Dark Water: Rescue?

Danny fidgeted as he sat at a small round table on the balcony, across from the young boy. The child still appeared very frightened, but he was at least sitting there with him so he hoped he might be able to say what he'd desperately wanted to say to him for so long.

He just didn't know how to begin.

How do you apologize to someone for cutting their life short? Especially in such a violent way?

"So..." he began, searching for anything at all to say, "You ok?" he winced at that, the WORST thing to ask right now, given where they were, "I'm sorry. I just..." he reached across the table to touch the boy's hand, but the boy jerked back, nearly flying out of his chair so fast it fell to the ground, "Hey, hey..." he tried to reassure the boy, his hands in the air, "Hey, listen. Listen..." he stood up, which was the wrong thing to do as the boy took off, "Hey!"

He made a step to go after him, but the boy dashed back into the office, right terrified, which hit Danny right in the gut.

"Probably best not," Seb called out, stopping him from trying to follow again, the man sitting off in a chair and working on his iPad, "Doesn't speak much," he added, standing and moving over to Danny by the rail.

"Why would he want to see me?" Danny asked, only to nearly jump out of his skin when he heard someone, a man, screaming in pain, somewhere nearby, "What the hell is that?"

"Sounds like somebody left their body to science," Seb muttered, sounding more irritated than alarmed, "Ok," he sighed, "Um, it's probably time to explain why you're always feeling cold..."

Danny was quite sure he wasn't going to like this.

~8~

"White noise off the telly," Chang explained to the four that gathered around his desk, staring at the static on the monitor he was playing for them, "We've all heard it. A few years ago, Dr. Skarosa, our founder, did something unexpected. He played that noise through a translation matrix of his own devising. This is a recording of what he heard," he pushed another button and a mad mixture of voices began to speak.

"Ok," Clara frowned, lost about what it meant, why he was playing it, "People. Voices."

"So what?" the Doctor agreed.

"There's something wrong with them," Tailor's face scrunched, more from having a feeling just on the cusp of her senses but not getting it fully than at the notion something was wrong.

Angel reached out and lightly touched her back, "They're the voices of the dead," she answered, looking to Chang, "Aren't they?"

"What?" the Doctor scoffed, not fully believing it. Not because he didn't believe Angel, he had long ago learned to trust her and her feelings, but because it just sounded so ridiculous he couldn't help his initial reaction.

Chang, however, nodded, "Over time, Dr. Skarosa became convinced these were the voices of the recently departed. He believed it was a telepathic communication from the dead. He was even able to isolate some of the voices, hear what they were saying," he looked at them, shifting a little, "What I'm about to play you will change your life and not for the better," he glanced at Angel, she had said the words just before, but saying them and HEARING the departed begging it were two very different things, "These are the three words which caused Dr. Skarosa to set up institutes, like this one, all over the world to protect the dead. If you'd rather not hear these words, there's still time..."

"Angel already said them," Clara pointed out, missing what Chang had already realized, "So why…"

Chang hit the button, knowing he could never explain the difference himself, the horrifying realization.

"Don't cremate me," a man was begging, "Don't cremate me!"

Angel had to look away, a bit green in the face, the Doctor putting an arm around her shoulder, sensing her discomfort, while one of her hands dropped to her stomach as it churned.

"There is one simple, horrible possibility that has never occurred to anyone throughout human history," Chang began, looking at the monitor, at the recording, solemnly.

Tailor grimaced, "Don't say it…"

"The dead remain conscious," the man continued, "The dead are fully aware of everything that is happening to them."

Angel tugged away from the Doctor and quickly hurried over to the nearest rubbish bin, emptying the contents of her stomach into it, the Doctor at her side in a flash to hold her hair back, rubbing her back, trying to send her soothing and comforting sensations over their bond. She hated death, she always had, had always been more affected by it than the rest. And now they were literally surrounded by it, hearing the last thoughts of the departed, and…well, perhaps that was why she was always so affected. If people really WERE conscious after they departed, they could still feel, and maybe she had always felt what they had and not realized it. To know that everything that happened, embalming, cremation, donating bodies to science…it was being FELT? It was a wonder Angel was the only one feeling that sick.

