Author's Note: I know what you are thinking… HOORAH! Another chapter! There will be another coming after this. Soon, I hope. As usual, life is getting in the way. Still, enjoy this addition and don't forget to give me reviews.

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Chapter 19

Jack was never one to obey orders down to the letter. However, his tendencies to listen to his instincts instead of protocol had gotten him and his team out of more scraps than he cared to admit had happened. As such, when Jack had finished his official part in the Doctor's plan to rescue Grace from the Master's clutches, he went in search of the Doctor instead of going back to the TARDIS as he had been instructed.

While performing the necessary modifications to Shada's computers, Jack had come across a map of the prison planet's main wing, which was where the TARDIS had materialized. On the map, he noticed not only where all the rooms and corridors were, but also where all the people were, as an adjustment to the settings with the sonic screwdriver allowed life signs to show. Besides his own life sign, he found two Gallifreyans and two humans, one each in a cell in the temporary holding facilities and one each in a large room labeled as the main lab. It didn't take much to figure out who was who on the map.

Memorizing the map quickly, he headed off towards the holding facilities, determined to instigate a jailbreak. However, when he arrived there, he found the area far too secure. For one, the facility had a deadlock seal that could only be released by inputting the correct security pass code. And while Jack could break the code given time, the second reason the area was too secure was approaching the facility: a Pzathorglawian – not the sort of people you want to make angry, Jack remembered - guiding a rather good-looking man, probably in his early thirties, wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt. Jack remained hidden as he briefly admired the sight of the man's firm body until he realized that he might be ogling the Master, a thought that made him cringe slightly.

The Captain waited, watching the entrance carefully as the handsome man went into the holding facilities. He came back out a few minutes later, seeming extremely pleased with himself, walking off with his muscle-bound escort. Before Jack could make any leeway on the lock, Lucy Saxon made an appearance, going into the facilities, a second Pzathorglawian – he could tell the two were not the same creature from the slightly different tint of gray their skins had - following her in and carrying a small chest. Again, several minutes passed before the door opened again, allowing Lucy to leave, this time with the Doctor and Grace following, the Pzathorglawian just behind them, the chest having been left behind.

The Doctor held himself stiffly, as if the act of walking was a task, indicating that he was injured in some manner. Grace seemed to be worse off than the Doctor. She was dressed in little more than a nightgown and the Doctor's long overcoat, making her seem very much like a vulnerable child. She whimpered occasionally as if in response to feeling pain. She seemed to be tolerating the obviously gentle hold of her husband, as if she wanted it but couldn't stand it. But what really stood out were her eyes. They seemed wild and unfocused. It wasn't an expression that gave Jack warm fuzzy feelings.

Careful not to be seen, Jack followed the group just outside what he remembered the map said was the main lab. The Master's lab, Jack had no doubts. There were two doors leading into the lab, one on either side of the room. There was the main door through which the Doctor and Grace had been escorted and the other door which led to a disused office. Said office had its own door that led into the corridors.

Certain that the corridors were now empty, Jack slipped into the office and then to the lab's side door. Seeing that the door was wide open, Jack hid just behind the doorframe. Peeking around the edge of the door, he took note of the lab's layout. The door opened up to just off-center of the lab, giving Jack a nearly unobstructed view of the Master and the Doctor as they stood in the middle of the lab and talked about the large, intimidating machine in the middle of the floor. One Pzathorglawian stood at the far end of the lab, waiting for instructions from the Master while, at the same time, keeping an eye on Grace, who was bundled up on herself near the main door. If he was going to successfully rescue the Doctor and Grace, Jack knew he would have to get rid of the Pzathorglawian first. And that in itself was going to require some clever planning.

While the Master and the Doctor sparred, a plan started to build in Jack's mind. He immediately went into action and made the necessary preparations while listening to the conversation enough to know that the machine in the lab could easily kill the Doctor if it didn't do what it was designed to do. He was about to put the plan in action when he found himself watching helplessly as the Doctor walked into the contraption that, in the former Time Agent's opinion, looked like an over-decorated enclosed shower. The machine whined to life, pillars swirling around the booth at break-neck speed. Then the scream came and Jack had to force himself not to move from his spot. The scream seemed to come to him in stereo as, almost immediately, a female scream echoed the Doctor's. Jack didn't dare take a peek to verify that Grace was also feeling the pain her husband was enduring.

