Soul's Shadow (Doctor Who - SI)

[TardisGhost]

He's going to drag her back, isn't he?

Click to shrink...

Well... I guess it's not even a spoiler to confirm this, since the story would be over otherwise. ;D
I also agree with everything you typed. The ones that get left behind will suffer tremendously. And depression really is a b******, although not the only reason someone might make this choice. It's always important to keep an eye on the people around and close to us.

 

[TardisGhost]

Part III - (III)​

There was neither light nor temperature in this place, nor was there emotion or memory. Only the nothingness, the void. Floating... through an endless ocean of calm, in the river of still-stood time. I merely existed.

A light. Something stirred in me.

A spec of not-darkness.

Another one. And suddenly... thousands more, bursting through the blackness like a snowstorm, raising , shooting through the void. Golden stars, audibly glittering all around. The noises became loud, so loud. One of them came close. I raised my arms to cover my face.

Collision.

A flash.

He was all alone on the hill, watching the suns set and tinting the red grass in beautiful purple. The last night here. The last hours. Soon he would steal a TARDIS, do as the Doctor had done... without him, even though they had vowed to travel the universe together, to escape the strict rules of their home to be free. But he had gotten oh so scared. And now he was alone. But he wouldn't stay. There was so much to see, to do.

Another star, it chimed so loud, whispering, singing.

Someone hummed a melody, faint and beautiful. He sat there and listened for a while, smiled even when her gaze met his. She hadn't agreed to hand over information, instead she would sing the oldest ballad of her home for him. When the woman was done he stood, smiled, raised his laser gun and shot a hole right through her chest. For not being useful.

Light, chiming, flashing.

How many planets had he conquered already? He sat on the table and looked over star maps, marking every place with a small red X. This was getting boring.

Stars. So many stars. All hitting, all singing, too fast, too many.

Music. People dancing. Someone laughed. From somewhere else there came a scream, then fire burst through the giant window. He ran. He ran over red fields, looked behind, saw the face of a smiling boy his age, grinned back. There were creatures as old as the universe, and he had the key to control them, make them obey him. The book's pages crumbling to dust under his fingers.

Stars.

Blood. Screams. He didn't care. His goal was clear.

Collision.

He cried up at the stars, begged them to give him a new body, to end his agony. Hands shrivelled, the hood hurting his decaying skin.

Chimes and whistles.

They all betrayed him in the end. Why should he even try to be good? Each time he did, it ended bad. So bad. He dragged himself to the TARDIS, hand pressing against the wound, knowing he wouldn't make it in time.

Millions of golden stars burst into dust. It was so beautiful, calm destruction.

He could. Oh he could indeed love. But may he be dammed to ever let another living thing steal his hearts. Betrayed again, by his own kind. It hurt. It hurt so damn much he didn't even know if it would kill him or not.

Sharp edges of blinding lights.

A laugh, loud and cruel. It was fun, it felt good. To just let go, to no longer care for anything but his own goals. Might this daft boy die here for him, if it meant to get a new body. What should he care?

An echo. A sound. Rippling through the chimes.

Red skies, burning. Blood and smoke and fire. The smell of burnt flesh, hot metal stinking. The carcasses of machines piling up around him. Good warrior. Do as we say. No. He shook his head, glared down at his shred hands. No more. No more. Not with me!

The sound. Louder than before. Closer. Stars fading, slowing.

He bent over, sick to his stomach, shaking, cold sweat on his skin. Still wearing the clothes of the old fool he had pretended to be. It was so loud. So loud. He wanted to scream. He wanted to make the Doctor suffer for bringing them back, for dragging him out of the fob watch. It wasn't fair!

It's not fair, I thought without knowing what it meant, reaching my hand out to touch the last passing star. There had been almost silence, but they had been brought back.

What had been?

Why where there no stars anymore?

It was so dark all of a sudden. So dark and lonely. All that had stayed behind was the sound, the steady, approaching sound. The closer it came the better I heard, the clearer I got, the farther away something pulled me from it. But I had to stay! I had to know! I wanted the stars back! It was... it was... calm. There was no pain, had not been. Now there was something, something bad. This place no longer accepted me, pushed me away, far, far away from the approaching noise.

Darkness. A flash. A breath, taken deep, as if resurfacing from a deep dive. And there the sound was. I had found it!

Du – du – du – du

It guided me. Like a beacon through the everlasting void.

Du – du – du – du

Soothing. Repeating. Always repeating. Always the same.

Du – du – du – du

Du – du – du – du

Du – du – du – du

It changed. Was the same and was not. Became cold, threatening. The beating closed in on me, ate into my mind, spread through my very existence. Every beat vibrating through me, hurting. No, not hurting. Still...

Light. There was light. And sounds, more sounds than the drumming. Slight buzzing of electric lights, beeps and whirrs from strange machines. A breath. The rustling of cloth. All of it drowning out the ever repeating four beats.

There were only two. Fast, but steady. My own heart.

My eyes opened so slow as if bricks weighed them down, as if someone had glued them together, the effort to drag my lids upwards almost too much. Success... in the end. I blinked. Above me was a white ceiling, plain and without information.

What was I laying on? Soft. A mattress? No blanket, but it was warm in here. My head turned to the right, found a room, not large, filled with strange machines that blinked and beeped. There was a simple folding chair and on it... a man. I knew him, didn't I? The brown, tousled hair, the rectangular specs.

He looked up, raised a brow and closed the book he had been reading.

"Ah, you're awake," the Doctor stated the obvious, his voice strangely sounding almost disappointed? No, it was something else. "A little too early."

"Wha'..." My own voice was raspy, sounded strange to my own ears.

"It's okay," he assured with a small, warm smile. He stood and trod closer, bent a little down to me, hands in his suit pockets. "You're out of danger." His brows raised again and he drawled, "Might take a while to fully heal, though."

My mind barely processed his words. Everything was so foggy, hard to grasp. "I'm... alive." The simple truth, albeit without meaning in my current inane state.

The Doctor's face turned thoughtful again, his brows knitted together tightly, looked at something behind me. Carefully I turned my head to the left and found I wasn't occupying the sickbed alone. The Master was there, a hand's width away. He lay on his side, facing me and sound asleep, head draped on one bent arm. Confused I looked back at the Doctor.

"What's he doing here?" It made no sense. Nothing made, right now, but his presence seemed weirder than the rest.

"Weeell..." The Doctor straightened, ruffled the hair on his neck. "See, that's the thing. You're still alive because of him. Came stomping in here, shouting, insulting me... carrying you."

"I was gone," I muttered weekly, remembering the dark, the calm.

"Yes..." He visibly hesitated, kneading his hands. "You were dead. Proper dead, I mean. Not for long, however. The Master, he... it's hard to explain. I have no idea why he did it. Honestly."

"Did... what?"

"Safe you." There was a deep sigh as he pushed both hands inside his pant pockets. "It's hard to bring one back from death. Possible, if it was recent enough. Dangerous, though. Oh... oh so dangerous..." He trailed off, staring into the distance. His eyes returned to me, questions upon questions shining within them. "Shared a part of his own life force with you."

"Huh?" I only managed to blink perplex, unable to understand what this meant.

"Told him not to. It's risky. Could have gone wrong. Very wrong." He clicked his tongue, raising his brows again in wonderment. "Didn't listen to a word I said. Now, here he is, probably lost a few years of his own life... not that he would hesitate to steal them back from someone else... Still... It's an exhaustive process."

"Is he... okay?" I asked, looking back at the sleeping Time Lord. In opposite to me he didn't have any tubes hanging on him. Why did I? Everything was so hard to grasp. Was I asleep? Was this even real? My eyes closed, my mind drifting away. Tired, so tired. But no... I had to know. "Will he be alright?"

For the first time the Doctor chuckled lightly. "Daaaah, of course he will! The Master is like... Hell, I sometimes don't believe he even can die!" He waved his words away and rocked back and forth on his heels. "He's just exhausted. Needs rest, as do you. And part of his life force is still flowing into you."

"I don't feel anything," I mumbled, pouting a little. Something like that happened and I couldn't even notice.

"Mhm... doesn't surprise me. Humans aren't very sensible to that. Well... anyway. I'll let you sleep a little more. Until the transfer is fully done you two have to stay close. So, even if you wake up again, don't run off, okay?"

I hummed confirming, already drifting back into darkness. Alive. What did that even mean? It made as less sense as everything else. My eyes were so heavy. It was... cold. No, it wasn't. Not in the room, but inside myself. How weird. And I missed the soothing noise from before. Not the threatening one, but... right. I remembered where it had come from and turned to my side, huddling close to the Master to rest my head against his chest.

"Oh, I wouldn't do... that..." the Doctor's voice stumbled into my fading consciousness. "Ah, well... whatever."

I had no clue what he meant, the void claiming me back, the only thing inside my awareness was the soothing rhythm of four against my ear, lulling me in, dispelling the cold. Finally.

Finally it was warm.

 

[Riha]

I'm not normally a fan of this Master, but the protagonist is extremely relatable to me and I'm liking what you have so far. Look forward to seeing where you take this

 

[ptbptb]

"Did... what?"

"Safe you."

Click to shrink...

Save

 

[TardisGhost]

A/N: Rewatching the first seasons I realised what a prick the Doctor sometimes can be to humans, lol. Guess being near the Master doesn't make it better.

Part III (IV)​

"Oh what the everlasting…?" a voice tore into the blackness of my sleeping mind, my body, however, too heavy to respond. Only the voice, very close to my ear kept on talking through the dark. "What the hell do you think you're doing there, ape?"

"Morning, sunshine!" the Doctor's voice greeted from behind me, sounding highly amused. "I told her not to, but guess she was too sleepy and probably about 96.3727% unconscious, so... Well, anyway. The closer, the faster the transfer."

"Doesn't need to be that close," the Master grumbled and pushed against my shoulder, rolling me onto my back and away from him.

My mind struggled to comprehend the situation, blackness still engulfing my thoughts, my bones and muscles were too heavy to move. Slowly it dawned on me. Where I was. And with whom. And especially in what position! Still, I kept silent, stayed in the darkness behind my closed eyelids. Just a little longer. I'd have to deal with reality too soon. And the small, somewhat awake part of my brain was curious what they would talk about.

"By the way," the Doctor drawled, "it will take another ten minutes, roughly, until the transfer is complete."

The Master groaned. "Don't I know? I literally feel it, moron."

There was the sound of a chair that got dragged closer, rustling of cloth and then the Doctor again, his voice soft, this time. "What were you even thinking? That was unnecessary."

Next to me I felt the vibrations of the Master's silent laughs. Only after a pause did he give an answer. "Look at you, Doctor." The name sounded weirdly spiteful. "Scolding me for saving a life. Oh, the irony."

"You know what I m-"

"Maybe I wanted a pet."

The Doctor sighed annoyed. "Humans aren't-"

"Tell that someone who believes it. I'm tired of that phrase."

A pause stretched for almost a minute, only interrupted by the noises of alien machines.

"Maybe, for once I felt the unexplainable urge to do something... kind." The last word carried a weird undertone, making me remember the last utterance from him I could remember before... dying?

Bugger!

"You really think I'd buy into that?" the Doctor asked calmly. "Don't get me wrong, Master, I'd love to. Really."

"Told you already. Pet."

The Doctor sighed again. "Alright... let's just assume that's the reason. Why that one? There are... billions on earth alone, not to mention future and history. And those wouldn't have required... weeell... such drastic actions."

The Master shrugged, I could feel the motion. "Felt like it. Boredom. Wanted to try something new."

"Master..."

"Oh come on," the other Time Lord spat, "when have I ever agreed to be honest to you? Wouldn't that be absurd?"

"You could try. We don't have to fight all the time."

"Yeeeeah..." the Master drawled, "become friends with your dungeon-keeper. Thought of that already. Might get me free in the end, what do you think?"

"Oi! I'm not your... ugh..."

The Master snickered, clearly enjoying himself. My urge to just move got stronger. It's so hard not to twitch a muscle when you're awake, but I really didn't want to miss any of this conversation, way too curious to learn more about the two.

The Doctor sighed wearily and shifted audibly. "What now?" His voice had suddenly turned soft.

"I don't know," the Master drawled lazily, "A steak would be nice. I feel a little... drained."

"Ugh... I mean, what are we supposed to do with Lucy?"

"Humans eat steak too, don't they?"

Oh god, it was so hard not to start laughing. I needed every last bit of composure not to react. And also to not let my stomach grumble. That would have been inappropriate...

"Oh, come on, Doctor," the Master sneered, "how should I know? Humans are your speciality. Think of something. Nice little cage. Maybe put a pillow inside."

Again there was an exasperated groan. "We can't just keep her here!" the Doctor exclaimed. "That would be abduction! And I'm not trusting you one bit not to harm her further!"

"Oi! I didn't lay a hand on her!"

A pause.

For some seconds there was utter silence stretching across the room, eventually ended by a barely audible, "Oh." It finally seemed to dawn on the Time Lord what actually had happened. "I... thought that had been your doing..."

The Master snorted. "Sure. Because that would make soooo much sense."

"Weeeell..." Another pause, longer this time. Then the Doctor spoke up again, his voice thoughtful and a little sad. "Still... we can't just drag her around. Let's bring her back home, inform her family... friends. Someone will take care."

A huff came from next to me and I felt how the Master shifted slightly, leaning closer to me. "Ah, you're so wrong again, Doctor," he told, somewhat mockingly, somewhat thoughtful. "There's no one to inform. And if you're so dumb to bring her home..." He tapped a finger against my forehead. "You'd just do it again, right?"

The question was clearly addressed to me and I had no choice but to finally open my eyes, meeting a wicked grin right above me. He knew! Probably the whole time already. I blinked a few times, letting my eyes adjust to the light, scowled at his stupidly grinning face.

"Oh, you're awake!" the Doctor called out. "That's err... we were just... I mean... you probably heard some of it."

I ignored the Doctor, stubbornly keeping my frown in place and my eyes locked with the Master's, even though I couldn't see them clearly without my specs. It wasn't necessary.

"Oh, what a dark look." He pursed his lips in a mock pout. "I saved your life, that should owe me at least a big thank you, my Lord and Master. I'll collect the rest of my payment another day."

"I hate you," was all I grumbled.

"Uh, uh, uh. That's not what you tell your saviour." He snickered to himself, turned away and swung his leg from the bed. "Okay, energy transfer done. Human alive. Payment... later." The Master stood and stretched his arms out. "I so need some food now! I'm starving."

"What do you think you're doing?" the Doctor finally tossed in. "Don't just run off and-"

"And what will you do to stop me?" the other Time Lord bent down to the sitting Doctor and gave him a nasty grin. "I already am a prisoner. There's not much more you can harm me with." With a huff he straightened, mockingly waved in my direction and left the room.

Careful not to move too fast I sat up and let my feet dangle from the edge. There still was a thin tube on a needle attached to the back of my hand. I wore the same clothes as before, Jeans and a tugged in plaid shirt. Both stained with now brown spots.

The Doctor sighed exasperated, before he glanced me up and down. "You humans are really dumb sometimes," he mumbled.

"Oh, thanks. And there I thought you were the good one."

He raised a brow at me, not much of the friendly attitude he had the last times was visible on his face. The look he gave me wore a weird kind of almost rage and... disappointment? It could have been something else, but my blurred sight didn't allow for details.

Abruptly he rose to his feet, staring down at me. "Everyone should value their life," he stated almost pleadingly, but still somewhat angry at the same time. "It's a gift. There's so much to offer the world, to experience... that's nothing to just throw away!"

I frowned up at him, having a sudden urge to just punch his face. Not that I am a violent person, but in this very moment the thought was extremely tempting.

"And who are you to judge me like that?" I growled.

"I am the one who made it even possible for you to be born!" he stated. "Probably. Maybe. I mean... somewhere in your timeline, surely. Anyway, let's forget about that." It seemed as if his mind drifted off for a moment, but then returned with full exasperated force. "I've seen enough of you lot throwing away their lives. And it's always for such stupid reasons. Temporary reasons, mind you. Lost a job? A loved one? Your crush turned you down? I tell you... a permanent solution for a temporary problem. It's dumb!"

For a moment I was speechless, then I sighed deeply and shook my head. "Wow," I mumbled, "you're a dick."

"Wha-haaaat?!"

I had enough. Of everything. Literally. I shot up from the bed, ripped the needle out of my hand... and cursed nastily, because it hurt a lot more than anticipated.

"Ah crap! That doesn't look so painful in movies!" I threw it away anyway and stepped in front of the Time Lord, glaring hatefully up at him. "How dare you even?" I snarled, surprised I was able to sound so angry. "You have no idea about who I am and about my life and yet you assume to know everything!"

"Weeell..." he started, not budging, "It's always the same with your species. You live so short, you never think further than maybe a week ahead."

I let out a humourless laugh. "That's really what you think about us?"

"I've experienced it!"

"Well, duh! Then look again."

"Yeah, alright. Not all are like that." He smiled almost apologetically. "I know, I know. There are many with great minds, kind people, great thinkers."

I shook my head and sighed. Why did I even expect an alien with a who knew how long lifespan to understand? "For us even short moments matter," I still explained, my voice softening, more from exhaustion than anything else. "You're still wrong. I lost nothing. No one." With a sharp look I cut off his next words. "There was no such thing to begin with. You have no idea!" Suddenly there was new rage bubbling through my tiredness, tears prickled the corners of my eyes. I hated my voice for trembling. "You don't know how that is! How it feels to be hated by everyone just because you are a tiny little bit different! How it feels when you can't belong anywhere, when no one is ever waiting for you!" It hurt. Each and every of my own words hurt, letting the tears finally flow. They didn't fall by the fire, when I had breathed out my life. But now... now they had caught up. "You have no idea how it is to be all alone in the universe without a home or people to return to!"

