The encounter (Coco, Brax)

((Ah, no wonder why he is so familiar ! ))

(you watched Leverage?)
The Master smirked as he watched the alien dissolve. If he thought about it he could probably work what species it had been but it wasn't worth the effort. Then he heard Darren's question. He resisted the urge to get angry and instead answered as calmly as he could. "A cabal of self-appointed 'protectors' of this universe dedicated to my destruction. They've cause me some... disappointments in the past. Most notably what they did to my daughter..." he fell silent before shrugging it off as if nothing had happened. It was clear he dealt with it by bottling up the pain. "Let's just say I owe them hell and leave it at that yeah?" he said, his tone was almost threatening. "Lead the way!" he snapped.

((A few episodes a while back, on the plane ))

Darren shook his head, this man had a daughter? That was…new and unexpected. But none the less, he didn't want to push the boundaries of the friendship that he had, so instead of lingering on the subject, he quickly found the light switch and lit the room up.

It had been renovated, much larger than when he last worked there. Sea of desks and the tiny training facility was all he could see. He headed straight for the main office, slammed open the door.

"Surprise!" Darren said.

He watched as the leader wheeled himself around, a raised eyebrow. He didn't seem very impressed but upon locking eyes with the Master, he began to back up in his seat and tremble violently.

SLAP!

"All of you seem to be lacking in one thing…" Darren said, weaving his head left and right.

"And what's that?"

SLAP!

"Concentration!" Darren was grinning, it was fun. He was getting revenge on the people he thought were the scum of the planet.

"I'm…I'm concent…concentrating…but…it's him…"

Darren rolled his eyes, it was always the Master that started everything.

"Yes..." the Master confirmed exasperated, "It's me. Deal with it and answer the man everything he wants to know." he leant in and whispered something into the man's ear, "Or..." was all that could be heard. Whatever he said the Torchwood employee literally wet himself and snapped his attention to Darren, shaking in his seat. "What would you like to know... sir..." The Master grinned. "That's more like it..."

(I loved Leverage, one of my all-time favourite shows. Such a shame it ended)

((Yeah…is it out on dvd? I have to sleep now, school tomorrow, so I will reply in the morning Night, mate.))

(yeah, the first four seasons are out here in the UK, or all five are out in the US. I'm presuming you're British though? Good Night )

((Yeah, British ))

Darren grinned, excitement filling his whole body as he stated all the reasons why Torchwood should be shut down and finished off with a simple: "You all are going to burn in hell."

The employee was initially confused about this statement, but seeing Darren's face. He nodded in agreement.

"Right. Do you mind if we have a…look around? Maybe some…explosives?" He said, waving a finger around the air.

Darren began to pace around the room, pulling cabinets right out of their holders, files flying everywhere. He started to search the files for an employee closely resembling the dead corpse that was thrown into the bar.

"Oh look, sensitive information on both of us!" Darren waved the file in front of the employee's face. "Do you have a lighter?"

The employee shakily put a hand into his pocket, pulling it out with a lighter in hand. Darren took it, lit it and watched the files burn. Satisfied. But the dead corpse had burned itself into his mind, the image more graphic than he really remembered.

"Is that a…all…you'd be…needing?" The employee tried a friendly smile, but failed to even get his mouth to lift up at the corners.

"Ever heard of the Hive? And think carefully before you answer..." The Master whispered in the man's ear almost tauntingly. "...no?" He answered. The Master looked as if he was about to hit him then simply patted him on the back. "Good boy," he said, "now be a dear and fetch me the files on every agent with level 10 clearance, and anything he wants," for the last part, he pointed at Darren. While playing with the agent, the Master was clearly not in a mood to be messed with.

Darren was busy, busy fiddling around with files, he once again heard the word 'Hive.' Maybe he could help to it's destruction…maybe a bit more evidence was needed about this 'Hive' but judging by the subtle change in tone, the Master wasn't in a good mood.

The lighter flicked on and off, and then again. Darren focused on the flame that appeared, the employee had a sweat-ridden forehead and was rushing around, gathering the files on level 10 clearance members.

"Let me look at that."

He grabbed a few files, flicking through it. He rolled his eyes. Of course they were dead, agents with high clearance were on the high risk of being killed.

There were a few air vents, he wondered where they lead. Many voices were rising outside the office, people coming into work. It would be a surprise for them to see Darren again, but a risk that he could not take due to the 'operation' that they were doing.

