Unto the Universe

Chapter Sixty-Two: The End of Time: Earthbound

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: I'm posting this early because of family stuff. Enjoy.

…

The Doctor had been hoping that he'd feel a bit better once they were back in the TARDIS and within the safe walls of his ship. But he didn't. Jack was already linking his Vortex Manipulator up to the controls as the Doctor had shown him during one of their tinkering sessions.

"Do you still have a lock on the Master?" Rose asked softly.

"Yes," Jack answered softly. "It's your home era. Near London."

A thick and heavy silence hung in the TARDIS, threatening to swallow them all. The Doctor's skin itched, and he stared at Rose. In the soft light of the TARDIS central column, she almost glowed. His precious, beautiful girl. His hearts swelled with how much he loved her, how happy he was with her.

It was probably foolish, but the Doctor had a bad feeling that this was it for him. This body had been born out of sealing away Gallifrey to stop the Time War, to stop Rassilon's final plan that would destroy the entire universe. A decision that should have been impossible and yet hadn't been so hard even if making it was only a hazy memory. There would be symmetry in his life if he died today stopping Rassilon. It was too short a time with Rose, but he couldn't shake his worry. He could smell it in the air and feel the timelines closing in.

Then Rose looked up at him. Her expression was worrying blank. He spared a moment of worry for the Curator. She hadn't seemed injured, but he'd been distracted by the Monk. But Rose had lingered behind, and Rose usually did that when she was worried about someone. That made the Doctor uneasy. He had the feeling that he had missed something, and they couldn't afford that right now. He had to focus.

"Was the Curator alright?" the Doctor asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," Rose answered. Her smile was a little watery. "She'll be alright. Hopefully, the Collection will be too." Rose took a small step towards him. "Doctor…"

Pulling Rose into his arms, the Doctor breathed in her familiar warm smell of sunshine, vanilla, and lilacs. She snuggled into him and silently confirmed that Rose could feel it too. The tightening of the timelines around them. He doubted he could do anything to stop this. Something bad was bearing down on them. The real challenge was keeping Rose safe.

"Rose, depending on what's about to happen… you might need to run," the Doctor said softly. "I know it isn't in your nature, but depending on what the Master does, you might have to."

He could see the stubbornness flair in Rose's eyes. The Doctor tried to find the words to explain what had happened to Gallifrey, to explain everything, but they wouldn't come. Coward. Even knowing, knowing, that it had been necessary, the Doctor still couldn't talk about what had happened, what he had done.

"Rose… please, I can't…" the Doctor struggled. "For the sake of the universe, you might have to."

Something in her expression changed. The stubbornness faded a touch as true worry took its place. The Doctor nearly sighed in relief. He loved Rose, loved her humanness so much, but this could easily become about the Guardian. He loved that less, that part of her scared him, but he still loved it and the aspects of her that had brought her there. And Rassilon. If the Master managed to bring Gallifrey back, somehow, then Rassilon would be back. Rassilon, who had destroyed the first Gold Guardian.

"Okay," Rose whispered. "For the universe, if it comes to that."

"Thank you."

"Now that we've settled that, we need to figure out a plan," Jack said not unkindly. "The Monk said that the Master wants to find Gallifrey." The Doctor was grateful for the young man's focus. Jack seemed almost incapable of panic. Maybe Rose was onto something with her rule one. "What does he need to do that? Is that machine enough for him?"

"I don't know." The Doctor had never hated those words more. Usually, they brought him a spark of joy or excitement, occasionally irritation, but today they brought rage and simmering terror. "It shouldn't be possible. I- at the end of the Time War, things were getting bad. Really bad. The Time Lords under the restored President Rassilon were preparing the Final Sanction. They were going to ascend, become beings of pure thought."

"But-" Rose frowned. "The energy that would take-"

He didn't dig into how she knew that but could see the realization dawning in her eyes. Years ago, she'd thanked him for stopping the war and saving her and the rest of the universe. Now she really understood what that meant. Rose's grip on his tightened, and the Doctor was so grateful for it.