It was as if electricity sparkled through the air, an almost palpable tension between the two of us. The Doctor was visibly shook, swallowed hard. His shoulders sunk down and what I could make out of his features softened. And then he did what I definitely had not expected. He stepped forward and just wrapped his long arms around me, hugged me tight.

For a second I was startled, but then the tension in my body melted away and I no longer fought the offered comfort, buried my face in his suit and just let the tears flow for a while, trembling and sobbing from all the accumulated pain in my heart.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor eventually mumbled. "Shouldn't have been so harsh." He rocked back and forth slightly, never letting go. "You're wrong too, though, Lucy. I know what that feels like." He sighed and in that moment I had the feeling he was seeking solace as much as I did. "I know it all too well."

 

[TardisGhost]

A/N: Disclaimer - I have no medical knowledge! No idea if any of this is realistic at all... but let's just pretend... uh... alien tech! That's it. That'll do... *hides*

Part III (V)​

"Feeling better?" the Doctor eventually asked as my sobs faded.

"Mhmm..." I indistinctly made into his shirt and pulled away a bit.

Even though it was weird to be held by a complete stranger, it was still a form of comfort I hadn't experienced in... years, over a decade? I couldn't remember. He had held me. There, in the night, by the fire and the sea. Had only held me, letting me... No, in the end he hadn't accepted my wish. Had he simply changed his mind in the last moment? Or had it been a calculated action?

"Good, good." The Doctor beamed. "Well, crying is supposed to help, but still..."

"Don't... tell him," I mumbled, suddenly feeling embarrassed about my outburst.

"Whom? The Master? Ahhhh, don't worry about him. Actually, do worry about him. I have no idea what he's planning again. Better stay out of his way."

"Does that mean... you won't send me away?" Now look at that. I'm still able to feel hope. I sighed and wiped the remaining tears from my face. "Gosh, I really must seem so silly to you."

For once he was at a loss for words, probably struggling to find something to say that wasn't another well-intended insult. He gave up eventually and instead asked, "There's really no one I can bring you to?"

His words sent a nasty stinging through my heart, letting new tears well up. They reminded me of the past year (hell, my whole life actually), of how no one ever cared to ask about my whereabouts. And when I had been the one to reach out, there was only fake interest, if any answer at all. I shook my head.

"Sure... I don't think my big sister or my aunt would say no... but they'd only try to get rid of me... again. As fast as possible." Memories resurfaced of how I used to spend so much time with them, seeing their smiling faces, hearing their invitations, and still being nothing but an intruder into their lives. People let you know when you don't belong. And when they don't want you to. They had built up their own lives, and made it very evident that I wasn't invited. "Guess that would be even worse than being alone," I muttered and glanced away.

The Doctor looked down at me, rubbing his neck in thought. He then sighed and reached into his suit pocket to hand me something. "Well... I'd normally say it's too dangerous for you here, but..."

I took what he held out to me and found it to be my glasses. It was nice to see properly again, made me realize just how clueless the Doctor was looking right now. "I'd rather stay somewhere dangerous than... everything before, really."

"We'll see about that." The Doctor smiled and nodded to the door. "But first let's get you some fresh clothes."

I glanced down at me, the blood stained clothes, the bandages on my wrists. I even still wore my shoes. "A shower would be nice, too," I mumbled, sliding my thumb over one of the bandages.

"Oh, you can take those off. Should be healed enough already. But I'm afraid there will be some scars left behind."

"Healed?" I unwrapped the cloth carefully under the Doctor's watchful eyes. There still was a wound, but it looked as if it were weeks old. "How... long have I slept?" I muttered dumbfounded, my eyes glued to the sight.

"Just half an earthen day or so. I've got healing equipment from so many places, can't even remember where that salve came from I put on there... eh... anyway. Shower's a fine idea. We'll get the TARDIS to make you a nice little space for yourself afterwards. What do you think?"

I looked back up, right in time to see him beam from ear to ear. All I could muster was a week reflection of the smile, but I nodded.

While we trod through the corridors I wondered how it could be that I didn't feel excited. The first times I had been here, there would have been no better thing in the world (universe) to happen than to stay here. Now... it felt off, unreal. Was it really better to stay here than to go back home? Would I be treated as more than a mere, unwanted, intruder? Only accepted because they feared I'd harm myself again?

The way was short and soon the Doctor showed me a spacious bathroom with lots of fluffy towels.

"The wardrobe over there will have some clothes. Won't they?" he asked and stroked the door frame. A slight hum returned as an answer, making the Time Lord smile. He looked back at me and gestured inside the room. "Err... do you need help with that?"

I startled and scrunched up my nose, protesting, "Noooo, certainly not."

"Oi! You're still a little weak and might pass out. Or who knows what." He held up his hands in defence. "I know what humans look like. It's no big deal for me, really."

"Pfff... but it might be for me." I frowned at him and poked out my tongue. "Just wait outside. If anything happens I'll call you."

"Alright, then. Will do. Will stand here as a guard and not move a toe!" he promised with a bright smile.

Despite his claims I couldn't shake the feeling that he had no clue at all about humans and their customs. This would be fun. Not that I minded people seeing me naked, nothing to hide, really, but something about the Doctor just seemed a little too intrusive for me, especially right now.

He was right, though. I did feel slightly shaky and opted to take a shower instead of a bath. I'm not the bathing type anyway, and letting the Doctor wait for longer than necessary seemed mean.

Uncertain what to do with my old clothes, I simply folded and placed them on the toilet lid, only now realizing that they smelled of sand and blood, of smoke and... also wore a hint of his scent.

I scowled at the clothes and grudgingly stepped into the shower. There would be plenty of time to smack him in the face. For now I just wanted to... I didn't even know what, but the warm water felt soothing on my cold skin, made me sigh content. It felt relieving to wash of the past, to carefully glide the soft sponge over the cuts. It hurt a little, but not nearly as much as when they had been fresh.

"You're alright in there?" came the Doctor's voice after some time.

"Yeah!" I called back, realizing I must have stood there for like ten minutes or so. "I'm fine."

With a sigh I switched the water off and wrapped myself in one of the fluffy towels, taking a closer look at the wardrobe. Everything I took out to observe had my size, so I assumed the TARDIS had just produced those somehow. I picked some underwear, dark blue jeans and a red polo shirt. Maybe some colour would do me good, I decided.

"A zipper or so would have been nice," I mumbled, looking down at my bare arms. Part of me wanted to cover the cuts, and another was simply a little cold.

Right as I wanted to close the wardrobe I saw a single, lonely zipper lying on top of the other clothes. Black in colour, but the hood was inlayed with red plaid. "That wasn't here before. Did you just put it there?"

The TARDIS gave a short hum, confirming my suspicion. Somehow it made me smile, wondering what I had stumbled into. This was like actual magic to me, even though it probably could be explained by some science humans would not even begin to understand. Let alone the fact that I was inside a seemingly conscious and living space ship.

Less fascinating was my own reflection in the mirror. It looked as pale as a ghost, and incredibly tired. Dead. Yeah, I actually looked exactly as I felt.

Outside the Doctor greeted me with an impatient smile. He was fidgeting around with his weird, blue glowing wand thing, that he put away as the door opened. "Ah, see? You look a lot better already. Let's get some food into you."

I nodded and wordlessly followed. A weirdly disappointed feeling went through my guts when I found the kitchen to be empty. Somehow I had awaited to find the Master in here. Instead I enjoyed a small meal in almost silence. The Doctor didn't speak much, only commented on what food would be best to get me back on track.

"You basically need every last bit of nutrition you can get, see?"

"Why? I didn't sleep for long."

"Well, yes, but you lost so much blood we had to fill you up again somehow. Life force alone isn't really enough to keep a body alive, you know."

"You gave me a blood transfusion?" I wondered from whom it might have come.

"No. Not quite. It was a simple sodium chloride solution. Nothing fancy. I think they even use it on earth."

I blinked and looked down at my hands, the pale skin. "Wait. Does that mean I have no actual blood in my veins, right now?"

The Doctor chuckled and grinned. "Well, your body probably already produced some new, but yeah, you're mostly running on the substitute. Probably... eighty percent or so. That's why you should eat properly, give your system enough energy and nutrients to work with."

"Hm, yeah." I huffed. "Well, I always tell everyone, my heart belongs to the sea. Why not having salt water run through my veins, then, hey?"

The whole time I ate, my eyes kept darting towards the door, awaiting it to open at any time. Nothing happened, however, and so I listlessly munched on the ham-egg sandwich, not tasting much of it. Having something in my stomach still made me feel a little better and a lot less shaky than before. I would have murdered someone for coffee instead of juice in that moment, but the Doctor refused to let me have some.

"Okay, what now?" I wanted to know when I had finished. "What's it you do all day?"

The question made a bright smile appear on the Doctor's face. "Travelling!" he announced happily. "Well... not as much since the Master is on board. It's hard enough to keep him away from trouble without landing anywhere. And right now I have to do some maintenance on the console, so... Tell you what?" He stood and smiled warmly. "I'll show you the library, and in a few hours, when I'm done, we can have dinner on the thirty second moon of Keilopherax. What do you think?"

Perplex I blinked, finding his smile to be weirdly contagious. "That... sounds like a cool first day."

 

[TardisGhost]

Part III (VI)​

For some reason I had awaited it to be the same library the Master had tried to keep me in, the last time I had been here, but then I remembered that the Doctor didn't even know about that room. The library he showed me now was a lot bigger anyway. Large enough to get lost in it, with lots of slim staircases, winding themselves upwards, pillows on the ground, small reading alcoves here and there and even a fireplace with armchairs and a small table. It currently wasn't lit.

And there were so many books!

"Whoa!" I let out, eyes wide. "Damn, that's a lot! Well... I probably can't read most of it anyway, but still..."

"Oh, don't worry about that," the Doctor told grinning. "The TARDIS' telepathic field translates every language on the fly, inside your head."

My eyes widened even more. "So that's why I could understand the aliens when we had coffee. Really every langue?"

"Usually, yes. For lesser known ones it might have a small delay, but that's rare. So, go ahead. I'll fetch you in a few hours. And if you need anything, the TARDIS will lead you. She seems to like you anyway."

"Huh, does she?"

The Doctor hummed confirming. "Peculiar thing she is. Some she hates, others she likes. Consider yourself lucky." He winked and turned around, hands in his pockets and whistling some weird melody.

Weirdly enough I felt no urge to grab one of the books. My mind was still spinning from... everything. I had been dead and then brought back to life. Someone else's life force was running through me. I still didn't exactly know what this meant. Sure, a living body was driven by electrochemical energy and all that stuff, but literal life force? I really was unsure what to make of it.

I didn't even have a clue what to make of... well... me. Obviously there were no plans for my future, since I hadn't planned for actually having one. The decision had been made without regrets. I had left everything behind, ready and even eager never to return. And now I wouldn't? In a different way than I had planned for, but still... Would the Time Lords keep me until they thought my state was better and then simply drop me somewhere?

Maybe I could just hide in here. The place was big enough, so many rooms, unopened doors. And if the TARDIS really liked me, maybe she would show me a little hiding spot. I didn't want to be in this library, I realized. It was cosy and huge and, at every other point in my life, the absolute perfection for my stories-hungry mind.

"Ah, crap, what happened to me?" I sighed, scolding myself for talking aloud. Even though I had always been pretty alone I had never started that habit. Maybe it was only because I knew I was heard? "I don't know what to do with myself. Is there a section of books to help?" The question was meant more sarcastically than seriously, but still. Who could say what this place might have to offer.

As I rounded another corner of shelves there was a door appearing, right in front of my eyes. Just fading into existence. This was so strange, impossible. Somehow I felt as if I had stumbled into Hogwarts and not into a spaceship. So I pointed an imaginary wand at the door and mumbled, "Alohomora."

And the door swung open.

My arm dropped. "You've got some humour, old lady," I muttered and smiled.

There were more book shelves in the other room, as a quick peek revealed. But the overall structure and tone was different. Curiosity was always one of my weakest spots, so I didn't resist the urge and simply strode through, finding myself in another library. One that seemed familiar, though.

Slowly I sauntered along the wall and glanced around the next corner. Right, this was the hidden study the Master had found for himself. So the TARDIS knew of it, but never showed it to the Doctor? Odd, but who knew what and how a sentient spaceship was thinking.

There was a table in the middle of this section of the room, large and filled with papers, books and all sorts of mechanical and electronic parts, wires, batteries, and whatnot. Amongst the stuff was a free spot and there sat the Master, on the table, cross-legged with closed eyes and wearing ear buds. It almost seemed as if he was meditating, his features calm, hands casually resting on his knees.

I was unsure what to do and whether or not to disturb him. So I stepped back and wanted to leave, when his eyes suddenly snapped open, boring into mine so intensely that I froze in place. His look was ice cold, almost angry. He pulled out the earplugs, without letting me out of sight.

"How the heck did you get in here?" he growled.

I opened my mouth to speak, trapped in his penetrating gaze, suddenly finding myself without words. I tried again, but simply couldn't. I wasn't even able to move.

What the heck?!

The scowl vanished from his face as he stood up to come over and tower above me, head slightly tilted. "What's that?" he asked with a hint of curiosity in his voice. "You react to me." Ungently he grabbed my chin, searching for something on my face, in my eyes. "Sit down," he commanded.

My body reacted. Just like that. In some vague corner of awareness I still realised that I acted without my own will. A second later I sat on the floor, puzzled blinking upwards. The Master sat on his haunches in front of me, a satisfied smile curving his lips.

"Mhm... curious. Now my hypnotism works on you." He chuckled with a sadistic glint in his eyes. "How did you get here? Speak."

"The TARDIS brought me," I told without hesitation. "A door appeared in the library."

His brows shot up. "Is that so?" Thoughtfully he stroked over his beard. I simply was confused as hell. This felt so weird, wrong. The Master grinned. "It seems your will is completely broken."

"That really surprising?" I shot back, frowning, somewhat surprised I could speak.

He only chuckled in response and rose to his feet again. "Stand," the Master commanded, his eyes lighting up in delight as my body obeyed against my own will. His lips spread to an almost charming smile, his voice sickeningly sweet when he spoke up. "Now shut up and get lost. I don't want you anywhere near me."

I obeyed. If due to his hypnotism or of my own volition was hard to say. His words were like a hot knife, slicing through my guts. They hurt, stung in my chest and made my eyes burn. What had I even expected? This was only some sick game, which's rules I didn't understand. It shouldn't surprise me. Not after what I had seen while being unconscious. Memories... His memories. A few of them at least.

Now that I recalled it, those images flooded back into my mind, accompanied me on the way back to the library. The Master had done horrible things, had revelled in blood and torture, had burned down entire planets only because he felt like it. Not to mention all the times he had spread chaos and destruction on earth alone.

Including that one year. One that never happened and did nonetheless. Spheres... floating spheres with long thorns and laughing, childlike voices. I groaned, swayed and steadied myself with a hand against some bookshelf.

"Don't you dare fainting, ape," a voice sneered behind me. "I'm not carrying you around again."

Perplex I glanced up and saw the Master had followed me, now standing a meter apart, hands tucked away inside his pant pockets. The images behind my eyes slowly vanished and with some deep, heavy breaths I leaned my back against the shelf, plugged down my glasses and rubbed the other hand over my face.

"Oh, don't worry," I spat back, slightly pissed, although I knew it was useless.

"Good." He smirked widely. "That would be no fun. And I didn't keep you to get bored."

I rolled my eyes. "Great. Thought you didn't want to see me."

"Speaking of which," he drawled, ignoring my words completely, "it's funny to make people do whatever I want. So..." He chuckled to himself, bending slightly down to my eye level. "Go and burn some of those books."

"No way!" I shot straight, glaring hatefully at him.

Some seconds spread between us, my contempt only growing with each. Hell! He could demand of me whatever he wanted, but not the books! That was just an unbelievable crime against... well... It just is!

The Master tilted his head a little more, brows knitting together, when he realized I wasn't going to move. "Only works halfway, eh?" he commented dryly.

"What does?" I frowned in return, putting my glasses back on.

"The hypnotism, idiot." He grunted exasperated, finally making me realized that I wasn't following his order. "How useless."

"Too bad," I sneered, "You could have lived forever without having to endure my useless boring self."

The Master gave me a mock pout. "Sweet. And let a chance slip to have someone be so deeply indebted to me?"

I glared at him, a heat bubbling up in my chest I hadn't felt in so very long. It's really not easy to make me angry, truly angry, I mean. I gritted my teeth, hands balled to fists. There was a serious urge to just punch his stupidly grinning face, to kick his nuts or whatever.

Instead, I took a long, deep breath, closed my eyes for a brief second and exhaled. "No, you're not worth it," I decided aloud, still giving him a mean look. "And I owe you absolutely nothing. Not for forcing something upon me I didn't want."

His fist slammed against the shelf behind me, his other hand on my collar, grabbing the cloth to draw me upwards. My whole body tensed, breath caught in my lungs. The Master smirked toothlessly, a cruel spark in his eyes.

"At least you're still afraid of me."

Was I? It was almost impossible to take my eyes from his, no matter how much I normally despised eye-contact. Something just kept me there, fixated, frozen. It didn't feel like fear. Why was he so bipolar? One moment acting almost gentle, the next snapping into this cold, distanced person. The one second I felt completely secure around him, the next I wanted nothing more but to run.

"As I see it," the Master continued, "you will have no choice but to obey me. And give me whatever it is I ask of you."

I huffed. "Only as long as your stupid hypnosis is working."

"That's not the only way I can force you, believe me." His voice dropped lower, got quieter, his look now dark. "You seem to know all too well that death is not the most threatening thing."

"Oi, leave her be, Master!" the Doctor suddenly called out from next to us. "Seriously, I can't let you out of sight for more than a second."

The Master turned his head, eyes glinting with contempt. He let go of me and stepped back. Why he followed the Doctor's demand was a mystery to me, however. I let out a breath and straightened my clothes.

