THE MASTER, THE DOCTOR AND THE WOLF

Chapter Two

(Pete's World…)

Benjamin Thompson looked up from his paperwork and gazed at Rose with mild shock. He worked the reception desk at Torchwood and he had a work schedule near him that he consulted every day so he'd know who was coming in to work. He knew today was Rose's day off so it was a bit of a surprise to see her standing across from him flashing her ID badge.

"Ms. Tyler," Benjamin said, "you aren't scheduled to work today."

"I know, Ben, I forget to take some paperwork home yesterday and I want to work at it on home since it's top priority. Won't be long."

Ben nodded. Rose gazed at him for a moment while he phoned security to know she was in the building. He was young, mid twenties, with short brown hair and feathered bangs and he wore wire rimmed glasses. She thought him quite handsome. In many ways, he reminded her of the Doctor and a pang hit her heart when that thought entered her mind. Guilt overwhelmed her when she realized she was running out on a man who truly loved and cherished her but she couldn't love him completely, not while her original Doctor lived. And so, she was risking her life to find the man she truly loved, perhaps killing herself in the process because she wanted better for him and for her.

"Okay, Rose, you can go up now," Benjamin said as he hung up the phone.

Rose thanked him and headed for the lift.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rose breathed a sigh of relief when she finally entered the room where the dimension cannon was located. She and the Doctor shared a flat so she had no idea her stepfather was at work today. He was her superior though and he knew she had a day off so she had to explain that she needed some paperwork and basically bullshit her way out of spending the day doing inspections with him. And now finally, here she was, with the dimension cannon.

She locked the door after making sure no one was around and looked the cannon over. It was basically a platform, like the holodeck on the Enterprise and a console where you could program in coordinates. The coordinates for the Doctor's universe had been saved by Torchwood after Rose found it so she could simply input then into the database, push a few buttons and…

That was where it got complicated. Before the barriers broke down, it was basically a matter of going out and being bounced back. If the walls between dimensions were truly closed, she would be teleported back to command center and that was that. She'd have to go back to the flat and explain the letter to the clone Doctor. As she started up the cannon and input the saved coordinates, she prayed that she would be successful.

"Come on, the Doctor found a gap when he spoke to me the first time," she muttered to herself as the cannon powered up. "Surely, there's more gaps out there for me to get through."

The cannon finished powering up and Rose steeled herself as she stepped onto the platform. There was a countdown set for one minute, enough time for Rose to get ready to be broken down into atoms, sent across the void and reassembled in the other universe. It wasn't painful but it felt odd because she had the sensation that she was dissolving into nothing and then a sense of flight before being reassembled somewhere else. Usually, she signaled to her team when she was ready to leave, a light appeared and she either ran into it or it enveloped her and that same sensation came again. It was odd to say the least but if it found her the Doctor again, she would endure it.

As the countdown hit zero and a light began to envelop her, Rose closed her eyes and said a silent prayer that she would find the Doctor again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(London, England…)

The Twelfth Doctor opened the door of his TARDIS and looked out. They were in the middle of Hyde Park near a tree and it was nighttime with the moon shining high above. The Doctor glanced up at it and smiled. He put his hands in his pockets and stepped outside with Clara following behind him. The night was slightly chilly and the Doctor inhaled the scent of London while Clara looked around.

"Gorgeous night," the Doctor said as Clara shut the door. "London is one of my favorite places to be."

"I can see that since you come here every other day," Clara quipped as she walked up beside him.

"That was because I had to come and get you all the time," the Doctor said. "That and the Ponds. Amy and Rory…I miss them."

Clara frowned. There was that name again. She wondered who Amy was but he didn't answer when she asked him and she doubt he'd answer now. For the moment, she was content to be here with her friend, enjoying the night air.

Then suddenly, the Doctor stepped in front of her, held up his hand and smiled.

"Dance with me, Clara?" he said to her.

"What? Now?" Clara said, looking around.

"Yeah. Who cares if someone sees us. Have a little moonlight dance with me."

"You mean…"

Clara thrust her arms up in the air and jerked them spasmodically the way her other Doctor did. She laughed when Twelve rolled his eyes at that.

"I'm a much better dancer now, trust me," he said to her.

He held out his hand again and Clara smiled as she took it. He brought her close to him and Clara felt her hearts quicken slightly as she and the Doctor began to waltz around the area. Despite her earlier misgivings, she was getting used to this version of her Doctor and even thought him handsome. And he was right, he was a better dancer, elegant and graceful instead of stepping on toes and muttering apologies.

Then when the Doctor turned her around, she caught sight of a flash of light over her shoulder and she got the Doctor's attention and pointed it out to him. By then, the light had faded but it was about fifty feet away so Clara hurried with the Doctor to check it out.

When they finally reached the spot, Clara looked around but all she could see was a blonde woman who was looking around with a confused look on her face. She glanced up at the Doctor and was taken aback at the shocked expression on his face. Before she could say anything, the woman spoke to them.

"Please," she said to them. "I need your help. I'm looking for a man called the Doctor."

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