Chapter Ten: Ungodly
Warning: Contains slash and some ungodly behaviour on Hasani's part.
Look at me! I'm a target (for ideas)! Shoot some my way and I'll see if I can work them in! (Or possibly use them in the sequel I'm currently writing.)
Hasani pulled the wires carefully across her machine. She gently blew some grains of sand out of the machinery and stared at her creation proudly. She placed the cover back on the back of it and glanced up its smooth lengths. There was something fascinating about the macabre to her. There always had been. The jolts of adrenaline were running through her; breaking laws had always given her such an ungodly high. Something so… dangerous. It was tantalizing. She gently pushed her braided and beaded hair away from her eyes as she dragged her hand down the cold metal. There were the sounds of someone entering the tent. She swiftly threw a white sheet over the tiny contraption and walked over the cell replicator that had been fixed recently. The man who came down scowled at her.
"Hasani. The Pharaoh wants progress. He will have no use for you if you do nothing for his great empire." he said in Egyptian.
"Screw yourself." she said in English, but backtracked. "Pardon." she begged, now switching awkwardly into the language of Egypt. "I have had much work to do with these newcomers. I shall proceed with my work as soon as I can." The man shot her a look of distain before walking out of the tent. She adjusted her leopard-skin covering and walked back over to her newest project. The Pharaoh wanted progress? She could easily demonstrate her power with this small metallic box. It looked so harmless. She picked it up, enjoying the surge of dark excitement flooding through her. The Time-Lords thought themselves great to be able to influence pasts, but in her sunburnt, sweaty palms she held the true power. The power to influence the future of one who had lost theirs. She giggled like a young school girl at the prospect of such power, such a thing in her hands. She tucked it under her arm and walked out of the tent. She refrained from glancing around in tell-tale sign on nervousness. She smiled as the machine weighed her down. The adrenaline coursed through her veins. She looked frantic as heat and energy poured through her body. She walked past some Egyptians who gave her a slight nod of their heads. Tosset saw her and walked over. He looked at the box under her arm and smiled.
"You've finished?" he asked, grinning madly. She nodded.
"Of course I have. I am going to test it now." she said, sweeping her gaze over the camp. Tosset put an arm over her shoulders and kissed her.
"You are brilliant." he said into her hair. She pulled away and sped up her pace. Tosset took the lead as he looked for the burial grounds that lay somewhere off of the side of the camp. She began shaking in anticipation. It looked as though she were shivering. Tosset guided her to a mound of dead bodies. She got to her knees and set the box on the ground. She began playing with the instruments on it. Tosset picked a body out and held it up. Its head rolled loosely on its neck.
"Are you ready?" she asked, still shaking. Her fingers were moving up and down on a dial feverishly. He nodded and held the body ahead of the machine. She laughed as she pushed a small, blue button and turned a knob as far as it would go. A bright green light shot out and engulfed Tosset and the body he was holding. It was blinding, but Hasani could not stop staring. There was something unearthly about its alien glow. Her eyes widened as the light began to fade and she heard moaning. She jumped to her feet and looked at Tosset, who had fallen to the ground. The slave's body began to twitch. She bent down beside her husband and took his pulse. There was nothing. Frantically, she rushed over to what used to be a corpse. It was breathing. She looked between the two. Swiftly, she walked back over to the machine and hit the controls again. Her eyes darted between the two on the ground. The bright light shown around them again, but this time Hasani ducked her head into her shoulder. When it faded for the second time, she ran over to her husband and took his pulse. There was blood pumping from his heart. She walked over to the corpse and felt for breath or a heart-beat. Neither seemed to be in the corpse. She looked back to her husband. He was sitting up, rubbing his forehead.
"So to bring someone back, you have to have equal life to take away?" Hasani picked her machine up and nodded. Tosset got to his feet. "Is there a way to fix that?" Hasani shook her head.
"I spent years building this. It would take even longer to attempt to fix that. And I don't know if it's even possible."
"Perhaps it is a law of the universe." Tosset offered, brushing himself off. Hasani put a warm hand on the sun-heated skin of his chest and kissed his cheek.
