He lands the Tardis roughly and runs out of it to see the ruined shell of a Prison. He can sense that the Master has been here recently and starts trying to follow his scent. He follows a trail to an abandoned construction site and stands on the small cliff looking down into it. He hears the sound of four beats echoing over and over again and sets off quickly towards the sound. In the middle of the site he sees the Master. He runs towards him and the Master takes off and climbs onto a pile of cement. As he gets close he sees the Master pulling back his sleeve and in a flash he is gone.
"Where is she," He screams in frustration and picks up a nearby rock and hurls it at the empty air. He starts to head back to the Tardis and runs into the one man he was hoping not to see standing with a group of other elderly people.
"Oh, my gosh, Doctor. You're a sight for sore eyes." Wilfred tells him.
"Out of my way!" He starts to push past them.
"Did we do it? Is that him?" One of them ask.
"Tall and thin, big brown coat." Says another.
"The Silver Cloak. It worked. Because Wilf phoned Netty, who phoned June, and her sister lives opposite Broadfell, and she saw the police box, and her neighbour saw this man heading east." One of the women rambles off and he turns to look at Wilfred.
"Wilfred?" He says calmly.
"Yeah?"
"Have you told them who I am? You promised me." He starts calm but as he finishes the sentence he can hear the anger in his voice.
"No, I just said you were a doctor, that's all. And might I say, sir, it is an honor to see you again." Wilfred salutes him and he nods at the man. "Can we talk?"
"Go on," He says as patiently as he can.
"Not here in private."
"Lead the way." He says and Wilfred leads him to a minibus and they all climb aboard.
The minibus stops in front of a Cafe and him and Wilfred get off.
"Come on, then. Here we are, hurry up. Bye. You behave, bye." Wilfred starts to head to the doors. "Over here, come on."
"What's so special about this place? We passed fifteen cafes on the way." He asks but Wilfred doesn't answer him.
They go in to the Cafe and are seated as soon as the waitress walks away Wilfred starts talking again. "Oh, we had some good times, didn't we though? I mean, all those ATMOS things, and planets in the sky, and me with that paint gun. I keep seeing things, Doctor. This face at night."
"Who are you?" He asks him.
"I'm Wilfred Mott."
"No. People have waited hundreds of years to find me and then you manage it in a few hours."
"Well, I'm just lucky I suppose." Wilfred says but he doesn't believe it.
"No, we keep on meeting, Wilf. Over and over again like something's still connecting us."
"What's so important about me?" Wilfred asks him.
"Exactly. Why you?" He takes a deep breath and then continues. "I'm going to die."
"Well, so am I, one day." Wilfred says and all he can think about is how much Donna loved her Grandfather. He didn't want her to be without him.
"Don't you dare." He says finally.
"All right, I'll try not to."
"But I was told. You're song must soon end."
"Yeah, but I thought, when I saw you before, you said your people could change, like, your whole body." Wilfred persist.
"I can still die. If I'm killed before regeneration, then I'm dead. Even then, even if I change, it feels like dying. Everything I am dies. Some new man goes sauntering away, and I'm dead."
He goes quiet again as he thinks of Rose walking around with some new man, Kiam in between them, no longer his clone. Would Rose be able to love him still if he regenerated. She had stayed with him when he had changed before but that was different. They hadn't had Kiam yet and they weren't engaged. He puts his hand in his pocket and gently plays with her ring. He planned on returning it to her as soon as he found River. But if his song was ending would he ever be able too?
He notices that Wilf is staring out the window. "What?" he asks him and follows the mans eyes. He sees Donna outside in the street getting in to a car.
"I'm sorry, but I had to. Look, can't you make her better?" Wilf asks him desperately.
"Stop it."
"No, but you're so clever. Can't you bring her memory back? Look, just go to her now. Go on, just run across the street. Go up and say hello."
"If she ever remembers me, her mind will burn, and she will die. Do you want that?" They go silent and through the window they see a traffic warden walking by Donna's car.
"Don't you touch this car." He hears her say loudly through the window and he laughs.
"She's not changed." He says with a smile.
"Nah. Oh, there he is." Wilfred points and he watches a man go up to Donna and kiss her on the cheek before they climb into the car. "Shaun Temple. They're engaged. Getting married in the spring."
"Another wedding. Hold on, she's not going to be called Noble-Temple? That sounds like a tourist spot."
"No, it's Temple-Noble."
"Right. Is she happy?" Asking the question that he hadn't stopped thinking since he had dropped her off at her house almost two years ago. "Is he nice?"
"Yeah, he's sweet enough. He's a bit of a dreamer. Mind you, he's on minimum wage, she's earning tuppence, so all they can afford is a tiny little flat. And then sometimes I see this look on her face, like she's so sad, but she can't remember why."
"She's got him."
"She's making do."
"Aren't we all?" He replies sadly.
"Yeah, how about you? Who have you got now?"
"No one at the moment. I'm travelling alone. I messed up with Rose and she took our son to stay with some friends. I was just trying to save someone but it went wrong. I need..." He doesn't finish his sentence as tears start streaming down his face.
"Oh, my word. I'm sorry."
"Merry Christmas." He says darkly.
"Yeah, and you."
"Look at us."
