A/N: Hello my lovely, lovely readers! I'm back for more! Some of you may have noticed that this story is now marked under Torchwood and Doctor Who crossover… hmmmm… interesting isn't it?
But I also want to extend an additional thanks and love to the readers who left me reviews! These really motivate me as a writer and I cannot express just the sheer gratitude I have for every single one of you!
Bwburke94: Hahaha, I wasn't sure. I based it off when the episodes were aired, and season 3 was during 2007… I might have made a mistake of just assuming that it would be that very same year. Maybe I'm getting it terribly wrong, but if I am, maybe we can say that Iris' fashion sense is a little off? I don't particularly remember trench coats being popular around that time much… but then again, I am more of a comfort clothes person myself so who knows? But thank you for bringing that up to me, I'm not sure… But since we are talking about clothing, it can be slightly off… Yes? No? Hahaha let me know! Thank you so much for your review. Even criticism helps me become a better writer, so I'm really grateful. Oh, and I do apologize for so many typos in the last chapter, I wrote it around 1 am and I missed it… But thank you for your love and reviews!
Eleana666: Kill me please! But here is a hint: Iris is still really unstable with her emotions because of the mysterious migraines, so whatever she is doing is really not from the clearest judgments. Also, she left Ianto with the crucial information of the future, revealing that maybe, just maybe, she has a greater amount of trust to Ianto than Jack? But if it's not that clear, let me know, because I have yet to bring in Ianto to involve him in the next two chapters! I love your comments because I live for them as I write this story! Please continue to leave reviews, for these also provide me with more ideas to involve in the story.
TheGravekeeper: Hahaha, I had the same feeling as I wrote! Thank you so much for your enthusiasm! I literally love writing to see more of these reviews from you and my other readers! Thank you for providing me with the necessary motivation!
Mr_Fizzles: Thank you so much for your love and excitement! I was so excited for his arrival that I just rushed and wrote 3 chapters in the matter of a couple of days. But please look forward to what kind of relationship the Doctor will have with Iris!
WRose: Thank you so much for the compliments and suggestions. I struggled with the entire migraine part for a while and came up with this… I didn't want to be cheesy, but more might be explained in this following episode/chapter. And you do bring up an interesting point regarding the hand… I'm not sure what the Master would have done without it, but I really struggled in what to do with that jar of hand… I wanted Iris to fight to keep it from the Master's hand a bit more, but it didn't seem to fit considering her physical condition. Regardless, I feel like the Master would have just gone ahead with obtaining the Doctor's DNA one way or another. I also read your Torchwood story and it brought a really interesting point to my mind. Thanks so much for your support and constant love!
All rights go to BBC and Big Finish Productions for the following story. I only own my OC.
Chapter 14: The Sound of Drums
In an empty alleyway near a busy street, a vortex appeared to bring in the Doctor, Martha Jones, Jack Harkness, and an unconscious form of Iris Kim. The three people groaned in pain as they felt the aftereffects of traveling through the Vortex without a shell. The Doctor managed to keep his hold of Iris despite the major discomfort he felt.
Martha put a hand to her forehead as she moaned, "Oh, my head."
The Doctor muttered out as he stretched out his neck and back a little, still holding onto Iris, "Time travel without a capsule. That's a killer."
Jack and the Doctor cracked their necks simultaneously to stretch a little. Then Jack went to Iris, noticing how pale she was, and took her from the Doctor. He then looked up at the Doctor, who began stretching his own body, and said,
"Doctor, we have to put her shoulder back in place."
The Time Lord looked grimly at the shoulder and nodded, putting both his hands on the right places. Jack held Iris' body in place when they heard the shoulder pop back in place. Iris remained unconscious for a few seconds before sitting up suddenly. The sudden movement shocked the Doctor and Jack that they had jumped a little, staring at Iris' fear-induced eyes.
She gasped, acting just like Jack did whenever he came back from the dead. Jack immediately grabbed her to make sure she didn't hurt herself. But Iris just pushed the man to the side a little, needing space.
Iris blinked her eyes a couple of times, trying to adjust her eyesight and to stop the world from spinning around her. Her body felt strained and she stretched a little herself, feeling sick. She pulled up her coat around her a little as she felt cool air, and to hide the pain she felt on her throat.
Jack helped her up silently, noticing that the Doctor was warily looking at Iris. Martha just seemed to be adjusting from the rough travel like Iris, and was still slightly groaning. Once they felt better, they stepped out to walk in the street.
Feeling a little optimistic, Jack said, "Still, at least we made it. Earth, 21st century by the looks of it."
He chuckled a little as he said, "Talk about lucky."
Iris glanced up at the Doctor, realizing how dark his face was from his recent encounter with the Master as he said, "That wasn't luck. That was me."
The look in the Time Lord's eyes sent a chill down her spine and she questioned herself. If this was how he was without being the Oncoming Storm, how could she even tell him about herself?
They walked a bit of a distance when Iris groaned a little again. Jack immediately looked down at her, when she winced out,
"I… I need a break."
Jack saw how pale her face became, and he immediately sat her down on a stone block, which prompted the other three people to sit by her. As he was helping her sit down, Jack said,
"The moral is, if you're gonna get stuck at the end of the universe, get stuck with an ex-time agent and his vortex manipulator."
With that, Jack wiggled his eyebrows a little to see if Iris smiled or relaxed. It didn't happen and he tried to hide his concern, which didn't go unnoticed by Martha. She wasn't feeling well either, but looking at Iris, she could tell that there was something seriously wrong with Iris.
She then looked up at the Doctor and said,
"But this Master bloke, he's got the TARDIS. He could be anywhere in time and space."
Iris shook her head while the Doctor said,
"No. He's here. Trust me."
The Doctor looked around at the Vote Saxon posters and shirts people wore, his mind racing as he tried to sense the other Time Lord. He wasn't really paying attention when Martha asked,
"Who is he anyway? And that voice at the end, that wasn't the professor."
Jack looked up at the Doctor, curious too, when Iris looked around the area herself. She felt the thud of four beats, a little dull compared to earlier, but still, it hurt. Jack then thought out loud, saying,
"If the Master's a Time Lord, then he must've regenerated."
In the distance, The Doctor heard someone tapping a beat of four, prompting him to look that way, remembering what the Master had said earlier. He saw a homeless man tapping that very rhythm onto a cup. Then he quickly looked down when Iris groaned again and began to rub her temples. The Doctor immediately frowned, looking at how distressed Iris seemed. She had gone pale again despite appearing ok just before the tapping started. His mind was racing at his observation while Martha asked,
"What does that mean?"
Jack responded with, "It means he's changed his face, voice, body, everything. New man."
The Doctor kept looking at Iris, whose condition seemed to gradually worsen as the tapping continued. Martha continued to ask,
"Then how are we gonna find him?"
That question drew the Doctor back to the conversation as he replied,
"I'll know him. The moment I see him. Time Lords always do."
Iris gripped the closest thing by her, which turned out to be the Doctor's coat sleeve, surprising him a little as she struggled to remain calm. He could see how much she seemed to be suffering as her eyes tried to remain focused. He felt her shudder a little. He was about to ask her if she was alright when Martha vocalized her realization,
"But hold on, if he could be anyone…. We missed the election. But it can't be."
