"Turn everything you got to the skies. Find me that ship. And prime the missiles." The Master ordered.
Sara could only watch him from her chair in the laboratory, weakened from the impact of the bracelets, which caused her momentary lapse of move. The Master had turned the Doctor's manacles against her effectively making her his prisoner and every time he chose to fed off of her, the weaker she became.
The Master was looking at the view screen in determination. "Anything?"
"Sorry sir, lost him."
"What about teleport coordinates?" He seized the radio. "I need that information."
The radio crackled to life. "He's cut the link, sir. No trace, all dead. Still better safe then sorry." A rapid succession of gunfire was heard. "Teleports are now offline. Now way back now, he's stranded."
"You won't find him." Sara folded her arms across her chest. "Not until he wants to find you and then…" She paused closing her eyes. "He always wins."
He turned towards her, his face a leer as he move towards her. "He certainly has changed," He suddenly gripped the back of her neck. "The Time Lord Victorious." She was startled at his knowledge of the name but he started tapping her forehead. "It's all in your little mind, imagine," The Master pondered. "Never thought I'd see the day and I have all thanks to you. You made sure he stuck around, didn't you?"
"No!" Sara protested.
"Ohh, but that it what's in your head. If it's in your mind, it's in mine." He giggled incessantly. "All those times you called him the Valeyard. Not nice to call people names little girl."
"You have no idea-"
"Ohh but I do. I knew the Valeyard and you have no comprehension what that is." The Master narrowed his eyes at her. "You think I'm bad but Sara, I'm really just hungry. That's all it is. The drums in my head counting one, two, three, four. That's who I am but the Valeyard, you want a peek? Inside view?" Sara frantically shook her head in refusal. "We're going to be spending so much time together, it's only right I should share."
He placed his fingers on each side of her temples and she started to scream as he pushed his mind into hers, forcing his way through her outskirts in a brutal thrust, and suddenly her vision started to dissolve. She was standing on the streets of what appeared to be Victorian England as a young woman crossed her path but a darkened figure promptly reached out from a nearby alley, seizing her, slicing her throat before she could cry out for help. Sara could not give voice to the shriek welling inside of her and she was forced to watch this man, this thing gorily desecrate the body while at the same time, putting an object on his head, muttering words in a language that by now was all to familiar. Gallifreyian.
Dark energy seemed to waft off both the man and the corpse directly into the headpiece as the figure knelt over the body in a stance as though he were making an offering. She shuddered hearing malignant whispers all around him and suddenly she saw different moments of him, killing one person after another performing the same dark ritual all over again.
The Valeyard. She thought as she saw brief moments of him on trial, managing to escape into the matrix, which was the repository for every Time Lord that had lived including a vast storehouse of information. Once there she felt tremendous horror as he discovered the Dark Matrix, a sentience of its own that contained every vile thought, word and deed that Time Lords had committed while permeating with temptations the Valeyard seemed unable to resist.
The sentience inside the Dark Matrix was vast and it was constantly hungry for all the death and genocide the Valeyard seemed willing to offer it. In exchange for massive power by shedding the Valeyard of any remaining aspect of the Doctor that still remained, Sara witnessed alternate timelines where the Valeyard contaminated and corrupted two of his regenerations to wipe out the Daleks before they had even evolved.
She witnessed the tears and fractures in the universe the Valeyard was willing to commit, the multiple realities at risk if the Valeyard were to truly succeed and it truly made Sara feel sick. The Time Lord Victorious was not the Valeyard as she claimed but he was on the borderline of becoming one, a person who wouldn't blink at genocide or even the fact of multiple realities perishing if the Valeyard obtained his victory.
The Valeyard wasn't merely a psychopath who enjoyed the slaughter but someone who worshipped pure darkness itself wanting nothing more then to become pure evil. He's worse then the Master. Sara thought bitterly.
The pressure on her mind released as the world came back into focus and Sara was left staring into the face of the Master. She breathed heavily disgusted at what she had been forced to witness.
"Why did you make me see that?" She demanded.
"They always say the truth will set you free." The Master seemed tremendously amused. "What do you think? Are you free now?"
Sara was silent not even bothering to reply to this comment as she started to stare out the window expressionlessly just barely making out some distant stars on the horizon.
The Master turned from her glancing at his other clones. "The Doctor's still out there. Are we ready?"
"Every single one of us is prepared."
"Then we listen, all of us, across the world…just listen." The Master replied, closing his eyes in a meditative posture. If he was seeking out the Doctor with telepathy, Sara knew that wouldn't work but a network of six billion Time Lords with the sound of drums playing in their heads acting as a signal transmitter would echo across time itself.
"There's a message," One of the guards exclaimed. "A sound coming from above."
"The sound of drums that's in my head." The Master confirmed as he gazed outside. "It's part of something bigger." He turned to Sara. "Isn't it?"
"They won't help you." She said, shaking her head.
"Who?" He inquired.
"Doesn't matter. The sound won't go away." She affirmed.
"You seem to know a lot about that don't you, my little visionary." The Master said mockingly.
"Don't call me that." She said, her tone resentful.
"What should I call you then?" He asked before spotting an object that resembled a bright meteor streaking across the sky. "There," The Master nodded to the guard. "Get out there and find it."
