Author's Note: Hello lovely fanfictioners! I just wanted to take a minute to say THANK YOU for sticking with me thus far. This chapter is the one you've all been waiting for. I hope. Yay!
Unfortunately, this brings about confession time. This story is a work in progress. Now, I'm not writing each chapter during the week before its release, I've got a decent stockpile of chapters awaiting publication. It has reached the point, however, that the time I have available to dedicate to writing this sucker is basically nil. It's the home stretch of the University semester, and during exams I won't be writing at all. That said, I do have enough written to last us up until the end of April. Then it's holidays and I can write to my heart's content. I'm also going out of town at the end of April/beginning of May, and I won't have Internet access. Publication dates will be a bit funny around then. At that point, depending on how much more I've written, the story might go on a slight hiatus so I can get some more written. Stay tuned though, because this story will be completed. I promise. And, just so you all know, reviews help the process along immensely. Just sayin.
Alright, enjoy this chapter!
Chapter Seven- Reunion
The Doctor blinked a couple of times but the girl was still there. So this was really happening. It shouldn't be happening though, and the Doctor could feel Timelines bending around him. This wasn't right. He blinked a few more times, as though trying to bring her into focus. To the Doctor she seemed to be fading in and out of sight, an aftereffect of the change to his timeline. She would shift into place eventually, it just took a little bit of time for the Timestream to adjust to such a sudden and blatant change to causality.
He focused his mind on her features, trying to aid the process. She was short, no more than five feet tall, and she was thin in such a way that her shoulders, elbows, hips and knees protruded at funny angles. She appeared to be in her late teens, but her body type was more typical of a female human prepubescent. Her features were narrow and sharp, and they were framed by long, shaggy, strawberry-blonde hair. Large brown eyes stared at the Doctor curiously. The girl's thin, pale lips were set in a patient line; she was waiting for him to say something. They were both waiting for her companion to arrive, but for different reasons. She knew that his arrival would push the events forward; the Doctor was hoping for his theory about the man's identity to be proven incorrect.
There we go. Everything was back in focus, even if the Timestream was still disturbed. He could work on correcting that in a moment, but for now he had to figure out what had gone wrong. "This is impossible. This is so very wrong I just..." He was at a loss for words, that was new.
"But Doctor," Wilf chimed in, "you're alive. Isn't that what you wanted? Isn't that a good thing?"
"Well, yes, of course," the Doctor said distractedly, "being alive is always a good thing... Who are you?" This question was directed at the girl.
"Leah Harrison." Her accent was not quite American and sounded funny to the Doctor's ears. He was so used to hearing something British or thereabouts.
"Right, hello, lovely to meet you, I'm sure. Under any other circumstances I'd be thrilled but as it so happens, things aren't quite what they should be right now, so I'm terribly sorry if I seem a bit rude. I have to ask you though, and this is the awkward part, but do you know who that man is on the other end of that radio?" He imagined that she wouldn't be talking to him if she didn't know who was on the other end of the transmission, but he couldn't explain why on Earth, or even how on Earth she could or would ever talk to... him.
The girl appeared to consider this for a moment. "Well, now, that's a bit of a funny and a weighty question you're asking there. Because I know who he says he is, but I don't know who he really is. This day has been so weird I'll believe just about anything at this point."
"Ah, Leah," said that familiar voice from somewhere behind him. "I see you've met the Doctor."
The Doctor whirled around and saw the man standing in the doorway, dressed like a teenager and wearing a look so innocent that if he didn't still look like Harold Saxon, the Doctor never would have guessed it was him. So the Master had come back. The Doctor had no idea how, but there he was, back from the dead. Theories swirled in his head as he tried to piece together what could possibly cause this to happen, but he was coming up blank.
"It's him!" cried Wilfred. The poor old man had been through so much today. He had come to know the Master as a monster, and seeing him again so soon came as a bit of a shock to Wilf. "He's back, Doctor."
"It's alright, Wilf," said the Doctor gently. "We'll figure out what's going on, but I think it's best we get you back home first." Wilfred was about to protest, but the Doctor interjected. "You've been brilliant through all of this, but we need to get you back to Donna. Besides, I think it's best you're not around when... well, nevermind. Come on. TARDIS. All of you." Noticing the baffled look on the girl's face, he added "Just follow me."
The Doctor couldn't help but notice the glimmer of recognition in the Master's eyes.
