A/N: This is the moment we've all been waiting for. I hope that you like it!
I do not own Doctor Who. All I own is my OC Katy and this story. Please review and no flaming will be tolerated.
Thanks :)
HEY BROTHER!
"What if I'm far from home?
Oh brother, I will hear you call.
What if I lose it all?
Oh sister, I will help you out.
Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you.
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do."
– Avicii: 'Hey Brother' (True [2013]).
Abandoned Warehouse
The Doctor, Katy, Jack and Martha find refuge in an abandoned warehouse. Jack immediately takes Martha's laptop and goes to set up shop, while Martha volunteers to go out and find some food for them all. The Doctor takes the opportunity to pull Katy aside to speak with her privately, to find out what was wrong with her. He peels off his trench coat and tosses it onto some milk crates before turning and facing Katy who was still avoiding eye contact with her boyfriend, lost in thought.
"Alright, what's going on?" the Doctor demanded, with a no-nonsense tone in his voice. "You've been very quiet ever since we bounced back here from the end of the universe, so tell me what's wrong." Katy glances up at him with huge eyes, alarming him.
"You know, Doctor. I think I finally understand you a bit better now," Katy confessed with a bittersweet smile.
He frowns at her with confusion.
"What do you mean?" He asks.
"What you were going through when you were trying to decide to open your fob watch; how terrifying it really is." Katy swallows hard as tears start filling her eyes. "Tell me the truth, Doctor, did you remember everything that happened when you were John Smith?"
"Why are you asking?" the Doctor questioned, worriedly.
"Did you remember?" Katy insisted, firmly. The Doctor took a seat on the milk crate and sighed heavily.
"Yeah, I did." He confirmed and Katy sagged with relief, as the tears broke free and trailed down her face. "Katy, what's going on?" He tugged her closer so that she was standing between his legs and reached up to wipe away her tears with his fingers.
"It's time." Katy confessed.
"Time? For what?" the Doctor asked, and Katy wordlessly reaches up and unlatches her locket from her neck and holds it in the palm of her hand. His eyes widened in realisation. "You're going to open it? Now?"
"Yep." Katy nodded, looking at her locket with mixed feelings.
"Why now?"
"The Tardis told me. She also said that I'd know when the time was right. I guess she meant now." Katy shrugged, then looked up at him and started trembling. "I'm scared though, Doctor. I have no idea who I'm about to become. What if I turn out to be worse than the Master?" She fretted, and the Doctor immediately sprang to his feet, grabbing Katy by the shoulders and making her focus on him.
"Stop it! You will not be anything like the Master!" He scolds her, and Katy gives him a disbelieving look.
"And how the hell do you know that?"
"Because I grew up with the Master, Katy. I know him." The Doctor reminds her, but Katy still looked unconvinced. He lets out a sigh before reaching up to smooth back her hair behind her ear. "I'm going to tell you something, darling. John Smith is still me, just like Katy Tyler will always be you. Nothing is going to completely change when you restore your Time Lady memories. And I will be right here beside you when you finally open that locket." Katy glances down at the locket. "So are you ready?"
"I think so," Katy was reluctant. But then a fierce look passes over her face. "There's just one last thing I need to do as Katy Tyler first." She decides.
"What's that?" the Doctor asks curiously.
He was unprepared when Katy suddenly launches herself at him and passionately kisses him. He was, however, quick to respond, and tightly wraps her up into his arms, holding her against him as tears fell down his face as well. Gently, Katy pulls away and smiles sadly at him.
"Goodbye, Doctor." Katy whispers before taking a step away from him and reaching for the hinge on the side of the locket with her fingernail. At that same moment, Jack walks over to them.
"Doctor—" He is cut off when golden energy suddenly lights up the room and immediately enters Katy. Jack's eyes widen in shock. "Is she doing what I think she's doing?" He mutters to a solemn-faced Doctor, who nodded wordlessly.
When the golden energy faded, the newly restored Time Lady before them stumbled a little, before slowly opening her eyes and refocusing on the Doctor and Jack.
"Hello Doctor, Jack." A cultured voice greets them. "My name is the Heart. It is good to be back." She smiles brightly at the surprised Time Lord and ex-Time Agent before she suddenly becomes gravely serious. "Now we need to do some damage control."
When Martha returns to the Warehouse, carrying a bag of takeaway food in her arms; she immediately recognises a change in the atmosphere. Especially when she sees that the Doctor was looking at Katy like she was something new and waiting to be explored, and Jack, looking like Christmas had come early. Meanwhile Katy seemed completely unfazed by the attention she was receiving from both men and was more focused on what they were viewing on Martha's laptop.
Jack was the first to spot her.
"How was it?" He asked, and Martha shrugged.
"I don't think anyone saw me," She reassures him. "What's going on here?" Martha demands, indicating to the Doctor and Jack.
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about it. They are just getting used to the fact that I have restored my memories. Just ignore them, that is what I am doing…" 'Katy' explains dismissively, and Martha's mouth falls open in shock.
"You opened your locket?" Martha blurted out, and 'Katy' just aims a dry look at her.
"Didn't I just say that?"
"Well, yeah. But this is a huge deal." Martha stated matter of fact. 'Katy' shakes her head in exasperation.
