Unto the Universe
Chapter Sixty-Four: The End of Time: Shadow Over the Archives
By Lumendea
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any spinoff material, and I gain no income from this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.
AN: Thank you for all the well wishes. They were wonderful to read when the stress hit a boiling point. But both family members are improved and we've even taken one home while the other is in transitional care on their way home. Feeling much better about life in general this weekend.
…
The Black Archives were not an aspect of UNIT that the Doctor liked. He rationally recognized that the junk that came to Earth had to end up somewhere and that UNIT was probably the best option. But why they shoved almost all of it into one building on the most troublesome island on this planet was beyond him. It was like England wanted to be invaded. Though, to be fair, their language and culture were the results of invasion after invasion to the point that they'd decided invading others was clearly the proper choice for a people. It was a mess. He loved them, he did, but it was a mess, and the Black Archive only made that mess worse.
So, it honestly surprised the Doctor when they didn't find a smouldering crater when they arrived at the coordinates. He grumbled and shuddered, trying to shake off the lingering effects of using Jack's Vortex Manipulator. Jack caught Rose around the waist when she swayed, but she quickly recovered. He still wished that she'd leave, but the last words to him were echoing uncomfortably in his head as if they were trying to burrow into his brain.
"Good, Jack," the Doctor said. "Now, there's no telling what's in there that the Master might be using, so be ready for anything."
"Doesn't UNIT have a manifest?" Jack asked.
"Not really," Rose answered with a soft sigh. "That would require knowing what everything in there is." She was eying the large grey building with obvious unease. "I don't like this place. Not its fault, but whenever I'm here, it's because something bad is happening."
That was not comforting to the Doctor, not at all. But at least Rose knew the lay of the land a bit. Jack had never been here. At least the Doctor didn't think he had. With Jack, it was difficult to be sure.
"Back door or main door?" Rose asked.
"Main," the Doctor answered. "That's more likely where the Master went in or if it isn't and there are survivors; it is more likely the people there will know you."
Rose nodded, her face full of determination and focus. Quiet rage was simmering in her brown eyes, and the Doctor was reminded that the modern UNIT forces had been Rose's colleagues. She might not have known most of them as well as she did her close friends, but they'd worked together and protected each other. He knew that created a connection. He'd had the same one when he'd been exiled to Earth, caring for the humans in UNIT more than he'd expected. Rose pulled out her phone and sent a quick text.
"Letting Kate know we're on site," Rose said quickly. "Just in case."
He didn't ask, just in case. The Doctor nodded, and they headed for the front door. It wasn't anything obviously impressive. A pair of metal double doors, but if you knew what you were looking for, you could see the cameras and extra security features carefully hidden in the large outcropped doorframe. But today, there were no guards posted beside it, and the door was open a couple of inches.
"I'd say he used the front door," Jack said softly. He had his firearm at the ready and glanced at the Doctor. "If I get a shot-"
"Try not to kill him," the Doctor said. He felt ill immediately upon saying the words. "Your priority is Rose right now. You're her disciple and protector. That's more important than being my companion."
Rose's eyes were wide when she looked at him, and the Doctor purposely avoided her gaze. Jack just nodded in understanding, and the Doctor was grateful that he wasn't asking questions. A weight settled in the Doctor's gut. Rose's words about leaving echoed in his skull. He hated them.
The small and narrow entry hall had small alcoves along it that served as posts for guards. Small slits in the wall indicated where troops behind the walls could fire at intruders. Yet, it was terribly silent. They stepped further in, and the Doctor could hear a faint… drumming sound, but his attention was quickly pulled away from the noise when he spotted a small form in one of the protective alcoves. It was a tiny humanoid form dressed in a miniature uniform.
"That's a doll," Jack said softly.
"No," the Doctor answered. "Compressed matter. One of the Master's favourite ways to kill." The words were ash on his tongue. Too many memories were associated with these things, these mockeries of corpses that offered only insult to those left grieving. "He's inside. Be careful. I don't know if you… if you can survive him using that device."
To his relief, both Rose and Jack nodded their understanding. Rose at least had heard about this method of killing before from his companions. Jack wasn't easy to spook. The Doctor truly wasn't sure if their healing abilities would protect them from the compressor. If they did, it was sure to be a painful experience.
