Martha shuddered as she watched the Doctor make perception filters for them. The Doctor claimed that The Master would no doubt be looking for them and they needed to pass invisibly through the country. What he was planning, he had no clue. Martha wondered if this Doctor would be willing or able to stop the Master considering that they were the same species.
The Doctor had been surprised that Martha had a TARDIS key. When she explained how she’d met Vairë and then started telling him about their travels together, he’d been amazed. He’d chuckled at her describing Vairë’s antics, delighted at listening to how creative and brilliant she could be, but had grown dark at how often Vairë had almost gotten herself killed. Martha couldn’t make heads or tails of this Doctor. If she didn’t know better, she’d have said he was in love with Vairë. But, if that were the case, why would he have left her to marry some other woman? “So, what’s the deal with you and Vairë?” Martha asked. “You’re like, what, her older brother or something?”
“Martha, leave it,” Jack suggested quietly.
“No, really,” Martha insisted. “All I really know is that you left her because you fell in love with someone.”
“Martha,” Jack said warningly.
“Jack, what is it?” the Doctor asked calmly. He could tell from Martha’s tone and Jack’s as well that the man knew more than he was saying. And, from the way Jack’s eyes flashed, the Doctor knew that it was something that was going to set his teeth on edge. He didn’t care, though. He wanted to know. “What is going on with Rose?”
“Doc, if I tell you what I suspect, it will just make things more difficult,” Jack said, trying to evade the issue. “Look, we know that she’s here. She’s being held by the Master. Let’s focus on that and then worry about all the changes our Rosie has been through.”
“Her name isn’t Rose anymore,” Martha muttered. “She did ask you to quit calling her that.”
“She needs to remember, even if it does hurt,” Jack replied. “This person she is now…she’s…”
“She’s brilliant,” Martha protested. “Yeah, she’s a bit like ice and fire. She’s darkness and light. She can be so humorous and fun and joyful. Then, in a flash she can change to become the rage at the heart of a thunderstorm and as implacable as an avalanche. I’ve traveled with her. I’ve watched her offer people chance after chance after chance to do the right thing. And then I’ve seen her pass reluctant judgment on them and become their sorrowful executioner when they left her no other choice. I’ve watched her hold the dying in her arms and sing them to their eternal sleep. She’s wonderful. She’s terrifying. She’s Vairë. Her sister is a sentient ship that travels in time and space but likes it when Vairë puts ribbons on the Time Rotors so she can feel pretty. Who the hell do you two think you are to pass judgment on her?! To demand that she remain some human girl you remember? Doctor, you abandoned her and her sister. Don’t you dare act as if you have the right to demand that she go back to being the kid you remember. Sure, I’ll bet Rose Tyler was someone awesome. But Vairë Arkytior Carter is Rose Tyler made even better.”
The Doctor’s eyes darkened and he began to shake. “Say her name again,” he whispered.
“Vairë Arkytior Carter,” Martha repeated. “Sounds Norwegian to me.”
“Arkytior,” the Doctor gasped, feeling his hearts lurching in his chest. “She’s still Rose.”
“Look, fella, were you not listening to me earlier?”
“Yes, Ms. Jones, I was,” the Doctor said, trying to look angry but failing. “Do you know what the name ‘Arkytior’ means?” The young woman shook her head and shrugged. “It’s the name my people gave a flower…a flower that you would call a rose. She’s still Rose. She will always be Rose. Even if she changes her name slightly, she’s still the same as she always was and she always will be. You’re very perceptive, Martha,” he continued, his tone warming up. “She always had all of those traits in her. But she’s grown so much and I missed it. Because I’m the biggest idiot that ever existed, I missed getting to see her come into her own.”
“So, a rose by any other name then?” Martha grinned.
“She’s still my pink and yellow girl.”
“So,” Jack cut in, “how are we going to rescue our pink and yellow girl from the Master?”
“Oh, I’ve got a plan,” the Doctor replied.
“Christ, I hope your plans work out better than hers,” Martha groaned.
The Doctor was about to make a snarky reply when he stumbled, falling arse over tea kettle, and hit the ground. He could feel Time Lines swirling and reshaping themselves around him. Something momentous had just happened. Something had changed forever. And he couldn’t help but think that Rose was at the center of it. The Lines shifted too quickly and none of them were connected directly to him. He couldn’t grasp them and see what had happened. Or, rather, he couldn’t do it without the TARDIS. Groaning, he pulled himself to his feet. He could feel the TARDIS strongly again. It was not impossibly far away. Whatever it was that had been muting and blocking the connection – other than he and his ship being at different points in time entirely – was gone. But something else had just happened. The TARDIS had just absorbed a mind-bogglingly large amount of information. It was almost as if it had just taken in the entire records and archives of some large civilization. He shook his head to clear it. Once the perception filters were ready, he and the others could track down his ship and he could use it to get back to Rose and to find out what in the name of Rassilon had just shifted and rippled through all of reality itself.
