It was the middle of the night TARDIS time, and the main control room was quite honestly beginning to resemble a living room of a human home, that was being used as a camp for a sleep over. Empty cans of drink and packets of snacks were strewn across the floor, and on one side of the control room, two Timelords were lying on the blanket covered grating of the TARDIS, talking about their latest plan.

“What if we flushed the her system, then reverse the thrusters and tempus-deci--” suggested the Master, but was cut off by the Doctor, who countered, “No that would rip the old girl to shreds.”

From his spot on the floor, the Master shot the glowing control panel a contemptuous glare, and said, “That wouldn’t be such a bad thing- got an attitude on her this one.” The Doctor burst out laughing when the TARDIS responded with a smug hum and a small zap that made the Master jump in alarm.

Rolling his eyes at his companion, who was cursing fluently under his breath, he asked, “Have you got anymore ideas, or are you to engulfed in your brooding?”

With a sigh the Master rolled onto his stomach, and scratched the back of his head in thought. “What if we go to that rift running through Cardiff…and get Captain Jack to open it for us-”

“He wouldn’t do that, it was a disaster last time they did it,” interrupted the Doctor, rolling onto his own stomach so he was looking at the Master, who’s face had a smug grin plastered on it.

“But if we were there in the TARDIS to control it, we could keep all the nasty stuff at bay, and find your little alternate planet.”

The Doctor opened his mouth to answer, but then closed it with a confused expression set on his features. Running a hand through his messy, brown hair, he replied slowly, “That. could. work.”

For a second or two, the Master looked offended, but ruined the effect when he broke into a grin, and retorting smugly, “Course it will, I came up with it. I‘m the Master.”

“Hence my shock at it’s making sense,” grinned the Doctor. The two of them jumped up, and set co-ordinates, the Doctor announcing happily, “Next stop, Cardiff 2007!”

* * *

It was mid-day in Cardiff, and Jack Harkness was sitting in his office finishing off some paperwork that UNIT was demanding from them. He was sourly picking up the next file from the monumental stack, when the phone rang loudly, providing him with an appreciated break.

“Hello, Captain Jack Harkness speaking.”

There was a loud crackling and a good amount of beeping from the other end of the line, but the voice that answered was unmistakeable, “Hey Jack…um- we were around and thought we might pop in, you know…say hi and that…what’s the time by the way?”

“It’s eleven o’clock. When were you thinking of coming around Doctor?”

“Um- well if it isn’t to much trouble-” the Doctor began, but his voice was replaced by a loud droning coming from the middle of the hub, and a cry of surprise from Tosh, Gwen and Owen…the latter yelling, “Jack! There is a bloody Police Box materialising in the middle of the hub!”

The droning stopped, and Jack ran out to find the Doctor and the Master standing out front the TARDIS, the Doctor beaming happily, and the Master looking like he would much rather be in a vacuum lock without a suit.

“We were thinking we might pop in now,” concluded the Doctor, as Jack hurried down the stairs into the main area of the hub.

Ianto walked up to the pair, and asked, “Do you two want your usual coffee?”

The Doctor smiled at the young Welshman, and replied, “No thanks Yan, we’re fine for now.”

Ianto nodded, and smirked when Owen shot him a bewildered glance.

Jack walked up to them, and beamed happily at the Doctor, “Nice to see you again Doctor.” He then turned to the Master, and gave him a cold stare, saying callously, “Master.”

The Master returned the cold glare, and replied through grit teeth, “Captain.”

Tosh, Owen and Gwen rose their eyebrows in surprise at their bosses rude behaviour towards the man…and possibly the mans name as well. Owen stepped in, getting quite sick of being left in the dark.

“Hang on…not trying to e rude or anything-”

“Oh yes he is,” interrupted Gwen, Tosh and Ianto in unison, receiving a glare from Owen, who pressed on anyway.

“-But who are you…and how did you get a Police Box to teleport in here?”

The Doctor rolled his eyes as he heard the Master mutter, “Stupid little ape.”

“Well, I am the Doctor- an old friend of Jacks, and this is the Master, a companion of mine.”

“Not by choice,” added the Master.

“Oi, if it wasn’t for me you would have been executed genius,” retorted the Doctor.