The sound grew louder as they headed deeper into the building. More compressed humans were scattered about where they'd fallen, trying to hold the line. Weapons were discarded here and there where they'd fallen before being compressed. The Doctor listened closely to the noise. Four beats.
"What is that?" Rose asked. "Sounds a bit like a heartbeat."
A heartbeat, four beats. The Doctor frowned in confusion. The heartbeat of a Time Lord. He kept moving. There was a metallic tang in the air that did not bode well. They headed for the doors on the far side of the entry hall, with the Doctor watching for traps. Jack moved around Rose and glanced at the Doctor before taking the lead. The Doctor hated it, but he allowed it.
But there were no traps. They reached the main doors and pushed them open, entering the control room. All of the consoles were broken open, with wires ripped out and sparking. Three more of the compressed bodies were strewn about, and Rose made a soft sound of anger and pain. He reached over and touched her arm but couldn't linger in comforting Rose.
Through the large windows that looked out over the main warehouse storage area, the Doctor could see that some of the large and thick cabling used for moving crates and boxes had been rearranged. Machines had been unpacked and were strategically placed on the top of the shelves and linked up with the Master's wire array. Cable after cable headed down to the centre of the warehouse and out of their view. That was where the Master would be, the spider at the centre of the web.
"He works fast," Rose murmured with a hint of fear in her voice.
"Always has. And we don't know the limits of his time machine," the Doctor said. "There could be a dilation field in place."
"Can't you tell?" Jack asked.
"Not right now," the Doctor answered.
"The timelines…." Rose trailed off. "They're very… loud."
The Doctor nodded in agreement. The stretching, warping, and almost screaming timelines were overriding his ability to feel anything else. He was stumbling into whatever the Master was doing, almost blind.
"He's disabled the computers," Rose said in a very unimpressed voice. "Though, he's linked into the power grid by the looks of those connections." Rose pointed through the window to the far wall where some of the wires had been welded into the main power. "We might be able to slow him down if we shut down the master generator downstairs."
"They're using a generator?" Jack asked.
"Not a human one," Rose answered. "It's alien. Tosh and Malcolm went on a long tangent about it once."
"Right," the Doctor said. "You two, try and shut down the power." Jack and Rose both gave him a worried look, and he sighed. "I'll see if I can find out what the Master is doing. In detail."
"You want to just walk in there and talk to him?" Jack asked doubtfully.
Sparks flew off some of the wires, and the metallic tang grew stronger. The sound of the heartbeat was growing louder. The Doctor wished he knew what it all meant. He was missing something, something important.
"Yes," the Doctor said. "I need to talk with him. Alone."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Jack asked. The Doctor was grateful that it was Jack who pressed and not Rose. Her eyes were flashing as it was.
"Yes, he tends to focus on me." That was true enough. "Use that time to look around and see if you can figure any of this out and find some survivors." The Doctor was rather proud of that very reasonable argument. "I might be able to talk him down."
"Has that ever worked?" Rose asked softly.
"Rarely." The Doctor smiled at her. "It'll be alright. Please, Rose."
He wasn't sure what she would do. Rose's gaze bored into him, making the Doctor feel small in the power held in those gold eyes. But then, Rose nodded and sighed softly with a look of resignation flickering over her features. The Doctor wanted to ask what she was thinking but thought better of it. He had what he needed. Best not to poke right now.
There were two doors on either side of the control room that led down to the storage floor. One to the right and one to the left. He took the right door with a grin and hurried down the stairs. He caught sight of Jack and Rose on the far staircase going to the left, Jack holding Rose's hand and keeping her close. Sooner or later, she was going to lose patience with them, but at least it would likely be Jack's problem and not his.
The Doctor flicked the sonic screwdriver to scan the nearby cabling. It didn't tell him anything beyond that massive amounts of energy were being pushed to the centre of the room. That drumming was echoing in the massive cement and metal space. A heartbeat, the heartbeat of a Time Lord. He worried what that meant, why the Master was using that pattern and for what.
