I am so sorry this one took so long to get out the door. And I'm also sorry because updates will be a bit less frequent from here on out, since I have no more pre-written chapters and I'll be busy with community college classes soon. Be patient, gentle readers. Also, this one ends kind of abruptly, but all three chapters were well over 3k words and it needed to stop somewhere. I hope it lives up to the usual standard, as it was mostly crafted at o'dark thirty and may be a bit ill-thought-out in places.
They had reached the corridor of the second floor when they heard the explosion, and glanced at each other before running straight towards it. They collided with a skinny black and white blur that was tearing away from the short-lived crash. The Doctor caught them by the arms to stop himself.
"What are you doing here?" he cried, voice an octave higher than usual.
"We're returning this!" Martha said brightly, holding up the sonic screwdriver. "Thought you might need it."
"How did you -"
"You blew something up, how do you think?" Ianto added breathlessly.
"I blasted Lazarus."
"Did you kill him?" There was a contradictory roar as the monster pounded through the door and onto the white balcony.
"More sort of annoyed him, I'd say."
They raced back into the abandoned reception hall.
"What now, we've just gone round in a circle!"
"We can't lead him outside!" The Doctor darted for the Circular Claw and yanked it open. "Come on, get in!"
"We can't all fit!" Ianto protested. He and the Doctor exchanged significant looks, and he dashed away, scrambling out of sight, as the Time Lord pulled Martha into the machine. Lazarus skidded into the hall and circled the device, snarling like an oversized jaguar that was stalking its trapped prey. Temporarily concealed, he gave himself a moment to regroup.
Okay, think. They're safe inside the device because Lazarus won't want to tear apart his work. You get in his line of sight and you're mutant munch. Which means no running for the exits; no leading it outside, definitely no leaving the Doctor and Martha. Technical knowledge: rudimentary at best. Likelihood of defeating Lazarus singlehandedly: slim to nil. Likelihood of the Doctor having a plan: slim. Likelihood of him improvising: not so bad.
Lazarus scuttled towards the tables where he was crouched and he dove away at the last second. With the monster's head turned away, he ducked into a corner of the room with the lightswitches that he'd found earlier and flicked them off, hoping to confuse him. There was a sharp click and a high-pitched whine as the machine began to glow and revolve. His stomach jumped into his throat as the machine rotated at an incomprehensible speed. He slid across the floor beneath Lazarus' line of sight, hunting for the off button or a circuit to break, as the scream of the machine and the flashing blue light threw his perception out of whack.
A shock of energy erupted from the machine and threw Lazarus across the room. The metal screens behind him absorbed most of the blast and Ianto curled into a protective ball behind the tech booth. The room fell silent save for a hiss of hydraulics. He pulled himself up and felt a flood of relief as the Doctor and Martha stepped safely out of the machine, looking rattled but none the worse for wear.
"I thought we were going to go through the blender, then," Martha murmured. "Oh my God, Ianto!" She whipped around to look for him and he gave her a shaky smile. She ran up and threw her arms around his neck. He gave a relieved chuckle.
"I'm so glad you two are alright," he admitted. She pulled back and poked him sharply in the chest.
"Don't you dare scare me like that again, Mister!" The Doctor grinned at them both.
"It really shouldn't take that long to reverse the polarity. I must be a bit out of practice." Ianto gave a scathing cough.
"You reversed the polarity? Seriously?"
"Oi! It's a classic trick, works all the time, don't knock it!" Their grins faded as they stared at Lazarus' prone form.
"He seems so…human again," Martha whispered. "It's kind of pitiful."
"Eliot saw that, too. "This is the way the world ends..."
"Not with a bang, but with a whimper," Ianto finished.
The paramedics showed up and hauled Lazarus away in a body bag. As they followed solemnly, Ianto held out his elbow and Martha put a hand on his arm, and the Doctor quietly unknotted his bowtie and letting it hang loosely around his neck.
"She's here, she's alright!" Tish hurried up to them and pulled Martha into a hug. Ianto's eyes widened as he saw Mrs. Jones marching up to them. He kicked the Doctor in the heel.
"Keep your mouth shut and don't make eye contact," he muttered under his breath, taking a pace back and out of the line of fire. This immediately proved to be a wise decision: Francine delivered a resounding slap across the Doctor's face.
"Keep away from my daughter," she hissed. Ianto made a valiant effort to keep from bursting into laughter, turning his face away and clamping a hand over his mouth.
"Mum, what are you doing?" Martha asked in a warning tone.
