Chapter Four: Wolves

The Doctor knew what had happened. He looked over the energy readings and scoured the Valiant until he found evidence that it was true. The Master had built a parallel world jumper. Those were only a myth and incredibly dangerous. By some miracle, it worked. Both universes were intact. There was a very large problem. The Master would have a new world to take over. Not only that, but the nearest world was home to Rose Tyler.

"Can't you help?" the Doctor asked Martha as they stood in the repaired TARDIS. "The Master is still out there. We have to find him. Maybe I can help him. Stop him before he does the same thing to a different Earth."

"I can't do that. You saw what he did to my family. They need me."

Sheepishly, he shoved his hands in his pockets. "Quite right. I understand that. But, there's a parallel world in danger. He'll find a way to try this again. You know he will."

"Or maybe he won't. Even if he does, that isn't our world. Doctor, you can't protect every universe. You should focus on this one. Besides, that parallel world probably has its own defender of the Earth."

His face fell. "It probably does."

Martha felt bad for him, but she had more important things to worry about. She put a comforting hand on his arm. "I'm sorry. I really am. I just can't help you anymore. Not when I have so much here on Earth. The Master mightn't even be alive, you know. That was a serious wound. He could have died before he could regenerate. Even if he is alive and even if I could help you, we both know that I'm not the companion you want."

He tried to scoff, but it didn't come across. Reluctantly, he nodded in acceptance. "Take good care of your family, Martha Jones. It's been fun."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah right. Loads of fun. You take care of yourself. And if you do get to that parallel world…don't be thick. Bring her home. That's what this is about. We both know that it is."

With that, he waved goodbye to Martha and sunk onto the seat. She was right. It was about Rose. What if the Master found her? He knew what she looked like. He knew that she was on another world. The Doctor needed help, but Jack had already declined. He did say that if the Doctor needed something locally, he could stop by. Still, he could hardly do it by himself. Building a jumper would take time, parts, and more hands than he had. Plus, it was just a theory. One mistake could destroy two universes. Well, the Master managed it, but could he really take that risk?

He had to.

Meanwhile, Rose was sitting on the bed beside the Master. They were drinking tap water in silence and swapping stories about the Doctor. He was only talking about his adversary to gain Rose's trust. She would be the perfect assistant for world domination. This world would be his. But, he was feeling tired from the blood loss and a little lightheaded. Between the drums and her voice, he was worried that he was going mad…in all the right ways.

"Tell me more about this jumper," Rose stated, feeling numb from it all.

The Master sighed from his place next to her, hip to hip, and shrugged apathetically. "You wouldn't understand it. It's far too complicated for your small, human brain."

She whacked the hell out of his arm. "Oi, don't. What is it with you Time Lords? Rude and on about being a superior race. I'm not an idiot."

He blinked at her. She hit him? Well, she had no fear whatsoever. He loved that. "Fine, what do you want to know?"

"How it works. I thought that was obvious."

"Don't insult me."

"You insulted me first, Harold. Doesn't feel so great, does it?"

The Master frowned, explaining, "The jumper works by searching through time for a specific moment. The walls between universes fluctuate regularly, but only for a split second. For that second, the jumper finds the gap and sends the person through it. Genius."

She nodded in understanding. "Right, but why is it the gap opened on the day that I'm here?"

He studied her face carefully. "Fixed point in time."

"What is?"

"Our meeting. I used some of the TARDIS to build the jumper. They travel in similar ways. It just so happens that we were meant to meet, so it brought me here on purpose. You probably come here often, don't you?"

Her eyes looked away as a blush covered her cheeks. "Not often just sometimes."

"How much is sometimes? Is this room permanently booked under your name? Do the townspeople know you as that barmy Londoner who sneaks away to empty beaches? Maybe you even have a regular order at the little café we passed!"

She found herself laughing. "Blimey, you never stop talking. It's like a disease with you people."

"You people? Are you racist?"

"What? I wasn't the one insulting the size of the human brain. That was you, Time Lord."

"It's not racist if it's true."

"I cannot believe you! To think that I saved your life. Too bad you can't alter your own timeline without all hell breaking loose. I'd love to have a long conversation with myself. Prevent this entire thing."

He scoffed. "I'm not that bad."

"If only you could know what you're like to me, mate…" she chuckled.

Haughtily, he looked into her eyes. "I can."

"What? Don't be daft."

