Author's Note: This is a little boring but I had to write it. This is my idea of how the phone conversation between the Master and the Doctor should have gone in The Sound of Drums. It should have been funnier and more revealing. =)

x Revealing More Than Necessary

"Let them go Saxon. Do you hear me? Let them go!" Martha yelled into the phone.

The startled Doctor and Jack quickly turned to her and the Doctor took the phone from her and put it on speaker.

"I'm here," the Doctor said and Martha and Jack gathered around the phone to listen.

"Doctor...," the Master whispered, almost with an air of admiration.

The whisper creeped Jack out a little.

"Master," the Doctor answered.

"I like it when you use my name," the Master said fondly.

That creeped out both Jack and Martha.

"You chose it," the Doctor said. "Psychiatrist's field day."

"As you chose yours. The man who makes people better. How sanctimonious is that?"

Jack and Martha both got a little angry with the tone the Master had when he criticised their Doctor.

"So, Prime Minister then?" the Doctor changed the subject back to the Master.

"I know! It's good, isn't it?" the Master uttered playfully.

"Yes, it's wonderful," the Doctor said dripping with sarcasm. "So just tell me what you're planning already," the Doctor said sitting down on a bench, weariness evident on his face. Martha and Jack sat on either side of him, listening intently.

"Oh, no no. I'm not going to make it easy this time. After all, telling you worked so well last time."

Jack and Martha were a little confused. Did the Doctor and the Master know each other? Last time? Meaning, they've done this before?

"I'm getting annoyed with playing this stupid game of yours," the Doctor sighed. "Why must we always play this game of Cat and Mouse?"

"Because I love chasing you," the Master stated with the playful tone of a child. "I'm going to catch my little mouse eventually."

"Can't you be serious for five minutes?" the Doctor was tapping his foot in annoyance.

"Of course not. That wouldn't be any fun," the Master said.

The Doctor sighed, rolling his eyes. He then rubbed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Oh! Oh! You just rolled your eyes at the phone didn't you?" the Master said like he was the only child in class who knew the right answer.

Jack and Martha leaned back and looked at each other behind the Doctor's back, both with a look of confused realization slowly creeping onto their faces.

The Doctor sighed again and let his chin drop to his chest, thoroughly annoyed with the Master's antics.

"You did, didn't you!" the Master said joyfully. "Oh, I know you too well. I love your reactions doctor, they never get old."

Martha and Jack both had looks of astonishment. They do know each other! They know each other quite well, apparently.

"Oh, how I wish I could see your face right now," the Master added. "Through all of your regenerations, your face when you see the things I've done is priceless. Even when we were kids, running through the red grass. I would start to push you around, just to see that hurt look on your face. It's your own fault for it happening so often. Always forgiving me no matter what I do. Are you going to do the same this time?"

"That's enough. Just stop this now. Whatever you're planning, just stop it, please," the Doctor begged.

"Will you forgive me?" the Master ignored the Doctor. "That is if you can stop me, this time. I'm pretty sure you won't. But then I'm always sure you won't, then you always do in some impossible and infuriating way. It's unfair," the Master sounded like a child that the Doctor just tattled on.

"So," the Master continued. "Am I on speaker? How are the Handsome Jack and the Lovely Martha?"

Martha ignored him.

Jack looked irritated but grumbled, "I've been better."

The Master snickered, amused with the little ape.

"Who are those creatures?" the Doctor asked, changing the subject. "'Cause there's no such thing as the Toclafane. That's just a made up name like the Bogeyman."

Martha and Jack looked at each other in confusion. They had no idea they weren't real creatures. So what were they?

"Do you remember all those fairy tales about the Toclafane when we were kids? Back home?" the Master asked by way of avoiding the question. "Where is it, Doctor?"

"Gone," the Doctor said sadly.

"How can Gallifrey be gone?"

"It burned."

"And the Time Lords?"

"Dead," the Doctor answered. "And the Daleks, more or less."

Jack and Martha looked at the Doctor then and felt a strong wave of sympathy for him. They were still weirded out about the Doctor and the Master knowing each other but they didn't like how this conversation was going. They continued to listen anyway.

"What happened to you?" the Doctor added.

"The Time Lords only resurrected me because they knew I would be the perfect warrior for a Time War."

Martha and Jack were startled and confused by that revelation. Resurrected? As in "from the dead"? They looked at each other again. The slight looks of disgust on their faces made the Doctor feel a bit uneasy about letting them hear this conversation.

"I was there when the Dalek Emperor took control of the Cruciform. I saw it, I ran. I ran so far," the Master continued.

Jack suddenly had a smug look on his face, like he knew it. He knew the Master was a coward.

