I wish I had the answers


Not at all certain when the Doctor – or the Master – was going to emerge from the TARDIS, the Brigadier arranged a quick briefing with Captain Harkness and his men in order to understand what the Axons situation was at that point in time.

He had to admit, at the end of it all, that it looked quite worrisome in fact, still he had to agree with Captain Yates when he had pointed out that with the Master's help – willing or unwilling - everything would have been more than manageable. On the other hand, however, the Master now seemed to be absorbed by a completely different challenge and, if he was –like he assumed - anything like the Doctor, he couldn't really dislike the presence of the immortal Captain among them, no matter the consequences on a temporal level.

Unfortunately, even though Jack used a way less technical approach and jargon than the Doctor's, he still spoke in a way that the Brigadier wasn't really able to understand fully. All things considered, they would really have better to wait for the Doctor to emerge from the TARDIS or for the Master to take pity on them.

Better if both.

Just to be certain that he had done absolutely everything in his power, however, the Brigadier sent a message to Geneva to brief them too on the upcoming mission and to have reinforcements sent his way in case the situation derailed.

In the meanwhile, the two Time Lords had reached some sort of understanding, particularly about the way the Master was allowed to dress, if they really wanted to have some proper work done. Unfortunately, in order to reach that essential concession, why the Master felt some kind of connection with Jack's deceased lover became a taboo topic.

Nevertheless, it wasn't a pressing matter, and the Doctor was certain that he could find a way to get the information he wanted once back into the bedroom together or after he had stripped the Master of his clothes in one of the hundreds rooms at his disposal, whichever came first.

As soon as he wasn't dressed in a way that distracted the Doctor even more than he usually did, the Master offered to explain the main focus of his plan to lift some of the burden from the Captain Harkness' shoulders and from the Doctor's guilt list: getting back to the livings Captain Harkness' boyfriend.

The Doctor didn't like the plan so described one single bit, his main reason being that his former companion was now a fixed point in time and therefore they weren't supposed to interfere.

The Master simply pointed out that, if they were to follow the rules of no-interference and counterparts, they would still be living under the glass dome of the Time Lords' citadel on Gallifrey. The Doctor couldn't pinpoint any better retort to that one.

Annoyed and irritated – not to mention slightly aroused – as he was, the Doctor grudgingly put himself to work on his own task, still stealing surreptitious glances at the Master, who was dangerously tangling himself in too many cables and bare wires to make him feel at ease.

Considering that Jack was his former – future - companion and that the task seemed intellectually challenging as much as for a good cause, the Doctor really wanted to help his friend with it… But he really couldn't. No wonder that his future regeneration had eventually chosen to help Jack an intellectually cooperative version of the Master and a Doctor that couldn't really give speeches against the feelings of someone stranded like he currently was.

As soon as he had in his hands all the data he could get from the TARDIS about the Axons' current whereabouts, the Doctor decided to join his friends outside, actually following through the Master's suggestion to leave everything else to him.

"Here I am" The Doctor greeted eventually, feeling suddenly abashed as he noticed all his friends sitting around the same table and staring at him, just like they were waiting for some kind of answer. What was worse was that, while he had been inside the TARDIS, Jo had apparently joined the group and had been briefed about the current situation. The Doctor's love affair included.

After some moments to consider his options, he just took a deep breath and sat among them, putting the records he had printed in the middle of the table to show the data properly to everyone in the group.

"And here are the records from the TARDIS" The Doctor continued subdued, still unable to look his friends in the eyes.

"It's really fine with us, Doctor" Jo said kindly, deciding to address the problem straight on, instead of going on talking awkwardly until it would have been too much for any of them. "We can't really tell you who to care for, can we?"

The Doctor dared to steal a glance in her direction and a small smile found his way on his lips, only to fade soon after.

"You have every right to not be fine with it, actually" The Doctor countered plainly, as if he was stating a fact. "Even though you're right… Even I can't tell myself to stop caring for him"

"I can understand that, Doc" Jack offered sympathetically, placing a callous hand over the Doctor's unbelievably smooth one. "Ianto's dream for some time was to see me dying… Yet we fell in love with one another despite what was sensible being leader and underling"

The Doctor stared back at the Captain, rising a suspicious yet gracious eyebrow in his direction.

"Did he really?"