It was a full minute before the screams died and the machine's whine ended, the pillars slowing to a stop. The Master opened the door wide, revealing the Doctor's quivering form inside.

"Feel any different?" the Master questioned.

The Doctor leaned against the back wall of the chamber, trying to catch his breath. "You mean other than feeling as if my entire body has been turned to liquid and then reconstituted?" he whispered tightly, obviously in pain from what he had undergone.

The Master gave a huff of a laugh. "Come out of there, Doctor. Let me examine you properly." He turned from the door and walked to an examination table, unconcerned about the Doctor's plight. The latter struggled out of the machine, practically crawling as he attempted to gain his footing.

Jack watched with growing concern, noting that there was now a splotch of blood on the Gallifreyan's white dress shirt. "Oh, Doctor. What has he done to you?" he whispered to himself.

The Doctor stumbled to follow the Master as instructed, still feeling as if his body wasn't entirely whole. It was an odd sensation, not dissimilar to a bad regeneration but also unlike anything he had ever felt before. There was one feeling, though, that stood out blatantly. Something was terribly wrong. Something close. Something very familiar. Making sure that the Master wasn't paying close attention to his actions as he supported himself on one of the lab's tables, he turned his eyes carefully to his left and noticed the tall human form peeking through the opposite lab door.

Jack, he thought, focusing his concentration on sending the telepathic message to his immortal friend. He saw the Captain stiffen at the voice in his head and hid a smile. Thought you would hear me. Get Grace out of here. She won't want to go with you but you have to force her. Get her to the TARDIS and into the Zero Room.

Jack was immediately grateful for some of his Time Agent training. He'd been categorized as a Level Two telepath, meaning that he could communicate with another Level Two telepath, or one who was somehow manipulated with telepathy technology, but not a non-telepath. He had used this training only once in the last twenty years. Then, one of his team had a pendant that allowed her to read others' minds. Tosh had been used by an escaped alien convict to gain access to a transport pod. It was only thanks to Tosh wearing that telepathy pendant that Jack was able to instruct Tosh on what to do without causing the alien to know of his plans. Given that the Doctor was born a telepath, it was likely that, on the Lettingham scale, he rated a Level Eight or even higher, which meant that communicating with the Gallifreyan was more up to the Doctor than it was up to Jack.

Now, as he listened to the Doctor's instructions, he frowned. Why won't Grace want to go with me? And where the hell is the Zero Room? he replied mentally, his eyes meeting the Doctor's briefly as he did so.

Respectively, long story and in the TARDIS. Just ask her for the Zero Room and it should be the first one through the auxiliary door.

What about you? Jack worried.

Never mind me. Just get Grace out of here.

I've set up a distraction. Get ready to go for the other door, Jack instructed, hoping that the Doctor would be able to make a getaway in his current condition.

"Oh, come on!" the Master suddenly complained as he noticed the Doctor hadn't moved in a while, interrupting the latter's thought processes. "You're moving slower than when you were old and decrepit." He paused, noticing the stain of red on the Doctor's shirt. "Oh, I see a couple of wounds opened up on you. No wonder you don't want to move too quickly. Still, you are holding me up from my destiny. Now, get over here and let me take a look at you," he ordered.

The Doctor gave the Master a non-descript glance as he pushed himself away from the table that supported him and took the final steps to reach the Master. However, as he did so, the sound of metal rolling on concrete filled the room only to be followed by a growing billow of smoke.

Coughing against the sudden atmospheric invasion, the Master and Lucy turned to locate the source of the interruption and immediately saw movement in the office. The Master turned first to the Doctor, giving him a glare, before turning to the Zhtwohi brother.

"Why did I even defrost you? Go check it out!" he ordered vehemently.

The alien mercenary didn't hesitate, moving remarkably quick for his size as he hurried into the office. The room was filling with smoke just as quickly as the lab, making visibility difficult for the Pzathorglawian. A tall figure stood at the far end of the room, just in front of the corridor door.

