prof_pangaea: the master (it's a gas mask)
prof_pangaea ([personal profile] prof_pangaea) wrote2008-01-28 12:58 pm

FIC: Lifetimes

Title: Lifetimes
Author: professor pangaea
Fandom: Doctor Who
Characters: Seventh Doctor, The Rani, The Master (Ainley)
Spoilers: None, as far as I can tell.
Summary: Once again, the Rani discovers why she should avoid associating with the Master. The Master discovers that there seems to be one subject he is not very logical about. The Doctor discovers how good the Rani is at programming her security system.
Notes: Erm. I think the term is "pointless and embarrassing". Also probably not as fun as the summary makes it out to be. ;___;




The Rani really should have known better than to do business with the Master, but she had thought that even he couldn't botch up something as simple as a trade. She needed rare extracts, he needed some spatial regulators for his TARDIS. He could take a private shuttle to the moon she's located on, she could stay with her experiments, they would both profit, pretend they never had to acknowledge each other's existence, and then she could get back to her work. It was at a delicate stage, after all.

Which really made it a rather inopportune moment for the Doctor to discover her latest laboratory. It really wasn't one of her most impressive operations; after extricating herself from those Tetraps she had been suffering from a marked lack of resources. Still, the Doctor's appearance had at least confirmed that she had done a good job with her security protocols.

The Master stared at the Doctor, crumpled and unconscious on the floor. The way he was staring made the Rani think that he hadn't seen this regeneration yet. Even for the Doctor it was remarkably unspectacular. Small and dark, with a rather foolish face, messy hair, and unattractive clothes. They were a slight improvement over his previous incarnation's attire, but that wasn't saying much.

"We can't let him go," the Master said, his voice flat.

"Well, just kill him then," the Rani replied, irritated.

The Master didn't move. The Rani frowned, then pulled a small blaster out of her knapsack.

"Fine. I haven't got all of time and space to spend standing here. Those vetropots will decay if I don't --" The Master grabbed her wrist and twisted it, hard. The blaster tumbled out of her fingers.

"Don't you dare," he whispered, his voice icy and dangerous. He gave her arm one more twist, then pushed her away. She gave him a disdainful look, and flexed her wrist.

"Do it then," she said, cooly.

The Master stared down at the unconscious Doctor. The Rani watched as he picked the blaster up off the floor and held it, lightly, delicately, as if he couldn't believe that it, and all it promised, was so close. He ran a finger across it, and looked back at the Doctor. He knelt down and held the muzzle against the Doctor's temple. Cold metal, pressing into soft skin. His other hand was on the doctor's chest, fingers tight against the doctor's ridiculous jumper, holding him down as if he could try to move, escape. She could hear the Master's breath hitch.

The Rani stood and waited as the seconds stretched.

She noticed his hand start to tremble first. Very slightly, but it was easily observable. He tried to press the blaster harder into the doctor's skin, to balance his hand, to tame it. His jaw was locked. Soon, the trembling had spread to his shoulders, his torso. His hand was positively shaking. The Rani waited.

He made a strangled sound and hunched over the Doctor. Suddenly he turned away and hurled the blaster at the opposite wall. It clattered to the floor, cracked and useless. He choked again.

"I can't...." His voice was full of a terrible anguish. "I can't...."

"Of course you can't. Which is why you should have left it to me in the first place."

The Master stared at the Doctor. "Why?" The hand that had pressed flat against his chest was now gripping tightly at the the Doctor's jumper. "Why can't I --" He sucked air through gritted teeth. He pulled the limp Doctor up by his jumper, then threw him back down onto the floor and stood, shakily.

"I need a new body," he said, staring down at his hands. "I need a Time Lord body."

"Have you decided to blame your weakness on alien hormones, or incompatible brain structure, or something equally pitiable?" the Rani asked. The Master turned to her, his expression blank. "You've spent centuries on the Doctor. Lifetimes. I knew you then, you were just as pathetic back on Gallifrey as you are now. Don't think you're not the laughing stock of the entire planet now for your obsession over an absurd little half-hearted renegade --" Her words were cut off as the Master suddenly grabbed her throat in an iron grip.

"Shut up," he hissed. He pushed her up against the smooth wall, and tightened his grip. "Shut. Up." There was an absolute coldness in his eyes and the Rani felt a flicker of fear despite herself.

They stood like that for a long time. The Rani could tell it had only been 2.6 microspans, but it somehow felt much longer when he finally eased his grip and turned away. He started to walk toward the door.

"Where are you going?" the Rani called, incensed. "Where are the templar extracts you promised me?"

The Master turned his head back toward her for a moment, lip curled in contempt. He said nothing as the doors slid open for him.

He never looked back at the Doctor, who remained still and quiet on the floor.






epilogue: And then Ace blows up a bunch of stuff and rescues the Doctor, probably. THE END.

[identity profile] violetisblue.livejournal.com 2008-01-28 06:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Why do you not have a Teaspoon account so I can keep Calufraxing you? This was really good. So there.

[identity profile] prof-pangaea.livejournal.com 2008-01-28 07:00 pm (UTC)(link)
because i keep meaning to make one? er, will do so later today. yeah.

*IS LAME*

[identity profile] prof-pangaea.livejournal.com 2008-01-28 10:17 pm (UTC)(link)
i just spammed whoever is modding right now with ALL THREE of mah who stories. sorry to whoever you be.