"But don't you see? You know, you need her, Doctor. I mean, look. Wouldn't she make you laugh again? Good old Donna?" He looks out the window and watches Donna and Shaun drive away. He did miss Donna and wish he could go out there and talk to her, but he knew better then to try. He says Goodbye to Wilfred and leaves the Cafe in search of the Master again.
Night falls and he walks towards the Master, who fires bolts of energy at him from his hands. He misses, and sets fires burning behind him. The third try hits him squarely in the chest, stopping him moving forward. When the energy stops and he falls painfully to his knees. The Master catches him, then lets him fall to the ground.
"I had estates. Do you remember my father's land back home? Pastures of red grass, stretching far across the slopes of Mount Perdition. We used to run across those fields all day, calling up at the sky. Look at us now." The Master says to him.
"All that eloquence. But how many people have you killed?" He looks up at him. "Where is River." He asks.
"She's safe," The Master says turning away.
"Let her go."
"No, Because now I have something you want." He eyes him and then smiles. "You don't know who she is do you?" The Master taunts him.
"You do," He says surprised.
"Oh yes, she's a killer, like you."
"Stop it." He says seeing that this way won't work he tries another approach. "What if I ask you for help? There's more at work tonight than you and me."
"Oh yeah?"
"I've been told something is returning." He says.
"And here I am."
"No, something more."
"But it hurts." The master says ignoring him.
"I was told the end of time." He says trying again.
"It hurts. Doctor, the noise. The noise in my head, Doctor. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Stronger than ever before. Can't you hear it?"
"I'm sorry." It doesn't seem like enough but he doesn't know what else to say.
"Listen, listen, listen, listen. Every minute, every second, every beat of my hearts, there it is, calling to me. Please listen." He goes quiet.
"I can't hear it." He tells the Master again.
"Listen." The Master puts both of his hands on his temples and he opens his mind and hears the drumbeats that he has come to associate with the Master. He pulls away from the Master quickly and gets to his feet.
"What?" The Master asks him.
"But" He starts confused.
"What!" The Master urges him to continue.
"I heard it. But there's no noise. There never has been. It's just your insanity. What is it? What's inside your head?" He wonders aloud.
"It's real. It's real. It's real!" The Master says sounding almost childlike. The Master takes off and he runs after him.
"All these years, you thought I was mad. King of the wasteland. But something is calling me, Doctor. What is it? What is it? What is it?"
A bright light shines down on the Master, then a second one illuminates him A pair of Soldier types come down on ropes, grab the Master and inject him with something knocking him out.
"Don't!" He cries out but they fire their guns at him and he has no choice but to stay back. The Master is taken into the helicopter and it starts to fly away. He runs after it screaming for them to come back, but he watches it disappear. He returns to the Tardis and then parks it across the street from the Nobles home.
The front door opens and Wilfred comes over to him. "I lost him. I was unconscious. He's still on Earth, I can smell him, but he's too far away."
"Listen, you can't park there. What if Donna sees it?"
He ignores him "You're the only one, Wilf. The only connection I can think of. You're involved, if I could work out how. Tell me, have you seen anything? I don't know. Anything strange, anything odd?"
"Well, there was a" Wilfred begins
"What? What is it? Tell me." He asks him.
"Well, it was. No, it's nothing."
"Think. Maybe something out of the blue. Something connected to your life. Something."
"Well, Donna was a bit strange. She had a funny little moment, this morning, all because of that book."
"What book?"
"His name's Joshua Naismith." Wilfred heads into the house and comes out a few minutes later and hands a book to him. He looks down at the cover and instantly recognizes the man.
"That's the man. I was shown him by the Ood."
"What's the Ood?"
"They're just the Ood. But it's all part of the convergence. Maybe? It may be touching Donna's subconscious. Oh, she's still fighting for us, even now. The Doctor Donna." He smiles happily.
"Dad, what are you up to? You." He turns and sees Donna's mom coming out of the house towards them. "Get out of here."
"Merry Christmas." He says politely.
"Merry Christmas. But she can't see you. What if she remembers?"
From inside the house they hear Donna call out. "Mum, where are those tweezers?"
"Go."
"I'm going." He turns back to the Tardis and starts to unlock the door.
"Yeah, me too." Wilfred says.
"Oh no, you don't." She says. "Dad, I'm warning you."
"Bye, see you later." Wilfred responds.
"Bit old for hide and seek." Donna calls out coming closer.
"You can't come with me." He tells Wilfred.
"You're not leaving me with her." he responds.
"Dad!"
"Fair enough." He opens the door and they climb inside. He hears Donna's mom yelling at them as he pulls the lever and the Tardis
dematerializes.
"Naismith. If I can track him down." He turns to Wilfred. "Ah. Right. Yes. Bigger on the inside. Do you like it?"
"I thought it'd be cleaner."
"Cleaner?" That was a new one. "I could take you back home right now."
"Listen, Doctor, if this is a time machine, that man you're chasing, why can't you just pop back to yesterday and catch him?"
"I cant go back inside my own timeline. I have to stay relative to the Master within the causal nexus. Understand?"
"Not a word." Wilfred says and he smiles at the man.
"Welcome aboard."
"Thank you."
Still need votes do you want to see 11 or should we stick with 10.
So far I have one vote for 11.