neverwouldiever | Valiantly Living On.

The Master's eyes widened with horror as it occurred to him just what was happening. Everything he didn't want was right there in front of him. On the TARDIS, with the Doctor and clearly a prisoner. The drums thudded in his head, making it hard to think as he renewed his struggle, no smile on his face as he tugged desperately, not caring if the cuffs were cutting into his wrists or not. This was a nightmare, an utter nightmare.

"What did you do?!"

"Calm down! Master, please! You're going to hurt yourself!" The Doctor's face had vanished quickly. It wasn't as if he had honestly expected anything else, but actually seeing the reaction was still enough to have an impact and a depressing one at that.

"Just calm down and we can talk about everything." He stepped a bit closer, crouching down to be on the Master's level. "I'm sorry."

The Master reacted as anyone might expect him too. He tried in vain to kick the Doctor in the face, leg straining to so much as reach the Doctor. What a total bastard, he completely cheated! He brought him back? "How dare you! You had no right to do that, you pathetic snivelling little creature!"

Straining forward and ignoring the pain searing through his wrists, he tried once against to reach anywhere near the Doctor. Maybe he could headbutt him? Or spit on him? Whatever the option. "There's nothing to talk about, I don't want to talk to you. You cheated."

That amount of struggling had the Doctor jump backwards, landing on his back. He stared at the Master for a while, swallowing thickly. He had expected this, at least he ought to have, and he knew that. But being faced with it...

"I couldn't lose you, Master. You knew that! That's why you..." Why he wanted to be lost. Yeah, this plan had been bound to go down badly with the Master. "I had to try. I knew there was a chance it would work and I had to try. What would I be without you?"

"I don't care," the Master sneered because he really didn't. The Doctor had done perfectly fine without him and suddenly he needed him? What absolute bullshit. He just didn't want to be alone. No, no, no, no, he couldn't just die like a normal person. No, he had to be dragged onto a TARDIS so they could spent their time in frosty silences. Oh what fun.

"You have absolutely no right to play God. Not with my life, it's mine for a reason," Seething, the Master dropped back, panting heavily from all the effort. Then, in a moment of perhaps weakness, he made a pained noise and sank back, writhing just a little. Maybe he could score some pity if he cowed down and a looked a little hurt. The Doctor was a sucker for those who were in need. "What did you do? It still hurts!"

At least he seemed calmer. Although, hurting? "...you shouldn't be hurting." The Doctor frowned, turning to the console to let the TARDIS scan the Master and check for that. That was very worrisome indeed. While he had his back turned to the Master he explained, thinking it better to not show his expression to him during that. No right to play God. The trouble was, the Doctor knew he was right. But he just hadn't been strong enough, not after all of this. Not with the Master actually dead in his arms.

"Jack. I. Er. I mean. I used the vortex energy. Just. Giving you a jump start. You fell into a healing coma after that."

"You used vortex energy... are you fucking insane?" the Master snapped, feeling so much anger tremble inside him. He wanted to lash out, to beat the Doctor down and force him to apologise. But instead he was stuck here, tied to a pillar with the freak life energy in him somewhere. It was revolting. "You used that freakshow to save me? Oh nice, rub a little salt in the wounds."

Slumping down, the Master knew he couldn't win this battle so the best he could do was stick to the plan. Jerking as if in a lot of pain, the Master bit off a whimper of pain, wishing he knew how to vomit on cue. Looking up at the moronic bastard that had done this to him, he offered his best pitiful look. The one he knew the Doctor wanted to see for whatever sad reason. "Doctor, I don't think I was meant to wake up -- one of my hearts feels weird."

"Well. It worked!" A poor defense, although at least it didn't break any laws. Mostly because no time lord had ever envisioned something so wrong could ever have happened in the first place. The Doctor felt frantic now, ruffling his hair while keeping an eye on the screens, but the information the TARDIS gathered so far wasn't helping with this. He wasn't an idiot, he knew that the Master was likely tricking him. But what if not? What if...

