Scotland's Mist

Chapter 27

I think we've got two or three chapters left.  I actually lost quite a few readers over this story, so I'm going back to an episode rewrite after this.  Thank you to everyone who's been sticking around!  I dearly love you all, thank you for letting me share my passion with you.

Getting the Master back downstairs was basically a lot of pulling and cursing and threatening.  The Doctor and Rose each had a hand on one of the Master's arm, making sure he wouldn't escape.

"Are we still in Scotland?" The Doctor demanded.  The Master remained silent, pulling at Rose's grip.  She remained firm, trying not to let him go.

"Are we in Scotland?" The Doctor demanded, far louder this time, and with a lot more frustration behind the words.

"We're in a hotel on the edge of the wood," the Master spat at the Doctor's shoes after he finished the words. 

"Why is there a hotel there?" Rose asked.  "Was there before?"

"Yes," the Master said, speaking to her as if she were rather stupid, "It's on the opposite edge of the wood than where you were parked."

The Doctor gave the Master a firm tug so that he stumbled a bit.  Rose was the only thing that caught him, and even by then he still fell farther than was entirely necessary before she pulled him up. 

The Doctor and Rose led the Master down all the stairs, just to punish him, and pulled him straight out a back door so no one else would see what they were doing.

"Can you get us back to the TARDIS?" Rose asked over the Master to the Doctor. 

"Yes, of course, I can get us there, I feel her in the back of my head."  The Doctor responded.  "It's not as far as you think."

Rose reached behind the Master and pulled the bathrobe tie so that it cut into his wrists, and the Master cried out in pain.

"Tell your slag to get off of me!" The Master shouted. 

"Watch your step," the Doctor said firmly, and he was not speaking about the placement of the Master's feet.

The trek wasn't as long as Rose had anticipated.  It was thirty minutes at the most (time sense in working order) until they saw the blue box, and she almost sobbed with relief.

"Grab your key, Rose, I'll hang on to him," the Doctor said, and even though it was a demand, it was a tender one, and Rose was loath to refuse him.

She pulled out her key from the chain along her neck and slid it into the keyhole.  She pushed the door open and slung the key back into her shirt before entering.  The Doctor followed, pushing the Master in front of them so that he was bookended between the two.

The Master continued to grumble, cursing them out in every language he knew, including Gallifreyan Rose still couldn't understand.  She assumed that it was something that actually had to be learned, and she surprised herself in wanting to learn it.  All of it.

The TARDIS had been very generous and had given them a chair to tie the Master in, complete with proper rope.  Rose and the Doctor set about this together without even looking at each other, their motions in sync. 

Once they ensured that the Master wasn't going anywhere, the Doctor pulled Rose to the other side of the console so he could speak to her in private.

"We've got to take him somewhere," the Doctor said.  "He can't stay here."

"Figured that much, Doctor," Rose said simply.  "But where are we gonna take him?  And how did he even get here?"

"Good question," the Doctor replied, nodding.  He turned over his shoulder.  "How did you get here?"

The Master gave a shrug that the Doctor could tell was genuine.  "I don't know," he said, furrowing his brow.  "I woke up here after the War.  I've been tracking people for years, trying to find the compatibility rate, and it never works out.  Never.  But I just woke up.  That was all."

Rose furrowed her own brow and leaned up against a coral strut.  "That's weird.  After the War?" She glanced at the Doctor, not noticing a change in expression. 

"Yes, after the War," The Master rolled his eyes at her.  "Big explosion, Master pass out, wake up on Earth," he said, exaggerating every word.

Rose clenched her jaw and the Doctor took a step forward.  "Enough.  You're in my TARDIS and you will not speak to Rose that way, do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir," The Master said sarcastically. "Where are you gonna take me, then?" 

"Haven't decided.  We're going into the Vortex first," he said firmly, starting to flip levers and press buttons.  He yelled directions at Rose and she found that it was actually rather easy for her to follow them, and do the right thing. 

Soon enough the TARDIS shuddered and they passed through the atmosphere into the vortex.  Rose breathed out a sigh of relief.  "My mum's gonna be furious," she said quietly.

The Doctor's face drained white.  "Oh, no," he said quietly.  "She's going to hate me."

Rose giggled.  "Let's take care of this first, okay?"

The Doctor threw her a wink and pressed a kiss to her temple before throwing a final lever.  "I know exactly where to take you," he said, addressing the Master now.

"Now that you've finished being sickening, would you like to tell me where?" He asked, faking an attentive stare.

"Oh, yes," the Doctor said, tilting his chin.  Remember Nikara?"

It was the Master's turn to go white.  "Nikara?"

"Where's Nikara?" Rose asked quietly, feeling very stupid in the presence of the Master.

The Doctor sent her a fond, understanding look before sliding an arm around her waist.  "Nikara is a planet in the Oculi system.  Pretty much barren, shallow seas, flat all the way to the end of the word.  And it's cold.  Species are friendly enough, but they're not humanoid.  It would be a very lonely life there."

"Do I really deserve that?" The Master asked, near shouting.  "Do I really deserve to be stranded on that God-forsaken place?"

The Doctor reached over Rose with his free hand and smacked a lever down.  "Yes. You do."

He held on to Rose for most of the trip as the Master shouted and complained, pulling at his bindings and the chair.  It occurred to Rose that he was definitely showing an air of protection over her, watching the Master steadily as held her.  When they landed, though her knees buckled, the Doctor held her upright. 

"Right then."  The Doctor pulled the Master up out of his bindings and to the TARDIS door.  "Time to go," he said cheerily.

"No!" The Master screeched, fighting the Doctor every step of the way.  Rose jumped to help, and the two of them managed to shove him out the door as he shouted and ranted at them.

"You'll see me again," he snarled.  "You will, I swear it!  This isn't the end of this, Doctor."

"Didn't imagine it was," the Doctor said with a sad look on his face,  "No second chances."

He shut and locked the TARDIS doors and turned to Rose.  He met her eyes for a moment and then his head hung, and Rose realized he had just begun to cry.

Rose reached up and touched his cheeks.  "Hey," She whispered, and moved to wrap her arms around his neck.  He followed her motion and hugged her waist, tucking his face into the crook of her neck.  They stood like that for a very, very long time.