~*~*~*~
“This is interesting,” Jack said early the next morning. Martha had fallen asleep shortly after the Doctor finished the perception filters. She slept still. The Doctor, not needing much sleep, had been awake for several hours. Jack needed no sleep – a side effect of his immortality. “It seems that the Prime Minister has taken ill. All of his appointments for the rest of the week have been canceled.”
“He could be plotting something,” the Doctor said slowly. The Master had always been stone-cold brilliant and had been one of his worst enemies. He hated the thought of having to face his old friend but if the Master had Rose, if he had hurt her in any way, the Doctor would make certain that the Master lived just long enough to regret it.
“I take it Time Lords don’t get sick.”
“Not from anything on this planet, no.”
“Well, word on the gossip columns is that he was found unconscious in his office last night. He and his younger sister. I didn’t think he had a younger sister,” Jack muttered, going back over the records they had on Harold Saxon. “He’s got a wife. Lucy. And she’s a looker. But no mention of brothers or sisters in his background.”
“That is odd.” The Master had always been meticulous in his details. And, integrating himself into Earth’s society would have been easy. It wouldn’t have taken him any time at all to fabricate an entire life for himself. So why all of a sudden did Harold Saxon have a younger sister? “Could be Lucy’s sister?” he suggested.
“Nope. No siblings for her, either. Why do I suddenly have a sinking suspicion that Rosie is involved in this?”
“Because she’s the most jeopardy-friendly person in existence,” the Doctor groaned. “But the Master would never claim a human as family. He’s always looked down on the lesser races.”
“Maybe being with Lucy broadened his horizons?”
“Doubtful. Any information on the mysterious sister?”
“None. Just that she was found unconscious with him and that they are both resting comfortably and expected to make a full recovery. So, what’s the plan?”
“Well, if he’s unconscious, chances are that there will be even more guards on alert around where ever he’s staying. It also means we won’t be able to track him from 10 Downing Street until he recovers.” That had been their original plan. Wait for the Master to be at number 10 and then track him back to his private residence. Harold Saxon had several of them but research had shown they were all fronts. His actual abode was a tightly held secret. One that not even Torchwood or UNIT had information on. Not surprising considering that the Master was aware of both institutions and would do his best to keep his exact whereabouts from them. “We can sit tight here until he recovers and returns to work. Give everyone a few days to get over their heightened awareness and then we’ll track him back, rescue Rose, collect the TARDIS, and be home in time for tea. Easy-peasy.”
“Do you have any idea how you’re going to approach Rose?” Jack asked after a while. The sun was beginning to shine down. Martha would be awake soon. “From the way she was acting, she’s been alone for a long time. A really, really long time. She carries two swords now. They looked like Confederate officer swords. All I got was a back-handed explanation about a promise to an old friend to redeem them in a worthier cause than the one they were made for.”
“Normally, I’d take her to see her mother,” the Doctor sighed. “Whenever things got too much for her, coming back home helped settle her down. But I’m just now realizing that Jackie is gone. Did she…?”
“Rose said something about her mum and Mickey being in a parallel world. I’m guessing they’re alive but that she can’t get to them. She mentioned a little brother or sister – as if she didn’t know which it was.”
“Separated from her family by a wall that even I can’t breach,” the Doctor muttered. “Left alone, wandering on her own for who knows how long. A few years? A decade?”
“Doc…I’d say centuries.”
“That’s not possible.”
“Neither is her flying the TARDIS on her own. Or suddenly talking and acting as if she’s a Time Lord – albeit a very humble, self-effacing, polite, and congenial Time Lord.”
“Oi! I can be humble.”
“Doc, she refused to let Professor Yana give her any credit for what she did to help him get that rocket launched. She waved it off and said ‘oh, it’s just that I had an outsider’s perspective is all. I’m just glad I could help you out. You’re really the genius here.’ And she blushed when he complimented her. Martha’s told me that ‘Vairë’ can and will explain anything and if you don’t understand it, she’ll just keep trying and blaming herself for not being clear. She doesn’t give you that ‘you just dribbled down your shirt’ look that is something of your trademark.”
“Well, I can’t help it. I’m used to being the cleverest person in the room.”
“So, back to how you’re going to approach Rose…Mr. Clever, any ideas on that?”
“For once, I am completely out of my league on this. Throw my arms around her legs and beg her to forgive me?”
“That might work…” Jack said, rolling his eyes. The Doctor actually brightened. “…if you were her three year old son who had just been sent to his room.”
“I’ll figure out something,” the Doctor winced. “For now, we just have to wait.”
~*~*~*~
“The Prime Minister is going to address the nation,” Jack said loudly enough for the other two to hear him. It had been a week since the Master had vanished with a mysterious illness. They had spent most of each day trying to figure out which one of the several heavily guarded mansions the Master was staying in. The nights were given over to the Doctor and Jack trying to figure out who the younger sister was and how she worked into the Master’s undoubtedly nefarious schemes.
