Chapter 9 – Fatal Attraction
As the time lords left the great hall, they didn't notice the tall, silver haired man who stood up from his seat and followed them. They didn't see the knowing smile that he smiled to himself as he watched them run, almost skip, over the school grounds towards the Forbidden Forest. They didn't hear his chuckle as he stood behind a thick trunked oak, peeping round like a child playing peek-a-boo. They didn't see him as they entered the small blue police box perched precariously on a tree stump.
"Well, well, well, they made it here at last…"
After waiting for a while he stepped up to the blue door and knocked sharply four times.
OoO
The Doctor was sat on a purple sofa, his long legs curled up beneath him. The Master sat on the beanbag, also purple, on the other side of the room. This was the Doctor's favourite room in the TARDIS, and it seemed to be the Master's also.
They had turned on the TV and were attempting to pick up a signal from the surrounding area. All they were receiving was fuzz and interference.
/Are you sure it's plugged in properly?/
/Of course I'm sure!/
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
The Doctor and the Master both jumped.
/Could that be Martha?/ the Master asked.
/Four knocks…/
/I'm going to open the door/ said the Master, waving a hand in front of the Doctor's now pale face.
/Four knocks…/
/What's up with you?/
/Someone once told me, he will knock four times/
/So?/
/And then I die/
Then the Doctor seemed to snap out of it, as if he had been in a trance.
/What?/
/You said you were going to die/ said the Master.
The Doctor laughed.
/I do talk nonsense sometimes, don't I?/
/Hmmm…/
The Master left the room and walked down a long corridor. The Doctor obviously couldn't make up his mind as to what sort of décor he liked, as this was decorated in an unusual blend of pink, green and an alien shade of orange. It really was… disgusting.
The Master snorted with contempt. Only the purple sofa room matched his standards of decorating. He stepped out into the TARDIS control room and opened the door.
"Good morning, Koschei," said the tall, silver bearded man, deftly stepping past the frozen Master and into the TARDIS. "Now, where is your friend?"
"This way," said the Master, coming to his senses. He would let the Doctor deal with this one.
OoO
"My, you do have a large spaceship, don't you?" said the wizard, lifting his purple pointed hat and scratching his head. "And there's only the two of you here?"
"Three, unfortunately," said the Master. He didn't like small talk, and this was beginning to sound worryingly like it.
"So Martha decided to come along for the ride after all," said the old wizard. "I thought I'd seen her."
The Master didn't say anything. He made a noncommittal grunt and led the man further into the TARDIS.
"Through here?" the wizard asked, turning off the corridor and into the purple room.
The Master followed him.
/He's crazy/ the Master told the Doctor, as his fellow time lord looked up from where he was still zapping the TV with his screwdriver.
"Who are you?" asked the Doctor.
"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore," replied the wizard, sweeping off his hat and dropping into a low bow. His beard trailed the floor.
"So what do you think of my TARDIS?" asked the Doctor. "Don't tell me… You've already done the 'it's bigger on the inside' conversation?"
"No," said the Master. "He didn't seem bothered at all."
The Doctor stood up.
"I should have gone to the door. How come I didn't get to hear that? It's not fair, I just get the people who are like… are like… it's not fair. I w-"
/Calm down, love/ said the Master, cutting him short.
The Doctor's mouth opened and shut like a fish but no sound came out.
/Love?/ he asked into the Master's head, but the Master ignored him.
"So, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore-" the Doctor said finally.
"Oh, please just call me Dumbledore," said the wizard. "My full name is much too much of a mouthful."
"Dumbledore," said the Doctor. "Please take a seat."
"Don't mind if I do," said Dumbledore, sitting down beside the Doctor on the purple sofa.
The Master stayed standing.
"I do like your colour scheme in here, it's really very- Oh, you won't get anything out of that. Electrical objects don't work within Hogwarts' borders," added Dumbledore.
This last comment was directed at the Doctor who was still skipping through blank TV channels. The Doctor turned it off in disgust.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Albus Wulf-"
"Yeah yeah yeah. I mean who are you really? The eccentric old man in the wooden hut? The respected professor?"
"The Headmaster of the school."
"Oh…"
"I'd seen you wandering around the castle, Theta Sigma, and I wanted to meet you in person."
"How do you know my name? Why are you calling me that name?"
Dumbledore smiled.
"What name do you want me to call you?" he asked kindly.
"I'm the Doctor. Just the Doctor."
"Very well, Doctor."
They sat for a few minutes, Dumbledore humming softly to himself.
/Perhaps he has a map/ said the Master.
/A map? Oh, like Harry's map. That would explain his choice of names for us./
"I am not the owner of a Marauder's Map," said Dumbledore.
The Doctor could have sworn that the old man's piercing blue eyes were seeing right inside his head. Dumbledore laughed; a tinkly, bell ringing, almost carefree laugh.
/Can he read minds?/ asked the Master.
/I don't know/
Dumbledore looked at them but didn't say anything.
/He's not reading them now/ said the Master.
Dumbledore chuckled.
/Or maybe he is/ the Master said, countering his own argument.
