Chapter 15: The Last of the Time Lords
One year later:
Pain.
That's all Freya really felt anymore.
The amount of experiments the Master had run on her was overwhelming. It left her feeling sick, left the baby tossing and turning.
The only small comfort she had was that she was given a small room. An actual room, not a cage like Jack had, and certainly not a tent like the Doctor had.
The guards at her room tugged her from the bed, pulling her between them towards the flight deck. The Master only really ever brought her there to gloat or punish her where the others could see. Sometimes, if an experiment went badly, he'd bring her there as well, if only to cause more pain to the Doctor.
The last time she'd been punished had been when James and Ianto had escaped. The Master had demanded she tell him who the little girl who rescued them was.
Freya had proudly told him it was her daughter.
She hadn't been able to move without wincing for a month after that. But it had been worth it, knowing Ianto and James were alright.
When she entered the flight deck, Lucy was wearing her red dress, the one the Master fancied the most. She looked like she was ready to cry.
Lucy and Freya related to each other. The Master had been trying to experiment on Lucy as well, finding whatever way he could to get her pregnant with a baby Time Lord using whatever he learned from Freya to do it.
So far, she had had two miscarriages in the last six months. Her body wasn't really able to handle a Time Lord child.
Each time she miscarried, she was locked in the room with Freya until the Master stopped sulking.
Francine sent her a pitying look as she placed the Master's tea on the table. Freya looked ready to give birth at any moment. Still. She was 32 months along now. Last time, she'd made it 36 months.
All she knew was that she wanted to be as far away from the Master when she did give birth. He was already doing enough damage to the child as it was.
Freya watched as the Doctor crawled out of his tent and the Master manhandled him. Three year old Bad Wolf was playing with some blocks in the corner, appearing a bit subdued. His eyes lit up when he saw Freya, but he had learned not to run for her. He'd been punished enough for doing that in the past.
Freya glanced up to see the Doctor giving some symbol to Francine, who then repeated it to her husband, Martha's father. Freya had no idea what the symbol was. She never got a chance to speak to the others.
Even if she did, she had a feeling the Doctor would try and stop her from being involved, to keep her from receiving punishment.
She must've dozed off, because the next thing she knows, Lucy is shaking her awake. Freya glances up, wincing in pain as she does. The Master is next to another woman.
"Tanya," Lucy said distastefully.
"Another one?" Freya asked. Lucy nodded, still staring. The Master was bragging of all the places he was going to take Tanya when an alarm went off.
"Condition Red," an automatic voice droned. The Master turned around, confused.
"What the hell?" he asked.
"Repeat, condition red," the voice droned on as Francine grabbed the Master's jacket and threw it to Tish. Tish then gave it to the Doctor, who pulled the laser screwdriver the Master had out and pointed it at the Master as he turned around.
"Oh, I see," the Master said, staring at him.
"I told you. I have one thing to say," the Doctor said, his voice gravelly. He pressed the button, but nothing happened.
"Isomorphic controls," the Master said with a smirk as he snatched the screwdriver from the Doctor before punching him in the face. Freya gasped, only to feel her water break. Lucy glanced down at her, her own eyes going wide.
"Which means they only work for me. Like this!" the Master said, pointing the laser at Francine. It only barely missed. He then spun and pointed it at Freya.
"Back away, wife," the Master said.
"She had nothing to do with this!" the Doctor shouted.
"No? Well then, we'll punish her for her husband's mistakes. Sounds like a good idea to me," the Master said as Lucy remained at Freya's side.
"Master, can you hold off punishment on Freya for the time being? She's already going through pain," Lucy pleaded.
"And I can make it worse," the Master pointed out. Freya shook her head to Lucy. She managed just fine last time – she could do this on her own this time if needed. The last thing she needed was the Master realizing he could cause her more pain since she was going into labor.
"After all, Freya had no clue of the plans. They don't trust her anymore. They don't tell her anything," Lucy said. The Master's screwdriver lowered slightly.
