Guys, if I go a week or two without updating, please don't start barraging me with messages about it. If it's just one or two emails, I'm alright, but when I get thirteen of you all asking me why I haven't updated within a span of about 36 hours...well, it gets a little annoying. Semester just started back up and I have a new roommate (who has successfully been Whovianized) and I'm trying to get situated.
If you want updates on things or notices that I won't be updating, I post them on tumblr and tag them 'WSITW' And it might be a good idea to do this, because FF XIII-3 will be out in less than a month and you can bet your butts that will take priority over everything (except schoolwork) until I beat it.
Jack's vortex manipulator really seemed to do a number on the others, but each time Rose went hurting through time and space, she came out feeling like she'd just downed a case of energy drinks. But it was also different than that. She wasn't being stimulated by a concoction of chemicals and juices, pure energy was literally buzzing through her body. So while the others leaned against the metal wall of the building they materialized next to, Rose was hopping from foot to foot like an excited child on a sugar rush.
The night was cool, but not unpleasantly so. They could hear the murmur of overlapping voices and the hum of engines not too far away. A quick look around confirmed they'd landed at an airport. Rose flexed her gloved fingers eagerly.
"Oh, I'm starting to hate that thing. And you used to travel with it regularly?" Martha asked Jack.
"Didn't used to be like this." He explained as he cracked his neck. "I guess four people's a bit much for one manipulator."
"I feel fine," Rose informed them, trying to keep the chipper note out of her voice.
Martha glared at her enviously and adjusted her red leather jacket.
The Doctor looked her up and down critically for a moment then gave his head a quick shake to clear it. He pulled his TARDIS key out of his pocket and held it by the thin rope tied around it. It was now fitted with a tiny device welding it into the Archangel Network. "Alright, everyone. Remember. The keys do not make you invisible, just unnoticed. Don't scream or shout, no big movements or running. Draw attention to yourself and the spell is broken. Just…keep to the shadows if you can help it. We're here to find out his plan, not attack him."
"Not yet," Jack muttered.
The Doctor shot him a warning look, and then slipped his key over his head; Martha and Jack followed suit. Rose pinched her necklace between her fingers and pulled, splitting it apart, and slid it around her neck. She pressed the two ends back together and waited until she felt them fuse back together. Then, moving slowly, the four of them headed around the side of the building towards the amassing people.
Not long after finishing their portable perception filters, the Doctor had overheard a news reporter say that the President of the United States had landed in Great Britain. Who would be there to meet him but the new Prime Minister? Jack was easily able to determine which airport they were at, as well as the coordinates for his manipulator.
The four of them peered around the edge of the building. Air Force One was visible in the distance. Two SUVs and a truck were driving towards the group of people out on the tarmac—no doubt the Americans. A line of British soldiers stood at the ready, and in front of them was none other than Harold Saxon and his wife, Lucy.
The sight of him made Rose's muscles tense, part in anger, part in fear. All this time and she still could not forget what Saxon done. Being near him, even with the Doctor, Martha, and Jack right beside her did little to help. Her taught body did not escape the Doctor's notice. He placed a soothing hand on her back but the fury in his eyes was unmistakable.
"It's alright. He won't see us. But keep your mind contained," he ordered softly. "Do not attempt any form of telepathy, not even with me."
She nodded stiffly.
"Come on."
The four of them made their way around the building and towards the line of British soldiers. They kept near the edge of the pavement, alongside a curtain of thick strips of fabric that stretched from about thirty feet in the air to a ground. The Doctor was careful to lead them around the patches of light just in case anyone happened to glance in their direction.
Across the way, the American vehicles had stopped, and a group of black-clad soldiers formed a line that mirrored the British one. An older man in a suit strode towards the Saxons with two Secret Service agents behind him. President Winters.
Saxon saluted when he neared. "Mr. President, sir!" they heard him say.
Rose gritted her teeth.
"Mr. Saxon," Winters greeted him coolly. "The British Army will stand down. From now on, UNIT has control of this operation."
"You make it sound like an invasion."
"First contact policy was decided by the Security Council in 1968!" the president snapped. "And you've just gone and ignored it."
"Well, you know what it's like. New job, all that paperwork," Saxon rambled. "I think it's down the back of the settee. I did have a quick look. I found a pen, a sweet, a bus ticket, and…have you met the wife?" he asked suddenly, motioning to Lucy who took a step forward.
President Winters was not amused. "Mr. Saxon, I'm not sure what your game is, but there are provisions at the United Nations to have you removed from office unless you are very, very careful. Is that understood?"
Saxon raised his hand and mimed zipping his lips shut. What the hell was he playing at?
The president seemed to be wondering the same thing. "Are you taking this seriously?" Saxon nodded. "To business. We've accessed your files on these…Toclafane. First contact cannot take place on any sovereign soil. For that purpose, the aircraft carrier Valiant is en route. The rendezvous will take place there at 8am. …You're trying my patience, sir."
Saxon unzipped his lips. "So America is completely in charge?"
