It worked! It worked! Reviews cure the stomach flu! Patent is pending. =) Thanks everyone.
And, in response to some reviews, I searched for canon references to blue being a color of mourning on Gallifrey or something, and failed to find anything. So…I think that must be fanon. Cool fanon, but ignored in this story, because the Doctor's not mourning, because he still has Rose.
Chapter 10: Oh Look, We've Been Captured...Again
"Are you honestly suggesting," said Hartman, her voice increasing in pitch, "That we just waltz up and let ourselves be captured?"
"Er, no," said the Doctor, tugging on his earlobe. "I'm going to waltz up – well, walk up, I don't dance. Usually." At the last word, he looked pointedly at Rose, and Jack sniggered. "Anyway, we really only need someone to be bait, so I'm going to walk up and ask very nicely to be taken to their leader – "
"Not going to let you, Doctor," said Jack, folding his arms. "Sorry."
The Doctor sighed, annoyed at being interrupted. "And why are you so intent on ruining my brilliant plan?"
"Because last time you were alone with a Cyber-Leader, it tried to gut you."
"That's why I'm perfect bait," the Doctor argued.
"Forget it. I'll do it, seeing as I don't die."
The Doctor shook his head. "They won't be able to tell that you're different until after they've converted you, and an immortal Cyberman doesn't even bear thinking about. I'm not taking that risk. Besides, I need to set this beauty off." He extracted a small metallic ball from his pocket and held it up for them to see. "Electromagnetic pulse. Tiny one, only works for a few seconds, but it should delay the Cybermen for a few moments while I hook the code into the transmitter."
"Great, you do that, and I'll be bait," reasoned Jack.
"You're not being – "
"I'll do it," Rose volunteered.
"No," the Doctor said instantly.
Rose arched an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Why not?"
"Because I…." the Doctor started, then stopped himself. His fists clenched stiffly at his sides as he looked at her, pain evident in his eyes.
"Since when have you been so worried?" Rose demanded, jaw set. "I'm not going to live in a bubble. I want to help."
"Well, then I'm going too," Jackie announced. "You're not going in there alone. Two's better than one, right?"
"And three's even better," said Hartman, making up her mind, "Count me in." Rose glared at her suspiciously. "Oh, get over yourself, Tyler. I serve Queen and country, and right now that means getting rid of those Cybermen. And those bastards murdered my team."
"Fine, then," Rose snapped. She turned back to the Doctor, "So we'll be bait, you follow us all up to wherever the Cyber-Leader is and do your thing, yeah? And Jack will follow behind us too and blow their heads off if they try to, I dunno, upgrade us or something. Alright?"
The Doctor swallowed. "Alright."
"Alright," Rose repeated, smiling.
"Alright," he echoed, smiling back.
"Alright already," said Jack impatiently, "So how about we find the nearest Cybermen?"
"Yes! There's two of them…" The Doctor consulted the oscillator and his wandering finger pointed every which way before finally settling on a direction. "That way."
The two Cybermen marched up and down the hallway on patrol, their heavy metal footsteps echoing in the hall. Soon everyone would be the same. Soon everyone would be Cybermen.
Rose Tyler stepped from around the corner, biting her lip nervously. The Cybermen's guns swiveled to her chest, and she raised her hands in the air.
"We surrender!" she called, as Jackie and Hartman emerged behind her, hands raised.
"You wish to be upgraded?" asked one of the Cybermen, still aiming the gun.
"Not yet," said Rose hurriedly, "Take us to your leader first." Her lips twitched upward slightly at her words. The Doctor was right, it was fun to say that.
"You must be upgraded first."
"We have vital information for your leader," said Hartman calmly, "That he must receive immediately."
"Yeah, it's really urgent," Rose added.
"What they said," Jackie squeaked in terror.
"Communicate this information and I will upload it to the Cyber-Leader."
"Doesn't work like that," said Rose, gaining confidence, "It can't be…uploaded. We've got to tell him in person."
The Cybermen paused to consider. "You will tell our Cyber-Leader this information." The women nodded and placed their hands on their head. Keeping their guns trained on the three women, the Cybermen marched them down the hall.
