A/N: Not sure if this is the last update before Christmas, so if it is, Merry Christmas and all that jazz :D
Chapter 13 – Master Jack
Leah took a few deep, steely breaths, took an aerosol can out of her backpack along with a torch and slipped through the gaps in the rocks.
She could still hear the screams of the poor people taken underground by the spiders, somewhat muffled by the dirt. In amongst them she knew was her terrified little brother. If he struggled, if they bit him, he would die.
The thought propelled her to move up the tunnel, taking small, silent steps. Quite soon she heard a scuttling sound – a spider was heading straight towards her. She forced herself to stand her ground, the aerosol can clutched in her sweaty hand.
'C'mon, c'mon, c'mon,' she muttered to herself, poised.
The spider came around the corner. Leah flashed up the torch, the beam of light cutting through the darkness straight onto the creature. The spider seemed to pause, and then launched straight at her.
Leah raised the aerosol can and pressed down. The Rastinate sprayed out of the end in a powerful arc, landing directly on the spider.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then just as Leah thought it was going to grab her, the spider emitted a high-pitched squeak and stopped, its legs curling in on itself. Then there was only the sound of the distant screams. Leah forced herself to move forward, experimentally poking the spider with her foot. It didn't move.
It was dead. The Rastinate worked.
She finally breathed, taking a few moments to steady her racing hearts before another scream jolted her back to reality. Giving the spider a wide berth, she edged around the tunnel, almost not noticing the small silver glint on the floor. The sonic screwdriver, she realised. Her hearts raced as she dived to take it, where it slotted neatly back into her right hand.
With a renewed confidence, she straightened up and continued to the nest.
Jack was in the communal area with Spleen when he saw the Doctor in the middle of the social interaction hour. Jack was a bit astonished. He was a mile away from the man he'd helped that morning, seemingly alert and poised.
For a moment, Jack wasn't sure whether to approach him. But after a few seconds the Doctor looked over at him, and nodded. Jack nodded in return. It was time to get to Sirrus.
'There he is!' Jack exclaimed to Spleen, who looked up with mild interest. He saw the Doctor across the room, who was pretending not to have noticed them. 'Time to go,' he said, beckoning Spleen as he moved straight to the Doctor.
As they approached, the Doctor turned, looking at him and Spleen as if noticing them for the first time. 'Master Jack,' he acknowledged. 'I'm so glad you're safe.'
'I want out. You got an escape plan yet?'
'Yes, Master Jack. Who is this?' he pointed at Spleen.
'Never mind who the fuck he is, he's coming with us,' Jack snapped back, catching a glance of Spleen standing there, utterly mesmerised. The Doctor stayed still for a moment, looking confused. Jack immediately launched forward, grabbing the Time Lord's chin with his left hand and pulling back a threatening fist. The Follow-Me bot emitted a quiet warning beep.
'Are you forgetting who saved you? Don't question me, you little shit,' Jack spat in his face.
The Doctor nodded hastily. 'I'm sorry, Master Jack.'
'That's better,' Jack approved, pulling back.
'This is fulakin' crazy,' Spleen whispered, still transfixed.
'Now get me the fuck out of here, I'm done with it,' Jack said, ignoring Spleen.
'Yes, Master Jack,' the Doctor replied. 'We can go tonight.'
'Where do you need me to be?'
'In your cell,' the Doctor replied. 'I'll find you.'
After Jack and Spleen had reached the door, the Doctor began to head back to his cell.
'Okay?' he asked Rose.
This is so insane. I thought he was gonna punch you.
'He might have to,' the Doctor told her, trying to ignore the people staring at him. He was acutely aware that four weeks had allowed word to get around New Shada about the Time Lord's presence and what he looked like. A lot of the inmates were now pointing at him and whispering.
Um, what?
'If Spleen starts thinking I'm more than Jack's slave, he's going to have to hit me.'
Well tell him for every time he hits you I'm gonna slap him twice as hard, yeah?
The Doctor smiled. 'Thanks,' he said, passing into the corridor back to the cells.
Why are you even his slave?
'Because Spleen will suspect because I'm Time Lord, I'm going to be tricking him. He has to believe Jack is controlling me fully for his own gain.'
Suddenly he realised that he was being tailed by the Jarxons. He internally sighed and deftly tried to lose them, taking winding routes and doubling back on himself. But he was savagely outnumbered seven to one. Any route he took they covered.
Eventually he ended up going back to the communal area where there were more cameras and droids, but quickly realised that he was being closed in on all sides by the other inmates. Quite soon he found himself standing in the middle of the corridor, surrounded on both sides by lots of people. This had clearly been planned. While he'd been busy with his own escape, clearly the rest of the inmates had been making their own plans.
Oh my god. Run.
'Nowhere to go,' the Doctor muttered, his eyes flashing back and forth. He was completely surrounded. His Follow-Me was trapped outside the circle. He had to stand his ground. 'Come on, then,' the Doctor said loudly to the crowd. 'What's the plan? Going to beat me up?'
