A/N: Hello dear readers! Oh how I have missed you! I must apologize for the delay in posting this chapter. I have been working on it for a few days and it became this enormous monster that never ended. I simply could not find a stopping point! You will notice that it begins with a flash forward, a rather cliffhangery flash forward. So, if you could picture this chapter like one of the two part episodes…that would be great, because it is. There will be a big fat TO BE CONTINUED at the end of it which I am sure you all will hate me for (and secretly love me too). Oh and there is some violence and language (of the British variety) in this and the next chapter so I hope I don't offend anyone.

A big, ginmorous, HUGE thank you to Pig-Rabbit-Suk, Heart of Diamond, OTHCharmfan, SittingOnTheEdgeOfTheUnivers e, starlingmks, RoseKatnissWeasley7, TMarie325, JollyRoger1, Laura, DreamIntoTheOcean, Amelia , aeonian, hungrywhovianpotterhead, Names Have Power/Drizzt Do'Urden, and three anonymous guests. You guys made my Christmas with your amazing reviews. I can't tell you how great it is to hear from you guys week after week. And yes, I did get a TARDIS for Christmas. Okay, maybe not THE TARDIS but the noise was coming from the TARDIS cookie jar. I also got the lunchbox and a tee-shirt. My goal is to have a shirt for every day of the week. Four more to go! What did all of you get (if you celebrate Christmas, if not what do you already have as far as Whochendise?) Okay, okay on with the chapter!

Flash Forward

The Doctor shook, sobs threatening to break out of him. Crouched on the floor, head in his hands, he couldn't get the events of the past four hours out of his head and they flashed past his eyes at a rapid rate. He kept seeing instances where he could have changed something. Anything. Saved her.

Oh Rassilion why didn't he save her?

Five Hours Earlier

She was concentrating so hard that it felt like every vein in her head was going to burst.

Once again, nothing happened.

She opened her eyes and glanced up at Jack just in time to see disappointment flash across his face before it was replaced by a small, weak smile.

They had been trying for hours - trying to get anything to happen but all she had managed to do was give herself a headache.

Her shackles clinked softly as she shifted, giving one foot a break while the other held her weight.

"M'sorry," Rose – it was a great comfort to know her own name now – said as she looked at the man across from her. Captain Jack Harkness.

The stories that he had told her had been so outlandish and, frankly, crazy but somehow she knew that he had been telling her the truth. Maybe some small part of her abilities remained within her grasp because she caught little flares of emotion that came off of him, and right now he was disappointed.

Rose was disappointed in herself. She thought that maybe, just maybe, if she focused enough that she could break down some of the barriers that the Master had put up when they had been in the control room.

No such luck.

"Nothing to be sorry for, Rose," Jack said. "It's only been a little while and that Master did a number on you." His encouraging words did nothing to make her feel better. She felt so, so helpless, and hated it. She knew she was capable of immense power, her demonstration in the control room was proof enough of that, but whatever the Master had done to her that last time had put the power so far out of her reach that she didn't even know where to look.

Rose sighed, shifted, and winced. This whole shackled spread eagled thing was really starting to get old. It had been nearly thirteen hours by her guess, thirteen hours one minute for seconds, and there had been no sign of the Master or anyone besides their guards.

Rose was about to try again when something on the ship shifted. Her eyes widened slightly, "Did you feel that?" she asked Jack.

Jack gave her a questioning look, "Feel what?"

"The ship…it-" then she realized that the sensation hadn't been physical. The shift had taken place in her head, in the aura of the ship - the atmosphere had changed. A pressure that had been pushing on all sides of her mind lifted somewhat and she was willing to bet that the Master was no longer on board. With each passing minute the pressure lessened until it was a faint touch upon her mind. Eagerly, Rose reached for the golden void, but to no avail. The Master still had a hold on whatever part of her controlled the power.

"I think the Master left," Rose said, answering Jack's inquisitive look.

"Well that's new, didn't think he deigned to set foot upon his new empire these days," Jack said sarcastically. His face turned serious, "Wonder what tempted him…"

Rose could feel concern radiating off of Jack at a more heightened level than before. She switched her focus to the guards and could also sense them. They were bored.

