"Now, then, I've got a planet to run," the Master said as he rubbed his hands together, looking around the study. The Doctor, bound and gagged upright to a trolley, looked past the Master to see Jessie had been left in a bit of a better state, merely bound to another chair, but she looked far worse than before. Wilf was the same as her, tied to a chair. "Is everybody ready?"

Naismith-Master answered first. "Six billion, seven hundred and twenty seven million, nine hundred and forty nine thousand three hundred and thirty eight versions of us awaiting orders."

"This is Washington," the President-Master spoke. "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 defenses."

The General-Master from UNIT came next. "UNIT HQ, Geneva reporting. all under your command, sir."

A Chinese-Master was next. "And this is the Central Military Commission here in Beijing, sir, with over two point five million soldiers, sir. Present arms!"

The Master smiled as the Chinese military snapped to attention. "Enough soldiers and weapons to turn this planet into a warship." He frowned, hearing the Doctor say something, muffled by his gag. "Nothing to say, Doctor? What's that?" He leaned in close, teasing. "Pardon? Sorry?"

"You let him go, you swine," Wilf sneered. "If not him, then her." He jerked his head at Jessie, whose head was lolling.

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

"Yeah? Well, I'd be proud if I was," Wilf huffed, kicking his feet a little.

The Master frowned when a phone trill cut through the silence. "But . . . that's a mobile."

"Yeah, it's mine," Wilf nodded. "Let me turn it off."

"No, no, no, no, no," the Master shook his head. "I don't think you understand. Everybody on this planet is me. And I'm not phoning you . . . so who the hell is that?"

"It's nobody," Wilf pleaded. "I tell you, it's nothing. It's probably one of them ring-back calls."

The Master went through his pockets, and pulled out a revolver. "Ooo, and look at this," he remarked. "Good man!" He threw it away and pulled out a phone, and looked at the Caller ID. "Donna," he sneered, and Jessie perked up. "Who's Donna?"

"She's no one," Wilf said quickly. "Just leave it!"

But the Master hit answer. "Gramps, don't hang up," Donna's voice begged. "You've got to help me! I ran out, but everyone was changing."

"Who is she?" the Master hissed. "Why didn't she change?"

"Gramps, I can't hear you!"

"Well, I'm thinking it might be something the Doctor and the Bad Wolf did," Wilf shrugged. "This Metacrisis."

"Oh, he loves playing with Earth girls," the Master cringed. "Ugh!"

"Are you there?" Donna asked.

The Master turned to the screen. "Find her," he ordered. "Trace the call."

"Trace the call," Naismith-Master ordered.

"Are you still there?" Donna asked. "Can you hear me?"

"Say goodbye to the freak, Granddad," the Master sneered.

"Donna, get out of there!" Wilf shouted. "Just get out of there! I'm telling you, run!"

"She's on Wessex Lane, Chiswick," Naismith-Master announced. "Open the phone lines. Everyone on Wessex Lane, Red alert."

"What do I do?" Donna asked.

"Run, sweetheart!" Wilf answered. "That's all! Run for your life!"

"There's more of them!"

"Donna? What's happening? Are you still there?"

"They're everywhere!"

"Look, I'm telling you to run, Donna! Just run, sweetheart! Just run!"

"It's not just them," Donna gasped. "I can see those things again. All of those creatures we saw. I can see the giant wasp!"

"Don't think about that, Donna, my love, not now!" Wilf pleaded.

"And it hurts! My head! It keeps getting hotter, and hotter, and hotter, and hotter, and hotter!" Donna suddenly screamed, and the phone went dead.

"Donna?" Wilf shouted, but the Doctor saw Jessie smirk a little. "What was that? Donna? Donna, are you there? Donna? Donna? Donna!"

Jessie actually giggled a little bit, and the Master darkened. He walked over to her, grabbed her hair, and yanked her head back, making her gasp. "What did you do, you little brat?" he sneered.

The Doctor might have said something, except it was blocked by the gag. "That's one of my best friends," Jessie said hoarsely, swallowing. "Did you really think I would let her die through the Metacrisis? I left a defense mechanism."

"What happened?" Wilf asked.

"She's fine, I promise. She'll just sleep."

