Domestics and Divisions

Hey. This is a repost so some of you may have read it before but it's been edited as the last part of this chapter was… bad. Hope it's better this time. Oooh, and yay for Billie! Winston James. How cute!

Disclaimer: Nothing you might recognise belongs to me.

Part Nineteen: Teamwork

Rose jogged along the road she had seen the Doctor and the Master take seconds earlier, constantly searching for where they might have gone.

"Pssst!"

She looked around and spotted the Doctor leaning against a grimy brick wall. Smiling, she hurried over and slipped her hand into his. He squeezed comfortingly.

"Good to see you," he said quietly.

"I couldn't leave you to do this on your own. We're a team," she replied, "Not only that, we're both his parents." She paused, aware she may have assumed too much. "Right?" she asked worriedly.

"Right," the Doctor confirmed, instantly quelling all of Rose's fears.

"We're OK then?" she asked thankfully.

"More than," he nodded, "I'm sorry I behaved like a fool, angel."

"I forgive you. Couldn't not."

He smiled before turning serious. "Right, the Master took Jonny into this building. Not sure why as as far as I can tell, it's just an ordinary block of flats. The sonic screwdriver isn't picking anything up."

"So, we need to go inside and have a look," Rose deduced, "I'll call Jack and get the team over to surround the building as back up."

"OK," the Doctor agreed. As Rose talked into her comm., he scouted out the area. There was only one other exit to the building, which was a fire escape and only around the corner from where they stood now. This meant that the Master was still inside and they would have heard if anyone had opened the alarmed fire door.

"They're on their way," Rose informed him.

He nodded. "I wonder why he came here," he mused out loud, "I mean, a block of flats?" He suddenly had horrible visions of the Master holding innocent residents hostage, as well as Jonny, until the Doctor gave into whatever crazy demands the other Time Lord wanted.

"Maybe he lives here?" Rose suggested, "Do we even know how long he's been back on Earth?"

"He got out of the Void when you did," the Doctor replied. "It's not your fault," he added quickly, seeing the look on her face, "Well, it sort of is but I'd rather have you back and have to deal with the Master than not have you back at all."

Rose nodded, not completely comforted but even more determined to stop the Master in his tracks.

"Anyway, you had a great idea," the Doctor continued, "He might have rented a flat here and bided away the past six months, coming up with whatever insane plan he's got."

"He better not hurt Jonny," Rose said fiercely, "If he's even harmed one hair on his head, I will kill him."

The Doctor looked at her, slightly taken aback at the level of venom coming from Rose. She'd been intense and almost frightening before but never this much. He reasoned it must be her maternal instinct. Someone was threatening her cub and she was furious. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of running feet. Jack and the team had arrived.

"OK, guys. Surround the perimeter. Keep aware and your comm.'s on. This is a mad man who won't hesitate to kill you if he thinks you're in his way."

Gwen, Owen, Tosh and Ianto nodded seriously, Ianto slightly more as he had more of an idea of what the Master was capable of, having been present when the Time Lord had attacked as Mr. Saxon. The team split up, leaving Jack with his best friends. "Doctor, here's a spare comm. so we can keep in touch," he told him.

"Thanks, Jack. Right, are we ready?"

Rose nodded, taking his hand.

"See you later. Good luck," Jack told them before they pushed open the door into the block of flats and stepped inside.

The final few rays of the fading sun left a bloody trail of light over the inside of the building but the Doctor and Rose still found they had to peer to be able to see.

"Where shall we start?" Rose asked, observing the neat white paintwork on the walls. It was obviously a more upper class block of flats than the Powell Estate had ever been. They even had posh looking lifts and Rose was willing to bet any money that they didn't smell of urine.

The Doctor didn't answer for a minute, too busy looking around like Rose had. "Top floor by the looks of it," he stated at last, "That's where the lift's at now."

Rose looked and, sure enough, the small lit dial above the elevator doors was on the uppermost number. "What if he took the stairs?" she asked, the thought suddenly striking her, "The lift could have been left by someone else returning home."

