InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Why am I always Lois Lane?"

The Master (cantyouhearit) wrote in colligo_threads,
@ 2011-12-13 21:48:00

Entry tags:

lucy saxon, the master

WHO: The Master & Lucy Saxon
WHAT: Husband and Wife, reunited. Sorta.
WHEN: December 13th; Evening
WHERE: Outside the Housing Complex
RATING: PG
STATUS: In Progress

Lucy was back. The Master had been certain that he would have been ecstatic whenever that occurred. The pair of them had been in and out of this place enough times, but they had always found their way back to each other. And over their time, he thought he'd improved as both a husband and a person. But none of that really mattered now. Lucy was from a future point in her timeline, the point where she'd sacrificed herself in order to make sure that he couldn't return, and the conversation that she'd had with Harkness over the network made it obvious to him that she wanted nothing to do with him.

Nothing, that was, unless it involved putting him out of his misery.

Uncertain exactly how to feel about that, it had moved the Master to step out, wandering about the park for awhile as he tried to figure out exactly how he was going to approach this. After all, it wasn't like he didn't deserve her loathing on some level. Even if it had been ages for him since the events of the year that never was had occurred, it was only a few months for her, and she had suffered for it the while time. And while he had behaved himself to a certain degree, he had recently proven that he wasn't reformed by any degree of the imagination. Honestly, her hatred was probably well earned and deserved at the moment, and that was a thought which had finally driven him back from the park and towards the housing complex.

And that was where he spotted the back of a familiar blond head.

"Well," The Master said as he approached the buildings, not really having any way to not be seen even if he'd hung back for several minutes and not really wanting to anyway. He'd missed her. Even if this wasn't the exact same Lucy that he remembered, he still felt a certain comfort at seeing her, alive and well. "It seems we simply can't avoid each other, can we, my dear?"

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neverthatbright
2011-12-19 05:58 am UTC (link)

If she were being perfectly honest, Lucy hadn't given much thought at all to how he'd survived in the city with the likes of Jack Harkness about. After all, the Torchwood leader hadn't done anything aboard the Valiant to stop the Master when he'd had the opportunity. Which, if she were being quite honest, she would have to admit angered her far more than she ever dared to let on. However, that was neither here nor there at the moment and she wasn't going to allow such things to cloud her judgement when she needed to keep a level head. No, she would simply seethe in silence at the inaction of the others on that ship, as she had for the months she'd been imprisoned. For now, she was going to focus on the Master and, more importantly, keeping herself alive.

Still. For all of her determination to focus, to not allow her emotions to override her common sense or self preservation, his own admission that he'd been here for a few years was enough to make her eyes widen ever so slightly and her breath catch a bit in her throat.

"It must be difficult for you, being stuck here for that long," she murmured, once again not really meaning to speak yet making no move to take it back. She silently wanted to kick herself for the concern in her tone, though, because the concern wasn't for the city at large or even individuals stuck here with him but rather for the Master himself.

Not wanting to dwell on why she still cared even though she knew she shouldn't, Lucy tried to think of something else to say. A million questions flickered through her mind - everything from asking how he was doing, really, to why he had turned on her in such a terrible way when she'd done not a thing to deserve it - but she refrained from asking any of them. She didn't expect a straight answer and wasn't going to waste her time listening to anything else.

Instead, she simply questioned, "There really isn't a way to leave, then?" A bit redundant, perhaps, but it seemed a far safer topic than anything else that came to mind.

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cantyouhearit
2011-12-19 06:19 am UTC (link)

Difficult. It hadn't been difficult for him. It had been challenging, perhaps, frustrating at times, and unnerving during others. There had been a whole host of situations that he'd had to work past, aspects of his existence in the city that changed which he had to adapt to. There was a lot of different words that the Master would have used to describe what he'd been through, but difficult... Difficult probably wasn't one of them because no matter what, he'd always had some type of support from someone.

Even if it had usually been her.

"I managed," The Master said, shrugging slightly since he wasn't really sure how to elaborate about that without leaving her unsettled. "In fact, I actually settled after awhile. Mostly." Because even the most determined cheetah couldn't change its spots, and some backsliding was to be expected especially when he was presented with such temptations.

