The Time Fitz Met The Master

Fitz felt his legs burning as he sprinted after the Doctor's coat tails, desperate to keep the crazed man in sight as they zipped through aisles of boxes and junk in the huge warehouse. They both ducked when a searing blaster bolt flew overhead and crashed into a pile of cardboard setting it aflame immediately. The Doctor changed direction abruptly and Fitz ducked in after him; he looked over his shoulder briefly and was relieved to see their pursuer wasn't in sight.

Fitz gasped aloud as he was suddenly pulled down to the ground, and he was about to exclaim when the Doctor put a finger to his lips and indicated for him to stay schtum. They were both out of breath although it was affecting Fitz more than the Time Lord; he was surprised the Doctor didn't take the chance to make a comment about his smoking. Now they'd stopped running Fitz wanted answers.

"Doctor who the hell is that guy?" They both ducked down when a shot sailed far over their heads; probably shot to make them reveal their positions.

The Doctor snuck along the aisle quietly as if he was looking for something. Eventually he stopped near a plastic casing and Fitz was baffled as the Doctor broke into the casing and started fiddling with wires. Had the Doctor even heard him?

"It's a long story." The Doctor finally muttered with his arm's fully drowning in electrical cabling.

"Well I think I deserve to know who's trying to kill me." Fitz whispered harshly as his wild eyes searched for their pursuer.

They both started at a new voice; the words echoing round huge warehouse in a sing-song tone. "Oh Doctor, you can't hide in here forever!"

The Doctor scowled in the direction of the voice and pulled Fitz further into cover; piercing gaze sweeping over their immediate surroundings for the source of the voice. It was impossible to pinpoint with the echoing effect. Fitz's mouth hung open agape as he realised their pursuer had just called the Doctor by name.

"So he knows you?" Fitz squeaked trying to stay quiet. His brain still hadn't fully caught up to the fact that he was being hunted.

The Doctor looked pained for a moment. "Intimately."

Before Fitz could exclaim at the shocking words there was a gun shot nearby and sparks rained down on both of them. That shot had come from close to them, far too close. The Doctor grabbed Fitz urgently and dragged him along running to another aisle. Fitz felt like a rat scurrying away and he was hating every second of this death trap.

"Come on Doctor, show yourself." The voice sounded angrier and was accompanied by some more random shots. Their pursuer was getting restless.

Fitz cowered as another random shot hit near their position determined not to make any sound to give away their new location. He watched as the Doctor took apart another circuit board and fiddled with some more wiring. Fitz had had enough of this game; he grabbed the Doctor. "You need to tell me what the hell is going on."

The Doctor looked distressed that Fitz was holding his hands and withholding his access to the panel. "Not now Fitz."

Fitz insisted strongly. "Short version's fine."

The Doctor glared at his friend and tried to dislodge Fitz' firm grip, but Fitz didn't budge he needed answers. The Doctor looked around desperately and realised he didn't have the time to debate and deliberate. "Fine short version. He's a Time Lord called the Master, I've known him all my life and he's tried to kill me countless times, once or twice he's actually succeeded. He's the most evil, manipulative, conniving being I've ever encountered. He's a megalomaniac, and technically a war criminal in a dozen or so galaxies, oh yes and he has aspirations to take over the universe."

The Doctor had rambled faster than a million words a minute and was red-faced by the end of his rant. Fitz hadn't seen the Doctor prattle so quickly in quite some time, and he could see this Master guy really got under his skin.

"Now can I go back to saving our lives?" The Doctor hissed urgently pulling on Fitz' unrelenting grip.

Fitz reluctantly let go of the Doctor's hands and let him get back to whatever the hell he was doing; it was clear these were the only answers Fitz was going to get out of the Time Lord in the middle of all this action. He waited silently for the Doctor to finish what he was doing when something hit him; it was too quiet.

The Doctor realised the quietness too and noticed the approaching footsteps just before Fitz did, he grabbed his companion's shoulder urgently spinning him round. A blaster bolt hit and exploded where they had just been standing and Fitz realised that had been a close call.

"Jesus." Fitz exclaimed looking back at the smouldering area.

The Doctor dragged him along and they sprinted and leaped over piles of junk, just being missed by blaster bolts for a few minutes. "Quiet." The Doctor hissed urgently as they hid in an alcove and caught their breath.

They both breathed deeply as they leaned against their new cover and listened for signs of pursuit, Fitz heart was racing and he realised how dangerous this situation was. The Master wasn't giving up and he clearly hated the Doctor more than the usual run of the mill pursuers.

"I see you've found yourself a new pet Doctor, not sure if I like this one." The Master drawled.

The Doctor crouched down and made his way quietly towards another junction box. Fitz followed silently all the while keeping a look out for the mysterious Master. As the Doctor dove into wires again Fitz had to restrain himself from asking what exactly the Doctor was doing.

Fitz then realised what the Master had just said. "Hang on a minute did he just call me your pet?" Fitz hissed angrily at the Doctor.

"Don't take it personally, he's trying to rattle you." The Doctor muttered absently, arm's deep in wires.

