The Master walked back to meet John and Rose and David where he last left them. He was shocked to find only one TARDIS in the vicinity.
"Well, I guess they left without saying goodbye." The Master sighed. He decided to go back to his TARDIS to wait for the Doctor to come back from visiting his past companions. The Doctor still didn't quite fully trust him, so he put a tracking device on him that prevented him from using anything to travel in space or time. How the Doctor expected the Master to trust that he would come back…well…that was a different matter. He couldn't run away from him again, could he? He doesn't know what he would do if the Doctor didn't come back. They would regenerate without each other, and the game would start all over again. He didn't mind the game; he thought it was fun at times, but he wanted it to stop. To go back to what they once had all those years ago. When they had each other, and no one else…when they weren't playing a never ending game of chase, with no purpose, no winner.
The Master tried to clear his head. These thought were almost more maddening than the drums, but at least he could somewhat control them. He opened the TARDIS door to look at three seemingly lifeless bodies on the floor. He saw each chest rise and fall to reassure him that they were not dead, and he went to gently wake them up.
"Hey," he lightly shook John. "Wake up, sleepy head." The fact that he looked like the Doctor still bothered him a bit; it brought back that thought he had earlier…what if the Doctor just ran away, again?
John stirred, finding it difficult to open his eyes. "Master."
"What are you doing here? Where's your TARDIS?" He asked the sleepy man.
"I was trying to fix her and then she sort of exploded on us so now we're here and we can't get home and we thought if we would go to sleep it would all just be a dream." John said, still a bit incoherent.
"Well, I thought you'd like to know that I found the Doctor…still the same old face…for now, anyway. He's just taking care of some things and then we'll be on our way."
John sat up, noticing the Master's anklet. "What are you wearing there?" He gestured to the tracking device.
"I guess he still couldn't trust me. I'm bound to right here and right now until he comes back. If he comes back…" the Master trailed off.
"He will." John said, more alert and focused now. "If I ever got a second chance and you were willing…I'd take you and never let you go. He'll be back. I promise."
The Master blushed. He decided to change the topic. "So…your TARDIS just exploded…?"
John took a deep sigh. "Yeah. I guess she wasn't grown enough to handle such a rough trip. So, I guess we're…stuck here. Wow. And to think Rose spent a good portion of her life trying to get back here…and now..."
"You're not stuck here, don't be ridiculous." The Master interrupted.
"But how can we go back now? We don't have a TARDIS, and even if you or the Doctor could drop us off without completely damaging the universes by making two more trips, we wouldn't have a TARDIS of our own over there and it would take so long to-"
"Just take mine." The Master replied with a "well, duh" tone of voice. "She can handle anything. She was raised by me, after all."
John started to protest but the Master continued before he could get a word out. "What are we going to do with two of them anyway? But you…you have a whole universe to explore. Never seen or tampered with before. You've got to have the same itch that the Doctor has, you-"
He heard footsteps approaching and a familiar voice calling out to him.
"I just have one more stop left to make, but I'll have to admit, I was getting a bit anxious about leaving you alone by yourself, because you've escaped seemingly inescapable things before, and I'd much rather you regenerate in my sight rather than-" The Doctor stopped in his tracks when he opened the door to see his face staring back at him.
He veered his eyesight to the right and down, and noticed a sleeping Rose next to a, similarly sleeping, small boy on the ground. David woke up from the sudden intrusion and saw his father's face through his sleeping eyes.
"Daddy!" David ran over to the Doctor and held on tight to his leg, trying to crawl up it. Rose stirred at this point and saw what she thought was John in the Doctor's uniform, with a surprised look on his face.
"He's just excited to see you after the long day we had, you don't have to act all surprised about it." Rose looked around the room to see the same face, but two meters to the right. She saw the Master and her Doctor, in the clothes that he came in. She quickly went to grab David off the Doctor's leg. Both speechless, the Master and John decided to let them reunited for a bit in seclusion.
"So…" The Master started. "I guess this is it."
"Yeah, I suppose it is." John replied. "Thanks for giving me your TARDIS. Are you sure she can take us home?"