~8~

Danny had to sit down as Seb explained to him what was happening, the man hadn't asked him to, but given all the shocks he'd had since he'd woken up in this mad place, it just made sense he'd want to be sitting for whatever came next.

"So, your mind is here," Seb began, "Your soul, whatever you want to call it and you're in your new body in your new world. But you're still connected to your old body in the old world. You're still going to feel what it feels."

"That's why I'm cold?" Danny tried to follow.

"They're keeping you in a cold place, yeah," Seb nodded, moving to sit beside Danny, "You did say you were being cremated?" a beeping on his iPad interrupted the answer, "Sorry, I'll get this."

"Sorry," Danny had to cut in, realizing something horrific, "Sorry, are you telling me..." he couldn't even finish. If he felt cold because his body was kept somewhere cold…what would he feel when his body was incinerated?!

"Wow!" Seb exclaimed, completely oblivious to the panic Danny was experiencing, "Oh, that's rare. This never happens."

"Wow, what now?" Danny tried to still the attack he could feel rising in him, "What never happens?"

"You've got a call," Seb smiled at him.

That was enough to shock through his panic, "A call?"

"From the other side."

"Meaning?"

Seb eyed the iPad critically, "Do you know somebody called Clara Oswald?"

~8~

The Doctor wanted desperately to argue with Chang, to cry out about how this had to be fake, a con, a trick, something, anything, not only because of how utterly disturbing it all was, but because his sister seemed to be in shock, his daughter looked near tears, and his Mate was trembling in his arms after being violently ill at the thought.

But he couldn't.

Because Angel wouldn't have reacted so strongly if this wasn't real.

"Oh, sorry," Chang called out in the awkward tension that had sprung up, moving around the desk to the monitor as it beeped.

~8~

Out in the hall, listening to the conversation within, was Missy, curious to see what the reactions would be.

"Dad," Tailor, that girl, spoke, "It's not real, is it?" she asked, sounding like she didn't think the answer would be a negative but hoping, "I mean…the dead are dead."

"I don't know, sweetheart," the Doctor sighed, reluctant to say such a thing, but not one to lie to his dear daughter.

"It can't be everyone, can it?" Tailor continued, "Maybe it's…just the ones here? In the tanks?"

He could only repeat, "I don't know."

Missy clapped her hands excitedly, beyond pleased to have stumped the infamously clever Doctor, and, whatsmore, been able to affect the man's Mate too! Oh, this was shaping up to be Christmas, it truly was! She spun on her heel, clapping her hands more firmly, which signaled to the skeletons to rise from their chairs as she walked down the corridor to prepare.

~8~

"Clara?" Danny's voice called out through the monitor, "Clara? Clara, are you there?"

Clara stared at it with wide eyes, looking over at the Time Lords, the Doctor appearing equally stunned, though Angel and Tailor seemed more sorrowful but unsurprised. She practically ran to the monitor, nearly knocking Chang away to get to it, "Danny! I can hear you. Is that you? Oh, please, say it's you."

~8~

Danny could only stare in shock, startled that it really was Clara on the other end of the iPad he was holding, "That's her, that's Clara!"

"Yeah," Seb smiled, "You're really lucky, it hardly ever happens."

Danny frowned when the wi-fi signal cut off, tapping it a few times before handing it to Seb, "Where did she go?"

"Ah," Seb took it, standing and hitting a few buttons to try and get the signal back. It was better on the balcony, but not always perfect.

~8~

"Hmmm," Chang had the same issue, frowning at the monitor, trying to get the wi-fi back, "Er...just lost the signal, but I can track it back, I'm pretty sure..."

"I don't understand," Clara shook her head, her heart racing, "What is happening?"

"We've been scanning you telepathically since you came in. You said you wanted to speak to someone who'd passed. And we've found you a match in the Nethersphere."

"Nethersphere?" Tailor frowned at that word, a pit forming in her stomach at the mention of it. A glance at her mother told her the woman felt the same.

