A/N: We're getting so far into the story, and yet I'm already considering ending it before Christmas so there can also be a little bit of a Christmas special at the end. And I'll be sure to add something for new years too, if this is what I follow through with. I myself am currently wondering how the Doctor's going to save the day when he's been forbidden to. But it'll be fun finding out!
Chapter 36 – Man's Mission
It was her. The woman who he'd seen sacrifice herself for him. She came to him in his sleep.
"Why are you here?" could her visit in the hospital have been nothing but a dream? He was sure Amelia's disappearance then had been far too long to be real.
"I did warn you; things are escalating beyond your control." her red-blonde curls falling in tresses around her face swayed as she spoke, as if she were very real but out of his reach.
"Answer my question." he wasn't in the mood for her familiarity.
"I'll appear in the flesh when it's time." she smiled, but it appeared so broken, "Just please, promise not to overreact."
"Should I know you?" he shook his head, drifting between sleep and consciousness, "I probably should, and I'm sure I do at some point, but for the time being I just can't stand you."
River Song shook her head in reply as she seemed almost weepy, "I love you. You'll come to understand why, soon enough."
There was one little spark of reciprocation inside him, though he failed to notice, "Don't let the metaphorical door hit you on the way out; I'd like to go back to dreaming of my wonderful husband." she cringed, as he had expected.
He hadn't thought of her as the happy-slap type – those who fell under that category were usually Donna and mums, but it seemed River was determined to prove him wrong as he felt the crackle of skin with a cool hand across his face, "Arrogance will get you nowhere." she hissed.
"Oh, true colours coming out at last I see? Well, I think you'll find this isn't reality so you can't possibly hurt me."
"What happened will hurt for you more than a billion suns being shoved up your backside – and then you'll be asking for my forgiveness."
Everything fell wibbly-wobbly into place, "You're there… aren't you?"
River laughed, "Going to be. It's just a matter of time for you to wake up, exit the TARDIS and go looking for me – they're already looking for Amelia, so they won't even notice you've gone. And before you ask, it isn't a trap."
The Doctor, by now, was exhausted by telepathic communication, "You wouldn't tell me if it was. And I can bet you won't tell me if we actually get Amelia back."
"Correctomundo."
"Don't say that. Horrible word…" He finally felt his body lain against his bed on the TARDIS, and could do nothing but lean into it.
"Sleep, there's still time…" River pulled some suddenly-appearing covers over his prone form, "You need rest for what's to come."
"Why…?" all around him now was his room, exactly how he remembered it.
River pulled a lit candle from his cluttered desk while he thought he'd remembered to turn on the light, "The truth will be revealed, and oh, you'll love it."
The last thing he saw as wakefulness evaded him and his eyes were forced abruptly closed was a mass of blonde waves, overshadowing a knowing yet sinister smile.
"Hey – wait, it feels kinda weird now calling you 'Master' all the time." Jack did indeed look disgruntled, "And I'm sure as hell not calling you Mark."
"Yeah, Jack's right." Martha, while she was initially the person least happy with the Master's return, had become as used to him as anyone.
"The Doctor and him have special names for each other," Jack waggled his eyebrows despite the Master's intense glare, "Isn't that right, Koschei?"
"Jack, maybe you should–" Martha was getting increasingly worried about Jack's mental stability while he knew perfectly well the Master may be baying for his blood.
"No, no." he leaned in close to Martha's ears and whispered, "I'm gonna milk this for all it's worth!"
"The Master may be reformed, but he is no pussycat. Don't say I didn't warn you." She then proceeded to shove him away and carried on reading their maps.
Jack looked towards the Master, finding him not best pleased, "Women, huh? Heh, and she said 'pussy'."
"Everything's a sick joke to you, isn't it? Go and scout ahead." the Master made it clear that he wasn't to be messed with.
Jack rubbed his sore lip as he ran ahead of them, coming across something important, "Mast– oh, the hell with it – Kos, Donna, Martha!"
The grime was rubbed away; red wool.
"Her cardigan," the Master nodded, "We're closing in. Are they in the same place?"
