CHAPTER SIX

Two of a Kind

(REF: The Master, Big Finish Audio)

It took a moment for Rose's eyes to adjust to the darkness in the hallway again. Once they did, she saw that she was alone.

"Master?"

There was no answer. The child was gone. If she'd had any control over how she'd gotten back here, she might have thought she'd taken a wrong turn. But when the scene had faded, she'd simply found herself here, standing in the hallway of the Doctor's memories with locked doors on either side.

Taking a moment to reorient herself, she drew in a few deep, calming breaths. She had to keep moving, even if she wasn't entirely sure where she was going. She was here for a reason. The Doctor was depending on her. Finally, she started forward again.

"Master? Where are you?"

In the shadows up ahead, something moved. She drew in a quick breath as she squinted into the darkness. A figure, standing beside one of the doors.

"Master?"

The figure didn't move. Very slowly, she stepped forward, one foot in front of the other over the hard, smooth floor. The shadow was too tall to be the boy she'd met earlier, and too thin. But if not him, who was it?

"Doctor, is that you?"

Still no answer. As she approached, her eyes adjusted and the outline became clearer. It was neither the Doctor nor the Master, she realized. It was a woman. A woman with long black hair and pale skin, standing silently at the door as if guarding it. Rose approached carefully, looking her up and down. Her appearance was almost ghost-like in the floor length white dress, fading in and out like sunlight through a cloud.

"Hello?" Rose asked, not sure if the woman could see her. Who was this? "Can you hear me?"

The ghost's eyes did not fix on Rose; she remained staring at the wall in front of her. Or, perhaps, at someone or something else that Rose did not see. But her lips curled up into a smile as she spoke with a low, almost teasing voice.

"Can you smell the blood on your hands?"

Rose swallowed hard. Somehow, that voice sent a chill down her spine. "What?"

"You can't escape fate, Doctor. Remember that." The ghost's smile grew. "I have seen inside your head. I know your future. It's not too late to join me, you know."

The woman fell silent again, smiling as if she knew a secret. And perhaps she did. Maybe she knew whatever secret was behind this door. In any case, the door was cracked open while the others were locked tight. Taking a deep breath, Rose stepped forward and touched the warm metal surface, pushing it open slowly.

*X*X*X*

"Do you suppose we'll have to wait until after we graduate to see those stars?"

The two boys from the Academy dormitory were older now, but not by much. Where they'd been seven or eight before, they were now eleven or twelve, lying on the bank of a slow-moving, crystal clear river, arms under their heads as they stared up at the sky.

"Look hard enough, you can see them right now."

"No, stupid!" The Master laughed, tossing a twig in the Doctor's general direction. "You know what I mean."

The Doctor heaved a sigh as he turned onto his stomach, picking at the blades of red grass. "I know I'm not waiting that long. First chance I get, I'm leaving this planet."

"Not for good..."

The Doctor laughed. "Now wouldn't that be rich?"

"In three more years, we can learn to fly a Tardis, you know." The Master grinned. "And I've heard that on the newer models, it's not terribly difficult to bypass the isomorphic circuit."

"On the newer models?" The Doctor raised a brow, questioningly. "I should think the older ones would be more prone to security risks."

"Only if you're an amateur."

The Doctor laughed. "Oh? And just what are you, then?"

"I am the Master, remember?"

Both boys were tossed into a fit of laughter at that. It wasn't until they'd had their laugh and the silence fell again that the Master finally spoke, a bit somber.

"Of course, you do realize that if we take those classes, it does mean fifty years of compulsory servitude to the Matrix once we graduate."

"Servitude to the Matrix!" The Doctor laughed. "Do you really see it that way?"

"Is there any other way? Go to this planet, gather this data, bring it all back to download it into our vast database of endless knowledge."

The Doctor chuckled. "Sounds like fun to me."

"Well it would be if we could actually interact with the worlds and the people out there."

"Hmm... Do you think they'd ever know if we did?"

"You're kidding, right?"

"Well, I guess they'd know, but would they really care? I mean, as long as we didn't change anything."

"How could we not?"

"Oh, I'm sure we wouldn't be the first to dare to step out of a Tardis on a foreign planet."

"Nor would we be the first to get caught. And I don't like the stories of what happens when they do catch you."

The Doctor laughed. "Oh, please. You're starting to sound like one of them."

"One of who?"

"The others."

"What others?"

"The people who aren't like us." The Doctor smiled. "We're two of a kind, you and me. The same. You know that. You've always known that."

The Master smiled back as he relaxed on the grass again, closing his eyes and soaking in the warm sunshine. "Yes, I suppose."

The silence settled again, interrupted only by the trickling water nearby, the gentle sound as it flowed over the rocks in the shallower parts.

"Doctor?"

"Yes?"

"What do you suppose they intend to do with all of the knowledge they collect, anyway? Besides force-feeding it to the next generation, I mean."

