The time vortex opened up in an alleyway, The Doctor, Martha and Jack appearing, falling against the wall with a groan.
"Oh, my head!" Martha gasped.
"Time travel without a capsule." The Doctor said through gritted teeth. "That's a killer."
Jack cracked his neck and they made their way out of the alley, walking along a street.
"Still, at least we made it." Jack commented. "Earth, 21st century by the looks of it. Ha, ha, talk about lucky."
"That wasn't luck, that was me." The Doctor replied darkly. Jack and Martha glanced at him, his face full of pure anger. He'd taken her! The Master, he'd taken his Zara...
...
18 months previously...
The TARDIS appeared in an abandoned alleyway and The Master and Zara came flying out of the doors backwards. Zara grabbed The Master by the collar, pushing him up against the wall.
"Now listen up!" She spat. "The Doctor has locked the controls. Now I can either drag you back to the end of the universe where there is a strong possibility The Doctor, Martha and Jack have already escaped. Or I can keep you here and beat the utter crap out of you before they turn up." The Master flipped her, whacking her head against the wall. She blinked a few times, blood trickling down her face.
"I will not let that man get you back." The Master whispered. He thought back to his memories as Yana, and how he felt something about the girl. She seemed... familiar. He put a hand either side of her face, holding her head up so he could look into her eyes. "All these years... I have something to use against The Doctor."
...
The three of them sat on a bench in the middle of a pedestrian only road.
"The moral is, if you're gonna get stuck at the end of the universe, get stuck with an ex-Time Agent and his vortex manipulator." Jack sighed.
"But this Master bloke, he's got the TARDIS and Zara." Martha spat, devestated that The Master had taken her best friend. "They could be anywhere in time and space."
"No, they're here." The Doctor muttered. "Trust me." He looked around, Saxon campaign posters plastered everywhere.
"Who is he, anyway? And that voice at the end, that wasn't the professor."
"If the Master's a Time Lord, he must have regenerated." Jack said.
"What does that mean?"
"Means he's changed his face, voice, body, everything. New man."
The Doctor looked over at a homeless man tapping a beat of four on a mug repeatedly.
"Then how are we gonna find him and get Zara back?!"
"I'll know him, the moment I see him." The Doctor gulped. "Time Lords always do. And we will get Zara back, I promise you." Jack looked over at The Doctor and Martha, their determined and devestated looks on their faces.
...
Zara stood in her pyjamas in a small bedroom inside 10 Downing Street with just a simple bed and full length mirror. She sat down with a sigh as the door opened and The Master stepped in, doing up his cufflinks on the black suit he wore.
"I'm off to speak to the press." He muttered.
She got up and moved over to him, helping him do up the button, "Feel like letting me out at all?" She asked. "It's been 18 months." As soon as The Master had set up his back story, he'd made out Zara to be his daughter from his first marriage in which his wife had died, who was about the age of 17, 18, even though she was 24, and said that she was terribly ill, that was why nobody had ever seen her. There was one photo of her and her 'father' and 'step-mother' Lucy from when she was a child, but she'd never really been seen, and when people thought of Harold Saxon and his wife, nobody ever really remembered his daughter Zara. "I mean, if The Doctor hasn't come yet, will he ever?" Of course she didn't believe that, she knew The Doctor was coming. He'd find her. Or Martha would. Or Jack. Whoever, she knew. In a way, she was thankful that she wasn't well known, otherwise Tish would have worked out she was in the same time twice and if she started getting curious, trying to find out what Zara was doing there... The Master could hurt her. And Tish was Martha's family! And Martha was like family to her, she was her best friend! But there was nothing she could do... She'd made plans, yes, but something was telling her, something instinctive, to stay with The Master, to just go along with what he was doing for now. As much as she hated the man, she felt a need to protect him, that only she could hurt him, nobody else.
"Maybe." The Master nodded. "I've got a meeting with my cabinet this morning, maybe you could spend half an hour with Lucy, have some tea."
Zara smiled appreciatevelly, knowing that he wouldn't allow her any more if she argued, "Thank you." She smiled, trying to look happy, simply wanting to rip his face off. She'd become a sweet little woman, pretending to be a lot thicker and unexperienced in time and space whilst cogs turned in her head, constantly trying of finding a way of stopping the paradox machine on The TARDIS, even though she knew she didn't have enough time to stop it, let alone find The TARDIS.
...
Martha frowned, looking around, "But hold on." She noticed the posters, everything clicking into place. "If he could be anyone… We missed the election... And he knew Zara would be there at Lazarus Labs... But it can't be…" The three of them stood up slowly, walking towards a giant screen showing the news.
"Mr Saxon has returned from the Palace and is greeting the crowd inside Saxon Headquarters." The newscaster reported. The screen flickered over, showing as The Master walked down the stairs with an entourage, a blonde woman at his side.
"I said I knew that voice. When he spoke inside the TARDIS. I've heard that voice hundreds of times. I've seen him. We all have. That was the voice of Harold Saxon."
"That's him." The Doctor gaped. "He's Prime Minister. The Master is Prime Minister of Great Britain." The Master turned and kissed the woman next to him. "The Master and his wife."
The Master stepped forward to the press, "This country has been sick." He called. "This country needs healing. This country needs medicine. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that, what this country really needs, right now…is a doctor." He smiled at the cameras.
...
Zara leaned against the wall of the hallway next to a guard when The Master quickly came out of the room opposite her, slamming the door to stop the gas escaping.
"Quick!" The Master called innocently to the guard, who stared at the door in shock. "Go and get someone! This gas just appeared! And... they're all dead! GO!" The guard nodded, bolting off as The Master smirked at Zara. She snarled, reaching to slap him when The Master grabbed her wrist, pushing it away violently.
"You just killed your party." She hissed. "You gassed them, you sicko."
"Now, now." He snarled. "Go and have tea with Lucy, hm? Or you could go back to your room and be locked up for another 18 months?"
She breathed in sharply, "Ok." She muttered.
...
"Home." Martha breathed as she, The Doctor and Jack burst into her small flat.
