InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "inconceivable!"

Ianto Jones (inloyalservice) wrote in colligo_threads,
@ 2009-08-10 20:01:00

Entry tags:

!closed, the master

WHO: The Master and Ianto Jones.
WHAT: People going back to normal is not always a good thing.
WHEN: After everyone is turned back to normal.
WHERE: The Master's TARDIS.
RATING: ~~G for cute, fluffy kittens.~~ E for evil? Or maybe O for 'Oh shit...'?
STATUS: In progress.

Ianto was grateful to Koschei for letting him stay in his TARDIS. Lo was fascinating, and he was becoming rather fond of her. And the Time Lord was equally interesting. He could certainly see now why Jack had left to follow the Doctor. Time Lords were something of a force of nature and, while it was a little overwhelming at times, were very compelling. They could draw a person in and make them forget about their lives in favour of the enormity of time and space. He couldn't help but wonder what it might have been like to have met Koschei, or even the Doctor, before his life had become so inexorably tied to Jack and Torchwood. Or was it Torchwood and Jack. In some ways, it really seemed like they were one and the same. He had never really entertained the notion of leaving Torchwood, even temporarily, but now he wondered what he would do if the opportunity presented itself. But that was enough idle contemplation for one day. It was hardly as if he was leaving Jack by being here. Though some might have thought otherwise, he wasn't angry with Jack. He was angry with this place for messing with his lover and changing him into someone who would do things Ianto knew Jack would be unsettled by later. Jack had been through enough, and he didn't need this mess on top of it. Part of him hoped that Jack would be like some of the affected and not remember what had happened.

Setting down the book he had been reading before he'd allowed his thoughts to get the better of him, he decided to seek out his host. Normally, he would have checked the library first, but it seemed that Koschei was spending his time in the console room today, if the sound from that direction was any indication. Something about Lo felt a little off, but he couldn't really put a word to it so he brushed it aside for the moment. He'd ask the Time Lord about it. Walking into the console room, he looked around, still trying to place the off feeling. "Is Lo feeling all right today, Koschei?" he asked. "She feels different somehow. I don't know...maybe I'm just being stupid."

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cantyouhearit
2009-08-11 12:05 am UTC (link)

There had been a mixture of confusion, relief, and utter delight when the Master had awoken in his own room in his own TARDIS with all of his memories of the previous few weeks intact. Oh, that had been brilliant, hadn't it? He would have to remember to find and thank whomever had been responsible for bringing him here in that ghastly nice form for providing him with a cover that had given him more than suitable access to the Doctor and Jack's dearest possessions. One of which was exactly where he could make the most use out of him. Glancing up at the sound of his name, the Master allowed a slightly smug smile to cross his features. Smart boy. Shame he wasn't smart enough to know that placing himself into a vulnerable position like this was a bad idea. Lo's doors had been locked tight since the second that he had stepped into the console room.

"Oh, I assure you, she's feeling perfectly fine," He drawled, turning to face Ianto as he entered the console room. "Quite back to her old self. As am I."

Oh, yes. That there would be an evil smile if there ever was one.

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inloyalservice
2009-08-11 12:08 am UTC (link)

If Ianto had been the sort who was prone to panicking, he might have done so right about then. Something was definitely off about both the Time Lord and the TARDIS. Something was very wrong. As it was, he just felt a growing sense of unease. Which, in terms of Ianto, was pretty much the same as panicking. "Back to your old self?" he asked, as casually as he could manage. "And which self would that be?" Conversations with Jack after he returned from his time with the Doctor suddenly came to the forefront of his mind. Idle comments from Jack that, as always, were meant to tell the truth without actually having to tell.

Saxon went a little crazy...

...with a psychotic Time Lord. No, not the Doctor. He's not that bad.

...had a thing for being called Master. Went with the whips and chains.

Ianto stared at the Time Lord. That was why he had looked so familiar. He hadn't placed it before, but something had always seemed oddly familiar. "You're the Master," he said finally. Oh bloody hell. Jack was going to kill him when he got back.

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cantyouhearit
2009-08-11 12:09 am UTC (link)

"Got it one! Jack does make sure his playthings are well informed, doesn't he?" the Master drawled as he grinned at Ianto before turning back to the console and idly turning a few buttons and flipping a few switches. It was hard to tell whether he was doing it for a practical purpose or just to have something to do to make him look sufficiently dismissive of Ianto's presence. "I do have to thank you, though, for providing me with exactly what I'd need to get his dander up without me having to exert any effort whatsoever. I do love it when things fall so very neatly into place."