He led them to the spot where the TARDIS was parked. Nobody said a word on the walk over, every one of them far too confused to say anything. When they reached their destination, the Doctor ushered them inside. The girl regarded the interior with nothing more than dull surprise. The Doctor supposed she would have been more taken aback by the place if she were entering under normal circumstances, but it was odd for humans to say nothing the first time they encountered the TARDIS. He was glad that she wasn't questioning it because they really had no time for explanations, but he still couldn't help but feel mildly disappointed. The reactions were always the best part.
They landed outside of Wilf's house and the Doctor and Wilfred stood outside of the TARDIS, saying their goodbyes. There was a very good chance that this would be the last time the two men saw each other, and it saddened both of them in different ways. Wilfred was losing a hero. The Doctor was losing a great friend and his final connection to the woman who was once his best friend.
"Goodbye Wilfred. Take care of Donna for me, will you?"
The old man saluted one last time. "Oh I will sir, don't you worry. You just take care of yourself though, eh? Be careful with that Master bloke."
"I'm always careful," said the Doctor.
"Is he..." Wilf couldn't find the right words. "Is he going to try and kill you again?"
"No," the Doctor sighed. "I don't think so. At least not the way he is right now."
"And how is he-"
"Goodbye, Wilf." The Doctor gave the old man a meaningful look as he cut him off. That question would have to go unanswered.
The Doctor turned on his heel and slipped back into the TARDIS, leaving Wilfred to wonder just what that Master fellow was up to. He chewed on his lip as the TARDIS dematerialized before him. There goes the greatest man he had ever known, taking with him the most evil man he had ever known. He trusted that the Doctor could take care of himself, but he couldn't help but worry about him, just a little. There was still danger in store for the Doctor, and it stemmed from his determination to save everyone, no matter what the cost to himself.
Very few beings in this universe understand the workings of the Matrix, and none better than Rassilon. He had dwelled there once, and from within he had discovered more about the Matrix than anyone or anything could have ever imagined existed. The secrets contained within had been so numerous and so powerful that a lesser being would have shattered under the sheer volume of information. The Matrix was everything, and inside of everything Rassilon had found one thing in particular which would be his guiding star and saving grace.
Within the Matrix existed an energy so raw and so powerful and so fundamental that its glory awed even the mighty Lord Rassilon. When he discovered what it was, a base instinct sparked within the Time Lord, one that he had never even known existed until that moment. This energy was the driving force of the universe, the most powerful of things that caused all of existence to move forward. Contained within the Matrix was the answer to all of the universe's great questions and secrets.
Lesser beings, even other Time Lords, would have turned and ran. They would have fled from the sheer scale of what existed before them. Not Rassilon. He felt that primal disturbance caused by the energy, but he knew that this energy could be harnessed. He knew that soon Gallifrey would go to war and soon he would have to be ready. They would call on him to save their lives, finally forsaken by their dear Doctor, and he would be ready. He would find a way to save them, but failing that he always had the energy at his disposal.
Rassilon created his Gauntlet, the one that allowed him immense power and maintained his link to the energy inside the Matrix. This Gauntlet would give him ultimate control and keep the other members of the High Council complacent. Rassilon, the universe's control freak, was going to make his stand.
Gallifrey's doom was fast approaching. It was only a matter of time before the Doctor used the Moment, and Rassilon could wait no longer. Finally, the moment which he had been waiting for so very long had arrived. After years of exile, after years of death and rebirth, after years within the Matrix, Rassilon would finally be where he belonged. The Time had come for him to take his place among the universe.
Back inside the TARDIS, the Doctor found the Master sitting in the Captain's chair in the console room, examining a fob watch. So it was exactly as he had suspected. The Doctor fiddled with a few controls and brought the TARDIS off of Earth and into a bit of neutral space, orbiting around a particular favourite dwarf star of his.
"You know," muttered the human Master, "I never knew I had one of these. Then suddenly I'm compelled to reach into my pocket and lo and behold, I own a fob watch. I didn't even know people still used these things, but apparently I have one. I just wish I could say this is the strangest thing that's happened to me today."
"Do you know what that watch is?" asked the Doctor. He was wary about letting him open it inside his TARDIS, but he knew that he would have to. The Timestream was so bent out of shape by now, and opening the watch and discovering why the Master was here was his only chance at setting things right.
"It's me, isn't it? That other me, who I really am. The crazy one who took over the world." He paused a moment and grimaced. "I did that... I don't want to be him. I want to just live out my days as a normal man. Can't I just be a good person for once? Can't I just be Harold Saxon?"
