Author's Note: I am sorry. I could go on about all the various reasons why my updating schedule has progressively gotten worse, but it would take up a chapter on its own, so I won't. There are only a couple chapters left, and then a bit of a break. I'm hoping to not leave too much of a gap between this story and the sequel.

Chapter 21

Cowering in a corner, Kari watched as the Master paced the room she had just mopped, getting muddy boot prints all over it. That was the least of her worries, naturally. He'd been none too happy when he had returned some ten minutes ago.

She had just finished mopping when he slammed the door open and stormed down the stairs. He grabbed her wrist and spun her around, allowing her to barely stop before he backhanded her, causing her to fall from the force. Clutching the side of her face, she'd tried to crawl away from him before he started kicking her.

"How'd you do it, you dumb mutt? How'd you manage to lead him here so quickly? I blocked your damn connection!"

She had barely been able to make out his yelling as she curled herself into a ball, trying to protect herself from the swift kicks he was landing on her. By the time he'd stopped, she was broken, bleeding, and crying, terrified of what had set him off.

He crouched down next to her and pulled her head up out of her arms by her hair, making her scream out in pain. "Answer me, dog!"

"I…I'm sorry. I don't know," she stuttered out through sobs.

"Liar!" He slammed her head into the floor, breaking her glasses and causing a gash in her head. "How?!"

"I swear! I don't know!"

Growling in frustration, he released her hair, gave her another kick, and stormed back up the stairs to close and lock the door.

She took the opportunity to drag her beaten and broken body to a dark corner, doing her best to keep away from him. There was no way she could run. She couldn't see and she was pretty sure one of her legs was broken. All she could do was cower and watch him pace and rant.

"I wasn't ready! He shouldn't have been able to find me this quickly. Dammit!" He threw the chair she'd tried to use as a weapon across the room, shattering it into pieces. He turned and stalked up to her, causing her to do everything she could to become part of the wall. "It was his precious Rose, wasn't it? You have a connection with her!" He reached out to grab her hair again and stopped, instead stroking his hand down the side of her face, almost affectionately. His features changed slightly, more thoughtful. "No, I would've been able to sense that, too. I could sense it earlier, before I got shot and regenerated. It was gone when I came to." He frowned slightly. "I wonder why that is."

He abruptly stood and strode away, his demeanor slightly brighter. He waved a hand vaguely over his shoulder. "No matter. I can work with this. He's weak when it comes to women. He'll be too focused on getting you out and keeping Rose safe to realize he's walking into a trap."

Kari's eyes darted up to the door as she heard it unlock. Her heart leapt into her throat as she both hoped and feared it was the Doctor. She could only just make out the blurry figures standing at the top as the Doctor and Rose. She wasn't sure who the two figures behind were, but she imagined they were guards.

The Master clapped his hands together in delight. "Doctor! Rose! How lovely to see you again! I was wondering if you'd be able to find my little hideaway here. Quite cozy, don't you think?" He looked around the room proudly, like it was a rec room and not a dirty basement in an abandoned building.

The Doctor slowly took a step down. "Where's Kari?"

"Who? Oh, your guard dog! She's around here somewhere."

He took another couple of steps down, Rose and the figures behind him following suit. As they got a bit closer, Kari could see the guns the other two figures were carrying trained on the Master.

"Stop playing games. Where is she?"

"Oh, come now! The least you could do is ask nicely." Kari could hear the mock pout in his voice before it turned into a sneer. "And use my name."

The Master stood his ground as the group came down a few more steps. The Doctor's voice became even colder and even than it had before, making the hairs on Kari's neck stand on end.

"Please, Master, where is she?"

"That's better." He made to look around the room, deliberately not looking behind him. She was fairly certain he had placed himself so that she was blocked from view. "Hmm, I don't see her anywhere." He gave a shrug. "I have no idea where she could've gotten to."

One of the figures with guns – was that Alex? – cleared his throat. "Doctor, back there, in the corner."

The Master stepped aside and looked back at her, feigning surprise. Rose gasped and made to run for her, but the Doctor held her back.

"Well, now, how'd you get back there? Didn't you hear us looking for you?" He walked up to her, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her up, causing her to scream out in pain. He snarled. "Your owners have come looking for you, mutt."

"Stop it! Let her go!" Rose screamed, fighting to get to Kari.

The Master gave Rose an innocent look. "Let her go? Alright." He let go of Kari's wrist, causing her to drop back down to the floor, unable to support her own weight. He looked down at her in disgust as she began to sob again. "Pathetic, worthless animal."