[identity profile] violetisblue.livejournal.com 2008-01-28 10:19 pm (UTC)(link)
What do you mean, sorry? You can actually spell. Believe me, that's not taken for granted.

(Anonymous) 2008-01-28 09:24 pm (UTC)(link)
That is decidedly as fun as the summary makes it out to be -- and heartbreaking as well. He said it in The Five Doctors, and this just proves it. I find myself wondering whether the Doctor was at all conscious during all this, or whether it would be more merciful if he hadn't been, or whether things would have gone differently had he been obviously awake for the Master to bluster at.

I suppose the Doctor eventually escapes because the Rani decides to experiment on him instead of properly killing him off? These villains and their fatal weaknesses. XD
infiniteviking: A chicken staring in disbelief. (1)

[personal profile] infiniteviking 2008-01-28 09:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Erm, that was me. XD Silly lj.

[identity profile] prof-pangaea.livejournal.com 2008-01-29 09:09 pm (UTC)(link)
partly inspired by "mark of the rani" -- whole swathes of of the arc being dedicated to the master spying on the doctor through holes in fences. o___o

i don't think the rani's experiment would have benefitted from time lordiness or she probably would have made sure she acquired one before she started. probably. mainly ace likes to blow things up, so she probably did whether it was necessary or not.
infiniteviking: A bird with wings raised in excitement. (Default)

[personal profile] infiniteviking 2008-01-29 09:18 pm (UTC)(link)
the master spying on the doctor through holes in fences

Ahahahaha!! I'd forgotten those parts!

True. Ace + explosions = ultimate pwn.

[identity profile] prof-pangaea.livejournal.com 2008-01-29 10:47 pm (UTC)(link)
the master spying on the doctor through holes in fences

i feel like they are seared on my memory FOREVER.

Ace + explosions = ultimate pwn.

the doctor probably tried to lecture her on it, but didn't do a very good job since she ended up blowing up a good portion of the rani's lab, which was dedicated to evil, after all...
infiniteviking: A smiling tiger. (3)

[personal profile] infiniteviking 2008-01-30 12:16 am (UTC)(link)
I have clearly not watched that serial enough. XD

"Ace, you really shouldn't resort to--" "All those experiments were horrible and evil, yeah?" "No doubt, but--" "So I did good, right?" "Er, you see--" "Great! Where do we go next, Professor? :D"
order_of_chaos: (GenieMaster)

[personal profile] order_of_chaos 2008-01-29 12:52 am (UTC)(link)
Couldn't care less about the first couple of chapters, but after that -
The Master stopping the Rani from killing the Doctor? Unable to kill him himself? Shaking? Oh so good. Took my breath away.

And the epilogue made me giggle.

[identity profile] prof-pangaea.livejournal.com 2008-01-29 09:10 pm (UTC)(link)
oh, good. thanks. i feel like the epilogue is probably a better story than the rest, sadly. ;___;

[identity profile] evilawyer.livejournal.com 2008-01-29 03:39 am (UTC)(link)
Very nice. Thank you for writing this.

[identity profile] prof-pangaea.livejournal.com 2008-01-29 09:11 pm (UTC)(link)
you're very welcome, of course! and thank ye.

[identity profile] warinbabylon.livejournal.com 2008-01-29 03:17 pm (UTC)(link)
I quite enjoyed this story.

[identity profile] prof-pangaea.livejournal.com 2008-01-29 09:11 pm (UTC)(link)
oh good! thank ye.

[identity profile] biichan.livejournal.com 2008-01-29 07:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Oooooh, this is lovely.

[identity profile] prof-pangaea.livejournal.com 2008-01-29 09:13 pm (UTC)(link)
thank you. i fear its pointlessness though. ;__; someday i will write my version of "the last game" and hopefully the plot will obscure the point of the whole exercise being THEIR LOVE.

[identity profile] prettyarbitrary.livejournal.com 2008-02-15 09:48 pm (UTC)(link)
YES! Everybody knows you're all about him, Master, you might as well just give it up...wait, no. That would be less fun. Carry on, then.

The Master with a blaster pointed at the Doctor's head is more porny than entire other fandoms full of smut. Heh.

[identity profile] prof-pangaea.livejournal.com 2008-02-16 07:31 pm (UTC)(link)
my completely accurate fairly unfounded theory is that ainley!master, since he is inhabiting the body of a trakenite, has a much shorter lifespan than he did previously, and that he generally spends almost all of his time tracking the doctor through time and space, laying traps for him. so for the doctor it might have been fifty years or more between meetings, but for the master it's been weeks, or days. er. he strikes me as... single-minded.

The Master with a blaster pointed at the Doctor's head is more porny than entire other fandoms full of smut.

oh my goodness! have i actually somehow written porn then? i thought i was incapable. hurrah!
ext_8938: (DW Ten Finger Licking (staci_x2))

[identity profile] versaphile.livejournal.com 2008-03-04 06:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Would you like to contribute this (and your other Doctor/Master fic) to The Prydonian (http://www.prydonian.net/)? We'd love to have it.

If you're comfortable adding it yourself, you're welcome to register and do that (http://www.prydonian.net/user.php?action=register); otherwise, I'd be happy to upload it for you.

[identity profile] prof-pangaea.livejournal.com 2008-03-05 06:04 am (UTC)(link)
oh hurrah! maybe it is not entirely lame, then? i can't tell sometimes. or a lot. hmmm.

but cools. and thanks! i will go and register. and then maybe work on my several other unfinished master fics. *shifty*