A/N: This chapter has been edited by my fabulous new beta, Nic!

A rocket burned across the surface of the frozen planet before landing at the only complex of buildings on its surface. Guards ran everywhere to assure that everything was working for the arrival, and two men emerged from the rocket to everyone's relief.

The two men looked around at the icy landscape with distaste as they followed the guards to the buildings.

"Freezing." The first man said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Of course the Ood would choose to live in a place like this."

"They don't choose anything." The second man said, watching his companion down a shot glass. "Does that stuff actually work?"

He shrugged. "Bit by bit. Like to try it? Sigma, give one to him." The Ood nodded obediently and handed the man a glass. He sniffed the amber liquid and his face wrinkled in displeasure.

"You drink this stuff?" He asked incredulously as he gave it to the man who gulped it down.

"If it doesn't work on it's own, power of suggestion will." He replied confidently.

"Oh, I'm sure it's working." The second man said with a glance towards Sigma, who calmly gazed back. "Anyway, let's see what you've got."

"Not much." the first man sighed as they started towards the massive complex before them. "Just find out what's wrong with the Ood."

"Pushy, pushy." The second man muttered before nodding.

"It's what you're here for."

"Or so you would think." muttered the second man under his breath.

*

"Follow the rocket!" The Doctor called to Donna as they tromped through the snow. "That's what I love. A good game of Follow-the-Rocket."

"You'd love a good game of Follow-the-Shiny-Keys." Donna replied with a grin. The Doctor had set the TARDIS to random and it had landed them on a snowy planet. While the Doctor was content to track around in his well-loved brown coat, Donna had pulled out her fur coat.

"At this point..." The Doctor began jokingly but trailed off with a distracted look on his face.

"Oh what is it?" Donna asked when she saw he wasn't following him.

"It's just..." The Doctor muttered and tapped his head distractedly. "There's a lot of physic waves going through the air. I can sense one thing and hear something else."

"What is it?" Donna asked when the Doctor caught up to her.

"I don't know. I think they're unrelated. But they both seem so familiar." The Doctor's eyebrows pulled together as his faced scrunched up in thought.

"Well you can think and walk at the same time." Donna finally said as they looked around at the frozen landscape. "At least, you should be able to, judging by your previous performances."

"Right." The Doctor replied distantly as they resumed their trek. They came around a corner and the Doctor stopped again.

"What?" Donna asked again with frustration as the Doctor paused to listen.

"Take off your hood. Can you hear that?" He aimlessly gestured around with his hand. "It's like a song. Someone's... singing."

"I can't hear anything." Donna pointedly looked at the Doctor's clothes. "Sure the cold isn't getting to you? That's what you wore in Pompeii. How can you be warm?"

The Doctor ignored her as he noticed a body lying in the snow. "Come on, it's coming from over here!"

His hearts fell when he saw the Ood lying in the snow. The snow covered it and it looked frozen, and the Doctor knew he probably couldn't do anything to help it. Still, he had to try.

"Oh my God. That's..." Donna gasped in surprised when she saw the Ood's face. She couldn't help but think of old horror movies she had seen as a kid when she saw its grey skin and many tentacles.

"Donna." The Doctor admonished as he looked up. "Not now. He needs our help."

"What...?"

"He's an Ood." The Doctor replied as he looked for a heart. "I don't know if he even has a heart."

"It's going to be all right. He's a Doctor." She hesitantly bent down and brushed some of the snow off of the Ood's chest. "What's your name?"

The Ood weakly gripped the small white ball connected to his mouth. "Designated Ood Delta Fifty."

"My name is Donna, Delta Fifty. Nice to meet you." She smiled weakly and glanced at the Doctor. "How is he?"

"He's been shot. What happened?" The Doctor asked, firmly applying pressure to his gunshot wound.

"The... The Circle." Delta Fifty struggled to talk. "The Circle must be broken."

"Circle?" The Doctor asked, racking his brain for the reference. Nothing likely came to mind. "Delta Fifty, what circle?"

"Don't make him talk." Donna cried in alarm as Delta Fifty relaxed into the snow.

"Delta Fifty?" The Doctor asked again as he gently prodded the wounded Ood in the shoulder. Delta Fifty slowly turned to look at the Doctor before opening his eyes revealing a violent red. It was only the Doctor's quick reflexes that got Donna out of range as the Ood lunged at them before falling back in the snow.

"The song's gone. Well, much fainter now that he's...gone." The Doctor said; letting Donna return to the Ood's side when he was sure Delta Fifty was dead.

"We were too late." Donna replied before straightening up. "Why would someone shoot him?" The Doctor looked at the ground, where the Ood's disappearing footprints came from the west. He could sense the second presence stirring in that direction.

"Let's find out."

*

The two men walked with their guards to the entrance of the Ood complex where they were predictably greeted by the two highest-ranking staff.

"Mr. Halpen sir, I'm Doctor Ryder, head of Ood management. You must be Doctor Alexander Tolkien." Ryder held out his hand to shake their hands, but only Tolkien accepted it.

"How many dead?" Halpen interrupted, batting Ryder's hand away. "I invited Doctor Tolkien here because he's an expert on alien abnormalities, something that is clearly beyond you. Who's that?" He asked, nodding towards the sleek woman standing next to Ryder, waiting to be introduced.

"Solana Mercurio. I'm the head of marketing and galactic liaison." She replied holding out her hand and receiving the same reaction as Ryder.

"The buyers are en-route, yes?" He asked after Tolkien shook her hand, lingering a bit longer than he had to.

"Yes, sir. The presentation was scheduled in advance and it would present a bad image to cancel."

"Well then let's get out of this horrid cold and get to the point." Halpen brushed past them to get to the door. "No wonder this place is going to the dogs if all you lot do is talk."

"Ignore him." Tolkien advised as Ryder and Solana glanced at each other. "He's just a little grumpy. He gets rocket sickness."

