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 am so, so sorry for the unforgiveable lateness guys! I swear I wasn't deliberately procrastinating! I started a new job and had to adjust to a whole new, much more unpredictable schedule because my hours are all over the place and I have no fixed days off or even a fixed shift. So yeah… And of course, there was all of the wonderful Thanksgiving business, plus finals and family and now Christmas is just around the corner. I apologize. I worked on this whenever I could, but I haven't had much chance. All of my current writing projects suffered neglect this last month or so.

On a happier note: this is the final chapter for The Year of Hell! I am so thrilled to finally put this section behind me. Next up will be Part IV: The Last of the Time Lords! I appreciate you guys sticking with me and putting up with my irregular updates and poor excuses for chapters. I really appreciate everyone reading and following this. I hope you guys are still enjoying this insanely long story.

Armageddon:

Part III: The Year of Hell

Chapter Fifty-Five

Kate Lethbridge-Stewart had gotten used to being on her own—she worked alone often and being in charge was a generally lonely position in and of itself. But she had gotten used to the close quarters and constant presence of other bodies lately and she felt suddenly more alone than she had in a long time while running and ducking her way to hopeful freedom around the perimeter of the work camp on the southern edge of London.

She had insisted on making the trip alone, much to the protest of Sarah Jane and the others. They were all worried about the safety of their new hideout, but thus far they had not been attacked. Kate didn't think that would last much longer and none of them wanted to risk being caught there. Sarah Jane had taken K-9 with her in search of a safer and more secure place to make their base while Kate asked Tosh and Ianto to stay with Donna and the others while she went alone to check out the work camp.

Martha would be visiting it very soon and they wanted to make sure that she could get in and out safely. They were still waiting to hear back from Professor Docherty about the final piece of their assembled "weapon" and Kate wanted to make sure that everyone was fully prepared.

She had also needed to meet with her inside contact, one Tom Mulligan and ensure that he would be able to get Martha to Docherty before the final leg of her journey was complete. It had promised to be a very long couple of days and Kate had been sure that she would cause less commotion and be far less likely to be noticed if she were traveling alone.

Of course, that was before a group of patrolling Toclafane spotted her just as she was leaving. She'd managed to take two of them out, but the third had alerted the guards at the camp and she had very quickly found herself on the run.

Knowing the streets well was little advantage when they were mostly barren and deserted anyway. She ducked behind fences, hid in doorways when she could and even jumped over a few wayward automobiles left abandoned in the roads—quickly remembering that was not quite as young as she had once been.

She'd managed to evade them a few times only to find them on her tail again in minutes. It seemed as if every soldier in the city was after her and they were firing stun-guns and being careful not to aim anywhere lethal. The Master must have decided he'd rather have prisoners than bodies. All the more reason for her to get out of the city as quickly as possible.

As the sound of heavy footfalls died away, Kate peeked her head out of the narrow hideaway she'd managed to crawl into. Holding her breath, she quickly climbed out and took off in the opposite direction of the soldiers—only to run right into three heavily armed men just a block away and around a corner.

Her eyes were wide as she took in the site of the automatic weapons aimed at her. She bit her lip. She could not be taken prisoner. She knew too much and would pose a dangerous threat to the rest of the rebels out there, especially Martha. Out of ammo and without any real means of escape, she did the only thing she could think to do: she raised her useless weapon, brandished it like a club, screamed and charged at the men.

Shocked, they were dumbfounded for a moment. Just long enough for her to hope that perhaps she would get away. Then she heard the buzz of several stun-gun and was suddenly hit with enough electricity to down a grown man. For a moment, she was frozen and then the pain came, agonizing and ripping right through her.

She convulsed on the group, trying and failing to keep a hold on her gun, and wished they'd shot her with bullets instead as she passed into unconsciousness.

~/.\~

Grace Van Pelt was there to greet Martha when she finally made it to the safe house. It was a drab looking grey office building sitting right on the outskirts of the work camp. Martha could see the fence from where they were standing.

"Glad you made it alright," Van Pelt said, smiling at her. "We heard about your close call with the Winchesters and we hadn't heard from you since… we were starting to think the worst."

"They did make it back safely then?" Martha asked, relived. She'd been trying her hardest to quell the guilt that was eating her up from not staying with Sam, Dean, and Adam. She had hated leaving them behind to deal with the Master's men and the Toclafane alone.

"They're fine," Van Pelt said. "A little worse for the wear, but they seem okay." She made a face. "Of course, they aren't speaking to each other according to Adam and we can't figure out what's going on with them, but whatever it is must be family issues."

Martha sighed and nodded. "They seem to have a lot of those," she said.

