A/N: Sorry this took so long! I've been swamped with school the last few weeks, and on top of that hit a block, and could just not get the focus to write anything. Luckily, break came along, so I got my act together. Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers!

Escape

John came to with a groan.

"About time you woke up. I was beginning to think I'd have to drag you out of here," the Wolf drawled from near the door. "You just had to make an entrance, didn't you?"

John touched the knot on his head lightly and grimaced. "You know me." He shivered, suddenly realizing how cold it was in the room. "Is it just me, or is it a bit chilly in here?" he asked.

"Well, it is just you, but you're not imagining it," the Wolf replied. At his skeptical look, she elaborated. "Superior genes, remember?" she prodded. "I can regulate my body temperature to an extent. Better than you anyways. But we need to get out of here quickly, before you get hypothermia."

"Well, how do you propose that, precisely?" John was starting to shiver.

"I can't turn off the cryogenic machines, the power source isn't in the room. Can't think of another way to heat the room to buy us a little more time," she mused. "We're going to have to be fast. We have to get you warm."

John chuckled, his shaking beginning to intensify. "Yeah, you're screwdriver doesn't happen to start fires, does it?" he asked.

The Wolf grinned. "Sparks, maybe, but fires…are out of the…" she trailed off, staring into space.

"Wolf?" John asked, getting up to go over to her. "You okay?"

"Oh, no," the Wolf said in a horrified whisper.

"What is it, Wolf?" John asked hurriedly.

""Let it burn'…I just remembered what happens tomorrow."

"What?"

The Wolf looked sick. "This city burns to the ground."

"The city? You mean the Great Chicago Fire is tomorrow?" John asked incredulously.

"Yes," the Wolf answered, still shaken. "Hundreds of people are going to die."

"I take it the fire wasn't started by Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicking the lantern over then?" John asked with a smile.

The Wolf finally gave a small smile in return. "That's complete rubbish, John. Met Mrs. O'Leary even, in 1902. Springfield. She and her family were in bed when the fire started. Some reporter made the whole story up. Besides, I don't think the fire even started in her family's barn like history says. We know what causes the fire," she said.

"We do?" John asked.

"'Course we do! It's got to have something to do with Kane, wouldn't you think?" she said caustically.

"Ah, right." Sometimes John felt like a nitwit around the Wolf, especially when she was being clever.

"Either way, we need to get out of here, because I am now fairly certain the fire starts right here in this building. If I could just find the right setting to unlock this door…" The Wolf yelled in frustration. "Kane's mixed technologies! Wood with tech from his home time. I could figure his stuff easy, it's the wood part that's the problem!"

"What's wrong with a wooden door?" John asked.

"The sonic doesn't do wood," the Wolf explained, acting very annoyed.

"It doesn't do wood?" John asked incredulously. "You've got a device that opens any door but it doesn't do wood?"

"It's not perfect!" The Wolf yelled.

John rolled his eyes but smiled. "Whatever. Did you try ramming it?"

Now it was the Wolf's turn to roll her eyes. "This isn't a movie, John, you can't just go around kicking doors…" John did just that. The door swung out. "…in." John gave the Wolf a triumphant grin. "Not a word," she warned.

John kept grinning. "Never crossed my mind."

The Wolf huffed. She went to the entrance, scanned for guards, and then quickly closed the door nearly all the way.

"What are you doing?" John complained, his teeth chattering. "Still pretty cold over here. Not all of us have superior Time Lord biology."

"I figured we should have a plan this time, before we start running around asking for ice cream again," the Wolf said, her voice positively dripping with sarcasm.

"Hey! I was trying to cause a distraction so you could maybe pull free. I didn't have much time to come up with it, either."

"Thanks for trying. But we need a plan now – a better one," the Wolf said. "Where did you see the TARDIS?"

"She's on the first floor, second door on the right from the entrance we came through," John replied.

"Good, good. How did you find her anyway?" she asked.

