Revery of Madness Chapter 19: II - Same old future, a doctor who fanfic

The next few weeks went by in a similar manner. Breakfast, then packing lunch - Roka made sure they always had at least some sandwiches and a thermos bottle of coffee (tea for the Master) - then they went out and searched the area for any signs of the Doctor. In the evenings they returned, although Roka was sure the Master went out at night, as well.

Since they shared the kitchen with Cassy it also turned out to be more convenient to prepare meals for everyone at once. Again, the Master proofed to be an exceptional cook, a fact that had astonished Roka immensely when she had first learned about this - it also had turned out the Doctor had been clueless about this skill.

"How are your studies going?" Roka asked curiously one evening, while the Master prepared something in the back that made her stomach twist and turn in anticipation.

"Eh, well, I guess... can't concentrate much, these days," Cassy sighed and lowered a textbook she had been reading.

"Anything wrong? We're not bothering you, are we?"

"No! No, you don't!" the girl exclaimed, but calmed down fast. "It's actually nice having people here. It got a bit lonely since Caleb moved out. And Anna isn't visiting so often, since she's studying herself and... uuuuugh..." She let out a long drawn sigh. "She wants to visit tomorrow."

"Isn't that good?" Roka pondered. "You talk about her a lot, after all."

"D... do I?" Cassy squeaked and hid her blushing face behind her book. "I mean, yeah, it's a good thing. I... I'm just a little nervous."

"Because of us?"

Cassy slowly shook her head, although her eyes briefly darted towards the Master.

"Mhm... alright. Just tell if we can help, yeah?"

"No! Don't!" the other girl protested, her voice high pitched. "Just... uh... don't. Everything is alright. Really. Totally. I'm fine."

Roka blinked perplex. That behaviour certainly was off.

"I'm missing something, don't I?" she mumbled more to herself.

"You do," the Master remarked mockingly, putting a big pot on the table. "It's so obvious, even I get it." His eyes glinted with glee as he leaned down to her, pecking a quick kiss to her cheek.

"Wh... what was that for?" Said cheeks started to glow red. Roka sunk together in her chair and saw Cassy chuckle quietly to herself.

"For being an adorable idiot." The comment was followed by a downright evil snickering.

He sat down with the two and gestured over the food to signal them to suit themselves. Cassy wasn't able to hold in a groan.

"Letting you stay here was the best idea ever." She closed her eyes and took a bite. "Gosh, Matt, where did you learn to cook like that?"

The Master smirked smugly. "Och, here and there. I travelled a lot, tried out even more. You learn stuff when you look at the world with open eyes, when you seek after the most hidden secrets, when you feel the age of the stories a place has to tell."

There he was again, the man who loved the stars more than anything else. Roka didn't need any kind of connection to feel his longing to go back out there. Each time he had told her stories of his travels he had that look on his face, one that didn't tell of the bad things he did, but of the times he was a mere explorer, doing as he pleased, but never without admiring and appreciating what he saw and learned. And however much he denied it, Roka was certain he did most of his exploring to experience all the strange wonders of the universe instead of using them for nefarious deeds, even if those might be his set goal.

Right now, though, it seemed he was able to settle into a normal live with astonishing ease. Of course, it wasn't the first time he had to pretend to belong to this planet, but Roka had awaited for him to be a lot more... obvious. Instead he showed his charming side and he didn't even threaten Cassy. Probably because she admired his cooking skills so much, but that hardly mattered.

It was only when Roka caught him in a moment when he thought no one was watching, that she saw the dark look in his eye, could almost sense his unease and the will to finally vanish from this place and to drop the bothersome mask he only wore to make things easier for them.

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

"Tell me about your travels," Roka demanded when they retreated to their room.

As usual the Master occupied himself with his collection of human tech he had gathered, dismantled whatever he deemed useful and put it together to new devices and gadgets that made no sense at all to Roka, even though she was quite skilled in those things as well. Now he looked up and turned his head towards her.

Roka put down the Playstation controller and gave him a pleading look.

"Why?" He narrowed his eyes at her.

"It's so dull here." She shrugged and patted the sofa next to her. "And you're a remarkable storyteller, if I might say so."

The Master huffed and put his gadget away before he came over and slumped down next to Roka. "Of course I am," came his smug retort. "But you'll just get itchy feet, idiot. So will I." He folded his arms behind his head and leaned back, eyes closed, mind wandering into some far away distance and time. "It's best not to dwell on travelling while being stuck, believe me."

Roka let out a deep sigh. "Yeah, you're right. I would have never thought it would be so hard to live like this." Her hand waved through the room. "It's everything I ever used to want." So, so many decades ago. "And now, all I can think about is how to get away."

