Ood Sigma stood a couple of feet away from the spot where the TARDIS was materializing. A couple seconds later, the Doctor and Minerva emerged from the blue box, the Doctor wearing a straw hat while Minerva wore a pink lei.

"Ah! Now! Sorry! There you are," the Doctor closed the TARDIS doors, "So, where were we? I was summoned, wasn't I? An Ood, in the snow, calling to me. Well, we didn't exactly come straight here, did we?" he looked at Minerva.

"We worked and had fun," she declared serious, "After our little incident in Mars I reviewed the lessons on restraint," she took the Doctor's hand, feeling him grip it immediately with guilt.

He was forever going to apologize for that catastrophe, both to Minerva and the world. He hadn't been thinking straight then. He had had enough of deaths happening around him that he had just...snapped. But never again. He was teaching Minerva all about the universe and its important laws and the Time Lord Victorious was not something he wanted her to ever see nor hear about again. She still had a lot to learn and was doing very well, he loving the fact he had the privilege to teach her everything he knew.

She had stopped her lessons with her grandfather, Mayar, a long time ago. The man was still agitated with the idea of his granddaughter married to a Time Lord. She didn't desert her responsibilities as princess, she simply switched teachers with Zohar instead. Minerva still maintained a good relationship with her grandfather, just as long as she avoided anything to do with her husband. In fact, things were actually so good that Mayar had touched on the topic of official Moontsay coronation. Minerva had practically buzzed with excitement at the idea of actually becoming queen of the Monsoon. Even if it was still just talk...it was a very nice talk to hear about.

"And we're fine now," Minerva decreed, "We traveled to places, got into trouble, you know my husband..." she shook her head.

"I didn't mean to insult the sultan," the Doctor glumly said, "But apart from that we saw the Phosphorous Carousel of the Great Magellan Gestadt. Saved a planet from the Red Carnivorous Maw. Named a galaxy Alison..."

"Stacey named it Alison, remember?" Minerva reminded him.

"Ah yes, happy birthday Stacey," he cheered.

"Then we tried for Queen Elizabeth!" Minerva exclaimed before falling into sadness, "...but now she wanted my head," she rubbed the side of her head, "I like my head and I need it so I had a quarrel with her about it. Despises me even more now."

"And the mystery of Queen Elizabeth continues," the Doctor shrugged, tugging his wife closer to set a kiss on her hair.

Minerva laughed until she looked at the Ood again, "Oops, I think we've been rambling, dear."

"You should not have delayed," Ood-Sigma said.

The Doctor frowned in seriousness, unconsciously gripping his hold on Minerva, "The last time I was here, you said a song would be ending soon and my wife died. I'm in no hurry to see what's coming for me."

"You will come with me.

"Hold on, better lock the TARDIS," the Doctor reached inside his pocket to pull out a key. He pointed it at the doors of the TARDIS and made it beep as if it were an actual car, "See? Like a car. I locked it like a car. Like...it's funny. No? Little bit? Blimey, try to make an Ood laugh."

"I think it's adorable," Minerva chuckled as they followed Ood-Sigma.

"And that's the only thing that counts for me," he genuinely grinned.

"So how old are you now, Ood Sigma?" Minerva asked the other alien, thinking it rude to keep rambling on as if he wasn't there, "Oh that's beautiful," she gasped as she saw a city carved from stone and ice, "Now I see why Moontsays and Ood are friends, architectural tips!"

"You've achieved all this in how long?" the Doctor questioned the Ood, seeing the alien was far too quiet for such splendor.

"100 years."

And now the Doctor knew why, "Then we've got a problem, 'cos all of this is way too fast. Not just the city, I mean your ability to call me. Reaching all the way back to the 21st century. Something's accelerating your species way beyond normal."

"And the Mind of the Ood is troubled."

"Why, what's happened?" Minerva glanced over.

"Every night, princess. Every night, we have bad dreams."

Minerva shared a look with the Doctor, neither wanting to ask what was so bad about 'bad dreams'. Didn't everyone have those once in a while?

~ 0 ~

A group of Ood were gathered around a small table where a censer laid, releasing smoke to induce the trance state in which they were in. Ood Sigma led the Doctor and Minerva inside the room just as an Elder Ood was speaking, "Returning, returning, returning, it is slowly returning. Through the dark and the fire and the blood, always returning, returning to this world. It is returning and he is returning and they are returning, but too late, too late, far too late, he is come."

"Sit with the Elder of the Ood and share the dreaming," Ood-Sigma instructed.

"So... Right," the Doctor sat down beside the Elder Ood, "Hello!" he looked up to see his wife still standing, "Any time, dear."

"Oh me too?" she liked around the place, "It's important. I just thought..." but she was plopped down by the Doctor before she could finish.

The Elder Ood's began chanting together, "You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join."

They held hands, along with the Doctor and Minerva, and formed a circle. Immediately, the pair saw the maniacal laughter of the Master.

"He comes to us, every night," an Elder Ood explained, "I think all the peoples of the universe dream of him now."

"That man is dead," the Doctor declared, his teeth gritting as he let go of the Ood, his other hand on Minerva gripping. Just remembering what that man had done to his Clever Girl...

"There is yet more. Join us," the Ood joined hands once more with a hesitant pair, "Events are taking shape, so many years ago, and yet changing the now. There is a man..."

Once more the pair heard the laughter of the Master but this time saw Wilf, Donna's grandfather sitting in his kitchen's table, mildly concerned.

"So scared…" the Elder Ood said.

"But that's Wilf," Minerva frowned, "What's wrong with him? Is Donna alright?"

"You should not have delayed, for the lines of convergence are being drawn across the Earth, even now. The king is in his counting house."

The pair then saw an image of another couple, father and daughter, dressed in well looking clothes and inside a very fine room.

"We don't know who they are," the Doctor said.

"And there is another. The most lonely of all, lost and forgotten..."

Next the pair saw Lucy Saxon inside a cell, crying.

"The Master's wife," the Doctor recognized.

"We see so much, but understand little. The woman in the cage, who is she?" Ood-Sigma questioned.

"She was... It w-wasn't her fault, she was... The Master, he's a Time Lord, like me. I can show you," the Doctor reluctantly let go of Minerva to show the Ood the Master when he posed as Harold Saxon, "The Master took the name of Saxon. He married a human, a woman called Lucy. And he corrupted her. She stood at his side while he conquered the Earth. I reversed everything he'd done, so it never even happened. But Lucy Saxon remembered. I held him in my arms. I burnt his body! The Master is dead!"

"And yet, you did not see..." the Elder Ood pointed out and showed the hand of a woman picking up the Master's ring.

"He survived..." Minerva's eyes widened, shuddering a breath.

"We have to go!" the Doctor tried standing but the Ood wouldn't release his nor Minerva's hands.

"But something more is happening, Doctor. The Master is part of a greater design, because a shadow is falling over creation. Something vast is stirring in the dark," the elder Ood looked up with its eyes red, "The Ood have gained this power to see through time because time is bleeding. Shapes of things once lost are moving through the veil. And these events from years ago threaten to destroy this future. And the present and the past."

"What do you mean?" Minerva dreaded to ask, but knowing it needed to be done.

"This is what we have seen, princess. The darkness heralds only one thing, the end of time itself."

Quickly, the Doctor yanked Minerva out of the cave, running all the way to the TARDIS.

"Events that have happened are happening now..."

~ 0 ~

The pair ran as fast as they could through the snow...

~ 0 ~

A cell door was unlocked by a woman, a cell in which Lucy Saxon was in. It is the warder, also the woman who had the Master's ring in her possession. The warder nodded and so Lucy stood and walked to the door.

~ 0 ~

The pair arrived at the TARDIS where the Doctor unlocked it by remote.

~ 0 ~

Lucy walked through the corridors with the warden.

~ 0 ~

"Ow!" Minerva hissed as the controls of the console sparked. The Doctor growled and tried working the thing without needing his hammer.

As soon as the TARDIS had materialized in its destination, the Doctor and Minerva ran out to the streets and looked around.

~ 0 ~

Wilfred Mott stood at the head of a bus with his fellow friends sitting at the seats, all listening their quest. He had to set out the Doctor and Minerva after those awful dreams and that...woman who had appeared to him, apparently knowing the Doctor. Though he wouldn't mention that to anyone.

"Right, so the Doctor's tall and thin. Wears a brown suit, maybe a blue suit. He's got a long brown coat, modern sort of hair. All sticky-uppy, right? Minerva's a bit smaller, big, curly, brown hair and brown eyes. Looks more...normal," he supplied and the others chuckled, "In clothing appearance. Oh, and on page two, be on the lookout for a police box, exactly like the old ones," he showed them a sketch of the TARDIS.

"I got locked inside one of them - August Bank Holiday 1962," a woman said.

"Were you misbehaving, Minnie?" a man closer to her questioned.

"I certainly was. Wa-hey!" she exclaimed and the rest laughed.

"Yeah, all right, all right. Listen, this is important," Wilf called them back to his attention, "We have got to find it. Right, so phone around, phone everybody. Sally, will you get onto the Bridge Club? Winston, you try the Old Boys. Bobby, want you to ring the skiffle band, right? Between us, we've got the city covered."

"The Silver Cloak," Minnie said.

"Yeah."

"Who is he, then, this Doctor?" Winston asked, "And the woman, Minerva?"

"No, I can't tell you that, I swear," Wilf shook his head, "But answer me this. You've been having bad dreams? All of you? Dreams you can't remember? Yeah, well, that's why we need him. We need the Doctor and Minerva more than ever."

~ 0 ~

The Doctor and Minerva stood on the top of a pile of dirt near the shipyard in which the Master was also in. The Doctor inhaled deeply, focusing in on the other presence he should be able to feel.

From across the place, the Master looked up in awareness that he was not the only Time Lord in the area. With a small smile he stood up and picked up a pipe then headed over to the fire barrel. He started banging the pipe against the barrel four times. He stopped momentarily then continued again.

Upon hearing the noise, the Doctor dashed towards the direction, Minerva right behind him.

The Master started running, going along a large ridge of dirt, the pair going through the discarded girders on the ground. It wasn't long before the three found each other, standing across each other. The Master let out a loud roar then leaped into the air with his maniacal laughter. The Doctor and Minerva chased after him until they closed the distance with the Master. He simply laughed and his face changed into that of a skeleton almost.

"Please, let me help! You're burning up your own life force," the Doctor pleaded but the Master took off without a word.

Before the pair could follow, chase, Wilf appeared and blocked their way, "Oh my gosh, Doctor, Minerva, you're a sight for sore eyes!" the elderly man laughed.

"Wilf?" Minerva blinked in surprise.

"Out of my way!" the Doctor moved around and climbed onto a pile of girders to look for the Master.

"Wilf, what are you doing here?" Minerva asked the man, glancing at the Doctor in concern.

Th rest of Wilfred's friends arrived at the site, all bearing questions and remarks here and there.

"Did we do it?" Winston looked at the brunette woman before his friend, "Is this them?"

"Tall and thin, big brown coat," one of the men said and glanced at Minerva, "And the big hair."

"Hey," Minerva put her hands over her head, "It's not big...it's long, there's a difference."

"The Silver Cloak," Minnie chuckled, "It worked. Cos Wilf phoned Netty, who phoned June, and her sister lives opposite Broadfell, and she saw the police box, and her neighbor saw this man heading east."

The Doctor stepped down from the pile and looked at the elderly humans around them, "Wilfred? Have you told them who we are?"

"No," Wilfred shook his head, "I just said you were a doctor, and you were a student, that's all. And might I say, sir, it is an honor to see you again," he saluted.

Minerva chuckled and went ahead to give the man a hug while the Doctor saluted with a wry smile.

Meanwhile, Minnie moved closer to the Doctor, "Ooh, but you never said he was a looker! He's gorgeous, take a photo!" she handed a camera to a nearby man.

"Not bad, eh?" the man took the camera.

"No, very nice," the rest of the folks said.

"Me next!" the man holding the camera exclaimed.

Minerva chuckled as she stayed by Wilf's side, "Nice friends, Wilf."

"Eh..." was all the man could say as his friends gathered around the Doctor, some even trying to pull Minerva into pictures.

"I'm Minnie. Minnie the Menace. It's a long time since I had a photo with a handsome man," Minnie placed herself right next to the Doctor and put her arm around his waist.

"Just get off him, leave him alone, will you?" Wilf sighed.

"Hush, you old misery. Come on, Doctor. Give us a smile," Minnie reached up to pinch the Doctor's cheeks, "That's it."

"I'm good, thanks," Minerva continuously shook her head as she was pulled forwards.

"Hold on..." the man clicked the camera, "Did it flash?"

"No, there's a blue light, try again," Minnie said.

"I'm all fingers and thumbs."

"We're really kind of busy, you know?" the Doctor tried to exit the picture but the woman beside him had quite the grip.

"Oh, it won't take a tick. Keep smiling," Minnie gave a cheeky smile as her hand slid down from his waist to bottom, goosing him.

"Is that your hand, Minnie?!" the poor Doctor jerked away from her.

"Good boy," she patted his bum.

"And that's where the wife comes in," Minerva stalked over and cut in between the elderly woman and the Doctor, "Hi, get away from my husband, mine," she enunciated every sound off the last words, "Hear that? Mine," she turned and hugged her husband by the waist.