The Master scoffed and replied, “I doubt that…Humans just love their precious guilt.”

Sighing the Doctor chose to leave the subject, and said to the others, “Just ignore him, we have this conversation daily.” He perked up almost immediately, and continued cheerfully, “Anyway, Doctor is me and Master is he!”

The Master was the one to roll his eyes now, before turning to Owen and retorting, “And it’s not a Police Box you stunted little Ape, it’s a TARDIS that just looks like a Police Box…all of the time.”

The Doctor patted the blue box defensively and defended, “I like it, sort of retro don’t ya think?”

Owen however, bristled indignantly, and had to be held back by Tosh and Gwen as he made a step for the Master, saying angrily, “I am not a stunted little Ape you twat.”

“Anyway,” interrupted Jack, given Owen a pointed look, before returning his gaze to the Doctor. “What are you two after?”

The Doctor put on an act of hurt and said in an obviously fake sorrowful voice, “Jack, I’m wounded. We’re not after something every time we come to visit…-wait-”

“Yes you are. Last time, you two got sick of each others company and I had to deal with him all night,” said Jack, nodding towards the Master, who grinned playfully at Ianto and announced happily, “You have an evil mastermind potential in you young Ianto.”

Jack sighed exasperatedly as Ianto beamed back at what he recognised as the closest thing any of them would get to a complement from him. “Yes, thanks for reminding me, now him and Ianto are best friends.”

“You know, him has a name,” stated the Master pointedly.

“You enslaved the planet and held me, the Doctor and Martha’s family prisoner, sorry but that sort of turns you against a person.”

“Good, I’m not to fond of you either you freak!”

“Maniac!”

“Impossible Twat!”

“Psychotic want-to-be dictator!”

That set the Master off, and soon enough the two of them were standing a couple of inches away from each other, fists clenched and yelling curses in languages that thankfully the TARDIS had decided were better not translated.

Ianto and the Doctor each grabbed hold of their friends and dragged them away from one another.

“I was wrong, let’s go,” grumbled the Master, not taking his eyes off of Jack, glaring daggers at him…a glower that Jack was returning tenfold.

“Look Jack, I need to ask you a favour…I need you to open the rift for us,” hurried the Doctor, waiting for the outburst of ‘you’re-mad!’.

The loudest stunned silence the Doctor had ever heard swept across the hub, only broken by the Masters and Jacks heavy, aggravated breathing.

Jack was looking at the Doctor, shock written plainly on his features, but then his eyes narrowed, and he returned his gaze to the Master, who was once again smiling smugly at him.

“This was your idea wasn’t it?! What are you playing at this time?” demanded Jack, trying to break free from Ianto, who was holding him firmly at the other side of the group.

“Oh come on Jack, now if I was trying to escape, or conquer the world again, than what do you think I am going to do, tell you- explain all my plans and ideas so you can work out a way to stop me…I don’t think so!” taunted the Master, trying to get his hands free from behind his back, where the Doctor was holding them.

The Doctor looked at his immortal friend, fixing him with his best pleading look, and said, “Jack, I know what happened last time, but if we were here in the TARDIS we would be able to block anything trying to come through, and then you can close the rift once we found what we want.”

“And what is it that you want that you are willing to tear a hoe in time and space?” asked Jack, looking at the Doctor with a mix of exasperation and curiosity.

The Doctor looked at him more pleadingly than ever, and replied earnestly, “Jack, we’re looking for a parallel earth…we’re looking for Rose.”

Jack looked shocked, and had given up his struggle to break free from Ianto. He whispered, “You found a way to get to her?”

“Yeah, well the Master did…but it will work, I can guarantee it,” answered the Doctor, his excitement leaking into his voice. “Jack, we can get her back…I just need your help.”

There was a short pause, which was broken by Jack clapping his recently freed hands, and announcing, “Right, to work then.”

The Doctor grinned, and thanked him, before getting into the TARDIS to set it up for their endeavour, but before the Master got inside, Jack grabbed hold of his collar and pushed him against the rough, painted wood.

“If you are just toying with him…or this is a plan to get free…you can regenerate all you want, I will kill you each time,” he growled into his ear, giving him a hard shove and then walking back to his team to discuss what they had to do.

