Back at last. Not that he'd minded the absence. It allowed him to regain his head a bit. The collected thought he'd used to have. Lacking the mania. The sharp edge of insanity had eased off from what it had been in his previous two lives. And a quarter of a millennium of time between their meeting had given him what he needed. The way he was before. Back again to that never ending game.
Though he had to admit that he was not really going to let go of his hold on Torreck any time soon. Nor were they about to let him go themselves. It had been exceedingly easy to twist them. But keeping that hold would have been a bad plan and he knew it. The last thing he needed happening was them turning on him. That lesson had taken a fair amount of time to sink in. Several lifetimes really.
'Bring him in through the side, thank you Keeja.'
He felt her nod through the link he'd created. The Torre were a fairly telepathic race. Yet another thing that had surprised him. Keeja had been the equivalent of a noble in the Torre's society. And now, as the eldest surviving member of her family, she was something of a sovereign. She was certainly one of the few of them he actually trusted. Which was why they'd created the link. It allowed them to keep the peace. Her giving them the familiarity of their own race, while still leaving him in charge. When things did get violent, as was likely to happen with any newly exposed race, she left that to him. While he allowed her to manage more of the political differences.
'There is a woman with him. Is she to be allowed?'
A woman. Possibly the same one from last time. But that all depended upon how long this had been for the Doctor.
'Yes, she'll be no mind to me. And he does get irritable when I kill his pets.'
'As you wish Lord Master.'
And then the door opened. Revealing the Doctor, bow tie and all, being led by Keeja and followed by Amy. Hmm, this could prove fun. Seeing as Ginger was already quite unhappy. He rose from his chair, bowing mockingly as they reached the center of the room.
"So, the Doctor finally comes off his pedestal to visit. Not that it seems to have been long for you. A few weeks? A few months? Did you miss me that much." The grin in place was so familiar...So much like the Master he knew. The Doctor could hardly believe this was the same man who had been ragged and dirty on the streets. "I'm flattered, truly. And you brought Ginger along."
"Call me ginger again your highness and I'm going to kick you where the-"
The Doctor put a hand over her mouth, just for a moment to stop the rest of the sentence. The Master simply laughed. "Oh, foul mouth on that one. Fiery. Attractive too. I'd love to see how long it'd take to get her screaming."
"You stay away from her, Master. What have you done here?"
The Master raised his eyebrows "What have I done? I've given these people an entire planet they didn't realize they could have. Why? Did you think I'd done something wrong? That I was enslaving them with a reign of terror and bloodshed?" He tsked softly "No, that would have been no use. Can't have such an impressionable race hating me. Learned my lesson there I would say."
"I don't believe you..." The Doctor said slowly "There's always some other plan. Ulterior motive, you don't just help people. You manipulate them."
"Like you?" Another of the Torreck...Inhabitants. The Doctor really needed something to refer to them as.
"Torre is the word you're looking for my dear."
"I'd appreciate you staying out of my head!" The Doctor snapped.
"Why? Afraid I'll see something? Like that dreadful incident with Mars? Or your darling wife?" Oh he did love this. The taunts and watching the irritation and embarrassment.
"I knew she was your wife!" Amy hissed
"She's not- We're not-"
"Now that we're at the point where even your companion happens to agree with me. Why are you here? I don't recall doing anything enough to warrant your attention."
The Doctor shifted for a moment, well...He'd come back because he'd thought the Master would have cooled off by now. Not that he'd been trying to go so very far ahead. He'd just thought that. Well...After what had happened. Maybe he would consider...
"Oh so you did miss me." After that, the Doctor hastily began reconstructing his mental walls.