AN: Standard disclaimer: I don't own it, etc. etc. Just a little angst to get you going.

ANYTHING AT ALL

oo~oo

"Ah, it's good to be…" Jack stepped into the TARDIS and stopped suddenly. "What's he doing here?"

"Hello freak." The Master looked up and grinned at him, baring his teeth.

The Doctor pushed Jack farther in so he could close the doors. "Leave him alone."

"But what's he doing here?" Jack took another step in glaring at the Master. "Why is he handcuffed to that pillar?"

"This pillar's as good as any other." The Master shrugged.

The Doctor took off his coat and hung it on the rack by the door. Then he turned back and fished through the pockets till he found his sonic screwdriver and put it in his jacket pocket.

"Doctor?" Jack asked without taking his eyes off the Master.

"Leave him alone Jack." The Doctor glanced down at the Master who was still grinning at Jack. "Don't talk to him. He lies. He lies very well."

"I never lie!" The Master denied hotly. "I may twist things a bit…but I never lie!"

"He'll have you believing the most outrageous things. Don't…I repeat, DON"T talk to him." The Doctor softened his words with a quick smile down at the Master. "Not even a Good morning. He'll hypnotize you in seconds if you let him."

"Oh like anyone could hypnotize The Doctor." The Master huffed.

The Doctor stopped messing with the controls and turned to look at the Master. "You're not just anyone." Shaking his head he turned back and spun a dial. "Where'd you want to go Jack?"

Jack was still staring at the Master in disbelief. The Master, here on the TARDIS. Recipe for disaster is what it was. What was the Doctor thinking?

oo~oo

Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months and still the Master sat there, half –lidded eyes following the Doctor's every move.

oo~oo

Sometimes Jack would wake in the middle of the night and hearing the soft murmur of voices, would tiptoe down the hall and peek in to find the Doctor lying on his back fiddling with the console. Sometimes he'd hear nothing and glancing over toward the Master, see two pairs of legs sitting very close together. Sometimes he'd hear snatches of conversation.

"I don't care…"

"Listen to me…"

"You're not making any sense…"

"Please…"

"…the truth…"

"Please…"

Jack would shake his head and go back to bed, certain he was still dreaming because the Master might say a lot of things, but please wasn't one of them.

oo~oo

After a particularly snarky remark, Jack squatted down in front of the Master, keeping prudently out of reach.

"What did you do? What did you do that was so awful the Doctor locked you up?" Jack tilted his head at the Master. "He only wanted to save you before."

"What a Time Lord does is none of your business." The Master glared at him. "Freak."

"The Doctor never changes." Jack shook his head. "He still thinks he can help you, change you, make you better." Jack gave a short laugh. "Cause that's what he does to people, he makes them better, makes them want to be better."

The Master sighed and rolled his eyes.

"But you, you're as old as he is right?" Jack went on without waiting for an answer. "You're never gonna change. You're evil through and through."

"You don't have the faintest idea what's between the Doctor and me. Don't talk to me about the Doctor. The Doctor is…"

"Yeah, the Doctor is. Time Lords don't change. He's not gonna change and neither are you." Jack got to his feet and turned to go. "You can't make him evil and he can't make you good. You're complete opposites and you're never gonna meet in the middle. I don't know why he wastes his time."

"You don't think the Doctor can change?" The Master called out as Jack walked away. Jack stopped, curious at the tone in the Master's voice.

"Toward you? I doubt it. Why would he?" Jack laughed and kept walking.

oo~oo

"Doctor?" Jack slumped in the chair and studied the Doctor. "What's he doing here?"

"hmmm?" The Doctor looked up from the book he was reading. "What?"

"The Master. What's he doing here?"

"Oh." The Doctor looked back down at his book. "I haven't decided yet."

"But what did he do?" Jack persisted, leaning forward in the chair. "What did he finally do that was so awful you had to bring him on the TARDIS and handcuff him to a pillar?"

The Doctor looked over his glasses at Jack and sighed. Pulling them off and closing the book he took a deep breath. "I told you not to talk to him. He's tricky. He twists things. He'll make you believe the most outrageous lies." The Doctor peered closely at Jack's eyes. "Has he hypnotized you?"

"What?" Jack frowned in confusion. "No. No, of course not! I just want to know what he did. Look, when he took over the world, you didn't want to kill him. When he died, you sobbed over his body. Then when he came back, I heard you wouldn't shoot him. And now he's handcuffed to a pillar in the TARDIS, and apparently been here awhile, and I just want to know what he did to finally piss you off."

"Jack…" The Doctor frowned at him. "Are you serious? That's the Master we're talking about. Do you honestly believe a single pair of handcuffs is going to hold him? And only one hand at that?" The Doctor gave a short laugh and put his glasses back on. "Those aren't even my handcuffs."

"What…" Jack's eyes narrowed. "Then he…he..."

"Yes. He did." The Doctor answered finding his place in the book once more. "I haven't figured out why."

"Well, I'll be damned." Jacked laughed and the Doctor looked up at him with a frown. "He's in love with you." Jack laughed harder when he saw the Doctor's face. "Oh there's lots of things you forgot to mention."

"He's not." The Doctor's fingers tightened on the book. "Liar? Trickster? Remember Jack?"

"Uh huh, that's why he came here and handcuffed himself to the TARDIS? To trick you?" Jack wiped his eyes and started laughing again. "He's so in love with you."

"You don't know what you're talking about." The Doctor smoothed the pages in the book that he'd crinkled in his fist and ignored Jack who laughed harder.

oo~oo

"Jack have you seen my screwdriver?" The Doctor patted his pockets looking around as if it might materialize out of thin air.

"You used it yesterday when we were—" Jack said absently, looking up from the screen.

"Oh right! It must be in my coat pocket." The Doctor ran lightly into the console room and stopped suddenly in shock. He swallowed heavily and looked around. The Master was gone without a trace, not even leaving the handcuffs behind.

"No…" He whispered in a strangled voice.

"What?" Jack said coming up behind him. "Oh." He looked at the empty room. "You were right I guess." Jack shrugged and went to get the Doctor's coat from the rack by the door.

oo~oo

If the Doctor's eyes often strayed to certain pillar or if he touched it lightly with his fingertips when he walked by or if some mornings Jack found him sitting up against it with his eyes closed it really didn't mean anything. Anything at all.

oo~oo

AN: Poor Master. No one believes him. No one understands him. Please R&R. Hope you like it.