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Chapter Text

Four beeps. Four beeps in a row had the Doctor scrambling over to the console, accidentally bumping into Ryan as she went.

"Sorry, sorry," she said, grabbing a screen and hitting out a sequence of four beeps back.

"Doc?" Graham looked up from where he'd been playing cards with Yaz, the two of them exchanging glances at the Doctor's alarm and going over to look. "What's up?"

She didn't answer, her whole focus consumed with tapping a furious response out on the screen to the rapid incoming signal. Her other hand worked the controls, the engine wheezing furiously into life.

Then, abruptly, she stopped. The Doctor leant back and shut her eyes, a strange aura coming over her.

The fam gathered around, shooting one another concerned looks. They watched as the Doctor's lips moved with words too quiet to hear. Finally she opened her eyes again, and said softly, "OK. I'm coming to get you."

And she flipped the lever.

"Doc? What was - who were you talking to?"

She took a deep breath, hands stilling on the controls. She looked at them, meeting their gaze one by one. "The Master."

"What? How?" Graham saw his alarm reflected on the other's faces. "And how were you speaking to him?"

"Did I not mention? Time Lords are telepathic." She looked sheepish as the engine wheeled into life. It was clear they were on the move. "He's in court right now, so I... need to be there."

"Court?" Yaz said. "Like he broke a law?"

"Yeah. Like that."

"Then-" Yaz brightened, trying not to look too desperately hopeful, "You're taking us to Gallifrey? Your home?"

"No," the Doctor said, a little too quickly. "The court is held somewhere else."

They spotted it - that tense, unspoken 'don't ask me any more' look she got in her eyes. They exchanged looks and Ryan nerved himself to speak first.

"...He broke a law on another planet?"

"No. But the ones trying him are there." She looked up, an almost angry look on her face as she said, "You can sit in the gallery. You can watch. That should tell you everything you need to know. I - I don't think I can tell you any more."

It was that last note of desperation that pulled them up short, the pleading in her eyes. They exchanged glances again.

"OK, Doc," Graham said gently. "Any special aliens rules or sumthin' we should know?"

"Oh. No, no. Just, you know, no talking out of turn." She looked down. "That should cover it."

They all stood quietly by the lever, silent as the groans of the TARDIS signalled touch down.

- -

"Doctor," Yaz asked quietly as they stepped out the doors. "Where are we?"

"Planet called Sarsfek. Lots of races here, so just mind your Ps and Qs and everyone else does the same."

She wasn't kidding. The cobbled street was bursting with more different types of aliens than they had ever seen in one place before, and none of them even looked at the group twice.

The Doctor led the way like always, but there was more urgency in her step than usual. Graham squeezed Yaz and Ryan's hands, trying to look reassuring, but they all looked nervous.

The Doctor reached a plain building with a wide doorway to accommodate all lifeforms and went straight in, walking straight up a steep stairway to the blue biped manning the desk.

They exchanged low words, the Doctor saying, "They'll be expecting me," at one point. Finally the alien nodded, gestured to a door on her left.

"Through there, ma'am."

"Thanks," she said, barrelling straight through without checking if the fam were following.

The others were busy checking out the huge foyer and fancy pillars. "Looks like a pretty big deal," Ryan muttered.

"Maybe we don't have to worry about the Master no more, eh? Locked up is locked up," Graham said. "Anyway, let's keep an eye on the Doc."

They went in, finding the Doctor standing just before the gate separating the public from the defendant.

The Master was sitting in the dock, hands in glowing shackles, looking irate. Yaz sat in the nearest seat, not wanting him to look their direction. "Come on," she said, tugging at Ryan. "Sit."

The three of them settled into their seats, uneasy at all the murmuring in the gallery. But the Doctor was still standing, hands on the wooden divide between her and the courtroom.

"Doctor?" Yaz whispered. She didn't respond. Her shoulders raised and lowered in a deep sigh.

Then she lifted herself over the barrier and walked into the court. There were gasps, the Master's head turning. He grinned when he spotted her.

"Hello, love. Good timing as ever."

She ignored him, turned to face the judge - a robed man with ancient eyes.

"The Doctor," he said, leaning forward to inspect her. "I presume."

"You presume rightly, Rassilon." There was something odd in the Doctor's voice when she spoke, another accent lurking under her usual broad Yorkshire one. "I admit I wasn't expecting to see you. But then, maybe it's not such a surprise..."

He shifted in his seat, cleared his throat. "I see you have regenerated again."

"I see you haven't," she retorted. The Master snickered and she shot him a look.

He leant back. "You come to assist us?"