"I will break all laws of the universe to get what I want." she promised. He chuckled.
"I know." he said, pushing the corpse back into the pile with his sandaled feet. Hasani pushed her hair back and sighed. "We need to hide this until we can figure out…" he stopped when he hear a familiar voice.
"Hasani? Tosset?" the Doctor called. He looked around the tents, not seeing the couple. He glanced to the side and saw a large stack of bodies. Beside them were Hasani and Tosset. He walked over. "This is going to sound…" When he saw the small box at her side, that she was trying to hide, he raised his eyebrows. "I thought that you couldn't fix the replicator. But you obviously built that…" She gave a cautious glance to Tosset. "What is that?" he asked.
"It's nothing, Doctor. What do you want?" he asked. The Doctor didn't believe him, but moved the conversation onward, staring at the machine.
"I need your vortex manipulator." he said. "We've come into some… problems… and we need to make sure that we can travel without attracting the attention of people who know what my TARDIS looks like." The Doctor didn't stop looking at the box. "And honestly, Tosset, what is that thing?" he asked, knowing that he was more likely to get a real answer out of the man than the woman who obviously created it.
"Doctor, it doesn't pertain to you." Hasani hissed. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and waved it at the box. He studied the feedback. His eyes widened.
"Put that down, Hasani." he ordered. "Put that down." She shook her head.
"No, Doctor. I can save my family with this. And I will do whatever it takes." she said adamantly. The Doctor took a step closer.
"Please give it to me."
"Have you ever wondered why I was so excited to go to Ancient Egypt?" The Doctor took another step closer to her, but she took a step back in response. "Because these pyramids will act like a giant energy source, triangulating immeasurable energy throughout the whole of time and space. It cannot be reversed now. And that energy will power my machine. And I will bring my family back." Tosset put an arm over her shoulders protectively. The Doctor looked over his shoulder to see Rosealyen walking toward them, curiously. She obviously noted the defensive and offensive posturing they were sharing. She walked next to the Doctor. The Doctor stepped back and put a hand out to stop the nurse.
"Rosealyen, get back to the TARDIS." he ordered gently. Hasani stared at the woman dressed in blood-stained white.
"Doctor." Tosset said darkly. "Leave." The Doctor pretended to look surprised.
"But to bring people back to life, you need to have a body. So don't you need a time machine to get to your family, Hasani?" Hasani scowled.
"What does it matter, Doctor?" she hissed, her hand hovering on her invention zealously.
"You want your family back, but they've been dead far too long for you to be able to use their bodies to bring them back, correct?" Rosealyen looked between the couple and the Doctor.
"What are you saying, Doctor?" Tosset asked, suspiciously.
"You let me have your vortex manipulator and you help me figure out what is going on. Then I'll…" he paused. This was breaking so many of his rules, but he couldn't risk the Time-Lords coming back and destroying the universe. This was the only non-violent answer. "I'll let you resurrect your family when we're done." Hasani's eyes lit up and she turned to Tosset.
"Tosset," she said, meaningfully. He nodded slowly.
"We will hold you to that promise." he said. The Doctor nodded. Hasani stepped forward and Tosset took his arm off of her. "I'll go get it." he said and walked away swiftly. Hasani looked at the young woman behind the Doctor.
"Is this a new companion?" she asked. The Doctor shook his head.
"This is Rosealyen. She is travelling with me for the time being until we figure out who destroyed her sanctuary." Hasani looked the blonde up and down. She flicked he beaded braids out of her face and held a hand out. Rosealyen's cool touch met Hasani's feverish skin roughly. Rosealyen felt all of Hasani's thoughts rush into her head. The woman jerked her hand away and looked at the nurse accusatively.
"You're psychic! The Doctor set you up to this." she snarled. The Doctor wondered what had caused such a drastic change in Hasani's personality. In the short time he'd known her, this seemed very out of the ordinary. The Rhian stepped back, eyes wide.
"No, no! I just—" her voice trailed down to a whisper as the shorter woman's presence overwhelmed her.