The Doctor laughed again. "No doubt!"

"Well, to what end?" He turned his head, studying the Doctor curiously. "What do you suppose happens when we Time Lords know everything there is to know? What then?"

"I suppose we'll have to create and invent new things to know."

"Now that, I would like to be a part of!" The Master beamed. "But amassing a wealth of knowledge for no particular reason seems so tedious."

"Well, we could always amass it for our own knowledge and just never come back."

The Master smirked. "You can't help it, can you? Always ready to break the rules. You know, as I recall it, you used to like rules. There for our protection, isn't that right?"

The Doctor scowled. "I've had enough of rules to last through all of my regenerations and I'm still only just starting."

The Master chuckled. "No wonder Professor Donata wants to hold you back this year."

"Professor Donata is a stupid, self-absorbed, pompous ass."

"Who has every right and reason to flunk you."

"Let him try."

"If he tried, he would."

The Doctor shrugged, as if the idea hardly concerned him. With a smile, the Master continued.

"You and I know you're smarter than nine-tenths of the people on any level in the Academy. But if you don't learn to at least pretend like you give a damn, they're going to continue to think you're absolutely stupid. Your grades are pathetic."

Smiling, the Doctor let his gaze wander lazily in the midday sunlight. He couldn't care less about his grades. And neither, he knew, could the Master.

When the Doctor's eyes caught the movement at the top of the slope leading down to the riverbank, his smile fell instantly. A much larger boy, shoulders broad and wicked smile gleaming, was walking towards them. Startled and instantly afraid, the Doctor sat upright.

"Master, look."

The Master sat up beside him, brought to attention by the serious tone. The intruding boy's eyes were fixed on them as if he were a hunter who'd just identified his prey. He sneered, his enormous frame rocking from side to side as he swaggered toward them.

"We should run," the Doctor said quietly, rising to his feet. "We've still got enough time; we might be able to outrun him."

But the Master's fists clenched as he stood to his feet. "Why should we run? This is my family's land. I shouldn't have to run."

The Doctor's eyes widened slightly. "And do you think Torvic cares whose land it is?"

"Well, maybe he should."

"Just because he should doesn't mean he will and you're going to get us killed if you keep this up."

"This is my father's land," the Master said again. He turned and looked at his friend for support. But there was still fear in his eyes, in spite of his bold statement. "My inheritance. And besides, there's two of us and only one of him."

"Yes, that's true. And he's stronger than both of us put together, remember?"

"But that's just it! He's big and stupid and clumsy!" Frozen in place as they faced each other, neither one realized that the argument was moot. They'd run out of time to flee. "We're a thousand times more clever. And it's not like we're first year students anymore. We can -"

"Aren't you ants supposed to be in your special classes?"

The boy looming over them was intimidating by anyone's standards. Pure muscle and angry pride, ready to vent it on anyone who stepped into his path. He was at least three years older and a foot taller than either of them. The Doctor took a big step back, but it wasn't really necessary. Torvic had already chosen his target, and he saw nothing else. Putting his shoulders back, the Master stood his ground and held his chin up.

"At least we're not in remedial classes." His voice was trembling a bit, but his heels were dug into the soft embankment even as the bully's eyes blazed with anger. "I hear you couldn't even pass your introductory courses until last term."

"Who do you think you're talking to!"

The Master took a step back, but he wasn't fast enough to avoid the bully. Torvic grabbed the front of his shirt. Eyes wide with fear, the Doctor scrambled back, further away. A guilty part of him was glad that he was not the one about to take a beating. But another part of him was mortified at the thought that there was nothing he could do to help his friend. Rooted in place by the sight of the Master in the enormous bully's clutches, the Doctor watched with eyes wide. He knew how this story went. They had seen it before. There was nothing that he could do.

But then, the Master did something he had never done before; he fought back.

His fist was only about half the size of the bully's. He didn't even land a good hit before he found himself flying into the water, scrambling to find his footing as the bigger boy bounded in after him. Dragging the Master into waist deep water, Torvic grabbed him by the hair, and shoved him down, beneath the surface.

"I'll teach you ants to show some respect!"

Flailing and coughing, the Master was dragged up just long enough to gasp a breath before Torvic plunged him back down. Trembling slightly, his eyes wide with shock and fear, the Doctor took a tentative, frightened step forward. "Torvic, stop!"

The bully looked up at him and laughed. He needed only one hand to hold the Master under the surface of the water, even in spite of the struggle. "Why don't you come over here and make me? I'll do you, too! At the same time! Drown you both!"

The anger that came over the Doctor was sudden and irrationally intense. A flood of adrenaline fueled by fear and passion. Hands clenching into fists at his sides, he took a step forward and spoke with vicious determination.

"Torvic, I am warning you. Let him go, or I will stop you!"

Torvic laughed. "I would love to see you try."