Title: Armageddon

Rating: T

Warnings: Major spoilers for "Utopia", "The Sound of Drums" and "Last of the Time Lords"; violence; mild language; allusions to rape (but I promise nothing explicit or graphic)

A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! I'm sorry this one was later than the last few; I ended up going to GA later than I planned, and before I left I was running around trying to get everything for next semester settled and signing up for classes and then there were dentist appointments and medicine that made me loopy and my pregnant cousin and my grandma was sick and I was so figgin' busy. I did work on it while I was gone, on my iPod, but unfortunately Fanfiction doesn't let you update via their mobile site so I spent *most* of my time working on the last fic in my Hannibal/Criminal Minds series on AO3 (I wrote 11,000 words in like 4 days… 0.o) because AO3 *does* let me update via mobile.

Anyway. Back on subject: new chapter! Yay!

Armageddon:

Part III: The Year of Hell

Chapter Twenty-One

"Us?" Grace Holloway gaped at the screen, "What do you mean they're us?"

Martha swallowed a bit, trying to collect her thoughts. She was remembering what the Doctor had told her before she'd left the Valiant. His plan for the final countdown toward the Master's universal war. The Paradox Machine… it was all making a lot more sense now.

"I mean… It's a bit complicated… The Doctor, before we got here the Doctor took Spencer and me to this planet… Or, well, the TARDIS took us there. It's a long story, but basically, we were at the very end of the universe. The Doctor said that reality was unraveling and falling apart. And there were people there, humans." She paused, biting her lip and frowning.

"They were trying to escape to this place they called Utopia… They… they had this rocket and the Doctor helped this professor get it working," she wasn't sure if she should tell them that the Professor had turned out to be the Master. That was probably something that could wait for another time, if there was time. "There was little boy there, God he must've been five years old… He told me his mum said that the sky in Utopia was made of diamonds…" her voice cracked.

For a long moment there was silence and then Garcia spoke, "You said… you said you and Spencer," she said quietly, "Spencer… Reid?"

Martha could only just make out Garcia's face, but she recognized the technical analyst and bit her lip. If the Doctor's plan really worked it couldn't really hurt to tell her the truth could it? Besides, they already knew Spencer was on the Valiant. She'd barely even given much thought to the other Spencer Reid who must have been out there when all of this happened.

"Yeah, that's him. Look, it's all a bit complicated and I'm sure you want to know how he got there, but right we should probably focus on the Toclafane…"

"But… you know me?" Reid leaned forward, "Another version of me?"

"From the future, yes," Martha nodded, "At least from your point of view. This is actually all the present for me. The you I know is from a few years from now…"

"Then that means…" Sam frowned, "How does this whole time travel thing work, exactly? If the Spencer that's on the ship really is from the future then… is the Master still in control then or…?"

"No, but… I mean, that doesn't really mean much, I don't think," Martha frowned, "the Doctor knows more about how all this works, but… time isn't set in stone or anything. He said it's…" she frowned, trying to remember, "he once told me it was like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly stuff."

"Time is fluid," Sarah Jane said, stepping up a bit and moving the camera so that it was focused on her, "It's constantly in flux, every little decision we make, every event influences what the future will hold. There are some moments that can be altered, some that can't. History is always changing."

"So when Martha met Spencer," Tosh said, "she was already out of her time and now Spencer's is in his past and another Spencer is in his present?"

"More of less," Martha nodded, "All I know is this: if those Toclafane are us… The Master must've done something to them. Somehow."

"How could he have done anything to create all this though?" Sarah Jane frowned, "If they're us then… they're killing their ancestors. How can they even exist?"

Martha bit her lip, "The Master had the TARDIS," she said, "He stole it when he left us on Malcassario. He cannibalized…" she winced, remembering the mournful, terrible sound the TARDIS had been making when she'd last seen her. Remembering the Doctor's face and the pain that had flashed through his eyes. "He turned her into a Paradox machine. I wasn't sure why, but the Doctor must've worked it out. It makes sense… The Paradox machine keeps the paradox from ripping apart the fabric of time. The Toclafane can be here, killing us, and still exist while the machine is working."