The Doctor just smiled and kissed her head, "Mine, mine, mine," he swayed his head with a genuine smile as he hugged her back.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor, Minerva and Wilf stepped out of the bus and said goodbye to the rest of the pensioners. They had returned to the city and had stopped at a local, busy street.

"Come on, then. Here we are, hurry up. Bye. You behave, bye," Wilf pointed at the others.

Minerva frowned as Minnie blew a kiss to the Doctor, "I don't like her," she declared in a pout.

"Over here, come on," Wilf led them across the street.

"What's so special about this place? We passed 15 cafes on the way," the Doctor commented as they entered a cafe shop.

They took a seat at a booth, Wilf on one side and Minerva and the Doctor on the other.

"Wilf, what's wrong?" Minerva asked the old man, seeing his face contorted in discomfort.

" I keep seeing things, I... This face at night."

The Doctor was staring at Wilf, tilting his head as he studied the elderly man, "Who are you?"

"I'm Wilfred Mott."

"No, people have waited hundreds of years to find me and then you manage it in a few hours."

"He's got a point there," Minerva conceded, "Took me seventeen years to find him."

"Well, I'm just lucky, I s'pose," Wilf chuckled.

"No, we keep on meeting, Wilf," the Doctor felt rather stupid for not realizing that sooner, "Over and over again, like something's still connecting us."

"Yeah, but what's so important about me?"

"Oh don't you go pulling a Donna on us," Minerva shook her head, "Look at her now," she smiled and looked at the Doctor, her smile fading when he saw his expression.

He looked at Wilf and swallowed hard, "I'm doing to die."

"Well, so am I, one day," Wilf shrugged.

"Don't you even dare," Minerva frowned.

"All right, I'll try not to," he gave a small smile.

"I was told, 'he will knock four times," the Doctor inhaled deeply, his hand finding its way to Minerva's, "That was the prophecy. Knock four times, and then..."

"But I thought when I saw you before, you said your people could change, like, your whole body," Wilf reminded, even gesturing to Minerva who was the prime example despite not being exactly the same.

"I can still die. If I'm killed before regeneration, then I'm dead," the Doctor gripped Minerva's hand as he stared at her, "Even then. Even if I change, it feels like dying. Everything I am dies. Some new man goes sauntering away with my Clever Girl...and I'm dead."

"I'm sauntering away with you," she reminded, picking up their interlocked hands and kissing his fingers, "That's what you did with me, right? That's what I would've done those centuries back when you came with your big ole scarf and then the piece of celery," she smiled, relief hitting over her when she got a small one from him back, "We're still us, we'll always be us."

The Doctor reached with his free hand to touch her cheek, his finger stroking in a smooth circle before he leaned over and kissed her. When he pulled away, he opened his mouth to remark but saw something behind her past the window, "...Donna?"

Minerva made a face, "That's not exactly what I expect after we kiss, but..."

"No, no, over there," he turned her head to the window.

"Hey, my ginger sister!" Minerva exclaimed and glanced at Wilf who had been looking through the window for quite some time just waiting for Donna to come by, "Did you know she was coming here?" Minerva asked him.

"Perhaps..." he shrugged innocently.

They heard a door closing and looked over to see Donna Noble confronting a meter attendant across them, 'Don't you touch this car!" she warned in her usual loud voice, making the trio laugh.

"Oh I love her," the Doctor said.

"Not as much as me, right?" Minerva looked back at him.

"You're an entire new level, dear," he kissed her forehead.

Though the Doctor did admit he had a softer side for Donna throughout all his past companions. Donna was the woman who allowed his wife to travel with him at any moment they wanted, just like they had always wanted to. Donna was the one who helped him during Minerva's illness, the first person to know of the illness besides himself. Donna had saved the entire universe - universes - and saved his wife. Yes, Donna had a far more soft spot on his side. Because of her, Minerva was here with him and would always be free to explore the world.

"Oi, who's that?" Minerva's eyebrows raised as a young man had joined Donna carrying her shopping bags, "Excuse me?"

"That's Shawn Temple," Wilf explained, "They're engaged. Getting married in the spring."

"Another wedding," the Doctor remarked.

"Have we really been gone that much?" Minerva blinked as she looked at him.

"Three years," he nodded, "So that would make you-"

"Don't," she put a finger on his lips, "How to keep a wife happy? Never say her age when she hits triple digits."

Wilf chuckled, "I see it works the same way with aliens."

"Pretty much," Minerva nodded, recalling her human grandparents' marital rules and whatnot. She looked back to her ginger sister and sighed with a small smile, "Married again? Oh that ginger has some big explaining to do."

"Hold on, she's not gonna be called Noble-Temple? Sounds like a tourist spot," the Doctor shook his head.

"No, it's Temple-Noble," Wilf said.

"Is she happy? Is he nice?" Minerva asked, more like demanded. Donna deserved the best man out there and so she needed to see if this particular 'Shawn' was just the man she needed.

"Yeah, he's sweet enough. He's a bit of a dreamer. Mind you, he's on minimum wage, she's earning tuppence, so all they can afford is a tiny little flat."

"Dreamer, eh? That's definitely what Donna needs," Minerva nodded.

"Yeah, how about you? Who've you two got now?"

"No one, we're traveling on our own now," the Doctor replied, one again his hand over hers in a tight grip, just needing to know she was still there and he was still there, "We thought it would be better alone," but his voice broke as he thought of Mars and its events, "But I did some things that went wrong. I need..."

"No," Minerva whispered and turned his head to her, her hands going up to either side of his face, "It's okay," she nodded, her heart breaking as his eyes watered up.

The Doctor took a moment to recollect himself, taking Minerva's hands off his face, "Merry Christmas," he gave Wilf a glance.

"Yeah, and you!"

"Look at us," Minerva sighed.

"You know what you two need?" Wilf looked at them, "You need her," he nodded to the spot Donna was in, "Good ole Donna would make you laugh again, right?"

"We'd...we'd rather not bring her into this mess," the Doctor said, Minerva agreeing with a nod, "This is just...too much."

~ 0 ~

And so it came to pass that the players took their final places, making ready the events that were to come. The madman sat in his empire of dust and ashes, little knowing of the glory he would achieve, while his savior looked upon the wilderness, in the hope of changing his inevitable fate.

~ 0 ~

The Master was sat in a warehouse, the sky dark as it was night, and gnawed on a bone. The Doctor and Minerva stood upon a pile of dirt as they once again searched for the Master not very far off.

~ 0 ~

"Far away, the idiots and fools dreamt of a shining new future. A future now doomed to never happen. As Earth rolled onwards into night, the people of that world did sleep and shiver, somehow knowing that dawn would bring only one thing," a man dressed in highly decorated robes read outloud, "The final day."

~ 0 ~

The Master looked up and sniffed, knowing that presence very well. He looked over his shoulder and saw the Doctor standing, alone. He slowly walked towards him and the Master stood up, holding his hands out with electricity crackling as he shot a beam that only barely missed the Doctor. As the Doctor continued walking, the Master shot again but to no avail. He rubbed his hands together and built more power then fired with both hands, actually hitting the Doctor on the chest. The Doctor fought as he continued standing until the Master stopped. The Doctor fell to his knees and so the Master moved over and grabbed him by the lapels, ending face-to-face.

Upon feeling an iced cold water splatting on his back, the Master turned around, "You let go of my husband right now," Minerva ordered, her hands lowering.

"Was that supposed to kill me?"

"No, I don't kill. It was to get your attention, now let go," she walked towards them.

"I told you to go back to the TARDIS," the Doctor sighed as Minerva helped him sit up.

"Yes, and leave you with the maniac who killed me?" she scoffed and started checking him, "I don't think so."

"I see you've finally figured it out," the Master swayed his head as he moved around, slightly disappointed the Doctor wasn't clueless anymore.

"If you know who she was why didn't you say anything?" the Doctor demanded, still a bit weak to get up.

"Oh let's be honest," the Master smirked, "If I would've said 'Doctor, your long lost lover is actually hidden away as a human because she regenerated and clearly used malfunctioning chameleon arch,' would you have believed me?'"

The pair shared a glance with uneasiness...

"Exactly."

"You could have mentioned the regeneration," Minerva glared at him, "The myth? That was it!"

"Oh please, abomination that is," he rolled his eyes.

"Don't insult my wife," the Doctor snapped.

"Wife? Now that's funny," he laughed, "The great, famous Doctor...married to a Moontsay? The species who wishes they were part of the mighty Time Lords? Their bloody planet never compared to ours, tell me woman," he cast a sharp look at Minerva, "Did your land have red grass stretching far across the slopes of Mount Perdition? No, it didn't, because it was all snow. Just snow, and nothing more than a primitive home for a primitive people."

Minerva glared as she rose to her feet, "Why do you hate me so much?" she questioned softly, her anger dissipating for honest curiosity and confusion.

Clearly, the Master had known about her in the past - for he went to the Monsoon and directly to her as if he'd known her already. But to kill her? If he wanted the crystal he would've gotten it anyways, she was no use to him anyways. Why the murder?

"What have I ever done to you?" Minerva stepped forwards, feeling the hand of the Doctor on her arm to stop her from going any further, "What could a woman who had never met any other Time Lord done to you?"

The Master stared at her as if considering whether or not to answer, but in the end he chose, "I'm hungry," instead.

"Your resurrection went wrong," the Doctor said as he slowly stood up, "That energy... Your body's ripped open. Now you're killing yourself."

"And that's human Christmas out there," he pointed, "They eat so much. All that roasting meat, cakes and red wine. Hot, fat, blood food. Pots, plates of meat and flesh and grease and juice. And baking, burnt, sticky hot skin. Hot! It's so hot!"

"Stop it," Minerva frowned.

"Slice! Slice!"

"Stop it!"

"It's mine! It's mine! It's mine! It's mine! Eat it! Eat it! Eat it! Eat it!"

"Stop it!" the Doctor ordered in a louder tone. The Master took a deep breath to regain his control, "What if I ask you for help? There's more at work tonight than you and me, us."

"Oh, yeah?"

"We've been told something is returning," Minerva explained quietly.

"And here I am!"

"Pretty sure it was something more."

"But it hurts," he held his head in pain.

The Doctor frowned, "We were told the end of time…"

"It hurts, Doctor, the noise... The noise in my head, Doctor, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, stronger than ever before! Can't you hear it?"

"I'm sorry," the Doctor honestly said to him, for he knew the drums were the origin point of nearly all his bad actions.

"Listen, listen, listen, listen! Every minute, every second, every beat of my hearts, there it is...calling to me. Please, listen," he rushed back to the two.

"I can't hear it," the Doctor shook his head.

"For me it went away the moment you used the crystal on me," Minerva said, "It was merely an echo of my last moments in my first incarnation."

"Just listen," the Master growled and grabbed the Doctor's head in his hands, pressing their foreheads together.

Upon hearing the endless drumbeats, the Doctor gasped and pulled away, "But that's...!"

"What?"

"I heard it. But there's no noise, there never has been, it's just your insanity, it's the... What is it? What's inside your head?"

The Master stood and laughed. Minerva frowned, "That shouldn't make you laugh..."

But instead of giving a proper answer, the Master broke into a dash outside. The couple followed after him in an attempt to talk again.

The Master launched himself into the sky then landed on a large pile of dirt and rock, "All these years, you thought I was mad. King of the wasteland. But something is calling me, Doctor, what is it? What is it? What is it?"

Suddenly, a beam of light fell on the Master with the noise of whirring blades from a helicopter. Another beam shined on the Doctor and Minerva. Ropes were thrown down and two men rappelled down with tranquilizers for the Master.

"Don't...!" the Doctor shouted and ran for them.

"Doctor!" Minerva called as two other men fired their rifles at the ground, around the Doctor's feet. However, he didn't stop and continued but couldn't do anything as the Master was lifted to the helicopter.

"Let him go!" he ordered.

One of the soldiers knocked him out with the butt of his gun and the helicopter flew away.

"No!" Minerva cried as she ran towards her unconscious husband on the ground.

~ 0 ~

Joshua Naismith, writer of the famous book Fight the Future stood in a room where the Master was strapped down with a strap covering his mouth, "If you would, Mr Danes..."

Danes walked over to the chair and released the strap covering the Master's mouth, "I'm starving," was the man's first words.

"You've my daughter to thank for this. It's all her idea," Naismith stood beside his daughter, "She heard rumors of Harold Saxon, his disciples, his return. It's the sort of thing she finds rather thrilling."

"And I was right," she proudly said, "He's back. The very man we need, and he's here. Oh, this is going to be wonderful!"

~ 0 ~

The next day, Wilf hurried inside his room and shut the door before pulling out a tarnished case from under his bed. He opened it and pulled out the second box which he opened with caution and reached inside for a cloth wrapped item. He unwrapped it and took a good look at his revolver, not proud of it but it was necessary. As he started checking if it was loaded, he heard something hitting his window. He went over to the window and saw the Doctor running back to the TARDIS where Minerva awaited at the doorway.

~ 0 ~

Wilf came out of the front door and met the pair on the street, the Doctor still shaken up from the past night, "We lost him, I was unconscious. He's still on Earth. I can smell him, but he's too far away."

"Is Donna home?" Minerva tried peering around the man, "We would've came inside but with that new man, Shawn, you said? Didn't want to give a surprise."

"Minerva, focus," the Doctor reminded.

"Sorry," she looked down.

"You're the only one, Wilf," he said to the elderly man, "The only connection I can think of. You're involved. If I could work out how. Tell me, have you seen anything? I don't know. Anything strange, anything odd?"

