Kayla, the Doctor, Jack, and Martha appeared in what used to be a quiet alleyway in modern day London. As their feat hit the ground, Martha groaned loudly.
"Oh, my head!" Martha complained while rubbing at her forehead in an attempt to diffuse the pounding headache.
The Doctor, in agreement, gave a rub to his own forehead. "Time travel without a capsule. That's a killer."
Shrugging, Jack cracked his neck and looked over at Kayla, who was stretching her arms out. The two were used to traveling via vortex manipulator and had, overtime, stopped getting some of the more annoying side effects – like getting a pounding headache.
"You'll feel better if you start walking around," Kayla suggested, her eyes flickering to the Doctor before landing on the safe target of Martha Jones.
The Time Lady was still very angry with her Bonded and, she realized, with her father as well. Both men had lied about Jack being alive, having instead let her believe him dead and even morn him. She felt betrayed, but with the Master, a man the Doctor rarely allowed himself to talk about, coming back and vowing vengeance, Kayla had had little time to sort out her own feelings with the Doctor and Jack. It just had to wait until the Master was taken care of.
A small tap on her shoulder jerked her out of her thoughts. She jumped and looked over to see Martha frowning at her. "You okay?" she asked hesitantly.
Kayla sighed. "I'll be fine in a bit," she promised.
Ahead, near the mouth of the alley, Jack had turned to the Doctor with a smirk. "Still, at least we made it. Earth, 21st century by the looks of it. Ha, ha, talk about lucky."
Despite not seeing his face, Kayla was positive that the Doctor rolled his eyes. "That wasn't luck, that was me," he corrected.
Kayla had to agree with that. At the end of the universe, the Doctor had used his sonic screwdriver on Jack's vortex manipulator despite the man's protests that it hadn't worked in years. The memory made her frown. She would have to remember to offer to look at it. She had always been good at quickly repairing them.
Slowly, for Martha and the Doctor will still feeling the effects of their violent travel, the group made their way to a pedestrian-only road and had gratefully taken a seat.
"The moral is, if you're gonna get stuck at the end of the universe, get stuck with an ex-Time Agent and his vortex manipulator," Jack finished with the grin. The group had been sharing their memories of their time before the Master had opened his watch, piecing together what had happened.
"But this Master bloke, he's got the TARDIS. He could be anywhere in time and space," Martha pointed out with a frown.
The Doctor shook his head, his eyes flickering around the street. "No, he's here. Trust me," he said in a clearly distracted voice.
Martha sighed and looked over at Kayla, hoping the brunette would have more answers. "Who is he, anyway? And that voice at the end, that wasn't the professor."
"The Master's a Time Lord," Kayla started slowly, frowning as she felt the Doctor start to grow concerned about something. "He probably regenerated."
"What does that mean?" Martha pressed.
"He's a completely new man now. Hair, face, body, everything."
"Then how are we gonna find him?" Martha asked in a huff.
Kayla didn't answer, instead looking to the Doctor. Her Bonded was staring at a homeless person intently, his mind racing as the man tapped out a four-beat pattern on his mug.
"I'll know him, the moment I see him. Time Lords always do," the Doctor said in a soft voice, the four-beat pattern echoing loudly in his head.
The Doctor had explained to Kayla about the Master once. He had told her about the man's insanity, the drums that had plagued him since he was eight. The Doctor had always made it clear that he regretted so much of their relationship and how much he wanted to help the man. He had told her about their plans to travel, and how he wished they had because maybe, if the Master saw the universe and its beauty, then he wouldn't want to destroy it.
So Kayla knew he had conflicting thoughts about the situation they were in. And even though she was furious with him, Kayla couldn't help but take the Doctor's hand and give it a small squeeze. No matter what, she would help the Doctor face his childhood friend.
Martha suddenly rose, making Kayla look over at her. She watched as the woman's eyes widened in horror as she looked around them properly for the first time. "But hold on. If he could be anyone…We missed the election. But it can't be…"
The Doctor, Jack, and Kayla all rose as well. The group walked over to a screen showing the news and watched as the newscaster proudly read out: "Mr. Saxon has returned from the Palace and is greeting the crowd inside Saxon Headquarters."
