It had been three months now since that day when Claire's world had been turned upside down. She had been drugged and nearly turned into a metal robot by one of the Doctors oldest and deadliest enemies, the Cybermen. Her brother, her twin brother, David hadn't been so lucky and the metal bastards had torn his mind and body apart and turned what remained into their image. The Doctor had been forced to destroy the evil creature that used to be David and it had torn a piece of her soul out. On top of this, Claire had been confronted by her previously unknown sexuality in her weakened mental state, and had created a living being, a lover, in the virtual reality of cyberspace. For three months the two travelling companions had hardly said a word to each other, even the Doctor's brief attempt at cheering Claire up had failed. Perhaps it was time to leave, Claire mused to herself, on her way through the grey corridors of the TARDIS, headed towards the console room.


The Doctor was inside the console room. She was at a loss with what to do about Claire. Should she try once more to help or was their nothing more to say but their goodbyes? Her thoughts were interrupted when the floor lurched out from under her feet and she fell to the floor, landing on her dignity. She looked up to see Claire rush into the room. "Ah, there you are, help me up, will you?" Now on her feet she could check the computer screen to see what was going on.
"Doctor, what the hell's going on?" Claire asked. "Have we hit something?"
"Not sure, I think we've been caught in some sort of energy field. Hmm, this is odd Local specific gravity reading are very high, almost as if we're caught in a gravity bubble."
"What could cause one of them Doctor?" Claire asked the older woman. Much, much older she reflected. She did claim to be approaching her second millennium after all, but most of the time she said was the wrong side of thirty-nine.
"Oh usually two TARDIS's converging. That's only happened twice so far. Funnily enough they both involved ... oh no, not him."
"Not who Doctor?"
"The Master, he makes the Valeyard look like a naughty schoolboy." Instinctively the Doctor began to fidget with her posy of orchids attached to her jacket lapel. "Hold on tight to something Claire, he's going to Time Ram! No, not the bonsai tea plants...yes that heavy wooden trunk's much better!"


There was a tremendous sound and flash of lights as reality and unreality were poured together, mixed up and detonated. What resulted was a paradox so absurd it would give even the finest thinkers nightmares. Two time machines, each inside the other and yet surrounding each other too; the mathematics of it would more than fill a library of telephone directories.


Claire opened her eyes slowly; yes it was all over now, thankfully. She was unharmed too, which was also good. She searched around and found the Doctor half buried under a pile of broken bonsai tea plants. She did her best to save most of them but some were too far-gone. "Doctor, are you alright?" She opened one of the Doctors eyelids and screamed when blood started to pour out of the corners. She screamed again when blood poured out of her friend's mouth and nose. She looked again and the blood had stopped; in fact there was no trace of it. "Doctor, what happened to the blood? Your face was bleeding."
"Hmmm, possibly a random pocket of probability. I imagine there was a few caused by that maniac's ship hitting ours. I shouldn't worry about it too much although your hair now seems to be blonde ringlets instead of the usual spiky black look. There they've gone now. They should disperse soon. Now to find that psychotic fool and give him a good telling off." The Doctor knocked sharply on the door of the Master's TARDIS. "Okay you, come on out right now and explain yourself do you hear me?"
"Why don't you come outside and see me my dear?" The Master's voice filled the console room of the Doctor's TARDIS.
"You crashed into me, it's only polite that you make the first move."
"Ladies first I think Doctor." The Master laughed softly, giving Claire goosebumps on her arms.
"Tell you what, you open your front door and we'll pop inside for a nice cup of tea hmmm?" The Doctor picked up one of the terminally damaged tea plants and held it up. "I'll even supply the leaves myself."
Slowly and ominously the door to the Master's TARDIS swung open...