"Most of them are dead, sir…" The employee's voice shook.

"Fantastic!" The Master declared, and it was impossible to tell whether he was being sarcastic or not. "Thank you for your time, you've been surprisingly helpful. I'd love to let you live but really that's up to my companion here. I have more important things to worry about." The Master took the files and tucked them into his jacket. "Ready to go when you are," he said to Darren almost impatiently.

Darren had found a hard drive, it had his name almost illegibly scrawled onto the front of the disc. He nodded, flashing the flame from the lighter and gestured a mini explosion to the employee.

He wanted them to remember what they had done to hide such a dark secret, Darren also wanted to make their deaths worthwhile…

"Hey! I need your full attention!" Darren yelled, a grin playing on his face. He turned to the Master, indicating that he will be take a while and that he should wait outside.

Everyone looked up at the figures on the balcony, their mouths forming an 'o' shape. Darren recognized that all eyes were faced on him.

"There are a few things that I find wrong with Torchwood…the agents are usually boring, new recruits that don't really know how to handle people and seriously need to work on front security…There is one thing that I can help you with…Torchwood can live up to it's name. Here in my hand, I have a lighter…I hope you have a nice time trying to escape."

Darren retreated out of the room, setting a long rope on fire, it quickly went around the wooden areas of the base and screams finally erupted. He smiled, closing the door. The screams faded.

"Ready? Now, we handle whatever you need taken care of…all mine are finished, for now." He gave the Master a devilish grin.

The Master looked out at the burning Torchwood base then started to run back the way they had come. "Well they're not gonna forget you soon" he grinned as they escaped, the files tucked under his arms. "Have you got somewhere safe I can go over these?" He held up the files with his eyebrow arched.

Darren motioned him to follow him to an abandoned shack, it was run down. Badly. Moss was growing up around the sides. He had previously used it for hiding away from Torchwood, it had been done up although the exterior remained the same.

"Want tea? I've put the kettle on…so, who exactly are you?" Darren asked, his back facing the Master.

Mainly, he was looking at the set of knives he had on the countertop. The kettle had practically disappeared in his line of sight as memories of his kills came back to him, a few haunting him.

"By the way, this place? No one dares look here. I made sure of it…Torchwood tried, but were 'called' away to do something else."

(I have to go, sorry, will respond when I get back in an hour(ish)

((Alright mate ))

The Master appreciated the solitude of the shack and dumped the files down on a wicker table. "Exactly?" the Master raised an eyebrow as he sat down and waved with his hand to say he was fine without tea, "My name is the Master, the most wanted terrorist in the universe. I am a time lord from the now-dead world of Gallifrey; The most infamous time lord that ever lived. I'm wanted across the galaxy for more crimes than I can number and my purpose is the desolation of everyone who stands against me. The Hive tried to kill me, used my own daughter against me, and in the end..." he paused, clearly this part of the story wasn't a part he wanted to tell, "... she died." he swallowed, his eyes fixed on a spot on the floor, his broken spirit more visible than ever. "That means they die. Painfully. I will not rest until every one of their souls in bound to hell and eternal torment." He looked up, his eyes red with sorrow. "That's exactly who I am

Darren turned around, easily hiding the building up smirk. But he did sympathize with the situation about the Master's daughter…it reminded him of his own family.

"Did you look through the files? I maybe of some assistance in your...quest." Darren said, quickly changing subject. It wasn't to be rude, it was because situations, such as these made him slightly nervous for whatever reason.

He brought over the tea and took a sip, thinking about what the Master had said. His home planet had died, but yet he had heard much from his informant about the subject of time lords.

Darren's eyes flickered to one window for a moment, there was a torch light. He leant backwards on the chair, flicking a tiny lever. It created a growling noise, the torch light shook and quickly disappeared.

"Well, that was the first person today that I tried this contraption on. So the Hive…touchy subject but iI can help if you knew where the ventilation shafts were…" Darren got lost in his own thoughts, thinking of ways that they could infiltrate the place and leave a mark but not get noticed themselves. Just to shake the Hive up a bit.

The Master sighed, tired. "That's the problem," he explained, "The Hive isn't like Torchwood, you can't find them all in one or two buildings. They're all scattered across the universe, operating individually. I have to hunt them one by one, and anyone could be one of them. For now, I know that one of these..." he gestured to the files of level 10 Torchwood agents, "...is part of the Hive, and responsible for Torchwood's kill order on me. I've narrowed it down to the ones that are still alive but that's about it so far." Without thinking he rubbed the thin layer of grey stubble on his chin, he was getting so old now, it was a good job he still had the intimidation factor because he was fairly sure he was losing his physical stamina, and it had been ages since he'd last tried to hypnotise someone.