The screen showed a grainy image of Mr. Saxon, the new Prime Minster, and his blonde-haired wife walking side-by-side down a long, red-carpeted staircase.
"I said I knew that voice. When he spoke inside the TARDIS. I've heard that voice hundreds of times. I've seen him. We all have. That was the voice of Harold Saxon," Martha breathed out, horrified.
The Doctor took a hesitant step forwards, staring intently at the screen. "That's him. He's Prime Minister."
"Mr. Saxon, this way, sir. Come on, kiss for the lady, sir," a photographer called on screen.
With a smile that had likely charmed all the voters, the Master leaned over to his wife and gave her a loving kiss.
"The Master is Prime Minister of Great Britain," the Doctor said, as if in a daze. "The Master and his wife."
"I thought he never married," Kayla pointed out with a frown.
The Doctor just nodded shakily, his mouth hanging open slightly as the Master stepped forwards to speak to the press.
"This country has been sick. This country needs healing. This country needs medicine. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that, what this country really needs, right now…is a doctor." And then he smiled, showing a few too many teeth for it to look friendly.
The group had ended up going to Martha's flat, not that it was much of a choice. It was close enough to the square that they were able to walk the entire way.
"Home," Martha said as she led the Doctor, Jack, and Kayla into her flat. It was small and held a small amount of furniture in it, but Kayla could clearly see Martha relaxing as she took in the familiar surroundings.
"What have you got? Computer, laptop, anything?" the Doctor asked Martha frantically. As the woman headed off to the other side of the room, the Doctor looked over to see Jack holding a mobile to his ear. "Jack, who are you phoning? You can't tell anyone we're here!"
Jack shot the Doctor an annoyed look. "Just some friends of mine, but there's no reply…"
Returning to the Time Lord, Martha handed him a laptop. "Here you go. Any good?"
The Doctor handed the laptop over to Jack, who opened it as he headed over to small desk in the corner. "I can show you the Saxon websites. He's been around for ages," he explained as he sat down.
"That's so weird though. It's the day after the election. That's only four days after I met you two," Martha remarked with a thoughtful frown.
"We were flying around the universe while he was here the entire time," Kayla explained. "Vortex manipulators are a cheap way to travel."
At the laptop, Jack rolled his eyes. "They work though," he pointed out.
Kayla shrugged. "Barely. The Time Agency should have replaced them a long time ago. Or at least updated them. We had the technology –"
"But not the money," Jack cut in. "That would cost billions of credits, at least."
"It's worth it in the long run," Kayla pointed out while crossing her arms.
Opening his mouth to retort, Jack snapped it shut as the Doctor cut into the conversation. "Just pull up the website, Jack. This is important."
Sending the Doctor an annoyed look, which made him bristle, Kayla sat down onto the couch and watched as the Doctor pulled a seat next to Jack while Martha crossed the room to her answering machine.
"Martha, where are you? I've got this new job. You won't believe it. It's weird, they just phoned me up out of the blue. I'm working for—"
Martha deleted the message with a roll of her eyes. "Oh, like it matters," She snapped in a very un-Martha way. Kayla looked over at her to see the black woman pressing her hands to her temple and rubbing at it.
"Get something with a lot of sugar," Kayla suggested. "It usually helps with the headaches."
Martha gave Kayla a grateful look and headed over to her fridge.
Apparently, Jack was not the best with laptops. He had mentioned that at least five times while turning the laptop on and then while loading up the internet. When Kayla had snapped that he had to be better at it by now, he had snapped back that: "usually Tosh does this!"
Kayla had given him a look at that, about to ask who exactly Tosh was, when Jack had clicked on the Harold Saxon official campaign site and a video had started to play.
"I'm voting Saxon. He can tick my box any day," A woman informed them proudly, with a saucy grin on her face.
"Vote Saxon! Go Harry!" A boy added, dressed up in some sort of outfit.
"I think Mr. Saxon is exactly what this country needs. He's a very fine man. And he's handsome too," another woman said.
Looking as if he was going to puke, Jack paused the commercial and gave a theatrical shudder. "Way too campy."
Kayla nodded in agreement. "Who is he though?"
In response, Jack scrolled down and started to read off the list that was on there. "Former Minister of Defence. First came to prominence when he shot down the Racnoss on Christmas Eve." Pausing, Jack turned to the Doctor and Kayla. "Nice work, by the way."
