"So you're called Keeja, yeah?" Amy asked, watching the purple woman with some interest.

"Keeja Mon'et-va, yes Miss Pond."

"Amy's fine."

"As you wish." Keeja paused, head tilting to one side, short hair displacing slightly "The Doctor...You've known him long?"

Amy nodded "Since I was a kid. He sort of became my imaginary friend...Until you know, he turned out to be real."

Keeja smiled knowingly "Don't we all wish for that to happen? The friends we create always seem to know us best."

"Suppose so...It's strange though. You never really know what he's thinking... He gets sad, and he never says why." Like earlier. That whole mess with the engagement ring.

"Lord Master has these times. The last children of Gallifrey are troubled by their pasts. Interwoven and similar as they are."

"Similar? Him? And the Doctor?" Amy wasn't sure whether to laugh or to look insulted.

"Oh yes, quite the same those two. A door goes both ways, and when I allowed Lord Master into my mind, he had therefore, to allow me into his own." That was something Keeja was not likely to repeat. Though he had gotten some more control over himself now, that had been quite some time ago, and his mind had still been the equivalent of a maze. "They used to be quite close. Some things went wrong...Ah, but I've said too much. You should ask your Doctor. He could tell you far better than I could."

…...

"Funny isn't it, the way things work?"

The Doctor looked up, after being informed point-blank that the Master had no immediate intention of leaving Torreck, a smaller Torre had brought them tea. Everything had become far too friendly for his liking. As much as he would like to believe there was no malice there. No trap. "What could possibly be funny?" He asked, eyes casting about, looking over the room for what felt like the hundredth time. But something was wrong about it. He couldn't shake the feeling of unease. And Amy had gone somewhere with Keeja. He wasn't exactly happy about that either.

"When this started, I was always chasing you. I've offered you the universe more times than I've died, which under the circumstances, is quite a lot." The Master leaned forward slightly, arms crossing loosely on the table. "Now here you are, coming after me and nearly demanding that I come with you. Like you have been since you first realized I wasn't dead along with the rest of them."

"It makes sense."

"No it doesn't. Stick us both in your TARDIS and we'd murder each other within a week."

"I think you might be overestimating your own self control..." The Doctor muttered.

"I'm not exactly new to working with you Doctor. Unless you've repressed your days of being employed by UNIT from memory, I think we would do quite fine if we weren't confined."

"Confined!? The TARDIS is infinite. How is that being confined?"

"Far from infinite. And aside from that, she'd likely throw me into a pit if I wasn't glued to your side the whole time. She only let me find the wardrobe once you came along."

"Maybe if you apologized...And kept down the insults. She doesn't take kindly to people calling her 'useless museum pieces'" The Doctor added with a smirk

"Well she is. And on top of that fact, you can't pilot her worth a damn."

"And you can?"

The Master gave a mocking laugh "I'm sorry, which one of us actually passed the pilot exam? And which of us failed it, twice."

"You know, I don't really remember." After that the Doctor's expression turned abruptly serious. "Really though, you're not...These people, their ideas, thoughts, they're all completely their own, right?"

The Master smiled "What? You still don't believe me?"

"Homicidal maniac to neutral co-ruler doesn't exactly seem your usual. So yes, I maybe am having a hard time swallowing the idea!" The Doctor snapped. Because there was always another plan. Another motive. The Master was never just did anything. The Doctor wished he could trust the man. He was all that was left. But everything that had happened...

"I think you could stand to show a bit of gratitude. It wouldn't exactly be difficult to convince the Torre to form an army. And they're intelligent enough that I could have them building weapons I would never have dreamed of having during my control of Earth."

...

Chapter seven

kind of on a roll here.

Let's hope this lasts.

- Jenna