Chapter Twenty-One
"Is this the place?" Tosh whispered to Owen.
Owen glanced up at the building in front of him and checked the directions the Doctor have given him.
"According to this, it is," he said. "Now let's see if the Doctor left the door unlocked."
They walked up to the front door. Both of them pulled their guns out of their holsters, looked around to make sure no one was around and then Owen pushed on the door. It swung open, and Owen quickly thrust his gun in front of him. He gave the inside a once over and nodded at Tosh.
"All clear," he whispered. "Looks like the Doctor did a good job getting everyone out."
"Good, then let's get this over with and get back out before someone comes back," Tosh replied.
Both of them went inside, and Owen shut the door behind them. He pulled the schematic out of his pocket and studied it.
"Okay, machine is on the second floor," he said to Tosh. "According to this, there's a flight of stairs at the end of this corridor."
He stuffed the directions back in his pocket, and he and Tosh proceeded slowly down the hallway. As they walked, both of them kept their guns out in front of them. Tosh felt her heart beating out of her chest, imagining one of the doors opening, and a vampire leaping out at them. Suddenly, her gun didn't seem like adequate protection. She said as much to Owen.
"Sorry, love, I forgot to bring my holy water and garlic when we left the Hub," he replied.
"Do you think a bullet will stop them?"
Owen shrugged.
"It doesn't stop Jack, so I kinda doubt it. I think the best we can hope for is causing a long enough delay, so we can do what we need to do and scarper out of here."
They reached the stairs. Owen made a quick check of it, and beckoned to Tosh when he didn't see anyone. They slowly climbed the stairs. Owen aimed his gun at the top of the stairs, while Tosh kept an eye on their backs. Reaching the top, Owen checked the schematic once more.
"This way," he said, pointing off to his left. "Third door along on the right hand side."
He glanced back at Tosh, and the two of them headed down the hallway, unaware that two people were now coming up the stairs towards them.
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"Come on, come on," Jack muttered, as he stared at the vampires.
He could tell some of them were getting bored with the Doctor's speech. He was droning on and on, trying desperately to stall for time. But, Jack figured that it wouldn't be too much longer until the vampires lost patience and started braying for his and Ianto's blood. Something had to be done, and fast. So, Jack did what any good leader would do. He made the decision to sacrifice himself for the good of the plan.
"Rose!" he hissed.
Rose looked down at him. She moved closer to Jack.
"Yeah?" she whispered back.
"This is taking too long. The vampires aren't gonna stand it much longer. Tell the Doctor to go ahead and beat me or something."
Ianto jerked his head around and gave him a horrified look. Jack ignored it.
"Jack, are you sure?" Rose whispered.
"Yes, I'm sure. We gotta give this crowd something before they get angry and swarm the stage. The Doc may be their leader, but I'm sure there's a limit to how long they'll be willing to sit on their butts and listen to him talk. Tell him to whip me, beat me, torture me, anything! We gotta stall for more time, and his grand speech isn't gonna cut it!"
Rose swallowed hard and nodded. She walked back over to the Doctor and tapped him on the shoulder. He gave her a questioning look, and she quickly whispered in his ear. She could see the horror on his face, but he quickly masked it.
"Is he sure he wants to do this?" he whispered to Rose.
"Yes, he figures it'll keep them occupied until Tosh and Owen can get to the machine."
The Doctor glanced over at Jack, who was staring at him.
"Do it, Doc," he mouthed to him.
The Doctor felt sick to his stomach. He had tried to avoid doing this. He hated to harm his best friend, but he knew he was right. The crowd was getting restless, and he needed to pacify them with something. He leaned back into the microphone.
"But, enough talk, it's time for action!" the Doctor said.
The crowd roared, a little too loudly, the Doctor thought. Jack had been right about them being bored with his speechmaking. He was filled with revulsion at the sight of them cheering, whistling, and calling for Jack and Ianto's deaths. He cursed Lucius for turning him into one of them and hoped fervently that he would be destroyed with the rest of the vampires.
"Very well, I shall start with the immortal one!" the Doctor yelled.
This was greeted with more cheers, and the Doctor gave Rose an anguished look before they walked over to him. They grabbed Jack under the arms, and he pretended to resist. As they pulled him to his feet, Jack caught Ianto's tormented look, and he gave his lover a brave smile before being pulled away.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" the Doctor hissed in his ear.
