A/N: The Chibi's Are Stalking Me, Cordelia-Lear, GSRgirlforever, Isis the Sphinx, Jessa L'Rynn, Kathryn Shadow, NewDrWhoFan, Olfactory-Ventriloquism, Rynne, SilverWolf7, andTardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel are proud to present the Second Annual Doctor Who October Project.

Each author has one character assigned, in the mode of the Canterbury Tales. Jessa L'Rynn edits.

Disclaimer: -This Spot for Lease! Get Your Disclaiming Message Out There!-

The Companionable Tales

Chapter 10: Of Identities and Differences

Today's Author: The Chibi's Are Stalking Me

"OK, maybe it wouldn't be so much fun after all," Jackie said with a rueful smile. "I dunno, but wouldn't that be my luck, some alien who drinks blood turns out to be the Marketing Director or something, and I insult him?"

Donna chuckled. "I got no problem with it. He wants to act weird, he's gonna get a slap an' told he's weird!"

"I'm with Donna," said Mickey, grinning, while the red-head smiled fondly at him.

"I don't know," said Isleen. "What would the Doctor think about it?"

"That we're all very silly and simple creatures who don't really know what we're doing with anything." Sarah Jane waved a hand as if drawing pictures to demonstrate her point. "And that we're like babies running with scissors most of the time."

"Stupid apes," Mickey observed.

"The Doctor doesn't really think like that, does he?!" Isleen exclaimed.

"You tell us," said Martha with a shrug. "Dunno anyone who knows what really goes on in that head of his..."

"Time Lords are superior life forms," Lucy Saxon said softly. "Their species is the Universe's first-born and their birth right included many gifts. You simpler, lesser species are entertaining to behold, because you are so young, so small... so fragile." She smiled coldly. "Time Lords think in clouds. Logic begets logic begets reasonable reason..."

"Lucy, you need to stop," said Sarah Jane, calmly. "You're working yourself into a state, you're only going to hurt yourself." Martha started in surprise, but Sarah Jane shook her head and leaned close. "Good cop, bad cop," she whispered. Martha nodded.

"I shouldn't say anyway, not when I'm being eaten alive," Lucy said quietly. "I wish Harry was here - he'd look after me. He'd know what to do."

"Tell me a bit about Harry, won't you, Lucy?" Sarah Jane encouraged gently. "Does he make you think things you don't want to do?"

Lucy looked puzzled by this, genuinely and thoroughly uncertain. "He takes care of me."

Sarah Jane sat in the Donna-vacated chair next to Lucy's and patted the beautiful blonde's porcelain hand. "Tell me something about it," she encouraged.

Slowly, an expression of confused frustration on her face, Lucy nodded.

Looking back, the line between the two was just slightly more obvious than it had been. Actions tinted by time and nostalgia, like a half-broken kaleidoscope. Maybe, years from now, the two would be blended once more.

Duality. Maybe that was the term for it. Both so alike but so different; some glaring, some hidden. Like the dreams. Nightmares, really. An easy way to tell which was which was by how he reacted after waking up.

Harry would go rigid, eyes snapping open and gasping raggedly for breath. Usually he'd reach for her, occasionally waking her if he hadn't been thrashing again – he tried not to, really he did – and if she could coax the stories out of him, he gradually relaxed against her for however much of the night was left. Otherwise he would just pull her as close as he could, fingers twitching out a steady rhythm on her nightgown until morning came.

The Master would hesitate; face twisting into a frown before finally letting himself be pulled completely to consciousness. He'd lay still for a moment before sitting upright, slinging his legs over the side of their bed and pace the length of it a few times before moving to the door. He would glance back at her before shutting it, running off to do…something. She had only followed him once, and it had been more than enough to dissuade such actions again.

There were other differences, of course. Harry couldn't stand the Frea- erm, Jack, and would keep as far away from that part of the airship as possible when he was in charge. The Master took great pleasure in coming up with new ways to kill and maim him; he'd once described the immortal as a new toy, one he could toss around as much as he liked but wouldn't break.

And…Harry was the one who kept the Doctor around. He'd never, ever admit it, but he was lonely; the idea of being the last Time Lord terrified him. The Master was wary of this, however. The Doctor had, time and again, been able to win out due to some mixture of intellect, patience, and sheer fools luck; why keep him so close, if around at all?

Lucy was never really quite sure which it was who sometimes guided her quickly, frantically back to their rooms, muttering how it wasn't safe right now and to not open the door until he came back. It hadn't happened often – only four times in the year – but long enough that by the end she'd all but memorized the pattern on the inside of their door. One time that stood out had involved the guards, and she only knew that because a few of the bodies hadn't quite been cleared away by the time he'd come to collect her.

It gave her a slight feeling of satisfaction when she'd caught a sign of transition. A light flickering behind his eyes; the slightest tilt of his head; a sudden shift in expression; bursting abruptly into motion…

And she loved them both. It was hard not to, both being the same person. The only…downside was that, as time went by, Harry seemed to show himself less and less, while the Master became much more dominant.

It might have been strange, as they were never very far away, but sometimes…she missed him.