An Eternity Among The Stars

by seasidewriter1

Waking up in the Doctor Who world after a serious car crash, Selene finds herself being invited to travel with the Doctor and his companions. Together they all protect the earth from the dangers it faces as well as saving other worlds and time periods. But as time goes on, how strong will the relationship between the two become? Will they fall in love? starts with 10 *Doctor/OC*

27. The Last of the Time Lords

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, any of the characters, places or alien species; those belong to their respective owners. I also do not own JackSepticEye, seeing as he belongs to himself. I only own my OC Selene.

Language disclaimer––there's some swearing :-)

Big thanks to grapejuice101 who helped me with some tough spots in this chapter.

27. The Last of the Time Lords

3:45 AM, Slade, Ireland, Day 363

Jack knocked on the door of a weather beaten wooden cottage, before shoving his hands in the pockets of his jacket. It had taken Selene and Jack three days to inch their way down the coast to Slade. The trip would have been quicker if they had been able to travel at night, but Toclafane patrols pretty much ruled out that possibility, unless they wanted to risk getting vaporized. From Slade, they would take a boat to the coast of England, where they would then do everything they could to get to London within the next day and a half. Three days prior, they'd received news from the American branch of the resistance that Martha Jones was headed back to England, and that 'the Day' was almost there. When Selene inquired what 'the Day' was, Jack had gone into a lengthy explanation, which included the story that Martha had apparently been spreading across the world. Tales of the Doctor and his long standing companion Selene Thomas, who travel through time and space to save the world. In two days time, everyone was to think or say the Doctor's name, everyone was to believe in him. And somehow, all of that hope and all of that belief, would help put the world to right again.

Selene cast a nervous glance over her shoulder. They had risked traveling through the night, and being so out in the open was absolutely nerve-wracking. Swearing under his breath, Jack knocked his fist against the door again, bouncing on the balls of his feet. They'd come too far to be shot down now. Finally, they heard locks click and rattle, and the door was pulled open a fraction, revealing the haggard face of a man in a woolen sweater. Jack beamed at him, a smile that fell as the man critically eyed the pair on his doorstep.

"An fhriotaíocht domhanda," Jack said softly, his breath leaving his mouth in a puff of condensation. The man on the other side of the door inhaled deeply and nodded to them once.

"Seasann le chéile," he responded, pulling the door open for them to slip inside. Once they were in the man threw the three locks on his door and slipped the two deadbolts at the top of the rickety slab of wood. When the man turned back around, he crossed his arms and gave them another critical once-over. "You two come from Dublin?"

"Yeah," Selene confirmed, rubbing her cold hands together.

"We need a boat," Jack told him. "We've heard tale that you do runs for the resistance."

The man nodded for them to follow him, and he brought them into his kitchen, where he proceeded to put the kettle on, using the glow of a small tea-light on the top of his stove as his guiding light. Selene and Jack sat down at the small table in the middle of the room, thankful to rest their tired feet.

"Where is it you need to go?" asked the man.

"England," Jack informed, shrugging off his backpack. The man spun on his heel to face them. His eyes were narrowed and he looked like he wanted to smack his two visitors upside the head.

"England? You want me to take you to England? Are you off your rocker, lad?! If you'd told me you wanted to go get to Waterford or Sneem, of course I'd get you there! But England? That's crossing the Celtic Sea and navigating the Bristol Channel; in other words, it's a death sentence––a suicide mission," the man ground out, his voice becoming gruff. The truth of the matter was that he was right. Traveling to different countries was practically unheard of now since the action was considered suspicious by the Master and his Toclafane army. Taking a boat from Ireland to England was like to spell trouble if they were caught, but it was a risk that Selene and Jack understood that they had to take.

"Then give us the boat. Stay here and pretend that we were never even stopped by, but let us take the boat to England. This is of dire importance, sir," Jack explained, sitting forward on the edge of his seat. His brows pinched together and he pursed his lips, trying to decide how much to tell the man. Selene shifted forward in her own seat and smiled at the man who had so willingly let them into his home.

"Sir, if we can get to England, we can help put a stop to the Master's reign. I know it sounds insane, but… it's true. Like Jack said, we can take the boat ourselves, but please… we need to get there," Selene pleaded gently, trying to make her expression as soft she could, hoping that, maybe that would wear away at the man's stubborn resolve. He simply snorted and snagged a box of tea off the counter to his right.

"Right, 'cause you two can stop the Master; it's like you're livin' in a dream land. Who are you, the Doctor and Selene Thomas?" he chuckled flatly. Jack and Selene shared a look and didn't reply to the man's sarcastic question. Selene cleared her throat and scratched at the back of her neck, which had grown warm and sweaty under her black scarf. The man turned around, box in hand, looking at the sheepish expressions on the faces of his guests. "Oh, sweet Jesus… Are you… are you both…?"

"Oh, I'm not," Jack placed a hand on his chest then stretched out a hand and placed it on Selene's shoulder, "but she is."

"Well, you should have started off with that bit of information! A pleasure to meet you, Miss Thomas, an absolute pleasure. I'm Gerard Bellamy," Gerard introduced, shaking Selene's hand vigorously. She smiled and returned the handshake readily, if not a bit awkwardly. Those they'd encountered who'd found out who she was had treated her in a similar manner, save for Aoife, treated her like some sort of celebrity. And it was utterly bizarre. So many people were willing to lay their lives on the line for her and she couldn't quite grasp that as a concept. In fact, it made her uncomfortable more often than not. "If you really think you could put an end to all this if you can get to England… I'd be more than honored… if not a smidgen hesitant… to get you to there."

"Absolutely fantastic! But, uh, there's one more thing that I'd like to ask of you…" Jack trailed off, leaning forward, elbows on his knees. Gerard arched an eyebrow and Jack curiously narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't happen to have the ability to access the internet?"

Somewhere close to half an hour later, Jack had fixed up the house's internet problems and hooked his laptop up with some cables. Selene sat perched on the desk, playing with the hem of her jacket whilst he typed up a storm. Back at headquarters she'd been outfitted with an all black, 'rebellion approved' outfit that would help her blend into the shadows when it was necessary to do so. It had proved helpful and far warmer than what she'd arrived in. The closer the reckoning day, she supposed she could call it, became, the more antsy Selene felt. There was nothing she wanted more than to grab Martha, grab Jack, grab the Doctor, and pull them to safety. Hug them tight and refuse to let them go. She wanted to smack the Master right across the face and do it again, and again, and again for what he'd done to all of them. For what he'd done to the earth. When all of this horror was over… she'd finally be able to rest well. Finally be at peace, even if it was only for a moment.

"So… what is it that you're doing?" Selene asked, watching as Jack hit the return key a number of times.

"I'm trying to get into contact with Aoife, let her know that we're about to make the crossing to England… see if she's got any updates with us. I'm using an encoded, underground, secretive channel. The Master won't be able to catch word of any of this," Jack informed, typing out another line of code. A tiny smirk crawled up one corner of his mouth. "I was no good with code before all of this, you know. I mean, my job was centered around the internet, around computers, but… coding wasn't exactly a skill that I had."

"We all learned new things about ourselves this year, haven't we?" Selene asked with the smallest of smiles. "I discovered I can be much, much more stubborn than I thought I could be."

"You'd have to be to survive a year with our overlord Sir Arsebag."

Selene laughed; and, oh, god, did it feel good to laugh again. She had done very little laughing in the previous year, and she relished the feeling. It was light and airy and made her feel good. That positive feeling made her believe she saw a spark of hope in the distance, one that confirmed that they'd get to London on time, get to Martha, and toss the Master from his overlordly throne. Jack's lips quirked up into a smile as he listened to her laugh, glancing up at the woman perched on the desk beside his computer. Selene's laughter eventually died out with a natural taper, but a smile remained on her lips. She reached out and placed a hand on Jack's shoulder, giving it a friendly and thankful squeeze.

"Thanks for that. I… haven't laughed in a very long time."

Jack reached up and squeezed her fingers, a wholehearted smile of his own appearing on his face. "Of course; it's what I love doing––making people happy, making them laugh." He hit the return key a couple more times and, suddenly, the screen buzzed to life with static. "It's working!" Selene hopped off the desk and leaned forward, hands braced against her knees. She and Jack watched as the static hissed across the screen, waiting and hoping for the video feed to be picked up. After a couple minutes of tense silence, a hazy image of Aoife appeared on screen. "Aoife! Is the connection alright on your end?" Jack reached out and jammed some of the cords into his laptop so they were fitted better. The static began to die out, leaving a clearer picture of the Irish resistance leader.

"Yes it is––a bit fuzzy, but I can see you both."

"Great! We're just about to head out; we should make it to Bristol by late afternoon or evening if the weather is permitting," Jack informed, relaying Gerard's time estimation for their arrival in England. Aoife pursed her lips, which suddenly formed a very thin line and her delicate brows pinched together, forming a look of worry.

"Is there no way to get there faster?" she inquired, voice tinged with something close to urgency. Jack and Selene shared a look, in which they silently conveyed confusion. Aoife, for the first time since Selene had met her, seemed in a rush. Typically she was calm and collected and had an answer to everything. Seeing her so out of sorts made a spike of panic shoot through their systems; as far as they knew, everything was going to plan, everything was just right.

"Um… no, not really," Selene said. "I mean, unless we know anyone who can fly a biplane, and even then that's more conspicuous and the Master would be more likely to spot it than a rogue boat. Why? What's wrong?"

"Our sources were wrong. Miss Jones won't be in Central, like we thought she would be. She'll be in the South of England, probably head up around Bexley," Aoife told them pointedly, face composed in a look of dire seriousness. Jack covered his face with both his hands and flopped back in his chair.

"Shit…" he muttered.

"Bexley, is that far?" Selene asked, glancing between Jack and the screen.

"Not by much, but it's still extra time that we can't afford to lose."

"But we'll have to lose it; even if we don't make it to Bexley, we'll be be in Central and that should be close enough," Jack sighed, hands dropping away from his face.

"Are you sure that's the best course of action to take? It worth risking her life––and yours––to try and get there on time?" Aoife inquired, brushing a loose strand of hair out of her eyes. Jack nodded adamantly, clearly set on getting to London or Bexley on time. He was a persistent man, one who pushed through anything thrown his way, even the twisties of turns––and this was definitely one of them. A tiny smile could be seen twitching at the corner of Aoife's mouth, her eyes set on Jack and the stubborn look on his face.

"Thanks for letting us know, Aoife."

"Of course, Jack. Stay safe––both of you." The degree of concern on Aoife's face was truly worrying; it was as though she thought that their insistence to get to Central instead of Bexley was a suicide mission. As though this could be the last time she saw them. "You're doing good work, Jack." He nodded with a solemnity that matched the twinge of worry that shone in his eyes.

"Thank you."

Jack reached out and tapped a few buttons, the secure connection flickering out and fading to a black screen. They stayed quiet a moment, contemplating what newfound information they had just been given. Then, clapping his hands together, Jack sat forward and rose to his feet, putting on another chipper face that was admittedly less happy than it had been earlier.

"Let's get to it then."

England, United Kingdom, Day 364

It took the whole day of vaguely choppy waters to get to Bristol. The trio arrived in the early hours of the morning, and started off on their long trek towards London; Gerard insisted that he join them, seeming wholly intent on aiding them along their way. Neither Jack nor Selene wanted to admit it, but the task seemed decidedly daunting and somewhere close to impossible. The morning was the foggiest Selene had experienced; it was a thick, bone-chilling, cloud of condensation that made the air damp. It was hard to see more than fifteen feet down their path, which wove down abandoned streets and highways. Somewhere in Bristol they'd managed to snag a car in what would have been classified as not-so-legal a year before. But with the Master as their 'almighty ruler' anything went when one was desperate.

They passed very few cars on the road. Those who drove them looked tense, glancing up at the skies in fear that the toclafane would swoop down and eliminate them completely. While travel was not smiled upon anymore, it wasn't completely prohibited; travel between countries, yes, but from town to town was deemed––more or less––okay. From what Jack had informed her of, Selene understood that public transport no longer existed and boating was only permitted along the coasts of their designated country. The occasional story of an 'accident' on the road popped up now and again to discourage anyone from getting too brave. If there were any travelers in the whole of the United Kingdom who were in danger of being struck down, it was the three trundling down the road in an old Ford. They reached Bath around midday, and found it fit to keep hauling forward till nightfall, when curfew fell and transport was prohibited.

Swindon ended up being where they stopped for the night. They took up shelter in a local pub, which appeared to have been shut down for quite a while. Dust gathered on every surface, cobwebs dangled from corners, and the windows were all boarded up. It almost looked as though everyone had just up and left in the middle of a drink; glasses still sat on the bartop, chairs were pushed out haphazardly, and even a few jackets hung on some coat hooks by the door. Jack took to explaining that pubs were deemed as 'gathering spaces' and that 'gathering spaces' could prompt groups of rebels to band together. So, logically, the Master attempted to shut down every bar and pub he could; those he couldn't close were heavily monitored.

