Only moments after the three of them had sat down at a corner in the street, Captain Jack said, "The moral is, if you're gonna get stuck at the end of the universe, get stuck with an ex-Time Agent and his vortex manipulator."
With a nod of her head, Martha said, "But this Master bloke, he's got the TARDIS. He could be anywhere in time and space."
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "No. He's here. Trust me."
Martha asked him, "Who is he anyway? And that voice at the end, that wasn't the Professor."
With a nod of his head, Captain Jack said, "If the Master's a Time Lord, then he must've regenerated."
Martha replied, "What does that mean?"
Captain Jack told her, "It means he's changed his face. Voice, body, everything, new man."
In turn, Martha asked him, "Then how are we gonna find him?"
With a mere turn of his head, the Doctor said, "I'll know him. The moment I see him. Time Lords always do."
Martha said to him, "But hold on, if he could be anyone... We missed the election. But it can't be..."
It wasn't long afterwards that they heard the voice of a newscaster say, "Mr. Saxon has returned from the Palace, and is greeting the crowds inside Saxon Headquarters."
While they continued to watch the video, Martha said, "I said I knew that voice. When he spoke, inside the TARDIS, I've heard that voice hundreds of times. I've seen him, we all have. That was the voice of Harold Saxon."
In turn, the Doctor said, "That's him. He's Prime Minister. The Master is Prime Minister of Great Britain." After the Master had kissed the woman that was walking beside him, the Doctor asked, "The Master and his wife?"
After a couple of seconds of walking towards one of the reporters, the Master said, "This country has been sick. This country needs healing. This country needs medicine. In fact, I'd go so far as to say, that what this country really needs right now is a Doctor."
And while the newsreel had continued, Martha asked him, "If that's him and he's now the Prime Minister, then where the hell is Annabelle and why haven't we seen any signs of her since we got here?"
And while Martha and Captain Jack Harkness had only shared a look with each other, the only thing that the Doctor could do was stare at the screen with his eyebrows furrowed.
* * *
With her arms chained up to the ceiling and her legs chained down to the floor and not to mention a cloth doused with vervain shoved into her mouth, Annabelle could do nothing but glare at the Master after watching him walk into the room that he was keeping her inside of.
It wasn't until the Master had closed the door behind himself and locked it that he turned to Annabelle and said to her with a mere tilt of his head, "Hello, Annabelle." When Annabelle only continued to glare at him with an almost murderous look on her face, he simply let out a sigh and started to walk over towards her as he said to her, "Oh, well. We can always work on the greetings a bit more later on."
As he continued to walk over towards her, he said to her, "Because of that, uh, supernatural hearing of yours, I suppose it is safe to say that you heard me kill everyone in my Cabinet not that long ago– just as I'm sure that you heard my short-lived conversation with them." When she only continued to glare at him, he came to a halt a mere couple of inches away from her before he asked her, "Did your mother never teach you just how impolite it is to ignore the words of your superiors?"
The moment that he'd mentioned her mother, Annabelle's veins had come onto display, which got him to let out a chuckle as he asked her, "Are you seriously telling me that– even after everything that I've done to you in our time here– you feel more anger towards the woman that birthed you and not me, the Time Lord that has spent months torturing you with everything that I have at my disposal?"
When she only continued to glare at him, he let out a sigh and then proceeded to reach out one of his hands to take the cloth out of her mouth before hesitating for a moment when he saw that she had gone out of her way to do what she could to move her head away from his hand.
In response to seeing her move her head as far back as she could from his hand, the Master simply stared at her for a couple of seconds and watched the veins on her face quickly disappear before he started to laugh to himself.
And while he continued to laugh to himself, Annabelle could do nothing but watch him with narrowed eyes as she occasionally glanced down at his hands– just to make sure that they would go nowhere near her face and do what they've been doing to her for months now.
For months now, she had been subjected to both physical and psychological torture– and she found that the psychological torture was always far worse than the physical torture that he would inflict upon her.
No matter if he shot her with his laser screwdriver, repeatedly touched her with vervain, injected some more vervain into her system or even physically hurt her in any way that he could– none of that was anything compared to the psychological torture that he would force upon her.
What the Doctor had failed to mention was that– with just a mere touch of a couple of fingers or at least a Time Lord's forehead pressed onto the forehead of another– Time Lords were capable of entering someone's mind and could see their memories or manipulate them in whatever way that they wished.
And unfortunately for Annabelle, the Master had chosen to do the latter after seeing all of the bad memories that she had buried deep within that head of hers– ones that she both did and didn't remember from the life that she had for the past one-thousand and twenty-seven years.
When he wasn't trying to do what he could to manipulate the public into making him their Prime Minister, he was with Annabelle and forcing Annabelle's most terrible memories to come back and hit her at full-force, along with ensuring that it was manipulated just a bit to make those memories of hers that much worse than she could remember them being– if she remembered them at all, that is.
Sometimes, he would even plant a part of himself into her head– just to ensure that those particularly dark memories of hers had no chances of reverting back to their original state.
And despite not being afraid of someone for over a thousand years, Annabelle couldn't help but grow to fear the Master and his hand– due to her knowledge of what that hand on her face could lead to, if he felt bored enough in the lie that he'd built for himself during the months that he'd been holding her hostage.
And it was this reason alone that she moved her head as far back from his hand as she could when she saw him start to move his hand over towards her face.
And despite being held hostage by him for going on two years now, Annabelle still couldn't see that her choice of moving her head away from his hand would be enough to get him to start to laugh rather maniacally the way that he was doing in that exact moment.
Nor did she realize that– as a result of her action– he would take another step towards her and press his forehead against her own and grab onto both sides of her face with his hands before he said, "Oh, Annabelle. Even you should know better than to think that you could truly keep me from messing around with that mind of yours, if I really wanted to." After letting out a sigh, he said to her, "And how fortunate it is for you that digging through that mind of yours is the least of my concerns at this very moment. Because if I wanted to, I could very well have you screaming and crying– just like you've been doing for months now after I've forced one of your many memories to hit you at full force– and there isn't a damn thing that you could do to stop me. Not with all of the vervain that I've been injecting into your system for months now."
After letting out yet another sigh, he said to her, "So, now that we have both– once more– established the fact that you can do nothing to stop me, and you have moved past your attempt of moving this head of yours away from me..."
After watching her only glare up into his eyes, he let out a chuckle and pulled the rag out of her mouth.
Then he took a step back from her and let his hands fall back down to his sides as he watched the vervain burns slowly start to heal.
It wasn't long after the burns had slowly started to heal that he clapped his hands together and said, "That's much better." When she only continued to glare at him, he said to her, "You know, the one thing that I really do hate about these talks of ours is your refusal to be respectful towards me– your superior. So, I am only going to give you one more chance to say at least something to me before I do what I've been practically itching to do for days now and mess around with your mind some more."
Instead of doing as he said, Annabelle only continued to stare up at him with her eyes narrowed and a scowl now on her face.
