I don't own Doctor Who or Buffy: the Vampire Slayer. All I own is this story.
Doctor Who © Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber and Donald Wilson, and Buffy: the Vampire Slayer © Joss Whedon.
Please review constructively and responsibly. If this story isn't your particular brand of vodka, don't read. Allow others to read and form their own opinions.
Cheers xx
PROMISES
"Do you really want me... Do you really want me? Do you really want me dead or alive to torture for my sins?"
~Thirty Seconds to Mars: 'Hurricane' (This is War [2009])
It only took a few minutes for the Master and his guards to 'escort' Martha Jones back on board the Valiant to await judgement and execution in front of millions of viewers all around the world. The impending death of the famous Martha Jones would be the biggest blow to them all; and the Master knew it. It would also potentially devastate the Doctor as well. But probably not as much as losing his beloved Buffy would take; as she was to be eliminated as well. The Master strolled carelessly through the doors to the Flight Deck.
"Citizens of Earth, rejoice and observe." He was followed closely by Martha who glanced around at the familiar faces of her parents, her sister, Jack and Buffy, whom the Master had had dragged from the tent and restrained. The Slayer was trying to break free, but a solid punch to the face quickly stopped her. Martha winced, and looked around for the Doctor. Her eyes widened when she saw him, tiny and creature-like, and trapped inside a birdcage. He beamed at her, proudly, and she smiled and nodded; both biding their time for the main event about to take place. Martha was placed in the centre of the room, within view of everybody and the Master turned to face her from the elevated podium. "Your teleport device, in case you thought I'd forgotten." He extended his hand, and Martha unwrapped the bracelet from her arm and tossed it him. "Bring her!" He instructed the guard holding Buffy, and the guard shoved Buffy towards Martha who caught and steadied her. Out the corner of Martha's eye, she noticed the Doctor react when he realised the Master's intentions and clenched the bars of the birdcage tightly, trying to reign in his anger. "And now, kneel. Both of you." Both Buffy and Martha obeyed silently. "Down below, the fleet is ready to launch. Two hundred thousand ships set to burn across the universe." The Master explains to his 'subjects'. "Are we ready?" He talks into a microphone.
"The fleet awaits your signal. Rejoice!" A man's voice answers from overhead speakers.
The Master nods.
"Three minutes to align the black hole converters. Counting down." A nearby clock starts to count down. Buffy notices Martha smirk, and frowns in confusion. "I never could resist a ticking clock." He tells Buffy and Martha, before speaking into the microphone again. "My children, are you ready?" Again, a chorus of child-like voices reply.
"We will fly and blaze and slice. We will fly and blaze and slice." They chant excitedly. Buffy glances at the Doctor and sees him wink at her, whilst maintaining a seemingly hopeless expression on his Gollum-like face. Her eyes widen when she realises the Doctor and Martha had had a plan all along and she smiles with relief.
"Get ready, Buffy." Martha whispers to her, and Buffy nods.
"At zero, to mark this day, the children Martha Jones and Buffy Summers, will die. My first blood." He turns to them, still kneeling and sneers. "Any last words? No? Such a disappointment, these two." He turns to the Doctor. "Days of old, Doctor, you had companions who could absorb the time vortex." Buffy winced, knowing he was referring somehow to Rose Tyler when she absorbed the time vortex to save the Doctor from being killed by the Dalek Emperor. A story he had told her once-upon-a-time, when she wanted to learn more about the one other person he had fallen for during his existence. "These two are useless." Buffy and Martha glared at the Master defiantly. "Bow your heads." They do so. "And so it falls to me, as Master of all, to establish from this day, a new order of Time Lords. From this day forward…" Martha laughs quietly, drawing the Master's attention. "What? What's so funny?" He demanded.
"A gun?" Martha stated incredulously.
"What about it?" The Master shrugged carelessly.
"A gun in four parts?" She continued. The Master looked impatient, and suddenly Buffy understood why Martha had laughed. She started laughing too.
"What is so funny?" The Master demanded. "Yes, there was a gun, and I destroyed it." Buffy laughed harder.
"Oh, God. You're such a moron." She gasped. Martha grinned at her, pleased that she had caught on.