"So, what did you do before you traveled space and time?" Jack asked as he moved aside a dusty pint glass. He and Selene were searching around for crisp packets out front while Gerard popped into the back to see if there was anything more substantial. Selene dropped into a crouch and started shifting things about, eyes narrowed into the dusty darkness that clung to the shelves.

"Well, I had dropped out of college for financial reasons––if I'd stayed in I would've gotten a degree in English Literature… but I ended up working two jobs––at a bookstore and as a waitress so I could keep my tiny apartment and my crappy little car," Selene informed as she triumphantly snagged a packet of Walkers crisps. "It wasn't glamorous, but it was life. What about you? You mentioned that you worked with computers; are you some sort of super genius?"

A beaming smile appeared on Jack's face and he shook his head, clearly flattered by her suggestion. Producing two more crisp packets, Jack rose out of his crouch and leaned up against the bar top. "No, no, nothing like that… I, uh, just started making videos on YouTube, actually. I'd… I'd like to make people laugh. I'd like to make people happy, if I could," Jack explained, looking down at his hands with a small, genuine smile on his lips. He looked up and over at Selene. "That's what would make me happy. To know that I've helped make others happy. Made 'em laugh… smile… anything of the sort."

Selene, who had leaned up beside him, nudged him with her shoulder, returning that little smile. "Well, you've certainly done that for me––I've laughed more with you down here than I have in the last year. I'm sure that, once the world is put to right, you'll do the same for everyone who watches your videos." She smiled and inclined her head towards him. "Besides, you've just gained a loyal viewer." Jack chuckled and looked down at his hands again, threading them together against the dusty bar top.

"Thanks, Selene."

"Alright, we've got a can of beans," Gerard announced, appearing from the kitchen. He spotted the crisp packets and nodded his head once. "A can of beans and three packets of crisps. Sounds lovely."

The three ate their decidedly unsatisfactory dinner in the darkness of the old pub; the only light they deemed fit to use being a few candles they'd found in one of the back rooms. Selene had her knees drawn up to her chest as she ate out of her crisp packet. The air was chilly enough for their breath to be seen whenever they exhaled. Conversation was casual and quiet, careful not to raise too much noise, which would rouse suspicion. They talked of times before the Master's invasion, talked of the hardships they'd faced since, and Jack told of daring missions he'd been part of back in Dublin. Some time just before midnight, as they were hunkering down behind the bar to get some sleep, the television on the opposite side of the room hissed to life. Televisions hadn't worked for a good portion of the year; broadcast stations had been shut down or obliterated. Televisions simply became obsolete. So the fact that it had suddenly come into working condition was highly unsettling. Popping up from behind the bar like meerkats, Selene, Jack, and Gerard watched as a frightening familiar face appeared on screen. The Master. He was smiling tightly with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

"This is an open message for Selene Thomas and all who may be helping her," he started, sounding falsely happy. "I thought it fit you know that I'm well aware you had help in escaping; I also thought that you'd like to know that when I find whoever helped you, I will kill them." His smile fell and became the serious mask she'd learned to dread. "Without hesitation. Without mercy. And I will do the same for those who are assisting you currently. If you come back willingly, however, I may consider feeling a stroke of humanity; so why not give yourself up? Save a life." The Master chuckled and spread out his hands. "You can't win! I will find you." The Time Lord threw up a hand to waggle his fingers with another forced smile. "Till next we meet." The feed died into static before the television shut itself off. Selene stared at the screen feeling a flush of anger and fear course through her body. Her fingers curled into fists and her eyes fell shut as the Master's voice echoed in her ears. Again she was reminded that Jack––and now Gerard––were risking their lives for her. A hand came to rest on her shoulder and, when her eyes opened, she noticed Jack eyeing her with concern.

"Are you alright?" he asked. Selene hung her head and stared down at their feet for a long, quiet moment. She then looked between Gerard and Jack, eyes shining with concern.

"Neither of you need to go any further. I'm sure… I'm sure I could find a map and get to London or Bexley by myself. I… can't endanger either of you more than I already have," she said quietly. Jack crossed his arms with a stubborn air about him and shook his head.

"Nope. I'm sticking with you––like some sort of disease––till the very end, even if that means––"

"That you die? That you don't get to see a word that's free of the Master's reign? You heard what he just said; he'll kill anyone who's helped me, and you've done that the most, Jack. He says he'll consider mercy, but he won't."

"I'm well aware. But I've dedicated my life to this, now, and I know the risks. I'm not just protecting the famous Selene Thomas… I'm protecting a friend. We've already come this far. I'm gonna follow it through to the end," Jack told her with a firm tone to his voice. His face was resolutely composed, his expression one that wasn't like to waver, no matter what Selene said.

"Well," Gerard sighed, pushing away from the bar, "I've been with either of ya long enough to make such a touching speech as that. But I'm stickin' with you two, 'cause you're all the hope I've got right now."

Selene's lips twitched upwards for a brief second as she glanced back up at the television. She stared at it as though the Master would reappear on the screen to deliver another thinly veiled threat. Only the darkness of the glass looked back at her. She looked back down at her hands and gave a nod or two, letting them outwardly know she'd let them come along… whilst internally formulating a plan that would keep both men safe and out of harm's way.

OOOO

The Master paced at the top of the stairs, hands clasped at the small of his back. He was mentally scrolling through all the faces of the guards and staff that could've assisted Selene in escaping. Harkness was off the table… as were the Joneses and the Doctor… so it was left to all of the Valiant's staff and security. Security seemed more likely, what with the fact Selene always had a security detail on her at all times. It hadn't been Colin, who was––regrettably––dead as a product of the Master's initial rage. He clucked his tongue in frustration and descended the stairs with heavy, tromping steps. The Doctor watched tiredly from his wheelchair, and was forced to listen to the other Time Lord's musings. Lucy, looking quite bored and extremely put out of it, sat at the head of the table, playing with her fingers aimlessly.

"It had to have been a guard… which one, though? Which one?" The Master shook his head and narrowed his eyes, recalling names that went with different faces. With an almighty groan, the Master threw one of the chairs at the table to the floor, startling Lucy into jumping a bit. He held a hand out in her direction as though that were supposed to comfort her; it only earned him a vague grimace from his clearly unhappy wife. Both his hands came to grip the edge of the table as his rage sizzled and sparked deep in the pit of his stomach. Glancing the Doctor's way he saw just a hint of a smug smile on the aged Time Lord's face; and that made the Master sneer. "What's so funny, Doctor? Hm? Do you find my fury funny?" He pushed away from the table, pursed his lips and raised both his eyebrows. "Hm? Would you find it funny if I directed it as Miss Thomas?" The slight quirk of the Doctor's lips fell and his eyes darkened. "I thought so." The Doctor was about to attempt to pull himself out of the chair, but the Master pushed him back down by the shoulders and trapped him there by looming over the man he'd once called friend.

"You wouldn't…" the Doctor nearly growled. The Master quirked an eyebrow in an 'oh, wouldn't I?' sort of way. He then leaned down, grabbed hold of both the wheelchair's armrests and looked the Doctor straight in the eye.

"You see, what you fail to understand is that once I get Selene back… once she's back on this ship, she's mine," the Master ground out possessively. Lucy's head quirked around, her face decidedly impassive; but the look in her eyes was one sparked and fueled by a year's worth of steadily increasing anger. The illusion she'd somehow ended up in a year ago had finally worn off. She'd finally seen what the Master was, who he was. And it upset her more and more each and every day. "Dear, lovely, resourceful, sympathetic, beautiful Selene Thomas will be mine. My companion. My prophet. Why should you get all the fun, hm?"

The Doctor's felt his chest tighten at the Master's little speech. It would seem that the Master was grabbing onto one of those 'I want everything you have' complexes that many a villain before him had laid claim to. The Doctor simply refused to let anything become of that. Only one more day… one more day till the nightmare was over. Before everything was set to right and no more suffering was to be had. The two Time Lords stared each other down in the palpable silence that filled the room around them. It was all so tense. Then the Master's eyes flicked up to look over the Doctor's shoulder, at one of the guards who stood by the doors at the back of the room. His eyes narrowed and he began to straighten up as he hummed,

"Ah, of course…" He reached down and tugged at the bottom of his suit coat, making himself look a bit less rumpled than he had been a moment before. Then he cleared his throat and motioned the guard forward. "Bertram, please come with me. We have something to discuss."

OOOO

8:57 AM, Day 365, Swindon, England

Selene carefully crept towards the door of the pub, wincing whenever she would step on a particularly creaky board. She'd tied her hair back, donned her scarf, snatched up her pack, and made to head off before Jack or Gerard were awake. If she were to let them come with her, the risk of their lives being lost was too high; they were both great men whom she wanted to make sure stayed alive to see a new, better day. Cracking the door open, Selene slipped through into the cold morning air, which bit at her nose and cheeks immediately. She shut the door as silently as she could, reaching into her jeans pocket to extract the keys they'd left atop the bar the night before. The sky was just beginning to brighten, but it was covered in a thick layer of grey clouds, so the light wasn't all that luminous. It wasn't as foggy as the previous morning, though, and Selene had to be thankful for that; it meant she wouldn't have to drive with headlights on, which would be a risk in itself. She'd waited till she heard the town tentatively wake up around them, not risking breaking curfew hours. Jack and Gerard had been sleeping like rocks since they'd stayed up fairly late discussing a contingency plan or two.

When she turned to face the old Ford, what she saw made a part of her deflate before it warmed her chest. Jack was leaning up against the side of the car, twirling a car key around his pointer finger. Gerard was sitting in the backseat, appearing to have fallen asleep again. Jack smiled at her brightly and held up the key with a smug sort of air about him. A corner of Selene's mouth twitched upwards and she pocketed the set of Jack's keys she'd stolen off the bar. Seeing that they'd worked out her plan to leave them behind caused an ache in her chest because now there was a heightened possibility that they'd get hurt. But it also caused a swell of warmth because she knew that she wasn't as alone in this as she'd initially thought.

"Thought you could fool ol' Jacky Boy, eh?" Jack inquired playfully, thickening his accent comically. Selene shrugged and stuffed both hands into her coat pockets as a sheepish smile drew her lips upwards.

"Should've known better, huh?" she asked as she approached the car. Jack nodded in a matter-of-fact manner and pushed away from the car.

"Yup. Now, get in, we've only got a couple of hours to get to London. Hopefully there aren't any patrols out today, or else we'll be in trouble," Jack said as he slipped into the driver's seat. Selene ducked down into the passenger's seat and held her pack between her feet, worrying one of the straps with one of her hands. It had officially been a year since all this hell had started; and she could only hope that this would be the end of it.

Their hopes for there being no patrols were utterly squashed by the time they reached Reading. Toclafane patrols were sweeping through the streets in a frenzy, which tipped Selene off that something––on the Master's end––must have gone wrong, must have prompted him to let the Toclafane roam so erratically. They parked the Ford and decided to stop for at least forty minutes, as not to rouse suspicion. They needed to, unfortunately, take the journey in spurts if they wanted to make it through alive. So they parked the car just outside of town and walked in search of anywhere to hunker down for a little bit. Out of site would be preferable, but they'd take anything. They found a run down house that looked suitably appealing and decided that they might as well give it a try. Just as they approached the gate, three Toclafane swept down from out of nowhere and hovered just in front of them. Their weapon spikes were deployed and ready to shoot or slice if necessary. Selene immediately ducked her head pulled the scarf up around the lower half of her face, hoping that would be enough to disguise her from recognition. She felt Jack loop an arm around her waist, giving it a slight but reassuring squeeze.

"Identify yourselves," demanded one of them. Jack swallowed thickly and then nodded to the sphere in as much of a submissive gesture as he could manage.

"Sean Baker," Jack lied, switching to a convincing English accent when he spoke. "This is my wife, Isabelle, and her father, Harold Carson. We were just walking home." The lie was vague, but, then again, believable lies were often lacking in detail. The Toclafane slowly began to circle the three of them, bobbing up and down as they moved. When one inched just a bit too close to Selene, she tucked herself into Jack's side, trying to keep her face as hidden from view as she could. "Please, I promise we've not done anything wrong."

"Everyone's always done something wrong," hummed a different Toclafane in what could be deciphered as an amused tone of voice.

"There's always room for punishment," intoned the third, the whirring of their blades piercing the air. A tension filled the air as the trio stood perfectly still and waited to either be let off the hook or killed. There would be no torture, no questioning, just a swift––and painful––death. Selene's fingers curled into the arm of Jack's coat. It was a gesture of fear and one of apology; apologizing that they could be about to die. One of them swept close to Gerard, seemed to consider him for a moment before zipping away a foot or two.