"There was a time when your companions had some backbone." she said, swiftly, returning her burning gaze to the Doctor. He blinked.
"Rosealyen, go back to the TARDIS. I will bring them back. Go check on the Master and Mesae." Rosealyen began to leave, but stopped when Hasani caught her gaze.
"Yes, go back to the Doctor's dog. See if he's still starving. See if he's trying to kill himself again. The irritation on his stab wound was consistent with chlorine. I'm sure he was swimming for fun, wasn't he, Doctor? The Master just wants to die. Is that too much to give him? He seems like—" the Doctor cut her off.
"Stop it!" he yelled loudly. Tosset walked over, carrying the small device on a wrist-strap. He glared at the Doctor, who was towering over his wife menacingly. "You do not know what you're talking about."
"He tried to kill himself again." the young nurse said, gently, remembering the Master's vague memory of trying to commit suicide again. The Doctor nodded curtly, since she already knew that much, so he thought. Tosset held out the vortex manipulator to the Time-Lord who grabbed it. He began to walk back to the TARDIS. He held a hand out to Rosealyen, who accepted it, trying to avoid the looks of the man and woman behind her. "What did he do?" she whispered.
He tried to drown himself. The Doctor admitted. She left her hand where it was, listening to the memories he allowed to pour into her mind. She stiffened slightly at the sight of the Master in the pool, unmoving.
"I'm sorry." she said, feeling the emotions that had been coursing through him. The Doctor quickly cut it off seconds before he remembered himself remember a much young Koschei and the times they had shared as children. He nodded as they approached the blue phonebox. The Doctor opened the door and let Rosealyen go in first. Then he went in. He held the doors open for Hasani and Tosset. The Master stood by the console, his hands in front of his.
"The vortex manipulator." he said the Doctor. The Doctor tossed it to him, surprised when it slipped through the Master's fingers. The Master picked it up swiftly and paused. "Hello, Hasani, Tosset." he said, evenly. The looks on their faces betrayed their anger and discomfort. "What's that?" he asked, pointing a long finger at the box under her arm.
"Listen, Time-Lord," she said, drawing herself up to her full height. "I'm not in the mood to play games. This can raise the dead. All I want to do is see my family again. Then I'm leaving all of you." The Master nodded.
"Point taken. Now listen, human, you're going to abide by my rules while you're here. And one of those happens to be, the Doctor and I control this TARDIS and you'll treat us like we are, in control. Understood?" There was an air of something dangerous coming from him. It was enough to make Hasani nodded softly. The Doctor walked over to the Master.
"Don't do that. She has had a tough life." he whispered into the Master's ear. The Master sneered.
"I'm sure that we have had it worse off than she has." The Doctor didn't respond. He started the TARDIS to let her drift until they determined what they were going to do. There was a rumble beneath them and then calm again. The Master froze and closed his eyes. "Theta." he said, swiftly, not remembering that no one else knew the Doctor's name in the room. The Doctor whipped around and looked at the other Time-Lord.
"What?" he asked, concerned. The Master's eyes snapped open.
"They're gone. The drums. Completely." The Doctor nodded, cautiously. "As soon as we left Egypt…" The Doctor turned to Hasani.
"What did you say about the pyramids?" She shrugged and handed the box to Tosset.
"I convinced the Pharaoh to build them on ley lines. They began collecting energy as soon as the foundations were laid. And I placed them so they would transmit their energy into parts of the past that remained unaffected by Time-Slips and all over space." The Doctor stared at her.
"What are Time-Slips?" he asked.
"Interferences in futures, pasts, or presents. So all of your time-line will remain unaffected. And most people's lives." The Master stood up straight. He looked at the Doctor. He took the Doctor by the wrist and pulled him away from the others. He dragged him into the hallway, out of sight of the other current occupants of the TARDIS and kissed the Doctor. He put his hands on the Doctor's neck and brushed his lips against the Doctor's one more time.
"They're gone." he whispered giddily. "For the first time…" The pure joy in his voice was shocking. The Doctor had never heard that tone before. He kissed the Master back gently, still too preoccupied as to what the changing of the past on Hasani's part meant.