"This shouldn't be possible," the Doctor murmured, "The dead don't come back."

"Mistress!" MK9 squeaked, "Scanners indicate a disturbance in the room."

Tailor frowned and looked around, but there was nothing out of place. There were still gadgets here and there, no open doors, a skeleton standing in the tank at the back, no other people, "The wi-fi went out," she told the dog, assuming it was just that, "It's fine."

~8~

"Come on," Danny urged Seb, "Get her back."

"Da-da-da!" Seb muttered, "I'm trying."

~8~

Clara turned to the Time Lords, "It was him," she breathed, "It was his voice."

The Doctor frowned, hating to be the one to bring this up, but feeling like he had to, they had come too far for Clara to get her hopes up and have it be a trick, "If they scanned you telepathically, they could've lifted a voice print, it could still be a fake."

"Getting him back," Chang called out, "Very nearly! And…got it!" he cheered, the wi-fi connecting at full strength.

Not even a moment later, Danny's voice was back, "Clara, can you hear me?"

"Yes, Danny, I can hear you," she called, moving back to the monitor, "Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah, I can hear you. Clara! Oh, God. Clara..."

Clara swallowed hard, wanting so badly to believe it was him, but…knowing the Doctor could be right. Angel still seemed very worn and shaken from her sick moment, she didn't want to push the woman to tell her if it was Danny or not, "What do I do?" she asked the Doctor and Tailor instead.

"Who are you talking to?"

"Hang on just a moment," she told Danny, and turned to them.

"Question him," the Doctor advised.

"Ask him about things only HE would know," Tailor added.

"If it read her mind, it could read his too," Angel pointed out gently, before pushing off the desk she'd been leaning on, and moving over to Clara, looking between her and the monitor, quiet for a moment, just…feeling.

"Angel?" Clara asked.

Angel smiled, "I think it really is him," she told Clara, making her beam, "But if this place is scanning all our minds, it could be using what I think to make him seem realer. I don't think it is, but ask him a few things. Maybe about his past, about things he may have forgotten from his childhood, that he would only remember once they're brought up," she gave Clara a wink as the girl smiled, getting it.

"Right then, we'll leave you to it," the Doctor cut in, "Privacy and all, you," he snapped a finger at Chang, "With us."

"MK9 and I are gonna stay with Aunt Clara," Tailor told him, "She shouldn't be alone right now and it's not like we can wander off with one doorway you're going to be on the other side of."

The Doctor frowned, not liking it, but nodding, pointing at MK9, "Keep defensive levels at maximum."

"Affirmative, Master," the dog answered.

"Good boy."

MK9 wagged his tail happily.

"Where are you going?" Clara frowned as the Doctor and Angel began to head for the doors with Chang.

"I've got to check out those tanks," he said, "There's something that I'm missing."

Clara nodded slowly, understanding why he wanted Angel with him and was agreeing to leave Tailor with her. Angel might get more of a sense about the tanks, or at least know if Chang was lying in answers given. Tailor, while brilliant in her own right, wasn't at that level yet. And, really, she really DID need at least one of them with her right now…if this ended up being fake, she was going to need one hell of a hug.

"Clara?" Danny's voice called.

"Connection's stabilized," Chang reassured her, "It should be ok."

"And if not, I'll take a whack at it," Tailor nodded, "Or MK9."

The Doctor and Angel nodded, waiting for Chang at the doors, stepping out past the double doors with the round windows. Angel paused as soon as they swung shut, frowning as she looked back at them…they appeared just as they had in her vision, perhaps that was why they looked so familiar…just not in a good way.

"Angel?" the Doctor called and she shook her head to join him.

~8~

"Danny?" Clara began, glancing from Tailor to the screen.

"Yeah, I'm here," he replied.

"Danny, I um…I just have to ask you a couple questions."

"Questions?" he sounded incredulous, and a little hurt, "I swear on anything it's me!"

"Two questions," Clara promised, "Just two."

~8~

Missy beamed as she stood in the middle of a hall, lifting her left hand over her head and snapping her fingers, "Humankind, bring out your dead!" she called, watching as the skeletons in the tanks moved to the side, to the wall, pressing a button there. A screen above the tanks flashed to 'active' and the water within began to bubble and drain.

