Jessie concentrated, and the power surged from the lights into her, and she shot a stream of electricity over Natasha and to the Futurekind. They screamed and fell back, and the Doctor rushed to Jack, pulling one of his arms off. "Hold still!" he ordered, using the sonic screwdriver on his Vortex Manipulator. "Don't move! Hold it still!"

"I'm telling you, it's broken!" Jack insisted. "It hasn't worked for years!"

"That's because you didn't have me," the Doctor replied snarkily before nodding. "Martha, Natasha, Clint, Bad Wolf, grab hold, now!"

Jessie reached over and clasped down, and the others followed suit, and the Doctor triggered the Vortex Manipulator.

The floor disappeared under Jessie's feet, and her head spun before she was tossed onto an alleyway street. "Ow!" she shouted, wincing and rolling over.

"Oh, my head," Martha groaned.

"God, we are never doing that again," Natasha told Jack.

"Time travel without a capsule," the Doctor commented, wincing and sitting up. "That's a killer."

"Still," Jack commented as they headed for the streets outside. "At least we made it. Earth, twenty-first century, by the looks of it. Talk about lucky."

"That wasn't luck," Jessie grumbled, rubbing her head as they walked. "That was him."

Jack swatted her. "The moral is, if you're going to get stuck at the end of the universe, get stuck with an ex-Time Agent and his Vortex Manipulator."

"But this Master fellow," Clint said. "If he's got the TARDIS, he could be anywhere in time and space!"

"No, he's here," the Doctor replied. "Trust me."

"Who is he, anyway?" Natasha asked.

"And that voice at the end, that wasn't the Professor," Martha put in.

"If the Master's a Time Lord, then he must have regenerated," Jack mused.

"What does that mean?" Martha asked.

Jessie stopped. "I told you."

Martha blushed. "Oh, right. Sorry. But how are we going to find him?"

"I'll know him the moment I see him," the Doctor replied. "Time Lords always do."

"But, hold on," Martha said slowly as they looked around. "If he could be anyone . . . we missed the election! But it can't be!"

Jessie stopped short and her jaw dropped. "Um . . . I found him."

They all looked up at the TVs on lamp posts. "I said I knew that voice!" Martha blurted. "When he spoke inside the TARDIS! I've heard that voice hundreds of times! I've seen him!"

"We all have," Clint told her.

"That was the voice of Harold Saxon," Natasha agreed.

"That's him," the Doctor gasped. "He's Prime Minister! The Master is Prime Minister of Great Britain." He blinked when the man kissed the pretty blonde walking with him. "The Mater and his wife?"

"Says the Time Lord that's currently engaged," Jessie pointed out.

"Well, that's different," he sputtered.

"This country has been sick," the Master reported to the cameras. "This country needs healing. This country needs medicine. In fact, I'd go so far to say that what this country really needs right now . . . is a Doctor."

Natasha muttered something dark in Russian, and Jessie grinned when the TARDIS didn't translate. Jessie couldn't help but snicker as they headed back down the street.

***

"Home," Martha said as she opened the door.

"What have you got?" the Doctor asked when they got inside. "Computer? Laptop? Anything. Jack, who are you phoning? You can't tell anyone we're here!"

Jack shook his head, phone to his ear. "Just some friend of mine, but there's no reply."

"So no SHIELD?" Natasha guessed.

"If you did, I'd never hear the end of it from FitzSimmons," the Doctor muttered.

"Here you go," Martha said, finding her laptop. "Any good?"

"I can show you the Saxon websites," Clint offered. "He's been around for ages."

"That's so weird, though," Martha commented. "It's the day after the election. That's only four days after I met you!"

"We went flying all around the universe while he was here all the time," the Doctor agreed.

"You going to tell us who he is?" Natasha asked, sitting on the edge of the couch and folding her arms.

"He's a Time Lord," the Doctor said in a "duh" voice.

"What about the rest of it?" Natasha asked. "I mean, who'd call himself the Master?"

"Some idiot who wanted to give his psychologist cardiac arrest," Jessie snorted.

The Doctor shook his head. "That's all you need to know. Come on!" He banged the top of the laptop. "Come on! Show me Harold Saxon!"

Martha switched on her answering machine, and Tish's voice rang through in excitement. "Martha, where are you? I've got this new job. You won't believe it! It's weird, they just phoned me up out of the blue! I'm working for - !"

Martha switched it off again. "Oh, like it matters!"

Jessie watched as videos of people supporting the Master flew across the laptop screen, narrowing her eyes. "Wait a minute. He's gone back as far as Canary Wharf, even further, and we never even noticed?"

