Chapter 14

The Master was screaming. As the pain finally began to relent, he realized was that he was being cradled on someone's lap. He was afraid to move, for fear that the agony would return. He was afraid to even open his eyes, so he didn't. "He's breathing," he heard the Doctor say. "Can you hear me? Just nod if you can."

The Master inclined his head ever so slightly. "Good, that's good. What was that?" the Doctor asked.

"It looked like Cruciatus," spoke the sonorous voice of Snape. "One of the curses you were both treated to, earlier."

"A delayed curse? There's no precedent for that," said the Mediwitch. "Please move back, so I can examine him again."

The Master felt himself being placed on the cold dungeon floor. A shudder ran through him, and he finally dared to open his eyes. The Mediwitch didn't hesitate to cast Legilimens. "Oh, no," she said. "There's another one about to-"

Pain exploded in every molecule of his body. Burning, aching, stinging, crushing, stabbing, shooting…it managed to be all of these. He thought he would surely die, but instead the hurt just continued. Somehow, it felt worse the second time, and it seemed to take much longer to stop screaming. He was fully sobbing now, and leaning against whoever it was that had returned to hold him.

"But he was there!"

"Harry, you shouldn't be here. None of you should," said Dumbledore.

"I saw Snape cursing him!"

"Professor Snape, Harry. He had no choice."

"Thank you, Headmaster, but I can speak for myself. I don't know how long they'd been torturing him before I arrived, but I know which curse was mine, and I am ready with the counter-spell. However, I don't think it will matter much, considering that-"

A third wave of Cruciatus hit the Master, and he felt the remaining shreds of his sanity begin to fray. When he regained his senses, he found himself clinging desperately to an arm clad in tweed. Recognizing it, he pushed away, staring at the ceiling. Moments later, a hot stinging sensation whipped across his chest, and blood poured from two long gashes that appeared exactly where his sweatshirt was torn. Snape kneeled over him and swiftly cast the counter-spell. The Master didn't scream this time. He just watched the wounds close up. Snape did another spell, and the blood disappeared. "I'm sorry," he said, and the Master sensed he wasn't just apologizing for the curses he had inflicted.

The Doctor's face appeared, wearing a worried expression. "The next curse is fatal, isn't it?" asked the Master.

"You're going to regenerate."

"I don't know if it's possible."

"It is, and you'll do it."

"I'll try."

"No, you have to do it. Please, regenerate."

"I can't promise you something I don't have."

He stared at the Doctor, waiting for him to recognize his own words. He saw the change in his expression the moment he did. He also felt something shift, unexpectedly, in his own perception. "Oh," he said softly. "I get it…exactly how it feels to want to be better than you are, but knowing that you can't. Of course I get it now, right before I die."

"You're not going to die!"

"Yes, I am, now that I honestly want to live, and be your friend, whatever that means…I truly can't because I burned all my regenerative energy escaping from you. It's so stupid, it's almost funny."

The Master began to laugh bitterly, only to stop a moment later, when Avada Kedavra finally reached its mark. The total cessation of life was so abrupt, the Doctor just stared on in shock. No. Not this, again.

"How exactly did Harry survive the Killing Curse?" he asked suddenly.

"Sacrificial protection. His mother willingly gave her life, out of deep and pure love, to save his," said Dumbledore.

"Does it have to be a blood relative?"

"No."

"Don't!" said Amy. "It will kill you."

"Maybe, but…the thing about Time Lords…we have more than one life to give."

Before there were further objections, the Doctor's hands began to radiate golden light. He lay them on the Master's chest. Beat, hearts. Please…take my life, and beat on.

The light grew suddenly brighter, blinding white at the place where the Doctor's skin ended and the Master's began.