THE MASTER, THE DOCTOR AND THE WOLF

Chapter Twenty Six

(Meanwhile…)

As soon as the force fields disintegrated, the Doctor stepped in front of Rose in case the Master did anything to her. So far, the Master didn't seem to have any clue of his identity and the Doctor wasn't going to hang around long enough for him to figure it out. He wanted to try to get Xelok away from him as well but the moment he tried to call the boy to him, the Master stepped in front of Xelok, a look of death on his face so the Doctor backed off for the moment and decided to try another way to get to the boy.

He decide to lead Rose away and see what the Master would do. If he would follow or go off on his own with Xelok. So he took Rose by the hand and they walked around the crater while the Master stood there with Xelok, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Well, at least there are no monsters of doom here," the Doctor said to Rose as they walked hand in hand.

"I doubt the planet could support a stalk of grass let alone monsters of doom," Rose replied.

"I wouldn't be so sure. I've seen desolate planets that had more than their fair share of life on it. And the Master is more than enough for any planet," the Doctor said, glancing back over his shoulder.

"Who is he?" Rose said softly.

"Fellow Time Lord," the Doctor said just as softly. "But a complete nutter."

"And you're not?" Rose teased.

"Well, I'm a nice nutter, he's not a nice nutter. There's the difference."

"Ah, I see," Rose said, nodding.

"So…before my clone went off the rails, how were things between you?" the Doctor asked her as they walked past the crater.

"Not that great."

"Why?" the Doctor said, glancing at her.

"Because…he wasn't you, Doctor. I mean he was but…I just love you, I don't want a substitute. I'm sorry, I tried, I really did try but it wasn't the same."

The Doctor nodded sadly.

"I thought I could give you a part of me that could share your life," he said.

"I understand that, I do. But would you settle for a clone of me?"

"No, I suppose not," the Doctor said.

"Excuse me!"

The Doctor looked over his shoulder and noticed that the Master and Xelok were about twenty feet behind them and following. He and Rose stopped and waited while the Master caught up to them.

"I confess I haven't had many dealings with humans throughout my long life but shouldn't you lot stay close to where the TARDIS landed instead of wandering off?"

"And what if he doesn't return, what then?" the Doctor said. "We can't just sit around and wait for him to return, not without investigating the area. Besides, how do you know there aren't terrifyingly monster storms on this planet that could kill us with high speed winds and acid rain?"

"You seem quite knowledgeable about other planets for a human," the Master said wryly.

"I read quite a lot of science fiction and I'm guessing," the Doctor said dryly. "So you can sit and wait or you can be helpful and help us look for shelter."

"Humans don't give me orders!" the Master said, bristling. "I am the Master, I give the orders."

"So do you have a better suggestion then?" the Doctor challenged.

The Master fell silent while the Doctor tried not to smile. The Doctor glanced at Xelok and noticed that he seemed very scared but he sensed he was even more afraid to leave the Master's side. This made him bristle with anger but he managed to control it…at least for the time being.

"Very well, since you thought of the idea, we will carry out your plan of looking for shelter," the Master finally said. "However, I'm still in charge."

"By all means, do lead us," the Doctor said. "Come along, wife."

"Wow, he really is full of himself, eh?" Rose whispered in his ear when they were ten feet in front of him.

The Doctor grinned and Rose returned it, sticking her tongue between her teeth while they looked for shelter.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Twelfth Doctor managed to find a pair of scissors in a bedroom drawer while Clara sat with Susan on the bed. She still couldn't get over the fact that the Doctor's granddaughter now looked exactly like her, except she was still wearing the clothes she had on earlier. The clothes were now baggy and ill fitting since Susan had lost a bit of height during her transformation but she seemed to be recovering from the shock of looking like Clara and was waiting for her grandfather to find the scissors.

"Right," the Doctor said, walking over to her. "We'll have to do this quickly. We haven't much time and those Daleks might be terrorizing other parts of the city by now."

"Hey, is anyone in here?"

They stopped talking when they heard Sheila calling to them from downstairs.

"Thank God," Clara said with a sigh of relief. "YEAH, WE'RE UP HERE, SHEILA, IN THE BEDROOM."

"Okay, be up in a mo," Sheila yelled to them. "I have news!"

"Hope it's good news then," the Doctor muttered as he sat down behind Susan and studied her hair. "Okay, Susan, going to cut it so it's up past your shoulders and please forgive me if it's uneven, you can always sort that out at a salon later."

"I understand , Grandfather."

Clara shook her head. Susan now had her voice as well. It was incredibly eerie. While the Doctor began cutting her hair, Sheila came into the room. She froze when she saw the two Claras and did a double take.

"Am I seeing double now?" she asked.

"Yeah, you really sorta are," the Doctor said as he trimmed his granddaughter's hair.

"I'll explain but tell us your news first," Clara said.

"Doctor, the Daleks were fakes."

The Doctor stopped cutting and looked over at her.

"Fakes?" he said to her.

"I ran into a building near here and was hiding and the Daleks came inside to look for me. I was in a cupboard, thinking I was going to snuff it and I was there for the longest time but I couldn't hear them moving or speaking. I came out and nearly had a heart attack when I saw them near the door but they didn't move or speak and I know they saw me. I had a good look at them and realized they were dead. That light in their eye, it wasn't there. I didn't see any damage to them. It's like they just quit working."

"I think I know why," the Doctor said to Clara while he cut Susan's hair. "I'm guessing our friend didn't nick the Daleks from somewhere. He had the TARDIS make them and programmed them to run for a period of time before shutting down. He did say this was a diversion. But I'll have to check and make sure once this is finished. The only bad thing is the bastard programmed them to kill and David and those people are dead now because of him. He better hope I don't get hold of him because I'll make him wish he'd never been born."

"What do we do about David, Grandfather?" Susan said.

The Doctor put a hand on her shoulder.

"We're going to have to bury him, child," he said gently. "We don't have the TARDIS so I can't put him on board and freeze him and we can't leave him out in the open for the animals to feast on."

"But we do have a TARDIS, the other Doctors TARDIS is still here," Clara said.

"Where?" the Doctor said.

"He made it invisible somehow."

Realization dawned on the Doctor's face.

"Good. We'll use it then and follow the Valeyard and we can take David and put him in cryo storage and give him a proper burial somewhere."

"Good," Susan said.

While Clara went and told Sheila what had happened with Susan, the Doctor finished trimming her hair. It was uneven in places but he'd shortened it to just below her jaw line. He let her look at herself in the mirror, once again apologizing for not making it absolutely even and once everyone was ready, the Doctor asked Sheila to lead them back to the Daleks.

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