"Since Britain elected an ass, yes. I'll see you onboard the Valiant." He turned to go but Saxon stopped him, asking if it would still be televised. After all, he'd promised. "Since it's too late to pull out, the world will be watching. Me."
And with that, the President of the United States stormed back to his waiting car.
Rose, the Doctor, Martha, and Jack watched in silence for a long minute. Saxon said something to Lucy who seemed to laugh then he motioned her towards a car waiting for them. Rose's eyes flicked back to President Winters who was already leaving.
"Anyone else get the feeling that's what he wanted to happen?" she murmured. No one answered her because right then the Master turned around and for a moment, it seemed like he was looking right at them.
She clenched her fists as adrenaline flooded her system, her body primed for fight or flight. Could he see them? Then Saxon looked away from them and strode towards the waiting car. Rose relaxed and stretched her hand towards the Doctor, seeking comfort. He squeezed her fingers reassuringly, brushing his thumb across the back of her hand.
A wailing siren Rose had hardly noticed before suddenly reached crescendo as a police van drove past them. Saxon looked excited and bounded towards the van as it pulled to the stop. Two soldiers not unlike the ones that had been at Martha's mothers house earlier hopped from the back and began forcibly unloading three very familiar adults.
Martha made a soft, strangled sound.
"Hi guys!" Saxon greeted Martha's family, waving his hands. Francine and Clive shouted furiously at him as they were forced towards the waiting SUVs. Tish struggled fruitlessly against the two men holding her. Leo, however, was not present.
"Oh my God," Martha whispered.
"Don't move," the Doctor warned.
"But they…"
"Don't."
They watched the Jones family forcibly loaded into an SUV while the Master continued to taunt them. For the first time Rose was well and truly relieved that her mother was in another universe. The thought of that monster anywhere near her mum…. She clenched and unclenched her fists, her nails digging into the fabric of her gloves.
"I'm gonna kill him," Martha vowed.
"Say I use this perception filter to walk up behind him and break his neck?" Jack growled.
The Doctor glared at him. "Now that sounds like Torchwood."
"I'll help him." Rose saw the Doctor's head swivel around out of the corner of her eye but she refused to look at him. After a moment, he turned away.
"He's a Time Lord, which makes him my responsibility. If anyone deals with him, it's gonna be me."
"You better at least let me get a few hits in. I've been waiting a long time for it," Jack said as he lifted his wrist to inspect something on his manipulator.
They watched Saxon climb into the SUV Lucy was in. The soldiers were loaded up, the doors were shut, and the three vehicles moved away from the four onlookers on the tarmac.
The Doctor looked down at Rose somberly and, apparently deciding such a thing was safe enough, tapped his mind against hers. Three precise nudges, like the knocks he'd told her about that morning that were used among Gallifreyans to request private telepathic conversation. Unsure of how to respond mentally to his request, she simply nodded once.
She bit back the quiet sound of delight that threatened to escape her when she felt his mind slip into the outer area of hers where telepathic communication took place.
What is it? Rose asked.
Would you understand if I said I didn't want to kill him?
Rose drew back sharply, accidentally pulling her hand out of his. It took her a moment to collect her thoughts, which had scattered to the wind the moment he'd asked her such a thing. Did she want the Master dead? Certainly. There were very few beings in the universe that she wished death upon and he was one of them. She knew that the Doctor was his friend long ago, but to her knowledge, the Master had only proved time and time again that those days were over. He'd hurt him so many times. He'd hurt her, stolen some of her life from the Doctor. How could the Doctor not hate him even more than she did?
But, then, on the other hand, the Master was only other Time Lord in existence. The only other living soul from Gallifrey left in the universe. If there ever came a time when she and another were the last humans, no matter what that other person may be like, she knew she could never truly want them dead.
Yes, she answered honestly. I don't like it, but…yes.
Thank you.
But if you don't plan on killing him…how exactly do you expect to defeat him?
Jack cleared his throat loudly, startling them both. He and Martha frowned at the two of them, the latter tapping her foot impatiently. "Care to share with the class?"
"Oh," the Doctor said. He let go of the connection and she sighed quietly. "No, sorry."
"Okay, fine. Just thought you'd like to know: I have the coordinates for the Valiant. It's an aircraft carrier used by UNIT that was designed by our friend Saxon, if you remember the files."
"I remember."
Rose sighed. "Why…do I get the feeling this is a trap?"
"Oh, it is," the Doctor replied. "But I don't know if it's intended for us."
"Coordinates are set. We going?" Jack held out his wrist. For an answer, the Doctor placed his hand over the manipulator. Rose immediately covered his hand with hers. Martha groaned quietly but placed her hand on top of theirs.
Rose knew immediately as they raced through the vortex that they were not only travelling across space, but time as well. She wasn't sure if that was intentional or not but she trusted Jack to pilot them correctly. Even though this was the man who'd landed over a century and a half off course once. Granted he had been jumping two hundred thousand years that time.
They materialized in a mechanical area. There were machines and pipes everywhere, marked with yellow and black tape, some of them issuing steam. They hummed loudly from all sides, suggesting the four of them had materialized somewhere in the middle of the Valiant's mechanical area.
