Wake up now, Doctor dear

[neverreallygone]

Characters: The Master, the Doctor
Rating: PG-13
Time Period: Modern
Location: The Master's cottage in the woods
Relative Date: A day or so after the Master carried the Doctor off from Jack's room
Status: Closed - PM to join

Comments

[thedoctorx]

The Doctor's mind had become disturbed; a chaotic mess of thoughts and images that as the hours passed had slowly woven themselves back together. It was a turbulent process to rearrange one's own mind and drive out the beliefs of something else. He rested now in sleep only, the restoration of his self winning over against the long fingers of another. The impression of those light tendrils feeling their way inside him, digging roughly in search of something that wasn't there, still ached him- even in the distant land of his dreams. It was only the quiet of a whisper and the brush of a hand against him that finally broke through the storm and jolted the Doctor back to consciousness.

He saw the Master first, against a backdrop he didn't recognize and even before he could draw in a second waking breath, the Doctor immediately moved to pull away and found he couldn't. "Master," he strained and struggled again, the captured breath now rising thudding against his chest.

[neverreallygone]

Oh, thank goodness, at last a response! The Master smiled, drums pounding triumphantly, and sat up straight again, instinctively giving the Doctor some room to breathe. "Shhh," he murmured, stroking the Doctor's cheek soothingly as if he were a child. "It's all right. You're all right."

The words were there to comfort himself as much as the Doctor. The Doctor had really worried him this time.

[thedoctorx]

The Doctor didn't allow himself to feel the least bit of comfort. There were too many questions and with his natural tendency to flee unwelcomed situations taken from him- the Doctor was letting himself fall instead into panic. He flinched against the Master's fingers, but not much. He was too disoriented now to form any sort of strong reaction. In a way, he still felt very much asleep.

"I'm not all right," he protested for the sake of protesting and because for the Doctor, being unable to leave at your own chosen time was always worth protesting. He swallowed stiffly and stopped the struggle, pausing a moment to try and clear his head. "What's going on? Just... what the hell is going on."

[neverreallygone]

"I got you out of there, away from that blasted creature who hurt you," the Master said, looking and sounding hurt. Because he was hurt. Here he was, putting himself out to make sure the Doctor was all right and the Doctor, as usual, just wanted to leave! He knew he'd been right to tie the Doctor up.

He rubbed his forehead, as if he could rub away the constant drumming inside his head, and frowned down at the Doctor. "You've been asleep for more than a day. I was starting to wonder if you'd ever wake up!"