Kari was barely able to lift her head to continue to watch what was going on, not that she could focus on anything. The room spun around her as her head throbbed. It was everything she could do to keep from throwing up, though a part of her thought it would be fitting to puke on the Master's boots that were already covered in her blood.

Finally able to focus a bit, she saw that the Doctor and Rose had made it all the way to the bottom of the stairs, while the guards stayed a couple steps up, guns steady on the Master.

The Doctor took a step forward. His voice continued to be cold and even, his eyes trained on the Master, only occasionally flicking to Kari's broken form.

"Stop this. You've got me here. Let her go."

"She's free to go whenever she wants to now. Though it seems she's a bit…inhibited. I may have gotten a little overzealous while she's been in my care."

Rose tried to leap forward again; the only thing keeping her back was the Doctor's firm grip on her wrist. "Overzealous? Care? You beat her!"

"Well, how else do you treat a disobedient animal? Surely she gets a bit unruly on the TARDIS. Do you not discipline her?"

"I…am…not…a…damn dog," Kari rasped out, tired of him referring to her as an animal.

The Master kicked her again. "Shut up, mutt! The people are talking!"

Groaning, Kari allowed herself a small smile as the relief of unconsciousness took her, her whole world going dark.

With great swiftness, the Doctor was upon the Master, placing himself between Kari and the other Time Lord. He snarled as he spoke.

"You will not touch her again. You have me. I'm here. Leave her alone."

"So arrogant, Doctor, thinking you're what I want. You know full well you're not the one I want."

"I'm the one you're getting."

The Master shrugged and turned away. "Very well. Suppose I can just get you to turn another human female into one of our kind like you did with Rose there."

"I didn't turn Rose into anything. It was… an accident."

The Master sneered. "Oh, I'm sure it was. Always have to have a few accidents before you get it right. Perhaps the rumors were true."

The Doctor growled. "Stop it."

The Master's voice became taunting. "They were, weren't they? You were Rassilon's prodigy, taking it upon yourself to create a new race of beings. How many did you go through before you got this one, Doctor?"

Rose gasped as the Doctor lifted the Master up and pushed him back against the wall.

"I didn't create her, Master, nor have I tried to create any others. I am no one's prodigy, especially Rassilon's."

Rose's voice came through the fog of the Doctor's mind, small and scared.

"Doctor…"

"You're scaring your female, Doctor. Perhaps you need to rethink your words."

The Doctor set the Master down, but didn't let him go. "There's nothing to rethink."

"Very well, Doctor. Doesn't change anything, anyway. It's just the three of us now, and only one of us is female."

The Doctor's hand clenched on the Master's throat, all of the rage he'd been barely containing coming through. There was no way he would let this monster anywhere near Rose. His grip loosened only the slightest bit when Rose protested.

"Doctor, no!"

The Master's voice came strained. "Listen to her, Doctor. Do you really want more blood on your hands?"

His grip tightened again as he pressed his face into the other man's. "I'm not the one who has beaten an innocent girl to near death and senselessly killed at least two people today."

Despite barely being able to breath, the Master smirked. "No, but you did admit to destroying our people. Is this something your precious Rose knew?" A smile spread across his face as guilt flashed through the Doctor's eyes. "She didn't, did she? Fascinating!"

The Doctor squeezed tighter, trying to silence the other man. His voice became low and dangerous. "Stop."

He started at the touch of a hand on his shoulder. Turning to see who it was, his blazing eyes were met by terrified hazel ones. He tried to get himself under control as he spoke through clenched teeth.

"Rose, get back. I don't want you hurt."

Her eyes turned pleading as she continued to stare up at him. Her voice was quiet and as calm as she could make it. "Doctor, please, let him go. You don't have to do this. There are other ways."

He turned to look back at the Master, whose face had begun to pale from lack of oxygen. A respiratory bypass only went so far. He loosened his grip, allowing him to breathe, but didn't let him go. Keeping his eyes on the Master, he spoke to the guards over his shoulder.

"One of you bring me something to secure him with. Rose, go check on Kari, make sure she's still breathing." He slipped his free hand into his pocket and handed the sonic to her. "See if you can help her at all with this, at least be able to stop some of the bleeding."

Nodding, Rose took it and quickly made her way to Kari.

Neither man spoke as they continued to stare at each other, both practically challenging the other to speak first. The Doctor didn't like the fact that the Master was just standing there. He hadn't tried to fight him or get away. He just stood and stared, almost tauntingly.

