Title: Armageddon

Rating: T

Warnings: Major spoilers for "Utopia", "The Sound of Drums" and "Last of the Time Lords"; violence; mild language

A/N: So sorry this is majorly late guys. Life has really gotten in my way this past week. But I stayed up extra late and worked extra hard to get this chapter ready and posted for you guys because tomorrow I'm gonna be in Georgia for a few days and didn't want you to wait any longer.

Enormous thanks to reviews/readers! You guys are loved and appreciated! It means a lot to me! And now, without further ado, PART II: THE SOUND OF DRUMS: CHAPTER ONE!

Please review!

Armageddon:

Part II: The Sound of Drums

Chapter One

"Doctor!" It was Jack who finally got the Doctor's attention and the Time Lord turned to see his three companions trying to hold the door closed while a pack of snarling Futurekind tried to rip it back. He rushed to their side and shoved his weight against the door, brain spinning with ideas for a moment before his eyes fell on the leather band around Jack's wrist. He yanked out his sonic screw driver.

"Jack, give me your wrist!"

"What?"

"Your wrist!" The Doctor insisted, yanking his hand away and fumbling with the screwdriver for a moment.

"It's broken," Jack half yelled over the snarling things behind him.

"Just give me a second," The Doctor snapped.

"We don't have a second!" Reid said, hazel eyes locked on the Futurekind. He was still shaken by that voice, his mind spinning as he thought of all the horrible implications. Some things were starting to make a bit more sense to him now. Things the Master had said to him, things that Martha had said. But in any case, it didn't matter if they died here. He wasn't stupid; he knew that they could die here no matter what had happened. Time can be rewritten. He knew that much.

The Doctor was pointing the sonic at the Vortex Manipulator and he could only just hear the faint buzzing of the device before there was a small spark and he began punching the buttons expertly.

"Hold on!" the Doctor yelled, "Grab his wrist!"

Martha looked confused, but followed his orders immediately. Reid took a breath, closed his eyes and gripped it tight, waiting for the hard tugging feeling to hit him as they were yanked away, just in time and came to a crashing halt.

Everything hurt, especially his head. He felt like he'd just been put through a blender and needed a moment to shake off the odd feeling of motion sickness. He decided he absolutely hated Vortex Manipulators, no matter what Jack said about them.

"Oh, my head," Martha winced while Jack and the Doctor twisted and got the kinks out of their muscles.

"Time travel without a capsule, that's a killer," the Doctor grunted, cracking his neck and shaking his head for a moment. Without another word he set off, out of the alley, a deadly sort of determination in his eyes.

~/.\~

They eventually settled down on a bench in the middle of the city, looking around. London, 2007. That's what the Doctor had told them anyway and Martha was certain he was right.

"But this Master bloke, he's got the TARDIS," she said, looking a bit depressed, "He could be anywhere in time and space,"

Reid shifted uncomfortably, wondering if he should mention that he knew who the Master was or not. He wasn't entirely sure if that counted as "Spoilers". After all, the Doctor already knew Martha, Mickey and Jack would be there. He sighed, shaking his head.

"No he's here," the Doctor said. "Trust me."

"Who is he anyway?" Martha asked, "I mean, that voice at the end… That voice wasn't the Professor's,"

"If the Master's a Time Lord then he must've regenerated," Jack said, frowning thoughtfully.

"What's that mean?" Martha asked, frowning.

Jack gave the Doctor an annoyed look, wondering why he had never told Martha about regeneration before. But it was Reid who answered, "When a Time Lord dies, they can change their bodies. Become an entire new person," he smiled faintly, glancing at the Doctor, "You said it was like cheating death."

The Doctor nodded slowly, still a bit surprised at how much Spencer knew. He must've learned a lot about Time Lords during that one trip. But right now, he had far more important things to worry about than what Reid knew about him and didn't know about him.

"If he's completely changed himself… then how are we going to find him?" Martha asked. At this point, the Doctor didn't seem even a little interested in their conversation, staring off into space, eyes distant and thoughtful.

Finally, the Doctor snapped out of his reverie and Reid sighed in relief that he wouldn't have to provide an answer for that. He was certain that his knowledge of the Master was one thing the Doctor didn't need to know about yet.

"I'll know him," he said, "As soon as I see him I'll know him. Time Lords always do."

Martha frowned thoughtfully, thinking about what the Doctor had said. He was here. He was a completely new man. He could be anyone. Her eyes fell on a political campaign poster and her mouth fell open a bit as she stood slowly and turned toward a television, eyes wide in shock.

"Hold on… If he could be anyone. No, no way…" she paused, glancing at the Doctor, "We missed the election! Oh God! I knew I knew that voice! When he spoke through the TARDIS, I knew I'd heard him before!"

Reid was a bit confused. How did Martha know the Master?