"Honestly! I should think that focusing on figuring out what the Master is doing would be the biggest priority at this moment, don't you?" The Time Lady returns her focus back onto the laptop.
"Well, what should I call you?" Martha questions curiously.
"Pardon me?"
"Who are you?" Martha elaborates, and 'Katy' jolts in realisation.
"Oh, yes. You weren't here when I introduced myself, were you?" She gets up from the milk crate she was sitting on and goes over to Martha, taking her hand and pumping it up and down a few times. "Pleased to meet you, I'm the Heart."
"Martha Jones."
"I know, dear. My memories from when I was Caitlyn Tyler are still intact." The Heart grinned at her as she went back to her seat in the middle of the Doctor and Jack.
"Told you so…" the Doctor mutters into her ear, and the Heart raises an eyebrow at him before turning back to the laptop.
"Anything new?" Martha decides to change the subject. She was still very worried about her family. Jack points at the website the three of them were currently surfing through.
"Apart from 'the Heart's' unexpected return…" Jack gives the Time Lady a grin. "I've got this tuned to government wavelengths so we can follow what Saxon's doing." He explains to Martha who looks annoyed.
"Yeah, I meant my family." Martha elaborates.
The Doctor scans the information he can read on the screen.
"It still says: 'the Jones Family taken in for questioning.'" He confirms. "Tell you what, though. No mention of Leo." Martha smiles with relief.
"He's not as daft as he looks." Then realises what she had just said and looks horrified. "I'm talking about my brother on the run. How did this happen?" Martha despaired, sinking down onto another milk crate, and popping a chip into her mouth.
Jack reaches for some himself and makes a pleasant face.
"Nice chips!"
"Actually, they're not bad…" the Doctor agreed, leaning back a little and contemplating the ceiling rafters. The Heart continues to scroll through the information on the screen as Jack starts to interrogate both Time Lords.
"So, Doctor, Heart, who is he? How come the ancient society of Time Lords created a psychopath?" He asks, casually.
"I don't believe that it was entirely intentional, to be honest…" the Heart responded, exchanging sorrowful looks with the Doctor, while Martha and Jack just looked confused.
"What is he to you two? Like a colleague or…?" Martha questioned.
"A friend, at first." The Doctor was quick to answer, but the Heart was strangely reluctant to answer; the Doctor noted.
"I thought you were going to say he was your secret brother or something," Martha shrugged. The Heart winced, and the Doctor paused mid-chew to give her a strange look.
"You've been watching too much TV." He tells Martha, while still studying his girlfriend. But the Heart remained stubbornly silent.
'Curious…' He thought.
"But all the legends of Gallifrey made it sound so perfect," Jack stated and the Heart let out a derisive snort.
"Hardly." She mumbled, while the Doctor deliberated on how to explain it, since he technically agreed with the Heart.
"Perfect to look at, maybe. And it was. It was beautiful. 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, the oldest and most mighty race in the Universe, looking down on the galaxies below. Sworn never to interfere, only to watch." The Doctor reminisced, whimsically. "Children of Gallifrey, taken from their families age of eight to enter the Academy…" Both the Doctor and the Heart, who had paused momentarily to listen in to the Doctor's explanation, stared off into space; both remembering their 'childhoods.' "…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. He stood in front of the Untempered Schism. It's a gap in the fabric of reality through which could be seen the whole of the vortex."
"You stand there," the Heart took over the explanation. "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…" She trailed off, only returning to reality when the Doctor reaches over and takes her hand, looking a bit concerned.
"What did you two do?" Martha asked, curiously.
"Oh, the ones that ran away, I never stopped." The Doctor confirmed, chewing on a chip.
"I was inspired," the Heart shrugged. "The day you look through the vortex, is also the day you choose your alias. I chose the alias 'heart' after looking through the vortex."
"Why?" Jack asked.
"I am an empath. I can sense the emotions of everyone around me."
"Really? What do you sense from me?" Jack challenges with a grin and the Heart studies him intently.
"Curiosity and scepticism." She responded, then smirks at the surprised expression on Jack's face. "Now surprise and embarrassment." The Heart then glances over at Martha, "And from you, amusement, worry and impatience." And frowns as she glances over at her boyfriend. "And exasperation from you. Everything all right, love?"
Jack's bracelet suddenly beeps. He instantly checks it.
"Encrypted channel with files attached. Don't recognise it." Jack confirms, and the Doctor straightens up immediately.
"Patch it through to the laptop," He suggests, and the Heart looks at Jack suspiciously when he hesitates.
"What are you hiding, Jack?" She questioned him, sternly. Jack looks sheepish as he follows through with the Doctor's request.
"Since we're telling stories, there's something I haven't told you…" He finishes linking the encrypted message to Martha's laptop. The Torchwood logo appears on screen and both the Doctor and the Heart turn and glare at Jack, who gulped at their expressions.
"You work for Torchwood." The Doctor stated, angrily.
"I swear to you, it's different." Jack defends himself. "It's changed. There's only half a dozen of us now."
"After everything Torchwood did, and you're part of it?" the Heart looked at him with disappointment.
