"The Master and I are the only two left."
"What happened?" Alex asked softly. "Dad, what happened to the rest of the Time Lords?"
The Doctor gave a small smile.
"Jenny asked me the same thing." He sighed. "There was a war... a big war...between Gallifrey and the Daleks and we lost...Our home was destroyed. Put in a time lock...for the rest of time itself."
"Oh," Alex said softly. "How did you escape the time lock?"
"I was a coward...Stole the TARDIS..." He paused. "Well it felt like she stole me and we ran...Just Susan and me." Alex nodded.
"What was it like when you left? What was it like to take the TARDIS and travel?" The Doctor let out a smile as memories came back to him.
"Oh the adventures we had..." He said with a small laugh. "Seeing new places and new planets I've never heard of... Meeting historical people."
"Must have been amazing," Alex said softly. "You must have had a lot of surprises, as well." He nodded.
"Oh yes...Yes I did." Alex looked at her dad. She smiled a bit.
"Tell me about them please? About the people you saw, traveled with?"
"I've met loads of People... can't think of them all right now but... There was Sarah Jane, Susan, Martha, Mickey...Your mum Jackie, Sarah Jane's adopted son Luke...So many people." He smiled over at her. "I'm loved by so many people."
"Yes, you are," Alex said. "So many people. I know this is going to sound strange, but why is the Master like he is?"
"When he looked into the time vortex...there was a drumming noise that started in his head... and its never gone away." he explained. Alex tapped out a rhythm on the console.
"That the sound?" she asked. "He was tapping it on his pants when he got told off by Jack."
"He will knock four times..." The Doctor muttered then nodded. "The drumming in his head will never stop…" Alex was shocked.
"No one else can hear it, and it will never stop? I would be scared...probably slightly insane..."
"He had gone mad... until he used this" The Doctor said pulling out his fob watch. "He trapped his time lord self in this and became a human being. Trapped for years. Going under the alias of Dr. Yana." The Doctor sighed. "Before you were born... Jack, myself and Martha Jones were taken to the end of the universe. He almost got away with the TARDIS but I stopped him."
"Wasn't he the Prime Minister?" He nodded.
"He goes by Harold Saxon..."
"That's what I thought. He called a few weeks back, trying to send us on a wild goose chase in the Himalayas." The Doctor gave a puzzled look.
"Whatever for?"
"No clue," Alex said. "Just remember a Harold Saxon calling us about something in the Himalayas. Jack told him to bug off, and that if he called again, he would regret it." The Doctor chuckled.
"That Sounds like Jack." He was about to say something else when he heard a four tapping noise outside and he got all tense and pulled Alex close to him. "He's found me." Alex looked up at her father, knowing his fear. She had felt the same fear for weeks after she had met the Master the first time. The knocking came again and she cringed.
"He knows I'm here... He knows..." she managed, her voice barely audible.
"Go lock the doors...Now," he instructed quietly. "Text Jack and let him know to keep your mother inside." He said running around the TARDIS trying to hide it as best he could. The tapping got louder and inside, Jack looked at Rose and the team.
"Lock the door. That bastards back." Alex nodded and sent a text to Jack.
'He is back. Keep my mother inside. Alex' She locked the door, trying to ignore the infernal tapping. She wanted to scream as it kept getting louder, and she could almost feel it around her. The Doctor saw the fear in her eyes. The same fear Rose had when he regenerated in front of her.
"Alex, come here and take my hand and never let go." he said while placing a TARDIS key on her neck. He hoped it would hide her from the master's weary eyes. "Come on then!" The Doctor shouted to the door. "The Doctor will see you now!" Alex grabbed her father's hand as the door opened slightly. She hid slightly behind him, scared and fighting the urge to run. The Doctor glared a cold stare as the Master walked inside and he gripped Alex's hand tightly and comforting. "She's not here Koschei," The Doctor spat at him.
"Why do I get the feeling you are lying, Theta?" the Master asked. Alex squeezed his hand back, thankful for the reassurance. She watched the Master, praying he would not notice her.
"You know me" He said calmly. "I never lie" The Master just laughed, a chilling sound that shook Alex.
"She's in here, and I will find her, Theta, no matter what I have to do to you," he said. "Shall I make you suffer? Or will she stop hiding and come willingly?" Alex froze at the thought of her father being made to suffer til she went with the Master. She couldn't let that happen.
"You will not harm my daughter. Over my dead body." He said feeling Alex shake. "I've hidden her from you before and I sure can do it again!"
"I found her the first time, Theta. Shall I really have to scare her to get her to show herself?" the Master inquired. Now the Doctor was getting angry.
