Chapter Text
The Academy had emptied for the summer recess.
Every child had been sent back to their family. Usually, even during the holidays, Koschei and Theta were inseparable. They would spend half the break at the Oakdown estate and the other half at the House of Lungbarrow, making the most of every precious day before another term at the Academy began.
This sumer was different.
Koschei’s grades had slipped below his father’s expectations in several subjects. As punishment, he had been forbidden from seeing Theta for the entirety of the holiday.
According to his father, it was time for Koschei to stop behaving like a child. He needed to understand the responsibilities that came with the Oakdown name, spend more time with his cousins, and cultivate friendships with the children of families worthy of their social standing, not some low-born boy from Lungbarrow.
Social standing meant nothing to Koschei.
He was only fifty-five. By Time Lord standards, he was still a child.
All he wanted was to spend every waking moment with his best and only friend, dreaming about the day they would steal a TARDIS and explore the universe together. His father had never understood that. In truth, neither his father nor the rest of House Oakdown had ever cared what Koschei wanted. They already had his future planned.
His father envisioned him graduating from the Academy, entering politics, becoming a Cardinal, perhaps even one day ascending to the Presidency of Gallifrey itself.
Koschei could imagine nothing more unbearable.
He refused to believe his future lay buried beneath endless ceremonies, suffocating traditions, and self-important Time Lords wrapped in ceremonial robes.
After another shouting match with his cousins and yet another lecture from his father, Koschei retreated to his room, missing Theta with an ache that refused to fade.
That was when he remembered the ring. His father had shown it to him only once. It looked utterly ordinary: a simple band of metal with no ornamentation whatsoever. Yet it was anything, but ordinary. It was an ancient Gallifreyan artefact capable of traversing both time and space. All it required was for its bearer to focus on the person they wished to find.
Every lesson at the Academy warned against tampering with one’s own timeline. Time paradoxes were dangerous. Catastrophic.
Koschei had always found them fascinating. Perhaps this was the perfect opportunity to prove that every adult around him was wrong. If his father insisted on deciding his future for him, then why shouldn’t he simply go and see that future himself?
Late that evening, while the estate slept, Koschei slipped silently into his father’s study. He knelt before the seemingly blank wall where an invisible safe had been concealed. The security code had only been shown to him once, but his memory had never failed him.
A few careful adjustments. A soft mechanical click. The hidden compartment slid open. The ring lay exactly where he remembered.
His hearts hammered with excitement as he slipped it onto his finger. Closing his eyes, he pictured only one person. His future self.
The world vanished.
The study dissolved into streaks of impossible colour as space folded in on itself. Time twisted around him, spinning faster and faster until Gallifrey itself disappeared from view.
When Koschei opened his eyes, the very first thing he did was throw up. The world spun violently around him. Both hearts pounded unevenly and his stomach lurched as though it had been left behind somewhere in the Time Vortex. He had never travelled through time and space before, certainly not by means of such a primitive artefact.
It took several long moments before the dizziness finally subsided. Wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve, Koschei slowly looked around.
He found himself in a small room unlike anything he’d ever seen. Strange objects cluttered the shelves, their purpose completely alien to him. Wherever he’d arrived, it certainly wasn’t Gallifrey.
Voices drifted in from the adjoining room. Curiosity overcame caution. He edged towards the slightly open door and peered through the narrow gap.
A long table dominated the room beyond. At its head sat a distinguished-looking man dressed in an immaculate black suit. His dark hair was neatly combed back and the trimmed beard framing his face only added to his air of quiet authority. Resting casually in one hand was a curious device Koschei had never seen before.
For one bewildering moment, he thought he was looking at his father.
The posture.
The composure.
The impeccable manners.
Even those piercing eyes carried the unmistakable dignity of House Oakdown.
“Had Father… regenerated?”
No.
He hadn’t travelled all this way to find his father.
The man sitting there was him. His future self. And he was in serious trouble.
More than a dozen armed men surrounded the table, each pointing a weapon directly at him.
Koschei’s hearts skipped a beat.
Was he about to witness his own death?
The thought paralysed him. Every instinct urged him to run out and help. Instead, he remained rooted to the spot.
His future self, however, appeared perfectly at ease. He even looked faintly amused. One of the armed men stepped forward.
“Master,” he said firmly, “this is over. Hand us your money and leave this city. Your reign ends today. We’re giving you one chance to walk away.”
The Master regarded him for a long moment.
Then, with impeccable politeness, he smiled.
“My dear fellow,” he said softly, “how extraordinary.”
He rose unhurriedly from his chair. “You genuinely believe you’re in a position to threaten me.”
A brief chuckle escaped him.
“I assure you… even were the whole of humanity to unite against me, the outcome would remain exactly the same.”
He glanced around the room with almost paternal disappointment.
