Doctor Who

Author's Note

This has been overdone, but I wanted to do it anyway. I've 'borrowed' sections of the script from the Sound of Drums, but everything else is my creation.

Chapter One

The Master was slowly taking over the Earth, and there was nothing that the Doctor could do about it. At least not yet. The Master had taken Martha's parents into custody, and had made the Doctor, Martha and Jack public enemies and highly sought out. They were on the run, and had to find a location where they were safe to recalculate their strategy. They were going through an underpass, and Martha was stalling, calling her brother to warn him.

"Martha, come on!" The Doctor grumbled, him and Jack quickening their pace.

Martha ignored him and made the call. "Leo! Oh, thank God! Leo you got to listen to me. Where are you?"

"I'm in Brighton. Yeah, we came down with Boxer. Did you see that Saxon thing on the telly?"

"Leo, just listen to me. Don't go home. Don't phone Mum or Dad or Tish. You've got to hide."

Leo scoffed, clearly not believing his sister. "Shut up."

"You've got to hide. On my life. You've got to trust me." Martha huffed in frustration, begging him to understand the seriousness of the situation. "Go to Boxer's. Stay with him. Don't tell anyone. Just hide."

Another voice cut into the call, a voice that sent shivers up Martha's spine. "Ooo, a nice little game of hide and seek. I love that. But I'll find you, Martha Jones. Been a long time since we saw each other. Must be, what, one hundred trillion years?"

Martha's anger flared. "Let them go, Saxon. Do you hear me! Let them go!"

The Doctor snatched the phone out of Martha's hands. "I'm here."

"Doctor."

"Master."

"I like it when you use my name."

"You chose it. Psychiatrists field day."

"As you chose yours. The man who makes people better. How sanctimonious is that?"

"So, Prime Minister then."

"I know. It's good, isn't it?"

"Who are those creatures? Because there's no such thing as the Toclafane. It's just a made up name, like the Bogeyman."

"Do you remember all those fairy tales about the Toclafane when we were kids. Back home. Where is it, Doctor?"

"Gone."

"How can Gallifrey be gone?"

"It burnt."

"And the Time Lords?"

"Dead. And the Daleks, more or less. What happened to you?"

"The Time Lords only resurrected me because they knew I'd be the perfect warrior for a Time War. I was there when the Dalek Emperor took control of the Cruciform. I saw it. I ran. I ran so far. Made myself human so they would never find me, because I was so scared."

"I know."

"All of them. But not you, which means ..."

"I was the only one who could end it. And I tried. I did. I tried everything."

"What did it feel like, though? Two almighty civilisations burning. Oh, tell me, how did that feel?"

"Stop it!"

"You must have been like God."

"I've been alone ever since. But not anymore. Don't you see? All we've got is each other."

"Are you asking me out on a date?"

"You could stop this right now. We could leave this planet. We can fight across the constellations, if that's what you want, but not on Earth."

"Too late."

"Why do you say that?"

"I've acquired something that once belonged to you. Something very important, or used to be at least."

"What do you mean?"

"Go on then, talk to him." The Master was speaking to somebody else in the background. "Talk to him while you can, but remember what I told you earlier." There was silence. "Go on, before I change my mind."

The Doctor waited rather impatiently, and then a voice spoke up. A voice that made the Doctor's hearts freeze, along with the world.

"Doctor. It's me ..."

Jack noticed the Doctor go pale, and cautiously approached him. "Doc, what's going on?"

The Doctor ignored him, staying focused. "Rose ..." he breathed, overlooking Jack's gasp of astonishment. "How?"

"It doesn't matter how, not now. It wasn't me at least." Rose was cut off by a sudden cry of pain and discomfort. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"Rose, what's going on?" The Doctor demanded, his blood boiling at the thought of the Master harming her. "Are you alright? Rose, tell me!"

Rose's breathing was shaky and it appeared that she was struggling. "I'm always alright."

The Doctor knew then that that was a lie, as it was a common phrase he used himself when he felt the opposite way. "I'm coming to get you, Rose. That's a promise."

"I know. Doctor, there's something I need to tell you. Look into the Archangel Network. It's -"

Whatever Rose was planning to say was cut off with a scream. The Doctor heard a scuffle, and a deathly silence. Then somebody picked up the phone again, panting heavily.

"Sorry about that, Doctor. Little Rose here needed to take a quick nap. She's been overexerting herself lately."

"Master, let her go. Please! I'm begging you, actually properly begging you. Please, let Rose go!"

"Ooo, look. You're on TV."

"Stop it. Answer me."

"No, really. You're on telly. You and your little band, which, by the way, is ticking every demographic box. So, congratulations on that. Look, there you are. You're public enemies number one, two and three. Oh, and you can tell handsome Jack that I've sent his little gang off on an wild goose chase to the Himalayas, so he won't be getting any help from them. Now, go on, off you go. Why not start by turning to the right?"

The Doctor turned to the right and immediately spotted the CCTV camera. He whipped out his sonic screwdriver and zapped it. "He can see us."

"Oh, you public menace. Better start running. Go on, run."

The Doctor turned to his friends, his expression grim. "He's got control of everything."

"And he's got Rose." Jack pointed out.

"What do we do?" Martha demanded, more concerned for her family's safety.

"We've got nowhere to go."

"Doctor, what do we do?"

"Run, Doctor. Run for your life! I said run!"

"We run."