"It may take a couple of tries, but yes. I can assure you that she's proven to be more accurate than any TARDIS you've ever controlled. Much more attuned to your needs. I felt like yours always had an attitude." They shared a laugh.
"I do have one question though." John remarked. "Why did you choose this time period to find the Doctor?"
"I felt like these regenerations were made for each other. These regenerations are the ones that can get us back what we had so long ago." The Master chuckled to himself. "You're not that bad looking either. That's always a plus."
John smiled. "He won't ever admit this but, when we were younger, I always thought that we would do everything together. We would go to class and graduate and travel the stars and generally get into trouble because that's who we were…we would always regenerate together and never live without one another." John gave a look of complete adoration and tears were welling up in his eyes. "And now you can. Promise me you will?"
The Master felt himself on the verge of tears as well. "I wouldn't dream of anything else. Promise me you will, with Rose and David?"
"Of course I will. I love them more than anything else my universe has to offer." John wiped his eyes and cleared his throat. "Do I, uh, need any special commands or controls to fly her, or-"
"I promise she'll take you wherever you want to go." The Master took hold of his hand. "Thank you, John. For everything." He gave him a tight hug, feeling his single heartbeat through his chest.
They walked back to the main console room to notice the Doctor and Rose in a similar embrace. The Doctor patted David on the head and gave him a quick hug too. John joined his wife and took his son in his arms, giving an acknowledging look to the Doctor. The Master said a quick goodbye to both Rose and David and slipped the TARDIS key in John's pocket. He gave a silent look and walked hurriedly to the door when he heard the sound of the Doctor's "I'm leaving without yoooou" call in a sing-song voice, sharing a fleeting smile with the family as he shut the door.
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"So where's your final trip to, and can I get this off of my ankle?" The Master asked.
The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the brace. "There. And, uh, I don't need to make that trip anymore." He shot a quick smile to himself.
"You really love her." The Master observed.
"Now she's got him. The Doctor and Rose…and little David…in the TARDIS, as it should be."
"And now you've got me. Forever. What a drag that must be." The Master said sarcastically. The Doctor looked at him and they shared a smile. "How long do you suppose we've got?" The Master asked.
"You are going to regenerate this time aren't you? Because you could have the second after your body had been exposed to the radiation. I was wondering why you haven't yet." The Doctor replied.
"I just thought we could regenerate together?" The Master said questioningly.
"He told you, didn't he?" The Doctor laughed and the Master joined him. He felt like they had never grown up; they had never experience those 700+ years of hate and revenge and chase…he felt free.
They settled down and the Master spoke first.
"Whenever you're ready…"
The Doctor looked at him for what seemed like an eternity, and then held out his hand for the Master to grab. "Ready?"
"Ready."
Their hands joined and the regeneration process had hit them both at once. They held on to each other tightly through the slight pain that came with it; not nearly as bad as the radiation, and both fell backward when the process ended.
They both lay on opposite sides of the door, lying flat on their backs on the grate. The Doctor was the first to sit up. He noticed the body before him.
"No fair, you're ginger!" He exclaimed. The Master took a bit more time to sit up after the Doctor, after hearing his words. In all honesty, he never understood the fascination that the Doctor had with gingers' he thought it was an abnormality and a disease. But he also would be lying if he said he never tried to be ginger before. He did a lot of things to make his childhood friend fall in love with him.
He opened his eyes fully and noticed the bumbling figure in front of him.
He scoffed. "You're ginger too." The Master said, a laugh building up in the pit of his stomach. The Doctor jumped in celebration, which made the Master laugh even harder.
"Oh, we really were made for each other, weren't we?" He asked.
"The Doctor, and the Master, together, in the TARDIS…just as it should be." The Doctor replied.
"Only in a perfect world." The Master replied.
"Well, I guess this is my utopia." The Doctor moved closer to the Master and kissed him with so much intensity and ferocity those 700+ years could muster.
The Master pulled back for a brief second to whisper, "My kind of world."
A/N: This is the last proper chapter; there will be an epilogue coming out soon. And...sigh. I would just like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Really, all of you readers mean so much to me. This is my first ever story, and I'm so incredibly glad that it's gotten a good response. Thank you all again for reading. It means so much to me.