"So, do you think you can help with the Ood problem?" Solana asked Tolkien while Halpen asked Ryder questions ahead of them on the walk to the office.

"I might." Tolkien turned his head and winked at her. "And if I can't, at least I didn't waste a trip." Solana blushed and held back a giggle.

"On company time?" She teased. Tolkien nodded.

"Oh, I'm very dedicated. I'm even willing to go overtime." Solana smiled again as Tolkien held the door open for her and she walked into the office with an extra bounce in her step. Tolkien turned to look at the guards who followed them everywhere.

"I know, I know. I'm a Doctor and a pretty face. I'm sorry boys, better luck next time." he told them before following the rest into the office. The guards looked at each other and rolled eyes as they settled into their posts outside the door.

"In the past financial quarter we've had three deaths." Solana began, showing footage of an Ood using his translator ball to kill the former complex manager.

"Oh..." Tolkien interrupted, moving closer to the screen. "How did they die?"

"We thought they were heart attacks or accidents in the production process, but after we caught this on film..."

"How are they doing that?" Halpen asked, gruffly turning to Ryder.

"Right now we have no idea, but..."

"Using electromagnetic currants." Tolkien interrupted, straightening up from observing the tape. "It would disrupt the heart enough to look like a heart attack or getting an electric shock from equipment."

"And you couldn't tell that?" Halpen asked. "He takes one look and knows what it is. What do we pay you for?"

"Now, now. Play nice." Tolkien tutted. Solana and Ryder straightened and glanced at Halpen but he ignored Tolkien's words.

"How are they using electromagnetic currants? That's what we need to know."

"Well, their translator balls are connected to their brains, correct? They might have the ability to concentrate the natural currants in their brain without harming it. How, I can't tell you. But that's what they're doing."

"Red Eye." Halpen finally said after a moment's pause.

"We have to assume, sir. We weren't able to confirm it, though. The Ood ran off into the wild but a guard managed to shoot it. It must be dead by now." Ryder explained.

"Red Eye?" Tolkien asked, his interest perking.

"Infection in the Ood." Ryder replied. "It makes their eyes change colour. It isn't bacterial or viral, though, so I can't find the source." Halpen groaned.

"Drink." He called to Sigma.

"No alcohol in the complex, by-" Solana began, but Halpen cut her off.

"Hair tonic." He explained. As Halpen drank it Tolkien moved out of his sight and mouthed 'Doesn't work.'

Solana pursed her lips to keep from smiling.

"So!" Tolkien chirped after Halpen motioned for Sigma to collect the tonic glass. "Buyers are coming, correct?"

"Oh, yes. Sir, I have to get ready." Solana said bowing slightly in apology.

"Yes, yes go on." Halpen said as he waved her away. "Ryder, go get more reports on the Ood's physical condition for Doctor Tolkien." As Ryder scurried away to fetch the files the office rumbled. The rocket transporting the buyers arrived.

"Nothing better go wrong." Halpen grumbled before deciding to have another tonic.

"Oh, complex full of representatives for big name companies while the Ood they are meant to buy are turning homicidal? How could that go wrong?" Halpen glared at him in response.

"Don't get cheeky, Tolkien."

"Don't get bossy, Halpen." Tolkien replied, his eyes darkening slightly. "You can't silence me if I choose to talk. You can't kill me here because all my contacts know I'm here. I've taken precautions."

"I'm sure you have." Halpen muttered from his desk. Tolkien smirked as an alarm broke the silence that filled the office.

"Who sounded the alarm?" Halpen exclaimed as he activated his communicator. "Kess, you'd better have a good reason."

"Ood with Red Eye on the loose, sir." Commander Kess's voice crackled through the device. They heard shouting as some soldiers found something, presumably the wayward Ood.

"Take care of it, Kess. We've got buyers." Halpen hissed and ended the transmission before glancing up at Tolkien. "Not a word."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Tolkien replied and wandered over to the security camera remote to watch the buyers' meeting as another transmission arrived from Kess.

"Sir, the Ood has Red Eye, but it's gotten worse. It's rabid now."

"Damn it! Drink, Sigma." Halpen ordered before replying. "Get it out of sight and then bring it to Ryder. Now!"

"At least your hair is growing back." Tolkien offered. Halpen immediately got up and hurried to the mirror.

"Really? You think so?"

"Defiantly doing something." Tolkien muttered as Halpen bent over and fussed in the mirror for a full five minutes.

"Sir," a guard knocked at the door. "Commander Kess has secured the Ood and Doctor Ryder feels Doctor Tolkien should see it."

"If it's gone rabid I most defiantly should." Tolkien replied before turning to Halpen. "Coming?" Halpen glanced at his desk where Sigma had placed the financial reports for him to look over.

"Yes."

*

"Defiantly rabid." Tolkien calmly observed as Halpen flinched with each lunge the Ood gave. "Foaming at the mouth was a big hint, of course."

"Next stage of Red Eye." Ryder supplied.

"Yes, thank you. Hadn't worked that out."

"Have you seen this before, Sigma?" Halpen asked the other Ood.

"We look to humanity for guidance." Sigma replied in his pleasant translator box provided voice.

"Of course you do."

"If I may," Tolkien said. "I'd like to take a walk around the facility. I'll stay within sight of the guards, of course."

"I may need to see Warehouse Fifteen." Ryder added hesitantly. "If that is the Ood's point of origin." Halpen glared at the scientist.

"It's been two centuries and nothing has changed."

"But it's the only place I haven't checked."

Halpen took another shot glass from Sigma.

"Fine. But Tolkien, you're not coming."

"Hiding something? Very well. But I might have to apply pressure to see it if I can't find anything wrong with the other warehouses." Tolkien warned.

"Then ask Ryder what he saw." Halpen snapped.

"I think I will." Tolkien replied with false politeness before he turned on his heel and left.

"Shoot the Ood." Halpen ordered the guard before turning to Ryder. "Come on, then."

Tolkien waited until the two men were out of sight before turning to the guard Halpen had assigned him.

