The Doctor learnt in the next few hours that the Master was the same in bed as he was in everyday life: possessive and desperate for control. And the Doctor hadn't fought it, he wanted and needed it as much as the Master did.
When he woke the next morning, he found the Master lying facing him with one hand behind his back and the other draped over his stomach. He watched the Master sleeping, regret coursing through him, regret about the Time War and regret about everything. Regret mostly about the little actions and small decisions which caused Theta and Koschei, best friends, to become the Doctor and the Master, best enemies.
Even in his sleep the Master seemed agitated and tense like he could never allow himself to relax. In this the Doctor knew they were exactly the same, not that he would ever have said that to the Master. He wished he could help the Master; it broke his hearts knowing the Master would rather die than accept his help.
Gently the Doctor moved the Master's arm off his stomach and sat up. It was a few moments later before he talked himself into getting up. He wasn't sure if the Master would rather wake to him still there or not. In the end he got up, turned away from the bed and began dressing. Just as he was pulling his trousers up then the Master wrapped his arms around him. The Doctor flinched physically at his touch, then froze regretting it instantly. He hated that he was scared of the Master and he didn't want to make it obvious all the time.
"Going somewhere?" the Master whispered in his ear before kissing the back of his neck and sending a shiver down the Doctor's spine.
"No, I- I was just getting dressed…" he replied.
"Good."
The Doctor didn't fight when the Master pulled him around to face him, a playful smile crossed the Master's face and the Doctor only just stopped himself sighing in relief. The Master wasn't angry. For now. He forced himself to smile back, though smiling was the last thing he felt like doing. The Master took little notice and put his hands on the Doctor's face, pulling him closer and kissing him.
"We could…stay here?" the Doctor suggested, he quickly added "I mean if you want to…?"
The Master's playful smile quickly became a glare, "No." He pushed the Doctor away from him "Why would I do that because you suggested it?"
The Doctor looked at him sadly, and the Master rolled his eyes "Did you really think I'd do something you suggested?" He laughed bitterly and jumped off the bed. "Get dressed." He ordered as he pulled his clothes on, storming out as he did up his shirt buttons.
The Doctor watched the door for a few moments before coming to his senses and dressing. He joined the Master in the control room a few minutes later, watching him watch the screen.
"Where are we going?" the Doctor asked quietly after a moment of silence. The Master looked up at him, as though only just realising he was there but gave no answer. He quickly looked away, back at the screen. The Doctor sighed quietly and sat down, waiting.
"Astria" The Master said after a long moment in silence "We're going to Astria. It's a small planet, smaller than Gallifrey was obviously but even smaller than your precious Earth" the Doctor knew all about Astria but he stayed quiet at the Master spoke "They weren't in it, the Time War, I mean, but they were aware of it. Like me they had the sense to stay at a safe distance. But they saw parts of it. Tales of the Time War have become ghost stories to the Astrians. I want to hear them Doctor, I want to hear those ghost stories" The Doctor didn't reply and the Master continued "Because I wish I had been there, Theta, I wish I had seen it, felt it. In all my lives I've never regretted anything, out of everything I've ever done I don't regret any of it, except running away from the Time War."
"You wouldn't be saying this if you had been there" The Doctor told him.
"Yes. I would Doctor, because I'd rather have died with Gallifrey than be here now without it knowing that if I was there maybe I may have been able to make a difference" the Master bit back "Don't tell me what I would and wouldn't say or think."
The TARDIS came to a halt before the Doctor had a chance to reply. The Master automatically walked to the door, calling "Come on" back to the Doctor.
The Master opened the TARDIS door before the Doctor reached him. As soon as he did he was faced by four guns, looking above the guns he saw the Astrian people holding them were essentially Time Lord in appearance but their skin had a blue tint to it and, which he had already known, they had no gender.
"Are you the Doctor?" the tallest of the Astrian's demanded, forcing the gun under the Master's chin.
"No, I am not," the Master replied calmly. "Why? Friend of yours is he?"
"Who are you?" The Astrian asked, ignoring the Master's question.
"I am the Master" he told the Astrian. "Now would you mind moving your gun before I make you move it?"
The Astrian lowered his gun but only slightly. "Impossible. You are a Time Lord and the Time Lords died except for one. You must be the Doctor."
