"Now can I throw the grenade?"
"Shh! Not yet!" Alonso hissed.
"What about now?" Strax was grinning in anticipation.
"Wait for the signal," Gwen said, elbowing him.
"Ow! Human scum," he muttered. "Can't teach a boy to punch these days."
They ignored him, peering through the ivy at the low stone wall on the other side of the garden.
"Can I throw it now?" he whispered.
"No," the children said.
"Maybe something happened," Narnia whimpered.
Just then, a gloved hand appeared over the wall and a small pebble splashed into the fountain.
"Now, Strax!" they whispered together.
Strax stood and threw the grenade at the front door. A moment later, it exploded and he leaped and whooped with joy. Immediately, several life sized snowmen appeared. The children froze, terrified.
"Run, Strax!" Tenor said, kicking him.
Grumbling about never turning your back on the enemy and how human scum were cowards, Strax took off at a hefty run, drawing the guards attention away. Gwen watched as Jenny entered from the back, Rose from the front, and Vastra climbing up to the balcony. Once they were inside, she took a deep breath and started counting to one hundred.
"Why are there giant snowmen?!" Tenor squeaked.
"Exactly how did you miss that part of the plan?" Narnia asked, staring at him.
"I don't know, I just zoned out! There was too much science!"
"Dr. Simeon was working on the reflective properties of snow," Alonso explained. "The GI was in the snow, and then took over Dr. Simeon and his studies. The snow now reflects the GI, and he's going to magnify it all over the city so that it will reflect back onto the people. Or something like that. Either way we have to face giant carnivorous snowmen whether or not we understand how they work!"
There was a commotion in the house: gunfire, clattering furniture, and shattering glass. Jenny and Vastra ran out backwards, uselessly firing their guns at the advancing snowmen. They turned and led them away from the children and into the woods. Jenny drew her sword, but that did little good.
"Now's our chance, let's go!" Narnia said, dragging Gwen to her feet.
"But we've only waited sixty eight!" Gwen protested.
"Mum's in there alone, we've got to help her," Alonso said.
They dashed to the front door and ducked inside. Rose put a finger to her lips and motioned them forward; there were no snowmen to be seen. Silently, they crept down through the dining room, aiming for the kitchen. Out of nowhere, snowflakes swirled and formed an angry, snarling mass in front of them.
"Go, I'll hold them off!" Tenor yelled.
The others scattered without question, ducking under the table or flattening themselves against the wall. Shaking, Tenor picked up a chair and threw it at his opponent, but of course it didn't work. More snow filled in the missing chunk almost instantaneously. Quickly he backed up...and into a wall. The others were already through the door, and he was alone. Gulping, he remembered Vastra's final words before they began the mission.
"The snow reflects the strongest feelings around. Focus your thoughts and you can beat it."
Gulping, Tenor closed his eyes and pictured warm, boiling water. He imagined feeling it's heat and recoiling, then imagined splashing the water on the snowman and watching it melt. It was so strong that he felt a splash of hot water on his face, and when he opened his eyes there was only a puddle at his feet.
It worked.
The Great Intelligence stood in the Doctor's body, completely unprotected in the middle of the his lab. Gently, he ran his fingers along the giant swirling snow-globe. An angry snowstorm was building inside, ready to be released on the world, but not yet. There was something on the TARDIS that could help him, he knew that. He knew the Doctor's family was coming. Mentally, he told his snowmen to back away and let them come. He wanted to see what they would do. A soft noise above made him look up at the metal walkway surrounding the globe
What he did not expect was Alonso breaking the door.
"Guess what?" Alonso yelled. "We've got no weapons, no defenses, and not a good plan."
"No A levels! No jobs!" Narnia yelled, swinging from the walkway on a chain.
"But we've got a bronze in gymnastics!" Gwen finished, swinging in from the other side.
Together, they wrapped his arms to his body in the thick chains and, after landing, wrapped themselves around his legs to hold him still. Rose vaulted over the snow globe to stand in front of him, hands on her hips.
"Still got it," she bragged. "And you know what else we have?" She put her arms around his shoulders. "Each other."
Motionless, the GI stared back, oblivious as the twins slipped in on either side. Narnia put her head on his chest.
"You can't win. I'll summon my snowmen. They'll get into your TARDIS. They will eat you alive and I'll unleash the rest of my snow on the world."
Rose looked at him with pity. "No, you won't. You're not strong enough."
"Of course, I'm strong enough," the GI snarled.
