Chapter Nine: Allegro and Legato

WARNING: Includes slash and a scary old person...

Love? Hate? Think something needs to be added? Let me know! (Large plot additions would be out of the question simply because this is a finished story, I am simply uploading it now.) Thanks!

The Master felt the Doctor's cold hands tracing their way across every one of his scars. They lingered on the longer, thicker ones and moved briskly across the thinner, smaller ones. The feel of the Doctor's skin against his own was glorious; it pushed the drums away. They were simply pulsing gently in an almost calming manner. He wasn't sure whether or not to tell the Doctor about it, in case his reaction would involve stopping the contact whether in surprise or joy.

"I love you." the Master said. It slipped out of his mouth from his thoughts. The words he had never said to Theta or the Doctor, the words that needed to be said the most. The Doctor's finger's stopped moving. He brought his head up and looked into the Master's brown eyes, startled.

"What?" he asked, amazed.

"I love you, Theta." he said, leaning down and kissing his forehead. "I always have." The Doctor smiled and rested his head on the Master's shoulder.

"I love you, too, Kosch. So much. Ever since we were children." The Doctor continued to trace the Master's scars with his long fingers.

"Thete?" he asked, the old nickname rolling easily off of his tongue. That word had not left his mouth in over eight centuries. The Doctor lifted his head slightly.

"Yes?" he asked, sounding tired.

"Did you love me on the Valiant?" he asked. The Doctor nodded.

"I always have." he concluded. "I may have been angry at you, or sad for you, maybe pitied you, but I never hated you. And I always loved you." The Master sighed contently and leaned his head on top of the Doctor's. "May I ask you a question? You don't have to answer it if you don't want to." The Master acquiesced. "How many times did you kill Jack in that year?" The Master stiffened at the question.

"You don't want to know." he promised. The Doctor waited, patiently, knowing he would either say the answer or he would pretend the question had never been asked. "At least once a day. On a good day, once. On a bad day, much more." The Doctor felt his heart go out for his former companion, now an immortal fixed point in time and space doing what he could to protect the world from the alien threats that popped up on Earth. "And I'm sorry for what I did." The apology was as abnormal as the Master saying that he loved someone. The Doctor kissed the Master.

"I forgive you. I did then and I will now." There was something that bothered the Doctor, though. He wanted to forget it, pretend that it never happened.

"Koschei, what about your wife?"

"What about yours?" he shot back out of reflex. Something about the ancient betrayal still hurt him.

"I married the Patience, yes, but I still loved you. Did you love Lucy?" The Master shook his head.

"I married her for a trophy wife. I looked like the perfect candidate for Prime Minister with her at my side. And that was what I wanted. I didn't love her." The Doctor smiled to himself. "Honest to Rassalon. You're the only person I have ever loved." The Doctor wanted to make that promise, but he couldn't. It wasn't true. "Don't feel like you need to say something to me now." he added. The Doctor laid there for a moment, beside the Master, simply enjoying the moment.

"Who brought you to the sanctuary? And how did you get out of the time lock?" The Master shook his head.

"I don't know. I know that the drums eventually got louder and louder when Rassalon had me chained to the mountain. My blood-lust built until I couldn't stand it anymore. The next thing I knew, I was on a med ship with some man standing over me and telling me that I needed to stop thrashing. I killed him. And then I started screaming about the drums. They brought me to the nearest place they could find, I suppose." The Doctor stroked the Master's arm.

"I suppose I should be angry with you…"

"Please don't be. I couldn't help it. The drums ruled me then. I had no control." That brought something to the forefront of the Doctor's mind.

"How are the drums, honestly?" The Master sighed.

"The closer I am to you, the more manageable they are." He paused. "When we were together, earlier, they were gone. Completely. Now they're just whispers in the back of mind. I can manage them now." The Doctor brought his lips to the Master's.

"If that's true, then I don't plan on leaving you alone for quite some time." The Master nodded, smiling, and wrapped his arms around his Doctor.

"Theta, I hope you mean that." The Doctor sighed at the sound of his name. It was still unusual, but in a nice way.