"Former Minister of Defense," Jack told them. "First came to prominence when he shot down the Racnoss on Christmas Eve. Nice work, by the way."

Jessie waved a hand. "Did they get the Thames back up?"

"Oh, thanks," the Doctor added.

"But he goes back years!" Martha added. "He's famous! Everyone knows his story. Look." She pointed to the screen. "Cambridge University, Rugby blue. Won the Athletics thing. Wrote a novel, went into business, marriage, everything. He's got a whole life!"

Natasha worked on tea for them all. "But if he's got the TARDIS, then maybe the Master went back in time and has been living here for decades."

"No," the Doctor replied.

"Why not?" Jack asked. "Worked for me."

"When he was stealing the TARDIS, the only thing we could do was fuse the coordinates," Jessie explained. "That was what I was doing, and then the Doctor helped. We locked them permanently. He can only travel between the year one hundred trillion and the last place the TARDIS landed, which is right here, right now."

"Not a little leeway?" Clint asked.

Jessie looked at the Doctor. "Well, eighteen months, tops," he conceded. "The most he could have been here is eighteen months."

"Canary Wharf and the Racnoss," Jessie agreed.

"So how has he managed all this?" the Doctor asked, waving at the screen. "The Master was always sort of hypnotic, but this is on a massive scale!"

"I was going to vote for him," Martha mused.

Jessie tilted her head. "Really?"

"Well, it was before I even met you," she pointed out. "And I liked him."

Jack nodded. "Me, too."

"Why do you say that?" the Doctor asked. "What was his policy? What did he stand for?"

"I don't know," Martha admitted, her voice taking on a dreamy quality. "He always sounded good . . . like you could trust him." She began tapping her fingers absently. "Just nice. He spoke about . . . I can't really remember, but it was good. Just the sound of his voice - "

"What's that?" Clint asked, sitting straight.

Martha jumped. "What?"

"That," Clint replied, pointing at her fingers. "That tapping, the rhythm. Why were you doing that?"

"I don't know!" Martha squeaked, looking down. "It's nothing! It's just . . . I don't know!"

There was a fanfare from the laptop, and a pop up said "SAXON BROADCAST ALL CHANNELS." "Oh, lookie," Jessie commented, turning on the TV. "Our lord and master is speaking to his kingdom."

"Britain, Britain, Britain," the Master sighed. "What extraordinary times we've had. Just a few years ago, this world was so small. And then they came, out of the unknown, falling from the skies. You've seen it happen. Big Ben destroyed."

"Slitheen."

"A spaceship over London."

"Sycorax."

"All those ghosts and metal men."

"Cyber - " She cut off when the Doctor placed a hand over her mouth.

"The Christmas star that came to kill. Time and time again, and the government told you nothing. Well, not me. Not Harold Saxon. Because my purpose here today is to tell you this: citizens of Great Britain, I have been contacted."

"What?" Natasha asked in surprise.

"A message for humanity, from beyond the stars."

A sphere popped up and spoke with a feminine voice. "People of Earth, we come in peace. We bring great gifts. We bring technology and wisdom and protection. All we ask in return is your friendship."

"Ooo, sweet," the Master cooed. "And this species has identified itself. They are called the Toclafane."

Jessie blinked. "What?" she and the Doctor exclaimed at the same time.

"And tomorrow morning, they will appear. Not in secret, but to all of you. Diplomatic relations with a new species will begin. Tomorrow, we take our place in the universe. Every man, woman, and child. Every teacher and chemist and lorry driver and farmer. Oh, I don't know. Every . . . " The Master smirked. "Medical student?"

Clint jumped forward and turned the TV around, and his eyes widened at the bomb on the back. "Out!" he shouted.

The Doctor grabbed the laptop, and Jessie ran out, holding the door. The six of them ran out onto the street as the house exploded behind them.

***

Martha stared at her house in shock at what the Master had just done. "All right?" the Doctor asked.

"Fine," Jack replied.

"Yeah," Natasha agreed.

"Fine," Clint put in.

"I'm all right," the Bad Wolf replied.

Martha pulled out her phone and began to dial at a rapid speed. "Martha?" the Doctor asked, turning to her. "What are you doing?"

"He knows about me," she said quickly. "What about my family?"

"Don't tell them anything!"

"I'll do what I like!" Martha snapped back, raising her phone to her ear. "Mum? Oh, my God, you're there!"

"Of course I'm here, sweetheart," Francine replied. "You all right?"

"I'm fine," Martha replied breathlessly. "I'm fine. Mum, has there been anyone asking about me?"

"Martha . . . I think perhaps you should come round."

"I can't," she replied. "Not now."

"No, but it's your father. We've been talking, and we thought we might give it another go."

