Disclaimer: I own nothing and if you haven't realized that by now, you should seriously consider getting yourself tested for some kind of learning disorder.
Ch. 21:
A madman sat in his empire of dust and ashes, little knowing of the glory he would achieve.
The Master was gnawing on a bone, when he suddenly looked up.
The Doctor and Lily were standing on a stony mound, looking around.
While his saviors looked upon the wilderness in the hope of changing his inevitable fate.
Joshua and Abigail sat on silver thrones, clinking celebratory glasses of champagne.
Far away, the idiots and fools dreamt of a shining new future, a future now doomed to never happen.
"As Earth rolled onwards into night, the people of that world did sleep and shiver, somehow knowing that the dawn would bring only one thing….the final day."
The Lord President stood, in red and orange robes, watching.
The Master sniffed and turned.
Promise me you'll stay behind me. Lily told the Doctor.
He stared at her.
Promise me. She repeated.
He hesitated and nodded.
The Master walked towards them and Lily and the Doctor matched his motions.
The Master glanced down at his hands, which were glowing.
"You killed Lucy." Lily called to him.
"A human." He sneered. "A betrayer."
"I also betrayed you." She told him. "Are you going to kill me, brother?"
"Join me." He told her. "We can rule side by side, brother and sister again, like we were in the old days."
"I've made my choice, Koschei." She told him sadly. "Have you made yours?"
He flung out his hands and a bolt of silver electricity hit her gold barrier.
"I'm sorry." She whispered.
She threw out her hand and bolt of gold light flew away from her as her shield dropped.
The Master quickly deflected it with a bolt of his own.
"Can you do it, Alyssy?" he asked her. "Can you kill me yourself?"
He sent a bolt back at her and she quickly raised her barrier.
"If I have to." She told him.
She sent another gold bolt at him, but he was ready for her this time. He deflected the bolt, but sent another at her before she could raise her barrier.
The bolt hit her chest, throwing her to her knees as she screamed in agony.
Before the Doctor could move, he was also hit by a bolt, sending him to his knees.
The Master ran to Lily and slowly lowered her to the ground.
"I'm sorry." He told her sincerely. "I'm so sorry, little sister."
"I'm…not your little sister." She told him, breathing heavily. "Koschei was my brother, and…I loved him. But he's dead, and you…killed him. All that's left is the Master."
He gently touched her face and moved to the Doctor.
He stared at the Doctor's face for a moment before letting him also fall to the ground.
Lily struggled to move closer to the Doctor and weakly reached out to grasp his hand as they both fought the pain.
"I had estates." The Master said, squatting a little ways away from them. "D'you remember our lands, Alyssy? Our father's land back home? Pastures of red grass, stretching far across the slopes of Mount Perdition."
Lily and the Doctor moved closer to each other, still struggling for breath.
"We used to run across the fields all day." The Master continued. "The three of us actually. You wouldn't remember, would you Alyssy, how you first met the Doctor as the boy who was your big brother's best friend? You were barely ten, just a baby, but we watched you and played with you. Did he ever tell you that? How we ran, calling up at the sky." He settled back against a mound of debris. "Look at us now!"
"All that eloquence, but how many people have you killed?" the Doctor asked, both he and Lily still laying on the ground.
"I'm so hungry!" the Master told them.
"Your resurrection went wrong." The Doctor told him, still struggling to breathe. "That energy…Your body's ripped open. Now you're killing yourself."
"That's human Christmas, out there!" The Master yelled, gesturing angrily. "They eat so much! All that roasting meat. Cakes and red wine. Hot fat blood food. Pots and plates of meat and flesh and grease and juice and baking burnt sticky hot skin. Hot this, hot that, oh…"
"Stop it!" Lily told him.
"Sliced…sliced…" he continued.
"Stop it!" she repeated.
"It's mine." He said. "It's mine, it's mine, it's mine, it's mine. Eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it."
"Stop it!" Lily screamed at the same time.
There was a moment of silence.
"What if we ask you for help?" the Doctor asked him weakly.
The Master laughed at him.
"There's more at work tonight than you and me and Lily." The Doctor told him.
"Oh, yeah?" he asked mockingly.
"We've been told, something is returning." Lily told him slowly, obviously still in pain.
"And here I am!" he told her victoriously.
"No, something more." The Doctor told him, shaking his head.
"But it hurts!" the Master told them.
"We were told-the end of time!" the Doctor continued.
"It hurts!" the Master repeated. "Alyssy, the noise! The noise in my head!"
He got on his hands and knees and began crawling across the ground to them.
"Doctor!" he called. "One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Stronger than ever before. Can't you hear it?"
"I'm sorry." The Doctor said, shaking his head.
"Please!" The Master begged, turning to Lily. "Listen, listen, listen, listen. Every minute. Every second."
Tears fell down Lily's cheek as she looked at her brother who looked so helpless.
"Every beat of my hearts." He told her. "There it is. Calling to me. Please, listen!"
"I can't hear it." She told him, crying. "I can't help you!"
He crawled to her so he was only inches away.
The Doctor tried to move but he was too weak.
"Listen!" he growled at her.
