The Stowaway - Doctor Who/Torchwood fan fic

The red Converse trainers flanked by a long brown overcoat ran full pelt along the harbour walkway, following a short distance behind were the brown leather boots belonging to Capt. Jack Harkness, his blue airman’s jacket billowing behind him like the sails on the tall ships, behind him another set of feet, more Converse but dirty white, their laces untied and trailing behind, his brown pinstriped suit snug against his body kept up with the ex Time Agent.
They ran into the Roald Dahl Plas, where the tall lamps stood quiet and unlit and the water monument was silent. He was running out of places to escape. People were milling everywhere, students from one of the local Universities were filming crowd scenes as he pushed through the centre of them, scattering them like bowling pins. He was breathing heavily, his legs felt like lead but still he needed space between him and the two men after him. He saw an opening in the crowd and ran for the steps, but the space between the two was too high and Capt. Jack was upon him like a huge bear.
‘Get off me, GET OFF ME.’ He yelled, struggling in the vice like grip of the American.
‘End of the line kid.’
But the ‘kid’ wasn’t giving in quite so easily. He slipped out of the jacket as Jack pulled him to his feet and ran up the steps and around the side of the Senedd. The Doctor stared exhaustedly at the departing young man and took his jacket back.
‘I’m sorry Doctor, but he’s gone.’ Jack was as annoyed as the Doctor, but he suspected there was something more that the Doctor just wasn’t saying.
‘He’ll come back.’ He turned and followed Jack back to the Hub, he wasn’t leaving until the boy returned, but that might be never.

The hub was quiet, monitors across one small unit flickered with every CCTV camera for the Bay, zooming in and out of potential dangers and suspects, the boy’s ID had already been installed from the sonic screwdriver and the computer worked away in silence. The Doctor lifted the mug of tea to his lips and drank slowly.
‘So, wanna tell me why he’s so important?’ Jack broke the steady silence since they’d returned almost an hour ago.
‘He’s not, he just stole my shoes and jacket and I wanted them back.’ He lied.
‘I don’t buy it. You have enough clothes in that ship to last you an eternity, what’s the real reason?’ Jack pushed.
The Doctor sighed and lowered the mug, he hated having to explain to Jack his reasons for anything, least of all the stowaway onboard the Tardis.

The bins clattered together at the back of Maestro’s, the chef peered out of the back door, he heard cats yowling and hurled abuse before slamming the door shut once more.
He climbed out of the bin, brushing off the remnants of someone else’s meal from his clothing; he tsked the meaty stain on the red trainers and proceeded to eat the bounty of food in his hand. Earth it seemed was no different to anywhere else in the Galaxy, people were the same the world over, they ate at posh restaurants, they quibbled over prices, they shamed the waiters and waitresses, but they still left food on their plates. He was thankful for that, their waste was his banquet. He pushed chicken legs and pieces of meat on the bone into combat pockets on his trousers; one good thing about working on container ships, the uniform was handy for storing any amount of tools.
The nightlife in Cardiff Bay was as busy as always, the lights that had been unlit during his afternoon sprint across the Plas were now illuminating the entrance to the Millennium Centre and the Senedd. His meal eaten he pressed his greasy hands against the large windows of the Centre and peered in at people milling to and from rooms on the lower levels. One of the receptionists wearing a black blazer and looking all official flicked her hand at him as if shooing a fly, when he didn’t move she proceeded across the tiles towards him and he ran.

‘So what do you owe him?’ Jack placed two shot glasses in front of him and poured a handsome measure of bourbon into both, pushing one towards the Doctor.
‘I owe her my life.’ He replied lifting the liquor to his lips.
‘Ok, you owe her, not him.’
‘He’s her son.’
‘But he’s not yours, whatever he does is not your responsibility.’
‘While he’s on Earth he is.’ The Doctor frowned.
‘Why is he so important, he’s just another kid out of his time zone?’
The Doctor poured himself another shot of Bourbon and knocked it back like the first. Jack watched in amusement, it was not like the Doctor to be hitting the bottle.
‘What’s this kid to you?’
The Doctor didn’t answer, Jack rephrased the question. ‘What’s he to the human race?’
The Doctor raised his head and looked darkly at Jack, who swallowed and knew the answer before the Time Lord had spoken.
‘Deadly.’

