AN: Another chapter. Kind of a filler I suppose just to move the plot along.

And if anyone is following my Harry Potter fic, I'll be updating shortly. This one has just been squeezing itself in front of the queue for the past few weeks.

Anyway, enjoy.

~ Chapter Eight ~

Aftermath

Ailla and the Master entered the TARDIS where the Doctor and Clara were waiting for them. They had only just shut the door, when the Doctor pressed some buttons to make the TARDIS dematerialize and leave the spaceship.

"Any problems?" The Doctor asked.

"Nope, nothing." Ailla replied.

"Good. It just took you a while to get back, so I wanted to make sure." The Doctor said.

"No, it was fine." Ailla said looking away.

The Doctor looked sceptical but didn't want to press her any further. He just wanted to make sure that Ailla hadn't had any trouble with the Master. "Should we maybe … go and have a chat in private about … about what happened to Gallifrey?" He asked her gently.

Ailla looked up at him, "to be honest I don't feel ready to have that conversation with you right now." She told him firmly.

"Fair enough" the Doctor said, nodding his head.

"But … I think I'll go to my room and recuperate from our little venture" she said and turned to leave in the direction of her room. She looked back, "Master, would you join me? We have something to discuss."

"Gladly" the Master replied with somewhat of a smirk and followed the woman out of the console room, while the Doctor looked after them, wondering what could have happened on their trip to the control room.

oOo

They entered Ailla's room. The pair had walked there in complete silence. As soon as the door closed behind the Master, Ailla turned to face him.

"Am I about to get a scolding?" The Master asked with a lifted brow, crossing his arms over his chest. "You look very cross right now."

Ailla sighed deeply and shook her head before looking back at him, "so what exactly was your plan? Were you going to leave us all behind and run off in the TARDIS?" She asked seriously.

The Master looked at her. "To be fair I had many plans and that was just one of them." He said in a casual tone.

"Oh, that's alright then!" Ailla said sarcastically.

"I don't see what the fuss is about to be honest" the Master said nonchalantly and shrugged his shoulders, "we both got what we wanted."

"You know nothing about what I want" Ailla said firmly and turned away from him.

"I think I have a pretty good idea" he said.

Ailla looked back at him, "enlighten me" she challenged.

The Master stepped closer to her, accepting the challenge, "aside from wanting to get off the ship, I think after finding out what the Doctor did to Gallifrey, you were pretty adamant that you wanted me to come with you, because travelling alone with the Doctor suddenly doesn't seem as pink as and fluffy as before, now that you know what he's capable off." He said. "Am I close?"

"You could double as a psychologist" she said mockingly.

The Master smiled, "spot on, then" he stated.

"Don't be so full of yourself." Ailla said, rolling her eyes. "Speaking of which … there's something I don't understand; why didn't you let me send those missiles at their planet?"

"Why would I want you to do that?" The Master asked, not really understanding what she was getting at.

"Surely it would have brought you some kind of satisfaction … the knowledge that I'd tainted myself by committing genocide." She elaborated. "Or maybe you would have felt that I had become more like you if I'd gone through with it."

The Master looked at her for a few moments, "yeah, I probably would have felt that you'd become more like me, if you'd done it" he agreed.

"Then why stop me?" She asked confused.

He sighed, looking down for a moment before looking back up at her, "Because I don't want you to be like me." He said quietly and looked almost mournful.

That caught her off guard. She just looked at him, not knowing how to respond.

The Master cleared his throat, "besides … unless you've changed more than it seems, I knew you wouldn't be able to live with yourself if you'd gone through with it" he added.

"Yeah … you're probably right about that." She said, contemplating the statement.

They stood in silence for a while. The Master looked behind Ailla and suddenly frowned, "did you make the TARDIS change your bed while we were away?" He asked.

"What? No, why?" Ailla asked confused and turned to look at her bed. Where there had previously been a nice big bed with a canopy suddenly was a large bunk bed. "What the…?"

"Probably the Doctor's idea of a joke" the Master concluded. "He always obsesses about Earth-things like this."

"Oh, I am so gonna give him a piece of my mind!" Ailla growled.

The Master smirked, "maybe that's what he's counting on, seeing as you didn't want to talk to him" he said.

"Oh, yeah … maybe that's it." Ailla said, rolling her eyes at the thought.

The Master walked towards the bed, "well, I'm knackered after my stay on that ship. Feel free to go and confront the Doctor" he said.

