Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter Fourteen
" Dad! " Lily shouted, staring at Wilf, about to choke in the car that was filling with poisonous gas, " Do something! "
The Doctor clutched at his hair, " Yes, but what? I can't always do something - I don't know what to do. "
" Rubbish," Lily said, shaking her head, " you're the Doctor, you can always do something. And you, Jack," she added to the handsome man beside her, " c'mon - think. "
They were spared the thought of thinking of how to get Wilf out of the car, when Donna's mother came running from the house with an axe in her hand. She smashed it straight through the windscreen, and she proceeded to smash up the car, to make a place for Wilf to climb out of.
" My kind of woman," Jack said, looking on, impressed, as Sylvia swung the axe back and swung it to the window again.
Lily raised her eyebrows at him, " Oh really? " She smirked, ready to use her revenge tool - Owen or Ianto. Whenever he made a comment about another woman (or a man) she retaliated by mentioning one of her rather handsome collegues - she wondered how it was that all Torchwood employees were good looking.
Jack shrugged.
Lily smirked, " That's good, because you're really not my kind of man anyway. That gorgeous welshman you employ on the other hand ... in those suits ... "
" You don't think I could wear a suit the way he does? " Jack asked, " oh, I could wear a suit. "
Lily smiled a little, " Thought it didn't matter anyway, 'cause Sylvia's your kind of woman? "
Jack smirked that irresistable little smirk and walked around her so he was stood behind her. He put his hands on her waist and leaned down so his lips brushed against her ear, " Baby, you and I both know that there's only one person I'm interested in. "
When he paused, Lily's lips curled up into a smile, " Go on," she said slowly.
She felt him move in closer, and his lips brushed against her cheek lightly. She smiled and turned her head around so she caught his lips, and she kissed him hungrily, her tounge slipping into his willing mouth with ease.
" Oi! " shouted a loud voice, " Romeo and Juliet! "
Lily pulled away from Jack, and turned to see that her father had been the one who'd shouted them - he was now stood with Wilf, who'd gotten out of the car, Donna and Sylvia.
Ross was by the side of the pavement, sat behind the wheel of a black taxi cab.
" Are you getting in or not? " the Doctor asked them both, as they walked back towards the others with no shame at all. When they reached him, the Doctor looked uneasily at Jack, " Do you have to kiss my daughter like that in front of me? "
Jack shrugged, " I suppose I could tone it down, if you want. "
" Would you? " the Doctor asked, clearly looking uncomfortable, " it's just that, I know you're in love, but - "
" But you're jealous that Jack gets all my attention and you get none," Lily finished, moving from Jack's side to her dad's and slipping her hand in his, " happy now? "
The Doctor smiled a little and got into the cab, pulling Lily with him. Jack got in beside them, and Donna took the front seat, after a little hesitation from her mother, but her grandfather's complete support.
As Ross started to drive, Lily looked at Jack, " I don't think I like being referred to as Romeo and Juliet, do you? Just look at what happened to them. "
Jack laughed, " We'd be a rubbish Romeo and Juliet. If I killed myself, I'd come back to life again, and if you did it, you'd just come back with a different face. "
" Cathy and Heathcliff perhaps? " the Doctor suggested lightly.
Lily shrugged, " No thanks. "
" Ron and Hermione? " the Doctor offered.
Lily shrugged again, " Please, I'm an alien, not a witch ... and Jack's not ginger. "
" Darcy and Elizabeth? "
Lily smiled, " I love that book. Jack's much more of a flirt than Mr Darcy ever was, but Darcy has his Pemberley Estate and we have the hub ... yeah, that'll do. "
Jack grimaced, " Does this mean you'll make me read Austen's stuffy prose? "
" It's not stuffy - it's classic! " she protested, " but if you're that bothered, you don't have to read it. We're watching it though - that adaptation with Colin Firth is amazing. "
" If you say so," Jack shrugged.
When they got back to the ATMOS factory, the Doctor got out of one door, Donna out of the front, and Lily and Jack got out of the side. The Doctor leaned over to talk to Ross, " Ross," he said, " get inside the building, look after yourself. "
" Will do," Ross said.
Lily nodded at him, " Take care," she said.
Ross nodded again, " Yes ma'am. "
Lily smiled a little as she moved away from the car, thinking that Ross was a rather nice young man, and she wondered why she and Torchwood never got to talk to anyone this nice - the people they always dealt with were the boring officey people.
" This air is disgusting! " Donna complained, pulling a face, as they walked towards the TARDIS.
" It's not so bad," Lily shrugged.
The Doctor looked at Donna and said, " Go on then, get in the TARDIS. Oh wait, never gave you a key. " He handed her a key, " keep that! Go on, that's yours. Quite a big moment really! "
Donna shrugged, " Maybe we could get sentimental after the world's finished choking to death. "
The Doctor nodded and started to walk away, " See you later," he said, " I'm off to save the world. " Lily automatically followed him, and Jack automatically followed her.