"I still feel like we should do something other than just lay here together. There has to be something wrong in the universe that I'm missing, some catastrophe that will destroy everything if I don't hurry…" The Master plastered his lips to the Doctor's to keep him from talking any more.

"Yes, if you don't hurry and shut up, I might have to leave you here." The Doctor sat up slowly, trying not to disturb the Master too much. The Master followed him out of the bed. The Doctor looked at the clothes on the floor. He picked up a shirt and held it out to the Master.

"This is yours." he said, smiling laughingly. The Master tossed the Doctor his pants.

"And these are yours." They laughed as they found their scattered clothes and pulled them on. The Doctor found his tie, which he had grabbed before they left the library. And held it out to the Master.

"Could you help me put this on?" he asked. The Master took it and smiled dangerously. He looped it over the Doctor's head, staring into his eyes. He pulled it gently under his collar and matched the sides up. He kissed the Doctor's jawbone and the Doctor shuddered. "I didn't ask you to distract me, I only asked you to fix my tie." The Master tied to the knot in place and then straightened the tie. He shook his head.

"I don't see why you don't want to be distracted." The Doctor placed a hand on the door knob and opened it.

"As much as I desperately want to be distracted, I can't stand being in one place for so long. Can we please go somewhere? It's up to you. You can choose whatever you want to do." The Master raised his eyebrows.

"Other than you? Not much. Where do you want to go?" The Doctor pondered that. He had a longing to see some of his companions, to check up on them, but he didn't know how most of them would react to the Master. They wouldn't be able to understand everything that they had gone through together. "Before we head out, can I please change?" The Doctor nodded, preoccupied about where he was going to take the Master. They walked to the closet, hand in hand.

"What are you looking for?" the Doctor asked, sifting through clothing.

"A suit." the Master said, looking around. "A black one. And a tie." The Doctor smiled at the thought of the Master wearing something other than a shapeless hoody and red t-shirts. He walked to the back of the closet and pulled down a suit. He handed it to the Master.

"Will this do?" he asked. The Master nodded and pulled his shirt over his head. He tossed it at the Doctor.

"Don't look." he ordered. "Unless you want to." he tacked on as an afterthought. The Doctor folded the t-shirt and looked at the Master evenly.

"I don't plan on looking away any time soon…" he said. The Master pulled off his pants and held them out to the Doctor. The Doctor began to fold those as well. The Master pulled out a white button-up shirt from the pile beside him and started to button it. The Doctor set down his load and walked over to the Master he finished buttoning the top two buttons and then he reached for the suit jacket. He pulled it onto the Master's shoulders for him. The Master raised an eyebrow at the Doctor and pulled the pants on. The Doctor buttoned them for him as well.

"Tie?" he asked. The Doctor nodded to himself and walked deeper into the labyrinth of clothing. "If you ever got lost, the first place I'll be looking is in here. Rassalon, where did you get all of this?" The Doctor shrugged.

"I pick it up… Companions leave stuff some times. Some are gifts…" The Master smirked when he found a pair of lacy underwear tossed into the corner.

"And under which category would that fit?" he asked.

"The Captain Jack category." the Doctor muttered. The Master raised his eyebrows suggestively. "No! Not! No! I meant…" He sighed frustrated as the Master tilted his head laughingly. "He occasionally would borrow the TARDIS. I didn't get it at first until I accidently walked… in on something." The Master broke out laughing. "It wasn't funny at the time." he argued, pointing to a rack of ties. The Master chose a black one and started it himself. "Wait. I have to return the favour."

"I think that you've already returned the favour. Multiple times." the Master said, watching the Doctor's deft fingers carefully. The Master looked down at himself.

"You look like Harold Saxon…" the Doctor trailed off. It was silent before the Master managed to salvage the conversation.

"Where are we going to go, Theta? I am not going to sit in this TARDIS all day in this suit. Unless you want me to…" he trailed off suggestively. The Doctor looked at him indecisively.

"May… No. We're going to go out and do something. You are not talking me out of it." The Master nodded to himself. "Although I'm more than sure that you could if you wanted to. Koschei, are you sure that you don't have a preference?" The Master continued nodding.

