There was absolutely no way that he was awake, the Doctor decided, as he stared across the TARDIS control room at the broken, bleeding, blonde and grinning man opposite him. There was no way. He must of hit his head as the TARDIS was passing through that rough patch… That was what must have happened. The rough patch in time… He needed to look into that, most certainly, but first he needed to wake up. The Doctor blinked hard a few times, then pinched his arm, the blonde man watching in amusement as the time lord tried to wake himself up. The skinny brunette hadn't changed a bit since the blonde had seen him last, even that stupid brown pinstriped suit he wore was the same. Who had told the man that the blue and brown went together? Well, they didn't. At least not in the blonde's mind. However, most things didn't seem to agree with popular opinion in his mind, and that was just the way he liked it. Waiting, however, was one thing he didn't like.

"What, DOCTOR?" he shouted the timelord's name to call his attention back from trying to wake himself. "Aren't you happy to see me?!" he laughed, striding over to the taller man, reaching out and patting his cheek. "Perk up now, I didn't tear a hole in time and space to come here and talk to myself!" his voice showed only a little of the pain he was feeling, and none of the immense happiness. As much as he would joke, and tease and technically attempt to bring about the other's demise, he was happy to see him.

"M..Master…" The Doctor managed to choke out the word, then swallowed hard before seeming to come back to himself, looking down at the man and squinting a little. "How did you even get here?" he tilted his head as he spoke, the emphasis on the words 'you' and 'here', as his face contorted in a confused, albeit not angry frown. If the Master was able to escape the time lock… Then the others would follow. "If you are here, to warn me that you've let them all go-"

"Oh don't worry Doctor, I don't want them around either, remember? No… How I got out.." he winced a little, holding up a hand to shush the other timelord's speech as he caught a hold of himself, brushing off the pain. "How I got out is going to be my little secret." he laughed, then grabbed his ribs, grimacing in pain. "Mm… Though I don't recommend trying it yourself, Doctor… It's a bit painful…" he took deep breaths, then laughed. "I so didn't want to regenerate anytime soon… I quite like this body you see…. Young, and strong and quite… ngh… Sexy, too…" The Master's words were slightly strained, and as he started to lurch to the side, the Doctor reached out as if on instinct, keeping him steady with both hands.

"You listen to me, Master.. I am going to help you… But if you have another plan to take over the Earth, I will stop you, understood? Too many people have died because of you." The taller man leaned in close to the blonde's face as he spoke, watching his eyes to make sure he took in every detail of the message he was conveying. He himself had been regenerating… Changing… And very soon too… He had wanted to spend his time making one last round of visits… He had been on his way to see Rose when he'd hit the rough patch, but now… He couldn't feel it anymore. It was like the process had just… Paused. He blinked, then refocused his eyes on the Master. Now was not the time to be figuring that out. Right now, he had to help the Master…

"Yes… I understand, Doctor…" The Master rolled his eyes, and shook his head. "You and your precious Earth… I can honestly say, that I have no… 'Big plan' as it were… I just really… Really wanted to get out of there…Can you not understand that? Wouldn't you want to leave?" the blond narrowed his eyes at the doctor, then sneered, "Of course you wouldn't have gotten yourself stuck there, would you? No.. Perfect Doctor never messes anything up, does he?"

The Doctor shook his head, then gave a sad smile. "I have messed up plenty, Master, but I always move on.. Build from it, learn from it… Can you not do the same? Besides, how long were you even there? A couple hours at the most…" he frowned, trying to think how long it had been. His sense of time always felt a little weird when he was regenerating… But right now, he really couldn't tell. He couldn't even tell you how long he'd been holding onto the Master's arms.

"I was there for ten years, Doctor… like I said… Broke a hole in time and space to be here…" he grinned like the Cheshire cat as he watched the light go on in the Doctor's mind. "Ah… You understand now.. The rough patch in time… Yes… I admit, it was me!" he yelled the last words, grinning and laughing, before gesturing around him. "All this? This is stuck, Doctor… It's not going… Anywhere, and neither are you. I'm not going anywhere either… It's nice… We're fixed points in time…. Well, to a point, anyway… Mostly fixed. It's kind of like we're fixed, but just with reaaallllllyyyyy strong glue… You can get out, it's just nearly… Mm… Impossible." he grabbed his side with his hand, then grimaced at the Doctor. "You said something about being able to help me?"

"Oh! Right.. Sorry…" The Doctor gave a small smile, then nodded. "Yes… I have somewhere you can sit down… Over here…" he led him to the seats, helping him sit, then pulled out his stethoscope, putting on his 'Brainy Specs'. "Take off your shirt, Master… I need to examine your chest… It seems to be where the most damage is, yes?" he raised a brow as he asked, looking down at the other man, who was just sitting there, staring at him. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

"Besides those ridiculous glasses you mean?" the timelord laughed, then grimaced a little at the pain that came with the movement of his chest. "You didn't say please, Doctor… Very rude of you…" he chuckled breathlessly after he spoke, then looked back up at the tall, skinny man, and shook his head. "You need to be polite Doctor… Gets you a lot further in life…"

"Right… Right of course…" the doctor nodded, "although… You never seem to be too polite when you're trying to kill me, and or enslave the earth, so I could just tell you to take your shirt of or I won't help you… But I'm nice." the skinny man chuckled, then tossed his sonic screwdriver in his palm, giving the Master a quick scan before pocketing it. "I need to have a closer look Master… Now, please… Take off your shirt."

"There we go… The magic word." the blonde smiled, then took a deep breath, his hands moving slowly as he grabbed the edges of his black hoodie, pulling the slightly torn garment up and off his body, over his head and tossing it in the corner, gasping at the pain as he moved his torso. "Mm… Damn it…" he muttered, noticing that his red t-shirt hadn't come off with the sweater as he'd hoped, and was still clinging to his bleeding, painful body.

Before the Master could do anything about the t-shirt, the Doctor's hands had taken a gentle hold of the hem of the shirt, tugging it slowly off and over his head, gently easing his arms through the sleeves as he did. The timelord's hands were cool against the Master's skin, and he smiled softly, closing his eyes and letting himself enjoy the soft touches. The Doctor carefully felt the other's torso, inspecting the tears in his muscles, and checking for broken bones, then listened to his hearts with the stethoscope. "Good news, Master… It doesn't seem like there's any internal damage… to your organs or your hearts… though they are beating at an odd pace… Bad news though, if we don't get these other wounds healed, you are going to have to regenerate…" he rubbed his face, then crossed his one arm across his chest, holding the opposite elbow and tapping his forefinger on his lips. "You're not going to do it yourself, are you, Master? You know… Sometimes I think you want to die.."

"No… Why would I want that Doctor? I mean.. It's not like my planet is gone, no… And it's not like we're the only ones left either, no… There are still the ones in the time lock still.. So tell me… Why would I want to die?" The blonde grinned, then gestured to his body. "I'm locked, Doctor… In this state of dying. My body can't move on to fix me… Can't even start up the regeneration process… I need a Doctor…" he looked back up into the other timelord's eyes, the question burning in them. "Can you… Fix me…?"