#Dhawan!master x timelord!reader

[apocalypticwafflekitten]

The Mermaid

Dhawan!Master x Fem!Reader

A/N: This started out as an archetype character study. And now, a year and three months later, its one of the best stories I've ever written, with some of the best smut I've put to the page. Oh how the turn tables. Vibes: Mermaids and Cassandra by Florence + the Machine, and Abstract (Psychopomp) and DeSelby (Part 2) by Hozier Also, I want to give a huge shout out to @insane-brit for beta reading this for me! She was the biggest support as I was writing this story and I can't thank her enough for her feedback!

Original Imagine/Summary Thingy: You and the Master are visiting a human colony far, far in the future. But there’s a species native to this planet which plagues the small ocean-front village. Mermaids they’re called. After the old Earth myths. When the villagers attempt to separate you and the Master, they realize all too late the mistake they've made. When a storm rolls in and and an eerie shape crawls up the shore, the village shuts it's doors and you and the Master must face the consequences of their actions. Will you and the Master reunite? Or will the Mermaids take a bite out of the old Timelord's hearts?

Warnings: 18+, No Minors, Explicit Sexual Content✨if you’re younger than 18 or have no age in your bio, I will not hesitate to block you.✨ Sexual Warnings: Porn With Plot, Sex + Telepathy = Needy Whiny Timelord, So Much Kissing, Dry Humping, Clothed Sex (sorta), Thigh Worship, Licking, Cunnilingus, Dirty Talk, So Much Praise, Switching/Undefined Power Dynamics, Eventually Service Dom Master, Fingering, Nipple Play, Unprotected PIV Sex, The Most Reverent Smut I’ve Ever Written, Post-Sex Cuddles Warnings Unrelated to Smut: imagery of drowning/character nearly drowning; storms, thunder and lightning; alien possession; blood/bloody imagery/mild gore; minor character death; the reader is described as having hair, though length isn’t specified; the reader is described with a certain eye color, but that’s the result of an *ehem* temporary condition and isn’t meant to be the reader’s real eye color; characters considering their death; pining; angst with a happy ending; this man is whipped for you. I think that's all, but let me know if anything else needs added!

Word Count: 17.1k

Masterlist!

His fingertips barely brushed yours. It was enough to feel your touch, but not enough to take hold of your hand before the village men dragged you out of his reach.

The Master’s hearts plummeted, adrenaline raged through his veins as he tried to run after you. He jolted hard to break the grip of his captors, but the village men held strong, keeping him in place as the others dragged you to the edge of a nearby cliff.

The Master cried out your name, still trying to pull himself free from the hands digging into his shoulders and sides. His hearts were racing, he couldn’t breathe, images of you falling into the sea played over and over and over again, jolting through his mind in a blind panic.

“Throw me over instead! Throw me to the Mermaids! Do anything you want with me! Just let her go!” He demanded of the villagers.

“Hush, heathen!” One of the men admonished, slapping the Master across the face. “The Mermaids are hungry and the woman is unimportant! You are all we need tonight!” The man approached the Master, his hot breath dragging across the timelord’s face, “And believe me alien, were it not for the request of our gods, you would both be over the cliff tonight! There is no place for your godless practice in this settlement!”

The villager’s face contorted with the deepest, most seething rage he could muster. His face reddened, eyes wild and mad, and his fists clenched white. And yet it paled in comparison to the budding fury searing hot across the Master’s face. This growing, heaving anger blooming in his chest would squash the villager’s life force like the tiny, insignificant insect it was.

But then he heard your voice, your scared, strained voice, crying out for him and it all died in an instant — his rage fizzling out until only concern remained.

The Master’s eyes snapped to you, but it was too late. He only got a glimpse of your terrified eyes before you were thrown over the cliff side, crying to the gray foaming ocean below.

“No!” The Master yelled, trying once more to pull himself to the edge. He managed to break the villagers’ hold on him for a second, budging a few inches closer to the cliff. He wanted to see you. He had to see you. Certainly you’d caught a rock on the cliff side, or you were able to hang onto the edge somehow. You just—you had to. You had to have survived. You couldn’t leave him. Not now. Not when—

–he heard the splash of your body landing in the cold waves below. He froze. His mind went blank and all the seaside fell silent. There was no more hungry wailing. No more pleas for help. Even the drums were quiet for a moment.

Pain shot up his knees when they hit the ground. The grass beneath him was cold and hard. The Master’s eyes were still fixed on the edge of the cliff as a massive, heaving weight settled in his hearts. Even the dusky sky, with all its cloudless stars, couldn't console him. The comfort he usually found in the endless night sky was hollow and empty as tears pooled in his eyes. He didn’t fight when the villagers started to drag him away, staining his billowing linen shirt with the dirt you’d been standing on. He just kept staring at the spot, hoping mindlessly, begging for you to reappear or for him to wake up from whatever nightmare this was.

But nothing happened.

And the only thing he felt was the gravel beneath his feet as the men dragged him away.

The water hit you hard. The cold cut through your clothes, your skin, your muscles, all the way down to the bone until you were sure you’d never move again. Your eyes burned in the saltwater. The sky was blurred beneath the waves. Even the brightest stars didn’t make it through the blinding waters.

You felt somewhere between life and death. The waving, lapping surface above slowly disappeared as you sank into the deep blue vignette below. You wanted to swim to the surface - every synapse fired, jolts of electricity begging you to reach out, to grasp at the water until you found air, but your limbs wouldn’t move. They hung at your side like lead, dragging you down toward the sea floor. The water was cold and pain screamed throughout your body and you just kept sinking.  

And sinking 

And sinking

Until something brushed against your leg, trailing behind it a melodic hum.

You jolted - your body awakened from its frozen stun. Your lungs burned and your body ached, but despite that, you fumbled with your floating linen dress to find the knife you’d strapped to your thigh. 

In a matter of moments, you were swarmed by ravenous, hungry beings — native aliens if you remembered what the Master had said. Their huge eyes shined shades of blue and silver in the shallow water, their gray bodies slim and gaunt with hunger. Their thick, long tails glittered when they got close enough to the surface and—

The Master!

What—what had happened to him? What did they do to him after you fell? You remembered hearing him cry your name as you fell, but after that, there was only the cold, wet sea. You didn’t know where he was. Your heart was racing, beating out of your chest as if trying to beat its way to the surface. You had to get back to him. You had to find him. You—

You jolted as a searing, stinging pain stabbed through your shoulder, waking you again from your panicked recollection. 

You shook your head and swung the dagger, slashing blindly at the aliens around you. The blade slashed something - one of their tails if you guessed - and a dark, thick substance bled into the water.  

The melodic humming wrenched into screeches, scraping dissonance in your ears. It hurt. You wanted to run away, far away, and never hear that awful screaming again. But the water was so thick and you were so tired and your shoulder hurt. The pain was still coursing down your arm, thick and burning in your blood.

The mermaids still swarmed, biding time to see if you were prey they could ravage for their hungry, bloody mouths to feast upon. They swam around you like a frenzied beast made of so many hungry, bloodthirsty things. They moved in some undulating shape surrounding you, growing ever closer, still screeching into the waters. 

You lashed out again, slashing what felt like one of their gray, lifeless faces with your small knife. For once, you were glad the Master had insisted you take some sort of defense with you. The thick, bloody substance was warm against your hand, distracting you from the wailing uproar.

With one last slash, the mermaids broke apart their frenzy and dove to the deep, leaving you to float among their blood. Perhaps they were too weak to fight for their food, or they saw you as too much of a danger to hunt. You didn’t care. 

Your shoulder burned, but at least it was keeping you awake. You did your best to right yourself in the ocean and tread the darkening water. The cold night air nearly took the breath from your lungs once you broke the surface, but that didn’t matter. You could see the shore. You weren’t too far off. You just had to make it to the sand, then you could rest. Then you could breathe. 

You tried to swim. Despite your shoulder and your aching muscles and the ever-biting cold, you tried, but with every move you felt that horrid pain seep through your blood again. It burned worse and worse with every movement until everything felt ablaze. Your throat, your fingertips, your ears, even your skin felt like it was seizing with white-hot pain. You did your best to stay awake, but by now you couldn’t move. You couldn’t even breathe. You only felt the raging, convulsing pain twitch through your body before you succumbed to it and the dark waves surrounding you.

The grainy sand was rough against your face.  

The sand?

When had you…?

You blinked. The breeze was cold. Icy waves stung your body as they rolled onto shore. You shivered as you tried to lift yourself off your stomach. Your whole body ached from…from what?  

The Mermaids. Right. You’d been thrown into the ocean and they swarmed you. You fought them off with a knife and then…

Your shoulder burned and you were quick to press your hand to it, trying to remember why it hurt so much.

Night had fallen since you blacked out, the jeweled sky winked and blinked down at you. The moon shone beautiful and alluring in the corner of your eye. It reminded you of someone.

Who…who was it? Who did it remind you of? It was right there on the tip of your tongue. He was your friend….Your best friend…someone you—

You felt something change - something tick, and suddenly, blooming hot across your chest was a seething, thundering, rage. 

And then the rain began to fall.

The villagers didn’t worry about the rain. They lived by the shore. Storms were common; even more so at this time of the year. 

But some who lived closer to the shore noticed a shape crawling its way up the sand towards the village. It pulled itself from the water like it was made of the water, dripping muddy sand and salt from its long, clawed fingertips.  

As the creature drew closer to the village, the more curious residents tried to get a better look, and those with a strong will to live drew themselves and their children back into their white, wooden, thatched houses.   

As the shape drew closer, those curious few noticed, as it stood, that its silhouette was vaguely human-shaped. It seemed like…but no, it couldn’t have been…but anyone who saw the shape approaching, they could tell you: it looked like a woman. Like a human woman. She wore a linen dress, stained by the ocean water and what looked like blood. Her floating gait dragged her up the shore, closer and closer to the cast-iron gateway that separated the village from the sea. But there was no way a person could come from the sea like that. This small village was the only human settlement for miles in any direction. Any islands off the coast were too far to swim from. This woman’s circumstance should be impossible. There was no feasible way unless… 

Some who were watching turned their eyes to the cliffs, then to the sea, then to her, and a shiver ran down their backs. The moonlight seemed to haunt the cliff side and gleam off the waters, and when it refracted off the sea, every beam of light seemed to point to her. Just steps away from the gate, she stepped into the full moonlight, bearing to anyone watching what happened when their ritual went wrong. The woman glowed in the cool light, and something petrifying, something terrifying seemed to roll off her with every rise of her chest, as though every breath she took was stolen from the lungs of those watching her. 

The whole village saw her. From their windows they watched her trudge through their home in some otherworldly, inhuman, alien fashion. Parents covered their children’s eyes for fear of her. Others shuttered their windows. Yet there was some beauty about her. Something alluring, tempting, despite the trail of blood down the back of her dress and the long claws overgrowing the ends of her fingers. Even as the rain muddled her shape and she stepped further and further up the hill, the villagers continued watching as though they couldn’t stop.

One villager, enchanted by her sublime beauty, did not hide as the others had. He stared from his front door as she walked up the cobble road to stand beneath the village’s arched gateway. Her skin was dappled with scales glinting silver in the moonlight. Frilled fins peeked through her wet hair, dripping a halo of droplets to her shoulders. She stopped beneath the archway, closing her eyes and turning her head to the bleak sky. She smelled the air, looking for something, or someone. After a second, after listening to the breeze, she seemed to find what she wanted, turning her head to the church at the end of the road, atop a hill.

The villager was drawn to her, and when he took a step down the stairs of his porch, the stairs creaked – a whining cry for the shining storm ahead.

Her eyes snapped to him, and the villager met the piercing, glowing color of cresting waves and sea foam. Her gaze was made of the sea - just as cold and empty and inhuman as the waters on the horizon. When she looked at him, lightning cracked across the sky, pinning him where he stood. 

He stumbled back up the steps and scrambled his way through the door of his home, trembling as his hand gripped the doorknob. Part of him longed to step back outside and run to her, but the fear with which she had bewitched him trembled in his heart and he settled on watching her through his window. He sent a prayer to his gods in the hope she might pass through their village and cause no harm. Or that the gods might smite her before she could ruin the ritual.

Either way, while she was here, in his line of sight, he would watch her shape disappear through the village, dripping saltwater and seaweed in her wake. He would admire her beauty, and dream of falling to her feet with the rain.The rain itself healed at the tips of her toes. A wall of it as far as the eye can see all falling in line with her every step. She was walking rage, making her way up the main road, prowling to the church like a funeral procession. Her glowing gaze cast only to the stark white steeple. To him.

There was a landing on the way up the hill; A small plaza decorated with white flower garland and a mosaic tiled floor. And on that plaza, there were guards meant to protect those in the church this night. They were little more than regular villagers with guns and spears. Still, they blocked the path to the stark, white building.

The flower garland was heavy, drooping under the weight of the rain, and still it drooped further. With every step she took, the rain fell harder, smattering against the mosaic floor in a sheet of palpable rage. Rainwater puddled in the grout, spilling up and over the tiles until it flooded the plaza. Roaring thunder made the ground tremble. Lightning wailed across the sky. Her eyes flashed silver upon her prey, breathing heavy like some feral creature, hunting, hungry, licking her teeth, yearning for the taste of sweet blood.

One guard, someone she recognized from before, came to stand in her way, blocking her path to the church. He raised his rifle, something threatening in his eyes despite his trembling hands.

“You will not pass us, girl! The ceremony must go uninterrupted! It is the will of our g—“

She ripped her claws through his soft belly, snarling as his eyes widened and slowly glazed over. His throat bubbled with a painful groan, and blood seeped from his lips before he slumped and fell off her claws to the wet mosaic floor. 

The rest of the guards were too scared to move. They stared as she tasted the warm blood from her claws and heard her pleased hum as a twisted smile curled onto her face.

One of the guards whispered, quiet as he could, to the other beside him while the creature was distracted, “This must be one of the mermaids come to shore. I’m sure of it.”

“No,” the other guard refuted, “This is the woman we threw over the cliff! The mermaids must have changed her.” 

“But how?” 

“I don’t know. Though, rumors say only a bite—“ 

Thunder cracked above them, lightning flashing as she pinned the guards with a wrathful glare, her claws licked nearly clean. Any other remaining guards had run off as soon as they snapped out of their shock, leaving these two to the woman. 

They looked to one another and backed away, turning and running and almost tripping over themselves to get away from her. They didn’t even look back to see if she was following them.

She wasn’t. She didn’t care about them. Instead, she wiped any remaining blood from her claws on the dead man’s coat and turned toward the church. Up the hill, she could see faint light shining through the windows and the warm glow from the lamps that hung just outside the front doors like beacons.  

She went to them. Her eyes never left the shuddering old door or the warm halo of light from the oil lamps as she stepped over grass and gravel to reach the church. The rain grew heavier and heavier - a near whiteout by the time she reached the worn, wooden doors. It pummeled her shoulders and thumped angrily against the church’s roof.

With a crack of thunder that shook the small building, she slammed the door open and lightning struck behind her, flashing the small chapel in white-hot light - her warning to all in the small room. 

Through the group of men who had turned to gawk, she saw him – someone…familiar. Someone she knew…someone she—

“We know not what you are, woman,” one of the villagers spat, “but you will not stop the ceremony! The gods have demanded he—“

Once again, she ripped through this villager’s belly, grabbing at his throat to watch him die before dropping his body to the ground.

Some men ran. The others died. She rent their bellies to ribbons, spilling blood from their throats, breaking delicate skin, biting with sharpened fangs, all until the villagers were motionless puddles of blood and viscera, their weapons strewn across the ground, glinting at her feet like seawater.

When all was still, she breathed in and let out a calm, relaxed breath, looking down at her blood-soaked hands and the smatterings on her dress. Rain still pattered on the roof.

A quiet voice called her name. Her name?…She’d forgotten she had a name.  

How do you forget a thing like that? 

She turned to find the voice’s owner tied to a post, shoved down to his knees on the dirty wooden floor. His pants were dusty and stained from the ground. He was looking at her. For a brief second, she smiled at the sight of him. She didn’t know why, so she shook the expression from her face. What was he doing to her? Why had she come for him in the first place?

She knew him. It bothered her. Something about him was familiar to her…somewhere, hidden deep within her, she knew he was important, but despite the feeling of familiarity that bloomed warm and soft when she met his charming, brown eyes, she didn’t know why. Some other part of her mind urged her to kill him like the others, but the only thing she could focus on was the red stain across the chest of his linen shirt. A stain she hadn’t caused.

He called out her name once more.

Her eyes snapped, piercing and unnatural, to his. His voice was honey-smooth and just the sound of it sent waves of calm across her body. With apprehension, she approached him, slowly stepping towards this familiar man. His eyes were wide, staring into her own with something like disbelief in them. Something pulled her to him. Something inside her. Something fond, and happy. Something like–

She couldn’t kill this man. Never him. 

She kneeled in front of him and reached one of her bloodied hands out to hold his face. With the other, she grazed his shirt’s bloody, torn fabric.  

She didn’t know why she reached out to hold this man. Her hands moved on their own. The skin she felt through the ripped linen was cold and cut, but the wound was warm - wet with spilled and still-spilling blood. He was still bleeding. She looked into his eyes for a moment more, then they drifted and followed the dried tear stains on his face down to the wound across his chest.

The Master shuddered. Your hands were cold, touching his skin in ways you never would. You were lifeless behind the glowing eyes that bore into his own - their unnatural shade so unlike your own. Every move you made was stiff, every time you blinked he felt a moment of relief. You were not you. He knew right away. And any time you looked at him, he felt a shiver of the cold ocean ripple down his back. And yet, he still felt the tiniest second of relief when you’d slammed open the church door. Not all was lost. At least not yet.

“Darling, what's happened to you?” He whispered once more, something fearful shaking in his voice. 

Without a word, she rounded the post and cut his ties.

The Master’s arms fell to his side and he took a second to stretch them, touching the burns the ropes had left behind. His eyes never left her though, and he noted the long, talon-like claws that you’d used to cut his ties.

You rounded the post again to face him and offered a bloodied hand to help him up.

He hesitated, but took your outstretched hand, standing as you turned and led him out the chapel door.

There was no other option, really. He never would have left you. Though he hesitated in taking your hand, there was no universe in which he didn’t. You were his companion and you’d been by his side through so much. Even now, you still came to get him. Even when you weren’t entirely yourself. Even when he’d failed you. 

It made him shiver - just the thought of it. He’d failed you. Not even the cold, needle-prick rain falling against his face could shake the thought from his mind. He had watched you fall over the cliff and done nothing to stop it. His mind replayed the splash over and over and over and over and— 

The blood on his face was still warm. It was an odd turn of thought, but a breeze kicked up and he felt the chill of it drying on his cheek. Your bloodied hands were an image he couldn’t get out of his head either. He remembered the faces of the men you’d killed - their surprise, their lifelessness. And with their faces came the same thought:  He’d failed you. Hell, he could hardly get you to carry more than a pocket knife with you - you weren’t a  killer. And yet, because of his failure, you had slaughtered those men in a fashion too similar to his own - all blood and guts and ribbons of unrecognizable flesh. Even now, as you guided him along the cobble path, down to the plaza, he could see the gutted body of another you’d killed and the bloody footsteps you left in your wake. For once, the sight of death and destruction made him nauseous.   

He had imagined dying here. Another odd turn of thought as he followed you down the hill. He would have let it happen. The villagers could have finished their ritual and his body would waste away to nothing under the sandy soil. In Time, even his bones would rot away and feed its ever-churning, ever-ravenous appetite. Or perhaps he would have rested with your body, in the sea - torn apart and eaten by the Mermaids. All in all, dying to the sound of the rain after all these years? It would be an okay way to go. And if you were gone, he was fine with dying. There wasn’t much of a point in traveling without you. You’d changed so much in his life, and all for the better. He was happier now. He saw new beauty in the universe. And you, by the stars, you, were like some sort of…beacon for him. Someone that reminded him what it was like to enjoy life again. You centered him. Grounded him. Even something as simple as your shoes at the TARDIS door were enough to calm him. He couldn’t bear it if you were gone. Those little reminders of your absence – your shoes, your sweater in the library, your favorite book. They would remind him how he failed you; how he never told you he loved you. He couldn’t face it again without you.

He shook away those thoughts. He had something to live for right in front of him. You’d saved him and he had to return the favor. You had smiled when you first saw him - when he said your name. It was just a tiny thing, but it was there for a fraction of a second. That meant you were still alive in there. You had to be. He knew that if you were still alive, you were fighting tooth and nail against whatever was in your head. He knew you wouldn’t give up, so he wouldn’t give up. And goddamnit, he would not fail you again.

The sound of a creaking porch pulled the Master from his thoughts. He felt the villagers’ eyes watching. He saw quick movements in his peripheral - people hastily shutting window blinds and slamming front doors shut. He saw recognition in their eyes. They were practically broadcasting their fear. You must have come this way before. 

He couldn’t help but wonder what the villagers thought of you. You weren’t a monster. You could never be a monster in the Master’s eyes. But all these people knew of you was what the Mermaid had wrought upon you. He was tempted by the thought of setting the place ablaze. It was the villagers’ fault that you ended up like this. Why not make them pay for what they’d done to you?

He knows why though. You would hate it. And then you’d give him that look that punches a hole through his hearts and he’d never be able to recover from that. 

So he had to find another way to make it up to you. 

But how?  

He considered for a moment whether you might remember something about it. He hadn’t considered asking you until now. You hadn’t said anything to him since finding him in the church. He didn’t even know if you could talk. But anything was worth a shot right now. He’d take any idea or scrap of information he could get.

So he asked you, squeezing your hand like he usually did when he wanted your attention.

“Darling?” 

You didn’t answer. You didn’t acknowledge that he’d said anything. You didn’t squeeze his hand back like you usually did. You just kept walking. The villagers, in their homes, kept staring through their peep-hole curtains, following the two of you with haunted, fearful eyes.

“Love, can you tell me what happened to you? Do you remember anything?” The Master pleaded.

Nothing once again. Just the sound of the ocean and your dress dragging along the pathway. The Master was beginning to wonder how much of you was left, or if there was anything left of you at all.

He could feel the tiniest sting of rage bloom in his chest. It urged him to fight – to kick, scream, and claw at you until he figured out what was wrong. He wanted to rip the mermaid from your mind and salvage what was left of you.  

But he never would. He could destroy civilizations, he’d burn this village to save you, but in the face of potentially hurting you, he deflated. Any thought of rage fizzled out and he was left with a heavy weighted sorrow lodged in his chest.

“Please darling.” As quiet as his voice was, there was no mistaking that the Master was pleading with you.  

At some point, a few steps beyond the white cast-iron gate, the Master stopped asking questions. He’d wait to see where you were leading him. He couldn’t take your silence. The weight of your hand, still holding his, was heavy enough.  

The tide was high, lapping hungrily at the sandy beach and the bitterly familiar cliff face on the shore. The rain had started to lighten up, but it still drizzled down onto the shore, still healing at your feet like a loyal dog. From where he was, just beyond the gate, stepping into the sand, the Master heard something from far off the shore. It drifted up into the air, harmonies building and mounting on one another as they glide across the breeze, right to the Master’s ears. The melody tempted him toward the water, bright, alluring,  hypnotic. 

And you were walking straight toward it, as if there was nothing in the world that could stop you.

The wind picked up, whipping your frilled fins and hair in every direction. The howling breeze grew stronger and stronger as the Mermaids’ song grew louder and louder. More harmonies, and a mounting dissonance clawing through the tone, and in a moment, the Master found the answer to all the questions he’d been asking.   

“They bit you.” He stopped dead in his tracks and didn’t move when you continued to pull on him. His voice was quiet. Beneath it though, at the sight of the puncture wounds and the red trail of blood down the back of your dress, was the same heating anger from before, urging him to loose his rage upon the alien inside of you. 

The Master quelled his bristling anger. This wasn’t the time. He had to focus on the problem at hand: you. You didn’t stop. You kept trying to pull him to the sea, uninterested in his observation or in stopping. 

You stared at the ocean with glazed eyes, listening to the mermaids’ harmonies. You couldn’t tear your eyes away if you wanted to, as if there was something magnetic in the alluring tones. You started walking again, and this time, the Master followed until you’d nearly reached the lapping tide.

“That’s not the direction of the TARDIS, love.” The Master whispered, pulling on your wrist to keep you from stepping into the sea.

Something about that clicks and you turn to him, slowly and hesitantly. The Master sucks in a sharp breath when he sees your face. 

Nearly your entire face is blank and emotionless. Nearly. It's your eyes that are different. Your strange, alien eyes are brimming with tears. They’re wide and scared and lined with the trails of tears already shed. The Master could see you in those eyes. They weren’t the right color. They weren’t human. But within them, beyond their seafoam color and unnatural glow, he saw  you. He saw fear, he saw fight, he saw the eyes of his companion, doing her best to fight for her life, even as she was trapped in her own mind.

You’re still alive.

The Master slowly approaches, testing the waters. He holds your face in one of his hands, the other coming to rest along your neck. When you don’t react, save for looking into his eyes with something deep and pleading, he lowers his head and touches his forehead to yours, releasing a  deep, shuddering breath before letting his hands slide from your cheeks to your temples.

In your head, he hears you crying out for help – your pleading voice screaming out for him to hear you.

“--Please! Please Master! I can't stop it! It's gonna drag me into the ocean! It’s going to turn me into a mermaid! I don’t want to become one of them! I wanna go back home to the TARDIS! I wanna go back home with you!!! Please Master! Save me!”  