"Yeah, it would have killed the entire universe. Rassilon didn't care. So, I stole The Moment, also known as the Galaxy Eater. I don't really remember using it. My eighth self… poor sod was once the romantic one; anyway, he used The Moment to burn through the war and cut Gallifrey and the Dalek fleet around it out of the universe. They're in a Time Lock created by the most powerful weapon in the Time Lord arsenal. I don't understand how the Master could even begin to unravel that."

The Doctor's mind raced. The Moment had reappeared on the TARDIS not long ago when Rose named herself the Gold Guardian. It had seemed to merge with Rose. Had that weakened the Time Lock? He didn't think so. That was one more thing that he didn't understand, but at least that one didn't scare him as much. The Doctor would be lying if he pretended it didn't worry him at all. But that seemed to be an issue far above his pay grade.

"We should contact UNIT," Jack offered. "They know something is going to happen. I'm sure that tasty general friend of yours is keeping watch."

"Tasty general?" Rose repeated with a giggle. "Jack!"

"What? I don't mind a moustache. And he definitely has a presence."

A rough laugh escaped the Doctor, and he eased his death grip on Rose. That was definitely what Jack had been hoping for, given how the other man smiled. Shaking his head, he reached for the controls.

"Never tell Alistair that to his face," the Doctor ordered. "He's a good man and a touch old-fashioned. I'd hate for you to give him a heart attack."

"I'm allowed my fantasies, though, right?"

"Jack, I doubt even the Moment itself could keep you from having fantasies." The Doctor allowed himself a small smile. "UNIT is a good call. With luck, they'll have noticed something odd. We're only a couple of hours behind the Master at most."

Except the Master could do a lot with a couple of hours. The Doctor tried to remember every movement the Monk had made when modifying the machine, every twist and button press of the controls, but he lacked information. Contrary to common belief that he often encouraged, he didn't know everything about every machine in the world. He held back a growl. He should have waited a bit longer and talked to the Curator about what she knew about the machine.

Why did Brax have to store things like that? Why didn't his brother have the sense to destroy things that were potentially dangerous? A voice that sounded too much like Brax pointed out that he was dangerous with a kettle and a string on a good day. Besides, the Doctor knew the answer. Brax had cared for Gallifrey far more and far deeper than he'd ever come close to. Anything that he might have come across that could someday help protect it was worth holding onto. It was a good thing that the Brax had vanished before he saw what the Time Lords had become.

The Doctor checked their location. They were close to the Tyler house, on the edges of London, but nothing was showing up on the scanner. Whatever the TARDIS had been chasing, she'd lost here. He disconnected the Vortex Manipulator and tossed it to Jack. If things went bad, at least Jack could get Rose out of there. Adjusting the controls, the Doctor had the TARDIS start the jump to UNIT HQ.

"We've lost his signal," the Doctor said. "Which means that we need to focus on either finding him through human methods or hoping that he slips up and drops his shields."

"Or finding him when he does something," Jack added darkly.

"That too, but I'd rather not let it get that far."

Rose and Jack nodded their agreement. Then Rose glanced down at herself. "Uh, I'd better change."

"Yeah," the Doctor agreed. He could smell Rose's blood on the fabric of her torn-up jeans and shirt. "Good idea."

She gave him a soft smile and slipped from the room. The Doctor straightened up and glanced down to check his own clothing. If he had any blood on him from hugging Rose, it didn't show on his dark jeans and dark red jumper. Good enough, he decided and headed for the doorway.

As he and Jack stepped out, the Doctor held back a growl at the assorted guards. All of them had firearms, but at least they weren't pointing them at the TARDIS or him. Weapons, guns, weren't a reminder he needed today, but there was no choice. They were in a control room. A large screen dominated one wall, with the floor divided into different levels. Rows of computers filled the different levels where techs were busy with scans and reports. Thankfully, no one looked too shocked at their arrival. That was almost disappointing.

"Doctor, welcome back to Earth." Kate was striding across the room, dressed in her usual pantsuit and completely calm. He hoped that was a good sign. "I hope this is a visit for pleasure."

"Kate," the Doctor greeted with relief. She wasn't Alistair, but Kate was scientifically minded and knew to listen to him. "The Master is in this time, likely in this area somewhere. I gave your dad a photo of him. Have you had any luck tracking him?"