Then he followed her eyes and realized what she meant. Harold Saxon. Prime Minister. 2007. Oh… Now he understood. He had seen the news coverage for weeks: The President of the United States was assassinated by Prime Minister Harold Saxon. Harold Saxon disappeared after that, most people thought he'd gone insane. He felt his stomach twist. He did not want to be anywhere near the presidential assassination.

He wondered if he should tell the Doctor about it. Would that count as "Spoilers"? Would the Doctor knowing that cause a paradox? Probably. He bit his lip. This was beginning to get far too complicated.

The Doctor seemed to be in shock as he stared up at the televised announcement, "That's him," his voice sounded weak, "He's Prime Minister. The Master is Prime Minister of Great Britain!"

Reid felt sick watching the news coverage, hearing the man's voice again. Seeing that mocking smile on his face. It sent shivers down his spine. He did not want to think about what a man like the Master could do while in charge of a whole country. Then he realized, he already knew: He killed the president.

~/.\~

They ended up in Martha's flat, looking for a computer or a television. Anything for the Doctor to use. Jack was on the phone, frowning as he continued to get no answer.

"Jack who are you phoning?" The Doctor demanded, "We don't need anyone to know we're here!"

"Just some friend of mine," Jack said, "But there's no reply…" he shook his head staring down at the phone while Martha found her laptop and quickly passed it to the Doctor. Jack abandoned his cellphone and moved to the computer.

"Here, I'll show you the Saxon website," he said, "He's been around a while."

And indeed he had. He had records of schools and awards, his rise in politics. Everything was all there, perfectly in order for anyone who wanted to glance at it. Martha was shaking her head in amazement.

"That is so weird though!" she said, "It's the day after the election, I mean, that's only four days after I met you!"

"We've been flying all around time and space and he was here the whole time," The Doctor ran his hand through his hair, putting his glasses on and leaning over Jack's shoulder to read the website that he'd pulled up.

Martha finally stopped pacing and put her hands on her hips, frowning, "So, are you going to tell us who he is?" she asked.

"He's a Time Lord," the Doctor answered, keeping his gaze on the computer even when Jack turned to glance at his face. He wished they'd both stop giving him those looks. Reid was the only one who didn't seem to be giving him weird, questioning looks. He found that very comforting. He really didn't want to talk about his past, particularly any part of his past that had anything to do with the Master.

Martha frowned, "What about the rest of it!" she demanded, "I mean, who'd call themselves 'The Master'?"

The Doctor frowned and leaned closer over Jack's shoulder, shaking his head, "That's all you need to know,"

Reid edged his way to Martha's side, "Don't," he whispered, glancing over that the Doctor, "He doesn't want to talk about him…" he bit his lip, "Neither do I."

She glanced quickly at the Doctor then back to Reid, "You know him?"

He nodded stiffly, "Don't tell him," his eyes were still fixed on the Doctor, but he could see Martha nodded out of the corner of his eye and he could feel her gaze on him for a long, tense moment. She wanted answers and Reid couldn't blame her, but he certainly wasn't going to be the one to give them to her and if the Doctor didn't want to talk about the Master then that settled it. No one was getting answers until he decided to talk.

She sighed heavily and moved over to her phone, looking at the blinking message light and pressing play. Her sister, Tish's, voice began playing excitedly, talking about some new job she'd just gotten. Martha rolled her eyes and stopped the message, annoyed.

~/.\~

They spent a good half hour looking over Harold Saxon's life story, watching videos and poll campaign speeches, commercials. Anything they could find and there was a lot of it.

"He goes back years," Martha said, "Everyone knows his story! He's famous! I bet they even heard of him in the States, haven't they Spencer?" she glanced over at Reid for a moment, not realizing at first what she said, but grateful that Reid didn't look too shocked at the question, although he did look a bit tense.

"It was five years ago for me, but yes, I do remember Harold Saxon being elected. He was pretty big in the news in the US even before… the election." He nearly said the assassination and quietly reprimanded himself. That was the fourth time he'd nearly slipped and said something he shouldn't have. He was beginning to get annoyed with himself. Just thinking about the Master had him a bit flustered though. He took a breath and closed his eyes.

He knew that the Doctor had to do something to stop the Master from winning, so he ignored that little bit of worry and focused on helping them come up with some sort of plan.

She nodded, "He's got a whole life," she said, "Cambridge University, he played Rugby. Everything's here."

"That's impossible," the Doctor said, frowning thoughtfully.

"But he's got the TARDIS," Jack said, "Maybe he went back in time and has been living here for decades."

"No," the Doctor shook his head.

"Why not? Worked for me!"

"When he was stealing the TARDIS the only thing I could was lock the coordinates, permanently. He could only travel between the year one hundred trillion and the last place the TARDIS landed."

"Which is was Cardiff, in 2007," Reid said, understanding. "But how exact is it? I mean, is there any leeway?"

"Oh," the Doctor thought about it for a moment, "Eighteen months, not longer than that. He can't have been here for decades at any rate, it's impossible."

"So how did he manage this?" Reid frowned, "He's created an entirely false identity and the entire world believes it!"

