Sorry this was a few days late. Hope you enjoy it all the same!
This is the last chapter to feature torture. After this, any violence will be due more to basic "Doctor and companion running from baddies" type situations that pop up in every single Doctor Who story. But be warned, we still have this chapter to get through; and well all know that the Master is a sick bastard.
The Doctor and the Master watched with completely different reactions as the light in Donna Noble's eyes died. With a soft sigh, her body relaxed and her face smoothed to a blank expression. It was over; or, at least, that's what both men believed. They didn't count on Donna's ingenuity.
The Master leaned in towards her. "Now. You'll si-umf!" This time, when the blow hit, the sound of cartilage and bone shattering made it clear that Donna's punch had broken the Master's nose. He staggered back, shocked, while she made for the door, desperate to reach it before he recovered.
She didn't make it. "Stawp!" The command was muffled but unmistakable. Donna froze mid-stride, her obedience so immediate that she actually ran into the door. "Sit bawck where you were." She grimaced, but her body obeyed instantly and sat itself back in the alcove. "Sit still. Do nawt move, do nawt speak." The Doctor's hearts broke as he watched her assume the same pose she had when he first woke in the cell, although this time it was completely involuntary.
The Master ignored both prisoners as he administered to his nose. He carefully manipulated it back into shape before using some of his regeneration energy to heal it, then took a few experimental sniffs and seemed to be satisfied that it had returned to normal. He then viciously backhanded Donna hard enough that the Doctor worried momentarily that she would have a concussion before remembering that her new physiology would make that very difficult.
"I'm starting to see why you enjoy having humans around so much, Doctor," the Master said with a laugh. "So unpredictable!" He walked over to the door and picked up the bag he had walked in with, that contained both prisoner's possessions, and then upended it on the ledge beside Donna.
The Doctor had once joked that his pockets were bigger on the inside. That wasn't strictly true - his clothes were made of perfectly ordinary cloth with perfectly ordinary physical properties. What was true was that he liked to keep said pockets stuffed to the brim with anything and everything that might come in handy. Which amounted to quite a pile of random junk that the Master found himself sorting through. "Sonic screwdriver. Psychic paper. Fob watch. Cricket ball. Candy. Key. Eyeglasses; do these even work? Yo-yo. Banana. 3D glasses. Really?" The Master glanced over his shoulder at his captive, with an expression on his face that made the Doctor think he was probably wondering why he had never been able to get the upper hand on this toe-rag.
Donna, ever the pragmatic, had left her purse in the car before going to investigate the warehouse all those hours ago. The only thing she had had on her possession were her own car keys, a small torch, and her mobile. Nothing interesting there.
The Master glanced briefly at the pile of possessions before alighting on the one that the Doctor had hoped he would overlook. With a flourish, he brandished the TARDIS key and held it up in front of the Doctor's face. "Last chance, Doctor," he warned. "I find that I've grown rather bored with this charade. Either I entertain myself with the ship this key goes to, or I entertain myself with your bird here. Your choice."
The Doctor's hearts sank into his stomach. It always came down to this, his friends paying for his decisions and mistakes. He said nothing as his mind frantically raced, trying to come up with a way to both keep Donna from harm and keep the Master from the TARDIS. He was, unfortunately, drawing a blank.
"Very well," the Master said, turning to Donna. To the Doctor's surprise, he placed the TARDIS key in Donna's hand, then looked over his shoulder with a malicious grin. "It's made of artanite, isn't it?" he asked.
The Doctor was momentarily confused. Of course it was, most TARDIS keys were ... and then it hit him. Artanite had quite a few unique properties, which was the reason it was so commonly used. The alloy, for which none of its parts were found on Earth, amplified any psychic components run through its molecules, glowed a cheery gold when its particles were excited, and was harder than the toughest steel while lighter than the purest gold. Its durable nature, in fact, made it almost as hard as a diamond and almost impossible to scratch or scrape, which is why even after many centuries the key showed no sign of wear and tear.