"Listen, I'm going to go have a drink at the buyer's meeting and have a nice chat with Solana. Do you want to come, or do you want me to relieve you of your duties?"

"I would like a break, sir." The soldier admitted.

"Then go ahead." Tolkien replied with a nod and turned the corner as if to go to meet the buyers. His guard continued straight forward and didn't look back, so he never saw the smirk on Tolkien's face.

"Well that was pathetically easy." He muttered to himself before turning and continuing on his way. He might have a little fun with Solana before he left after all. The trip to the buyers' meeting didn't take very long and soon he was warm with a drink in his hand. He sidled over to Solana, who was talking rapidly to a guard.

"Everything okay?" He asked as she reached for her communicator.

"No." She shook her head. "We have two people who have snuck on base."

"Who?" Tolkien asked with a tip of his head.

"Donna Noble and Doctor Noble." Tolkien coughed into his drink.

"Doctor Noble?" Solana nodded.

"Do you know him?"

"I've met him. If he's poking around it isn't good for this company, I assure you." Tolkien turned and drank the rest of his drink while Solana alerted Halpen. So, he was right when he came here.

"How did they slip in?" Tolkien asked Solana after she ended her conversation with Halpen.

"We don't know. They had the proper papers, but they were fake. A Fake corporation, and probably fake names. Is he really called Doctor Noble?" She asked, nervously scanning the room with her eyes, worried that something would go wrong. Well, worried something else would go wrong.

"I'm sure they're doing nothing more than taking a tour. I doubt he'd ever resort to violence." Tolkien assured the jittery woman and handed her another drink to calm her nerves. Unfortunately another alarm went off, and Solana handed the drink back and hurried to assure the buyers that all was well. Tolkien smirked to himself and downed both drinks before following her out of the room.

"I thought you said he wouldn't resort to violence." Solana hissed after getting coordinates from Kess. Apparently they were in one of the warehouses that housed the containers the Ood were to be shipped in.

"I doubt he did. He was probably teaching them to sing 'We Shall Overcome' when Kess found them."

"What?" Solana gave him an exasperated look as they reached the warehouse.

"Open the doors!" She ordered the soldiers. They obeyed just in time to see a giant metal claw whizzing by them as a skinny man ran past several rows ahead of them.

"Solana," Tolkien announced pleasantly, "If anyone kills the Doctor I might have to kill them right back." Solana ignored him as she was already running towards Kess to stop him. Tolkien watched as the Doctor tripped over empty barrels and landed flat on his back. Kess let out a bark of triumph as he moved the crane directly above him and smacked his hand down on the release button. Tolkien's hand sneaked inside his jacket as the claw descended upon the Doctor, who was resigning himself to an undignified but rather dramatic death. It stopped short a foot above him, bouncing slightly on its metal chain as Solana promised Kess several disciplinary actions before the end of the day.

"Good work Solana." Tolkien muttered to her as she and the commander climbed down from the control station. Kess brushed past them as his soldiers grabbed the Doctor off of the ground.

"Doctor! They're going to kill me" Donna bellowed from one of the containers.

"I'd let her out." Tolkien muttered to Solana. "He'll stop at nothing if his companion is killed by you."

"Open the container." Solana ordered and the Doctor soon found himself with an armful of red head.

"Donna, you're safe!" The Doctor told her with a grin, making a point of not looking at the soldiers and their guns.

"We have to get out of here; the Ood in there have Red Eye!" Her announcement was interrupted by a scream as the Ood started pouring out of the open door of the container.

"You didn't think to close the door!?" Tolkien shouted as soldiers fell to the Ood. The Doctor's head jerked at the sound of his voice, but was distracted as Kess yelled out orders and began firing at the Ood. Solana gasped and Tolkien grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the line of fire as the other container doors swung open to reveal more infected Ood.

"Donna!" The Doctor yelled and dragged her away from the gunfight as the bullets started ricocheting off the metal containers, Solana and Tolkien following suit. The four of them stumbled out of the warehouse and Tolkien stopped to shut it tightly.

"Keep running." He ordered Solana causing the Doctor to look back as they rounded the corner, but he was out of sight by the time Tolkien pulled out his laser screwdriver.

"If people on Earth knew what you were enslaving these Ood-" Donna began, but Solana interrupted her with an irritated stare.

"Don't be so stupid. They know, of course they know. You can't sell something like this and have no one know."

"And everyone's fine with this! That's what the future is?" Donna exclaimed.

"They don't ask. They don't want to know."

"Solana," The Doctor asked as gunshots echoed across the base "A species can't evolve to serve. What do you do to the Ood to make them so subservient?"

"That is the question of the hour." Tolkien said, coming around the corner as he slipped his screwdriver back into his coat pocket. The Doctor spun around to stare at him. And continued to stare in bewilderment.

"Hang on," Donna said, looking at the new arrival. "That's Harold Saxon! What is the dead Prime Minister doing here?"

"That's Alexander Tolkien." Solana told her. "He's an expert in alien diseases. We called him in to look at the Red Eye."

"If he didn't cause Red Eye." The Doctor muttered, narrowing his eyes at the other man as he came to stand in front of him.

"What, no hug?"

"No." was the short reply.

"Oh come on. Even the Freak got a kiss when he came back." The Master replied with a mock pout.

"What are you talking about?" Solana asked him in alarm. "Doctor Tolkien, how exactly do you know this man?"

"Oh, we grew up together." The Master replied pleasantly. "We came from the same planet."

"Wait." Donna gasped. "I voted for an alien?"

"Time Lord, Donna. I don't go around calling you human." he paused. "Well, not anymore at least. Or rather, not so far. Today."

"Doctor Tolkien, what are you talking about?" Solana asked again, a little desperately.

"Tolkien?" The Doctor interrupted. "Tolkien!? As in Lord of the Rings?"

"No, as in Lord of the Dance. Anyway you can't talk. I'm surprised you didn't sign in as 'John Smith'!"

