twelve, Ten, Jack and Rose before he himself dissolved into giggles once more.
"I think Ten should do it," Rose said once everything had quieted down. "He ran the Olympic torch in the 2012 London Olympics."
"Yeah, I saw that," Martha said. "It about gave me a heart attack."
"I saw that too," Jack said, with far less enthusiasm. "My team got the call that everyone in the stadium disappeared on national television. Before we could figure out what happened, they all showed up again. We were still trying to figure out what was going on, and then bam. Doctor, torch, millions of screaming fans. Still have no idea what on earth that was about."
He looked at Ten for an explanation, but the Master cut him off.
"Oh, for heavens sake, pick Ten!" He said, bored of the conversation. "He jumped out of a crashing spaceship, fell through a skylight, and pointed a gun at the Lord President of Gallifrey."
"I did what!?" Ten exclaimed, looking horrified, at the same time that Donna glared at him and said "You did what!?" And River glared at the Master. "Oi," she said. "Spoilers!"
"Well, he has a point," Eleven said. "Ten is a pretty good distraction. Although I still think I've got a few tricks up my own sleeve," He finished with a smile, reaching up and straightening his bow tie.
"Oh, but you've had a turn already!" Ten said, using his fantastic frowny, pouty, serious yet simultaneously joking face that your humble author cannot describe because David Tennant's facial expressions are epic beyond description. It kind of looks like this. *Does face to the best of my ability.* But you all didn't see that, did you?
"Yes, I think it's Ten's turn," The Master said.
"Alright then," Ten said with a grin. "I get to lead the distraction!"
