A/N: Wow, this is the funnest Ramble I ever wrote!


Chapter 29 – Hotline To God

Just as the lever was pulled, Rose broke free from the guard's grip and she grabbed Lottie and Zoë tightly, turning their heads into her to stop them from seeing their father's death. Cheers erupted from the crowd in the seconds that followed, Rose covering her children's ears as Jack screamed blaspheme across the square, accusing all of the Gallifreyans of cold-blooded murder. Even though she didn't want to see the sight for herself Rose's head automatically looked up at the gallows, her eyes fixing on the body hanging suspended by the rope around the neck, motionless. He was dead. Her husband was dead. The Doctor was dead.

She felt numb. Her brain was numb. Her body was numb. She was vaguely aware of her mother taking the two children from her grasp, herding them swiftly back to the TARDIS. She was vaguely aware of the guards' grip on her, a single pull of her arm and she was free. She screamed as she ran towards him and him only, pushing through the crowd with ease.

Suddenly her vision flashed completely white, a bright light temporarily blinding the entire gathering. She cried out in shock as did everyone else, staggering back a few paces before forcing her eyes open to try and find the source.

You FOOLS!

The entire crowd gasped, crying out in fear as they continued to whirl around blindly, trying to find the cause of the grand, booming voice. The sky darkened and suddenly it was raining, lightning scratching across the sky with a thunderous roar when it had been the dawn of a summer day but two seconds ago.

I am Rassilon, the Great Time Lord, and I order this execution to cease!

Rose was the only one watching the Doctor as suddenly the trapdoor slammed shut to complete the floor once more, the rope hanging him spontaneously burning through of its own accord. Within seconds the Doctor had hit the floor, unmoving, but who knew if he was still alive or not?

Jack had since broken free of the guards' grip, pushing his way through the crowd to get to the highest point in the square – a watchtower. He knew Rose would be headed there.

"Gods have mercy on us!" someone yelled from the crowd as they all whimpered in fear. A few turned around to look at the executed man – but he'd vanished.

I hope, for your sakes, the Doctor lives.

Rose dragged the limp Doctor through the crowd and to the steps leading to a watchtower, hoping and praying that the drop hadn't broken his neck. He was heavy in her arms. They made their way up the steps, Jack appearing at the top as he grabbed the Doctor in both arms, running with him to the top of the watchtower.

He set the Time Lord down on the floor, the Doctor's head lolling on the stone as Rose grabbed hold of what remained of the noose and pulled it free over his head.

"Wake up, Doc, wake up!" Jack hissed, aligning his head to his spine before checking for neck injury. Rose was busy checking vital signs, seconds passing before a huge grin spread onto her face.

"He's alive!" she cried with joy, pressing a kiss to his lips. "He's alive, he's alive… Wake up, Doctor!"

He coughed and choked; a line of bruising was already forming around his throat where the noose had been placed.

"Doctor breathe, that's it, you're okay…" Jack was saying as Rose kissed the Time Lord again, this time for joy. She drew back, looking up at Jack and smiling broadly.

"You did it, you saved his life…" she said, almost bursting into tears as she leant forward and hugged him tightly. "How the hell did you start the storm?"

He was staring at her. "That wasn't me, Rose."

Rose frowned in confusion. "What? But…"

"I was caught up with the Master's groupie. I thought maybe you had somethin' to do with it."

"No…" Rose's eyes slowly averted to the sky. Jack raised an eyebrow.

"You're not suggestin'…" he looked up too as Rose nodded. The Doctor's coughing broke the tense pause that followed and Rose's attention had snapped back to him in an instant, cupping his cheek as his eyes flickered open.

"Am I dead?" he asked in a dazed voice before he began to cough once more. Rose had tears of relief cascading down her face.

"No, thank Go…" she stopped herself just in time, glancing briefly up at the sky and correcting herself: "…thank Rassilon."

The entire crowd was in an uproar, at a loss for what had just happened. Jack got to his feet, looking over the wall at the crowds below. There stood the Master in Rory's body on top of the gallows, looking around frantically for an answer. Jack quickly hoisted the semi-conscious Doctor onto his feet, taking his entire weight with his head resting against Jack's shoulder as he addressed the crowd below.

"Gallifreyans!" he cried over the chaos, and instantly everyone fell silent and stared up at him in surprise, the Master included.

"The traitor Time Lord and his friend!" the Master bellowed, raising his hand to point up at Jack and the Doctor. "Betrayer of our kind!" But none of the crowd were reacting to his claims.

"Yeah, yeah, just think about it, Master!" Jack yelled back, hearing Rose get up into her feet next to him to look down at the crowd. "Now, Gallifreyans, my name's Captain Jack Harkness and I'm a human, as is Rose here…" – he gestured to the girl in question – "… now, I don't know much about your species but what I do know is that the Great Time Lord Rassilon has just saved the life of the Time Lord I'm holdin'. Is that not true?"

There were murmurs of agreement from the crowd. Jack repositioned his grip on the Doctor, seeing the Master staring at them in disbelief.

"So why would the Great Time Lord Rassilon take the time and effort to save the life of a man who is apparently a traitor to your species? He just wouldn't bother."

There were more murmurs of agreement.

"No!" the Master screamed back, uncharacteristically desperate. "That's not true! The friend of the traitor is trying to warp our minds!"

"As I see it," Jack carried on, trying in vain to hide his satisfied grin, knowing that he'd already won. "That man down there is not a Time Lord as great as Rassilon was, and he's got no authority to go about executin' people. He's stolen the body of this Time Lord's son and is tryin' to manipulate the Gallifreyans into a race of evil people; tryin' to take over the Universe."