"As long as it doesn't involve me losing sight of you, I can live with whatever you can offer. I just don't want to have to deal with the drums more often than I already do." The Doctor nodded.

"Time? Place in the galaxy?" The Master shook his head.

"For the last time, no. I don't care where in Rassalon's name we go. Now can you please choose so we can actually do something?" The Doctor nodded and grabbed the Master's hand. The Master felt the drums soften as the Doctor's hand touched his own. It was a splendid feeling. He supressed his urge to stay on the TARDIS in the bedroom to make the drums go away again, but only for the Doctor's happiness. That was love, wasn't it? Sacrificing for the one you cared about…

"What are you thinking about?" he asked the Master who had a far-away look in his eyes. The Master came out of it and shrugged.

"Tei and Koeren." the Master said. The Doctor blinked and nodded sadly. They slowed their pace. "I was thinking about sacrifice." The Doctor's face grew darker. The Master realised his mistake quickly and pulled the Doctor into a hug. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up." The Doctor stayed still.

"It's fine. It wasn't your fault. If it wasn't for you, I'd most likely be dead right now."

"And if it wasn't for you, I'd be in a pool. Rotting." He intentionally made his comment sound gory to try to distract him. The Doctor didn't appear to notice.

"Did you see the look on their faces? They were both prepared to die for each other." The Doctor shook his head. "And at such a young age. They both willingly gave up their futures to be with each other." The Master chuckled.

"Who does that sound like, Theta?" The Doctor looked up at him, confused. "Two young boys, giving up a future to be together?" The Doctor still didn't get it. "Rassalon, you're clueless." he said and kissed the Doctor's forehead. The Doctor thought more about it. When he understood, his eyes widened. He stared at the Master.

"Theta and Koschei died when they left each other." the Doctor whispered.

"But they were resurrected just recently." the Master said. The Doctor furrowed his brows.

"What about them, though, Tei and Koeren. They can't come back, they're dead." The Master nodded.

"I know, Theta. I know. And so are their families. That's just how it had to be. The Engelin was never going to let them both get away. It was going to be one or the other and neither could live without the other, so they died together. In each other's arms." The Doctor sighed.

"That's how I want to die." he admitted. "In your arms." The Master pulled away, even as much as he wanted the drums to be quiet, the thought concerned him.

"Don't say that." the Master rebuked gently.

"I wasn't saying that I wished to, we all have to die some time. I was just stating the way that I wanted to die."

"We're Time-Lords. We never have to die, Thete. We can live forever. You and me, traveling the galaxy together for all eternity." The Doctor laughed.

"That sounds too good to be true." the Doctor said, smiling. The Master pulled away, grudgingly and went to the control panels. "I think I have an idea about where we should go." he offered. The Master nodded dubiously.

"And where might that be?" he asked.

"Well, I found this planet, a couple decades back. I think you'll enjoy it. If nothing else, it will make you homesick." the Doctor promised. He walked to the control panel to stand next to the Master. "Pull that lever." he requested. The Master hovered his hand over one of the three levers. The Doctor nodded. The Master pulled it down as the younger Time-Lord scurried around, manipulating the controls. Soon, the TARDIS had stopped again. The Doctor walked over to the doors, followed by the Master. He covered the older Time-Lord's eyes.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Building excitement." the Doctor replied, opening the door. He led the Master out, still covering his eyes, and shut the doors behind him.

"Can I look now?" the Master asked. The Doctor led him a few steps further and took his hands away from the Master's face. The Master stared. It was brilliant. The most incredible part: the grass was bright red, the leaves of the trees were silver and the sky was brilliant orange. Two suns hung in the sky lazily above them. "Theta. This is... amazing." he softly. His voice was barely above a whisper.

"When I landed on it, I thought that I was back on Gallifrey." the Doctor said nostalgically. He looked around. It was too much. He just stood there. Remembering Gallifrey.

"Theta. Do you remember when we were kids? And we'd run around chasing each other? Under a sky like this?"