" Hold on! You can't leave me on my own! " Donna insisted.
The Doctor looked at the pair of them. His eyes flickered between Lily and Jack, and as a plan formulated in his head, he decided that he wanted one of them with Donna, and one of them with him. He missed having Lily around, and decided that he wouldn't mind spending as much time together with her as possible before she went back to Cardiff.
" Fine," he said, looking at them both with pleading eyes, " Lily, with me, and Jack, stay with Donna? "
Lily shrugged - she'd relish the chance to do something with her dad, and she knew she didn't need to spend every moment with Jack. " Sure," she said, before turning to Jack. She laid her hands on his chest, her hands curling into the material of his coat.
" You behave yourself, " she ordered with a smile.
" Don't I always? " he asked with a charming smile, willing to let Lily and the Doctor go off without him because he accepted that they needed some time together again.
At Lily's withering look, he added, " I promise. "
" Good," Lily mumbled, reaching up to kiss his cheek. He grinned and put both of his hands on her face before she could move away from him, and he kissed the tip of her nose lightly, making her giggle.
" See you soon," she said when he let go of her.
" See you," he grinned.
" But where are you going? " Donna demanded, as the Doctor and Lily started moving away.
" To save the world! " the Doctor called over his shoulder as they rushed to the base. They walked ino the base and started going down the corridors.
Lily pulled out her mobile phone while the Doctor glanced at her, " What are you doing? " he asked her curiously as she started looking through her phone book.
Lily rolled her eyes at him, " If the whole world if choking to death, then I'm going to ring up and check on my friends. Tell them to watch what they're doing. "
She dialled Ianto's phone, since she decided Ianto was the most reliable of the lot of them, and most likely to pick up. She'd already left him a message telling them not to go in an ATMOS car, but god knew what was going on now.
" Ianto, it's Lily," she said.
" Lily," he said, sounding confused, " what's going on? I got your message about not using the cars - about not getting in the cars that have ATMOS installed. It's chaos outside - people are choking. There's something wrong with the air. "
" I know, I know," Lily said, " listen where are you all? Are you all safe? "
" We're all in the hub," Ianto confirmed.
" Good," Lily said, " now listen to me, we're trying to sort this out, and there isn't much you can do about it. Just stay inside and look after yourselves - there's nothing you can do to help us so just look after yourselves. We should be home soon. "
" Alright," Ianto said, " are you and Jack safe? "
" Jack's in the safest place in the world," Lily said with a smile, " he's in the TARDIS, and I'm fine too. And tell Owen not to eat everything in the fridge 'cause I expect some food to be there when I get back. I only did the shopping a few days ago. Oh God, listen to me, I sound like a housewife. Ugh. Anyway, see you later. "
" Yeah," Ianto said, souding both confused and distracted, " I'll talk to you soon. "
They turned a corner and found Colonel Mace and Martha together in one of the corridors.
They stopped running, and the Doctor grinned at Mace, " Hello - we're here. Whatever you go, Colonel Mace, do not engage the Sontarans in battle. There is nothing they like better than a war. Just leave this to me. "
Lily cleared her throat.
" Us," the Doctor corrected.
" And what are you going to do? " Mace asked.
" I've got the TARDIS," the Doctor said, as Lily started to understand his plan, " I'm gonna get on board their ship. " To Martha, who Lily looked at properly for the first time, he said, " come on! "
As they walked away, Lily thought that Martha was looking different. Her hair looked thinner, and she smelt different. It took only a couple of seconds for Lily to decide that this wasn't even Martha - this was quite obviously a clone, and she knew her dad would have noticed it.
She glanced at him and while this Martha clone - because she was sure that's what it was - wasn't looking, he nodded ever so slightly. Lily was satisfied with this, and she decided that if he knew and wasn't letting on, he must have a plan, and she'd say nothing either, to follow his lead.
They made their way back to where the TARDIS had been, and Lily stared at the empty spot - the TARDIS was gone, and Lily's thoughts flew to Jack.
She could taste the air and instantly knew it had been teleported by the Sontarans and she sighed when she thought of what kind of trouble they were in - then she frowned. Surely her dad would have anticipated the Sontarans taking the TARDIS - she glanced at him, and he looked back at her
She knew then that he'd wanted the TARDIS taken, so they had someone on the ship.
She rolled her eyes at her dad before looking away, but she knew Jack was capable of taking care of himself.
" Where's the TARDIS? " "Martha" asked, confused.
" Taste that, in the air," the Doctor said, " Ugh. That sort of metal tang. Teleport exchange. It's the Sontarans - they've taken it. I'm stuck on Earth like an ordinary person. Like a human! How rubbish is that? "
Lily shrugged, " It's not so bad once you get used to it. "
" So what do we do? " the Martha clone, who Lily could only think of as "Martha" asked. Lily frowned as she wondered why they'd need a Martha clone, and she supposed it was so they could get close to the Doctor.