"Tell you what?" The Master grabbed the controller and navigated through the menus on the screen until he found Netflix. "I still think human horror movies are hilarious. And you still love them. Let's watch some."

"You got scared, the first time you saw one," Roka remarked dryly, remembering it all too well.

"I wasn't! You snuck up on me!"

"Like that?" She quickly spread her arms and flung them around his middle, landing halfway on his lap, halfway against his site.

As if it were instinct - and probably it was - the Master roughly tried to shove her away, his dark scowl softening fast, though. Sometimes he almost behaved like a wild animal, flinching away from any sort of physical contact, if it wasn't himself who initiated it.

Now he relaxed and let Roka stay where she was, her head in his lap, smiling up to him, impishly. "Don't worry. If there's any ghosts under the bed, I'll protect you from them."

He snorted out a laugh. "In case I ever need a human to protect me from anything, I've gone truly mad."

"Then you already have." Roka tapped against his chest. "I protect you from yourself, after all."

"Do you, now?"

"Sure. And I don't care if you want it or not."

"Cheeky."

"Deal with it." She stuck out her tongue.

There was a warm smile appearing on his lips, spreading like rays of sun over his whole face. His fingers gently skimmed along her cheek, sending a pleasant tingling through her skin.

"Precious little human," he uttered.

It were small moments, like these, Roka liked the most. She loved to tickle out sides of him the Master probably didn't even know he possessed. And there was so much warmth in him, not many would believe it, and probably even less had ever allowed him to show it.

"Come, sit up," he enquired smiling and picked some movie for them to watch.

It seemed he loved ghost stories, seeing he almost always chose titles with supernatural content in them. Roka grinned back and eventually sat up, leaning against his side, though, and slipping a hand through the crook of his arm.

"Don't you dare protesting," she warned. "I know you like me so snuggled up."

"Pffff... as if."

But he let her, drew her even a little closer and pressed a kiss to her temple. Roka smiled to herself, enjoying the small victory and his presence. Most nights he was tinkering away her hours of sleep, and when she woke up he was ready and about to go hunting for the Doctor outside. So she had come to miss his presence a lot.

It also meant he wasn't sleeping at all, again.

The movie was bad. Just the way she liked them, enjoying to predict each and every cheap jumpscare and unravelling the flat plot long before it was supposed to become obvious to the viewer. She giggled at a particularly bad scene and caught a glimpse of how the Master glanced at her from the side, his look showing content and a smile twitching in the corner of his mouth.

After the second movie Roka started to get tired and wondered how the Master was able to cope with sitting around for so long, without occupying himself with something useful. But he stayed with her and she was glad about having him here. Eventually, Roka snuggled up on him some more and allowed herself to drift away into a sleep far deeper than she had planned.

When she woke up again it took her a moment to comprehend where she was. The room was dark now, devoid of all lights, except for the telly. She also was lying in a different angle, and only after a few confused moments did she realize she was lying with her head on the Master's lap. One of his hands was gently curled over her chest and she heard him chuckle lightly.

Curiosity winning over, she turned her head to the screen, a wide smile spreading on her face at the sight. She cupped his hand with her own, stroking her thumb over his skin.

"Wake again?" he asked, quietly laughing at another scene.

"And you're watching kids shows," Roka noted amusedly. It was an episode of Pinky and Brain, a show she used to love as a child. "It's so ridiculous. Brain's plans never work anyway." She poked out her tongue when the Master looked down at her. "That why you watch it?"

"Oi! My plans do work!" he protested with a grin. "It's only the Doctor ever messing around with them."

"Mhm... I'm sure the others all worked." Her sarcastic tone was hard to overhear.

The Master grabbed the remote and turned off the telly, leaving them both in sudden darkness. Roka only felt his hand grabbing her collar as he leaned down to her. In another time it would have been a threatening move, one he would have hoped would scare her. But now there was a weird gentleness in the very same action.

"You'll see for yourself how well they work, little crow." His breath ghosted her lips, telling her how close he actually was. "I will show you all those stars out there. I will hand the universe to you, wrapped in a silver ribbon, if you wish for it."

"As if you would let me have it," she retorted smirking.

The Master chuckled. "No, probably not."

And he closed the small gap between them, gently moulded their lips together, making Roka's heart rate spike pleasantly. Her hand moved up to caress his cheek, stroking over some stubbles of his beard, urging him closer to her.

He carefully, slowly, broke the kiss. "We won't be stuck here forever. I promise."

"I know. You'll find out how to get us way."

"Do you trust me on that?"

"I do." She smiled into the darkness, sad that, due to their now lacking connection, he wasn't able to feel it. Then she remembered something. "But that won't work too well if you keep avoiding rest. You're awake since forever again, aren't you?"

