AN: I know you lot know exactly who that man was in the last chapter. It's been a week since then. Just to let ya know.
Silence. He hates it. It was the best thing about his mum, that she could hear him. But now with the drum man here, he can't make a noise anymore. It's driving him crazy.
He was so used to being heard that he missed it. He missed his mum knowing what he was thinking. Now that she had to put the shields up and no one could hear him. He missed it horribly. So he had two options.
Get rid of the drum man, or fix the drums.
He figured there was a reason why the drum man was there. The Master is what he called himself. There was a reason why Mum hadn't kicked him out.
Ben sat at his desk and settled down to make a plan.
These two were going to be the death of her, she just knew it. She knew it the moment that she woke up in the middle of the night to see the emergency alarm on her bedside table flashing mauve and beeping so loudly it hurt.
Panic seized her enough for her to allow her Wolf to teleport her downstairs. She appeared in the basement, staring at the smoke billowing from the open doors of her phone booth T.A.R.D.I.S.
She stormed in, and waving her arms in front of her face trying to clear the smoke, started looking for her son. She found him curled up on the floor. She picked him up and hurried him out of the ship.
The Master wasn't as easy. He was a lot bigger to begin with, and he was unconscious in the most inconvenient place. She snarled as she dragged him, trying her best not to knock his head on something. Though she should.
By the time she pulled the fool into the other room, she was throughly pissed. The reason why the mauve alarm had gone off was because the boys had caused some sort of damage to the interior and now there was a toxic chemical released into the air. It was only by the grace of luck and the fact that Sarda was barely able to redirect the air to a different portion of her rooms.
When Rose finally got the Imbecile out into the basement, Sarda slammed the doors shut. Rose couldn't blame the fledging T.A.R.D.I.S. After this mess, it'll probably be another ten years before the baby would be up and even capable of making a short jump.
She checked pulses and breathing, making sure that both of their repository bypass systems had saved them. Thank everything for superior Time Lord biology. All four hearts were beating properly, which caused to breathe a sigh of relief.
She sat, legs curled up beneath her, one hand on Benjamin's forehead and the other on the Master's chest. She sat and waited, until finally, both of them began waking up.
"You bloody idiots!" she snarled. Benjamin's eyes flashed open and he bit his lip in fear while the Master just groaned and brushed her hand off of him. "What the hell were you thinking?"
Sorry Mum. Ben muttered into her mind sheepishly
"Oh do shut up, Wolf." The Master sat up
"Make me, you stupid bloody Time Lord. What was going through your minds!?
Master opened his mouth to retort, but stopped, his mouth frozen open. He blinked, his mouth opening and closing on its own. Rose stared at him for a moment, thinking he looked a lot like a fish.
"Nothing," He whispered.
Rose raised an eyebrow "What?"
"Nothing," He was in some sort of shock. His hands were shaking. "There's nothing in my head. There's nothing."
"And that is important?" Rose asked, her voice cold.
"Yes, Wolf," He said quietly, his eyes meeting hers. She was pretty sure she could see tears in them. "You don't understand. It's quiet. It's silent."
Rose blinked and glanced at Benjamin. Ben was grinning a manic grin, looking so much like any regeneration of his father that it made her heart ache. "What did you do?" She asked.
"He silenced the drums." The Master murmured. "He silenced the drums."
Rose felt her jaw drop. She covered her mouth, her eyes widening. She turned to Ben, staring. She couldn't even form a word.
Ben just grinned. "He said that the drums came from the Untempered Schism, which was a lot like the Time Vortex. I just figured that maybe staring into the Time Vortex would fix it."
"He's an idiot. It wasn't the Vortex that he practically shoved my head into. It was the heart of that T.A.R.D.I.S." The Master said, his tone still reverent and shocked, but slowly regaining his normal sarcasm.
"BENJAMIN MICHAEL TYLER WOLFE!" she yelped, staring at him. "You know how dangerous that it!"
"Mum, I had to!" He projected, his arms waving in panic. "I couldn't even talk to anyone. No contact! It was killing me!"
"Good answer, brat," The Master glanced at him with a grin. "Selfish reasons are the best reasons."
Rose didn't even look at him as she punched him in the arm. She was rewarded with a very undignified "Ack". She almost grinned.