The Doctor got up while Jack looked up, holding Iris protectively as they all heard a voice say,
"Mr. Saxon has returned from the palace, and is greeting the crowds inside the Saxon headquarters."
Jack felt Iris gasp a little and shiver. He looked down at her and saw a flash of pure fear go through her eyes before she became slightly unfocused.
Martha gasped as she said, "I said I knew that voice. When he spoke, inside the TARDIS, I've heard that voice hundreds of times. I've seen him, we all have. That was the voice of-"
"Harold Saxon… also the new regeneration of the Master." Iris whispered out.
The Doctor looked at Iris with newfound concern as he said, "That's him. He's prime minister. The Master is Prime Minister of Great Britain."
Then when he saw the Master kiss a woman, he frowned with a look of disbelief as he said confusedly, "the Master and his wife?"
Iris looked up, feeling the dread fill her as she realized what was about to happen, hearing the Master say,
"This country has been sick. This country needs healing. This country needs medicine. In fact, I'd go so far as to say, that what this country really needs right now is a doctor."
The Doctor stared at the screen a little longer before turning towards his companions. Jack and Martha were decently shocked while he noticed how Iris looked at him, clearly showing her fear. He noticed how pale she looked along with how she shook. It was evident that this wasn't a reaction from her illness. It was from her fear. And if anything, her eyes also reflected regret and guilt.
"What is it?" He asked, causing the other two companions to look at Iris.
Iris wasn't sure what to say, so she shook her head, murmuring, "It's… it's nothing."
The Doctor wasn't persuaded, but he had to make sure to figure out what the Master was planning.
The four people headed towards Martha's house, riding a cab all the way when Iris hissed in pain. The throbbing of the four beats resonated stronger, and an image flashed in her mind with emotions.
The tapping of fingers on a glass table and pure joy from whatever had happened. Iris gasped in shock and terror at what she felt. She wanted to cry out, but stopped herself to bury her head into Jack's chest, needing something stable to hold onto.
Jack quickly realized that Iris was in pain and hugged her the best he could, hoping that his presence provided some type of comfort. Iris moaned in pain most of the ride, trying to fend off the urge to bang her head into something to distract herself from the four beats in her mind.
When they arrived at Martha's place, Martha quickly unlocked the door as she said out loud with relief,
"Home."
The Doctor ran in and asked, "What you got? Computer, laptop, anything."
Jack quickly set Iris down on Martha's sofa, making sure she lied down comfortably before reaching for his phone. He quickly dialed for Ianto's phone when the Doctor immediately said,
"Who are you phoning? You can't tell anyone we're here!"
Iris looked at Jack tiredly, sitting up a bit to see what was going on. She noticed how the Doctor hurriedly put on his glasses, and she looked up at Jack, who looked at her as if asking for an explanation of sorts as he lowered the phone and said,
"Just some friends of mine but there's no reply."
Iris then said, "I told them to not answer the phone."
Jack looked at her with surprise as he asked, "Is this a part of what you told Ianto?"
Iris nodded and looked back at what Martha and the Doctor were doing. Jack sighed and joined in on what was going on. Martha had handed the Doctor her black laptop and asked,
"Here you go. Any good?"
Jack quickly grabbed the computer as he said, "I'll show you the Saxon websites, he's been around for ages."
Iris was about to speak up when Martha said, "That's so weird, 'cause the day after the election, that's only four days after I met you."
Iris smiled just a little as she saw how amazed Martha seemed to be at that revelation. The Doctor and Jack turned around as the Time Lord responded with,
"We went flying all around the universe while he was here all the time."
Iris then spoke up, "He's been here with the leeway of approximately 18 months. I wasn't able to track exactly when, but it's within that time period from now."
The Doctor looked at her with surprise as he asked, "How did you know that?"
Iris dropped her smile as she hung her head down a little and said, "I noticed a reading that I had set up for the TARDIS, and… well… I also know things too. I kind of expected this to happen."
The Doctor immediately frowned as he looked at her, an almost dangerous look emanating from the Time Lord's eyes. Jack immediately stepped in as he said,
"We'll tell you later. We need to get sorted on this thing first."
The Doctor nodded while Martha asked,
"You gonna tell us who he is?"
The Doctor scratched his head a little as he nonchalantly replied, "He's a Time Lord."
Martha didn't seem to be satisfied with the answer, nor did Jack, who quickly glanced at Iris, realizing that she knew who this man really was. The woman asked,
"What about the rest of it? I mean, who'd call himself 'the Master'?"
The Doctor admonished her as he said, "That's all you need to know. Come on, show me Harold Saxon."
Iris noticed Martha listen to Tish's message and was about to tell her about her sister's predicament when Martha just waived it off. Iris' lips turned into a straight line as she stopped herself. She hadn't revealed about her knowledge to the Time Lord and his companion, and wasn't quite sure when would be a good time.
But then again, Iris felt irritated that nobody seemed to pay her much attention. Sure, she was feeling wretched and wanted to take a nap, but that didn't make her feel any better. Deciding that she needed to wake herself up, she went to the bathroom, which Martha had shown her earlier. With that, she went inside and locked the door behind her, sighing out loud.
She let her hair fall out of its normal low pony tail and brushed it with her fingers a little bit before putting it back to its former style. Then, she washed her face with cold water. After washing a bit, she felt very awake and looked at herself in the mirror more thoroughly. Her eyes immediately trailed down her neck, which tried touching with her fingertips before hissing in pain again.
She immediately regretted it and noticed how a bruise was settling in where the Master had suffocated her. The pure blackness reminded her of another pain and she quickly lowered one of her hand onto her stomach, reliving the memory from the vaults when she heard a knock on the door.
"Yes?"
The voice that responded was Jack's as he asked, "Did you want your medicine again?"
Iris grimaced and opened the door, shaking her head.
"I don't want it."
Jack looked like he was about to argue when Iris whispered,
"I… I told Ianto about what's going to happen. I told him how he might be able to deal with it with the rest of the team. They should be safe for a while… but I'm not sure…"
Jack stopped her quickly with a peck on the lips, causing the girl's eyes to widen a bit.
"But I'm assuming everything turns out ok in the end?"
Iris looked at him with disbelief, asking hesitantly,
"Don't you want to know what happens?"
Jack looked at her, let out a deep breath, and said,
"I do. I wish I knew… but honestly, I wouldn't trust myself with it either… It's just…"
Jack risked a quick glance at the Doctor before continuing with,
"I think that if I know, it would change how the events need to go. We already talked about this Iris. Both you and I know it's too risky to let multiple people know about the future."
Iris sighed and nodded, before going back to the sofa to ease the bit of dizzy spell hitting her, making sure the bruise on her neck wasn't so visible to anyone around her. The last thing she wanted was for the two people to freak out and then having the Doctor do something stupid to help her with it.
Once she returned, Jack finally spoke up again as he said, "Former minister of defence, first came to prominence when he shot down the Racnoss on Christmas Eve. Nice work by the way."
The Doctor looked up, surprised, and said, "Oh, thanks. How did you know by the way."
