Happy holidays!... and uh... trigger warnings for trauma... whoops~

Surprisingly enough, getting bit by a snake wasn't bad. The antivenom the Doctor gave me upon his return did quick work of dealing with anything dangerous or deadly and it was just a matter of keeping the swelling and bruising in my ankle down and monitored, which the Doctor was happy to do for however I was to be with him afterward. It was still odd for the Twelfth Doctor to be so kind to me but his kindness became a bit suspicious after a while. He took me to an aquarium once he felt I could walk on my own; not that it stopped him from keeping a firm hold of my elbow most of the day. While that wasn't entirely out of character for him, the subsequent meal at a Japanese restaurant, the ice cream in the Tardis, and the fact that he sat with me and watched a full season of Planet Earth had me quickly questioning him.

"What are you up to?" I questioned him, half-sprawled across the table in the kitchen as he cooked up some lunch for me—having insisted on doing it himself.

"Hm?" He hummed, not even glancing at me as he cooked. "I don't know what you mean."

"You know exactly what I mean," I argued. "You may be a Doctor I don't know well and I may be early but I've seen you do this before with Amy when she forgot Rory. You're being nice. Overly nice and you only do that when you're trying to hide something from someone or distract them into thinking nothing's wrong. So, as much as I'm enjoying the trips and welcome break from the insanity that usually comes with traveling with you, I'm suspicious."

"So, I'm not allowed to do anything nice for you?" He questioned, turning around and placing a plate of food in front of me.

"It's suspicious," I repeated, eyes narrowed at him but still picking up my fork to eat as I watched him. "Just tell me what it is. I don't like surprises."

I turned my gaze away from him and toward my food, waiting. There weren't exactly many options for him. He either told me, told me it was spoilers, or didn't tell me at all and pretended everything was fine. If it was spoilers I'd be disgruntled but would deal with it. If he just didn't tell me though… I frowned lightly at the thought of what it would mean if he didn't tell me—Does he not trust me? Why? Why wouldn't he tell me—and he must have noticed it as he heavily sighed.

"On Skaro," he started, hesitating slightly as I glanced at him. "Did you… Was there any point where you felt something? Something unexpected?"

My brows furrowed, confused. "Felt something?"

He frowned lightly, waving at me. "Feelings, emotions, that sort of thing. Perhaps… when Missy and Clara were…"

"I mean, sure," I replied, eyeing him because that expression of shame was returning and I wasn't sure why. "I couldn't exactly tell you anything with Davros right there, so I guess I was frustrated and worried and… angry."

That made me pause because while I remembered the anger I couldn't quite remember why I was angry. The feeling in my memory of things wasn't solid somehow and I shot a glare at the Doctor when he lightly prodded my forehead.

"That," he said calmly. "The anger wasn't yours, it was mine."

I opened my mouth, closed it, and slowly felt understanding dawn on me. "You mean… the whole change thing…"

He nodded. "You picked up a hint of what I was feeling. Your mental capabilities are starting to show. You were also projecting a bit."

"How?" I questioned. "I mean, I know it's all scientific or whatever and it's because of the Tardis piece in my arm but… how do I know I'm projecting? Or, or when I'm feeling something that isn't actually mine? Isn't it dangerous?"

"Very," he replied seriously. "Allowing your mind to be left open like that can cause all sorts of trouble. Telepaths can easily gain entrance and give you a right headache, and you yourself could inadvertently affect those around you with your own emotions if you're not careful. However, I will work with you on it. Currently, your mind is only just starting to open up so you're not actively projecting all the time and people can't just gain entrance to your head all willy-nilly."

"So… I'm fine."

"For the moment, but if left as is—without any guidance for what's to come—then things can be complicated and harder to control later," he explained. "Right now, you're only vulnerable to those who are skilled touch telepaths."

"Like you."

He nodded. "Like me."

Still, I eyed him. "So, that's what you were hiding from me but it's not why you're being nice. What am I missing? You looked… guilty about something."