"But war will be punishment enough."

"Continue on your way."

"You teeny, tiny people!"

With modulated laughter, the Toclafane swept off and down the road, ready to go terrorize someone else. Jack quickly yanked the wrought iron gate open and ushered the other two through, the three rushing to get inside as fast as possible––just in case the Toclafane decided to come back and bother them some more. After a tense moment that consisted of Jack picking a lock, they swept inside and barricaded the door with a dusty desk found in the living room. Jack and Gerard wandered the house looking for this-and-that, checking for traps or anyone who was using the building for a safe house. Selene stayed in the entry hall, standing perfectly the still. The house smelled musty. It must have been abandoned quite some time ago. Dust floated aimlessly through the air, illuminated by streaks of sunlight that poured in through the stained glass that made up the front door. When she'd stood in the house in Wester Drumlins, it hadn't felt all that empty; the memories made there still lingered in the dilapidating rooms and conversations still clung to the corners like cobwebs. But where she found herself standing in that moment… in that house, where the furniture was tipped over and the glasses were shattered and a thick layer of dust sat atop everything, she felt undeniably sad. It was empty. Completely, airily, eerily empty. The likelihood that the family who lived there was dead was so high that it caused Selene's stomach to twist into a knot that couldn't be easily undone. It choked her up and made her eyes and nose sting.

"The television's back on!" Jack called from the living room. Selene's body moved before her brain could fully comprehend what he'd said. She maneuvered her way into the living room and found that Jack was standing in front of a small television with his arms crossed. The screen was fuzzy with static, just like last time, and––like the evening before––the Master appeared on the screen. It looked like he was holding either side of the camera so it was focused on his highly unamused expression. His hands dropped away once it was pro

"My people. Salutations on this, the eve of war," the Master hummed in a disgruntled tone. "Lovely woman. But I know there's all sorts of whispers down there, stories of a child walking the earth, giving you hope. But I ask you…" The Master paced a few steps to his right and the camera followed him. The Master came to stand beside the Doctor, who was seated in his wheelchair. "How much hope has this man got? Say 'hello,' Gandalf." The camera panned down to show the Doctor's tired, solemn, wrinkled face. Selene tensed and her chin raised a fraction. There should be no reason for the Master to show the Doctor; not if he knew that the Doctor gave people hope… not unless he had a plan to destroy that hope.

"Is that him?" Jack asked, gesturing to the screen. "The Doctor?" Selene offered a vague nod, eyes focused on the television with unease. The Master slipped off screen as the camera panned down to focus on the Doctor's aged face. His eyes rose and seemed to stare straight through the screen and directly at those watching.

"Except, he's not that old! But he's an alien with a much greater lifespan than you stunted little apes––what if it showed? What if I suspended your capacity to regenerate?"

"No…" Selene murmured, slowly beginning to shake her head. Jack looked to her in concern when he heard the terrified tremble of her voice.

"Regenerate, what does that mean?"

"No, no, no…"

"Selene?"

"All nine-hundred years of your life, Doctor. What if we could see them?"

What happened next was horrifying. The Doctor suddenly started to thrash and convulse, much like he had when the Master had initially aged him. He cried out in pain as his body's molecular and atomic make-up was shifted and reorganized. Selene's hands flew up to her mouth and her knees became weak. The Master growled out two words continuously from behind the camera.

"Older and older and older and older and older… and older… Down you go, Doctor. Down… down… down the years…" The camera followed the Doctor as he slid out of his chair, thrashing and shaking and involuntarily throwing his limbs this way and that. His cries were strangled and tangled with sobs of pain. It was like watching an animal get tortured. Selene felt tears escape her eyes as the Doctor writhed on the Valiant's floor, back arching, fingers curling… the camera panned back up as the strangled sounds of pain stopped. The Master stepped back into frame and peered down at the floor, lazer screwdriver still in hand. "Doctor…" The Time Lord rolled his neck and wiped the back of his hand beneath his nose. He continued to stare down at where the Doctor lay as a horrifying stint of silence came through the television speakers. Selene's hands dropped away from her mouth, which hung ajar in terror. The camera panned down to reveal what appeared to be the Doctor's empty suit, sprawled out across the floor. Only, there was a lump inside the shirt. Through the neck hole, appeared a head. A bulbous hairless head that was covered in greyish skin and bared large eyes that Selene would have recognized anywhere. There, on screen, as small as a baby, was the Doctor, baring the brunt of his nine-hundred years. He looked like… well… an alien. The Master marched back towards the camera, leered at it with a dangerous expression and then sneered. "Message received, Miss Jones? And, my dearest Selene… the time for mercy has come to an end. No one will be spared."

The feed cut off and Selene suddenly felt light headed, having not realized that she'd been holding her breath. Slowly, she sank into a crouch, coming to sit on the coffee table behind her. It creaked under her weight but she sat there none the less, both hands rising to grip either side of her face. She was vaguely aware that Jack was saying something to her in urgent but soothing tones, only the words weren't registering quite right with her. Tears warmly pooled around her fingers and she felt her heart constricting. The fear that had been gripping her in its vice was suddenly vanquished and replaced by something else. Hot, burning anger that built in her stomach like she'd never felt it before. Selene's head rose and she stared at the television with a ferocity that could've burnt a hole in the screen. If there was one thing she could do before her life ended, it was going to be stopping the Master––even if that meant killing him.

OOOO

A Shipyard, South of England, 3:50 PM

"I heard stories that you walked the earth to find a way to build a weapon," Docherty said to Martha as they waited for the computer to load. Martha had given the woman a disc that held all the details of a felled Toclafane that had been struck down by lightning. Martha had been back in England for a whole twelve hours, and things were already becoming dire again; they needed to know what made the Toclafane––or whatever they truly were––tick so they might be able to dispose of the Master's army. Martha's eyes fell shut at Docherty's comment. She recalled when the Doctor had whispered something very important in her ear… just before she was transported off the Valiant… "There!" Martha's eyes snapped open and directed their sights on the computer screen. "A current of fifty-eight kiloamperes, transferred charge of five-hundred-ten megajoules precisely."

"Can you recreate that?" asked Tom Milligan, the man who had opted to escort Martha to where she'd needed to go.

"I think so––easily!" Docherty confirmed with a grin.

"Right then, Dr. Milligan… we're gonna get us a Sphere!"

It took about half an hour to catch one of the Toclafane by luring it through an electrified trap as it chased Tom through the shipyard. It was another half-hour to forty-five minutes till Docherty had gotten to a point where they could even attempt to pry the thing open. There were a series of cracks between the metal exterior panels that seemed to be the best bet.

"There's some sort of magnetic clamp…" Docherty informed, slicing through one of the cracks in the shorted-out Toclafane. "Hold on, I'll just trip the…" There was a faint hissing sound as air-pressure was released somewhere. Docherty kept a firm hand atop the metal sphere and then removed the headset she'd been using to magnify the little areas that needed enlarging. Martha and Tom watched on as Docherty carefully pulled the four panels apart to reveal what was inside; and what she saw was highly disturbing. "Oh, my god!"

Tom and Martha stepped forward to find that, inside the sphere, was a head. It was attached to the interior with wires, its face was wrinkled and time-worn, and its mouth and nose were covered by a metal muzzle that seemed to be inserted into its glossy, damp flesh. Tubes and wires were inserted in the skin, with blue and red liquids poised to flow. Just then, blue and red lights burst into being around the head, and its eyes opened, revealing milky looking irises. The three yelped and jumped back, one of them exclaiming 'it's alive!'

"Martha. Martha Jones," the head intoned in a modulated voice.

"It knows you…" Tom murmured in disbelief.

"Sweet, kind Martha Jones. You helped us to fly."

"What d'you mean?" she asked, leaning slightly closer to it.

"You led us to salvation."

"Who are you?"

"The skies are made of diamonds," the head informed, milky eyes tracking aimlessly. Martha felt something in her stomach drop. She felt sick. She'd heard that phrase before, spoken by that young boy back before the rocket launched… he'd said that the skies in Utopia were made of diamonds.

"No… you can't be him…" Martha managed to choke out. Her breath felt as though it had escaped her, and left her breathless.

"We share each other's memories. You sent him to Utopia."

"Oh, my god!"

"What's it talking about?" asked Tom. "What's it mean?"

"What are they?" inquired Docherty.

"Martha? Martha, tell us… what are they?"

"They're us. They're humans. The human race, from the future."

"I'd sort of worked it out, with the Paradox Machine. Because, the Doctor said on the day before the Master came to power, he said…" Martha shook her head, realizing they wouldn't understand unless she gave them the bare minimum––otherwise she'd have to tell the whole story. And they didn't have time for that. "The Master had the TARDIS, this time machine. But the only other place he could go was into the future. So… he found Utopia. The Utopia project was the last hope. Trying to find a way to escape the end of everything…"

"There was no solution. No diamonds. Just the dark and the cold," the head informed with a biting tone, one that edged towards anger. "We began to destroy ourselves. We degressed to something much less than we were… there was pain and anger and stupidity and loss. There was no hope. But then the Master came with his wonderful time machine! To bring us back home."

"But, that's a paradox. If you're the future of the human race and you've come back to murder your ancestors, you should… cancel yourselves out, you shouldn't exist," Docherty pointed out, staring down at the head inside the sphere. Martha nodded solemnly as the last pieces of the puzzle clicked together.

"And that's the Paradox Machine."

"But why?" Tom asked.

"To build an empire… one to last trillions of years. Eons. One ruled by the kindly Master. To create a Master Race. Hybrids."

"What about us? We're the same species. Why did you kill so many of us?"

"Because it's fun!" The head began to laugh hysterically. When it was clear there was nothing more to be said, Tom drew his gun, clicked off the safety and shot the thing that had once been a human being.

The following hour consisted of Martha explaining how the rumors had been true. How she had been traversing the globe looking for chemicals––four of them––that would permanently kill a Time Lord. They would all be neatly inserted into a gun and if the Master was shot with it, he'd be dead. For good. Only one chemical was missing from the gun, and to get it, she'd need to get to a secret UNIT base in the north of London. They could make it to Bexley and spend the night there, in some slaves' quarters. During that time, Martha was also told that there were rumors that Selene had escaped the Valiant, that she, too, was wandering somewhere in the United Kingdom. Where, no one was quite sure, but whispers were spreading fast. Martha couldn't have helped the sigh and smile of relief that appeared on her face when she was told. Over the last year she'd come to fear that both her friends could've been dead. It seemed more likely that, out of the two, Selene would be the one to have been offed. She was mortal, unlike Jack or the Doctor. Her death could have been used for leverage. But to have heard her name at the end of the Master's transmission, to be told that she'd likely escaped the ship brought a strange sense of peace to the woman that had wandered the earth, spreading their story.

OOOO

"I travelled across the world, from the ruins of New York to the fusion mills of China, right across the radiation pits of Europe. And everywhere I went, I saw people just like you, living as slaves. But if Martha Jones became a legend, then that's wrong, because my name isn't important. There's someone else. Two someone's actually. The man who sent me out there, and the woman who sticks by him, no matter what. The man who told me to walk the Earth––and his name is the Doctor. And the woman, her name is Selene. She's traveled by the Doctor's side for… so long that I don't think I could picture either one of them without the other. She's kind. She's loving. She'd throw herself in front of you if it meant she could save your life. She has seen space and time and hasn't shied away from the dangers it's presented. The has saved your lives so many times, and you never even knew he was there. The same goes for Selene. They never stop. They never stay. They never ask to be thanked. But I've seen him––them. I know him… I love him. And I know what he can do."

OOOO

Slough, England, 5:00 AM

Thanks to warnings from friendly citizens and those in the English side of the rebellion, Jack, Gerard, and Selene stopped in Slough for the night. It turned out that London––particularly Central––had become overrun by hungry, wild dogs. They tended to prowl only at night, but that meant that the risk of danger was heightened. So the trio resolved to stop in Slough, holing up in the lobby of an abandoned movie theatre––that at least allowed them to use some lights. No one had slept. They'd planned to head out around dawn, so they'd have enough light to scare away the dogs, which they'd heard howling through the night. Selene had been in a fairly somber mood. Watching what the Master had done to the Doctor, knowing what he was threatening to do to those that had helped her… it put her on a warpath. She was sick of everything that he had done––to her, to Martha, to Captain Jack, to the Joneses, to the world. There had been moments in her time with the Doctor when she knew that it was highly possible someone might have to die; she very nearly shot Baines back when they were dealing with the Family of Blood. But never before had she seriously and absolutely considered to kill someone like she was doing with the Master. It frightened her. It made Selene realize that there was a darker, scarier part of herself she had yet to dredge up. But it was starting to rear its ugly head.