"Made myself human, so they would never find me because...," the Master hesitated and added, "I was so scared."

"I know," the Doctor said with understanding.

"All of them?" the Master asked. "But not you. Which must mean..."

Jack felt a small surge of fear at what he was sure the Master was going to say next only to be startled by the Doctor saying it instead.

"I was the only who could end it," the Doctor stated. "And I tried. I did, I tried everything."

"What did it feel like though?" the Master wondered. "Two almighty civilizations, burning. Oh, tell me. How did that feel?"

"Stop it!" the Doctor demanded, getting angry.

"You must have been like God," the Master almost moaned with pleasure as he said it.

Jack felt a bizarre mixture of fear and awe. He was even more amazed by the Doctor and what he could do. Now he loved the man even more, even if it was for something the Doctor was far from proud of.

Martha had a similar feeling, except it was mostly fear and amazement but also sadness for what the Doctor was forced to do.

"I've been alone ever since," the Doctor said. "But not any more. Don't you see? All we've got is each other."

"Are you asking me out on a date?"

"You could stop this right now. We could leave this planet. We could fight across the constellations, if that's what you want. But not on Earth," the Doctor said vehemently, almost begging.

Jack and Martha were startled by what the Doctor said. The fact that the Doctor was offering to basically conquer the Universe with the Master was a scary thing. It was good that they would leave the Earth alone but that also meant that the Doctor would disappear from their lives. Jack didn't want the Doctor to disappear again, not with some creepy Time Lord who would take over a planet without a second thought and seemed to be obsessed with the Doctor. It worried them both, the way the Master was going after the Earth just to get at the Doctor, it was sickening.

"Too late," the Master mumbled.

Jack and Martha both felt a slight wave of relief but then it was replaced by fear because it meant that the Master was still going to fight. On Earth.

"Why do you say that?" the Doctor asked.

"The drumming."

They heard the Master tapping out a rhythm of four beats.

"Can't you hear it? I thought it would stop but it never does," the Master continued. "It never ever stops. Inside my head. The drumming, Doctor. The constant drumming."

"I can help you," the Doctor begged. "Please, let me help?"

"It's everywhere. Listen, listen, listen," the Master said. "Here come the drums."

Jack just tallied up another reason not to trust the man, now he was a nutcase with drums in his head who was after the Doctor and World Domination.

Martha was even more scared at the sure sign of psychopathy.

They heard the Master tap out more of the four beat rhythm.

"Here come the drums."

They noticed a homeless man a few yards away, tapping a four beat rhythm on his leg.

"What have you done?" the Doctor asked. "Tell me how you've done this. I know you're a brilliant hypnotist but this is on a scale that even you couldn't pull off without a lot of help."

"Oh, you underestimate me, Doctor," the Master said. "But you're right I did get some help, I'm a Master at persuading people to give me what I want."

"Okay," the Doctor thought to himself. "That means he's used only resources from Earth."

"Except you," the Master added, more to himself than to the Doctor. "Can't seem to get you no matter what I do."

"That's because I know you too well to trust looking you in the eye."

The Master gasped and said sarcastically, "Oh, you wound me, Doctor."

The Doctor got up, obviously frustrated, "What are those creatures? Tell me!"

"Oh, look you're on TV," the Master changed the subject again.

"Stop it! Answer me!"

"No, really. You're on the telly. You and your little band. Which, by the way, is ticking every demographic box so congratulations on that. Well there you are."

Jack and Martha both looked scared, they got up and followed the Doctor to a store window and looked at the TV that was sitting in it and they saw their own faces on the national news channel.

"You're public enemies number one, two and three." the Master continued. "Oh, and Handsome Jack, I've sent your little gang off on a wild goose chase to the Himalayas. So you won't be getting any help from them."

Jack sighed as his heart sank. Now he really hated the Master.

"Now go on, off you go. Why not start by turning to the...right?" the Master asked.

They all turned and saw a security camera trained on them.

"He can see us," the Doctor muttered, pulled out his sonic screwdriver and disabled the camera, making it spark.

"Oh! You public menace!" the Master said. "Better start running. Go on, Run!"

"He's got control of everything...," the Doctor mumbled, more to himself than to Jack and Martha.

"What do we do?" Martha asked, still staring at the TV.

"We've got nowhere to go," Jack stated.

Martha looked at the Doctor and demanded, "Doctor! What do we do?"

"Run, Doctor!" they heard the Master say. "Run for your life!"

"We run," the Doctor acknowledged.

They heard the Master yell one last thing before the Doctor hung up.

"I said, RUN!"

So they ran.

END