A/N: No idea what went wrong; I had it set before the holidays to upload and something must have gone wrong. This is the actual chapter. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Chapter Twelve: The Doctor is in

It took hours to reach a small town in Norway. Once they did, the Doctor had to resort to stealing a car. Donna fell asleep the second he started towards England. After hours and hours on the road, they had arrived in London. He turned to the snoring Donna and gently prodded her. "Donna. Wake up. We're here."

"What?" she yawned tiredly.

"We're here. In London," he explained.

She looked outside and saw the dirigibles. "This London has blimps? Did they not have the Hindenburg disaster?"

"Apparently not. We have to find the Master first since we don't know where he is. Worst case scenario is that we go to Pete's estate. Rose lives there. Well, she did. I'm sure we could find her mother. She'll know where she is."

They stepped outside of the car and looked at the large city. It'd be like finding a needle in a haystack, Donna thought. The Doctor wasn't worried. He could find other Time Lords with ease. Even if he couldn't, the Master wasn't about to keep a low profile.

On a little street, they were walking past a shop with televisions in the window. The show suddenly disappeared as a transmission flickered on instead. The Doctor stopped Donna urgently. His hearts stopped at the image. The Master smiled and waved with Rose at his side.

"Hello people of Earth! This is your Master speaking and his stunning counterpart, Rose Tyler. Give them a wave, my dear."

Rose gave a tiny wave with reluctance. The Doctor's stomach twisted into a knot. Somehow, the Master got to her. Donna hugged his arm with a frown. "So much for thinking there wasn't a chance they'd meet."

"I'm pleased to inform you that I have made contact with aliens. The Hotspurlians are prepared to accept me as the supreme ruler of the planet. In fact, they believe this so strongly they are willing to destroy anyone who disagrees. Also, all of Earth's defenses are in my control. Currently, my alien friends have weapons pointed at the major cities of the world. Unless you want them to start shooting, I suggest that you meet our demands. We are very impatient. In case you don't take me seriously, say goodbye to the Great Pyramids. It goes a little something like this."

He snapped his fingers and the Hotspurlians fired their weapons. Rose could see the explosion from space. The Great Pyramids were demolished. Quickly, the Master switched the feed to various news channels to show the Earth that he wasn't lying. Every channel reported on the devastation and tourist death tolls. Cheering, he gathered Rose into his arms and held his lips near her ear.

"Look at that clip! Such beautiful imagery! It makes my hearts sing. What do you think?"

"Words can't describe how it makes me feel," she retorted angrily.

"Isn't that the truth? When we go back on the air, I suggest that you let me do the talking. There will be plenty of speeches for you in the future, but for now I should handle this. Just be beautiful you."

On the street, the Doctor was glued to the television. Donna had a hand over her mouth and he had the darkest of expressions. She turned to him questioningly. "What is Rose doing with the Master?"

"I don't know. She doesn't look like she wants to be there. He might have her against her will. We need to get up there. They're on the Hotspurlian ship. Not that I even know what those are. We don't have those in our universe. They look like a pile of—"

Suddenly, the footage switched back to the Master and Rose. He was holding her tightly and smiling happily. "We can't wait to hear from you. Search for our signal and give us a ring if you'd like the destruction to stop. Call me…" he made the hand gesture with his hand and then pecked Rose on the cheek. "Don't keep me or your empress waiting."

With that, the television resumed its normal station. The Doctor took off at full speed, making Donna dart after him. "Where are we running?"

"Torchwood."

By the time they reached Torchwood, it was locked down. The Doctor pushed through the guards as Donna breathlessly caught up to him. He got to the one by the door with a dark expression. "I need to see Pete Tyler. He knows me. I'm the Doctor."

The guard instantly stepped aside and allowed them in. They took the lift to the command floor. When the doors opened, the Doctor was practically tackled. It took a moment to figure out who it was, but then he hugged back with all of his might. "Jackie!"

"Doctor! Am I glad to see you! We thought that you were dead!"

