Bad and Wrong
It was hours later when the Doctor decided to spoil it. They had been having an even better date than the Master had previously hopped. Walking down the streets, hand in hand, the Doctor sweeping his gaze over everything they passed, people bowing down to them and smiling with adoration. At first they were chatting about everything and everyone, the Doctor happier than his lover had seen him in weeks but gradually he grew more and more silent until the only sound shared between them was their breathing.
Now, they were currently in a little cafe. Koschei had ordered a coffee for him and a banana split for his lover but the other man had done nothing but play with the little pieces of food before completely pushing it away and raising his head.
The Master had known something was wrong the moment Theta stopped talking about how brilliant the buildings, the air, the parks and everything was, but initially he'd thought it was just because it was too much to take in. Now, when the Doctor looked at him like that, as if about to say something along the lines of "I slipped something in your tea, you are going to die in 10 minutes", the Master started to rethink his conclusion.
"He was right," were the only words that left his mouth. Soft, hesitant and even if lacking sense they made the Master's mind go on an overload. Who had been right? With whom his lover had talked, actually, that wasn't a toclafane and whose words had been able to bring such sadness in the Doctor's eyes. Who... he flinched, that bastard! A freak that could only think with his crotch and that had a shag-buddy that wasn't even... He forced himself to breathe deeply and reply, hoping that the venom wasn't seeping from his voice.
"And what did he say?" And surprise, surprise, judging from the way his lover clutched at his spoon, he hadn't succeeded.
"That you had turned the world upside down. And he is right, what you are doing is wrong."
If the Master had thought that there was something more quiet than a whisper he had been wrong. What Theta, for the lack of better word, breathed out was as gentle as the breeze and yet it cut right through him and made his hearts grow cold.
"So you say the things I did are bad?" His voice was cold, and with a surprise he noted that it didn't even tremble. Theta flinched anyway. If he wasn't so mad and confused and hurt he'd have considered taking pity on the man. As it was now, he continued, raising his voice and not giving a damn that he was attracting the attention of the people in the cafe. "So what? I try to kill them- it's evil. I help them, make their lives bearable and interesting and, guess what, it's still not enough for the Doctor! What the bloody hell do you want me to do to make you happy?"
He knew it might look like he was exaggerating, but this was so much more than he was letting out. This was his gift for his lover, his way of saying "I love you and I'd do everything for you, even change my ways". He wasn't giving the other his favourite planet, he was baring his hearts, he was submitting himself to the man he loved with every fibre of his being and he was being rejected.
"There is a difference between wrong and bad. What you did, to make me happy? No one has ever done something as brilliant as that. But you have to understand, love, that humanity is important, I have no idea why but they are. Hundreds of years from now they will be one of the most significant races in the universe. And here, right now, you are changing that future. And this is what is wrong."
Koschei's nostrils flared. His lover was talking to him as if he was a retard and he didn't want to hear a word he was saying. Maybe he was childish, really he didn't care. His instincts were telling him to bolt and leave, to give back the TARDIS to the Doctor and never see him again. Because there was a small part of him, somewhere deep inside, that couldn't give up all of the control. Couldn't surrender. Fortunately, it was such a tiny part and he wasn't so stupid and crazy to give up one of the most brilliant things that had ever happened to him.
"Fine. It was a gift to you after all, you can do whatever you want with it."
And when the Doctor smiled at him like that, tentatively reaching out for his hand and squeezing it when the other man extended it... the Master realized that probably he'd never be able to say no to him.
That didn't prevent him from sulking all the way to the Valiant, of course, nothing said "You'd better reward me with some brilliant sex when we go back" better than pouting lips and a pair of folded arms.
As soon as they were back, the Master left his lover in the room, offering a quick kiss on the cheek and a few rushed words as a goodbye. The Doctor couldn't really bring himself to stop him. After all, the other was still mad and if by leaving him alone, Theta won't feel his anger and disappointment then so be it.