It wouldn't be until he'd started to take a step closer to her that she suddenly asked him, "What do you want from me?" When he only tilted his head and simply raised his eyebrows at her, she said to him, "You once told me that you have no use for me other than using your choice of torturing me as a form of entertainment for you. So, what reason could you possibly have for coming in here when you haven't bothered me for days now?"
In turn, the Master asked her, "What makes you so sure that I want anything from you? Perhaps I was simply in desperate need of some company."
She replied, "Well, if it's company that you desire, then why don't you seek out that human wife of yours and use her as the company that you desire? After all, you said it yourself. She knows all too well about who you truly are behind that Harold Saxon mask of yours. Who could she possibly tell about who you really are that would actually believe a single word that she says?"
With a raise of a single finger, the Master told her, "Well, there is at least one person that you and I both know that would believe anything that she says." As he crossed his arms over his chest, he said to her, "Well, technically three people, but the other two are people just don't really matter at all that much to me. Can you take three guesses as to who I'm talking about, Annabelle?"
Instead of verbally responding to his words, Annabelle had only snorted to herself and then let out a sigh before she started to chuckle to herself.
And when she didn't cease her chuckling and her chuckling had soon enough turned into laughter, the Master had simply let out a sigh before he took a step towards her and did as he did before.
He pressed his forehead against hers and grabbed both sides of her face with his hands before he closed his eyes and forced his way into her mind.
And in response to what he just did, Annabelle had immediately stopped laughing and simply flinched to herself, which got the Master to only chuckle to himself before he said to her, "You are right, you know, Annabelle. They will come after me– even more so after they realize that I've been keeping you with me the whole entire time that we've been here." After opening his eyes with a sigh, he said to her, "But no matter. By the time that they get here, it'll be too late. Eighteen months too late."
And as he watched her try to do what she could to bring her face away from his own, he told her, "Because by the time that they get here, their poor little vampire friend would have been broken beyond repair and the Doctor would have no choice but to watch while at least one of his two hearts breaks once he sees just how much you've changed during the time that you've been away from him and stuck with me."
Through grit teeth, she said to him, "Let go of me." When he didn't make a move to step back from her, she told him, "Either you get the hell away from me this second, or I swear that I will—"
With a chuckle, he asked her, "What are you going to do? Threaten me to death?" When her veins had only come onto display in response to his words, he said to her, "Oh, come on, Annabelle. At least try and come up with some better material, if you're going to resort to threatening me. Especially when– between the two of us– I'm the only one that can move around this planet freely, while you are forced to remain my captive with no chance of ever escaping and getting away from me in some poor attempt to warn the Doctor about the plans that I have for this planet that he seems to adore so much."
When she only glared into his eyes, he let out a chuckle before he told her, "You know, this sort of reaction is exactly why I've kept you with me for as long as I have. I mean, I have met all sorts of species, but there hasn't been one that I've tortured that has quite as interesting of a response to it as you do. And this reaction of yours alone is enough to make me wonder just how much more of this torture that you can stand before you..." Then after widening his eyes for no reason but an added effect to his words, he said to her in a whisper, "snap."
Then he let out yet another chuckle as he watched the same murderous expression from before appear on her face once more.
And the more that she looked like wanting to kill him at that exact moment, the louder his chuckling would become and the sooner it would turn into maniacal laughter once more.
It wasn't until he'd closed his eyes and forced himself back into her head once more that Annabelle flinched and clenched her jaw as she felt the Master dig the furthest that he could into her mind– just to see how much more she could handle before she would resort to screaming again, like she'd done many times before in the eighteen months that he'd been holding her hostage.
* * *
With her eyes squeezed shut and her jaw clenched, Annabelle couldn't help but listen to the sound of a woman named Letitia Jones saying to someone, "I'm sorry, but you're not allowed in..."
Then she heard another voice say, "'Harold Saxon, a modern Churchill'. It's the definitive think-piece on the great man himself. Oh, come on, sweetheart, you must've read it!"
Letitia replied, "Um, not really. Sorry, I'm new."
In turn, the other voice said to Letitia, "Mr. Saxon does like a pretty face. But I'm here to see Mrs. Saxon."
Letitia started to tell her, "You can't just go barging in..."
Then Annabelle heard a door open, shortly before the woman from before, "Mrs. Saxon, Vivien Rook, Sunday Mirror. You've heard of me."
Annabelle heard the Master's wife– Lucy Saxon– let out a sigh before she asked, "Oh, can't I just have an hour to myself? It's been a hell of a day."
Vivien replied, "Oh, strike while the iron's hot, that's what I say, Lucy... Uh, I can call you Lucy, can't I? Now, everyone's talking about Harold Saxon, but I thought, what about the wife? All I need is twenty minutes."
Lucy replied, "Oh, I think maybe we should wait..."
In turn, Vivien said to her, "Oh, the headline's waiting to print, 'The Power Behind The Throne'."
Then Lucy asked her, "Really?"
Then Vivien said to her, "Britain's First Lady."
In turn, Lucy said, "Gosh."
Then Vivien told her, "Front page."
Then Lucy said, "Oh! Well... I suppose... Oh, go on then, twenty minutes."
In turn, Vivien said, "Excellent! Thank you." Then she said to Letitia, "Go, go... What was it... Tish? Now you can leave us alone."
Letitia replied, "No, but I'm supposed to sit in."
Vivien told her, "No, no. I-It's only a profile piece. You know, hair and clothes and nonsense. There's a good girl, out you go. That's it." After hearing a door shut, Annabelle heard Vivien say, "Mrs. Saxon, I have reason to believe that you're in very great danger. All of us, in fact. Not just the country, but the whole world."
After hearing Lucy only let out a bit of a laugh, Vivien said to Lucy, "No, I beg of you. Hear me out."
While Annabelle had opened her eyes and tried to see if there was anything that she could do to break herself free of the chains that were keeping her imprisoned inside of the room that the Master had kept her inside of, Lucy asked, "What are you talking about?"
Vivien said to her, "Your husband is not who he says he is. I'm sorry, but it's a lie. Everything's a lie."
* * *
While Annabelle had simply flinched to herself when she felt the vervain-doused chains dig into her skin with every move that she made, she heard Vivien say, "All of it, the school days, his degree, even his mother and father, it's all invented." Then she heard a ruffling of some sort before she heard Vivien say, "Look, Harold Saxon never went to Cambridge, there was no Harold Saxon! The thing is, it's obvious. The forgery is screaming out and yet no one can see it! It's as if he's mesmerized the entire world."
In turn, Lucy said to her, "I think perhaps you should leave now."
Instead of doing as Lucy said, Vivien told her, "Eighteen months ago, he became real. This is his first honest-to-God appearance, just after the downfall of Harriet Jones. And at the exact same time, they launched the Archangel Network."
While Annabelle had squeezed her eyes shut and tried to think of how she could get herself out of these chains without further harming herself thanks to the vervain that was coating them, Lucy said to Vivien, "Mrs. Rook, now stop it!"
