Alison and Sorrel watch in awe and horror as the pyramid is engulfed in eerie red light.

  The room begins to glow red and a low pitched alarm can now be heard.

  The Doctor turns on his old enemy. "You fool. You should have realised what would have happened if a weapon was fired in here of all places!"

  Brom asks the obvious question "Can you explain what this place is?"

  The Doctor sighs. "This is a multi-dimensional observation station. It was built by the Time Lords, my people, to keep track of other dimensions. It's all falling into place now. The Master in Talith's body manipulated my TARDIS in order to use certain properties of this station to disrupt and destroy your home dimension. Now he's activated the self-destruct by firing a weapon."

  The Master stops staring at his TCE, puts it back into a pocket and turns to Officer Kube.

  "Put down the body."

  Kube puts down the body.

  "Thank you Officer."

  The Master goes over to Kube and touches her cheek with one hand, almost fondly. The Doctor sees what the Master is about to do, and yells out in order to try and stop him. The Master ignores the Doctor and with his other hand wrenches her head around violently, breaking her neck.

  "There was no need for that at all!" The Doctor looks angry.

  Talith/the Master groans.

  Brom turns to his wife and looks at her with love and anguish. He turns back to the Doctor. "Is there anything we can do for them?"

  The Doctor looks around the room, spots the hidden door he was looking for and then smiles a sad smile. "I think I know a way."

  A ringing sound can be heard coming from Alison's pocket. Alison pulls a mobile phone from her pocket and answers it. "Hello."

  "Alison, it's me. Could you and your friend stay where you are. I'll let you into the pyramid shortly."

  "Thank you Doctor."

  Alison ends the call and turns to Sorrel. "All our problems could now be over"

  Brom is standing guard over the Master. He has gone very quiet.

  Talith/The Master sits still.

  The Doctor walks over to Talith/The Master with the device, placing it near 'her' head.

  "I'm going to switch this on. It will use the microchip to extract the Master's consciousness from your body Talith. Then we'll all have a talk."

  The Doctor switches the device on, and Talith/The Master screams.

  Brom looks anguished, but does not get distracted from guarding the Master.

  Talith stops screaming and the Master is now in the device.

  Alison and Sorrel enter the room, and the Doctor turns around to greet them, putting the device into a pocket.

  "There you are."

  "So Doctor, what is going on here?"

  Alison asks the question he is almost afraid to answer.

  The Doctor speaks, at last. "Our version of the Master has altered history in order to gain a body. He's disrupted a higher dimensional plain, killing the peaceful beings that live there."

  He walks over to the column and touches it. A control bank smoothly slides out of the floor and he flicks a switch. The red light dims and the alarm ceases.

  "I thought I'd better stop that needless distraction."

  He pulls the device out of his pocket and speaks into it. "I know you're in there, and that you know what has to happen to preserve the Web of Time. Tell me what needs to be done."

  The voice of the Master emerges from the device. "Talith incapacitates me, defeating my scheme, but dies as this station implodes."

  Everyone in the room holds their breath, and waits for someone to take charge.

  The Doctor speaks. "Talith, if you could do as the Master asks?"

  Talith looks confused for a moment, then grins. She gets up and walks over to the Master, the one with a physical presence, and punches him hard. He collapses, but remains conscious.

  Talith stops smiling "But how am I to die?"

  The Master grins.

  "I've set the controls. The station will implode when Talith hits the switch. I've been using most of the energy to stabilise and halt the destruction of the Dreamster's home dimension, that way the implosion will open up a brief dimensional tear allowing them to safely go home. The Master will be left with his TARDIS."

  Alison speaks up. "What about us Doctor?"

  "We'll return to the TARDIS, where I have business to take care of and leave this place."

  The Doctor gives Talith what appears to be a walkie-talkie. "You'll need this to know when to activate the implosion."

  He turns to the rest of the group. "It's time to go. I've created an exterior doorway we can leave from. We have some work to do before the implosion can take place."

  Alison and Sorrel are the first to leave, taking the Master out with them, Brom and Talith hug each other.

  The Doctor watches on for a while, before deciding it is time to get things moving.

  He speaks quietly to Brom. "I'm sorry, but this has to happen."

  Brom lets go of Talith and speaks to her. "I love you."