"First of all-" The Doctor began but stopped as the sounds of bullets reached them again. "Right! The Ood. Solana, how are Ood created?"

"I don't know! I'm head of PR, not Ood development. That's Doctor Ryder."

"Then show me where he is on this map. I'm a Doctor, as well. I really am. I can help with the Red Eye" The Doctor held up the map so she could point.

"I came to help with the Red Eye too, you know. But I don't get righteous about it." The Master commented as Solana hesitantly pointed it out.

"You stay out of this." The Doctor snapped with a fierce glare.

"Don't talk about him that way. He stood up for you. He said you weren't..." Solana trailed off and whirled to look at the Master. "You were working with them!"

"Actually, no I wasn't." The Master replied, looking at the woman. "I came to help the Ood. You can help, too."

"He's right." The Doctor added reluctantly before taking control of the conversation. "You know this place better than I do. You can end this."

"Please help, Solana The only people who ever have a chance of surviving are the ones who help the Doctor." The Doctor turned to look at the other Time Lord but he was looking square at Solana, who was glancing back and forth between them.

"They're..." Solana trailed off then cleared her throat with determination. "Guards! They're over here." The Doctor winced at the betrayal but grabbed Donna's hand and yanked her into a run.

"Good luck, Solana Mercurio." The Master whispered to her before following the Doctor and Donna, catching up to the pair as soldiers tromped behind them. Solana watched him go with regret before turning on her communicator.

"Mr Halpen, I found the Doctor. He's heading towards Ood Conversion. But... Doctor Tolkien went with him. It appears he might have a false identity. They knew each other."

"Lying bastard." Halpen's voice muttered from the device. "I'm on my way. I'll get them, don't you worry."

*

"I forgot you do a lot of running." The Master complained as they dodged another set of guards. "I hate the running."

"No, you get your exercise coming back to life apparently."

"Well one of us has too. We don't all have a martyr complex." That earned him a dark look from the Doctor.

"I'm not the one who dies just to spite someone else."

"No, because when you die it's going to be protecting the human race as a, what's it called again? Oh yeah. Martyr."

"Oi" Donna interrupted, smacking them on their arms. "You two obviously have a long talk coming your way. Let's do it when we're not being hunted while aliens are going insane and killing everyone, yeah?"

"Fine." The Doctor muttered as they turned a corner as the soldiers ran past them in the opposite direction.

"Damn singing's giving me a headache." The Master groaned as they found the Ood conversion building.

"Didn't even need the map, we could have followed the song." The Doctor said as he opened the door and held it open for Donna, reluctantly doing the same for the Master.

"Are you locking us in?" Donna asked as the Doctor applied his sonic to the door lock.

"There's going to be a back door, Miss Noble." The Master replied. "The map says this is Ood Conversion. They'd have to have a fire exit, at least."

"You're missing the point. Listen." The Doctor reached into his pockets and pulled out a flashlight.

"Singing. Yes, Doctor. I've been commenting on it since the running began."

"It's louder in here."

"I can't hear anything." Donna said as she followed the two Time Lords as they ventured further into the building and down the stairs.

"No. But at least it's drowning out all other noise." The Master sighed in relief. The Doctor turned to him.

"The drums still there?"

The Master gave him a long look before replying. "As Miss Noble said, we can talk after we get back to the TARDIS."

"Why is everyone calling me 'Miss'?" Donna asked irritably. "Do I really look single?"

"I assume you are single. You can't be with the Doctor, anyway."

"Oh, and why's that?"

"He only goes for the blonde companions."

"Oi!" The Doctor swung the flashlight to shine on the Master's face. "Talk like that and I will leave you here."

"I'll be good. Do you want to go down the stairs first, or are you afraid I'll push you?" The Doctor ignored his outstretched hand and stepped down the metal staircase himself.

"This is killing my head." The Doctor groaned as he stepped onto the floor and looked around with the light.

"I've built up a tolerance. What's that?" The Master asked, pointing towards movement. The Doctor flashed the light down the corridor to reveal several Ood huddled together in a cage. The Master found a light switch and turned it on, bathing the Ood in light. Six Ood looked up at them, and the song changed to one of wary alarm. Then they settled down once they saw them and crouched in one corner of the cage.

"Why do they look different?" Donna asked as they came to kneel in front of the cage.

"They haven't been processed yet." The Master explained.

"Before they're converted to slavery." The Doctor said, his voice beginning to ring with anger. "That's their song. We've been hearing them crying out."

"I still can't hear it." Donna placed her hands around the bars, wishing she could rip open the door.

"Do you want to?" The Doctor turned to her.

"Doctor. She's human. A song like this..." The Master trailed off before shaking his head. "It's pure captivity. It's even getting to me."

"I want to hear it." Donna insisted with quiet determination.

"Face me." The Doctor instructed as he brought his fingers to her temples and closed his eyes. The Master watched as the Doctor's face scrunched up in concentration, then at Donna as the song crashed through her mind. The Ood looked up to look at her as she began to cry, looking at them in understanding for the first time. They could feel her sympathy. To them, it was something new.

"Take it away." Donna finally cried, beginning to sob. "I can't bear it." The Doctor quickly took his fingers to her temples.

"I'm sorry." She gasped.

"You're very strong to listen to it that long." The Master said quietly as the Ood returned to their former positions as Donna's consciousness faded from their minds.

"You two can still hear it?"

"All the time." The Doctor replied, his voice shaking. He began to sonic open the cage as they heard the soldiers at the door to the warehouse.

"They're getting in!" Donna exclaimed in alarm.

"We can't exactly go anywhere, Donna." The Master told her, following the Doctor into the cell. "Besides, Halpen wants us alive. Nothing will happen to us."

"What have you got there?" the Doctor asked the Ood gently, kneeling before them. "Please show me." An Ood turned to look at him.

"Friends." Donna said. "I'm Donna, he's the Doctor. And he's..."