Once more, Vivien had chosen to ignore her and said to her, "Even now, they've said that the-the Cabinet's gone into seclusion. W-What does that mean, seclusion?"
In turn, Lucy asked her, "How should I know?"
Then Vivien told her, "But I've got plenty of research on you. Yes, good family, Roedean, not especially bright, but essentially harmless, and that's why I'm asking you. Lucy, I am begging you, if you have seen anything, heard anything, even the slightest thing that would give you cause to doubt him..."
In turn, Lucy started to say to her, "I think..."
Vivien replied, "Yes?"
Lucy told her, "There was a time, when we first met, I wondered... But he was so good to my father, and he said..."
Vivien asked her, "What? Just tell me, sweetheart."
Lucy said to her, "The thing is... I made my choice."
In turn, Vivien said to her, "I'm sorry?"
Then Lucy told her, "For better or for worse. Isn't that right, Harry?"
It was then that Annabelle had quickly opened her eyes when she heard the Master say, "My faithful companion."
And while Annabelle had tried that much harder to break herself out of the chains that the Master was using in order to continue holding her hostage, despite knowing that she couldn't do it in the weak state that she had been forced in for the past eighteen months, she heard Vivien say, "Mr. Saxon." And while Annabelle had listened to the sound of Vivien's heartbeat increasing after her realization that the Master was in the same room as her, Vivien said, "Prime Minister. I w– I w– I was just having a little joke with... Poor little Lucy, I-I didn't mean..."
In turn, the Master said to her, "Oh, but you're absolutely right. Harold Saxon doesn't exist."
Vivien said to him, "Then tell me... who are you?"
The Master told her, "I am the Master. And these are my friends."
It was then that Lucy said, "I'm sorry."
Then the Master asked Vivien, "Can't you hear it, Mrs. Rook?"
In turn, Vivien asked him, "What do you mean?"
The Master said to her, "The drumbeat. The drums are coming closer and closer."
And while Annabelle had only squeezed her eyes shut at the mere mention of the drums that the Master would sometimes force her to have to listen to when he didn't feel like using her own memories against her, another voice said, "The lady doesn't like us."
Then she heard Vivien quietly say to herself, "No..."
Then another voice said, "Silly lady." After Vivien had said 'no' once more, the same voice said, "Dead lady."
It was then that Vivien had let out a loud scream, which resulted in Annabelle hearing two separate footsteps quickly leaving the room, shortly before she heard Lucy say, "But she knew! Harry, she knew everything. You promised. You said Archangel was one hundred percent."
In turn, the Master said to her, "Um. Ninety-nine. Ninety-eight?"
Lucy asked him, "But if she's asking questions, then who else? How much time have we got? And how much time do we have until that vampire that you keep prisoner in this building finds a way to break out of her restraints and kills us both after everything that's happened to her? I mean, you said it yourself. She's dangerous and would have killed us already, if it weren't for the restraints that you're using to keep her in place. Who's to say that she hasn't broken out of them already?"
After a couple seconds of silence, the Master told her, "Tomorrow morning, I promise. That's when everything ends. And as for the vampire? Even she would know better than to break out of those chains now. After all, I'm the one that could easily hand her over towards that brother of hers, if she doesn't behave herself." After a couple seconds of silence, he asked in a whisper, "And you are going to behave yourself, aren't you, Annabelle?"
In response to his words, Annabelle had only let out yet another muffled scream– thanks to the vervain-doused rag that he'd shoved back into her mouth before letting out another muffled scream when she felt the chains burn into her once more after yet another failed attempt of breaking herself free of the chains that the Master was using to hold her in place.
* * *
Martha said, "On my life, you've gotta trust me. Go to Boxer's, stay with him, don't tell anyone, just hide."
It was then that Annabelle heard the Master say to Martha, "Ooh, nice little game of hide and seek, I love that! But I'll find you, Martha Jones. Been a long time since we saw each other. Must be, what, a hundred trillion years?"
In turn, Martha said to him, "Let them go, Saxon! Do you hear me? Let them go!"
It wasn't long afterwards that Annabelle heard the voice of the Doctor say to the Master, "I'm here."
While Annabelle had only let out a sigh the moment that she heard the Doctor's voice– a voice that she hadn't heard since the Master had daggered her and shoved her into the Doctor's TARDIS– everything in regard to the Master had remained silent for several seconds before eventually she heard a beep.
It was then that she heard the Master say in a whisper, "Doctor."
In turn, the Doctor said to him, "Master."
After letting out yet another sigh, the Master told him, "I like it when you use my name."
The Doctor replied, "You chose it. Psychiatrist's field day."
The Master retorted, "As you chose yours. The man who makes people better. How sanctimonious is that?"
The Doctor asked him, "So, Prime Minister, then?"
In turn, the Master said to him, "I know! It's good, isn't it?"
The Doctor asked him, "Who are those creatures? Because there's no such thing as the Toclafane. That's just a made-up name, like the bogeyman."
The Master asked him, "Do you remember all those fairy tales about the Toclafane when we were kids? Back home? Where is it, Doctor?"
The Doctor told him, "Gone."
The Master replied, "How can Gallifrey be gone?"
After a couple seconds of silence, the Doctor said, "It burnt."
Then the Master asked him, "And the Time Lords?"
The Doctor told him, "Dead. And the Daleks. More or less. What happened to you?"
The Master said to him, "The Time Lords only resurrected me because they knew I'd be the perfect warrior for a Time War. I was there when the Dalek Emperor took control of the Cruciform. I saw it. I ran. I ran so far. Made myself human so they would never find me, because... I was so scared."
In turn, the Doctor said to him, "I know."
Then the Master asked him, "All of them? But not you. Which must mean..."
The Doctor told him, "I was the only one who could end it. And I tried, I did, I tried everything."
The Master asked him, "What did it feel like, though? Two almighty civilizations burning. Oh, tell me, how did that feel?"
In turn, the Doctor said to him, "Stop it."
The Master said to him, "You must have been like God."
The Doctor told him, "I've been alone ever since. But not anymore. Don't you see, all we've got is each other?"
In turn, the Master asked him, "Are you asking me out on a date?"
The Doctor replied, "You could stop this right now, we could leave this planet. We can fight across the constellations if that's what you want. But not on Earth."
The Master said to him, "Too late."
The Doctor asked him, "Why do you say that?"
The Master told him, "The drumming." While Annabelle had simply winced to herself in response to the tapping that she could hear from the inside of the room that the Master was inside of, the Master asked him, "Can't you hear it? I thought it would stop, but it never does. It never, ever stops. Inside my head. The drumming, Doctor, the constant drumming."
In turn, the Doctor said to him, "I can help you. Please let me help."
The Master said to him, "It's everywhere. Listen, listen, listen." While Annabelle had let out a muffled groan after attempting to clench her hands into fists because of the constant tapping that she could hear the Master doing, the Master said, "Here come the drums. Here come the drums."