To be fair, the Doctor was surprised he was even here. He looked around the room, knowing well enough that he might have never seen it again. Because back in that cafe there had been one terrible, endless moment in which he had feared the worst. He could almost see it, his lover getting up and leaving, not caring, and his hearts arched from that image. And the worst thing was, the Doctor actually believed he deserved it. He felt like one of those victims of abuse that blamed themselves for everything and he didn't like it because his lover wasn't like that. If someone was abusing someone it was Theta hurting Koschei. He'd thought of killing him, nothing he did would ever repay that.
His gaze landed on the wardrobe and he flinched. Never again. No matter what his Koschei did, no matter how many people suffered he would never think this was the solution. They would sit and talk and deal with it like adults. The Doctor smirked at that, both of them acting like grown-ups? Like that would ever happen...
Eventually, he went to bed. He had no clock but he was sure hours had passed since the Master had left him and it hurt him to know that the other man had been so mad at him to not want to share his bed. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd gone to bed alone, it had been so long ago. The sheets were cold and burning his body, the space- mocking, insulting. His hearts were arching and yet deep inside himself he was proud. Of himself and his lover. They were going to do the right thing.
Some time later he was being gently rocked out of a dream (it had been about a Nazi dinosaur with a moustache that was chasing him and demanding that he turned over his lover to the Timelord-eating mushrooms). He lifted his head, narrowing his eyes at the sudden bright light until a well-known face swam in his line of vision. The corners of his mouth curled upward without him noticing.
"Hey," Koschei's soft voice reached his ears and there was no trace of the previous anger. "Get up, love, I have to show you something."
If it had been any other day, he'd have rolled on the other side and growled at the other to stop bothering him. If there hadn't been that glint in his lover's eyes he might have even dragged him to the bed to snog him senseless. As it was now, he only nodded and lifted himself from the bed. The only thing covering him was one of Koschei's old shirts that was too short on him and that still smelt like his original owner and a pair of boxers but he didn't bother changing. There wasn't a living being on the Valiant, after all.
It should have been his first warning when the Master's eyes swept over his body before he noted that "it'd be really good if Theta put some pants on, or maybe a turtleneck... or a poncho." He received a nod of agreement only on the first one.
The second sign should have been the happy and proud smile his lover was wearing as he led the way to the main room. The third? Well, most probably the two people who were waiting for them in there, standing beside a rather broken TARDIS. He would have scolded the Master for the way his ship had been treated if it wasn't for the two... human... occupants. The smell hit his nose and it was stronger now, sending shivers down his spine, because he knew.
"Hey, Doc," one of them greeted, opening his arms in an invitation, but quickly bringing them back together when someone in the room, most probably Koschei, growled.
"Jack." He nodded in the immortal's direction and then moved his gaze to the other man. Ianto Jones looked exactly how he remembered him, perfect hair, not a wrinkle on his suit and that horrible smell. Something must have shown on his face because the other looked down, flushing slightly. Then as if a cloud passed across his face and his eyes widened and grew cold. He was aware, as well, Theta thought bitterly. "Mr. Jones."
He turned toward his lover, who was rocking on his heels, singing something as disturbing as "I can't decide". The first time Koschei had sung that to him he had taken it as a hint. With the time however, he had realized the other Timelord only sung when he was happy and his terrible taste in music because he lacked knowledge in the Earth's music department. And "what was appropriate and what not" department.
"What is going on here?"
"Well, you wanted me to fix everything didn't you? We could have simply disappeared but I figured out if we were doing it, we were doing it right. I had to reconstruct the TARDIS but there was no way I could've done it without killing myself, and I know how much you like the new sexy me. So I contacted Jack and the other young man just tagged along."
Even if he couldn't make out half of what was being said he could understand the meaning- Koschei was going to make it alright and so fast, too. He would have jumped him... if they didn't have a company.
Not sensing the sudden tension in the room, or simply skilfully ignoring it, the Master grinned. "So Jones what do you say you come and help me finish the preparation on the TARDIS and let them discuss the perfectness of my plan."
