On their way back to the TARDIS Roka finally started to feel the exhaustion. Her steps slowed down increasingly, her head foggy and her eyes barely able to stay open.

"It's only a few minutes away," the Master snickered at her and Roka cursed quietly at his superior biology.

"Just a second," she panted and leaned against a tree.

Her head hurt and she wondered how it could be so warm, although it was still in the middle of the night. The mark on her chest hurt and had also started to burn like fire on her skin. Maybe the little bit of alcohol she had drunk hadn't been such a good idea after all. Small black spots started to dance in front of her eyes and when the Master let out a sarcastic remark she could only stare at him questioning, because the sound didn't reach her ears. Instead there was only a louder growing high pitched noise filling out her head.

All she saw was the Master suddenly reaching out to her, before everything vanished into blackness.

"Typical... I make an effort and you just drop dead," he remarked snidely as he caught her mid-fall.

Just unconscious, he noted relieved. But her body temperature was way too high, even for human standards. He placed a hand on her forehead and grumbled, before her threw Roka over his shoulder like a sandbag and covered the rest of the way to the TARDIS.

Whatever her stupid body was concocting he sure as hell wouldn't let her die now.

"Weird little human," the Master murmured to himself. "What have you done to me?"

----------------------------

She awoke with a start, breathing heavily, heart still racing from a strange dream she couldn't even remember anymore. Or had it been real? Maybe she was dead after all. It was so dark and her head felt heavy and dizzy. And it was incredibly cold, despite the blankets, so much that her body started shaking violently.

After a while she got the idea that opening her eyes might help. It took a while until they got used to the darkness and she could make out a few shapes. This was... her room in the TARDIS. How had she gotten back into it?

Something was off though. She couldn't point at it for a while, being distracted by the cold shivers. But then she saw it. There was a shadow where none should be. A vague silhouette of a person sitting next to her on the bed, head resting on folded arms on his knees. Was he sleeping?

It wasn't that dark, now that her eyes had adjusted. Lots of her souvenirs emitted light and faintly illuminated the room. She saw a bunch of opened packages of different meds lying on the floor, a roll of bandages, blood soaked tissues and other stuff.

Confused she looked down and found herself wearing a different shirt. The wound had been cleaned and bandaged.

"You're not supposed to be awake yet," came a low voice.

Roka carefully sat up and clenched her teeth at the pain, still shaking.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice a bit croaky. "And why is it so cold?"

The Master stretched out a hand to feel her forehead and cursed. He flung himself from the bed and got a glass of water and a few pills, reaching both to Roka. After a short, skeptic glance she swallowed it down, but still kept her eyes on him. He looked... tired. What in itself was strange enough.

"The wound got infected." He ran a hand over his face and blinked a few times. "I'm not a medic, no idea what helps best. It's just... antibiotics. Stronger than those from earth though." As he saw her still shaking he sighed. "That planet's days were a lot longer than what you're used to."

"I noticed."

"Well... lack of sleep, alcohol, stress, blood loss... effectively killed your immune system." With strangely slow movements he leaned towards her and placed his hand back onto her forehead. "Oh, and blood poisoning too. Cause you idiot decided to stay there instead of getting cleaned."

Roka grinned tiredly. "That was worth it." She tilted her head. Who knows how things might have gone otherwise. "At least if it doesn't kill me."

"Not when treated properly. But your body temperature is dropping rapidly right now. That's why you're freezing. So get your stupid human head back under those covers," he grumbled. "No idea how you guys manage to stay alive for even a day."

She tightened the blankets around her shoulders. "You don't look much better. Never thought I would ever see a tired Time Lord."

A faint smile whizzed over his face. "Never thought I would ever try to heal someone. You were out for quite a while."

"Thanks." She smiled vaguely. "But I don't think I'll drop dead if you get some sleep." Another shiver ran through her, making her doubt her own words. She nodded towards the spot where he had sat before. "Can't convince you anyway."

Slowly he sat down and yawned. Roka took the opportunity and moved to his side. She felt bad and cold and didn't want to be alone. And her head was way too foggy to think about this too much.

