Lily arrived at the lever room to find it guarded by men in black clothes and holding large guns. "Who the hell are you?" She asked in surprise and the men stared back at her. "Who the hell are you?" One of them asked, and Lily sighed. "Okay, whatever, not now, is the Doctor there?" She asked desperately, trying to peer into the room.
The men exchanged glances. "What's it to you?" One of them asked, and Lily lost her temper. "Look here, you." She spat. "I've just been dragged through at least half this bloody building, I've had to watch people die right in front of me, and then watch helplessly as others met a fate far more terrible, barely rescued my aunt and escaped becoming a Cyberman myself, I don't know what's happened to my cousin, I don't know where the Doctor is, and I am not happy!" She yelled.
The men stared at her in alarm as the brunette snapped: "And I am not happy because the people I care about are not safe, and I will do everything in my power to make sure they are safe and happy. Now, I want the Doctor safe and I need him to make sure the others are safe too, and if you think I'll let some random people like you stop me, think again!"
She gave a huff as she spat out everything she needed to. She was feeling much lighter after saying everything on her mind, even if the men were looking thoroughly spooked. She sighed. "Okay, sorry, my nerves are frayed, it's been a really long day. Just tell me, is the Doctor in there?" She asked them desperately.
"Why don't you ask him yourself?" The Doctor suddenly appeared behind the men, who jumped at his presence. "Doctor!" Lily exclaimed happily, and the man pushed past the men to wrap his arms around her in a tight hug. "What happened, are you alright?" She whispered.
"I really don't think this is the time." Someone said behind the Doctor, and Lily peered over the Doctor's shoulder to see Jake. "Jake?" She asked confused. "I'll explain later, but first, are you okay?" The Doctor asked. Lily nodded. "I'm fine, but I don't know where Aunt Jackie went, she escaped but we were separated. And I'm worried about Rose."
"We'll find them, and save them both." The Doctor promised. Pete popped his head around as well. "Right, so can we get to it? Make lovey eyes at each other later?" He asked. Both the Doctor and Lily reddened, stepping away from each other immediately as the Doctor muttered: "Right, well, first of all, I need to make a phone call. You don't mind?"
The Doctor didn't wait for a response, going to Yvonne's desk and grabbing the phone. He looked at Lily. "Jackie's number." He demanded and Lily immediately went over to the door, rattling out the numbers.
The Doctor punched them in as Pete and Jake came to stand beside Lily who stood at the doorway anxiously. "You guys still not together?" Jake whispered to Lily as they waited for Jackie to pick up. Lily blushed again. "Shut up, it's not like that." She muttered. Jake grinned, but refocused when the Doctor lifted his head, saying in relief: "Jackie, you're alive. Listen."
Lily sagged, sighing in relief as the Doctor shushed Jackie, who was clearly freaking out at him over the phone. "Shush. Listen, tell me. Where are you?" The Doctor demanded, and he paused while Lily stepped in to join him. "Yeah, which one? Is there any sort of sign? Anything to identify it?" He asked.
Lily leaned in to listen and she heard Jackie say: "Yes, a fire extinguisher." She snorted while the Doctor said sarcastically: "Yeah, that helps." "Try the sides, at least tell us which floor." Lily said into the receiver, and Jackie cried: "Oh, thank God, Lily-"
"Not the time, Aunt Jackie!" Lily called, and there was a pause before Jackie said excitedly: "Oh, wait a minute. It says N3." "North corner, staircase three." The Doctor rattled off immediately. He added: "Just keep low, we're trying our best." Lily could almost see the look of horror on Jackie's face as she cried: "No, don't leave me."
"I've got to go. I'm sorry." The Doctor hung up, and Lily stared at him. "You can't just hang up on her like that, she's my aunt!" Lily said indignantly, and the Doctor looked at her. "Really, is this the time?" He asked before turning to Pete: "Jacqueline Andrea Suzette Tyler."
Pete glanced at the phone before saying flatly: "She's not my wife." Lily's eyebrows lifted while the Doctor replied: "I was at the wedding. You got her name wrong." He muttered the last bit and Pete stared in shock while the Doctor ran and grabbed Jake.
"Now then, Jakey boy, if I can open up the bonding chamber on this thing," he grabbed the gun off the young man and examined it as he continued, "it'll work on polycarbite." "What's polycarbite?" Jake asked confused, and Lily walked up to join them as the Doctor answered: "Skin of a Dalek."
The Doctor had surrendered to the Cybermen, putting their plan into action. Everything was now set- the only thing left was one argument between the Doctor and Lily.