"He's trying to kill me!" Fitz countered heatedly, struggling to keep his cool. The Doctor swore as a cable sparked and left a nasty burn on his hand. "If I wasn't with you he wouldn't be trying to kill me."

The Doctor grabbed Fitz' arm again and pulled him along. He was really sick of being shoved round like a rag doll. They stopped in another aisle and crouched down low below some boxes. "Trust me Fitz, the Master would kill you if you were with or without me. He likes to kill you see, finds it a hobby."

Fitz thought the Doctor was joking and that the Time Lord had finally grown a sense of humour, but when he looked at his friend he saw that he was deadly serious. Christ. The Doctor suddenly grabbed his shoulder and pushed him down, hushing him in the process before he could protest about being manhandled again. Fitz saw why when he heard footsteps and saw a glimpse of black through a crack in the aisle. The Master was close, far too close.

"I know you're close Doctor…" The Master sang happily.

The Doctor clamped his hand over Fitz' mouth because clearly humans breathed too both waited silently as the man strolled away continuing the hunt, stalking his prey with a god-damned grin on his face. Fitz caught site of the blaster that had been trying to murder him and he shivered at the size of it.

When the Master was out of hearing range Fitz pulled his mouth away and took in a large gulp of air; they couldn't all have a respiratory bypass like a Time Lord. He whispered urgently. "How are we going to get out of here Doctor?"

The Doctor threw him a dazzling smile and produced his sonic screwdriver. "Same as always Fitz."

That bloody smile infuriated Fitz and the Doctor knew that. It also didn't fill Fitz with an awful lot of confidence.

"Distract and run!" With no further warning the Doctor pressed a button on the screwdriver and suddenly the warehouse was alight with explosions and sounds. All the wiring… Fitz belatedly realised, god knows what the Doctor had done to it all but it was definitely a distraction.

The Doctor grabbed his hand this time and scampered off in a direction which Fitz sincerely hoped would lead to an exit and the TARDIS. They sprinted as fast as they could and ducked when blaster fire shot their way, Fitz and the Doctor made it out of the warehouse by the skin of their teeth and miraculously collapsed into the TARDIS without any blaster-sized holes in them. Fitz wasn't exactly sure how they made it and his skin felt singed from a near miss but the Doctor had done it again. He was an annoying bastard sometimes but he was good in a pinch, he was a miracle worker.

Later on that evening when they had recovered from the ordeal and shock, well when Fitz had recovered the Doctor didn't seem to be affected by anything as far as Fitz could see, Fitz decided to track down the Doctor. The TARDIS was in flight and hopefully flying far away from the chaos they had just left. Fitz wandered the dark TARDIS halls until he stumbled upon the Doctor in the library; his head in a book sitting like he'd just had a relaxing day. The man didn't have a hair out of place and how he could look so calm after a near death experience was beyond Fitz.

Fitz wandered in quietly and took a seat directly opposite the Doctor; the Time Lord didn't even acknowledge his presence so Fitz broke the silence. "So…"

The Doctor peered over the top of the book and glanced up at Fitz, finally noticing his companions presence with a confused look. The Doctor took the meaning of getting lost in a good book to a whole new level.

"So?" The Doctor parroted back.

He can't not know what I want to talk about. Fitz thought grimly.

"The Master?" Fitz prompted leaning forward in his seat.

The Doctor's expression changed instantly to one of understanding. He closed the book lightly and rested it in his lap. "Ah, that."

Fitz scoffed incredulously. "Yes, that little matter of him trying to kill us."

The Doctor waved his companion off. "I told you not to take that personally Fitz, he would have tried to kill you no matter where he met you."

Fitz laughed darkly. "Well that's a comfort."

The Doctor shrugged noncommittally, and returned to his book.

"How can you be so calm? your sworn arch-nemesis/old friend/crazy person tried to kill us." Fitz exasperated and felt his temper flare; he hated it when the Doctor didn't take things like this seriously.

The Doctor shrugged nonchalantly. "Like I told you it's not the first time he's tried that." He flicked over a page in his book. "Besides we're not dead are we?" He then flashed that winning smile which always charmed the socks of everyone he met.

It didn't work on Fitz. He let a bit of heat into his tone so the Doctor would know he was actually getting quite cross at the Time Lord's flippancy. "That's it? That's all you've got to say."

The Doctor sighed heavily and glanced over the top of his book at Fitz. "There's nothing else to say Fitz, the short version covered just about everything."

Fitz couldn't believe it, he wasn't really going to leave it there was he? "You've got to be joking, you can't just drop a bombshell on me like that and expect me to accept that as the end."

"I'm sorry Fitz, I don't know what else to tell you." The Doctor didn't look even remotely sorry, in fact the git was smiling like he was enjoying Fitz' reaction. The Time Lord returned to his book which was his way of telling Fitz that the conversation was over.

So that's how you're going to play this…

Fitz jumped to his feet sharply and fought down the urge to shout. "I know there's something more going on between you and this Master, and I'm going to find out what it is."

When the Doctor failed to show any reaction to the words Fitz stormed off out of the library; he needed a cigarette and by god he needed to be around normal people again before he truly lost it for good. With the haste Fitz tore off at he completely missed the Doctor's sardonic whispered words.

"Good luck, I've been trying for centuries."