Summary: It's back to fighting the Mondasian Cybermen for Astrid, Alasdair, and Jean-Luis. It's time to start fighting the Mondasian Cybermen for the Doctor, Rose, and Donna. And, even if they win - there's still a matter of getting the Doctor and his crew back into the other universe before that one and this one collides. And also, could Torchwood have worse timing?

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Episode 36 – Collision

6:27 pm - In hindsight, knocking out the power grid when it gets dark earlier then in the 'summer' months - was probably not her best idea - that Astrid had to admit. She also had to admit that the Mondasian Cybermen looked like mummies with a few cybernetic features - which really didn't bother her as much as it probably should have - maybe her parents had been right when she was back in school - she really did read to many comic books! And, what was she supposed to do anyways - she'd already pretty much worn herself out! She needed to think strategically - electricity was out, there were to many people for her to be using her ice as anything more then a close combat option and Jean-Luis was already there for that purpose, healing was out, and locking a Cyberman in a dream or nightmare - it was foolish to even think that would work - fire maybe? With all the damage that had already been done - yeah, just set London on fire - that would sure make people happy!

Rose and Donna seemed to be liabilities but traveling with someone who abhors weapons - or at least, guns - that's not really a surprise.

Alasdair and the Doctor actually seemed to be working cohesively - it was easy to figure out what Alasdair's sonic screwdriver was doing because it had what was essentially a laser app/feature - the Doctor's on the other hand - yeah, Astrid wasn't so what it was doing.

Jean-Luis was actually getting in on more of the 'action' because there were just so many this time that even with Alasdair and the Doctor working together - the Cybermen were slowly closing in around them. And, what Astrid kept coming back to - to do - would set fire to the general area - and as selfish as it was, not to do it - she didn't want to destroy her own home! Currently, she was just focusing on her two 24-inch long spear-like ice blades she was using - how she'd gotten downgraded to Rose/Donna guard duty - she wasn't sure and she didn't like it!

6:48 pm - Things began to shift - it wasn't as if there were less Mondasian Cybermen all of a sudden - it was like - they were being divided - not just because of the other freaks that were fighting them and probably slowly being converted but because - something else was gaining their attention! She could tell that Alasdair, the Doctor, and Donna had all noticed that too - and Jean-Luis seemed to be a little - to calm - about it. Rose was the last to notice - it wasn't that she was slow - because she still figured it out rather quickly - she just wasn't as quick minded as everyone else.

7:13 pm - Whatever was 'helping' with the Cybermen - the 'helpers' were winning - and while that wasn't anything to necessarily be happy about just yet - it was giving the group a breather - so, it was a bit of a relief. Astrid watched as Alasdair and the Doctor seemed to be circling each other like animals - odd as that was to see. They stopped and the Doctor asked curiously, 'A laser screwdriver'? Alasdair crossed his arms and said, 'Actually, it's sonic - like yours - but I don't have access to a full-grown T.A.R.D.I.S. yet so I couldn't develop one with all the nice features yours has - so I just - picked and chose which ones were best and feasible to develop on my own and did just that. As for the laser - that's not the only one of the Master's weapons I have installed'. Astrid signed, 'So, why do you call it a sonic screwdriver'? She could see the curious look Alasdair was giving the Doctor and she continued, 'I mean, why a screwdriver? They look more like fancy pen lights then screwdrivers'. Alasdair said, 'You should have seen the first sonic screwdriver - it really didn't look like much more then a pen light'. The Doctor said - sounding slightly offended, 'Oi'! Astrid signed, 'Really'? Alasdair said, 'Yup'!

7:27 pm - Astrid was wide-eyed with amazement - it wasn't Mondasian Cybermen surrounding them, now - it was - it was - it was members of the Viper Clan! No wonder Jean-Luis had been so calm! She watched as Renee asked, 'When you asked us to send a few people out to check the perimeter of London - did you know there were more'? Jean-Luis said, 'No, but I did know that if there were - that you would lead the Viper's into a confrontation with the Mondasian Cybermen - simply because I was out in the mix, father'. Renee asked curiously, 'You risked your Clan to protect Alasdair and Astrid'? Jean-Luis said, 'Father, during the last Cybermen attack - we stayed out of it - we stayed secluded in safe houses - while everyone else was fighting and dying or worse - being converted - I told you then as I'm telling you now - that is not the type of Clan I want to lead! London is our home, we should be willing to defend it'! Renee threw his arms out and asked irritated, 'That's went real well hasn't it? No electricity and more damage done to this city then even we could afford to fix'! Jean-Luis said angrily, 'If you had gotten involved sooner - that wouldn't have happened'!