Darren grabbed the files off the Master, putting his feet on the table. Most of them, he had no clue to who they were…actually, all of them.

"What do you suggest we do, because…I'm stumped. Never handled a situation such as this…"

Ring! Ring!

Darren answered his phone, began to pace around. The client seemed rather obnoxious, during the short argument, his accent was revealed, a irish accent. For the most part, his accent only seemed to come out when he was stressed.

"Oh really now?…Interesting…tell me more…"

A grin rested upon Darren's face, the client was eager to give away top secret information for a simple kill of her boss. The phone call ended, Darren slipped his phone back into his pocket.

"Well, well. We have a location and a phone number of a level 10 Torchwood agent, it was her ex-boss. She just got fired today, lucky us." Darren threw the number towards the Master and the address that he reckoned they should have their little meeting.

"It's as good a place to start as any," The Master shrugged, reclaiming his usual attitude and charm. He jumped to his feet and scanned over the files until he found the one of the agent they were after. "Her name is Abigail Higgins, her brother is a commander in UNIT and she appears to have risen to her position of power mostly through who she knows rather than what she can do. She's the kind of level 10 agent that deserves to be taken down. Let's go see what she knows about the Hive," He grinned pushing open the door and practically launching himself through it, striding off without even checking Darren was following.

Darren followed, his grin reappearing as he locked the door behind him. He began dialing the number, waited a bit for the person to pick up.

"Ah, hi. I'm new at Torchwood and they…recommended for me to contact you." Darren said, using his Irish accent and a friendlier tone than he was used to having.

"What do you want?" Came the response, it was quick, yet slightly irritated.

"I would really like to meet you at the cafe down by the river, I'm bring my mate along, would that be fine with ya?"

Darren had to hold back a laugh, this was so much fun. Luckily, the person agreed and they were off. The river side was a fairly isolated cafe and was the best to have a private conversation and the best place to throw away the body, if that comes down to it.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it came to that..." the Master muttered. "You should go in first, I don't want to spook her yet and my presence can sometimes cause... a scene..." he tossed him a small metal earpiece from his pocket. "Put this in and I'll hear everything both you and her say. You'll be able to hear me too. I'll let you know when I'm coming in. Steer her conversation towards kill orders or genetic manipulation. Either should be enough for me to work out whether she's Hive or not." He nodded at Brax to say 'go on' and sat down on the bench opposite the cafe. He now wore a hoodie with the hood pulled up to mask his face. It was a simple disguise yet it was effective, no-one would recognise him out of his usual suit...

Darren placed the device that the Master had given him, he walked over to one of the outdoor benches, where a woman was sat. The woman looked at him and looked away, quickly turning her head back to him to double check.

"Are you the new person?"

Darren nodded, pretending to act nervous. He started to ask her general questions to earn her trust and to make her open up.

"Asides from that, since you have been promoted to level 10 so quickly…" She checked around to see whether anyone was listening, but there was not. "I guess I could tell you a few things, but you cannot share it with anybody! You clear?"

Darren did a small salute and urged her to continue, "So…the kill list…who are the main contenders. Who are you specifically after?"

"Oh you know…well know terrorists that threaten…like the Master. The rest of the kill list was put on suspension until we found him…I'm in charge of that department."

"Wait…so, what you are saying is that you are hunting down…this Master fellow…and you put everything on hold, just for him? I mean, can't you get someone close to him?" Darren asked, trying to sound genuinely curious.

She looked at him and her eyes slowly drifted over to the Master, with the hoodie. She asked Darren whether that was his 'mate' that he was bringing along.

"Yeah, he's a bit antisocial…and he's on the phone to someone." Darren shrugged, grimacing on the inside, hoping he had not said something wrong. He then looked from her to the sea, waves coming in and retreating.

Darren continued to speak with her…sun was beginning to set once more and she said that she better be going. An evil grin flashed across his face as she turned around. She was in charge of one of the hunts for the Master…she wouldn't be sleeping in her bed tonight.

"Where do you think you're going? I still have to introduce you to my friend…" Darren said, his voice dropping the Irish accent.