"The old regime was destroyed at Canary Wharf." Jack quickly insisted. "I rebuilt it, I changed it, and when I did that, I did it for you in your honour." He looked pleadingly at the Doctor who studies him with a look that could melt steel before shaking his head in resignation and hits play. An image of Vivian pops up on screen. She was sitting at her desk, looking solemnly into the camera.
"If I haven't returned to my desk by twenty-two hundred, this file will be emailed to Torchwood. Which means if you're watching this, then I'm…" Vivian trails off looking uncomfortable, before clearing her throat and continuing on. "Anyway, the Saxon files are attached." An emoji image of a manilla folder pops up on screen. "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 Doctor looks blankly at the screen.
"What's the Archangel Network?" He asked, looking puzzled.
"I've got Archangel," Martha stated, pulling her phone from her pocket, and powering it up. "Everyone's got it." The Heart frowns curiously at it.
"May I?" She asks, holding out her hand to Martha who nodded, looking uncertain, and puts the phone in the Heart's hand.
"It's a mobile phone network," Jack elaborated to the Doctor. "Because look, it's gone worldwide. They've got fifteen satellites in orbit." He points to the Archangel documentation Vivian had sent automatically to Torchwood of an animated diagram of orbiting satellites surrounding planet Earth. "Even the other networks, they're all carried by Archangel."
The Doctor's eyes widened in realisation.
"It's in the phones!" He exclaimed. "Oh, I said he was a hypnotist. Wait, wait, wait. Hold on!" But he was interrupted when the Heart suddenly taps Martha's phone against the table, and it starts beeping di-di-di-dum, di-di-di-dum.
He looks at her in surprise.
"Way ahead of you, sweetie." The Heart grinned up at him, handing him back his sonic screwdriver.
"How did you know that?" The Doctor was impressed, then confused as he started patting himself down and looking at her questioningly. "And how did you take my sonic without my noticing?"
"I had a hunch." The Heart responded, absently. "You're not the only genius in the room anymore, love. And I have light fingers." She wiggled her fingers in the air. The Doctor pouted at this revelation, as all four of them listened to the familiar rhythm.
"There it is. That rhythm, it's everywhere, ticking away in the subconscious." The Doctor realised.
"What is it, mind control?" Martha asked.
"No, no, no, no, no. It's 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." He looked begrudgingly impressed. "Oh, yes! That's how he hid himself from me, because I should have sensed there was another Time Lord on Earth, apart from the Heart. I should have known way back. The signal cancelled him out."
"Typical…" the Heart muttered dryly, earning a suspicious look from the Doctor.
"How do you know that?"
"I knew him back on Gallifrey before it was destroyed. I am familiar with how he operates, unfortunately." The Heart sounded disappointed.
"Any way you two can stop it?" Jack piped up before the Doctor could interrogate her further.
"Not from down here. But now we know how he's doing it." The Doctor confirmed.
"And we can fight back," Martha looked triumphant.
"Oh, yes!" the Doctor grinned, looking confident.
A few minutes later, the Doctor had figured out how to help the four of them fly underneath the Master's radar to avoid detection. He used parts of Martha's phone and laptop, welding them sonically to all four of their Tardis keys.
"Four Tardis keys. Four pieces of the Tardis, all with low level perception properties because the Tardis is designed to blend in. Well, sort of." The Doctor explained. "But now, the Archangel Network's got a second low level signal. Weld the key to the network and…" The Doctor looks up at Martha who was sitting nearby. "Martha, look at me. You can see me, yes?"
"Yes." Martha nodded.
"What about now?" The Doctor loops his Tardis key which was attached to a string around his neck, and Martha suddenly finds it difficult to look straight at him. "No, I'm here. Look at me." He waves to get her attention. Martha frowns a little out of slight frustration.
"It's like I know you're there, but I don't want to know."
"And back again." The Doctor takes off the homemade perception filter, and immediately Martha is able to easily focus on him. "See? It just shifts your perception a tiny little bit. Doesn't make us invisible, just unnoticed."
"Clever." The Heart grinned at him, approvingly.
"It is, isn't it?" the Doctor winks at her as he shrugs on his trench coat. "Come on!" He leads the way towards the Warehouse door, followed by the Heart, Jack, and Martha.
Pathway
Hiding in a pathway, the Doctor, the Heart, Jack, and Martha cautiously watch as people walk about minding their own business. It was early in the morning, the sun was barely rising, and it was the day that the Toclafanes would be presented to the world by the Master. But it was up to them to try and make sure that it didn't happen.
"Don't run, don't shout. Just keep your voice down." The Doctor instructs them. "Draw attention to yourself and the spell is broken. Just keep to the shadows."
"Like ghosts." Jack added.
"Yeah, that's what we are. Ghosts." The Doctor agreed, before looping his modified yale key over his head and stepping out from the pathway, mingling with the oblivious crowd of people. The Heart, Jack, and Martha follow his example. But they have to step aside to prevent people from walking into them.
They make their way towards the airport.
Airport
The Master salutes as President Winters walks up to him, wearing a look of deep disdain on his face as he greets him. The President of the United States is a dead ringer for former President George W Bush.
"Mister President, sir." The Master greets Winters in a jovial manner.
"Mister Saxon," Winters glowers disapprovingly at him. "The British Army will stand down. From now on, UNIT has control of this operation." He informs the Time Lord.
"You make it sound like an invasion," the Master observes.
