By the time they'd reached the TARDIS the patterns had gotten even more complicated, and the Doctor fancied they all felt a little bit calmer. He even filled them in on what was going on below; Kira and Setsuna being able to see each other, presumably by virtue of being from the same world, Psyche's lamp, who was going through and who chose to stay behind. He hoped Psyche's link with him would hold beyond the door; there didn't seem to be much reason for it not to, and he did want to see what was going on.
He let them silently into the TARDIS and was puzzling hard enough over the Master's latest twist on the figures that it took him a moment to notice that...
"Eighty-six trillion, four hundred sixty three- Una," he broke off as he caught sight of the figure on the jump seat. She looked... "You alright?"
Una didn't look up when the door opened, though she heard them all bustling in. When the Doctor spoke, she raised her head and took in the three of them-three of them? Oh, buggery, that was unexpected. And possibly inconvenient. Though at this point, did it matter?
"Hello, Doctor," she said. She grinned, although it had to be said that a death's head would have looked more lively. "Master. Rani. Good evening. How were things below?"
She flicked the safety of the gun on and off (a carelessness she never would have indulged in had the thing been loaded). From the way she was holding it, it might not have been immediately obvious what it was.
The Rani, meanwhile, had been about to interject yet another pragmatic-yet-unpoetic suggestion into the numbers game when the unwelcome interruption occurred.
She regarded Una with an expression that was roughly the equivalent of no one told me she was invited to the party, then gave both the Doctor and the Master a Look. While subtleties of emotion and interpersonal relationships weren't exactly the Rani's forte, even she could tell from the woman's expression, posture, and tone that someone had lit the fuse on a powder keg, as it were.
Did something go wrong above in the time we were gone? he thought to ask the Doctor via the link, though he was fairly sure from that look that they were not here to talk about dead roller coasters.
He glanced over at the Rani in something of an apology, insofar as he could manage one; it wasn't right for her to feel severed due to Una's presence, not after everything they had just -followed you out, the same sort of silent defence she had offered every time the other members of the Deca had decided they had their own plan to- --
"Una...." Alright, to be fair, he could understand why she felt that way, when he really stopped and listened to that answer, because they were so hard to read, Time Lords, -they all work so hard to be, especially you, and you've spent most of your life with (it isn't the first time you've had a companion look at you more or less the way she is looking at you now) humans- and fine, maybe she deserved to hear him to admit to some of the things he'd been trying to keep buried for his own selfish reasons
( ... )
She didn't pull her hand back. And somehow the Doctor's words began to pierce through the dense fog of anger and guilt she'd been swimming in ever since she'd talked to Sam.
There was so much she'd chosen to not see, in her desperate need to find some way, any way to feel alive; and others had suffered for it. Logan. Sam. And, for so long and with such patience, the Doctor. She'd been wilfully blind to the harm she'd done. But, she realised as the Doctor spoke, being wilfully blind in turn to any good she might have done, any changes she might have wrought, wasn't the way to compensate. Not that she had any idea what was the way, but he was right; throwing everything out in one go was only going to do more harm than good. Not least to herself
( ... )
The Master would have liked to ignore all of it, but even without good ears the link was broadcasting well enough. Her eyes did a job of it. That shout....
"You picked a hell of a time to decide redemption was the way to go," he murmured to the Doctor, looking to the gap where the gun had fallen. "Of course, being on the endangered species list can do that to some." -and yet you know that's not the whole reason, you can feel it in your mind, that desperation that had nothing to do with Gallifrey or universes or the destruction of worlds-
"It's too late, in any case. Or it will be, soon." Whether that was a relief or a rooted fear was unclear, both from the look on his face and sudden blankness radiating from his mind. -like a dead man-
There were sensations like distant explosions in the back of the Rani's mind, and her grip on Una's arm tightened hard enough to bruise. -the girl needs to know, and they're in no fit state to tell her anytime soon-
"Understand something, human child," she said. "We are the last of our race, the three of us. There is a war in their past and my future, a war across Time and Space, between the Time Lords and the Daleks. A war so fierce, so destructive, that the Immortals themselves flee our Universe in disgust. And to save the Universe, your precious Doctor must needs commit genocide. Not simply upon the Daleks, but upon the Time Lords themselves." The words poured out with the formality of an incantation; it was an old lecturer's trick that the Rani hadn't used in -at least two regenerations- ages. This was no subject for her usual brusqueness.