"What have you got?" The Doctor asked eagerly. "Computer, laptop, anything?" He looked over at Jack, holding his phone to her ear. "Jack, who are you phoning? You can't tell anyone we're here!"
"Just some friends of mine, but there's no reply…" Jack muttered, frowning at his phone.
Martha passed The Doctor her laptop, " Here you go. Any good?" She asked.
Jack snatched the laptop, "I can show you the Saxon websites. He's been around for ages." He put it down at the desk, sitting down.
"That's so weird though. It's the day after the election. That's only four days after I met you."
"We went flying all around the universe while he was here the whole time." The Doctor muttered.
"You gonna tell us who he is and why he's got Zara?"
"He's a Time Lord. And she was attacking him, trying to fight back, he panicked."
"What about the rest of it? I mean, who'd call himself the Master?"
"That's all you need to know." He sighed, turning to Jack. "Come on, show me Harold Saxon."
Martha turned to her answering machine, playing a message, "Martha, where are you?" Tish's voice called on the machine. "I've got this new job. You won't believe it. It's weird, they just phoned me up out of the blue. I'm working for—"
She cut off the machine in frustration, "Oh, like it matters." She snapped.
...
Tish followed an older blonde woman, a reporter called Vivien Rook, through the office, trying to pull her away as she made her way towards Lucy sitting room.
"I'm sorry, but you're not allowed in—" Tish called.
"Harold Saxon: A Modern Churchill." Vivien called over her shoulder. "It's the definitive think piece on the man himself." She hands her a copy of an article. "Oh, come on, sweetheart, you must've read it!"
"Um, not really, sorry. I'm new."
"Mr Saxon does like a pretty face. But I'm here to see Mrs Saxon."
"You can't just go barging in! His daughter is in there and she's ill, you must leave them!"
Vivien looked back at her, intruiged, "Young Zara?"
"Uh, yes." Tish blinked. "I've never met her, she was escorted in by Mr Saxon himself, nobody was allowed to see her." She blinked again, thinking about it. "Funny that," She muttered. "My sister has a friend with the same name." She looked up to see Vivien barging into the sitting room. "Hey!"
Vivien looked over at Lucy sitting on the sofa, "Mrs Saxon, Vivien Rook, Sunday Mirror." She held up her press card with a smile. "You've heard of me."
"Oh, can't I just have an hour to myself?" Lucy sighed. "It's been a hell of a day."
"Oh, strike while the iron's hot, that's what I say, Lucy. I can call you Lucy, can't I? Now, everyone's talking about Harold Saxon, but I thought 'What about the wife?' All I need is twenty minutes."
"Oh, I think maybe we should wait." She looked over nervously at one of the connecting doors, then another which held a bathroom on the other side which held a bathroom which had Zara inside.
"The headline's waiting to print: The Power Behind the Throne."
Lucy blinked, "Really?"
"Britain's First Lady."
"Gosh."
"Front page."
"Oh, well, I suppose… Oh, go on then. Twenty minutes."
"Excellent! Thank you!" She looked back at Tish. "Oh, oh, what was it? Oh, Tish. Now you can leave us alone." She handed Tish her coat.
"No, but I'm supposed to sit in." Tish said quickly. "Because of Zara, and-"
"No, no. It's—it's only a profile piece." Vivien waved her off. "You know, hair and clothes and nonsense. There's a good girl. Out you go. That's it." She pushed Tish out of the door as Zara appeared out of the bathroom, looking at Vivien. "Ah, Zara." She smiled. "Come sit down." Zara frowned, moving over and sitting down next to Lucy. "Miss Saxon, Mrs Saxon, I have reason to believe…that you're in very great danger. All of us, in fact. Not just the country, but the whole world." Lucy scoffed as Zara shook her head. "I beg of you, hear me out."
"I'm telling you, get out now." Zara begged quietly.
Lucy glared at her, "What are you talking about?" She asked Vivien, trying to act as if she didn't know what she meant.
"Your husband, your father, is not who he says he is." Vivien said nervously. "I'm sorry, but it's a lie. Everything's a lie."
...
Jack stopped the adverts on the Saxon website, "Former Minister of Defence. First came to prominence when he shot down the Racnoss on Christmas Eve." He explained, turning back to The Doctor. "Nice work, by the way."
The Doctor, sitting on the couch arm, nodded, "Oh, thanks."
"He goes back years." Martha called over, flickering through images. "He's famous. Everyone knows his story. Look. Cambridge University, Rugby blue, won the Athletics thing, wrote a novel, went into business, marriage, daughter, everything. He's got a whole life."
The Doctor looked up, "Daughter?!" He frowned. "A child?! He's got a child, she's involved with this-"
"It's not like that," Martha shook her head. "She's older, about 17, 18? But she's ill, stays locked in all the time, her name's Lara or something."
Jack shook his head, "Nah, it's Zar-" He froze, the three of them sharing a look. "Zara."
...
"All of it." Vivien continued. "The school days, his degree, even his mother and father." She looked at Zara. "His first wife, your so called mother, your birth Miss Saxon! It's all invented." She held up a photo of The Master and Zara. "Look, Harold Saxon never went to Cambridge and Zara Saxon was never born. There was no Harold Saxon and Zara Saxon appeared from nowhere. The thing is, it's obvious. The forgery is screaming out and yet no one can see it. It's as if he's mesmerized the entire world."
"I think perhaps you should leave now." Zara said, staring at her sharply, hoping the woman would understand what she was trying to get across.
"18 months ago you became real. This is your first, honest-to-God appearance, just after the downfall of Harriet Jones. And at the exact same time, they launched the Archangel Network."
"Mrs Rook, now stop it." Lucy gulped.
"Even now they say that the— the Cabinet has gone into seclusion. I mean, what does that mean, 'seclusion'?"
"How should I know?"
"But I've got plenty of research on you." She nodded at Lucy then Zara. "But you're just a child, whatever Harold Saxon has done, it's not your fault, Zara."
"I'm 25." Zara muttered under her breath.