"Maybe put that collar back on me?" the Master suggested with a sickeningly sweet smile, challenging the other Time Lord. "I miss those nice little zaps."

The Doctor grimaced and tried to hide the guilty look by turning halfway around. "You really left me no choice," he mumbled.

I cast a glance at the Master, unsure if I interpreted this right. He caught my eyes, scowling at my question look. The atmosphere got really unpleasant, so I decided to do something about it.

"Didn't you say you'd need some hours to fix your console?" I tried to distract. "You've been only away for a few minutes."

"Oh, yeah!" The Doctor's eyes lit up and he turned back to share his eagerness. "I was just tinkering about, when the TARDIS caught an interesting signal. Unusual signature. Very unusual. Got curious and landed us there. And... I thought you might wanna come along and have a look?"

I glared at him, mouth dropping open. "M... me? But... I... I don't think I can be of help out there, really."

"Ahhh, don't need to be." He slightly bounced up and down. "Just look and see. Have some fun! Come on!" he encouraged, nodding his head backwards.

Just looking. Alright. I could that. I nodded, suddenly feeling a little surge of anticipation. But right as I wanted to move I already stopped and looked up at the Master. "You're coming too?"

Immediately the heavy silence from before was back, shortly after interrupted by a short cough from the Doctor. "Maybe... better not." His eyes shot towards the other Time Lord, who didn't twitch a muscle.

This hardly seemed fair, even though I had a vague clue that the Master would not make things easier, maybe would even try to flee. Still... I knew how it was to be the prisoner of another person. And my guts twisted, thinking about running around out there, while he had to stay behind.

"Oh, I'd be delighted to have a look," the Master said, smiling impishly down at me. He even lay an arm around my shoulder, making me tense up instantly. "I could show my new pet around. Wouldn't that be lovely."

"I'm not your pet!" I hissed and tried to get away from him.

The Doctor's eyes bounced between the two of us and finally he sighed. "Alright. I know this can only end in a disaster... but let's just try it out."

The pleased look on the Master's face clearly showed he was going to make me regret having spoken up for him. Still, something told me I had done the right thing.

 

[TardisGhost]

A/N: Let's just pretend this episodes never happened when Rose was aboard. For the mere sake of me having fun with it. Ehehehehe
This might deviate from the original material (quite a lot in some ways). I just had to. It's probably my favourite two-parter in the whole series!

Part IV - Under the black sun​

"Lead the way," the Doctor offered happily, waving towards the doors.

I remembered the last time and how sceptical I had been. Now I felt almost calm about the prospect of stumbling out onto an alien world. Which didn't mean I wouldn't be suspecting a monster or plainly an abyss to wait right outside. Some vague thought-cloud in my mind told me I should be weary, afraid even, but the rest of me simply wasn't able to. Even though the Doctor very much seemed like a man to simply throw someone into an unknown danger.

So I opened the door and peeked through the door slit, raising an eyebrow immediately at the sight, before I stepped out, followed by both Time Lords. The last trip with the Doctor had made me expect some weird and curious place, instead we were...

"That's a cargo room," I mumbled, slightly disappointed.

"I think we've landed inside a cupboard." The Doctor chuckled to himself, observing his ship that had squeezed itself between two containers. He eyed the Master and as my gaze followed I saw him rolling his eyes. The Doctor, however, clearly in high spirits, spun around and took the half step towards the only door. "Here we go."

Swiftly, as if it were the most normal thing in the universe, he opened the door with a metal wheel, then started to ramble about bases and kits and human design. I didn't really listen. The octagonal shaped corridor in front of us had all my attention, it and all the weird noises from around, including a computer voice that told us which doors were just opened and closed.

"Is there a storm going on, outside?" I wondered. "Sounds nasty."

"Yeah, might be," the Doctor blabbered on. "Be glad, we're inside. Although the TARDIS' shields would protect us from the worst. Should. Usually does, actually."

"Except for that one visit on Gjerlat, where the acid hail surprised you?" the Master sneered. "And there you were nagging around, just because I blew a hole in the mountain."

"I wouldn't have nagged, would you have looked, before shooting!" the other Time Lord protested. "You buried half a village under rubble!"

The Master just shrugged.

'Open door 17', the computer voice told.

We all stepped into a small room with tables and chairs. It looked plain, simple. Nothing special or telling where we were.

"Oh, it's a sanctuary base," the Doctor concluded happily. "Deep space exploration. We've gone way out."

"What's that noise?" I wanted to know, straining my ears with closed eyes. "Are those the machines keeping the oxygen circulating? Water pipes... ventilation?"

"No, someone's drilling." He glared at the ground, hopping up and down on his heels.

"Welcome to hell," the Master spoke forebodingly.

"Oh, come on, Master! We've had worse trips already."

"You mean, forced excursions with you?" The other Time Lord snorted. "Still, you might find this here interesting. It doesn't translate."

"What?!" the Doctor called out and hopped next to the Master to observe a wall that was smeared with black writing.

The top line actually read 'Welcome to hell', but the writing below was indecipherable. Just a bunch of strange symbols, that looked to me as if someone had plainly nicked them from some videogame. But who am I to judge when it comes to alien languages.

"Hey, Doctor," I chimed in, interrupting his inspection as I remembered something, "You said the TARDIS translates every language."

"Exactly. If that's not working, then it means this writing is old. Very old. Impossibly old. We should find out who's in charge."

"We should find out what the heck is on this planet," the Master added, curiosity glimmering in his eyes. "If the TARDIS' knowledge is exhausted, we might have stumbled upon something powerful."

I tossed a glance at him, barely containing a giggle. Funny how two men could be eager to learn about the same thing, but for such completely different reasons. And I was rather certain the Master wasn't interesting in old stuff, just because to seek knowledge. Quite in opposite to the Doctor. He was still a mystery to me, but it seemed as if he found great joy in exploring the unknown.

Extremely eager indeed, seeing how quickly he wheeled open the next door to hop right through.

"For fricks sake, move, man!" the Master growled as he almost bumped into him.

"Oh! Right. Hello. Sorry. I was just saying, err, nice base," came the Doctor's voice from the other side.

I squeezed myself through the half open door and startled at the sight of dozens of humanoid alien creatures looking straight at us. They wore weird jumpsuits and had tentacles instead of noses and mouths. Their hands held a small sphere that seemed to be connected with them in some way. Suddenly their spheres glowed and all at once started to talk.

"We must feed!"

"Not on us!" the Master growled and shoved me right back behind him, when I tried to squeeze past.

"We must feed! We must feed!"

They started to repeat those words over and over again, slowly stepping closer.

"Wait, wait," the Doctor called, raising his hands, "I'm sure we can talk about this!"

"Ohhh, listen to you!" the Master sneered and grabbed the nearest chair. "You're always all words!"

As the creatures trod closer he simply whacked the furniture over the nearest head, sending the alien limply to the ground. The others stopped, still repeating their phrase though. One of them shook its globe and blinked.

"You," it said. "If you are hungry."

"Sorry?" the Doctor replied dumbfounded.

Finally I overcame my frozen state and stepped next to him, glaring at the lifeless body on the ground and the Master, who still held the chair, ready to strike again. Weirdly enough, the aliens didn't even seem to realize what he had done and simply stood there. The one from before spoke up again.

"We apologise. Electromagnetics have interfered with speech systems. Would you like some refreshment?"

"Are those machines?" I asked curiously, baffled by their indifferent behaviour.

'Open door 18' the computer voiced. And in stepped a bunch of people, who seemed as dumbfounded as we were.

A dark haired woman stepped towards the knocked out alien, while an older guy rushed towards us, casting a quick glance at the Master, before he halted right in front of the Doctor and pressed a button on a device on his wrist. Obviously a communicator.

"Captain, you're not going to believe this," he spoke, eyes wide in wonderment. "We've got people. Out of nowhere. I mean, real people. I mean three living people, just standing here right in front of me."

A male voice from the communicator answered, "Don't be stupid, that's impossible."

"I suggest telling them that," the older guy responded and lowered his hand.

"Jefferson," the dark haired woman interrupted. "That Ood here is dead."

The other creatures didn't even wince at the news, nor did they move or speak again. The older guy, Jefferson, didn't seem impressed by that and hurled around to the Master. "Why the heck did you do that? Put that chair away!"

The Time Lord gave the man a dark look, but sat the furniture to the ground. "You stupid pets attacked us," he growled, "It's every person's right to defend themselves."

"Yeah, but it's just an Ood!" Jefferson exclaimed.

"It could be a Florks and I still wouldn't care," the Master grumbled.

"Wait. You don't know what an Ood is?" the man exclaimed. "And how did you get here anyway? Do you even know where you are? "

"Nope, no idea," the Doctor replied and grinned. "More fun that way."

All talk was interrupted by the whole base suddenly shaking. An earthquake? Through the speakers of the room a female voice told something about point five. In an instant the old man ran to the doors, followed by his comrades. Only the Ood didn't move at all, as if they didn't even notice what was going on.

They seemed as baffled as I was, my body automatically going into freeze mode again. And then there was a hand slipping into mine and tugging at it, forcing me to stumble forwards."Move, stupid!" the Master snarled.

I did. What else was there to do? I didn't want to stay behind, not alone and also not with those aliens. Whatever they might be. We ran through another one of those narrow corridors, everything around us shaking. Through the next door we entered another room, bigger than the last one and with a large console in its middle. A bunch of people stood around it, each of them glaring at us as if we were ghosts.

Jefferson closed the door while the shaking ceased.

"People, look at that! Real people," a young woman remarked.

"Yeah, that's us, hooray!" the Doctor chimed, hands buried in his pant pockets.

Somehow I fought the urge to hide, uncomfortable with the sudden attention. Social anxiety is a wild and persistent beast. And while I had tamed it to a huge degree, it still tore at its chains from time to time. Especially in such sudden situations like these. My pulse quickened and I felt a little shaky. The other hand vanished from mine, leaving me suddenly bare and without a hold.

"The Doctor, nice to meet you," the Time Lord introduced. "This is the Master, don't ask. And the little one is Lucy."

I startled at hearing my name, my pulsing shooting up even higher as everyone stared at me for a moment. Somehow I managed to smile. The same fake smile I had studied in so well people couldn't tell it apart from a real one.

They all spoke at once, one guy stepping closer, babbling something about hallucinations. Another man with dreadlocks scolded him.

"Whoever you are," he continued, "just hold on... tight."

"Alright!" The Doctor beamed all over his face as if this were the greatest adventure of his lifetime. "What's happening there, mind me asking?"

"Impact in 3... 2... 1..." the dark skinned man instead told.

I had no time to find a good halt, wanted to grab the door wheel, but already the quake shook us wildly. Someone caught me, wrapped one arm around my torso and pulled me back.

Two times the ground shook beneath our feet, the second time a lot longer and more violent than the first. Fires started to burst out of some machines, electric sparks flew through the room, all while an ear piercing alarm shrilled through the air.

Eventually, though, it stopped and people rushed about to extinguish the fires, voices called out, telling they were okay. I took a deep breath and tried to straightened up, then realized the arm that still held me and glanced up to see it belonged to the Master.

The whole situation was way too sudden for my taste. I had no idea how to react and my mind had no time to adjust. Still, my body stopped shaking, my pulse calmed. But then I remembered how the Master had treated me, after I had woken up, how he had pushed me away as if I were something disgusting.

"Let go," I demanded, brows narrowing.

He cast a look down so dark as if it were my fault that he held me. His arm vanished and he left me standing there, moving around the console to inspect everything.

"What's this planet called, anyway?" the Doctor asked, meanwhile.

"Now, don't be stupid," one of the women scolded with raised brows. "It hasn't got a name. How could it have a name?" She paused and looked at our clueless faces. "You really don't know, do you?"

I shook my head and the Doctor went "Nope!", popping the 'p'.

The Master scowled at the holographic display. As I stepped next to him I saw a bunch of red blinking things on it.

"Hey, I'm Zach by the way, acting Captain," he introduced himself with a short smile, his attention however not really with us. "Damn... The surface caved in. Alright... I deflected it onto storage five through eight. We've lost them completely." He looked up and searched the room. "Toby, go and check the rocket link."

"That's not my department," a skinny, blond man grumbled.

"Just do as I say, yeah?"

"Five to eight... wasn't that..." the Master mumbled into his beard, his look getting darker by the second. "Hey, human," he addressed the Captain and pointed at the screen. "Wasn't that near habitation area six?"

The man raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "Yeah... that was among it. Why."

"What?!" the Doctor called out, having overheard it all. "No, no, no, no! That can't be! Storages, right? Bit of a cupboard in size?"

His face grew paler by the second and he was about to run straight outside, but got grabbed by the arm by one of the armed guys. "Hey! No running around our base until we at least know who-"

"But my ship was in there! My TARDIS! It's all we've got. Literally!"

The older of the two women trod towards him and lay a hand on his arm. "Is that how you came here? What sort of ship was that?"

"Yes... yes. Hard to explain. It just sort of... appears." It seemed as if he was close to tears by now. "It can't be gone. We have to get it back somehow. You've got robot drills heading the same way..."

"We can't divert the drilling," Zach said firmly. "We've only got the resources to drill one central shaft down to the power source, and that's it. No diversions, no distractions, no exceptions. Your machine is lost. All I can do is offer you a lift if we ever get to leave this place, and that is the end of it."

It was obvious that he wouldn't allow for any argument. The mood palpably dropped, even the room seemed to get colder as a heavy silence lay itself upon us like a heavy blanket. Could we really be trapped here? The possibility... no, fact, refused to sink in with me. And I barely got the time to think about it all too much.

A low chuckle made us all look in one direction and it took everyone a good second to realize what we saw.

"Oh, I really think you can make an exception here," the Master told, matter-of-factly and with an almost sarcastic smile as he pointed a stolen rifle at the Captain.

 

[Cheaf Min]

"Oh, I really think you can make an exception here," the Master told, matter-of-factly and with an almost sarcastic smile as he pointed a stolen rifle at the Captain.

Click to shrink...

*Long sigh* god damnit M.

 

[TardisGhost]

Part IV (II)​

Everyone stared at the Master and the rifle in his hands. One of the armed men turned his head in puzzlement, wondering how he had been stolen from so easily.

"Oh, good!" The Master beamed from ear to ear. "I have your attention. Finally." The smile spread to a full blown grin.

"Master, stop it!" the Doctor called out, trying to step closer. He halted immediately when the other Time Lord raised the gun a little.

"Are you telling me you want to be stranded here?" he snarled. "Without even trying to get the TARDIS back? You're so pathetic."

"Not like this," the Doctor implored. "We surely can get back with more resources and get-"

"Yes, yes!" one of the women seconded. "We're drilling for an artificial power source that's below. That..." Her eyes darted to the Master and she swallowed. "I... think that should get us enough money and resources to send another mission here and retrieve your ship."

"No," the Master simply said, his voice cold, the grin dropping. His eyes locked with the Captain's. "You're going to get it back, right now."

Zach visibly tensed, but then, to everyone's surprise, he nodded. "Yes, of course. We'll relocate the drill immediately. Ida, calculate what we'll need for it to happen."

"What?" the woman from before responded dumbfounded. "Zach, we can't!"

"Yeah! What's gotten into you?" Jefferson asked. "That's not normal!"

"Stop it, Master," the Doctor implored once more. "You can't hypnotize every single one here."

"No... guess I can't." He tilted his head a little and patted the rifle. "That's why got this neat little thing. Now, Captain... obey!"

I could have warned the Master. I saw the man sneaking up on him way beforehand. And maybe it would have been the better choice, since being stuck here for who knows how long really wasn't in my own interest. But, as much as I wanted, I just couldn't get my conscience to cooperate. So I squeezed my eyes shut when the man lunged out with another rifle and smacked it over the Master's head with a truly sickeningly sound.

"Good job, Stevenson," Jefferson praised. "Now get him cuffed. And you two," He hurled around to me and the Doctor, his eyes dark from anger and suspicion. "Do we have to secure you as well?"

"No!" the Doctor hastily said defiantly. "He's just... Well... How would you react if someone stole your only home? But we'll cooperated. Nothing to gain from doing harm."

I only nodded, not in the mood to talk me into trouble.

"Alright, but I'll keep an eye on all of you."

A groan came from the ground. "You bastard," the Master ground out, lifting himself to his knees, but not further, as his hands were bound with metal.

"Quiet!" the Captain ordered, finally coming back to his senses. "First you kill one of our Ood, then you attack me. Manipulate me!"

"Not going to apologize," the Master spat.

"Leave him to me," Jefferson said, "I'll find a spare room to lock him away for now. Danny, make sure he gets everything he needs."

"Heh, I will," the guy with the long, dark hair said with a smile. "Finally something to do for me, here."

"You really think you can lock me away?" the Master sneered. "Sweet."

"Oh, shut up," Jefferson retorted. "Or do we have to gag you?"

The only answer was a truly murderous glare, but the Master stayed silent, having understood he wasn't in any position right now to really get the upper hand.

Zach cast a glance at everyone, expecting anything to happen. The silence weighed heavy on the room for a good while.

One of the women spoke up. "Well, as sorry as I am for your situation, it's probably best to get to know each other, right? I'm Ida Scott, science officer." She waved to the Captain. "You know Zachary Cross Flane, acting Captain, sir. You've met Mister Jefferson, he's Head of Security." Another wave to the dark haired one, "Danny Bartock, Ethics committee."

"Yep, I'll make sure you're treated after all the current standards of human rights."

It seemed as if no one heard the snort coming from the Master, who had gotten to his feet again, but was held by two armed men.

Ida continued, "The man who just left was Toby Zed, Archaeology, and this", she smiled at the younger woman next to her, "is Scooti Manista, Trainee maintenance."

"Hi!" She wriggled her fingers towards us.

