"Citizens of Earth, rejoice and observe," the Master announced grandly. The camera was back, and the Time Lord was once again addressing his adoring masses as the guards pulled Molly, Greg, and Sherlock into the room. The shrunken Doctor hung in a cage at one end of the room, and Jack was held by restraints. Molly could barely look at him. He looked like he's been through nine kinds of hell and back since she'd left him there, but he still spared her a quick grin, typical Jack.
The Master turned to her, holding out his hand expectantly. "Your teleport device, in case you thought I'd forgotten." Molly unstrapped the Vortex Manipulator and tossed it at him, glaring as she did. It felt strange not to have the familiar weight on her arm.
The Time Lord grinned cruelly, lifting his laser screwdriver again. "And now, kneel," he ordered with relish. Molly felt anger burn through her, but she had no choice. She nodded discreetly, the signal for Greg and Sherlock to do as he said. The three travelers all knelt, heads bowed, not meeting the Master's eyes. He smirked successfully. "Down below, the fleet is ready to launch. Two hundred thousand ships set to burn across the universe. Are we ready?"
As he confirmed his ships were ready, Molly snuck a quick glance at the Doctor. He was gripping the bars of his cage, staring at her with wide, sad eyes. She knew in her leather and her stance she looked like the soldier she'd had to become, and it seemed like the Doctor was already blaming himself. She gave him a quick smile to reassure him, then looked down again.
The Master was still going on. "At zero, to mark this day, the child Molly Hooper, and her little friends, will die. My first blood. Any last words?" Molly bit her lip to keep from saying anything. "No? Such a disappointment, this one. Days of old, Doctor, you had companions who could absorb the time vortex." She stiffened as the Doctor flinched at the mention of Rose. "This one's useless. Bow your 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 - "
Molly couldn't keep it in anymore. For a year she'd scoured the Earth with two trusted friends, working tirelessly to do the Doctor's work, everything according to the overall plan, and now the pieces were all falling into place, and the Master was blathering on, convinced he had won. It was too much. She began laughing, softly at first, then louder as she saw the Master's irked expression. She lifted her head, Greg and Sherlock following suit, as she really, truly laughed for the first time in what felt like ages.
The Master was infuriated. "What?" he demanded, but Molly was too caught up in her laughter to answer. "What's so funny?"
As her laughter subsided, she smirked at the angry little man who had no idea he'd just lost. "Really, Master?" she asked tauntingly. "A gun?"
"A gun with four magical chemicals to kill a Time Lord?" Sherlock added tauntingly.
The Master's brow furrowed in confusion. "And? What about it?"
Greg rolled his eyes. "God, you're thick. You actually bought that? I thought you were supposed to be a genius or something."
"What do you mean?" the Master demanded roughly.
Molly just smirked tauntingly as the Doctor rasped from his cage, "As if I would ask them to kill."
The Master looked unsure for a moment, then he shook it off. "Oh well, it doesn't matter. I've got your precious companions exactly where I want them."
Molly shook her head, still smirking. "We're here because we want to be, oh mighty Master. We knew about Docherty's son and that she'd turn us over, so we used it. Now the puzzle pieces are falling into place, Time Lord. You brought us here at just the right time to lay in the last piece."
The Master was starting to get angry. "Oh, but you're still going to die," he growled, lifting his laser screwdriver at her.
"Don't you want to know first?" Sherlock asked tauntingly.
He paused. "Know what?"
"Why." Greg said simply. "Why we risked our necks running all over the world."
"We've established it wasn't because of some gun," Molly reminded him mockingly. "Don't you want to know the real reason?"
The Master tensed. "Tell me," he demanded. Molly suppressed the urge to laugh again. The poor man still thought he could give the orders.
"There were never any weapons or schemes or nefarious deeds," she told him. "Just a story. The Doctor's story, and I told it to the world, just like he told me to. I told them, and they told others, and now, and this moment, every man, woman, and child knows of the Doctor and what he's done to save them, time and time again."
The Master smirked, more confident now. "Faith and hope? Is that all?"
