AN/ Just in case you'd forgotten, in an earlier chapter the master tried to apologise to Jack but the captain wouldn't listen and beat the poor man half to death before leaving him to regenerate in an alley – there are references to it in this chapter but I didn't want to repeat myself, hence this long winded author's note.

The Master sat in a cupboard off one of the TARDIS' main hallways with his knees pulled up against his chest and his hands over his ears, it was no use; he could still feel the doctor's anger at the edge of his mind but at least in his dark little cupboard he could cower without worrying about being found. The Doctor's presence faded from his mind – he must have moved further away – and the Master was able to regain his composure enough to wipe his eyes and take a look outside. The TARDIS created a door across the hall which he opened to reveal a bathroom

"thanks" he headed inside and after seeing the state of his tear streaked face ran a sink full of water to wash his face in. Five minutes later the only evidence that he had been upset were his red eyes but he hoped that they would fade before the doctor saw him. The TARDIS touched his mind, she was ever so polite and always knocked first but once he invited her in she projected a calm happiness into him which made him feel a bit better before informing him that there was something in the console room he needed to see.

The Doctor sat in his favourite chair in the library, here he could no longer sense the master and after the argument they just had that was probably best, if he could feel him he could find him and it was all theta the Doctor could do to leave the room before he had punched the Master earlier. At least that's what he told himself; honestly he just couldn't stay mad at the Master if he could feel him breaking down in the dark because he got shouted at. Why did the Master have to pull that bloody lever? Bored with his book and refusing to be banished from his own control room the doctor was half way down the corridor when he heard the last thing he would have expected to hear today;

"Master?" He followed the Master's laughter to the console room, it was such a rare sound on the TARDIS, though they had been doing well over the last few weeks the Master still spent a lotof time trying to work through his pain and grief. Usually the doctor had to make an effort if he wanted so much as a smile out of the other man so while he was still angry with him over this morning he couldn't help but be disappointed when as soon as he entered the room the other timelord cowered away from him, looking like a child caught doing something wrong and his laughter had died once he felt the Doctor enter the room.

"I'm sorry about before" The Doctor couldn't help it, the Master wasn't supposed to look like that; so guilty and scared so all the doctor could do was apologise as his companion accepted the hug he offered and rested his head against his chest. Things had been going so well between them for the last few weeks that he'd almost forgotten that when they argued it hurt. Today they had been on a planet and had been faced with an impossible choice, pull a lever to divert some radiation and let fifty people inside a power plant be vaporised or do nothing and watch as the entire planet suffered the effects after the plant went critical and spewed toxic clouds across the world. The Master had pulled the lever and while the Doctor knew that if he was on his own he would have done the same thing the anger he would have felt at himself after he did that had ended up directed at the Master who had eventually run away from the Doctor's yelling to hide somewhere quiet.

Back In the present the Master pulled a white envelope out of his jacket pocket and handed it to the Doctor.

"This is what you were laughing at...oh" he doctor's face split into a grin as he read the card "well, I think we'd better get changed, we wouldn't want to..." he couldn't carry on as the Master burst out laughing and it was infectious "Cornelius...How is she marrying someone with a middle name like that?"

On the back row in a little church in London The Master sat and gripped the Doctor's hand as the bride walked down the aisle, it was a very simple wedding and a stark contrast to his own; Lucy's family had wanted a big wedding and it had taken all of his strength not to kill them all as he waited for the ridiculous fanfare to start so that could marry their daughter and get the ridiculous day over with. If he hadn't already decided that sweet little Lucy was the girl that he wanted for his wife then there was no way he would have resisted the urge to kill throughout the long ceremony. Lucy had walked down the aisle in a white dress that he wanted nothing more than to rip straight off her when they got to their hotel and the Master had found himself tapping out the rhythm of the drums on his thigh. Today was different, the bride walking down the aisle was grinning, trying not to give in to nervous laughter as she saw her groom stood at the end of the aisle while her two friends on the back row tried not to see the name "Cornelius" every time they looked at the man, he couldn't be good enough for their Martha, nobody could but if she was happy to marry this young doctor then who were they to stop her.