"Yes sir."
He immediately seized Sara's shoulders yanking her upright. "You see, I've been inside your head you think you've seen this all on the tele, isn't that true?"
Her breathing became staggered as she stared at him. "So what?"
"From a whole other dimension that got destroyed and you thought it was all fiction but I'll tell you a secret, Sara." He leaned in closer. "The Doctor never believed you. Not once."
"What?" She gasped. "You're lying!"
"It's possible, it really is but answer me this." The Master looked directly at her. "How often has the Doctor lied to you?"
Her stomach clenched as her thoughts ran back to when she first met the Doctor and was first brought aboard the TARDIS. She remembered her panic when she first laid eyes on him in the hotel and the intense, calculating gaze he had on her despite his flippant comments.
'Come on, David Tennant, the famous actor. He's been in Shakespeare's Hamlet, United, Fright Night, Harry Potter and Doctor Who. Ring any bells?'
'Dr. Who? That's a catchy name.' He had said to her.
'This is crazy, you're David Tennant.'
'I'm afraid you have me mistaken.' His tone had been dismissive.
She knew she yelled at him on the bridge that he was fictional but he at least seemed to consider the idea but now dread started to take hold of her. Could he have really been pandering to her all this time?
'You really believe I was on a TV show.' His tone was incredulous.
'As opposed to?'
'A gift, perhaps. You could be psychic and not know it.'
'So you don't believe me.'
Instinct had told her of his doubt but she dismissed it when he asked for particulars regarding what his character played. How could she have forgotten that expression on his face each time she referenced the TV show as source material. Had he really just been playing along this whole time? It shouldn't come to her as any shock that he lied, least of all about this and he probably considered that he was taking the easy way out rather then being open with her. Because who really wants to tell someone who lost their entire world that their delusional at the same time? It was a horrible sensation but if the Doctor didn't believe she got her future information from the TV show in her world, how did he explain what she knew?
She sighed realizing he had already suggested it and Sara dismissed it readily. 'You could be psychic and not know it.' Psychic or as the Master referred to her distastefully as some visionary. When she thought back to all the problems she encountered on his various trips, it explained a great deal. His skepticism, his incredulity when she gave information.
"Why?" She asked the Master. "Why lie about that?"
The Master chuckled. "So many names on Gallifrey for what you are. Visionary, temporal perception, psychic perception, time perception, and well I could just go on and on but humans, always considered a bit unstable. A human that knows the future, if you haven't gone insane yet you probably will." He shook his head. "Should of told you when he was here. The look on your face, so priceless. I would take a picture but then my memory is perfect and I'll have you with me to remind me."
His radio crackled as one of his guards spoke. "It's a diamond, sir. Oh, the most impossible diamond." He paused. "You won't believe this. It's a white point star!"
The Master looked stunned and then he started to laugh chaotically. "That's it!" He said, gripping Sara's shoulders. "I knew I was part of something more. It's me, it's the signal, the drums in my head. They are reaching out to me."
"Don't bring them back." Sara pleaded. "It will be the end of time. Please, they did this to you, planted it inside your head. You can't want them-"
"Oh but I do. If they put the drums in my mind, then they can fix me." He grinned in anticipation.
"But they won't. I swear they won't."
"Because the tele said they wouldn't?" He asked mockingly and Sara felt her face begin to flush. "Poor little dear but not to worry. You'll be at my side and we'll fix your short little life span so you can feed me for centuries."
She shook her head in refusal.
"You're turning me down?" He laced his hand around the back of her neck. "I'm hurt Sara, I really am. Now that Lucy is gone, I'll need someone to take her place."
"You manipulated her." She spat at him. "She's dead because of you."
He shrugged. "Human." His hand caressed her cheek. "But you are so much more. I can smell it and when they return, they'll see it too."
Without another word, he pressed his lips to hers, forcing her teeth apart as he took to exploring her mouth with his tongue, his hands keeping her head in position as she placed her hands on his chest in the attempt to push him away. He was simply too strong and at the same time, he placed two fingers on her temple, promptly starting to dig away into her mind.
She couldn't even cry out in pain, only managing to emit a muffled groan. "You feel so good, so warm inside here Sara. Did your Doctor ever tell you that? How good you are, your mind pressing up against mine?" She swore she could hear him chuckle inside. "Love you like this. Promise it will be this way every time. Utterly fantastic. So beautiful." She started to slump towards the ground feeling utterly degraded and used. The Doctor had lied to use, invaded her mind and now the Master took a savage glee in mocking her with the details before doing the exact same thing. Sara started to wonder, if she survived this at all, would there be anything worthwhile pieces of her left or would the be sucked into the void as well as this complete monstrosity.
Wilfred was searching the darkened corridors on the Vinvocci ship for the Doctor who had remained elusive after shutting down all the power. The Doctor had been furious after they had teleported aboard and upon being released, demanded to be sent back down. When the Vinvocci refused, indicating they were only a salvage ship and were about to leave orbit, the Doctor in a fury, short circuited the entire ship telling them coldly. "We're not going anywhere.", before storming off down a hallway.
There certainly seemed to be something not entirely right about him and Wilfred was frankly disturbed at the Doctor's confession to how he treated his companion.
