And now to find out who the mysterious man is. I hope you're not disappointed. :)

The powerful jolt of energy severed the connection. John stepped back, momentarily stunned. She had more power than he thought. She was amazing! Brilliant! Oh, yes, he could definitely use her. She would be the perfect weapon. Now, he just needed to figure out how to control her.

Her eyes fluttered open. The jolt must have woke her. No! This was bad. He hadn't expected her to wake up so soon. He hadn't even thought about what he was going to tell her. He needed to come up with something fast. What did he know about her? He ran through the memories that he'd uncovered in her mind.

She was clever, not as clever as him. No one was that clever. Except for him, of course. She was a match for the Doctor though. If it wasn't for her he wouldn't have made it out of a few places alive. Too bad.

That wasn't the point. He forced his mind back on track. He needed to tell her something and soon. She was already looking at him. Damn. No more time.

"Are you the one who had me kidnapped?" she snapped, sitting up quickly.

She was feisty. Oh, yes, he liked her. Brilliant and feisty!

"No, I saved you. Brought you here," he said, stepping toward her, but she stood up and moved away from him.

That wasn't good. He'd have to keep her away from the doorway. He should've shut it, but it was too late now. If he did she'd think he was trying to keep her in the room, which he was, but he couldn't let her find out.

"And I'm just supposed to believe you?"

"It's true."

"Why would you do that?"

Why? Why would he do that? She had a point. He had to think of something. She didn't like to be lied to. He knew that from her memories. He'd have to tell her the truth. Not the whole truth, that wouldn't be good, but part of it. It was the best way to build lies.

"I know the Doctor."

She'd been inching toward the door, but at his words she stopped. Brilliant! It was working. Now he just needed to get her to trust him.

"How do you know the Doctor?"

"We grew up together on Gallifrey."

"Grew up together? But that would make you a-"

"Time Lord."

"But the Doctor said all the Time Lords were dead."

"I escaped. We found each other after you two were separated."

"Which time?" she asked, suspicion evident in her voice.

He couldn't help smiling. Maybe she was more than a match for the Doctor. Of course she didn't know he'd seen her memories, but the Doctor would've already believed him by now. At least, the Doctor he remembered would have.

"The first time. When you two were separated at Canary Wharf."

"If you found the Doctor after that then why weren't you with us when we defeated Davros?"

He wasn't sure if she was this clever before or if the time energy made her this way, but she was delicious. He knew he'd have to be careful. Very careful about what he said. She couldn't catch him in a lie or he'd lose her.

"I died," he admitted.

If he said he left she'd never believe it. There was no getting around the truth, but there was always reshaping it, which is what he was about to do.

"You mean you regenerated."

"No, I died. As in lights out. The end. The final curtain falls."

"But…but how can you be here if you died?"

"I was resurrected."

"Wait. You want me to believe that someone brought you back from the dead? I mean, I get the whole regeneration thing, but bringing someone back from the dead?"

"It's true. It was actually the second time I was resurrected. The Time Lords resurrected me the first time during the Time War."

Rose looked into his green eyes, so similar to the eyes the Doctor had or would have, depending on if he regenerated yet. There was darkness in this man same as the Doctor, but he didn't carry the weight of guilt that the Doctor did. Then again he wasn't responsible for destroying his own people.

"Okay, say I believe you. Why aren't you with him now?"

"I was with him, but then the Time Lords broke out of the time lock with Gallifrey, in the middle of the Time War. I helped the Doctor defeat them by sending them back into the time lock, but I got stuck on the wrong side."

"You got stuck inside the time lock?"

"Yes."

"Then how are you here?"

"The force of the time lock slamming shut a second time created a tear and I fell through."

Panic seized her. If he came through a tear then what if something else came through? What if a horde of Daleks came through?

"A tear? But does that mean something else can come through?"

"No, it sealed after I fell through. I'm pretty sure the tear sealed when Gallifrey was destroyed."

"So, you've been here ever since?"

"Yes."

"How long?"

"About a year."

A year? How could he know that she saw the Doctor again if he'd been there for a year? That didn't make any sense, but then he couldn't be lying either. Well, he could be lying about how long he'd been there, but why would he do that?

"But I've only been here for three months. How do you know I saw the Doctor twice if you've been here for a whole year?"

"My best guess is the tear wasn't only in space, it was in time as well."

That made sense…didn't it? He was the Time Lord. He'd know. So, he knew the Doctor. They grew up together, but did that make them friends? If they battled the Time Lords together the Doctor must trust him, but then he'd wound up on the other side of the time lock. Did that mean the Doctor couldn't save him or did that mean the Doctor intended to lock him away too?

All that aside another thought struck her. He said he saved her. How did he even know she was in trouble?

"You said you saved me, yeah?"

"Yes."

"But how did you know I needed saving? I mean, you've been here for a year. I haven't seen you. James didn't say anything about you and you just show up out of the blue and save me?"