Jack looked at Iris as he responded with, "Iris told me."
The Doctor stared at Iris with surprise again and said, "Well, Iris seems to know an awful lot."
It didn't really mean much from the Doctor's perspective, but Martha noticed how both Jack and Iris flinched, as if they had been caught with their hands in a cookie jar. Martha decided to focus back on Saxon as she said,
"But he goes back years, he's famous, everyone knows the story. Look. Cambridge University, rugby blue, won the athletics thing, wrote a novel, went into business, marriage, everything. He's got a whole life."
Iris shook her head as she said, "It's not that hard making someone's life up. Trust me, I've done that multiple of times for people."
Martha looked at the girl with disbelief while the Doctor stared at her and was thinking deeply. Iris continued with,
"And the Master is a Time Lord, he can most likely figure out a way to hypnotize people on a massive scale using the technology from this century."
The Doctor looked at her, saying "I was thinking the same thing. But with what?"
Iris looked at the Doctor, not believing that he hadn't caught onto the hint that she just dropped onto him. She sighed and put her head back onto her hands, trying to ease the headache. By now, the lady, who she didn't remember the name of, would be interviewing Lucy, Saxon's wife, which happened after the Cabinet was murdered by toxic gas.
It honestly hurt her to think about it. But what she felt unsure of was the earlier pain that also led her to see a flash of image. She wasn't sure if it was a memory from her experience with the show, or if she had seen it from the Master's viewpoint. The feel of joy and excitement that had followed the image wasn't so pleasant to think about.
And as she was seriously thinking this through, another flash of pain spiked and she cried out, not able to control just how painful it was. It caught the three people off-guard. And the Doctor, who was the closest person to her, immediately reached out and asked,
"What's wrong? Iris! You need to tell me-"
"The drums…" Iris wheezed out, unable to control anything that was coming out of her mouth.
Jack flinched and he wasn't sure how to deal with it and looked at the Doctor helplessly.
The Doctor, on the other hand, flinched visibly and he said,
"Tell me more! You have to tell me-"
"I'm scared." Iris whispered, her eyes boring into the Time Lord's making him calmer as he hugged her and said,
"It will be alright. I'll help you… just… we have to find out a bit more about what's going on."
Iris whimpered and nodded, finally relaxing. The Doctor patted her back until he felt the young woman completely relax. He could feel how fast her heart had been beating from the sheer pain and fear that had erupted in Iris. He stood back up and went towards Jack, wanting to see if the man knew anything. Jack shook his head, answering the silent question. Martha immediately sat next to the girl, giving her a hug and waited a bit before heading to her room to change clothing.
Jack went to Martha's kitchen to make coffee and said,
"But he's got the TARDIS. Maybe the Master went back in time, and has been living here for decades."
The Doctor, scrolling through Martha's laptop, said darkly, "No."
Jack asked, "Why not? Worked for me."
The Doctor, having a million thoughts in his mind, tried to explain,
"When he was stealing the TARDIS, the only thing I could do was fuse the coordinates. I locked them permanently. He can only travel between the year 100 trillion and the last place the TARDIS landed. Which is right here, right now."
Jack glanced at Iris, remembering what she said earlier, and said, "Yeah, but a little leeway? Iris mentioned that he popped up 18 months ago."
The Doctor glanced at Iris, and said, "Well, it should be 18 months, tops. The most he could have been here is 18 months. So how's he managed all this?"
Iris replied, "I told you, it's not that hard faking information about a person's life."
The Doctor looked at her and nodded, seeming to grasp at that idea. He was about to say something when he looked at her again and said,
"Just like you said, the Master was always sort of hypnotic, but this is on a massive scale…"
Martha looked at them and said, "I was gonna vote for him."
The frowned and asked, "Really?"
She shrugged as she responded with, "Well, it was before I even met you. And I liked him."
Jack looked a little distant as he said, "Me, too."
The Doctor glanced at Iris, who merely shook her head and said, "I didn't. I… I was gathering information on him since it was weird how he just popped up right after Harriet Jones was removed."
The Doctor noticed how Iris looked at him with knowing eyes, and looked away as he asked towards the two other people,
"Why did you want to vote for him? What was his policy, what did he stand for?"
Martha also gained a rather distant look as she said, "I don't know, he always sounded good."
Then Iris winced as Martha started to tap the beat of four. The Doctor immediately noticed and then looked at Iris, who was trying her best to hold in her pain. He looked at Jack, finally realizing how distant he looked too as Martha continued to say,
"Like you could trust him."
The longer Martha continued to talk, the hazier Iris' vision became as pain settled in. Iris groaned when she heard the Doctor break the connection by asking,
"What's that?"
Iris let out a breath in relief from the pain as if immediately dulled, which the Doctor also noticed. Martha and Jack though, looked as if they had just come out of a trance as Martha asked,
"What?"
The Doctor pointed to Martha's hands as he said, "That. That tapping, that rhythm. What are you doing?"
Martha shook her head, confused as she responded, "I don't know. It's nothing. It's just, I don't know."
A fanfare then blared out on the laptop, causing at the same time Iris to wince in outright pain. The Doctor warily glanced at her as he turned Martha's television on. Iris tried to watch without feeling faint, but it was an ongoing battle of willpower. The small but steady existence of the rhythm of four kept making everything else so hard to focus on.
The Doctor muttered out loud, "Our lord and master is speaking to his kingdom."
On the screen, all four people watched the Master say,
"Britain, Britain, Britain. What extraordinary times we've had. Just a few years ago, this world was so small. And then they came, out of the unknown, falling from the skies. You've seen it happen. Big Ben destroyed. A spaceship over London. All those ghosts and metal men. The Christmas star that came to kill. Time and time again, and the government told you nothing. Well, not me. Not Harold Saxon. Because my purpose, here today, today is to tell you this. Citizens of Great Britain, I have been contacted. A message for humanity, from beyond the stars."
On the screen, The Doctor frowned when a sphere came on and heard Iris gasp. He quickly risked a glance and saw how Iris tried to hide the horror, guilt and sadness that were seeping through her eyes. Iris had eye contact with him for a quick second before the sphere said,
"People of the Earth, we come in peace. We bring great gifts. We bring technology and wisdom and protection. And all we ask in return is your friendship."
The screen then showed the Master again, who then said, "Oooh, sweet. And this species has identified itself."
Jack stood by Iris, quickly giving the girl a reassuring squeeze on the arm as he saw her struggle and look up at him, no longer focusing on the screen. He looked back down and saw Iris looking at him, mouthing,
"We need to get out of here."
Jack immediately frowned and looked to the TV, which Iris pointed to. He immediately nodded when the Master said,
"…. Tomorrow, we take our place in the universe. Every man, woman and child. Every teacher and chemist and lorry driver and famer. Oh, I don't know, every… medical student?"
The Doctor's furrowed brows immediately flew up as he quickly turned the television and saw Jack helping Iris stand up and all the trio ran as the Doctor immediately yelled,
"Out!"
Iris breathed heavily from the sudden strain on her body as the pain in her head increased tenfold when she also felt the heat of the blast hit her. Jack covered her body, but the sound of the explosion caused her head to ring, making it that much worse for her. Iris groaned momentarily before coughing severely as the Doctor straightened himself and hurriedly asked,
"All right?"
