THE ADVENTURES OF THE DOCTOR'S AMAZING HAND

Chapter Twenty Nine

The Master paced back and forth in his office, fuming that now there were two of the Doctor's companions running around making trouble for him. He glanced at the empty jar and silently amended his thought to three. He slammed his hand down on his desk.

"Nobody makes a fool of me. I swear I'll make them all pay!" he said aloud.

He looked over when his wife entered the room.

"Yelling isn't going to help anything, Harry," she said.

"I know that but it makes me feel better," he said. "I'm sick and tired of the Doctor getting the upper hand all the time. I aged the bastard in order to control him and yet he still finds ways to defy me."

"Then kill him."

The Master sighed angrily.

"I can't kill him, Lucy," he said in a patronizing tone of voice. "I want him to watch the start of my intergalactic war. Once he sees that all his so-called protection of the universe has been for naught and knows that I've finally won at last, then…I'll kill him."

"Then you're a fool, Harry."

The Master stared at her, stunned.

"Excuse me, I'm what now?" he said, not sure if he heard her right.

"A fool," Lucy replied.

The Master slowly came around the desk towards her.

"I don't believe that was called for," he said, glaring at her. "I believe that was completely out of line, Lucy."

"Well, it's the truth, Harry. You're an idiot for keeping that man alive and allowing him the chance to get the upper hand and…"

She was cut off mid-sentence when the Master slammed his fist into her mouth. Lucy was flung back against the wall and grunted when her spine hit it. The Master followed her and slammed his body against hers.

"I will not tolerate betrayal!" he snarled at her.

"I'm not betraying you, I'm trying to tell you the truth and…"

The Master hit her in her left eye.

"No, you're not telling me the truth. I will triumph over the Doctor and I won't hear any differently from anyone. Not my captives, not my guards and certainly not YOU!"

The Master smirked at the look of death Lucy was giving him.

"What's wrong, Sweetie? Don't like your punishment? You know it's only because I love you sooo much that I have to correct your behavior. You have to be cruel to be kind, yeah?"

Lucy grunted when he grabbed her upper arms and slammed her again into the wall before leaning in and mashing his mouth on hers. Lucy tried to struggle out of his grip but he was too powerful. She grunted through her nose when the Master slammed his body against hers and kissed her even more forcefully before he finally drew his head back. She gasped when he seized her throat and got in close, his eyes dark and menacing.

"You are my wife which means you will support and obey me and that means you will never, ever again refer to me as an idiot or a fool, is that clear, my love?"

Lucy swallowed hard and nodded.

"Good because it would oh so easy to take control of your mind and turn you into my puppet and I don't think you want that, do you?"

Lucy shook her head. The Master smirked and let go of her.

"Get out of here. I want to be alone for the moment," he said to her.

Lucy nodded and hurried out of the room while the Master let out a snort of contempt.

"Bloody humans, weak minded, the lot of em," he muttered as he walked over to his decanter of brandy to pour himself a drink.

The Doctor sat outside his tent eating some chicken soup from a Styrofoam bowl. The guards had given him that along with two ham sandwiches and a juice box. Usually he was fed only one meal a day consisting of the soup, one sandwich and a juice box, but occasionally he would keep a sandwich and use it for another meal so he would have a bit more to enjoy. As he ate, he heard the door opening and lowered the bowl slightly when he saw Lucy closing the door and turning to face him. His eyebrow rose when he noticed her black eye and split lip. He said nothing, however, and went back to drinking his soup. He still ignored her even when she walked over to his side. He calmly took another sip of soup while Lucy stood over him and watched him quietly.

"You think you're so great, don't you?" she finally said.

The Doctor sighed softly through his nose, sat down the bowl of soup and looked up at her.

"Say what you have to say so I can finish my soup before it gets cold," he said to her.

"You won't get away with this," Lucy said.

"Won't get away with what?" the Doctor replied.

"Whatever it is you're planning," she said, bending down next to him. "You can't fool me, old man. You sit there pretending to do nothing but you're planning something, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am. I'm planning to eat my sandwiches after I finish my soup," he replied.

He shrugged when Lucy gave him a look of death.

"I'm telling you the truth," he said to her. "And I'll tell you another truth on top of it. The Master is not a nice guy. I'm sure you've figured that out by now since he apparently roughed you up. I'm guessing he's the one who did it since you would have sounded the alarm if Jack or any of the other captives did it to you."

Lucy fell into an embarrassed silence for a few seconds.

"Harry did do this but it was only to correct me," she said.

"Why?"

"Because I doubted him. I told him that you would eventually triumph over him and he punished me for doubting him. And…he was right; I was an idiot to doubt him."

The Doctor shook his head.

"Lucy, you seem like an intelligent woman. You're not under his control, at least not hypnotically, so why are you here? You have to understand that the Master doesn't love anyone but himself. Everybody and everything is a tool, a means to an end, and that includes you. He doesn't have your best interests at heart. He'll use you and either abandon you in the end or kill you."

"No, Harry wouldn't kill me. He wouldn't do either one," Lucy said in a shaky voice.

"Lucy, I know him better than you do. I've fought him for centuries and I know his method of doing things. I don't know why he felt he had to marry you, perhaps he felt he needed a wife while he pretended to be prime minister, but there is a reason and it's not love. A loving husband doesn't beat his wife. Wake up and smell the coffee because you're in over your head here."

He noticed her thinking that over and his spirits lifted as he realized that he might be able to convince her to become an ally. He took her hands in his.

"Lucy, please," he pleaded, "please listen to me. Trust me. I'm not the villain here. Look all around you. Look at what he did to your planet. Listen to what he says. All this talk of conquering the Earth, is that how a sane man talks? I can help you. I can protect you but you have to trust me and turn away from him."

"No, I can't."

"Lucy, please, before you end up dead, do the right thing and help me to end all this."

"No!" Lucy said, jerking her hands away and getting up. "I've made my choice, for better or for worse. I'm married to Harry and I'm going to honor my vows."

"But will he honor his vows?" the Doctor countered. "You're making a huge mistake and I guarantee you'll live to regret it."

"No, it's you who'll live to regret it. You'll live to regret the day you tried to defy my husband," she said, straightening her spine and giving him a haughty look.

She smirked at his meager meal.

"I bid you goodnight, Doctor. I'm going to eat a nice meal with Harry. Enjoy your sandwiches and soup."

Lucy spun on her heel and walked back towards the door.

"Could you warm my soup back up then? It went cold while you were in here bothering me," the Doctor said to her.

Lucy ignored him. She opened the door, went through it and closed it. The Doctor shook his head sadly when he heard the door behind locked and went back to eating his meal.

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