"First Contact policy was decided by the Security Council in 1968, and you've just gone and ignored it." Winters retorts, in annoyance.
"Well, you know what it's like." The Master shrugged carelessly. "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 er, have you met the wife?" He pulls Lucy in front of him, and she gives Winters a polite, but awkward smile.
Winters merely stares blankly at her before readdressing the Master.
"Mister 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." Winters doesn't hesitate to remind him. "Is that understood?" The Master mimes zipping his mouth closed. "Are you taking this seriously? To business. We've accessed your files on these Toclafane." Neither man notice that they were being observed from across the airport tarmac by the Doctor, the Heart, Jack and Martha. "But First Contact cannot take place on any sovereign soil. To that purpose, the aircraft carrier Valiant is en route." Winters informs the Master. "The rendezvous will take place there at eight am." The Master makes a show of pretending to speak through zipped lips. Winter's lip curls in irritation. "You're trying my patience, sir."
The Master 'unzips' his lips.
"So, America is completely in charge?" He inquires slyly.
"Since Britain elected an ass, yes." Winters snaps at him. "I'll see you board the Valiant."
"It still will be televised, though, won't it?" the Master questioned. "Because I promised, and the whole world is watching."
"Since it's too late to pull out, the world will be watching. Me." Winters declares before walking back to his motorcade. The Master smirked triumphantly as he turns towards Lucy.
"The last President of America. We have a private plane ready and waiting. We should reach the Valiant within the hour. My darling." He promises Lucy, before she leaves with her security guard. The Master turns and looks in the rough direction of the quartet, just before a Police van arrives and the Master runs over to it. Martha reacts worriedly when she sees Clive and Francine bundled out of it. The Master grins at them. "Ha ha ha! Hi, guys!"
"You can't just do this!" Clive protests, and the Master just smirks at him.
"All will be revealed." He promises.
"Oh, my God…" Martha whispered and makes a move to walk over to her parents, when the Heart reaches out and quickly grabs her friend's hand to stop her.
"Don't move." The Doctor warns her.
"But the—"
"Don't!" the Doctor repeats, firmly. Clive and Francine are pushed into a Range Rover Vogue, and Martha glares hatefully at the Master.
"I'm going to kill him…" she vowed, venomously.
"What say I use this perception filter to walk up behind him and break his neck?" Jack suggests coldly.
"Then it would be an incredibly idiotic move, and you'd blow our cover." The Heart responded, as the Doctor glares over at him too.
"That definitely sounds like something Torchwood would do." The Doctor added, and Jack shrugged, unrepentant.
"Still a good plan."
"Take it back to the drawing board," the Heart drawls, sarcastically. "Besides, the Master is a Time Lord, which makes him our responsibility." She indicates between herself and the Doctor.
"We're not here to kill him, we're here to save him." The Doctor added, firmly.
"Aircraft carrier Valiant…" Jack muses thoughtfully. "It's a UNIT ship at fifty-eight-point two north, ten point oh two east."
"How do we get on board?" Martha questioned. The Doctor glances at the vortex manipulator on Jack's wrist.
"Does that thing work as a teleport?"
"Since you revamped it, yeah." Jack nodded in confirmation. "Coordinates set." He states, before everyone places a hand on Jack's cuff.
Valiant Engine Room
One uncomfortable bounce later…
"Oh, that thing is rough!" Martha grumbles, and Jack chuckles humourlessly.
"I've had worse nights." He acknowledges. "Welcome to the Valiant." Martha wonders over to a nearby porthole, and frowns with confusion.
"It's dawn?" She comments. "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 corrects Martha, whose mouth drops open in surprise when she realises that Jack was actually describing a Cloudbase, which was hovering approximately 30,000 feet above sea level; complete with three landing strips and a helipad.
"Come on!" the Doctor urges the three of them, before taking off at a run down the corridor, obviously in search for either the Master himself, or the Tardis.
Flight deck
"Europe now online. Awaiting confirmation from South America. And keep tracking Japan…" an overhead tannoy announces.
The Master and Lucy arrive on the flight deck via the lift. The actual ship's bridge is on a raised area at the far end of the large area. Cameras are stationed at the side and there is a big glass conference table and chairs in the middle of the room. One of the pieces of the equipment on the bridge is a large circular item with engraving like the Master and the Doctor's fob watches. Winters is going about the place, giving orders to attendants.
"I want the whole thing branded in my suit of office, not the UN. You got that?" He requests to one of the female assistants, who nodded obediently.
"This material is being transmitted prior to transmission." She reports to him before turning and walking away, just as the Master steps up to address Winters with a mildly amused smile on his face.
"Anything I can do?" He asks, as Winters turns and looks at him with obvious dislike. "I could make the tea, or isn't that American enough? I don't know, I could make grits." He frowns curiously. "What are grits, anyway?" He babbles and Winters just rolls his eyes in irritation.
"If you could just sit." The Master gives a mock salute and both he and Lucy walk away to take in the view from one of the windows on the side of the ship.
"Misery guts." The Master rolled his eyes. "What do you think? It's good, isn't it?" He asks Lucy, who is glancing around in awe.
"It's beautiful." She states, sincerely.
"Some of my best work," the Master preens. "Ministry of Defense. I helped design this place. Every detail."