Behind them emerged Jack and the Doctor, who was clutching the oscillator so tightly his knuckles were white. Jack adjusted the enormous homemade gun strapped around his shoulder as they quietly stalked the Cybermen.
"So far, so good," Jack muttered as the Cybermen turned the corner ahead of them.
"All my plans are good," the Doctor breathed, listening intently to the pounding footfalls of the Cybermen and the softer steps of their captives. "Well, most of them…"
A sudden loud crash came from the direction of the Cybermen, followed by gun blasts and screams.
The Doctor and Jack bolted down the corridor, practically tripping over each other in their haste. Hearts pounding, they rounded the corner in a panic.
The two Cybermen lay twitching helplessly on the floor, limbs writhing in a robotic seizure. Rose, Jackie, and Hartman all were still in surrender position, mouths gaping open in surprise at their rescuers.
The Doctor and Jack slid to a halt. They were greeted by yet more people with guns – two of them.
"Nice shot," said Hartman, removing all shock from her face. "Ianto, isn't it?"
"Yes. To be fair, Lisa hit one too." The woman next to Ianto shrugged.
"You're Torchwood employees?" asked the Doctor. "How'd you know to take out your comms? How many of you are there?"
"Never liked those comms," said Lisa, slinging her gun over her shoulder, "Gave me a headache. As for the rest of us? Luck, I guess."
"There's about thirty or so of us holed up in the Weapons Development Lab," added Ianto. "We volunteered to go searching for other survivors."
"There's more of you?" The corner of Hartman's lips turned up in relief.
"Well, thank you," the Doctor nodded sincerely, "Really, thank you. Usually I appreciate it when people rescue my friends….and people nearby them. On this occasion, however – "
The booming stomp of metal boots approached from around the corner.
"That's a lot of them," Ianto said grimly. "Backup comes quick once you shoot one of them. We're not going to have time to run."
"Delete. Delete. Delete."
"Yes you do," said Jack determinedly, waving his gun. "Run, I'll hold them off."
"Delete. Delete. Delete."
"They'll kill you!" said Ianto.
"Delete. Delete. Delete."
"Maybe. But it's not that bad of a way to go, really. I've had worse."
The Cybermen were close enough to fire, and their blasters emerged from their wrists.
"Well, don't just stand there!" said Lisa, "Everyone, this way!" She waved her gun in the appropriate direction and ran. Jack caught the Doctor's eye and nodded. Reluctantly the Doctor turned and ran with the others.
Jack stood his ground, aimed, and fired, blasting the first Cyberman in the chest. The others put more space between them and the Cybermen as Jack hit two, three, four….He pulled the trigger once more, and nothing happened.
Three blasts punched into his chest and stomach at once, and he fell to his knees and collapsed, dead.
As his death cry echoed down the hall, the Doctor slid to a stop, hesitating.
A few more steps ahead, Rose skidded to a halt as she realized the Doctor wasn't following.
"Doctor, you can't – " she started.
The Doctor looked her in the eye. "Run," he told her firmly before spinning on his heel and dashing towards the Cybermen. "Oi, tin men! Unknown upgrade, right here!"
"Doctor!" Rose cried, lunging after him, but Jackie snatched her wrist and yanked her back.
"Didn't you listen? He said to run!" shrieked Jackie. "I'm not losing you!"
Ianto opened a door and beckoned them inside.
"Hurry it up already so we can lock this room down!" Hartman frantically yelled over her shoulder as she entered the safe room.
Meanwhile, the Doctor raised his hands in the air as he neared the oncoming Cybermen. "I think your leader wants to see me! Unknown upgrade, isn't that better than chasing after them?" The Cybermen halted, apparently unsure of what to make of him.
Delighted with their hesitation, the Doctor pressed on. "That's right, eh?" He hit each side of his chest with a fist maniacally. "Two hearts, ba-da-ba-bom, ba-da-ba-bom!" He was now the sole occupant of the Cybermen's attention. "That's right, ignore them, unknown upgrade right here, and shouldn't unknown upgrades be taken to your leader?"
"You can't help him now!" said Jackie, pulling on her daughter's wrist again. Rose cast one more panicked look at the Doctor, who was now completely surrounded by Cybermen, and let herself be dragged inside the door.