At the reception the Master was sat at their table while the Doctor tried to coax him onto the dance floor, the man was stubborn and refused to move for half an hour then surprised the Doctor by pulling him up half way through a song and onto the dance floor. They danced for a few minutes before the doctor noticed that the Master seemed to be steering him towards one side of the floor, or was it away from the other side? A glance over his shoulder saw Jack and several other people entering the reception after being greeted by Martha and her new husband. He felt the Master tense and saw the flash of fear which the other man tried to hide before he disentangled himself from the Doctor's arms and left the dance floor before the doctor could stop him. Furious, the Doctor marched across the room and pinned the new arrival against the wall.

"It's not enough for you that he's racked with guilt is it? You've got to have him scared of you as well" The stunned captain just looked confused,

"Doc I don't know what you're" He found himself cut off as the Doctor landed a punch on his jaw but while he expected more punches to follow when he picked himself up off the floor he found the Doctor's hand being held around the wrist by the Master while they gave each other significant looks which suggested they were talking mentally and after a minute the blonde man broke contact with the Doctor and held out a hand to Jack and helped him to his feet. The captain hesitated but took the offered hand and brushed off his coat just as the bride came rushing over to see who had decided to ruin her reception.

"Honestly can't you boys get along for one day?" They all looked at the woman who somehow managed to look intimidating in a veil and looked at the floor, muttering apologies until she was satisfied they weren't going to cause any more trouble. The Master decided it was better to put some distance between the Doctor and the captain so led his lover back onto the dance floor where the Doctor joined him in a very un-enthusiastic box-step

"I thought you liked to dance at weddings, hey?" The Doctor didn't answer, just rested his head on the Master's shoulder and carried on moving as he had done. When the man spoke it was so quiet that if he hadn't also been tuned to the doctor's thoughts there was no way the Master would have heard him.

"he killed you, how can you even stand to be in the same room as..."

"as a man who got angry and lashed out?" The Master held the doctor at arms length just so the man could see him raise an eyebrow at that "How can you stand to be in the same room as me?"

"because you're so much more than that"

"and so is he."

The Doctor came back into his arms then and their dancing was a little less pathetic, even if the Master did spend most of the night trying to convince the other timelord that he was fine.

It was around three when the party had all but died, a few of Martha's uni friends were begging the DJ for one more song as they tried to keep standing and after Martha was carried out of the room by her new husband to a chorus of wolf-whistles from the few remaining guests the Doctor took the bottle of champagne he had found back to their table where he found that the Master had fallen asleep quite adorably leaning on his arms as he slouched onto the table. The Doctor smiled and stood behind the Master's chair pressing a kiss to the back of his neck and watching him stir

"wass goin on?" The doctor smiled, if the Master was adorable when he slept he was even more so when he first woke up.

"I brought this" he put down the champagne on the table "but if you're ready to go..?" He didn't have to finish, they had been here since six, which was nine hours ago by now – damn Martha's friends could party – and though the Master had danced with the others once the DJ started playing the scissor sisters he was now exhausted and more than ready to get back to the TARDIS where he could get some sleep. They walked back to where they had parked – or rather the Doctor walked and the Master leaned on him till they reached his bedroom, then the master flopped onto the bed and was asleep before his head hit the pillow. The Doctor smiled and got in next to him, not caring that they really shouldn't be sleeping in their clothes and too tired after the eventful day. He was almost asleep when the Master sat up next to him.

"r'you 'wake?" The Doctor hmm'd and rolled do that they were facing each other

"are we okay now? We never actually talked about you now...this morning"

"Shh," the doctor pulled his lover down under the covers "I would have done the same thing, now get some sleep" The Master moved in closer and within a minute they were both fast asleep.

AN/ Once again this chapter is dedicated to kerry, who claimed to be waiting patiently for this chapter but i know she doesn't do patient... she's probably spent the last week making a voodoo doll f me and sitting it at a tiny laptop to make me finish this.