"That they do," Van Pelt shook her head. "Come on, we're this way." She waved her inside and lead Martha through wide, musty halls and up three flights of emergency stairwells—Martha tried to convince herself that the dark stains on the stairs were from something other than blood and that the score marks on the walls hadn't been caused by Toclafane blades, but the destroyed cubicles and the smashed windows were hard to ignore.

"We wanted to set up shop in the lower levels," Van Pelt explained. "Preferably the basement. Quick escape and easier to the stay hidden that way. Unfortunately, they're all practically unusable." She made a face. "The parking garage nearly collapsed in on itself and we didn't want to risk disturbing anything. Elevators are totally useless too…"

"Are you sure the building's safe? If the garage is falling in what about the rest of the building?"

Van Pelt grimaced. "It isn't the most structurally sound hideout," she admitted, "but it's the best we can do this close to the camp. The soldiers don't risk entering. We're pretty sure that we're safe for a while. The Master's been talking about expanding the camps once he launches his first strike, but we figure everything will be back to normal by then, so it's worth the risk."

Martha nodded, but made sure to step as carefully as possible just in case. She did not want the entire building to collapse beneath them just because she'd accidentally bumped into a supporting wall or tripped over something and caused the entire place to wobble.

"Here we are," Van Pelt announced, stopping at the top of the third floor landing. She pushed the heavy door open and held it for Martha, who entered carefully and looked around.

They'd cleared out most of the cubicle space and the windows that had been broken were covered with parts of desks and particle board—not the most reliable material, but it worked. Broken glass had been swept away and they had torn down what was left of the walls surrounding the break room. What was probably the desk from a manager's office had been dragged to one corner where Garcia had set up her laptop and a few of the other computers that had been salvageable were set up on the floor beside her as well.

Piles of blankets and pillows were set aside in one corner and Martha couldn't help but grin when she saw Hotch's young son, Jack, playing peek-a-boo with Jessica.

"Martha!" a very familiar voice called out when she entered and she turned to see Reid smiling at her. "You made it!"

He looked so happy to see her that for a moment she nearly forgot that this Spencer Reid didn't know her nearly as well as the other version did.

She looked around the room at them all—Garcia, Hotchner, Morgan and Reid… It felt strange to see them all again. She tried not to think too much about Agents Jareau and Rossi; they would be fine as soon as she finished her mission. She wouldn't allow herself to think otherwise.

"I know you guys probably think this is a bit strange, but it is so good to see your faces again," she said. "And wonderful to meet the rest of you face-to-face, of course." She nodded to Rigsby, Grace and Jessica.

"We're glad to finally meet you face-to-face too," Rigsby said. "Must be a little weird for you, seeing these guys when you knew future versions of them."

"It is a bit," Martha nodded, smiling. "Not the weirdest thing I've ever seen though. Traveling with the Doctor always presents opportunities for new experiences."

"What was it like?" Garcia asked, her eyes wide.

"What do you mean?"

"The future, us, the team…" she elaborated. "What was it like? 2011 is years ahead of this."

"Oh," Martha blinked and sat down slowly, looking around at all of their curious faces.

"It really wasn't much different I expect," she said. "At least not from how your team was before the Master took over." She eyed the FBI agents and their weary, tired faces. "Except of course that Agent Jareau was alive and Agent Rossi."

"Rossi?" Morgan frowned. "You knew Rossi? He wasn't even on the team…"

"Well—he—he wasn't?" Martha stumbled, hoping that she hadn't just let something slip that could possibly alter the way things turned out. "He was when I met you. I assumed he'd been there for quite a while."

"But… if Rossi was on the team…" Reid frowned. "What about Gideon?"

"I'm sorry; I don't know who that is."

Reid's eyes were wide and his mouth was set in a grim line. "How can you not know Gideon? That would mean he wasn't on the team, but that can't be true…"

Morgan put a hand on Reid's shoulder. "Calm down, Reid. She said JJ and Rossi survived, that means Gideon did too."

"But why wouldn't he be on the team in 2011? Anything could have happened to him between when Martha met us and 2007…"

"He probably just retired," Morgan said. "He's been an agent over thirty years."

Reid still looked worried and Martha felt a pang of guilt for not being able to assure him that his friend would be alright. She was certain that he would survive the Decimation, but beyond that she truly didn't know how things ended up in the future. She hoped for their sake that Morgan was right and this Gideon had merely retired from his job before she had met them.

"Whatever happened, we've got more pressing matters to take care of at the moment," Hotch said. "We need to prepare to get inside the camp tonight. We have the layout of the housing and mess hall on the computer. Garcia?"

