“Insolent Primitive” @wallapology - Tumblr Blog

Keep Your Enemies Close (13th Doctor x Reader x Dhawan!Master)

Summary: Having split up from the Doctor, you find yourself having to hide with the Master after his 'allies' turn on him (as per usual). In multiple ways, you're forced to confront the simple fact that your yearning isn't limited to the timelord who whisked you away.

Word Count: ~5k

Rating: Mature (no smut, but nsfw themes)

Tags/warnings: Forced proximity, hypnotism, telepathy, violence (aka canon realistic depictions of how the Master would treat the Doctor's companions, even if he was into them)

Notes: reblogs and comments mean the world <3 sorry I haven't written a lot lately!

If you never saw another dingy metal corridor in your life, it would still be too soon. Should the TARDIS land on yet another stranded space-ship or futuristic landscape, you'd demand to be taken elsewhere. Not that the space-time machine would listen; but you'd try.

With the electricity to the ship flickering in and out, any signs indicating your position were left to darkness, the ship conserving what was left for its more vital systems. As with the many other space ships you'd boarded before, you were stuck in a maze of silver and copper. One of the few benefits of metal was the ability to hear footsteps, clanging- any signs of life- from farther away. But as you stopped to catch your breath, there was none to be heard.

It wasn't possible to be that lucky, you were sure. But the space-pirates-turned-cyborgs occupying the ship were too rambunctious enough to allow for this much silence. And their puppeteer, their Master, was too fond of putting on a show. You scanned the corridor for cameras. Perhaps he was watching you, trying to lure you into a false sense of security. The very idea of his eyes on you, of being watched by something you couldn't observe yourself, was enough to throw you back into motion.

Where was she, though? If you had to guess, it had been roughly an hour or two since you and the Doctor had split up. Her mission was to head to the machine's core to send a distress signal. Yours was to find the TARDIS, insert some sort of copper cylinder into its console, to boost it. It surely wasn't going to take her this long to find the core, but you didn't feel too much urgency. You knew that she knew it wasn't going to take her that long. You also knew what she was really hoping to find. Or, who, rather. You just didn't expect to beat her to it.

The yelp you let out registered through your ears far before you could even think to silence it. You ducked back behind the corner you'd just turned. Blood rushed to your cheeks, pooling into your ears, and pounding like drums at the side of your head. Why couldn't you run? Some more rational part of you must have had better control than the part that was currently screaming danger, run!! It caught up to you, and your brows furrowed tightly in confusion.

“If you're this scared by a stationary space-time traveller, I'm not so certain you're cut out to be dealing with the other one”

A long, shaky breath drowned out the quick symphony of your pulse. You swallowed, and slowly poked your head out from behind the wall. Being sure to use the hand that wasn't visible, you curled your fingers together, applying pressure there so your face could remain more neutral. Without that added layer of control, you were sure your features would give away what was a very reactive mix of shock, fear, and, frankly, laughter.

The Master was sat at the end of the corridor (sat meaning someone had seemingly sat him there, rather than it being an action he chose). At least, that's what you could assume provided his position. His back was pressed against the wall, arched as he was stretching. Or, potentially, to give him space to work. His hands were behind his back. Tied, most likely, given that the same orange rope which trailed out from behind him was wound around his ankles. If this was the work of the Doctor, she'd surely be gloating about it. Unless she had gone to find you, which was fairly likely. It'd been so long since you'd seen him last, yet it felt like minutes. Perhaps all timelords had that effect. He was certainly in a very different position than you'd ever seen him, even though you'd crossed paths multiple times now.

“They've gone off to find her,” he growled, and you tensed at the possibility that he could be reading your thoughts, even from so far away. He slumped back against the wall and the fabric of his shirt gained some slack as a result. You tore your eyes away. It was perfectly normal, in the process of taking in as many details as possible, to have noticed how tight it was before. How it gave little room for him to writhe and arch to try and get out of his bonds, an effort in which he had ceased. Your fingers had curled into a tighter fist, and you hid back around the corner, forcing the digits to relax, and began your own show to save face. You craned your neck out just enough so he could see you looking down the other corridors. Whether it worked or not, you couldn't be so sure.

“I assume all of this wasn't her then?” You called out from behind the wall. The last thing you wanted was to receive any sort of assistance from him. But you didn't like the idea that his allies-turned-captors could be on the way back.

