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Tweak says, "FNORD!!!"

Captain Jack Harkness, Torchwood (lt_to_chaos) wrote in whoville,
@ 2008-04-17 08:56:00

Entry tags:

lt_to_chaos, themaster

Anna's Master (Finished)
Jack woke up to the smell of coffee and cheese danish, rolling onto his side to look at the table the Master had set. Pasteries and coffee and what looked like a mini-fridge that he suspected held whatever else he'd brought back. "Morning," he murmured as he rubbed sleep from his eyes.

"Morning, indeed. I just ran into another of myself who was rather worried about you." The Master gestured at the food on the table. "Come, eat something."

"Worried about me?" Jack raised an eyebrow, taking a long moment to stretch before getting out of bed, and scooping up one of the danishes, munching on it while he waited for an answer.

"Seemed to think you were in danger from me."

Jack shrugged. "Sometimes I am. He wouldn't have any way to tell if now's one of those times, or if it's safe." As safe as it ever was around the Master. "Going to pack a picnic and explore today?"

"Actually, I was planning on not going anywhere, and just enjoying some alone time." The Master leaned back in his chair, grinning at Jack.

Jack twitched. "I'd rather go out." He popped the rest of the pastery in his mouth, heading for the wardrobe, and a change of clothes. "I can go alone, if you don't want to come with me."

The Master scowled at Jack's back, his fingers drumming restlessly against the table. "I want to stay in today, with you, and enjoy the day."

"I'm not planning on staying in all day." Jack looked back at the Master, his hand hovering over an undershirt. "Unless you insist."

The Master studied Jack a moment before sighing huffily, and waving a dismissive hand. "Fine, fine. Go on, then. I'll go... find a book." He reached for his mug of coffee, glaring at the dark liquid as if it were the source of his problems.

Jack sighed, pulling on a t-shirt and trousers he'd picked up while waiting for his jacket to be tailored before the party, and headed for the door. He'd find coffee downstairs, before the Master decided that he really would insist on Jack staying in the room all day.

As he stepped out of the lift into the lobby, he sighed, spotting another of the Master near the dining room. Well, at least he knew it wasn't his Master - the suit rather gave it away. Though with no rose, he doubted it was the sane one he'd first run into, either.

"Master," he greeted cautiously as he got closer, giving him a small smile.

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	themaster 2008-04-17 02:16 pm UTC (link)
	The Master's eyebrows rose. He'd not met a Jack who'd greet him with that much respect since he'd left the Valiant. "Captain," he responded, equally cautious. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	lt_to_chaos 2008-04-17 02:26 pm UTC (link)
	Jack paused, just within arm's reach of the Master, tilting his head a little. "It's been a while since I heard you - well, my Master - call me Captain," he said quietly. "It's a little odd to hear from that face." Just shy of pushing a little. Not entirely certain how this Master would react if he actually did push. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

themaster
2008-04-17 02:34 pm UTC (link)

The Master swallowed. He'd just spent several days pretty much avoiding everyone, getting used to the quiet space in his head and the ability to actually think at last without the blasted drums getting in the way all the time - and the first thing this place did when he finally ventured back into civilisation was taunt him with... this.

"I could say exactly the same thing about you," he said mildly. "I don't think I've heard my name spoken with so much respect in all the time I've been here. Certainly not from someone wearing your face."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lt_to_chaos 2008-04-17 02:38 pm UTC (link)
	Jack shrugged, reaching out almost automatically to lace his fingers through the Master's, just holding on. "It's been a while since I didn't have a reason to give you - him - that respect." He smiled a little. "Most of a century." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	themaster 2008-04-17 02:42 pm UTC (link)
	The Master looked down at the fingers through his, trying not to show his surprise, but he couldn't help but tense up slightly. He looked up at Jack's face, head tilted to one side as he studied him. "Something tells me you're from a somewhat different reality to my own," he remarked drolly. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lt_to_chaos
2008-04-17 02:52 pm UTC (link)

Jack noticed the change in tension in the Master, and took a step closer, squeezing the hand he held just slightly. Trying to be reassuring.