He awkwardly glanced away at getting caught but knew I wouldn't drop it and gave in. "I… lied, before. I hadn't been paying attention to you, missed the signs that things were alright, and… and I was angry."

"You… lied," I muttered.

"Yes, yes, I lied," he grumbled, facing me with a frown. "Do you have to rub it in?"

"I'm just trying to figure out at what point I should be mad at you," I offered him, making his scowl deepen. "Because I'm not really seeing it. Rule number one is the Doctor lies."

"Not to you," he blurted out, voice serious enough to send a shiver up my spine and make an awkward lump form in my throat.

"N-No, no," I argued, ignoring the slight wobble my voice made initially. "You can't say that. Everyone lies. You can't tell me you wouldn't lie to protect me. I know you would. Nobody is that special."

His gaze softened, making that feeling in me worse because I felt like I didn't deserve that from him. I was no one special, not really, and sure. Perhaps that was just my own personal insecurities making me think that but I certainly didn't see what he did. I didn't see what made me so different from Rose or Donna or Amy or any of his other companions that made him decide I was the one he wanted to be with. In all honestly, it felt like I was just… lucky. What made me "special" was the fact that I bounced around his timeline, that I healed faster than others, that I had a piece of his ship in me, and I would be able to talk to him mentally. If I didn't have any of that, he would treat me like any other companion. If anything, he probably felt obligated to be friendly with me given I'd been stripped from my universe and thrown into this one without being able to control the fact that I would always end up with him at some point.

I glanced down at my half-full plate, no longer hungry and suddenly not interested in pushing this conversation any further. I had all my answers anyway. The Doctor had lied about being angry with Davros, about knowing that Missy and Clara had lived, and probably about fixing the Dalek gun too. He'd been treating me nice to soften the blow that came with telling me about my mental abilities showing themselves. I was still young to him, early, and much like the first time he mentioned these physical changes, he probably expected me to panic about it. Instead, I'm sitting here feeling sorry for myself because some small, stupid part of me wanted to be special for all the wrong reasons.

"Ash—"

"I'm just…" I glanced up and then away again. "I'm not mad, is all I'm saying."

A silent tension filled the room that made me shift uneasily, pursing my lips and mentally berating myself for my thoughts. I was lucky. Lucky to be here with the Doctor, lucky to have grabbed his attention, lucky to be alive in this world and not very, very dead. I was lucky he cared and as much as I didn't feel like things should be this way, they were and I needed to accept that. Didn't make it easy, of course, and I flinched when the Doctor lightly brushed his fingers over the back of my hand. I had jerked away, making the contact brief but the look in his eyes told me that—as brief as it was—he'd felt a lot from me that I hadn't wanted him to know about.

"Ash," he started but I shook my head, getting to my feet to abandon my food.

"It's fine. I don't care that you lied. It's not a big deal and the mental telepathy thing isn't either. It'll take some getting used to and I'm sure—"

He grabbed my wrist then, stopping me from trying to leave and I hunched my shoulders slightly. I didn't want him prying. It was a cheap move for him to catch a glimpse of what I was feeling the way he did and I didn't want him questioning me about what I'd been feeling or thinking about myself. I didn't want him pushing because if he pushed then I would break. I always broke when people pushed me about these sorts of things. As tough as I pretended to be, the moment my feelings were brought into question everything boiled over and I hated it.

"Ash," the Doctor muttered, and I didn't turn to face him; afraid of how quickly the dam would burst if I saw his expression.

As it was, the dam was creaking as the pressure built up behind my eyes threatening tears over something that hadn't even happened yet. Worst part was, I knew he could feel it. His hand was firmly wrapped around mine and any comforting squeeze he offered would only add to that building pressure and make it worse.

"Did you know," he breathed, voice soft. "You once told me that Donna was your favorite companion."

Because she is. She's brilliant, I mentally agreed, trying to focus on anything else other than my grit teeth and the lump in my throat.

