Death in Heaven: Devastation
A news report was playing by the time the Doctor, Angel, and Jack returned to the main cabin, moving to their seats to watch it.
"…localized rain in the cemeteries has resulted in what can only be described as 'disturbances' to the soil," an anchor was saying, "Extraordinary eyewitness accounts are claiming that silver creatures are climbing from the graves..."
Kate sighed, "These scenes are being repeated everywhere, every cemetery, every mortuary, every funeral home, every hospital, the dead are returning to life...as Cybermen."
"…the public are being advised to stay away from all cemeteries."
The Doctor and Angel could only look at each other, the Doctor reaching out to take Angel's hand, knowing her own struggle when it came to this particular enemy, much like his own with Daleks.
~8~
Clara gasped, jerking away from the Cyberman's hold, pulling Tailor with her, nearly tripping over MK9 in the process, frantically looking around as they appeared in a graveyard.
"Aunt Clara, watch out!" Tailor gasped, tugging her to the side, seeing the ground moving just by her foot.
"What…" Clara stared down as a hand reached up through the ground, a metal hand.
The two women looked over, down the row of gravestones…where hand after metal hand burst through the surface…
~8~
The Time Lords watched as UNIT's computers replayed the scenes of the cemeteries, focusing in on the rain as it fell and seeped into the ground.
"We've done heat scans of some of the cemeteries and, in each case, only a handful of Cybermen have so far emerged," Kate told them, "But every individual burial site is active."
"Night of the Living Dead meets I, Robot…great," Jack rubbed his face.
"Active?" Ahmed frowned at the word, caught up on that.
"Hatching," the Doctor elaborated.
"Which means more will follow," Angel frowned, shifting uncomfortably at the thought, "Millions on millions."
"So the rain caused all that in just a few hours?" Ahmed gaped.
"It wasn't rain, Man Scout!" the Doctor sighed, getting up from his seat and absently moving over to Angel, resting his hands on her shoulders to offer more comfort and closeness. She hated Death, but this…this was something else, this was an desecration of it, a horrific manipulation of those poor souls, it was unsettling her greatly, he could feel it. Even worse, to dress the departed as Cybermen, which were quite likely the one enemy Angel came very close to hating...this was truly trying her, "It was pollen. Cyber-pollen. Every tiny particle of a Cyberman contains the plans to make another Cyberman. All it has to do is to make a contact with compatible, living organic matter, and bang! Full conversion."
Jack tensed the longer he spoke, "But if they have learned how to convert the dead..."
The Doctor nodded, "That's what Missy was doing. That's what 3W was for. She creates an all-new paranoia among the super-rich about dying. She exploits the wealth and the mortal remains of selected idiots, so she can create a whole new race of Cybermen. Cybermen who can recruit corpses. Throw away your guns, Man Scout, it's all over. How can you win a war against an enemy that can weaponize the dead?"
Angel shook her head, refusing to allow anyone in that room to feel hopeless, no matter how grim she herself felt about having to be in charge of the Earth during a Cyber invasion, "The same way you win a war with an enemy who can weaponize the living too," she turned in her seat to look up at him, "Cybus Industries, early Torchwood, the amusement park, they can convert the living…they have. Now they've moved onto conversions that don't fight back, that's all."
"There's more dead than living," the Doctor pointed out.
Angel had to look away at that, reaching up a hand to touch one of his, squeezing it in much needed support. Her hearts broke in her chest for all those people, those souls, but her blood ran cold at the thought of the Cybers returning. She...she truly didn't think she was the right fit for this position, President, not during this invasion. She...she really hated Cybermen. Even knowing these new versions weren't the same ones who had a hand in her mother's death, it was hard to look at them and NOT see that, not relive that moment of finding out her mother was well and truly gone. She swallowed hard, closing her eyes, part of her was always reminded of the humans trapped within the metal casing, and it tore her apart to know it was there but feel that anger rise in her at the sight of the metal suits.
She didn't think she could trust herself to make the right decisions when Cybermen were involved.
'Then let me trust you,' the Doctor's voice echoed in her mind, 'Let me have faith in you this time.'
It was so jarring to him, to see the conflict in Angel. She had regenerated so confident when they completed the Mating and he'd broken that to hell, and been given another chance to see that confidence and contentment in her with this body, that sureness in everything she did, in her visions, in her power, in their relationship. To see her questioning herself now...he would do anything to restore her confidence.
