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Chapter 21: Passing Time
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"Please, Master." the Doctor whispered, "Please regenerate."
The Master smiled, "Anything for you, beautiful." he said, before closing his eyes and allowing the blaze of light to engulf him.
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Martha blinked, and averted her gaze from the Master. The light was blinding gold, and might have been a truly wonderful sight if she had been able to actually look at it. The Doctor had stepped back, and Donna was covering her eyes as well. Jenny and the Doctor didn't seem to have turned away, though they were keeping their distance.
She blinked, squinting her eyes so she could get a glimpse of the light, and in her mind she couldn't help picturing a phoenix burning. From what she had heard of regeneration, that was the best comparison she could conjure in her mind.
"What- what is that?" Jenny asked weakly.
"Regeneration. It's a way for Time Lords to sort of cheat death." the Doctor whispered, not taking her eyes off the Master, as the light finally began to fade.
Another new face. It had been a shock to see such a young man, after she had only just gotten it into her head that Yana was the Master. Now, he looked completely different again. His hair was a bit longer, jet-black, and almost as unruly as the Doctor's but slightly wavier. His entire face had changed, but it was difficult to place where the differences were, until Donna pointed out the rather obvious, "He looks a bit like that Stark guy, from the Iron Man movie. Except without the beard."
"I'm sure he'll fix that, given half the chance." the Doctor said, clearly amused.
The Master groaned, and muttered loudly enough for them to hear, "Who the hell is Stark?"
"Fictional character." Donna said brightly, "You don't look exactly like him, but pretty close."
"Ugh." he sat up, something in the way he moved there was comparable to Dracula in the movies. Cautiously, as if afraid of what he might find by doing so, he ran his hand over his face, as if checking to feel the difference, "Is he good-looking?"
"Very." Donna said, nodding.
"That's good." he said, looking up at them. His eyes were an odd silvery-grey colour, and the smile he showed briefly- in response to Donna's opinion of his appearance- looked almost warm, rather than cold and cruel. Twisted, ironic, but still a warm smile. He rotated his head, and a cracking noise came from his neck, then he slowly picked himself up, looking at his hands, "Could be worse." he said, almost to himself, "Could have looked like your fourth life." he added to the Doctor, with a faint smirk. Whatever he was referring to was clearly meant to be funny, but he wasn't in a laughing mood right now. If this regeneration's personality was anything like the last, give him five seconds and his attitude would change again.
"Oh, please shut up." the Doctor retorted, grinning at whatever that joke was.
"Make me." he retorted.
She raised an eyebrow at that statement, but said nothing.
"On the bright side, the regeneration healed that injury you were so worried about, Miss Jones." the Master noted.
Martha half-glared, half-smiled, "And you said a broken foot wouldn't kill you." she said, with cold amusement.
"You're right. I had that one coming, didn't I?" he said, nodding, before turning around rather sharply. He closed the distance between himself and the general- who had been disarmed and restrained by his own soldiers- and before the human knew what hit him, his head had snapped to the side and he was clutching the side of his face in pain. "I think I should rearrange his face, now." the Master snarled. He had visibly flinched when he had struck the general, and Martha could see him rubbing his wrist where the restraint band was glowing slightly.
"I think you look better this way." the Doctor said, quietly. The Master gave her an amused smirk, and he suddenly seemed a lot less angry. "Leave him." she added. It wasn't an order, it sounded more like a plea.
"If you say so." he answered, obediently.
Donna made a noise that was clearly intended to sound like a whip cracking, and Martha giggled. Jenny looked confused, "I don't get it."
"Earth joke." Donna said brightly.
"And I wish I didn't know what she was implying." the Master muttered in a sulky tone.
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The general had been locked up. The humans and Hath were happily restoring their city, and cooperating again. Donna had taken great glee in helping throw the general into the holding cell. Jenny had chosen to join the Doctor on the TARDIS. Martha wanted to go home.
"I think we deserve a holiday. First Sontarans, now this. Definitely need a holiday." the Doctor was saying, "You're welcome to join us, if you want, Martha."
"No thanks." Martha answered, smiling, "I really want to get back to Earth. There's plenty of nice holiday spots there, and I'm sick of looking at this guy, even if he does have a new face."
The Master frowned at her, "There's a word I feel I should say here, but I don't think I can."
Martha raised an eyebrow, "Would it be 'sorry'?"
