Chapter Four

Martha and Tori had been traveling for months. Tori remained quiet, observant, and obedient from the background, while Martha took charge, led people, and comforted. Tori watched as Martha told people the story of the Doctor and how he would save them. She listened as Marth gave them instructions. She was a ghost.

But she listened. Tori listened to everything Martha told the refugees. And when there were no refugees, Martha told Tori even more. Little by little, Tori felt her fear of the Doctor go away. Maybe he wasn't just like the ones who imprisoned her.

But she was still useless.

Slowly, Tori began to find ways she could help, even silently. She would offer help to struggling mothers and their babies. She would offer a hand to the elderly who mourned the planet. She became the solid wall for the soldiers who fought for the freedom of their countries. She protected the children from the Master's army. Tori was the silent shield for those on Earth as Martha became the general of the Doctor's hidden battalion.

This went on for five more months. As the twelfth month dawned, Tori knew something would change. She felt it in the air, dreamt about it at night, heard about it in passing. She knew something was going to change and she would be powerless to stop it.

Martha and Tori had made it to a small town in Norway. Somehow, no matter where they went, it seemed the TARDIS followed and allowed them to speak without a language barrier. Tori had her suspicions for the reason, but kept quiet as usual.

As Tori was on her way back to Martha's hideout, having stopped by a market for supplies, she heard the sound of engines entering the town square. The people here were simple and had no need for cars unless they were going long distances out of town. She glanced around the corner to see three all black, seemingly armed vehicles parked in a formation that would make it impossible to hide. Tori watched as at least ten men stepped out of the vehicles. Her eyes widened at the sight of the guns—if that's what they were—that were either strapped to the men's backs or in their arms. This would not be good. She had to get back to Martha! Or no… she had to hide! But Martha… No, Tori told herself she had to protect Martha at all costs. And running back to her now would do the opposite of that. The Doctor gave Martha a mission. Tori would see to it that it was completed.

With a deep breath and a fearful swallow, Tori sat her bags down on the ground next to her. She had to do this. For Martha, for Jack, for the planet… even for the Doctor whom she didn't even know well. Tori peaked around the corner again to see the men spreading out and threatening the villagers. Out of the corner of her eye, Tori saw a dark shape nearby. She looked over and saw Martha hiding in the shadows of another alley near their hideout. The two women made eye contact and Tori saw that Martha was ready to do what she needed to do. But Tori wouldn't allow that to happen. The world needed Martha Jones. No one needed Victoria Renata. As Tori stood tall, Martha seemed to understand what was about to happen. She started to shake her head, but Tori looked away. She had to do this. The Master called her "the Guardian." Well then. It was about time she protected her friend and the mission at hand.