Martha narrowed her eyes. "Don't be so daft. Since when?"

"Come to the house! We can celebrate!"

"You said you'd never get back with him in a million years."

"Ask him yourself."

There was a moment as the phone was passed over, and Clive was next to speak. "Martha, it's me."

"Dad, what are you doing there?" Martha asked incredulously.

"Like your mother said. Come round. We can explain everything."

"Dad?" Martha asked, taking a shaky breath. "Just say yes or no. Is there someone else there?"

The Bad Wolf looked at her as there was a pause, then Clive shouted. "Yes! Just run! Listen to me! Just run! I don't know who they are!"

Martha's eyes widened as Francine came back. "Martha, don't listen to him!"

"Dad?" Martha asked in shock. "What's going on? Dad?!"

The phone hung up, and Martha ran for her car. "We've got to help them!"

"That's exactly what they want!" the Doctor snapped. "It's a trap!"

"I don't care!" Martha shouted back.

"We'll stay," Natasha told them.

"Go get them," Clint added.

The Bad Wolf got in front, the Doctor and Jack crowding in back, and Martha put her foot down all the way. "Speed dial, two," Martha told the Bad Wolf.

She did and held the phone to Martha's ear. "Come on, Tish," she muttered. "Pick up!"

"Martha, I can't talk right now," Tish told her hurriedly. "We just made first contact. Did you see?" There was a pause. "What are you doing? Get off! Linda, tell them!"

"What's happening?" Martha asked in shock before the phone went dead. "Tish!" She glared at the Doctor over her shoulder. "It's your fault! It's all your fault!"

***

Jessie's eyes widened when they pulled up in front of the Joneses house, and they saw Francine being tugged into a police van. "Uh . . . "

"Martha, get out of here!" Francine shouted as armed police stepped up. "Get out!"

"Reverse!" Jessie called. "Martha, we've got to get out, now!"

Martha turned tail as bullets started to fire at them. "The only place we can go? Planet Earth," Martha snorted. "Great!"

"Careful!" the Doctor warned when they nearly careened into another vehicle.

Jack leaned over. "Martha, listen to me. Do as I say. We've got to ditch this car. Pull over, right now!"

***

"Leo!" Martha exclaimed as they finally ditched the car, the Bad Wolf sending a quick alert to Clint and Natasha. "Oh, thank God! Leo, you got to listen to me. Where are you?"

"I'm in Brighton," her brother replied. "Yeah, we came down with Boxer. Did you see that Saxon thing on telly?"

"Leo, just listen to me. Don't go home. I'm telling you, don't phone Mum or Dad or Tish. You've got to hide."

"Shut up," Leo laughed.

"On my life," Martha swore. "You've got to trust me! Go to Boxer's. Stay with him. Don't tell anyone. Just hide!"

"Ooo, a nice little game of hide and seek." Martha stiffened as a new voice joined the conversation. "I love that. But I'll find you, Martha Jones. Been a long time since we saw each other. Must be . . . what, one hundred trillion years?"

"Let them go, Saxon!" Martha shouted at the Master, and the Doctor spun around instantly. "Do you hear me?! Let them go!"

He grabbed her phone and held it to his ear. "I'm here," he said.

Martha could hear the Master's reply. "Doctor."

***

"Master," the Doctor acknowledged, beckoning to Jessie, and they headed away from the shopping area so they could sit down, and he held the phone so she could hear, too.

"I like it when you use my name," the Master commented.

"You chose it," the Doctor countered. "Psychiatrist's field day."

"As you chose yours, and that lovely young lady with you. Beautiful rings she wears. I wonder what you healed her from to make her agree to such a thing." Jessie narrowed her eyes angrily. "The man who makes people better. How sanctimonious is that?"

"So. Prime Minister, then."

"I know. It's good, isn't it?"

"Who are those creatures?" the Doctor asked. "Because there's no such thing as the Toclafane. It's just a made up name, like the Boogeyman."

"Do you remember all those fairy tales about the Toclafane when we were kids back home?" the Master asked. "Where is it, Doctor?"

"Gone," Jessie replied for him.

"How can Gallifrey be gone?" the Master demanded.

"It burned," the Doctor replied.

"And the Time Lords?"

"Dead. And the Daleks, more or less. A good friend of mine decides she likes taking them into her own capable hands whenever we run into them. It's been working so far." She winked at him, and he gave her a small smile. "What happened to you?"

"The Time Lords only resurrected me because they knew I'd be the perfect warrior for a Time War," the Master replied. "I was there when the Dalek Emperor took control of the Cruciform."

"Never liked him," Jessie commented nonchalantly. "Maybe that's why I poured the Time Vortex into his head."