"Do you understand now? Do you see what we are to one another," -and what it cost her to admit that, especially to one such as this; she hoped the others never heard it- "what they are to each
( ... )
It was too much, far too much to take in at once, and suddenly so many things became clear to Una-
He's a hypocrite with so much guilt on his shoulders it's a wonder he doesn't sink into ground when he walks.
It's almost as if you're sorry for something.
One day I stopped trying to hate him, and started forgiving him.
And normally she'd have lashed out hard against the way the Rani was talking to her, but realisation was beating her hard about the head and shoulders, and she could do nothing but listen in horrified silence. Something in her twisted hard at the Rani's gaze, and all she could do was nod mutely ... and wait.
Her heart ached, and she wasn't sure who it ached for the most.
-No, it wasn't a hospital with ethically questionable research practices, or aliens using human children as imaginative computers. This was something the Time Lords, if they had ever had any value for their own, should have fixed long ago, instead of leaving him alone with this wound inside to fester and poison and finally overtake him. And there was only one Time Lord left, now, to do the jobs they should have done.-
The Rani and Una might have seen the Doctor's body jerk under the impact of that force being released, and he had guessed at how powerful they would be, but calculating intellectually could never have prepared him for -his first concern is for the Master's safety, for that fear of being taken over- this. Rassilon. He realized he'd have to contain them before he could make any kind of headway in understanding them, and turned all his will to that.
There were aftershocks even in the Rani's mind from that -explosion on the next block over, not just in the distance anymore, psychic blowback like nothing you've ever-, and she gasped.
-the tall boy had slipped and was sinking and the storm was getting worse, and she was going to go for help but then the smaller boy threw himself down the bank, heedless of the wind, and she screamed Get back here, Theta, you'll be killed, but he didn't listen and just kept going, and how long did she hang there before she finally decided she'd go too-
"I wasn't planning on it, Theta Sigma," she shoots back, (and for a moment it's just the red-haired girl, and outside the Rani shivers with the effort of trying to remain coherent in the Master's mindscape) and with her other hand she reaches for the little boy, closing on his upper arm with a grip somewhat gentler than the one in which she is holding the Doctor's arm.
It weighs in on them suddenly, like it knows their plan, and the lanscape is dissolving much faster now. The rhythm presses in on all three of them, wave after wave....
And yet even then he acted on instinct and in reaction to that command, jumping away from that onslaught and back into his own head, neck snapping back from the force of it and then his body following, falling backwards and tearing his hands away from the Master's face.
He landed in a heap, blood spattering across his face, and for a moment his eyes were open and unseeing. Then they slowly fell closed.
"You didn't-" Ushas begins sharply and there's a voice outside, normally it'd be a minor annoyance, but for some reason she doesn't mind this time. "It's all right," she amends, and her tone is as close to conciliatory as she gets. "Just come with us. Here. Give me your hand." She reaches out and her fingers brush his. She looks at the tall young boy beside her. "Koschei, don't just stand there." Even though she knew he'd already done so much more; still, it wouldn't be Ushas without some kind of potshot.
The Master's shoulder shifted just slightly under Una's hand, perhaps in a reminder that he knew she was there.
Koschei affects something of a bow in her direction. "Oh Highness, light in the dark corners of my soul, thank Rassilon you were here to come and rescue us. Whatever would we do without you." He reaches out as well.
She snorts and rolls her eyes at the exaggerated flattery. If you looked carefully, you could see the corner of her mouth twitch up slightly. "Sometimes I'm surprised you two can get your shoes on in the morning," she retorts. "Theta. Come on."
Comments 181
He let them silently into the TARDIS and was puzzling hard enough over the Master's latest twist on the figures that it took him a moment to notice that...
"Eighty-six trillion, four hundred sixty three- Una," he broke off as he caught sight of the figure on the jump seat. She looked... "You alright?"
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"Hello, Doctor," she said. She grinned, although it had to be said that a death's head would have looked more lively. "Master. Rani. Good evening. How were things below?"
She flicked the safety of the gun on and off (a carelessness she never would have indulged in had the thing been loaded). From the way she was holding it, it might not have been immediately obvious what it was.
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She regarded Una with an expression that was roughly the equivalent of no one told me she was invited to the party, then gave both the Doctor and the Master a Look. While subtleties of emotion and interpersonal relationships weren't exactly the Rani's forte, even she could tell from the woman's expression, posture, and tone that someone had lit the fuse on a powder keg, as it were.