Excitement filled her at the realization that her mental powers were minutely restored. Every little bit counted.

Rose detested feeling helpless, detested being used as the Master's puppet. Her lack of power left a gaping hole in her that had not been there previously. She remembered bits and pieces from the control room, when she had been able to force herself through the other consciousness or whatever it had been that had taken over in the elevator. She remembered being overwhelmed by everything around her - the misery, anger, despair, the thousands of voices that had all begun screaming inside her head at once. And then everything had gone gold.

She had felt herself, her human self, being shoved violently back behind barriers and protected from the voices and feelings that had threatened to drive her mad. She thought it must have been some sort of self-preservation, but it had also been more than that. The power she had wielded…it was indescribable. Rose had never felt so alive.

The sensation had been similar to that of the Void but she didn't have any control of her actions. The golden void kept pushing her back, putting up wall after wall which she had fought hard against. Every now and then she had managed to break through and caught snippets of conversation and flashes of the events that were going on around her. Now that she was free, she could remember more of what had happened when she had been forced back.

A memory from the control room surfaced. The old man had definitely recognized her. The stunned look on his face had said it all and she could recall him saying her name faintly, before she had even known it herself. The events leading up to her traveling with a centenarian where lost to her but from what Jack had said he was a remarkable being. He had looked so sad…and whatever the Master had done to him…

Rose tried to shake the image of the pitiful creature that had crawled out of the suit but failed. It was unnatural and just plain cruel. She didn't know the back story between the Master and the Doctor but nobody deserved to go through the pain that the Doctor had endured under the Master's weapon. She remembered lunging towards the seizing man, feeling an uncontrollable urge to protect him. Remembered vaporizing the Toclafane. What had she done?

Rose twitched as a feather-light touch brushed against her mind. At first she feared it was the Master, but he could never be so gentle. No, it had been something else, but whatever it had been was gone now, despite her efforts to connect.

Determination coursed through Rose's veins. She would not be a victim or a weapon for evil. She may have lost her memory and been tortured but she was strong. She would fight.

"The only time that I've been able to use these…powers…is when I was angry and scared," Rose said, trying to remember how she had summoned the power when she had been in the little room with the bed.

Before the Master had grabbed her head and shut her down.

"Well, if there were ever a time to be angry and scared, Rose, this would be it," Jack joked.

Rose humored him with a smile but she didn't feel like joking. She should be able to do this! A part of her wished that something would happen, some sort of imminent danger, and then immediately felt foolish. Hadn't she been in imminent danger since awakening in this hell?

Jack's face became thoughtful and she saw his gaze flick over to the guards. "Oh Rose, only for you," he said with a heavy sigh. Suddenly he began shouting at the guards and Rose's jaw dropped.

"Hey you!" he hollered, the guards must have turned because he went on. "Yeah you, you munters!"

"What are you doing?" Rose hissed but Jack ignored her.

"How about we get some hospitality around here eh? Or didn't your minger mother ever teach you any manners?" Rose heard boot steps on the metal catwalk and the sound of the key in the lock of the gate.

"Mind putting a bag over your head though? What did you do, fall out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down? My God! It's like you-" Jack was abruptly cut off by a powerful right hook from one of the guards. Blood sprayed out of his nose but that didn't stop him, "Please! I've been hit harder by newborn Rak-" another blow.

"Jack! Stop it!" Rose cried as she watched the violent scene unfolding in front of her. Jack kept spouting colorful insults and, in turn, the guards began beating him with fists and gun butts. Rose struggled against her shackles feeling the metal dig into her sensitive skin.

More blood streamed down Jack's face from a myriad of cuts but he kept on shouting, not even making sense now. Rose's stomach churned. "Stop it! All of you stop it!"

She heard the sickening crunch of Jack's ribs breaking under a particularly nasty blow from the stock of a rifle. Jack cried out at that one and suddenly the rifles were gone, dissolved into a cloud of golden dust that dissipated into the atmosphere. Rose's eyes widened as she looked up and saw the golden light gathering in her clenched hands. The guard who had been about to swing the gun again lurched forward with the empty momentum, stumbling and they both looked wildly around for their weapons. Not wanting to back down, they went after Jack again, this time only with their fists.

