THE MASTER, THE DOCTOR AND THE WOLF

Chapter Eighteen

Finally, it was the Master's turn. The Doctor was a bit hesitant about seeing his old friend again but he had to make sure he was safe and comfortable before leaving. Once more the TARDIS shone a light where the door was supposed to be but this time the Doctor asked that the doorway be covered with a forcefield barrier as well as asking for a forcefield barrier around himself. Once the door was uncovered, a pale blue light surrounded the Doctor as he stepped inside. The Master was sitting on a chair by a wooden table in the corner of the room. There were several leatherbound books sitting on the table but all of them were unopened as the Master glared at the Doctor.

"Hello, Master," the Doctor said.

"I will defeat you, Doctor," the Master growled at him.

The Doctor chortled.

"Defeat me? You couldn't even defeat my clone. The only reason you have your mind back is because he gave it back after I made a deal with him. Master, you bit off way more than you can chew this time."

"Why does that Doctor only have one heart if he's your clone?" the Master said, getting to his feet.

"Because he's half human. It's a long story and I don't have time to tell it now. But what you did, apparently, was go inside him and awaken the sleeping demon, so to speak. Because of you, you created a monster and it apparently backfired on you and you became his slave. Just goes to show that you are incredibly thick at times."

The Master growled and started to come towards him, fists clenched, but stopped when he saw the forcefield properly for the first time. A smirk spread over his face.

"Afraid of me, Doctor?" he said, gesturing to it.

"A precaution. I'm not going to be here long and I don't want to fight you," the Doctor replied with a shrug.

"Why are you here then?"

"Well, call me crazy but I still care about you in some way and I want to make sure my clone has made you comfortable while I'm gone," the Doctor replied. "Word of warning though, I suggest you don't make trouble because you might end up being his lackey again…or worse. I did this as a kindness, don't be foolish and do something you'll regret. Oh and question, by the way, who is Xelok and why is he following you?"

"Is he safe?" the Master said.

The Doctor raised his eyebrow as a bemused grin came over his face.

"Does that sound like concern just then?" he said.

"I found him on Gallifrey. He was homeless and starving and at first, I did hypnotize him to be a servant but yes, I suppose in some small way I do care about the boy so is he alright?"

"He's fine. He's in a room of his own. I just checked on him. Now I have another question. Is this new body a regeneration or did you steal it?"

"Stole it," the Master said proudly. "It was the general of the Gallifreyan army. I took his body because he was being a git."

"Oh! Okay, I thought he looked familiar," the Master said. "So…another life ruined then, Koschei?"

"You tell me, Theta. You're the expert on ruining lives."

He grinned when the Doctor stiffened at the mention of his academy nickname.

"Oh yes, so sorry I uttered the unutterable just then. Would you prefer Bubbles instead?" he said.

"This conversation is at an end, Master. I have no time for fripperies now," the Doctor said, waving his hand dismissively.

"You're not getting away from me, Doctor," the Master said as the Doctor turned to leave. "You will be mine and I will have my revenge."

"As I said before, I wouldn't be making idle threats like that," the Doctor said over his shoulder as he walked towards the doorway. "The last time you tried to exact your revenge, you ended up a puppet. Goodbye, Master."

He walked through the forcefield as the Master bellowed curses at him. Once he was through the wall closed up and his ranting was silenced as the protective forcefield around his body dissapated.

"Right. Now to business," the Doctor muttered as he made his way to the console room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Clara was stunned at just how vacant and quiet London was without the normal number of people in it. She and her Doctor were following Susan and David as they led them to someone they called Joseph. Another thing that stunned her was the revelation that the Doctor had a granddaughter. She kept forgetting that his youthful visage betrayed his actual age and it felt odd to think of him as an old man when he was barely older than she was.

Susan carried a can of mace with her. She explained that there were some wild dogs that did pose a threat. In fact, she had to use it once on a feral Doberman when it came out of a nearby alley, growling and snarling at them. Clara was suddenly thankful that she didn't have the same kinds of problems that Susan and David had in their day to day living.

Susan and David led them to a semidetached house about a half mile from their house. Like their house, it had seen better days. There were holes in the walls that had been patched up with boards and one window in the front was also boarded up. Susan walked up three steps to the scuffed, black front door and knocked on it while everyone else waited. After thirty seconds the door opened and a young lady with long blonde hair stuck her head out.

"Oh hello, Susan, David," she said.

"Hello, Sheila, is your grandfather home?" Susan said to her.

"Yeah, come inside, let me go get him," she said, opening the door wider.

They stepped into the entryway and Sheila led them to the lounge. Like Susan's house, it was old and battered, mismatched furniture and there was a fire burning in the fireplace. Sheila invited them to sit down before leaving the room. The Doctor looked at a painting in a gold frame over the fireplace and recognized it as the Battle of Waterloo. Apart from that, the walls were bare and cracked. The Doctor found it somewhat depressing. He liked a bit of decoration so the eye had something to look at. He turned his attention to a nearby window and noticed a spider had spun a web just outside it on the right hand corner. He watched the spider slowly moving across his web for a minute before Clara cleared her throat and got his attention. He turned his head around as Sheila walked into the room followed by an elderly man leaning on a wooden cane. The man was bald except for a few wisps of hair on top of his head and his face was heavily lined. He wore glasses with tortoiseshell frames and he was dressed in blue trousers and a white shirt with black leather slippers on his feet. He said hello to Susan and David before gazing at the Doctor and Clara.

"Councilman Joseph," Susan said, standing up. "This is my…brother, the Doctor, and his friend, Clara. They've come to ask the council for help."

Clara stifled a giggle at the hurt look on the Doctor's face when Susan called him her brother. But he gestured to Clara and both of them stood up while Joseph walked towards them.

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