Title: For the Master Was
Author: Demon
Rating: T+
Warning: PRE-EoT, IMMEDIATELY post-WoM with minor spoilers for the following trailer, maybe, if you squint…
A/N: I brought comfort!Master with me today. Comfort!Master is a mythical creature invented by unhappy fangirls. From what we can tell, comfort!Master is a mutation of Simm!Master, sans drums, and with a penchant for Doctor-y things. I brought him to remind me that failing Stat right now would not be the end of the world. He plans to end the world at half past four tomorrow. It's been nice knowing you .
1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4
The Doctor wrestled with his sheets, his sleep corrupt and fraught with terror.
1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, and laughter.
Terrible laughter. The laugh of a man he knew was dead. It couldn't be…
The Doctor shot up in bed, panic stricken and sweating. Round and round about his head spun images of Mars, of what he'd done, of sounds, the gun, his own voice, and now, the drums…
He clutched at his sheets, but the room was silent, the whole TARDIS was silent, there was only the sound of his own guilt, in his head…
He lay back down, breathing heavy. He couldn't sleep, but he couldn't do anything either without seeing the blood on his hands. Like Lady Macbeth… That's what he was a… a… murderer. Tears filled his eyes and he closed them, wishing desperately for sleep.
1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4 louder, and the laughter, closer than it was before.
The Doctor screamed and pulled the covers tight over his head, trying futilely to make it go away.
1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4!HA HA HA HA!
The Doctor leapt out of bed, grabbing his sonic screwdriver. He shone its blue light on everything, but nothing; there was nothing out of place. Then a crash, above him. He ran out to the control room looking for something, anything, to prove it'd been real. He searched the whole floor, nothing, but then another crash from below, his room again. What was this? Some horrible avenging time angel sent to torment him? "…we're fighting time itself… AND I'M GONNA WIN!" his words echoed horrifically in his mind. Had he really believed that? Fighting time… he sounded like… like…
The laughter got louder and louder as he got closer to his room, inside his room, and now it sounded like someone standing beside him…
"The law of time are mine! AND THEY WILL OBEY ME!"
The Doctor collapsed in the dark and foreboding TARDIS, blind and deaf to his struggles.