Rose had, had enough and she could feel the small trickle of power. Rejoiced in it. Right as both guards were about to strike Jack at the same time she concentrated all of her will and thrust it at them, watching the power leave her body and slam into them.

The guards bent over double, clamping their hands over their ears, to no avail. What they were hearing was only in their heads and Rose was not about to let up.

The two men sank to the ground and headed for the gate, shrinking away from the terrible din that she was inflicting inside of their minds. Rose couldn't hold it much longer, she could feel the power slipping away, feel her body weakening but she had to hold it until they were gone. She could not allow them to hurt Jack anymore, whether or not he had asked for it.

Finally they managed to stand and their boots could be heard clanging away, growing fainter as they fled.

Rose craned her neck to watch them go, releasing the energy with a sigh of relief. Inflicting pain upon another living being was not easy or enjoyable and it had been hard to hold it that long…whatever she had done.

She heard coughing and turned her attention to Jack. When she saw him she gasped. Jack's wounds were healing as she watched, his split lip sealing itself and cutting off the flow of blood. Another slice on his forehead disappeared.

"Jack…" she whispered, watching the healing process until the only evidence of the attack was the blood. Jack smiled at her craftily.

"Neat trick, eh?" he said, and spat a glob of blood over his shoulder, stretching his neck to either side.

"How-?" she stammered again, unable to comprehend what her own eyes were telling her.

"I think the question is more how did you get rid of those meatheads?" Jack replied, seemingly unfazed by his miraculous recovery.

Rose hardly heard him, so great was her surprise. "Jack how did you heal like that? What are you?"

Jack's smile faded, "Long story, you wouldn't know even if you had your memories." Rose raised her eyebrows slightly and Jack continued, "The last time we saw each other we were in a battle…the Doctor sent you away, that daft fool, he should have known you would come back. You shouldn't have been able to but somehow you ended up looking into the heart of the TARDIS and absorbed the Time Vortex." A brief memory flashed through Rose's mind of a conversation she and the Master had, had.

"Oh Rose, you silly little girl. The question isn't what I did to you, it's what you did to yourself. Did you and the Doctor really think that the influence of the Time Vortex on a human could be completely removed?"

"The Time Vortex?" she asked, not knowing if she really wanted to hear this.

"Yeah, you became some sort of…goddess of time. I don't know the full story, the Doctor never got around to telling me. All I know is…I was dead and you, Rose Tyler, brought me back to life. For good."

None of this made sense to Rose but the connections were forming.

"So…I brought you back to life? And now you can heal," it wasn't really a question but Jack answered her anyway.

"Yep," he said, popping the 'p' in a way that tickled the back of her mind. "Rose, you were – are - the best and worst thing that has ever happened to me."

Their eyes met and the absurdity as well as the danger of their desperate situation caused them both to begin laughing out of sheer exhaustion.

Jack sobered, "But really Rose, I may have been getting the crap kicked out of me by Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum but I saw what you did."

Rose stopped laughing and remembered how she had dissolved the rifles and then caused the guards to flee. "Don't do that again, Jack. Just 'cause I don't remember who you are doesn't mean that I can just watch that."

Jack smiled slightly, "Yeah but you have to hand it to me, the plan worked. You did it! You can still do your Time-girl-thing and with that, you can do anything."

He was right, Rose knew that, but at the same time what she had done scared her. She may not have physically hurt those men but the mental torture she had put them under was…cruel. She had been aware of what she was doing to them, conjuring up their worst nightmares and bringing them to the surface in a slideshow of terror. That's why they had fled.

Is this who I am? She thought sadly, not wanting who she really was to be somebody capable of doing harm.

"Rose, whatever you did, you only did it to help me," Jack said, as if reading her mind. It didn't help much.

"Yeah," she agreed, "But if somebody has to get hurt just so I can blast 'em with that gold stuff…I don't want it." Suddenly the pressure began to increase and she could feel her access to the power diminishing with each passing second.

The Master was coming back.