Astrid looked at Alasdair who was standing to the left of the Doctor. Rose was standing in front of Alasdair and said angrily, 'You will never be the Doctor'! How did that argument get started again? Alasdair snapped back, 'If I wanted to be the Doctor - I wouldn't be going by Alasdair Noble - would I'? Rose said angrily, 'You made your own sonic screwdriver! You have a piece of T.A.R.D.I.S. coral that will one day grow into a T.A.R.D.I.S. And, you're half-Time Lord! What other proof do you need of who you claim you don't want to be'? Alasdair snapped again, 'I know there are things about who I am that I cannot change, Rose'! She figured that the Doctor said something because both Alasdair and Rose looked at him but she couldn't tell what.

Looking at Jean-Luis and Renee again, she could tell that their disagreement seemed to have settled down. Returning her attention to Alasdair, she noticed him saying, 'Yes, due to the Meta-Crisis and the fact that I literally grew from his hand - I am like the Doctor in - things I cannot control - but I'm also half-human'!

What Astrid didn't want to see - and exactly what she was seeing - one, Pete Tyler - alongside several other members of Torchwood - oh, this should be fun. She wondered if Torchwood realized that for once - they were surrounded! The fact that Pete once again had his rifle aimed at her - actually, it didn't bother her this time. The Doctor asked curiously, 'Pete, what are you doing'? Pete ignored the Doctor and said, 'Astrid - I was fine with standing back and letting you live freely as long as you stayed out of trouble but look at what's happened in London'. Alasdair asked irritated, 'And, how is that her fault? It was Mondasian Cybermen - not -' Pete interrupted by saying, 'You were selfish - just like all the freaks - you were only interested in protecting yourself - you didn't think for even a moment of what kind of damage you were doing'! She glanced at Jean-Luis and Renee who both demanded, 'Put the gun down - Pete Tyler'! Pete ignored them both and continued, 'The other freaks thought that since you were using your powers that they could just go ahead and use theirs - and we had to put a stop to that. Their deaths will be on your hands, Astrid Wolf'! Astrid took a surprised step back as she shook her head. The Doctor asked curiously, 'What is going on here'? Pete ignored the question and said, 'I don't care at this point if the Viper Clan does want to continue protecting you - you're being placed under arrest'. The Doctor demanded, 'What for'? Alasdair answered, 'Simply because she's is one of the freaks. You dropped me in a damn parallel where there were normal humans and super-powered ones called freaks - you can obviously see what most people attached to any government agency thinks of them by looking at the Tyler's'! The Doctor asked curiously, 'They're arrested just because they're different'? Alasdair said, 'Exactly'. The Doctor asked curiously, 'What happens to them'? Alasdair said, 'They're imprisoned, tortured, and once they get tired of torturing them - they're executed'.

Astrid returned her attention to Pete who'd looked at the rest of the Torchwood team he'd brought with him and commanded, 'Arrest her'! Alasdair started to back toward her - never taking his eyes off Pete - all she could tell was that Alasdair shook his head.

What happened next was certainly unexpected. Rose walked up to Pete - Astrid knew Rose said something to Pete but she wasn't sure what. Pete handed Rose his rifle and Rose spun with it - Astrid honestly didn't think she was even paying attention to her environment or else Rose would've noticed what Astrid did. Rose had the rifle pointed at her - and Alasdair since he was in front of her - but that wasn't important. Rose pulled the trigger until the magazine was empty.

Astrid saw the shock on Rose's face as she dropped the rifle. She saw a similar look on Pete's face. And, a similar one on Alasdair's when she moved slightly to see his face - she probably had a similar face on. Rose hadn't paid attention to everything around her - except for Astrid - she hadn't paid attention to the fact that as soon as Pete had handed her the rifle that the Doctor had started to move. Rose had been blind to the fact that it wasn't her or Alasdair that she was shooting.