"Oh yeah, Doctor" Jack told him, offering him his biggest and saddest smile. "You inspired me to find a way to be a hero… But I'm not really good at it. I'm not a good person, and the Brigadier can vouch for me on this one"

The Doctor's stare turned to the Brigadier, who just offered them a knowing smile and shook his head.

"Captain Harkness is a man of duty and as such he acts" He explained plainly, staring proudly back at Jack. "The whole army respects him for that, deep down"

"That's why they fear me" Jack finished what the Brigadier couldn't allow himself to say. "Ianto was the only one who actually succeeded making me kind… Or at least, he helped me feeling something when I couldn't follow up to my initial intentions. See? You're not the only one with a love life morally questionable"

The Doctor simply nodded, his mind full of thoughts as he tried to put together what he had just learned with what the Master had told him before, about his own interpretation of The Plan. If Jack was right, wasn't this Ianto supposed to be more akin to himself than to the Master?

Eventually, the Doctor just shook his head: he had time to think about this later. This particular matter was the Master's, at the moment, what they had to think about was just the Axons escaping their time loop.

Hoping that all that thinking was enough to convince at least himself, the Doctor shouldered his friend's acceptance of his betrayal and proceeded to explain them the whereabouts of the enemy aliens. That, put together with the information provided by Jack, appeared to be a good point to start discussing some feasible plans.

They all worked non-stop until midday. The Doctor, flanked by Jo, was preparing a well-refined mechanism to put the Axons in a more definitive time loop, while the Brigadier and Jack busied themselves preparing both the strategy to make the aliens falling into their trap and what to do in the off chance that they didn't manage to follow through their plan.

The Doctor had been mildly disappointed realising that Jack too was one of those companions who weren't of much help in his scientific experiments, but couldn't say much else when the Captain just pointed out that at his Torchwood he had recruited his boyfriend exactly for that reason.

Why each time the Doctor said something it only lead to Jack talking about his lost lover? And why did he feel so guilty about it? Was guilt something so timeless that he could feel it even though it was something caused by one of his future regenerations? Was the Master feeling the same?

"Doctor?" Jo called him eventually, bringing him out of his reverie. "It's lunch time, you know…"

"Yes, Jo. If you want to go, you may go. Don't worry" He offered, smiling gently at her as he caressed her head paternally.

"It's not really what I meant" Jo attempted to say embarrassedly. "You know, maybe… Do you think that… I don't know, maybe the Master would like to join?"

The Doctor stared at Jo, startled by her words. He hadn't really forgotten that his lover was working with alacrity inside his TARDIS - far from it considering how frequently he had gone checking whether he was still alive or not - but he hadn't really thought possible an offer of that kind. The idea of the Master joining the rest of the group outside seemed almost illegal.

Both Time Lords had somehow supposed that the TARDIS could be treated as a neutral area, and that UNIT and Jack's declaration of acceptance was just a pronouncement of intentions to respect such neutrality. The invitation to the Master to join them for lunch was something the Doctor was completely unprepared for.

And yet, he realised, he yearned for it, just as much as he was certain that the Master would just politely decline.

"I'll go asking him" The Doctor answered her eventually, attempting a soft smile that didn't really reach his eyes.

It still seemed to be enough for Jo, who just nodded and gave him the biggest smile she could muster before going to join the others. The Doctor simply shook his head at his companion's joyful behaviour and entered the TARDIS, rolling his eyes at the shaking heap of cables amassed in front of the console.

"Are you fine under all that?" The Doctor questioned the pile, grimacing at it in disdain.

The mass of cables shook irritated, and after a while from the depth of it emerged the Master.

"I almost got the right ones" The Master pointed out with dignity, clutching in his hands a rainbow of colourful wires. "If you learned not to leave a mess of your laboratory and your resources, I wouldn't be stooping so low to get what I need"

"I suppose it's not the right time to point out that those cables in particular came from your own TARDIS" The Doctor teased amused, taking away from the Master's hair a stray wire left forgotten.

The Master freed himself from the rest of the mess of cables and wires, and then closed up the distance between himself and the Doctor, staring up at him with a defiant expression on his face.

"You're right, Doctor, it's not really the right time"

The Doctor chuckled at his lover and left a compliant light peck on his lips.