The Doctor only stared at Martha, and then asked, " I'm just wondering ... have you phoned your family and Tom? "
" No," "Martha" said, " why? "
Lily raised her eyebrows, " The gas. Telling them to stay inside - I've rung my friends - surely you want to know your family are safe? "
" Yeah, course," "Martha" said, " I'll ring them soon - but what about Donna and Jack, where are they? "
The Doctor lied easily, " Oh, Donna's gone home, she can't handle this - not a soldier like you. And Jack's gone home too to keep an eye on his team. Right, avanti! "
The Doctor grasped Lily's hand as they started to dash off again, and she wondered why he was lying, but knew she should always trust him - he usually had a good reason for everything, and always had a plan.
Back in the base, the Doctor pointed out Colonel Mace and shouted, " Change of plan," as he strode towards him.
" Good to have you fighting alongside us, Doctor," the Colonel said.
Lily rolled her eyes, anticipating a response from her father, which came quickly, as he narrowed his eyes at Mace, " Oh, I'm not fighting. I'm not-fighting. As in not hyphen fighting, got it? Now, does anyone know what this gas is yet? "
Lily thought about Jack - she knew he'd be fine but was still worried about him, because she was always worried about him. She wondered what was happening to he and Donna right now but tried to remain focused on the situation.
" We're working on it," "Martha" said.
Another man said, " It's harmful, but not lethal until it reaches 80% density. We're having the first reports of deaths from the centre of Tokyo City. "
" And who are you? " Lily asked with a smile.
The man, who looked about middle aged, stood up straight and nodded his head at her, " Captain Marion Price, Ma'am," he said, saluting sharply.
" Oh, don't salute, put your hand down," the Doctor said, shaking his head and jerking a thumb at Lily, " don't mind her - she likes a salute. Makes her feel more important. Anyway, what's going on? "
Captain Price added, " Jodrell Bank's traced a signal, Doctor, Ma'am, coming from 5000 miles above the Earth. We're guessing that's what triggered the cars. "
" Sontaran ship," the Doctor nodded.
" NATO has gone to Defcon One, we're preparing strike," Mace said.
The Doctor immediately shook his head, " You can't do that - nuclear missiles won't even stratch the surface. Let me talk to the Sonatarans. "
" But you're not authorised to speak on behalf of the Earth," Colonel Mace insisted.
" Don't be ridiculous," Lily scoffed, shaking her head at the Colonel, " he can do whatever he wants. He's saved this planet hundreds of times and he'll do it again. "
The Doctor was smirking at his daughter's comments and trying not to, as he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and used it to connect the UNIT systems to the Sontaran ship, " Calling the Sontaran Command Ship under Jurisdiction Two of the Intergalactic Rules of Engagement. This is the Doctor. "
On the screen came the image of the General Staal, surrounded by other sontarans, with the TARDIS behind them. Lily looked at the TARDIS, and pictured Jack pacing around the console.
" Tell me, General Staal," the Doctor said, " since when did you lot become cowards? "
" How dare you? You impugn my honour! " Staal growled.
The Doctor smirked, " Yeah, I'm really glad you didn't say belittle, because then I'd have a field day. But poison gas? That's the weapon of a coward and you know it. Staal, you could blast this planet out of the sky, and yet you're sitting up there watching it die? Where's the fight in that? Where's the honour? Or are you lot planning something else? Cos this isn't normal Sontaran warfare. What are you lot up to? "
" A General would be unwise to reveal his strategy to the opposing forces," Stall said.
" Losing then, are you? War not going so well? " the Doctor goaded - something which Lily wanted to do herself.
" Such a suggestion is impossible," Staal said
" What war? " Colonel Mace asked.
Lily turned to the Colonel and said matter-of-factly, " The war between the Sontarans and the Rutans. It's been raging far out in the stars for 50,000 years. 50,000 years of bloodshed. "
" And for what? " the Doctor asked Staal.
" For victory," Staal said proudly, " Sontar-ha! "
The other Sontarans began to chant, and the Doctor rolled his eyes, not at all impressed. " Are you quite finished? " he asked, shaking his head at them in disgust.
Staal shook his head, " You will not be so quick to ridicule when you see our prize. Behold! " he gestured to the TARDIS behind him, " we are the first Sontarans in history to capture a TARDIS! "
" Well," the Doctor said, as Lily began to grow suspicious at the new glint in his eyes, " you're a Jack of all trades, aren't you? And that really is a noble prize. As they say in Latin, Donna nobis pacem. "
Lily turned to look at him quickly, knowing he was trying to give a message to Jack and Donna, and wondering if they were able to watch them or hear them.
The Doctor continued, " Did you ever wonder about it's design? It's a phone box. It contains a phone. A telephonic device for communication. Sort of symbolic. Like if only we could communicate. "
" All you have communicated if your distress," Stall said, though Lily knew better - she knew he was urging Jack and Donna to get in touch with someone and to do something.