"Bringing it up now, Sir,"

~/.\~

"Has anyone heard from Kate?" Tosh asked, frowning at the computer screen. "She was supposed to check in last night and I don't have any messages from her here."

"No, haven't heard a thing," Donna said. "When is she supposed to be back?"

"Tonight," Tosh chewed her lip anxiously. "But it's not like her to not check in."

"Maybe she couldn't get a connection," Ianto suggested. "She was in the city. She might've had to duck away from patrols and didn't get a chance to send a message."

"I wish she would've let one of us go with her," Sarah Jane said. "It's so dangerous in London alone…"

"She insisted," Wilf said. "Nothing we could do about it."

"No, but Tosh is right; it's not like her to not check in." Sarah Jane frowned. "How far into the city was she going?"

"Just outside the factory," Donna answered. "Why? Are you thinking about going to search for her?"

"If we don't hear from her soon, yes. I'll take K-9 with me. It's bad enough staying here while we don't know when or if we'll be compromised, but with Kate missing…" she trailed off, frowning.

"I don't like it," Tosh agreed. "Anything could've happened. Are you sure K-9 will be enough for you?"

Sarah Jane smiled. "K-9 is all the protection I'll need, I'm sure. He's very good at taking down Toclafane."

"How 'bout armed soldiers?" Ianto asked.

"I'll be careful," she said. "And if I'm not back nightfall, you all need to get out of here before dawn, alright? You've got Milligan's contact location, right, Toshiko?"

"Yes," Tosh nodded. "And Professor Docherty's as well…"she hesitated. "You did hear about Docherty's son last night didn't you? Gone missing in the city?"

Sarah Jane nodded sadly. "Yes… I hope it won't affect her judgment…"

"A mother's love can make people do a lot of things they wouldn't normally do," Wilf said.

"I've sent word to Martha to let her know," Tosh said. "She still wants to go ahead as planned, but she told us to be careful."

Sarah Jane sighed. "Then that's what we'll do." She clapped her hands together and glanced down at her watch. "I'll get K-9 and get ready to leave. If we haven't heard from Kate within the hour, I'll go look for her."

"Are you sure you don't want one of us to go with you?"

"I'll be alright. No sense giving them another target. Just remember: if I'm not back, clear out quickly."

~/.\~

"Do you even know what you're doing?" John asked, smirking slightly.

"Of course I do," Sherlock shot back. He was leaning against the bars of their cell, reaching out as far as he could to reach the lock. It was an electronic lock that had a manual key override. Sherlock had been trying to force it open for the last hour with no luck. It was good entertainment for John though, and for their newest prison mate, Kate Lethbridge-Stewart.

"If you do get it open," Kate called from the cell across from them, "what exactly is the rest of your plan? You have no weapons and the Master or the guards will spot you the moment you leave the lower levels."

Sherlock paused for a moment in his work and looked at her.

"My plan is to get the door open and wait until the guards come for their nightly rounds. There are always two guards, no more and no less. John and I can certainly take them down quickly. We then 'borrow' their weapons and communicators and most importantly, their keys." Sherlock's eyes practically gleamed in the dim light of the cells. "We lock the unconscious guards in the cell—after swapping clothes of course—open your cell, let you out and pretend that we are delivering you to the Master for interrogation. You know this ship's layout front to back. You'll lead us to the weapons room; we'll requisition a few more guns and then quickly make our way to the landing bay and use one of the spare shuttles to complete our daring escape."

Kate smiled. "Not a bad plan," she said. "Risky and likely to fail, but not bad."

"I do try," Sherlock said. "Now can both of you stop talking. I'm trying to concentrate."

He leaned out again to start fiddling with the lock when the sound of footsteps echoed down the hall. Quickly, he jumped back and sat on the long bench, swearing under his breath.

The guards—two large men with hard, dark eyes—stopped in front of Sherlock and John's cell. Using the electronic key to open the door, one of them pointed his weapon at John.

"You," he said. "Up. The Master wants to see you."

"Just me?" John frowned, not moving from where he was standing.

"Just you," the man said. There was a dark edge to his voice that made John very nervous. He didn't like to admit to fear often, but at that moment he was terrified. He forced himself away from the back of the cell and snapped at the men as they grabbed him roughly and cuffed him.

"OW!" he jerked away from their hands for a moment. "Not so tight. I'm still using those hands."

One of the men made a face at him as he shut the cell door.

"Not for much longer I don't think," he muttered darkly. John felt a jolt of horror run through him at those words and forced himself to keep staring forward and not react as he was dragged out of the cell and up toward the main conference room.