She always had faith in him, now he would in her, for no matter what happened, the Woman of Peace would not cause harm, he knew that in his hearts, he didn't need to be psychic to be sure of it.
He leaned in when he felt Angel squeeze his hand in thanks, and dropped a reassuring kiss on top of her head.
~8~
Tailor and Clara stepped back from the metal hand as it pushed away the cement border of its grave.
"Mistress!" MK9 warned, "Danger!"
They looked across the graveyard to see other graves, easier to escape, all had Cybermen already climbing out of them.
~8~
Angel shook her head, her eyes now back on the news broadcasts of the Cybers just...standing there, "They don't want to be there," she told him, "They don't want to fight."
"War isn't war unless both sides fight," Jack remarked.
"Cold War anyone?" the Doctor reminded.
Angel just shook her head again, "The ones in 3W…they've been converted. The others…" she swallowed hard, "They're Sally Phelan."
"Who?" Jack frowned.
The Doctor let out a breath, squeezing her shoulders at that name, "She was a Cyber in the alternate dimension Rose went to," he looked at Jack, "She was a fully converted Cyber, until another human broke her emotional inhibitor and she had her mind back."
Jack straightened, "You're telling me those Cybermen," he pointed at the screen, "They have their human minds?"
"A good many of them," Angel nodded, some were completely converted, she knew, had deleted themselves and their lives, but others...others were still conscious, "I can feel it even from here…"
There were SO MANY Cybermen being birthed on Earth right now, just miles below them, that it was…it was like being in a room full of people who were confused and scared and in pain, with so much emotion around she couldn't help but feel it. Only this wasn't a room, it was a planet, a planet filling with people all feeling the exact same thing.
She reached up to touch the Doctor's other hand on her shoulder, gripping it tightly as the emotions threatened to overwhelm her.
"They're not attacking," Ahmed realized the truth in their words, "Apart from isolated incidents. They're just wandering about."
"They're newborns," the Doctor nodded, "They haven't been activated yet," he looked over at Kate, "Why were you there this morning, why were you already attacking?"
"Torchwood's been investigating 3W for a while," Jack told them, "Turns out UNIT was too."
"We both got a tip-off," Kate added, "Both tried to track it, and literally ran into each other."
Angel managed a small smile at the tiny blush that bloomed across Kate's cheeks at what a run in that must have been.
"Teamed up," Jack added, winking at Kate.
"That tip-off…" the Doctor eyed them, "Was it from a woman with a Scottish accent?"
"It was," Kate nodded.
He scoffed, "Can't play to the gallery unless there's a gallery and here we are," he shook his head at Missy's ego, "Dead bodies shouldn't have minds, of course, but she's been upgrading dying minds to a hard drive for a long time. So she upgrades the hardware, then she updates the software."
"What do you mean 'a long time?' How long?"
"She has a TARDIS somewhere," Angel responded, her gaze turning to the footage of Missy in the hold, "She must have. Not even a Vortex Manipulator could do what she has. She could have gone back to the very beginning of human history…"
"How long has the human race had a concept of an afterlife?" the Doctor agreed.
"Missy may have created it."
Jack let out a whistle at just how long that was, "Damn."
"Turns out, the afterlife is real," the Doctor frowned, "And it's emptying. Every graveyard on planet Earth is about to burst its banks."
~8~
Down in the cargo hold, Osgood did her level best to ignore Missy as she hummed and sang behind her, "Hey, Missy, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind! Hey, Missy! Hey…" the singing suddenly stopped as Missy called out, "Excuse me. Hi. Can I tell you something really important?"
Osgood huffed and turned in her seat, "What?"
"I have to whisper it," Missy mock-whispered, "It's, like, so important to everyone on this plane. You'll get in trouble if you don't listen."
"Right," she scoffed, "If it was important, why would you tell us?"
"Well, look at me, I'm bananas. Just a wee bit closer. Just a little closer. The Doctor will be really impressed if you learn my secrets."
Osgood glanced at the two soldiers, their weapons ready, and nodded, determining she was safe enough and got up to walk over, though she was sure to keep a safe distance between them when she stopped.
"You can come a bit closer than that," Missy rolled her eyes, "Come on, stop mucking about. Don't be shy. You don't smell half as bad as you think you do."
"There are two armed men directly behind you," Osgood reminded her in warning as she took a few steps more.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
"If you've got something to say, just say it."