"No," she said. The Master's smirk grew wider. "I come as counsel for the defence."

Chapter Text

Gasps all over the courtroom. One of the aliens turned to Yaz, whispering, "Is that really the Doctor? Like, the legendary Doctor?"

"Um...yeah."

The alien frowned. "Why is she defending that monster?"

Graham leant over. "What'd he do?"

The alien opened their mouth to respond but Rassilon pounded his fist on the table. "Order in the courtroom!" He eyed the Doctor, exasperated. "Doctor, you do realise-"

"I know who he is," she said, ice in her voice. "I know what he's done. A lot of the worst of it he did to me."

"Then-"

"He still has a right to representation. And as a Time Lord of the Pyrdonian Chapter, I am permitted, by Gallifreyan law, to provide it."

Rassilon's face flushed red and he grew very tense.

"Gallifrey is gone," he hissed. The companions gasped, looking amongst themselves and then to the Doctor. They could feel how intensely she was avoiding meeting heir gaze. "Destroyed...by him. Gallifreyan law no longer applies."

The Doctor's voice was equally quiet and considered. "This is the trial of a Time Lord by a Time Lord defended by a Time Lord." She started to pace the courtroom. "Wherever the location, our law applies. If any citizenry had survived-"

"There are some."

"What?" she said.

"There are a few surviving Gallifreyan refugees. Some are on the planet now."

The Doctor was struck dumb, a faint smile pulling at her lips, her eyes wide. "Then, while they live, Gallifrey-" Her voice cracked, she disguised it by clearing her throat, "Gallifrey stands."

She turned to face the courtroom, risking a glance in her companions' direction. Yaz mouthed, 'I am so sorry' at her, Graham was covering his mouth and shaking his head in horror and Ryan was struck dumb. The Doctor couldn't hold their gaze, a look of shame on her face. She recovered quickly. "We must not discard the better parts of Gallifrey, and that includes her due process. Even for the man who burnt her to the ground."

"This is not your decision, Doctor!" Rassilon snapped. She turned back to face him.

"Have you taken his plea yet?"

"This is insubordination-"

"The condemned may speak. Even the worst war criminals were permitted that during the Last Time War, as well you should remember."

Rassilon fumed, but he didn't seem to have a comeback. Next to them in the docks, the fam noticed some of the gallery watching with rapt attention. None of them cared for the Master, that much was clear, but they were captivated by the Doctor's presence, by the way she spoke to Rassilon.

"Who is the judge?" Yaz whispered to her neighbour.

"Don't you know? Rassilon is one of the founders of Gallifrey."

Rassilon all but slumped back in his seat. "...All right, Doctor. If you must. How does your client plead?"

She turned to the Master and something odd passed over her face as they locked eyes, the same look the companions had seen in the TARDIS. The Master was the same, an intensity to his stare like no one else was in the room but them.

Rassilon banged his fist on the table. "No telepathy in my courtroom!"

They simultaneously broke eye contact, the Master snickering while the Doctor looked sheepish. He settled back in his seat.

"Go on, love. You can tell him."

Just then there was a commotion outside. All eyes turned to the doors, but the indistinct yelling stopped as quickly as it had started. All eyes turned back to the Doctor.

"Right. The plea. My client is not guilty," she said, pausing to allow for the gasps, "By reason of insanity."

The Master chuckled and Rassilon stood, incensed. "Ridiculous! You make a mockery of this court!"

"I most certainly do not," she retorted, planting her hands on her hips, "I would be here all day if I went through everything."

"But he admits it?" Rassilon snapped. "He admits what he did?"

The Master was about to speak but the Doctor caught him in another intense look. Rassilon pounded the desk again. "I said no telepathy!"

The Doctor ignored him, her voice quiet when she spoke again. "Of course he does," the Doctor said, not breaking eye contact with him. "He admitted it to me."

Yet more gasps in the courtroom. The fam locked eyes and Yaz mouthed 'the message?' to the others. Graham nodded, his face grim. Again the Doctor looked nervously in their direction; they all tried and failed to smile reassuringly.

"If that is the case, then your plea is the same as guilty. And we-"

"Not so fast," she snapped. "Not guilty means you cannot sentence him to death."

The Master groaned. "Here we bloody go..."

"Throw him in an oubliette and lose the key for all I care-"

"Thanks ever so, love."

"-but executions are long out of practice on Gallifrey and I fail to see why they should start again now."

Rassilon cleared his throat, a tired look on his face. "Doctor, this is beyond the pale. This carry on is a pointless farce, a waste of our time."

"Too right. Since when did it become common practice to not have a jury?"

