*Content Warning* If reading about a stillborn is upsetting in anyway, I really do not recommend reading further into this series. It's going to become a central plot line to Kayla for this book, the next, and will be mentioned several times.

It had been a long year for Kayla, Jack, the Doctor, and the Jones' family. The Master had taken control of Earth and had ruled in as a dictatorship. He took great pleasure in laughing when he reported another city burnt to the ground, another massacre of people who had been heard talking about Martha.

He also took great pleasure in bringing up Kayla to the Doctor. He would smirk, watching as the Doctor flinched. The two weren't able to communicate, the golden band now firmly placed on Kayla cutting off their mental link, leaving the two Bonded separated.

The only thing the Master really hadn't taken pleasure was the whole business with the time tot. It hadn't survive, the pain from aging the Doctor was too much for it to handle, evidently. That had not only anger the Master, but also made him wince in unwanted sympathy when Kayla had found out. That had been the only time that the two were able to touch each other, and the Master had taken the golden band off so that they could speak mentally as well.

It was custom, on Gallifrey, for a stillborn to be buried in snow. The Master hadn't cared to ever figure out why, though if he were to guess then it would have to be because of purity or some other nonsense. He had allowed that custom to take place. He had stayed to the side, not bringing any of his guards along. Even if the Master was the first to admit that he was an evil man, the Master truly did not like seeing others in pain that he hadn't caused.

Seeing Kayla, and the Doctor, in a horrible shared pain from something that he hadn't done, at least on purpose, made the Master feel ill. Ever since the child was born on Christmas day, Kayla had stopped fighting. She had always struggled when the guard brought her anywhere, always shouting after them her plans to kill them one day. She would stare at him with a certain pride in her eyes, her head tilted up even when forced to kneel. And she had led seven different rebellions. She had killed at least four of his best guards.

But ever since the burial, she had stopped. She would allow the guards to move her, she would bow her head in submission, and she wouldn't speak. She would have been the perfect prisoner, if her change hadn't made the Master so uncomfortable.

He had tried to bring the fight back by killing Jack in front of her or by teasing her about the Doctor, but she hadn't said anything, just stared at the ground. So the Master stopped trying. He withdrew and decided to watch, to see who would fill the void that Kayla's spirit had made.

Unsurprisingly, it was the Doctor.

If Kayla had stopped fighting, then the Doctor had started. He would yell at the Master, whenever he was in the area, to let him talk to Kayla, to stop the control of Earth, to just end everything. Of course the Master didn't do this, but he did feel himself start to engage more, to start to taunt the Doctor. He didn't have the same way of making him feel as enraged as Kayla did, but it was something.

Time marched on until it was the anniversary of the Master's take over, and said Time Lord was beaming from ear to ear when he walked into the bridge. Kayla had been dragged into the room and had been seated in the furthest chair from the Doctor. The Master could see the pain in the other Time Lord's eyes as he looked at his Bonded.

The woman was paler, thinner, her hair was limp as it hung around her bowed head. If it hadn't been for the steady rise and fall in her chest, the Master easily could have believed her to be dead. He looked away from her quickly, not wanting to feel anymore pity for the woman.

He frowned as he looked about the bridge. Lucy was there, standing in a dress with her long blonde hair falling down her back, and there was a couple of guards around. Even though it had been a year, the Master didn't want to celebrate. He winced at the realization. He was going soft!

Shaking his head, the Master grabbed a wheelchair and pushed it over to the Doctor's cage. He watched as the other Time Lord, looking pitiful as an old man, dragged himself to the door of the cage, waiting for the Master to let him out. He did, but then stepped back so the Doctor would have to climb shakily into the wheelchair.

"Pitiful," he sneered with a shake of his head. He pushed the wheelchair around the room, making sure the ride was as unpleasant as possible before they stopped in front of the many large windows.

"It's ready to rise, Doctor. The new Time Lord Empire," the Master took a shaky breath, a smile spreading across his face at the words. "It's good, isn't it? Isn't it good? Anything? No? Anything?" As he continued to not get a response, the Master waved his hand in front of the Doctor's face.

The Master rolled his eyes as he remembered what would be bugging the Doctor. Ever one with a bleeding heart, the Doctor had found out who the Toclafane were, and it had broken his hearts, just like the Master had warned it would.

