Ash dragged the Doctor out of the fire door and down the fire escape. His whole arm and shoulder ached from pulling him, as he was taking every opportunity to drag his heels.
"Move!" he snarled and yanked the cuffs harder.
He'd heard the cry of pain from the room he'd just vacated and the quiet that followed and it drove him to move faster. He was also driven by the fear of losing the Doctor to whatever that woman was.
He managed to drag the Doctor as far as the small square that preceded the entrance to the docks.
Then the Doctor finally put the brakes on, perhaps he realised where they were going. Ash now knew he hadn't been using all of his strength.
The Doctor gave him a cold smile and pulled, but the smile turned to a look of dismay when the cuffs didn't break.
"Time Lord proof, seems Jack was right."
"Please let me go. Don't take me back to him," the Doctor said.
"Sorry, but I have others to think about," Ash said and started to pull.
The Doctor resisted. "You don't understand, he'll kill me."
Ash shook his head. "I doubt that."
The Doctor pulled back. "Please Ash, if you ever cared about me."
Ash stopped then and pulled the Doctor forward. "Of course I care, don't ever think I never cared."
"Then let me go," the Doctor said.
Ash wanted to, he really did but he'd grown to like Ianto and Gwen.
He never expected the Doctor's next move and the sound of snapping metal preceded the Doctor dangling the broken cuffs in front of his face.
Before he could react the Doctor took off, making for the alley that Ash had pulled him down. Ash knew he could never catch him so he pulled out the tranq-gun, aimed and fired.
The Doctor stumbled but to Ash's shock he leapt for one of the pull down fire ladders and began climbing.
Ash moved then as the Doctor swayed and let go, crashing to the ground, his head hitting the floor with a sickening thud.
"No, no," Ash said as he skidded to a halt and crouched down beside the Doctor.
He knew he shouldn't move him but he had no choice and lifted the Doctor's head; it was a bloody mess.
"Damn it," he hissed...now he was in trouble. He had an injured man and no way of getting him to safety.
He was starting to panic when a miracle appeared.
The guards came to attention when the ambulance pulled up. The driver wound the window down.
"Transporting an emergency patient."
"We're locked down," one of the guards said.
The driver handed him a transit docket.
The guard tensed. "Unlock the gates," he said "When you get past the gates turn left, the warlord's personal transport is at the end. You'll get instant clearance."
The driver nodded and drove through the gates.
Ash daren't breathe until the gates had closed; that had been the easy part.
It had been a stroke of luck when the ambulance had appeared, and it was more than luck that the ambulance had stopped and almost impossible that it had been carrying a relative of the ruler of this happy little hell hole.
He left the unconscious driver and the relative in the same alley and had managed to get the Doctor into the back.
Now all he had to do was get onto the smallish cruiser that was looming large. Again it seemed luck was on his side as the only person on board was the pilot. A pulse pistol stuck in his face was enough to persuade him to co-operate.
Once they were out of the station's defensive zone he hit the pilot with Retcon.
He sat in the pilot's seat and entered new co-ordinates but didn't set them. He knew he had to take the Doctor back to the Master, but he was injured and doubted the Master would take too kindly to that.
He had some medical training, but he was no medic. He set the cruiser to auto-pilot and went in search of the ships medical kit.
Jack gasped back into life to find he was alone. The woman had gone; she must have got what she wanted.
He went to touch his com but it was gone, he had no way of knowing where Ash and the Doctor were and no way of stopping the woman id she caught up with them.
It also meant he couldn't contact the Master...he was truly on his own. He guessed that Ash had taken the Doctor to the docks, even if they were in lock down; he was smart enough to find a way past it.
He left the building and found the people were returning and it was making it difficult for him to move freely. He was wasting precious time but he couldn't start pushing people; he didn't want any unnecessary attention.
He needed off this station and loathe as he was to admit he, he needed the Master's help.
Ash finished dressing the Doctor's wound, it wasn't deep and his pupils were even...so no concussion; he hoped, he didn't know what was normal for a Time Lord.
The Doctor let out a groan and Ash was instantly alert, wary of what Doctor he was going to get. He was expecting him to be angry but when he opened his eyes they were confused and when they focused on Ash they widened.
Ash then found himself being crushed, not by an angry Doctor but a tearful one.
"Ash! I thought White Coat had you killed!"
Ash blinked...something was very wrong...the head wound, it must have done some damage after all. He knew it was wrong but...
"Him, he was only interested in you."
He disentangled himself and said. "I'm sorry about your son."
The Doctor's smile dropped and his eyes flashed with anger. "I'll kill him for that," then he winced.
"Calm down," Ash said. "You took a nasty blow to the head."
"What?"
"When we escaped, you fell."
"Escaped?"
"You don't remember," Ash said, his conscience burning with the lie.
The Doctor was silent for a moment and stared into nothing. He let out a sigh.
"Must have been the blow. It'll come back to me...or not. But we escaped, that's the important bit...so, where are we?"
Ash hesitated for a second. "Zendi space."
"Zendi? But that's next to the Unchartered Territories."
"I thought it would be the best place to hide. Was it the wrong thing to do?"
"No," the Doctor said and put a hand on Ash's face. "You did what you thought was right," and leaned in and kissed Ash.
"Thank you for not turning me into the authorities."
Never, to us foot soldiers you're a hero. It's only the suits that think you're a criminal."
He smiled. "Been called that more times than I can remember.
He hissed when he moved.
"I said stay still. I'm not a medic, it's just a field dressing," Ash said.
He touched the back of his head."It's a good one," he said through a yawn.
"Sleep," Ash said. "We have to wait for clearance. It'll be a few hours."
The Doctor kissed him again. "I don't want to sleep."
The Doctor sighed a word in that beautiful language of his.
"What does that mean?" Ash asked as he ran a hand down the Doctor's stomach and along that smattering of hair that led to...
"It means many things," the Doctor replied, his voice soft. "It means, joy, contentment, bliss...oh sweet Rassilon," he breathed as Ash moved lower.
"Does it mean that as well?" Ash said as he felt the Doctor harden.
Ash thought he would never feel this again, that buzz he got; the thrill of knowing that the man he now held in his hand was one of the most powerful of a powerful race.
He felt his own erection harden when the Doctor said something else in a language that he did understand...something along the lines of hurry up and...he didn't waste time and slid between the Doctor's legs and let out a groan of pleasure when long legs were wrapped round his waist.
The odd cool sensation as he entered the Doctor sent a thrill through him and he lost himself in that feeling and revelled in the sounds coming from the Doctor and as he spilled inside the Doctor.
They lay in each other's arms, staring at the roof of the cruiser.
Ash was content until the Doctor said. "Don't die on me like the Master."
Ash knew then that the Doctor would never truly belong to him and his heart sank and he knew what he had to do next and what he was about to do could ruin the Doctor's trust in him forever.
"About that..." he said.