He pulled a face and didn't answer.
"I'll take that as a yes." she said, smiling faintly, "If you ever actually say it, I'll accept it."
He stared at her in mild surprise, but it didn't last long, and he was soon wearing his usual infuriating smirk- which somehow looked so much less threatening on this new face- again, "Good. Don't hold your breath, though."
She was startled by this, and backed away nervously, "Doctor, he's scaring me. I think the regeneration messed with his mind."
"It usually does affect personality a bit." the Doctor agreed. "Hold on." and the TARDIS started to shake.
"Is it always like this?" Jenny asked, clinging to a railing as they travelled through the Vortex to- well, you couldn't really guarantee it was Earth they would land on, but that was where they were aiming for at any rate.
"Yeah." Donna said, nodding, "She never passed her driving test." Jenny giggled, and the Doctor glared half-heartedly at Donna.
When they landed, the Doctor walked to the door, and held it open for Martha, "Earth, London. A couple of days after the Sontaran thing. Hope you don't mind, I was aiming for ten seconds after we left."
"See what I mean?" Donna stage-whispered to Jenny, who giggled again.
"It could have been worse." the Master noted brightly, "Her record is one hundred trillion years off of where she was trying to land."
Martha laughed weakly, "He's got a point, Donna. A couple of missing days, I can deal with." and with that, and one last hug for the Doctor, she left the TARDIS.
"Vacation time!" the Doctor declared, after the door had closed behind Martha, and she started to press buttons on the console.
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"This is not Midnight." the Master noted, looking up at the clear violet sky overhead. It was a bright sunny day on some pretty little planet whose name they did not yet know.
"Yeah, the TARDIS reset the coordinates to random, right before I pushed the button." the Doctor said, shrugging, "It's a glitch, I'm working on it."
"A glitch?" Donna demanded, "All this time?"
"Well, usually when she does that, it's something important, and she picks the coordinates on purpose." the Doctor said defensively, "But last week, that trip before the New Year's party, and now this, they literally did go to random."
"And where were you trying to go, those three times?" the Master asked flatly, looking around at the pretty scenery. If there were birds chirping, it would be perfectly intolerable, and he'd have to kill said birds. Luckily for any avian life forms on this planet, there was no birdsong.
"Um... Cardiff. Every time." the Doctor said, frowning, "Cardiff, June seventh, two-thousand-nine."
"Maybe she doesn't want you to go there for a reason?" the Master suggested, "Like, you're already there, or something?"
"Which would make a whole lot more sense if I remembered ever going there." the Doctor pointed out.
"Or maybe-" the Master started, but Donna interrupted him.
"Can we not argue about how time travel works, right now?" she complained, "You'll give me a headache."
The Master glared, "Or..." he said with emphasis, "It could just be a crossed-circuit in the temporal transduction feedback matrix." he suggested, staring at Donna as if daring her to say something.
"No, that couldn't be it." the Doctor answered dismissively, but then she saw the look Donna was giving the Master, and decided to change the subject, "Anyway. You don't recognise this planet, do you?"
"Well I can tell you where we're not." the Master noted, "Anywhere interesting."
And for once, this was true.
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Two months passed, during which they failed to find very much that could be classified as dangerous wherever they went. Donna was very happy with this, still excited at all the new places and times they explored, and quite honestly gleeful at the respite from constant mortal peril.
Even the Master managed to pretend to be content with the lack of carnage. This was most likely because all the trouble the Doctor had attracted since they had started travelling together was usually of the sort that would inconvenience him as well.
Jenny was enjoyed seeing new worlds, but it was obvious that she was positively impatient at the lack of excitement since they had left Messaline. The only interesting things that had happened so far had involved some sort of alien entity that called itself Mandragora, possessing a computer and trying to take over the Earth... and there hadn't been any running at all!
The Doctor was certain that the TARDIS was doing it on purpose, quite probably for Jenny's benefit. It just went to show that the danger the Doctor found him/herself in most of the time was at least partially caused by the TARDIS' attitude problem, the one the Master frequently offered to fix with a sledgehammer, but the Doctor would never want to change.
Still, the relative peace did give them all the opportunity to relax.