"Oh, but they broke your hearts, didn't they? Those Toclafane, ever since you worked out what they really are. They say Martha Jones…has come back home. Now why would she do that?"

The Doctor lifted his head at the question and sent the Master a fierce glare. "Leave her alone," he ordered.

"But you said something to her, didn't you? On the day I took control," the Master reminded, his thoughts flickering back to when the Doctor grabbed Martha and hissed something in her ear. He had been focused on Kayla at the time, but when he had reviewed the day's events in his mind and he saw that, he had stormed to the Doctor and demanded to be told.

"What did you tell her?" the Master asked.

"I have one thing to say to you. You know what it is," the Doctor said, his eyes flickering over to Kayla.

The Master rolled his eyes. "If you tell me, what you told Martha, Doctor, I'll take that blocker off for good," he promised in a sing-song voice.

But the Doctor just lifted his head up. "There's only one thing I have to say to you-"

"Oh, no you don't!" the Master shouted. He jumped to his feet and shoved the wheelchair, taking great satisfaction when it hit the wall with a thump.

Though that satisfaction died when he looked over to see Kayla staring at him, her brown eyes flat. "What?" he sneered. "Something to say? Don't like how I'm treating him?"

He was not surprised when Kayla didn't speak. Shaking his head, he turned to the rest of the bridge just as the PA announced "Valiant now entering Zone One airspace. Citizens rejoice."

"Come on, people! What are we doing? Launch Day in 24 hours!" the Master yelled to the Jones' family. They were the janitor work force, and they were doing miserably. Honestly, the Valiant wasn't that big of a ship!

It was 14:56, and Kayla was still sitting in the bridge. The guards were standing outside, but by the laughing she could hear, it was clear they were relaxed.

Placed back in his cage, the Doctor looked over at the brunette. "Kayla," he called over to her. Their eyes met for a moment, but then the Time Lady looked away, wincing in pain.

"Don't," she pleaded in a soft, hoarse voice. She never spoke, and when she did it was only to the Doctor. Her voice had gone hoarse from the disuse. "Doctor, we can't look at each other. The blocker…it hurts."

At the whimper, the Doctor shook his head in frustration. "I'm going to fix this," he promised.

"You've said that before," Kayla pointed out. There was no anger in the reminder, just remembered sadness as the bitter memories played out in her mind of all the promises the Doctor had made about protecting her.

The Doctor bowed his head, the guilt hitting him hard. He ran a hand through his hair, raised his head, and then cursed softly. "Kayla," he said in a much more frantic tone, "Whatever you do, do not intervene."

"Condition red!"

At the yell from the PA, Kayla jumped. She looked over at the Doctor, her eyes widening as she saw that he was not the least bit shocked. "What are you doing?" she snapped. Outside, she could hear the guards fall with a thud.

"Kayla," the Doctor warned as Francine grabbed the Master's jacket and threw it to Tish, who handed it to the Doctor as he was released from his cage.

Reaching into the pocket, the Doctor pulled out the laser screwdriver, aiming it at the doors as the Master stormed in, guards behind him.

"Repeat: condition red!"

The Master stared at the laser screwdriver in the other Time Lord's hands and then at the wide-eyed Kayla behind him. Shaking his head, the Master lifted his hands in a surrender-pose. "Oh, I see."

The Doctor's hand wasn't shaking, but his voice was when he spoke. "I told you. I have one thing to say," he pressed down on the button…and then his mouth dropped open as nothing happened.

The Master, smirking, leaned over to what used to be his friend. "Isomorphic controls," he informed the man as he took the laser screwdriver and held it in the air tauntingly. "Which means they only work for me. Like this."

Whirling around, he shot the table that Kayla was sitting at, just grazing her hand and causing her to gasp out. "Say sorry!"

Kayla stared down at the burn on her hand, her eyes wide. The Doctor started to drag himself over, but another shot, more than grazing her hand this time, made the Time Lord pause and looked back at the Master.

"I said: Say. Sorry!"

Kayla looked at the Master, her eyes a distant, flat brown that made even the psychotic Time Lord pause. He winced slightly, and looked over at the guards. "Take them away," he snapped.

The guards did as they were told, dragging the two Jones' women out, leaving just the Time Lords and the Time Lady. The last of Gallifrey.