"No, it's dangerous." The Doctor argued, and Lily scoffed. "Because staying here with Cybermen and then marching in to shoot at Daleks is safe." She pointed out and he retorted: "You'd at least be armed." "I'll still be armed if I go with you!" Lily said and he frowned. "No, we can't be, the Daleks would shoot us on sight." He said, and Lily grinned.
"If I went in with guns, yes. But I meant: I'd be armed with you. The one thing the Daleks truly fear." She said softly. The Doctor sighed in defeat. "Fine, but you stay right beside me the whole time." "Okay." Lily agreed quickly but the Doctor grabbed her shoulders, saying seriously: "Promise me, Lily. Promise me you'll stay with me and stay safe."
She blinked and her eyes softened. "I know, and I promise, Doctor. I think that's my line for you actually… or for Rose." The Doctor's lips quirked. He nodded and let go, but reached out to intertwine their hands. And Lily felt ready for anything as the Doctor squeezed her hand reassuringly.
They walked down the corridor to the Sphere lab, and Lily could hear Rose saying: "Because if these are going to be my last words, then you're going to listen. I met the Emperor, and I took the Time Vortex and I pulled it into his head and turned him into dust. Do you get that? The God of all Daleks, and I destroyed him. Ha!"
Lily frowned. Rose was sounding too much like the Doctor, like when he was being arrogant. It was a dangerous trait, and something she was sure would get him in lots of trouble. Lily did not like Rose copying that, because she feared for her cousin's safety when she did.
Lily was shaken out of her somber thoughts as she heard the Dalek shout: "You will be exterminated!" They stepped into the doorway at that moment, the Doctor wearing his 3D glasses as he called out: "Oh now, hold on, wait a minute." He walked into the room as the black Dalek cried: "Alert, alert. You are the Doctor."
Rose and Mickey beamed, although Rose's face fell a little when she saw Lily. "With an unidentified being. Human. Exterminate!" The black Dalek shouted. The Doctor pulled Lily slightly behind him, and Rose frowned as she saw they had been holding hands. "Oh no, she's with me, and she's travelled through time too." The Doctor said a little darkly and the black Dalek backed off slightly.
"Sensors report he is unarmed." Another Dalek chipped in, and the Doctor said cheerily as he walked towards Rose and Mickey: "That's me. Always." Lily trailed behind him, smiling at Rose and Mickey, and noting the Dalek-shaped object in the centre of the room, just beside Rose. "Then you are powerless." The black Dalek said, and the Doctor retorted: "Not me. Never." He glared at the Dalek as he removed his 3D glasses.
He then turned to Rose, asking lightly: "How are you?" "Oh, same old, you know." She forced a smile at him, and the Doctor nodded. "Good." He said before turning to Mickey while Lily moved to hug Rose. "And Mickity McMickey. Nice to see you!" The Doctor said cheerfully as he offered a fist. Mickey grinned and bumped fists as he said: "And you, boss."
"Social interaction will cease!" One of the Daleks ordered and Lily and Rose pulled back, Lily sending a grin at Mickey. The black Dalek looked at the Doctor and demanded: "How did you survive the Time War?"
"By fighting." The Doctor answered darkly. "On the front line." Mickey and Lily turned to look at the Doctor. "I was there at the fall of Arcadia. Someday I might even come to terms with that." He murmured, and Lily's face saddened at the look in the Doctor's eyes. His face suddenly smoothed out as he mocked: "But you lot ran away!"
"We had to survive." The black Dalek answered and the Doctor mused: "The last four Daleks in existence. So what's so special about you?" Rose piped up: "Doctor, they've got names." The Doctor's eyes flickered to her, his brows furrowing as Rose continued: "I mean, Daleks don't have names, do they? But one of them said they-"
"I am Dalek Thay." One of the Daleks said. "Dalek Sek." The black Dalek added, and the other two introduced themselves as well; "Dalek Jast." "Dalek Caan." The Doctor smiled as he said: "So that's it! At last. The Cult of Skaro. I thought you were just a legend."
Rose asked, wide-eyed with fear: "Who are they?" The Doctor answered: "A secret order." He began to walk about the room as he continued, "Above and beyond the Emperor himself. Their job was to imagine, think as the enemy thinks. Even dared to have names. All to find new ways of killing." Lily's nose wrinkled in disgust.
"But that thing," Mickey said, nodding at the Genesis Ark in the center of the Daleks, "they said it was yours. I mean, Time Lords. They built it. What does it do?" The Doctor shrugged as he said seriously: "I don't know. Never seen it before." By this time he'd arrived back next to Lily and Rose. "But it's Time Lord." Rose protested softly, and the Doctor replied in a low voice: "Both sides had secrets."
