p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"Chapter 15:/p
p class="MsoNormal""Relax, Theta," The Master's voice remained soft but relaxing was the last thing the Doctor could do with the Master knelt in front of him like this. He couldn't relax with the images of Gallifrey, the War, the end in his mind, repeating themselves, refusing to leave./p
p class="MsoNormal"The Master moved his hand from the Doctor's cheek, placing both of them at his temples, causing the other to flinch, but the Master's grip was too tight to stop the Doctor getting away. Closing his eyes, the Master opened a connection with the Doctor's mind, unwanted it ripped through the Doctor's guards, causing a searing pain to rush through the Doctor's mind and body./p
p class="MsoNormal""I told you to relax, it won't hurt if you bloody well relax," The Master snapped the words out loud./p
p class="MsoNormal"/Get out of my head, Koschei/ The Doctor spoke directly into the connection. He wasn't fighting anymore. As much as he didn't want it, he knew the Master was right. The more he fought it, the more it would hurt. The connection wasn't designed for torture. It had been designed for intimacy. It took the Doctor back, back to a time before hell broke loose. Back when they were just children, old enough to understand their feelings, young enough not to realise the pain that was in store for them. Koschei and Theta before the Master and the Doctor. But this wasn't then./p
p class="MsoNormal"/Shut up/ The words weren't harsh. It almost unnerved the Doctor more than the Master was being so soft now. He knew what the Master was capable of, but he couldn't see what he was planning. There were walls in the Master's mind hiding everything and the Doctor was too weak to break them./p
p class="MsoNormal"/What are you doing?/p
p class="MsoNormal"The Master was quiet and still for a moment. Not invading the Doctor's mind, just sitting in it. Resting almost. He didn't look at anything in the Doctor's mind, just found a calm somewhere in the back of it, that he couldn't find in his own. A calm he knew the Doctor didn't feel, but a calm that had always been there, even when they were young./p
p class="MsoNormal"Slowly, the walls in the Master's mind came down. He controlled it, stopping the rush of thoughts, emotions, plans, counter plans from running into the Doctor's head. He moved them in in a way that the Doctor would be able to understand. He showed the Doctor exactly what he planned to do./p
p class="MsoNormal"/No, you can't. We are Gallifrey now/ The Doctor panicked as soon as he saw it. He mentally shook his head. /Koschei, you can't./p
p class="MsoNormal"/Gallifrey is gone. Gallifrey was poison. We can rid the universe of its poison/ The Master said, his voice cold, emotionless, with no room for doubt. /Theta, honestly tell me you think this is a bad idea/p
p class="MsoNormal"The Doctor hesitated. He wanted to tell him exactly that. He wanted to list reasons why it was stupid but he couldn't. What reasons were there? Gallifreyans had destroyed, killed, they were a plague. The Master was a killer, a destroyer and the Doctor knew he was no better./p
p class="MsoNormal"/Exactly/ The Master hissed./p
p class="MsoNormal"/Let me help/ The Doctor's voice, even internal was almost silent./p
p class="MsoNormal"The Master almost laughed, but it wasn't bitter, almost disbelieving. /Who thought this would be how it would end?/p
p class="MsoNormal"/We did/ The Doctor countered. /On Gallifrey, we knew we would end together. We always knew./p
p class="MsoNormal"/Shush, T./ The Master said./p
p class="MsoNormal"The Doctor did go quiet. Instead he lifted his hands, placing them on the Master's temples. The Master didn't struggle and the connection strengthened. Everything was heightened between them, everything they could already see and feel was cranked up to 11./p
p class="MsoNormal"Everything was felt, everything was seen. The Doctor and the and Koschei. Every thought, every memory. Every love, every hate, every pain, every insanity. Both of their minds joined, both of them silently bringing them everything that their mind couldn't bear./p
p class="MsoNormal"The four beat. Taptaptaptap. Taptaptaptap. Taptaptaptap. It ran between their minds, getting louder with everything that came up. Neither of them spoke, neither of them moved. And eventually neither of them minds could take anymore./p
p class="MsoNormal"An explosion ran through their minds, destroying everything in its path. A rush of Time Energy escaped them, hitting the TARDIS wall, destroying her. The Doctor. The Master. The TARDIS. All lifeless. Theta and Koschei, the last children of Gallifrey were no longer./p