The Doctor puffed up in pride, making Kayla roll her eyes. If it hadn't been for Donna…her thought trailed off as she saw the Doctor slump a small bit. He had picked up on her thoughts, she realized.
"Thanks," the Doctor said in a much different voice then the casual one had been planning on.
"He goes back years. He's famous. Everyone knows his story. Look. Cambridge University, Rugby blue, won the Athletics thing, wrote a novel, went into business, marriage, everything. He's got a whole life," Martha explained as she leaned over to the laptop to show the slideshow of images of Harold Saxon.
"Shouldn't he have aged from university to getting into business?" Kayla pointed out with a frown.
"Skin care line," Martha replied. At the skeptical look on Kayla's face, she shrugged. "It works, really! My mum used it and removed all her wrinkles like that," she explained with a snap of her fingers. "She wouldn't stop telling me for days."
"It made me break out," Jack said with a frown. "My face itched for days."
Getting to his feet, Jack headed over to the kitchen and started to make tea, as if that would help with the remembered pain.
"Maybe it isn't the face cream. He's got a TARDIS. Maybe the Master went back in time and has been living here for decades," he suggested suddenly.
The Doctor shook his head. "No."
"Why not? Worked for me," Jack protested with shrug.
"When he was stealing the TARDIS, the only thing I could do was fuse the coordinates. I locked them permanently. He can only travel between the year 100 trillion and the last place the TARDIS landed. Which is right here, right now."
Kayla frowned, a thought coming to her suddenly. "How much leeway?" she asked.
The Doctor's brow furrowed at the question, but then he shook his head. "Well…18 months, tops. The most he could have been here is 18 months. So how has he managed all this? The Master was always sort of…hypnotic but this is on a massive scale."
"I was gonna vote for him," Martha said suddenly, an odd look on her face.
"Really?" the Doctor asked with a frown.
Martha shrugged. "Well, it was before I even met you. And I liked him."
"Me too," Jack added in suddenly, the same odd look on his face.
Kayla frowned at her father. The way he had acted about the campaign video, as if he had never seen it, didn't go with the careful checking that her father did before he voted. "Jack, what was his policy? What did he stand for?"
Jack just frowned at her. He looked over to Martha, who gave him a shrug. "I dunno. He always sounded…good," Martha tried to explain. As she spoke, her fingers started to tap out a four-beat rhythm on her thigh. "Like you could trust him. Just nice. He spoke about…I can't really remember, but it was good. Just the sound of his voice."
The Doctor got up from the sofa arm he had been sitting on and walked over to Martha. "What's that?" he asked, pointing to her hands.
Startled, Martha jumped and looked over at the Doctor as if he had grown an extra head. Jack, who had been nodding to what Martha had been saying, also jumped. "What?" Martha snapped at him, clearly still jumpy.
"The tapping you were doing," Kayla replied in a much calmer voice than her Bonded. "The rhythm you were tapping."
Martha frowned. "I dunno. It's nothing. It's j— I dunno!" Flushing from embracement, Martha turned away from Kayla and the Doctor to loudly put away Jack's tea mug.
The laptop suddenly started to play a loud tune. The Doctor, his eyes widening, ran over to the website and then flipped on the TV and sat down on the couch next to Kayla. "Our lord and master is speaking to his kingdom," he informed the others.
And he was right, because on the screen was the Master, still dressed in the suit and sitting at a table.
"Britain, Britain, Britain. What extraordinary times we've had. Just a few years ago, this world was so small. And then they came, out of the unknown, falling from the skies."
A clip played of a spaceship ramming into Big Ben, taking off most of the famous clock's side. "You've seen it happen—Big Ben destroyed, a spaceship over London."
Another clip played of the ghosts from Torchwood One shifting into the Cybermen as people around them backed away in shock. "All those ghosts and metal men."
And finally, a clip of the Racnoss' webbed ship, shaped like a star, shooting down beams of light and killing. "The Christmas star that came to kill," the Master finished in a solemn voice.
"Time and time again the government told you nothing. Well not me. Not Harold Saxon. Because my purpose here today is to tell you this—citizens of Great Britain…I have been contacted. A message, for humanity, from beyond the stars." He nodded to someone off camera, and his image was replaced with a floating sphere bobbing up and down.