Flipping another switch with a bit of a flair, the center column started to whirl, the familiar whooshing of a TARDIS preparing for departure. Laughing, the Master threw himself back into the chair near the center column, propping his elbow on the armrest and settling his chin on his hand as the chair swiveled to face Ianto merely from the momentum of the Master catapulting himself back into it.

"Tell me, little errand boy, exactly why did you want to stay here in the first place? I never did ask that. Too polite, I suppose. Ugh. I was horrendously nice. But! That's not an issue anymore. Did Jack do something bad?"

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inloyalservice
2009-08-11 07:36 am UTC (link)

Any other time, Ianto would have immediately reacted to being called Jack's plaything. But at the moment, he had more important concerns. Mainly the fact that he was stuck with a psychotic Time Lord who was an enemy of Jack's. He rolled his eyes as Kosc...no, the Master...seemed to purposefully ignore him. Lovely...not only was he stuck with someone who had caused Jack considerable suffering in the past, but the Time Lord also had all the maturity of a young child. His stomach dropped a bit as the Master actually thanked him. "Jack will stop you," he said softly, but with conviction. He had complete faith in Jack's ability to stop this man. That's what Jack did.

He was startled be the sounds of Lo preparing to leave, wondering where the Master intended to go. It was hardly as if they could get very far. From what he'd seen, nobody could leave this place, and he doubted Lo was an exception to this. The Master's laugh sent a chill down his spine, but he kept his face impassive, not wanting to show any reaction. No reason to let the Master know he was making him uneasy.

"Jack didn't do anything," he said firmly, unwilling to say anything bad about Jack. Namely because Jack hadn't done anything wrong. "That wasn't Jack. It may be who he was ages ago, but it's not the man he is now." He looked away. "I left because I didn't want to say anything to him that...I didn't want Jack to think I held it against him, when he comes back to himself. Because it isn't his fault. It's this place, toying with him and causing him more pain...and I hate that. He's been through quite enough, and he doesn't need to go through anything else."

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cantyouhearit
2009-08-12 03:42 am UTC (link)

"So noble, so loyal, so true. I think I'm going to be sick," The Master said, spitting the last sentence as Ianto finished his little speech, continuing to flip switches and adjust dials. "Not that Jack if going to be a problem for you much longer. Hmmm, maybe Necros. No, no. Too obvious. Oh, I know! Telos. Perfect. How'd you like to see some real Cybermen?" The Master asked, looking over at Ianto with a slightly maniac grin. "Not those pathetic little alternative replications that you had to deal with."

He didn't know why he'd bothered to stay here so long. Once he found Lo, he should have left, but he hadn't even bothered. God, his pathetic weakling little self had been too content to be around the masses here to even think about it. Ugh. It was hard to believe he had even been that sickening.

"Just one, two, three, a setting of the dial," The Master said, smirking all the time, practically singing the words. "And off we go!"

The whirl got louder, more pronounced, as the TARDIS dematerialized.

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inloyalservice
2009-08-12 04:30 am UTC (link)

Ianto paled at the mention of Cybermen, backing up against the wall of the TARDIS. His eyes were wide and his breathing was off, not quite a panic attack but the makings of one. If there was one creature that haunted his nightmares, it was Cybermen. And the idea of being left with a version that was worse than the kind that had been involved in the massacre at Canary Wharf paralysed him with terror. Logically, he knew that the Master probably couldn't leave this place, but his fear was hardly lending itself to logic, and part of him was convinced that the Time Lord would find a way to follow through with his threat.

He wanted to speak, to say something to prove to the Master that he was still defiant, but he was frozen with panic. And even if he could speak, he wasn't entirely certain he wouldn't promise the Master anything so long as he never had to see those horrible creatures again. He knew it was weak, but right now he really didn't care. Even two and a half years later, he was still terrified beyond all telling of the Cybermen.

He stumbled as the TARDIS took off, landing dazedly on the floor and not really caring about getting up just yet. That would involve focusing on something beyond the cloying feeling of abject horror at the notion that the Master might actually reach his destination.