Walking through the aisles, the Doctor noted the boxes that had been ripped into. Bits and pieces of mutilated technology were tossed around the floor in a display of near savagery. Too much had been done in too short of a time for the Master not to be playing with time. The Doctor reached out with his senses, seeking confirmation that the Master was using a temporal field, but the clanging on the timelines and the warning bells in his mind overshadowed everything else. He'd just have to assume that the Master had created a time bubble to give him more time to build whatever it was he'd been building and leave it at that. Given that, he couldn't rely on UNIT to arrive in time to help them.
He stepped around a makeshift barricade of metal scraps, mounded up in a trash heap of everything that Master didn't need. The Doctor scanned it over quickly to make sure nothing in was about to explode. Thankfully, the Master seemed to have exercised a little caution and deactivated the Targivon accelerator.
"Doctor!" The Master's voice was cheerful.
Holding back a sigh, the Doctor moved around the pile and stepped out into the area that the Master had cleared. Two of the heavy shelves had been knocked over, their metal twisted and reworked into a casing around the time machine that the Master and Monk had taken from the Braxiatel Collection. A faint shimmering bubble surrounded the machine as energy poured into the makeshift structure through the cabling. Other devices had been cannibalized and were fused into the metal structure in a glittering array of mismatched parts. The Doctor was both impressed and very worried. The Master was sitting in the midst of it all in the chair of the stolen time machine and grinning smugly.
"I hope you didn't break anything dangerous," the Doctor said drily. He gestured at the bits and pieces of tech scattered around them. "Who knows what they had here."
"Remarkable thing about time travel," the Master said cheerfully. "Nothing stays secret forever." He waved around a small data pad. "For instance, in three centuries, you can get the full manifest of this building on this date with little effort. The Monk and I had a splendid time scrolling through everything the humans have. Some of their theories on this technology are hysterical, Doctor. They really are."
"I'm sure."
"Oh, not going to defend your precious monkeys?" The Master leaned as close as the bubble let him, his fingers drumming in time with the echoing heartbeat.
"They do a pretty good job, but we do have a lot of advantages over them when it comes to identifying all of the junk that ends up on Earth."
"Boring." The Master rolled his eyes. "You've become boring."
"Cautious," the Doctor corrected. He could feel his temper simmering, just a few degrees from boiling over, but that was the worst thing he could do right now. This body had a sharper temper than most, but around the Master, that was beyond dangerous. "One of the last survivors of a dead planet."
"Not so dead, though, is it?" the Master cooed. "Not really." His fingers kept drumming on the controls of the time machine.
"Depends on your point of view." The Doctor nodded towards his hands. "That's a new quirk in this body. The drumming."
"The Monk couldn't hear it." The Master looked down at his hands without any hint of surprise. Then his eyes moved back to the Doctor. "And you don't, do you?"
There was something hopeful or maybe desperate in his eyes. "No, I'm sorry," the Doctor said. "I only hear it now." He gestured at the machine. "You're projecting your heartbeat? Is that what you've been hearing?"
"Maybe. To me, it's always been drums. No one else hears it; it used to be…." The Master shook his head and raised a hand to run through his already messy hair. "You don't know!" the Master snarled. His eyes focused on the Doctor but were strangely unfocused. "You don't hear it. I hoped when we children… when you were exiled, but you never heard it." The Master's fingers drummed on the table. "The drums. The constant drumming, Doctor. It's only gotten louder with the loss of Gallifrey."
"Is that why…?" The Doctor trailed off, unsure how to finish the question. "You've always heard drums in your head?"
"Ever since the schism."
"You've never said."
"There were more minds against mine then." The Master shook his head again and grinned at the Doctor. "But you took care of that, didn't you."
The Doctor didn't rise to the bait. "I'm sorry," the Doctor said. "I'm not sure how to help you."
"You can't. No one ever could." The Master shrugged as if he really was unbothered. The Doctor knew better. "It's always been there, ever since the Schism. Over the years, it's just gotten worse and worse. And the silence… well, there's nothing to drown it out now."
"Was it there when you were human?"
"Yes," the Master groaned. "Even then."
"Okay." The Doctor exhaled slowly. The temperature in the archives was rising, and he didn't like that. Too many of these items needed climate control, and he knew how twitchy humans could get when they were uncomfortable. They'd beaten UNIT reinforcements here, but sooner or later, more were going to come pouring in. "But we can work on this. The pair of us can figure out anything. We just need some time."