Corridor
The Doctor stops running when he suddenly hears something familiar. He grabs the Heart by her wrist.
"Do you hear that?" Jack frowns at them with impatience.
"We've no time for sightseeing." He reminds the Time Couple. The Heart pauses and pricks up her ears, as the Doctor becomes more insistent.
"No, wait. Shush, shush, shush, shush. Can't you hear it?" The Heart closes her eyes and continues listening before sagging in relief.
"Hear what?" Jack asks, as the Heart clutches at her boyfriend's hand in her excitement.
"Oh, thank God!" She blurted out with relief, grinning at the Doctor. Jack frowns at them with impatience, as does Martha.
"Doctor, Heart. My family's on board…" she reminds them. But they don't appear to hear her.
"Brilliant! This way!" the Doctor announces, taking off down the corridor. They run down a gangway to level 4, then open a door at the end of it. Right before them, is the Tardis in all her big, blue glory.
"Oh, at last!" the Doctor exclaimed, happily.
"Oh, yes!" Martha cheers.
"Hello, old friend…" the Heart greets the sentient ship, but then nearly stumbles out of surprise when she immediately senses the pain and discomfort the poor time machine was in.
'Help…me…'
The Heart's eyes widen in horror.
Jack, while looking pleased to see the Tardis, can't help but frown with confusion.
"What's it doing on the Valiant?" He ponders, then looks at the Heart in bewilderment when she immediately and without uttering a word, charges over to the double doors and bursts inside without warning.
"THAT SON OF A BITCH!" The Doctor, Martha and Jack hear the Heart cuss out in outrage. "HOW COULD HE DO SUCH A THING!?" The Doctor frowns and goes to investigate what caused his girlfriend to react in such a way, with Martha and Jack following too.
Tardis
The moment the Doctor steps inside, he immediately sees for himself why the Heart had such a strong reaction when she went inside the ship.
"What the hell's he done?" Jack demanded, looking horrified.
"Don't touch it!" the Doctor immediately ordered.
"I'm not going to." Jack retorts.
The entire interior of the Tardis was now glowing a sinister red colour, with the console encased inside a giant cylindrical cage. The Heart had a look of cold fury on her face as she glared up at it.
"What's he done though?" Martha asked, also looking horrified. "Sounds like it's sick."
"It can't be. No, no, no, no, no, no, it can't be…" the Doctor mumbled, looking stricken.
"Doctor, what is it?" Martha questioned him.
"He's cannibalised the Tardis!" the Doctor realises, and Jack immediately pales when he cottons on.
"Is this what I think it is?"
"It's a paradox machine…" the Heart confirms, darkly.
Flight deck
It's eight o'clock and almost time for the Toclafane to make their appearance.
"Two minutes, everyone!" Winters announces as he makes his way towards the raised dais. The Master and Lucy were seated at the big glass conference table, the former with a huge smug smile on his face. "According to the treaty, all armed personnel are requested to leave the flight deck immediately. Thank you." Winters instructs as the tannoy overhead starts counting down.
"Five, four, three, two, one."
"Jelly baby?" the Master offers a small white paper bag full of multicoloured lollies to Lucy who takes one with a coy smile and pops it into her mouth. Winters clears his throat before addressing the television cameras pointed directly at him.
"Broadcasting at seven fifty-eight with the arrival timed for eight hundred hours exactly. And, er, good luck to all of us."
Tardis
The Doctor taps a gauge on the metal mesh surrounding the time console, while the Heart, Jack and Martha observe him.
"As soon as this hits red, it activates. At this speed, it'll trigger at two minutes past eight." The Doctor calculated.
"First contact is at eight, then two minutes after." Jack pointed out.
"What's it for? What does a paradox machine do?" Martha questioned.
"More important, can either of you stop it?" Jack asks the Time Couple. But both of them shake their heads.
"Not till I know what it's doing." The Doctor explains. "Touch the wrong bit, blow up the solar system."
"Then we've got to get to the Master." Martha stated with determination.
"That's probably going to be easier said than done, dear." The Heart pointed out, regretfully.
"Then how are we going to stop him?" Jack looked worried, as the Doctor suddenly looks at him owlishly.
"Oh, I've got a way. Sorry, didn't I mention it?"
"No, love. You didn't." The Heart sighed. "Come on, it's almost two past. We'd better hurry!"
All around the world
Across the world, every television was focused on the impending First Contact: school children having breakfast in their canteen, workers enjoying their morning coffee in a café, mothers feeding their children etc.
"And in just a few minutes' time, we'll be going live to First Contact." A News 24 broadcaster announces. "It's been announced that Harold Saxon has invited President Winters to take the address." The AMNN gives a similar announcement.
"It's three am in the morning on the eastern seaboard and President Winters has been chosen to lead the world into a new age."
Flight deck
With a final warning glare aimed at the Master, who was sitting watching him with an 'innocent' little smile on his face, Winters adopts a humble, solemn expression for the camera.
'What a completely fake man he is…' The Heart observes the President with disgust as she, the Doctor, Martha, and Jack quietly walk into the room, trying to remain anonymous. However, both the Heart and the Doctor trained their attention solely on the Master.