"A gun in four parts scattered across the world? I mean, come on, did you really believe that?" She asked, flatly. The Master faltered.
"What do you mean?"
"As if I would ask her to kill." The Doctor finally piped up, grinning from ear to ear. The Master attempted to redeem himself.
"Oh well, it doesn't matter. I've got her exactly where I want her." He stated. Martha raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I have a fairly good idea why Buffy is kneeling beside me, but I knew what Professor Docherty would do." She explained. "The Resistance knew about her son. I told her about the gun, so she'd get me here at the right time." The Master sneered.
"But you're still going to die." He insisted.
"Yeah, bud. I think that ship has sailed." Buffy pointed out, getting to her feet and helping Martha to hers. Martha agreed.
"Don't you want to know what I was doing, travelling the world?" She asked. The Master and Buffy were curious.
"Tell me." He demanded rudely. Martha and the Doctor exchanged knowing glances with each other.
"I told a story, that's all. No weapons, just words. I did just what the Doctor said." She explained triumphantly. "I went across the continents all on my own. And everywhere I went, I found the people, and told them my story. I told them about the Doctor, and I told them to pass it on, to spread the word so that everyone would know about the Doctor."
The Master looked unimpressed.
"Faith and hope? Is that all?" Martha shook her head.
"No, because I gave them all an instruction, just as the Doctor said." Martha took a step forward, causing the Master to take one back. "I told them that if everyone thinks of one word, at one specific time…"
"Nothing will happen." The Master interrupted. "Is that your weapon? Prayer?" He scoffed. Martha wasn't deterred.
"Right across the world, one word, just one thought at one moment but with fifteen satellites." The sneer dropped from the Master's face.
"What?"
"The Archangel Network." Jack stated with a happy realisation, causing everyone around him to gasp excitedly when they realised that they had won. Martha nodded at him.
"A telepathic field binding the whole human race together, with all of them, every single person on Earth, thinking the same thing at the same time. And that word is Doctor." The countdown finishes and the Doctor and his cage start glowing.
The Master's eyes widen in horror.
"Stop it. No, no, no, no. You don't!" He cried out in fear.
"Doctor. Doctor." Jack chanted confidently.
"Doctor." Others took up the chant as well.
"Don't!" The Master screamed. The entire planet was chanting 'Doctor' as loudly and clearly as they could over the television monitors. Lucy smiles and closes her eyes.
"Doctor." She breathes.
"Doctor." Jack repeats. Martha and Buffy, clutching at each other in excitement, turn to each other and grin from ear to ear.
"Doctor!" They shouted enthusiastically. The Doctor has returned to his centegenarian form, and he stares at the Master sternly.
"I've had a whole year to tune myself into the psychic network and integrate with its matrices." He tells him. The Master glares, backing away from the Doctor.
"I order you to stop!" He orders, panicking. The Doctor doesn't stop, and the crowds only chant louder and faster. Overjoyed tears are streaming down Buffy, Martha and Jack's faces.
"The one thing you can't do. Stop them thinking." The Doctor is finally restored to his normal appearance. The anger on his face had disappeared, and a look of compassion had replaced it. "Tell me the human race is degenerate now, when they can do this." Martha breaks away from Buffy and rushes over to her parents and Tish and hug them with all her might.
"No!" The Master uses his laser screwdriver at the Doctor, but the energy field surrounding him is protecting him and bounces harmlessly off.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." The Doctor tells him, as he floats over to the Master, who turns his attention towards Buffy, whose eyes widen.
"Then I'll kill her." The Doctor stretches his hand out and the screwdriver flies from the Master's hand. He looks at the Doctor with genuine fear. "You can't do this! You can't do it! It's not fair!" He pleads.
"And you know what happens now." The Doctor reminds him.
"No! No! No! No!" The Master backs away from the Doctor, almost tripping down the stairs and Buffy nearly feels sorry for him.
"You wouldn't listen."
"No!" The Master continues chanting.
"Because you know what I'm going to say." The Doctor lands on his two feet, and strides confidently over to the Master who has curled up into a ball in the corner of the room. The Doctor calmly puts his arms around the Master. "I forgive you." Buffy smiles. The Master's eyes widen in fear.