It also meant that the teeth on the key were just as sharp as the day it was cut. Certainly sharp enough to cut through, say, skin.
The Master grinned as he watched realization dawn across the Doctor's face. He maneuvered Donna's right hand like a puppet, until the key was poised above her left forearm. "Cut," he commanded her.
"No, wait!" the Doctor found himself shouting as a plan came to him. Well, more like an idea, and one that wasn't going to hold up for very long. But one that might save Donna from some nasty scars. "It's ... it's under Waterloo Bridge. North bank." He put his best defeated face on, and hoped it was enough.
"Stop," the Master commanded Donna. The Doctor's hearts sank as the Master pulled a mobile from his pocket, and dialed a number. He relayed the information given him into the phone, then snapped it closed. "And now we wait." He grinned at the Doctor's look of dismay. "What, did you think I would go investigate myself?" He laughed. "And miss such brilliant company?"
As if to illustrate his point, he sat on the ledge beside Donna. "Although, I must admit that I'm surprised. She's a bit more ... destructive, than I would have expected. But not too bad to look at." He reached up and stroked Donna's cheek. "Once I retrieve the TARDIS, I might take her with me."
The Doctor knew full well that the Master had absolutely no interest in Donna, except to use her as a means to get to the Doctor. He knew that the Master was putting on this little show strictly for the purpose of causing him pain. And he knew that the more he let that pain show, the farther the Master would go.
In fact, he was counting on it.
"Leave her be, please," he said. He meant for it to be strong, commanding, but he couldn't get enough air in his damn lungs to keep his voice steady. It cracked a bit there at the end, to the Master's delight.
"And why would I do that?" he asked, shifting himself in the alcove to be closer to Donna. "Come, now, Doctor; you must have noticed before just how soft and warm these human women are." He was directly behind Donna, now, leaning towards her. But his attention was on the Doctor, not Donna; so he completely missed what the Doctor took note of, what Donna was doing. "They smell nice, too, with their fragrant perfumes and shampoos." He leaned the rest of the way to smell Donna's hair. The Doctor couldn't help it, he struggled for just a second to free himself; but the Master saw, and grinned. He reached around her, making a show of absentmindedly stroking her collarbone. In the process, he was all but hugging her from behind.
It was only a matter of time, like that. His chest pressed against her back. So much body contact. It was inevitable that he would notice that something was amiss.
The Doctor could pinpoint the exact moment that the Master realized that Donna had two hearts. Watching his face, the Doctor saw the instant that the Master went from that malicious grin to confusion to outright shock.
Given time, he would have recovered from that shock, and adjusted his plans to include, not a Time Lord and a human, but two Time Lord prisoners. His attention would have been turned on Donna in earnest, then, not just to irk the Doctor. He might even decide to kill the Doctor and question Donna directly. Given time.
Donna didn't give him that time.
This time, when the blow connected, it wasn't to his nose. Donna slammed the Doctor's cricket ball against the Master's left temple. There was no time to defend himself, or even see the impact coming. He was unconscious before he knew what had happened.
She was reaching around and rummaging through his pockets before he slumped over all the way.
"No, no, the sonic!" the Doctor interjected. Donna ignored him. She found the "emergency release" device, pressed it against her temple, and activated it. Right away, he could feel the press of her mind against his once again. He sighed in relief and heard her do the same, then they both watched as the 'bot disengaged itself from her brain and crawled out. This one went the same way as the first, compliments of Donna's boot heel. She stood up, and was about to release the Doctor, when she had an idea. The Doctor wholeheartedly agreed as she reached down and used the device on the Master, as well. Even unconscious, they could both feel his mind join theirs.
After that, it didn't take long at all to get dressed and reclaim their possessions. They left the cell with a bound and gagged Master, dressed in the Doctor's jumpsuit, handcuffed on the other side of the room from his own screwdriver.
«This way,» Donna's voice once again filled his mind, as she shared with him as much of the layout of the warehouse as she knew. They held hands as they ran down the corridors towards the command room.