Before he could finish the thought he was on his knees besides him, hands on his shoulders and his ear pressed against his chest. "It sounds normal. Are you sure?" The concern in his voice was only too real. Raw, tender and ever so ready to be betrayed. He deserved no better.

This was too easy. Just far too easy. In a moment that the Doctor raised his head away from his chest, the Master slammed his own head forward, headbutting the Doctor as hard as he could. While the other Time Lord was stunned, he raised his knee and slammed it into the Doctor's stomach, extended it to kick off but not too far away. If he couldn't get himself free, he could at least get revenge.

"You sad little bastard, like I'd need your help. Like I'd ask for it. If my hearts stopped working, I think I'd weep for joy," the Master snarled, leaning forward and growling like a vicious animal. With a slightly unhinged laugh, he grinned in triumph and pushed himself forward, ignoring the way the metal of the cuffs sliced into him and focusing more on how close he was. "That was so easy! I barely had to try."

Should have seen it coming. But too late. Before he could quite find his footing, his head was already ringing and his stomach hurt badly enough he just felt like clutching it and curse. It was pretty much what he did, too, although he managed to roll on his back at least, thankfully just far enough out of the Master's reach. "I'm sorry, Master! I am! If I could find a way to make you happy that didn't involve hurting other, I would! You must know that. I would!"

He slowly tried getting up on his knees, rubbing his face. "Does it help? Kicking me around?"

"I don't want to hear it! Stop saying that, you always say that, I don't want your apologises," the Master yelled over him, trying to block the noise out. Every apology seemed to add to the volume of the drums, his desire to hurt the Doctor spiked at every pathetic grovelling attempt. "I think everyone can benefit from kicking you around. You deserve it after all, no one ever asked you to fix me. Or anyone. Stop forcing yourself into peoples lives."

Huffing angrily, everything inside him felt like bursting out but he simply had no outlet for it. A childish part of him wanted to stamp, flail and basically have a temper tantrum a toddle might have when grounded. Fortunately, even he had better control than that. "You deserve to suffer!"

Jack had been elsewhere in the TARDIS when he heard the unmistakable sounds of yelling and fighting. That could only mean one thing: That the Master was awake. Great. Without delay, Jack hurried back to the control room, pausing to assess the situation. The Doctor looked hurt, and, thankfully, the Master was still restrained.

"HEY!" He cried, rushing over to the Doctor's side to look him over. A quick glance-over was all he needed to see that there wasn't any major damage done. Jack breathed a sigh of relief and turned to the Master, eyes narrowed and nostrils flared. He'd been waiting for him to wake up and clenched his fists when he locked eyes with him.

"You." He sneered over at him, resisting every urge to kick him in the teeth for hurting the Doctor. "Finally decided to join us, did you?"

With his head still reeling, the Doctor leaned back against Jack, lifting a hand to put on his shoulder. It was mostly to hold Jack back, really, although his head was still swimming and the impact had lowered his mental shields, making the Master's presence all the more pronounced. He could feel his anger and that hurt more than his stomach, even though that was sure to bruise.

"It's alright. He's just upset." Just wasn't the right word and neither was upset, not strong enough. He swallowed and looked at the Master, his words sinking in. "Maybe I do deserve it. I'm not saying I don't. But I don't regret saving you. I could never regret that."

The Master stopped straining the moment he saw Jack, dropping back with a completely confused expression on his face. The freak. He brought the freak? Oh for the love of Rassilon, since when did the Doctor even like the bloody freak of nature, this was-- wait. Hold on. With a frown, the Master looked beyond Jack to the Doctor. "Vortex energy? You fixed me -- Oh for fuck sake, you used him to save me."

Yes, using the word 'use' because frankly, he doubted this was an act of generosity. Lord, he felt repulsive just knowing he had that freaks energy in him. "I'm not upset Doctor, oh no, not at all. I'm furious. And you really do deserve whatever you get."