The Doctor paused for a moment. "Good point. Right, let's split up. One of us takes the stairs and works their way from the bottom and the other takes the lift to the top floor and starts there?"

"OK," Rose agreed, "Shall I do the stairs?"

"If you like," he shrugged.

"I will," she decided, "Keep your comm. on Doctor and let me know as soon as you find anything."

"Will do," he nodded, "You do the same."

She smiled before they each headed their separate ways.

The Doctor stepped out of the lift and studied the corridor that stretched out to either side of him. It was pretty much the same on both sides with a royal blue carpet covering the floor and pale walls, dotted with identical brown doors- the only difference being the numbers nailed into them. It was very quiet with only everyday household noises reaching the Doctor's ears, such as the blaring of a TV or a tap being run or conversation carrying on behind all the closed doors.

He walked the full length of the corridor a couple of times, searching for clues as to where the Master might be with Jonny. He didn't know whether to start knocking on doors and maybe asking people if they knew where a short, ginger man lived. He was about to knock on door 601 when he thought he heard the faint sound of a whimper coming from somewhere above him.

It was Jonny, he was sure of it. The Doctor glanced around the corridor until he spotted what he was looking for. Just to the side of the lift was a white door that had 'Roof' written on it in bold black letters. The door was slightly a-jar, only increasing the Doctor's certainty that his son was up there with the Master. He fully pulled open the door and took the stairs two at a time, his ears trained on the sound of the cries, which were getting more pronounced the further up he went.

Once at the top, he quietly pushed open the dirty white exterior door and stepped out into the damp, now dark evening.

"Very impressive," drawled a familiar voice.

The Doctor blinked the rain- which had been threatening all evening- out of his eyes and peered through the darkness. The Master was standing on the other side of the concrete covered roof, dangerously close to the sheer drop off the edge. Jonny was struggling in his arms, desperate to get to the Doctor as soon as he had spotted his father.

"Give me my son back," the Doctor said calmly, walking slowly towards his fellow Time Lord.

"Uh…no," the Master decided.

"Just put him down. You're frightening him!" he said angrily.

"Oh, put him down?" the Master mocked, before dangling Jonny off the edge of the building, "What, here?"

"No!" the Doctor shouted, in a panic. Jonny screamed in terror, desperately calling for his father.

"What?" the Master asked innocently, "His auntie's and uncle's from Torchwood will catch him below."

"Just leave him alone!" the Doctor exploded, "He's not done anything. This is between you and me, Master."

The Master grinned and shook his head. "No, it's far too much fun watching you sweat as I mess with your little boy."

"Give him back to me!" he roared.

"No," the Master smiled, his grip loosening on Jonny. "Whoopsy!" he cackled as he pretended to drop him, the insanity the Doctor suspected he'd acquired whilst in the Sphere really showing through.

The Doctor yelled and there came a scream from behind him. Rose had appeared on the rooftop after finishing her search of the lower floors and finding nothing. She charged forward, her face furious.

"You bastard!" she screamed, grabbing hold of Jonny, "Let him go!"

"Rose!" the Doctor cried, as he watched the pair struggle violently too close to the edge of the roof for his liking, "Watch out!"

He lunged forward and caught his arms around her waist as she slipped on the wet surface. At the same time, he secured Jonny with his other hand. "It's OK, Jonny. I've got you," he said calmly. He felt Rose move to safety behind him, keeping her hand on the back of his jacket. In the meantime, he locked eyes with the Master. "Just let him go, Master," he said quietly, "Then we can talk about this."

"I do not want to talk!" the Master spat, "I want to see you suffer as pay back for what you did to me!"

"What I did to you?" the Doctor asked, confused.

"You ruined my plans, made me regenerate into this god-forsaken body- I mean, ginger? Seriously? And on top of that, you forced me to live in a sphere for an age!" the Master roared, "I deserve pay back!"

"When are you going to learn, Master?" the Doctor asked, somewhat sadly, "All of that happened because you were doing evil yet again, so I had to stop you for the sake of this planet."