"This is a charge of high treason! No jury is necessary and the pool of survivors hardly big enough to justify one!" Rassilon glared down at her. "Your selective distaste for bloodshed has no place here. The traitor will be executed by my hand."

She approached him, her eyes cold. "And you? Has anyone tried you for your crimes against Gallifrey?"

Rassilon paused. "I don't know what you mean."

"Except that you do." She looked back at the Master, an unspoken plea in her eyes. "There was a secret, a secret that drove the Ma - my client to madness. Just like the drums did years ago."

The Master set his jaw, glaring hard at her. "Well played, love," he muttered.

"I will not stand for this foolishness, Doctor. This is nothing more than you trying, yet again, to save your schoolfriend from the chopping block. It is clear to me you have no love for Gallifrey at all."

The room went deathly silent.

The Doctor tensed, face contorting with barely contained rage and suddenly the Master was on his feet, with a snarl of, "You ungrateful bastard-"

She grabbed him by the shoulders, holding him back from jumping over the dock at Rassilon. The elder Time Lord hmphed, sitting once more.

"Frankly I would be quite happy to have rid of you both. The Master wouldn't be the violent trash that he is without your encouragement."

The Doctor went white.

Rassilon folded his arms. "Nothing worse than meddlesome Time Lords who don't know how to stay in their place. You are incapable of being impartial in this matter, Doctor, and your presence tires me."

Scattered boos cane from the gallery. Rassilon scowled.

The Doctor recovered herself. "Personal attacks? Not exactly suited for-"

Just then the yelling outside started again and a man suddenly burst into the room, tears streaming down his face as he rushed the aisle. "MURDERER!" he cried, levelling a weapon at the Master. The Doctor pulled him behind her and then there were two bangs before guards outside leapt at him and dragged him to the floor.

Everyone was on their feet as he was dragged back up, still yelling and screaming. Then he stopped cold.

The Doctor was leaning against the Master's dock, a confused look on her face. She had one hand on her side and when she let go, blood began to well up beneath it.

"Huh," she said, turning to the Master. "Look at that."

"What are you doing? Just regenerate," he said, frowning. Her face crumpled with concentration, then cleared with understanding. She put a hand back to the wound, trying to quell the flow.

"I can't," she said.

Chapter Text

The Master went white. He turned to the companions, yelling at them, "Get the gun! Bring it here!"

His voice snapped them into action, Graham grabbing up the gun and scrambling past the guards and through the gate. Ryan and Yaz were quick to follow, but the crying man broke free of the guards and grabbed Ryan's arm, saying, "What's happening? What's happening?"

Ryan couldn't find the voice to respond but one of the guards said disdainfully, "You shot the Doctor."

He paled. "The... Doctor..." He shook his head. "No, I was aiming at him! I was aiming at him..."

Ryan and Yaz shook him off, following Graham through the gates. He was hovering near the Doctor, offering a hand, but she wouldn't let go of the dock. She was holding onto it for support, her other arm clamped on the wound.

The Master was looking at the gun, his face deathly pale.

"What? What is it?" Yaz asked.

"A time disruptor," he said grimly. "Doctor, sonic?"

She quickly reached into her coat and gave it to him, and he freed himself from his shackles.

Rassilon stormed over. "What do you think you're-"

"I need him to help get me to the TARDIS," the Doctor said, moving her hand to show him the wound. "You don't like it, come with us."

Rassilon's jaw clenched as the Master vaulted over the deck and took the Doctor's arm, helping her walk to the doors. The guards looked alarmed at their approach but Rassilon waved them off, gesturing to the companions to keep an eye on the Master.

The group slowly helped the Doctor from the courtroom.

The man began to cry again as the Doctor approached, saying, "Why did you get in the way? I was aiming for... I'm so sorry..."

And the Doctor did something that struck them all as odd. She reached out and rested her hand on his shoulder as they passed.

The second they were out the door the Doctor's pace started to slow and her breathing got heavier. The Master tried to urge her on faster, but she was suddenly dragging her heels and looking around, confused.

"Was this today?" she said suddenly. "It's new."

"Doctor?" Yaz whispered.

"Keep calm," Rassilon said, his eyes flitting from the Doctor to the Master and back. "It's a side effect of the disruptor. Her sense of linearity is affected."

"Her sense of what?" Graham said. The Master rolled his eyes, dragging the Doctor towards the stairs they had come up.

"But she'll be OK?" Ryan said. "We get her to the TARDIS, she'll be OK?"

"I know you," she said to Ryan. Her eyes swept her companions. "All of you." Then her face crumpled. "That's strange. I don't remember what happens to you."

