Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter Ten
Lily sighed, her face pressed against Jack's chest as he held her close, and they waited to see what would happen from the Doctor's regeneration.
The light that burst from him was overwhelming, and it shone right in everyone's eyes - they needed to avert their eyes just to keep safe, and they all hoped the Doctor would be alright.
Lily thought that a regeneration was all he needed - she knew he'd be alright afterwards, but regeneration at this stage of his life was bad. They were under the impression that a time lord could have 13 regenerations, and the Doctor was now in his tenth body. If their 13 theory was right, he only had three bodies let and the way be was going through them recently ... well ... it didn't bode well.
Due to facing Jack, what Lily didn't see was the way her father directed his energy at the hand in the jar - his old hand. The energy surged from him, and Lily heard her dad say,
" Now then. Where were we? "
She turned around to look at him and saw her dad standing there, exactly the same person. He hadn't changed a bit and she just stared at him as he went to the controls - she, Rose, Jack and Donna just stared as the Doctor rushed around.
Lily moved forwards from Jack and the others, and rushed to her dad. She threw her arms around his neck tightly and he wrapped his arms around her in return.
" Oh, you're alright," she said, kissing his cheek, " thank God, thank God. "
" Hey," the Doctor said, shaking his head as they broke apart and he kissed the top of her head, " look at me - I'm fine. Same as always. Did you ever doubt me? "
" Just a little," she whispered, barely audible.
The Doctor smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear for her, his fingers brushing her cheek, " You're a good girl, you know that? Leaving your team behind and coming all the way out here, in the middle of a Dalek invasion. "
" Hey, it had to be done," Jack said, shrugging as the others all moved forwards, " got to come to the aid of the father in law. "
Rose looked between them all, thinking about everything she'd missed, and she shook her head, " I've missed so much. You ... Jack, you're alive, and Lily, you've regenerated. And you ... you don't live with the Doctor anymore? And you have a team? And "father-in-law?" You're ... you're married? "
Lily grinned, " Oh Rose, there's so much to tell you. Maybe when we're not under alien invasion we'll tell you the whole story."
" Quick overview? " Rose asked hopefully.
Lily beamed - the two of them had always been close, and Lily told her, " Basically, a year or so after we lost you, I found Jack. Turns out that back on the Game Station, when the Dalek killed him, you brought him back to life. The Bad Wolf energy and all that. Anyway, it's been two years, kind of. Jack and I work for Torchwood. In fact, we run Torchwood Cardiff. And we're not married ... yet ... " she added, holding up her left hand and showing off the dazzling ring.
" Engaged? " Rose grinned, looking at Jack, " wouldn't have had you down as the type ... well, or you," she added, turning back to Lily.
" Guess I changed him," Lily shrugged, " did him some good. Anyway," she said, running a hand through her hair and turning to her dad, " what happened? How didn't you change? "
The Doctor, who'd been working away at the controls, grinned. He got onto his hands and knees and patted the glass jar with the severed hand inside. The jar bubbled and glowed.
The Doctor smiled at the little jar in awe and blew on it gently to calm it down and stop it from bubbling so much. He was delighted as he told them, " You see? Used the regeneration energy to heal myself, but as soon as it was done, I didn't need to change. I didn't want to - why would I? Just look at me! So, to stop the energy going all the way, I siphoned off the rest into a handy bio-matching receptacle - namely, my hand. " Now only to Rose, he said, " Remember? Christmas Day? Sycorax? Lost my hand in a sword fight? That's my hand! "
Rose looked slowly from the hand to him, and now was the moment.
Lily smiled as she watched them - the big moment that they'd been waiting for in their reunion, which they'd both thought would never arrive. It was all so lovely and tender, and Lily folded her arms and watched them with a fond smile.
" What do you think? " the Doctor asked.
Rose edged towards him, " And ... you're still you? "
" I'm still me," the Doctor said with a charming grin, looking very much like a school boy, eyes twinkling like he'd ben given sweets or something.
There was a pause, before the Doctor and Rose threw their arms around each other tightly and hugged with joy. Rose buried her face against him and he stroked her hair gently. Lily and Jack exchanged a smile, so happy for them both, while Donna watched this relationship, which was new to her.