Vivien turned back to Lucy, nodding at her research, "Yes, good family, Roedean, not especially bright but essentially harmless." She got up, sitting beside Lucy. "And that's why I'm asking you, the both of you. I'm begging you. If you have seen anything, heard anything, even the slightest thing that would give you cause to doubt him…"
"I think…" Lucy began, distant.
"Yes?"
"There was a time when we first met, I wondered… But he was so good to my father. And he said…"
"Lucy." Zara hissed. "Mrs Rook, just get out, please."
"What?" Vivien asked Lucy, ignoring Zara. "Just tell me, sweetheart."
"The thing is… I made my choice." Lucy said.
"I'm sorry?"
"For better or for worse. Isn't that right, Harry?"
Zara glanced up, already knowing that The Master had already appeared through the connecting door.
"My faithful companion." The Master smiled.
"Mr Saxon." Vivien stammered. "Prime Minister, I-I-I was just having a little joke with poor little Lucy. I-I didn't mean—"
He moved to the middle of the room, "Oh, but you're absolutely right. Harold Saxon doesn't exist. And, well, Zara Saxon does, but she isn't who I say she is."
"Then tell me…who are you?"
"I'm the Master and these," He held out his hands. "Are my friends." Four small metal spheres appeared, floating around. Zara stared at the spheres in horror, never seeing them before. The Master had kept her locked up, she had no idea what he was doing... She'd assumed that he was waiting until The Doctor found them and then he'd find something to do to him... She had no idea he was planning something else.
"I'm sorry?"
"Can't you hear it, Mrs Rook?"
"What do you mean?"
"The drumbeat. The drums coming closer and closer."
The spheres headed towards Vivien, spikes sticking out from the lower halves.
"The lady doesn't like us." The first sphere with a female voice remarked.
They advanced towards her, the spikes spinning.
"Silly lady." A second with a male voice said.
"Dead lady." A third also with a male voice added.
Vivien screamed and Lucy, The Master and Zara quickly ran out of the room. They leaned, breathing heavily against the wall and The Master opened the door again, the screaming continuing. He winced, shutting the door. He done the same again, more screams echoing, and put a fist to his mouth, shutting the door.
"But she knew." Lucy gasped. "Harry, she knew everything. You promised. You said Archangel was 100%."
"Um, 99, 98?" The Master shrugged.
"But if she's asking questions, then who else? How much time have we got?"
Zara sneered angrily, "Hardly any at all, Mrs Saxon." She hissed. "Because The Doctor is coming!"
The Master pushed her roughly, making her fall violently to the floor with a thump before pulling Lucy into his arms, "Tomorrow morning, I promise." He mumbled into her hair. "That's when everything ends." He glanced down at Zara as she glared up at him. "I don't want you out of my sight from now on."
...
"But he's got the TARDIS." Jack called back from Martha's kitchen, making tea. "Maybe the Master went back in time and has been living here for decades with Zara." He picked up the cups, bringing them into the living room where The Doctor sat at the desk, Martha on the arm of the sofa.
"No." The Doctor shook his head.
"Why not? Worked for me." He handed him a cup.
"When he was stealing the TARDIS, the only thing I could do was fuse the coordinates. I locked them permanently." He took a sip of tea. "He can only travel between the year 100 trillion and the last place the TARDIS landed. Which is right here, right now. Which means Zara is close by and we will find her."
"Yeah, but a little leeway?"
"Well…18 months, tops. The most they could have been here is 18 months. So how has he managed all this and what has he done with Zara? The Master was always sort of…hypnotic but this is on a massive scale. Zar would never fall for that, but still..."
"I was gonna vote for him." Martha remarked.
"Really?"
"Well, it was before I even met you. And I liked him."
"Me too." Jack nodded.
"Why do you say that?" The Doctor frowned. "What was his policy? What did he stand for?"
"I dunno." Martha shrugged, looking out in the distance, speaking dreamily. "He always sounded…good." Her fingers started to tap. "Like you could trust him. Just nice. He spoke about…I can't really remember, but it was good. Just the sound of his voice."
The Doctor eyed her tapping, "What's that?"
She shook her head, startled, "What?"
"That! That tapping, that rhythm! What are you doing?"
"I dunno. It's nothing. It's j— I dunno!"
...
The Master pulled open the door to his cabinet room, pushing Zara roughly behind the door. On the other side stood Tish, holding a syringe.
"Uh," She held it out for him. "Zara's medication."
The Master took it from her, nodding, "Thank you Leticia. Ready for the broadcast?"
Tish nodded, "Yes sir. Oh and we got in touch with Torchwood, they've left for the himilayas."
The Master shut the door, rolling his eyes, and threw the syringe over his shoulder, "You better stay out of the way when we start this broadcast." He said to Zara, walking over to the table in the middle of the room.
"I thought you didn't want me out of your sight." Zara muttered, leaning against the wall with a sigh.
"Hm, yeah." He looked over at her. "Just, stay out of frame and shutup, ok?"
"Those spheres... What are they?"
"There will be no camera men anyway, it's all being controlled from another room." He ignored her, shaking his head.
...
A tune played from the website, "SAXON BROADCAST ALL CHANNELS" flashing onscreen.
The Doctor moved over to the TV, turning it on, "Our lord and master is speaking to his kingdom."
The Master appeared on the screen, sitting in his office in front of the fireplace, the three time travellers unknown to Zara being hidden behind the camera.
"Britain, Britain, Britain." The Master smiled. "What extraordinary times we've had. Just a few years ago, this world was so small. And then they came, out of the unknown, falling from the skies. You've seen it happen—Big Ben destroyed, a spaceship over London. All those ghosts and metal men. The Christmas star that came to kill. Time and time again the government told you nothing. Well not me. Not Harold Saxon. Because my purpose here today is to tell you this—citizens of Great Britain…I have been contacted. A message, for humanity, from beyond the stars." He nodded into the camera where a team sat in another room, playing a clip of a sphere that killed Vivien.
"People of the Earth, we come in peace." The sphere said in a female voice. "We bring great gifts. We bring technology and wisdom and protection. And all we ask in return is your friendship."
