Doctor Who, Special Series; Episode 11: The Fall
A/N: New episode! Actually, in two places – both here, and in the real world. And we get the Ice Warriors back and if you haven't seen that spoiler yet, too bad, it's already been out for months and as'lkdfjasldfjlsk.
Anyway. This is the shortest episode and I'm sorry. Meanwhile, the next episode is already at 10k and just starting chapter 5 (of 6) so I think I'll make up for it.
Thanks to: Paul, Iamthe42, MisteryMaiden, Kudo Shinichi Tanteisan, FlyingLovegood123, Ptroxsora, JoojooBrother, Ashlee Pond, Jimbobob5536, DragonRose4, PersonBehindScreen, Uryuu-Nipaa, and LilyLunaPotter123. Jimbobob5536 got the 500th, which should be posted some time in... May. This along with the 400th, so sorry, Windarian.
Fun Fact of the Day: The last time the Ice Warriors were on Doctor Who was in the 1970s, with Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor. They were later seen in archive footage in the Sarah Jane Adventures, and mentioned in The Waters of Mars.
Tonks sat up quickly as the door to her cell opened. "You," she snapped, glaring at the man.
"Me," the Master said brightly, pulling out his wand with his left hand. Today he was short and brunette, wearing a tailored suit rather than robes. The right arm ended in a false hand made of some sort of metal.
Automatically, Tonks raised her arms and ducked her head.
The Master scoffed. "Oh, please don't. As if I would hurt you." Twitching the wand, he Conjured a chair out of thin air and sat down in it.
"Of course not," Tonks murmured, sitting cross-legged on the bed. After a pause, she frowned. "So what do you want?"
He grinned brightly. "To chat, obviously. About our mutual friend."
"If you think -!" Tonks began angrily, starting up from the bed.
The Master rolled his eyes. "I don't understand what he sees in you," he said to the ceiling. "If you're this boring all the time, I'd have had you shot."
Biting her lip, Tonks sat back on the bed. "Fine. You want to talk about the Doctor."
Tucking his wand away, the Master leaned forward intently. "Why are you so confident that I won't hurt you?"
Tonks rubbed a fading bruise on the side of her face absently, courtesy of a Death Eater. "Because he'll destroy you if you do."
"You think so?" the Master asked, chuckling. "You're wrong, you know. He'll destroy me if I kill you. He'll only be disappointed in me if I hurt you, and I can live with that."
The glint in his eyes made Tonks shudder. She gulped, apprehension pooling in her gut. "So why not, then?" Her voice shook wildly on the last word.
The Master twisted his lips in a smile. "Because there's no point. I could dismantle you before he gets here, but I really don't see why. I've never been interested in torture for its own sake," he commented, examining his false hand.
"Sure," Tonks scoffed, caught momentarily off guard.
He grinned at that. "Alright, you caught me. Were you aware that the Doctor was in Azkaban last night?" He leaned back in his chair, smirking.
Tonks blinked. "Oh." She did manage to hold back the instinctive next word – shit. "Why?"
The Master waved a dismissive hand – the real one. "It's under a different name but honestly? John Smith, Oruc Barbossa, and Jackie-boy? Not too hard to figure out. Breaching the Statute of Secrecy. It was completely intentional – he wanted into Azkaban." His mouth twisted into a smile backed by a strange sort of pride. "He wanted to get Potter out – apparently," he said, falsely casual, "he cares more about Potter than he does about you."
"That's not true!" Tonks shot back, stung.
The Master snickered, evidently pleased with himself. "Regardless, he blew up Azkaban today. Two Time Lords and a human freak are on their way here."
It took Tonks a moment to sort this out. "And Harry?"
"Dead," the Master said, full of vengeful glee.
Tonks flinched, blinking back sudden tears. "Damnit," she whispered, covering her face with one hand. "He didn't deserve that."
The Master made a noise of utter disinterest. "The Doctor is coming here – which is, of course, where I want him – the Dark Lord is unnecessary now, it's time to be rid of him, but the Doctor is coming here. To me. After a plot I engineered just killed a human he decided to care about." He paused, voice trailing off awkwardly.
Tonks sniffed, looking up. Travelling with the Doctor – you learned to put logic first and emotions second. You had to, at some points, even when all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry, because saving the world was more important. "You're scared of him."
He shrugged. "I have a strong sense of self-preservation and no wish to see this plan wrecked because I could not manage to keep my hands to myself."
"Scared," Tonks repeated, holding on tight to this knowledge as her anchor against a sea of depression. Harry's death hovered at the back of her mind, a dementor she did not want to examine too closely.
Harry's dead.
The Doctor went to save Harry rather than me.
But I can't let the Master win. I've got to – I've got to get information. Hold it together, Tonks. Stay strong. Just get through this conversation. Come on, Tonks.
The Master sighed. "If you insist, yes. Now, Nymphadora Tonks." His expression changed, becoming more predatory. "How do you know he'll destroy me if I touch you." A smirk grew on his face. "And, perhaps, more to the point: Why do you still trust him after showing you such a thing?"
Tonks shuddered, keenly aware that she was one wrong word from breaking down. "I – I –" Her breath caught; she wasn't entirely sure what, if anything, she should tell him.
"It's okay, Tonks," the Master said soothingly, smiling. "You can trust me."
She nodded, suddenly wanting to tell him everything. "I died," she said abruptly. "I got better, but – but I saw him right after."
The Master laughed, shaking his head. "Not a sight you want to repeat, eh?" With a firm nod, he stood, drawing his wand. Lazily waving it, he vanished the chair. "This has been a very informative session, Nymphadora Tonks. I hope to have more such in the future."
"What?" Tonks bolted up, head clearing. She remembered that the Master had always been good at hypnosis; now she knew how it felt. But she'd never meant to give him anything he could use against the Doctor.
The Master smirked predatorily. "You've been such a valuable source of information. I'll make sure the Doctor learns that when he returns."
Sitting, Tonks chocked back a sob. She had abandoned her entire life, left it in ruins for the Doctor, and now the Master was planning to destroy even that. And she was stuck with the Death Eaters – Tonks rubbed her cheek again.
"What's that?" Eyes tracking her movement, the Master crossed the room in a flash, pulling her hand away with the fake one. Snarling quietly, he stroked her cheek, fingertips gentle, tracing around the faded bruise. "Who did this?"
She looked up at him, confused and frightened, too scared to pull away. Was he going to send her back to them? That seemed like him. "It – it was nothing, just – just processing –"
"Who didthis?" he repeated, low and dangerous, snarling through the words.
Any answer she might have made – and she didn't know what to say, if she told him, he'd send her back to them and they'd hurt her more, and if she didn't, he'd only find someone else to hurt her – was cut off by a wonderful glorious noise.
Vwoorp-vwoorp-vwoorp
Tonk's heart caught in her throat as she stared at the corner, waiting for a blue police box to materialize.
It didn't.
Instead, a small sailboat, still too big to possibly fit in the space allowed, appeared, landing on the floor with a thunk and a rattle.
A tall slender man wearing a blue pinstriped suit and brown longcoat fell out of the aft cabin, landing on his back on the cot next to Tonks. Grinning up at the open door, he yelled, "Fly, you fools!"