The Master hesitated. "I saw it," he said, a tremor in his voice. "I ran. I ran so far. Made myself human so they would never find me because I was so scared."

"I know," the Doctor whispered.

"All of them? But not you, and I don't remember a part Time Lady on Gallifrey. Which must mean - "

"I was the only one who could end it," the Doctor replied. "And I tried, I did. I tried everything."

"What did it feel like, though?" the Master asked, goading him on. "Two almighty civilizations burning. Oh, tell me, how did that feel?"

"Stop it!" the Doctor growled.

"Oh, you must have been like God!"

"Yeah, well, he was alone ever since because some coward decided to run," Jessie spat into the phone. "But not anymore. He's got both of us. All we've got is each other."

"My dear, are you asking me out on a date when you're engaged to be married?"

Jessie's jaw dropped, and the Doctor shook his head at her. "No," he warned. "You could stop this right now," he said out loud into the phone. "We could leave this planet. We can fight across the constellations, if that's what you want, but not on Earth."

"Too late."

"Why do you say that?"

"The drumming. Can't you hear it? I thought it would stop, but it never does. Never ever stops. Inside my head, the drumming, Doctor. The constant drumming."

"I could help you," the Doctor offered. "Please, let me help."

"It's everywhere. Listen, listen, listen! Here come the drums! Here come the drums!"

Jessie jerked her head up when the pound of a four beat drum rang in her head. She whimpered, reaching for her temples, and the Doctor glared at the phone. "What have you done?" he demanded. "Tell me how you've done this! What are those creatures? Tell me!"

"Ooo, look," the Master commented gleefully. "You're on TV!"

"Stop it," the Doctor ordered. "Answer me!"

"No, really, you're on telly. You and your little band, which, by the way, is ticking every demographic box. So, congratulations on that. Look! There you are!" Jessie looked in the window of one of the shops to see her, the Doctor, Martha, Jack, Clint, and Natasha labeled as Terrorist Suspects. "You're public enemies number one, two, three, four, five, and six. Oh, and you can tell handsome Jack that I've sent his little gang off on a wild goose chase to the Himalayas, so he won't be getting any help from them."

Natasha and Clint ran from the street nearby, and Jack and Martha joined them as well. "Now, go on! Off you go! Why not start by turning to the right?"

Jessie turned and narrowed her eyes at the camera nearby. "He can see us," she warned, and she, Natasha, and Clint simultaneously shot the camera down.

"Oh, you public menaces!" the Master laughed. "Better start running! Go on! Run!"

"He's got control of everything!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"What do we do?" Martha asked.

"We've got nowhere to go!" Jack agreed.

"Doctor, what do we do?!"

"Run, Doctor!" the Master shouted. "Run for your life!"

"We run," the Doctor replied, and took off for an alleyway.

"I said, RUN!"

***

"How was it?" Jack asked Martha when she returned late that evening.

"I don't think anyone saw me," she replied. "Anything new?"

"I've got this tuned to government wavelengths so we can follow what Saxon's doing."

"I think she meant her family," Jessie said as she watched Natasha's fingers fly across the keyboard.

"It still says the Jones family taken in for questioning," Natasha reported before looking up. "Tell you what, though. No mention of Leo."

"He's not as daft as he looks," Martha commented before wincing. "I'm talking about my brother on the run. How did this happen?"

Jack munched on some of the fries Martha had gotten and eyed them. "Nice chips."

"Actually, they're not bad," Clint agreed. "But I still call them French fries."

"You're American," the Doctor passed off with a wave.

Jessie raised an eyebrow. "And I'm an Aussie."

"Aussie Wolf," the Doctor told her.

She smirked. "Martian boy." "We need to see her again some time."

"Some day. After all this."

"So, Doctor," Jack said, sitting down. "Who is he? How come the ancient society of Time Lords created a psychopath?"

"And what is he to you?" Martha agreed. "Like a colleague, or - "

"A friend," the Doctor replied. "At first."

Martha stared at him. "I thought you were going to say he was your secret brother or something."

That earned her more than one incredulous look. "You've been watching too much TV," Clint commented.

"But all the legends of Gallifrey made it sound so perfect," Jack told him.

"Not everything's perfect," Jessie mused.

"Well, perfect to look at, maybe," the Doctor conceded. "And it was. It was beautiful. They used to call it the Shining World of the Seven Systems. And on the Continent of Wild Endeavor, in the Mountains of Solace and Solitude, there stood the Citadel of the Time Lords, the oldest and most mighty race in the universe, looking down on the galaxies below." He smiled a little sadly, thinking of home and feeding his memories into Jessie so she could see what he was, and she was completely blown away, so much that she closed her eyes so she could see them clearer. "Sworn never to interfere, only to watch. Children of Gallifrey, taken from their families age of eight to enter the Academy. And some say that's when it all began, when he was a child. That's when the Master saw eternity. As a novice, he was taken for initiation. He stood in front of the Untempered Schism. It's a gap in the fabric of reality through which could be seen the whole of the Vortex."