"Well, there was..." Wilf began but trailed off, no, no, the woman said not to mention her.

"What? What is it? Tell me!"

"Well, there was... No, it's nothing."

"Think harder, Wilf. Maybe there was something out of the blue," Minerva offered, "Connected to your life, something."

"Well, Donna was a bit strange," he admitted, "And I mean beside the whole alien ice powers and whatnot, "She had a funny little moment, this morning, all because of that book."

"What book?" the Doctor immediately questioned.

~ 0 ~

Wilf came out of the kitchen with the book Donna had gifted him for Christmas. He handed it to the Doctor, he and Minerva just outside the doors.

"Here you are, his name's Joshua Naismith," Wilf pointed to the cover.

Minerva peered beside the Doctor and frowned, "Doctor, isn't that the man the Ood showed us?"

"The what?" Wilf blinked.

"The Ood," the Doctor waved him.

"What's the Ood?"

"They're just Ood. But it's all part of the convergence, maybe… Maybe touching Donna's subconscious, and she hasn't even realized it."

Minerva smiled, "That's my ginger sister: part Time Lord, human and Moontsay. Though she gets the cleverness from my side."

"Watch it," the Doctor pointed at her as he skimmed the book.

"Dad, what are you up to?" Sylvia stepped out of the kitchen and saw the pair, "You? What are you doing here?"

"Merry Christmas," Minerva waved, "Is Donna around?"

"Merry Christmas," the woman waved back in confusion.

"Mum, where are those tweezers?" Donna poked her head out of the kitchen and gasped as she the pair.

"Finally!" Minerva cheered and rushed over to hug her ginger sister, "I've been asking endlessly for you!"

"Yet not one call nor visit, hmm?" Donna gave a sharp look at the Doctor who just winced at the error.

"We got distracted," Minerva pulled away.

"Don't elaborate," Donna immediately held a hand to stop any words she did not want to hear.

"I wasn't gonna," Minerva frowned and moved back to the Doctor.

"What are you two doing here?" she followed, "I mean, don't get me wrong I love seeing you guys. It's been long," she made both wince this time, "Yeah," Donna nodded and set her hands on her hips, "What's going on?"

"Donna, why did you give your grandfather this book?" the Doctor waved the book he held.

Donna took the book from him and skimmed it, still unsure of her reasons, "I...don't know. I just saw it and...thought it was important," she looked up, seeing everyone's concerned faces except Sylvia, "Why? What's going on? Have I done it again?"

"Just a bit," Minerva took the book away.

"Donna?" they heard Shawn's voice and made Donna wince.

"Did we just see what I think we saw?" Minerva blinked, even the Doctor with a half-opened mouth. Donna Noble never winced for anyone.

"Em...so tiny detail here," Donna nervously put up two fingers to show the amount, "It's really tiny, really...um...I haven't told Shawn about the ice powers," she wiggled her fingers, "Nor the fact that I traveled with aliens and that I sort of am an alien..."

"But you're getting married," the Doctor reminded.

"Yes," she nodded.

"Shouldn't you...say something about that?" Minerva raised an eyebrow.

"Probably."

"Don't you think that should be now?" the Doctor asked.

"Em...perhaps..."

"Donna Noble you march in there right now and tell that man who you are because he should know what a wonderful, important woman he's going to marry soon," Minerva pointed.

"But-"

"GO."

"Min-"

"Don't make me splatter you with water," Minerva set her hands on her hips, sharp look ready.

"God help your children," Donna muttered and turned away, heading back for the house.

"Right then, we should be going," thee Doctor took Minerva's hand and headed for the street.

"Yeah, me, too," Wilf immediately said and started following the pair out.

"Dad? What's going on here?" Sylvia demanded as she followed.

"Bye, see you later," Wilf waved and hurried on faster. He most certainly didn't want to explain what was going on.

"Dad, I'm warning you...Stay right where you are!"

The Doctor unlocked the TARDIS doors and looked back at the elderly man, "You can't come with us."

"You're not leaving me with her," Wilf nodded back to Sylvia who was still hollering after him.

"Fair enough," and so the Doctor opened the doors for the man to go in.

Minerva shook her head and looked back at Sylvia, "We'll take good care of him!" she exclaimed, "You are very rude, Doctor," she declared as she turned to enter the box. Instead she was greeted with a soft kiss on her lips, "Mm, what was that for?" she blinked after he had pulled away.

"Just...for good luck," the Doctor mumbled quietly, and a bit sadly, as he pulled her inside. He quickly brought them to the console and started the dematerializing process, "Naismith!" he handed the book to Minerva, "If I can track him down..."

"Doctor, shut up," Minerva suddenly said and he looked up to Wilf who was more than bemused at the place.

"Ah. Right. Yes. Bigger on the inside," the Doctor remembered, "D'you like it?"

"I thought it'd be...less clean," he admitted.

"Wh-less clean?" the Doctor frowned, "I could take you back home, right now."

"Shut up," Minerva covered his mouth again, "And thank you, Wilf. Madman in a box needs a wife like me," she grinned proudly, "Being human definitely helped me be neater. Back as a princess I wasn't really allowed to do anything, specially clean."

The Doctor made a face and lowered her hand, "Show off."

"Let's not go there, Martian," she warned.

"Listen, if this is a time machine..." Wilf looked around, "Then that man you're chasing, why can't you just pop back to yesterday and catch him?"

"We can't go back inside our own timelines, we have to stay relative to the Master within the causal nexus. Understand? " the Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"Not a word."

"Welcome to the box of wonders!" Minerva cheered and hugged him.

"Thank you," Wilf chuckled and hugged back.

~ 0 ~

Naismith and his daughter brought the Master, in a straight-jacket, into the lab room where the Gate was placed in. Naismith looked at the female technician, "You can demonstrate," he ordered.

The technician tapped on her keyboard and electricity crackled through the Gate, intriguing the Master, "Ooh, that's not from Earth," he casually remarked.

"And neither are you," Naismith countered, "A perfect combination, don't you think?"

The male technician came up and cleared his throat, "Excuse me, sir. If I could check the basement? We're getting fluctuation on the power cords."

"Of course."

The technician looked at his co-worker, "Miss Addams? If you could bring the calibration statistics."

Quickly, the two technicians took their things and hurried out the room...

They made their way into the basement of the mansion which held banks of electronic equipment. The male technician went up ahead, looking concerned, "Who the hell is he? What if he finds out? An expert, they said. Well, what sort of expert? Who is he?"

"I don't know. According to the records, Harold Saxon was Prime Minister of this stupid country," the woman rolled her neck, "I'm choking in this thing! I'm sorry," she pressed the face of her watch and changed into her true form; her skin now green with small spikes protruding from her head, "By the saints, that's better. Oh, these people are so flat!"

Her companion did the same and took a breath, "But what do we do? We were so close, we almost had it working."

"What if this visitor is some sort of genius? Well, think about it. We're hijacking this project. Maybe we can use him, too. Harold Saxon, or whatever he is, might be exactly what we need."

~ 0 ~

Naismith was filling the Master in on their little project, the Master now released from the straight-jacket but in turn changed to a collar around his neck while he sat in front of the computers.

"The Gate was found inside a spaceship, buried at the foot of Mount Snowdon. It was moved to an institute known as Torchwood, but when Torchwood fell, let's just say, I acquired it," Naismith said.

The Master smiled, "I like you."

"Thank you."

"You'd taste great."

Unnerved, Naismith stepped back, "Mr. Danes?"

"The visitor will be given food," Danes ordered.

A servant entered bearing a covered tray and placed down in front of the Master. It was revealed to be a whole turkey which the Master immediately grabbed with both his hands and proceeded to shove it all into his mouth, very quickly down to the bone.

"Anyway, the device came equipped with its own power supply. A Nuclear Bolt," Naismith continued and gestured to the two clear booths that were placed side-by-side. One technician was inside one of the boots and couldn't get out until a second technician came and took his place in the other booth, "One technician remains in charge of the feedback, 24 hours a day. And the power feeds through to the Gate. It encourages some sort of cellular regeneration. Miss Collins was our test subject," a woman walked over, "She carried some burns, as a result of an accident when she was a child, down her left side. If you could?" the woman rolled up her sleeve to show clear skin, "The Gate mended her. Thank you," the woman returned to her work.

"But what do you want it for?" the Master raised an eyebrow.

"We calculate that if this device can be fully repaired by your good self, it can restore the body, forever. Hence its given title, the Immortality Gate. Because that's what I want. Not for me, but for my daughter. I want her never to die. My gift to her. She will be immortal."

"Abigail," the daughter spoke her name with pride, "It means "bringer of joy"."

The Master sniffed the air suddenly, sensing his fellow frenemy was around, "Better get to work," he started tapping on the keyboard with haste.

~ 0 ~

The trio materialized in the stable of the mansion, a very shocked Wilf coming out last from the box, "We've moved! We've really moved!"

"You should stay here," the Doctor looked back at him, even giving Minerva the little look.

"Not bloody likely!" Wilf shook his head.

"My thoughts exactly," Minerva crossed her arms.

"Can you not swear?" the Doctor sighed to Wilf, "My wife has gained new colorful Moontsay vocabulary and the last thing I need is for her to gain the Earth's," Minerva smirked, "She doesn't need encouragement."

"Oh hush," she took his remote and pointed it at the TARDIS, "Bye bye, box of wonders. It's just a second out of sync because really the last thing we need is for the Master to take her again."

~ 0 ~

The trio made their way along the side of one of the buildings of the property, starting through an archway only to go and hide at the sight of two armed guards.

"That book said he's a billionaire. He's got his own private army," Wilf whispered.

"Down here," the Doctor used his screwdriver on a small door, letting Wilf and Minerva in first.

"You know, maybe I could've tried those woman wiles Donna spoke about once," she turned and smirked.

"Ah, I don't think so," he gave her an amused smile, "Those are only for me."

"Possessive, aren't we?" she raised an eyebrow.

He playfully rolled his eyes and turned her away, forcing her to go in, "You have no idea..." he mumbled to himself, just thinking of the next man that would take his place and her...

~ 0 ~

Miss Adams was astounded at the progress the Master was making on the device, looking at the monitors from the basement with her companion, "The man's a miracle. All the systems are slotting back into place. The shatterthreads have harmonized and the multiple overshots have triplicated."

The Doctor peered around the corner and smiled, "Nice gate!" he exclaimed and walked in, Minerva and Wilf following behind.

"Hi," Minerva waved.

"Hello," Wilf added.

"Look, sorry, don't call security, or I'll tell them you're wearing a Shimmer," the Doctor strolled further inside the room, "Cos I reckon anyone wearing a Shimmer doesn't want the Shimmer to be noticed or they wouldn't need a Shimmer in the first place."

"I'm sorry, what's a Shimmer?" Miss Adams questioned, playing innocent.

The Doctor used his screwdriver on her, 'Shimmer!" and made her change to her true form once more.

"Oh, my Lord. She's a cactus!" Wilf gasped.

"Miss Addams?" her companion called through the radio.

~ 0 ~

Upon receiving no answer, the companion looked at Naismith, "If you'll just excuse me," he quickly left the room.

Naismith was at the side of the Master watching him work, "Now, please don't imagine I'm a slave-driver. We can resume work on Boxing Day, Mr Saxon."

"My name... is the Master," he pressed enter on the keyboard and leaned back in satisfaction as the room went dark and the Gate charged up with a field appearing in its center.

"Oh, excellent. Excellent!" Naismith reveled, "Mr Danes?"

"The visitor will be restrained," Danes ordered.

"What? But I repaired it," the Master frowned.

"I'm not an idiot," Naismith scoffed, "Don't let him anywhere near that thing," he ordered the rest of the employees.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor was looking at the screens in the basement with Minerva beside him, "He's got it working, but what is it?"

Miss Adam's companion entered the room, unaware of the three new visitors, "What's working? What are you doing here?"

Minerva held the Doctor's screwdriver at the man with a mischievous smile, "Shimm-err!" she laughed and handed it back to the Doctor, 'Now in all honesty, and for the sake of time, can you please tell us what's going here? The Master, Harold Saxon? Skeleton guy, whatever you're calling him, what's he doing up there?"

~ 0 ~

Danes fastened the buckles on the straight-jacket the Master was once again in.

"Your reputation precedes you, sir. I have no doubt you've laid traps," Naismith said, "Perhaps explosives, a means of escape and murder. But everything you've done to the Gate will be checked and double-checked before anyone stands inside."

The Master only smirked, oh those humans had no idea what was coming.

~ 0 ~

"But I checked the readings. He's done good work. It's operational," the male technician explained.

"Who are you?" thee Doctor looked between both green creatures, "We've met someone like you. He was brilliant, but he was little and red."

"No, that's a Zocci," Miss Addams rolled her eyes.

"We're not Zocci, we're Vinvocci. Completely different," her companion assured.

"And the Gate is Vinvocci. We're a salvage team. We picked up the signal when the humans reactivated it, and as soon as it's working, we can transport it to the ship."

"Okay but what does it do?" Minerva raised an eyebrow, "Get to the point, already!"

"Well, it mends, it's a simple as that. It's a medical device to repair the body. It makes people better."

"That can't be its only purpose," Minerva looked at the Doctor, "Can it?"

"No," he shook his head, "There's got to be more. Every single warning says the Master's going to do something colossal," he checked the equipment again.

