Title: Shattered Pt. 6 (Still not the End)
Written for: masterficathon
Author's Note: Ughhh…this took forever to write and I'm still not to the end of the story. I've decided to stop speculating on when it will be finished, because really, it's not fair to you readers. I honestly don't know how many chapters this series will end up being. I'm just going to stop worrying about it and let it reach its natural conclusion in its own time. Because really, trying to bring it to an end is driving me a bit bonkers. So I present to you Chapter 6 of the Shattered series. Please read and enjoy. Comments are wonderful and all are welcome and accepted.

Pt. 6:

"Rose, stop!" he was screaming at her.

But on she ran. Somehow, in her tortured mind she now understood that escape was necessary for her sanity. Where she was headed she didn't know. She wound down countless hallways and down flights of stairs, further into the belly of the TARDIS, and all the time she could hear the Master getting closer.

At last she found herself in front of a door. It looked familiar, though she didn't know why. Without thought she reached out and pressed the button that would allow her access within.

The Doctor and Jack abruptly came to their feet.

"Rose!" the both shouted in unison.

"ROSE!!!" came the enraged shout from the Master. Rose could see him rounding the corner and fast approaching the dungeon door.

Suddenly the door slid shut behind her and the Doctor's sonic screwdriver deadlocked it tight.

The Doctor turned towards her and she nearly fell into his arms in relief. "Rose, what happened? What's going on?" he questioned urgently.

"ROSE!!!" The Master had reached the dungeon door and was not pleased to find that it was locked to him. "OPEN THIS DOOR!!!" Receiving no response he began pounding on the door in a rhythm that very much resembled the drumbeats.

The Doctor grabbed Rose by the shoulders and looked deep into her eyes, "Listen to me, Rose. There's not much time, but I need to know…do you remember?"

Rose shook her head briefly, "No…but…you're the Doctor."

"Ok…well, that's a start."

"Doctor, I think we better get out of here," Jack said helpfully.

"Yes," he said finally tearing himself away from Rose's eyes, "Definitely…Quite Right."

He quickly made his way over to the ceiling panel that he had shown Jack earlier. Bringing his sonic screwdriver up over his head he managed to pop it open. "Jack, you go first."

Jack pulled himself up through the opening then reached down to help Rose through. The Doctor went last and stopped to sonic the panel shut behind them.

"Where to now, Doc?" Jack asked curiously.

"This way," he directed as he ran down the internal air vent.

He pulled down a ladder at the end of the corridor and they began to climb.

After only a short distance the Doctor was sonicing open another hatch and they emerged into the Console Room.

"Well, that was closer than I thought," Jack exclaimed.

"Yes, worked it out with the Tardis earlier," the Doctor explained cryptically.

He ran to the TARDIS controls and started frantically pressing buttons and working on setting the coordinates.

"Where are we going?" Rose asked.

"Earth…Parallel Universe. I'm taking you home," the Doctor replied.

"What!" Jack exclaimed. "Doctor, we need to get back to the Valiant. Earth isn't safe. We've got to get back, stop the Toclafane and rescue Martha."

The Doctor shook his head frantically, "I know Jack…but Rose. We have to deal with Rose first."

"Deal with Rose! Excuse me, but I am in the room you know. I may not remember much but I'm not completely helpless, you know. And I'm not leaving," Rose announced angrily.

"What do you mean you're not leaving," the Doctor nearly yelled at her, "You've been kidnapped, had your memory erased and have spent the last week being molested by a psychopath. How could you possibly not want to leave?"

Rose stepped toe to toe with the frantic looking Time Lord, "Well, thanks for the run down for starters because I had no idea that I'd been kidnapped or that he was a psychopath…and it hasn't all been bad, you know. It's actually been a rather nice few days. He's very attentive."

"You wouldn't be saying this if you were in your right mind," the Doctor reasoned.