He grabbed her face in his hands and pressed his forehead against hers, closing his eyes in intense concentration.
Lily suddenly wrenched herself free and the Doctor stared.
"What?" the Master asked.
"That's…" Lily breathed.
"What?" he demanded.
"We heard it." The Doctor said, horrified.
Lily stared at her brother, wide eyed and frightened.
The Master straightened up.
"But there's no noise." The Doctor said, sitting up on his haunches and helping Lily up as she clung to him.
The Master got to his feet.
"There never has been." The Doctor continued. "It's just your insanity! It's…What is it? What's inside your head?"
The Master began to laugh hysterically.
"It's real! It's real!" he screamed. "It's real!"
Bolts of power came out of the Master's hands, propelling him into the sky.
Lily and the Doctor staggered to their feet, looking to the sky for the Master.
They heard him laugh and they chased the sound. They stopped when they saw him on a nearby mound of dirt.
"All these years, you thought I was mad!" The Master screamed at the Doctor, raising an arm in victory. "King of the wasteland. But something is calling me, Doctor, little sister. What is it? What is it? What is it?"
A light suddenly illuminated him from above.
The Master looked up to find a spotlight on him.
Another light snapped on above Lily and the Doctor, who staggered back, trying to identify the source.
Ropes dropped on either side of the Master.
"Ahh!" he yelled.
"Koschei!" Lily screamed.
She tried to raise a barrier around him, but she was still too weak.
Men in black slide down the ropes as the Master laughed, his hands flung out as if he were being celebrated. The men grabbed him, injecting something into his neck and the Master went limp.
For the second time, the Doctor found himself holding Lily back.
"Koschei!" She yelled, trying to get to him.
She got away from the Doctor and ran towards her brother, but the men began shooting at her and she was forced to stop and raise a barrier as the Doctor ran to her side.
"Let him go!" she screamed.
She let the barrier drop, preparing to run for her brother again, but something hit the Doctor, sending him to the ground. She quickly dropped to her knees next to him and watched, helplessly, as the men left with her brother's unconscious body.
Wilf opened a wrapped present and found a book called Fighting the Future by Joshua Naismith.
"Now then, steady on." Donna said, breezing in. "It's never too early for margarita, that's what I say. I forgot to get lemons, so I used oranges instead. It's all fruit, same difference."
"Oh, now that's lovely, look at that, absolutely beautiful!" Sylvia said, looking at the striped top she had been given. She glanced at the tag. "Oh, love from Donna. Did you keep the receipt?"
"Yes, I did." Donna replied with a pained smile, before nudging Wilf. "Come on, Gramps, you've been a right misery ever since you got up. D'you like it then? The book?"
"Joshua Naismith?" he asked her. "I mean, what d'you get me this for?"
"I dunno." She told him. "I guess…because you were the one always encouraging me to help Lily and the Doctor do just that."
He looked away as she smiled sadly.
"I'm sorry you couldn't reach them." Sylvia said, wrapping an arm around her daughter.
"It's alright." Donna said. "I just wish I could tell Lily about Shawn, about the wedding. I so want them to be there."
"I'm sure you'll get a hold of them eventually." Sylvia told her.
"I just hope they're alright." Donna replied.
She smiled and got up and followed her mother to the table.
Wilf turned the book over in his hands, studying it.
Joshua Naismith was standing in the same position as on the cover of his book, waving at a man with his index finger.
"If you would, Mr. Danes." He said.
Three men in suits stood by a window and the middle one moved to the chair where the Master was tied up.
He opened him mouth and licked his lips as the gag was removed.
"I'm starving!" he told them.
"You have my daughter to thank for this." Joshua told him, smiling as he moved over to stand beside Abigail. "It's all her idea. She heard rumors of Harold Saxon, his disciples, his return. It's the sort of thing she finds rather…thrilling."
"And I was right!" Abigail said happily. "He's back!"
The Master smiled and closed his eyes in satisfaction.
"The very man we need and he's here." she continued.
The Master licked his lips and opened his eyes.
"Oh!" Abigail said, clapping her hands. "This is gonna be wonderful!"
The Master finally looked at her and smiled.
Shawn arrived at the Noble household.
"Aye, aye, here are the presents!" he called, carrying a pile of gifts. "I'm sorry, I couldn't afford much, but not for long, not if President Obama ends the recession tonight."
He turned to Donna.
"Come here!" he told her, pulling her into a hug.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." Wilf called. "Keep it quiet, you lot, it's the Queen's speech now, come on. Sit down, show respect. Come on."
"Merry Christmas, Mr. Mott!" Shawn said, kissing the older man's cheek.
"Thank you." Wilf replied, pushing the younger man away. "Will you behave, you? Honestly! All right, now, whoa, she's on, she's on. It's our sovereign."
Wilf sat in front of television and saluted.
The television went strange and an image of the woman from the church began cutting in and out. Finally, it solidified and Wilf dropped the salute.
"Hey?" he asked.
"Events are moving, Wilfred." She told him.
"Eh?" he asked.
"Faster than we thought." She told him, distressed.
"Oi!" Wilf called, trying to get the other's attention. "Can you see that?"