" Big mistake showing me my TARDIS," said the Doctor, " cos I've got a remote control. "
He turned the Tv off, no longer needing to be in touch with the Sontarans, and tossing the remote aside.
" That's achieved nothing," Colonel Mace said.
" Oh, you'd be suprised," the Doctor said, throwing a little wink at Lily.
Lily sighed and flopped down into a nearby chair. She folded her arms over her chest, thinking about Jack - obviously he'd be fine, because he was always fine, but all she wanted was Jack. No Sontarans.
" We need to know what the hell's going on," the Doctor said, taking a clipboard from "Martha's" hands as he looked over it.
Before he could look down it, "Martha" said," There's Carbon Monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, but 10% unidentified. Some sort of artificial heavy elements we can't trace. You ever seen anything like it? "
" Must be something else the Sontarans invented," the Doctor said, handing Lily the clipboard to look down, " this isn't just poison, they need this gas for something else, but what? "
Captain Price drew everyone's attention with, " Launch grid online and active. "
" Positions ladies and gentlemen," Colonel Mace said, " Defcon One initatives in progress. "
Lily stood up and glared at the Colonel as she realised what was going on - she'd always been against such massacres like this, but her time at Torchwood has only increased her hatred for violence, since she'd seen so much more, " What? " she demanded, " are you stupid? "
" I beg your pardon? " Colonel Mace asked, looking completely suprised.
" You can't just launch missiles left right and centre! Don't you know what you're doing? " she was furious and she moved closer to him, her finger pointing at her father " he told you not to launch! He's the Doctor - you listen to him! "
" The gas is at 60% density, 80% and people start dying, Ma'am. I don't care who you are, or what the Doctor says, but this is what we're doing. We've got no choice," Mace told her.
Captain Price added, " Launching in 60, 59, 58, 57, 56, worldwide nuclear grid now co-ordinating. 54, 53 .. "
Lily sighed and turned away from the two men in disgust. She turned to find the Doctor standing right behind her and when she backed away, he took over her anger.
" You're making a mistake, Colonel! " he said, " For once, I hope the Sontarans are ahead of you. "
Captain Price said, " North America, online. United Kingdom, online. France, online. India, online. Pakistan, online. China, online. North Korea, online. All systems locked and co-ordinated. Launching in 10, 9, 7, 8 - "
Lily was watching the Martha clone, and wondering why there was a clone and what they'd done with the real Martha Jones - and why the Sontarans, or whoever, had made a Martha clone.
As the countdown reached zero, Lily noticed "Martha" pressing something, and suddenly the screen shut off.
" What is it? " Mace asked, confused, " what happened? Did we launch? Didn't we? "
" Negative, sir," Captain Price said, " the launch codes have been wiped out, sir. It must be the Sontarans. "
" Can we override it? " asked Mace, as Lily and the Doctor exchanged a knowing look.
" Tyring it now, Sir," Captain Price said with a nod.
The Doctor shook his head at Mace, " Missiles wouldn't even dent that ship, so why are the Sontarans so keen to stop you? " looking at the Martha clone, he asked, " any ideas? "
" How should I know? " asked Martha innocently.
There was no time to say anything else, as the radio buzzed, and Ross's voice came through the radio a distinct note of panic through it, " Enemy within! " he shouted, " At arms! Greyhound 40 declaring absolute emergency. Sontarans within factory grounds, east corridor grid six. "
" Absolute emergency," Mace announced to the whole room, " declaring code red. All troops, code red! "
" Get them out of there! " Lily hissed at Mace, " these are people's lives! " Having met Ross, she quite liked him, and because he was so young and innocent looking, she felt a little protective of him.
" The guns aren't working! " Ross shouted over the radio, " inform all troops, standard weapons do not work. "
Lily heard a few of the soldiers screaming as they fell to their deaths, shot by the Sontarans. She brought her hand to her mouth and bit down on her nail, trying not to wince at the screams and trying to keep herself together.
" Tell the Doctor that it's the Cordolaine signal. He's the only one that can stop them," Ross said frantically.
As another one screamed, Lily shouted, " Why are you so stupid? Get them out of there! "
Colonel Mace cleared his throat sheepishly and spoke into the radio, " Trap One to all stations, immediate retreat. Immediate retreat! "
There was static from Ross's radio, and Lily winced, hoping that he was alright - the Sontarans were ruthless and warlike, and Lily hated the thought of Ross being dead.
There followed a tense silence, while the Captain and Colonel monitored what was happening over the systems, and they all waited to hear from any of the soldiers. The Doctor laid a hand on Lily's shoulder and she turned to face him.
He simply looked at her and neither of them had anything to say.
After a moment, the Doctor said, " You make a good leader, Lils. "
Lily scoffed, " Yeah, right. "
" You do," the Doctor said, " you know what's going on, and you're good at being in charge. "
Lily shrugged, " It doesn't matter - unlike you, I don't need to be in charge. When I'm here, there's you, and at home, there's Jack. I don't try to be in charge at home ... it just happens sometimes. "
The Doctor smiled at her, " That's my girl," he said with a smile.