"Oh, my God!" Chang gasped as he, the Doctor, and Angel entered the hall to the sight, "The tanks...the tanks are activating! They're not supposed to do that!"

"And all your dead people are standing," the Doctor noticed, reaching out to take Angel's hand, tugging her behind him, "Don't you think you skipped the headline?"

"Why are you doing this, Missy?" Angel asked, a moment before she turned to see the woman approaching from behind, coming out of another hall. Chang and the Doctor spun around at her question.

But Missy ignored her, calling out, "Now, now, children. Naughty, naughty!"

"Dr. Chang..." the Doctor tugged Angel behind him once more, "Your welcome droid has developed a fault."

"She's not a droid," Angel said, the same time that Chang replied, "That's not a droid. That's my boss."

The Doctor glanced at Angel, he knew, of course, that the woman wasn't a droid. He had seen that in Angel's mind when the woman said it, how the first thing Angel had thought was 'she's lying' and he knew, it was someone impersonating a droid. But he didn't know who this woman was or what she may or may not know about THEM. If they didn't know the extent of Angel's abilities, he was going to keep it that way and act like he didn't know. There was something about this woman, he knew that too, something at the edge of Angel's senses, though being so surrounded by death and the dead he would expect anyone with her gifts to be off kilter. It just made him more uneasy that she couldn't get a clear read on Missy.

"You know I might have been guilty of a just teensy, little fibette," Missy smirked, "Really, just...always wanted to do that," she laughed, "Lie to a psychic," she turned her gaze on Angel, her expression growing hard for a moment, almost like a sneer, before she spun on her heel to beam at Chang, "Dr. Chang, I really liked working with you. I've enjoyed every day of it."

"I'm sorry?" Chang frowned.

"You know, I've even got a little photograph of you looking so sweet. I'm always going to keep it. Always!"

"Are you going to kill me?" the man tensed, his gaze so focused on Missy that he didn't see Angel and the Doctor exchange a look.

"Now, come on. Let's not dwell on horrid things. This is going to be our last conversation and I'm the one who's going to have to live with that."

"Please don't kill me."

"Say something nice."

Angel winced at the words, recalling a time or two where she had said the same. Like after the Foretold, with the Boneless, she'd feared they couldn't 'say something nice' and get them to stop.

"Please, please," Chang begged, "I...I don't want to die. You're going to kill me, aren't you?"

"Say something nice," Missy repeated.

"Please!"

"Dr. Chang, I've got all day and I'm not going to kill you until you say something nice."

Chang took a deep breath, "It has been an absolute pleasure working with you and I truly believe that you'll never be able to find it in your heart to murder me."

Missy held up a device, sending a blast of energy at him, intent on disintegrating him, only for a wall of golden energy to flare to life in front of the cowering man.

"Go!" the Doctor shouted at him, "Run!"

Chang did not need to be told twice, turning to dash off down the hall, the golden wall moving to spread from one wall to the other to block the next few shots from Missy, until he was gone around a corner.

Missy huffed and turned to see the same golden glow dying down around Angel as the wall disappeared, "You've gotten better at that, I see," she remarked dryly, "Spoilsport. Always ruing my fun, always! You're worse than him!" she jerked a thumb at the Doctor, "First your pitiful woe is me act," she scoffed, actually putting on a bit of a production just then, the back of her hand to her forehead as she nearly swooned, before shaking herself out, "Now, cutting down my army. You're not a real angel, stop trying to be one! It's not fair!" she stomped her foot and pouted.

The Doctor frowned and glared at Missy for her words, his earlier theory confirmed, this was someone they knew already…but…with a different face? No, it couldn't be a Time Lord. Could it be…had Cassandra somehow come back and inhabited this woman's body? But why would…why would she be creating an 'army' as she called it. Why would she think Angel...