"Are you doing alright?" Jack asked as he joined her. He sat next to her on the same step, leaning both his forearms atop his knees. Selene sighed and dropped her head into her hands, wishing that she could just hide from the rest of the world.

"I don't know anymore…" she admitted quietly. The last handful of days had been a rollercoaster of emotions and decisions. It had consisted of running from Toclafane and jumping from town to town with her scarf pulled up around her face. Her emotions were going haywire and she was scared that she was staring to find the idea of murdering the Master highly appealing. Selene felt like she was living a nightmare. All she wanted to do was wake up from it. "I don't even know who I'm more scared for, anymore… myself… you… the Doctor… Martha… Everything is just… a jumble. A mess."

"It'll all be over soon," Gerard said from what used to be the concessions stand. Jack nodded and draped a comforting arm around Selene's shoulders. He gave her a gentle squeeze and ducked his head so he could effectively meet her gaze.

"Gerard's right. Soon the Master'll be gone, and this'll all be a distant memory. We'll start rebuilding. Recuperating. Our lives will slowly, but surely, return to normal, and this'll all be a page in a history book," Jack assured her softly. Selene looked up at him with worry creasing her brows and forehead, and a frightened gleam created a glaze in her eyes.

"I… I want to kill him, Jack. The Master. I… I want to kill him…" she whispered, voice cracking somewhere in the middle. With a shake of her head, hair flopped out of her hair band and fell around her face. "What does that make me?" Jack's expression became serious and he squeezed her shoulder with strong fingers.

"Sane. What sort of sick bastard would want the Master to keep on living, eh?" he asked quietly. "There's nothing wrong with you."

"Oh, Miss Thomas!" shouted a voice that sent a shiver down her spine. Jack and Selene looked towards the doors of the theatre, eyes widening in horror. "Selene… I know you're in there. You could've chosen a less predictable place, you know––you love movies, you love the theatre. So, why don't you come out and play, hm? No use hiding now."

Selene shut her eyes for a brief moment, listening to the Master continue to sing out her name in a way that grated against her nerves. With her eyes still shut, she rose to her feet and curled her fingers into fists. When her eyes opened, she made for the door, shoulders squared and a frown on her lips. Jack rushed after her, not bothering to grab their packs, and Gerard was swift to follow as well. Ignoring Jack's protests, saying that they could sneak out the back way, Selene yanked the wooden blank that they'd slipped through the door handles and threw the double doors open. The Master stood in the middle of the street, backed up by at least a dozen men––there were likely more, knowing him. Martha was being restrained off to the side, looking tense and about ready to break someone's jaw. She was dressed all in black and looked to be in good health, which sent a spurt of relief through Selene's system. The Time Lord was smirking and his hands were tucked into the pockets of his overcoat. He chuckled when he saw Selene appear out of the theatre, shortly followed by Jack and Gerard. Selene met the man's gaze with a defiant anger burning in her eyes. The Master's eyes strayed to the two men she found herself in company with, and his chuckle turned to a laugh. He pulled one hand out of his coat pocket, extended his pointer finger, and gestured to the two.

"This is your protection detail? Bit of a motley crew, don't you think?" the Master laughed. He then sighed and tilted his head to the side, gaze returning to Selene. Jack took a protective step forward and snarled at the Time Lord they were facing off against.

"Gabh trasna ort fhéin!"

"Oh-ho-ho! So one of your lap dogs has a bit of a tongue!"

"How did you find out we were here?" Selene bit out, voice echoing down the abandoned street. The Master clucked his tongue and raised his shoulders up to his ears before letting them drop.

"Oh, you know… a little birdy told me. Told me everything. Where the headquarters in Dublin is… where you lot were traveling… I got the final transmission something of a couple of hours ago, and that led me straight… to… here," the Master hummed, pointing to the pavement beneath their feet before he started laughing again. "You know, it's really funny how one little mole can destroy a whole rebellion. We wiped out that entire building like it was an ant farm!"

Jack and Selene gaped at him and their blood ran cold.

"Y-you…" Selene stuttered.

"Killed the rebels in Dublin? Oh, yeah! Duh! Your leader was quite the fighter, though; very impressive. She couldn't hold out till the end, though. Oh! But you're probably dying to know who sold you out! Why doesn't he step forward? Claim the glory?" The Master spread his arms wide and turned in a circle, and Selene and Jack waited for someone to step out of the crowd. Perhaps a familiar face from the base in Dublin. Maybe someone they hadn't realized was following them.

Gerard then strode across the street to stand at the Master's right hand, face unapologetic. Jack and Selene stared at him wide eyed, mouths dropping open in shock. "You bastard…" Selene hissed. That would explain why he always went off on his own for a bit. Why he'd gone into the back room of the pub, why he'd gone upstairs when they were in Swindon, why he said he was going to search each screen in the movie theatre. He had been in constant contact with the Master, fed him their stories and their plans. She hand Jack had been the downfall of the resistance in Ireland. It was their fault. The Master clucked his tongue in reproving manner, as though he was reprimanding Selene for her choice of word.

"I knew you'd run into one of my undercover agents eventually. I'm just lucky that you ran into one sooner rather than later. Good job, Gerard."

"Yes, sir. Of course, sir."

"Now. Selene. It's time to come home."

Selene glared at the Time Lord and her fingers curled into fists. Looking down at her feet, she considered the few options she had. She could try and run, which would be stupid and put Jack at risk. She could continue to fight him verbally till another plan came to mind. Or she could give herself over and hope that Jack could get away. Turning her head towards Jack, eyes cast anywhere but at his face, she sighed gently and shook her head.

"I'm sorry…" she murmured before taking a step forward. Jack's hands shot out and he grabbed her wrist, halting her progress.

"No! Don't go with him, he killed Aoife––he'll kill you too," Jack hissed, tugging her back a step. Jack shuffled forward a few steps so he could block her form. His eyes narrowed at the Time Lord and his jaw clenched. "If either of you try and do something, you'll have to pass it by me first." The Master snorted and rolled his eyes, reaching into the interior of his pocket for something.

"Kill her? Oh, god, no. Why would I have any intention of killing her? You on the other hand…" His eyes flicked over Jack's form. "You're expendable."

The Master drew his lazer screwdriver with all the quickness of a spaghetti western villain and shot. A beam of energy struck Jack square in the chest and infected the whole of his body. A choked sound left his throat and his eyes widened as he felt each one of his internal functions shut down. He felt his lungs constrict and quiver, felt his heart begin to palpitate, felt his joints go stiff. Pain infected every cell of his being––even his bones hurt. Everything began to go fuzzy around the edges and the world started to go black. The night air got colder. Sound became distant. His pulse became sluggish and the flow of his blood began to slow. Then, his muscles gave out, relaxing completely. Jack's head lolled backwards as a final breath escaped his lips and he collapsed like a rag doll, dragging Selene along with him.

The silence of the street was broken when Selene yelped a horrified scream as his body fell backwards into hers, sending them both to the cracked pavement. The moment she was able to, she shifted Jack onto the pavement and brought herself to kneel over him, clasping his face between her hands. "Jack?" she asked loudly. His eyes, a gentle and kind blue, were unfocused and glazed, staring up towards the night sky. A single tear had worked its way out of the corner of his eye, slipping along his skin slowly. Selene shook her head and felt her hands began to shake. Warmth still clung to his skin and she wanted to believe that there was still breath that wanted to stir the bristly facial hair beneath his nose. She placed one hand over his eyes and closed his eyelids, feeling tears begin to prickle at her eyes. Then, she brushed hair off his forehead and smoothed it out with shaking fingers. Her worst fear had come true, it would seem. All of the ways she could have stopped it began to swarm her head, causing her chest to tighten with burning anger and sorrow.

"Sentiment…" the Master sighed boredly. Slowly, Selene rose to her feet, head ducked, face hidden by her hair, fists clenched. Then she looked at the Master with a look that would have frightened any normal person. Selene glared at him from under her lashes with her lips pulled into half of a snarl. The Master merely raised both his eyebrows and then shrugged. "You only knew him for a week."

"Fuck you."

"Temper, temper… now, come to this side of the street––it's time to return to the Valiant and watch as the world marches to war." The Master beckoned her over with a wave of his fingers, looking highly contented with himself. With stiff, begrudging steps, Selene crossed the road. Anger built up in her stomach and, in a moment comprised of rash decisions, Selene threw a fist directly into the Master's face. Her knuckles met the flesh of his cheek and the solidness of bone. The Time Lord grunted and placed a hand against his cheek as his guards stirred in question of what to do––restrain her? Shoot her? But the Master, instead, took the initiative and grabbed her tightly by both arms. He hauled her close to his chest and bent his head so their foreheads nearly touched. His breath skimmed across her face and she shuddered at the intimate closeness they were currently standing in. There was a kerfuffle as Martha struggled to get away from her guards; Selene though she might've heard her friend hiss 'let her go,' but her pulse was pounding in her ears, so she could've been wrong. His eyes flickered across her face, lingered here and there, and then met her gaze fiercely. "Now, now, let's not be so hasty with our actions. I said I had retracted the offer of mercy; you simply didn't choose to listen. We are going to return to the Valiant, and you will be a good girl and tell me what I want to know." He nodded to two of his guards. "Take her and Miss Jones to the van––I want to get back as soon as possible."

Selene and Martha were led down the street by a group of guards, all of whom watched both women like they were weapons that were about to go off at any moment––because they practically were. The Master sniffed, cleared his throat, and then made to pocket his screwdriver when someone cleared their throat behind him.

"I'm sorry to bring it up, sir," Gerard began, "but you did mention payment." The Master smirked and slowly turned around, facing the man who had been feeding him tips for the last two or three days.

"Yes, of course." The Time Lord's smirk fell. "This is your reward." He raised the screwdriver and, before Gerard even had a chance to look horrified, shot him dead. The man's body hit the pavement and the Master pocketed his weapon. Then, beginning to whistle a cheery tune, the Time Lord turned on his heel and walked off with a little jaunt in his step.

OOOO

"Citizens of Earth, rejoice and observe," the Master hummed into an intercom whilst standing on the flight deck of the Valiant. Selene and Martha were escorted in, and found that Tish, Clive, and Francine were stood off to one side of the room, and Jack was guarded on the other. Lucy stood beside her husband, in a gorgeous red gown. But despite her glamour, she was decidedly unhappy. The Doctor was there, too, his small, withered body kept in a bird cage by the stairs. His large brown eyes were directed at the women being escorted in, and his tiny hands grasped hold of the bars. Selene stared at him as they were stopped before the Master. He stared right back. The Master gestured to Martha. "Your teleport device, just in case you think I'd forgotten." Martha tossed the vortex manipulator to him in compliance. "And now… kneel." Again, she complied. The Master then descended the steps one at a time, eyes intent on Selene; the Master stopped at the bottom, raised his arm high in the air and snapped his fingers. The doors at the back of the room were slammed open and someone was dragged into the room. Selene kept her gaze forward as whoever it was that had been brought in was deposited at her feet. "Why don't you take a look at your dear friend Bertram; see what you did to him."

Selene swallowed thickly and begrudgingly looked down at the man who had been forced to his knees at the Master's side. Sure enough, Bertram was slouched there, hands bound behind his back, energy sapped. His face was splotched with purple and blue bruises and blood was caked beneath his nose and stained his chin. One of his eyes was swollen shut and it looked like one of his teeth might've been missing. Bertram looked up at her with his one good eye, and she could just barely read the expression on his beaten face. He was apologetic. Apologizing that she'd been brought back. But she gave a marginal shake of her head, reflecting the sentiment back onto him. The Master took hold of her arms; he stepped forward till they were––once again––uncomfortably close. He peered down at her and shook his head.

"I don't understand why don't just listen," the Master told her in a hushed tone of genuine… something. Curiosity. Sadness. Annoyance. Whatever it was, it was genuine; and that startled her. Selene stared up at him with wide eyes and a furrow forming between her brows. Her mouth dropped open but no words came out, unsure of how to respond to him. She wondered if he was trying to make her sympathize with him, or feel empathetic. If that was the case, it was a losing battle. The Master shook his head again, eyes flickering across her face––between her eyes, down to her nose, lingering on her lips, and then repeating the pattern. "Your cooperation could have stopped so much of this… Bertram wouldn't have had to endure the… misgivings… he was dealt. Jack––was that his name? Was his name Jack?––wouldn't have had to die… And yet…" a smirk crawled across his lips, "if you had listened, all of that destruction wouldn't have come about. You cause all that… blissful chaos, my dear. And, oh, how I applaud you for that. How wonderful it shall be to traverse the universe with you by my side."

