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"You work for Torchwood?" The Doctor asked angrily as he caught sight of the Torchwood logo on the laptop screen.
"I swear to you, it's different. It's changed. There's only half a dozen of us now." Jack explained.
"Everything Torchwood did and you're part of it?!"
"The old regime was destroyed at Canary Wharf. I rebuilt it, I changed it. And when I did that, I did it for you, in your honour." Jack defended passionately, needing him to see why he had done it. The Doctor glared at him for a few moments before opening the file sent through the channel. The image of a blonde woman appeared on the screen, talking into a camera on what appeared to be her computer.
"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…" The woman trailed off as she thought of the implications of what she had just said, "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 switched to a drawn image of the Earth, surrounded by satellites as well as close ups of the satellites themselves.
"What's the Archangel Network?" The Doctor asked.
"A mobile phone network." Danni replied as Martha pulled her phone out.
"I've got Archangel. Everyone's got it." She flipped it open and handed him it.
"'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 pulled out his screwdriver out and used it on the phone.
"It's in the phones!" He cried triumphantly, "Oh, I said he was a hypnotist! Wait, wait, wait. Hold on." He slammed the phone against the makeshift table and it began emitting four steady beeps. Danni's eyes slammed shut as she covered her ears with her hands, not wanting to hear that infectious sound again. She'd finally arrived at a place where she wasn't missing it anymore, her mind being too preoccupied to give it much thought, and she was worried that once she heard it again she'd crave it again. Jack looked at her concerned, but didn't say anything, "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." He explained before jolting slightly in realisation, "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." Unable to bare listening to them four beats any long, Danni snatched the screwdriver out of his hand and held it to the phone, shaking slightly as she set it off and the noise stopped.
"Let's...Let's just shut that up for a moment, so we can all hear each other." She reasoned. Any similar beat, any steady four beat rhythm would send her pining for the noise the Silence put in her head and she would not go back there. No chance. The other three shot her confused and concerned looks but she just waved at them to continue, leaning on Jack for support.
"Any way you can stop it?" The impossible man asked.
"Not from down here. But now we know how he's doing it."
"And we can fight back!" Martha exclaimed happily and he looked up at her, grinning.
"Oh, yes!" He set to work ripping apart the mobile and laptop, getting Martha to help him. Jack watched Danni for a moment as she watched them, biting her thumb nail and trying to calm herself down.
"Want to tell me what that was all about?" he asked her quietly.
"I can't hear that noise. Ever. If you ever see me and I'm beating, or tapping out that four beats you have to stop me." She replied.
"Why?" She smiled apologetically at him.
"Can't say, sorry. It's not happened yet."
"Ah, Future Danni stuff?"
"Past Danni for me." She corrected, "Not too long ago for me, actually. It's just bad for me to hear it, and that's all you need to know."
"TARDIS keys." The Doctor demanded and the three handed theirs over to him before he took out his own and used the sonic screwdriver and a pencil to weld on his newly-created circuitry onto them. He attached them to pieces of string he had found and pushed them over to him.
"Four TARDIS keys, four pieces of the TARDIS with low-level perception properties because the TARDIS is designed to blend in." He explained, frowning as even he realised that the TARDIS didn't exactly 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, look at me. You can see me, yes?" He asked her as he stepped slightly back.
"Yep!" She confirmed.
"What about now?" He slipped his key over his neck and Martha visibly looked to the left of him and she frowned, blinking and trying to focus on him. Jack chuckled and Danni smiled.
"Aww, she's so cute." Danni muttered.
"No, I'm here. Look at me." He waved but no matter how hard she tried, Martha couldn't focus in on the Time Lord.
"It's like…I know you're there but I don't want to know."
"And back again." He took off the key and rushed back over, "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. That's what it's like." He smiled happily at his analogy as he grabbed Danni's hand and pulled her outside with him, "Come on!" He called back to the pair.
"God you're an idiot sometimes." Danni told him and he frowned.
"Why?" He asked and she shook her head.
"Don't worry about it, sweetie." She patted his arm reassuringly and his smile grew. The street was dark and empty, but they walked quietly in a row, the Doctor still holding Danni's hand as if he was afraid to let her go.
"Don't run. Don't shout. Just keep your voice down. 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." With a last look at each other they each placed a key around their necks and headed off into the city. They walked past two people talking, then manoeuvred around another two who were not going to move out of the way. The two men strode off ahead, barely phased but Martha looked back at the people, a bit overwhelmed. Danni fell back slightly to join her.
