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This whole thing wasn’t your fault. It was the Master’s.
Yet, as you watched him sit by himself a few feet away from you and his TARDIS, fiddling with a couple tools and different parts of the console, you knew he thought so. He mumbled and grumbled to himself almost under his breath, your name coming up in a sentence every so often. You could barely hear him, his voice gravelly and deep. But this was the Master - he was trying to convince himself that you had gotten the both of you stuck on this viciously hot planet when you hadn’t.
You rolled your eyes, your gaze trailing over his body – how he sat hunched over, his hands moving fast over a mechanical part that was nearly the size of his chest. You could recognize all the boyish parts of him – his desire to see the universe, to take it, and hold it in his hands. It was in his eyes, a constant cloud of hunger and wonder.
Sometimes, when he looked at you, you could really see it. There would be little stars. When he smiled at you, there was a whole galaxy.
But then it would go away just as quickly. He would shake his head and bark some orders at you, running a palm over his face. It was in those moments that you realized he was truly boyish with his emotions, too. He couldn’t handle them.
Especially now, as the heat rose up from the ground and crept up your necks.
You heaved a sigh, loud enough for the Master to hear, as you glanced down at the bare skin underneath your ripped t-shirt. You could see the red sunburn already forming. You cringed, knowing there was no way to fix it. You were already dressed down, and if you tried to cover it, you would be making yourself even hotter.
When the Master talked about a quick trip to the Desert Peninsula, you didn’t mind the idea of popping in for a quick trip. You liked it here. There was a great diner called the Desert Dive-In, and a larger-than-life alien theme park called Life on Mars (obviously making fun of the other red planet in the universe).
You hadn’t been yet and you loved amusement parks. You had been to quite a few on Earth. You wondered if the Master would be a rollercoaster person or if he would awkwardly sit by the exit, waiting for you to get off the rides. That truly would have been a sight to see - your big, bad Master sitting on a bench twiddling his thumbs because he was scared of a big drop.
But you never got to find out because you ran into a rogue group of Deserters who hated the Master and his reputation, leading you to run all the way back to the TARDIS, which had decided at that moment that it wouldn’t move without some maintenance. Stupid stubborn machine. At least the Doctor’s TARDIS, when you traveled with him at first, would usually work for him. It seemed like nobody wanted to work for the Master. But at that point, you couldn’t really blame them.
As you heaved another sigh, lying down on the hot dirt, the Master glanced over at you. There were no stars in his eyes this time. Just an empty hazel sky.
“Bit of hush, human,” he scolded. “I can’t concentrate if I remember you exist.”
Right, because you were the problem. Always. But you knew what he really meant. He couldn’t concentrate on the constant drumbeat in his head – one, two, three, four. It plagued his head, the insanity thrumming through him.
He watched you for a moment before he gave you a dramatic eye roll and returned his gaze to his laser screwdriver, pointing it at the metal plate in front of him.
You wished you could be back on some of your other trips. God, how the Master looked at you then. Those were some of his rarest moments. The soft ones where you could have sworn he –
No. The Master didn’t love you. He couldn’t love anything but himself.
As you laid back down on the ground, you wondered how stupid you could be. You left the Doctor for a life of traveling with the Master. And for what? Because you thought that blonde idiot would love you more than the Doctor would?
You shook your head, trying it clear it of those thoughts as you stared ahead at the stubborn TARDIS, knowing it and the Master had a connection. No wonder why it wouldn’t open. The Master was constantly fighting himself, somewhere between hating himself, and hating everybody but loving himself.
Frankly, hating everybody but loving himself is what got you stuck in this mess.
Now, you were stuck outside in a region that had a constant heatwave because of the Master’s arrogance. Its three red suns bore down onto your bare skin. It felt like the sear of hot pavement on your feet on a hot Earth day, but all over your body. You were growing increasingly tired of it, and fast.
You glared at the Master. “Are you going to be done any time soon?”
The Master didn’t even turn to look at you. He simply huffed. “I don’t know why I even asked you to be quiet. I know you.”
Suddenly, on a planet that felt like sitting on the sun, your chest grew cold at that very simple off-handed comment.
“You know me?” The question left your mouth like venom, and you stood up with a dangerous jolt of anger.
The Master didn’t know you. In fact, you were always sick and tired of how he never paid attention to you, your wants, or your needs. He never once listened when you talked to him. He never told you how he felt. Sometimes, it felt like he just kept you around as a human pet, something to amuse himself until the next thing came around.
“You don’t really know me," you said.
Sobs threatened to rise in your chest. Your hearts were pounding. You swallowed hard, your vision becoming blurry, nearly clouded with tears. You quickly wiped them from your eyes with gritted teeth.
You were not going to cry. You were not going to give the Master the satisfaction of making you cry. After traveling with him for a long time, you knew he would probably relish in it. He loved making the “pathetic” human race feel small and weak, especially against a Time Lord.