The inside of the second time ship was dark and cold. The only source of light was in the distance, a soft fuzzy ball of orangey yellow flame. They walked towards the light, as it was the only point of reference they had.
"Okay, this is like my room." Claire, one time pre-gothic rock Goth felt that she should sue someone for this. It was exactly like her room, except she had been forced to use paint and a brush. "Remind me to get you to show me how to change the rooms properly, okay Doctor?"
"It's a bit bleak even for the average adolescent. Besides the old girl never seems to have her eye in when it comes to doing single rooms. One time the boot cupboard ended up looking like the cover of a chocolate box." The Doctor peered into the darkness and looked away sharply, something was staring back at her. Something that didn't need or had eyes to see with, something sinister. "I don't think we're alone in here Claire. Tell you what, why don't you nip back to the TARDIS and lock the doors behind you?"
Claire shook her head. "No chance Doctor, we started this together, we'll see it through. Besides how bad can this guy really be?"
"Oh he was a great friend once, we were almost like brothers. However he was always one to try and get higher marks than anyone else. In the end he would resort to cheating and sabotaging everyone else's work to try and come first. Classic case of an over achiever."
"So you tried to stop him?"
"On the contrary I always tried to help him. We were friends after all. I wanted him to do well; we all do for our friends. However he became jealous of me, and our friendship became a rivalry. It wasn't until I left home for good with Susan that he finally went too far. The Time Lords had groomed him to be one of their special operatives. He would investigate and stop rogue time experiments but there was an accident at the Dark Heart facility and his companion was killed. However it turned out she was a Time Lady sent to keep an eye on him. Well Kosochki lost it totally. He had been betrayed and his fragile psyche was pushed too far over the edge. My friend died that day and what remained calls himself the Master."
Laughter filled the void. "Why my dear Doctor your concern touches me." The Master laughed again. "Enough sentiment, now you shall see why I have been forced to create this pathetic event to get your help."
The dark void was burned away by a series of sharp beams of light. Both Claire and the Doctor gasped when they saw that the Master had been spread across and blended into an entire wall of his TARDIS. The shock was too much for Claire and she was forced to resort to screaming to cope with the extreme trauma. The Doctor held her companion and gently turned her head away from the gruesome display. The Master was still alive.
The Doctor turned her gaze to the central column of the Master's console. It seemed to be getting darker. She gasped as it suddenly filled with blood and shattered, the very dark red liquid covering the console dials and buttons. The whole room itself started to turn a sickly greyish brown and the roundel pattern twisted and changed into the crenulations of a brain. A vast time brain.
"Don't scream for me Doctor," the Master cooed, "scream for your little friend. They are coming for her next." He laughed again; his mocking filled the room.
"Why me? What have I done to you?" Claire looked the Master in the eyes now. She tried not to look at the way his neck was connected to the wall.
"Oh you're magnificently unimportant my dear. You could be anyone of the Doctor's pets; they're attracted to the vileness of your nature. Your corruption pleases them. The Doctor is far too pure by half but you; you're just as corrupt and defiled as the rest of us. Your death will be glorious and the Doctor will be forced to witness it. I do so look forward to seeing the look on her face as you're torn to pieces. It was my final request when they came for me. "
"Who? Who could do this to a Time Lord?" the Doctor demanded.
"Oh servants of the Guardian. They've really gone too far if you asked me though."
"I can't imagine why the Black Guardian could ever do this to you, he needs sick twisted creatures like you to do his will."
The Master laughed again. "Now you've really proved your naiveté Doctor. This is the White Guardian's work."
The Doctor gasped sharply. "No, the White Guardian stands for peace and harmony. He would never do this, this wickedness."
The Master filled in events as best as he could recollect them for the Doctor. "He created an army of Whitrones to scour the Universe and eliminate all Evil forever. They have killed every creature they have come into contact with so far. You see everyone contains a part of the Black Guardian's essence inside of them, just as they contain part of the White Guardian's. Unfortunately these creatures can't tell the difference. A bad case of colour blindness if you ask me."
"And now you've led them to me?" Claire felt the world fall out from under her feet. "I'm not a bad person you know. I've helped feed starving people, freed people from being chained in dungeons and liberated the odd planet or five. Tell me what's so bad about that?"
The Master smiled at the spiky haired girl. "Apart from being nauseatingly self-indulgent? It's not what you've done to help others you stupid girl, it's who you are. Your species is wonderfully aggressive and it's capacity for evil is boundless. That's why they're coming to murder you, slowly and painfully."
"I won't let that happen Claire. There has to be a way of stopping this. I've defeated the Black Guardian before, it shouldn't be too hard to stop the White Guardian should it, Black Guardian?"
The Master's image twisted and shrunk until it was two figures, both dressed in black. The Master and the Black Guardian. "Very observant of you Doctor." The Black Guardian sneered. "How nice it will be to have you working for me."
"Working for you?" The Doctor stood up to her full five and a three quarter feet stature. "What makes you think I'm working for you? Certainly I'm going to stop this madness but not to help you. I'm doing it to save the lives of countless billions from the White Guardian's mistake."
"Doctor, think about this for a second. He's lying to you. If that was supposed to be the handiwork of the White Guardian's soldiers then where are they? Why was he able to reverse it so easily and why does he seem awfully eager to recruit you onto his side?"
"Hmmm it is rather suspicious. I think that perhaps we should see these Whitrones in action first."
"You won't have long to wait, behold they come." The Black Guardian shrank back as four white-garbed skeleton-like entities burned their way into the Master's console room. "See their putrid goodness Doctor, watch as they tear your pretty toy into pieces." The Black Guardian pointed at Claire. "Watch Doctor, watch."
"I've never been one for spectator sports, I prefer to get involved." The Doctor stood between Claire and the Whitrones.
The lead Whitrone snarled as the Doctor filled its vision. "Stand aside, pure of heart. We desire to cleanse the impure one behind you."
"Not on your Nelly, she's my best friend." The Doctor crossed her arms. "Tell your boss I'd like a word with him right now."
"White Guardian is very busy, no appointments for next million years; sorry." The lead Whitrone examined its razor sharp claws with bored indifference.
"What about those two over there?" The Doctor pointed at the Black Guardian and the Master. "Surely you should be cleansing those two first? After all old beak face is the Black Guardian."
"Sorry they are not to be cleansed, express orders of White Guardian. Only those who are not pledged to serve the Guardians are to be judged."
The Doctor backed away slowly, manoeuvring herself and her companion to the other side of the console from the Whitrones. She looked down at the sticky ichor on her palms. "This isn't the first time I've had blood on my hands and I doubt it will be the last." She began to input a precise set of co-ordinates into the Master's TARDIS. Then she pressed more buttons and her familiar blue police box shaped TARDIS was pulled through the floor into the room. The doors swung open. "Claire get inside, I'll join you shortly." Once Claire was inside the TARDIS the Doctor pressed the final button in the sequence. The blood filled time rotor began to rise and fall and the Doctor ran into her ship, locking the doors behind her.


