Chapter Fourteen

(Two months later...)

Lucy sat inside the Master's office on the Valiant. She was relaxing on the sofa, flipping through a magazine while sipping a martini. She looked up when the door opened and the Master entered, fuming.

"What's wrong?" Lucy said when the Master slammed the door behind him.

"That bloody Doctor, I'm going to kill him!"

Lucy sighed. He'd been saying that for two months now but he'd never made good on his threat. She was getting sick of hearing it. Still, she decided to indulge him.

"What is he doing now?" she said.

"Whenever I'm in there, he makes odd noises and giggles about it like a five year old," the Master said.

"What sort of odd noises?"

"Like...ring ding dingadingding or pow pow pow, something like that. Then he giggles like a git. I swear the man is losing it," the Master said pouring himself a brandy from a decanter on his desk.

"Kill him, Harry."

"I will! Eventually. He must be witness to my ultimate triumph. Then I kill him."

Lucy snorted softy at that but said nothing.

"Beside, I'm still trying to get him to tell me the answer to that riddle of his," the Master said before taking a sip of his brandy.

He paused in mid sip and Lucy jumped when he slammed the glass down on the desk.

"OH, I'M A BLOODY FOOL!" he said before he ran out of the room.

"No comment on that one," Lucy muttered to herself, picking up her magazine after he slammed the door shut behind him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The Doctor sat on the floor beside his tarp, doing his daily meditation as he tuned into the Archangel satellites in outer space. Behind him was a tray containing a half eaten breakfast of porridge, orange juice and toast. The Doctor took a deep breath as he kept his eyes shut and concentrated.

"Get in there!"

"Alright, I'm going, sheesh!"

The Doctor's eyes flew open when he heard the Master and Jack. He watched while the Master shoved the bruised, battered and disheveled captain into the room before ordering the guards outside to stand guard and slamming the door. The Doctor watched calmly as the Master ordered Jack to walk over to him.

"Hey, Gramps," Jack said when he stopped by his side.

"Hello, Jack, you look like shit," the Doctor said affectionately.

"Believe me, I've looked worse," Jack said.

"Enough!" the Master said, stepping up between them. "Now...Harkness...You're going to answer my questions or you die."

"Okay," Jack said. "What is your question then, O Master?"

"What does the fox say?"

The Doctor bit his lip as Jack stared at the Master in befuddlement.

"What?" Jack said, not sure he heard that right.

"What does the fox say and you better tell me or I'll have you killed."

"Wait, you got me up here for this?" Jack said while the Doctor used all his strength to keep from laughing. "How the hell should I know what the fox says?"

"Because it's a plan. The Doctor has a plan to stop me and he's taunting me by giving this riddle and I have a feeling he's shared it with you so you better tell me WHAT DOES THE FUCKING FOX SAY?"

Jack stared at the Master with wide eyed shock while the Doctor grinned and shook with silent laughter.

"Ring dingdingadingding," the Doctor said softly.

"And you, shut up," the Master said, jabbing a finger in the Doctor's face. "I'm tired of your stupid nonsense words. Well..." he said, looking at Jack.

"Well, you better kill me now because I don't know what the hell you're talking about," Jack said.

The Master sighed angrily. Then his eyes widened.

"WAIT! THAT'S WHAT YOU WHISPERED TO MARTHA JONES! YOU WHISPERED THE ANSWER!" he bellowed at the Doctor.

"Yup, that's it. And now you have to find her to get the answer," the Doctor said smugly. "Ka pow pow powpow."

The Master glowered at him.

"You'll pay for this! All of you! I'll make you all suffer for this!" he said. "Come on, Harkness, back to your cell."

"Well, goodbye, Doctor. I don't know what the hell just happened but it was good seeing you again," Jack said over his shoulder as the Master forced him towards the door.

"And you. Don't do anything I wouldn't do," the Doctor said.

"And take the fun out of life?"

"Oh, shut up, both of you!" the Master said.

The Doctor giggled to himself, loving how flustered the Master had become over one simple riddle. He watched them go and when the door was closed, he sighed and closed his eyes before falling back into a meditative silence.