Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Ships: Master/Ten
The TARDIS bumped against the soft ground. Or rather, and thanks to the Doctor's amazing flying skills, it crash landed on the not-so-soft-if-being-honest ground.
"When are you going to let me help you fly? You know it takes more than one Time Lord." The Master said grumpily, picking himself up off the floor for what felt like the tenth time that day.
"I'm perfectly capab-"
A loud humming from the TARDIS itself disrupted his sentence and he scowled at the fluctuating column that sat in the middle of the room like it had personally insulted him.
Which in a way, it had.
"Oh, don't take his side!" He huffed, his perfectly styled hair swaying around as he shook his head from side to side.
The Master simply smirked and sunk his hands into the pockets of his black hoodie. "Case closed, I'm helping next time. So where are we?"
Not happy at being outnumbered but not wanting an argument with a certain unstable Time Lord, the Doctor simply huffed again before replying. "Barcelona."
"The planet, right?"
"No, the country."
Silence fell as both men silently stared at each other. The TARDIS hummed loudly again, in obvious frustration this time, and the Doctor snapped out of his daze first.
"I need to stay close to Earth for a bit, and I thought we could unwind."
That answer clearly didn't make the Master believe him any more, as he stalked towards the doors, flinging them open and almost getting blinded in the process as the hot Barcelona sun shone down on him.
"Doctor." He said quietly, already beginning to sweat in the hoodie, though he stubbornly refused to take it off. "Through time and space, you said."
"I know, but-"
Whipping around, the Time Lord's blond hair looked even brighter in the sunlight. "It will be fun, you said."
"Just give it a chance-"
"Doctor?"
"Yeah?"
"It's bloody Barcelona!"
The TARDIS hummed in amusement and the Master glared at it before returning his narrowed gaze to the Doctor, who was looking very sheepish.
"Just let me stay one night and you can pick the next place, okay?" It felt almost as though he was trying to placate a child, which in a way, he was.
The Master stayed quiet as he peered back out of the door, watching a pair of bikini clad women walking across the beach with little interest. His two hearts only belonged to one person and that one person was currently making his life difficult.
"Fine. One night."
To say that Barcelona was unprepared for two Time Lords crashing down upon it, was putting it mildly. Apparently aliens and alcohol didn't mix well, though no one told either the Master nor the Doctor this piece of useless information.
'I haven't been this drunk since that night on Pom,' The Doctor said with a rather obvious slur to his words, 'Do you remember Pom? Damn, I miss that planet.'
'Where did it go?' The Master replied, equally as wasted, but semi able to remain coherent in his speech.
'Nowhere, this time. I just miss it.' Hysterical laughter followed this sentence as the Doctor clearly shared some private joke with himself, leaving the Master looking completely bemused.
'Right...' Running a hand through his blond hair, he took a small step towards the other Time Lord and gripped onto his arm. 'I think we should get back to the TARDIS before -'
'Doctor?'
A female voice cut through the crowded bar like a hot knife with butter, causing the Doctor to immediately cease laughing and look around in confusion. He hadn't heard that voice in years, and yet it was the very reason he was here, in Barcelona.
'Rose?'
Straightening himself up, and using the Master as his own personal support post, the Time Lord blinked several times, the effects of the alcohol soon fading away and allowing his vision to reveal a familiar figure who stood a few feet away from him.
'You came!'
Rushing forwards, Rose threw her arms around the Doctor's shoulders, pulling him into a tight, somewhat deadly hug.
'Well I -' He broke off abruptly when his airwaves began to get squished and settled for just patting his old friend on the back instead, until she eventually released him again. 'I wouldn't miss it for the world... Or the Universe, in this case.'
He grinned his familiar goofy grin which caused the Master to scowl and ask somewhat abruptly. 'Who are you?'
Rose moved backwards slightly and tilted her head aside, eyeing the unfamiliar blond male with a similar look of confusion. 'Rose Tyler. Who are you?' Her eyes flicked towards the Doctor again and she raised a brow. 'Another companion?'
'Companion?' The Master snorted, not bothering to keep the offence and obvious jealously off his facial features. 'I'm his... Uh.' What exactly was he to the Doctor? After travelling the Universe together for the past few months, he still wasn't sure where he stood with the other Time Lord. In the end, he just shrugged and continued. 'I mean, I'm the Master.'
'Oh, I heard about you.' Her eyes narrowed slightly as she continued to switch her gaze between both men in front of her. 'The crazy one.'
Smiling widely, and taking her words as a compliment, the Master nodded. 'That's the one.'
Returning her attention to the Doctor now and looking rather concerned, Rose lowered her voice and muttered. 'I know you like the rejects, Doctor, but him?'
Reject? Crazy, he could take. But reject? That stung.
Carefully removing his grip from the Doctor's arm, the Master felt fully sober again, and he knew when he wasn't welcome. 'I'll be in the TARDIS...' He mumbled, not looking at either of them as he quickly and quietly weaved his way through the bar and back outside. The Barcelona heat was still noticeable, though he barely felt it. A cold chill ran down his spine and he wrapped his arms around himself, pointedly ignoring the laughter that came from within the building.
He dragged his feet with no destination in mind and soon found himself on the beach, the setting sun bright and impressive on the horizon. Was Rose here to replace him? Was the Doctor finally sick of him? Exhausted from having to deal with his brokenness? Maybe he was too much of a burden for the other Time Lord to handle, after all.
'Master!'
There he was, coming to tell him that he was no longer needed. Instead of replying, and wanting to stall the inevitable, the Master started walking again, kicking at pebbles and bits of shell.
'Mas-Oh, bloody hell! Why would you call yourself something that sounds so wrong to call out?' The Doctor grumbled to himself as he ran down the beach towards the blond, trench-coat trailing out behind him as his Converse thudded against the soft sand. 'Koschei! Stop before I sonic screwdriver your ass into another dimension!'
Now that didn't sound wrong at all.
The Master finally stopped walking, his expression resembling a grouchy toddler's as he turned to face the Doctor, who had just murdered a sandcastle in his haste to catch up. 'What?' He said coldly when the other Time Lord finally stopped in front of him, looking out of breath and a little bit gorgeous. 'Don't you have places to be going with Rose?' Oh, the jealously was showing itself now, that wasn't good. Carefully rearranging his features into one of indifference, he tried his best to look bored.
'What?' The Doctor looked stunned, his jaw dropping open. It would have been comical if the Master didn't feel so hurt.
'I said - Oh, never mind.' Turning to walk away, he suddenly felt a firm grip on his arm. A second later and he was facing the Doctor again, who now appeared a little pissed off. To put it nicely.
'One, you're jealous.' The Doctor started.
'Well done. Einstein.'
'Two!' The other Time Lord continued, a little louder this time, 'I'm not going anywhere with Rose.'
'Then why is she here?' The Master hissed suspiciously, not quite believing his words and completely showing his jealous side now.
'She's getting married and invited me! She needed something blue.'
'Married?' The Master blinked, slowly processing this bit of information. 'Oh.'
'And thirdly, I love you.' Without needing to say any more, he yanked the Master closer and pressed a deep, somewhat hungry kiss to his lips, which caused the crazy Time Lord to almost melt in his arms.
The Doctor tasted like alcohol but the Master didn't care, he had waited for this moment since they were kids.
'I love you too.' He muttered quietly before pulling the other Time Lord in for a second kiss.