"So that thing's like a sickbed, yes?" Wilf asked, confused.

"More or less," Miss Addams shrugged.

"Well, pardon me for asking, but why is it so big?"

"Oh, good question," Minerva pointed, "Can anyone answer?"

Miss Addams just scoffed, "It doesn't just mend one person at a time!"

"That would be ridiculous," her companion agreed.

"It mends whole planets."

"It does what?!" the Doctor nearly fell over.

"It transmits the medical template across the entire population."

The Doctor ran from the room without a word.

"Did I do something?" Miss Addams frowned.

"Kind of," Minerva shook her head and followed.

~ 0 ~

"It's time for the broadcast. The President's grand initiative. You might want to see this, sir. Proof that the human race can mend its own problems," Naismith switched on the television.

Trinity Wells appeared on the screen, reporting over the president of America, "And now, anticipation is rising as we go live to Washington. Here, on Christmas Day, the President has promised an instant and radical solution to the worldwide depression. Barack Obama will lead us all into a new age of prosperity."

Another woman introduced the man, "Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States."

The members of the press stood to their feet as the president entered and stood on the platform, "I'd like to speak briefly about the state of our economy..."

The Doctor ran into the lab and interrupted it all, "Turn the Gate off, right now!" he ordered.

"At arms!" Danes ordered and immediately rifles were aimed at the Doctor.

"No, no, no, no. Whatever you do, just don't let him near that device!"

"Oh, like that was ever gonna happen," the Master rolled his eyes and removed the straight-jacket off himself with a burst of energy. He leaped into the Gate with a scream, "Homeless, was I? Destitute and dying? Well, look at me now."

"Deactivate it. All of you, turn the whole thing off!" the Doctor ordered but everyone in the room didn't move, instead shaking their heads violently.

"He's...inside my head," Naismith made a face of pain.

"Get out of there!"

The Master fired an energy bolt at the Doctor and made him fall to the floor.

"Doctor, there's something wrong with Wilf!" Minerva entered the room with the elderly man beside her.

"Doctor! Doctor, there's this face..."

The Doctor jumped to his feet and ran to them, "What is it? What can you see?"

"Well, it's him. I can see him! I can see his face."

"Look," Minerva breathed as she pointed to the television.

"There's something wrong... It seems to be affecting the President..."

The president had his face in his hands, in discomfort like the Naismith and Abigail.

The Doctor hurried to the Gate to try and shut it down, hearing the laughter of the Master.

"I can't turn it off," the Doctor exclaimed.

"That's because I locked it, idiot," the Master snapped.

"Wilfred! Get inside, get him out," the Doctor grabbed the man and put him inside the booth, along with Minerva, "Just need to filter the levels."

"Oh! I can see again. He's gone," Wilf sighed of relief.

"Radiation shielding. Now, press the button, let us out."

"You what?"

"We can't get out until you press the button, that button there."

Wilf pressed the button and the pair ran out.

"50 seconds and counting," the Master warned, or teased.

"To what?" Minerva dared to ask.

"Ohhh, you're gonna love this."

As the Doctor tried shutting off the machine, Minerva heard Wilf's cellphone ringing. The elderly man took out his phone and answered, "Hello? Oh, Gawd. Donna?"

~ 0 ~

Donna stood in her kitchen, watching in horror as Shawn and her mother stood completely still, "Where are you?" she asked her grandfather, "It's Mum and Shawn, something's wrong with them."

Sylvia crinkled her face, "There's this face..."

Shawn started shaking his head...

"But wait a minute, I mean, what about you? Can't you see anything?" Wilf asked Donna, concerned yet relieved that at least she wasn't being affected.

"I can see them, that's bad enough," Donna frowned.

~ 0 ~

Wilf looked at his phone after it had beeped and saw it was his friend Winston, "Not now, Winston!" he exclaimed.

~ 0 ~

"Those dreams - I can remember that face," Winston shook his head.

~ 0 ~

People from everywhere came outside, all of them dazed, "There's a face. In my head," a young man said.

~ 0 ~

"It's everyone!" Wilf heard from his phone.

"What is it? Hypnotism? Mind control?" the Doctor demanded from the Master, furious at everything, "You're grafting your thoughts inside them, is that it?"

"Oh, that's way too easy. No, no, no, they're not gonna think like me. They're gonna become me," the Master informed, "A-a-a-and, zero!"

A wave of energy started in the Grate and spread across the globe, the maniacal laughter of the Master picking up again.

~ 0 ~

Donna watched in horror as Shawn and her mother shook their heads at near light speed.

~ 0 ~

All around the world, affecting even the poor outskirts of San Diego.

~ 0 ~

"Doctor, what's he done?" Minerva watched Naismith and Abigail changing, "What's he done!?"

~ 0 ~

Donna gasped as she saw Shawn and her mother physically change into a strange man before her very eyes, picking up her phone again to speak to her grandfather, "But they've changed! What is going on!? Oh this has the Doctor and my clever sister's enemies written all over it, what's going on!?" she half-shouted.

~ 0 ~

"What is it? What have you done, you monster?" Minerva turned to the Master angrily.

"Oh, I'm sorry, are you talking to me? Or to me?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Or to me?" Naismith/the Master questioned, making her turn.

"Or to me?" Abigail/the Master then asked.

"Or to me?" Danes/the Master repeated.

"Breaking news - I'm everyone. And everyone in the world is me!" Trinity/the Master laughed from the screen.

~ 0 ~

"I'm President. President of the United States. Look at me!" the president/the Master exclaimed while the rest of the press/the Master's cheered for him.

~ 0 ~

The Master strode across the floor with his duplicates behind him, "The human race was always your favorite, Doctor. But now, there is no human race. There is only... the Master race," he and his other duplicates laughed together.

~ 0 ~

"And so it came to pass on Christmas Day that the human race did cease to exist. But even then, the Master had no concept of his greater role in events, for this was far more than humanity's end. This day was the day upon which the whole of creation would change forever. This was the day... the Time Lords returned."

Four Time Lords stood behind the man who read, two of them wearing formal collars and two with their heads bowed and faces covered.

"For Gallifrey," a Time Lord declared.

The rest then added, "For Gallifrey!"

"For victory!"

"For victory!"

"For the end of time itself!"

"For the end of time itself!"

~ 0 ~

Gallifrey was in wreckage and chaos at every corner. Its protective dome covering the Citadel was shattered and inside smoke billowed from the destroyed buildings.

Three Time Lords marched down a corridor, ignoring pieces of ceiling the fell. The President, being the man in the center, entered a chamber room and took his seat at the head of a table where more Time Lords & Ladies were sat at.

"What news of the Doctor?" the president questioned.

"Disappeared, my Lord President," a Time Lord answered.

"But we know his intention. He still possesses the Moment," said a Time Lady, "And he'll use it, to destroy Daleks and Time Lords alike."

"And that of the Moontsay crystal?"

"The Master has disappeared with it," the Time Lord responded, "The Royal Family has been killed, there is no one left on the Monsoon. There is nothing we can do anymore."

"The Visionary confirms it," the Time Lady gestured to an elderly woman sitting at the other end of the table.

She had long gray hair that straggled down. She had tattooed lines & dots sprawled across face. She was busy scribbling down on the several papers she had in front of her, "Ending, burning, falling, all of it falling, the black and pitch and screaming fire, so burning."

"All of her prophecies say the same, that this is the last day of the Time War, that Gallifrey falls, that we die, today," the Time Lord said.

"Ending... Ending. Ending. Ending!"

"Perhaps it's time," the Time Lady admitted, "This is only the furthest edge of the Time War. But at its heart, millions die every second, lost in bloodlust and insanity, With time itself resurrecting them, to find new ways of dying, over and over again, a travesty of life. Isn't it better to end it, at last?"

The president stood up with a serious face, "Thank you for your opinion," he held his hand that bore a gauntlet over it to her direction. It glowed with energy and disintegrated the woman in less than a second, no one perturbed by the screams, "I will not die! Do you hear me?! A billion years of Time Lord history riding on our backs. I will not let this perish. I will not!""

"There is, um..." the Time Lord picked up one of the Visionary's scrolls, "There is one part of the prophecy, my Lord," he brought the scroll over to the president, "Forgive me. I'm sorry. It's rather difficult to decipher. But it talks of two survivors, beyond the Final Day, two children of Gallifrey...and a child of the Monsoon."

The president tensed under that last statement, "Pardon me? We established the Moontsays were extinct."

"One remains and will remain," the Time Lord studied the scroll again, wondering if there had been an error.

"Does it name them - all of them?"

"It foresees them locked in their final confrontation, the enmity of ages, which would suggest..."

"The Doctor! And the Master," the president immediately knew the answer, "And the last one?"

"A royal," the Time Lord studied for better answers, "A young royal - a woman."

"The heiress," the president also knew the answer for that one, "The princess. Of course."

"One word keeps being repeated, my Lord, one constant word surrounds them all: Earth."

The Visionary continued with her chanter, "Earth. Earth. Earth! Earth! Earth...!"

"The planet Earth, indigenous species, the human race," the Time Lord explained as a hologramatic projection of Earth appeared above the table.

"Maybe that's where the answer lies. Our salvation, on Earth," the president laughed.

~ 0 ~

The Master walked over to his newest prisoners; the Doctor was strapped to a chair with a strap across his mouth, Minerva & Wilf in regular chairs only Minerva with her hands tied up with a hot material should she want to try something Moontsay.

The Master leaned down to the Doctor, "Now, then. I've got a planet to run," he chuckled and moved to the center of the room, "Is everybody ready?"

Naismith/the Master was running the things from the lab and responded, "6,727,949,338 versions of us awaiting orders."

The president/Master appeared on the screen in the main office, "This is Washington. As President of the United States, I can transfer all the United Nations protocols to you immediately, putting you in charge of all the Earth's defences."

A general/Master from Geneva then appeared on the screen, "UNIT HQ, Geneva reporting. All under your command, sir."

A commisoner/Master from Beijing appeared next, "And this is the Central Military Commission here in Beijing, sir, with over 2.5 million soldiers, sir. Present arms!"

Everyone heard the army making their response with their rifles.

The Master responded with a laughter and turned back to the others, making his way back, "Enough soldiers and weapons to turn this planet into a warship. Nothing to say...Doctor? What's that? Pardon? Sorry?"

"You let him go, you swine," Wilf snapped.

"Oh, your dad's still kicking up a fuss."

"Yeah? Well, I'd be proud if I was."

The Master put his finger on his lips, "Hush, now. Listen to your Master."

"You bastard," Minerva spat as Wilf's cellphone went off again.

The Master was too shocked to respond to Minerva's remark, "But that…that's a mobile."

"Yeah, it's mine, let me turn it off."

"No, no, no. I don't think you understand. Everybody on this planet...is me. And I'm not phoning you, so who the hell is that?" the Master knelt down and searched Wilf.

"It's nobody. Probably some ring-back call," Wilf tried to say.

The Master found the revolver and waved it to the pair, "Ooh, and look at this. Good man!' he dropped it to the floor and continued searching until finding the phone, "Donna. Who's Donna?"

"You leave her alone," Minerva immediately said.

He answered the phone and heard a voice that was most certainly not his.

~ 0 ~

"Gramps... Don't hang up. You've got to help me," Donna was out of breath as she hid in the alley behind her house, "I ran out. Everyone was changing. Why won't you tell me what's going on!?"

~ 0 ~

"Who is she? Why didn't she change?" the Master demanded, Minerva only smirking as a response.

"Gramps, I can't hear you," they heard Donna on the speaker of the phone, "Where's Minerva? Where's the Doctor? Are you there?"

"Find her. Trace the call," the Master ordered, "Say goodbye to the freak, Grandad," he pressed the phone to Wilf who was still calling for you.

"Donna, get out of there!" Wilf exclaimed, "Look, Just get out of there! Run!"

"She's on Wessex Lane, Chiswick," a technician/the Master called.

"Open the phone lines. Everyone on Wessex Lane - red alert," Naismith/the Master ordered.

"But what's going on? What can I do?" Donna asked Wilf, the man looking at the alien pair for help.

"She needs to run," Minerva answered him.

"Run, sweetheart, that's all. Run for your life!"

~ 0 ~

Donna was running up until she saw one of the Master's blocking the end of the way. She looked back and saw another coming towards her, "But there's more of them. Who the hell are you!?" she demanded but more were coming out, "They're everywhere..." she breathed.

"Oh, I'm starving," one of the Masters declared.

"I'm still hungry!" added another.

Donna looked around as they advanced on her and dropped her phone, a deep scowl forming on her face, "Alright, you've done something to my family and friends and I don't stand for that. Eat snow and ice!" she shouted and thrust her hands to her sides. Snow dropped from no where and pushed all the Master's down then ice which kept them all stuck in their positions with no way out. Donna dusted her hands off and stepped around, "Hm," she continued walking off with her phone with a new sense of pride.

~ 0 ~

At the silence, the Master looked at the Doctor and walked over and removed the gag from his mouth. The Doctor frowned and began speaking, "That's better. Hello. But in reality the one you want is my wife, that's all her," he smirked, "Isn't she just...?"

"Amazing? Clever? Why yes, thank you," Minerva battered her eyes, "I believe I forgot to mention that my ginger sister is also part Moontsay. She's got the abilities I have and more than capable of taking down any of your little clones. Try it again and I promise you I won't hesitate to end you."

"But what's happened to her?" Wilf asked, the phone line having ended.

