The words still echoed in Rose's head like the TARDIS cloister bells, the Doctor's fierce grip still burned her hand, and the intense gleam of his gaze was imprinted inside her eyelids. You could hear a penny drop in the silence that followed the Master's revelation. Gradually, she picked up other sounds – the Doctor's panting breaths, the mechanical whirrs from the overhanging zeppelin, the wail of a nearby police siren.
The Master was a Time Lord.
The Master had survived the war that plagued the Doctor's nightmares to this day.
The Master had killed the Doctor.
To say Rose was confused was a huge understatement. Emotions churned inside her like a melting pot, concern and anger and bewilderment collapsing into one knee-jerk reaction. An urging protectiveness suddenly gripped her body, and instinct took over.
Gently pulling the Doctor behind her (whose face had gone so white Rose worried he might be sick), she placed herself between him and the Master. Bracing herself, she met the Time Lord's powerful stare.
"What do you want?" she asked.
There was a beat. The Master focused on her, wavered for a few seconds, before breaking into a grin as false and disturbing as his earlier laughter.
"Is that what you did, then?" he asked, and his voice was quieter than what Rose had expected. "Just ran off and got yourself a new pet like nothing happened?"
"This pet has jumped fifty dimensions and saved the universe more times than you can think." Her insecurities had vanished in front of the obvious danger, replaced by adrenaline-fuelled defiance.
"Rose…" came the Doctor's voice, and if his profound distress hadn't been enough to send her reeling, his disturbing lack of speech definitely did. I'm the Doctor, and if there's one thing I can do it's talk.
She looked sharply back to the Doctor. "He killed you! I'm not gonna let him do it again!"
"Hold on, sweetie," interrupted the Master. "Jumped fifty dimensions? What are you, a rogue Time Agent?"
"Better." Rose smirked. "I'm the Bad Wolf."
Something flickered inside his eyes. Interest, curiosity, understanding.
"So you're the anomaly."
A beat. "S'cuse me?"
He shook his head, chuckled, and pulled up a small device, not unlike the convenient machinery the Doctor prided himself in making. He waved it before her, scanning her in one swift motion. "You're the one who's been leaving Void particles all over the place."
"You've been tracing those?" asked the Doctor – which prompted the Master to look back sharply towards him.
"Have you been playing with dimensions, Doctor?" There was an edge to his voice, something vicious that Rose could not quite place. His eyelids narrowed, a dark shadow clouding his expression. "That's where you went after it all, wasn't it? Off to another universe."
"Well, not exactly –" interrupted the Doctor.
"You ran," he spat finally. "All this talk of loyalty and honour, and morality – and you just ran away like a scared little rat."
The Master was properly sneering by then, gritted teeth visible between his tense, curled lips. Rose felt rather than saw the Doctor tense beside her. Glancing back to him, she noticed with a start the mournful twist of his face, the flicker of confusion and hurt in the chocolate pools she knew so well.
"Master, if you could just listen –"
"I've been listening for centuries!" yelled the Master suddenly, and Rose braced herself for another attack. The zeppelin had flown over, and the newly-freed sunlight now created deep, strange shadows on his face. "Nothing's here, Doctor. Not one single whisper."
His voice suddenly went quiet, as if he was still desperately searching for a sound beyond his reach. His fingers absently brushed his right temple.
"No one is here. Not even you."
And Rose felt that twist in her heart again – the same sizzling sensation she had felt while watching a Dalek suffer torture half a mile under the surface of the earth. Or seeing a terrifying disfigured child call out to his Mummy on a foggy London night. She realised she had seen the exact same pair of scarred, desperate irises before – and their owner stood right behind her.
The Doctor inhaled sharply. With infinite caution, he inched closer to the Master's trembling form.
"You ended the Time War," he murmured. Aside from a quick flick of his gaze, the Master didn't answer. "In this universe, you're the one who did it."
Slowly, the Doctor raised his hand towards the Master's shoulder.
"You're like me."
The Master's head snapped up. He caught the Doctor's wrist in what had to be an extremely painful grip.