"Yes. I see," he said, turning to face Francine once more.
"Say sorry!" he demanded, shooting the laser off once more.
"Sorry! Sorry, sorry!" Francine cried out.
"Mum!" Tish cried as well, moving towards her mother and giving Freya a glare, as if it was Freya's fault this had happened. Most of Martha's family disliked Freya, she had realized. She didn't know why, either. Then again, most of the time she had more important things to worry about.
"Didn't you learn anything from the blessed Saint Martha? Siding with the Doctor is a very dangerous thing to do. Take them away," the Master said with a wave of his hand.
"Move. Come on," the guard said as he manhandled the Jones' out of the room. The Master roughly dumped the Doctor back in the chair. He whispered something to the Doctor, who whispered furiously back.
"No. It's my turn. Revenge! Best served hot. And this time, it's a message for Miss Jones," the Master said.
Bad Wolf had been slowly inching closer to Freya and when he realized the Master was distracted, reached out quickly with his mind. Freya welcomed the feeling.
That was something that the Master had taken away, with Lil' Red. While Freya had felt her daughter's mind a few times before, the experimentation had cut the two of them off from each other mentally.
Freya welcomed the feeling until a contraction ripped through her. The pain carried over to Bad Wolf, who cried out suddenly. The Master, who had just got done doing something to the Doctor, stalked over to the two. Freya bit her lip in pain as the Master examined her.
"Oh. I see. Guess who's coming into the world, Doctor? Looks like your daughter's eager to meet me," the Master said. Freya's heart broke when she saw what was left of the Doctor crawling out of his old clothes.
"You know what this means, then?" the Master asked, stepping in her sight again and blocking the Doctor.
"What?" Lucy asked for Freya.
"Well, since you can't seem to have my child, it seems I'll have to have Freya do it for me. Hurry along now. Sooner you give birth, sooner I can get you pregnant with my child," the Master said gleefully.
"There's a waiting period. She won't get pregnant so soon," Lucy interjected quickly.
"What's a week or two when I have all of eternity?" the Master asked with a smirk. He turned to the guards.
"Set up a bed in here. This is the most secure place in the ship and I would like to have her here at all times. What happened to our medical doctor?" the Master asked.
"I'll call him," Lucy said, standing abruptly.
"Good wife," the Master said fondly. Lucy moved out of the room without another word.
"Bettered hurry with labor, my dear. Tomorrow's launching day. Tomorrow, we open a rift in the Braccatolian space. They won't even see us coming," the Master gloated.
"Once the empire is established, and there's a new Gallifrey in the heavens, maybe then it stops. The drumming. The never ending drumbeat. Ever since I was a child, I looked into the vortex. That's when it chose me. The drumming, the call to war. Can't you hear it? Listen, it's there now. Right now. Tell me you can hear it. Can any of you hear it?" the Master shouted angrily.
"It's only you," the Doctor said quietly.
"Mommy might. Mommy can hear minds," Bad Wolf spoke up. The Master turned to Freya, only for a sphere to appear in the room.
"Tomorrow, the war. Tomorrow we rise, never to fall," the sphere said.
"You see, Doctor? I'm doing it for them. You should be grateful. After all, you love them so very, very much," the Master taunted. He then turned to Freya and stalked over to her. He grabbed her head and pressed his forehead against her, trying to connect their minds.
He managed to succeed just as another contraction hit Freya, sending a wave of pain through to the Master. The Master threw himself back, hissing in pain.
"Get that blasted doctor in here now. Now I have a migraine," the Master hissed.
But Freya had heard it.
She'd heard the faint echo of a drum.
She stared at the Master in disbelief, until he turned to stare back at her.
"You heard it," the Master said, a look of awe on his face. Freya could only wordlessly nod. The drums she'd heard about all year, the drums she thought were a sign of his insanity – they were real.
"I'm keeping you after all," the Master decided. He turned away from the Doctor.
"Get that doctor in here now! I'm going to bed," the Master announced as he stalked out of the room.
