The Master led them to the second floor rooms, guards flanking Martha and Lina on all sides. This part of the Valiant was more like a hotel than anything else. Or it would have been before the Master lived in it for over a year. Martha was fairly certain that the Master had his bedchambers somewhere on this floor, since clothes were scattered around the hall along with strange mechanical and mystical looking devices. Martha noticed shadows under the doors they passed, as if there were people listening on the other side.
Martha couldn't suppress a shiver as they made their way down the eerie hallway. At the end of the hall was a set of double doors. The Master grabbed both of the brass handles and pushed them open dramatically. The sound of the doors clashing against the walls echoed throughout the hall full of silent people.
The room was probably some sort of dining room originally. It had floor to ceiling windows and decorated very elegantly. In the center of the room, a huge bed was set up with luxurious blankets and furs draped over it. There was a ring of clean floor space around the bed, but the rest of the room was chaos. Books that looked to be hundreds of years old were scattered on the ground with pages bent. There were artifacts piled precariously on top of one another and things that were obviously not from Earth in various stages of disrepair.
The room was so cluttered that Martha almost didn't see the people. She saw the Master's wife, Lucy, first. She was hidden behind a stack of strange pressed plants. Her eye was black and her whole pale body was shaking. She was wearing a simple dress, but despite it, she looked naked and vulnerable.
The Master was walking towards a second bed, though this one was a hospital bed. Martha felt the blood leave her face as she realized the broken thing in the hospital bed was the Doctor.
His head was bandaged so much she was sure there was some sort of severe cranial damage going on. His face was much paler than normal. In fact, he looked close to death.
"What did you do to him?" Martha breathed, horror consuming her voice.
The Master glared at her, "It's his own fault."
Martha very much doubted that, but her attention moved to the Doctor as he opened his eyes and looked at her. She felt her heart catch in her throat when she saw those eyes. For the first time in months, she saw something other than a husk of a man. For once, the Doctor's eyes were full of raw pain and anger and guilt, and despite being so close to death, he looked the most alive that Martha had seen him in a long time.
"Where's Jack?" The Doctor asked. His voice was incredibly weak and raspy. The Master rolled his eyes and patted the Doctor on the cheek.
"I sent the freak back to his cell. I wasn't going to let you have a threesome with them."
The Doctor frowned slightly at the Master's remark and looked up at the time lord, "Are you going to leave us alone?"
The Master glanced back at Martha cheekily, "Don't be too rough with him, his head's about to split open." He gave her a wink which she shivered at before motioning Lina and all the guards out of the room, "You have five minutes." The Master said before closing the doors.
Martha turned to the Doctor as the doors slammed. The two looked at each other as the silence began weighing them down. This was just like when the Doctor's plan had failed and Martha was in that tiny cage. Except worse. Before Martha was too focused on her own discomfort and pain to feel angry with the Doctor. Before, Martha didn't have a plan. Now she had anger and hope. And he had none.
"How…" The Doctor stopped after the first word, eyeing her cautiously, "How are you?"
"How do you think?" She asked. Her arms were crossed as she continued to stand.
"Martha I'm sorry…"
"What's going on Doctor?" Martha cut him off quickly. She didn't need to hear an excuse or an apology from him.
"I asked the Master if I could see you and Jack." The Doctor said simply. He was staring at her with those sad brown eyes, as if he'd accepted she wouldn't be forgiving him any time soon.
Martha felt premature relief flood through her before she could stop it. Maybe she hadn't just killed Lina and herself. Martha shook her head slightly; she couldn't be sure yet, "But why would he do that?"
"After he hurt you, I was angry with him. I refused to cooperate and do what he wanted. I think he's been trying to win me over, that's why he landed the Valiant, you know. Because he thought I'd like to walk on the Earth again."
"And?" Martha asked. She could feel the anger creeping into her voice, "What did you think?"
The Doctor looked away from her, "I'm sorry Martha."
Martha shook her head and strode up to the bed, grabbing his arm fiercely, "Oh come off it." She hissed, gripping him tightly, "That's absolute rubbish. You let this happen, and you're just giving up? You're the Doctor and you're this planet's beacon of hope whether you like it or not."
The Doctor looked at her with those pathetic sad eyes. She could see the defeat in those ancient eyes, "I've been trying. I can't think of any way…"
"Because you don't want to do what needs to be done." Martha said, her voice full of disgust, "You'd rather let every last human die then do it."
The Doctor's eyes snapped to her, a flash of anger behind them, "It's wrong. I can't Martha, you wouldn't understand."
The doors burst open, but Martha just stared at the Doctor with disbelief. She quickly let go of the Doctor's arm with disgust and took a step back.
"Of course you think I wouldn't." She said, shaking her head and staring at the time lord she used to love with disappointment. The silence in the room didn't last long as the Master started making crude suggestions about their "five minutes in heaven", but Martha's glare was unwavering through it all. She only broke her eye contact when the Master started talking to Lina.
"Go on, you're a doctor aren't you? Attend to him." The Master said, nodding to the Doctor before catching Martha's eye.