"I heard a hum. I think it was the TARDIS."

"You heard her?" the Wolf asked, disbelieving.

"Yeah. It was weird, almost musical. I looked in the room, and there she was. Two guys were guarding her. I looked around, but you were gone, so I went to find you, and hence the ice cream monologue. It was the only thing I could think of."

"Right. Here's the plan. I go downstairs first. You follow after. If there are guards still near the TARDIS, I'll distract them, and you will get outside as quick as you can. Kane's soldiers will be expecting us to go for the TARDIS, so that's exactly what you aren't going to do. I'll get to it on my own, and we'll meet up where she first landed, alright?" the Wolf asked.

"No, not really!" John replied. "Wouldn't it be better for me to distract them while you get in the TARDIS and pick me up?"

"No. We don't know if or how many soldiers will be inside the room guarding her, and I can't run the risk of you being locked up with the cryogenics again. I would survive it, but you wouldn't last an hour. They don't mean to turn us into soldiers, John. They mean to kill. If I get caught, I can just – " she rolled her eyes, "ram the door again. Or use my sonic. They would make sure you stayed in this time."

"But – " John tried again.

The Wolf put up her hands to stop him. "No. No arguments. You get out, and I'll meet up with you back at that alley."

John eyed her. "Swear you won't get caught and disappear. That you'll come back."

The Wolf smiled. "Tell you what." She dug around in her pockets, searching, and finally pulled out a Yale key. "TARDIS key. Since you and she are on such good terms. You keep that."

John took the key, holding it with care. "Really?"

"Sure," the Wolf grinned. "Can't just leave that lying around, now can I?" John smiled back, shaking his head. "Good," she said briskly, back to business. "Now that that's settled, let's get on with it." She re-opened the door quietly, scanning the hallway again before slipping out. John followed after her, breathing a sigh of relief when the warmer air hit his face. Slowly, his shivering began to ease, and a pain in his chest he hadn't noticed began to fade.

So maybe Wolf had a point. He was a doctor, he knew the risks cold held for his body. The Wolf's plan just didn't feel like the best laid out one in the world. "What happens if one of us doesn't get there?" he asked quietly as they snuck down the hall towards the stairs.

The Wolf looked over her shoulder and grinned. "We wait five and a half hours, then come looking of course. Always wait five and a half hours," she answered, still managing to sound cheerful despite whispering.

"Right," John said to himself skeptically. "Five and a half hours." By this time, they had reached the stairs. Two floors down, they could see one guard outside the room John had seen the TARDIS being held in.

"Okay," the Wolf whispered. "You follow me down once you see the guard run after me when I distract him."

"I still don't think this is the best plan, Wolf," John answered.

The Wolf grinned. "Too late now!" She ran down the steps. "Oi! You there!" she shouted at the guard, who started in surprise. "You need to learn how to lock the doors of your big, scary dungeons properly!" The guard ran at her. "Catch me if you can!" she gleefully yelled at him, throwing a wink at John before sprinting off God knew where.

As soon as the Wolf and the soldier had disappeared from his sight, John took off down the stairs. He paused to look longingly at the door he knew the TARDIS sat behind, wishing for a brief moment to be able to get inside where he knew it was safe, but he shook his head and followed the instructions the Wolf had given him. Thankfully, the servant's entrance was unblocked, and John made it out of the building with ease and took off running down the street.

The Wolf looked over her shoulder. She still had just the one guard behind her. That wouldn't do. She needed to cause a fuss if she was going to get Kane's attention. The Wolf whipped her sonic in the air, causing the lights overhead to spark and go out. She moved to the wall and held her breath, and listened as her pursuer blindly ran past.

The Wolf smiled, and quietly headed back the way she had come. The plan had never been for her to escape. Kane's murdering and brainwashing needed to end, and the Wolf couldn't stop him when she had to worry every second about John being caught and freezing somewhere she couldn't get to him. So she had come up with a plan to get John out of harm's way while she took care of the threat Kane posed. Of course, John had just barely fallen for it, but he was safe now, and that was what mattered.