The screen changed back over to The Master, "Ooh, sweet." He smiled. "And this species has identified itself. They're called the Toclafane."
"What?!" The Doctor shouted at the television as Zara mouthed the same thing at The Master.
"And tomorrow morning they will appear." He continued. "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 chemist and lorry driver and farmer. And every…oh, I don't know…medical student?"
Zara's jaw dropped, tears forming in her eyes. She violently ripped the wires out of the back of the camera without even looking, making The Master's eyes widen. She pushed the camera out of the way, marching over to The Master and picking him up by the collar, knocking the chair over in the process and pushing him up against the wall.
"That's my best friend." She hissed in his face, tears pouring down her own. "If she's dead- If any of them are dead, I won't hesitate to get out. I will kill all your goons trying to get past them." She hadn't wanted to get other people hurt whilst trying to escape The Master, and that was why she was still stuck with him. "And I will rip your skin from your face, pull your arm off, beat you senless with it then set your body on fire." The Master stared back at her, a little scared and nodded. Zara turned, roughly pushing towards the table. She put her forehead against the wall, sobbing to herself as The Master picked up a small black mobile from the table, dialling carefully.
"A woman called Martha Jones," The Master muttered into the phone. "Hack into her phone."
...
"The only place we can go…planet Earth." Martha snapped, upset and angry as she drove down the road, The Doctor sitting next to her and Jack in the back, dodging the broken glass from the back window. "Great." She tightened her grip on the steering wheel. "This is all your fault!" She shouted at the Doctor, her hard stare on the road in front of her. "If Zara was here, none of this would have happened!"
"Martha, they were here before we lost Zara, there's nothing she could of done!" The Doctor replied angrily, upset that Zara was gone and annoyed that his best friend was blaming him for losing her.
"For someone who is in love with her, you lost her pretty easily!"
The Doctor's eyes widened, looking over at her, "I'm not in love with her!" He defended.
"Oh shutup you bloody alien, don't try and deny it now."
"Careful!" The Doctor warned as she drove wrecklessly.
"Now, Martha, listen to me." Jack said. "Do as I say. We've gotta ditch this car. Pull over. Right now!"
Martha pulled up and the three of them stepped out of the car, under a bridge where they had parked.
"Martha, come on!" The Doctor called over his shoulder as Martha put her phone to her ear.
"Leo!" Martha gasped as he answered. "Oh, thank God! Leo, you gotta listen to me. Where are you?"
"I'm in Brighton." Leo replied. "We came down with Boxer. Did you see that Saxon thing on telly?"
"Leo, just listen to me. Don't go home, I'm telling you. Don't phone Mum or Dad or Tish or Zara. You've gotta hide."
"Shut up."
"On my life. You've gotta trust me. Go to Boxer's. Stay with him."
...
In the Cabinet Room, Zara let out a sigh of relief, a tear trickling down her cheek, as she sat at the table with The Master standing next to her and they listened to the phone conversation, the black mobile plugged into the handsfree device in the middle of the table, "Don't tell anyone! Just hide!" Martha begged.
"Ooh, a nice little game of hide-and-seek." The Master smirked. "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?"
"Let them go, Saxon." Martha snapped. "Let my family and my best friend go! Do you hear me?! Let them go!"
The Doctor snatched the phone from her, "I'm here."
The Master straightened up, reaching to grab to phone, only for Zara to push his hand away, "Doctor." The Master replied.
"Master."
The Master smirked, "I like it when you use my name."
"You chose it. Psychiatrist's field day."
"As you chose yours. The man who makes people better. How sanctimonious is that?"
The Doctor breathed in sharply, "Is she safe?"
The Master took Zara's hand, squeezing it tightly, "Of course she is."
"So… Prime Minister."
"I know. It's good, isn't it?"
"Who are those creatures? 'Cause there's no such thing as the Toclafane. It's just a made-up name like the Bogeyman."
"It's funny, because not even your wife-"
"She's not my wife-"
"Knows what they are. Do you remember all those fairy tales about the Toclafane when we were kids? Back home. Where is it, Doctor?"
"Gone."
The Master straightened up, glaring at Zara. How could she not have told him?! "How can Gallifrey be gone?" He spat.
"It burnt."
"And the Time Lords?"
"Dead. And the Daleks…"
"More or less." Zara muttered at the same time as The Doctor. She shook her head. She wished she was back there, in New York. She'd rather be stuck in underground Manhattan with four psychotic Daleks.
"What happened to you?" The Doctor asked.
"The Time Lords only resurrected me because they knew I'd be the perfect warrior for a Time War." The Master shrugged. "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 now you, which must mean…"
"I was the only one who could end it." The Doctor sighed. "And I tried. I did. I tried everything."
"What did it feel like, though? Two almighty civilizations burning. Oh, tell me, how did it 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?" The Master smirked. "Now, now, you've got Zara here to ask on a date instead."
"You could stop this right now. We could leave this planet. We could fight across the constellations if that's what you want. But not on Earth."
"Too late."
"Why do you say that?"
"The drumming." The Master hissed, drumming his fingers on the table. "I thought it would stop but it never does. Never ever stops. Inside my head, the drumming, Doctor. The constant drumming."
"She could help you. We both could. Please, let me or her help."
"It's everywhere. Listen, listen, listen." He began to tap harder on the table. "Here come the drums. Here come the drums."
"What have you done?" The Doctor asked nervously. "Tell me how you've done this. What are those creatures? Tell me!"
The Master grabbed his laptop off the table, looking at a news cast warning the public against The Doctor, Martha and Jack, "Ooh, 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! Ha!"
A newscaster appeared on screen, "…They are known to be armed and extremely dangerous." The man said.
"You're public enemies number one, two and three." The Master continued. "Oh, and you can tell handsome Jack that I've sent his little gang off on a wild goose chase to the Himalayas so he won't be getting any help from them." He switched the screen over to live CCTV footage of The Doctor, Jack and Martha outside a shop. "Now, go on, off you go. Why not start by turning to the right?"