The Master pulls away from you in shock - his hearts plummeting to the gritty sand.  Had you been screaming in your head like this the whole time? Guilt shot through his hearts and if it weren’t for his desperate need to protect you, he might’ve died on the spot. He presses his forehead to yours once more, fingers to your temples, and in a matter of seconds your sleeping body drops into his arms. The Master clutches your limp body close to his to keep you from falling to the sand as endless waves of relief and guilt and heartbreak flush through him. He kisses your forehead and as soon as he stands with you, he’s off like a shot, sprinting to his TARDIS as fast as his legs will carry him. Never mind the Mermaids’ melody turning to ravenous screeching. Never mind the village’s hunting party gathering together to avenge their dead. Never mind the painful whip of tree branches as he ran to the bordering forest. The Master had to save you, and nothing in all the universe could stop him. 

The first thing you notice is the weight of something cool in your hand. Cool and smooth. When your eyes crack open, the world is blurry and you can’t quite tell where you are. The room you’re in is warm. The ceiling is white.

And next to you is the Master, resting his head on your lap, his cool hand in yours. His usual purple jacket is thrown over his shoulders, barely hanging onto his back with how he’s lying now. He’s snoring softly, and he’s thrown an arm over your legs as if he’s protecting you. It’s odd to see him sleep. In all your time traveling with him, you’ve only ever known him to sleep when he absolutely had to, and never while you were traveling with him. Getting to see him look so peaceful is a treat - one you intend to savor.

You want to kiss him.

The thought comes out of nowhere, but you don’t deny it. It's been a tempting image for months now - the first thing on your mind for weeks. You’re not surprised that it pops into your head.

You shift, wincing at the soreness that weighs down your whole body. You notice that you’re no longer wearing your ruined linen dress. Instead, you are wearing your pajamas, and your personal pillow is supporting your head. Your head hurts a little and you hope that readjusting will help ease the pain. 

It doesn’t. All it does is shift the Master and jostle him awake. He startles a little and sits up, but the moment he lays eyes on you he relaxes and smiles, “Ah. There are those beautiful eyes. Back to normal, as they should be. How are you feeling?”

You struggle a little to sit up, pulling the blanket up with you as a comfort. You don’t fail to notice that although you’re in the med bay, you aren’t lying under the scratchy blankets that usually covered the beds here. Instead, the Master had brought your favorite blanket and draped it over you. Your favorite book was lying on the table beside your bed too, next to a book about the planet you had visited. You smile when you notice the Master’s sweet gesture. 

The moment sours a little though, when you try to think of why you were lying in the med bay. You shift a little, turning to look at the Master for answers. 

“I’m feeling alright, but what happened? I remember standing on the beach screaming in my head, and the next thing I know, I’m here, in the TARDIS med bay. What happened to me? What happened to the Mermaid?”   

The Master tenses, not sure how to explain in any casual way that he’d rushed you back to the TARDIS at inhuman speeds because he was afraid he was going to lose the only person in the universe he actually loved anymore. That was too much to explain right now, so he decided to stick with the facts. Taking his hand from yours, he started to wring his hands together, trying to figure out where to start.

“Well, after you saved me from the church, you uh—you blacked out on the beach and I brought you back to the TARDIS. The Mermaid was a more complicated affair. I had to reach inside your mind to get rid of it. It was a nasty fight, but it was well worth it. You’re you again, and you’re safe now.”

You nod once again, doing your best to connect what you remember to what the Master was telling you. 

“How long did it take?” 

“Hmm?”  

“Getting rid of the Mermaid? How long did it take? It feels like I slept for years.”  

The Master hesitates again. There was more weight behind that question than you could ever imagine. Of course, he would never mention how hard of a fight it had really been. He’d never tell you how he had gone blind with rage, burning the mermaid until its crisp ashes faded away from your neurons. He’d never tell you how delicate he’d had to be, or how fragile your mind was afterward. And he would certainly never tell you how scared he really was when he saw the extent of the mermaid’s attachment. He didn’t care how long it had taken, not noticing or caring about the hours he’d spent burning the Mermaid from your mind. He was determined to keep going until the Mermaid was gone, his own exhaustion be damned.

He also couldn’t begin to explain the fervency with which he’d tried to remind you of yourself. He brought in your blanket and pillow and read your favorite book to you – the whole thing, even the annotations and drawings you’d left in the margins. He spent hours telling you stories of your travels - the ones that hadn’t gone terribly wrong of course. He had done everything in his power to make sure you survived. He’d even sat beside your bed and outright begged you to remember who you were when you woke up. But he’d never be able to tell you that.

And yet, when you reach out and run your thumb under his eyes, no doubt soothing the heavy bags that were bound to be there, he had a feeling that somehow you knew. He didn’t have to say anything, and he could admit that right now he didn’t really want to. He just wanted to sit in this moment and bask in the warmth radiating from your hand and the comfort it brought to have you touch him.

After a moment though, the Master startles away from your touch. He had leaned too far into it, starting to lose himself in the feel of your hand on his face, and he very well might have kissed you if he hadn’t stopped himself. He stood quickly and stepped away to pace around the med bay. 

You were startled by his reaction, but nevertheless brought your hand back to your side and changed the subject. “Thank you for bringing my book and blanket. They make it more bearable in here. Do I need to stay in the med bay or am I good to leave?”

“No, you’re clear to leave, but you’re welcome to stay here until you feel comfortable getting up. The Mermaid was a force inside your head. And quite a powerful one at that. You might be dizzy for a little while, but that’s all. Any physical effects - your scales, fins, etc – dissolved while I was taking the Mermaid apart. It didn’t leave anything physical except for the bite wound, but I was able to heal that up. Your book and your blanket were meant to help kick you back into gear - remind you who you are and all that.”

A small smile crosses your face and your eyes light up a bit. “Does that mean you read to me while I was passed out?” 

The Master gave you a look. “Shut up.”  

Your smile shifts - far more mischievous now than before. “Never.”  

There you are. Back to teasing him and being a general pain in his ass. An endearing pain in his ass, but a pain in his ass nonetheless. 

The Master leaned against the counter opposite you, feeling a little bit better after seeing you return, for the most part, to your normal self.

“I will admit, seeing you let go, letting the rage inside you loose, getting to see you rip your enemies apart - that was something beautiful. Something awe-inspiring, really. I’ve seen stars collapse with less fury than was in your eyes. Truly inspiring.” The Master lied, hoping you wouldn’t notice, hoping he sounded like his normal self and not like he’d been horrified, worried beyond belief, and physically exhausted for hours on end. If you were back to normal, teasing and laughing at him, then he could play normal too. 

But of course that backfired, and it seemed you believed his lie a little too well. Your face fell, and then your brow quirked up.

“Then why did you change me back?”

His reply is instant.

“Because you asked me to. I would do anything you asked me to do.” 

The Master pauses - it only takes a second to realize what he had said. Your wide eyes suggest you are doing the same. He hadn’t thought before he spoke and the words fell from his mouth before he could stop them. For a moment, the Master had let his hearts do the talking for him.

He takes a deep breath.

“I would have changed you back regardless. That thing - the Mermaid that was possessing you - wasn’t you. I’d rather travel with you and all your boring human morals than watch some alien walk off to destroy worlds with your body. I never would have let that thing take you. Really I should go back and kill the lot of them. Every last one of those things should die a slow, painful, death, drying out in the dead grass above them for what they did to you.” He was offended that you’d so much as considered him leaving you to the Mermaid’s whims.

You just look at him for a moment before uttering a quiet “Thank you.”   

The Master nods, a sincere look glinting in his eye before he lets the matter rest. There is silence for a moment. A heavy silence. You play with a loose thread on the blanket’s stitching, and the Master watches you. Despite answering your questions, the Master felt like there was still something left unsaid. The room is still tense and you seem lost in thought. 

There’s something you have been avoiding, he could tell. Something is lingering in your mind and he figures he knows what it is. The Master steps towards you, stopping beside your bed. You still don’t look up at him. He sits in his chair and takes your hands in his.

“Darling, how much do you remember?” The Master asks, taking a tentative step to understanding your experience in all this. 

You hesitate before answering and find yourself unable to meet the Master’s eyes.

“All of it.” You pause, swallowing nervously. “I killed people.”

The Master hears the guilt heavy in your voice and completely abandons his chair, shifting to sit next to you on your bed, squeezing your hands tighter than before.

“No, No. Remember Love, that wasn’t you. The Mermaid was using you. Feeding on any little emotion that would give it an excuse to kill. It took your wants, your anger, and twisted it for its own. It was hungry and it used your body to hunt.” 

You’re quiet, stewing in guilt for another short moment. You gnaw on the inside of your lip and  stare at the Master’s hand holding yours. 

“I remember wanting them gone - the villagers and the guards.” Your voice cuts through the silence, something heavy weighing in your tone.

The Master’s eyes bore into you, “Why?” 

You finally look up and let your eyes meet his.

“They were blocking the path to you.”  

A beat passed. Time slowed, or maybe it stopped altogether. The Master’s eyes lock with yours and you’re not sure what you see swirling in them.

And then before you know it, he’s kissing you. Full body, hands cradling your face, pressing as much of himself against you as he can kissing you. His lips almost bruise yours, you can’t kiss back for a few seconds he comes on so hard —

— but he pulls away for a second, breathes heavily, and stares at you. There’s a millisecond between you – only the sound of your heaving breaths in the air. You look at him and give a small nod and he dives for you, leaning over the bed, ramming your back into the sheets, all but climbing on top of you. You kiss him with the same fervor as he had before, hands slipping to his back to pull him even closer until you can feel his body against every part of yours. His hands pull at your waist and rake up your sides and he shivers when you moan against his lips. His whole body can feel it rumbling, his mind can feel it, it’s stronger than the drums and he’s addicted. He needs to feel it again. 

His kisses slip from your lips down your cheek to the column of your neck. They’re sloppy and desperate, penning his ages of yearning along your skin. The hitches in your breath are like prayers to an old god and he’s reveling in the worship. Your hands in his hair fire pleasure down his spine and it curls hot in his stomach. He grows more and more desperate, more and more ravenous as he kisses you faster and faster, making his way back to your lips like a man starved. He cradles your head in his hands and pulls away with a low growl.

“Darling.“ He pants hard, resting his head in the crook of your neck. He feels you catch your breath, the thump of your one heartbeat echoing in his ear again. Your breathing becomes smooth, steady, and it soothes something within the Master.

You start to leave little kisses in his hair and a couple on the shell of his ear and he feels like melting right into your lap. You’re so soft with him in this moment. He nuzzles into your neck and wraps his hands around your waist. The Master stays there for a minute, content to let you press soft kisses to his hair and whisper sweet nothings into his ear. 

Eventually, though, he has an idea. You know he does because his head whips up fast and he looks you dead in the eye. There’s something soft in his eyes though, and his gaze warms as it settles on you. He brings his forehead to yours, closing his eyes and gently nuzzling his nose against yours, “Let me in?”  

It’s a question, not a demand, whispered to the vulnerable space between you.  

“I know you’ve been through a lot lately. The Mermaid was in your head, and then I dug around in your mind for hours. It's okay if you don’t want to let me in.” His voice is the gentlest whisper, and he leaves the gentlest kiss on the corner of your mouth. 

You don’t answer with words, but he can feel you opening your mind. He’s flooded with a wall of hot, heady lust at first, but it ebbs into something gentle and soft and so, so warm. He felt safe - your safety, and your confidence in him to keep you safe. He feels the way your heart tugs you toward him at every moment, and there’s a heavy, weighty, yearning want that curls around him and settles in his hearts. The wave of it crashes over him and he has to pull away for a second, the force of it overwhelming his senses. He leans his head on your shoulder once more, biting the skin there to keep from whimpering. Even then, he still lets a quiet whine slip through his teeth as he shudders against you. 

“Are you okay?” You ask, leaning down to look him in the eye. You can’t remember another time you’ve seen the Master like this. He looks at you, transfixed in your eyes for a moment before responding.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s…it’s just…,” He pauses, looking off to the side like something long past is lingering in the corner of his eye. After a moment, he meets your eyes again and his voice shudders a small bit, “I-I can’t remember the last time someone  wanted me like this.”  

You give him the kind of look that would normally annoy him. There’s something pitiful and sympathetic in your bright eyes, and he can feel your oncoming heartache. Heartache for him. For the years he spent alone. For every moment he spent trying to show someone he was worth the effort. That look was one he would generally turn away from, but in this moment with you, he didn’t say anything. He just fell further into your arms and pressed his forehead to yours again, yearning to feel your mind wash over him again.

“Oh, Master.” You whisper in the crack of space between you before cradling his face and bringing your lips to his again.  

Your kiss is warm and comforting, encompassing the Master in a feeling that’s entirely you. He felt your warmth and the absence of it between kisses, and realized he never wanted to be without it. It drew him in, roped and tied his soul to yours, and he never wanted to be free of it. He clung to you. His kisses grew frenzied, frantic as his hands grappled at every curve of your body, trying to pull you closer, closer, closer to him. You couldn’t be close enough, he could never pull you close enough.    

Your mind tingled on the edge of his, sending shivers through him. For a second he’d forgotten you had let him in, and now you were pushing yourself against him in the most intimate of ways.

He could hardly describe the soft way your mind flooded into his own, caressing every corner, passing every locked door, loving every winding turn– 

Loving?

You loved him?

He could feel it in your mind – that strong, gentle pull. He could feel it when you embraced the parts of his mind he bared to you, and when you passed by the things he hid without a word. He could feel it in the way your hands held him, the way they drifted over his body and touched him with reverence. He could feel it in the little moans you made when he kissed you, like a dam of yearning, of pining, being released between the two of you. It sent jolts of electricity down his body and straight between his legs.

It was all too much for him.

“I love you.” The Master all but sobs into your ear, “I love you. I love you. I love you. By the stars, Darling, I love you.”  

“I love you too, Master – love you so much.” You whimper into his neck, biting down on the skin there to ground yourself. 

The Master groans, climbing on top of you, pinning your body further to the bed. He kicks his shoes to the floor and pushes your blanket aside so that no part of you is hidden from him. He presses his body against you and you can’t help but moan when you feel his hard cock pressing against your hips, lightly grinding, begging for some sort of friction between you.

“Darling, you have no idea what that does to me.” The Master’s voice is ragged, his breathing heavy as he drags his cock against your hips rougher than he had before, “You can’t just bite a man like that.”

“What if I want to find out what it does to you?” 

The Master pauses all movement for a moment and meets your heavy, half-lidded eyes. He feels his whole body warm at your implication, the temptation in your eyes pulling him closer and closer to you.

“You're sure you want that love?” He whispers against your lips.

You nod enthusiastically, wrapping your arms around the Master’s neck to pull him closer to you. “I’ve wanted you for so long, Master.”

He shudders at the way you say his name, then nods, pulling himself off of you before helping you sit up.

“C’mere,” The Master picks you up off the medbay bed and wraps your legs around his waist, “Let’s take this somewhere more appropriate.” 

The Master had every intent of taking you straight to his bed and ravishing you on the deep purple sheets, but as he passed through the console room, he saw the briefest image flicker up from your mind. It was a positively wicked idea, and he loved it. He felt the wave of lust that bloomed through you as the image appeared and, with a grin, he changed directions.

“Master? Aren’t we going to your room? What are you doing?” You ask, pulling away from his lips as he sets you on the center console.

“What you want.”  

He leans close, kissing you again before pressing his hips to yours. His hands wander as they please and it’s only after a few moments that you feel the Master softly grinding against you. You pull away from his lips with a small gasp. 

“H-How did you–”   

“I can see it in your head dear. I could feel how much you wanted it.” The Master smiled, shifting you so you’re comfy on the console. “Why not treat you? Who am I to deny you?”

And there he was. The Master. Your cocky, confident, tease of a traveling companion. He smirked at you, leaning forward to whisper in your ear. His breath fans across your skin, and he’s delighted by the little shiver that shudders through you. 

“Do you like that love? Hm? Feeling me? Feeling what you do to me – what you’ve done to me for months aboard this ship?” He kisses you again, groaning against your lips with every new kiss. He grinds his hips against yours and you revel in the feeling of his cock, heavy between your legs. “Do you have any idea how many fucking times I had to fuck my hand and pretend it was you? You lean over the console and I can’t think! You hug me and there’s this stupid warmth that blooms from my gut to my hearts and I just want to kiss your face—Fuck, I can feel how much you want me…Is this why you haven’t let me in before? Afraid I’d see all these secrets you’ve been keeping from me?” 

The Master’s questions didn’t even process. You were too lost in the feeling of his body against you, the way he grinds himself against your cunt, the way he makes you melt into the console, letting yourself feel the waves of arousal from both your minds wash over you - tingling every one of your nerves until all you felt was sweet, sweet pleasure coursing over every part of you. 

Until that pleasure stops, and you feel the Master’s cool breath against your ear.

“I need an answer dear.” 

Your eyes widen and you pull back to look at him, surprise written clear on your face. He’s got a stupid, smug look on his face and you hate how much it turns you on. 

You keep staring for a second. You can’t make yourself speak, so caught off guard by the loss of sensation and the frustration that follows that words are impossible. So instead, you claw at the Master’s shoulder and tug him back against you, locking him in place with your legs around his hips. He lets out a surprised sound, catching himself on the console.  

You all but growl, fisting a handful of the Master’s hair to pull him up to look at you. You delight in the moan that tumbles from his lips and pull him close to you so you can growl in his ear.

“I want you. Now.” You demand. You tighten your legs around him and start to grind yourself against him on your own, his plans be damned. 

The Master breathes hard - a laugh breaking through as he catches his breath. Tipping your chin up with a finger, he looks at you with such hunger, “Oh Love, I didn’t think I could be any more attracted to you, but look at what you’ve done to me…how can one person be so, damn, enticing?”

Each word came with short, heavy thrusts against your sex. The Master was starting to breathe heavier and heavier, and with every drag against your clothes, he felt himself melting further against you. He felt heavy with the way he yearned for you; the warmth between your legs lured him closer and closer to you until nearly all of his body was pressed against yours. Every movement, every thrust, every touch of your skin against his sent sweet pleasure tumbling through his body, begging for more, more, more. And he lost himself in you. Nothing mattered in this moment besides the bliss that bloomed through him every time he dragged himself against you. His body sang for you, and you sang back in sweet, dulcet whimpers against his neck, your fingers digging into his sides, pulling him ever-closer until he was barely standing anymore.  

It’s not long before his weight is leaned on you almost entirely. His eyes close, his head falls to your shoulder, and the Master moans- a deep, yearning thing – before whimpering into your ear, “You’re so warm, Love. So so warm.” 

You can’t even think about replying. The cool touch of his lips against your neck, and the warm, fuzzy pleasure between your legs leaves you feeling brainless. And with every wave of arousal through your mind, the Master lets out moans and whines that grow more and more pitiful as he continues to grind against you. His noises are irresistible. Your body is all but limp against the console and the only thing that grounds you to the world is the feeling of the Master’s hair in your hands. 

Your mind is intoxicating. The Master can’t tell where he ends and you begin anymore. Everything is so blurred and connected and warm and soft. You are soft, and he wants to stay here forever, melting into your body, feeling your kisses against his neck, until the only feeling he knows anymore is you. 

It’s not enough though. He can feel you yearning for more even if you aren’t saying it. He feels the sharp want for more on the edges of your mind and the Master growls. It isn’t enough.

You gasp when the pleasure stops again, whining as you feel the Master’s hair slip from your grasp. You’re going to protest until you hear a thump on the floor and a blinding, beautiful, tingling sensation races from your clit to the tips of your limbs.

The Master drops to his knees, knocking himself against your own knees as he scrambles to shove himself between your legs. He nuzzles his nose against your cunt, and drags his tongue flat against the fabric of your sleep shorts, digging his nails into the skin of your thighs. The feeling of his wet tongue through the fabric is like heaven. Finally getting direct attention to your clit after all this build-up is like breaking a dam inside of you and you’re greedy, keening, back arching off the console to press your weeping cunt harder against his face. 

The Master groans, clawing at your sleep shorts as he continues laving his tongue over them. He’s starving for you and anything he can get he’ll take with greedy abandon. He’s waited so long; he  needs to worship you, needs to taste you, needs to please you, and his impatience is getting the better of him. 

He leaves your pussy for only a moment to rip your shorts from your body, dragging your underwear away with them and throwing them somewhere behind him. 

His first thought was to dive right back into your waiting, weeping pussy, but he had just enough clarity left to wait and play with you.  

He instead takes hold of your calf, gingerly lifting your leg so he could place a kiss on your knee. Then another. Then he licked a stripe up the side of your thigh, delighting in the surprised gasp that flew from your lips.  

He did it again and again, dragging his tongue up and down your thigh until the skin was wet and you were squirming above him.

Your hand in his hair pulls him from his worship, distracting him with your half-lidded, pleading eyes.

“Please Master.” You whine, tightening your grip on his hair. 

“Please what, dear?” He responds with a renewed air of mischief in his voice.

You couldn’t answer, unable to find words for what you want. You whine at him, hoping he would get the idea. Instead, he gives you a devilish smile and a downright cruel look in his eye.

“I’m not sure what that means darling.” 

Before you can reply the Master leans down to your other knee, giving it the same attention he had given your first thigh, dragging his face up and up, leaving kisses and licking stripes until the skin was slick and wet. 

You whine again, keening, in hopes that the Master will have mercy on you and give you what you want. You know he knows and it’s frustrating you to no end that he won’t just give in and give it to you. 

Instead, the Master laughs and bites down on the meat of your thigh, leaving an imprint of his teeth in the soft flesh. Your sharp yelp sends a shockwave of pleasure through his body right down to his aching cock.

“I need you to use words, love. I don’t know what you want unless you use your words.” He rasped against the skin of your thigh.

You groaned, “Touch me.” 

“What? Like this?” The Master brought his hand up to your sopping pussy and ran his fingers through your folds, dragging them ever so slowly from your hole to your clit. 

You shook your head, meeting his eyes with something desperate and feral. 

The Master, however, remains infuriatingly calm, toying with you with such ease it makes you want to slap that cruel smile right off his face. 

“What is it you want dear?” 

You huffed, frustration fuming from your lips.

“Your mouth. Use your mouth.” You beg, finally voicing your desire to the Master. 

He grins, dragging his hand away from your pussy, turning to soothe his bite mark with his tongue. 

“See, wasn’t that easy love?” 

The Master places a delicate kiss on your clit before ravaging your pussy, licking and lapping like he had been when your shorts were still on.  

You gasp, heaving in a breath as the Master drags his wet tongue through your folds. You’re so sensitive after all his teasing that you tremble at even the lightest touch. The feeling of his cool tongue between your thighs is overwhelming, drawing coils in your guts and dragging you closer and closer to the edge.  

The cherry on top of it all comes when you look down through hazy half-lidded eyes. The Master’s eyes are closed, his hands grasping the meat of your thighs like they’re a lifeline. He’s razor-focused on memorizing the taste of you. You can feel his focus in your mind, and the slow way it melts into nothing but sweet pleasure. The feeling bleeds between your minds and for a moment it feels like a hazy high - your eyes rolling to the back of your head, your head falling back against the console as the Master fucks you with his tongue. Moans tumble from your mouth as he builds a steady rhythm, and you can feel the Master preening from your praising noises. 

But then you hear the Master whine into your pussy and a new, stronger wave of pleasure overtakes you. It washes through you over and over again; pleasure mounting on pleasure until the feeling is nearly unbearable.  

You crack your eyes open to take a peek and what you see sends a hot flood of arousal through you.

The Master had slipped one of his hands between his legs and was now furiously grinding his weeping cock against the heel of his palm. He all but melts into his own hand, his moans rumbling through you, his tongue pushing further into you than ever before. Through the connection you could feel his own pleasure growing - the same coiling heat in his body that you felt in yours.

“Master.” You call out breathlessly.

The Master kept lapping at you. Your arousal flickers through the connection, flooding his mind in a tidal wave and he can’t stop himself. He needs more.

“Master, dear.”  You call again.

The Master’s moans slip into whines, his hips roll hard into his hand. His whole body is tensing, wrapped and tied in the bliss he feels from the both of you. It builds and builds until he’s right there on the edge, his body begging for sweet release. Just a few more strokes and—

“Master.”

Your voice cuts through his haze and it takes every ounce of self-control the Master has ever had to stop.

“Yes love?” His answer is a ragged moan, betraying his displeasure as he pulls away from your pussy. His face is sopping wet and his eyes are heavy-lidded.

You smile at the sight of him and his fucked-out eyes.

“Are you gonna make it to the bed dear?” You whisper in his ear, a husky, sultry rasp edging the low tones of your voice. 

The Master breathes heavily and considers your question for a moment.

“Fuck.”  

He stands and yanks you up off the console, onto his hips and rushes down the hall, carrying you through the twisting, winding halls to his bedroom.

The Master’s room was elusive. In all your time on the TARDIS, you’d found a library, a swimming pool, a billiards hall, an observatory, and countless other unique rooms, but you’d never stumbled upon the Master’s room. Naturally, you were curious, and to tell the truth, you’d gone looking for the room a few times before, but by now you figured that the room was hidden in some deep, far-away corner of the TARDIS, never to be found by simple exploration.

Which is why it came as such a surprise to you how fast the Master found his room and threw open the door. Not even a minute after hoisting you onto his hips, the Master dashes into his room, closes the door, and slams you against it. You barely get a second to see the room over his shoulder before his lips are on yours, kissing you with new fervor.  

“You’ve got me weak in the knees darling. I can barely stand.” The Master mumbles against your throat as he plots fevered kisses down your neck.  

“Maybe we should move to the bed then, dear. Get you off your feet.” You gasp out through a moan. 

“Mmmmm I like that idea.” 

Without giving you time to think, the Master pulls you off the door and throws you onto his bed. Literally throws you. The little ‘oof’ you let out as you land makes him laugh a little. 

But in the space of a second, in the movement, you were no longer in the warm, safe confines of the Master’s oversized bed. Instead, you were landing in the ocean. Your back stings. Pain shoots through you to every nerve end and in an instant, you’re shivering. Freezing. You don’t dare move until you see movement in the corner of your eye. It takes a moment for your vision to focus, but once it does you see the Master hovering over you, calling your name. His hands hold your face, delicate and centering. The purple drapes above his bed remind you of where you are, and you’re finally able to take a deep breath.