"I imagine I am." Jack chuckled. "The Doctor abandoned me on the Game Station, I ended up at the end of the universe chasing after him - Vortex Manipulator malfuntioned, and no, I don't know how. Met a Professor Yana, with a nice old pocket-watch with Gallifreyan script all over it. Asked him what he was doing with a watch like that, at some point he opened it, and got himself back. Fixed up my wrist-comp, we landed in 1889, I've been living with him ever since."

Well, mostly. Those first couple of decades were rocky and painful and strange, but it had gotten easier after that. Simpler, once he'd figured out the Doctor really wasn't going to come find him, and the Master wouldn't leave him. Not without a fight.

He raised an eyebrow at the Master. "I take it was a little different in your universe?"

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	themaster 2008-04-17 03:06 pm UTC (link)
	"Just a little, yes." He thought a moment, trying to take all that information in, then asked, "How long have you been here? How much have you heard about other realities?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lt_to_chaos 2008-04-17 03:21 pm UTC (link)
	"A couple of days." Jack shrugged. "First person I ran into here was a Master who's with the Doctor." There was a faint twitch at the thought of the Doctor, tension gathering across his shoulders for a moment. "He said something about an insane version of himself being around somewhere." He glanced sideways at the Master. "Wearing the same suit as him. No rose." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

themaster
2008-04-17 03:38 pm UTC (link)

The Master watched Jack's reaction to talking about the Doctor with interest. "Well," he drawled, lips twitching as he glanced deliberately down at his suit and lack of rose. "I'll have to watch out for him, then."

He'd have to get himself another rose, at some point. There was far too much potential for fun in the idea of pretending to be the goody-goody Master, and he hadn't had a chance to really give it a shot at the party before his own Doctor had swooped down on him.

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lt_to_chaos
2008-04-17 03:50 pm UTC (link)

Jack shrugged, nodding his head towards the dining room. "I was going to get some coffee. Come sit with me?"

He was fairly certain that this Master was the one the other had warned him about, but he... wasn't sure what to think about it, if he were honest with himself. He cared, because that was part of who he was - not to mention reflexive when it came to the Master. And maybe a bit more than with the other, because this one reminded him a bit more of his own Master.

Except with a suit, and not currently sulking.

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themaster
2008-04-17 05:08 pm UTC (link)

"All right." Truth be told, he really wasn't sure what to make of this Jack. He hadn't had anyone be this casually friendly with him since - well, Lucy, which wasn't exactly that long ago, but certainly felt like another life now.

He glanced at Jack as he set off toward the dining room. "Is your Master here?"

Because he didn't want to get on the wrong side of another version of himself.

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lt_to_chaos
2008-04-17 08:02 pm UTC (link)

"Upstairs. Sulking." Jack found a small table with a good sight-line for the door, and flagged a server as he settled into a chair. Ordering his coffee, he smiled at the Master, shruging a shoulder. "He wanted to stay in, I want to go out and explore. He'll get over it, he always does."

Because Jack always came back. If he didn't go back, hewasn't sure what the Master would do. Well, not here. At home, he knew what he'd do, and he was trying to avoid scorched earth.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	themaster 2008-04-17 09:43 pm UTC (link)
	The Master sat down, lifting an eyebrow. "I'm not having you use me to get your own back on your Master, Jack. Nor am I going to get between the two of you. Would he be happy to know that you were sitting here with me?" Because he knew damn sure he wouldn't be. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lt_to_chaos 2008-04-17 10:02 pm UTC (link)
	Jack frowned, pulling his hand back, putting a little distance between himself and the Master. "I'm not about to do something stupid just to piss him off." He ran a hand through his hair, leaning back in his chair a moment, studying the Master. "What did you think I had in mind, anyway? Other than coffee?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	themaster 2008-04-17 10:08 pm UTC (link)
	The Master's eyebrows shot upwards. Trust Jack. "If he's anything like me, you having coffee with me would be enough to piss him off." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lt_to_chaos
2008-04-17 10:23 pm UTC (link)

Jack chuckled. "He knows I'm not going to go away. That I'll always come back to him at the end of the day." He leaned forward, holding the Master's gaze steadily. "I didn't leave him when he regenerated, bleeding out from the shrapnel from a bomb in World War Two. I didn't run away when we landed in 1889 instead of 2009, to wait for the Doctor to come get me. He's not stupid, and he's not blind."