Jack looked down at Iris worriedly, who was unable to stand up straight. She was fully leaning into Jack to barely manage to stay on her feet. The Doctor noticed and nodded while he looked at his companion and checked on her. Jack immediately tightened his grip on Iris as he saw Martha yell at the Doctor while she phoned her family.
"I'll do what I like!"
"How is she?" The Doctor asked Jack, worried about just how Iris could barely stand.
"I.. I don't know. She's been shivering ever since… Doctor, if you have any idea at all, please…"
Then Jack's face paled as he remembered how Iris had told Ianto that she heard drumming, the cause of her migraines. He quickly said,
"Doctor, Iris said she heard the drumming. Can it be the same thing as the Master? Before we came back, I heard him say that he always heard it too."
The Doctor frowned, as he recalled how it was strange that the Master had mentioned that. But Iris really hadn't said much, so he hadn't been able to deduce much. Now that he knew, the readings from earlier when they met made sense.
He looked at Iris, wondering just why this human girl was showing such signs when Martha's outburst caught their attention.
"We've got to help them."
The Doctor shook his head quickly, grabbing Martha's arm, saying
"That's exactly what they want. It's a trap!"
Martha shook his arm off and immediately got into the driver's seat of her silver car and said, "I don't care."
The Doctor immediately sat in the passenger seat while Jack helped Iris into the backseat before sitting next to her. Iris leaned her head onto Jack's shoulder, feeling cold seeping into her bones. She shivered uncontrollably, a whine slipping through her mouth. Jack wrapped an arm around her, trying to warm her up. At this point, Iris was barely staying awake. The explosion had triggered something in Iris and all the control and willpower that she had felt slipped, not coming back.
Inside Iris' mind though, there was constant turmoil of thoughts. She wanted to verbalize something, scream, or tell Jack things. But the exhaustion had flooded through her as the adrenaline and control had slipped from her own grasp. Then there was the fear. Not the fear of death, but more of the fear of having to face the Doctor's wrath. The fear of why she kept hearing the constant drumming and the emotions that were not her own.
Because behind all the rational part of Iris, she also felt the excitement, bubbly emotions as if she was looking forward to something. It was almost maddening.
The Doctor quickly got his screwdriver out and scanned Iris again, frowning immediately at just how dramatically Iris' condition had worsened. Then he noticed how Iris also seemed to be emitting a signal that seemed to line up with something akin to what the Master and she seemed to describe as the drumming.
His eyes' widened as he realized it was real. Just who was Iris? Jack had told him that she had fallen through the Rift from a parallel universe. But why her? Of all the people, what was it about Iris that had her bonded to the Master in this way?
Martha skidded to a stop when the Doctor immediately yelled,
"Martha, reverse! Get out now!"
Martha followed that set of directions as the soldiers began to shoot at Martha's car. Jack immediately wrapped his body around Iris' almost limp form, covering her from any bullets that might hit them.
He yelled, "Move it!" to Martha, not wanting to risk Iris getting shot. He had seen her die not too long ago. He didn't want to see her dead form again. And then he felt trepidation settle deeper into his gut as he realized just how Iris looked like when she had died. Pale, and limp. He shook his head, not wanting to think back on it.
After they were able to gain some distance from Martha's mother's home, Jack realized that they needed to ditch the car. Not really listening to what the Doctor was saying, Jack told Martha,
"Martha, listen to me. Do as I say. We've got to ditch this car. Pull over. Right now!"
Martha quickly found a safe place to pull over near an underpass. Once she parked her car, Jack helped Iris out, feeling how weak she was. The Doctor helped him while Martha quickly made another telephone call as she followed them. The two men helped Iris sit on a nearby piece of concrete, while listening in on Martha's call. They had to stop because Iris had paled considerably. The strain on her body was so obvious that she looked like a dead person. The Doctor looked at his friend, who was whispering to Iris,
"Iris… please hold on. We can survive this. We went through worse. Don't die again."
The Doctor immediately threw him a questioning look, but Jack looked up at him and said, "I'll explain once we found a safer place."
The Time Lord was growing a little impatient. He had been waiting for Jack to really explain about Iris, but he realized how idiotic it would be to have the man explain here, where they were easy to spot. He then heard Martha coldly hiss to her phone,
"Let them go, Saxon. Do you hear me! Let them go!"
Jack felt Iris stir as she tried to sit up a little straighter, as the Doctor took Martha's phone and muttered,
"I'm here…. Master…."
Jack couldn't hear what the Master was saying, but the Doctor didn't walk too far The Time Lord was looking at Iris during their entire phone call.
"You chose it Psychiatrist's field day…. So, Prime Minister, then… Who are those creatures? Because there's no such thing as the Toclafane. It's just a made up name, like the Bogeyman."
The Doctor visibly tensed when he heard the Master respond with,
"Do you remember? All those fairytales about the Toclafane when we were kids back home. Oh, and by the way, I think our dear little weak, sick Iris knows what and who the Toclafane are. But then again, I digress. But as I had mentioned earlier… home. Where is it, Doctor?"
The Doctor's eyes looked like he wanted answers immediately towards Jack, who flinched, as the Time Lord muttered out, "Gone."
The Master exclaimed, "How can Gallifrey be gone?"
The Doctor responded with, "It burnt."
The Master asked, "And the Time Lords?"
And with that, the conversation kept on going until Jack saw the Doctor looking at them still with the intense gaze. He shifted uncomfortably. What could he possibly explain? But then he felt Iris' body tense and immediately, her eyes opened wide as she inhaled a sharp breath before coughing severely. Her whole body was responding to the coughs as she curled into herself, crying.
Jack helped clean her tears and tapped her back, wishing that he could help in some way as he heard the Doctor look at Iris with something almost akin to worry again.
The Doctor asked, "Why do you say that?"
He saw how Iris was coughing terribly, as if her lungs were threatening to give out and all she could do was just wheeze. Her eyes were scrunched up in pain as she tried to gain control, but was too weak to do so.
Then he froze when the Master responded with, "The drumming. Can't you hear it?"
And the Doctor heard a faint tapping on glass, a rhythm of four just like that signal from Iris' reading on his sonic screwdriver. The Master continued to say,
"I thought it would stop, but it never does. Never ever stops. Inside my head, the drumming, Doctor. The constant drumming."
The Doctor immediately bit out through his teeth, asking vehemently,
"What did you do to Iris?"
He heard the amusement in the Master's voice as the other Time Lord said,
"Iris? That ill child? Why, is she finally dying? Well, that's too bad."
The Doctor frowned. He had expected the Master to flaunt about hurting Iris, but the Time Lord didn't seem to know anything.
He heard the Master then say, "Listen, listen, listen. Here comes the drums. Here come the drums."
And as he heard the man say this, he also witnessed Iris' body jolt as if she was electrified and then the scream of agony rip through. His hearts almost stopped as he saw Iris' eyes roll back and the girl's body faint."
"Stop it! Stop whatever you're doing! You're hurting her! Tell me how you've done this. Tell me!" The Doctor yelled into the phone as he saw how Jack quickly grabbed Iris' limp body and look at him pleadingly.