A few minutes later, a man in a guard uniform rushed in. He removed part of his mask, revealing a winking Ianto. He quickly replaced the mask.
"I need a sterile area," Ianto demanded of a fellow guard. The guard quickly left the room alongside Lucy, who was already on her way out to retrieve materials.
"You're not a doctor," Freya pointed out, feeling a bit worried at that fact.
"No. I'm not. But Owen's on his way. He said you'd bettered not make too much of a mess or he'd never deliver another baby again," Ianto warned her.
"Where's Lil' Red? Is she safe?" Freya asked worriedly.
"She's fine. I left her in the year 2105 with James, Masen, Marie and the children. Lil' Red warned me that something would go wrong with the birth," Ianto warned her.
"But she's fine. She lived, so the baby'll live," Freya pointed out, wincing at another contraction.
"Yes. And I did a bit of research before making sure I'd be back on the right date. Ah. Here's Owen," Ianto said as Owen rushed in the room, also dressed up but him more as a doctor.
The two of them spent the next few hours trying to make Freya as comfortable as possible, even going as far as to putting up a tent around them.
It was sometime in the early morning hours when Freya managed to give birth. Owen complained the entire time, and Ianto held her hand tightly.
"What's her name?" Owen asked.
"Lil' Red," Ianto pointed out.
"No. That's her name, but she has a real name too. Aurelie. Aurelie O'Leary. Lil' Red," Freya said with a soft smile. Ianto gently took the baby from her as the baby closed her eyes.
"What's wrong?" Freya asked.
"She's burning up. The experiments damaged her body, making it unable to hold the Time Lord mind. I'm going to take her with me real quick. We have a place we can store her Time Lord mind. Owen will stay and take care of you while I fix Aurelie," Ianto told her. Freya stared at him.
"This solution. Will it save her?" Freya begged.
"Not indefinitely. It'll only last maybe fifteen years before the strain of having two separate minds kills her. But that's fifteen years longer than she would have had," Ianto said.
"Fifteen years," Freya whispers sadly, staring at her baby.
"Ianto, mate. You gotta go. Now," Owen said as Ianto cradled the baby carefully before punching in coordinates into Lil' Red's Vortex Manipulator.
Owen spent the next few hours helping to clean Freya up, grumbling the whole time. Freya, who'd gotten to spend a good deal of time with him before, didn't mind his grumbling. For Owen, complaining meant he cared.
Ianto managed to appear once more, placing the sleeping child in her arms just in time to help Owen take down the tent. The area had just been completely cleaned up when the Master stormed into the room. Clive, Francine, and Tish were escorted in behind him on one side of the room. A few minutes later, Jack was brought in as well. It was the first time Freya had seen Jack in at least six months, and he looked a bit worse for wear.
It didn't stop him from winking at Freya nonetheless.
The Doctor stood up in his cage, eyeing everything. His eyes rested on Freya and the child in her arms the longest.
Bad Wolf came running in along Lucy, just before a set of guards dragged in Martha Jones.
Martha looked much better than the rest of them, Freya had to admit. However, Martha had a darker aura to her, as if she had seen far too much and it had darkened her outlook on life. She had no idea what Martha had been doing all year – only that she'd escaped with Jack's Vortex Manipulator at the Doctor's orders.
"Your teleport device, in case you thought I'd forgotten," the Master said pointedly. Martha took off the Vortex Manipulator and threw it at the Master. The Master tucked it into his pocket skillfully before turning his attention back to Martha.
"And now, kneel. Down below, the fleet is ready to launch. Two hundred thousand ships set to burn across the universe. Are we ready?" the Master asked.
"The fleet awaits your signal. Rejoice!" a man's voice responded happily.
"Three minutes to align the black hole converters. Counting down. I never could resist a ticking clock. My children, are you ready?" the Master asked.
"We will fly and blaze and slice," the spheres responded eagerly. Freya winced at the sound, her eyes drooping.