Selene stiffened as the Master pressed his lips to her forehead in a kiss that almost felt reverent. It lingered. It made her flinch. Her muscles tensed with disgust. The Master, with one corner of his mouth twitching upwards, released her arms and climbed back up the steps. Not even having been asked to do so, Selene knelt beside Martha and looped their fingers together in a tight grip. Martha squeezed her fingers and they both turned their heads to look at one another. Keeping the rest of her face somber, Martha winked at her friend. Selene's brows pinched together before her hand was squeezed again. After scanning Martha's face for another moment, she thought she might've understood––there was a plan in place she wasn't aware of. So Selene bobbed her head in a slight movement, letting her know she understood. Both then stared up at the Master who spun around the face the whole of the room. Bertram was dragged off to Jack's side of the room, where he was left kneeling and bleeding, too weak to move on his own. The Master grinned.

"Down below, the fleet is ready to launch. Two hundred thousand ships set to burn across the universe." Pocketing the vortex manipulator, the Master moved to the back of the room and clicked a button on a monitor. "Are we ready?"

"The fleet awaits your signal––rejoice!"

"Three minutes to align the Black Hole Converters! Counting down!" The Master synchronized his watch with the countdown monitor on the wall, smiling like an excited child. "I never could resist a ticking clock." He tilted his head back a bit and shouted, "My children! Are you ready?"

"We will fly and blaze and slice. We will fly and blaze and slice," the Toclafane repeated over the intercom. With a satisfied chuckle, the Master returned to the top of the stairs and looked down his nose at the two women who knelt on the floor below him.

"At zero, to mark this day, the child, Martha Jones, will die." The Master grinned maniacally. "My first blood." A chuckle. "Any last words?" Martha stared up at him defiantly, strongly. "No?" He looked to the Doctor, who watched on with glassy eyes and a trembling chin. The Master clucked his tongue and clomped down the steps till he met the first landing. "Such a disappointment, this one. Days of old, Doctor, you had companions who could absorb the Time Vortex! This one's useless!" The Master raised his arm and leveled the sights of his Screwdriver on Martha, making sure his aim wouldn't stray towards Selene, who knelt at her side. "Bow your head…" Martha's eyes flicked towards the countdown, which read: 000124. She ducked her head. "And so it falls to me, as Master of All, to establish from this day, a new order of Time Lords. From this day forward––" Martha began to laugh. The Master stopped his grand speech. "What…" He lowered his arm, deje. "What's so funny?"

Martha looked up, brows raised. "A gun?"

"What about it?"

"A gun in four parts?"

"Yes and I destroyed it."

"A gun, in four parts, scattered around the world… I mean…! Come on, did you really believe that?"

"What d'you mean?" the Master asked, chuckling to hide his confusion.

"As if I would ask her to kill," the Doctor added in, grabbing hold of the bars with a small hand. The Master turned towards him and pulled a face.

"Oh, well, it doesn't matter! I've got her exactly where I want her!"

"But I knew what Professor Docherty would do. The Resistance knew about her son," Martha said in reference to Docherty, who had turned in her location once she and Tom had left. "I told her about the gun so she'd get me here. At the right time."

"Oh-ho-ho, but you're still gonna die!" the Master laughed through gritted teeth, bending at the knees and thrusting a finger her way. Martha smiled and shook her head defiantly, smartly.

"Don't you know what I was doing, traveling the world…"

The Master spread his arms sarcastically. "Tell me."

"I told a story. That's all. No weapons, just words." The Master rolled his eyes heavily and sat down at the top of the stairs with a mocking look of interest displayed on his face. "I did just what the Doctor said. I went across the continents all on my own. And everywhere I went, I found the people, and I told them my story. I told them about the Doctor. And I told them to pass it on, to spread the word so that everyone would know about the Doctor.

"Faith and hope? Is that all?" the Master chuckled with a shake of his head. He turned to look at the Doctor, jutting his thumb towards Selene. "If you'd wanted someone to do something to save the world, you should've sent the other one down to earth."

"No, because I gave them an instruction, just as the Doctor said," Martha explained with a triumphant smile, rising to her feet. She pulled Selene with her, their hands still locked together. "I told them that if everyone thinks of one word, at one specific time…"

"Nothing will happen!" The Master rose to his feet, scoffing at the absurdity of it all. Was she being serious? "Is that your weapon? Prayer?"

"Right across the world, in word, just one thought at one moment… but with fifteen satellites," Martha stressed. Selene felt a smile crawl across her lips. A bit of a laugh bubbled out of her chest as she fit the pieces together––that was why she'd been telling everyone to think of the Doctor… the plan began to make sense. And it would seem that the same thought had made itself apparent to the Master as well. His smile fell, his brows rose, and he only uttered one word.

"What?"

"The Archangel Network," Jack said from his spot beside Bertram, a satisfied smirk on his face.

"A telepathic field binding the whole human race together, with all of them, every single person on Earth, thinking the same thing at the same time. And that word is 'Doctor'."

The counter hit zero.

The Doctor and his cage began to glow and shimmer; the bars disappeared and the Doctor seemed to begin to levitate, light bending around him as a wind began to pick up in the room. The Master shook his head sternly.

"Stop it. No, no, no, no, you don't!"

Jack shut his eyes and let a sense of peace roll over his shoulders. "Doctor."

"Doctor…" Francine whispered. On monitors at the back of room, meant to display death and destruction, it was seen that crowds of hundreds of people were chanting 'Doctor' over and over again, filling the name with hope and belief.

"Stop this right now––stop it!" the Master exclaimed angrily.

Behind him, Lucy shut her eyes and whispered, "Doctor."

Martha looked to the Time Lord and thought of the man who had saved her countless of times. Of the man she loved; and with that, she said, "Doctor."

Selene turned to look at the Master and, with a grin appearing on her face, she shut her eyes tight and let her mind flood with every memory of the Doctor she could possibly bring to light. His smile, his laugh, the way he talked, the times he'd saved her, the times he'd made her cry with laughter. She thought of their kisses and their embraces. The man that she loved with all of the capacity of two hearts, even though she only had one to give. "Doctor…" The name left her lips like a reverent prayer, sweet and blissful and pure. When she opened her eyes again, she found that the Doctor had returned to the aged form that he'd spent the previous year in.

"I've had a whole year to tune myself into the psychic network and integrate with its matrices," the Doctor informed the Master. Light, blue in hue, continued to bend itself around him, shimmering around him like a protective barrier.

"I order you to stop!"

The Master leapt down to the first landing of the stairs and remained crouched, watching the Doctor like he was a dangerous animal, anger and horror on his face. Selene grinned as, gradually, the Doctor's form morphed back into the appearance she was used to seeing, with his messy, spiky hair, his well-fit pin-striped suit, and his loosely done silk tie.

"The one thing you can't do… stop them thinking." Selene, Martha, and Jack laughed as his familiar, unstrained voice met their ears. He was back; there was no denying it. There was also no denying the glimmer of fear that flashed through the Master's eyes. "Tell me the human race is degenerate now… when they can do this." The Doctor began to levitate. Martha, smiling the biggest smile, ran back to embrace her mother as the Master let out an enraged 'no' and began to fire his screwdriver at the other Time Lord. The energy field around the Doctor deflected all the lazer beams meant to kill him. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

In a panic, the Master changed the setting on the screwdriver and aimed it at the first person he could––and that happened to be Selene. "Then I'll kill them!"

The Doctor's hand whipped out and some force of energy knocked the screwdriver right from the Master's hand and to the floor. Selene bent down and grabbed hold of it, just to make sure that the devious Time Lord wouldn't get his hands back on it. She aimed it at the guard beside Jack and made her way towards him, smirking when the guard raised his hands in surrender and stepped aside. Selene began to work on freeing Jack of his bonds as the final showdown between the Master and Doctor continued.

"You can't do this… you can't do this, it's not fair!" the Master exclaimed, threading his fingers into his hair.

"And you know what happens now."

"No!" The Master began to back up as the Doctor floated towards him, eyes locked on the only other Time Lord in the universe. "No!" He stumbled down the steps and collapsed to his knees, one hand thrown up as though to fend the Doctor off. "No! No!" He scrambled backwards and to his feet, standing in a crouch.

"You wouldn't listen," the Doctor reprimanded as his feet neared the floor.

"No!"

"Because you know what I'm going to say…"

"No…" The Master stumbled back into the wall and curled into a ball, arms braced over his head to protect himself. The Doctor's feet touched the floor and the energy field around him disappeared. He took one step forward, slipped an arm across the Master's back, fell into a crouch and, with a somber face, embraced him.

"I forgive you," the Doctor whispered. The Master's arms flew away from his head and his eyes widened in abrupt, manic fear.

"My children…" He pushed the Doctor away and wrestled himself out of the embrace he'd been wrapped in. The Doctor shot to his feet and marched a few steps forward, making eye-contact with Jack.

"Captain! The Paradox Machine!" he called out. Jack nodded his confirmation, and winked at Selene in gratitude before he called for the guards to follow him, seeing as their loyalty was likely swayed. Selene, who had just removed Bertram's cuffs as well, noticed that the Master had removed the vortex manipulator from his pocket with a smirk, fingering the keypad with the clear intent to teleport.

"Doctor!" she exclaimed, pointing to the man behind him. The Doctor whirled around with a horrified 'no' and grabbed hold of the manipulator just as the Master hit the button. Both Time Lords dematerialized.

Martha dashed for the control panels at the top of the stairs and did a quick once-over of all the readings. "We've got six-billion spheres headed straight for us!"

Selene bounded up the steps and jumped to another set of panels she'd seen the guards use before. She tapped one of the screens only to find that a password was needed to access the security cameras and intercoms. She growled in frustration, teeth grinding together as she was faced with endless options.

"Hector," said a familiar, gruff voice. Selene's head whipped around to find that Bertram had struggled his way up the steps and was leaning heavily against the railing. He nodded weakly to the screen. "S'my password… th'name of my son…"

"Thank you…" she whispered as she typed the name in. The password was accepted and Selene's eyes flicked over the screens, finally finding the one outside the door to the bay that the TARDIS was held in. She saw Jack gone in alone, ready to face the Toclafane and probably die a time or two. She gnawed on her lip and watched as Jack made it past the Toclafane and into the TARDIS. "Jack's made it inside!" Looking up and through the window, they watched as the Toclafane that had been swarming outside and towards the ship suddenly disappeared. Vanished, like they had been made of smoke. Before anyone could sigh with relief or yelp with joy, the ship was rocked violently. Martha was thrown backwards… and straight into the Doctor's arms. The two grinned like idiots. The Doctor and Master had teleported back just in the nick of time.

"Everyone get down!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Time is reversing!"

Selene threw herself to the floor and found that Bertram––less gracefully––had done the same, landing beside her with a heavy thud. She grabbed hold of the back of his shirt as the ship shook and rocked and rolled, time rewinding itself backwards and backwards and backwards. On the planet below, the destruction was reversed. Pubs were bustling. People traveled from England to Ireland and from Ireland to England and into Scotland with ease. No Toclafane patrols roamed the streets. Buses and trains were back in service. Televisions worked. It was all going back to normal again. By the time the Valiant stopped shaking, everything down on Earth had returned to what it once had back to what it once had been.

The Doctor bounded to his feet and leapt across the room to check the readings on the monitors. "The paradox is broken!" he announced. "We've reverted one year and one day, two past eight in the morning!" He bounded across the room, flicking switches and turning dials.

"Two past eight… one year, one day…" Selene murmured, pushing herself into a seated position. A smile twitched at the corners of her mouth before it spread right across her face; she threaded her fingers into her hair and began to laugh, overjoyed at what that meant––Jack was alive. As was Aoife. They were alive and well and going about their daily lives again.

"This is UNIT Central––what's happened up there? We saw the President assassinated!" demanded a voice over the intercom.

"Just after the President was killed, but just before the Spheres arrived…" the Doctor murmured, leaning over one of the consoles, eyes wide. Selene looked up at him, unable to stop grinning. It was just… brilliant to see him again. See his wind blown hair, and watch as he darted about to do this and that. Everything was truly going back to normal. "Everything back to normal. Planet Earth is restored. None of it happened. The rockets, the terror––it never was."

"What about the spheres?" Martha asked, still sitting on the floor.

"Trapped at the end of the universe."

"But I can remember it…" Francine intoned, looking troubled.

"We're at the eye of the storm. The only ones who'll ever know." The Doctor looked over to Selene, who was aiding Bertram in standing. She had one of his arms slung over her shoulders and the other was curled around her waist as they staggered upwards. The Time Lord rushed over and helped get Bertram seated in one of the chairs that was bolted to the floor. He crouched down before the Resistance member, looking up at him with genuine gratitude in his eyes. "Thank you, for what you did." Bertram nodded to the Doctor, a slight bobbing motion that pulled at the stiff muscles on the back of his neck.

"O'course," he responded, speech still sloppy from his split lip and missing tooth. "An' thank you… for puttin' this all t'right." The Doctor smiled and clasped the man's shoulder in comradery.