Is she even a companion? Wilfred had to admit she sounded more like his property then his traveling passenger. I thought being his companion was supposed to be fun. When he first laid eyes on the girl, she had looked downright miserable but the Doctor said she lost her entire world and he supposed such a blow would not make Anyone terribly happy their her circumstances.
"Doctor? Hello? Hello?" Wilfred heard a distant clanging towards the back of the ship. "Is that you?" He entered a large room to find it completely empty. "Ok, I think I'm lost."
"And yet you are found."
He gasped turning around to see the woman who had appeared to him three times before.
"Events are closing. The day is almost upon us. But tell me old solder, did you take arms?" She asked.
Wilfred displayed the revolver he kept in his pocket. "I brought this. But what am I supposed to do?"
"This is the Doctor's battle. The one he must have with himself. At the end of this life, he must stand at arms or lose himself entirely and all the word, at the end of time." She told him.
"But he never carries guns." Wilfred said knowingly. "He doesn't do…" He shook his head. "Who are you?"
"Someone who was lost so very long ago."
"Lost?" Wilfred repeated glancing down at the revolver in his hand before looking back up. The woman before him had entirely vanished and he glanced around the premises, perplexed before moving forward.
He finally found the Doctor who was tinkering away at an old tub, looking down at Earth with an expression of hopelessness.
"Got that mended?" Wilfred asked.
The Doctor glanced up at him. "Just trying to fix the heating." He answered flatly.
Wilfred sat down next to him with a sigh. "You know, I always dreamed of a view like this." He chuckled. "I'm an astronaut. It's dawn over in England, look. A brand new day. " A thought came to his mind that sobered him. "My wife's buried down there. I might never visit her again now. D'you think he changed them, in their graves?"
The Doctor shook his head. "I'm sorry." He could offer no reassurance although the very notion was a horrific one.
"No, not your fault."
"Isn't it?" The Doctor seethed. "Sara's down there and I left her behind, trapped with him. I just had to be in control and now look at what's happened."
"Worlds gone mad before. Been around for the war against Palestine in 1948, I stood on the rooftop in the middle of the skirmish." Wilfred glanced away. "But you don't want to hear an old man's story."
"I'm older then you." The Doctor muttered.
"Get away." Wilfred didn't believe him.
"I'm 906." Or so I keep telling myself that every year.
"What, really though?" Wilfred was astounded. Being centuries old was difficult to comprehend but looking into the Doctor's eyes, he could almost discern how ancient they were. And how broken.
"Yeah."
"900 years," Wilfred remarked. "We must look like children to you."
Children forever playing at their feet. He remembered Christina telling Sara the same thing even if they didn't think he was listening. Her death had been one of the most pointless things he had seen and he felt a pang of regret for leaving her body on Mars. Both she and Sara deserved better then that.
No, Sara simply deserved the right to be able to bury her friend but he had taken that choice away along with so many others.
"I think you look like giants." In contrast to his own people, what humans were able to accomplish in their short lifespans put Time Lords to shame. His people could have learned a thing or two from them rather then taking a role of active disinterest.
Wilfred was removing a revolver from his pocket, offering it to the Doctor. "Listen, I…I want you to have this. I've kept it this whole time and I thought…"
The Doctor glanced at him curiously. "Why?"
"I knew I needed to have it and if you take it, you could…"
The Doctor cut him off. "You had a gun in the mansion. You could have shot the Master there and then."
"I couldn't." Wilfred balked.
The Doctor examined him closely. "One upon a time, neither could I." He said as he slowly accepted the revolver. "You know, this is how the Master started. I'm definitely not innocent. I've taken lives, I've got worse…I've got clever. I manipulated people into taking their own." He paused looking down at the gun in his hand. "Sometimes I think the Time Lord lives to long."
"If the Master dies what happens to all the people?"
"The template snaps." The Doctor answered.
"And they go back to being human?" Wilfred asked.
The Doctor nodded.
"They're alive and human? Then you have to. Don't you dare put him before them. Think about Sara and what he's doing to her right now. You need to go down there, save her life and yours."
The Doctor glanced away, his eyes refocused on the sky where he had already witnessed the star falling from the sky and straight onto Earth attempting to discern its meaning.
The Master's voice was suddenly heard throughout the entire ship that caught his attention.
"A star…fell from the sky."
The Doctor froze in his posture simply listening to what the Master was conveying.
"Don't you want to know where from? Because it all makes sense, Doctor. The whole of my life. My destiny. The star was a diamond." He paused for a seeming dramatic effect. "And the diamond…is a Whitepoint star."
The Doctor let out a gasp.
"And I have worked all night to sanctify that gift. Now the stair is mine. I can increase the signal and use it as a lifeline. Do you get it now? Do you see? Keep watching, Doctor. This should be…spectacular."
Wilfred looked at the Doctor watching his reaction.
"Over and out." The Master said.
"What's he on about? What's he doing? Doctor, what does that mean?" Wilfred asked.
The Doctor ran his hand through his hair is a frantic gesture. "A Whitepoint star is only found on one planet, Gallifrey, which means…the Time Lords. The Time Lords are returning."
Wilfred shrugged. "Well that's good isn't it? That's your people!"
The Doctor, his expression filled with panic, immediately turned and fled the room as Wilfred immediately staggered behind him.