"Creepy, isn't it?" She whispered and Martha nodded.
"I can't believe this is actually happening." She admitted. Danni shrugged.
"Well, let's not believe it together." She held her hand out to her friend and Martha smiled gratefully and took it. Danni grinned back and began pulling her gently to catch the other two up.
~0~0~0~
When Airforce One landed down on British soil, they were already waiting on the runway, unnoticed by all of the security staff waiting for the President of the United States to arrive. The Master and Lucy, his wife, were flanked by their own escort as the President approached them purposefully. The Master saluted mockingly.
"Mr President, sir!" He greeted happily.
"Mr Saxon. The British Army will stand down. From now on, UNIT has control of this operation." The President told him calmly, not expecting any arguments from the Prime Minister
"You make it sound like an invasion." The Master pointed out.
"First contact policy was decided by the Security Council in 1968. And you've just gone and ignored it."
"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…have you met the wife?" Danni had to chuck her hand over her mouth to stop herself giggling at him, she couldn't believe that anyone would believe he'd just hand over the entire operation just like that.
"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 closed, an action that just annoyed the President more, "Are you taking this seriously?" The Master nodded, "To business. We've accessed your files on these…Toclafane. 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 makes muffled noises through his zipped lips and the President visibly tensed, "You're trying my patience, sir." he warned. The Master unzipped his lips.
"So America is completely in charge?"
"Since Britain elected an ass, yes. I'll see you onboard the Valiant."
"It still will be televised, though, won't it? Because I promised, and the whole world is watching."
"Since it's too late to pull out, the world will be watching. Me." The President walked off to his waiting car and the Master turned to his wife, whispering something.
"What did he say?" Jack whispered, fuming at the mere sight of the man.
"'The Last President of America.'" Danni replied quietly, even after all the time she'd been in this universe and the issues she'd had remembering episodes, she still knew these two episodes practically off by heart. The Doctor looked down at her, surprised as she watched the Prime Minister intently. He was memorising...
"We have a private plane ready and waiting." The Master continued, "We should reach the Valiant within the hour." He motioned for his wife to go first, "My darling." He watched the President drive off as Lucy climbed into their car before turning and staring in their direction. They all stood rigid as it appeared he and the Doctor exchanged looks, but as a police van turned up with it's sirens blaring the spell was broken. He rushed over as the Jones family was taken out and he jogged backwards in front of them as they protested scared and angrily.
"Hi, guys! All will be revealed!"
"Oh my God." Martha whispered and Danni grabbed her hand, the Doctor holding her still.
"Don't move." He warned her.
"But…" She protested as they were loaded into a Land Rover against their will.
"Don't."
"I'm gonna kill him." Martha swore but she didn't move as they took her family away.
"Say I use this perception filter to walk up behind him and break his neck?" Jack mused. The Doctor looked over at him.
"Now that sounds like Torchwood." The Doctor told him.
"Still a good plan." Jack replied.
"We're not here to kill him," Danni stated quietly as she didn't take her eyes off the Master, feeling herself being pulled to him, "We're here to save him." Knowing that there, just in front of them, was the source of the original sound of drums, that she could in theory run over and beg him to let her hear it was almost unbearable and she had to force herself to pay attention to anything but him. No matter how much she tried to deny it, all she wanted was to hear it one last time.
"What?" Jack asked.
"He's a Time Lord, which makes him my responsibility." The Doctor confirmed. Jack pressed some buttons on his manipulator.
"Aircraft carrier Valiant. It's a UNIT ship at 28.2N and 10.02E." He told them.
"How do we get onboard?" Martha asked.
"Does that thing work as a teleport?"
"Since you revamped it, yeah. Coordinates set." The Doctor grabbed Martha's hand, placing it on top of the manipulator first, then Danni's and then his own before activating it and they disappeared in a flash of light, landing in one of the Valiant's engine rooms. Martha gasped in pain, grasping the side of her head while Jack clung to a handrail for balance. The Doctor landed very little worse for wear, Danni next to him looking slightly uncomfortable.
"Oh, that thing is rough." Martha groaned.
"Tell me about it." Danni replied, feeling more like herself now the Master wasn't right there.
"I've has worse nights." Jack told her, twisting himself and cracking his neck, "Welcome to the Valiant."
"It's dawn." Martha walked over to a porthole, "Hold on, I thought this was a ship. Where's the sea?" the trio joined her, looking out at the massive aircraft carrier as more planes landed on it's landing strips around them.
"A ship for the 21st century. Protecting the skies of planet Earth."