Rose hopped around in a small circle while the rush of energy tapered off and the others groaned from the various positions they'd landed in. The Doctor was on the floor, Martha slumped against the one of the machines, and Jack was saved from hitting the floor when his arm looped around a metal railing. They seemed to be having more difficulty recovering than usual and she gave them a minute to collect themselves. Four jumps in one day, each one getting progressively worse. That had to be rough.
"That's it! Never again!" Martha vowed as she struggled to push herself up. Rose extended a hand to help her to her feet, and held her steady as she wobbled. "How come you aren't having a hard time?"
Rose shrugged. "Beats me." She felt the Doctor's mind bump clumsily against hers and she whirled around. "You alright?"
"Yeah," he panted as he sat up. "Sorry. Just checking—didn't mean to—"
"It's fine." She knelt beside him, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Can you stand?"
The Doctor nodded but she still kept her hand on his arm as he climbed shakily to his feet.
Grumbling under his breath, Jack pulled himself up and cracked his neck. "Ah, that's better. Welcome to the Valiant."
"It's dawn," Martha realized. She walked towards one of the nearby portholes where early morning sunlight streamed through. "Hold on, I thought this was a ship. Where's the sea?"
"A ship for the 21st century," Jack explained as he followed her over. "Protecting the skies of planet Earth."
"It's an airship," she breathes.
"It's an airship."
Rose couldn't resist taking a look. She stretched up onto her tiptoes, peering over Martha's head through the porthole. The sky stretched on endlessly before them and white puffy clouds drifted by the window. Over the hum of the machinery around them, the distant rumble of airplane engines could be heard.
"Does this place have some sort of detention center?" Martha asked. "Where would he be keeping my family?"
"Not sure," Jack replied. "We have blueprints back at the Hub but I wasn't the one who examined them." He glanced at Rose, and Martha turned to her expectantly.
Rose blinked, looking between the two of them. God only knows how many times she'd gone over those plans when she'd first gotten her hands on them. She hadn't memorized them but she did have a general idea about the layout of the ship. She licked her lips, frowning thoughtfully. She was sure there hadn't been any sort of prison onboard. Not that there weren't places that could easily be converted to holding cells if needed. Plenty of rooms that were locked from the outside or required special clearance and credentials to open the computerized locks. But they wouldn't be able to get to any of those, let alone into them. But there was one place they might: the security center where the Valiant security guards were based. A place like that had to have some place set aside to contain any detainees until such a time they were released or could be transported elsewhere.
"Well?" Martha asked.
"There's loads of places they could be," Rose said after a moment. "It would take us hours to search them all and most of them are protected by scanners that require special clearance. The chances of us searching them all without being detected are slim to none."
"We've gotta try." Martha turned to the Doctor. "You can open those doors?"
"Well…" He pulled out the sonic and wiggled it back and forth in his fingers. Rose began shaking her head but he didn't seem to notice. "Should be able to, yeah."
"Well then what are we waiting for?"
Jack held out his arm to stop Martha before she could leave. "That's not gonna work."
"Why not?" she demanded.
Jack cocked his head towards Rose and nodded for her to explain. "Thank you," she said. "This ship was requisitioned by the Ministry of Defense at the time when Harold Saxon was a member. Archangel was already up and running at the time. Every single detail of this ship has his stamp of approval. You really think he's gonna leave his security systems impervious to sonic technology?"
The Doctor's shoulders dropped and he made a face. "Oh, blimey. Forgot about that."
Rose nodded. "Deadlocks on everything but the basic, all-access doors. So most of those rooms I mentioned we can't even get to. But there is a security hub. Place like that's gotta have a place to hold anyone they detain onboard."
"Can we get there?"
"If we can get to the higher levels, most likely. But I have no idea where we are on the ship. They could be right above us or they could be on the other side."
"No point in standing here." Jack looked around. "I say we pick a direction and go. Come on."
He chose the corridor to their left and took off. They followed him without protest, keeping their eyes and ears pealed for signs of anyone else. Once, the Doctor's advanced hearing alerted him to one maintenance worker and they had to stop, pressing themselves against the wall and holding still as the unsuspecting human passed by. Once the sound of his footsteps faded, they were off again.
The further they went the more Rose began to notice a tingling in her mind. At first she paid it no mind. She was always getting weird little tingles and shivers but they weren't cause for concern until they got more severe. But this one was heading there. The more it did, the easier it became to pinpoint its location. For the first time since its arrival, the TARDIS consciousness seemed to be awakening. And then…she heard it: a quiet, weak, and heartbreakingly familiar song trilling in her mind.
A moment later, the Doctor stopped dead in his tracks. One look at his slack-jawed expression and she knew he heard it too.
"We've got no time for sightseeing!" Jack hissed.
"No, wait. Shhhhhh!" The Doctor held up his hand. Jack sighed and looked around for a sign that someone was coming. "Can't you hear it?"
"Hear what?"
"I hear it, too," Rose murmured urgently.
"Doctor, my family's onboard," Martha reminded him, striding past determinedly.
