Chapter 26 – Execution Day Part 2
Theta knew it was over. They were completely surrounded at gunpoint, Koschei was lying bleeding on the floor and Leah was crying her eyes out as she clung desperately onto her Mum and Bundy in equal measure. Rose held her close, glancing between the two Time Lords... and by the defeat in her husband's face, she knew it was over too.
Theta dropped the gun he was holding lamely onto the floor, raising his head to look at them.
Time to do what he did best.
"Well," he began, fighting the pain shooting right through him. "Looks like you caught us good and proper. That was a fun escape attempt. We should do this again sometime. But maybe you should consider..."
Then he noticed Leah walking past him, holding Bundy and sucking her thumb. He moved to stop her but his quick movement made the Judoon focus their guns on him. He froze on the spot, his eyes wide, glancing between the advancing Leah and the armed Judoon...
"Leah," he whispered. "Come back."
She ignored him as she reached the Judoon, looking up at them and smiling through teary eyes.
"This is a present from Uncle Koschei," she said, holding out Bundy to the front Judoon, who took it, confused. Leah calmly turned back and walked to her father, hiding behind his leg.
Then Bundy exploded.
A plume of stuffing burst out in all directions with the explosive device concealed inside the previously quite docile teddy bear. The Judoon collectively shrieked, their guns dropping harmlessly to the floor as they fell to their knees...
It took Theta a moment to realise what had happened, but then he burst into action. "Let's go!" he yelled, moving to take Koschei but Rose took him first, knowing the Doctor wouldn't be able to carry Koschei's weight in his state. Not that being pregnant was much better.
"You get Leah!" she yelled at him as she dragged Koschei through the crowd of stunned Judoon and out the door. Theta took Leah's hand and led her as quickly as he could through the crowd – who were beginning to right themselves.
They made it out the door, following Rose to the lift. She stabbed a random button just metres before he and Leah reached the lift as the Judoon spilled out of the room behind them; trigger happy. Just as Theta and Leah slipped through the doors they slammed closed, and the lift began to move up.
"What floor?" Rose breathed.
"TARDIS," Theta gasped, doubled over and clutching at his side as he tried desperately not to pass out. "Don't know..."
"Thete," a voice suddenly croaked from below, and to the other Time Lord's utter surprise, Koschei had opened his eyes just a crack. "Floor 479. Storage."
Rose obediently tapped in for floor 479, just as Theta lost the remaining strength in his already battered legs and fell to his knees beside Koschei.
"Koschei," he whispered, cupping his friend's fast paling face. "Koschei, please, please don't regenerate. Just hold on. I'll save you, okay? I'll save you, Koschei."
Koschei managed a pained grin. "Fat chance, Thete, you useless Plungboll," he gasped.
Theta smiled in return, but he felt like crying.
"Keep yourself, your wife and kids safe, all right?" Koschei croaked. "I'm lowest on your priorities."
Theta swallowed, but had to concede. "Exploding bear. Thanks."
"Thank your daughter. She managed to read my cruddy writing," Koschei gasped. "I can't stay awake, Thete. Do me proud." Then Koschei promptly closed his eyes, passing out.
The Doctor looked at Leah, standing there with her eyes still wet from tears. He beckoned her into a tight hug, and then gestured for Rose to join in.
"I thought I'd never see you again," he whispered to them both. "How long was it?"
"Two months," Rose replied, kissing him.
"I missed you," Leah said quietly.
The Doctor kissed her forehead. "I missed you too. I'm so proud of you, you beautiful thing," he whispered. "I'm sorry I missed your birthday and I'm sorry about Bundy. I'll make it up to you, I promise."
She gave a watery smile back, hugging him as he looked at Rose.
"Rose, I love you, you gave me something to cling onto, and... Wait, you're not supposed to be that big," he realised, looking at her belly.
She fobbed it off. "Later. God, I missed you so much," she whispered, kissing him softly and stroking the side of his furry face. He was hugely pale, his face gaunt with old dry blood seemingly everywhere. He was even bonier than before, his clothes ripped and blooded, cuts and bruises all over his skin. She could feel parts of her tingling – he'd broken a few things. It was a miracle he was still conscious, let alone leading an escape. "You look like hell."
"Feel like it, too," the Doctor replied quietly.
"Me and Leah'll look after you when we get back, right Leah?" she said to the girl, smiling as best she could. Leah nodded wordlessly, and kept holding onto him.
"Is he okay?" the Doctor asked with a frown, looking at Rose's belly.
She nodded. "I think he's trying to kick his way out," she said, laughing.
He reached forward and pressed a hand to the bump, looking up at her with a pained smile before kissing her again. He couldn't get enough; she tasted amazing – their time apart only making her sweeter. She also seemed to give him strength from her kiss alone, washing tides of energy over his dehydrated, underfed, weak and pained body.
Then the lift started slowing down. Rose noticed this, breaking apart from him and getting up, before helping him to his feet. Leah remained by his side, pressing her hands to his leg in an attempt to support him as he clutched his side. Rose took Koschei again and braced herself for a quick escape.
The doors slid open to reveal a gathering of Judoon, all with their guns out, and one woman in a black dress.
"... Sorry, wrong floor," Theta said quickly, making to the panel of buttons.
"Come out of the lift," the woman commanded, slightly ominously. Rose glanced at her husband nervously who looked back at her, and nodded.
He took Leah's hand, walking her out into the large storage floor. He could see the TARDIS behind the group. Rose dragged out Koschei carefully, checking his pulse in the process. He was still going – holding on.