It was then that the Doctor asked him, "What have you done? Tell me how you've done this. What are those creatures? Tell me!"
In turn, the Master said to him, "Ooh, look, you're on TV!"
It wasn't long afterwards that the television that was on one of the walls of the room that Annabelle was trapped in had suddenly turned on, which allowed Annabelle to see the Doctor walking around the outside of a store with a phone pressed up against his ear, shortly before she heard the Doctor say, "Stop it. Answer me."
The Master replied, "No, really, you're on telly! You and your little band. Which, by the way, is ticking every demographic box. So, congratulations on that. Look, there you are!"
It wasn't long afterwards that Annabelle heard the voice of a newscaster say, "They are known to be armed and extremely dangerous. But the whereabouts of the fourth person– Annabelle Mikaelson– is still unknown."
It was then that the Doctor asked him, "Where is she? Where is Annabelle Mikaelson? What have you done with her?"
Instead of answering the Doctor's question, the Master told him, "You're public enemies number one, two and three! Oh, and you can tell handsome Jack that I've sent his little gang off on a wild goose chase to the Himalayas, so he won't be getting any help from them." After letting out a sigh, he said, "And as for Annabelle? Why, I have her exactly where I want her."
In turn, the Doctor said to him, "Let her go."
The Master replied, "I have a better idea. Why don't you run off? But– before you do– why not start by turning to the... right?"
It was then that Annabelle could see the Doctor point his screwdriver up at the camera that he was staring into, shortly before he said, "He can see us."
In turn, the Master said to him, "Ooh, you public menace. Better start running! Go on, run!"
Then Annabelle heard the Doctor say, "He's got control of everything."
Martha asked him, "What do we do?"
Then Captain Jack said, "We've got nowhere to go and almost no chance of getting Annabelle away from the Master without getting us caught by him or anyone else for that matter."
While Annabelle had let out yet another muffled sigh and started to repeatedly blink her eyes as tears started to roll down the sides of her face, Martha asked, "Doctor, what do we do?"
It was then that the Master yelled, "Run, Doctor! Run for your life!"
The Doctor told them, "We run."
And while she heard the sound of three separate footsteps hurriedly going in whatever direction that they were heading in, she heard the Master yell, "I said, run!"
* * *
After taking a step back from Annabelle, the Master asked her, "How is it that I've been doing this to you for almost two years now and I've yet to grow bored of torturing you?" When she only blankly stared at him with the vervain-doused rag still shoved into her mouth, he said, "Oh, right. I forgot."
Then he simply just pulled the rag out of her mouth and watched as– yet again– the vervain burns had slowly started to heal before he tilted his head and said to her, "Tell me something, Annabelle. What exactly sort of an effect does this, uh, vervain have on you? Is it a, uh, burning pain? Something worse than that? I am quite curious to know just how much it even hurts you whenever I'm torturing you with it."
In turn, Annabelle said to him, "While I am simply curious to know just how much longer I will have to wait until you either drop dead or let me go."
With a mere tilt of his head, he asked her, "Is this your way of asking me to go through your head again? Because I won't be entirely opposed to the idea of forcing my way into that head of yours."
When Annabelle's veins had simply come onto display in response to his words, he let out a bit of a laugh.
And while he simply laughed to himself, Annabelle could do nothing but glare at him as she felt her anger start to build up inside of herself and make her feel as if her insides were boiling because of just how much anger and hatred that she felt towards him.
If it weren't for the fact that he was holding her hostage, using vervain on her, daggering her, turning her own memories against her, making her most terrible memories even worse than they had been in the first place or sometimes even just shooting at her with his laser screwdriver, she was sure that she would have broken out of the restraints and killed him long before the conversation that he had with the Doctor and the Doctor's discovery that he, Martha and Jack were wanted by all of Great Britain.
And it was because of just how much her anger and hatred for the Master was blinding her that she didn't know that he was making his way back over towards her until she felt him force his way back into her head, which got her to flinch to herself and grit her teeth, while he took it upon himself to manipulate some more of her memories.
Despite spending one-thousand and nineteen years of her life hating her parents– along with spending five-hundred and thirty-four years of her life hating the Doctor– none of that hatred prepared her for the ultimate hatred that she would feel for the Master because of the eighteen months that he would be spending torturing her in whatever ways that he wanted.
After what her parents had done to her for eight years of her human life, she wouldn't have believed that any other form of torture would ever work on her like the form of torture that her own parents had used on her.
But there she was– one-thousand and thirteen years after she had last been tortured by someone– and she felt as if the act of torture that the Master had been using on her for the past eighteen months of her life was driving her even more mad than she already was.
And it was moments like that one that made her wish that Kol hadn't been daggered in the year 1914– thanks to the work of her siblings– and was there with her, making her feel better and feel as if she wasn't losing her mind because of every bit of torture that she had been put through by the Master.
But she couldn't even use the memory of Kol to get her through it because she feared that if she did, the Master would manipulate the memories that she had of Kol and make it so that he was no longer the only link to her humanity that would keep her from truly snapping and this alone would cause her to become far worse of a person than she had been for the past nine-hundred and ninety-seven years of her life as an Original vampire.
So, the only thing that she could find herself really focusing on was the ultimate anger and hatred that she felt towards the Master, which did nothing but amuse the Master and make him want to torture her that much more.
And as far as Annabelle was concerned, the Master could have very well been getting off on the slight fear that she had towards his abilities of manipulating her thoughts and memories– along with the anger and hatred that she felt towards him.
And she hated it.
The Master was the first person that she had actually been afraid of in one-thousand and nineteen years of her life.
She hadn't even been afraid of her own father when he nearly killed her in 1702 when she and her siblings were still in Spain– shortly before she found herself being daggered by her half-brother Klaus after Klaus and Elijah had taken it upon themselves to save Annabelle from being killed by Mikael.
She hadn't been truly afraid of Mikael ever since she was eight years old, nor did she fear her mother.
For one-thousand and nineteen years of her life, she hated both of her parents and wanted to take it upon herself to kill them for what they did to her.
And now here she was, one-thousand and twenty-seven years old stuck at the mercy of an arrogant Time Lord that had taken it upon himself to torture her for the past eighteen months of her life and shape her mind enough to get her to fear him and the abilities that he had in making her even more of a victim to her own mind than she usually was.
And it was because of the fear that he'd instilled into her that she wanted nothing more than to break free of the chains that he was using to keep her inside of the room that she was trapped inside of, take his laser screwdriver, break it and then proceed to tear into his neck.
She didn't even want to attempt to torture him in order to get back at him for everything that he did to her.
She just wanted him dead.
She didn't even care about how the Doctor would feel towards the idea of the only other Time Lord in the universe being killed by her.
She just wanted him gone, so that she could be free to do what she wanted– just like she used to be capable of doing prior to her wish to hide inside of the TARDIS to keep herself hidden from Klaus after her encounter with the Judoon.