"My fellow Americans, patriots, people of the world. I stand before you today as ambassador for humanity, a role I will undertake with the utmost solemnity." The Heart snorts, earning a slight glare from the Doctor. "Perhaps our Toclafane cousins can offer us much, but what is important is not that we gain material benefits, but that we can learn to see ourselves anew." The Heart's eyes narrowed when she senses the Master's amusement. "For as long as man has looked at the stars, he has wondered what mysteries they hold. Now we know we are not alone." Winters witters on as Jack subtly leans over to whisper to the Doctor.
"This plan, you going to tell us?" He questioned him.
"… no longer unique in the universe." Winters continues obliviously, as the Doctor leans back to reveal his plan to the three of them.
"If I can get this around the Master's neck, cancel out his perception, they'll see him for real." The Doctor fingers the low perception filter necklace around his neck. The Heart doubted that the Doctor's plan was likely to work, but chose to remain silent, as they had no other plan. "It's just hard to go unnoticed with everyone on red alert." He turns to Jack, Martha, and the Heart, looking meaningfully at them. "If they stop me, you've got a key."
"Yes, sir." Jack nodded.
"I'll get him!" Martha promises.
The Heart nodded but said nothing.
Winters began to conclude his welcoming speech.
"… And I ask you now, I ask of the human race, to join with me in welcoming our friends. I give you the Toclafane." Winters turns and gestures behind him as four spheres materialise out of thin air. The President takes a step towards them. "My name is Arthur Coleman Winters, President Elect of the United States of America, and designated representative of the United Nations." Winters greets the Toclafane with a nervous smile. "I welcome you to the planet Earth and its associated moon."
"You're not the Master." A male Toclafane speaks up, sounding somewhat petulant.
Winters frowns a little.
"We like the Mister Master." A female Toclafane agrees.
"We don't like you." A second male Toclafane complains. Winters clears his throat and attempts to salvage the situation.
"I can be master if you so wish. I will accept mastery over you if that is God's will." Winters offers.
"Man is stupid."
"Master is our friend."
"Where's my master, pretty please?" The Toclafane demanded, and right on cue, the Master stands up, gesturing dramatically.
"Oh, we're in for it now…" The Heart mumbles with wide eyes, drawing questioning looks from the Doctor, Jack, and Martha as they watched the Master step forward.
"Oh, all right then. It's me!" He reveals himself. "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." Winters glowers at him, impatiently.
"Saxon, what are you talking about?" He demands.
"I'm taking control, Uncle Sam." The Master explains, with a cold smile. "Starting with you." He turns towards a nearby sphere. "Kill him!" The sphere points its weapon at Winters and blasts him into little pieces. There is general consternation and security draw their weapons. The Master laughs and applauds happily. "Guards!" He gestures, and as one the security guards raise their guns at everyone in the room.
"Nobody move! Nobody move!"
"Now then, people of the Earth." The Master formally addresses the cameras. "Please attend carefully…" Having seen enough, the Doctor takes off his key, revealing himself and tries to run forward.
Two men in black grab him.
"Stop him!" A guard orders. However, the Master turns and looks calmly at the Doctor, as though he had known the other Time Lord had been in the room the entire time.
"We meet at last, Doctor." The Master giggled a little. "Oh, ho. I love saying that."
"Stop it!" The Doctor demanded, desperately. "Stop it now!" The Master sneers at him, walking slowly over to stand near the Doctor to talk to him properly.
"As if a perception filter's going to work on me." He suddenly takes notice of something right where the Doctor had been standing earlier. "And look, it's the girlie and the freak. Although, I'm not sure which one's which." He indicates to Jack and Martha but then frowns curiously. "I am a bit surprised to see that Miss Tyler doesn't appear to be here. I wonder why that is?"
The Doctor immediately glances over at Jack and Martha and starts to panic. Where did the Heart disappear off to? The Master shrugged carelessly.
"All well, she can't have gone too far. We'll find her. Back to business…" Jack runs forward to incapacitate the Master, but the rogue Time Lord zaps him with his screwdriver, killing him. He turns and scoffs at the Doctor. "Laser screwdriver. Who'd have sonic? And the good thing is, he's not dead for long. I get to kill him again!" The Master brags, giving a mad grin.
"Let him go." A familiar voice orders.
The Master turns and sees a very calm, stony-faced the Heart standing not too far away from where he had shot down Jack with his screwdriver. An amused, but defiant smile spreads across his face.
"Ah, there you are, Miss Tyler. Glad you could join us." He greets her casually. "As to your request, no can do." He smirks at her. The Heart merely sighed tiredly and walks towards the Master, carefully stepping over Jack as she did.
"I do not like to repeat myself," the Heart was speaking unusually formally to the Master, who scoffs and turns dismissively away from the 'younger' woman, while the Doctor looks at the woman that he loved like she was crazy; warning her to stop what she was doing with a desperate look in his brown eyes. "Let him go, now… Koschei." She repeats her request, whispering the Master's real name telepathically to him.
The Master freezes, before looking right at the Heart with wide, disbelieving eyes.
"How did you…?" He mutters, before realising that he was on live national television and turns to speak apologetically into the cameras. "Do excuse me, one second. Little bit of personal business." The Master then turns back to the Heart and walks cautiously over to her, a look of suspicion and a touch of hope on his face. "Where did you learn that name? Who are you?"
