Who: The Master, Ianto When: The Morning after Meredith's first shift. Where: Ianto's quarters What: Getting to know the boy Rating:
After the Master took care of a few minor details, the freak being one of them, he found himself returning to Ianto's room. The boy intrigued and confused him a bit. He knew Mystic well enough but this one was a complete stranger to him. He sat down in a chair and just watched Ianto.
Ianto dreamed of London. Of the battle. The pain and fear. The dream slowly changed to him caring for Lisa then finally to her death and him falling in love with Jack. Well and truly. Just as he had their first shared kiss he woke abruptly, staring at the ceiling for a long moment, tears trailing over his cheeks. He slowly turned his head to look at the Master, tears clinging to his lashes.
The Master frowned at the tears. He paused. "I should not have used the laser." He said finally. Apologizing to Mystic was possible. That was the closest he felt he could come to one with Ianto. He just didn't know the lad.
The young man inclined his head, accepting the odd apology before returning his gaze to the ceiling. "...I saw them. Daleks...we were humans trapped between the ultimate killers and the improved humans...Cybermen. Have you ever seen the Cybermen sir?" He asked softly.
"Yes. Many times. The last I remember was in the Death Zone when looking for the tomb of Rassilon. Very dangerous enemy." The Master replied. The Doctor was involved in that one too.
"The Daleks and Cybermen fought...and the Doctor. He was able to get rid of some of them...but those that were left." Ianto closed his eyes, the scent of blood and smoke and the tang of energy from the weapons. He remembered the weight of Lisa half converted in his arms, the metal of her frame burning into his arms. "They fought bitterly. One wanted to destroy us and the other wanted to change us."
The Master twitched at the mention of the Doctor. He stayed quiet and listened though. "Yes. Daleks." He fell silent for a bit. Then he stood up. "I was reawakened just to battle them. Pulled out of the Matrix just do their battle for them." His hands clenched. He sighed. "So I should have known better."
He nodded. "I do know. I was Minister of Defense at the time." He tilted his head. "You lost everything. Is that why you cling to the freak?"
"He destroyed a hybrid cyberman... He cared for me while I was depressed, saved me from cannibals...He's been there for me."
"Hybrid cyberman? I don't remember a report about that." He replied, curious. As for the other bits, he knew a response to that. "I did however see the report about the cannibals. It looked to me that Harkness was the reason you were in danger in the first place."
"We were called in. Doing our job..." Ianto skillfully avoided avoiding explaining the hybrid.
"At that time you were NOT a field agent. You should have been left behind." The Master insisted. "You weren't properly trained, were you?"
"We were a five men team. I had just betrayed them. I was lucky enough to retain my job and my memories."
The Master leaned in. "How did you betray them?"
"The reason the hybrid cyberman was not reported was because I hid her and later snuck her into Torchwood three." Ianto murmured.
He looked just a bit impressed. "Really? You were able to do that? Impressive." He paused. "And they must have found her. Tell me, who killed her?"
"It took planning and organization. I'm good at that." He didn't seem impressed with himself. "We managed to fix her but her mind had succumbed to the cyberman consciousness. ...She tried to convert the teams. Jack and the team killed her."
The Master leaned back. "So... Harkness killed a woman you obviously cared a lot for. Then he comforted you through the following depression. Put you in danger without any training and then rescues you." He nodded. "The freak did a beautiful job on you." He shook his head. "And you are so grateful thanks to his manipulations, aren't you?"
Ianto clenched his jaw slightly, looking away. He couldn't deny that there was some truth to the Master's words. But there were more then just those actions.
"But then he is a conman." The Master continued. "And apparently very good at it." He looked sympathetic at Ianto. "It's okay. I will help you get over what he's done to you. I will make you your own man, a TimeLord."
"I don't even know what it means to be such. All of you I've met seem to be on such extremes." Ianto turned back to the Master.
He nodded. "There is much you don't know. That will be part of what I will try to teach you." He frowned. "Though I'm not really much of a teacher, more of a doer." He didn't really have much patience. "But you have Mystic and Joey to help teach you."
The Welshman was quiet and thoughtful for a long moment.
He stood up and slowly moved to sit down next to Ianto. "I... I have always considered Mystic as a sister. You don't know me and I don't know you very well. Certainly not like her or her children but her family has always been mine."