As Donna watched the pair of them hug, the looked at Jack with a sly smile, " You can hug me, if you want," she said.
Jack laughed a little awkwardly, but Donna said, " No, seriously. You can hug me. "
Lily laughed - she knew Donna had had a harmless little crush on Jack since she first saw him, but it was purely based on his good looks and she knew it was something of nothing.
Rose and the Doctor hugged for a long long time, before the Doctor decided that they really needed to focus on the Daleks and Davros. They all gathered around the console and started working away frantically - Lily panicked that they wouldn't be able to come through this, but Jack's hand on her shoulder was of some reassurance to her, however small.
" How are we going to- " Lily started.
The Doctor cut her off, " I don't know," he said before she had chance to finish her question, " but you've got to trust me. It'll work out - I've never let you down before, have I? "
Lily smiled a little, and they got back to trying to work out what was happening.
All of a sudden, from outside, a Dalek bleated, " Report: TARDIS has been located. Temporal prison initiated. "
Inside the TARDIS, all of the power was cut off, and Lily was filled with dread - she'd made the decision to stay strong and she knew that all she could do was stick by her friends and family and make sure they all did the best they could. She knew she had to stay strong, but that was it. That was all she could do.
" They've got us," the Doctor said, shaking his head, " power's gone. " He shuffled around the control panel, pressing buttons, " some sort of chronon loop! "
He'd barely gotten the words out when the TARDIS was thrown violently to one side, and the occupants all fell to the ground. Lily landed flat on her back, and across the TARDIS, she saw Jack fall down and hit his head against the console. She winced on his behalf, and the next thing she knew, her dad was pulling her to her feet.
She smiled gratefuly and then moved over to Jack. He was rubbing the back of his head, and Lily smiled fondly. She reached up to touch his head, but he caught hold of her hand and kissed the back of it instead.
She smiled and then they focused on the situation again.
" Where are they taking us? " Donna asked.
" I don't know," the Doctor said, " I'd track it on the screen but since we've no power ..."
" We had a few screens set up in the hub," Lily said, speaking out, " and we found out that there's a massive Dalek ship at the centre of all the planets. "
" They're calling it the Crucible," Jack added, " I guess that's our destination. "
Donna looked at the Doctor, " You said the planets were like an engine. But what for? "
" Ah! " the Doctor said, suddenly remembering, " Rose! You've been in a parallel world! That world's running ahead of this one - you've seen the future. What was it? "
" It's the darkness," Rose said, " the stars were going out. One by one. We looked up at the sky and they were just dying. Basically, we've been building this um ... this travel machine, this, uh, dimension canon, so I could ... well ... could ... "
" What? " the Doctor asked gently, willing her to say it, " why? "
" So I could come back! " Rose said, as though it were obvious, " Anyway, sudenly, it started to work. And the dimensions started to collapse. Not just in our world - not just in yours. But the whole of reality. Even the void was dead. Something is... destroying everything. "
Donna frowned and looked at Rose, " In that parallel world ... you said to me ... something. "
Rose nodded while Jack and Lily looked on in confusion.
Rose explained, " The Dimension Canon could measure timelines, and it's ... weird. It's weird Donna, but they all seem to converge onto you. "
" But why me? " Donna asked, bemused, while Lily and Jack both thought much the same thing, " what have I ever done? I'm just a temp from Chiswick. "
The computer bleeped and the screen suddenly turned on. " The Dalek Crucible," the Doctor said, " all aboard. "
They all waited to see what was going on, and the TARDIS started to shake - it was landing on the ship and the five of thembraced themselves as it shuddered and shook - there had been many bumpy rides, and Lily clung to the console as the TARDIS landed with a bang and she only just stopped her knees from buckling underneath her.
" Ok," the Doctor mumbled, taking a quick glance over his shoulder, at the closed doors of the ship " this is where you all need to just trust me. It'll work out. You follow my lead. Got it? "
Lily was intruiged, but knew he'd have a good plan, so she simply nodded.
