Hello, lovely people.

So, this is another new one-shot I wrote because I coulldn't sleep and I wanted to write some angsty Doctor/Master stuff that wasn't so Doctor/Master-y...I don't know how well that part turned out, but oh well.

AU to End of Time part 2, where the Master doesn't get sucked into the portal with the other Time Lords, there is no Wilf, but the Doctor still regenerates...though I do love David Tennant, it was necessary for my plotline... I know, I hate myself for it too...

But, please review and tell me if you would like more of this kind of thing from me. This is stepping outside of my usual genre big time, but I thought, why not...I like to try new things.

Stay amazing,

OnyxvanGem

Death and Togetherness

It was dark, so dark, and cold beyond belief. He didn't know where he was, darkness his only clue. He didn't know what was going on…wasn't sure of what had happened…all he knew was that he was still alive. How could he not be? Unless, of course, they had followed him through death's shadowy veil as they had followed him everywhere else. No matter what he did, they were always there…the drums were always there.

The Master slowly felt his body begin to respond to his thoughts, thoughts consisting of attempts to wake himself up, wonderings as to why he couldn't move, soft hopes that he wasn't actually dead. And, unless he was a ghost, though that was highly improbable, he was…alive. He was alive. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered if the Doctor had been that lucky.

The Doctor…that was why he was there, floating somewhere between life and death, his mind dark save for the echoing of the never ending drums. He'd sacrificed himself for the Doctor…had used up much of, if not all of, his life force to destroy Rassilon. The Master was pretty sure it had worked too…he'd used his life force to impair Rassilon's regeneration ability, to make it impossible for him to survive if he had been shot…if only he had been shot…why hadn't the Doctor shot him? Why hadn't the Doctor shot anyone? It didn't make sense to the Master…not much sense, at least…not now…not in the darkness.

However, the darkness didn't last for very much longer…the Master could almost feel himself waking up…slowly, slowly, slowly but surely regaining some of the control over his body, enough control to take a slow, ragged breath.

This one, albeit shallow breath triggered a change. The Master could feel what was going on around him, could feel that he was pressed against something…someone warm and soft, his head resting on the chest of a man…a man with two heartbeats. A Time Lord…he was being held by a Time Lord…a Time Lord who was sobbing, crying so violently, holding him so closely that the Master could hardly move his limbs, though he had regained most of the control over them. And he could hear too…hear the soft, semi-crazed mumblings of the Time Lord who was holding him.

"Master…please, please come back…please don't be dead…regenerate, please, Master," the Time Lord pleaded, his arms tightening a little around the Master, shaking him as the Time Lord rocked back and forth. "Please, Master…I don't want to be alone…this isn't funny anymore… please…PLEASE!"

He recognized that voice…the Master could vaguely tell whose voice this was. It was the voice of the Doctor…his rival, enemy, friend…his Doctor. And he sounded so distraught…the Master took another shallow breath, attempting to gather the strength to move, to alert the Doctor that he was not dead…that he was still alive. And he was, in a sense, alive…he didn't know for how much longer, but it was true at the moment.

The Master exhaled…inhaled again…exhaled, all the while listening to the Doctor's desperate muttering, feeling a small twinge of some unknown feeling pass through him. A feeling that made both of his hearts hurt…an emotion that made his hearts hurt. One that, for once, wasn't blocked out by the senseless, endless drumming.

Slowly, carefully, the Master moved his head against the Doctor's chest, a soft moan escaping his lips at the surge of dull, throbbing pain this caused. Now that he could feel, he hurt…hurt all over. The Master didn't like it…but that small movement had caused a chain reaction, a chain reaction that made the Doctor freeze in place, his mutterings ceasing, his grip on the Master's body tightening even more.

"M-Master?" he heard the Doctor stutter, his voice still choked with tears. The Master nodded slowly against the Doctor's chest. The Doctor hugged him even tighter, though the Master hadn't guessed that this action would be physically possible, as the Doctor had, before his grip had tightened, been holding him so tightly that the Master could almost feel his body bruising under his touch. "Master, you survived…"

The Master felt the Doctor push him away a little and he slowly opened one amber eye, a faint smile on his lips, his tongue darting out across them. The Master let out a half cough half laugh, staring up at the Doctor's tear-stained face as the Doctor stared back at him with a look of unparalleled relief.

"'Course I survived, Doctor…'m, for some reason, unable to just…leave you here," he breathed, his lips twitching a little, "N't now…n't yet…you need me, don't you?"

"Need you?" The Doctor furrowed his eyebrows, his wide, chocolate eyes never leaving the Master's face. The Master had a feeling he sensed what the Master had been trying to convey, that feeling confirmed when the Doctor's eyes widened just a little more. "Yes, I need you…Master…you can't leave me again…not when we were so close…to…to being friends again…I heard your drums, Master. I believe you…so you can't leave me…not now…"

The Master inhaled as deeply as he was able to without a fit of coughing and gave another miniscule nod. "I'll stay…I'll try to stay…"

There was a moment of calm that passed between them, a moment of silence, a moment of stillness as the Master watched the Doctor's reactions to his having survived…mostly. There was no cheering, no 'Master, I love you's, no anything…just a half confused, half disbelieving look directed at him and the drums that echoed inside his head. The Master felt his life force flicker a little, a wave of pain crashing over him, and he grimaced, a shiver passing through him. The Doctor's arms tightened around him, his fingers digging into the Master's spine just a little, enough to cause unintentional pain, this pain distracting the Master for just a moment from the other pain.