The Doctor wasn't listening. "Brilliant!" He turned to the right and grabbed Rose's hand. "This way!" They bounded down the set of grated stairs down to a long corridor with identical cement floors and walls. They raced through the steam issuing from the vents towards a door labeled with a large, bold 4.
The song in Rose's mind grew in volume and intensity, the light in her mind pulsing brightly, drawing her in. But why was the TARDIS was onboard the Valiant? Oh, God, she was terrified. Something had happened to the TARDIS, she didn't know what, only that it had been horrible. She wasn't sure if she was ready to know what had happened. It was one thing to feel it, but seeing it was another matter altogether. She could tell from the tension in the Doctor's grip that he was afraid, too.
We're coming, Rose promised the ship.
She received a feeble hum of greeting in reply.
The Doctor let go of her hand when they reached the doors and grabbed the handles, throwing them open. And there she was, wedged against the far wall between boxes and crates, beautiful and blue, letters and windows shining with light. The TARDIS.
"Oh, at last!" the Doctor exclaimed.
Martha laughed gleefully. "Oh, yes!"
The two of them rushed towards it but Rose hung back, wary again. Now that she was this close she could practically feel something was wrong. Not unlike the vibe she got from Jack.
"What's it doing on the Valiant?" Jack wondered aloud. Glancing down at Rose, he added, "Are you okay?"
She jerked her head back in forth but, nevertheless, ran up to the TARDIS just as the Doctor was unlocking it. He pushed it open and they all rushed in.
But they stopped dead the moment they saw the interior. The room that used to be bathed in a gentle coral light was now as red as blood. A thick metal grating surrounded the console and rotor, forming an ominous pillar that contained inside it thick tubes and wires twisted and stretched around the console. There were thick pipes leading into the pillar and the coral struts were being used to support thick tubes as well. It was unnatural. It was horrifying.
"What the hell's he done?" Jack demanded.
"Don't touch it!" the Doctor ordered sharply.
"I'm not going to."
Memories of that day in December when the pain had overwhelmed her came flooding back as she finally saw what had been done. As her eyes flitted around the room, taking in everything, and she could almost feel the pain of each wound to the ship again. The feeling of her skin being flayed as pieces of the console were ripped away. The pain of being stabbed as wires and cords were inserted where they shouldn't be. Her insides being jerked around as parts were rearranged.
Rose cried out in horror and anguish and her knees gave out. She would've hit the floor if Jack hadn't caught her. He held her upright in his arms as she shook from the shock of it. The TARDIS continued her mournful lament in her mind.
"What's he done to her?" she cried.
"She sounds…sick," Martha said.
The Doctor was circling the console with intensity and horror in every movement. His hands were clenched tightly into fists. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It can't be."
Rose straightened up but Jack didn't let go of her, just in case. The phantom pains had disappeared but she didn't trust them to not reappear. "Doctor, please!"
The Time Lord's face was a picture of fury. "He's cannibalized the TARDIS!" he spat.
Jack took a step forward and she walked with him. He looked the pillar up and down. "Is this what I think it is?"
"It's a paradox machine."
Rose shook her head. "What's that? And why does it hurt?"
The Doctor looked at her seriously. "Are you in pain now?"
"N-no. Just phantom pains. I…I can't actually feel her like I used to. I mean she's in my mind, I can hear her louder than ever, but I can't feel her."
"Good."
"But why's he done this?" Martha asked.
"I'm not sure. But paradox machines they…they allow paradoxes to occur without ripping a hole in the fabric of reality. Keeps the reapers out, too. Turning a TT capsule into one of these is just about the worst thing you can do to it. You don't do it for something small, like saving a man from dying," he explained with significant glance towards Rose. She flinched. "No, no, no. You only make a paradox for something big. Something that could destroy the universe or even time itself."
Jack's arms tightened around her. "So whatever he's planning…"
The Doctor stared at him gravely but didn't respond. He didn't have to.
While he continued to inspect the machine, Jack looked down at Rose. She met his gaze sadly. "Do you want to sit down?"
She nodded silently and he lowered her to one of the thick pipes on the floor. She perched on it stiffly, watching the Doctor as he moved around. He appeared to be looking for something. He knows a lot about these, she mused. But how? Surely he hadn't ever made one himself. Was it a subject taught in school or—or was it something he learned during the Time War? A war through time itself had to be chock full of a variety paradoxes. They'd have to have some way to keep things from going to hell.
Had he ever had to do that to a TARDIS?
A little round gage on the lower half of the pillar caught the Doctor's attention. He knelt down and examined it with his lips pressed tightly together. "Soon as this hits red—" he tapped the gage with his fingers "—it activates. At this speed it'll trigger—" He seized Jack's wrist and pushed up the sleeve of his coat to have a look at his watch "—at two minutes past 8:00."
"The Toclafane will be here at 8:00," Rose pointed out. "And two minutes pass and…then…"
"But what could he possibly need this for?" Martha questioned. "What are the Toclafane going to do when this activates?"
"More importantly, can you stop it?" Jack asked.