Pauline Wincott was closing up for the evening, the takings had been less than usual, but she accepted the recession but swore nevertheless at the tight fisted customers who grumbled at prices and didn’t leave tips. She held the bank bag tightly in her manicured right hand, she needed to get to the night safe on Bankers Walk, it wasn’t that far away, but there were creatures who wandered along the stretch of road where the bank sat. She didn’t know what they were, but only that they existed; she saw them out of the corner of her eyes.
As she left the shop she saw a young man of little more than a teenager, his red Converse shoes were tinged with Bolognese sauce but at first she thought it was blood. He looked cold and scruffy but this could be misleading, she was aware of the tell tale signs, she was aware that many gangs patrolled the streets at closing time, waiting for a bounty.
‘What do you want? I’ve nothing for you, restaurant is closed.’ She said quickly, gripping the bag tighter.
‘Why do you assume that I’d want anything?’ He asked in a Californian accent.
‘Are you holidaying here, are your parents close by?’
‘My parents are dead.’ He replied forlornly, but she sensed bitterness and quickened her step away from him.
He watched her leave, her high heels click clacking along the walkway towards the bank. That’s when he saw them, the strange creatures in overalls, walking like Neanderthals and following her movements towards the marble bricked building.
She couldn’t hear them, but there was a smell in the air, something was wrong and she knew that the creatures in the corner of her eyes were now surrounding her, she had no escape, she was going to die. With something of an urgency, a plan of action, she kicked off her shoes and ran to the night safe, she was determined that if she were going to lose her life, the bank was going to have her money.
Suddenly her heart in her throat, the adrenalin kicked in, she found an energy she didn’t know she possessed, but just as she was nearing the bank safe, the road ahead of her was swamped in Weevils.
‘No, no no no, you can’t do this, I’m not meant to die like this, please, please don’t hurt me, oh god. No.’
She pressed herself against the smooth marbled building, a fear had taken over the adrenalin, her legs wouldn’t move and she awaited death as the Weevils stepped closer towards her. In her mind the Thriller video became real and the zombies were coming in for the kill.
But just as she waited for death to take over, the growling stopped, their putrid breath disappeared and the cool night air enveloped her as she stood cowering. She opened her eyes and saw the young man standing a few feet from her.
‘Where did they go? Where did they go, did you see them?’ She looked up and down the street and back at the boy, but he was gone.

Gwen Cooper stepped through the opened door with a pizza box and a folder resting on top. She smiled shyly at the Doctor, who followed her movements towards the sofa against the wall. He raised a half smile as she sat down and the smell of pepperoni and cheese wafted towards his nostrils.
‘There’s a fair amount of Weevil activity tonight, I’m surprised the monitors didn’t pick it up.’ She said matter-of-factly, pushing a hot wedge of spicy meat into her mouth. The Doctor leapt up the few steps and lifted a slice of pizza from the box, she didn’t object.
‘Weevils, what are weevils doing in Cardiff?’
‘They came through the rift, set up home in St Catherine’s church. They’ve been quiet for a while, ever since Owen……..’ Jack let the sentence trail, Owen, King of the Weevils, it had always been a joke, but since the demon host, the weevils had been acting strangely ever since.
The Doctor watched as Jack brought up the monitors on their usual nightly hang outs.
‘They normally keep to the shadows, but they have been known to take human victims. Who did they go for this time?’ He looked over at Gwen as she attempted to salvage some of the pizza rapidly disappearing into the belly of the Time Lord.
‘The owner of Maestro’s reported a large number of Weevils following her. She said she was surrounded by them but they didn’t attack her.’
‘Did she say why?’
Gwen pulled a sheet from the file. ‘She said it all went quiet and there was a boy standing watching her.’
‘What kind of boy?’ The Doctor stared at her, his eyes deep and penetrating.
‘She didn’t say, just a boy, a teenager. He was wearing red Converse, she said she remembered that because she thought he was bleeding, but he had Bolognese sauce on them.’
‘My shoes have Bolognese sauce on them, what else?’
‘Well nothing else. The Weevils had gone and the boy was there. What’s going on Jack, what is it about the boy?’
‘We need to find him; did she give any mention of where he was going?’
‘No, I, well, Andy didn’t ask.’
The Doctor clamped his hands on the back of his head and looked with some urgency at the monitors.
‘What are you thinking Doctor?’
‘You don’t even want to know what I’m thinking.’ He cast a glance at Jack and a cold shiver ran through him.
‘I’ll get my coat.’

