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: IMPORTANT EDIT MADE ON SEPT. 19, 2014: I majorly screwed up with this chapter and had to a bit of editing. Instead of Martha finding out about her family being recaptured while with Hotch and his group, which made no sense according to the timeline I set up, she finds about just before her departure from the safe house with Lisbon and co. I am so, so sorry for the error. I cannot believe I made that mistake. Also, the CM group was supposed to be the LAST group she met up with and I somehow did not realize this even when I went back and checked! Her next group should have been Tony and his group and I apologize for the mistake. I am so sorry! I have fixed it all now and I apologize. (And thank you so much KMW1968 for pointing that out to me!)

Guys, I am so, so sorry for this being late! I was ridiculously busy, my air conditioning went out for a few days and it's super hot here so I didn't even want to turn on the computer, let alone write for hours on it, and this chapter gave me so much trouble, worse than the last one. But I refused to settle for half the chapter this time because I wanted the entire thing posted and finished at once, so it took even longer than I expected. I already knew it was going to be a bit late, but not THIS late. Sorry! I really appreciate all of your understanding and patience.

And of course, thanks so much to everyone reading and for the reviews! You guys are awesome!

Armageddon:

Part III: The Year of Hell

Chapter Fifty-Two

Staring at her newly re-packed duffle bag, Martha felt a bit of a tug in her chest. She always felt this way when she was leaving, especially when she'd made such good friends at her destinations. It felt like leaving a home, over and over again. She sighed and zipped up her coat, slinging the duffle over her shoulder and checking her watch for the time. After doing a quick, perfunctory check to make sure she had everything—the TARDIS key, the Vortex Manipulator—she smoothed her hair out of her face and looked longingly at the mattress she was saying goodbye to.

"Must be strange," Grace's voice suddenly came from behind her and Martha nearly jumped, spinning around quickly.

"What's strange?"

"Going to all these places, talking to all these people… I can't imagine it. Always being on the run. Not that we're exactly not on the run here, but we've got a bit more stability than you have at least."

"Yeah," Martha nodded. "But it's not so bad. Not as bad as I thought, at any rate. Everyone's been amazing. I thought I understood it before, the Doctor's love for humanity, but this really sort of opened my eye, you know? Just ordinary people, like you and me, doing everything they can to survive and still managing to be hopeful, still hanging on and helping each other and doing the very best they can. It's amazing."

Grace smiled at her. "It must be, to help you keep going on, walking across the entire planet."

"I'll tell you one this," Martha said, "I've never had so much faith in the human race than I do now. We've stuck together through this horrible mess and we're all still fighting and that just… gives me something to believe in, I suppose. Something other than the Doctor, at least, because I definitely believe in him."

Grace nodded. She could feel the hope radiating off of Martha and it was really something to behold. Some part of her had expected Martha to be more world weary, more tired, but it seemed that nearing the end of her journey had given her more strength to carry on than anything else.

"We're going to miss having you," she told her.

Martha's eyes shone and she smiled, pulling Grace into a hug. "Hopefully not for long," she said. "Just a little while longer and this will be behind us forever."

~/.\~

"Ahh!" John screamed and his eyes clenched shut as the Master finally pulled out of his mind. He was breathing heavily, sweat forming dark stains on the back of his shirt. Sherlock was watching them with what might have been a passive expression, but for the barely concealed terror in his wide eyes.

The Master was grinning.

"Was that so hard, Dr. Watson? Really?" He stepped back and cracked his neck, letting out an exhausted sigh. "We could've had this over with ages ago if you and your friend weren't so ridiculously stubborn."

John and Sherlock said nothing, merely staring at the Master. The Master snapped his fingers and turned away from them to face the guards.

"Take them back to their cells. And then send out the word. We have the location of Jack Harkness." He turned back, eyes bright, to look at John and Sherlock. "Among other valuable rebels. Whoever brings them in will be handsomely rewarded."

~/.\~

There was more activity going on than there had been in a while, and the Doctor and Reid still hadn't figured out what the cause of it was. It had managed to keep the Master away more than usual, which was a good thing, but it also worried them both.

None of the guards were willing to talk to them, but they knew that something must be going on. After asking and asking, the most that they had figured out was that there were new prisoners onboard, but as for who the prisoners were, they still had no idea.

The guards were scampering around the ship like ants, popping in and out and no one would stop to talk to them, not that they were too surprised by that; the guards rarely spoke to them. It was difficult just getting them to say anything at all, never mind anything relevant to the new prisoners or the goings on onboard the ship.

"What's going on?" the Doctor asked one of the guards as they hurried through the room carrying weapons and talking into a radio.

The guard—a young woman with brown hair swept into a tight bun—turned to look at them. Her eyes fluttered and she hesitated for a moment.

"The Master's put out a new order," she said.

"Order for what?" Reid asked.

She bit her lip. "Capture…" she said. "A location has been—"

The doors were suddenly thrown open and the Master marched in with a delighted expression on his face. The woman clamped her mouth shut and turned her head toward the floor. She nodded shortly to the Master and hurried out the door.

