Chapter 17 – Stuff Happens
The Doctor remembered the exact route they came up, and where the police checkpoint was. He decided he wasn't going to brave it again and took an alternate route, hoping he could bypass under the cover of night to get back to Cardiff unnoticed.
He had actually been glad that Jack had insisted on staying with Leah. He didn't doubt the Master's integrity when it came to matters about Gallifrey; even he couldn't turn his back on what had happened, especially now he knew the truth. His pride was too strong. But knowing Jack was there with his little girl did make the Doctor feel more at ease. So he decided to put any worries about Leah out of his mind, and concentrate on what he had to do. He was going up against the greatest justice force in the Universe – it was no mean feat.
At 3am there was barely anyone around, and as he passed through yet more forest around Brecon Beacons he in fact hadn't seen anyone for miles. The radio was still buzzing with the story about him – he only had it on purely to see if they had any idea where he was... but they didn't. Just another 45 minutes and he would be home and dry.
But then he noticed a pair of headlights in the distance behind him. It could've been anyone, but he decided to play it safe. He took the next turning into yet deeper forest, checking his mirrors every step of the way.
He couldn't see anyone, so he pulled over to the side of the rough track and leant back against the seat, exhaling. He was uncharacteristically tense and jumpy. He needed to calm down.
He spent a few moments trying to do exactly that, resting against the head seat. It wasn't until he opened his eyes did something in the side mirror attract his attention, and as he stared he realised...
It was a pair of headlights.
He was being followed.
Jack and the Master sat in completely unbroken silence, watching each other across the room as if waiting for each other to make a move. Leah was fast asleep on the settee beside her Uncle Jack, who kept checking her to make sure she was okay.
"You don't have to sit here all the time," the Master began, staring at Jack.
Jack just stared at him with narrow eyes. "I think I will," he replied stoically.
"Oh, so little trust in this world," the Master said, blasé.
Jack continued to glare at him. "You even so much as touch Leah, I will kill you."
"What an empty threat," the Master said, sounding unimpressed. "The Doctor wouldn't be happy if you killed me."
"Well, if it's a choice between you and his daughter I think we know which one goes first," Jack said dryly. To his utter surprise, the Master burst out laughing, slapping a jolly hand on his knee. "What the hell are you laughing at?" Jack snapped.
"You know nothing about him, do you?" the Master stated more than asked, still laughing.
"I know that the bond he shares with Leah is stronger than anything you two have now," Jack replied dryly. "Maybe you were friends at one point but now your friendship is built on contempt. I don't know what reasons the Doctor gave you to help him but you actually agreed, which means you probably have an ulterior motive. He's trusted you with the most precious thing in the world to him – his daughter – and only a sick, twisted man would endanger the life of a two-year-old girl just for a petty feud."
"Oh, sick and twisted, two more personality traits to add to my CV," the Master said insincerely.
Jack continued to stare at him. "I don't know why the Doctor trusts you, but I don't."
"Oh!" the Master exclaimed, smiling from ear-to-ear. "This is about the Valiant torture thing, isn't it."
Jack didn't reply.
"Did you like it when he screamed?" the Master mocked.
Jack quickly looked down at Leah, but thankfully she was still asleep. "You're a sick bastard," he swore, starting to lose his temper, now. "You hurt Leah and I will put a bullet in you."
"You do realise I'll regenerate," the Master said smugly.
"And I've got six bullets. Let's see who runs out first."
For once, the Master looked slightly uncomfortable, and it was Jack's turn to smile.
The Doctor jumped to attention, getting into gear and releasing the handbrake, pulling off as quietly and as he could. He had the advantage of the black car in the pitch black night, but it was also very bulky. He was also not completely familiar with driving something not of Bessie proportions, which did hinder him somewhat.
He checked the headlights in the mirror, taking the first right, and then the next left in an attempt to lose them. He kept looking in the mirror for any sign of pursuit. It was still there. They were definitely following him.
He took another left, doubling back to where he'd entered the forest. He'd emerged onto a straight. He pushed on the accelerator, continuously glancing between the mirror and the road. Were they still following him? He couldn't see any headlights... He must've lost them.
He grinned and turned back to look at the road, just in time to see a deer caught in his headlights, standing in the middle of the road. He panicked, yanking the steering wheel left and trying to find the brakes, but in the confusion of an unfamiliar car he ended up slamming on the accelerator. The black SUV went spinning wildly around to the left before careering down a small hill into the trees, did a side flip and at 60 miles per hour and completely beyond control it smashed into a tree, and stopped dead with a horrific crunch of metal.
There was only silence.
The Master had gone upstairs thirty minutes ago, declaring that he was very bored. Jack could only say good riddance as he sat on the sofa with Leah still asleep, cuddling Bundy tightly. The TV was buzzing with some kind of late night film, and Jack was drifting into a light sleep...
Suddenly his phone went off. Jack jumped, startled before he came to his senses and reached for the phone. It was Martha.
He answered and lifted it to his ear. "How are you, Martha Jones?" Jack asked charismatically, grinning.
"BBC News 24," was all she said, and then hung up.