~0~0~0~
The Doctor led them down some maintenance corridors as they headed for the main meeting room nearer the top of the aircraft carrier when suddenly his stopped.
"We've no time for sightseeing!" Jack hissed but the Doctor waved him away.
"No, no. Wait. Shh, shh, shh. Can't you hear it?"
"Hear what?" Martha glared at him and walked past angrily.
"Doctor, my family's on board." She snapped. He smiled happily as he listened to his TARDIS calling out to him.
"Brilliant!" Danni grabbed his hand.
"This way!" She called, pulling him down some stairs. Martha spun around and followed them through some more corridors until they reached some double doors. The Doctor threw them open and they all cheered quietly in delight. All except Danni, who knew what was coming next.
"Oh, at last!" The Doctor exclaimed and he and Martha ran up to it. Jack was a bit more wary and looked down at Danni.
"What's it doing on the Valiant?" He asked suspiciously. Danni smiled sadly and followed the other two into the blood red TARDIS. They stopped on the ramp as the other two had paused in their run in.
"What the hell's he done?" Jack asked.
"Don't touch it." The Doctor warned.
"I'm not going to."
"What's he done though? Sounds like it's… sick." Martha asked as the Doctor walked around the console. It had been stripped apart and reconfigured, all caged together so that no one could get to it.
"It can't be. No, no, no, no, no, no, it can't be." The Doctor repeated angrily.
"Doctor, what is it?"
"He's cannibalised the TARDIS." He told her.
"Is that what I think it is?" Jack sounded horrified at the sight of the machine.
"It's a paradox machine." Danni confirmed, wanting to reach out and stroke her old friend, but knowing that even though she knew what it was doing she couldn't touch it in fear of setting it off, she sat down next to the cage and stroked the floor around it instead, trying to comfort the sick box.
"This... this is near enough impossible. How has he managed to do it?" Jack asked. Danni looked up at him, a frown on her face.
"He's one of the greatest engineering minds the universe has ever seen, do you really think this was beyond his capabilities?" she snapped. Jack looked at her, more concerned than ever about her behaviour as she defended the Master, but she just turned to the Doctor as he bent down next to her and tapped the gage she was sat next to.
"As soon as this hits red, it activates. At this speed, it'll trigger.." He grabbed Jack's arm to look at his watch and finish his sentence, but Danni interrupted him.
"At two minutes past 8:00."
"First contact is at 8:00 and then two minutes later…" Jack trailed off, not really knowing what would happen next.
"What's it for? What's a paradox machine do?" Martha asked, still utterly confused.
"It's used to sustain a paradox. Usually the universe sorts them out, but when it can't it'll collapse around it. This keeps the paradox alive without the universe falling apart." Danni told her.
"More importantly, can you stop it?" Jack asked the Doctor. The Doctor shook his head.
"Not until I know what it's doing. Touch the wrong bit and blow up the solar system."
"Then we've got to get to the Master." Martha said decisively.
"Yeah. How do we stop him?" Jack pressed.
"Oh, I've got a way." The Doctor replied vaguely before looking between his friends, a grin on his face. "Sorry, didn't I tell you?" He pushed himself up then helped Danni off the floor.
"You have a plan?" Danni asked incredulously.
"Don't I always?" He replied. She looked at him with raised eyebrows and he pouted.
"Hey!"
~0~0~0~
They very slowly snuck into the conference room, the Doctor, Danni, Martha and Jack bringing up the rear. Flashes from cameras went off in random intervals from all sides of the room and everyone's complete attention was on the President, enabling them to go in unnoticed despite the high levels of emotions running through the room.
"This plan, you gonna tell us?" Jack whispered.
"If I can get this," he picked up the key off his chest, "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." More flashes went off but again no one was alerted to their presence.
"Yes, sir." Jack nodded.
"I'll get him." Martha told them darkly, glaring at the man who had stolen her family.
"I probably won't, but I'll give it a shot." Danni added, knowing they'd never get that far anyway. And even if they could get the keys around his neck, it was already too late. The Toclafane were already here, the paradox was already in place. The Year that Never Was was about to begin.
"And I ask you now, I ask of the human race, to join with me in welcoming our friends. I give you the Toclafane." The President motioned behind him and four of the floating spheres 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." One of them proclaimed in a male voice.
"We like the Mr Master." Chipped in another, this time in a female voice.
"We don't like you." A third one added. They began zooming around the President menacingly and it was obvious the man was becoming uncomfortable.
"I… can be Master, if you so wish. I will accept mastery over you if that is God's will." He told them, unsure of what else to say.
