9

The door to the Doctors' cell swung open and four guards marched through, followed by the medic he had seen when he had arrived.

'Good morning all! Nice day? I wouldn't know you see, locked up here all night! Fancy that, when you've offered to help without the unnecessary imprisonment etcetera. You do realise I could have you lot on several charges by the Shadow Proclamation?… Mean anything to you? No of course not, you Torchwood like to just swan in with the big guns and the smart uniforms and the 'Ooh look at us! We can kidnap anyone' approach' The Doctor was clearly ranting off to himself, as guards weren't paying him the slightest hint of attention. Two came straight to his side and pinned his top half down, whilst his feet were being unchained by the other two. The medic simply stood watching with her ever-present clipboard, making the odd note here and there.

He was roughly pulled to his feet and pushed forwards. The Doctor stumbled through the door, trying to stay on his feet as he was led down yet another corridor. He felt a bit silly being the only one in pyjamas, but then again, he had been in tighter situations wearing just his pyjamas.

Suddenly, the guards that were marshalling him to his destination, stopped. One of them slid his key card down a slot and a small light turned green next to the door. The Doctor was grabbed and violently thrown into the room. Hearing the door shut, and was sure it would have automatically locked, the doctor picked himself gingerly off the floor. His lip had begun to bleed again. He looked around his surroundings, again trying to gage where he was, and more importantly what he was wanted for.

'Darling, glad you could join us.' That unmistakable voice floated across the room towards him. 'Do sit down, we have a lot of issues to talk through with you, and I dare say, you wouldn't like to keep me waiting'

She was sat at the end of the room, along with the medic and two other faces he didn't recognise, which were also sat at a table. There was glass running the way along three sides of the room, the tinted variety, that the Doctor suspected withheld the visibility of a lot more members of this meeting than were present in this room. The Doctor simply obeyed, and sat down in the chair opposite the group. He had tried the no messing approach before, and it had got him nowhere, time for the cooperative approach. Before he had chance to say anything, she had started again:

'Now, I do think it should be time for some introductions, don't you? This is Dr Madson, she will be your personal medic during your time with us' She had gestured to the medic that he recognised from earlier. 'This is Mr Louvres, our correspondent with our American counterpart, and finally, Mr Jesson, who you'll be getting to know quite well this afternoon.' She giggled as if this was some sort of game.

'I must press on you how important it is for you to cooperate with us, and to be our friends' She smiled as she said the last part.

'I think, we've gone far past the point where we can be friends, and before you say any more, can I ask your name?' The Doctor was angry. He had spent hours locked away, and his friends had been exploited for his capture. Jack had been arrested, and he didn't know of the whereabouts of Ianto or Gwen. He had a right to be annoyed.

'Ooh, someone got out of bed on the wrong side didn't we? My name is the General' She said sweetly.

'Right fine, another one who's a psychiatrists field day… Look, I promise you, I will help you, do whatever I can, just please, let Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones and Gwen Cooper go. As soon as I know that they are okay, we have a deal. What is so important that you want me for anyway? You've never been this eager to have me in the past? I was the one banished from the country remember? Even when I visited last, I was the one who found you…' The memory again took him back as he trailed off. The last time he had met Torchwood in London it had been with Rose. The day he lost her. He cleared his head and leaned back in his chair, surveying 'the General' . He suddenly remember this would have looked so much better if he had done it with his glasses perched on the end of his nose, but again, they must have confiscated them when he arrived.

'I thought, it may have to come to this' she smirked, 'Like I said before, your threats wont get you anywhere, and neither will your bargaining skills, I'm afraid. In fact, Doctor, you will help us. Darling, I didn't want to have to do this, but well, your attitude has forced me I'm afraid.' One of the windows to the side of the room turned clear to reveal a woman held up between two guards.

The Doctors heart skipped several beats, in the worst possible way. She had won and the General knew it.

The woman was crying, tears running down her face, she could see the Doctor, and he could see her. She had witness his stern, hard expression fall as he had seen her, his face flooded with hurt, terror and above all sorrow.

'I'm so sorry Martha' His voice whispered.

'All we want from you is cooperation,.' Her voice was soft and almost soothing, 'Now we have your full attention, we want you to build us this' She slid a file across the table. The Doctor opened it tentatively as if it were a bomb. He quickly scanned over the data and papers, running his free hand roughly through his hair as he read. The plans were for a medical device of some sort, that would freeze the body temporarily, but still keep the patient (or victim the Doctor noted) alive. He was immediately suspicious.

'You aren't trying to tell me, that after all the alien technology you have salvaged over the years, you can't knock one of these up for yourself?' He looked at her sternly, he didn't believe for one second that they wanted this from him, there had to be something more.

'Most of the technology we find is in a state which is useless to us and cannot be salvaged, we can only use it for observation. You, on the other hand, know how to make one of these correctly and safely.' She hesitated for moment, the Doctor knew the real reason was about to come: 'There is one other thing… darling, your going to have to help with as well….How do you get it to move backwards in time?'

'I'm sorry, what backwards in time?..' Said the Doctor confused.

'Your ship. We've managed to move into space with it and the 'void' as such, but we can't quite manage to get it to move backwards, or for that matter, forwards in time.' The confusion was evident in the doctors face.

'What do you mean MY ship?' He said warily. It couldn't be what he thought she meant.

'Oh? I'm sorry, I should have told you earlier shouldn't I, darling? We came across this whilst Martha was being arrested, she became a bit more…talkative….about its uses when she met up with Mr Jesson.' He gave a cruel smile as the General glanced in his direction. She held up before the Doctor a small battered key. Martha's key to the TARDIS.

'No! But…How?!, the TARDIS wouldn't let you in! You can't have….' The Doctor had lost all rational and begun to panic. He was in such a situation where her could no longer think straight. His palms were sweaty and he had begun to shake. She must be bluffing. Can she get in the TARDIS? Theoretically she couldn't, but who knows what Torchwood had that she could have used to weaken the defences enough to let her in. He rose to his feet wanting to run, get out of this situation, it couldn't be happening…

'We'll let you mull over your answer to that question until this afternoon…' The General simpered. The Doctor let himself be jerked by the arms back out of the room and led back to his cell. How was he going to get out of this one?