Out stepped an zagron, heading towards him. The Doctor's Follow-Me bot made a noise, seemly anticipating what was about to happen.
'You're a Time Lord,' the zagron stated.
'That's me, I'm the Doctor,' the Time Lord confirmed, resorting to his usual confidence. 'What's your name?'
'I am G'nahid of Buak,' G'nahid replied snidely. 'Remember me?'
'Pardon?'
'You slaughtered most of my planet in your stupid pathetic Time War,' G'nahid spat. 'Just because a Dalek ship flew past us. You destroyed my people!'
'That wasn't me,' the Doctor replied honestly. 'I didn't have any part in that.'
'It was your race!' G'nahid snapped.
'It had nothing to do with me.'
'You caused my husband to die,' another voice suddenly said from behind him. He turned to see an angry female Ogron. 'You came to Braah, it was you.'
'Who was your husband?' the Doctor asked, bewildered.
'Gnyroe!'
The Doctor gazed at her. 'He was extorting the ogrons for money to fund his…' He paused. 'Wait, he didn't die. He was arrested.'
'Tried and executed!' the female ogron spat.
The Doctor's eyes widened. 'Executed? But…'
'You got my parents killed!' a young hezzan yelled. 'I was orphaned and had no one to help!'
'I…' the Doctor began, but his protests were suddenly lost in amongst the chorus of people now screaming out what he or his species had done to them.
'You killed my son!'
'You destroyed my life!'
'You made me kill him!'
Oh my god. They hate you.
The yelling only ceased when suddenly the crowd parted, and through emerged the lead Jarxon. 'I say we show him what it's like to be a victim,' it hissed.
There was a chorus of affirmations from the gathered crowd.
Run!
The Doctor spun on his heels, looking among the crowd for any escape route. There was none. So he bolted, running to the least-densely populated part of the crowd.
It didn't take much effort on their part to stop him, turning him back to face the Jarxon, holding his arms firmly in restraint. The Jarxon and its group were still heading towards him at a steady pace, all of them looking ready to kill.
The Doctor took a deep breath, and braced himself for pain.
'Hey!'
Oh, thank god!
'Master Jack!' the Doctor called, looking up desperately to try and find him. He could see Jack shoving his way through the crowd, alarmed at the situation the Doctor was in. He finally reached the Doctor, pulling him away from the hands that held him, shoving him against the wall and standing in front of him.
'This Time Lord is mine, he's my slave,' Jack snapped at the Jarxon and the crowd. 'Back the hell off.'
'How can a human possibly own a Time Lord?' the Jarxon laughed, the crowd with him. 'He's property of the Jarxons now. Step aside, human.'
'Sorry, you must've misheard me. I said back the hell off,' Jack grated.
The Jarxon laughed. A wheezy, deep laugh. 'You're asking to die, human.'
Jack rested a hand on the Doctor's shoulder, squeezing it. 'Well, if you wanna play it that way…' He looked at the Time Lord, and nodded to the Jarxon. 'Kill him.'
What!?
The Doctor stared at him, alarmed. For moment he did nothing, so Jack raised a hand and slapped him fully across the face.
Rose shrieked inside the Doctor's head as he recoiled, crying out. Jack looked at him, his eyes narrowed and on fire.
'Kill. Him,' he grated.
The Doctor pressed a hand to his lip. Jack had split it. Was he serious?
'Yes, Master Jack,' was all he could croaked as he abruptly realised he had no choice. Glancing at Jack, he stepped forward to the Jarxon, and took a fighting stance.
The Jarxon laughed. 'He's going to fight me.'
'Yes, he is,' Jack affirmed.
'You can't be serious, human.'
'Completely,' Jack said coolly. 'Show 'em, Doctor.'
The Doctor didn't reply. He was wondering if Jack had gone insane, or there was some sort of backup plan he wasn't aware of. But it quickly became apparent as the Jarxon stepped forward, that he was going to have to follow through with this.
The Jarxon threw a fist as the crowd began to chant for the Time Lord's death. The Doctor parried with eased, grabbing the Jarxon's arm and twisting it – immobilising him – placing a sharp kick to the back of the Jarxon's leg. The Jarxon fell to his knees, its right arm held straight behind his back by the Time Lord.
The Jarxon shrieked, infuriated. 'Kill him!' he cried, and suddenly the Doctor was aware of someone moving up behind him. He turned to defend himself, just in time to receive what felt like a sledgehammer in his ribs as he was sent flying into the wall.
'Doctor!' Jack cried as the Doctor slid down the wall to come to a heaped mess of limbs at the bottom, winded.
Get up, get up!
Another Jarxon was approaching him. He impulsively did a sweeping kick, catching the Jarxon's legs and sending him to the ground. But as soon as the Doctor was upright, three more were already holding him as the crowd cheered uproariously.