"The Master." he supplied quietly, trying to project sympathy and calm. "We want to help."

"Look at me." The Doctor kindly whispered to the Ood, talking more through the psychic waves than anything else. "What have you got? Let me see." The Ood shuffled closer to the Doctor and held its hands up.

"That's it." The Doctor nodded with encouragement. "Go on." Its hand shifted to reveal a mass of pink mass. The Doctor's face rippled with surprise, the Master's with sudden understanding.

"Is that a brain?" Donna asked with mortification.

"A hind brain." The Master replied, forcing out all his air in a hiss.

"The Ood have a secondary brain. It must process memory and emotions." The Doctor realized, looking at the Ood with amazement.

"That's how they turn them into servants." The Master quietly explained, looking at Donna. "They replace it with a translator ball programmed with all the skills they'll need to serve. I didn't know they did this."

"They give an entire species a lobotomy?" Donna asked with anger, keeping her calm only for the Ood. The Ood who held out his brain looked at each of them, as if memorising the faces of the first kind people they met.

"Humans." The Master muttered under his breath in disgust.

"I looked for you for a year, Doctor." Donna said, her voice shaking with emotion. "I thought it'd be so wonderful, like seeing the universe would be beautiful." The Doctor looked at her with alarm, dreading what she was going to say next.

"I want to go home." Donna said, staring at the Ood with pain in her eyes. The Doctor stared at her, loss already marring his features. The Master's hand reached out to comfort him as soldiers came crashing down the ramp.

"They're with the Ood, sir." One of them announced. The Doctor jumped up and swung the door shut.

"What're you going to do?" The Doctor asked, pressing himself against the bars. "Lock me up and throw me in cage? You're too late." He then barked out an insane "Ha!" The Master gave him a long look as the guards pointed their guns at them and ordered them to surrender.

"Your seducing the guard act needs work." He told the Doctor as they were grabbed and led to Halpen's office.

"I wasn't trying to seduce the guard." The Doctor snapped.

"Did you think going for crazy would work any better?"

"Be quiet." Halpen ordered them, sparing most of his glare for the Master. "Tolkien, I can't say I'm surprised."

"My name isn't Tolkien. It's the Master. Learn it."

"Handcuffed to poles in your office?" The Master asked as Donna glared at the guard who snapped her into place. "That's a bit too kinky for you, isn't it?"

Halpen ignored him. "You're Ood sympathizers, aren't you."

"Wanting to free an enslaved race? Yeah, that's kind of my job." The Doctor hissed.

"Enslave? We help them. They were just running around on this frozen planet. They had no culture, no thought."

"They have thought." The Master snapped. "But it's too complicated for your stupid ape brain to pick up."

"They didn't put up any resistance." Halpen insisted.

"You idiot." Donna yelled. "They're born with their brains in their hands! They have to be peaceful because they're so vulnerable they'd have to trust anyone they met."

"Oh, good one Donna." The Doctor muttered.

"Yes, I rather like this one." The Master said with approval.

"We've been doing this for two hundred years. This is just an infected batch. But we'll make sure it doesn't spread." Halpen replied with malice, turning on his communicator. "Kess, how are you doing?"

"Canister's set up. Gas will be released in two hundred marks." came the psychopath's gleeful voice through the wrist device.

"You're going to gas them?" The Doctor asked in outrage.

"Kill the livestock. The solution our ancestors came up with. I find it works rather well." Halpen replied confidently. The Doctor looked at the man as if he couldn't be considered human.

"I know that look." The Master put in. "If the Doctor gives you that look it means you're going to die."

"Oh really?" Halpen asked, looking over at him in amusement.

"Yes. I've died several times because of it." He replied with slightly deranged smirk before wincing.

"Do you hear that?" The Doctor asked as the song changed and rippled through the air.

"Yeah I do." The Master replied distantly.

"Hear what?" Halpen asked as the alarm went off.

"Told you." the Master called after him as Halpen and Ryder ran outside to check.

"What's going on?" Donna cried in alarm as gunshots and screams began echoing through the base.

"The song changed. It's one of resistance now." The Master explained as Halpen and Ryder returned to the room.

"It's contained to this planet." Ryder said.

"Then we must protect our customers and stop Red Eye before it spreads even more."

"What are you talking about?" The Doctor demanded.

"Everything you wanted. We're leaving this planet." He turned and looked at the three of them with mock regret. "Unfortunately we'll be investigated so I can't kill you myself, but I think I have a better idea."

"So you're going to leave us to the Red Eye?" Halpen grinned at the Doctor.

"I think so. Poetic, don't you think?"

"Then tell us, since the knowledge will die with us." The Master interrupted with a gleam in his eye. "What is in Warehouse 15 that you didn't want me to see? I know it has to do with the Red Eye."

"It won't exist for much longer." Halpen spat before grinning at them all with a sick smile. "Enjoy your Ood." He turned and left the room, motioning for Ryder and the guards to follow him. As soon as they were through the door the Doctor and the Master began struggling against the cuffs.

"You don't know how to get out of handcuffs? Time Lords can't get out of handcuffs!?" Donna yelled.

"These are really good handcuffs." The Master replied with slight admiration. "If we get out of them I might just keep a pair."

"The last thing I find out about you is that you're kinky. Right, thanks." Donna snapped as the front door to the office slid open for four Ood with red eyes.

"We have to keep our screwdrivers in our breast pockets." the Master cursed.

"Doctor, Donna friends!" the Doctor yelled, remembering that it got through to the unprocessed Ood.

"The Circle must be broken!" Donna choose, knowing all the Ood lit up when they heard that.

"We want to help!" The Master added, deciding to ignore the part of his brain that was telling him these were the worst last words he could have ever chosen. They continued yelling as the Ood came closer, holding up their translator balls ready to kill. The Master stumbled over his words, hearing the slight change in song. He glanced up in a panic to see the lethal globe an inch from the Doctor's face before they paused, as if listening. The Doctor and Donna looked around in bewilderment as the Ood clutched their heads before straightening up, the red gone from their eyes.