“You lack the intellect.” He raised the strange device.
“And, I’m afraid, the imagination.”
A flash of light burst from the weapon.
In an instant, the man who had spoken was reduced to a tiny figure no taller than a few centimetres, desperately stumbling across the polished table.
Panic erupted. Several gangsters shouted in disbelief.
Another reached for his gun, but the doors burst open before he could fire. The Master’s own men flooded into the room with military precision. A volley of gunfire echoed through the building.
Seconds later…
Silence.
Bodies lay scattered across the floor. Only one man remained alive. He had collapsed to his knees, trembling uncontrollably.
The Master approached him at an unhurried pace, gently brushing an imaginary speck of dust from his sleeve.
“I am the Master…” His voice was calm, measured. “…and you will obey me.”
The terrified man’s eyes immediately lost all focus.
“Yes… Master.”
“Excellent.” The Master folded his hands behind his back. “You will now leave this building.”
The man nodded mechanically.
“You will inform everyone that this city now belongs to the Master.”
“Yes… Master.”
Without another word, the man hurried from the room.
The Master watched him disappear before turning to his own men.
“If you would be so kind…”
He gestured gracefully towards the bodies.
“…dispose of this unpleasantness.”
His guards immediately set to work.
Hidden inside the adjoining washroom, Koschei stood frozen. Nothing about this made sense. He felt overwhelming relief that his future self had survived.
And yet…
He couldn’t stop staring. The elegant black suit. The perfectly composed manner. The effortless confidence. The commanding voice. Every movement radiated absolute authority. It was impressive.
And utterly terrifying.
This wasn’t merely an older version of himself. This was a man everyone feared. Without so much as glancing in his direction, the Master spoke.
“You needn’t continue hiding.”
His voice carried effortlessly across the room.
“I’ve known you were there since you arrived.”
Every guard immediately raised their weapons towards the washroom door.
Koschei remembered one of the Academy’s earliest lessons. A Time Lord could not deliberately harm an earlier incarnation of themselves. Drawing a shaky breath, he stepped into the room.
The Master turned.
For the first time, his perfectly controlled expression cracked.
His eyebrows lifted ever so slightly.
“…Well.”
A pause.
“Lower your weapons,” the Master ordered.
His men immediately obeyed, lowering their guns.
“Don’t be afraid. Come with me.” He extended a hand towards Koschei. “No one here is going to hurt you.”
Koschei hesitated for only a moment before taking his hand.
Together, they left the room.
“How did you get here?” the Master asked.
Then his eyes fell upon the ring on Koschei’s finger.
His expression changed almost imperceptibly.
“My father’s ring.”
“Who were those people?” Koschei asked. “Where are we?”
Now that he finally felt safe, the questions he’d been holding back came tumbling out.
The Master glanced at him.
“Do you know who I am?”
“Yes. You’re me.” Koschei tilted his head. “Which regeneration?”
“That is of no importance.”
“So there were others.” Koschei’s voice became quieter as he tried to process the revelation. “I died… and regenerated.”
“You’re a Time Lord. Every Time Lord eventually passes through that experience.” The Master spoke calmly, almost reassuringly. “There’s nothing to be frightened of. Now, tell me why you’re here.”
“If you’re me, you already know.”
“Yes, I do.”
The Master stopped walking and looked down at his younger self.
“But for your safety and for the safety of our timeline, you must return.”
Koschei’s expression fell.
“They wouldn’t let me see Theta this summer.”
The Master raised an eyebrow.
“My father…” Koschei corrected himself, then swallowed. “Our father wasn’t pleased with my grades.”
“When has he ever been pleased with anything?”
For a fleeting moment, something bitter crossed the Master’s face. He remembered that summer. He remembered precisely how it had felt to be that boy. Then he composed himself.
“What is it you want to know?”
Koschei looked up at him.
“Where are we? Who am I? And where is Theta?”
“This isn’t Gallifrey.”
Koschei’s eyes widened.
“We left Gallifrey a very long time ago.”
A bright, childish smile spread across Koschei’s face. They’d left. He’d actually done it. They’d escaped Gallifrey.
“This is a planet called Earth,” the Master continued. “I have a… business here.”
“A business?”
“Trade, if you like.”
He paused.
“Of course, every enterprise has its hazards. Those people were the local inhabitants. They imagined they could challenge me.” His expression hardened slightly. “They paid for that mistake with their lives.”
Koschei stared at him.
“Are you a bad person?”
The Master stopped. He turned towards the boy with an almost amused expression.
“What makes you say that?”
“You killed them.” Koschei frowned. “You didn’t even feel sorry for them.”
The Master considered this for a moment.
“Tell me, when we were children, did we feel sorry for the insects we caught in the gardens.”
Koschei blinked.