Suddenly the doors to the room swung open and Ross walked in, looking dishevelled, but unharmed. Lily gave him a smile and he smiled back nervously. The Doctor grinned and pointed at Ross,
" There you are! Good man! "
Colonel Mace interrupted them with a clearing of his throat, " They've taken the factory. "
"Why? " the Doctor asked, " they don't need it? Why attack now? What are they up to? Times like this, I could use the Brigaider - no offence. "
" None taken," Mace said, " Sir Alistair's a fine man, if not the best. Unfortunately, he's stranded in Peru. "
" Launch grid back online," Captain Price said.
On the computer screen was a map of the world, but suddenly the screen went black and Lily glanced suspiciously at the Martha clone.
" They're inside the system, sir," said Captain Price to Mace, " it's coming from within UNIT itself. "
" Trace it," the Colonel commanded, " find out where it's coming from, and quickly. Gas levels? "
" 66% in major population areas. And rising,"
Lily sighed - very soon people would start dying, and they needed to do something about it quickly, but she couldn't think of anything they could do - she was sure her father must have a plan, since he had Jack and Donna aboard the ship, and he knew there was a clone of Martha.
" Why are they defending the factory only after we were inside? " Mace asked.
" Because they wanted UNIT here," the Doctor said simply, " you gave them something they needed. Something now hidden inside the factory. Something precious. "
" Then we've got to recover it," Mace said. " This Cordolaine signal thing, how does it work? "
" The bullets," the Doctor said, " it causes an expansion of the copper shell. "
" Excellent, I'm onto it," said Mace, before leaving, the Doctor rolling his eyes after him and trying to warn him again that he couldn't fight the Sontarans.
While Martha was busy, the Doctor hooked his hand under Lily's elbow and pulled her away from everyone else.
" Phone," he said simply
" Bossy," Lily said, rolling her eyes as she pulled out her mobile, " who am I ringing? "
The Doctor took the phone from her and the pair of them left the room and went into Colonel Mace's empty office. He dialled a number and as it rung, told her, " TARDIS phone. "
Lily's heart lerched as she realised they'd be in touch with Donna and Jack, and they'd find out what was really going on. She moved closer to her dad so she too could hear the other end of the phone.
" Donna? " the Doctor asked.
" What's happened, where are you? " Donna asked quickly.
Her words were closely followed by an over-protective Jack, " Lily, are you there? Are you alright? "
" We're both fine," the Doctor said, " We're still on Earth, so don't worry. I've got my secret weapon. "
" What's that? " Donna asked.
" You two," the Doctor said.
Lily narrowed her eyes at her dad, " You'd better not get him into trouble," she said, referring to Jack, " or I'm going to kill you. "
She heard Jack's laugh - one of her favourite sounds ever - and he said, " Don't worry about me, baby. I'm always in trouble, so what difference will one more time make? "
The Dotor cleared his throat, " I need both of you on that ship. That's why I made them move the TARDIS. I'm sorry, but you've got to go outside. "
" Consider it done," Jack said at once.
" What? " Donna demanded, " but there's Sonterruns out there! "
" Sontarans," the Doctor corrected, " but they'll all be at the battle stations right now. They don't walk around having coffee. I can talk you through it. "
" But what if they find me? " Donna asked.
" I know," the Doctor said soothingly, " but I need you out there. The whole planet is choking. I sent you because you're more use there than you are down here. And I sent Jack because he knows what he's doing - he'll make sure you're both ok. "
" What do we need to do? " Jack asked, in his most authoritive voice.
" The Sontarans are inside the factory which means they've got a teleport link with the ship, but they'll have deadlocked it. I need you to reopen the link, Jack. "
" Got you," Jack said, as Lily strained closer to listen to his voice. There was a pause as they heard the creaking of the TARDIS door, and then Jack said, " there's a Sontaran. "
" Has it seen you? " Lily asked trying to remain calm, though her mind raced with thoughts for Jack.
" No," Jack said, " I take it we'll have to take this one down? "
" You got it," the Doctor said, as Donna hissed, " What? "
The Doctor sighed, " On the back of the neck, there' s a hole, sort of a plug. The probic vent. One blow to the Probic Vent knocks them out. I'm so sorry to ask you Donna, but we need you. Just leave it to Jack if you want. He can do it. "
Donna sounded indignant, " Please, if I'm doing this, I'm not leaving it to some flashy American superman. "
" Hey! " both Jack and Lily protested at the same time.
There was another pause on the end of the phone and it was followed by footsteps and then a heavy thud. " Back of the neck! " Donna exclaimed.
" Wow," Lily heard Jack say, " what a woman. "
" Now find the external junction feed to the teleport. Big circular panel on the wall. Like two Fs back to back. "
" There's a door," Donna said.
" Should be a switch by the side," the Doctor said.