"The reason you told me at first was that she was brilliant. She just wanted a friend and had a good head on her shoulders. She was… normal in every sense of the word and… eventually, you told me the real reason was that Donna Noble always said she was nothing special," he explained, making me grip my pants with my free hand and swallow thickly. "She always said that and I was always there to tell her how wrong she was, and that was what you related to the most. It was too hard for you to believe, for either of you to think that someone looked at you—an ordinary human being—and thought you were special."

It was getting harder to hold back. I tipped my head up slightly in the hopes that would keep the tears from falling, taking a shuddering breath as I once again hated how much the Doctor knew that I wished he didn't.

"You are special," he said, making me clench my eyes shut in frustration because there'd be no stopping the tears now. "Human, changing, telepathy, healing, popping around my timeline or otherwise. You are… the most important person to me. I wouldn't have married you otherwise."

"W-We're not—" I choked out, lowering my head and bringing my free hand up to paw at my face now wet with tears. "I'm not—"

"You are," he pressed, pulling me lightly back toward him and resting his chin on my head as he hooked an arm around my waist and lightly rocked me from side to side. "There is no other Asher in this universe and even if there was, they would be nothing like you."

The hug made it worse, as it always would, and I couldn't say anything to argue what he was saying or protest his actions as I fought to control myself and keep from full-on sobbing at his kind words; his meaningful words filled with sincerity.

"Even the other day," he continued, just rambling away to try and help calm me down. "I could have made a terrible mistake. I was angry and could have killed Davros if I wanted but you stopped me."

I shook my head, knowing he wouldn't have whether I was there or not, struggling to say as much but he tightened his hold on my waist and dropped his head into the crook of my neck.

"I would have," he murmured, voice tight with his own emotions. "If you weren't there, it would have been so simple."

The thought that he would have and could have killed someone simply because I wasn't there felt like a slap to the face. I had stopped him this time but what about when I wasn't there? Had this universe shifted so much that my presence was somehow causing the Doctor to be more dangerous? Dangerous to the point that he would do something so drastic, so against his morals because of my presence in the universe?

"No. No, no, no," he breathed against my neck, shifting his hands to hold me closer to him and moving to press his forehead against my temple. "That's not—I didn't mean it like that. Ash, I'm not blaming you."

"B-But it's my fault," I choked out, feeling as though someone had pulled the ground out from under me. "My existence h-has changed everything. Just my being here has, has turned you into—"

I was spun around and his hands gripped my shoulders tightly; his forehead pressing against mine as he clenched his eyes shut tight. His teeth were grinding hard enough that I could practically hear his frustration and I could certainly feel it too. Guilt, unease, apologies, all of it mixed and pressing into my head with enough force to make me wince and start to step away. He didn't let me, instead reaching up and cupping my face, keeping my head in place as he tried to explain.

"This is not on you. Not for one second. My actions are my own. In this universe, it is my decision to do or not do something," he muttered, opening his eyes and staring down at me seriously to get the point across. "Your world, the universe of that Doctor in that television series, that was his decision. He didn't have you but he also had the choice to make in that moment and he happened to choose not to shoot. I am not him. Somewhere else, in some other universe, there's another Doctor who chooses to shoot whether you're there or not but he's also not me."

It was hard to believe. My mind still fought against his sureties that he was pressing lightly into my head.

"But I-I've been with you for… for so long. I had to have affected this you, the future you," I breathed.

"And you have, you will, but not like that, Ash. Never like that," he said, heaving out a sigh and closing his eyes once more; expression softening. "You have made me good. So much more than anyone else. Your age doesn't matter, your abilities don't matter, popping around doesn't matter. You. You are the one that matters. All of those things could be stripped away and I would still want you by my side for forever. The universe wouldn't get a say in that. I would ensure it."

"I… I would die," I argued, knowing that he couldn't be telling the truth.

