Back in the great hall, the Doctor hummed nonchalantly and quietly to himself as the Master rambled on about destiny and birthrights and... Unlimited rice puddings.

As always, in spite of appearances, he was listening very, very carefully to everything his enemy said, yet disbelieving every word of it.

All of a sudden, without any sign of warning, the Master tore the duct tape off of the mouth of the Doctor.

"There, I've spoken quite long enough. Ah, who am I kidding, I can never speak enough, I have a great voice! These vocal cords are fantastic! Anyway, I need you to be able to speak. Or, more accurately, I need you to be able to agree..."

"Agree with you? Oh come on Master, in nine hundred and seven years, when have we ever agreed with one another?"

The Master frowned. Then pouted. "Oh dear... I don't like it when you use my name at all... You make it sound... Oh no, I can't even say it. Your last incarnation made it sound so... Flattering. I'm not sure that I like you very much at all. Maybe your next incarnation will be a little better..."

At that, the Doctor opened his mouth in shock as he suddenly found himself staring down the barrel of a gun. Then he heard the most terrifying sound in the world as the pistol was cocked.

Suddenly, the Master tossed it aside with an insane laugh. Grinning wildly, he leant in close to his foe. So close that the Doctor could feel the warm breath of his enemy on his face.

"Like I ever would. I need you Doctor. Not just to complete this plan, but because I really don't know what I would be without you. I lost the drums, I don't want to lose you too."

The Doctor, despite his massive intellect, was taken very much aback by his foes inconsistency. Dapper and charming gave way to manic and crude. Manic and crude gave way to dark and threatening.

He had spoken loudly for almost twenty minutes now, yet actually said little. That wasn't like him.

And what happened next very much was not like the Master he knew.

His voice level, tranquil and calm, he spoke.

"We have agreements Doctor, many, many times in the past. Perhaps in your old age you have forgotten... But I remember. I always remember."

His eyes misty, the mind of the Master had clearly vacated its owners body and was wandering far in the realm of memory. A blank and vacant smile formed on the handsome face.

"When we were children Doctor. We were the best of friends. So many good times..."

Irritated, the Doctor snarled; "Look, I do remember all of this. Now just damned well tell me what you're doing and why you need me to help!"

The Master, snapped out of his trance, pulled himself away and turned his back to his oldest enemy.

"You really are making shooting you seem like a preferred option..." with a snort, the Master glanced briefly at the clock. The number zero was flashing on the screen above the throne.

Genuinely shocked, he pulled a strange device out of his pocket. On first glance it would appear to be a fob watch. The Doctor strained to catch a closer look. Before he could though, the Master spoke into it, revealing its true function as a radio.

"Valdash, did it work? Did we get her?"

The radio crackled briefly before the reply came;

"Yes, my Lord and Master."

"Oh yes!" he yelled triumphantly, thrusting a fist in the air. He turned to the Doctor, his eyes wide in delight. Anger still bubbling away, the Doctor snapped once more;

"Got who? What game are you playing Master?"

A simple laugh was the reply.

"Hmm... I think you're growing on me new Doctor."

"Tell me! Please!"

The Doctor was exasperated. The look in his eyes matched the pleading tone of his voice. The Master was amused.

"Fine... I'll tell you, but only because I need your help."

The Doctor blinked. Once. Twice. Before the Master could speak, he was cut off by the single, quiet word the Doctor whispered.

"What?"

He couldn't possibly have heard that correctly. There was no way that the Master had just said the words that had somehow escaped his mouth.

"You heard me. I need your help. And this is why."

As the Doctor now listened intently, his oldest enemy and one-time friend recounted everything that had happened on Kalaya for the past hundred years. Everything he had done before and in between. How he had manipulated the politics of the planet, how he had brought the Toclafane back from the end of the universe using the Heart of the TARDIS. How using the white point star from the Time War he had managed to pull other artefacts.

"So small Doctor... At one time, even using the Eye of Harmony I was only able to pull through single strands of the materials I needed... A single cell of a seed to grow the silver leafed trees of our homeworld. It took far more than the century that has passed here to build the prototype seeds for me to replicate... And the sky, hell, I'm not going to get into how difficult that was..."

The Doctor was enthralled by the twisted genius of the man before him. The Master was still insane, still evil to the core. But what he had managed to achieve was just, quite plainly, fantastic.

So the Master continued to recount his story, telling now of his actions after completing his … Galliforming of Kalaya.