Ianto nodded and followed him and it was obvious he was doing it not because he wanted to but to avoid any confrontation. At least to the two Timelords it was clear as the day but Jack remained happily oblivious. Maybe that was the only reason they were still together, the Doctor couldn't help but ask himself.
Jack and Theta tracked their retreating and then turned to one another. Their conversation was choppy and awkward, the topics random, but that had been expected. Their last conversation had been about the murder of one of their lovers and neither of them could quite forget it.
"Okay, we are done," announced Koschei some time later, emerging from the machine. Ianto was trailing behind him, uncertain and shaking just slightly. Theta concluded immediately that his lover had told him they knew.
He nodded and waved at Jack to follow him in the TARDIS. Once inside he and Koschei were supposed to make it bend under their control when in reality all they did was press buttons and play with handles, half the time not knowing what they were doing, but doing it in such a synchrony nonetheless. Brushing against each other, the one always aware of the actions of the other, their eyes and mouths smiling whenever their gazes met, like a dance that their minds were too old to remember but their bodies had never forgotten.
"Call me stupid but again what are you two doing?" Jack cut in from his place near the door.
"Those toclafanes, they are the humans from that place we visited but modified. But they couldn't come here and change the past, they were you from the future, they would have disappeared. Like that film Rose made us watch- Back To The Future? So it was impossible for K... the Master to bring them here in a time-machine and he altered the TARDIS into a paradox-machine. It's possible, really, and very easy to do but it's too hard to change back and that's why it's not so common. So we just have to change her back and the toclafanes would vanish and no one would remember anything," Theta explained hurriedly as he was still moving around.
He tried to ignore the proud smile the other Timelord sent him and the way his hearts fluttered from it. They had never talked about how exactly to change the world and he was happy to find out he and Koschei had had the same idea.
"So we won't remember anything?" pipped in Ianto and the Doctor realized that was the first thing he had said since he and Koschei had been left alone. The second thing he became aware of almost immediately was how sickly hopeful the tone of his voice was. He nearly smirked at the Welshman, as if it would be that easy.
"No, we are in the eye of the storm, we'll be the only one that remember," he said, voice weirdly cheerful, and shrugged innocently when his lover glared at him. Somewhere in the distance he heard Jack asking Ianto if he was alright.
"Yes, just too much. I mean aliens I could deal with but time travel and paradoxes? I need time to assimilate it." The laugh that followed was flat and fake.
'Funny you say that, when you are one big paradox," sneered the Doctor in his mind but refrained from speaking. Soon, though, he promised himself.
He leaned forward to push one button and his shoulder brushed against his lover. The smile that had appeared on his lips from the contact quickly disappeared when his wrist was caught discreetly and he saw the grim look on the other Timelord's face.
"Stop that."
"He isn't right!" Theta whispered back, his voice just a tad louder than it should have been but the other two didn't pay them any attention whatsoever.
"That doesn't make him bad." It was a low blow, repeating the words he had used only hours ago, and the Doctor couldn't help but admire the other's power of persuasion. Not that it worked, of course, he cared far too much for Jack to be thrown off by a couple of well-placed words. The immortal had been and always will be a companion to him and watching someone using him was not on his list of things he would tolerate.
"He could tear the whole of reality," he continued to persist as he tried to take his hand out of the other's iron grip.
Koschei smirked, tightened it even more and then using it to drag his lover closer. "So could we any day of the week." He sounded like he enjoyed that fact and, knowing him, he probably did.
The Doctor stared at him, for once uncertain. The Master seemed determined to stop him from interfering and he had to ask himself why. Did he know something Theta didn't? Or did he simply believe in Jones' good intentions? Maybe, just maybe, he had to trust him. After all, Koschei had never begged and the look he was giving him at that moment was the closer he'd ever gotten.
"Fine... but I'm doing it..."
"For me. I know, love, thank you." With those words and a kiss on the cheek, Koschei let go of him and dashed to the other side of the room, leaving his lover to stare after him with a gaping mouth and slightly darkened orbs. Needless to say, it took him awhile to remember he was supposed to be busy with the TARDIS.
