Obligitory Disclaimer: Do I really need to say it? Alright, I do not own Doctor Who nor do I own any of the franchise in any way. I only own several of the characters in this story, including Keara. I also own the plot, excluding certain aspects, respectively.

Wow! Chapter Fourteen! Big Thanks To:
Lexy Summers: The Asylum was epic! And seriously, I cannot wait for Dinosaurs on a Spaceship! Lestrade finally finds his division!
Writless: Sabas, a marshmallow? Well, I'll need to be changing that! But your review... Good lord! It was perfect!
SawManiac211: I really have missed you! So get to writing. I'm pretty sure everyone is just yelling at me to explain who Dominus is... You'll have to wait! Mwhaha!
Neko Noke: Actual flawless human being here, everyone! I think the Master really thinks she's going to use those memories against him so he takes it out on her. As for the comforting thing... I didn't want to make him completely heartless! So yes, he is comforting her a little.
The Girl Who Can: Thank you, love. I try.
Superwhoavegelock: She most certainly does have a backbone!
And welcome RandomCookie57 to the party! Thank you for adding me to your Alert List!

Enjoy.

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Chapter Fourteen:

This is Still Forcing Me

"Why can't Sabas just drop dead already?"

She glanced at the clock, a "gift" from the ever generous Sabas, to check the time. She still had fifteen minutes until he was coming for her. He was treating her to dinner, "Like the gentleman I am" he had said.

Placing her hands on her slender hips, she looked at the clothes laid out in front of her. Another ugly evening gown. Sabas seemed to have some sort of fetish with them. Foul git!

Turning around to look in the full length mirror, she gave herself a quick once over. She smiled, satisfied with the figure she was currently boasting. She had always been on the thin side, and recently she had lost too much weight. But, slowly, she was getting her figure back.

Keara Ashland has a good body.

She had always prided herself on being a well toned, healthy woman. While Keara didn't have the biggest or best curves in the world, she could fill out a bikini better than most woman. Of course, if she kept losing the weight, she was sure to lose that.

Picking the brush up from the bed, Keara brushed through her black hair once more, making sure she had gotten all the tangles that had formed. That was one thing she was thankful for; The fact she had been sleeping better, tossing and turning less. Keara's hair couldn't handle it.

Keara had decided on going with a natural look for her hair, leaving her elbow length, dark hair hanging down her back, with one side held back by a single silver clip. Sabas had instructed that she look elegant, but this was as good as he was getting.

In contrast, Keara's make-up was much bolder. The black and silver eyeshadow caused a smokey effect and was sure to make her green eyes sparkle in any light. Keara outlined her eyes in dark black. She wished that her nice look wasnt going to be wasted on Sabas.

With a heavy but comfortable sigh, she turned her attention back to the outfit she had laid out. This was something that shouldnt have been hard. Keara glanced over them again.

"I hope you're not going to dinner like that," She heard a voice say. Keara spun around, instantly covering her chest. The Master stood there, looking as ragged as ever. He'd been working off and on for a month now on the TARDIS, and he hadn't been taking very good care of himself.

"Turn around, would you! I havent got a bra on," Keara hissed, turning her back from him. She heard him laugh and she hurriedly pulled on the ugly dress. "Do you think you could knock once in a while?"

"This is my room too," He retorted, plopping himself on the bed.

"No," Keara stated, shaking her head back and forth. "No! This is my room. You're just crashing here."

"My clothes are here," He replied, rolling his eyes, "This is my room."

"Your clothes are here? Since when?"

"Since I brought them here," He groaned, placing his hands behind his head and letting his eyes close. Keara sighed, watching the Master lay there. She was completely uncomfortable with the situation. It felt way too domestic for her tastes, and the Master wasnt helping.

Keara sat on the bed, fidgeting with the hem of her dress. The time was dragging its feet now, and she was grateful for that. Even if she was only sitting there in silence, it was better than whatever Sabas had planned for her.

"I have an amazing surprise for you."

His words still echoed in Keara's thoughts, each time replaying with more venom in his tone. Keara didn't like surprise, and she was almost scared to know what he was up to.