"My children." He whispers, and the Doctor immediately looks up sharply, remembering the billions of Toclafane still floating in the stratosphere, waiting for the Master's orders.
"Captain!" Jack looks over at the Doctor. "The paradox machine!" Jack doesn't waste a moment. He grabs a couple of retreating guards he knew were reluctantly following the Master.
"You men, with me!" They charge off. Buffy notices the Master fiddling around with something and realises that he has Jack's manipulator.
"Doctor!" She yells, grabbing his attention and points towards the Master.
"No!" The Doctor yells, grabbing the manipulator just as the Master activates it and teleports them away. Buffy curses, and turns for a nearby scanner. Her eyes widen at an unpleasant discovery.
"We've got all six billion spheres heading right for us!" She announces and Martha rushes over to see. A few seconds later, the ship starts to shake. Papers fly everywhere, and both Martha and Buffy get thrown around. Buffy is tossed into the waiting arms of the Doctor.
"Everybody get down! Time is reversing!" The Doctor announces and pulls Buffy to the ground, shielding her as they both grab onto something for dear life. Both of them grin at each other and laugh excitedly.
The Master is hanging onto some railings, Martha clutches onto her mother and Tish, with their father shielding all three of them protectively and the winds of time create havoc and panic on the ground, until the people, rockets and statues of the Master disappear as the timeline restores itself. The Doctor pulls himself to his feet and brings Buffy up with him. "The paradox is broken. We've reverted back, one year and one day. Two minutes past eight in the morning." The Doctor announces.
Buffy sighs with relief.
"This is UNIT Central. What's happened up there? We just saw the President assassinated!"
"It's just after the President was killed, but just before the spheres arrived. Everything back to normal; Planet Earth restored and none of it happened. The rockets, the terror. It never was." He explained.
"The year that never was." Buffy whispered sadly and the Doctor wraps an arm around her shoulders, looking solemn. Martha frowned worriedly.
"What about the spheres?"
"Trapped at the end of the universe." The Doctor confirmed. Francine frowned.
"But I can remember it." She stated. The Doctor nodded.
"We're at the eye of the storm. The only ones who'll ever know." Then he notices Clive over her shoulder and smiles. "Oh, hello. You must be Mister Jones. We haven't actually met." He greets him enthusiastically. The Master makes a run for it, but nearly collides with Jack who is coming in.
"Whoa, big fella! You don't want to miss the party." Jack tells him, before reaching out towards a nearby guard. "Cuffs!" He slaps them on and looks at the Doctor for suggestions. "So, what do we do with this one?" The Master is immediately the target of murderous glares.
"We kill him." Clive was quick to answer.
"We execute him." Tish agreed. The Doctor immediately rounds on them, his eyes narrowing in anger.
"No, that's not the solution." Francine aims a pistol at the Master.
"Oh, I think so. Because all those things, they still happened because of him. I saw them."
"Go on then, do it." The Master eggs her on. Buffy stands in front of the Master, shielding him and fixing her with a hard look. Francine was shocked.
"What are you doing? Stand aside." She demanded.
The Doctor's eyes widened.
"Buffy, don't you dare!" Buffy ignores him in favour of focusing on Martha's mum. She was astounded.
"How dare you! Why would you try to save him?!" Buffy raised an eyebrow.
"I'm not trying to save him. I'm trying to save you, and your family, and anybody else who even tries to be the hero." Buffy explained, as she walked over and took the pistol from her. "Killing for sake of killing is one thing, but killing for revenge is not something any of us is capable of. That is something my stint as the Slayer has told me." The Doctor's disapproving frown disappeared when he realised Buffy was trying to prove a point. "Say you did pull the trigger; killed the Master. Would you feel better, or would you feel worse? Would you be able to deal with the burden of being the one that struck him down for the rest of your life?"
Francine was silenced, realising that Buffy had a point. The Doctor walked over to her.
"Francine, you're better than him." He reminded her, before he hugs her and hands her over to Martha.
"You still haven't answered the question. What happens to me?" The Master demanded snidely. The Doctor turns towards him, still solemn faced.