The companions exchanged glances, alarmed. "Doctor..."

"Do I get any of you killed?" she asked, her eyes too bright. "Whoops, was that rude?"

"You're scaring the mayflies, Doctor," the Master said softly. She let go of the wound, rubbing confused at her head and getting blood in her hair.

Yaz looked worriedly at the wound. There was a growing stain down the Doctor's side, a weird dark orange tint to the droplets that fell behind them. How much blood could a Time Lord lose? The Doctor was always saying how much more stamina she had compared to the average human, but nowadays she wasn't sure what to believe...

"Keep your hand on it, Doc," Graham told her, putting her hand back against the wound.

"It happened at the same time," she said with a sudden fervor. "When you came to travel, when you asked me who I was. One moment born out of another. Can't we just skip past the part w-where I lose..."

The Master tried to shush her, intent on getting her to the stairs, but the Doctor suddenly cried out and crumpled to the floor, an odd noise coming from her.

It the companions a second to realise she was crying.

No, not crying - sobbing.

The Master knelt down, one hand over her back as he tried to get the other back onto the wound while she clung to the floor. "Get the TARDIS! Teleport it inside, now!" he snapped at Rassilon. The Time Lord paused only a moment before doing what he said. The Master looked at the companions, annoyed. "Well? One of you go with him!"

A shell-shocked Ryan raced after him.

"Doctor?" Yaz tried.

"No, please," the Doctor sobbed. "It's too much. Can't have - can't have killed that many - didn't want to hurt anyone-"

"Doctor, it isn't happening now. It's in the past." The Master manhandled her upright, pressing his hand against the wound. "You need to get up, now, and get to those stairs."

She raised her head, breathing coming in shallow, terrified gasps. "I know you," she gasped. "I know..."

"You know who I am. You have to stand up so you can stop me, remember?"

"Stop...you..."

"Doctor, you know who I am. Fight it."

She nodded distantly. "Yes," she whispered in a tiny voice, "You're my friend."

"Doctor, please," Yaz said, "Please stand up."

She let them pull her up, but the minute she was on her feet she shut down entirely, a blank stare on her face and her weight slumping into the Master as he helped her walk.

They reached the stairs and the Master snapped at Graham, "Help me!" and the older man moved to the Doctor's other side, the pair of them supporting her and Graham saying, "Watch your step, love. I've got you, cockle," as they had to carry her the last few steps.

Yaz hovered behind, one hand covering her mouth, failing to contain her tears.

The Master set her down at the bottom of the stairs, swearing as the TARDIS still hadn't materialised. The Doctor's eyes were wide and staring and she was no longer crying but gasping helplessly, her hand clamping around the Master's when he took hold of it.

Graham pressed his hands to her wound, trying to stem the blood flow. "What're you going to do?" he asked the Master. "You have a plan to fix her, right?"

"She has to look into the heart of the TARDIS," he said grimly. "It's the only option, Doctor, make you better than new again."

The Doctor didn't respond. She was clinging on to the Master's hand for dear life, struggling to keep her eyes open. Her blood was pooling faster around them, Graham's hands soaked in it. He tried to press harder, wincing when the Doctor did.

"Sorry, Doc. I need to keep the pressure on. You can count on me, little blood don't scare me none." But his face said otherwise.

The Master raised the Doctor so she was leaning against him, freeing up one of his hands. "Let go. I'm going to stem the bleeding."

Graham did as he said, waiting until the Master was in position before moving his hand. Golden light emanated from his fingers and he pressed down on the wound hard. The Doctor whimpered, closing her eyes.

"Sorry, Theta, I have to, you're losing too much..."

Graham watched the blood flow start to slow. "Thank God..."

"We're not out of the woods yet," he said. "The disruptor is a deadly weapon to a Time Lord. It's destroying her on the inside." The golden light faded and he leant the Doctor back, her hand still in his.

Her gasping breaths had slowed, but she was shuddering and staring ahead, eyes unseeing. The Master swore. "The hell is taking them so long?"

He looked suddenly at their joined hands, alarmed as the Doctor's grip started to loosen. He clutched it tighter, saying, "Stay with me. Stay with me..."

"Oh, God..." Yaz whispered, tearful.

The Master whispered something that sounded like 'Damn it' before he said quietly, "Listen, Doctor, it's the funniest thing... I was coming back. To stand with you." He turned his head, whispering against her hair. "I tried to come back to you, I did, but things...happened."

The Doctor was pale, eyes opening and closing slowly.

"We promised each other, every star, didn't we? I made that promise too. I thought, all the time in the world...someday we would do it, together..." He squeezed her limp hand. "In the end, it's just you and me. What the hell would I be without you?"

