Chapter Text
"Stop squirming, Kira," I grumbled, stuffing the small dragon back under my jacket. He constantly tried to slip out to have a look at the park, but too many people moved about.
It had been hard enough to explain the creature to my dad and sister. They didn't quite believe me that he came from some secluded island. But what choice did they have? The little one was there, after all, in plain sight. And his behaviour often made it very hard to ignore his existence.
"You can sit under my hat. But don't move. Behave like a plush, okay?" I carefully glanced around and when I couldn't see anyone I opened the jacket just enough to let Kira slip out and crawl under the wool of my winter hat. With a lot of trial and error, I had found out that he definitely understood human language and its meaning. To an extent. I had been able to teach him many meanings by adding mental images. Another oddity I had found out. Telepathy with a dragon. Although it wasn't as elaborate as I had experienced before. The little one communicated more with images, emotions and instinct.
Luckily, not many people paid him attention as we continued the stroll through the freshly white painted park. Some snow had fallen overnight and I couldn't resist the situation, and also to let Kira play a little. He loved snow and I knew a spot that was rarely visited by others, if at all.
The spot sat behind some taller trees and bushes with a barely noticeable opening through which I had to duck under low hanging branches to get to the other side. We arrived at a clearing, surrounded by more bushes and trees, but enough free space in the middle to give Kira space to fly and play a little. Luckily, I had been able to convince him to stay rat-sized when we went outside or if anyone but me was around to see him. At home he sometimes grew a little, just to take up more space on my bed. It had taken some time to explain that, if he had to grow at all, then at least he should get no bigger than a cat. I had even shown him the animal on a video and instantly, Kira hat shrunk down, looking at me expectantly, squeaking happily when I smiled.
Now he rolled around in the snow, shoving it around with his nose and sometimes diving head first into a big heap.
"Of course it is you! Ugh, this is stupid!"
I hurled around, surprised by the voice behind me. A voice I thought I would never hear again. In shock, I stood there, glaring at the Master, shaking snow from his clothes. He looked just as I remembered him, in a black leather jacket, his face twisted into an angry snarl. He stabbed a finger in my direction, walking closer.
"Of all the places in the fucking universe she could have brought me, it had to be here. It had to be you! As if you could help with anything!" the Master spat and groaned and then his shoulders sank in defeat.
"Uhm… hello to you too?" I raised a brow, trying to act nonchalant to hide my frantically beating heart. He was real, wasn't he? Not just a dream, a nightmare that plagues my sleep. I barely could stop myself from reaching out to touch him, just a little, just to make sure, although not even a dream could come up with such a rude entrance.
He glared at me with the same cold stare I remembered, out of those same cruel eyes that never could quite decide whether to be more brown or green. Anger, but also a hint of desperation emanated from him, pierced through my mental shields and settled in my bones. He didn't come here for pleasantries.
"There has to be another way," he growled, turning on his heel to walk away, swatting away the branches to get out of the clearing, not caring that he bent the plants.
I barely had time to think and Kira luckily understood that I wanted to leave and flew under my hat again when I followed suit. "What even is the matter?" I asked.
"What do you think?" Oh, he was really pissed, wasn't he? With his hands shoved deeply into his jacked and kicking away snow with every step. "The Doctor got himself into trouble. Again! And his bloody ship brought me here, instead of letting me help."
"So…" I sped up my steps, cursing myself for being too excited. "She thinks I could help?"
"Bollocks!" the Master grunted and turned towards me. "I know you want to stay away. There has to be a better solution."
"Uh… And if there isn-"
"And how exactly do you think you could help on some alien planet, against an unknown threat, when you don't even dare to face yourself?!" He practically spat the words, bitterness dripping from them, more so than anger.
I froze, the accusation hitting me hard. He said the truth, I had run away, after all. But that didn't mean… "That's in the past, though."
"No!" He continued walking and we reached the TARDIS that sat behind some bushes. "I'm not dragging you into this. I promised not to do anything against your will, and for once in my life I'm actually going to keep that promise!"
I couldn't even give an answer before the door slammed shut in my face.
Stunned, I stood there, still unable to completely comprehend the situation. Kira snuck down on my shoulder to nuzzle my cheek and I scratched his head.
"He's not coming out again, is he?" I mumbled. "Think he'll still be here in the morning?"
Kira squeaked. I reached out my hand, hesitating for a moment before touching the blue wood. "Keep him here for a bit, will you?"
.
My first thought had been to simply camp in front of the TARDIS until the Master would come out again, but discarded the idea almost immediately, since I had no proper camping gear for snowy weather and didn't want to risk freezing. I also didn't want to risk the Master vanishing into thin air, but that seemed highly unlikely given that the TARDIS had apparently brought him here against his will. She wouldn't just leave again, would she? I hoped - begged - she wouldn't. I also needed sleep and warmth.
In the end I went back home and spent the night tossing and turning, slipping in and out of unpleasant dreams. Morning couldn't come fast enough and, although still groggy, I managed to get up with the first light of day. Which wasn't too early, given that we neared the end of January, but it also wasn't particularly late. And I had enough time for a shower and a cup of coffee before being on my way to the park again.
Kira had… vanished. Something he simply did from time to time, never giving a hint at where he might go. Maybe the void, maybe some other place. But he always came back to me. Sometimes hours, sometimes days later.