"She'll be okay, she can protect herself and hide," the Doctor assured.

The Master, having enough, let the strange woman go and focused on the more important aspect, "Tell me where the TARDIS is," he demanded from the Doctor.

"You could be so wonderful," the Doctor sighed, "Could've been..."

"If he hadn't tried to be a murderer," Minerva finished sourly.

'Where is it?" the Master repeated his demand.

"You're a genius. You're stone-cold brilliant. You are, I swear, you really are," the Doctor admitted, "But you could be so much more. You could be beautiful. With a mind like that, we could travel the stars. It would be my honor, 'cause you don't need to own the universe, just see it. To have the privilege of seeing the whole of time and space. That's ownership enough."

"Tell me, what would your wife say?" he teased.

"I'd say stop all this and let's go," Minerva surprised him, "I don't like you but you're the last person of my husband's people and I respect that. Not just that, but you used to be best friends, remember that?"

"How big of you," he rolled his eyes, "But what about that noise?" he tapped his head, "Would that noise in my head stop?"

"We can help," the Doctor said.

"I don't know what I'd be without that noise."

"Probably less of a murderer," Minerva shrugged, "And less insane."

"What does he mean? What noise?" Wilf asked in confusion.

"It began on Gallifrey. As children," the Master began, solemn as he thought back, "Not that you'd call it childhood. More a life of duty. Eight years old. I was taken for initiation. To stare into the Untempered Schism."

"What does that mean?" Wilf looked at them all.

"It's a gap in the fabric of reality. You can see into the Time Vortex itself," the Doctor explained.

"And it hurts, apparently," Minerva shook her head, "And I'm really sorry but if we ever have children they will not be doing any of that," she said to him, dead serious, "No searching that for our children, ever."

The Doctor just smiled, the only thing hearing in that sentence being 'our children'...

"They took me there, in the dark," the Master continued, eyeing the other two aliens with distaste, "I looked into time, old man, and I heard it calling to me. Drums, the never-ending drums. Listen to it," he looked at them all, "Listen."

"I have," Minerva reminded, crinkling her nose at the reminder, "Even as an echo it was just...awful..." she looked at the man, for once, with sorrow. She nearly went mad in that short time she'd been forced to listen to that maniacal drumbeat; she couldn't imagine having to listen to them to an entire lifetime - lifetimes.

"Oh, oh wait a minute," the Master suddenly stood up, "Oh, yes, oh that's good!"

"What? What is?" the Doctor asked.

"The noise exists within my head. And now within six billion heads. Everyone on Earth can hear it. Imagine! Oh... Oh, yes!" he laughed but suddenly he had another skeletal flash and dropped into a crouch.

"The Gate wasn't enough. You're still dying," the Doctor remarked.

"This body was born out of death. All it can do is die," he stood with a small grunt, "But what did you say to me, back in the wasteland? You said, "the end of time.""

"Something is returning. We were shown a prophecy. That's why we need your help."

"What if I'm part of it? Don't you see? The drumbeat is calling from so far away, from the end of time itself. And now it's been amplified six billion times. Triangulate all those signals. I could find its source! Oh, Doctor... That's what your prophecy was. Me!" the Master slapped the Doctor and laughed before asking, "Where's the TARDIS?"

"No. Just stop. Just think."

"Kill her," the Master pointed at Minerva.

"Wha-hey!" she frowned as a helmeted soldier walked over to her and aimed his gun at her, "Are you really going to do this again?"

"I need that technology, Doctor. Tell me where it is, or your precious wife is dead."

"I thought we were over this," Minerva sighed, not at all perturbed, "At this point, I'm going to use up my entire cycle because of you."

"I'll kill her, right now! I have once and I'll do it again!"

"Actually, the most impressive thing about you is that after all this time, you're still bone-dead stupid," the Doctor remarked, just as calm as Minerva was.

"Take aim," the Master rolled his neck while the soldier aimed.

"You know, I should get a gun and point it at you," Minerva muttered, "See how you like it."

"You've got six billion pairs of eyes, but you still can't see the obvious, can you?" the Doctor continued, suppressing his small amused laugh of his wife.

"Like what?" the Master asked.

"That guard is one inch too tall."

As soon as the Master turned to look at the soldier he was hit with the rifle. The soldier took off his helmet to reveal he was Rossitier, the male Vinvocci, "Oh, my God, I hit him. I've never hit anyone in my life," he breathed.

"Great, great, now untie!" Minerva shuffled in her seat as Miss Addams came into the room to begin the untie.

"Ouch, that's hot!" the woman hissed as she untied Minerva.

"Thanks, I've noticed," Minerva raised her hands and moved them around, "I tell you, so many times they've been burnt you'd think I'd be used to it."

"God bless the cactuses!" Wilf sighed as the woman moved on to untie him, meanwhile Minerva and Rossiter went to the Doctor.

"That's cacti," the Doctor corrected.

"That's racist!" Rossiter snapped.

"Shut up!" Minerva ordered, "There's too many buckles and straps on this thing," her hands fiddled with the restraints on her husband.

"Come on! We've got to get out," Miss Adams already had Wilf done, "Just...wheel him."

"Sorry dear," Minerva sighed and gave the Doctor a quick kiss.

"No, no, no! Minerva! Get me out!" the man cried but was already being pushed out by Rossiter, "No, no, don't! Don't! No, no, no..."

"Which way?" Rossiter asked as they entered the corridors.

"This way," Miss Adams called.

"No, we've got the TARDIS," Minerva tried to say.

"I know what I'm doing!"

The Doctor's eyes widened as he saw stairs approaching, "Not the stairs... Not the stairs!"

"Sorry, Martian!" Minerva winced as she heard the Doctor grunting in pain with each bump his chair was pushed down to.

"Worst...rescue...ever!"

Miss Addams led the way into the tech room under the lab with the rest behind her. Unfortunately, the Master/guards appeared and blocked the room, the original Master arriving with a smile, "Gotcha."

"You think so?" Miss Addams raised an eyebrow and pressed her watch, making all of them disappear.

~ 0 ~

"Minerva, get me out of this right now!" the Doctor ordered as soon as they appeared on the Vinvocci ship in outer-space.

"Don't say thanks, will you?" Miss Addams frowned, Minerva working to liberate the man.

"He's not going to let us go. Just hurry up and get me out!"

Wilf was looking out the window, seeing the new view before them, "Oh, my goodness me...we're in space!" he looked down at the Earth.

"Come on!" the Doctor urged.

"Doctor, shut up!" Minerva nearly yelled while she and Miss Addams worked to set him free.

"Get a move on!"

'Doctor I swear to God!" she smacked him on the arm.

"Here, just...here!" he wiggled and took out his screwdriver for her.

She took it and used it on the control panels, making them explode immediately. Finally, he was free and jumped to his feet, taking his sonic back.

"Where's your flight deck?" he looked back at Miss Addams.

"But we're safe! We're a hundred thousand miles above the Earth."

"And he's got every single missile on the planet ready to fire!"

She blinked, "Good point," and she quickly led the way.

Minerva hurried to Wilf and took him by the arm, "But we're in space!" he had his wide eyes looking at the planet.

"Isn't it amazing?" she asked, both chuckling afterwards.

~ 0 ~

"We've got to close it down!" the Doctor was saying as they hurried down the corridors of the ship.

"No chance, mate, we're going home," Rossiter declared as they entered the new room.

"We're a salvage team. Local politics has nothing to do with us," Miss Addams shook her head, "Not unless there's a carnival. Sooner we get back to Vinvocci space the better."

"Oh you're not leaving," Minerva scoffed as the Doctor used the sonic and made the entire ship go dead.

"Sh!" the Doctor put his finger on his lips as the ship quieted down, only a slight creak making a noise.

Miss Addams looked around with wide eyes, going to several monitors and controls, trying them out, "No sign of any missiles... No sign of...anything. You've wrecked the place!"

"The engines are burnt out. Just auxiliary lights," Rossiter said with distaste, "Everything else is kaput. We can't move. We're stuck, in orbit."

"Thanks to you. You idiot!" Miss Addams stormed out of the room.

"I know you, though. I bet you've got a plan, haven't you?" Wilf looked at the man, glancing occasionally at Minerva, "Eh? Come on! You've always got a trick up your sleeve. Nice little bit of the old Doctor flimflam, ha-ha-ha, sort of thing? Eh?" but all he received was a solemn look, "Oh blimey..."

~ 0 ~

The Master stood in the office room, having given up on finding the missing perpetrators for the moment as the figured out the origin of the drumbeats, "Night has fallen. Are we ready?"

"Every single one of us is prepared," Naismith/ the Master responded.

"Then we listen, all of us, across the world. Just...listen," the Master closed his eyes followed by the rest of the Master clones, "Concentrate. Find the signal," silence was heard for a couple of minutes before... "There. The sound is tangible. Someone could only have designed this. But who?"

~ 0 ~

The Time Lord stood before the president, "The signal has been sent. A simple task of four beats transmitted back through time, and implanted in the Master's mind as a child."

"Then we have a link, to where the Master is right now," the president looked at the Earth hologram over the table.

"But we're still trapped inside the Time Lock, sir. The link is nothing more than...a thought, an idea."

"Then we need something to make the contact physical. Something...so simple.

At that, the Visionary looked up from her papers, mumbling, "So small and shining, shining bright and cold, the tiny, tiny star, falling, falling, burning, burning, burning."

The president immediately captured the idea and stood up, motioning for his staff to be handed over. He tool of a jewel, a diamond, at the top of the staff's head and smiled, "Small enough to follow the link. And if this were on Earth..." he chucked the diamond into the hologram.

~ 0 ~

While the Doctor worked on wiring in the Vinvocci ship, Minerva was standing at the window with a grim face, blankly staring out. Her mind couldn't stop thinking of her human family, stuck as...Masters. She should be furious at the man for doing this to them...but she just felt like sobbing, sobbing over her lost family. She just wanted them back.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a meteor flying through space, heading for Earth. She frowned as she stated at it, something not..quite right with it.

"Doctor?" she called quietly, not wanting to alarm the others.

They were far too afraid of their current situation and she didn't want to add one more problem. Silently, the Doctor walked over as she pointed ahead to the meteor...

~ 0

"The sound...it's coming from above," Naismith/ the Master declared.

"It's coming from the sky!" the Master realized and rushed out of the room, a few guards behind him. He ran out to the balcony and looked up, "There!" he pointed at a trail in the sky, "Get out there and find it!"

"Yes, sir," the guards/Master's nodded and headed off.

~ 0 ~

The soldiers/Master's arrived at the sight of the meteor crash and started searching the area until one of them spotted a glittering object not too far.

"It's a diamond, sir," the guard/Master pocked up the jewel that had been chucked at the hologram, "Oh... the most impossible diamond. You won't believe this. It's a Whitepoint star!"

Stunned, the Master tool a moment and suddenly let out a big laughter at what that meant, going skeletal again.

~ 0 ~

Wilf was walking through a corridor of the Vinvocci ship, searching for the Doctor and Minerva, "Hello? Hello?" he could hear clanging from a romantic and headed for it, "Is that you, Doctor? Minerva?" he entered a large room only to find it empty, "Anyone? Oh, I think I'm lost."

"And yet you are found," he heard behind him. He turned to see the woman in white he'd been seeing all around standing behind him, "Events are closing. The day is almost upon us. But tell me, old soldier, did you take arms?"

Wilf pulled the revolver from his pocket, "I brought this. But...what am I supposed to do?"

"This is the Doctor's final battle. At the end of his life, he must stand at arms, or lose himself and all this world, to the end of time."

"But he...he never carries guns. He doesn't do... Who are you?"

"I was lost... so very long ago."

Wilf looked down at his gun for a moment, realizing the woman has vanished as soon as he'd done so.

~ 0 ~

Eventually, Wilf found the alien pair in another room where the Doctor was working on a couple wires. Wilf made his way over, "Aye, aye. Got this old tub mended?"

"Just trying to fix the heating," the Doctor mumbled, occasionally sparing Minerva some glances. He knew he shouldn't worry that much over the cold but there was always that little voice inside his head, or in his case voices, telling him he shouldn't set her in situations that tested her heat/cold resistance.

"You doing okay, Wilf?" Minerva softly asked, seeing him as the last human they were able to save. She kept looking back at the window to Earth and what her human family had become. She didn't even want to think where Donna was managing to hide herself in the meantime they figured it out. Everything put her on edge and it wouldn't stop until they'd stop the Master

Wilf sat down beside the Doctor and just nodded to Minerva, "D'you know, I've always dreamed of a view like that," he looked at the window ahead of them and chuckled, "I'm an astronaut."

"I used to dream for the same thing," Minerva said, moving to sit beside the Doctor, "Course my sky was a bit dull...and gray," she made a face, "...lots and lots of gray."

Wilf chuckled again but faded as he looked at the window again, "It's dawn over England, look," he nodded ahead, "Brand new day..."

"What a day..." Minerva mumbled.

"My wife's buried down there. I might never visit her again now," Wilf sighed and looked at the two to his left, "D'you think he changed them, in their graves?"

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said, though he knew it didn't mean much.

"It's not your fault," Minerva looked at him and reached for his hand.

"Isn't it?"

He knew where her mind had wandered to upon hearing Wilf's question; he could see it in her eyes. She wondered if her sweet ole grandfather and big sister had been changed as well. He felt awful for that, because of course it was his fault. The Master was his responsibility, his enemy...and yet he managed to kill his wife, take over Earth, torture his wife and friends, then change the entire race of humans.