The Doctor shook his head, rubbing his mouth in agitation. "Not until I know what it's doing. Touch the wrong bit and blow up the solar system." He exhaled through his teeth.
"Never mind my family, then," Martha said suddenly. "We've got to get to the Master."
"Right." The Doctor jumped to his feet and held his hands out to Rose. She took them and he pulled her to her feet. "Come on." He leaped over the pipes on the floor and headed for the door, pausing to throw a quick, apologetic look at the rotor, before he threw open the doors. Martha and Jack hurried after him but Rose lingered behind for a moment.
She extended a hand towards the nearest coral strut but stopped just shy of contact. Even in the eerie red light, she could tell the strut wasn't the healthy shade of brown it usually was. It was paler, hinting at yellow almost, and it might've even been thinner. 'Cannibalized,' the Doctor had said. She was literally making her own self sick and she couldn't stop it.
The urge to help her swelled within Rose and she focused in on the energy inside her, directing it to her hand with purpose. Her hand began to emit the light and she was just about to press it to the coral strut when the door opened again and the Doctor poked his head in.
"Rose, why are—no don't!" He rushed forward to stop her. He grabbed her wrist and she tried to jerk out of his grip.
"Let go of me."
He covered her hand with his other one, letting his hand sink through the golden light. "You can't help her," he murmured, caressing her palm with his thumb. "She's too far gone. She'll drain you dry without even meaning to."
Rose shook her head but the fight had gone out of her. "I can't just leave her like this."
"We have to."
"You didn't feel it, Doctor. The pain. I think she's still in it, maybe worse. Can't you hear how sad she is?"
"I hear her. But I can't help her right now and if you try you'll only hurt yourself. The only way we can help her is by finding out what she's being used for and to do that we have go get to Master."
Rose swallowed and let the energy in her hand tapper off and disperse trough her body. The Doctor shifted his grip so he was holding her hand rather than gripping it and pulled her out of the TARDIS. Jack and Martha had made it halfway up the corridor before realizing they weren't following. They waited impatiently for them to catch up, Jack glancing at his watching every few seconds.
"First contact happens in two minutes," Jack warned. "And we still don't know where to go."
"Actually, yeah, we do. …I can sense the Master," the Doctor admitted. "He's not far."
They raced after the Doctor through the engineering corridors and up several flights of stairs. As the ascended, the ugly, grated floors, tinted lights, and machinery gave way to smooth hardwood and standard off-white lights. Rose figured they must've entered the area of the Valiant meant for personnel. On the outside it resembled a large sea vessel for when the ship needed to be camouflaged beneath the ocean. Unless you had a submarine, you'd never be able to guess what was beneath the seemingly ordinary boat. Ingenious, really.
The four of them slowed to a walk when the Doctor warned them of people ahead and then stopped entirely when they reached the end of the corridor. Another one ran perpendicular to it and they could hear the quiet murmur of voices from down the right side. The Doctor ever so carefully, peered around the corner. He took in what lay beyond and then withdrew.
"The doors right around the corner. There's a few soldiers," he reported, "but they seem mostly interested in each other. Just keep your movements as steady as possible and, whatever you do, don't speak."
Rose, the Doctor, Jack, and Martha slowly crept up the hallway towards an innocuous wooden door. The group of soldiers just beyond it paid them no mind. The closer they got to the door, however, Rose began to realize a huge flaw in the plan. They couldn't open the door without being noticed by the soldiers and, more importantly, by the people inside.
But it seemed like fate was on their side because at that moment, a man in a black suit approached from the other side of the soldiers. He opened the door to enter the room and the Doctor caught the door before it could shut and the four of them slipped inside to an empty space near the back of the room.
It looked like an elaborate conference room. The walls and floors were mostly made of wood but there were four small alcoves lined with metal on either side of the room. A double-sided stairway lead up to a small platform where President Winters stood, addressing the cameras below. Behind him was an upper level where there were transparent screens, chairs, and what appeared to be control consoles for the ship itself. In the center of the main area was a large ovular glass table. Eleven people sat around it, including the Saxons.
Harry and Lucy were very at ease compared to the others who sat stiffly with their hands folded on the table or in their laps. He was leaning back in his chair, legs stretched out in front of him, and he rather seemed to be enjoying listening to Winters' speech.
"For as long as man has looked to the stars," said the President, "he has wondered what mysteries they hold. Now we know we are not alone."
Rose resisted the urge to snort. "He's known for years, bet my life," she hissed.
"Shhh," the Doctor breathed. "Listen. All I need to do is get my key around his neck and it'll cancel out his perception. They'll see him for real. It's just hard to go unnoticed with everyone on red alert."
The Master was smiling, Rose noticed. She shivered, hating being this close to him. It was worse than being near Jack.
"If they stop me…" The Doctor looked at Jack. "You've got a key."
"Yes sir," Jack whispered with a nod.
"I'll get him," Martha growled.
Rose said nothing, clenching her gloved fists in agitation. Her nails would be digging painfully into her skin if not for the material between them. She wanted to rush forward and throttle the bastard. Everything he'd done. To the universe, to her, to the Doctor, to the TARDIS—he deserved it. She could pardon him for everything else (well, not really) but what he'd done to the TARDIS was unforgivable. It was worse than murder. He deserved worse than murder.