He grumbled something you couldn't hear, and you turned the corner again with a raised brow. His eyes narrowed. Then, his head tilted against his raised shoulder and he gave an obnoxiously large smile.

“What did you say?” Irritation overrode your logic, which could predict exactly what he was going to do next. This would usually have been a rare thing to be able to do with the Master, if you weren't already so knowledgeable on his love to annoy. He was rewarded with a scowl of annoyance as he grumbled for another few seconds.

“I'm not walking over there” You insisted. His bottom lip stuck out and his eyes landed directly on yours, so large and shiny with manufactured yearning.

“Not even to help a poor captive?” He whined. “What would your precious Doctor say?”

The force of air leaving you in the form of a scoff could have been enough to propel the ship back to its homeworld. You stepped out from behind the wall, crossing your arms.

“She'd probably tell me to throw you out of the airlock”.

“Oh, I don't think she'd have you do it,” He drawled. You swallowed and took a step closer, trying to get a better glance at the extent of his ties. “She'd probably just ask you to leave, and never let you know how exactly she decided to deal with me this time”

You tensed. His smile grew, his teeth bared like an animal ready to bite.

“Struck a nerve, love?”

The ties around his wrists seemed haphazardly done, but thick, and in multiple layers of knots that you doubted could be undone by him alone. No wonder he had been struggling. The ties around his ankles seemed less prominent. The hair on the back of your neck stood up and after a second longer you could hear voices in the distance. The Master's “friends” were returning. A dozen different scenarios still ran through your mind even when it seemed like you had already settled on what to do.

You dropped to your knees in front of him, reaching for the rope around his ankles. He shifted back against the wall and you pocketed the satisfaction of startling him to enjoy later on, not sparing him a glance. The rope fell away rather quickly and you dodged his foot as it headed for your face, anticipating what he would do.

You stood up quickly, hesitating for the briefest of moments. His eyes were dark, never leaving yours as he kicked his feet against the floor and used the wall as leverage to rise. His chest was heaving again, the fabric rippling against-

You moved forward quickly to throw yourself behind him, grabbing on to the rope around his wrists.

“Don't think you're getting free that easily,” you growled.

The fire in your voice was a bit disconcerting, but made you feel proud right up until the air was knocked violently from your lungs. The Master had thrown his full weight into you, crushing you against the wall. Before you could fully register anything beyond the pain blossoming from where your head had hit metal, he lunged forward again. Your fingers burned as they were ripped from the rope and you shut your eyes instinctively as the two of you headed for the floor.

At the very least, his groan of pain seemed louder than yours. A primary contributor for this was likely that you'd landed right on top of him, your forehead colliding with his nose. Now pain was pulsing through your skull from all fronts. You scrambled to push yourself up, each breath coming out in a deep mix of a groan and a growl. The voices you had heard seemed louder now, and you scanned the corridors around you for the source, leaning back against whatever was supporting your weight. There was no one in sight- yet. Some sort of smart response had to have been stored in the back of your mind; it was abruptly silenced as you looked back down at who was quite possibly becoming your captive.

The timelord below you was scowling and he began to shift in an effort to throw you off of him. His continued disobedience only made you more aware of the fact that he was shifting underneath you. Your hands, where they were splayed across his chest to keep you upright. Your thighs, which were stretched across his lap. The blood returned to your face, pounding much louder, turning everything around the two of you into a dizzying sea of gray. You yelped and he stilled, the two of you locking eyes again. Just in the corner of your vision you could see a small trail of blood making its way down his cheek from his nose. Matching its speed, you peeled yourself off of him and tugged at his shoulders, trying to turn him over.

“What are you doing?” He yelled. You grunted with effort as you shoved your weight against his shoulder repeatedly, until he seemed to become just as frustrated as you and turned over. You grasped his bound wrists again, finding a strong footing against the floor. Mentally, you focused all of your energy into your feet and legs as you tugged.

“You can't be serious”

“Shut up” You groaned as you tugged again. With the voices becoming even louder, adrenaline kicked in and you lifted him off of the floor.

“Unless you want both of us to wind up dead, I suggest you stop being so annoying” He laughed. But, to your surprise, he cooperated, finding his own footing.

“Thats it,” He mumbled. “Show me exactly how you think your Doctor would want me dealt with”

The silence you gave him was unsatisfying. But you knew that he was yearning for you to tap into the twist in your gut. To voice every irritation that had been stuck in the back of your mind ever since he'd revealed himself on that airplane months prior. All of the moments in between in which you'd watched the Doctor shut you out, lie as part of her attempts to hunt him down without revealing why she had to. Why she wanted to. But her actions alone told you exactly why she couldn't let him go.