Jack blinked, surprised. All right, then. He leant forward for the remote and flicked through the channels until he got to BBC News 24.
BREAKING NEWS: Alien fugitive found the newsreel scrolled across the bottom.
Jack suddenly forgot how to breathe. He sat up, now fully awake and attentive as the gleeful looking news reporter broke the story.
"Police received a tip off as to the whereabouts of the alien fugitive, and a police spokesperson has said they are in pursuit. We can go live to the scene, Fiona, can you tell us what's happening?"
"Thanks John, I'm in a helicopter hovering above the location the alien is supposedly hiding. A suspicious black SUV was seen driving through this area, an undercover operation began, and we now can confirm it is indeed the fugitive alien..."
Jack broke his gaze away and quickly dialled for the phone he'd given the Doctor. It rung out.
"Come on, Doctor, come on!" Jack urged, and dialled again. It rung a few times before it stopped, there was some fumbling, and Jack could hear breathing.
"Doc? Doc!"
"What?" came a strained reply.
"Where are you?"
"Umm... in a tree."
"What?"
"I think I crashed..."
"You crashed my car?" Jack yelped, and then realised he had to get some perspective. "Okay, never mind, are you hurt? Can you get out?"
"Yes and yes," the Doctor replied. He really sounded out of it.
"Doc, you gotta move. You're on TV. They're homing in on you, get out of there."
"Okay," came a grunt of a reply. It was a few moments before Jack heard a huge groan of pain and gasps for air as the Doctor was obviously trying to move.
"Shit," Jack breathed down the phone. "That sounds bad."
"That was just getting the seatbelt off," the Doctor grunted back, and quickly followed that up with more pained groans before Jack heard a door open.
"You out?" he asked, diving for his bag and pulling out a laptop.
"Sort of," the Doctor replied.
"Hurry up, Doctor, they're surrounding you..." Jack said quickly, setting the laptop down on the table and booting it up.
"You know what, Harkness? One word. Airbags," the Doctor replied rudely, crying out again. Jack could hear the sirens in the background getting closer and closer. "Okay, I'm out."
"Head east," Jack instructed, staring at the TV screen of the helicopter hovering overhead. "It'll take you deeper into the forest."
"Okay," the Doctor said, and Jack listened to his heavy breathing and squeaks of pain he was fighting as he headed east. "Stay with me."
"Not going anywhere," Jack assured him, tapping at the laptop to try and get into the Torchwood database. "I'm just trying to track you, keep going."
He switched the mobile onto speaker phone, placing it on the table before resuming tapping away at the laptop as the story continued to unfold on the news.
"There have been no signs of the alien fugitive yet, but a police spokesperson informs us he has not left this section of forest..."
The laptop bleeped, signalling he was into the Torchwood database. He brought up the global scanner, switching to thermal and waiting for it to load.
"Jack," the Doctor gasped.
"I'm here, what's happened?" Jack asked, checking the TV again.
"I can't go east anymore, there's a road."
Jack's eyes scoured the helicopter's overview, trying to determine where the Doctor might be. "Where's the helicopter in relation to you?"
"North-east."
"You're fine," Jack replied. "There's more forest on the other side of the road. Just get across there as quick as you can."
"Got it," the Doctor replied.
The laptop beeped again, signalling it had loaded. Jack typed in the location and it snapped to the area, loading again.
"I've almost got your position, are you across the road, yet?"
"There's cars everywhere, Jack, I don't think I can."
"Stay undercover, I've almost found you," Jack said as the laptop loaded. He zoomed in, scouring the area until he found a large green and dark blue blob hovering at the side of a road. "I think I've got you," he said, and clicked to track the blob. "You're freezing."
"Never mind that," the Doctor breathed. "Where do I go?"
"I'm checking the area," Jack informed him, looking around the area for any red blobs that could be in seeing distance. There was a car driving up the road towards the Doctor, and when he looked at the TV screen he could see it coinciding with the helicopter's view, which was starting to move east.
"Hide," Jack urged. "There's a car coming from the south and the helicopter's coming straight towards you."
There was a pause before the Doctor replied. "I'm gonna go north."
"No, stay there," Jack urged, and glanced up at the TV. Then he realised why they were homing in on the Doctor.
"The downdraught and spotlight are gonna pick me out, I've got to move, Jack."
"They're using thermal scanning, Doc. I'm gonna try and scramble the signals. It'll take out the phone for about a minute, so I'll call you back."
"What direction do I go?"
"South, try to cross the east road. Keep going until I call you."
Jack hung up. The Doctor winced, holding his ribs and checking the area before struggling with a bloody leg through the undergrowth to the south. He heard the car coming from the south and with a wince he ducked for cover behind a log, watching a stream of powerful torchlight move over his head slowly, until the car passed by. He struggled to his feet, gasping in pain as silently as he could before starting south again, moving for a while until he was sure the car was gone.
He approached the east road, looking around for any signs of life but he seemed to be alone. He climbed onto the verge and moved as fast as he could across the road, and breathed a sigh of relief when he made it to the other side.
He could barely go on. His head was throbbing from the impact with Jack's reinforced car windows, he was pretty sure he'd cracked some ribs and he preferred not to look at his leg for fear of what he would find. But he couldn't stop, he had to keep moving. If they caught him, he was, for want of a better word, completely screwed.