The Master frowned, then let her go, her head snapping back, her crying out. He tore the gag off of the Doctor's mouth. "Thanks," the Doctor ground out. "But really, you shouldn't do that to her."

"Tell me, where's your TARDIS?" the Master asked.

"You could be so wonderful," the Doctor told him.

"Where is it?"

"You're a genius. You're stone cold brilliant, you are. I swear, you really are. 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. Because 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."

The Master stared at him before slumping against the windowsill. "Would it stop, then?" he asked. "The noise in my head?"

"I can help."

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

"I wonder what I'd be without you."

"Yeah."

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

"It began on Gallifrey, as children," the Master explained. "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 asked with a frown.

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

"And it hurts," Jessie whispered.

"They took me there in the dark," the Master said. "I looked into time, old man, and I heard it calling to me. Drums. The never ending drums. Listen to it. Listen!"

"Then let's find it, you and me," the Doctor encouraged.

"But it hasn't been you and me for a long time, has it?" the Master snapped. "You've had her!" He pointed at Jessie, who stiffened. "But not for long, will you?" he sneered. "Because all that energy isn't enough for her! Half a Time Lord, yes, but not enough! It's killing her, slowly, and then it'll be just you and me!"

The Doctor stared at him. "You really don't know, do you?" he asked.

The Master frowned. "Don't know what?"

The Doctor swallowed. "You kill her. You kill me."

The Master narrowed his eyes. "You're lying."

"Try me."

The Master frowned, before turning his back on the subject. "The noise exists inside my head, and now within six billion heads. Everyone on Earth can hear it. Imagine! Oh, oh, yes!"

Jessie swallowed when the Master's skeleton became visible once more. "The Gate wasn't enough," she said. "You'r still dying."

"This body was born out of death," the Master told her. "All it can do is die. But what did you say to me, back in the wasteland? You said the end of time."

"I said something is returning," the Doctor corrected. "We were shown a prophecy. That's why we need your help."

"What if I'm a part of it?" the Master asked. "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 Doctor did his best not to cringe when the Master slapped him across the face. "Where's the TARDIS?"

"No, just stop," he begged. "Just think!"

The Master narrowed his eyes. "Kill him," he told a guard by him. "I need that technology, Doctor," he said as the helmeted guard went by Wilf. "Tell me where it is, or the old man s dead."

"Don't tell him," Wilf said instantly.

"I'll kill him right now!" the Master shouted.

The Doctor swallowed, feeling his hearts begin to change their rhythm, slowing and quickening alternatively, just like Jessie's were. Those bolts of energy were beginning to effect him now, too. "Actually, the most impressive thing about you is that after all this time, you're still bone dead stupid."

"Take aim," the Master ordered.

"You've got six billion pairs of eyes, but you still can't see the obvious, can you?" the Doctor continued as the guard raised his rifle.

The Master narrowed his eyes. "Like what?" he asked.

Jessie laughed weakly, then began coughing. "That guard is one inch too tall," she managed to say.

The Master's eyes widened, and he began to turn, but the guard hit him in the head with his rifle. The guard removed its helmet, revealing Rossiter. "Oh, my God, I hit him!" he gasped. "I've never hit anyone in my life!"

"Well, come on!" Addams called as she ran in, hurrying to untie Wilf and Jessie. "We ned to get out of here, fast!"

"God bless the cactuses!" Wilf sighed.

"That's cacti," the Doctor corrected.

Rossiter glared. "That's racist!"

Jessie ran over when she was free and phased the Doctor out of his bonds. "Let's go!" Addams called, and they ran out.

"No, we need to go to the TARDIS!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"I know what I'm doing!" Addams shouted back.

They ran into the basement, only to be stopped by the Master and armed guards. "Gotcha," the Master sneered.

"You think so?" Addams countered, pressing a button on her wristwatch.

"No, no, no, no, don't!" the Doctor cried, but they all vanished to reappear on a spaceship. "Good, now get us off of this thing!"

"Don't say thanks, will you?" Addams huffed.

"He's not going to let us go," the Doctor warned.

"Oh, my goodness," Wilf gasped, looking outside. "We're in space!"