Missy cleared her throat and tilted her head forward, luring Osgood to lean in closer to hear, "I'm going to kill you in a minute," she whispered in the woman's ear, causing Osgood to jerk back, "I'm not even kidding. You're going to be as dead as a fish on a slab any second now, all floppy and making smells," she laughed, before quickly whispering, "But don't tell the boys. This is our secret girl plan."
"Why would you bother killing me?" Osgood shook her head, stumbling back, "I'm not even important."
"Oh, silly! Why does one pop a balloon? Because you're pretty. You should have a bit more confidence in yourself."
"Ok, sorry, I've got work to do," she hurriedly moved back to her desk.
"Alright, fine. You get on. You get that finished. Would a countdown help you focus at all?"
"No, that's ok."
"Ten. Don't be scared yet, cos I'm still in double figures."
Osgood moved to the computer, typing onto it quickly, sending a message to her double, if Missy was serious…word had to reach her, fast, "I'm not scared."
The funny thing was…she wasn't scared.
She could feel the part of Osgood, the real Osgood, in her that was right terrified. But there was another part of her she didn't think Missy realized was there, she had been in this form so long all the signs someone like a Time Lord would notice had long since faded. That part of her was still there though, a part that had lived in danger and war and the knowledge that she could be destroyed at any moment just because of what she was, her species. It was so persistent in her life she no longer feared it.
What she DID fear would be the fallout, what could happen to her people if she fell.
"Nine," Missy continued, "Well, no, of course you're not, cos you know you're dying anyway. Eight. Human beings are born dying. Your life spans are hilarious."
"Please be quiet," Osgood muttered, typing her message frantically, she had to warn Petronella.
"Seven. You know from the minute you slop out, you're rotting, decaying. The stench of you, phew! I'm never going to get this place clean. Three."
"Three?!" she turned to look over her shoulder.
"I'm accelerating for dramatic effect. Oh! What's THAT in your pocket?"
"There's nothing in my..." Osgood reached into her pocket…and pulled out Missy's handcuffs.
"Oh, my giddy aunt!" Missy opened her eyes wide in faux surprise, "The quiet ones are the worst."
"Those are…" she let out a breath, and turned her eyes to Missy, the woman freely moving her arms and hands to put on lipstick.
Osgood turned and frantically pressed send on the computer before she was jerked back by Missy coming up behind her, an arm around her neck. She was spun around to face the two soldiers who moved to attack, only to be evaporated by a weapon in Missy's hand she'd grabbed off the exam table.
"Say something nice," Missy told her.
"Missy, the Master, whatever you call yourself, I promise, I'm much more useful to you alive."
"Oh, yeah, that's true," she nodded, "That's definitely true, that is a good point, well made. I'm proud of you, sister. But did I mention...bananas!" she shoved Osgood away from her so hard her glasses fell off, "Pop!" and fired her incineration device at her, turning her to dust, "Ah...thanks for being yummy."
She stepped forward, crushing the glasses beneath her shoe, and pressed a button on her bracelet, laughing wildly as the plane began to veer to the side, the control signals cut off by her nifty device. She let out a joyous cheer as she stumbled into straps hanging from the ceiling and grabbed on.
~8~
At the same time, in the main cabin of the plane, the Doctor and Angel were sitting, Angel with her head in her hands, her shoulders hunched, feeling a pressure in her head and a tugging in her hearts getting worse with each passing minute. The Doctor was doing all he could to ease her pain, Jack sitting tense beside them, looking worried for her and angry this was happening at all.
"Doctor," Kate spoke up as the plane rumbled with a little turbulence, "You should get back in your seat."
He shook his head, "I'm fine," he was far more worried about Angel.
"You know," Jack said, trying to lighten the mood, get a smile out of Angel, "Probably best Ang is president," he glanced at the Doctor, "There's more a chance of getting a salute from her than you."
He snorted at that, but gave Jack a nod for his efforts, seeing the tiniest tick up at the corner of Angel's lips.
"Do you know," Kate mused aloud, "That was always my dad's big ambition, to get you to salute him, just once."
The Doctor glanced over at the portrait of the late Brigadier, "He should've asked."
"He'll get it," Angel told them, taking a breath and looking up, "Time machine," she reminded them, which drew a smile from Kate, before her gaze drifted to the windows and a frown began to grow across her face.
"Ang?" Jack called, noticing her attention, "What is it?"
"The clouds…" she breathed.
The Doctor immediately moved over to the window and looked out, "The clouds. Still there," he mumbled, "So what else have they got?"