  "I love you too. Go, lead our people home."

  Talith is crying, and the Doctor's hearts begin to ache.

  The Doctor arrives in the park, the point chosen for the dimension tear to occur, and where the Dreamsters have gathered.

  He pulls out a walkie-talkie and speaks into it.

  "Talith, it's time."

  She flicks the switch and accepts her destiny.

  At the moment the pyramid disappears, a 'crack' appears in the park. The 'crack' widens until it is large enough for several Dreamsters to walk through at once.

  At first the Dreamsters stare at it in wonderment, before one of them finally steps through it and home.

  Brom is the last to leave. He turns to the Doctor. "Thank you for saving us."

  The Doctor smiles sadly. "I'm glad I could. I'm sorry about Talith, I truly am. If there was any other way..."

  "You would have found it. I know. I'll always remember her, and we'll always remember you."

  Brom walks through the dimension tear, and it slowly begins to close.

  Alison speaks up. "So Doctor, what do we do now?"

  The Doctor watches the dimensional tear close and finally answers his companion. "We are going back to the TARDIS for a cup of tea, and a chat."

  He puts a robotic component on a table, and sighs.

  He looks up at the screen and sees the face of someone he long ago called a friend, more recently called an enemy and now regards as his charge.

  "You interfered in your personal history, could have crashed the Web of Time, killed thousands of peaceful beings, put lives in danger and most importantly betrayed my trust."

  The Master looks at the Doctor and doesn't speak.

  "I'd rather not kill you, so I have returned your mind to the TARDIS. There it shall stay until I am ready to attempt to trust you again."

  The Master still doesn't speak, but blinks.

  "I'm going now. I need to speak with Alison."

  The Doctor walks towards the door and prepares to leave the room.

  "I'll leave you with your thoughts. I hope you decide to do the right thing, and when you are ready... just call for me."

  The Doctor leaves the room, and shuts the door behind him.

  She's wondering where the Doctor got to, and what he did with the Master.

  The Doctor enters the console room and sighs.

  Alison turns to the Doctor and asks him "So how's the Master?"

  The Doctor gathers his thoughts before answering "Somewhere where he cannot do harm to anyone."

  "Is he dead?"

  "No. I could have left his mind deactivated, but I didn't."

  Alison thinks about this point before answering. "Will he get his body back?"

  "One day, but not any time soon. Not until I am sure he won't try anything like that again."

  Alison accepts this answer, then asks another question. "Where will we go now?"

  "If you like I can drop you off at your mother's house, just after Joe rang. You call him back, and apologise for missing his phone call."

  Alison responds immediately. "Not yet, I want to stay travelling with you for now."

  The Doctor walks over to the console and sets the controls. He hopes they arrive somewhere peaceful when they materialise.

  The TARDIS brings up a screen and flashes a message for the Master. It outlines that if he tries to convince her to free his mind one more time she will wipe him from her memory, and then eject the physical portions of her that housed his mind into the vortex to be destroyed.

  The Master backs off and says almost apologetically "Well it was worth an attempt."

  The Master thinks over where his scheme went wrong. If he were to try such a scheme again, he would have to do it all himself - not his past self or future self, but his present self.

  It would mean a lot more work, but it would be worth it - to have a body of his own again would be worth anything.

  So the Master thinks and waits. He knows that one day his mind will be freed from the TARDIS once more, and put back inside the body that lies in pieces on the table. He knows one day the Doctor will need his help again.

  Until that time comes, all he can do is think and plan. Plan how to get a new body. Plan how to free himself from the Doctor. Plan to return to his old life.

  That time will come.

  The End

  Author's Commentary

  The chapter title is a working title for the EDA The Sleep of Reason, if my memory is correct.

  The store room is a slight cheat, but you'd expect to find one within every Time Lord vessel.

  I didn't want to kill the Master, so I put him in a box!

  Talith dies as the Master knows, but she dies saving her people's home.

  I used similar phrases to those in Sometime Never... to describe where the Master is to convey that the Master has slid backwards in the Doctor's eyes.

  At some point I hope the Master will regain his robotic body, his continuing relationship with the Doctor is too interesting to ignore; so I hope the next IA will find good reason to give the Master back his body.

  I hope people don't think this ending is too much of cop out.