"And where exactly are we stranded?" the Doctor asked. "You're all making a great mystery out of this place, you know."

"You really have no clue. You're not joking," Ida answered baffled. "Well, then... You should probably know before settling in." She pulled a lever and the roof started to open. "Here it comes. This... is home."

"Brace yourselves." Zach told. "The sight of it sends some people mad."

Curiously I watched as the round metal plates receded, leaving nothing but glass between us and the outside. And there, in the darkness of space, blacker than anything I'd ever seen, hung a hole, surrounded by what seemed to be flames, or just tons of matter being dragged inside? Vaguely I got aware of my mouth dropping open. From all those movies and games I knew them, but none of those could have ever prepared me for this. As if an ancient giant had ripped a hole through reality itself, leaving nothing but the purest of darkness. It was as if even my gaze was swallowed by it, as if the mere sight would suck out my very soul and...

"Look away, idiot!"

The voice tore me away from the black hole and I turned to find the Master staring at me with dark eyes.

"Didn't you just listen?" he grumbled.

"B... but..." I stuttered, having to fight the urge to glance back. "I've never seen anything like it. It's so..."

To my surprise he smiled knowingly.

"That's completely impossible!" the Doctor let out.

Ida sounded sort of proud when she elaborated, "This lump of rock is suspended in perpetual geostationary orbit around that black hole without falling in."

Curiosity got the better of me and the bouts of social anxiety had finally faded enough to let my learning-eager mind take the upper hand.

"How don't we get sucked in?" I dared to ask, still a little uncomfortable when all eyes landed on me. "I...'m not sure how far away one has to be... but that looks pretty close."

"We should be dead!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"And yet here we are." Ida practically beamed at him. "Beyond the laws of physics. Welcome on board."

Something slightly shook the base again, particles and dark clouds moved over our heads and towards the blackness. It was so hard to look away.

"But why does this rock has an atmosphere? There are clouds." I felt a little stupid asking this, but I just had to. It looked so weird.

Ida didn't seem to mind, however. "There's no atmosphere. What you see there is stars breaking up. Gas clouds. We have whole solar systems being ripped apart above our heads, before falling into that thing."

I gulped, staring dumbfounded at her and fighting the urge to get lost in the hole again. "Wow," I just said, unable to clad my amazement into words. I wasn't even sure if there were any in the human language, or any language at all, that could even closely describe what I felt in that moment.

"So," Danny clapped his hands together, "Let's bring our rebel to a safe space and then we'll see if we can find anything to do for you two. Come along."

The Master was escorted by two men, one of them Jefferson. I simply followed the Doctor, trying to stay as close as possible to not get lost anywhere.

The base was interesting enough, leading partly underground, alongside rough stone walls. Never had I seen anything like it and had trouble keeping pace here and there. So many things to see, even though they probably weren't that exciting on closer inspection. And everywhere were those Ood, these strange creatures that all looked the same and just mindlessly did all sorts of work.

Danny showed us some laboratories, the drilling shaft, a few parts that were only for storage. On our way back to the control room he showed us a set of quarters.

"We've got more rooms than we have people, in case a part of the base gets lost," he explained. "Just pick one, each, the Ood will bring you everything you need."

We picked rooms that were next to one another, mostly because there was no reason at all not to. They all looked the same. Only big enough for a bed, a small wardrobe and a desk, and a small, round window that let one look outside, but still at an angle that didn't allow a view on the black hole.

The Master, however, was brought a few rooms further down the corridor. From outside one could only enter via handprint. Inside one could only leave by passing through a small corridor, maybe a meter in width, in front of the door that read one's biological signature, as Jefferson explained. Only when it was registered as valid did the door open. So, even if the prisoner would kidnap a valid person, the door would not open, as long as he was inside the corridor. Simple, but extremely effective.

Like this they also were able to free the Master of his cuffs and let him at least roam around a bit, although there wasn't much room for it. In opposite to our quarters, he had his own tiny bathroom, though. I could also spot the same furniture in here that we had. Only an additional book shelve was mounted to one of the walls, to keep a prisoner occupied. The Master trod towards that one and studied its contents as if it was the most normal thing to do. He also ignored the warning to behave and everything else that was spoken towards him.

For a brief moment I felt strange when looking at him. There was such a sense of calm at the way he carried himself, the posture with folded hands behind his back, head now slightly turned to the side to glance through the window. In this short second he simply felt... ancient.

Before I could put any proper words to the perception I was already gently pushed from the door.

"You'll treat him well, right," the Doctor enquired with slight concern in his voice. "I know he can be complicated, but..."

"Yes, of course!" Danny blurted almost indignantly. "We just have to figure out how we can get him to... you know... not attack us and play along. And I really hope you two will help with that, because it will greatly speed the process up."

I couldn't see how that would work. The Master didn't appear to me as someone who would simply accept being stranded here. And I could understand him so well. It took me every ounce of thought control not to let this fact run me over. I didn't want to be trapped, had no idea who these people were, character-wise, had no idea how long we would stay.

"Here's the cantina." Danny waved into another room. "How about you have a quick snack and I or Ida will see what tasks we can assign to you? I'll get a list of things we could need another set of hands. The Ood will serve you."

With that he left us and the Doctor nudged me in the side with a reassuring smile.

"Hungry?"

"Not really," I mumbled, sitting at one of the tables. "I just ate before we left the TARDIS, in case you forgot."

"No, haven't. Hm... all of this looks really weird." He studied the contents of the food on display. One of the Ood was standing behind with a scoop in one hand. "I'll take some of the blue stuff. I like blue."

"As you wish, Sir," the Ood answered obediently.

"And give me some of the orange for Lucy, will ya? It looks nourishing."

"I recommend the red and purple for the most nourishing effects, Sir. Those combined provide a human body with the exact dosage of the most vital vitamins and minerals."

"Alright. Let's go with those, then."

Smiling all over his face, he carried first mine, then his own tablet to our table. The stuff smelled weird, although not bad, so I forked a little into my mouth. Somehow it reminded me of mashed potatoes, only with some other undertones to it. The plate was barely touched, however, since I felt not hungry at all.

Thinking about it... including the tour through the base, it only had been a maximum of three hours or so since I had awoken in the med bay. Even less since the tiny spark of hope for a better life had sparked within me. I pushed the plate away, suddenly feeling sick to the stomach.

"I'm sorry. I really am," came the Doctor's mumbling. I looked up and met his sorrowful gaze. "That's probably not the kind of thing to..."

"Just forget it," I murmured. "Doesn't matter."

"Of course it does! I have a responsibility for you after all!"

"No, you don't." I rolled my eyes. "And if anyone at all is responsible for me being here, it's your damn prisoner." The Doctor looked so guilt stricken that I almost had the urge to take my words back. Almost. "What did he even think?!" I went on, letting my anger bubble up for a bit. "Why preserving my stupid life, when he hates all humans so much? I'm not a damn plaything!"

"No, no... you're not. He's away now. Can't do you harm. Don't worry about him."

I grunted out my exasperation and gave the Time Lord a dark scowl. "Is that all you are doing? If someone's not the way you like them, just lock them away and be done?"

"What?! No!" he protested. "Like hell, no! I've tried so many things, believe me." His eyes went wide and a little desperate. "Since the year..." The Doctor slightly shook his head and sunk together. "At first I tried my best, yes. He struggled so much to be even brought aboard the TARDIS. Then he was completely out of control, tried to demolish everything and to kill me at every opportunity."

Okay, I hadn't expected that. Not to this extend. But still...

"He came to terms after some time," the Doctor continued, eyeing his fidgeting fingers instead of me. "Well... had to. And I tried it. Took him to a few nice planets, some, where no life existed. Later... He seemed calm enough to try livelier places. That... only worked after a while."

"Did... he kill people?" I wanted to know, but then sighed. "Why do I even ask?"

The Doctor gave me a week smile that made me feel uncomfortable. How many had to die before the Doctor had gotten him under control? And what in the universe had he done to the Master to ensure he wouldn't do harm? He didn't seem like a person you could simply argument with. The brief mentioning of the collar came to mind and I gulped.

Why did I even feel bad for the Master? Didn't he deserve every last bit of bad treatment after what he had done to so many? But then there was this strange way in which the Doctor behaved towards him. The way he acted right now. As if it were no deal at all that the other man sat alone and in figurative chains.

Quite as if the Doctor had long since given up on the Master.

 

[TardisGhost]

Part IV (III)​

"So, what are we gonna do with the two of you?" Ida thought out loud as she visited us in the canteen. "The Ood do most of the nasty tasks around, and the rest is handled by us, obviously." She sat next to me and eyed the untouched food, then gave me a smile. "You'll get used to the taste."

"'m just not hungry," I mumbled.

"No? Well, maybe you should eat anyway, you're pale as a ghost." Ida chuckled. She had no clue.

I gave her a small smile, but still didn't touch the food, only drank the cup of water that sat nearby.

"Doctor, I'll put you in the laundry. We need tall people there, the racks are quite high. And you, Lucy... mhm... not quite sure. What have you learned?"

"Uh..." I startled a little and straightened in my chair. Not this again. "N... nothing. I mean... nothing helpful."

"Well... time to change that, huh?"

Perplex I blinked at the woman in front of me, the reassuring wide smile on her face, as if my incapability was no problem at all.

"You could become a trainee, too. No problem at all. And when we get back to the colony, you have a certificate and all that. Sounds good?"

For a second I was about to ask what colony she was talking about, but then decided this could wait, and I simply nodded. Was that my chance to finally become useful to the world?

"Okay, great!" Ida smiled even wider. "What are you good at?"

Shit... maybe not my chance at all, then. "Oof, I don't know," I confessed. "I'm really not good with people... that rules out almost every..."

"I asked what you're good at." The blond chuckled amused. "Come on. Don't be shy. Everyone has some talents."

But what where mine? I cast a puzzled glance in the Doctor's direction, but he only shrugged and smiled. "I can't answer that for you."

"Guess... I'm good with my hands." I glanced at them, once more stunned at how pale my skin was right now. "I used to help my Dad repair all kinds of stuff. Small stuff likes watches and our household items. And..." A reassuring nod from Ida made me continue, although I wasn't sure this was even important, but I wanted to mention it anyway. "I'm really good at detecting patterns. In general, I mean. Probably not helpful..."

"Oh, of course it is! That can help quite a lot with finding errors in the systems." She contemplated for a few moments. "I'll bring you to Danny. He has not much to do here, and before his job as ethic committee, he was an electronic engineer. I bet he'll be happy to show you the basics. Guess we can schedule some maths and physics lessons in, every few days... hm... Well, yeah, let's start with that, okay? Sounds good?"

"It does!" A weird spark of excitement went through me all of a sudden. "When do we start?"

Ida laughed at that. "Not today. It's late already."

"Ah, you set up an artificial clock to keep your biorhythms intact," the Doctor concluded. "Well, must have. There's no real days around." He stood up and waved at us. "Alright then, see you tomorrow!"

With that he left the two of us alone. Well, almost alone. As he exited, Danny came in, tossing a quick hello at us. In an instant I felt my chest tighten slightly. Being among strangers was stressing enough, being all alone with two at once, though, spiked my anxiety quite a bit. Luckily only for a moment. It had gotten easier to calm myself down over the past years.

"Hey Danny," Ida called out and stood too. "Lucy will train with you from tomorrow on."

"Me? A trainee? Are you sure?" he asked as he got himself food.

"Absolutely. Teach her everything you know about electronics, yeah? Might come in handy to have another set of hands for that sort of stuff around." She strode to the door and gave us a last smile. "Good night, then."

"Night, Ida."

"Good night," I mumbled, uncertain what to do now. Should I leave, too? Would I even find my way back to the quarters?

"Oh, hey," Danny interrupted my thoughts. "Before you go, could you... mhmm..." He seemed a little uncomfortable. "Well, this Master guy. He gives me the creeps. And I'm supposed to bring him the evening ration, so..."

"Uh, I could bring it," I offered, almost certain it was what the other man would have requested anyway.

His features relaxed, then he called out to the Ood in the kitchen, "Hey, ready some food for our prisoner. There should be a box somewhere around."

"As you wish, Sir," the creature answered and strode away.

"What are those anyway?" I wanted to know. "Those Ood, I mean. Are they androids? They seem so cold."

"Wow, you lot must really come from who knows where. No, they are a slave race."

"Slaves?" I raised an eyebrow. "So they are alive, huh..."

"It sounds worse than it is. They live for this, it's their way of finding joy in life. Serving others... We don't force them to anything, treat them well." He shrugged and forked some food into his mouth. "Quite handy. Almost everyone back home has one."

The Ood brought a small plastic box with food and sat it on the table, before returning to his place.

"There," Danny pointed his fork at a button. "It's self heating. But should stay warm for the short way. And..." He got out a small device that looked like a tablet and typed something in, then let it hover over me for a second. "Now the security gate lets you in."

I nodded and picked up the box, then left for the door, but turned back again. "Uhm... do you get me, tomorrow, or shall I come somewhere? I... don't think I have an alarm clock, or..."

"Oh, don't worry. The station wakes us automatically. And sure, I'll get you. Half an hour after waking time." He gave me a thumbs up and grinned. "Right! Almost forgot. If you ever get lost, the cables in the base are colour-coded. And they have small arrows on them. Blue goes to the quarters, yellow to the canteen and red to the control room. Those are the three important ones, anyway."

My eyes lit up at that information. Finally something that was designed for people without a sense for orientation!

"Then see you tomorrow." I smiled and carried the box away.

Outside I looked out for the cables and found them quickly, following the blue ones. This wasn't so bad, in the end. Being stranded here might have given me some chances the world at home had never granted me.

Home... earth... My steps slowed slightly as I pondered about it. Since when were we able to fly out so far? How had we developed the technique to built bases and live on them? When had we discovered the Ood? And what about the aforementioned colonies? Was all of this some kind of secret government stuff, where they sent people to train and live, far from earth, leaving the rest of us believing we hadn't even left our own solar system, yet?

I stopped in front of the Master's cell and looked for any kind of door handle. There was none, but I found a small scanner-like apparatus on the side and held my hand over it. That seemed to do the trick. The door opened to let me in.

"It's me," I greeted and passed the gate. "And I've brought some rather disgusting looking food."

There was no response and for a moment I thought he might be in the bathroom , but then, to my surprise, I found the Master sitting on the floor, between the bed and the table. His knees were bent and drawn up to his chest, both arms draped over his head as if it was hurting.

"You're alright?" I carefully asked and placed the food box on the table. "Shall I ask them for painkillers?"

His fingers twitched lightly, but there was no verbal answer. Did he even recognize that I was there? Maybe he was asleep. The position sure looked uncomfortable, but who knew how his species preferred their downtime, after all.

Some instinct, however, told me, that he was awake and so I dropped to my haunches and touched his shoulder. "Master?"

"Piss off," he grumbled, without budging. His voice sounded weirdly strained. Something clearly wasn't right with him.

"Hey, listen," I tried, "just because you messed up a little doesn't mean you have to be in pain."

Finally his head raised and my eyes met his. The sight made me startle, made me hold my breath for a moment. He held me captive with his stare, within those hazel depths I fell, torn out of my own existence and into a swathing mass of... madness.

"It's too quiet in here," he whispered, pupils wide and dark. "The hole. It doesn't swallow them. Why can't it just eat them like everything else?"

"I... don't know." What was he talking about?

"Can't you hear them?" he asked, leaning his head back against the wall, eyes staring into nothingness, as is there was something... something he searched for.

I closed my eyes and listened. "There is humming," I quietly told. "From the machines. And I hear the drill."

"No! No, no, no, no!" the Master called out and drove his fingers into his hair, clutching at his head as if he suffered immense pain. "It's the drumming! This never ending, constant... it's always there, in the silence. Never... it's never quiet!"

I remembered. The day in the TARDIS kitchen, when he had suddenly and seemingly lost his mind, when he had tapped this rhythm over and over again.

Tap – tap – tap – tap.

"Like... a heartbeat?" I asked and his head snapped up, his gaze almost fearful, longing, desperate even. "I... I'm not sure it's what you mean, but... when I was unconscious... I heard a beat, like drums, I guess. Four beats, always the same. Like..."

The Master scowled, let out a frustrated growl, bent over... sobbed? No, it was more a muffled cry. It hurt to see him like that, no matter what an arsehole he was. I reached out to touch his arm, to somehow comfort him, even though I had no idea how. He slapped my hand away, shot forward and grabbed me by the collar, suddenly was on his knees, dragged me against him.

"Listen," he demanded and pointed at his chest. "Is that what you heard?"

"Wha'?"

I wasn't sure what he meant? Was I supposed to listen to his heartbeat? The look in his dark eyes made me gulp and so I obeyed, plugged down my glasses and placed an ear against his chest. A weird thing to do, and somehow also not. He didn't move, waited.

And there it was.

Du – du – du – du!

Du – du – du – du!

Du – du – du – du!

Four beats, repeating in an endless rhythm, soothing, in a weird and incomprehensible way.

"Do... you have two hearts?" I wondered, although the sound made it quite obvious. He nodded and I blinked perplex. "Huh, okay, then that must be what I heard."

"Thought so," he mumbled in a disappointed tone and sunk together in front of me like a deflated balloon, hands reaching up again to claw their way back to his head.

Helplessly I looked at his sunken form, wanting nothing more but to help. At the same time I had the suspicion that he wouldn't let me, too stubborn and maybe even to afraid to let anyone near him. It reminded me so horribly of myself, of how no one was able to understand how I experience the world, because it is too different from what they know as real. So I had given up, had stopped reaching out and just buried all of it within the depths of my own self.

I'm not like them, I thought to myself. Maybe I would never be able to function like a normal human being, but maybe that also enabled me to see and understand what others couldn't. And the Master was no human.

A little hesitantly I reached out and carefully placed my hands above his, let my head sink.