"You know," the figure stated, his voice lilting with self-pride. "There's one thing I really like about electronic doors. You can program them to open and close at precisely the moment you want. In this case…" He opened the door behind him by slapping a scanner on his left, "…at the touch of a button." He slapped the scanner again as he dived from the room, narrowly missing being crushed by the rapidly closing door.

The Pzathorglawian rushed to towards the door as it dropped, determined to get hold of the intruder. Even as he did so, the door on the other side of the room that led into the lab shut at the same time, effectively sealing him alone in the office. The smoke in the room caused the gray alien to cough in protest as he attempted to open the doors, failing with each effort.

Jack quickly got back in his feet the moment he was in the corridor and hurried to the lab's main door. Opening the door, he was assaulted by the sound of Grace screaming from the smoke attacking her senses while the Master seemed frustrated by the sudden turn of events.

Having heard a familiar voice coming from the office, the Master growled. "Harkness!" He turned to the Doctor. "I should have known you wouldn't have come without a contingency plan. What's his next move?" he demanded.

The Doctor gave him a knowing smile. "What's wrong, Master? Can't make an educated guess based on where you feel his presence? Can't you feel his presence anymore?"

"Harry!" Lucy coughed against the smoke, pointing to the other door as it opened.

The Doctor looked at Jack quickly, knowing that, with the Master flustered by the chaos, this was his only chance to stop his insane plan of galactic conquest. "Sonic!" he shouted to him and was immediately rewarded when he reached up and grabbed the object thrown towards him. He quickly turned towards the Endowment Chamber and the small device whined.

"NO!" the Master yelled, watching as his great achievement crackled and sparked, small explosions and fires starting as the sonic screwdriver fried the machine's extremely advanced circuitry. So horrified was he by the loss, he didn't even notice that the Doctor had hurriedly stumbled out of the lab, following Jack and Grace, the latter struggling and screaming against Jack as she was pushed through the door.

While the Doctor slumped against one wall, obviously in pain, Jack held Grace tightly in one arm as he quickly closed the door and smashed the controls with his gun, preventing the door from being easily opened.

Grace forcibly escaped Jack's hold. "Get away from me! Get away!" she continued to scream, pressing herself into the corridor's wall in an attempt to put distance between herself and Jack. "No! Please! Please! Don't hurt me! Stay away!"

The Captain watched with wide eyes for a moment. The Doctor had said that she wouldn't cooperate with him but he really didn't expect such absolute fear of him from her. He turned his eyes towards the Gallifreyan who was regaining his breath.

"What the hell is wrong with her?" he questioned, raising his voice.

Grace screamed, cringing at the sound.

"Lower your voice," the Doctor ordered, his brown eyes glaring at Jack. He pushed himself from the wall and slowly approached his wife, crouching slowly in front of her.

"The question still stands," Jack told him, this time matching the Doctor's tone.

"She was raped by an extremely powerful telepath. What do you think is wrong with her?" the Doctor told him, slowly reaching up to touch Grace's cheek. His hearts tightened when he saw her pull away from his touch, shaking with fear. "It's okay," he whispered to her. "You're safe. That's our friend Jack. Remember Jack?"

Even as he asked the question, a loud bang came from the office door, causing Grace to withdraw into herself.

"Doctor, we don't have time for this," Jack pressed. "You're injured…"

"I can manage," the Gallifreyan murmured.

"…she's psychotic…"

The Doctor gave him a glare. "She's not psychotic," he growled at her.

Jack sighed. "Sorry. The point I'm making is that, in a few minutes, that Pzathorglawian is going to get through my little trap for him and the Master is definitely going to find a way to open this door." As if to reaffirm his words, another loud bang came from the office door, followed by one from the lab's door.

"I think it's more likely the other Zhtwohi brother will come and rescue them from behind those locked doors," the Doctor commented as he brushed Grace's hair, calming her from her troubled state.

"It gets even better," Jack grumbled. "Listen, we've got to get moving and neither of you is in any condition for running from trouble."

"Just take care of Grace," the Doctor told him.

The Captain rolled his eyes. "She won't even let me get near her without kicking and screaming. And don't give me any bullshit about managing when you're obviously bleeding."

"I can walk on my own. She can't, not in her mental state," the Doctor replied firmly. "You'll take care of her. I'll make sure that she will cooperate with you."