The night air was cool, gulls could still be heard on the waterfront, boats thudded against the walkways between each boat, bobbing as though on a choppy sea. The boy sat on the prow of the nearest boat and tossed a bone towards the Weevil watching him. He watched as it gnawed away, occasionally looking up for another morsel. The boy gladly threw another. He lay back against the windscreen of the boat and gazed up at the cluster of stars. He was millions of miles from home, and even then, the planet no longer existed. He was lost, but finding the Doctor and his space ship had been a blessing in disguise. There was something about the man that sent shivers up his back, goosebumps across his skin. He was steeped in history, but a history that the boy understood, a desperate desolation that the boy felt that was somehow akin to his life and what he’d lost.
The Weevil, its head to one side, sat watch as the boy slept, occasionally looking out to sea and along the harbour wall where many of its own kind were standing guard, like sentries.

The two men strode along the harbour towards the Senedd; the sonic screwdriver whistled and bleeped but could pick up only tiny pulses of energy. He pushed it back inside his jacket pocket and sighed heavily. Jack pushed his hands into his coat pocket and turned a full 360 degrees to pick out anything unusual. There were no Weevils and that was unusual.
Gwen Cooper called them on the radio, her tinny voice rattling through the earpiece in Jack’s ear. They sprinted towards Banker’s Walk and the scene of crime. The Doctor instantly felt a presence and scanned the screwdriver around the area.
‘He was here.’ He stood in the same place, Jack stood where the woman had cowered.
‘He was watching?’
‘The Weevils didn’t harm her, why not?’ Gwen stood where she expected the creatures to be.
‘He’s controlling them.’
‘Why?’
‘Because he can.’
‘How?’
‘Because he’s like his father.’ The Doctor strode away into the night and Jack followed his gun drawn, ready. Gwen made to follow, as Jack instructed that she returned to the hub and monitor the screens. She returned to base slightly relieved.

‘So were you two close?’ Jack walked beside the Doctor, their strides matching in symmetry.
‘We grew up together, we used to be friends once, but you know the score Jack, you saw what he did, how he was with people.’
‘And you think his son will do the same?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Nobody knows for sure what a person will do until they’re pushed to the limits, look at Miguel.’
‘You had to bring him into the equation didn’t you?’
‘I miss him, don’t you?’
‘You know I do.’ He forced back the pain to concentrate on his quarry. ‘Miguel is nothing like the boy.’
‘Miguel could control the Weevils.’
‘What?’ The Doctor stopped dead and stared hard at Jack.
‘Miguel, when he was here, they never touched him, not once. They were protecting him.’
‘But that’s impossible.’
‘Is it?’ Jack narrowed his eyes. ‘They may not have been part of the Order, but they protected him against everything when he was here. He even knew them by name, talking to them in their own language. Now that takes practice, and he had it.’
The Doctor felt helpless, he didn’t know what to think anymore and turned away ashamed. ‘I never knew. I never asked him about here, the hub, your connections. He never said.’
‘He didn’t want to hurt you I guess. The fact he knew so much I guess he didn’t want to rub your nose in it all the time. He knew the same amount of languages that you did, but he never had the Tardis to help him understand.’
Jack walked towards the Doctor who stood staring at the ground, he tilted his face towards him and saw the tears down his face.
The Doctor pushed him away, he didn’t like to show his emotion in public, but the death of Miguel had hit him harder than he ever expected.
‘I still see him, just for a second. I could work underneath the ship, fixing wires and I’d turn and see him smiling back, electrocuting himself on her circuits.’
‘She liked to tease, that’s for sure.’
‘Prophecies, Jack. Remind me never to get personally involved, don’t let me get that close again.’ He looked up at the ex Time Agent, his face wet from tears and saw the same in his eyes.
‘He was your family Doctor, you can’t tell me that you were going to ignore him, walk away and let him fight alone.’
He sucked in the air, his lip wobbling. His face contorted several times as he tried desperately to bring himself back into check. He vowed he would never lose it in public, but he and Jack had travelled to the ends of the Universe, and he above everyone else except for Rose knew what it was like to lose someone you cared about deeply.
He tried to focus on the task ahead, but the images of his great grandson smiled back at him and he broke down as Jack held him close.

He awoke to the putrid breath of the Weevil who had kept guard; it was shaking him out of his slumber. The dawn was rising over the sea, people would be waking soon. He scrambled off the boat with the creature and followed it in search of breakfast.

