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: I'm sorry that this is a day late; my little sister's birthday was yesterday and I spent all day cleaning and cooking and baking cupcakes and didn't really get a whole lot of time to work on this. (Not to mention still slowly getting back into schedule after a week away from home…) This is another short chapter, really just an interlude type chapter, so I apologize about that. I've been kind of hectic lately and I've got finals coming up (about two weeks away *quietly freaks out*) so… Yeah. Trying balance writing with school is getting crazy.

As always, thanks to everyone for reviewing and reading! I really appreciate you guys and I hope you'll forgive my off-schedule updates and my short chapters!

Armageddon:

Part III: The Year of Hell

Chapter Forty-Two

Reid wasn't entirely sure if the cold that had seeped into his bones was from the air or from something else. He kept his eyes on the floor as he was led back to the conference room. His face was pale and splotched from tears that he had tried to quell. His mind kept up a continuous flow of images—the Master's men bursting into Sarah Jane's little safe house and destroying everything—Sarah Jane lying dead and bloody—the Joneses being dragged back to the Valiant, screaming.

What had he done? How could he have just given in to the Master like that? He bad practically signed their death warrants himself. He knew what the Master was capable of. He knew that he would find them and torture them and kill them. And it would be entirely his fault.

His shuffled into the room, oblivious to the guard pushing him along, and sank to his knees as soon as the cuffs on his hands were removed. He could feel the Doctor's eyes on him; his gaze was heavy and anxious and Reid felt guilt tug harder at his chest. The Doctor was worried about him after all that he had been through; after everything that had happened the Doctor still somehow found it in him to be concerned about his well-being.

Reid felt smaller than he had felt in a long while and he curled up, pressing his face into his knees. For a long minute the Doctor didn't say anything. Reid heard him sliding carefully closer and then he finally spoke, sounding as worried as always.

"Spencer? Are you alright?"

Swallowing hard, Reid shook his head.

"Spencer?"

Reid could feel the heat from the Doctor's hand as it hovered over his shoulder, but he didn't touch him. He'd learned a while ago to be careful with touch. Reid stiffened anyway and looked up, finally meeting the Doctor's eyes.

"I told him about Sarah Jane," he said. He kept his words as hard as he could without his voice cracking and then he shifted away slightly, turning his eyes back to the floor.

"Told him…? You mean that you—"

"I sold them out, Doctor," Reid's voice quavered. He could feel the tears starting to burn his eyes again. His throat was tight and he couldn't quite get enough breath into his lungs, but he didn't care.

"Spencer…"

"How could I do that?" He turned sharply to face the Doctor, pleading with him desperately with his eyes. "How could I do that to them after…" he choked and shook his head. "I betrayed them."

"Don't," the Doctor shook his head and very slowly put his arm around him, dragging him closer. Reid sat as stiffly as before. His eyes were hollow and dark when the Doctor gently turned his face toward him.

"Don't do that to yourself, Spencer. None of this is your fault. None of it."

"They're going to die because of me!" Reid managed to get out. "I killed them!"

"Hey," the Doctor put his hands on either side of his face and shook his head. "Don't blame yourself for this. Spencer, you're being tortured. You're a prisoner here as much as me or anyone else and you can't start feeling guilty about that." He pressed his forehead to his, smiling softly. "Besides, Sarah Jane is smart. She'll be alright. She probably moved as soon as you were recaptured."

"You don't know that," Reid whispered, pulling away. The Doctor let him go and sighed. "You can't know that."

"I know her," the Doctor insisted. "And no matter what, she wouldn't blame you. It isn't your fault. If you want someone to blame then all you have to do is look at the Master. This is his fault and no one else's. You didn't do this, Spencer. You're a victim."

Reid flinched slightly at the word 'victim', but he relaxed a little. He leaned against the wall and rubbed his hands over his eyes. The guilt was still there and it wasn't likely to go away anytime soon. His mind was still swirling with pictures of his friends—dead.

The Doctor eased closer to him and put a hand on his leg. "It's going to be okay, Spencer. I'm going to fix this. Martha is spreading the word; the other humans are fighting back. You're going to get out of this and everything is going to be the way it was before."

Shifting, Reid let his head rest on the Doctor's shoulder. He felt incredibly tired. His entire body felt heavy with some impossible weight. He closed his eyes and sighed. "Everything else might be the same," he whispered. "But will I be?"

~/.\~

Martha sank down into the chair and wiped her brow. She felt gross after a day spent in the sun and no shower, but it was a small price to pay for the work that they were getting done. She felt truly useful after helping Kate for the last couple of days—useful, but tired. She sighed in relief when she sat down at the computer and checked to see if she had any messages.

A smile lit up her face when she realized that her parents had been able to contact her again. After their last hasty message about moving houses she had been sure that they would be able to contact her any time soon. They were still on the move and looking for a more permanent place to set up, but for now they felt safe enough to send her a message.

"Only one thing can put a smile like that on your face," Kate came up behind her and nudged her shoulder gently. "Is your family alright?"

"Good," Martha nodded. "They've got away from Sarah Jane's old place. They're still on the move and worried about Spencer…" she trailed off, frowning. Her eyes flicked to Kate and she noticed the other woman's jaw harden.

"I take it you saw the last broadcast from the Valiant?"

"You mean the casual gunning down of two innocent women? Yes." Kate pressed her lips into a thin line. "He can't go on like this. He has to see that he's just giving us more reason to hate him."

"More reason to fear him," Martha countered. "That's exactly what he wants."

"He can think what he wants," Kate said. "But the more he tries to subjugate the human race, the more we're going to fight back. He can't keep us down forever."

Martha nodded and smiled, "Well, he doesn't have very much longer left to try if everything goes according to the Doctor's plan."

"It will," Kate said, smiling again. "The Doctor knows what he's doing. And he's picked a very capable person to carry it all out."

Martha shook her head, but she felt far more certain of herself than she had in a long time. Looking back at her parents' message, she was sure that she could finish this. Even with the daunting months still stretching ahead of her, she could look back and see how far she had come. The last half of her journey wasn't going to be any easier than the first half, but it would certainly be familiar. That at least worked to her advantage.

~/.\~

A/N: Very short, like I said. I hate giving you these short chapters, but I had to give you something. Next chapter I'm going to try and make as long as possible. (Not *too* long though…) I'm going to cover the angels and the Master's search for Sarah Jane and where Sarah Jane and the Joneses end up hiding… So hopefully it will be lengthy enough.

I hope you enjoyed it in spite of the shortness! Please don't forget to review!