Martha and the Doctor moved over to where Jack was sitting in front of his laptop and sat to watch the address. It was being given at 10 Downing Street. “Argh,” the Doctor groaned, “if we’d known he was going to be there, we could have been waiting for him!”
“I’m surprised this was kept under such tight wraps,” Jack sighed. “Usually politicians are as easy to catch as a cold.”
“Ssh!” Martha hissed as the patriotic music toned down and the face of the Master appeared on the screen.
“My fellow Britons,” Harold Saxon said pleasantly. He looked pale but otherwise in good health, “I thank you for your patience during this time of illness in my family. Fate has smiled upon us and both myself and my newly-discovered sister are recovering. However, in the past week, I have been forced to re-evaluate my priorities. I have been honored to be asked to serve as Her Majesty’s Prime Minister. But, the needs of my family come first. My wife and I have recently learned that we will be parents soon and I wish to spend as much time as I can getting to know my younger sister. I cannot fulfill my commitments to this great nation and devote as much time to my family as I feel they deserve. Therefore, my fellow Britons, effective immediately, I am resigning from the office of Prime Minister. My wife, my sister, and myself will be returning to our private lives and ask that we be allowed to do so in peace. Many of you have disagreed with my policies – such is the right of all free people across this beautiful planet. I do not begrudge your opinions unless those opinions mean I am unable to devote myself to the two most important women in my life at this moment. To those who have supported me during my brief tenure in this office, I give you my sincerest thanks and ask that you support my successor with equal fervor. Thank you all, my fellow Britons. This is Harold Saxon, signing off.”
The newscast took over with gossip over who might succeed Saxon and what it might mean. Jack slammed his laptop shut in frustration. “What do you think his next move will be, Doctor?”
The Doctor was staring off into space, his mouth hanging open. Jack had to repeat his question several times before it registered with the Time Lord. “I have no clue,” he whispered. “That was completely unexpected. The Master never gives up power or an advantage once he’s got it.”
“Well, he just did,” Martha pointed out.
“Martha, why don’t you call your mother back?” the Doctor suggested. Francine Jones had been trying to get through to her daughter all week but the Doctor and Jack had kept her from answering the calls or returning them, believing that doing so would lead the Master right to them. Martha shrugged and called her mother.
“Hey Mum. Yeah, I got your messages. Sorry, my phone’s been on the fritz lately. Yeah, yeah, oh. She was? She is? She did? No way!” she laughed. “Are you serious? But why was he holding you? Oh. Oh. I see. Yeah. No, it’s not like that. No, really, it’s not. Yeah, just a big misunderstanding then. Yeah, she is. Could be – magic’s as good an explanation as anything! Right, well, I’ll come round to the house later this evening and we can talk about it all then. Love you!”
“What was that all about?” Jack asked before the Doctor could begin grilling Martha.
“Well, apparently Saxon did have my family held for a few months because he suspected they were involved in something dangerous. Claimed it had to do with the damage to Southwark Cathedral and my cousin Adie being involved with Torchwood. He had Vairë as well but eventually he let her have a bit of freedom and she tried to explain things to my family. Not the time-traveling stuff, just tried to explain what was going on a bit to keep them from being so terrified and she promised to smooth things over and get them out. They said that at first Saxon seemed kind of crazy and paranoid but after a few months of Vairë working on him, he was more normal. Let my family have freedom in the house and all but still held them. He let them go last week before he got sick. Apparently, Varië is his “long-lost little sister” and the two of them have gotten quite close. Oh, and my mum and dad are getting back together! Vairë said that they needed to be there for each other during the whole “investigation” and they wound up deciding to try to make it work again.”
“Ah. I’m happy to hear that,” the Doctor said, trying to be polite. “So, your mother is a fan of Vairë’s?”
“Oh yeah. Said that she watched while Vairë just…made Saxon want to be a different person. And that Dad even said she made him want to be a better man, better father and all that. Just something about her makes you want to be the best you can be,” Martha shrugged. “Mum thinks she’s magic or an angel or something. Anyway, apparently they’re all going to go traveling. Vairë called my place this morning to tell me that. Mum was there checking on things since I’ve been gone all week,” she added meaningfully. “She told Mum I was probably still with the Captain and that he would take good care of me and make certain I got back home safe and sound. Sounds like she might not be back for a while. Some big project she and her “older brother” are working on. Mum says she sounded excited about it but that she promised to swing by for a visit whenever she could.”
The Doctor groaned and began swearing in Gallifreyan as he felt his connection to the TARDIS grow weaker again. His ship was gone, now. He had no way to trace it. He’d have to wait for it to return to Earth during this time period and hope he could get to it in time and that he wouldn’t be sent off by the Chief’s strange Vortex Manipulator at the last second as he had been the last time.
“Well, at least we know Rosie’s alive and in good spirits,” Jack said.
“And that she’ll be back. Martha, if she calls you again, let us know right away,” the Doctor asked. “I’ve been waiting for years to see her again. I’d rather not wait any longer than I have to.”