Legion of Steel


Author note:

This is book 4 in my Doctor's Destiny series, and is set twenty years after Book Three, Phantoms.


Summary:

Two decades have gone by since the Seventh Doctor's path last crossed with Rebel, the Fourteenth Doctor. And Alice Mcshane-Smith is now a young woman with many questions about her Time Lord father's past.

When the Doctor and Ace tell Alice about how the Master almost killed him with his manufactured Toxin, the subject of her father's future incarnation comes up, and Alice asks to meet Rebel.

Ace is against the idea of this reunion, mainly because the Doctor once had an affair with Carla Bailey. But the Doctor agrees, and takes Alice to a house in the countryside, where he tells her the Fourteenth Doctor now lives, with his days of travelling space and time now over.

When Alice meets Rebel, she is fascinated to think this man who is nothing like her father is a future version of him, and as they sit and talk, she asks him why his Tardis sits in the rambling garden almost hidden by ivy and over grown weeds. She also wonders why he is completely alone, without Carla or his close friend Riley...

Rebel explains that his life changed forever many years before, when he came up against a mortal enemy that would shatter everything he held dear:

The Cybermen. But not the kind he had known before – these creatures were semi-organic and had branched out on their own, seeking pleasure in furthering their scientific knowledge to serve the Cyber race by using humans for sadistic experiments...

And then the Doctor, Ace and Alice listen while Rebel relates the tale of the day that changed everything, when the Cybermen captured the Tardis and forced him to take on the hardest fight of his life, a fight that saw him lose far more than he could ever have imagined possible...


Rated:T


Warning: Contains scenes of violence and torture.


Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is a work of fan fiction.


Chapter 1

As the Doctor stepped out of the Tardis, Ace followed.

It had been twenty years since they had visited the planet of Sabra, and nothing had changed – yet – it would be another thirty years before the planet became an Earth colony.

"The research centre is still standing," the Doctor remarked, "Although I see it's been converted further... new windows, a nice roof – it looks like a proper home now."

"Lexi and Venx must have decided to stay on," Ace replied, "I bet they'll be surprised to see us again!"

And they heard the Tardis door close a short distance behind them.

"Wait for me!"

They stopped walking and turned back to see their daughter Alice hurrying across the field to join them. Ace smiled as she looked at her Professor.

"She looks like you."

"And she's got your attitude!"

"Then she got the best of both of us," Ace replied, and the Doctor thought about it for a moment and then amusement danced in his eyes.

"So you're saying I'm just a pretty face?"

Ace laughed and he pretended to jab at her with his question mark umbrella.

Alice had caught up with them. She stood there slightly breathless from her dash from the Tardis, in her white top and short dark skirt she looked much like Ace in her youth, but her hair was long and dark and her eyes were blue, but seemed a shade darker at times when she thought deeply or her temper flared. She was very much like the Doctor in many ways, but certainly had her mother's attitude.

"Thanks for waiting for me!" she exclaimed, "We just landed on a strange planet and you two went off without me, so much for caring parents!"

And the Doctor and Ace exchanged an amused glance.

"You wanted to know where you were born, you said so when we were talking about the past – so here you are – not in a strange place," the Doctor said.

And Alice looked around, saw the deep blue sky and the lush green fields, and looked back at her parents in confusion.

"I've never been here before."

"This is Sabra," Ace told her, "You were born here."

And then she understood.

"So this is the place where all the other stuff happened too – when you was ill, Dad - you know, that part Mum doesn't like to talk about."

And the Doctor glanced at Ace. The Doctor had barely aged at all over the past twenty years, and time had been good to Ace too, even though she was twenty years older and had carried and raised a child, she was still pretty, her light brown hair still touched her shoulders and she still tied it back in a ponytail. And her own clothing was not much different to her daughter's, except Alice was two dress sizes smaller.

"I didn't know you still felt that way," the Doctor said, "Ace, I thought we'd put that behind us?"

Ace gave a sigh.

"I tried, Professor. But look at it from my point of view – how could I ever forget what you went through, what we went through? I often think about it, and then I feel so grateful it turned out okay in the end."

The Doctor silently decided it would be good for all of them to discuss the past, and soon, once they reached the house and revisited the place where so much had defined their future, because Alice knew little of what had happened and he was aware that she had drawn her own conclusions, and was rather mistaken by those conclusions, too...

