A/N: This story was started well before the premiere of "Torchwood," and so doesn't follow that particular canon. I know enough from Classic Who and spinoff media to be dangerous.
Thanks, as always, to Aibhinn for beta services!
Chapter 26 – The Hand of Omega
"Get that last connector, Jack…and…there! All the sharp, spiky and otherwise dangerous bits are gone!" the Doctor announced.
The sole intact clockwork android stood in the console room. Well, almost intact. He and Jack had just finished removing its blades, needles and teleportation devices, rendering it harmless. Or so they hoped.
"If it's all the same to you, I'm keeping this handy," Kit said. She was sitting on one of the chairs with her baseball bat slung across her shoulders.
"Don't trust our work, Angel?" Jack asked, tossing the last of the sharp, spiky bits into a bin along with the rest of the spare parts.
"Well, let's look at the track record," she answered. She used the bat as a pointer, aiming it at the Doctor. "He's nearly gotten me buried in an avalanche, sacrificed by a voodoo cult and gambled off into slavery."
"I got you out of every one of those situations!" the Doctor protested.
"You also got me into them!" she replied with a laugh. Jack snorted at that, but she wasn't letting him off the hook. She swung her bat around his way. "And you nearly got me cut into julienne strips. Not exactly knights in shining armor, either of you."
"But you're not exactly a damsel in distress yourself," Jack countered with a grin.
"Not when I've got this around," she answered, patting the bat and resting it across her lap. "So now what, Doctor?"
The Doctor walked around the android, looking it up and down. "I'll need to wind this up." He laughed softly. "Last time I saw it, I said I wouldn't. Funny how fate makes a liar out of me."
"Never say never," Kit offered.
He looked her way sharply. "True. Well, then! How do you Americans put it? Let's get this show on the road!"
The android didn't truly need winding up. Rather, it had a button to depress under its right arm to restart its mechanisms. The Doctor pressed the button, then stepped back next to his companions as the clockworks slowly ground into life.
"You might want to be ready to use that," the Doctor murmured to Kit, with a jerk of his head at the bat. "Just in case."
She held the bat at the ready as Jack glanced over at the Doctor. He pulled out his sonic blaster. "Just in case," he said.
The clockworks were now at full speed. "Repair Droid One awaiting purpose," declared a tinny-sounding male voice.
"Purpose," the Doctor murmured. "I took it away from you before, and now you want me to give it to you again. Well, I can do that." He motioned to his companions to lower their weapons, and walked closer to the android. "I have something for you to repair. A device to open windows through space and time, just as you did on your space ship. I need you to fix it."
"I must examine the device," the android responded. The Doctor led it over to the Stellar Manipulator.
"Got to love repair droids," Jack said, tucking his blaster away. "No chit-chat, just down to business."
"And they won't stick you with an outrageous bill later, right?" Kit asked.
The android hovered over the Manipulator, the Doctor watching it closely. A series of whirs and clicks accompanied the ticking of the android's clockwork heart, making a strange music.
Finally, the android straightened and faced the Doctor. "It is not complete."
"Not complete?" the Doctor asked. "What do you mean? We followed all of Omega's instructions to the letter."
"It is not complete. It is missing a part." The android turned toward Kit and Jack. "You are compatible."
"Oh, no, you don't!" the Doctor exclaimed, moving in front of the android. "I like my companions the way they are, thank you. Besides, you're no longer equipped for dissecting. What part is missing?"
"Bioelectromechanical control is necessary to complete the spatio-temporal hyperlink," was the response.
The Doctor's jaw dropped. "Spatio-temporal hyperlink?" he repeated incredulously. "Spatio-temporal hyperlink? Did you say—" he turned to the others. "Did it just say spatio-temporal hyperlink?"
"It did," Jack confirmed.
"And what's a space-temp-whatsit?" Kit asked.
The Doctor's eyes were still wide and disbelieving as he answered. "Spatio-temporal hyperlink. I thought I'd made it up. Didn't want to say 'magic door.'" A shadow crossed his face for a moment as he thought about Rose and Mickey and how he'd almost let them down. Then he shook his head. "Never mind that. Why bioelectromechanical control?"
"It is necessary to manage the power flows," the android replied. "The part is needed to effect repairs. You are compatible as well."
"No!" the Doctor replied firmly. "I like me the way I am, too." He thought over everything he'd learned in the Matrix. "Omega's recording made no mentions at all of biolectromechanical control."
"I don't think there was any mention of getting sucked into an antimatter universe, either," Jack pointed out. "Is there anything else about the Stellar Manipulator in the Matrix? Maybe some later research?"
The Doctor shook his head. "Rassilon himself made the only other entry on the subject, giving it a new name. He called it the Hand—" He stopped and clapped a hand on his forehead. "No! No no no no no! Can't be! No!" He started pacing around the console, raking his hair back with his fingers as he thought furiously. "That was just a legend! No one ever believed it was true!" He stopped in front of the android again. "But…maybe we were wrong."