Spit flew into Rose's face, but she didn't flinch.
"Then why is your heart skipping?" she whispered.
"What?"
Narnia smiled, listening. Short, long short. Three long, pause, three short. Finally, one short. And then it repeated.
"You heartbeat is spelling Rose in morse code," she said.
Smiling, Rose stepped closer. "And you didn't even resist our attempts to bind you. I'd say you don't have complete control of that body. You never will, and you'll never win."
"I don't need him," the GI hissed. "My snow…"
"What snow?" Gwen asked excitedly. "Mum, look! It melted!"
Rose didn't look away. She smiled, licking the corner of her bottom lip. "Love you," she said.
She kissed him until she felt the Great Intelligence leave and his body relax. In fact, he relaxed so quickly that he collapsed. The children stepped back as Rose lay him down, head in her lap, and Alonso loosened the chains.
"Let me see him," Vastra commanded, stepping forward as she sheathed her sword.
She took out a small device and ran it over his body. The Doctor was sweating and shaking, but his eyes were clear. He looked at Vastra in astonishment.
"You're Silurian…" he said.
"A very astute observation. I think he'll make a full recovery," she told Rose. "But don't eat for fifteen minutes, and no swimming for an hour."
"Do we know her?" the Doctor asked, confused.
"This is Madame Vastra," Rose introduced. "She knew you in this dimension before Gallifrey. She helped us find you, and I promised her we wouldn't take her back in time."
"Ok, good. That's fine. I think. Thank you. Maybe."
"He'll be confused for awhile," Vastra added. "But he'll be fine in no time."
"Wasn't Jack here?" he asked.
"Oh, I took him to a safe alley and gave him a bottle of wine," Alonso said. "He'll wake up thinking he dreamed or hallucinated any part of this he remembered. Or he won't remember a thing. I'm not sure."
"But he's safe," Rose promised.
"Good."
Tenor and Strax came in, completely soaked in water. Strax was grinning ear to ear, but Tenor was white as a sheet.
"Ma'am!" He saluted Vastra. "We obliterated the snowmen and melted the house!"
"We melted the snowmen and he's bombed the house!" Tenor corrected.
"What?" everyone but the Doctor said.
"Sontaran," the Doctor said, pointing.
"Don't panic!" Rose commanded, whipping out her keychain and blowing on it.
Tenor, Narnia, and Alonso pulled their new friends towards Rose as the TARDIS materialized around them. Gwen immediately ran to the console and pushed the emergency take off button, which launched them into a rocky flight into the Time Vortex. Vastra looked around approvingly.
"Oh, I've missed this," Jenny said, grinning.
Gingerly, the Doctor stood and made his way to the bench, using Rose as support.
"What about the GI?" Alonso asked. "Did it follow us?"
"No, we weakened it to much," the Doctor said. "It left me but couldn't renter everyone else. There was too much love." He grinned. "That was very smart, by the way, well done."
"I voted for the fire attack," Strax said sulkily. "Love is for weaklings."
"Then how come Strax didn't get infected?" Gwen asked. "I mean, why didn't the GI use him?"
"Well," the Doctor said. "He has...natural defenses."
Tenor leaned over to Narnia. "Did he just call Strax a thick head?"
She giggled. "He insulted him by complimenting him."
"Or vice versa," Tenor added.
"Or both!"
"But it won't come back, will it?" Jenny asked.
"Oh, he'll definitely come back," the Doctor said. "And probably in a different form. Most likely we won't even recognize him at first. That's what makes him so dangerous. Now, Madame Vastra, I promised I would let you stay in this time era. But we do need to keep in touch. Gwen, run and get a spare cell phone from the...er, the room with with the equipment...um..."
"I know, I got it," she said, dashing out.
"We can always connect in a dream world," Vastra offered. "I've done that plenty of times with...with your other self."
"Yes, but that can be tricky when we're in the TARDIS somewhere. So, using these, we can directly contact each other, and then connect in a dream world. I like dream worlds."
Vastra smiled pleasantly. "Sounds fine."
Gwen returned with the cell phone and the Doctor sonicked it. "Now, as soon as either of us gets slightly suspicious that the GI is returning, we'll let the other know. This could become a huge threat, bigger then we know or realize."
"Bigger than destroying the world?" Rose asked.
"It's not just about taking over the world," the Doctor said, handing the phone to Jenny. "It's revenge. We ruined him, so now he wants to ruin us. I don't know how he's going to do it, but it won't be pretty. And I have a feeling it won't just affect us."
