The Caretaker
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Chapter 3
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"Hurry, Doctor. We're running out of time," Jack said. They'd entered the control room through a hatch hidden ten feet up on the wall. After dropping down, the Doctor had immersed himself in the console controls and Jack had retrieved his Webley. The com crackled to life then and they heard the distinct sound of sobbing interspersed with moans of pain.
"Damn it, leave her alone!" the Doctor shouted. "You said twenty minutes!"
"You can make this end. You can make things right. We can save everyone!" the Caretaker begged.
The Doctor found himself wavering. The Caretaker had been a remarkable man in his own right. A man of life and peace, not death and destruction like himself. Maybe there was a chance he could save Gallifrey where the Doctor had failed...He would give anything to take it back; to be able to go home again...
Apparently he'd been silent too long, thinking. "Tell me what I need to know!" the Caretaker screamed. There was another scream in the background followed by great gulping breaths.
"Alright! I'll tell you! Just stop, please!" the Doctor said. "There was this moment..." There was the click of a gun cocking and the Doctor found himself looking down the barrel of Jack's Webley for the second time that week, effectively silencing him.
"Don't make me shoot you, Doctor. I'm sorry, but there's more at stake here and you know it," Jack said.
"Oh, Doctor," the Caretaker laughed, and in that moment the Doctor knew that whatever peace the Caretaker had carried in his soul had fled, replaced by insanity; just one more thing the Doctor had destroyed. "You fail to protect your pretty little woman and your only ally threatens to shoot you. Deal with him. We'll talk again in twenty." The com clicked off.
"Damn it, Jack, who knows what he's doing to her! I promised I'd take care of her," the Doctor said, gesturing angrily.
"I care about her too, but if you give him what he wants, everyone dies, including her!" Jack shot back as he uncocked his Webley and holstered it.
"Oh, you act like you care so much," the Doctor accused. "She's nothing to you. You were just hoping for a chance at a quick bang!"
"I'm going to forget you said that Doctor because I know you're upset," Jack said with deadly seriousness. "Now get to work on reversing whatever it is he did so we can go rescue Martha. I don't think he's waiting twenty minutes to hurt her."
The Doctor grimaced and pulled his hair. "That's the thing. I can't. He's integrated the filaments of his remote access conduit through the grid of the primary biofusion thermocore. If I remove it without unsyncing his wrist unit, it'll trigger an explosion."
"Think Doctor! Regaining control of the TARDIS can wait. We just need to pin down their location. Can you hack into the system somehow?" Jack prompted. "Pull up the current layout? Scan for life forms?"
"Oh, oh…Oh! Yes! No!" the Doctor argued with himself. The Doctor focused on Jack with a wild-eyed look. "I can get you to their location, but then it's all up to you. I won't be in any shape to help."
"Trust me, Doctor," Jack said. "I won't let her down."
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The Doctor left Jack standing at what used to be the entrance to the corridor but was now a featureless wall and made his way back into the TARDIS's inner workings. He wasn't even entirely sure the TARDIS would allow him what he had in mind. As he crawled through the tunnels, he spoke soothingly to her and explained what he wanted. The TARDIS was a living creature, but it was only semi-sentient. She did not think in human-ish ways, so he could only hope she understood enough not to blast him into his next regeneration.
He eventually found himself in a small spherical chamber with a glowing white orb suspended in the center. He squinted against the light and stepped forward cautiously. He gently placed his hands on the orb, closed his eyes, and then he was falling…into the mind of the TARDIS.
The Doctor supposed the TARDIS had understood his words, because she took him directly where he needed to go. There was no sight, but the Doctor's consciousness filled the room where Martha was held. He felt her pain, and he was angry. The Doctor reached for Jack and pulled…
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Martha looked around as the walls started to glow.
"What is this? What did you do?" the Caretaker demanded. He grabbed her by the neck and shook her.
'Why do they always have to go for the neck?' she wondered.
The room quaked…
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A path of light opened up before Jack. He did not hesitate. He ran down twisting corridors until he was suddenly brought up short by a dead end. A rumble went through the TARDIS. Jack banged on the glowing wall before him and yelled, "Doctor!"