p class="MsoNormal""Relax, Theta," The Master's voice remained soft but relaxing was the last thing the Doctor could do with the Master knelt in front of him like this. He couldn't relax with the images of Gallifrey, the War, the end in his mind, repeating themselves, refusing to leave./p
p class="MsoNormal"The Master moved his hand from the Doctor's cheek, placing both of them at his temples, causing the other to flinch, but the Master's grip was too tight to stop the Doctor getting away. Closing his eyes, the Master opened a connection with the Doctor's mind, unwanted it ripped through the Doctor's guards, causing a searing pain to rush through the Doctor's mind and body./p
p class="MsoNormal""I told you to relax, it won't hurt if you bloody well relax," The Master snapped the words out loud./p
p class="MsoNormal"/Get out of my head, Koschei/ The Doctor spoke directly into the connection. He wasn't fighting anymore. As much as he didn't want it, he knew the Master was right. The more he fought it, the more it would hurt. The connection wasn't designed for torture. It had been designed for intimacy. It took the Doctor back, back to a time before hell broke loose. Back when they were just children, old enough to understand their feelings, young enough not to realise the pain that was in store for them. Koschei and Theta before the Master and the Doctor. But this wasn't then./p
p class="MsoNormal"/Shut up/ The words weren't harsh. It almost unnerved the Doctor more than the Master was being so soft now. He knew what the Master was capable of, but he couldn't see what he was planning. There were walls in the Master's mind hiding everything and the Doctor was too weak to break them./p
p class="MsoNormal"/What are you doing?/p
p class="MsoNormal"The Master was quiet and still for a moment. Not invading the Doctor's mind, just sitting in it. Resting almost. He didn't look at anything in the Doctor's mind, just found a calm somewhere in the back of it, that he couldn't find in his own. A calm he knew the Doctor didn't feel, but a calm that had always been there, even when they were young./p
p class="MsoNormal"Slowly, the walls in the Master's mind came down. He controlled it, stopping the rush of thoughts, emotions, plans, counter plans from running into the Doctor's head. He moved them in in a way that the Doctor would be able to understand. He showed the Doctor exactly what he planned to do./p
p class="MsoNormal"/No, you can't. We are Gallifrey now/ The Doctor panicked as soon as he saw it. He mentally shook his head. /Koschei, you can't./p
p class="MsoNormal"/Gallifrey is gone. Gallifrey was poison. We can rid the universe of its poison/ The Master said, his voice cold, emotionless, with no room for doubt. /Theta, honestly tell me you think this is a bad idea/p
p class="MsoNormal"The Doctor hesitated. He wanted to tell him exactly that. He wanted to list reasons why it was stupid but he couldn't. What reasons were there? Gallifreyans had destroyed, killed, they were a plague. The Master was a killer, a destroyer and the Doctor knew he was no better./p
p class="MsoNormal"/Exactly/ The Master hissed./p
p class="MsoNormal"/Let me help/ The Doctor's voice, even internal was almost silent./p
p class="MsoNormal"The Master almost laughed, but it wasn't bitter, almost disbelieving. /Who thought this would be how it would end?/p
p class="MsoNormal"/We did/ The Doctor countered. /On Gallifrey, we knew we would end together. We always knew./p
p class="MsoNormal"/Shush, T./ The Master said./p
p class="MsoNormal"The Doctor did go quiet. Instead he lifted his hands, placing them on the Master's temples. The Master didn't struggle and the connection strengthened. Everything was heightened between them, everything they could already see and feel was cranked up to 11./p
p class="MsoNormal"Everything was felt, everything was seen. The Doctor and the and Koschei. Every thought, every memory. Every love, every hate, every pain, every insanity. Both of their minds joined, both of them silently bringing them everything that their mind couldn't bear./p
p class="MsoNormal"The four beat. Taptaptaptap. Taptaptaptap. Taptaptaptap. It ran between their minds, getting louder with everything that came up. Neither of them spoke, neither of them moved. And eventually neither of them minds could take anymore./p
p class="MsoNormal"An explosion ran through their minds, destroying everything in its path. A rush of Time Energy escaped them, hitting the TARDIS wall, destroying her. The Doctor. The Master. The TARDIS. All lifeless. Theta and Koschei, the last children of Gallifrey were no longer./p