owl to the Master

[thefuturemrpond.livejournal.com]

I want to talk to you. If you're interested meet me in the Great Hall.

- the Lone Centurion

It was a short letter for two reasons. One, Rory was not sure about the wisdom of setting up a meeting with the psychopathic alien who'd threatened to do unpleasant things to you with a cocktail stirrer. But he needed to know more than he did, to protect Amy and himself and the rest of the school and possibly even the Doctor because what the bloody hell had he got himself in to? And he had a bargaining chip, sort of.

Which was the other reason the letter was so short. He couldn't remember how to write anything more elaborate in Old Norman dialect. Still, that ought to get the Master's attention.

Comments

[theregothedrums.livejournal.com]

The Master's eyes lit up as if he'd been handed a thoughtful and costly gift. "A conspiracy? Oh, yes, that's beautiful. They must have been terrified." It was as he'd said; for all his altruistic ways, the Doctor was most often whispered about with fear. And it was starting to catch up with him.

[thefuturemrpond.livejournal.com]

"They were also wrong." Too defensive, he knew as soon as he'd spoken, but that look... "It wasn't him, but it was the Tardis. River was meant to be bringing it to him and - it exploded, and before you ask, no, we don't know why."

[theregothedrums.livejournal.com]

"Well, it has taken a lot of abuse over the years." The Master's smile never wavered. "I don't think I've ever seen it explode, though."

[thefuturemrpond.livejournal.com]

"It shouldn't have, but it did. Through the whole of time and space. The silence did fall and the stars went out..." He trailed off, gazing down at his hands. And Amy was dead, and I wasn't real.

[theregothedrums.livejournal.com]

It wasn't coherent account, but it was fascinating. Stars winking out of existence were so evocative.

"The end of the universe again? It's almost as if he seeks it out."

[thefuturemrpond.livejournal.com]

"How many-?" Rory began, then broke off. He suspected the universe could end a lot of times. And didn't need an answer from someone who was probably responsible for some of them.

"...it didn't end, even. It never began. The Earth held on for a bit, in the eye of the storm, he said, that was how..."

He paused again, took a long breath. Too many memories. Shouldn't have started this. Idiot.

[theregothedrums.livejournal.com]

It was fascinating, watching this little human wrestle with more memories than his brain had evolved to cope with. He seemed to be integrating remarkably well. Resilient specimen.

"Eye of the storm?" He laughed, remembering the Valiant. "That's another thing he carries around with him."

[thefuturemrpond.livejournal.com]

"Should I bother asking what that's supposed to mean?" Whatever it was, he was almost sure it couldn't be as bad as what he was thinking of now.

[theregothedrums.livejournal.com]

"Oh, some people are just so good at being in the center of chaos wherever they go, and slipping unscathed through the wreckage every time. Fascinating, isn't it?"

[thefuturemrpond.livejournal.com]

"Right. Fascinating." He swallowed, the memory almost under control now. "Anyway, Earth lasted, for two thousand years, more or less. Nothing else."

[theregothedrums.livejournal.com]

"You're leaving so much out. Making me so curious. You're not stupid, and if you made an Auton body last for two thousand years you clearly don't have a death wish." Wheels were turning behind his madly-glittering eyes, as he started the challenge of assembling a puzzle that was missing most of the pieces. "Of course, your thought processes must be very odd by now."

[thefuturemrpond.livejournal.com]

"I'm getting to it." And he couldn't stall any more. Stupid to try. "It was traumatic, all right? I'm sorry if that's too human for you."

[theregothedrums.livejournal.com]

"You do realize that humans aren't the only life form capable of sustaining trauma, aren't you?" He crossed his arms, scowling. "Not everyone thinks the Earth is a precious special snowflake."

[thefuturemrpond.livejournal.com]

"You kept calling us inferior lifeforms. I thought you must be above such primitive emotions, or whatever." Sarcasm, obviously, but - that had been the exact opposite of the reaction Rory had expected. Why would - oh, of course, who else would he know who'd go on about humans like that? ...you're jealous of us, aren't you. Bloody hell.

[theregothedrums.livejournal.com]

"Oh, emotions are very important," he said softly. "Cold logic is far too predictable and not at all viscerally satisfying. And really, it allows for a far more personal touch. I can't imagine anything more anticlimactic than being killed by something that didn't even care."

[thefuturemrpond.livejournal.com]

"...so." He took another long breath, and hoped he hadn't just gone as pale as it felt like he had. "You want to know what I was doing for two thousand years."

[theregothedrums.livejournal.com]

"I really would, you know." His look of avid curiosity wasn't even especially malicious. An artificially prolonged lifespan could do all sorts of nasty things to a mind not evolved to cope with centuries, and this specimen's apparent stability was fascinating.

[thefuturemrpond.livejournal.com]

"...when they were shutting him in the Pandorica - when the - the programming kicked in, I was with Amy." His voice was hushed, but he held it steady. "My wife. My fiancee, then. I've mentioned her name to you, haven't I." Or you wouldn't be hearing it now. "She'd just remembered who I was, and I had this ...thing in my head saying to get her out of the way and I..."

Rory stared down at his hand, palm open on the table. His voice was close to a whisper. "I couldn't stop it in time. I shot her. And the stars went out."

[theregothedrums.livejournal.com]

"Good god, he's started a breeding program," the Master muttered with a trace of irritability, but he was captivated by the tale. "It sounds like quite a spectacle. But then, he doesn't do small-scale well."

[thefuturemrpond.livejournal.com]

Rory pictured the possible reactions if he took offence at that, and decided to let it go. He still had to get through the rest of the story. "I - I don't know how long it was after that, but he suddenly popped out of the air in front of me, gave me his screwdriver and told me to go down and let him out. He had..." He gestured to his wrist. "River's vortex manipulator thing on. And there's nothing else I could do, so I went down and opened the Pandorica. No one there to stop me. They'd all turned to stone."

[theregothedrums.livejournal.com]

The Master very much wanted to hear the Doctor's explanation of these events now; oh, he must be dying to show off how clever he'd been to someone who would really understand.

"He does know how to find the resourceful ones."

[thefuturemrpond.livejournal.com]

Rory skipped over the Doctor's test of his humanity. This story was painful enough, and he could imagine the Master's reaction to hearing how Rory had proved himself. "...he said, when I'd got him out, when I told him about Amy, that we had to put her in there. She was still alive, just barely, and the Pandorica would heal her. 'A trap you can't escape from, even in death'. And then he'd take me off to when the Earth was ending and we'd meet her there."

He looked up then, finally. "But I wasn't going to leave her there, was I?"

[theregothedrums.livejournal.com]

The Master looked at Rory thoughtfully, and grinned. "No, you wouldn't, would you? Because he could have been wrong. He could have been wrong, and she could have been as dead as she will be eventually anyway. Your loyalty is touching."

If he'd realized how bitter he sounded, he'd probably have tried to kill Rory for daring to have been there to hear it.

[thefuturemrpond.livejournal.com]

...bad thing to have heard. Extremely bad. Fortunately Rory had had a lot of practice in controlling his expression, and could keep that realisation out of his eyes. Or so he hoped. Not that he knew what the right reaction was here.

"...so, that's - that's where I got the name from," he finished, for something to say. "I did get rid of the uniform eventually. Got damaged in the Blitz."

[theregothedrums.livejournal.com]

"...you were wearing it the whole time?" Oh, what an image. This incredibly earnest and improbably sincere human parading around for centuries in an outdated uniform, watching over his inert lady love. "Sounds like an opera."