The Master sighed in irritation "I'm not the Doctor and I can't prove it" he took a step back and the surrounding Astrians automatically raised their guns to him again. "Look, I am inside the TARDIS which is set up against any weapons, you can't shoot me anyway so just put the guns down. I'm not going anyway, except to get your proof" he turned to the Doctor, hissing almost silently "What the hell did you do to these people?"
The Doctor looked helpless, and whispered back "I've never been here before. But you said yourself, they knew of the Time War. They probably-"
"You know what it doesn't matter, just shut up and prove that I'm not you. I'm not having anyone think that I am you" the Master interrupting, grabbing his arm and pulling him to the doorway. "This is the Doctor" he announced to the Astrians.
The guns were once again raised and this time aimed at the right target.
"Doctor, Master, you two both have explaining to do. This is highly impossible." The leader of the group told them.
"Well, not impossible since it's happening. Just a little bit unlikely and let's face it the universe is full of unlikely things" the Doctor pointed out, earning a warning glare from the Master.
"You will come with us." The leader told them.
"Will we now?" the Master replied, his voice challenging. "'Cause you see I'm not in the habit of being told what to do."
"You will come with us." The leader repeated.
"Aren't you going to tell us your names or why you're pointing guns at us?" the Doctor asked.
"You will come with us" the leader repeated once again, his tone making it perfectly clear he would not be repeating himself a fourth time.
"Yes, yes, ok, fine" the Doctor said, "But I think you'll find people a little more cooperative if you aren't pointing firearms at them."
"We know about you, Doctor, the guns are a necessary precaution."
"What do you 'know' about me?" the Doctor demanded. "If you knew anything about me you'd know I never carry weapons and am against violence."
The Master snorted at that but made no comment back. The leader's expression didn't change from the blank slate it was, "You can be dangerous without weapons and violence, Doctor, as you will know." he turned to the Master "I know not of you, Master, but you are with the Doctor and therefore must be counted as his accomplice. You will both come with us. You will not be harmed unnecessarily but you will explain this impossibility."
"Get rid of the guns" the Master said, "and we may think about it."
"You misunderstood me, it was not a request it was an order. You will come with us" the leader told him, signalling to the three accompanying Astrians, and two of them lowered their guns, stepped forward and grabbed hold of the Doctor and the Master, forcing them out of the TARDIS.
"Get off me." The Master insisted, struggling against the Astrian's grip, attempting to hit him off. His attempts were unsuccessful, the Astrian was a trained solider and Astrians were generally a strong race.
The Doctor on the other hand didn't struggle. He remained calm and reasonable "Look, we will willingly come to wherever you are taking us, but we'd just like to be told where exactly that is, who you are and exactly why we are going there. I don't think that's too much to ask, do you?"
"You will be taken to the Guildhall where you were be seen by the Lord Mayor. I am the Lieutenant of the Army of Astria." the leader replied, "Now you will cease speaking until the Lord Mayor requests it."
"You think I'm going to keep my mouth shut just because you tell me to?" The Master asked bitterly with a laugh.
The Doctor gave him the same warning look the Master had given him earlier on, only this one said shut up and let me handle this. The Master glared at him but didn't argue. The Doctor smiled sweetly at the lieutenant "As you can probably tell it takes a lot to shut us up. Now, I'm not asking for much, I'm not disrespecting your planet or your people, I'm not threatening to harm you in anyway. I am just asking for more information." He paused momentarily "And the option to walk along without being dragged."
"You will be given any extra information you require by the Lord Mayor if he so wishes to give you it." The lieutenant told him. "You are the Doctor, only survivor of the last great Time War, destroyer of worlds, committer of multiple genocides, you have no rights, you will cease talking now until the Lord Mayor wishes for you to speak." He turned to the Master "The same applies to you. You are with him and therefore it must be assumed that you work with him."
"With him?" the Master repeated in sheer horror. "I would never work with him. He destroyed Gallifrey, I would never help someone who did that, I would never help him with anything. I have no home because of him. Why would you think that I would work with him?"