"So we destroy the machine then," Dean said, "Easy."

"NO!" Martha shook her head, "We can't do that! That's the TARDIS. We can't destroy her. If there's a way to – to revert her back to her normal state we might be able to do that, but only the Doctor or the Master would know anything about that. Our best bet right now is the Doctor's plan. The Doctor can fix this. He just needs us to help him. He's got this… this link with the TARDIS,"

"Link?"

"A psychic link," Sarah Jane said. "The TARDIS isn't just a ship, she's alive."

"Living technology…" Charlie gasped, "Seriously?"

"As far as I know only the Time Lords ever managed to grow TARDISs."

"That's something you never said," Sherlock suddenly spoke up, frowning thoughtfully, "If it's possible to get in touch with the Doctor's planet we could potentially have help capable of destroying the Master. Where are the other Time Lords?"

"The Doctor said they were dead," Sarah Jane whispered, remembering the last time she'd seen the Doctor, thinking of his face when he'd told her that everyone was dead.

"There was a war," Martha said, her voice somber, "They all died. The Master was supposed to be dead too, the Doctor was the last of his kind. The Master survived somehow. Ran away from the war."

"So we're alone," Lassiter said, frowning.

"We've got the Doctor," Martha said, "and he's got a plan that will save us all and make this whole nightmare go away. I promise you that. But you got to trust me and you've got to trust the Doctor."

"We can't just sit around and wait," Henry said, "We need to do something. I understand that this guy can do some amazing things, but people are dying right now."

"Every day more people die," Gibbs said, "we're sitting here on our asses and you're asking us to wait for a plan we know nothing about…"

"I know," Martha sighed, chewing her, "If I weren't worried about this being intercepted I'd tell you all right now, but we're already pushing things as it is. I'm begging you, please, just wait a while longer. I have absolute faith in the Doctor. This will all be okay."

"Tell me something," Tony frowned, "you've seen the future right? With the Doctor? What did it look like?"

Martha sighed, "Not like this," she said, "this wasn't even… Not like this at all. That's why I believe the Doctor can fix things. He can make this better."

"But how?" Juliet demanded, "that's what we need to know."

Martha started to answer, when Sarah Jane suddenly cut her off, "We've got to disconnect. There's some strange signal linking in. I'm sorry. We'll try to do this again sometime, alright? Everyone disconnect and stay off the network for a few hours. I'll be in touch…"

~/.\~

"I'm so sorry, Jack," the Doctor whispered to the dark cell. They had all been dragged down to the cells for the night, though the Doctor and Reid were in different cells apart from Jack and the Joneses. They couldn't see each other in the darkness, but they could see Owen's body, which the Master had ordered to be laid out in the hall outside of the cell, well within sight of the prisoners.

"It's not your fault, Doctor," Jack's voice came from deep within his cell. It was cracked and withered sounding. Reid couldn't help but think that Jack had never sounded quite so defeated.

"I should have been able to save him," the Doctor sounded even more defeated and Reid wanted nothing more than to reach out and squeeze his hands reassuringly.

"You can't save everyone," Jack said quietly, "it wasn't your job to protect him, Doctor. It was mine."

"You can't blame yourself either, Jack," Reid said, scooting closer to the bars and wishing he could see the other man. He wrapped his arms around his knees and pressed his forehead against the bars, "The Master is the only person to blame for this."

"Maybe," Jack said, still sounding horribly defeated.

There was a long moment of silence before the Doctor finally spoke again, "We need to get you out of here," the Doctor said, "Especially the Joneses."

"How?" Francine suddenly spoke up, her arms wrapped tightly around Tish. Clive sat next to them, never taking his eyes off of his daughter. "We've tried, Doctor. Every time we try he just makes everything harder for us."

