Shooting wildly, her eyes squeezed shut, she pulled the trigger four times. Around her people were screaming but she didn't care. All she cared about as she opened her eyes was if he was dead. She took a moment to focus on what was happening before her. The captain was taking the empty gun from her, tugging it out of her still raised arms. But she didn't care. Because she had done it, she could see him bleeding, as he lay on the Doctors lap. She had killed 'Harry'. A year of abuse and pain, not just to her, but the whole world. She had watched as he tortured the very person who was restraining her. Restraining? She continued to watch the scene before her and realised that the Master was not the only one bleeding. The Doctor was a deathly pale and Martha was tending to him. She looked down at her hands which were being held together in the Captains firm grip and realised what she had done. When she had raised the gun, she hadn't even thought. All she could see was him. She felt the pounding need to shoot him. It overtook her until it was all she could think about. A voice, whispering in her head to get the gun, and just shoot. So she had. Four shots, to sound of the sudden drumming in her head.

"I win." Whispered the Master.

The Doctor felt a burst of pain in his abdomen, but that wasn't important and he pushed it to the back of his mind. All that mattered right now was the Master. He heard the soft 'ooft' as the bullet had hit him and as he fell, he tried to catch him and staggered back under his weight. He frowned. That wasn't right. He tried to hold him, but his arms felt too heavy. They both sank to the floor, the Doctor focused on the Time Lord lying in his lap. He knew that it wasn't Lucy's fault. He had seen the change come over her before the Master had stolen his attention from her and he knew that she had had her mind manipulated by the Master. He begged him to stay with him, to regenerate, barley even noticing Martha fussing around him. But the Master just laughed, as he utterd his final words. "I win!" Then his eyes closed and all the tension left his body.

His vision darkened and he reached forwards, with every intention to cradle the Master, not caring that everyone would be watching. He was all that he had left. But pain blossomed in his abdomen again and finally he looked down in wonder to see blood all over his shirt. He groaned in pain and gritted his teeth, preparing to figt against all of his bodies defences, just like the Master. To defy who he was and die, rather than regenerate. He turned to see Martha beside him, preparing a compress for the bullet wound. She had thick and heavy tears falling heavily down her face.

"Martha," his voice was barley even a whisper as he tried to comfort her."I'm sorry."

"Don't you dare!" she said. "Don't you dare give up on me! Now just you listen. You're going to be ok." But he could hear the disbelief in her voice, and knew that she was saying that for herself, as much as she was to him. He felt guilty for doing this to her. But it was time. He was so old and tired. He had been alone for so long.

Then he felt another pair of arms, supporting his head. He hadn't even realised that he had fallen to the floor. He felt the now familiar smell of the time vortex, and knew that Jack was with him.

"Doctor, don't give up. Please regenerate. There could be others. If you both survived then others could have to. Please Doc, just don't give up."

And that's when he heard it. The music. It filled his mind, and was so loud he almost thought that it came from outside of his head. But he knew. He knew that it was the TARDIS, calling her song one last time. A song so filled with sadness. She could feel her Time Lord dyeing, and it pained her. He felt a jolt of shock go through Jack's body and he knew that he heard it to. He had always known that Jack was a telepath, but he had never known to what extent.

The song continued as he waited. Suddenly he remembered the last time he had heard her song. It was when Rose had absorbed the Time Vortex. She had streamed that song into his head when he had taken it from her, saved her. More memories came to him, of Rose and Jack, of Martha and Mickey and Sarah Jane. Even Jackie, perched on the TARDIS on the way to Canary Worf, all those bright and singing people who had never given up on him. He remembered what he had said to the Carionite, when she dared to name Rose.

'That name keeps me fighting.' But that wasn't all. All those people, that's what he fought for. Then suddenly, he stopped fighting against his body. His time was not over yet! He felt his blood burn, as he prepared for regeneration, and felt a burst of even more intense pain as Jack pulled him away from the Master. He looked down to see his hands glowing and felt the power of the regeneration carry him to his feet, already fighting the bullet wound.

That's when his body exploded with the pain of the golden light and the music in his head reached a crescendo. Every cell was changing in a pain worse than the Chameleon Arch. He gritted his teeth, determined not to yell and scream, in case he scared Martha. He could feel himself shrink and his body morph.

Then as sudden as it had come one, the pain and the energy left him, the music stopped, and he stumbled forwards, winded, into Jacks arms. As he did so long hair fell forwards across his face. He gave a laugh of delight. He was ginger at last! Hang on. He laughed again. That wasn't right. He looked up into Jacks face, partially to move the hiar, partially to gage from Jacks reaction if he was right or not.
What he saw was a mixture of concern, bewilderment and amusement.

"No way!" he said. But it was true, his voice said it all.

As he looked down his body it finally hit home. He was a medium height, with small feet that struggled to fill his shoes. But most important was the subtle curves, that his leanness' he had grown so used to, had become. Because he was no longer a he, the Doctor, has regenerated into a girl.

"Well... at least I'm ginger!" was all she could think to say.