"How are you going to do that?" Jack questioned dubiously.

The Doctor, however, obviously didn't hear Jack's query, his eyes focuses on the frightened woman in front of him. "Grace. Grace laharni maha," he called to her softly. Gaining her attention, her eyes looking into his, he gave her a loving smile. "It's okay. We'll take care of you. But right now," he told her, his fingertips brushing her temples, "you need to sleep. Go to sleep, Grace."

Another cacophony of bangs filled the corridor, causing Grace to startle slightly.

"But he's there… behind my eyes," she protested, trying to fight sleep despite her eyes growing very heavy.

"And so am I," he whispered. "Protecting you." He watched her eyes go towards the doors. "Ignore the doors. It's just noise. Go to sleep, kardatare maha. You are safe. We will protect you." He sighed with relief as he watched her eyes close and felt her mind relax.

"Carry her," he instructed Jack, struggling to stand. He allowed the Captain to assist him to his feet.

Jack gave the Doctor a concerned look but didn't argue against him. He bent down and gently lifted Grace into his arms. "Grab my shoulder," he ordered the Doctor. Receiving a glare, he returned the expression with one of his own. "You are not arguing with me on this one, Doctor. Grab my shoulder for support."

The Gallifreyan relented and the two started down the corridor at a hurried pace. They'd only gone to the end of the first corridor when they had to quickly hide in one of the abandoned labs as the other Pzathorglawian hurried by towards the Master's lab. Once the path was clear, they quickly resumed their journey through the corridors.

The closer they got to the TARDIS, the more the Doctor struggled to maintain his composure, his brown eyes shining with the pain he'd been suppressing the entire time of their harried escape. It was actually a help rather than a hindrance that, on the way, they'd had to hide to avoid being seen by one of the Zhtwohi brothers as they searched for the escapees. Each stop had allowed the Gallifreyan to regain some of his strength. But now, with their goal only a short corridor away, he was finding himself lagging behind, using the walls to support his weight.

"Doctor!" Jack called back to him, seeing him pressed against the corridor's wall, his eyes closed as he panted against the exertion he was placing on his body. The Captain quickly hurried back to him. "You okay? Not far to go now. Just around the corner and into the cupboard."

"I'll be fine," the Gallifreyan whispered back to him.

Jack scrutinized him quickly. The small splotch of blood that he'd seen on the Doctor's shirt back at the Master's lab had grown into a large splotch that was threatening to permanently make its mark on the Doctor's trousers. "No, you're not," he told the Doctor with conviction. He moved to put Grace down.

"No."

Jack looked at him with wide eyes. "You're bleeding heavily and you need help. I'll take care of you and then come back for Grace."

"Grace first," the Doctor insisted.

"Doctor…" Jack started.

"Doctor!" came a sing-song voice from their destination. "I know you're near, Doctor. You can't escape, you know. My remarkable wife and my friends are slowly converging on this location. To avoid them, you're going to have to keep moving forward, right into my waiting arms. And if they capture you first… well, your wife really is a fabulous lay and handsome Jack may be immortal but that doesn't mean I can't make his life miserable. You know from experience that I can. Oh, and I've put up the transduction barrier around the planet. You can't leave Shada even if you tried. So, why don't you make it easier on yourself, your wife, and your friend and just surrender?"

The Doctor closed his eyes as he listened to the Master's words, knowing that he would make good on his threat even if he did surrender to him. Opening his eyes, he looked at Jack and saw the determination on his face. He knew immediately from that look that the head of Torchwood wasn't about to surrender without a fight. That is, unless the Doctor told him to do so but with the knowledge that the latter never would.

"Ideas?" he questioned the Captain.

"I could just shoot him," Jack replied, shifting Grace's weight in his arms.

The Gallifreyan lowered his eyelids at his suggestion. "He's not a Time Lord anymore, Jack. You shoot him, he won't regenerate."

"All the more reason for me to do it," came the reply.

The Doctor sighed slightly. "Killing the Master isn't the answer."

"No," Jack agreed. "But it sure as hell is tempting. Certainly would be easier to get to the TARDIS if I did."