"You will not lay a hand on MY daughter! I don't care what you do to me, she is mine and will never be yours!" Alex laid a hand on her father's shoulder, trying to calm him down. She hid behind him more before speaking, thankful that the TARDIS was helping to find her.
"What do you want with me?"
"Alex, stop it," The Doctor muttered still glaring at the Master.
"I want to know," Alex said. "Tell me why."
"You are a Halfling," the Master responded. "That is explanation enough."
"Just because she's half human half time lord doesn't make her yours for taking! I nearly killed Donna because she was a human with a Time Lord brain," The Doctor said slowly. Alex looked at the Master, watching his reaction.
"You should have remembered that perception filters don't work well on me, Theta. I've been able to see her since I came in. Now, Alex, unless you want your father to suffer, then I suggest you come with me."
"I've already told you. My daughter is not going anywhere! You'll have to kill me before you lay a hand on her," he stated.
"Don't tempt me, Doctor," the Master spat, pulling out his laser screwdriver. "I might just kill you." The doctor stepped forward until he was right in the Master's face.
"You don't have the hearts."
"Do you really want to try me, Alexsandra?" the Master asked now that she was in his full line of sight.
"Leave him alone," Alex hissed, her pupils ringed in gold. "Don't you dare touch him."
"So, the Bad Wolf emerges again," the Master grinned.
"Alex, No!" The Doctor exclaimed whipping around a fear in his eyes. Alex ignored her father.
"You won't hurt me," the Master taunted. Alex just cocked her head to the side.
"Then you don't know me very well," she stated. "I am my parents' daughter. No one threatens my family."
"Alex stop this right now! Violence won't solve anything," the Doctor managed, running back over to her and took her hands. "Alex just let go... He's not worth it." Alex blinked a few times, the gold in her eyes fading. She looked at the Master.
"Get out," she said. "Now. If the Bad Wolf has to come back, it will not be pretty." The Master just laughed, but left, and Alex looked at her father. "Sorry 'bout that." The Doctor sighed and hugged her tightly.
"I'm just glad you're safe..." he whispered. Alex hugged him back.
"Same for you. That's why the Bad Wolf emerged. Never could stand to see family hurting." The Doctor sighed.
"With the Master back we've got to be extra careful..." He then picked up his phone in the TARDIS and called Rose. "Everyone Alright?"
"Yeah. What Happened?" Rose inquired. The Doctor looked at Alex and grinned. "The big bad wolf scared the pig." Alex smiled at her dad and held her hand out for the phone. She put it up to her ear.
"Let's just say that he won't be back for a little bit," she grinned. Jack's voice could be heard over the line.
"Well, if he does come back I'll kick his ass. He can't kill me so what's the point of even fighting?" Alex laughed.
"I think he would be the one insane enough to try, Jack," she said simply. "Anyways, thank you for saying that. I don't think anything will deter him, though."
"Sure as hell doesn't mean I won't try" Jack countered.
"Hey, I picked up a book for you Alex. I may have left it in the TARDIS," Rose smiled. "It's written by Melody Malone."
"Oh, is it good?" Alex asked. She loved to read, having read most everything there was to read inside Torchwood, and then quite a bit from the local library. Rose nodded on her end.
"Yeah. I've only gotten to chapter 5 or so."
"Cool," Alex said. "I'll have to check it out." She held back a yawn, but her eyes showed how tired she was. "So, is it a detective story?" Rose nodded.
"So far from what I've read." The Doctor smiled.
"You're exhausted sweetheart."
"Awesome," Alex said to her mom. She looked at her dad and covered the mouthpiece of the phone. "I'm fine," she said as a yawn escaped. "Well, mentally, anyways..." The Doctor took the phone.
"We'll be there after she's got some rest," he told the others before ending the call. Alex sat down in the pilot's chair, trying to stay awake. She didn't want to sleep, and then wake up to all of this having been a dream. The Doctor smiled and picked her up and carried her to Rose's room. "Come on you...Bed Time." Alex laid her head on his shoulder and was out before they reached the room. He set her down carefully and tucked her in kissing her head. "I love you Alexsandra Tyler...with both my hearts" She smiled in her sleep and curled up under the blanket. Her dream, however was not as peaceful as she looked. She was about 7 or 8, and she could see the familiar form of the Master looming over her as Jack laid dead behind her. She couldn't move, only watch as her only shred of family laid in the rain, blood washing away with the streams of water.
A/N: So, who understands some of the references to later events? Before you ask, as I said when I started this, this is set in an alternate universe where Rose is still alive and in the main universe, so not everything in the canon is going to be in the same order.
Please review, because your author is a college student who lets time get away from her, and OnceadiaryintheTARDIS can only remind me to post so many times before she gets fed up with me. You guys are amazing!