She wanted him dead more than anything that she had ever wanted in her life.
Hell, she wanted him dead more than she wanted to go find her father and kill him for what he did to her as a child and how he boasted to her about how he'd killed her former lover– William Kelly– prior to his attempt of trying to kill her, while she and her siblings were still in Spain.
But any attempts of coming up with an idea of just how fast she was going to kill him– and if tearing into his neck was really the best way to go about it– had immediately come to a halt when the Master had let out another chuckle before he said to her, "Well, well, well." After opening his eyes and looking down into her eyes to see her glaring up at him and seeing just how much she wanted to kill him at that exact moment, he let out yet another chuckle before he told her, "This is quite interesting."
When Annabelle only continued to glare up at him, he asked her, "Do you mean to tell me that me– a Time Lord that has only tortured you for the past eighteen months– has actually surpassed the anger and hatred that you felt for your own parents because of what they'd done to you when you were a child? I mean, really, Annabelle. Seriously? According to those thoughts of yours, they'd tortured you for at least half of your human life, and yet you actually hate me more than you hate them?" After letting out yet another chuckle, he said, "Talk about making an achievement."
After letting out another chuckle, he said, "For the past eighteen months, I have tortured you with vervain, my laser screwdriver, going through your mind and manipulating a handful of your memories. I've even forced you to listen to the very same drums that have done nothing but follow me for every second of my life since I was just a boy, and yet I've managed to make you hate me far more than you ever hated your own mother and father?" When she only continued to glare at him, he asked her, "Do you not understand just how much of an achievement that is for me? The fact that I've made Annabelle Mikaelson– the most unstable member of the Original vampire family– hate me far more than you've ever hated your own parents? I mean, you've hated them for well over a thousand years and yet I've managed to make you hate me even more than you've ever hated them in only eighteen months."
As he started to smirk to himself, he said to her, "You know, it does make me wonder just how much suffering and torment you can go through before you finally snap. Hmm? What do you think?" When she didn't verbally respond to his words and only squeezed her eyes shut and then proceeded to clench her jaw, he asked her, "What do you think will truly send you over the edge? Hmm? Hearing those drums some more? Being forced to feel me move around in that head of yours? Shooting you with my laser screwdriver? Daggering you?"
When she still didn't respond to his words, he remained silent for a moment before he asked her, "What about finding out where that half-brother of yours is keeping the box that he has your twin brother trapped inside of and bringing it here? Hmm?" After watching Annabelle dig her fingernails into the palms of her hands, he said to her, "Imagine how that would be for him. After being daggered for over ninety years of his life and then waking up to find not only himself being held hostage by me, but to be incapable of doing anything to save his precious twin sister."
As a wide grin made its way onto his face, he said to her, "Just imagine the way that he would scream and beg for you to be let go and to let him take your place." When she only shook her head, he said to her, "Oh, yes, he would. And you know that. You know that– if it ever came down to it– he would drop whatever pride that he might have in order to save you and get you away from me."
When she only continued to shake her head, he said to her, "You forget, Annabelle. I've been inside of that head of yours. I know the way that you see him. I know that you deeply care about him, just as I'm sure that he cares about you just as deeply as you care about him. After all, he's the only person on this planet that you care so deeply about. You would kill for him, just as I'm sure that he'd do for you. After all, based on the memories that I've seen of you and that brother of yours, you're far closer to each other than you are to everyone else in your family." As he watched her wince any time that the tips of his fingers would move up and down the sides of her face, he told her, "Your other siblings might not care for you that much– based on what you seem to think of them– but your twin brother does. He would gladly sacrifice himself and allow himself to be tortured, if it meant that you were safe and away from me. But unfortunately for you, the only person that could possibly save you from me is the Doctor and I can't really see him being at all that successful in your rescue. And even if he does succeed in getting you away from me, it's not as if he's going to kill me."
As he tilted his head and watched her wince some more from just the mere touch and movement of his fingertips, he said to her, "That's the problem of traveling with the Doctor and getting him to care about you. Despite just how much he might care for you, he won't care enough to kill anyone– no matter what species they might be. So, it looks like you'll be stuck with me for a long time, Annabelle Mikaelson."
It was then that Annabelle had let out a scoff before she asked him, "Why won't you just dagger me, shove me into a safe and then let it sink into the bottom of the ocean with me in it? That way, neither of us would have to deal with seeing one another ever again."
In turn, the Master asked her, "Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you? You'd like the idea of me shoving that dagger into your heart, shove you into some safe and watch as it sinks to the bottom of the ocean. Mind you, the very same dagger that you were so desperate to not be shoved back into that heart of yours before I'd stolen the TARDIS from the Doctor and taken you with me."
After taking a small step back from her and forcing her to raise her head some more and actually being able to see the entirety of her face, he remained silent until she opened her eyes, and he could see just how watery her light brown eyes were at that exact moment.
It was only then that he told her, "Well, unfortunately for you, Annabelle Mikaelson, I have no intention of setting you free– even if it means shoving you into that safe that you now want to be inside of so very badly. After all, why would I want to do that? The point of all of this was to show the Doctor just how much I have broken you during the eighteen months in which I have held you hostage and then tortured you the way that I have." After letting out a chuckle, he asked her, "I mean, what kind of a captor would I be if I didn't show the Doctor and his two friends the fruits of my labor?"
After taking note of the way that she warily eyed his hands with narrowed eyes, he said to her, "If I don't show them the way that I have broken you and made you into the person that you are now, then everything that I have done to you will have been for nothing. And I'm not the type of person to really like wasting my time torturing someone– like I've been doing to you for the past eighteen months." Then– after letting out a chuckle when he saw how she simply watched the movements of his hands that remained on her face– he told her, "And unlike you, Annabelle Mikaelson, I don't simply torture others for information. I do it for the fun and entertainment that I will get out of it– which is exactly what I have gotten from you during the time that we have spent together for almost two years now."
After finally letting his hands fall from her face and watching her quickly bring her attention back over towards his own face, he told her, "You know, when I first took you, I never would've thought that I would get this much fun out of torturing you. But clearly, I was wrong because this was quite fun– watching you scream and cry and seeing how you react upon hearing my voice or even seeing me for that matter. It has all been quite fun, if I'm going to be honest with you. I mean, how often does one get to torture someone like you and actually get some fun out of it?" After letting out a bit of a chuckle, he said to her, "Oh, it was just so fun getting you from being that stubborn and fearless person and into the person that you are now. I mean, you went from being fearless to practically cowering before me in only eighteen months."
With a mere tilt of his head, he said to her, "I wonder just how much more different you could change, if I were to hold you hostage for– shall we say– five years? Ten years? Twenty years? Fifty years?" After letting out a laugh, he said, "Oh, just the idea of just broken you would become after fifty years of being held hostage by me is just so funny to me. I can't wait to see it with my own eyes."
