31. Rescues.

The Master thankfully managed to contain an indignant squawk when Crouch, having tired of waiting for the Time Lord to walk out of his cage, decided to simply levitate him instead. The Master looked around him, trying not to look too worried, though his hearts were almost beating hard enough to bring back The Drums.

Snake Face was lying on the table, pale and unmoving, like some Frankenstein-style experiment gone badly wrong. Candles were dotted on the table around him in a vague star shape, and there was a space at the other end of the table, also surrounding by candles, that the Master now found himself floating uncontrollably towards.

"So what's the plan?" He asked, hoping he didn't sound as apprehensive (scared, his inner voice taunted) as he felt. "You lie us down on a stone slab, light a few candles, chant a bit, and hope for the best? Hardly rock solid, as plans go, is it?"

Crouch snorted. "I see you didn't notice the cauldron."

"Oh," the Master said. "Silly me. I just assumed you hadn't done your washing-up yet."

The world suddenly flipped upside down, and the Master stared in puzzlement at the stone table, which was now two inches from his nose. "I'm not an expert, but I don't think this is the right position."

Thunk.

The Master blinked. Ow. So that's what it felt like to fall face first into a stone surface. He blinked stars from his eyes and sniffed, feeling blood trickling into his eyes.

The room righted itself, and the Master found himself looking into the cold eyes of his captor. "I'd be quiet if I were you. The procedure will be over much faster if you are."

"Aren't I supposed to chant as well?" The Master asked, not really knowing why, but getting some small satisfaction from the irritated look that crossed the other man's face. "I've not learnt my lines."

In response, Crouch none-too-gently slammed him back-first onto the stone slab, and the Master felt the air knocked from his lungs. As he lay there feebly wheezing, hating his hopelessness more with every passing second, he saw the cauldron float into his vision. For a minute, he thought it was simply going to upend itself over his face, but it floated on and landed somewhere between him and Snake Face.

"What's that even supposed to do?" The Master asked. "Where are the electrodes, scary surgical masks and totally unnecessary cackling evil scientists? I don't think you're doing this moment justice."

Suddenly, Crouch's face was inches from his. "It has worked before," he snapped, "and will work now. The Dark Lord himself said it would."

"But I wasn't here before. Won't that change things?"

"I've changed the potion to accommodate the changes that… circumstances have dictated," Crouch spat.

"Even this?" The Master asked, unleashing as much electricity as he could without burning himself out entirely.

oOo

The Doctor closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to ignore the fact that he was on a battlefield and surrounded by dead

And young

And so, so prematurely dead

And reached out for the Master's mind, hoping that it worked, he hadn't had much opportunity to practice this over the last few decades

Or centuries. It's been so empty since you killed them all.

Blackness

And blackness

And black – so much black, inky, deep and dark, swallowing you whole, threatening to destroy your sense of self, because there's no one here to reply

Hasn't been anyone in a long long time – and he's forgotten how, forgotten everything, after so long, and he can't

He can't

But the Master's life depended on it. The Doctor took another deep breath, trying to stop his mind running away from him.

But it hurt so much – his mind was shredding, falling apart – how could he find anyone else like this? How?

[Sweetie?]

The Doctor jumped and looked around – or he would have looked around and jumped, had he not been deeply buried within his own mind. Instead, he sent out a telepathic wave of confusion.

River?

[Yes. I know you don't like it] a brief wave of worry and – was that hurt? [but I'm giving you a boost.]

Oh.

[Perhaps time to start looking, then?]

How could a mental presence sound smug and exasperated all at the same time?

Obligingly, the Doctor used the extra strength that River was giving him, and stretched his mind further, searching for a sign of the Master, hoping that he'd recognise him, hoping that he wasn't too far away, hoping that he wasn't dead.

He was on the Valiant, clutching the dead Master in his arms, weeping so hard that he wasn't sure he could breathe…

[Concentrate, Sweetie.]

The image faded to darkness, and the Doctor started searching again, mental-brow furrowed, darkness getting slightly lighter as he saw, on the horizon – there, right there. Was that him? It was red and pulsing, anger and fire, rage and desperation -

[I'd say that was him]

The Doctor threw himself at the light.

oOo

The Master struck out once again, seeing Crouch topple to the floor this time, the electricity catching him off guard, clearly not having expected his victim to fight back. The Master wondered when villains would learn – step one, get rid of the prisoner's defences. Was it really that difficult?

He levered himself off the table with some difficulty, the back of his mind noticing that he really needed to sort out this whole life force problem before he burned, even as he forced Crouch further and further into the floor.

Suddenly, he was knocked over sideways by an unexpected presence in his mind. Urgency, worry, fear and exhaustion – the sense of a long distance, of home…

Doctor?

[It is you]

The Master frowned. What are you doing?

[Rescuing you]

The Master suddenly found himself pinned back to the table. He blinked in surprise, not having expected Crouch to recover that fast. Apparently, homicidal urges trumped electricity.

[What's happening? Where are you?]

The Master gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the jabbering idiot in his head as he focussed on not getting tied to the table and becoming a living sacrifice. He tried raising his mental shields, but an energy that wasn't the Doctor stopped him, wedging their presence into his mind like a metaphorical foot in a door that he was trying to slam. The Doctor peeped tentatively through the door.