"Why couldn't I sense you?" His tone was low – the question beat the air like a drum. His eyebrows were knitted close, a tight line forming on his forehead. His gaze travelled up and down the Doctor's form. "What did you do?"
"I can explain that – everything." This time, Rose fully recognised the Doctor's voice. He was placating, using cool, soothing words to appease terrified crowds. And in the corner of her eye, she caught the Master's hands trembling, as if centuries of boiling anger and repressed sorrow were clawing their way out, rushing to the closest extremities.
The Master opened his mouth.
There was a deafening gunshot, and the Doctor cried out in pain.
Rose barely had the time to think Not again! – before the alley exploded into chaos. Bullets ricocheted off the walls, and she brought her arms up, desperately scanning for a cover. The Master pulled out his weapon and fired towards the roofs. She rushed to the Doctor, who was gripping his already bleeding shoulder. His eyes were already darting around, falling back into habit, assessing the situation like it was routine exercise.
"I'm fine," he said, waving his hand.
"Yeah, not convinced, sorry." The wound appeared clean – the bullet had exited on the other side. She placed his arm over her shoulder and made for the small alcove between two bins.
"Freeze!"
The shout was definitely louder than it should have been. Rose looked up. Their attackers were perched on the nearby roofs – she could make out at least six shooters. The bullets had stopped, she noted. In a second, the sky shimmered, revealing a huge, sleek spaceship that towered above like a storm cloud. Rose was reminded of Captain Jack's ship back in the Blitz, and of the Master's earlier words. I knew those idiots have been following me for a while…
The voice resounded again, booming and warped.
"The Time Lord known as the Master is under arrest for violation of Articles 45, 57, 63, 78 and 90 of the Shadow Proclamation. Him and his associates are requested to drop their weapons and surrender, under penalty of immediate incapacitation."
Apparently, the Master had other ideas. He pointed his device towards the electric box, which glowed softly and opened its door with a slight creak. The air rippled as a glowing red forcefield materialised around them. The bullets clinked, momentum brutally cancelled, and bounced on the pavement.
"I'd suggest you try shooting us again," he said coolly. "But then your engines would collapse trying to hold the excess energy. I'm not sure your superiors would appreciate smearing burnt spaceship parts all over 21st century London."
The Doctor swayed in Rose's arms, eyelids fluttering. She cursed, gripping him tightly. It was jarring to see him this frail. Apparently being half-human meant he had more trouble hiding his injuries – Rose wondered if that was much of a progress.
"We need to get him to safety!" she called. The Master flicked his eyes towards the Doctor and frowned. He hesitated for a second before snapping his fingers. Without a single creak, his TARDIS door swivelled open. Rose could perceive a faint crimson glow coming from the inside – a menacing yet deeply alluring shade that pulsed like a heart.
Amidst the clamouring orders to stand down, the Master calmly bent over next to Rose, picked up the Doctor's other arm, and helped her prop him upwards.
"Get him inside," he grunted.
"I'm fine, I swear," snapped the Doctor, then winced and promptly stumbled into Rose. The unlikely trio hobbled over towards the electric box, forcefield still rippling over them like a soap bubble. When they reached the threshold, the Master ran over to the controls, flipped a lever, and the pulsing red lights intensified. The sound of whirring engines filled the room.
"We could have talked to them," protested the Doctor. The Master rolled his eyes.
"My TARDIS, my rules. I am not talking to these trigger-happy low-life sheep."
The Doctor's eyes went wide, even as his pupils furiously blinked in and out of focus. "So you're just…running away?"
The Master didn't respond.
"This is a final warning," cried the disembodied voice. "Surrender now or-"
The TARDIS door slammed shut, effectively silencing it like a slap to the face.