He smirked at her before motioning for the guards to take Martha away. Martha managed to catch Lina's eyes before being shepherded out by the guards, and she could see the fear was gone in Lina's eyes. She must have figured out by now that the Master's visit was pure coincidence.
As the guards led her down the hall of mysterious doors, Martha couldn't help but feel relieved despite her conversation with the Doctor. They were still on for tonight. The plan was still in motion and both Martha and Lina were still alive. The guards shut her in the cell and Martha took a seat on the edge of the cot. Now the wait began.
Boredom had been a common companion to Martha ever since she'd been captured by the Master again. Back in the good days, Martha remembered the most boredom she'd experienced lasted for an hour or two, tops. Her phone always had a game on it that she liked to play when there was nothing else to do. But here, there was nothing.
It was much better compared to being in the suspended cage for days on end- Martha had made a routine of exercising in her more spacious cell- but there was only so many sit ups a person could do before that was boring too.
So Martha went through her exercise routine as she waited, working around the limitation of one hand as best as she could. Once she'd finished, she was out of breath, sweaty and still hours away from the initiation of the plan. Martha slumped back against the frame of the bed, letting out a huff of annoyance. She was so close to getting out, it made waiting almost unbearable.
She watched the digital clock over the door longingly until the minute hand had changed 23 times. That was the last thing she remembered before falling into a fitful sleep. She had shadows of dreams, but they all came crashing to a halt when her cell door slammed. Her eyes snapped open to see the dark figure of the Master standing in the doorway.
Martha immediately began to scramble to her feet, but the Master pulled out his laser screwdriver, "No. Stay down."
She slowly sat back on the floor, eyeing the weapon warily. She didn't speak as the Master tucked the screwdriver away in the dark. The silence between them draped the entire room in tension. Even in the dark, she could feel his eyes on her, just staring. After a few minutes of this, Martha found herself shivering and drawing her legs up closer to her chest. She didn't dare speak, didn't dare break the silence. Not without knowing why he was here.
Finally, the Master took a few steps away from the door and leaned against the bare metal wall.
"You won't get him back." He finally said. Something in his voice was different. He wasn't smug or boasting like it usually was. He was talking plainly and without motive.
When no reply came from Martha, he continued talking, "And you won't ever get him to hurt me. It's one of his flaws. He's always had a soft spot for me. He'd let every last one of you burn before he'd kill me."
Martha shivered again, her heart racing as she stared at the Master's silhouette. She couldn't see his face under the veil of darkness, but he was talking as if every word was an undeniable fact. She remembered being so infatuated with that sort of confidence and wisdom when the Doctor showed it. The Master even sounded like him now; his voice was pensive and calm. But Martha only felt fear now. Fear and suspicion.
"Someday you'll burn, Martha Jones. Not yet. But you will someday." He paused, tilting his head slightly, "And the Doctor will let you burn."
Martha felt a cold sweat break out. It was obvious he'd listened in to her conversation with the Doctor earlier, but she couldn't tell if he knew about her plan with Lina. It was all too coincidental.
The two lapsed into silence once more, and the Master absently tapped on the cell wall with his fingers while his head tilted towards the ceiling. Four fast taps, the hypnotic beat he'd seduced the world with, the torturous beat that drove his every move. Even now, she had the urge to tap along.
Martha watched the Master intensely, but he seemed to be worlds away as he leaned against her cell door. Her eyes flicked to the red digital clock, her stomach twisting as she realized it was only 15 minutes before Lina was supposed to show up. She needed to get rid of the Master, and quickly.
"Do you love him?" She asked, making her voice as strong as she could.
The Master snapped his head down, and she felt his eyes on her once more, "No."
"You're lying." Martha replied, matching his calm tone, "I remember how you'd come to him those nights. It was like you forgot I was even there in that cage. You'd leave your comfortable bed with your wife and all your slaves and sit on the stairs with him."
The Master didn't reply for a moment, but when he spoke next, Martha could hear the anger rising in his voice, "Time lords have lives that span for thousands of years. An insect like you could never comprehend our lives or our relationships."
"It's not that difficult to tell that you want him." Martha said, choosing her words carefully. She just wanted him angry enough that he'd leave her cell, not burn off another body part, "You're always trying to kiss him. You could have easily had him like all those poor women you force, but you're waiting."
The Master let out a noise that sounded like a snort of disgust and a snicker. He pushed himself off the wall and jerked the door handle open, "Mark my words. There will come a day where he'll have a choice." He stood there for a moment, looking back at her smugly, "And he'll let you burn, Martha Jones." He stepped out into the bright hallway, the door locking behind him.
With that, Martha was left alone in the dark, with six minutes left to spare.
Big thanks to Swiny for reviewing! Tomorrow's my birthday, so I'm taking a day off writing (probably). Hopefully I'll be able to post on the 28th, but that's not set in stone. If I don't update on the 28th, just know the next installment will be coming fairly soon! I hope you're all enjoying the story so far, feel free to let me know what you think!