"People of the Earth, we come in peace. We bring great gifts. WE bring technology and wisdom and protection. And all we ask in return is your friendship," the sphere said in a distinctly female voice.
Image changed back to the Master, who was smiling at the camera. "Ooh, sweet. And this species has identified itself. They're called the Toclafane."
"What?!" the Doctor cried out, images flashing through his mind to Kayla of two young boys sitting across from each other in the dark as one of them told the other of the creatures that would take naughty children at night.
Unaware of the Doctor's cry, the Master was still speaking. "And tomorrow morning they will appear. Not in secret, but to all of you. Diplomatic relations with a new species will begin. Tomorrow, we take our place in the universe. Every man, woman and child. Every teacher and chemist and lorry driver and farmer. And every…oh, I don't know…medical student?"
Whipping the TV around violently, the foursome stared at a bomb that was about to go off. For a moment, everyone was too shocked to move, but then the Doctor grabbed Kayla and lifted her to her feet, and Jack grabbed the laptop and Martha's hand, and the four ran from the flat to the street just as the font windows exploded outwards.
'You okay?' the Doctor asked Kayla mentally, his arms wrapped tightly around her.
Kayla nodded mutely, still several steps behind. Had they not left when they had…
'Don't think about it, Kayla.' The Doctor said gently. 'We got out. You are fine. The baby is fine.'
Resting his chin on top of Kayla's the Doctor looked over to Jack. "All right?" he asked.
Jack nodded. "Fine, yeah, fine." He looked over at Kayla who gave him a small nod and a smile.
The Doctor looked over at Martha, who was on her mobile. He frowned and moved away from Kayla, his arms leaving their wrapped position but his hand going to hers. After what the Master just pulled, there was no way he was letting go of her. "Martha? What are you doing?"
"He knows about me. What about my family?" Martha asked the Doctor frantically.
"Don't tell them anything!" the Doctor snapped, his eyes widening. He looked over at Kayla and then nearly growled as he swiveled back to Martha.
"I'll do what I like!" Martha shouted back, and then her defensive look slumped to a calmer one. "Mum? Oh my God, you're there."
Running his free hand through his hair, the Doctor glared at Martha as she spoke to her mother.
"I'm fine. I'm fine. Mum, has there been anyone asking about me?" Martha paused and then shook her head. "I can't! Not now!" She protested. She paused again and then frowned, her brow furrowing. "Don't be so daft! Since when?"
Kayla watched as Martha's body stiffened. She looked over at the Doctor, who had let go of Kayla's hand to pace furiously back and forth. "You said you'd never get back with him in a million years," Martha reminded her mother in a soft voice.
There was a much longer pause than the earlier ones and then Martha asked: "Dad? What are you doing there?"
Martha seemed to steel herself – she closed her eyes, and took a deep breath before she asked in a soft voice: "Dad? Just say yes or no. Is there someone else there?"
There was a long pause and then Martha looked over at Kayla her face paling as she started to run to her car. "Dad! What's going on? Dad?" She yelled into her phone. But when no answer came, she hung up the call in favor of unlocking the doors.
"I gotta help them!" She yelled frantically to the Doctor and Kayla and Jack.
"That's exactly what they want! It's a trap!" the Doctor protested.
"I don't care!" Martha snapped back. She got into her car and turned it on, leaving the Doctor, Jack, and Kayla little choice but to get in the car as well. Kayla found herself in the back seat, next to the Doctor, while Jack sat in the passenger seat next to Martha.
Martha sped backwards and then turned tightly, her tires squealing as she drove recklessly to her mum's house.
"Corner!" Jack warned.
Not replying, Martha took the corner tightly.
Growling, Martha pressed a button her mobile and then put it on speaker.
"C'mon, Tish. Pick up," Martha pleaded.
"Martha, I can't talk right now. We just made first contact. Did you see—" Tish's voice cut off as there was sudden noise. And then her voice, in clear angry protest, snapped out, "What are you doing?!"
There was a loud noise, likely the phone dropping, and Tish's voice started to grow softer as she was forcibly removed from where she had been. "Get off! Linda, tell them!"
