for best_served_hot Every night he had bad dreams...

[quitehomoerotic]

It had been months since then. Months since the Valiant and the terrible events that occurred upon it. It had been months of rebuilding a life. Torchwood, his team, his people.

But every night. Every night without fail. He dreamt.

No, not dreams. Dreaming sounded like too nice a word. He had nightmares. Terrible nightmares.

He did his best to ignore them, or at least get used to them, and sometimes he even managed it. He did his best to push aside the memories of that year that never was, and of the pain and terror. To forget the face of the man who caused it all. But it never was that easy.

Some nights would be easier. The nights forcing himself to stay awake or better the nights he spent with Ianto. It stilled his mind and sometimes he could even relax. But they'd still be there, tickling away at the back of his mind, reminding him that they were there. Reminding him of just what happened.

He'd even, on an occasion or two, gone to the point of taking pills to steady his mind. They worked, at least for a while.

But nothing could work for long, and when he slept, he knew to expect it, and to expect he'd wake in a sweat.

And he expected that now. Alone in the Hub at the end of a long day, lying in bed and waiting. He closed his eyes, and he knew they'd come.

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[best-served-hot.livejournal.com]

A different approach. Yes, that's what was needed. Of course it was quite enjoyable to tromp down memory lane and dig up all kinds of horrible memories but he was getting bored. Boredom was never good, especially while he was in this state of existence and could do nothing to dispel it.

But he also had to remain patient, and that wasn't something he was exactly known for being, so what to do tonight? Keep it light, he thought as he flitted along his synapses, hiding in that dark abyss lurking in Jack's mind. Oh, how he loved that little spot. He wondered if Jack knew it was there. If he were to delve his hands into it would they come away crimson? He wanted to find out so badly but no, restraint was needed and he would see this through to fruition.

So when Jack falls asleep, he waits, letting him believe that this night might be different before he's there with him on the bed. His body doesn't jostle the bed and he simply watches from where he propped himself up on his side, head on his hand.

"I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to come to bed, darling."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Falling asleep wasn't easy for Jack. Not when he knew what was coming. But fall asleep he must, and fall asleep he did. He couldn't stop his body from drifting where it had to go.

His mind opened up as sleep overtook, and he saw darkness. The darkness that so often gave way to those dreams. He waited for it. Waited for the memories or the switch.

But this night, it didn't come. This night he heard a voice.

You're not here he thought as he twitched slightly in his sleep. You're not real. You're dead.

[best-served-hot.livejournal.com]

The Master chuckled softly, still watching. "Oh yes, that nasty little affair on the Valiant. Always the women, didn't I mention that?" he asked. Let him think it was only playing off his own memories of the event. Let him believe that for now.

"I'm not very dead in here now, though am I? You keep dreaming about me, our time together. Do you miss me?"

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack tossed a little in his sleep, murmuring slightly against his pillow.

Just a nightmare, he insisted. He had to insist. He had to believe it. You're nothing. Jack hated these moments, the times when his mind seemed to flit between reality and dreams. Part of him could be so sure of it, so sure it was real. So very certain that what he was hearing in his mind wasn't a work of his own imagination.

But that was just the dreams talking. Just the idle fantasies of a nightmare.

[best-served-hot.livejournal.com]

"You haven't answered my question." he said, voice hard. He wanted to make this worse, wanted to tear him to bits like he had during that Year. That glorious Year.

But not yet.

"We spent so much time together, something of me was bound to rub off on you."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack didn't want to give into his nightmares. He didn't want to acknowledge the dreams as though they were real. He didn't want to do that because he didn't want the dreams to get worse. He didn't want to let them take hold. And he knew that's how they did.

But he couldn't stop himself.

You didn't get to me like that, he told the voice. You wasted your time.

[best-served-hot.livejournal.com]

That's it, he thought. Fighting is good. Feed the delusion. It would only make him stronger in the end, after all.

Another soft laugh.

"I wasted my time? I'm not really here, remember? Just some horrible part of your past that you keep dredging up. If he, the Master, were actually here I do believe he'd be quite tickled at this whole scenario."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack heard the sound of faint laughter echo around his mind. It sent a shiver along his spine. Not real. Not real. Just his mind playing tricks on him, that's all. That's all it could be.