His companions stared at him. "Wrong about what, Doctor?" Jack asked.
"You started to say that Rassilon called it the Hand," Kit added. "What does that mean?"
"The Hand of Omega," the Doctor answered. He moved over to a chair and sat down heavily. "There's a Time Lord legend that says Omega cut his assistant's hand off and put it into the original Manipulator. Supposedly that was why Rassilon named the device 'the Hand of Omega.' Most of my Academy teachers said it was a story made up to frighten children. It seems they were wrong." He let out a huff of laughter. "That shouldn't surprise me. They seemed to be wrong about many things. But I just accepted it. I never even bothered to really look at the original device when I had it in my possession. Just used it without completely understanding it."
"That sounds like Torchwood," Jack observed.
The Doctor shot a dark look at him. "I think I'm better than that."
Jack put his hands up in a gesture of apology and brought him back on topic. "If the legend is true, does it mean what I think it means?"
"Putting two and two together and getting five, Jack? As in five fingers?" He held up his right hand and waggled the fingers meaningfully.
Kit looked back and forth between them. "You mean…no, you don't mean…"
"I do mean, Kit. If Repair Droid One here is going to get its job done, then I need to lend it a hand. Literally." The Doctor slid back out of the chair. "I'll be right back. Keep an eye on that droid, will you? Make sure it doesn't do anything to the TARDIS?"
He dashed out of the console room, down the corridor to the medical bay. He opened a stasis cabinet and took out the metal case he'd retrieved from Torchwood Cardiff. He took one more look at the other case from London, then closed the cabinet. Things work out, he'd once told Kit. Not usually the way we expect them to.
This was certainly beyond any of his expectations.
He jogged back to the console room. "All right, then, Repair Droid One…my goodness, that's a mouthful. We need to call you something else…hmmm…I know! Alonzo!" He grinned broadly. "Brilliant! I wanted a companion named Alonzo! Now I can say 'Allons-y, Alonzo!' Perfect! Alonzo! What?"
Kit and Jack were both staring at him, dumbfounded. He sobered. "Rose would have got it," he said in a low tone. He turned back to the droid and held the metal case out to it. "I think this is what you need."
He opened the case and took out the severed hand inside. The droid whirred and clicked for a moment, and then pronounced, "It is compatible." It took the hand and turned back to the Stellar Manipulator.
The Doctor and Jack moved on either side of it to watch it work. "Whoa. He's good!" Jack said. "Look at that!"
"He's re-routed the power through my hand," the Doctor. "Look, the energy is making the fingers move."
Kit made a strangled noise behind them. They turned to see her putting a hand over her face and shaking her head. "At least you're not shouting, 'It's alive,' Doctor Frankenstein!"
The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her. "That's Fronkenshteen," he said mildly, and winked at her as she dissolved into giggles.
The android's voice cut through her laughter. "It is complete."
"That fast?" Jack asked in surprise as Kit fell silent.
"It is complete."
The Doctor moved to the console, and motioned for Jack to do the same. "There's one way to test that," he said, resetting switches and dials. "I've given the TARDIS the new information. Jack, you handle the lever, and I'll push the button. On my mark…three, two, one, mark!"
Button pushed, lever pulled, all three gathered around the monitor to watch the simulation results. "The black hole is being formed, and we're holding position," the Doctor said.
"Energy readings are staying in the green," Jack added.
"And we're staying in one piece!" Kit concluded. They watched the monitor for a few more moments, then looked at each other.
"That's it." The Doctor's voice was a bare whisper. It was almost too much to believe. He could rebuild what was lost. And with a new Eye of Harmony, he would be able to have what he desired.
Just as the Face of Boe had said.
"Doctor?" Kit touched his arm.
He smiled and put an arm around each of his companions, giving them both a squeeze. "'Nothing is impossible to a willing heart.' That's going to be a cornerstone for the new Time Lords," he said. "Thank you both. And you!" He released Kit and Jack and strode over to the android, planting a kiss on its glass head. "Well done, Alonzo! Now, before we do anything else, the TARDIS is going to need power."
"Back to the Cardiff Rift?" Jack asked.
The Doctor shook his head. "Too close to Torchwood, and I don't want to waste time on them now. Not when we're this close." He thought for a moment. "There is a spot in the M81 galaxy that will serve the purpose nicely. It'll take a couple of days to fuel up, but then we'll be set. And once we create the new Eye of Harmony, I'll never have to make a fuel stop again. The TARDIS will be able to draw power right from the Eye. And then," he smiled in anticipation, "then we can cross the universes."
He turned back to the console and entered some coordinates. The time rotor began to move.
I'm coming to get you, Rose.
Late on their second day in the M81 galaxy, Jack walked into the console room to find Kit alone, sitting and writing in a notebook. "Hey, Angel," he said. "Where's the Doctor?"