He'd done this with Rose, with Clara and Amy. He made promises to Donna and so many others about traveling around forever and ever. They were all humans in the end. They left and died and forgot. I would just be another added to the list if all of what made me special was gone but he was adamant.

"I wouldn't allow it," he breathed, making me wince again at the heavy sincerity he pushed through. "You might not believe me but… please," he begged. "Please just… just try. For a moment, try and understand that you are special to me."

I opened my mouth to argue but choked on the words as more tears welled up. The wave of sincerity had passed and in its place was such warmth, such kindness and care and love that I'd never felt before in my life. It pushed a sob up my throat as it encased my mind, filling me to the brim even after he'd kissed my forehead and pulled me into his chest to cry. I clung to him like a child, grip tight around his coat as he murmured quietly in my ear and pressed soft kisses to my hair and temple. It was hard to argue against anything he said now and while there was still that subtle hint of unease about my effect on the universe and the Doctor, there was no denying that—at the very least—he did care about me more than I could have ever expected.

And that scared me.

Asher never knew when she would pop off or where she would end up. She never knew when or what to expect and despite trying to be prepared for anything, things weren't always what they seemed. The 21st-century city of London she'd landed in was so stupidly normal, she didn't give it a second thought. The only odd thing was the ache in her arm and the uneasy twisting in her stomach. She'd been fine before she'd stumbled into a new time and place, but now that she was here there was a distinct feeling that something was wrong with her physically. She rubbed at her arm where the marks of the Tardis were, hoping the aching pain wouldn't get worse as she pulled out her phone.

She figured out where she was on the GPS and how far off her UNIT-registered flat was, and then she started walking. It wouldn't be the first time she'd shown up early and wouldn't be the last. She knew how to adjust and adapt, so she just went about her day waiting for whatever alien invasion or sudden appearance of the Tardis would bring. This meant that she was unprepared to walk into her flat and immediately get swarmed by armor-wearing, armed officers.

She was quickly taken down and didn't resist but was thoroughly confused by the fact that she wasn't asked any questions. When she asked them what she was being arrested for, they never responded and given there wasn't anything she could do, she just settled in the back of the armored van handcuffed and silent. It reminded her eerily of her stint with Torchwood and the longer she was in the dark van the antsier she got. Too many adventures happened in London with government agencies or people who had their own armed security. She couldn't even begin to narrow things down for her own sake and simply closed her eyes to try and calm down.

After her discussion with the Twelfth Doctor, he'd started walking her through the basics of her developing mental capabilities and the basis of it all was being able to calm her mind even when panicked. She was lucky. She always had a lot of patience and could calm herself down relatively quickly. Being the oldest of quite a few siblings and often having to take over the parental role meant she had to be able to hold back frustrations, anger, and panic while they were in the room. Not the best way to cope with things but it certainly came in handy now.

Then, the doors opened and she was taken out of the van and walked onto a tarmac. It was dark and with the bright headlights from nearby vehicles and the flashing red and blue police lights, she couldn't quite make out anyone's faces. That is, until some of the vehicles left and one man sauntered up to her.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Doctor's favorite pet."

Asher paled because of all of the places to end up, this was one of the last places she wanted to be. The Master stood in front of her in a suit with a smug grin stretched over his face. This wasn't like with Missy. Missy was almost playful with how she interacted but this version of the Master was cruel and crazed. His madness drove him to do terrible things and laugh at them in the process. He derived joy out of pain and suffering, and if he found out her mind was vulnerable, he would take advantage of that in a heartbeat. He can't find out. The second he finds out, I'm dead. Worse than dead. I don't know what he would do with someone like me, someone just beginning to work out their mental abilities. I can't let him find out. I can't.

The Master frowned at her lack of response and took a threatening step forward as she tried to take one back; stopped by the man who had a firm grip on her arm, holding her in place.

"Nothing to say?" He questioned, eyeing her suspiciously. "Torchwood made it sound like you were so much feistier, smug even. I would have thought there'd be something interesting about you given the Doctor is so… possessive."