Tears burned at the corners of your eyes, mixing with the stinging pain to create a pool of frustration and betrayal. To soothe the pain moving through your entire body in a low hum, you allowed yourself to also recognize the jealousy that broke the floodgates. You couldn't allow yourself any noise that might give away the wetness on your cheeks, so you pushed harder on his back to guide him forward. Any sharp breaths could be written down as the product of exhaustion. What made him so important to her? So much more important than her telling you the truth, at least. In his eyes, you were little more than a pouting companion trying to be brave for someone he would always know infinitely more than you could even conceptualize. But how did she see you- or any of her companions- if he was able to draw upon this mockery so easily?

You continued to push the two of you further and further from the voices, shushing the Master as he began to hum. There was a break in between in which he twisted his form to try and throw a retort directly to your face. During that brief moment, you heard the voices again- but much louder. A metal maze, and you were clearly at a large disadvantage.

You looked around quickly to try and find an alternative route. Neither of you were in any position to fight, unless you were willing to set the Master loose on them. But then what? He'd only go for you next.

Your eyes settled on a door a few feet away. You tugged the timelord in its direction, briefly leaving only one hand on his ropes to pull the handle down and out. It was a rather small closet, which reeked of stale mop water and bleach from a bucket and spout. It would have to do. The Master turned up his nose as you shoved him into it, quickly shutting the door behind you. It was only then that you properly let go of his wrists, feeling for a light switch or rope.

You could hear him grunting behind you, the fabric of his shirt rustling again as he tried to untie himself. The noise threw off what little visual of the closet you'd had before you shut the door and the darkness became a truly unknown landscape. What flashed in front of your eyes instead was exactly how he had looked before, trying to get out of the rope.

You squeezed your eyes shut, placing your hands against the wall to ground yourself and return to your previous train of thought. But the timelord bumping into you rendered your attempt useless. Was he trying to get out again?

The image of him arching his back returned, your memory having stored more detail than you initially took in. Or were you imagining it, filling in the blanks? Either way, it didn't seem very helpful for your brain to be painting a very vivid picture of his face tense with focus, the inside of his bottom lip seemingly caught between his teeth as he writhed and groaned- Okay no, surely he had not done all of that. But you didn’t want to consider why your brain would be that imaginative.

The closet had begun to feel rather hot, between the warmth sprawling across your chest and stomach and a mix of your breath. You let one of your hands fall to your stomach, trying to soothe the tension there. Your fingers curled where your other hand still sat against the metal, as if you were trying to sink your grip into its smooth surface. Its cold frigidity served as a reminder of what you definitely should not be doing or thinking right now.

What was wrong with you? Perhaps your head had hit the wall a little too hard. You tried to think of the Doctor. Where she could be, what she might be doing to fix this situation. But the sick feeling returned. The thought of her seeing him, here. Talking to him, thinking about him, playing another round of their eternal game; a wave of rage made you shudder. You didn't want her anywhere near him, especially if she was thinking half of the things running through your mind right now. Feelings that were typically reserved for her, when you let yourself ignore all logical sense. The voices were very close now, and you knew they were walking down this very corridor. Your ears strained to take in what they were saying.

“No sign of him. He must've gotten out- I don't know where the other two are, but I know I haven't heard from 13-JA which means they're probably somewhere in sector four” Despite having been fused into technology similar to the ship around them, the pirates still sounded quite human. You hadn’t heard this one yet, but you recognized the voice of the next speaker, the ship's captain.

“You two split up. Go check it out, I'll stay here and keep an eye out. He can't have gotten far with those ties.” The one who had stayed behind footsteps stomped away, further down the corridor.

You let out a shaky sigh, unaware that you'd been holding your breath. Stepping back, you landed right into the Master's chest. You gasped and moved forward again, your foot catching on something. It tumbled to the floor with a clang and you reached for the door, ready to run if the cyborg was drawn by the source of the noise. He was, based on the sound of his footsteps increasing once more, but you didn't get a chance to follow your plan through.