With a final deep breath, Tori made an obvious dash in the opposite direction of Martha. Not quite towards the armed men, but in clear view of them. Several saw her and called out. Soon, most of the men were chasing her. She heard the guns fire up and soon she was dodging the blasts from the weapons. But she knew… she knew with a deep-set reservation that she would have to let them get her. if she didn't, they would find Martha and the world would be doomed. As it turned out, she didn't have to "let" them hit her. She stumbled over a rock in her path and felt an instant pain flare up her back. And then the world went black and she knew no more.

~~~.~~~

Tori dragged in a huge breath as she reanimated. She opened her eyes and took in her surroundings.

She was on the Valliant.

"Ahh, little miss Renata joins us at last." An oily voice chirped. Tori blinked slowly as the arms of death slowly left her. She looked over and saw the Master standing tall on a platform similar to the one she had last seen him on. His wife wasn't in the room, but she saw dozens of armed guards. She was held down on her knees in front of the man himself, but on the floor several steps down. She blinked slowly again as she fully realized what happened. Fear coated her veins, but she knew Martha was safe. And that was what mattered.

"Hello, over here, thanks." The Master waved his hand, bringing her attention back to him. "There we go. So glad you could join us. A shame your dear Martha couldn't come. Ah well. She'll be here soon enough."

Tori licked her lips, "I wouldn't count on it." She whispered.

The Master's grin seemed to widen as he heard her. Blast the Time Lord hearing. "Oh, is the kitten trying to fight without claws?" he chuckled. "My dear Guardian, you underestimate me."

Tori's eyebrows furrowed. There was that title again.

"You really don't remember, do you?" The Master drawled as he watched her facial expressions.

Tori looked at him. "Remember what?" she muttered.

The Master's grin was jaw splitting and dripping with glee. "Let's go join the Doctor for this one. I'm sure he'd love to see one of his little pets again." He snapped and the two guards holding Tori down hoisted her to her feet and marched her out of the room. The Master led them to the large room Tori remembered as the flight deck. The lights weren't as bright as before and it was much emptier. Except for a small tent to one side.

"Oh, Doctor!" The Master practically sang. "Out you come, dear! I've got a surprise for you."

Tori watched as the wrinkled, old man version of the Doctor feebly crawled out of the tent. When he was out and able to stand, he looked up and saw Tori between two guards. His eyes grew wide and he mouthed her name.

The Master was still grinning madly. "Victoria Renata. All the way from Norway just to see you!" He jogged over to where Tori was being held and brought his hands to his own face. "Oh, it's so exciting."

"Master, leave her alone!" The Doctor commanded.

"Mmm, no. You see, there is something you don't know about our dear miss Renata. Something, it seems, even she has forgotten about herself." The Master mockingly pouted. "Well let's reveal it, shall we?"

The Master swaggered over to one of the chairs at the end of the conference table and sat down, reclining and resting his legs on the table in front of him. "You see, I know all about the Prime Minister's project." Tori's eyes widened. "I was originally meant to find some of my own test subjects for the experiments. But I was too busy chasing you down, dear Doctor. So instead… I was assigned to… train the survivor." He grinned maliciously.

Tori stared at him in horror. She had no memory of this man, this Time Lord, let alone him training her. Whenever she thought back to the first few decades of being on Gallifrey, she only remembered blinding pain, an old man, and… that was it. After that it became fuzzy. She was there for so long…

"You really don't remember." The Master laughed. "Maybe this will job your memory." He stood and approached her. Tori tried to back away and flinch from him, but the guards held her steady and didn't allow her to move an inch. The Master was before her now and raised both hands to her temples. The Doctor called out for him to stop, but the Master just grinned and pressed his fingers against her skull. "Watch and remember…"

Tori's vision went black.

The world was orange. Everything had an orange glow to it. The sky wasn't blue. The clouds weren't white. Everything was just… orange. The last thing she could remember before waking up in this room was blinding, searing pain and then a warm hum. She remembered someone singing to her in her mind and speaking comforting words. She was nearly driven mad by it and to some extent, she could feel her mind on the very edge of sanity. But when she had woken in this room and looked out to see and orange world, she knew she wasn't truly mad.

The door to the room opened and an older man stepped in. "Ah, you're awake. I was worried I'd have to watch you drool for another month."

"A month?" Tori asked in a quiet voice.

"I was being generous. You've been asleep for nearly a decade." The man answered carelessly.

Tori's eyes widened. A decade?! There's no way she would have survived so long unconscious.

"Well, asleep is also generous. You were dead. Anyway, it's time to start your training. Come with me." the man ordered. Tori hesitated and the man grabbed her arm and dragged her through the door.

He brought her to a room down the hall. It was bare but for a few shelves full of various weapons and a large mat in the middle of the floor. There were holes in the walls that looked like the holes one might see in a money truck—gun ports. Tori shuddered and tried to struggle out of the man's grasp.