Jessie aimed her sonic screwdriver and sonicked the teleport controls. "And now they can't follow us."

"Where's your flight deck?" the Doctor asked.

"But we're safe," Addams told them. "We're a hundred thousand miles above the Earth."

"And he's got every single missile on the planet ready to fire," Jessie pointed out.

Addams paused. "Good point."

They ran out, but the Doctor went back to lead Wilf away from the window. "But we're in space!" the man said.

"Yep," the Doctor nodded, still pulling him out.

***

"We've got to close it down!" the Doctor said, moving around the controls.

"No chance, mate," Rossiter shook his head. "We're going home."

"We'er just a salvage team," Addams nodded. "Local politics has got nothing to do with us. Not unless there's a carnival. Sooner we get back to Vinvocci space, the better."

"We're not leaving," the Doctor shook his head, sonicking the controls. Everything went black, but he held up a finger. "Shush, shush, shush."

Addams frowned. "No sign of any missiles, no sign of anything. You've wrecked the place!"

"The engines are burnt out," Rossiter reported. "All we've got is auxiliary lights. Everything else is kaput. We can't move. We're stuck in orbit."

"Thanks to you, idiot!" Addams snarled before leaving with her friend.

"I know you, though," Wilf said as the Doctor eased Jessie into a sitting position, her breath coming in gasps, the Doctor's breathing beginning to get a little ragged as well. "I bet you've got a plan, haven't you? Eh?" The Doctor ignored him, paying attention to keeping Jessie as good as she could be . . . which, at the moment, without the TARDIS, wasn't exactly the best. "Come on! You've always got a trick up your sleeve. Nice little bit of the old Doctor flim-flam, sort of thing? Eh?" The Doctor gave him a look, and Wilf's eyes widened in realization. "Oh, blimey," he groaned, sitting down.

***

"Wouldn't have thought it would be the Master to end this," Jessie whispered as the Doctor worked on the wing, both of them looking up momentarily at a flash of a bright object flying to Earth.

"Save your breath," the Doctor told her.

"Not much use, is it?" Jessie asked with a small smile. "I can feel it. Liver's shutting down, and my nerves are slowing, too. Not gonna last much longer, but I can try."

The Doctor smiled, tears in his eyes. "You always were a fighter."

"Gonna be until the end of it," Jessie promised.

The Doctor kissed her forehead, cringing slightly at the contrasting temperatures he felt when Wilf came in. "Aye, aye," he told them cheerily. "Got this old tub mended?"

"Just trying to fix the heating," the Doctor answered, going back to what he was doing.

"Oh, I've always dreamed of a view like that," Wilf said, sitting down and looking out at space. "Hee hee! I'm an astronaut! It's dawn over England, look. Brand new day." He chewed his lip. "My wife's buried down there. I might never visit her again now. Do you think he changed them, in their graves?"

The Doctor stopped what he was doing to sit down by Jessie. "I'm sorry," he apologized simply.

Wilf sighed. "No, not your fault."

"Isn't it?" the Doctor asked bitterly.

"The Master was the one who did this," Jessie whispered to him. "No, it's not."

"Oh, 1948, I was over there," Wilf pointed. "End of the Mandate in Palestine. Private Mott." He chuckled. "Skinny little idiot, I was. Stood on this rooftop, in the middle of a skirmish. It was like a blizzard, all them bullets in the air. The world gone mad." He paused, looking at them, seeing Jessie had leaned down so her head was in the Doctor's lap, one of his hands running through her hair, the other one rubbing her back as his breathing became slightly more ragged, looking like he was paler as well. He swallowed. It was one thing to know that the Bad Wolf was dying. Knowing now that they both died at the same time, and seeing it happen to the Doctor as well . . . he shouldn't be babbling, should he? "Yeah, you don't want to listen to an old man's tales, do you?"

"I'm older than you," the Doctor told him.

Wilf blinked. "Get away!"

"I'm nine hundred and six."

"What, really, though?" Wilf asked in shock.

"Yeah."

"Nine hundred years," Wilf breathed. "We must look like insects to you."

"And hard to believe I'm twenty six," Jessie chuckled before coughing weakly. "A wonder he chose me."

"Who couldn't?" the Doctor retorted, kissing the top of her head. "And besides, I think you all look like giants."

