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Jun. 24th, 2012 11:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladyofleithianTitle: He Remembers
Summary: In a way, despite everything that's happened, the Master and the Doctor can't bring themselves to hate each other.
Prompt: Using others or being used.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
The Doctor still refuses.
It's ridiculous, really. There's no reason for him to keep resisting. His dear Rose is going to be dead soon -- it's almost as if that damned girl is all he cares about. But then again, he supposes that shouldn't surprise him. After all, he's quite fond of playing with Earth girls, and that's probably putting it mildly. He adores humans -- not surprising considering his mother is human, but even so...
Back when he was still Koschei, weak, scared nobody Koschei, he would have been at least mildly intrigued by humans as much as Theta was -- at least from what he got peeks of in Theta's books. But that was a long time ago, and Theta, gentle, innocent Theta, left him behind in a black hole. Left him there for dead.
If anything, leaving him for dead seems to be a running theme with the Doctor. Castrovalva, for example. Letting him burn to death as he begged the Doctor to show him mercy, one last time. His execution on Skaro. The Eye of Harmony. And he still has the gall to act like the Master is the one who's guilty. If anyone is the guilty, it is the Doctor. Every last life of him.
He hates the Doctor. Hates him. And yet at the same time, deep in a part of him he can't bear to show...somehow, the Master still loves him.
***
He doesn't want to hurt the Master. Actually, it's a bit more complicated than that. He wants to hurt the Master -- after what he told him about the Toclafane, after what happened to Lucy, after what he's been doing to Jack and the Joneses and the Tylers. And yet at the same time he doesn't want to. He already knows what he did to the Family of Blood -- to the Father, to the Mother, the Daughter, the Son. The Master, of course, is impressed by this -- too impressed, really. It's enough to make the Doctor's skin crawl.
"Just think, Doctor," he says, "Just a while ago, just so long ago, you were fighting Sea Devils, sealing the Medusa Cascade, thwarting body-stealing aliens -- and now you're reduced to things such as stealing screwdrivers." Even now, the Doctor remembers how he had attempted to steal the Master's screwdriver if only to knock him out, on one of his days when he was despairing that Rose would ever return. When the Master had taunted him with the thought that Rose had perished, to be more precise -- the Doctor had paid dearly for that action, of course. Even hearing the Master bring it up makes the blood rush to his cheeks.
"How was he ever reduced to this? Oh, right." The Master laughs. "Me!"
It's later that the communication from Rose pours in. The Doctor is still smarting from the torture the Master has inflicted on him when the Doctor refused once again to join him -- it's as if the Master believes brute force alone will make the Doctor convert to his cause -- when Rose appears on the private communication screen usually used by the Master to check on the progress of Earth down below to prevent any uprisings. Even seeing her again is like sunlight pouring through a thunderhead -- and yet --
"Rose, you shouldn't be here! You'll be seen."
"Don't worry. If there's anything I've learned about the Master, it's this. He's way too cocky to underestimate himself. Too big for his breeches, really."
In spite of himself, the Doctor laughs. "He excels at that."
Rose also laughs. "Just wanted to say, I've done what you said." She becomes more serious now. "I boosted the signal. They're coming, Doctor. We'll get you out."
"Good luck, Rose."
"Good luck, Doctor."
The communication ends and the Doctor sighs. It won't be easy. The Master may be cocky, but cocky and stupid aren't always mutually exclusive. If Rose's plan of raising an army goes wrong...
He won't let the Master hurt Rose. That much he swears on his life.
And the Master's day of reckoning is long overdue.
Summary: In a way, despite everything that's happened, the Master and the Doctor can't bring themselves to hate each other.
Prompt: Using others or being used.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
The Doctor still refuses.
It's ridiculous, really. There's no reason for him to keep resisting. His dear Rose is going to be dead soon -- it's almost as if that damned girl is all he cares about. But then again, he supposes that shouldn't surprise him. After all, he's quite fond of playing with Earth girls, and that's probably putting it mildly. He adores humans -- not surprising considering his mother is human, but even so...
Back when he was still Koschei, weak, scared nobody Koschei, he would have been at least mildly intrigued by humans as much as Theta was -- at least from what he got peeks of in Theta's books. But that was a long time ago, and Theta, gentle, innocent Theta, left him behind in a black hole. Left him there for dead.
If anything, leaving him for dead seems to be a running theme with the Doctor. Castrovalva, for example. Letting him burn to death as he begged the Doctor to show him mercy, one last time. His execution on Skaro. The Eye of Harmony. And he still has the gall to act like the Master is the one who's guilty. If anyone is the guilty, it is the Doctor. Every last life of him.
He hates the Doctor. Hates him. And yet at the same time, deep in a part of him he can't bear to show...somehow, the Master still loves him.
***
He doesn't want to hurt the Master. Actually, it's a bit more complicated than that. He wants to hurt the Master -- after what he told him about the Toclafane, after what happened to Lucy, after what he's been doing to Jack and the Joneses and the Tylers. And yet at the same time he doesn't want to. He already knows what he did to the Family of Blood -- to the Father, to the Mother, the Daughter, the Son. The Master, of course, is impressed by this -- too impressed, really. It's enough to make the Doctor's skin crawl.
"Just think, Doctor," he says, "Just a while ago, just so long ago, you were fighting Sea Devils, sealing the Medusa Cascade, thwarting body-stealing aliens -- and now you're reduced to things such as stealing screwdrivers." Even now, the Doctor remembers how he had attempted to steal the Master's screwdriver if only to knock him out, on one of his days when he was despairing that Rose would ever return. When the Master had taunted him with the thought that Rose had perished, to be more precise -- the Doctor had paid dearly for that action, of course. Even hearing the Master bring it up makes the blood rush to his cheeks.
"How was he ever reduced to this? Oh, right." The Master laughs. "Me!"
It's later that the communication from Rose pours in. The Doctor is still smarting from the torture the Master has inflicted on him when the Doctor refused once again to join him -- it's as if the Master believes brute force alone will make the Doctor convert to his cause -- when Rose appears on the private communication screen usually used by the Master to check on the progress of Earth down below to prevent any uprisings. Even seeing her again is like sunlight pouring through a thunderhead -- and yet --
"Rose, you shouldn't be here! You'll be seen."
"Don't worry. If there's anything I've learned about the Master, it's this. He's way too cocky to underestimate himself. Too big for his breeches, really."
In spite of himself, the Doctor laughs. "He excels at that."
Rose also laughs. "Just wanted to say, I've done what you said." She becomes more serious now. "I boosted the signal. They're coming, Doctor. We'll get you out."
"Good luck, Rose."
"Good luck, Doctor."
The communication ends and the Doctor sighs. It won't be easy. The Master may be cocky, but cocky and stupid aren't always mutually exclusive. If Rose's plan of raising an army goes wrong...
He won't let the Master hurt Rose. That much he swears on his life.
And the Master's day of reckoning is long overdue.