"Sleep, idiot."

"Not if you don't," she protested.

He chuckled lightly. "I'm way more robust than you, silly."

"Mhm, maybe... do that pills work? I'm still freezing."

Suddenly he grabbed her blanket and tore it away, before he pushed Roka down and then lay next to her, putting the covers over them both. "Since you insist." He grinned smug at her perplex face. "Did you know we can regulate our body temperature?"

"Good for you." Roka huffed and wanted to plainly turn away from him. But she decided against it and instead crawled a bit closer to snuggle against his chest. He indeed was a lot warmer than usually and she almost instantly stopped shivering. "That's really convenient," she mumbled smiling and clutched his shirt. "Can I keep you?"

A silent chuckle reverberated through him and he slid an arm under Roka to pull her even a bit closer. Her foggy mind realized how it didn't feel weird. Although, not long ago and this would have scared her. But now she couldn't imagine anything better and would have given a lot to stay like this forever. To just listen to the soothing sound of his heartbeats until sleep overtook her again.

----------------------------

The next time Roka awoke she felt a lot better and well rested. Even the pain had gotten less. She was alone though, making her wonder if she had dreamed everything up. The thought made her grin. That would have been a really weird dream.

Carefully she sat up and her gaze fell onto the table where a glass of water stood, next to two pills and a small piece of paper. "Drink!" was written onto it, accompanied by a grumpy looking smiley that made her giggle.

She drank it and went to take a long, hot shower. In front of the mirror she then observed the mark on her chest, tracing the cuts with a finger. Seemed like it was the right time to finally learn Gallifreyan script. It wasn't as big as it had first seemed, a bit smaller than her palm and she had rather small hands. And it still hurt, making her frown. Such a stupid thing to do. But now it was there and being mad wouldn't help it.

Bandaging herself was a small challenge, but she sure as hell wouldn't ask for help. It also reminded her that she hadn't worn a bra anymore when she had woken up, making her blush all over. It didn't help to know that he couldn't have bandaged her otherwise.

Not much later she slid into the kitchen to get some coffee. There she also found the Master, a cup of tea in hands and staring at the ceiling in thoughts. A smirk appeared on his face when he noticed her.

"Really... sick or not, how can you sleep so much?" he mocked.

"Easiest way to get rid of you," Roka countered. "It's so nice and quiet."

"Tch, I bet you just want to dream of me."

Roka wrinkled her nose to show disgust and earned a chuckle. The Master set aside his cup, before he grabbed her shirt and took a look at the bandage. "Oh, you're not as useless as I though. Keep it clean." He flicked her forehead. "Coffee?"

"Uhm, yeah... was planning to make one." She automatically moved to the counter, but the Master shoved her back, brewing some himself. Roka looked at him with tilted head. "I'm not sure I trust this," she finally said. "You being nice is always... creepy."

She couldn't see what exactly he was doing, but the smell that hit her nose shortly after was amazing. Finally he turned around, handing her a cup on a small plate. "Maybe I just enjoy bragging." He winked at her, before turning to the Star Trek food machine, pushing some buttons. "You need some... proteins... vitamins..."

"Uh... what?" Roka blinked confused. "Oh... food, yes, good idea. But I can do that myself." She giggled and pushed him away, letting the machine produce some bacon and egg sandwiches and a glass of orange juice, that she downed promptly. "There. Perfect breakfast."

The Master raised an eyebrow, shrugged and then simply left the room. Roka followed, while hungrily devouring the sandwiches, only now realizing that she hadn't eaten since they had left the planet­.

She let out a small noise of surprise when they entered the console room. It was completely littered with all kinds of components, gadgets, screws and whatnot. He obviously was building something. After both sandwiches were gone she blew at the coffee and took a sip, letting out a deep sigh.

"Seriously, you're so in the wrong profession." She took another sip. It was delicious. "People would bury you in money just to get a coffee like that."

A satisfied smirk wandered to his face as he picked up the small device he had been working on. Only to put it down again to rummage around in his pocket. As he finally made a find he approached Roka.