As the doors closed behind her, the Master turned to his captives and clapped his hands together with a smile.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen! It's been a while since we've talked. I thought I'd pop in and let you know the good news!"

The Doctor eyed him warily. "What good news?"

"I'm very close to finding some of your old friends," the Master said. "Jack, the Jones family, Donna Nobel… Sarah Jane." His eyes glittered. "Perhaps when they arrive we can have a little reunion. Wouldn't you love that?"

Reid reached out and gripped the Doctor's hand when he saw his jaw clench.

"What's wrong, Doctor?"the Master grinned. "Aren't you excited? I thought you missed your old friends! Won't we have so much fun?!"

He didn't give him a chance to say anything, he simply turned around and left, cackling as he went.

~/.\~

Sherlock was sitting on the hard bench in the cell, rubbing his hands over his face while John paced back and forth.

"John, calm down," he said, looking up at him. "We need to sit down and think of a plan to get out here."

John ignored him, his hands clenching and unclenching as he walked the length of the cell and back. His breathing was heavy and he was still feeling the headache pounding against his temples. Without thinking, he stopped beside the wall and slammed his fist into it.

"John!" Sherlock straightened up and moved toward him.

John jerked away before Sherlock could touch him, screaming in frustration and pressing his forehead against the cool metal.

"You need to calm down!"

"Calm down!" John whirled around, his heart pumping too fast. "Calm down! I might've just gotten all of our friends killed!"

Sherlock blinked. "It's not your fault, John. You couldn't have kept him out of your mind; you did the best you could."

John closed his eyes and pressed his hands into his eyes, feeling the pain throbbing through the hand he slammed into the wall. He sat down and stared up at the ceiling.

"Have you finished your tantrum yet or do you want to place more unneeded guilt on your shoulders?"

John glared at him, but took a deep breath and nodded. "You're right, you're right. This isn't going to help us. We need to get out of here." He scrubbed his face and looked toward the bars of the cell.

"Any ideas?"

~/.\~

Kate adjusted her grip on her weapon and peered cautiously around the corner of the small building. Sarah Jane and K-9 were right behind her, with Donna, Luke and Wilf making up the rear of their little party.

"Can you hear anything?" Sarah Jane whispered.

"Not at the moment," Kate glanced back at her, "but I'm certain I heard buzzing."

"I don't see anything," Donna said, her eyes roving around the area. "Maybe it was just flying by."

"Don't want to take the risk," Kate said. "I think it'll be better if I take K-9 and do a quick check before we go further."

Sarah Jane nodded. "Alright. K-9?"

"Yes, Mistress?"

"Go with Kate, scope out the area. If you see any Toclafane, you know what to do."

K-9's little tail wagged and his eyes lit up as he nodded. "Yes, Mistress."

He followed Kate as she carefully stepped around the building, gun in hand, and peered around the open space. For a moment, it was deathly quiet and Kate started to relax, but then she took a step forward and away from the building. Suddenly, half a dozen Toclafane appeared, swooping down on them like robotic birds of prey, lasers zapping and knives whirling.

With a surprised yell, Kate lifted her gun higher and fired, managing to take out one. Behind her, Sarah Jane and Donna had come out of their hiding place and were also firing their own weapons. Even with only five of them left, it felt like a swarm and she wasn't sure where to look. Figuring out where the blasts were coming from was nearly impossible. She was only barely aware of the fact that K-9was firing and aiming and spinning around and firing his lasers at the Toclafane.

They moved fast, but K-9 was used to fighting them by that point and it only took minutes before the sudden assault was over.

Kate was breathing hard, smiling down at the little dog.

"Well, that was easier than it might've been. Let's keep moving before more of them show up."

~/.\~

"Damn it, how many of them are there!?" Jack hollered over the sound of laser fire and gunshots.

Ianto was at his back, firing at soldiers and Toclafane.

"There's too many!" Tosh yelled over her shoulder. "We can't keep them back!"

"We need to get Tish and Fran out of here!" Clive said, sheltering his daughter as well as he could.

"I'm fine," Francine snapped. She was doing fairly well on her own, taking Toclafane out with the weapon that Jack had given her. "Just get Tish out of here!"

"I'll take her," Tosh offered. "Ianto, cover me!"

She grabbed Tish's arm and wove through the lasers and bullets, firing at soldiers as they went. She could barely see anything and they were hopelessly out numbered.

"Stay down," she told Tish, "as close to the ground as possible."

Behind her she heard someone yelling and looked over her should to see Ianto collapsing, clutching his knee. She bit her lip and turned back to Tish, pulling her as far away as she dared into the cover of an alley. She would at least be safe for a few minutes.

"Stay here and stay hidden," she said, pushing Tish down onto the ground. "I'll be back!"

She rushed back out into the fray, gun raised above her head. "Ianto!" she screamed, trying to find where her friend had fallen. He was pushed up, with Jack covering him, trying to keep the Toclafane at bay with one hand, while pressing against his bleeding leg with the other.

