THE ADVENTURES OF THE DOCTOR'S AMAZING HAND

Chapter Eighteen

The Doctor grunted when the Master decked him in the face. He was strapped to the chair in the torture chamber and across the way Jack was naked, standing up with his manacled hands above his head. The Master hadn't touched him yet, only made him watch as he roughed up the Doctor.

"I will not be made a fool of," the Master growled at the battered, bruised and bleeding Doctor. "I will not have an old geezer or a freak outwit me! I have been fairly kind to both of you thus far but now the white gloves are coming off and I will torture you day in and day out to the point of death!"

He snapped his head around at Jack.

"And you…you're going past the point of death, naturally," he said, walking over to him. "I'm gonna kill you so often you'll think it strange when I give you a break and let you live. I have had it with you as well and you know what, that little team of yours. I'm thinking I oughta relay another message to them and lead them right here. How would you like it if they shared the chair with the Doctor here?"

"Leave them alone," Jack snarled.

"Then again, they may be dead already so I might not have to expend any energy looking for them. I'm sure the Toclafane covered the Himalayas along with everything else."

He smirked when he saw the pain in Jack's eyes.

"Did they mean something to you? So sorry then. I should have brought them on board with everyone else so they could keep you company. I was so busy conquering the whole world it slipped my mind. Oh well, least you have Grandpa Geezer here to amuse you."

He turned back to the Doctor.

"And…oh yes, we were in the middle of something, weren't we?"

The Doctor grunted when he stomped over and slammed his fist into his face. He made a pained face as he shook his hand.

"Oh, that hurt. You have a bony face this time around. It's hell on my hand. I need to fetch a boxing glove or something. But I'll ignore the pain since you obviously need to be punished. Now, I s'pose it'll be an enormous waste of time to ask you where Rose went. I'm guessing London but I'm sure you sent her on an errand just like you did with Jones. So I'll skip the whole interrogation process, it bores me anyway, and just skip to the heavy torture session."

"No, torture me, not him!" Jack said.

"All in due time, Pretty Boy," he said, glancing over his shoulder at him. "Now…let's begin since I'm just aching to hear you scream…"

John only slept for part of the night. He was nervous about something happening to Rose so he woke, slowly slid out from under Rose's hand and went on patrol. He stayed near her so he could keep watch over her but he kept alert for any strange sound or anything out of the ordinary. While he was doing that, he heard Rose whimper and turned to see her having a nightmare. He ran to her side and lay so that his hand was across her cheek. Rose's face was scrunched up and she was whimpering softly and crying. He could see her unconsciously extend her arm and grab something. He watched what she was doing for a moment, wondering what she was dreaming about. He guessed from the trauma on her face that it had something to do with the Doctor and he debated whether or not to wake her up. But there was no need because a moment later her eyes snapped open and she looked around as John got his hand off her face. She noticed him and began to cry softly as she gathered him close to her.

"Thank God you're here," she said softly. "I had a dream, a nightmare, 'bout Canary Wharf and the day I lost the Doctor. I was relieving it in my mind all over again."

She stroked John's back while he rubbed her chest.

"You were off his hand by then but it was the most horrible day of my life," Rose said to him. "The Beast told me I would die in battle and he meant I would be counted as dead in the original universe but I think he also meant I would die from the separation. So I died two deaths really. And now I might have to die a third when I go back to my original universe."

John wiggled out of her hand and went over into a shaft of moonlight so he could sign to her.

I told you not to worry about that, he signed. We'll find a way for you to stay here. I don't want to see you leave either.

"Yes, but what if you can't find a way?" Rose asked. "What if I have to go back and…"

She shut up when John suddenly jabbed his finger off towards the right.

"Hide! he signed quickly before he went to join her in the shadows. Rose flattened against the cold concrete and tried to breathe softly as a lone Toclafane suddenly came into the room. Both of them lay perfectly still while the ball slowly flew through the room. Rose's heart was pounding a mile a minute and she thought the thing would be able to hear it. It moved agonizingly slow and Rose was sure it would be able to see them and kill both her and John but to her relief the Toclafane moved past and eventually moved out of the room. Rose swallowed hard trying to wet her dry throat.

"Was that a Toclafane?" she whispered to John.

John didn't answer her since he was afraid to move like she was. Both of them stayed in their hiding spot waiting and watching for the Toclafane to come back or for another one to come by. They stayed that way for about a half hour before both of them got up enough courage to move back towards the moonlight. Only then did John answer her.

I don't know, he signed to her. But I bet it is.

"I s'pose we know what to watch out for now, yeah?" Rose whispered.

Unless there's something else, John signed back.

"God, I hope not. Bad enough keeping an eye out for those things, Rose whispered.

John came back over to her and lay down beside her. He patted her hand trying to reassure her everything would be alright so she would go back to sleep but Rose was too nervous to sleep. After awhile, the jitters got to her and she began to pace around the room, slowly walking while John followed along behind her and kept an eye out for any more Toclafane. Rose slowly made her way over towards the huge factory windows at the front of the building. Some of them had been shattered and cracked but there were a few that were still intact, however those were dirty and hard to see through and disturbingly she could make out traces of dried blood on some of them. She moved quickly past those, trying not to think of what might have happened to cause the blood to splatter on the windows. As she walked, her heart sank at the view. There were a few other warehouses and buildings blocking the view but at a couple of points the buildings had been leveled enough for her to see past to Big Ben in the distance. As before with the Slitheen, the Master or the Toclafane had blasted a big hole in the clock and Rose couldn't help but think with a dark sense of humor that the London taxpayers were probably fed up with having to replace the clock every few years now. While she was looking she felt John tug at her trouser leg and she bent down to pick him up. She placed him on a ledge by a broken window so he could see out with her.

"All of this will go back to the way it was if the Doctor can reverse it," she said to John. "Everything will be restored and everyone will forget what happened, including me."

She held up her hand when John turned around.

"I know, I know, you said not to worry but still…until we do find a way, I am gonna worry," she said.

She sighed and stroked his back.

"And this is what we're going to be going out into. This ruined city is what we have to cross and beyond that are probably more ruined cities and countries and more people like Angela and Ian."

She let out a mirthless laugh.

"Not back a day and already I'm back on the job," she said. "Life with the Doctor never changes."

She sighed.

"Still, I'll do it for him. I'll do anything for him, even die," she murmured to herself.

John stared at her, remaining silent while he listened to her musings. He could tell she was lost in her thoughts now as she gazed out at the devastated skyline of London. After several minutes, she finally focused her attention back on John.

"Do ya think we can do it?" she asked him. "Walk the Earth. Is it possible?"

John considered that.

I think anything's possible, Rose. We just have to take this one day at a time, he signed.

Rose nodded and sighed deeply as she picked him up.

"I s'pose we should get started then. We need the dark to hide from the Toclafane and it'll be less stressful traveling when it's cool."

She held John close to her heart while she walked back over to her rucksack so she and John could prepare to leave for the great unknown.

Back                         Home                              Doctor Who Main Page                          Next