"You should probably feed her," Owen recommended as Lil' Red fussed a bit in Freya's arms. Owen moved in front of her, helping her to position Lil' Red without giving anyone a show. He settled the blanket over her as Martha started chuckling.
"What. What's so funny?" the Master asked angrily, staring at Martha.
"A gun," Martha said flatly.
"What about it?" the Master questioned.
"A gun in four parts?" Martha added.
"Yes, and I destroyed it," the Master said angrily.
"A gun in four parts scattered across the world. I mean, come on, did you really believe that?" Martha wanted to know.
"What do you mean?" the Master asked. His voice was almost flat now, as if he knew something was coming that he didn't like, didn't appreciate.
"As if I would ask her to kill," the Doctor said from his cage.
"Oh well, it doesn't matter. I've got her exactly where I want her," the Master said, trying to take control of a situation that seemed to be falling to bits around him.
"But I knew what Professor Docherty would do. The Resistance knew about her son. I told her about the gun so she'd get me here at the right time," Martha pointed out. Freya had no idea who Professor Docherty was, but the Master seemed to know who that was.
"Oh, but you're still going to die," the Master pointed out.
"Don't you want to know what I was doing, travelling the world?" Martha asked.
She was stalling him now, Freya realized. That was what she was doing. They had something planned, something she had no clue about. And Martha was stalling until it began.
"Tell me," the Master ordered.
"I told a story, that's all. No weapons, just words. I did just what the Doctor said. I went across the continents 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," Martha explained.
"Faith and hope? Is that all?" the Master asked. Freya had to agree with him there. It wasn't much to go on.
"No, because I gave them an instruction, just as the Doctor said. I told them that if everyone thinks of one word, at one specific time," Martha said, only for the Master to cut her off.
"Nothing will happen. Is that your weapon? Prayer?" the Master sneered at her.
"Right across the world, one word, just one thought at one moment but with fifteen satellites," Martha said with a smirk. The Master's own sneer dropped from his face.
"What?" he asked, his expression one of pure shock, disbelief.
"The Archangel Network," Jack realized.
"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," Martha said.
With her words, the Doctor's cage began to glow.
"Stop it. No, no, no, no you don't!" the Master shouted angrily, moving towards the cage.
"Doctor," Jack said. All around them, the people in the room started saying his name, repeating it. Freya pressed her head against her newborn daughter's head, thinking of the Doctor.
"Doctor," she finally sighed out as Bad Wolf climbed into the small cot next to her.
The Doctor's form grew back to his original form, the form that Freya hadn't laid eyes on in a year.
"I've had a whole year to tune myself into the psychic network and integrate with its matrices," the Doctor explained as he moved towards the Master.
"I order you to stop!" the Master shouted desperately.
"The one thing you can't do. Stop them from thinking," the Doctor pointed out as everyone in the room continued to say the Doctor's name.
"Tell me the human race is degenerate now, when they can do this," the Doctor pointed out as Martha and her family hugged tightly.
"No!" the Master shouted in fury, pointing his laser screwdriver at the Doctor. It does nothing though.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," the Doctor said as he moved closer to the Master.
"Then I'll kill them," the Master said, pointing his laser screwdriver at Freya. He fires it once before the Doctor manages to make the screwdriver fly from the Master's hand. The pulse barely misses Freya, causing her to jump and the baby to start crying. Freya set to work comforting the child as the Doctor took control of the ship. Jack and the guards took off running to do something, Freya just holding her children close to her.
All around them in the sky, the spheres disappeared and the ship began to shake.
"Everyone get down! Time is reversing!" the Doctor warned them. He managed to stumble over to Freya, wrapping his arms around his family as the papers in the ship went flying. Once the ship calmed down, the Doctor relaxed his grip.
"The paradox is broken. We've reverted back, one year and one day. Two minutes past eight in the morning," he said as he turned on the radio announcement, listening to those trying to radio the Valiant.
"This is UNIT Central. What's happened up there? We just saw the President assassinated," the man said worriedly.