Wilf shuffled. "Listen, I . . . I want you to have this." Both Time Lords stiffened when Wilf held out his revolver. "I've kept it all this time, and I thought - "

"No," the Doctor said immediately.

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

"No," the Doctor denied, pushing the gun away. "You had that gun in the mansion. You could have shot the Master there and then."

Wilf shrugged. "Too scared, I suppose."

The Doctor looked at him, then went back to rubbing Jessie's back. "I'd be proud," he said.

"Of what?" Wilf asked.

"If you were my dad."

"Oh, come on, don't start," Wilf huffed. "But you said . . . you were told they would knock four times, and then you die. Well, that's him, isn't it? The Master. That noise in his head? The Master is what killed you."

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, looking down at Jessie with a swallow. "Yeah, he did."

"Then kill him, too," Wilf said, holding out the gun.

The Doctor still shook his head. "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. I can't. I just can't."

"If the Master dies, what happens to all the people?"

"I don't know."

"What happens?"

"The template snaps," Jessie answered for him.

"What, they go back to being human?" She nodded weakly. "They're alive, and human. Then don't you dare, sir," he told the Doctor. "Don't you dare put him before them. Now, you take this." He held out the revolver, and the Doctor shook his head, but Wilf stopped him. "That's an order, Doctor. Take the gun. You take the gun and avenge her. And try not to die. You're the most wonderful people, and I don't want you to die."

The Doctor swallowed, looking down at Jessie, seeing her hand clamp around something in her pocket, and instantly, he already knew what it was. "Never," he said, shaking his head and pushing the revolver away, still. Because as much as the avenging part sounded appealing . . .

Jessie wouldn't want him to do that. And he couldn't.

"A star fell form the sky," the Master's voice said suddenly. "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?" Wilf asked as realization dawned in the Doctor's eyes, even Jessie sitting up as she realized what was going on. "What's he doing? Doctor, what does that mean?"

"A Whitepoint Star is only found on one planet," the Doctor answered. "Gallifrey. Which means it's the Time Lords. The Time Lords are returning!"

"Well, I mean, that's good, isn't it?" Wilf asked. "I mean, that's your people."

The Doctor swallowed, then took Wilf's revolver and pulled Jessie up. They ran towards the flight deck and burst in as a four beat pattern rang through. "What's that?" Addams asked.

"Coming from Earth," Rossiter answered. "It's on every single wavelength."

"But you said your people were dead," Wilf said in confusion as the Doctor went around, trying to put things together, Jessie offering whatever help she could while she could still stand. "Past tense."

"Inside the Time War," the Doctor nodded. "And the whole War was Time Locked. Like, sealed inside a bubble. It's not a bubble, but just 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," Wilf realized. "Since he was a kid."

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

"Well, then, big reunion! We'll have a party!"

"There will be no party," the Doctor said darkly.

Wilf blinked. "But I've heard you talk about your people like they're wonderful!"

"That's how I choose to remember them, the Time Lords of old," the Doctor said. "But then they went to war. An endless war, and it changed them right to the core. You've seen our enemies, Wilf. The Time Lords are more dangerous than any of them."

"Time Lords?" Addams asked. "What Lords? Anyone want to explain?"

"Aliens," Jessie offered before doubling over and groaning as she felt more of her systems shut down.

The Doctor seethed, clenching a hand on the console as he felt her pain, too. "You, this is a salvage ship, yes?" he asked. "You go trawling the asteroid fields for junk?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Addams asked.

"So you've got asteroid lasers!"

"Yeah, but they're all frazzled."

Jessie flipped a lever. "Not anymore," she said as the gun alcoves opened up.

"We're going to need you on navigation," the Doctor told Addams before turning to Rossiter. "And you, get into the laser pod. Wilfred?"

"Yeah?" Wilf asked.

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

"This ship can't move," Addams insisted. "It's dead!"

"Fix the heating?" the Doctor grinned, flipping more levers, and the entire ship lit up.

"But now they can see us!"

Jessie smirked. "I think that was the point."

"Oh, yes!" the Doctor whooped.

"This is my ship, and you're not moving it," Addams told them. "Step away from the wheel!"

