"What do you mean, you can't leave? I ordered it, you ca-" The Master paused, listening to the voice on his phone with the deepest scowl. "Ugh, fine. I'll take another way in. Keep them out."

Grunting, he stuffed the device back into the inner pocket of his leather jacket and ran a hand over his face.

"So… no ride?" I deducted. The people he had ordered to pick us up hadn't shown themselves.

"Aaaaw, don't tell me they saw behind your facade and betrayed you already. Must be a personal record," taunted Vienna.

"Will you just shut up, dust bin?" The Master rolled his eyes and nodded his head down a road, starting to walk. "Some rebels are blocking the road in front of the mansion. My men can't drive through. At least not without driving literally through them."

"Don't tell me you're taking pity on them."

"Heck, no! I told them, I don't care. But the military personnel here seem to have a way higher moral codex than the ones on earth. And since they obeyed on their own, so far, I didn't hypnotise any of them… yet." He growled annoyed.

I had a suspicion this would be one of the first things he'd correct as soon as we would make it back.

"Great," Vienna grumbled. "My bike was parked nearby. Means it's dust now. And my ship is farther away than your stupid not-even-yours mansion."

"We… could just take a cab?" I suggested. "Yesterday, we walked all day. Even with detours and rest stops the way back must be… uh… definitely long."

The Master nodded, glowering into the distance. "My perception filter got a crack during the explosion."

"So? What's the problem?"

"What do you think?"

"Because you're on telly?" I shrugged. "You think they all want interviews and signatures?"

"None of that, I'm afraid."

"They're more likely to try and kill him. Especially if word gets out he's been in the explosion area. People will think he's involved. Which I, to be fair, wouldn't entirely put past him."

"It was not me!" The Master grunted. "If it were I wouldn't have been in there, duh!" He rolled his eyes and led us down an alley with red trees, through a park of sorts. One with very few people in it.

"You survived with barely a scratch, though." Vienna wouldn't stop, would she? I slipped a hand over my chest, feeling the faint pulse through my hoodie. "How'd you explain that?"

The Master shrugged, but tossed a quick glance at me, making me drop the hand.

"'S just luck," I murmured. "It was so dark all around, we probably just didn't see anyone else."

"Yeeeaaah, right."

With every step leaves crunched under our shoes, gravel and sand, bark and nuts. An insect flew by that reminded me of a dragonfly. Somewhere a bird chirped its solemn tune. This park actually looked beautiful. Trees in all sorts of colours stretched along the paths, bushes adorned with blooming petals swayed gently in a breeze. It was almost quiet, except for nature's sounds.

And the bickering of the other two. They really needed to tell me how they had come to know each other. A story that would probably as much amuse as shock me. I had read about a bunch of the Master's deeds throughout his life and knew what he was capable of. So, those stories couldn't be too pleasant, could they?

My mind wandered at a faster pace than my feet, dragging me this way and that before it halted at the collapse again. The not-silence afterwards. This dark and empty space under the table that had felt so… big. Vast. Like a whole other dimension. As if, for a second, I had slipped into some kind of… void. No, not slipped. Dragged it. Pulled it over me - us - like a blanket. Because there had been silence. And there had been darkness. Until there had been not… anymore. Until the creaks and groans had returned, until I had felt a shuffle and seen a light and-

"Breathe."

I looked up. Vienna and the Master had stopped walking. Why had they? Why were they so high above? Why was there gravel under my knees? I stretched out a hand, letting it run over dead leaves and stones. How did I get on the ground?

The Master crouched down. The weight and warmth of his hand on my shoulder dragged me out from my thoughts. "We got out," he said firmly, piercing me with his eyes. A look that allowed for no objection. "You are no longer under the rubble. Feel that?" He moved his hand to mine and gently pressed it closer to the ground. "That is not debris. Those are plants and grass and nature."

He knew, I realised. He knew what ran through my mind, knew that this was an experience that might leave traces on someone. He knew. Like someone who had been haunted by it - once - an eternity ago. But he remembered. And now he stayed… here… with me… dragging me out. Back to the surface.

I swallowed and nodded, letting out a shaking breath. "Why's that happening?" I asked him. "Did I break?"

"You're in shock," said Vienna from above. She gave me a reassuring smile. "No wonder, after you've almost got buried alive. Most people would react like that."