And, of course, Martha, Jack, the Doctor, and Kayla heard it all.
"What's happening?! Tish!" Martha yelled into the phone, but got no response. Hanging up the call, Martha's hands tightened on the wheel. Her eyes flicked up in her mirror to meet the Doctor's. "It's your fault! It's all your fault!" She snapped at him.
The Doctor did not reply.
The rest of the ride was a tense silence until Martha turned hard and started to slow, a horrified gasp coming from her as she saw her mother fighting a group of men who were dragging her into a van, her father's familiar figure already in.
"Martha, get out of here! Get out!" Martha's mother screamed.
A blonde woman next to the van turned to face the car. She said something to the police that caused them to turn to face them.
"Martha, reverse," the Doctor ordered urgently, leaning around to see the sight for himself.
The blonde woman said another thing, which caused the police to point their guns at the car.
"Get out, now!" the Doctor shouted the order.
Out of whatever fog she had been in, Martha reversed back sharply and spun around, driving away from her parents. This was done not a moment too soon, because Kayla and the Doctor had to duck down as bullets started to hit their speedily leaving car.
"Move it!" Jack added to Martha, looking worriedly behind him to Kayla.
They drove down the streets at a hurried pace. Martha started to drum her fingers on the wheel, agitated about the situation they were in. "The only place we can go…planet Earth. Great," she snapped.
"Careful," the Doctor warned as they narrowly missed jumping the curb. He winced as he heard the honking behind them. The last thing they needed was another reason for the police to be out for them.
As if he was used to taking control of stressful situations, it had always been Kayla at the Time Agency, Jack turned in his seat to look at Martha. "Now, Martha, listen to me. Do as I say. We've gotta ditch this car. Pull over." When Martha didn't jump to pulling over, Jack added in a shout, "Right now!"
Jumping, Martha jerked her wheel sharply, causing several cars behind them to honk angrily. Ignoring them, Martha pulled into a spot and got out of the car along with the Doctor, Jack and Kayla.
Keeping their heads down, they started to hurry away from the car. The Doctor looked around him frantically and then paused, seeing Martha slowing as she messed with her mobile. "Martha, come on!" he snapped.
Waving her hand at him, Martha held the phone to her. "Leo! Oh, thank God! Leo, you gotta listen to me. Where are you?" There was a pause and then Martha shook her head. "Leo, just listen to me. Don't go home, I'm telling you. Don't phone Mum or Dad or Tish. You've gotta hide."
Obviously Leo protested, because Martha huffed in frustration. "On my life. You've gotta trust me. Go to Boxer's. Stay with him. Don't tell anyone! Just hide!"
There was a very long pause from Martha, as, Kayla assumed, Leo asked why his sister was telling him to hide at his friend's house. Her hearts stopped and she whirled around, the Doctor doing the same next to her, as Martha started to shout into her phone: "Let them go, Saxon. Do you hear me?! Let them go!"
Rushing over to his companion, the Doctor took the mobile phone off her and held it to his ear. Shaken, Martha backed away and slumped against the wall. Kayla walked over to her and placed a comforting hand on the black woman's shoulder as she listened through the mental link to what the Doctor and the Master were saying.
"I'm here," the Doctor said into the phone.
"Doctor," the Master greet, his voice serious.
"Master," the Doctor greeted in the same serious voice.
"I like it when you use my name."
If it had been a less tense moment, the Doctor would have rolled his eyes at the Master's statement. Though the mental link, Kayla could feel his conflicting feelings about the Master. Even though the Master had nearly killed them, the Doctor still felt the fondness for his childhood friend.
So it came as no surprise to Kayla that the Doctor replied almost casually, "You chose it. Psychiatrist's field day."
"As you chose yours. The man who makes people better. How sanctimonious is that?"
Not responding to that, the Doctor quickly changed topics. "So…Prime Minister."
"I know. It's good, isn't it?" the Master asked, almost sounding like a child showing their painting to their parent in hopes of praise.
"Who are those creatures? 'Cause there's no such thing as the Toclafane. It's just a made-up name like the Bogeyman."
The Master sighed through the phone. "Do you remember all those fairy tales about the Toclafane when we were kids? Back home. Where is it, Doctor?"