"The red grass on your father's property..." the Doctor said, remembering vividly. After a moment, he snapped back and looked to the Master. "Come on, Kosch." the Doctor called, grabbing his hand and running to a hill. Around them there was what seemed like a never ending field of red grass. "I've wanted to take you here for a long time." The Master let a small smile slip onto his face. The Doctor grinned at the Master. He looked down at the field of red. He began running down the hill, hoping the Master would follow. The Master took the cue. It was like he was a child again. He smiled and began to run after the Doctor. It didn't matter who saw. It didn't matter how silly they looked. He was with his friend. The Doctor had never stopped running for as long as he lived, ever since looking into the Untempered Schism, but this kind of running... the running he hadn't done since he was just a child... It was wonderful. The Master tried to cut him off, to catch him, but missed. He began to laugh, not sure where it came from. It was a strange sound. He dodged to the left to follow the Doctor. "Theta!" he called, laughingly. The Doctor, distracted, fell over and, laughing, slid a few feet

"Koschei!" he called out of breath from laughing and running. The Master caught up to him and sat collapsed next to him. They were both panting. Gasping for breath, he managed a laugh. "I think I've achieved my goal."

"Make me homesick? I think you've succeed." he said quickly, sucking in more air. The Doctor put his arms around his friend.

"That wasn't my goal. This was." he said, letting go of the older Time-Lord for a moment to gesture to the trampled grass behind them. The Master sighed.

"This really does look like Gallifrey. Before it fell, before it burned." The Doctor nodded.

"I know. I thought I was back home, the first time. I walked for hours, just looking around for something I recognised. Then the TARDIS reminded me that Gallifrey was gone. I don't remember what this planet is called, but…" he trailed off, staring at the sky. The two suns burned above them steadily, setting slowly. The Master laid back. The Doctor curled up next to him. The Master pulled up some of the red grass and stared at it.

"Theta, I love you." he said again. The Doctor smiled.

"I know. I think it's losing it potency when you use it so liberally." The Master scowled.

"You're just saying that. I know it's not true." The Doctor kissed the tip of the Master's nose.

"That would be correct."

They sat in silence until the suns set, inching their way down past the horizon until the light faded. Soon, the two Time-Lords were simply silhouettes in the dark grass. They had their arms wrapped around each other for hours. Neither one moved, not wanting to disrupt the other. The quiet of the night engulfed everything. It was a beautiful, peaceful silence. When more time had passed, when there was absolutely no light left, the Master got to his feet.

"We should go back to the TARDIS…" he offered. "It's dark… She might be lonely. And I'm a bit tired." The Doctor stood up reluctantly. But then his face brightened with an idea.

"Koschei, stay here." he said, pointing back to the grass. The Master sat down suspiciously in the grass and waited as the Doctor ran back up the hill they had come from hours upon hours before. He soon disappeared from sight. The Master wrapped his arms around himself as the temperature continued to drop. His suit wasn't keeping him much warmer than the sweater he normally wore would have. The Doctor soon came back, carrying a pile of blankets. The Master got to his feet and walked over to the Doctor to help. The Doctor tossed the blankets onto the ground. He began to stretch them out over the red grass. The Master got to his knees and spread them out. The Doctor put a pillow down and then joined the Master on top of the first layer. He pulled a heavy blanket over them. The Master shrugged out of his suit jacket and laid it on the ground. He rolled over to look at the Doctor.

"What are you running from?" he asked. The Doctor blinked.

"I don't know." he answered. "And I'm not sure that I want to know, to be honest." He noted that the older Time-Lord was shivering. The Doctor brought himself closer. The Master kissed his neck and rested back into the blankets.

"I'm going to sleep now." he announced. The Doctor chuckled and watched as the Master closed his eyes.

"Go to sleep, Koschei," he encouraged.

The Master spun around. He was somewhere he had been before, very recently. It was a ship. A ship that smelled heavily of death and humans. He walked down the dimly lit hallway, barely able to make out the shapes around him. He looked at a med bay. There was something eerily familiar. When he placed what it was, he walked around the room, making sure. Yes. This was room he'd woken up in after he had gotten off of Gallifrey. He heard a deep breath behind him. The Master slowly looked behind him. There was a short man, about five inches shorter than the Master was, smiling. It was not a reassuring smile. It contained a terrible, thinly veiled malice.