" But it's Sontaran shaped," Donna sighed, " you need three fingers. "
The Doctor looked down the phone incredulously and said slowly, " You've got three fingers. "
" Oh yeah ... I am through! "
The Doctor laughed and kissed the phone, proclaiming how brilliant Donna was. Lily pouted and reminded him that Jack was there too, but the Doctor just gave a little shrug, though he was smiling.
The doors opened, and Colonel Mace walked into the room.
" Got to go," the Doctor said, closing the phone quickly and then giving it back to Lily.
" Counter-attack! " the Colonel announced.
" I said you don't stand a chance! " the Doctor snapped.
" Positions," Colonel Mace said, tossing a gas mask to the Doctor, and then one to Lily, " that means everyone. "
The Martha Clone entered the room after the Colonel and grinned at the Doctor, " You're not going without me," she said.
" Wouldn't dream of it," the Doctor said, smiling slyly at Lily before they followed the Colonel outside. Everyone gathered outside the ATMOS factory, including all UNIT personnel, and all were wearing their gas masks.
Lily stood between her dad, and Ross, the Martha clone standing nearby.
" Latest firing stock," said Colonel Mace, showing the Doctor a gun, " what do you think? "
" Are you my mummy? " the Doctor asked, making Lily slap his arm playfully.
" If you could concentrate," the Colonel said in disapproval, " bullets with a rad steel coating, no copper surface. Should overcome the Cordolaine signal. "
" But the Sontarans have got lasers! " pointed out the Doctor in exasperation, " you can't even see in this fog! The night vision doesn't work! "
" Thank you for you lack of faith, Doctor," the Colonel said, " but this time, I'm not listening to you. "
" Your loss," Lily mumbled under her breath, watching the Colonel turn to adress his soldiers, and thinking about how this was stupid, and no-one knew what they were doing. The Colonel demanded that everyone fight against the Sontarans, but was cut off by a loud noise from overhead.
Lily looked up as the fog cleared and she saw a ship hanging up in the air. Lily saw the very familiar aircraft hovering above and her heart nearly stopped at the sight of it - it was the same ship that the Master had taken over, and she'd been held captive on for months.
She'd been bullied, abused and raped over and over again up there and she could only stare at it - by now, thanks to Jack's care, her memories of it were getting easier to push away, but now this reminded her so strongly that she was terrifed.
She could only stare, and the next thing she knew, an arm was around her shoulders. She shuddered a little at the thought of it until she realised it was her dad.
" It's okay, Lils," he promised her, " it was a long time ago. You're fine now. "
" I ... I know," she said, swallowing, before shaking her head, " It's just ... never mind. Are we really gonna stand there and watch them having a war? Isn't that just ridiculous? "
The Colonel ordered the Valiant to start shooting at the Sontarans ship, at the same time that the ground attack started. It seemed for a while that the Sontarans were overpowered, and the Colonel rushed off with his soldiers.
" Time to go," the Doctor said, knowing exactly what he wanted to do next, " Martha, Lily, just like old times. This way," he said, rushing off, with his sonic screwdriver up in the air, directing them.
They followed the signal from the screwdriver and it lead them to the basement. Lily was curious about what was happening, but knew she should always trust her dad to do the right thing.
" No Sontarans down here," the Doctor announced as they entered an empty basement, nd went through to a lab.
Lily looked around and her eyes widened when she saw a boy on the ground - she looked and saw that Martha - the real Martha - was in a deep sleep on the ground. The Doctor rushed to her and started to check her pulse.
" What on earth happened here? " frowned Lily, shaking her head, as she saw Martha in a deep sleep, with some sort of cloning technology attached to the back of her head.
" Still alive," the Doctor told Lily quietly, drawing himself back up to full height, only for the Martha clone to point a gun at his head.
" Put it down you stupid creature," Lily snapped, moving closer to her dad.
The Doctor hardly looked at Martha's clone, instead giving Lily a smile to reassure her, " Am I supposed to be impressed?" he asked the Martha clone.
" Wish you carried a gun now? " Martha clone taunted.
" Not at all," the Doctor said, making Lily rather proud, " you've been doing exactly what I wanted, havem't you? Stopping the nuclear launch. I'm not having Earth start an Interstellar war. You're a triple agent. "
" When did you know? " the clone asked curiously.
Lily laughed, " It was pretty obvious right from the start. Pretty poor attempt at cloning, really. "
" Yep," thr Doctor said simply, " Reduced iris contraction, slight thinning of the hair folicles on the left temple, and frankly, you smell. You might as well have worn a t-shirt saying "clone." Although not in front of Captain Jack. You remember him, don't you? Cos you've got all her memories. That's why the Sontarans had to protect her down here rather than dispose of her, to keep you in here. Martha Jones is keeping you alive. "
He reached to the real Martha and pulled the device off her head, making her scream in shock as she suddenly woke up. At the same time, the clone fell to the ground in agony.
