Revery of Madness Chapter 16: II - Coincidences and decisions, a doctor who fanfic

"Come back, you bloody piece of junk!" the Master suddenly exclaimed and jumped to the patch of grass that had been occupied by his vanished TARDIS. "You can't do that to me!"

He let out a scream, kicked a stick away and let another batch of nasty curses follow, his anger quickly building up to rage. Roka tried to calm him, but none of her words seemed to reach his consciousness, every attempt to reach out to him failed. Eventually he dropped to his knees with his hands clawed into his hair.

"Quiet, quiet," he muttered and crumpled down even more, teeth gritted, eyes pressed shut. "Shut the fuck up!"

Roka squatted down next to him and lay a hand on his arm. "Calm down, please," she pleaded, barely able to cope with his distressed that flooded her mind.

When the Master looked up his eyes slightly twitched, his breath was rapid and for a moment it seemed as if he wasn't entirely aware of where he was. But then he slowly steadied himself, locked eyes with Roka and managed to calm himself just enough. His gaze snapped to the hand on his arm and his expression got puzzled, almost curious.

Roka took her hand away, unsure how to read his glare. "Is... it quiet again?" she instead asked.

"Almost... yeah."

"The remote control still doesn't work, I suppose?"

He shook his head and let out a ragged sigh. "She will come back," he stated almost pleadingly, "she has to! Especially with that bloody woman inside!"

"I don't think River will cause much harm. Last time it seemed she can handle a TARDIS. Maybe she'll get her back?"

"She better will," he growled. "Let's just wait."

Roka huffed. "We can't sit around here forever."

A murderous glare hit her and he sneered, "And what, in your all mighty human wisdom, do you reckon we do?"

"Well," Roka got up and reached a hand down. "First we get some food, because I'm almost starving because of your damn tests. Then we look for a place to stay. And after that I think it would be fun to just mindlessly get drunk somewhere. For a start."

The Master stared at her offered hand, decided to ignore it and rose to his feet, too. "Time Lords don't get drunk so easily," he simply stated and produced a tiny green cube from his pockets that he stuck into the ground. "Will inform us, when she gets back," he explained and nodded towards the buildings nearby. "Go on, then. It's your primitive planet, so lead the way."

oOo~-̶̰͕͑̐ ̵̡͔̕~̷̱̤̖̆͋͘ ̴͍̈́̂̽.̴̯̦̹͛ ̶͍̎͌#̷̡̳̟͆ ̷̲̇̋̑-̸̧͙͂ ̶͕̜̆̐̿~̵̡̛̳͖͂̃ ̵̣̊̓̄.̷͇̺́̏ ̷̞̑͐#̶̢͈̦͌ ̴̰̃̐͠-̸̝́ ̵̛̱͉~̸̫̈̎ ̴̙̇̿̄.̵̧͙̻̓͛̓ ̵̦̠̈́̿#̵̳͎̯̀̑ ̷͓̩̞̉̑͑-̴̮̞̕ ̸̢̭̪̊~̷͔͇̞̈́͝ ̵̙̬̓.̶̰̘̏͘ ̶̯̝͐̿͛#̷̪̆́ ̶̼̎̾͋-̸̨́ ̴͙̹̪͆͊~̵͓̓̔͐ ̶̛͎͍̗.̷̀̎ͅ ̴̳̬͆͝#̵͉̻̭̓̑ ̶͈̗̩̂̈́-̷̢̛̙͆͐ ̶̙̐~̶̬͓̎̈ ̵͓̄.̶̹̪̆͝͝ͅ ̵̥̑̀̈́#̵̭͚͂̔ ̷̤͔̈́͜-̷̥̗̈ ̵̝̀͆͘~̶̓̿͜ ̸̺̣̈́.̴̜͗̅ ̴̿͜#̷͈͉̋ͅ ̴̡̠̒̾-̵̡̯̤̒̕ ̸̺͋͂~̸̦̗͚̾̕ ̸̭̝͋.̸̢͖̻̅̇͝ ̴̨̬͗#̵̺͍̮̂ ̴͖̫̈́ͅ~oOo

Roka had been to London several times during her travels. It always was an exciting place to hang around and so she knew a few corners. The first thing on her mind, though, was food, and now they were sitting on red padded benches and stuffed themselves with burgers.