In response to his words, Annabelle's anger had only continued to increase as the mere thought of the many ways in which she could kill him started to pour through her mind, while the Master had only continued to tell her about just how much more fun he could have by torturing her for another fifty years– or however long it would take until her hope of the Doctor saving her from the Master would actually come to fruition.
* * *
With a smile on his face, the Master brought up a hand and mockingly saluted the President of the United States of America as he said, "Mr. President, sir!"
In turn, the President said to him, "Mr. Saxon, the British Army will stand down. From now on, UNIT has control of this operation."
The Master replied, "You make it sound like an invasion."
The President told him, "The First Contact Policy was decided by the Security Council in 1968 and you've just gone and ignored it."
With a shake of his head, the Master said to him, "Well, you know what it's like, new job, all that paperwork. I think it's down the back of the settee. I did have a quick look, I found a pen, a sweet, a bus ticket, and, uh, have you met the wife?"
After Lucy had only smiled at the President, the President said to him, "Mr. Saxon, I'm not sure what your game is, but there are provisions at the UN to have you removed from office unless you are very, very careful. Is that understood?"
With a mere nod of his head, the Master brought two fingers up to his mouth and acted as if he was zipping it shut.
This alone got the President to ask him, "Are you taking this seriously?" When the Master had only nodded his head, the President said, "To business. We've accessed your files on these Toclafane. But First Contact cannot take place on any sovereign soil. To that purpose, the aircraft carrier Valiant is en route. The rendezvous will take place there at 8:00 am."
After the Master had kept his mouth shut and let out some mumbling noises, the President said to him, "You're trying my patience, sir."
With a mere raise of his mouth, the Master acted as if he was unzipping his mouth before he asked the President, "So America is completely in charge?"
The President told him, "Since Britain elected an ass, yes. I'll see you on board the Valiant."
Just when the President had started to walk away from the Master and Lucy, he suddenly stopped when the Master asked him, "It still will be televised, though, won't it? Because I promised, and the whole world is watching."
The President replied, "Since it's too late to pull out, the world will be watching. Me."
And while the President and the Secret Service had started to walk away from the Master and Lucy Saxon, the Master leaned in towards Lucy and said to her, "The last President of America. We have a private plane ready and waiting. We should reach the Valiant within the hour." Then– after nodding his head– he said to her, "My darling..."
After Lucy and the others had moved away from him and the scene of where he had talked to the American President, the Master had simply turned to look away from them and fully turned to look in the direction of where the Doctor, Captain Jack Harkness and Martha Jones were hidden to the others at the airport with the use of the TARDIS keys, shortly before the sound of a siren wailing could be heard.
It was then that the Master had let out a laugh and quickly ran over towards the vehicle as he yelled, "Hi, guys!"
And while the Master had simply laughed as Martha's father simply yelled at the Master, Martha said, "Oh, my God!"
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "Don't move."
Martha said to him, "But..."
Once more, the Doctor said to her, "Don't!"
As she continued to stare at those in her family that the Master had gotten a hold of, Martha said, "I'm gonna kill him."
Then Captain Jack asked, "What say I use this perception filter to walk up behind him and break his neck?"
In turn, the Doctor said to him, "Now that sounds like Torchwood."
Captain Jack replied, "Still a good plan."
The Doctor told him, "He's a Time Lord. Which makes him my responsibility. I'm not here to kill him. I'm here to save him."
It wasn't until the Master had walked away from the vehicle that Martha's sister and parents were shoved into that Martha said, "Hold on a tick. Why is he headed back to that van over there?"
While the three of them had watched the Master head on back over to the vehicle that three of Martha's family members had been taken out of, the Doctor said, "No idea."
Then they watched as he'd stepped into the back of it and seemed to disappear in the darkness of the very back of the vehicle.
It wasn't until Martha had opened her mouth to ask another question that she suddenly stopped when the Master had stepped back out of it with a tight grip on the arm of an enraged and exhausted Annabelle Mikaelson, who had her jaw clenched and her veins on display.
With a gasp, Martha said, "Oh, my God, he has Annabelle." As she watched Annabelle try to break herself free of the grip that the Master had on her, Martha asked, "Why does he have Annabelle?"
When the Doctor didn't respond to her words, she asked him, "And why can't she get away from him? I mean, you said it yourself. She's strong and is perfectly capable of fighting just about anything and anyone without breaking much of a sweat. So, why isn't she doing it now? Why does she look so...?"
In turn, Captain Jack said, "Weak?" When Martha had only nodded her head, Captain Jack looked over at the Doctor and said to him, "Doctor?"
With his eyebrows furrowed, the Doctor said, "Vervain. He has to be using vervain. That's one of two reasons that I could think of why she hasn't gotten away from him already."
Martha asked him, "And what's the second reason?"
The Doctor told her, "Blood. He has to be keeping her from drinking as much human blood as she's used to drinking. I mean, sure, if he doesn't give her any blood, then she'll desiccate and look far worse than she does now. So, if he is giving her any blood, it has to be blood with just a little bit of vervain in it. After all, he wouldn't want to give her regular blood– just in case it's enough to give her the strength that she needs to kill him. So, at most, I'd say that he's probably giving her about three or four drops of blood laced with vervain– just to keep her from desiccating."
With her own eyebrows furrowed, Martha asked him, "But-But why would he do that to her? I mean, what could he possibly get out of hurting her like this?" While the three of them had continued to watch as the Master had carelessly shoved Annabelle into the back of the vehicle that Martha's family were put into only moments before after putting another set of handcuffs on her– one that simply made her flinch once it had made contact with her wrists– Martha said, "I mean, yeah, she wasn't exactly the nicest person and she threatened to kill me at least once already, but she still doesn't deserve this. No creature deserves to be treated like this. So, why would he do that to her?"
With a sigh, the Doctor said, "I don't know. But whatever reason he has for doing it, it can't be good. Otherwise, why else would he have kept Annabelle with him for this long?"
* * *
From where she was being kept imprisoned on the Valiant, Annabelle could hear a voice say, "Awaiting confirmation from South America and keep tracking Japan."
Then she heard the voice of the American President say, "I want the whole thing branded with my Seal of Office, not the UN, have you got that?"
It wasn't long afterwards that Annabelle had to squeeze her eyes shut when she heard the Master ask, "Anything I can do? I could make the tea? Or isn't that American enough? I don't know, I could make grits. What are grits anyway?"
Then she heard the President say to the Master, "If you could just sit."
Only a couple of seconds after she heard the President's words, she heard the Master say, "Misery guts. What do you think? It's good, isn't it?"
In turn, Lucy Saxon said to him, "It's beautiful."
The Master told her, "Some of my best work." Then he said in a whisper, "Ministry of Defense, I helped design this place. Every detail."
And in response to his words, Annabelle had let out a sigh as she hoped that the Doctor would actually come through for her.
Although she knew that he would have no reason to, since she'd spent the past five-hundred and thirty-four years wanting to kill him, she knew that he would, anyway.
