A/N: Is it wrong that I'm enjoying writing this fic as much as reddwarfaddict is? I think its best if I went to see a Doctor...

Chapter 4 – The Conference

Rose sat stunned, fingering the engagement ring that the Doctor had given her only two months ago. Her father had moved out of his chair once the video had ended, allowing his daughter to sit down, as numbness washed over her. She swallowed, reaching for the glass of water that had been placed on the table only a minute before and drank from it. She looked to Pete who was standing behind her, hands thrust into his pockets, a sour expression on his face.

"Dad, you're gonna pay it, aren't ya?"

Pete was silent for a long moment, refusing to meet Rose's eyes. "One hundred billion euros is a lot of money. If it was you, I'd pay it in an instant..." He trailed off, pretending to cough into his hands.

"You're gonna let them kill him?" Rose was horrified and she felt sick to the stomach.

"I can't make a decision until I've spoken to Torchwood about it. Rose, you must understand that John is a scientific genius. I, for one, do not think that those gang members will let him go if I pay the ransom. They won't hurt him because he is too useful to them alive."

"They broke his wrist!" shouted Rose, tears leaking out of her eyes.

Pete grabbed her by the shoulders and looked down into her eyes. "Listen to me, John is not just anyone. If the kidnappers were in it for the money they would have taken you, but they didn't, they took John instead. They may say they will kill him but he isn't worth that amount of money to me as you would be. They were after something else which they need him for."

"Yeah to get money!"

Pete shook his head sadly. "No. I'm sorry Rose but I'm confident they won't kill him when the hours are up, if I don't pay."

"If?" Rose felt a spark of hope flash within her chest. "You mean you might pay it?"

"It depends on what my trusted advisors say at Torchwood. If they have come to the same conclusion as me then I won't pay it, but if they haven't then I will reconsider."

Rose felt ill. Her father was bargaining with the Doctor's life. He was taking a huge risk gambling on his fate. She didn't know what to think but she had to hope her father's advisors would not arrive at the same idea as him.

For Rose did not believe that the Doctor's captors would keep him alive if the ransom was not paid.

She glanced up at Pete, shook her head and hurried out the study, not daring to think about the thought of her children growing up without their father.

Pete Tyler sat at the end of the table, hands clasped in front of him, a stern expression on his face. Ten of his most trusted advisors and employees sat along the table. At the back of the room sat Kayleigh, the receptionist, but she was also a trained note-taker who would be writing down what was said in the meeting before typing it up later on.

James, Gary, Bobby, Richard and Megan sat on the left side of the table, their expressions stony. On the right side of the table sat Leanne, Jennifer, Lucy, Tiger and Matthew. All of them were Pete's trusted confidents.

He looked each of them in the eye before he nodded to Kayleigh, indicating that the meeting was about to begin, and then he started to speak. "You are all aware that John Smith, our Scientific Adviser has gone missing. Kidnapped in full public view by a known gang to us, a gang that has avoided justice for many years. My daughter, Rose, was shot in the leg, but is recovering well. She was recently discharged from hospital. Since John's very public kidnap we have searched for him, but the gang have hidden him well, wherever they have spirited him off to. Yesterday afternoon I received a package, a ransom video."

"Sir, before you go on, if I may?" said blonde-haired Megan who had a small nose, and her hair was tied back in a neat pony-tail. Her blue eyes were her most defining feature.

Pete nodded, accepting the interruption.

"I've been wondering this for a few days now, why did they not take Rose? Surely she would be the better option than John?"

"I do have my own theory why, but I will come back to that later," explained Pete. "The ransom demand is for one hundred billion euros. As to John's condition, he did look like that he had been fed, but he hasn't been washed, shaved or treated in a nice way. Other then feeding him, they hadn't harmed him up till that point. They have said they will release him if I pay the ransom, and if I don't they will kill him. To show that they do mean business they broke his wrist. I have two days before I have to communicate to them my decision."