"And what are you gonna do?" She asked.

The Master looked back at her, smiling, "I …" he paused and lifted his foot up on the ladder of the bed, "… am gonna take the top bunk" he finished.

Ailla didn't know how to reply. "Right" was the response she went with. "I'll just go and talk to him then." And then she turned and left the room.

oOo

Ailla entered the console room, "Doctor?" she called out.

The Doctor was sitting on a staircase reading a book, "yes?" he replied and looked up at the approaching woman.

"What did you do to my room?" she asked him, not able to hide the annoyance in her voice.

The Doctor looked confused, "what are you talking about?"

"My room." She repeated. "While we've been away my bed seems to have mysteriously vanished and in its place there's now a bunk bed."

"A bunk bed?" The Doctor repeated, "oh, that is such a brilliant idea! Why haven't I thought about getting one of those?!"

"Why do you sound surprised?" Ailla asked him.

"What do you mean?" The Doctor asked.

"Well, didn't you put it there?" She asked.

"Me? No!" The Doctor answered, "why would I do that?"

"I don't know … Some kind of joke? A way to get me to talk to you?" she suggested.

The Doctor shook his head. "Oh…" he suddenly said. "She must have done it herself … Of course, that makes perfect sense."

"What are you talking about?"

"The TARDIS" the Doctor replied. "She probably doesn't feel safe having him on his own, because the last time the Master was here in the TARDIS, he turned her into a paradox machine."

Ailla's eyes widened, "he cannibalized the TARDIS?"

The Doctor nodded.

"Why wasn't that in the file when I looked him up in the TARDIS' archives?" She asked.

The Doctor sighed, "I don't know. Maybe she erased it because it's too painful?" he suggested.

"Right. So … I'm to be his … keeper?" Ailla wondered, "oh, he won't be thrilled about that."

"Naah, I'm sure he'll be fine." The Doctor said.

"Easy for you to say, you don't have to share a room with him." Ailla muttered.

They stood in awkward silence for a bit. "Ailla, I … I am so sorry for not telling you" the Doctor said suddenly.

Ailla chewed on her lip, "yeah…" she said.

"I wish I'd told you sooner" the Doctor said, "I just … didn't know how to."

She looked up at him, "I do understand." She said, "and I will forgive you … I just need to process it for a bit and come to terms with it."

"I understand." The Doctor said, nodding his head.

"But I don't hate you, Doctor." Ailla assured him, "I hope you know that. I could never hate you for what you did." She gave him a reassuring smile.

The Doctor smiled back, "good. I'm glad."

"Just … give me a few days and I'm sure everything will be back to normal." She said. "Meanwhile… you and the Master… you need to learn to get along."

The Doctor sighed deeply.

"I know." Ailla said in response to the Doctor's hesitation. "I understand your reluctance. But I have to say this: I think he's changed. I don't think he's even fully realised it himself but he's trying to be a better person."

"You have a lot of confidence in him." The Doctor said.

"When it comes to this, yes, I do." Ailla confirmed. "And if we're all going to travel together, the two of you need to stop provoking each other."

"Have you given him the same speech?" The Doctor asked with a smile.

"Not yet, but I intend to." Ailla assured him.

"Good." The Doctor said. "I promise I'll give him the benefit of the doubt."

"Excellent." Ailla said and flashed a big smile. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to my new roommate before he gets himself into trouble with a stray pillow or something."

"Yeah. Good idea." The Doctor said. "And get some sleep, you look exhausted."

Ailla nodded and headed back to her room.

Meanwhile the Doctor stood back and thought over their conversation. Hopefully she wouldn't work out that he'd lied about the bunk beds. He was the one who'd changed the bed in Ailla's room and made sure the TARDIS wouldn't allow the Master to get his own room. He knew the TARDIS agreed with him completely on the matter but that didn't change the fact that the idea had been his own. He needed the Master to be in close proximity to Ailla, so his old nemesis and former best friend couldn't scheme too much without being caught. But the Doctor hoped Ailla was right about the Master having changed and wanting to be a better person. And maybe that change would come easier now that he had been reunited with his former companion. The Doctor could only hope.

AN: That's it for now. The trip to the Daedalus-ship is over but the story isn't over yet. I'll continue with a few more chapters before I decide whether to let the story continue in this fic or in a sequel under another title. I'm not sure what the better option is.

See you soon. x