Donna nodded, checking the readouts, "Almost like they're waiting for us."
"I wouldn't be surprised." the Master walked ahead of all of them, "We can't stop now."
"None of us were contemplating that." Martha said, running into line with him, "She's friends with my godson; I haven't even told him she's missing."
"But he knows somethings off; they're best friends."
"I've often thought them together, I mean, in the future… you'll be walking her down the aisle."
The Master grinned, "You may be standing in as the mother of the groom – I don't wish his parents any harm–!"
Martha took his hands in hers, stopping them in their tracks, "I know you don't, but I still… will be."
The Master looked into her eyes and saw so much grief, "They died?"
She nodded as she felt him squeeze her hands in a comforting gesture, "His mum died of a brain tumour a few months ago, and his dad just… couldn't cope." she returned his gaze, feeling his sincerity, "I didn't tell him about Amelia because he's got enough on his plate."
"I'm sorry… how's he holding up?" they went back to walking, finding a pace that suited them.
"As well as you'd expect; he's a little fighter. A bit confused, but I explained to him why he'd stay with me from then on and he seemed to accept it. I hear him crying at night though, and I can't help him because I'm not his mum." She was thankful that their hand-holding had not been relinquished for now.
"I lost my mum when I was about his age, but I was lucky – the Doctor was there to help me through it. Now let us help you and that little boy; straight after we have Amelia back, we're all celebrating."
Martha grinned, "They're the luckiest kids in the world."
They came across more tatters, "Do you think she's leaving a trail for us?"
The Master shouted back to Donna, "What's their current location?"
"Same." she yelled back, "Though we might as well be going in circles."
"Why?" he and Martha walked back into the group, becoming increasingly worried.
"I dunno, they keep… fizzing out? Maybe this thing's on the blink."
"It's brand new." Jack said, incredulous.
Donna turned to him and scowled, "My new hair-dryer packed up after five seconds. Who's to say alien technology is any different?"
The Master stared at the display – his daughter and her marauders were blipping out every so often while the rest remained unchanged, "You're both right." he placed the tracker in front of himself so they could all see the information, "The device is working perfectly – my little girl isn't!"
The Doctor's mind had been made up for him, as had his bed when he awoke on the floor.
He winced as his children complained at being so tossed about, "I know, it won't happen again… just be sure to stay in there until you're due." he rubbed his bruised belly, feeling the babies clamour for his warm palms.
His back spasmed again, "Almost forgot about those…" he clung to the side of the bed, gripping his way upright, "Let's hope your daddy has found your big sister… and let's hope your bigger sister hasn't found out about any of this. God help me if it really is her…"
Quite an instinct was switched on inside him as he left his room and re-entered the console room, noticing the door was unlocked, "He never remembers to lock the door… that wonderful man!" the Doctor also knew him well enough to know that he would have left defence aids under the console, "I love him!"
He rubbed his belly again for luck as he hauled his defence out from the TARDIS – his babies were his good luck, they had to be. While nothing meant more to him in the universe (besides maybe the Master), he couldn't stand idly by with them in his womb while one of his other children was in danger.
Once again, he failed to notice the most important thing; a thick trail of umbilical fluids, leading from the doors of the TARDIS and continuing with him as he walked.
The Master shivered, as did his hand in Martha's grasp, "What's wrong?"
"I don't know… it feels like my husband is about to do something stupid."
"Let's hope not, for the babies sake?" she squeezed his hand back, feeling a chill setting in very bones as his body tensed by instinct.
"Something's wrong; he isn't picking up the phone." Jack came up behind them, brandishing his mobile with the dial tone.
"He'll be asleep; too conked out for the phone to wake him up." Martha said.
The Master closed Jack's phone, "Hope you're right. We're nearly there, let's keep moving." he removed his hand from Martha's, walking onward.
"He's just deflecting, it'll pass."
"And what if the Doctor is out there?" Donna asked – so far their scanners hadn't picked up anything to say he was.
"God help us if he is. But the Master's right, we need to keep moving if we've any chance of finding Amelia." and Jack trekked up to the Master's side, finding he'd stopped.