"You're my responsibility from now on. The only Time Lord left in existence." He declared. Buffy looked at him in surprise. As did Jack and Martha.
"But you can't trust him." Jack pointed out. The Doctor nodded in agreement.
"No. The only safe place for him is the TARDIS."
The Master looked horrified.
"You mean you're just going to keep me?" The Doctor nodded.
"Mmm. If that's what I have to do." He stated confidently. "It's time to change. Maybe I've been wondering for too long. Now I've got someone to care for." Buffy looked a little offended. And what am I? Chopped liver? Suddenly there is a gunshot, and everyone looks over to see Lucy Saxon holding a smoking gun. Buffy notices movement and turns in time to catch the Master; since she was the closest, and lowers him to the ground. The Doctor and Jack react accordingly. Jack cautiously approaches Lucy and takes the gun from her, and the Doctor goes over to help Buffy.
"It's okay. You're okay, I've got you. I've got you." Buffy reassures the Master, looking alarmed. She pulls her hand away from his body and her eyes widen at the amount of the Master's blood on her hand. She pales. "Oh my God… Doctor!" He rushes over to her side and sees the blood. Buffy immediately replaces her hand over the Master's bullet wound, increasing pressure and trying to stop the bleeding.
"Always the women." The Master grunts in irritation. First a blue bug-like alien who hero worshiped him, and now his human wife. Both wielding guns. The Doctor made sure he was comfortable.
"I didn't see her." He reassures him. The Master chuckles sardonically.
"Dying in your lover's arms. How poetic." The Doctor scoffed, and Buffy looks at him worriedly.
"You're not dying. Don't be stupid, it's only a bullet. Just regenerate."
Buffy's eyes widen when the Master suddenly smirks.
"No."
"You can't!" Buffy insisted, realising what the Master was intending on doing. Tears started welling up in the Doctor's eyes.
"It's one little bullet. Come on!" The Doctor urges him. The Master's smirk broadened.
"I guess you don't know me so well. I refuse." The Doctor wasn't ready to give up. When it came to death, he was a sore loser. He always took it personally.
"Regenerate. Just regenerate. Please. Please! Just regenerate. Come on." The Master almost pitied his old friend, and his eyes flicked over to a horrified Buffy, still pressing uselessly on his wound.
"And spend the rest of my life imprisoned with you?" He snorted weakly. "While I won't deny that the view would be breathtaking…" He indicated to Buffy. "I think I'll take my chances with the reaper."
"You've got to. Come on, it can't end like this. You and me, all the things we've done. Axons. Remember the Axons? And the Daleks. We're the only two left. There's no one else." The Doctor insisted, but the Master was unmoved. "Regenerate!" The Doctor yelled desperately. The Master's smirk melted away to a genuine smile.
"How about that. I win. Will it stop, Doctor? The drumming. Will it stop?" He whispered.
All eyes were focused upon the Doctor and Buffy attending to a dying Master, and all felt sorry for the Doctor; despite how much they hated the Master. Tears fell down Martha's cheeks as the Master slipped away. There was a stunned silence, as Buffy pulled her hand away from the Master. She lowered her head with the same type of defeat reflected in her eyes that Doctors had when they lost their patients. Buffy sat back, as the Doctor pulled the Master's body into his arms and started weeping copiously at the loss.
"No!" He snarled with anguish.
Buffy respectfully placed a hand on the Doctor's shoulder, squeezing it gently before letting go once again. Sometime later, a mournful Doctor was alone when he followed the Time Lord traditions, and burned the Master's body on a funeral pyre. He observed the smouldering flames for a moment, before he turned and walked away.
The next day; the Doctor, Jack, Martha and Buffy took the TARDIS to Roald Dahl Plass in Cardiff to drop Jack off at Torchwood. All four of them leant against a metal banister that fenced in the oval shaped open space and gave a wonderful view of the illuminated pillars. At the north end of the plass was the Water Tower, which Buffy and Martha were told by Jack was the secret entrance of Torchwood. Buffy leaned against the Doctor, linking arms with him to offer comfort, as the Time Lord was still smarting over losing his oldest friend and fellow Time Lord. As it was, the Doctor was now officially the Last of the Time Lords; a label he found hard to swallow. Martha observed the tourists walking around the plass; sightseeing, taking pictures or just generally moving through to get to their destination.
