A/N: I will be using male pronouns for the Master-Donna, not out of offence to anyone of a non-binary gender identity, but because of reasons that are addressed in this chapter. Also I forgot to mention that this takes place between the fifth and sixth series. My bad.

ANYWAYS sorry this took so long. School and whatnot.

And a big thank you to those who left such nice reviews. It's much appreciated.

Silence hung over the two of them, containing all the noiseless thoughts rushing through their heads that never became words. There was so much that needed to be said and yet the Doctor, of all people, was left standing speechless.

The Master was also uncharacteristically quiet, but not nearly as uncomfortably as the Doctor appeared to be- his face was contorted into a engrossed, bordering on pained, expression- as if he were drowning in his thoughts. Oh no, he was definitely not uncomfortable with the sight he was presented with. The Doctor, tongue-tied and at his mercy in his own TARDIS, oh what a treat this was.

Except this was wrong.

They had been dancing their tangled, messy dance so long they didn't know how to do anything else. Yet now, in the place of words like weapons once fired so freely, there was only this loaded quiet enveloping and choking them both.

The Doctor opened his mouth for a second, then closed it again. His eyes gleamed with such strong emotions- sorrow, guilt, rage- that had only intensified with century after century of running away. He could see so much in that ancient gaze that he consciously tore his gaze away after what could have been a second or an hour, for fear of what the Doctor might see in his.

The Doctor opened his mouth again, and this time managing to articulate a handful of the millions of words forming in his head, the only ones he always knew how to.

"Master... I'm sorry-"

"Master? Who's master?"

They both turned to see a nightgown-clad redhead, husband in tow, armed with a coat rack which had presumably been displaced in the Master's dramatic entrance.

"Ah, so this is the lovely Amelia Pond?" He lowered his gun and made his way towards her, "no surprises here, he always did go for the pretty ones." The Master was looking her up and down, clearly judging how disappointingly human she was, disdain dripping from his voice.

Amy held her ground, but failed to hide how increasingly tense she was becoming in her current situation. The Doctor, however, was more focused on the Master. He had immediately recognized the look on his face. Oh yes, he has seen that look far too often for his own liking, the face of someone whose plan was going without a hitch.

"Let her go."

"God you're predictable. Though you could hardly say I've got her-"

"I mean it, Master, now."

"-and I'm hardly stupid enough to kill your latest girlfriend in front of you."

The Doctor ignored the grumbled noise of protest Rory made from the background and continued, "not Amy... Donna."

"You know I can't do that."

"I don't care."

"Yes you do."

"I-"

"That is, if the water works a few times back were genuine; oh, but you're a new man now is that it? Finally got the part of the hardened soldier down?"

"Listen to me, that woman's mind, it's- it's unstable. Even the slightest psychic shove on your part could set something off and it aflame. She would die and you'd be lost with her."

"I'm aware."

"You've always been one for self-preservation... this seems like a paradoxically big risk to be taking, wouldn't you say?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm not fond of being dead. Or bodiless. Or trapped in the Time War; oh, that reminds me, good job on that one. Anyways, I had no intention of inhabiting a human again so there I was thinking I'd have to go after you for that again, which in case you've forgotten, didn't go so well the last time. Lucky for me, you left this human... time lord... thing in your wake. She may pose some challenges, but nothing too much to be worth it."

"You seem to be in a talking mood, care to tell me how you did it as well?"

The Master smirked and stepped closer to the Doctor. In their current form, the Doctor was the taller of the two, but that didn't stop him from using Donna's eyes to stare straight into his, as if this new form would allow him access into that ever-racing mind.

Actually, that wasn't a half-bad idea.

"Let me show you," he said, stepping even closer.

"I don't see why not," the Doctor mumbled in reply.

The Master hesitated for a moment, perhaps to decide what to show him? Whatever he was doing, he seemed to be considering whether or not to do... something. Not thinking much of it, he closed his eyes, awaiting fingertips on temples and the shock of another mind on his.

It was then that he went and pulled the Doctor into a kiss.

Oh.

There was definitely nothing remotely romantic or sexy about it- his senses were a horrible mess of seemingly unconnected images and sounds and emotions whirring around him and he was too distracted by the fact that okay hold up the Master was kissing him why is this even happening to make much of it. He found himself surrounded by that horrible drumbeat as far too familiar sights of death and destruction danced before his eyes. Through the flames he could see blurred glimpses of his wonderful earth and that ever-so-important woman and God, did it hurt.