He jerked back, startled, when a Cyberman appeared IN the window.
"Oh, dear Lord!" Kate gasped, Jack already on his feet, his weapon drawn, ready in case they got into the cabin.
"Keep away from the windows," Angel warned, reaching out to grab Ahmed's arm when he tried to rush past her to assist, using it as leverage to stand herself.
"There's a Cyberman out there on the fuselage," the Doctor moved back to the window to look out, "But, on the plus side, it's not turbulence."
Angel suddenly shivered, and gasped, "Osgood!" she shouted, running for the door that would lead them to the cargo hold.
"Angel!" the Doctor called, running after her with Jack.
"What's it doing?" Ahmed called to Kate, trying to spot the Cyberman as it vanished, Kate running scans at a computer, "Where did it go? What can one Cyberman do to a plane?"
Kate could only shoot him a look, both that it could do enough…and a doubt that there was JUST one Cyber out there.
~8~
And, in fact, at least four more Cybers were following the plane through the clouds, rockets firing out of their feet to propel them on.
~8~
The trio ran into the cargo hold, racing down the steps into the space, and looking around for Osgood and the other guards, but there was nothing…except three piles of ashes and a pair of broken glasses. Angel let out a breath and knelt down to pick them up, clutching them as she shook her head. She should have sensed it sooner, she should have! Her senses always seemed to work faster with humans or her family, but…Osgood was as good as human, she wanted peace, she wanted to make the world better…and she'd been too late to save her.
"Why?" she had to ask, looking to the TARDIS a moment before Missy popped out from behind it, appearing to have wanted to surprise them…and pouted when she realized that had been ruined.
"Because she was really scared," Missy taunted them, "It's classic," she chuckled at the Doctor and Jack glaring at her, the two men stepping forward to partially block Angel from her, "Have you got any more friends I can play with?"
"You won't touch them," the Doctor threatened.
But it was more than that, it was a confidence that no matter what Missy did or tried to do, she really wouldn't be able to touch them. All his companions, they would notice what was happening, they would KNOW what to do, how to protect themselves. They would be safe and they would keep others safe.
Lord help Missy if she tried to go after them.
~8~
"This isn't normal, is it?" Clara asked Tailor quietly as they looked around at the Cybermen just…standing there, all around the cemetery, doing nothing, not seeming even remotely interested in either of them.
"No," Tailor shook her head, "They should be trying to convert or delete," she agreed.
"Locate hive," a handful of them were repeating, "Locate hive. Locate hive. Locate hive."
"They're not connected yet," Tailor realized, "They haven't been activated. They're just…soldiers without orders."
Clara glanced around…till she noticed the one that had brought them there was still just…standing where they'd left it, staring right at them, the blue light of its chest dark, that paper crumpled in its hand. She gripped Tailor's arm tightly, drawing her attention, the two sharing a look and a cautious nod before starting to step towards it, MK9 very close, his laser still out and ready for any sort of attack.
"Are you the one that brought us here?" Clara asked.
"Affirmative," it replied.
"So you know who we are, right?"
"You are Clara Oswald," it stated, "Not the Doctor," then turned to Tailor, "You are the Tailor, daughter of the Doctor and the Angel. Niece of Clara Oswald."
The two froze at the mention of that, not many knew that last part, though, to be fair...she HAD called the woman 'AUNT' Clara a moment ago...
"How do you know that?" Clara breathed, as Tailor just frowned at him, starting to shake her head as a terrible feeling grew in the pit of her stomach.
"You are his sister."
Tailor blinked at that, even fewer people knew that, and she was VERY sure she hadn't said a word to indicate that either.
Clara though, tensed at the secret information, reminded of her role in all this, growing serious, firm, taking a step in front of Tailor, "I'm his sister, and this is his daughter, we're important to him and Angel. And if you've got any sort of Cyber-Internet in there you should look up what happens to you, if you harm either of us."
"He won't," Tailor told her, "He's not going to hurt us, Aunt Clara. Especially not you."
"Where is the Doctor?" the Cyberman asked, "Where is the Angel?"
Clara glared at it, "What, you think I would give them up? Don't be daft. I would never, ever, give up my family. Because he is my brother. He and Angel, their family, it's MY family too. They are everything to me. I will not, ever, betray them! Least of all to their enemy."
"WHY do you want to know where they are?" Tailor asked instead, stepping more to Clara's side, eyeing the metal man intently.
"I…need…help," it said, before it lifted a shaking arm to its faceplate and pulled it off.
