Chapter 21 – Facing the Daleks

There was no sign of the others, and Aliea looked around apprehensively. "Where do you think they went?"

"They are most likely installing the device," said Castiel.

"What if they were captured before they got the chance?"

"It is a possibility."

"How would we find out?"

"In the event of capture, the bridge is the first ideal place to find them."

"Can you get us there?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Just remember to land us somewhere out of sight."

A few seconds later, Castiel and Aliea were crouching behind some crates "I'm gonna look," Aliea whispered. She peered around the side and was met with a disheartening sight. Her friends were standing in the center of the room, which, in itself was not bad news. But the bad news was made apparent by the twenty or so Daleks surrounding them.

"WE HAVE CAPTURED THE HUMANS!" one of them shouted. "WHAT SHOULD BECOME OF THEM?!"

"SENTENCE THEM TO MAXIMUM EXTERMINATION!"

"WAIT!" shouted the leader. "IT IS THE DOCTOR!"

"THE DOCTOR! HE IS AN ENEMY OF THE DALEKS! DESTROY HIM!"

"NO! THERE ARE TWO DOCTORS! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?! EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN!"

"Get out of my face you giant pepper shaker!"

"Damnit, Dean," muttered Castiel.

"THIS HUMAN HAS DEMONSTRATED INSOLENCE! EXTERMINATE HIM!"

Castiel vanished. A second later, he reappeared with both Winchesters.

"WHERE ARE THE HUMANS?!"

"Quick Jack!" yelled the Doctor, "Vortex manipulator!"

Aliea saw them put their hands on Jack's vortex manipulator, and they all disappeared. "Time to go!" she said. She, Castiel, Dean, and Sam ran out of the room.

"INTRUDERS! SEEK! LOCATE! DESTROY!"

Outside of the bridge, they ran into the rest of the group.

"There you are," said Aliea.

"What are you doing here?!" said the Doctor, "You're supposed to be back on the Valiant!"

"No time for that! Where do we plant the device?"

"Follow me!" They ran after the Doctor down several winding corridors, ducking out of sight when the occasional Dalek passed, screaming, "SEEK! LOCATE! DESTROY!" Finally, the Doctor stopped in front of a panel. He opened it and pulled out several wires.

"Castiel! Get everyone off the ship!" Castiel turned to Aiea, who nodded. He walked over to Sam, Dean, and John, pulling them next to him. They vanished.

"Doctor, I'm not leaving!" said Jack.

"What? No! You are getting off this ship!"

"Someone has to keep the Daleks off your back!"

"I'll manage! I can't let you stay here."

"Don't worry. I made my decision a long time ago. You're not gonna leave me behind anymore."

"What about your sister Jack?"

"Aliea can take care of herself. She understands why I have to do this."

And strangely enough, Aliea did understand. She nodded at him.

The Doctor's protesting increased, but Jack just smiled. He went over to Rose and hugged her. "Have a good life."

She was crying, and tried to get him to stay, but he pulled away and moved to the Other Doctor, pulling him into a hug and kissing him on the cheek. "Take good care of her, Doc."

"Don't worry, I will," the Other Doctor replied, blushing ever so slightly.

Jack turned to Aliea, but before he could say anything, she yanked him into a tight hug. Over his shoulder, she saw Castiel return and leave with the Other Doctor and Rose. She hoped she could stall long enough for her plan to work.

"We didn't get long enough," said Jack, "There's still so much I want to tell you, but you know I can't leave the Doctor."

She nodded. Finally, he broke off the hug and turned to Sherlock. "All right," he said, looking determined, "If this is gonna be my last hurrah, then there's one thing I've wanted to do for a while now…" Seizing Sherlock's face, he pulled him into a kiss, catching the consulting detective off guard so he couldn't pull away. It lasted for several seconds before Jack pulled away with a mischievous smirk.

Just then, Castiel appeared and teleported him away. He reappeared a few seconds later, but made no move to get anyone else.

The Doctor looked up from what he was doing. "Cas, you have to get Sherlock and Aliea off!"

"I'm sorry," said Castiel. He placed his hand on the Doctor's shoulder. The Doctor's eyes widened and his mouth opened in protest. They vanished.

Aliea turned to the consulting detective, who appeared to be frozen in place. "Sherlock, how long does the device take to install?" But the man didn't seem to hear her. "Sherlock!" His head snapped around.

"The…er…the Doctor already sep-separated out t-the correct wires. All I need to do is attach them to the device." He bent over and started hooking the wires up to the real device. Further down the hall, they could hear Daleks getting steadily closer. "SEEK! LOCATE! DESTROY!"

Finally, all of the wires were in place. Sherlock straightened. "Done."

"Great! Now press the button!"

Just as the first few Daleks came around the corner, Sherlock pushed his hand down, and the device began to beep, at first slowly, but then faster and faster as it counted down. Sherlock grabbed Aliea and pulled her over to him. He slammed their hands onto the vortex manipulator as the final beep went off and the sky was shaken by a colossal explosion.