"Your drums, Lord Master." he said, smiling. "We need them. And we will take them from you." He held his hands out toward the Master's head. The Master jerked away.

"Don't touch me." he commanded.

"But my Lord Master, haven't you always begged for them to go away? I can make that happened. All we need is for you to let us touch you." The Master dodged to the side of the smaller man and ran out of the room. He ran as fast as he could, pushing air deeply into his lungs. He ran into a wall. He pushed himself off of it and turned a corner.

"Master." a little girl said from behind him. She was holding a hand out. "I need your drums. Please. Listen." He shook his head and began to run again. An elderly woman rounded another corner. She had her wrinkled hand held out.

"Master!" she begged. The Master tried to run away further, but found himself cornered. He looked back at the humans approaching him.

"Master. Drums." They moaned together. He held his hands out in front of himself to try to keep them away.

"What are you?" he demanded, looking wildly for another way out. "Get back humans!" he yelled ferociously.

"But we're not humans." the little girl said, looking slightly confused.

"Yes. You are. You smell like them. You look like them. You act like them. You are them!" he argued. "Doctor!" he yelled. Maybe there would be another way to get out.

"We are Time-Lords. We are the last of the Time-Lords." the little girl said, tilting her head to the side. The Master stared in horror as they all produced small watches on chains from somewhere on their attire. He shook his head.

"No! No!"

"We escaped the Time War. We were a small colony. And now they're calling. Don't you want Gallifrey back? Gallifrey in all her glory?" the shorter man asked. "All we need," he pointed at the Master, "is you." They edged closer.

"Doctor!" he shouted again. "Gallifrey is back!"

"Koschei," the Doctor's voice said calmly. "It's just a dream…. It's just a dream." The Master heard as he opened his eyes. He was covered in a cold sweat. The Doctor was leaning above him, looking very concerned.

"Doctor." he said, breathing heavily. "Something is wrong." he said, assuredly. The Doctor nodded in agreement.

"What did you see? What was it?" The Master furrowed his eyebrows and frowned.

"I… I can't remember." The Doctor pushed the blankets off of himself and to his knees.

"You said something about Gallifrey being back? Was that what your dream was about?" The Master thought deeply, but his memories were too vague. He pulled the Doctor's forehead to his own and poured what he remembered of the dream into the other Time-Lord's mind. The Doctor pulled away and stared at the Master. "Something is very, very wrong." he said, getting to his feet. He held a hand out for the Master, who got up unsteadily on his own. He grabbed a pile of the blankets and ignored the cool wind gusting around him. The Doctor grabbed what was left on the ground, including the Master's jacket, and they headed up the hill to the TARDIS.

"Is that something… based on fact?" the Master wondered to himself. "Because if those were Gallifreyans, why did they leave me at the sanctuary?" The Doctor shook his head, thinking. He put the TARDIS key into the lock and opened the door. Both put their loads down on the ground by the control panel.

"Well, there's only one person that we can really go to to get answers about that, I believe." The Master waited for an explanation, because he didn't understand what the Doctor was saying. "Rosealyen will know who brought you. She can answer a few of our questions, at least." The Master still looked confused. "Your nurse…"

"I can't remember anything other than trying to hang myself." he admitted slowly, as though it wasn't very important. The Doctor pretended to ignore the statement.

"So, to Rhi, then. Do you know what year you were there?" he asked the Master, who shrugged. He walked over to his suit jacket and pulled it over his shoulders. "Sweetie, please take us to the right time." the Doctor asked and flipped several buttons up and down. The machine groaned as it began to travel through time and space. There was a rattling when it stopped roughly. The Doctor took the Master's hand and walked out into the desert ahead of them. It was night there, as well. And just as cool, if not colder than the planet they had been on before. The smell of the landscape brought back memories that he had tried to forget about his time at the sanctuary. The Doctor walked around, trying to remember where Mesae had led him, but there was nothing to guide him other than dunes that had surely shifted since they had last been there. "Mesae?" he called. "Rosealyen?" There was no sound. The Doctor moved to the south, trying to pinpoint where he had been led those weeks before. The Master stepped on the ground and listened carefully to the sound.