"And it's a lot," Jessie said hoarsely, remembering how pounding her headache had been when she'd woke up in the TARDIS, and she held out her hand.

The Doctor gripped it tightly in reply. "More than you can imagine," he agreed. "You stand there, eight years old, staring at the raw power of time and space, just a child. Some would be inspired. Some would run away. And some would go mad."

"What about you?" Natasha asked.

Jessie snorted so loudly at that, Clint jumped a little from where he sat. "Are you kidding me? You're talking to the Doctor here. And what's the first word he told me?"

He gave her a grin. "Run. I was one of the ones that ran away. I never stopped."

There was a beep from Jack's Vortex Manipulator, and he looked at it. "Encrypted channel with files attached. Don't recognize it."

"Patch it through to the laptop," the Doctor replied.

Jessie watched as Jack, Natasha, and Clint exchanged hesitant looks, and she narrowed her eyes. "What?" she asked.

Jack swallowed. "Well . . . since we're telling stories . . . there's something we haven't told you."

And a familiar logo appeared on the laptop. Jessie's face blanched of all color entirely and she ripped her hand from the Doctor's so she could back away from the laptop, staring at it in shock, feeling her hearts race. She could still feel the wind ripping through her, hear the sickening crack of when she'd died. Martha was by her side instantly, wrapping both arms around her, and Jessie returned the hug, her eyes lifting from the laptop to Jack, who looked absolutely miserable, to the SHIELD agents, who, as usual, didn't show much emotion.

The Doctor took one look at the screen and his eyes narrowed as he glared at Jack with the full force of the Oncoming Storm. "Torchwood," he said softly. "You work for Torchwood?"

"I swear to you, it's different," Jack quickly said. "It's changed. There's only about half a dozen of us now."

"Everything Torchwood did, including being the cause of Jessie's death, and you - all three of you - are a part of it?!"

"The old regime was destroyed at Canary Wharf," Jack interrupted. "I rebuilt it. I changed it. And when Agents Romanoff and Barton found me, they helped. When I did that, I did for you in your honor. And in remembrance of the little sister I thought was dead."

"Well, she's not dead now, and she's scared to death," Martha told Jack, not loosening her grip on Jessie. "So play that so we can get this over with."

"Thank you," Jessie whispered to her.

The Doctor hit the play button for her, and they watched an older woman sit at a desk. "If I haven't returned to my desk by twenty two hundred," she began, "this file will be emailed to Torchwood. Which means if you're watching this, then I'm . . . " She cleared her throat. "Anyway. The Saxon files are attached. But take a look at the Archangel document. That's when it all started. When Harry Saxon became Minister in charge of launching the Archangel network."

"What's the Archangel Network?" the Doctor asked.

"I've got Archangel," Martha replied, pulling out her phone. "Everyone's got it."

"Come to think of it, SHIELD does, too," Natasha said, pulling her phone out, too.

"It's a mobile phone network," Jack explained. "Because, look - " He pulled up the file, revealing an image of a satellite. "It's gone worldwide. They've got fifteen satellites in orbit. Even the other networks, they're all carried by - "

"The phones!" Jessie exclaimed loudly

Jack jumped. "What?"

"Oh, you're brilliant!" the Doctor shouted, kissing her quickly before grabbing Martha's phone. "It's in the phones! Oh, I said he was a hypnotist! Wait, wait, wait. Hold on." He banged Martha's phone on the table, and it began to beep the pattern Jessie had heard in her head. "There it is! That rhythm! It's everywhere, ticking away in the subconscious."

"What is it?" Natasha asked, eyeing her phone like it wanted to kill her. "Mind control?"

"No, no, no, no, no," the Doctor replied, shaking his head. "It's subtler than that. Any stronger, and people would question it. But contained in that rhythm, in layers of code, Vote Saxon. Believe in me. Whispering to the world."

Jessie's head shot up. "But then that's how we didn't know he was here!" she blurted. "That's how he must've hid himself! The code cancelled him out!"

"Any way you can stop it?" Clint asked.

"Not from down here," the Doctor replied. "But now we know how he's doing it."

"And we can fight back," Martha said.

