CHAPTER 2

I do not own Doctor Who and I am not making any profit off of this.

Thank you so much for your favorites and follows and the review! I really appreciate the reaction to this story! I've decided to turn it into an ongoing story as a result of that.

CLARA REUNITES WITH AN OLD FRIEND

"So what's it like being an alien? Do you feel any different than you did as a human?" Artie asked Clara.

It was the next day since he had his mind blown by the revelation that Clara was actually a Time Lord like the Doctor. He still couldn't get over it. She still seemed just like the Clara that he had always known and yet he now half expected her to start babbling away talking nonsense or pulling out some alien gadget at any moment like the Doctor. He was almost disappointed that she didn't.

Clara smiled at him as she said, "I'm exactly the same, Artie, I swear. You act like I'm about to sprout an extra head or something."

"Can you?" Artie asked hopefully.

"No, sorry. I could try to give myself one when I regenerate though I suppose. Then again that might not be such a bright idea because the Doctor says that I'm already too bossy as it is," Clara said giggling.

"You could really do that?" Artie asked.

"Oh, don't be so stupid! She's just joking with you. Right?" Angie asked Clara.

Clara just grinned evilly but said nothing.

"No! You're kidding me," Angie said in disbelief.

They were then interrupted by the sound of a TARDIS materializing in the middle of the living room. Clara smiled at first and then her smile quickly turned to horror as she realized that it wasn't the Doctor's TARDIS.

This TARDIS was in the form of an old Grandfather clock, and somehow Clara knew exactly who it belonged to before its owner even showed himself. Somehow Clara could just feel that it was the Master's TARDIS.

Everything that the Doctor had told her that the Master had done since she had last seen him ran through her mind all at once, and she immediately got in front of the children as she ordered, "Stay behind me!"

The Master emerged from his TARDIS and stood there staring at her for several moments without speaking and with absolutely no trace of any emotion on his face whatsoever. It was just a few minutes, but it seemed like an eternity as Clara's hearts thundered in her chest with fear over what he might do to her or the children.

She was determined to die giving them a chance to escape if she had to, but she really hoped that it didn't come to that.

Then the Master smiled at her. It wasn't a malevolent smile though like she was expecting from the Doctor's stories. It was a smile filled with pure joy at seeing her again.

"Alura! It really is you!" the Master said as he suddenly wrapped his arms around her without warning making her gasp in fear for a moment.

"Alura?" the Master asked as he felt Clara shaking with fear through his embrace.

He immediately let her go and said in a hurt voice, "You've seen the Doctor first haven't you? He's poisoned your mind against me."

"He told me some of the things that you did, yes. I didn't want to believe that they were true, but the Doctor would never lie to me about something like that. He knows how close that we all were," Clara said.

"Did he also tell you why I did all of those things? Did he tell you that the drums were real and that they drove me more and more insane over the centuries? Did he tell you that they were put in my head by Rassilon as a way for him to escape the Time War? Did he bother to mention any of that at all?" the Master asked in an angry voice.

"Yes, he did actually. He also mentioned how you saved his life the last time that he saw you. That sounds like the you that I know. Right now you're also acting like the you that I know. I want to believe that you can still be that person again. I need to believe that," Clara said.

The Master smiled as he said, "I am that person again. I've changed, Alura. The drums are gone now ever since Rassilon and the others were sent back into the Time Lock, and I've changed since that day. I was able to escape thanks to the help of this blonde woman that I met out in the desert on Gallifrey. She had this incredible power and she set me free with it after I was able to convince her that I really had changed by letting her into my mind."

Clara studied him for a moment and then smiled as she said, "I believe you. I'm so happy for you, Koschei. I take it that the Doctor doesn't know any of this then?"

"No, I haven't even told him that I escaped the Time Lock. He would never believe that I had changed anyway. He's not as open minded as you are," the Master said as he stared at her with a huge smile on his face.

"So can we come out from behind you now?" Artie asked impatiently.

"Yeah, is he going to kill us or what?" Angie asked.

"No, he's not," Clara said firmly as the children came out from behind her and hesitantly waved hello to the Master.

The Master looked surprised as Clara said, "These are my children, Angie and Artie. Kids, this is my other best friend, Koschei."

The Master's jaw dropped as he said, "Your children?"

Clara laughed as she said, "They're not really mine, but I feel like they are. I watch them for their dad. I'm an old friend of the family's. What if they were mine? What of it?"

"You're not our mother," Angie said.

"Angie, don't be rude," Artie said.

"Shut up. You don't tell me what to do," Angie protested.

"Maybe not but I do. Both of you stop arguing right this minute. Angie, don't tell your brother to shut up. Be nice to each other," Clara ordered.

Both children sulked but obeyed as the Master laughed at their expressions.

"You haven't changed a bit. You still have the magic touch with children just like you always have. I half expected you to have some of your own by now. Where were you all of this time anyway? I thought that you had died after you just disappeared the way that you did," the Master said.