"I don't know how," the Master admitted. "And I'm not going to pretend that I'm strong enough to try now." He swallowed. "When I was human, I grew old amongst them. Those still alive and peaceful at the End of the Universe clung to each other. I- he headed up a project to try and protect the survivors. Tried to build a reality bubble to protect them. Didn't work. He was working with shoestrings and junk. There was nowhere to run, and he tried to help even as the drumming haunted him. His assistant, this girl Chantho, loved him, and he cared about her. His whole world was desperately trying to save them or at least give them hope. Most like you I've ever been. But then the Monk came. He mocked that human and opened the watch. Honestly, I'm surprised that Mortimus had it in him to be that much of a bully."
"I'm sorry." The Doctor wondered if that was why the Monk had died. Between that and keeping the Master on a leash, had he pushed the Master too far?
"Oh, don't be." The Master curled his nose. "I hated the lingering weakness. So, the Monk shot me, forced a regeneration and then I killed them all. Even Chantho." The words were glib, but the Doctor watched the Master's eyes. There was a hint of regret there but also glee. The same glee the Master had always gotten when he killed. "They weren't going to make it anyways. End of the Universe and all that. Pity the human dismissed time travel. Might have had more luck with that than his reality bubble."
"And all of that hasn't changed what you want?" the Doctor asked.
"What I want is all there is, Doctor!" The Master laughed and gestured around them. "Only the reengages survive! And you, oh you, became like me. Burned out two whole species like a vengeful god!" Then the Master's expression softened. "Come on, Doctor. You and me, we could start it up again. Be the new Rassilon and Omega. Maybe even get the Monk back on his feet to be our Other, restore him like the Time Lords did me. A new and better Triumvirate! The Eternals are all but broken thanks to your woman. There isn't anyone who could stop us, not us together with the power of the Gold Guardian. I bring back Gallifrey, and we burn the High Council and take their place."
The Doctor's blood turned cold. "You're talking about taking her power, aren't you?"
"Well, I know you're fond of her, but this is-"
"No," the Doctor said firmly. The Master's eyes widened at the tone. "Never. That is never going to happen. I have missed you. I value knowing there's another Time Lord in the universe, but if you even try to harm her, I will destroy you without a second thought."
"That was… wow." The Master grinned, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I have goosebumps. Such violence from you? Over a girl."
The Doctor didn't reply. It was more than that. Who he had been so very long ago, with Rassilon and Omega, hadn't said no. He hadn't helped, but he hadn't hindered. He'd stood by and been passive. He had stayed out of it, not interfered. Never again. The oath he'd taken when he'd found the name Doctor ensured that. What had happened with the Other, Rassilon, and the first Gold Guardian could not be changed, but he wasn't going to ignore the lessons he'd taken from it. The Master must have seen something in his expression because he nodded solemnly.
"Are you happy?" the Master asked. His dark eyes were fixed on the Doctor. "With her? Even after… everything?"
The Doctor wasn't sure what answer the Master wanted. Maybe he wanted to hear that he was miserable, that he woke up feeling the burden of the silence and guilt every morning. But he didn't. His mind felt empty, but soft telepathic brushes from Rose held back the echoing silence. And the burden… well, it would never be easy to live with, but meeting Rose had helped. He'd been able to learn how to see the beauty of the universe again. And he was learning to focus on the lives that he saved rather than the ones he couldn't. It was a hard lesson, maybe one he'd never learn, but he was trying.
"Yes," the Doctor admitted. He exhaled and met the Master's gaze. The drumming, the heartbeat, was getting louder and louder. "Yes, I am. Surprises me every day. That I've been able to start healing from the war and what I had to do, I'll never not wish there hadn't been another way, but I am trying to let myself be happy. I still have my oldest companion, my TARDIS, and now I have Rose." He chuckled. "And her pet Jack, but I'm reasonably fond of him as well. I'm trying to count those I've saved since and not those that I couldn't."
To his surprise, the Master looked a bit teary. Then he swallowed and looked away from the Doctor for a moment. Watching him, the Doctor stayed still and silent.