The Master's breath had finally evened out, signaling that he was asleep. If there was any time that he actually seemed normal, it was when he slept. There was always a hard look on his face, but when he slept, he almost didn't seem like such a monster.

But that's what he was. She had to keep telling herself that. No matter how attached the woman was becoming, the Master was still the Master. He would never return any feelings that she had. Sure, he'd more than happy to satisfy her physical desires, but what about the other aspects?

Keara suppose it was overly cliché as a woman to want to turn sexual desire into a real relationship. It wasnt like she was expecting to be Mrs. Keara Master or anything. In fact, the very thought sent a cold chill down her spine. But, what she did want was someone who wouldn't just screw her and then leave. Keara had had enough of those.

A knock at the door shook Keara from her thoughts, and the woman rose to open the door. It was Uris, one of the worse behaved Aquincum guards. He spoke English, though not very well. He was absolutely horrid.

"Ready to go?" Uris mumbled through his jagged teeth. They jotted out of his mouth, and made his already broken English all the harder understand.

"As I'll ever be," She replied, stealing another glance at the Master before exiting the room. Uris stayed close to her side, leading Keara towards the dinning hall. Normally, the room was only unlocked when their food was set out, allowing Keara and the others to eat. But this time, Uris unlocked the door with his own key, showing that Sabas obviously didn't want to be interrupted.

"You look stunning," Sabas nearly cooed, rushing to Keara's side as she entered the room. He extended his hand, expecting her to take it.

"This courting thing is really getting old," Keara stated, completely ignoring his waiting hand. She strolled forward, heading towards one of the seats. Sabas, using his speed to beat her to it, pulled out the chair. She rolled her eyes, a sarcastic reply ready, "You are such a gentleman. It almost makes me forget that you're holding me as a prisoner."

"Almost," He repeated the word, winking at the woman.

"Why am I here?" Keara grumbled. Sabas' face contorted in what looked to be annoyance. He knew she wasnt going to comply, but she doubted he had expected her to be quite so grouchy. Today wasnt the day to mess with Keara.

"You have been spending too much time with the Master. What happened to making polite conversation before getting down to business? Cant we at least have dinner first?" He mumbled, almost to himself. With a heavy sigh, he stared down at Keara's face before taking his seat.

"I'm not here to have fun, Sabas. You requested my presence and I'm here. I don't want to have a conversation that doesn't involve business," Keara replied calmly, trying not to set off the man.

"Fine," He hissed. Apparently, she had set him off. "Dominus is helping me and I wont risk that by forcing you, but I want you as my mate. So I've decided to make you a deal: Come with me willingly or someone else is going to pay for it."

"What is with you evil geniuses and threatening people with that? You think I'd seriously consider it," Keara retorted, shaking her head angrily.

"You force my hand. Fine! Benjermin," Sabas called. She heard the door open, and she turned to see the brutish man carrying someone over his shoulder. It looked like a rag doll. He tossed the body on the floor next to Keara as Sabas moved to stand. Keara had to suppress a gasp.

"Jack?!"

"Yes," Sabas exclaimed, running a finger over Keara's shoulder. "You see, I've decided to take a page out of the Master's playbook. Our immortal Jack here is the perfect tool. I mean, why kill one of the others once when I can torture and kill Jack over and over?"

"You wouldn't dare!" Keara grumbled, low in her throat.

"Oh, I would," Sabas replied, watching Jack slowly wake. He looked down at the immortal, staring with a crazed look in his eye. Suddenly, he grabbed a knife from table and plunged it into Jack's chest.

"No!" She screamed, throwing herself at Jack. Sabas caught the woman, pulling her tightly against his chest. She kicked and screamed, trying to get free from his grasp. "LET ME GO! I swear to God, I will fucking kill you!"

"Idle threats, Keara," He whispered in her ear. "Calm down. The man's immortal, he'll be fine. More importantly, I have much better ways to kill him. And I will use each and every one of them for as long as it takes if you don't agree to be my mate."

"This is still forcing me!" Keara shouted and Sabas released her. She spun around, giving him a rough slap across his cheek. "I dont want to be your bloody mate! I don't want anything to do with you! Why can't you get that through your head?!"

"I'm giving you an opportunity that most women would kill for."