Lucky for him, Amy was more than happy to step in again.

"Does somebody want to tell me what the hell is going on!?"

"Oh, do forgive me for not introducing myself. You may call me the Master. I'm a time lord myself you see. We go way back, the Doctor and I-"

"I'm gonna stop you right there. Doctor? Do you want add something?"

"No... No, that's about right..." He murmured, not bothering to look up to address her. He was completely lost in thought, trying to make sense of the fragmented memories he had obtained.

"I gave you everything you need to figure it out, you know. The way I did it wasn't really that distracting, was it?"

"About that, was it really necessary?"

"Well if I am going to be here a while, might as well have a little fun right off the bat."

"Who says you're staying?"

"Like you'd really let me galavant through the universe in an unstable stolen body."

"And who says you're keeping that body?"

The Master just smirked back.

"We both know the answer to that one, Doctor. After all, I know you." He taunted, his voice a parody of the Doctor's last.

He giggled at his own joke for a moment before ceasing to allow that same silence caused by too much to say to pass through the room again. In time, the Doctor broke it with a simple "Alright."

"Doctor is this really a good idea?"

"Of course it isn't."

"I've already seen the way you look at her-"

"Him."

"Pardon?"

"I'm fairly certain that though the body may be different, everything else from his last regeneration is the same. Personality stuff, basically what's inside him and all that. Remember Harold Saxon? Well that was him. Not important anymore though. The point is, had he regenerated into a woman it would be different, but due to the complicated nature of it all you can't really say this is true. So- the Master continues to be male. I think. Honestly it doesn't matter, but you humans seem to place importance on this stuff, what with the way your languages tend to be structured, so you might as well get it right."

"Oh... Wait- no, not 'oh,' that had nothing to do with the conversation at hand. Doctor, I've seen the way you look at him for maybe five minutes and that's more than enough for it to be obvious that this is a terrible idea."

"He's the only other one left. Do you know how that feels?"

She didn't respond save for a minute shake of her head, clearly stunned by the sudden shift in emotion.

"No... No, Amy, I'm sorry. You're right, you really are, but you have to understand that I can't just let him go."

"I'm worried about you, you know."

"Rightly so."

"...Don't do anything exceptionally stupid, okay?" Without waiting for a response, Amy turned and walked back down the TARDIS corridor to the console room, leaving Rory alone with the Doctor in the dim light.

"She really has a point, you know," He said after a brief moment, "you can't just let things like this fester inside of you."

"Oh, Rory, not you too..."

"I mean it, though. Whatever was between you and this Master bloke, it obviously didn't end well,"

That's an understatement.

"and I'm aware that you've got a lot of guilt to work out,"

Also an understatement.

"really, I don't even know where I'm going with this, but-"

"Yes, good talk, great talk, now if you'll excuse me, your wife is currently alone with a psychopathic genius so I think I ought to go check on her." He interrupted as he dramatically spun around to follow Amy.

Rory sighed and walked after him.

Next thing the TARDIS's three passengers knew, the Doctor was pirouetting around the control panels with all the grace of the average ostrich.

"ALL RIGHT, no use sitting around in our jammies when there's all of time and space to explore! Amy, Rory, don't just stand there, there are things to be done. Master, behave yourself and you get to come along too. None of that conquering business you're always up to. My TARDIS, my rules, alright? Good. Now,"

"Doctor..." Rory muttered, uneasy with the drastic change in his attitude.

"-where and-slash-or when to? Have I taken you two to New New York yet? That one always seems to go well. In a sense. Maybe not common sense, but most things tend to go well in a sense, don't they? Actually, thinking about it, maybe not. Tell you what, how about we pick a random planet and hope for the best-"

"Doctor." Amy repeated, more boldly than her husband.

All of them noticed that something was off here, yet none of them knew what to make of it.

"Oh of course, what was I thinking- you still haven't gotten a good night's rest, which, I would say, is absolutely essential for any and all potential adventuring. I should probably let you get to that. And the old girl's still a bit jumbled around so I guess you could say all of us should be rest-"

"Oi! Would you kindly shut it already, you skinny idiot!"

That certainly shut the Doctor up.