You shake your head and come back to reality, putting on a smile to brush off the whole episode. “Sorry, I just…landing on my back–it reminded me of landing in the ocean and the Mermaid, and I just…” 

The Master can feel the fear rushing through you as your sentence fades off. It’s bolting behind your eyes even if you say you’re okay. Without a second thought, the Master pulls you to his chest and cradles you in his arms. His breathing is a bit heavier, and his arms are tight around you. When he speaks, it’s a whisper in the shell of your ear - something fervent and sincere.

“Never again. Never again, love. I promise I’ll keep you safe. You’ll never have to feel that scared again.”

You nod into his shoulder, letting yourself curl into him for a moment. The comfort of his arms does wonders to ground you and bring you fully back into the present. As he holds you, he nuzzles his nose against your neck and softly kneads your body’s curves. He breathes against your skin for a moment, enjoying the feel of you in his arms. 

After a moment, he pulls back to look at you.

“We can stop for tonight if you want. We can rest. I’ll watch over you while you sleep.” 

“No. I want this. I want you.” You insist, fiddling with a corner of his shirt collar. “I just needed a second. Please keep kissing me.” 

He nods with a warm smile. “As you wish, love.”

As the Master kisses you, your hands wander from the back of his neck down to the buttons of his clean shirt. You fiddle with a button and eventually get it undone, letting your fingers slip just under his shirt to feel his cool skin. You’re rewarded with a stunted breath and the Master’s hands gripping your body tighter against him. 

You slowly work at the buttons until his shirt is completely undone, hanging off his shoulders, framing his chest in a way that tempts your hands to roam across the new expanse of skin. But as your hands wander, you pause, pulling away from the Master with furrowed brows.

“You had a cut on your chest. I remember, in the church; I could feel the blood on your shirt. I saw the cut.” 

The Master takes your hand in his and presses it to his chest right over the place he had been cut.

“It’s okay love. I used the same medicine to heal this wound that I used to heal your bite. Fixed me right up. I’m okay. I promise.”  

You nod, taking a minute to admire the Master’s chest while you have the chance. And damn, the medicine worked. There wasn’t any trace of the cut. No scars, no lumps, no faint line to trace. Just his smooth skin, glowing under the room’s warm lamplight. Instead, you trace the lines of his muscles, from his pecs up to his collarbones, over to his shoulders to push his shirt off his back. 

“Like what you see there, love?” The Master coos, shrugging his shirt the rest of the way off. 

“Mmhm.” You hum, leaning forward to kiss along the Master’s collarbone, “I’m excited to see the rest.” 

The Master doesn’t get the chance to respond. Try as he might, the light laugh in his throat dies when he feels your fingers slip beneath the waistline of his pants. 

“Can I see the rest?” You ask in the small space between you.

The Master swallows hard. For once he’s at a loss for words. He’s too preoccupied by the tingling sensation left in your fingers’ wake to speak. He nods and suppresses a shudder.  

His eyes close as you continue to kiss his collarbones. He basks in the feeling of your soft lips peppering kisses from his shoulder up to his neck, and he startles a little when he feels your warm, wet tongue lick a stripe up his neck. You seem to pay no mind, contentedly kissing him and licking him.  

He tracks the movement of your hand, lazy though it is, as you slip further into his pants. Curiosity teeters in your mind as you wonder just how far you can go and, as you place a kiss just under the curve of the Master’s jaw, your hand slips below his pants to cup his cock through his boxers. The Master lights up with pleasure, and the noise he lets out as you grind the heel of your palm against his cock is decadent. You look up at him for a moment, admiring the way his face scrunches up as if he’s overwhelmed by the feeling. You watch him for a moment, appreciating how beautiful he looks before a sinister idea pops into your head. 

The Master feels you shift, turning yourself and him so you can lay him down against the countless pillows at the head of his bed with nothing but a gentle push to his chest. You pull your hand from his bulge and begin to wrestle with his boxers’ elastic waistband. His body jolts when a rush of cool air meets his skin, and his body tingles as you pull his cock from his boxers. It springs free and all that aching pressure from before releases like a deep breath. The cool air in his room is a nice wake up call, but what really gets him going is the look in your eye as your gaze settles on him.

“Darling, what are you—“

“—You’re so pretty…” you trail off in hypnotic admiration, dipping your head to kiss the soft tip of his cock, giving him a little suckle. 

The Master keens. He outright whines and fists his sheets in his hands as you continue to kiss and suck at his tip. Feeling adventurous, you take his head into your mouth, dragging your tongue slowly over his slit. 

And this is the day you learn that the Master, at least this version, can’t keep quiet when your mouth is on him. The moment your tongue traces his slit he moans, and he moans loud. He’s a mess of whines and whimpers and delectable throaty noises. You’ve completely disassembled him and left only the malleable, vulnerable parts of him on this bed. All with a couple licks of your tongue. 

But there’s something at the edge of the Master’s mind that keeps him from falling into the dreamlike haze he’s so close to. Something that’s been on the edge of his mind since he threw you on the bed. Something that’s eating away at him from the inside out. 

You almost died.  

There’s a slight tremor in your arms as you’re holding yourself above him. You’re exerting more effort to do so than you should, and in that instant, any trace of a haze snaps away and the Master resolves to himself that he’s going to take care of you tonight. After everything you’ve been through, it’s the least you deserve.

The Master reaches a hand down to your shoulder, gently squeezing to grab your attention. You pull off his cock with a questioning look. 

“Darling, as much as I love feeling your lips around me, you need rest, and I can’t wait to fuck you. Save that for another night. Come up here and kiss me.”

You have half a mind to protest and insist that you’re fine, but your muscles are aching and you know your body is tired even if your mind is racing, so you place one final kiss on the Master’s cock before crawling up his body. 

When you’re level with the Master you nuzzle your nose against his.

“Hi.” You smile.

“Hi.” He smiles back.

You let out a chuckle and dip your head down to kiss him. Your free hand tangles itself in his hair and his hands roam your back and sides. He takes a mental note of the spot you flinched at - seems he’s found a ticklish spot. Could be useful in the future. 

You, on the other hand, are fighting the urge to jolt away from the Master’s ticklish touch while trying to admire the man - the alien - beneath you. You still can’t believe that you’re here, in bed with an impossible man who just so happened to tolerate you out of everyone on earth. After so many months of yearning, you’re here. Spiced honey and the smell of cloves drift up to your nose and you feel the Master breathing beneath you. It’s almost too much for you to take, so you lean forward and slam your lips to his.  

He makes a surprised noise but quickly falls into the kiss, letting your flood of emotion rush through your connection. He moans as the feeling wades through his mind and sends aching want through every muscle in his body. 

The feeling deepens when you drag your tongue along his bottom lip and nip a little at the wet skin. He keens and opens his mouth, reaching out to meet yours. You gasp the moment your tongues meet and for what feels like ages, it’s a dance of your tongues licking into each other's mouths - kissing and sucking and little bites on one another’s lips, all the while your calming weight rests on the Master’s hips and his hands rest on your sides and the both of you are lost in the feel of one another as it flows through your mental connection. 

You’re the one to break off first. You take deep, heaving breaths and you close your eyes for a moment, just trying to focus on getting air back in your lungs. When you open your eyes, you see the Master watching you. He looks at you like you’re the last star left burning in the universe. 

And for another moment you sit like that. You catch your breath and the Master plays with the hem of your sleepshirt.

“Love?” 

“Hmm?” You recognize the gleam of an idea in his eye.

“Let's get this shirt off of you.”

You nod with a smile, holding your arms up so the Master could drag your shirt over your head and off your arms. He throws it to the side and helps you out of your bra, adding that to the pile of clothes at the end of the bed. 

When you’re finally undressed, the Master lets his hand rest on your hip and rubs his thumb in soothing circles. He takes in your naked body and admires the sight before him. He drinks in the sight of your skin in the warm light and the way the gold reflects in the color of your eyes.

“You’re beautiful love.”

You feel your cheeks warm and there’s something about the way the Master looks at you that floods molten heat between your legs. 

You lean back down to kiss him - feel his cock twitch against your ass when your lips meet and you let that molten heat between your legs do the thinking for you. 

You start to grind your hips against him, slowly inching back until you’re grinding against his cock.  

You start to get lost in the feeling, letting go of your inhibitions to focus solely on your pleasure and the Master’s, but just as you’re starting to fall into a haze, the Master’s voice reels you back to reality.

“Darling?” 

“Hmm?”

“Guess what?”

“What?” You’re genuinely confused - completely clueless at the edge of your haze.

But soon you’re letting out a surprised yelp as the Master rolls, flipping you under him with a joyful laugh. The sound of your laugh rings through the room soon after, and the Master swears he’s never heard anything so beautiful. 

“I guess I should have seen that coming.” You say, adjusting to be a little more comfortable under the Master. 

“Probably, but you’ve had a long day, so I’ll let it slide.” 

You both chuckle a little and the Master leans back down to kiss you. He’s sweet and soft and there’s no place in the universe more comfortable than this.

As the Master kisses you, he sneaks a hand down his body and starts to work his pants down his legs, taking his boxers with them as he goes. 

“Won’t be needing these now will I?” 

“Certainly not.” You reply with a light laugh.

His pants and underwear end up in the pile at the end of the bed, and when he climbs back up to you, he’s caught off guard by the look you’re giving him. It’s warm and happy. You’re admiring him.

The Master hovers over you and watches as your eyes and hand trail over his chest and abdomen, “You look so pretty,” you whisper up to him, “Where have you been hiding all this, hmm?”

There’s a sharp inhale and the Master feels something deep within him ache. Something good. Something long neglected. And like letting go of the deepest breath, his next words flowed from him.

“Oh darling, I love you.” 

The Master presses his body against yours as he comes down for a searing kiss, nearly losing himself in the comfort of feeling his skin on yours; in the ambient heat that radiates from you. It doesn’t last long though, as the Master quickly refocuses on his goal - nay, his job - this evening: making you cum. He pulls away from you, running his nails along your scalp and delighting in the happy noise you make.

“It’s about time you got your reward huh, love?” The Master prompts.

“My reward?” .

“Mhm.” His nails continue to rake across your scalp. 

“What for?” 

“Oh you know,” he starts, feigning nonchalance. “surviving a freezing cold ocean and an alien possession, saving my life, being the most beautiful woman in the universe. Seems deserving of a reward to me, don’t you think?”

You look surprised for a moment, but eventually agree, a bashful warmth heating your cheeks as hot arousal floods your pussy again. “I’d like that.” 

“A reward it is then.” The Master smiles. 

He wastes no time shuffling down the bed until he’s between your legs. He lets his hands glide over the tops of your thighs before gently coaxing your legs further apart. He settles there and admires your pussy, running his thumb along your inner thigh, just off to the side of where you really want it. You’re not entirely certain, but you think you hear a breathy “beautiful” slip under the Master’s breath.

“Do you want me to touch you love?” The Master teases, letting the edge of his nail ghost along your folds.

He delights in your shiver and the eager, “yes” that barely makes it past your lips. He considers teasing you further, but what kind of reward would that be? You’ve worked hard enough for it as is.

“As you wish, darling.” 

The Master delves a finger between your folds, feeling the leaking pool of arousal that’s been flooding your pussy since he sat you down on the console. His cock throbs as he smears your arousal all over your cunt.

He’s a little greedy. He can’t help himself. He gathers some of your arousal on the tips of his fingers and brings them to his mouth, tasting you once again. Your taste sends a jolt right through his cock and he moans loud around his fingers.

“Mm, I’ve missed that taste.” The Master groans, “So tempting. So sweet.” 

Your own moan brings the Master back to you and your hips as they start to cant against the empty air.

“Oh I’m sorry love, got a little lost there. I’ll give you what you want.” 

The Master runs his fingers through your folds and your body lights up, every nerve crying, begging for more as he teases the edge of your hole. 

His fingers run up the length of your pussy until he finds that sweet, beautiful bundle of nerves that makes you cry out for him. He rubs circles on your clit, adjusting his technique until he finds the perfect rhythm to make you whimper and buck up against his fingers. His hand sends sparks through your body - quick laps of pleasure along your skin so good they almost sting. His other hand is running up and down your thigh, slow enough so his fingernails leave tingling trails in their wake that make you writhe. Your hands grapple at the Master’s sheets, needing something to ground you in the moment.

“Master, please—“ you beg as his fingers continue to work your clit. 

“Yes love?” He waits for your response with a knowing smile.

“Fuck me.” you gasp out, “I don’t wanna wait any longer. I want you.”

The Master huffs a laugh and gives you a warm look, “As you wish, love.”

He pulls your legs up and wrestles a soft pillow under your butt, making sure you’re good and comfy before settling between your legs. He takes a moment to drag himself between your folds and listen to your needy moans as his tip rubs against your clit. He doesn’t play around too long though. He’s determined to give you everything you want tonight, so he notches his cock at your entrance and slowly starts to work himself into your weeping hole.

“By the stars love, you’re so tight - hugging me so tight I can barely move.” The Master groans as he starts to gently thrust into you.“Look at the way you gush over me. You’re getting me all wet darling.” 

You can only whimper in response, too distracted by the stretch of his cock and the wonderfully full feeling to form proper words.  That’s not a problem for the Master though. He can feel it all flowing freely through your mind to his and it washes over him like a shower of compliments. 

He practically preens, feeling your pleasure and satisfaction wave over him like high tide - licking at every nerve, every exposed inch of skin until he feels hot. He picks up his pace, thrusting into you. Your hands are clutching the bedsheets for dear life as you writhe under the Master’s body. You hear a groan from him and something else unintelligible before he pounces on you.

“Stars, you’re so fucking hot.” The Master growls.

He leaps forward, slamming his lips to yours in a searing kiss as he begins to thrust his cock into your needy pussy. You moan against his lips and press your body against his - one of your hands tangles in his hair and tugs. He thrusts at a brutal pace, toying with that sensitive spot inside you. 

The Master breaks away from the kiss to trail countless wet, sloppy kisses down your throat. His tongue laps at your skin, leaving cool, wet trails in his wake. He works his way down to your breasts, punctuating every kiss with a thrust of his cock. 

He gives an experimental lick to one of your nipples and the breathless moan he gets from you is enough to quell his curiosity. He takes your nipple in his mouth and runs his tongue over it, paying close attention to the way your body shivers in response.

He cradles your other breast in his hand and toys with your other nipple - tracing around it with his nail until you whine - a breathy “please” falling from your lips. He rewards you with a pinch and works your two nipples until you’re writhing beneath him, thrusting your hips up to meet his own. 

The air shifts a little. You can feel something heavier and weightier starting to bleed through the Master’s mind into yours. You can’t place a name on the emotion, but you think it has to do with the Mermaid and everything that happened before you woke up in the TARDIS med bay.

 The Master pulls away from your breast to rest his chin on your chest. His hips slow. He holds one of your hands in his.

“Look at me love. Let me see your beautiful eyes.” He smiles when you look at him with bright, gleaming eyes. His voice is adoring when he speaks to you: “That was the Mermaid’s worst crime: changing your eyes. Changing you.” 

The Master starts to lay reverent kisses on your chest as he slowly grinds into you, letting your pleasure build subtle and slow.

“Look at you. So strong. So beautiful.” The Master murmurs, “You deserve this love. You’ve done so good today.” 

He seems like he can’t stop. All his emotions from earlier today are pouring from him like some stampede of thought.

“You saved me. In more ways than one. More than just today.” The Master admits against your warm skin, “How did you do that? How did you save a thing like me?” 

You don’t have a response; the answer is as much a mystery to you as it is to him. But you can move your hand down from his hair to hold his jaw and run a thumb over his cheek to acknowledge him. You can smile up at him and draw him in for a kiss, and let all your emotions flood through his mind until all he feels is the depth of your love for him.

The Master moans and pulls himself up from your chest. His hips pick up pace again, grinding into you harder and faster until he builds a steady rhythm.

“You’re perfect y’know that?” He groans out with a renewed vigor, “Absolutely perfect.”

He listens to your moans and feels your body’s reaction. He adjusts his thrusts until you’re a writhing mess beneath him, whimpering and whining as you listen to his ceaseless praise. 

“You beat the odds and bent that fucking Mermaid to your will. You brought it up the hill. You slammed that church door open. You’re the reason I’m still alive, love.” The Master has to pause, fighting off his release. The sight of you practically glowing in the lamplight below him is too much. All your soft warmth and quiet strength is overwhelming. He’s so proud of you that it overflows both of your minds and cascades through your bodies. It’s too much all at once. 

“You saved me.” He whispers against your lips.

“And you saved me.” You respond, leaning up to kiss him.

It’s like a switch is flipped, and now the Master is frantically kissing you and thrusting into you like an animal, desperate to give you everything you want and more. 

“I’m yours, darling. Entirely yours.” He pants into your ear. “The universe is yours if you so wish.”

Your moans are music to him; every thrust he gives is punctuated by your sultry, fucked-out voice and he’s convinced it’s the only sound that matters anymore. That is, until you card a hand through his hair and groan into his ear.

“Master, I’m close…” 

He groans, and takes that as a challenge of sorts. He won’t finish until you do, but he’s so damn close it’s getting hard to hold on. 

You notice his erratic thrusts; his shaking arms; the way he holds his breath and does everything he can to stave off his own release until you’re satisfied.

In an effort to help you, he reaches a hand down to play with your clit like he had before, drawing the most beautiful gasps and moans from your lips as your pleasure mounts - building into something tight and unbearable. 

It only takes a couple more thrusts and one last  circle on your clit to—

“Master! Don’t—don’t stop, I—please don’t stop! I—I’m—“

Your vision whites out. Your body writhes beneath the Master and wave after wave of pleasure slams through you until all that’s left is a boneless lump on the Master’s bed. For a moment, you’re entirely wiped out. You’re unable to move or think. You’re vaguely aware of the wetness between your thighs and the Master shuddering above you, heaving his breaths as he recovers from his own release.

You come down slow, enjoying the light airy feeling and the hazy pleasure that lingers afterwards. You twitch as the Master pulls his cock from you and leaves a little kiss on your clit. He quickly crawls up the bed to check on you.

“You alright there, love?” He smiles down at your fucked-out face. He’s still breathing heavy and the sight is beautiful to you.

“Mmhm.” You nod and smile back up at him. 

“How are you feeling? Done for the night or do you want more?” He asks, wiping a stray drop of sweat from your face.

He can feel your slight hesitation and quickly tries to reassure you: “It’s okay, love. Whatever you want, it’s yours. Wanna make sure you’re taken care of.”

You nod, pulling a pillow into your arms.

“I want more…” you admit into the pillow, a bashful tone overtaking your voice.

“And how do you want it?” 

You look up at the Master to see him smiling. You return that smile with wide, excited eyes. His question is enough to reassure you and you answer him with one hundred percent sincerity:

“Fuck me into this mattress, Master.”

His cock twitches and he takes a shuddering breath.

“As you wish, love.” The Master purrs.

A few rounds later, you feel very thoroughly fucked into the mattress. Your bones feel like they’ve dissolved into jelly, and you’re little more than a puddle of hazy, happy pleasure.

And then there’s something warm and wet between your legs, reeling you back into reality. 

The sheets are askew, the support pillow is halfway across the room, and you’re certain your nails left scratches all over the headboard. 

And then Master is there, between your legs, cleaning you up with a warm washcloth. 

“There you go, love. Comfy?” 

You nod lazily and make grabby hands at him with the most convincing pout you can muster. 

The Master laughs. “Alright, darling. I’ll be right there.” 

He sets the washcloth aside and returns to his bathroom for a short moment, coming back out with a couple glasses of water. 

“You don’t have to drink this now, but you’ll probably want it when we wake up.”

You look straight past the glasses on his bedside table, focusing on him, how he moves, and how he’s joining you in bed. 

You scramble under the soft purple duvet and hold up the other side, inviting the Master in. He chuckles and slides in bed to be immediately smothered by your clingy cuddles.

He cuddles you right back, tangling his legs with yours and holding your body close to his. He covers the both of you in his deep purple duvet and turns to tell you goodnight.

You’re already passed out though, clinging to the Master’s body and using his chest as a pillow.

He laughs to himself and turns off the bedside lamps, then settles himself in the bed and falls right asleep with you.

The Master wakes a few hours later to the feeling of your body moving. You’re still asleep, just adjusting a bit. The room is still dark. He can see you well enough though, and takes this time to admire you and everything you had done yesterday.

He’d meant every word he said last night. He was astounded by your strength. He was proud of you for surviving. For saving him. 

But there was still this little voice in his head telling him that none of it should have happened; that you shouldn’t have had to save him; that that’s not your job when you’re traveling with him.

It’s not long before guilt starts to settle in, ruining what sweet afterglow he could have had as he admired you.

A small rustle next to him reels him back to reality.

“G’mornin’” you yawn and stretch out against the Master’s body.

“Good morning, love.” The Master says as he turns away for a moment to switch on the bedside lamps.

He laughs a little when you scrunch your eyes closed, and fight to let your eyes adjust to the new light. He gives you a warm look, taking in the features of your face as you slowly open your eyes.

“Have I ever told you how much I love the color of your eyes?” He whispers.

“I think you’ve mentioned it a time or two.” You smile up at him before noticing that something is just a hair off in his expression, “What’s wrong?” 

“Hmm? Oh, nothing’s wrong. Just enjoying my view.” 

“No. You’ve got that look on your face. The one you wear when something’s wrong, but you don’t want to scare me so you pretend everything’s fine.” 

“You really do know me, don’t you, darling?” 

“That I do.” You give a little sassy nod and wait for the Master’s explanation.

“Fine. It’s the trip. Yesterday.”

“What are you thinking about?” You sit up, giving the Master all of your attention.

“I just…yesterday was supposed to be a fun, seaside trip. I wanted to take you to the ocean and watch your face light up when you saw the beach - you’re always talking about how much you love the beach - and I just wanted to make you happy. But instead, I got it wrong. I almost lost you.” The Master reaches out to hold your hand - like he’s making sure you’re still here.

“Master, that isn’t your fault. None of it is your fault.”  

His gaze focuses on your fingers as he quietly inspects them.

“Isn’t it? If I had got the date right, none of this would have happened. You would have stayed safe.”  

“You couldn’t have known what was going to happen. Even with a time machine and your Time Lord super powers, you couldn’t have known.” You insist.

“I should have turned us around the minute I felt suspicious–” 

“It’s not your fault, Master.”  

“–but you looked so happy when you rushed out the TARDIS doors–” 

“Master, it isn’t–”  

“–and the way your face lit up when you heard the sound of the waves? How could I ever say no to that face? I couldn’t, so–” 

“Master–” 

“–so I let you go. I let you explore and I–” 

“Master.” 

“I put you in danger. Like I always do.” 

The look on the Master’s face was a punch to your gut. You could see tears starting to well in his eyes and a look in them that said he was trying to fight them back. You wrap your arms around him, bringing his head to rest on your chest before any could fall. 

“It’s not your fault, Master. It’s not your fault.” 

“I–I could have done m-more to save you. To keep the villagers from harming you.” 

“But you did save me. I’m still here. I’m right here, holding you, running my fingers through your hair – the same old me it’s always been.” You pause to rake your fingers through the Master’s hair, “Neither of us could have known how the villagers would react to us. Neither of us were prepared for anything like it. But we survived. And I’m still alive because you saved me.”

He nods into your neck, hugging you closer to him as his body shudders.

After a moment, he looks back up at you, wiping his eyes and cheeks before you say anything. He just keeps staring into your eyes, looking at you to make sure you’re really still there - making sure he really had gotten all of the Mermaid out of your mind. 

You notice the bags under his eyes. They’re still there despite how long the two of you slept. It makes you wonder. 

“Master, how long did you spend removing the Mermaid from my head?” 

He hesitates a moment and a guilty look starts to overshadow his eyes. 

“Ten hours.”   

Your eyes widen - practically popping right out of your head.

“Ten hours? Straight?” 

The Master nods, solemn. 

You are silent. Dumbstruck. You give the Master a look that pleads for an explanation or some rationale to explain what he was thinking. Ten hours straight to remove the alien in your head?

“It was a delicate process. One wrong move could have killed you and there was no way in hell I was going to let that happen. I thought I lost you once last night, nothing in the universe could have stopped me from trying to save you.” 

“Master I–” The Master isn’t done.  

“Losing you, love, for however brief a moment, shattered me. I thought you were dead. Really, truly, there’s-no-coming-back-from-this dead. I didn’t even fight the villagers when they dragged me to the church. Or when they restrained me. Or when they were setting up that stupid ritual. I could only see the terror in your eyes as you were pushed over, and I could only think about how I couldn’t save you. I didn’t try hard enough to save you. I got distracted and I—“

“Master.” Your gentle voice pulls him from his rambling. You pull him into a hug, hoping it will help ground him.

“I’m scared of losing you.” The Master admits in a whisper against your neck. “I’ve never been more scared than I was last night.”

You place a kiss on his cheek and cradle his neck in your hand. You know there isn’t anything to say in response.

It takes a few minutes, but eventually he sits back up and cradles your head in his hand.

“Yknow, this whole traveling thing…I need you with me. It’s not worth it to travel the stars if you’re not here. If I had lost you last night…I’d–I’d lose myself. I don’t know what I’d become.”  

“You didn’t lose me, Master, you saved me. We saved each other.” 

The Master nods, pulling you back into his arms. He places a kiss just under your ear and nuzzles into your neck, taking a moment to appreciate how it feels to hold you.

You almost miss it, but right as you close your eyes, there’s a mumble against your ear.

“Thank you for saving me.”

Star and Mood Dividers By: @cafekitsune

Ocean Divider:

[noforkingclue]

Hey could I please request a Dhawan!Master x reader with the dialogue "Oh don't worry. A little bit of Hypnosis never hurt anybody."

Have a great day

Of course anon! I did go slightly darker with this fic.

