A/N: Not sure where these long chapters are coming from so quickly... I hope it's not because I'm just spitting these out, but I think most of these characters are in character (then again, I don't really know Rassilon, so... yeah), but fair warning, Jack will be showing up (I'm sorry, he's just too persistent) because I only got 2 reviews on that A/N I posted (I suspect a lot of people didn't even read it because it was an author's note...) and Jack wants to be able to be violent (because we know he loves guns... NO! NOT THAT WAY! You pervs...). So, he's not in this chapter, but he will make his grand entrance next chapter. And I wish that fact wouldn't make some of you stop reading, but I know it will, and as an author, I need to do what's best for my story.

No owning going on here, sorry

River, Amy, and Rory were shoved roughly into a cell by three guards, the Master thrown into a cell right next to them. Amy hit her head with the force she was thrown. The guard who threw her laughed, quieting quickly under Rory's withering glare.

"Not. My. Wife. You bastard." The guard scuttled away, chuckling when he was out of earshot while Rory gently checked Amy's head for signs of damage, his inner nurse taking over.

"I'm fine, you idiot," she said fondly pushing him away. "We have more things to worry about than a little bump on my head."

"Yeah, like how the hell are you planning on getting rid of Rassilon," muttered the Master, sitting in a corner of his cell. He glanced up, a fire in his eyes. "And I'm sure you know what I mean, Doctor Song."

River looked at him. "I think I do, but I can't trust you or your opnions. I've never met you before today. And the Doctor's certainly been tight-lipped about anything about his childhood."

"We were best friends, back on Gallifrey. Before I… before I betrayed him."

Amy and Rory looked at each other, than back at the Master. Rory cleared his throat. "Gallifrey?"

"Well, you don't think the Doctor fell out of the sky one day, do you? No, don't answer that, it was rhetorical. Gallifrey is the planet of the Timelords, which we are currently on, we became Timelords because Omega wanted to have some fun, yadda yadda yadda, I don't really have the patience to explain all of this right now…"

"Um… O… kay? What do you mean 'best friends?'" So many questions... That would probably never be answered. Unless they cornered the Doctor later on. Which will happen, Rory reminded himself. They will be traveling together in the TARDIS again before they know it.

The Master's eyes, already almost as old as the Doctor's, seemed to gain another hundred years. "When we were growing up here, we roomed at the Timelord Academy. We were best friends, literally told each other everything, swore never to betray each other, and stuck up for each other until the end. Until the day when I was initiated, when the drums invaded my mind and drove me insane. Even then, the Doctor was my best friend, defended me to the Council when they thought I was a threat to safety. One day, I snapped. I ran, as fast and far as I possibly could. Then the Time War started, and I couldn't do anything. I let the drums overpower me, and it was the worst decision of my lives. I'll never forgive myself."

Rory looked at the Master. The Doctor had mentioned him a couple times on the TARDIS, always with regret and more sadness than Rory though was possible. But it suddenly made sense, if the Master had really betrayed him, why the Doctor felt so sad.

Amy smiled a little at him. "I'm sorry."

The Master shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. "All I can do now is hope that he'll forgive me."

"I think he already has," River interjected. "He forgives far too easily, and from what he's told me, you've most certainly earned it from your recent actions. Don't screw it up, Sweetie, or I may have to kill you." She smiled, letting him know that she was joking—mostly. "Now, Master, what were you thinking of to 'get rid of' Rassilon?"

He fidgeted a little bit in his cell. "What I'm thinking of—we'd have to call someone, although I don't think he'd be very keen on helping me."

"Why not?" Confusion colored Amy's voice.

"I kind of killed him. A lot. For a year… a year you wouldn't remember because it never really happened in this reality… You could say it was my favorite pastime."

River nodded with some understanding; the Doctor had mentioned a man who could never die quite a few times, always with disgusted affection.

The Doctor lifted his head, causing the room to spin at a dizzying rate. Finally, the room stood still, and the Doctor's vision focused on Rassilon. A quick look to his right showed him that the Rani was standing next to him, looking incredibly smug.

"Why…" was all the Doctor could get out. His throat was dry, his head ached more than he thought was possible, and he hadn't spoken in hours.

"You ruined our plans, Doctor. We were going to ascend, become gods. But you wouldn't have that of course."

"What's a god without anything to rule over? What would be the point?"

"We would have destroyed the daleks."

"Along with the rest of the universe. Is that really the price you wanted to pay?"

"The end justifies the means, Doctor."

"Not when the means are wiping out every race that has ever existed!" The Doctor's voice was getting stronger, and he pulled against the chains keeping him immobile. This was his mess, and he had to fix it. Whatever the cost.

"Doctor," the Rani smiled. "What is your point? You're fighting against us, but if you fought with us, you would also be able to ascend."

"Oh, Rani, don't pretend you want this! You wouldn't be happy unless you could tinker with something's biology."

"Answer my question."

"Because there's so much life out there. Getting rid of that is like setting fire to the most beautiful piece of art that has ever existed. It's shameful to even think of. It's like films, on earth, when they kill the dog. For most humans, it's considered unacceptable."

Rassilon frowned for a moment at the Doctor's human reference, and then shrugged. "What's art without sacrifice?"

The Rani looked at Rassilon out of the corner of her eye. "Why exactly are we talking? We do have a prophecy to fulfill."

Rassilon smiled. "Right you are." He turned his smile—which quickly turned frightening and feral—on the Doctor and touched his face with a gauntleted finger. The Doctor shrunk away from it as much as he possibly could, but the fire started anyways. It grew from the spot where Rassilon was touching him, and spread through his head. He felt as though every cell in his body was on fire in a matter of seconds. Of course, it really wasn't, but the greatest pain is what exists only in the mind.

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