Disclaimer: Still not mine. But I own a long black coat and a pair of chucks *gg*
A/N: A big "Thanks!" to everyone who wrote a review, put this story on alert or on his/her Favorite Stories list :D It makes me smile very happily, because this equals love xD
Again, thanks to my beta oddood. I sent her the chapter last night and she did the work in only two hours this morning :D You're awesome *gives a hug*
Two Sides of the Same Coin
Chapter Two – Care
The darkness faded slowly, and the Master noticed first that he rested on something. It was comfortable and soft, maybe a bed. The next things were the sounds. Next to him was the constant beeping of an ECG-monitor, which reminded him so strongly of the never-ending drums in his head. But they were gone, along with the Timelords.
He did not know if this was good or bad.
He opened his eyes carefully and recognized after repeated blinking against the light, a white ceiling above him.
"Ah, you're awake …" The voice of the Doctor came from somewhere to his left.
As the Master tried to turn his head he was prevented by something. He felt with his hand for it and noticed a small prickly pain in the back of it. Apparently, the Doctor had also put him on a drip.
His fingers touched cool metal, some wires, small diodes which caused a hint of a prickle on his scalp, and one thick cable, which lead away from the construct.
"What the hell did you do with me?" the Mater asked, still looking at the ceiling. Interesting tile-pattern.
Within a second the face of the Doctor was over him, but this time at least without this manic grin. He twiddled with the gadget and wore a don't-bother-me-I'm-busy-face.
"Just some vernier adjustments … Well!" With the buzz of the sonic screwdriver; a stabbing pain flashed through the Master's body.
"Argghh! You don't call that vernier adjustments, do you?" the Master screamed.
"Oops… eh … wrong wire …" Again, the sonic screwdriver buzzed and he waited for the pain, but there was none.
"Well, that should work…" The Doctor vanished out of view; however, this time the Master could turn his head without problems and followed the other Time Lord with his eyes.
The Doctor rummaged around in some closet which stood in one corner of the room and which, as far as the Master could see, was jam-packed with every possible medical gadget. Next to it was another bed, but this was not occupied.
Turning his head the other way, the Master saw just another white wall and an equally white door.
He leaned back and talked again to the ceiling.
"Why did you bring me in here?"
The quiet rustle of fabric, the groan of coil springs. The Doctor must have sat down on the spare bed.
"I've connected you to the Tardis. That … helmet there … it keeps you in a Time Lock, which is harmonized to your body energy. The field is highly limited to explicitly affect this bed, and the Tardis spends much energy to keep it up, but for the moment … you're safe," the Doctor explained.
"Oh … the good, good Doctor has to deliver bad, bad news…" the Master taunted. If there was one thing he loved, that was to underline his words with his comical side. "Oh, Doctor, Doctor, please tell me, how long have I got left?" he added with sarcasm in his voice and an exaggerated sobbing, imitating the countless hospital-series which existed on the telly of this planet full of rubbish called Earth. He really had a knack for melodramatic moments.
"Five days. Maximum," the Doctor said seriously.
Grinch.
Well then, another strategy.
"Maybe I don't want to be saved?" He turned and looked at the Doctor with an impish grin.
"I know you, Master. Last time you left open a loophole, but this time you neither had the time nor the possibility to create such a clever plan", the Doctor said with no visible emotion.
"Where did you get that idea from?" The Master turned his head back to the ceiling. It was definitely a better dialogue partner.
Again the rustling of fabric, and again the face of the Doctor, still covered with scars and scratches, appeared above the Master.
"I simply know. Furthermore, the problem of the nearly exhausted energy is not as … harmless as you think, Master. You've only got a tiny little spark of energy left, and this wouldn't even be enough to regenerate. If you take off this helmet and leave the room, you would fall apart into atoms within minutes, no, one even couldn't find your quarks anymore!" The Doctor explained vividly; then he stepped back, but the Master sat up with a low moan; now he could overlook the room better.
"Brilliant! You rescue your worst enemy from death to do what? Shut me away in the Tardis for evermore?" he asked, still a bit out of puff, but not without a grim undertone.
"Um ... no." Now the Doctor leaned against the free bed, but the tense in his body did not vanish. "I thought about it when you were unconscious. I tried to remember how it had been when we were friends, back on Gallifrey. I won't save the Master, but the friend who is still somewhere in there", he explained.
"Sentimentalist", the Master countered.
"And yet you didn't kill me back on the Valiant."
"Why kill quickly if I can have fun?"
The Doctor shook his head and arose slowly, as if he was again the old man from the Year-That-Never-Was, and passed the bed of the Master to reach the door. He stopped as he touched the door knob, but did not turn as he spoke.
"Keep imagining that, Master. But I know that your whole insanity couldn't kill the voice of reason completely. After all … you sacrificed yourself for me." And with this he was out of the room; the door snapped softly as it shut behind him.
The Master sighed. These five days would become hell.
*+DW+*
If I receive more than five reviews for this chapter, I will try and update every Saturday :D