"Doctor, it's hollow here." he offered. The Doctor bent down and brushed sand away. Below the Master's feet was cement. He brushed more away with his hands. Soon the Master joined him. Something disturbed him. It was the blackened sand and the small holes that spread their way across the cement. He brushed some more sand away and found that there was a hole about the size of his head. He put his face down to it, to try to look into the area beneath the ground. There seemed to be nothing there, but darkness. "Hello?" he offered. There was only silence to greet him. "Something is very wrong." he said, more to himself. The Doctor shushed him. "Did you just shush me?" he demanded. The Doctor nodded furiously and put a hand over the Master's mouth. The Master bore the indignantly for a moment before he licked the hand over his lips. The Doctor glared at him and shook his head. The Master listened carefully. He could have sworn that he heard voices, but they were coming from the north, not from underneath them. The Doctor released the other Time-Lord, pulled out his sonic screwdriver, and got to his feet. The Master followed suit. He wished he had something with him to deal with the threat, but there was no chance that the Doctor would arm him after his recent brushes with death.

"Hello?" the Doctor called. A shout drifted over the dunes. He looked around, trying to figure out where the sound had come from. He walked toward the sound, near where the TARDIS was. The Master stopped when he nudged something under the sand he bent to pick it up. It was a small, improvised bomb. It was crudely made out of metal and plastic with some rope bindings. The Master gently set it back on the ground and moved away from it.

"What is going on?" the Master asked, looking around.

"Whatever it is, I don't like. Something happened here. Something violent." They heard more yells coming from near where they had left the TARDIS. The two Time-Lords hurried over to see a small group of people around the Doctor's machine. "Is Rosealyen here?" he asked. A blonde rushed forward. She looked at the Doctor hopefully and ran over to him.

"Doctor, it really is you. Thank the gods." She pulled him into a hug and stepped back. Her white dress was ragged and blood-stained. Her hair was tangled and knotted hastily behind her head. Mesae walked over cautiously.

"What happened here?" the Master asked, looking at the people wearing white around the TARDIS. There were a few that weren't and he assumed that those were some of the patients that had been staying at the sanctuary.

"They came." Mesae whispered, looking intently at the Master. "They wanted you." She grasped the paper in her hand tightly. "They wanted you." she repeated. Rosealyen grabbed her sister's shoulder and pulled her toward her gently.

"We don't know that," the older one rebuked gently.

"What happened?" the Doctor asked, repeating the Master.

"A group of people came here and demanded to see him," she motioned to the Master, "but we told them that he had already left with the Doctor. One of the people that came was the one that brought Mr. Harold here." The Master cut in.

"My name is the Master. Not… Mr. Harold." Rosealyen nodded softly and returned to what she was saying.

"They got angry. They bombed us. We tried to fight back, but we obviously don't keep very many weapons in a sanctuary. Many of us escaped and are using a temporary facility until we can transport visitors back to their homes. Until then, they are safe." Mesae was still staring at the Master.

"What do you want?" he demanded harshly. The Doctor shot him a warning glance.

"When they asked for you, they were thinking of that beat. That beat in your head that never goes away. The one that follows you. They only got mad when we told them that you were with the Doctor." Rosealyen tried to quiet her sister, but the young girl continued. "So why is it that these people want to kill us? We didn't do anything to them." The Doctor got on his knees and put his hands on her shoulders.

"I wish I knew." he whispered to her.

"They killed my mum." she said into his ear, not letting anyone else hear. "And my dad. And my brother. Why?" The Doctor's expression grew harder as he drew his face away from hers. She was not crying, but her eyes were glassy and reflective. The Doctor looked to Rosealyen , who was staring at the two of them.

"Rosealyen, I think that the Master and I are going to need your help." Rosealyen nodded.

