Disclaimer: As much as I would love having The Master's incredibly sexy self tied up in my basement for the rest of forever, I do not own Doctor Who or anything affiliated with it. Except in my head.

This fic is set between "Planet of the Dead" and "Waters of Mars". I love reviews! And the Master!

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Lasers flashed over their heads, dancing with the lights from the alarms. "Running, running." Jenny said, dodging a shot to her arm. "I did miss all the running!"

The Doctor grinned and pulled her along. He took a bouncy ball out of his pocket and threw it as hard as he could down the hall at the elevator button. The machine dinged and they both ran inside as the doors opened. The Judoon were marching their way, unwilling to break their uniformed walk. The two Time Lords were on either side of the doors, out of the way of their fire. The Doctor sonic'd the contraption so that it wouldn't divulge which floor they chose.

"So, where to?" Jenny asked, right next to the buttons.

"Let's check an upper floor," he answered. "We can use a computer to check the security cameras for people." Jenny nodded and hit the button for floor twenty one. The doors shut not-quite-as-fast-as-they-had-hoped, but rather just-fast-enough. The elevator hummed as it took them down two floors. Floor twenty two had Wright's staff's offices, but neither of them were much interested in people who didn't inquire when their co-workers disappeared. Perhaps they had assisted Wright somehow. It was probable, at least, but they would have likely gotten out long ago as soon as the alarms had sounded, knowing exactly what they meant. The rest of the employees would have had a much more difficult time getting out with one elevator, if the express elevator button on L0 was any indication. They were likely on select floors as well.

They stepped out onto floor twenty one. It seemed deserted, but they quickly checked everywhere just in case. "You know," Jenny said suddenly. "I've been here for a few weeks and I've never seen a flight of stairs."

"That is a very good observation, Jenny," The Doctor said, taking out the sonic screwdriver and scanning the walls around them. The wall to his right seemed to be hollow... He knocked on it. It definitely sounded hollow.

"Secret stairwell?" Jenny asked, coming over to him.

"Yep, I think so. And judging from the sound of the vibrations, it was only an escape for the privileged," he said with a tinge of anger. "The top of the stairwell is a floor or two up." He walked to the nearest computer and sonic'd it into use. He accessed the security cameras from all over the building and it seemed as though every human had gotten out. The Judoon were searching all over the place for them, however. Jenny watched the elevator doors, hoping that they wouldn't open any time soon. They had ten minutes.

"Now what?" she asked, watching him flip through the cameras almost too fast for her to keep up.

"The Judoon aren't going to leave until they find us, but they'll be killed if they do. Except they don't believe they're in danger, they just think it's a diversion. I don't know how to make them believe it." He paced about for a second. "Wait... If I can convince the Judoon to get out of the building and then use the H2O scoop as it was originally intended, they can send just the building to this planet's moon. It'll explode and that'll be that! Except they would never do that because it's against protocol..." He made a noise of frustration. "What to do, what to do..."

"Wait, what if we went back down into the laboratory? There were computers down there, the self-destruct might have a disable. It would make sense if it wasn't connected to the rest of the system, he had it deadlocked," Jenny said in a rush.

"Jenny, you are brilliant!" he hugged her, then they rushed off to the elevator. The Doctor sonic'd the machine the whole way down to be perfectly silent and ignore all other requests for passengers. They passed the lobby, hoping the Judoon would be too distracted to notice.

Back on L0 with eight minutes to go. As they stepped out of the elevator, they saw all of the dead bodies, humans and hybrids alike. The Doctor couldn't help at least shutting the eyes of those humans who still had them open in fright. Jenny helped, but it was only a few moments until they heard the ding of the elevator and a troop of Judoon appeared out of the elevator behind them.

Six minutes. The Doctor grabbed Jenny's hand and they ran. Lasers flew around them in a barrage and Jenny suddenly screamed. "Dad!" He lost touch of her hand and she fell, barely catching herself before she smacked her shoulder into the floor.

"Jenny!" He turned back and helped her up. "What's wrong?"

"They hit me," she said, gritting her teeth. "My leg, my right calf." The Doctor quickly examined it. Blood was already seeping through her gray suit and down her leg. The Judoon were behind them, but perhaps just far enough... If he could get her back to the TARDIS, proper medical attention would be a piece of cake. Or pie. He rather liked pie this time around.

He put her arm around his shoulders and helped her walk back to the laboratory. The Judoon were marching, but of course they refused to break stride. The Time Lords were out of their range now, and it would take them a bit to navigate the hallways down here; it might buy them a bit of time. Thanks to Jason Wright, the door was already open, but the Doctor took no satisfaction in this fact. He set Jenny on the floor gently, then ran to the computer at the back of the room.

Jenny ripped the end of her pant leg off and made a makeshift tourniquet. Not the best thing in the world, but it would help the bleeding at least. "Dad?" The Doctor raised his head from the computer. She saw his face and was instantly afraid. "Dad, what is it?"

"It's not just a self-destruct," he said, face twisted in defeat. She'd never seen him so angry. Enraged, even. "It's a nuclear bomb. He wanted nothing left."

"A what? But that would destroy everything within hundreds of miles! Why would he do that? Did he hate life that much?" She grabbed the open door of one of the pods and pulled herself to a standing position. The room felt different now that the hybrids were gone. She wasn't sure if the Doctor could hear any of them anymore; perhaps they'd all been killed by now.

Three minutes. What was he supposed to do? The Doctor ran to her side to help her walk. "We're gonna be okay, Jenny. We Time Lords have a way to survive almost anything." He quickly explained the regeneration process to her as she somehow made her way back up the ladder, with both an injured leg and heels. It was at that precise moment the Judoon found them.

"Halt!" They raised their weapons and prepared to shoot.

"Sorry, no can do!" The Doctor pointed the sonic screwdriver at the closest pods to the Judoon and they sparked violently, catching fire and blocking their path. He scrabbled up the ladder after Jenny. She was already in the teleporter room, waiting for him.

"Hold on," he paused, rummaging through his pockets. He handed her a small piece of gold colored metal. "TARDIS key," he explained hurriedly. "That's my ship. You'll be able to find it, big blue box, can't miss it. If something happens, you take the teleporter and leave. The TARDIS will take you somewhere safe." He placed his hands on either side of her face and stared reassuringly into her eyes. He could tell that she was scared, despite trying to be strong; she was technically less than a year old. "I'm-" he paused, then continued with something in his voice that Jenny hadn't heard since she died. "I'm your Dad. I won't let you die again."

He remembered Jenny telling him once that all the children of the Progenation Machine were taught only how to fight and how to die. He wouldn't let anything happen to her before she properly learned how to live.

Jenny hesitantly took the key and nodded, holding on to it tightly. She wanted to argue, of course, but they only had two minutes left. The Judoon were still here and they had to at least try to save them. The Doctor sonic'd the device back into operation and they teleported back up to the office of Jason Wright.