6.

The Doctor's eyes were closed, his face drawn in tense lines as he held the node from the psychic circuitry to his temple. The other Doctor watched with concern, both for his future self's safety and for the return of the Master.

"Dead," muttered the younger-looking man, his chin dropping to his chest as he bowed forward. "I saw him die." He slowly bent forward, his thin shoulders bowing beneath the cape as if under a weight.

The lights, not overly bright to begin with, fluctuated, then dimmed.

The Doctor straightened up, still holding the circuit. He opened eyes, dark with emotion, and reached for the other circuit that lay waiting.

"Mine," he whispered. "For now."

The lights flickered slightly, then suddenly came up brightly. The console hummed and he ran his hands briefly over the controls. Setting down the circuits he ran a hand over his already unruly dark hair, then looked back at the concerned face of his younger self. He flashed him a brief, reassuring smile. "We're on our way."

They watched the console moving. "Of course the irony of being the master of the Master's TARDIS, however temporarily, knows no bounds," he added after a moment.

His companion was flicking sticky crumbs from his velvet jacket. He took a breath. "I'll have to agree with you there, old chap." He glanced up intently as the unfamiliar TARDIS smoothly rematerialized, then reached out a hand to flick at the scanner.

They both looked over at the resulting image. There she was, his own TARDIS, still waiting within the bubble of time-stasis, that unexpected net the Rani had so neatly trapped him in. Both of them paused just to admire it for a moment, sharing a look of pride and affection that only they could truly understand between themselves.

The dandy sighed and rubbed at his forehead. "I can feel the additional tension in the timestreams even from here. We better make the most of what we have."

His other self was already smacking the door control. "Right-o. I'm off!"

Leaving himself to guard their ill-gotten transportation, the Doctor pelted down the corridor, the borrowed cape swirling out behind him. It was actually a lovely feeling and he remembered now why he had enjoyed wearing one in the first place. Retracing his steps as rapidly as he could he finally skidded to a halt by a small room. There! The bin that held the contents of his former pockets! It was right where he'd last seen it, near the decontamination chamber. He did a rapid pawing through the bin's contents, relieved that everything seemed to still be there, even his sonic screwdriver.

"Of course, it's only been here a few minutes, in this time…she's still busy with me." he muttered to himself. He wished he had time to pop through that chamber and be rid of the sticky cake remains that were still bothering him. Shaking his head, he stuffed the bin under his arm and sprinted back down the corridors.

"We don't have long," he panted as he came back. The other Doctor was still there, watching over the two TARDISes and the surrounding corridors warily. "I'd almost reached the junction for the power last time, it's just down that way. Right below the second juxtational cable set."

His younger self nodded. "I can take care of it, you get to the TARDIS and wait for the power interrupt." He started to turn away.

"No, wait! This one'll snap back to the Master as soon as I'm gone. If I so much as set foot in my own first…"

The other paused, and rubbed at his chin. "You'll be taken out of its sphere and hence would no longer be in control of it. I understand. Hm."

"Here, take my key." He rummaged in his bin, pulling out a silver snuff box. Popping it open, he shook a key into his hand. He looked up at the other Doctor apologetically. "Didn't have any shoes," he explained. "You're me, so it'll work. You take her, then wait for me."

"Then you wait while I get back to the Master's TARDIS."

"Why take that rattletrap back? I can take you."

"The sooner we're apart the better, and I'm not sure I really want to spend too much time in the old girl, seeing as we're already pushing the limits by our proximity."

The spiky hair nodded, understanding. "But once it snaps back, it'll be in his control again. The doors won't open."

"Oh yes they will. Have you forgotten the manual power override? It appears that design hasn't changed at all from one model to another. All we have to do is have you hard-schedule a power shift before you go."

"I'm such a genius."

"I know."