"Since you will stay... I guess it won't hurt to give this back to you."

And he held out a small key to her. The same one he had made her hand over months ago. For a long moment she could only stare at it. Not even the Doctor had ever given her one, although she had no idea if he forgot because of the glitch, or if he had simply never fully trusted her. In the end Roka had stolen one. Not out of ill intend, but to be able to return even if he forgot about her during their travels. And now the Master put it into her hand, closing her fingers around it with a smile.

"I also reversed your intruder state. Everything back to normal."

"Are... are you sure?" She still stared at the key. "I know my ways around here."

"So do I. Make any trouble and I'll take it back." He grinned meanly at her.

Roka smiled happily and leaned against the console while sipping at her coffee. "What are you building?" She nodded towards the mess.

"Thinking about that Vortex Manipulator gave me some ideas..." He picked his work back up and unscrewed some parts. "Regeneration is a nice thing, but not always possible... so..." With a tug he ripped away some small conductors. "An emergency teleport could be quite handy. Tied to my life signs."

"Wouldn't that be... uhm... useless?"

"Not since I got everything together for a proper resurrection." He threw the gadget behind him and picked up the next one.

"Resurrection?" Roka wasn't sure if he was joking or not.

"Mhm... Time Lord invention. But not easy to do. You need the essence of the person, which can be easily stored inside a crystal. A biometric imprint, in case you don't have a body at hand. And some life force... alternatively a fanatic cult." He snickered. "Idiots."

"Right... you still look the same." She remembered the Doctor telling her the Master had refused to regenerate. She giggled. "So, you're basically a zombie."

The Master let out a laugh and grinned over to her, putting another gadget into her hands. "There, make yourself useful and get out those chips. "He pointed at a few. "Or I'll eat your brain."

"Would technically not even be cannibalism," Roka laughed and started to dismantle the thing.

When she was done the Master put a hand-full of parts next to her. "I need an isolated Grampid-conductor. Double spiraled and cross-wired." He observed her closely while saying that, what made her grin.

Not even ten minutes later she handed him the result, seeing him observing it with an astounded look. "I should stop underestimating you."

She just grinned. "How about another coffee as payment?"

"Was it that good?" He laughed. "I just mixed random stuff together."

"Well... "She emptied the rest. "You'll have to make another one to try it." A roguish grin sat on her face.

The Master looked up, then at the empty mug, then suddenly grabbed Roka's collar and pushed her against the console. And before she could even react to that he already kissed her, letting her heart rate skyrocket. But he was gone too fast to let her do anything.

"You're right... tastes good." He grinned and let go of her, before leaving the room.

"Damn you," Roka cursed at him, when he came back. "If you surprise me like that more often I'll end up getting a heart attack one day."

He let out a laugh and sat both of the cups he held onto the console, before he stepped back in front of Roka. "Now, that would be a shame, wouldn't it?" Slowly he snaked an arm around her waist to pull her against him. His other hand was above her heart the next moment. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of that silly thing."

Being held like that actually made it only worse. But at the same time Roka was glad that he hadn't decided to 'forget about it' again. Although that thought also didn't let her heart rate drop.

He grinned at her flushed face. He was so close to her face that his lips brushed against hers, making a shiver run down her spine. "My, my. Is it that bad?" He pulled her tighter against him, as if the mere thought of any space between them was bothersome. Roka didn't protest and leaned into his next kiss, savoring every second of it. If it were for her they wouldn't ever need to stop this. Her hands clasped his shirt to pull herself still a bit closer even.

Eventually he let go of her. "Not so greedy. There's enough of me for the rest of time."

Roka smiled at his smug grin, but then she noticed his eyes slightly twitching. Not much, but noticeable enough. "Maybe not that long," she mumbled.

His grin faded, but not completely. "Told you to not waste any worries on it. Sure, it's getting worse a lot faster than usual... but I won't give in to the drums for as long as I can."

"Is there nothing I can do?" Roka asked hopefully.