"One man's evil is another man's future, Doctor," the Master retorted.

"Not in your case," the Doctor replied, "Just stop this, Master. Stop the evil plans and we can live peacefully."

The Master stared at him before laughing. "You have gone domestic, Doctor," he sneered, "And in answer to your question… never!" He pulled at Jonny and a struggle between the two Time Lords ensued.

"Stop it!" Rose yelled, frightened, "You're going to fall!" She attempted to move forward, not quite sure what she was going to do but needing to do something. Her heart constricted as Jonny started crying, scared at what was going on around him and how he kept being pushed and pulled from safety to danger and back again. He wanted his mother and cried out her name, seeing Rose trying to get around the Doctor but not being able to.

Jonny's unhappiness made the Doctor angry as well. It was strange how he'd come to love this little boy in such a very short amount of time- it had barely been even an hour since he had fully accepted him as his son but here he was, fighting for his very own child. His anger gave him extra strength and he tore Jonny from the other Time Lord's grip, with a triumphant cry.

Seconds later, however, he gasped in disbelief as the Master tottered on the edge of the roof before slipping on the rain soaked roof.

"No!" he cried, dropping down and grabbing the falling Master's hand with his own, catching him just in time. He might not have liked him all that much but he didn't deserve to die like this. "I've got you," he told him calmly, "Don't let go."

The Master stared up at him, a peculiar emotion in his eyes. He wasn't afraid or even worried. Instead, the Doctor seemed to sense acceptance.

He was just about to hand Jonny over to Rose so he could pull the Master up to safety when his son began squirming in his grip, anxious to get to his mother, of whom he associated with safety.

"No, Jonny. Stay still!" the Doctor commanded urgently, "Rose, help!"

"Jonny, stay still, sweetheart," she said calmly, "Daddy needs you to be careful." She slowly reached over the Doctor's crouched body and scooped her son up in her arms, careful not to knock the Doctor before turning and starting to move further back away from the edge. But almost as soon as she turned her back to the two Time Lords, she heard a yell of shock and dismay. Spinning around in alarm, Rose witnessed the Doctor staring down the side of the building, his hand outstretched; his expression angry, shocked and hurt at what had happened.

"Doctor?" she asked quietly.

"He let go," he whispered, almost bewildered.

Rose returned to his side, leaving Jonny in a safe place away from the edge. Seven stories below, she could see the body of the Master lying awkwardly on the pavement. The Torchwood team were gathered around him, Owen bending down to check his pulse.

"Jack?" Rose asked into her comm., "Is he…?"

"Yeah," Jack replied heavily as Owen shook his head, "Rose, what happened up there? Did he slip?"

"Yeah," she confirmed, "The Doctor caught his hand but he let go…" She trailed off as something occurred to her. "Why isn't he regenerating?"

"He probably didn't want to," the Doctor said, having stood up slowly, "Time Lords can choose whether they want to regenerate sometimes. I think he'd given up."

"But why?" Rose asked, slipping her arms around his damp body comfortingly.

The Doctor smiled sadly at her. "I think because he'd found out how tough it is to be on your own now. I've got you and Jack and now Jonny. He didn't have anyone and refused my hand of friendship…"

She hugged him tightly, seeing the regret in his face.

"Maybe he didn't want to be evil anymore?" she suggested, "But maybe he knew he couldn't change his ways?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Who knows?"

"Mummy?" a small voice asked, "Daddy?"

They looked down and smiled at Jonny who was holding up his arms, his wet hair falling over his face, much like his father's did.

"Hello, mate," the Doctor said, picking him up and putting him between him and Rose, "Are you alright now?"

The little boy nodded, cuddling into his father. "I was frightened," he admitted, sticking his thumb into his mouth.

"Well, you're safe now," the Doctor replied, kissing his forehead. "I'll always protect you, Jonny," he vowed.

The boy nodded and Rose smiled happily before she wrapped her arms around them both.

Around her family.

One more chapter to go. Will be up as soon as uni work and watching all four series of Doctor Who allows it!

Review please. Constructive criticism is gladly received.