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: Sorry once more for the lateness. I feel like a broken record at this point; I keep having to say that to you guys. I really appreciate your patience and support! Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter! I know it was… well the body count was high. And I'm sorry.

Also, IMPORTANT NOTE: I did change a few things about last chapter, so you might want to at least go back and look over the scene with Juliet, Gus, Lisbon and their group. I changed it so that Grace Holloway survived.

Everyone else who was killed is still dead though.

Also, we're coming up on the last run of chapters for Part III. I'm going to tentatively say that there are probably around 4-5 more chapters before we hit Part IV. After this chapter, things are going to move fairly quickly…

Anyway, I'm sorry this chapter isn't very lengthy. My computer has been having issues lately. I think it's the ridiculous heat.

I'll shut up now. Please don't forget to review!

Armageddon:

Part III: The Year of Hell

Chapter Forty-Eight

"They'll be alright, Spencer," the Doctor was speaking quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. It was barely morning again—the early grey light of dawn was slowly turning yellow through the wide glass windows. Neither of them had slept much since the Master's announcement two days earlier.

"I sent them a message,"

"But what if they didn't get it in time? What if they didn't believe it?"

"They got it," the Doctor promised him. "I'm sure of it."

Spencer rubbed his eyes tiredly and nodded, his lips pressed together anxiously as he stared straight ahead out the window.

"It's not that I don't trust you, I'm just…"

"Scared to hope?"

"Hope can be paralyzing," Reid whispered, nodding faintly.

"False hope, perhaps," the Doctor said. "But hoping for the best—even if it rarely happens—is not a bad thing. Sometimes it's the only thing that helps us to keep going. That's what Martha's doing, isn't she? Spreading hope for the rest of humanity to keep going?"

Reid smiled and nodded a bit more surely then. "My mind keeps running scenarios back, playing through every possible outcome. The probability of them escaping without casualties or capture is—"

"Very high, I know," the Doctor put a hand gently on his shoulder and squeezed. "But nothing is impossible, Spencer. They're all very resourceful and quick-thinking people. They'll be alright."

"They'll be alright," Reid repeated, closing his eyes tightly and trying very hard to convince himself of that fact. His mind, however, continued to supply him with the numbers that told him that there was a terrifyingly high chance that they would not be alright. He had already lost so much and all he really had left to hope for was that Martha would be successful. A few more months was all he had to wait through and then things would be alright again. He hoped.

"Spencer?" The Doctor nudged him gently and he opened his eyes to see him watching him nervously. "Are you going to be alright?"

Reid tried to smile at him, ignoring the numbers that persistently screamed in his mind that things were most certainly not alright and that he could very well be hearing that more of his friends were dead within the next few hours or days or weeks or months. Even if they escaped this time, what about the future times when the Master closed in? When they did something brazen and the Master found them? What then?

He reached out and snatched the Doctor's hand, wishing that he could just close his eyes and go to sleep and wake up at the end of the year with everything the way it was supposed to be.

"We just have to hold out a little while longer," he said, meeting the Doctor's concerned gaze. "They'll be okay. I'll be okay. You'll be okay." He took a deep breath and nodded to himself. "It's going to be okay."

They were suddenly interrupted when they heard the sound of heavy footsteps and turned their heads toward the doors, Spencer letting go of the Doctor's hand as they were thrown open.

The Master burst into the conference room with a smile that could only be described as deranged gracing his features. He practically danced over to where the Doctor and Spencer were seated and beamed down at them.

"I have such excellent news!" he said cheerily. Spencer half expected him to start clapping and hopping around like a toddler who'd had too much candy. Panic and fear swelled in his gut as he looked up at him, not wanting to hear whatever the Master was about to tell them.

"I was finally able to pin down a more precise location for your lovely friends," the Master said, staring right at Reid. Terror shot through the younger man and he felt the Doctor's hand suddenly gripping his tightly, reassuringly.

"I sent a welcoming party to ask them to join us here," he continued. "Unfortunately it seems they left in a rather great hurry." He tutted and shook his head, seeming disappointed.

Reid let out a breath and relaxed somewhat before the Master's next words sent a flash of ice down his spine.

"But not to worry. They couldn't have gotten too far ahead so they simply split up and went to find them. From the looks of things, they certainly found something."

Flashing through his mind, all Reid could see were the bodies of his teammates, broken and bloody. He grimaced and held the Doctor's hand so tightly that he was probably cutting the circulation off. The Doctor didn't seem to mind, turning his eyes up to the Master angrily.

"What do you mean they 'found something'?" he demanded.

The Master's smiled fell just a bit and he tilted his head to the side, watching them both carefully.

"Unfortunately it seems that at least some of your friends escaped and managed to do damage to a small number of my men and even a few Toclafane."

Reid's chest felt a bit less tight and the prone bodies vanished from his thoughts for a moment.

"But they can't possibly have made it out unscathed. I'll find them."

"They've evaded you this long," Reid said, suddenly feeling brazen. "Maybe you should consider the fact that they're just smarter than you are."

The Master narrowed his eyes and leaned down very close to Reid's face. The Doctor started to push him away, but with one lazy signal from the Master two armed men pulled the Doctor away from them.

"Or perhaps I should consider the fact that they conveniently ran right as I was closing in. I think your little friends seem to be very well-informed. Too well-informed."

His smile turned rather nasty and he stood once more, straightening his suit jacket and tie. "And of course, you're intelligent—for a human. Do the math. Do you honestly believe that all of them survived being attacked by armed soldiers and Toclafane?"

Reid was pale, but he clung tightly to the small bit of hope that he had. There were no bodies. There was a chance, no matter how slim, that they had bested the Master's men and made it out with nothing more than injuries. Until the Master could definitively prove otherwise, there was cause to hope. There was always cause to hope. He'd learned that much, at least, from the Doctor.

The Master turned away and faced the Doctor, who was still being held by the guards.

"Now, on the subject of the suspiciously perfect timing of their departure… I think it's time for you and I to have a little chat, Doctor. It's been so long. Let's catch up."

~/.\~

A/N: Again, I'm sorry this is so short. I promise I'll do my best to make the next chapter longer. And like I said, I'm hoping that within the next few chapters I'll finally be finished with Part III. I'm going to try to make these next chapters longer, but that may mean that the updates come slower.

Don't forget to review!