Torchwood - Dark Stranger
Chapter five :
Gwen opened her eyes. Her vision was slightly blurred, and she guessed she must have a concussion or something. Through the haze she could see the Master still standing next to the fire, with a worried look on his face. He seemed to be concerned with a kind of intermittent whooping sound coming from everywhere at once. The noise was increasing by the second. Lifting her head, she saw Jack laid nearby, blood dripping from his forehead.
The Master left the room via the thick oak door as the floor shook. Reaching out her arm, she grabbed her gun and pointed it at Jack's head.
"Jack?" She asked.
Jack responded by opening his eyes and smiling at her. "It's alright." he whispered. "The Master was inside my head, as you said, but his attention seems to be elsewhere at the moment. Are you hurt?"
"I'm a little dizzy, but I'll live." She smiled back.
"Come on, let's kick a timelord's butt!" He laughed, jumping to his feet. The drips of blood from his forehead had all but disappeared.
Helping Gwen along, they crept quietly through the oak door and along the corridor towards the control room.
"Tosh!" cried Owen over the noise from within the TARDIS. "Come on!"
Tosh grabbed Ianto and dragged him towards the doorway, then a few metres across the pavement outside.
"Where's Jack and Gwen?"
"I don't know! I've not seen anyone since you did your disappearing act!"
"This stupid TARDIS thing spat me out onto the pavement!"
"Perhaps I can be of assistance?" came a voice from the doorway.
They both looked round to see a tall man standing just inside the doorway.
"What have you done to my TARDIS, you Neanderthal? I'll kill you!"
"I'll say what happens to my team!" snapped Jack behind the Master.
Spinning around, the Master raised his arm and stretched a hand out towards Jack's head. Jack dropped to his knees and held his temple as the pain threatened to tear his head in two.
Gwen raised her gun and fired two shots into the Masters chest. He stumbled back a second, but then took a deep breath and aimed his hand at her instead. Her brain felt as though it were inflating, ready to burst from her skull. She screamed, dropping to the floor.
Jack dug in his coat and pulled out a small box. Aiming it at the Master, he pressed a button on the device and an arc of electricity jump from his hand and hit the Master in the chest. He dropped like a stone, sprawled in the doorway.
Grabbing Gwen by the arm, Jack lifted her easily and carried her past the Master and through the doorway. Almost to safety, he was jerked backwards. Dropping Gwen and small device, he looked around to see the Master had hold of Gwen's leg.
"A cardiovascular shocker?" laughed the Master, picking up the device with his free hand. "Where did you get this? Pity for you they don't work on people with two hearts! They do work very well on humans though!"
He aimed the box at Jack and fired an arc of electricity at Jack. Jack braced himself against the blow, but was still knocked onto his back. As soon as he stopped falling he was climbing back to his feet, much to the amazement of the Master.
"What?" he said in bewilderment.
"They work on normal humans better!" laughed Jack. "Here's something that works on just about anyone." and with that he dived forward and punched him on the chin.
The Master fell backwards into the doorway, still holding on to Gwen's ankle as if it were a lifeline. Jack reached into his coat again and pulled out the remote control. The Master's eyes widened as he realised what Jack had in mind.
Pointing the box at the TARDIS, he pressed the largest button. The whooping noise grew louder and the TARDIS started to disappear, with the Master hanging halfway out of the door. His screams echoed off nearby buildings as his face faded away.
Jack helped Gwen to her feet. "Close shave, eh?" he said, nodding towards her feet. Gwen looked down. The heel and sole of her left boot had vanished.
They stood a moment looking at the charred square on the pavement where the TARDIS had stood.
"Jack," said Gwen quietly. "That stuff the Master said about helping you and closing the rift. Could he do any of it?"
Jack let out a sigh. "No idea." he shrugged. "But if he did close the rift, we'd be out of a job!"
Gwen smiled. "There's just one other thing I'd like to know. You wouldn't really have shot me in there, would you? Does finding the Doctor mean that much?"
Jack looked at her, and the single tear that welled in his eye told her his answer.
"Come on, we have work to do."
They got Ianto down to Owen's medical table and checked him over. Apart from the broken bones he was going to be fine. After a while he regained consciousness. He was more than a little surprised to find he had a beard.
"Anyone got a razor?" he asked in a feint voice.
Jack smiled. "Let me help you with that."
A few days later, early in the morning, a shadow walked up to the charred square on the pavement underneath a tall water feature in Cardiff bay. The figure paused a moment, looking at the ground, then slowly walked away to merge into the other shadows hugging the buildings.
The End.
To be continued in 'The Dark Companion'.