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The Master stormed through the hallways, physically moving anyone who may have been in his way before throwing the door open into this room, letting it slam shut behind him. His breathing was heavy, his chest moving up and down with the force of it. He felt angry, actually he was bloody furious! But most of all, he felt betrayed. He felt...
He growled, grabbing the first thing he came across and throwing it across the room. The vase shattered into a thousand pieces, but it didn't help. He thought about blowing something up, but he knew that wouldn't work either. When he was this stressed, he'd call on Danielle. But he couldn't even do that anymore. She chose the Doctor over him, and it actually hurt. He had been so close to having her forever, by his side as he ruled the universe.
He couldn't understand it. She understood what it felt like, never sleeping, never wanting to eat. The world consumed into a darkness, the noise echoing through time and space. Spending your like craving so much more, and it never being fulfilled by anyone or anything. How dare she leave him like that?
Part of him wanted to storm back, rip her off the wall and slam his lips onto hers until she submitted again. He still wasn't sure he believed what she she had said, he knew what she would do for the Doctor and that infuriated him even more.
Did she call him by his Academy name as well?
He growled again, banishing the thought and anything like it as he sat on the edge of the bed, head cradled in one hand as he squeezed his eyes shut, taking a deep breath. He needed to get back on track. He couldn't afford to be the emotional wreck the Doctor allowed himself to be. He had now lost his information source without finding out where Martha Jones was, or how he succeeded in his battle. He pulled at his tie, loosening it around his neck. Lord, future-ruler of the universe was proving to be a bigger pain in the arse than he'd anticipated.
~0~0~0~
The Doctor was sleeping. Actually being an old man, rather than an old man in a young body, made him sleep for quite a lot of the day. Danni wrapped her arms around her knees, glancing yet again at the door. There were two guards there, they'd just started their shifts, taking the spot of the previous two that had stood there. She didn't know their names, nor did she care. She just kept glancing at the doorway, waiting for Koschei to come back so she could beg him to let her go. She wasn't even bothered about hearing the drumming again, although she wouldn't say no because it was so quiet. She missed him. She groaned lightly, lying her forehead on her knees. This was so wrong, she didn't know what to think. She knew deep down he was using her, quite horribly, but she didn't mind. Her head swam with memories, both adult and family-friendly in nature. He'd taken her to Wales, shown her the inner workings of the Valiant. And to Jack, he'd actually let her spend some time with Jack. Then he'd press his fingers to her temple...
The door opened and she jumped, eyes wide as she looked up. But, no, it was just Heather. The woman shot her a sympathetic look, moving over to gather up the empty bowls they'd left from lunch, before leaving without saying a word. Danni went back to watching the Doctor, deeply ashamed of the thoughts that appeared. Both him and Koschei, she couldn't tell who anymore.
~0~0~0~
Danni was chained by the wrist next to the Doctor, who was suspended from the ceiling in his cage, now the small gnome-like creature who sat on the floor of the cage, staring at his strange companion. She was stood, still in her grubby maids outfit, shaking and covered in a sheen of cold sweat. She had her eyes squeezed closed and she tapped the four beats into her skull with her spare hand, constantly muttering along with the pounding 'one, two, three, four'. The Jones family was stood on one side of the room, Jack on the other as they waiting on guard for what they knew was about to happen. The doors opened and Martha was lead in by two guards, head held high. She glanced at everyone, her eyes falling on the Doctor and Danni, frowning at the state Danni was in. Jack moved forward to go to her but a guard stops him with a movement of his gun.
"Your teleport device. In case your thought I'd forgotten." The Master told her and Martha chucked him the Vortex Manipulator out of her pocket, "And now…kneel. Down below, the fleet is ready to launch. Two hundred thousand ships set to burn across the universe." He walked over to his communication link, "Are we ready?"
"The fleet awaits your signal. Rejoice!" A voice replied.
"Three minutes to align the black hole converters. Counting down!" A clock on the wall began counting down three minutes and he grinned gleefully, "I never could resist a ticking clock. My children, are you ready?"
"We will fly and blaze and slice! We will fly and blaze and slice!" The voice of the Toclafane came over the speakers, much to the Master's glee.