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Did something go wrong above in the time we were gone? he thought to ask the Doctor via the link, though he was fairly sure from that look that they were not here to talk about dead roller coasters.
He glanced over at the Rani in something of an apology, insofar as he could manage one; it wasn't right for her to feel severed due to Una's presence, not after everything they had just -followed you out, the same sort of silent defence she had offered every time the other members of the Deca had decided they had their own plan to- --
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"Rassilon's balls," she exclaimed, "can we stop with the amateur theatricals and start dealing in facts?"
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There was so much she'd chosen to not see, in her desperate need to find some way, any way to feel alive; and others had suffered for it. Logan. Sam. And, for so long and with such patience, the Doctor. She'd been wilfully blind to the harm she'd done. But, she realised as the Doctor spoke, being wilfully blind in turn to any good she might have done, any changes she might have wrought, wasn't the way to compensate. Not that she had any idea what was the way, but he was right; throwing everything out in one go was only going to do more harm than good. Not least to herself ( ... )
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"You picked a hell of a time to decide redemption was the way to go," he murmured to the Doctor, looking to the gap where the gun had fallen. "Of course, being on the endangered species list can do that to some." -and yet you know that's not the whole reason, you can feel it in your mind, that desperation that had nothing to do with Gallifrey or universes or the destruction of worlds-
"It's too late, in any case. Or it will be, soon." Whether that was a relief or a rooted fear was unclear, both from the look on his face and sudden blankness radiating from his mind. -like a dead man-
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"Understand something, human child," she said. "We are the last of our race, the three of us. There is a war in their past and my future, a war across Time and Space, between the Time Lords and the Daleks. A war so fierce, so destructive, that the Immortals themselves flee our Universe in disgust. And to save the Universe, your precious Doctor must needs commit genocide. Not simply upon the Daleks, but upon the Time Lords themselves." The words poured out with the formality of an incantation; it was an old lecturer's trick that the Rani hadn't used in -at least two regenerations- ages. This was no subject for her usual brusqueness.
"Do you understand now? Do you see what we are to one another," -and what it cost her to admit that, especially to one such as this; she hoped the others never heard it- "what they are to each ( ... )
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He's a hypocrite with so much guilt on his shoulders it's a wonder he doesn't sink into ground when he walks.
It's almost as if you're sorry for something.
One day I stopped trying to hate him, and started forgiving him.
And normally she'd have lashed out hard against the way the Rani was talking to her, but realisation was beating her hard about the head and shoulders, and she could do nothing but listen in horrified silence. Something in her twisted hard at the Rani's gaze, and all she could do was nod mutely ... and wait.
Her heart ached, and she wasn't sure who it ached for the most.
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The Rani and Una might have seen the Doctor's body jerk under the impact of that force being released, and he had guessed at how powerful they would be, but calculating intellectually could never have prepared him for -his first concern is for the Master's safety, for that fear of being taken over- this. Rassilon. He realized he'd have to contain them before he could make any kind of headway in understanding them, and turned all his will to that.
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-the tall boy had slipped and was sinking and the storm was getting worse, and she was going to go for help but then the smaller boy threw himself down the bank, heedless of the wind, and she screamed Get back here, Theta, you'll be killed, but he didn't listen and just kept going, and how long did she hang there before she finally decided she'd go too-
Her grip on Una's arm relaxed just a little.
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"I'm not losing you both, you idiots."
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It weighs in on them suddenly, like it knows their plan, and the lanscape is dissolving much faster now. The rhythm presses in on all three of them, wave after wave....
The Master nearly screams.
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And yet even then he acted on instinct and in reaction to that command, jumping away from that onslaught and back into his own head, neck snapping back from the force of it and then his body following, falling backwards and tearing his hands away from the Master's face.
He landed in a heap, blood spattering across his face, and for a moment his eyes were open and unseeing. Then they slowly fell closed.
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And when the Doctor fell, she doubled over as if she'd been punched in the stomach and collapsed to the floor on her hands and knees.
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"Come on," she whispered, only just aware that she'd done so. "Bring him back."
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Koschei affects something of a bow in her direction. "Oh Highness, light in the dark corners of my soul, thank Rassilon you were here to come and rescue us. Whatever would we do without you." He reaches out as well.
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