Shaking his head, the Master grabbed the Doctor and hauled him into the wheelchair. "There you go, Gramps," he said in almost kind voice.

He sat down on the table and turned to look at Kayla. "Give me your hand," he ordered.

Kayla obediently held out her hand, wincing as the Master's fingers ghosted the two wounds from his laser.

The Master tutted. "All you had to do was say sorry," he chastised. "Would that have been so hard?"

Not expecting an answer, the Master dropped the hand and waited expectantly for the Doctor to hesitantly drag himself over to his Bonded.

"Well?" he snapped. "I know you're dying to and we haven't got all day."

Keeping an eye on the Master, the Doctor took Kayla's injured hand gently and then ghosted his other hand over it. As soon as his hand had passed over a sport, the injury was gone. Kayla gratefully took her now unblemished hand and rotated it to turn over in the Doctor's hand so that she could squeeze it.

The Master sneered. "I remember the days when the Doctor, oh, that famous Doctor, was waging a time war. Battling Sea Devils and Axons. He sealed the rift at the Medusa Cascade single-handed." He eyed the Doctor critically, taking in his haggard appearance. "Of course, for such a peace-loving man it's ironic with who he Bonded with. The Time Agent with the most hits ever, an achievement that reaches the millions."

The Master smirked as he saw Kayla flinch out of the corner of his eye. He had gotten most of the information from Kayla herself when she had been yelling after the guards.

"Look at the two of them now," the Master sighed, shaking his head in mock sympathy. "Stealing screwdrivers and a did they ever come to this? Oh yeah. Me!"

"I just need you to listen," the Doctor pleaded.

The Master rolled his eyes. "No, it's my turn. Revenge! Best served hot. And this time…It's a message for Miss Jones."

The cameras were set up that evening, pointing straight at where the Doctor and Kayla were force to kneel, side-by-side. The Master had taken off the blocker on Kayla's arm, which meant he was going to do something painful. The Doctor had tried to block himself off as much as possible, but after being apart mentally for so long, the mental link was greedy and was fighting him.

He looked over at Kayla out of the corner of his eyes to see her head tilted down, hiding her face from the camera by her hair.

'Kayla…it's-'

'No, Doctor, it's not going to be alright,' Kayla cut him off, her voice soft and tired despite the interruption. 'The Master is going to torture us. By the way he's palming his laser screwdriver it's going to hurt.' Kayla paused and then shook her head very slightly. 'At least this time I don't have a child to lose.'

'Kayla, when time returns back to normal you'll still-'

'I know,' Kayla blinked fiercely, feeling the unwanted burning sensation of tears gathering in her eyes. 'But I've mourned our son for the past year, Doctor. Even when everything is reset, I will still carry that pain.'

'This time I'll be there to help that burden,' the Doctor vowed.

A sudden bright light hit them, causing Kayla to look up, wincing. Behind it, she could faintly make out a man hold up a three…a two…a one…

"My people. Salutations on this, the eve of war," the Master greeted, stepping in front of the camera. "Lovely woman. But I know there's all sorts of whispers down there. Stories of a child, walking the Earth, giving you hope."

Sneering at the last concept, the Master stepped to the side to reveal to the camera Kayla and the Doctor. "But I ask you…how much hope have these two got?" He turned his head, looking away from the camera to the Doctor. "Say hello, Gandalf and Mute." When none came, he shook his head and frowned in mock disappointment before looking back to the camera. "He's not that old but he's an alien with a much greater lifespan than you stunted, little apes. So is she, for that matter. They're Bonded, a word that your minds can't possibly understand. It links them physically and mentally. So if I were to do this – "

Pausing in his speech, he went over to Kayla and slapped her hard. Her head jerked from the force, her lip splitting open. Next to her, the Doctor seemed to stop breathing at the contact, and only started breathing once Kayla had moved her head back to where it had been positioned.

Looking put-out that there hadn't been more of a display in their bond, the Master turned back to the camera. "It's a bit gross, really – the age gap, that is. What if it showed? What if I suspend your capacity to regenerate? All 900 years of your life, Doctor. What if we could see them?"

Making sure to step off to the side so that the couple could be seen clearly, the Master pointed the laser screwdriver at the Doctor and started to age him like he had done exactly a year ago.