"No, because we gave them instructions," Sherlock added.
"We told them how to save the Doctor," Greg added.
Slowly, deliberately, Molly stood, followed by her two friends, grinning fully as she threw the words in the Master's face. "We told them a date and a time," she told him with relish, enjoying the look of confusion on the Time Lord's face. "At the same time, everyone down on the Earth, all of those humans you've terrorized, they're all going to think of a word. One word, the same word, all at once. And at that time – "
"Nothing will happen!" the Master cut her off hastily. He was starting to look very uneasy, but he still tried to cover it up by sneering, "Is that your weapon? Prayer?"
Molly smirked. "If you like. Prayer, and fifteen satellites."
The sneer dropped right from the Master's face. "What?" he asked blankly.
"One word, just one word, echoing in the mind of every human," Molly repeated with a grin, "with the power of fifteen satellites."
"The Archangel Network," Jack added, speaking for the first time.
"The telepathic field you created," Sherlock reminded him.
"The human race, taking their minds back as one, using your own little party trick against you," Greg taunted.
Molly stepped back beside them, grabbing a hand from each and holding on as they all glared defiantly at the Master. "The entire human race, their minds blaring out one word, amplified by the satellites, at the same time. And the word of the day – Doctor."
It was time. She could feel it in her mind, the Archangel Network, the strain of a million minds, shouting out as one, one word in a million different voices. Out loud, she added hers to the mix. "Doctor," she said, staring defiantly at the Master as she did. "Doctor." All grinning at the Master, the other prisoners joined in, chanting the name as one.
The Master looked properly panicked now. "Stop it. No, no, no, no, you don't." He raised his screwdriver threateningly at them, but they kept chanting, and it was too late. Molly wasn't sure, but she thought she even saw the Master's wife whisper "Doctor," under her breath.
"I've had a whole year to tune myself into the psychic network and integrate with its matrices. The one thing you can't do," the Doctor told him gravely from his cage. "Stop them thinking." He had begun to glow, the cage springing open to release him. He floated out, bathed in a bright, warm glow. In a matter of moments, the old, shriveled creature youthened, once again becoming the man Molly had known for a year. He was still suspended in air, held up by the glow of a million minds. "Tell me the human race is degenerate now, when they can do this."
The Master's eyes bugged in terror. "No!" he cried shrilly. He shot at the Doctor with his screwdriver, but the energy around him made it bounce off harmlessly.
"I'm sorry," the Doctor said softly. "I'm so sorry."
"Then I'll kill them!" the Master cried wildly. He turned his laser screwdriver on Molly, Sherlock, and Greg, but the Doctor merely waved a hand, the energy sending the screwdriver flying out of the Time Lord's hand. The Master began to back up, shouting furiously, "You can't do this. You can't do it. It's not fair!"
"And you know what happens now. You wouldn't listen, because you know what I'm going to say," the Doctor said gently, drawing closer, even as the Master back up against a wall, slumping down in fear. He screamed in protest, but the Doctor lowered to the ground, the energy disappearing, as he pulled the Master into a hug. "I forgive you," he whispered.
Molly watched the display of mercy quietly. She'd been a soldier for one very long year, and she'd seen the devastation the Master had caused. Millions of lives destroyed, the rest forced into slavery and misery, and the Earth torched and scarred by the Toclafane. So much death and destruction. She'd hated the Master for so long, hated him for all the deaths, all the ruined lives, all the destruction, John, the Doctor, Jack, Tom, everyone who had suffered, she had blamed and hated him. Now, seeing the Doctor forgive him, and knowing that was the end, it was hard. That year had given her plenty of reason to hate the Master, and the bitterness to fuel that hate. But she knew what the Master meant to the Doctor, so she kept silent. It wasn't her choice to make.
"My children," the Master whispered. Molly stiffened. The Toclafane were still out there.
The Doctor turned gravely to Jack. "Captain, the paradox machine." Jack nodded, then raced off to the corridor where the TARDIS waited.
Molly didn't notice the Master had the Vortex Manipulator until it was too late. "No!" the Doctor cried. He managed to grab hold of the Master before both of them vanished.
