Day of the Trinity

By Michael Weyer

The idea for this has kicked into my head for a while. I had originally planned to work it a bit into my "Survivor's Hearts" story but didn't seem quite to fit there. This, however, hit me suddenly so decided to get it out and hope to see some good reaction to it.

"Why is there never a big red button?"

It seemed an odd question but it wasn't like anyone was around to hear him. He stood in the run down shack in what was now basically a wasteland, studying the item before him. It was hard to believe this small box could be the thing that obliterated two entire species but then again, he was more than used to how huge things came in small packages. It had aspects of a clock but quite detailed and elaborate. He'd spent the last hour studying it and trying to figure it out but just couldn't quite grasp it.

"How do you work?" he muttered as he knelt down. "Honestly, a big red button-" He stopped as he heard sounds from outside, moving to the door. "Hello?" He called out. "Is someone there?"

"It's nothing. Just another training exercise."

The War Doctor (it was odd to think of himself that way but he'd learned it fit a few centuries before and seemed better now) whirled about to stare at the source of the voice. She sat on a pile of rocks near the box, her loose white dress flowing nicely over her body, sandy blond hair combed back, her pretty face with pert nose and light smile and those dazzling eyes focused on him.

"Romana," he rasped out. "What are you doing here?"

"Where else would I be?" She answered with a shrug. "It's interesting how you parked the TARDIS so far off and walked here. Five miles, a long journey for a simple activity you never do. But you did it. Because you didn't want her to see what you were doing." She cocked her head. "All that walk and all in your mind were two words: No. More."

"No more," the War Doctor repeated softly. He turned to study the woman carefully. "You're not Romana, are you? And I don't mean, not the Romana from this time, an earlier incarnation or such."

"You're right," the woman said. "I'm….something else."

A beeping got the War Doctor's attention and he crouched to examine the box. "It's powering up…"

"That's why I'm here."

The man turned to her, frowning before understanding flashed into his eyes. "You're…the Moment created you?"

"A form you knew and trusted seemed best."

"Romana, though? Not Brigadier? Sarah Jane? Jamie? I've known so many people…"

"And you'll know more," Romana (he still had to think of her that way) said. "But I was always something different. An equal in so many ways and let's face it, you don't have too many of those. Oh, I know your companions all have their strengths, all brought something to the table…Even Mel and Peri…But with me…well, you must admit, it had to be refreshing to have someone around you automatically didn't have to 'dumb down' to talk to."

The old man smiled. "Yes. Those were good days, weren't they? I always…liked him the most to be honest."

"That incarnation had his dark parts," Romana pointed out. "But he also knew that without hope, life wasn't worth living for. He always reached for the brighter side."

"Yes," the War Doctor said. "And if he had just done what needed to be done way back when…I wouldn't be here now."

He stared at the box as Romana gazed at him. "So that's what this all is, isn't it?" she softly asked. "All these centuries later and you still wonder if you shouldn't have done the universe a favor and wiped them out in the cradle."

"Can you deny I could have saved so may that way?" he fired back. "How many billions have died because of my choice?"

"Far less than have lived because of you," she responded without rancor. "If you had done that, it would have set you on a path that would have changed you forever, Doctor. And not in a good way."

"A sacrifice for the greater good."

"Ah, that old chestnut," Romana smirked. "I've heard that one before regarding the other two."

"Who?"

"The Unholy Trinity. That's what they used to call you three in your university days, wasn't it? The Doctor, the Master and the Rani. The three of you thick as thieves, causing trouble, none of you obeying the status quo." She crossed her legs on her seat. "But you did it simply because you wanted to explore. The other two…The Master had his madness and the Rani was driven by her own curiosity but without your ethics. You were different, Doctor. And that's why you let the Daleks live back then."

"I did," he rasped. "And now…I have to destroy them."

The image of Romana studied him. "You're certain of that then? It's what you want? Daleks and Time Lords in one massive go together?" The War Doctor remained silent as Romana stood. "I can do it. But there will be consequences."

"I have no wish to survive this."

She smiled. "Ah, the soldier side coming to the fore." She stepped forward to face him. "You'll live. That's what I meant by consequences. You'll live with the knowledge of what you've done and why. You'll live with the cost of it all." She cocked her head. "Now I agree some of them deserve it; Rassilon and his Final Solution madness for example. But what about the children?"

"I don't want to think about that," he snapped.

"You will," she softly said. "One night in the darkness, you'll count them. Every one. What do you think you'll do then?"

He shook his head. "If there was another way…I'd take it."