Soon, the pressure was at full force and, almost on cue, multiple footsteps could be heard approaching their makeshift cell.

"Looks like your job isn't over yet, Rosie," Jack said, his gaze fixated over her shoulder. He looked straight at her as the gate squeaked open, "You have to save us. I'm sorry but it's you."

Rough hands grabbed Rose's ankles and she could hear locks being disengaged. She struggled with her newly free limbs, kicking out with bare feet but to no avail. She felt the muzzle of a rifle dig into the small of her back.

"None of that, sweetheart," a voice growled. "The Master is wantin' you alive…unfortunately." Rose watched as four guards went to attend to Jack, handling him even more roughly than her.

"No funny business or he gets it," one of Jack's guards said to Rose. She responded with a glare but said nothing. Now that the Master was back she had a feeling that she couldn't do any 'funny business' even if she had wanted to.

"Move," a guard barked, and both Rose and Jack were thrust forward roughly. Rose tripped slightly as her toes caught in the catwalk but multiple hands were there to steady her then push her again. Her joints were stiff from being in one position for so long and soon pins and needles were burning in her hands and feet but she kept walking, head up, eyes fixed ahead at whatever fresh hell the Master had planned for her. Jack's words echoed in her mind and anxiety roiled underneath her calm exterior.

If I'm the only hope then we are all doomed she thought sadly and flinched when the now familiar, ethereal touch of the TARDIS entered her mind.

"Save us. You are not alone," the TARDIS impressed the message upon her mind in pictures and feelings. A hand being held out and hers entwining with it. A feeling of calm. An image that could only be from the TARDIS's perspective of a river of golden light pouring into her eyes. The message ended and Rose inhaled sharply. She didn't think she would ever get used to this kind of communication, and now that she knew it was coming from a…from a spaceship…

But the TARDIS's message had helped, the calmness remained. She wasn't alone, she could do this.

She had to do this.

Jack, Rose, and the guards marched through the halls of the ship and Rose knew that they were headed back towards the control room. They entered the same elevator that they had first descended in and with each passing floor the sense of calm that the TARDIS had instilled in her faded, replaced by gnawing anxiety. She didn't want to see the Master again. Rose hated to admit it but she was scared. He had already done so many heinous things…

The elevator doors slid open and the bright light in the room momentarily blinded her. After her eyes adjusted, Rose took in the scene. The Master was standing on the balcony, his eyes fixated upon her and the hungry look that he was giving her made her shudder slightly.

Three dark-skinned people, a young woman, an older woman who appeared to be her mother, and an older man, stood to the left. They stared at her warily, as if they could not decide whether she was friend or foe.

With the Master's power over me who can tell Rose thought bitterly. Jack's guards led him off to the right of the door and Rose struggled to go with him but the arms gripping her were like steel.

"Jack!" she called out instead.

Arms behind his back, he looked out at her from his dirty face, giving her what was probably supposed to be a comforting smile. "It's alright Rose, just remember what we talked about," he said cryptically. Rose nodded reluctantly and took in the rest of the room as she was led towards the Master. With horror her eyes fell upon the birdcage hanging about ten feet away from Jack. The creature – no, the Doctor - was watching her with his enormous eyes. She was surprised to feel the sadness radiating off of him. She could feel him, even with the Master present.

Rose fought to remember him, to remember anything but it all still eluded her, locked up inside the labyrinth the Master had constructed in her mind.

Who are you? She asked silently, not wanting to take her eyes off of him but then the Master cleared his throat theatrically and she reflexively looked up at him. He stood at the top of the stairs, hand outstretched to her in a welcoming gesture. Her guards released their grips and pushed her forward, causing her to stumble again.

"There's my pet," the Master said, beaming down at her. She took once step to steady herself and stopped, fixing him with what she thought was her most devastating glare. Rage briefly marred his otherwise exuberant face and when he spoke his voice was low, threatening, "Come here."

Rose cringed as he delved into her head, rooting around for any threats that she may carry with her. Not knowing how she did it, she flung barriers up, hiding away her time with Jack, their conversation, and the attack on the guards. Miraculously, it seemed to work and he released her. She heard a gun cock and turned around to see the weapon pointed at Jack's head. If what he said was true, he would come back to life if the trigger was pulled, but she could not put him through that.