"It's like a crater…" the Master shook his head, "It can't be that size and still be natural; something big must have crash-landed. It looks like an old indent, so I shouldn't worry that Amelia was harmed by it; she and the 'Not-people' are practically in the middle of it and still sending out signals."
"You can tell all that from here?" Jack said, staring at the crater with him.
"I can tell anything from anything." the Master said, standing to their mission with renewed fervour.
"Is this anything like what it was like in the war?"
The Master finally turned to him, "You'd have to ask the Doctor, but I'm sure he'd tell you it was hell." he walked over to the crater's ridge, making sure to keep his footing. He tapped it with his foot once and cautiously stood back, "The area's stable; just make sure to be careful on your way down."
"How're we going to get down there without climbing equipment, columbo?" Donna and Martha had made it, having not had time to stock up on energy, and it was Donna who voiced this problem.
The Master ruffled around in his jacket and removed his hand holding a opaque tube, "Gravity pills; there's a medical cabinet on the TARDIS filled with crazier stuff than this. They'll take effect as soon as we jump." the Master tried to demonstrate and took one of the pills himself, grimacing through the acidic taste.
"They look painful. Are they painful?" Martha asked, stepping back with Donna.
"They just taste a bit horrible; like your least favourite chewing gum. It's not so bad once you get past the aftertaste, and they'll get us down to the crater's surface successfully. I'll show you." he lobbed the pill tube to Jack and, being careful to manage his trajectory, jumped over the crater's crudely formed edge.
For a few seconds they waited for a crash, but when it came it was only a gentle plod. They looked over the ridge, seeing the Master resurface – dusty and a bit bruised, but no worse for wear.
"See! It's fine!" he yelled up at them, jubilantly waving.
Doctor walked back hastily and stood defiant, "I'm still not jumping."
"Too bad, you're our only tracker." and with that, Jack removed a second pill from the tube.
Donna took the pill (again in defiance and a little bit of queasiness), "That girl better be alive when we get there."
The Doctor, after only half an hour, paused to catch his breath.
"Not as young as I once was… or these three are holding me up." the Doctor smiled despite the crippling pain on his lower back and rubbed his steadily bouncing belly, "Not long now, my babies, and you'll be with us – hopefully not before we find your sister and get back to Earth, but the way I'm feeling now I might as well be in labour…"
Then it all dawned on him.
He looked back at his progress and groaned, "You kids certainly picked the best time to make your entrance."
For only a second, he wished he could have stayed in the TARDIS; then he remembered the reason he was outside on a barren planet with no name.
He stood back up and said, "Sod my own health, I'm getting my daughter back and having triplets." the unsteady waddle forward was met with intense pain on his part, and mental squeaks of protest from the babies, "Walking about gets the actual labour going… Right, so I just need to get them out of me and I can go find Amelia. Certainly harder than it sounds…" they kept giving him the urge to PUSH!, but he knew he wasn't fully dilated and so padded ahead on swollen ankles.
The Doctor had always known the babies would come catastrophically, in less than desirable surroundings with no medical equipment or pain relief, no matter how much everyone had tried to reassure him – it was just his luck. His arse already felt like it was being ruined from the inside out.
He walked further and found lots of craters, all gradually getting bigger; as soon as he came across the biggest crater he'd ever seen, he knew his family was in it.
He padded around in his clothing, suddenly remembering that he'd left the gravity pills in the TARDIS – how on Earth was he going to get down with the punishing contractions growing wider? He didn't have the TARDIS, he had no help whatsoever.
Then suddenly, he was kicked.
A/N: Allot went on in this chapter, and I actually got it to 4 pages in OpenOffice! And now I'm happy, having nearly finished my work for art class (I'm drawing the Tenth Doctor!) and I'm now watching new DIY SOS. And I've managed to do a double posting!
Ooh, and what's happened to the Doctor? Will he survive? Will the labour go ahead successfully? Will Amelia be found alive and well? All these questions and more will be answered soon enough, hopefully with time left to put up a Christmassy epilogue.