"At zero, to mark this day, the child, Martha Jones, will die. Ha, my first blood. Ha, any last words? No?" He looked at the Doctor, "Such a disappointment, this one. Days of old, Doctor, you had companions who could absorb the time vortex. This one's useless!" He turned to Martha, "Bow your head. And so it falls to me, the Master of all, to establish from this day, a new order of Time Lords! From this day forward..." He was interrupted by Martha chuckling to herself, "What? What's so funny?"
"A gun?" She asked in disbelief.
"What about it?" He asked.
"A gun in four parts?"
"Yes, and I destroyed it." He elaborated.
"A gun in four parts scattered across the world? I mean, come on. Did you really believe that?" She scoffed.
"What do you mean?" He demanded, suddenly very concerned.
"As if I would ask her to kill." The Doctor called over, his voice gravelly as he held onto the bars of the cage. The Master frowned, then brushed it off.
"Oh, well, it doesn't matter. I've got her exactly where I want her." He retorted.
"But I knew what Professor Docherty would do. The Resistance knew about her son." Martha explained, "I told her about the gun, so she'd get me here. At the right time."
"Oh, but you're still gonna die!" He pointed out in a sing song voice.
"Don't you wanna know what I was doing? Travelling the world?" She asked and he sighed, annoyed, taking a seat on the stairs.
"Tell me." He muttered.
"I told a story, that's all. No weapons, just words. I did just what the Doctor said. I went across the continents all on my own. And everywhere I went, I found the people, and I told them my story. I told them about the Doctor. And I told them to pass it on, to spread the word so that everyone would know about the Doctor."
"Faith and hope? Is that all?" The Master snapped in disbelief. And they were wasting precious time, he'd planned it to the second.
"No, 'cause I gave them an instruction. Just as the Doctor said." She stood up, "I told them that if everyone thinks of one word, at one specific time..."
"Nothing will happen! Is that your weapon?! Prayer?!" He cut her off, but she wasn't finished.
"Right across the world. One word, just one thought, at one moment… but with 15 satellites!" He stared at her, suddenly very worried as he hearts stopped.
"What?"
"The Archangel Network." Jack explained triumphantly.
"A telepathic field binding the whole human race together, with all of them, every single person on Earth, thinking the same thing at the same time. And that word…is Doctor." She told him. He glanced around to the clock as it reached zero and a Doctor began glowing with a golden light, Danni flinching out of the way as the Doctor spread his arms out.
"Stop it. No, no, no, no, you don't!" The Master commanded, but the occupants of the room didn't listen, all calling the man's name as their minds connected to the network.
"Stop this right now! Stop it!" He raged as the field broke the Doctor out of his cage and he slowly de-aged.
"I've had a whole year to tune myself into the psychic network and integrate with its matrices." The Doctor explained calmly, now just an old man.
"I order you to stop!" The Doctor returned to normal and Danni stared, slack-jawed before going back to tapping on her head, squeezing her eyes closed.
"The one thing you can't do. Stop them thinking." The Doctor declared as Martha and Jack laughed in pure joy, the Doctor levetating into the air, "Tell me the human race is degenerate now when they can do this."
"No!" The Master cried, firing his laser at him, but the golden field surrounding the Doctor deflected it easily.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He offered.
"Then I'll kill them!" The Master shouted. He aimed at the Jones family, but the Doctor used the field to chuck his screwdriver across the room. "You can't do this! You can't do - It's not fair!" He rushed over to Danni and yanked her hand off her head, holding up to his chest.
"You said she wasn't my downfall. You lied." He told her, panicking wildly, "You said you were." She forced her eyes open, still in the throws of going cold turkey but smirked at him.
"Doctor." She stated pointedly, "I told you, you can never stop me thinking."
"You can't do this to me." He cried, angry and hurt and she shook her head.
"I'm not doing it to you," She told him gently, linking her fingers with his, "I would never hurt you. I'm doing it for the Doctor. This is how it is supposed to happen."
"And you know what happens now." The Doctor told him and his head shot round.
"No!" He cried as the Doctor floated over towards them. The Master backed away from the pair, "No! No! No!" He grovelled.
"You wouldn't listen." The Doctor continued.
"No!"
"Because you know what I'm going to say."