"I'm willing to listen."

 

[Axel]

Thanks for the chapters, i am loving how they are interacting.
Quick question, do the Ood here sing the song of captivity or it was merely on that planet?

 

[TardisGhost]

As far as I remember the singing only came up in the season with Donna. I don't think it was ever mentioned in the Satan's Pit... 🤔

 

[TardisGhost]

Part IV (IV)​

Slowly the Master raised his head, glared at me with a mix of disbelieve and almost hatred. He swiped my hands away from him, grabbed my wrists and shot to his feet, dragging me right along. The back of my head hit stone as I thudded against the wall, black dots sparking in front of my lids. The Master pushed himself against me. I was trapped, unable to move, dizzy and confused.

"I will break your silly mind, lil' lumin." The Master snickered, wrapped his fingers around my head, thumbs sliding under the stems of my glasses to rest on the temples. The pressure was light enough not to hurt, but so firm that it was uncomfortable.

My unspoken protest drowned in a sudden and ever growing pressure within my head, as if something was there with me that didn't belong. I gasped at the sensation, instinctively tried to struggle, but the Master held me in place. The sensation filled out my head, it hurt, spread within every fibre of my consciousness. Somehow I let out a whimper, gritted my teeth and fisted both hands into his shirt. Ragged breaths escaped my burning lungs. My heart hammered in its cage like a panicking animal.

Then it stopped.

No, it wasn't gone, I realized; only dampened to a manageable level, an unpleasant tingling on the crown of my head. It felt as if something crept through my mind, like... an energy of sorts. As if... as if...

"Hm..." made the Master. "That probably hurt, didn't it?" He chuckled lightly. "Needs getting used to, to navigate a human mind."

"Wha'... re y... doin'?" I brought out, barely able to speak.

"Don't you feel it? I'm right here."

The sensation in my head got stronger again, but this time not hurtful. I managed to concentrate on it, to feel... him? I grasped the edge of a thought, the tingling of an emotion that wasn't mine. He was inside my mind... literally.

"How... d'you do tha'?"

Shaky breaths escaped my lips, no, my whole body was trembling. There was no pain anymore, but it was so foreign, so weird. It exhausted me on a level I couldn't even comprehend and still...

"There. Listen!" the Master demanded, pressing his thumbs harder against my head.

Alright. If that was what he wanted... I tried. I listened deep inside of me, focused on the sensation of his presence within my own. Something was there, tugging at me, begging to be let in. I groaned in exhaustion, unable to grasp what was happening to me.

"I... c... can't," I mumbled, surprised I was still able to speak. "I hear nothing."

Utter silence filled the room for mere seconds. The Master let out a breath, more a noiseless sigh that told of and exhaustion far deeper than I experienced. One he must be carrying around for who knows how many years or decades... centuries even. His presence stayed with me, his forehead dropped against mine. Raw emotions flooded me, frustration, anger, and a deep, oh so deep sadness.

"I'm sorry," I muttered, meaning it and hoping he might sense that. "I tried. I really did."

He pinched his eyes shut, clenched his teeth as if in pain. It felt as if he was close to tears. His hands slid from my temples and to my cheeks, thumbs stroking lightly over them. Our eyes met and I saw a raw, almost animalistic desperation. Or did I imagine it?

The same moment I realised he had left my mind, my head started to feel too light, heart-rate speeding up, my skin suddenly clammy and sweaty. It was impossible to stand upright, the world around spinning too fast, making me sick.

The Master caught me before I could collapse, carried my shaking self to the bed and carefully dropped me there.

"You're still week," he said tonelessly. "No wonder. You were dead just some hours ago."

Shaking and freezing as I was I curled myself to a ball on my side, trembling. The Master had long slipped out of my mind, but something had still changed, was still lingering. As if he had awakened something deep within me, something that always had been there, but dormant.

I observed the Master while my body calmed down. He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. The black dots in front of my eyes started to fade a little, the lying position making it easier for my circulation not to collapse completely. He looked as tired as I felt.

"What was that?" I wanted to know and his eyes met mine again, cold, but not wearing the same cruelness in them as before.

"Time Lords have psychic abilities," he explained calmly and sat next to me on the bed. If it was to get comfortable or because he wouldn't have to look at me in that position I couldn't tell. "We can see in each others' minds, we can even communicate like that. Even from afar... if the connection between two individuals is either strong enough by nature or strengthened artificially."

"Felt more like you were physically rummaging around in there," I grudgingly grumbled.

The Master chuckled and turned his head to look down at me, a sarcastic smirk playing on his lips. "Well, humans have not yet discovered that ability. You have some capacity for it. Not as strongly as we do, but..." He shrugged and chuckled. "Your own fault if it hurt."

"Pffff, bugger." Exhaling and curling myself together some more I managed to stay conscious. The weak moment had passed. "Damn, that's tiresome."

"I didn't tone it down." A mean snickering came from his direction. "Was curious if your head would burst."

"Liar," I mumbled. "You wanted it to be strong, so I can hear your drums."

At that he was silent, and although I had my eyes closed, I knew he was glaring hatefully at me. It couldn't have bothered me less. It was still cold and my body acted up, no matter how much I pretended to be a ball.

Some rustling came from nearby and suddenly there was something on me, over me. A blanket, I realised after a confused moment, and opened my eyes to blink perplex at the Master.

"Stay," he offered with a surprisingly warm smile. "You're in no shape to move around."

No, I really wasn't. "But, what's with you?"

The Master raised a brow, one corner of his lips twitching upwards. "Time Lords don't need much sleep."

"Might be," I mumbled into the blanket. "But you look like you could fall asleep on the spot."

He really did, no matter how much he tried to hide it.

"You think giving up a part of your life force isn't draining?"

"Dunno." I huffed. "Never done that. Still, proves my point." Somehow I managed to pick myself from the mattress and shoved the cuddly blanket away. "My room isn't far from here, I can..."

"It's much quieter."

"Whus?"

Those words were confusing, seemingly so out of context. It got cold again, now that the blanket was gone, but I couldn't just stay, could I? Right now, no one expected me to be here, no one would be there to help if things truly escalated. (Well, they already had, considering how he had messed up my head.)

Speaking of which, it promptly got dizzy again, just by sitting up. A small groan escaped me as I swayed and involuntarily dropped against the Master. He promptly shoved me away, however not forcefully. Instead he only pushed against my shoulder, forced me to lay back down and even stole my glasses with a chuckle when I tried to prevent him from doing so.

He practically pinned me down, both of his hands around my wrists and a determined, albeit wicket grin on his face. "You're not in charge here," he claimed sweetly.

"What do you want?!" I almost shouted and scowled at him. "Besides, you are aware how this looks, right?"

"Right... It scares you when people get too close." He deliberately bent over me, smiling even wider. "You're still afraid I could lay hands on you."

I tensed at the words, squirmed uncomfortably in his grip, but the Master only chuckled and even let go of me.

"I'm not human," he spoke, his voice forebodingly low. "And if I ever experience any desire to harm you, I'll satisfy it without dirtying myself."

Suddenly he sighed and seemingly swayed. Maybe he was a lot more exhausted than he was willing to admit. The Master turned away, but only to lay down himself next to me. In the same motion he draped the blanket back over my shoulders, leaving himself bare, however.

"There, see?" he sarcastically stated, "Enough space for yourself."

"Why not just letting me go?" I mumbled, pursing my lips.

He lay there, one arm under his head, facing me, his look thoughtful. "It's quieter around you," he finally admitted. "Barely noticed it, at first, but now..."

"You mean the drumming?"

"Mhm."

"What is it? Is it always there?"

"I'll tell you another day," he muttered, no longer hiding his tired state, "and yeah, always. Sometimes louder. Much louder since the fob watch released me. Has gotten worse ever since."

"Why... can't I hear it?" I quietly wanted to know.

There suddenly was such a sadness on his face, it made my chest clench for a moment. How long was he carrying this all around, already? "I don't know. No one could, so far. Maybe the Doctor is right, after all. Maybe I'm simply insane." He huffed and closed his eyes, still smiling a little. "You're not going to stab my back if I take a little nap, right?"

What a dumb que- ... Well, actually it wasn't. Thinking about it, there would be no better opportunity to rid the universe of such a cruel and ruthless person. The memory snippets had only revealed a tiny portion of how much trouble and suffering his mere existence had caused already. And then the Master had handed me a gun and I had...

"No, of course not!" I indignantly protested, shoving the memories away.

The smile faded as his breath got more even, tiredness finally claiming him as much as myself.

"You're a weird one," he mumbled. "'m glad I kept you."

Somehow I was too. Slowly, but insistently the strange realisation settled within me, that I actually regretted nothing. Every step had brought me here, and if given the choice, I would always repeat them.

Sure, the Master was a monster to many, and maybe the Doctor had given up on him, already. But, in a sense, I was weirdly sure to have found a friend in him. He would never admit it, nor would I. Still, there was more to him than the openly displayed cruelty. And I had met enough truly bad people to sense, that he was not entirely evil.

Not that I had any clue what to make of this. It might be a fruitless thought. But in the dark fog of my fading mind I developed the weird urge to give something back, to keep an eye on him, however much of an selfish act it might be.

Carefully I huddled a little closer and wrapped the blanket over his shoulders. The Master stirred, tensed, his eyes shot open, searching for any threat, but finding none as they settled on my face. It seemed to dawn on him that there was no danger and his features relaxed again.

The space under the blanket got cold fast, however uncomfortable, so I scurried closer a bit, head resting against his chest, where the faint an alien rhythm of his hearts lulled me in.

"Idiot," he mumbled, but didn't bother to shove me away.

 

[TardisGhost]

Part IV (V)​

It must have been due to exhaustion that I slept so well – definitely no other reason! Now that I had properly rested, my head was clearer than the day before, my mind no longer in a somewhat delirious state. The sound of the drill probably woke me up, tearing into the world of black unconsciousness.

I was still lying in pretty much the same position as the evening before, the Master next to me, breathing regularly and slow, probably still asleep. Did Time Lords really require less rest than humans and this was only due to the life force transfer, or had he lied? It was impossible to tell and I actually didn't care much at that moment.

It was snugly warm under the blanket and I wanted to enjoy it for as long as I could, although it still felt weird to be so close to someone and yet so comfortable. It had never been easy to feel entirely safe around people, mostly because I had such a hard time comprehending all their strange social rules, but also because I knew they wouldn't bother accepting any of my boundaries anyways. But, weird, as it was, the Master had done exactly that, of all people.

Sure, he had kept me here, with him, but with enough space for my own, had I chosen to keep it. And even though I knew his behaviour was mostly to manipulate me, there also was something brutally honest about it. He simply didn't bother to hide who he was and what he wanted.

The sound of the door opening was what finally woke the Master. Or maybe he hadn't been really asleep, after all. He didn't pay attention to whomever was entering and instead only stared at me, brows furrowed and belying the calm state his face had displayed before. It seemed as if he was silently scolding me for still being here.

"Hey, wake up time!" Danny's voice tore through the silence. "I brought breakfast and the Captain said, if you behave all week, we might consider letting you out. Test-wise. So..." He paused and made some noise, like he was placing down some food on the table. A surprised sound indicated he had noticed the untouched meal from the evening before. "Well... don't mess up, yeah? We'll spend quite the time here, it wouldn't do any of us, including you, any good, if you were locked away here for the whole time."

The Master rolled his eyes and himself to the other side, where he sat up and probably gave the other man a dooming look. I sat up as well, suddenly a little embarrassed about how this might look to Danny. Lacking my glasses I couldn't see his expression at the moment, but it sure must have been baffled.

"Oh, here you are," he let out dumbfounded. "I was looking for you." There was a noticeable pause in which he glanced at the Master and then back at me. "Eh... right. You can meet me in half an hour. Follow the purple cables outside and you'll get to me, alright?"

I simply nodded and returned a small smile. When he left, the Master pushed my glasses into my hands and stood, letting his neck crack unpleasantly. "You heard him. Get lost. If not, I'll throw you out myself."

A little perplex I glared at the frame in my hands, slowly unfolded it and placed the glasses on my nose, before I answered.

"And that after practically keeping me prisoner, before." I sighed dramatically and poked out my tongue. "Maybe, for once, decide, whether or not you hate me."

"There really is no decision to make." He huffed annoyed and crossed his arms, waiting for me to move.

So I did and left for my own room. The Ood had brought beddings and other necessities like towels and hygiene products. I snatched some of the latter and went for the common bathroom to get myself somewhat fresh, before following the purple cables to Danny's workplace.

It was weird and scary at first, and I was hellishly glad to have been occupied by other thoughts the evening before, or else I would have worried myself to bits. But Danny actually was really friendly and patient and showed me lots of things that made my head spin.

Eventually he laughed. "Okay, I think that might be enough for one day. But hey, you did well."

My head almost shot up at his words. My hands were busy fiddling some small computer pieces apart. "Th... thanks," I muttered with a shy smile.

"Let's call it a day and get some food, yeah?" He stretched his arms and yawned. "Heh, it's actually fun tutoring someone."

"It's fun learning something useful."

"Didn't you before?" he wanted to know as we walked to the canteen."At your age..."

I glanced away, not saying a word. Danny nudged me against the shoulder and smiled broadly at me.

"Hey, I won't judge," he assured. "I'm just curious."

"I... tried. I really did. They just don't want people like me around. So no one ever gave me an apprenticeship somewhere. Guess I gave up trying, eventually."

"Why's that? What's wrong about you?"

Surprised I peeked at Danny, a little at a loss for words. He should have better asked what wasn't wrong. In the end I only shrugged.

"Guess I behave too autistic for most employers. Social skills count tenfold more than any other abilities. So, if you lack those..." Again I twitched my shoulders and glanced at my shoes.

"Weird," Danny muttered. "Why didn't they put you in the specialist programs like the others?"

"Huh? What're those?" Dumbfounded I blinked at him.

"Uhm... the... geeze. You don't know Oods, you have never heard of the Speccies..." He let out a laugh. "From what colony did you lot come? Well, anyway... back home they have the Speccies. They basically collect neuro-diverse people, like autists, to utilize all your special abilities."

"Certainly not where I come from," I muttered, again wondering what colonies he could mean. But I had no clue if it was safe asking, so I kept quiet about it.

"Eh, doesn't matter now, does it? I mean, you're here, now, and you seem to be really good with all the small parts and the logic stuff... After we finetuned you a little, you won't have trouble finding jobs for the rest of your life."

I couldn't help the smile plastering itself on my face. This was just too good. Being stuck here still scared every last bit out of me, but it was only for a few years, maximum. After that I could go and finally have a proper life of my own. The Time Lords probably hadn't planned on keeping me with them forever, anyway.

Absently my thumb stroked over my wrist. The healing scars were barely palpable, as if they were only a faint shadow of some dream. Maybe I really did owe the Master. At least in this very moment it felt like it.

The Doctor was in the canteen with the rest of the team. He was babbling about, obviously entertaining everyone.

"Oi, Danny!" Jefferson called out. "Did'ya know this guy's really something in his head?"

"Yeah, he really is," Ida seconded. "Did calculate the strength of the power source below in a few seconds."

"Did he now?" Danny raised a brow. "Well, I'm intrigued. Tell, Doctor, what is it?"

"It has an inverted self extrapolating reflex of six to the power of six every six seconds," the Time Lord shot out immediately and with the widest, proudest grin. "No wonder you want to find it."

"Alright, I'm impressed," Danny admitted.

I chuckled. "Six, six, six. We should be scared."

Surprised Danny raised an eyebrow, but didn't say a word. Maybe he was just not into horror movies.

We got our ratio from the Ood and sat at the table with the others. Today I actually was hungry. Quite a lot at that. Only after I had finished half the meal did I pay attention to the others again, admiring how the Doctor had been able to obviously befriend everyone in here within a day. He was just so bubbly and smiling all the time. The all laughed about his jokes and seemed to like him quite a lot.

If only I were able to do that. But me they all pretty much ignored, as if I weren't even there. Even when I tossed something in, or tried to make a joke. No one paid me much attention, and so I resumed my silence, continued what I had done all my life, observing and studying the people around me. It often happens that I know a lot more about the people around me than they realize, and more than most others know. By watching, you can learn a lot. And watching had always been the only thing I was allowed to do.

There had been times where I had seriously contemplated whether I might be somewhat invisible to humans. They so often treated me as if I didn't even exist, ignored what I said, bumped into me, totally surprised about my presence.

Even Danny, who had normally talked to me while we were alone, now completely ignored me. The whole situation was way too familiar and hurt more than it should. It reminded me of times with so-called friends, who acted nice and normal towards me, as long as we were alone, but as soon as other people joined I was forgotten, became nothing but a bystander, stopped existing in their world.

I glared at the rest of my food, suddenly not hungry anymore.

Nothing at all had changed, I realized. Apprenticeship or not, I still was no one. I still would live alone and forgotten, as soon as we'd return to earth.

No, I already did, would for as long as we stayed here.

What had I even expected? The world didn't simply change, just because we were on some planet near a black hole. It didn't change because I was alive, although I didn't want to be. It certainly didn't budge at all because the Master behaved like a total dork in one moment, then as if he cared, then as if he was disgusted by the mere thought of having me in close proximity.

My thumb slid over my wrist again, an unheard sigh escaped my mouth. I watched as they all left the room, one after the other, tossing good nights and sleep wells at the remaining people.

What a fool I was. So happy in the morning, only to be tossed back into reality with full force. I wanted to cry, but my eyes refused to produce a single tear, I wanted to punch something, but I felt too limp to move. So, in the end I only dropped my head on my arms on the table and let out a long, frustrated sigh.

 

[TardisGhost]

Part IV (VI)​

"What's wrong with you?" the Doctor's voice asked softly.