"Always the mothers, every time," the Doctor muttered.
"And Donna, can't forget Donna," Ianto grinned at him. "This is Christmas all over again." The Time Lord looked thoroughly peeved.
"You're not helping."
"It is funny, though." Francine glared at them both and they ducked their heads like naughty schoolboys. She turned back to Martha.
"He is dangerous! I've been told things."
"What are you talking about?"
"Look around you!" She grasped her by the shoulders, beseeching. "Nothing but death and destruction!"
"This isn't his fault, he saved us, all of us!" Martha's voice rose in indignation.
"It was Tish who invited everyone to this thing in the first place," Leo butted in. "I'd say technically, it's her fault." Ianto shot him an understanding grin as Tish gave a first-class eyeroll and elbowed him in the stomach. Oh, the life of a little brother. The confrontation was abruptly ended as the ambulance that had driven off with Lazarus came to a crash just down the street. The Doctor spun around, his head in the air like a prairie dog, and took off running. Ianto winced and took to his heels as well. Oh, the life of a mad scientist's assistant.
For a moment it seemed that Francine was holding Martha back, but when he turned around, both she and Tish had followed them to the abandoned ambulance. The doors had been busted wide open and the paramedics lay slumped in the back, stiff and shriveled.
"Lazarus - back from the dead," the Doctor whispered. "Should have known, really." He yanked out his screwdriver and pulled a 360 scan until it blipped and pointed their direction like a compass.
"That way. The church."
"Cathedral," Ianto and Tish said at the same time.
"It's - Southwark Cathedral," Tish said hastily. "He told me."
"Saw the model in his office," Ianto tossed off as they headed for the doors. They skulked warily into the dark, stone hall, following the pulsing blue light.
"D'you think he's in here?" Martha whispered.
"Where would you go if you were looking for sanctuary?" the Doctor muttered back. They stalked in silence across the length of the great hall, with the pews and stone bathed in moonlight. Martha watched the arched hallways uneasily, in case the monster of Lazarus was waiting to jump out at them from the shrouded darkness. Ianto smiled to himself, on edge with the adrenaline rush. He checked behind him as Tish followed, definitely jumpy, and offered her an encouraging smile as they passed the altar to the empty cove beneath the bell tower. Lazarus was huddled behind the altar, shivering and gasping, wrapped in a red shock blanket from the ambulance. The Doctor circled him as the three Joneses hung warily on the sidelines.
"I came here before," Lazarus rasped. "A lifetime ago. I thought I was going to die then. In fact, I was sure of it. I sat there, just a child…the sound of planes and bombs outside."
"The Blitz," the Doctor said bluntly. Lazarus managed something between a patronizing smirk and a grimace.
"You've read about it."
"I was there," the Time Lord replied softly.
"You're too young."
"So are you." Lazarus chuckled humorlessly before arching his neck back, straining, face contorted with pain. "In the morning, the fires had died, and I was still alive." The Doctor continued to circle him, gazing up the bell tower, taking in his surroundings, seeing everything. "I swore I'd never face death like that again. So defenceless. I would arm myself, fight back, defeat it."
"And that's what you were trying to do today."
"That's what I did today!"
"What about the other people that died?" the Doctor snapped accusingly.
"They were nothing. I changed the course of history," Lazarus said loftily.
"Any of them might have done, too. You think history's only made with equations?" The Doctor's voice raised suddenly, then lowered. "Facing death is part of being human. You can't change that."
"No, Doctor," Lazarus snarled. "Avoiding death. That's being human. It's our strongest impulse, to cling to life with every fibre of being. I'm doing what everyone before me has tried to do. I've simply been more…" a corner of his mouth curled up into a smirk. "Successful." He gave a cry of pain and threw his head back again, bones in his neck crunching audibly.
"Look at yourself! You're mutating!" the Doctor called scathingly, voice echoing in the chamber. "You've no control over it! You call that a success?"
"I call it progress," Lazarus wheezed. His neck snapped to the side with an audible crack, and he doubled over in pain. Martha winced and Ianto gave a contemptuous shudder, each inching forward to the Doctor's side. "I'm more now that I was. More than just an ordinary human."
"There's no such thing as an ordinary human," the Doctor whispered, the barest hint of his animated smile suddenly easing the intensity in his face. Lazarus choked and arched violently.
"He's gonna change again at any minute," Martha murmured to the Doctor as they huddled in conspiracy.
"I know," he breathed. "If I can get him up into the bell tower somehow, I've an idea that might work."