"Get him to safety," Jack ordered. "We'll keep them busy. Hurry!"

Tosh nodded once and hefted Ianto up. He was heavier than she expected and carrying him made it difficult to keep firing, but Ianto refused to give up and gritted his teeth through his pain, keeping up a steady firing rate in spite of his injury.

She couldn't head toward the alley where Tish was hiding with so many soldiers now nearby, so they blasted their way into an empty storefront and she laid Ianto down on the ground before checking the dirty windows. The sound off the firefight continued to rage on outside, dimmed now with the store protecting them.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Ianto was trying to sit up. "I should be out there helping. We don't have time for this!"

"You'll get yourself killed," Tosh said, pushing him back down to the floor. "Now hold still." She began cutting away his pants, ignoring the blood that gushed over her hands. Taking a deep breath, she pulled out a small bottle, bandages and a knife.

"This is going to hurt," she said, watching him carefully. She shoved a heavy strip of fabric into his mouth. "Bit down on this."

Ianto bit down on the fabric, gritting his teeth. Tosh poured the small amount of water out on the wound to clean it, watching Ianto's face carefully for any signs of distress. As she was getting ready to do a quick and dirty bandage job to hold the wound until they reached safety, the sounds of the firefight suddenly stopped.

Ianto spit the fabric from his mouth. "What's happening?" he demanded.

Cautiously, Tish peered out of the window and saw two of the soldiers holding a terrified looking Tish Jones between them. She could just barely hear the men demanding their surrender of Tish would be killed. Clive and Fran immediately laid down their weapons and Jack followed soon after, a look of defeat on his face.

"They've got Tish," Tosh whispered. "The others have surrendered."

"What!?" Ianto exclaimed, trying to sit up again.

"Shh!" Tish turned around and pushed him back down. "Stay quiet. Jack wouldn't want us to get captured as well. We'll wait here a while and head out when it's safe. We need to get to Kate and the others." She glanced back toward the window. "Assuming they're still alive to get to."

~/.\~

"Martha! Wait!" Grace's voice suddenly rang out from inside the house just as Martha was about to depart. She turned back and frowned, opening her mouth to ask what was going on when Lisbon suddenly appeared, wide-eyed, and pulled her back inside.

"Whoa!" Martha stumbled as she was yanked down the hall she'd just existed barely two minutes ago. "What's going on? What is it?!"

"I'm sorry, Martha, but you have to see this," Lisbon said. "It just started playing a minute ago."

Martha felt her gut twist and pulled her wrist pout of Lisbon's grip. "See what?"

Lisbon's expression was grim. "The Master just started airing a new broadcast," she answered, continuing her brisk pace down the hall and to the room where they had their televisions and computers set up. They were all sitting together around the monitor, pale and horrified. The screens were all glowing brightly and the image of the Valiant dominated the view. Martha started to ask again what was going on when the cameras turned from the Master's grinning face to the group of people to his left—her family.

"Oh my god…"

Her heart jolted her chest. Everything seemed to slow down and all she could see were the faces of her mum and dad and sister, terrified and chained up. It took her a moment to realize that someone was speaking to her. She blinked and shook her head, turning to realize that Gus was standing at her side, eyeing her fiercely.

"Martha?" he asked. "Are you alright?"

She cleared her throat and nodded, every part of her feeling coiled and painful. "H-How long?" The words came out rasped and quiet and she had to force herself to speak up. "How long has he had them?"

"Not long," Charlie answered. "But we don't know for sure. He just started broadcasting this a few minutes ago."

She nodded and straightened her shoulders, staring at the screen and feeling guilt pushing at her mind.

"Has he… done anything?"

For a moment, everyone was quiet and then Juliet spoke up. "Nothing yet, but…"

"But?" Martha turned to eye her sharply. "But what?"

There was a lot of nervously shifting glances and Martha felt sick.

"But he's demanding your surrender to ensure their protection," Lisbon said.

Even expecting it, the words hit Martha like a grenade. She closed her eyes and tried to remind herself of why turning herself over to the Master was not going to help her family at all. She wasn't sure how long she stood like that, but it felt like an eternity before she was able to open her eyes again.

"That's it?"

"So far, yes," Juliet said. "There hasn't been any other news."

Martha's eyes scrunched up and she looked back at the screens. "What about Jack? Sarah Jane? Donna? They were supposed to be with them weren't they?"

"He has Jack," Jane said, "but there hasn't been any mention of the others."

"Charlie is trying to get in contact with them, but they were on the move earlier and we haven't heard back yet."

Biting her lip, Martha nodded. "Alright. Okay."

"Do… need some time?" Juliet asked.

"You're more than welcome to—" Grace started to say.

"No," Martha shook her head. "No, I'm fine. I'll be fine. We don't have time to waste. Let's just keep pressing forward. The only way to get through this is to keep going."

~/.\~

A/N: I…hate this. Honestly, this just… This whole chapter was so difficult, and I hate writing action scenes already .I just really do not like this chapter.

Hopefully you guys don't think it's as bad as I think.

Please don't forget to review!