The Master snatched up your hand in a painful grip and slammed it into the wall. Another shot of pain reverberated through your bones, echoing off of his skin and back into you in waves. The resulting whimper was smothered by his other hand, which covered your mouth and pulled backward. You were completely pinned, your front pressed against the cold metal wall. But the rest of you was tucked in perfectly to his shape. You gasped against his fingers, breathing in his scent. Blood, mixed with something akin to motor oil, mixed with smoke.

“I'd ask if all of you are this stupid, but I know the answer” His hot breath fanned out against your neck, and the contrast in temperature between surfaces made you shudder.

Perhaps your brain was still filling in blanks- but you could swear you felt his fingers tense and flex against your hand. No, it was real; his fingers slowly slid down yours, creating a trail of tingling skin. You held your breath. His finger tips came to rest between your fingers. You could swear he pressed into you a little more, his other hand shifting and tightening around your face so that his fingers rested under your jaw and tilted your head backward.

You made no attempt to move; the cyborg was stomping right past the closet, and you were sure the Master would be able to feel every breath, every movement, every heartbeat. Unable to hold it any longer, you let out a heaving sigh against his hand, trying to take in enough air to replace it through your nose. You were impossibly dizzy now.

“Interesting” The Master murmured in your ear. Perhaps there was some sort of smart reply you could have given him. But your mind made no attempt to take advantage. The Master pushed his fingers through yours and curled them inward to rest against your palm. Without thinking, you followed suit until your fingers were interlocked together.

Your head, which felt as though it weighed more than the world itself, found support against the Masters shoulder. He seemed to be satisfied with this outcome, moving his hand from your jaw to trail down your neck. Your eyes moved back and forth wildly, as if there was some sense to be found in the pitch black surrounding you. At the very least, you recalled the orange rope.

”How d-did you-“ His smirk was almost audible.

“Do you really think something so archaic could hold me for this long?”

“Didn't seem like you were having that easy of a go earlier,” You panted. His fingers curled- on both hands, tightening his grip on your hand and applying pressure around your throat. You inhaled sharply, pushing back against him in a very small attempt to free yourself. Even if you had put real effort in, it would have been futile. The pressure increased, not enough to choke you but enough to throw you back into reality; to remind you of the position you'd put yourself in.

You had no idea where the Doctor was, or if she knew where you even could be at this point. Now, you were locked in some dingy cleaning closet with her greatest enemy-situationship-thing who could easily snap your neck if his very unstable mindset suddenly thought it would be fun to do.

“I could,” he whispered. You whimpered, chest rising and falling more quickly as your breath quickened, trying to take in as much air as possible before he snuffed it out. With each breath, you tried to push out a response.

“Are you-” reading my mind, is what you wanted to say. He hummed and dropped his hand from your throat to rest against your stomach. He turned his head closer to yours, breath passing over your lips.

“No,” He mumbled. “not all of it anyway. But it's rather hard not to skim the surface.”

His hand was so warm against your stomach, carrying the same sort of pull that had brought you against him in the first place. There were voices in the distance again, one that seemed as though it could be the Doctors. The Master hummed and your eyes screwed tight. Given the last several minutes, you really did not want him knowing even the surface of what was running through your mind. You wanted to push him away, push him into the hallway to be caught again. Maybe it would buy you some more time to get away.

But he was there, against you, all around you, picking at snippets of thoughts you couldn't help but focus on him. Her, too, as it was most certainly her voice you were hearing down the corridor. Should you focus on her instead? You had no idea what to do; the Doctor had never connected with you like this before. You weren't even aware she might have been able to 'skim' your thoughts and feelings. Another important detail she'd kept from you, and frustration pooled in your gut again. Could he feel it? his hand had not moved from your stomach. The two of you stood in silence, your bodies moving together as you breathed in sync.

“Let me in”

His mouth was so close. If you turned your head, your lips would meet. It was a new image flashing behind your eyes, the warmth in your stomach increasing to an embarrassing degree. No, no no. You couldn't be thinking this way. But there was a hum, some sort of low vibration, where he touched you, resting in the back of your skull.

It began to drown out everything else running through your mind, and you let out a small whine which seemed to be answered by a low groan and much louder hum. It was accompanied by a drumbeat, one not of your own making. Four beats, tapping away at the edges of your brain until they were pounding against it, making your next whine much louder. His hand pulled you to him tighter than you ever thought possible, even with the strength he had displayed earlier. You could feel yourself becoming lost in the hypnotic way your bodies moved together in short but deep breaths.

Hypnotic.

