DISCLAIMER: I own nothing of Doctor Who

A small strangled noise escaped Hally's throat.

"Well, that's excellent." Vek patted her shoulder and moved past her to shake The Master's hand. "Thank you, Lord Master, your aid is much appreciated." The Master flashed her a charming smile, catching her hand and kissing the back of it slowly.

Hally didn't realise that she'd been pulling a face of disgust until The Master straightened up and sent her a knowing smirk.

"Can I leave now?" She asked quickly, grabbing her bag, hoping to make a swift exit and catch up with Persca. Possibly to murder her…

Lady Vek cleared her throat, "Yes dear, Lord Master would you please escort Lady Hally back to the northern corridor. You could discuss your tutoring schedule along the way." Vek smiled with excitement and began to usher Hally out of the classroom. The Master followed close behind and as she exited and began to walk away he slowed his stride, following slightly behind.

It was unnerving, feeling him silently eyeing the back of her head. She tried to ignore the increasing feeling of paranoia as they walked quietly along the curve of the corridor, heading right to pass over one of the glass walkways leading to the northern quarter of the academy.

"How does next Tuesday work for your first session." His calm voice interrupted her train of thought, a lot closer than she'd expected.

"Thursday is better." She snapped back, trying to cover up how much his proximity was bothering her.

Hally heard him chuckle softly. "Tuesday it is." She rolled her eyes and rounded on him as they turned sharply left into a small empty corridor.

"What are you doing?" She hissed, he twisted his face into a look of surprise.

"I'm just doing as Vek asked?" He widened his eyes, feigning innocence. Hally scowled, narrowing her eyes at him. His angular face was pulled into a shocked expression, but she could see the faint pull of a smirk at his lips. His bright blue eyes sparkled with amusement as he waited for her next move. All Hally wanted to do was smack that self-assured smile from his face, but she knew that she'd only end up in deeper trouble. She remembered seeing the wild anger flare behind his eyes in the library and she wasn't sure how far she could push him before he lost his patience.

"Somehow I highly doubt you volunteered to waste your time trying to explain elementary temporal mechanics out of the goodness of your heart." She raised an eyebrow at him, schooling her features. "I know exactly what you're thinking and what you want, but whatever you think you saw in the library…" She trailed off, The Master was laughing now.

"What?!" She growled lowly, frustration causing heat to rise to her cheeks.

"I'm sorry to interrupt what I'm sure would have been an excellently devised threat," he chuckled to himself again, taking a step forwards, Hally stepped back instinctively "However, my dear…" he continued moving forward until she'd run out of space behind her, he stepped in close. Hally could feel his breath on her cheek, she stared back into his eyes in silent defiance, his voice was only just louder than a whisper "… you have no idea what I am capable of, one word from me and the Council would have you exiled in a heartbeat. I have you, I have your secret and so, I. Own. You, and don't get me started on what I could do to your little friends should you fight me or run to daddy." Hally bit her lip, her breath caught in her throat, The Master smirked and leant closer, hovering above her ear, whispering quietly, "There is no one to stop me little dove, I am your Master." Hally shivered and an unbearable silence fell over them both. Hally could hear her breath coming out in short uneven gasps, her heartbeats drumming loudly in her mind. Or was it his heartbeats? He was so close it was difficult to tell. Hally wanted to run and get herself as far away as possible from the man barricading her to the wall. She knew she should just agree, let him win this battle and then run away as fast as she could.

"Did that knock to the head make you lose your mind…" She mumbled breathlessly, her fighting instinct taking over. "No-one would believe a word you said." The Master's hand shot out from between them and gripped her jaw painfully.

"I see you inherited your self-preservation skills from your saintly father." He growled, squeezing so tightly Hally was sure he'd leave an ugly bruise.

She let out a pained laugh, "I wouldn't know." She tried to wriggle out of his grip, but he was much stronger than her and held her still.

"Wouldn't they believe me?" He growled, pressing his forehead to hers. "Your classmates ignore you, your teachers tolerate you. Even the sanctimonious Doctor is disgusted by you." The sound of her heartbeats in her head was louder now, she winced in pain. "You stick out like a sore thumb and yet nobody understands why. Don't think for one second that they wouldn't jump at the chance to be rid of you." Hally had stopped struggling, letting The Master hold her in place.

