Disclaimer: I own nothing
Author's Note: The End of Time and the Doctor's regeneration will follow this chapter. It was oringinally set in canon around christmas time, but for my story, I'm going to have to change it a little - I stated a few chapters ago that it was July, then the later chapter skipped three months so it's now October. I've decided to change it so the End of Time is set in October rather than December - for the sake of my series it was more difficult to set it in December, because the team would have to be celebrating christmas, and Lily and Jack's wedding anniversary is in December so that would have to be acknowledged or ignored, but I wanted to write both the wedding anniversary and christmas, into the next story I do.
Hope you'll allow me a little creative license.
Chapter Twenty-One
A week later, the documents were all signed, and they were due to move into their new house the following weekend.
The hub was very nearly finished, and Lily and Jack had been buying bits of furniture for the house, although Lily had got in touch with her dad to arrange for him to pick them up in the middle of the week so they could go to the cheap shopping centre she'd told Jack about.
On this particular morning, Lily was sitting on the worktop in Ianto's kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee she'd made herself, which was quite vile - but she was the only one awake and the only one to make it.
She was all ready for work, and as she waited for the other two to get up, she tried to swallow her vile coffee, while reading over her list of things that she wanted for the house and trying to think if there was anything missing.
Jack had gotten up when she had but gone in the shower, so Ianto was the next to arrive in the kitchen.
" Morning," Lily said brightly, looking quite at home.
He smiled, though his smile looked a little strained, " Morning. "
" Everything alright? " she asked him.
Ianto nodded, but then shook his head as he turned to look at her. " It's just ... well, I had a strange dream last night. "
There was something about the way he said it which made her feel like there was something he was keeping from her, and she looked at him carefully.
" What's going on, Ianto? "
Ianto had grown much closer to Jack and Lily in the few months they'd been living with him. He and Jack had got back the close kind of friendship which had disappeared when Lily arrived, and Ianto had also grown closer to Lily - although it wasn't the same kind of brother/sister relationship she seemed to have with Owen, it was still a solid friendship.
" Nothing," he said, though his eyes didn't quite meet hers.
" Ianto," she frowned, " I can't imagine why you'd be keeping secrets from me about something as silly as a dream. "
Ianto sighed and looked at her properly, " I had a dream about Harold Saxon. "
She flinched involuntarily at the sound of the name, and it was exactly why Ianto hadn't wanted to mention it. The team all knew the pain and torture Lily had suffered at the hands of the man they'd known as Harold Saxon - but who was really the Master.
Lily was stunned that he was what Ianto had dreamed of.
She didn't know how to deal with the information and she swallowed, hard.
" Um .. oh, ok," she nodded, feeling a nasty taste in her mouth that was more than the coffee.
" I'm sorry," Ianto said.
" It's hardly your fault," she told him, shaking her head.
Ianto turned to the coffee machine, not able to look at the pained expression on her face - clearly the mention of the man had brought back terrible memories and he wished he hadn't said anything.
" It was a strange dream, actually," he said, not sure why he was still telling her, but feeling like he should, " he was just there. Just his face. And he was laughing like some kind of maniac. "
" He is a maniac," Lily said quietly.
They were in silence for a few minutes as Lily tried to ponder why on earth Ianto had been dreaming about the Master. Ianto turned around to face her and he took the mug from her hands, pressing a new mug into them.
She smiled gratefully as she curled her fingers around the warm mug of coffee.
" It didn't feel like a dream," Ianto told her, " it felt ... it felt real. "
Lily nodded - she knew only too well that the Master was terrifying. It scared her that she'd felt like she'd never be fully free of him. They remained in silence for the next few minutes, until Jack came into the room.
" Hey you two," he smiled, wandering into the kitchen.
" Morning sir," Ianto said with a nod.
Jack smiled at him and then crossed the kitchen to plant a kiss on Lily's cheek as he picked up the coffee Ianto had already made for him.