Yaz let out a broken sob. The Master raised his head to snap at her, but then he saw where she was looking...followed her gaze to the Doctor.

She was staring straight ahead, her eyes glassy and blank.

"Doctor?" he whispered. His hand shifted, searching for a pulse on her neck. His face froze.

"Oh, no, pet," Graham said, eyes wet.

The Master clutched her tight and let out an animal scream.

Chapter Text

The Master's cries were so distressed the others almost didn't notice the familiar groan of the landing TARDIS. Rassilon stepped out, his face ambivalent as he looked on the scene, with Ryan close behind.

He saw the Doctor and started shaking his head in disbelief, looking to Yaz for confirmation. She couldn't give it. She was crying too hard.

"A shame things turned out this way, though I have to admit, not entirely unexpected," Rassilon said, kneeling and reaching out towards the Doctor. The Master's head snapped up so viciously that the others flinched back.

"Don't you FUCKING TOUCH HER! Keep your filthy hands OFF!"

Rassilon regarded him calmly. "In an ideal world someone would hold an interplanetary funeral. But given the upheaval it would cause..."

"Shut up."

"But you - He said he could save-" Graham swallowed, not seeing the flash in the Master's eyes before continuing, "... the heart of the TARDIS?"

Rassilon's eyes turned thunderous. "I cannot allow that! The monstrosity you would create-"

The Master knashed his teeth, growling something no one could understand and reaching into his pocket. In an instant Rassilon was on his feet, gun drawn from his robes but he wasn't fast enough, the Master had a device in his hand and clicked it once and in a flash of light Rassilon was shrunk to the size of a hamster. The miniature Time Lord didn't make it three steps before the Master stamped on him.

The Master scooped up the Doctor and rushed toward the TARDIS. The companions shared a look before helplessly following, Graham in the lead and Ryan shepherding Yaz along.

"Hey!" Graham yelled, grabbing the gun Rassilon had dropped on the way. "What are you doing? What did he mean?"

Inside it was dark, the TARDIS lights dimmed way down. The Master had leant the Doctor against a railing and was wrenching at the console, yanking pieces off with his hands and anything he could find. He gave Graham and the gun in his hand a brief look before ignoring him entirely.

Graham raised the gun and cocked it. "I said stop!"

"You don't -" A chunk of console clattered across the room, "- want to get in my way. I can still - save her."

"By turning her into somethin - somethin else? The Doc wouldn't want that!"

"Don't you presume to talk to me about what she would want!" The Master thumped the console, glass shattering under his fist. "You people know nothing! Don't you realise the Earth is as good as DONE FOR without her? You won't last five damn minutes!" He was laughing now, even as sparks flew up in his face. "The rest of the galaxy too. She is the law in some solar systems - invasions have lived and died on whether they thought they could escape the Doctor's notice!"

He kept pulling at the console, laughing bitterly to himself as he did so. "I always thought protecting you stupid apes would kill her, but this - this - worthless! The lot of you, worthless piles of waste. Violent - and twisted - and -"

There was a great rending sound as the entire front panel slid off and crashed to the floor, the Master quickly shielding his eyes from a golden light pouring out from within. He turned and picked up the Doctor.

Graham raised the gun. "Answer or I shoot you! What will that thing do to her?"

Yaz put her hand on his arm, lowering the gun. "Let him."

"Yaz, listen-"

With them distracted the Master seized his opportunity and moved the Doctor, turning her enough that her hand brushed the console.

The effect was instantaneous - golden light latched onto the Doctor's arm and the Master clung on for dear life as her glassy eyes looked into the time vortex and the time vortex looked back.

The others cried out, huddling together in horror as the Doctor's body spasmed in the Master's arms like she'd been gripped by an electric current. The light spread up her body and centred around her wound, changing into a beam that burrowed into the bloody wound before it began to die down.

Everything fell silent as the last of the light leaked from the console and circled the Doctor in a lazy aura. The Master lowered her to the floor, brushing the hair back from her face.

"Theet?" he said, softly shaking her.

"Doctor?" Yaz whispered, creeping forward. Ryan started to move, too, but Graham held him back.

The silence stretched on and on, the Master's grip on the Doctor getting gradually tighter and tighter.

Then the blank eyes blink. The Master gasped at the same time the Doctor did, his hand moving to cup the back of her head as he pressed their foreheads together, whispering something as the Doctor's breaths came in a frantic wheeze.

"What did you- what did you-" She shut her eyes, shuddering and squirming to get her hand up and to the wound, which was still shining from ripples of golden light.