As they talked, however, they heard a sudden cry and then a loud thump, causing them to hurry to look around the corner. There, standing just outside the cupboard door, one of the Doctor's mallets in her hand, was Martha, towering over the Master as he groaned, half unconscious on the floor.

"Martha!" the Doctor exclaimed with a grin.

"Are you just going to stand there or are we getting the hell out of here?" the UNIT doctor demanded.

Jack took the lead, quickly carrying Grace to the TARDIS. "Help the Doctor," he ordered Martha as, lowering Grace so that he supported her against his chest, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his key to the TARDIS.

Martha turned towards the Doctor at Jack's command. "Oh, my gawd!" she exclaimed at the sight of him, hurrying to support his weight the rest of the way to the time ship. "What happened?"

"Not now, Martha," the Doctor told her bluntly as they quickly got into the TARDIS just before the Master struggled to his feet and the sound of people running filled the corridor.

"Harry!" Lucy called out, getting to her husband just as the TARDIS door closed. She helped him to his feet only for him to push her off abruptly.

Reaching into his jeans pocket, he pulled out a Yale key and hurried to the TARDIS, sliding the key into the lock. Finding himself unable to unlock the door, he slapped his hand on the door and then a fist before Lucy grabbed his arm and pulled him away.

The Master cried out in frustration, kicking the nearest wall before turning to glare at the TARDIS door, looking very much like he could burn the door away if he glowered at it hard enough.

Lucy went to his side slowly and rubbed his arm soothingly. "They can't escape, my love. Eventually, they will have to come out."

"Eventually isn't soon enough," the Master growled darkly.

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The moment the door was closed, the Doctor pushed Martha away from him and flicked the latch on the door, effectively preventing anyone else from getting into the ship. Then, stumbling he went over to the console.

"We need to dematerialize," he told his friends.

"First, we need to get you and Grace into the infirmary," Martha answered vehemently.

The Doctor didn't even glance at her as he started to set coordinates, using the console to support his weight. "No, first, Jack needs to get Grace into the Zero Room."

"What's the Zero Room?" Martha questioned as Jack hurried to obey the Doctor's order. "And what the hell are you doing?" she demanded, going up to the Doctor to try to stop him from harming himself any further than he already was.

"Finishing the plan," the Doctor replied bluntly. "Say out of the way and let me be until we're safely away from Shada."

Almost as if the reaffirm his conviction, the main door rattled as it was hit two times consecutively.

"The transduction barrier is still up," Jack reminded as he returned through the auxiliary doors. Seeing the Doctor give him a questioning look, he nodded. "She's in the Zero Room. What's it for?"

"And what's a transduction barrier?" Martha questioned, her eyes on the blood on the Doctor's shirt.

Getting no answer from the Doctor on either question, Jack answered the latter as the Doctor continued to make adjustments on the control console. "It's sort of like a planetary force field, preventing ships from coming or going without clearance."

"So, with it still being up, we can't leave," Martha concluded.

"We will be able to in a moment," the Doctor replied as he flicked a switch. The action destabilized the tentative hold he had on the console, sending him tumbling to the grated floor.

Martha hurried to tend to him, giving him a berating look. She started to open his shirt to look at his damage his chest had obviously endured but was gently pushed away by the Doctor, who struggled back onto his feet.

"Once we're in the vortex, then you can tend to me," he told her as he tapped away at his console keyboard, leaning against the console for support. "There. That should do it. Jack, the other side. The green button. Hit it."

The Captain ran to do as he was instructed. A moment later, the time rotor started moving in its normal up and down rhythm, the grating sound of the TARDIS' engines filling the room.

A moment later, the Doctor smile almost serenely. "We're safe," he told his friends. He looked up into Jack's smiling face. "Thank you."

"All in a day's work," Jack replied. "Now, let Martha take care of you."

Martha looked between the two men, completely lost as to what just happened. Did they both just say that the transduction barrier would prevent their escape? The questions she had about their getting away from Shada fell to the wayside as she noted the Doctor's increasingly weakening condition.

"You can explain the hows later, you two," she told them as she turned towards the Doctor. "Let me take a look at you."

"It's not as bad as it looks," he tried to assure her.

His assurances did nothing to ease either of his friends' minds when his eyes suddenly went blank and he abruptly collapsed to the floor, unconscious.