Ah, but you never said Ten/Simm! Mwahaha! *bastard author* But seriously, never tried mixing Doctor/Master. This should be interesting.


Title: "Hearts Burning"
Starring: Ten(after LotTL)/Ainley!Master(Planet Of Fire)
Summary: The Doctor is sad after the Master dies. So is the Master.


The TARDIS materialized, and the Doctor stepped out. He patted her side. "Good girl," he said, smiling sadly.

He looked around wistfully. The planet of Noria, only about the size of Earth's moon, was a beautiful oasis. It was uninhabited. The Doctor and the Master used to go there when they wanted to escape the universe.

The Master...he'd just...died. In his arms. All because he refused to be a prisoner on the Doctor's TARDIS. But he wouldn't have been a prisoner. Not to him. And so the Doctor had had to burn his old friend's body.

The Doctor sadly ambled over to a large rock sitting aside a calm, slow flowing river. He hugged his skinny legs to his chest and stared sadly at the water.

He sat there for a while, until he heard a noise behind him. He turned and looked.

A man with dark brown hair combed back on his head, a goatee and mustache, and a high-collared black suit of velvet was staring back at him, shocked.

The Doctor jumped up from his rock. "What? What? What?!"

"Doctor?" said the Master, a little unsurely. "You've regenerated, I see."

"Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no," said the Doctor, nervously scrunching up his hair with his hands. "What are you doing here? I'm not with you, am I?"

The Master's surprised eyebrows set, as did his jaw. "I should say not. The last time we encountered each other, you burned me."

The Doctor burst into tears.

"Doctor?" The Master dropped his angry demeanor and cautiously approached his enemy's future self. The Doctor hugged the shorter man, crying on his shoulder. The Master confusedly held him, not caring at all what the Doctor's salty tears were doing to his velvet suit.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," the Doctor sobbed. "For everything. I know what I did was unforgivable, but don't think for a second I ever stopped regretting what I did. There's nothing I can say or do that will make up for it, but I'm so sorry. Please, Master, I'm so sorry."

"Doctor, why are you so upset?"

"I-I can't tell you," choked the Doctor. "It's in the future for you."

"So I have a future, then?" said the Master.

"Yeah," sniffled the Doctor. "But not a happy one, I'm afraid. So, you've just come from Sarn, then? Always wondered how you escaped from there."

"I am the Master," the bearded man said simply. "Death has never been an obstacle for me."

The Doctor thought back on all the other times he'd thought the Master dead: when he met the shriveled husk of the man on Gallifrey, then again on Traken, twice in San Francisco, and of course, Sarn. "No," he said, smiling sadly. "No, it hasn't."

Except now. The Master was really, really dead this time.

"I don't know why you are so sad, my dear, but I suspect it's something to do with me," said the Master. "But just know this, Doctor: no matter what has happened...nothing can stop me from trying to catch you. Not even death. I will always find you, my dear Doctor. I swear to you that."

The Doctor stared at his old enemy, friend, love. Oh, my dear Master. If only that were true. But he didn't it. He simply bent down and kissed the younger Master. "I love you," the Doctor said, hugging him. "I may not know it yet, but don't give up on me."

"You know I never will," the Master told him.

"Yeah." The Doctor smiled sadly. "Oh by the way, I'd give Killingworth, early 19th century England a look see."

"Shall I see you there?" asked the Master.

"Yeah. Well, not me. I'm in your very distant future," said the Doctor. "No, you'll get a shouty rude fellow with blonde curls and an obnoxious coat."

"Well, I look forward to it," said the Master. "But what about you?"

"Ah, you know me," said the Doctor. "Same ol' life, running, running, running."

"Well, until we meet again, my dearest Doctor," said the Master, kissing him. "And we shall meet again," he added firmly. "I promise you that."

"I hope you're right," said the Doctor. "Goodbye, Master."

"Au revoir," said the dark haired man, watching the future form of his love trod back to his blue box.