"Master, Doctor, Donna." One of the Ood said. "Friends."

"That's us!" the Doctor exclaimed in with relief. "Oh yes!"

"You help us. We can help you," said the Ood as his peers moved to destroy the handcuffs with their translator balls.

"Thank you!" Donna cried as she rubbed her wrists. The Doctor turned to the Master.

"You said something about a Warehouse 15."

"Yes, but..." The Master trailed off. "I don't actually know where it is. I went looking for you instead." The Doctor gave an exasperated sigh.

"Well, come on!" Donna said, motioning towards the door. "Maybe we can, I don't know, follow their footprints."

"We can't find them from in here." The Doctor acknowledged as they started out the door. They ran out of the building and down the steps right into a gunfight as the soldiers tried to gun down the deadly Ood.

"What are we looking for?" Donna asked.

"I don't know, something... forbidden looking?" The Doctor replied helplessly.

"Maybe he can help us." The Master said, nodding at an Ood who was standing before them calmly. "Sigma?"

"I can help you." Sigma replied, sounding quite pleased for an Ood. "Follow me."

"You know where Warehouse 15 is?" The Doctor asked the Ood.

"I do. My master brought me there many times." He replied before turning and walking calmly through the gunfight.

"That's Halpen's Ood." The Master explained to the Doctor and Donna as they followed Sigma. "Smartest Ood there is. He'll get us there."

"Master, why are you helping us?" The Doctor finally asked, ignoring Donna's questioning face.

"That's a loaded question, Doctor." The Master replied with a shrug, keeping his mind guarded. "I came here to find you, and it wouldn't do me much good just to get you killed after finding you, would it?"

"You knew I'd come here." The Doctor stated it as a fact with slight accusation in his voice.

"Home planet to an entire race of a creature who is being lobotomised into slavery? I figured you'd show up eventually." The Master replied before smirking. "I'm just glad I caught up to you in this regeneration."

"So, you're not Harold Saxon then." Donna said, trying to figure out just who the Master was.

"No. I made him up."

"But they said that the Saxons, you and your wife, where possessed by those Toclafane things."

The Master bit back a laugh.

"Did they?" he asked in amusement. Even the Doctor looked surprised about how they rationalised the incident.

"Yeah. They said that after the President was assassinated UNIT managed to break their hold on you, but they used Lucy Saxon to kill you. And since they sent her to a mental institution afterwards, everyone believed it."

"UNIT can't do anything." The Master replied shortly. "And I'll have you know I was in control of the Toclafane."

"So you did shoot the American President and try to take over the world." Donna asked acidly. The Master winced, causing the Doctor to look at him in confusion.

"Yes, but I'm trying to impress someone here, Donna." he said, jerking his thumb towards the Doctor. "And you're really not helping bringing that up."

"You did try to wipe out the human race. She has every right to ask." The Doctor replied calmly, looking at the Master, trying to figure out his motives. "But seeing as Sigma has stopped in front of the building with a fifteen on it, I'd say we'll have to suspend this conversation until we get back to the TARDIS."

The Master was silent as they walked up to the doors and the Doctor soniced it open before grinning widely. "Does that mean I'm going on the TARDIS?"

The Doctor sighed and sent him another irritated look.

"Maybe. Now shut up until we're done." The Doctor pointed his finger at the Master until the other Time Lord agreed with a sigh and a nod. With that they stepped inside the warehouse.

"Whatever it is, the song is getting louder." The Master said, grimacing. "Even louder than the natural Ood."

"Sigma, do you know what is in here?" The Doctor asked as they ran down another flight of stairs.

"Our Songmaster." Sigma replied.

"What's a Songmaster?" Donna asked as they came to another set of stairs that came to a balcony. A smell rose up and the three of them stared at the area below them in astonishment.

"The Ood Brain." The Doctor said, looking down on the giant mass of cells. Large cords ran into the brain, and a circle of electricity surrounded it as it pulsed.

"They have three brains." The Master shook his head as the psychic waves whirled around his mind. "Forebrain, hindbrain, and this, binding them all together. How sentimental."

"What does it do?" Donna asked, looking over the railing at the brain.

"It's the centre of all knowledge. It binds all the Ood together." The Doctor looked up and smiled slightly as the song changed to wrap around them. "Linking them all in song."

"Cargo." Halpen's slightly manic voice announced, as he pointed a gun at them. Ryder followed behind him, white coat standing out in the red lighting of the room. "All these empty warehouses, I could start a cargo business after this. Smaller, of course, but no livestock to deal with."

"He's mined the area." Ryder said, following him warily.

"You're going to kill it?" Donna asked, looking back at the brain.

"They found it in a glacier two centuries ago. Kill that, kill the Ood."

"Doctor, notice the points" The Master nudged the Doctor, coming to stand next to him.

"Forming a circle. The Circle, I suspect. A telepathic field." he muttered.

"The Circle must be broken." Donna echoed.

"You." The Doctor suddenly turned to Halpen in anger. "You've been keeping the Ood separated for two hundred years."

"Sigma, you brought them here?" Halpen's eyes narrowed. "I gave you your freedom and then you do this."

"My place is at your side, sir." Sigma replied calmly, moving to stand beside Halpen without any fear of the gun. He didn't have anything to fear, as the gun was pointed square at the Doctor. Halpen laughed without humour.

"Good Oo-od." Halpen said, brow furrowing as he had trouble pronouncing the word. The Master looked at him with a slight smirk, his eyes glittering.

"Hold on." Donna interrupted, glancing at the brain again. "If that barrier thing is in place, how come the Ood started breaking out?" The Doctor shook his head.

"I don't know. Maybe it took it two centuries to adapt and get around the barrier. The subconscious would be reaching out. Looking for a way."

