The Master's face was inscrutable as he looked over the Doctor's prone figure. Hunkering down beside him, the Master picked up his phone. "Well aren't you clever! Thought you could get my phone? Now, what would you do with that? Ring the lovely Martha to discuss hairstyles or take it apart and create an anti paradox machine to save the day? Can't have you doing that, now can I?" He gestured to the armed guards. "Secure him."
There was no care or finesse in their treatment of the unconscious Doctor. Two guards roughly bundled him back onto his chair and before long, had him swiftly and securely tied, with his wrists anchored down by his sides to the back legs of the chair.
The Master took a moment to look over his nemesis' current incarnation. The last time they had faced each other, The Doctor looked like an Edwardian Fop, acted like it too… This one looked and acted younger than he ever remembered. Bounding around the control room in the year 100 trillion like a ball of kinetic energy, racing to and from the radiation room without losing breath while blithering Professor Yana bumbled around getting older by the minute. But now he too was young and passionate, charismatic and strong. Everything The Doctor was, and a bit more! On an impulse, The Master placed his fingers on The Doctor's temples. He wanted to know what was going on in that insufferable brain. Know what it was really like to see Gallifrey fall. The Master saw nothing, only a grey funk. "Well unconsciousness will do that to you. We'll just have to wait until you wake up, old friend." The Master addressed the others in the room. "I want you all to leave now. The Doctor and I have a lot to catch up on. Take the Joneses for processing. No point in wasting them." He watched as Clive, Tish and Francine were led out of the room, still struggling, still fighting and he rolled his eyes. "Oh! So stoic and heroic and other words that end in 'oic' that I'm sure will come to me later." He smiled over at Jack who was fighting a losing battle against the guards holding him. "And as for The Captain, here. There's no point in killing him, more's the pity! But if he does try anything you have my permission to start cutting off body parts." Lucy tutted louder than she intended to. "They can start with the fingers, then! Honestly, Lucy!" The Master snaked his arm around his wife's waist, holding her close. Lucy grabbed his face and she kissed him deeply and passionately. The Master only broke their embrace when The Doctor started to stir. "Not that this isn't super fun darling, but I need to spend some quality time with The Doctor." She followed the guards dragging Jack from the room. "And leave him alone!" The Master couldn't help but smile back at her as Lucy gave a little wave on leaving the room. "It's always the quiet ones you have to watch!"
Consciousness returned swiftly and painfully. There wasn't a part of the Doctor that didn't hurt. Every muscle, every nerve ending jarred and his head felt like it had been… Oh right. It had been kicked in. His cheekbone was hot and throbbing. It wasn't broken, but he'd have a hell of a bruise which would go well with the massively distracting headache. The Doctor only realised he was tied up when he attempted to bring a hand up to examine his cheek and the plastic cord dug painfully into his wrist. It was then that he decided to face the inevitable, lift his head from his chest and open his eyes.
"Hello!" The Doctor's senses were assaulted by a voice too loud and too cheery and a hand waving far too close to his face. The Master sat directly opposite him, practically toe to toe. "Nice to see you finally bothered to wake up."
The Doctor looked around the silent boardroom. "Where are Jack and Martha's family?"
"They've been taken care of." The Master said flatly.
"What does that mean?" The Doctor asked, testing the restraints and finding no give in them.
"It means, they've been taken care of." The Master rolled his eyes. "Your concern for them is really touching, but don't you think you should be more concerned with your own predicament?"
"Why? What are you going to do… Kill me? You haven't been able to manage it so far!"
"No, you're right. I've no interest in killing you." The Master patted the Doctor's knee, addressing him like a child. "But I can't have you wandering around, causing trouble, thinking you can escape and save the world from certain doom. It just creates a mess... Oh, and by the way, you didn't get the phone either. Just thought I'd tell you!"
Now it was the Doctor's turn for dry humour. "Oh no. You saw through my cunning plan."
"I usually do."
"And I usually stop you anyway."
The Master stood up and leaned in close to the Doctor's face. "You won't this time."
Had it been anyone else in this situation, they would have believed the Master. The Doctor smiled. "Now where have I heard that before."
The Master stayed close, looking deep into the Doctor's eyes. "It's ironic, you know, that out of all of us, you'd be the one to drop the bomb, pull the plug, blow Gallifrey… Our home, to smithereens." The Doctor's brown eyes darkened as a smile curled on the Master's lips. He sauntered away knowing he'd hit a nerve. "You never told me. What was it like? To hold all that power in your hands, to know that you were about to wipe out millions?"
"You tell me." The Doctor countered. "You're the one who's just killed 600 million."
"Yeah, but they don't count." The Master dismissed the massacre with a wave of his hand. "It's not like any of them were friends, or family. It's not like I just murdered my wife and kids or anyone I ever loved or cared about or anything like that, is it." He strode back to The Doctor and got right back in his face. "Is it?" The Doctor remained silent. "Not smiling now, are you?" The Master leaned in to the Doctor's ear. "Come on…" he whispered. "It's just you and me. No audience. You can tell me anything."
"After you tell me about the Toclafane."
"Quid pro quo, Clarice? Saw that film. Thought it was a bit… melodramatic." The Master sighed, leaning on the arms of the chair, keeping right in on the Doctor, invading his space. "No. Not interested. I want to know about the fall of Gallifrey."
"Gallifrey. It fell." It galled the Doctor to speak with such a cavalier attitude about his home, but he wasn't giving the Master an iota.