Jacob approached with handcuffs and tape. The Doctor looked at the roll of tape in disgust, wondering whose blood was all over it. Gripping one end with his teeth, he tore a piece off, threw the roll on the floor, and slapped the tape over the Master's mouth. Now, even if he had wanted to continue to taunt him, he couldn't. In one fluid movement, he grabbed one the man's wrists, and spun him around, locking the arm behind his back. He slapped one side of the handcuffs on him as he grabbed the other wrist, quickly following suit with it.

Yanking him away from the wall, he passed him to Jacob, who had stood waiting and silent, waves of fear and apprehension coming off of him. He nodded toward Alex, who still had his gun trained on the Master.

"You two take him back to the jail. Do not, under any circumstances, take the cuffs or tape off of him nor let him out of your sight. Do I make myself clear?" The two guards nodded solemnly. "Good. On your way, stop at the hospital and send someone here to help us get Kari out. Now go!"

Nodding again, both guards took off up the stairs, Jacob forcefully pushing the Master ahead of him. The Doctor watched them leave and noted what seemed to be a sneer on the Master's face, despite the tape. Shaking his head, he made his way to Rose's side by Kari.

Rose had managed to seal up most of her superficial wounds, but it was obvious she had serious broken bones and possible internal bleeding. Carefully taking the sonic from her shaking hands, the Doctor changed settings and scanned Kari. She had a severe concussion as well as broken ribs, a broken leg, and broken wrist. He was surprised she wasn't in worse shape.

Standing, he closed his eyes and ran his hands down his face. Blowing out a large sigh, he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at his broken friend. Rose looked up at him with wet eyes. Her voice was shaky from crying.

"Is she going to be okay?"

He slowly shook his head. He didn't have it in him to lie. "I don't know, Rose."

Their attention was drawn to the door at the top of the stairs when they heard it open. Medics started making their way down with various supplies and a gurney. Bending down, the Doctor took Rose by the shoulders and carefully pulled her up and out of the way, letting them do their work. He relayed what he had already found to them. Numbly, they both followed the group up and out toward the hospital.

A few feet away from the building, the Doctor's head snapped to one side, his eyes wide in alarm, seconds before the commotion could be heard. Dropping Rose's hand, he took off at a dead run in the direction of the shouting. Skidding around a corner, he stopped short when he saw the cause of the commotion.

Jacob lay unconscious on the ground; not dead, as he could see his chest rising and falling, just unconscious. Next to him, the Master lay, shot in the chest, again, Alex's gun trained on him, the young man shaking. A crowd was gathering around, beginning to block his view.

The Doctor's legs started moving of their own volition, his arms pushing his way through the crowd. He fell on his knees next to the Master, carefully removing the tape from his mouth. Slipping his arm under the man's shoulders, he lifted him to a slight sitting position, sliding his knees under him.

The Master hissed in a painful breath. "Humans have incredibly hard heads."

A small smile quirked at the Doctor's lips. "You head butted him?"

The other man shrugged, causing him to wince in pain. "You didn't leave me many more options." He nodded painfully toward Alex. "Is that the same one that shot me yesterday?"

The Doctor looked up at the shaking guard and gestured for him to drop his weapon. Shaking his head, he looked back down at the man in his lap. "No, that was the one knocked out over there."

"Ah, well, glad they could both get a chance."

The Doctor looked into his old friend's eyes and saw the light slipping from them. He could tell he had no intention of regenerating. He fought the tears that sprung to his eyes as he smiled tightly.

"So, I know it's not ideal, but figured you could join us on the TARDIS…" he trailed off at the scowl he was receiving.

"What? So I can be your actual pet? I think not." The Master sucked in a shuddering breath. "No, I think I'll take death over that farce of a life."

A few tears escaped as the Doctor shook his head. "Come on! You can't give up that easily. There's so much to see, so much to do."

The Master rolled his eyes, though he couldn't tell if it was from annoyance or pain. "Like you'd really let me roam freely. Hell, I'd probably be in a cell when on the TARDIS. You couldn't risk me mucking about with it."

Before the Doctor could respond, the Master cringed and doubled slightly in pain, grabbing onto the lapel of his jacket. The Doctor wrapped his arms around the man as he died in his arms, rocking and freely crying.

"Come on! Come on, regenerate! Not like this, you can't go out like this," he mumbled into the dying man's hair.

The Master's voice came scratchy and barely above a whisper when he spoke again. "They're all gone, Doctor. What's the point of living? I couldn't live freely or even go home to be imprisoned. At least, this way, I'm given some dignity."

The Doctor choked back a sob. "I'm sorry, my old friend. I'm sorry and I forgive you."

With one last shudder, the Master slumped against the Doctor, all signs of life gone.