"Let me begin by explaining why you're here." The man said. "You are here to fight. You are here to win the war or die trying. You can't do that if you're as weak as any old ape. I am here to ensure the success of the Prime Minister and see that you win. And if not… well, there are other uses for you."

"I…I don't understand. What war? What Prime Minister? Who are you?!" Tori cried.

The man grinned darkly. "You can call me Master."

Tori's vision came back to her so suddenly she gasped and the guards let her fall to the ground on her knees in front of the Master.

The Master took as step back and looked down on her. "Remember now?" he mocked.

Tori looked up at him bleary eyed as memories surfaced in her brain. She nodded slowly, smally.

"Good. Now we can have some fun." The Master clapped his hands gleefully. He looked over at the Doctor. "Do you know what they had me train her to do?" He called. "They wanted a soldier, yes. But they wanted someone obedient. Someone who would run into the fight and obey orders with no regard for their own wellbeing." The Master looked back at Tori. "But instead, they got you. A weak, scared little girl." Tori flinched. "Stand up." Tori did as she was told on shaky legs.

The Master grabbed her chin and looked into her pale face. "They were more successful than they thought…" he whispered to her. "They gave you more than just immortality. You have a little bit of the Time Vortex inside you." He twirled her golden hair around his finger twice before letting it fall in with the rest of her brunette hair. "Unlike the Time Lords, who simply look into the Vortex… you were gifted with a piece of it in your very being. Your DNA was restructured. You possess the Vortex itself."

Tori's eyes widened. The implications would mean… she wasn't entirely human. She hadn't been for centuries.

"With that power inside you, you could become the most useful soldier, yes. But you could also be harvested. The Vortex could be pulled from you just enough to power entire worlds. Conquer civilizations… Oh, yes. A most valuable chess piece indeed." The Master smiled.

Tori looked at the Master with wide, frightened eyes. She glanced at the Doctor who returned her look with one of fear. But fear for her. He was worried about her. Tori looked into the old face as if for the first time.

"But that can wait. I need time to set things up. Guards, why don't you take miss Renata to a room. I'll be ready for her soon…" The Master grinned and walked out of the room.

"D-Doctor!" Tori cried out as the guards began to lead her out of the room.

"Victoria, you'll be ok! Don't worry, I'll save you!" The Doctor feebly shouted after her. Tori looked over her shoulder at him until she could no longer see him around the corner. She felt as if her last ray of hope, her last chance of freedom, had slipped from her fingers before she'd even realized it was there. And she had been useless.

~~.~~

Days went by. Tori was left in a small cell near the loading dock of the ship. She had access to the facilities and a small cot. But the room was so similar to her cell at Torchwood that she barely registered her surroundings. A guard came in occasionally to give her food and water. Tori lost count of the days, but she knew it hadn't been terribly long. By the time she estimated she'd been in the cell for a little under two weeks, the Master finally summoned her. She was brought to another cell—this one was larger and had only a large, square table. She looked around and saw the walls were covered in glowing lights and screens. Wires came from several spots around the room. The guards led her to the center of the room and stopped. Soon, the door on the other side of the room opened and the Master strutted in.

"Ah, Miss Renata. So glad you could join us. Please, do make yourself comfortable." He grinned.

The guards pushed her forward and she had to brace herself on the table. "What… what do you want from me?" she asked quietly.

"I want your power." The Master answered simply. He snapped his fingers and the guards yet again took hold of her arms. They pushed Tori until she was forced to half lay on the table. Realizing what was happening, Tori started to struggle.

"Stop! No!" she cried. She managed to get in a couple kicks, but more guards came in and managed to get her whole body on the table. They fastened her wrists and ankles to the surfaces, while a woman came over and started taping wires to her bare arms and several spots on her head. Try as she might, Tori couldn't stop any of this from happening.

"Now, I'm going to need you to just relax your mind and focus on one thing." The Master whispered near her ear. "You—"

"Sir, it's time." A voice came over the intercom, interrupting the Master. He glared at the ceiling and Tori knew whoever interrupted him would never make that mistake… or any mistake, ever again.

"Very well. Victoria, dear." He started. "While daddy's away, why don't you get started on transferring power to the power cells, hm?" the Master then strode out of the room.

"You heard the Master." One of the guards barked. "Get working."

Tori panted slightly in panic. She thought about the order, the order to fill the power cells. And just like that, with a simple thought, Tori felt her whole body convulse form pain. She felt something being pulled from her very soul. As she focused on the pain, it stopped. She noticed the wires attached to her arms were glowing gold. A sparkling golden… almost liquid substance poured from her into the tubes and traveled into the power cells on the far side of the room. Tori realized that was exactly what the Master wanted. He wanted her to focus on filling the cells and that would manipulate her energy into a concentrated substance. As if on cue, the very thought caused another wave of agonizing pain.