Lily noticed that he looked distracted, and was confused by it - come to think of it, he'd been a little distracted when she pressed a kiss to his lips this morning and got out of bed, but she'd put it down to him being tired.
She was still feeling confused about the Master being brought to the front of her mind again, and usually she knew Jack would have noticed immediately.
She looked at Ianto, and saw that he was sparing a concerned look for Jack too, so she knew she wasn't imagining things.
" Jack? " she asked, biting her lip as she looked at him
" Sorry baby," he said, smiling at her, a proper smile this time, though she still couldn't help but think that it didn't meet his eyes.
" Everything alright? " she asked him.
He smiled, " Yeah, course. " He waved it off as nothing, " just a strange dream. "
Lily's eyes widened and she looked at Ianto, then back at Jack, " R-really? "
Jack looked between the pair of them suspiciously. Lily looked worried, and that in turn immediately worried him. " What's going on? " he asked, narrowing his eyes and reaching out to take her hand.
" What was your dream about, Jack? " Lily asked him.
" It's nothing," Jack told her, " doesn't matter. "
" Jack," she said seriously, " I think I need to know. I imagine you're trying to protect me and that's very sweet, but we're doing this whole "no secrets" thing from now on, aren't we? "
Jack sighed - she had him right down, of course. He had been trying to protect her - but how on earth did she know that something was going on? It was like she already knew what he was going to say.
But he nodded and told her anyway.
" I had a dream about the Master. He ... he was just there, just his face, laughing. Cackling. Felt so ... so real," he said.
Instead of looking as shocked as he'd expected her to, she turned to look at Ianto, her eyes wide and shocked.
" He ... you ... both of you," she mumbled.
" I know, darling," Ianto nodded - Lily was usually so strong, but she looked like a lost little girl, and he suddenly felt like he should be looking after her - it was like during the whole horrible week with the 456 when he and Owen had suddenly become the ones to look after her, rather than her being in charge.
" Lily? " Jack asked carefully, squeezing her hand.
Lily looked at him, eyes wide, expression frantic, not sure what to do about the whole thing, not sure what was going on - there was no way the pair of them had had the same dream by coincidence.
" He had the same dream," she said quietly, when Jack tilted her chin up to make her look at him.
" What? " Jack asked, unable to believe it, not even sure he'd heard right.
" Ianto," Lily said, shaking her head, " Ianto had the same dream you had. He was just telling me about it - he had the same dream. He saw ... he saw ... "
" Ok, baby, it's ok," Jack said, trying to use his most soothing voice. He kept tightly hold of her hand and his other hand ran up and down her arm softly. He was a little shorter than her as she sat on the worktop but he just needed to look after her.
" It's not ok," she told him, her voice shaky, though she was obviously trying to keep herself pulled together, " you both had the same dream, and there has to be a reason for it. "
Jack knew she was right but he didn't want her to get worked up - not when they didn't know the details. All he wanted to do was comfort her, but he didn't know what to say really.
" Baby, I'm telling you, it's going to be alright," he said, " everything's alright. "
" It's not! " Lily told him, " something's going on! "
" Lily," Jack said softly, " look at me. It's - "
" Don't tell me it's alright," she said, shaking her head, while Ianto hovered in the doorway, also wanting to know what was going on. " You've both have the exact same dream - there has to be a reason for it. And whatever it is ... whatever it is ... he's got to be behind it, which means ... which means ... "
" Lily, he's dead," Jack said, his face completely drained of all colour at the thought of that man coming back after all the harm he'd caused Lily - everything he'd put her through.
He'd tried to destroy her life, tried to destroy her, and it had taken an awfully long time for Lily to put herself back together. Months of her waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and him holding her close until the nightmares went away. Months of him making sure every time he touched her he was slow and gentle and she was completely happy with it.
Months of her slowly piecing herself back together and becoming the Lily she'd been before.
He'd done that to her, and Jack sure as well wasn't going to let him do it again.
" He's dead," Jack repeated quietly.
" But what's going on then? " Lily asked, confused.