"You don't want to bring them back." Sara protested. "They'll destroy everyone and everything. I swear."
The Master apparently ignored her. "Open up the nuclear bolt. Infuse the power lines to maximum."
One of his technician clones entered. "Nuclear bolt accelerating, sir."
As the Master walked over and placed the diamond in the device that they built for this occasion, Sara placed her head in her hands in order to block out what was about to take place.
"Send the signal back and the link becomes a pathway."
She heard the machine pulse throughout the room and shuddered at the thought of these Time Lords returning. She pondered whether she should of told the Doctor more information regarding the return of Gallifrey and the fact that the Time Lords would be returning but she had made such a mess of his time line before. The little information she had given him had been used against her with such disastrous implications.
"Come home." The Master pronounced.
Suddenly, Sara's arms were gripped and her eyes flew open. "We have contact."
She could only glare at him knowing full well what the Time Lords would intend once they crossed the border onto earth. "They'll never help you." She muttered.
The Master's radio crackled on. "We got a fix sir. 105,000 miles in orbit."
"He's moving, sir" The Unit commander said.
"The Doctor." The Master muttered.
"He's moving very fast."
"All NATO defenses coordinated, sir, awaiting your command." The General said.
"I don't need him. Any second now, I'll have Time Lords to spare. Take him out. Launch missiles."
A flurry of commands were issued and Sara knew that the Doctor was already on his way in the other ship en route to the Naismith mansion just by hearing the reports issued back and forth between the various clones of the Master and the Master himself.
"He's heading straight for you." The General warned.
"But too late. They are coming." The Master gloated, laughing excitedly as Sara looked in horror as the whole Gate lit up brightly and her heart began to pound. The Master only looked at it expectantly as a child would on Christmas morning, as he giggled heinously and started jumping in place.
"Closer and closer and closer! Don't you see them Sara?"
Indeed she did as she watched the figures of five Time Lords materialize through the gate as they began to make their progression forward. She's with them. The one that warned me all those times. Just have to find her.
"I think I should warn you." One of his clones said to the Master.
"Not now." The Master quickly brushed him off.
Sara gasped as a loud shattering was heard above her and she looked up to see the skylight breaking. Huge shards of glass were falling as she scrambled to hasten out of the direction and then she witnessed the Doctor plummeting to the ground, hitting the floor hard. She winced. How could he survive that?
He was on the ground, collapsed right before her apparently in shock from the fall as she started to move towards him gingerly to assess his state.
Opening his eyes, he stared at her momentarily. "Sara," He murmured. "You're all right."
She glanced away, grimacing in memory of the Master's fervent kisses which drained her energy and his constant violation into her mind which made her feel so filthy inside. "Yeah." She muttered.
Looking back at him, she saw him attempting to catch his breath as his gaze lingered on her reading between the lines before he glared at the Master in front of him. Sara hadn't seen him harbor such resentment towards this other Time Lord even during 'the year that never was' where he grieved over the body of his misbegotten nemesis. What's so different now? She wondered but then she knew as the Doctor was trying to push himself off the ground. He was facing the Master and Rassilon as the Time Lord Victorious so the contempt she saw on his face was a by product of this persona. Even now, he can't let it go. Why?
Rassilon started to stride forward from the recesses of the Gate. "My Lord Doctor. My Lord Master. We are gathered for the end."
The Doctor managed to get to his feet facing Rassilon. "Listen to me. You can't…"
"It is a fitting paradox that our salvation comes at the hands of our most infamous child."
"Oh he's not saving you. Don't you realize what he's doing?" The Doctor clarified.
"Oh no hey! That's mine. Hush." He told the Doctor. "Look around you. I've transplanted myself into every single human being." He bragged to Rassilon. "But who wants a mongrel little species like them? Because now I can transplant myself into every single Time Lord."
Sara closed her eyes, shaking her head.
"Oh yes, Mr. President, sir standing all noble and resplendent and decrepit. Think how much better you're going to look as me!"
Before the Master could activate the Gate, Rassilon gauntlet covered hand glowed and suddenly Sara witnessed all the clones of the Master morphing back into themselves becoming their individual, distinct human selves once more.
"No, don't…! No, no, no, stop it! No, no! Don't!" the Master protested.
"On your knees mankind." Rassilon ordered and Sara watched all the others in the room begin to kneel, trembling in terror.
"No, that's fine, that's good, because you said salvation. I still saved you. Don't forget that." The Master reminded Rassilon.
"The approach begins."
The ground beneath Sara started to shake as she fell to her knees. "The prophecy. It's returning. He's going to bring it all back."
The Doctor took her arm pulling her behind him as the Master looked at Rassilon and then at Sara in confusion.
"Approach of what?" The Master asked.
"Something is returning. Don't you ever listen? That was the prophecy. Not someone, something." The Doctor looked at him, his expression filled with fury.
"What is it?"
"They're not just bringing back the species. It's Gallifrey. Right here, right now." The Doctor informed him.
The Master then looked at Sara. "You knew the whole time and not one word?"
"Why would I tell a psychopath like you about the plans of other psychopaths?" Sara snapped at him. "There's nothing worse you can do to me then what you've already done."