"Are you going to pay it?" asked Tiger, who had bright orange hair, and was the most outgoing member of Pete's group.

Pete scratched his chin. "This is where I come to the answer of your question, Megan. I believe that if they only needed the money they would have taken Rose as she is far more valuable to me then John."

"He's our Scientific Adviser, one of our most important members of Torchwood and he has knowledge beyond all of us," said Gary, rubbing his bearded chin.

"Exactly," replied Pete. "You're getting the idea."

"You suppose that the ransom is a cover for something more?" asked Bobby, a chubby man, but who was excellent at computer systems. "That if you pay it they won't kill him as they need him for something else?"

"You're right on the mark there Bobby!"

Leanne frowned. "So, if that is the case, what do they want him for?"

Pete shrugged. "I don't know. But the gang are a criminal organisation that has influence over half the world. They have waged wars against us since as long as I can remember. If my supposition is correct I would imagine they would need John to build them something and for that they need the money. They may harm him for my defiance if I refuse to pay but I would bet that they do not intend on killing him." He looked around the table looking at each and every member. "What I need to know is if you believe this is likely. If I don't pay and they kill him, Rose will never forgive me, and we will lose a valuable member of our team if my judgement is wrong. But if I pay and they do not release him, then I could be condemning all of us to death, whatever they might need the money for."

Everyone around the table was quiet; their minds calculating through the facts and ideas their boss had thrown at them. After five minutes Pete cleared his throat and asked them their individual thoughts on the ransom demand.

All of them agreed that there must be more to the ransom and so Pete Tyler made his decision to risk defying the gang. If they killed John in two days then he would hate himself for the rest of his life, and Rose would probably never speak to him again. He just had to hope that his intuition was correct and that this wasn't just a simple ransom demand.

"Rose?"

Her mother stepped into her room where Rose was lying on her bed, legs curled up, dried tears on her cheeks. "Go away," she whispered, her shoulders shaking.

Jackie moved forward and sat on the bed beside her daughter. "Rose, I heard what happened between you and Pete. I'm really sorry, sweetheart..."

"He doesn't understand!" cried Rose. "I don't want my children growing up without their daddy..."

"They won't. John will be here sweetheart. I know he will."

Rose buried her face under the pillow wishing her mother to go away. She wanted to be alone. "He's not gonna pay it mum. How could he sentence John to death after everything he has done?"

Jackie bit her lip. "You've gotta trust him, sweetheart. If he says there is more to this then I believe him. He knows more about this gang stuff then we ever could. He's lived 'ere his whole life. We haven't."

Rose looked at her mum, her eyes wide. "What if it was my life he was bargaining with? Would you trust him then?"

"I would, cos I love him." Jackie kissed her daughter on the cheek. "You've just gotta believe."

As soon as the ransom video had been shot the Doctor had been knocked unconscious, his broken wrist twisted at a horrendous angle. But the gang leader simply did not care for his prisoner. When the Doctor woke he found himself lying on the hard, stone floor of the basement, his broken wrist chained to the sturdy poll behind him. He gritted his teeth in agony as pain washed over him. This was just cruel. He had to get himself into a more comfortable position so that his wrist wouldn't hurt him as much, but the cuffs were tight. No matter what he did he would still be in pain.

As he looked around his dull surroundings he noticed a figure in the corner watching him, their face covered by a hood.

"Who are you?"

They did not answer, instead turning away and walked out of the basement.

"Wait! Please come back! Help me!" he yelled desperately, even though he figured that whoever that person was, was probably an accomplice to the gang. He hung his head, tears leaking down his face. All he wanted was to go home and see Rose again.

"Oh Mr Smith you are such a fool!"

He looked up, hurriedly wiping the tears from his eyes. The gang leader strolled towards him, laughter ringing in his ears. "What do you want?" he growled.

"Just to see how you are," his captor replied.