"None," The Master said with a shake of his head. "Not unless our host elects to return you from where he got you. I've left a few times and returned, but it was never because I wanted to."

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neverthatbright
2011-12-19 06:40 am UTC (link)

If Lucy had been stunned at his admission that he had been there for a few years, she was very nearly blown away when he added that he had settled, of all things. Such a concept was positively unfathomable to her and, for a brief moment, she found herself wondering if she'd ever truly known him half as well as she had believed. Not that learning she hadn't known him at all would shock her too terribly, of course. He certainly had a way of surprising her at most every turn, sometimes in good ways and sometimes in terrible ones. Yet she wanted to believe that she had at least known him somewhat, that it hadn't all been an elaborate series of lies.

She didn't mention any of that, though. To do so would be revealing far too much emotion on her part and would provide him with yet one more way to possibly manipulate her. Lucy instead focused on what he said next, swallowing past the lump in her throat at the mere thought of what returning back to their own reality would entail.

"I'm dead back home," she said almost distractedly. "So I do hope our host doesn't elect to do any such thing." She had let her gaze drop, slightly, as her thoughts had wandered a bit but she returned her attention fully to him once more. There was a brief flicker of wariness that shone in her eyes at her admission, jaw flexing ever so slightly in anticipation of... she wasn't even certain. Whatever it might be, though, she wasn't expecting it to be good. After all, she was dead because she had sacrificed herself to stop him. She seriously doubted he was fine with such a thing, or would let her off lightly for the betrayal.

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cantyouhearit
2011-12-20 02:33 am UTC (link)

"Yeah, I know," The Master said, remembering witnessing the events of his 'rebirth' back around when he'd first arrived. He couldn't help but agree with her wish not to be sent back. It had been quietly devastating to him each time that he'd lost her with the knowledge that she wasn't returning to anything. Of course, neither was he, and he still arrived back each time without any issue. But he'd rather not have to go through the issue of getting reattached only to have her ripped away once more. "Neither am I. So it's nice to know that this place is here to serve as a stop gap between my former existence and nothingness."

Because, really, if he went back only to return from where she'd left off, he'd hardly been in the sort of position to survive in the way that he did here. Not without relying rather heavily on nobody to notice that he was slowly thinning out the local population.

"Are you staying here, then?" The Master asked, briefly glancing up at the building before turning his attention back to Lucy. Obviously, she wasn't going back to what had once been their flat. She wouldn't remember that she'd ever had a home in this building. And even if the answer would obviously be a yes -- why else would be be standing outside? -- it was something to keep the conversation going. As much as she probably wanted to get away, he wanted every excuse to keep her here. "The accommodations are rather nice. Considering."

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neverthatbright
2011-12-21 01:12 am UTC (link)

Although Lucy wondered if her own sacrifice back home had been enough to curb the Master's return to life, she didn't dare ask him. Firstly, she knew there was a chance he simply wouldn't know, considering he was from a time before it had happened. Secondly, if he did know, she realized she would rather not discuss such things with him. For reasons she couldn't quite understand, his temper was in check for the time being and Lucy was loathe to risk ruining that.

So instead she focused on the question he'd asked her. She looked toward the building, in a way having forgotten it was even there, then returned her attention to the Master. "I am," she replied, distantly finding the question a bit odd given how obvious the answer had to be. After all, if it was obvious for her, it had to be ridiculously clear to him. "I'm staying with-" She hesitated, realizing a bit belatedly that giving away her location might not be the wisest idea she'd ever had. It wasn't easy, thinking clearly when he was around, and the longer she stood there the more she longed for things to be as they once were.

Determined not to give in to such frivolities and open herself up to pain again, she pressed forward instead with, "Some new friends who volunteered their spare room for the time being." It was the truth, if a bit ambiguous, and Lucy was silently pleased she'd come up with it on the spot. Yet even as she was proud of herself for having replied as she had, she felt the corners of her mouth quirk upward ever so slightly at his admission that the accommodations were rather nice, finding such a statement to be a bit amusing considering the man she'd known as Harold Saxon didn't have tastes that coincided with the flats they'd been given.

"I would have expected you'd have a place of your own by now," she remarked idly.