But it was hot, and you were out of breath, and you could have sworn you were both going to die here. There was more than enough to cry about.
You cast your eyes to where the Master was sitting. He was stripped down to a red t-shirt and pants now, his hoodie in a crumpled mess next to him. As a Time Lord, he could regulate his temperature better than you could. Not much more than a bead of sweat crossed his forehead. It was just a tropical vacation for him, but you could feel it getting worse.
He gave a little hum as if he heard you, but he wasn’t going to respond. He was moving on to a different piece of the TARDIS now but was working slower, more gentle.
You laughed bitterly, crossing your arms over your chest. “See, you don’t even care.”
In front of you, the Master swallowed hard. His eyes sparkled like a lit match. In one movement, he dropped the piece he was working on and stood up, facing you.
“You think I don’t know you?” The Master said, angrily running a palm over his matted blonde hair. It was infuriating how he didn’t react to the heat. You caught your breath as the Master threw up a finger at you. “I know you.”
Your heart stopped at hearing that comment a second time. You simply watched him as he slowly moved towards you, hot and full of energy.
“I know your favorite movie is some stupid Earth film called The Princess Bride,” he said.
You opened your mouth to respond with a sarcastic comment about how that didn't mean anything, but he put a hand up to stop you from speaking. “I know you hate your hometown because of how they all treated you. How it hurt you. I know you wanted to be a writer when you were younger but everybody told you it wasn’t a career…I know you love traveling to planets that have water because it reminds you of home. I know you like extra cheesy pizza with red pepper flakes and creamy chocolate milkshakes with just a hint of strawberry because it tastes like a chocolate-covered strawberry," he softly smiled, "and how you especially like a glass of wine after dinner because it makes you confident enough to call me out when I'm going mad.” The smile fell.
You simply stared at him, eyes full of tears, swallowing the dull sobs in your throat as he continued, “You think it’s funny when I get my big head caught in my hoodie. I know this because sometimes I do it just to make you laugh…”
You were really crying now. But you didn’t care. You couldn’t.
“I know that when I’m around you, the drums are quieter,” the Master breathed. “I know that if you could, you’d save all the captive killer whales in those stupid Earth aquariums. I’ve seen you cry at videos of kittens. You love animals, all of them.” He was dangerously close to you now. He had a warm palm on your cheek, and he was staring into your eyes. “I know this, because you love me.”
“Master,” you breathed, unable to move. You studied his face. His eyes were a galaxy on fire.
“So don’t you try to say that I don’t care, because I care too much.” He ripped his palm away as he started to walk away. “I can’t stand it.”
You watched him for a moment. Suddenly, he seemed very small - not a victorious Time Lord, but a man. He had his hands balled into fists.
You swallowed hard at his confession. He knew you loved him.
“Master,” you called. This time, your voice felt strangled in your throat.
He didn’t turn around, but he let go of his fists. With all of the energy you still had, despite the hot air in your lungs, you ran to him, grabbing his hand to have him face you. Your heart hurt at the sight of him, the overwhelming sadness and frustration that seemed to strike his facial features now.
Without speaking, you pulled him into a hug. It took him a beat before he melted into it, wrapping his arms around your waist. He rested his chin on your head.
“I’m sorry,” you mumbled against his chest. You wanted to say more but you couldn't find the words.
After a moment of standing together, two hot bodies, radiating heat, you looked up at him. He now had a satisfied little smirk on his face. “I want to hear you say it.”
You pulled away from him, your eyes narrowing at him. You were not going to deal with hearing a big confession like that if that was what the point of it was. You stubbornly slapped his chest. “No!”
“C'mon, saaay it." He gave you a little squeeze, mischief playing in his eyes.
You pursed your lips before they fell into a defiant smile. “You first.”
Neither of you said anything as the Master lost his patience and pulled you into a kiss. It was warm and hungry, like both of you had been starving for days. His hand was on your bare back creeping underneath your t-shirt, pulling you closer so that your body was completely against his. You moved together so well, you could have sworn you two were made for it. You had one hand in his hair, and the other at the small of his back, the fabric of his t-shirt tangled in your fingertips.
As you broke the kiss, you both had to stop to catch your breath. You could barely speak, so you just listened to his hearts pounding against yours, one after another. A choir of happiness and lust and love.
The Master bit his lip, looking down at you with a grin. “Human, I…” he trailed off, looking away dramatically, his eyes sweeping over the red dirt of the Desert Peninsula, before returning his gaze to you with a smirk. “think you should say it first.”
You had been following his gaze, thinking he was caught up in emotion. As it was, kissing him, being there with him, made you forget you were even on that stupid planet. Your eyebrows lifted as your mouth dropped open in mock-surprise, but before you could say anything, he chuckled and tilted your chin up at him.
He searched your eyes, his thumb brushing your cheek. “I love you, Y/N.”