XXXIV
Epiphany

The Island
Jack Gruntler's residence
06:00, nine hours until the Day of Destruction

Rose helps a weak, trembling April down the wooden stairs to the living room. And the moment they hit the floor of the living room, a somewhat disturbed looking Doctor comes bursting into the house, followed by Max, Ireen, Aaron, Sarah-Jane and Martha.

"I've just got your message," the Doctor says, briefly glancing at Terry. "What's happening?"

Rose, still holding onto April is the first to speak. "April started muttering and screaming in her sleep again," she notices the way the Doctor immediately looks deflated as she says this. "She claims that she was in Monroe's head."

"What?" Sarah-Jane gasps.

The Doctor looks desperately from April, to Terry to Rose.

Rose shrugs, feeling utterly helpless. "Apparently they have taken Will. They're torturing him or something."

Aaron stumbles backwards slightly and grips onto the chair nearest to him. Immediately Ireen stands by his side and holds onto his arm.

"It's okay," she says softly. "We'll find him. It might not be true."

No one has ever seen Brigadier Aaron Brimikawood look as scared as he does right now. His face ghostly white, his eyes wide in fear and he grips onto the back of the chair as if his life depends on it.

"My son..." Aaron whispers.

"We'll get him, sir." Rex says.

"HE'S MY SON!" Aaron yells but lets Ireen hold onto him.

"What exactly happened?" The Doctor asks sternly and Rose only shakes her head in response.

"I...I don't exactly know," Rose stumbles over her words as she glances at April who is staring harshly down at the floor. "She said that she was..."

"I was Monroe," April cuts across Rose as she stands up straighter. "Yeah that's right," April's voice is somewhat malicious, pushing away from Rose, her eyes narrowed. "Whatever it was I was witnessing I was Monroe torturing Will. Rodger Barratt was there with Lucien and so were the Nobody's," April looks directly at the Doctor, her scowl harsher than he has ever seen it before. "They said that Monroe is their weapon."

"Of course he is."

Everyone jumps at the sound of Jack Gruntler's voice as he steps out from the shadows. He looks at each and every one of them.

"What April has just witnessed is something none of you can explain. But I can easily say it's the conjoining of both April's and Monroe's minds. And it is something I will discuss in private with April," Jack then looks over in the Doctor's direction but does not catch his eye. "Ireen, round up Ellis and the revolution. You will find Will alone, but badly injured within the tunnels under the Heat Miles base. He is in the tunnel north of the Island just at the edge of the cliff. If you exit out the front door you'll get there within seconds. Doctor Jones, you should go to him immediately and attend to his wounds. I fear for his mind, not the physical wounds. Aaron, you should go to your son as well. Sarah-Jane, Rose, Terry and Rex will go straight to the barn and wait there. And Doctor," he looks directly at the Doctor. "I want you to go to the Tardis and don't leave until I say so."

"I'll stay here." Max speaks for the first time since he arrived here.

Jack surveys Max for a short while. "You can for a moment."

Everyone nods and does as they are told. April remains where she is, watching everyone as they leave and disappear through the door. And then she is left alone with Jack.

"I suppose you have many questions." Jack says calmly.

"And I suppose you have a lot of explaining to do." April snaps accusingly.

Jack sighs before going over to the kitchen. "Declan and your grandfather will be taken to the barn. Everyone will stay there for as long as they need to be," he glances over at the grandfather clock to his left. "We have nine hours before the Day of Destruction," he looks pointedly at April. "Eight till you have to be there."

In the kitchen, Jack opens up one of the cupboards up on the wall directly above the sink and pulls out a bottle of brandy. He then takes out three glasses, blowing away the dust. Max looks at his sister who is watching Jack pour three glasses of brandy. There is something in her eyes that he has not seen before. A mixture of anger, fear and emptiness.

Jack then slowly carries the glasses back into the living room, handing one each to the twins. He then raises his in a toast.

"Here's to the end of our days." Jack says.

And then simultaneously, they drink their brandy in one. April stares at Jack harshly once she is done.

"Tell me everything." She snaps.

"I think you should sit down." Jack offers.