The Doctor grimaced sympathetically. He had been in the same position once, but at least John Smith turned into a man who was essentially good. He couldn't imagine changing into a man he knew was a monster. "I'm sorry," whispered the Doctor, "I'm so sorry, but you can't. I really wish that it could be that simple, but I need to understand what's happening, and to do that I need to talk to him." He glanced at the watch clutched in the human's trembling fingers. "You need to open that watch."
It was with great trepidation that the human obliged the Doctor's request. In a few moments, all of this hesitance would be gone. He would be gone, and the other man would be in control. He knew the other man didn't care about him at all and soon he would be forgotten, but he was never meant to survive. His only purpose was to save the Doctor so he could save the universe. He would face his final moments with dignity.
"It's funny," the human Master mused, "but I've only been alive for a few days. I've only existed for this short period of time, and yet I feel like I've been here forever. Oh the things I could yet accomplish... I suppose it's up to him now. Try not to let him do too many horrible things, yeah?"
The Doctor nodded. It hurt to watch the fear and sadness in the human Master's eyes. That personality, those fears and those accomplishments never achieved all belonged in some small way to the Master he knew. He had seen this the last time too in the professor that he so admired, the sweet old man prepared to give his life to give the remainder of humanity some hope. It was all in there somehwere, and the Doctor knew that beneath all the madness and behind the drums hid the friend he'd had all those years ago. Somewhere in there was Koschei. One day the Doctor would find his friend and help him do great things. Until that day he would have to make do with the Master.
He opened the watch...
The Time Lord essence swirled from within the pocket watch, dancing about and restoring the Master. How good it felt to be himself once more. "Oh sweet Gallifrey that's better!" he exclaimed. "Humans are so thick! My thought processes were so painfully slow I could hardly override the buffer systems in the nuclear bolt, and I was still considered a genius compared to the rest of them! Incredible." When he had finished ranting to himself, the Master looked up. "Hello, Doctor. Shouldn't you be dead?"
"You're one to talk." The Doctor loomed over the Master, who was still sitting in the Captain's chair. He was gazing down at him warily, unsure of what this sudden reunion meant. The Master's return could mean no good thing, especially if it was warping the Timestream around them. The trouble was determining just what they were about to face, be it simply the Master, or something even greater following in his wake. "What have you done?"
"I just saved your life, you dolt," the Master answered. "I would have thought that was obvious.
"You weren't supposed to," the Doctor snapped. It was always a game with the Master, and he was not in the mood for that; now was not the time. "None of this should be happening, and I want to know why it is. What are you doing here?"
"Ooh, right down to business, are we? Won't even take the time to catch up." The Doctor shot him a look. "My we're tetchy. I'm not here to kill you, if that's what you're thinking."
"Then what are you-"
"Rassilon's gonna do that for me."
"What?" So it really was serious. He should have known it wouldn't end at stopping the Time Lords. In those final few days of the War, the Doctor had come to know Rassilon's nature far too well, and it should have been obvious that he would have had a backup plan.
"That's right, I'm here because of him," the Master continued. He pushed himself off the chair and walked forward so he was face to face with the Doctor. "I'm sorry if you thought I was just popping back so we could just have a quick cup of tea and then carry on with our lives, but I'm afraid it's a bit more complicated than that."
"But how can any of this be happening?" the Doctor asked. "The whole War is Time Locked, preventing any sort of temporal interference. You shouldn't be here, and Rassilon shouldn't be able to escape."
"You're telling me," the Master replied. "I don't really know how it worked, but this woman gave me this little metal ball and-" he faltered. He wasn't supposed to mention the woman, and though he could have meant anyone, the Master noticed a strange gleam enter the Doctor's eyes. It was a strange mixture of hope and sadness and remorse, and a range of other emotions that the Master didn't quite comprehend. It burned, shining so brightly behind his pupils, and he needed to extinguish it as soon as possible.
"Woman? Who was she?"
"I don't really know," the Master answered truthfully. "She wouldn't tell me who she was, and I don't think I knew her from before. She was the one who gave me the sphere and told me to find a Chameleon Arch. Somehow she knew what Rassilon was planning."
The Doctor's eyes gleamed even brighter as he asked "Did she mention me at all?"
He had to lie, and he was OK with that. The Master needed the Doctor's help to stop Rassilon, that much he knew, but that didn't mean he liked it. Instead he decided to take joy in the small things, like crushing a little bit of the Doctor's hope. After all, he didn't need to know all of the details in order to help him. "Of course not, why would she mention you? She only told me to escape and stop Rassilon. The thick, human version of me knew I had to do something important and decided saving you was the best idea. Now I'm not so sure..." There, that should hold him off for a little while.