"Frankly, I'd tell Her Majesty it's time for trouser suits." Donna said carelessly.
"No, no, no, no, that's not the Q-" he said.
"Only you can see." The woman told him. "Only you stand at the heart of coincidence."
"Why, what have I done?" he asked.
"You're an old soldier, sir." She told him. "Only you were too late. The war was won and passed you by."
"I did my duty!" he told her indignantly.
"You never killed a man." She replied.
"No, I didn't." he agreed, shaking his head. "No, I did not, no, but…Don't say that like it's shameful!"
"The time will come when you must take arms." The woman told him.
"Who are you?" Wilf demanded, worried.
"Tell the Doctor and the Phoenix nothing of this." The woman ordered. "Especially the Doctor. His life could still be saved. So long as you tell them nothing."
The pictured changed back to a horse drawn carriage.
Wilf turned to the others again before turning back again, indecisive and confused.
As his daughter and granddaughter laughed, Wilf got up and went into his room. He kneeled next to his bed and pulled out an old case. He sat down on his bed and opened it to look at the old revolver. He lifted it up and checked to see that it was still loaded before going to the window.
Outside was the TARDIS.
As he walked outside, the Doctor and Lily walked out to meet him.
"I lost him." Lily said, her eyes wet. "I couldn't stop them. I wasn't strong enough."
The Doctor sadly wrapped an arm around her.
"He's still on Earth." He told Wilf. "We can smell him, but he's too far away."
"You can't park there." Wilf told them, gesturing to the TARDIS. "What if Donna sees it?"
"You're the only one." The Doctor continued, not paying attention to what the man said. "The only connection I can think of. You're involved. If I could just…work out how."
He lunged at Wilf, grabbing his shoulders.
"Doctor!" Lily said, pulling him back.
"Tell me, have you seen anything?" the Doctor demanded. "I don't know, anything strange, anything odd."
"Well, there was a…" Wilf started nervously.
"What?" the Doctor asked. "What is it? Tell me!"
"Stop it, Doctor!" Lily told him. "You're scaring him!"
"Well, it was…no it's nothing." Wilf told them.
"Think, think, think." The Doctor told him. "Maybe…maybe something out of the blue, something connected to your life. Something!"
"Well, Donna was a bit strange." Wilf told them. "Bought me a book because it remind her of you two."
"What book?" Lily asked.
Wilf came back out with Fighting the Future and showed it to the Doctor and Lily, who were waiting in the back garden for him.
"Right, his name's Joshua Naismith." Wilf told them.
"Doctor!" Lily exclaimed, looking at the man on the book.
"That's the man!" the Doctor said. "We were shown him by the Ood."
"But the what?" Wilf asked.
"By the Ood." The Doctor repeated.
"What's the Ood?" Wilf asked.
"Oh, just the Ood." The Doctor said. "It's all part of the convergence."
"Touching the parts of you and me that are still inside Donna, lying dormant." Lily said, smiling. "Even without knowing, she's fighting for us. The DoctorLilyDonna."
She hugged the Doctor around the middle tightly, and he hugged her back, smiling.
Wilf smiled to see them happy again.
"Dad, what are you up to?" Sylvia asked, coming out.
She stopped at the sight of Lily and the Doctor.
"Oh, she'll be so happy!" she breathed.
"You can't tell her we're here." Lily told her quickly.
"Why not?" Sylvia demanded.
"We're into something." The Doctor told her. "Something that could unlock Donna's knowledge if she were to come with us, and if she knows we're here, she'll insist on coming."
"And if she does, she might die." Lily finished. "We were serious when we said she couldn't travel with us anymore. She has to stay out of this."
"Mum, where are those tweezers?" Donna called, making them all freeze.
"Go!" Sylvia told them quickly.
"We're going." The Doctor replied.
He and Lily quickly turned away.
"Yeah, me too!" Wilf said.
"Oh, no you don't!" Sylvia told him.
"Mum?" Donna called, coming to the door. "Gramps?"
"Dad!" Sylvia hissed. "I'm warning you!"
"Bye bye!" he called, waving behind his head at her. "See you later!"
"Oh, I'm a bit old for hide and seek!" Donna called as they moved around to the front of the house.
"Stay right where you are!" Sylvia ordered her father.
"You can't come with us." The Doctor told Wilf.
"Well, you're not leaving me with her!" Wilf said, gesturing to his daughter.
"Dad!" Sylvia called.
"He's got a point." Lily said.
"Fair enough." The Doctor agreed.
They quickly bundled into the TARDIS as Sylvia continued to berate them.
"Mum?" Donna called.
"Just you listen to me, I forbid it!" Sylvia told them.
The TARDIS began to dematerialize.
"Get out of there!" she ordered. "Doctor! Lily or Phoenix or whatever your name is! Bring my father back right now! Come back here!"
Donna came out the front door and stared at her mother in confusion.
"Come back here, I said!" Sylvia screamed at the now empty space. "Come back!"
"Are you shouting at thin air?" Donna asked her mockingly.
"Yes." Sylvia replied, somewhat lost for words. "Possibly. Yes."
A/N: Third chapter done. Everyone needs to review and go take the poll. That is an order.
Abbey