“We used to kill them and preserve them in our collections.” He gave the boy a small, knowing smile. “Did that make us evil?”
Koschei thought about it.
“No.”
“Precisely.” The Master resumed walking. “Think of them as insects.”
The explanation seemed perfectly logical to Koschei. He walked in silence for a few moments before his expression suddenly changed.
“So… in the future, I’m a space trader?”
There was unmistakable disappointment in his voice.
The Master gave a quiet chuckle.
“Trade is merely a means to an end.” He glanced at him. “Money means power.” His voice became more serious. “And power is what truly matters.”
Koschei listened intently.
“Father always wanted me…us…to become President of Gallifrey.”
“Yes.”
“But our ambitions are rather greater than that.” The Master’s eyes gleamed. “I could own the universe.”
Koschei’s expression slowly brightened.
“I could rule planets. Galaxies.” He leaned slightly closer to the boy. “Do you understand?”
Koschei nodded enthusiastically. That sounded considerably more interesting.
“Then what about Theta?”
The Master’s smile vanished. He let out a long, quiet sigh.
“Is something wrong with him?” Koschei asked immediately, fear creeping into his voice. “Couldn’t he escape Gallifrey?”
“No. No.”
The answer came too quickly. The Master caught himself.
“He’s fine and…”
He stopped. His expression hardened.
“That’s enough.”
Koschei stared at him.
“Enough?”
“That is already far too much information.”
“But I’ll forget all of this when I go back.” Koschei’s voice softened. “You know that.”
The Master said nothing.
“I have to know.”
Koschei looked up at him with pleading eyes. For several seconds, the Master simply stared at his younger self. Then he rolled his eyes.
“Very well.” He turned away. “He’s on this planet too.”
Koschei’s face immediately brightened.
“Really?”
“But he’s not with me.”
The smile faded slightly.
“Our paths separated a very long time ago.” There was a pause. “And it wasn’t my fault.”
The Master pursed his lips.
“He left us.”
“Are we not friends anymore?” Koschei’s voice trembled. He looked as though he was only a few seconds away from tears.
Seeing his younger self so upset over the Doctor made the Master furious, but not with Koschei. He couldn’t possibly be angry with him. He was only a child.
“I don’t know,” the Master admitted. “Things are rather complicated at the moment. I’ve offered him the chance to rule the universe with me.” Koschei’s eyes widened. “And he would rather stay on this planet and help its primitive inhabitants.”
“So we’re here because of him?” There was a hopeful note in Koschei’s voice.
The Master couldn’t lie to himself.
“Of course we are,” he said quietly. He paused. “A great many things have happened that you don’t know about. The Time Lords punished him and sent him here. They disabled his TARDIS…”
Koschei’s expression softened.
“And you’re here so he wouldn’t have to be alone?”
The Master hesitated.
“Don’t tell him that.” He gave Koschei a conspiratorial wink. “Otherwise, our friend’s already considerable ego will expand until it reaches Mount Lungbarrow.”
Koschei giggled.
“Can I see him?”
“Why not?!”
After the briefest hesitation, the Master smiled.
He took his younger self by the hand and led him outside to the waiting car. Koschei had approximately a thousand questions. He asked every single one of them. During the entire journey, questions came tumbling out without pause about Earth, the Master’s business, Gallifrey, regenerations, the TARDIS, the future and practically everything else that crossed his mind. The Master answered as patiently as he could, carefully avoiding anything that might reveal too much about the future. It was considerably more difficult than he had anticipated.
Eventually, they arrived at the UNIT headquarters. The Master dealt with the guards in his usual fashion. A glance. A few softly spoken words. A little hypnosis. One by one, they stepped aside and allowed him through. Koschei watched in open fascination. He had always dreamed of being able to do that. Inside, the Master headed straight for the Doctor’s office. He knew exactly where it was. The Doctor wasn’t alone. Jo Grant was with him. The moment Jo saw the Master, her hand shot towards the alarm. Then she noticed the child standing beside him. Her expression changed instantly. She raised both hands.
“Don’t hurt him!”
The Master stopped, mildly amused.
The Doctor, however, looked considerably less amused. He stared at the child. Then at the Master. Then back at the child.
“What is the meaning of this?” he demanded. His voice rose sharply. “What is he doing here?”
He stepped forward.
“Even for you, this is beneath contempt. You can’t use a child against me!” His eyes narrowed. “This is between you and me. You don’t drag the past into it.”
Jo slowly lowered her hands. Then a rather mischievous smile appeared on her face.
“Is he your son, Doctor?”
Both men froze.
“I did wonder whether you and the Master were married. Surely this is more than friendship.”
Koschei’s eyes went enormous.
“Theta and I are married?” He looked from the Doctor to the Master. “We have a child?”