Around them the busy noises of a normal day filled the environment, the people blissfully unaware of the danger sitting amongst them, casually poking a fry into a spot of ketchup. Next to him sat an impressive stack of empty burger boxes and a halfway finished vanilla milkshake.

"Would I eat even half as much, I'd be an elephant by now," Roka uttered and had trouble getting her third cheeseburger down.

The Master stopped poking the ketchup and stuffed the fry into his mouth before he eyed her with a wicket grin. "You barely ever eat enough to sustain yourself."

"'m just not hungry a lot," she grumbled back and managed to down the rest with some cola. "Oof, I'm full."

"You barely ate."

"Hey! That was one Big Mac and three cheeseburgers. Not to mention the fries." She sunk together on the padded bench and sighed content, but then pouted a little. "We should have gone to Burger King instead. They have those amazing fried onions."

A moment later Roka quietly chuckled to herself as she eyed the Master. Even with her age and all her weird experiences, seeing one like him casually sitting inside McDonalds was just this tiny little bit too weird not to be funny.

"At least one of us is having fun," he growled irritated. "Not that I couldn't handle being stuck on this dumpster of a planet, but it's such a bother without a TARDIS."

"You didn't have one the first time we met."

She remembered how he had settled in an old facility, which's basement had once been some kind of alien factory, although the former inhabitants had converted it to a huge junkyard for all sorts of alien tech. Probably collected from raids. It had been fun rummaging through all the stuff, finding the weirdest little gadgets. She also remembered how angry the Master had been when she had tried out a few of them on herself, unbothered by any potential danger.

"Yah, and it was a horrible time." He rolled his eyes, but then cast a glance in Roka's direction and grinned. "You made it so much more bearable."

"Yeeeah, so much so that you stayed much longer than necessary."

"Not my fault that you were so entertaining."

She huffed. "You mean with threatening my life every few minutes? Oh, and the poisoning thing also wasn't nice."

"You'll never forgive me that one, will you?"

"Nope." Roka poked out her tongue through her teeth, a roguish smile glinting in her eyes, that, however, vanished quickly. "So, any preferences where to stay?"

"Preferably not on earth," he growled.

"Well... seems like this isn't an option, right now. We could stay in a hotel a few nights. Or rent a small apartment. I've got more than enough money."

"As if that would happen so fast," the Master grumbled. "All that shitty bureaucracy your species is so proud off makes those things so annoyingly complicated. Believe me, I know it."

"Yeah... you're right..."

Roka grabbed her remaining cola and loudly sucked the content through the straw. They really were in quite the hopeless situation.

"Uh, sorry to bother you," a female voice sounded from behind Roka. She turned around to face a young woman with short, tousled brown hair. "I just came in, but heard you're looking for a place to stay, right?" There was wide, cheeky grin on her lips.

"Err... seems so, yeah," answered Roka and rose a curious brow. "Probably not for too long. At least I hope so."

"And you said you have money." The smile turned into something that could clearly be described as mischief.

Roka took a closer look at the woman. She must be in her early twenties and looked quite boyish with the short hair, no makeup, but therefore a few piercings on her ears and eyebrows. She wore a loose black button up and some dark jeans. Not a Punk, Roka decided, definitely not Goth either, although the dark clothes suited her. The smile was genuine, cheeky, but not in a bad way, so Roka shifted in the seat to sit on her knees and leaned over.

"I'm all ears."

The Master got up and stood next to the two, hands shoved into his pockets and his unwilling eyes fixated on the woman.

"Well... My brother moved out recently. We shared a small house together. Really not big. But now the upstairs room is empty. You'd even have your own bathroom. And uh... Well, I'm just a student. I could need some extra money." The grin was back.

Roka tossed a look in the Master's direction, then scrambled to her feet to stand next to him. The other woman did the same, eyes glistening with hope.

"What do you say?" Roka asked him. "Sounds good to me."

He squinted at the young woman, but not in a way that was meant to scare her. Still she faltered a little in his presence, becoming visibly unnerved by him.

"I... know it's rude to be so direct. People always tell me that." She glanced away and smiled sheepishly back at Roka. "It's really just that. I could need a little extra. And you wouldn't bother me, really."