He turned to the Daleks. "What is it? What have you done?" He demanded, and Dalek Sek answered: "Time Lord science will restore Dalek supremacy." Lily frowned as the Doctor asked: "What does that mean? What sort of Time Lord science? What do you mean?" He leaned in threateningly to the Dalek's eyestalk and Lily tugged his arm lightly in alarm.
"They said one touch from a time traveller will wake it up." Rose told him, and the Doctor realized: "Technology using the one thing a Dalek can't do. Touch." He leaned right up close to Dalek Sek's eyestalk, ignoring Lily's frightened tugging. Rose leaned in with him as the Doctor murmured darkly: "Sealed inside your casing. Not feeling anything ever, from birth to death, locked inside a cold metal cage. Completely alone. That explains your voice. No wonder you scream."
Lily's blood ran cold as she stared at the Doctor worriedly. She remembered when she'd first seen his merciless side, but this was darker- this was pure hate. And hate ate at the heart, hate never brought a good end. Lily suddenly had a very bad feeling about this- she wondered if she was beginning to see the Doctor's downfall, and she prayed for all she was worth that she wasn't.
"The Doctor will open the Ark!" Dalek Sek ordered and the Doctor laughed mockingly at it before walking away, saying: "The Doctor will not." "You have no way of resisting." Dalek Sek shot back, and the Doctor scrunched up his face as he said: "Well, you got me there. Although there is always this." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his sonic screwdriver, holding it for the Dalek to see.
"A sonic probe?" Dalek Sec asked, and the Doctor corrected: "That's screwdriver." He emphasized, and the Dalek scoffed: "It is harmless." The Doctor sounded amused as he looked at his innocent-looking screwdriver and said: "Oh, yes. Harmless is just the word."
He tossed the sonic into the air, and it spun before he caught it again as he continued: "That's why I like it. Doesn't kill, doesn't wound, doesn't maim. But I'll tell you what it does do." He paused as he raised the sonic, pointing it in the air. "It is very good at opening doors." He said and then pressed the sonic, switching it on.
The door to the lab blew open with a bang and the Doctor pulled Rose and Lily down. Jake and the Cybermen entered through the still smoking entry, shooting at the Daleks. "Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete!" The Cybermen cried as it shot one of the Daleks with Jake's gun. The Dalek began to glow in a pulsing white-blue light.
"Alert. Casing impaired. Casing impaired." It cried as the Doctor grabbed Lily's hand and yelled at Rose: "Rose, get out!" Rose ran for the other entrance from where the Doctor and Lily had arrived. But she stumbled, falling as Dalek Sek called while being shot at by the Cybermen: "Fire power insufficient! Fire power insufficient!"
Pete came from nowhere, helping her up. "Come on." He urged and he helped Rose out the door. The Doctor pulled Lily up and they ran still ducking shots, as the Cybermen shouted: "Daleks will be deleted. Delete. Delete." Lily and the Doctor had arrived at the door while Rose screamed behind them: "Mickey, come on!"
"Adapt to weaponry." One of the Daleks called, and Dalek Sek yelled triumphantly: "Fire power restored!" The Daleks began firing at the Cybermen, and the shots killed the Cybermen. Lily saw Mickey get jostled, and then their view was cut momentarily as Jake and his men appeared before them, firing at the room.
Mickey then ran through, and the Doctor began to shut the door with his sonic. Lily frowned as she saw Mickey staring at his hand momentarily, as though he'd burnt it but he shrugged it off. Lily paused, remembering the last time she'd shrugged off something that didn't seem right, but the Doctor's voice cut her thoughts as he ordered: "Jake, check the stairwell. The rest of you, come on."
They ran off down the corridor, and Lily decided not to ignore her sinking feeling. "Mickey, did you touch that Ark?" She asked as they ran, and he said guiltily: "I just fell, I didn't mean it!" The Doctor reassured him: "Mickey, without us, they'd have opened it by force. To do that, they'd have blown up the sun. You've done us a favour." He kissed the top of Mickey's head. "Now, run!" He urged them to go faster, and they did.
They ran down further until they saw two Cybermen in front. They skidded to a halt, but the Cybermen had turned to look the opposite way. "You will be upgraded." One of them said, and Lily's eyes widened as she heard Jackie's voice: "No, but you can't. Please." Pete grabbed the gun from Mickey, shooting the Cybermen.