The entire ship groaned and then the door popped back into existence. Jack kicked it down and burst through the doorway to see the Caretaker strangling Martha. Jack put one bullet through his shoulder and he tumbled over the side of the bed.
"Martha? You with me?" Jack asked, not taking his eyes or his aim off of the Caretaker. She did not answer but he saw her stand slowly and smooth out her skirt out of the corner of his eye. She limped over to stand behind Jack and looked down on the Caretaker as he writhed on the floor.
Martha put her hand on Jack's and he lowered his gun with a sigh. He was surprised but did not resist when she continued the motion and slipped the gun from his hand. With a drawn face, Martha put a bullet through each of the Caretaker's hearts. Then she dropped the gun, oblivious to the look on Jack's face, and stumbled from the room.
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The Doctor slipped to the ground, unconscious. The TARDIS sent him through secret channels and bore him gently to the control room.
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By the time Jack broke free of his shock, Martha was gone. Jack retrieved his Webley from the ground, removed the Caretaker's wrist unit and returned to the control room. There he found the Doctor, unconscious. After assuring himself that both the Doctor's hearts were beating, he sat against the wall and waited for him to awaken.
It seemed like hours, though maybe it was only a moment before the Doctor shook himself awake and sat up. Then it was nothing but questions delivered rapidfire.
"Did it work? Where's Martha? Is she ok? How bad is it? Where's the Caretaker? How long was I out?" the Doctor asked.
Jack felt weary and old. "Whatever you did worked. But the Caretaker's dead and Martha's gone," Jack answered.
"He...killed her?" the Doctor asked in shock.
"No! No, she left on her own two feet, but she's gone. Didn't say a word. Just left and holed up somewhere," Jack explained. He hesitated. "She killed the Caretaker. Shot him through both hearts."
The Doctor closed his eyes and let his head fall back.
"I hope you're not planning on lecturing her on the sanctity of life when we find her," Jack said harshly. "She's been through enough."
"My Martha's a healer. It would take a lot for her to think he deserved killing. We'd better find her," the Doctor said. "And we can't do that until I've set the TARDIS right." He heaved himself up and went about undoing the Caretaker's modifications. Once the TARDIS was more or less in a recognizable configuration, it didn't take them long to find their friend.
She didn't answer the door, but her bedroom was quite firmly locked. She did send a message through on the psychic paper, though, and it quite simply said: I just need some time.
The Doctor wanted to sonic her door open, but Jack stopped him. "She'll let us in when she's ready," was all he'd say.
"Best we get rid of that…thing before she comes out anyways," the Doctor said with a sigh. They wrapped the body in the blood-spattered bedding and tied it closed, then the Doctor took them into orbit around a sun and they sent the Caretaker into its blazing light.
"I remember when the Caretaker disappeared," the Doctor said as they watched the bundle soar toward the sun. "The nation went into mourning. I was just a kid, but I remember helping my family put up the white ribbons." He shook his head and looked at Jack. "He was a good man. A living symbol of peace."
"Yeah, until he went insane," Jack said.
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One week later…
The Doctor entered the kitchen and sat down heavily. Jack set a cup of tea in front of him and sat down with his own cup.
"Any word?" Jack asked.
The Doctor flipped open his psychic paper and shoved it across the table. It was blank for a moment and then the same old message, I just need some time, flickered briefly before disappearing.
Jack tapped it with a puzzled look. "What's wrong with it?"
"She's wavering," the Doctor said. "Either she's considering coming out, or she's considering never coming out again."
"That sounds…not good," Jack said. "Maybe we should sonic that door open after all."
"Finally," the Doctor said with relief. Both men jumped up from the table and rushed for the door, nearly bowling Martha over. They stopped short.
"Hi," she said quietly. She looked tired, but better. Her bruises, from both incidents, had all but faded.
"Tea?" the Doctor asked.
Martha smiled.
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Author's note: Poor Martha! I think she deserves a little vacation after all this, don't you? Luckily Jack knows just the spot. I've got ideas for a whole series of stories featuring the 10th Doctor, Martha, and Jack (my three favorite characters), so pay no attention to who's listed in the description. It's going to be the three of them for the foreseeable future.
Thanks to sadhappygirl and angnay for reviewing the last chapter.