After all, he was the Doctor.
She doubted that he could resist the idea of saving her from her captor and letting her free from the restraints that the Master had forced on her for the past eighteen months.
She just hoped that he managed to show up and saved her from the Master before she ended up losing her mind because of the torture that she was put through because of the arrogant Time Lord that she had been a hostage of for the past eighteen months of her life.
* * *
While Annabelle had glared down at the handcuffs that were– like the other restraints that the Master had put on her– burning her skin because of the vervain that the Master had practically covered them with, she heard the American President say, "My fellow Americans, patriots, people of the world. I stand before you today as ambassador for humanity. A role I will undertake with the utmost solemnity. Perhaps our Toclafane cousins can offer us much. But what is important is not that we gain material benefits, but that we learn to see ourselves anew." While the Doctor, Martha Jones and Captain Jack Harkness had entered the room– still hidden due to the TARDIS keys that they wore around their necks– the American President said, "For as long as man has looked to the stars, he has wondered what mysteries they hold. Now we know we are not alone."
And while the President had continued to talk, Captain Jack– albeit unknowingly to Annabelle, due to her inability to listen in to their words past the TARDIS keys that they wore around their necks– quietly asked the Doctor, "This plan, you gonna tell us?"
The Doctor told him, "If I can get this around the Master's neck, cancel out his perception, they'll see him for real. It's just hard to go unnoticed when everyone is on red alert. If they stop me, you've got a key."
With a nod of his head, Captain Jack said to him, "Yes, sir."
As she continued to stare over at the grinning Master, Martha said, "I'll get him."
Then the American President said, "And I ask you now, I ask of the human race, to join me in welcoming our friends. I give you the Toclafane." Then– only moments after the Toclafane had appeared in the room– the President said to them, "My name is Arthur Coleman Winters, President Elect of the United States of America, and Designated Representative of the United Nations. I welcome you to the planet Earth and its associated moon."
It was then that one of the spheres said, "You're not the Master."
Then another sphere said, "We like the Mr. Master."
Then a third one said, "We don't like you."
President Winters told them, "I can be master if you so wish. I will accept mastery over you if that is God's will."
One of the spheres said, "Man is stupid."
Then another one said, "Master is our friend."
Then yet another one had asked, "Where's my Master, pretty please?"
It was then that– with a mere wave of his hands– the Master said, "Oh, alright, then. It's me!" After getting up from his chair, he'd spun himself in front of the steps that President Winters was standing in front of as he yelled, "Ta-da! Sorry! Sorry, I have this effect, people just get obsessed. Is it the smile, is it the aftershave, is it the capacity to laugh at myself? I don't know! It's crazy!"
It was then that President Winters asked him, "Saxon, what are you talking about?"
After crossing his arms over his chest, the Master told him, "I'm taking control, Uncle Sam. Starting with you." Then he looked over towards the closest sphere and said, "Kill him!"
It wasn't long afterwards that it shot a laser beam at President Winters, which resulted in him letting out a scream before evaporating into nothing.
After watching President Winters simply disappear from where he stood, the Master had quickly clapped his hands together and let out a laugh before he started to make his way over towards the stairs as he yelled, "Guards, nobody move! Nobody move!" After stopping himself and grabbing the railings that stood on either side of himself, he yelled, "Now then! Peoples of the Earth, please attend carefully."
It was only moments after the Doctor had attempted to run over towards the Master that the Master yelled, "Stop him!" After watching the Doctor be forced onto his knees, the Master said to him, "We meet at last, Doctor. Oh! I love saying that!"
In turn, the Doctor yelled, "Stop this! Stop it now!"
The Master said to him, "As if the perception filter is gonna work on me." Then– with a mere turn of his head– he said, "And look, it's the girlie and the freak. Although I'm not sure which one's which."
It was only when Captain Jack had attempted to run over towards the Master that he suddenly stopped when the Master had taken out his laser screwdriver and shot it at Captain Jack, which resulted in Captain Jack falling onto his back, shortly before the Master said, "Laser screwdriver. Who'd have sonic? And the good thing is, he's not dead for long. I get to kill him again!"
The Doctor said to him, "Master, just calm down. Just look at what you're doing, just stop. If you could see yourself."
Then the Master looked back at one of the cameras and said, "Oh, do excuse me, little bit of personal business. Back in a minute." Then– with a mere tilt of his head– he said, "Let him go."
After the Doctor was thrown forward and onto the floor, the Doctor told him, "It's that sound, the sound in your head. What if I can help?"
With a mere shake of his head, the Master said, "Oh! How to shut him up? I know! Memory lane!" Then he sat down onto one of the steps and asked the Doctor, "Professor Lazarus, remember him? And his genetic manipulation device! What, did you think little Tish got that job merely by coincidence? I've been laying traps for you all this time! And if I can concentrate all that Lazarus technology into one little screwdriver... But, ooh, if only I had the Doctor's biological code. Oh! Wait a minute! I do."
Then he quickly walked over towards a briefcase that was standing on a table before he yelled, "I've got his hand! And if Lazarus made himself younger, what if I reverse it? Another hundred years?"
Then he pointed the laser screwdriver over at the Doctor, which got the Doctor to start to let out yells, while Captain Jack had sat up from where the Master had killed him only moments ago.
And while the Doctor had continued his screaming, Captain Jack said to Martha, "Teleport."
In turn, Martha said to him, "I can't."
Captain Jack told her, "We can't stop him. And if we can't stop him, then we can't save Annabelle from him." Then he turned to Martha and said to her, "Get out of here. Get out."
It was only moments after the Master had stopped pointing his screwdriver over at the Doctor that Martha had quickly made her way over towards the Doctor and said to him, "Doctor, I've got you."
In turn, the Master said, "Ah, she's a would-be doctor. But tonight, Martha Jones, we've flown them in, all the way from prison."
It was then that the doors had opened, which revealed Martha's sister and parents being forced into the room, which got Martha to say to her, "Mum."
With a sob, Martha's mother said to her, "I'm sorry."
And while Martha had only continued to stare at her mother, Captain Jack asked the Master, "Where's Annabelle? What did you do to her?"
When the Master didn't respond to his question, the Doctor said to the Master, "The Toclafane. What are they?" After the Master had crouched down in front of him and only waved a finger, the Doctor asked him, "Who are they?"
With a nod of his head, the Master told him, "Doctor, if I told you the truth, your hearts would break."
It was then that one of the spheres asked the Master, "Is it time?"
Then another one asked, "Is it ready?"
Then a third one asked, "Is the machine singing?"
After looking down at his watch, the Master yelled, "Two minutes past!" Then– after going back up the stairs– he yelled, "So, Earthlings! Basically, um... End of the world. Here come the drums!"
It was then that the song Voodoo Child had started to play over the intercom of the Valiant, shortly before the Master had run over towards one of the windows to the Valiant, while Lucy had simply danced in place from where she stood up on the stage.