"There's an old Earth saying, Captain," the Doctor said. "A phrase of great power and wisdom, and consolation to the soul in times of need."

"What's that, then?" Addams huffed.

"Allons-y!" the Doctor shouted, powering the spaceship up and flying towards Earth.

"Love from Asgard, all!" Jessie cheered, holding on tightly as they flew down.

"Come on! Come on!"

"You are blinking, flipping mad!" Addams shouted.

"You two," the Doctor told Rossiter and Wilf. "What did I say? Lasers!"

"What for?" Rossiter asked.

"Because of the missiles," Jessie answered like it was obvious. "Who's ready to fight off an entire planet?"

They ran off as Addams took over the navigation console. "We've got incoming!" she warned.

"You two, open fire!" the Doctor ordered.

Rossiter started firing. "Oh, my word!"

Lightning spat down from the sky, taking out a missile that went way too close, and the Doctor's gaze whipped over to Jessie, seeing her clinging onto the console with all her might, completely white, but still standing firm. "Hang on," he told her, seeing her bite her lip and nod in answer. "Come on, Wilf!" he shouted.

"Whoo!" Wilf cheered as he shot down a missile.

"And there's more," Addams said. "Sixteen of them." She huffed. "Oh, and another sixteen."

"Then get the rear gun lasers!" the Doctor huffed. "You two, open fire, now!"

"Yes!" Rossiter answered as the lasers fired at the missiles.

"Locking navigation," Jessie reported, moving over.

"Onto what?" Addams asked.

"England," the Doctor answered. "The Naismith mansion. Destination?"

"Fifty kliks and closing," she answered. "We've locked on to the house. We are going to stop, though." The Doctor didn't answer. "Doctor? We are going to stop?"

"Doctor?" Wilf asked. "Doctor, you said you were going to die."

"He said what?" Addams screeched.

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

The Doctor pulled the spaceship up at the last minute. He held out a hand to Jessie and smiled at her. "One last run?" he asked.

She nodded. "One last run," she answered, taking her hand and drawing her sonic blaster from her pocket.

She dropped them down through the floor, but the glass dome came sooner than she thought. They crashed through, unable to phase, and Jessie landed hard on the marble floor, groaning as she shook her head, feeling more of her systems give out. The Doctor tried to stand, but slumped down right next to her. But they were able to look up and see the five Time Lords that had come through the gate, Rassilon in the lead. "My Lord Doctor," Rassilon greeted. "My Lord Master. My Lady Bad Wolf." Jessie's head jerked up. He knew about her? "We are gathered for the end."

"Listen to me," the Doctor begged, looking up, one hand clutching Jessie's. "You can't!"

"It is a fitting paradox that our salvation comes at the hands of our most infamous child," Rassilon remarked.

"Oh, he's not saving you," the Doctor shook his head. "Don't you realize what he's doing?"

"Hey, no, hey!" The Master jumped in front of him. "That's mine. Hush." Jessie had enough energy to roll her eyes before she moaned softly and clung closer to the doctor. "Look around you," the Master told the Time Lords. "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!" Rassilon narrowed his eyes. "Oh, yes, Mr. President, sir, standing there all noble and resplendent and decrepit! Think how much better you're going to look as me!" Rassilon simply raised his metal gauntlet hand, and it began to glow. Everyone's faces began to blur once more. "No, no, don't!" the Master cried. "No, no, stop it! No, no, no, don't!"

"On your knees, mankind," Rassilon ordered as the humans were restored.

"No, that's fine, that's good," the Master nodded as the humans id. "Because you said salvation. I still saved you! Don't forget that."

"The approach begins," Rassilon said.

The Master blinked. "Approach of what?"

"Something is returning," the Doctor gasped, looking up at him. "Don't you ever listen? That was the prophecy. Not someone. Something."

"What is it?" the Master asked.

"They're not just bringing back the species," the Doctor ground out, looking up as the outline of a burning planet appeared close to Earth. "It's Gallifrey, right here, right now!"

The humans all began to scream, and ran out. "But, I did this!" the Master protested, turning to the Time Lords. "I get the credit! I'm on your side! But this is fantastic, isn't it?" Jessie turned weakly to see Wilf help the technician out of the glass booth, and she closed her eyes, slumping slightly more, struggling to get a gip on her blaster. "The Time Lords restored."

