Disclaimer:If I owned Doctor who, I wouldn't write fanfictions. I would kidnap David Tennant and force him to come back to Doctor Who xD
Rating: M, but only for one scene in the eighth chapter^^
Summary: AU after End of Time. The Doctor survives, and so does the Master. My try to portray their difficult relationship. Master/Doctor friendship
A/N: Well … I finally made a choice and will show you this little story that came to my mind a few weeks ago. Basically, it is my view how End of Time should have ended (I'm not the first one trying this, I know)
However, as I had finished the first few chapters (yeah, this story will really consist of more than one chapter. Promised. I'm working on Chapter 4 for the "original" in German at the moment, so I've just to translate the already written chapters :D ), I noticed that I had left out completely our poor Wilf, and I just couldn't find a way how to integrate him in the completed chapters. So I decided to leave him out entirely, you are free to think about a way that he didn't end in this spooky Vinvocci-thingy xD
By the way, the title of my story was inspired by the "Big Question"-clip with John Simm (Adventure Calendar Day 28) where Simm characterizes the relationship between the Doctor and the Master with those words. I think that it fits perfectly.
Two Sides of the Same Coin
Chapter One – Live
He gasped, waiting for something to come. But there was nothing.
He had not changed.
"I'm alive," he said with a smile, moving his hands in front of his face. Still so many scars and brushes.
"I didn't … There was … I'm still alive!" he screamed at thin air.
Well, not that thin.
On the other side of the room, where the white sphere had been just a moment ago, lay the Master. He did not move, just lay there like he was forgotten with his face to the wall.
The Doctor tried to stand up, but he felt as if the whole universe was dancing around him. He thought that it would be a lot safer when the floor was not that far away, and crawled.
"Master?"
As the addressee did not react, the Doctor moved faster.
"Master?" The voice of the Doctor nearly broke down as he reached the other Time Lord.
He turned the Master on the back and touched his chest. Two heartbeats. A little irregular, but they were strong. He lived and was probably just unconscious.
"Master, wake up …" The Doctor suppressed the impulse to shake him. It wouldn't have helped either. He did not know what he should do or think. This was his nemesis, and yet he only saw the little boy who had been afraid of the dark and had backed him when he had nightmares.
"Koschei …" The name was whispered; a memory of a long past childhood.
The unconscious Time Lord shivered; a quiet groan, flickering eyelids.
"I've said already, don't call me this name …" It was barely a whisper from the Master, but his mind seemed to work properly.
"Charming as ever …" the Doctor said, and a wide grin appeared quickly on his face. He had been given another chance.
The eyes of the Master opened to small slots and examined the Doctor, whose face hovered above him like a grinning sun.
"Rassilon … I wish I had at least got rid of you …" the Master smirked. The Doctor was always there if he felt really crappy. He turned his head to look round, but regretted the movement immediately. Damn, had a Judoon just trampled over his head? So it had to be the face of the Doctor again. Scratches over scratches and yet he kept this utterly daft smile.
"Why are you grinning so daftly?"
The Doctor's smile died within the blink of an eye.
"Eh … I'm just so happy … I'm still alive!" Great. The Doctor was lost for words.
"Yeah, I see that too … and my delight knows no bounds!" The Master tried to sit up. The headache was not getting better, but everything was better than to allow the Doctor the satisfaction of being so helpless.
"Why's that?" The Doctor withdrew for the Master to have a little more space. Sitting cross-legged on the ground he watched as the other Time Lord tried to sit up.
"Maybe … because I'm so very happy to see you again?" the Master said with a smirk, "I'd hoped that your next regeneration wouldn't be that– Argh!" The Master grasped his chest; his face became a skeleton for a short moment.
The Doctor became abruptly aware what had happened the seconds before the white sphere had disappeared.
The life energy. Nearly exhausted.
He quickly slipped back to the Master, who panted for air, and supported him before he passed out again and hit his head on the hard stone floor.
The Master groaned and tried to detach himself from the Doctor's embrace, but he was too weak.
"Déjà-vu …" The Master spluttered the three syllables painfully and his face changed two times to the skeleton and back.
"I know … but this time … I won't let you leave me again … not this time!"
And from somewhere, the Doctor did not know how, he took the strength to heave the Master. The latter was more than one time on the verge of loosing his footing, but somehow they managed to reach the Tardis. The Master flashed the other Time Lord a slightly amazed glance before another wave of pain hit his body. The Doctor brought him into the Tardis.
"Had I known it would be so easy, I'd let myself injure that badly earlier", the Master muttered.
The Doctor did not answer, but a small grin scurried over his lips.
The last meters in the Tardis to the infirmary were the worst. The Master tripped again and again; it became harder for him to breath and he changed every second to the skeleton and back. A very odd thought shot through his mind: Why didn't he just regenerate?
But before he could frame an answer, one of his hearts stopped and everything went black.
*+DW+*
You know, I will be translating the next chapters more quickly if I get a lot of reviews :D