"No, I can. Hasn't the Doctor ever read your head? Fingers to the temple. Melding of minds."

She shook her head and practically whispered, "He never did. Never had the chance to."

"Can I?"

"Kind of intimate for some bloke I literally scraped off the sand an hour or so ago, don't you think?"

The Master scowled. He wanted to see what she was really like, but he didn't want to compromise his chances. Until she trusted him, he had to play his cards close to the chest. "Oh, all right. You are such a buzz kill, Rose Tyler. The worst downer."

"Now that's harsh. How'd you react if I asked to read your head this second?"

"I'd let you."

"Liar."

"What?"

"You're lying. I can tell. I've got experience with this sort of thing. An expert, really."

He grinned deviously. "Such an ego you've got."

"I'd tell you to look in a mirror, but you probably wouldn't be able to look away. You are that in love with yourself."

At first, he sent her a glare. She started laughing uncontrollably and he joined in. Silence fell and she was lost to her horrible thoughts of losing her Doctor. He was lost to his own and idly tapped on the night table. One two three four. One two three four. One two three four. The drums. They never left him. He listened and listened. His fingers went faster. He wanted to see destruction. He wanted to feel the world burn.

"Hey."

Rose broke his concentration. He glanced over, scowling. "What?"

"You all right?"

He was taken aback by the question. "Am I all right? Why wouldn't I be? Well, other than the painful wound in my abdomen that you so tenderly mended. You might as well have used a whaling harpoon and wire cable."

"You're alive, so stop whining. It's not like I used my fingernails or something."

"Now that's foreplay if I've ever heard it," he commented with a wink.

She shoved him. "Belt up. I'm still not convinced that you're all right. I know that look really well. The Oncoming Storm."

"That isn't me," he argued, knowing the Doctor's fabled name.

"Yeah, you've made that perfectly clear. I think that you're worse than that."

That got him to grin. "I'm worse?"

"That's not something to smile about," she laughed faintly.

"It is for me."

Rose paused. He had a wolfish appearance. What was he hiding from her? She knew that it had to be something. They were just two wolves in a single bed, both lost to their own thoughts. He was tapping in a rhythm again. She glanced at him, observing the motion. His face was twisted in a joyful expression as he tapped. There was something dark in his eyes.

"Sounds like you're playing the drums, Mr. Saxon."

"No. The drums are always playing in here…" he tapped his temple. "Can't you hear it? The drums are coming closer. Beating louder. Listen. You'll hear it."

"I can hear your fingers."

His fingers stopped drumming. He stared at her. "Now? Can you hear it now?"

"No…but that doesn't mean that I don't believe you."

"You believe me?" he asked in amazement. "You believe that they're real?"

She shrugged. "I don't see why not. I'm not going to call you mad for hearing drums in your head. We're all a bit off. I hear things all the time. Not drums. Just catchy tunes or…you know. Memories of. Certain people…"

"So, you don't think that I'm a nutter? That I might fly off the handle and do something horrible?" he pushed, wondering exactly what the young woman thought of him.

"I don't think you're mental. But, I do think that you're dangerous."

That gave him pause. "Why aren't you scared of me, then? I know fear. I know what it feels like when I am feared. But you, you aren't afraid. Maybe not of anything, but definitely not of me. How is that? How are you comfortable sitting beside a dangerous stranger like me?"

"Because I don't think that you want to be that way."

The Master's breath stopped. Why would she say that? Was she just stupid? Innocent? He was dangerous and he wanted to be. He lived for it. His hand lifted to smack her, to prove that he was a force to be reckoned with, but she easily caught his wrist. He wasn't fast enough on the draw, he supposed. It had to be that he was faint from the bullet wound. She smiled and lowered his arm. He could only look at her curiously. Then, she slapped him across the face.

"Ouch! You just like beating me up, Rose Tyler!"

"That's for trying to hit me. If you ever do that again, I will personally turn you into a eunuch. Don't cross me. I mean it. The Doctor always gave a choice before he did something awful, so this is yours. You play nice, or I'll end you. I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm a woman with a broken heart, and that is the worst kind of monster. And guess what, I don't care if you're a Time Lord. I don't care if you're the only physical link to my Doctor. I might not like who I'd have to become, but I'll go there if you push me. I have nothing to lose. I just lost everything. There's nothing left. Do you understand me, mate?"

He rubbed his throbbing cheek with a grin. "I do think that I like you, Rose Tyler. Quite a lot."