The Doctor lay back on the sofa against the wall, his feet rested on the arm. He stared up at the dirty brown ceiling and his mind drifted back to Gallifrey and the Academy as a child. He saw the woman he loved, the woman he couldn’t have, saw his one time friend the Master chatting her up and causing her to blush. It had pained him then that the pair would get together, but it hurt worse to realise that the child running about Cardiff with a group of vicious creatures was the son of his arch nemesis.
He blinked away from the ceiling and stared at the monitors, he caught glimpses of creatures running along the deserted streets and sat up when he saw a young person in amongst them. It was a strange feeling at first as he imagined Miguel running with the pack, he blinked again and watched the dark haired child with the turned up combat trousers and red trainers cut through the back of a row of shops. He read the name of the street and lifted his coat from the hook on the wall and was gone.
Jack lay on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. Last night had revealed a pain that both still shared and both still couldn’t completely let go of. He still missed the young man he regarded as his younger brother, the one child of the future who sacrificed everything to save the planet. He heard the alarm sound and climbed from his bed pulling on his clothes as he ran. At the monitors he caught sight of the long overcoat worn by the Doctor disappearing between the shops along the quay.

The smell was foul as he neared the back of the supermarket, its bins open and wafting through the air, the out of date coleslaw, milk and cheeses. He heard scrabbling in the roll top bins to his left and walked slowly and carefully past it. As if sensing an intruder, the noises within the bins ceased and the Doctor felt uncomfortable. The head of a Weevil poked out of the bin, its face marred by dairy products several hours old. In its hand it held the remains of a barbecued chicken drumstick, the bone chewed in half and still visible in its mouth.
The Doctor grinned uneasily, he was not in the best of positions, there was only one exit and that was blocked by several of the same creatures in the bins.
‘What’ve you stopped for?’
The Doctor glanced behind him towards a blue metal bin near the steps beside the supermarket building. The boy looked out and leaned his arms against the side of the bin and neither smiled nor glared at the Doctor for a moment. He watched him, his head slightly on one side as if to mimic the creatures, picking up on their patterns.
The nearest Weevil to the Doctor stepped closer and sniffed at his coat, he stepped away from the creature, its evil open mouth and sharp teeth a welcome reminder of what lay in store.
‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you.’
‘What?’
‘I wouldn’t step away, let it sniff you. Think of the calebs, they pick up on fear. You’re not scared are you, Doctor?’ He instructed, teasing the words at the end.
‘You know my name.’
‘Everyone knows your name, my father knew your name.’ He replied pulling out a large hunk of rotting meat and tossing it to a small group of creatures. They swooped and pulled at the meat in a frenzy as the boy walked closely beside them. The smell and the actions of the creatures disgusted him, but he showed no fear.
‘They don’t scare you.’ The Doctor noted as he glanced back at the Weevil nearing his hand.
‘What is there to be scared of?’
‘They’re dangerous, they can kill, they might kill you.’ The Doctor spoke with more confidence now the Weevil had rejoined his group.
‘They might kill you, but they won’t touch me.’ The boy noted smugly.
‘How are you controlling them?’ The Doctor’s eyes narrowed and he stepped towards the boy. Suddenly the group beside the boy frantically ripping the meat apart growled and stepped into the middle of the two. The Doctor stepped back terrified but tried not to show it. A group behind him grabbed him by the arms, their hands tightly gripping his arms and shoulder.