"Yeah, I'm not exactly happy about it, either." For the most part, he was over it, and had discussed it at length with the Doctor already. "If it were up to me, you'd be at the bottom of a ravine somewhere getting pulled apart by dogs. But the Doctor is better than me, and you should be damn thankful he decided to share some shred of mercy with you."

Jack was somewhat thankful that the Doctor was holding him back, however subtle the insistence was. "Dying just to spite him... that is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of."

The Doctor's hand tightened a bit on Jack's shoulder, not exactly sure himself whether it was because he wanted the support or because he wanted to make sure Jack didn't just lunge at the Master. He knew how good the other time lord could be at provoking and there was no doubt that he had had the time to find out about Jack's weak spots.

"I'm sorry." The apology wasn't empty and meant for them both, for using Jack, for forcing the Master to be alive, to be with him, but he knew it wouldn't do any good. He swallowed and rubbed his face, carefully feeling for any swelling. "You would have done the same, Master. You'd have done anything if I'd tried dying on you."

"Thankful that he took what I wanted from me, using you in the process? To ensure the murderer and torturer you were locked with for a year survived. I should be glad of that? Are you glad of that? Being used to save me? This wasn't mercy, Freak. It was dependence. He doesn't even like me, I'm just the last one standing," the Master reasoned because it wasn't anything he was feeling glad over. He could save himself if he wanted to be saved. And he really didn't need the Doctor. "And I didn't die in spite, I was dying anyway. Did you forget how my wife shot me or do you remember it as a suicide?"

Rolling his eyes, the Master struggled to his feet, pushing himself up so he could stand to look at them. Sitting on the floor was just annoying.

"Doctor, I try to kill you every time I see you. Do you really think that I do that just to save your life a little bit later on?" There was a very loud and annoyed sigh. "I can't believe I'm alive and stuck in this ship, trying to reason with the two dumbest idiots in the universe. Were either of you paying attention the last year or what?"

"You could have survived it if you'd wanted." Jack was already tired of him, and he wasn't hearing any of it. Even the insulting name didn't bother him any more, since he'd heard it so many times before. "The fact remains that you are alive now thanks to him, which means that I'm sure you'll go back to scheming and trying to think of ways to kill him just like your little black hearts desire."

Jack too rose to his feet, refusing to cow to the Master any longer. He was free, he was angry, and hopefully just a little intimidating. "You've been rude to the Doctor, and I think you should apologise."

"I paid attention." Which meant that he could bring up the fact that he'd not been killed at any point there. Which was really quite telling, especially coupled with a lot of other examples he could give, but evidence wasn't what the Master wanted to hear right now.

Here he was in the middle between Jack and the Master and he already knew that this had been a horrible idea. Alright, perhaps wisest to deal with the one who wasn't restrained first, especially since he was also more likely to listen to him. The Doctor got up and turned to Jack, ignoring how his stomach cramped when he unfurled.

"I have wronged him, Jack, from his perspective. He just says the truth." In a rude fashion, admittedly.

The Master had to laugh. Loud unpleasant laughter edging on the side of insanity but he was so close to just losing it entirely and trying to bite his arm off to escape these two. They were already pissing him off and he'd been awake for what? Ten minutes? These two were more fun when they were his. And all hurt and worried... much more fun.

"You think I should apologise?" the Master stopped laughing with a smirk on his face, smug and annoying, the kind of smirk you want to wipe off someone face by force. "You're an idiot if you think that will ever happen. For either of you. No apologises, no regret, no moments of seeing the light and wanting to change, nothing. So why don't you do everyone in this TARDIS a favour and be clever."

Then, he leaned himself forward, just enough that he was closer to them. "Either let me go or kill me. Those are the options. Because let's be honest, whatever screwed up plan the Doctor has will never work. They never do. I'll leave here eventually and then who knows what?" he paused, knowing the perfect button to hit. "Maybe I'll swing by Cardiff? I hear it's a fun place to be."