"It's not," Minerva declared and kissed his cheek, "Don't you dare blame yourself because Wilf and I won't allow it, will we Wilf?" she cast a glance at the man.

"No," he shook his head and looked ahead again, "You know, 1948 I was over there," he nodded, "End of the Mandate in Palestine. Private Mott. Skinny little idiot, I was, stood on this rooftop, the middle of a skirmish. It was like a blizzard, all them bullets in the air. The world gone mad. Yeah, you don't want to listen to an old man's tales, do you?"

"We're older than you," the Doctor admitted with a small smile.

"Get away," Wilf waved them off.

"I'm 906, and she's-"

"He's 906," Minerva had covered the Doctor's mouth with a sweet smile, "That is all."

Wilf chuckled lightly, "Really, though?"

"Yeah, he's old," Minerva shook her head.

"Oh please," the Doctor pushed her hand down, "You're 903, time to accept it, dear."

"No, I'm 21," she huffed and looked to the side.

"900 years..." Wilf breathed, still stuck on the information, "We must look like insects to you two."

"We think you look like giants," the Doctor smiled at him.

Wilf paused for a minute then took out his revolver, holding it out to the Doctor, "Listen, I...I want you to have this. I've kept it all this time, and I thought..."

But the Doctor shook his head, "No."

"No, but if you take it, you could..."

"No. You had that gun in the mansion. You could have shot the Master there and then."

"Too scared, I suppose," Wilf admitted.

"I'd be proud."

"Of what?"

"If you were my dad."

"Oh, come on, don't start," Wilf chuckled, flustered.

Minerva smiled, "You remind me of my human grandfather, you know," she gripped the Doctor's hand in hers, "And personally, I could see you being a dad to this Martian over here," she chuckled, "And I would definitely be fine with it, seeing how this one would actually like me."

The Doctor sadly smiled at her, "They would've came around to the idea."

She shook her head, her smile none-faded, "You don't have to lie to me. Your parents married you off to another for a reason, a Moontsay is too primitive. You really think your father would've allowed for you to run off with me?"

He didn't like to think of that, all the hatred spewed at his wife...it was unjustified. Nearly every Time Lord had an unjustified hatred for the Monsoon and its people. His own family became divided over the issue of the Moontsays. Some uncles/aunts showed their hatred for the Moontsays with speeches about them, others with lessons to the children of how big of abominations the Moontsays were. Although he did have to admit that not all of his family hated Moontsays. Some showed neutralism, others actual like for Moontsays. But even with that neutralism and like he never did have the courage to tell his parents, to demand, that he be able to marry who he loved and not who they wanted. They never found out that he had fallen in love with a Moontsay, and not just any Moontsay, the bloody princess. Oh, if they would see her now, he was just sure that all that senseless hatred would vanish. Who wouldn't like Minerva?

"What are you talking about?" Wilf asked, confused of the talk.

Minerva looked at him with a sad smile of her own, "My people, the Moontsays, and Time Lords hate each other very much. And it's ironic, cos we're of the same species."

"Why so much hatred, then?"

"Because we can change our faces like them," she shrugged, "And have ice powers. They thought we would overthrow them if we figured out how to change our faces on command like they could..."

"We were forbidden to make contact with Moontsays," the Doctor sighed, playing with Minerva's fingers in his hand.

"Our love was...forbidden, like a star-crossed story," Minerva chuckled at the cliche, "It took us centuries to get to where we are."

"But you said...you were told..." Wilf looked at the Doctor, "...he will knock four times and then you die. Well, that's him, isn't it, the Master? That noise in his head? The Master is going to kill you.

"Yeah," the Doctor swallowed hard.

Wilf shook his head, "If you worked hard to be with your wife then don't allow that man to kill you. Kill him first," he held the gun out.

"And that's how the Master started. It's not like I'm an innocent. I've taken lives. I got worse - I got clever. Manipulated people into taking their own. Sometimes I think a Time Lord lives too long."

"But it's not like you wanted to do it," Minerva frowned, "You did what you had to do because there was nothing else to do."

"If the Master dies, what happens to all the people?" Wilf asked him.

"I don't know..."

"Doctor, what happens?"

"The template snaps."

"What, they go back to being human?" Wilf asked again and upon the Doctor nodding yes he held the gun out again, "They're alive and human? Then don't you dare, sir. Don't you dare put him before them. Now you take this, that's an order, Doctor. Take the gun. You take the gun and save your life. And please don't die. You're the most wonderful man and I don't want you to die!" Wilf broke into a sob as he forced the Doctor's hand over the gun.

Minerva stifled her own quiet sob and hugged her husband. The Doctor gripped her by the waist and tugged her closer while pushing Wilf's gun away, "Never," he declared.

"A star...fell from the sky..." they suddenly heard the Master's voice over the ship's tannoy, "Don't you want to know where from? Because now it makes sense, Doctor. The whole of my life. My destiny. The star was a diamond. And the diamond...is a Whitepoint star. And I have worked all night to sanctify that gift. Now the star is mine. I can increase the signal and use it as a lifeline. Do you get it now? Do you see? Keep watching, Doctor. This should be...spectacular. Over and out."

"What's he on about? What's he doing?" Wilf frowned and looked at the pair, "Doctor, what does that mean?"

"A Whitepoint star is only found on one planet, Gallifrey, which means… it's the Time Lords. The Time Lords are returning," he shuddered a breath and felt Minerva stiffen at the news.

He knew she was terrified of that...and admittedly, so was he.

"Well, that's good, isn't it? That's your people," Wilf said...and then he remembered what he had just been told about the hatred between the pair's species.

The Doctor set Minerva apart and kissed her hair before grabbing Wilf's gun and rushed out of the room.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor rushed into the room and went straight to the PA and switched it on. Everyone then heard the four beats being repeated, like a loop.

"What's that?" Miss Addams asked.

Rossiter was checking the computers for the answer, "Coming from Earth," he called, "It's on every single wavelength."

~ 0 ~

Inside the Gallifreyan chamber, the president grinned with satisfaction, "Contact! At last!"

~ 0 ~

"We have contact," the Master declared.

~ 0 ~

The president strode forwards to face the other Time Lords in a large amphitheater, "Now the High Council of Time Lords must vote. Whether we die here, today, or return to the waking world and complete the Ultimate Sanction, for this is the hour when either Gallifrey falls, or Gallifrey rises!" he held up his staff high and waited as the other Time Lords responded.

"Gallifrey rises!" the response came with a cheer.

"Gallifrey rises!"

~ 0 ~

"But you said your people were dead, past tense," Wilf said to the Doctor as he worked on the equipment.

"Inside the Time War, when the whole War was time-locked - like, sealed inside a bubble. It's not a bubble but think of a bubble. Nothing can get in or get out of the time-lock. Don't you see? Nothing can get in or get out, except something that was already there."

"The signal. Since he was a kid," Wilf remembered.

"If they can follow the signal, they can escape, before they die."

"This won't be good," Minerva bit her nails nervously.

She felt her stomach churn at the idea of once again seeing more Time Lords. She loved the Doctor, she really did...but his people despised her and her own people. She could now remember the insults and the ridicule, the pitying and the belittlement. She didn't want to go through that again, especially without her parents anymore. It hit her at that moment that her parents wouldn't be there to protect her nor their planet anymore. She was princess - near queen - and it would be up to her to protect her planet and people from any kind of threat.

"What? Wouldn't they help you, then?" Wilf asked the Doctor.

"I'm afraid not, Wilf," the Doctor sighed, "The Time Lords changed with the war. I mean, it's no surprise right? An endless war? It changed them right to the core. You've seen my enemies, Wilf. The Time Lords are more dangerous than any of them."

"Time Lords? What lords? Anyone want to explain?" Miss Addams demanded.

But the Doctor pointed a violent finger at her, "Right, you!This is a salvage ship, yes? You go trawling the asteroid fields for junk?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"So, you've got asteroid lasers!"

"Yeah, but they're all frazzled," Rossiter said.

"Consider them unfrazzled," the Doctor flipped a lever and two doors on opposite sides of the room slid open, " You there - I'm going to need you on navigation. And you, get in the laser-pod. Wilfred?"

"Yeah?"

"Laser number two. The old soldier's got one more battle!"

"Right," Wilf stood up and tapped the Doctor on the arm.

"This ship can't move. It's dead!" Miss Addams reminded sourly, remembering who was at fault for that.

"Fix the heating," the Doctor pushed large levers on either side of the control panel and made the ship start up.

"But now they can see us."

"Oh, yes!"

"That's not good," Minerva reminded him, but he just winked.

Quickly, Rossiter and Wilf headed out for their tasks.

"What do you want me to do?" Minerva asked the Doctor, seriously.

"I want you to stay far away from this..."

She shook her head, "No," she said and took his hand, "Together."

"Minerva you and I both know what's happening and I would definitely prefer if the one person my people despise stays far away from their location."

"I'm scared, okay, I admit it...but I won't run away. Things have changed and I stand by you through thick and thin, remember?" she took his hand and moved them for the wheel of the ship, "So let's do this. Together: the Time Lord & the Moontsay."

"Hold on there," Miss Addams followed them, "This is my ship and you're not moving it. Step away from the wheel."

"There's an old Earth saying, Captain..." the Doctor began.

"Oh no..." Minerva mumbled.

"A phrase of great power, and wisdom..."

"Don't you dare," Minerva pointed at him.

He just started smirking, "And consolation to the soul in times of need..."

"Doctor," Minerva made a face.

He reached for her hand and kissed the back of it, "Allons-y!"

"Ah!" she made a frustrated groan.

"Hang on, dear," he ordered and she did, to his waist. He took control of the ship and drove it forwards planet Earth, "Come on!" the Doctor shouted as the ship started burning as it entered the atmosphere, "Come on!"

"You are blinkin', flippin' mad!" Miss Addams screamed as she clung onto a panel.

"That's my Martian," Minerva managed to chuckle.

~ 0 ~

"Hey," Wilf whistled from his spot in the laser pod, "How does this thing work?"

~ 0 ~

"The tracking's automatic. Just deploy the trigger on the joystick," Rossiter explained from his spot in the second pod.

~ 0 ~

Wilf tried getting the hang of the controls as his pod rotated, "Oh... Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!"

~ 0 ~

"We've got incoming," Miss Addams looked at one of the screens in the flight deck.

"You two, open fire!" the Doctor ordered and took an evasive action.

But it took a bit longer than he thought it would as the two men/alien were still figuring out how to control the pods.

"Open fire! Come on, Wilf!" the Doctor cried.

~ 0 ~

Finally, Wilf & Rossiter fired at the incoming missiles and made the explode.

Wilf laughed, "Whoo! Oh, I wish Donna could see me now. Oh, she'll have a hoot!"

~ 0 ~

"And there's more. 16 of them. Oh! And another 16," Miss Addams sarcastically read.

"Go to the rear-gun lasers!" the Doctor ordered.

"I think I can help with that," Minerva let go of him and tried moving towards Miss Addams who was already heading for the doors.

"You two, open fire! NOW!" the Doctor called again, not too fond of Minerva leaving his side but as he evasively flew around he figured it was best for her to stay back, "No, you don't!" he swerved and sent the two women behind him back and forth across the room.

In a course of mere minutes the front window was blown away, the incoming missiles had been destroyed and the ship had done a outrageous spin.

"Lock the navigation!" he instructed behind him.

"Onto what?" Miss Addams looked at the controls around her.

"England! The Naismith mansion!"

~ 0 ~

The president returned to the chamber and remained where two more Time Lords stood with their hands over their faces, as if in shame, "The vote is taken. Only two stand against and will stand as monument to their shame, like the Weeping Angels of old. Now the vanguard stands prepared, as the children of Gallifrey return to the universe, to Earth," the president stood as they were engulfed in a bright light.

~ 0 ~

"Destination?" the Doctor glanced at Miss Addams.

"50 klicks and closing," Miss Addams responded.

"Doctor, please tell me you're not going to do what I think you're going to do..." she looked at him with a serious face.

The Doctor couldn't look back at her, he wore a grim determined expression on his face.

Miss Addams was not having any of this, "Doctor? We are going to stop?"

The ship zoomed over the country side as Wilf and Rossiter re-entered the flight deck room, Wilf a bit serious, "Doctor! Doctor, you said you were going to die."

"He said what?!" Miss Addams looked between the two, horrified.

"But is that all of us? I won't stop you, sir, but is this it?"

The Doctor lifted a hatch from the flight deck floor with the gun in his hand. He looked up, no words for anyone, especially his wife.

Minerva stepped forwards, cautiously, "Don't you dare..." she warned, discreetly taking another step. If she could just reach him she could perhaps go with him, "Doc-" but the man jumped down, "NOO!" she screamed and ran for the hole, only to be held back by Wilf and Miss Addams, "MARTIAN!"

~ 0 ~

The Doctor crashed into the Naismith mansion, falling to the center of the room on his stomach with shattered glass all around. With a shaking hand that held the revolver, he aimed it at the president. Due to his fall, his arm dropped to the floor and so he tried standing up.

The president strode forwards, "My Lord Doctor. My Lord Master. We are gathered for the end."

The Doctor laid on the floor, panting as he tried regaining some strength to do what he had to...

~ 0 ~

Miss Addams took control of the ship and started in the opposite direction.

