[A/N: Thanks again for the reviews. Its nice to hear that there is other Chameleon Circuit fans on here! I've been ill the last two days, so its given me a chance to kick back in bed with my laptop and get some more writing done.]
The companions, sat huddled together in a less than comforting embrace, but each tried to be strong for the other, but most of all for the still passed out Time Lord on the floor.
The buzzing had stopped. Whether that was a good sign or bad, they could only guess. Perhaps the Daleks had simply conjured up a different plan of attack? They tried not to think about it. Every now and then they'd get a murmur from The Doctor, but it was a long time before he ever awoke.
The Doctor's eyes had opened slowly and he had to blink a few times. Clearly, he was groggy. Nevertheless, Rory began to relay for The Doctor what had happened, in attempt to rouse his mind back to the present. He was just getting to the part with the needle, when The Doctor spoke.
"Morphine?", he asked with a small smile. "You've given me morphine."
"Yes", confirmed Rory. "Is that alright? Can you have morphine? I didn't know-"
"It's fine. Just itches", said The Doctor, calmly. But then he furrowed his brow. "I need to sit up", he decided.
Both companions supported The Doctor so that he was in a sitting position. He looked down and smiled. "Still got legs", he said. The three travellers shared a brief moment of laughter, before The Doctor's face pulled into a deep frown.
"What is it?" Amy prodded.
"The Master", said The Doctor, as if he was just reregistering that fact now.
"The man who was frozen", guessed Rory. The Doctor nodded.
"Is he really a Time Lord?" Rory asked. The Doctor nodded again.
"I thought you were the only one left", said Amy, confused.
"So did I", he breathed. Amy had immediately recognized some very intense connection between her Doctor and the man in that cell. What with the way The Doctor had looked, when The Master had been killed and all.
"So, what? Are you two like space boyfriends or something?" Amy teased. The Doctor forced a smile and sucked in his lips, then let his face drop.
"Back on Gallifrey we were both at the Time Lord Academy together. We were once friends. Then he was driven mad by our own people's means. For a long time I didn't even understand how. The boy, who had once been my close friend, became my sworn enemy and I found myself protecting entire races from his fury. He comes back though. He always does and each time it seems I can change him, bring him back to how he used to be. I always fail though. And I've failed him again." The Doctor looked as though he might burst into tears. Rory looked away as Amy wrapped her arms tight around the Time Lord, rocking him gently as deep breaths wracked through him, his whole body trembling.
Rory always felt awkward when The Doctor lost his cool. He left the comforting to Amy and took this time to think. There were a number of thoughts buzzing around in his brain. However he waited for The Doctor to calm, before sharing any of them.
Sure enough, The Doctor took one final deep breath, composing himself. Gently he removed Amy's arms from around him.
"If The Master is a Time Lord, he can regenerate can't he?" Rory asked. The Doctor smiled at his companion's concluding but then explained that the freezing had left The Master's body in a stasis and halted any regeneration for now.
"And that's why we're going to go get him and unfreeze him. I refuse to fail him one more time." The Doctor stood up. He'd ripped the IV clean out of his vein, but shrugged it off.
"Doctor, wait", began Rory. "Is this even safe? For your friend –I mean. You're infectious to people with two hearts."
"Ah, but here's the good bit Rory. Time Lords have one up on Apalapucians. Although I contracted Chen7 when it was airborne, my personal physiology can keep it contained within me. The Master will be safe. Whereas me- Well, I'm still dying".
The companions watched, with unsure expressions as they watched the ill Time Lord pilot and land his ship, with his more than his usual clumsiness. The TARDIS jolted roughly when it came into landing and The Doctor looked quite out of breath and sore once again. Despite this, he pulled his scanner across and brought up the outside image. They had in fact landed in The Master's cell. The Doctor started over to the doors, with a great sense of urgency. However, he didn't get far before he had completely toppled over sideways. The Ponds didn't even have time to catch him and simply had to watch as both his long legs tangled up together and his skull collided roughly against the railing.
The Ponds rushed to his aid, but Rory jumped back in time to escape being thrown up on. The Doctor heaved long violent breaths between each gag, as The Doctor emptied the entire contents of his stomach over the glass floor of his TARDIS.
"Could be the morphine", concluded Rory, as Amy rubbed gentle circles on The Doctor's back. Rory then focused his attention to the spot where The Doctor had knocked his head. He was relieved to find there was no blood or cause for stitches. However, there was already a significant lump forming.
"This needs to be iced, to relieve the swelling", informed Rory. "Doctor, where can I find an ice pack or something?"
"Mmmm", was all the reply Rory received. It seemed The Doctor was rather incapacitated right now.
"Stay with him Amy", ordered Rory and then took it upon his own doing to reach inside The Doctor's jacket pocket and produce the sonic. Leaving his wife and the Time Lord in the TARDIS, he went out through the blue doors.
Rory kept a poker face as he emerged into a suddenly below freezing temperature. Ignoring the sharp chilling stings which attacked his body, he tugged frantically at a nearby hunk of ice. When this proved unsuccessful, he held up the sonic screwdriver and then bashed it against the rock solid lump. This act formed a slight crack and he repeated the action at the week point until an fist-sized lump broke off. Rory then removed his jacket and shirt. He wrapped the shirt around the ice and swiftly tugged his jacket on, shivering intensely, as he went back into the TARDIS. He placed the bundle into Amy's hand, took her wrist in his hand, moving hers, so she was pressing the ice to The Doctor's abrasion. The Doctor sighed as the coolness came into contact. Gently, he kissed Amy's knuckles. Then Rory was gone again, back into the freezing cold. The companion was soon kneeling down and using the borrowed screwdriver to unlock the shackles around the ankles of the frozen body, then did the same with the ones locked around the wrists. The body was stiff and added to the painful cold Rory already felt. Hooking his arms under each one of The Master's shoulders, Rory tugged the body into the TARDIS.
By the time he'd gotten into the TARDIS, Rory was shivering so frantically he collapsed to the floor and had keenly gotten rid of the frozen body from his arms. He scowled at the burning pain from the rapid temperature change and huddled himself, gnawing and sucking on his own hands. Amy put the make shift ice pack down and hurried to fetch some blankets. She put one over Rory's shoulders and wrapped the rest around the ice cold body on the floor.