The Boy With The Beat, a doctor who fanfic

Author's Note: Hello there! So, this is my very first Doctor Who fanfiction, so please don't bite my head off... I'm going to do my best, since I've only just started the series, but I'm so in love with it, I just had to give this a try! I'm working with basic knowledge of Current Who, and I'm doing research on Classic, but if I get some things wrong, let me know! Please R&R and let me know how I'm doing! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, or any of the characters... just my awkward little plot.

Summary: This is a little complicated. The first chapter is post End of Time, but in this AU version, The Master chose to go traveling with The Doctor instead of taking over the world. However his condition has not improved at all, and so in an attempt to soothe him, The Doctor tells him a story of when they were younger. The main plot of the story revolves around The Doctor and The Master growing up together in the Time Lord Academy.

Chapter One: The Sound of Drums

One. Two. Three. Four.

Over and over again.

One, two, three, four.

He closed his eyes, doing his best to shut out the rest of the world. To shut out the drums.

Onetwothreefour

"Master?"

The Time Lord's eyes snapped open and after a moment, found their focus on the man in front of him. He was tall and very thin, with wavy dark-brown hair. His brown eyes, only a few inches from The Master's own, reflected concern. The Master blinked and shifted slightly, pushing a few strands of white blond hair away from his eyes. His companion gave him a worried smile.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine," he said, shaking his head. "I'm just fine."

One. Two. Three. Four.

One, two, three, four.

Onetwothreefour

He looked up again, a bitter smile flickering at the corner of his mouth. He could taste the lie; metallic and cold on the tip of his tongue, mixing with suppressed anger, and hurt. Because in truth, The Master was not fine. Better than he had been in years past, yes, and not quite so alone... but there were always the drums.

"You promised it would stop," he said softly, not taking his eyes from his companion's. The accusation was clear in his voice, and even sharper in his eyes.

"You told me if we traveled together, you could help me..."

'But you didn't,' he thought angrily. 'You've done nothing. You haven't saved me yet.'

The two men stared at each other in silence for a moment, before the dark haired man reached out and took The Master by the hand.

"Come on."

Onetwothreefour

"So... Do you want to talk about it?"

"It's nothing new," Master said sharply, keeping his unseeing gaze fixed ahead of him. He heard the man beside him let out a small sigh, and felt a surge of anger flare up within him. He knew what was coming. He knew the turn that the conversation was about to take, and would have given anything to stop it. If he'd heard it once, he'd heard it a hundred thousand times, in every corner of the galaxy, and there was no way he was going to be lectured right then and there.

"Master-"

"There's nothing wrong with me," he snapped before his companion could finish.

"There's nothing wrong, I just- J-just tell me you can hear it too! Either tell me you can hear it, or make it go away!"

Onetwothreefour

He flinched. It was louder now. Faster. Almost unbearably so.

"The drums," he hissed, pressing his hands over his ears as the sound intensified. "Those damn drums! Onetwothreefour! Onetwothreefour! All the time, that's all I ever hear! Every day! Onetwothreefour! Onetwothreefour!"

A searing pain rippled through his head, and he let out a small, whimpering cry. He shut his eyes tight, shaking and struggling to control his rapid breathing while the drums continued to race inside his head. Almost immediately, The Master felt a pair of comforting arms wrap around him as his companion pulled him into a tight hug. He didn't return the hug, but he did relax slightly and slowly opened his eyes again.

"Doctor..."

His voice was barely above a whisper. The pain was fading, and the drums began to slow. Master looked up, scanning the man before him, looking for any trace of some unnamed, inexplicable thing in his eyes. Surely he had heard it too? But there was no sign of it in his eyes.

"Doctor... Doctor, you promised..." he whispered, unable to keep the tremor out of his voice. "You promised."

"Master, I-... I'm sorry," The Doctor murmured, still holding his fellow Time Lord tight against his chest. "I am so sorry."

There was a very long silence, and neither one moved for several minutes. The only sound in the room was that of their combined breathing, and the occasional beep or purr of the TARDIS. The Doctor looked around. He and the Master had only been traveling together for about a month, after he had managed to convince the Time Lord to disassemble his 'Master Race', and things hadn't gotten any easier since then. The Master had proven himself to be an incredibly spontaneous person, and his mood was prone to change drastically at the drop of a pin. Still The Doctor didn't mind. In fact, he was thrilled to have another traveling partner, even moreso now that he was traveling with an old friend. But that wasn't enough to stop him from worrying about The Master. He had hoped that showing him all that the universe had to offer would have helped the man, and to an extent, it had. But 'the drums' seemed to be bothering his friend more and more as the days went by, and The Doctor couldn't help but wonder if the rapid changes of scene were somehow making his situation worse.

He let out another small sigh, and glanced down at The Master, who was still staring blankly ahead at the wall of the TARDIS. Shifting slightly, The Doctor brought him over to the seat by the main controls, and sat him down, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Do you want to talk about something else?" he asked quietly. The Master said nothing, but gave the slightest of nods. The Doctor smiled weakly.

"Anything in particular?"

He received no response.

"We could discuss travel plans? Why don't we swing by the 1920s? We could go dancing! I love dancing, don't you? I remember you being a very good dancer..."

Still no answer.

"I could tell you a story?"

The Master still said nothing, but The Doctor could have sworn he caught sight of the slightest hint of amusement in his eyes. Grinning, he leaned against the control panel.

"A story, eh? Alright... I could tell you about the time Rose and I-... No... wait, I've told you all my Rose stories, haven't I? Um... What about when Martha and I fought the Sontarans? Or when I met Donna! You'd like that story, I'm sure you would!"

When he didn't receive an answer, or even a blink from The Master, he decided to switch tactics.

"Or I could talk about you and me?" he said softly. "Do you remember how we first met? You must remember that... I'm sure you do..."

Catching sight of the slightest hint of interest in his companion's eyes, The Doctor continued.

"I could always start with, 'It was a dark and stormy night,' couldn't I?" he joked, "But we both know it wasn't... it was a long time ago, wasn't it? Back at the Academy..."