"Yes, because it always has to be you. Alone." She looked at him, cocking her head. "Maybe that's it, then. It's why you always had a companion with you, someone to talk to, someone to stop you if need be. Maybe…that's what you need now."

A wind suddenly picked up and the old man looked up as what appeared to be a whirling vortex formed in the air before him. "What is that?" he asked.

"A window," Romana answered. "Into your future. And to someone…someones…who can help."

She seemed ready to see more only for a red fez to land right before the old man.

"That was unexpected."

Pain was no stranger to him. Neither was death. Both together…well, it was something. But he'd survived far, far worse. He'd ripped through his body so many times and sent his spirit outward. He'd gone through forms numerous times and collapses of star systems and suns. This…this was nothing to him. He could survive as he always had.

He wasn't sure how far he'd fallen or when he'd started. It had begun just he'd entered the rift, blasting Rassilon over and over, the agony of being used all those centuries ripping out of him in bursts of deadly energy. He was ready to keep it up, to spend eternity if he had to paying that man back for all he'd done. Transforming a boy into a murderous maniac and somehow HE was the one dismissed as a monster? He was ready to make that old man pay for that, to make him feel the horrors that child had grown to dish out to others…

And then…

Then he was yanked away by some force, one last blast erupting out of him. He was falling, falling through white, dark and other colors. Falling through levels of pain and agony worse than his last regeneration. He couldn't help yelling out as it went on and on, seemingly never-ending, doing his best to keep his wits as he continued to fall…

With a loud gasp, the Master smacked into the hard ground. He lay still for several minutes, feeling his hearts beat on fast as his mind tried to process what had happened. He still felt pain but it was starting to fade as he slowly sat up, wincing. He brushed at his hair, feeling it quite short still and was still clad in his jeans and dark shirt. He rose up, brushing at his clothes as he looked about. It was a forest of some sort, he couldn't quite place the exact time or planet but it felt oddly familiar.

The Master had taken a few steps when he stopped and raised a hand to his head. He smacked it a few times, as if trying to shake something loose and the listened to what he heard. Or what he didn't. Those drums...those damnable drums were finally silenced.

It was…so odd. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so clear-headed. Oh, he'd had shifts now and then in various regenerations but the drumbeats had always been there. They'd gotten worse when he made the jump into Tremas and then that human driver. But now…They were gone. And yet he didn't feel that much different. No guilt over his actions as one might expect, no regrets, no ghosts of those he had murdered. Just a…realization was the best way to put. Realizing how he had misused and wasted so much of his life. Oh, he still felt that need for power and control but now realized there had to be much different ways of going about it.

The beginning of what might have been a life-changing introspection was marred by the sound of voices. Frowning, the Master carefully moved through the forest path, coming to a stone bridge, peeking around it to see two women. They were both clad in ornate dresses that he recognized as Earth of the Middle Ages, European mainly. It took a moment to recognize one of the women as a young Queen Elizabeth I, regal as ever, attractive with dark hair and a lovely dress. Her companion was a tall woman with lush black hair flowing down, her dress a bit more modern, complete with pockets, dark red to contrast with the forest green, very beautiful but an air about her with her little smirk.

"Dear Rani," Elizabeth was saying in her famous voice. "Must we continue like this?"

The Master's eyes widened. Rani?!

The other woman responded in her own cool accent. "Until I find that creature and figure out who is who here…"

"But I'm me! You can tell!"

"Usually, yes but this lot is trickier than usual, I can't just…" She was silenced as Elizabeth suddenly moved in to give her a quick kiss. "Does that not prove it?"

"Only that you're more open than history books gave you credit for," the Rani said wiping her lips. "As I told you…or the real Elizabeth at least…I do not favor you that way."

"You refuse the Queen?"

"As there's a 50/50 chance you're a Zygon, I say yes." The woman turned and headed off. "You go back to the castle as fast as you can, don't trust anyone. That way, I know who's who if the other one comes in."

"Return soon, my good heart!" With a wave, the Queen raced as fast as she could into the forest. The other woman rubbed her temples with a sigh, muttering under her breath. At the crack of a tree branch, she whirled around, her hands to a pocket of her dress. She stared as the Master stepped forward, his mouth moving into a smile. "Well, well, well. Fancy meeting you here…Rani."

She peered closely at him, searching his eyes until it clicked and her own widened. "Master?" As he nodded, she scoffed. "I should have known. If anyone could find a way to survive, it would be you."

"And you," he noted as he looked her over. "The last I heard, you were attached to the Fifth as they attacked the Dalek forces at the Bridge."