The Doctor beamed. "Oh, yes!" He took apart the laptop, and Jessie started taking parts out of Clint's, Natasha's, and Martha's phones and began helping him sonic parts onto TARDIS keys. "Six TARDIS keys," the Doctor began to explain. "Six pieces of the tARDIS, all with low level perception properties because the TARDIS is designed to blend in. Well, sort of. But now, the Archangel Network's got a second low level signal. Wield the key to the network, and Martha - " He took a key and stood in front of her. "Look at me. You can see me, yes?"

"Yes."

"What about . . . now?" He slipped the key around his neck, and Martha blinked, her gaze moving more than once, and she kept blinking. "No, I'm here. Look at me."

"It's like I know you're there, but I don't want to know," Martha said in confusion.

"And, back again." The Doctor took the key off. "See? It just shifts your perception a tiny little bit. Doesn't make us invisible, just unnoticed."

"It's like when you fancy someone, and they don't even know you exist," Jessie explained. "That's what it's like."

The Doctor cringed. "Oh, thanks for that," he muttered.

"You still owe me from 1969," she told him, patting his arm. "Now, come on!"

***

When they got to the airfield, the Doctor kept them on the edge. "Just observe," he said lowly. "We just - "

"Oh my God!" Jessie whispered in shock when she saw who arrived with the President of the United States.

Natasha swore again in Russian, and Clint's eyes widened. The Doctor's eyes narrowed as Coulson's SHIELD team trailed after the President, eyeing the Master with the same distrust the President was. "This can't be good," he muttered.

"Who are they?" Martha asked.

"Phil Coulson, Melinda May, Leo Fitz, and Jemma Simmons," Natasha replied. "They've been searching harder for the Doctor than anyone else." She looked at the Doctor. "If they see you - "

"I'm dead."

"Basically."

"So avoid being seen. Got it."

The President and the SHIELD team went to the plane, and a police van pulled up. The Master ran over and gleefully greeted Clive and Francine Jones as they were pulled out.

"Oh my God," Martha gasped, making to run over there.

The Doctor put a hand on her arm. "Don't move," he told her.

"But the - !"

"Don't."

Martha glared as the Master watched Clive and Francine be pushed around. "I'm going to kill him."

"What say I use this perception filter to walk up behind him and break his neck?" Jack offered.

Jessie glared at him. "Now that sounds like Torchwood."

Jack winced. "Still a good plan."

"He's a Time Lord, which makes him my responsibility," the Doctor told him. "I'm not here to kill him. I'm here to save him."

"Aircraft carrier Valiant," Jack said, looking at his Vortex Manipulator. "It's a UNIT ship at fifty eight point two north, ten point oh two east."

"How do we get on board?" Martha asked.

"Does that thing work as a teleport?" the Doctor asked.

Jack nodded. "Since you revamped it, yeah. Coordinates set."

The rest of them layered their hands on top of Jack's, and the Vortex Manipulator transported them onboard the Valiant. Natasha groaned, rolling over onto her stomach. "Oh, that thing is rough!"

"I've had worse nights," Jack commented as they stood up. "Welcome to the Valiant."

"It's dawn?" Martha asked, moving to a porthole. "Hold on. I thought this was a ship. Where's the sea?"

"A ship for the twenty first century," Clint replied, walking behind her. "Protecting the skies of planet Earth."

"It's like the Helicarrier," Jessie guessed.

Clint nodded. "Exactly."

The Doctor took off through the rooms, and Jessie followed close behind when she heard a telepathic voice crying out. She stopped, and Jack nearly ran into her. "We've got no time for sightseeing!" he complained.

"No, that's not it," Jessie replied, holding up a finger. "Hold on. Shh . . . " She listened, and then she beamed. "I can hear it!"

The Doctor turned, a smile on his face. "You can, too?"

"Hear what?" Natasha asked, looking around.

"Doctor, my family's onboard," Martha told him.

"And the SHIELD team," Clint added.

"Brilliant," he replied, pointing. "This way!"

Jessie nearly overtook him, and she grinned when she opened the door and saw what was inside. "There she is!"

"Oh, yes!" Martha cheered, high fiving Jessie when she saw the TARDIS.

"What's it doing on the Valiant?" Natasha wondered as Jessie unlocked the TARDIS.

She took one step inside, and her knees buckled as the full force of the TARDIS's pain shot through her. The Doctor's arm went around her as they stared around the inside of the TARDIS, completely changed and bathed in red light. "What the hell's he done?" Jack shouted in fury.

"Don't touch it," the Doctor warned as Clint went to look around.

"I'm not going to," Clint replied.

"What's he done, though? Sounds like it's sick," Martha said.

"It can't be," the Doctor whispered. "No, no, no, no, no, no, it can't be!"

"Doctor, what is it?" Natasha asked.

"He's cannibalized the TARDIS," Jessie whispered, laying a hand on the railing as she slowly stood up.