There was the longest pause as Jackie stared through the smoke, trying to see who had saved her. She paused and said in a disbelieving voice: "Pete?" Rose clasped her hands before her mouth as though in prayer and Lily hugged her sideways in comfort as Pete answered: "Hello, Jacks."
"I said there were ghosts, but that's not fair. Why him?" Jackie whined, and Pete shook his head and said as though it was obvious: "I'm not a ghost." Jackie frowned as she protested: "But you're dead. You died twenty years ago, Pete." Pete seemed unable to reply as he stared in anguish at the woman.
The Doctor stepped forward, interjecting: "It's Pete from a different universe." Jackie stared as the Doctor explained: "There are parallel worlds, Jackie. Every single decision we make creates a parallel existence, a different dimension where-" Jackie cut him off, snapping: "Oh, you can shut up."
The Doctor saluted to that sheepishly and he stepped back, Mickey and Lily giving him amused grins. Jackie gasped as she took Pete in before saying: "Oh, you look old." Lily rolled her eyes but Pete just said with a smile: "You don't." Jackie still looked like she couldn't believe it and she asked: "How can you be standing there?"
Pete shrugged as he said with a small smile: "I just got lucky. Lived my life. You were left on your own." He sounded like he was fighting back tears but he squashed it down as he asked, "You didn't marry again, or-" he trailed off, gesturing to indicate what he meant.
Jackie shrugged as she replied softly: "There was never anyone else. Twenty years, though. Look at me. I never left that flat. Did nothing with myself." Jackie said contritely, and Pete answered: "You brought her up. Rose Tyler." Rose was blinking back tears, and Lily smiled at her, hugging her tighter. "That's not bad." Pete said softly.
Jackie smiled. "Yeah." She breathed. Pete continued: "In my world, it worked. All those daft little plans of mine, they worked. Made me rich." He said, and Jackie retorted: "I don't care about that." Lily raised an eyebrow. "How rich?" Jackie asked, and Lily suppressed a smile as Pete answered lightly: "Very."
"I don't care about that." Jackie repeated. Lily suppressed a laugh as Jackie then added: "How very?" Rose rolled her eyes while the Doctor snorted, smiling as his eyes crinkled happily. Pete smiled at her, and she breathed out happily as she stared at him.
Pete's face fell as he said: "Thing is though, Jacks, you're not my wife." Jackie reared back a little in shock and hurt, and Lily rolled her eyes at Pete's back while he continued: "I'm sorry, but you're not. I mean, we both..." Jackie began to nod understandingly but her eyes showed her hurt as Pete tried to find the right words: "You know, it's just sort of-" He broke off to stare at Jackie who looked like she was fighting back tears.
"Oh, come here." Pete said, and he moved towards her. Jackie ran to him, and Pete dropped the gun so that he could hold out his arms to her. Jackie ran straight into them, jumping up as they hugged tightly. Rose clasped her hands together, and Lily grinned, hugging her cousin as she leaned her head on Rose's shoulder as the two watched the happy couple.
The Doctor was in front as they peered into the warehouse. It was chaos inside as the Daleks fought against the Cybermen and human soldiers. There were people shouting and screaming in pain, Daleks crying: "Exterminate!" and Cybermen yelling: "Delete!"
The Doctor crawled through the door, getting down on the floor until he reached one of the open crates. Lily and Rose watched through the doors anxiously as the Doctor barely avoided being hit by one of the many shots flying about the room. The Doctor managed to grab two of the Magnaclamps, ducking as he headed back towards them, avoiding laser fire.
He fell over as one shot close by, and Rose begged silently: "Come on, please." Lily's hands were curled into tight fists and she almost cut her own skin as she watched in nervous tension as the Doctor got back up, racing to them. He sped through the doors, and Rose and Lily quickly slammed it behind him.
He opened it a crack once more to look through at the room, wearing his 3D glasses. They watched as the Daleks remained mostly unharmed, the Genesis Ark glowing as it glided behind them into the room. Just then, Dalek Sek looked up at the roof and ordered: "Override roof mechanism."
The warehouse roof shutters clanged before they began to slide back, revealing the open sky. "Elevate." Dalek Sek ordered, and Lily watched with a frown as the Ark and all the Daleks began to lift off the ground. "What're they doing? Why do they need to get outside?" Rose asked confused.
"Time Lord science." The Doctor said, trying to understand as he thought hard. "What Time Lord science?" He muttered as he removed his glasses, his face scrunched up in thought. "What is it?" They watched the Daleks lift out the now open roof, and the Doctor furrowed his brows before he slammed the doors shut behind them.