His face softened slightly and he relaxed his grip on her jaw, "I can help you. I will keep your secret hidden and allow you to use and strengthen your gift."

"You want to use me…" Hally eyed him carefully, their foreheads still touching.

"Yes." He smirked, "But right now that's a small price to pay." He pulled away, finally releasing her jaw and stepping back away from her.

She frowned, rubbing her jaw, gently trying to massage away the indents his fingers had left on her skin. "Fine."

His face split into a charming smile, "Excellent, we will begin Tuesday night 7PM sharp. The old observatory will be empty. Don't be late." His eyes glinted with an unsaid warning despite his charming smile.

Hally sighed softly, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'll be there, in the meantime perhaps you can figure out a better way to refer to this than 'my gift'." Hally made a face and without giving The Master a chance to reply hurried back down the corridor and towards the dormitories.

The Master smirked as he watched her run away from him. She was strong but eventually, she would stop fighting him and then her power, he chuckled, her gift would be his to control.

Tuesday evening crept up on Hally far too quickly, she'd sat nervously twitching her leg during her lessons that day, wondering whether The Master would go through with his threats if she didn't turn up.

She licked her lips, currently stood waiting outside the old observatory on the top level of the Eastern wing. She'd come to the conclusion that it would be safer for herself and her traitorous friend if she did as he'd asked.

Hally knocked quietly on the gold emblazoned door, she heard nothing from inside and slowly pushed the door open, stepping into the centre of the room. The observatory had all but been abandoned 25 years ago when the newer, much larger observatory had been opened at the top of the central tower of the academy. It was almost empty now, a small layer of dust spattering the abandoned workbenches and windowsills. The room was designed like a large silver dome, the roof made entirely of glass panels, the evening light cast a warm orange glow over the floor.

The sound of the door locking behind her made Hally turn around, The Master smirked and held up his hands in mock surrender. "Just making sure no-one disturbs us."

Hally rolled her eyes, "You're already disturbed." She bit back childishly. The Master raised an eyebrow unimpressed.

"Sorry…" She mumbled, breaking his gaze to look at the floor.

The Master started to pace around her slowly, holding his hands into his body. He spoke after a few moments, "Tell me everything. When did this start and what have you previously been able to do?" His tone had changed, The Master was no longer playing with her.

"Umm…" Hally ran a hand through her hair, thinking back. "I only noticed it around 50 years into my time at the academy. It wasn't… I couldn't move things back then but I could-" She trailed off, struggling to find the words, "… I could feel things, differently to normal?" The Master had raised an eyebrow, "Feel things?" He muttered sounding unimpressed.

Hally scowled, "You asked how it started! It was nothing for a long time, until one day, we were in class and we were doing this stupidly long test and my hand was hurting, I just remember wishing that my pen would just write what I was thinking when… well, that's what it did." She shrugged, "After that, I noticed other weird things tended to happen around me, the fruit I eat is always sweet, it stops raining whenever I go outside… I can move things when I want to but sometimes it happens on its own, so I stopped. I didn't want anyone to find out." Hally frowned, watching The Master carefully. He'd stopped his circling and was now stood in front of her, thinking.

"So, you developed like this naturally, on your own…" He muttered, looking at her as if she were some kind of specimen.

"I guess so." She shrugged, "Look, I think you're getting way too invested in some very basic level telekinesis, I'm no-" The Master rolled his eyes, cutting her off.

"You've hardly touched the surface of what you might be capable of." He snapped. He brought a long piece of fabric out of his robe pocket. "Come here." Hally gritted her teeth at his command but moved over to him. He lifted the fabric and began to tie it around her head, shielding her eyes.

Hally ducked, shaking him off, "Woah, I don't think so." He scowled, holding her head in place as he resumed putting on the blindfold.

"Do as you're told." He muttered and Hally felt his hands fall away.

The Master had gone quiet and Hally resisted the strong urge to rip the blindfold off, she turned her head to the side.

"Umm… if you've just left me here then I'm going to kick your a-" She was cut off.

"Stop talking!" Hally pulled a face, happy she couldn't see the glare The Master was most definitely throwing her way. She heard a frustrated sigh before feeling warm fingertips brushing her temples, she flinched.

"You're going to need to trust me…"