"Alright," the Master decided, suddenly putting on his politician smile. "Can't get any worse anyway."

The woman giggled, obviously a little uncertain if that was meant as a joke. But his charming smile seemed to reassure her. "Oh, I'm Cassandra, by the way. Everyone calls me Cassy, though." She stretched out her hand. "And you two are?"

"Roka," she introduced herself, taking the hand. "And he is th..."

"Matt," the Master answered quickly, but denied the handshake.

"Alright!" Cassy clapped her hands. "Guess I'll get my food as takeaway then. Don't want you two uselessly sitting around while I stuff my face with junk."

Cassy was a chatty person. On the short, probably ten minute walk, she told about how she was studying psychology, that her mom hated her for it, but her best friend loved it all the more.

"She's at my place a lot," Cassy told with a wide smile. "Don't be bothered by her. She's a nice and quiet person. Not much like myself, actually." She giggled.

Roka listened all the way, strangely fascinated by the ordinary life Cassy was describing. How she wanted to become a psychology teacher, how she hoped to visit Paris one day, how she thought about getting a cat. All these things were so meaningless to Roka, but hearing about it - as if they were the most important thing in a person's life - it stirred something unpleasant in her.

Her bubble popped when a hand slid into hers, and when she glanced up, she knew she would never want to give up what she had for another life. It wouldn't make her as happy as travelling with him. Which was weird and irresponsible, considering he had vowed to never hurt her, only to then almost causing her death. Even when it had been due to the drums and his old resurfacing madness, there was no way of telling if he wouldn't do her harm for the right wrong reasons.

But what if the TARDIS wouldn't reappear? What if they were stuck on earth forever? Would they have to cope with this normality? Would he go insane from it? Would she? Would her money be enough to get by for the next twenty years? The next hundred? How often would they have to move away and start from zero so no one would notice that they didn't age like the rest?

"What's bothering you?" the Master asked in a calm tone, however interrupting whatever the other woman had been rambling on about.

"Oh, you don't look too good," Cassy remarked concerned.

Only then did Roka notice how her breath had quickened, how her pulse was slightly racing her eyes twitched from one person to the other before resting on the Master.

"I don't want to be stuck," she breathed, fighting away the stubborn tears in her eyes. "I... I can't do that, Ma... tt." Luckily she remembered his fake name in time, suddenly realizing why he had chosen it. Her chest felt like someone had put a knot in her lungs. "This can't work. How do we even..."

"And there you were scolding me for overreacting," he grumbled with a teasing look. "Took you quite a while to catch up. I mean, hey, it's only been two hours or so."

"Hey, don't be mean," Cassy interrupted. "Some people just take a little longer." She held up an explaining finger. "It's called delayed emotional reaction. I read about it. Whereas people usually feel something instantaneously, others postpone their reaction, so to speak."

They both glared perplex at the young woman. Especially Roka, now suddenly looking back at so many occasions where this had happened. A hand on her shoulder tore her out of the surprise, wandered down to her side and drew her against the Master. She glanced up at him, saw reassurance in his warm hazel eyes as he enveloped her in his arms.

"Be strong, little crow. I need you on this, okay?"

Immediately Roka felt her pulse slowing, the previous panic ebbing away. She closed her eyes and snuggled against his side, his warmth seeping into her and also a little into her mind.

She wasn't alone.

Reality hit back only seconds later as there was a hardly suppressed squeal from Cassy. "Oh my gosh, you two are adorable," she blurted out and snapped both hands in front of her mouth, her gaze wandering carefully up to the Master, awaiting his death glare.

She probably received it, judging by how small and silent she was for the remaining minutes. Roka nudged the Master's side, nodding her eyes in Cassy's direction as if to tell him, to not harm her. The only answer was a boyish smirk.

Roka calmed down from her small sudden panic attack and tried her best to move her mind away from all the mean and equally horrifying scenarios her imagination was all too willingly putting together for her to enjoy.