And as the pain caused the Doctor to writhe, the pain also affected Kayla and she too, exactly like a year ago, was forced to experience the same agony that the Doctor was. The two were on the floor, the Doctor shrinking from the aging while Kayla stayed the same, making sure everyone got a good look at what type of pain the two were feeling.

Because Kayla, who had gone through all the training and then some with the Time Agency, was screaming.

A bit earlier then the Master had planned, he turned the laser screwdriver off and walked over to the two. He first placed the golden blocker on Kayla, who passed out as soon as the connection was cut off. He frowned, genuinely this time, as he noticed that both her arms had to pulled out of their socket. He would have to fix that.

Turning to the Doctor, the Master pulled off the jacket and stepped aside, allowing the camera to get a close shot of the large, domed head that peered out of the Doctor's collar, it's large brown eyes blinking.

"Received and understood, Miss Jones?" The Master asked, and the camera cut off.

Shaking his head, the Master came back to the Doctor and Kayla. "I got the cage for you this morning," he informed the man brightly. He picked him up and deposited him into a tiny little bird cage, which the Doctor was able to stand up and move about in.

With the cage locked, the Master walked over to Kayla and squatted down next to her. "I'm going to need someone else to help with this," he groaned with a shake of his head.

With the launch coming up just tomorrow, he didn't have time to work on fixing Kayla's injuries, but he needed her in good condition. The Time Agency had a heavy price on her head and they had agreed to partner with him, sending their best agents to him, in exchange for Kayla. They had said that they wanted her in 'good condition' but also implied that said condition would be changed very quickly.

After all, the Time Agency was known even to Gallifrey about their harsh punishments.

Kayla woke with a jerk to find herself in a cell. She sat up and winced, feeling the soreness in her body. Her arms especially made tears nearly jump to her eyes. Closing her eyes, she counted silently to ten…and then to fifteen…and finally she counted to twenty. By the time she was finished, she had pushed the pain to a far, dark corner in her mind that was already filled with countless other times of torture. Comparing what the Master had done was almost laughable.

Shaking her head, she got up from the bed she was lying in, feeling her limbs protest. Pushing that away, she walked to the door and looked out, seeing a guard standing on either side. She didn't speak, instead choosing to listen to see if she could find out if anything was going on in the rest of the ship.

"The Master is on his way down," One of the guards said.

The other guard let out a slow, long breath. "Someone needs to wake her up," he pointed out, his tone making it clear that the someone to wake Kayla up would not be him.

"Someone should," the other guard agreed in the same tone.

Kayla huffed and made a noise at the door, making the both the guards jump almost comically. They looked over at her, waiting for her to speak before one of them sighed. He's coming soon. Go sit back down," he ordered.

Rolling her eyes, Kayla sat down on her bed and counted in her head, waiting for the Master. He was taking his sweet time, but she soon heard his footsteps approaching, as well as a clanging noise. Getting to her feet, she stood in the center of the cell to greet the Master. When she arrived, her hearts dropped as she saw that the Master was holding a bird cage which had the shrunken head of the Doctor peering out at her.

"How about a meeting?" the Master asked cheerfully, his face practically glowing at the horrified look at Kayla's. "Launch day is tomorrow!"

Kayla had hated every moment the Master had led Kayla via her forearm to the conference room. She could hear the bird cage clinking back and forth and she winced as the Master, most likely purposefully, knocked it into some of the walls. She didn't say anything, though. Instead, she held her head high and kept her mouth close as the Master yanked her sore arm and pointed at a chair pulled up to the conference table.

"Sit," he ordered.

For a moment, Kayla thought about protesting against the tone he used, how he treated her like a dog. But then she looked down, ghosted her hand across her stomach, and remembered the pain from the last time she had protested.

So she sat down, watching silently as the Master placed the bird cage roughly onto the table and sent her an annoyed look.

"Are you going to be silent for the rest of your life?" the Master asked, demanded really.

Kayla didn't answer, which made the Master shake his head. "I'm sure the Time Agency will get something out of you."

Kayla stared at the Master, her mouth falling open as what he had said hit her. She shook her head quickly, her eyes flickering over to the Doctor who looked just as horrified.

"Oh yes," the Master responded, gloating. "After we launch, I have an agreement with the Time Agency. They'll give me their top agents and I give you them."

Kayla swallowed hard. She bit her lip, struggling not to speak. She looked over to the Doctor, only to see him nodding, mouthing at her.