"Man is stupid." The third one snapped.
"Master is our friend." The first one said.
"Where's my Master, pretty please?" The female one begged. The Master threw up his hands in defeat.
"Oh, all right then. It's me." He stood up and jumped in front of the gathered committee with a flourish, "Ta-da!" he laughed before composing himself, "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?" Danni had to silence herself again as she felt a giggle trying to force its way out of her throat, this bit always got her every time, "I don't know. It's crazy!"
"Saxon, what are you talkin' about?" The President demanded and as the Master span to face him, the smile on his face disappeared and he crossed his arms.
"I'm taking control, Uncle Sam. Starting with you. Kill him." He commanded the fourth Toclafane, who up until this moment had been silent. Spikes flew out of the bottom of the sphere and it shot at the President, disintegrating him. The security staff shot up and pointed their guns at the masses while they tried to run away from the crazy man who began clapping happily.
"Guards!" He cried.
"Nobody move! Nobody move!" The Master ran up to the top of the staircase and turned to face a camera with a huge victorious grin on his face.
"Now then, peoples of the Earth, please attend carefully." The Doctor ran forward, trying to get to him but was caught by two guards, one on either side. They forced him to kneel on the floor in front of the Master.
"We meet at last, Doctor." The Master declared before laughing, "Oh, ho! I love saying that!"
"Stop this! Stop it now!" The Doctor begged.
"As if a perception filter's gonna work on me," He turned to look at the trio, "Oh, and look, it's the girlie and the freak. Although, I'm not sure which one's which." Jack made an attempt to run over to him but the Master pulled out a laser device and shot him dead, "Laser screwdriver, who'd have sonic? And the good thing is, he's not dead for long. I get to kill him again!" Martha and Danni ran over to him, Martha trying to save him but Danni just stroked his hair, "But she's new, pick up another stray on your way here? How very like you. She's pretty, but I do love a red-head." Danni rolled her eyes at him.
"You're very pretty too, but I don't go announcing it, do I?" She snapped before turning her attention back to Jack.
"Ooo, and feisty as well. I like her, maybe I'll keep her instead of making you watch her die. My own little pet." Danni looked over at the Doctor, who was trying to keep himself calm at what the Master was saying about her.
"Master, just calm down. Just look at what you're doing. Just stop. If you could see yourself…" The Master sighed tiredly and turned to the cameras, all of which were pointing at him.
"Oh, do excuse me, little bit of personal business. Back in a minute. Let him go." He commanded his guards and the Doctor was chucked harshly to the floor as he walked down to meet him.
"It's that sound, the sound in your head. What if I could help?" The Doctor tried, trying to think of something, anything to stop the only other Time Lord in the universe.
"Oh, how to shut him up?" The Master made flapping mouth movements with his hand, "I know. Memory Lane!" He sat down on the steps in front of the Doctor, leaning in closely, "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…" He brandished his screwdriver, "But, ooh, if I only had the Doctor's biological code." He frowned exaggeratedly, before grinning and clicking his fingers, "Oh, wait a minute, I do!" He jumped up and ran over to a silver case, opening it and showing the room the Doctors old hand, "I've got his hand! And if Lazarus made himself younger, what if I reverse it? Another hundred years?" He pointed the screwdriver at the Doctor and set it off, causing the Doctor to scream and convulse as he began ageing and ageing. Danni squeezed her eyes shut and chucked her hands over her ears again, this time to try and block it out so she wouldn't scream with him. Jack revived himself on the floor next to them, Martha catching him as he took a huge breath in.
"Teleport." He panted as handed Martha his manipulator and grabbed Danni's hand of the side of her head to place it on the device as well, "Both of you."
"No." Danni stated, ripping her hand away. She was not about to leave the Doctor, not for Jack and not for Martha.
"I can't." Martha protested meekly, so very scared.
"We can't stop him. Get out of here. Get out." He insisted and suddenly the Master stopped, leaving the Doctor now a very old man, panting tiredly from the pain. Martha and Danni both rushed over, holding him up.
"Doctor, we've got you." Danni told him gently as she leant her head on his softly.
"Aw, she's a would-be doctor as well. But tonight, Martha Jones, we've flown 'em in all the way from prison-" Martha shot up as guards escorted her Mum, Dad and sister in.
"Mum." Martha stated, not knowing what else to say.
"I'm sorry." Her mother told her, sobbing as she realised what she had done whilst trying to protect her daughter from the Doctor. Martha turned away and dropped back down to the floor by the Doctor.