He stared at her for a moment and she could tell he was trying to decide what to tell her. One lie. That's all it would take and she'd be done with him. Usually she gave people the benefit of the doubt, but there was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that kept telling her not to trust him.

"I heard you."

"You…heard…me?" she asked, slowly, trying to figure out what he was talking about.

"In my mind," he said, tapping the side of his head. "You yelled one word. Doctor."

She remembered how the word seemed to explode in her mind, but how could he hear it? That wasn't possible.

"How could you hear that?"

"I'm not sure, but I was able to locate where you were when it happened. By the time I got there you were gone and the…your…"

Her eyes misted over at the memory of James being shot.

"James was dead."

"No, he was dying, but he managed to tell me what your kidnapper looked like. I traced him to his flat and he told me where you were."

"He told you?"

"Eventually."

She didn't like the way he said eventually. He sounded happy, almost gleeful.

"What did you do to him?"

"Do you really care?"

"Yes."

"But he kidnapped you and killed…" he trailed off as if he was trying to remember James' name and she'd just said it.

"James. His name was James."

"He kidnapped you and killed James and you're worried about what I might've done to him?"

"Yes."

He was having a hard time not laughing at the absurdity. She'd been kidnapped. Someone she cared about had been killed and she was worried about what he might've done to the person responsible? This wasn't going well at all. There was no way he'd be able to keep this facade up for six months. Six months? That was forever.

It's a good thing he had another plan. He wanted her to trust him now, instead of having to wait, but obviously now wasn't going to happen and he'd have to go with his other plan.

"I killed him. There. Happy?" he asked with a smirk.

He caught her hand before it connected with his face. He squeezed her wrist as he walked her back to the bed until her calves hit the frame, forcing her to sit down.

"Don't ever try that again. Do you understand?" he asked coldly releasing her wrist with a shove. When she didn't answer he continued, "I was hoping to gain your trust, but I can see that's not going to happen."

"How much of what you told me was the truth and how much did you make up?"

"I know the Doctor. We grew up together. We did find each other after you two were separated, but it was more – he found me, I remembered who I was, I stole his TARDIS and tried to destroy humanity, he defeated me, I died, but refused to regenerate because he threatened to take me with him. Could you image spending your entire life with him? Oh, wait, look who I'm asking." He laughed. "I was resurrected and yes, it did happen twice like I said. I did help him defeat the Time Lords, but I brought them back in the first place. I stepped into the time lock with them while I was fighting Rassilon. I would have killed him right then and there, but he offered to fix me. You see, my resurrection went wrong thanks to my dearly departed wife who tried to ruin it. I accepted Rassilon's offer and he told me how to use the Eye of Harmony to repair myself. Went with me to do it. Of course, I insisted on that part because I had my own plans. That's when I noticed the tear. I killed Rassilon, repaired myself, which caused me to regenerate, which is why that half-Time Lord didn't recognize me, I stole a TARDIS, and went through the tear and wound up here. The tear did seal after I came through and like I said I'm fairly certain that's when Gallifrey was destroyed. Oh and James, that's his name right? See, I remembered. James was dying, but I actually killed him. More like put him out of his misery."

"Why would you do that?"

"What are you referring to? I did pretty much sum up the last few years of my life."

"James. Why did you kill him?"

"He was dying. I thought you'd be glad to hear he didn't suffer…much."

"You said you have a TARDIS. Couldn't you have saved him?"

"Not a very reliable one. Most of them were destroyed in the war. The one I got stuck with is little more than a piece of junk. Besides, why would I take the time to save a human Time Lord? He couldn't even regenerate."

"Did you ever think that the only problem with your TARDIS is that she doesn't like you?"

If he didn't know her better he'd guess she didn't understand the situation she was in, but he knew that she did and still she was making jokes. Brilliant!

"It's too bad we couldn't get along. I would've liked spending time with you, but I'll fix that."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll be much more agreeable later."

"I doubt that."

"You see, my TARDIS might be unreliable, but she's helped me make some new friends. Friends that will persuade you to think a certain way. Whatever way I want you to think."

"What are you going to do? Torture me?"

Not that it didn't sound fun, but it would never get her to trust him, which is what he wanted. He would rather not try to build a weapon out of broken parts.

"I said I wanted you to trust me."

"There's nothing shy of brainwashing that'll get me to do that."

"Oh, you went and guessed my surprise. Can you do me a favor and act surprised when it happens?"

He smiled as her eyes widened in fear as the reality of the situation hit her. Yes, she would change her mind about him. She just wouldn't know she was doing it until it was done.

"Tell me…tell me one thing," she said.

"What do you want to know?" he asked.

"Who are you?"

"I'm called The Master. I'm sure you've heard of me."

"No, can't say that I have."

"The Doctor didn't tell you about me?"

"Let me think…Nope. Didn't mention you once."

The Doctor didn't think he was worth mentioning? He'd soon change that.

Standard Disclaimer

Thank you to all my readers! You guys are brilliant! If anyone has time reviews are always welcome. :)