"But not you," I muttered, feeling weak and pathetic, because they both were so completely unbothered. If only I could be more like them. Unfazed and strong in the face of danger.

The Master chuckled and got up, reaching a hand out to me. "No. I'm waaaaay beyond broken since centuries and that one's just too stupid to think about it."

"Hey! Take that back, you jerk! I'm smarter than you. I bested you every single time."

I took the Master's hand and allowed him to pull me up to my feet again. For a second we lingered, closer than we needed to be, glances exchanged that could mean anything and nothing at all.

"Don't scream, Salvatori. You were just lucky."

"My ass was it just luck!" she clamoured and went on about Daleks and some crime boss and something about an exorcism even.

I barely listened, too occupied with getting one foot in front of the other. The absolute only thigh in my mind, I tried to convince myself. Nothing else. Certainly not that the Master had hooked his arm into mine, casually, as if there was nothing to it but to give me an aid should I fall back again. An aid. From him, who had destroyed and threatened and stolen and betrayed and… and anything else anyone could imagine. And all of the things Vienna ranted on about, on top of it.

I'm not worth dying for.

A statement, made so casually and still it wouldn't leave my mind. Did he really believe it? I knew he cared for no one and yet… and yet… He had helped me get grounded and swim up from the depths of my fear, before I could drown. And there was the Doctor too. He surely would mind? Doubt gnawed on me, after I had witnessed how little trust there was between them.

Could the Master be right, after all?

"You still haven't told me why you are here," said the Master. "I gave you the job to assassinate me, not to have a little chat."

"And I figured you wouldn't let me shoot you anyway. Believe me, there's not much I'd rather do right now."

"What did the other me tell you?" He tapped against his chin with the free hand. "Do you remember the words?"

Vienna thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. "Not precisely, no. The encounter was… uncannily pleasant, though. No insults, no death threats."

"Must've been someone else then," I jibed and promptly got a finger poked into my site. I winced. Why did the bastard know I was ticklish?

We neared a wooden pavilion that sat among large trees, it had a wide roof and high walls on three sites. A nice place. If you were on a casual stroll, that is.

"Yeah, I found it rather strange too. Maybe I met a mindless clone instead of the real deal. Not that you'd have much more in your brain. Too much's occupied by stupid plans and how to deceive everyone."

"Ohhhh, someone is jealous!" The Master cackled. "You wish you would have even a fracture of what is in my head. Instead you consist of… mhmmhm… at least eighty percent dust. The rest is obviously empty."

"Ugh! Why do I even put up with you?"

"Because…" The Master inconspicuously tugged at my arm and fell a few steps behind. We stood in the entrance to the pavilion, unnoticed by the other woman. "I just found a way to get rid of all that dust on you."

"Huh? What do you mean? Why did you stop?" Vienna came to a halt and turned to face us, just in time to get surprised by a whoosh of rain falling down on her head. She got soaked within seconds.

The Master laughed out loud, dragging me deeper inside to stay dry and released my arm. I couldn't help it, the situation was funny. When Vienna caught up and came in I just had to join the laughter, seeing her drip all over the wooden floor.

She was clean now.

"I hate you so much!" she grunted. "And I hate this damn planet with its stupid rain showers out of nowhere!" She cried angrily, slipping out of her jacket to wring it as dry as possible. "Your solution sucks!"

The Master still giggled to himself. "I never said it's a pleasant one."

Vienna kept cursing while I crossed the pavilion in a vain hope to find something of interest. But nope, it sat around us, dull and boring, but at least dry. With some supplies we could have lit a fire in the middle, the space providing a circle filled with the ashes of previous visitors. The rest consisted only of a long bench that completely wound around the hut, enclosed by wood so none of the rain had a chance to fall inside. Except for the small entrance; it only stayed dry because of the wide roof.

"Guess, we'll have to stay here for a few minutes," I mused.

"Make it at least an hour." The Master glared out of the door slit, hands in pockets. "It's a nasty one."

A grunt came from Vienna's direction. She had given up on her jacket and instead flopped down on the bench, head thudding backwards. She wasn't a danger, I decided. Turning my back to her was safe, probably. So I stepped next to the Master, watching the rain fall. This felt different and yet similar to the moment we had shared in similar weather, the day before. Calm. Quiet for him. The Master looked down and then walked inside, signalling me with a nod to follow.