"I was," she stated, brushing her hair back. "As soon as the ships started going up, I got to my TARDIS and took it as far as I could out of there."

"Landing on Earth? Interesting choice."

"It wasn't my first stop," she explained. "My journeys just brought me here." She was quiet for a moment before speaking again. "Did…did anyone else…"

"You. Me. And the Doctor." The Master grunted. "That man would survive the crunch of the universe."

"He did it, didn't he?" The Rani shook her head. "The damn fool actually did it. He ended it all for all of us."

"Have to admit, I never really thought he had it in him," the Master stated as she sat on a nearby stump. "The man who was always speaking of the sacred cost of life and such and he ends up being a greater killer than I would have imagined."

The Rani was gazing off. "You didn't see him near the end. He was older, much older than ever. He was run down by the fighting, tired, just wanted an end to it, no matter what it took."

"He survived," The Master said. "I met him about two regenerations afterward."

"And?" The Rani asked. "He just brush it off?"

"Actually, he seemed regretful," the Master stated. "Of course, he was more interested in trying to help me. Even after I tortured him, aged him, ruined his world…He was still more interested in saving me than hurting me."

The Rani shook her head. "I never understood you two. Friends, so much alike but letting this childish rivalry of yours expand to such ridiculous lengths. Not to mention all the time you wasted on petty pursuit of power. I always said you were unbalanced."

"You were right there with us much of the time," the Master pointed out. "And what have you been up to, anyway? Still using lesser races for your little experiments?"

The Rani brushed at her dress. "If you must know, I've…cut back on that a bit."

The Master was surprised. "Oh? Really? Don't tell me you got a conscience with your last regeneration."

She was silent for a moment, looking down. "Did you see it? What he did?"

"No. No, I…ran. Ran as far and as fast as I could until I couldn't remember myself anymore." He could remember that, the fear driving him on, driving him to take on a human form and live on for decades, oddly helping others. He'd wondered before if, somehow, Yana had been based on the Doctor, a strange way to cover his true identity. He had pushed it aside as Saxon but now…well, he had a lot more time to reflect on such things.

"I did." She glanced to him. "Just before I escaped, I saw it. The final moment. Gallifrey engulfed, the Daleks wiped out and the Time Lords as well. I saw it burn to nothing."

The Master was jarred at how her face truly seemed to be mournful as was her tone. "Since when have you cared? You always had pride in your contempt of them."

"There's a difference between not liking a few antiqued teachers and wishing my entire species dead," the Rani snapped, nostrils flaring. She calmed down as she looked off. "I did love the planet itself. You did too, as much as you can deny it. And you cannot tell me you felt nothing when you learned they were gone."

The Master's silence was her answer as she brushed at her dress. "So…" he began, desperate to change the subject. "Zygons?"

The Rani nodded. "I landed her a few weeks ago, just a brief stop. But while I was getting supplies, I detected their presence about the palace. They don't belong on Earth, especially in this time period and I was curious. So, I managed to work my way into the Queen's inner circle to investigate."

"That easily?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I can be charming if I need to be."

"You are a bit less on the bitchy side this time around," he acknowledged. "Almost attractive. To a degree, of course."

"Evidently, Elizabeth mistook my interest for something else." The Rani rolled her eyes. "Humans. Why the Doctor insists on protecting these little ants…"

"Well, as much as I hate to say it, they can have charms," the Master stated. "I was Prime Minister of England for a while and met a few fair ones."

"You? Prime Minister? You hate politics."

"Oddly, that appealed to most of my voters."

The Rani shook her head as she looked off. "You two…Putting so much into the faith of others."

"Whereas you saw them as nothing but subject and test matter."

"Mostly," she admitted. "Elizabeth…I must admit, I have a respect for her. Strong, intelligent, very capable, has opened my eyes to how humans can be."

"Looked like she was opening a lot more than that…"

A blast of air echoed and had both of them on alert, the Master jumping to his feet. They looked up at a vortex appeared in the air slightly above them. Something whipped out of it, landing right at their feet: A red fez with a tassel.

The two Time Lords exchanged baffled looks as another sound came through the vortex. It took a moment for them to recognize it as a bright voice yelling out. "Geronimoooooooooo!" A figure fell from the portal to land before them. He appeared young with dark hair, dressed in a tweed coat and matching pants with a bow tie. He brushed at his clothes as he looked around. "Well, that was rather bracing. Now then, what's…" He stopped as he took in the two people before him, his eyes widening in shock. "You?" he whispered. "Master? How are you…"

The Rani slowly leaned over. "Tell me that's not…"

"It is," the Master stated. "No matter how he changes, he never really changes."