Though she knew that attempting to do something along the lines she was thinking would probably just get them all killed. That wouldn't help anyone. So she held back. But inside her, a feral creature of time growled darkly, promising vengeance.
From up on the stairs, Winters' voice drew her attention once more. "I give you the Toclafane!" He gestured to the empty air behind him and, as if on cue, four metal spheres like the one on the news yesterday materialized one after the other. Everyone in the room reacted with something between shock and wonder except the four time travellers.
They floated there, humming and buzzing intermittently, turning this way and that and seemed to take in the scene before them. Rose realized immediately that there was something off about them. As if they didn't belong. Like they were out of their time.
"My name is Arthur Coleman Winters," he greeted formally. "President-Elect of the United States of America and designated representative of the United Nations. I welcome you to the planet Earth and its associated moon."
"You're not the Master," said one of the spheres in a male voice that had a strange echo to it.
Rose inhaled sharply through her nose and glanced at the Doctor. He crept slowly around the table, glancing between the Toclafane and the Master. 20 feet.
"We like the Mr. Master," chimed a female sphere. Three of Toclafane swooped down towards President Winters, forming a loose circle. The other drifted silently off to the side.
"We don't like you," added another male. They zipped up to the upper level.
The President seemed taken aback. "I…can be Master, if you wish. I will accept mastery over you if that is God's will."
Rose started to shake her head but caught herself at the last second. No, no, quit while you can, she pleaded silently.
"Man is stupid," the second male Toclafane said.
"Master is our friend," declared the first.
"Where's my Master, pretty please?" pleaded the female.
"Oh alright, then!" Harold Saxon said suddenly. "It's me!" He jumped to his feet and turned towards the room, sweeping his arms out wide and laughed. "Ta-da! Sorry. Sorry, I have this effect. People just get obsessed. Is it the smile? Is it the aftershave? Is it the capacity to laugh at myself? I don't know. It's crazy!"
"Saxon, what are you talkin' about?" President Winters demanded.
He turned, arms folded, suddenly completely serious. "I'm taking control, Uncle Sam. Starting with you." He turned to the lone Toclafane who'd yet to say a word. "Kill him," the Master commanded.
The Toclafane zipped forward, long spikes shooting from its body, and shot a single red beam at the President. He only had time to scream once before his body was reduced to nothing.
People screamed and dashed for the doors and Jack, Rose, and Martha had to scramble out of the way to avoid getting trampled. Thankfully no one seemed to notice them in their haste to get away. But before they could escape, the poor people found their exits blocked by the suits in the room and their guns. They scrambled away from the doors and cowered against the walls. The Master's people followed, keeping their guns trained on them. The Master laughed as he beheld the scene before him and clapped his hands gleefully.
Glancing at the Doctor, Rose saw him looking around, teeth gritted, with his hand on the rope around his neck indecisively.
Saxon bounded up the stairs and Lucy followed him. He spun around, hands on the railing, and addressed the camera. "Now, then, peoples of the Earth, please attend carefully."
The Doctor yanked his key off and rushed forward but before Saxon could even order it three of the suited men were on him. Rose's heart clenched in terror as he was wrestled to the ground and, swifter than ever before, her entire body felt like a livewire. The TARDIS hadn't sung in her mind for months but she didn't need it to know what was happening. It took Jack's hands locked around her arms to stop her from rushing forward. Martha, seeing this, grabbed onto her as well, though Rose was sure her friend wouldn't mind charging forward with her if it wouldn't blow their cover.
"We meet at last, Doctor!" the Master practically purred. "Oh, ho! I love saying that!"
"Stop this!" the Doctor screamed. "Stop it now!"
"As if a perception filter's gonna work on me." He swiveled his head up and looked directly at Rose, Martha, and Jack. "Oh, and look, it's the girlie and the freaks." Some of the people in the room followed his gaze and a handful of them jumped as they noticed the three extra people in the room for the first time. "Although, I'm not sure who's who, to be honest."
Jack shot towards him, hand in his coat to draw his gun, but the Master beat him to it. He withdrew a strange metal device from his pocket and pointed it at the Captain. An unfamiliar hum filled the air and a single, yellow beam shot towards him. Jack screamed then just and dropped to the floor. Dead in less than second. Around them, people cried out in varying degrees of shock and horror.
Martha let go of Rose and rushed towards Jack. She followed more slowly, keeping her eyes firmly on the Master. Should she try and draw her gun? Her jacket was zipped all the way and unzipping it alone would draw attention to her. At least right now no one knew she was armed. Maybe best to save it for later.
"Laser screwdriver," the Master said with a wink in the Doctor's direction. "Who'd have sonic? And the good thing is, he's not dead for long. I get to kill him again!"
"Master, just calm down. Just look at what you're doing," the Doctor tried to reason. "Just stop. If you could see yourself…"
The Master sighed and looked the cameras. The cameraman and woman were still manning their posts dutifully, though whether that duty was to the Master or to their profession remained to be seen. "Oh, do excuse me, little bit of personal business. Back in a minute. Let him go," he told the guards.