He looked genuinely delighted and utterly bewildered. It had never even occurred to him to think of Theta in that way. The Master’s face turned scarlet.
“No,” the Doctor said.
“Yes,” the Master said at precisely the same moment.
Silence. The two men slowly turned towards each other. Koschei and Jo stared at them in equal astonishment.
“Enough of that,” the Master snapped, his face growing even redder.
He cleared his throat.
“He found me.”
The Doctor’s eyebrows shot up.
“He found me himself and asked to see you. For once, I have genuinely done nothing.” The Master folded his arms. “I’m not foolish enough to tamper with my own past and risk destabilising my own timeline.”
“You should have sent him back immediately instead of bringing him here!” the Doctor shouted.
Koschei tugged gently at the Master’s coat.
“Are you sure he’s Theta?”
The Doctor fell silent. Koschei looked up at him with a puzzled expression.
“My Theta would never shout at me like that.”
The name hit him like a physical blow.
Theta.
For one brief moment, the Doctor simply stared. The angry expression disappeared from his face. Because suddenly he wasn’t looking at the Master. He wasn’t looking at an enemy. He was looking at a little boy. His oldest friend. The person he’d known before either of them had become the men standing in this room.
And the Doctor suddenly realised just how much he must have missed him. He swallowed.
“I’m sorry.” This time, he looked directly at the boy.
“I wasn’t angry with you.” His voice softened. “I could never be angry with you.”
The Doctor walked towards him and slowly lowered himself onto one knee. Then he opened his arms. Koschei hesitated. He looked back at the Master. The Master gave him a small nod. Only then did Koschei step forward and allow the Doctor to pull him into a hug. For a moment, neither of them said anything.
“Are you really Theta?” Koschei whispered.
The Doctor smiled.
“Yes, I am.”
He pulled back slightly, looking at the boy with disbelief and affection.
“What happened? Why did you want to see me? And how old are you?”
“Fifty-five.”
The Doctor blinked.
“Fifty-five?”
“Is someone going to explain what’s going on?” Jo folded her arms impatiently.
“Miss Grant,” the Master said smoothly, “I’m certain the Doctor will provide you with a satisfactory explanation in due course.”
Koschei barely seemed to hear her.
“I missed you.”
The Doctor’s expression softened.
“Father wouldn’t let me see you this summer because he wasn’t happy with my grades.”
“Oh…”
The Doctor remembered that summer. He remembered it far better than he wanted to. It had been the first time he had travelled away from Gallifrey with his grandfather and seen the universe beyond their homeworld. He hadn’t thought about Koschei then. Or, at least, he hadn’t realised how much his absence would matter. The truth was that the Doctor had always had people around him.
Friends.
Classmates.
Companions.
He had never been truly alone.
Koschei had been different. For him, Theta had always been the one. His only friend. His entire world.
“I miss you too,” the Doctor said quietly.
He smiled at the boy.
“I miss you very much, old friend.”
“But I’m here.” Koschei pointed towards the Master.“Look. I’m right here.”
The Doctor glanced at the Master. Koschei’s smile faded.
“But where are you, Theta?”
The Doctor’s expression grew troubled.
“You promised you’d come and get me when Father’s punishment was over. You said we’d run away together.”
Koschei’s voice became smaller.
“Without you, those sounds… the drums…” He hesitated. “They’ve gotten louder.”
The Doctor went very still. The Master stepped forward before the conversation could go any further.
“Well, I’ve done what you wanted.”
He placed a hand gently on Koschei’s shoulder.
“I’ve brought you to see our old friend. You can have your little reunion.”
He gave the Doctor a pointed look.
“And now it’s time for you to go home.”
The Doctor looked as though he wanted to object. But Koschei was already smiling.
“You’re a very good boy, Koschei.” The Doctor’s voice was warm. “And a very good friend.”
He squeezed the boy’s shoulder.
“Thank you.”
“Come along.” The Master took Koschei’s hand. “It’s time to go home.”
Koschei looked back at the Doctor. Then, very deliberately, he reached out with his mind.
“Don’t leave him alone.”
The Master heard the thought as clearly as if Koschei had spoken aloud.
He glanced down at the child. Then he smiled.
“Don’t worry, my little friend.” He gave Koschei a conspiratorial wink.
He won’t get rid of us that easily. Koschei smiled.
“Theta?” The Doctor looked up. “When your punishment is over, don’t forget your promise.”
The Doctor frowned slightly.
“Promise?”
“You have to visit every star in the universe with me.” A bright smile spread across Koschei’s face.“One by one.”
The Doctor’s expression softened.
“I won’t forget.”
Koschei turned the ring on his finger. For a moment, the light caught the metal. Then he vanished.
The room fell silent.
The Doctor stared at the place where his childhood friend had been standing only seconds before. The Master stood beside him.
Neither spoke.