This was getting very nasty. There was no doubt about that. The Doctor was in the hallway outside the medical ward, fuming. Major Thompson and Captain Mallory were leaning against a wall watching him, neither man quite courageous enough to try to draw his attention yet. His childhood friend and the only other surviving member of his species was lying unconscious in a medical bed with a very rattled Amy waiting at his bedside. His attackers were in the ward as well, being treated for adrenalin poisoning caused by the alien technology the Doctor was sure they had stolen. He wasn't sure who he could trust anymore other than Amy and Koschei, because he was going to wake up, because he just had to. He had one hour and twenty minutes to fix this and almost nothing to work with. Less than he'd actually started with, and he was feeling the effects of the stolen device himself. .

"He'll pull through, Doctor. He's tough." Major Thompson reassured him, breaking the heavy silence. The Doctor showed no sign that he'd heard him. They went back to watching him quietly for a couple minutes.

"The Dole told you about the device didn't it, sir? That's why you left containment in such a hurry." Captain Mallory asked carefully. "Why didn't you tell me what it was saying?"

"Because the TARDIS wasn't translating for you and clearly trusting humans isn't working too well for me right now, is it?" The Doctor snapped, causing them to flinch. He immediately stopped pacing and tried to get ahold of himself. "Sorry. I didn't mean that. It's the adrenaline I..."

"I'm sorry. I failed you. If I had reacted more quickly, I might have been able to protect them." Major Thompson said humbly. "Lieutenant Lee warned me that the Colonel seemed intent to kill the Dole. I should have known he was up to something."

"No, don't do that. You tried to stop him. That means something. There's no sense in worrying about could-have-beens." The Doctor told him.

"What do we do now?" Captain Mallory asked.

"We need to find a way to bring them out into the open so I can try to speak with them about returning their stolen technology, and put an end to this...but using me as bait wouldn't be enough to draw out the entire pack." The Doctor went back to pacing as he thought about this. Neither of the UNIT officers he was talking to seemed thrilled with this line of thinking. "Come on. Think! How do I get their attention?"


The Master walked unhurriedly through the twilight of the dreamscape. Right now it was taking on the form of the forest of silver-trunked trees that had stood on the edge of his father's estate. The red leaves rustled in the non-existent breeze. There were no stars in the black sky and no moons, just the planet Earth sitting solitary in the night in place of a moon. It had been there ever since Amy began haunting his dreams. He was headed toward the clearing that Koschei and Theta used to sneak off to to avoid the prying eyes of the others. He knew that was where Jyun and Koschei would already be waiting for him.

"Took you long enough." Koschei said as the Master joined them in the clearing. This time he was sitting on one of the lower hanging branches of the tree across from the Master, wearing his old black and violet silk robes from their adolescence. Jyun was sitting a little over a meter to Koschei's left on the boulder next to the brook, looking pretty much as blank as he always did. He was toying with the currents with his bare feet. The Master wasn't thrilled to note that he was still wearing the navy-blue prisoner's jumpsuit. He was sure Jyun had done that just to bug him.

"You're suddenly very eager to see me aren't you Kos." The Master noted mockingly, walking over to lean against a tree to his right. Jyun looked back over his shoulder at him, weighing the pros and cons of splashing the other alter.

"You don't get to call me that." Koschei shot back bitterly. He pulled a leaf off of the branch next to him and toyed with it in his fingers, his bright eyes reflecting the earthlight as he scowled down at the Master.

"Focus." Jyun reminded the others gently, still seeming more interested in the water in his little brook. The Master straightened his already imaculate red silk tie.

"The Dole will be onto us soon, regardless of the Doctor's latest tactic. That idiot ape Stone made sure of that." He stated bitterly.

"That is the least of our problems." Koschei countered. "The Doctor will find a way to handle the Dole. We just have to trust him. I just hope you haven't burned all our bridges now with your little pyrotechnics display back there - or have you forgotten how important it is that we be allowed back into the TARDIS?"

"Yes, of course. I should have just sat back and let you handle it all, because you were doing so very well on your own." The Master replied sarcastically. "Besides, the girl still stood with us, even after what she'd just witnessed. I'd take that as a promising sign for our future."

"You would." Jyun noted, not looking up from the water.

"It is good that Amy hasn't lost faith in us because of you. We still need to stay with her." Koschei agreed. The others nodded, although the Master seemed less than thrilled with the idea

"She's important." He admitted begrudgingly, making an icky noise at the thought of attaching himself to one of the Doctor's human pets. At which point Jyun decided that it was definitely necessary to splash him, expertly drenching his very expensive looking suit. "Gah! Dammit, Jyun!"

Koschei was quite amused at the Master's expense and jumped down from his tree branch, laughing gleefully and clapping.

"You deserved it." Jyun stated simply to the Master who glared and sparked at him.

"You were being an ass." Koschei added, still grinning broadly. The Master shook himself off and the suit changed into a new, dry one. "Besides I believe I've just come up with a way to solve our problems and score some points back with the Doctor as well."

Both alters turned to Koschei, listening intently.


Amy was sitting in a folding chair beside Koschei's bed in Medical watching the Doctor pace back and forth outside in the hallway while he and Major Thompson talked over their situation. Captain Mallory had been called away a little while ago. It turned out the sleeping Timelord wasn't as badly off as they'd first feared. His injuries were no fun to look at, but were minor, mostly bumps and bruises. He had apparently collapsed due to exhaustion and minor malnutition. There was an IV in his arm to help with his low electrolyte levels and low blood sugar. She heard a deep inhalation of breath from the bed next to her and looked over at the injured alien to see amber eyes blinking up at her.