Maybe, it shot through my head, it would be wise to be less obedient here and there. Later, perhaps. Right now there was no reason not to. I still wanted answers and the Master seemed to have them, although it was uncertain if he was to be trusted with… anything.

We sat on the bench too, the rain pitter-pattering on the wooden roof. I listened, trying not to drown in too many thoughts again. The noises made it easier, they lulled me into a state of almost slumber in no time. Next to me the Master slipped out of his jacket and folded it neatly over his lap. I barely noticed it and wouldn't have paid it any more attention, but right then he suddenly grabbed me by the shoulder and dragged me down until my head laid on the jacket.

On his lap.

"Huh? What the…?" Dumbfounded, I blinked upwards, then tried to get away, but he held me down by my wrist and shoulder. "Let go!" I whined. This was awkward. I squirmed in his grip, but he was relentless.

"You were falling asleep anyway." The Master grinned. "You can as well do it here."

"No, I didn't!" I scowled at him. "I'm not even awake that long. Why would I sleep?"

"Because the guma milk isn't nearly as strong as coffee and you always nod away whenever it gets too quiet for too long."

"Why do you know that? And it's not true! I wasn't sleepy."

"Liar.

"And even if… Let me up."

"Not a chance," he said firmly and his look turned dark within a second, menacing almost. A promise not to let me get away. Stay here or die. "Each time I left you out of sight you did something stupid. Like trying to remember and almost killing yourself with it. Or having a panic attack. Who knows what you might come up with next."

I stopped moving and just glared. But then I noticed how his eyes wandered to my chest, to the spot where the mark sat hidden under my clothes. His eyes found mine again and then, without a warning, I felt his mind touch mine. His hand on my wrist, his presence inside my head, guiding my awareness towards the faint not-glow the mark emanated.

I know you see it too. Take a nap. I'll keep an eye on it.

's not doing anything. I scrunched up my nose. I can-

You didn't mind last night. The smirk was as much visible as it was present in my head.

"That was different!" I groaned.

Vienna' s face came into view. Her hand lay on the gun, but she seemed undecided whether to draw it or not.

"Keep your weapon away, ape," snarled the Master. "I'm just playing with my pet a little."

"Didn't look like it. Let her go, she doesn't want it!"

Oh, oh, the human got angry.

I snorted. "Don't mock her. You know exactly how this looks."

I'm not mocking! She is completely in mommy mode, can't you see? Do you think she wants to adopt you?

"What? No! And I wouldn't let her! " I laughed, but stopped when I saw Vienna's confused face.

"Have you gone mad now, Lucy?" she asked, concern in her voice.

"I know what madness looks like." The Master giggled. "No, she's fine." He winked at me, then threw a mocking smile at the other woman. "You just missed half the conversation. That's all."

And with that he finally let go of my wrist and with the touch his presence in my mind also vanished. Had he talked in my mind the whole time? Somehow it was hard to recognize when I didn't pay close attention.

"That's… not hypnotism," said Vienna slowly. "I knew you could use it, but that's not…"

"Touch telepathy." The Master spread his fingers as if to show magic. "Hypnosis is barely more than a parlour trick. Simple suggestion to turn a weak mind."

"Show-off", I mumbled and tried once more to get up, only with the same result as before.

"Let her go," growled Vienna. The hand moved back to the gun.

"Oh, I'm not hurting her. She's just picky when it comes to pillows, aren't you, little one?"

"Fuck you."

The Master snickered. "Oh, I would. But we have company. And… well, you are sort of in the way right now."

I groaned, pressing my palms to my eyes, almost dropping the specs in the process. I did not deserve this, seriously. At least Vienna seemed to be somewhat at ease now. She moved back to her previous spot, not leaving the Master out of sight, however.

"Napping usually requires closed eyes, you know?" he commented.

"Shut up."

"Eh, I will. For once. And only because the silence is nice right now."

He carefully plucked my specs from my nose and hung it on his shirt, then leaned back with the most pleased smirk possible. And for some odd reason… I felt content, warm even.

So I finally followed his suggestion and let myself drift into a half slumber while the rain washed away the thoughts and worries. I didn't need extra ones. The Master gave me enough to worry about already.