"Oh, I think you know very well who I am, Master." The Heart responds, very matter of fact. "You just haven't realised it yet."
Then she tosses something at him, which he catches without looking and examines it. The object the Heart had thrown at the Master, turned out to be her now ordinary Heart-shaped locket; one that the Master recognised to have been hanging around Miss Tyler's neck when he had last seen her at the end of the universe as Professor Yana. Except when he turned the locket around to face the back of it, he recoils with shock when he sees the name in Gallifreyan script, engraved on it.
He looks up at her; overjoyed tears welling up in his eyes.
"Kardia…" He exclaimed telepathically to her. Without warning, the Master immediately embraces the Heart, engulfing her in a tight hug. "You're alive!" He mutters aloud, confusing everyone around them.
"Hello, brother." The Heart acknowledges him, solemnly.
"What?!" the Doctor blurts out, incredulously.
The Heart glances briefly at him over her brother's shoulder, before avoiding eye contact; fearing a possible look of hatred or betrayal aimed at her by the man she loved. The Master pulls back from the embrace and eye sweeps his sister from head to toe, taking her in.
"How did you escape the destruction of Gallifrey?" He demanded, worriedly. The Heart just fixes him a bewildered look.
"I don't think now is the best time to be discussing this."
"You're right! I nearly forgot our audience. We can talk about this later." The Master agreed, turning back to face the Doctor, who was still staring at the Heart with shock. However, the Heart grabs her brother by the arm and spins him back round to face her.
"Or we can talk about what the hell you think you are doing? What's the point of all this!" She gestures towards the Toclafane, who were hovering nearby, waiting for the next orders and the cameras who were projecting all this live to everyone around the world. The Master wraps an arm around her shoulders and turns her in the direction of the Doctor.
"All in good time, love. Just need to take care of some personal business; a little matter between the Doctor and myself—" the Heart pulls herself out of her brother's embrace and goes over to stand beside the Doctor.
"Whatever you have to say to him, you can say to me." She insists, and the Master frowns at her with confusion, looking between them both before immediately realising what his sister was implying.
The Master was livid.
"You didn't! With him?!"
"Oh, don't start! You know very well that it's automatic." The Heart chides him.
"I can't accept that! I won't allow this. You and the Doctor cannot be tethered to each other!" The Master raged furiously.
"Well, we are! Deal with it!" The Heart retorted, stubbornly. The Master glares at her, before taking out his frustrations on Jack, who had just come back to life, by aiming and shooting his screwdriver at him once more. "Jack!" The Heart screams in alarm. "Stop it, now!" She shouts at the Master, who spreads an evil smile across his face; causing the Heart to falter when she senses his emotion. "Whatever it is you're going to do, Master, don't!" She warns him, sternly.
"Master, just calm down." The Doctor jumps in to help. "Just look at what you're doing. Just stop. If you could see yourself." He attempts to calm him down. "It's that sound. The sound in your head. What if I could help?"
"We could help." The Heart corrects him.
The Master rolls his eyes.
"Oh, how to shut him up?" He mutters underneath his breath. "I know! Memory lane, Professor Lazarus." Both the Doctor and the Heart pause and eye him warily. "Remember him and his genetic manipulation device?" Both of them did remember the cruel and vain old man who had mutated his own DNA with disastrous consequences. "What, did you think that little Tish got that job merely by coincidence? I've been laying traps for you all this time and unintentionally putting my poor sister in danger too." The Master looks remorsefully at the Heart who shakes her head in despair. "And if I can concentrate all that Lazarus technology into one little screwdriver? But, ooh, if only I had the Doctor's biological code. Oh, wait a minute, I do!"
The Master goes over to a metal briefcase, opens it, revealing the Doctor's hand which he had stolen and taken with him back to present day London when he had stolen the Tardis at the end of the universe. The Heart stares at the hand, then back at her brother and reads his emotions. Gasping, she immediately uses herself as a shield against the Doctor, who had paled when he had seen his hand also.
"Don't you dare!" She warns him, fiercely.
"Oh, but I do dare, little sister." The Master gives her a cruel smirk. "I've got his hand. And if Lazarus made himself younger, what if I reverse it? Another hundred years?"
"Leave him alone, Korschei!" The Heart yells at him, clutching desperately at the Doctor's hand behind her back. The Master merely rolled his eyes and reaches out for his sister's wrist and tugs her away from the Doctor before aiming his screwdriver at him. "NO!" She wails, as the Doctor goes into rapid convulsions. "STOP IT!" She demanded, but the Master tightens his grip on the Heart by wrapping an arm around her waist, resisting every effort she made to break his grip. Jack revives behind them with Martha next to him.
"Teleport…" He gasps at her, pressing his vortex manipulator cuff into her hands. Martha immediately protests, despite being helpless to help her friends who were currently being tortured by the Master.
"I can't."
"We can't stop him." Jack insists, looking pained. "Get out of here. Get out."
At the conference table, Lucy is watching all of this; and realises that she had made a grievous mistake. She looks incredibly uncomfortable with all of this. The Master stops zapping the Doctor, who now looks at least a hundred years old. Finally breaking free of her brother's grip, the Heart manages to catch the weakened Doctor before he could hit the ground.