"Jo wondered whether you wished to join the others for lunch or not. We could go together"

"I do appreciate you kisses, my dear. Still they are not enough to make me heading straight to my own execution" The Master stated plainly, as he moved once again back to the TARDIS console, in order to link up two of the wires he had retrieved to the neutron flow main gate, which he was currently using to charge two small circuit boards. "A higher form of retribution, perhaps, would be better suited for the task" He offered, though.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, but followed the Master's movements appreciatively, especially as his lover plainly bent over the TARDIS console to do his task, giving him a good view of his perfect backside. He tried his best to get a grip on himself, and then reached the Master at the console, enveloping him in his arms from behind.

"C'mon, would you come?"

The Master shifted uncomfortably in his arms, interrupting the work he was doing with his sonic welding torch and pressing his back against his lover's chest instead.

"You know that I would really like to come" The Master teased, his brown eyes shining with mischief. "Still, it wouldn't be to lunch"

The Doctor hid his face in the crook of his lover's neck, sounding yielding to say the least.

"I'll make you come as much as you want: now, later or tonight. But I would really appreciate having lunch with the others together with you"

"You're asking a lot from me, my dear" The Master said, heaving a sigh as he turned to stare properly at the Doctor. "I'm currently helping you, but who knows what the future will bring. You can't ask this to them. For us, you know… is just who we are"

"Can't the future just bring happiness?" The Doctor protested awkwardly, swallowing hard. "If we work together, I'm sure that one day I will even be able to find a cure for you"

The Master smiled lovingly at him as he caressed lightly his jaw.

"My dear Doctor, so trusting and kind" He said as an afterthought, reaching up to him to kiss him deeply on the lips. "I'll come with you, if it's so important to you. But just this once"

"It's-" The Doctor attempted to explain himself, still not entirely sure about what he was thinking and feeling. "It is important, for me. I never really realised how much until Jo asked me…"

"I do know you Doctor, I'm honestly surprised you didn't come to this realisation by yourself. It's not something I would do, but I'm not shocked by you asking" The Master offered him with a smart smile. "C'mon, let's go before I reassess risks and gains"

As the Master attempted to lead him outside by taking the Doctor's hand in his, the fair-haired Time Lord used the leverage he had to make him stay exactly where he was.

"Changed your mind already? Too ashamed by who your childhood friend turned out to be?" The Master asked teasingly, turning to stare at the Doctor. His lover, however, was just staring down at his feet, looking way beyond mortified.

"It's that, you know" The Doctor muttered uncertainly, uncharacteristically at a loss of words. "I could do it before going to lunch… I mean, making you come"

The Master rose an elegant and suspicious eyebrow at his lover, then he automatically lowered his eyes to stare at the Doctor's pelvis. As suspected, the Doctor wasn't really in a condition that allowed him to step outside the TARDIS, lunch or not lunch.

"Making me come or making you come, my dear?" The Master teased, walking back his steps to hold the Doctor in his arms and have a good and proper look at his expression. "You could have just said it"

"You coming to lunch is really important to me" The Doctor protested heatedly. "Still, we've been interrupted halfway yesterday and we worked non-stop ever since…"

The Master reached up to cup the Doctor's face with his hands and guided it lower towards him to kiss him once again on the lips. As his hands moved up to entangle themselves into the Doctor's white-blond curls, also the kiss grew more passionate and deep.

The Master's tongue darted forward and traced the Doctor's bottom lip carefully, before he took it between his front teeth. As soon as the Master let it go, the Doctor was ready to deepen the kiss, all too willing to savour properly his lover's well-known mouth.

The Master's hands caressed the Doctor's broad shoulders and then from there they descended over the plain muscles of his chest. The double beat of his hearts felt reassuring and calming, in opposition to the drumming always present in his head.

The Doctor moaned under the soft caresses, but apparently it wasn't quite what he had in mind. As he felt the Master's roaming hands moving lower to undo his fly, he definitively decided it was the right time to keep up with the proposition he had put forward himself.

He swatted away the Master's hand and, in order to prevent any future recrimination, palmed thoroughly his lover's cock from over his pants as he literally devoured his mouth. Swept away from the double assault, the Master moaned compliantly in his mouth and let the Doctor lead him where he wanted, namely perched on the TARDIS console.