Plot- The Master was never shot in ‘The Last of the Timelords’ and has been with the Doctor ever since. Over time, he and the Doctor have resumed their friendship, and the Master has almost all of his freedoms given back to him. But he has noticed that the Doctor is missing this Rose that he is always talking about, and the two have decided to find a way to get to the parallel world.

Authors Note: Um, I sort of didn’t really stick to the preview to much, got better ideas, but I hope ya like it anyway. 

The Master walked back into the TARDIS, fixing his dishevelled jacket and brooding about Jack angrily.

Without looking up from his work, the Doctor called out from the other side of the control room, “What took you so long?”

The excitement in his voice was obvious, as it was he was almost jumping up and sown, and as much as the Master hated himself for it…he didn’t want to ruin this for the Doctor. So he answered offhandedly, “Oh nothing, just talking to Ianto.”

The Doctor nodded, and called, “Hey can you flick that thingy-majig for me?”

The Master grinned, flipping the right switch, and calling, “You mean the whatsi-ya-call-it, Doctor did you even take the test to learn how to fly a TARDIS?”

The Doctor looked up defensively, and retorted, “Yeah, and I did just as good as you did.

The Master winced, and said, “Not that good then?”

The Doctor let out an exhilarated laugh, as the TARDIS jerked forward, sending them both to the ground. He jumped up to his feet instantly, and with the Master began to push button, pull levers, spin wheels and thump unco-operative instruments with a mallet, to keep out other realms and monsters from finding their way to Earth.

The TARDIS gave an enthusiastic beep, and the Doctor looked over to the Master, excitement written plainly over his features, he cried, “That’s it…that’s Rose’s world…Master it’s working.”

The Master grinned back at him from where he was trying to keep a German air raid from WWII from getting through the rift.

The Doctor fixed the co-ordinated for Parallel Earth, and then he and the Master began to close the rift from inside the TARDIS while jack and the team close it from the Hub. There was a loud and hard thump and the TARDIS took off through her new portal.

The TARDIS phone rang, and the Master sighed irritably, “Probably just Harkness seeing if I haven’t whacked you over the head with a candlestick or something.”

The Doctor grinned and picked up the phone, and sure enough, Jack was at the other end. “Did it work? Are you okay?”

“Jack it worked! The TARDIS is materialising now. I promise that we will visit as soon as possible.”

Jack cried back, “Yes! That’s brilliant…right then, see you later then.”

The Master was surprise when the Doctor slammed down his phone, and hugged him, mumbling repeated ‘Thankyous ,” into his shoulder.

He gave the Doctor an awkward pat on the head, and replied, “You’re welcome. Um- yeah, l-let’s see if we got the right place yeah?”

The Doctor let go of him, still beaming, and bounded over to the door, the Master on his heels. They came out and found themselves in the middle of the main room of the massive mansion belonging to Pete Tyler.

The Doctor was literally jumping up and down for joy, turning excitedly to the master and shaking his shoulder saying, “This is her Dad’s place, this is it…we did!”

The Master gave him a grin, but both of their grins were replaced with looks of terror as a middle aged, bleach blonde, cockney woman stormed over to them, shouting angrily.

“I have had it up to here with you landing anywhere you please Doctor! Outside where everyone can see it is bad enough, but in the middle of the house Doctor?…Oh my God Doctor! It’s you, I don’t believe it!”

The woman grabbed both him and the Master into a rib cracking hug, and the Master whispered anxiously, “This isn’t the one you were after was it Doctor?”

Jackie Tyler glared at him, and slapped him across the face as hard as she had when the Doctor brought Rose back after a year.

“Nope, that’s he mother Jackie Tyler…slaps as a means of greeti--OW!!!”

The Doctor staggered back, pressing a hand against his burning cheek, and backed back with the Master as she advanced on them, yelling shrilly, “I’ll give ya a means of greeting you arrogant-”

She was interrupted by the front door swinging open, and a familiar voice calling, “Mum, we’re back.”

Rose and Pete Tyler walked into the room, the latter holding dozens of shopping bags labelled with the names of various clothing stores, and looking like he sourly regretted having a daughter who could indeed, shop until he dropped.