"You're awake!" She exclaimed, feeling relieved, and turned away to call out. "Doctor! He's woken up!"

The Doctor quickly came over to join her at the Master's bedside with Thompson following close behind.

"Doctor." The Master gave the obligatory greeting.

"Master." The Doctor responded as he always did. "How are you feeling?"

The Master made a face.

"Please Doctor." He sneered. "Let's not waste time, shall we? The Dole will be hunting soon. I imagine that remains a significant deadline. I have a proposal."

"No." The Doctor replied immediately. The Master frowned at him.

"Listen first." He replied irritably.

"I'll handle it." The Doctor persisted. The Master scoffed."I'm working on it. I'll think of something. It's what I do."

"No. You've got nothing and I"m willing to help you. It's awkward I admit, but you need me." The Master argued. "You need help drawing out the Dole. I can do that."

"Definitely not."

"I won't be as energetic as usual, but channelling current doesn't really deter navitavores anyway. It's a perfectly reasonable starting point." The Master continued, ignoring the Doctor's denial.

"Not happening."

"What's your plan then Doctor?" The Master challenged as the Doctor frowned stubbornly down at him. "As touching as your concern for my safety may be, my plan is both practical and effective."

"I don't have one but I'll improvise. I'm good at that. You'll just have to trust my judgment on this."

"Bow-tie..."

"Bow-ties are cool!" The Doctor shot back defensively. The Master and Amy shared a look. Thompson suddenly found the wall to the Master's right extremely interesting. "What?"

"You're not making a very convincing argument for your judgment, Doctor." The Master told him. "Though it is definitely better than your decorative vegetable phase."

"No! Did he really?" Amy exclaimed. The Master nodded, smirking.

"That was a long time ago!" The Doctor protested as Amy and the Master snickered. "It's still too risky letting you out in the open."

The Master glared darkly at him and the argument continued on for a while in a harsh exchange of High Gallifreyan. Eventually, it ended with a victorious grin from the Master.

"I'm in control though. You'll follow my lead." The Doctor added in English. The Master's smile barely faltered...


Roughly half an hour later, the Master was sitting against the wall on one side of the alley, watching the Doctor move around restlessly as they waited for the UNIT personnel in the van a little ways away from them to give them the green light. Amy, Martha, Major Thompson and Lieutenent Lee were in the back of that van, where they would be monitoring the Master's vitals and watching the alley through the CCTV cameras - plus a few they had added in order to cover the blind spots before the two Timelords had arrived. Captain Mallory and a couple others were hidden in strategic locations along the street on the opposite end of the alley.

"Nervous Doctor?" The Master finally asked, tucking his hands into the pocket of the brown hoodie UNIT had supplied for warmth."Honestly I'm a little offended."

"Hmm?" The Doctor hummed distractedly, looking down at the Master. "Oh, no. It's not that. You used to make me nervous. I'm not nervous now. No, don't be ridiculous. Just... should have gone with my plan that's all."

The Master narrowed his eyes at the Doctor, their felinesque reflective quality causing them to glow a greenish color. He stood to face the Doctor, brushing the dirt off his jeans.

"You're worried about me." The Master observed studying the Doctor's face. Then he rolled his neck, making it pop loudly. "Now I am really offended!"

"Don't start this now. You yourself admitted you weren't at your full strength!" The Doctor defended.

"Oh yes, thank you, Doctor. Naturally that means I need your protection." The Master replied sarcastically, prodding the Doctor's chest with his finger. "Your condescension is mindboggling, as always."

"Then your mind is easily boggled. If you haven't noticed - which you've apparently been too self-involved to do, as usual-"

"Oi! Boys! You're both just lovely. Now, let's try to focus on what we're supposed to be doing here, shall we?" Amy cut in forcefully over the comms.

The Doctor and the Master stared at each other silently for another moment.

"We're ready for you to begin with with the transition." Major Thompson informed them. The Master sighed and then his breathing changed to that strange, shallow, uneven breathing and his head fell forward as he transitioned. The Doctor caught him as he suddenly went limp, wrapping his arms tightly around his friend's waist to support him. Koschei reached up and patted his shoulder.

"It's alright, Theta. I'm just feeling a little tired but I can manage."

The Doctor let go hesitantly, keeping a careful eye on the other Timelord, just in case.

"Are you sure about this?" The Doctor asked, and Koschei nodded, smiling reasuringly at him. He reached for the Doctor's hand and pulled him closer.

"You want to know what happened here, don't you?" Koschei asked. The Doctor nodded and Koschei reached up, putting a hand to the back of the Doctor's head and pulling down gently to rest the Doctor's forehead against his.

"I'll show you." He whispered and their eyes fell shut.


.

A/N: Yeah I know, kind of an annoying finish for the chapter but it had to be done. Anyway, it's longer than it's predecessors, so hopefully you'll forgive me. Thanks again to all of you who are reading this, and an extra-special thank you to Jim Moriarty who actually reviewed! Seriously, any reviews are helpful to me and may actually speed up my updates. A little. Not trying to be pushy, but it's true. I crave feedback. Oh and just a fun fact for anyone who actually cares: The whole scene with the three alternate personalities meeting in the dreamscape was actually the first scene I ever wrote. It was a random idea that came to me when I was going to sleep one night and was pretty much the main cause for this fic. I was so psyched that I finally got to use it in the story. Ok this note is now ridiculously long, sorry. I'll just shut up now...