"How long has he been here?" Kate asked sharply, straight to business.

"Only a few hours at most."

"It may take more time than that," Kate said carefully. "But I'll push the photo out to police across England and alert Geneva. If we're lucky, all these cameras will make quick work of things. Do you know what he's after?"

"In the vaguest of terms," the Doctor said. "And not sure what, if anything, on Earth will help him."

"He might have come here only to taunt you and Rose," Jack pointed out. "Given… everything."

The Doctor was grateful that Jack didn't discuss Rose's position. They hadn't talked about if Rose wanted people to know. They probably should eventually, but thus far, she'd said nothing about it to anyone. The Doctor approved of that. He wasn't usually one for flashy titles, though they had their uses occasionally, and Rose's could put her in a lot of danger.

"What is he after, Doctor?" Kate asked. "And where is Rose?"

"She's alright," the Doctor assured Kate. "She'll be right out." Her first question was a little harder to answer, and the Doctor hesitated. "According to the Monk, who he killed, the Master wants to restore Gallifrey." The Doctor straightened up. "Earth is the only anchor planet of the old Web of Time that's really left. It was Skarro, Gallifrey, and Earth, even if most people didn't really know that. If the Master can hook into the remains of that…" the Doctor trailed off. He didn't see how that was possible, but again, he didn't know what technology the Master might have. He didn't know how long it had been to the Master and the Monk. They'd been in some scrapes based on the Monk having regenerated, so the Collection could have easily been the last piece of the puzzle. "Not sure how he could do it, but I can't put anything past him. He's a genius, completely mad, but a genius."

"So what should we look for?"

"Check all cameras for his face. He's probably around London, that's where the signal stopped, but he could be further afield. Any large robberies of electronics in the last day should be investigated, and anything unusual at any alien artefact storage sites. Is Malcolm here? He can help me set up some scans for time distortions."

"Like the rip?" Kate asked. "You think this is the event?"

"Time Lord trying something very dangerous with a modified time machine," the Doctor huffed. "I think there's a good chance."

"I see." Kate nodded, all business. "I'll send out the orders. We can pull some of the UNIT forces in from other bases to help check any unusual footage."

"Thank you. And Malcolm?"

"He's off-site at the moment," Kate admitted. "But I'll send for him."

"Off-site? Anything urgent?" the Doctor asked. "Anything odd?"

Kate's lips quirked. "No, he and Toshiko were helping with reorganizing part of the Black Archives. They've been playing with alien tech all week. I'll send for them both. You're not too familiar with Toshiko, but she's very capable. Especially in matters of computers and tracking technology."

The Doctor nodded. He'd take all the help he could from UNIT. His time sense ached. They wouldn't be able to stop whatever the Master was doing. At least not all of it; the time rips had been and would be proof of that. But if they could find him, then they could stop it there. The rips had to be the result of the Master tearing at the Time Lock. It wouldn't work; it couldn't work. But it would still do damage. Kate had pulled out her phone and was giving orders into it as the techs kept working around them, casting glances their way.

Behind them, the door of the TARDIS opened, and he heard Rose step out. Some of the tension drained from Kate's shoulders. The Doctor tried not to take offence at that. He understood that seeing someone you cared about was better than simply hearing about it. Turning around, the Doctor told himself to calm down and gave Rose a smile.

Rose had thankfully changed into completely fresh clothing and washed the lingering traces of blood off her skin. She'd gone for practical with jeans, her boots, a simple blouse, and had her hair tied back in a braid. A jumper was tied around her waist. Probably good since he wasn't sure what time of year it was. She appeared fine. Healthy and whole. It didn't erase that he'd seen her so bloody, but at least the evidence was gone.

The Doctor tried not to think about it. In fact, her being so similar to Jack was a good thing. It might keep her safe from what the Master was trying to do. He could hope. He had to hope. The rips couldn't be stopped; they were part of his past timeline, but everything they had to stop. He would not allow Rassilon to harm another Gold Guardian. More than that, he wouldn't allow Rassilon to harm Rose Tyler.