There was low growl rumbling in his chest, confirming Roka's suspicion. His lips found hers again, for a short moment. Gently he brushed some hair from her forehead.

"Sleep with me," he asked quietly.

"Too tired," Roka deadpanned.

"No, idiot." A chuckle resounded through the dark. "Just sleeping. I want to test out a theory."

"Alright. Wanted to crawl into bed anyway."

She hooked her fingers into his collar to draw him into another kiss, enjoying their closeness for just a little while longer. The Master eventually moved his hands, swiftly swiped her up in his arms and carried her over to the bed.

"I could have definitely walked that few meters," she protested giggling, but grabbing onto his shirt to nuzzle herself against his chest.

"Do I care?"

He sat her down, pulled back the covers and waited until she had crawled under them before he followed, allowing Roka to cuddle herself against his chest once again. He breathed a soft kiss to her forehead, his arm snaking around her middle to hold her tight. It was such a rare occasion to be so close to the Master during night time, Roka sighed content and couldn't feel happier as in this very moment. How she had missed this during her own, lonely travels. Feeling so safe and warm and secure, slowly drifting into sleep, guided by the soothing double beat of his hearts.

Another day went by with them strolling through London. Somehow the Master was convinced to eventually find the Doctor here, which wasn't the worst bet, considering how often he visited this town.

Luckily it was warm outside and they didn't have to bother with wind or rain. Well... Roka didn't. The Master wouldn't mind anyway with his annoying superior biology. Roka scowled at him from the side, which let her almost bump into a child.

Hastily she evaded and turned around just in time to see the back and feet disappear behind a corner. Small kid. Probably not older than ten. She paid it no more attention and instead pondered about what to get for diner for the evening. Although the Master enjoyed being praised for his meals, Roka delightedly gave him new ideas to try out. Sometimes they took alien recipes and tried to find earthen equivalents of the ingredients, although that didn't always work out. There was nothing on earth that could even remotely resemble the delicate taste of Larmenda roots.

Roka scowled once again, suddenly certain she would gain lots of weight if the only interesting thing in her life, from now on, would remain food.

She sighed and glanced around, halfway daydreaming, halfway hoping to finally find this bloody blue box so they could get away.

Instead she noticed another child peeking around a corner, its face hidden under a too big bucket hat. It quickly disappeared and Roka did her best to pretend she hadn't seen anything. Confirming her suspicion, she again saw the same hat a few corners ahead. Once more she ignored it, but tugged at the Master's sleeve to get his attention.

"What is it?"

She wriggled her finger to indicate him to come closer, and he did, although raising a questioning eyebrow in the process.

"We're followed," she explained quietly. "A kid."

"So?" His look turned to a mixture of amused and annoyed.

"I'm not sure... You remember the one that attacked us on that junkyard planet, not long ago?"

Now she had his attention. Almost unnoticeably his eyes wandered around, skimming the place for any signs of the persecutor. There weren't many people around, as they were in a sleepy part of town, but here and there was a parent with children, or little ones on their own. None of them behaving strange in any way, though. It had only been that one.

"If it is the same," the Master started slowly, "then don't expect me not to kill it before it can harm you."

Roka frowned. "I know. It would, however, be wiser to capture the kid and find out what it wants. Or who is messing with it. Didn't seem as if it were in full control of its actions, back then."

A low growl rumbled through his chest, his eyes narrowing to thin slits.

"Fine. But if necessity arises... I really don't care if it's an actual child or only disguises as one."

"Don't be so overprotective." She smirked and took his hand. "I can take care of myself quite well."

Again he only growled, interlacing their fingers and holding tightly onto her as they resumed their way, now double vigilant of their surroundings.

The child appeared a few more times, always just lurking behind some corner, never showing its face. Still, Roka had the impression it had to be a boy, probably somewhat around the age of maybe seven to ten.

There he was again. She nudged the Master inconspicuously. He didn't budge, but Roka knew his eyes were now fixated on the corner ahead. She kept her own there, although avoiding turning her head in the direction. They were still a good distance away and Roka had a somewhat clear view of...

"What's that creature behind the kid?" she uttered through her teeth, never taking her eyes off of it. "Looks creepy."

"No idea. I think, I've seen it before, though."

Roka frowned. Maybe the kid was controlled by that thing. But what the hell was it? Clearly alien, almost too alien, as it looked a lot like most humans would imagine them from movies. It stood tall, with a slender humanoid body. The grey skinned and bald head was oval, getting pointier towards the chin. It seemed to have no mouth or nose at all and the eyes were almost nothing but large black holes, at least from this distance. And, strangest of it all, it wore a black suit.

From somewhere they heard steps all of a sudden, running steps that approached fast. The Master looked around to see where they came from. A few seconds later the strange creature lifted its long fingered hand and pointed in their direction. Roka froze.