Hope you like it :)

Title: Giving In

Warnings: kidnapping, wanted hypnotism

You swallowed thickly as you looked up at the Master. He gave you a manic grin as he knelt down to your level. You were determined not to show any fear in front of him. That was what he wanted after all- for you to cower by his feet.

But you knew you shouldn’t look into his eyes.

Those beautiful, beautiful eyes that were wasted on a man like him.

Someone as evil as him shouldn’t have eyes like that.

“Love.”

Or a voice like that. That soothing voice that he didn’t deserve.

“Look at me, love.”

“No.”

“Why not? It’s not polite to not look at someone when they’re speaking to you.”

“Since when have you been polite to me?”

“Haven’t I? You’re still alive aren’t you?”

You glared at his feet, not daring to look up any further. You heard him sigh and walk around his TARDIS. You could practically see the pose and expression on his face, despite not looking up.  Hands behind his back, mock disappointment

“Do you know why I took you?” he asked

“To piss off the Doctor.”

“Ah well, an added bonus.”

“So that wasn’t the reason? Seemed to be in the past.”

Ok, so this certainly wasn’t the first time he’d kidnapped you. Out of the Doctor’s companions, you were the person who’d spent the most time with the bastard. So he had an element of charm about him, well, at least to you. He definitely threatened you the least.

And sometimes, on the very odd occasion, you could’ve sworn he was actually flirting with you. If you could call threatening to kill you while telling you how beautiful you looked covered in your own blood, flirting.

Timelords.

“Why do you want me to look at you?” you asked

“I think you know that. For a human, you’re not a stupid as you look.”

“Thanks.”

You could see him walk over and he grabbed your chin. Quickly, you shut your eyes as he tilted your chin back. He leant down, brushing his cheek against yours. His beard scratched your cheek and you felt his breath fan across your cheek.

“It’ll be painless,” he said softly, his voice like honey, “you’ll feel so good.”

“No it won’t.”

"Oh don't worry. A little bit of Hypnosis never hurt anybody."

“Maybe not physically but mentally it will.”

“Only if you resist and you’re not going to resist me are you?”

“Yes I am.”

“Why? Oh wait, let me guess, because I’m evil. The Doctor has told you all about me so of course you now know every little detail about me.”

“She’s told us enough.”

The Master cupped your face, brushing his thumbs against your cheek bones. You kept your eyes firmly shut and he sighed, pressing his forehead against yours. You shuddered as you felt his breath fan across your face and you could practically hear the smile in his voice as he said,

“I could make you open those beautiful eyes of yours. I could make you do so many things and then,”

He broke off with a dark chuckle,

“And then I’ll make you forget so we can do this over and over again. So unless you want things to hurt, to really hurt, I’d suggest you open your eyes.”

And so you did.

[how-masterful]

Body and Blood

Dhawan!Master X Reader

Summary: The Master is desperate for you to sink your teeth into him. Literally.

Notes: Wow... does this feel weird! I can only apologise for my lack of fics, please chalk it up to creative frustration on my part! But if there's anything that can inspire me, it's the spooky season. Please enjoy this light bite of a fic, and I hope to drop a few more before the countdown begins on the 18th! It's good to be back! Also please be aware, as the title suggests, there will be blood!

This fic is inspired by something I wrote for the 31 fics of fright series- there's no need to read that one before this, but it's a good companion fic to this one if you like fangs! Find that fic HERE

Sharpened claws cradled the warm flesh of the Master's jaw. You could feel his pulse beneath your fingertips, the accelerated beat of a double pulmonary system, a rhythmic thumping of four. The Master let out a quiet groan, his tongue swiping over parted lips as he exhaled.

Your other hand found purchase on his wrist, your thighs trapping his body against the rumpled covers of the bed, his half-hard cock still buried deep inside from your last round. He shifted beneath you, his hips lightly bucking to bring you closer, his free hand supporting your lower back.

The Master was working on instinct. His body was craving your own once more, despite being utterly spent.

“That's it...” You whispered against his throat, before placing a gentle peck to his skin. The Timelord grunted in reply, his lashes blinking against his cheeks as you lay a teasing trail of kisses down his neck. 

“Give yourself to me this time.”

His skin was fire, an inferno contained within a man, his fingers splaying across your hip as he settled further into your hold. You could feel the tension melt from his muscles with each kiss and peck, his resistance to submit unraveling like yarn in your palms. Adjusting your hold upon his throat, you allowed your teeth to rake against the pulsating vein, teasing the skin with your tongue. The Master shivered, head falling back against your grip as a meek moan escaped him. 

“Yes, love” He pleaded, making no attempt to hide his desperation.

It was wonderfully pathetic watching him fall apart beneath you- his mammoth, audacious bravado melting under the threat of your teeth in his skin. In the distant corner of the room the radio continued to crackle, REO Speedwagon crooning from the speakers. They were right, the Master was unable to fight the feeling anymore- allowing himself to give you everything without even lifting a finger was utterly irresistible. Now it was his turn to be touched, caressed, held like a precious jewel and broken like a treasured toy. 

“Do you want this?” You purred, sickly sweet.

The Master's eyes had fluttered shut long before, his head nodding as he gave a heavy exhale. You teased the vein on his neck once again with your teeth, giving a series of nips to the flesh and watching his panting falter. 

“Do you?”

He hastily nodded once more. You clenched your thighs around his middle, softly grinding against his growing erection, your thumb rising from his jaw to caress across his cheek. His eyes dared to open, pupils blown and hazy.

“Do you want me?”

You whispered, half in play, half in earnest.

The Master, a titan of malice, a renegade monster, the quintessence of evil, whimpered.

He whimpered like a mewling kitten, bucking his hips once again and pulling you back down against his body, encouraging you to push yourself further onto his cock.

“Always,” He promised, “Forever.”

The sound of your pleased hum was a symphony to his senses, the sudden rush of wonder drowning his self control as you sunk your teeth into his neck, your tongue lapping at the thin sheen of sweat as you sucked a deep red mark into his skin. You bit hard, enough to draw a single line of blood, the crimson leaking down the contours of his neck. The master growled, a deeply pleased rumble as your tongue licked it up, streaking the deep maroon across your teeth.

Your eyes met his and he took in the scene- Your lips red and swollen, gaze deadly and sublime. He suddenly pulled his hand from your iron grip, grasping tight at the back of your head, sinking his own claws into your hair. A hiss spat from your lips, eyes widening in anticipation as the Master yanked your head backwards, angling your neck towards himself and pulling your throat to his lips.

He made no effort to tease, to set the mood or build up speed, his tongue swirling over the skin the only warning as he sunk his teeth into the side of your neck. You let out a desperate yelp, feeling the warm trickle of blood begin to flow towards your shoulder- but the Masters tongue was there to clean up the mess long before it could reach.

Once more meeting your eyes, the Master bared his teeth, your own sanguine streaked upon his smile, the adoring grin of a victorious predator. You bared your own teeth, bloodied and vile, the Timelords hearts thundering in tandem with your own as he pulled your lips to meet his.

Rough and coordinated, skilled yet blinded by mad lust, the Master took you upon the bed once more, the pair of you clawing against each other's already marred skin as you satiated your insatiable appetites. 

It was vicious, and it was honest, snatching your breath and leaving you panting against his chest, his hearts beating beneath your temple in a rapturous applause. 

“We should probably get rid of it soon.” You whispered after a while, fingertips idly tracing the heart you'd drawn upon his chest.

The Master hummed in consideration, one arm curled around your middle, the other tenderly playing with your hair, his cock still inside you as you lay in his embrace.

“It’s looking at me funny. And it’s attracting flies.”

The Master's eyes finally pulled from your lips to glance at the body in the chair, the radio beside it still crackling aging ballads into the night. The body had stiffened long ago, its head lolling back on its shoulders as its mouth gaped open, a lonely fly buzzing around its face. It settled upon a glazed eyeball, rubbing its front legs together as it crawled across the bloodied, bulging pupil.

The Master nodded in agreement. He reached across towards the nightstand, taking purchase of the TCE. In an instant the body, once stiff and decaying, was nothing but a shrunken doll. The Master let the device slip from his hand, the golden box joining the shrunken body on the floor as it clattered to the ground, his own body falling back into place as he pressed a gentle kiss to your forehead.

[agent-barnes40]

Christmas

13th Doctor x fem!Reader x Dhawan!Master (The Doctor and The Master aren't together)

The Fam get a Christmas surprise

Fluff, Angst

You fiddled with The Doctor's lilac jacket, a habit you got into doing with her when you got nervous. She smiled at you and pressed a kiss to your head. "It's going to be okay."

You huffed softly and looked at her. "What if they think this is just another elaborate scheme? What if they think he's in my brain and forcing me to date him?"

The Doctor pulled you even tighter against her body and rested her head on yours. "I know the Fam don't know The Master like we do, but I really doubt they'd suggest something like hypnosis."

You rose a brow and pulled back softly, to stare into her eyes. "And yet the both of you both like doing it."

She sputtered for a minute, her face starting to redden and you laughed. "I'm just teasing, sorry starshine."

The Doctor was still red but had relaxed as the two of you heard footsteps and you instinctively reached out to take the other timelord's hand. The Master gripped your hand tightly. "What's got our Doctor all red?"

"N-Nothing! Lets go in!" The Doctor quickly said, reaching to take your other hand.

The three of you turned to step inside Dan's new house, a new one had been given to him by UNIT after Karvanista destroyed his last one. Yaz had been in the door way and smiled at the sight of the Doctor before you and The Master had stepped in. Her face instantly dropped and she reached for her gun. You immediately stepped in front of The Master.

"What's he doin' here?" Yaz asked, causing the rest of the people in the house to look.

"He's my boyfriend. He's my plus one." You said, with a confidence you didn't know you had.

"Woah! Who's this guy?" Dan asked, as his head popped around the corner and The Master waved slightly

"His name is- Wait, hold on!" You turned and looked at The Master

'What name?'

'Lets use the one everyone knows, The Master.'

You turned back and took a deep breath. "This is The Master, The Doctor's best enemy and her girlfriends boyfriend."

Yaz's eyes locked with yours and you took it as a challenge. "I'm still dating the Doc, Yaz. No man's going to change that."

The Doctor's grip on your other hand tightened just a small bit as you took a deep breath and so did Yaz. "Now I know no one expected The Master, and you do not have buddy up with him if you don't want to, but treat him with respect. He has a right to that just as much as we do."

"Not after he tried killin' everyone! Did you just suddenly forget that?" Yaz asked and you pulled your hand away to rub at your face.

"Of course not! Time has gone very differently for us then it has for you. Its been a while for us since droppin' you off, Yaz. Its been what? Two weeks?" You asked, raising a brow.

Yaz was hesitant to nod and it took you looking to a very confused Dan to get your answer. The Master quickly went to grab your hand, this time tightening his grip on it. "Lets all just enjoy the party and I can avoid Ms. cop over there."

"Oi!" Yaz said, annoyed at how everyone was seemingly ignoring the murderer in the room.

~

Graham was next to have a reaction, of course you had stepped away from both The Master and The Doctor to grab something from The TARDIS's outside. He stilled and just blinked at the sight of The Master. "Lemme guess, this wasn't the Doc's idea, was it?"

The Master looked over and tilted his eyes up to meet the human's eyes. "It was my beautiful human's idea."

The Doctor snorted and rolled her eyes before her face scrunched up. "Just call her your girlfriend. Its demeaning to Earth's inhabitants by calling them by their species."

Dan snorted and raised a glass, agreeing with The Doctor. "Aren't you right!"

You had come back into the house, struggling to hold the presents you had in your arms. "Oh! Hi Graham! Could ya help?"

The Master had looked over at you and seemed to relax instantly, his ever watching eyes tracking at how Graham hurried over to grab the presents, quietly asking you what was in the boxes and you shook your head.

"Time Lord hearing is much better than human hearing, remember that, dear." The Master said, his eyes leaving you to check on The Doctor, who was staring at him in amazement.

"You haven't talked like that in a couple regenerations." She said and The Master let out a snort.

"Only for her, Doctor, only for her."

~

Ryan hadn't spent a lot of time with The Master when he was O, but still had a cautious look in his eyes as you sat in-between the Time Lords and you had your arms sitting their laps. The Doctor took to writing Gallifreyan on your palm while The Master took to just holding your hand. Dan had gotten up to deal with the food, which had caused her to start rambling about food.

The Master had rolled his eyes and turned to look at Ryan. "Do you want to get it out of your system, now or when my girlfriend's out of the room?"

You had turned to look at The Master, a look of annoyance before you sighed. "I cant believe you are trying to instigate another argument over you being here."

Ryan just shook his head before looking back to the pile of presents on the floor. The Master rose a brow and looked at you. "He wasn't going to take the bait and you know it."

Ryan's eyes shot back over to The Master. "Want me to take the bait? Here: Don't do anything stupid."

You groaned and pulled your arms away from both Time Lords. "I'm going for air. I can't believe this."

~

Dan had followed you outside, holding a glass for you. You took it with an eyebrow raise. "Its just lemonade. Didn't want spend to much on fancy drinks in case danger comes back around."

"The danger is sitting in your living room gettin' yelled at by our friends, Dan. I expect someone to end up with a bruised face or turned into a doll." You mumbled the last part but smiled when you could hear The Master snort in your mind.

"He can do that?" Dan asked, looking over at you, his eyes previously looking at the two blue boxes next to each other.

You laughed softly and nodded. "Of course, he has this gun thing- Sorry, a TCE, as he calls it and its like a sonic. It's really interesting when he sits down and lets ya look at it."

Dan chuckled and shook his head. You tilted your head. "What?"

The man raised a brow and you crossed your arms, making sure to not spill the lemonade. "Daniel Lewis, you better tell me right now."

Dan's eyes widened. "How do you know my full name?"

You gestured back to the house. "Not only did you live with me for months, you were literally in a telepathic box with a telepathic Time Lord. Plus, the TARDIS tattled when I wrote your name down once."

The Doctor's TARDIS seemed to brighten at that and you smiled. "Yeah, yeah. You like tattling on us!"

Dan's shocked expression morphed into a smile and he lightly bumped you. "You are head over heels in love, girl."

You laughed softly. "Oh don't I know it, Dan. Sucks I won't stay with them forever."

"Don't talk like that on Christmas." Dan scolded and you looked over at him.

"Its better to treat every Christmas like its your last. Its the best way to live." You smiled and took a sip from your glass.

"Who taught you that?" Dan asked.

The TARDIS seemed to shine even more and so did The Master's. "Some very old friends."

[allzelemonz]

Doctor Who Masterlist

Main Masterlist

The Master

Wrong Door: The Master X Male Reader

Prompt: Tropesgiving Day 1: Enemies to Lovers Pronouns: He/Him Physical Sex: None Mentioned Rating: T/Moderate Themes Warnings: Canon typical violence, double meaning/implied future intimacy, background Yaz/Doctor, Dhawan Master Summary: The Doctor responds to a distress signal and meets an unexpected enemy with the intention of hurting her and the fam. When everyone’s plans are ruined, a certain Timelord has to improvise.

[praxeus-13]

There’s Something Missing

(Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3)

Pairing: Dh!Master x Time Lord!Reader

Word Count: 4000

Summary: You’ve been living in the same place for as long as you remembered, tortured with the knowledge that you’ve forgotten almost every aspect of your past life. Until one day, you meet three strangers and gain some hope for your future.

Warnings: amnesia (does that count as a warning?)

A/N: Reader is gender neutral :D Also to everyone who’s sent in requests, I have seen them and I am starting to write them :) Idk when the next part will be posted, but there will be at least two more parts to this series

You had lost count of how many years had passed, you gave up after the hundredth year, losing all hope of getting out of the hell you lived in. New people would appear every decade or so, sticking around for anywhere between a few hours or a few years - though never as long as you. It always hurt to lose people, even if you never got to know them too well, no one ever left alive.

However, the thing that hurt most was the gaping hole in your memories. It was a constant source of emotional pain for you, sometimes turning into a physical pain in the form of a headache whenever you tried to remember your life outside of this place. That was one thing that became painfully obvious, everyone else who turned up had a life before this place, they had people they loved and a life to go back to.

All you remembered was waking up here one day, many years ago, and promptly having to run for your life. There hadn’t been any other people for a long time, but eventually they showed up. The people came with too many questions, and you were unable to answer any of them. They had asked you your name, and you nearly cried when you had to admit you didn’t know it.

You didn’t tell the first people about the name you did remember, because they never asked for anyone else’s name. Somehow you knew that the name you could remember wasn’t yours.

Koschei.

Whoever Koschei was, it wasn’t you, but over the years the name became the embodiment of all your hope. Most times it was the only thing keeping you going, motivating you to stick to the endless routine of running, hiding and scavenging.

You dreamt about your life before, or you thought you did. Koschei was in nearly every dream, and there had been countless times where you had woken up with their name on your lips. You never remembered their face, but you could see feint outlines. Somehow there were several different versions of Koschei, though you could tell that it was always the same person.

In quiet moments you would day dream about them, hoping that one day they would show up in your hell to rescue you. Sometimes you imagined that they would hold you in their arms as they told you who the two of you were, whereas other times you remembered everything from before the moment you locked eyes with Koschei.

———

It had probably been a few years since you had seen anyone else, and you found yourself getting lonely again. Talking to yourself became boring after a while, and there was rarely any good memories to focus on in the times you needed them. You were sat in your makeshift bed in the bunker you had discovered many years ago, trying to distract yourself from the hunger gnawing at your stomach, when you heard voices.

Of course, there was a possibility that you were imagining things, but it was worth investigating. Once you were out of the bunker, you set off down the hallway hoping to hear the voices again. Of course, you only heard them again once you had started to give up hope.

“- always wondering off?”

You only managed to catch the last part of the conversation, but this was definitely someone new talking, a man from the sounds of it.

“Not always.” There was a pause. “Well okay, yeah she is but-“

The second voice sounded like a woman, with a different accent to the man.

Unfortunately, since it had been a while since you had met anyone new, you had forgotten the importance of staying quiet and hidden until you could be sure they were safe. You accidentally kicked a rock across the ground, and it made a scratching noise as it slid across the worn tile floor.

Hopefully they wouldn’t hear it.

“Did you hear that?”

Shit.

Hopefully these people were some of the nicer ones, and not the kind who would attack first and ask questions later (you had encountered a few of those).

“Hello?” The man called out from around the corner, though his call was followed by a muffled exclamation from the woman.

You debated you options before deciding that the best course of action would be to talk to the newcomers. They didn’t sound like a threat, and even if they were you had a couple makeshift knives on you to defend yourself with.

Luckily, once you walked round the corner you were met with an unthreatening sight. Neither of them were armed with anything, and their clothes definitely weren’t ones that a warrior or soldier would wear. Still, you knew that appearances could be deceiving so you remained weary of them.

“Hi, I’m Yaz and this is Dan, we’re a bit lost - where are we?” The woman - Yaz - had an air of authority about the way she spoke.

“Hell, I guess. I don’t know exactly.” You replied, not wanting to give them too much information.

“Well that’s ominous.” Dan huffed out with a slight laugh, clearly nervous about your answer.

Yaz ignored him, “Okay, have you seen anyone else down here? We’re looking for our friend, she was here with us but then we got separated.”

“I haven’t seen anyone else in a while, she could be dead.” You replied bluntly, a combination of hunger and sleep deprivation making you forget about conversational rules.

“She’s not dead! Why would she be dead?”

“There’s things down here, monsters, they’re very good at killing.”

Both Dan and Yaz looked rather bewildered at your answers, though Yaz seemed to recover quicker.

“What’s your name?”

That question, that stupid question that everyone always asked!

Fed up of the useless question and answer session, you moved past the newcomers and started walking down one of the hallways. The sounds of footsteps behind you told you that Dan and Yaz had decided to follow.

“Look, we’re not trying to bother you, we’re just trying to find our friend and then we’ll go.” Yaz tried again, and you had to applaud her stubborn nature.

“Go? You can’t go anywhere, the only way out of this place is death.” You laughed a little at them, how hopeful they were.

“Luckily for us, our friend has a ship that can get us out of here - you could come too if you wanted.”

This made you pause where you were walking, turning around to face the strangers again. No one else had ever had a ship.

“Is your ship here? In this place?” Desperation was bleeding through your voice, but you didn’t care.

“Yes, it’s how we got here.”

You didn’t know how to react, all these years you had never had as much hope as you did in this moment. All of your thoughts were racing around your brain, though only one stood out.

“Koschei. Your friend, is her name Koschei?”

“Uh, no, her name’s The Doctor.”

Deflating slightly, you took a step back from the strangers, trying to ignore the twinge of sadness in your hearts. Even if this person wasn’t Koschei, she could still get you out of here, and maybe you could convince all of them to help you find Koschei.

“Alright, where did you last see her?”

———

Predictably, neither Dan nor Yaz remembered exactly where they had last seen their friend, which meant that you had all had to wonder around the corridors hoping you would find her. It had been about an hour since you started your search when you finally heard some noise in the distance. Picking up speed, you headed in the right direction, and you were met with the sight of another new person.

“Doctor!” Yaz called out enthusiastically, hurrying towards her friend.

Dan followed behind her as well, with a smile on his face. On the other hand, you were still being cautious, so you hung back while they all greeted each other.

“Ah! Yaz! Dan! There you two are, where did you wander off to?” The Doctor turned to greet her friends enthusiastically.

“We weren’t the ones who wandered off.” Dan pointed out, though The Doctor was distracted by your presence.

“Who’s your friend?”

“Uh, I don’t know actually - you never gave us your name.”

All three of them were looking at you now, clearly expecting you to give an answer. Unfortunately, you couldn’t just brush them off again, if they really did have a ship then you needed their help to get out of this place.

“I don’t know. Everyone else who has ever come here has had memories of a life before, but I don’t. I can’t remember anything about my life before, not even my name.”

The three of them gave you pitying looks that you did not appreciate. You’d had enough years to get used to the solemn fact, not that you didn’t hope everyday that you could get your memories back.

“But, you said a name before didn’t you? Kovu or something?” Dan pointed out.

“Koschei, it’s the only name I do remember, but somehow I know it’s not my name. Whoever Koschei is, I know they’re good, I’ve been hoping that they’d show up one day and help me escape.”

“Sorry, did you just say Koschei?” The Doctor asked, a curious look on her face.

“Do you know them?” Hope, again, bloomed in your hearts.

“How long have you been here?” The Doctor asked instead, ignoring your question.

“I stopped counting after the first century, but it’s probably been two centuries by now.”

“Y/N.”

As soon as The Doctor said that name, you knew it was yours. She was looking at you with such a sad look in her eyes, and you couldn’t help but wonder why. Whoever she was, she clearly knew you, and that meant she probably meant Koschei.

“That’s me right? That’s my name? You know me?” You took a step towards her, desperate for the answers she held.

“Yes, it is. Y/N, we thought you were dead. I mean I- I thought you were dead.”

“But, Koschei, who are they? Who are they to me? I can only remember them in my dreams, but I know that they mean a lot to me.”

The Doctor paused before answering, trying to figure out what to say to you.

“Y/N, I don’t know why you’ve lost your memories, but I need to know before I tell you anything.”

Theoretically, you understood. Memories, brains, minds, they could be tricky and intricate and so very easy to break. But you were so tired, and so close to answers, that you couldn’t help be frustrated with The Doctor.

“But it’s been 200 years! It’s been 200 fucking years and I just want answers! I need to know who they are, and I need to find them. Please just tell me something.” You were begging at this point, but you didn’t care.

All three strangers were looking at you with some of the saddest looks you had seen in a while, but you didn’t want their pity.

“Come on Doc, at least give them something,” Dan spoke with a soft voice, trying to urge her on.

“I can’t, I really can’t, but I promise I will find Koschei for you. Then him and I will do what we can to get your memories back, alright?” Luckily, she looked sincere enough that you believed her, nodding to show your agreement.

Before you could say anything else, you heard a familiar screech from a nearby hallway. You hated that noise.

“What was that?” Yaz asked.

“Danger, follow me.”

Then you took off running down the all to familiar hallways. You didn’t stop to check that the others were following you, hoping that they had the common sense to do so. Eventually, you made it back to the secluded alcove that lead to the bunker. Ducking in you let the three of them pass you before pushing the lose stone in the wall that caused the false wall to slide back in place. Not pausing to breath, you lead the three strangers down the hallway into the main area of the bunker.

This room had a few makeshift beds, as well as desks and your small stash of supplies. There were a few adjoining rooms, one of which you had claimed as your own, that were filled with similar items. The Doctor, Yaz and Dan started to look around the room while you moved into your own room, looking to see what food you had left over.

The Doctor followed you in not long after, and her eyes were immediately drawn to the hundreds of drawings littering the walls. They were all of Koschei, even if you were never able to get his exact facial features, you had drawn every version of them you could remember. She walked close to one of them, her fingers tracing over the drawing without actually touching it.

“These are beautiful.” She told you, a strange tone to her voice.

“Thanks, I can never quite remember their faces from my dreams, but I can get close.”

“He’d love them.”

You nodded, not trusting yourself to be able to say anything else without crying or yelling at her again. You hated that you were so close to getting everything you had been after for years, and yet so far at the same time.

“Y/N, what were we running from?”

“I don’t know, most of the time I only hear them. All I know is, when they make that sound, they’re out to hunt. There have been others here in the past, but they’ve all been killed by the thing - either by accident or willingly.” You did everything you could to avoid the creatures, and it helped that being here for 200 years meant that you knew the patterns.

“Do you know when it’ll be gone?”

“Three hours from now is normally when it gives up, might be a bit longer though if it smells you and your friends.”

“Alright, make sure you have anything you want to bring with you. We’ll leave to the TARDIS as soon as it’s safe.”

“How? Do you remember where you left it?”

“Nope, but I do have my sonic!” The Doctor pulled a silver object out of one of her pockets, seemingly very proud of whatever it was.

“What is that? Like a tracker?”