Only then did I realize he was still in the canteen with me. Everyone else had already left. Silence laying itself upon the room like a heavy blanket, his question staying unanswered. I remembered how he had left, the previous evening, just like that, as if I was none of his business. Then, I hadn't thought much about it, but now that I had seen how he treated everyone else...

"You don't like me," I concluded quietly, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"What?! Why would you think that?" the Doctor defended himself. He was seated at the same table, but a few chairs away, letting it bob up and down. Now he dropped all legs to the ground.

"I'm the only one you're barely talking to, you keep avoiding me, just run off... It's... I don't know. Let's just say, I can sense that it's true."

Which wasn't wrong. During my life I had developed quite the sense for when people didn't want to have me near them.

The Doctor gnawed on his bottom lip for a moment, then rubbed a hand over his face. "Nooo, it's not that, really not," he babbled. "Besides, I'm not running off, right now, am I?" He tried one of his cheeky smiles, but failed at it. "I... just barely know you."

"You know none of the crew, here, and treat every single one a lot friendlier."

"Oi! That's not tr-"

"Oh, stop it!" I let out, a rare anger bubbling up inside of me. "I can't stand it when people try to be polite. Just tell me and it's okay."

I sent him a dark scowl, wishing I could let him feel how annoyed I was. Why do people always believe, it's better to pretend to be kind, when they actually don't want to have to do anything with another person?

"Lucy... it's complicated," he tried again. I scoffed and rolled my eyes, what elicited a tired sigh from him. "See, I sometimes take humans with me. To travel and see the stars..."

"What's wrong with me, then?" I grumbled. "Each time we met, you tried to get rid of me as fast as possible."

"That's only because I have all hands full with the Master!" His hands shot up defensively. "I really don't want him to harm anyone. And that's the full truth."

"Still... That's only one part of the reason, isn't it?"

The Doctor let his hands fall into his lap and his face took on a guilty expression. "Well, it doesn't matter much, now. Even if we weren't stuck, I wouldn't leave you on your own, as long as you have no place to go. That'd hardly be fair." He tried a smile again, but that one also wasn't a success, bringing forth something that was more akin to a grimace.

I dropped my head, shaking it lightly as I sighed out more frustration. This wasn't going anywhere. He kept avoiding a real answer. There were so many things I wanted – needed – to know, but now I wasn't much eager to ask them.

"Alright..." I raised my head again and looked him in the eyes. It felt uncomfortable, but for different reasons than usually. Still, I kept my gaze locked with his, knowing that people could find such a behaviour highly unnerving. The Doctor, albeit alien, seemed to have the same reaction. "I too barely know anything about you. I'll keep out of your way from now on."

"Wha'... hey, that wasn't... Lucy, wait!"

I didn't. I didn't want to hear any more excuses and explanations that explained nothing at all. I didn't want to stay in his presence any longer, knowing I wasn't welcomed anyway.

The good mood from before was now entirely gone as I realized how damn lonely I still was. Among people, but still entirely on my own. None of them cared, no one truly wanted to have me here. It was the same as always.

On the way to my room I passed the cell the Master had been put in. His behaviour from the morning came to mind and I stormed past it with a growl, but then halted and turned. None of his behaviour made much sense to me and still I had the feeling it was easier to understand him than anyone else here. The blunt, straight forward way of his was quite refreshing. And maybe he simply had been in a bad mood in the morning.

The scanner still recognized me and let me in. When the door opened I almost bumped into the Master, who was standing near the short corridor, fiddling with some device. It looked like the blue wand-thing the Doctor had used a few times.

"Trying to escape?" I concluded.

The Master only hummed confirming, paying me no further attention. The device in his hands emitted a thin laser beam, cutting open the hull of a panel on the wall.

"The Doctor has a similar device. Are those some special Time Lord tools?"

The Master stopped in his actions and gave me a sarcastic smirk. "Bollocks. It's a laser screwdriver."

"Uhm.... ooookay."

"The Doctor's is sonic. But that's stupid. Laser is much better."

I blinked and eventually shook my head. "Why didn't you try to get out, yesterday?" I wondered instead. "Or was it because of those drums?"

A dark scowl deepened on his face and I swallowed. Had I said something wrong? He seemed angry.

"None of your business, ape brain," the Master sneered and continue to open the panel.

It quickly opened and he started to fiddle with a bunch of wires. I pursed my lips at the insult, feeling all the pain from before rising to a new peek. I swallowed it all down, took a quiet deep breath and tried it once more.

"I just thought... because you said they are quieter around me." Somewhat nervously I fiddled with my fingers, glancing this way and that.

It seemed as if he was now completely ignoring me, but after some seconds he gave up on the wires and turned to face me. There still was such a darkness in his eyes, dangerously sparkling at me. His nose wrinkled in disgust as he looked me up and down.

"Might have been an illusion. Was too subtle to really tell." He shrugged. "So, how about you get lost and let me finish this. I don't assume you'll let me out yourself."

"I don't have the security permissions to do so," I grumbled.

"So, you would if you had?" There was a nasty smile on his face, one that told what exactly he held of that possibility.

"Not if you keep being a prick."

The Master let out a humourless laugh. "I'm simply me. But how could you know? You're nothing but a picked up stray." He poked a finger at my chest, leaned down to be at my eyelevel. "You're a pet. A toy. Nothing more. Don't you forget that, human."

It hurt. It really did. Why the hell could I have been so stupid to believe that he would care? Even if it had been for his own sake, even if he would have only used me to sooth the noise in his mind. No, I had thought there was something more, a small connection, a weird spark of companionship, maybe.

You're such an idiot, I scolded myself. Just because he wasn't human, didn't mean he would act better than them in any way. It also could mean that he was a lot worse. According to the memory snippets I had seen, he seldom cared for anyone. So why for me, a random human that had been fun to play with for a bit.

"Why did you keep me alive?" I muttered. "If you hate me such much, why go through the trouble?"

Swiftly he tossed the laser screwdriver in the air, let it perform a flip before he caught it again, a mocking grin on his lips. "Told you. It's useful to have people owe you something. And it's funny messing with you. You're so sensible. So... breakable." He chuckled, slightly bent over to hold a hand in front of his belly, a tinge of madness in his voice as he broke out into a full laugh. "Oh, look at your face. It's priceless!"

"Arsehole," I brought out through gritted teeth, trying to keep the tears at bay. "I hope you'll rot in here."

With that I hurled around and left the room, his laughter following me into the corridor. My hands were clenched to fists, my chest aching from all the frustration. I stormed away, not caring where I was heading. My body needed to get rid of all the negative energy, I needed to move, no matter the direction.

After what felt like half an hour I came across the control room, finding it empty. Only the roof was open, revealing the sight of the black hole above our heads. A little hesitantly I stepped in, trod in the middle and dropped to the floor. My back leaned against one of the tables, knees bent and drawn against my chest, whilst I glared up into space, my eyes fixated on the all consuming maw.

Like the first time, the sight was breathtaking and a feeling tugged at me, as if the hole wanted to swallow my very soul. Would I sit here long enough, would that happen? Would I just vanish? Black holes were said to be portals, or gateways to the fifth dimension. Maybe, if a person fell into one, would their entire existence vanish? As if they had never been real in the first place.

"I can make that happen, little one."

My gaze tore away from the hole, rushed through the room, but found nothing. It had sounded deep and rough and so close to me. But no one was here.

"I am here with you."

I winced at the voice and sprang up, turning around myself on the spot.. Still nothing. Had I gone mad from staring at the black hole for too long?

"Wh... who's there?" I muttered.

"I am the darkness in your mind, little one," the voice spoke clearly. "I am right here with you. Don't look out. You can't see me. Let me in, little one. Let me in and I can give you whatever you desire. I am power, I am the black sun. Let me in and never be lonely again."

"Master?" I asked hesitantly. "Is that you messing with me?"

Hadn't he told something about this telepathic stuff working remotely as well?

"I am more than any master," the voice continued. "I am more and I am old and I am power. I will lend that power to you, child of man."

A cold shiver went through me as I turned to find the speaker. By the sound of it, he must be standing right next to me, but there was only cold air. And what it spoke... As if it had heard the dark thoughts that had ran through my head, seconds before.

"What are you?" I finally whispered. "A ghost? A hallucination?"

"I am."

It was all it said and what followed was silence alone. I swallowed, contemplating the weird offer. Years of horror movies should have actually trained me to outright refuse. There were few possibilities regarding the nature of this entity. And none of them were particularly good. None of them would hold a happy end for me, that I was rather certain of.

On the other hand... was there really something to lose for me? The worst case would probably kill me and that... well... A nasty, bitter smirk spread on my face, one thumb idly stroking over an already healed cut.

"'kay... Do whatever. I don't care."

 

[Mixter E]

I am more than any master. Ohh. That's a good line. Can't wait for the next update so we can see what Little One looks like now.

 

[TardisGhost]

Part IV (VII)​

Whatever I had awaited to happen… didn't. For over a minute I stood there, again watching the black dark maw, not feeling a thing but the pull its sight created within me. Disappointment settled quickly, leaving me even more empty than before.

It had only been in my mind.

I turned away from the black hole and left the room, heading towards my own quarters. That really had been weird and left me feel a little spooked. All the different horror movies and creepy pastas I knew came to mind once more, but those weren't real, right? How could they? And I had been warned that the hole could drive one mad, so there was that.

Perplex I blinked at my feet, realizing I had stopped moving and were just standing there, staring into nothingness. When I looked up, the surroundings had completely changed.

Where the hell am I?

Just seconds ago I had been near the control room, but now I was in some corridor, surrounded by stone walls. Had I walked? I couldn't remember. There were no coloured cables around to tell me where to go, either.

And there were...

"What the hell?" I mumbled as I, again, found myself in a new place out of nowhere, glaring at the wall of the room I suddenly stood in.

It was definitely some storage room and not at all connected to the corridor I came from. Outside I found myself in one of the octagonal shaped tubes than ran across the surface. How had I gotten there? Why couldn't I remember?

I shook my head and leaned a hand against the wall, breathing slow to not fall into a panic. My gaze fell onto my hand and I startled once more.

There were black symbols all over my skin.

They looked like letters, vaguely reminding me of the ones I had seen below the writing in the room we had first entered.

Welcome to hell.

Six to the power of six every six seconds.

My head spun. Was this some joke? A weird dream? Was I actually still lying on that beach, bleeding out and hallucinating about stuff while the last seconds of my life trickled by? The black letters spread across my wrists as well, covering the healed up scars. Could it be? Was I still out there?

There was a window nearby, no, a door, leading outside. The black sun was visible from here, radiating darkness, calling out to my soul, begging me to come closer. There was nothing to lose anyway, I could simply...

'Emergency hull breach!' the computer voice called out. 'Emergency hull breach!'

"Move!" someone called and grabbed me by the elbow, dragging me along. Somehow I had changed locations again, from the previous door, yet into another section of the base, without knowing how. The ground was shaking, making it hard to keep my balance.

Was it the ground? Was it the whole base?

'Emergency hull breach!,' the voice called out once more.

"That way."

I stumbled through a door and found myself with the Doctor and the others. They all made faces as if something terrible had just happened and paid me and my unknown companion barely any attention.

"Wha'?" I brought out. "Shit, that's confusing. What happened?"

Ida gnawed on her bottom lip, but answered. "Scooti. She's dead. Must've been sucked out during the hull breach."

My mouth dropped open, feeling dry. "S... sorry," I muttered, not knowing what else to say.

Danny was pacing up and down the room, tossing glances at his shoes and at me. "First the telepathic signal from the Ood went haywire, now that... that's not good. Not good at all. And whoever let that one out needs to be fired right away."

He pointed at me with an angry look and I shrunk together, eyes wide in sudden fear. What was going on? Had I done something?

"Don't worry," someone said behind me, "I let myself out."

Immediately Jefferson and some of the armed guys drew their weapons, pointing them in my direction. Or rather in the direction of the one, who had brought me here. Confused I turned around and found the Master standing there, a smug smile on his face.

"One wrong move I let them shoot you," Jefferson warned. "Did you cause the breach? Answer."

The Master snickered. "Oh, don't be daft, human. It's not my style to bring myself in danger. Just thought I'd teach you that there aren't any doors that can hold me. If I want out, I'll get out."

"Then maybe we should just shoot you right on the spot, before you can do more harm?"

Weapons were unlocked and readied. And not a single voice spoke up against it, the Doctor only glancing away and at the floor. Only the Captain spoke up, addressing the pin-stripe-suited Time Lord and tearing his gaze upwards.

"You know the man best, Doctor," he spoke. "You think, he's the one who caused Scooti's death?"

The Doctor's eyes darted this way and that, his hands fidgeting. He didn't look at the Master, not once, but finally he nodded, speaking as if his mouth was dry. "I... I'm not sure he did. But he... would. Given the chance."

"Right, that settles it. We're too few to take risks." The Captain held up his hand and signalled Jefferson his okay.

"Wait!" I called out. They weren't really doing this, were they? "You can't be serious!"

Behind me the Master chuckled darkly. "Oh, they are. Always knew I'd end up dead because of your kind. Should have extinguished all of you a long time ago."

Jefferson shook his head. "Can't risk a psychopath running around freely. The whole base and crew might be in danger. And if we can't lock you away..." He waved a finger at the Master's direction and his men raised the rifles to their eyes.

Without even thinking about it I took a hasty step backwards to stand in front of the Time Lord and held my arms out. "Have you all gone mad? You can't shoot him!"

Silence lay itself upon the room, all eyes resting on me. The whole situation was just absurd, crazy. This wasn't happening! I saw Danny glancing at me, brows furrowed and certainly not happy about my behaviour. Ida looked uncertain, gnawing on her lip. Zach scowled, Jefferson seemed confused. And the Doctor... his eyes were locked with the Master's, apologizing? Pleading? Maybe a bit of both.

A hand was on my shoulder, squeezing it lightly. "Go out of the way, lil' lumin," the Master said softly and with a teasing undertone.

"What? No!" I stared up at him, wide eyed. "They can't just kill you! I won't allow it!"

The look on his face was honestly surprised, confused even, as if he was unable to understand why anyone would be concerned about him. His hand slipped from my shoulder, landed back at his site, limp and unmoving. For a second each and every one of his masks seemed to fall away, revealing an expression I couldn't place. He only seemed... lost.

Zach coughed, broke the silence. He addressed the Master directly, "Do you have anything to do with the breach or Scooti's death?"

The Master tore his gaze away from me and faced the other man.

"No. There's nothing to gain for me in doing so." He crossed his arms, glanced once again down at me, then back to the Captain, mumbling, "And I have a certain feeling you would regret having that one as your enemy."

With that he poked my back, making me jump slightly.

"Well then," Zach spoke up, at me, this time. Uncertainty swung in his voice. "He's your responsibility from now on. If anything happens, you both will have to carry the consequences." He faced away and to the others. "Let's see how big the damage is and get back to work. We'll hold a small ceremony for Scooti in the morning."

With that he rushed out of the room through one of the other doors. Ida cast a quick glance at me and left as well. Danny seemed reluctant, but finally spoke up, before leaving as well.

"Guess I'm not going to trust you anymore," he mumbled towards me. "No further lessons."

He left with slumped shoulders, followed by Toby, who kept quiet the whole time. In the end it was only the Doctor, who remained with us, unable to speak, but also to simply leave. The Master walked past me and stood in front of the other Time Lord.

"Look at you," he spat. "You're such a coward."

"I'm not a-"

"Oh, you are!" the Master shouted in his face. "No nuts to kill me yourself, but if others do it, you have no problem just standing there. Pathetic!"

The Doctor seemed to shrink with every word, his face showing pain and hurt. Eventually his glance darted towards me, but whatever he saw on my face made it only worse. Not that I knew much about him, but in that moment he appeared more vulnerable and beaten than I could have imagined him ever looking.

The base shook again, violently enough to send the Doctor to his bum. The Master grabbed my arm to prevent me from falling and held on to a handle on the wall. This time it took over a minute for the tremor to stop, but at least there was no computer voice telling of another breach.

There only was... the sun. The black sun above our heads. Not visible, but still present. It was calling out to me, waving it's tendrils at my mind, clawing into my thoughts.

"I have to see it," I muttered and tried to get out of the Master's grip.

But he only held onto me even tighter, until I gave up and shook my head, suddenly aware that the base stood still again. The Doctor still sat on the ground, looking confused and uncertain. And also exhausted. For a brief second I could sense how distressed he was, how much he must have struggled already and how it had all worn him down.

It didn't matter. He wasn't important. My eyes followed his every movement as he got himself up from the ground, a small chuckle escaped my mouth. In this very moment I suddenly knew what had happened to me, I felt it. There was power, raw and sharp, running through my whole being.

"What the hell, Lucy?" the Doctor let out, staring at me in horror. "Your skin! Your eyes!"

The Master was in my line of view, pushing the Doctor aside to take a glance at me. His face dropped in puzzlement as he saw me. Something inside my mind, the thing that gave me power, bubbled through the surface. It wanted to speak, I could sense it, so I let them use my voice, although it now sounded contorted and way deeper than it should.

"Time Lords," I spoke. "Ahhh, your foolish kind was always amusing. But now I am awoken, now I have the vessel I searched for."

"What are you?" the Doctor demanded. "What have you done to Lucy."

"Done?" I roared out a deep laugh. "I gave that child the power to bath the universe in fire and despair. Because I am the beast. My heart is it that beats in the darkness. I will rise!"

I laughed once again, not sure if it was the entity or myself. This was hilarious and fantastic, all at once!

"Let go of her!" the Doctor called out, while the Master only watched the scene with raised eyebrows, clearly leaving it to his counterpart to get himself in trouble. "Whatever you are, if you want to leave this place, we can help."

The Master snorted, but didn't say a word. The thing in my head laughed without a noise, as if it was winking at me from inside. "You have nothing to offer, Time Lord. Destroyer of your own kind. I am the beast. I am Satan. I am older than all of you and all of your people."