"No…probably not, but since I'm not in my right mind, then I guess I'll just go ahead and say what I like. You're not taking me home. I'm a part of whatever is going on here. Apparently a very big part as the Master's taken the time to kidnap me, mess with my mind and…molest me. So I'm going to be a part of getting us out of it. Alright?"

"Alright," the Doctor answered reluctantly.

"Okay," Jack interrupted, "Now that's settled, what are we going to do about the Master?"

The Doctor went to a cupboard and pulled out what appeared to be a First Aid kit. Opening it up, he took out a small vial and a hypodermic needle.

"What's that," Jack asked.

"This is a tranquilizer. Should knock him out for a few hours if we deliver the full dose. The hard part is figuring out how to get close enough to inject him," he explained as he filled the hypodermic needle with the clear fluid.

"Right, how about I knock him out and you drug him," Jack offered practically.

The Doctor shot him an annoyed look, "That's a bit too Torchwood for me."

"Still a good idea though," Jack responded dryly.

"No."

"But he shot you," Jack insisted.

"Still, that doesn't mean we stoop to his level."

Jack gave him a hard look, "He hurt Rose."

"Ah, yes, well…now there you have a point," the Doctor conceded.

Rose watched the exchange with growing trepidation. These were her protectors. Good grief. No way she was going anywhere. It looked like these two were going to need all the help they could get.

Before either man could react, she had plucked the needle out of the Doctor's hand and set off toward the doorway.

"Rose, no!" The Doctor yelled after her.

At that moment the Master entered the room. He seemed calm enough on the outside, but rage was blazing in his eyes.

Rose stopped in her tracks.

"How did you get out of there?" the Master hissed at the Doctor.

The Doctor chose to ignore him for the moment, "Rose, get back here."

The Master's attention shifted as well, "Rose, get away from them…I told you they were dangerous."

Fingering the hypodermic behind her back, she took a small step towards him, "They told me you were dangerous. That you'd kidnapped me…hurt me."

"They lied," he stated simply, "How could I do that to you, my love? You're too precious by far. I frightened you. I'm sorry. I'll not do it again. Now come here, Rose. Come away from them."

Jack and the Doctor exchanged worried glances. Would she fall for this act in her fragile state?

She moved towards the Master timidly now, every step watched by all eyes in room.

When she reached him the Master's hands settled on her waist possessively and he grinned broadly at the Doctor. "You see…I win again. Oh, and don't bother trying to fly this thing, the isomorphic controls are on," he said smugly.

"Well," the Doctor began as he secured his glasses then turned to stare hard at the Console screen. "I'd say that may have previously been the case, but I think your TARDIS has had a change of heart."

"What? That's impossible."

"Um…No, it's not."

The Master loosened his hold on Rose and raised his laser screwdriver towards the other Time Lord. "Don't you dare," he commanded.

"Or what," the Doctor challenged as he began to press buttons and pull levers that would set the TARDIS into motion, "You going to shoot me again?"

"Maybe," the Master replied coldly. "Maybe this time I'll aim for your hearts, maybe I can find a setting that will make it impossible for you to regenerate. Maybe I'll make sure that I really am the last of the Time Lords."

"Maybe…But I really don't think you have enough time to do all of that."

"Why not?" the Master sneered.

"Rose," the Doctor met her eyes for a moment, "Why don't you tell him why not?"

She turned towards the Master and his hard gaze swept down to meet hers. "Rose?" he questioned. She brought the fingers of her free hand up and laid them lightly over his lips to silence him, and then she plunged the needle home.

A soft gasp escaped through her fingers and he fixed her with a look of betrayal before crumpling to the ground.

Suddenly the TARDIS lurched into motion sending them all sprawling to the floor.

Rose landed awkwardly on top of the Master's prone body and she found herself clinging to him for support as the ship hurtled through the vortex.

Upon landing the Doctor and Jack scrambled quickly to their feet. The Doctor moved to verify with the TARDIS exactly where and when they had landed while Jack's gaze scanned the Console Room to see how Rose and the Master had weathered the trip.