Clara's heart stopped at the sight of who was staring back at her, "Danny?"
There, standing before them, was Danny Pink, trapped in a Cybersuit, his face too pale, too worn, too tired...and so full of pain.
"Danny Pink is dead," he stated, "Help me. Please."
Tailor's hands went to her mouth in horror. She had sensed it, sensed she didn't want to know, she didn't want to see it, that this was not something she would like…but that this Cyber, of all the others, was safe, was protection, was not something that would hurt them…not physically. Because seeing Danny like that was hurting them in another way, breaking her hearts to see him in such a state, hitting her in the gut to see how her Aunt was crumbling at the revelation as well.
"Oh, my God," Clara gasped, reaching out to him, "Danny..."
"Help me," he begged.
"Danny...I am so sorry."
Danny turned his gaze from Clara to Tailor, "Help me. I need you to do something for me. I can't do it myself."
Tailor shook her head when he removed the disk from the center of his chest, revealing the circuitry behind it, "No…"
"What is that?" Clara looked at Tailor, swallowing hard. She could understand why he had turned to Tailor for this, the girl clearly knew, where she did not.
Tailor looked near tears, "It's the emotional inhibitor," she told Clara, still shaking her head, "If I switch it on…it'll delete his emotions, all of them."
"Please," Danny's voice broke, "I don't want to feel like this."
~8~
One of the Cybermen stood on top of the plane's fuselage, another grabbing the left rear wing, while a third landed on one of the engines. All around them, more and more Cybers were approaching through the clouds.
"There's more than one!" Ahmed called out in warning, spotting them.
"What?!" Kate gaped, smacking the computers, trying to get the programs running, but there was nothing.
"They're all over the plane, they're pulling it apart!" he jumped back when one of the Cybers began to pound on the window.
~8~
Missy stumbled this way and that as the plane tilted, trying to make her way towards the trio, "Ooh, ask me," she taunted.
"Shut up!" the Doctor snapped, feeling Angel's sorrow behind him at how she hadn't sensed Osgood or the guards in time. It was so typical, the Master shows up and does everything he can to hurt him…this time going farther, hurting Angel on purpose to get to him.
"Ask me!" Missy huffed, putting her hands on her hips when Jack lifted his gun at her to stop her coming closer, "Come on, you know you want to. You want to know what my plan is. You'll be surprised. I've got a..."
"Gift," Angel cut in, standing up, able to see Missy over the Doctor and Jack's shoulder, "For you, Doctor."
Missy glared at her, "Ruining my fun, always ruining my fun," she huffed, "Ruin one more thing and see what happens to your precious Earth," she threatened, before beaming at the Doctor, "I've been up and down your timeline, meeting all those silly people who die to keep you alive, especially the ones she couldn't save," she smirked at the Angel and then it turned positively dark when she cast it on the Doctor, "Watching all those times your little Mate died too. You get lucky that she comes back to you. Oh! And let's not forget when your precious daughter died, terrible, terrible parents. Letting her get taken in the first place…" she nearly laughed, seeing his hands clenching into fists, ignoring Jack cocking the gun, pleased with how Angel looked away, flinching at the words, "You know what I worked out? What you really need!"
"For what?" the Doctor snapped, he didn't need anything but his girls and their TARDIS.
"To know that you're just like me!"
"He's not," Angel insisted.
Missy just held up a finger, hearing the phone to the TARDIS ringing, "Oh, and now it begins. Doctor, I do believe you're on-call. Miss Oswald expects. Who else but the girl who's got your number? Whoops!"
"You gave Clara our number," Angel realized, shaking her head, how hadn't she sensed it?
The Doctor inhaled sharply, recalling when they'd first heard from Clara, how she'd been given the number from a woman in the shop, to a helpline.
"Computer helpline, love," Missy put on an accent reminiscent of Cockney, "That's the one. Best helpline in the universe."
"You put us together," the Doctor muttered.
"I kept you together," Missy corrected.
"The advert in the paper," Angel murmured, remembering that, a woman very keep that they stay together.
"Why?" the Doctor frowned at Missy.
"Cos she's perfect, innit?" Missy teased, "The control freak and the man who should never be controlled. The innocent human and the angel that would do anything to save her. You'd go to hell, if she asked. And she did," she nodded at the phone, "The phone's ringing, can you hear that?"
Jack jerked the gun to the side, indicating Missy to move away from the box, the woman rolling her eyes but stepping to the side, allowing them clear access to the TARDIS phone. The Doctor rushed forward to open the panel and answer the phone.
