Using Jack's vortex manipulator, the Doctor, Martha and Jack had appeared in a London alleyway. They had barely made it out unscathed, from the futurekind. "Oh, my head," muttered Martha, clutching her head.

"Time travel without a capsule. That's a killer," said the Doctor, working out the kinks in his neck. His eyes glance at the surrounding area.

"Still, at least we made it. Earth, twenty first century by the looks of it. Talk about lucky," said Jack.

"That wasn't luck, that was me," told the Doctor. He briefly thought back to the laboratory.

"The moral is, if you're going to get stuck at the end of the universe, get stuck with an ex-Time Agent and his vortex manipulator," said Jack.

"But this Master bloke, she's got the Tardis. She could be anywhere in time and space," pointed out Martha. It was still weird to her, thinking about the Professor changing into a woman.

"No, she's here. Trust me," told the Doctor, and thats what scared him. The Master at times could be very unpredictable but he or should he say she, always liked to cause chaos.

"Who is she, anyway? And that voice at the end, that wasn't the Professor," hummed Martha.

"If the Master's a Time Lord, then he must have regenerated," said Jack.

"What does that mean?" Questioned Martha, not fully understanding.

"It means he's changed his face, voice, body, everything. New man, or should I say woman," said Jack as the trio walked down the street. A beggar tapped a rhythm, similar to the drums in the Mistresses head.

"Then how are we going to find her?" Asked Martha.

"I'll know her, the moment I see her. Time Lords always do," explained the Doctor.

"But hold on. If she could be anyone, we missed the election. But it can't be," Martha's eyes widened as she thought of something, concerning the Mistress.

A series of public television screens on lamp posts turned on to broadcast the news. "Miss Masters, the secretary of Prime Minister Saxon, has returned from the palace and is giving a speech, on behalf of the Prime Minister," said a newsreader on the screen.

"I said I knew that voice. When she spoke inside the Tardis. I've heard that voice hundreds of times. I've seen her. We all have. That was the voice of...

"That's her. She's the secretary of the Prime Minister," said the Doctor. Although, he wondered why the Mistress didn't go for Prime Minister instead. The trio watched the Mistress give her speech and the Doctor immediately knew that she was addressing
him.

*****

The Mistress sat at her desk and spined around in her chair, she was bored. Pure and utterly bored, the Mistress watched as Trish, Martha Jones's  sister, walked into her office with reports. "Sorry to barge in Miss Masters but Mr Saxon wanted me to give you these," said Trish.

"What was your name again?" Asked the Mistress, she couldn't remember it, and the only reason that the girl was here was because she was Martha's sister.

"Trish, Miss Masters,'' answered Trish. The Mistress pretended to be interested by the answer but she wasn't.

"Trish," tested the Mistress. "Be a good girl and go get me some tea." The Mistress shooed Trish away while she looked at what the Prime Minister had sent her. "If he sends me one more paper, I'll kill him." A smile formed on the Mistress's face at the thought of killing Saxon.

Tap... tap... tap... tap

*****

"What have you got? Computer, laptop, anything. Jack, who are you phoning? You can't tell anyone we're here," warned the Doctor.

"Just some friends of mine, but there's no reply," said Jack, fearing for his friends. Martha brought her laptop out from her bedroom, and placed it in front of the Doctor and Jack. "I can show you the Saxon websites. He's been around for ages."

"That's so weird though. It's the day after the election. That's only four days after I met you," told Martha.

"We went flying all around the universe while she was here all the time," said the Doctor, irritated at the fact that the master was here all this time and he didn't know.

"You going to tell us who she is?" Questioned Martha, curious about the Mistress.''

"She's a Time Lord," the Doctor paused for a moment. "Technically shes a Time Lady now."

"What about the rest of it? I mean, who'd call herself the Master?" Asked Martha.

"That's all you need to know. Come on, show me Harold Saxon and his secretary," said the Doctor. Martha checks her answering machine, only to find her sister on it, explaining that she has a new job. Martha turns it off not wanting to listen to it.

"Former Minister of Defence. First came to prominence when he shot down the Racnoss on Christmas Eve. Nice work, by the way," praised Jack.

"Oh, thanks," said the Doctor.

"But it hardly mentions anything about his secretary," told Jack.

"Saxon goes back years. He's famous. Everyone knows his story. Look. Cambridge University, Rugby blue. Won the Athletics thing. Wrote a novel, went into business, marriage, everything. He's got a whole life."

Jack left for the kitchen to make them all cups of tea. He comes out of the kitchen a few minutes later with cups of tea. "But he's got the Tardis. Maybe the Master went back in time and has been living here for decades," pointed out Jack, setting the tea down.

"No," told the Doctor.

"Why not? Worked for me," said Jack.

"When she was stealing the Tardis, the only thing I could do was fuse the coordinates. I locked them permanently. She can only travel between the year one hundred trillion and the last place the Tardis landed. Which is right here, right now," explained the Doctor.

"Yeah, but a little leeway?"

"Well, eighteen months, tops. The most he could have been here is eighteen months. So how has she managed all this? The Master was always sort of hypnotic, but this is on a massive scale. And why wouldn't she be the Prime Minister instead."