After he was gone, she forced herself to collect her thoughts, turning her glare on the Master's guards. They quaked under the glare of the famous Molly Hooper, the woman who'd saved the world with one word. "This ship is ours now," she told them firmly. "Got it?" After a few moments, they all nodded. "Good."
Greg looked anxiously at her. "Where did they go?"
"I'm not sure," she admitted, "but there's no way for the Master to win."
"He's still got them," Sherlock pointed out, looking outside the windows. Molly blanched as she realized what he meant. Billions upon billions of Toclafane, all zooming towards the Valiant.
Molly shook her head defiantly. "Jack'll destroy the Paradox Machine, and they'll be gone," she reminded them. She stepped back to join Sherlock and Greg, gripping their hands tightly. "Thanks for everything," she told them quietly.
"Always, Molly Hooper," Greg told her somberly. Sherlock said nothing, just giving her hand a tight squeeze. They waited for the inevitable, hardly noticing the Master and the Doctor's return, then blinked in surprise as the Toclafane vanished, blinking out of existence. Molly grinned, but before they could rejoice, the ship gave a massive shudder, feeling almost like the TARDIS in flight. Molly was thrown back into the Doctor's arms, and everyone else tumbled to the ground.
"Everyone get down!" the Doctor warned. "Time is reversing!" They held on desperately, Molly and the Doctor crouching together as the winds ripped around them, the ship quaking fiercely as time rewrote itself.
Finally, it stopped. Molly got to her feet and headed immediately for a window. She grinned as she saw Earth as it should be, not what the Master had made it. "We did it," she said quietly.
"The paradox is broken," the Doctor announced. "We've reverted back, one year and one day. Two minutes past eight in the morning. 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."
"What about the Toclafane?" Sherlock asked.
"Trapped at the end of the universe," the Doctor told him. Molly frowned, feeling a pang of guilt for her part in what the human race became in the end. Still, maybe it was for the best. Everything had to end sometime. The human race had its end just like any other, and they had another 500 trillion years to cherish between now and then.
"How come we can remember, then?" Greg asked curiously.
The Doctor grinned. "We're at the eye of the storm. The only ones who'll ever know."
While they were talking, the Master had tried to make a break for it. He ran for the door, but Jack had just gotten there, and was blocking his way with a smirk. "Whoa, big fella! You don't want to miss the party." He grabbed the Master by the arm, then turned to one of the guards. "Cuffs." They were provided, and while he handcuffed the Master, he asked the others, "So, what do we do with this one?"
"He's too dangerous to keep locked up," Sherlock said.
Molly kept silent. She wanted the Master dead and much as the rest of them, but that wasn't how it worked, and she knew the Doctor would never approve. He glared at the others. "We're not killing him, if that's what you're all thinking."
"So what then?" the Master asked tauntingly. "The noble Doctor, with all your rules and morals. What punishment can you possibly carry through?"
The Doctor looked at his fellow Time Lord with such deep sadness, and desperation. "You're my responsibility from now on. The only Time Lord left in existence."
"Yeah, but you can't trust him," Jack argued.
The Doctor shook his head. "No. The only safe place for him is the TARDIS."
The Master blanched. "You mean you're just going to keep me?"
The Time Lord nodded. "Mmm. If that's what I have to do. It's time to change. Maybe I've been wandering for too long. Now I've got someone to care for." Molly had seen the Doctor shriveled in a cage, but the way he looked at the Master now, she'd never seen him look so ancient. The Master was bad for the Doctor, she knew that. Keeping him around would destroy him. But it was his choice, and she knew he could never let the other Time Lord go.
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, and the Master reeled back, falling out the Doctor's arms. Molly looked up in surprise to see Lucy, the Master's wife, holding a gun in her shaking hands. Jack hurried right to her, ordering, "Put it down!" He took the gun from her, leading her away. Molly had thought the woman had been in league with the Master, but maybe there was more to that story than she'd first seen.
The Doctor was holding wounded Master gently in his arms. "There you go. I've got you. I've got you," he said softly.