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cantyouhearit
2011-12-22 05:54 am UTC (link)

Her caution was very wise considering what she thought of him, what she thought that he was capable of or might do, and even as he was quietly frustrated by not really knowing whether she was staying in order to be able to make his point about having improved further by showing her that he meant her no harm, he took a deep breath to claim his thoughts over the matter. It wasn't something to trouble himself about since she'd have to find her own place sooner or later. Also, he could always just go about and check the nameplates in the buildings. If he ever got really desperate to see her.

Which he might eventually.

"Well, I really do have a place of my own, if you want to get technical about it," The Master said, offering Lucy a smile. "One of the benefits of having my own TARDIS within the city is that I can stash her inside the flat and have some place to disappear to should the need ever arise." And sometimes, here, it did. The Master's thoughts flashed back briefly to the Toclafane invasion, Lucy laying dead at the foot of the TARDIS, blood smeared on the door where she'd been inches from safety. The flash thought provoked a deep sadness in his features for the briefest of moments before he shook it off. "No stealing the Doctor's required."

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neverthatbright
2011-12-23 04:33 am UTC (link)

His own TARDIS. As the words were spoken, her heartbeat increased until Lucy could hear little more than a loud roaring in her ears. His TARDIS. A ship similar to the Doctor's, one that apparently couldn't leave the planet but was still capable of being used for all sorts of amazing, terrible things. Fear caused her to tremble ever so slightly as her imagination kicked into overdrive at the thought of what he could do to the people here with that sort of technology at his fingertips and no one willing to stop him.

That last part was the bit that upset her the most, truthfully. She understood the Doctor would do little to intervene so long as the Master seemed to be behaving. But for others present to simply allow him free reign, to not have some sort of eye on him, it was simply unfathomable to her. She had spent months in prison, preparing for his eventual return, ready to sacrifice herself and the rest of the prisoners being held with her to ensure he didn't come back to wreak further havoc on the world. Yet here he was, alive and free to do as he pleased, with nary a person to stop him and quite a number of things within his grasp to destroy them all.

So caught up in her own internal, worry-filled musings, Lucy missed the brief look of sadness that he wore. Yet she did hear his next words and sucked in a soft yet sharp breath at the memory of precisely what he'd done with the Doctor's TARDIS when he'd had unfettered access to it. She mentally shook the memories away, refusing to drown in them while he was standing so very close to her. Later, as always, when she laid her head down to sleep, she would think about the tragedy she'd done her part to see happen. For now, though, those thoughts and emotions were best left locked tightly away where he couldn't use them to hurt her more than he already had.

But even though she was quite good at internalizing her feelings - one of the very few benefits of being as his not-so-tender mercies for that year that had only existed within the limited scope of a handful of people - Lucy couldn't seem to stop the slight trembling of her tone when she spoke next. She did, however, force herself to meet his gaze and stand her ground even if the desire to shrink away was nearly an overwhelming one.

"I-Is it often necessary, here, for you to disappear within your ship?" she asked, the trembling wrought from emotions obvious but genuine curiosity present as well.

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cantyouhearit
2011-12-24 11:14 pm UTC (link)

He'd said something wrong. It was impossible not to notice the change in Lucy's demeanor, even as small as those changes were, and as he peered over at her, he ran through the things that he could have possibly said to cause such a reaction and came up blank. Unless, perhaps, the implications of stealing the Doctor's TARDIS had brought up some unpleasant memories. For all the concern that he had about upsetting her, though, he couldn't take back something which was already said. No more than he could take back what he's already done and what those actions had lead her to know about him. So, instead, the Master simply shook his head at her question and pressed forward, the only direction that he had to go.

"Unfortunately, it's not. Or perhaps, fortunately, given the situations that would prompt the need," The Master said. "To be honest, she's more than a bit upset with the way that I've been neglecting her. Even if I have been trying to put a bit more effort into upkeep since getting back, there's not really much that can be done as long as we're stuck here other than giving her knobs of bit of a twist and shining up her console every once in awhile."

Slipping his hands into his pockets as he stood there, the Master spared a glance up at the building before turning his attention back to Lucy, "You're welcome to come see her some time if you'd like. She wouldn't mind the company," He said. Though, she likely wouldn't want to come anywhere near him by herself, particularly in a situation that would likely leave them alone. Then again, maybe if they weren't going to be alone... "You could even bring someone else along, if you'd like."

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