The flight was much smoother than what she had been used to. The ship barely moved, save for the small tremors of spinning turbines. She hadn't had the chance to look around as they had carried the Doctor into the medical bay, hooking him up to the alien life support as he drifted into unconsciousness. Now, the engines rumbled around her ears, a soft background noise that was both familiar and incredibly disturbing. The console was still littered with buttons and levers, and the rotor still slid up and down with endless diligence – but while the energy emitted by the Doctor's ship resembled that of an old friend you came to visit, this version reminded her of an aloof guard dog. It reared its head inside her mind, prodding at her, demanded her secrets. She shivered, shaking her head. The room was bathed in a red half-light, not unlike the old-fashioned photograph developers Rose had once seen on TV. She wondered if this meant danger (as crimson light usually did) – but after five minutes spent with the Master barely paying any attention, she figured they were safe.
Well, as safe as they could be.
She eyed the Time Lord, whose head had not once looked up from the controls since the Doctor had been transported to the medical bay. He barely seemed to breathe at all, staring at the console as if he could move it with his mind. There was a carefully neutral expression on his face, so unlike the passionate rage that had twisted his features when he talked to the Doctor.
He was a puzzle, she thought. The more she tried to squint and piece his image together, the more elusive he became. She needed clear answers if she were to move forward – and since she apparently wasn't going to get them from the Doctor anytime soon, she would have to get to the source.
"Alright," she placed a hand on the console, right in his line of sight. "We're having this talk now."
While she didn't particularly enjoy staying alone with the man who had apparently killed this universe's version of the Doctor, she figured the other Time Lord's absence would finally let her speak to him for real.
He flicked his eyes towards her, unimpressed, but remained silent.
"Who are you? Really?"
He looked back down, and for a second Rose thought he would ignore her. Then he muttered two words in a voice so low Rose had to strain to hear him.
"An enemy."
So it seemed, judging by the glare that she had received since she got here. But Rose knew there was more to it. The Doctor's pained stare, the Master's own agonised whisper, the mix of tension and wary hopefulness that seeped into their speech – she had seen the Doctor talk to his enemies more times than she could count, and this was so, so different.
She raised an eyebrow.
"Sure you are. That's why you brought us to safety inside your TARDIS." She jutted her head towards the medical wing. "That's why you let the Doctor use your healing pod."
The Master stayed silent for a while. He flicked a few switches, briefly looking up towards the rotor. "I need him alive. You two have information."
"So we're your prisoners."
The Master said nothing, letting another silence envelop the control room. Rose bit her lip. She decided to cut to the chase. Consequences be damned, she needed to know who he was, and she figured it would take more than a little probing for him to talk. If she wanted answers, she would need to poke the lion in the eye.
"Why did you do it?"
He paused his prodding of the console. His eyes flicked back towards her, and Rose felt the intensity of his stare prickle at the back of her neck. He was calculating, that much was obvious – but what exactly, she wasn't so sure.
"Do what?"
She breathed. Now or never. "Press the button. Kill Gallifrey."
The few times she or the Doctor had mentioned the subject of his home, the Doctor either cast a quick joke, evade the topic or adopt a forlorn, drifting expression that made her backtrack more than once. But at the moment, you'd have to excuse her if she couldn't really care less about the subtleties of the Master's emotional state.
The Master's face was inscrutable. Despite the gravity of the conversation, she saw no trace of the fury she had witnessed outside the TARDIS; perhaps he had had time to process his earlier shock – or perhaps he only reserved emotion for the Doctor.
He stared at her, long and hard.
"I was the only one who could."
Rose raised an eyebrow. "That's not exactly a reason."
At this the Master scoffed and looked back down.
"What happened to the Doctor?" His voice gained a harder, questioning tone. "He's all… wrong. What have you people done to him?"
Rose hesitated. This was a whole different matter, and she didn't feel comfortable sharing the Doctor's new vulnerability to a Time Lord she barely knew, let alone trusted. She narrowed her eyes.
"We didn't do anything to him. Which is more than I can say for you, apparently."
The Master immediately tensed.
"I could kill you right now, you snivelling ape," he growled, stepping towards her.
"Then why haven't you?" she retorted, refusing to back down.
