A/N: Hello all! I feel like I've been a bit slow with this chapter. The thought of starting it made me want to fall asleep but once I started, I realised that this chapter is pretty fun! Plenty of Master/Doctor bickering which is always good! Hope you enjoy it and big, fluffy thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter:
Shifuni, padmay97, Simpa007, MayFairy, D0ctor, chibiwolfgurl, Lady Bird (and in answer to your question: I made up Searistring!), alyssa love and Brownbug. You guys keep me going!
A Time Lord Duo
"You really should learn to close your mind a bit better, Doctor. I don't think you want me to pry too far in, do you? And that dream, well...you nearly made me blush." The Master grinned and took a large bit out of the apple he had been keeping in his pocket. The Doctor glared, very uncomfortable with the subject being discussed across the table. He gritted his teeth.
"Shut. Up. That...that isn't anything to do with what's going on now. Tell me what you know about the Clockworks."
The Master blatantly ignored him and continued his teasing and poking. "It must be difficult; seeing her with me. So sorry about that, Doctor. Or am I? No, I don't suppose I am really. In fact, it's rather fun."
The Doctor bit his tongue, trying not to give the Master the satisfaction of seeing him hurt. The Master studied him.
"You know Doctor..." He paused and an incredible smirk broke out across his face, as though he was daring himself to say something. "Sometimes, she says your name; when she's asleep mostly and sometimes when we're both very much awake." There was a twinkle in his dark eyes. "I don't even think she realises she's done it. You know, perhaps she only came to me because she wanted another – "
"SHUT UP!" The Doctor stood up so suddenly the table between the clattered to the floor. With his control gone, he thought he may as well ask all the questions he had about him and Fred. "How did you find her?"
"I was on that ship, Doctor. I saw what the Judoon did...what you did. Tut, tut, Doctor. Despicable. When you left, I found her and helped her heal in the room I was staying in. Then, when I left she wanted to come with me. A year later, here we are. She's mine and you're stuck being a gooseberry." He laughed.
"Why were you there in the first place? On that ship?" The Doctor demanded, sure that there was more to it than the Master was admitting.
The Master's face fell. "It took me a long time to...recover after what happened with Rassilon."
"How did you escape that? Did any of the others?"
The Master shook his head. "No. Just me."
"How?"
"I...I..." For the first time, the Master seemed uncomfortable and the Doctor momentarily glimpsed his childhood friend again. "I...don't remember much of it. All I can remember is black and it was so, so deep. And we were falling endlessly, knowing there was no end." The Master's eyes glazed over as her stared into thin air. "And then fire. So much fire and it was white hot. And a voice. A deep voice that brought me back."
The Doctor was captivated and, for once, he knew that Master wasn't lying. "What did it say?"
"It told me that it was not over. It told me that I was still crucial to the Key."
The Doctor frowned. "The Key?"
The Master nodded and straightened in his chair. "But that's the past. Let's talk about now, Doctor. I think I'd better fill you in on my findings."
The Doctor also straightened in his chair.
"They're breeding, Doctor. When the robots touch anything, they're turning it into one of them. As long as it's living or as long as it has a purpose, it will turn the thing into a robot so it shares the initial robot's orders and motives."
There was a heavy silence. Eventually the Doctor said, "They could do anything. They could overrun, they could...oh, not good! Really, really not good!"
"They could take over everyone. It'll spread like disease across the galaxy; across the universe."
Something didn't quite make sense in the Doctor's mind; there was still a gap in the Master's explanation. "But why here? Why did they start here?"
At this, the Master took in a deep breath as though he was about to say something the Doctor didn't like. Despite this, there was still a twinkle of excitement in his eyes. "Me. They're after me."
"How do you know that...unless you've managed to hack their programming?"
The Master grinned, stood up and almost ran excitedly over to the side of the bed out of view. He bent down and picked something up which was covered in a cloth. He placed it on the table in front of the Doctor whose eyes widened.
"No!"
"Yes!" The Master pulled off the cloth to reveal a disassembled Clockwork robot.
"Look at it! It's beauty! How did you manage to get it? Oh, let me see, let me see!" He elbowed the Master out of the way, whipped out the sonic and prodding and poking wires and circuit boards.