He tried to focus, but he was too far gone into sleep to do that. He tossed again in the bed and the thin sheet that covered him had almost been thrown off with a frantic movement that his sleeping mind was barely aware of.

Just my mind he found himself agreeing. But no, no don't agree with the voice, he shouldn't agree with it. He shouldn't admit it's there.

This is just a dream

But you shouldn't be so aware of dreams. Should you?

[best-served-hot.livejournal.com]

No you shouldn't but he was all too eager to accept that the Master was dead. So what else could this be other than a nightmare?

"Of course it is, because the Master couldn't possibly have survived after the Doctor burned his body, right?" A beat, only for theatrics. "Of course that's also assuming that the body he burned was, in fact, the Master's."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack let out a grunting noise of frustration as he shifted around in his sleep and fell (against his will) deeper into his dreams.

"No," he said, speaking aloud in a murmur before continuing in his mind.

No, you aren't here. You're not. You can't. We stopped you. We stopped you and you died. You're dead.

He'd forgotten that he'd told himself not to address it.

[best-served-hot.livejournal.com]

"And with all those legends and stories you know of Gallifrey and the Time Lord's you think a little bullet and a bit of fire would stop someone like him?" It was odd, talking about himself as if he wasn't actually there but necessary.

"You don't really believe that he's gone but you're holding onto hope, aren't you?"

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

No, no. No. He's gone. You're gone. No.

No.

Jack opened his eyes.

But he didn't.

His eyes sprung wide and he sat up straight, his body hot with sweat. Just another dream, he thought, just another dream and it had gone now. It had gone.

But he turned his head and he saw him. He felt sick and his face went pale. "You can't be here," he said with a shaky tone to his voice. "You can't be."

But in the room, Jack was still asleep. Still lying and tossing and turning. He just didn't know it.

[best-served-hot.livejournal.com]

The urge to go with a blatant cliche and laugh maniacally was nearly too amusing an idea to resist, but resist he did. He settled for a lazy, self-satisfied smile.

Then promptly reached over and pinched the skin of his chest rather hard.

"Well, these things are quite complicated. I'm assuming that by you you're implying him. By him one could automatically assume that you're speaking of the Master and since the Master-" He grins and waves as if to say hello.

"-Is moonlighting as a pile of ashes more than likely a) scattered or b) sitting in an urn on a shelf in the TARDIS, I can assume that you don't literally mean me. So no, he's not here." he announces, smiling slyly.

"Just us."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack swallowed hard. The Master was dead. He'd seen him die. He'd watched him die in the Doctor's arms, and he'd later helped to move his corpse to the TARDIS. He couldn't be here.

And here was where he'd gone to sleep, wasn't it? He looked around, checked. It was all the same. Nothing different, nothing out of place. His small little room beneath his office in the Hub.

So how could he be here?

He flinched a little as he grabbed him, and shifted back slightly. It hurt. Really hurt. If he had any remaining question as to whether he was sleeping, it was cleared up by that proof.

"Fine," he said firmly. "So what are you then? Some sort of life form that latches on to memory? Come in with that apparatus we found today did you? Well buddy you've picked the wrong guy to annoy."

In his sleep, Jack's body stopped shifting a little. The tossing and turning relaxed, and it was as though his body was giving in.

[best-served-hot.livejournal.com]

The Master did laugh when he flinched that tiny bit and shifted away from him. It was refreshing to know he still inspired some level of fear in the freak.

He looked mildly concerned but it was all a lie. He wasn't worried in the least. "Oh goodness me, figured it out? Or have you? I think all that is for me to know and you-" It was punctuated by his touching a finger to Jack's nose in a sign of mock affection, like you would do to a small child that amused you.

"-to find out."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

It made sense, Jack considered, that something would do that. A creature that wanted supremacy, if it could access the mind, even if it could only scrape the surface, it would look for those memories that held fear. The Master held a lot of fear.

Though even if that was the case, this creature seemed a perfect facsimile. The Mannerisms, the tone of voice. The smugness. It was so very him and it sent a shiver along Jack's spine.

"No, sorry, that's not how I work," he spoke with confidence he didn't really hold. "If you won't tell me what you are, tell me what you want."

[best-served-hot.livejournal.com]

And some part of the Master knew that Jack would be thinking something like that. He had more control in his mind as he slept but there were still many things he couldn't manipulate or access. Luckily for him, he wasn't some creature looking for supremacy but it had the added benefit of camoflauge.