With a deep breath, Rose approached the stairs and ascended. When she did not take his offered hand the Master leaned forward and snatched hers, gripping her fingers until they hurt. He drew her the rest of the way up and positioned himself close before her. She knew what he was intending before he did it. She saw him glance over at the Doctor in the cage, then at Jack and she desperately clawed around inside of herself for the power, willing to give herself up to it.

But it was too late; the Master's free hand circled her waist, brushing the exposed skin on the small of her back before crashing his mouth into hers. She struggled but he was stronger. She tried to repeat her attack that had worked so well the last time he had forced himself upon her but he pushed her back and away from him, into the railing. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jack struggling with his captors and heard the blow that he received in return for his efforts. Giving her a devious smile the Master licked his bottom lip slowly before whipping around to face the room.

Rose wiped her mouth with the back of her hand in disgust and momentarily contemplated pushing him down the stairs until she saw the gun still pointed at Jack's head. She remained where she was.

Lucy was nowhere to be found and idly Rose wondered where she was. Lucy's threat from before surfaced in her mind and she was saddened that the woman was so very attached to such an evil man, to a man incapable of love.

"Now then!" the Master called out, addressing the room at large. "We have a very special guest on this very special day!" He bounded across the balcony and back again, leaning out over the rail, "Aren't you all just dying to find out who it is?" His question was rhetorical and met with silence. Rose saw the family shifting about nervously. Who could it be?

Her eyes flicked over to the Doctor and she was startled to see that he was still staring at her, his tiny hands clasping the bars of his cage. Again, she felt the oh-so-gentle brush against her mind and knew it was from him.

Who are you? She asked again silently but received no reply.

"Citizens of Earth, rejoice and observe," a voice announced loudly, causing Rose, and many others in the room, to jump slightly.

Everyone turned towards the elevator as the doors hissed open revealing a pretty dark-skinned girl escorted by two guards who towered above her slight form.

She was not close enough that Rose could make out her face clearly but she had her hair pulled back tightly, exposing large eyes. She had on a dark coat, tactical pants, and heavy boots which she stumbled over as one of the guards shoved her forward.

Rose was fixated upon her, curious. You must be Martha, Rose thought, recalling Jack's mention of just such a woman. Despite her situation Martha walked into the room, glancing around with fearful eyes. Rose saw Martha's gaze pass right over her, probably taking her for the Master's mistress. She certainly looked the part, still draped in the revealing, albeit stained, red dress, blonde hair now free to tumble down around her shoulders to fall just below her breasts.

Martha drew closer and Rose did not miss the unshielded look of relief and…love? that passed over the woman's face as she saw the Doctor. Rose was surprised by the twinge that lanced through her, emanating from some deep part of her psyche. Jealousy? No, that was ridiculous; she didn't even know the man.

The room was silent, so each of Martha's boot steps rang throughout the space, each one bringing her closer to the Master. Rose could feel power and madness radiating off of him as he drew close to her. An arm snaked around her waist, pulling her to his side and she struggled slightly before his fingers dug into her soft flesh accompanied by a silent threat through their mental link.

When Martha reached the foot of the stairs the Master once again extended his free hand. "Your teleport device," he said his voice menacingly soft, "In case you thought I'd forgotten."

Martha reluctantly reached into her right thigh cargo pocket and extracted a black leather item. With a resigned look she tossed it to the Master, who caught it with ease, not releasing Rose in the process.

Curiosity about this woman burned through Rose. Why would she have left Jack and the Doctor to this fate and how had she been captured?

"And now," the Master said, giving Rose one more squeeze before stepping away, "Kneel."

Rose embraced the opportunity for freedom and took as many steps away from the Master as she dared. She could sense the tension of the room, feel it coming out of every one of the bodies around her. With a brief flash of excitement she realized that, with the Master so distracted, her powers were more within her grasp, if only the barest fraction of what it had been before.

She found that she craved the power. Rose had only experienced it for a brief moment but in that moment she had seen everything, been everywhere. It was like her whole mind and body had opened up and become one with the universe, and now that it was gone she felt like an empty shell, a shadow of her former self.

