I'm Still Waiting.

And the storm is coming back
Maybe you’ll be coming back
But baby, I’m still waiting
- Kate Bush, ‘I’m Still Waiting’

The time tot was thrown back into consciousness as the pain took hold of his body again. Opening his eyes, he saw that the electric cattle prod was back, and this time with a vengeance. The Master seemed to be taking every liberty he could to get him to regenerate again; to snatch away every one of his thirteen lives as fast as he could. But Alex Smith held on, and he held on tight.

Once the pain and the screaming had subsided, Alex looked up, sweat coating his brow. The security guard standing in front of him just looked like a black shape in the dim light, but he couldn’t mistake the Master standing behind him, that evil grin still on his lips.

“This one’s stubborn,” he said. “He’s going to do everything he can to hold onto this face. As vain as his father.”

Alex couldn’t even be bothered to answer that.

“Try again,” the Master commanded. “Take it up a notch.”

Then the pain and the screaming was back. Alex felt like his insides were going to burst out and cover the floor of the small cell he’d been inhabiting for what seemed like an eternity. About twice a day (he’d stopped trying to measure how long the days were by now), the same two people would enter his cell; the Master and the security guard, to inflict the daily quota of pain onto him.

Alex felt his knees buckle and he collapsed onto the floor, sweating and hyperventilating from the exertion. The guard reached out a foot and kicked him hard in the side, sending him rolling onto his front. He saw the blurred face of the Master leering down at him.

“You think you can win this, but you won’t,” he said. “Sooner or later, I’ll take another life from you. And another, and another. Until you learn now to question me again, brat.”

And with that, the two of them were gone, slamming the cell door shut.

“You okay?” an American voice called out to him. “Hey, Alex; talk to me, buddy. You okay?”

Alex heaved himself off the floor and sat down on the small bed that took up most of the space in the cell. “Not really, Jack,” he said. “How are you doing?”

“Oh, the usual,” Jack said. Alex looked over to a corner outside the cell. Chained to a series of pipes along the wall was Jack Harkness. The two of them had been holed up together in the basement room ever since the incident had occurred where the Master had murdered Alex, causing him to regenerate. Not a moment went by where Alex didn’t think about his father… what had happened to him? Had the Master made him regenerate too? Would he ever see him again?

And most importantly, what did he look like? Not once had the Master given him a chance to see what he looked like now. Probably a way of messing with his head, what the Master always did best. The thought of never seeing what he looked like drove him insane.

“Jack…” Alex said. “I’ve never asked you, but what happened to Dad? After I regenerated?”

“Alex,” Jack said, a note of sternness coming into his voice. “You don’t need to know anything else except that your Dad is alive, okay? He’s alive and he’ll figure out a way to get us all out of this.”

“Don’t lie to me,” Alex said. “You want me to think the Master didn’t do anything to him? I’m not a kid anymore, Jack. At least I don’t feel like a kid anymore. Just tell me what happened. Please.”

“No,” Jack said. “I promised your dad that I’d keep you safe, and that means keeping you safe from anything that might have happened to him.”

Alex just sighed and lay down on the bed, taking deep breaths and trying to shake off the pain that still clung to his insides.

“Am I ever going to see him again, Jack?” he asked timidly.

“I don’t know, kiddo,” Jack said, leaning back onto the pipes. “I really don’t know. But knowing your dad, you will. Just gotta keep hoping, that’s all we can do.”

“What about Martha?” Alex asked again. “Is she safe?”

“I can definitely say that yes, she is,” Jack said. “And she’s coming back. Just remember that.”

For the first time since he’d been locked in here, Alex cried. Sobs wracked his body and his whole body ached with grief. Here he was, stuck in a cramped cell, with a new body he’d barely had a chance to get acquainted with, and his father out there, most likely suffering. Somewhere where he couldn’t get to him and stop it. To save him for a change, to thank him for all the times the Doctor had saved him.

Some time later, the cell door eased open again.

Alex jumped up from his bed and huddled down in the corner of his cell.

“No more,” he moaned. “Please, no more. Anything else… just no more.”

As usual, the Master entered the cramped space. He looked down disapprovingly at the time tot, huddled on the floor, begging for mercy.

“Ugh, you’re so pathetic,” he said. “It’s actually quite funny. No, we’re not playing that game today, kiddo.”

He clicked his fingers and the security guard came in behind him, holding what looked to be a black plastic bag.