"I need you to land this thing," Minerva ordered, shaking off Wilf from her arm.

"We are not going in there," the alien shook her head.

"I don't think you understand," Minerva snapped, "That is my husband and I was not asking you, I am ordering you to land this ship!"

"And just who the hell do you think you are?" Miss Addams placed a hand on her hip and tilted her head expectantly.

Minerva stepped forwards, "Minerva, better known as Kaeya, princess of the Monsoon. Look me up, we'll be doing business together for our planets. But for now, I order you to bring me to that mansion. Afterwards, you can leave - I don't care, just do it."

Miss Addams sighed and changed the direction of the ship.

~ 0 ~

With a grunt, the Doctor was able to sit on his legs, still far too weak for more, "Listen to me. You can't…"

"It is a fitting paradox that our salvation comes at the hands of our most infamous child," the president motioned with a wicked smile.

"Oh, he's not saving you. Don't you realize what he's doing?"

"Hey, no, hey! That's mine. Hush," the Master ordered, "Look around you. I've transplanted myself into every single human being. But who wants a mongrel little species like them? Because now I can transplant myself into every single Time Lord. Oh, yes, Mr President, sir, standing there all noble and resplendent and decrepit. Think how much better you're going to look as me!"

The president, less than amused, held his gauntlet-covered hand up as it glowed and made the humans return to normal.

"No, don't...! No, no, no, stop it! No, no! No, no! Don't!" the Master looked around in horror at his work being undone.

"On your knees, mankind," the president ordered and the humans knelt down, afraid.

"No, that's fine, that's good, because you said salvation. I still saved you, don't forget that," the Master reminded.

"The approach begins," the president looked up as a low rumbling began and the room grew brighter.

"Approach of what?!"

"Something is returning. Don't you ever listen?" the Doctor could quite frankly strangle the man at this point, "That was the prophecy. Not someone, something."

"What is it?"

"They're not just bringing back the species. It's Gallifrey. Right here, right now."

~ 0 ~

Above the planet Earth appeared a bright, glowing red planet...

~ 0 ~

Shaun and Sylvia, now back to normal as well, rushed out of the house after everything began shaking. People ran out in the streets, screaming in terror as Gallifrey loomed closer.

"Donna? Donna! Donna!" Shaun called and ran off to go find the ginger.

"Oh, Doctor, Minerva...please!" Sylvia whispered in hope.

~ 0 ~

The Master was on one knee, still horrified at what had just happened to his work, while the humans ran from the room in screams. The Master was staring at the president with anger, "But I...I did this. I get the credit! I'm on your side."

Minerva strode into the room, quite angry, "Doctor?" she looked around and froze as she saw the rest of the Time Lords.

No one saw Wilf going to release one of the technicians stuck inside the booths.

"Is that a Moontsay I smell?" the president crinkled his nose.

"Behold little pet," the Master said, earning a glare from Minerva, "The Time Lords restored."

"You weren't there in the final days of the War. You never saw what was born," the Doctor snapped, not about to let all the dangerous attention fall on Minerva, "But if the time-lock's broken, then everything's coming through, not just the Daleks, but the Skaro Degradations, the Horde of Travesties, the Nightmare Child, the Could-Have-Been King with his army of Meanwhiles and Never-weres, the War turning to hell. And that's what you opened, right above the Earth. Hell is descending!"

"My kind of world," the Master smirked.

"Just listen! 'Cause even the Time Lords can't survive that!"

"We will initiate the Final Sanction. The end of time will come at my hand. The rupture will continue, until it rips the Time Vortex apart," the president explained, still eyeing Minerva behind.

"That's suicide," Minerva frowned.

"We will ascend to become creatures of consciousness alone, free of these bodies, free of time, and cause and effect, while creation itself ceases to be."

"You're going to kill us all...again!"

"Tell me little one, how do you stand before me in this era?"

The Doctor stood up and looked back at Minerva, a pleading look on his face telling her to go away, get as far as she could from here. Minerva shuddered a breath and calmed for a moment, trying to ease her small trembles, "I survived, clearly," she answered the question, "So, in a sense...my planet did a lot better than yours."

The president wasn't one for taking sarcasm, much less from a Moontsay, "Moontsays are-"

"I'd finish that sentence carefully if I were you," Minerva cut him off, swallowing hard to continue garnering boldness she desperately needed, "Because, unlike my parents, I outright refuse to allow you this superiority power over us. I stand here, living proof that Moontsays are just as good as you are - as good as all Time Lords are. I triggered what my people have been trying to do for centuries and rest assure I will not be the last."

"Impossible," the president spat.

"My mother regenerated, I followed her in steps."

"You and the rest of your kind-"

"Your kind as well," Minerva did a mock bow, "President."

"You are all abominations," the man immediately declared frantically, as if trying to get control back from her.

The Doctor had had enough and finally rose to his feet, even if he still wasn't quite there yet. He held Minerva's hand in his own, gripping it and letting her know he was right there. Alive or dying, himself or a new man, she would never be alone and she would never face anything on her own, "If they were abominations then you wouldn't have gone through so much trouble for a crystal they owned."

"You were willing to wipe my people out for a crystal that didn't even belong to you," Minerva glared at the president, "A crystal my entire family fell to protect."

"Oh come now, it wasn't just us. The Daleks were after it too," the president reminded, "It was either them or us. Clearly I went with 'us'."

"You intended to wipe part of your own species and now you're going to do it to another innocent species?"

"We will ascend to glory," the president said.

"All of us?" Minerva raised an eyebrow as she glanced at the Master, "Because I think one of us...the Master...was used," she declared.

"Bite your tongue," the man snapped, "I will ascent to glory as well."

"You are diseased, albeit a disease of our own making," the president corrected, "No more," he held his gauntlet and allowed the energy to hum as it powered up...

...when the sound of a clicking noise cut in.

It was the Doctor, now aiming the revolver at the president. With a free hand, he placed Minerva a step away from him, being between the president & the Master was not a place he wanted her in.

"Choose your enemy well. We are many. The Master is but one," the president said plainly.

"But he's the President. Kill him, and Gallifrey could be yours!" the Master argued back. The Doctor turned to him and aimed the revolver, "He's to blame, not me!" but then he realized, "Oh, the link is inside my head. Kill me, the link gets broken, they go back. You never would, you coward. Go on then. Do it."

Minerva watched in horror as she watched her husband turn the revolver back to the president, "Martian, don't do this..." she spoke softly, "...there's always another way, please. This isn't my husband...please."

"Shush," the Master glared at her, "Go on," he urged the Doctor, "It's not just me, it's him. He's the link, kill him!"

"The final act of your life is murder," the president said, unperturbed, "But which one of us?"

The Doctor had so many things running through his head but everything stopped when he looked behind the president and saw one of the face-covered dissenters lower her hands from her face. He blinked as he saw the woman clearly, his breathing hitching when his mother looked back with tears running down her face. For a moment, they looked at each other until her eyes drifted to the side. The Doctor followed her new gaze to see Minerva, that was only staring at him with her own tears. His face softened when they looked at each other again, seeing his mother actually giving a small smile...

...she approved.

She then motioned with her eyes behind her and suddenly, the room found the Doctor switching aims once more back at the Master who looked a bit sad.

"Get out of the way," the Doctor ordered and with a smile the Master dove to the side as the Doctor shot the device that held the diamond and link. The machine burst into flames and so the Doctor lowered the revolver, "The link is broken. Back into the Time War, Rassilon. Back into hell."

~ 0 ~

Outside, Gallifrey began to flicker out of existence...

~ 0 ~

"You'll die with me, Doctor," Rassilon declared.

"I know..." the Doctor spared a glance at Minerva.

"No..." she rushed forwards, uncaring of the consequences.

"Get away-"

"No," she gripped onto him, "If you die, I die with you...and that's okay..." she smiled sadly, "...I'm okay with that."

"Get out of the way," they heard the Master order behind them. The two got out of the way just as the Master shot a bolt of energy to Rassilon on the chest, making the man stagger back, "You did this to me! All of my life! You made me!" with each step he took forwards he struck each bolt, "One! Two! Three! FOUR!"

With that, he was pulled off with the rest of the Time Lords, Gallifrey disappearing once more.

The Doctor & Minerva were on the floor, with their hands locked together as they took realization of their surroundings. The Doctor pulled them to sit up, "I'm alive. I've... There was..." he looked at her with a wide grin, "And you..." he reached to touch her face, "...you're okay. You're not hurt."

They stood up and hugged tightly, giving each other a deep kiss that basked in the survival...

But there came four knocks that made them freeze.

The four knocks repeated twice before the two turned to see Wilf inside the booth. He tapped again and gave a little wave, "They've gone, then? Good-oh. If you could let me out...?"

"Yeah..." the Doctor mumbled, his hand dropping to Minerva's.

"Only, this thing seems to be making a bit of a noise."

"The Master...left the nuclear bolt running. It's gone into overload."

Wilf's smile faded as he looked back, "And that's bad, is it?"

"No...'cause all the excess radiation gets vented inside there. Vinvocci glass contains it. All 500,000 rads, about to flood that thing."

"Oh," Wilf chuckled, "Well, you'd better let me out, then."

"Except it's gone critical. Touch one control and it floods," the Doctor took out the sonic, "Even this would set it off."

Wilf now realized what that would mean for the poor man, "I'm sorry..."

"Sure..."

Minerva rushed towards the booths and tried looking around for anything, something that could prevent this awful prophecy from coming true.

"Look, just leave me," Wilf sighed.

"Don't say nonsense," Minerva went around the booths, intently searching. There had to be something!

"Right, then...I will," the Doctor sarcastically said as he paced back and forth, "Cause you had to go in there, didn't you? You had to go and get stuck, oh, yes! 'Cause that's who you are, Wilfred. You were always this. Waiting for me all this time."

"No, really, just leave me. I'm an old man. I've had my time, you go on, you and Minerva. Get out of here," Wilf nodded with seriousness.

"Well, exactly. Look at you. Not remotely important. But me? I could do so much more," the Doctor yelled to the ceiling, "So much more! But this is what I get. My reward. And it's not fair!" he pushed items off a nearby desk and breathed heavily, "Ohhh... Lived too long," he started for the booths.

"N-n-n-n-no! No," Minerva stood in front of the door of the empty booth, "We can do something!"

"Minerva, it's alright, I can-"

"No!" she shut her eyes and shook her head, her hands opened on either side to block the way, "We can do something! We-we...we can...um...we can, I don't know...me!" she opened her eyes, her teary eyes, "Me! Let me do it! I can go in there and..."

"Don't you dare," he leaned down and Eskimo kissed her, receiving no laughter, chuckle nor smile afterwards from her. With his fingers he rubbed away her tears from her cheeks, "I promised you, you'd never have to regenerate for me again. This is one promise I am keeping to you."

"Martian, please..." her voice broke, "...I don't mind, really. I think-I think I can do it. It should be automatic now..."

"No need," he gently kissed her then moved her to the side and looked at Wilf, his hand on the door, "Wilfred...it's my honor. Better be quick. Three, two, one," he stepped inside and pressed a button that released Wilf.

As Wilf got out, Minerva rushed to hug him, happy that he would be okay and yet terribly upset her husband would die. The Doctor groaned and slid down the floor of the booth, writhing in pain. He curled up in pain while the other two could only simply watch until the machine switched off. Slowly, he unwound and sat up.

"What...? Hello," Wilf said in confusion.

"Hi," the Doctor looked around.

"Still with us?"

He stood up with a gasp, "The system's dead. I absorbed it all. Whole thing's kaput," he put his hand on the door which then opened, "Oh, now it opens, yeah," he stepped out.

"There we are then, safe and sound. Mind you, you're in hell of a state. You've got some battle scars there."

The Doctor covered his face and the sound of sizzling emerged. When he put his hands down, his face had been completely healed. Minerva left Wilf's side and came up to her Martian, her hands going up to rest on either side of his face, "Oh my Martian..." she breathed shakily.

"But they've... Your face! How did you do that?" Wilf blinked.

"It's started," the Doctor replied as he took his clever girl for a hug, closing his eyes.

Wilf could only stare sadly with tears in his eyes.

~ 0 ~

At the sounds of the TARDIS materializing, Donna, Sylvia and Shaun rushed out of the house.

"What...what is that?" Shaun pointed at the blue box as Wilf, Minerva & the Doctor were coming out from it.

"Oh, yes...about that..." Donna looked around before dashing off to go see her friends and grandfather.

"D-Donna?" Shaun called, confused, as he looked at Sylvia for some help. The woman just shrugged and entered the house.

"Don't go thinking this is goodbye, Wilf," the Doctor said to the man, "We don't plan on leaving our family."

"No," Minerva agreed.

"Where are you going?"

"To get my reward," the Doctor nodded.

"Oi, oi, is anyone finally going to tell me what happened?" Donna arrived out of breath.

"Did you just run away from the truth?" Minerva raised an eyebrow, "Literally?"

"Um..."

"Donna, I swear to god," Minerva shook her head, "Go and tell that man who we are and what you are. And...we'll see you in Spring for your wedding," she hugged her ginger sister.

"But...but what happened?" Donna looked at the Doctor, sensing something was deeply wrong.

"Nothing," the Doctor gave her a hug as well, "See you Spring."

With that, the pair entered the TARDIS and dematerialized.

~ 0 ~

Martha Jones - Smith - ran down a paved area, dressed in black and with a rifle. Something fired behind her and so she rushed and ducked behind a concrete wall where Mickey was waiting for her.