The gleam dimmed a bit, but the Doctor didn't look so convinced. "Alright, fair enough, she wouldn't know if any Time Lords survived the War. There are still a couple of things I don't understand, though. Why would she tell you to find a Chameleon Arch? If you were the only one escaping, you wouldn't know to open the watch. How would you have stopped Rassilon?"
Ooh, point to the Doctor. The Master couldn't think of an explanation for that, mostly because he too was wondering why he needed to hide as a human in the first place. She had mentioned something about hiding from the Time Lords which had made sense to him at the time, panicked as he was, but it didn't seem quite so convincing anymore. "Look, I'm not sure," he snapped. "She told me it was because the Time Lords would find me or something along those lines, but she must have had some greater reason that she didn't tell me."
"Yeah, must've..." muttered the Doctor distractedly. He was thinking, running through his mind everything the Master had said, and trying to piece together what they were going to do and why. The gleam in his eyes had passed and he was now eyeing the Master.
"Oh no," said the Master, who recognized the new look in the Doctor's eyes. "Don't you go thinking that this is like old times. You and I are only working together to stop Rassilon, and then we go our separate ways."
"You know I can't let you do that," said the Doctor, shaking his head. "You're still a threat, and now that we know where they've come from, we can work to get rid of the drums, you and I."
He was righteous as always, trying to make others do what he thought was best. But he was wrong this time. The Doctor had never been more wrong. "They're gone," whispered the Master. "He took them away."
"Then let me help you," said the Doctor, taking the Master's hand. "When all of this is over, let's work together. Imagine what we can accomplish! Imagine what you can do now that you're free. Travel with me and you can be the man you were always meant to be."
They held each other's gaze, the Doctor's eyes shining, and for one infinitesimal moment the Master was almost convinced. Maybe life with the Doctor wouldn't be so bad. Maybe, just maybe, he could be someone good. Someone important. Someone the human version of himself had been. Maybe the Doctor's idealistic plans weren't so far-fetched after all, and maybe he could start again...
He jerked his hand away. "I would rather die." The Doctor looked crushed, but the Master continued. "I mean that quite literally. It's not as easy as you envision it, Doctor. All my life, for centuries, I was defined by that noise. To have it so suddenly taken away... I don't want to have to face that life. I don't want to have to face those possibilities. I would rather die than have to redefine what I've come to be at their hand. So the answer is no, Doctor. You and I will not be travelling together except for right now, and that's only because we have more important things to worry about. Besides, we may not even survive what is to come, which would quite frankly be a mercy if we don't."
The Doctor just stared at him for a moment, looking like he wanted to say more on the matter, but decided against it. As far as he was concerned, they would cross that bridge when they got there.
"That body," said the Doctor, changing the subject, "it was dying the last time I saw you. Is that energy still burning you up?"
"You know, that slipped my mind, I never thought of that." The Master scowled and considered his hands for a moment. "Nothing. Damn it. It would have really come in handy with what we're about to do."
The Doctor sighed. The Master didn't seem to care that it would kill him, he just wanted to have that power back. And maybe he was right, maybe it would help them a great deal in the fight against Rassilon, but the Doctor was glad that there was one less risk for the Master. He couldn't stand to lose him again, not when he had a chance at helping him. "Right then! Onward, let's stop wasting time. We've got a job to do." He danced around the console the way he always did, but then froze. "So how do we find Rassilon then?"
"Well I don't know, I was hoping you would have some sort of an answer," scoffed the Master. As far as he was concerned his job was done. He'd alerted the Doctor, now it was up to the other Time Lord to come up with the plan. The Doctor could do the difficult, thinking parts; the Master would handle the fun, hurting Rassilon parts.
"How the hell was I supposed to have an answer?" the Doctor shouted. "I didn't know he needed to be stopped until now, and it's not going to be easy if I don't know anything about how he escaped. Well, it's a bloody good thing I'm brilliant then. And you, don't think you're getting out of this so easily. I'm still going to need your help."
"Well of course you will," the Master drawled. "I'm going to have to be there to clean up whatever mess you make."
"Oh, you haven't changed a bit," started the Doctor, but he froze as someone coughed. Who could be coughing? The only ones in the TARDIS were the Doctor and the Master... and the girl.
Oh. Right.
The Doctor peeked around the console and found the girl on the second level on the TARDIS console room, tucked away out of sight. There she was perched, staring in the general direction of the two Time Lords with a glazed look in her eyes. She perked up when she spotted the Doctor eyeing her. "Oh, don't mind me," she chirped. "I'm quite content to just sit here while the two of you work out whatever you've got going over there. I'm not in any rush to get home or anything."