Rose watched as Martha knelt and felt so sorry for the poor woman. She had been free, but nobody, it seemed, was free from the Master for long. Unconsciously Rose wiped her mouth again.

"Down below the fleet is ready to launch," the Master, twirling his laser screwdriver. "Two hundred thousand ships set to burn across the universe." He darted over to a panel on the wall and pressed a button. "Are we ready?" he asked and Rose determined that he was talking to the aforementioned fleet.

"The fleet awaits your signal, rejoice!" the voice from before declared.

"Oh yes let's rejoice," Rose muttered under her breath and the Master whipped around to glare at her. He chose to ignore the statement however, and walked back over the balcony. He checked his watch.

"Three minutes to align the black hole converters," he said loudly, for the room to hear. Turning to Rose he grinned, "We're going to need you for this one my darling." Rose did not understand and backed away as he approached her. Her legs hit another set of stairs, blocking her retreat and he caught up to her, taking her hand in his.

"The Doctor's poor TARDIS is dying I'm afraid," he said, loud enough for the Doctor to hear and he spared a glance. Rose looked over too and saw the sadness on the Doctor's face increase, if that was even possible. Without thinking about it, Rose reached out with her mind, trying to find the TARDIS. The ship met her halfway but the Master had been right, she was weak. Very weak.

"But that's why I have you, my bad, bad little wolf," he said with a wolfish grin of his own. He reached out and tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear before she could dodge away from his touch. "Remember our conversation, Rose," the Master said quietly so only she could hear. "You must do as I say or you know what I will do." Rose grimaced internally, conflict rising within her.

How could she do as this psychopath wanted? But how could she refuse when the consequences would be devastating. The Master did not wait for her response, his audience was waiting. Rose looked back down at the kneeling Martha and their eyes met. Martha was studying her with a mix of puzzlement and resentment garnished with a little bit of hate. Rose hoped that Martha didn't think that she was a willing participant in any of this, but from the look on Martha's face that was exactly what was running through her head.

Unable to hold the hostile stare, Rose followed the Master's gaze over to a clock on the wall. Just as she did the numbers began to tick down from 180.

"Counting down!" the Master said and fear launched its way throughout Rose's body and mind. What was she going to do? "I never could resist a ticking clock," the Master joked, grinning boyishly.

"MY CHILDREN, ARE YOU READY?" he yelled suddenly.

Tinny, childish voices came through the speakers, "We will fly and blaze and slice. We will fly and blaze and slice…" they chanted. The clock continued to count down, each second marked by a computerized chirp. Rose, panicked, turned to look at Jack who had been glaring at the Master but was now staring at her. He seemed to want to tell her something, or to encourage her, but it wasn't working at the moment.

"At zero to mark this day," the Master said, addressing the room once again, "The child, Martha Jones will die...at the hands of my new queen. He grinned and laughed slightly, "Our first blood. Any last words?" Rose turned again to Martha who remained silent. "No?" the Master asked, seemingly disappointed. He glanced over at the Doctor, bored.

He was going to make her kill Martha? She wouldn't do it. He could do what he wanted to her but she would not commit murder. Rose's heart was pounding and the blood began to rush in her ears.

The Master continued to talk, unable to resist his, quite literally, captive audience. "Such a disappointment, this one. In days of old, Doctor, you had companions who could absorb the Time Vortex. This one is useless!" He gestured grandly to Rose at the mention of the Time Vortex and she saw Martha's eyes widen at her, in comprehension? of what Rose was unsure. The Doctor was, once again, staring at Rose. She felt the brush of his mind against hers but knew not what it meant. If she could just remember! The clock continued to count down, each chirp resounding in her ears.

The Master turned to Rose and summoned her with a curl of his pointer finger. Reluctantly Rose approached him, searching desperately within herself for some plan, any plan. She had none.

She stopped about a foot away from him and looked him straight in the eye. "Are you ready, my dear?" he asked fondly.

"You will not get away with this," Rose said, forcing her voice to be confident and forceful, neither of which she truly felt. The Master chuckled and reached out with both hands, settling his fingers gently upon her temples.

