Lost Boys
Chapter Twelve
Chapter 12
“Explain that to me, Doctor.”
The taller Timelord felt the words creep into his ear and slither through his head, filling it with ideas that didn’t seem to belong to him. He seemed to sit deep inside himself, full of anger and confusion, and feel as his head moved closer to the source of the sound, towards the Master’s voice, and the connection between them became too strong to ignore.
The Master’s face moved closer to his own, his forehead pressed close against the other man’s skin and his eyes still tightly closed. The Doctor felt his hearts skip, partly in fear, partly in reluctant excitement as he started, slowly, to turn his head.
“Harry?”
Before the Doctor could even register the voice, the Master had pulled away and stood back, looking towards the door. The Doctor forced his eyes open.
Lucy Saxon stood in the doorway, leaning forwards in that childish way. She had a look of confusion on her face; a face that the Doctor noticed – as he began to regain some sense of reality – had grown even paler since he had last seen her. Even so, there was something uncannily like the Master’s own insanity that lingered somewhere deep behind her eyes.
“And here she is, the beautiful Mrs Saxon.”
The Doctor watched as the Master walked forwards to meet his wife. Lucy smiled as he took her chin between his fingers, raising her face to gaze into his with a vain smirk. The look of confusion still furrowed her brow. The Timelord leaned in. “I told you not to come here.”
Lucy glanced at the Doctor nervously, and then back to her husband, parting her blood-red lips. “I’m sorry, Harry… I just - I wanted to spend some time with you.”
The Doctor looked away from the scene and narrowed his eyes at the window, sliding his hands into his pockets. He heard the Master laugh.
“Oh, so sweet. The perfect wife – isn’t she, Doctor?”
The Doctor didn’t reply. The Master had slipped back into his manic self, mocking him. He shivered. He had been so close to falling again…
The Master tutted at his silence, turning back to his wife with a smile. “Don’t worry about him.” He leaned in to her ear and whispered, “He’s sulking.”
Lucy laughed silently.
A flash of lightning lit up the room. The Doctor saw his own reflection for a moment. Behind him, he saw the Master lean down to kiss his wife. His throat tightened.
There was silence for a moment. The Master tilted Lucy’s head backwards in a kiss that was obviously meant for show, and then wrapped an arm around her waist. She leaned in to rest against his shoulder, placing a hand on his chest.
“Let’s go.”
He began to walk away through the open door, Lucy hanging off his shoulder with a look of adoration in her face. Before he left he paused and turned back to the other Timelord. He raised an eyebrow. “Oh and I almost forgot: I have some homework for you, Doctor.”
The Doctor didn’t turn. He raised his eyes to the ceiling and clamped his jaw.
“…The Toclafane,” he continued, “You asked me what they were. Well I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but…” his face turned to an amused snarl, “let’s just say – you know them oh so well.”
The door slid shut as the Master walked away, Lucy swaying at his side, leaving his words hanging in the air. A thunderclap shook the Valiant as a look of terrible realisation slid across the Doctor’s face.
Quick note: Sorry for the shortness of this chapter, but like I said earlier: time constraints this week are making long chapters difficult. Nonetheless, I intend to have another one up either tomorrow or Friday.I also just wanted to say thank you for the reviews I’ve had so far, they’ve done a brilliant job boosting my confidence. I have a tendency to (over)worry about characterisation, and hearing from other fans that I’m getting them fairly right stops me from despairing. On that note – please drop me a review! I’d be really grateful to hear from you lovely people.
See you next chapter,
Turkaholic