"No!" The Master fell to his knees and curled up into himself as the Doctor landed, walked up to him and wrapped his arms around him.
"I forgive you."
"My children!" He called in a vein attempt to save his lost empire. Jack ran off to save the TARDIS and suddenly the Doctor and the Master disappeared. Danni screamed as Martha rushed over, unlocking her from the wall. Danni dashed over, dropping to the floor in a blind panic as she clawed at the ground where they had once been.
"Danni, stop it." Martha told her gently, trying to pull her away.
"Get away from her, she's with him." Her mother hissed at her but Martha shook her head.
"Never." Martha swore, even though she didn't know what had happened, "She loves the Doctor, she always has and she always will." She pulled Danni off the floor, "Come on, Danni." She tried again gently.
"The... the spheres..." Danni called out in a moment of clarity and Martha rushed to look out onto the Earth, seeing the swarm of spheres heading towards them.
"We've all 6 billion spheres heading straight for us!" She called to her family and her sister rushed over. All they could do is watch and wait until suddenly they disappeared and the ship rocked as the paradox was reversed. Martha was thrown backwards only to be caught by the Doctor, who smiled at her. Danni, on the other hand, was thrown down the stairs, cracking her head as she went down. The Doctor didn't notice, too happy about the reversal, as he laid down on the ground with Martha, smiling brightly at his companion.
"Everyone down! Time is reversing!" The Doctor cried. The Master fought his way down the stairs, trying to hold on as the paradox sent them spinning back a year. He reached out and grabbed Danni, pulling her close and she opened her eyes. He sent her a smirk and she clung to him tightly as he wrapped an arm around her waist, squeezing her eyes closed from the pain. He kissed the cut on her head as the Valiant fell still and the Doctor stood, checking the time.
"The paradox is broken. We've reverted back, one year and one day. Two minutes past 8:00 in the morning." He opened the communications and a male voice called through to them, asking what was happening. The Master took Danni's hand, eyeing up the occupants of the room before pulling her towards the exit, if he was going to have to make his escape the girl was coming with him. He was not leaving Danielle behind. Jack came in at the same time, grabbing him before he could.
"Whoa, big fella! You don't want to miss the party. Cuffs." He commanded and the guard passed him a pair. He cuffed the Master's hands behind his back, causing him to let go of Danni who swayed and landed against Jack's side. "So, what do we do with this one?" he asked.
"We kill him." Mr Jones stated, backed up by his daughter. The Doctor looked between them, shocked and slightly appalled by their answer.
"No, that's not the solution." He told them. Mrs Jones, however, aimed a gun at the Master.
"Oh, I think so. 'Cause all those…things, they still happened because of him. I saw them." She stated, determined he be punished.
"Go on! Do it!" The Master taunted her.
"Francine, you're better than him." The Doctor took her hand and she dropped the gun. He pulled her into a hug until Martha reached them before passing her to her daughter.
"You still haven't answered the question. What happens to me?" He asked the Doctor.
"You're my responsibility from now on. The only Time Lord left in existence." Jack walked over to the Doctor, an arm around Danni. He passed the young woman to the Doctor, her eyes glazed over as the Doctor placed a protective arm around her.
"Yeah, but you can't trust him, look what he did to Danni." He argued and the Doctor nodded once in agreement.
"No. The only safe place for him is the TARDIS."
"You mean you're just gonna…keep me?" The Master asked, horrified.
"Hmm. If that's what I have to do." The Doctor replied vaguely before turning to Jack, "It's time to change. Maybe I've been wandering for too long. Now I'll have someone else to care for." A gunshot rang out and Danni screamed. She broke free of Jack's grasp and ran over to the Master before the Doctor had even worked out what to do. The Time Lord dropped to the ground.
"No, no, no. Koschei!" She cried, propping him up and he smirked at her.
"What have I told you about using my name?" He told her before wincing. Tears ran down her cheeks. She was supposed to stop this from happening. She couldn't let him die, he had to survive now.
"Please, please don't do it. Please regenerate. Don't leave me. Please, Koschei you can't leave me too." She begged, burying her face in his chest. He rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to reply, but then frowned in confusion as a feeling she had almost forgotten flowed from the leather device on her arm. She screamed again in terror as a force hit her in the stomach and she blacked out.