They stood there, surrounded by the menacing rumbles of the TARDIS, staring in each other's eyes. Rose's heart thundered in her chest, and her fists were curled, ready to defend herself. The Master's eyes glinted like a snake ready to strike. Tension bubbled between them, and now that the Doctor wasn't there to mediate, it was impossible to predict how it would erupt, or what would be left in the rubble.
But then his eyes shifted, focusing on a space behind her. He shoved her aside, striding towards the dim hallways and barely sparing a glance backwards as he called out to her.
"Controls are isomorphic, so don't even think about touching anything. The TARDIS will know."
With that he was gone, and Rose was left standing in the pulsing red light with more questions than before, frustration clawing at her throat while the rotor pushed its way through the Vortex.
"C'mon, Theta, how are you so slow?"
Laughter rang around his ears, cascading out of him into the dimly-lit hallways. He tugged at his friend's arm in a desperate attempt to make him slow down; but his efforts were rewarded by an even stronger pull which sent him stumbling over his robes. There were no Professors, no Wardens, no students – not one distraction from Koschei's confident stance and slightly flushed complexion. It was only them against the dark corners of the Academy – like it was always meant to be.
"You drag me out of bed in the middle of the night with a grin that could split your jaw, and now you're making us run like our regeneration depends on it!" He stage-whispered between two panting breaths. "The least you can do is tell me where we're going."
Koschei just flipped his head back towards him, and smirked. His icy blue eyes sparkled like diamonds.
"Trust me," he said. "You don't want to miss this."
He had to admit, his friend's sudden and most unusual excitement sent his thoughts spinning into countless hypotheses. What could possibly be so important as to warrant an exception on Koschei's airtight schedule?
They rounded a corner, and Theta had to squint as the hallway was suddenly filled with brilliant orange light. He barely had the time to notice Koschei's abrupt stop before he barrelled into him, sending both children crashing to the floor in a giggling heap. Struggling to catch his breath, Theta scrambled to his knees.
"What in the Seven Systems was that all a-"
His voice died in his throat. His eyebrows went flying up, and his jaw slackened as he took in the spectacle before him.
Koschei had led him into the Panorama Room, where the Astronomy sessions usually took place. The entire room was made of pure Gallifreyan glass, extending into the sandy landscape like a pier into the deep red sea. The natural light rippled around the walls, bathing the world in a warm titian glow.
Outside, the night sky was ablaze with fireworks, multicoloured lights refracting in infinite sparks of red and gold. Nebulae twisted around them, swirling faster and faster in a frenzied symphony. A ballet made of space and stardust, performed exclusively for two students on a midnight adventure.
"The Circular Triple-Eclipse," murmured Koschei in a subdued voice. Beams of starlight danced on his forehead, straying to his raven hair like planets sucked into a black hole. "Only happens once every three thousand years."
Theta could practically hear the galaxies calling him – beckoning closer, playfully whispering into his ear. Come have fun, said the stars – and really, who was he to deny them?
"It's beautiful," he whispered.
"It's a scientific phenomenon," replied Koschei, eyes still twinkling.
Theta ran up to the far-end wall, the last barrier between the Academy and the crimson wilderness of the universe. He pressed his hands against the glass, gaze never straying from the celestial display.
He felt Koschei's hand brushing his robes as his friend joined his side. Their minds playfully tickled each other, prying a smirk from Koschei's pale lips. Theta took a deep breath, enjoying the night air.
"One day I'll be towering above it all," said his companion. "My TARDIS will fly over Gallifrey along with the nebulae, and no one will make me do anything." He looked over towards Theta, who observed him silently. "I'll be free."
Theta took his hand and squeezed it. "Well, you aren't getting rid of me anytime soon. I'll always be a thorn in your side."
Koschei squeezed back and laughed, a ringing bell of joy. "Of course you will, you idiot. We'll always be together."
They stood in silence, staring at the orange sky as it started to fade into a sapphire blue.
"Besides, someone needs to pilot that TARDIS of ours, and it sure as Time won't be you, considering your latest grade."
"Hey, no fair!"
And the Doctor woke up with Koschei's laugh ringing in his ears and the feel of Gallifrey's crisp nocturnal air still caressing his cheek.