"You are with him and therefore it must be assumed that you work with him"
The Master was clearly unimpressed and struggled against the Astrian's grip the whole time they were dragged along. The Doctor was more acceptant and went where they were pulled. The Guildhall was a stunning building at the centre of the town, a building which screamed power and importance. The two Time Lords were pulled up the stairs leading to the main door and in. The entrance room was mostly plain with white walls except the wall behind the desk which was covered by an engraving which told of the Astrian laws.
The Lieutenant spoke to the Astrian sat behind the desk whose name badge identified him as Kazumi, explaining that one of them was the Doctor and the other seemed to be another Time Lord and that they needed to see the Lord Mayor. Kazumi nodded along as he listened, his face equally blank and expression-less as the Lieutenant's was.
"I'll get him" Kazumi said and stepped around the desk and through the door.
The Doctor looked over at the Master who was staring straight ahead clearly getting more and angrier by the second. He then turned to the Lieutenant "So what's he like your Lord Mayor? A friendly bloke?"
Before the Lieutenant could reply the Lord Mayor entered the room. He was a stocky Astrian who must have been at least 6 foot 6. He looked from the Doctor to the Master and then to the Lieutenant "Why are these men not hand cuffed?"
The Lieutenant didn't reply, simply addressed the Astrians holding the Time Lords "You heard him."
"It's too late now." The Lord Mayor responded, clearly annoyed by this. "Just be glad you didn't let them go. The havoc they could've caused on Astria…"
"My apologises" the Lieutenant said.
"Bring them through." The Lord Mayor said. He had the kind of voice where everything he said was either an order or a demand. Leading the way, the Lord Mayor stepped through the door and the Astrians followed pulling the Doctor and the Master with them.
"Sit them there." The Lord Mayor nodded towards chairs on the opposite side of a long table than he was stood.
None too lightly the Doctor and the Master were forced into the seats. The moment their legs touched the chair legs metal bonds were forced around them, the same happening to their arms. The Master automatically pulled at the bonds in a vain attempt to get away.
"It is pointless struggling, Doctor, you cannot break out of them" the Lord Mayor told him.
The Master sighed, the sound portraying all the anger he was feeling "I am not the Doctor."
"Then my apologises for my mistake, you must be the Master." The Lord Mayor said "You must explain, Master, how you are not dead. He" signally the Doctor "destroyed your planet of Gallifrey and many others in the process, killing everyone there. How are you, a Time Lord, alive?"
"You really are making this out to be something it's not. I didn't survive the Time War, I was never in it" the Master replied. "I was called home for it but I refused to fight in it so I left."
"The Time Lords would've called you back surely?"
"I went to Earth, a small planet in the Milky Way. I went there and I turned myself human so they Time Lords wouldn't be able to find me" the Master explained. "I wasn't in the Time War so I didn't suffer the consequences of his" he practically spat the word "actions."
"And yet you are with him now? I was informed that you were found coming out of his TARDIS, is this not true?" the Lord Mayor asked.
"Yes. It's true. I am with him doesn't mean I'm working with him. It doesn't mean I agree with anything he's done. As I said before to your Lieutenant, not that he'd listen," The Master repeated himself "I am without a home because of that man's actions. I admit I have done some terrible things in the past, but I would never condone the destruction of my home world. You'd have to be a true monster to do that. Like he is."
The Doctor sat in silence as the Master said this, looking down at the table to avoid eye contact with anyone, his fingernails digging into the arm of the chair. He knew every word of that was true and he hated all of it.
"Then why are you with him?" the Lord Mayor asked. "Surely if you are so against him you wouldn't want to be anywhere near him?"
"I am with him to stop him doing anything such as that again" the Master bit back.
"Then why have you not killed him?"
The Doctor looked up at that, watching the Master carefully waiting for the answer.
"I don't believe he should get out that easily. Death is simple. Death is one action – or in the case of him, a Time Lord in his tenth life, three actions – and then it is over. However, if he has to live, he gets to suffer for longer with what he did."
The Doctor went back to staring at the table, stopping himself from sighing. He knew the Master, he was the only person in the universe who really knew the Master, and he knew that was true. The Master was keeping him alive to watch him suffer.
"And the bruises are your handiwork?"
"I said I wanted to keep him alive, I didn't say he shouldn't be punished."
"Then you agree he should be tortured for what he did?"
The Master didn't pause, even for a moment "Yes."
A/N: Dun. Dun. Dun. R&R please everyone.