"We can talk about this properly when we get to the house," he said, and as he turned to walk on, so did Ace.

Alice ran to catch up again, and as she spoke again the Doctor recognised the look in her eyes – she had many questions to ask...

"So what actually happened here, apart from me turning up?" she said, "I know you said this was the place where..."

And then she fell silent.

They were almost at the entrance to the house, and they stopped walking again as Ace caught the look in her daughter's eyes and then she gave a heavy sigh, regretting a night a couple of years back on Alice's eighteenth birthday, when she had shared a little too much wine and the secret had come out, as secrets often did when booze was concerned, and she had mentioned Carla Bailey and her father had once had an affair...

"Not again," the Doctor said wearily, also recalling that difficult explanation two years ago, a confession he had hoped he would never have to make to his own daughter...but she was twenty years old now, she was old enough to accept parents could make mistakes...

"Yes, this where I got involved with Carla," he said, "And like I told you before, it was over very quickly and the last time I saw her she was with Rebel."

Alice looked at him with interest.

"Your Fourteenth self? In a way, he's my Dad too?"

"Every version of me is linked to you by DNA, but I'm your father."

"And it wouldn't have happened at all without his help," Ace reminded him.

Alice recalled the story and understood at once.

"Because he healed you – that's how I got here. So in a way, he's more of a father to me than any of the other versions of you, because he helped you conceive me."

"You're right about that," the Doctor agreed, "My body was wrecked by the anti toxin. But it kept me alive until I found a cure."

And then he caught a flicker of sadness in the eyes of his wife as Ace remembered the pain he had been through.

"Come on," he said, "Let's see if anybody's home."

And he went up to the front door and pressed the buzzer.


As the Doctor waited for a response, Ace hung back with her daughter.

"Lexi's got a Sontaran boyfriend," she said, "If she says he's out in the swimming pool, just don't look out the back."

"Why?" Alice asked her.,

"He swims in the nude," she replied, "Believe me, you don't want to see a naked Sontaran, because once you've seen it, you can't un see it, know what I mean?"

And then she laughed and so did Alice.

"I'll try to remember that," her daughter replied.

And then the door opened and Alice saw a woman in a long, pale summer dress with fair hair tied up and secured with a diamond clip standing in the doorway. Her long gold ear rings shimmered in the sunlight and she recognised her visitors instantly and smiled.

"Doctor! And Ace too! It's been too long!"

"And this is Alice, our daughter," Ace added, and Alice smiled.

"So you're the one who fancies Sontarans?"

"Alice!" Ace exclaimed, and the Doctor smiled.

"I'm the one who marries Sontarans," Lexi corrected her, extending her hand and flashing a gold band and a large diamond ring above it, "Me and Venx married fifteen years ago. And We have managed to secure building rights on one third of this planet, meaning that when it does become a colony, we are going to be very wealthy."

"Where is he now?" the Doctor asked her.

"Off securing another contract for more construction to begin," Lexi replied as she led them into the house, "We've decided to keep this place as our home, plus guest accommodation and the medical centre is still there – but when we get permission to build, the next phase is to get some apartment blocks added, of course no one can live there until it becomes a colony but its going to be worth the wait."

"It could take years," The Doctor replied, recalling how history stated the planet had another thirty years to wait for colonial status.

Lexi smiled.

"It will be an investment for us, and our children," she replied.

Ace stared at her.

"You and Venx have kids?"

"It was a difficult decision," Lexi admitted, "What with him being part of a clone batch...but I talked him around in the end. We have a son and a daughter, they go to school on Eden Earth and Venx picks them up and files them back here to Sabra for weekends and school holidays."

And then she looked thoughtfully at her visitors.

"So, what brings you back here?"

"We wanted to show our daughter around the place," the Doctor said, "You remember she was born here..."

Lexi smiled.

"Of course you can look around! Take your time, you know you're always welcome. Will you be staying long?"

"Not this time," he told her, "But thanks for the offer."

"Maybe next time, then," Lexi replied, "It's always good to see old friends. And now I'm going back to the pool to top up my tan."

And she smiled sweetly and walked off in the direction of a front room, where doors were wide open leading to the pool area outside.

Alice looked to her father.