The Doctor looked up at the camera, "He can see us." He groaned, taking the sonic out and using it on the camera, sparking it, sending the screen static.
"Ooh, you public menace. Better start running. Go on. Run!"
"He's got control of everything." The Doctor muttered to Jack and Martha.
"What do we do?" Martha asked as Zara stared at the phone, listening to their conversation.
"We've got nowhere to go." Jack breathed.
"Doctor, what do we do?"
"Run for your life, Doctor!" The Master shouted at the phone.
"We run." The Doctor muttered. The Master and Zara watched as the three of them ran through a shopping arcade. "I said, run!"
"Run." Zara whispered to herself. "Run you clever boy, and remember."
...
The Master sat in the cabinet room, Zara next to him, in front of the laptop, watching Teletubbies when a Toclafance appeared.
"Have you seen these things?" The Master asked, both him and Zara not bothering to look up. "This planet's amazing. Television in their stomach. Now that is evolution."
"Is the machine ready?" The Toclafane with a female voice asked.
"Tomorrow morning. It reaches critical at 8:02 precisely."
"We have to escape. Because it's coming, sir. The darkness, the never-ending darkness. The terrible, terrible cold. We have to run and run and run!"
Zara stared violently in front of her, she couldn't understand it! She knew that he'd put a paradox machine on The TARDIS, but why?! She hated not understanding what was happening. She'd spent all her time locked up, she really didn't know what was going on, but didn't dare try and find out as it seemed if she asked, he would change his plans.
"8:00 tomorrow morning." The Master told it calmly. "Tell your people. The world is waiting."
The Toclafane disappeared and The Master looked out the window thoughtfully as Zara shut her eyes tightly.
...
Martha made her way into the disused warehouse, carrying a bag of takeaway, and up to The Doctor who sat at the laptop next to Jack who was fiddling with his vortex manipulator.
Jack looked up at her, "How was it?"
"I don't think anyone saw me." She shook her head, putting the bag on the small table. "Anything new?"
"I've got this tuned into the government wavelength so we can follow what Saxon's doing." He held up his wrist.
"Yeah, I meant about my family. My parents, Tish, Zar and Leo, you know?"
"It still says the Jones family taken in for questioning." The Doctor said, nodding at the screen of the computer. "Tell you what, though, no mention of Leo."
"He's not as daft as he looks." She smiled before immediately sobering. "I'm talking about my brother on the run. How did this happen?"
Jack sat down, popping a chip into his mouth, "Nice chips."
"Actually, they're not bad." The Doctor nodded in agreement, biting into one. He breathed in sharply, finishing the singular chip, not hungry at all. He could barely think properly, his only focus being that he had to find Zara and get her back.
Martha sat down, sharing a look with Jack.
"So, Doctor, who is he?" Jack asked after a moment. "How come the ancient society of Time Lords created a psychopath?"
"And what is he to you?" Martha added. "Like a colleague…"
"A friend, at first." The Doctor shrugged.
"I thought you were gonna say he was your secret brother or something."
The Doctor eyed her, "You've been watching too much TV."
Martha chuckled half heartedly to herself, shaking her head, missing the usual comment from Zara that would make everyone feel a bit better, no matter what situation they were in. She'd say something along the lines of 'Of course, it makes total sense!', gasping sarcastically and laughing before winking at The Doctor with her usual 'Idiot', to which he'd reply with his normal 'Genius'.
"But all the legends of Gallifrey made it sound so perfect." Jack sighed.
"Well, perfect to look at, maybe. And it was, it was beautiful." The Doctor nodded, leaning back into his seat. "They used to call it the Shining World of the Seven Systems. And on the Continent of Wild Endeavour, in the Mountains of Solace and Solitude, there stood the Citadel of the Time Lords…" He thought back to Gallifrey, a brilliant orange and yellow sky above the snow capped mountains and the large domed city. "The oldest and most mighty race in the universe…looking down on the galaxies below…sworn never to interfere…only to watch… Children of Gallifrey, taken from their families at the age of eight to enter the Academy. And some say that's when it all began. When he was a child… that's when the Master saw eternity. As a novice, he was taken for initiation, it's a gap in the fabric of reality through which could be seen the whole of the vortex. You stand there, eight years old…staring at the raw power of time and space, just a child. Some would be inspired…some would run away…and some would go mad."
"What about you?" Martha asked.
"Oh, the ones that ran away." The Doctor scoffed, popping a chip into his mouth as he knew Martha would worry. "I never stopped."
Jack's manipulator beeped, making them look over, "Encrypted channel with files attached." He muttered. "Don't recognize it."
"Patch it through to the laptop."
"Um, since we're telling stories, um, there's something I haven't told you." He picked up the laptop, fiddling with it before showing it to The Doctor.
The Doctor looked at the Torchwood logo on the screen, "You work for Torchwood." He half glared, raising an eyebrow.
"I swear to you, it's different. It's changed. There's only half a dozen of us now."
"Everything Torchwood did and you're part of it?!" He wasn't angry. Maybe if he hadn't of met Zara, he would have been. But she'd taught him specifically one thing and one was that his closest friends, no matter what they'd done, he wouldn't judge them. He'd stand by them, he'd always forgive them. He glanced at Martha out of the corner of his eye, her concerned face watching him. And he realised, she had made him better also. His girls, they'd done him wonders. And knowing he had not just Martha but Jack as well with him, made him lighten up and feel more confident, making him realise that he had a dream team on his hands to find Zara.
"The old regime was destroyed at Canary Wharf." Jack defended. "I rebuilt it, I changed it. And when I did that, I did it for you, in your honour."
The Doctor breathed in sharply, nodding in understanding. He put a hand on Jack's shoulder, squeezing it as he leaned over and opened the file.
A video of Vivien Rook appeared on the screen, "If I haven't returned to my desk by 2200 hours, this file will be emailed to Torchwood. Which means, if you're watching this, then I'm…" She gulped. "Anyway, the Saxon files are attached. But take a look at the Archangel document. That's when it all started. When Harry Saxon became Minister in charge of launching the Archangel Network." The screen changed, showing a graphic of a spinning Earth with satellites.