I let out a sigh of relief when I found the TARDIS right where it had stood yesterday, now covered with a thin layer of snow that had fluttered from the trees above. Like this the ship looked like an old tool shed that belonged in exactly this spot of the park. Obvious with the blue painting, yet eerily inconspicuous. People walked past it without even giving it a single look.
I knocked on the door, once, twice. After a while I repeated it, calling out: "Hey, I know you're in there!"
Seconds passed and the door swung open, revealing a rather dishevelled looking Master. His hair stood up in some places, the black shirt, half unbuttoned, revealed his oil smeared neck. The look he gave me would have certainly killed someone with a fainter heart than mine. It didn't have much effect on me, maybe because, in this state, he looked way too attractive for my taste and I quickly looked away, a bit shocked about that intrusive thought.
"What do you want?" he spat and cast a quick glance outside, blinking. "Don't tell me you spent all night out there."
"Nooooo, I didn't!" He would never learn from me that I had contemplated it at least.
"Get lost. I already told you I'm not going to get you involved." His frown deepened, accentuated by more smears of oil or dark fat. Behind him tools lay strewn around, parts of the console dismantled. "I'll deal with this myself, somehow."
"Doesn't seem to work too well."
"Of course not!" he said, exasperated and left another streak in his hair. "I can't even touch most of the bloody parts because of the stupid seal!"
I really needed to stop staring, for god's sake! It also didn't help that I could feel his distress seeping through to me. The desire to actually help the Doctor and to keep me out of it.
"You… don't have to hurry, right? It's a time machine, after all."
"Doesn't matter. I don't like earth and I need to get back. Leave me alone."
He already wanted to shut the door.
"Wait! Master!"
He stopped and glared at me.
Okay, this was harder than I had anticipated and I needed a few seconds to gather myself. "Uhm… You don't want me to come with you. I get it, but… uhm… w… would you come with me for a few hours or so?"
The perplexed look on his face was priceless. As if I had asked him if he could create gold out of thin air.
"Why?" Was all he said, confusion clearly layering his voice.
I took a breath, ready to maybe do the stupidest thing of my life.
"It's… my birthday," I mumbled. "And everyone's busy, as always. So… I don't know. You wanna grab a drink or something?"
"Your…" The Master blinked, glaring at me with a level of confusion that had no rival. "You want me to spend your day with you?" He pointed at him, then at me as if to make sure I actually knew what I was asking. Then he squinted, searching my face for something. "How many months did you stay here? When you left it was almost half a year until then. And…" He stepped closer, bending down to observe me closer. "Wait, those piercings are new too, aren't they? Let me have a look at you."
The Master carefully tugged the hat down, then took my face in both hands, gently mapping everything he could find. The new piercings, the little spike in my eyebrow, the ring in my lip. His searching eyes caught every detail, mapping them the image in his own head.
"Longer than you think," I answered late, smiling softly at his almost childish curiosity.
"You don't look or feel a second older. What's your age now? Should be thirty two. You've spent a year with us, after all."
"Not quite." I didn't budge when he let go of me. I didn't dare to move away, fearing I would lose this opportunity. "And yes… The time travel thing poses quite the problem. I'm not completely sure how old I am, but it should roughly be thrifty five."
The Master's face dropped. If I had forgotten about our mental connection I would have remembered it at that very moment. Pain shot through me, the one you only feel when your hopes get brutally shattered and an uncomfortable truth settles in your bones like the chill of a cold winter morning.
"You never came back," he whispered. And within a single second his eyes changed from shock to ice, hardened like stone. His nostrils flared and he straightened, regarding me with an icy stare. "Then you definitely don't need my company now, do you? How about you get lost, before I have to throw you out myself?"
The Master hurled around on his heel, striding away with sharp steps. I knew how this must have appeared to him, could imagine and literally feel how it must seem like I had planned all of this. But I couldn't just leave. I had to set things right, even if it meant to be stuck here forever.
"I didn't plan to!" I called out. The Master didn't look at me. He just took a wrench and got back to work on the console. "I… dropped the number the Doctor gave me. I was overwhelmed, okay? It was all too much and I… acted on impulse and it was stupid. I know. Believe me, I do! I went back to the place where I dropped the paper and searched." For days, no, weeks, I had returned to that spot and had searched every inch of it, hoping to find that tiny piece of paper again. "Wind must've blown it away. And then I was stuck."
"Didn't I tell you already to get lost?" The Master threw a bolt into a corner and pointed his tool at me. "Don't test my patience, ape."
I took a step towards him and wanted to touch his arm, but he tore it away from me. "Leave!"
But I wasn't that scared person anymore the Doctor had dropped here. I wouldn't back away so easily. My own gaze hardened and I stood still, with both feet on the ground, countering his stare. "No, I won't. Not until you talk to me. And then, when we've settled some things, I will come with you. So stop trying to dismantle the poor ship and get your arse into some clean clothes. Drinks are on me. I'll wait here."
His look was priceless. His knuckles turned white from how hard he squeezed the wrench and his nose twitched with all the things he repressed. In the end he tossed the tool aside and regarded me with so much venom in his gaze that it could have burned a hole through the floor.
"Fine. Whatever."