When the Doctor's eyes landed on Clive and immediately brightened.

"Oh, hello!" He rushed over to shake the man's hand whilst assisting him in standing again. "You must be Mr. Jones, we haven't actually met!"

The pleasantries were cut short when the Master ran for the door. The Doctor leapt down to the first landing, intent on stopping him, only to have the door slide open and have Jack grab the Master and spin him back around. "Whoa, big fella!" he exclaimed. "You don't wanna miss the party!" Jack then nodded to one of the guards clad in all black. "Cuffs." Once they were given to him, Jack cuffed the Master's wrists and then dragged him forward. "So… what do we do with this one?"

"We kill him," Clive spat.

"We execute him," Tish agreed coldly.

Selene's hand ghosted over the lazer screwdriver in her back pocket, thinking over what she could do… how she could end this terrible man's reign. But as her fingers curled against the killer device, she shut her eyes, exhaled heavily and let her hand drop back to her side. She wasn't a killer…

"No, that's not the solution," the Doctor denied, stepping off the stairs and up to the Master. "You're my responsibility, from now on. The only Time Lord left in existence." The Master sneered at him. Jack released the Master's arm and stepped up to the Doctor instead.

"Yeah, but you can't trust him!" he reminded in a hushed whisper.

"No," the Doctor agreed with the shake of his head. "The only safe place for him is the TARDIS." A smile of disbelief, confusion, and sarcasm rose to the Master's face. He shook his head and shifted his hands around uncomfortably.

"You mean you're just gonna…" the smile fell into a look of disgust and anger, "keep me."

The Doctor clasped his hands behind his back and nodded. "Mm. If that's what I have to do." He turned towards Jack and said something that made the Master roll his eyes skyward. "It's time to change. Maybe… I've been wandering for too long." His eyes flicked upwards to the top deck, where Selene stood at the rail, watching him with curious eyes. "I've got people to look after, now."

BANG!

The sound caused everyone to jump. A gun had been fired. The bullet pierced the Master's chest, and blood began to bloom across his white shirt. Lucy stood a couple feet off, loosely grasping the pistol in her hand with a void look on her face. The Master stumbled back a step with a pained expression, staggering towards the floor.

"Put it down," Jack ordered, prying the weapon out of her neatly manicured hand. In a knee-jerk reaction, the Doctor rushed forward, supported the other Time Lord, and lowered him to the ground.

"There you go… I've got you, I've got you," the Doctor comforted in a tone of voice that edged towards panic. A smile flickered across the Master's face as his wound shot spurts of pain through his body.

"Always the women…" he choked out. The Doctor, hovering over the Master as he cradled him in his arms, shook his head regretfully.

"I didn't see her."

"Better watch out for yours… you'll… never see it coming…" The Master chuckled and shook his head marginally. Selene trotted down the steps and stopped at the bottom, a hand lingering on the railing. "Dying in your arms… Happy now?"

"You're not dying––don't be stupid; it's only a bullet. Just regenerate!" the Doctor begged in a hushed tone. His brows were simultaneously pinched and raised, his jaw threatening to shake. The Master smirked up at him, face covered in a thin sheen of sweat.

"No."

"One little bullet, come on!"

"I guess you don't know me so well… I refuse," the Master said with his lips quirking up in a triumphant, sickening smirk.

"Regenerate. Just regenerate. Please… please! Just regenerate, come on!" The Doctor's tone was pleading and horrified. His voice was trembling and he was beginning to shake. Tears gathered in his eyes and his hearts began to pound. The man in his arms had destroyed the whole of the world and planned to bring it to war… but he'd also once been his friend. He was the only other Time Lord in the whole of the universe…

"And spend the rest of my life imprisoned with you?" The Master's breathing was becoming erratic, blood continued to leak from the wound, and he could feel that everything was coming to a stop. To an end. The Doctor shook his head and shifted his hold on him, desperately trying to convince the Master otherwise.

"But you've got to! Come on! It can't end like this!" A tear fell from the corner of his eye and splattered against the Master's lapel. "You and me––all the things we've done." The Master grunted and the muscles in his face began to contort in immense pain. The Doctor began to rock him back and forth slightly, for both of their comfort. A pained smile flickered across the Time Lord's face as he stared down at the dying man. "Axons! Remember the Axons? And the Daleks… We're the only two left. And no-one else!" The Doctor's breathing picked up heavily and his face contorted into a look of heartbreak as he shouted, through gritted teeth, "Regenerate!"

The Master grinned and chuckled breathlessly. "How about that?" His eyes opened wide and his grin grew to flash his teeth. "I win…" He met the Doctor's gaze straight on as he felt his chest seize up. Then, in a hushed voice, he made one last inquiry. "Will it stop, Doctor? The drumming…" His eyes widened again. "Will it stop?" The Doctor felt and watched as the Master's body stiffened and his eyes widened… and then he went lip, eyes rolling backwards as they flickered shut.

The Doctor sat back on his heels so his cheek was pressed to the Master's forehead. He continued to rock the Master's body back and forth as his face scrunched up and as a sob escaped his lips. His arms were tightly wound around the dead man's shoulders and his face was dropped into the crook of his neck. Rage and sorrow built up inside the Doctor's chest, continuing to build and build and build until it all needed to be expelled. The Doctor let out a strangled cry that might have been 'no' and might have just been an animalistic expression of his emotions. He continued to sob into the Master's neck as everyone else watched on, unmoving and unsure of what they might to do ease his pain. Jack had an arm looped around Selene's shoulders and her head was resting against his chest, eyes watering as she watched the Doctor sob his hearts out.

OOOO

While the Doctor went about burning the Master's body, Selene helped bring Bertram home. He'd been cleaned up some, though the black eye, bruises, and missing tooth stayed a problem; he'd decided that the story he would give his wife was that he'd been mugged. The truth of the matter was that he was only one of a handful of people who remembered the year that never was. That he'd played a part in saving the world. Not that he could tell his wife, or his two children, lest they think him insane. Selene had embraced him as tightly as she dared, wary of all his bruising, and thanked him profusely for what he had done for her. She caught sight of him hugging his wife and children through the living room window as she left, and felt a smile stir her lips. Afterwards, still while they'd waited for the Doctor, she'd browsed through the TARDIS' internet database. It held videos and articles from the past the present and the future, as one might expect. It took her all of a minute to find Jack. She watched a handful of his videos that spanned the years and found herself giggling into her hands as she watched. His phrasing was still the same. His mannerisms were what she remembered. Part of Selene wondered if any memories of the year that never was stuck, if only even in his dreams, but she knew that it was a hope that would likely lead to disappointment. But she contented herself with knowing that he was alive and well, and pursuing what he loved.

Eventually, with all of them feeling vaguely refreshed and in clean clothing again, they returned to Cardiff to let Jack off and get back to his team. They stopped in the Roald Dahl Pass and leaned up against an expanse of railing, watching as everyone passed by, unaware of everything that had happened.

"Time was, every single one of these people knew your name…" Martha mused as a seagull squaked by overhead. She turned her head to look up at him. "Now they've all forgotten you."

"Good," the Doctor hummed. That was the way it should be. Selene chuckled and played with her fingers, running them across the cold metal railing they leaned against.

"Being famous isn't all it's cut out to be," she sighed with a faint smile. Jack chuckled and ducked under the railing as he announced,

"Back to work."

"I really don't mind though," the Doctor told Jack, who leaned an elbow up against the railing. The Doctor smirked gently and nodded back towards the TARDIS. "Come with me."

"Could always use a Captain; this one doesn't exactly know how to pilot his ship," Selene teased, nudging the Doctor's arm. He raised his brows at her with a tiny smirk crawling across his lips. She shrugged her shoulders in mock-innocence and Jack threw his head back to laugh. He truly wished that he could've spent more time with Selene, outside of captivity. Perhaps one day they'd get the chance to grab a cup of coffee, or she'd pop by to see how Torchwood was doing… anything would do. As the laughter died down, his expression became decidedly more somber.

"Had plenty time to think, the past year… the year that never was." Jack turned to look towards where Torchwood's entrance was located. "And I kept thinking about that team of mine. Like you said, Doctor. Responsibility." The Doctor smiled, albeit a bit sadly, but nodded.

"Defending the Earth. Can't argue with that." He then reached out and pushed Jack's sleeve back, revealing the vortex manipulator. Highly aware of what the Time Lord was about to do, Jack clucked his tongue in refusal.

"Hey, I need that!" he exclaimed. The Doctor began to Sonic the vortex manipulator with a shake of his head.
"I can't have you walking around with a time travelling teleport. You could go anywhere, twice. The second time to apologise," the Doctor murmured the last part whilst clicking a couple of the buttons on the bracelet. Jack's face became decidedly more serious.

"What about me? Can you fix that? Will I ever be able to die?" he asked in a hushed, urgent voice. The Doctor slipped his Sonic away and crossed his wrists; he shook his head in response to Jack's comment.

"Nothing I can do. You're an impossible thing, Jack," the Doctor informed with a fond tone to his voice. Jack laughed and winked at Selene, who smirked and bowed her head.

"Been called that before," he chuckled as he turned his back to them. He took two or three steps before he turned back around, face composed in a peculiar look. It wasn't quite sad, but it wasn't happy either. His mouth hung slightly ajar and his eyes were a tad glassy. He snapped to attention, his hand coming up to his browline in a salute. "Sir." The Doctor returned the salute with one finger and a tight smile. He really did hate salutes… Jack then looked to Selene and winked a second time. "Ma'am." Then he winked Martha's way. "Ma'am." Selene and Martha, with quiet giggles, saluted him back and that was when he grinned and dropped his hand. He turned away with a jaunt in his step and––once again––turned back around after only one or two steps. "But I keep wondering. What about aging? 'Cause I can't die but I keep getting older… the odd little grey hair, y'know?" Jack put his hands on his hips, brushing his overcoat aside, and pulled a genuinely troubled expression. "What happens if I live for a million years?" The Doctor chuckled and shook his head, smiling at the questions––it was oh-so-very Jack-like of him.

"I really dunno."

"Okay, vanity, sorry. Yeah, can't help it. Used to be a bit of a Poster Boy! When I was a kid, living in the Boeshane Peninsula… tiny little place. I was the first one ever to be signed up for the Time Agency. They were so proud of me…" Jack was smiling brightly and fondly, which drew similar smiles from his friends. It was pleasant to hear of his memories, even if they were only snippets. "The Face of Boe, they called me." Their smiles died as they heard the nickname. A name that brought up images of the enormous head that was also called by the same name. "Hmm!" Jack smirked and pointed at them all. "I'll see you." And with that, he trotted off.

Martha and Selene both looked to the Doctor wide-eyed, all of them sharing the same thought. Was he…? He couldn't be… but what if? The Doctor looked to them and then back at Jack's retreating form.

"No…" he murmured.

"Can't be…" Martha murmured. Selene pointed after Jack and smiled a smile that was accompanied with a short laugh. The smile disappeared.

"But… that would be… impossible…" Selene stuttered out. "But, then again…"

"No. Definitely not. No." They continued to watch Jack off and, one-by-one, they began to laugh. As absurd as it was, it would all make sense. A man who couldn't die, living to be a million years old… Selene clapped both hands over her ridiculous grin, shaking her head in blissful disbelief. "No!" the Doctor exclaimed with the starts of a grin. All of them began to laugh outright at their outrageous discovery, voices carrying into the cloudy sky.

OOOO

Martha had requested she be brought home to see her family. So the Doctor had landed the TARDIS on the side of the street and let her dash inside to do what she will. Selene and the Doctor were finally allowed a moment alone for the first time since the world had been put to right. Almost the moment the TARDIS door had shut, Selene found herself pulled into the Doctor's embrace. It was the tightest hug that she'd ever been given. He clung to her like he feared she would slip away in a puff of smoke; one of his hands was scrunched in her hair and his cheek was pressed to the top of her head. Selene's hands splayed out across his back before she grabbed fistfulls of his jacket. Her head was tucked into the crook of his neck and they were the closest they could possibly be in that moment. And yet, she wanted to be closer to him. Closer than what was probably physically possible. It was an embrace long overdue, and neither of them wanted it to end. It was a moment that deserved to be suspended in time, one to go on and on forever and ever.

The Doctor shifted away slightly and pulled his arms from around her, and before she could lament their loss, he clasped her face between both his hands. The handful of prolonged kisses that they had shared had all been gentle and soft and slow. All of those kisses were blown out of the water by the one that the two shared in that moment. The Doctor had captured her lips with an intensity that he hadn't done before. It was an action filled with longing and passion and hunger. It had been a year since he had touched her, a year since he had last held her in his arms, a year of torture where he couldn't tell her how much he cared for her. Selene snaked her fingers along the back of his neck and into his hair, tangling them into the soft locks that she'd missed touching. She rose up on her toes and pulled herself closer. The Doctor made a muffled sound and curled an arm around her waist again, a passionate fervor driving him to gently nip at her lower lip. Selene's breath caught and she clung to him tighter; her fingers tightened in his hair, giving a slight tug.