The Master gave a rueful grimace. "Always the women," he rasped.
"I didn't see her," the Doctor apologized.
The Master gave a snort of amusement. "Dying in your arms. Happy now?"
"You're not dying," the Time Lord said quickly. "Don't be stupid. It's only a bullet. Just regenerate."
The Master grinned. He leaned forward slightly, the little he could manage, and whispered, "No."
The Doctor began to look panicked. "One little bullet. Come on."
The Master gave a weak chuckle. "I guess you don't know me so well. I refuse."
Tears fell from the Doctor's eyes. "Regenerate. Just regenerate. Please. Please! Just regenerate. Come on." Molly hated how desperate he looked, like his world was burning in front of his eyes all over again.
"And spend the rest of my life imprisoned with you?" the Master asked ruefully.
"You've got to," the Doctor whispered, his voice breaking. Molly had never heard him beg like this before. It broke her heart as she watched him cradling his fallen enemy, the last piece of hope he'd had left. "Come on. It can't end like this. You and me, all the things we've done. Axons. Remember the Axons? And the Daleks. We're the only two left. There's no one else. Regenerate!"
The Master gave a small, triumphant grin. "How about that. I win." Then it faded, and the Master became like a small, scared child. "Will it stop, Doctor? The drumming. Will it stop?" He stiffened, then lay unresponsive in the Doctor's arms, dead forever. Molly could hardly believe it. Their enemy, gone because of pride, just like that.
But it wasn't the Master she was thinking about after his last moments. It was the living Time Lord, staring at the Master's body like his world had just fallen apart, burned to ashes again, all because of him. "No!" He cried desperately, but it was too late. The Master was dead. He clutched the body closer, sobbing with abandon, looking more desperate and vulnerable than Molly had ever seen him, more scared and panicked than the time the sun had possessed him. He looked like the child now, lost and alone, both hearts broken. Molly knew that no one, no human or any other creature, could ever make up for the loss of this last Time Lord, but she couldn't sit back and do nothing while her friend wailed in agony. She stepped up to him, crouching beside him and putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. She didn't say anything, didn't offer any empty promises of how it was all going to be okay, didn't try to distract him from his grief. This wasn't about her, but he didn't have to be alone. Sherlock, Jack, and even Greg, who hadn't known the Doctor for long, came to join her, offering comfort to the Time Lord in the only way they could.
SCENEBREAK
The Master's funeral was a somber affair. The Doctor wasn't crying, not anymore, but the blank, emotionless expression was almost worse. The Master's body was on a pile of logs, burning. Apparently, it was an old Gallifreyan tradition, and a Time Lord's body was far too dangerous to leave lying around. She stood beside the Doctor, gripping his hand tightly, as the Time Lord burned before them.
When it was over, she noticed Sherlock slip to the side and pick something up off the ground by the pyre. She saw the slight glint of metal – a ring maybe? - but didn't question Sherlock as he pocketed it. Instead, she, Sherlock, Greg, and Jack all silently followed the true Last of the Time Lords as he turned and strode back to his TARDIS.
There was still something they needed to talk about.
WAIT! HALT! CEASE! DESIST!
Now that I have your attention, I will announce that this is not quite the end. There will be an interlude, wrapping things up. You didn't think I was going to end this without letting Molly say her goodbyes, did you?
Now as for the actual chapter, yikes, that's some heavy stuff. I started tearing up writing it, just remembering that scene with the Master dying and the Doctor begging him to regenerate. You know, we credit Moffat with all the sad stuff, but Russel T. Davies wrote some pretty depressing stuff.
And yes, for those observant folks, Sherlock indeed pocketed the ring that was supposed to later bring the Master back to life, and I will say now that he had figured out that it is important, though he doesn't know why, and he is planning on tossing it into the nearest black hole. So the Doctor has been saved from the return of the Master and the other Time Lords.
I just want to say in advance, thank you all so much for reading and reviewing my story, and for following it through to the very end. It's sad it has to end, but you guys have all been great, and I'm glad so many people have enjoyed this story.