Rose’s jaw dropped when she saw the scene in front of her. Her mother had her hand raised in the preparation for he ‘going-down-for-the-count’ clap, and she had to men backed up against a big, blue police box that had parked itself in the middle of the room.

“Oh my god Doctor!” she cried, racing over to the man in the brown pinstriped suit, who was beaming back at her and swept her into an overjoyed hug.

The Master, Jackie and Pete watched as the Doctor spun Rose around, the odd, ‘I don’t believe it’s you,” escaping the embracing pair. The Doctor put Rose down, and raced over to the Master, holding her hand.

“Rose, this is the Master, he’s the reason we got here,” he announced, grinning ear to ear.

The Master gave her a small smile but yelped in surprise as the third person in ten minutes completely disregarded his personal space, and grabbed him in a tight hug.

“What sort of name is the Master?” spoke up Jackie from behind the trio. “That’s as bad as the Doctor, wait…are you one of those Timekings?”

The Master smirked slightly, and corrected, “Timelord, and yes I am.”

Rose looked from the Master to the Doctor, and said in a shocked voice, “Oh my god! I thought you said they were all supposed to be dead.” She then started and looked apologetically at the Master and said, “No offence.”

The Doctor was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet again, and answered, “They are, but this guy is as an impossible thing as Jack.”

“Don’t compare me to the likes of Jack Harkness,” snapped the Master, scowling angrily.

“Jack Harkness? Captain Jack Harkness? His dead, what are you two on about?” asked Rose bewildered.

The Doctor laughed happily, and replied, “Oh he’s not dead Rose, quite the opposite…he’s immortal.”

The Master laughed this time, but it was a bitter loathing laugh. “An immortal prat, how lucky am I?”

Rose smirked and stated, “I’m going to take it that you two don’t get along.”

“Oh, he’s still sour about me enslaving the planet,” replied the Master, as if it was something small and insignificant, like scratching the SUV.

Jackie and Pete obviously didn’t agree, for they exclaimed in unison, “You enslaved the Earth?!”

The Master held his hands up in the air, and defended, “Only for a year, until somebody had to ruin it for me!”

The Doctor smirked and retorted, “Somebody had to ruin it for you before you declared war on the Universe!”

Rose looked shocked about something, and it didn’t appear to be that the person she was standing next to had enslaved her planet. “I’it hasn’t been a week for you then?”

The Doctors jaw dropped, and he stuttered exasperatedly, “Ju-just a week, it’s been just a we- It’s been over to years for me Rose Tyler.”

Rose’s eye filled with tears, and she gave him a watery smile and asked, “You hadn’t given up on me yet?”

The Doctor grinned and picked her up in another hug, whispering “Never.”

He put Rose down, and she asked nervously, “Can I still travel with you, or do you want it to be just you an-”

“Are you mad?! Why do ya reckon we came,” grinned the Doctor. “Do you still wanna come?”

“Of course I do…but wait, would I be able to get back to see Mum and Dad…and Mickey and Jake?” she asked worriedly.

The Doctor scratched the back of his head, and opened his mouth to answer, but was beaten to it by the Master. “Yeah…I set it so that the TARDIS has a permanent and secure opening to get through whenever you want.”

The Doctor looked over at him in surprise, and muttered, “I didn’t know you did that.”

“You keep forgetting Doctor…I’m brilliant!” replied the Master smugly as the Doctor gaped at him, saying that that line was copyright to him as Rose laughed at the two of them.

Rose grinned, kissed the Master on the cheek, and ran up to her room to pack. Jackie walked up to them, and the two instantly backed back against the TARDIS until their backs hit the hard wood. She pointed a threatening finger into bot of their faces, and warned, “You both better look after her…or time machine or not, I will hunt you down.”

Both the Master and the Doctor nodded obediently, and sighed in relief as she turned around and stood next to her husband. Or almost ten minutes they made awkward conversation, until Rose came bounding down the stairs two at a time, and kidded her Mum and Dad goodbye, asking them to say goodbye to Mickey and Jacke before racing into the TARDIS with the Doctor and Master.

“You bring her back soon Doctor!” called Jackie as the TARDIS dematerialised, and all that was left was a couple of flakes of dried blue paint,