He reached out toward her face and she jerked away, baring her teeth in a grimace as his fingers brushed over her cheek and temple. His gaze narrowed but soon enough he pulled away and huffed; turning and waving a hand over his shoulder.

"Chuck her in with the rest of them. I'll need her brought out later. Can't catch a fish without bait."

"F-Fucking—" Asher cut herself short as she was shoved forward into a car to get transported up to the Valiant.

Things couldn't be worse.

"Oh, that thing is rough," Martha groaned once she, Jack, and the Doctor had teleported themselves onto the Valiant.

"I've had worse nights. Welcome to the Valiant," Jack said with grunts of pain as well.

"It's dawn?" Martha noticed, looking out a porthole. "Hold on, I thought this was a ship. Where's the sea?"

"A ship for the 21st century, protecting the skies of planet Earth," Jack informed her before they headed off to find the Master.

The Doctor stopped them though, making Jack complain.

"We have no time for sightseeing!"

"No, wait. Shush, shush, shush, shush. Can't you hear it?" The Doctor asked, listening as Martha pushed him.

"Doctor, my family's on board."

"And so is Asher," he said shortly, shooting her a look that silenced her quickly.

She wasn't the only one with something at risk here.

"This way," he directed them and they all stopped at the sight on the other end of the hall. "Oh, at last!"

"Oh, yes!" Martha cheered as they hurried toward the Tardis.

"What's it doing on the Valiant?" Jack wondered before they stepped inside and froze at the sight.

Cables and wires were scattered around and a cage kept the center console contained. All the lights glowed an eerie red and the cloister bell chimed in warning.

"What the hell's he done?" Jack breathed as the Doctor eyed the room.

"Don't touch it."

"I'm not going to."

"What's he done though? Sounds like it's sick," Martha pointed out.

"It can't be. No, no, no, no, no, no, it can't be," the Doctor groaned, mind racing as he started to understand what the wiring was doing.

"Doctor, what is it?"

"He's cannibalized the Tardis," the Doctor explained with grit teeth.

"Is this what I think it is?" Jack asked.

"It's a paradox machine… Ash. Dammit," he cursed, running a hand through his hair before searching for a gauge nearby and tapping it. "As soon as this hits red, it activates. At this speed, it'll trigger…" He grabbed Jack's hand to check his watch. "...at two minutes past eight."

"First contact is at eight, then two minutes later…" Jack eyed him though, seeing there was something more to this. "You mentioned Asher. What's she got to do with this?"

"Nothing good," the Doctor muttered. "The reason she jumps around my timeline is because there's a piece of the Tardis that's assimilated with her body. A small fragment that's always trying to bring her back to the ship but never in the right order or at the right time. That piece and the Tardis are connected. With the Tardis like this, I can't imagine what it must be like for her."

"And when it goes off?"

The Doctor looked at him uneasily. "I… I don't know."

"Can you stop it?" Martha asked.

"Not till I know what it's doing. Touch the wrong bit, blow up the solar system," the Doctor explained.

"Then, we've got to get to the Master."

"Yeah. How are we going to stop him?" Jack asked.

"Oh, I've got a way. Sorry, didn't I mention it?" The Doctor chirped, masking his growing unease as best he could as they ran off toward the flight deck.

With the perception filters on their necks, they were able to slip into the room unnoticed, moving toward the back as Jack spoke up softly.

"This plan, you going to tell us?"

"If I can get this 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."

"Yes, sir," Jack said, knowing his duty if the Doctor failed.

Martha nodded as well. "I'll get him."

"I give you, the Toclafane," the President announced then and four spheres appeared hovering above him. "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," a sphere said as the Doctor edged closer to the Master's seat.

"We like the Mister Master."

"We don't like you."

The President shifted uneasily, unsure of how to react to this blatant refusal. "I can be master, if you so wish. I will accept mastery over you, if that is God's will."

"Man is stupid."

"Master is our friend."

