Chapter Ten
The Doctor glanced at Rose while they walked together. He could see the steely resolve on her face and he knew she was committed to this plan of hers. She didn't look frightened but he also knew she was good at masking her feelings just like he was. It terrified him to think that he might have to save her from herself once more. He thought the Bad Wolf was dead and gone but now it managed to rear its ugly head again and this time he might not be able to stop it from destroying the woman he loved.
The guards led them to the laboratory where the Master was waiting for them.
"Ah, obedience, that's what I love to see," he said as they entered. "Come inside. Guards, keep the Doctor under guard while I make Rose comfortable."
He gestured to a reclining leather chair beside him. The chair had straps on it and above it was a TV monitor. The monitor was pointing down to the chair.
"Come here," the Master said to Rose.
"Trust me," Rose whispered to the Doctor while she gave his hand a squeeze.
The Doctor nodded and watched while Rose stepped away from him and walked through the opening the guards made for her. Then suddenly a bright circle of light surrounded the Doctor and the Master smirked as he pulled a small black remote out of his pocket.
"Sorry, had to use a forcefield prison," the Master said while Rose spun around and looked at what he'd done. "Can't even trust my guards to keep you in check. You understand, right?"
"I swear, Master. If you hurt her or kill her, you better start running because there won't be a corner of the universe where you'll be safe from me," the Doctor snarled at him.
"Yeah, I'll take my chances. Rose, come here!" he said, beckoning to her.
The Doctor watched with heavy hearts while Rose walked to the chair and sat down in it when the Master pointed at it. He let the guards restrain her into it while he walked over to a metal counter and picked up a pair of heavy black headphones on top of it. He plugged the headphones into an outlet on the side of the monitor and slipped the headphones onto Rose's head.
"This'll block out the frantic pleadings of the wimp over there," he said, nodding his head at the Doctor. "I want you to concentrate on this telly and watch the nice program. Do that and the Doctor won't be vaporized into a million atoms, got it?"
"Yes," Rose said.
The Master patted her on the top of the head.
"If only my wife could be as obedient as you," he said to Rose before turning on the TV. "Now just be good and watch the telly and relax, just…relax."
Rose glanced over at the Doctor. Her heart ached when she saw the anguish on his face and she knew this was killing him inside. She hated that she was putting him through this mental torment and she hoped her hunch would pay off and free them all. At first there was nothing on the monitor except static and there was nothing in the headphones. Then suddenly there was this eerie sound in her ears, a high-pitched ooing that sounded like background music on an old horror movie. Then she saw a multicolor swirl on the monitor. The swirling started off slowly at first and then picked up speed while the ooing became higher and higher pitched until she couldn't physically hear it. At first all this did was annoy her but she eventually felt herself relaxing and her will slipped away while she stared blankly at the screen. The Master gave a triumphant look to his seething adversary.
"Don't know what Blondie had in mind volunteering to do this but I have a feeling things aren't going as planned for her," he said to the Doctor.
"I mean it, Master. You better hope she doesn't die or I'll show you no mercy," the Doctor growled.
The Master snorted at that and rolled his eyes. The Doctor watched while the brainwashing continued until the Master proclaimed she was done a half hour later. He turned off everything and slid the headphones off her head. Rose lay there, unseeing, and the Doctor felt like his world was crashing down around him. The Master motioned for the guards to unstrap her and he stood back, hands behind his back, while he watched them. When they were through, he ordered Rose to sit up and she did it without hesitation. He ordered her to stand up and she obeyed, a blank look on her face.
"See, she's not as tough as she thought," the Master said to the Doctor.
He switched off the forcefield after ordering the guards to stand around the Doctor. The Doctor resisted lunging at his adversary, knowing that the Master could have the guards shoot her dead if he tried anything. To his surprise, he allowed him to come to Rose but he knew the Master was keeping a close eye on him while he did and would blow his head off his body without any hesitation. He came forward and the guards kept their guns trained on him while he embraced Rose. She was unresponsive but he was thankful she was alive at least.