"I can't read minds," said Dumbledore. "I am not practicing legilimency on you. But I can read your thought waves as you talk to each other, just like how you can sometimes read Mr Potter and Mr Weasley's. If you have something to hide from me, abstain from mind talking, if you may."
"Right," said the Doctor. "I still can't get my head around you people! Using magic, humans, in the nineties, using magic. On Earth!"
Dumbledore chuckled.
"You sound confused, Doctor. Now you know that there are things even you never knew."
He took a pocket watch out of the insides of his robes and studied the clock face intently. The Doctor looked over, but could neither make head nor tail of the three pointer hands and the images of moons, planets and stars.
Dumbledore snapped it shut.
"I'd better be off now. Should I see myself out?" he asked, getting to his feet. The Doctor jumped up after him.
"No, no. Follow me," he said.
OoO
The Master was left alone in the purple room.
/Doctor/ he called, wanting to feel the Doctor's familiar touch in his mind, his reassuring presence. He didn't get an answer.
/Doctor/
Again, there was no answer.
His head felt crowded and stuffy from the silence and he realized that he liked the Doctor being there. He liked the constant talking and the constant arguing.
/Doctor!/
He was more desperate now.
/Theta Sigma!/
OoO
"Well, it was nice meeting you," said the Doctor, opening the TARDIS door.
/Doctor/
He jumped. He hadn't expected the Master to call him. He wondered why. Probably to say some snide comment, he reasoned.
"Goodbye. I'm sure I'll be seeing more of you; the Triwizard Tournament is too big of an occasion to miss," said Dumbledore, stepping over the threshold.
/Doctor/
"Of course! We could never miss something as interesting as this. I've never heard of anything like this before, I had never realized that there was such a huge gap in my knowledge!"
He ignored the Master. It wouldn't do to have the other time lord believe he had him at his beck and call now, would it?
/Doctor!/
"Farewell for now," said Dumbledore and the Doctor closed the door.
/Theta sigma!/ came the anguished cry.
This had to be more than just a snide comment, thought the Doctor.
He had never felt so much… feeling… from the Master before.
He hurried back down the corridor as fast as he could; he was almost there, when he heard another knock on the TARDIS door. He was torn between the two but curiosity got the better of him and he turned, ran back towards the control room away from the Master's cries.
He opened the door to find Martha outside, still in her ball gown (which the Doctor suspected had been taken from the TARDIS' wardrobes) and heels.
"Martha," he said with a smile. "I take it you enjoyed yourself?"
"Yes," said Martha. "But you promised that you would take me home. I've thought about it, and I've realized I can't just keep running. I'm needed at home. My family needs me."
"What about your boyfriend?" asked the Doctor, his brown eyes twinkling. "Won't he miss you?"
Martha blushed.
"It's not serious; it kind of happened by accident and he needed a date for that ball thing and I was on my own so I didn't see why I shouldn't," she gabbled, stumbling over her words, feeling defensive.
"He's head over heels for you," teased the Doctor.
Martha stuck her tongue out at him.
"Just because I can get a guy and you can't get a girl," she said and she pushed past him into the TARDIS.
"Maybe I don't want a girl," said the Doctor, but no one heard him.
OoO
He was alone.
His head was empty and he was alone.
He curled up on the beanbag, tucking his long legs up to his chest and cradling his head in his arms.
His neck ached from the position he was in but he didn't care. In fact he liked it. He more than liked it. He relished the pain because it told him he was still there, he was still alive. Normally he would be able to tell this from the beating of his two hearts, in time with the sound of the drums, but right now both of them felt swollen, frozen, cracked.
Koschei wept.
OoO
"I'm going to get changed," Martha called to the Doctor.
She burst through a door, her dress flying out behind her.
"Oh, sorry. Wrong room," she said, backing out quickly.
The Master watched her leave and then closed his eyes again.
/Doctor/ he tried one last time, but the attempt was feeble and he couldn't even be sure that the Doctor had heard.
OoO
The Doctor tentatively pushed open the door. He peered into the dimly lit room and felt his hearts skip a beat when he saw the curled up body on the beanbag.
The Master wasn't moving.
/Master?/
He didn't get a reply.
/I'm sorry/ he said, not quite sure what he was apologising for.
The Master sat up slowly and looked into the Doctor's eyes. There were shiny tear tracks staining his face.
/Doctor/ he said and then he closed his eyes yet again.
The Doctor dropped to the floor, wrapping his arms around the Master's still body.
/Master?/
He shook him.
/Koschei, please/
/I need you/ came the Master's weak reply. /I need you close/
The Doctor listened with amazement as the Master let go of his hard outer shell and revealed his hearts.
/I need you too/ he said with difficulty. But after saying it that first time it became easier. So much easier. /I need you/
The Master sat up, pulling the Doctor into his arms.
/I've gone soft/ he said, resigned.
/There's nothing wrong with that/ replied the Doctor, holding him closer.
There was a knock on the door and then Martha pushed it open.
"Sorry to disturb you two love bugs, but I thought you ought to know that there's a dalek wanting to see you. It's outside the TARDIS."
The Doctor jumped to his feet, pulling the Master up with him.
"Crap," he said.