The kiss continued for a good while, the two running their fingers through the other's hair and subconsciously tugging at each other's clothing. By the time the kiss broke, their hair was rumpled, the Doctor's tie was askew, and Selene's cardigan was slouching off one shoulder. They both grinned like idiots and started to help straighten the other out, rearranging hair and straightening out clothing. The Doctor tucked hair behind her ear and ducked his head to kiss her quickly.

"I missed you… so much…" he whispered. Selene rebuttoned his jacket and smoothed out the fabric, fingers grazing over the blue and red fabric. She looked up at him with the sweetest smile and nodded at his sentiment.

"I missed you too…" she agreed.

"There were so many times I thought you'd been… that… I was so scared…" the Doctor shook his head and clasped her cheek. "Never again."

Selene stretched up on her toes, kissed him, and then wound her arms around his neck in another hug. The gently rocked from side to side, eyes closed against the TARDIS' console lighting. 'Never again,' he'd said. But they both knew that 'never again' wasn't a definite. That was why they hugged one another so tightly; because they knew that, as sweet a sentiment as it was, it couldn't be wholly confirmed. Just then, the TARDIS door squeaked open and they drew themselves out of their hug. The Doctor beamed over his shoulder at Martha and bounded around the console.

"Right, then! Off we go!" he announced, flicking switches and tweaking knobs. "The open road! There is a burst of starfire, right now, over the coast of Meta Sigmafolio. Oh, the sky is like…"the Doctor stopped to gesture with his hands as he picture the beauty of what he spoke of, "oil on water. Fancy a look?" Martha slowly inched up the ramp, a somber look on her face. A look that only Selene seemed to notice. With a frown tugging at the corners of her lips, she walked towards her friend with tentative steps. When they made eye contact, one corner of Martha's mouth twitched upwards in a sad smile. Selene swallowed thickly and then nodded, lips pursed. "Or back in time. We could… I don't know, Charles the Second? Henry the Eighth. I know! What about Agatha Christie?" He was beaming, pointing towards the ceiling. "I'd love to meet Agatha Christie. I bet she's brilliant." The man's smile faded as he caught sight of Martha's expression. He looked down towards his feet, mind screeching to a halt. He knew that look. "Okay."

"I just can't," Martha told them, voice thick, eyes glassy. The Doctor nodded slowly.

"Yeah…"

"Spent all these years trying to be a doctor, and now I've got people to look after. They saw half the planet slaughtered and they're devastated. I can't leave them," Martha said in reference to her family. She approached the Doctor, who shook his head in understanding.

"Course not." Silence filled the console room for a fleeting moment. Then, a smile appeared at the corner of the Doctor's mouth; a smile that made Martha smile. "Thank you." The two embraced, the Doctor once again glassy eyed. Martha's face was hidden against the Doctor's chest, but her eyes were scrunched shut as tears bit at them. "Martha Jones, you saved the world." The two drew back as the Doctor spoke with a proud tone. Martha beamed.

"Yes, I did," she agreed confidently. "I spent a lot of time with you thinking I was second best," she looked to Selene with a friendly smile, "sometimes third best, but you know what? I am good." The trio smiled and laughed gently. "You going to be all right?"

"Always, yeah," the Doctor said. Martha turned to Selene.

"And you?"

"I'll miss you, Martha… but I'm sure it isn't the last I'll see of you," Selene told her, opening her arms for a hug. Both women embraced tightly, smiling sadly over the other's shoulder. They'd grown close during Martha's travels. They'd been through a lot with each other. They were good friends. That was all that mattered in the long run. Selene felt her smile twist into a saddened frown, but forced it back into its previous expression as they drew away. When the hug was broken, Martha nodded to them.

"Right then. Bye." Martha stretched up on her toes and kissed the Doctor's cheek before turning tail and walking out of the TARDIS. Selene and the Doctor stood there for a moment, a lingering sadness in the air. Then, just like that, the door squeaked open again. Martha strode back in, ready to speak. "Because the thing is, it's like my friend Vicky. She lived with this bloke, student housing, there were five of them all packed in, and this bloke was called Sean. And she loved him. She did. She completely adored him. Spent all day long talking about him."

"Is this… going anywhere?" the Doctor asked in confusion.

"Yes!" The Doctor nodded and crossed his arms, apologizing quietly as he readied himself to listen. "Because he never looked at her twice." The Doctor's eyes flickered towards the floor. "I mean, he liked her, but that was it. And she wasted years pining after him. Years of her life; because while he was around, she never looked at anyone else. And I told her, I always said to her, time and time again, I said: get. Out." The Doctor nodded in understanding, and Selene pushed her hands into her pockets. "So this is me, getting out." With a small smile, Martha extracted her mobile and tossed it his way. "Keep that. 'Cause I'm not having either of you disappear. If that rings––when that rings, you better come running, you got it?"

The Doctor raised the phone and waggled it a bit, smiling at his companion gently. "Got it."

"I'll see you both again," Martha said with a smile cast over her shoulder as she walked for the door. Selene smiled at her and offered a small wave, which was returned with a waggle of Martha's fingers. They smiled as they watched Martha Jones, Earth's saviour, walked out of the TARDIS for the final time, shoulders squared, head held high, and with a confident smile on her face.

"So…" Selene murmured after they stood there in silence for a brief moment. There was a heaviness that sat in the pit of her stomach. The console room suddenly felt vastly empty with just the two of them standing there. It was slightly disconcerting. Selene wondered if that was how the Doctor felt every time a companion of his left; if he felt hollow and sad. Instead of asking a question that would surely weigh heavily on their minds, she opted for a different one. "What do you do next?"

"We carry on," the Doctor replied, striding over to the console. Selene followed and wound her arms around his middle, head resting against his shoulder as he pulled a lever that started the TARDIS' engines. Suddenly they were thrown horridly off balance. They were thrown backwards and into the pilot's seat as an alarm blared annoyingly over head. Selene yelped as she grasped onto the seat when the TARDIS did a bit of a flip. The Doctor flung himself off the seat and onto the console and Selene could've sworn she saw the oddest thing––it was like there had been a lag in his movement; like, briefly, there had been two versions of him. She rubbed her eyes and wondered if she'd banged her head and the Doctor began to flick switches as the TARDIS reduced itself to shaking and quaking.

"Ahg! Stop it!" he commanded, staring up at the ceiling. He patted the tube in the center. "What was all of that about, eh?" The Doctor looked down at the console with his brows arched upwards in concern. "Eh? What's your problem?" He inched his way to the left and when Selene's hands dropped away from her eyes, her mouth dropped open. Right beside him was another man. He was dressed in white and his head was topped with a matching hat. The tails of the coat were trimmed with orange––as were the pockets––and his trousers were striped with the same colors. Selene's eyes danced between the two men, wondering if she should say something or if they would figure it out on their own.

"Right! Just settle down now," the man said, fingers brushing over the console controls. The Doctor and the man bumped into each other, but brushed it off as though it were nothing, working around one another as they looked at levers and pressed at buttons.

"Oh, excuse––"

"So sorry."

Selene, still sitting on the pilot's seat gaped at the familiar visage of the Fifth Doctor. She pointed at him with wide eyes just as the Doctor suddenly jolted to a stop, slammed a hand down against the console and looked up. He made eye contact with himself––who looked quite surprised––and inched closer in a slightly hunched over position.

"What?" he choked out.

"What!?" the Fifth Doctor exclaimed, stepping closer as well.

"What!"

"W-what…!" Selene stood up and flung her arms out.

"Who are you?" asked the Fifth Doctor, standing nose-to-nose with the Tenth. Ten grinned at the former incarnation of himself and resisted the almighty urge to chuckle.

"Oh, brilliant! I mean, totally wrong…" His eyes danced over the man in white and shook his head in disbelief. "Bit emergency, the universe goes 'bang' in five minutes, but brilliant!"

"I'm the Doctor! Who are you?" demanded Five, sternly. Ten laughed and grinned.

"Yes, you are! You are the Doctor!"

"Yes, I am, I'm the Doctor."

"Oh-ho! Good for you, Doctor," Ten giggled boyishly, grinning at the man before him. He looked himself over fro the hat on his head to the shoes on his feet. "Good for brilliant old you!" Selene, who had worked her way around the other side of the console, appeared at Ten's side, gaping at Five in utter disbelief.

"How is this happening?" she asked in a hushed voice. He shrugged and shoved his hands in his trouser pockets, still beaming.

"No idea…"

"And who is this!?" Five thrust a hand in Selene's direction, staring at her wide eyed and confused.

"Oh, you'll come to know her," Ten told him, smile becoming wider if at all possible. Selene managed a bit of a laugh and raised her hand to wave a bit. Truly, this was the strangest day of her life. From reversing an entire year, to figuring out Jack was probably the Face of Boe, to saying goodbye to Martha to this. She had to admit… it was kind of cool. Cool enough to cause a slightly dopey smile to appear on her face. Five had always been one of her favorites… but she definitely wasn't as excited to see him as Ten was.

"Is there something wrong with you?" Five asked, staring him straight in the eye. Selene could've sworn that Ten might've squealed if he hadn't restrained himself.

"Oh, there it goes! The frowny face! I remember that one!" Ten looked to Selene. "Do you remember?" Selene nodded and then crossed her arms, tilting her head as she stared at the younger version of the Doctor. Ten's smile fell a bit and he reached out and grasped Five's face between his hands. "Mind you…" He rubbed his hands around, smooshing his cheeks this way and that, much to Five's shock and displeasure. "Bit saggier than I ought to be…" Ten ruffled a bit of hair poking out from under the hat. "Hair's a bit greyer… That's because of me though." Ten moved off and Five's hands flew to his cheeks, moving the flesh around a bit in slight concern. "Two of us together has shorted out the time differential. Should all snap back into place once we get you home." He grinned and reached forward to grab either side of Five's open coat. "Be able to close that coat again. But never mind that! Look at you! The hat, the coat, the crickety cricket stuff, the…" Ten's smiled faltered and became a bit forced as he looked at the coat's lapel, "stick of celery…" Selene giggled and placed a hand over her mouth; Five gave her a peculiar look. "Brave choice, the celery, but fair play to you, not all men can carry off a decorative vegetable!"

"Shut up!" Five spat as he whipped his hat off, revealing that, due to the clashing time lines, his hair had gone a bit wispy. "There is something very wrong with my TARDIS, and I've got to do something very, very quickly. And it would help––it really would help––if there wasn't some skinny idiot ranting in my face about every single thing that happens to be in front of him! At least she––whoever she is––is quiet!" Five gestured at Selene again with a wave of his hand.

"Okay, sorry, Doctor…" Ten replied, clasping his hands behind his back.

"Thank you." Five turned around and Ten bounced up on the balls of his feet as an irrepressible grin spread across his face again.

"Oh, the back of my head!"

"What?"

"Sorry, sorry," the Doctor slid closer, "it's just not something you see every day, the back of your own head… mind you… I can see why you wear a hat, I… don't wanna see vain, but could you keep that thing on?"

Five spun back around to face Ten, eyes narrowing.

"What have you done to my TARDIS? You've changed the desktop theme, haven't you?" Five looked around as Ten casually leaned up against the console. He took in the the orange tinged lighting and the curving structures of the support beams. "What's this one? Coral?"

"Well…"

"It's worse than leopard skin!" Five put his half-moon spectacles on and Selene's hand shot out to grab Ten's arm just as he rocketed back a step with an excited shout.

"Oh, and out they come, the brainy specks! Hah! You don't even need them? Did you know that, Selene?" Ten asked, reaching down to grasp the hand that gripped his coat sleeve. She laughed and shook her head, feeling more and more fangirl-y with each passing second. "Doesn't even need them! You just think they make you look a bit clever!"

"Well, in all fairness, they do," Selene assured, splaying a hand out in the air with a grin. "They look… great. Absolutely amazing." At that moment, an alarm began to blare. Five began to leap around the console, doing this and that, and Selene pulled her hand from Ten's arm so she could place it over her goofy looking smile. No matter what regeneration he was in, he still moved the same around the console. Leaping from one spot to another, flicking a lever here and pushing a button there. Ten followed Five and leaned an arm up on the moveable monitor.

"That's an alert, level five, indicating a temporal collision. It like two TARDISes have merged, but…. there's definitely only one TARDIS present! It's like two time zones or more at the heart of the Tardis. That's a paradox that could blow a hole in the space time continuum the size of––" Ten moved a monitor into his line of sight, clicking a button that put up a display of a specific country. "Well, actually, the exact size of… Belgium. That's a bit undramatic, isn't it? Belgium?"