Clara quickly explained about having used the Chameleon Arch and becoming Clara, and he nodded as he said, "Yes, I did that too to escape the Time War. Unlike you though I felt no desire to stay connected to my human life."

"I do though and it's Clara now not Alura," Clara said.

The Master looked at her in surprise as Angie asked, "So your name is really Alura? No wonder you prefer Clara."

"Alura is one of my names, yes. It doesn't matter though because I'm just Clara Oswald now and that's all," Clara said.

"Alura. I like it. I think it sounds kind of pretty," Artie said.

"You would," Angie said rolling her eyes.

"You want me to call you Clara?" the Master asked Clara as he briefly glared at the squabbling children.

They immediately shut up under his angry gaze and went back behind Clara. She grabbed both of their hands and squeezed them to let them know that they were safe as long as she was there.

Clara noticed that his patience with the children was already beginning to wear thin, and she knew that he was only being as nice as he was to them earlier for her benefit. Koschei had never been comfortable around children even when he was one.

"Yes, I do want to be called Clara. I've even insisted that the Doctor call me that. I also insist that you don't scare my children like that again or you're going to have to deal with me," Clara said obstinately as she stood up to him.

The Master looked surprised at her reaction at first and then smiled at the children as he said, "I'm sorry. I'm not used to children."

"You'll have to get used to it if you want us to be friends. That is what you're here for isn't it?" Clara asked.

"I only came here to see if what I sensed was real. After only sensing the Doctor for so long and blocking my mind from his so that he wouldn't find me, it was shocking to suddenly feel your mind just appearing out of nowhere. I had to know if it was really you or not. Now that I'm here I would like to be your friend again though. I really would. I've missed you, Al – Clara. I've missed you so much," the Master said as he wrapped his arms around her again.

Clara smiled as she said, "You almost said my old name again, didn't you? You'll have to be careful about that, Laughing Boy. I'd like for us to be friends too. I'm not sure how the Doctor will react though."

"Something tells me that we're about to find out," the Master said as he let Clara go when he heard the sound of the Doctor's TARDIS materializing next to his.

"Now don't start anything, Koschei," Clara said.

"It's not me that you have to worry about," the Master said with a smirk as the Doctor came running out of his TARDIS with a panicked look on his face.

"Clara, get away from him! He's not the person that you remember anymore. He's extremely dangerous now," the Doctor said with concern.

"He's changed, Doctor. The drums are gone now. I was right about that by the way. I told you that they were real," Clara said.

"Don't rub it in, Clara. What matters is that they drove him insane, and now he's too dangerous for anyone to be around anymore especially children," the Doctor said as he looked at Angie and Artie with worry.

"Doctor, he really has changed. He's just like he was again," Clara insisted.

The Doctor shook his head profusely as he said with concern, "He's become very good at lying now, Clara. He's even better at it than he was when we were kids. He's trying to confuse you and convince you that he's someone different but he's not. He's pure evil, Clara, and you can't trust him even for a moment. He'll kill you if you're not careful."

The Master's eyes lit up with anger as he said, "Stop it! Stop trying to turn her against me! You know that's a lie! I'd never hurt her!"

"How do I know that? I used to think that you'd never hurt me, but I was so wrong. I won't give you a chance to hurt her. I'll never let that happen!" the Doctor said as he glared at the Master.

As the two Time Lords locked gazes and stared each other down, Clara sighed and said, "It's just like old times again alright."

"So they both fought over you because they were madly in love with you back then too?" Angie asked with an evil grin.

All three Time Lords turned bright red as the Doctor said, "I'm not in love with her. I don't know why you would think that. We're just good friends that's all. Just friends."

The Master said nothing. He did snort loudly at the Doctor's statement however.

"You're both my friends. We're all going to be good friends again just like we were back in the old days on Gallifrey," Clara said as she put an arm around both men while they went back to glaring at each other.

"I'm not his friend," The Doctor and the Master both said at once.

"We're all friends, aren't we?" Clara said in the same voice that she used on the children to get them to behave.

Both Time Lords looked at her with protesting looks on their faces as she said, "I don't care what happened in the past. Now that I'm back we're all going to be friends once more, and there will be no more fighting. You're both going to be nice to each other from now on. Got it?"

"I won't be his friend," the Master said stubbornly.

"I won't be his either. I don't trust him. He doesn't even like jelly babies," the Doctor said just as stubbornly.

"You will be nice to one another and stop fighting or I won't have anything to do with either one of you anymore," Clara threatened.

Both Time Lords looked at her in shock as their faces went pale. They could see that she meant what she said, and both of them immediately stuck out a hand to the other one.

"I'm willing to try if you are," the Doctor said as he shook the Master's hand.

"Anything you can do I can do it even better. I'll be a better friend than you," the Master said.

"No, I'll be the better friend. You don't even know how to be one. I've had much more practice at it. I have tons of friends," the Doctor said.