"You weren't there in the final days of the War," the Doctor told him, looking up, his arms shaking as he struggled to keep himself up, the full effect of Jessie's dying starting to take its toll on him. "You never saw what was born. 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 turned into hell, and that's what you've opened, right above the Earth! Hell is descending!"

"My kind of world," the Master sneered.

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

"We will initiate the Final Sanction," Rassilon announced. "The end of time will come at my hand. The rupture will continue until it rips the Time Vortex apart."

The Master stared, gaping at them. "That's suicide!" he sputtered.

"We will ascend to become creatures of the consciousness above," Rassilon said. "Free of these bodies, free of time, and cause and effect, while creation itself ceases to be."

"You see now?" the Doctor rasped. "That's what they were planning in the final days of the War. I had to stop them."

The Master swallowed, then turned. "Then take me with you, Lord President! Let me ascend into glory."

"You are diseased, albeit a disease of our own making," Rassilon answered, raising his gauntlet. "No more."

The clicks of two guns stopped them. The Doctor had finally managed to get to his feet, aiming at Rassilon, even though his stance was weak. Jessie had come to a crouch in front of the Master, her own blaster drawn as she tried to stand, but her aim was true, also at Rassilon. Rassilon just chuckled. "Choose your enemy well," he warned. "We are many. The Master is but one."

"But he's the President," the Master said. "Kill him, and Gallifrey could be yours." He paused when Jessie turned to face him, her blaster right in his face. He swallowed. "He's to blame, not me!" He tried to say when he paused. "Oh," he chuckled. "The link is inside my head. Kill me, the link gets broken, they go back. And you want revenge. Go on, do it!" he yelled at her. "Prove to the Doctor you're still the monster you believe you are!"

Jessie's eyes narrowed, but she kept her gun trained on him as the Doctor kept his aimed at Rassilon. "The final act of your lives is murder," Rassilon said. "But will you kill one of us, or both?"

Jessie felt the Doctor stiffen behind her, and she risked a quick look over his shoulder. Her eyes widened when she recognized the woman looking up from a Weeping Angel pose, a small smile on her face, her gaze looking from the Doctor to her. She smiled a bit wider before her gaze moved again. Jessie looked around, seeing what she had seen, and she nodded at the Master. "Out of the way," she ordered.

The Master blinked, but then grinned and dodged to the side. Jessie shot the Whitepoint Star in its place, and the Time Lords screamed as the link was destroyed. "The link is broken!" she announced, turning back around, only to stumble and collapse against the Doctor, who fumbled to grab her before he could collapse as well.

"Back to the Time War, Rassilon!" the Doctor shouted. "Back into hell!"

"You'll die with me, Doctor!" Rassilon sneered, raising his gauntlet.

The Doctor swallowed. "I know."

The Master looked from the woman to Rassilon, before he made up his mind. He'd shot at the woman who had made his friend happy, and truthfully, he wasn't proud of that. But if he was right . . . whether Rassilon killed him or not, it made no difference. Both of them were dying. The least he could do was do this for them. "Get out of the way," he ordered them both.

The Doctor pulled Jessie to the side as the Master shot Rassilon with his energy. "You did this to me!" he accused. "All of my life! You made me!" And with each count off, he shot an even greater amount of energy. "One! Two! Three! Four!"

Rassilon fell to his knees, and the Time Lords and the Master were sucked away. The Doctor wrapped his arms around Jessie and covered her as a bright light flooded everywhere, knocking them both out.

***

The Doctor was the first to stir, albeit very weakly. He heard a soft moan next to him and quickly flipped over, seeing Jessie paler than ever, breathing in gasps, but she was still alive. "We're alive," he told her with a smile. "We're still alive!"

She gave him a weak smile, when a single sound made both of them freeze.

Knock, knock, knock, knock.

Jessie whimpered as the Doctor closed his eyes before he straightened as the four knocks repeated themselves. Then he turned to the glass cubicle as Wilf knocked twice more in that four beat pattern. "They gone, then?" Wilf asked as the Doctor made his way over, Jessie still slumped on the ground, almost entirely spent. "Yeah. Good-o! If you could let me out?"

