Note: Thanks to my friend, Carson, for coming up with the title. :) Thanks for all of the reviews and hits, everyone!
Chapter 11 - The Fateful Day
The next morning I woke up to knocking on my door. I quickly changed out of my PJs and into jeans and a t-shirt.
knock knock knock knock
knock knock knock knock
I swung open the door.
"Yes?"
The Master was standing at my top step, looking annoyed. He quickly changed his expression to a sympathetic one. A corner of his mouth twitched.
"I just saw the news," he said quickly.
"Oh, I - just," I fumbled for words. "Come in," I said resignedly. I shut the door quickly. "I haven't had breakfast yet, you don't mind?" The Master shook his head and followed me into the kitchen. "Orange juice?" I asked from inside the refrigerator. He replied and I poured him a glass.
"What are you planning to do now?" he asked, as I bustled around the kitchen and fridge.
"Well, I figure I could regenerate into someone 25, get a flat, and live here for awhile so I can help you," I sat down and bit off a bit of toast with my teeth. "or I could find the Doctor and either travel with him, convince him to give me a piece of TARDIS so I can grow my own, or kill him a few times and steal his TARDIS." The Master smiled and laughed. "I'll probably just stick with the first plan. I don't know how I'm going to manage regeneration, but I can't do anything looking so young."
"And waste your regenerations?" the Master said quickly. "That won't get you far." I took a sip of orange juice.
"What am I supposed to do? I look like a kid, and I'm a hundred times smarter than those pathetic humans!" I said furiously.
"You stay at Lucy's until we have to move to the Moon Base. Keep out of the public eye. You know he likes this stupid city." he mentioned the Doctor so casually, and I frowned.
"You don't understand...have you ever been this young? Ever tried to live on Earth like that?" I was exasperated.
"I've almost always had a beard," he said, by way of reply. I raised my eyebrows.
"I've never had a beard."
He chuckled.
"Last time I was older," I swallowed, "I looked like someone from a bad action movie. Sunglasses and long hair that was horrible to manage." The Master tapped his car keys absently against the counter top, reminiscing.
"I had the sunglasses once. Last, it was black hair, a beard. When I was human my hair turned white and I shaved. I wore all black, even my TARDIS was black. An old one. There were these columns, the console room was like a balcony at one end, you could see-"
"Purple doors glistening across the gap. Dark, all of it. You wore a white shirt, navy waistcoat, this sort of black jackett..."
"You met me?"
I nodded, remembering how my memories had come to me as I dreamed.
"Remember the Cruciform? I was the last person out of the station. You saved me. I would've been left there." I looked at my empty plate, picked it up and set it in the sink. I stood, leaning, at the sink, watching the Master's reflection in the window. He was staring thoughtfully into his orange juice.
"I owe you my life. I'm debited to you," I said, and when the words came out they were Gallifreyian. I had given my word as a Time Lord, I couldn't break it now, not that I planned to.
The Master pursed his lips and broke into a harsh, wide smile, not thinking that I could see. His reflection shifted as he accepted in the same language, the binding contract.
I turned quickly and sat at the table again. The Master was now the picture of appreciation and understanding.
"You should pack," he said offhandedly.
I nodded and went to box up as many belongings as I could.