He let go and gave a brief wave to Pete and Mickey. "What? Why would you think that?"

"Harold told us," she sniffed.

His face hardened. "You know the Master."

"We call him Harold Saxon," Pete corrected him. "He came home with Rose about five months ago or so. He's been living with us."

"Yeah. He didn't seem so bad. Rose really got on with him," Mickey added as the Doctor scowled.

"Tell me everything."

Donna cleared her throat with a wave. Jackie pointed. "Who's that then?"

"Donna Noble, meet Jackie and Pete Tyler. They're Rose's parents. And that's Mickey Smith, an old friend. Now, back to the tell me everything part."

"I only got some of the story. Rose was at Bad Wolf Bay. She took some time off from Torchwood. She does that every so often, so we didn't think anything of it. Then, she came home with this Harold Saxon. He had been gut shot and needed help. So, we locked him in CADDIE—that's something Pete came up with like a safe room—until we could trust him. That took a good while, but eventually we did. Well, they did. I sure as hell didn't. He mentioned that he could help us at Torchwood because he overheard Pete and Mickey talking about this broken ship or something. So, we gave him a job. He seemed to be helping. Really liked Rose. Maybe too much. He obviously fancied her, and they thought that it would be nice for her to date again. Rose didn't get back with Mickey, but he's stayed a family friend. Haven't you, Mickey? We just love you. Still, Rose was really quite lonely until she found Harold. They spent every second together. They even watched Tony, that's the son I had. He's just a baby. So adorable. Anyway, Rose and Harold went on a date just last night. When they got back, they said that they were a couple. I didn't think that it was a good thing. Something was just off and I knew the history Rose had with you. Well, today he sent home his people early. I just happened to be in the area because Mickey came home early and said that Pete would be here. We packed him a lunch and decided to come back just to check on things. That's when we saw the message."

Donna glanced at the Doctor. "And you say that I can talk. This woman has real talent."

"Did Rose tell you anything more about how they met?" the Doctor pushed.

"He appeared from thin air at Bad Wolf Bay. She took care of him and found a parallel world jumper. He said that he was shot and in handcuffs because he had traveled with you. The two of you got into a bad situation and you were killed. He managed to escape," Pete explained.

The Doctor groaned loudly. "And you believed that?"

"We couldn't know one way or the other. Rose never really thought that you were dead, but it's been months. I guess she figured it was time to move on. That you weren't coming. But she was so wrong. She'd come back if she knew. Doctor, why is my little girl up there working with that monster? Why'd she bother with him?" Jackie demanded.

"She's not working with him. She can't be. That's not Rose," he answered forcefully. "I know her. There has to be something we're missing. Maybe it's accidental. Maybe she didn't know."

"I didn't know!" Rose shouted as the Master paced in a private room on the Hotspurlian ship. "You hinted that you wanted power, but you never came out and said that you were planning anything. I trusted you."

He grabbed her shoulders. "You were right to! You should! I'll protect you. I'll provide. That's what this is! It's all for you!"

"What if I don't want it? I said that I didn't want the world."

"Rubbish! Everyone wants power! Everyone wants to rule!"

"Not me!" she shouted, causing him to let go. She swallowed hard. "Koschei, I was happy with what we had."

"You're mental. You can't be happy with that boring life. That day after day sludge. It's an abomination! I know you. I know what you want. You want the whole of time and space."

"And you gave it to me! Remember that night? We were in the park and drunk off our arses and you had me laughing. For the first time since the Doctor, you had me really laughing. That's the universe to me. I saw in your head. I heard the drums. I saw things. The darkness. The destruction. But, I also saw something else. I felt something else. You love me so much it scares you. And I thought that part of you was winning. That you were letting go of everything else and starting over in a new world with me."

"I meant this new world, you stupid ape!"

She didn't say anything. She shook her head in disapproval and began to walk away. His hearts raced. It was just like his nightmare. He couldn't let her go. He'd rather her be held against her will than leave him. That was love. And he'd share it with her to the end, even if she didn't want to.