"The alien saw us!" she hissed.

"What alien?"

"The creepy Men in Black thing, of course."

The Master looked back towards the child, letting out a sharp breath. "What the heck is that thing?"

"I just asked you the same."

By now it had lowered the hand again, but continued to stare in their direction, only stepping backwards slowly. It was downright unnerving.

"Yeah, looks familiar, but..." The Master stopped.

The child moved. By now they were only a few meters away and, as if someone had flicked a switch, the child started to rush towards them, holding some sharp object in its small hands. This time Roka was prepared and evaded, letting him rush past her.

"Don't!" Roka held out a hand as the Master pointed his laser screwdriver at the kid.

Immediately it hurled around and started another attack. Roka wanted to capture the child, not hurt him, so she waited until he was close, then swiftly stepped aside, but let one foot in place to let the small one stumble over it and to his knees.

The knife slithered away, the Master jumping towards it to pick it up. Something seemed to have caught his attention there, for he disappeared around the corner. Meanwhile Roka carefully approached the attacker. The kid sat with its back to her, the hat had fallen to the ground, revealing a short, light brown, tousled haircut.

"I don't want that," the boy brought out, sobbing. He clutched his head with both small hands, shaking it. "Leave me be. Please."

"Hey, I won't hurt you," Roka tried. "Someone is forcing you to do this, right?"

The child almost curled itself together, bending down so deep his clutched head almost touched the ground. The running steps from before came closer and when Roka dared a quick look back she saw a blond woman appear.

"Get away from the child!" she called out, waving her arms exaggeratedly.

By the time Roka looked back, the small one had lifted himself up from the ground again, still holding his head as if it hurt badly. He stood with his back to them, sobbing and hesitantly taking a step away. Roka held her hand out, wanted to grab the boy by his shoulder, but he quickly bent himself out of the way, arms falling to his side.

"Get away," he sobbed. "I have to... it calls... I'm sorry, Gin."

And with that he ran away so fast, Roka could barely react, especially since the woman had now arrived with them, bending over to brace her hands on her upper legs, the blond hair falling in front of her face.

"Oh, good. He's gone. Don't worry. Don't..."

Roka fought with herself to run after the child, but the same moment she decided to do so, a figure, clad in all black appeared in the distance, forcefully grabbed the boy's wrist and teleported them away. It went all so fast, Roka hadn't been able to get a proper look at the other person. They wore a suit and seemed to have too long limbs, though, and a weirdly shaped head.

Hadn't she seen someone like that before?

And more important even, had the boy really called her Gin, or had it been her imagination? This had been her nickname as a child... how would he know?

"I can't tell you much," the woman's voice cut through Roka's thoughts. "Not supposed to. Could change the past. And that's always bad." She made a face at her own words and straightened up. Her eyes darted towards Roka and lit up with a warm spark. "Oh Roka, I'm so glad you're still..." The smile dropped and she shook her head. "Forget it. But if you see that kid again, run. Promise me as much, okay?"

"How do you know my name?" Roka wanted to know.

"Because you met her already," the Master's sarcastic voice resounded as he returned around the corner.

The woman shot around, eyes widening in disbelief, almost shock. She let out a short squeak and ran at the Time Lord, her arms wrapping around him so fast and hard enough to visibly throttle his air supply.

"It's before!" she called out, burying her face in his shirt. "You're still... still... Oh I'm so happy to see you well, Master." A sob let her shoulders tremble, her voice faltering with every word. "I... I should have come looking for you. I really should have." Another sob and only a whisper remained. "I'm so sorry. So... so..."

Utterly perplex he stood there, frozen in place. But then, hesitantly as if he didn't even know how to do that, he carefully wrapped his arms around the slender form and held the woman until she stopped shivering from tears. All the while his face wore a mixture of annoyance and... carefully masked care.

Roka felt a huge pang of jealousy at the sight, resisting the urge to purse her lips. Instead she looked away, busying herself with pushing a pebble around with her foot.

Eventually the Master dropped his arms and the blond stepped away, rubbed a sleeve over her eyes and smiled at the other one's eye-roll.

"Sorry, shouldn't have gotten so emotional. I know you can't stand seeing me cry."

He snorted disparagingly and poked a finger at her head. "You wish. I'm the one making you cry, remember? And don't you ever forget it, Doctor."

"Wh... what?" Roka's mouth gaped open, her eyes darting back and forth between the two.

"Oh, I thought you'd recognize me, dear!" the woman called out, giving her a mock-pout. "We travelled so long together." She spread her arms with a wide grin.

Roka closed her open hanging mouth, having the feeling as if her brain was about to simply shut down. It didn't help. Her mouth fell open again on its own.

"No... fucking... way..."

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