Soul's Shadow (Doctor Who - SI)

Part IV (IX)

I felt a hand gently ruffling through my short hair, deliberately making a mess of them. Tiredly blinking I lifted my head, glanced at the Master and very suddenly realised what exactly had just happened. A furious blush crept up my neck and all over my face. Hastily I pushed myself away from him.

The Master let me, watched for a mere second, then burst out laughing.

"You should see your face!" he cackled.

I tried to smack his arm, but he simply evaded, still giggling to himself. Not that I was actually mad at him, it was just funny trying to land a blow somewhere for his dumb behaviour. But neither trying to stomp on his foot, nor poking him at least, was of success, so I gave up, folded my arms and resorted to scowling at him with pursed lips.

"Was that really necessary?" I grumbled, barely able to keep a smile from my lips.

The Master calmed down and poked out his tongue through his teeth. "Stupid question. You should have literally felt the effect."

He was right. I knew perfectly well why he had kissed me, even though I wasn't so sure about the technical background. This whole telepathic stuff was still confusing to me. What it had done, in the end, was undeniable, however. The beast was gone, I was alive and well. Still I kept the frown on my face and growled a little to myself.

The Master poked my head with one finger, grinning from ear to ear. "Oh, stop sulking. And don't pretend you didn't like it."

"Pfffffffff......." I let out, not deigning him an answer.

"What's going on?" The Doctor's voice tore us out of the silly banter. He seemed to have regained his consciousness and had lifted himself from the ground. In that moment I was quite happy he had slept away the previous... situation. He still seemed a little groggy. The blow must have hit him hard, the thought now making me slightly uncomfortable. "Lucy, are you... is that thing still in your head?" He groaned and rubbed his own, glancing from me to the Master.

"I got rid of it," the other Time Lord simply told. "No idea where it went, but it's not here anymore."

The Doctor sighed and gave me a long look, as if to make sure it was the truth. It was hard to tell what he thought. I knew this was actually the moment meant to apologize for my action before. However, seeing he wasn't even hurt and considering his behaviour towards me... I couldn't be bothered less.

The two Time Lords glared at each other for a good minute. The tension in the room was almost worse than it had been with the entity around. None of them moved, no one spoke a word. The small interruption I had caused couldn't make their fight undone.

And then, as I tossed glances back and forth, a smile spread on the Master's lips, amused and weirdly honest. "For all my attempts to murder you, it's only fair enough that you try the same. In your own way."

"You know it's not like that," the Doctor answered with a certain sadness in his voice. "I don't want you to die."

At that the other Time Lord laughed. Cackling to himself he crossed his arms over his chest. "I know! Dumbass. You only try it when you're certain I'll get out of it... relatively unscathed."

Perplex I glanced at the two. The whole situation made not much sense to me. There was a small, almost involuntary smile, twitching the corners of the Doctor's mouth upwards. He shrugged his shoulders, hands buried in his pants pockets.

"You always get away."

"'Cause I do," the Master agreed, nodding in my direction. "So make sure to treat my pet a little nicer from now on."