"And gets younger each time. That is amazingly unfair."

The Doctor was holding out his sonic screwdriver but the other two just scoffed. "What are you going to do, assemble a cabinet at us?" The Master scoffed.

The man simply stared in disbelief at the Master. "How did you get out of the rift?"

"To be honest, not sure myself," the Master admitted. "Or why I'm here." He looked the man over. "Really, Doctor, getting worse each time you regenerate. Bow tie?"

"Bow ties are cool," the Doctor snapped. "And I have a fez." He picked it up to put it on his head. "See?"

Rolling his eyes, the Master grabbed the fez and tossed it into the open portal over the Doctor's objections. "Just how are you here?"

"UNIT, ancient message in stone, portal, here, satisfied?" The Doctor looked to the Rani. "New wife? Looks a bit smarter than the last one."

"Last one?" The Rani stared at the Master with a laugh. "You actually got married? Good God, you are mad."

"Jealous? You seem in the market for a lady yourself…"

"I already said, that was not intentional…"

"And yet you hardly disagreed…"

"Sure not married?" the Doctor asked.

"Doctor, Rani, Rani, Doctor, we're all set now?"

The Doctor stared at her in wonder. "Rani?" His face was softer now. "My word. This is…well, this is interesting. I had no idea you survived."

"Seems to be going around," she intoned, crossing her arms.

The Master looked at each in turn, his mind whirling. "The three of us together. The Unholy Trinity once more. This is interesting. The man who helps people, the one who rules, the one who searches. All of somehow united and I doubt it's by fate. No, we're here for a reason and I highly suspect that-"

"Oh, God, not the Master one-man show! Anything but the Master one-man show!" the Rani groaned. She brushed her hair back. "I have a Zygon to track and then get off this planet again. You two wish to continue this petty fight of yours, go right on ahead, I am not in the mood for it."

"Wait, wait, wait!" the Doctor called up. "It's just the three of us, Rani! We're the only ones left, you can't just-"

There was a plopping sound as the fez once more landed on the ground. The trio stared in confusion before a yelling came through the portal. From it emerged an elderly figure with a white beard and hair, dressed in some scruffy leather clothes and gloves. He picked up the hat as he called out. "Anyone lose a fez?"

The old man brushed at his coat. "Well, that was bracing." He looked at the trio, who stared back at him in various expressions of shock and a bit of fear. "Hello there. I'm looking for the Doctor."

The three just stared still, the Master and the Rani exchanging glances. "Do you know where he might be?" the old man continued.

"We do," the Rani allowed.

"Splendid!" The old man grinned. "Who are you lot? Oh, of course, you're his companions!"

"His…what?" the Master let out a short laugh.

The old man looked to the Rani. "Well, you're a bit older than he goes for but…" As she sputtered, he put his hands behind his back. "Well, if you can just point me to the general direction of the Doctor…"

The other two glanced to the man in the bow tie who reached into his pocket to pull out a very familiar device. He extended it out as it gave off a beeping sound. The old man's smile faded as he stared in understanding. "Really?"

"Sadly, yes," the Master said.

"You're me?"

"Believe it or not," the Rani intoned.

"You're my future self?"

"Yes!" all three snapped at him.

The War Doctor looked to the Master. "You too?"

He chuckled. "No. Oh, no, but we do know each other very closely."

The War Doctor peered in confusion before his eyes widened. "Master? You're alive again?"

As the man nodded, the War Doctor glanced over to the woman. "Then that makes you…Rani." As she nodded, he let out a long breath. "You three together? Am I having a mid-life crisis?"

He took a step forward only for all of them to be alert, the Doctor pointing his screwdriver at him. "What are you doing? That's a scientific instrument, not a water pistol!"

The Doctor backed up, trying to be calm. "Well…do love the posh gravity look."

"The beard doesn't really suit you," the Master put in.

"Brave words, scruff face."

There was a sudden chorus of loud yells as men in armor and helmets burst out of the forest. The Time Lords were alert, the Doctor raising his screwdriver and the Master his arms. The men surrounded the group, spears pointed at them. One man, his outfit more elaborate, stepped forward. "Which of you is the outsider?" he asked. "The Queen of England is bewitched. I would have the head of one from the land of Gallifrey!"

The War Doctor raised his eyebrows. "Well," he began in a cheerful tone. "This is certainly shaping up to be your lucky day."

If you need a visual for this new Rani, just imagine Jamie Murray of "Warehouse 13" and "Spartacus" fame, always thought she'd be fun in the role. Some answers as to why they're all here will come next chapter, all comments welcomed.