"I was going to vote for Saxon," said Martha.

"Really?"

"So was I," told Jack.

"Why do you say that? What was his policy? What did he stand for?" Inquired the Doctor, needing to find out more information about the Mistress's plans. He knew that Saxon was just a puppet for her.

"I don't know. He always sounded good," said Martha as she tapped the drums rhythm on her tea cup. "Like you could trust him. Just nice. He spoke about. I can't really remember, but it was good. Just the sound of his voice."

"What's that?" Asked the Doctor, looking at Martha's tapping the cup.

"What?" Questioned a confused Martha.

"That. That tapping, that rhythm. What are you doing?" Pointed the Doctor.

"I don't know. It's nothing. It's just, I don't know," replied Martha as she stopped the tapping. The Doctor eyes focused on the TV, his eyes widening when he hears a ticking sound. The Doctor turned the TV around, only to see a bomb attached to it.

"Everyone out!" Shouted the Doctor, causing everyone to get out of the house. The trio stood outside Martha's house, watching as it exploded. "Everyone all right?"

"I'm fine," said Jack.

"Martha? What are you doing?" Asked the Doctor. Martha was calling her parents as she was worried about them.

"If he knows about me, what about my family?!" Exclaimed Martha as the phone answered. The conversation lasted five minutes with her father warning her about the Mistress's men at their house. "We need to help them!"

Martha drove the car to her parents house, only for the police to be outside, waiting for them. She sees her parents getting shoved into a police van. The armed police shoot at them, forcing Martha to drive away without her parents.

"Martha, listen to me. Do as I say. We've got to ditch this car. Pull over. Right now!" Told Jack to an upset Martha, who obeyed him and pulled the car over. Martha used this opportunity to warn her cousin about the Mistress.

In her office, the Mistress hacked Martha's phone call to her cousin. "Oh, a nice game of hide and seek. I love that. I truly do, but you should know that you can't hide from me, Martha Jones," hummed the Mistress.

"Let them go, Masters. Do you hear me! Let them go," shouted Martha into her phone. The Doctor took the phone off Martha, holding it up to his ear.

"I'm here," said the Doctor into the phone.

"So you are Doctor, so you are," drawled the Mistress, relaxing further in her seat.

"Master."

"I like it when you use my name but I think you should call me Mistress. I am in a female body, after all," said the Mistress.

"A psychiatrist's field day."

"As you chose yours. The man who makes people better. How sanctimonious is that?" Scoffed the Mistress, who was he to judge her.

"So, the secretary of the Prime Minister."

"I know. It's good, isn't it? I could of been Prime Minister but blah, blah, blah. As much as I love talking with you over the phone I would rather we talk in person."

"Then we should meet in person," urged the Doctor. But he knew that he couldn't trust her.

"Hm, I'll offer you a deal," drawled the Mistress. She had sent for Trish which would hopefully make Martha want to accept her deal.

"What type of deal?!" Demanded the Doctor.

"Oh, you know... come to my chosen destination and I'll let the Jones family go... unharmed," emphasising the last part. "You wouldn't want them to be accidentally killed now, Doctor. Would you like a few moments to consult your apes? Tick Tock!"

The Doctor explained the deal to Martha and Jack, Martha told him to accept while Jack was uncertain. Finally, he came to a decision.

"Yes, I accept," answered the Doctor. He only accepted because it meant the the Jones family would be safe.

"Has living with those apes dimmed you intelligence? You never accept a deal without knowing the conditions."

"What are the conditions?" The Doctor regretted not asking for the terms.

"Term one, you come to my chosen destination at the exact time," the Mistress's eyes turned to the door, watching Trish enter. "Term two, you come alone, your apes will be going to find Miss Jones's family. Break any of these terms and well you don't want to know. Tata for now."

The Mistress texted the details to the phone. Jack and Martha were suppose to be lead to a hotel room by Trish, to see her parents. While the Doctor was going to meet the Doctor at a twenty four hour cafe at seven pm.

"Oh, Trish, I need you to do something for me," told the Mistress.

*****

Martha and Jack were picked up by Trish, who had been given the details of where her parents had been taken to. Meanwhile, at five to seven, the Doctor stood outside the cafe that he had been told to go to by the Mistress.

The Doctor looked inside the cafe windows, trying to see if he could find the Mistress. But he could sense that she was in there, near the back, if he was correct. Sighing to himself, the Doctor opened the cafe door and went inside to find the Mistress.

"You're not late, lucky," hummed the Mistress as she watched the Doctor move towards her. "That means that the Jones family should be alive."

"How can I trust your word, Mistress?" Asked the Doctor, taking a seat across from her. The Mistress lips curved into a mocking smile.

"You would be an idiot to do so," said the Mistress, pulling out her phone and dialing a number. "If you don't believe me, here." The Mistress passed her phone to the Doctor, who reluctantly took it.

The phone rung for a moment then Martha answered, confirming that her family was safe. The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief when the phone call ended.

"Don't look so surprised, Doctor. I do keep my word... sometimes," told the Mistress, annoyed that the Doctor thought that she wouldn't keep to her word. A waiter brought over two cups and a pot of tea for them.