Her face fell at your question, clearly reminded of the fact that even if she knew you, you had no memory of her.

“Multi-purpose tool, but yeah, tracker works.” The Doctor gave you a half-hearted smile, before putting the device back in her pocket.

“Great, I’ll uh, gather some things together.”

Without being able to ask about your missing memories, you found you had little to talk about with The Doctor, leading to many awkward pauses from the both of you. Luckily, she didn’t try to make anymore conversation, and left your room with a nod of her head.

Looking around your room, you were unsure of what to take. You didn’t have much of sentimental value other than the drawings, and however much you wanted to take them all, you knew you wouldn’t be able to. The only other thing that you knew you definitely wanted to take was the remaining clothes you had turned up with.

It had been a long red robe, covering a blood orange shirt and trousers. The shirt had been torn many times, and you had cut the sleeves to a shorter length many years ago. The trousers were still in decent shape, though you had ‘borrowed’ a second pair from a long dead friend. You also had a black jacket that you wore over your shirt whenever it got cold, though that had been a gift.

You picked the robe up from its place on your bed. It was a soft material, and it was the first thing you grabbed for whenever you woke up in a cold sweat. As you held it in your hands you studied the intricate golden patterns woven into the fabric. You never knew the significance of them, whether they were simply beautiful patterns or whether they meant more. Maybe The Doctor would tell you.

———

The creature had left after three hours and forty-seven minutes. By then you had gathered your favourite drawings and your robe together, though you stayed in your room while you were waiting for the creature to leave. The few times that you had gone to the main room to check where the creature was by listening through the walls, The Doctor, Dan and Yaz had stopped their conversation nearly immediately.

It hurt that The Doctor was telling her friends all about you while you weren’t allowed to know, but you didn’t have the energy to confront her. Despite the fact that you had dreamt of leaving this place since you had arrived, you couldn’t help the fear and worry that plagued your mind. You had lived here for two hundred years, and it was literally all you knew. The only person who would have been able to give you some form of comfort wasn’t even there, and you felt a little betrayed at that.

Once you confirmed that the coast was definitely clear, you picked your things up from the ground and let the others know. The Doctor immediately pulled her sonic out of her pocket, and pressed a few buttons on the device. It lit up, though it only started to buzz when she faced in one direction. While you lead the way out of the bunker, The Doctor quickly took charge when you entered the main hallways.

The walk to her ship was quiet, the only noises that could be heard was the buzzing of The Doctor’s device and your collective footsteps against the tile floor. You had to resist looking back at several stages, knowing that if you did you might change your mind about leaving. For all you hated this place, you loved the familiarity and predictability of it. Now, following The Doctor and her friends to her ship, you were heading into the unknown. While The Doctor had promised to reunite you with Koschei, you had no guarantee that she would actually deliver on this promise. You also had no guarantee that whoever Koschei was would want to see you again, for all you knew they could have been the one to cause your memory loss.

As soon as you had that thought, you got rid of it, because it was a stupid thought. Somehow, despite whatever had happened to you, you knew that Koschei was safe and trustworthy. Somehow, despite every other memory of yours being wiped, that assurance still remained and it had to mean something.

Soon, the four of you rounded the corner and were met with a peculiar sight. There was a large blue box stood in the middle of a hallway, and for some reason you felt drawn to it. Without being fully aware of what you were doing, you walked slowly towards the box and reached out your hand. When you brushed the wood there was a strange sensation, and a strong wave of emotions, though they definitely weren’t your own emotions.

“It’s alive?” You asked, curious as to how a seemingly inanimate object could have a form of consciousness.

The Doctor’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion at your comment, though her expression quickly changed to a more neutral one when she noticed you looking at her.

“Yep, this is my TARDIS, and she is very much alive.” The Doctor gave you a proud smile, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

With a click of her fingers, the door opened for The Doctor, causing you to flinch back slightly in surprise. Then you followed the three of them into the ship. There weren’t words to describe how beautiful she was, the combination of glowing crystal like structures and the seemingly everlasting consciousness you could feel wrapped around the entire structure caused you to gape as you looked around.

“She’s beautiful.” You told The Doctor, though your eyes were focused on examining the different parts of the ship.

“She’s showing off a tad, I think she missed you.”

“She knows me?”

“Yep, I’m pretty sure she’s the reason why I managed to find you. Back when you went missing, I set up a program to search for any traces of you across the universe. I was under the impression that it hadn’t worked, but actually I think it might have. The readings I got from that place were, unusual to say the least. I think she’s been looking for you all this time, it just took her a while to find you. Now that I think about it, I might also know why she managed to find you now.” The Doctor muttered the last part of her sentence to herself, though you heard it anyway.

Then The Doctor started dancing around the console with Yaz, pressing various buttons and pulling various levers, presumably preparing to take off. Looking over to Dan, you saw he was bracing himself against one of the pillars, so you decided to follow suit. You were glad you had when The Doctor pulled a final lever and the entire ship shook. Once the four of you were stable again, The Doctor pressed a few more buttons, nodded at a screen, and then headed over to you.

“Right, I’ve set the TARDIS to start scanning and sending out signals to see if she can find him. So, while she works on that I was planning to give you a scan in the medbay to try and find out how and why you lost your memories.” The Doctor was smiling at you again, but it still didn’t seem to reach her eyes.

You were starting to feel even more unsure about trusting her, and you glanced around the room looking for possible escape routes incase the need arrived. Then you felt the TARDIS in your mind again, sending you a comforting sensation that managed to calm you down before you properly started to panic.

“Okay, but you promise I’ll see Koschei again as soon as you find him?”

“Promise.”

With a nod you let her lead you further into the TARDIS, towards the medbay, Dan and Yaz followed the two of you as well.

The room you entered was all white or light grey, though there were gold linings on the walls. There were three beds on one side of the room, and various pieces of equipment on the other side. The Doctor headed over to the equipment, telling you to sit up on one of the beds. You gently placed down your drawings and robe on a nearby chair, before doing as she asked. Yaz was hovering by The Doctor, occasionally holding items that were held out to her, while Dan was leaning against the wall closest to the door.

You watched closely as The Doctor started fiddling around with various bits of machinery, and you tried to calm your nerves. Finally, she clicked a few final buttons and stepped back from the apparatus that she had rigged up.

“There we go! Right, this machine is going to help the TARDIS give you a full scan, all you need to do is lie down and rest - it should take about an hour. In the mean time, Yaz and I’ll go and see if I can find The- Koschei. Dan’ll stay here though, so if you need anything just let him know.”

You settled back on the bed, honestly grateful for the chance to rest, feeling a wave of tiredness fall over you. Out of the corner of your eye you could see The Doctor say something quietly to Dan before she and Yaz left the room. You didn’t take the time to dwell on it though, as you felt your eyes slide shut as you started to fall asleep. The last thought you had before you finally lost consciousness was that you hoped Koschei would be there when you woke up.

[kinglivv]

The Devil You Know

13th Doctor x Dhawan!Master x Reader

Summary: Despite what the Master had told the Doctor, the reality was that in fact it was the reader who had burned Gallifrey, not him. But like always, The Doctor finds out the truth eventually.

Warnings: ANGST, Gallifrey burning, breakdowns

A/N: This is for @strawberry-tea who sent in this really cool idea! I'm not actually completely happy with the way this fic turned out, so I might go back and re-jig it a bit later. I also added a bit if Soft D!Master because I felt like the Doctor deserved at least one person being nice to her. Hopefully I did the prompt justice!

"How did she take it?" You ask, when the Master closes his TARDIS doors behind him.

"How do you think she took it?" He snaps, moving to the console and flicking some buttons. You don't exactly have a reply to that because yes, how did you think she was going to take it? He slams down the lever harder than usual, and the TARDIS makes a strange noise. He makes his way over to where you're leaning against the wall.

"She's devastated." He says. "You should see the way that she looks at me now, all that anger and pain."

"I don't regret it."

In a flash, his hands are grabbing you by the shirt, shoving you against the wall.

"How can you not regret it?!" He yells, face inches from yours. If you where anyone else, you would be shaking in fear, but to you this was just Koschei being Koschei. "You burned everything we knew, everything we loved! How do you not feel sorry?"

"You're one to talk!" You shove him off you.

"Why can't you tell me why you did it? What is so terrible that you can't tell me?"

"I don't need to tell you. I just need to tell the Doctor."

"No," He says shortly, pressing a hand to his forehead. He looks like a parent telling off a child. "I need to tell the Doctor."

"Why? Why can't I tell her? Why are you insisting on taking the blame?"

"Because if she knows you did it, it will destroy her," He growls. "Hell, it nearly destroyed me. But she expect this sort of thing from me - burning planets, even our own. She doesn't expect it from you. If she learns that someone she loves so deeply and unconditionally did it... I dont even want to entertain the implications of that."

"So what, you're protecting her all of a sudden?"

"I'm not protecting her, I'm protecting others. I don't know what she'll do to the universe if she knows it was really you."

You're open your mouth to respond with some snarky comment but then...

"W-What?"

You jump at the small voice that comes from the doorway, and your stomach drops when you see who it is. The Master visibly pales when he follows your gaze.

The Doctor doesn't look like the Doctor. She looks ill.

There's a grey tinge to her skin, and her eyes are red, mouth set in a straight line. It's the same expression she used to carry towards the end of the Time War. The usual optimism and light in her eyes is completely gone, replaced by a dull emptiness.

You didn't hear her open the door - didn't see her come in. She's frozen, a blank, wide-eyed look on her face.

"Doctor-"

"You did it," She states numbly, staring at you. "It wasn't the Master, it was you all along."

"Theta, please-"

Rage flashes over her features, and suddenly she's half way across the room, running at you, and you're simply unable to move.

The Master grabs her before she crashes into you, wrapping strong arms around her tiny frame as she kicks and struggles against him. There are hot tears running down her cheeks and shes screaming at you, words you can't make out, probably in Gallifreyan. You simply stand there frozen, and watch as she punches and scratches at the Master's shoulders, trying desperately free herself from his death grip. A part of you wants him to let go, wants him to let her have at it and give you everything she's got.

You'll take everything she gives you, punches and all.

You probably deserve it, anyway.

"Doctor, DOCTOR, calm down," The Master is desperately trying to sooth her as she strains, and eventually she does stop, desolving into tears. She goes limp in his arms, pressing her face into his neck and he guides her to sit down on the steps up to the console. You can still see her anger simmering as she gasps for air, her usually neat blonde hair a tangled mess and lip bleeding from where she'd bit it.

"How, why-" She can't quite get the words out, and she staring up at you in a way that makes your hearts hurt. Now you understand what the Master meant by the way she was looking at him, except this was ten times worse.

You can see it - the confusion, the horror, the shame. She's realising that the person she had loved for so long and so blindly was now the person who had destroyed her home. Yes, she'd hated Gallifrey and had been running from it for as long as she could remember, but there was a comfort she found in knowing it was somewhere out there. She wouldn't ever be able to look at you the same way again, even after you'd explained your actions.

You had burned your relationship just as much as you had burned Gallifrey.

You want to run to her, hold her until the tears stopped, but you know she wouldn't let you so much as touch her. It breaks your heart - you had done all of this for her, and now she could barely look at you.

"I'm sorry," Is all you can say, and you find that you really mean it. You hadn't been remorseful five minutes ago, but something about the Doctor always stirred up the most painful emotions within you.

"You're not." She manages to choke out.

"I am!" You look to the Master in desperation. He's sitting next to the Doctor, his head in his hands. It strikes you how reminiscent of your childhood this is - they would sit like this in the red grass and watch you read out your latest paper on astro-physics underneath the two suns. The only difference is that back then, you were young and they were staring at you with hope and adoration in their eyes. Now you're centuries older and they're both in tears, or close to them.

"Doctor, please listen to me, just let me explain why I-"

"What reason could you have?" She stares at you incredulously. "What could possibly justify what you've just done?"

"I-"

"I don't want to hear it Y/N," She spits out your real name like a curse word. "Get out of my sight."

You open your mouth to argue, but shut it when you recieve a warning look from the Master.

You had come close to the edge before, but this time you'd gone too far and toppled right over it. You'd really fucked up. Really, really fucked up.

Taking one last look at the Doctor, before you shove your hands in your pockets and turn to the door. Maybe one day she'd listen, but today wasn't it.

Taglist: @truthbehindthemysteries @queerconfusionthings @xenteaart @actuallyanita @ateliefloresdaprimavera

[fxlling13]

Christmas with you

Dhawan!master x reader

Word count: 4.6k

Fem reader in mind when written , also I kind of decided the readers favour colour :) I know its only November but why not.

Synopsis: you just want the master to spend Christmas with you. However, you know he's never liked the human traditions.

Christmas time was upon us. We'll, actually it was the middle of November. Nevertheless, it was my favourite time of year (except Halloween) and I was excited about celebrating. To make things better, in my opinion, our little group had gone up in numbers. After the masters failed attempt of erasing the doctor, they managed to settle everything and he actually ended up tagging along. Realising that he was acting out due to the intense loneliness and abandonment issues, she had let him come along. Yaz was extremely apprehensive at first, not trusting the renegade timelord in the slightest. Who could blame her? Either way, my defenses weren't as high. On his first night with us, I stayed with him and let him tell me about his life. All the things he'd done and how he was seeking our forgiveness. I found him so fascinating and incredibly strong. After everything he'd been put through back on his home planet, he was still here. Fighting for his life. I could see the pain in his eyes. The longing for understanding. So, I made it my job to be his friend. Not that it felt like a job, I really enjoyed my time with him. Reading ancient texts or deciphering an unknown planet's artifacts. He'd sit at the doors with me and tell me the name of every star, how they came to be and how they'd eventually burn out. Not that we did things only he loved, oh no. There were many occasions that he'd read to me. Or settle down and have movie nights. His company was idealic. So, it was no surprise I cought feelings for him. Sadly, I knew it was hopeless and pushed it all aside. I couldn't loose a great bond because my heart was feeling selfish.

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Alone in the console room with the doctor, I chewed on my nails. There was a question I needed to ask her but it was too embarrassing. Sucking it up, I let out a breath and went to her side.

"Doctor?" She looked at me with her usual smile, it almost quelled my anxiety.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did! But go on, ask another."

Laughing at her dad joke, I sat against the console and tried to think of how to ask, without being obvious.

"Are we celebrating Christmas together this year?" The blonde stood straight, giving me a questioning look. She folded her arms and leant next to me.

"We do every year and you know we do. So what is it you're really asking?" Sighing at her observation, I pressed my lips together.

"Will the master be joining?" Giving me a doubtful smile, she just shrugged and turned to me fully.

"I really don't know. He's not usually one for human festivities." Feeling stupid, I just nod and went to leave. The doctor grabbed my hand.

"I know you want him there. It would be quite nice actually. And I know you..." she trailed off, coughing to ease the tension. Of course she knew, she was the doctor.

"Even if he choses to spend the day alone, you know it'll be fun." I smiled at her, trying to ignore my disappointment. The doctor let go of me and I went back to my room.

‐------------------------------------------

Christmas was getting closer, now only a week off and I was seriously behind on gifts. I'd also given up on trying to ask the master to celebrate. I didn't want to feel that embarrassment. Though, I did need a favour. Heading down to the library, I ran in and sat next to him. He looked up and grinned.

"Ah, my favourite human. What can I do for you?" Trying not to blush, I smiled at him.

"Please can i ask a huge favour?" Now intrigued, the master marked his book and put it aside.

"Go on."

"Can you take me Christmas shopping? I know you'll hate it and I'm already sorry but i-" He sat forward and pressed his finger to my lips. With a chuckle, the male stood and held his hand out.

"Its no trouble. Might be fun." Shocked at how easy that was, I took his hand and let him pull me up.

"You worry too much. I won't hate doing anything if I'm doing it with you." Now I was blushing. I cleared my throat and bobbed my head.

"Yeah, 'course. I was thinking Oxford Street?" Liking the idea, we split and got ready.

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Being on the tardis, I forgot how cold England was. Imagine how I'd cope back home in the North. I shivered thinking about it. So far I'd bought quite a few gifts. Just a couple left on my list. Whilst on our way to selfridges, the wind picked up dramatically. I hugged myself, not that it did much.

"What does your phone say?" We had been following my phones satnav. Looking at it, I spoke through chattering teeth.

"Ten minutes." The master chuckled, stopping me from walking. Confused, my eyes widened as he took his coat off and wrapped it round my shoulders.

"Dont just stand there. Put it on properly."

"Won't you be cold?" Shaking his head, he took hold of my hand and continued walking.

"Advanced biology. My internal body heat adapts whenever i need it." He explained, following the directions on screen.

"So you're like a heater, basically?" Looking down at me, I was tugged closer. My body relaxed as I was pressed to his side.

"If you want." Face bright red, I shrugged shyly and opted to stay quiet. He didn't mind and lead us to the store.

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After buying a few bits for the others back on the tardis, the master stood still.

"Right, I need to go get something for the doctor. Something about yaz, I'll remember after." Just as he started walking off, i grabbed his wrist.

"What? I'm just supposed to wait here? I'll get bored." I said, looking up at him. Smiling, he tilted my face back down and pressed a kiss to my head.

"Be patient." Too stunned to speak, I just stood there as he left on his own. Pressing my lips together, I suppressed my happiness and covered my face. Now then, did I find him a Christmas gift whilst I had the chance?

"You and your boyfriend are adorable." A voice came from behind me. Turning round, I saw a middle aged woman looking oddly happy. Laughing a little, I waved my hands.

"Oh we're not-" pausing, I thought for a second before stepping closer.

"Do you have any gifts ideas?" The lady cocked her head.

"For your partner?" Taking in a breath, I nod at her.

"Yeah." Even though I felt silly for lying, I could pretend that he was mine. Just for a minute. Kindly, the woman lead me back over to the gifting department.

"Any particular interests he has?" She asked as I gazed over all the options.

"Space." I told her, hoping there would be at least one thing.

"Well, we do have this?"

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"Where have you been?" The master asked, arms unfolding once he saw me jogging towards him. Out if breath I pointed at the sealed bag.

"Just getting one last thing. Were you waiting long?" He shook his head and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

"Shall we head back?" I smiled and nod, walking with him.

"You look good in my jacket, by the way." Blushing, I hit his chest playfully. The male just laughed, leading us back to the tardis.

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Everything was nicely wrapped and put away under the tree. The doctor insisted the tardis dedicated a room to the festivities. I loved and appreciated it very much. Looking over all the gifts, I sighed. Tonight was going to be depressing. Yaz and the doctor were going in a little date. Something about an ice rink in the eighteen-hundreds. How romantic. Whilst me? I'd be here, alone. Plopping myself on the sofa, I pulled my knees to my chest. My chin sat on top and I let out a sigh. Why did I have to end up falling for someone I couldn't have? Beside me, the couch dipped, indicating someone had sat down. Looking up, the master smiled down at me. In his lap sat a box, elaborately decorated with red wrapping paper and a ribbon. He placed it between us and motioned towards it.

"For you." Surprised, I turned towards it and pulled at the ribbon until it came loose. Taking the lid off, there was a layer of tissue paper that I removed quickly. Underneath, I saw a red plaid material. Pulling the item out, I found it was a pair of extremely cosy pyjamas. That wasn't all. Below that was a small hot chocolate kit. Complete with marshmallows and a mug.

"Theres more." He was right, there was also a box of exquisite biscuits from a high end bakery.

"Yaz mentioned that some people do Christmas eve boxes. So I thought I'd get you one." Eyes wide, I looked up at the master in complete shock.

"I thought whilst the others were out we could watch one of your Christmas films? What was that one you were talking about? Home? Home away?" I blinked at him, mind taking a second to catch up.

"Home alone."

"Yeah, that. Oh and I also have matching pyjamas. Apparently humans love that. But if you don't that's fine too." He explained so calmly, it almost disturbed me. Why was he doing this? It made no sense at all. The master hated human traditions.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Brows furrowed, the taller looked genuinely confused with me.

"Why did you get me this? Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely grateful just, confused." A soft smile graced his lips.

"I want to spend Christmas with you. I know how much it means to you. And if me celebrating with you makes you happy, then I'm happy to give it a go." Putting the gift down, I practically threw myself at him. My arms wrapped round his neck and I buried my face into his neck. Immediately, his arms were around my waist.

"Thank you." He rubbed my back affectionately, squeezing me just a little tighter.

"Theres no need to thank me (y/n)." A few stray tears escaped my eyes, I was just so overjoyed. Fully aware of how pathetic that was, I pressed my eyes shut. The master pushed me back, cupping my cheeks.

"Dont cry, this was supposed to make you happy." Giggling, I leant into his touch naturally.

"I'm very happy."

"Good. Go change, I'll meet you in the kitchen."

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The pyjamas were extremely comfortable, a little big but that was always better. Arriving at the kitchen, I found that the master wasn't there yet. I took the hot chocolate kit and opened it. The only issue was, one cup. I'd have to get another down. Pressing the kettle on to boil, I opened the cupboard and sighed. It got infuriating, how often the doctor forgot she was no longer six foot. None of us on board were tall. Realising that the stool had gone missing again, I hoisted myself up onto the counter. I kneeled up and grabbed a mug, placing it down carefully. Now how to get back down? Turning myself round, I lost balance before I could even think about getting down. The impact of the floor never came. Instead, I found myself in the masters arms.

"Falling for me?" Going red, I laughed and stood myself up. For a second, whilst I was in his arms, the masters eyes flicked to my lips. We were so close, only for a second. Then, I pulled myself away.

"In your dreams." He just hummed, resting against the counter. Taking in his appearance, I almost laughed again. It was so strange to see him out of his usual attire. Especially in Christmas pyjamas. He almost looked cute.

"Do you want me to make the drinks? You seem preoccupied?" Rolling my eyes, I moved away.

"You can do it." He chuckled, grabbing the milk and adding some to the powder. I couldn't help but smile to myself. This was so surreal, he was actually being serious before. Feeling brave, I hugged his waist from the side and rested my head on his shoulder. Half expecting the master to shove me off, I almost melted when his arm wrapped around me; bringing me in closer. I watched as he made the drinks perfectly, topping them off with the marshmallows. Reluctantly, i detached myself from him and grabbed the cookies; leading us back into the festive room. Before he sat down, I grabbed a blanket from the side of the couch and got comfy. Chuckling again, the master handed me my mug before sitting next to me. I blew on the smoke to cool the beverage. Not registering that he spread the blanket across the both of us, I squeaked in surprise when I was pulled into his chest.

"Relax. Just making sure you're warm." He said softly, booping my nose. Well, i was definitely feeling warm inside. Sinking into his hold, I put on the movie and sipped at my drink. If I'd of told myself that we'd be doing this, together. I'd assume it was a dream. It really felt that way. As nice as it was, I was still confused. Why had he suddenly decided to join me? Maybe he just felt bad I was alone?"

"What are you thinking about?" Glancing up at the timelord, I pressed my lips together.

"You hate human things. So why are you doing this? Surely it's torture for you." I spoke quietly, placing my cup down safely. Maybe my question had ruined everything and he'd agree, leaving me all alone. In actuality, the master turned me towards him and cupped my cheeks.

"You really don't know?" Shaking my head, he sighed with a light smile. Suddenly, his lips were on mine, bringing me in closer. It took a second, to register what was actually happening. But when it sunk in, I kissed back instantly. My arms wrapped around his neck, intern deepening the kiss. Luckily for him, he had a respiratory bypass. On the other hand, I had to pull away. Holding my face gently, the master smiled lovingly.

"Understand?" I nod, grinning from ear to ear. Seemingly pleased with himself, he kissed my nose a few times before settling down again. Blushing, I lay on his chest and sighed in content.

"Oh, if you ever tell anyone I wore these." Pausing, I looked at him expectantly and waited for his threat. When his eyes met mine, they softened immediately.

"I'll probably just be embarrassed." Laughing, I leant up so our faces were an inch apart.

"You have a soft spot for me hm?" His hand cupped the side of my neck as he naturally simpered.

"The softest. Only for you." Not expecting that response, I turned pink and stared at him. He just chuckled, pulling me in for another kiss. The next day didn't seem to matter as much, my Christmas was already perfect now.

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Light touches on my scalp woke me from my slumber. I opened my eyes, finding my face pressed into someone's chest. His chest.

"Good morning." Blinking the sleep out of my eyes, I just hummed at the master. Curling into his side, he grinned and held me tighter.

"Sleep well?"

"Yeah, comfy. Did you stay here all night? Thought you didn't sleep?" Worried I'd indirectly caused him to waste his night, I was eased once he kissed my head.

"Of course I stayed. Wanted to make sure you were okay. Plus, I may of had a nap." I smiled at his admittance and pressed my lips to his shoulder.

"Good. Do you think the others will be up?" Shrugging, the master pulled the covers up more. It was chilly. Perhaps the tardis was setting up the mood for Christmas day. Even though I was extremely comfortable, I was excited and wanted to get up. Though, as I tried to move, the elder had a death grip on me. Whining, I looked up at him with a slight pout.

"Let me up."

"No you're warm and comfy here. Get up and you'll be cold." He stated, nuzzling his nose into my hair.

"Once I put clothes on I'll be fine." Still, he didn't budge. Huffing, I forced him to look at me by holding his face in my hands.

"Please can we get up?" Again, he shook his head but I was determined. Pulling him down, I kissed him softly and caught him off guard. He kissed back, unintentionally loosening his grip on me. Taking advantage of this, I broke the kiss and slipped out successfully.

"Very clever." He chuckled, following behind me.

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"What do you think?" I asked, twirling round to show off my outfit. Taking hold of my hands, the master kissed them both affectionately.

"Beautiful as always. Shall we go?" Nodding, I practically dragged him down to the room and found it empty. Instantly, he set up the fire whilst I turned the tree lights on. There were more gifts than last night. Probably yaz put them there once they got back. Now all we had to do was wait for them.