He continued through the trees. Sirens had started and he could hear dogs barking, obviously here to track his scent. There were shouts and torchlight streaming through the trees, trying to pick him out. He kept going, pushing himself on.
The phone started vibrating again. He brought it out and pressed it to his ear.
"Jack," he grated. "Help me."
"I've scrambled their signals, they've lost their tech," Jack said quickly. "Chances are they don't know where you are. Keep going east, Doc."
"Okay," the Doctor replied, and Jack heard him continue through the undergrowth.
"Uncle Jack?" a voice suddenly said from the sofa. Jack looked at Leah sitting up, staring at him. She could probably not have timed that worse.
"What is it?" Jack asked, eyes flickering from her to the thermal scanner.
"I'm thirsty."
Jack glanced at the thermal scanner again, and then the TV. "The kitchen's right across the hall," he said.
She nodded, before blinking and rubbing her eyes. "Where's Uncle Harry?"
"Upstairs," he answered quickly, checking the thermal. The police were taking a chance, closing in on the section of forest the Doctor was struggling through... If he kept going he was going to run straight into them. "I'm a bit busy so can you be a big girl and get it yourself?"
"Okay," Leah replied, and toddled off through the hallway into the kitchen.
Jack jumped back to the phone. "Doctor, stop! Go north-east! You're heading straight for them."
"Thanks for the warning," the Doctor grunted.
"Leah wanted a drink."
"Is she still up?" the Doctor suddenly yelped, and the blue and green thermal blob of the Doctor instantly stopped moving. "It's 3am!"
"Doctor, perspective!" Jack urged, and the blob started moving again.
"Sorry," the Doctor said.
"Keep going, you're almost out," Jack said, and panned the screen right... Then he stopped. "Wait! No! Turn back! There's one right in front of you!"
The blue-green blob of the Doctor turned 180° and started back west, straight towards where all the police were waiting, surrounding him... But that wasn't the reason Jack was panicking. The red blob to the east that the Doctor had almost run into starting moving towards the Doctor.
"Shit, he's seen you, Doc."
"Where do I go?"
Jack scanned the thermal area, then checked the TV. The Doctor was almost completely surrounded, and they were closing in, hunters to the meat.
"They're surrounding you, Doc, you gotta lose this guy and double back east..."
Jack could hear the Doctor's strained gasps for air as he continued west, and then suddenly switched to go north. The red blob was moving faster than the Doctor, closing the gap...
"Doctor!" Jack yelled. "You've gotta run faster!"
"I can't," the Doctor gasped.
Jack panicked, realising that the Doctor had been injured in the crash... "Doctor, I know it hurts but please, please run faster..."
The blue blob of the Doctor increased its speed, but the red blob was still closing. He heard a shot over the phone and through the TV combined.
"We are in pursuit of the fugitive, an operative has him in their sights!" the man on the TV said in delight.
"Doctor!" Jack yelled, feeling utterly helpless, his heart thumping so hard in his chest it felt like it were about to break his ribs. "You've got to do something and do it now!"
Seconds later there was another shot. The blue blob stopped in its tracks, before it suddenly started moving again to the accompanying sound scuffling on the phone. The blob of the Doctor stopped moving altogether, and the phone connection went completely dead.
"No," Jack breathed, his eyes wide in disbelief at what he thought had just happened... He dived for the phone, hanging up and redialling...
"The phone you are calling may have been switched off. Please try later."
He swallowed, looking at the television news report.
"The fugitive has been stopped, first descriptions would describe as a bullet to the head..."
He couldn't stop the tears, then. He cried shamelessly for his best friend, heaving great sobs.
"Uncle Jack?" a small voice came from the doorway, Jack turned to see Leah standing there, holding her cup of milk. "Why are you crying?"
Jack completely froze for a moment before he had the sense to reach for the remote, and put the TV on standby. He gazed at the girl, the image of her Father, wondering what the hell he was supposed to do now.
"Oh Leah," he breathed, hand over his mouth. What should he tell her? Her Father was probably dead. He was never, ever going to come back to her... "No reason," he finally forced himself to reply. "No reason at all. Go back to sleep, Leah."
She nodded, going back to her made up bed on the sofa, climbing under the blanket and curling up.
Jack felt completely dead inside as he stared at her, so oblivious. He wanted to cry some more but what good would that do?
Suddenly there was a knock at the door, and the Master came bounding down the stairs to at a time, a happy grin across his face. "Mine!" he yelled, and pulled open the door. Jack couldn't see who it was, not that he cared right now. The Doctor had been shot in the head. He didn't know what to do...
"Yes, she's right there," came the Master's voice, and Jack looked up to see the Master pointing at Leah... and several Judoon entered the house.
"Uncle Jack!" Leah wailed.
"No! Stop!" Jack yelled, already going for his gun, but before he even had the chance to pull it out the Master already had a gun in his hand, and he shot Jack straight through the head.
He fell to the floor, dead.
A/N: Stuff did indeed happen.
I love car accidents and chases. I must do it more often :o