Spoilers: The Sound of Drums, Last of the Time Lords.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Grr.
I Win.
"I like it when you use my name." It felt so good, sending shivers down his spine and causing his hearts to skip a beat. It had been so long since anyone had used his real name and now, hearing the Doctor of all people saying it, he smiled. Just a shadow of a smile, hidden behind the wall he'd built to hide emotion all those years ago. But it was still a smile.
"Are you asking me on a date?" Said with a sneer. A falsely sarcastic remark in an attempt to hide the hint of hope in his voice. After all this time, he still hoped. He could never lose hope as it was the one thing that kept him going, kept him surviving throughout all this heartache and devastation.
"I forgive you." The Doctor's words. The three words the Master had been dreading, the words he'd hoped never to hear. Forgiveness. But for what? They'd been friends, once. Oh, so long ago. The Doctor and the Master. Those hadn't even been their names back then. They hadn't chosen titles for themselves, not yet.
Then came the Untempered Schism, and the madness it brought. The constant drumming that would chase him across the stars, through Time and Space. Chasing him after his only friend, who had run away. The Doctor, afraid of the power he'd seen. The Master, inspired by it. But he held back, chased his friend. Followed him, vowed never to leave. Found him. Together they'd grown older, and his feelings had grown stronger.
Then one day he'd taken it no longer. The drumming had grown stronger, and he told him. The Doctor was afraid and the Master sat crying, tears of regret. He'd thrown away his only friendship through the stupidity of following his hearts, listening to his emotions. Kissed the Doctor and lost all they'd ever had. But then he'd looked up, seen tenderness in those eyes. The Doctor had knelt down and kissed him, once, on the cheek. Then he'd spoken. "I bet," he'd said, "that I can resist my feelings longer than you. First one to break and show his emotions loses."
And so a bet had been made. Never to show emotions, never to speak of their feelings. Of their love. What a silly bet, all it had ever brought was heartbreak. Neither had wanted to lose the bet, and it had brought about the end of their friendship. As they stood on the edge, screaming hatred at each other, neither dared mention the bet. It went unspoken for years, so many years. Until at the very end.
Lying in the arms of the only one he'd ever loved, dying. He knew he'd never regenerate again, he wouldn't let himself. He couldn't. He didn't want to be the one to lose. He'd already lost everything else that mattered to him. Finding out about Gallifrey, that had been a painful blow. And now he was dying in the Doctor's arms. It was the end, he could see it. The end of that eternal drumming. The drumming that had pushed him to follow the Doctor when he ran, the drumming that screamed out his love. Silence was coming. As he felt the life leaving his body he whispered. "I win."
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