“We’re going to be doing something else,” the Master said, rubbing his hands together. “Get you out of this cell for a bit. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? It must get so boring being cooped up here with girly man over there.” He cocked his head towards Jack in the corner.

“You sure you haven’t got some sort of kinky agenda behind this set-up, Master?” Jack called out from the corner. “All tied up, so you can do what you want with me. You sure it’s Lucy you’re in love with right now?”

The Master looked at Jack and ran a finger across his lips. “Shut up, I’m trying to have a conversation with this sweet young thing. Unless watching him die again is something you want.”

Jack fell silent. The Master crouched down in front of Alex. “We’re going outside, Alex. Let’s go visit Daddy, shall we?”

Alex looked up. “He’s alive?” he said, desperately. “My dad’s alive?”

The Master nodded, cupping a hand to Alex’s cheek. “Oh yes, he is, kiddo. And he misses you so much. Let’s say we go and say hello, shall we?”

Alex nodded. The Master put a hand into his and pulled him up from the floor.

“Is he okay?” Alex asked. “I just want to know.”

“Oh, he’s doing just fine!” the Master said. Alex wasn’t sure if it was sarcasm in his voice or not. “Come and see.”

Without another word, Alex felt the plastic bag being put over his head and then he was being led out of the cell.

“Hey! Where are you taking him?” Jack called out. “Don’t you dare! You leave him alone!”

The Master didn’t answer, but he still continued to frogmarch Alex out of the room and up a set of stairs. “Daddy’s so looking forward to seeing you, kiddo.”

Alex didn’t say anything from under the bag. He didn’t want to waste time saying anything to the man who had caused all of this to happen. That had caused him so much pain and suffering. He just hoped that Jack hadn’t been lying to him.

After the stairs, he felt himself being led through a door and then forced down into a chair.

“Doctor!” he heard the Master call out. “I have a surprise for you!”

Faintly, Alex heard the squeak of what appeared to be a wheelchair in his ears. That was when he felt his two hearts sink. A wheelchair could only mean one thing… and it wasn’t good. Now he didn’t want the Master to take the bag off of his head. He’d rather face the cattle prod again than see what was in front of him.

“Dad?” he said, but the bag muffled his words.

“Speak up, Alex,” the Master said. “Nice and loud for your old dad to hear.”

The bag was removed, and Alex almost screamed.

His father sat in front of him, but it wasn’t the father he’d seen before he regenerated. What sat in front of him was a withered old man in a pinstriped suit. His face just stared at him from sunken eyes, a small tuft of white hair clinging to his scalp. His expression was blank and emotionless, but he could see in his eyes that it was the Doctor, his father.

“Dad…” Alex said. “Dad… what have they done to you?”

The Doctor didn’t answer, he only stared.

Alex looked up at the Master, still towering over him.

“What have you done to him?!” he shouted. “What have you done?!”

“Now, now, Alex,” the Master said, bending down. “Aren’t you happy to see your darling father?”

Alex looked back at the Doctor and almost burst into tears. This was all his fault. If he’d only listened and hadn’t tried to play the hero, none of this would have happened. He’d still be the person he was and his father wouldn’t be sitting here like this.

“Aww, I think the time tot is about to cry,” the Master chuckled. He crossed to the wheelchair the Doctor was sitting in and wheeled it closer to Alex. “Look, Doctor, your little boy is going to cry. Don’t you want to hug him? Take him in your arms and tell him you love him forever and ever? Don’t you want to comfort your baby boy?”

The Doctor just stared into Alex’s face, his expression still blank. Except for a tear running down his cheek. As soon as Alex noticed it, he broke. He put his hands up to either side of his father’s head and pressed his forehead close to him.

“Dad… I’m so sorry!” he sobbed. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen!”

The Master just stood, watching and grinning. This is exactly the sort of reunion he had hoped for, and it was just going to get better.

“I love you, Dad,” Alex continued. “I love you so much, Dad. Please, just talk to me!”

“I think that’s enough for one day,” the Master said, standing up. “Say bye bye now, Alex. You won’t be seeing your father for a long time now.”

“No!” Alex shouted, as more security guards appeared seemingly from thin air and dragged him up from the chair. “No, I’m not leaving him! Let me go!”

As Alex was dragged away, the Master crouched beside the Doctor in the wheelchair and lifted one of his hands. “Bye-bye, son! Love you!” he called, a sadistic grin on his face.

“DAD!” Alex screamed. “LET ME GO! DAD!”