"Oh, God!" The Heart wept. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, baby." She cradles him to her chest, and starts crying into his wispy, white hair. The Doctor clings to her too, trying to comfort and reassure his girlfriend also.
Martha comes over to assist.
"Doctor? I've got you." Martha comforts the Doctor, giving him some extra support on his other side. The Master looks for a split second remorseful that he was causing his beloved sister so much pain, but immediately refocuses, and sneers at Martha's helping hands.
"Ah, she's a would-be doctor." He mocks Martha, who glares at him. "But tonight, Martha Jones, we've flown them in all the way from prison…" He gestures like a host from The Price is Right towards some sliding doors, and Clive, Tish and Francine are brought in, their wrists fastened together with cable ties.
"Come on, move!" a guard bellows at them. Martha's heart sinks in her chest at the sight of her parents and older sister.
"Mum…"
"I'm sorry!" Francine sobbed, looking remorsefully at her daughter.
The Doctor attempts to speak out to the Master, but in his weakened, frail condition is unable to raise the decibels in his voice. The Master squats down closer to him, and gestures for the Doctor to repeat himself.
"The Toclafane. What are they? Who are they?" He demanded, fiercely.
"Enough games, Koschei, tell us the truth!" The Heart seconded the request.
The Master adopts a falsely sympathetic expression.
"Doctor, Heart. If I told you both the truth, your hearts would break…" He then looks over to a guard and clicks his fingers at him. "Separate them!" He indicates to the Time Couple, and the guard immediately obeys him, grabbing the Heart's arms and dragging her away from her tether.
"No! Let go of me! Don't touch me!"
"Heart, no!" the Doctor wails feebly in Martha's arms, glaring at the Master. The Master ignores him and goes over to the resisting Heart and places a hand over her eyes.
"And sleep, little one…" He injects a sleeping serum into her neck and the Heart goes limp in the guard's arms. "That's it. Sweet dreams, love." One of the spheres flies over to the Master.
"Is it time? Is it ready?" It asks him, excitedly.
"Is the machine singing?" Another asks, anxiously.
The Master smiles brightly at them.
"Two minutes past." He faces the camera of probably millions of horrified viewers, who had just seen what the Master had done not only to his sister, but the Doctor himself. "So, Earthlings. Basically, er, end of the world. Here come the drums!" He chanted triumphantly, and the Rogue Traders Voodoo Child starts playing over some hidden speaker systems.
Natalie Bassingthwaite's voice shouts:
"Here come the drums. Here come the drums. Baby, baby, baby. You are my voodoo child, my voodoo child. Don't say maybe, maybe…" An enormous tear rips across the sky above the Valiant, and thousands of spheres pour out of it. "It's supernatural. I'm coming undone…" The Master mockingly blows a kiss in the Doctor and Martha's direction, and they both glower at him, as the Master then goes over to a very pale Lucy and tugs her up out of her seat and leads her towards one of the porthole windows to look out. "Baby, baby, baby. You are my voodoo child, my voodoo child. Don't say maybe, maybe. It's supernatural. I'm coming undone. Baby, baby, baby. You are my voodoo child, my voodoo child."
"How many do you think?" the Master asks Lucy, who pastes on a cheerful smile, to cover up the horror so plainly on her lovely face.
"I, I don't know." Lucy answers, truthfully.
"Six billion." The Master confirms, before switching off Voodoo Child, and turning on the loudspeakers. "Down you go, kids!" He informs the billions of spheres hovering outside the sky ship. "Shall we decimate them?" He rhetorically asks Lucy whose eyes widen. "That sounds good. A nice word, decimate." The Master speaks into the loudspeaker again. "Remove one tenth of the population!" He orders and the spheres descend upon the Earth to carry out his orders.
Behind him, unnoticed, the Doctor finishes whispering something urgently into Martha's ear. She nods at him, tearfully, and moves away still holding Jack's bracelet.
"Valiant, this is Geneva." A member of Geneva reports in desperately. "We're getting slaughtered down here. Valiant, report. Help us! For God's sake, help us! They're everywhere!" Similar reports come in from other countries. "This is London, Valiant. This is London calling. What do we do? They're killing us! The Toclafane are all around. They're killing us!"
Martha takes one last look at her family, the Doctor, an unconscious Heart, and Jack, before teleporting away. The Doctor and Jack look at each other, then at the Heart, and the Doctor nods.
Hampstead Heath
Martha finds herself standing in a green field, surrounded by swarming Toclafane. She momentarily panics, thinking that she was about to be spotted, until she realises she was still wearing her Tardis key around her neck.
Martha grimly watches London burning off in the distance.
"I'm coming back!" She promises, before turning and running off down the field to carry out the mission the Doctor had tasked her with.
Flight deck
The Master and a somewhat reluctant Lucy hold up the ancient Doctor so he can watch the slaughter. The Doctor watches the carnage, tearfully, and thankful that his Heart was currently out for the count and unable to witness this for herself.
"And so it came to pass that the human race fell, and the Earth was no more. And I looked down upon my new dominion as Master of all, and I thought it good." The Master intoned, smirking triumphantly at the Doctor.
A/N: Stay tuned. The Doctor and the Heart will return. TTFN!