Then the Master finally confirmed that he hadn't known about what was going on with Iris as he said,
"Was that Iris? What makes you think I was hurting- Oh… oh ho ho… is it the drumming? Does she hear it too? Seems like she needs help, considering that you're all on TV."
The Doctor immediately frowned as he said, "Stop it. Answer me."
The Master's amusement was clear as the man said, "No, really. You're on telly. You and your little band, which, by the way, is ticking on every demographic box. So, congratulations on that. Look, there you are. You're public enemies number one, two, three and four. Oh, and you can tell handsome Jack and beautiful, but sickly Iris that I've sent their little gang off on a wild goose chase to the Himalayas, so he won't be getting any help from them. Now, go on, off you go. Why not start by… hmmm… turning to the right?"
The Doctor immediately looked towards the right and saw the CCTV camera and quickly zapped it with his sonic screwdriver, before turning back to his companions, saying dejectedly, "He can see us."
Jack immediately held Iris' body in Princess hold style as the Doctor said,
"He's got control of everything."
Martha came up to the Doctor and asked, "What do we do?"
Jack quickly inserted in, "We've got nowhere to go."
Martha looked truly terrified again as she asked, "Doctor, what do we do?"
The Doctor looked at them and said determinedly, "We run."
With that, they all bolted, looking for a safer spot without cameras, too plan their next step. They had eventually come across an abandoned warehouse. Jack found a relatively new sofa in the warehouse. The Doctor saw Jack give him a look that obviously screamed, HELP and put his tan, trench coat onto the sofa, which was just long enough to have Iris lie down.
Iris had remained unconscious for the entire time, and she had yet to wake up. They had lit a fire in a can for lighting and heat purposes. Jack and the Doctor were waiting and working on figuring out technological things while Martha had gone out to fetch some food and medications for Iris.
The Doctor, curious as to how protective Jack was, asked,
"Are you serious about her?"
Jack smiled, a little exhausted, and said, "Yeah… I think so… but… we haven't been… well, we never really got the time to go any deeper than admitting feelings and well… I don't know how she truly feels."
The Doctor's eyebrows went up as he muttered out an "Oh? Why's that?"
Jack looked at him and said, "She's had this migraine since she came here. She's experienced thing nobody really should go through at her age. Iris has done so much despite having been dumped through the Rift into our universe. She never really reacted against it much, but just accepted it and has been helping out. Also, well… I had lost her just before you came."
And when Jack was about to elaborate further, Martha had come back. Jack and the Doctor looked up and the 51st century man immediately asked,
"How was it?"
Martha answered with, "I don't think anyone saw me. Anything new?"
Jack said, "I've got this tuned to government wavelengths so we can follow what Saxon's doing"
He pointed to his Vortex Manipulator.
Jack had been sitting close to Iris, hoping that she would wake up soon. He didn't want to go too far away from her.
Martha merely rolled her eyes, not really interested that much about tracking down Saxon.
"Yeah, I meant about my family."
The Doctor looked at Martha, taking the food, she was giving to him as he said, "It still says the Jones family taken in for questioning. Tell you what, though. No mention of Leo."
Martha let out a careful breath out as she slightly smiled and said, "He's not as daft as he looks."
Then she looked up, with slight disbelief in her eyes now as she continued, "I'm talking about my brother on the run. How did this happen?"
Jack had grabbed the food Martha had provided just now and took a careful bite, making sure to save some for Iris. He groaned at the satisfactory feeling of filling his stomach as he said,
"Nice chips."
The Doctor nodded his head a little as he added, "Actually, they're not bad."
Jack, once finishing his part of the food, then asked the question,
"So, Doctor, who is he? How come ancient society of Time Lords created a psychopath?"
Martha then quickly added, "And what is he to you? Like a colleague or-"
The Doctor looked wary as he looked back at all those memories of the Master as he cautiously responded with, "A friend, at first."
Jack felt Iris stir as Martha and the Doctor talked. He quickly turned to see her eyes flicker before slowly blinking open.
"Iris?" He asked as he reached for her hand.
Iris groaned at the sudden force of awareness hitting her, reminding of her pain when she felt air get stuck in her throat and started coughing. Jack quickly helped her turn towards the side as her body shook while coughing. He patted her back, hoping that it would be quick. He was wrong as Iris uncontrollably coughed, each sounding more and more strained than before.
Iris covered her mouth with her hand as she coughed. With the other hand, she slightly pushed Jack away. Jack remained stubborn and stayed by her side when she finally relaxed back onto the slightly comfy surface she had been lying on. She slowly sat back up, leaning heavily to the back of the sofa. But she didn't remove her hand. Jack quickly got up and went to get Iris some more water. As he did that, the Doctor came up to sit by her side. Iris looked up at him, slowly removing her hands, trembling.
When Jack had come back, Iris waved him off, saying that she was alright. After drinking water, she sat back, telling Jack to go back to focusing on tracing down the Master. Jack reluctantly left, asking the Doctor to take care of her. Iris warily eyed Jack's retreating form, feeling guilt stack up as she had lied to the 51st century man again.
While she had been coughing, she felt something terribly warm and wet get on her hands. And she slowly unclenched her hand to find blood on it. Her eyes widened just like the Doctor's.
"Iris? Are you alright?" The Doctor asked, glancing at Jack.
Iris wasn't sure how to respond as she quickly wiped the blood with a handkerchief she had in her pocket. After she put it back into her pocket, the Doctor grabbed her attention as he asked,
"How are you really feeling?"
Iris responded, her voice sounding all scratchy and exhausted.
"I feel horrible. I think I'm forming a bruise on my neck."
"Here, let me check." The Doctor said
With that, he slightly moved the collar of Iris' coat and froze at what he saw. On Iris' throat was a deep purple handprint-shaped bruise. Anger bubbled in the Doctor as he gently moved his finger on Iris' skin where the bruise was.
Iris quietly hissed, not wanting to grab Jack's attention.
"He did this to you…"
Iris nodded, though the statement really didn't sound like a question at all. She saw the Doctor shift his position a little more comfortably and reached out to her neck with both hands, glowing a bit of a golden color. This alarmed Iris and she quickly swatted his hands as he was saying,
"Here let me-"
When she had succeeded in moving his hands away, he frowned as she glared at him and said,
"I don't want you to give me your regeneration energy."
The Doctor tried to argue when Iris just shook her head and said,
"I know that you don't want me to be in pain, but that's not the right way to do it Doctor. I don't want you to give me a handful of your life because of a bruise. I'll… I will be fine, just give me a moment."
The Doctor looked at her and said, "You shouldn't be hurt. Let me help you."
Iris tiredly smiled and just shook her head silently as she grabbed his hands with her own and quietly said,
"I… I need to tell you something. Regarding my universe."
The Doctor looked at her with surprise when he noticed how her eyes sharpened as if her senses were heightened. He nodded, gulping a little as he indicated her to continue talking.
"Where I'm from, your life, some of your adventures, are publicized as a television show. While others are published in several types of media such as a radio story or even comics…"
The Doctor frowned and he asked, "Why would you tell me this now?"