" Ok," Jack sighed, " come on, let's go to work, and we'll ask the others. We'll find out exactly how far this goes, and then we can start to do something about it. "
Ianto left the room to get his coat for work, and when he'd gone, Jack focused on Lily again.
" He won't hurt you again," Jack told her.
She was clearly trying to put on a brave face for him and he wanted to take her in his arms and never let go of her. She nodded, but it was clear she didn't believe him, and she was staring at her own legs. She was utterly convinced that the Master must be back somehow - how on earth could Jack and Ianto have had the same dream? And why hadn't she had it?
" Look at me, Lily," Jack said, not sure how he could ake her feel better but knowing he had to try. He too was worried that this could mean something terrible was on its way, but he was determined to try and make her feel better
When she didn't do as he told her, he repeated in a more gentle tone, " Lily, look at me. "
She sighed and met his eyes, and he smiled softly.
" Ok baby," he said, " listen to me, we don't know what's going on yet, but I don't think there's any need to panic. We'll get to the bottom of this - we will, honest. And I'm here for you, all the way, aren't I? I'm here to protect you. I'll kill him before I let him hurt you again. "
" I'm scared Jack," she sighed.
" Don't be," he mumbled, leaning in and planting a soft kiss on her cheek, before hugging her tightly. She clung to him and he smoothed dow her hair, promising her it was all going to be alright.
" Let's go to work, eh? " he suggested when he let go of her, " we can ask the others if they've had the dream too and we can maybe get in touch with your dad? "
Lily hadn't even thought about her dad, and she nodded.
Her dad had been so adamant that he was going to protect her when they first learnt of the Master being Harold Saxon all that time ago, and he'd pleaded with the Master during their time on the Valiant to leave her alone. Then afterwards he'd felt so guilty that he hadn't been able to stop what had happened to his only child.
Dad would want to know about it, if he didn't already.
She slid off the kitchen counter, still looking kind of lost, and Jack took her hand as the three of them started towards the door.
The three of them walked down to Ianto's car. They left the SUV in their lock up near the hub and drove Ianto's car to work.
" Lily," Jack said as they walked, " don't you think ... don't you think that the Master can't be back because - "
" Because he'd dead, I know," she sighed, " but he could be capable of anything. And I know Dad burnt the body, but ... well, I don't know. I ... I don't know. "
" That's not what I was going to say," he told her, shaking his head, " I was going to say, surely if the Master was back you'd know. Don't time lords know when there are others? Isn't is a ... psychic thing? "
Her eyes widened as she looked at him, " Of course," she murmured, " why didn't I think of it? Of course. "
" Seriously? " Ianto asked curiously, " you can tell when there's others? "
Lily nodded, " I ... it's hard to explain, but I feel a presence in the back of my mind. And I know that Dad and I are the only ones. Before when he ... when he was around too, I could feel it. I knew there were three of us. But now ... yeah, there's just the two of us, but something's still not right, Jack. "
He nodded, " We'll figure it out. "
Lily was silent as they drove to the hub and she remained silent as they walked into the place. Gwen, Tosh and Owen were already there - Jack, Ianto and Lily had arrived later than usual.
Most of the building work had been completed so most of UNIT's men had returned to UNIT - sworn of course, to total secrecy about the hub to anyone except their highest UNIT superiors. There were only a few left, helping with the finishing touches.
Lily went into Jack's office when she got there without a word to any one else, while Ianto and jack stopped in the middle of the hub to talk to Tosh, Owen and Gwen.
None of them thought much of it, and inside the office, Lily shed her coat and hung it up on Jack's coat stand in the corner of the office.
She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, hoping everything was going to be alright and hoping there was some kind of chance that this was some kind of huge co-incidence.
Trying to make a smile cross her face, she went back into the hub, where the other five were gathered around Gwen's desk.