And then it hit him, Angel saved the people he couldn't, it happened so many times now that he hardly noticed who he failed to save any longer...but Missy had, somehow she'd been watching. She'd been waiting for more people to join the ranks of the dead, but he and Angel cut those numbers down with their adventures, saving people that would have died otherwise.

And judging by the glare she was sending Angel, Missy was fuming about it.

He truly didn't want to think about how much larger this army would be if not for Angel and her gifts.

"Doctor…" Angel's voice shook a bit and he looked over to see her staring at the tanks, the water levels having lowered to reveal the tops of the skeletons heads…and more…their faces, their metal faces…

"Cybermen!" he gasped, fully pulling Angel behind him at the sight.

~8~

"It's me," Danny continued to insist on the monitor of Chang's office, "I...I swear on anything it's me."

Clara reached out and Tailor immediately took her hand, knowing this was hard for her aunt to hear, to have to check, to force herself to be cautious when all she wanted was to believe it, the next two questions would tell all.

"Which of your toy soldiers did you name Dan?" Clara asked.

"What?" the frown could be heard just in his voice, "My…how do you know about my toy soldiers?"

"Answer the question."

"I…I was just a kid…"

"Danny."

"It was a warped one, a bit melted, no gun. I called him Dan the Soldier Man, but he was the general, the one in charge. Cos he was so good, he didn't need a gun to keep people safe or stop the wars."

Clara let out a breath at that, recalling when those words had been said to the younger Rupert Pink.

One down, one to go.

~8~

"They're Cybermen," Angel breathed, tense as she watched the water grow lower and lower…and not just in one tank.

"All of them," the Doctor agreed, "We've got to stop them getting out!"

"Now who's missing the headline?" Missy smirked, "The Nethersphere," she turned and pointed to something above their heads, the large, black, floating sphere that she'd been checking earlier, "You know, it's ever so funny, the people that live inside that think they've gone to heaven."

"The Promised Land," Angel realized.

"No angels to be found there," Missy pouted, "Shame for them, I suppose..." before she perked up, "Maybe we can change that?" and pulled some sort of device from her pocket, trying to aim it at Angel but the Doctor moved in the way, glaring at Missy.

~8~

Clara took a breath, "What was hiding under the bed?"

Danny was silent a long while, so much so that Tailor leaned forward to check the wi-fi, but it was fine.

"How did you know about that?" Danny breathed, "I never said…"

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine," Tailor began to sing a little, "You make me happy when skies are grey. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."

"…you were there," Danny breathed, "All of you, the Doctor, Angel, Tailor…and you, Clara…you were at the children's home! The Doctor was freaking out something was under my bed, but Angel swore it was just a kid being cruel…HOW…"

"It's you," Clara breathed, her voice shaking, "Oh, my god, Danny, it really IS you!"

"Clara, what's going on? How were you there? How are you HERE, talking to me?"

~8~

The Doctor didn't take his eyes off Missy and her weapon, just barely able to catch a glimpse of the sphere while Angel's gaze remained locked on the steadily lowering waters, "That's a matrix data-slice," he stated, not needing more than a glimpse to know, "A Gallifreyan hard drive. Time Lord technology."

"Imagine you could upload dying minds to that," Missy began, pulling her weapon back and fiddling with it as she swayed in place, "Edit them. Rearrange them. Get rid of all those boring emotions. Ready to be re-downloaded. Meanwhile, you upgrade the bodies. Upload the mind, upgrade the body. Cybermen from cyberspace. Now, why has no one ever thought of that before?"

"Because it's horrific," Angel murmured.

The Doctor, though, was more focused on Missy, "How did YOU get hold of Time Lord technology? Who are you?"

"You know who I am," Missy rolled her eyes, "I told you."

"Doctor…" Angel reached out to grab his arm, not sensing it, but knowing it to be true, all the odd sensations she'd gotten off the woman, the niggling in her mind that something was familiar about her, the access she had to their tech, "She's a Time Lord."

"Time Lady, please, I'm old-fashioned."

"Which Time Lady?" the Doctor frowned, tense. He could handle a rogue Time Lady, they never gave his as many problems as other Time Lords.