After the Doctor had made The Master lain as much as he could over the mix of hopefully deactivated buttons, knobs and screens, he fully accommodated himself between the Master's legs, towering over him as he kept kissing him. The Master's legs automatically closed around his lover's waist, despite feeling each moment more self-conscious of their difference in high and bone structure, being so easily manoeuvred by the Doctor.

Before he could protest about it, however, his lover had already moved lower, leaving momentarily his lips to kiss his neck, as his hands teased the Master's hardening nipples from above the thin layers of cotton of his uniform. So distracted, he didn't even notice it when the Doctor stopped everything he was doing to kneel between his legs until he felt wet warmth on his groin, as his lover keenly mouthed the tip of his cock over the thin fabric of his pants.

"Now, that's a bit unfair" The Master protested.

The moan that followed the Doctor's continuous ministrations, however, reassured the fair-haired Time Lord that he was actually doing well. As soon as the Doctor could manage to unbutton them, the Master's trousers were the first item of clothing to go, eventually lying forgotten beneath the console. Not really wishing to give the chance to the Master to adjust himself to the feeling, the Doctor decided to keep teasing the hardening member with his hands, as he followed through biting and licking the softer skin of his inner tight.

The Master's light hiss was a better reward than everything he would ever wish for.

As the Doctor deemed his lover ready enough, the Master's underwear were next to go, joining their fellow trousers straight away.

From there on, the Doctor was free do play as he pleased with his lover's cock, tasting and licking him the way he knew the Master favoured. He worked idly with his hands as long as he was focused on his balls, and then, when he was satisfied with his work, he engulfed him in earnest, still keeping up the rhythm with his hands whenever and wherever he couldn't reach.

It wasn't just the technique and the speed he favoured, there was also the deep contrast wherever his hands touched between their heated flesh and the Doctor's unfathomably cold rings. Among all the regenerations the Master had met, this current one was the one that was less about to forget about jewellery, and the effect all of this was having on him during intercourse was almost unbearable.

The Master would usually grab a hold of the Doctor's soft curls or manoeuvre him back in a position that could allow him to return the favour, but the current arrangement left him basically unable to move. The only thing he could do was attempting to grab the few knobs he knew by heart to be fixed, in the faint hope to not power up something by accident.

Satisfied by the Master's level of arousal and harassment, the Doctor used one of his hands to undo his own fly and finally reach for his own aching cock.

As the Master's hardness pulsed in his mouth, the Doctor took him deeper, so that the head almost hit the back of his throat. Still, it didn't seem enough to allow the Master to his release.

The Doctor, then, allowed himself to look up at the Master and, understanding what his problem was, lowered his mental barriers, brushing lightly at his lover's mind to let him feel how he too was indeed aroused and enjoying their encounter.

He felt the need, the worry and the nervousness on the other side of the Master's barriers for a fleeting moment, then all those sensations were thrown back at him like a huge wave as his lover burst open his mental doors and allowed the Doctor inside his shaken mind.

The Doctor's warm reassurance invaded his mind, firmly grounding him like a lifesaver. That small offer of protection and comfort was enough to allow the Master to finally come straight down the Doctor's throat.

Once the Master was spent, it only took a couple of more strokes by his own hand to make the Doctor finishing off too.

As the last of the aftershocks subsided, he rested his forehead on the Master's tight and breathed in deeply the musky scent of his lover.

"I told you I would make you come" The Doctor stated eventually, making the Master burst in laughter.

Their minds still lingered a bit more in the comfort they were providing to one another before finally accepting that it all had finished and they had to rise up their barriers once again and attempt to look somewhat presentable.

"Let's go, my Doctor" The Master told the Doctor jokingly in the end, as his lover finally helped him down the TARDIS console. "I'm already fashionably late for lunch with your family as it is"


Lunch wasn't as weird as everyone had imagined, despite it turning out to be the chance they had needed to adjourn everyone about how each group was doing.

Everything seemed proceeding smoothly, despite the complete lack of trust Jack had in relation to the Master's plan as soon it was revealed helping him with his situation.

If really helping him in one way or another was a so easy matter, why didn't the Doctor attempted to do something himself ages ago? Somehow, the plain answer of the Master "Because I have no regards for rules and morality" didn't just seem enough, even though Jack couldn't really debate the point.

Finished eating, everyone returned to their own assignments eagerly, not before the Master had once again politely declined any kind of explanation about his own part in The Plan.