Instead of being irritated, The Master started laughing. "Oh you haven't changed. Still so sanctimonious and holier than thou. The Doctor, supreme protector of the Galaxy, still thinking you're so superior to the rest of us." The Master sneered. "I can remember the days when that famous Doctor, he was waging a Time War… battling Sea Devils and Axons. He sealed the rift at Medusa Cascade single handed. And look at him now... How did he ever come to this?" He spoke like he was addressing an audience. "Oh yes! Me! I took your TARDIS, I have your friends… I have you. Not so superior now."
"Oh God." The Doctor let his head fall back and he stared up at the boardroom's ceiling. "Can you just do the DNA manipulator thing again. That way I can hurry up and die of old age and not have to put up with your speechifying." He looked back over at the Master, trying to gauge a reaction. "And it's really not the same, listening to you go off on one without the goatee."
The Master stroked his chin, unphased at the Doctor's outburst. "I experimented for a while after the regeneration, but the spin doctors said it made me look untrustworthy, so in the interests of my political career, it had to go. By the way, I caught up with Sarah Jane Smith last year, when she interviewed me. She was looking rather well, I have to say. Charmed the pants off her… not literally though. Wouldn't do for a married politician to be having it off with a journalist. I don't think even I could have weathered that scandal."
"You seem to have done a lot in the interests of your career." The Doctor said, shifting in the seat, trying to find a position that was a little less uncomfortable on his back and shoulders. "Like Lucy. What did you do to her?"
"Do to her? Same as what you did to your little groupies. I showed her the universe. Took her on a joyride through time and space and showed her the infinite power and possibilities. She thanked me for the opportunity… Thanked me repeatedly and creatively, I hasten to add." The Master grinned, raising an eyebrow. "I promised her I'd make her an Empress. Lucy is by my side of her own volition."
"She's crazier than you!"
"Oh yes." The Master nodded, matter of factly. "A rare gem indeed. Loyal, faithful, loves me utterly… couldn't ask for more. " He chewed his lip, seemingly lost in though for a moment. "So, how about you, Doctor? Still keeping yourself off limits, playing the benevolent paternal figure to any star struck bimbo who passes your way? Can't be easy when you look like that…" The Master traced a finger over the Doctor's uninjured cheekbone. "Or are you finally letting yourself have some fun with Martha… or maybe Jack… or both? I'd say the Captain has shown you a trick or two."
"Ask him nicely and I'm sure he'll show you himself."
"He's a bit tied up at the moment… Another time, maybe." The Master strolled over to the porthole behind where the Doctor was sitting and looked out at the bright blue sky. "It's getting late. I have a lot on for the day what with me, you know, ruling the planet and everything. No more time to waste on idle chit chat and strolls down memory lane, so it's time to get down to business."
Before The Doctor could react, The Master stood directly behind him and placed his fingers on the side of the Doctor's head. A full on, mental assault, tearing through his mind and memories like a tornado through a wooden house. Every door the Doctor closed, The Master kicked in, progressing further and further in to the darker recesses, seeking out the information he wanted. Daleks, Cybermen, planets burning, people screaming, death, destruction, panic, suns exploding, sun consuming, scarecrows, fear, mayhem, chaos, love, happiness, Grace, Benny, Sarah, Lucie, Joan, RoseJackieMickeyPete… Names, faces, all remembered, all loved… All gone.
He was helpless. The Doctor tried throwing his head forward to release the grip, Backwards, side to side… Anything to stop the Master's onslaught through his mind. He tried the same trick Reinette had done on him, to get into the Master's mind, but was brutally pushed out by a stronger will. He screamed, he pleaded, he wept, he begged for it to stop. But only when the Master had had his fill did the torture abate.
The Master slumped into the chair facing the Doctor, loosening his tie and dabbing perspiration from his brow like he'd indulged in an intense workout. His hearts were racing, his body surging with adrenaline from the ride. "I always knew you had a darkness in you." He panted, grinning as the Doctor remained slumped over in his chair, trembling and gasping for breath. "I just never knew how dark." The Doctor flinched as The Master placed a gentle hand on his cheek. "It's magnificent." Blood dripped down The Doctor's limp fingers onto the floor from his wrists. He'd struggled so hard to keep the Master out that he'd broken the skin around the restraints. The Master knew there was little point in beating him or any other physical tortures, but anything the Doctor did to himself in the process was a bonus. He also knew The Doctor was close to breaking. Most wouldn't have survived what he'd done. It made it even more delicious that he'd get to keep going in again and again until the Doctor snapped. Tipping Doctor's head up, he looked him in the eye, before preparing for round two. "The next time you say my name, you'll mean it." And the mental storm raged again.
The Doctor tried, he tried so hard to keep the Master out of places he had no right to be. Invading his thoughts, his privacy, his precious memories. The wonders of a frozen planet, the majesty of a second sunrise over the forests, a dance in a French Court, the scent of applegrass, the smile of a girl lost forever… No amount of mental abuse would make The Doctor give them up. He just had to hold on to them, preserve what little strength he had left in the belief that Martha would somehow make a difference, he still had to cling to the hope…
"What?" The Master exclaimed, breaking the connection. "Hope? With all that's gone on around you today?" He laughed loudly. "And they said I was the crazy one!" He bent down and grabbing the Doctor by the hair, stared into his glassy, unfocussing eyes. His old foe teetered on the brink of unconsciousness but the Master wouldn't allow him that luxury. "You cling to your fairy tales, your belief that good will triumph over evil, that the hero will rescue the damsel in distress. Trust me, nobody's coming to your rescue, Doctor!"
And as, once again, The Doctor's agonised screams reverberated around the boardroom, the Master whispered, "This time there'll be no happy ending."
Fin