Angel shook her head though, more and more of it all piecing itself together, the small things Missy had said...one did not easily forget their darkest points in life and she had only had 5, and only 1 of them didn't involve her family and had a third Time Lord around, "This time," she told him, "THIS time she's a Time Lady."

The Doctor's hearts pounded in his chest at that…wonderful, it was someone who HAD been a Time Lord.

"Can't you tell?" Missy mocked, "You both abandoned me. You both left me for dead. Didn't you ever think I'd find my way back? And when I do? Nothing! From either of you!" she nearly spat the words, "The Doctor and his Psychic, and neither of you noticed. All you did was ruin my plan at every turn! And you weren't even trying!" she huffed, "I've gotten soft, must fix that mustn't we?"

For one brief moment during Missy's ramblings, the Doctor's mind flashed to House. To the Corsair. HAD there been other Time Lords on that planet? Had they just not seen it because of the boxes? Had they left one there to die?

But then a memory came to him, from Angel, of MK9 and Tailor…

"Tailor!" he gasped, grabbing Angel's hand and pulling her to the nearest lift, "Clara!"

"Oh," Missy pouted, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms, "Tailor this and Clara that," she huffed, "You know I should shoot you in a petulant rage. Now, wouldn't that be sexy?"

"It won't work," Angel spoke, both to Missy and the Doctor as he frantically pushed the call button on the lift, 'I can take us to Kitta…' she began in his mind.

'No,' he subtly shook his head, and she could see in his mind his fear that they may need her abilities to get a jump on Missy, to surprise her later. They couldn't risk it now.

"She's right," Missy remarked, "I've turned the lift off. Oh, it really is no fun at all when the psychic knows what's coming. Then again," she laughed, "I do love a challenge!"

The Doctor grit his teeth and ran for the nearest door, "I presume you have stairs."

"Well, I'm not a Dalek..."

He pulled the sonic out of his pocket, making a show of getting it to the right setting, but really he was sending a distress code to MK9 to warn Tailor and Clara. Angel, picking up on that, reached out to grab the doorknob, a quick burst of Vortex energy unlocking it for them to run through…

…and right out onto the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral, in the middle of the day.

"Oh, dear," Missy murmured, sauntering after them, "Didn't you realize where you were?"

The Doctor was silent, he honestly didn't care where they were, so long as they could distract Missy long enough for Tailor and Clara to make it to the TARDIS.

~8~

"That doesn't matter…" Clara tried to brush his question off.

"No," Danny cut in, "Clara, how are you here?"

"She's fine, Mr. Pink," Tailor had to speak up, Clara not getting the question, "She's alive," Clara's eyes went wide as she realized what he must have thought, that perhaps she had died too somehow, "Mum, dad, and I, and Aunt Idris, we helped her find you."

"The Doctor and Angel are there?"

Tailor hesitated to answer, they weren't there right now but…

"Yeah," Clara spoke, "They're helping me save you, Danny. And we will, we will save you. I promise, wherever you are, whatever it takes, I will be with you again, I swear."

"Whatever you do, Clara, don't come HERE," Danny begged.

"We would never let anything happen to her," Tailor promised him, not sure if he was saying he didn't want to be saved, or if he was afraid Clara would die trying.

"But there is only one way to come here," he argued, "And you are not doing that."

Clara sniffled, "We never got to really talk, about everything their ship can do," she reminded him, "If there's anyway to get there without dying, the TARDIS can manage it. I am going to be with you again, Danny Pink, we'll both be together, and we'll both be alive."

Danny chuckled, and they could hear the hope in his voice when he next spoke, "I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Ooh," Tailor frowned, "We're losing the wi-fi again, Mr. Pink can you hear us?"

But there was only static.

"I can try…" Tailor began, but Clara shook her head.

"No," she took a breath, reaching out to switch off the monitor, "It's really him. And we need to help him."

Tailor smiled and nodded, about to suggest they go find her parents…when a tiny, squeaking alarm sounded, a little red light lifting from MK9's back and starting to flash.

"Mistress!" the little dog squeaked, "Danger!"