~/.\~

"She's got access to a lot of important information," Garcia said worriedly. Martha had just returned from the work camp, having taken Morgan with her as backup, and they had been discussing the unsettling disappearance of Kate and the latest information about Martha's final contacts in the UK—Tom Milligan and Professor Docherty.

Garcia and the rest of the team were not too happy about hearing that Docherty's son was missing and possibly being held for information.

"She won't reveal the plan to the Master," Martha said. She was confident in that. "She's got the final piece of our 'weapon'. I have to meet with her."

"But she knows where you're heading," Van Pelt argued. "If the Master does have her son he could use him as leverage to get your location from him."

"She doesn't know where I am right now and she doesn't know where I'm meeting Milligan. She can only give him accurate information for after I've met with her, if she does at all."

"You don't seem too worried," Hotch said, frowning.

"I'm not," Martha said. "I've got to get back on the ship somehow. It'd look a bit suspicious if I turned myself in too easily after all this time. One way or another, he'll find me once I get back to the UK. The year is almost up."

"I still don't like it," Morgan said. "Docherty's a good woman, but having a kid's life on the line is a hard thing to deal with."

"I'll be alright," Martha assured him. "All I've got to do is get captured at the right moment and make sure that the Master is distracted enough in the last leg of this to notice how close the Doctor is getting to being fully integrated. You guys, and everyone else, do your part and everything will work out."

"Guys!" Rigsby suddenly called over from where he was watching the television. "The Master's making a new broadcast… You'll want to see this."

~/.\~

The camera was in place when John was brought in. His stomach dropped. Until then, he knew the Master hadn't made the capture of him and Sherlock public. Now it looked like he was going to do something much worse than just announce his capture. The Master was grinning manically, his eyes bright. John spotted the Doctor and Spencer Reid in the corner nearest him and Lucy Saxon, her eyes vacant, standing off behind the camera. Francine and Tish Jones were there as well, dressed as maids, cleaning.

John was shoved down into a chair and turned so that he was face the camera directly. A moment later, Lucy moved forward and turned it on, the little red light blinking maddeningly at John. He grimaced and did his best to keep his emotions from showing on his face.

The Master only gave John one passing look before turning to face the camera himself.

"Miss Jones," he began, his voice loud and tinged with frustration. John almost let himself smile at that. Martha was still managing to stay under the Master's radar and it was clearly upsetting him.

"I have given you ample opportunity to turn yourself over to me," said the Master. "Yet you continue to hide yourself away, placing innocent people in danger with your very presence. I've warned you time and time again that this useless evasion is getting people—your friends and allies—killed. Perhaps you doubt my sincerity."

He finally turned to look at John again.

"Perhaps you need a demonstration?"

John swallowed convulsively, and wriggled in his seat, his eyes wide with terror. He knew what was coming and he tried to remain stoic, but he could feel his fingernails digging into his own palms. Small rivulets of blood trickled down his wrists.

The Master glanced back at the camera, giving it a mockingly sorrowful expression.

"Though it pains me to do this, you have given me no other choice, Miss Jones. I can think of no other way to stress unto you the severity of the cost of your actions."

John kept his eyes open and his mouth shut as the Master turned toward him. He braced himself for what was about to happen, accepting it as inevitable. He was going to die, but he knew one thing: he was not going to die screaming. He looked the Master in the eye and glared at him as he fired the laser at him.

~/.\~

Garcia gasped and Martha turned away, feeling sick, as the screen was momentarily whited out with the bright light. When the picture returned, John was still sitting in the seat, but slumped over, eyes still open.

Martha was shaking as she listened to the Master continue to taunt and threaten her via the broadcast. Her hands clenched into fists and she squeezed her eyes shut.

"This has got to stop," she said quietly, but forcefully. She opened her eyes and they were blazing fiercely. "This will stop. I promise," she turned to the others, trying not to feel the sick pit of guilt in her stomach. "I won't let good people, innocent people, continue to die for me."

She stared up at the screen, at John's lifeless body.

"I'll stop him. No matter what it takes, I'm going to end this."

~/.\~

A/N: Well, there is it. The end of the Year of Hell. Martha is on her way to the UK next chapter and we'll finally sync back up to the episode "The Last of the Time Lords"! Six more chapters and this fic will actually be done! *stops to think about that for a moment*

It's almost too hard to believe.

I'm really anxious about this chapter because it was written in bits and pieces whenever I got time. I hope it all fit together nicely when I finally finished it… Hopefully the next few chapters will be faster and easier because we're reaching the climax very soon…

Hope you guys enjoyed it! Next time we'll start Part IV!