As the main area of the hub had been rebuilt, Lily's desk and work area was closest to Jack's office and the boardroom, Gwen's was over by the top of the medical bay, Ianto's was near the kitchen - a change from his old desk up at the tourist office, and Tosh's computers were nearest Lily's desk.
Of course if they raised their voices, it would be possible for them all to sit at their desks and have a conversation.
Gwen was sitting down at her desk, her hand resting on her bump, at 5 months pregnant and the others all stood up around it.
It seemed to fall strangely quiet when Lily reached them, and she looked at her husband suspiciously.
" What's going on? " she asked him.
He sighed heavily, " I was just told told them about the ... the dream that Ianto and I had. "
" Oh," Lily said, swallowing hard and trying to keep the smile on her face, " and was there any ... did you ... " she took a breath and continued, " did any of you have the ... the same ... "
She didn't need to finish - not with the stunned looks on their faces. They all looked completely shocked, and she knew from that, that it meant they'd had the same.
" I did," Owen said, the first one of the three to speak up, " I thought it was nothing. Odd thing to dream about, of course, but I didn't think anything of it. "
Tosh and Gwen were both nodding.
" How can this have happened? " Gwen asked, frowning, " how can we all have had the same dream? What's going on? "
" It's him," Lily said, " it's got to be. Jack, something horrible's going to happen, I know it. This is leading up to something big and I know it. "
" Baby, don't get ahead of yourself," Jack said, although he didn't look particularly calm either. The colour had completely drained from his skin, and he looked very tense.
" I'm telling you," she said, shaking her head, " I just know something terrible is going to happen, and my instincts aren't usually wrong. You know that. "
Jack sighed, " But he can't come back. He's dead. "
" I know that," she replied, " but there's no way you can all have had the same dream by chance. Someone or something is trying to get to everyone - trying to possess everyone, almost. And they're doing it for a reason. And for some reason I've been left out of it. "
" Maybe because you're not human," Owen pointed out, " whatever's going on, it might be specifically linked to the human race, so that would exclude you from these dreams. "
" Or maybe it's just related to Torchwood," Tosh suggested, " that is, after all, the one thing that links us all. "
" OK," Jack nodded, trying to take the situation in hand, " Lily, I think we should get hold of your dad. After everything that's happened me, you and him are the ones who the Master's return would affect. We need to tell him - maybe he knows something. " Looking at the others, he said, " and the rest of you, we need to find out if this is targeted at us, or at everyone, so we need to get in touch with some people not in Torchwood and ask them if they had the dream. "
" Yeah, because it's not going to be weird if we just start asking strangers in the street what they dreamt of," Owen said, pulling a face.
" We only need to ask a couple of people! " Jack protested his anger slowly growing, " but if you're not willing to find out what's going on, for the sake of your friend - " he added, pointing at Lily while his voice rose, " then - "
" Jack," Lily cut in, resting her hand on his arm.
At the sound of his wife's voice, Jack nodded, knowing he had no reason to take out his anger on Owen. He took a deep breath and bit his lip, not sure what the hell they were going to do next.
" I could ring Rhys," Gwen suggested, breaking the silence, " ask him? He probably wouldn't think of it as a strange question, given he knows all about Torchwood. "
" Thank you," Lily mumbled.
" And maybe one more, just for good measure? " Jack suggested.
" What about Cate? " Owen asked Ianto.
Cate was the girl from the pizza delivery place the team often ordered from, and Ianto and she had started casually dating little over a year ago, though Ianto had always been very private about it all, and they'd heard very little about her in the last few months come to think of it.
" Erm, I don't know about that," Ianto said, " we're going through a ... not so good patch. "
" You are? " Lily asked, " what's going on? "
Jack rolled his eyes, " Darling, this isn't the time for gossip, is it? "
" Oh," she mumbled, shaking her head.
" I'll ring Andy," Gwen said, " I know he doesn't know all about Torchwood, but he's an old friend, he'll trust me if I just ring him up and ask him, I should think. He'll just answer without any questions. "
" That's great Gwen, thank you," Jack said, " I'll be in the office. "
He left them, and Lily immediately followed him.
