Chapter Text
“All I wanted was your honesty,” the Doctor says.
Missy doesn’t flinch. She almost does, but she controls it at the last second.
“I’m the honest one, Doctor,” the Master interrupts. “It’s you who tells lies. Like to your little friend here. She waited for so long. Years, Doctor, while we watched you natter on. She waited, and you didn’t save her.”
Missy clinches her jaw. She doesn’t appreciate the interruption, although her other self has a good point (she always has excellent points, no matter the incarnation).
The Doctor winces, but they don’t bother answering the Master. Their eyes are focused on Missy, red-rimmed and pleading. “I thought you were better than this. I thought you’d made progress. But here you are, colluding with your former self. You’re literally backsliding.”
“I’m not colluding,” Missy snaps. “I don’t even remember this.”
Her former self blinks at her, confused. “But what a fortuitous opportunity, no?” he prompts.
The Master almost certainly detects the moment of hesitation before Missy agrees, but the Doctor is too furious to do the same.
The Doctor is too furious to forgive her, so why not be unforgivable?
“Yes,” Missy agrees. “A once in a lifetime opportunity.”
The Master relaxes into a smirk. It looks good on them.
And so they dance.