"Just after the President was killed, but just before the spheres arrived. Everything back to normal. Planet Earth restored. None of it happened. The rockets, the terror. It never was," the Doctor explained.
"What about the spheres?" Martha wanted to know.
"Trapped at the end of the universe," the Doctor told her with a soft smile.
"But I can remember it," Francine said, her voice shaky.
"We're at the eye of the storm. The only ones who'll ever know. Oh, hello. You must be Mister Jones. And I don't think I've met you two before," the Doctor said, turning to Owen and Ianto. They both took off their uniforms.
"We've met," Ianto said.
"Yes. You're the one my wife was living with for eighteen months. Can't say I'm too thrilled about that, but at least you kept her safe," the Doctor said grudgingly.
"And that's Owen. He delivered your daughter," Freya said. The Doctor nodded to him before scooping Lil' Red from Freya's arms.
"She's precious," the Doctor said with a soft smile. Freya glanced up to see the Master making a break for the door. She was about to warn the Doctor when Jack burst into the room, grabbing the Master in the process.
"Whoa, big fella. You don't' want to miss the party. Cuffs. So, what do we do with this one?" Jack asked as he held the cuffed Master.
"Kill him," Clive said angrily.
"We execute him," Tish agreed. The Doctor was on his feet in a heartbeat.
"No, that's not the solution," the Doctor warned them as Francine picked up a pistol and aimed it at the Master.
"Oh, I think so. Because all those things, they still happened because of him. I saw them," Francine said shakily. The Doctor handed Lil' Red to Owen as he stepped forward.
"Go on. Do it," the Master taunted.
"Francine, you're better than him," the Doctor told her, eyes glued to her. He managed to get her to lower the gun. He drops the gun before handing Francine off to Martha.
"You still haven't answered my question. What happens to me?" the Master asked.
"You're my responsibility from now on. The only adult time Lord left in existence outside of me and my family," the Doctor said.
"Yeah, but you can't trust him," Jack pointed out.
"No. The only safe place for him is the TARDIS," the Doctor said.
"You mean you're just going to keep me? Like a pet?" the Master asked in disbelief.
"Not like a pet. But if that's what I have to do. We can settle down. God knows Freya could use it. We've been wandering too long," the Doctor said.
Just as a gun went off.
The Master collapsed into the Doctor's hands as Lucy lowered the gun, her expression blank.
Freya stumbled to her feet, pushing past Owen and Ianto to pull Lucy into a hug. The woman was shaking slightly, but Freya could tell she had reverted back into her mask. Her mask, the mask she had created to survive the year with the Master.
"Regenerate! Just regenerate! Please!" the Doctor was begging him from the floor.
But the Master didn't.
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While the Doctor gave the Master a funeral service, Owen finished his checkup on Freya. Then, him and Ianto took off to retrieve the others from 2105. Freya fell asleep, only waking up later.
She wandered out of the TARDIS and out to see they were at the Roald Dahl Plass. Where Torchwood Three headquarters was. Martha and the Doctor were leaning against the railing as Jack spoke to them.
Freya approached just in time to hear Jack's last words.
"Used to be a poster boy when I was a kid living on 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. The Face of Boe, they called me. I'll see you all later," he said as he walked off.
"No," the Doctor said in disbelief.
"It can't be," Martha added.
"It is. That's why it was so ironic he were there when the Face of Boe died. He saw his own death, without realizing it," Freya said. The Doctor and Martha both could do nothing but laugh as they all made their way back in the TARDIS.
Once in the TARDIS, Freya got to work with the TARDIS's help to create a nursery for Lil' Red. They also had to redesign Bad Wolf's room, since he was no longer the baby he was the last time they were in the TARDIS.
When they had finished, Freya made her way to the console room where the Doctor was staring at the console, looking quite forlorn.
"Did Martha decide to not come?" Freya asked gently.
"She fancied me," the Doctor admitted.
"I knew that. It was obvious," Freya pointed out.
"Why didn't you say anything?" the Doctor asked her, obviously distraught.