"Now, we're going to walk to your TARDIS and you're going to order the TARDIS to open herself so she can absorb the energy. You can walk with her as long as you don't try to resist. Do anything and you die and so does she. So, will you be good and do this for me?" he said in a condescending tone of voice.
"Yes, Master," the Doctor said, matching his condescension.
"See, this is why you shouldn't take along companions when you travel. They can be used against you," the Master said, walking up to him and patting his shoulder. "Guards, keep an eye on him. Rose, follow us. All of us are going to the TARDIS."
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
When they stepped inside the interior of the TARDIS, the Doctor felt a brief sensation of being home again. He just wished the Master and his guards weren't standing inside it with his brainwashed companion. He had been by Rose's side, keeping watch over her even though she was unresponsive to him and there really wasn't much he could do to help her. Still, it gave him a sense of peace to be at her side and he hoped somewhere deep inside, she remembered herself and him and took comfort in his closeness to her.
"Order your ship to open up," the Master said to the Doctor.
The Doctor glowered at him. He kept his arm around Rose while he asked his ship to open the console and allow Rose to look into the heart of the TARDIS. He sensed his ship's hesitation and he had to mentally tell her to do it. Then the top of the console snapped up, revealing a beautiful golden light inside.
"Rose, look into the light," the Master said, pointing to the console.
The Doctor let go of Rose but stayed near while she walked forward and looked into the light. The Doctor's hearts lurched when the energy began to stream into her through her open eyes and he knew if this killed her, he'd never forgive himself. Everyone watched silently while Rose absorbed the energy and when she was done, she leaned back up and turned to face the Master. Her eyes were glowing and the Doctor got a flashback to the last time it happened, when the Bad Wolf nearly destroyed her and he lost a life to it. He knew without hesitation that he would do it again to save her but he wished history didn't have to repeat itself. He looked at the Master and noticed he wasn't quite sure what to make of Rose now. He looked afraid and the Doctor smirked at that.
You should be afraid, Master, he thought to himself. You should be very afraid.
"I am speaking to the entity inside Rose, are you there?" the Master said.
"Yes," Rose said dully.
"Are you the Bad Wolf?" the Master said.
"Yes," Rose said dully.
"She still looks hypnotized," the Master said to the Doctor.
"Looks can be deceiving," the Doctor said.
The guards were all backing away towards the ramp, all of them with uneasy expressions on their faces. Rose wasn't doing anything at the moment but the Doctor sensed something reaching out to his mind and making contact with it. He probed it silently and felt a mixture of Rose and something else. He knew then that the Bad Wolf wasn't in the Master's power. However, Rose still looked hypnotized and the Doctor began to hope that both Rose and the Bad Wolf were about to turn the tables on his old enemy.
"Okay, a little test then," the Master said, rubbing his hands together. "Bad Wolf, I order you to vaporize the Doctor into atoms to show your loyalty to me."
Rose turned towards the Doctor and he stiffened but when her face was away from the Master, she winked at the Doctor and he relaxed. Then she came close to him and he stiffened again. She put her arms around him and the golden light emanated from her body and surrounded him. The Doctor figured it he was going to be vaporized; at least his last moments would be surrounded by a beautiful light. He gazed at Rose and looked into her gold flecked eyes while the light became more intense and enveloped them completely. Time seemed to stand still for the Doctor but there was no pain and no fear while the Bad Wolf held him in her embrace.
"Doctor."
The Doctor frowned. Rose spoke to him in her voice but there was another voice mixed in with it at the same time, a deeper female voice that he couldn't recognize.
"Bad Wolf?" he said.
"No," both Rose and the entity said in unison, "I am Rose and I am the TARDIS. We are one."
"What about the Bad Wolf?" the Doctor said.
"The Bad Wolf is no longer here," both said.
"Then Rose is unprotected?" the Doctor said in horror.
"I protect her," both said. "I have allowed Rose to merge with me and I will undo all the Master has done but there must be a sacrifice."