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cantyouhearit
2009-08-12 06:09 am UTC (link)

Oh, these humans were so easy to manipulate when you knew exactly which buttons to push, and while Ianto might not remember the year that had passed and then been reverted when the paradox was destroyed, The Master did. Torturing each one of Jack's little crew, slowly, agonizingly slowly to make it so much worse for Jack when the Master explained each detail, day by day, of how his team was breaking down. Ianto had, amazingly, been one of the last to fall. The Master had had bets on his being the first. But still, his fears had been made clear to him from almost day one, and they were so simple that it was ridiculous.

Daleks. Cybermen. The same sort of terrors that ran the universe over. So simple and yet, so easy to exploit when he had the knowledge and the desire. And oh, he had the desire, and his knowledge had never been in question.

Smirking as he set the TARDIS to autopilot through the vortex and strode over to where Ianto had fallen, a delightful mad amusement shining in his eyes. "Got to watch out for that first step. It's a doozy," He said, smirking wickedly down at the man as he extracted his laser screwdriver from his pocket and aimed it at Ianto's chest. It wasn't the one that he'd had before, but rather a replacement that he'd built after he'd woken up remembering who he was. But it still worked just the same. "Don't fret. They might no bother to torture you before they rip open your head and put your brain into one of their suits. At least you'll be allowed to keep a bit more of your personality. They do so like that bowing and scrapping, willing to please demeanor."

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inloyalservice
2009-08-12 07:22 am UTC (link)

It didn't occur to Ianto to wonder how the Master had known the effect the mention of Cybermen would have on him. Of course, any sane person would be terrified of Cybermen, unless they had never encountered them. And even that wouldn't last once the individual encountered them. But he knew that Jack would be disappointed in his weakness, that Owen would call him pathetic if he could see him now and Gwen would pity him. He knew and he hated it. He didn't want to be the weak point of the team.

"Stop," Ianto finally said, forcing himself to calm down and look at the Master, not steady enough to get to his feet yet but enough that he managed a defiant glare. "You can't leave this place so stop going on as if you can. And Jack will stop you, because that's what Torchwood does. We stop people like you. And Jack won't let you hurt his team. He's killed enemies for less, and I know he wouldn't hesitate to destroy your remaining regenerations." He didn't know how he had managed the words, but he felt physically drained by the effort it took to stand up to the Master, when his mind was screaming at him to just get the hell away somehow.

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cantyouhearit
2009-08-13 06:53 am UTC (link)

"Oooooh, I'm soooo scared," The Master replied, rolling his eyes at Ianto slightly, his grip on the laser screwdriver not faltered as he took a step back, smirking as he crossed over to the controls. "I'm afraid to say that you're wrong about the not leaving part. We're perfectly on course," He said, moving his gaze back to Ianto with a slight grin. "Now I just have to wonder whether I kick you out and let them deal with you however they see fit, or lock you out and sit around to watch the show."

As Lo shuddered again, the whirling starting once more as she landed, the Master glanced back at the controls and...well, that wasn't right. According to this, they were back on the library steps in Colligo. Still. The doors were locked, and his expression was perfectly schooled into neutrality. Punching up the observation screen and running it through the vid library, the Master simply called up some old footage of Telos that had been archived.

As the rocky mountainous desert planet flickered into view on the monitor, The Master glanced back over at Ianto, grinning wickedly, "Beautiful, isn't it? For a desert wasteland."

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inloyalservice
2009-08-13 06:33 pm UTC (link)

He hadn't expected the Master to be impressed or particularly affected by his words, so he was unbothered by the Master's reaction. "You're wrong," he said softly. "People cannot leave this place. They've tried. It does not work. The Doctor has tried." And, considering the improbable bullshit the Doctor could manage, he very much doubted that if he couldn't leave, the Master could. "So there's no way that you can get to Telos." Now that the initial panic had passed, logic was setting in. He was comfortable with logic. It was better than focusing on the minute possibility that the Master would somehow succeed.

It took everything in him not to panic at the sight on the screen. He could hear Tosh in his head, telling him there were millions of ways to tamper with a video feed. That the Master hadn't proven anything with that little show. Still, it was hard to believe it. He got to his feet, even though his hands were still shaking slightly and he was a little too pale. "That doesn't prove anything," he said, though he was having trouble believing it, "other than that you know how to work a video screen. That video could be of any time, any place. It certainly doesn't prove that's what's actually outside." He felt a little better now. Logic really did help.

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