"We need someone to help us," The Doctor said.

"Lucy isn't going to help us again, Doc," Jack said, "I don't think she's even talking anymore. I don't want to know what he'd do to her if she tried to help us again after the first time."

"I know," the Doctor said, "And I hate to ask anyone to risk themselves or their family… but they can't stay here. The Master will kill them. We need to get them off the ship… Someone's got to be willing to help us."

"Someone might be…" a new voice spoke and Reid jumped, fingers wrapping around the cell bars in an attempt to see. He still couldn't see anything beyond Owen's prone body on the floor; it was too dark to see anything else. They could hear the footsteps however and after a moment one of the guards on the ship appeared in the shadows.

"Who's there?" Francine called, "Who are you?"

The woman pushed a mane of thick hair back from her face, shifting a bit awkwardly, "Sally Donavan," she said, "One of the guards. I was just sent down here to check on you. Couldn't help overhearing. If you need help getting off this ship… I know a few guards more than willing to help."

"You'd help us?" Clive sounded skeptical as he slid a bit closer to the bars in the cell, "Why would you help us?"

Sally seemed a bit hesitant, keeping her voice low and glancing over her shoulder, "I've got no family out there in danger right now," she said, "Nothing to tie me down 'cept myself. I haven't been here long, just a month, but I've seen how he treats you. Especially that girl. If you need help getting off the ship, I can help."

"One guard?" Jack sounded a little skeptical.

"There are others," Sally said quickly, "I know we might not be able to do much against the Master, but it's got to be worth a shot to get these people to some semblance of safety. Better down there than up here."

The Doctor's eyes shone even in the shadows and a tiny hint of smile twisted his lips, "Miss Donavan… I think we can make this work."

~/.\~

Gabriel sat in an abandoned hotel somewhere in southern France, leaning back in a leather recliner with a glass of red wine in one hand and a Snickers bar in the others. His legs were crossed and he was wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and a thin undershirt.

Around a mouthful of chocolate, Gabriel licked his lips and frowned, staring at the glowing screen of a plasma television.

"Ugh, this is boring," he said, "Nothing but death, death, death. These people really need to get their stuff together."

The channel flicked, changing from the picture of Japan – still in flames – to the ever broadcasting Wanted List. He listened to the names he already knew by heart for a while and then sighed heavily. Snapping his fingers the wine disappeared and he was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. He jumped up from the chair and took another bite from his candy bar, thinking.

Obviously his brothers weren't doing anything to help rectify this issue with the Master destroying the planet that their father had left under their protection. He wasn't particularly fond of humans, but he did find them more entertaining than his brothers. Besides that, he had a life on this planet and it wasn't time for it to end yet. Just because this wasn't part of the "Plan" didn't mean they should ignore it.

He thought about Castiel and huffed, tossing the candy bar away.

"Damn it," he muttered, "I'm going to have to help, aren't I?" He wasn't talking to anyone. All the company he'd had lately had been creations of his own making. The room didn't respond. He huffed again and tried to think of some reason to avoid helping. It could blow his cover; the last thing he needed was for Michael or any of the others to know he was still alive. Of course, he had been able to hide for this long. If he wasn't too obvious he could definitely help without drawing their attention.

He glanced at the television, the List still being recited in the Master's increasingly grating voice.

"Alright, alright," he sighed, "I'll do it!"

~/.\~

A/N: I know it's short, but I wanted to get it posted before too much time had passed. It's a bit of a filler chapter, but it's setting up things for the next couple of chapters (meetings, assassination attempts, escape attempts… Action!) and GABRIEL DECIDED TO NOT BE A GIANT DOUCHE BAG ANYMORE! Yay!

(Thanks to KMW1968 for suggesting that the guards that help with the escape attempt be members of other fandoms… You'll learn more in the next chapter about it all…)

I'm not 100% happy with this chapter, but I think it's… decent I suppose. Hope you enjoyed!

Please, please review!