"Clara?" he called, "Tailor?"
"Dad."
~8~
Tailor let out a breath, hearing her father's voice…and then another voice calling, 'Hello, Beautiful!' and blinked, "Was that Uncle Jack?" she shook her head, "No, sorry," she glanced over at Clara, hugging herself as Danny quietly sobbed in front of her, the man refusing to let her touch him, "Dad…it's Danny."
"Danny's dead."
"Not quite," Tailor countered, "But…he wants to be. Aunt Clara's a mess, dad…we need you and Mum here, now. He's a Cyberman. But he's crying. His emotional inhibitor isn't working, and he's feeling everything. I don't know what to do," her voice cracked.
For all her talk of wanting to do more, go off on her own more, be trusted that she could handle things…she truly didn't think she could handle THIS. Other people, yes, helping them, yes, keep them safe, of course. But not her family, not when her family was in pain and hurt. She could distance herself, like her father did, when it was a stranger, push them a little more. But not Clara, not her Aunt, and not Mr. Pink, they were both devastated, and they were trapped in a horrible situation and she didn't know how to help, how to fix it, how to mend things.
Turn on the inhibitor, Clara would lose Danny.
Let it stay off…Danny would be suffering unimaginably.
Both were bad choices, but a choice had to be made and she didn't think she could handle being the one to make it.
"Daddy, I don't know what to do," she repeated.
~8~
In the main cabin, Kate ran to the internal phone, ignoring the Cybermen continuing to pound on the windows, trying to break in, "Message to Geneva. Tell them Boat One is going down. We don't anticipate survivors. No!" she gasped, as a Cyber finally managed it, breaking through the window, just narrowly avoiding Ahmed, who had taken Angel's advice and not gotten too close, swinging its arm wildly to try and get to them.
She struggled to the door as the depressurization alarm began to sound, everyone rushing for the door as Ahmed grabbed her arm to steady her, urging her forward before himself…
~8~
The Doctor's hearts broke, hearing the sob in his daughter's voice. She wanted to be an adult so badly, but now she was in a very adult situation and she couldn't handle it…
Angel reached out to touch his arm, taking the phone from him, feeling the turmoil in his hearts at their daughter's sorrow, "Tailor, sweetheart?" she called, her own hearts cracking at the whimpered 'mum' that came through, "It'll be alright, I promise. Whatever happens, it will be alright."
"Mum, he wants me to turn the inhibitor ON," Tailor repeated.
"I know," she nodded.
"If I turn it on, he'll become a full Cyberman. He'll kill us both…"
Angel closed her eyes a moment, a memory of her vision playing in her mind, she had seen it, Tailor and Clara in a cemetery, with Danny…as a Cyberman. But the feeling she had told her that they were safe. It was the feeling she had each time Danny was around Clara, that Clara was SAFE. No matter what, no matter the situation or circumstance, she was safe with Danny Pink, always, in every way.
"Look at him, sweetheart," she instructed, "Look at him, and remember him with Clara. What do you feel?"
"That she was safe."
Angel smiled and nodded, "I feel that too."
Tailor swallowed, "No matter what happens?"
"No matter what happens."
The call clicked off.
The Doctor was silent beside her, looking at her intently, his mind racing as he followed what she had instructed their daughter…but also her senses and visions, everything culminating in one single solitary FACT about Danny Pink. A fact he hadn't been sure of, a fact that had kept him from fully accepting the man as Clara's boyfriend.
And now that fact was about to be proven.
"Doctor!" Kate's voice cut in and they could see her rushing into the room, climbing down a ladder to get to them faster, Ahmed right behind her, "The Cybermen are in! The plane's going down!" the others on the plane had gone for the parachutes, but she had to get to the Time Lords, warn them, ensure their safety.
"Oh, great," Missy rolled her eyes, "It's the daughter one. Do you like her? I like her," she smirked and fired her incineration device at the Doctor, pressing a button on her bracelet at the same time.
Just as she expected a wall of gold went up in front of the Doctor on reflex, and appeared just before the cargo doors that blew open...a moment too late to stop Kate, Ahmed, and Jack being sucked out of them into the sky.
"No!" the Doctor shouted, glaring at Missy, knowing she had done it on purpose to keep Angel from saving them, knowing her first reaction would be him even if the humans followed a single second after. He was infuriated and terrified of how quickly Missy had come to grasp how Angel's abilities worked.
