Chapter 3
The Master went white. He turned to the companions, yelling at them, "Get the gun! Bring it here!"
His voice snapped them into action, Graham grabbing up the gun and scrambling past the guards and through the gate. Ryan and Yaz were quick to follow, but the crying man broke free of the guards and grabbed Ryan's arm, saying, "What's happening? What's happening?"
Ryan couldn't find the voice to respond but one of the guards said disdainfully, "You shot the Doctor."
He paled. "The... Doctor..." He shook his head. "No, I was aiming at him! I was aiming at him..."
Ryan and Yaz shook him off, following Graham through the gates. He was hovering near the Doctor, offering a hand, but she wouldn't let go of the dock. She was holding onto it for support, her other arm clamped on the wound.
The Master was looking at the gun, his face deathly pale.
"What? What is it?" Yaz asked.
"A time disruptor," he said grimly. "Doctor, sonic?"
She quickly reached into her coat and gave it to him, and he freed himself from his shackles.
Rassilon stormed over. "What do you think you're-"
"I need him to help get me to the TARDIS," the Doctor said, moving her hand to show him the wound. "You don't like it, come with us."
Rassilon's jaw clenched as the Master vaulted over the deck and took the Doctor's arm, helping her walk to the doors. The guards looked alarmed at their approach but Rassilon waved them off, gesturing to the companions to keep an eye on the Master.
The group slowly helped the Doctor from the courtroom.
The man began to cry again as the Doctor approached, saying, "Why did you get in the way? I was aiming for... I'm so sorry..."
And the Doctor did something that struck them all as odd. She reached out and rested her hand on his shoulder as they passed.
The second they were out the door the Doctor's pace started to slow and her breathing got heavier. The Master tried to urge her on faster, but she was suddenly dragging her heels and looking around, confused.
"Was this today?" she said suddenly. "It's new."
"Doctor?" Yaz whispered.
"Keep calm," Rassilon said, his eyes flitting from the Doctor to the Master and back. "It's a side effect of the disruptor. Her sense of linearity is affected."
"Her sense of what?" Graham said. The Master rolled his eyes, dragging the Doctor towards the stairs they had come up.
"But she'll be OK?" Ryan said. "We get her to the TARDIS, she'll be OK?"
"I know you," she said to Ryan. Her eyes swept her companions. "All of you." Then her face crumpled. "That's strange. I don't remember what happens to you."
The companions exchanged glances, alarmed. "Doctor..."
"Do I get any of you killed?" she asked, her eyes too bright. "Whoops, was that rude?"
"You're scaring the mayflies, Doctor," the Master said softly. She let go of the wound, rubbing confused at her head and getting blood in her hair.
Yaz looked worriedly at the wound. There was a growing stain down the Doctor's side, a weird dark orange tint to the droplets that fell behind them. How much blood could a Time Lord lose? The Doctor was always saying how much more stamina she had compared to the average human, but nowadays she wasn't sure what to believe...
"Keep your hand on it, Doc," Graham told her, putting her hand back against the wound.
"It happened at the same time," she said with a sudden fervor. "When you came to travel, when you asked me who I was. One moment born out of another. Can't we just skip past the part w-where I lose..."
The Master tried to shush her, intent on getting her to the stairs, but the Doctor suddenly cried out and crumpled to the floor, an odd noise coming from her.
It the companions a second to realise she was crying.
No, not crying - sobbing.
The Master knelt down, one hand over her back as he tried to get the other back onto the wound while she clung to the floor. "Get the TARDIS! Teleport it inside, now!" he snapped at Rassilon. The Time Lord paused only a moment before doing what he said. The Master looked at the companions, annoyed. "Well? One of you go with him!"
A shell-shocked Ryan raced after him.
"Doctor?" Yaz tried.
"No, please," the Doctor sobbed. "It's too much. Can't have - can't have killed that many - didn't want to hurt anyone-"
"Doctor, it isn't happening now. It's in the past." The Master manhandled her upright, pressing his hand against the wound. "You need to get up, now, and get to those stairs."
She raised her head, breathing coming in shallow, terrified gasps. "I know you," she gasped. "I know..."
"You know who I am. You have to stand up so you can stop me, remember?"
"Stop...you..."
"Doctor, you know who I am. Fight it."
She nodded distantly. "Yes," she whispered in a tiny voice, "You're my friend."
"Doctor, please," Yaz said, "Please stand up."
She let them pull her up, but the minute she was on her feet she shut down entirely, a blank stare on her face and her weight slumping into the Master as he helped her walk.
They reached the stairs and the Master snapped at Graham, "Help me!" and the older man moved to the Doctor's other side, the pair of them supporting her and Graham saying, "Watch your step, love. I've got you, cockle," as they had to carry her the last few steps.
Yaz hovered behind, one hand covering her mouth, failing to contain her tears.
The Master set her down at the bottom of the stairs, swearing as the TARDIS still hadn't materialised. The Doctor's eyes were wide and staring and she was no longer crying but gasping helplessly, her hand clamping around the Master's when he took hold of it.
Graham pressed his hands to her wound, trying to stem the blood flow. "What're you going to do?" he asked the Master. "You have a plan to fix her, right?"
"She has to look into the heart of the TARDIS," he said grimly. "It's the only option, Doctor, make you better than new again."
The Doctor didn't respond. She was clinging on to the Master's hand for dear life, struggling to keep her eyes open. Her blood was pooling faster around them, Graham's hands soaked in it. He tried to press harder, wincing when the Doctor did.
"Sorry, Doc. I need to keep the pressure on. You can count on me, little blood don't scare me none." But his face said otherwise.
The Master raised the Doctor so she was leaning against him, freeing up one of his hands. "Let go. I'm going to stem the bleeding."
Graham did as he said, waiting until the Master was in position before moving his hand. Golden light emanated from his fingers and he pressed down on the wound hard. The Doctor whimpered, closing her eyes.
"Sorry, Theta, I have to, you're losing too much..."
Graham watched the blood flow start to slow. "Thank God..."
"We're not out of the woods yet," he said. "The disruptor is a deadly weapon to a Time Lord. It's destroying her on the inside." The golden light faded and he leant the Doctor back, her hand still in his.
Her gasping breaths had slowed, but she was shuddering and staring ahead, eyes unseeing. The Master swore. "The hell is taking them so long?"
He looked suddenly at their joined hands, alarmed as the Doctor's grip started to loosen. He clutched it tighter, saying, "Stay with me. Stay with me..."
"Oh, God..." Yaz whispered, tearful.
The Master whispered something that sounded like 'Damn it' before he said quietly, "Listen, Doctor, it's the funniest thing... I was coming back. To stand with you." He turned his head, whispering against her hair. "I tried to come back to you, I did, but things...happened."
The Doctor was pale, eyes opening and closing slowly.
"We promised each other, every star, didn't we? I made that promise too. I thought, all the time in the world...someday we would do it, together..." He squeezed her limp hand. "In the end, it's just you and me. What the hell would I be without you?"
Yaz let out a broken sob. The Master raised his head to snap at her, but then he saw where she was looking...followed her gaze to the Doctor.
She was staring straight ahead, her eyes glassy and blank.
"Doctor?" he whispered. His hand shifted, searching for a pulse on her neck. His face froze.
"Oh, no, pet," Graham said, eyes wet.
The Master clutched her tight and let out an animal scream.