"Where's my master, pretty please?"

"Oh, all right. It's me," the Master chimed, getting up and moving to the front of the room. "Ta-da! Sorry, sorry, I have this effect. People just get obsessed. Is it the smile? Is it the aftershave? Is it the capacity to laugh at myself? I don't know. It's crazy."

"Saxon, what are you talking about?" The President snapped.

"I'm taking control, Uncle Sam, starting with you. Kill him."

The spheres killed him instantly, sending the room into panic as the Master called on the guards who had the room quickly locked down.

"Now then, peoples of the Earth. Please attend carefully," the Master started before the Doctor took a chance; taking off his perception filter key and rushing at the Master.

"Stop him!"

The Doctor was grabbed by two men and restrained as the Master smirked down at him.

"We meet at last, Doctor. Oh, ho. I love saying that."

"Stop it! Stop it now!" The Doctor shouted.

"As if a perception filter's going to work on me. And look, it's the girlie and the freak. Although, I'm not sure which one's which," he mocked before Jack made his attempt and was killed by the laser screwdriver the Master pulled out. "Laser screwdriver. Who'd have sonic? And the good thing is, he's not dead for long. I get to kill him again!"

"Master, just calm down. Just look at what you're doing. Just stop. If you could see yourself—" The Doctor tried, attempting to reason with him as Martha checked on Jack.

"Oh, do excuse me. Little bit of personal business. Back in a minute," the Doctor hummed to the cameras before scowling at the Doctor. "Let him go and go bring in the pet. I'm sure she'd like to see this."

"It's that sound. The sound in your head. What if I could help?" The Doctor offered.

"Oh, how to shut him up? I know. Guards?"

The Doctor turned to see a set of guards pulling Asher into the room. She looked uneasy and pained. The Doctor wasn't sure what from. If the Master had done something or if it was because of the Tardis. He wasn't even sure how aware this Asher was of anything. She looks young, he noted which only added to the weight in his gut as she was brought over to the Master and pushed to her knees.

"Leave her alone," the Doctor growled, not wanting Asher to get mixed up in this especially if she was young and new to everything.

He couldn't even begin to imagine what sort of damage the Master could cause if he knew, if he found out.

The Master rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes. Of course. Have to play nice with the Doctor's favorite toy, right?" His expression went serious then and he pointed his sonic at her. "Or I could just nip it in the bud now."

"Don't!" The Doctor bellowed, fear gripping his hearts as the Master eyed him.

"See, here's the thing I don't understand. She's nothing, really. Just another human companion who dawdles around with you. What makes her so special? Popping up randomly? Is that what does it for you? Takes longer to watch her die, I suppose, but that's a bit anti-climatic, isn't it? She'll still die in the end. Might even die unexpectedly. Just pops up in a volcano or something. I'm sure with a bit of fiddling I could find a way to move things along for you. You know, if she's being a bit of a bother."

"Stop it," the Doctor bit out, eyes flicking to Asher's hunched shoulders and back to the Master wishing he could argue everything the Master was saying.

It would risk her life though. The more important she was to him, the more the Master would use that to his advantage. If she's too unimportant though, she'll be killed on the spot just to get a rise out of him. It was a careful balance the Doctor was trying to work out and there was just not enough time to get a plan put in place.

"Okay, okay. How about this?" The Master offered, sitting a few steps above where Asher was and nodding to the Doctor. "Memory Lane. Professor Lazarus. Remember him and his genetic manipulation device? What, 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 got up and bounded over to a large metal briefcase on a table nearby, opening it to show a container with a hand inside.

"I've got his hand. And if Lazarus made himself younger, what if I reverse it? Another hundred years?" He pointed the sonic at the Doctor and smirked.

Asher shifted then and he was quick to point it at her.

"Stay put or I'll do you next and you won't survive it, I'm sure."

"Ash," the Doctor muttered, locking eyes with her worried ones. "It'll be okay."