"Why did you do that?" Angel looked at the mad Time Lady, tears in her eyes.
"You didn't have to do that!"
"Oh, don't be so selfish," Missy huffed, though now she was actually a little irritated by the golden wall spread across the cargo doors, keeping them from being sucked out. She was hoping for more drama, but she'd have to settle for two and a half murders, "I'm going to miss her, too, and that Jack fellow, handsome devil, easy on the eyes…" she sighed, "You know what? Just for that tone, I'm leaving," she lifted her bracelet to her mouth, "Boys, blow up this plane and, I don't know...Belgium, yeah? Kill some Belgians. Might as well. They're not even French. Byeeee!"
"Don't!" Angel called, more about Belgium than Missy teleporting away moments before the plane exploded, too much jolting and jostling for Angel to hold it together, all of them free-falling through the sky, the TARDIS plummeting for the earth…
~8~
Missy smirked as she and Seb watched the fall on the screen of a monitor in the Nethersphere, "Well, that's very boring. Oh, I hope they're just going to...squish," she watched Angel intently, knowing that if anyone was going to ruin THIS plan it would be her.
"Well, it's quite dramatic," Seb argued.
"You're an AI interface, kindly delete your opinions, thank you."
"Angel!" the Doctor shouted on the screen, trying to maneuver himself to his falling Mate, the two of them so close he could almost grab her hand.
As soon as their fingers neared each other, Angel twisted, tangling their fingers till their hands were clasped…and a golden glow began to appear around them…
"W-W-What's she doing?" Seb gaped, "Is she...is she? Oh, no! Oh, no, no, no. Now, that's..." he let out a huff when the glow surrounded them, and they disappeared in a flash, "We'll that's just not fair! That's just cheating!"
Missy shook her head, irritated with him voicing her opinions and clicked a button on her bracelet to delete him. She watched as the TARDIS suddenly jerked, lifting out of the clouds, clearly being piloted.
"So, she can teleport now, can she?" Missy hummed to herself, "Interesting."
~8~
Tailor sniffled, ending the call with her parents, and headed back to Clara to give her back her mobile, putting a hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her.
"What did they say?" Clara tried to breathe, but she was shaking so hard she couldn't get a proper breath.
Tailor just turned to Danny, "No one deserves to be in this much pain," she told the man, walking over to him, looking down at the circuitry, and back, "Are you sure about this?"
He nodded, "Please."
Clara nearly broke down, realizing what was happening, and moved to Tailor's side, "Wait…just…just a second, please?" she looked between them, and turned to Danny, "Danny…" her face scrunched and she could tell he was trying so hard to be strong, to not make her feel worse, "I'm so sorry," she sobbed, "We were supposed to save you…"
"You did," he promised her, "You always saved me, Clara. So many times."
"But not this time," she pointed out, barely holding it together.
"Can't win them all," Danny looked at her, "I love you."
"I love you too," she told him, reaching out to touch his face, just…needing to feel him, the real him, one more time.
Tailor looked between the two, before stepping forward again, "I'll be quick," she murmured, reaching in, remembering what her father had told her of what the inhibitor looked like, what switches did what, and reached for the right one…
"Tailor, wait!" the Doctor's voice called out.
"Oh, thank god," Tailor nearly sagged, pulling her hand back and turning to see her parents rushing over, the TARDIS a few feet away. She nearly surged forward, tackling her father, nearly toppling him with her hug. He wound his arms around her just as tight. As selfish as it might be...she really hadn't wanted to be the one to do this.
"Clara…" the Doctor spoke when Tailor let him go and moved to hug Angel, "Do you understand what's happening?" he asked her, knowing Tailor was only going to do what she had because of how much the two humans were hurting, he needed to make sure Clara and Danny fully understood what would happen if it was turned on, he spun to face Danny, "Do YOU?"
"It hurts," Danny stated.
"If we turn the inhibitor on…he will snap you," he told Clara.
"No," Clara shook her head, refusing to believe it.
"Then he will step over your broken body and break another and another and another. He will never stop."
"I will not harm her," Danny cut in.
The Doctor sighed and looked at him, "PE…PE…"
"Danny," Angel corrected, joining him with Tailor.
The Doctor looked between Clara and Danny, gathering his thoughts to speak, he needed to be sure, HE needed to feel as sure as Angel was about all this, "I had a friend once. We ran together, when I was little. And I thought we were the same. But when we grew up, we weren't. Now, she's trying to tear the world apart, and I can't run fast enough to hold it together. The difference..."