Now she just needed to find where Kane was powering his machines from. Like John had said, it was better Kane's prisoners be able to have lives, even if they couldn't remember their old ones.

The Wolf searched the first floor, but no luck. It was empty, apart from the room that held her lovely ship. She sent a telepathic wave of apology to her, wishing she could just fly her away. The TARDIS sent a comforting hum back. She was fine, and would wait. Reassured, the Wolf moved up to the second floor to continue her search.

When nothing but refrigerated rooms greeted her on the second and third floors, the Wolf was at a loss. That was the entire building. There was nowhere left to search. She drew out her screwdriver, and busted all the lights on the upper floors, hoping to cause some confusion and racket – enough to draw Kane's attention whatever he was doing. The Wolf then walked calmly down the stairs and into the room that held her TARDIS.

There were three soldiers inside guarding her ship. "Hello!" she said cheerfully. "I'd like to see Kane, if you'd be so kind as to take me to him." The guards finally got over their surprise at her entrance and pointed their guns at her. The Wolf smirked. "There it is. Now. Kane. If you please." Two of the soldiers grabbed her arms and followed the third into a room the Wolf had already checked.

The Wolf sighed in exasperation. "No. I've already been in here –" She trailed off as a hidden entrance was revealed behind a book case when the lead soldier pressed a hidden lever. "Ah. Guess I should have thought of that." Internally, she was kicking herself.

She was led down a flight of stairs to an icy room. The Wolf's eyes lit up as she saw the large machine that she knew was powering the rest of the buildings refrigerated rooms. She knew which setting on the sonic would shut it down from her last encounter with Kane, and now she just needed to get close enough to use it.

"Well, Wolf. Couldn't stay away, could you?" Kane's voice drifted from the other side of the room.

"Oh yes. Your company was too good to pass up," the Wolf drawled.

"And where's that handsome companion of yours gone? Too bad you couldn't manage to hang onto the plucky Ace. I would have loved getting to know her further."

The Wolf didn't have time for his slimy ways. "What's your end game, Kane?" she asked exasperatedly.

"Merely the control of this planet," Kane shrugged. "If I cannot have Proamnon, I will settle for the planet loved by the one who foiled my plan."

The Wolf's eyes narrowed. "Earth is under my protection," she growled. "Leave now, or I'll stop you."

"You and what army, Wolf?" Kane scoffed. "I don't even see your assistant."

"Never needed an army, Kane. You should have remembered that. That was your only warning." The Wolf had managed to position herself between the cryogenic power source and Kane during their conversation, with her screwdriver hidden inside her jacket sleeve. The Wolf felt a wave of inevitability pass through her. Some fixed event had just passed by. Now, she pointed the sonic behind her, causing the machine to spark.

Kane was immediately distracted, shouting at his guards to protect his device and stop the Wolf, who was using the commotion to try an escape. She had barely made it to the door when there was an explosion, hurling her into the opposite wall outside the room. Dazed, she looked back; the large machine had burst, and now the entire room was in flames.

The Wolf stared in shock and building horror. The power source should not have reacted in that manner. She had only meant to shut off permanently, not destroy. But now the fire was spreading, not even the icy rooms could slow it down. The entire building was going to go up, and then it would likely spread to the rest of the street.

That was the fixed point the Wolf had felt. She had just started the Chicago fire, and there was nothing she could have done to stop it. It wasn't Kane. It was always her. She was responsible for the lives lost today.

Ignoring Kane and his men – there was nothing she could do for them now – she took off for the stairs, not noticing the tear that was trailing down her cheek. Once the Wolf reached ground level, she ran for the TARDIS and let herself in.

There was nothing she could do but find John as quickly as possible and leave, before she killed anyone else.

A/N: Hope it was somewhat good!