Then she went still.

"Doc?" Graham said, still holding Ryan back as Yaz rushed to the Doctor's side and knelt down. Even the Master leant back, studying her thoughtfully as the Doctor's eyes dropped.

When she looked up again, everyone but the Master flinched back.

The Doctor's once warm brown eyes were now a bright burning gold.

Chapter Text

"Doctor?" Yaz said nervously. "You're OK now, right?"

The Doctor didn't answer. She put her hand to the hole in her shirt, then put her fingers through, golden light emanating from the wound. She stared ahead for a long moment while the Master inched between her and the console, trying to hide the gaping empy space in it.

Finally she looked up, surveyed them all once in turn.

"I died," she said. She looked at the Master. "Didn't I?"

His tone was one the others would never have expected from him: pleading. "Doctor..."

"The time vortex," she said, the golden light growing brighter, lifting the tips of her hair in a supernatural wind, "It has to be returned to the TARDIS."

"No," the Master said, now putting himself deliberately between her and the console. "Doctor, listen to me. You were shot with a time disruptor. You know-"

"I know what it is, what it does." Her voice was becoming flatter by the second, more remote and unfamiliar. She scronched her face up suddenly, squeezed her eyes shut. "No. One minute, one minute. She needs one minute."

She pulled at her hair, grabbing onto the TARDIS for support.

"Doc, what's happenin'?"

"You're all right, love," the Master said, rubbing her back. "Take a minute and let it settle. Handle it."

"I can't," she said softly. She looked to the companions and they were shocked to see her eyes full of unshed tears. "No Time Lord is meant to possess the vortex because the vortex will possess them. They become like a god... they lose themselves-"

"You and I already are like gods. We are gods," he said, stroked her hair in a gesture that would have been shockingly intimate if the others weren't too shocked by everything else. "Now you have all the power in the world. Use it. Don't run from it."

He tipped her chin up, catching the tears starting to fall from the golden-brown eyes, cupped her face in his hands. Then he very gently kissed her. That did shock the others, even more so when the Doctor shut her eyes, didn't pull away, rested her forehead against the Master's when he let go.

He whispered something to her then, something in an alien language they couldn't make out. She shook her head, saying something equally alien back. He flinched away from her.

"Even now I can feel it... feel it changing me." A shudder shook her frame, the Master rubbing at her shoulder blade and still shaking his head. "I see all timelines... everything the Time Lords did. The truth about the Timeless Child."

She looked helplessly at the companions. "You're confused. That's OK. The Doctor was at war with herself for so long... wanting you safe, wanting you with her. Not able to have both."

Another grimace, another pull of the hair. "Could fix all of it. All the bad in space and time, so easily gone..."

The Master leant close. "Do it," he whispered. "You know your carnage is so much prettier than mine."

"The Time Lords too," she said and the Master flinched back. "No more of the arrogance and the meddling."

"What?"

She looked at his frozen expression and laughed. "You say you hate humans? You don't. You hate them because she loves them. But you should know the Doctor.. hates Time Lords." More tears welled up bit didn't fall. "All of them. The Doctor is the worst of all."

Another scrunched up grimace of pain. "No, shut up. I can't do that." She looked the Master in the eye and gently touched his face. "You need to listen to me and do as I ask. While there's still time."

He shifted closer. "I'm not letting you go like this."

She was quiet, except for suppressed whimpers of pain as the golden light flared up and died down around her. "...You almost did."

"I...don't understand..."

"The last time around, she- I-" And the Doctor giggled, beckoning him closer like she was sharing a secret. "Almost didn't go through with it."

"Y- you don't mean-"

"Yes. Regeneration." She watched him as he flinched back from her, the gold in her eyes taking over. "The Doctor was billions of years old, sad and tired and grieving."

She looked off into the distance. "Tired of grieving. So many dead or lost. Never able to keep a friend around long enough to - to make it easier." Another head shake, another wince. "I was going to drive the TARDIS where stars are born and die. I was going to watch them and just... not. Just not regenerate. Just not come back again."

The Master's fists clenched as the companions exchanged horrified looks. "Don't you talk like that," he said, voice low. "How could you even think it?"

The Doctor looked so peaceful from the admission she didn't seem to hear him. "I've done terrible things. I didn't want to die a monster then, so I thought...one more time. No harm done." She looked at him again. "And I choose it now. I will die as the Doctor, not as Destroyer of Worlds."

When he went to protest again she grabbed him in a hug, whispering something the others couldn't hear. They didn’t dare speak, the sense that this was something ancient and incomprehensible keeping them silent. She drew back, looked over at them. "It's all right, everyone. Your safety is assured."