"You have to forgive me sir...you seem nice enough to your family...but my human father...the man that raised me." Ianto paused. "Lets just leave it at I'm slow to trust people. It'll take some time for me to trust you."
The Master's look went dark. "One of those apes hurt you?"
"It doesn't matter." Ianto stated simply. "It happened. I survived. I continue on."
He fell silent for a bit and looked off. Those words hit so very close. "Yes, yes you do." He said finally. Then he said. "I would like to get to know you better."
"I'm not very interesting." Ianto frowned in confusion at the man's words.
"Let me be the one who makes that decision." He replied. He lightly pat Ianto's leg. "I think you will be more interesting to know."
The man canted his head for a moment before looking shy. "Do you happen to have a library?"
The Master laughed lightly. "Well yes, yes I do."
The younger lit up subtly. "May I?"
"Of course. Let me show you where it is. In fact I will let you have access to my private collection as well." He paused. "But we'll have to wait on letting you into the one on the TARDIS. It's still acting up a bit. Doesn't like me much."
"TARDIS? There is an actual one here?" The man's eyes became sharp, curious. "I've only read about them in archives. Even then there wasn't much information." He shook his head. "Books first."
He laughed at the bright look. "Well someday I will show you one." Though the one here was a paradox machine. He stood up. "Come on lad, I will show you the books." He tilted his head. "And one day we will figure out a proper name for you."
Ianto stood with the Master. "What's wrong with Ianto?" He asked honestly.
"Once you get to your age, you usually have a proper TimeLord name. Like mine. I wasn't born with the name I use, nor was the Doctor. Some still use their old name like Joey, but he is also known as the Mechanist. Even if you keep using the name given by those apes, you should have a TimeLord name."
The young man nodded thoughtfully, clearly taking the man's words in and remembering them, before chuckling softly. "Bait is probably a good one for me."
The Master shook his head. "Ah lad, no, no. Unfortunately the name that immediately comes to mind was already taken and it would be... problematic to reuse."
"Oh?" Ianto asked softly, partly knowing what that name might be.
"Archivist." He paused. "He was Mystic's husband."
He nodded. "Joseph's father."
"And Matt and Winnifred." There was sorrow in his voice.
"I'm sorry." Ianto murmured
"They died in the war. The Doctor locked them all away."
"But Joseph came through and Lacey." Ianto pointed out. "There could be a chance they could too."
"The odds for them to both have been saved were ... almost infinitesimal. I can't hold any hope for others of the family to survive as well." He paused. "Not even..." The Master cut himself off. His daughter had been lost long before the war. "No, I don't have hope for that."
"Master?" Ianto turned to him questioningly, noting the pause.
"Mystic knows, I suppose it's only right you do as well." Still she was hard to talk about. "I had a daughter of my own once. Just the one, with someone I gave my heart to. I would have done anything for them." Then his sad look transformed into a cold and angry one. "Never made that mistake again."
The young man reached out, pausing for only a moment before setting his hand on the Master's shoulder. "It's always hard...Losing the ones you love." He wondered for a brief moment if his sister, niece and nephew were still alive.
"Yes." He put his own hand over Ianto's. "Thank you." He was getting more and more fond of this lad. They had so much in common, a connection. "And here we are!" He announced. "The library."
Ianto paused in surprised. "It's...huge." His hand tightened lightly on the Master's shoulder before he rushed into the library. He paused in front of a section. "I haven't seen some these books since high school." He looked like a child in a candy store.
The Master smiled indulgently. "Well I designed every part of this ship you know." He boasted. "Not about to leave off a decent library."
"Is this really a first edition Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy?" Ianto asked his voice tinged with pleasure and amusement.
"Oh?" The Master coughed. "Ah... I do believe it is."
Ianto pulled it off the shelf, stroking the cover with the tips of his fingers. "My mom...this was one the first books she got me." He chuckled softly. "I was young at the time but we used it as a time of marker for how I did in learning how to read."
He had a sad look again. "My daughter was fond of that book. Something the Doctor got her. Made her want to read all sorts of Earth literature."
"She must of been spectacular...your daughter." Ianto stated softly.
"She was." He brushed his shirt. He had said enough, perhaps too much. "I have things I should deal with. You are free to explore here at your leisure."