"I'll be right back." He told me before rushing off. Shrugging, I took my seat on the floor, between the tree and the fire.

"Goodmoring (y/n)!" The doctor practically yelled from the door, causing me to jump. She laughed, rushing in and sitting opposite me.

"Merry Christmas! Wow you lit the fire. You never do that? I thought it scared you? Anyway. This is exciting isn't it?" As she rambled, I just smiled happily. Yaz walked in after her, shaking her head in amusement.

"Calm down doctor."

"Can we open gifts?" The blonde asked, reaching over for one but I hit her hand playfully.

"Be patient." We all laughed, a happy atmosphere surrounding us.

"I'm glad you conquered your fear of the gas fire though." She commented, appreciating the warmth. Nervous, I wet my lips.

"I didn't." Confused, the girls looked at each other.

"I didn't light it." I told them, playing with my fingers. Before they could ask any questions, the master returned, three bags in hand. The doctor grinned instantly and greeted him warmly. Giving yaz a pointed look, the younger rolled her eyes with a smile. He sat beside me and put the bags with the other gifts.

"You don't mind if I join you? Don't want to ruin your day." He asked, specifically to the people across from us.

"As long as you eat my cooking. You're more than welcome." Yaz tried to sound stern but she looked quite the opposite. Chuckling, he nod and looked at me.

"Oh wait drinks! Come on yaz." The doctor practically dragged her away into the kitchen.

"Move forward love." I did as I was told, allowing the master to sit behind me. Now between his legs, I leant back against his chest. He ran his fingers through my hair gently.

"What about the others?"

"What? They can be all sappy but we can't?" Giggling as his almost pouting face, I leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"Of course we can. I'm just worried."

"Why's that?" Nuzzling my cheek into his chest, I sighed and pulled his arms around me.

"Because I'm scared they'll be awful towards you." He rested his chin on my shoulder, lips against the shell of my ear.

"Dont worry about that. It doesn't bother me in the slightest." Even with his reassurance, I was unsure. The master kissed my temple repeatedly, to the point I started laughing.

"Stop! OK, OK. I won't worry." Satisfied, he nod and leant back against the wall. The fire crackled, its light flickering around the room. Lights on the tree were golden, making the baubles stand out perfectly.

"Right you two, yaz will be a minute. She's just finishing up with the coffee." The doctor announced, halting once she saw us. A smile crawled to her lips as she sat and handed me my tea. I took it gratefully, warming up instantly. Yaz emerged with the coffees. Though, she looked extremely confused as the master took it and thanked her. She went to speak but the doctor was quick to cut in.

"Who wants presents? Me! I'll hand mine out first." Grabbing the, not so neatly, wrapped gifts, she handed us one each. Yaz ripped the paper off, an instant wave of happiness on her features.

"Wow, it's beautiful." She commented, pulling out what looked to be a necklace.

"Its a sentiment pendant. From the Angichi galaxy. When you hold the gem, your feelings will repeat on my matching one!" The doc explained, making her girlfriend smile.

"I really love it. Thank you." They shared a loving kiss before putting them on. Behind me, the master opened his gift and chuckled. 

"You can't gift someone their own object doctor." She rolled her eyes at him before crawling across to sit in front of us.

"I know that. It's not your TCE. I'm not giving you that back. No, this is a bit like my sonic. Scans the area. Gives you accurate readings. Unlocks doors." She continued, pointing all the different settings and functions out.

"I just built it to look like your TCE. Thought you might appreciate that." He nod, grinning at her.

"Does this mean I can come on your next outing then?"

"We'll see." We laughed, knowing that he most likely would be joining us. It was about time, the doctor couldn't keep him away from the universe forever. My gift ended up being a first edition collection of eighteen century novels. Freshly printed, brand knew and old ar exactly the same time. I gave her a hug, thanking her for such an amazing gift. Time travel was remarkable.

"Me next! Here you go." Yaz spoke, giving me and the doctor gifts. I took it gratefully, though sad the man holding me didn't get one. She has gotten me an exceptional amount of vouchers for both earth and planet's we had been to before. I definitely wasn't complaining. As for the doctor, she got her a promise ring. Inspecting it, the blonde tutted her head at the blue jewel in the centre.

"Is this a calipso pulse? That's a-"

"I may of had help." Yaz admitted, shocking us both. We turned to the master, seeing him drinking his coffee casually.

"I know you like blue and plus, they disarm explosives. Will come in handy." He let her know, putting his cup down.

"Its perfect." Letting the girls have their moment, I took hold of him hand and smiled up at him.

"It was sweet of you to help her." Lifting our hands, he pressed a kiss to the back of mine and shrugged.

"I was happy to." Yaz cleared her throat, alerting us to look at her. She held up a small wrapped box.

"This is for you." He took it and pulled the lip off, his brows raising at the sight.

"Its for your pocket watch. The cleanser is good for silver and the cloth will be gentle on the glass." Nodding at her, he beamed and seemed genuinely thrilled about it.

"This is very useful. I appreciate it. Thank you." They smiled at each other. Slipping out of the masters arms, I grabbed my gifts and dished them out. Eagerly, the doctor ripped hers opened. I decided on buying her some more luxury bow ties for her tux. In a variety of colours as well. She seemed to like this, looking at each one with a smile. For yaz, I got the cooking equipment she'd been asking for all year. The tardis was amazing but the kitchen was lacking actual tools. Now for the mist nerve wrecking part, the masters gift. I washed home open the box and pull the lid off with care. He looked over the set with interest.

"Its so you can chart the stars. I know you probably have some advanced technologies that do it better. But you can carry these around in your pocket. Plus the book has everything laid out for you to fill in. I saw y-" Laughing, he wrapped an arm around my shoulder and kissed my head.

"Shush. I love it. Thank you. You're right, this is actually quite useful for being on the go." He cut in to stop me rambling, relaxing me immediately. Happy he liked it, I leant into his hold. Opposite us, they went to get up but were stopping in their tracks.

"I actually got you both gifts as well." The master pulled away and handed them a bag each. Surprised, they sat and opened each one in turn.

"Now I know you get sentimental doctor. Don't start crying on me. I can't deal with that." He snickered, watching the blonde as she held the book with care. A look of awe was on her face, fingers tracing the cover.

"How did you get this?"

"What is it?" Yaz asked, looking between them in wonder.

"Its a book of galifreyan fairy tales. I took it when I was last there. It was a new addition. I thought you'd like it." The master informed, absentmindedly toying with the ends of my hair. Simpering, the doc bobbed her head.

"Thank you." It was nice, watching the old friends reform their connection.

"Woah what is this?" Yaz laughed, picking up the steel black box with interest. The master explained the told to her. Apparently, it was perfect for any police officer in any situation. Hand cuffs, tazer, torch ect. It was all built into one. Whilst they were distracted talking, I opened my gift and tilted my head curiously. Reaching my hand in, I pulled out a brown, fluffy bear. It was a little unusual however. With pink eyes and nose, it's fire was extremely soft but different than I'd felt before. It was beautiful.

"Theres outfits for it as well, I thought you'd find that cute." He pointed out and I retrieved them from the bag immediately. There was a little pyjamas set but also, a purple jumper and grey pants.

"It'll look like a mini you." I giggled, dressing it up in the clothes.

"Hm? I suppose thats the point. I know you get cold easily and it's made from a special type of fur, that heats up according to your body temperature. For when I'm not around." My heart panged, feeling touched that he'd put that much thought into it.

"Oh I also got pink eyes because that's your favourite. In it chest there's a heart bearing noise. For if you get lonely."  Lifting it up, I pressed my ear to the bears chest and gasped. A familiar beating played, lifelike but not eerie at all. Ecstatic with the present, I turned and hugged the master tightly. Something caught my attention immediately. With my head on his chest, I could instantly hear his dual hearts. That was the same as the bear. Like he wad indirectly gifting me his heart. I teared up, completely overwhelmed by the romantic gift.

"Dont cry love." He chuckled, wiping my cheeks delicately. Shaking my head, I grinned from ear to ear. Cupping my cheeks, he leant down and pressed his lips to mine. I kissed back, my arms snaking around his neck comfortably for a moment.

"Happy?" I nod at him, out noses still touching.

"Extremely. Thank you for spending Christmas with us."

"Anything for you, sweets." Having that sweet moment, we completely forgot about the others in the room.

"Excuse me you two. When did you start kissing?" Yaz exclaimed, amusement in her tone. We looked at her, eyes wide. Well then, this was going to be awkward.

[simp-for-the-masters]

THE TARDIS GROUP X VAMPIRE READER

(Interview with a vampire 1994 crossover)

One night the Doctor drop off the Fam and Dan back at home to spend some time with family, you are last talk to Dhawan! Master and laughing at something stupid someone did during the last trips. "Y/N do you have family?" The Doctor ask because whenever family is brought up we change the subject, The Master turns to look at Doctor then back to you. "Yes, I do have a family.. um father and a uncle who I haven't seen for a few years I had a Sister who sadly pass away at the age of 12." Looking at the Doctor, "What is there names?" The Master asked looking at me " Louis is my father , Lestat is my uncle and Claudia was my sister" with sadness on our face we walk away from the two timelords. "When did your sister passed?" Master called out we stop turn back look at both of them with a blink face we say and walk away, "In 1859 by the sun turn her into dust."

.

[13atoms]

Centuries Apart (Dhawan!Master x Reader)

Based on this lovely request for a Chameleon-Circuit-ed companion by @ateliefloresdaprimavera​ <3  [2.1k]

The Master could never explain the way he was drawn you. From first sight, it had been a fascination which you felt in yourself too. He wanted you with him, both of you excusing his weak excuses to spend time with you. At first it had seemed magnetic, possessive, that was the only type of connection that you had imagined him capable of. But soon you were living with him, watching as he sauntered around his TARDIS, insistent on impressing you with all of space and time. He was sweet and kind, when he wanted to be, and each time it surprised you.

Your undefined relationship was something strange, something unique and more than any earth terms could define. The lack of labels didn’t bother you. He never gave you time to worry about that, because you were enjoying yourself so much.

Spending time with him suddenly felt like all that mattered, as natural as breathing.

The early days had just been fun. The flirting, the planets, the adventures and the attention. Moreover, it had been surprisingly fulfilling for both of you. Then things had changed. Late night conversations had drifted towards the personal, the Master feeling more at ease with you than he had in centuries. With trust came casual fondness, caring for one another, confessions about Gallifrey, about his fears and your own and then finally it all felt so natural.

‘Adventures’ and ‘research’ and ‘conquests’ turned into ‘days out’ and ‘holidays’, then tentatively… ‘dates’.

It was all innocent, in a way which surprised you with this impossible man. In some ways, it felt like you’d known him forever.

Then he’d brought up the locket. Burnished silver which had hung around your neck for as long as you could remember, you had protected it through adventure after adventure, never letting it out of your sight.

“Where did you get it?” he’d asked one night, the pair of you exhausted and drunk on adrenaline, laying on adjacent TARDIS sofas.

One day you’d summon the courage to share, you knew he was waiting for you, for the day you’d lay down beside him instead of a few feet away. I’ll summon up the courage tomorrow, you’d told yourself a hundred times.

Absentmindedly you picked it from where it lay off centre on your clavicle, toying with the locket on its chain.

“I don’t remember,” you shrugged, “why?”

“You never take it off. I’ve bought you nicer jewellery, you just… don’t wear any of it. You never take that old locket off.”

You gave a laugh, and he smiled.

“Fine, I’ve stolen nicer for you. Answer the question,” he teased.

A few months ago it would’ve been too personal to ask about, but now there was nothing of your foggy memories he didn’t know. You always wanted to tell him more, but your life on earth just felt so… different. Like it wasn’t yours.

Still, you had no secrets anymore. You supposed.

“I just… I’ve always had it. I like it.”

“Can I see?”

With a shrug you reached to unfasten the clasp, finding your fingers trembling. Instead, you turned to face away from the Master, allowing him to reach up from his reclined position and undo the fastening, taking the necklace to inspect. You found yourself getting strangely nervous as he pulled the chain between his fingers, playing with it. You swallowed the irrational feeling.

This was the Master. You could trust him.

“I wonder how old it is?” you pondered, and he smiled.

“Not old, but I don’t think it is from earth, which is…” he frowned suddenly, “curious.”

You frowned too, as his finger slid along the clasp.

“I don’t think it opens – ” you began.

You would know, surely, if it opened. How could you not? You’d had it for years, your whole time with the Master and on earth, surely you’d –

The Master’s thumb slid easily along the edge of the locket, cracking it open as he inspected the intriguing metal with his bottom lip between his teeth.

Then everything went blinding gold.

*

Everything burned. Your whole body, as you gasped for air on the Master’s sofa. The pulsing of the TARDIS and the Master’s fear were bombarding your mind, making your own fear rise as you could hear the Master’s high-speed train of concerned thoughts projected unprotected into your mind.

As you grew more and more frantic in your own telepathic thoughts, he stopped projecting, apparently unaware you’d been able to hear.

“Darling?”

His voice came into your mind and your ears milliseconds apart, but you could tell, even in the void of the Time Vortex where the ship rested.

The string of Gallifreyan which left your mouth felt strange, muscles unused for decades. How long had you been flung on earth? Who had left you there? The Doctor? You remembered a stolen ship, and an eccentric scarf and screaming for a Koschei as the bright light of regeneration energy had been snatched from you into a petite necklace. And after the Doctor had hung it around your neck he’d thrust you into a life you didn’t recognise and left you. And –

The Master’s deep brown eyes were watery, impossibly wide as he stared down at you.

It was like he was seeing you for the first time, taking in your every feature as if he was committing it to memory.

Without making eye contact, he pressed one hand to your wrist, delicately finding your pulse point and holding his breath. You could feel it yourself – what he was looking for.

That unmistakable double heartbeat.

You could feel it in your own chest, as your body painfully shifted into place, numbed a little by adrenaline. Your newly strengthened senses took in so much that you couldn’t focus on a single thing, overwhelmed. Though an overture of the warmth of his fingers and the smell of his sweat still managed to permeate through the haze.

“Who are you?” he breathed.

Another string of unfamiliar Gallifreyan rushed from your mouth before you could think a word in English, and the Master’s eyes shone with tears, his breath hitching.

There was only one emotion bombarded towards you, along with the TARDIS’ noisy stream of consciousness, and that was hope. From the ship and her Timelord.

Hope.

“It can’t be you,” he seemed to be begging, refusing to let his hearts be broken by an imposter or a mistake.

You could feel his fears, in plain and simple Gallifreyan in your head.

It’s me, you projected back.

Then, your fake childhood was replaced with a real one.

It flashed across your mind, a flipbook of memories. Hours in the academy with Koschei and Theta, stolen glances at the former and raucus fun with the latter, your friendship with them growing and maturing and straining and then –

“You thought I was dead?” you realised.

“Of course I did,” he breathed, suddenly crouched by your side, his couch now a hospital bed as he seemed to beg for this to be real. “I’d… I thought I’d never see you again.”

“How long was I on earth?”

You looked around for the discarded locket, like it might offer you answers, but it was in the Master’s hands. He pulled it to his lips with a gentle reverence, and you wondered if he could somehow tell how old the Chameleon Circuit was from its cool metal against his lisps.

He just shook his head.

“How old are you?” you asked, and the Master smiled wryly.

“I don’t remember,” he admitted, “so much has happened since you…”

The word died lingered on his tongue, but found its way into your mind. His telepathic barriers were so unused, you hated to think how long he’d been alone.

“This is my second body,” you realised, and he smiled indulgently.

“I’ve had far more than that, dear.”

There was an ancientness, a sadness, in his eyes that you couldn’t remember from your childhood. It was forever ago for him now, you supposed. Gallifrey was gone. Your home was gone, you realised numbly. The Master seemed to hear your projected thoughts, his face falling, making you want to reach out and stroke his cheek until you could rouse a smile.

You longed for the strength to sit up, but you knew your body couldn’t take it. It was still bubbling, fizzing, settling, as regeneration energy coursed through you.

“How did you get here?” he whispered, “How did you die?”

“The Time War, I crashed, trying to – trying to run. Towards the Doctor. He… he saw the opportunity. Let his TARDIS spit me out here with a new identity. As a human. It is over?”

“The Time War?”

You nodded, fighting to keep the tears at bay, so many new thoughts battering your mind that it seemed ridiculous to be talking about the Time War as you woke up in your new body. It was regeneration sickness dialled up to 100, your consciousness slipping as a million new senses bombarded you.

“I… I think I told you. It’s all over…”

“Rassilion!” You realised, “When you told me that – ”

You stopped talking at the surge of pain which flowed from the Master at the mere mention of that name. He’d told you so many stories which you had never fully understood as a human, and now it was all flowing back into place. Your head ached, all the new stimulus and memories fighting for your attention, even as all you wanted to do was talk to the Master.

What were you now, you and him? Your childhood of longing to be near him, of treasuring every moment of your friendship, and now it was just you and him and the Doctor. The only survivors.

And you weren’t sure you could ever face the Doctor again. Not after they had forced you into humanity without your consent, in a fresh regeneration had never had the time to come to terms with.

“You need to sleep,” the Master soothed, feeling the beginnings of a panic attack as your thoughts spiralled, leaking from your mind to his.

“I’m… regeneration sickness… is it bad?”

It was covered at the academy, though it was academized and smoothed over, the information becoming useless. It had seemed so alien then, when you were young and stupid and arrogant. You remembered Theta saying he’d make each body last millennia, and Koschei had made fun of him for it. You certainly couldn’t remember any those classes now, so long ago and buried beneath memories of your friends joking around.

A sharp pain brought you back to the present, the Master wincing as you writhed on the sofa.

“It’s not fun,” the Master confessed, his warm hand smoothing your furrowed brow, “especially the first time, but you’ll be okay. I’ll look after you.”

“I know you will,” you smiled, curling up, watching as his face disappeared.

*

When you woke up on the couch, you were covered by the rich silk of your own bedsheets. The Master was mere feet away, a cup of tea in each of his hands.

“Morning,” he smiled, “you were out for days.”

You sat up, pulling the sheets around you. You couldn’t feel the cold, not in the way you had as a human, but the safety of the sheets was nice. You took the tea, stifling a cry as the hot cup burnt your skin, and the Master muttered an apology as you took it more carefully.

“Fresh skin,” he smiled sympathetically, “always tender.”

He sat beside you, careful not to hurt you or make you spill the tea, closer than he had when you were human. You noted it, even as your body felt like it was molten inside, how his hip pressed against yours through layers and layers of clothing and fabric.

“How do you feel?”

“Alright, weird, but good,” you smiled, and he gave an understanding nod.

He’d been through this plenty of times, and the thought broke your heart a little. How much had he done, lived through, endured, between the young man you’d left during the Time War and the version of him who sat beside you.

You let yourself relax a little, your body still sapped of energy from regeneration. You were starving, but you let yourself enjoy the moment for just a second. Food could wait. Your shoulder sagged against his, and he hummed contentedly at the contact.

“What should I call you?” you asked, blowing steam off your drink.

“What do you mean?”

“Master?”

“Oh! Koschei, please,” his voice dropped, both in volume and pitch, and you felt a sudden seriousness in his tone, “Koschei.”

A silence fell over the room, the comforting repetitive pulse of the TARDIS even more comforting now than it had been when you were human.

Back when he’d invited you on-board.

You weren’t who you thought you were, and you weren’t the person he had thought. The stories you’d told him weren’t you. The childhood you’d remembered wasn’t yours.

His hip pressed into yours, his body feeling warm now your body temperature had dropped.

You watched as he took a sip of his drink, before glancing over to you, a smile on his lips.

“Are you disappointed?” You asked.

His smile dropped. You felt suddenly vulnerable as he turned to properly face you, his eye contact unavoidable as he searched your face for answers you weren’t sure you had.

“You'll need to expand further than that, love.”

You gulped.

“That I'm not her, the human – ”  

His eyes were so serious, flickering from your lips to your eyes, his body curled towards you, almost smothering you.

“But you are.”

“I’m not –”

“I can’t lose you,” he blurted out suddenly, “not again. You’re… it almost killed me, the first time. No one knew where you were. The Doctor said you were… gone.”

“That bad?” you tried to joke, but you couldn’t keep it up.

His face fell.

“I spent centuries… and every dream, through everything… all I could think about was that I should’ve told you how I felt.”

“Centuries?” you whispered.

“Centuries.”

He wrapped an arm across you, getting closer still, and you searched his eyes.

There was so much unsaid. So much to figure out and discuss, but you knew it wouldn’t change your relationship. Neither of you were leaving the other.

“And now?” you asked.

“I’d still mean it.”

Burrowing your face against him, you could hear the thrum of his hearts, feel how much he meant it in your mind.

“What would you tell me?” you asked tentatively.

You could hear it in your mind, the word, the emotion. He smiled as you read his thoughts.

“That you’re staying. And that I… I loved you. Still do, I suppose.”

He cleared his throat.

“‘Love’ isn’t strong enough, not for people like us,” he told you, looking away while his words sent an ache through your hearts.

You smiled, but he wasn’t joking. Instead his deep eyes flickered to your lips, moving closer to cup your jaw. You could feel the drowsiness of regeneration sickness pulling at your mind, the uneasiness of your newly regained time senses. Mostly, you could feel the draw of his mind and body, after so long apart.

“Do you… do you want to stay?” he asked nervously.

Suddenly teary-eyed, you couldn’t help a watery laugh, nodding furiously and feeling his fingers bumping against your jaw, his smile matching yours. Your locket was still wrapped around his fingers, and as your eyes landed on the chain, he untangled it. The metal glinted before he fastened it around your neck, resting it back in that familiar spot, the fastener broken open.

“I’ll get you a new one,” he smiled apologetically, but you shook your head.

“Don’t,” you told him, “I want to keep it as it is.”

“Can I kiss you?”

“Please, Koschei.”

[xenteaart]

Design Flaw

Summary: “Today wasn't a good day. Your body was betraying you and you couldn't feel more useless and weak, especially knowing how annoyed the Master would always get at the inconvenience that human biology tended to cause.”

Pairing: Dhawan!Master x Reader

TW: Descriptions of pain ??? but nothing graphic, it’s basically pure fluff 

GIF: @moon-in-daylight (i think?? correct me if i’m wrong)

Note: Okay so this is my first ever fic and it’s pretty personal as well because i’ve been struggling with health and feeling powerless for a while now and I can’t really find any fics regarding that so I decided to write one myself lmao. Also English isn’t my first language so be gentle ( but also feel free to give any feedback coz I wanna improoove). Hope u enjoy!  Big big thanks to @queerconfusionthings and @ambientstars for being my betas I love you <3

The TARDIS lights went from familiar but mildly aggressive crimson to a warm orange which made it feel a little more welcoming than usual. You had a pretty good relationship with the ship all things considered - she would always lead you to the rooms you needed most and sometimes even hide you away from the Master if you needed some time to be on your own. She knew you were thankful for her looking after you, this time being no exception. Yes, she, because you could never call the TARDIS it after all she'd done for you. A rather weird dynamic to have, especially with something seemingly inanimate.

Today wasn't a good day. Your body was betraying you and you couldn't feel more useless and weak, especially knowing how annoyed the Master would always get at the inconvenience that human biology tended to cause. Travelling with him made you realize that he was, in fact, right, and a human body was way too flawed not to be some kind of cruel joke of a creation. Sometimes you wondered how you humans even made it to 70-80 years old, your lives so ridiculously fragile.

“Go away,” you said moodily, curled up on the sofa in the console room, that exact sofa you had made the Master put there since after days spent on trips and adventures you often couldn't even make it to your bedroom.

You were feeling so ill, your thinking process so heavily disrupted by pain and discomfort, you didn't even think twice about what being rude to the Master could result in. Honestly, you didn't even care and right now you would gladly take some verbal abuse because you felt like you deserved it. Sure, you didn't choose to be born human with a chronic illness but it still felt like a failure on your part. 

“Watch your tone, love, I might be tolerating it for now but don't you ever think it became acceptable,” he replied, his voice harsh but his facial expression so much softer. He knelt beside the sofa as he looked over you, assessing the damage and rolling up his sleeves while rather loudly thinking about something. You knew his thinking face all too well.

Sure, he could take you to the most advanced hospital in the universe but at the end of the day - they couldn't "fix" you exactly. There was medication to relieve the symptoms but they couldn't really change your way of being completely, so you were now stuck on the TARDIS with another flare-up, trying to breathe through the pain and waiting for your meds to kick in. You used to think that advanced medicine would allow you to swallow one pill and all of your problems would disappear at the snap of your fingers, but in reality, it was a lot more boring and disappointing. The wonderfulness of new medication was merely the fact that the risk of side effects was close to zero. But it was still no magic pill to suddenly turn you into a super human.

“Why wasn't I born a TimeLord,” you moaned, closing your eyes shut as another wave of abdominal cramps and nausea washed over you. You couldn't even tell what was hurting at this point - you felt like one big miserable mess of ache and fatigue.

The Master looked at you suspiciously.

“What, you think TimeLords can't get sick?” he chuckled quietly as if you were amusing him but you could sense he was just trying to distract you. 

“I got this Aaxogon plague once, knocked me out for a few months. Nasty stuff, blocks our ability to regenerate so we have to actually live through the whole thing until it fades away,” he continued, so obviously attempting to get yourself out of your head.

“Yeah but not like that,” you replied, interrupting him mid-sentence, your tone giving away your growing anger and frustration, “you don't get sick like that. Besides, you get to live longer, see more, learn more... And, please, don't tell me it's a curse as much as it's a gift, I'm aware of that and I still wish I could have it.”

He went silent for a whole minute, genuinely surprised at the way you saw things. 

Most humans he'd encountered were a lot more proud of their nature, taking actual offense of his degrading comments regarding the human race. You didn't. You agreed with them, simply acknowledging the facts. It wasn't personal, it was basically science, and you were an inferior being.

“Don't compare us, dear,” he finally uttered, gently covering your hand with his own and bringing your knuckles to his lips, brushing over them lightly. 

