Jack opened his eyes and sat up abruptly, trying to remember where he was. The TARDIS. He looked around at the metal walls, but…wait…he wasn't on the TARDIS when…He was shot. He and the Doc were trying to get out of the compound. Shooting their way out of the compound. The lift doors opened and then soldiers were firing at them. He jumped in front of the Doc and…that was it.

The Doc must have brought him back to the TARDIS. He looked toward the console. The Doc was staring at the monitor. Jack stood up and crossed the room.

"Finally decided to join me?" the Doc asked, smiling.

"What're you doing?" Jack inquired.

"Trying to locate the Master's TARDIS."

"About that. How did he even get a TARDIS? Actually, no, how is he even alive? He died. I was there."

The Doc had seemed surprised to see him, but not as astounded as Jack was which meant he had to know something about it.

"He was resurrected."

Wait. What? Jack almost laughed…almost.

"Resurrected? Is that even possible? Well, obvious that, but when? And who would be stupid enough to bring him back from the dead?"

"A few people loyal to him. Lucy tried to stop it, only it didn't work, well, not the way she intended."

"Lucy…his wife, right? The woman who shot him?"

Jack tried to remember what happened to her after everything was over, but he hadn't been paying attention to that. He recalled that the authorities showed up, which was when he made a beeline to get out of there while the getting was good. The last thing he needed was to get caught up in that mess.

"Exactly."

He was resurrected, but that still didn't tell Jack what the Master was doing in the parallel universe with Rose.

"So, what happened? How did he wind up here?"

"I have no idea how he got here. The last time I saw him he was stepping into the time lock fighting Rassilon."

"Wait. What? Who the hell is Rassilon?"

"Rassilon was the leader of the Time Lords, the first Lord President. He died, or at least, most of us believed he was dead, but he was brought back for the Time War. To lead the Time Lords."

"So, you guys can not only regenerate, you can come back from the dead?"

"It's more complicated than that, Jack."

"Yeah, there's that word again. Anyway how did you find Rassilon and what's a time lock?"

The Doc sighed, turning around and leaning against the console while folding his arms.

"It's a long story, but to sum it up…The Master had been tormented since childhood, since he looked into the Untempered Schism, by the sound of drums, four beats, every second of every day his whole life."

"No wonder he was mad."

The Doc got that far off look that told Jack he was remembering, probably something he'd rather forget.

"The drumbeat was put there by Rassilon to try to find a way to survive the Time War. He sent a White-Point-Star diamond to Earth. The Master used it to allow the Time Lords to escape the time lock that I created to seal the Time War to keep all of reality safe. Not only our universe, but all universes.

Only the Time Lords weren't the only ones to escape. Everything was coming. Gallifrey, the Daleks, the Skaro Degradations, the Horde of Travesties, the Nightmare Child, and the Could've Been King with his army of Meanwhiles and Neverweres. The war in the last days when it turned to hell."

Jack hadn't even heard of most of those creatures, but if the Daleks were any indication of what the others were like he was glad he didn't know. With everything they'd both seen he shuddered to think what the Doc would consider hell.

"What happened?" Jack asked.

"Rassilon revealed what he planned to do, the reason I used the Moment to destroy them, because I couldn't let him do it."

Jack wondered what the Moment was, but decided to put the question aside. He could tell this was hard enough for the Doc to talk about. He didn't want to push the Time Lord further.

"Couldn't let him do what?"

"He was going to initiate the Ultimate Sanction. The Time Lords would ascend to a state where they didn't need their physical bodies and at the same time, time itself would be destroyed and everyone else along with it.

I destroyed the connection sending Rassilon, the rest of the Time Lords, and everything else that was coming back, into the hell of the Time War. He would've killed me if the Master hadn't attacked him. I'm still not sure if he saved me because of what Rassilon did to him or if there was some scrap of humanity that still existed inside of him."

Jack thought back to his time with the Master.

"I spent a year being tortured by him, remember? I don't think he has any humanity."

The Doc unfolded his arms and leaned them back against the console, looking at the floor as if he could see something that no one else could.

"Yeah, you're probably right, but I wanted to believe it was possible."

"I hope you don't expect me to show him any mercy, Doc."

The Doc looked at Jack. His eyes grew cold.

"No, Jack, not this time. The man who tried to save the Master died. I'm not the same anymore, haven't been in a long time."

A strange noise came from the monitor, drawing Jack's attention. The Doc turned around and examined the monitor. He smiled.

"What is it?" Jack asked.

"Found the Master's TARDIS," the Doc said, flipping a lever.