Kayla winced as she felt a deep, welling sadness emerge in the Doctor at the mention of his childhood home. "Gone," the Doctor said in a soft voice.
"How can Gallifrey be gone?" the Master asked, sounding genuinely confused.
"It burnt," the Doctor answered flatly.
"And the Time Lords?"
"Dead."
"What about the one you have traveling with you?"
"She was human originally," the Doctor explained.
"You always like playing with those apes, Doctor," the Master tutted.
The Doctor shook his head. "The Daleks are gone as well…more or less. What happened to you?"
"The Time Lords only resurrected me because they knew I'd be the perfect warrior for a Time War. I was there when the Dalek Emperor took control of the Cruciform. I saw it. I ran. I ran so far. Made myself human so they would never find me because…I was so scared."
"I know," the Doctor said, looking down as his mind conjured up the memories of those events.
The Master sighed again. "All of them? But now you, which must mean…"
Too wrapped up in the feelings of guilt that overwhelmed him, the Doctor struggled to explain. "I was the only one who could end it. And I tried. I did. I tried everything."
"What did it feel like, though? Two almighty civilizations burning. Oh, tell me, how did it feel?" the Master asked, his tone turning gleeful.
The Doctor shook his head rapidly, as if to dispel what the Master was saying. "Stop it!"
"You must have been like God."
"It's just been Kayla and I ever since. But not anymore. Don't you see, all we have is three of us."
"Four," the Master corrected in a cold voice that made Kayla freeze in place. She watched as the Doctor looked over to her and their eyes met. "Are you asking me to play babysitter?"
"You could stop this right now. We could leave this planet. We could fight across the constellations if that's what you want. But not on Earth," the Doctor offered quickly.
"Too late," the Master responded.
"Why do you say that?" the Doctor asked, worry starting to overtake the guilt he had been feeling earlier.
"The drumming," the Master said simply. "I thought it would stop but it never does. Never ever stops. Inside my head, the drumming, Doctor. The constant drumming."
"I could help you. Please, let me help," the Doctor pleaded.
"It's everywhere. Listen, listen, listen. Here come the drums. Here come the drums."
The same rhythm that Martha had been tapping out in the flat started again, only this time it was from a man leaning against the wall, his hands hitting his legs in a steady, four-beat pattern.
"What have you done? Tell me how you've done this. What are those creatures? Tell me!"
Not answering, the Master's voice changed in tone. "Ooh, look. You're on TV."
"Stop it! Answer me!" The Doctor snapped back in frustration.
"No, really. You're on telly! You and your little band, which, by the way, is ticking every demographic box. So, congratulations on that. Look, there you are! Ha!"
Walking further away from the rest, the Doctor looked into a TV window to see a BBC newscast showing pictures of the foursome. "…They are known to be armed and extremely dangerous," the newscaster was warning.
Kayla hurried over, Jack and Martha following just in time to see their images fading from the screen.
"You're public enemies number one, two, three, and four. Oh, and you can tell handsome Jack that I've sent his little gang off on a wild goose chase to the Himalayas so he won't be getting any help from them," the Master said in a joyful voice. "Now, go on, off you go. Why not start by turning to the right?"
Doing as the Master said, the Doctor looked up to see a camera pointed directly at them. "He can see us," he reported to the others before destroying it with his sonic screwdriver.
"Ooh, you public menace. Better start running. Go on. Run!"
"He's got control of everything," Kayla said with a shake of her head.
"What do we do?" Martha asked, her eyes widening as she looked around.
"We've got nowhere to go," Jack pointed out.
"Doctor, Kayla, what do we do?" Martha pressed.
"Run for your life, Doctor!" the Master added in from the phone.
Not bothering to hang up the phone, the Doctor turned to the others. "We run," he said simply.
And so they did. They ran through a shopping arcade, hurrying away from the TVs and the cameras.
"I said, run!" the Master yelled before the call was disconnected.
Ooh, they're on the run! I really loved the three part final from this series so honestly any of this chapters are my favorite. This, however, is my least favorite because nothing super plot-wise happens. It's the setting up chapter. Necessary but a bit annoying imo.
I really like the interactions between Jack and Kayla though. I forgot how much I missed them together until he popped up again.
Three more chapters :(