"I thought you knew. It was pretty obvious to me. That's why she never really liked me once she met you," Freya said.
"Oh," the Doctor said simply. The Doctor flipped a switch before turning back to Freya.
"Bad Wolf probably misses you," Freya pointed out, gesturing towards their son who was almost hiding behind Freya.
"He probably doesn't even remember who I am," the Doctor pointed out glumly.
"Of course he does. He doesn't think you like him," Freya pointed out.
"Of course I like you. You're my son!" the Doctor exclaimed, scooping Bad Wolf up.
"But you never tried to hold me before. Or anything," Bad Wolf said, his bottom lip quivering.
"Of course I have! Or I tried to. Blimey. When did we miss out on raising our children?" the Doctor asked Freya.
"I don't know. But I don't like it," Freya said.
"We need to get you checked up!" the Doctor finally said, eyes going wide.
"Doctor, I'm fine," Freya told him.
"But we never checked up on you after you gave birth!" the Doctor said.
"Owen did. He did have some bad news though. Actually, quite a bit of bad news," Freya warned him. The Doctor's grip on Bad Wolf tightened at her words.
"What?" the Doctor asked.
"Lil' Red won't live past fifteen. The experiments the Master did on her body made it incapable of holding a Time Lord consciousness. Ianto had it placed somewhere else for safe keeping, but it wouldn't last forever," Freya said.
"I see," the Doctor said, his grip on Bad Wolf tightening at her words.
"And the Master also did something to me. Owen doesn't think I'll be able to carry another pregnancy full term. At least, he doesn't think I will be able to if we have to do any running like we usually do, or movement at all. So I don't think I'll be able to give birth again," Freya admitted, holding the tears in.
It was something Owen had warned her about in the middle of the birthing process. He'd been keeping an eye on the experiments and there was nothing more he could do.
Still, Freya was thankful to know. It meant that if she were to ever get pregnant again, she'd be prepared for the inevitable miscarriage.
The Doctor opened his mouth, only to be cut off by the sound of a ship's foghorn.
A second later, the bow of a ship smashed into the side of the TARDIS, coming right through the ship. The action threw both the Doctor and Freya to the ground as the foghorn continued to go off.
"What?" the Doctor asked in disbelief as he stood and helped Freya to her feet. He then reached over and plucked a lifebelt that had fallen off the ship up.
It read "Titanic".
"What."
The Doctor stared up in disbelief, as did Freya.
What indeed.
So sorry for the long wait! I've done all I can, but I worked nonstop the first month of summer, and then I did a monthlong study abroad in France. This is literally the only free week I've had all summer, and I have to create a cookbook during the month for a wedding present to a friend (the wedding was two months ago…).
Again, I am sorry. I am doing whatever I can, but please don't get upset if there are very few and far between posts. Today or tomorrow I plan on trying to plan out what happens in series four, but there's a lot of planning and details I have to work out to make it work. It'll be difficult, I'll tell you that!
Let me know what you think!
Also, because I don't have time to reread my entire story and I know I mentioned something at some point, does anyone remember what I mentioned about Ianto and who he is? Cause I can't remember if I wrote down what I told y'all yet or not, and his identity should come out this next series, as well as Jack's wife's identity, an official meeting of River, happiness for James, and so much more!
Have a good time reading, and thanks for sticking with me! The next series will be posted in this story as well.
Side note: I have about a billion different Harry Potter story ideas at this point, but I know better than to try writing them. If anyone is interested, I can give them a few of my ideas to write. I also had a really cool FemHarry crossover with Once Upon A Time idea, if anyone would like to take that idea from me and write it. I'd love to read all of these story ideas I came up with, but I have absolutely no time to write them. So please, if you or someone you know can write (decent!) fanfictions and would like to run with a Harry Potter story idea, let me know! I'd be glad to hand some off to people I know wouldn't butcher them too badly.
Also, sorry for the long author's note and short chapter. I just wanted to wrap up this season for you as you all have been waiting long enough for it. Anyway, until next time!