"The process was too slow. It had to be accelerated." Ryder interrupted, looking at the brain in triumph before turning to Halpen. "You never should have let me near the controls, Halpen. I lowered the barriers to bare minimum."

"Friends of the Ood." The Master grinned at Halpen. "I knew what Halpen was doing as soon as I shook his hand. I figured if I antagonized you you'd be distracted. I was right, of course."

"It's taken me ten years to get to the head of Ood Development and help them." Ryder's eyes were lit with triumph. "And I succeeded."

Halpen stared at Ryder before nodding and laughing in a slightly insane manner. "Yes you did." He said before grabbing Ryder by the collar and throwing him over the railing.

"No!" The Doctor yelled, scrambling to reach the man. Ryder fell onto the brain, screaming, before being absorbed under its surface. The song around them shifted, the brain alarmed that the man who had helped the Ood was now dead, fried the same way all the people died when they were killed by the translator ball.

"You murdered him." Donna gasped, staring at Halpen in astonishment. The man only smiled, his eyes far beyond reason.

"Don't miss a thing, do you?" He asked, raising the gun again. The Doctor quickly pulled Donna behind him. The Master stood to the side, fingering his laser screwdriver in his pocket.

"Never shot someone before." Halpen said with a coughing laugh. "Normally I wouldn't like it, but today isn't a normal day."

"I find shooting people quite enjoyable." The Master replied before his voice filled with warning. "But if you shoot the Doctor, I can assure you he will be the only one you shoot."

"Yes. I find your weaponless stance frightening." Halpen levelled the gun at the Doctor's chest. "But I think I shall take the chance." As the Master's hand tightened around the deadly device in his pocket, Sigma stepped forward.

"Would you like a drink, sir?"

"I think I can forget the hair right now." Halpen replied as Sigma stepped in front of the Doctor and Donna.

"Please have a drink, sir." Sigma said again, causing the Master to giggle. Halpen glanced at him in confusion.

"If... if you're going to stand in the way," Halpen threatened as he struggled to speak. "I...I'll shooot yooou tooo." The Doctor slowly tried to move Sigma to the side, but the Ood stood firm.

"Please," Sigma repeated, menace creeping into his voice. "Have a drink, sir." Halpen stared down at his shaking hands before realization dawned across his face.

"Have... have yooou poooisened me?"

"Natural Ood must never kill, sir." Sigma replied, staring at the man who kept his entire race enslaved.

"What is that stuff?" The Doctor asked as understanding flickered into his eyes.

"Ood graft suspended in a biological compound." The Master explained gleefully. "Halpen showed it to me when we first landed on this planet. I knew what it was the minute I smelled it."

"Thank you for not saying anything, sir." Sigma said to the Master as Halpen grasped his head and struggled to speak.

"I figured he probably deserved it." The Master replied, watching Halpen with amusement. "If it turned out he didn't, I would have stepped in. It was evident fairly quickly I shouldn't have worried."

"What the hell does that mean?" Halpen demanded desperately as the Doctor fully appreciated the situation.

"Oh dear." The Doctor slowly said, eyes flickering to the Master's.

"I know. I'm impressed, too."

"What is it!?" Halpen grasped the gun with both hands, struggling to stop his shaking.

"Funny thing, the subconscious. It takes all sorts of shapes." The Doctor replied, watching Halpen. "Revenge came out as Red Eye, anger in the rabid Ood, and patience came out in brilliant, brilliant Sigma."

"Intelligence, mercy..." The Master paused, nodding at the brain. "A considerable bit of poetic justice, all of it focused on Sigma." The Doctor grinned again as Halpen struggled to speak.

"How's the hair loss, Mr Halpen?" The Doctor asked, bouncing on his heels. A habit of his, the Master realised. Halpen shakily brought his hand to his head and pulled away a clump of hair.

"What have you done?" Halpen sobbed.

"They've been preparing you for a long time, Mr Halpen." The Master replied, relishing in the small amounts of Halpen's suffering. The drums had changed only a little, after all.

"And now," The Doctor added. "You're standing next to the Ood brain. And now, the barriers are down. Can you hear the singing?" Halpen stared at the brain, horror and fear washing over his face.

"What... I'm...not..." Halpen desperately tried to keep his hand steady enough to shoot the gun. The Doctor watched him warily, more out of concern for Donna than anything else, but Sigma moved to the side as Halpen dropped his weapon. He grabbed at his head and doubled over, fingers peeling back whatever human part they found. They watched in morbid fascination, with a bit of confusion on Donna's part, as Halpen completed his transformation to Ood kind. Tentacles spilled out of his mouth as he straightened up.

"They turned him... into an Ood?" Donna asked in astonishment.

"Yup." The Doctor confirmed, nodding.

"He's an Ood."

"I noticed." The Doctor replied, still watching Halpen. The Master had all but ignored Halpen after the gruesome part of his change finished. He was wrapped up in the song, listening to it as it blended with his drums. Halpen groaned before spitting his forebrain into his hands.

"He has become Ood kind." Sigma announced, turning to the Doctor. "We will take care of him."

"This is weird." Donna said, shaking her head frantically. "Being with you. I can't tell what's right and what's wrong anymore."

"Yeah. It's better that way." The Doctor replied.

"Really?" The Master interrupted. "Because you're always sure around me." The Doctor glanced at him, but there was a slight smile in his eyes.

"You don't tend to leave any grey area. Too thorough." Rapid beeping interrupted the Doctor. "Oh! The detonators!" He exclaimed, rushing to the railing and quickly disarming them.

"And now!" The Doctor ran to the controls before turning and bowing to Sigma.

"Sigma, will you do me the honour?"

Sigma bowed in return. "It is yours, Doctor."

"Oh yes!" The Doctor replied in an infections grin as he turned around and turned off the containment field. "After two centuries. The Circle is broken. The Ood can sing!" As the field faded the brain shifted and a new song of peace and freedom rippled through the air, encompassing them. All other thoughts fled as the beautiful song brushed against their minds. Sigma and Ood Halpen faced each other in a makeshift circle and lifted their palms to the ceiling, rejoicing in the song. They just watched the Ood and listened to the song before Sigma turned to them.