Without another word, April and Max do as they are told. They sit side-by-side on the sofa while Jack sits down in his armchair. This scene reminds April strongly of his cottage back in Scotland. She remembers the night she first night met Jack. The Doctor and Rose sat down on the sofa and she took the seat in the spare armchair, gaining all the attention from his dog. It was also the night she met her grandfather for the first time, however at the time she saw him nothing more than a butler.

The clock up on the mantelpiece ticks loudly and they all can see that the face is cracked. Just like every clock was back in Manchester. Max whistles as he leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Joshua has taken Captain Hoffman's place in the Day of Destruction," Jack says coolly. "I suppose he was meant to be a part of this revolution from the start."

"Tell me everything." April says again, only this time through gritted teeth.

"There's a lot for me to explain to you both. It's going to take some time and I need you both to listen to every word I say."

"We have time," April snaps. "Eight hours precisely. So tell me why I was able to see through Monroe's mind."

"Let's start from the beginning first," Jack pauses for a moment, expecting April to protest, but she does not. "You know the story of your family. Your grandfather was once a General of UNIT in your world. And Andrymia is the galaxy where the shape shifters came from. A rock from the fifth star of the galaxy falls and lands in Manchester 1774. You know what happens then. But when the Battle of the Cytracik started, I took Joseph away from UNIT into safety under my wing. During the battle, of course, what none of us expected, was your father being powerful enough to open the Cytracik, and so he and your mother was killed. No one ever knows what is going to happen when they open the Cytracik. It's always about power and therefore think that the Cytracik will make them even more powerful. In reality the Cytracik is not what it is supposed to be ideally. It chooses one to latch onto. And that happened to be your father. Your father was weak and desperate when the Cytracik chose him. And so it left a prophecy to the only two relatives he had. His children. And the prophecy says..."

"That the twins will be killed by what the Cytracik gave them." Max says robotically.

Jack Gruntler nods. "And so during that time Maxwell was living in Manchester the year after that rock hit the Earth, and is slowly dying from tuberculosis. One of the diseases that was never overcome in those days. And you, April, was left with your nightmare. And you will be killed by the twin Daleks," Jack shifts in his seat. "Skip forward five years and you're both eighteen. Max is the youngest biologist in Manchester, and April meets the Doctor who has been looking for her since your parents death. You destroy Bruce Fey and go on your adventures, blah, blah, blah. But then in Wales, under that church, you stumble across a tarot card reader."

April narrows her eyes, remembering this precise moment. They were hiding under the church after an attack from the Slitheen. "What about that?"

Jack laughs. "I don't suppose you remember anything that woman told you? I don't suppose you really cared that she was foretelling your future."

"I did know." April says a little weaker than she wanted. Images of the death card and the wheel of fortune flashes across her memory.

"There was the constant reminder for change. Which I am exceedingly proud that you have succeeded in. You landing in the parallel world was unintentional and wasn't supposed to happen. But it helped in your change. Allowing the Doctor into your life changed you. Loving Rose changed you. You embraced your life for what it is, April. But she showed you this as your eighth card, showing your inner emotions." Jack pulls out from his pocket a tarot card showing the Hanged Man.

April clenches her fist. She remembers the art work on the card. It is identical to the one she was shown back in Wales.

"That old woman warned you that you will have to deal with Suspension, Suffering and Sacrifice in that order," Jack raises an eyebrow. "Tell me how you you have experienced suspension and suffering since that moment in Wales, April."

April is silent for a moment as she thinks about everything that has happened since she left Wales. They travelled to a few places between Wales and when they went to planet Zorlon. Then they were taken to the Dalek spaceship and she went to the parallel world. She then suddenly remembers.

"After the battle in London," April says in sudden realisation. "We were in suspension for two months before we found out about UNIT."

Jack nods. "Exactly. It took you two months to be brave enough to go back to the base," Jack presses his fingertips together and rests them to his lips thoughtfully. "Why was that?"

April shrugs. "I guess I was doubtful."

"So you kept yourself inside the Tardis for two months. Hopeful that Will Sullivan would come running back to you. Not realising that UNIT had bigger problems to deal with after that battle."

April bites her tongue in anger but says nothing.

"What about suffering?" Jack asks. "And exclude your nightmare."