The boy stepped towards the Doctor and stared directly into his eyes. He cocked his head to one side and reached up a sticky blood stained hand and touched the secured Doctor’s temple and closed his eyes. He felt the Doctor jolt in the grip of the Weevils. The shock of the connection coursed through the Doctor’s mind, he grimaced with the pain as he tried to stop the psychic energy routing out his memories. He yelled loudly as the pain ran through his skull as bad as a sensitive tooth hitting cold ice-cream.
‘Who am I Doctor?’ The young man spoke, a voice so familiar that the words fell out of his mouth too quickly.
‘Master.’
‘Ooh, that must pain you to say that word, all those years and you thought he was gone and lost forever. But he’s back make no mistake, Doctor.’
‘But you can’t be, the Master died, he took a bullet, he didn’t regenerate.’ The Time Lord leaned back against the Weevil, his legs had buckled, he felt sick, dizzy, tiny beads of perspiration trickled down his forehead.
‘He lives through me and only me.’ The boy’s eyes glinted, the deep penetrating hazel eyes that the Doctor recognised so well.
‘Then do something different, you don’t need to follow in his footsteps.’ The Time Lord begged.
‘Who says I was going to be like my father?’ The boy flicked his head towards the Weevils holding the Doctor. ‘I don’t remember him at all, only the ring that my mother kept around her neck that I hear laughing sometimes in my head. She says he was a great man, full of ideas, full of plans, always going somewhere and dealing with adversaries across the galaxy. Doctor, I want to travel, I want to go places, learn about the great man, my father, the Master, what was he like?’ The boy was eager and spoke like a child eager to find where his birthday present was hiding.
‘He was a friend once, at the Academy. He stared into the Untempered Schism when he was still a child and it drove him mad. But as the years went on he became twisted and evil, he was always trying to beat me, turning good into evil. I couldn’t change him, I couldn’t stop him.’
‘So who killed him, who fired that shot, you?’
‘No, I abhor guns, always have. It was his wife, Lucy Saxon, the name he chose for himself when he became Prime Minister of Britain.’
‘Prime Minister eh, that would be worth aiming for, a position of power.’
‘Dressed like that, feeding out of bins.’ The Doctor looked disdainfully at the scruffy child in trainers looking very much dirtier than Bolognese sauce.
‘We all gotta start somewhere, I bet even you started at the bottom, Time Lord.’
‘Stop it.’ He straightened his jacket and looked about at the feeding Weevils gorging themselves on waste products. ‘So is this your great army, ready to take over the world, from the sewers upwards.’
‘You’re mocking me, Doctor, I don’t think I like your tone. I could get them to kill you now and save any more pithy remarks.’
‘What’s stopping you?’ The Doctor replied, curtly.
‘Him.’ He pointed to the man in the flying jacket, gun poised in the direction of the Doctor and the boy. The Weevils looked over and flanked the Master’s son, growling and waving their hands in a bid to deter the American.
‘Step away Doctor, I’ve got a clean shot.’ Jack called, one eye closed, the target primed.
‘Come back with us, if you want to take over a planet, I’ll take you somewhere, you can start again, be a different person.’
‘I like it here, food in abundance, friends all around me.’
‘Living like an animal, sleeping and eating on the streets is that what your father would have wished for you?’
‘My father’s dead, they’re all dead. I don’t have what you’d call parental guidance, so I’m making it up as I go. Where were you when the planet burned? Where were you when they all died?’ He turned away genuinely grieving for his mother.
‘There was nothing I could do, I had no choice.’
‘How can you be sure that the Daleks would have destroyed everything, you had no proof.’
‘Daleks and Time Lords never worked together, your father knew that.’
‘My father was resurrected because of the Daleks, he was the one who could make deals with them, he didn’t run away like you did. He stayed, he fought, you ran like a scared child.’
‘Yes, but then what are you doing, aren’t you running away, taking trips on board my ship, containers, shuttles and transporters, you’re no different to anyone else, you’re no different to me.’
‘Doctor, step back this way, I don’t have enough bullets to stop them all.’
‘You’d better go Doctor, once they taste real meat, there’s no telling where they’ll stop.’