Little by little, they were gaining control over her and soon with one final pulling at a handle, the TARDIS began to purr. Koschei and Theta shared a look, their blinding smiles mirrored by one another. They were grinning like fools even when the time-machine shook and they all fell on the floor.
Koschei made sure his Theta was okay and yes, there he was, grinning like a madman, before glancing at their companions- both lying on the floor, Jack curled protectively over Ianto and holding him tightly. Yes, everything was going to be alright.
When everything was done and said, the two Timelords dumped Jack and Ianto on Earth, a few days after the immortal had left just to make sure his Welshman didn't bump into the one of the past before the universe had done what it was supposed to do and get rid of the one in the past. The Doctor didn't miss the opportunity to nag at his lover in a whisper that "see, the universe has to fix his messes again." Something the other man gladly ignored.
They had bid the men goodbye or at least the Master had. Theta just sat there sulking because, according to Koschei, his lover just missed the Master's big, hot c- and that was where he was cut out with a slap on the head by said lover.
But when he continued to act like that even when they were alone in the TARDIS, Koschei knew something was wrong.
"Look, if you are still upset about Ia..."
"I was going to kill you," Theta cut in, his voice loud and clear. Only the nothing met his words and he raised his head- eyes wide, Koschei was frozen in his spot like a perfect picture. In fact, the only thing that gave him out was the slow raising and falling of his chest. The Doctor knew he shouldn't have said it. Everything was perfect, they could have been perfect, except it felt like one big lie and he felt sick every time he remembered his intentions only a day ago.
"I know." In the piercing silence that rung out clear as a bell. Theta felt his hearts squeeze painfully and his stomach lurched. He took a step back, shaking his head slightly. That wasn't right, Koschei hadn't known. He wouldn't have acted that way if he had known! How long... no, that was a lie... when... he might have thought he was talking about their past... how? His thoughts were dancing inside of his brain as cold fear took over his body.
He didn't even notice the other walk closer to him and came to his senses when two strong arms wrapped around him. "Don't panic, Thet. I found out just yesterday. It's not... not that important. It just reminded me that I have to win your trust, not seduce it out of you."
"You have my trust. You earned it, every ounce of it," the Doctor whispered in his lover's neck, hot tears burning his eyes. "I would have killed myself after that, you know?"
"Yeah?" And only a man like the Master would find something like that romantic because there he was, smiling against the other's skin.
"But no more secrets." Relucantly, Theta pushed himself away from the other man, just enough so their eyes could lock. "I'd never deceive you again, never try to change you, never even think of doing something like that, but please don't hide things from me."
"And spend the rest of my life being imprisoned with you?" The words would have sounded harsh if it wasn't for the brilliant smile gracing his face. "With pleasure, my dear Doctor."
They pressed against each other again and Theta let himself melt into the embrace. There were no more secrets between them, they had laid their cards before one another and neither of them had walked away. He felt as if they could do everything together and probably they could.
"Well, where do you want to go now? I'm thinking about Barcelona, the planet. Funny, though, something always happens when I want to visit it.
"Or maybe," Koschei murmured, resting his hands on the other's shoulders and lifting himself on his tiptoes. The difference in their height wasn't that big yet that was the only way for him to slide his lips over Theta's lobe, "We can go to the bedroom and you can take me."
A low whine left the Doctor's mouth and for one second he thought he might faint from the sudden rush of blood in the opposite direction of his brain. The other Timelord took that as an agreement and, gasping his hand, dragged him toward the first room with a bed that they could find. And as Theta was trailing behind, the only though in his head being how for the first time he didn't mind the universe interrupting his visit to Barcelona, everything was simply perfect.
A/N There! Done! God, I'd miss that story, I had so much fun writing it. Some day in the future when my muse beats me up I can write the sex scene that follows or even a sequel about their travelling (because let's face it, they might call truce inside the TARDIS but outside? I'm pretty sure they'll be fighting half the time) Well, thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.