"Do you need anything else?" Asked the waiter, lightly blushing at the Mistress. Said woman shook her head and waved him off, causing the waiter to leave them.

The Mistress poured herself a cup of tea, lifting the tea cup to her lips and drinking it. "Gallifrey, where is it, Doctor?" Asked the Mistress, putting down her tea cup.

"It's gone," said the Doctor with sorrowful eyes. He thought back to his home planets destruction. The Mistress took a moment to process what the Doctor had said.

"How can it be gone?" Asked the Mistress. Her home planet was gone? How could that be?

"It burnt."

"And the Time Lords?"

"Dead. And the Daleks, more or less. What happened to you?" Questioned the Doctor. The Mistress flinched at the question, thinking back to what exactly happened to her. Her flinched didn't escape the eyes of the Doctor.

"The Time Lords only resurrected me because they knew I'd be the perfect warrior for a Time War. I was there when the Dalek Emperor took control of the Cruciform," explained the Mistress with anger in her eyes but it soon change to fear. "I saw it. I ran. I ran so far. Made myself human so they would never find me, because I was so scared," she whispered the last part.

The Doctor looked at the Mistress in concern. "Oh, Mistress..." he said, bringing the Mistress out of her thoughts, her eyes locking onto the Doctors.

"Don't pity me," snapped the Mistress. "I don't want your pity!" The two remained in silence until the Mistress spoke again. "All of them died? But not you, which must mean..."

"I was the only one who could end it," said the Doctor, closing his eyes. "And I tried. I did. I tried everything."

"What did it feel like, though? Two almighty civilisations burning at your feet. Oh, tell me, how did that feel?" Inquired the Mistress with a sadistic smile.

"Stop it!" Exclaimed the Doctor, opening his eyes and glaring at the Mistress, who wasn't affect by it.

"You must have been like God," stated the Mistress.

"I've been alone ever since. But not anymore. Don't you see? All we've got is each other," told the Doctor.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" Purred the Mistress, leaning forward to get a better look at the Doctors reaction and she was not disappointed. "I would of thought that this is our little date, a bit human but what can a girl do?"

"You could stop this right now. We could leave this planet. We can fight across the constellations, if that's what you want, but not on Earth," said the Doctor.

"You and your Earth,' spat the Mistress, the quiet drums in her head grew louder. Her fingers tapped the familiar pattern on the table.

"Mistress..." started the Doctor, only for him to be cut off. His eyes narrowed on the constant tapping on the table.

"The drumming. Can't you hear it? I thought it would stop, but it never does. It never ever stops. Inside my head, the drumming, Doctor. The constant drumming," hissed the Mistress. Her hand moved to her forehead.

"I could help you. Please, let me help," said the Doctor, moving away from his chair, and going to the Mistress's side. The Mistress streached her hand out, stopping the Doctor from coming any closer to her.

"Don't, don't come any closer," snapped the Mistress, trying to focus on calming down the drums. The Doctor looked at her with pleading eyes, not wanting to see his insane friend in pain. The feelings of helplessness turned to anger, the Mistress did not want the Doctor to see her in this state. It was a blow to her pride.

"I know this is probably the hardest thing that you have to do, but you have to trust me, please," pleaded the Doctor.

"Oh, waiter. I need your help! My ex-boyfriend won't leave me alone!" Shouted the Mistress, causing the Doctor to turn and see the waiter rushing towards them.

"Mistress!" Exclaimed the Doctor as he was held up by the waiter, the Mistress used this oppertunity to slip away from the two men, slipping out of the front door.

"Goodbye, Doctor," hummed the Mistress, a smile placing on her lips as the chaos unfolded.

*****

The Mistress walked inside her appartment, shutting the front door behind her. She went straight into a locked room, pulling out the key from the keychain around her neck, and opening it.

"Hello, sexy," whistled the Mistress, taking in the full appearance of a certain blue police box. She walked straight to the central console, and stroked her in a loving way. "Your Doctor has arrived."

The TARDIS gave the Mistress pleasent hum, and slightly heated up the console. "I bet the Doctor will be surprised that I haven't damaged you." The TARDIS gave another hum, connecting to the Mistress's mind.

'I sensed that he was here,' the TARDIS spoke in the Mistress's mind, somewhat calming down the sounds of the drums in the Mistress's mind. That was one of the main reasons as to why the Mistress was not completeley insane. The TARDIS and the Roslyn.

'Here?' Thought the Mistress, hearing the TARDIS door open. "That didn't take you too long," muttered the Mistress. "Did you get a booboo? Want me to kiss it better?"

The TARDIS shifted, causing the Mistress to cuss out loud as she tripped due to the sudden movement. "I treated you nice-ish," complained the Mistress, getting back on her feet. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist. "When did you get there?"

The Doctor was behind the Mistress, his arms wrapped around her waist, helping to steady her. Sleep the Doctor commanded in the Mistress's mind with help from the TARDIS. The Mistress fell lip into his arms. "What am I going to do with you, Koschei," whispered the Doctor. The TARDIS guided the Doctor to the bedroom that the Mistress used. "Thank you, sexy."