Part Two

The Doctor and Jack ran from the supermarket back entrance with several Weevils in tow. They dodged around cars and cut through office buildings, they ran along the lower levels and through the car parks, but all the time, the Weevils were one step ahead.
‘We’re trapped, everywhere we go, and they’re there.’ The Doctor panted, he leaned forward on his knees and gathered his thoughts. He felt tiny prickles around his memories.
‘He’s using me. Split up, I’ll lead them away, you get back to the hub, I’ll draw them out towards the harbour.’
‘Not on your life, these creatures show no mercy.’ Jack replied shaking his head.
‘These creatures are being used, if I can draw them out into the open there might be a chance I can transfer the psychic field back.’ The Doctor ran out of the building, leaving Jack alone.
‘Nah, I don’t like this one bit.’ He watched the Doctor’s coat tails disappear around a corner followed by the weevils and began to run towards the hub, but a familiar yell stopped him and he turned and headed out towards the harbour.
It had all been going so well, the run out to the harbour, he felt like the pied piper, but he knew he couldn’t drown them. On the harbour wall sat the young man, swinging his legs over the side, sitting arms folded and concentrating all of his efforts on the Time Lord. The prickling sensation through his brain shot through his whole body and brought him to his knees, he could hardly breathe, his senses became weakened, what power this boy possessed. He fought against the pain but it increased until the final yell as he fell the few feet onto the walkway below the young man. The Doctor was down.
Jack ran along the Plas, his sidearm gripped in his right hand, holiday-makers and locals alike stepped aside as he made his way towards the shore line. He caught glimpses of the blue overalls moving along the harbour, he saw boats moving out of their moorings, and as he reached the jetty watched the Maria Celeste steer out towards the other side of the Bay. He stamped his foot in annoyance as the young Master waved back wearing the largest grin since the Doctor. As he walked back along the jetty, he collected the sonic screwdriver lying wedged between the spars.
‘Damn it.’ He cursed staring back out to sea.
The Doctor felt nauseas, his eyelids were heavy and he couldn’t move, but he was aware of movement nearby and struggled to focus on his surroundings. He heard an engine and the slopping of water against the walls and judging by the movement he knew he was onboard a boat. He closed his eyes again and groaned.
‘Where’s the Doctor, Jack?’ Gwen looked up from the monitor and passed Jack as he strode up the steps.
He pulled around a monitor and typed in the ship’s name, clicking on a series of codes beside them.
‘He’s on the Maria Celeste, series 7, one of the fastest boats in the harbour. We’d need a cigarette boat to catch it. He had to go and do it, he couldn’t just let me go with him.’ Jack muttered loudly.
‘I take it we’re talking about the Doctor here.’ Gwen replied, her full attention on Jack as he kicked various bits of equipment as she winced.
‘Who else? He’s as stubborn as his great grandson.’
‘Surely not, Miguel was a lot more stubborn, why I remember……’
‘You’re not helping.’
‘Sorry.’ She lowered her head. ‘Is he with the boy?’
‘And the Weevils.’ He nodded. ‘I heard a yell, when I got to the harbour, they were just pulling out of the jetty.’
‘And you definitely saw the Doctor leave?’
‘He dropped the sonic screwdriver, he doesn’t go anywhere without it.’
The boat’s engines stopped and the Doctor became aware that he was suddenly alone. He slowly rose to his feet, gripping hold of the side of the boat as the world went black. He wanted to throw up, but steadied himself, slowly he began to focus on his surroundings. He climbed out of the galley and onto the main deck of the small motor boat. He was definitely alone, no Weevils, no child and no prickling sensation either which bothered him. He looked along the row of boats jettied out along the Bay, his was tethered along the road towards the docks.
‘I know this place.’ He followed the steps out of the harbour and along towards the empty docklands, huge cranes sitting dormant, rusted containers stretching as far as the eye could see, huge warehouses, their windows smashed and awaiting a new lease of life. He stood on the overgrown road, a lone man against an invisible enemy, one man without a sonic screwdriver and no back up plan.
‘Into the valley of death I shall fear no evil…..’ He muttered as he strode casually between the empty containers, their doors open and the foul smell of decay available to all.