The time rotor began to move and a moment later the TARDIS launched into the Time Vortex.

Rose ran down the hall, but she found the first two doors locked. She breathed a sigh of relief when the last door opened and she raced inside, shutting the door behind her. She found herself in an office. She glanced around the room, trying to find a way out. A window! It was behind a large desk. If she stood on the chair she could reach it. Quickly, she ran across the room, grabbed the chair and pulled it up to the window, but before she could stand on it the office door opened.

Her heartbeat kick started, but she pushed her fear down as she climbed on the chair and grabbed the window, intent on opening it. She didn't turn around. She didn't have to. She could almost feel him step in the room.

"Stop!" the Master shouted and a moment later she felt him grab her and pull her off the chair.

"Let me go!" she yelled, kicking and hitting him, anything to get him to release her, but his grip was vise-like as he held her waist, pinning her against him as they tumbled around the floor.

"Stop fighting me," he growled.

"Never," she shot back, defiantly, before slamming her head back into his, which turned out to be a pretty bad idea as little spots of light danced in front of her eyes. She tried to ignore them as she crawled across the floor, but a moment later he grabbed her feet and pulled her back to him. She kicked and managed to strike him under the chin, making him yell in pain. She smiled as she scrambled back and got to her feet.

A man she recognized as her would-be rescuer raced through the door, glancing from the Master to her.

"What's going on?" he demanded.

"Ah, look, Rosie, it's your white knight," the Master scoffed as he stood up.

The man pulled something that resembled a blaster from his waist, aimed it at the Master whose eyes widened in surprise, then fired it. The blast struck the Time Lord and he crumbled to the floor.

"Come on," the man said, motioning to Rose who stood half-way between the two of them.

She glanced at the Master wondering if he was dead, not that she would feel sorry if he was, but it made her wonder about a man who would just walk in and kill someone else.

"I stunned him. He's not dead," the man said, as if he could hear Rose's thoughts, "but we need to get out of here before he wakes up."

That was all the motivation she needed. She crossed the room and allowed him to take her hand and lead her out of the room and through the crowded bar. Once outside and away from the noise she turned to him.

"Thank you," she said.

"You seemed like you were in trouble. I'm only glad I could help. I have a ship over there," he pointed off to their right. "You'll be safe there."

She knew he was trying to help, but she needed to get back to the Master's TARDIS. It was the only way she'd get back home. Her rescuer might have a ship, but it wasn't a time machine and she was pretty sure she wasn't in her proper time.

"'S okay, I have my own…ship, but I really appreciate your help."

"I was hoping you'd agree to come with me. It would've made things a whole lot easier."

He pulled out the blaster.

"What're you-" but she was cut off as an electric jolt hit her stomach and a moment later everything went black.

Jack followed the Doc out of the TARDIS. They were in an alley. Why did the Time Lord land them in an alley? He didn't have time to muse further because the Doc walked out of the alley and disappeared to the left. Jack raced after him.

As he caught up the Doc and fell into step beside him Jack looked around. It seemed to be Earth. 22nd, maybe 23rd century, but the twin moons hanging in the night sky told a different story.

The Doc said the Master's TARDIS was there, but as he looked around he didn't see anything that resembled the Doc's TARDIS. He heard the familiar warble and glanced at the Doc who was holding his sonic out and seemed to be scanning the area.

"What're you doing?" Jack asked.

"Trying to find…There it is," the Doc exclaimed, running up to…well, nothing. "Cloaked."

The Doc grabbed something Jack couldn't see and a moment later whatever it was swung open to reveal a hidden room. He followed the Time Lord inside and realized it wasn't just a room. It was the control room of a TARDIS. The Master's TARDIS.

It looked, well, pretty similar to the Doc's control room, but Jack decided not to voice that. The TARDIS appeared to be empty. Where was the Master and more importantly, where was Rosie?

"It doesn't look like they're here," Jack said.

"No, but they have to come back," the Doc said.

"So…we wait?"

He'd rather hunt down the Master. He was worried about what the other Time Lord might be doing to Rosie. What she was probably going through, but he didn't know where to start looking and they very likely could return to the TARDIS and leave before he had a chance to find them.

"Unless you happen to know where they are, then, yes, we wait." The Doc crossed the room and started down the stairs that led to under the floor. "Down here."

Jack still didn't like the idea of waiting, but without another choice he followed the Doc down the stairs. He pulled the blasters out and waited. The first chance he got he was going to take the Master out. He just hoped the Doc didn't try to stop him. He'd hate to stun his friend, but he'd do it if it came down to that.

Standard Disclaimer.

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