"I've often wondered about that anti toxin treatment you had," she said quietly, "I mean, will I ever have to go through that?"

"What?" Ace exclaimed.

Alice looked nervously at her mother, and then her father.

"I don't know much about it, but is it inherited?"

And the Doctor caught a flash of fear in her eyes.

"No!" he told her at once, and then he gave a sigh.

"We should have told you everything a long time ago! Come on, let's take the lift to the second floor, I'll explain on the way."


As the lift began to climb, the Doctor spoke up.

"You may have heard me mention an old enemy of mine – the Master. He developed a toxin designed to kill me. That's why I was here having the anti toxin treatment. It was a poison, Alice. So you can forget about inherited diseases, I'm a Time Lord, you've got great DNA!"

"And mine isn't too bad either," Ace reminded him, and the Doctor looked at her and smiled, his hearts filling with warmth as he recalled the day of their daughter's birth.

Then the lift came to a stop and the doors opened.

The Doctor led the way, walking out with confidence, but as Alice followed him, she turned back and caught a flicker of hesitation in her mother's eyes.

"Bad memories," Ace said quietly, and then she stepped out of the lift and they began to walk towards the medical centre.

"This was where I had my treatment," the Doctor said, "Carla Bailey did keep me alive, no matter what else happened, she did save me."

"Amongst her other achievements,"Ace muttered, and the Doctor turned and looked at her. Alice had walked on up the corridor, looking into empty rooms as she explored the deserted second floor.

"I thought we put that one to bed years ago," the Doctor said.

"Like you asked me to go to bed with Rebel?" Ace replied, "No, I never did think it was about evening up the score – I'll always remember what you did with her, I wish I could forget, but I can't. Can you blame me for feeling hurt all over again? It's not easy coming back here."

The look in his eyes softened.

"No I don't blame you – but this is also the place where Alice was born. We should have told her everything a long time ago."

Ace nodded.

"I now that – I feel bad that she didn't understand about the toxin."

"But she knows now."

They walked on up the corridor and as they reached the room where the Doctor had spent so many days suffering the effects of the anti toxin, memories of old pain shaded his eyes.

"Alice," he said, "This was my room. It's also the room where Rebel was treated."

Alice joined him in the doorway, looked inside and then she recalled the story:

"He was dumb enough to let someone use a faulty laser on him, and it shot him in the head? I can't believe that guy is you, a few regenerations down the line! I mean, you're so sensible and he's such a chancer!"

"He probably isn't now," the Doctor replied, "I'm sure he's changed a bit in the past twenty years."

Alice fell silent for a moment as she thought some more on the subject of the toxin.

"This Master – he won't ever come back, will he? I mean, he won't come after you again, Dad?"

The Doctor smiled.

"No, Alice. Who knows, maybe one day, eventually, a thousand years from now. But he's lost out in space at this moment in time, it's going to take him a very long time to get out of there."

"He wont bother us again," Ace promised her.

"Good," Alice said, "Because if he did, he'd have me to deal with!"

"Now you sound like your mother!" the Doctor remarked, and Ace laughed.

Then Alice asked a question that had been on her mind for a while.

"Can I meet him?"

The Doctor stared at her.

"The Master?"

"No, Rebel, your Fourteenth regeneration! I really want to meet him, Dad. He healed you, I wouldn't be here today if he hadn't done that. Please say I can meet him."

Ace and the Doctor exchanged a glance.

"He used to drink quite a lot," Ace reminded her.

"And do drugs, yes I know, I remember you told me that part! But that was twenty years ago. And you said, he changed a lot after the accident with the laser. Please, let me meet him."

"What do you think, Professor?" Ace said.

The Doctor thought for a moment.

"All right, I don't see the harm in it," he replied, "But I'm not going back to his crazy days. I'll go straight to where he is now, just to be sure he's a bit older and wiser before he meets you, Alice. I wouldn't want you to see a future version of me drunk or high or on the floor passed out!"

Alice smiled, and looked just like Ace in her youth.

"Thanks Dad!" she said, and hugged him.

"Can we go now?"

"Professor -" Ace said cautiously, but he was still talking to Alice.

"Yes, of course – we'll leave now in the Tardis. We'll all go and pay him a visit, how's that sound?"