"The Master was always sort of… hypnotic, but not to this scale," The Doctor frowned, "This is… massive."

"I was gonna vote for him," Martha said, tilting her head thoughtfully.

"Really?" The Doctor frowned.

"Well, it was before I met you," Martha nodded, "And I liked him."

"Me too," Jack agreed. Reid raised a brow, frowning as the two of them sort of looked off into the distance, not really paying Reid or the Doctor any attention at the moment.

"Why do you say that?" The Doctor asked, "What his policy? What did he stand for?"

"I dunno," Martha frowned, trying to remember, her fingers slowly beginning to tap against her hand. "He just sounded… good. Like you could trust him. Just nice. He talked about… Oh, I can't really remember. But it was good." She frowned, her fingers beginning to tap a bit faster as her eyes got more distant.

"Just the sound of his voice,"

"What's that?" the Doctor frowned, watching her fingers, "That with your fingers… what are you doing?"

Martha blinked, shocked out of her odd, distant state. "I dunno," she frowned, glancing down at her hands, "It's just… I dunno!" She frowned, looking at bit annoyed. The Doctor started to say something else when the television began playing some odd string of music and the Doctor turned, frowning.

"Our Lord and Master is speaking to his Kingdom,"

He started off talking about the Racnoss and the Slitheen and Sycorax "attacks", making sure to point out that time and time again they had been visited by extraterrestrials and the government had told them nothing, keeping it hidden. Then he smiled and assured them that he would never try to cover that up from his people.

"I have been contacted," he said, grinning. The screen cut to an image of a small black ball, floating in the air. A high, somewhat metallic voice began speaking then and the Doctor frowned. Reid was tense, remembering those things. The Toclafane. That was how Saxon had killed the President.

"People of the Earth," it stated, "We bring great gifts. We bring technology and wisdom and protection. And all we ask in return is your friendship."

The screen cut back to a grinning image of Saxon, "Oh, sweet," he said, eyes glancing to something behind the camera for just a moment. "And this species has identified itself. They're called the Toclafane."

"What!" The Doctor, who was leaning right up to the TV screen, frowned in disbelief.

"And tomorrow morning," Saxon continued, "They will appear, not in secret, but to all of you. Diplomatic relations with a new species will begin. Tomorrow, we take our place in the universe! Every man, woman and child. Every teacher and farmer. Every cab driver and, oh I don't know, every medical student…" A sinister smile slipped across his lips and the Doctor's eyes got wide as he spun around to face a bewildered Martha.

Suddenly, they heard a faint beeping noise and the Jack grabbed the television, spinning it around to reveal a bomb taped to the back of the device.

"OUT!" The Doctor yelled, grabbing Reid and Martha and shoving them both out of the flat. They just made it outside, hearts pounding, when the windows blew out, scattering glass everywhere and sending a huge ball of fire bursting toward the sky.

Reid watched in shock as the fire bloomed outward, shaking his head. His heart was trying to jump out of his chest and he could barely breathe. He nearly stumbled and Jack caught him, carrying him forward a few more feet while Martha ripped out her phone, desperation in her eyes.

"Alright?" the Doctor called, staring back at the explosion.

"Yeah, yeah, we're fine," Jack said, nodding toward Reid and himself.

"Martha!" The Doctor spun around when she didn't answer at first and frowned when he saw her phone in her hands. "What are you doing?"

"He knows about me, that means he knows about my family. I've got to warn them!"

"Don't tell them anything!" The Doctor warned her.

She glared at him, truly angry and shaken from the bomb in ways that she didn't even want to explain. She had almost died and her family was in danger and all the Doctor had to say was that she shouldn't tell them anything when their lives were almost definitely in danger?

"I'll do what I like!" she snapped, walking a few feet away to make her call, the anger and fear rolling off of her in waves.

Reid watched her talking anxiously to her mother for a moment before he spotted a look of absolute terror flash on her face and he slowly approached her while she took a deep breath.

"Dad… just say yes or no, alright? Is anyone else there with you?" she met Reid's eyes and he gripped her hand when she unconsciously held it out to him. It was shaking with fear for her family as there was a tense pause, then Reid could hear shouting through the phone and Martha started shouting back.

"Dad! Dad, no, are you there? What's happening?"

"Martha," the Doctor started to say something but she brushed by and toward her car.

"They're there! They've got them! I've got to help them!"

"Martha, don't!" The Doctor chased after her, "It's a trap, it's what he wants!"

Martha glared at him, yanking out the car door, "I don't care!"

It took a second, but Jack and Reid were in the car behind her and the Doctor finally sighed and climbed in as well, not looking happy about it, but realizing that there was absolutely no way Martha would abandon her family when they needed her.

~DW/CM~

A/N: Hmm. So, I think that was a nice way to start "The Sound of Drums". As I said, I aiming for about 3 chapters for this and then the real fun will start. Hope you enjoyed! Please review and let me know what you think!