"It is time." He said. "All Ood have returned to our natural state of peace."

"Peace is good." Donna replied with a smile, before turning to the Doctor and the Master.

"What about you two. Are you going to make peace?" she asked them. The Master stared at her before glancing at the Doctor.

"I certainly didn't come here to destroy anything. Not even a little bit." he replied. The Doctor sighed before nodding.

"It's probably the song talking, you can't fight with the song. But yes. You get a chance." He turned and pointed at the Master. "A chance, remember. Not a promise."

"Pointing. Cheeky." The Master grinned. "I haven't gotten a chance to deal with your cheekiness. Old age made you mellow."

"If he gets to cheeky slap him." Donna supplied. "That's what works for me."

"Are you alright with me, then?" The Master asked her. She sighed.

"You did help us. And Doctor seems to trust you." She hesitantly nodded before growling at him. "But no funny business! I'll pitch you out of the TARDIS myself if I have to."

"She will, too." The Doctor said with a grin. "I won't stop her. You probably deserved it anyway."

"You wish to return home?" Sigma asked.

"My ship, yes. My home." The Doctor's smile widened. "It's always nicer with more people."

"Come, then." Sigma said, and led them out of the warehouse. All the Ood stood around the complex, basking in the song that wove around the planet.

"What is it?" One of the soldiers asked them.

"It is the song of the Ood." The Doctor replied before he gestured towards Sigma. "Take your orders from him. He speaks for Ood kind, and you are on their planet." he announced before following Sigma as he walked back to the TARDIS, listening to the song as some Ood followed them.

"That song went out across the galaxies." The Doctor said as he faced the Ood in front of the TARDIS with Donna and the Master. "Everyone heard it. Everyone knows. The rockets are bringing them back. All the Ood are coming home."

"Thank you, Doctor, Donna, Master. Friends of Ood kind." Sigma replied, gratitude even coming through the translator ball, even though it was unnecessary. The song made it perfectly clear how the Ood felt. "Are you sure you will not stay? There is always room in the song."

"I've got a song of my own, thanks." The Doctor replied, glancing at the TARDIS, then at the Master and Donna. "It gets bigger all the time."

"I think your song must come to an end, soon Doctor." Sigma said.

"Meaning?" The Master asked as the song changed around them. It was familiar to the Doctor; the Master could see it in the way he held himself.

"Every song must end." Was all Sigma would say.

"Yeah," The Doctor replied distractedly before turning to Donna. "What about you. Still want to go home?"

"No, defiantly not."

"Then we'll be off." The Doctor said, turning to the Ood to say goodbye.

"Then take this song with you." Sigma offered as the Ood standing in a semicircle around him lifted their arms and added to the song. It twirled around them, thanking them and wishing them luck and good times.

"We will." The Doctor and Donna replied. "Always."

"And know this, Doctor, Donna, Master." Sigma added. "You will never be forgotten. Our children will sing of the Doctor, Donna, Master. And our children's children. And the wind and the snow will carry your names forever." The song swelled around them as they waved goodbye to the Ood and stepped into the TARDIS.

"Positive you don't want to go home?" The Doctor asked as he set the coordinates on the TARDS and they flew away from the Ood Sphere. "It is sometimes like this."

"Can't leave you alone, I don't think. Bad things would happen. The TARDIS windows will steam up." Donna replied with a smirk.

"Ah..." the Doctor stared at her.

"Sexual tension really that blatant?" The Master asked Donna.

"Rolling off in waves." Donna replied, laughing at them. "And it makes sense, really. When we were in Pompeii, the Doctor didn't stay with me and the pretty young woman. No, he went running off with the boy in a skirt."

"He was wearing a tunic!" The Doctor protested. "And I needed to find the circuits!"

"Any excuse, Doctor." The Master teased. "I am wounded you didn't stay faithful to me."

"Didn't you have a wife?" Donna asked in mock indignation.

"And it taught me why I should stick to tormenting the Doctor." The Master replied as Donna yawned.

"Well," she announced, taking her coat off and heading towards the back of the TARDIS. "I don't know about you space men, but I am tired. I have to go to my friend's pub opening tomorrow. Won't forget, will you Doctor?"

"Nope." the Doctor replied, waving to Donna as she left. The Master waited for him to speak, then decided to say something when he didn't.

"Can we share a bedroom?" He asked, only half serious and not expecting the Doctor to say yes.

"You can go to your bedroom." The Doctor replied. "I know the TARDIS hadn't gotten rid of it yet."

"You saved it!" The Master replied, thinking of the room he had created when he slept off his post-regeneration energy deficit after escaping from the end of the universe. "How delightedly stalker of you!"

"I didn't save it, I didn't get rid of it." The Doctor replied, but the Master could tell he was smiling slightly. "But she's probably moved it to the back. Have fun walking there." The Master groaned.

"Very well." he said as he headed out of the console room.

"Wait." The Doctor called after him, suddenly serious. "Before we leave for Donna's event tomorrow, come to my room. We have to set ground rules." The Master sighed.

"Yes, yes. No killing things, I know. Here, to show you I'm serious about being good and helping you." The Master reached into his pocket and handed the Doctor his laser screwdriver. "You can give it back when you think I'm ready. But I will whine until then, I promise."

"How did you get this back?" The Doctor asked, warily examining it.

"I made a new one." The Master replied with a shrug. "And no, before you ask, I didn't add Lazarus technology to this one. Good night."

"Good night." The Doctor called after him softly, watching him saunter down the hallway. The TARDIS shifted uneasily in his mind.

"I know, girl." he replied, idly stroking the console. "I'll be careful." He was silent for a moment, setting her into orbit so he, too, could retire to his room.

"But you have to admit," he suddenly burst out with a grin. "If he is being honest, having him back will be fantastic!"