"I don't understand it," the Master admitted. He slumped in the seat of the time machine, studying something in front of him that the Doctor couldn't see. "The only times I've been happy, that the drumming eased, have been when I've been facing you and burning worlds." He laughed a bitter and shattered sound. "Back when you were exiled, I stayed near Earth because I knew you'd be going crazy. You might not believe it, but I was trying to help."
"I believe it," the Doctor said. And he did. Who the Master had been back then before his schemes had burned up his regenerations even faster than the Doctor's adventures had his, had been a man who would see that as an act of loyalty. A bit brutal, but the Doctor did believe it. "Sounds like the sort of thing you'd do."
"And, yet, it's that girl that makes you happy." The Master shook his head. "I wish I could think it was her power, but I know you better than that. For you, her rank is probably an annoyance. A complication."
"It gives the Black Guardian one more reason to hate me," the Doctor agreed with a grumble. "He's… fond of Rose. Probably more than he's fond of anything else." He gave the Master a pointed look. "Call that a friendly warning."
"You're trying to give me a friendly warning now?" The Master laughed at that. "Bit late, old friend."
"Maybe." The Doctor took a careful step forward, eying the strange system that the Master had set up. "What are you trying to do?
"Time and space," the Master murmured. "Everyone will hear the drumming now." He swallowed. "The Monk thought it could be a way to reach Gallifrey, a link between me and the old schism." He shrugged. "Not sure I really care about that. Not sure if he was right about that, but the field is spreading. Soon all of the planet, then the whole galaxy, will hear the same drumming that I do. What will happen then, I wonder?"
"The Monk thought the drums linked you and Gallifrey?" The Doctor took a step forward. "Master, you need to stop. If he was right… if there's even a chance that the Monk had it right, then you need to stop."
"Stop," the Master repeated with a laugh. "Oh, Doctor, why would I do that? Look at my machine!" He grinned and spread out his hands. "It's shifted. You understand that, right? Even if you cut the power, even if you destroy this planet, it will remain! I'm a little bubble all of my own now."
"Yes, I recognize it," the Doctor agreed. "That's where Gallifrey is."
"Oh?" The Master's eyes glittered. "Not burned then?"
"Yes, and no. Burning, forever, caught in a moment of time outside of this universe. Them and the Daleks."
"And you fear that I can draw it here."
"You don't understand what happened-"
"Oh, I know enough." There was glee in the Master's eyes again. The hum of the machine changed, and he laughed. "Look at that; your companions cut off the main generator." He shrugged. "Doesn't matter. It's too late." The Master drummed his fingers on the machine. "In fact, let's make it far, far too late!"
He threw a switch, and the edges of the bubble shimmered. A wave of panic crashed into the Doctor as temporal energy distorted and twisted, hitting his chest and knocking him off of his feet. He heard shouting and a scream before everything slipped into black.
With a groan, the Doctor forced open his eyes. Someone had a hand on his shoulder and was leaning over him. He blinked to clear his vision and found a relieved-looking Kate beside him. She was staring at him but talking with someone. It was dark above them, with distant stars twinkling in the dark night sky despite bright lights being set up around them. The heartbeat was echoing loudly around them.
"Kate?"
"Doctor, thank goodness," Kate said. "You, Rose, and Jack were just dropped out of the Archive."
"What do you mean?" He sat up and glanced around, finding Jack and Rose nearby. Both of them were waking up. "When did you get here?"
"Six hours ago," Kate answered. "We tried to enter, but everyone who went into the building suddenly appeared back at the perimeter. You and the others appeared three minutes ago."
"Six hours?" the Doctor repeated. He scrambled to his feet and turned to look at the looming Black Archive. "That's…"
It wasn't impossible, far from it. He'd already known that the Master was warping time, but he was refining it. He'd lost six hours, putting the Master even further ahead of them. Rose groaned and started to sit up. Hurrying over to her, the Doctor grabbed her hand and helped her up while Kate lingered close behind him.
"I need to see all the readings you've gathered since you arrived," the Doctor said sharply. "We need to move fast and find a way to get through his time bubble. He has a lot more time than us."
…
AN 2: This story isn't going to end at the usual 65 chapters. Too many episodes, including this one, have surpassed their usual count. I'm estimating at least another three chapters to wrap up this season. So, the next chapter is not the last.