Tori cried out as this pull was even worse than the first one. A brighter batch of the Vortex came out of her this time. This happened several times, over the course of who knew how long. She focused on the pain with heaving breaths and shaking limbs. She had to think of something else.

Jack. He was somewhere, alive by some miracle. Even if he was dead, he would be alive soon. He was fighting, she just knew it. Jack Harkness would never give up until his last, natural breath. And maybe not even then.

Martha Jones. She was traveling the world. She was trying to save the world from an evil no one could have prepared for. She was kind, nurturing, and a fighter. She taught her that the Doctor was different. That he cared.

The Doctor. He was a Time Lord. He was apologetic for his people and what they did to her. He demonstrated genuine remorse. He was kind to her, laughed at her jokes. He was suffering…

Tori's eyes snapped open and a flash of golden energy passed over her eyes. She would not let them down. She couldn't. She would not fail them like she failed…

With astounding strength she barely remembered training for, she snapped her restraints. She pulled off the tubes and wires from her body and leapt from the table before the guards could even take the safety off their guns. Tori marched up to the closest guard and in a manner she pulled from the depths of her memory, she swiped his legs and forced him to the ground, taking his gun and aiming it at the other guards.

"Now," she started with a slight tremble. "I'm going to leave this room and help my friends. I'm sure you aren't hear on your own free will. If you have any amount of loyalty to the human race, you will let me leave. And you won't raise the alarms." Taking a leap of faith, Tori backed out of the room slowly. When no one stopped her, she turned and sprinted through the hallways. She stumbled slightly, but she never stopped.

Tori followed the paths and signs on the walls until she found herself in one of the very first room she had been in on the Valliant. And there, right in front of her, was the beautiful, blue police box. Tori took a moment to just look at the poor machine. The year had done the box no favors, but somehow it still looked alive. Tori took a step closer when red lights started flashing on the walls. She jumped and hid behind the closest box. An alarm started blaring and a man's voice came over the speaker declaring code red. Tori was sure it wasn't for her; the guards let her go easily enough and none of them followed her. She stayed hidden for a few minutes until the lights stopped.

Tori peaked over the crate she'd hidden behind. When she was sure the coast was clear, she sped towards the TARDIS. Just as she was sure she was safe, doors to the side of the room crashed open and a squadron of armed guards came in. Tori took a step back and prepared to run, but she needn't have bothered. As soon as she'd taken the single step, a bright light appeared from one of the guns and she was down. But… not dead? It was a stunner! Two guards came over and hefted her to her feet.

Tori was helpless as she was dragged as deadweight through the Valliant. They passed through hallways she had only just run through. As they approached the room she had been trapped in before, Tori felt dread growing in the pit of her stomach. But then the guards led her right past the door. The dread grew heavier. She knew where they were heading now.

"Ah, and here's our other little miss." The Master's voice crowed from the flight deck. The guards pulled Tori through the door; her legs still useless. "Apparently we were too hasty in our project. Although, with your help, the ship is ready for another two decades of flight. We simply must do something about that spirit. I thought I'd done a good job of breaking you back on Gallifrey, but… I guess we'll have to retrain you. Guards."

The Master snapped his fingers and the guards dragged Tori over to the wall opposite the Doctor's tent. She didn't have the strength to lift her head as they spread her arms and chained her to the ceiling. Her feet were barely touching the ground—she would be exhausted by morning and numb by lunch. The Master nodded and turned away from her.

"Human race, greatest monsters of them all. Night, then!" and then he and his wife and guards left.

Tori slowly raised her head. The room was darker now, but not comfortably enough to sleep. Not that she could, suspended from the ceiling. She looked towards the Doctor's tent, but only saw a bird cage.

"D…Doctor?" she called hesitantly. A small figure got up from the floor of the cage, covered in fabric. Large eyes peered over at her.

"It's me." A raspy voice replied.

Tori's eyes widened. "What did he do to you?" she whispered in shock.

"It doesn't matter. Are you alright, Victoria?" the Doctor, caring more for others even when he was so weak, asked.

"I…I'm ok. He… he tried to… to do something to me. There were wires and tubes and light… it hurt. So bad."

"Why did they bring you here?"

"I ran. They caught me."

"Good, that's good. Always run." The Doctor tried for a smile.

Tori gave a small smile, the most genuine one she'd given him. But then she frowned. "What are we going to do?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you? I've got a plan." The Doctor grinned.