Your eyes shot open suddenly. Although the closet was still completely dark you could see red all around you, alarm bells ringing throughout your mind. You tried to pull away from him, beginning by prying your hand away from the wall and taking his with it. He grumbled something and pinned it behind your back instead, reaching out for your other hand. You twisted around, throwing him off his balance.

He lost his grip on you- the disadvantage being that you no longer had any strong sense of where he was in relation to you. There wasn't really anywhere he could go.

“I know what you're trying to do” You wheezed, suddenly breathing in more air than it felt like you'd had in years. Freed from his attempt at taking control, your mind was racing in panic.

“Do I have to try?” He spat. “Seems like I'm already in your head”

“You- “ You pushed your arms forward in an attempt to shove him, wherever he was. He grabbed a hold of you by your biceps and you cried out in frustration as he easily pinned you back against the wall.

“We both are,” Your stomach turned violently. Fighting the urge to heave, you swallowed down the rage, the want, coursing through your veins. You most certainly did not want him, and you couldn't want him. And you most certainly did not want her either, nor the thought of both of them swimming through your mind at the same time. They clearly had something far more intimate, far more dangerous, than anything she would ever have with you, and you wanted no part in it. You shouldn't, anyway.

His forehead rested against yours and you braced yourself for the humming to return. But he made no further attempt at entering your mind. You could smell the blood on his nose, some filter in your mind drowned out the sensation of his hands settling on your waist in order to seek out the Doctor's voice. She was calling your name down the corridor. Presumably, she'd dealt with the cyborg space pirates single-handedly and was now coming to find you.

“Go ahead” the Master instructed. He pulled away and once you caught your breath, you turned to open the door and call out to her. You reached for the knob, and jumped as the Master pulled you back.

The Doctor had thrown the door open before you could, the sonic screwdriver whirring in her hand. She looked between the two of you with wide eyes, still holding up the sonic like a dagger even though it had stopped calculating. The Master was behind you; you didn't dare look back.

The Doctor reached out, latching on to your arm, and roughly pulled you out of the closet and to her side. It was only then that you took him in again. The blood had dried against his cheek, his wrists red from where he had once been bound. He looked... awful. And yet he leaned against the door frame, using a hand to brush through his hair.

“Took you long enough”.

The Doctor had a white-knuckle grip on your arm, and she scowled at her oldest enemy. Without sparing you a glance, she commanded, through gritted teeth “Go back to the TARDIS”

When you stayed rooted to the spot, she repeated her command.

“I don't-” your face burned at the stammer in your voice. What did she think, having seen the two of you? He wasn't touching you. At that particular moment, anyway. Could she see the outer edges of your thoughts? The look she gave you sent the fear of god- probably every god that ever lived- through you. If the Masters eyes had been dark earlier, hers were a black hole, daring you to try to escape its pull. She was more than angry, clearly, But whether it was at you, the Master, or some combination of both was not apparent. You swallowed, trying not to tremble.

“I don't know where it is,” You clarified. The Doctor eased immediately, blinking away the oncoming storm brewing behind her eyes.

“Oh.”

The Master laughed, a loud and obnoxious noise that echoed through the entire corridor. The Doctor's scowl returned, though less intense than before. The Master stepped out of the closet, and she took a step back with you in turn. He was grinning, looking between the two of you. His eyes settled on where the Doctor held you captive to her side, and his grin turned into a smirk. He stepped forward again and this time, you didn't follow the Doctor as she stepped back.

He kept his eyes on her as he crept closer to you, reaching out to pinch your chin between his thumb and finger. Your face burned, heart hammering against your chest, unsure of just how far he would go in front of her. But he paid you no further attention as he spoke.

“You'd do best not to let this one get lost again, Doctor.” You couldn't look at her, praying repeatedly that she wouldn't look at you, either. Thankfully, you could tell out of the corner of your eyes that they were both focused on their primary targets. You breathed shakily, not wanting to speak or move or do anything that might give away the fear or longing that was suffocating you.

“You never know what trouble they might run into” It was then that he finally turned to you, bringing an unexpected wave of relief. He winked, and let go.

The Doctor made no move to follow him as he walked down the corridor, stepping over the body of a dismantled cyborg as he went. You stood completely still, knowing the world might completely turn around you if you moved.

The Doctor glanced at where she held your arm, and let go. She didn't meet your eyes. She began to walk in the opposite direction as the Master, and you followed wordlessly. Just as you were about to turn the corner, you twisted to glance back at him. But he was gone.

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