The Master's shoulders shook. A sound like a sob escaped him. "What- what am I supposed to do without-"

"I saved your life," she told him sternly. "Listen to me, because this is what you do: take them home to earth. 2020. Whatever date they ask for at the right time." She turned, rubbing her head as she paced. "Get in contact with your buddies at MI6. Tell them they have to reform Torchwood or UNIT or something to protect the Earth, because as of now it's undefended."

She turned back, looking through him. "Keep my death a secret. If you can stop news getting off planet, do it, because any remaining Daleks won't wait around on their next plan. What else...?"

"Doctor," he said, his voice flat.

"No, you OWE me!" she yelled suddenly, eyes blazing and golden light crackling around her. "I'm running out of time! The Doctor needs you to promise her you will do as she says!"

"What then, Theta?" he said, softly. "What am- what am I supposed to do then?"

She stopped, light fading. "I-I don't know..." She took his hands in both of hers. "I think you should be... the best of yourself."

"You still haven't given up on me?"

And the Doctor smiled at him, such a helpless, hopeless smile that they all felt it: it was over.

She turned to the console, stroking her hand along it as she faced the space for the time vortex to return to.

"All of you will be OK. I just need two more things."

"Name it, cockle," Graham said. He was watery eyed, Yaz openly sobbing again, Ryan shell-shocked and silent.

"Take care of... the old girl. If you hide her do it with dignity. And... I'd like to be buried on Earth. Somewhere where something can grow. Maybe if you plant a red flower there... no marked grave. Let Captain Jack know. He'll know who to trust with the news. It's... too dangerous to tell anyone else."

She raised her hand to touch the console, looked over at the Master. "I'm going to fall. Catch me?"

He nodded. He couldn't get a word out.

The Doctor raised her hand higher, shut her eyes, and touched the TARDIS.

For the second time that day, the lights went out.

Chapter Text

Everything happened as if in slow motion. Together they watched the Doctor return the time vortex to the TARDIS and rewind the dial on all the damage done to the console, putting it back as though nothing had happened.

Her hand slid from it and for a moment she stood staring, blank eyes in the middle distance. For a moment a wave of hope possessed the room, but hen her eyes rolled shut, her head falling back as her knees crumbled and she started to fall.

The Master caught her, cradled her, not screaming this time but letting his body be wracked by sobs. The others watched on, emptiness taking the space the grief should have filled.

Everything collapsed into the next moment, the one after that, time going on unrelenting.

Then the Master lifted her, carrying her deeper into the TARDIS. Inside everything was dark... except for one room.

The companions had never seen it before and it didn't look like the rest of the rooms. It looked almost like a crypt, all stone and low lighting that resembled candlelight.

Everywhere was golden circular writing, and in one corner was an empty crib, the same type of writing on the front.

The Master gently laid her down on one of the stone slabs, shucking off his coat and sliding it under her head as a pillow. He touched her cheek with the back of his hand, whispering something to her. He moved her arms to rest on her middle and slid something into her hands, then leant down to kiss her forehead.

Then he turned and shoved roughly past all of them, heading back into the console room.

The companions were left hovering in the doorway, all of them struck by how quiet the room was without the Doctor's larger than life presence to fill it.

"We could say bye to her?" Graham said softly. "Like we did for Grace?"

The other two exchanged looks, the pain reflected in each others' eyes. Yaz took a shuddering breath.

"I want to, I'm just worried about what you know who is doing," Ryan said.

"At a time like this?" Yaz snapped.

"Yes! Because we still have to worry about the bigger picture! Y'know, getting home?" He folded his arms. "She would. No matter what was going on, she'd still worry about getting us home."

"And now she's gone, Ryan. Excuse me if I need five minutes!"

Graham laid a hand on both their shoulders. "OK. Let's take a breath. I'm going to say something quick, then we go. OK? "

They both looked away.

Graham walked forward, bowing his head before the Doctor. "Doc, it's me. We all love you a-and we're going to miss you. I gotta be honest, he wasn't worth your life. I'd trade a hundred of him if we could h- have you back. But you shielded him like you always shielded us, and you paid for it. And it's going to hurt. It's going to hurt a long time."

"I wish I knew you better," Yaz said suddenly. "I realised with my own parents - they had a whole life before I came along. And you did, too - hundreds of them. Wish I could have known you like-"

She cut off, crying again. Ryan softened.

"You were one of my best friends," he said. "You brought us together, gave me dreams I couldn't dare to have before. I'm a different person now, 'cus of you. Just like you warned me. I dunno how I'll get back to regular life."