Ten extracted his Sonic and proffered it. "Need this?"

"Nah, I'm fine."

"No, of course, you liked to go hands free, didn't you?" He flipped the Sonic around and tucked it back into his pocket. "Like 'hey, I'm the Doctor, I can save the universe with a kettle and some string.' And 'look at me, I'm wearing a vegetable!'"

Five shifted past the pilot's chair so he could stand toe-to-toe with the man he didn't realize he was himself. "Who are you?"

"Take a look," Ten insisted in a gentle, but rumbling tone. Five's eyes skimmed his face over and then, suddenly, his brows raised and his eyes widened as he came to a realization. Selene quickly made her way around the console and stood behind the pilot's seat, leaning over to watch what she hoped would be an amusing revelation.

"Oh…" Five murmured. "Oh no."

"Oh, yes…"

"You're––oh, no…"

"Here it comes." Ten winked Selene's way. "Yeah, I am."

"A fan!"

Ten nodded as Five leapt a step to the left, having heard something blaring, not registering what had been said. "Yeah––what!?" Selene threw her head back and laughed, the situation having taken a hilarious turn she hadn't expected. A fan? A fan? She was the fan in the room. But the situation was so bizarre, so odd that it all seemed utterly hilarious. The Doctor looked offended, almost.

"This is bad––two minutes to Belgium!" Five was working his way around the console, working the controls quickly and with expert fingers.

"Whaddya mean, 'a fan?' I'm not just a 'fan,' I'm you!"

Five sighed in exasperation and flung up a hand.

"Alright you're my biggest fan; and what does that make her?" Five asked, nodding back at Selene. She laughed and leaned her forearms against the top of the pilot's seat.

"I'm actually your biggest fan. He's actually you, you just don't realize it yet," Selene mentioned. Five sighed and cast a look her way––a look that only be described as withering. She giggled and shook her head fondly. "Oh, there's the frown again."

"Look, its perfectly understandable. I go zooming around space and time, saving planets, fighting monsters and being well, let's be honest, pretty sort of marvellous, so naturally now and then people notice me. Start up their little groups. That LINDA lot…" Five's face smoothed out into a look of minor horror. "Are you one of them? How did you get in here? Can't have you lot knowing where I live."

"Listen to me. I'm you, I'm you! I'm you with a new face." He leaned down and towards Five, patting both his cheeks rhythmically. "Check out this bone structure, Doctor, because one day you're going to be shaving it!"

Selene leaned up against the console with a cheeky smile as she crossed her arms and ventured to say, "and I'll be kissing it," under her breath. It was a comment mostly made herself, still feeling rather giddy about the whole thing. Looking over at the two men, she saw Ten beaming boyishly and Five giving her the most confused look he could muster to put on. Again, an alarm started to blare.

"The Cloister Bell!"

"Right on time; that's my cue!" Ten said. Selene watched as both incarnations of the Doctor began to dance around the console, pulling levers and the sort to get the TARDIS back into sorts.

"In a minute we're going to create a black hole strong enough to swallow the entire universe!" Five shouted out, working frantically just beside Selene. Both her brows shot upwards and her stomach dropped.

"What?" she annunciated. Ten winced at the mention of the black hole.

"Yeah, that's my fault, actually…" he admitted.

"What!?" Selene squeaked, whirling around to lean around the console and gape at him.

"I was rebuilding the TARDIS, forgot to put the shields back up. Your TARDIS and my TARDIS––well the same TARDIS at different points in its own timestream collided and bleh, there you go, end of the universe, butterfingers. But don't worry, I know exactly how this all works out. Watch." He began to twirl something around that clicked as it spun. "Venting the thermobuffer, drawing the Helmic regulator, and just to finish off, let's fry those Zeiton crystals!" Five had stepped up behind Ten's shoulder, watching everything he did with an awed expression. He grabbed hold of Five's wrists.

"You'll blow up the TARDIS!" Five warned.

"No I won't––I haven't."

"Who told you that!?"

"You told me that."

Ten slammed the heel of his palm against the button. Thankfully, nothing happened. Everything was calm. Nothing exploded. They were all still alive.

"Supernova and black hole at the exact same instant…" Five trailed off, sounding awed.

"Explosion cancels out the implosion," Ten added on.

"Pressure remains constant."

"It's brilliant."

"Far too brilliant! I've never met anyone else who could fly the TARDIS like that," Five said, staring at Ten with wide eyes.

"Sorry to say, but… you still haven't," Selene told him with a growing smile. Ten moved towards her and looped an arm around her waist casually as he fixed a slider on a control panel. She wound her arm around his back and smiled gently.

"You didn't have time to work that out, even I couldn't do it!"

"I didn't work it out, I didn't have to…" He trailed off and let his brows twitch upwards, prompting Five to work it out.

"You remembered…"

"Because you will remember."

"You remembered being me, watching you doing that! You only knew what to do because I saw you do it!" Five pieced together, beginning to smile as he finally came to the realization he had been interacting with his future self.

"Wibbly-wobbly…" Ten began.

"Timey-wimey!" all three finished together. Ten threw his hand up for a high-five, only to have Five give him a look. His eyes then strayed towards Selene, who was leaning into the Doctor's side.

"You said that I––we––would come to know her. Do you mean…" Five gestured between them and at how close they stood. Ten looked down at Selene and smiled sweetly.

"Yeah. Though, it's likely you won't remember her––there's some… weird stuff that goes on with alternate realities that'll probably kick into play."

"Ah. Then, my dear lady, I look forward to meeting you," Five said with a soft smile, bowing his head in her direction. She grinned and returned the nod.

"I look forward to meeting you, too, Doctor."

A ringing broke out. Ten drew away from Selene and checked on a small monitor set into the console. "Right, TARDISes are separating. Sorry, Doctor, time's up. Back to long ago. Where are you now? Nyssa and Tegan? Cybermen and Mara and Time Lords in funny hats and the Master? Oh, he just showed up again, same as ever."

"Oh, no, really? Does he still have that… rubbish beard?"

"No, no beard this time––well, a wife."

"Neither of them are the friendliest of people," Selene warned with a shudder. The Doctor flicked a couple more switches and suddenly, Five became transparent and started to fade.

"Oh, I seem to be off. What can I say? Thank you, Doctor," Five said with a small smile, becoming more solid in his appearance again.

"Thank you," Ten replied earnestly, bowing his head.

Five's smile grew as he faded out. "You're very welcome." In a rush, the Doctor flicked two more switches and brought Five back into solidity again. Selene took a couple steps back, crossed her arms, and leaned against the console, letting Ten say what he clearly wanted to say. He strode a couple steps forward, picking up and handing Five his hat back.

"You know, I love being you. Back when I first started at the very beginning, I was always trying to be old and grumpy and important, like you do when you're young. And then I was you, and it was all dashing about and playing cricket and my voice going all squeaky when I shouted. I still do that, the voice thing. I got that from you! Oh!" Ten kicked his foot up onto the edge of the console with a grin, displaying his shoe. "And the trainers! And…" He dropped his foot and extracted his glasses, which he slipped into place. "Snap!" He reached behind him, snagged Selene's hand with his own and drew her forward, again draping his arm over her shoulders. "She loves 'em."

"He's right, I do," Selene giggled.

"'Cause, you know what, Doctor? You were my Doctor."

Five, with a bit of a tear in his eye, lifted his hat in acknowledgement of what had been said. "To days to come."

"All my love to long ago."

And with that, the Fifth Doctor vanished, leaving the Tenth and Selene alone in the TARDIS again, feeling just a bit cheerier than they had been moments before. The Doctor removed his glasses and tucked them into his pocket.

"Oh, and Doctor!" called out Five's voice from somewhere in the past. "Remember to put your shields up!"

The Doctor reached out and pressed a button, which dinged and lit up. The moment he did, however, a foghorn blared from outside and the TARDIS shook. Selene and the Time Lord were hurled to the floor in a shower of wood, dust, and glass. The Doctor had managed to support himself on the pilot's seat and the edge of the console, and Selene had fallen back into his chest. They stared at the gaping hole now present in the wall of the TARDIS, where the prow of a ship––yes, a ship––was wedged. Dust continued to rain down on the two as debris settled around them. Something had fallen against Selene's legs, so she leaned forward to grab it.

"What?" the Doctor exclaimed. "What!?" He coughed and sat forward on his knees, peering over Selene's shoulder at what she'd gotten a hold of. Her face had gone white and her mouth had dropped open, soundlessly twitching as she tried to find the words to say. In her hands was a life preserver; and on that life preserver was the name of the ship that had crashed straight into them. Titanic. The Doctor's expression smoothed itself out as he stared up at the Titanic's hull, amazed and confused as to how any of it had happened. "What?"

Translations:

Gabh trasna ort fhéin!––Go f!ck yourself sideways.

Jack's Irish swear was taken off of a video done by the lovely Clisare called 'How to Curse/Swear in Irish'; go check it out!

Afterword: First of all, I must apologize for the length of this chapter. It's about forty pages. Eek! I just had ideas of where I wanted this to go and what I wanted in here and it just ended up being super duper long; sorry for that! I also ask you take the traveling times with a grain of salt––I make like in the UK now, but I have no idea how long it takes to travel between certain places. But, I suppose, its length is an apology for how long I've been away. I finally started up school (in England, yay!) and I've had a month's worth of work crammed into about three weeks with midterms next week. Also, my wifi is TERRIBLE, so it's been preventing me for effectively writing this chapter. But here we finally are!

Review replies!

The Yoshinator: I, too, love Jacksepticeye! Hence, I put him in here because I suddenly thought 'hey, he'd make a great member of the resistance.' I also figured that if there was going to be a way Selene got off the ship, it was going to be with their help. I hope that you enjoyed the chap! Thanks again!
MissShellbyBabes: Thank you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!

NicoleR85: I hope that you enjoyed this chapter as much as the last one; thanks again!

trinketsTricks: I'm glad that you enjoyed my use of Jack! He just really seemed to fit. I hope that you enjoyed this super duper (booper-dooper!) long chapter! Thanks again!

FREYA ASTRID NOVA: I've updated! Hope you enjoyed it!

grapejuice101: Thank you, again, for all of your help with these last few chapters! It was a great help and I hope that you enjoyed reading the chapter as a whole. Thanks again!

MaximumNerd46: It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside to know that you've been reading this since the very beginning; and that you're still enjoying what I'm writing and where I'm taking everything. I'm also extremely flattered you consider this one of your favorite stories! :-D I hope that you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again, lovely!

time-twilight: Donna in an episode (or two)! I'm really excited to get to write her again because… she's just so fun! And her relationship with Selene is going to be a great one––she's really gonna draw out her sarcasm. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!

momochan77: Didn't get much of a chance to write Selene doing reisistance-y things, but if I make a story where I just post one-shots that take place during THIS story, maybe I'll put something in. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!

Rainbow Quartz 14: I'm glad that you enjoyed the last chapter! And I hope that you enjoyed this one as much as the last one, even with its extreme length. Thanks again!

AxidentlGoddess: I always figured that, even while imprisoned, Selene was gonna be a stubborn one. And I am SO happy that you pictured Resistance Jack as Jacksepticeye! I was going for that when I was writing the way he spoke and moved and acted. I loved writing him in this chapter, even if it had to end a bit tragically. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again! BOOPER DOOPER! :D

ShadowTeir: Thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed the new chapter!

EGGS: I, honest to god, read your entire comment in Jack's voice, it was AMAZING. And you don't have to have an account to punch that like button IN THE FACE––just you telling me that you've enjoyed it is doing the same thing :-) Thanks again! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

BreakFree01: Thank you so, so much! I'm very happy that you've enjoyed the story and stuck with it at its enormous length. I usually think that that particular aspect of it might scare people away, but I am, again, very happy you stuck around. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and will stick around to read more; thanks again!

Serren: I hope you enjoyed the continuation of last chapter! Thanks again!

88dragon06: I had figured, from when I had first started this season, that Selene would be more beneficial on the ground. It would also make for a better story. It all really fell into place last chapter, though. The Decoy Bride is literally the best! I watch it whenever I need a good RomCom––that or Love Actually. And I have seen––and adore––Fright Night! I actually have the draft of a story involving David's character in it… I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again! tardiscompanion101: I'm so glad that you love this story so freaking much! I hope that you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!

And thank you to those that have read and added this to their follows/favorites; it means a lot to me!

And that's it for now! I hope to get the next one up relatively soon, since I plan on pestering IT so I can get my wifi fixed. Next up is Voyage of the Damned and then I've got a bit of an original chapter, since all of you loved the last one so much… it may or may not reveal why the Doctor owes Casanova a chicken… ;-) I'll catch all y'all on the flip side! You all rock; thanks again!

~Mary