He sneered at her. "How's that for gratitude being so generous to tell you how truly deluded the Doctor thinks you are."
"Deluded?" The Doctor repeated glancing at Sara who closed her eyes briefly in remembrance of the conversation.
"Oh that cat is out of the bag Doctor. Was it fun for you to play along with her thinking she had seen this all on the tele?" Horror filled the Doctor's expression as the ground continued to shake. "Couldn't find five minutes to tell her she was temporally perceptive." The Master chuckled. "Oh the look on both your faces are priceless." The Master then turned to Rassilon kneeling. "But I did this. I get the credit. I'm on your side!"
In Sara's peripheral vision, she watched Wilfred run into the room towards the radiation chamber where a technician was locked inside.
"It's not true, is it?" She said, turning to the Doctor.
"Sara, this isn't-"
"For once in your freaking life, tell me the truth! Did you ever believe me? That I came from a dimension where all this was a TV show." She threw up her hands around her.
The Doctor sighed, rubbing a hand across his forehead before meeting her eyes. "No." He said finally. "I'm sorry."
"But this is fantastic isn't it?" The Master said clapping his hands together watching Sara and the Doctor with interest. The Doctor turned to level a glare of animosity at him. "She shouldn't of found out like that!"
"How else would I find out?" Sara asked. "Would you leave it for another regeneration to tell me? That easier for you?"
"No, I-" He paused. "Sara, I couldn't. You just lost your whole world and I thought eventually you would realize-"
"Realize my life was a lie?" She turned away, glancing at Rassilon. "You really have no idea, no comprehension, do you? Your species never did."
The Doctor was silent as the Master grinned. "And now the Time Lords restored."
"You weren't there in the final days of the War like I was. You never saw what was born. But if the time-lock's broken, then everything's coming through, not just the Daleks, but the Skaro Degradation, the Horde of Travesties, the Nightmare Child, the Could-Have-Been-King with his army of Meanwhiles and Never-weres, the War turning to hell. And that's what you opened, right above the earth. Hell is descending!" The Doctor exclaimed.
The tremors beneath the earth were becoming more violent beneath Sara's feat while the Master looked at the Time Lords with reverence. "My kind of world."
"No!" The Doctor was furious. "Just listen! Cause even the Time Lords can't survive that."
No, they can't and they don't plan to. Sara thought.
Rassilon grinned in triumph. "We will initiate the Final Sanction. The end of time will come at my hand. The rupture will continue, until it rips the Time Vortex apart."
The Master for the first time looked at Rassilon in shock. "But that's suicide!"
"We will ascend to become creatures of pure consciousness alone, free of these bodies, free of time, and cause and effect, while creation ceases to be."
"And you made him President because…" Sara muttered aloud.
"You see now?" The Doctor demanded. "That's what they were planning in the final days of the War. I had to stop them."
The time-lock and the Moment device with Rose as the interface. Sara wished she could tell him that he didn't really end all those lives and that Gallifrey was secreted away where the Final Sanction couldn't be initiated but that was for the Eleventh Doctor to learn. In retrospect, the Doctor must have participated already in helping to save Gallifrey although not retaining any memory even as the Time Lord Victorious while at the same time she tried to kill herself from dehydration.
Since his Eleventh version had visited her during her comatose state, she wondered if he exchanged any words with the Doctor despite the fact that he would be unable to retain it. Suppose I'll have to wait and see. If she survived. Her presence had managed to mar every episode that she could recall and if this event became altered, there would be no good way to remedy it.
"Then take me with you, Lord President. Let me ascend into glory." The Master knelt before Rassilon with his arms outstretched.
Rassilon looked at him in disdain. "You are diseased, albeit a disease of our own making. No more."
The Master slowly lowered his arms looking at Rassilon utterly dismayed and then glanced back at Sara in sudden realization. "You knew."
"I warned you they wouldn't fix you. You didn't listen, you never do. Just insisted on ridiculing me. Hope you're happy." She spat out.
There was a clicking sound as the Doctor removed Wilfred's gun from his coat aiming it at Rassilon.
"Choose your enemy well. We are many. The Master is but one." Rassilon advised.
"But he's the President. Kill him and Gallifrey could be ours!" The Master told him as he looked at Sara with sudden hunger.
The Doctor glared ferociously at the Master turning the gun on him, his finger pressing against the trigger while Sara looked at the Doctor in horror. He wouldn't….
She edged out from behind the Doctor towards the middle to confront him, remind him of the reasons why he never used a weapon. Has to remember why he gave them up…
"He's to blame, not me for what I did to her." The Master protested. "The link inside my head, oh she can hear it too now can't she? You never would, you coward, you couldn't…"
But Sara could see the complete contempt on the Doctor's face as he started to squeeze the trigger. "No!" She screamed. He didn't fire a gun before, he can't…
She screamed as her arm exploded in pain when the gun suddenly fired and she dropped to her knees seizing her wounded arm.
"Sara!" The Doctor was suddenly furious. What would have made her run directly in the path of the bullet? Humans. He seethed. She had caught a bullet meant in retaliation for all that the Master had perpetrated onto Sara and on himself. He couldn't fathom as to her reasoning except for her irrational and willful impulses. Seizing her other wrist, he dragged her backwards so she would once again be behind him while he did a mental calculation of where the bullet was lodged. No major arteries severed, loss of blood is minimal.