"Whatever you think will help, I am more than willing to do." Mesae grabbed onto her half-sister's skirt as soon as the Doctor backed up. He looked at the people by the TARDIS. They were staring at him, but they were not accusative looks. The nurse turned around to look at the others.

"Iru, please take Mesae back to the current shelter. I'm going to be with the Doctor and Mr. Ha…. the Master for a while." A young man reached out his hand for the little girl to take, but she shook her head and ran over to the Master. She grabbed onto his waist and hugged it tightly. The Master looked extremely uncomfortable and tried to pull her hands off of him, but she refused to let go.

"You can't leave me here alone!" she cried. Rosealyen sighed and looked at the Doctor.

"If she wants to come, I suppose the TARDIS can keep her busy until we figure out what our plan is." The young man stepped back and looked at the nurse.

"Rosea, be careful. We will await your return." he said. She nodded to him, smiling.

"Thank you. That means a lot to me." The Doctor walked to the TARDIS and opened her again. The Master began to inch inside, the young girl still clinging to him. The Doctor got in. Rosealyen was still in the sand, saying her goodbyes to the others in the group. "May peace guide you!" she offered them. A chorus of echoes followed her as she shut the TARDIS doors gently. Her smile froze as she turned around. She looked at the inside, mouth agape. "It's… bigger on the inside." she said, in awe. Mesae didn't seem to notice, she was much too busy fighting against the Master trying to pull her away. The Doctor smiled at the sight.

"Remove her." he growled to the nurse. She smiled and began to tickle her younger sister, who in return released the Master quickly. The Doctor's look of bemusement turned to serious thought. He stared at the Master.

"What do we know?" he asked. "In your dream, it seemed as though they were Time-Lords who had used fob watches to become human, only they somehow retained their Time-Lord memories. Not too difficult, but unusual enough. But what do we know for sure?"

"One of them is dead. I killed him." the Master said, thinking aloud. "And that they have quite a few resources. And they don't like you. They want me and my drums. Anything I'm missing?" Mesae nodded.

"They knew your names." she said. Both of the Time-Lords looked at her, astonished. "They thought of you as the Master and of you as the Doctor. They knew that those were not your real names, though. They didn't mention what the other names might have been." Rosealyen looked at her younger half-sister appraisingly.

"Also," she added quickly, "they all bore this strange mark on their hands that looked like a circle with lines through it." The Master and the Doctor exchanged a glance.

"Gallifreyan writing on their hands." the Master said. "That strengthens the case that my dream was at least partially true." The Doctor nodded.

"That was what I was afraid of." Mesae began to walk around the control panel curiously. She touched a button experimentally.

"Mesae! Be careful! We don't know how sensitive the TARDIS is." The young girl continued to leave her hand where it was. She had a faraway look in her eyes. Rosealyen ripped the younger girl's hand away from the sentient machine. The young girl looked knowingly at the two Time-Lords and then at her older half-sister.

"I'm sorry." she muttered to the ground and tried to hide the hand sneaking behind her back to connect with the TARDIS again. The Doctor began tapping his fingers on the control panel, thinking.

"Where do we start?" he asked himself. "Who do we ask about time itself? Someone who understands the past, present, and future…"

"Sounds like you're asking for another Time-Lord." the Master said, smiling.

"Well…" he said, sounding frustrated. "We need someone independent to try to help us figure this out. The TARDIS is obvious to any Time-Lords that may be looking for us and they will want to steal her. I can't risk that." The Master leaned against the railing. Rosealyen grabbed both of Mesae's hands softly and set them by her side. She then removed her hands and began braiding the little girl's hair, thinking deeply.

"It sounds like you need a vortex manipulator." she offered. The Master jumped to his feet.

"Tosset!" he yelled, much too loudly. "Hasani said that Tosset had a vortex manipulator when they met you the first time, yes?" The Doctor's eyes lit up as he shook his head at himself.

"For someone with nine hundred years of experience, I tend to miss a lot of things." he pointed out. The Master shrugged.

"Old age does that to you. So, are we going to just steal it or add another person to this group?" The Doctor looked at the little girl.

