| Date: 26 December 2007
Characters: The Master, Jack Harkness Location: hotel dining room Link to IJ: thread #19416 |
 The Master was looking for Jack. Well, he was looking for a number of people, actually, including anyone who might actually have a decent chance of explaining what was going on and how he could get back to the Valiant to thwart the Doctor's plans, but Jack was at the top of his list.
He finally decided to just wait around the hotel dining room until Jack turned up, on the grounds that everybody had to eat some time and most people seemed to be eating there rather than anywhere else. And eventually, his plan worked. He waited in a dark corner, watching while Jack ate his dinner, and trying to work out if this Jack would know him or not. He was dressed very similarly to how the Master had last seen him -but that didn't actually mean anything, as Jack didn't seem to have changed his default outfit for years. When Jack was nearing the end of his meal, the Master slipped out into the lobby to intercept him. So that when Jack finally emerged from the dining room the Master was waiting, leaning back against the far doors where he couldn't fail to be noticed, hands in his trouser pockets (one of them round his laser screwdriver, just in case), one foot crossed nonchalantly across the other, and a small, secretive smile on his lips. |
 He cocked his eyebrow up when he spotted the man. It was clear he wasn't lost, and just about as clear he was waiting on Jack. So, he pushed his coat back, slipped his hands into his pants pockets and asked. "Can I help you with something?" |
| OK, that settled that. This Jack hadn't met him yet.
Well, either that or he was bluffing. Either way, it meant Plan A. The Master smiled, coming away from the door. He uncurled his fingers from his screwdriver and held out his hand. "It's good to see you, Captain." |
| Jack stepped forward to meet the handshake, his fingers curling around the Master's in a warm, solid grip. "You're not another Doctor, are you?"
It was the Master's body temperature and a random (if not inaccurate) guess. Well that or he had cool hands. |
| Ooh, he hadn't thought of that one and for a moment, he was sorely tempted to along with it. The fun he could have! But he'd got a plan of his own.
Well, not so much a plan, really. Just an opening. He grinned. "Not a bad guess, Captain. It's the body temperature, isn't it? Should have known you'd notice." He put his hands back in his pockets and tilted his head to the side. "No, not the Doctor. Just an old friend of his. And more recently of yours." |
| He took his hand back and returned it to the pocket. "Old friend?" He asked, not at all wary because he ahd very little reason to be, beyond general protectiveness of the Doctor.
"I bet he's over the moon to see you." Well, last he'd heard the Doctor was the only Time Lord still left and as far as Jack was concerned that meant this guy was from the Doctor's. He stopped and frowned, realizing that that didn't work since this guy knew him. He tried to mentally untangle it and make it make sense, and got abso-fucking-lutely nowhere. |
| "Actually, he was more welcoming than I expected," the Master admitted, realising he never had got to the bottom of the Doctor's... protectiveness upon his arrival. "We have had our differences. But they don't mean anything here anyway."
He jerked his head in the direction of the bar. "May I buy you a drink? Well, not buy, I suppose, since they don't seem to have heard of money here. But you know what I mean." |
| He nodded and headed that way. "Why aren't you dead?" he asked, precisely because that was just a puzzle he wasn't going to let go. |
| "Oh, that's a very long story." He sauntered along beside Jack, trying to clamp down on his glee at how easily this was working. "I'd made myself human just at the time that Gallifrey got destroyed, and the destruction missed me. Pure chance. Lucky me." He chuckled. "OK, not that long a story, after all." |
| "You made yourself what?" He asked, looking at the Master in blatant interest. He had no idea how that worked but he really, really, wanted to know. It was probably tech ,and Jack had a thing for alien technology. |
| "There's a thing called a Chameleon Arch." He saw no danger in telling Jack about that, and every little thing he could share should help gain the Captain's confidence. "It enables a Time Lord to disguise himself as a human, so that even he doesn't remember anything other than the life he's living as a human."
They'd reached the bar. He held the door open for Jack to pass through. |
| It definitely helped gain Jack's trust. That and distracted him. He was still confused, maybe not completely buying it, but in this place and with the people he'd seen and timelines colliding, he was willing to accept it. Besides. Tech.
He slipped through in front of the Master, but kept on talking. "How does it work? Re-writing genetics, or physical change? Something else? If you can't remember anything but being human, how do you ever reverse the effect?" |
| OK, he was willing to share, to a a point, but he wasn't going to divulge to Torchwood exactly how Time Lord technology worked.
"Your memories and - well - identity are stored in a certain... object. When that object's opened, everything's restored." They walked over to the bar and the Master surveyed the miraculous choice available. "What can I get you, Captain?" |
| He leaned against the bar, one elbow down. "Water," he said, immediately and kept his eyes on the Master. "So how do you know to open this object, if you don't remember anything but being human?" |
| "Of course, silly me, I forgot you didn't drink." He got the barman's attenion and ordered some water for Jack and some whisky for himself.