Before they arrived at their destination, though, Cassy turned around once more, a little shyer than before. "I..." she dragged out the letter, her eyes darting back and forth between the two, deliberately avoiding the Master's glare though, "I'm in no place to ask what exactly happened to you. Buuut... You have nothing. I mean, nothing at all, not even luggage, and I'm actually about to invite two complete strangers into my home." Another look towards the Time Lord silently added, one of them which probably is going to eat me.

"Fret not, we come in peace," Roka shot out with a stern face and promptly stretched her hand out to show the greeting sign of Star Trek's Vulcans.

A silent second stretched, then Cassy let out another squeal and her eyes lit up like candles. "Can you mind read?" she enquired with a grin. "Oh my god, I love those series so much!"

"Errr, no. Just noticed the star fleet pin on your bag." Roka smiled back and nodded. "Guess you want to know if we can actually pay, right?"

Cassy nodded slowly, another quick look shooting towards the Master.

"Okay, let's get to a bank then. Busyness first and all, right? Oh and..." She thumped at the Master. "He might look scary, but if he does so much as harm a hair on you, I'll let him regret it forever."

"Oi!" he protested, pursed his lips and knitted his brows together. "I'm not stupid. Never eat the human that lets you sleep in their house."

"It's more like, never bite the hand that feeds you," Roka quipped, "but I'll let that count." Her tongue shot out, followed by a teasing smile.

The Master let out an appreciative whistle when he glanced over Roka's shoulder at the ATM's screen.

"Someone did some heavy cheating there, haven't we?"

"Maaaybe hopped a little around and abused a few... fluctuations, yes," she admitted with a smirk and stepped away to get the money from the banker instead. The amount was just too high for the machine. "How comes you have a clue how much this is worth?" Roka teased.

The Master folded his arms and grinned, bending a little down to her. "I was your Prime Minister not too long ago. I know how things work."

"Riiigh... almost forgot."

Cassy was waiting outside for them, impatiently fidgeting from one leg to the other. Her eyes went wide and round as coins when Roka pushed an envelope into her hands that contained a few thousand bucks.

"Should be enough for a start," she said sweetly, enjoying the disbelieving look.

"B... but... Holy shit!" Cassy exclaimed, snapping her mouth shut immediately. Quickly she stuffed the envelope into her pant pocket. "Why do you want to stay with me? I mean... you could just go everywhere probably. Maybe... In case that weren't your last savings."

The Master grunted as if that was the stupidest question he had heard in a long time. "You could say we got dumped. And in case she gets back I don't want to be at the other end of the world. Although," he threw a disgusted look at the city around, "wouldn't have minded if she had dropped us someplace else."

"I'm not much of a fan of hotels and such," Roka shrugged.

Another reason was that she liked meeting new people, now that she finally had the opportunity for it. Some days it surprised her how much she had gotten used to being visible, already, others she was completely startled when someone suddenly spoke to her out of nowhere. There was still a long way ahead and Roka wanted to grab every opportunity she could get.

"Besides," she held a finger up, "Never underestimate coincidence."

Cassy chuckled. "Yeah, I came right in time, didn't I? Okay, we can just see how it works out for a while. Does that sound good? I mean... I'll give you back the rest of the money if you want to leave, of course."

"Deal." Roka grinned back.

It wasn't as if she had planned to take any of the money back, regardless of what would happen. But sounding too generous could cause trouble on the long run, so she stayed careful. People couldn't be trusted, after all.

They finally reached Cassy's house. The young woman let them inside and rummaged around in a small bowl on the dresser that stood in the narrow hallway. Roka slid past her and took some curious glances around. Directly next to her was the door to the kitchen, plus living space. It was a single, big room, divided by a counter. There was a comfy, blue sofa, a few book shelves, a TV and some decoration. A lonely plant sat next to the door to a small garden.

Back in the hallway Cassy shoved keys into Roka's hands. "Good thing I have two spares left. Come, I show you the upstairs."

She quickly moved past the door to the living area. Directly next to it sat the staircase, leading upwards. Next to that were two more doors that probably lead to the lower bathroom and Cassy's bedroom. They climbed the steps and found themselves in another narrow hallway that looked almost identical to the one below.

"Here's the bathroom. Shower plus bathtub, you're lucky." Chuckling she opened a door to her left, allowing them a quick glance, before she waved them over to the second door. "It's not the biggest place, I admit, but it's roughly as big as my living room. You shouldn't have any problems."