The Doctor straightened his tie, and Jack reached out to lay a hand on Lily's waist. He pulled her closer and with his other hand, laid it on her cheek - it was one of their big romantic kisses, that Jack was good at.
He stroked her cheek gently as he pressed his lips against hers slowly and gently. She smiled into the kiss, and he could feel the smile against his lips as she kissed back slowly and softly.
When they broke apart, Jack smiled slightly and took a step back from her. He put both of his hands on her cheeks and kissed her forehead, before carefully pushing her hair away from her face and over her shoulders.
" C'mon Jack," the Doctor said, rolling his eyes, " I mean, I know I like you and I don't have a problem with you, but I don't want to see you all over my daughter. "
Jack nodded in respect and took a step back from Lily, holding a hand up in surrender to the Doctor, " Alright, alright, I'm sorry. I'm afraid you just raised your daughter too well - she really is too lovely to resist. "
The Doctor rolled his eyes again, " If you say so. "
From outside the TARDIS, a Dalek's voice came loudly, " The TARDIS is secured! "
Another - presumably the supreme dalek - said, " Doctor! You will step forth or die! "
" We'll have to go out," the Doctor told the others, " 'cos if we don't, they'll get in. "
Rose frowned, " I thought nothing could get through those doors. "
" You've got extrapolator sheilding," Jack pointed out, " what more could you want? "
The Doctor shook his head and told everyone, " The last time we fought the Daleks, they were scavengers and hybrids and mad. But this is a fully fledged Dalek Empire, at the height of its power. Experts at fighting TARDIS' they can do anything. Right now, that wooden door ... is just wood. "
Lily's instincts had told her all day that this was going to be a terrible day, and she'd grasped from the beginning the extremely vunerable position they were in, even if no-one else had. Now, for the first time, the others picked up on what exactly they were in, and realised just how serious their situation actually was.
" Let's think about the alternatives," the Dcotor said, " just to run through them. "
" What about your Dimension Jump? " Lily asked Rose, biting her lip.
" It needs another twenty minutes," Rose said, " and anyway, I'm not leaving. Jack, your wrist teleporter? "
" Went down with the power loss," Jack said, shaking his head.
" Right," the Doctor nodded, " in that case, it's all of us together. Donna? You okay? "
Donna nodded silently, and they all noticed how far away she was, trying to work out what was going on. Donna seemed so far out of it, and the Doctor moved over to her in concern, stopping just in front of her,
" I'm sorry," he said, " there's nothing else we can do. "
Donna nodded, " No. I know. "
The Doctor turned to the door and led the way. Lily was the first to follow, then Jack, Rose and Donna. They stood in front of the doors and as the Daleks commanded the Doctor to come out, Rose couldn't help but laugh.
" Daleks," she said, shaking her head.
Jack laughed, " Oh, God. Things like this could only ever happen to us. " He picked up his gun and threw it over his shoulder, ready and armed.
Rose, Jack and Lily all looked at the Doctor - despite the situation they were all confident and all smiling. There absolutely no doubt that the Doctor would get them through this, and they all knew they'd trust him to the very end.
" It's been good though, hasn't it? " the Doctor said looking around at all four of them. His eyes settled first on Donna, " you were brilliant," he told her, making her smile widen. He looked at Jack, " you were brilliant. " Jack grinned. He looked at Rose, " And you were brilliant. " Rose smield sadly. He looked last at Lily, " and you were brilliant. You're so brilliant. " Lily smiled.
The Doctor finally turned to the door, resigned. He took a deep breath and a step out, followed straight away by Jack and Lily, while Donna hung back a bit, nervously. Rose also hung back, as she was tyring to coax Donna into coming out safely.
As soon as they were outside, they saw the Daleks - loads of them. They were on an enormous trip, and the air was just thick with stinking Daleks.
" Daleks reign supreme! " they all chorused in their mechanical voices, " all hail Daleks! "
They chanted this over and over again, and it was really tater annoying, Lily mused. She felt like with her dashing hero of a fiance and trusty dad, nothing could go wrong.