"Your life force…" the Doctor trailed off, and the Master shut his eye, nodding a quick nod…quick so the pain would pass sooner. "Master…your life force is fading…I can feel it…this body was born out of death…you can't…"

"I won't, Doctor…" the Master breathed, swallowing, feeling his body slowly, very slowly, unbearably slowly, relinquishing itself of the pain. "Die…I'm not going to die…" The Doctor's face showed the Time Lord's obvious, oh so obvious disbelief of his statement and the Master swallowed again, trying to focus through the aching sound of the drums. They were always more painful when he was dying. "I'm not…you won't let me, will you?"

There was another moment of silence, though it wasn't quite silence for the Master…nothing ever was…before the Doctor spoke, his voice firm but not, confident but not, steady but not.

"I won't…" he said, squeezing the Master again. The Master smiled larger. "I won't let you…come with me…to the Tardis. I can save you…"

"You can…" the Master said, feeling himself drifting toward inevitable darkness once again. "You can because you're the Doctor…my Doctor…you can…"

And he was gone.

And then he wasn't.

The Master felt his mind begin to come into focus. The drums making their reappearance, his brain slowly beginning to form thoughts…only, for some reason, he didn't feel cold. No, the Master was warm, his body was warm, warm with life and fresh energy...new regeneration energy. Had he regenerated? The Master didn't know…he would have felt the regeneration, in any normal situation, but he'd already wasted so much life energy that he didn't know how it was even possible. However, there it was…that same feeling he got every time he regenerated, that new energy flowing through his body, fixing it, healing it, strengthening his life force and…strengthening his life force. His life force was being strengthened. The Doctor had saved him.

But at what cost..?

After several minutes, borderline hours, the Master felt strong enough to attempt to open his eyes…which he did. And, when he did, he found that he was inside of an infirmary…a standard infirmary of a Tardis. And he wasn't alone in the infirmary. The Master turned his head just a little, his gaze falling upon the man who was with him. The Doctor.

Only…it wasn't the same Doctor that the Doctor had been before the Master had lost consciousness…no this one was different. He was younger, with floppy hair, long limbs, and pale skin…though he had kept his thin figure. This new Doctor was asleep in a chair by the Master's bedside, lightly snoring, his face flitting between worry, pain, and fear…what he was dreaming about, the Master didn't really want to know…but he would do the Doctor a favor and wake him up from this dream.

Slowly, the Master reached out his hand…the same hand of his last form, much to his excitement…and brushed his fingers against the Doctor's knee. The Doctor jumped, startled, looking around frantically before his gaze fell on the Master. He didn't seem to see the Master at first, though…his now green eyes looking almost through him.

"Master..?" the Doctor questioned softly, his voice very different from his previous incarnation's. The Master felt that same emotion race through him at the softness of the way the Doctor spoke his name, the honest hope in his tone.

"Doctor," the Master replied, smiling just a little. He watched as the Doctor's face lit up, and he would have been engulfed in a hug, for sure, if the Doctor had been less exhausted seeming. Because that was how this new Doctor currently seemed…tired. Happy too, yes, the Master could tell that the Doctor was happy…but he was so very tired.

"You're alive…it worked…" he said, his eyes still not completely focused, a lopsided grin on his face. The Master forced himself to sit up, the movement slow and slightly painful, though the pain was quickly whisked away by that feeling of new energy.

"You regenerated," the Master said, pointing out the obvious, thought the obvious was an obvious concern. The Doctor had regenerated…and the Master had felt the need to point it out, as he had a pretty good idea of just what the Doctor had done to save him…he just needed to hear it from the other Time Lord. He hoped he was wrong.

Slowly, the Doctor nodded. "I did…did it for you though…you needed the energy more then me." The Master sighed, shaking his head in disbelief.

"You do realize that you just shortened your own life-span considerably, don't you?" he inquired, half rhetorically, half curiously. The Doctor nodded again, that same tired nod. "Why did you do it?"

"I gave you my regeneration energy…" the Doctor trailed off, swallowing, "because I couldn't live knowing I could have done something to save you…I'd promised to save you."

"I know you did, but you didn't have to act on it…" the Master said, sighing. "Why did you-"

"Because I loved you," the Doctor blurted, startling the Master, his hearts skipping a beat. He blinked at the Doctor, trying to figure out what he'd just said…if what the Doctor had just said was true. His mouth slipped into a small frown and he turned completely on the bed, dangling his legs off of it, to look directly at the Doctor.

"You…loved me," the Master repeated, tasting the words, tasting the thought. Sheepishly, probably due to the way he'd admitted it, the Doctor nodded, his pale cheeks turning a slight pink. "You gave up…half of your remaining store of regeneration energy…because you loved me."

"Yeah…" the Doctor said quietly, so quietly the Master almost missed it. He laughed, though he didn't know why he did, laughing at the Doctor, at how he was acting, at the stupidity of what he'd done. This made the Doctor's cheeks turn an even deeper shade of pink. "Stop…"

The Master composed himself, clearing his throat. "You know how stupid of a move that was…bringing me back like that…don't you?" The Master watched the Doctor as he attempted to, supposedly, come up with an answer that wouldn't make him sound even more stupid for having done this, before the Master decided to just finish the topic. "It was a stupid move…but, I guess…thank you. For bringing me back."

The Doctor smiled at him a little. "You're welcome…Master…"

"And, if it's any consolation…I loved you too," the Master continued. The Doctor looked at him for a moment before his smile grew just a little.

"I know. That's why I did it…now we have the same number of regenerations left…and I am not letting you leave me again."