The Doctor yelped as he was shoved harshly to the floor. Rose started towards him but froze when the Master turned his gaze—and the laser screwdriver—on her. "Ah, ah, ah. Wait your turn, Miss Tyler. I'll get to you soon enough. You—" he nodded to one of the gunmen "—keep your eye on her."
She heard the quiet rustle of clothing as the gunman swiveled around. "Bastard," she spat at the Time Lord.
He grinned cheerfully and looked down at the Doctor. "Feisty, isn't she? And quite the fighter, too. Was she always that way?"
"Leave her out of this," the Doctor growled. "Just listen to me. It's that sound, the sound inside your head. What if I could help?"
"Oh, how to shut him up?" He mimed talking with his hand. "I know. Memory lane!" He sat down on the steps facing the Doctor. "Professor Lazarus. Remember him? And his genetic manipulation device?"
It had been nearly three years ago for Rose but she remembered him. The old man who'd sought to be young again and had used some sort of sonic technology, only to be mutated horrifyingly. They'd stopped him again by using sonic waves against him. That had been the first time they met Martha's family, and was the incident that had prompted her to remain with them.
"Do you think that little Tish got that job merely by coincidence?" the Master asked scathingly. "I've been laying traps for you all this time. And If I can concentrate all that Lazarus technology into one little screwdriver…" He held up his screwdriver threateningly. He took a deep breath but then seemed to realize something and placed his chin in his hand. "But, ooh, if only I had the Doctor's biological code. Oh, wait a minute. I do!"
The Master leaped from his position on the stairs and rushed towards a table near the stairs. Rose looked at the man pointing the gun at her for a moment and, praying he wouldn't find the action threatening, lunged towards the Doctor and dropped to her knees next to him. She breathed a sigh of relief when no gunshot followed and she gripped his arm tightly.
"I've got his hand!" The Master declared and threw open a silver case she hadn't noticed before. Inside was an only-too-familiar jar containing the Doctor's hand inside the bubbling liquid. Rose's stomach twisted. How many times had she stared at thing down in the Torchwood Hub before the Master had taken it with him? She'd forgotten the Master had it.
"And if Lazarus made himself younger, what if I reverse it?" the Master asked. "Another hundred years?"
"No!" Rose snarled and placed herself between the two Time Lords. "Don't you dare hurt him or I swear I'll kill you."
The Master simply raised his eyebrows. "I have no problem hitting you with this. Except I don't think you'll survive it. How about it? Want to die a painful death in front of your precious Doctor?"
Rose gritted her teeth and stared him down. She was dimly aware of the cameras trained on them as well as the man who had a gun pointed at her head. She uncurled her fists, already summoning the destructive power within her. She could do it. His arms, or maybe an arm and some internal organs…or maybe his head—plenty of things she could destroy that would cripple him.
"I'll kill you," she repeated. The energy was racing through her body. Any second now she'd be able to take him down. But before she could do anything, the Doctor used his strength to literally toss her out of the line of fire. She rolled up into a crouch the moment she hit the floor and the Doctor's screaming filled her ears.
His body was convulsing and flailing about oddly as if he was being fast-forwarded while time remained steady around him.
"STOP IT!" she screamed and sprang to her feet, only to feel a gun press against the nape of her neck. She froze.
"Make one more move," the man dared.
Her eyes flicked between the two Time Lords desperately. Rose felt the familiar surge of power just a few feet away but thankfully the Doctor's screaming drowned out Jack's first gasp of life to everyone except the man standing right behind her. She felt the gun shift the tiniest amount as he turned to look and she seized the chance. She spun around, bringing her hand, glowing with her destructive power, up and she seized the gun. It evaporated into dust and in the split second it took the man to process what happened, she swung her other fist up. It connected with the side of his face and sent him sprawling to the floor. He did not rise.
The room seemed to spin around her as her body reacted to the sudden loss of energy and by the Rose turned back around, the Doctor's screams had finally ended. The Master lowered his screwdriver and the Doctor lay in a heap on the floor. His thick, unruly brown hair was gone, replaced by thin white strands that barely covered a fraction of what they once did. His skin was wrinkled and his entire body trembled. He slowly pushed himself up on his arms and Rose flung herself down to his side.
"Doctor," she whispered. He panted heavily, trying to sit up. She grasped his arm and shoulder and gently eased him up. He grasped her forearm tightly and familiar brown eyes stared at her from the face of an old man. "I've got you. I'm right here."
"Awww, would you look at these two? A Lord of Time and a human peasant: like something out of a fairytale. So cute." He sneered at them.
"Leave 'em alone." Martha Jones snapped from Jack's side. The Master turned to her in surprise. "I mean it, leave 'em."
Rose put her hand on the Doctor's cheek and turned his face towards hers. She reached out with her mind, seeking his, but he either didn't have the strength to initiate the link or he was choosing not to.
"Are you going to make me?" the Master asked.
"I just might." Martha replied coldly.