" Behold, Doctor," the Supreme Dalek said, " Behold the might of the true Dalek race. "
The Doctor ignored and Daleks and turned to call over his shoulder to Donna, who hadn't yet appeared, " Donna? Rose? Come on, it's no safer in there! "
There were footsteps but this was broken by the loud slamming of the TARDIS door. At that, thye all turned to look, and the Doctor went to yank open the TARDIS door to find it firmly locked.
" What have you done? " came Donna's loud angry tone from inside.
" Doctor! " Rose bellowed.
" I didn't do anything! " the Doctor insisted, " it wasn't me !"
" Oi! " Donna bellowed, smacking the door loudly, " I'm not staying behind! "
" What did you do? " Lily demanded, turning to the Supreme Dalek, " what have you done? "
" This is not of Dalek origin," came the response from the Supreme Dalek, " the Doctor's Daughter will remain silent! "
Lily tutted - legends had the Doctor down as being the last surviving time lord but Lily had no immense title like his, and went down in the legacy and history of the other races as "The Doctor's Daughter." The Cardiff police and UNIT also referred to her as "First Lady of Torchwood" since it was obvious that she ran Torchwood every bit as much as Jack did.
" The Doctor's Daughter will not remain silent! " Lily laughed, as Jack allowed himself a smirk - as if anyone could tell Lily what to do. " Let them go - they're our friends !"
" This is Time Lord Treachery! " the Supreme Dalek accused.
" What? " demanded the Doctor, " but I didn't close it - it closed itself! Let them out - both of them! "
" Nevertheless," the Supreme Dalek continued, clearly not caring about it at all, " the TARDIS is a weapon and will be destroyed. "
They all watched in horror as the TARDIS fell through a trap door that it was sat on. The TARDIS shot down a tunnel, and Lily gasped, staring down the tunnel in horror
" No! " she shouted, starting towards it, though she wasn't sure what she was going to do about it.
Jack rolled his eyes - sometimes his girl was more trouble than she was worth, but he wouldn't give it up for anything. He loved the fact that she was so passionate about what she believed in, even if it would get them into trouble if he didn't keep an eye on her.
He acted fast and grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back firmly.
" What're you doing? " the Doctor demanded loudly, " bring it back! The woman I love it in there! And so's my friend! "
" Oh my God," Lily said, muttering more to herself than to anyone else, " she's going to ... she'll ... she's going to ... they're both going to - Rose and Donna ... "
Jack looked at her and nodded - he knew what she was talking about, but said nothing - he refused to think about the fact that Donna and Rose could die down that tunnel, even though he kenw it was a very real possibility. Lily stood at his side unmoving and still staring at the place where the TARDIS had just disappeared down.
" What're you doing? " the Doctor demanded again, panicking, and feeling veyr much the same way that Lily was, " where's it going? "
" The Crucible has a heart of Z-Neutrino Energy. The TARDIS will be deposited into the core," came the Supreme Dalek's reply.
Lily's jaw dropped and her eyes widened in horror, " You can't! " she said loudly, drawing all attention to herself, " you've taken the defences down! It'll be torn apart! "
Everyone else was getting worked up and Lily pointed in the direction of the tunnel, " Donna's still in there! She's a human being! Rose is in there too! They're just human! "
" Let them go! " Jack demanded angrily, raising his voice.
" The females and the TARDIS will perish together! " the Supreme Dalek said simply, " observe. The last child of Gallifrey is powerless. "
A holographic screen appeared above them with an image on it - they all turned to look at it, and it was the TARDIS bobbing around in the energy below them. The Doctor watched, powerless indeed, and all he could do was watch his home and his friend be torn to pieces - he could only imagine Donna's fear and he couldn't stand it. And as for Rose, that was something completely different - he'd only just found her. This couldn't be happening.
He turned to the Supreme Dalek and tried his best to plead with him, " Please. I'm begging you. I'll do anything! Put me in her place! You can do anything to me, I don't care, just get her out of there! "
They stood and watched as the TARDIS tumbled around, and Lily was biting down heavily on her thumb - the TARDIS had been her home for so long and she had such a strong connection with it - to watch it be destroyed was like watching a friend die.
The Doctor was in an equally terrible state - he was trembling and breathing heavily.
The Supreme Dalek said, " You are connected to the TARDIS. Now feel it die. "
It was like torture and Lily wanted to kill those Daleks for the way they were making her dad feel, more than anything else - no-one was allowed to do that to her dad! He was being torn up - she knew the only thing that meant more to him than the TARDIS was her herelf.
Jack was furious at what they were making Lily and the Doctor watch, and the TARDIS was being battered.
The Daleks all started a count down of the TARDIS' complete destruction, and Lily stood there, fists curled up, totally unable to move as she watched it.
When the countdown was over, the screen went to black, and the TARDIS was gone. Dead.
" The TARDIS has been destroyed," the Supreme Dalek said, " Now, tell me, Doctor ... wat do you feel? Doctor's Daughter - how do you feel? "
" I have a name, you know! " Lily snapped.
The Supreme Dalek went on as if she hadn't spoken, " You are the children of Gallifrey and your ship is dead. Do you feel anger? Sorrow? Despair? "
" Yeah," the Doctor whispered.
" Then," the Supreme Dalek said, " if emotions are so important, we must have enchanced you. "
" Yeah? " Jack asked angrily, lifting his gun, " then feel this! "
He raised his gun and shot the massive thing at the Supreme Dalek. Lily was completely suprised, and the bullets bounced straight back off the thing - she was also horrified because now she knew Jack was in trouble
" Lily! Get out of the way! " Jack shouted at her, at the same time that the Dalek shouted, " Exterminate! "
A sudden ray was shot straight at Jack, and jack screamed in pain as the ray shot him, and fell to the floor, aparently dead.
" Jack! " Lily shouted, hurrying over to him and kneeling beside him - it didnt matter how many times he died, she was also terrified that it was a death, and the knew how much pain he was in every time he came back to life. And she worried that one day he wouldn't come back to life after all.
" Oh, kitten," she said, kneeling beside him and laying a gentle hand on his cheek.
As she lowered herself to Jack and kissed his motionless lips very briefly, the Doctor hurried over.
The Doctor came along and knelt beside them both, " Lily, come on," he whispered so only she could hear, " you need to let them think he's dead. "
"No," Lily said, " we need to wait for him to wake up. "
"Trust me," the Doctor said.
" Escort them to the Vault - they are the playthings of Davros now! " the Supreme Dalek commanded.
As the Doctor had an arm around Lily, and pulled her to their feet as a Dalek led them from the room. Lily frowned, looking back at Jack - she didn't want to leave him behind, and she didn't understand why the Doctor had told her to leave him - maybe he didn't want the entire Dalek force to know Jack was alive.
Lily looked back at Jack, and was relieved to see him wink at her. She smiled a little and allowed the Dalek to lead the three of them from the room - she looked at her dad, and he nodded in agreement - he knew Jack was alive.
She knew she could trust her dad - she suddenly realised his plan immediately. He wanted Jack to be able to get away from them and help them, but for that, the Daleks needed to think he was out of action, so they needed to think he was dead.
But Jack was alive.
Lily grinned.
Author's Note: My problem now is whether to leave Rose in the parallel universe or let her be with the Doctor. Please let me know what you think
As Donna and Rose are both in the TARDIS, my plan is for there to be some kind of energy transfer between the old Bad Wolf energy and the regeneration energy from the hand, so that there doesn't need to be clone Doctor, and somehow Rose can become part time lord without it hurting her like it would Donna. I'm hoping that this would increase Rose's lifespan and make her a more suitable companion for the Doctor, and rule out the need for a clone Doctor, so that Rose could stay in the non-parallel world with the Doctor. I'm not sure what's happening to Donna yet.
This only then raises issues for the Matt Smith-Amy Pond era, but I could still do a bit of that minus Amy Pond, or even with her, since the Doctor has had more than one companion in the past, and could have Rose too.
Please let me know if you have any thoughts on this - I'm thinking everyone would like Rose and the Doctor to be together properly, but let me know?
I could also use any alternate theories on how Rose could stay with the Doctor, or if everyone would even rather she go back to the parallel world?