"I'm just peachy," glared the Doctor.

The gang leader shook his head. "Do you want more broken bones?" he asked casually, if that was a common thing to happen.

"No," replied the Doctor, dropping his piercing gaze.

"Good." The man threw him a piece of meat onto the floor. "You should eat up. It could very well be your last meal."

The Doctor ignored the meat that had been thrown, instead he locked gazes with the man. "Just exactly who are you?" he demanded.

The man chuckled. "I have no name. But amongst my family I am known as number three."

"Number three?" the Doctor repeated. "Ah, a code then."

"We are lucky that our identities are not widely known, that's why we can still go about in public."

"Are you not afraid of being recognised by those in the neighbourhood? Surely your faces would have been circulated."

Number three chuckled. "Oh, you see Mr Smith, we do not exist in this world...."

The Doctor's eyes widened as he realised what the gang leader was hinting at. The gang's identities must have been wiped from the system so the gang could continue to operate normally. If that was the case, the Doctor mused, then a traitor was operating inside Torchwood!

Before he could take his thoughts any further he felt number three's fingers twist in his messy hair and bash his head back against the wall. Darkness clouded his eyes and he fell into oblivion.

When he woke the Doctor found to his surprise that he had been freed from the sturdy poll, but his wrists were now chained in front of him. His broken wrist was turning purple and his fingers were not moving as much as they could do. But when he looked up he saw to his surprise the door to the basement was slightly ajar.

Heart beating fast the Doctor scrambled to his feet, nearly crashing to the floor as his legs sought to get used to being used again. He wobbled and grabbed hold on the pole with his working wrist, steadying himself and moving his legs up and down until he felt they could deal with walking. Carefully he took one step at a time up the stairs before he came to the door. His heart beating fast in his chest, the Doctor pushed open the door and peered through it. The coast was clear.

This was his only chance of escape. He emerged into the kitchen and spotted the kitchen door on his left and he moved towards it, grasping the handle and opening it, checking for anyone before making a dash for the front door that was just in the hall way. He grabbed the front door and pulled it open, only to stop short when he saw number three and two of his henchman standing behind him.

The Doctor scrambled back. They must have set this up, it was the only explanation for this!

Number three was laughing as he stepped into the hallway. His two men filed in behind him, their dark gazes locked on the Doctor's trembling form. "Oh, Mr Smith, you disappoint me so..."

The two bodyguards rushed forward and grabbed the Doctor by the arms and pushed him to the floor. His hands sprawled out in front of him, still in their chains as he lay on his front in front of his captor.

Number three was shaking his head in disappointment. "Oh, Mr Smith... I hadn't wanted to do this, but maybe you will learn that escape is not an option for you." He smiled kindly at his prisoner before raising his foot and stamping down hard on the Doctor's broken wrist.

He couldn't help but scream as the man crushed his wrist. Immense pain ran up his arm and the Doctor twisted and turned trying to escape the unbearable pain, but it was simply impossible.

Finally the foot was removed and the Doctor was sobbing, his cheeks stained with tears.

Number three knelt down beside the Doctor and lifted up the hand that was not broken. Then, taking each of the Doctor's fingers, but leaving the thumb intact, number three twisted them and snapped them. The Doctor cried out, curling himself into a ball as he sought to protect his body from further pain.

Dimly he heard number three instruct his bodyguards to take him back to the basement and ensure that he couldn't escape. Carried back to the place that had swiftly become his home, the Doctor's arms were pulled behind his back and chained once more to the metal pole. His feet, too, were tied up.

He was still whimpering when the two men forced a gag into his mouth. And then he was left alone, always in constant agony. Not even thinking about the woman he loved could help him overcome the pain he was in. All he wanted was Rose, and he was slowly giving up hope that he would ever see her again. His last thought before oblivion took him was: I love you Rose.

A/N: And now I hand you, dear readers, and the poor Doctor, back over to my wonderful co-writer.... :D