"She left with John? Did she say where she was going? Did she say why?" Jack asked Ianto, gripping the edge of his desk tightly.

"She only said that you would know," Ianto managed, his voice constricted.

"Well, did John say anything?"

Ianto nodded. "A name."

"What name?" Jack pressed.

"Adria."

Jack slumped into his seat in shock. "Why now?" he whispered to himself.

"Jack? Who's Adria?" Ianto asked him, concerned and confused.

"She is. Sage. It was her name before her initiation. Her real name. Has to be. It's the only reason I can think of for her leaving that way. Did she take anything with her? Her suitcase, anything?"

"No," Ianto told him, "but John had her gun. Lots of guns, actually. He looked like he was setting out to war."

"He always does. She's the one that doesn't, not even in the middle of one... Ianto, she has to have said something else. Anything. Some sort of clue..." Jack pressed.

"There was one thing..." Ianto ventured.

"What?"

"Bad Wolf."

"Shit," Jack winced.

"What does it mean?"

"Anything. Everything. Whatever it is, it's bad."

"You never knew her real name before, did you," Ianto asked him softly.

"She always said she could only reveal her true name if one of two things was happening," Jack said.

"What things?"

"Her wedding, or the end of the universe. So unless she's marrying John..."

"She told me to tell you that she loves you," Ianto stated, dismissing that option outright.

"So if it's Option B, the end of the—" Jack stopped, cleared his throat, and tried again. "If something terrible is coming, how would John have known?"

"Darkness," Ianto murmured.

"What?"

"She's trying to hold back the Darkness," Ianto said. The rest... even I didn't know. Not then.

"Give me your phone, Sage," John told me when we arrived. He'd teleported us out of the plaza in front of Torchwood Tower without a word, and I was rather surprised to be arriving in an apartment.

"You're going to have to buy me a new one," I told him before handing over my mobile. He smashed it with the butt of his gun before anyone back at the Hub could have a chance to trace its GPS. He handed me my gun and shoulder holster, which I strapped on, then two more handguns that I slung low on my hips, gunslinger-style like John wore his own. I put on my coat and wandered into the main room of the apartment as he was sorting larger guns in a duffel. "This was Owen's flat," I called out to him, recognizing the view of Cardiff Bay and the back of the Millennium Centre.

"Was it?" he said, bringing me two much larger guns. "All I knew was it was vacant."

"These are Preacher rifles," I remarked. "Where did you find these?"

He shrugged. "Jack had them. There's a few more, as well as some gorgeous machine guns that look a bit like the blasters Daleks use. I think these are the ones we'll need, though."

"Why are we here?" I asked him.

"Something's coming," he replied simply, slinging a couple of Preacher rifles over his own shoulders.

"Yes," I said, "but how did you know?"

"I had your dream," John said offhandedly. "These straps are a bit long. Make sure you tighten yours up to a comfortable height. I'm not sure how long a wait we have ahead of us, so it's best if our weapons are ready from now."

"You had my dream," I echoed as my hands worked the straps on auto-pilot. Dad would have been sorry to see how quickly I adapted to each new weapon.

"It wasn't the first time," John told me. "You're the one who drew me to Gallifrey to begin with. You even told me where to land to get past their shielding."

"Did you really give me this on a lark, John?" I asked him, holding up my Vortex Manipulator.

"No," he admitted. "You told me to. I didn't know why; maybe a part of you did, though."

"Why did you take me away from them, Johnny?" I asked him of Ianto and Jack. "I wanted to protect them."

"We will. We have to do it from here, though. From the outside."

"How do you know that?"

"That's what you told me. You didn't explain. The girl, the blonde girl, said 'Bad Wolf'. You said 'It's time.'"

"Time for what?" I pressed.

"To call you by your name. To help you fulfil your purpose. That's all you said, Sage. Should I find a fortune teller to get the rest?" John said, only half joking.

"I know one," I admitted. "If she saw this coming, she never said."

Just then we felt the ground shudder beneath our feet. "Is that an earthquake?" John asked me, but he had the look of a person who knew they were asking a dumb question and couldn't help but ask it anyway.

"More like an earthshock!" I said loudly as the rumbling increased. "Hold on!"

"To what?!" he cried out. There was nothing but us in the flat, after all.

"To me!" I shouted, reaching out my hand. Our guns clattered against each other as I pulled him into my arms. I felt John press his face into the crook of my neck, and I didn't blame him. The floor-to-ceiling windows of the flat cracked and threatened to shatter, but ultimately held as the tremor ceased. "Great Goddess!" I exclaimed in a whisper.

When John looked up, he murmured, "It's night..."

"No, love," I told him. "The sun is gone. Or rather, we've been taken away from it. Look up there. Can you see it? That's Woman Wept. That one over there is Pyrovilia."

"Is that Adipose III?" he asked me, pointing to another planet above our heads.

"I don't know that one, but if you think so then it probably is," I conceded.

"What the hell just happened?" John murmured.

"We've been stolen," I said plainly. "Moved across time and space."

"How? Why? Who could even do that?" he asked me, looking offended even though it wasn't his planet that had been taken, or even mine.

"Someone who's tried it before," I murmured. "Daleks. Give me your guns, quickly!" I told him, pulling my Sonic Penlight from my pocket.

"Which ones?"

"The blasters. Dad boosted some of them for Dalekanium, but I don't know which ones these are." I adjusted the frequency on the rifles, then let loose a string of curses.

"What is it?"

"I miss Tosh. She'd have been able to check the others at the Hub. She knew her sonic modulators," I told him. "And we can't teleport back. They'd trace it."

"Are you sure it's Daleks?" John asked me, giving me the sort of look you give your superior officer when they start to lose control.

"I'm positive. Stop looking at me like I'm losing my grip, John Hart," I said firmly, handing him back his rifles and slinging my own two back over my shoulders. "They're coming for us, and I'm the only Time Lord here. I've got little experience and even less authority, but you and I have got to take a stand. When they head for Torchwood, and they will, we've got to take out as many as we can before they get past their defences."

"And then what?" he asked me, but he was getting that arrogant bring-it-on look I needed.

"If we go down, we go down fighting," I said.

He suddenly pulled me flush against his body and have me a firm, passionate kiss. "I love you, you devil," he hissed. "I never thought I'd be following little Adria to war," he then added, "but now that it's come, I couldn't ask for a better partner."

"I'm glad to have you, too," I said. "Now let's see if we can get a radio signal or something," I told him, fiddling with my wrist strap. "Daleks get pompous when they've got the upper hand. They may give something away." John tilted my chin up gently, looking me in the eye as he kissed me again. "What is it?" I asked him. I'd never seen him look so sad, not even the night Owen and Tosh died.

"I love you, Adria. From the first moment you whispered to me in the dark," he murmured. "I know I've lied to you. More times than I can count, really. But I love you. I always have. No matter what happens, I always will."

"And I love you, John," I admitted to him and to myself. "But I love them, too. I need you to help me save them. Not just Torchwood. As many humans as we can. They're a misguided and foolhardy lot, but I love them."

"You're the most forgiving soul I've ever known, Miss Sage Smith," John remarked. "Try getting that signal. We may survive this yet."