Iris breathed out a little, scared of how he would react further as she said,
"I… I need you to know that I can't tell you details about your future. Jack and I… we had settled on the thought that just maybe, what I do know about future events are strictly fixed points of time. I… I can give you hints, but I'm not exactly sure how my presence will change it. And Doctor… if anything were to happen to me… I need you to know some things and help me out."
The Doctor saw Iris grab something from her pocket. It looked like a small communication device and he gently took it from her offered hand as she said,
"I need you to give this to Jack. It will communicate with people we worked with. Ianto, the person with the other device, he knows what to do from our base. I warned him and our team about what the Master tried to plan for them, because I… I just couldn't let them go through whatever will happen."
The Doctor looked at her as he cautiously asked,
"So you know my future and my past?"
Iris nodded, waiting for him to bombard her with questions, yell at her for not saying anything until now, or to just be angry with her. None of those happened. There was a long silent moment as the Doctor tightened his grip on her hands. As the Doctor looked up, he quietly asked,
"Is there anything else that you want to tell me?"
Iris bit her lower lip, thinking through the hazy mind, trying to think of something, when she asked,
"What's wrong with me? Why can I hear the drums?"
The Doctor looked around and Iris realized that the Doctor was looking for Jack, when she said,
"I don't need you to tell him just yet. I… If I'm dying, let me know…I need to know. This might be the last time I have control of-"
With that she began coughing again, unable to control the pain and fear in her. The Doctor quickly helped position her to make her more comfortable.
He hesitated a little when Iris calmed down again as he said,
"It… It's rare… but I think you are bonded with the Master."
Iris' eyes widened as she tried to process it and asked, "How? What do you mean bonded?"
The Doctor shook his head as he said, "I'm not sure. The Master isn't aware of it either, which makes this that much more difficult to figure out. But that might be why you can also hear the drums. This bond, it's affecting you physically most likely because it was forced upon you. As far as I can tell, the bond is supposed to be a mental, emotional, and physical link. But so far, the bond has been hidden from both of you and therefore I can't really give you a definite answer as to whether my guess is right."
Iris then thought back to the flashes of emotions as she warily said, "Then those emotions I felt earlier, the… joy and ecstasy.. it's because of that bond…"
The Doctor nodded, and hugged Iris to comfort her as she whispered to him,
"I'm scared…"
He noticed how exhausted Iris seemed to be as she struggled to keep her eyes open. She was so weak that she seemed to be unable to manage her own mind that the Master's emotions seemed to be affecting her too. The Doctor tucked a loose hair behind Iris' right ear, and looked at the girl closely again.
Iris' eyes had reminded of someone, but he wasn't sure who it had been. From the very beginning, she had known things that others normally shouldn't have. It all made sense when she had just explained them to him. He had felt anger when she had told him about how his life was just a form of media made for enjoyment. But when he had looked back at Iris, the anger died as her eyes reflected certain emotions such as guilt, anguish, and fear.
That was when he realized that she reminded him of himself. How his companions would describe how old and tired his eyes looked compared to his own face. Iris was almost the perfect example of someone who knew what it was like to know the future and leave it to play out, despite having the slightest chance of saving one more person.
After that realization, he couldn't yell at her. The bruise on her throat that she had been hiding, not letting him use his regeneration energy on her, her genuine fear that she hadn't explained the reasoning behind… it stopped him from yelling at her. He was upset, but Iris' current physical state was more upsetting.
Whatever she had experienced while staying with Jack, it had clearly left a scar in her own mind. Iris then sat back, and asked him,
"How do I break the bond?"
The Doctor looked up at her and then grimaced a little as he said, "Somebody else has to form the bond with you. This is mostly a Time Lord thing, so-"
"Only another Time Lord can break it by forming a new bond…" Iris said knowingly.
The Doctor nodded and Iris tried to think again, which was difficult as she couldn't really focus anymore. Then she rambled, needing an explanation at the quick thought that had popped up randomly.
"Doctor, I… I need help with something." She said.
The Doctor replied, "What is it?"
"Jack… doesn't know this, and I don't want you to tell him. But… recently, I… I gave my life in place of another person. I had died when the Rift was opened. When the event was settled, time returned to before anything had taken place. I shouldn't be able to remember anything… but-"
The Doctor's eyes widened again in surprise as he continued her sentence this time with, "but you remember your death. The other timeline."
Iris nodded, not sure what to expect. The Doctor looked at her curiously and warily at the same time as he furrowed his brows, thinking for a possible explanation. However, he couldn't think of one as he theorized,
"It might be because you fell through the Rift. The Rift energy might be somehow linked to you coming through, but I'm not sure…and… and I'm sorry."
Iris smiled at how the Doctor looked at her knowingly. He was another person who probably understood what it was like to have multiple timelines or memories be shoved inside his head somewhere. Iris then saw Jack working on the Vortex Manipulator again and she gently poked the Doctor to go back to Jack, making sure the Doctor remembered to give the device to Jack.
Jack's Vortex Manipulator beeped and the man said,
"Encrypted channel with files attached. Don't recognize it."
The Doctor quickly handed Jack the laptop as he said,
"Patch it through to the laptop."
Jack hesitantly looked up at Iris, who nodded and he said,
"Since I suspect Iris told you about herself, I… there's something we haven't told you."
The Doctor's eyes quickly reflected anger as he saw the Torchwood logo on the laptop and looked at Jack and Iris.
He muttered, "You both work for Torchwood."
Iris grimaced and stood up, sitting a little closer to Jack as she said,
"Jack changed Torchwood. There's only about six of us working for Torchwood. It's no longer like the old regime."
The Doctor looked at both of them as he asked, "Everything Torchwood did, and you're part of it?"
Jack responded to that accusation as he said, "The old regime was destroyed at Canary Wharf. I rebuilt it, I changed it, and when I did that, I did for you in your honor. And Iris, when she fell through the Rift, if she thought we were evil, she would never have joined. I think you can tell that much from what she told you so far."
Iris glanced down at Jack in surprise as the Doctor looked up at her again and nodded. Then he hit the play button to see the message. Though Iris knew what it consisted of, she really felt remorse for the woman. When the message finished playing, the Doctor immediately asked,
"What's the Archangel Network?"
Martha responded as she took her phone out of her pocket, "I've got Archangel. Everyone's got it."
Iris spoke with, "I don't have it. I suspected as much and just couldn't bear the thought of getting one from that. So I built the communication device I gave you earlier."
With that, the Doctor looked at her device and asked, "You made this yourself?"
Iris shrugged a little as she nonchalantly responded with, "I'm not the Torchwood assistant technician and medic for nothing you know. I had to prove to Jack that I know things."
The Doctor looked at her, clearly impressed, while Jack frowned and said, "When did you make this?"
The Doctor handed him the device and Iris explained tiredly, "Before we left, when I told Ianto everything, I handed him a second device. I knew we had to work around the Archangel network, and it had been a secret project of mine so that Saxon wouldn't have noticed. We can contact Ianto with that right now, but make sure to keep it short, the signal can be noticed if the conversation is too long."
Jack smiled immediately at her and asked, "So the team's safe?"