"Up there?" Martha motioned with her head.
"Uh huh!"
"Might?" Ianto whispered.
"Uh huh!" His eyebrows gave a lively flick. Well, he seemed somewhat confident with this plan. Ianto frowned. So far they'd caught Lazarus in an explosion and hit him with an energy burst from his own machine. Throwing him off of a bell tower didn't seem like a much more effective option. The Doctor circled him again as he jerked violently.
"You're so sentimental, Doctor," Lazarus hissed. "Maybe you are older than you look."
"I'm old enough to know that a longer life isn't always a better one," the Doctor said darkly. "In the end, you just get tired." Lazarus tilted his head down, listening properly at last. "Tired of the struggle. Tired of losing everyone that matters to you. Tired of watching everything... turn to dust." He crouched down on the stone to look the other man in the eye. "If you live long enough, Lazarus, the only certainty left is that you end up alone." Ianto shivered slightly as the weight of the Doctor's words hit him. 907... suddenly his behavior in Manhattan seemed to carry another perspective. 900 years fighting, losing everything as the creatures of terror survived... no wonder he wanted it to end. Still. The universe needed him. Needed him to live and keep fighting for the things that mattered when no one else was left.
"That's a price worth paying." And Lazarus was beyond saving, and didn't particularly seem to want it much.
"Is it?" the Doctor whispered, eyes dark with centuries of sorrow. In reply, the broken man's bones crunched like thin ice under an unsuspecting skater.
"I will feed soon." Ianto gazed up to the tower, then eyed a nearby doorway.
"I'm not gonna let that happen." Martha glanced at the door, then caught his eye. He tightened his lips and dipped his head in a barely perceptible nod.
"You've not been able to stop me so far." Martha took two steps to the right, now aligned with the archway to the staircase.
"Leave him, Lazarus!" she commanded. Lazarus whipped his head around to stare at her darkly. "He's old and bitter. Thought you had a taste for fresher meat."
"Martha, no," the Doctor said warningly. Too late. Lazarus growled and leaped to his feet, and Martha ran. Ianto was barely a pace behind, and so, she realized, was Tish.
"What are you doing?" she yelled.
"Keeping you out of trouble!" Well aware of the fact that he had running shoes and a longer stride and the girls were both in heels, Ianto stayed behind them to give them the advantage. They raced up the narrow spiral stairs with Lazarus in awkward pursuit, hampered by his shock blanket. He gave a contorted wail.
"Did you hear that?" Tish cried. More snarls, the sound of bones stretching and contorting.
"He's changed again, keep moving! We've got to lead him up!"
They bolted across a cloistered hall, pulling to a halt as the heard the Doctor's holler of "Oi! Joneses!" echo across the building.
"Doctor!" Martha called back. They peered out the arched windows as the Doctor stood in the center of the great hall.
"Take him up to the top, the very top of the bell tower, d'you hear me?"
"Up to the top!" Martha confirmed, staying put at the window. There was a snarl from just around the corner of the staircase.
"Martha -" Tish began.
"Go on, keep moving!" Ianto hustled them away from the window as Lazarus barged into view. They clattered up another narrow flight of stairs and into the top of the tower, on a circular stone walkway with wooden rails.
"There's nowhere else to go, we're trapped!" Tish cried as they scooted to the far side of the rails. Ianto slammed the door behind them, figuring it wouldn't do much good but was worth a few seconds.
"This is where he said to bring him!"
"Okay, so we're not trapped, we're bait."
"He knows what he's doing, we have to trust him!"
"We're going to be fine, I think he's actually got a plan this time," Ianto added. Tish looked at him, stunned, and Martha glared. "Er - that was intended to be reassuring."
"Not really!"
"Sorry." There was a raucous snarl as the door splintered off its hinges and Lazarus stalked into the room on his pincers. Martha backed Tish up against the outer rails and Ianto leaned over next to her. "I'm going to try the left side, if I can keep him busy, you two make a run for it, you should have enough time to get out."
"Like hell I'm going to let you -"
"Get Tish out safely and don't let your Mum kill the Doctor."
"I won't. If that thing gets you, I'm beating her to it." There was no time for a witty reply; Lazarus lashed out with his lethal-looking tail, slicing the air like a sword drawn from its scabbard. Martha shielded Tish as Ianto dove in the opposite direction. He leaped to his feet and gave an earsplitting whistle. He ducked again as the scorpion tail made another revolution. Martha separated herself from Tish, who made a tentative dart towards the door, leaving Martha halfway between the two of them and directly in Lazarus' line of sight. A pipe organ resounded through the cathedral halls.