"What's the Archangel Network?" The Doctor asked.
Martha pulled out her phone, "I've got Archangel. Everyone's got it." She shrugged.
"It's the mobile phone network." Jack nodded. "'Cause, look, it's gone worldwide. They've got 15 satellites in orbit. Even the other networks, they're all carried by Archangel."
The Doctor took out the sonic, catching Martha's phone one handed as she chucked it to him, using the sonic on it, "It's in the phones! Oh, I said he was a hypnotist! Wait, wait, wait. Hold on." He tapped the phone against the table and it began to beep in the same four beat rhythm. "There it is. That rhythm, it's everywhere. Ticking away in the subconscious."
"What is it, mind control?" Martha asked.
"No, no, no, no. Subtler than that. Any stronger and people would question it. But contained in that rhythm, in layers of code… Vote Saxon. Believe in me. Whispering to the world. Oh, yes! That's how he hid himself from me. 'Cause I should have sensed there was another Time Lord on Earth. I should have known way back. The signal cancelled him out."
"Any way you can stop it?" Jack asked hopefully.
"Not from down here. But now we know how he's doing it."
Martha smiled, "And we can fight back."
"Oh, yes!" He cheered, jumping to his feet and pulling Martha up from her seat, spinning her in the air before dropping her down, running off to find things.
Jack laughed, looking back at Martha, "The thought of finding her really lights up his face, doesn't it?"
Martha nodded, smiling still, but with a sad expression, "It's the only thing that's keeping his hearts beating right now."
Jack watched him as he searched through stuff excitedly, "He's got an idea then? Well, he's always got an idea."
"Yep. We could really do her genius right now..."
...
The Doctor took apart the mobile and the laptop, using the sonic screwdriver to weld circuitry to his, Jack and Martha's keys before tying them each to string to wear around their necks.
"Three TARDIS keys," The Doctor explained, pushing the three keys across the table to her. "Three pieces of the TARDIS with low-level perception properties because the TARDIS is designed to blend in. Well, sort of, but… Now! The Archangel Network's got a second low-level signal. Weld the key to the network and… Martha," He grabbed his key and stepped back. "Look at me. You can see me, yes?"
"Yep!" Martha nodded.
"What about now?" He asked. She stared back at him, her vision veering off and she blinked, making Jack chuckle. "No, I'm here. Look at me."
"It's like…I know you're there but I don't want to know." She muttered.
"And back again." He pulled off the key. "See? It just shifts your perception a tiny little bit. Doesn't make us invisible, just unnoticed. Oh, I know what it's like. It's like—it's like when you fancy someone and they don't even know you exist." He paused for a moment, pursing his lips. "That's what it's like." He nodded, less enthusiastically than before as Martha and Jack smirked at him. "Come on!" He turned, grabbed his coat and ran off towards the door.
Jack looked to Martha, "Is he always this obvious?" He asked.
"Oh yes," Martha laughed. "And she's as equally oblivious."
...
The three of them made their way out to the dark streets.
"Don't run. Don't shout." The Doctor said quietly. "Just keep your voice down. Draw attention to yourself and the spell is broken. Just keep to the shadows."
"Like ghosts." Jack mumbled.
"Yeah, that's what we are. Ghosts."
They placed their keys around their necks before heading out into the city.
...
The Master, Lucy arrived on the tarmac with an escort, a second escort walking behind them leading Zara who wore a floor lengthed, strapped black dress, with a thin cloak over her, the hood up covering her face as she stared at the floor to keep unnoticed, the Master greeting President Winters.
The Master saluted him, "Mr President, sir!"
"Mr Saxon." Winters nodded stiffly. "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. And you've just gone and ignored it." Winters snapped.
"Well, you know what it's like. New job, all that paperwork. 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 uh…" He gestured to Lucy and Zara. "Have you met the wife and little girl?"
Winters glared at them, unamused, before looking back to The Master, "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?" The Master mimed zipping his lips, Zara rolling her eyes as she stared carefully at the floor. "Are you taking this seriously?" The Master nodded. "To business. We've accessed your files on these…Toclafane." On the other side of the tarmac stood The Doctor, Martha and Jack stiffly, watching. "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 8:00 am." The Master tried to talk through zipped lips. "You're trying my patience, sir."
The Master 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 leave.
"It still will be televised, though, won't it?" The Master called to him, making him turn back. "Because I promised, and the whole world is watching."
"Since it's too late to pull out, the world will be watching. Me." He turned to a waiting car.
"The last President of America." The Master said quietly to Zara and Lucy. "We have a private plane ready and waiting. We should reach the Valiant within the hour." He motioned forward to Lucy and Zara. "My darlings."
The two of them made their way towards the car as The Master watched Winters drive away before turning, looking over where The Doctor, Martha and Jack stood when a police van pulled up behind him.
As Lucy and Zara were led round a corner towards the plane, Zara glanced back with tears in her eyes, watching between The Master taunt the Jones family and The Doctor, Jack and Martha, who she seemed able to notice through their perception filter purely because she wanted to see them more than anything... and so she could.
On the other side of the tarmac, The Doctor, Jack and Martha watched in horror.
"Oh my God." Martha gasped.
"Don't move." The Doctor hissed.
"But…"
"Don't."
They watched as Jones family was transferred to a Land Rover.
"I'm gonna kill him." Martha gulped.
"Say I use this perception filter to walk up behind him and break his neck?" Jack suggested.
"Now that sounds like Torchwood." The Doctor muttered.
"Still a good plan."
"He's a Time Lord, which makes him my responsibility. I'm not here to kill him. I'm here to save him."
"And Zara?" Martha scoffed tearfully.
"We're here to get her back."
Jack looked down at his manipulator, pressing buttons on it, "Aircraft carrier Valiant. It's a UNIT ship at 28.2N and 10.02E."
"How do we get onboard?" Martha asked.
The Doctor glanced at the manipulator, "Does that thing work as a teleport?"