"Sounds ace!" she exclaimed, and then she hurried on up the corridor, impatient to get back to the lift so they could be on their way.


As they walked back down the corridor, Ace spoke up.

"I'm not so sure it's a good idea."

"I thought you liked Rebel?"

She caught a sparkle in his eyes and she smiled, recalling the day he had asked her to get closer to him, but then her smile faded.

"I really don't want to see her again, I don't want to see your ex lover."

The Doctor gave another weary sigh.

"I won't think of Rebel that way."

"That's different, you asked me to make some good memories with him, to give him the will to live. But when you got close to Carla, there was no other motive than getting your balls in!"

"You're absolutely right of course, and yes, I did get them in and I'm sorry for doing that, but it's been over twenty years since I made that mistake! Ace, I've told you before – please don't hate Carla Bailey."

And it was then she saw it, a glimpse of something in his eyes, sadness, a haunting look that was there and then gone, but its darkness lingered in his gaze.

She knew her Professor well enough to understand it meant only one thing:

He knew something...

"Not more secrets!" she exclaimed.

"Let's just say Carla has not had the life you've enjoyed for the past twenty years, Ace. I don't know everything about the future but I do recall Rebel had a terrible clash with a rather nasty breed of Cybermen. I would imagine it affected everyone involved...him, Riley, Carla..."

And then he frowned.

"My fault I suppose, for saving her form the Cassandra-Aurora. Every decision that changes fate creates a ripple."

Ace was looking at him intently.

"You've said it before, not to hate her...What happened to her?"

"I don't know," he said, and Ace couldn't tell if he was being honest or hiding the truth.

"Mum, Dad, come on!"

Alice was waiting impatiently by the lift.

The Doctor turned back to Ace.

"Let's get back to the Tardis," he said, "We'll all go and see Rebel – that's the only way we can be certain of anything, and it's about time our daughter met the man who healed me and made her conception possible."

The look in her eyes softened as the Doctor put his arm around her and they walked towards the lift together.

"I suppose you're right," Ace agreed, "And it would be nice to see him again."


After stepping out of the lift on the ground floor and saying a brief goodbye to Lexi, they left the house and walked back across the field to the Tardis, and Alice asked questions all the way.

When the Tardis doors closed and the Doctor finally put in new co ordinates, Alice was still asking questions.

"I wonder if he thinks of me as his daughter?"

The Doctor looked up from the console.

"He probably looks on you as extended family, Alice. You were born in my era, not his."

And he activated the controls, and the Tardis made a familiar wheeze and groan. As they shifted dimensions, the blue skies of Sabra were replaced by the blackness of space.

"It will be good to see Rebel again," Ace said, and the warmth in her voice surprised the Doctor.

"And Carla," he reminded her, "The past is behind us now."

"I suppose so," Ace replied, and then Alice spoke up again.

"I wonder if he's changed much."

"I would imagine his life has changed a great deal," the Doctor said thoughtfully.

And Ace caught that look in his eyes again.

"How do you know where to find him?"

"I traced his Tardis. It's where it's been for the past sixteen years– Earth, 2056," he replied, and then there was no time for any more questions – or explanations – as the Tardis landed.


As the Doctor opened the door and stepped outside, Alice looked around, seeing heavy trees and a sky shaded by evening shadows. A short distance away, up the path through a rambling garden, was a tall house set mostly in darkness save for lights on in the porch and showing through a downstairs window.

"For one minute there I thought we were back on Sabra," Ace remarked as she closed the door of the Tardis behind her.

"No," The Doctor replied, "This is Earth, the year is 2056 and the house we see in front of us was built in 1910, it's set in ten acres of land and it's the country home of my Fourteenth incarnation. He's lived here for sixteen years."

"Maybe no one's home," Alice remarked, and then as they walked down the path towards the house, she noticed something over by the shade of a willow tree, dark blue with stained glass windows...

"That's his Tardis!"

"And it's been standing in that spot for all these years," the Doctor replied, "After we said goodbye on Sabra he travelled for another four years – and then no more, he settled here on Earth."

"Why?"

Ace had that look in her eyes, the one he knew too well – she was about to demand he broke that old stubborn habit of holding back...

"I think we should let him explain," he replied, and went up to the front door.

His finger hovered over the doorbell, and then he turned back to his daughter.