"I know that if we simply ask for it, Hasani will want to know why. If we lie, she'll know. And if we tell the truth, she'll want to come along. Either way, she's going to fight tooth and nail to do something other than sit in Egypt. And we need Tosset's manipulator. I know he won't part with it easily. Particularly if Hasani makes it clear that she wants to go with us." The Master chuckled.

"We've already got a menagerie. It can't really be that bad to have a couple Egyptians walking around. Your TARDIS can hold more than just six people." The Doctor looked between the people on his TARDIS. He held a hand out to Mesae. She took it and he began to lead her through the TARDIS. This left the Master staring awkwardly at Rosealyen.

"I see that you've changed." she said, smiling. He nodded stiffly. "You always thought that you needed your Doctor to make you better."

"You shouldn't have been in my head." he grumbled and ran a hand through his blonde hair. She smiled apologetically.

"It's my job, Master. Have you harmed yourself recently?" He shook his head, blatantly ignoring the gaping wound on his arm and the fact that he had tried to drown himself just days before. "Very good." she said, praising him. He hated her tone. It made him feel like a small dog that had just done a trick. He stared at the state of her clothes.

"Whose blood?" he asked.

"Too many people to count," she said, sadly. He looked away. "What did the Doctor do to help you?" she asked, curiosity getting the best of her.

"Nothing." he said, gruffly. "I chose to stop it." She obviously didn't believe what he was saying, so she didn't press the subject.

"I guess that you've had plenty of time to recuperate." she said with a shrug.

"Huh?" the Master asked, trying to understand what she was saying.

"I mean, it's been nearly a year since you left…" The Master understood and nodded.

"Actually, it's been a week or two." Rosealyen looked amazed and very confused. "This is a time machine as well as a spaceship of sorts. Time and Relative Dimensions in Space is its name. She's a TARDIS." Rosealyen nodded and smoothed her dress out slightly. She looked at the blankets on the floor.

"What happened there?" she asked.

"Camping trip." the Master replied, a little too quickly. The nurse didn't catch his swiftness. She walked over and sat on top of the pile.

"Do you mind?" she asked.

"It's not my TARDIS…" he said with a shrug. "And the Doctor wouldn't mind you sitting on ou- his sheets. It won't kill him or anything." She smiled at shook some hair out of her face that had fallen from the knot. "What did your sister say to the Doctor? To make him let you two come along?" Rosealyen paused, a distant look in her face. She stood up and walked over to the Master.

"Probably something about our mum. And her dad." She brought her hand to the Master's forehead, but he fought against it.

"Get away from me. I'm not letting you anywhere near my mind." he grabbed her wrists and pushed them down to her sides. She responded by putting his forehead against her own. The Master's hands let go of her and his body sagged backwards. She listened to his guarded thoughts for a moment until she moved. Now she was standing further away, her fingers on the Master's temples. The Doctor came back into his control room to see the Master limp against the control panel while Rosealyen had his head in her hands. He walked over to distract her. It worked well enough. She released the Master from her mind reading and looked up at the younger Time-Lord, startled.

"You… Did he tried to kill himself again…" The Doctor nodded grimly.

"There is a reason that he doesn't like you in his mind. Not only is it invasive and uncomfortable, but you learn more than you should." She listened to his cold tone in shock. She pulled away and watched as the Doctor shook the older Time-Lord slightly. The Master came to gently. He shot a glare to the nurse.

"You." he said, glaring at her. "If you value your head on your shoulders, don't you ever do that again." The Doctor physically restrained the Master who was now an unhealthy shade of red as his anger rose. "No one needs to know what I'm thinking. And least of anybody would be you." he snarled. The Doctor leaned close to the Master's ear, trying to calm him.

"Koschei." he called, moving his hands from the Master's hands to his shoulders. The Master frowned and pulled away.

"Sorry." he muttered to no one in particular and stormed into hallway. The Doctor looked after him, debating whether or not to go after him. He knew that following the Master meant wasting time. He had already wasted enough and now he needed to figure out what was going on. He needed to see Hasani and Tosset.