[Master? Can you hear me?]

Damn it, shut up!

The Master tried to send out another jolt of electricity, but he had used too much too soon, and he found himself being strapped down to the table, a surge of helplessness going through him. The Doctor had the most impeccable timing.

The Master looked on in horror as Crouch lowered a knife and cut a small gash in the Time Lord's arm, collected the blood on the knife, and then let the blood drip into the cauldron with a sizzle. His own resurrection attempt suddenly leapt to mind.

[Where are you?]

The Master gritted his teeth. Couldn't he have a moment's peace? Would the voices in his head never shut up?

There was a brief moment of anguish from the other end. [I'm sorry, but I have to.]

Before the Master could even ask what in Rassilon's name the Doctor was apologising for now, the foot-presence kicked the door open and went rifling through his memories. The Master yelped and tried to flail, though his physical self only succeeded in twitching under its bonds.

Somewhere over the Master's left shoulder, Crouch was busying himself with the cauldron, muttering to Snake Face as he did so. The Master couldn't make out the words – he was too busy trying to protect his memories from this strange rampage.

Suddenly, the presence withdrew, leaving only the Doctor, who's mental voice was left wavering and weak without its support. [I'm coming for you. Hold on.]

Then silence.

The Master groaned, thunking his head on the table. Great.

oOo

The Doctor blinked his eyes open to find River already sharing the memory with Dumbledore and Snape.

"Where is everyone?"

"Dumbledore sent Harry, Ron and Hermione back to Grimmauld Place," River explained, moving away from the two wizards. "The Order and everyone else are still dealing with the Death Eaters, dead and injured."

But the Doctor was only half listening. "He fought us."

River nodded, suddenly wary. "Yes, I noticed."

"You're sure it's the right place?"

"Very sure. He couldn't hide it in time."

The Doctor looked down at his boots, absently noting the layer of grime and dust that had accumulated since his capture several months ago. "He still doesn't want to be saved, not if it means being with me." He looked back up to meet River's eyes. "I had hoped it would be different now."

"We must leave now," Snape interrupted, clearly having grown impatient. "Every second we stay here is a waste."

"Yes, yes… You're right," the Doctor said, snapping back to the task at hand. He held his arm out to River, who took it with pursed lips.

"You're sure about this?"

"I might not know magic, but I know the Master. I'm coming."

Dumbledore nodded. "Then it is decided. Severus and I will attack from the front, you two from the back."

"You are sure that it is only Barty Crouch Junior?" Snape asked, his dark eyes boring into River's.

"I saw the memory in the Master's mind – there was no one else."

"That gives us more of a chance," the Doctor muttered.

Dumbledore nodded. "I would still advise caution." He raised his wand. "On the count of three. One, two-"

oOo

"Three drops of the subject's blood," Crouch recited, and the Master heard the cauldron fizz. "Good… The potion is ready, my Lord. All that remains now is the spell…"

The Master listened warily as Crouch rummaged around in his pockets, withdrawing a crumpled piece of parchment. He started reading dramatically, and if the Master hadn't been seized by a sudden coldness in his hearts and lungs, he would have rolled his eyes. As it was, he was rather distracted by the sight of yet more electricity pouring from his body. Only this time, it was going straight into the cauldron.

Which was odd, because the Master had been sure that he had not been able to give much more. But here he was, electricity pouring out of his chest like he was some sort of living lightning storm.

And what was that roaring in his ears? He tried to turn his head, but found that he couldn't. It was just so much effort. So heavy…

Something crashed suddenly, and the Master vaguely noted that shapes had started moving about the room – was that a person flying through the air? No… just a sack of…

His eyes slipped shut.

oOo

The wards went down quicker than expected – either Dumbledore and Snape were on top form, or Crouch hadn't done a good job in making sure he wasn't followed, only that his prisoner didn't escape.

Clenching his jaw, the Doctor led the way through the back door, reaching into his pocket for his Sonic and pointing it in front of him like a gun. He could hear River behind him, her feet moving almost soundlessly across the floor. They met Dumbledore and Snape, who had come through the front entrance. Dumbledore nodded his head at the basement door.

They all rushed down the stairs, all pretence at stealth now out the window with the wards down, and Dumbledore set to work on the wards placed on the door. With the basement door open, the Doctor suddenly found himself in the midst of a scene that he had hoped never to witness.

Even as Dumbledore disarmed a shocked Crouch – the force of the spell, amplified by Snape starting to cast it at the same time as Dumbledore, caused Crouch to fly through the air, crashing into the far wall and sending bottles flying. The Doctor immediately rushed to the Master's side, dismayed and alarmed to see eyes wearily slipping shut in a too-pale face.

With River's help, he managed to get the Master off the table, out of the basement, and into the old living room of the abandoned house, leaving the two wizards to deal with Crouch. They lay the Master, who was limp and unmoving, on a dusty sofa. River immediately whipped out a medical scanner and began frantically reading the results.

The Doctor, who had been gently shaking the Master's shoulder and saying his name with an urgency that was on the precipice of causing a flashback to the Year-That-Never-Was, looked up to find River's face a picture of Bad News.

"He's not dead," the Doctor stated flatly. "He can't be."