"Yes, and you eventually leave them all behind and never see them again too. Some friend you are," the Master said as he started to squeeze the Doctor's hand hard while he shook it.

"At least I actually have friends," the Doctor said as he squeezed the Master's hand back even harder.

Both of them started to groan in pain as they were basically trying to break each other's hands even while they shook them. Clara sighed as she realized that she had a lot of hard work ahead of us with these two. It was going to be a full-time job just trying to keep them from each other's throats much less trying to make them be friends once again.

"Alright, boys, you can stop being so friendly now. I don't want either of you to lose a hand out of it," Clara said rolling her eyes at their behavior.

"He started it," Both men said at once.

"Here I thought you two were bad. You're both perfect little angels compared to these two silly boys," Clara said to Artie and Angie with a huge smile on her face.

"Clara, I'm willing to try to get along with him for your sake. I'm still going to be worried about you with him on the loose though," the Doctor said.

"I would never hurt her. She's very special to me just like she is to you," the Master protested.

The Doctor looked at him sternly as he said in a cold, hard voice, "I will give you the benefit of the doubt just this once because I want to believe that there is still some small part of you that cares about her. If you ever hurt her though, I will rip you apart. I will show you no mercy whatsoever. Do you understand?"

The Master smiled at him as he said, "I like this regeneration, Doctor. You've got a real spine in this one. Yes, I do understand. As much as I would love to see you try to tear me apart, I will never give you any cause to as far as Alura is concerned. I would never lay a hand on her."

The two men stared deeply into each other's eyes then as the Doctor tried to judge the truth of the Master's statement for himself. Finally he nodded and said nothing more.

Clara smiled as she knew that an uneasy truce had just been established. It wasn't perfect but it was better than nothing she supposed.

"Now that's more like it. From now on, both of you are going to get along just fine aren't you, my clever boys?" Clara said as she gave both of them a kiss on the cheek.

"Yes, of course," the Doctor said with a large smile on his face while the Master only nodded as he stared at Clara with eyes filled with warmth.

"So what are we going to do now?" Clara asked.

"What do you mean?" the Doctor asked as the Master looked at her questioningly.

"I mean that we're the last three Time Lords in the universe. Maybe we should stick close to one another just like in the old days. I mean I'd love to travel with both of you, but I'm sure one of you would soon get jealous of the other one so why don't we all travel together? You can both come here to my home to pick me up on Wednesdays like the Doctor usually does, and then the three of us can travel together in the Doctor's TARDIS. How about it?" Clara asked both men.

"You want me to travel with him?" the Doctor asked in disbelief.

"You want me to travel in his old decrepit TARDIS. That wretched machine isn't safe. It should have been condemned a long time ago," the Master said.

"Boys, those are my conditions. I want us to get to know one another again and to become good friends just like we used to be. Take it or leave it. If you leave it though, then I won't travel with either one of you ever again," Clara said.

"Why are you doing this?" the Doctor asked.

"I want to give him a second chance. That's why. He's my friend too just like you are," Clara said.

Clara stared at him for a long moment with her large brown eyes pleading with him to go along with her on this. He finally nodded as he could never refuse her anything.

"Okay. I'm going to keep a close watch on him though," the Doctor said.

"I'm going to keep a close watch on that horrible TARDIS of yours to make sure that we don't all wind up scattered across the Vortex. With your driving, I really wouldn't doubt it if that would be exactly what happened," the Master said.

The Doctor glared at him even as Clara said, "Okay, boys. You can go now. Come back when it's Wednesday."

"What?" the Master asked confused.

"She only travels with me on Wednesdays because that's her day off from watching the children. You get used to it. I mostly just travel ahead to the next Wednesday because I hate to wait," the Doctor admitted.

The Master nodded as he said, "An excellent idea."

"Well, at least you two have finally agreed on something. If you two can keep this kind of thing up maybe you'll be back to fighting alongside each other instead of against each other in no time. Who knows? Goodbye, boys. I'll see you both on Wednesday then, and I expect you both to be on your best behavior."

Both Time Lords smiled at her and then quickly left with an eager look of anticipation on both of their faces.

"They're both so lovesick over her that it's disgusting," Angie whispered to Artie.

"Who do you think she likes?" Artie whispered back.

"Oh, the Doctor of course. No contest," Angie said.

"How do you know? She kissed both of them," Artie said.

"I just know. That's all. I know from the way that she looks at them. She cares about them both, but the Doctor is the one that she loves," Angie said.

"What are you two up to? I always get a bit uneasy when you start whispering," Clara said.

"Nothing," Both children said with sudden innocent looks on their faces.

"Uh huh. Why don't I believe you?" Clara said.

Then she hugged them both as she whispered, "Angie's right."

Both children looked at each other in shock while Clara just smiled.

Next: It's Wednesday and the Doctor and the Master have both returned to travel with Clara. Will they both manage to behave themselves or will the whole thing turn into a complete disaster?