Tailor froze, knowing she hadn't done anything to set it off…which meant her parents had.

~8~

Danny slowly lowered the iPad, the connection lost, and set it down on the chair beside him, sniffling as he inhaled. Clara was coming to save him, and the Time Lords were helping her.

All his life, HE had been the one saving other people, and not always managing it.

He didn't know how he felt about this, about being the one saved this time.

For some reason his mind turned to Angel, to Mickey Smith, to Jack Harkness, and to a Vincent Pond (Williams), all of whom had told him something the others hadn't…how Angel had saved them, saved their father in Vincent's case. Oh, the Time Lords saved loads of people all the time, saved each of their Companions on numerous occasions, but those three…their stories…it was far deeper than just saving a life in danger. Angel had saved more than that. Mickey had thrived as her Companion, Jack had gotten his will to live and love and carry on back, and Rory Pond…he'd become everything he'd ever wanted to be, because of Angel.

He couldn't help but feel that…maybe this was a little more than just saving his life or his soul or his body, but saving his future, who he could be too…

"These emotions," Seb's voice cut in as the man picked up the iPad, seeing the tears streaming down Danny's face even if he wasn't openly crying, "They're terribly difficult. But, you know, we've got a thing for that," he smiled and opened the iPad again, "We can help with all these difficult feelings," he hit a few buttons and handed it back to Danny, "Just press this."

Danny frowned as he looked down at the screen, at his name with the word 'Delete' under it.

"I'll leave you to make a decision."

Danny waited till the man left, disappearing through the door to his office, before he set the iPad to the side. Clara was coming for him, and that was all he needed to fight, to fight as long as it took to see her again.

~8~

"Tailor…" Clara breathed, catching sight of something behind the girl as she began to read the coded warning her father sent her.

Tailor looked over her shoulder to see a Cyberman standing in the tank the skeleton had been in, "Cybermen!" she gasped, before leaping to her feet, "Run!" she told Clara.

The two of them ran for the door, but it was locked.

"Oh, what I wouldn't give for a sonic!" Tailor huffed.

"Mistress!" MK9 called out, "Engaging lasers!"

Tailor and Clara jumped to the side as the little tin dog blasted the hinges of the door, sending it toppling over into the hall.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Clara gasped, seeing all the tanks before them with Cybers as well.

~8~

The tanks throughout the facility opened as one, allowing the Cybermen to step out, all of them marching towards the doors.

~8~

"Get away from here!" the Doctor shouted frantically as he ran down the steps of the cathedral, trying to get the people mingling in the area to evacuate, hardly anyone paid him any mind though, "Get away from here! All of you!"

"Run!" Angel added, "Please!"

They weren't just people though, they both knew that. She had sensed it the second they were in open air, away from that death, that these people, all of them, were waiting for some sort of signal or command. And not from Missy. They were there for a reason, for a trap…but Missy didn't know that and couldn't know that. If they didn't try to get those people to flee, she would know something was wrong, if the Doctor and Angel didn't worry about innocent lives when Cybermen were coming. And so they tried, made a show of it.

"Go!" the Doctor tried, sounding more frantic when the stomping of the Cyber feet reached him, the robots starting to march out into the open, "Go!"

"Get away from here!" Angel urged, "Please, run!"

"Run away! Run, run! Get away from here all of you, now!"

"I'm sorry, everyone," Missy called, calm and collected as she sat on the steps of the cathedral, unperturbed by the Cybers invading the area, "Another ranting Scotsman in the street. I had no idea there was a match on."

"Get away, go!" Angel yelled.

"Stop shouting!" Missy rolled her eyes, getting up and moving towards them, scoffing when the Doctor yanked Angel behind him at her approach, "Stop making a fuss, it's too late. All the graves of planet Earth are about to give birth."

Angel swallowed at that, she'd heard words so similar, always something about the graveyards, so many times before that she didn't need the pit in her stomach to tell her whatever it was was happening now.

"You know the key strategic weakness of the human race?" Missy asked, crossing her arms and looking at the humans, "The dead outnumber the living."

"Who are you?" the Doctor demanded.