One of the Jarxon's placed its fingers on his head. He struggled, but he couldn't move.
No, no, no!
'Stop or I'll kill him!'
The Doctor looked up to see Jack was standing over the lead Jarxon, his hands around the alien's head, ready to snap his neck. The Jarxons holding the Doctor hesitated, but only for a moment. The one holding his hand clearly decided having the Time Lord was the more important thing.
With one swift movement, the lead Jarxon's neck broke in Jack's hands.
Then, silence, from absolutely everyone in the vicinity. Until the alarms began.
'Stay where you are or suffer punishment!' an angry voice scream from over heard, but no one was paying attention. Immediately there was utter chaos as everyone ran in different directions – some to the communal room, others to their cells, and everyone in-between immediately crushed. The Doctor felt a hand on his arm, looking up to see Jack pulling him out of the crowd. After a few shoves and knocks they made it out of the worst of it, running down a corridor. The Follow-Me bot, finally reunited with the Doctor, was struggling to keep up.
Finally they came to a halt in an unpopulated area, the Doctor coughing and holding his side.
'Sorry,' Jack said quickly, constantly checking the perimeter.
'You killed him,' the Doctor gasped.
'I had to,' Jack insisted. 'They woulda started rewiring your brain. I'd heard there was a plan to confront you but I didn't think it'd be this quick. And I'm sorry I hit you so hard, are you okay?'
The Doctor ignored him. 'But you kil-'
'I'm sorry!' Jack interrupted. 'I'm really, really sorry, but I had to. We need to run.'
At least that they could agree on. 'We need to use this distraction,' the Doctor said, deciding he would handle that later. 'Get Spleen and meet me at the entrance.'
Jack nodded, and ran off.
Jack had only just got onto the corridor his cell was on when he had to skid to a halt to avoid colliding with Todran, standing outside the door.
'Get out the way!' Jack snapped.
'H-he's not your slave,' Todran muttered nervously.
'What?'
'I saw you in the corridor… after the first attack. The Time Lord isn't your slave…. You've lied to Spleen, to everyone. Y-you and the Time Lord need him for something, don't you? Why are you pretending?'
Jack's eyes narrowed. 'You should leave before you get hurt.'
'You're escaping,' Todran continued, clearly absolutely petrified and doing a bad job of hiding it. 'If… If you don't… want me to tell Spleen you're lying to him then take me with you.'
He was shaking. Jack sighed. 'Geez, all right, go to the entrance and tell the Doctor you're coming. I need to get Spleen.'
Todran nodded, and ran.
The Doctor was hiding in an alcove near the entrance with his ever-devoted Follow-Me bot, waiting for Jack to appear. Rose had been ranting inside his head for a whole five minutes now.
He killed the Jarxon! I can't believe he killed him! And I'm gonna smack him one for hitting you!
'It's okay, he needed to,' the Doctor muttered.
Did he? Rubbish! Definitely not so hard! Who the hell's that?
A small, weak-looking silurian was running towards the entrance. As he passed the Doctor grabbed his shirt and pulled him into the alcove to shield him from the droids. The silurian made to panic, but stilled at the sight of the Doctor.
'You should be in your cell,' the Doctor told him.
'I'm T-Todran…' the alien said. He was unbelievably nervous. 'I'm Jack's cellmate.'
'And? Go back.'
Todran seemed to steel himself for his next sentence. 'I know about you and Jack. I know you're lying to Spleen, I saw you a month ago. Jack said I could come.'
The Doctor sighed. 'Blackmail, then,' he surmised.
'I'm not staying here.'
'What are you in for?'
'M-mass murder,' Todran muttered without much conviction.
The Doctor considered that sentence, along with the trembling alien standing in front of him. 'And now the truth?'
'It is the truth,' Todran protested.
'You've never killed anyone in your life,' the Doctor stated.
'Y-yeah, I have…'
The Doctor sighed. 'That's not something to be proud of, you know. Don't even lie about it. It won't get you anywhere, not with me.'
Todran faltered. '... Okay. I haven't killed anyone.'
'So why are you here?' the Doctor asked.
'I got… I got paid to serve someone's sentence.'
The Doctor nodded. 'Second thoughts?'
'I don't want to stay here anymore,' Todran muttered. 'I wanna go home. I hate this place. Everyone here is sick.'
The Doctor nodded again. 'Stick close to me and Jack.'
Todran nodded, and ten seconds later Jack appeared down the end of the corridor with Spleen in tow. He run to them, piling into the alcove.
'The droids are searching the cells for you and me,' he whispered to the Doctor. 'Get us out of here.'
'Yes, Master Jack,' the Doctor responded politely.
'No, wait, what's he doing here?' Spleen suddenly spat, looking at Todran.
'Money,' Jack responded as the Doctor moved to the nearest terminal, pretending to hack it. He then pressed his finger to the lock. It turned green, the door opened, and the Doctor gestured for them to go through.