It would suit his plans for a time and he could grow stronger.

"Why should I? I rather enjoy games and this Master seems to well, be quite adept at them." he mused aloud, canting his head as he delved into memory. "Fascinating how there isn't even a mark." he said, eyes on Jack's body.

"That must have frustrated him terribly."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

There felt to Jack that something was wrong here. Something that he couldn't quite put his finger on. But the thought was a fleeting one, and it left his mind as soon as it was there.

Almost as though it were pushed out.

"I'm sure it did," Jack said back with a firm tone. It was a conscious attempt to sound stronger than he felt. Usually he could pretend, but for some reason, here, he felt truly weak.

He was terrified of the Master, of course. Terrified and haunted by all the things he did. All the things the Master had put him through.

"What do you want?" he growled again. He didn't like this. He didn't like it at all.

[best-served-hot.livejournal.com]

It might have been, after all, couldn't have him overthinking things could he? Another, softer smile graced his lips as he watched him struggle to keep up that brave face. Oh, for the longest time on the Valiant he had been left to wonder if he'd truly broken any part of the Fact.

Now he knew and reveled in the knowledge. Another victory, however small. Soon he'd be able to bare his mind and see just how deep the scars went. See how truly damaged the brave Captain was.

"I believe I answered that. You have a habit of repeating yourself but repetition gets you nowhere and it certainly doesn't allow you into my good graces."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"I believe you answered nothing!" Jack said back, infuriated and annoyed. He wouldn't stay here like this, he refused.

With laboured movements he pulled himself up from the bed, heavy handed as he tugged the sheet aside and reached for a pair of his trousers hanging over the ladder.

"I don't know what you are or how you got here but trust me, you're not going to get what you want."

[best-served-hot.livejournal.com]

"I told you it was for me to know and you to find out." he chuckled, giving a wolf-whistle just to agitate the other man.

He contemplated replies to his declaration as he did a lazy sprawl across the spot where Jack had been laying. Arms behind his head, he toed his shoes off and let gravity handle their brief fall to the floor. "Oh it's still warm! Nice and cozy." he grinned up at him.

"Oh, but I am because you have no idea who you're dealing with, Jackie boy."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"Don't talk to me like that," Jack said, attempting a warning, but he could hear the nerves in his voice. Why couldn't he control himself? Why couldn't he hold it back? He should be able to hold it back.

"You're not him," he repeated, although he knew the creature, whatever he was, had already admitted he couldn't be the Master. Hadn't he? Or at least he thought he had.

He turned, ready to ascend the stairs. He wasn't going to stay here.

[best-served-hot.livejournal.com]

"Threatening an entity inside of your head or at least with the ability to control certain aspects of your mind isn't the most brilliant idea you've ever had, I should think." he announced, watching him move across the small room from the bed which he'd claimed for himself.

He gave a put upon sigh. "We already discussed this. Come on, catch up already!"

Only when he turns to go, that hatch slams with an audible clang, sealing him in. "Going so soon? Such a horrible host, I hope you don't intend on throwing parties."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack stared up at the hatch. No. No it couldn't have. The sound echoed around the small room and Jack knew he was closed in.

"No," he shouted at the figure as he turned his head.

Jack, he heard, distant in the back of his mind. Jack! Jack wake up. Jack!

Jack frowned. It didn't make sense.

Jack!

He woke with a start.

He was lying in his bed and beside him, Ianto was sitting with one hand on his arm. "Yeah," Jack breathed out. "Yeah. Must have been asleep."

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

All day, Jack pondered on that dream. That dream that wasn't a dream. The Master. No. It wasn't the Master. It was... he didn't know.

Another day passed, more adventures, more chasing, more shooting. The same old thing. It came to night and he was alone. He didn't want to go to sleep.

He didn't want to. So he stayed awake. He stayed awake, that was, until his body forced him to sleep. Exhaustion setting in, deep in the night.

He drifted off.

[best-served-hot.livejournal.com]

And when he woke it would be to that cell the Master had secured him in towards the end of the Year. Manacles digging into his wrists.

"Oh hoho! I do like his tastes! I mean, he pulled out all the stops for you didn't he? Could use with a bit of fancy decor but I think that would be wasted on you, wouldn't it?" he said as he ducked under an arm in order to stand in front of him, smiling.