"Since you revamped it, yeah." Jack nodded. "Coordinates set."
They all reached out and touched the manipulator, the three of them reappearing in one of the Valiant's engine rooms, Jack and Martha groaning as The Doctor looked around, determined.
"Oh, that thing is rough." Martha muttered.
"I've has worse nights." Jack added, cracking his neck. "Welcome to the Valiant."
"It's dawn." Martha said, walking over to a porthole, looking out at the sky. "Hold on, I thought this was a ship. Where's the sea?"
"A ship for the 21st century. Protecting the skies of planet Earth."
...
The Master, Lucy and Zara arrived at the conference room of the Valient, many secret service agents, military personnel and camera crew filling the room.
The Master made his way up to Winters who stood on the staircase at the end of the room, "Anything I can do? I could make tea or isn't that American enough? I don't know, I could make grits. What are grits, anyway?"
"If you could just sit." Winters grumbled.
The Master turned back to Lucy and Zara, pulling a face, "Misery guts. What do you think? It's good, isn't it?" He pulled out two chairs for them.
"It's beautiful." Lucy smiled, looking around the room in awe as she and Zara sat down.
"Some of my best work." He said quietly. "Ministry of Defence. I helped design this place." He sat down in between them. "Every detail."
...
The Doctor, Martha and Jack ran through the maintenance corridors when The Doctor stopped abruptly.
"We've no time for sightseeing!" Jack gasped.
"No, no." The Doctor said, looking around carefully. "Wait. Shh, shh, shh. Can't you hear it?"
"Hear what?"
"Doctor, my family's on board." Martha reminded him. "That includes Zara, ok?"
"Brilliant!" He suddenly grinned. "This way!" He changed direction, running through some more corridors with Jack and Martha following. He pulled open a set of doors and there sat The TARDIS. "Oh, at last!"
"Oh, yes!" Martha laughed.
"What's it doing on the Valiant?" Jack frowned. They ran up to the doors and Martha unlocked the door, the three of them bursting into the console room to find the room bathed in a red glow, a bit metal grate around the whole console. "What the hell's he done?"
"Don't touch it." The Doctor warned.
"I'm not going to."
"What's he done though?" Martha breathed. "Sounds like she's… sick."
"It can't be. No, no, no, no, no, no, it can't be." The Doctor said through gritted teeth.
"Doctor, what is it?"
"He's cannibalised the TARDIS."
Jack stared at it in horror, "Is that what I think it is?"
The Doctor nodded grimly, "It's a paradox machine."
...
"Two minutes, everyone!" Winters called, climbing the steps. "According to the treaty, all armed personnel are requested to leave the flight deck immediately. Thank you."
The Master held out a white bag to Lucy, "Jelly baby?" Lucy nodded, taking out one and popping it in her mouth. "They're here." He whispered quietly to Zara.
"I know." She mumbled, peering out of her hood.
"Broadcasting at 7:58 with the arrival timed at 0800 precisely." Winters called. "And, uh, good luck to all of us."
...
"As soon as this hits red, it activates." The Doctor explained, tapping on a dial on the side of the cage. "At this speed, it'll trigger," He grabbed Jack's wrist, looking at his watch. "At two minutes past 8:00."
"First contact is at 8:00 and then two minutes later…" Jack muttered.
"What's it for?" Martha asked. "What's a paradox machine do?"
"More importantly, can you stop it?"
"Not until I know what it's doing." The Doctor sighed, shaking his head. "If Zara was here, maybe we'd have a chance... But touch the wrong bit and blow up the solar system."
"Then we've got to get to the Master." Martha said, determined.
"Yeah." Jack agreed. "How do we stop him?"
"Oh, I've got a way." The Doctor said. "Sorry, didn't I tell you?" He grinned.
"On behalf of Zara, I'd like to call you an idiot." Martha smiled, shaking her head.
...
"My fellow Americans, patriots, people of the world…" Winters said to the cameras, The Master smiling manically and Zara staring stiffly. "I stand before you today as ambassador for humanity, a role I will undertake with utmost solemnity. Perhaps our Toclafane cousins can offer us much, but that is important is not that we gain material benefits, but that we learn to see ourselves anew." At the back of the room, The Doctor, Martha and Jack quietly made their way in making The Master's smile disappear and Zara's smirk slightly. "For as long as man has looked to the stars, he has wondered what mysteries they hold. Now we know we are not alone…"
"This plan, you gonna tell us?" Jack asked quietly.
"If I can get this," The Doctor whispered, holding up his key, trying not to look at Zara for fear of ripping the room apart to get to her. "Around the Master's neck…cancel out his perception, they'll see him for real. It's just hard to go unnoticed with everyone on red alert. If they stop me…you've got a key... your main priority is getting her out, you understand?"
Jack nodded, "Yes, sir."
"I'll get him." Martha muttered. "I'll get her out."
"And I ask you now, I ask of the human race, to join with me in welcoming our friends." Winters continued. "I give you the Toclafane." Three Toclafane appeared. "My name is Arthur Coleman Winters, 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." The first Toclafane in a male voice remarked.
"We like the Mr Master." The second with a female voice added.
"We don't like you." The third also with a male voice sneered.
"I… can be Master, if you so wish." Winters stammered. "I will accept mastery over you if that is God's will."
"Man is stupid."
"Master is our friend." The first Toclafane added.
"Where's my Master, pretty please?" The second pleaded.
"Oh, all right then." The Master rolled his eyes. "It's me." He stood up, being able to seen by the cameras but with Zara out of shot. "Ta-da!" He laughed. "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?" Winters snapped.
"I'm taking control, Uncle Sam. Starting with you." He waved a hand to the Toclafane. "Kill him." One of the Toclafane shot Winters with a laser, making him disintegrate. Chaos erupted as everyone tried to bolt of of the room, The Master's men pulling out their weapons. Zara stared, watching sharply, not making any sudden movements. "Guards!"
"Nobody move! Nobody move!" A guard shouted.
The Master turned, looking into the camera, "Now then, peoples of the Earth, please attend carefully."