This is it she thought, heart and mind racing. This is my only change.

"You will do as I say, Rose Tyler," he Master murmured for her ears only. "If you do not destroy Martha Jones, I will rip each and every person in this room limb from limb. Do not think for a second that I will not. You. Are. Mine."

Rose did not doubt his threat. The look in his eyes and the madness radiating off of him convinced her of that. He closed his eyes and suddenly Rose could feel the barriers lifting bit by torturous bit. She closed her own eyes as the ecstasy of the power trickled through her mind, entering her veins. She forgot about the Master, forgot about the situation. The voices began whispering in her head but the barriers were still there enough that they were not overwhelming or painful.

She opened her eyes and saw timelines begin streaming out from the people of the room. They were all so short.

They were all going to die.

The Doctor's thick, complicated braid of a timeline stopped short, unnaturally short. Somehow she knew that it should continue, stretching into the future, but it didn't. The only one whose timeline persevered was Jack's and that was tainted by a sickly hue. The Master released her and Rose took a deep breath and with it came a myriad of scents both physical and time-related. She could smell time.

"Now Rose," the Master said, "I have given you just enough of your power back that you should be able to destroy the woman you see below you, kneeling so pathetically. Appropriate stance, really, for a subject to meet her queen." Rose barely heard him, such was her joy at having even this much of her power back but she struggled to focus. She had to focus. "Destroy Martha Jones or witness the evisceration of everyone you see here." Rose saw the guards shift nervously and knew they were wondering if they were included in that thread. Toclafane hovered around the perimeter of the room and there was a hiss as their blades shot out.

Rose knew what the Master wanted her to do. He wanted her to erase Martha Jones from all of time and space, just as she had done to the Toclafane and to the guard's rifles. She knew she should be afraid, that she should be angry…but she wasn't. She was numb. Frozen. The Master pushed her forcefully towards the stairs and, surprised she didn't resist but paused at the top.

Rose gazed down at Martha who returned her stare with a mix of fear and pride.

What am I going to do? Rose asked silently, her panic breaking through the numbness. She tried reaching out to the TARDIS but the ship's consciousness was so weak that Rose could barely sense it. Suddenly Martha's head whipped around and she looked at the Doctor. He was staring intently at Martha who had a look of confusion on her face now. Rose could feel the telepathic link connecting the two and knew that the Doctor had sent Martha message but she was too late to intercept, as it seemed, was the Master.

Martha shook her head and resumed her visual showdown with Rose who descended a couple more steps.

"And so it falls to us, as master and mistress of all, to establish, on this day, a new order of Time Lords. Form this day forward-"

Rose had watched as the smile broke across Martha's pretty face, as her shoulders began shaking with mirthless laughter.

The Master stopped his speech midsentence, "What's so funny?" he asked dangerously.

Martha raised her head and met first Rose's eyes then the Master's. "A gun," she said simply.

"What about it?" the Master asked, exasperated.

"A gun in four parts."

"Yes, and I destroyed it." Rose could feel the Master's rage bubbling to the surface mixed with a surprising amount of uncertainty.

Martha continued, her tone sounding as if she were addressing an idiot, "A gun in four parts, scattered around the world…I mean come on. Did you really believe that?" Confusion was setting in amongst the Master and his minions.

"What do you mean?" the Master asked.

The Doctor's weak, raspy voice broke the silence, "As if I would ask her to kill."

Rose saw, to her horror, the same look on Jack's face as before when he was about to taunt the guards. His eyes met hers and he winked. All hell was about to break loose.

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: BUM BUM BUUUUUUUUMMMMM. I am picturing the Doctor Who dramatic "TO. BE. CONTINUED." Here's the deal, as I said, this chapter was monstrous so I split it up. So it's all written. SOOOOO if I get 20 reviews I will post the next chapter immediately. You know what to do guys. Make me the happiest Bad Wolf wanna-be that ever lived. Until then, I love you all and will be checking my inbox incessantly in the hopes of hearing from you, my friends. Remember! Let me know if you got/have any cool Who stuff. I am ever the curious one. Xx Lady Ten