Jack scanned the boats across the harbour, there were several over the other side of the Bay, moored up at various points around the quay. He growled his frustration and stormed to his room, slamming the door. Gwen continued the search, quietly. She heard the chink of glass against bottle and knew it was starting again. She slid off her seat and entered the room, lifting out another glass and setting it beside the bottle. He poured another shot as she looked at him, but he looked away.
‘You have a lot of heart Jack, first Miguel, now the Doctor, what is it about him?’ She asked softly, lifting the potent liquid to her lips.
‘It’s not like that.’ He could see where this was leading. ‘He’s different, they both were.’ He downed the Bourbon and poured another.
‘The last time the Doctor was here, when the Daleks were in the Bay, you couldn’t wait to go and find him. He has a power over you that’s for sure.’ She said.
‘It’s not like that either. The Doctor is a legend, the only man who could stop the Daleks, the only one left who could save the planet. I first met him during the Blitz; I danced with Rose beside Big Ben on the Chula ship I borrowed. He showed me a different world, fun world, where anything was possible, but then I met the Daleks again…..and I was killed, but Rose brought me back. He’s…the Doctor’s like, once he’s in your life, you can’t imagine the world without him.’
‘You said that about Miguel.’ Gwen recalled.
‘He’s related to the Doctor, they have the same aura, I guess you can’t have one without the other.’
‘You still miss him, I hear you yell out his name in the night.’ Gwen said lowering her half empty glass. ‘You need to talk to someone about this Jack, you can’t go through this on your own.’ She gently squeezed his arm, her eyes watery and her smile soft, he lifted his hand and stroked her chin.
‘I have to. It’s what keeps me fighting.’ He drained his glass and rose, leaving Gwen alone.
The Doctor heard commotion coming from a large dilapidated building to his left. The grey painted walls peeled and flaked after years under the scorching sun. It was a long building and for a few moments his eyes couldn’t see the creatures milling about chasing and tigging each other around the metal tables and units. As he focussed he heard the yells, growls and acknowledgements that he’d been spotted. He stood firm, he had no reason to run, but the knowledge that he now stood with no device in which to deafen them weighed heavily on his mind.
He walked into the warehouse, the warmth from the sun upon his back now felt cold inside the building. He spotted the young man, the red converse now as dark as dirt. The boy was flanked by Weevils as he stood a good distance from the Time Lord.
‘Welcome to my new home Doctor.’ He said, his American accent slipping.
‘You should have said earlier, I’d have brought a house warming gift.’ He replied.
‘You being here is decoration enough.’ The boy replied. ‘I have plans for this place. I was thinking about your idea of me having an army, and you’re right, there are enough soldiers here protecting me.’
‘Why would you need protection?’ The Doctor folded his arms and frowned at the young man.
‘I’m the Master’s son, I’m his sole heir, I can command who and whatever I choose. I brought the great Doctor to his knees – if I can do that, taking this world by storm will be easy.’ He was grinning, so cocksure of everything, just like his father.
‘The world has already seen what the Master was capable of, I’m certain they won’t let the same happen again.’ The Doctor growled.
‘But with you out of the picture, and me just a boy with an ability to bring even you to your knees, how could they stop me?’
The Doctor stared at the right hand of the boy and saw the ring on the third finger of his right hand.
‘You’re wearing the ring.’
The boy grinned. ‘I know, and suddenly everything is a lot clearer, the world makes a lot more sense, I know who I am, I know why I’m here, and I know why I needed you now.’
‘Why?’
‘My father hated you; you were cause of his downfall.’ He strode through the Weevils who melted away from the boy; he strode towards the Time Lord and stretched out his right hand. ‘Well not anymore Doctor.’ The force of the psychic wave pushed the Doctor backwards against the nearest unit, he cried out as he landed against it and squirmed on the ground in obvious pain as the boy’s outstretched hand worked its magic upon him.
He struggled to find a focus, but the electricity generated from the boy was too strong, he knew the Masters powers were far greater than his but this was just a child, if he could just……. He closed his mind, and concentrated his efforts on the young Master. The electricity prickled through his body, tensing up his muscles causing them to go into spasms, causing him to go beyond the pain, through the searing agony, hit the wall and beyond.
The young Master felt a prickle of emotion trickle into his memories. A happier time on Gallifrey, the Academy, the Untempered Schism, the drumming, he could hear the drumming.
‘No-you-don’t.’ He struggled, he wanted to inflict the pain he was feeling at the loss of a life, a corrupted life, but free of rules and free of the Doctor, but now the drumming was back, that uncontrollable drumming. He was weakening, the Doctor was gaining strength. ‘No-I-won’t-let-you-do-this-to-me again.’ He struggled but it was failing, the Doctor wasn’t writhing on the ground, he was staring at him, and not out of pity, not with forgiving eyes, but this time with anger, a rage so dark and yet so menacing that the young man couldn’t be sure anymore if his powers had transferred to the Time Lord.
‘Who are you? Why are you doing this?’ He stumbled backwards as the Time Lord rose to his feet.
The Weevils who had up until this time hidden in the darkest recesses of the warehouse began to edge closer to the two men. They saw the change of power, they saw the young man on the ground and the dark figure standing over him and cowered with fear.
The young Master turned to face the creatures. ‘Kill him, protect your master, kill the Time Lord.’ He bellowed, but the creatures remained cowering. ‘Why don’t they listen to me? I’m their Master, I control them, they do what I tell them.’
‘Not anymore.’ He held out a hand and pulled the young man to his feet. He looked at the ring upon his finger and slid it off.
‘Your father was a fool, a danger to everyone and every living thing. He had no cares for you, your mother or anyone he came in contact with. You want to be like him.’ The Doctor looked over the young man’s shoulder at the weevils looking away from the dark glares of the Time Lord. ‘Then convince them you’re still a force to be reckoned with.’
The boy turned to face the Weevils, as the Doctor strode out of the warehouse, the ring gripped tightly in his clenched fist.
‘Weevils – I command you. I am still your master.’ He shouted as the creatures strode towards him, all teeth and no fear. ‘Doctor, what did you do to them, Doctor.’ He called as the creatures surrounded him. But the Doctor was gone.

