Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters, places, plots...Yeah you get the picture. My first ever Master/Rose fic, never thought I'd write one, but actually I really love writing it!

Chapter 19-The Discovery of the Wandering Child

It was two o'clock in the morning when there was a knock on the Master and Rose's bedroom. For the first time in a year the Master had not locked the door (maybe he was getting cocky) and so the late-night-caller opened it a crack, sending a slither of blinding, yellow light across the room and onto the face of the slumbering Time Lord.
"Excuse me Ma'am, Sir," came the sound of a male voice in the silence, they were certainly American, thought the Master as he sat up, rubbing his eyes tiredly. The sheet fell to reveal his bare chest and the uniformed guard blushed, keeping his eyes locked on his bosses face, and he stepped inside the room slightly, shutting the door a little behind him.
"What is it babes?" murmured the Lady Rose from her position beside him but she did not open her eyes. With amazing swiftness the Master turned to glance down at her, his eyes soft and loving as he stroked her cheek gently with his fingers,
"Nothing darling," he muttered, "You can go back to sleep," he brushed a few stray strands of hair from her relaxed face and then moved back to look at the guard again. "What is it?" he ordered harshly, "And be quiet."
"I'm sorry for disturbing you," the guard said, his voice fearful.
"Get on with it!" The Master snapped, keeping his tone as quiet as possible, even though his temper was fraying.
With a stutter the man began to explain as to why his master's crucial sleep had been disturbed, "Ummmmmmm, we have a lead on the whereabouts of Martha Jones."
"What!?" He shouted a little too loudly.
From next to him Rose groaned exhaustedly and rolled over, pulling her pillow from underneath her head and shoving it over her face so as to block out the noise. Scowling worriedly the Time Lord peered down at his partner and then turned back to the nameless human whispering, "Where?"
"North London Slave Houses," was the reply whispered back almost so quietly that he could not hear the answer. With calculated movements so as not to disturb his love the Master made his way to get out of bed, however he quickly realised that the soldier was still stood there, watching him like a lemon. With a dismissive wave of his hand the Master released the man,
"All right you can go now."
Bowing his head in respect to his Master the young man said,
"Thank you Sir," and then left the room to let the Time Lord get dressed.

As soon as the guard was gone the Master slipped from beneath the covers and shrugged his black, silk robe on over his bare body. Walking towards the door the Time Lord looked back at the sleeping figure of his wife; his beautiful, loving wife. He knew that he just could not leave her there to wake alone. So he paced back towards her, rifled through his cabinet until he discovered exactly what he wanted, a pen and piece of paper. Kneeling down and leaning on the small chest the man scribbled out a short note for his spouse, and then folded the paper placing it carefully on the bare pillow where his head would normally be laying at this time. Before he left, the Master pressed a single kiss onto her palm, as he could not get to her face without waking her.

Finally he went. He stepped out into the corridor and was unsurprised to find himself face to face with a large group of at least 30 uniformed men with guns. He looked quite out of place dressed in only a robe. Aware of their probing, questioning looks the young looking man gave them swift orders to wait for him by his plane and without a word all of them left.

Once they'd all disappeared from view the Master wandered of expertly down the corridor towards the bridge and the Doctor's cage. He crept through the open door into the darkened room with a huge grin, tip-toeing silently across the wooden floor until he got right up close to the Doctor's cage. Where he woke the napping Doctor with a loud cry of, "Guess what!?"

The Master, once known to the people as Harold Saxon, was stalking down the London street surrounded by numerous guards with armed machine guns, Toclafane hovered amongst the men threateningly and bright, white spotlights shone down the shady road, illuminating the Time Lord's menacing face so it appeared as a stark skeletal head.
"Martha! Martha Jones!" he cried playfully, as if this was merely a child's game of hide and seek not a life or death situation for many, "I can see you! Out you come little girl! Come out and meet your Master," he taunted cruelly, " Anybody? Nobody? NO? Nothing? Take your positions!" He cried to his men, who instantly dropped to their knees, aiming at the flimsy doors of the grotty houses within which over a hundred people lived, "I'll give the order unless you surrender! Ask yourself what would the Doctor do?" He smirked when the young woman attired in black combats walked from a house alone, he was so happy he decided to play along and cocked his head to one side amusedly, clapping as if impressed, "Oh yes! Very well done. Good girl. He trained you well." With his fore finger he pointed threateningly at the bag hanging limply from Martha's right shoulder, his face lost all sense of humour and become deadly serious, "The bag, give me the bag. No!" He changed his mind quickly, "Stay there! Throw it!" He ordered. Martha removed the bag and threw it down about two meters from his feet, speedily the Master whipped out his laser screwdriver and the bag burst into flames, Martha's face fell as the orange-red flames licked at the dark fabric, destroying everything she'd worked so hard to find. "Now good companion your work is done." Martha closed her eyes, expecting to feel the warm, fatal burn of his laser through her chest at any moment. Suddenly a crazed scream erupted beside her and she watched as Tom charged head first at the Time Lord. That was until the Master shot him, laughing as the man's body fell with a thud onto the pavement. She closed her eyes yet again when the evil bloke turned back towards her, a cruel glint sparkling in his dark eyes. "But you, when you die the Doctor should be witness hmmmmmm?" With a cloaked expression the man stared up into the sky which was beginning to brighten as the dawn broke over the Earth. "Almost dawn Martha Jones, and planet Earth marches to war!"

Meanwhile Rose Saxon woke to a silent room; she had no memory of anything disturbing her much-enjoyed sleep. Rolling over in an attempt to kiss her husband good morning and ask if he wanted to join her having breakfast in bed she discovered that she was alone. "Master?" She called out into the dimness but there was no reply, just quiet. Sitting up against the headboard she peered about, her eyes growing used to the gloom until she could see almost as well as she could in daylight. Torchwood had trained her well. It was then that she found the small note left carefully on her spouse's bare pillow. Plucking the paper from its resting place she unfolded it and read, smiling at her lover's kind, loving words.

Dearest Rose,

My love I have just been told that Martha Jones has been found down below. I have no choice but to go and leave you peacefully sleeping here, as much as I wish to stay with you. I didn't have the heart or courage to wake you. Sleep well my darling. I will see you later for launch day!

All my love forever

Your Master

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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Well, its nearly over, sadly...SO keep reading and reviewing, I know you'll like the ending!!