Jack frowned at the Doctor. Self-pity wasn't like him... at least not as far as he knew. He hated seeing the Doctor so down on himself like that and could hardly bear to look at him without his heart breaking. He placed a hand on the Doctor's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze as if to silently tell him to sit down if it hurt him that badly.

And then the Master opened his mouth, leaving Jack very thankful that the Doctor had decided to stand between them. Had he not, Jack very likely would have been making the Master eat the railing he was cuffed to. "Haven't you done enough to them?" Sure, none of it ever really happened, but Jack was certain that any fate designed for them by the Master would have been hellish at best.

"You want to know why you were brought back?" he snapped. "Because death was too good for you. Because letting you live is worse for you than the sweet comfort of death, and you don't deserve it. Because anything that ends your pathetic life is a fucking treat compared to what you deserve to happen to you."

"Don't let him get to you, Jack." Since the Master was choosing to address Jack instead of him, the Doctor could gladly return the favour. "He can't do anything to them now. He won't." The Doctor ran his free hand through his hair, shaking his head to get rid of the dizziness. It still hurt, he was probably starting to bruise, but at least he felt a bit more steady again.

He lowered his voice, not to exclude the Master but simply to address Jack in a more intimate way. Make him pay attention. "This isn't about revenge, Jack. You know that. Not for me, it isn't."

"I always liked your lot," the Master continued, happily ignoring the whole issue of the horrible words being flung at him to stubbornly continue baiting Jack. Leaving him impotently angry was victory enough because it wasn't like Jack would ever hit him... right? The Doctor would never let him. He was far too tolerant of the Master to let him get hurt and surely Jack knew that. So he could say whatever the hell he wanted.

"The team, what fun they were. Off to the Himalayas with barely a thought, where did you even find such a dull bunch? They didn't even protest!" Which was dumb because frankly the Master would always question such a stupid mission. Quite a foolish group of idiots. "They were nice though. Grumpy, obviously, but nice. I liked them. Especially the welsh one. Well, both the welsh ones."

There was such a lecherous smirk on his face as he continued on, unable to help himself from saying the worst things possible. "Welsh people scream so nicely, don't they?"

Listening to the Doctor was becoming increasingly difficult the longer that the Master continued to talk. He'd heard all of this before, and it pissed him off just as much now as it had back then. But that was back before he could do anything about it to get him to shut up. He didn't even look at the Doctor, just glaring straight past him to that smug bastard mocking him and his team. There were so many things he'd have liked to do to him, but none of them would let him stay on the TARDIS for very long.

He couldn't take any more. Jack's patience was so much less than the Doctor's, and he was sure that later he would regret that, but for now, he stepped past the Doctor, pulling a handkerchief out from his pocket. He wrapped the cloth around his knuckles and as hard as he could, struck the Master in the jaw with that fist. It stung, but not nearly as badly as he was sure it hurt the other man more.

Once he'd shaken out his fist, he unwrapped the handkerchief and grabbed the Master by the jaw to force it open so he could stuff the cloth in his mouth. "You had your chance to speak and apologise. You've now lost that privilege."

Shock was the wrong word. It wasn't as if the Doctor hadn't expected that reaction after the Master's words. It was more akin to seeing a disaster happen but being unable to stop it. Only after Jack had already gagged the Master he shook himself out of it, immediately stepping around him and putting his hands on his chest. He pushed him backwards, away from the Master, meeting his eyes, not with anger, but ever so serious.

"Jack. I understand, I really do and your anger is justified, I understand that. He's done horrible things and he's still provoking you, but what you have to accept is that this is my TARDIS. My rules. You can't hit a man that can't defend himself. You're not his jury, not his judge and definitely not his executioner." He moved one hand to cup Jack's face, catching his eyes. "If you can't accept that, you can't stay here."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject