"This is a hell of a plan," Dean grumbled as the odd group of seven moved forward.
"Shut up, chosen boy," Clara said, poking him in the back of the head as they crept along the outskirts of a chain-link fence.
Cas had been able to tune the frequency of his angel radio well enough before it pretty much became lost for good. He had discovered the location of the TARDIS: it was in an abandoned warehouse just outside Lawrence, Kansas. Typical, Dean thought, that the angels would choose that town. It was probably Michael's idea, to lure Dean there and trap him while he felt weak. Dean couldn't pretend he didn't feel the pull in his gut to just join with Michael and wreak havoc across the world. How good would it be, to feel that powerful? To have the world under his control? He had to shake off the feeling, though, to focus on the mission ahead. And that mission was, pretty much, use the element of surprise and see what the hell happened after that.
There wasn't an angel in sight. "They'll all be inside, protecting the TARDIS," Cas said. "After all, they can't really get in it to see what Lucifer is doing, so they'll just wait to see if he comes out, I suppose."
"Strange, how they treat the brother they cast out of heaven with such reverence just because he needs to be destroyed so they can get what they want," Sam murmured.
The group stole away towards the warehouse, darting behind trees and bushes to the point that it almost felt absurd. Jack snuck a glance in one of windows, sucked in a breath, and came to report to everyone else.
"It's covered in angels. They're all just sitting around, waiting." He shivered. "I'm sure they're just a step away from full-on attack mode."
"They don't know we're here, though?" Clara said hopefully.
Cas shrugged. "I doubt they're expecting us to do anything this…stupid," he admitted. "They can always sense where their brothers and sisters are, but I'm so cut off from heaven I doubt they have any idea where I am anymore, so that shouldn't be a problem."
"So how do we fight them?" Sam said.
"River and I have dozens of weapons on each of us, but they won't do any good against an angel," Jack said. "My angel stunners are in the TARDIS, and even then it doesn't last very long."
"It's a good thing I collect souvenirs," Cas said softly, and shook out his left trench coat sleeve. Three angel-killing blades came sliding out. Cas took one in his hand, and held out the other two. Sam and Dean wordlessly reached for them, but were beat to it by Jack and River.
"No," the Doctor said, "no, we're not hurting anyone. I won't have that. We're trying to stop the apocalypse so no one gets hurt, we shouldn't hurt people getting to that goal."
The sadness that River felt was almost palpable as she reached over to caress the Doctor's cheek. "Oh, sweetie," she said, and a single tear fell down her cheek as she smiled. The Doctor was about to reach out to her, when River got up and bounded away. Within seconds she was at the main double door to the abandoned warehouse, which she kicked in with a bang. The knife danced between her fingers as she looked upon the hundreds of angels which waited before her.
A grin spread across Jack's face. "God, I think I'm in love with her. Sorry, Doctor." Soon he was right next to her, standing at the door to the warehouse, knife in hand, having the ultimate stare down with an unbeatable foe.
Cas rose to his feet. "Slip in through one of the back windows," he said, gesturing to the far end of the warehouse. "We'll keep the fighting to the front."
"Damn it, Cas." Dean gripped Cas's wrist before he could go.
"Let me go, Dean, you have work to do," he said edgily, wrenching his wrist from Dean's grip.
"I…just, you all be careful, okay?" Dean said brusquely.
Cas's frown deepened. "I'm not going to lie to you, Dean, when I say that Jack, River, and I are embarking on a suicide mission here. This is the last time we will ever see each other."
"Don't say that." Dean was on his feet too. He looked at Cas for longer than Cas could afford, and Cas started to back away.
"Goodbye, Dean."
The angel was soon standing beside Jack and River. The three of them made a wall, blocking the door, as River charmed them with threatening small talk and Jack and Cas stood smugly at either of her shoulders.
"Let's go," Sam said, pulling both Dean and the Doctor along by their sleeves.
"This is all wrong," the Doctor kept muttering.
"Then let's fix this before they tear each other to pieces," Sam said.
The warehouse was one big room. The Doctor, Dean, Sam, and Clara each slipped into the warehouse through a back window, and mercifully, the TARDIS was close. All the angels were moved forward from it, distracted by the looming threat of the trio at the door. The Doctor snapped his fingers, and the TARDIS door opened. The four of them slipped inside it, and the door shut with a creak.
Hundreds of heads turned to look at the TARDIS door just as it shut. Several rushed forward to try to open it again. The rest turned back to look at River, Jack, and Cas.
River held the tip of her knife to her lips. "Whoops."