As soon as she and Jackie were through, Ianto slammed the door and attacked the keycode panel on the wall, sealing it shut. They all stood inside a dimly lit, long, narrow room that appeared to be used for storage.
"Shortcut to the Weapons Development Lab," Ianto explained to a quizzical Jackie.
"Excellent work, Jones, Hallett," beamed Hartman, slightly out of breath from the running.
"Thank you, ma'am," said Ianto gravely.
"Your friend's mad," Lisa told Rose, "Has he really got two hearts?"
Rose didn't answer. "I'm going back out there."
"Don't be ridiculous, Rose," said Jackie sternly. "You heard the Doctor, he wanted you to be safe."
"Yeah, well who's going to keep him safe?" Rose demanded. "Besides, Jack's still out there."
"Was that your friend with the gun?" asked Lisa sympathetically. "I'm sorry, but he's dead."
Both Tylers ignored her. "But I want you safe, too," said Jackie, her voice cracking.
"Which is why we're all heading to the Weapons Development Lab," said Hartman impatiently. "Or we would be, if you would both shut it."
The Tylers were oblivious. "And I want him safe," said Rose. She stood a bit straighter, her eyes burning with determination. "So I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to go back out there. I'm going to wait for Jack to wake up. We're going to find the Doctor, help him transmit that code, and destroy every last Cyberman in this universe. Every. Last. One." She took a deep breath. "And if I die, well, he would do – has done – the same thing for me."
Jackie was speechless for several moments. "You love him," she finally said.
Rose remained silent, eyes cast down to the floor.
"And I can't stop you, can I?" Jackie's voice dwindled to a whisper.
"No," Rose said firmly, looking her mother straight in the eye. "You can't."
Jackie swallowed. "Well, then…" She turned to Ianto. "Get the door open then, can't you see she needs to go out?"
Jack woke with a gasp to find Rose hovering over him, concern etched over her face.
He groaned and sat up, rubbing his chest where he'd been shot a few minutes before. "Hello, gorgeous. Come to see me up?"
Rose smiled a bit. "You know, I'm never going to take your flirting the same way again. You snogged my mum."
Jack grinned, then looked around. "Where is everybody?"
"Holed up somewhere, dunno."
Jack spotted his gun on the floor and reached for it. "And there's no way the Doctor would leave you out here by yourself. Which means he's done something stupid."
"After you died, he chased after them, beating his chest and going on about being an unknown upgrade."
"Beating his chest? Now that I'd like to see."
"Shut it." Rose helped him up. Jack inspected his gun.
"Dead. There goes that." He dropped it to the floor and kicked it away. "And they didn't even leave me the Cybermen bodies to build another one."
"Probably took them to use for spare parts. Didn't the Doctor say they were rebuilding the upgrading machine?"
"Yeah. Did you see which way they took him?"
Rose shook her head. "Last I saw, they were surrounding him…what if he's…"
"Look, worst that can happen is he'll regenerate. He'll be fine."
"That's not the worst that can happen," said Rose, her forehead creasing in worry, "Remember what he said, that an immortal Cyberman didn't bear thinking about?"
"Yeah…" A renewed sense of unease burned in Jack's gut.
"I think we're better off dealing with an immortal Cyberman than a Time Lord one."
Jack winced. "So we've got no weapons and no idea where he is."
"Pretty much, yeah," said Rose, biting her lip.
"Sounds like old times….Wait!" Jack dug a hand into his pocket and produced his old Time Agency wrist strap. "Times have changed! Bet he's the only one in the building with two hearts."
"Yeah, he sort of went on about that to the Cybermen. You gonna go all Spock on me?"
"What's a Spock?"
"Never mind, old Earth reference."
"Scanning for a bicardial circulatory system….Found him! Let's go, then. What was that the Doctor liked to say? I'll unsee?"
"Allons-y," Rose corrected.
"Yeah, that."
Listening intently for Cybermen, Jack and Rose cautiously moved down the hall.
A/N: Lest I sound like the Wire…Hungry, HUNNNNGREEEE for more reviews. =)