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River stepped inside the Eleventh Doctor's TARDIS, an ache in her chest. She couldn't shake the way that Twelve and Thirteen had both looked at her. Like she'd hung the moon itself and painted each star individually. And the way they'd kissed her. Much differently to the way Eleven kisses her. They'd kissed her like they were never going to see her again, and the identical sadness in their eyes when they broke apart.
She always knew that the Doctor was going to be the death of her someday (what, with their timelines travelling in different directions), but she had hoped that she'd get a little bit more time with her husband/ wife.
Shaking those thoughts away as there was no point dwelling on it when she would forget soon enough, she strode up to the console and started helping Eleven pilot the TARDIS despite his protests.
The Master (the one they were assigned to) stood hunched by the railings, his wide eyes taking everything in, possibly looking for something to help him escape. Amy and Rory were on their guard, arms folded across their chests and watching with their eyes hard and accusing.
When the ship lurched, River sighed heavily and made her way to the 'blue boringers' as the Doctor called them. She took the brakes off and almost immediately the ship stopped rocking, allowing them to travel through the vortex smoothly.
"Did you do something, dear?" The Doctor asked as River stepped away from the brakes.
"No, just making sure we get there in one piece, sweetie," River answered. Technically it wasn't a lie.
The Doctor hummed unhappily and quickly got back to piloting his ship. Honestly, it did amaze River how the Doctor was able to single-handedly pilot a ship designed for six people. Even if he was a little off sometimes.
The TARDIS landed, but the Doctor still continued running around the console, trying to fly his ship despite doing nothing other than irritating the TARDIS.
"We've landed, sweetie," River informed him with a smile.
"What?" The Doctor asked, stopping in his tracks. "But- but it didn't even make the noise!" He pointed out.
"It's not supposed to make that noise," River reiterated, "you leave the brakes on."
"I like that noise," the Doctor muttered angrily to himself. "Oh, well! You!" He said, pointing at the Master. He rushed up to his foe and gripped him by the sleeve. He then dragged him none too kindly to the doors and opened them. "Back where you belong. And don't ever think you can try something like this again," he growled dangerously, "do you hear me, Master?"
"Loud and clear," the Master answered in his croaky voice. Something that looked like it could be a smirk found its way to his deformed face before he was shoved out of the TARDIS and the doors shut by themselves.
A heavy breath left the Doctor and he ran a hand down his face.
"Doctor?" Amy tried kindly.
"Right then!" The Doctor clapped, coming back to himself. "Better leave before we forget why we're here and decide to go exploring."
"Forget why we're here?" Rory repeated.
"Yep!" The Doctor said, putting the brakes back on much to River's chagrin. "There's no way we can possibly remember any of this! Timey wimey!"
"Right, okay," Rory simply agreed, holding onto the railings.
With the Tenth Doctor before he left...
Jack stood with his arms folded across his chest. He was taking in the sight of the many Doctor's going back to their TARDISes. His mind was simply full of delicious ideas that would be too inappropriate to voice. He knew they were all unideal, the Doctor would never do anything like that. A couple of them were too innocent in that area to even consider what he had in mind, and the others were too stuck up. Too good for sex, he mused with humour.
It was as he was watching River Song say goodbye to the Thirteenth and Twelfth Doctor's, he noticed movement from the corner of his eye. He turned slightly to see who it was.
He then turned fully when he spotted the younger goatee Master shuffling towards the discarded gun on the ground. Just as the Master was crouching down to reach it, thinking he was out of sight, Jack lunged forward and grabbed him by the back of his shirt, yanking him away from the weapon.
The Master choked momentarily against the force of the pull, but quickly regained his senses and straightened up, knowing he was caught.
"I don't think so," Jack said in his American accent. "Get going," he ordered and started pushing the Master towards Ten's TARDIS before making his own way towards Nine's.
Graham and Thirteen carried the unconscious Master inside their own TARDIS and plonked him down with relief when they got inside. The Master blissfully stayed out cold against the cold metal floor.
"Right, Ryan, Graham, you two keep an eye on him, if he starts to wake up, shout for me," the Doctor ordered seriously and rushed to the console.
As she started flying the ship, Graham and Ryan grabbed hold of the crystal pillar closest to the Master in order to better keep watch.
Graham stared intently at the unconscious man's face, wondering how he could be four other completely different people, just as the Doctor was four others.
"So, Doc, who is this man?" He asked over the noise of the ship. "And how do you know him?"
"It's a long story!" The Doctor answered, reaching to press a button.
"We've got time! And anyway, it's like you said, we ain't gonna remember any of this," Graham retorted.
For a moment Graham didn't think the Doctor was going to reply, but when he had given up asking questions, she did.
"He's one of my own people! We went to the Academy together, and became best friends. I thought we were the same, you know? We were gonna steal a TARDIS and run away, see every star. We promised each other we would," the Doctor admitted. Her voice had quieted, barely audible over the noise of her ship.
"But," she continued with a brief hesitation, "when we grew up we weren't the same. He wanted to own the universe, and I just wanted to see it."
From where Graham was stood, he was sure he could see tears in the Doctor's eyes and he wondered how she could pilot whilst crying. He supposed at that point, though, it was all just muscle memory- her piloting.
"They killed so many people. Destroyed so many planets. Tried to kill me so many times. And, the weird thing is, I kept forgiving them. It didn't matter what they did, how many people they killed, I just... I kept forgiving them. Time and time again. Because I was holding onto the lost hope that maybe, just maybe, one day I would get my best friend back.
"Well, I did in the end, I suppose. That woman, Missy, I was supposed to execute her at one point. I showed up, I was ready to do it. But I didn't. I saved her, and we came to some sort of agreement. She would spend one thousand years in a vault with me guarding it, trying to get better. Trying to be good. It almost worked. Until she met herself again when I let her out of the vault to see how much progress she had made, and she swanned off with him, leaving myself and countless others to die."
"They sound terrible, Doc, no offence," Graham admitted, earning himself a harsh nudge from Ryan. They'd landed now, but the Doctor hadn't moved from the console.
"Yeah, they are," the Doctor agreed, taking no offence. "I guess I should have learned my lesson by now."
"You can't help wanting your best friend back, Doctor," Yaz told her.
The Doctor nodded but didn't say anything more. She stepped down to the Master and slipped one of his arms over her shoulder. She gave a look to Graham and he quickly helped her without question.
Nine flipped levers and pulled switches. Jack was stood with the Master, making sure he didn't try anything. Compared to him, Jack looked intimidating. The Master himself was intimidating, sure, but not in the way Jack was.
Rose was stood a safe distance away on orders from the Doctor. She only ever heard of the Master from the Doctor and had hoped to never meet them, yet there she was.
The ship came to a shaky halt, jerking them all. Despite him being the enemy, Jack reached out and kept the Master from toppling over. The latter snatched his arm away from Jack with a sniff.
"Right, you," the Doctor said, coming over to the Master. "Get out and don't try anything like this again. I'm not sure your go could take it," he grinned unkindly.
"And what about yours, Doctor?" The Master replied with some kind of knowing smirk.
"What do you mean?" The Doctor retorted, his grin falling.
"Oh, nothing. Though, it's a shame I won't remember this," said the Master. With that, turned tail and exited the TARDIS leaving the others to stare at the door in confusion.
"What was he talkin' bout, Doctor?" Rose asked, placing a hand on his arm.
The Doctor turned to her, befuddled, "I don't know," he admitted, "better get going though."
He ran up to the console and quickly started piloting the ship, taking them far away from the Master and the trouble he brought in his wake.
The End