"The Toclafane," He panted, "What are they?" The Master dropped down, motioning to his ear as if he couldn't hear him, "Who are they?"
"If he told you, your hearts would break." Danni told him gently, rubbing his arm. The Master turned to her.
"And how would you know, my little pet?" Danni glared at him.
"Because mine already has." She snapped back and he frowned, confused.
"Is it time?" The first Toclafane interrupted.
"Is it ready?" The third one asked.
"Is the machine singing?" The female hissed. The Master stood up in the middle of them as they circled around and around. He checked his watch.
"Two minutes past." He climbed the stairs and stood next to his wife, who looked out over the room. He looked down the camera again "So. Earthlings. Basically, um, end of the world." He held his screwdriver aloft, "Here…come…the drums!" He activated it and the room began blaring with 'Voodoo Child' by the Rogue Trader's. Danni jumped but kept a firm grip on the Doctor and the Paradox Machine activated. The Master ran over to a porthole and looked out, waiting. The sound of thunder and lightning signalled the rift tearing the sky apart and billions of Toclafane descended onto the Earth. He ran back over to his wife who was dancing to the music. He blew a kiss down at the Doctor then pulled Lucy up to the bridge where they watched the spheres shower the planet below.
"How many do you think?" He asked her. She looked out in awe at them all.
"I don't know." She replied honestly.
"Six billion." He told her and she gasped. He turned on the outside speaker with a flick of a switch, "Down you go, kids!" He called out and they did.
"Shall we decimate them? That sounds good. Nice word—decimate." He purposefully pronounced the word, " Remove one-tenth of the population!" He called into the microphone. The Doctor whispered into Martha's ear instructions of what to do, while Danni quietly encouraged her. The woman began crying as messages of distress and fear were played over the sound system from the people below. Martha stood slowly, vortex manipulator in hand, leaving the Doctor to lie in Danni's arms. With one last look at her family, then the Doctor and Danni, Martha found the courage to activate the teleporter, landing on the planet below. Jack looked over at the pair and they all shared a sad look, Danni in tears at what was happening. She held onto the Doctor tightly as he was forced to his feet by the Master and dragged to watch the Earth being destroyed from the window. The Master pressed himself up against her, crushing her between the two men on one side as Lucy held onto the elderly man on the other.
"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."
~0~0~0~
The Earth burned underneath them, the messages for help having long died away into silence as the people below realised no one was coming to save them. The people on board had already been led away, each person now under the command of the new Lord Master of the Earth and leaving Danni, the Doctor and Jack on the floor in the middle of the now deserted conference room. Each man held her close in a huddle as she shook silently in tears. The Master paced around them triumphantly, not saying a word until some of the guards came back.
"Chain him up." he commanded, pointing at Jack who was pulled to his feet from Danni's grasp. Danni clawed after her weakly as he was taken away to the depths of the airship for a year of abuse and torture, his head held high. The Doctor held her back still trying to protect her despite his weakened state. The Master stopped and sat down in front of them, legs crossed in front of him, "But what to do with you two." He mused out loud.
"Leave her alone." The Doctor panted out and the Master frowned angrily, not liking being told what to do.
"It's okay." Danni replied soothingly as she reached up and stroked his hair. The Master's hand shot out and caught her wrist, yanking her towards him. She yelped in surprise and fell forward into his lap.
"Oh ho ho, what's this then? A Vortex Manipulator?" She shook her head.
"No... Well, yes but it doesn't work." She explained quickly.
"Did you think I wouldn't notice? Your assistants are becoming increasingly stupid." The Doctor glared at him.
"It doesn't work." Danni reiterated hastily, "It's a fixed point, it just shoots me off when and where it likes. I can't even take it off." She took her arm back and tried to undo it to show him, "See, you can't grab it." He roughly grabbed her arm back again and tried for himself.
"A fixed point, on your arm?" He asked slowly.
"It activates randomly and shoots me either forwards or backwards in time. I don't have a choice and no one can stop it." She calmed down slightly as he examined her arm, as intrigued by it as the Doctor and Jack had been when she had shown them it. He yanked her off the floor, gripping the arm tightly.
"I know, you can be my personal maid." He told her with a smirk.
"You- You can keep me with the Doctor, if you like." She replied with a stutter and he laughed before grabbing her hair and pulling it hard, causing her to cry out in pain.
"You do not talk to me like that. I am the Master. Your Lord and Master, and you will do as I say." He marched her over to another guard, chucking her at him.
"Take her to her room."