For the Doctor, this meant repairing some of the less reliable components of the TARDIS. For the Master, it meant either reading or trying to figure out where the Doctor had hidden the T.V. remote, which he never would manage to do, unless he asked her nicely, and he had yet to consider that as even being an option. For Donna, there were at least four shopping trips to various aesthetically pleasing planets, and the discovery of free long-distance phone calls through the Vortex, to tell her grandfather everything she'd been up to so far.
Jenny, on the other hand, spent her time trying to get attention from the other three. The Doctor taught her to help with TARDIS repair, which Jenny had snidely- albeit jokingly- pointed out would be better done by just buying a new one. Donna educated her on Earth fashion, and told exaggerated versions of her adventures on the TARDIS so far. When Jenny went to find the Master, however, the Doctor had no idea what he said or did that took up to ten hours at a time.
That is, until now, when the Doctor found the two of them in the T.V. room. They sat at opposite ends of the couch, facing each other with their backs against the armrests, cross-legged, with their eyes closed. "Now tell me how far." the Master was saying.
Jenny frowned, "Three hours."
"And?"
She laughed, and concentrated some more, "And... forty-two seconds."
"Very good. Now, keep your eyes closed, I've got another one for you." he opened his own eyes, and leaned back, "Reach out through the room. What's changed?" he looked up at the Doctor, and put one finger to his lips, smiling brightly.
"Um..." Jenny frowned, and seemed to be concentrating really hard. "This isn't you trying to look for the T.V. remote, again. I'd have heard you move."
"So what is it, then?" he insisted, "I recognise stalling for time when I hear it, you know."
Jenny kept concentrating, then finally smiled, "Hi, mum." she said, turning to face the Doctor, without opening her eyes.
"Hi, Jenny." the Doctor said, finally walking further into the room, "And please, I beg you, don't call me mum."
Jenny opened her eyes, and laughter was visible there even though she didn't voice it, "What should I call you, then?"
"Doctor?" she suggested hopefully.
"Maybe." Jenny muttered, not losing the cheerfulness in her voice for an instant, and somehow the Doctor got the impression she was going to be hearing a lot more of the word 'mum' than she'd ever wanted.
"So what are you two up to?" the Doctor asked, picking up one of the books the Master had bought on Earth and sitting down on a nearby chair.
"I've been teaching her temporal perception." the Master said, shrugging, "Since you have yet to acknowledge her heritage, I figured someone should show her the basics."
"I was never a very good teacher, anyway." the Doctor said dismissively, "Blew up a school once. Got another one invaded by aliens. And that's just in this lifetime."
The Master shook his head, clearly bemused by that thought, and probably planning to ask about it later, as the Doctor began to pretend to ignore them. He turned back to Jenny, "Ok, close your eyes again." she did so without question. The Doctor started pretending to read, now. "This is a new one. Low-level telepathy." the Master continued, taking Jenny's hand, "Physical contact always helps, but eventually you should be able to do this from the other side of a planet. I want you to tell me what I'm thinking. Right now."
The Doctor tried to sense what he was thinking, herself, but his mental shields had been very carefully constructed to only let Jenny in. After several seconds, Jenny spoke, uncertainly, "I hear laughter."
"And what's funny?" the Master asked, his smile showing that this was the right answer.
"Um..." Jenny tried to concentrate a bit more, then finally laughed herself, "The book in the mum's hands is upside down!"
The Doctor looked at her book, and realised this was true. "I can read upside down when I want to." she muttered, turning the offending book the right way up anyway. If she didn't have better self-control she might be blushing at being caught out so easily, but as it was she managed to retain some semblance of dignity. What book was this, anyway? Lord of the Rings? Oh no, the Master could pick up loads of evil ideas from Sauron. She needed to hide this book.
"I've read it already." the Master said bluntly. And of course, she had let her guard down there, and he'd known what she'd thought. Brilliant.
When it became clear that the Doctor was going to pretend nothing that could possibly be considered embarrassing for her had happened, the Master turned his attention back to Jenny, "Ok, look at me." he said simply, "You remember what I looked like before the regeneration?"
Jenny nodded, "Yeah."
"Keep looking at me, I want you to sense backwards. Keep going until you see my old face." This would make very little sense to a human, but the Doctor knew exactly what was going on. It was possible for Time Lords to literally do a mental rewind on any individual person, place or even world, to see what they used to be. It's how Time Lords were able to recognise each other through regenerations.
Jenny spent almost two minutes watching the Master, before gasping, "It worked!" she said, startled.
"Try to look further back." the Master encouraged.