"Oh, you know who I am. I'm Missy."

"Who's Missy?" he repeated, but then that same memory of Tailor and MK9 flashed in his head, the little robotic puppy shouting 'Mistress' each time he spoke to Tailor…and his eyes widened, "No…"

"Got it now?" Missy beamed.

"Missy," Angel murmured, "Short for Mistress."

"Well, I couldn't very well keep calling myself the Master, now could I?" Missy laughed, pleased she'd pulled one over on them. Oh she could see Angel on the cusp of working it out, her intuition and Visionary abilities warning her. And she had toyed for so long with how to keep her from realizing it too early. Distractions, changing the topic, not being around long enough, and the Nethershpere, the copious shielding and static systems she'd spread around the place…and she knew the little Time Lady's penchant for abhorring death. She'd counted on a strong reaction to the death all around her to throw her off.

She'd been right.

The Doctor backed away, staring at her in a combination of fear, horror, and fury, as he tried to get his Mate as far away from the one who had nearly caused her death, but certainly caused her year's long agony twice.

And all around them the Cybers continued to march down the streets…

A/N: Ooh, the Doctor is NOT going to be happy on a number of levels. Tailor and Clara being elsewhere, danger everywhere, Cybers invading, and the Master who caused his Mate so much pain right in front of him...I'd run if I were Missy :/

Missy has definitely taken her time to think about all she knows of the Doctor and Angel, their mind and abilities. She's had all this time to map out the perfect way to fool the psychic, while also causing her unease and forcing her to be surrounded by something she hates, death :( It's almost a little ironic in a sad way, that Missy worked out Angel's reaction to death before her own Mate did. But I think Missy would be actively looking for ways and things that would hurt Angel and the Doctor the most, where the Doctor would be looking more at personality and trying to comfort Angel instead.

If the dead are conscious, and let's assume they are because of the Nethersphere absorbing them, Angel can feel it, feel that lingering consciousness and pain. If Missy has been doing this as long as the Doctor fears, then that could be the reason Angel has always had the reaction to death that she's had :( It really could just be that Angel hates seeing things end so permanently and knowing the sorrow that ending causes others, or it could be a bit to do with the consciousness, or a bit of both...either way, death is never something a person would enjoy encountering :'(

But...on a lighter note...JACK! We're going to get Jack soon! :D

Some notes on reviews...

Clara was definitely someone I liked at first, because she did remind me of Donna just a teeny bit less loud and angry lol. Seeing that pitfall she fell into with Danny becoming her world and her reason for being bothered me :( I know I can sometimes make the TLs and the Doctor each other's world and reason to keep going on, but I really try to build it up and look at how and why and how long they've had this connection, the experiences that opened them up to such a strong bond. I felt like we didn't get that with Clara and it just came out feeling like Danny didn't really DO anything to earn that level of devotion. After all she'd been through with the Doctor, I thought her bond and her friendship would have been a bit stronger than to throw all of it away for Danny :/ Danny, I think, in Death in Heaven, at least in this story-universe, is when he starts to actually see that soldier-respect, that understanding finally break through. I'm really going to try and piece together something of a look into why Danny would treat another soldier, someone who suffered and lost far more than him, the way he initially did :)

I laughed so much I cried when Missy greeted 12 in the show lol :) I try to go about it different ways for different TLs so we'll see a wide range of reactions ;)

Oh, quite a few reasons to greet a Dalek that way lol :) For Angel, in the early days it was more she just didn't know how to react to that situation. She's had a far more sheltered life than the Doctor and far fewer interactions with Daleks as an enemy than he did, only a sort of distant 'this is my enemy' during the war. So when she's finally confronted with them one-on-one, it comes out more a question like 'um, what do I say? Say something! Nice to meet you? That's what people are supposed to say right?' and other times it could be just really not knowing what to say so she defaults to what she always says. Or trying to be polite even to an enemy because then maybe humans would be polite to her like karma. Or it could be an ironic or sarcastic thing to say because the Dalek is the one scared now and she knows it ;) She does have quite a history of saying that even to people and things that don't really deserve it lol :)