Strangely, he told of the planet Messaline. The Doctors ears perked up at that.

After mentioning the name of the planet, the Master paused ominously. The Doctor, hyperactive and energetic as he is, normally would have interrupted at this point to demand answers. Instead he continued to listen in a stunned silence as his foe spoke once more, his tone now far more reserved.

"You can hear it now too, can't you? The heartbeat. Haven't you figured out what it is? Has it really been so long?"

Seeing the blank expression of his fellow Time Lord, the Master allowed himself another manic laugh.

"Ba-da ba-ba! The heart beat of a Time Lord Doctor! Or, should I say, the heart beat of a Time Lady..."

Clambering to his feet, his hands still cuffed behind him, the Doctor pushed himself as far from the pole as he could manage. Anger pushing his curiosity aside, he demanded an answer, yelling a now familiar '"What?"' at his enemy.

"The psychic link Doctor. The thing that has allowed us to know of the existence of the other throughout time and space for aeons. You never heard mine because, well, I didn't want you to. And I went to great lengths to make sure that you didn't. A network akin to Archangel orbits this world, but don't be getting any ideas of using that against me like you did last time. It's being destroyed as we speak. Now listen."

For seemingly the first time in his life, the Doctor did as he was told. After several seconds of silence, he heard the sound again. The rhythmical beating of twin hearts.

Smiling like a predator playing with its prey, the Master breathed softly.

"Keep listening..."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a second rhythm began, pounding far faster than the slow beat of the first. The Doctor looked the Master in the eye in fear and shock.

"Yep! That one is little old me! My hearts are positively racing in anticipation, seeing as everything has worked so perfectly thus far!"

"Who is it?"

"Oh hush, I'm still talking."

"Who is it!"

"Temper temper, all in good time. You've barely let me finish. Now, have a little patience..."

The Master took a seat on one of the marble steps and drummed his fingers softly on the floor.

"As you know, Doctor, when a Time Lord regenerates the signal is very clear, not just in our heads, but throughout any nearby galaxies in that timeframe. When I first heard the link, I assumed it was just you, falling off a conservatory roof or something, I know how delicate you are. But then I heard it again. Not long after that. Too soon, for it to be you again. I knew then, I knew that there was another. One I had never met."

The Doctor had already pieced the puzzle together. He slumped in a heap against the pole. The Master took no notice.

"The signal was faint... The regeneration had taken place a long time ago. So long, in fact, that it should have long since dissipated. I knew it had to mean something. I knew it was far more powerful than a simple regeneration. It was an artificial looming."

"Looming is a myth!" the Doctor growled, raging like a trapped and wounded animal. His usual personality had long disappeared under the weight of centuries of repressed anger. He was disgusted with himself, but still he continued to snarl, denying still the truth that the Master laid before him.

"Indeed it is!" the Master boomed cheerfully, leaning towards his foe. "Or was. It's possible, you know it is. How do you think they replicated Rassilon? Or me, for that matter?. Just because you were born doesn't mean that a Time Lord has to be. But of course, just as the legends say, looming requires the DNA of a naturally born Time Lord to act as both mother and father. Where in the universe would they get that? Oh, I know, you!"

He pointed a finger jovially at his defeated enemy, mocking him.

"You created a new Time Lord, using disgustingly primitive technology. I know, like I said I visited Messaline, long after you had left. Never even looking back Doctor, my word, what sort of a life is that?"

The Doctor stared silently at the ground.

"I know about your daughter Doctor. Precious 'Jenny'. And she's here now."

"Jenny died." the Doctor said simply and sadly.

"Oh you really have regenerated into a bone dead idiot. She was only created about four hours before being shot. Her body repaired itself easily. She didn't even need to regenerate! You listened to... Oh yes, you listened to Martha Jones, I remember her. The great expert on Time Lord physiology! You took the word of a human over your own knowledge of basic biology! You have spent far too much time around that mongrel species!"

He spat the last two words with untold venom. The Doctor remained silent. The Master, wide eyed and innocent looking, bounded over to his throne. With an unnerving smile, he touched a button on the throne.

"That's what the countdown was for Doctor. The count down until her ship was in range of our transmat arrays. We intercepted her shuttle. That's right, all the way from Messaline, here she is Doctor, your daughter!"

With another push of a button, Jenny appeared, unconscious, across the room for the Doctor. The Master leered.

"And I bet you've never even paid child support."