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded slowly.

"Only, this thing seems to be making a bit of a noise," Wilf nodded to the controls.

"The Master left the Nuclear Bolt running. It's gone into overload."

"And that's bad, is it?"

"No, because all the excess radiation gets vented inside there," the Doctor said, gesturing to the glass booth. "Vinvocci glass contains it. All five hundred thousand rads, about to flood that thing."

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

"Except it's gone critical," the Doctor said with a swallow. "Touch one control, and it floods. Even this would set it off." He held up the sonic screwdriver.

Wilf swallowed. "I'm sorry."

"Sure."

"Look, just leave me - "

"OK, right then, I will," the Doctor snarled, backing away. "Because you had to go in there, didn't you? You had to go and get stuck, oh, yes! Because that's who you are, Wilfred. You were always this! Waiting for me all this time."

"No, really, just leave me," Wilf pleaded. "I'm an old man, Doctor. I've had my time."

The Doctor opened his mouth to retort again when he paused. He swallowed, looking down at Jessie. "I know," he admitted with a deep breath. "Believe me, I know." He crouched down by her, brushing his knuckles over her pulses, feeling them jump. "But this would be so much easier. I asked her once, 'what would you do to save the person you love?'" He looked up. "It kills me more to see her this way than to go through it with her." He stood. "And if this ends it sooner, then so be it. We've lived too long."

"No," Wilf shook his head as the Doctor moved to the other side. "No, no, please, please, don't! No, don't! Please, don't! Please!"

"Wilfred," the Doctor interrupted, giving him a look. "It's my honor." Wilf swallowed. "Better be quick. Three, two, one."

The Doctor opened the other side and shut the door quickly. Wilf ran out of his side, and he swore his heart broke when Jessie gave an agonizing scream, curling in on herself. The Doctor, in the booth being flooded with radiation, sank to the ground, his face contorted in pain, but still, he didn't make a sound. Jessie started to sob, her hand over her mouth as she tried to get to her feet. Wilf quickly ran over to give her a hand, and she stumbled over to the booth, sinking back to the ground. Her hand met the glass where the Doctor's was, and after a few moments, his hand weakly rose to cover hers. "Hi," she said softly.

The Doctor gave her a small smile. "Hi," he repeated, pain in his voice.

"Still with us?" Wilf asked.

"The system's dead," the Doctor nodded, slowly getting to his feet. "I absorbed it all. Whole thing's kaput." He swung the door open, and he rolled his eyes. "Oh, now it opens, yeah."

Jessie went straight into his arms, both of them standing there for a few seconds, before Wilf cleared his throat. "Well, there we are, then," he said. "Safe and sound. Mind you' you're in hell of a state. You've got some battle scars there."

Jessie raised a hand and brushed one of the Doctor's cuts, and under her touch, they sealed up. Her face blanched, and Wilf blinked. "But they've . . . your face. And yours!" Jessie blinked, but she looked in her reflection to the glass to see the color returning to her, and she felt a slow burn through her body. "How did you do that?"

The Doctor swallowed, cupping Jessie's face. "It's started," was all he said.

***

"Oh, she's smiling," the Doctor huffed, seeing Sylvia standing in the doorway as the three of them exited the TARDIS. "As if today wasn't bad enough." He turned to look at Wilf. "Anyway, don't go thinking this is goodbye, Wilf. We'll see you again, one more time."

"What do you mean?" Wilf asked with a frown. "When's that?"

"Just keep looking," Jessie answered, one hand clutching the TARDIS doorframe for support. "We'll be there."

"Where are you going?" Wilf asked.

The Doctor smiled tightly. "To get our reward."

***

They will knock four times. Wilf knocked four times and caused the Doctor to die. The Master knocked four times and shot Jessie. Ta da. :(

I hope you liked that little twist at the end, how the Doctor was more willing to step into the radiation chamber. He really would do anything for Jessie, I think.

Hint for the next Bad Wolf: she's only four years younger than Matt Smith. A much better age difference than the 15 between David Tennant and Teresa Palmer. :P

Hopefully the interlude will be up soon!