Astrid stayed back as both Rose and Donna ran toward the Doctor who'd collapsed onto the ground/road. Alasdair turned to face her and signed, 'Can you - save him'? Astrid signed, 'Won't he just regenerate'? Alasdair signed, 'That's not the point. Despite what I might think to the contrary about her right now - Rose doesn't need it on her conscious that she's the reason this Doctor regenerated'. Astrid signed, 'You want me to help someone that wants to kill me'? Alasdair signed, 'The Doctor will forgive her - no matter what - but - she wouldn't forgive herself so easily. He doesn't deserve to get hurt'. It took Astrid a moment to realize just what Alasdair was getting at - despite the fact that he wasn't the Doctor and apparently didn't want to be - he thought the Doctor deserved to be happy. Astrid nodded and signed, 'I'll try'. She wasn't sure just who he was talking to but he commanded, 'Water, now'!

Astrid walked over to the Doctor and knelt down on his right - Donna standing up and backing up a step - Rose just glared at her. It was only a couple more seconds before Jean-Luis appeared with a bowl of water - Rose seemed curious. Astrid put her left hand in it and Rose watched as Astrid repeated the process she'd used when Charlie had shot Alasdair. Her hand began to shine white and as she removed her hand from the bowl - the water stayed around her hand. Putting her hand over the bullet wound close to the Doctor's heart - as the water began to seep into the wound and the shine began to fade - she remembered what Alasdair had told her about Time Lord's - two hearts! It was strange - feeling his double pulse - she saw him watching her - a strange feeling - his eyes seemed to glowing - if she was right - it was with regenerative energy. She remembered something Alasdair had told him - something that he'd heard Jack say when he was still just a 'hand in a jar', 'The Doctor doesn't want people to sacrifice themselves for him. The Doctor doesn't understand why people would want to. But, anybody who really gets to know him - we'd all do it - many times over - because we all love him in our own way'. She'd really thought he'd been addled in the head but she actually did understand it. She didn't even know him besides what she'd learned from Alasdair and yet, she agreed - the Doctor deserved to be happy - even if it was with Pete Tyler's kinda-daughter.

After the water had completely seeped into the wound and the shine had faded, Astrid collapsed.

Astrid woke up the next morning - with Alasdair sitting on the edge of her bed watching her. She sat up and signed, 'Where's the Doctor'? Alasdair signed, 'Back in the other universe. He had to close the hole between universes from that side while I worked with Torchwood to close it from this side. For what it's worth - Rose told me to tell you that she was sorry - that not all freaks were bad. And obviously, Pete decided not to have you arrested. I can't say the rest of London isn't going to want to lynch you after this, though'. Astrid snuggled up to Alasdair's left side and she could feel him laugh - she didn't mind though. She saw the piece of T.A.R.D.I.S. coral in his right hand - she actually thought it looked broken but he'd explained before that not all coral has the exact same shape - that broken look though was what made it such a good make-shift weapon. It looked alive though - she'd seen it enough to know - there were occasions where it almost seemed to pulse. How the bloody coral was yellow - well, she didn't bother asking that because - well, she didn't particularly like yellow but the coral was a pretty yellow. Alasdair held his right hand closer to Astrid and she looked up at him and looked confused - he'd always been so - possessive - of it before. Alasdair said, 'I didn't like the idea of anybody else touching it - I still don't really - but the Doctor - he had a point'. Astrid attempted to look curious and Alasdair said, 'While it is perfectly understandable to be possessive of - what will one day be a full-grown T.A.R.D.I.S. - it would also make an equal amount of sense to not be that way with you'. Astrid didn't have to attempt to look confused because she was thoroughly confused. Alasdair said, 'She will - T.A.R.D.I.S.' are predominantly female - there might have been a rare occasion where there's been a male but the Doctor never heard of it, if there were - bond with me - there's no doubt about that - but - in theory anyways - it would be possible for her to bond with you, as well'. Astrid looked curious and Alasdair said, 'You have to hold the coral to while it's still small enough to hold for that to even be possible though'.

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Author's Note 1: Do I have any idea what I'm doing next now that this '4-part episode' is done? Not a clue, as it stands - I'm actually surprised I got this part done today because I've been tired most of the day - maybe I'll have a better idea tomorrow.

Author's Note 2: Let me explain something here - as I've already explained - I actually prefer the Mondasian Cybermen - original or reboot Mondasian Cybermen - to any of the more 'metal' Cybermen. But, I also prefer them to the Dalek's. So, who knows? Maybe we'll be seeing more of them, later on.

Author's Note 3: If you haven't read Episodes 33, 34, and 35 - then you're missing the other three parts of this 'Christmas Special'. And yes, I know it's April, but did you really want me waiting until December to post this?

Reviews/Comments/Critiques welcome!

Written on April 6th, 2019