The Doctor pulled the real Martha to her feet and pulled her into a hug, " Shhh, shh, shhh," he said quietly, " it's alright, it's alright, I'm here. "
" Doctor! " Martha said, shaking her head, " Lily! There was this thing, this alien, and .. "
Lily's mobile rang, and she pulled it out of her pocket to see an unknown number - she assumed it must be Donna ringing and passed it straight to her dad, who answered at once.
" You got it? " she heard her dad ask Donna, " good ... take off the covering ...all the blue lights inside, flick a switch, that should get the teleport working ... " a second later, he grinned, " yes! "
He turned to the teleport and started fiddling with it, while a horrified Martha noticed the clone, " Oh my God - that's ... that's me! "
Lily looked at the Doctor, knowing they needed to know about the gas, and she asked gently, " Please, Martha, just tell us about the gas. Come on, please, it's not just poison, is it? "
" Caesofine concentrate," the clone said miserably, " It's one part Bosteen, two parts Probic 5. "
" Clonefeed! " Lily exclaimed at the same time her dad did.
" Clonefeed? " Martha asked, confused.
" Like amniotic fluid for Sontarans," the Doctor explained as he continued to fiddle with things, " that's why they're not invading - they're covering the atmosphere. Changing the world into a clone world. Cos the Sontarans are clones, that's how they reproduce. Give them a planet this big and they'll create billions of new soldiers. That gas isn't poison, it's food. "
" My heart," the clone said as the Doctor went back to his work, " it's ... so weak. "
" There's nothing we can do," Lily said, not really knowing what else to say. She looked at Martha and left her to talk to the clone, instead going off to stand beside her dad. She watched him work and in the background, she heard everything go silent, as asumed the clone had died. She knew there was nothing they could do and tried to ignore it.
" What're you going to once this is up and running? " Lily asked.
The Doctor grinned at her, " What do you think? "
She stopped to think about it, and then grinned, " We're gonna use it, right? To go to ... Rattigan Academy? " she asked, making her dad nod.
The Doctor grinned at her, " By now, Donna and Jack, as I've told them to, should be in the teleport on the Sontarans ship, we press the button and ... " he smacked the button, and it glowed bright blue.
A few seconds later, Donna appeared out of the teleport pod and rushed to hug the Doctor. She was closely followed by Jack, and the moment Lily saw Jack, she darted forwards and threw her arms around his neck, " Thank God you're alright," she said, burying her face against his chest.
" Hey, hey, hey," Jack said, rubbing her back, " I was never in any danger. Don't you worry about me. "
He kissed the top of her head, and she pulled away. She reached her hands out and laid them on his cheeks as they stood together. She smiled and leaned in slowly, kissing his lips lightly.
" I - " she started.
" Love you," he finished with a grin.
" Exactly," she grinned, pulling away, but staying close to him. Jack wasn't having her going far away, and he reached out and grasped her hand, lacing his fingers through hers.
The Doctor grinned at them and moved towards the teleport, " Everyone ready? " he asked, " everyone in the teleport pod - and yes, I know there's five of us, but we'll make do. "
" We are not going back on that ship," Donna insisted, the Doctor draped his long coat around Martha to try and look after her, after the way the Sontarans had treated her.
" No, no," the Doctor said as he pushed Donna and Martha in the telepot and got in after them. Jack followed and pulled Lily after him. Lily found herself pressed up against Jack, and he grinned at her suggestively.
She shook her head at him a little and the next thing she knew, they were all standing in the same teleport at the Rattigan Academy. The moment they stepped out of the teleport, Luke was pointing a gun at them.
Lily rolled her eyes, and the Doctor took hold of the gun, muttering to himself, " Oh honestly, if I see one more gun ... " he tossed it aside, rather unimpressed and stepped around Luke, doing whatever he wanted to.
" Laboratory. Now," he told Luke simply.
Once they were there, it was a frantic race to get everyone together as quickly as possible, to stop the Sontaran invasion. Lily didn't quite know what was going on, but she knew she should go along with everything her dad was doing, because her instincts told her to.
The Doctor, with Lily and Jack's help, quickly made something which he termed an atmosphere converter - he explained to everyone that it would ignite and convert the air, and he took everyone outside.
Once they were outside, all they could see was fog. Donna shook her head, " That's London out there, and you can't even see it! My family's in there! "
" And mine," Martha sighed, unhappily.
Lily shrugged, " Try living in Cardiff. It's foggy and weird there all of the time. "
" Hey," Jack said, poking her in the side, " no badmouthing the home town. "
" If I can get this on the right setting," the Doctor muttered, holding up the atmosphere converter and having a look at it, starting to fiddle with it.
" Hold on," Martha said, " you just said that the atmosphere would ignite, didn't you? "
" Yeah, I suppose I did," the Doctor shrugged, pressing a button, which shot a few large flames up into the sky, igniting them. The doctor then crossed his fingers and chanted, " Please, please, please, please, please," to himself over and over as he watched it.