"I told you to stay behind," he scolded.

"You looked like you needed help. Besides, you're the one who persuaded me to go freelance," she reminded, "I swear if UNIT finds out..."

"And they will not," he covered her mouth, not about to let that one turn into another argument, "Yeah, but we're being fired at by a Sontaran. A dumpling with a gun. And this is no place for a married woman."

"Well, then. You shouldn't have married me," she pointed with a smirk.

The Sontaran stood on a catwalk in the warehouse they were in. Just as he was about to fire, there was a crash and he fell to the floor.

The Doctor & Minerva stood behind it, watching the Jones' as they looked into a map, "If we go in here and down to the factory floor and down past that corridor, then he won't know that we're here..." Mickey was saying.

Martha looked up and saw the pair and gasped, "Mickey!" she shook him and nodded up.

Mickey looked back and smiled, "Hey!"

The Doctor took another look and headed off. Minerva remained for a couple more minutes with teary eyes before walking away. Sensing something dire was occurring (or about to occur), the Smith's hugged as they heard the TARDIS dematerializing.

~ 0 ~

Luke Smith was walking down the street, chabbering on in his cellphone, "That was the maddest Christmas ever, Clyde. Mum doesn't know what happened. She got Mr Smith to put out a story saying wi-fi went mad, all over the world, giving everyone hallucinations. How else do you explain it?" he crossed the street without looking, "Everyone with a different face..."

The Doctor ran and pulled Luke to safety as a car honked its horn. Luke looked up with blinking eyes, "But it's you! You're..."

"Mum!" Luke called and actually looked before crossing the street, "Mum!"

Sarah Jane came rushing down at the calls, "What? What is it?"

"It's him. It's the Doctor," Luke pointed.

Sarah Jane looked back to the TARDIS, Minerva waiting fro the Doctor at its doors while he unlocked them. Minerva spared a glance at the woman and son before entering the box. The Doctor raised his hand in a small wave to them, Sarah Jane smiling sadly as he entered as well.

~ 0 ~

Jack Harkness sat in a bar with a drink in his hand, receiving a note from the bartender, "From the man and woman over there," the bartender pointed over his shoulder.

Jack looked up and saw the Doctor and Minerva sitting across and with a nod Jack went ahead and opened up the note reading, 'His name is Alonso'. Jack looked up to see Minerva with a small smile pointing to the man that sat beside him, Alonso Frame. The Doctor then saluted with a finger to his forehead, Jack immediately giving back a proper salute. The Doctor took Minerva's hand and led her away.

"So, Alonso, going my way?" Jack turned to the man beside.

"How do you know my name?" Alonso blinked.

"I'm kinda psychic," Jack shrugged.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know what I'm thinking right now?"

"Oh, yeah," Jack smiled, laughing as he finished up his drink.

~ 0 ~

A woman, Verity Newman, was signing her book for a customer, "No, it's not just a story, no. Every word of it is true. I found my great grandmother's diary in the loft. She was a nurse in 1913, and she had a friend who was posing as the headmaster's sister. Miss Greene, she called her during the time, and she even saved my grandmother! She, along with the man named John Smith, a visitor from another world, saved the world. She wrote it all down."

Verity closed the book and slid it to the man, "Thank you," he replied and went on.

Two more customers came up and pressed their book on the table, Verity opening up the cover to sign it, "And who's it for?"

"The Doctor."

"And Minerva."

"To the Doctor and Minerva,"" Verity scribbled down, "Funny, that's the name they used..." she looked up.

"Was she okay?" Minerva asked softly, "Was she happy?"

"Yes. Yes, she was. Were you?"

Minerva picked up the book with a shy smile and took the Doctor's hand before walking off.

~ 0 ~

Donna and Shaun exited the church to greet the cheers of their guests, newly married of course. Donna laughed and showed off her ring.

"Three cheers. Hip, hip..." Wilf began.

"Hooray!" the rest ended.

"Hip, hip..."

"Hooray!"

Hip, hip..."

"Hooray!"

"Right then, you two get over here!" Donna promptly grabbed the hands of Minerva and the Doctor, pulling her into a picture along with Shaun, "Can't have a proper picture without my clever sister...and her spaceman husband."

"Can I have another nickname?" the Doctor actually managed to give a joking pout.

"Nope," Donna popped the 'p' and organized them for a picture, "Shaun!"

'Right here!" he quickly said. He was still eyeing the alien pair a bit funny, he'd been told who they were and, well...it was weird. Weird to know his wife was part alien with snow powers because apparently her 'clever sister' was a snow princess who nearly died and whatnot...

"Cheese!" the group went and the photo was taken.

"Right, we gotta go," Minerva informed sadly.

Donna looked between them with a sad smile, "Thank you," she sincerely said, giving both a hug, "And I'll be waiting down here for my visits."

"We will," the Doctor managed a smile back.

With that, the pair went off towards the TARDIS. On their way, they bumped into Sylvia and Wilf who had been watching the celebration with joy.

"And here you are, same old face. Didn't I tell you you'd be all right?" Wilf chuckled, "Oh! They've arrested Mr Naismith. It was on the news. Crimes undisclosed. And his daughter. Both of 'em, locked up. Yeah, but I keep thinking, Doctor, there's one thing you never told me. That woman. Who was she?"

The Doctor looked at Minerva with a small genuine smile, "Important, that's all."

Minerva leaned on his arm and contently sighed for that one, now knowing what had happened during that little moment. It was nice to know that at least...not everyone from his family hated her.

The Doctor reached inside his pocket and handed a small envelope to Wilf, "We forgot to give this to Donna. It's a wedding present. Thing is, I never carry money. So we just popped back in time, borrowed a quid off a really lovely man. Geoffrey Noble, his name was. "Have it," he said," Sylvia gasped, "Have that on me."

The pair went inside the TARDIS while Sylvia and Wilf went back to Donna with the envelope.

"Oh, don't tell me, it's a bill. Just what I need, right now," Donna rolled her eyes, "A lottery ticket? Who's this from?"

"Who do you think?" Wilf raised an eyebrow.

Donna smiled softly, "Oh those two," she sighed, "Anyways, Shaun! Come on, we're on a tight schedule, oxtail soup at 2.30."

Wilf and Sylvia just chuckled and went on to follow the ginger's schedule. However, Wilf looked back at the dematerializing box with teary eyes.

~ 0 ~

"Minerva, come inside already!" shouted a younger Isadora from her kitchen, dressed in complete black, "It's time for bed."

"In a minute..." called back a young Minerva, also dressed in pure black.

With a sigh, Isadora headed away, hoping her granddaughter would be able to come inside for the night.

Minerva, who was twelve years old, sat criss-crossed on the grass of her grandparent's - now grandmother's - backyard, underneath the dark sky of San Diego, a couple stars here and there. She had an apple on the grass on a spot beside her while she blankly looked up at the stars.

She heard a small crunch from behind followed by a small grunt, "Who's there?" she looked around.

"It's okay," the Doctor emerged from the side of the house, with his hands up in surrender.

"Grandma..." the small Minerva started getting up in fear.

"It's okay, you know me, remember?" he cautiously continued his way for her as she thought.

"You told me to go see Stacey..." she mumbled in remembrance.

"Yes, that's me," he spotted the apple on the grass and nodded in understanding, "You want to tell me what you're doing out here on this cold night?"

Minerva returned to her spot on the grass and sat down again, "I wanted to look at the stars."

"And the apple...?"

"It's for someone," Minerva's head hung low in despondence.

"He was a good man, you know," he knelt down beside her, reaching for the apple across him, "Alan Lozano."

"How do you know him?" Minerva watched the apple with teary eyes.

"Hm? Oh, well, we've met, years ago," he smiled and rubbed away the girl's tears from her face, "And you know what? He wouldn't want you to be this sad."

"He's dead..." she sniffled.

"But he's still looking out for you, remember? Oh Minerva, the things that are yet to come. You just wait and see, alright? You're going to have a lot of fun."

"When? I don't want to have fun without grandpa," she shook her head.

"One day, you're going to see all those stars he promised you were going to see. You'll have the time of your life, just you wait," he handed her back the apple and kissed her hair, "Now go inside and hug your grandmother really tight for me, yeah? She's lonely and she needs her little granddaughter to hug her. Can you do that for me?"

Minerva nodded and sniffled, "Okay."

"There we are," he stood up and helped her too.

She looked at her apple then at him with a curious look, "How do you know about the apple?"

The Doctor chuckled, stifling another grunt of pain he felt, "It's a secret. Now go," he gently pushed her off.

She took another look of him then ran inside the house. The Doctor slowly made his way out of the Lozano's house and into the street, where his current Clever Girl was waiting for him.

"You rewrote history you little sneak," she came up to him with a soft smile, "Thank you," she pressed her lips to his for a small kiss.

He wanted to respond but he lurched forwards in pain, reminding them of the situation. Quickly, Minerva helped him down the block, making a turn to see Ood-Sigma standing, "We will sing to you, Doctor. The universe will sing you to your sleep."

The pair looked around as they heard a choir singing, the Ood singing.

"I can hear some of it..." Minerva whispered it, her teary eyes returning, "C'mon," she helped her Martian towards the TARDIS.

"This song is ending. But the story never ends," Ood-Sigma said as they reached the box.

Minerva opened the door for them and pulled the Doctor inside. As she closed the doors, the Doctor pulled himself along by the handrails all the way up to the console. He took off his coat and left it to hang upon the rails. Minerva sadly watched him raise his hand that was beginning to glow with the energy. He walked around the console and set the box to motion, leaning heavily on it while doing so.

"Martian..." Minerva sniffled and moved to meet him.

"...hey, thank you," he whispered to her, setting a hand over her cheek, "Thank you for everything; for this star-crossed story you gave me."

Minerva chuckled through her tears, "It's been a pleasure to."

"But the story is done and now we must face what comes next."

"And what's that?" Minerva suppressed a sob in her throat as she placed her hands on either side of his face.

"Let's find out," the Doctor shared a dim smile with her before kissing her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and responded, deepening the kiss as best she could through her tears. When they pulled away, they spared a look at each other for last moments.

"I love you," he gave her one last kiss.

"I love you too," she nodded and gave a small smile, "I'll be here, waiting for you," she looked at their hands that slowly broke apart as she backed away.

The Doctor took a look around and only five words came to mind when he though of the future, "I don't want to go."

He threw his head back and arms to the side as the energy took him over. Minerva set a hand over her stomach, feeling queasy suddenly. The regenerative energy became too much for the TARDIS and so actually caught on fire while beams collapsed.

Suddenly, a new Doctor emerged from the energy with a scream and a gasp, immediately taking notice of himself, "Legs. I've still got legs, good," he kissed his knee, "Arms. Hands. Ooh, fingers, lots of fingers. Ears, yes. Eyes, two. Nose, I've had worse. Chin, blimey. Hair..." he ran his hand through a much longer hair, "I'm a girl!" but he quickly retracted upon feeling his Adam's apple, "No! No... I'm not a girl," he pulled a piece of his hair to the front of his eyes and frowned, "And still not ginger! And something else, something important, I'm, I'm... I'm...ha! Crashing!" he exclaimed after an explosion.

But a gasp interrupted his moment.

He looked ahead and saw Minerva bathed in a silver glow. He opened his mouth but felt something quite funny within him. He looked down at himself and saw he was also glowing in the silver light. Minerva started breathing faster and heavier as the glow brightened. The glow around the Doctor seemed to start drifting towards Minerva, something that both intrigued and horrified him, mostly horrify though.

Minerva tilted her head up as she felt that queasy feeling taking her over, "Ah...ah..." she opened her mouth, "DOCTOR!" she screamed and threw her head back as the silver glow turned into a blast of energy that engulfed her entire body.

Author's Note:

To be continued in Shackles of Responsibilities (tentative name btw). Look for it around January 8 or 9 :)

Uh oh, what oh what was that little ending? Can anyone guess? ;) Yes, that's right, I am leaving you with a cliffhanger for Christmas! *evil laugh*

I want to thank everyone who read this story - both new and old readers. Thank you all for giving the story a check out and thank you to those who left reviews as well. It's always nice to hear what you think, whether it's constructive criticism or a simple 'awesome'. It gives me a warm feeling to know when a chapter is liked! I hope you'll continue reading the third story - it has 11! ^.^

For Reviews:

Dude, absolutely understood! Writing it was no fun either! I just disliked Waters of Mars so much because it was too OOC for 10. Like seriously, the entire series (from 9 and up) it's been 'don't break the rules' and 'no, we can't, there are rules' and then in one episode the Doctor just goes mad with power? Nope. I don't buy it. I don't know, it's just what I thought. Yeah, I couldn't really see Minerva doing much there because she was still in the progress of learning everything she'd forgotten. Oh well, hope you liked this chapter anyways!

Me too! Time Lord Victorious must never return! Thank you lol sorry for the shudders! Well, I can't say yes or no to the baby thing but I can say that the theme is a big one for the next story, concerning Minerva's thoughts on it anyways. So you'll definitely be seeing some of those talks. Hope you liked the chapter above and Merry Christmas/New Years to you as well! :)

Sooo...to kind of make up for that cliffhanger...I may or may not have left a little present under the 'My Stories' tab ;). It's a One-shot of 12 and a different OC...you could check it out...or not...or yes? :)

Thank you and Merry Christmas and a happy New Years to everyone!