"Get out of the way!" The Master elbowed him back. "I didn't get this out so you could use it as some sort of experiment. I want to show you something."
The Master pulled back the robot's mask and wig to reveal a glowing blue oval head. He picked at the one side and reached inside. As the Doctor watched, he suddenly felt like he was young again back on Gallifrey, playing with some new technological breakthrough with the Master in one of their rooms. Back when they were Theta and Koschei.
"Listen, Doctor. Listen to this."
The Master had extracted a small, black box from the open head of the robot. He opened the box and a hologram emerged. The Doctor started when he realised the figure was Mr. Horton.
"Your orders are to find the Time Lord. Find the one who came back. Find the Master and make him one of us. He will lead us to glory."
The hologram flickered and then disappeared.
"You see, Doctor?" The Master closed the box and stared at the Time Lord opposite him, taking in his seemingly young face. "We need to join together. We need to help each other here."
"So they're after you?"
"They think I will lead them. They think I'll help them rule the world."
The Doctor studied him, weighing up his options. It was true that he could use some help getting to the TARDIS in the basement and it seemed that helping the Master defeat the robots was the only way out of this for both of them. He sighed.
"Fine. How are you going to do this?"
"Don't worry." The Master grinned. "I've got a plan."
"No way!" The three companions all exclaimed at once when they met with their respective Time Lords in the Doctor's room later than evening.
"You haven't even heard it properly yet."
"I don't need to!" Amy cried. "Doctor, do you really trust him enough to let him be in control of your body?"
"It would only be for a while. Just long enough for him to get down to the basement and disable the panel. That way, we think that the Clockworks' systems will be damaged and they won't be able to communicate with each other as well. If that doesn't work, the Master will at least be able to get an idea of what's going on and what their plans are."
Rory snorted and Amy shook her head. "No, Doctor! It's too dangerous!"
The Doctor huffed as though his mother had just told him he couldn't go out and play with his friends.
"How would you even do it?"
"When you travel as much as I do, you find stuff, very useful stuff." The Master piped up, reaching into his trouser pocket. "A few months ago, I found this." He pulled out a small phial. Inside, there was a pale blue liquid; just enough for two. "It's 'Founwrittism'."
Fred raised an eyebrow. "And so we can all understand?"
"To us, it's called 'The Mind Switcher'."
Fred sighed and ran her hand over face, exhausted. "Why do you want to do this?"
"If the Doctor and I took this, our minds would be temporarily transferred to the other's body. That way, the Doctor could distract the Clockworks in my body, as it's me they're after, while I, in his body, sneak down to the basement and hopefully disable the panel."
"Ok, but why can't one of us do it?"
"This has only been tested on humans once and..." The Doctor trailed off but his meaning was perfectly clear.
"How easily can this go wrong?"
At the same time the Master said, "Not very." While the Doctor said, "Very." He glanced at the Master who glared at him. He hastily changed his previous statement. "Just joking! Not much can go wrong with this. Except that the Clockworks might not even be fooled by it and might just end up killing me in the Master's body and turning the Master - in my body - into a Clockwork."
"What if you get stuck in each other's bodies?" Fred burst. "That would be so horrible!"
"Oh, thanks!" The Time Lords said at once.
"Listen, it's obvious this isn't going to happen. Why don't we all get some rest and think about it in the morning? After all, we do all have rooms here, we may as well use them." Rory reasoned and made towards the door, Amy in tow. Fred followed and glanced back towards the two men.
"Are you coming, Master?"
The Master shrugged. "I don't need any rest. I suggest the Doctor and I brainstorm through the night and we might have a plan by morning."
Fred opened her mouth to object but then closed it again before nodding and leaving the room too. There was a moment of silence as the Time Lords watched her go. As soon as they heard Fred's door snap closed in the next room, the Master pulled out the phial and said,
"We're still going to swap, aren't we?"
The Doctor grinned. "Of course! We'll just do it while they're asleep."
Bad Time Lords! Haha!
Will the mind swap go as planned? The next chapter will hopefully be up soon.
Please leave a review...they're my only source of nourishment!