When she walked into the office, she closed the door behind them and turned to face him. He was looking all worried now they were alone, and she knew he was trying to put on the kind of brave face that she too was trying to put on.
Neither of them wanted to admit it, but Lily knew they were both very worried that the Master was going to come back and try to ruin their lives.
" We'll work through it," Jack told her, "it's going to be - "
" Don't tell me it's going to be alright when you don't know," Lily sighed, crossing the room and coming to sit on his desk.
Jack nodded and sat down in his desk chair, facing her.
" I ... can I ... " Liy sighed and broke off, " Jack, if the ... if someone or something is going to try and get at people by their dreams or whatever this is, I want you to be protected. "
" I'm sure I can take care of myself," he told her with a slight smile.
" Please," she said, " let me do something to protect you. Maybe I can give you some kind of defences, so no-one would be able to get to you in dreams. Let me ... I don't know ... let me give you some kind of barriers. "
" Baby, don't worry about me," he said, just wanting to look after her.
" But I do," she sighed, " you're my husband, and I want to know you're going to be safe, every bit as much as you want to know I am. I should have done it a long time ago - just let me try and instill some kind of protection on you. "
" Do you think you could do that? " Jack asked.
" Don't you trust me? " Lily returned, her lips twitching into a smile.
Lily had improved her psychic skills a lot since coming to Cardiff, since Jack had regularly let her practise seeing into his mind. She'd used those skills on a few occasions to help cases and was sure she would be able to help Jack.
" Of course I do," he said without hesitation, " and if it will ease your mind, then feel free to do whatever you want with me. "
" You don't need to say it like that," she scoffed, " I'm hardly going to do you any damage. "
" I know," he said, with a smile.
He stood up form his chair and came to sit on the desk beside her, turning sideways a little to look at her. She turned too, to face him and reached out with her hands.
She rested her fingertips lightly against her husband's temples, closing her eyes. He closed his eyes too, and rested his forehead against hers. She felt so comfortable with him, and took a few breaths to prepare herself.
" I've just got a few barriers in mind," Lily told him, " so no-one will be able to penetrate your mind easily. No-one who's unwanted, at least. Bit of protection, you see. "
Jack was happy enough to go along with it - clearly the idea of him being immune to whatever was going on, was a comfort to Lily, and it he could provide any kind of comfort to her, then he would. And it would of course be a good thing to have some kind of mental barriers.
" Ok," Lily muttered, before concentrating very hard.
She found herself getting lost in Jack's mind. Jack had allowed her to practise her psychic skills on his mind enough times to know he should keep his mind clear to make it easier for her to focus on what she was looking for. Usually when she'd practised, she'd decided to look for a certain memory or story, but this was different.
She was lost in his mind and she could hear his voice, even though she knew he wasn't speaking.
She got right to the centre of his mind, and once she got there, she concentrated even harder and started to build up the mental barriers. She'd seen Dad do it before and he'd once explained it to her, and she could almost see the brick wall building up as she worked.
A few minutes later, she slowly and silently removed her fingertips from his temples and moved her head back slightly, opening her eyes. Jack opened his eyes too - when she linked to his mind it was always a surreal experience and he always felt so close to her, and could feel the love that radiated off her.
" Just a little something to give you some mental defences," she said.
" Thank you," Jack said.
They were so close together, and Lily felt so much better for having been able to give him some kind of defences - at least no-one would be able to get to him in a dream. No-one would be able to manipulate him.
Jack reached out and cupped her cheek softly, and she looked into his eyes.
" Whatever this is," Jack told her quietly, " I know we can - "
He broke off when she suddenly jumped backwards, startled, and almost jumped off the end of the desk. She hissed in pain and brought her hand to her forehead as she closed her eyes tightly.
" Lily? " Jack asked, watching is concern and confusion as she gripped the edge of the desk and took a deep breath.
Lily felt like something was taking over her and she felt completely overwhelmed.