"What sacrifice?" the Doctor said, his stomach sinking to his feet.
"Rose must forget you and go back home."
"No, I won't allow that," the Doctor said, anguished.
"I have a way to stop the Master but it must mean taking his Time Lord consciousness into Rose's mind."
"No, that'll kill her," the Doctor said, not caring if the Master heard him or not. "Her human mind will burn with all that knowledge."
"Which is why you must take that knowledge out of her and wipe it from her mind completely," the TARDIS said. "This is the price she must pay for allowing me to inhabit her body and use her."
"No, there must be another way," the Doctor said, his voice choking at the thought of losing Rose forever.
"Doctor."
The Doctor blinked when Rose spoke. Now it was only her and the Doctor's eyes misted over when he saw pure love in her eyes while she gazed at him.
"I will always remember you in my heart," she said, stroking his cheek. "I accept the price I must pay to save you and the Earth. I will love you always."
"Rose, don't do this," the Doctor said in a quavering voice while she laid her hand against his cheek.
"I love you, my Doctor," she said.
The light suddenly faded away and intensified again in Rose's eyes. The Doctor looked up and saw the stunned expression on the Master's face.
"You have committed an atrocity against the human race," Rose and the TARDIS said together. "You must pay for what you did."
The Master was terrified. He backed up away from RoseTARDIS and looked at the Doctor.
"I warned you, Master. You wouldn't listen and now both of us have to suffer," he said angrily.
RoseTARDIS looked at the guards and they dropped their guns and fled the TARDIS in fear. The Master tried the same thing and grunted when something froze his feet to the floor.
"You have meddled with time," RoseTARDIS said while the Master stared at her in horror. "I reverse all that you have done, Time Lord."
The Doctor was aware of a whooshing sound outside the TARDIS door and he sensed time was reversing. But everything within the confines of the TARDIS remained unaffected. The Master seemed to take no notice of the change. He stood there riveted to the spot, staring into RoseTARDIS's eyes while she stared back calmly. After a few minutes, the whooshing sound stopped. Then Rose's body began to glow brightly and suddenly Jack and Lucy appeared inside the TARDIS at the Doctor's feet.
"What the hell?" Jack said, looking around. "What the hell is going on, Doctor?"
"The TARDIS is within Rose and she just reversed time," the Doctor said.
"The Toclafane are returned to the year one hundred trillion and I have reversed time back to the moment before they entered this universe," RoseTARDIS said to the Master. "Everyone except those on the Valiant have no memory of your crimes."
"Why do the people on the Valiant still remember it then?" Jack said to the Doctor when he and Lucy came up beside him.
"Because the Valiant is at the eye of the storm so we were unaffected," the Doctor said.
"And now, you will be punished," RoseTARDIS said, moving towards the Master.
The Master tried to move but an invisible force kept his feet rooted to the floor. He shook his head and held out his hands for RoseTARDIS to stop but RoseTARDIS put her hands on the sides of his head. The Master screamed in pain while the golden light intensified around her hands and arms.
"What's she doing?" Jack said to the Doctor.
"Taking the Master's Time Lord consciousness into Rose's body," the Doctor said grimly. "She's turning him into a human."
The light from RoseTARDIS's hands enveloped the Master and he screamed in agony while RoseTARDIS looked on passively. Five minutes later, the light faded and the Master fell to the floor unconscious.
"Is he human now?" Lucy asked the Doctor.
"Yes," the Doctor said, shaking his head. "And I'm willing to bet he doesn't remember who he is either."
"That is correct, Doctor," RoseTARDIS said, turning to him. "He is now a human called Harry Saxon. He has no memory of being the Master. He is no longer a threat. And now, my Doctor, I must return to the TARDIS and leave this human vessel behind. I love you, we both love you and we always will."
They watched while the light streamed out of Rose's body and went back into the opening in the console. The Doctor moved close to Rose and when the energy was gone from her body, he caught her as her unconscious body fell to the floor and held her close, knowing that when she woke up, he would have to do the thing he dreaded most in the entire universe.