"Koschei, I am so glad for you." he murmured, still distracted. Rosealyen walked down the hallway to avoid having to make contact with the couple when she stopped in her tracks. She saw the Doctor up against the wall as the Master snogged him. She stepped back.
"Sorry." she said, quickly, and walked back to the control room, blushing fiercely. Then again, she knew that the Master loved the Doctor. She had known since the first time she had entered his mind in the sanctuary. It had been buried for so long and yet it was very important to the Master during his stay at the sanctuary. The Master stopped and took a breath.
"Doctor…" he paused. "we need to get back." The Doctor nodded. The Master walked back to the control room, smiling widely. The Doctor followed, frowning. He turned to Hasani, who was whispering low and fast to her husband. He was nodding. He turned to the Doctor.
"Do you have a place where we could sleep? Hasani and I have not slept for days." The Doctor nodded.
"Master, can you find them a room?" The Master nodded, still grinning. Rosealyen watched him lead the couple away.
"Your name is Theta?" she asked, intrigued. The Doctor nodded. "So you love him back, then?" she asked. The Doctor nodded again. "You really were all that he thought about when I was looking after him. There was nothing else that held his attention as long as you did. He seems to be much better than before. You really were what he needed, after all."
"He needed more than me. With your help and that of Mesae, I found him. That was all that he really needed, to know that there were people willing to help him." It was untrue, but the Doctor didn't mind lying to make Rosealyen feel good about her work. "He has always needed people to be there for him, since they often weren't."
"I'm just glad that you showed up for him. He may not look very healthy, but it's much better than when he looked when he left us. He actually looks like a person now." The Doctor smiled at that remark.
"Don't let him hear you say that." he warned teasingly.
"I wouldn't dream of it." she promised. She shuffled her red and white boots on the ground, watching them intently. "Do you think that my sister is safe here?" she asked. "Not that I don't trust you!" she paused. What did she know about the Doctor, other than the mixed messages she received from the Master's mind… No. She did trust him. She knew enough to trust him. She was sure of that.
"Yes. No one can get into the TARDIS without the key, which I have. And it's very rare when I misplace it. And if someone were to come in, it wouldn't be too bad at all. The TARDIS is a smart girl. She'll keep your sister safe. I promise." She smiled.
"Thank you." The more she thought about her sister, the more concerned she began getting. It was irrational, but now the young girl was entering a world that neither of the girls knew anything about. She took a deep breath and sighed. "Doctor, where is Mesae?" she asked. The Doctor motioned over his shoulder to the hallway with his head.
"She fell asleep." he said. She nodded to herself.
"I'm going to join her. I promise that I'll do anything you need me to, tomorrow." The Doctor gave her a small smile.
"Thank you for your help, Rosealyen. It means a lot to me." She beamed and walked down the hallway.
"Good night, Doctor." she called. There was the sound of a thud and quick apologies. Rosealyen continued down the hallway as the Master came out to the control room. His grin had faded slightly, but the ghost of it still danced on his face. He walked over to the younger Time-Lord quickly and brought him up against the TARDIS walls. He kissed him deeply.
"My Doctor. My Theta. My Theta-Sigma." The Doctor brought his hands to the Master's hair and knotted his fingers where they were. He breathed the Master's breath, enjoying the feel of other Time-Lord encompassing him. The Master pulled his face away from the Doctor's and began to kiss the younger Time-Lord's neck. He brushed his teeth against the Doctor's jugular vein, causing the other Time-Lord to shiver.
"Koschei." he whispered softly, moving his hands to push off the Master's jacket. The Master allowed the movement. As soon as the jacket was off, he moved his hands to the tie he had helped put on the Master much earlier that morning. The Master chuckled, resting his head on the Doctor's shoulders.
"You always were in a hurry, weren't you, Theta?" The Doctor nodded as the Master pinned his hands against the wall. He tried to move, but the Master held him there, staring at him. "Why are you in such a hurry?" he asked. "We have all night…"