AN: I have a lot of work to do on the next few chapters, so it might be slightly longer between posts from this point. But comments always inspire me to write faster !

Chapter 6

Day 38-45

Early one morning, the guards converged on the cell block in force. They unlocked all the cells, and stormed into each, dragging the prisoners off their bunks and slamming them into the walls, before cuffing them. Each prisoner, hands secured behind their back, was then pushed out of the cell by a guard. The Torchwood team, and six other prisoners, were marched through the cell block and up onto the outer deck of the Valiant, where they were lined up along a runway. It was freezing on the deck, and the prisoners shivered with cold and fear. They were kept there for half an hour before the Master arrived, flanked by four Toclafane. A cameraman followed some distance behind. And behind him, a guard pushed an old man in a wheelchair.

The Master walked up and down the row of prisoners, eyeing each one in turn. He showed no more interest in the Torchwood team than any of the other prisoners.

"Someone has sabotaged my Paris shipyard. Work has been set back weeks. I have not yet captured the guilty parties, though rest assured I will, and they will suffer. But such a deed cannot go unpunished, even for a few days, so I am going to make an example of one of you. The punishment will be broadcast on all channels."

As he spoke, the Master continued to walk up and down the row of prisoners. All the prisoners avoided eye contact, not wanting to draw attention to themselves. Suddenly the Master spun around and grabbed Tosh by the hair, yanking her out of the line. She fell, and, with her arms secured behind her, was unable to stop herself slamming onto the deck. Ianto, Owen and Gwen screamed, and tried to get away from their guards to help her, but they were unable to get free. The Master yanked Tosh back up, and dragged her to the very edge of the deck. He held her there, with her feet scrabbling for purchase, leaning out over the edge of the deck seeing nothing but clouds below her. Tosh screamed in terror. The cameraman followed their every move.

"Should I let you drop?" the Master whispered, so only Tosh could hear.

"No, please!" she cried.

The Master held her, leaning out over nothing, for what seemed to Tosh like hours. It was, in reality, only minutes before he pulled her back in, and threw her onto the deck, where she lay gasping and crying. "No, I have a better use for you and your friends," he said quietly.

The Master then turned back to the line of prisoners, and pointed at a man who was trembling with terror. "That one," he indicated to the Toclafane, who moved in on the unfortunate man, their blades extended and whirling. As they converged on him, his guard let go, to move out of the way. The Toclafane had barely touched the man, when he stepped too close to the edge and, screaming, plummeted over the side.

"Take them back to their cells," ordered the Master, before he swept off the deck with his entourage.

b_b_b_b_b_b

Gwen talked gently to the, still sobbing, Tosh, as the guard chivvied them along. Ianto and Owen followed behind, both wearing expressions of shock. This was the closest that one of their group had come to being murdered by Harold Saxon. Back in the cell block, all the remaining prisoners were returned to their cells and uncuffed, before the guards left.

Sitting back in their cell, Tosh was telling Gwen why the Master had not dropped her over the side. "He said that he had a better use for us," she gasped between sobs.

Knowing the Master, that would mean something dire. Sleep was difficult to come by for any of them that night.

b_b_b_b_b

Jack saw Tish a few more times over the next few days. She had been given the job of bringing him food, if you could call it that. It was a welcome change from the Master's guards. He was immensely grateful for her visits, and her gentle treatment of him when he was injured, which was most of the time. He also understood that she could not tell the Doctor or anyone else that she had seen him.

Jack was constantly worried about the welfare of his team, and the Doctor. And Tish was able to reassure him that they were alive and, as far as she knew, unharmed.

b_b_b_b_b

One morning, the Master breezed into the hidden room, alone. He came to a stop in front of Jack, who was chained to a wall. Jack tensed up.

"So Freak, you amaze me," the Master mused.

"Is it my sparkling personality?" quipped Jack, trying not to flinch away.

"No, it's your ludicrous loyalty to your little gang," answered the Master. "I saw the way they all mutinied, and murdered you, before they released Abbadon. I suppose I should have stepped in then, being the Minister of Defence and all, but it was fascinating to watch you deal with him."

The Master paced around the room for a while. He appeared to be considering something. "You really owe them nothing," he argued. "Yet, when I threaten them, you roll on your belly and let me do whatever I want to you. Why do you care what happens to them?"

"Loyalty is something you'd never understand," said Jack vehemently.

"Oh, I understand it. I just don't understand why you feel it for those double crossing, so called friends of yours."

Coming to a stop right in front of Jack, the Master continued. "I'm bored of our little games. I need something new, and I'd like to see how deep that loyalty to your team really runs. Over the last month and a half you have seen first hand exactly what I'm capable of."

Jack shuddered.

"But it doesn't have to be that way," the Master purred. "I have a proposition for you."