THE ADVENTURES OF THE DOCTOR'S AMAZING HAND
Chapter Fourteen The Master hurried back to the torture chamber as fast as he could. All the way there he kept reassuring himself that Rose was still in the chair, that the Doctor couldn't have gotten to her so quickly or the hand wouldn't have the intelligence to free her. But his worst fears were confirmed the moment he entered the room and saw the empty chair. Cursing himself for not keeping a guard with her, he turned and ran out the door, eager to get his hands on the Doctor and his hand. The Doctor paused a moment in the shadows to rest. They got in back of a pipe and Rose glanced around to make sure no one was near. John got out of his pocket and went to the edge of the shadows, keeping watch. Rose stayed near him, worried that he was panting so heavily. She wasn't used to him being so frail and it frightened her to see him in this state. She was worried he might have a heart attack and she laid her hand against his cheek. "Doctor, are you going to be alright?" she asked. The Doctor gave her a reassuring smile and squeezed her hand. "I'll be fine, Rose. I promise I won't die on you," he said. "We have to find a way to reverse this, is there a way to reverse this?" she asked him. "There is a way. At least I hope it'll work," he replied. "But…there's something I need to tell you." "Yes?" The Doctor sighed. "Rose, I don't know if you know this but the world has been devastated. The Master brought these creatures from the future, these Toclafane. They rampaged all over the Earth and killed one tenth of the population." "Oh God," Rose said. The Doctor nodded. "He was able to bring them here because he made a paradox machine from my TARDIS. The machine allows the Toclafane to exist here even though they've killed their potential ancestors. The machine makes the impossible possible and that's what allowed him to bring you here even though the void was sealed. If I destroy the paradox machine, the Toclafane will go back to the end of the universe, time will reverse and the damage will be undone. But if I do that, it means you'll go back as well." Rose's eyes widened when the Doctor's words sank in. "No, I can't. I don't want to. I've been trying to get back to you again, I can't go back!" she said, clutching his arm. "Rose, if I keep you here, then millions of people will remain dead and the world will be in ruins," the Doctor said. "I can't do that. I can't let the Earth suffer so I can keep you with me." He cupped her face with his hands while a lump formed in his throat. "I can't be selfish, Rose, and neither can you," he managed to get out. "We have to undo what the Master did and bring the Earth back to the way it was." He wiped away her tear with the pad of his thumb. "Will I remember this?" Rose said in a shaky voice. "I don't know. I doubt it though. Once time is reversed, all these events will be wiped from existence and no one will remember anything, including you." He embraced her when Rose began to sob softly. He closed his eyes and rubbed her back, fighting the urge to take back what he said and keep her with him. John watched in an anguished silence, knowing that the Doctor was right but not willing to give up so easily. He was willing to search for a solution, he knew there had to be a way to restore what had happened and keep Rose here with them, they just had to put their heads together and think of something. He watched while the Doctor soothed Rose and wiped her tears away. "We can't do this here, Rose," he said gently. "Our lives are in danger. We need to move on and find a way to escape." Rose nodded. The Doctor turned to go and Rose took his hand. "Wait," she whispered when he turned back to her with a quizzical look on his face. "If…if I won't remember this, then it's okay to do this…" Without warning, Rose leaned in and kissed him on the lips. The Doctor was shocked for a few seconds and then he sighed as he returned the kiss. Rose's hand went up to the back of his head and ran down it, fingering the wispy strands of hair that were left while the Doctor held her tightly and continued to snog her. John continued to keep watch just in case someone was around and when he heard someone getting closer, he reluctantly snapped his fingers to get their attention. They broke apart and sank back into the shadows, listening for a moment to the voices. When they figured out the people were going away from them, the Doctor took Rose's hand and all three of them hurried away. The Doctor cursed silently when they made their way back to Jack and noticed two guards flanking him. "Oh God, poor Jack," Rose whispered. "We have to find a way to set him free," the Doctor whispered back. His eyes shifted down when John slowly made his way towards them. "That's one brave hand you have," Rose whispered. "Tell me about it," the Doctor whispered back. The guard on the left sighed as he loosely held his gun and looked around. "I'm hungry," he said to his friend. "I feel like eating a nice big pizza right about now." "Same here or a burger. This is boring." "Well, I'm sorry I'm inconveniencing you," Jack said to them. "How about taking me to the toilet now before my bladder explodes. That way you can have a bit of excitement in your hum-drum day." "Shut up!" the guard on the left said. "Just a suggestion," Jack muttered. His eyes bulged when he suddenly saw a hand walking on its fingers. His mouth dropped open when he recognized the hand as the Doctor's hand. "What the hell?" he said. He could see the guards were just as shocked as he was. "Um, Frank, you see a walking hand or is it just me?" the guard on the left said. "I see it, Ben," Frank said. John stopped, flipped onto his wrist and waved at them. Then he flipped back on his fingers and began to dance around. The guards and Jack watched with fascination as John danced around. John quickly turned around and wiggled his wrist as if it were a butt before going back to the dance. "There's something you don't see everyday," Ben said. "Isn't the hand Saxon had?" Frank added while John continued to dance. "No, it's my hand, the Master stole it from me," Jack said. "Although I had no idea it was alive. I wonder how that happened, maybe the solution it was in brought it to life?" The three of them continued to watch while John danced his way over to Frank. Frank grinned and chuckled when the hand danced around in front of him. "Cute little thing," he said. Suddenly without warning, John went under his legs, leapt up and squeezed his balls as hard as he could. Frank gasped and tried to smack him off as he fought through the pain. But the harder he smacked the hand, the tighter John's grip became. Through the haze of pain, Frank saw Ben standing there in shock. "Don't just stand there, do something!" he gasped out. "What? What do I do?" "I don't know, shoot the thing!" Frank groaned. His eyes bulged when Ben raised his gun and aimed right for his crotch. "NOT WHEN HE'S GOT A HOLD OF MY TESTICLES, YOU IDIOT! GET HIM OFF ME AND THEN SHOOT!" Frank screamed. Jack rolled his eyes as he watched Ben drop the gun, get down on his knees and try to pull him off. Frank howled in pain when John held on to his balls and he staggered to the post Jack's chain was attached to. "Not like that! Try something else. Something that won't hurt me!" he groaned at him. "Like what?" "I don't know, think of something!" Frank gasped out while he slapped at John. Suddenly, Ben felt something on the back of his head. He turned and gasped when he saw Rose holding the barrel of his gun to his head. "Stand up nice and slow," she said. Frank gasped when John let go and quickly ran over beside her. He fell to his knees holding his crotch while Ben put his hands up. The Doctor came out of hiding and walked up beside her. "Free him or else," the Doctor said, pointing to Jack. After knocking out the guards, Jack joined the other three while they searched for Martha's family. "Oh God, my arms are so numb, I don't think I'll ever get the feeling back," Jack groaned, rubbing his arms while they hurried down a corridor. He glanced at John who was running beside them. "Okay, could someone explain to me how that thing is alive?" he said to the Doctor and Rose. "His name is John and we'll explain later," the Doctor said, looking back over his shoulder. "John…oooookay," Jack said. He stared at John while they ran. "Um, you weren't alive when I stuck you in the jar, were you?" he asked him. John briefly flipped onto his wrist, nodded his hand and then flipped him off before he flipped back on his fingers and hurried after the Doctor and Rose. Jack followed them. "Gee, I think I know who slapped my ass and put salt in my coffee that one day," he muttered as they ran.
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