Moments after he'd simply stared out of the window, he made his way over towards the window that Lucy was standing in front of, shortly before he asked her, "How many do you think?"
In turn, Lucy said to him, "I-I don't know!"
The Master told her, "Six billion!" Then– after flicking a switch in the room– he yelled, "Down you go, kids!"
It wasn't long after the spheres had each come flying out of the crack in the sky that he turned to Lucy and asked her, "Shall we decimate them?" Then– with a nod of his head– he said, "That sounds good, nice word, decimate."
Then– after turning his head to look away from Lucy– he yelled, "Remove one tenth of the population!"
It wasn't long after he'd said those words that a female voice was heard yelling, "This is Geneva! We're getting slaughtered down here! Valiant, report! Help us! For God's sake help us!"
Then another voice was heard saying, "This is London, Valiant. This is London calling. What do we do? They're killing us! The Toclafane... They're killing us!"
It was then that– after looking between the Doctor and Captain Jack, Martha had closed her eyes and she had soon enough disappeared from the room, which got both her mother and her sister to share a look with each other, while Captain Jack had only let out a sigh.
It wasn't long afterwards that– after bringing the Doctor up to where he and Lucy were standing– the Master said, "And so it came to pass that the human race fell, and the Earth was no more. And I looked down upon my new dominion as master of all. And I thought it good."
In response to the Master's words, the Doctor had only stared down at the wreckage that was being caused in horror, while Lucy had only smiled to herself as she listened to the Master's words.
It was only moments after watching the Doctor watch the terror unfold in front of him in horror that the Master turned to Captain Jack and asked him, "You were asking about Annabelle's whereabouts before, weren't you?" When Captain Jack had only stared up at him, the Master said to him, "You know, I am surprised that you didn't find her, whilst you were all running around the Valiant in a failed attempt to stop me. After all, it isn't as if she was hidden well enough on this ship that we're all on."
When Captain Jack had only stared up at him with wide eyes, the Master had simply let out a sigh before he said, "You know, it is a wonder that she didn't kill you or even Martha Jones for that matter before I took her." After letting out another sigh, he said, "No matter."
Then he looked over towards a pair of guards and said to them, "Bring her in."
Only moments after he'd said those words, Captain Jack had turned his head when he heard the voice of Annabelle yelling threats, shortly before he saw her get practically dragged into the room and could truly see just how exhausted she really was and the fact of just how unlike herself she was at that exact moment.
With his eyebrows furrowed, Captain Jack asked him, "What did you do to her?"
In turn, the Master asked him, "What do you think that I did to her?" When Captain Jack had only shaken his head in response to the Master's words, the Master said, "I tortured her. Obviously."
Instead of looking around to find out just who exactly the Master was talking to at that exact moment, the only thing that Annabelle could do was stare up at the Master with her veins on display and a scowl on her face.
After only chuckling to himself in response to the look that she had on her face, the Master turned to Captain Jack and told him, "Here is a little fun fact that you're not quite aware of about your dearest friend– Annabelle Mikaelson." While Captain Jack had only turned his head to look away from the Master and watched how Annabelle had simply stared up at the Master like she wanted to kill him at that exact moment, the Master had started to walk down the stairs and over towards where Annabelle stood as he said to Captain Jack, "In just eighteen months, I've managed to make her hate me far more than she ever hated those parents of hers. Which I suppose says a lot about how successful I was in my torture on her than anything that her parents had ever done to her when she was human."
Then– with a mere tilt of his head– he came to a halt only a mere couple of inches in front of Annabelle and asked her, "Isn't that right, Annabelle?"
After wincing to herself when he'd reached out a hand towards her and took the rag out of her mouth and then proceeded to take a single step back from her, Annabelle— not even bothering to see if the Doctor and Captain Jack were actually in the same room with her and only kept her attention solely focused on the Master— asked him, "I assume it's safe to say that Captain Jack Harkness and the Doctor are both here, then?" When the Master had only slowly nodded his head at her, she asked him, "Then why keep me? You have no reason to keep me here when you've done everything that you needed to do for the past eighteen months."
When the Master had only let out a sigh in response to her words, she told him, "You were the one that told me that you only did everything that you did in order to show to Captain Jack Harkness and the Doctor the effects that I have towards the torture that you've inflicted on me for going on two years now. What more could you possibly want from me?"
After watching him take another step towards her and wincing once more when he'd reached out towards her, Annabelle found herself being pulled closer to the Master by only the chains that he'd kept wrapped around her at all times, shortly before he asked her, "What do you think I could possibly get out of keeping you here on the Valiant? Hmm?"
When she only warily eyed the hand that continued to hold onto at least one part of the chains, he let out a chuckle before he raised his other hand and grabbed at the front of her neck and forced her to look up at him.
When she was actually looking up at him and he saw– not only just how watery her eyes were but also of just how much the strong front that she normally had in regard to her was faltering– the Master simply let out a chuckle before he told her, "Because the past eighteen months of your life that consisted of me just constantly tormenting and torturing you has been fun. And what kind of a captor of the legendary Annabelle Mikaelson would I be if I were to suddenly let that source of entertainment go out into the world when I could have some more fun torturing you? Especially when I know that whatever strength that you have left that was getting you to fight against me is far weaker now than it was when I first took you with me."
With a mere tilt of his head, he asked her, "So, Annabelle Mikaelson, does that answer your question? Or would you prefer that I show your precious Jack and the Doctor just how much of an effect only a single movement of my hand could have on you?" When she didn't respond and simply clenched her jaw in response to his words, he turned to face the Doctor as he asked, "What do you think, Doctor? Should I show you just how much I have broken in the infamous Annabelle Mikaelson?"
When the Doctor had simply opened his mouth in response to the Master's words, the Master had turned to Annabelle and asked her, "Did you hear that, Annabelle? It sounds like the Doctor does want a display of my torture on you, after all." As he brought both of his hands up to grab onto the sides of her face, he asked, "What kind of a pleasant captor would I be, if I declined his request?"
In turn, Annabelle said, "Go on, then. Do it. After all, it isn't as if anything I say will change your mind on the matter."
In response to her words, the Master had only grinned to himself before he forced himself into her mind and both the Doctor and Captain Jack had no choice but to watch as Annabelle had both flinched and groaned, while the Master had forced his way into her mind, but not to manipulate any of her memories.
This time, he just wanted to force the Doctor to listen to Annabelle's screams as a mere reminder that there wasn't a damn thing that the Doctor could do to save even someone like Annabelle Mikaelson– an Original vampire that was widely feared throughout the entirety of the planet by those that knew of her.
And at the rate that he was going, Annabelle would no longer be one of the most feared beings on the planet.
Instead, it was going to be himself– the Master.
And as far as the Master was concerned, the idea of Annabelle no longer being one of the most feared beings on the planet was quite pleasing to him– as was the idea of stealing her title of being quite feared by those that knew of him after giving the order for President Winters to be killed on live television for everyone around the globe to see.