Plurk paste

1. He's been dithering about this for far too long. With very few exceptions Gallifrey feels more like a cage and a refuge, smothering everything worthwhile about him.

Those exceptions - are all double-edged swords regardless, and he has the strength to leave them all behind.

Or he did, until he swung open the door to reveal not only his granddaughter but his best, worst, and oldest friend.

"You're lucky I caught her and not one of those idiots in the Chancellery Guard. They're a bit quick on the draw these days."

Tightly, after giving Susan a quick once-over to make sure she wasn't hurt or frightened, "You're the one who taught them that."

"Details." As always his smirk is both obnoxious and compelling and the Doctor doesn't have <i>time</i> for this nonsense - "So. Shall we get going?"

2. Susan did manage to find a safe path into the Citadel's repair shop before getting caught, and for the most part she leads the way. The Doctor suspects this is as much a test as anything, and it sticks in his craw.

Irritating, too, is how easily the two of them fall into a rhythm: ducking out of sight when they hear anyone coming, steering Susan away from hidden surveillance. Finally, when the silence turns unbearably suffocating, "Aren't you meant to stop this sort of thing from happening?"

"Only when I feel like it."

"That, as I have been told with some consistency, is not how government employment works."

"Then you, my dear Doctor, have been listening to the wrong people."

It almost knocks the wind out of him, hearing the old endearment with his new name. He hadn't even <I>told</i> anybody, other than Susan - oh, she must have mentioned it. She's a sweet girl, still, which is a solid quarter of why he wants to get her away in the first place.

Once he's recovered, not quite meeting his old friend's eyes, "You could get in a lot of trouble for this, you know."

His old friend doesn't dignify that with a response, and it isn't long before he understands why.

3. When he presses a hand against the TARDIS door, he feels - something strange, something warm, something lost. In the moment, he identifies it as the sheer thrill and wonder of finally, <i>finally</i> leaving Gallifrey behind to soar the stars. Much later, he'll realise that she was saying hello and he was falling in love.

Once Susan has run in beside him he turns to say goodbye and at least attempt a coherent display of gratitude - he's rusty, you must understand - but the door swings shut with Koschei still inside.

"Oh, you didn't think I'd let you run off <i>alone</i>, did you? Honestly. You'd get poor Susan killed."

The Doctor is staring, sputtering, and only dimly recognises that his granddaughter isn't surprised at all - oh, she had <i>known</i>, hadn't she -

Koschei gestures grandly at the console as he hears distant footsteps thundering - he can't make out the direction from inside the ship but he can certainly guess. "I do hope you remembered how to fly a Type 40?"

Maybe the Doctor should not have growled and yanked the nearest lever in reach, but in his defence, they did dematerialise.

4. They're safe in the Vortex after that - or, at least, safe from Gallifrey. He guides Susan to the nearest bedroom so she can start setting it up properly, before collapsing against the door and breathing through the pounding of his hearts. He must have closed his eyes at some point; when he opens them, Koschei is holding out his silver-tipped cane.

After a moment's hesitation, the Doctor grunts his thanks and accepts it, leaning on it heavily for a few moments before straightening. "Well. I - suppose I still ought to - "

Koschei cuts him off with a slice of his hand. "Here, I'll do it for you. 'Thank you, my dearest and oldest friend, for saving myself and my lovely granddaughter from certain execution'."

"They wouldn't have <i>executed</i> us - "

"Not her, perhaps, but you remain on thin ice."

He can't help smirking in satisfaction, and for a moment - for a moment - the expression is mirrored exactly and they feel like kindred spirits again. Then it breaks, and Koschei turns away from him.

"We'd best find our own bedrooms."

The Doctor doesn't argue. What is he going to do, throw his best friend into the Vortex?

5. He's going to throw his best friend into the Vortex.

Koschei - or the <i>Master</i>, apparently, which "You'd have known if you were paying attention" - downright snarls at him from his place under the console.

"You know I'm a better engineer than you, let me <i>fix this</i> - "

"I know no such thing!" The Doctor whacks the side of the console with his cane, and not the Master's head, which he feels is very big of him. "I've made some very delicate alterations - "

"Oh, is that why we crashed, that makes sense - "

"It most certainly is not - "

A scream cuts straight through the argument, and they meet eyes with suddenly unified purpose. Wordlessly, the Doctor offers his free hand, and the Master lets himself be hauled upright before they run through the corridors, hand in hand, towards Susan. So many horrifying possibilities flash through his mind - their minds -

They skid to a stop when they see her standing there, hands on her hips, glaring at them like unruly children. "I heard you shouting! Honestly, you're worse than my cousins."

Imperiously, in a way that's rather too much like looking in a mirror, she points towards a stack of TARDIS manuals. "You work together <i>right now</i> so we're not stranded forever."

The Master speaks first, straightening as he clears his throat. "Of course, my dear."