Chapter Two

Jacqueline bolted upright, breathing heavily. The ground beneath her was hard and solid. Cement, she realized, for a road. A highway, to be more precise. She was in the middle of a highway. The odd thing was, there were no cars.

The second odd thing was she wasn't dead.

She clambered to her feet, testing her body's strength. She stood still for a moment or two, and when she was sure her body wouldn't collapse, she surveyed her surroundings. It wasn't an unpleasant highway. It was clean, cleaner than most outdoor parts of Earth she'd seen in her time spent there. It was free of all things human. No cars, no trash. Nothing that showed human life had ever existed on the planet. It was almost as if she stood on another planet, one that looked like Earth and felt like Earth, but without any life.

Jacqueline began to walk toward the only thing she could see in the distance: Big Ben. She walked in the center of the road, since there were no vehicles to avoid. She didn't quite know what she was doing, besides heading in the direction of London's famous landmark. She could hear it's chimes in the distance, alerting the city that it'd just struck five o'clock in the morning. Despite it being so early, Jacqueline still expected some humans to be mulling about. After all, wasn't it the fourth most populated city in Europe?

"Damn these humans," she muttered, as she tripped over a soda can in the street. Wait – a soda can? That was new. She squinted at the city that stretched out all around her. Yes, she could see them now! Hundred – no, thousands – of humans were gathered right near the clock tower. They weren't moving. It was almost as if they were statues made of stone. No thoughts, no feelings, no brains to control their movements.

Jacqueline didn't know what was going on, but she knew she couldn't stay there. So she started off for the only address she knew:

13 Bannerman Road.

Sarah Jane always took a walk in the morning, and that day was no exception. Even when she knew London had become a museum overnight, with its citizens as stone as the fountains at Buckingham Palace. All the alien technology she had in her home had somehow protected her, Luke, and Maria from whatever was happening in the city. She knew the stone humans were the doing of aliens, but which? She thought she'd know, but she hadn't a single clue other than the evidence that was staring her right in the face – literally, for Sarah Jane Smith stood facing the thousands of stone victims that filled up the area surrounding Big Ben.

"Miss. Smith! I was just coming to see you."

Sarah Jane would know that voice anywhere. The formality the Bane woman's accent managed to give off was incredible, considering English wasn't her native language. Perhaps that's why her accent was so good.

"Mrs. Wormwood. I didn't expect to see you back," said Sarah Jane, turning around so she could face her enemy. Hazel eyes met icy blue.

"Mmm, yes, I didn't expect to survive any of the ordeals I've been put through in the past few weeks. Shall I list them?" Jacqueline counted off her "ordeals" on her fingers, "Robbed of my son by a woman who now claims to be his mother; sentenced to death by my fellow Bane; escaped but then pushed to certain death by someone I thought was my ally; escaped again only to be given an unfair trial and eaten by my own brother; and, on top of all that, I find myself here, once again on Earth, alive. Can you explain that, Miss. Smith?"

Sarah Jane gaped at her, struggling to comprehend what she was hearing. How was it that a woman she thought to be dead was standing, entirely alive, right in front of her? It didn't make sense.

"Mrs. Wormwood," she said, trying to keep her curious mind at bay. It would do her no good to ask millions of questions, not when a member of the Bane was standing before her – well, former-Bane, if what the woman claimed was true. "I was under the impression that you were gone for good. Luke seemed to think so, at any rate. And you are his mother – sorry, I meant was. Not like you were ever a mother figure to him, mind you. Did you ever stop to consider the possibility that you can't win?"

The mention of Jacqueline's genetical son angered her. Sarah Jane was not Luke's mother. She was! Luke's betrayal was still a fresh wound, whether or not Jacqueline chose to play the part of a loving mother to him. And his choice to make Sarah Jane his mother instead of her… It just wasn't possible. He was genetically created, he couldn't possibly have feelings, or an attachment to Sarah Jane. Jacqueline glared at the brunette.

"Luke will be my son, my prince, Sarah Jane Smith. And mark my words – I. Will. Win. And as of now, you will be no more than a bloodied corpse!"

Jacqueline lunged at Sarah Jane, twisting her ring in the process to revert to her Bane form. Sarah Jane clenched her eyes shut, preparing for the worst, sending a silent prayer to the Heavens to keep Luke and Maria safe until someone could get to them.

A few moments later, Sarah Jane dared look.

Jacqueline was staring at her with wide, confused eyes.

Still in her human form.

Sarah Jane wasted no time, fearing Mrs. Wormwood's failure to change was just a one-time fluke, and side-kicked her. Jacqueline went flying into the wall of a nearby building. She screamed in anger, launching herself at Sarah Jane, who dodged at the last second. The two struggled to pin each other down. Occasionally, Sarah Jane would manage to get the upper hand, or at times it would be Jacqueline who gripped Sarah Jane's wrists so tightly she had to bite her lip to keep from screaming, the Bane woman's purple nails digging into her skin. Jacqueline, at one of these times, forced her opponent to the ground. Sarah Jane rolled over so that she was now on top, and then Jacqueline did the same. They repeated this, rolling each other over so they'd be on top, while simultaneously rolling down the barren street.

Eventually, they were too exhausted to continue this, and stopped with Sarah Jane on the bottom. She knew she needed to distract Jacqueline somehow, so she could get away and run back to Maria and Luke, but she saw no opportunity. Except…

Sarah Jane knew it was absolutely ludicrous, not to mention difficult to pull off and dangerous in consequence. But she also knew it was her only option.

Sarah Jane brought her lips to Jacqueline's quickly, silencing the woman's cry of surprise. The distraction seemed to be working. To a point.

"Mum, where – "

Sarah Jane shot back ten feet, her heart pounding, but not before Luke saw what'd gone down. He gave her a look of pure hatred before running in the opposite direction.