Still the pain was starting to send her into shock as she began to stare at him glassily. "Shouldn't fire a gun. Don't have them. Never used one." She murmured as her body started to tremor.
Quickly he placed his fingers to each of her temples while staring her straight in the eyes to deliver a surface command. "No pain." He intoned. "Do you hear me Sara? Your arm is in no pain."
"My arm is in no pain." She repeated. Swiftly, the Doctor got up as he examined his opponents taking aim at the Master once more.
"No! Kill him and the link gets broken. He goes back." The Master exclaimed.
The Doctor turned on Rassilon aiming the weapon directly at him who looked at the Doctor with repugnance. "The final act of your life is murder but which one of us?"
The Doctor was looking past the President as Sara looked on as well to see the very woman who had appeared to her while she was trapped in the stasis field to provide her encouragement with albeit enigmatic words about what fate lay in store. The woman made direct eye contact with her and tears poured down her face as she looked at the Doctor while Sara swallowed. The tears of a mother for her son. She thought. Maybe the rumors were true.
The woman seemed to make a gesture to the Doctor with her eyes that he understood while he switched positions, glancing at the Master. "Get out of the way." He commanded.
The Master dove out of the way of the Gate and the Doctor took aim and fired fracturing the device that held the diamond in place, which was completing the link to the Time Lords of Gallifrey. The machine started to go up in flames and chaos erupted as the Gate continued to burn. Sara couldn't take her eyes off the woman who looked around her, nodding expectantly; knowing just as much as Sara that this was the inevitable outcome. "Gallifrey is falling." Her tone was solemn.
Rassilon appeared incensed as he glared at the Doctor in sheer contempt. "You'll die with me Doctor." He threatened.
No he can't die yet. It's too soon! She got up and started her unsteady approach to the Gate attempting to fix her way between Rassilon and the Doctor. If she marred anything here, changed the circumstance the Doctor could end up dying permanently by Rassilon's hand.
"I know." The Doctor returned fixing his gaze on Rassilon without noticing Sara's movement. Rassilon started to hold out his hand that was encased in a gauntlet to exact his revenge when suddenly she heard a voice behind her.
"Get out of the way!" The Master warned shooting a bolt of energy that landed Rassilon squarely in the chest, which caused Rassilon to stagger backwards.
"You did this to me! All my life!" He was throwing bolts of electricity with both hands now at Rassilon, which caused him to grunt in pain. "You made me. One! Two! Three! Four!"
He was advancing into the Gate's perimeter but Sara was still moving forward because she couldn't take her eyes of the visionary, the one that wept tears upon seeing the Doctor and who looked at him in yearning. Who else but a mother would make such a sacrifice? Sara thought as she glanced back at the Doctor. An idea occurred to her in that brief amount of time. If she could pull that woman back into their present, then indeed the woman would help her own son completely snap out of the Time Lord Victorious mindset. He needed her and maybe that was what the Ood was telling her all along. That was why in Paris they said she was welcomed and had a place in their sight. Perhaps that was why the woman appeared to her in the TARDIS to give her a cryptic message, which was to save her from Gallifrey so she could help to mend the Doctor mind's set. The Eleventh Doctor wasn't very specific regarding how he changed but this reason made sense to Sara and she knew she had to try.
With a burst of speed, she ran forward and seized the woman's hand attempting to yank her back to earth.
"Sara, no!" The Doctor yelled after her. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Saving her." She screamed, still gripping the woman's hand that despite Sara's best efforts, the woman remained immobile.
The visionary turned to look Sara directly in the eyes. "My fate has already long since been sealed child but I have a gift for you."
"A gift?" Sara asked, surprised. "No, you can still come back. Help me to save him. Please!"
The visionary shook her head with a gentle smile while extending her hand to hold out in appearance a small yellow seed. She slowly extracted herself from Sara's hold, placing the object in her hand. "Much of your life has been denied to you but through this a wish of yours had will be fulfilled." The woman leaned forward. "Take it and swallow it. Don't be afraid."
Sara felt tears come to her eyes as she looked at the small seed in her hand and without thought; she placed it in her mouth where it quickly dissolved in her throat.
"Now you are found." The woman said to her with a smile, while suddenly executing a tremendous push that caused Sara to stumble backwards right into the Doctor's arms who dragged her away from the Gate.
The Master was caught up with the other Time Lords battling Rassilon, becoming trapped within the link and shaking, she began to watch them all disappear as the tremors in the building became violent, the fire surrounding the gate caused the entire contraption to explode, knocking both Sara and the Doctor off their feet.
Everything suddenly became quiet and still as Sara just continued to lay on the ground, with shattered glass all around her. The Doctor rolled over with a groan.
"I'm alive." The Doctor exclaimed. There was…" He pushed himself into sitting position, helping Sara to do the same. "I'm still alive."
Sara pushed herself to her feet, glancing at her injured arm. She still felt no pain thanks to the Doctor's hypnotic suggestion as she slowly took in her surroundings.
Suddenly, she heard the sound of four knocks on the glass of the radiation booth and she froze, staring at Wilfred who was trapped inside. Her eyes widened as the Doctor stared at him in horror at the implications. Wilfred knocked again, the same four times, looking at the Doctor in expectation.