"No, it won't," the Master spat, using the sonic on the Doctor as he writhed in pain and sank to the ground an old man.

Martha moved to his side, helping to hold him up as the Master cooed.

"Ah, she's a would-be doctor. But tonight, Martha Jones, we've flown them in all the way from prison."

Martha's family were brought in, worrying her as the Doctor faced the Master as best he could; forcing himself to not look at Asher. He wished she wouldn't have to see him like this, that she'd never been brought here in the first place.

"The Toclafane. What are they? Who are they?"

"Doctor, if I told you the truth, your hearts would break," the Master replied, moving in close before standing as the Toclafane spoke and circled above him.

"Is it time? Is it ready?"

"Is the machine singing?"

"Two minutes past," the Master noted, checking his watch and bounding up the stairs to speak to the cameras once more. "So, Earthlings. Basically, um, end of the world. Here come the drums!"

The paradox machine activated and with it came a horde of Toclafane and the immediate wail of agony.

"Ash," the Doctor choked out, fumbling and struggling to reach her as she screamed.

She was squirming in agony on the ground, wails escaping her that echoed in the room like a tortured animal. She clawed at her arm, drawing blood as the Master scowled and pointed at her.

"What the hell is her problem! Shut her up!"

"Stop this! You have to stop this!" The Doctor demanded—begged. "You're killing her! You're going to kill her! Please!"

"Fine! I'll shut her up!" He spat, aiming his laser screwdriver. "Think of it as a mercy."

"No! No, you don't have to kill her! It's the Tardis! She has a part of the Tardis in her arm! You've cannibalized it, turned it into the paradox machine. It's literally trying to tear her apart!"

"And?" He drawled, expression pinched in annoyance. "Is that supposed to convince me?"

"Just—" The Doctor was scrambling, trying to find a way to stop this as Asher's screams echoed in his ears. "J-Just take the arm!"

The Master raised a brow, mildly surprised.

"Please," the Doctor begged, wishing he had a choice; that he wouldn't have had to say such a thing. "I can't lose her."

The Master stepped up to him, eyeing him cautiously. "You would have me dismember your favorite companion without a second thought? Just like that?"

He didn't want to answer. The Doctor would never want this… but what choice did he have? She would die. No matter what he did, she would die if he wasn't able to stop this right here, right now and he didn't have that capability. He didn't have a plan and for once in his damn life he wished he did.

"She is everything to me," he muttered, and the Master frowned before getting up and heading for Asher.

"You hear that?" The Master asked her, using his foot to shove her onto her back and kneeling across her chest to hold her down as he snarled at her. "The Doctor did this to you."

Said Time Lord clenched his eyes shut in disgrace as Asher's screams peaked before she finally went silent. Tears slipped down his face as he mentally breathed apologies to her and the Master got up with a scoff.

"Finally, peace and quiet. Oh, wait! Where were we?" He chirped, moving to a window with his wife to watch the destruction his Toclafane were causing.

"Doctor," Martha breathed, not sure what to do as the Master ordered the destruction of a tenth of the population.

Hearts still aching, the Doctor did his best to tell her what he needed her to do. She had to leave, to get his plan going because there would only be one way to get this whole mess resolved and it would take time. His gaze shifted to Asher briefly, a lump of guilt lodged in his throat at the sight of her curled up on the ground shaking with the remnants of pain. Closing his eyes, he pushed the feelings aside for later.

"Take Asher with you," he muttered to Martha. "Take care of her. I… I don't know…"

He didn't know how she would react to this, to what he did. He didn't know how she would handle what happened. The only thing he could do was make sure there was someone there for her when he couldn't be.

"You didn't have a choice," Martha said quietly in understanding.

"She won't see it that way," he breathed as Martha got to her feet and moved over to Asher, taking her arm and looping it over her shoulder.

Then, with one last look at her family, Martha closed her eyes and teleported them away; leaving the Doctor, her family, Jack, and an arm marked with glowing golden tattoos behind.