Before the evening came, the Doctor had finally finished his own device, and the others had elaborated a satisfactory strategy to make use of it the best way possible. No one really wanted to go investigating whether the Master had finished his work as quickly as they'd done, though, since the man had been each hour more evasive about what he was doing.

Eventually, the Doctor took it upon himself to go and see what his lover was up to. After all, the Master's task wasn't as urgent as theirs was, but somehow he had hoped to have this marvellous man back before encountering the Axons, if not for any better reason than to make Jack stop talking about him, since it made him feel like a guilty coward.

As soon as he had entered the TARDIS, though, all his elegance and refined mannerism could do nothing to prevent him from swearing aloud.

Jo and Jack followed suit, worried that something bad might have happened. As soon as they saw what was occurring inside the TARDIS, they could only notice that they fears were indeed well founded. They held tight on one another, their eyes large with worry as they stared at their friend.

"Doctor, the Time Vortex!" Jack yelled at the Time Lord overly scared, seeing how he seemed to have been petrified too close to the console to really be safe. Jack could understand his panic though, since of the door that lead to the time Vortex inside the TARDIS was wide-open, blazes of golden dust reaching outside like appendix of a blind octopus.

"Out of here, you two!" The Doctor yelled at them, as soon as he realized that they had joined him inside the TARDIS.

"Oh, really" Jack just retorted plainly, almost glaring at him.

The Doctor, barely in control of himself, still managed to roll his eyes, admitting to himself that yes, Jack had actually nothing to fear from the Vortex as long as he didn't decide to jump inside it. Still, Jo had to clear and clear fast.

Remembering the mess that had happened with Rose, Jack was more than willing to oblige the Doctor's orders.

The Captain, however, decided to join once again the Doctor inside the TARDIS soon after, knowing that he was the only one who could stop him from behaving foolishly, if the worst were to happen.

"What the hell is happening, Doctor?" Jack asked eventually, managing to reach the Time Lord and take a hold of his velvet-clad arm to have his attention on him.

"The Master" Was the Doctor's breathy answer. If Jack didn't know better, he would have said he was almost hyperventilating. "The Master finished his devices and preparations and entered the Time Vortex by himself, that foolish conceited pompous man!"

"Why would he?" Jack asked, not understanding why the Master would do something so blatantly stupid. "You're Time Lords and he prepared for this, but… You have limits of your own!"

"He wants to get you boyfriend back" The Doctor confessed eventually, scanning from afar the various panels of the console to find one that could tell him about the Master's whereabouts and if his stupid plan was at least working properly. "I don't understand why, but he sort of feels for him. This is why he wanted to be the one taking all the risks and all the glory... He didn't explain anything to me, though! Not even how he was supposed to achieve that. How was I to guess that the idiot wanted to jump inside the Vortex?"

Jack couldn't really believe the Doctor's words, especially considering who the first Master he had met was. Still, he held the scared Doctor close to him, hoping to give him comfort as well as to bring him as far away from the flares of Time Vortex as humanly possible, considering how much they kept expanding inside the room.

"You mean he really jumped inside? He's attempting to navigate the pure Time Vortex just… Just to get my Ianto?"

"I fear so" The Doctor admitted, grudgingly thankful for Jack's physical attempts to ground him.

"I would have never expected this from the same Time Lord that killed him in front of my eyes" Jack muttered, tightening his grip on his friend. "I must tell you this, despite everything that's going on between the two of you"

"The regenerations process is tricky… A bad regeneration can happen to the bests of us and he is prone to madness in general" The Doctor countered. "He likes making a mess of things as a cry for attention, he falls so deeply in scientific research that he forgets the line between moral and amoral even exists, he would attempt to enslave a whole world just to offer it to me as a present… But even I can't recognize the Master you described as my own. It implies a far too a definitive close call for those dear to either of us, too much all in a single run"

"The Mistress… Missy, I mean, the woman who was with your last regeneration" Jack offered him warmly. "She looks way more like your Master than the one I met, you know?"

The Doctor presented him with a grateful smile, before thanking him from the depth of his heart. No matter how bad a regeneration could turn out to be, he was glad to know that things would eventually turn out for the better and that they would still be together, how it was supposed to be.

It meant that he would be still in time to find a cure and, most importantly, that the Master would still be around to need one.

TBC