She answered without looking up. "Even Time Lords need a time out once in a while," she said with one final flourish of her pen before closing the book. "Had to threaten him with the baseball bat—"
"You didn't."
"I did!" she said with a smug expression. "He was staring at that— "she pointed at the memory sphere on the console, which was rotating various images of Rose, "—and he was starting to talk to it, so I knew he'd been going for way too long. I…convinced him to go to his room to rest and not come back in here for eight hours."
"Which means he'll be back in two," Jack smirked.
"Well, of course," she shrugged. "But two hours rest is better than nothing. I promised him I'd keep an eye on the energy levels and let him know if anything started blinking mauve."
He walked over to the console and looked at the monitor. "Actually, it looks like we're topped off. We can go when he gets back."
The memory sphere caught his eye; an image of Rose laughing and wading through shallow water. "I remember that day," he said. "Hydraxa Five. Unbelievable whitewater rafting. Rose was terrified at first, but then she loved it. It was a good time." He reached out and touched the sphere. "We had a lot of good times, the three of us."
The sphere's interior swirled, and an image appeared of his first night on the TARDIS, the Doctor's previous self giving him the evil eye while dancing with Rose. Jack smiled at the memory, then his attention was drawn away by a groan from Kit. He looked to see her rolling her shoulders and rubbing her neck.
She let out a huff of discomfort. "Guess they didn't believe in ergonomically correct chairs on Gallifrey."
"Here." Jack moved behind her and began massaging her stiff muscles. "So where's Alonzo?" he asked with a grin.
She chuckled. Neither of them had been able to say that name with a straight face. "In the workroom, fixing things. The place looks like a cross between 'Antiques Roadshow,' 'Tool Time' and 'Pimp My Ride.' Oooh!" She gasped a little bit, and he stopped.
"Did I hurt you?"
"Oh, no. Just hit a particularly good spot." She shifted just a little. "Carry on!"
"Yes, ma'am!" He resumed his ministrations. "So, what are you writing?"
"Journalist, remember? I'm keeping a journal. No peeking!"
He laughed softly as he kept kneading her shoulders. When she was completely relaxed under his hands, he slid them down to gently wrap his arms around her and nuzzle her neck. He'd barely gotten a whiff of a floral scent on her skin when she stiffened.
"Jack. Don't."
He let her go and stepped back, his disappointment eased a little by the gentle look she gave him as she stood and faced him. "Don't," she said again quietly.
He started to answer, but she put a finger to his lips to stop him. "Hear me out. I do care for you, Jack. It's pretty surprising considering I was ready to blast you when we first met."
Another memory to make him smile. "The Doctor's guardian angel. But…"
She shook her head. "Hear me out," she repeated, emphasizing each word carefully. She took in a breath and let it out. "Captain Jack 'I Get Around' Harkness. I know that's normal for your time, but I still need to wrap my 21st century brain around it. And there's something else to consider."
She paused to look down, then back up at him. "The Doctor. You should have seen the look on his face when he was watching that sphere. He's still in so much pain over Rose. Jack, I know what it's like to lose something, and then get your guts ripped out when you see someone else with what you lost. It hurts. I don't want to see him go through that, do you?"
He sighed and shook his head. "Of course not. Still his guardian angel, hmm?"
"Someone has to be. Until we get Rose back." She reached up to caress his cheek. "Thanks for understanding."
Jack smiled and hugged her then, the embrace of a good friend. He kissed the top of her head and released her. "You know, I love your confidence that we will get Rose back. Not a doubt in your mind, is there?"
She looked at him very seriously. "I can't have any doubts, Jack. Five hearts are riding on this."
The Doctor walked down the corridor back toward the console room. It was less than two hours since Kit had ordered him off to rest under the threat of her Louisville Slugger. But by his estimates, the refueling should be done and he didn't want to waste a single moment.
As he drew closer to the console room, he caught a whiff of something in the air. He stopped and sniffed. Human pheromones. He was all too familiar with Jack's, but there was something else mixed in; from Kit? That was new. He couldn't help but smile. He finally won her over.
He didn't want to waste time, but he didn't want to interrupt anything, either. Perhaps he should check on Alonzo…
But as he started to turn away, he could just barely hear Kit saying his own name in such a sad tone. He stopped to listen, and shook his head regretfully at what he heard. She had it all wrong. He'd have a private word with her about it later.
For now, though…He straightened up and strode into the console room. "Right then, you two! If my calculations are correct…and they always are…we should be ready to go!"
He went to the console and tucked the memory sphere back into his pocket while he looked at the monitor. "Very good! Now…" he paused and gave them an expectant smile, "who's ready to make some history?"
Jack grinned back. "Making history is just another day on the TARDIS, Doctor."
"Oh, no, Jack," the Doctor replied, beginning to push buttons. "This is definitely not just another day."