A/N: Hello all! Wow, I can't believe we're on chapter 12 already! Right, the missing scene one-shot is now up and called "Mind Swap" if any of you lovelies want to read that. I've also made three wallpapers for this story and the links are on my prfile if you want to take a look. Thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter:

padmay97, Simpa007, MayFairy, , alyssa love, Shifuni, Graceful Whovian, Lady Brid, Brownbug and chibiwolfgurl.

Read on!

The Plan Unfolds

When Fred awoke the next morning, she was surprised to see that she was alone despite having fallen asleep next to the Master the night before. She groaned as she stood, legs aching, and hunted for her clothes on the floor before remembering she had got changed in the bathroom last night. Sure enough, she found her black playsuit and black tights draped over the side of the bath with her boots stood up neatly next to them.

She pulled them on, and tried to get a brush through her hair. She looked into the mirror above the sink and saw that her natural wayward curls had begun to rebel against the straightening regime she had been using lately. She sighed and realised that she really couldn't be bothered to straighten it again. Sod it.

Just as she left the bathroom, Amy poked her head around the door. "Oh, there you are! Come on, they've got a plan. God help us, eh?"

When Amy and Fred entered the Doctor's room, the first thing they saw was three men's bums. They glanced at each other, grinning before Amy cleared her throat. The three of them stood up quickly. Through their legs, Fred couldn't quite see what they'd been bent over.

"What's that?" Amy asked, arms folded. Rory stepped aside reluctantly. His wife's eyes widened.

"Is that a Clockwork robot? What the hell is it doing on the Doctor's floor?"

"It's my robot." The Master butted in rather ostentatiously, eager to take credit for his work.

"Oh!" Fred relaxed slightly. "That's what that was by the side of the bed. I did wonder. Why didn't you tell me?"

The Master shrugged. "We don't need to share everything do we, Wins? Besides, I thought it'd be a nice surprise."

Fred looked suspicious for a second before reverting back to her usual self and saying, "I'd rather have shoes."

The Master chuckled and the Doctor prickled slightly at the easiness of their relationship. "Anyway!" He clapped his hands and tried to break the tension. "The plan!"

"Yeah, what's going on? And why have you got that robot?"

"From this Clockwork," The Doctor began excitedly. "We've managed to find out the robots' orders. The robots have been told to find the Master and make him one of them. They think he'll lead them to universal domination. So, when they pulled him and Fred here with the panel, they began to make more and more robots meaning there'd be more and more chances to get him."

Before he could continue, Fred made a noise like she wanted to interrupt but when they all looked at her she glanced at the Master, her eyes darkened and shook her head. "Nothing." She said rather unconvincingly. "Nothing, nothing. Go on...Doctor."

"Thank you." Their eyes met for a second before the Doctor blinked and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Umm, where was I? Oh, yes. So, all we need to do is break their communication to make them isolated machines rather than one big, ticky-tocky force. How do we do that? Well fear not, your favourite Time Lords have already accomplished that part while you were all snoozing. So, next part! If we split up, we can hunt them down and dismantle them while they're vulnerable. If we remove the part of their brain which holds their orders and put them back together, we should have a few harmless droids. But the biggest issue is going to be destroying Mr. Horton."

"Mr. Horton?" Rory asked, lost. "What's wrong with him?"

"Haven't you noticed that no one else is here? No one else stays here. He doesn't go outside and he doesn't eat. He's a droid. The lead one, we think."

"Destroying him may be difficult. So, here's what the Master and I have come up with. We've made this." The Doctor held up a bundle of wires and bulb in a small plastic case.

"What the hell is that?"

The Doctor was insulted at Amy's confusion. "It's sonic screwdriver! Well, a temporary one. It's pretty useless really but that's sort of the point. It's only good for one thing: dismantling." With a flourish, he presented it to Rory who took it with much less grandeur. "It's for you two." Rory shared a dubious look with Amy. "We're going to split up into two groups. Amy and Rory you'll cover this floor and dismantle any robots you find. It shouldn't be too hard; they'll be pretty disorientated as their communication is broken."

"What will you be doing?"

"The Master, Fred and I will cover the floor below. We think they'll be more there as it's closer to the basement. Now, once we're done with our respective floors, we'll meet at the top of the stairs to the lobby where all five of us will go down and take on Mr, Horton together." The Doctor finished, slightly pink with excitement.

"Four." Fred corrected. They all looked at her again. "Sorry, but I'm not feeling that well. Do you mind if I bow out of this one? I'm sure two Time Lords can manage on. I won't be much use compared to you two anyway." She sighed, stood up, gave them all a rather sad smile and left the room. They all stared after her in surprise.

"What was that about?" Rory asked to no one in particular.

"I'll go and see." The Master stalked out after her, looking as confused as the rest of them which the Doctor found oddly refreshing.

"Doctor," Amy began. "Why are you putting us on our own? Can't you come with us and then Fred and the Master can go together? It seems more logical."

The Doctor shook his head. "No, I need to keep an eye on them, Amy. The Master seems to genuinely be helping here but...sometimes I can't tell. Sometimes I don't know if I can trust him."

Fred was just about to enter her and the Master's room when a vice-like grip closed around her upper right arm.

"What's going on?" The Master hissed in her ear. "What's wrong with you?"

Fred tried to look nonchalant. "Like I said, I'm not feeling too well and I don't think you need me that badly."

"No, you're not!" The Master saw through her easily. "You're fine, I know you are. And usually you're definitely up for a fight. So I ask again: what's wrong with you?"

Fred's cold, calm exterior crumbled. Her breath became ragged and tears pooled in her eyes. "It's just too hard. I can't do this, I can't...I can't be around him like this. I can't just slot into his plans and do as he wants anymore. It's too hard to see him. It's too hard to be this close to him all the time."

She reached out to the Master for comfort but he just snarled and pushed her away. "Stop being so weak. Now you're reminding me of why I don't have companions. No human will ever be as strong as me and there's nothing worse than having a clingy, weak woman around you when you're trying to win a battle. So if you're going to be weak, you're right..." He opened the door to their room and pushed her inside. "You should stay here and sob and mope and feel sorry for yourself while someone else does all the work."

And with that, he slammed the door in her face and made his way back to the others, ready to put the plan into action. But behind the safety of the wooden door, Fred's tears dried quickly.

Nearly an hour later, Amy and Rory had dismantled two robots and were feeling pretty pleased with themselves.

"You know, I'm not sure if I should say this because it'll probably jinx it, but this is easy." Rory said, tucking the mad-cap screwdriver in his pocket and standing over the robot with Amy. They both surveyed their handiwork until they heard the all too familiar tick – tock of another robot. Amy searched for it over her husband's shoulder.

"Another one?" Rory asked without looking.

"Sort of." Amy said, her voice a little too high. "I think you definitely jinxed it."

"Why? Are there two..." Rory glanced around and trailed off. Around the corner, behind the robot they had initially heard, at least ten others were making their way towards them, arms outstretched. Amy grabbed Rory's hand and they both ran down the corridor and down the stairs, hoping to find the Doctor on the floor below.

"Doctor? DOCTOR?" Rory bellowed. "WE'VE GOT A BIT OF A SITUATION HERE!"

"Have you?" The Doctor's voice called back from around the next corner. They rounded the corner, hoping for back up or at least an escape plan. Instead, they found the Doctor alone, slumped against the wall as, in the distance at the very end of the corridor, two robots carried the Master's motionless body away.

"Yeah," The Doctor began, sounding exhausted. "Things aren't going too well here either."

I hope that was a good cliffie. I wonder what will happen next...

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