"Time was, every single one of these people knew your name. Now they've all forgotten you." Martha mused sadly. The Doctor didn't look concerned.
"Good." He replied, putting on a brave face. Jack turned to face the Doctor.
"Back to work." He announced. The Doctor looked a little sad.
"I really don't mind, you know." The Doctor told him, offering Jack the chance to travel around with him. Jack shook his head, smiling.
"I had plenty of time to think that past year – the year that never was – and I kept thinking about that team of mine. Like you said, Doctor, responsibility." Jack explained. The Doctor nodded.
"Defending the Earth. Can't argue with that." Buffy lets go of the Doctor's arm so that he could reach over and take Jack's hand; exposing the vortex manipulator on his wrist. Jack immediately started to protest.
"Hey, I need that!" The Doctor looked at him sternly.
"I can't have you walking around with a time travelling teleport. You could go anywhere, twice. The second time to apologise." The Doctor sonics the manipulator. Jack shrugs in defeat, then looks at his friend hopefully.
"And what about me? Can you fix that? Will I ever be able to die?"
The Doctor shakes his head grimly.
"Nothing I can do. You're an impossible thing, Jack." The Doctor replaces the sonic back in his pocket and re-takes Buffy's hand in his. The Slayer smiles happily. Jack chuckles.
"I've been called that before." He straightens up and salutes. "Sir. Mesdames." Buffy and Martha waved, while the Doctor gives the Torchwood leader a mock salute. Jack turns to go, but then stops. "But I keep wondering. What about aging? Because I can't die but I keep getting older." Buffy raises an eyebrow. "The odd little grey hair, you know? What happens if I live for a million years?" He questioned with mild concern.
Again, the Doctor shrugs.
"I really don't know." He replied honestly. Jack deflated a little, then grins.
"Okay, vanity. Sorry. Yeah, can't help it. Used to be a poster boy when I was a kid living on the Boeshane Peninsula. Tiny little place. I was the first one ever to be signed up for the Time Agency. They were so proud of me." The Doctor, Martha and Buffy looked impressed. "The Face of Boe, they called me. Hmmm." Now they looked stunned. "I'll see you." Jack heads off towards Torchwood's secret entrance. Buffy lets go of the Doctor's hand and jogs a little after him.
"Hey Jack!" The Time Agent turns and looks at Buffy inquiringly. "Don't be a stranger!" She calls. Jack grins flirtatiously back at the Slayer. "Wouldn't dream of it, honey." He winks and continues running. The Doctor and Martha walk up behind Buffy, still looking stunned.
"No way." The Doctor breathed.
"It can't be him." Martha agreed.
"No. Definitely not. No, no." The Doctor denied it. But Buffy laughed and turned to walk back to the TARDIS.
"Hey, weirder things have happened." She reminds them. The Doctor and Martha exchange looks before grinning and following her.
The Doctor and Buffy watch Francine, Martha, Clive and Tish inside Francine's house from across the street where the TARDIS is parked. Both exchange glances before going inside it. Buffy saunters over to the Pilot's seat and sits, leaning back and closing her eyes. She listens to the Doctor moving around the console; flicking switches, making adjustments and doing it all while in total silence.
"Hey." The Doctor looks up at her from the opposite side of the console. His eyes haunted. "Are you okay?" Buffy asks, quietly. The Doctor adopts a carefree personality change which worries Buffy, because he only did that when he really wasn't okay and didn't want her to worry.
"I'm always okay." He responds, smiling slightly. Buffy gets up from the seat and walks around the console towards him, noting that the Doctor's spare hand had been attached to the base of the console. She wraps her arms around his waist and leans her head against his chest, listening to the Doctor's double heartbeat. He automatically wraps his arms around her, slightly surprised by her gesture.
"It's okay if you're not, you know." She reminds him. Buffy feels the Doctor resting his chin on top of her head, listening to her words intently. "I won't tell anyone. It'll be our first little secret." She tells him. The Doctor hums before kissing the crown of her head.
