Title: Time and Time Again
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: gen & one-sided Master/Doctor
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 1, 50ficlets
Prompt: 11, Abused
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the Tenth Doctor. Please do not sue.

***

The Doctor stumbled into the Tardis, letting the door swing shut behind him and making his way across the floor of the control room. He collapsed on the couch against the wall, raising a hand to his forehead and closing his eyes.

Yet another time that he'd managed to escape from the Master, outwit that wily bastard and get back to his ship. He'd come too close this time, he thought, wincing at the memory of the last two days. He'd thought that he might not make it back at all.

Each successive bout with the Master was worse and worse. If this kept up, the body he was in now would be too damaged to continue.

The Doctor shuddered at the thought. He didn't want to regenerate into a new body. He liked the one he had now; it had hardly been used, and he wasn't ready to give it up. He certainly wasn't ready to be forced into a regeneration.

Besides, this body was attractive. He'd never had that before, and he didn't want to lose it. He'd never felt that he was worthy of anyone's attention in a physical way until he'd had this body. It was a good feeling, one that he didn't want to lose.

Of course, that was part of the problem -- the fact that the Master seemed so much more attracted to this body than he had to any of the others the Doctor had been in. His pursuit was getting more and more dogged, and it was harder to avoid him now.

Avoidance had never been easy, not with the vendetta that the Master had always seen fit to carry out on him. But now .... the Master seemed to be hunting him down with a vengeance, intent on bending the Doctor to his will.

He hadn't managed to do that yet -- but the Time Lord feared that the day would come when he was forced to give in, when he couldn't take the pressure any more.

The physical abuse that he had to withstand would become too much for his body to take -- and he would either have to give in to it, or face destruction. Which could be in the form of regeneration -- or death. A death that he wouldn't choose.

No, it would be regeneration if it was anything. He wasn't going to throw his life away. But neither was he going to put himself in the path of danger, not if he could help it. It was part of his duty as a Time Lord, but there were limits.

The Doctor smiled wryly at the thought; he'd already put himself in danger simply by being what he was. He had to expect abuse like this; it was part and parcel of protecting the universe. And if he had to sacrifice himself to do so, then he would.

He'd even do it willingly -- to a point. But if he didn't have to give up this body, he wouldn't. He was determined to keep it for as long as he possibly could. That was one sacrifice he would fight to the last minute to keep from making.

Still, if it came down to that, he'd have to do what was needed. But he'd do it regretfully, he knew that. Even if it brought the Master's wrath down on him.

He was certainly suffering enough of that in this body, he told himself, sitting up with a sigh and moving his hands down his body. He didn't think he'd been damaged too badly; it just felt as though he had. He'd recover soon enough.

But it was getting harder and harder to be sure he'd recover each time he and the Master squared off against each other. Sooner or later, there would be a decisive battle -- and there was no way of knowing which one of them would be the ultimate victor.

The Doctor sighed as he got to his feet, making his way slowly towards the corridor that led to his bedroom. He needed to give himself time to rest and recuperate, to be sure that his body healed from what he'd so recently been through.

And then he'd have to go through it time and time again, whenever he and the Master met.

As he made his way down the corridor, he couldn't help thinking that he was just as culpable as the Master for putting himself through this abuse. Hadn't he learned anything about avoiding this, about giving in when he knew that he was fighting a losing battle?

No. He would never do that. His small hands clenched into fists at his sides, his mouth thinning into a grim line. He would never let the Master win, never let that maniac get the better of him. No matter what he had to do to prevent it from happening.

If he had to sacrifice himself or keep taking a lifetime of abuse, he would do it. Because he was a Time Lord -- not only by destiny, but by choice. And he wasn't going to let the Master -- or anyone else -- take that away from him.

***