"That's your plan?" Ianto hollered downwards as the tail swung again. It bashed into a section of the wooden rails and knocked the beams apart. Martha rose and it caught her on the side of the head on the backswing, pitching her through the gap in the rails. Ianto's heart lodged in his throat when he heard her scream, followed by Tish's. She was still clinging to the stone ledge as Lazarus loomed above her.
"Get away from her!" Tish screamed as the tail swayed, poised to strike. Ianto lunged to the opening and grabbed a spike of wood, hurling it at Lazarus.
"OI! Pea-brain!" The spike caught on a shred of stretched tendon in his ribs, and dangled there futilely. Lazarus reared and bared his pincers, swiping at Martha with his claws. Ianto pelted another shard of railing, smacking an offending appendage. The music blared ever louder. Tish winced and clamped her hands over her ears. Teeth rattling, Ianto edged over to the side of the gap. Lazarus arched his head back at the sound and howled in pain, and the entire tower was shaking, and threatening to pluck Martha off the ledge and drop her to the stone floor far below. Not again, dammit, they nearly lost Donna like this. Ianto lurched forward a few more feet and hooked one arm around the nearest railing. He clamped a hand around her wrist, screwing his eyes shut against the noise. Lazarus reared above them, raging, thundering, and fell, fell through the circle, hitting the stone with a heavy thud.
The music cut off immediately. Tish fisted a hand into the back of Ianto's suit jacket and grabbed Martha's other arm, hauling her to safety.
"Martha!" they heard the Doctor yell skyward as they collapsed against the back wall, tangled together and shaking with relief.
"I'm okay!" she shouted back. "We're all okay!" She burst into giggles and smacked Ianto lightly. "Somebody's been reading Harry Potter, eh?" Ianto grinned sheepishly.
"First thing that jumped into my head."
"Tell me about it!" Her grinned softened and she hugged them both closer. "Thanks."
"It's your Doctor you should be thanking," Tish admitted.
"Told you he'd think of something."
"Plan or not, he is very, very good." Ianto chewed his lip. "But you can't tell him I said that."
"He cut it a bit fine there, didn't he?" Tish chuckled.
"He always does, it's more fun that way," Martha said shakily.
"Who is he?" she asked, halfway between awe and bewilderment. Martha faltered, at a loss for words. Ianto groaned and got to his feet, holding his hands out to pull both of them up.
"We'll let you know when we actually work that one out."
They began their shaky descent done the spiral stone stairs, and as Martha pulled ahead by a few steps Tish gave Ianto a conspiratorial nudge.
"Listen, I know Mum's not too thrilled abut everything, but if you like I can put in a good word for you and Martha..." Ianto looked briefly puzzled. "Just, saying I approve and everything -" The penny dropped.
"Oh. No, no, Martha and I, we're not like that." Tish's eyebrows shot up.
"Really? You two seem close, for having only just met." Ianto sighed slightly and spoke up a bit louder.
"Well, at least someone doesn't think it's me and the Doctor." Martha paused on her step, and whirled around.
"Geez, Tish! No matchmaking! We're friends, that's all, there's nothing going on." Tish held up her hands in concession. Martha sighed grudgingly. "So I'll stop taking the mickey with you and the Doctor, Ianto. Even if it's funny."
"Much obliged."
"Well, in any case, just... you lot look after each other, yeah?" Ianto nodded.
"That goes without saying." His eyes gleamed slightly. "The monsters won't know what hit them." They reached the end and Martha ran the last few steps towards the Doctor, who met her head-on and scooped her up in a hug, picking her up off her feet.
"I didn't know you could play!" she blurted out as they pulled apart.
"Oh, well, you hang around with Beethoven, you're bound to pick a few things up."
"Hmm, especially about playing loud." He cocked his head and put on a slightly glazed expression.
"Sorry?" She chuckled and thumped him lightly in the shoulder.
"Is there anything he can't do?" Tish muttered sidelong.
"Make toast. Burns it every time," Ianto said matter-of-factly, before striding up to them. "Where's my hug?" The Doctor gave a serious expression and he nearly faltered, thinking that he'd overstepped his bounds. No, he knew this look, it was the 'I'm going to psyche you out because I think it's funny.' Sure enough, the Doctor's face cleared abruptly and he pulled him into a hug. Ianto smirked and poked him in the shoulder.
"Next time, you can be the bait."