I saw him. I should have called out to him. Warned him not to go in there. What were they going to do? Wilfred was a good person and they couldn't simply allow him to die. She thought her presence might alter the course of events but Wilfred's action nearly seemed like a fixed event, one that would inevitably occur.
The Doctor slowly made his approach to the radiation booth, as did Sara. They're gone, then?" Wilfred asked. "Good-oh, if you could let me out…?"
The Doctor swallowed staring at Wilfred. "Yeah."
"Only this thing seems to be making a bit of noise. Wilfred explained.
"The Master…left the nuclear bolt running. It's gone into overload."
"And that's bad, isn't it?" Wilfred asked.
"No, 'cause all the excess radiation gets vented inside there. Vinvocci glass contains it. All 500,000 rads, about to flood that thing."
"Oh!" Wilfred chuckled. "Well, you'd better let me out, then."
"Except it's gone critical. Touch one control and it floods." He removed his sonic from the pocket of his coat. "Even this would set it off."
The truth started to dawn on Wilfred. "I'm sorry." He whispered.
"Sure." The Doctor voiced in anger. "Of course you are!"
"Look, just leave me." Wilfred advised.
"Oh right then…I will." The Doctor shouted as he paced. " 'Cause you had to go in there, didn't you? You had to go in and get stuck, oh yes! 'Cause that's who you are Wilfred. You were always this. Waiting for me all this time!"
Sara was thinking rapidly, remembering how the show originally ended and cursing herself for not stopping Wilfred when she barely spared a glance in his direction.
"No, really, just leave me. I'm an old man, Doctor. I've had my time."
"Well, exactly. Look at you! Not remotely important and look at me! After all that I've done! Tried to control the rules of time and I could do so much more! But this is what I get for that. My reward." In a rush of anger, he threw a chair across a room. "And it's not fair!" He leaned against the desk breathing heavily. "Maybe I have lived too long."
'If that version of the Doctor regenerates in the mindset of the Time Lord Victorious with nothing to pull him back, he will become the Valeyard.'
Those were the Eleventh Doctor's words to her and a dawning realization took hold as she watched the Doctor slowly approach the radiation chamber.
'You want me to fix it? Pull him back? I don't know what you expect of me.'
'Just follow your instincts. That's something the Time Lords never had but I trust yours completely.' He told her.
"My instincts." Sara repeated to herself as she watched the Doctor make his way to Wilfred and suddenly she knew what she had to do. The Doctor simply wasn't ready to regenerate yet but after all this time Sara now realized the true intent behind the messages from the Ood and the woman. What they were truly meant for and her purpose within them.
I had to keep going for this. She knew it with utmost certainty and with that thought in mind, she lept forward and jumped into the unoccupied booth, pressing the button that would open the door releasing Wilfred out of his cage while closing her booth in turn. Wilfred gasped in horror as he stumbled out and the Doctor yelled in panic. "Sara, no!" But it was already too late. Her booth became flooded with radiation and Sara screamed in pain collapsing to the ground, curling up into a fetal position as the agony wracked her body. Burns riddled her skin as she closed her eyes waiting for the horrendous burst of radioactivity to finally cease. Distantly she could hear the Doctor and Wilfred yelling at her, pounding on the booth directly outside.
This was always my purpose. Sara thought. Giving it all to prevent the Valeyard. My life had meaning. Not to commit suicide on the TARDIS. The Time Lord Victorious, had to live until it was undone. At least-"
She heard the booth slide open and felt strong arms wrap around her dragging her out onto the cold tiles that felt like a blessed relief against her scorched skin.
As the Doctor removed his sonic, performing a scan, Sara looked him in the eye and slowly shook her head. She wasn't a fool and he shouldn't be one to let her to cling onto false hope.
"Why?" He asked, his voice broken, as he pulled his ward, his human into his lap, clutching her tightly.
"Needed to save you." She murmured. "You didn't want to go."
Didn't want to go. She knew all along. He swallowed a lump starting to form in his throat as he looked at Sara, tears forming in his eyes. "I'm so sorry." He whispered. "I've gone to far. I knew it but I just didn't want to see…" He paused. "I was stupid, thick not to recognize it all this time."
"Promise you'll do better." Sara whispered. "Remember who you were before me."
The Doctor shook his head. "I'll do better because I'll remember you." Tears started to stream down his face. "Because of who you are. Everything you are."
Wilfred knelt down at her side looking at the Doctor in desperation. "Isn't there anything you can do?"
The Doctor only glanced at him grief stricken, mutely shaking his head as he held Sara tighter to his chest. "I'm so sorry." He thought of every moment he treated her with cruelty, all the times he invaded her mind without consent and the time he locked her in her room where she simply had lost the will to live. He became a monster and Sara had fought desperately not only to free herself but to save him in the process.
"So sorry, how can you ever-" He couldn't even say the words, they had wedged in his throat, finding himself utterly unable to speak. His conscience weighed heavily upon him as he stared at the dying girl in his arms.
She smiled faintly. "I forgive you."
He looked at her in amazement. "You do?" The Doctor sounded so broken and forlorn but he looked at her with hope glimmering in his eyes.