"Then go get one of them! I don't want the opportunity! I can't stand you and if you're too stupid to figure that out, I'm sorry," Keara was sobbing by that point. The man before her looked absolutely furious.

"This is because of that Time Lord filth, isn't it," He screamed, grabbing her by the hair, "I see how you look at him! How he looks at you! Fine, you want to be with him? I'll make sure you have adjoining spots in Hell when I destroy this pitiful planet!"

With that, Sabas shoved the woman away and stormed towards the doors. Keara slumped down, throwing herself over Captain Jack's body. It was cold. She pulled the knife from his chest, knowing he'd be fine soon enough. For the time being, the woman continued to bawl.

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The Master was fast asleep. For some reason or another, he had found it increasingly easy to fall asleep as of late. Whether all the work he had put in with the Doctor and Dominus or the presence of Keara was the source of his tiredness, he didn't care. All that mattered was that he was calm, for once.

The drums seemed to be dulled for the moment, he could barely hear them in his dreams. They were still there, of course. But they weren't contorting what few dreams he did have. They didnt stir him from the serenity that he was feeling.

But something did stir him. The Master was sleeping comfortably in his and Keara's bed when he awoke. Rough hands clutched his shirt, pulling him to his feet groggily.

Sabas.

"I should kill you where you stand," He screamed in the Time Lord's face. The Master, still half asleep, shoved his hands away and immediately took the offense.

"What the hell did I do now?" He asked, a low growl forming in his chest. Sabas' furious stance didnt waver.

"You're standing in my way," Sabas replied through gritted teeth. The other man simply shook his head, trying to understand the situation. He needed to wake up, he knew this but his body would simply not listen.

"I'm helping you with the TARDIS," He calmly replied, trying to keep his anger in check, "What more do you want?"

"I WANT KEARA!"

The Master, suddenly awake as ever, eyed Sabas cautiously. Honestly, he had no idea what the Aquincum was talking about. He had observed the lust in Sabas' eyes when watching his Keara, but he didn't think anything of it. In fact, he had brushed it off thoroughly.

"Tough luck," The Master retorted, mockingly. "I don't think she has the same feelings as you do, but I'm sure you two can remain friends."

"This is your fault," Sabas hissed, resisting the urge to shoot the Master with his blaster rifle. As much as he hated the Time Lord, without him the TARDIS would never be finished. The Doctor and Dominus were geniuses but they didn't even compare to the Master with temporal engineering.

"My fault?" The Master asked, honestly confused this time. Keara didn't return Sabas' affection and it was suddenly his fault? It made no sense. "How on Gallifrey is this my fault?"

"She's infatuated with you! For some bloody reason she sees something in you," Sabas answered, his hands clenched at his sides. The Master stared at the Aquincum man for a moment before letting out a bellowing laugh.

"Oh, that's good," The Master's laughter was thunderous. It carried through the room, bouncing off the walls, and only added to the furious storm that was Sabas. "Keara fancies me, eh?"

"You need to learn to keep your hands off other people's properties! Keara will be my mate," Sabas roared, unamused. Suddenly, neither was the Master anymore.

"You need to learn the golden rule," He stared at Sabas, murderous intent clear in his features. His eyes hard, body tense, he was near attacking the man before him, "First come, first serve. Keara is mine! She will never belong to anyone else."

Sabas paused, watching the Master intensely. He could see the Time Lord was ready to kill. Everything about the Master set off warning bells in the Aquincum's mind. He knew he was about to cross a line that many did not dare cross with Gallifrey's most infamous son. He knew this, and yet he didn't care.

The Master's fists were shaking with anger. How dare this insolent vermin dare claim that Keara was his! The Quis was the Master's prize, his pet. No one would dare touch her.

The fact that he would be so daring, or rather stupid, to say such things made the war drums pound violently in his head. They pulsed, urging the Master to kill without a second thought. The four beat rhythm ushered him to the brink of insanity, and for the moment all he wanted was to follow.

"Keara doesn't know what kind of monster you truly are," Sabas stated, his tone much calmer this time. He gave the Master once last glance, sensing that he had pushed the Time Lord as far as he could without retaliation. He turned to leave, and as he reached the door, he mumbled a few words over his shoulder, "I think its time we show her."