"Is this what I think it is?" Jack asked.

"It's a paradox machine," the Doctor agreed, tapping a gauge on the mesh on the console. "As soon as this hits red, it activates. At this speed, it'll trigger at two minutes past eight."

"First contact is at eight, then two minutes later - " Jack said.

"What's it for?" Martha asked. "What does a paradox machine do?"

"More important," Natasha cut in. "Can you stop it?"

"Not till I know what it's doing," the Doctor replied. "Touch the wrong bit, blow up the solar system."

"Then we've got to get to the Master," Clint decided.

"Yeah," Jack agreed. "How are we going to stop him?"

"Oh, I've got a way," the Doctor replied, and they all stared at him, and he blinked. "Sorry. Didn't I mention it?"

***

Jessie slowly slipped into the flight deck, listening to the President talk, seeing Coulson and May close by, FitzSimmons sitting at the table with the Master and his wife, Lucy. "This plan," Jack hissed as the rest of them came in. "You going to tell us?"

"If I can get this around the Master's neck, cancel out his perception, they'll see him for real," the Doctor replied, holding up his key. "It's just hard to go unnoticed with everyone on red alert. If they stop me, you've all got a key."

"Yes, sir," Jack replied.

"I'll get him," Martha vowed.

Jessie looked at him. "Just be careful," she told him.

He kissed her in reply. "Don't lower those barriers," he told her, pointing to his head. "If he gets into your head - "

"He won't."

He nodded and kept slipping towards the Master. "And I ask you now, I ask of the human race, to join with me in welcoming our friends," the President was saying. "I give you the Toclafane." Four spheres appeared around him, and the SHIELD agents, Natasha and Clint included, straightened. "My name is Arthur Coleman Winters, President Elect of the United States of America, and designated representative of the United Nations. I welcome you to the planet Earth and its associated moon," the President told them.

"You're not the Master."

"We like the Mr. Master."

"We don't like you."

Winters blinked. "I can be master, if you so wish. I will accept mastery over you, if that is God's will."

"Mr. President, sir - " Coulson tried to step in.

"Man is stupid."

"Master is our friend."

"Where's my Master, pretty please?"

"Oh, all right, then," the Master said, standing up. "It's me. Ta da!" He grinned as everyone turned to him as he went up to the spheres. "Sorry, sorry, I have this effect. People just get obsessed. Is it the smile? Is it the aftershave? Is it the capacity to laugh at myself? I don't know. It's crazy."

"Saxon, what are you talking about?" Winters demanded.

"I'm taking control, Uncle Sam, starting with you," the Master replied, looking at the spheres. "Kill him."

One of the spheres disintegrated the President, and there was chaos all around as Coulson and May drew their guns, aiming at Saxon, while all the guards swarmed the room, guns held up as well. "Guards!" the Master shouted.

"Nobody move!" one of them ordered, pointing their guns at Coulson and May, who glared at him. "Nobody move!"

"Ah, the mighty SHIELD," the Master sighed, walking up to the two of them as Jemma and Fitz were forced to their feet. "Four of their best, wishing revenge for three of their own when they're not even dead."

Coulson narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

The Master merely grinned and went back up the steps so the cameras could see him. "Now, then! Peoples of the Earth! Please attend carefully - "

The Doctor ran forward, taking the key off of his neck. Natasha and Clint barreled around the table right behind him, but the guards formed a barricade around them. "Stop him!" Jemma shouted.

The Master grinned. "We meet at last, Doctor." He grinned wider. "Oho, I love saying that."

"Stop it!" the Doctor shouted as the keys were taken off of Natasha and Clint. "Stop it now!"

"You've got to listen to us, don't do it!" Natasha shouted as well.

"And you two are with him?" Coulson demanded. "After what he's done?!"

"Because you never knew the full story!" Clint yelled at him.

"As if the perception filter's going to work on me," the Master snorted. "And look!" Jessie flinched as the Master looked straight at Jack, Martha, and Jessie. "The girlie, the freak, and the dead one walking. Although . . . I'm not sure which one's which."

"Jack, no!" Jessie shouted as Jack ran forward, and the Master merely raised a screwdriver and lasered him dead. "Laser screwdriver," he commented, holding it up. "Who'd have sonic? And the good thing is, he's not dead for long. I get to kill him again!"

"Master, just calm down," the Doctor told him helplessly. "Just look at what you're doing! Just stop! If you could see yourself!"

The Master smiled at the cameras. "Oh, do excuse me. Little bit of personal business. Back in a minute." He stepped down and nodded at the guards. "Let him go."