The TARDIS was darker than usual inside. The Doctor, Dean, Sam, and Clara crept forward, unsure of where Donna would be. The first idea was to check her bedroom, which was the most hopeful and obvious place; unfortunately, she wasn't there. The Doctor then led them around twisting hallways and through gigantic rooms, through libraries and bedrooms and even a swimming pool. The Doctor led the way, followed closely by Dean, and Sam and Clara stood behind them, keeping watch at the back and Clara slightly enjoying the way Sam's tall body would most likely be an easier target than her small frame.
It could have been minutes, or hours, or days before Dean spoke. "Is there anywhere else you can think of, anywhere at all?"
"Oh, yes, there's plenty of places I can think of, all equally terrifying." The Doctor inhaled sharply. "Oh, but then there's that place."
"Specific, thanks," Dean muttered.
"No, you don't understand, it's the absolutely worst place to be. So it's only natural that Lucifer should have sought it out. Nothing's happened yet, I can tell, but it's only a matter of time…"
"Okay, would you stop being cryptic?" Dean hissed.
"How nice of you to finally stop by."
The four companions rounded a corner and stopped at the entrance. It was a huge room, and above it was possible to see through the grated floor near the TARDIS mainframe. The encased pillar of light that was so enchanting to watch when the TARDIS moved continued down here, except it was no longer encased, but a tornado of bright stabs of white light and electricity. It let out a roar that swelled and lowered in volume.
Donna sat nonchalantly directly in front of this swirling mass of light, a smile plastered on her face. The light lit up her red hair, making her head appear that it was on fire.
"Donna," the Doctor breathed, almost moving towards her until Dean restrained him.
Donna tilted her head at Dean's movement. "How cute, how protective," she simpered. "Dean here realized something the Doctor wouldn't have done well to have forgotten: I am not Donna anymore."
"Lucifer," Sam breathed.
Lucifer clapped. "A gold star for Sammy here. Yep, poor old Donna is gone, leaving me with her deliciously unstable and powerful mind."
"You can't do this," the Doctor growled. "You won't start the apocalypse, it's-"
"-not fair?" Lucifer finished. "No, that's not what you were going to say, you'd have some long explanation about the value of human life. But speaking of not fair, you know what's not fair? Getting kicked out of heaven just for loving my own species too much." Lucifer shrugged. "It's like if your parents kicked you out of the house because you loved them and your siblings more than you loved the gerbils. But you know, millennia of dealing with your anger leads to a certain level of acceptance." Lucifer clasped her hands together. "I accepted that I got worse than I deserved and I was going to pay back every ounce of hurt and ridicule I ever got upon those I received it for. That is, the human race."
"These people never did anything," the Doctor said. "You can't just destroy the world for a decision they never made."
Lucifer laughed. "Oh, poor little Doctor. You're so far behind, aren't you? I'm not talking about the world, that's on too small a scale for me." Lucifer grinned. "I'm talking the whole universe, baby."
"The whole universe?" the Doctor said in disbelief. "How would you manage that? You're Lucifer, but you're only Lucifer. You may have a large amount of control over the Earth, but you sure don't have much control outside of that."
"Don't you see?" Lucifer rose now, illuminated by the light behind her. "That's where you come in, Doctor."
The Doctor stood stock-still as Lucifer paced around the light.
"You were always the center of this plan, Doctor. Even though it appeared you were only a helper this time around, you are the catalyst. It is through you that I will rise to power." Lucifer's eyes were shining. "After all, who has had more influence over the entire universe in its entire history than you, Doctor?"
And with that, Lucifer spread her arms and fell backwards into the light. She disappeared.
"No!" the Doctor cried and rushed forward, but soon fell to his knees.
"Doctor, what happened?" Clara yelled, at his side in an instant. "Doctor, tell me!"
"She's…she's rewriting my timeline," the Doctor answered, and he sagged. "Every person, every civilization I've ever saved, she's rewriting the events, and oh, they're all dying, I can hear their screams," he sobbed.
"She's rewriting history?" Dean shouted. "She can do that?"
"She's rewriting my history," the Doctor wept, "and my history is inevitably intertwined with the history of the entire universe."
"So this is how Lucifer is going to manage it," Sam said. "This is it." He and Dean stared at the pillar of light, unsure how it had come to this.
Clara held the Doctor as his body was wracked with spasms and he cried. "I'm the girl who can," she whispered, more to herself than to anyone else. But the Doctor heard her. He looked up at her and mouthed, "Clara, no…"
Clara set him down gently, and said loudly, "I'm the girl who can." Sam and Dean heard her this time, and they watched in fascinated horror as Clara steeled herself, and took a running leap into the Doctor's time stream.
Sam and Dean stood shoulder to shoulder, never feeling as close before as they did at that moment. Both brothers knew each other well enough to know what they were going to do next, and so they did it together. They took a running start like Clara had, and together they dove headfirst into the Doctor's past.