She looks so peaceful. The Master mused to himself. The bond was taking its toll on her and he wasn't sure how long she would last, but there were more pressing matters at hand. The Doctor had somehow survived and was hiding from him somewhere in time. (Y/n) had fallen asleep not long after she had collapsed. He knew that he would have to face up to her questions sooner or later. He hoped to put them off as long as possible. He straightened out his new jacket and grabbed a top hat from the nearby table. He paused before placing his dinner blazer on top of her. With one last longing gaze at her sleeping form, he strolled out the Tardis.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! See the incredible shrinking device! Want to be small, Ladies? You can!" He pointed his tissue compressor at the woman closest to him and activated it. The buzz he felt was so addicting. The screams were an added bonus.

"The happy couple!" He said in disgust as he looked at the tiny figures he had picked up from the floor. He them away as if they had burned him.

"Don't move! Hands on heads. Hands on heads!" What was it with apes and not following instruction unless being screamed at?

Then she made herself known. "Let them go. Then you can have me." Oh, if only that were true.

"I've got you anyway." He moved passed her and stopped. "Did you just move?" He loved how the ape began to shake before him and what made it even better was that she was there to see it. "Did you move?" He asked again. The female ape shook her head and let out a pitiful no. "Oh sorry sorry. My mistake." His gaze found hers as he activated the compressor. "When I kill them, Doctor, it gives me a little buzz, right here, in the hearts. It's like, how would I describe it? It's like - like knowing I'm in the right place, doing what I was made for." The Doctor knew he was lying. She knew the reason why he did the things he did. And it wasn't for the buzz of the kill.

"Where is she?"

The Master grinned at the pain that could be seen behind her eyes. She could feel it too. Good.

"Now, why would I tell you? You made you feelings perfectly clear to her." And me. The Master grit his teeth as he felt his mark pulse at their closeness. Did hers not burn they way his did? The way (Y/n)'s did?

"What do you want." The Doctor's steely gaze was unrelenting as her question rolled around his mind. What did he want?

"Kneel."

The Doctor swayed as she took in what he said, but stayed standing.

"Kneel. Or they all die." He knew that her love for the apes would be her undoing. It made him sick by how much she would fight for their worthless little lives and not care for the one that was apart of them and currently lay in the balance.

"Call me by my name." He needed to hear it from her lips.

"Master." She was holding back. Denying him of the thing he needed.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Master." She ground out as she tried to stop what was happening. The broken bond between had begun to reform.

"Can't hear you, love."

"Master." A wave of emotions flooded him as his mark blazed with something he had not felt in a very long time. Feelings that tore him from his true purpose, but he could not deny the pull to chase the euphoria and he despised it. It was only her who could make him feel this way, or so he thought. His other mark that tied him to her throbbed as he thought about her lying there, alone. He kneeled down before the soulmate in front of him.

"When I arrange for your death, I expect you to stay dead. How did you escape? How did you end up here?" There was a small part of him that was relieved to see her unharmed, but it also infuriated him.

The Doctor's face suddenly lit up in delight. "Oh, you don't know. You're not in control of those creatures. I bet you don't even know what they are."

"They're called the Kasavin and we have interests in common."

"You, Barton and a race you barely know? That's one uneasy alliance. Trust each other, do ya? Sounds a bit familiar, doesn't it?"

"Not completely." He caught to what she was implying. How dare she talk of trust when she all she did was lie to her so called friends and to herself. "By the way, I bring news from home." That caught her attention.

"Doctor, down!" Someone shouted as a pain ripped through his shoulder. He saw the female ape was ready to fire another round of bullets and left before any real damage could be done.

—

(Y/n) woke up screaming as a scorching hot pain came from her shoulder. She sat up and tried to take in deep breaths as she tried to see what was causing it. Her right arm lay useless at her side as she unbuttoned her shirt. Her brows furrowed when she was met with untainted skin. She jumped as the Tardis doors were thrown open and the Master stormed through. He ignore her as he went straight to the console and put the Tardis in flight. (Y/n) gasped as she saw the blood on his coat. Could that be the cause of her pain?

"Are you alright?" She cringed at how raw her voice sounded. The Master turned to look at her then. He took in her tear stained face and his eyes went to her uncovered shoulder. "You've been shot." She said in an effort to fill the uneasy silence.

"You felt it." He stated. Already knowing the answer. He leaned heavily on the console. The bond was stronger than he thought. There would be no telling the state she would be in if she had spoken his name and sealed the tether between them. (Y/n) pulled the shirt back over her shoulder and carefully stood up. The Master remained where he was as she slowly made her way over to him.

"Where's your first aid kit?"

"Why?"

"I need it so I can sort those wounds out." And regain the use of my arm.

"You do know I can just use regeneration energy to heal them, right?"

"I know, but you can't exactly heal with bullets still lodge in your shoulder."

The Master sighed. She had a point. "Fine, but I'll do it myself. Go and sit down. You still look peaky and I doubt the bullet pain is helping."

(Y/n) did as she was told and walked back over to the sofa she had woken up on. Her eyes caught something that lay on the floor. She picked it up and realised it was the Master's blazer. He must have laid it over her while she was asleep. She couldn't help but smile. The pain in her shoulder had eased slightly, but it was still very much there. She began to wonder if the Doctor had felt it too. Maybe she was the one to cause it. No, that didn't sit right. The Doctor didn't like guns. Or was also a lie?

The Master re-entered the room with ancient looking first aid. (Y/n) knew that he must have never had much use for it. He came to sit next to her on the sofa and blew off the dust that had collected on top of it. (Y/n) sneezed and glared at him.They both winced as he knocked the wound as he took off his coat. Blood stained his skin which made it hard to see the two small entry wounds.

"What happened?" She dared to ask.

"The Doctor happened. Her and her new pet."

(Y/n) bit her tongue and thought what she was about to say was a bad idea, but said it anyway.

"Did - did she ask about me?"

The Master acted like he didn't hear her. "Right in the muscle." He muttered as he took out a pair of tweezers. She knew something happened between them and she deserved to know what.

"Master." The tweezers fell from his grip as his head fell back in euphoria. (Y/n) had no idea what was going on, but felt her mark pulse with something new and she couldn't deny that she liked it.

One thought crossed her mind as the Master's piercing eyes met hers.

I'm in trouble.