"Why don't you surprise him, Alice?" he said, "I bet he won't know who you are at first!"

Alice smiled.

"Sounds like fun to me!"

And Ace gave a sigh.

"I'm not so sure it's a good idea. Oi! don't drag me into the bushes, Professor!"

He chuckled.

"I've never heard you complain about that before, Ace!"

And then as her parents stepped out of sight, Alice heard Ace giggle.

"Stop it!" she said, and Alice gave a sigh.

"Can't leave you two alone for more than a second without something going on!"

"That's because we have a good sex life, Alice," said her father, and Alice cringed.

"You're my Mum and Dad, shut up!"

And Ace giggled again.

Alice rang the doorbell.

Moments later the door was answered.

Alice stared at the man with dark hair the same shade as her fathers, with blue eyes lighter than her fathers, who was much taller than him and wearing a pale shirt with a print of blue roses all over it and dark blue jeans, he looked and sounded nothing like her father...

"Are you Rebel?"

He looked surprised to hear her ask that question.

"Yes I am, how do you know my name?"

She smiled.

"I'll give you a clue. You got my Mum pregnant."

And he stood there deep in thought for a moment.

"Oh dear," he said, "This must have been back in the old days..I used to be quite wild...was she a prostitute?"

Alice glared at him.

"No!"

He thought again.

"Was she some random girl who climbed on my lap at a party and had sex with me? If I'm right, I'm sorry but I was really out of it and I don't remember much – in fact most of those days are a bit of a blur."

And he laughed nervously.

She glared at him again.

"My Mum's name is Ace!"

And then he breathed a relieved sigh and smiled as his eyes lit up.

"You're Alice? I never would have recognised you! How old are you now?"

"Well it's been twenty years," she reminded him, and then Ace and the Doctor stepped out from the shadows.

"Surprise!" the Doctor said.

Rebel laughed.

"It's been too long!" he exclaimed, and embraced the Doctor and then Ace.

Then he opened the door wide and stepped back.

"Please come in," he said warmly.

And they went inside, and Rebel paused to close the door and shut out the chill of the night air before leading them through to a comfortable front room where a fire blazed warmly in the hearth.


As Rebel took a seat by the fire, Ace noticed he had been leaning on a cane and had now placed it beside his chair.

She took a seat on the sofa with the Doctor while Alice sat on a seat by the window.

"How come you need the cane?" she asked him.

"Old battle scar," he replied, "Part of a very long story."

And then he fell silent and for a moment no one spoke a word as they sat in the cosy room lit by the glowing fire, as tinsel glittered darkly in the shadows and the Christmas tree lights by the wide windows shone like tiny stars.

"It's Christmas?" Alice guessed.

"Christmas Eve," Rebel replied, and he went over to a drinks cabinet and opened it up and poured himself a glass of scotch that ran over ice and made the frozen water crack and snap.

"Can I get you a drink?" he offered.

"Tea would be nice," the Doctor said with a smile.

And Ace got up.

"I'll make it while you catch up."

"Kitchen's down the hall, last door on the right," Rebel told her, and she left the room.


Rebel sat down by the fire and looked intently at the Doctor.

"So what brings you back here?"

"Me," Alice replied, "I wanted to meet you."

He smiled.

"Well its very nice to meet you, Alice."

"What happened after we left Sabra?"the Doctor wondered.

"And why is your Tardis abandoned in the garden?" Alice added.

A look of sadness shaded Rebel's eyes. He fell silent once more and for a few moments the only sound that filled the room was the steady ticking of the clock above the fireplace. Then he drew in a deep breath and looked to the Doctor and Alice.

"We travelled for a few more years, me and Carla and Riley. I'd finally found some happiness with Carla, we were perfect for each other. And Riley, he was just happy to be a part of the adventure. But that was before."

"Before what?" the Doctor asked.

Again he fell silent, pausing to take another drink before looking back at the Doctor and Alice, and again there was a look in his eyes of sorrow, deep sorrow that would haunt him forever...

"Before the day that changed everything," he said in a hushed voice, "Before they shattered everything I held dear."

"Who were they?" the Doctor asked him.

Rebel looked into his eyes and the Doctor could not measure the depth of the pain he saw reflected there.

"Cybermen," he replied.