She looked down at her hands, closed her eyes, and then looked up at the Master and snapped, "I'm their best."

The Master raised an eyebrow. "Speaking again, are you?" he asked in a would-be casual voice, if Kayla hadn't been able to see his eyes. They were flashing with excitement. "Tell me how you would be useful to me?"

"Unlike the Time Agency, I won't kill you to without you knowing it," Kayla shrugged. "The Time Agents will sooner kill you then help you."

The Master seemed to consider that. "We're opening up a rift in the Braccatolian space. They won't see us coming. All those civilizations will soon be a part of my own little empire. Do you really want to help with that?"

Kayla shook her head. "God no. But you're better than the Time Agents."

The Master nodded. "I will…consider it," he decided. "When they come in two days and if you best them, I will know who to pick."

He turned to the Doctor, smirking. "Kinda scary," he commented.

The Doctor shook his head. "Then stop," he pointed out, his voice weak.

"Once the empire is established and there's a new Gallifrey in the heavens, maybe then… it stops. The drumming. The never-ending drumbeat. Ever since I was a child. I looked into the vortex. That's when it chose me. The drumming, the call to war. Can't you hear it? Listen, it's there now. Right now. Tell me you can hear it, Doctor. Tell me."

"It's only you," the Doctor replied, his expression one of pain as he looked at his old friend.

"Good," the Master admitted, rubbing at his head.

The door to the conference room entered, and one of the spheres entered and flew towards the Master, bobbing up and down in what could almost be described as giddy.

"Tomorrow, the war. Tomorrow we rise. Never to fall," it said gleefully.

The Master pointed at the sphere, turning to the Doctor with an almost crazed expression. "You see? I'm doing it for them! You should be grateful! After all, you love them. So very, very much."

He took a seat, breathing hard. "I took Lucy to Utopia. A Time Lord and his human companion. I took her to see the stars. Trillions of years into the future. To the end of the universe," the Master explained. "All of it dying. Everything was dying. The whole of creation was falling apart."

The Master shook his head. "You should have seen it, Doctor. Furnaces, burning. The last of humanity screaming at the dark. All that human invention that had sustained them across the eons. It all turned inwards. They cannibalized themselves."

"We made ourselves so pretty," the sphere put in.

"Regressing into children. But it didn't work. The universe was collapsing around them."

"The paradox machine," Kayla breathed softly. She shook her head, the horror hitting her. "You tainted the TARDIS so that those – those things – could come back and kill their past."

The sphere, picking up on the note of aggression in her voice, started to bob towards her, but the Master held up his hand and it stopped.

"My masterpiece," he corrected. "A living TARDIS, strong enough to hold the paradox in place, allowing the past and the future to collide in infinite majesty."

"But you're changing history. Not just Earth, the entire universe," the Doctor pointed out.

"I'm a Time Lord. I have that right," the Master protested.

"Why come to just destroy?" Kayla asked. "It'd be better to come back and take-over peacefully, no one would notice before it's too late."

The sphere seemed to pause at her words, but then just replied back with, "Because it's fun!"

The Master smiled. "Human race. Greatest monster of them all."

Clearly done with addressing them, the Master grabbed Kayla by the arm. "Night-night," he called back cheerfully to the Doctor. "And to your cell for you," he said to Kayla. "If this partnership between you and I goes well, I'll upgrade your living arrangements."

Kayla did not reply, her mind too filled with the horror of the partnership that she had made. If the Doctor's plan didn't work, then Kayla would have to sit there, smile, and protect the Master. She nearly gagged at the thought and looked over at him out of the corner of her eye, picking out all the weak spots – all the ways she would kill him as soon as possible.

I am so, so sorry. I debated a lot on how I should introduce this plot line, I even asked for help from different writers. I ended up going with the warning because even if it does spoil what's coming up, I don't want to hurt anyone.

The Master ended up taking me into a different direction. He was almost nice to Kayla. I like the idea of some of Yana's affection to her for helping as well as the positive things that the Doctor said about her almost rubbed off on him and into this regeneration. It did give me the idea of doing an AU where the Master ends up traveling with them. It would probably end up majorly changing what I have planned for book 4, though. And I wouldn't get around to doing it until I did the first AU for this chapter where the Doctor leaves Kayla behind with Jack.

Only one more chapter left, guys. :(