"The beast?" The Doctor let out, dumbfounded. "No... no, no, no, that's only a myth. Which one anyway? Cos the universe has been busy since you've been gone. There's more religions than there are planets in the sky. The Archiphets, Orkology, Christianity, Pash Pash, New Judaism, San Klah, Church of the Tin Vagabond. Which devil are you?"

"All of them and so much more than you can fathom." Again there was this silent chuckle in my head. The entity clearly had their fun messing with the Time Lord.

Now, though, the Master decided to step in, probably bored already. "I have enough of you. Leave the human alone and pick one of the others."

"No," the entity simply spoke and giggled with a devilish smile. The next words were mine, or were they not? "What do you care? You push this human away. You are too scared, your hearts too cold already. No hope is left for one like you."

"Oh, watch me," the Master growled, "and you will see who should be afraid!"

He wanted to step forward, but before he could, the Doctor held a hand out, signalling him to wait another moment.

"How did you even end up on this rock?" The Doctor wanted to know and the Master watched every reaction of mine carefully.

The thing squirmed, roared in my head, anger and hatred flooding my thoughts. "The Disciples of the Light rose up against me and chained me in the pit for all eternity."

"I never heard of that. When was this?"

"Before time," came the foreboding answer.

"What does that mean?"

"Before time," the beast repeated, offering no further explanation.

Hatred and heat dissipated, got replaced by some more amusement, although I sensed it was getting tired of this conversation. I certainly was. I wanted to try out whatever possibilities I had gained, wanted to use this extraordinary energy that coursed through my very being.

Patience, little one, the thing whispered in my head, then chuckled lightly.

"There is no such thing as before time," the Master grumbled. "Nothing existed, then."

"Yeah," the Doctor seconded. "No life, no light, no nothing. See? You're talking nonsense! Give Lucy back. Now!"

He raised his sonic screwdriver, pointing it directly at me. I had no clue if it also had a laser, like the Master's, and I had no intention to find out. Raw power swam through my veins, a silent command told me to lift my hand, palm facing towards the Doctor. His eyes widened, as did the grin on my face. Suddenly there was an eruption of energy, invisible to the eye, but strong enough to toss the Time Lord through the room, to smash him against the wall, where he sunk down, unconscious.

Next my eyes landed on the Master, head slightly tilted. I was giddy with excitement.

"What use is a silly gun, what could I gain from taking one life?" I asked him, grinning. "If death and fire amuses you so much... watch out."

_________________​

A/N: Whooooops... 👀

 

[FacelessRobot]

noooo the cliffhanger

I hope this updates soon

 

[TardisGhost]

Part IV (VIII)​

A wide grin formed on the Master's face as he trod in front of me, eyes sparkling with anticipation.

"That is indeed a splendid power, you got there," he remarked, then pointed at the Doctor, directing my gaze away from himself. "Was it intended that he's not dead?"

I glanced at the unconscious Time Lord, trying to make out if the Master was right. He used the distraction. Hands lay themselves around my head from behind, two fingers of each hand pressing against my temples. I startled, stumbled backwards and bumped against the Master. He slipped into my mind effortlessly, filling it with his presence. I felt the entity fight back, roaring and laughing, but the Master seemed to be able to prevent the thing from lashing out physically, to use its power against him, like it had allowed me to do with the Doctor.

All I had left was my own body, my size, my dexterity. No one was going to take this from me! I let myself fall, the movement too sudden and unexpected for the Master to catch me. I rolled to the side, sprang to my feet and ducked away, vaguely aware that I wouldn't be able to do any of this without the thing that possessed me.

"No, I'm not going to give this back!" I spat. "Once and just once it's my turn."

The Master let out a small laugh and towered above me, without attacking again."And what will you do with such a power, little one?"

Hatefully I glared up at him. "Take revenge," I growled. "I'm not allowed to die. I'm not allowed to be part of anything. I've done nothing to deserve that! Nothing!" I yelled, letting out everything that gnawed on me. "If my whole existence is so damn wrong, then I'll show them how bloody right they are!"

"Ohhhh, so you want to crush them with your own hands?" A mad gleam sparked in his eyes.

"Heh, yes." I gave him a grim smirk. "I've had my fill of humanity, of life. I'm done being left behind and ignored."

As I spoke the entity chuckled in my mind, let a surge of energy rush through my veins. It felt amazing. I knew I could do whatever I wanted, now. Nothing and no one was going to stop me.

Except for the pitying look the Master tossed at me. His lips twitched in a sarcastic smile.

"And you'd be okay with someone else doing this for you?"

I subtly winced at his words. They had hit a spot within me, one I couldn't so simply ignore. The beast didn't like that at all, roaring and clawing at my mind with fury, pushing me to action. My eyes pinched shut in the sudden pain, a groan escaped my mouth.

All this strength... but it wasn't really mine. It wouldn't let me do as I pleased, would only use me as a tool...

Again there were fingers at my temples, almost gently I felt the Master's presence slip into my head and squirm his way through the flow of thoughts and emotions. I didn't struggle, yet; the seed of doubt he had planted making me momentarily unable to decide what would be best.

Both streams of energy fought in my mind and for the first time I felt how truly ancient this entity must be, how its essence was nothing but pure malevolence, destruction, chaos, a flame that would consume all of reality if given the chance. It roared and flailed without mercy, without giving a single thought to my wellbeing. My head throbbed in hot searing pain as it fought the Master.

Time Lord, it growled mentally, You can't win this! I am! And you are so much less!

So? You still have no right to be here. This human belongs to me.

Puzzled I blinked at the Master. Hadn't he pushed me away just some hours ago? Hadn't he done his best to make me stay away from him? How could he still claim ownership?

He only smirked cheekily and poked out his tongue, a look in his eyes as if he had heard my thoughts.

Then give in to me! The entity spoke again. You could own and rule all of time and space with the power I'd give to you!

"Mhm... tempting," the Master responded aloud, yet his voice oozed with sarcasm. "But I'd rather do that without giving up control over my own mind."

And with that he pushed more of himself against the beast. I gasped as I felt... him. Determination, anger, pain, amusement and so much more. All those foreign sensations that weren't my own, and still so shallow, as if he was only brushing the very surface of my mind.

It was enough, however, to make out the distinct difference between him and the entity. Whilst the beast seemed pure and utter evilness, the Master was... more. There was an unbelievable capability for violence and cruelty inside of him, but I also felt his deep longing to be free again, free of the Doctor and the TARDIS, free of the drums that drove him to more chaos than he actually wanted.

Only a second could have passed like that, feeling like an eternity. The Master chuckled all of a sudden, ceasing his attempts to fight the thing. Instead he caught my eyes with his, smiling impishly.

"Do you feel it?" he muttered. "What this thing truly is? Is that what you want?"

I didn't have to ask what he meant. It was clear. Would I give in to the thing it would rob me of my ability to act and think for myself. It would simply use and throw me away at the first opportunity. Anger welled up inside of me and this time I was sure it was my own. I didn't want to be used like that.

"Why?" I only asked, my eyes filling tears of frustration. "Why can I never have anything?"

You refuse! A roar rumbled through my head, painfully letting the walls of my sanity vibrate. Useless human! I don't need one like you.

Its presence clawed through my mind, ripped at parts of me I couldn't even name, instead of simply leaving. If it couldn't have me, it wanted to destroy me. My sight blurred, black dots started to dance in front of my eyes. I tasted blood and gasped. But only a second later the Master was back.

"Oh no, you don't," he growled.

My head felt as if it would split open. Hot burning pain pulsated through every fibre of my body, a whimper escaping me. The Master growled in frustration, retreated just enough not to cause me pain himself any longer, while the beast filled all of my mind with its deep and cruel laughter.

"Too shallow," the Master grumbled, brows knitted together. "Remember? This works with skin contact."

I swallowed and nodded, sensing what he meant, even before his hands fell from my temples and slipped under my hoodie and shirt. A shiver went down my spine as his cool fingers sprawled across my back, almost gently pushing me closer to him. Instantly the intensity of his presence in my head increasing. I glanced up at him, seeing his eyes closed in concentrated eagerness.

And still I wasn't entirely sure if I wanted to rid myself of this power. The beast fought back again, not with pain, but with reaching out for all the things hidden in the dark. It showed me how I could make everyone suffer for what they had done to me, showed me how my life could be if only people would be forced to see me. It would not matter anymore how different my brain worked, how incapable I was of acting and reacting like other humans.

I could drench the earth in blood and fire.

A sob shook me, my teeth clenched. What did it matter if I would get lost in this process? Who would care? Everything was so cold, it made me shiver. No, I didn't care that much about revenge. I only wanted it to stop. All of it.

And then there was something else, a sensation as if something warm wrapped gently around my chest, as if a soft blanket got thrown over my mind. A weird, unexplainable feeling of... warmth, of being accepted, of not having to prove or bring anything. There was no need to. I simply belonged, had found a place to stay, where I was welcomed and warmly smiled at.

I simply swam in this feeling until it burst in a bubble of rage and hatred, of frozen fire, splintering into shards that shred my soul into pieces.

"Shit. How bloody strong is this thing?" the Master growled, tearing me back into the present.

Had those warm feelings just now come from him? Had he countered the beast's strategy with them? An alternative to rage and chaos, revenge and hatred. I knew he didn't care, but still...

Or did he?

The beast screamed in my head, showed me images of power, of strength and dominance. But suddenly they seemed so... useless. That wasn't what I wanted. Not like this.

"Get rid of it, please," I mumbled. "It hurts. It's cold. This is worse than dying."

Much worse. Back then it had been warm. Just falling asleep while being held, listening to fire and ocean waves under the starlit sky. Now it felt as if every cell in my body was frozen and burned at the same time, all while the thing in my head laughed at all the fun it had with my suffering.

"I can't," the Master suddenly muttered. "You're not a Time Lord. Your mind is not... I can't get deep enough." He growled out his frustration and suddenly bore his eyes into mine. "I need stronger contact."

"O... okay," I responded confused, surprised I was still able to speak or think within the onslaught of pain and anguish that raved through my head as the entity understood it wouldn't get me.

The Master dropped his forehead against mine and I felt the connection strengthen just a little. Not enough. It wasn't enough. I knew it without him telling me and saw it in his look. His hands vanished from my back, landed on my temples again, instead, thumbs stroking over my cheeks. "You're so going to hate me for this," the Master muttered with a small, strained smile.

And then he leaned forwards, his fingers pressing against my head, his lips suddenly moving against mine. I winced in surprise, but instantly felt the connection flaring alive to a strength I hadn't anticipated. The Master's energy in my head suddenly got crystal clear, intertwined with my own essence, wrapped itself around my thoughts, slipped inside every gap.

The beast screamed out in rage, fought back with all its strength. I felt its hatred, I felt warm lips on mine, slow and careful. My thoughts got unravelled, ceased. I was... no longer me. He drove deeper and, at the same time, I somehow did the same to him, was inside his mind as much as the other way around. There were no eyes to see, no ears to hear, and still I was flooded with images and sounds, memories, emotions, intermingling with my own, creating a feedback loop.

It only seemed natural to respond the kiss, deepening it even, my hands fisting into his shirt. My pulse raced, or was it mine? Beating once, twice, three times. Everything blurred, melted together.

There was... nothing, and all at once. Within my mind I was stripped, standing bare and yet not naked. The Master was the same, without any masks, without pretending. Only the raw essence of who we were, swimming in the darkness, intertwined and one. No, it wasn't even truly dark. Golden light swam within and around, endlessly tiny sparks of... time? Where did he end? Where did I begin? Did any of it even matter? In this space no judgement could exists, no coldness, no hate, nor any pain.

It was an embrace, warm and soothing and so completely filling the both of us that nothing else could exist in the same space. In some vague corner of my consciousness I heard the devil scream in rage one last time.

And then there was silence.

The beast was simply gone, the kiss tapered off, it's slowing also untangling our minds. The Master was careful in what he did, made sure I found the way back from us to myself. Only when it was done did he slowly retreat from me physically. As his lips left mine, the presence of his mind vanished at last, leaving me suddenly bare and empty, shivering from a coldness that existed in my mind alone.

How had I never realised how lonely it could be one's own head? It was confusing, dizzying almost. I swayed, only staying upright because I still clutched his shirt. Everything spun and I allowed myself to gently drop forwards, against his chest, to breath slow and deep until the world stood still again.

 

[TardisGhost]

Part IV (IX)​

I felt a hand gently ruffling through my short hair, deliberately making a mess of them. Tiredly blinking I lifted my head, glanced at the Master and very suddenly realised what exactly had just happened. A furious blush crept up my neck and all over my face. Hastily I pushed myself away from him.

The Master let me, watched for a mere second, then burst out laughing.

"You should see your face!" he cackled.

I tried to smack his arm, but he simply evaded, still giggling to himself. Not that I was actually mad at him, it was just funny trying to land a blow somewhere for his dumb behaviour. But neither trying to stomp on his foot, nor poking him at least, was of success, so I gave up, folded my arms and resorted to scowling at him with pursed lips.

"Was that really necessary?" I grumbled, barely able to keep a smile from my lips.

The Master calmed down and poked out his tongue through his teeth. "Stupid question. You should have literally felt the effect."

He was right. I knew perfectly well why he had kissed me, even though I wasn't so sure about the technical background. This whole telepathic stuff was still confusing to me. What it had done, in the end, was undeniable, however. The beast was gone, I was alive and well. Still I kept the frown on my face and growled a little to myself.

The Master poked my head with one finger, grinning from ear to ear. "Oh, stop sulking. And don't pretend you didn't like it."

"Pfffffffff......." I let out, not deigning him an answer.

"What's going on?" The Doctor's voice tore us out of the silly banter. He seemed to have regained his consciousness and had lifted himself from the ground. In that moment I was quite happy he had slept away the previous... situation. He still seemed a little groggy. The blow must have hit him hard, the thought now making me slightly uncomfortable. "Lucy, are you... is that thing still in your head?" He groaned and rubbed his own, glancing from me to the Master.

"I got rid of it," the other Time Lord simply told. "No idea where it went, but it's not here anymore."

The Doctor sighed and gave me a long look, as if to make sure it was the truth. It was hard to tell what he thought. I knew this was actually the moment meant to apologize for my action before. However, seeing he wasn't even hurt and considering his behaviour towards me... I couldn't be bothered less.

The two Time Lords glared at each other for a good minute. The tension in the room was almost worse than it had been with the entity around. None of them moved, no one spoke a word. The small interruption I had caused couldn't make their fight undone.

And then, as I tossed glances back and forth, a smile spread on the Master's lips, amused and weirdly honest. "For all my attempts to murder you, it's only fair enough that you try the same. In your own way."

"You know it's not like that," the Doctor answered with a certain sadness in his voice. "I don't want you to die."

At that the other Time Lord laughed. Cackling to himself he crossed his arms over his chest. "I know! Dumbass. You only try it when you're certain I'll get out of it... relatively unscathed."

Perplex I glanced at the two. The whole situation made not much sense to me. There was a small, almost involuntary smile, twitching the corners of the Doctor's mouth upwards. He shrugged his shoulders, hands buried in his pants pockets.

"You always get away."

"'Cause I do," the Master agreed, nodding in my direction. "So make sure to treat my pet a little nicer from now on."

With that he turned around and marched to the door, leaving us behind. The Doctor and I exchanged puzzled glances. How could the Master know how the other man treated me? Had he seen it in my mind? Or did they simply know each other so well that it was obvious to him?

Meanwhile the Master had left the room, vanishing down the corridor with swift steps. I looked away from the Doctor and followed suit, the other Time Lord right behind me.

"Where are you going?" the Doctor asked as he caught up. "You know I can't let you harm any of them for-"

"Ugh, can't you just shut it, Doctor?" the Master groaned. "Eh, silly question. 'Cause you can't."

"Oi! You might not care, but you know it's wrong! Just listen inside you, Master."

"No. There's only the sodding drums," the other Time Lord spat and rounded a corner. "Not that you'd believe it." He cut off the Doctor as he wanted to answer. "Besides, I'm not interested in your humans, right now. I'm heading to the elevator shaft. They should all be there."

"Why would they? What do you want there?"

"Satisfying my curiosity."

"But why the elev- ohhhhhhh!" Suddenly it dawned on the Doctor. He sped up his steps.

"What?" I wanted to know. "What is there?"

"Something beyond powerful, lil' lumin. Listen."

I did, although I had no clue for what. "I don't hear anything."

The Master chuckled and winked at me. "Exactly. Don't you miss it? The constant noise?"

"What noi-" My mouth fell shut as I understood. "The drill stopped."

"Yup. And whatever possessed you must have come from the core. Must be something that lay dormant until they reached deep enough to wake it up. Otherwise it would have shown itself earlier."

We reached a room that was mostly built into the ground. Natural walls of stone surrounded us, decorated with wires and tubes and ventilation shafts. Machines also stood tall, monsters of metal and plastic, with too many levers and buttons and displays.

The crew really was gathered here. Ida, Danny, Toby and Zach, at least. They stood near a wide hole in the ground. A huge, thick metal construct stuck out from it, containing the now silent drill and an elevator.

"...should not risk anything!" Danny demanded with a stern face. "We already lost someone, today."

"And if we don't go down, it will have been for nothing," Ida countered and gestured towards the shaft. "This is what we came here for! We made it through, that's all that matters."

"Ida's right," Zach seconded with folded arms. "But Toby's right, too. The symbols the cameras have picked up... We shouldn't risk too much."

"What symbols?" the Master demanded to know as we all stepped closer.

Everyone tensed and moved a little away, all faces wearing hints of fear on them. Danny spoke first, his look dark. "What the heck are you lot doing here?"

"Not breaking your neck," the Time Lord growled forebodingly.

"We want to help," the Doctor tried to sooth the previous words. "It's in all our interest to fins this mysterious powery power source, isn't it?"