"Dad," Tailor cut in, "This isn't the same," she reminded him, "Danny isn't the Master, and you aren't Aunt Clara."
The Doctor fell silent at that remark.
"I know you want to protect Clara, my love," Angel spoke, reaching out to take his hand, "From everything, especially from pain…if there is one person in the whole of creation, you don't have to protect her from, it's Mr. Pink."
She understood his reluctance to believe what she felt about Danny Pink when it came to Clara. The part of him that was her brother could not be quieted and would always worry for her. Because he could be told by everyone in the world what sort of man Danny Pink was…but, to him, he hadn't seen anything to prove it, to prove the one thing he needed to know. And he was scared, and reluctant, to let the man prove it too…because then it would be fact, and he wouldn't be able to fight it, he wouldn't be able to deny it, it would just be.
Danny looked over at Angel for that, for her faith and belief in him, and nodded, "I will not harm Clara."
"I know you won't," Angel nodded, stepping over to Danny, reaching out to place her hand on his chestplate, over the inhibitor, "I have all the faith in the world in you, Danny Pink."
The others could only watch as a soft gold glow seeped out of Angel's hand and into the inhibitor, the light within starting to shine blue...
A/N: Missy, I think, paid attention to the Doctor and Angel the times she was around them, both before they finished Mating and after, so she's gotten a feel of how Angel's power might work and how connected it may be to her natural instinct to protect the Doctor. She's been planning this confrontation for a while and I could see her coming up with other ways to torment Angel too, like knowing that she could attack the Doctor and others with enough precision to keep Angel from saving the humans, which would upset her a lot :(
As for Danny, the confrontation with the Doctor is already different, because a lot of points he brought up and how he 'needed to know' aren't going to be said, because Angel and Tailor are there and they are more empathetic to Danny's pain than the Doctor's theatrics sort of thing. I think, on some level, Angel might even sense that if the Doctor talks this will all be even worse for Danny and she cares about him enough to not want him in pain and to allow him the dignity of his 'death' being on his terms and his choice and not because the Doctor 'needs to know' :(
Poor Tailor though, it's another one of those moments where you want to be adult but get in way over your head and just aren't ready :(
We'll see more about the Doctor's thoughts on Danny in the next chapter, but I tried to touch on it here, part of his reluctance to accept the man. Clara is like a sister to him, he wants her safe from everything, and one variable he can't be sure of is Danny Pink, because HE is the one capable of breaking Clara's heart :( Others may be convinced he wouldn't, but, as her 'big brother' it's his job to doubt and to make sure. We'll have to wait and see if Danny's actions might convince him he was the right man for Clara all along :(
On another note, Osgood. In this story, because of Angel and because I wanted to get a bit more into her head, the Osgood on the plane is the Zygon version of her. A sort of show of faith from UNIT that they allow the Zygon counterpart to work with them on very high profile missions inter changed with the real Osgood. This time it just happened to be the Zygon :( Angel does sense aliens in danger, yes, not as strongly as humans, but she's also very overwhelmed by it being Cybermen and feeling the pain coming from so many of them, and she just...wasn't in time :( She can't see everything :'(
Some notes on reviews...
As sad as it is to say, Osgood did have to perish in this episode, I agree :( If she didn't perish here, then the Zygon episode would never happen and I think too much good came from it to not happen :( I think it was the Zygon Missy killed too so I tried to sneak that reference in ;)
I'm glad you liked Jack popping up! :) I try to, at least once a series, add an old companion or character into an episode just to show they are all still connected and aware of things happening :) RTD was such a big reason why I started to love DW, I try to bring back little nods to it because for people who were so important to the Doctor, they don't get referenced enough :( I can't say if Mickey will appear in this episode, but we'll definitely find out what he was up to when this all happened at one point ;)
I bet the Earth would be in a better place right now if Angel and the Doctor were president and vice president lol :) The Doctor would be like 'what are you all, pudding brains? Wear a mask!' and Angel would be doing all she could to try and heal people who were ill :( Angel's visions are an interesting enhancement, and I can say there's going to be more to them than what we see so far, as they get stronger something else might happen as a side effect, but I won't say what }:) The Monks definitely won't want her to see their plans, but I don't want to give away too much of what I have in store for that episode ;) Lol, very good theories for Last Christmas, so much could happen, so many possibilities, we'll have to wait and see ;)