They all stood a moment, tears falling, then there was the sudden noise of the TARDIS engine.

Ryan dashed his tears away. "What did I say-"

They raced through to the main room to find the Master working the controls, flipping the lever.

"Rassilon was an arrogant bastard; didn't take backup. But those guards will notice I'm gone eventually. We need to get out of here, quick."

"And go where?"

"Drop you out of the way. Earth."

His eyes were manic, his back leg constantly twitching with nervous energy.

"And then what'll you do?" Ryan asked.

"First I'm going to find the bastard who shot her and kill him. Slowly."

"He was aiming at you, mate," Graham snapped. The Master's eyes flashed.

"What about Captain Jack? Should we tell him?"

The Master snorted. "He'll wring my neck if he founds out how she died. You tell him."

"What did she mean, Jack will know who to tell?"

He sneered. "She meant her other pets, of course." Off their surprised look he rolled his eyes. "Really thought you were the first companions she ever had? Honestly."

Yaz ground her teeth. "She wouldn't want you to get revenge."

"She is a sentimental FOOL who died protecting the man who COMMITTED GENOCIDE AGAINST HER PLANET! Excuse me if I don't CARE!" The snarl on his face was so vicious they all drew back.

But Ryan nerved himself to try again. "And then what?"

He looked over at him like Ryan had just asked the dumbest question ever. "I go back and save her. Obviously."

Yaz's face lit up, Graham's too, but Ryan looked suddenly apprehensive.

"Won't that - I dunno, disrupt the timeline or something? When we almost lost Shelley, she said it could make a huge difference. And that was one poet on one planet. The Doctor's..."

"So much more than that," the Master said quietly, flipping the custard creams lever. The TARDIS didn't answer him. "So I need to act fast. If no one knows, it won't be fixed. And even if it was..."

Graham looked confused. "She's not around to stop you anymore. I thought you'd be more, I dunno, gleeful and plotting."

The Master laughed a dry sardonic laugh. "Idiots. What would be the point?"

Ryan turned his back slightly to whisper to the other two. "I want the Doctor back as much as anyone, but we gotta think about this. Let's let him land on Earth and then rush him."

The others exchanged looks but wordlessly agreed. But they didn't realise the Master was watching, a sudden hard steel in his eyes.

He reached into his pocket.

Ryan was shrunk first, followed quickly by Yaz and Graham. The Master cackled and clapped his hands.

"Can't hate me for this one, love," he said wildly. "They'll be good as new once I go back and put everything right." He flipped a lever. "Nothing is fixed. Not yet, not yet."

He turned, sinking down against a pillar as the weight of grief overcame him. "I can't lose you yet," he mumbled, burying his head in his hands.

- -

The TARDIS groaned and spluttered, the Doctor and her companions clinging on for dear life.

"Doc?" Graham said. "What's happening?"

She clung to the console, tapping furiously at buttons on a screen. "I- I don't know. She usually only gets like this when we run into a paradox!"

"A what?"

"A disruption in the timeline! Like if Krasko had succeeded in stopping Rosa Parks getting that bus, but times a million million!"

"Really?"

"Really." Her expression was grim as she studied the screen. "I've never seen one this bad though..."

Four beeps sounded from another part of the console. The Doctor froze. The sound came again. She pulled herself around to it, frantically tapping four beeps in response.

This time the Master opened a line.

Contact.

Contact, she responded.

An overwhelming wave of mixed emotions from him overcame her at the sound of her voice, one distinct: relief. It wasn't like him to share, unless he was so unstable now he couldn't control it.

He thought back, Talk to me.

A note of almost pleading in his voice.

I am talking to you, she thought back, confused.

He said nothing else, but he didn't cut the connection to her. He just stayed quietly, a quiet contentment to his thoughts, just like he was in the room, being with her.

It was so odd she didn't know what to say. The companions exchanged a look.

"Doctor? You OK?"

"Yeah," she said, distracted by how peaceful he felt. She didn't want him prying at her thoughts but she was loathe to cut him off.

What have you been doing? she asked him.

The usual, came his quick reply. Evading 'justice'. Vengeance. Destruction and carnage.

There was something off about his tone that wrong-footed her.

You could try saving someone, she teased. Just for a change.

The wave of grief and sadness was so sharp it almost floored her.

Then he cut her off.

The Doctor gripped the console for support, head spinning. Graham touched her arm.

"Doc? What's going on?"

She opened her mouth to tell them everything - about Gallifrey, about the Master being back. But the grief she'd felt from him made her throat constrict and tears well up in her eyes.

In a tight, tiny voice, she said, "I think it's even worse than I thought."