Her heartbeat became erratic and pain started to sear through her, which she tried to suppress although a tear came down her cheek as she winced. "Be a hero again." She whispered. "Please, just don't get lost again. I'll be watching, always will be.." Sara hoped she would. Admittedly she was scared, venturing into the unknown alone and no matter how she thought she yearned for death, it was here, certain, beckoning towards her.
"Doctor?" She asked faintly.
"What is it Sara?" He said stroking her hair, holding her tightly.
"I'm frightened." She admitted looking at him with fear in her eyes. "You'll stay with me?"
"I won't leave you, promise." The Doctor swore fervently, clutching her hand.
"My family, Jessica, Christina, that someplace, will I see them there?" Sara asked. "What if they don't see me? I'll be all alone. Maybe they won't-"
"Shh-" He said consoling her. "Of course you will. I guarantee it." Gently he pressed his fingers to her temples, entering her mind, seeing her memories, concentrating, he brought one clear into focus.
Sara found herself standing on a beach at Discovery Park in Seattle where just a few feet away, she could see the family she had thought she lost, unpacking a picnic simply laughing at that small enjoyment.
Jessica appeared right in front of her. "Sara! Where have you been? We've been waiting forever."
Her blue eyes were clear, no longer opaque as they were in the night and she took Sara's hand. "No rain. Maybe today we can go for a swim."
Sara smiled at Jessica, delighted to see her friend once more just as she recollected. "That sounds perfect." Contentment filled her entire being as she watched Jessica run to join the others while Sara turned to the Doctor in gratitude. "You brought them here." She felt thankful beyond measure for this gift he had given her.
"They were always here. I just helped you to see them." He told her. "So this is home?"
"It was." Sara said, her voice shaking. "My family, Jessica, they're all here."
"I told them I would say hello for you. I kept my promises." A voice said from behind her.
"Christina!" Sara turned and embraced the girl; clinging to her friend she had only known so briefly but now was made whole again in this beautiful moment. This someplace that Christina had mentioned to Sara in her dying breath.
"We would never leave you alone. Remember? We were always waiting for you to come." Christina smiled. "It's only the beginning for you, there is so much more waiting out there."
Sara finally released Christina, nodding to her, feeling her fear start to vanish. "Thank you, I just need to…" Sara glanced at the Doctor.
"Of course, come when you're ready. We'll be waiting. Told you, you would save yourself. Was I wrong?" Christina looked at Sara directly.
"No." Sara said quietly. "Just had to learn it for myself."
"But you did." Christina glanced at the Doctor. "He'd tell you the same."
With that, Christina departed to join the picnic immediately welcomed by Sara's family as she took her seat next to Jessica on the shared blanket, which covered the rough sandy exterior.
"I certainly would." The Doctor agreed as Sara turned to him, gazing at his face for the final time.
She took her last look at the Doctor, feeling all her anger and resentment slowly drifting away with a feeling of peace, building in its stead as the warm sun cradled her gently, she breathed in the salty air. "I think it's time for me to go." She told him softly.
There was so much pain in his eyes; she reached out her hand, which he took. "You'll remember your promise? Be the Doctor. There's so much you still need to do."
She could feel the pain in his hearts as readily as if it were her own as he pulled her into an embrace for which he clung onto her in desperation. Before letting go, he leaned in closer. "There's one more thing." He murmured. "I should have given you this before." Gently, taking hold of her shoulders, he whispered into her ear as her eyes widened in surprise at hearing his name said aloud to her by him.
"I'm sorry I took it. I never meant to steal it." Sara assured him honestly and she hoped beyond anything he would know that.
"You were never a thief." Finally he released her and slowly she backed away, a tear trickling down her cheek. "Thank you." She said softly before turning away to join her family whom all embraced her warmly.
I am finally home.
The Doctor still held onto Sara's limp body weeping copiously as Wilfred knelt beside him looking at the young woman who just traded her life for his. He barely knew her but she didn't hesitate and now he was alive thanks to her. He shook his head. "Should have been me. Not her and now she's…" His voice trailed off.
"No, it should have been me." The Doctor said forlornly. "She knew I wasn't ready. I just wish I figured it out and now…" Sara was limp in his arms and he knew she was gone but he remembered every moment with her. Every argument, every struggle, and all the pain she endured but he made a promise to her and he swore with vigilance he would keep it.
The Time Lord Victorious is wrong. She told him that on many occasions and Sara had been right. Why had it taken her death for him to see it? She had only been trying to save the universe from him since her own was obliterated and he had been selfish. He would make it up to her and as he glanced down at her again, noticing the cameo she constantly took to wearing around her neck since he first met her. It would be his reminder of his oath to her and he would treasure it but then he remembered that Sara had never been able to open the locket. Even though she was lost to him, he could at least do this one small task and see the memories inside that somehow kept her living. Using his sonic screwdriver, the clasp suddenly flew open in his hands and he let out a gasp as an immeasurable amount of golden particles burst forth from the necklace, eclipsing around Sara in a diffuse array while energy surged from her skin meeting the elements from her cameo as they combined to form a vast whirlpool bursting around her in a wave before sinking into her skin.
He was frozen in shock and wonder, hesitant as he started to remove his sonic screwdriver when Sara's eyes begin to flutter open.
"Doctor?"
What!?