The Doctor rushed forward, "Stop him!" A guard shouted. Two guards grabbed hold of him, forcing him to kneel on the floor next to where Zara sat.
"We meet at last, Doctor." The Master teased. "Oh, ho! I love saying that!"
"Stop this! Stop it now!" The Doctor screamed.
Zara looked over at Martha and Jack, looking the two of them in the eye for the first time. Her blonde hair tumbled over her face, an apologetic look on her face.
"As if a perception filter's gonna work on me." He looked over at Jack and Martha, "Oh, and look, it's the girlie and the freak. Although, I'm not sure which one's which." Jack rushed over and The Master pulled out a gold stick, his laser screwdriver, and shot him, sending him flying to the floor. "Laser screwdriver, who'd have sonic? And the good thing is, he's not dead for long. I get to kill him again!"
Martha rushed over to Jack, dropping down next to him.
Zara stood up slowly, nobody watching her at all. She slowly pulled down her hood and within a split second reached back, grabbing the two guns from the belt from the escort behind her, aiming them at the guards and secret service agents.
"Master, just calm down." The Doctor begged, too scared to look back and look at Zara in the eye. After all this time... he didn't know if he'd like what he saw. "Just look at what you're doing. Just stop. If you could see yourself…"
The Master sighed, "Oh, do excuse me, little bit of personal business." He said into the camera. "Back in a minute."
Zara moved one gun to the guards holding The Doctor, "Let him go." She ordered.
The guards nodded, always been a bit more scared of 'mental girl Saxon' than The Master himself, and pushed him to the floor.
"It's that sound, the sound in your head." The Doctor gasped. "What if I could help? What if you'd let Zara help?!"
"Oh, how to shut him up?" The Master rolled his eyes. "I know. Memory Lane!" He sat down on the steps, facing The Doctor. "Professor Lazarus. Remember him? And his genetic manipulation device? Did you think that little Tish got that job merely by coincidence? I've been laying traps for you all this time. And if I can concentrate all that Lazarus technology into one little screwdriver… But, ooh, if I only had the Doctor's biological code. Oh, wait a minute, I do!" He ran up the stairs to a silver case and opened it, revealing The Doctor's hand. "I've got his hand! And if Lazarus made himself younger, what if I reverse it? Another hundred years?" He sat down the step and moved to use it on The Doctor when he heard a click and looked over to see Zara aiming one of the guns at him. He turned, aiming the gun at Martha's head. "Put them down Zar, or I'll kill her." She tightened the grip on the gun, focusing her aim at The Master. "If you shoot me, I'll shoot her. We'll both die or we'll both live. Your choice." She gritted her teeh, tempted to pull the trigger before dropping both guns to the ground. She bolted over to Martha, standing in her way so the Master wouldn't shoot her. The Master turned, using the laser screwdriver on The Doctor as Zara turned back to Martha.
"Are you ok?" She breathed, tears in her eyes.
Martha nodded, putting one arm around her middle and hugging her as they watched the Doctor writh and scream in pain when Jack gasped back to life.
"Teleport." Jack gasped, handing Martha his vortex manipulator.
"I can't." Martha whispered as he forced it into her hand.
"We can't stop him." Zara mumbled, pushing a strand of hair out of her face, turning to look her in the eye. "Get out of here. Get out."
The Master stopped and The Doctor had turned into a wrinkly, hunchbacked old man.
Martha crawled over to him and put one hand round his middle, his other hand on his chest to hold him up, "Doctor, I've got you."
"Aw, she's a would-be doctor." The Master teased as Jack sat up slightly, putting an arm around Zara's middle and pulling her close. "But tonight, Martha Jones, we've flown 'em in all the way from prison—"
They all looked up as the door slid open and the guards pushed in Francine, Clive and Tish, their hands tied together with plastic.
"Mum." Martha breathed.
"I'm sorry." Francine sobbed.
The Doctor looked over at Zara, "The Toclafane, who are they?" He asked. "Who are they?"
"I'm sorry, I don't know." Zara gasped, a tear falling down her cheek.
"Doctor," The Master said, leaning down and placing a hand on The Doctor's chest. "If I told you the truth, your hearts would break."
"Is it time?" The first Toclafane asked.
"Is it ready?" The third added.
"Is the machine singing?" The second queried.
The Master looked at his watch, "Two minutes past." He mounted the steps and stood next to Lucy who had moved over to him. "So! Earthings. Basically, um, end of the world." He held up his screwdriver in the air triumphantly. "Here…come…the drums!"
Music filled the air and The Master moved over to the window, looking out. Above the Valiant, a rift opened in the sky and thousands of Toclafane came flying out.
"How many do you think?" The Master asked Lucy as she moved next to him.
"I don't know." She gasped in awe.
"Six billion." He pressed a button, switching on the outside speaker. "Down you go, kids!" The Toclafane swarmed down to Earth, killing people in the streets. "Shall we decimate them? That sounds good. Nice word—decimate." He turned and called ot the Toclafane, "Remove one-tenth of the population!"
Zara and Martha cried silently as the screams of the planet below filled the room.
"Valiant, this is Geneva!" A message on the comm called. "We're getting slaughtered down here!"
Martha stood up.
"Help us, for God's sake!" Another message screamed. "Help us! They're everywhere!"
"This is London, Valiant!" A third begged. "This is London calling! What do we do?!"
Martha looked over at her family.
"They're killing us!" A fourth cried. "The Toclafane are killing us!"
Martha looked down at Zara and Jack, then The Doctor, before teleporting off. The Doctor shared a look with Jack and Zara before turning to look at The Master.
The Master grabbed hold of The Doctor by the collar in one hand and pulled Zara to her feet with the other. Zara moved over to The Doctor, pulling him out of The Master's grasp and followed him up to the window, helping The Doctor along. The three of them stopped and looked out the window.
"And so it came to pass…that the human race fell and the Earth was no more." The Master smiled. "And I looked down upon my new dominion as master of all and I thought it…good."
The Doctor put his arm around Zara, giving her a small squeeze.