It was indeed spacious, the floor softened by a bluish grey carpet. Directly under the roof slope sat a wide bed without sheets or blankets, yet. Next to it a small nightstand with an old lamp. Then there was a big leather couch, some empty shelves for books and other stuff, a TV stand that even had a device still on it. In the middle stood a rectangular coffee table. Lastly, in front of the window, they found a desk and an office chair, probably the remnants of a gamer corner.

The Master didn't say a word. He only strode in, hands in his pockets and observing every nook and cranny.

"Uhh..." Cassy eyed the room cautiously, awaiting their judgement. "I'll get you some blankets and sheets and everything. I... uh... Well, there is only that one bed. But shouldn't be a problem, right?" She chuckled a little nervously. "I mean, he's your boyfriend after all, so..."

Roka winced subtly at her words, stopping dead in her tracks from observing the room. Her eyes darted towards the Master, who strode over, his broad grin indicating he had overheard everything.

"W...w... well... I mean... uh..." Roka stuttered, completely at a loss for words. "Tha... that's... I... never thought about it."

The Master bumped against her back, wrapping his arms over her shoulder and resting his chin on her head. She could practically feel his childish grin through their connection and it made her flush bright red, her heartbeat quickening even more than her small panic attack from before had managed.

"Oh!" Cassy called out. "I really thought you were together. It seemed like it."

The Master hummed happily and purred, "You thought right. My little crow just doesn't want to admit it.

"That's not true!" Roka squeaked.

"Iiiii...'ll get the blankets, okay?" The other woman quickly left the room.

Roka squirmed in the Master's arms until he let her turn around, the boyish grin still grazing his face. His lips curled in a mocking pout. "I thought you wanted me."

"I do!" The words came out so quick it surprised even herself, made her chuckle. "It's just... I never thought about it, you know. I mean... how to call this."

"Mhm... Well, we're stuck on earth, we can as well use human terms." He grinned even wider, the tip of his tongue poking out between his teeth.

"That's not the point." Roka glanced down and idly played with a button on his shirt. "It just sounds so... weird. Final."

His fingers gingerly slid under her chin, pushed a little to make her look up. Her uncertain eyes met his that were filled with a mixture of possessiveness, warmth and still this boyish joy. "You are mine," he uttered determinedly. "No matter what you think or do." Leaning down to her he brushed her nose, eyes boring into hers, his voice dropping an octave. "And I can be yours, if you wish."

She swallowed, unable to speak as she got consumed by the intensity of his stare. A man like him, a creature superior to herself in almost every possible way, a man who travelled time and space for far longer than she had even lived, who did not halt or falter, no matter what he had done or wanted to do. And here he was, offering himself to her, a mere human.

Her hands reached up to cradle his face and she moved in a little closer. "I want you to be mine, Master," she whispered and closed the distance, initiating a tender kiss.

He broke it after a moment, eyes glinting as he spoke, "Out of the question."

"Wha'? You just said...!"

"Oh, come on. You know my hearts belong to the stars," he teased. "You said it yourself, once."

Roka squinted her eyes impishly at him and swiftly grabbed his blood red tie. "I'm not giving you a choice." She tapped against his chest. "So you better make some space for me in there."

"Mhm... maybe. In a century or so."

His chuckle got interrupted as Roka tugged at the tie to draw him near enough for another kiss. He grinned against her lips, responded in a way that could only be interpreted as possessiveness, determined to not let her breathe until she had to push him away to gasp for air. His forehead dropped against hers and he glared at her with half closed lids.

"You think I can do that?" he uttered.

Roka looked up at him, a warm smile spreading on her face that made his hearts annoyingly jumpy and warm. "It scares you, doesn't it?" Her fingers finally released the tie and spread over his chest. "I can feel it."

The Master scowled. He really should get rid of that connection. Instead he hummed affirmatively and enclosed her hand in his own.

"I have no idea how to deal with this, honestly," Roka admitted. "I'm probably a lot more clueless than you are." She chuckled lightly. "But I think you can... if you want to." A mischievous glint wandered to her eyes. "So, you want to be my Master?"

The grin stole itself on his lips on its own.

"I do."

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