April looks at her brother. "Your disease."

"Not quite. That is not effecting you as it is him." Jack shuffles in his armchair and groans quietly as he does so.

April thinks about when she was suffering that wasn't physical pain. So she ruled out the explosion in Piccadilly Circus, the time the Nobody came into her hotel room and she hit her head on the sink, and the many times she inflicted pain on herself. She had to think about a time she has felt more suffering than ever before. But then she remembers the time she woke up from when he nightmare had changed. And reality kicked in.

"Being apart from Will." April says quietly.

Jack nods. "Well done. And then we have the same with Maxwell. He was in suspension during those years in Manchester, waiting for you, April."

"We were about twenty-one years old when we met again." Max says.

"Eight years worth of suspension, Maxwell. And what is your suffering, bar your disease?"

Max pauses and knows that he has to mention the one thing he has not spoken about since it happened. "Loosing Edina."

April looks at her brother who's face is hard as he says this.

"But what about sacrifice?" Max asks, immediately wanting to change the subject.

Jack's waves his hand as if batting away a fly. "We will get to that. The next thing I have to talk about is Monore and the Lustworve family. There is a connection between all of you and that connection is of course is the Cytracik," Jack looks quizzically at April. "Has Ellis ever explained how his wife died?"

April shakes her head no. "He mentioned that it happened during the first Day of Destruction."

"Yes. And he's right in saying that, but of course it is not the full story. Ellis' wife was killed by the shape shifters during the first ever Day of Destruction because she was close to opening the Cytracik," Jack pauses for dramatic effect. "She came across it in the woods after passing one of the traps. But they killed her before she even had the chance to. Out of fear, Heat Miles hired Ellis to keep a close eye on him. He must've worked hard enough with them to fool Lucien into accepting his resignation and not removing his tongue."

Max raises his eyebrows. "The Lustworve family are full of surprises."

"Surely the fact that Ellis' wife nearly opened the Cytracik would have triggered something." April wonders aloud.

"Of course it did." Jack says looking directly at April.

April pauses for a second before speaking. "Amelia."

Jack nods.

April glances down at the floor, trying to think about Amelia. "That was why my nightmare changed to her. That was why I was her for part of the nightmare. She's another victim of the Cytracik like we are!" April then hesitates for a moment. "I had another vision that I was her. There were cries coming from the walls of Ellis' house..."

"That is another matter you will not need worry about," Jack sighs heavily. "I'm very disappointed that you didn't figure this out sooner, April."

April scowls harshly again. "Well my mind has been preoccupied."

Jack grunts.

"So what about Monroe?" Max asks but the realisation hits him just as he says this. "No..." He falls back so that he is leaning against the back of the sofa. "He's not..."

"Yes he is," Jack sighs again. "I'm afraid that if it isn't the Daleks who gets to the Cytracik, it will be Monroe."

"How?" April snaps angrily. "How?!" April pushes when Jack does not respond immediately.

"So the Daleks mutilated themselves to become half immortal. Then taking on the Cytracik they will become fully immortal and be the deadliest creatures in the universe."

"Worse then they already are?" Max asks.

Jack ignores his comment. "But little did Heat Miles know the power within Monroe. Yes the poor man severely ill and has had no help or support. But he is a powerful man and everyone has overlooked him. Like in most cases mental health is overlooked. Monroe struggled at UNIT. Blame his mental health. Monroe couldn't deal with the Myriad Circle. Blame his mental health. Monroe created an army of Nobody's. Blame his mental health. Monroe has been trapped in a soundproof cell for centuries and has been reduced to madness. Blame his mental health. Truth is his mental health is not a factor to him being who he is. If Monroe was not schizophrenic or even have borderline personality disorder he would be the exact same person. Okay aside from him struggling to come to terms with the voices in his head is a small factor. But he created that army without those voices. When in that cell, those voices kept him company rather than drive him crazy. It was more of the silence that drove him to madness. The moments when those voices were not there to support him. Those moments when he had to spend time in his own company. And a man with that much hatred for everything in the world is a true candidate for the Cytracik," Jack brushes off invisible dust from his trousers. "So if the Daleks can't get to the Cytracik, then it'll be Monroe."

