The pain in the Masterâs voice was obvious, and though he didnât plan on focusing on that, it still tugged uncomfortably at the Doctorâs hearts. He hadnât been the one to try and manipulate the other Time Lord, but he was well aware that it just as easily couldâve been. The dice roll just happened to favor him that time around.
âYes, well, Iâm sure he would. Egoâs clearly been my downfall more than once, and heâll still be chalk full of it.â Not that he wasnât, of course, some things couldnât change entirely, but it was far more rational these days, or so the Time Lord hoped. Seemed that way.
The Masterâs question was similar to the ones heâd been asking himself for months. You already know how he thinks, Bucky had told him, plan for it. But it hadnât been quite so simple as that. On his own the Doctor was pulling bits and pieces of the situation at a time, trying to fit them together. The way the Master piled everything together was probably a better was to approach this, and it made him think it through from a different angle. Hadnât thought about Donna.
Thereâs a heavy sigh, but other than that the Doctor stayed quiet for a moment as he thought it all over. What would he do? What would he be feeling? It was hard to say, not knowing the details of what the other Doctor had gone through, but if he could guess, and make it close, well at least that would be something.
âIâd want to see her, obviously, but no matter what the Master has done to his head, if he still cares for her, I canât see him putting her in harms way. And anywhere near the other Master would certainly be that, unlessâŚhold on, putting you on speaker for a moment. Need to check something.â
The moment heâd hit the button he was already scrolling through old text messages, looking for his most recent conversation with the other Doctor, and trying to remember the details of what the Master had shown him from the time spent on board their ship.Â
âFollowing along that pattern, hereâs a question for you. Say youâre stuck on board a TARDIS that isnât yours, and never will be, with a version of me that has no real interest in you thatâs angry and desperate to get back at the duplicate of himself with the family he abandoned you for in the first place. I mean, I can see why getting rid of all of us would be appealing to the Master, but I donât think the other Doctor would let that happen. So why go along with any of it?â
âAnd Iâd appreciate that,â he continued, whatever mild stress he was feeling waning a bit at the offer. Safest option would be for the Doctor to keep his distance as he had been, of course, but if there was an emergency, it was nice to know heâd have somewhere to go. âEither way, I wouldnât want to bump into any of your soldiers by mistake.â
âWell, considering sheâs regrettably stuck with me as her other father, having you as her advisor might not be such a bad idea, at least to start,â the Doctor replied, chuckling again. âIâm absolute rubbish for anything along that vein, so hopefully she wound up with your superior genes. Suppose once she gets a little older, her organizational habits would be a fair tell.â
The Master snorted. Ego was plenty a problem for both of them. It was just that the Master wasnât above swallowing his to make sure he came out on top. He smile slightly into the phone. âAt least youâre consistent in that respect.â
He watched Donna as he listened to the Doctor, trying to think how the other Doctor could get what he had to want. Other Master or not, he didnât believe for a second that getting Donna wouldnât be the end goal. In a hurry to make sure he and the Doctor were on the same page, he nodded to the guards to watch over Donna while he headed for his TARDIS.
The other Doctor was still a bit of a mystery to the Master. It was hard to know just how badly this had gone. The other Master, on the other hand, was everything he might have become if the timeline had gone just a little differently. He wasnât quite that monstrous, but he understood it.Â
âIt would have to be worth it to me,â he mused, chewing at the inside of his cheek as he thought on what circumstances would meet that criteria. âEither I plan to double cross the Doctor and take the TARDIS, I have reason to believe the Doctor is going to cave to my preference to kill everyone, or my end goal isnât to change the future... but maybe the past instead. Iâve rewritten the universe to my liking before. Even better, that doesnât stop me from double crossing the other Doctor.âÂ
He hadnât seen enough of the interaction between the other Master and the other Doctor to have much idea of what was true, but it was a start. Inside the TARDIS, he made a beeline for the console, transmitting the data heâd collected. âIâm sending you everything Iâve got on them. Hopefully, it helps.âÂ
Whatever his intentions, he was a bit glad that his endeavors left the Doctor with a safe place, even if it was just a last resort. âIâd rather you didnât run into them either. Theyâre quite effective.â
âHang on.â He pulled the phone away from his ear to send a picture. Maybe visiting wasnât a good idea, but whatever fell out between the two of them, the Master wasnât interested in keeping Donna from the Doctor. The picture he sent was of her on absurdly ornate throne in the Illyrian capital. âAbsurdly ornateâ captured Illyria as a whole, really, judging by the ridiculous number of flounces on her dress, and the Masterâs crown that sat, lopsided, on her head. She grinned widely, one eye peeking out at the camera behind the metal and gemstones. âWhatever she got from me, sheâs terribly charming. I guess she must be at least a little bit yours.â