"Are you sure? Because…I've got something of yours. Or someone. Several someones, actually. And I've brought them all the way in from prison!" He gestured to the back of the room and she heard a door sliding open. Rose didn't turn to look but from Martha's gasp and the voices coming from behind, she guessed that the three captured Jones family were being shoved into the room.
"Mum," Martha whimpered.
A moment later, the first male Toclafane asked, "Is it time?!"
"Is it ready?" asked the second male.
"Is the machine singing?" asked the female as the three metal monsters circled above the Master.
He checked his watch and smiled darkly. "Two minutes past." He glanced at the Doctor once more then bounded up the stairs to stand next to Lucy. Leaning his hands on the railing, he looked into the cameras. "So! Earthlings. Basically…um…end of the world."
The Doctor's hand tightened around Rose's arm and they glanced at each other.
The Master raised his screwdriver into the air. "HERE. COME. THE DRUMS!" Out of nowhere, music began blaring over the speakers, repeating the same words the Master had just uttered: here come the drums, here come the drums!
Rose felt the moment the paradox machine activated like a ripple through the air that stabbed like a million tiny pins against her skin. Beside her, the Doctor flinched as he, too, felt the change. Suddenly the air was just a bit too thick, the colors too dull, and the song playing over the speakers was just a bit too…slow. Or fast? She whimpered, clutching at her head with her hands and lowered it to the floor in an attempt to increase the blood flow.
You are my voodoo child, my voodoo child
When her initial reaction to the sudden shift in time wore off a few seconds later, Rose raised her head. The first thing she saw was Lucy Saxon up on the platform above the first stairs. She was dancing, chewing a sweet in her mouth, with a giddy little smile on her face. Rose hissed softly and raised her hand. The rest of destructive energy she'd built up earlier flared from her palm. Lucy's heels dissolved into dust and she stumbled, flailing wildly, and only just managed to catch herself on the railing.
Rose's head spun dizzily and it was only the sudden arrival of Martha that prevented her from hitting the floor face-first.
"Sit…sit her up," the Doctor wheezed.
Martha shifted her grip and the Doctor grunted quietly as the two of them heaved her into a sitting position. Rose panted quietly and it was all she could do to not slump against the Doctor.
"That was…stupid," he whispered to her.
"That bitch was dancing," she muttered back. "World's about to go to hell and she's dancing…"
The Doctor shook his head sadly and nudged her mind with his. She gave him a brief nod of consent and felt his mind slip into hers. Doctor, what do we do?
Nothing.
What?
There's nothing we can do. Not now. You've got to get out of here. Martha has Jack's manipulator. Take it and go.
Rose shook her head vehemently and hissed, "I can't just leave you!"
You can and you must. The Doctor reached out his hand and quickly took the manipulator from Martha and fiddled with the coordinate dials. This should take you down to the edge of London. He handed the manipulator to her. My brave, precious girl—you and Martha have to save the world. I can't go with you; I'll only slow you down like this. And Jack will give away your position.
The music around them was abruptly and the Master's voice, projected over the speakers. "Down you go kids!"
Through the portholes and windows, Rose could see countless Toclafane streaking down from the sky towards the helpless planet below.
"Remove one-tenth of the population!" The Master ordered his metal monsters.
Rose glanced at Martha who was staring up at the bridge in horror and anger. Then at Jack lying prone on the floor a few feet away, watching the three of them. But how? What do you expect us to do?
I've…got a plan. It's a long shot but right now it's our only chance.
Rose listened as the Doctor telepathically explained what they would have to do and how long they would probably have to do it in. Her head was shaking slowly, tears dripping from her eyes onto their arms, and she couldn't stop them. She'd just gotten him back. She couldn't lose him again. She wouldn't leave him here.
You've got to! Please, Rose. If you stay, he'll… Please. I can't watch him kill you. He stared pleadingly into her eyes and used his hand to wipe away the tears trickling from them.
Messages were pouring in through the coms from UNIT bases around the world, all of them reporting the same things. Countless Toclafane slaughtering, none of their defenses or weapons working against them. They'd been completely unprepared for something on this scale and the Master, damn him, had known it. All those people…
Please, Rose. Run.
Rose took a deep, shaky breath, and leaned close, pressing her lips against his rough old ones. "I love you," she whispered.
She pushed herself to her feet and pulled Martha with her. For a moment, Martha's eyes fell on her family standing in the back of the room. Rose followed her gaze. The three Joneses stood with guns to their heads, hands bound in front of them. Tish looked afraid and Francine and Clive stared sadly at their daughter. There was no way to help them; they'd have to remain onboard.
Martha must've figured that out on her own, because without saying a word, she placed her hand over the manipulator Rose was holding. Rose looked down at Jack and he nodded encouragingly, even going so far as to wink at her. She looked at the Doctor who was staring at her intently, like he was trying to memorize her face.
Rose took a deep breath and pressed the button to activate the manipulator. She felt the lurch of time being punched open for them and just before they were sucked in, she heard the Doctor's whisper in her mind: Be strong.
And then they were gone.
And onto the Year That Never Was.