"Positive. I've had worse, trust me, just do something before there's a riot," Jack hissed back.
The Doctor loosened his bonds and slipped them off. He and Rose stripped him to his waist, laid him on his stomach on one of the tables, and strapped him down.
"Rose, go over to Ianto and pretend to keep an eye on him. I'd rather you not see this," the Doctor said, once they finished.
Rose put her hand on his arm and gave it a quick squeeze. The Doctor smiled at her and turned his attention to the rack while Rose walked back to Ianto. The Doctor forced himself to go over to the rack and look through the various torture implements. He felt the bile rising in his throat, as he tried to make a decision. He didn't want to use anything here. He felt like puking at the thought of harming the man he loved so dearly. He prayed that Jack's friends would forgive him for what he was about to do. Reluctantly, he decided on the whip, figuring that was the best option. Grabbing it, he turned and slowly made his way back to the table, hoping that any minute the sun would appear and save them all. As he walked over, he checked his pocket making sure that the UV blocker was still in there. He felt it at the bottom of his pocket next to his psychic paper and glasses. Comforted that it was there and turned on; he withdrew his hand and concentrated on the task before him.
He stared down at Jack who turned his head and was looking up at him expectantly.
"I'm sorry, Jack," the Doctor said, sorrowfully.
"Don't be, Doc, I'm the one who told you to do this. Just get on with it before they get suspicious."
The Doctor nodded. He stepped back slightly, raised his arm, hesitated a moment, and then, brought the whip down onto Jack's bare back.
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"This is it," Owen said, as he and Tosh stopped outside a room.
He tried the door and grinned at her when it opened.
"This is our lucky day, Tosh," he said. "Now, at last, we can dismantle this bloody machine, once and for all."
"I think not!"
They jerked their heads around. Owen cursed when two vampires stepped into the hallway and glared at them.
"Crap," Owen muttered.
"I guess Lucius was right about something going on, eh, Seth?" Joshua said, glancing at his friend.
"Yeah, it's a good thing he asked us to come over and check things out. Now, we have two more people to execute."
"Four more, since I'm sure the Doctor and Rosie are in on this, as well," Seth said.
They bared their fangs at them.
"Step away from the door, and we won't rip you to pieces," Joshua said.
Owen sighed, angrily.
"Do as they say, Tosh," he said to her.
Both of them moved away from the door.
"Now, slide your guns over here like good little mortals," Seth said.
They laid their guns on the floor and slid them across to Seth and Joshua, who quickly snapped them up and pointed them at their heads.
"Very good," Seth said. "Now, walk this way, and then, the four of us are gonna take a little flight over to Wembley Stadium."
The two vampires sniggered when Tosh and Owen obeyed.
"Very good, I'm glad you're cooperating. Makes our job so much easier," Joshua said. "Perhaps we'll even spare you, since you're being so obedient. We'd hate to put a bullet in your brains and kill a couple of pretty things like you."
"Speaking of bullets in the brains…"
Seth and Joshua froze when they heard someone behind them. They turned and looked at Gwen, as she stepped into the hallway and pointed her gun at their heads.
"Hi, I'm the Doctor's backup plan. Nice to meet you," she said.
She quickly shot them both in the heads. As they went down, Owen and Tosh ran over, grabbed their guns, and shot them in their hearts. They waited a moment and breathed a sigh of relief when they noticed the vampires weren't moving.
"Think that got them?" Tosh asked.
"Dunno," Owen said. "But I'm not waiting around to find out. Let's dump them in a room and get on with dismantling the machine."
They grabbed the vampires and dragged them to the nearest room.
"What are you doing here?" Owen asked Gwen. "I thought the Doctor told you to stay with the TARDIS."
Gwen smiled.
"That's what he wanted me to tell you. On the way over to the TARDIS, he realized someone had followed him from here. He figured they might come back to ambush you, so he told me to stay behind, leave about ten minutes after you, and come over here just in case."
"Well, God bless the man for thinking of everything," Owen said.
They dumped the vampires in a room, shut the door, and ran down the hall. They entered the room that housed the time loop machine and locked the door behind them. They looked at the large machine sitting in the back of the room.
"Right, gang, demolition time!" Owen said. "Last one to destroy it is a vampire's meal."