"It's not the Master we should be following!" cried someone from the crowd, "it's the Doctor we must follow!"

"Doctor!" one chanted, and suddenly everyone was chanting the name with him, "DOCTOR! DOCTOR! DOCTOR! DOCTOR! DOCTOR!"

"No! That's not true! He's lying, he's…" the Master was backing away from the crowd, trying to escape back to the safety of his guards, but even they had turned on him.

"DOCTOR! DOCTOR! DOCTOR!"

He had nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. The Gallifreyans were all advancing towards him menacingly, looking just about ready to rip him apart. He had no choice…

The Master closed his eyes, drawing his essence out of the body of Rory Alexis Sigma-Tyler. The Time Lord boy collapsed to the floor unconscious as a black cloud flew up into the air, hovering for a moment above the watching crowd before it flew off in a gust of wind. Then cheers erupted from the crowd, turning back to look at Jack still holding the Doctor in both arms.

"DOCTOR! DOCTOR! DOCTOR!" they chanted together, louder than ever.

Jack was grinning from ear to ear, largely resembling the Cheshire Cat. He turned to Rose to share the joy, but she'd already disappeared back down the steps and pushed her way forcefully through the crowd, climbing onto the gallows to get to her son.

"Rory can you hear me? Rory?" she was asking anxiously, but he didn't respond. She looked up at the crowd as she cradled his body protectively. "Someone help us get them to the TARDIS!" she cried, gesturing to her son and husband. "Please!"


When Rose entered the TARDIS Infirmary that afternoon she found the Doctor sat up on the scanner table, Jack in a chair next to him. He had a hand on his neck, now covered with a ridiculously long multicoloured scarf that trailed along the floor. Rose could only just see the neck support hidden beneath the material. She bounced over to them, interrupting the conversation as she jumped to sit on the scanner table beside the Doctor.

"Hey, Frosty," she greeted, eyeing his scarf. He gave a half-smile.

"How's Jack and…" He sighed loudly. "…Xena?"

"Y'know, if you really didn't want her to be named Xena you should've said somethin'!" Jack said with a hearty smile. The Doctor gave him one of his most evil glares. "Fine, fine! You wanna call her Yuna, you can call her Yuna!"

"Yuna," the Doctor repeated with a stare of disbelief. "So, Xena or Yuna, those are my only choices?"

"Well unless you wanna call her…"

Rose cleared her throat, feeling the need to cut in. "They're fine, sleepin' off their last feed." She reached up to kiss the Doctor's cheek.

"I was just tellin' the Doc about what saved him," Jack informed Rose. "About Rassilon."

"Strange thing is, I can believe it," the Doctor nodded slowly as he said the words, contemplating. "I seemed to have been saved out of a fair few tight spots in the past few years, apparently with no explanation." He paused for a moment, before suddenly frowning and looking at them both again. "What happened in the lift after Rose gave birth?"

Jack and Rose exchanged a glance.

"You were shinin' with this bright white light," Rose finally answered. "Floatin' around… makin' people pass out and stuff."

"Sounds like a godly act to me. I can believe it. But why would he bother saving me?"

"'Cause you were the last Time Lord?" Jack suggested. "Last Time Lord to rebuild the race."

The Doctor mused on this for a moment. "Well… Could be. And I have a feeling that my survival in the Time War might've had something to do with him as well. By rights I should've been killed with the rest of them, but instead… I lived. Out of the entire population of Gallifreyans in the Universe, billions upon billions of them, I was the one who survived. Why me? I mean, I know me and Rassilon have had our ups and downs in the past but…"

Then came a groan from across the room and all three turned to see Rory sitting up in one of the Infirmary beds, wincing and rubbing his head. Rose was off in an instant, sprinting across the room next to his bed.

"Hi mum," he said with a grin, and she couldn't stop herself from hugging him tightly. He didn't decline.

"How're you feelin'?"

"My heads hurts like hell," he replied as his father and uncle took a seat on the bed beside his mother.

"That'll be the compression, should clear up in a day or two," the Doctor informed him and for the first time Rory looked at his father, and his eyes widened.

"Dad! I had this dream…" but he trailed off as the Doctor smiled gently, pulling down his scarf to reveal the neck support. "…Ah," was the only syllable Rory could come up with. " No dream. I'm sorry."

"What for?" the Doctor asked, genuinely confused. "You were possessed by one of the most ruthless, cruel, devious and hypnotic men ever to roam the cosmos. You didn't have a chance. I didn't have a chance. He freely hurt Jill and kidnapped Zoë in my body without me having a clue about it."

"Is your neck bad?"

The Doctor went to shake his head, but thought better of it. "No, it's just a mild fracture. I'll only be wearing this for a couple of days. But right now…" He got onto his feet, rolling back his shoulders as if squaring himself up for a brave feat. "About time I went and had a word with Rassilon."


A/N: Chapter 30 – A Chinwag With Rassilon

The Doctor turned back merely five seconds later to find baby Jack had managed to cover his highchair, hands, front, face and even his hair in porridge. Jack looked up at him, giggling and grinning.

The Doctor reached out to take the bowl back, but with a final scream and a well-placed arm swing from the child the bowl went flying across the room and hit the wall, leaving a splat of porridge before it rebounded off and hit the floor. Baby Jack beamed at the Doctor again.

The Doctor stared at him for a moment; sucking it all in before he finally collapsed to his knees, holding his head in his hands. He curled up into a tight ball, rocking back and forth slowly on the floor, finally driven insane.