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themaster
2008-04-17 10:36 pm UTC (link)

The Master did his best not to twitch at the display of confidence before him - both Jack's confidence in his Master, and his Master's confidence in Jack. He didn't think he'd ever felt that secure about someone else's affection, that they would come back to him, and some of that, he was sure, must be showing in his face.

He said, frowning slightly, "Why did you stay with him, when you got back to Earth? You could have gone anywhere."

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lt_to_chaos
2008-04-17 10:52 pm UTC (link)

Jack shrugged, reaching out to curl his fingers around the Master's hand again.

"He told me why the Doctor ran away. He hadn't left me at the end of the universe after fixing my wrist-comp. It's easier to survive in an unfamiliar place and time when there's someone to pool resources with."

He picked up the coffee the server set in front of him, taking a sip. "I wasn't ready to try and make it on my own again. And my Vortex Manipulator didn't survive the journey as well as he or I did.

"Pick a reason, I'm not really sure which one made the most difference. Or if anyone is really more important than the rest." He laughed, softly. "Hell, it could even be as simple as he's the only other person on Earth who can understand what it's like not to stay dead."

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themaster
2008-04-17 11:04 pm UTC (link)

The way Jack kept reaching out to hold onto him was slowly, steadily disquieting him. It was actually making him jittery. It took a lot to keep his hand relaxed beneath Jack's fingers.

He glanced up at the waiter and ordered a cup of tea, then looked at Jack. "That all makes sense," he agreed pleasantly. "Except the part where the Captain Jack Harkness I know doesn't exactly see eye to eye with me on the way to go about things. I can't imagine him working alongside me as you seem to, nor being so easy with me as you appear to be with your Master."

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	lt_to_chaos 2008-04-17 11:15 pm UTC (link)
	"We don't always see eye to eye." Jack shrugged. "It'd be boring if we did, no excitement, no life. He needs conflict, I need to protect people. It works." He tilted his head. "How's it different with your Jack? What happened differently?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

themaster
2008-04-17 11:23 pm UTC (link)

The Master snorted lightly. "Just about everything, by the sound of it. He found his way back to Earth somehow and just waited around for the Doctor. For a hundred and forty years. You have to admire that kind of perseverence. Then they both ended up at the end of the universe, along with my Doctor's current companion, Miss Martha Jones. It was actually she who brought the timepiece to my attention when I was still disguised as that disgusting old fool, Yana."

He shuddered at the memory, fingers clenching in Jack's involuntarily. "I can't tell you how good it was to be me again. The Jack in my reality wasn't the only one who spent a long time waiting for the Doctor."

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lt_to_chaos
2008-04-18 12:07 am UTC (link)

Jack set his coffee down, squeezing the Master's hand gently, reaching out his free hand to rub his shoulder a moment. "That's why the Master wanted to control Torchwood, I think. Well, beside them poking around where they weren't wanted. They have the best tools to find the Doctor. The right regeneration of him."

It wasn't something they agreed on, and Jack would be just as happy not to see the Doctor again soon. He didn't like what it did to the Master's stability and sanity, having the Doctor around.

"Perserverence born of loyalty, I imagine," he said lightly. "If he's anything like me."

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themaster
2008-04-18 08:01 am UTC (link)

Again, he had to work hard not to shake off Jack's hand. He appreciated the gesture, he really did, but it felt so wrong to have Jack touch him that way. Familiar and affectionate and - his Jack would never touch him like that.

He took a deep breath, made himself relax, and chuckled, "I assume that's why the Jack in my world joined Torchwood himself, as his best chance of finding the Doctor. It worked, in the end." He tilted his head to the side. "You don't sound as if finding the Doctor is what you want, though?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lt_to_chaos 2008-04-18 11:50 am UTC (link)
	Jack frowned, a hint of bitterness in his expression. "He abandoned me on a floating tomb. Didn't even check to see if I was still alive, or give me a chance to say goodbye - to him or to Rose." He sighed, shrugging. "I don't know if I want to find him or not. I'd like a chance to see Rose again, but him? I don't know." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	themaster 2008-04-18 12:57 pm UTC (link)
	"Ah, the good old Doctor we all know and love," the Master smiled ruefully, nodding. "And then he let you live on Earth for over a century, knowing you were waiting for him, without ever once dropping by, yes? Things aren't so different in my universe, after all. And people call me the evil one." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)