THE MASTER, THE DOCTOR AND THE WOLF

Chapter Twenty One

"You bastard!" Twelve said as he stared at the spot where the TARDIS had been. "When I find you, I'll kill you!"

He felt sure that the Valeyard did this so he could renege on his promise not to hurt anyone, especially Rose. He hoped that his counterparts TARDIS was nearby so they could track him. He was about to go and break the news to everyone when he suddenly heard a faint wheezing. He turned towards the Thames and watched as the TARDIS materialized on the other side of the river, away from his grasp. He gritted his teeth as he watched the door open and the Valeyard coming out. The Valeyard stopped in front of the TARDIS, turned towards him, brought a loudhailer up to his mouth and the Doctor could hear a faint, "Cooo-eeee!" as the Valeyard waved his arm around.

"LET THEM GO!" the Doctor roared.

"I can't hear you," the Doctor heard him say faintly into the loudhailer. "But never mind that, I have a gift for London!"

He walked back inside the TARDIS while the Doctor clenched his fists and tried to keep his rage in check. Five minutes later, the Valeyard was pushing with one hand a floating metal ball that was encased inside a forcefield designed to cancel its weight. The Doctor watched while the Valeyard moved the ball thirty feet away from the TARDIS before setting it down on the ground and turning off the forcefield. He then raised the loudhailer to his lips.

"This is on a time delay so just stand there and watch," the Valeyard said to the Doctor. "It won't be long but I'm sure you'll enjoy what comes out of it. Just giving you a wee delay so you can't track me."

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THE OTHERS?" Twelve bellowed.

"Sorry, still can't hear you," the Valeyard said into the loudhailer. "Well, enjoy the day and your surprise. Ta ta!"

The Doctor muttered a curse as he watched the Valeyard push a button on top of the ball before walking back to his TARDIS. He stood there, fists clenched in rage, as the TARDIS dematerialized again.

"What have you done, Valeyard?" he growled as he stared at the ball.

After two minutes, he noticed the front of the ball was sliding up and open and then to his horror, he watched as two Daleks came out of it and looked around.

"No, no, no, no," the Doctor muttered as a sinking feeling hit his stomach.

He heard a very faint "ANNIHALATE ANY HUMANS!" from one of the Daleks before they turned right and moved away from the ball. The Doctor gritted his teeth and ran as fast as he could back towards his granddaughter and friends.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eleven glared at the Valeyard as he stood inside the forcefield. The Valeyard spent nearly two hours finding and capturing a Dalek and then took great pleasure in outlining his plan to the captured Time Lord after he pushed the metal ball into the ship.

"So where are you taking us then?" the Doctor said as the Valeyard piloted the TARDIS.

"Somewhere nice, I think. Somewhere where you can become acquainted with Miss Rose. You'd like that, right? Be with her again. And I was thinking of making it a bit of a game since I also have the Master on board. Sort of a hunt because I'm sure once the Valeyard learns that you're nearby, he'll want his revenge. Course I sure he wants revenge on me but you'd be the next best thing."

"And then you hope we'll all die, is that it?" the Doctor said.

"Dunno. I was just hoping for a distraction. I planted the Dalek to buy us time but you know, I might go back and get the others and have them join in. So many possibilities when one finally has one's TARDIS back," he said cheerfully. "But in the meantime…"

He pushed a button and the Doctor was teleported out of the forcefield before it collapsed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rose was taking a shower in the en suite bathroom to try to soothe her nerves. She had no idea what might happen but she might as well try to get her mind off of things while she was here. She trusted the Doctor but she wasn't sure about the Valeyard and his intentions. Granted, she did think that perhaps it might be a bad idea to be naked when the Valeyard might come and see her but she decided she really didn't care since a nice, hot shower was more important right now.

She had the door shut while she was in the shower so she gasped, spun and nearly fell on the floor of the shower when she heard knocking on the door.

"Oh God, he really is visiting," Rose muttered as she steadied herself.

"Is someone in here or is the Valeyard trying to flood my ship?" she heard someone saying outside the door.

She frowned. His voice was unfamiliar. She turned off the water and listened.

"Oh good, someone stopped the water. The TARDIS won't flood. I really don't want to clean up the mess."

Rose frowned.

"Who is this?" she said, opening the sliding shower door and leaning her head out.

"Rose? Is that you?" the man said excitedly. "It's the Doctor. Well, the other Doctor. I know you met the other me but I'm the me before the other me, if you can follow that. Basically, I'm the me before the me you knew and the me you didn't. Well, technically, you don't know me either…"

"Yes, I can tell you're the Doctor now," Rose said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh good. Listen, are you in the shower because I won't come in if you are."

"Wait, I'm dressing and coming out," Rose said, hurrying out of the shower and grabbing a towel from a nearby rack.

"Ah, good. Waiting then."

The Doctor fell silent as Rose scrambled to towel off and get dressed. Her heart was racing at the thought of seeing another Doctor and she hurried through everything, not caring how she looked. She finished dressing and ran to the door. She flung it open and the Doctor, who was sitting on the bed, smiled warmly at her.

"Hello, Rose. Long time no see."

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