"Not interested in helping. But the sooner this all is done, the sooner we can come back for the TARDIS, am I right?" The Master glowered at the humans around.

"Yes, you are," Zach confirmed grudgingly. "But we're not going to risk losing more crewmates because you want to speed up things." He pointed at the hole in the ground. "The power source probably is of alien origin. Our cameras picked up structures that are unlikely to be natural. And also more of the strange symbols Toby's busy translating."

"Have you been successful with them?" the Doctor wanted to know, excitement swinging in his voice. "My ship couldn't translate it. Means it's old. Extremely, impossibly old."

Toby shook his head. "No. Not yet. Translating a completely unknown language takes a while. Especially one that is alien."

Ida hummed understanding. "It's risky for now. First we should send some drones scouting, then-"

"I'll go down."

All eyes shot to the Master. He stood there, arms folded and a look on his face that left no room for discussion.

The Doctor squirmed, opened his mouth to speak and quickly closed it again. He tried once more, this time succeeding. "Then I'll go too! Can't wait to find out what's down there and since you all don't wanna risk anything..."

"We barely know you, Doctor," Zach tossed in, a sceptical look on his face. "We can't trust either of you."

"No," I mumbled into the silence that spread. Surprisingly, everyone looked at me and I shrunk together somewhat. But didn't have I enough of being overlooked? Scowling I straightened myself and stepped forward, pulse racing, hands sweaty, but I managed. "We're disposable. And it's not as if any of us could flee with whatever is down there. Besides..." I smiled and thumbed behind me at the Master. "He's my responsibility. Didn't you say that? So it clearly should be me who comes down with'im."

"You're not babysitting me, ape!" the Master spat. "But you're right. Fleeing isn't an option and doing any harm down there would be suicide."

The crew members exchanged glances. Eventually Zach nodded and Ida also didn't seem to hate the idea, even though she made sure to be in the next group to go down there.

"I'm not going to miss out taking a look myself," she sternly commented. "But Lucy's right. As mean as it may sound, we have nothing to lose by letting them down first. Although it's a shame."

"Humans," the Doctor remarked with a wide, admiring smile. "Always so full of curiosity. Flying all the way across space, right below a black hole, drilling into the heart of a planet. You are amazing!"

The Master grunted annoyed, but Ida seemed flattered and smiled. "Doctor, I think you should stay with us."

"What!?" he exclaimed. "No! I want to go down! I volunteer!"

"Yes, but out of your bunch you're the only one I'm somewhat trusting. We need a reliable person to recall the events, when we're back home. And, just in case, a brain like yours might be helpful in a dire situation."

"Believe me," the Master sneered, "He's not the brain of this group. Certainly not!"

"Oi! Master, stop it!" the other Time Lord whined. "So far I foiled every single one of your plans, don't you forget that!"

"Yeah..." He snorted out a short laugh. "With sheer luck and dumb coincidences. Nothing to do with intelligence."

"Okay, okay, stop!" Zach trod between them and tossed dark glances this way and that. "The two of you are definitely not going down together. But I agree with Ida, you two will go." He pointed at me and the Master. "See it as a way to redeem you. Or to prove that we can count on you, whatever."

-----------------oOo.oOo.oOo-----------------​

An hour later we were briefed and ready to descent. Both, the Master and I were clad in orange space suits, since there would be no oxygen inside the planet. The thing was surprisingly comfortable and not at all bulky, as I had imagined space suits to be. Even the oxygen tanks weren't that heavy, but that was mostly due to the fact that we wouldn't stay long.

Ida had explained how everything worked, how we would be driven down inside the small elevator next to the dormant drill. She handed us some tools, too. A gravity ball, some communicators and a scanning device to gather data about the power source, should we come across it.

"What do you think to accomplish?" the Doctor asked calmly. "I don't think whatever is down there lets you run off with the power source."

The Master chuckled and shook his head. "Wasn't the plan."

"Don't tell me you'll try and blow the whole thing up!"

"Geeze, of course not, idiot!" the Master shot back. "That would blow me up as well."

"Maybe... but I know for a fact that you didn't just change into the helping type." The Doctor frowned. "Something makes you go down. And I'm rather sure I won't like the reason. As always."

"And as always you're so, so wrong, Doctor."

"We're ready!" Zach called out.

I put on the round helmet, letting Ida check if everything was alright. She did the same with the Master and then signalled us to step into the elevator.

"Do you think the beast is down there?" I quietly asked him.

"Well, I certainly hope so."

The Doctor's eyes widened. He had clearly overheard us. "No," he hushed. "You can't cooperate with that thing, Master. Whatever it is, it's not-"

"Wrong, Doctor." The other Time Lord chuckled.

"But... what do you want, then?"

I glanced up, curious about the answer. There had to be a reason for the Master to take this risk, and to make sure he would be the first to go down and face whatever was lurking in the dark. A mechanical rumble went through the cave, then the elevator slowly started to move, gliding down surprisingly smooth.

"I tell you, what I'm going to do," the Master told grinning, while we vanished into the ground. "I'm going to kill that thing."

 

[Axel]

"I tell you, what I'm going to do," the Master told grinning, while we vanished into the ground. "I'm going to kill that thing."

Click to shrink...

For once i completely agree with the Master.
Not only that, he can throw the beast in a black hole! Using the words of Lev:

It's the incarnation of hell that'd disassemble any person who touches it on the molecular level. Please, feel free to savour living death for an eternity.

Click to shrink...

And considering who beast is, while not redeeming himself i am sure he would cut a not small slice of his bad karma

 

[TardisGhost]

Part IV (X)​

Smoothly the elevator rattled down into the pitch black depths of the planet's core. There was no noise beside the rumbling of the machines and the sound of my own breathing inside the helmet. Aside from a tiny lamp above our heads there also was no light to illuminated the shaft, nothing to indicate how far below our destiny lay. Only the timer inside my helmet told that we were in here for almost ten minutes.

"-kzzzt- You're okay, there?" the Doctor's voice asked through the communicator.

I picked mine up and pressed the button at its side. "Yup. All quiet and boring."

"Good! –zzzzt- We might not respond in a while. Or, well, we will. But things got a little busy. The Ood started to act up and..."

"-kzzzz- Move, Doctor!" Zach's voice rang from afar through the com. "We need to get to section 22. It's sealed and they won't come in so easily."

"You heard the man! Ida's still in the elevator room. And Jefferson is guarding the door and hallway."

The Master chuckled and shook his head, picking his own communicator up. "Can't leave you alone for one second, Doctor," he mocked. "Was actually hoping it would be me to get rid of you..."

"Ha! Don't fret. I'll find a way to protect everyone. You know me."

"Yeah, I do," the Master mumbled and smiled to himself. With that the communicator went dead and silence spread again, only interrupted by the noises of the elevator.

I did not ask. The relationship between the two Time Lords seemed a lot more complicated than I could fathom in that moment. Enemies, but still friends, fighting each other to the blood, not bothering to endanger their lives and still hoping the other would survive anyway.

My thoughts got interrupted as the elevator landed on the ground with a rough thump. The door rattled open, leading us outside into absolute darkness.

"The gravity globe," the Master said, holding me by the shoulder, before I could step outside. "You don't want to accidentally fall into a hole, do you?"

"Eh, no."

I reached down and picked the sphere from the elevator ground. It had roughly the size of a soccer ball and was smooth to the touch. As Ida had instructed I tossed it into the air, where it flew upwards for a bit, before suddenly illuminating our surroundings. The sphere kept hovering in the air and even followed us around.

The light was bright enough to reveal an enormous cave, with lots and lots of layers into the depth. Bridges of stone connected them, decorated by ancient stalagmites and stalactites, thick as trees. And not only that. Where we exited the elevator, there were giants of statues carved into the rough stone walls. Devilish faces, horned heads and more of the strange symbols.

I glared open mouthed at the scenery, slowly turning around myself o take everything in properly. Even the statues were more fascinating than scary, despite their eerie depictions.

"That's... wow," I simply let out, finding myself at a complete loss for words.

The Master stepped next to me, his eyes wandering over the scene. "Yeah, indeed." An odd smile was on his face, or was it simply the light? "The universe is still able to surprise me."

We reported back to Ida. I told her as best as I could about what was down here and heard in her response how much she envied us right now.

We didn't walk far. Maybe a hundred meters. I picked up the com again, while the Master kneeled down next to a huge round gate on the ground.

"Hey, Ida. We found some kind of hatch. It's really big and round. The Master looks for a way to open it."

"Are there more of the symbols?"

"Uh, yeah, there are. The whole hatch is full of them. How's it going with the Ood?"

Ida was silent for few seconds, before the com crackled again. "Not good at all. We have reports of several deaths. It's as if they are... possessed. Their eyes are glowing red. I've never seen that before."

A tremor went through the ground, making me sway and almost lose my halt. Luckily it was over fast and I recovered. The connection to Ida was cut, however, and I couldn't get through again. I glanced over at the Master, who was busy studying the symbols, as the ground shook once again, but subtler and...

"It's opening!" I let out.

A line appeared, splitting the hatch in half. Each side slowly started to retreat backwards, revealing a bottomless, black chasm underneath. Only when the ground had completely opened did the tremors stop.

Carefully I trod next to the Master to the edge, leaned over and glared into the abyss. All light from the gravity globe simply got swallowed after a while, leaving us with nothing but a gaping maw of blackness. A strange sensation tugged at me, as if there was something calling, urging me to move, to... fall. The Master grabbed my arm, even though I hadn't moved.

"The call of the void," he mumbled darkly into his beard. Perplex I blinked up at him, but his eyes kept glued to the hole. "Feeling the impulse to jump... May it only be to satisfy your own curiosity..."

"Oh, that. Yeah... it's a weird phenomena." I tugged at my arm to get free and he let go. "So, how do we get down there?"

The com crackled. I tried to get a signal, but no words came through. Then the ground shook again, making us stumble backwards to not fall into the chasm. This time the tremor was even worse. We heard stones fall all around us, large junks of rocks, crashing to the ground; one of the statues nearby developed a fine crack across its face, giving it a horrifying grimace. Then there was a loud bang, a snap and the whistling noise of something falling. The tremors stopped, but seconds later something crashed to the ground nearby, swirling up dust and dirt. It came from the direction of the elevator and we hurried back, finding it to be completely destroyed by the fallen heavy metal cable.

"Must have snapped," the Master concluded and picked up the frayed end. His gaze wandered upwards. "No communication, no elevator. Great." To my surprise he chuckled, but there was no humour in the sound. "There. In the end you get what you wanted."

"M... me? Why?"

He tossed the cable at me and I caught it, blinking puzzled down at it. It was really heavy, thick. For it to simply snap there must have been quite the force at work. Or maybe the Ood? Were the others safe?

"What do you think? There's no way back. And those oxygen tanks won't last forever."

I swallowed, glancing up into his face. "That's nothing I wanted." The realisation that we were stuck down here didn't quite reach me, yet. It was too sudden, too unreal.

We would die down here.

Simply suffocate... The rational part of my mind knew it, but everything else... Slowly I started to walk back to the hole, dragging the cable along. The Master followed and I continued to speak, shaking my head. "And I certainly don't want anyone else being dragged into anything."

"How nice of you," the Master mocked. "Care to explain what you want with that cable?"

"Just checking. We can toss it down the hole and see how far it reaches."

"We'd have to get it back up."

"So?"

The Master chuckled. "Oxygen. Remember? We're running out of time. Well, you have to be a lot more worried about it than I. To my knowledge, your kind doesn't possess a respiratory bypass."

"Eh... no. Never heard of anything the like. What's it supposed to do?"

"The short version?" He watched as I still dragged the cable along. "I will survive much longer without air than you could."

"Hm..." I made and pulled out some strands from the cable. Inside were several thick metal wires, strong enough to hold my weight. I bent and twisted them in a way that I could somehow wind them around me and secure the whole thing with some straps around my shoulders. I practically wore the cable like a backpack.

The Master simply watched, obviously aware of my plan. Only when I was done did he raise his voice.

"Sure about that?"

I shrugged and stepped to the edge of the chasm. "I'll suffocate anyway. Up again's no option."

"You think there is something down there to help?" he mocked."How big are the chances?"

"Almost zero," I confessed quietly. "Still better than doing nothing. Besides..." My eyes were glued to the darkness in the pit. I swallowed. "Curiosity. Can't help it... the thought of dying without knowing what's down there... it's...well... killing me."

The Master let out a groan, ignoring my chuckle. "Don't start with the puns again," he begged.

"Aaaaw, why not?" I asked, poking out my tongue, then glanced down the pit again to hide my grin. "You know... Having that elevator cable makes me remember... Do you know why a ghost would ride an elevator?"

"No! And I seriously don't want-"

"Because it lifts their spirit."

I barely had time to giggle at his exasperated groan. Something hit my back, the world suddenly rushed past me as I fell into the darkness of the chasm until the cable stopped my fall with a rough tug, pushing all air out of my lungs for a moment. Dizzy and confused I hung there, legs and arms moving without finding a halt, my brain struggling to comprehend how I could hang in the air without my feet or hands touching anything.

It took only a few seconds. Then I stared up at the small spec of light from the gravity globe. The figure of the Master stood bent over the chasm's edge, holding the cable. He chuckled to himself.

"I told you to stop," he said nonchalantly.

"You didn't have to kick me down!"

"We won't last so long. Was the last chance to do that."

I grunted and rolled my eyes. "Well... at least I can make puns with no end, now. Can't kick me twice."

"One more and I let go," he warned.

"Spoil-sport," I grumbled, somewhat pissed, but actually more amused. "Okay, let me down. Slow!"

He did. The cable scratched against the stone, bringing me ever so further into the darkness. The light above me shrunk, the Master's silhouette faded, and for several minutes there was silence between us. After all, what was left to say?

Deep within us, we both knew that this was the end. Not that I could speak for the Master, but he must have known it, too. No word came from Ida, no contact from the Doctor. The display of the oxygen tanks sinking without mercy. And yet if felt completely different to the night at the sea, by the fire. Surreal and far away, as if someone else was hanging there, in the darkness.

I lifted my head, barely able to see the entrance of the chasm anymore. There was only a tiny dot, a blinking star in an empty night sky. I remembered the communicator and picked it up, pressing the button. Static greeted me, waiting for my voice to break the silence.

"Master?" I uttered.

There was no answer, but my descent halted for a moment. I heard something crackle through the static, then the cable continued to slide down. Maybe he had activated the com, maybe he had thrown it away.

"Seems like saving my life was in vain, in the end," I spoke quietly. There was a weird urge to talk, no matter if he listened or not. "All I got from it... " For some seconds I fell silent, then tried again. "Nothing changed, you know. I'm still the same person. I still belong nowhere. And I still have no clue whether or not you hate me. And if you do... No, you wouldn't have kept me alive then."

The cable slowed and eventually stopped moving altogether. My communicator crackled.

"That's it," the Master told, ignoring everything I had said before. "You reached the end of the cable."

"Haven't touched any ground yet," I informed him, feeling a sting in my chest. "No idea how far it still goes. Might be miles, or just a few meters."

"Yeah," came the only answer, the word breathed out like a sigh. "I'll pull you back up."

"No."

Silence.

Another crackle of static.

"You sure?"

I nodded, then remembered he couldn't see that. My eyes fell on the display in my helmet.

"There isn't even enough time. Only a few minutes of oxygen."

No answer.

"When you brought me back... I really hated you for it," I told quietly. "And when that thing possessed me... I didn't even know I was carrying so much hate and contempt inside me. Not all of it was from myself... but... lots of it." Somehow I knew the Master wouldn't deign me a comment on my words, so I simply babbled on, knowing it would be the last thing I'd ever speak. "But I also got the chance to see some truly amazing things. A real black hole... who would have thought. And this whole cave system, down here. It's amazing. It really is. I'm thankful I was able to see that."

The number steadily decreased. Time was running up.

"Master?"

Static. "Hm?" His voice sounded unwilling, as if he didn't want to speak to me at all.

"Thank you."

"What for?" he grumbled.

"For those few moments. Just a few... They were nice. I didn't have much of those in my life. And now I had several in such a short time." With lots of bad strewn in-between, but in those last moment I refused to let them ruin the good. "That's all, I guess. Going to cut the straps."

Silence. A crackle, followed by nothing. I got out a knife from and started to cut through the straps I wore like a backpack.

"Lucy?"

I halted, my heart thudding in my chest. He had never used my name until now.

"Yeah?" I choked out, feeling tears prickle my eyes.

"This is a command," he uttered darkly, his voice sounding strangely hoarse. "Hypnotism and all that, remember?"

I did. I remembered that it worked only partially with me. And also that he needed eye contact for it to work at all. He knew too, of course. But in that moment we both decided to ignore it.

A last time I heard the crackle through the static, while I worked the straps. The Master's voice reverberated through the darkness, low and almost pleading, but too quiet to make it out for sure. His words, however, were clear.

"Don't die."

The straps finally severed. My grip around them loosened.

Darkness above.

Darkness below.

I fell.

___________________________________________________________________________​

A/N: I actually had a way funnier draft for this... It's a fine line to walk with those self-inserts... The funnier version would have been way more... me, but would have totally ruined the mood from a story perspective.

 

[QuinnCerberus]

I glared open mouthed at the scenery, slowly turning around myself o take everything in properly. Even the statues were more fascinating than scary, despite their eerie depictions.

Click to shrink...

Think you meant to... Only thing i could notice that was wrong on my first read through.

I liked lucy's speach. Im really liking this story. I hope your muse doesnt give up!

 

[Axel]

A/N: I actually had a way funnier draft for this... It's a fine line to walk with those self-inserts... The funnier version would have been way more... me, but would have totally ruined the mood from a story perspective.

Click to shrink...

Maybe if you want you can try writing it and putting it in apocrypha?
Thanks for the chapter!