The Doctor presses his lips to Jack's. He growls insistently and pushes Jack back against the wall, demanding more. They are both lost in the moment, knowing quite well who's watching but not caring. These times are so rare now the have to make the most of them. The guards will come soon and drag the Doctor away to be re-aged and kept in the prison. But here and now is what matters. It has too.

The Master has been allowing them this small comfort for a few weeks. They are quite aware of how easily they Master could take it away from them so they don't disobey. Jack screams when the Master kills him and the Doctor is submissive. All for a few hours a day.

Of course the Master would never do this without something to gain, they both know. Knowing he couldn't get into the Doctor's mind, he had turned on Jack and, finding his way blocked by the power of the vortex, swore that he would rip it to shreds.

The Master had brought the Doctor down into the hull of the Valiant for the day that he thought he would break Jack. Jack hadn't understood what the Master wanted to do but, as the Doctor started screaming for the Master to stop, he knew it couldn't be good.

He had automatically set up his time agent defence barriers and found that the Master could not breach them. It was only when he found not only the Master but the Doctor looking at him like he had bananas growing out of his eyes that he realised that he had done something he shouldn't have.

Neither timelord had realised that the vortex was so strong in Jack that it would protect him from any mental invasion that he didn't want. And the vortex was strong enough to stop even a timelord.

So this was how Jack got to be nuzzling the Doctor's neck at five thirty on a Tuesday morning. The Master had seen a wavering from the time vortex protection when he had had sex with Lucy right in front of Jack. Not ideal but the secret was there. If the Doctor could somehow lower his defences just enough then the Master would be able to get in and wreak havoc.

And the Doctor and Jack, idiots that they were, had not noticed his plot. Or they would surely have stopped what they were doing. Wouldn't they? It would never cross the Doctor's mind that the vortex would be weakened by sex and Jack's eyes were only for the Doctor.

The Master knew that the Doctor and Jack connected when they did this. Jack let down his mental barriers and accepted the Doctor but try as the Master might he could not get through at the same time.

But as the Master watched the Doctor's and Jack's latest meeting come to a close the vortex had definitely shifted, creating what the Master would call:

"A Master criminal sized hole."

It was just large enough for him to push through into the world beyond. He paused, savouring the moment and entered. It seemed right that he should invade Jack's mind while the Doctor was invading his body.

The Master was planning to tear through Jack's mind, ripping holes in the surface and burning the layers beneath. But he hadn't given a thought to who Jack was. What he'd find there.

So much pain. Pain was all he could think, all he could feel. The drums were gone but they had been replaced by something worse. The vortex was flooding through his mind and the one word that was echoing through his head was:

"INTRUDER!"

The Master screamed and backed out of Jack's mind. Through the haze that was his vision he could see the screen that he had been watching the Doctor and Jack on. The Doctor was clutching at Jack, repeating something over and over.

"Stop. Stop. Stop."

There was a pause in everything but it was shattered by the Doctor's pleading voice.

"Don't hurt him."

The haze cleared and the Master saw Jack glance at the Doctor. He looked disgusted. The Doctor went to hug him but Jack flung him across the room and stormed out to make his way back to his cell.

The Master smiled. Even though he had paid dearly. He now had them both.