After another minute, "You look old, now. White hair, kinda like a cuddly grandpa."
"Alright, I didn't need that description." the Master said indignantly. Jenny just smiled innocently. "Try it on the Doctor, now."
The Doctor glared briefly at the Master, but then shrugged, as if to say she didn't really mind. Although Jenny did not yet know that the Doctor used to be a man (and still intended to change back eventually). This might not be the best way to break the news to her.
Then again, it would certainly prove she was learning the whole temporal perception thing. These were the most basic lessons ever taught at the Academy, and usually took a month or so to get the hang of. Jenny had been travelling with them for three months now, and the Doctor would not be surprised to learn that the Master had been teaching her the entire time.
Jenny stared at the Doctor for about half a minute, before gasping in surprise, "That can't be right." she said, startled.
"If you see a man with ridiculously spiky hair, then you did get it right." the Master said calmly.
"But- how?" Jenny asked.
"Long story." the Doctor said, frowning, "Alien weapon, turned me into a woman. I can reverse it, but-"
"But for some strange reason, she chose not to." the Master interrupted, "I wonder why." he added, in that sarcastic way that suggests he had an idea, and believes his theory whether it's right or not.
"I will change back eventually." the Doctor noted, folding her arms defensively, "I just don't want to yet."
The Master simply smirked, "Read back further." he said to Jenny.
"Um... big ears, very short hair, kinda scary." she said after another minute. It seemed like her ability to read back was improving, if she could cover three years worth so quickly.
"Were my ears really that bad?" she asked defensively.
"Yes." the Master and Jenny said at exactly the same time.
The Doctor rolled her eyes, and once more pretended nothing embarrassing had been discussed, returning to the book, she flicked quickly through the introduction and started actually reading. Not that it lasted, when the Master spoke again.
"Right. Want to try something else?" It seemed even in this incarnation, his attention span was not especially good.
"Um, sure." she said, nodding.
He moved closer to Jenny, and touched the side of her face, to initiate a direct telepathic link. The Doctor felt the sudden urge to stop him- protective for Jenny, jealous for the Master, she wasn't sure which- but she didn't act on it, instead watching warily, no longer bothering to pretend that she wasn't paying attention.
"Stop thinking that, Doctor, it's distracting." he said coldly, but then he spoke more softly, to Jenny, "Alright, we'll start with an easy one. I'm replaying one of your memories. I want you to lock me out. Just picture a door closing between my mind and that memory." He flinched, "I said closing, not slamming." he noted indignantly.
Jenny giggled, "Sorry."
"It's ok. Anyone tries to read your mind without your permission, that's a very good response. But I'm only trying to teach you, so I would appreciate if you try not to give me too much of a headache." after a couple of seconds, as if he was recovering from a physical blow, he continued, "Now, I want you to try- with your mind- to push me away."
And suddenly he fell back, unable to maintain the physical contact to the side of her face as he landing on the arm of the couch in what was probably a very uncomfortable position for his spine. "Sorry!" Jenny said immediately, but she was grinning. She was proud of herself, and rightly so.
"That was not a push. That was a kick to the face." the Master said, pulling himself into a sitting position, looking slightly dazed.
"I'm good at those, though." Jenny noted brightly. She really was. The spinning high-kicks that could knock most people out cold. The Doctor had seen her practicing them in the exercise room.
"Why am I not surprised?" he asked, shaking his head to dispel the disorientation it had caused him to be so forcibly repelled from her mind. "I think that's enough for today."
"Aww, but I was doing so well!" Jenny whined.
"If this was a physical confrontation, you would just have won by a knockout." the Master growled, "I don't feel like trying anything else right now."
Jenny looked to the Doctor, hopefully. "Oh no." the Doctor said, shaking her head, "You beat him up good, I'm not stupid."
"Could have fooled me." the Master pointed out a bit too brightly. Jenny's eyes narrowed, and she glared at him, causing him to flinch, "Oh, she's a fast learner. A telepathic slap!"
"It's times like this I'm glad we're never going to see Jackie Tyler again." the Doctor noted happily.
The Master shook his head at this, and then smiled at Jenny, "For homework, you can try to convince your mother to let you watch Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, then make a note of all the theoretical and practical inaccuracies, paradoxes and risks involved in the storyline." at the Doctor's bemused and incredulous look, he added, "Much more fun than projects we were ever given at the Academy."
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