The Master's beard scratched against your skin, making it slightly irritated, but it was nice to feel something other than what you were feeling, your senses overwhelmed with your body's misbehavior.

“I don't think any less of you. It is quite infuriating how dependent you all are on food and sleep and, in your case, more rest and medication, and I do think it's a huge design flaw but I took you in for your mind, not for your body.” 

You were grateful he wasn't trying to make you feel better by lying and sugar-coating things. Not that he would ever do that for you anyways, it just wasn't him. A weak smile painted over your features.

“Now be a good girl for me and have some sleep, will you?” he added, his voice noticeably deeper and lower. Oh, you knew what he was doing. He was proving you were still desirable despite your vulnerability. Something in your chest sank, your heart probably. Ouch.

He caressed your jawline with the tips of his fingers as he contemplated whether to move up to your temples, and you were quick enough to notice his hesitation.

“A-uh, I have to give my consent first, remember? Rule number 4,” you said, a tiny bit smug and playful.

“Always so good at remembering rules, are we?” he replied with an equally obnoxious and mischievous grin. You gave him no answer and stared into his eyes, his chocolate-y orbs shamelessly mesmerizing you into obedience. You were too exhausted to put up a fight, or maybe you just wanted to think it was your excuse this time.

“Yeah, okay, fine, do the thing, I consent,” you rolled your eyes and winced very soon after, gritting your teeth at another flash of pain, “but promise you're gonna be here when I wake up.”

“Promise.”

Something wet and warm landed on your cheek and you realized he was kissing you goodnight. The familiar feeling of his mind against yours was slowly taking over and you gave in willingly, allowing him to envelope you with his burning but caring consciousness.

“Being a TimeLord is not as great as it might seem. Especially when you’re the last of them,” he whispered as his telepathy was gently putting you to sleep. 

You were already drifting away when you heard him, and with an enormous amount of effort you managed to wrap your hand around his index finger, that being a wordless gesture of support and empathy. The Master knew you would say something if you weren’t already passing out, and looked at your now childishly intertwined hands with a hint of amusement and gratitude.  

“My silly human” - echoed in your mind before you completely let go of your consciousness.

[noforkingclue]

Dhawan!Master x reader x Whittaker!Master Masterlist

Fluff

Dancing and Praises

Two Helping Timelords

Two Is Better Than One

[how-masterful]

31 Fics of Fright

Day 25- A Circle of Salt

Dhawan!Master X Reader

Prompt: Haunted House

Notes: I went through many ideas for this one. How haunted is the house? Are we talking universal horror nights or real-life Amityville? I decided to go for a good old fashioned ghost story, with some inspiration from the who episode ‘Hide’. Also, if you’ve ever seen phantom manor in Disney Paris, imagine the house looks just like that! Also also, this was written pre power of the doctor. Trust me... more of that is on the way...

Warnings: None

The Manor had been beautiful from the outside. A strange, twisted form of beautiful, but beautiful all the same. It was a gorgeous old house, stretching high into the hill. Its side coated with a thick crawl of ivy, spindly trees sat in the landscape, the last dusting of Autumn leaves freeing themselves from the branches. The steps up to the front door were intricately carved, each inscribed with a different line of the family’s creed. It was a shame the TARDIS was unable to translate- you were ever so curious about what the inscriptions could possibly mean. Flanked by a decadent graveyard and built towards the heavens, the house was grand and mystical.

Also, however, incredibly, incredibly haunted.

You’d found that out the hard way.

The Master had gone off in one direction, abandoning the vast amounts of abandoned research equipment in the front room, leaving you to your own devices. You supposed if he had decided to ditch and go off exploring, it would hardly be a crime if you decided to do the same thing. The Master had taken the route to the servants' quarters, so you decided to head towards the bedrooms. It was always a tell-tale sign of what a person was truly like, you could tell a million things about a person by what they kept within the room they slept in.

 The master bedroom was up the stairs and down the hall, several smaller guest bedrooms and living spaces occupying the second level of the house. You had no clue who the original owner was, the house had simply piqued your interest when you’d arrived. It had also seemingly piqued the Masters, judging by the strange looks he gave the scanner when he used it on the house.

 Research equipment in the family room was enough to make anybody curious- but abandoned research equipment? That could escalate any curious Timelord into full blown suspicion. It was a half chance that could possibly be a good thing.

The old floorboards groaned as you crept your way into the bedroom. The four-poster bed sat proudly in the middle of the old room; a dressing table decorated with detailed carved flowers sitting on the far-right side. An enormous wardrobe, with fine wooden doors and swirling handles sat to the left of the bed, a rotting rug and several old, framed photographs dotted around the room. The curtains at the window had been devoured by moths, the oil lamps around the room dried up and empty. You supposed whoever had lived in the room had a taste for the finer things in life. 

You headed towards the large, upright mirror next to the wardrobe, inspecting the golden edges curiously. It was real gold, melted and bent into butterflies. Surprisingly, the glass was still in perfect condition. You looked at yourself in the reflection, brushing down the dust on the front of your outfit. Rather vainly, you admired your sense of dress- the long coat you were wearing had been a gift from the Master. It had quickly become your favourite.

You continued to pick at a loose thread, staring down at your sleeve, when a sudden impact came crashing against the mirror, the glass shattering into shards. A metal cased lipstick rolled within the puddle of glass, your head spinning around to see where the bullet had come from. The items sat upon the vanity had slowly begun to lift themselves into the air, the old cosmetics and wiry brushes, trinket boxes and pieces of jewellery hesitantly floating like puppets on a string. Your eyes widened, mouth agape at the sight, before a sudden realization hit you. 

That lipstick had been flung at the same position your head was at not a second earlier. It had been thrown directly at you. 

At the impact of a compact right beside your temple, you made a sudden break for the door. The floating objects entered into pursuit, the contents of the vanity zipping through the air and launching themselves in your direction. You screamed as a jewellery box clattered against the wall, a powder puff smacking into your arm and tarnishing the side of your jacket. The stairs yowled under your racing feet, your hand flying towards the banister amidst the onslaught of floating items. 

A distant rattling caught your attention, your eyes snapping towards the corridor on the east side of the bottom floor. The Master was sprinting from the entrance to the servants' quarters, frantically ducking as a barrage of floating pots and crockery were in hot pursuit. A soup bowl shattered at his feet as he leapt across the threshold, his face burning with fury as he avoided a wok to the head. 

“Master! Over here!”

Calling out towards him, the Timelord scrambled to meet your side. Your brain was fizzing, the last reasonable parts of your mind frantically trying to remember what to do in haunted situations. You flicked through every film like a rolodex in your head, brain rushing from The Craft to every single season of Supernatural you’d been able to tolerate. The table of abandoned equipment was propped up nearby, an open box of hunting equipment sat at its feet. You squatted down, narrowly avoiding a hairbrush to the skull, fingers scrabbling through the dusty remains to find anything that could save you.

 The sought-after container of salt was rolling around at the bottom of the crate, leaking the white crystals across the dirty brown interior. Desperate hands clutched towards the Master, yanking him to meet your chest as you flung the salt around you in a circle. Your wrist flexed like you were twirling a baton, a rainstorm of salt encircling you both within. The salt poured until there was nothing left, each and every crystal emptying out onto the dirty carpet. The Master watched in trepidation as a floating pot reared its handle, instinctively ducking as it flung itself at the direction of his face. He braced for an impact that never came, the pan slamming into an invisible wall, before clattering down onto the floor and rattling until it stilled. 

You watched in amazement as one by one the items attempted an attack, all hitting the wall of salt before falling to the ground. As the last watch and plate fell to the floor, your eyes met the Masters- chest heaving with fear, adrenaline pumping through every inch of your body. You certainly had questions. You only hoped the Master had answers.

“What… the HELL!”

You cried, staring incomprehensibly at the Timelord who was sharing the same expression.

“A salt circle, love? Really?!”

“It worked in the movie, and it worked here too! Are ghosts real? You never told me ghosts were real!”

“You never asked!” The timelord yelled back, eyes wide and expression desperate.

“I nearly got MURDERED by a floating jewellery box, Master, because YOU didn’t tell me ghosts were real!”

“Well, I'm SORRY about that! But in case YOU didn’t notice, LOVE, I was a little busy ALSO nearly being killed by a floating frying pan to the head!”

“You can REGENERATE!”

You shoved angrily against his shoulder, the Master wobbling back on unsteady feet. Frantic hands suddenly reached out to grasp hold of his coat collar, his shoes almost shuffling a gap in the protective salt circle. Once he was upright you pushed yourself into his chest, arms wrapping around his middle, face shoved into his neck. You could feel the Timelord exhale, melting into the embrace as you sighed into his jacket. The early scruff of his beard brushed against your skin, the sensation grounding you in the chaos of the day.

“I’m so sorry Master, I just-”

“No, I get it. You humans don’t take fear very well.”

“Hey-”

Before you could enter into another lover's tiff, the house had other plans. The loud clatter of metal pulled your attention from each other, your eyes landing on the far wall. All around you, the items from the research table launched themselves through the air, impaling into the rotting wall and piercing through the peeling wallpaper. The items moved in rhythm, slowly spelling out a warning in jagged, large letters.

DIE.

The pair of you slowly turned to face one another, faces etched with uncertain peril.

“So…” The Master asked quietly, staring back at the wall in the corner of his eye.

“When they make the salt circle in the movies… How do they get out?”

[truthbehindthemysteries]

✨Yօʊ'ʀɛ Nօȶ Gօɨռɢ Aռʏաɦɛʀɛ✨

Dhawan!Master x Reader

Summary: Despite traveling through all of time and space with the Doctor's best enemy, you still can't escape the bad along with the good. Lucky for you, you're not alone... even if it is with one of the if not THE most dangerous being in all the cosmos.

Warnings: Angsty Fluff, Sickness and all that comes with that, Blood and Gore / Violence

A/N: This was a requested fic { I am so sorry it is late ; life has gotten busy and ofc wack } about an adventure going wrong near the end for the Reader and the Master showing a side to themselves that no one else see's, not even their old friend/enemy the Doctor."}

We got to go, this place is going to blow. Run!" , the Master said as he grabbed you by the arm and lead you into a sprint. You breathed in and out roughly, heart racing as you followed him, using all the strength you had to push you forward, you both getting as far away from the destruction as you could while being shot at with deadly lasers with equally deadly consequences from them. You and the timelord had gone to the planet Androkeyos after having heard a tip from an anonymous person that the place should be checked out. Something weird going on there involving people going missing, mutations going on from experiments, a rare object at the heart of it all. Now in the thick of it, you two were trying to escape. The people there were dying off and were trying to make their race survive. Gone twisted with desire and frustration, they started experimenting on their own people with dangerous fuels, toxins, and poisons to change them to be able to survive. But now the mutations had gone rogue, too powerful for their own leaders to control, killing them off and threatening other planets if they escaped off their planet and into the stars - wanting to make others like them and kill off the rest who they saw as useless. Ducking behind a pillar, you and the Master stayed quiet, his hand over your mouth and you felt him against your back as he surveyed both your surroundings, waiting for the right moment to start running again, his other hand holding the Securya {the rare object} tight in his grasp now hidden away safely in a pocket. Once the coast was clear, you two began running again. "This way, that corridor, up the stairs, take a left and third door on the right. " he whispered to you, taking your hand and you and him got faster in your speed, eager to get into the room where his Tardis was located. You and him were just about there when more of the Androkeyo mutations came into view, swiftly moving about as they shot at you and the Master. As he fiddled with the door to get it open, you saw a shot coming right towards the Master who had his back turned. Taking the chance to protect him as he often did with you, considering you were so fragile in comparison to him because you're human, you took the shot square in the chest right as the Master grabbed you roughly and pulling you into the Tardis at the same moment. You both could hear the ruckus of the enemies trying to get inside the ship but the timelord was too focused on you. You who had stupidly decided to take a shot that could either mutate or kill you if you didn't have the antidote. In a risk to save his life where he was much more likely to survive it. Pain racked through your body from where the shot originated. You could feel an intense burning shooting from your heart through every nerve in your body. It hurt to breathe and when you moved, you felt shaky. The Master not only felt an intense anger to go outside his ship and slaughter every single one of them on the planet until everything was drenched in blood aside from the fire, ash and smoke and dust. He also however, felt anger and frustration for you. Not surprised as this wasnt the first time you risked your life for him but also that you would put his life over yours when he was far more capable of surviving in comparison to you. Frustration when you didnt have to get shot and there could have been another way. Lucky for you, he had the Securya on him. Had he not found it, things may have gone downhill more than they already have. Seeing the look on his face, you grit out through your teeth as you tried to push him away to no avail, "Just focus on getting us out of here first." to remind him and he growled lowly under his breath, moving towards the console and pressing buttons and pushing the lever to get you both gone. The wheezing of the Tardis started along with the up and down motion of the main part of the console and you did your best to hold on from where you fell in front of the doors from the inside of the ship. Not knowing where you both were as his ship landed, all you could focus on was trying to pull yourself up by your hands. Having instantly heard footsteps coming your way, you would have fallen were it not for the Master catching you with an arm around your waist and pulling you to him. He could sense how bad it was for you and he couldn''t help but be worried. He would scold you later however. "Don't even bother trying to move on your own love, it's just going to be worse on you.", he remarked when you started to protest as he picked you up bridal style and started carrying you into the depths of his ship towards the medical bay. You were known to be rather stubborn when it came to things and you never wanted to be seen as weak. Too bad that when those moments come, trying to act as normal can be taxing and take out of you more. You frowned but slowly nodded as you buried your head in his chest. His arms like a safety net, you held on for as long as you could, not wanting to go anywhere. With him, it felt like home. With him, it felt safe. With him, you felt peace and happiness among all the chaos and the madness. Slightly jostled awake by him demanding you stay awake, you slowly opened your eyes and looked a little around, seeing yourself in the medical bay as the Master gently put you on the gurney table and got to work. Using something clearly alien and advanced tech, he moved it over your body in an up and down motion to get a reading. His jaw tightened as he released a breath, shaking his head. "What is it?" , he looked towards you then away as he continued, "Youre in the beginning stages of mutation. Thats why you're feeling that burning all inside you.. starting from your heart? " , he didnt need you to nod to get that confirmation. The look in your eyes said everything. "Its going from the start of how you live to all throughout your body because that change happens everywhere. It's trying to rewrite you from the inside out. From that, comes the poisons and the toxins, trying to wash out the old..." , he remarked as he got a needle and injection, taking the Securya out his pocket and hooking them both up together and extracting enough of the liquid that was in the rare object. You shivered, whether it was out of shakiness or the needle, you couldn't really tell.You didn't like either possibility.  As he spoke, he also brought out a weird looking thing that you could only assume was a stethescope mixed with a temperature monitor. He came over to you. "You won't be you anymore and you especially wouldnt be if i didnt take that damn rarity.", his voice went steely and scolding to you, a stark contrast from his gentle ministrations towards helping you sit up, the pillow behind your back supporting you up. "Now open your mouth and stay still. When i tell you to take deep breaths, you do so. Ok?", You nod and as he pressed a button, your mouth falls open in what could be considered a cute O face, but minds were not in the gutter, they were out in the open with clarity towards the given situation. Feeling part of the object under your tongue, you two waited a little bit before it popped out your mouth. Right after, the Master replied, "I need you to breathe now Y/N.", he instructed and you did as you were told, breathing deeply in and out a few times until he gave you the go ahead to stop. As he took notice of that and the readings from the temperature, you lied back down, albeit weakly. "You're burning up.. Well over 100 and your heart is pattering away like a hummingbird's wings.", he said as he put the stethoture monitor { ;) } down and came to you with the needle that held the Securyan liquid. You trembled, looking at the size of the needle. Couldn't be too bad right? You clearly dealt with worse on Planet Earth, anywhere else you traveled with the Master in the past and you would give anything to be rid of the pain overwhelming your entire body. By the look on his face towards you out the corner of his eye, you didn't need to express that you were starting to feel more than just burning. It was becoming much more harder to breathe as the Master put pressure on a perfect spot to put the needle in. The other side, he held onto your arm and one hand of yours overlapped his to hold on tight just in case. "This is going to hurt so if you need to, squeeze tight onto my hand.", the timelord told you, voice oozing with not only concentration and seriousness but a tint of worry as well. "Just put the damn thing in and get it over with." , you spit out, your other hand clutching at the table sheets under your back and as you did, he inserted the needle in. Almost instantaneously, the pain became unbearable as you tightened your hold both on the sheets and his hand until your knuckles turned wide. As you struggled slightly from where you lay, he laid his free hand over your chest to hold you down. "Try and stay still Love, this will only get worse if you don't." , You nodded despite the tears pooling out your eyes, vision going blurry and you almost barely felt the needle coming out of you. "Look at me Y/N", and you did so. You saw a flurry of emotions in his eyes, all of the same you have been seeing but more softer. "I know you feel sleepy but it will all be over, i promise. Try and get some rest. I'll be here when you wake.". Vaguely through the pain and the Securyan liquid going through out your body, you felt the burning go into a gentle cooling more as the time passed by BUT as well as the exhaustion, you slowly fluttered your eyes shut after you murmured out an "Okay." As you felt the embrace of sleep overtake you, the last thing you felt before you saw black was the brushing of lips on your forehead. -Sometime later- Opening your eyes, the first thing you saw was the med bay you were in, the Master right by your bed in a chair, eyes immediately turning towards you.The first thing you felt was much better. The pain was still there but the nap must have done you a universe of good if the negatives in your body was more dull and faint. Maybe this was more than one being not limited to the Master, but to overall that you should not over exert yourself and put yourself into things that could be avoided. To essentially 'cool it' and calm down. "How are you feeling?", he inquired and you were just about to turn to him and answered when he cut you off, "No. Scratch that, because i can pick up on everything about you, let alone your body more than anyone else can since i'm who you're around most if not all of the time.", his voice showed how steely and negative feeling he was earlier. Well , still technically and you bit your lip, knowing what was coming. Though it was sort of deserved, you wouldn't feel bad about that decision. You were protecting someone you loved, simple as that. "What the hell were you thinking? You could have die- no , you would have died were it not for me. You're human Y/N and I'm not, did you ever stop to think that maybe i don't need saving?" You frowned at him, equally letting out the frustration and worry and anger you felt. You understood where he was coming from because he was by all means fully able to take care of himself in anyway but if it werent for obvious moments in the past where even he was bested. You think he would know that not even he himself is truly invincible. "If you didn't need me, let alone anyone to save you, then you wouldn't have gotten into situations that required anyone to be your hero Master. Yes, you're a timelord but that doesn't make you inescapable to pain or death, you know that!" "I don't need you to save me Y/N. I'm not some damsel in distress that needs someone over his back and shoulder looking out for him." You reeled back from that, quiet for a few moments as he stared you down, trying to get you to see where he was coming from just as you were on your own end towards him. You never treated him like a child, you fully knew well enough that you're not him mother. Especially with how you feel towards him , how dare he insinuate that when it wasn't true. "You see it from your end and you try to make a point but you're not even considering where i was coming from it. You are the farthest thing from a child to me." Your voice broke as you tried to stand, being able to on your own now without the timelord's help. "Really, then what am I to you huh? , because from where i stand, you're a coward not admitting what you feel when it's obvious through your words and actions." Was he really that thick? Maybe not because by his words, he clearly knew and was hinting it to you just to get you to finally let it out. He is a stone cold brilliant genius as once said by his frenemy, the Doctor. Blood boiling over but in a mix of frustration and affection, you shouted, "I love you, you damn bastard. Why else do you think i risk my life for you, why i travel with you and chose you over the Doctor? Why do you think that i would clearly put myself into a position to get sick and infected, even die for you?!" By this point, he was within a few centimeters of your face, You continued before he could. Your voice softer now, "When you love someone, you don't walk away. When it's real, you dont walk away.. you run towards. You go through the good and the bad together. Yes, i'm going to suffer in sickness from a mistake, as you put it, that i made. I love you Master and maybe to others, that would be stupid and idiotic, dangerous and insane. But I care, so sue me for caring. Sue me for giving a da-" Hands pull you forward by the elbows and lips collide against yours. Cut off from speech, you gasp into the kiss he gives. It's all lips in a guided tango of love and passion, release of feelings and the frustrations starting to subside on both ends. You clutch on tightly to his collarbones, fisting the top of his waistcoat in your hands, moving your lips in synch with his. A sense of relief that you got the antidote, that you and him talked and expressed, that while you would be sick as an after effect of the mutation poison and the dose of Securyan to heal you, you would get better. You were with the Master, safe inside his ship. You were h o m e. Pulling apart, he rested his forehead against yours. Breath's mingling and getting breath's back, he spoke quietly to you. As if you two were the only ones inside the universe, let alone his ship which of course was true considering he didn't let anyone else in, unless it were the Doctor. You chuckled inwardly at the thought. He was your very own right now. "Just promise me, please. You have to take better care for yourself. You're worth so much more than an ending like that." He said. You wrapped your arms around him, despite the dull pain, coming of the sickness while at the same time being fought off to heal. "Don't want to get rid of me huh?", you teased lightly before biting your lip, starting to feel nauseous. Sensing it, he helped lead you to a nearby toilet, holding your hair back as you released your stomach of it's contents. "Oh love... you're not going anywhere if i have anything to say and do about it." ------------ The next week or two was more or so the same. Essentially confined to the ship because further adventuring while you were healing would prolong the process of you getting better. You would have a bruise where the shot had hit you, you would throw up occasionally, even with blood {which died down and stopped when you got another Securyan dose as needed.} , weak and dizzyness, even a back and forth of a stuffy nose and a runny one, a sore throat. Each in time became duller and then faint, followed by going away completely, even your breathing got better to the way it was before you got shot and sick. You chuckled as you got dressed for the day in your's and the Master's bedroom on the Tardis, the old girl fiercely protective and .loving/etc towards the both of you, especially him but you for how you are with him and how you are with her, the ship. You thought over some moments, now that you're in the third week. At the start of this third you had starting getting better to tip top shape. Now you just wanted to tell the Master. A smile comes to your face as you thought of moments before. No matter how gross of color and consistency the vomit was, added addition of blood occasionally. No matter how sick you got in different ways, he was there every step of the way now that you both had an understanding, especially more so than before. No matter how many times you fought him due to stubborness to see if you got your strength back or out of frustration of trying to get things done yourself out of not wanting to be seen as weak or an invalid. No matter how much you bleed, he took every bruise and hit and grossness and gore you tried to inflict on him because he knew that you didnt regret your decision persay but that you felt guilt at not taking things into account that you should have with him. He knew that it meant nothing too really, when you always apologized to him after. Sometimes we all need someone, even if we don't want to admit it to anyone , let alone ourselves. Coming out of your shared bedroom, you moved through the halls and corridors, the ship with ease, leading you to where the Master was, in the kitchen. You leaned against the door way, smiling at him as he seemed to be making breakfast. How charming. You almost would have moaned of how delicious he makes things but you wanted to surprise him. You didn't know how good this might go since he so quickly got onto things, especially with you but still, let you have some fun. In an instant, you jumped on his back, legs wrapping around his waist, hands at his shoulders and you whispered into his ear "Gotcha.", before you kissed his cheek and moved to jump off. "Now that was very rude Y/N", he remarked, instantly turning you around so that you were both on the floor, the wind out of you as he leaned over top of you, eyes burning into yours with happiness, amusement and mischief. You felt a mixer of eggs, herbs and cheese around your body as well as floor and the sweet exotic smell of something you couldn't identify. You wondered what it was. You giggled, looking up at him, seeing crumbles of buttered bread in his hair and little sausage links on the ground. Even when looking a mess, he still looked beautiful but with that expression, made it all the more funny. "Feeling better i see to cause a ruckus as usual." You smirked , "I can't help myself, you make it so easy." "Even when you're at my mercy now, underneath me with my body on top of yours?" , he hinted, his voice taking a coy tone. You narrowed your eyes, seeing what he was planning, "No.  you better not, i sw-" , you tried to get away, kicking out from underneath him to try and get him and move away but he caught you just as you moved to get up, sending you back down to the ground. "Master, come on!", you squealed as his hands trailed all over your body, sending you into a fit of laughter as he tickled you everywhere, his grin on his face knowing he won. At some point he stopped, he turned your face to his with a hand cupping your face. "Feeling better i see. You ruined the breakfast i made for us. What are you going to do about that?" , he threw at you as he hovered over you. "I don't know, i think you might have to just deal with the mess... I'm kidding, im kidding!", you laughed as he moved to tickle you again. "I'll help you clean it up and remake it, how about that?" "Sounds like a deal Love.", he remarked, helping you stand and you returned his mischievous smile before following through with getting the kitchen cleaned up as well as you two and then making the breakfast. Who knew that suffering from danger would lead to such an outcome? There was no where else you would rather be and as you shared a look with him, enjoying the start of another day together, you knew he felt the same.

[praxeus-13]

Something Lost In My Head

(Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3)

Pairing: Dhawan!Master x Timelord!Reader

Word Count: 5400

Summary: The Master takes a break to search for his long lost love, slowly losing hope of ever finding you. Then, an unexpected phone call gives him some hope.

Warnings: Brief mentions of murder, but this is The Master so really what do you expect?

Tag list: @hopefulfuturenovelauthor @geocookie21

A/N: Thank you all so much for the amazing response to the first part! I hope you enjoy this, and I’ll try to get part 3 done in two weeks time but no promises :D

The Master was lonely, he had been for a long time. Terrorising The Doctor or her pets would always help, at least for a little while, but he always had to retreat and replan. Terrorising others would also help, though never as much. Burning Gallifrey had helped a lot, but the loneliness had come back, as always. He spent a lot of time yearning for the days when he wasn’t lonely, before the Time War, before the High Council had interfered.

When he’d had you.