He turned back to Jack and leaned his own elbow on the bar. "Ah, well, that is the problem. Preferably, you need someone around to tell you to open it. Otherwise you're more or less leaving it to chance." |
| Jack kept his eyes on the bar-tender from sheer force of habit, making sure his water was water. He nodded to the man when it came, by way of thanks. "Sounds like risky business." |
| "Only used in dire circumstances." He took his whisky and smiled warmly at Jack.
"Anyway, enough about boring old Time Lord stuff. How are you? Died recently?" |
| Jack choked on his water . He literally narrowly avoiding spraying his mouthful of water in the Master's face, and in doing so ended up coughing, hacking, and turning an unattractive and blotchy red in the face. |
| The Master helpfully leaned over and patted him on the back.
"Sorry." |
| Jack put his glass down, found a napkin and coughed into it until he could breathe well enough to choke out, "What?" |
| "What what? I just asked how you were? I thought asking if you'd died lately was a reasonable extension of the question!" |
| "On what planet is 'so, been dead lately?' a reasonable question?" He asked. Then he rolled his eyes, hard. "Nevermind. Don't answer that. " |
| "Well, you are fairly unique in that respect." He tilted his head, raised his glass in a silent toast, and drank. "So how are you?" |
| He caught his breath, rubbed his eyes and stared at the Master. "I was doing fine up until I nearly drowned in my water glass. Thanks for that, by the way. Takes talent." |
| The Master shrugged, grinning, and remembering a recent occasion upon which Jack actually had drowned. "At least you know you'd come back. Useful, that. And again, I'm sorry."
He shifted position a bit and decided to move things along. "I gather you've been here a little while. Have you managed to find out anything useful?" |
| He took a second, a drink of water that went down the right way, and shifted mental gears.
"Why do you gather I've been here for a while? What's a while to a Tme Lord, anyway?" |
| The Master smiled wryly. "I just meant, longer than I have. Practically everybody I've met seems to have seen you. I confess I was feeling a little left out!" |
| "Well, there are two of me here."
He had no idea if his other self was even here, anymore, but he was more than willing to let him deal with some of the flack. He was just putting it back on himself, after all. "Who's seen me?" |
| "Ah yes, I did ascertain that there were multiple versions of you around. In fact, the Doctor took great delight in taunting me with it."
He thought back, and couldn't see any harm in naming names. This charade was only a temporary thing - the truth about him would come out just as soon as Jack bumped into the Doctor, anyway. "Let me see, who's mentioned you...? The Doctor, obviously. A fascinating, perky young thing named Rose. A delightful young lady named Susan. And a rather disturbing version of your Mr Jones. I think that's all." |
| "Which Doctor?" he asked, not testing, honestly, just frankly curious. And recovering. He'd be recovered eventually, really. |
| "Tall, skinny, mad hair that sticks up all over the place, rather attractive, and wears rather revolting pinstripe suits. Must be about his - oh - ninth regeneration?"
The Master didn't, after all, know that he'd missed an entire regeneration of the Doctor's. |
| Jack didn't know how many there'd be to begin with. "Ah. I did see him briefly, but not one I'm overly familiar with. The hair's cute, though." |
| "Isn't it?" He grinned, enjoying himself. "You'll get to know him better later." |
| "I'm sure I will," he said, eyeing the Master. "So, how's life without Gallifrey?" |
| "Lonely. I'm finding ways of entertaining myself, though. At least, I was, before I ended up here." |
| "Oh really?" he asked, with a bit of a leer. "What've you been up to?" |
| Oh, this really was ridiculously good fun!
The Master raised his glass to his lips and gave Jack a smouldering look over it. "Let's just say, I've had both you and the Doctor around to keep me company, and you've both been doing... very well at it." |
| Jack lifted his eyebrow. "Oh, really?" |
| The Master raised an eyebrow of his own.
"You want me to go into detail?" |
| "What, and spoil the surprise?" |
| The Master smiled, genuine amusement twinkling in his eyes. "Just checking. I didn't really think you'd want to know."
|
| "Half the fun is getting there. Have you ever heard that phrase?" |
| "Heard it? I practically live it! Winning is fun, and great for the ego, but it's the fight that makes life worth living." |
| "Winning what, exactly?" He asked, kind of confused. |
| "Anything! It was just an example, Captain." The Master chuckled softly into his drink. "But most things in life are about winning or losing, and I personally find winning infinately preferable." |
| "Most things in life are about winning or losing?" He was echoing, yeah, but he was prodding at the Master, too. Not because he necessarily disagreed, but because he didn't necessarily agree. There was a difference between the two, somewhere. |
| The Master lifted a shoulder. "There's always a winner and a loser. In every interaction between two people - or two nations, or two worlds - one will inevitably come out on top. Even if it's only by a tiny bit, even if they think they're parting on even terms... There's always a winner, and always a loser."
He smiled. "As I said, though, it's the fight - or the interaction, if you will - that makes it all worthwhile." |
| "That's a really lousy attitude," Jack said pleasantly. "Not *completely* wrong, mind you, but bad. Also really narrow, but if engaging in power struggles gives you something to live for." He finished his water and slid his glass back down the bar. |
| Ah. Probably a little too much real Master there for the honourable Captain. He'd got so caught up in the game, he'd forgotten the part he was playing.