"No..." A warm smile was in his eyes though as he cupped her chin. "But you're a great distraction." He leaned down to her once more, but retreated when Roka came closer, letting her chase him for a bit, before he let her go and stuck out his tongue at her. "Speaking of distraction..." He took up his work again. "I will teach you to fight." A quick glance wandered over her. "You're pretty weak, but small and agile. That can be a great advantage."

"Uhm... I'm... not sure I want to fight," Roka blinked at him perplex.

"But I want you to be able to defend yourself." He pointed his screwdriver at her. "Since you won't blow up reality there is no need to avoid danger anymore. Well... I will stop trying." He chuckled and put some wires onto the board he had built. A few movements later and Roka saw the air distort around it, before it was gone. All that was left was a tiny translucent capsule.

"I guess you can't resurrect humans then," Roka pondered.

"Nope. Not possible."

She watched fascinated how he put the capsule into a small cannula that was filled with a green glowing liquid. Then he pulled up his sleeve and injected the stuff into his lower arm, where the liquid made his veins glow for a while, letting them pulsate, and distort his face in obvious pain, before it eventually vanished. "Ugh... unpleasant, to say the least."

Roka stroked a finger over the spot, intrigued by how nothing was palpable. When she looked up she met his eyes and he smiled warm and cheeky. It was such an honest expression she felt her heart literally jump, making her hastily look away again. Why was this happening all of a sudden? It made her fidgety and she grabbed one of the components to play around with it, just to keep her hands busy. She also took a step aside to get some distance between them.

"A galaxy for what is going through your head right now." The Master snickered.

Roka pointedly looked away, feeling her head getting warm, and her heartbeat was way too fast again. She felt his gaze on her, what made it even worse and she tried hard to ignore him, rotating the small component in her hands. Then she remembered the coffee and busied herself drinking it.

After a while she risked a look and saw him building a new thing.

"More teleports?" she asked to keep her mind from being stupid.

"Not quite. I'm modifying this Vortex Manipulator." He nodded towards the device that was lying nearby Roka and she took it up to observe it. Last time she had seen one had been on Captain Jack's wrist. Until now she hadn't even been aware that there was one inside the TARDIS. "So far I extended its reach, made it rechargeable by energy blasts and even sunlight. Not recommended, would take ages. And... if this thing here is done, I can implement the TARDIS' translation matrix into it."

The thing also reminded her unpleasantly of the stupid game the Master had proposed to her down on that planet. It made her frown and instinctively put a hand above the mark.

"No, don't worry," he said reassuringly. "No games. But I thought you might want to use it anyway."

Perplex Roka looked up, suddenly feeling slightly uneasy. "I'm not your puppet," she mumbled. "Training me to fight, modifying the VM... you're planning something with me... and I'm not sure I'd like it."

He stepped in front of her and took the device to screw open its back and insert a tiny chip. He then slid it onto Roka's wrist and activated it. She froze, her heart suddenly racing for a whole bunch of different reasons than before. Right now he could send her away, somewhere to an unknown location, trapping her there. Her hand clenched to a fist.

"Seems like I have to shorten the straps," he said more to himself. "But it's working fine." Then he looked up and saw her worried face, his eyes wandering back to the device and he seemed to understand. A smile wandered to his face. "I won't send you anywhere before you don't know how to return." Careful not to hurt her, he tapped on the mark on her chest. "And if you ever get lost, I can find you."

Relieve flooded her and she sighed. "Right, a psychic link. Your younger self told me," she explained at his questioning look. "Still... what am I supposed to do with it?"

"Well..." He grinned widely. "Building an intergalactic black market will take some time... and I can't run around forever salvaging valuables." His fingers loosened the device from her wrist again. "And since you like exotic places and danger so much... I thought I could use you to do some errands."

Roka's eyes widened excitedly. "Really? When? Where? How do I use this thing?" She tried to snatch back the Vortex Manipulator, but the Master held it out of her reach.

"Not so fast." He laughed at her. "And not before I can fully trust you."

Perplex she opened her mouth to