With that, Sabas strolled out of the room, leaving the Master alone. The drums still echoed in the confines of his mind. A headache was forming as it always did, only adding to the flame that burned inside him.

Had he had his way, Sabas' body would have been laying on the floor below him. The blood of the Aquincum painted across the walls, and his intestines strewn about like streamers. Everything inside him told the Master to follow, to kill, to take revenge against the bastard.

But another part stopped him. A sane fraction of an otherwise mad mind. It urged him to think rationally. It was one thing to put himself in danger. It was another thing completely to risk Keara's safety.

The thought stopped the Master dead in his tracks, for more reasons than one. Was he seriously going to ignore the drums in fear that his Quis would be hurt? The mere idea was entirely foreign to him. To put someone, anyone, in front of the drum's desire for destruction was preposterous!

Keara was nothing more than his play thing. His pet, his Quis. She was merely his pawn in a plan to escape. His scapegoat if need be. The woman was nothing more than his newest toy!

His. The word keep repeating itself. Every time he tried to rationalize Keara, he would refer to the woman as his. He was not new to being possessive but to put one of those possessions in front of the drums?

The Master slunk down to the bed, utterly exhausted. He knew how much his body craved sleep and yet, he knew it would not come that night. The drums were loud and, for a moment, he wondered if the others could hear them through the walls. He knew they couldn't for they were in his mind, but they were so damn loud!

His thoughts turned to Keara. He craved her, wanted her to take away the beat in his head. He knew it hurt her to take away his pain, but he needed her. He longed for her soft skin pressed against him, her hair brushing against his touch. Her singular heartbeat in his ear.

One heart, two beats. Nothing to remind him of the four that haunted him. One, two. One, two. It was a simplistic symphony that the Master knew would lull him back into his calm sleep.

He wanted her next to him, to touch her body. He wished he could hear excited gasps as he ran his hand down the length of her body. To feel the heat of her flesh under him, to see the crimson blush light up her otherwise pale skin. He wanted her, craved her.

The Master laid back. He was frustrated, in more ways than he'd like to admit. The war drums that had plagued his mind like a virus were wild now, nearly sounding like screams.

He groaned in annoyance, wondering how he had come to be in the damned situation he was, how he had escaped Rassilon. He couldn't remember anything. A black nothingness between hurtling himself through the Rift, and regenerating.

It was as if had floated within the Rift, something which would have killed him. Which, in all sence of word, had killed him. For when the Master awoke, after being within that black void for what felt like so long, he was on Earth. He was alone, naked, and badly damaged - burnt to near nothing.

He had regenerated but had not changed. And as soon as he had opened his newly regenerated eyes, he knew, that where ever he was, well, it certainly wasnt where he had wanted to be.

No, quite the opposite really. He was stranded on Earth, with no TARDIS, no laser screwdriver, not even a bloody sonic screwdriver! The expression goes, left with nothing but the clothes on your back. But the Master hadn't even had that. Yet, he had managed to survive as he always did.

The Master sighed once more, trying to calm himself. There was nothing he could do this time. The situation was starting to get away from him. Everything was out of his hands now. The Master didn't like it one bit.

But, for the time being, he would be patient. He would bide his time as best he could and when the opportunity arose, he would strike down Sabas and whatever he had in mind.

He would protect Keara, something that he did not normally do. He knew that he was putting her in danger, that he should wash his hands of the situation. The closer she got to him, the close she came to death. He knew this but he couldn't bring himself to push her away.

The Master threw himself back, laying down on the bed. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep without Keara clutched at his side. She would return soon, and then he would sleep.

And so the Master waited.

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Author's Note: Sorry this one was so short but I needed to bring Jack back into the situation. I have some plans, and they don't exactly work if he isn't here. I really tried to keep the Master in character on this one. It was hard not to let him go OoC. If you think he was in, or out, of character, let me know. Next chapter is done. I am literally just editing it. Quick warning, there will be some spoilers about the Master's past. You know, days at the academy on Gallifrey and whatnot. All fairly cannon. It should be up later today, if not early tomorrow!

Review if you liked, review if you didn't. And if you have no opinion at all on this chapter, well, let me know, love!

NEXT CHAPTER: Koschei Was Dead