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Jane Smith was yelling at thin air again. That's what the servants were whispering in the halls. Jane Smith is yelling at thin air. The Doctor growled. The TARDIS was being particularly ornery, ever since that hack of an OBGYN suggested bedrest. The TARDIS hadn't taken kindly to the Doctor taking that order as a suggestion. As a result, the Doctor was left as an heiress in the middle of nowhere, England, with an entire backstory set up for her as an heiress. The Doctor was arguing with the TARDIS, of course, through a psychic link, but she couldn't very well tell all the servants that.
Bedrest wasn't necessary, the Doctor knew. The TARDIS knew this as well. What needed to be avoided was "strenuous exercise," however, and the TARDIS clearly didn't have enough faith in her to not take it easy while she was pregnant.
The Doctor sighed as she sat in a chair, reading a book with one hand absently on her stomach. At least the TARDIS had given her an alias with easy access to a library. She was still bored to tears, but at least she had options to read if she wanted to.
A knock sounded on the library door, as an elderly servant stuck her head in. "Jane, I see you've stopped yelling. Is it safe to bring in a new face that you'll be working with?"
"I suppose, Evelyn," the Doctor sighed, looking up from her book. "Who's the new face?" she asked.
Evelyn waved, and a very familiar face walked in. "Jane Smith, meet Doctor Koschei Orman," she said with a smile. "That's an odd name, Koschei."
"It's Indian," the Master said with a pained smile.
"Is it? Jane, you were in India eight months ago, weren't you? Do you know anything about that?"
"Can't say I do," the Doctor breathed, eyes not leaving the Master as she struggled to her feet. "Very nice to meet you, Dr. Orman."
Evelyn gave the Doctor an odd look, before hurriedly saying, "I'll leave you two to get to know each other and talk about the project," and dipping out of the room.
The Doctor sighed. The servants would undoubtedly be gossiping in a matter of minutes. She rested a hand on her belly and said icily, "What are you doing here?"
"Checking in on an old friend!" the Master said innocently. "We were together in India eight months ago. When I heard that you were here, well...I couldn't help but stop in."
"And pose as a doctor?" the Doctor asked incredulously.
"In biochemistry, not as an OBGYN," the Master said. "You won't have to...reveal anything to me, after all. Not like it would be anything new."
"That was a lapse in judgement from too much alcohol," the Doctor hissed.
"No, that was perfect manipulation, getting you tipsy and then giving you the sad eyes," the Master said with an exaggerated pout. "Come on. We both know you like the humans better than you like me, but if there's any chance that child is mine..."
"Children," the Doctor corrected, feeling an odd sense of vindication as she informed the Master of this. "Not child, children. Plural. Triplets, actually."
The Master paled, and the Doctor smirked. Maybe she'd have some fun while the Master was here, after all. "What, don't believe that your sperm count's high enough for that?"
She got a growl in response to that comment. She smirked. "You have any particular reason to be here, other than checking up on me? No plans to destroy the world?"
"I might take over the world in a week or so, if I feel like it," the Master said with a shrug. "Who knows?"
The Doctor sighed. "My doctors say I'm not supposed to participate in strenuous exercise while I'm pregnant, but if there's even a chance that you're going to take over the world, I'll kick your arse."
"Then I won't," the Master sighed. "After all, I don't need...my kids being hurt."
The Doctor was somewhat surprised. She didn't realize that the Master might have a soft side like this. "What, really?" she asked.
"Why is that so surprising?" the Master snapped.
"I just...you didn't seem like the type," the Doctor said.
"You may have run away from Gallifrey when you had a family, Doctor, but I did not," the Master said. "I never got to have a family, people out there who cared for me. They drove me mad, ostracized me. I was lucky that anyone in the halls even met my gaze."
The Doctor felt a little bit of guilt bloom inside her. Should she tell him? She knew who the father was...
And yet. He promised he wouldn't take over the world. She needed that. She couldn't fight him in this state. She just needed him to stay complacent for a month, until she delivered these babies. She had to make him believe, if only for a month. "Why don't you sit down?" she told him, gesturing to a chair in the library. "I was just reading. Surely there's something in here that can capture your interest."
"I doubt it," the Master said, but he sat down anyway, looking at the books on the side table next to him.
The Doctor sighed as she sat back down, picking up her book where she left off. This was the closest she could get to adventures, considering her current state. And while she might have been able to do the job better than any pulp fiction protagonist, she would take what she could get at this point.
The two uneasy allies for the moment sat, reading together. The Master had picked up a book on psychology and was engrossed. The Doctor looked up as Evelyn poked her head in. "Will you be taking your afternoon tea in here, ma'am?" she asked.
"Yes," the Doctor said. "And please make enough for Doctor Orman as well."
The Master looked up at her, surprised, as Evelyn left. "Why?" he asked.
"Can't have you declaring war on the Universe or me just because I didn't include you in tea time, now can I?" the Doctor asked. "Certainly not while I'm like this."
The Master looked perplexed. "I suppose not," he allowed. "I suppose not."
The Doctor just smiled benignly at him as Evelyn brought in the tea for both of them, as well as some biscuits. "Evelyn, you're an angel," the Doctor said, looking up at Evelyn with a grateful smile.
Evelyn smiled back. "Try and share the biscuits, Jane, dear," she said.
"I make no promises," the Doctor laughed.
The Master rolled his eyes behind Evelyn's back and the Doctor sent him a look. As Evelyn left, the Master took his tea and sipped at it. "Don't suppose there's anyone else who can be the father?" the Master asked.
The Doctor laughed. "Only one," she said. "And if you asked who, you'd never believe me."
"Not one of the humans?" the Master asked, looking disgusted.
The Doctor shook her head, taking a biscuit and biting into it, humming in delight as she continued to eat. "Not a human," she said. "No guys in my life except for you at that exact time, however."
The Master looked...not delighted, but he calmed some at that declaration. And the Doctor was well and truly scared about what this meant when he found out the truth...that her TARDIS was the father.