"Thank you, Buffy." He whispers back. The door to the TARDIS opens and in steps Martha. Buffy and the Doctor immediately break apart and the Doctor puts on his 'carefree' personality.
"Right then, off we go. The open road. There is a burst of starfire right now over the coast of Meta Sigmafolio." Buffy scans Martha's blank face, and realises she's not here to continue the adventure with them; Martha was there to say goodbye.
"Doctor…" Buffy called out. But the Doctor was on a roll, distracted by the fun they could be potentially visiting.
"Oh, the sky is like oil on water. Fancy a look? Or back in time. We could, I don't know, Charles the Second? Henry the Eighth…"
"Doctor…" Buffy tried again.
"I know what about Agatha Christie? I'd love to meet Agatha Christie. I bet she's brilliant."
"Doctor!" Buffy raises her voice, and the Doctor looks over to her. She gestures at Martha and he turns and sees her expression. The cheerful expression fades away from his face.
"Okay." He looks sad, but accepts her decision. Martha smiles sadly.
"I just can't." She stated. The Doctor nodded.
"Yeah."
"I spent all these years training to be a doctor. Now I've got people to look after. They saw half the planet slaughtered and they're devastated. I can't leave them." Martha explained. The Doctor smiled proudly.
"Of course not. Thank you. Martha Jones, you saved the world." She grinned.
"Yes, I did. I spent a lot of time with you thinking I was second best, but you know what? I am good." She declared, before frowning with mild concern. "You going to be alright?" The Doctor nodded.
"Always. Yeah." He replied. "Besides, I've got Buffy." Martha nods, smiling brightly. Buffy comes over and hugs Martha who reciprocates tightly.
"You take care of him." She warns. Buffy grins. "Right then. Bye." Martha leaves, then seconds later comes back in, surprising Buffy and the Doctor. "Because the thing is, it's like my friend Vicky. She lived with this bloke, student housing, there were five of them all packed in, and this bloke was called Sean. And she loved him. She did. She completely adored him. Spent all day long talking about him." Martha said.
The Doctor looked a bit confused, but Buffy nodded; completely understanding.
"Is this going anywhere?" The Doctor asked, earning a slightly reproachful look from Buffy.
"Yes." Martha confirmed. The Doctor nodded and gestured for her to continue. "Because he never looked at her twice." The Doctor's eyes widened when he finally understood what Martha was getting at, and he instantly looked guilty but also unapologetic. Surprisingly, Martha didn't mind. "I mean, he liked her, but that was it. And she wasted years pining after him. Years of her life. Because while he was around, she never looked at anyone else. And I told her, I always said to her, time and time again, I said, get out. So this is me, getting out." Martha tosses her mobile phone at Buffy, who catches it and raises a questioning eyebrow at her.
"Keep that, because I'm not having you two disappear." Buffy turns the phone around in her hands and exchanges a look with the Doctor who shrugs. "If that rings, no when that rings, you'd better come running. Got it?" Martha ordered.
Buffy and the Doctor nodded.
"Got it." The Doctor replies.
"Crystal." Buffy responds with a smile. Martha turns and heads out of the TARDIS. She stops and looks at them both.
"I'll see you both again." Martha promises. She leaves and the TARDIS dematerialises. Buffy turns to the Doctor and gives a small smile. The Doctor's face pales.
"Don't tell me you want to leave too." He asks, suddenly fearful. Buffy giggles and kisses his cheek.
"No, you silly alien. I'm not going anywhere, I told you that." The Doctor instantly relaxes. "I just need to let Xander and Willow in on the adventures. Can we go pick them up?" The Doctor shrugged.
"I don't see why not." He keys in the coordinates for Sunnydale a couple of hours before he had originally picked her up for their current adventure. "Let's go get 'em!"
But back at the Master's funeral pyre, the Master's body is gone. But from the ashes, his signet ring tumbles free and lands on the grass. A woman with red manicured fingers picks it up.
A storm was approaching, and Buffy and the Doctor had better batten down the hatches.
A/N: Alright! Now it's time for Willow and Xander to get in on the adventures with the Doctor. Strengthen the friendship between Buffy and her friends. Stay tuned for the next chapter; Willow and Xander might be hanging around for a while.
TTFN xx