Twilight glistened across the shore, dancing sparkles of moonlight stretched up towards the horizon and a tall man in a long overcoat leaned against the bridge and stared towards the quiet dockside. The warm summer heat blew in his face and raised the tails of his coat around his legs. He looked down at the green and silver signet ring in his hand, he could hear the manic laughter of the old Master and the desperate scream of the young boy trying to follow in his footsteps. He closed his hand around the ring and inhaled deeply.
‘Tough day and you think it would have been any easier if it was me?’ He turned sharply and saw a dark haired young man wearing a black shirt and jeans leaning against the bridge beside him.
‘At least you weren’t planning on taking over the world.’ He replied.
‘Would you have stopped me if I had?’ The young man cleared his throat and looked into the eyes of the Doctor. He saw pain etched across his face, and his jaw flickered.
‘Why didn’t you regenerate?’ A stray tear trickled down the Doctor’s cheek and landed on the bridge.
‘Maybe its better like this, that old Kenobi way.’ The young man turned his back on the sea and leaned against the bridge, he glanced sideways at the Doctor his dark blue eyes sparkling in the light of the moon. ‘He’s not a bad kid you know, he just didn’t have the right beginning, but you can show him, you can teach him.’
‘He’s dead.’
‘No he’s not, his father was a Time Lord, his mother came from Gallifrey that gives him as much chance as anyone to come back.’
‘But you didn’t.’
The Doctor glared at him, his face full of anger as a few people passed them on the bridge. Miguel watched them go, he waved at them as they passed and smiled inwardly.
The night life was in full swing around them, music and chatter filled the open bars and restaurants, a few people strode arm in arm across the quay and along the walkway and Gwen Cooper watched from an empty table outside a Bistro as the Doctor glared into space.
‘You want an argument with all these people watching you fine.’ Miguel stared across the quiet quay and smiled at a familiar face staring back.
‘That’s the one thing that really hurts above everything else.’ He muttered in a low voice, sighing.
The Doctor followed his eye line and caught sight of Gwen sipping a cool drink and staring their way.
‘All the things I miss, that’s gotta be in the top five.’ Miguel lowered his head and the Doctor reached out a hand to touch his shoulder. ‘Look but don’t touch, you know the rules, those two universes will collapse.’
‘So.’ Miguel laughed followed by the Doctor. He leaned against the bridge once more and stared out across the harbour.
‘The one thing you taught me above everything else was to believe in myself, believe I could be whatever I wanted to be. Isn’t that what the boy is doing, believing he could be just like his father? I wanted to be like you, I wanted to feel compassion for people, I wanted to lose that hate. Sure I can be as dark as the night sky, I can feel the evil forces inside of me playing against my good side, but I always chose the light. I could easily have gone along with the Professor, but I knew the prophecy, I knew what I had to do, and we did it. The war was won, everyone came away happy.’
‘Not everyone.’
‘No, but most of them, those that mattered, those that stood a chance of surviving.’ He put his head to one side and the Doctor saw the stray tear fall from his face. ‘I wish you’d been my father, I reckon I’d have stood a good chance then.’ He turned and walked away as the Doctor stared after him, the warm night air gave way to a coolness picking up from the sea. As the Doctor looked away Miguel turned to face him.
‘You’re the legend man, the one they all talk about. You could change his future with the click of your fingers. If he regenerates he’s gonna need a friend, he’s gonna need someone, why don’t you let it be you, why don’t you…… look after him, keep him safe, he may even surprise you one day.’
As he talked he saw Gwen walk towards the Doctor, he smiled and was certain she’d seen him. He inhaled the sweet scent she wore and forced back the pain in his heart.
‘Say hi to Jack for me, will ya.’ He grinned and the Doctor grinned back nodding. As he turned to face Gwen, Miguel disappeared into the night air.

Onboard the good ship Tardis a young boy awoke from the weirdest of dreams, he pulled on his shirt lying beside the bed and swinging his legs over the edge rubbed his eyes and looked about him. The gentle purring of the Tardis console whirred below him and the faint smell of familiarity wafted through his nostrils. He climbed down the winding staircase to see a man in a pinstriped suit move about the console with ease, thumping and turning various dials and levers. He looked up and for a moment and stared unblinkingly at the young man, then the corner of his mouth lifted and the boy felt at ease.
‘There’s a new sun burning just off the Eastern Nebula on the Seven Velvet Tears, want to see it?’
The boy smiled and followed the Doctor towards the door of the ship, he stood in awe at the landscape of stars and planets across the sky, he pointed and asked questions and the Doctor answered each one. He looked down at the young man not yet a fully grown teenager, his dark black hair and tanned complexion so familiar that it hurt.
‘Want to see it closer? Maybe we could eat out tonight, what do you say?’ He asked, closing the door of the ship and returning to the monitor to find somewhere to set down.
‘Sure thing Pops.’
‘And then I’ll tell you a story about your father.’