He laughed, deliberately a little forced. "Forgive me, Captain. I get a little carried away, sometimes. And perhaps I've been consorting with other politicians too much... these things do tend to rub off on you." |
| "Nothing to apologize for. I understand the sentiment, I just think you're understating and over-simplifying. Anyway, Politicians?" |
| He drained his own glass while he thought about just how much to divulge. Then he smiled. "I ran for office not so long ago. Spent enough time with those blood-sucking, back-stabbing gits to last me a lifetime."
He gestured with his empty glass. "Another drink?" |
| He frowned and peered a little more closely at the Master. "Saxon?" He thought. He wasn't entirely sure. He waved off the offer of another drink in a vague way. He was here for the company, not the water. |
| Bugger it.
Drums surged in his head as he cast about wildly for way to get past that one. "The same," he admitted, hands held up slightly in surrender. Then he grinned, signalled to the barman for another whisky, and said casually, "You're obviously from closer to my own point in time than I thought." |
| "Why obviously?" Jack asked, a little concerned by the grin. What? He'd hung around Nine, not Ten. Grinning tended to be a Bad Sign. |
| "Just that I didn't expect you to know the name. I hadn't been around that long - I took a few short cuts..."
The grin seemed to be worrying Jack, so he replaced it with a rueful little smile and big honest eyes. "What point in time are you actually from?" |
| "What kind of short-cuts did you take?" He asked, sounding both amused and curious again. Also a little worried and a bit like a parent asking what their toddler had dropped into the loo. |
| "Oh, really, Jack, I'm not a child!" Why did everyone insist on treating him like a child? "Neither am I the Doctor. I am capable of putting schemes into action without them backfiring."
Most of the time, anyway. He raised his eyebrows, eyes on Jack's. "Point in time?" he prompted. |
| "I didn't say you were a child!" Jack protested. "I certainly didn't mistake you for the Doctor. You're impatient and cocky, though and that's not usually a winning combination."
He didn't look away. He did grin, slowly. He had no reason not to tell the Master, really, but that didn't mean he was going to. Especially after that remark about every interaction having a winner and loser. |
| "You sounded as though you thought I was a child."
He responded to Jack's slow grin with one of his own. Oh, he'd missed this. There was something about Jack Harkness that just drew him in. Even if he did occasionally get burned. "It's been so dull here without you around, Jack," he said, eyes twinkling. "I've missed you. Including your maddening tendency not to answer questions whose answers couldn't hurt anyone!" |
| "Been a while for you, then, if you've had time to miss me." His grin stayed firmly in place, and his eyes stayed firmly on the Master's. "As for not answering."
He signaled for another glass of water, and settled in a little more. Still upright, but leaning a little more against the bar. "That's the risk you take when you make every encounter a game. Someone might just decide to play." |
| "Oh, no, not long, actually. I was with you just an hour or two before I arrived here. But this place is just so... different. I'd got used to how things were."
He wasn't actually very sure how to deal with Jack like this. It was a very different situation to the one on the Valiant, and he didn't have the Doctor around for leverage. He twisted his lips a little. "And if you remember, I did say it was the game itself that was the important bit. Winning is good, but it's not everything." |
| "I meant that you've been here for a while," Jack clarified, casually. "This place is different from just about everywhere, but it's not half bad. I'll give you a bit dull, though."
He was completely comfortable. He had no idea what was going on, but he was definitely entertained. He took his water when it arrived and took a drink, all without looking away from the Master. "I remember," he agreed, when he brought the glass down. "So, you won't complain when someone toys with you?" He arched his eyebrow. |
| "I meant I hadn't been here long. It's only been a few days, I suppose, but it feels like a lifetime. You may have been right about me being impatient."
His lips twitched. "As for 'toying', it does depend on who it is and exactly what their 'toying' involves..." |
| He laughed, quietly. "I see. You do strike me as the finicky type." |
| "Oh, definitely."
The Master paused while he took a sip of whisky. "So... all those people who told me they'd met you, was it you they'd met or the other version of you?" He was thinking that at least with two Jacks around, that gave him double the opportunity for fun. |
| He lifted and dropped his shoulder. "I have no idea. There's more than one of some of those around, too." |
| "Oh dear, this place is complicated, isn't it? Yes, I'd gathered there were multiple versions of some of your team around. Must be comforting for you, to have so many friends around!" |
| "Ah, I don't know if comforting's quite the right word." He was being diplomatic. |
| The Master quirked an eyebrow. |
| "I'm glad there are two of me," He clarified. |
| "Ah." The Master pouted. "I feel a bit left out that there aren't two of me!"
Well, there was Professor Yana, but he wasn't about to divulge that particular bit of information. |
| "You never know. Haven't met everyone yet, have you?" |
| "Well, no-one's mentioned seeing another me. And I am fairly memorable, usually." He grinned. |
| "You're a Time Lord, you regenerate, and there are multiple people from various times here." |
| "Now, that's a good point. Just not quite as much fun bumping into a different version of yourself. You get all the fun that way, living forever and never changing your appearance or personality." |
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