IN THE SHADOW OF SAXON
Chapter Five While they continued to explore the Globe Theater, the Doctor wandered backstage and casually strolled around, lost in his thoughts. David seemed to be remembering much more than he should and that worried him. He was wondering if he should put him to sleep and erase some of the memories when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Rose standing behind him with a grin on her face. "Let me guess, Shakespeare's not your thing so you're sneaking away," she teased. "On the contrary, Shakespeare's very much my thing. He's one of my idols," the Doctor replied. "I just needed to think some things through is all." "About the Master?" Rose said. "About David. I have a feeling I might have to alter some of his memories. His subconscious is fighting the implanted memories." "You don't think he'll remember what he did to me, do ya?" Rose asked. The Doctor placed his hands on her shoulders and smiled at her lovingly. "He won't hurt you. I won't let him," he said before he gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. Rose nodded and took his hand, exploring with him when he resumed his examination of the backstage area. They were both silent for several minutes before Rose finally spoke. "Do you think we'll see your other self and Jack and Martha?" she said. "I don't know but it would be dangerous to interact with them. Don't you remember the Reapers and what happened when you interacted with your younger self?" Rose nodded and lowered her eyes, embarrassed at the memory of fouling up time because of her need to keep her father alive. The Doctor, reading her thoughts, squeezed her hand and gave her a loving smile before they continued on. However, while they walked, Rose sensed the Doctor had become unusually quiet and she stopped him. "What's wrong?" she said. "What you just said about wanting to see my previous self again, is it because you'd rather be with him than me?" Rose was taken aback when she saw the hurt look on his face. She neared closer to him and shook her head. "No, I didn't mean it like that. I just wanted to make sure you and Jack and Martha were alright. I love you, Doctor, I wouldn't be here if I didn't." "I just remember how much you panicked when I nearly regenerated and I figured you liked my last incarnation better than this one." Rose sighed and came closer to him. "Alright, I do admit that I was a bit disappointed when I found out you regenerated and there are some things I miss about your previous self but I got used to your other self after you regenerated and now I've gotten used to this body so no, I don't want the other you back, I just want to make sure that you and Jack and Martha will be okay." "They will be," the Doctor assured her as the others walked up to them. "I'm living proof that they will be." "I just wish there was some way we could help them," Rose said. "The three of them shouldn't have to go through that year of Hell." "Nah, we're all strong individuals," the Doctor said. "We'll do just fine." "But I've been thinkin', Doctor," Amy said. "Couldn't we stop the Master before your other self and Jack and Martha get back here?" "Not without disrupting established events," the Doctor said. "But," Amy pressed, "if that whole year that you were captive was erased from time, then it wouldn't matter what we did since everything you went through would be erased, yeah? So why couldn't stop Saxon before any of it happened and spare you and your friends that year of agony." "She's got a point," Rory said. The Doctor paused in thought and thought it over while his companions waited. "Yes, you do have a point," the Doctor conceded to Amy. "However, after giving it careful thought, we still couldn't do it because the Master ends up being killed as a result of what happens during The Year That Never Was and his resurrection leads to my regeneration. Regrettably, we'll have to resist the temptation and avoid Saxon. I can't risk mucking up the time line." His companions nodded and the Doctor took Rose's hand while they walked towards the exit. The Master sighed wearily as he settled down behind his desk. His private secretary had given him his paperwork for today and as much as he detested working on it, he knew he had to keep up appearances, at least for the moment. His one small consolation was he was now able to use the paperwork to push through pet projects like the Valiant airship so even he could see that filling out forms did have their uses. Before he did that though, he leaned back in his high-backed leather chair, closed his eyes and meditated for a moment, getting himself focused so he could get through the paperwork and the other tedium of the day. He took several deep breaths, slowly breathing in and out as he cleared his mind. While he was centering himself, he suddenly realized that he was sensing something unusual. It took him a moment of probing to realize that what he was sensing was another Time Lord mind. Cursing softly, he opened his eyes and growled softly in his throat as he reached over and hit the talk button on his intercom. "Lucy, darling, could you come in my office?" he said into the speaker. "I need to tell you something." He heard her say that she would be there in a moment and he depressed the button. Sitting back in his chair, he steepled his fingertips while he waited. A moment later, the door opened and Lucy entered. "What is it, Harry?" she said, coming inside and closing the door. "We have a problem. He's back," the Master said. "Who's back?" Lucy said, sitting down in a chair beside the desk. "The Doctor, he finally found a way back," the Master said. Lucy shifted uneasily in her chair. She didn't know the Doctor personally but after hearing her husband's stories about him, she wasn't in any hurry to meet him. "What do we do?" she said. "We need to find him before he ruins all our plans," the Master said. "We need to send out two or three of the Toclafane as scouts. They'll do a discrete search for him and report back to us if they find him. Then I'll send some people from security to go and get him and Harkness and Jones if they're with him. In the meantime, we keep calm and keep going about our business. We'll let nothing interfere with us, not after we've come so close to completing our plans." Lucy nodded and accepted a kiss from her husband before he dismissed her. The Master waited until she left the room before he summoned three of his Toclafane. Once they materialized about his head, he began giving them instructions on what he wanted them to do.
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