Ben looked down in guilt. "I'm sorry Mum. I know it was selfish, but I had to help him. Besides, it was wrong. It was wrong for him to plagued by something that we could help him with. So, I helped him!"
Rose glanced down, blinking back tears of her own. How so much like his father he was. Always wanting to save someone else.
"Yeah, yeah," Rose glanced up to watch the Master mess up Benjamin's hair roughly. "Don't make a habit of it. I don't need help from you or your pathetic mother."
Ben smacked at his hand, eyes blazing. "My mum is not pathetic!"
The Master grinned at him. "So fierce, I'm terrified." He raised his arms up in mock surrender. "It'd be a lot more convincing of course if you were more than two feet tall."
"Shut up!"
"Boys, enough," Rose ordered, her eyes rolling. "Honestly, which of you is the child and which is the centuries old Time Lord?"
Both of them stuck their tongues out at her.
"Mature."
"That's me," Master said, climbing up to his feet. "As mature as it gets." He held down a hand to help her up.
Rose looked at him in surprise. "Wow, take away some noise and suddenly you're a gentleman."
His eyes took on a darkened expression. "It was not just a some noise," he said coldly. "It was constant, painful. All consuming. And now it is gone. And that's why I'm being polite. The kid helped. For that, he gets a little help in return."
She leaned back slightly, feeling the darkness radiate off of him. He looked like everything she had heard he was, a monster. But something in her was elated. Finally, someone who could help her. Someone who could help her keep Ben safe.
"Thank you," She said, taking his hand and allowing him to help her up. They looked at each other, sizing one another up and he nodded. She glanced back to see Ben getting up on his own.
"Does this mean I'm not grounded?"
" Oh no, you're grounded alright." Rose said, crossing her arm, the very image of a pissed off mother. "Now go to bed."
Ben hesitated for a moment, and ran up towards his room quickly. She waited until she couldn't hear his footsteps anymore and then turned to the Master.
"We need to talk. I'll make some tea." She said, leading the way up to the kitchen. She didn't know why, but she knew he would follow.
She made good on her promise and brewed up some tea. She poured him a cup, putting only a little cream in it. He had been in her house for only a week, but she was observant.
"So, what's to talk about? I have to start with saying you're not my type." He said, smirking.
She blanched. "Ew, no. Not even remotely what I wanted to talk about. No, I need your help."
"With what?"
"With Ben."
The Master looked up at the ceiling. "Don't see what you need help with. He seems to be a decent kid to me."
"He is a decent kid. He's the best. But have you yet wondered why he hasn't spoken a word yet?"
He shrugged. "I noticed the silence and the telepathy. Kind of hard not to. But I figured the kid just didn't liked to talk."
"It's more than that." Rose sipped her tea. She hated telling the story, but she had to.
She told him eveything. She told him about Station 5, about Canary Wharf, about Pete's world, about 27 planets, and about coming home. She told him that it took her six years to find her son. He was four when she left, and when she found him again, he was only six. But six years passed and she could never figure it out.
More importantly, she told him about the sight of John Smith on that table. She told him about the fact that she had ripped apart the universe to keep her son from that fate. She told him everything.
By the time she was done, the sun was peeking over the horizon. Her tea was cold and tears tracks covered her cheeks. He just watched her, eyes steady as he took in her pain.
They sat in silence for a while. Finally he spoke.
"So, what do you want my help with?" He asked. "Why not find the Doctor" He said the name with venom.
She blinked at him owlishly. "I don't have a way of finding him, first off. Second off, I have no doubt that the T.A.R.D.I.S. would come here if she wanted me with him. It's obviously not time yet. I also don't know what I'm up against. So, I'd rather use what weapons I have at the time. And you, Master, are a weapon."
He smirked. "So why do you think I'll help you?"
She sighed. "I fascinate you. Have since we got stuck on the pathetic planet for four years. And my son just helped you. Just restored something to you that you wouldn't have gotten anywhere else. You'll help me." She smiled, tongue in teeth, "Besides, you really don't have a choice. It's not like you can go anywhere."
Master stared at her, shock in his face. Then it smoothed out into a sly grin. "You are right. I guess I better stay. Looks like you're stuck with me."
"Bloody fantastic" She muttered.