Iris grimaced a little as she said, "If they stay in the Hub without detecting too much attention to themselves for a year. Martha, you might as well need to know where we are located."
Martha looked at her in surprise as she asked, "Why? What do you know?"
This time, Jack responded to Martha as he said, "She fell through the Rift from a different universe that is also from the future. Since she knows about our future, she… if to simply explain it, she apparently planned to help you reach contact with our team."
Iris nodded and explained, "The things that will play out once the Toclafane are here, they will cease to exist and return to the time before they do arrive. But Martha, your important in all of this…"
Then Iris hesitated. She could tell them now what to do, or not. As she weighed her options, the Doctor looked at her and asked,
"You're not seriously thinking of telling us what to do, are you?"
Iris looked up at him with guilt as he shook his head.
"Don't. Don't tell us. Whatever you know, let it play out. Like you and Jack had agreed with, this might seriously change a fixed point in time. If anything, let's discuss this a little later."
Iris nodded, not sure when that "little later" will actually be.
And then the Doctor questioned about the phones asking, "Why would he put so much work into making a network?"
Iris answered that question, "If he is able to hypnotize people, the rhythm, couldn't it work to be a signal or magnifier of sorts? Spread it out throughout the world and basically lay it out so that they would vote for him."
The Doctor gaped as he realized what she was saying and yelled out,
"Oh, I'm thick. This head of mine is thick, thickity thick thick! Yes! You're absolutely right."
With that, he immediately tested out Martha's phone, which immediately sounded out the signal, making Iris wince in pain, causing the Doctor to stop the noise immediately. The signal within the phone was painful enough, and when it became an audible noise, it seemed to magnify her pain.
Jack glared at the Doctor as he asked,
"Any way you can stop it?"
The Doctor immediately looked a little downcast as he said, "Not from down here. But now we know how he's doing it."
Martha smiled as she said, "And we can fight back."
The Doctor looked at his companion and said, "Oh yes!"
With that, the Doctor immediately took the phones and laptop apart as he worked to put them onto the TARDIS keys. Luckily, he had an extra TARDIS key in his pocket for Iris, who didn't have one of her own.
When he finished, he quickly explained what he had done.
"Four TARDIS keys. Four pieces of the TARDIS, all with low level perception properties because the TARDIS is designed to blend in. Well, sort of. But now, the Archangel Network's got a second low level signal. Weld the key to the network and Martha, look at me. You can see me, yes?"
And as Martha was going through this experiment, Jack whispered to Iris,
"Will this work?"
Iris remained silent and grimaced a little, unable to manage a poker face at Jack's question. Instead, she gripped his hand tightly, desperate to keep him near her. Jack looked down at her with worry and saw her hesitate a bit before she gave him a quick peck on the lips before returning her focus back to the two time-travelers.
Jack looked back at the Doctor, tightening his own grip on Iris' hand, needing a little bit of a reassurance that everything will be fine.
They heard the Doctor say, "…. That's what it's like. Come on."
Jack looked at Martha, who looked a little upset as he whispered to her, "You too, huh?"
Iris rolled her eyes as she weakly elbowed Jack, who just helped her stand and walked slowly with her.
When they finally arrived at the airport, Iris looked extremely pale. She breathed a little heavily as they saw the interaction between the Master and President Winters. Iris winced again as she reminded herself of the President's impending doom. She didn't like the man herself, but she never wanted anyone to die. But in one corner of her mind, a trickle of impatience hit her like she didn't want to hear or see any of this. It wasn't her own emotions. She realized it was the Master's.
A chill went down through her body as she tuned out when she felt Jack move her arm to his Vortex Manipulator before she felt herself shift and land heavily onto the floor of the engine room.
She held her scream in and groaned, trying her best to curl up into a ball when a pair of hands helped her up. She looked up to see it was Jack. He quickly hugged her as they heard Martha groan out,
"Oh, that thing is rough."
Jack muttered out, "I've had worse nights. Welcome to the Valiant."
Martha looked at Iris and Jack for a moment then blushed a bit. Iris saw that and she hissed out, "Not like that!"
Jack chuckled as he pat her head, smirking a little. Iris tried to get out of his grasp at that, but couldn't as she was too weak to stand on her own at this point. So she just managed to glare at him instead.
Martha then whispered out, "It's dawn? Hold on, I thought this was a ship. Where's the sea?"
Jack shook his head as he replied,
"A ship for the 21st century. Protecting the skies of planet Earth."
As they made their way through the engine room, the Doctor stopped and shushed everyone as he whispered,
"Can't you hear it?"
Iris groaned and said, "Yeah… it hurts."
Jack immediately glanced at her and looked up as he asked, "Hear what?"
Martha looked at the Doctor, antsy as she just followed. She wanted to ask about her family, but they needed to move along quickly. The less she questioned the Time Lord, the faster she could figure out the answer herself.
When they had found the TARDIS, the Doctor yelled out in joy,
"Oh, at last!"
Martha smiled and said, "Oh yes!"
Jack though, looked worriedly at how the TARDIS was emitting a dangerous red glow as he asked,
"What's it doing on the Valiant? And what the hell's he done to it?"
The Doctor gently put a hand to Martha, stopping her as he said, "Don't touch it."
Jack replied, "We're not going to."
Martha asked, "What's he done though? Sounds like it's sick. It's also hurting Iris too…"
Iris responded, "He's cannibalized the TARDIS."
The Doctor looked at the TARDIS with trepidation as he said, "No, no, no."
Jack asked Iris and the Doctor cautiously, "Is this what I think it is?"
The Doctor turned back to them as he nodded slowly and said, "It's a paradox machine."
The Doctor went in and immediately ran around and tapped a gauge on the metal mesh around the console as he said,
"As soon as this hits red, it activates. At this speed, it'll trigger at two minutes past eight."
Jack then whispered, realizing what this meant, "First contact is at eight, then two minutes later."
Martha cut in and asked, "What's it for? What does a paradox machine do?"
Jack added, "More importantly, can you stop it?"
Doctor shook his head as he looked at Iris, who had been silent since a while back. He saw her bit her lower lip, drawing blood as she tried to hold in her pain.
He responded as he looked up at Jack, "Not till I know what it's doing. Touch the wrong bit, blow up the solar system."
Martha then had a look of determination cross her face as she said, "Then we've got to get to the Master."
Jack responded with, "Yeah. How are we going to stop him?"
He tightened his grip on Iris as the Doctor said,
"Oh, I've got a way. Sorry, didn't I mention it?"
Jack looked down at Iris and helped her out. She remained silent as she trudged along with Jack's help. When they all entered the flight deck quietly, he felt Iris tense up and wince almost inaudibly. He helped her lean on him as he watched the scene warily. His thumb moved in a circular motion on Iris' arm, trying to comfort her, but it really had no effect.
Iris felt like her head was about to split in two and it took all of her willpower to prevent herself from screaming out loudly. She leaned heavily onto Jack, taking comfort in his presence. She wasn't sure when she would be able to do this with him for a whole year, and wanted to memorize his smell, his heartbeat, his warmth. Everything about him was being engraved into her memory as she waited.