The Master, or Koschei as you used to call him, knew that he could always depend upon you. As far as his younger selves had known, you were always going to be by his side. The two of you, exploring the universe together, often leaving a trail of chaos in your wake. These days he left a trail of destruction, his days of practically harmless chaos were long gone.

Still, he had always held out hope. The Master refused to believe Rassilon when he had told him that you were dead, he would have killed Rassilon on the spot if the High Council hadn’t been prepared for that. He’d stopped fighting in the war then, in a fit of grief and rage he had shoved a chameleon circuit onto his head and threw his human self to the end of the universe.

When The Doctor found him, and caused him to wake up, he was still full of that grief and rage. His regeneration after that had spent far too much time trying to destroy the world and himself in the process. Missy had followed after that, and she had gone along the same path for a while, but whenever it had gotten quiet she had gone looking for you.

When The Doctor finally caught up with Missy, and locked her up in the vault, she finally started to process her grief over losing you. She had spent many of those years crying to herself, never letting The Doctor see, putting on an act until the final years. Then she had started to talk to him about you, telling stories he hadn’t heard before, and she could almost allow herself to move on.

Almost, but not quite.

Missy had always known you were still out there, and she’d told her Doctor as much, but she could tell that he never believed her. The Doctor told her how he had gone looking for you, as soon as he had figured out what happened, but he’d been unsuccessful and had eventually given up. She’d been angry then, The Doctor had known you nearly as long as she had, The Doctor was the one who always had hope - so she didn’t understand why he would give up on you. Missy’s dying thoughts had been focused on you, reliving old memories and making new vows for her next regeneration.

When The Master ended up in his new body he had done three things. First, he’d gotten off the Mondasian ship. Second, he’d gotten a new outfit before Missy’s corset caused him to regenerate again. Third, he went to Gallifrey in search of answers. Unfortunately, the Matrix had yielded no answers to your status of whereabouts, though it had lead to a long chain of tiring events.

He’d escaped Gallifrey before the Death Particle had gone off, though the cyberium had jumped out of him and into one of the Cyber Masters just before he had left, and although The Doctor had bested him yet again he didn’t have the energy within him to care.

Now The Master was practically back where he started, alone in the universe with even less leads and even more wounds. In a century or so he would probably seek The Doctor out again, create more elaborate plans in hopes of beating her, but now was not the time for that. Now he was going to fulfil his promise to his previous regeneration and find you, or at least give it his very best try.

———

It had been 48 days for him since the events on Gallifrey had taken place. The Master was sat in his TARDIS’ console room, going over the plans he had laid out all over the floor. He had made a map of the universe - or at least all of the parts left remaining after the Flux had swept its way through - and had highlighted all of the places he hadn’t looked yet. The Master was halfway through crossing off some of the locations that he had tried when he heard a phone ringing.

It took him a while to locate the phone, it was the one he had used as O to contact The Doctor though after that plan had failed he hadn’t had much need for the device anymore, so he hadn’t used it in a while. Eventually though, he did find it.

When he looked at the caller ID he was surprised to see “The Doctor” written on the screen, though there it was. Honestly he’d hoped that she’d actually thought she’d killed him (again), but that clearly wasn’t the case. The Master hesitated to answer, not wanting to be distracted from his search to you, though he was itching to find out why in Rassilon’s name The Doctor was calling him.

Unfortunately, he took a second too long to decide, as the phone stopped ringing. A second later his screen lit up again, and he answered immediately.

“Doctor! What an unpleasant surprise, what do you want?” It wasn’t hard to put on a mask, pretend that he wasn’t sleep-deprived and depressed.

“I’m sending you coordinates, meet me there.” Her voice sounded slightly shaky, and The Master was intrigued, however he wasn’t stupid enough to fall right into a trap.

“Come on now Doctor, I’m not stupid enough to fall for a trap that weak! I’m hurt that you’re underestimating me.”

“It’s not a trap, just get there.”

“Why would I do that? You’ve given me absolutely no incentive to do so.”

That was a lie of course, merely the fact that she had elected to call him was incentive enough, but he was restraining himself. He’d made a promise to himself, and his priority right now was searching for you.

Strangely, The Doctor took a deep breath before she spoke, as though what she was about to say was life-altering information and she had to prepare herself to tell him.

“I found Y/N.”

Well, that definitely was life-altering information.

The Master froze, almost sure that he hadn’t heard her correctly. He didn’t say anything for a few seconds, trying to verify with himself that she’d actually said what he thought she’d said.

“What?” When he spoke his voice was barely above a whisper, completely unsure of himself.

“I found Y/N.”

The Master didn’t know what to do, how to react. There were a thousand questions racing through his mind, and a thousand feelings to go along with them. Were you okay? Why did The Doctor call him instead of you? Did she actually have you with her, or did she simply know where you were? Would The Doctor try to use you as a bargaining tool? Back before the war the answer would have been a definite ‘no’, but now the two of them had drifted so far apart that he simply didn’t know the answer to that question anymore.

Then a chill of dread filled his body as another question came to mind.

“Master?” The Doctor’s voice shook him out of his spiral, and he realised he hadn’t said anything for a few minutes.

“Is- Is Y/N alive?” His voice broke when he asked, not being able to bare it if he found out that The Doctor had only found your body.

“Oh! Yes, yes they’re alive. Just-“ The Doctor paused, seemingly struggling with the correct words, “It’ll be easier to explain in person.”

The Master feels a jolt of fear at her comment, and he can’t wait another second to see you.

“I’m on my way.” He tells her as he starts to make his way around the console, typing in the coordinates and setting the controls in the correct positions, “But Doctor, if this is a trap I’ll kill you and every little pet you’ve ever had.” He hangs up before giving The Doctor a chance to reply.

The Master’s body was on autopilot for the journey to The Doctor’s selected location. Meanwhile his thoughts were still running wild, though they were mainly focused on theorising about whatever The Doctor needed to explain. All he could conclude was that you were probably injured in some way, and he just had to hope that you would be okay.

As soon as his TARDIS landed The Master hurried out of the doors. The planet that The Doctor had given him coordinates to was insignificant in the grand scheme of things, nothing sentient ever lived there, and eventually it would be burnt up by its closest sun. The Master didn’t pay attention to the planet’s atmosphere, only focused on The Doctor’s TARDIS as it materialised in front of him.

The Doctor stepped out, looking no different from the last time he had seen her, closely followed by Yaz. The Master was surprised that the other two didn’t also follow her out, but he put that thought to the back of his mind.

For a moment the three of them stood and stared at each other, The Doctor and The Master simultaneously deciding to put away recent events in favour of you, Yaz unknowingly observing.

The Master decided to break the silence. “Is Y/N with you?”

“Yes, they’re resting in the TARDIS.”

Nodding, The Master started to step forward, he had every intention of seeing you as soon as possible. Rather than moving out of the way, The Doctor straightened up and blocked his path.

“I know you want to see them, and you will just- I need to tell you something first.” The Doctor had a pitying look in her eyes, he had seen it many times before.

The Master didn’t say anything, so The Doctor continued. “Firstly, it’s been two centuries since they last saw you, at least as far as I can tell. They had been on the same planet for that time, before we found them.”

The Master felt nauseous, he hadn’t even considered time differences, but he should have. After all, you were both time travellers. Part of him was glad that you hadn’t spent millennia apart from him as he had from you, but two centuries was still a very long time - even for a Time Lord. Another part of him was angry, angry that the two of you were out of sync, that you’d had to spend years of your lives growing and learning but not with each other.

Still, he couldn’t find anything to say, at least not to The Doctor.

The Doctor seemed to sense this as she continued. “Secondly, uh, it seems as though Y/N has-“ She took a breath and closed her eyes, before opening them and looking directly at him. “Y/N has lost almost all of their memory.”

The universe seemed to go deadly quiet in that moment, not even the everlasting drums in his head seemed to be there.

Then, like a tsunami, everything seemed to come rushing back all at once. The constant drumming, the tidal wave of thoughts and feelings, it was nearly too much to cope with. By some miracle he was able to form a comprehensive sentence.

“What- I mean- What? Are- are- are you sure?” The Master looked into The Doctor’s eyes, practically pleading with her to say anything to give him some hope on your condition.

“Yes, they didn’t recognise me even once I told them my name. Actually they didn’t even know their own name until I told them.”

“But, you said they’ve lost ‘almost all’ of their memory? What does that mean? What do they remember?”

The Master was heartbroken and grieving for you again, but this time he could at least be comforted with the knowledge that you were alive. So, he decided to try and focus on the facts, get as much information as possible in hopes of getting your memories back.

Strangely, The Doctor gave him a small smile, “They remember you. Y/N couldn’t remember their own name but they could remember you, your name, most of what you looked like over your regenerations. Despite it all they’re still Y/N, they spent most of the time talking about you, they were worried about you even though they’re the one with memory loss. Y/N is still Y/N, I think their memories are just suppressed.”

The Master nodded slowly, starting to understand what The Doctor was saying and what it meant.

“So, what? Rassilon used a chameleon circuit on them? Are they human now?”

“No, definitely still Time Lord - I checked. But the High Council kept a lot hidden from public knowledge, they could have used a similar technology. Either that or a very skilled telepath messed around in their head.”

Well, at least The Doctor had a couple of hypothesise and they weren’t just starting with nothing.

“I’ve had the TARDIS take a full medscan of them while they’re resting, it should be done soon. Hopefully the results will be able to give us more information.” The Doctor tried to give him another smile, though it was clear she was still worried about your state.

Surprising himself, The Master gave her a small smile back. At the end of the day he was grateful for her effort. After all he had done to her over the recent centuries she had every right to simply leave you wherever she had found you, or to never tell him that she had found you. Instead, she had chosen to help you, and to help him.

“Can I see Y/N now? I won’t do anything to harm your TARDIS or your pets as long as they’re here, you know that.” All he wanted to do right now was to hold you in his arms and promise to never let you go again.

The Doctor nodded and behind her the TARDIS’ doors opened, she went through first, followed closely by Yaz. Finally, The Master walked in.

The Doctor’s TARDIS hadn’t changed from when he’d last seen it. As far as TARDIS interiors went, hers wasn’t the worst, though it was certainly never one that The Master would chose. You’d probably like it though.

The Doctor walked directly over to the console, checking one of the screens that seemed to be doing everything possible to get her attention. Concerned, The Master headed towards it as well, though Yaz stood in his way before he could get close enough to properly see the screen. Instead he watched The Doctor’s reaction to the words she was reading, he became worried when her eyebrows furrowed and her face scrunched up angrily.

However, when she turned to face him she had a neutral expression on her face, or at least as close as she could get to neutral. “Overall, they’re okay, only a few small bruises and scratches. But the readings for their mind are all over the place, and the results aren’t narrowing down what could have happened to them. I think one of us is going to need to actually enter their mind and have a look around, to properly figure out what’s going on.”

The Master nodded, it wasn’t what he’d wanted but he would do anything to help you. “I’ll look, I know Y/N far better than you, and I’ve spent enough time in their mind to know what it should look like.”

“Sounds like a plan, want to see them now?”

———

The Master was nervous, which wasn’t an emotion he would readily admit to feeling, nor was he too familiar with the feelings associated with being nervous. He was pacing as he waited outside the Medbay, The Doctor had gone in to check on you and had left Yaz to watch over him. Luckily, The Doctor’s favourite pet human hadn’t said a word to him, so he had been able to focus on trying to calm his worries.

Your memory loss certainly complicated the situation. If you still had your memories in tact reuniting with you would have been easy, neither of you would have needed words to convey all of your thoughts. Now though, he actually had to think about what he was going to say, about what he was going to do. Hundreds of scenarios were playing out in his head, though he still hadn’t found the exact right one. Of course, The Doctor had terrible timing as usual, and walked out of the medbay right then.

“Y/N is awake now, I haven’t said much about the memory loss, but I let them know that the rest of them is fine. You ready to go in?”

Unable to get any words out at that moment, The Master simply nodded. Then, The Doctor opened the medbay doors once again, allowing him to step through.

His eyes caught on you immediately. You were sat up in one of the hospital-like beds, and though you had regenerated since he had last seen you, he knew it was you. He wasn’t sure there would ever be words to describe the relationship between the two of you, though he supposed that the only ones who could ever come up with that language would be those who could experience such an eternal relationship, and there were very few of those people in the universe. Somehow though, the bond between the two of you meant that you could always recognise each other no matter what either of you looked like.

The Master walked towards you cautiously, still not completely sure of what his next action would be. Luckily, you spoke before he had to think too much.

“Koschei.” Your voice was barely above a whisper, it was as though you had spoken without exactly thinking about it.

“Hi.” His heart ached, for so many reasons, so much so that he could barely get the word out.

“Hi.” You spoke, and he could tell that you were nervous, though it was more giddy than scared.

“How are you feeling?” The Master asked as he perched on the edge of your bed.

“I’m- I don’t really know? I feel better now I’m out of that place, now that you’re here.” The Master had to use all of his strength to restrain himself from wrapping his arms around you. “The only thing that I’ve known for certain these past centuries is that if I found you I’d be okay, that I’d be safe. I am now, aren’t I? I’m safe, yeah?”

You looked at him with such hope and trust in his eyes, and he was in awe at the fact that even though you had no memories you still trusted him.

“Yes, you’re safe now, and I’ll make sure that you stay safe from now on.”

You nodded, and he could see tears welling in your eyes - matching the tears welling in his. There was so much that he wanted to tell you, so much he wanted to ask you, but he knew that those were conversations that would have to wait until after you got your memories back.

The Master heard footsteps behind him, though he didn’t turn to look, he couldn’t turn his eyes away from you. However he could easily tell that The Doctor was stood not far behind him, from the way your eyes were flicking between him and The Doctor.

“What about my memories? Do you know how to get them back?” You asked in a worried tone.

“We don’t know yet, The Master is going to have to enter your mind telepathically and have a look around to figure out what’s going on. If that’s alright with you, of course.” The Doctor explained.

“The Master?” You looked towards The Master with a confused expression, and his hearts felt like they were breaking yet again.

“It’s my title, what everyone else calls me. You call me Koschei though, love.” He explained patiently, hoping that his title wouldn’t give you a bad impression of him when you didn’t know the story behind it anymore.

“Oh, alright. What do you need to do?”

The Master was mildly shocked by your easy acceptance, though it also made him realise that The Doctor was right. Somehow you were still you, even despite the memory loss, and you had always trusted him more than anyone else in the universe.

“I just need you to relax love, I’ll do the rest.”

You nodded at his words and settled back against the pillows behind you. Then The Master reached out his hand to your temple and closed his eyes.

———

Slipping into your mind after so many years was probably the most relaxing thing The Master had done in a long while. He loved the familiarity of it, the way his presence blended into yours so seamlessly.

“Strange.” He heard your voice echoing around him, and opened his eyes.

There you were, your presence glowing the same soft lilac that it always had, complimenting his deep mauve presence.

“Strange, dear?”

“This feels so, natural, so right. Some part of me knows that we’ve done this before, I just can’t remember. It’s like the memories are right there, I can almost see them, they’re just a little too far away.” As you spoke your presence became a little spikier, and a tad more desaturated, reflecting your emotions.

He found himself mirroring you, though his own emotions had more intensity to them. Even while you were right here, while he was in your mind, he found himself missing you. The Doctor had been right, not something he would ever dare to admit to her, but she was right when she’d said that you were still you. You still had your charm, you were still just as curious as you had always been, you were still honest to the point of sometimes being more blunt than most others would like.

Unfortunately, you were also a shell of your former self, the version of you that The Master had fallen in love with all those millennia ago on Gallifrey. It was back in his academy days, he’d gone by Koschei back then and was a few years your senior. He’d seen you around occasionally, and you’d caught his eye sometimes, though he’d never considered giving more than a passing thought to you until one day. Koschei had been in the library alone, hoping to revise without the distractions that his friends would always cause, he’d wandered to the back to find the peace and quiet he craved.

Instead he’d found you, preparing yourself to climb the bookshelf in order to access one of the books higher up. All these years later he couldn’t remember what the book was about, but he could remember seeing you properly for the first time. However it wasn’t purely your looks and general demeanour that had caught his interest, it was the conversation the two of you had after he’d gotten the book down for you. He remembered being mesmerised, amazed to find someone who was so like him and at the same time so different.

The two of you had continued to meet up for years, always in same spot in the library. For some reason he had decided to keep you a secret from his friends, his time with you was just for the two of you. Eventually he’d decided to begin courting you (as was standard on Gallifrey), and his friends had ended up finding out. They were hesitant to accept you at first, especially Theta, Ushas and Magnus, but it had all worked out for a short while.

Everything fell into place from there, his parents had approved of the marriage, though they were disappointed your house didn’t have a higher status, the two of you were able to go through with the ceremony after you’d graduated. The ceremony itself had been a big event that neither of you were fond of, but it was tradition and it had been expected of you. Afterwards you’d had a quieter celebration with the Deca, getting drunk on ginger wine (a gift from Koschei’s parents) and dancing the night away. The two of you loved your first lives together on Gallifrey, both struggling to find a place in the rigid Time Lord society, though always calmed by the solace found in each other. Even when his life started to fall apart, when the Deca was disbanded and when The Doctor left Gallifrey without so much as a goodbye, you were there by his side.

You’d been the one to suggest leaving Gallifrey, taking a TARDIS and going to see the stars together, and he’d agreed wholeheartedly. For a few decades it was just the two of you, travelling the stars and planets together. Then you’d caught up with The Doctor, and you both started to get into more trouble. The Master had been lucky that you never felt the need to change him or the way he acted, and you would often join him in his schemes to spite his friend-turned-enemy.

You’d always been by his side, and he by yours, until you weren’t. The Master remembers the day you were taken in extremely clear detail, he’s played the memory over and over again in his mind, run through every possibility and hated himself for every failure of his.

When he’d burned Gallifrey not too long ago, he did it for you. He hated the Time Lords and the High Council for taking you away from him. Finding out about The Doctor’s origins had certainly fuelled the fire, but his anger and pain from losing you was what truly pushed him towards destruction.

Looking at you now, he was a mess of emotions: delighted that you were reunited; heartbroken that you’d lost your memories; and yet glad that you were still alive. However, he knew that you would be terrified right now, so he pushed those emotions down to deal with them another time. You needed him, and he be damned if he didn’t help you. Looking back at you, he projected a sense of safety.

“I’m going to search your mind now, and try and find your memories. It won’t hurt, but it might feel a little invasive.” He tried to reassure you.

“Okay, I trust you.” You replied, and The Master could tell that was the truth.

Finally, he took a deep breath and submerged himself in your mind.

———

Searching around in someone’s mind is a lot like swimming, that is, if one was swimming through mud. However, over time it gets easier, and over the centuries Koschei had visited your mind a lot. The two of you always had your mental walls down for each other, feeling everything the other felt, it was how you got through so much together. Therefore, Koschei knew exactly where to go to find your memories. He navigated your mind expertly, making sure you were following him at all times.

When he reached his destination he couldn’t hide his shock. It was empty. No doors just a hallway (of sorts) that went on endlessly. Trying not to worry either of you, The Master continued on down the hallways, checking each one but finding no doors leading to your memories. He was starting to lose hope, until he finally started to get to more recent years. The Master shot through the first door he saw without thinking, and you followed.

On the other side the two of you came face to face with your earliest current memory. You were sat on the floor, slouched against one of the stone walls of your hell, just waking up. The Master watched on with a mix of curiosity and pain as you got up and started to explore. He wanted to watch more, but he could see the way your emotions had changed next to him, so he lead you out of there.

Once the door was closed he paused for a moment, letting you collect yourself. Strangely, he saw the wall opposite flicker for a moment, as though a perception filter were placed over it. Physically, that was impossible to do in one’s mind, though you could definitely make the impression of a perception filter. The Master motioned for you to follow before heading straight at the wall. On the other side, he found hope.

Doors he recognised, remembered, a little worse for wear but very much in tact. He knew these doors, they were core memories of the two of you, and they were well protected. Whatever- whoever had done this to you, you’d protected yourself as well as you could.

“What is this? Why are these doors damaged?” You asked.

“Some of your memories of me, of us. Most of the core moments between us, they’re a little damaged but if we find the rest then we can restore them.” He made sure to reassure you, even if he wasn’t 100% sure whether he was telling the truth right now.

You nodded as much as one could when you were a disembodied representation of your consciousness.

Now fuelled by hope, The Master strode out of the hallway. It was a while later (time was rather hard to discern in one’s mind), when the two of you finally had another breakthrough. Turning into another hallway, he’s half expected it to be as empty as the last few, instead he saw two large double doors. They were intricately designed, circular Gallifreyan all over. However the part that truly got his blood boiling was the handles for the door, half moons that formed a circle when the doors were shut, a circle with the Seal of Rassilon stamped right on them. The Master growled, his form becoming a spiky dark red.

“I should have known.” He was almost overwhelmed with disgust and hatred-

“Koschei?”

“Rassilon, one of the founders of Gallifrey. He was the one who arranged for you to be taken, he was the one who told me you were dead, and he seems to have been the one who messed with your memories, my love.” The Master never took his eyes off the doors, almost afraid Rassilon himself would burst out of them and murder you.

“So, my memories, they’re in there?”

“Yes.”

“Can’t we just go in and get them then?”

“I’m afraid it won’t be that easy my love, Rassilon was old and clever, he would have set up traps. It will probably take a while, and we’ll need to do this together. I trust you, and if you had all those memories I’d trust you to do what was needed, but for now I need to trust that you’ll listen to me and follow my lead. I want- I need to keep you alive Y/N, above all else.”

The Master was close to begging at this point, although that wasn’t exactly new for your relationship. There had been many times when he had been happy to beg you for something completely unprompted, you’d never ask him to, but he felt the need to remind you how devoted he was to you every few decades.

“I trust you, and you can trust me. I’ll listen to you, I’ll do what you say. I want my memories back, but mostly all I’ve wanted these past centuries has been you. I’ve just found you, I won’t be stupid and give this up now.” You replied earnestly, and The Master had to resist the urge to embrace you.

“Alright, follow my lead.” He told you, turning back to the doors and walking forwards.

When he reached out a hand to one of the handles he held his breath. You held the other handle, and together you opened the doors. He knew that this was just the beginning of the battle, but he would continue fighting for you past his last breath. As the doors fully opened, a bright red light encased you both, and The Master braced himself - this was going to take a while.

[kinglivv]

Can I request a Dhawan! Master x timelord/lady! Reader? Where she’s been human for a bit, and The Master discovers it and she just slaps him as soon as she’s back like ‘You married someone else?!’. But like, where the reader is not ‘evil’ but darker.

Round Two

Dhawan!Master X Reader

Summary: The Reader has been living as a human for the past 15 years, without the Master. When they're finally converted back to timelord, them and the Master have a talk.

Warnings: Mention of murder

A/N: I rolled 2 requests into one with this one :) @crackedskel

You open your eyes, blinking rapidly in the harsh light.

You flex your fingers, curl your toes, bite your lip. Your senses are beginning to return. You feel light and free, butterflies in your stomach doing cartwheels and flips.

You can feel the double beating of your hearts in your chest, the thruming of regeneration energy in your veins. You can think faster, little things like telepathy suddenly accessible. You hadn't realised how much you'd missed feeling like yourself.

"Hello, darling," A soft voice says, and you open your eyes properly to focus on the person leaning over you. The Master.

"Hi," You smile sleepily. "Long time no see."

"Indeed," He chuckles. "You miss me? 15 years is a long time to spent as a human."

It's then that something clicks into place and you quickly run through the last 15 years. There were a lot of memories, but you pin-point one of you watching the TV in 2009, watching the election.

More specifically, the prime minister.

You do the only sensible thing - you reach up and slap him.

"Ow!" He jumps back, hand cradling his cheek. "What was that for?"

"You married someone else!" You sit up, glaring at him.

"What?"

"That blonde thing you had when you were prime minister!" You hadn't known it was him at the time, but now you had all your memories back you were piecing things together.

"Lucy?" He frowns. "She was just a pawn - do you really think a human would mean anything to me?"

"You could have chosen me!" You point out. "I was human, I wouldn't remember you but at least it would have been me!"

"I would never take advantage of you like that," He tells you kindly. "Even as a human."

You roll your eyes, beaten. You push yourself off of the medbay bed and make your way down the corridor. You remembered the layout of you and the Master's TARDIS well, and it felt good to be back.

"Where are you off to?" He calls after you.

"To get out of these horrible human clothes. My wardrobe's around here somewhere."

You eventually find it, and he follows you inside while you begin to sift through clothes.

"How was being a human for that long like?"

"Disgusting," You reply bluntly. "I don't know what the Doctor sees in them, they're so bloody boring. You can't even practice low level hypnotism to keep things interesting."

"What did you get up to?"

You pull out one of your old dresses, a purple one with a nice deep neckline that matches the Master's coat. You begin to change into it as he watches on with barely hidden enjoyment.

"I worked for the government," You say as you do up the back zipper. You can't quite reach and he jumps in the help you. "Well, more like governments plural."

"You were a double agent?"

You smirk, as you spray on some of your favourite Gallifreyan perfume and then begin to apply some lipstick. "Of course I was. I still enjoyed killing humans, even when I was one of them."

He grins back as his hands come to hold your waist, eyes roaming over you appreciatively.

"I came to check up on you, you know?" He says.

"What do you mean?"

You can feel him pushing inside of your head, gently. Telepathy can hurt when it hasn't been practised in a while, but your walls fall down easily and he slips right in.

He projects various images into your mind of you as a human, all from different perspectives. One of you walking down the otherside of the street, another of you in a meeting at work. One of you outside your apartment building, unlocking the door.

Every few weeks, you hear his voice say, I'd drop by and see how you were getting on. Just for peace of mind.

Really? You didn't just forget about me?

How could I forget about you?

You blink and look up at him, breaking out into a smile. You don't know how as a human you'd managed to forget him and how right he felt. Standing here, his arms around you, felt so familiar and it was the best feeling in the world.

You reach up to kiss him. You were finally home.