" Lily? Is it the mind thing - was it too taxing for you? What can I get for you? Let me do something! "
" Jack," she said through gritted teeth, feeling like she was being taken over and unsure as to what on earth was going on. She took a deep breath and held up her hand to silence him.
" Lily," he said frantically, " Lily, what's going on? "
" I don't know," she said, shaking her head and trying to block his voice out so she could concentrate on her head. She frowned and suddenly, she could see things that weren't in front of her - flashing before her eyes, were images she'd never seen before, and she couldn't imagine what was going on.
Everything flashed white, and then her head throbbed, as she saw her dad sitting in a circle with several Ood, all of them with their hands joined. There was another flash, and she took a deep breath as she suddenly saw the Master's face. He was laughing, cackling, and she supposed it was what the others had seen in their dream.
She let out a little whimper at the sight of him, and was unaware of everything going on around her. Jack wasn't even sure if she knew he was still there.
She groaned and his face disappeared, to be replaced by Wilfred Mott's, looking very worried. She was immediately confused - Donna Noble's grandfather - but why? They couldn't see Donna anymore without her head imploding. Was she ok?
She was very confused as she felt her mind spinning again, and she didn't have a clue what was going on. The next image was a dark skinned man and young woman - she thought she recognised the man from somewhere - he'd had a book out last year.
Some kind of billionaire, involved in some kind of technology - what did he have to do with anything?
The next was very suprising, and she felt a twinge of pain somewhere in her stomach at seeing someone who'd witnessed her torture at the hands of the Master - Lucy Saxon, his wife, was sitting in a prison cell.
Lily shook her head, trying to get rid of all these images and then she gasped and let out a whimper as the next image came.
It was a place she recognised - the funeral pyre her dad had burnt the Master on. This was getting too much - something was happening to her and she didn't know what.
The last thing she ever wanted to see again was the Master, but it was becoming increasingly likely that somehow, he was back
The new image was her dad walking away from the fire and back into the TARDIS. After that, a hand reached down and picked up a ring that the Master had worn, from the ashes of the funeral pyre.
Lily gasped loudly and she could hear Jack's name distantly, but she couldn't make out any words - all she could focus on was what was right in her mind now.
Part of him had survived.
Somehow, he was coming back.
She was going to have to face him again.
The last thing she saw was her dad's terrified face as he saw in the middle of the circle of Ood, and then she realised what was going on.
Jack meanwhile, had assumed she was in some kind of trance - she didn't appear able to hear him, and she'd gone deathly pale as she gripped the edge of the desk and breathed heavily. He was terrified about what was happening to her as she let out little whimpers of pain, and tears fell down her cheeks.
Lily's eyes flew open and she found herself looking into Jack's worried and concerned face.
Her hearts were racing ten times faster than usual and she was struggling to get her breathing down. She realised she was so terrified at the thought of the Master being back, that a few tears had streamed down her cheeks without her knowing.
" Lily! " Jack said quickly, reaching out to her and laying his hands on her shoulders firmly, " what's going on? "
Lily suddenly realised how she'd been able to see those images - her dad and the Ood had sealed if for her, ad she was quick enough to piece it together.
Her Dad had been called by the Ood or run into the Ood and they'd shown him these images - so through her partially psychic time lord bond to her father, she'd been shown all the images too.
" Dad," she breathed, her breath coming out in short pants and her eyes looking wide and terrified, " Ood ... Dad's with the Ood ... they showed him stuff, showed me ... I ... I ... oh God Jack ... I ... "
She was breathing quickly and Jack shook her shoulders a little, worried that she was going to have a panic attack and knowing it had to be something very serious to get her this worked up, " Lily! Look at me baby, it's ok, look at me. "
She took a deep breath and desperately tried to keep herself calmed down. For a few moments she tried to compose herself and then finally she managed to meet his eyes and hold them.
He was waiting for her to say something, and the words fell from her lips, almost a whisper.
" Part of the Master survived. He's coming back. "