"Monroe knows this, doesn't he?" April says.

"Unfortunately yes he does."

"So that's why the shape shifters are using him as their weapon. Because they know that he has the power."

"They don't know that right now," Jack says somewhat tiredly. "They knew before but I ordered the Doctor to send Monroe to Heat Miles. I did that knowing that they'll lock him up as torture, believing that it will weaken him."

April nods. "It finally makes sense."

"Heat Miles don't believe that he has that power to open the Cytracik, but they are still keeping an eye on him."

"So that is why I was able to see through Monroe's eyes like I did with Amelia. Because they are connected to the Cytracik like we are."

"What you saw through Monroe's eyes happened in the present moment. Lucky it happened because Will probably would have died if you didn't see that. But your changed nightmare foreshadows the future. It shows a world where you two have been killed by the Cytracik and something else has taken it. So right now you two are the Cytracik's main focus. And then once you two are dead, it'll focus on Amelia. Once it has killed her, it will focus on the next victim. It is why we need to destroy it," Jack then tilts his head to one side. "What were yours and Jason's plans when you volunteered for the Day of Destruction?"

April shrugs. "We didn't have much other than try and get to the Cytracik first."

Jack looks at her knowingly. He knows that there is more than what she is saying but does not say anything about it.

"So how do we destroy the Cytracik?" April asks.

"In ways that no one has yet thought of."

April and Max exchange glances.

"The Cytracik will not be destroyed by any means of force. You'll have to create a paradox," Jack purses his lips for a brief second. "You'll have to kill the victim yourself before the Cytracik or anything else does."

There is a long pause of silence as Jack leaves his words hanging in the air.

"The Doctor will die if you don't. And so will your grandfather. And UNIT. Everyone you know will die if you don't."

"So," Max says sullenly. "After all this, both of us are going to die anyway?"

"Figuratively speaking yes. But not necessarily both of you. One of you will have to do the trick."

"How are we to die then before the Daleks or even Monroe kills us?" April asks.

"I think you know the answer to that, April." Jack's eyes bore into April's.

"Sacrifice," Max says darkly. "If it's anything to go by, we'll do it together."

"To save the ones you love and to truly destroy the Cytracik for what it was, you have no choice but to sacrifice yourselves." Jack stares warily at April. "If you do that then the Cytracik will be destroyed. It will be nothing other than a mere shell of an empty box. You create a paradox and then it'll become meaningless."

April refuses to look at Jack or her brother as the truth sinks in. After spending five years of her life wanting to be dead and having multiple suicide attempts, why is it now the thought of her own death suddenly scares her? She has lived her life since meeting the Doctor, and despite jumping into the river in Manchester, she stayed alive. She stayed alive for her brother. She stayed alive to save the Doctor, and she stayed alive despite seeing Jason die before her.

Jason's death knocked the wind out of April, and from here on, she knows that the idea of happiness is something she can never feel again. But even now she wants to do this for Jason. She wants to fight till the end of the Battle of the Cytracik for him. But if she has to kill herself to save the Doctor, then so be it. The truth is the Doctor isn't all worth it. But right now he is.

"Let's not think about this right now," Max says cautiously, glancing at his sister, scared about what's going through her mind. "The main reason we came here is to end the Battle of the Cytracik. We are all here to fight. And so fight we will."

"April." Jack says in a voice neither of them have heard him speak in before. Concern. Jack does not speak until April looks at him. "Here is something the Doctor does not know. Only your grandfather as he has been attending to my needs. But since the moment we arrived here, Rodger Barratt has been constantly torturing me. Trying to get me to confess the truth about this battle. So if there is anything you should do before you destroy the Cytracik, it is to kill Rodger Barratt."

"I'd be glad to." April says quietly, she then looks at her brother. "I often think about the people I used to know back in London. All those people at the observatory. And my therapist. If I were ever to talk to them about my life now, they'd think I've lost my mind. That I'm stuck on some Class A drug or something."

Max smiles before taking his sister's hand in his.

"This is your time to shine. Show the aliens what it is they're really after. Let them come to you in the woods. Keep them away from the rest of the revolution. Let them find you," Jack hesitates for a second. "It's up to you now."