When his eyes found Rose she was huddled over the Master's unconscious form, her hand lightly stroking his cheek. Heedless of Jack's gaze she bent down and brushed a kiss to the Master's lips.

"Rose," Jack said finally interrupting the disquieting scene before him.

She looked up at him, eyes red and tears running down her beautiful face. "Jack," she replied sadly.

"You know me?" he asked as he made his way towards her.

She lifted one shoulder in a shrug, "A little…I think…we danced once."

Jack smiled sadly, "Yeah, we did. A long time ago," And with that he pulled her to her feet and wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace.

The Doctor had witnessed all of this in silence and now made his way towards the Master. Kneeling down he checked the other Time Lord's vitals and made certain that he would remain unconscious for a considerable period of time. Once he was assured that all was as it should be he rose to address the others.

"Alright you two, we're on the Valiant back in the present. Without the Master we shouldn't be in too much trouble, but there are still the Toclafane to worry about."

Jack nodded in response; Rose merely looked confused. "We've landed right next to my TARDIS, so the plan is to slip over there and destroy the Paradox Machine. Now that should take care of our little Toclafane problem," he paused in his lengthy explanation to look directly at Jack for a moment, "And it should reset our timeline."

"What?" Jack exclaimed.

"It'll reset our timeline, like none of it ever happened. The chaos, the destruction, the enslavement of earth, it will never have occurred. Everything will be back to normal."

"And him?" Jack pointed towards the Master.

The Doctor looked down at his fellow Time Lord, "I don't know yet…we'll deal with him later. He's out for now and that'll do."

"Right, I'll just go and find us a weapon," and Jack set off down the corridor.

The Doctor turned toward Rose rather timidly, "Rose, if you remembered Jack…have you…do you…remember…anything else about…me?" he managed to mutter bashfully.

"Yeah," she replied softly, "You like bananas."

He grinned at her. "Yeah, I do. Was there anything else? Maybe something a bit more…important," He prompted again.

"We were friends, yeah? Not really a memory…more sort of a feeling. Did we travel together?"

Disappointment washed over him. He nodded slowly and reached a hand out to touch her face, "Yeah, we did…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"What for?" Rose asked, her voice barely about a whisper.

"For losing you."

She forgot to breathe for a moment.

"Right then," the Doctor broke the moment and plunged headlong into the next subject, "I can get that memory problem sorted as soon as Jack and I get back from saving the earth. Won't be any problem at all, we'll have you back right as rain in no time."

Rose screwed her face up into a frown and let a small sound of fear escape from her lips. "No, Please. Can't we just leave things as they are for now…I don't want to…I can't..."

"Rose," he said in a soft voice, trying to placate her.

"No, you're just like him. You don't understand. It hurts. I won't let you into my mind like that…It's mine…my thoughts, mine. I can't."

Panic was swamping her. She pulled away from him abruptly as he tried to calm her and backed towards the doorway.

"Rose, please. It won't hurt. I promise. I'm just trying to help you."

She shook her head frantically, "It will hurt, I remember that much. I don't want your help. Not like that. I can get better on my own."

He put his hands out in a gesture of surrender, "Alright then, have it your way. I'll leave it alone for now."

Rose relaxed a bit and nodded, "Thank you."

At that moment Jack re-entered the room carrying a very large gun. "You wouldn't believe the stash of weapons this place has. It's amazing."

The Doctor spared him only a brief glance.

"Rose, Jack and I are going to get this mess outside sorted and we'll be back in a jiff. I need you to stay here, alright. Watch him; make sure he doesn't wake up. If he gets restless there's another dose of that stuff in the first aid kit on the Console, just inject him again. Won't hurt him. Can you do that for me? Will you be ok?"

She nodded, "Yeah, sure, no problem. It'll give me a bit more time to get my head around things. Just be careful, ok."

"Ok," the Doctor replied with a small grin before heading out the TARDIS doors with Jack.