Natasha tried to jump forward, but one guard clobbered her on the back of the head and sent her reeling. Clint caught her before she fell, and the barricade of guards around them was back up. "It's that sound," the Doctor told him. "The sound in your head. What if I could help?"

"Like your help killed three of us?" May retorted.

The Doctor glared at her. "You don't know what I did there!"

"Oh, I do," the Master said gleefully before waving to Jessie. "Hello, Agent Nightshade!"

Jessie narrowed her eyes and stepped around, taking off her key. "Nice try," she told him. "That's not my name."

"Oh, I think it is," the Master replied with a grin. "Tell me, how are your friends doing?" He pouted. "Wait. You don't know! They're stuck!"

Jessie quickly slipped her perception filter back on before the guards charged at her. Martha stood frozen where she was. "What're you on about?" Fitz shouted at the Master.

"Oh, how to shut them all up?" the Master wondered before brightening. "I know! Memory Lane! Professor lazarus. Remember him and his genetic manipulation device?" The Doctor frowned at him. "What, did you think that little Tish got that job merely by coincidence? I've been laying traps for you all this time. And if I can concentrate all that Lazarus technology into one little screwdriver? But, ooo . . . if I only had the Doctor's biological code." He grinned. "Oh, wait a minute. I do!"

"He's got the hand," Jessie whispered to Martha as they watched him open a briefcase.

"I've got his hand," the Master nearly repeated. "And if Lazarus made himself younger . . . what if I reverse it? Another hundred years?" He zapped at the Doctor, and Jessie couldn't help but run forward. Jack revived from where he was and stopped her and Martha. "Teleport," he whispered, holding out his Vortex Manipulator.

"We can't!" Martha protested.

"We can't stop him," Jack told her. "Get out of here. Get out!"

Jessie watched as the Doctor, now looking at least a hundred years old, straightened from where he had been convulsing. Martha and Jessie ran over, ripping their perception filters off. "We've got you," Martha told him, dropping next to him.

"An, she's a would be doctor," the Master commented, and Jessie threw him a glare. "But tonight, Martha Jones, Jessie Nightshade - or Johanna Rossini, it really doesn't matter - we've flown them in all the way from prison."

Jessie watched as the Joneses, excluding Leo, were shoved in, wrists tied together. "Mum," Martha whispered accusingly.

The woman winced. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"The Toclafane," Jessie said, looking up at the Master. "What are they really? Who are they?"

"My dear, if I told you the truth, your heart - or hearts - would break."

"What's he on about?" Jemma demanded. "Why's he calling you Jessie?"

"I'll tell you something here, Master," Jessie whispered as she stood, folding her arms and stepping up to him. "You've go that wrong. I haven't gone by Jessie in a long time. Only a few people call me that name, and I accept it. My name is woven through time and space. And if I say it . . . what would you think?" She smiled sweetly and whispered in his ear. "Bad Wolf."

The effect was instantaneous. The Master's face drained of color, and he actually stumbled back as Jessie returned to Martha's side, a smirk on her face. "Impossible!" he gasped. "She's a legend!"

"And she is me," Jessie told him, taking the Vortex Manipulator. She took a deep breath, looking at Martha. "Come on."

There was a tremor in her bones when she felt the paradox machine activate, and she saw the thousands of spheres fly past. The Doctor tugged on their arms, and they dropped down to listen. He whispered to Martha, then whispered in Jessie's ear. "The Archangel Network. Find Stark and Bruce." She nodded, and then he whispered once more in her ear. "I love you."

She let out a small sob and nodded again, taking Martha's hand. They both put one hand on the Vortex Manipulator, and teleported out.

When they landed on the ground, Jessie and Martha slipped their keys back on, and Martha looked up with a furious expression. "We're coming back," she vowed.

"Always," Jessie promised, and they turned and walked away.

***

"And so it came to pass that the human race fell, and the Earth was no more," the Master sighed as he watched the spheres destroy the human race. And I looked down upon my new dominion as Master of all, and I thought it good."

The Doctor turned to meet the fearful gazes of the SHIELD team, but he dropped theirs to see the furious one of Jack, and the determines ones of Natasha and Clint. While he might not have the trust of the SHIELD team, he knew he had Jack's, and two Avengers. His fiancée and her best friend were out there, starting a fight.

Earth was not going down without one. Not without the Defenders of Earth there to help.

***

SHIELD is back! And . . . hate the Doctor. Surprise! :)

Maybe they'll trust him (enough) to get off of the Valiant. But I can tell you "Last of the Time Lords" will sort of be Jessie light because of how I've fit her in. You'll see why . . . but you'll be getting a surprise I think you'll like. ;)

Stay tuned for the interlude into "Last of the Time Lords!"