She ignored the instructions the Doctor was giving Jack, but she felt the man lower Iris to the ground so she could sit down on the ground. She wasn't physically able to challenge the Master so she was to hide.
Then she heard the president scream in pain as the Toclafane killed him. The Doctor bolted towards the Master, but failed to reach the other Time Lord as the guards stopped him.
The Master laughed out loud as he said,
"We meet at last, Doctor. Oh, ho. I love saying that."
The Doctor yelled out, "Stop it! Stop it now!"
The Master laughed hysterically as he managed to say,
"As if a perception filter's going to work on me. And look, it's the girlie, the freak and the ill one. Although, I'm not sure which one's which."
Jack ran forward at that, when the Master waved his hand and guards quickly grabbed Iris, who looked on with horror as the Master zapped the 51st century man with his laser screwdriver.
"No…" Iris managed as the guards brought her up by the Doctor's side.
"Ugh!" Iris groaned out when the guards threw her down. The Doctor tried to reach out to her, but the guards didn't let go of him, and Iris landed hard onto the ground with a thud.
She didn't get up, but her eyes were open and blinking as tears formed her eyes. Iris wanted to move. She knew Jack would wake up again, but she wanted to see him. Her body didn't move from the pure exhaustion from her weakened state.
The Master flaunted his screwdriver as he said, "Laser screwdriver. Who'd have sonic? And the good thing is, he's not dead for long. I get to kill him again!"
The Doctor took a careful glance at Iris, whose eyes were glazing over as he pleaded,
"Master, just calm down. Just look at what you're doing. Just stop. IF you could see yourself-"
The Doctor struggled when the Master said, "Oh, do excuse me. Little bit of personal business. Back in a minute. Let him go."
The Doctor felt the two guards let him go, and he quickly looked at the Master again as he said,
"It's that sound. The sound in your head. What if I could help?"
He thought that maybe, just maybe, he got rid of the drumming that was in the Master's mind, he would also help Iris get better.
But the Master merely seemed to enjoy teasing the Doctor as he said,
"Oh, how to shut him up? I know. Memory Lane. Professor Lazarus. Remember him and his genetic manipulation device? What, did you think that little Tish got that job merely by coincidence? I've been laying traps for you all this time. And if I can concentrate all that Lazarus technology into one little screwdriver? But, oooo, if I only had the Doctor's biological code. Oh, wait a minute, I do!"
With that, the Master immediately opened a large metal briefcase and took out the jar with the Doctor's hand in it.
Iris felt a flash of guilt move through her and she whispered, "I'm sorry…"
The Doctor looked at her and then back at the hand as the Master said,
"I've got his hand. It did take a little bit of effort, considering the girl trying to keep it away from me, but still… I have it and if Lazarus made himself younger… heh, what if I reverse it? Well.. another 100 years?"
Iris struggled to get closer to the Doctor, whimpering out a weak, "No…"
But the Master had already aimed his screwdriver at the Doctor, who convulsed quickly. Iris cried out in fear and pain. A little bit behind her, Jack came back to life as Martha was right by him.
Jack looked up at Martha and handed him his Vortex Manipulator and the communicator Iris made to Martha. He whispered,
"Teleport."
Martha took the things and tears sprung into her eyes as she looked at Iris and the Doctor, as she answered,
"I can't."
She honestly didn't want to abandon them. Iris looked like she could die at any moment and the Doctor was aging right in front of her eyes. Whatever she was tasked with, she didn't want to do it by leaving them here to the Master's whims. But Jack grabbed her attention again as he adamantly said,
"We can't stop him. Get out of here. Get out. If anything, only in the worst case scenario, contact my team with the communicator."
Martha nodded, almost unnoticeably. Jack eased up a little and let Martha go to the Doctor. She grabbed the man who looked much older.
"Doctor? I've got you."
The Master looked at the group as he chuckled and said,
"Ah, she's a would be doctor. But tonight, Martha Jones, we've flown them in all the way from prison."
Iris looked up to see Martha's family being dragged into the deck. She rested her head onto the ground again, before feeling two strong hands pull her body up into the person's chest. She immediately recognized Jack's scent and relaxed, even for a little bit, to remain as close to him as long as she could.
Then she heard the Doctor ask tiredly,
"The Toclafane. What are they? Who are they?"
The Master looked at Iris, who immediately winced upon making eye contact with him. Tears slid down her cheeks as the Master said,
"I think the young Iris over there can explain that to you."
Everyone immediately jerked their heads up towards the Master in shock as he laughed maniacally as he continued,
"What? Did you honestly think that I wouldn't feel anything when we are bonded? Iris… my flower, you feared me from the start, and considering that you never met me… that fear means you know me through other means. And the thing is… your thoughts on the Toclafane. Whenever you look at my creatures, I feel what you feel: guilt, sorrow, regret. All those… mushy feelings. I never told anyone, so imagine my surprise when you let a little information slip through as you told the Doctor a little something?"
Iris' eyes widened as she felt her blood turn cold. He couldn't know. She chanted that thought repeatedly, feeling Jack's grip on her tighten, indicating that he was thinking the same thing. The Doctor's eyes widened, hoping that the Master was thinking something else rather than the discussion he had with Iris earlier in the abandoned warehouse. How could he have not realized that the bond would work both ways?
"But then again, I won't reveal anything about the Toclafane in front of the Doctor. Because Doctor, if I told you the truth, your hearts would break. Just like it broke Iris' already torn heart."
Iris flinched at how he kept returning his attention to her. She felt the little smugness the Master felt as he taunted all of them. Iris didn't pay attention to the whatever was going on around her as she suddenly felt a pressure of the drumming escalate even further.
Jack immediately noticed Iris growing limp and he held onto her, hugging her so that nobody would notice that she had gone unconscious. He tucked a bit of hair behind her ear and hugged her tightly. The Toclafane had broken through the tear in the sky and saw how the Master smiled widely as he said,
"Shall we decimate them? That sounds good. A nice word, decimate. Remove one tenth of the population!"
Jack did not dare to move much as he saw the Doctor whisper to Martha and saw her teleport herself outside of the Valiant like they had wanted her to. The only thing he could was for everybody to survive this. Iris believed that they would all survive this, but he saw Iris' condition and hoped that she also believed that she too, would live through the fight against the Master.
He had lost her once, he was not about to lose her again. Even if that meant he had to go through severe torture.
Then the Doctor was dragged by the Master, who held onto the now old-looking Time Lord by the window to witness the slaughter of one-tenth of the world's population as the Master said,
"And so it came to pass that he human race fell, and the Earth was no more. And I looked down upon my new dominion as Master of all, and I thought it good."
A/N:
Hey my lovely readers! I apologize for taking longer than planned for this new chapter. I needed some time to think through how this episode would go, and it took me a longer time to figure it out before I could actually do much.
Also, I decided that whoever writes the 50th review for this story on either or archive of our own can get a special one-shot if they wished for one. I will PM you separately about it and you can send me a scenario you want from the timeline I have written in so far (nothing from future episodes because they have yet to be planned for my own story!) But I really appreciate all of your love and support! I'm hoping to receive more followers for my story, so please let others know if you enjoy this story!
Love you guys lots!