"What have you done Doctor?" Claire asked.

"I'm separating these two ships. I believe the technical term is called running away. We don't want to be anywhere near the Master's ship after it dematerialises." The Doctor pulled out a teapot and started boiling a kettle of water. She took out three cups and saucers.
The TARDIS walls dulled down to a dull orange as the vast and impossibly complex machines at the heart of the ship pulled away from the other craft with all their might. Just as the craft was pulling away everything paused. The sound of wind chimes filled the air and the double doors opened. A white dressed man smoking a cigar and drinking a large glass of brandy sauntered in.
"So you've made an appearance finally?" the Doctor asked the White Guardian. "Tea?"
"You dare to defy me Doctor? I could snuff your life out like a moth in a candle flame."
"What's happened to you? You used to be a being of infinite compassion and goodness? One sugar is it?"
"This universe is filled with too much evil, too much decay. It cannot be allowed to continue."
"No!" the Doctor shouted. "If you try it then I will have to stop you and that's the last thing you want."
"You are as an insect before me Doctor!" Thunder crackled inside the Doctor's time machine.
"You know I can defeat you. I have been president of Gallifrey three times now, I know how to defeat you White Guardian." The Doctor laid the cups out on a small trolley and added a small jug of creamy milk to the ensemble.
"You cannot stop me Time Lady, I am a god."
"Omega believed the same, so did Azal and his kin. Even Drathro and Davros thought they were gods. I defeated them all and I tell you now: leave the peoples of this universe to their own fate. We don't need bullies and tyrants, we don't need you!" The Doctor removed a small green gemstone from her jacket pocket. Behold Guardian your fall from grace." A lance of bright green energy pulsed out of the gem and struck the White Guardian in the chest. It consumed him in unreal flames.
Claire watched as a twisted snaking cloud of black insects was pulled out of the man and into the crystal. The emerald grew dull and then black before crumbling into nothing. "What the hell was that Doctor?"
The Doctor poured some hot water into the teapot and dropped some ground-p leaves into it. "The entity that possessed the White Guardian. Something I imagine that the Black Guardian and the Master cooked up together. Now that you've been cleansed, I think you should stop those vile creatures you created, before they wipe out all life in the Universe." She started to pour the boiling water into the cups, straining out the tealeaves with a fancy silver-edged sieve.
"Thank you Doctor, and may I say that I like this version of you quite a lot? You have character and conviction that is sadly lacking in many of your people those days. I fear a terrible reckoning soon, far sooner than anyone could imagine."
"Would you really have killed me?" Claire spoke up.
"No child, you are a good person in your heart and you shall do great kindness to others."
Claire paused for a second to gather her thoughts. There was only one thing she wanted. "Can you bring David back? He was murdered by the Cybermen."
The Guardian looked at Claire with sorrow in his eyes. "I'm sorry but I cannot interfere in the history of the universe. What is done cannot be undone, not by me and neither by you Doctor."
The Doctor stopped pouring the tea into the cup. "I know. I was tempted but if I change even one line of history then I'm no better than those I pledged to fight. I cannot stop tyranny if I become a tyrant myself."
"I know Doctor, I know. I had to ask him though." Claire left the console room and headed for her room. She planned to liven it up with some nice white paint.


"She's not one for tea really." The Doctor handed a cup of freshly made tea to the White Guardian. "I sent the Master's TARDIS into the Xangion Black Hole. It should be a while before he and the Black Guardian can escape."
"What is time to the Guardians? I fear that you may have pushed my opposite number too far this time. Where I am he is too and where he goes so must I. I may not be able to prevent your destruction the next time he turns his eye in your direction." The White Guardian finished his cup of tea and stood up. The double doors closed behind him.
"I've been alone before," the Doctor said to herself.
"You're not alone Doctor." Claire was standing in the doorway that led to the inner rooms of the ship. "Neither am I, we have each other."
"I was afraid you might leave me, after David died. I know I can be difficult at times but I've always been here for you, to help you come to terms."
Mascara-dissolving tears streaked Claire's cheeks. "You locked yourself away inside the TARDIS for a week when I needed you. After that you tried to pretend nothing happened, but soon you never wanted to talk to me."
The Doctor looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry, I needed time alone. I'm not perfect you know." She couldn't meet Claire's accusing eyes.
Claire rubbed the tears from her eyes and smiled. "No, you're the Doctor, my best friend."
The Doctor looked up, a broad grin on her coral painted lips. She held up the teapot. "Care for that cuppa now?"
"Yeah." Claire broke a chocolate digestive into it and nibbled one of the pieces. "I could do with something relaxing after today."