Lily laughed as the fog started to clear and she grinned at her dad, as everyone looked up into the skies happily. It was only as Lily thought about it that she realised there might be a problem, and she only realised in time to see her dad running back into the building.
She sighed and followed him, Jack following right behind her, and Donna and Martha behind him.
Back in the room where the teleport pod was, the Doctor threw the atmosphere converter behind him into the teleport and turned to the others.
" Right," he said firmly, " Donna, thank you. For everything. Martha, you too. Oh ... so many time. Luke, do something clever with you life. Jack, thank you for everything and you look after my baby. Lily ... " he stopped and couldn't find any words. Instead he pulled her into a hug and held her very tightly to him, before kissing the top of her head and tucking some of her hair behind her ear.
" You're the most important thing to me, ever," he said, before turning into the teleport.
" Wait! " Lily said, taking a step forward, " what are you doing? You can't be saying goodbye! What ... " she was confused and frowned at him, " what the hell are you going to do? "
" I need to do this," the Doctor said, avoiding her eyes, " Sontarans are never defeated. They'll be getting ready for war, and well, you know, I've recalibrated this for Sonataran air so ... "
" You're going to ignite them," Jack finished for him.
" You'll kill yourself, you idiot! " Lily said, taking a step forwards, " you can't do that! I need you! You're the only family I've got, besides Jack - you can't kill yourself like that! It's ... it's stupid and it's ... selfish! "
"I'm so sorry," he said, and the next moment, he'd pressd the button and he was gone.
This left everyone staring at the teleport in despair apart from Lily who moved into it, ready to press the button and go after him. She was about to press it, when Jack, much stronger than she was, grabbed her around the middle and pulled her away.
" That's my dad! " she snapped at him, trying to shove him away, " I need to go after him - I need him! "
" And I need you! " Jack shouted, louder than she was shouting at him. She fell into silence and he pulled her against his chest, pressing her face into his shoulder and holding her tight, " Baby, he'll get through this, like he always does. Just hold tight. "
All Lily could think about was how the doctor was going to die, and although it was only a couple of minutes, it felt like a lifetime. Lily had moved and was standing in front of Jack, her back to his chest, with his arm firmly around her middle. Her head rested back against his chest and her eyes were shut tightly, hardly daring to think about what was going to happen next.
When she heard footsteps and the delighted and relieved sighs of Donna and Martha, she opened one eye and when she saw her dad standing there, she opened the other.
She stared at him while he hugged Martha and Donna and he then sheepishly moved forwards to her.
She glared at him once she was free of Jack's arms and her first reaction was to hit his arm sharply,
" You absolute idiot! " she shouted, " how the hell could do you that to me? I thought you were goig to die - you're not allowed to die. For God's sake, Dad! Give a little thought to other people, will you? " she sighed and then broke out into a wide grin, throwing her arms around his neck, " Oh, I'm so glad to see you! "
" Ah! That's my girl," the Doctor said in delight, rubbing her back, " now let's go home. "
Once they were all in the TARDIS, the Doctor started fiddling with the controls, and Donna smiled brightly at Jack, Martha and Lily, " So," she said, " what happens next? Are you staying for a while - we've plenty of room? "
" Oh, I can't," Martha said, shaking her head, " I've missed all this, but I'm best off at home. And I'm better for having been at home. Besides," she showed off her engagement ring with a grin, " someone needs me. Never mind the universe - great big world of my own. "
" And you? " Donna asked Lily and Jack, as the Doctor looked on too, waiting for an answer but trying to to show that he really wanted them to stay for a while longer.
Lily grinned at Jack and then replied to Donna, " I've got a world of my own too. Me, handsome charming boyfriend, friends, Torchwood. Brilliant. I'm sure we'll be back soon, but we have our team to get back to. "
" Not to mention Gwen's wedding in less than a week," Jack added, to which Martha nodded - she was unable to attend, as she'd already got a work commitment for that day. Lily had to admit that she was looking forwards to the wedding, as it was a chance to spend time with Jack and have fun - plus wedding were always lovely.
Donna nodded, " I suppose you've got commitments," she said, shaking her head.
" But we'll be back soon," Lily promised, " because - "
She as cut off by the TARDIS suddenly jerking violently and sending everyone sprawling. They all clung to different parts of the console and tried to keep their balance, while the Doctor's old hand in the jar bubbled away.
" What? " Lily demanded, looking around as she was thrown to the ground, reaching out to try and catch hold of the console.
" What? " the Doctor echoed, scrambling to his feet.
" Doctor, don't you dare! " Martha called, " didn't I say I wanted to get home? "
" I didn't touch anything! It's out of control! " the Doctor insisted.
" Here we go again," Lily muttered to Jack.
Jack laughed, " Ah come on, where's your sense of fun? "
Author's Note: I'm considering a proposal/engagement and eventual marriage for Jack and Lily soon - I think they're at the right stage to get engaged because they're so solid. Any thoughts greatly appreciated, as are any thoughts in general about the story.