"We'll be leaving now," Theta said sharply.
"We cannot let you go," the woman replied.
"I don't care what you can and can't do," Theta grated. "That man lying on the floor is dying, and you did it!"
"He is not important," the woman said coldly.
"Not important?" Theta was absolutely aghast, pointing at the body. "This is genocide!"
The woman stared at him inquisitively for a moment, and then laughed. "You are still alive, are you not?"
"I'm not his species."
The women stopped laughing, and frowned. "I'm sorry?"
"He is a pure-blood Gallifreyan, I am not."
The woman stared at him. "What..."
"My mother was a human. I am a new species," he said simply, lowly. "And my daughter is quarter Gallifreyan, three-quarters human. She's a new species too. Kill any of us, and it's genocide. And you've just shot the last pure-blood Gallifreyan."
The woman's jaw was agape. "Medics!" she called, staring at Koschei in absolute horror.
"No," Theta grated. "I am going to take him back to Earth to heal him. And you are going to leave him, me and my family in peace. I don't need your protection, I don't need your articles, and I don't need you!"
The woman was left speechless as Theta made to move through them with Leah to the TARDIS, beckoning Rose to follow.
"You're forgetting one thing," the woman suddenly said. Theta stopped, staring at her. "We may not be able to kill you, but your wife is a human and therefore expendable."
Rose shrank back in fear. Theta just stared at the woman in disbelief. He let go of Leah's hand and moved towards the woman until he was mere inches away, the Judoon quickly trailing their guns on him.
"Go on then," Theta spat blood in her face. "Try it!"
She didn't move. Didn't even dare to breath. Several seconds passed, Theta's expression unchanging.
"I don't know why you've targeted me and my family like this," he said in a low, threatening voice. "But if you threaten me or any of my friends or family ever again then I won't rest until every tiny little reference to the Shadow Proclamation is wiped out of the history and the future of the Universe. Got it?"
She didn't move a muscle.
Theta didn't break his gaze. "Come on, Leah."
He stretched out his hand. The girl obediently ran to his side and took it as he beckoned Rose with his other hand.
"Get out of our way," Theta grated.
The Judoon looked at the woman, waiting for an order. There was a momentary pause, before her nostrils flared, and she stepped aside to let them pass.
Five days had passed on Earth since the Doctor and Jack had left to take Leah to the Master. In that time the Earth had been buzzing with the story of the alien fugitive; various government officials and scientists talking about the possibility of invasion and Planet Earth's future with aliens – as if they had a clue.
Martha had been interested in it for a while, but now it was just background noise. She and Torchwood were currently in overdrive of trying to cover up any mention or indeed memory of anyone who had encountered the Doctor – even though they had no idea if he was still alive.
After the Doctor, Jack and Leah had left for Daufor five days ago, the commotion had started. To begin with the Judoon had crashed straight through the Torchwood door in search of the Doctor, but had eventually left with nothing. Then Torchwood had unblinkingly watched the Doctor on TV seemingly get gunned down in a forest in Brecon Beacons – but the fact the police had not found the body gave them some hope.
Not long after that the Master had arrived in Torchwood, complete with Jack's phone, gun and TARDIS key. He'd threatened them, then taken the TARDIS with no hint as to his destination. She, Mickey, Gwen and Ianto very quickly realised that meant that Jack was still in Daufor, and they drove straight to the Master's house where they found a very annoyed Jack locked in the basement, and utterly no evidence of the Doctor or Leah. Jack had explained that he was almost certain the Doctor had been shot and that he might have regenerated, and that Leah had been taken by the Shadow Proclamation.
But there was really nothing they could do. Martha had tried phoning the Doctor, but it seemed forever switched off. So instead Torchwood worked on trying to cover his tracks, to protect him from angry alien-hating mobs if... when he returned.
Not to mention the rift activity had gone haywire since the Doctor had refuelled. All manners of alien and Earth creatures and objects were dropping around Cardiff – even a cow had dropped from the sky next to the entrance of a restaurant, and consequently hit three very shocked people. Torchwood had had beef sandwiches for lunch that day. Nothing to do with the cow.
Martha was in the Torchwood autopsy room checking equipment when she heard it. There was absolutely no mistaking it. It was the churning of the TARDIS. She almost shrieked in delight, pulling off her gloves and running up the stairs into the main Hub where the familiar blue box was fading into existence.
Jack suddenly joined her, pulling out his gun and aiming it straight at the TARDIS door.
Martha looked at him with wide eyes. "Jack! What are you doing?"
"That could be the Master!" Jack pointed out in an urgent hiss as Gwen and Mickey joined him, pulling out their own guns.
But when the door finally opened, truly none of them was expecting to see who came next.
The Doctor appeared, plainly very badly injured. His hair was long and matted, a straggly beard growing on his chin with his clothes ripped and torn, dried blood and new blood everywhere. He was bruised, cut and battered, one of his eyes swollen, his body even thinner than usual coupled with a pale, gaunt face. He was dragging a body behind him, which was leaving a trail of blood all over the floor – the Master.
The group stared as Martha's hand clamped to her mouth in utter horror at the sight of him. "You..."
"Never mind me!" the Doctor gasped, managing to drag the Master a little further before he had to let go, falling back onto the floor. "Save him!"
"What happened?" she asked in an alarmed yelp as she ran to the Master to examine the damage, Mickey already running off to get a stretcher.
"Shot in the back," he wheezed, barely able to stay up straight. "Please, please, Martha... You have to save him, save Koschei..."
He didn't even hear her reply as he groaned and finally slipped to the floor, out cold.