Unto the Universe

Chapter Twenty-One: Saving Hitler: The Bunker

By Lumendea

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material, and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.

….

They did not linger in the apartment. Rose glanced into all of the rooms, but all here empty of anything useful. There was no luggage and only a mattress on an old bed that had seen better days and a simple blanket. While this had been a base, it had not been in use for long. Jack was messing with his Vortex Manipulator when Rose returned to the main room.

"What are you doing?" Rose asked, smiling at a passerby who eyed Jack in suspicion.

"Trying to send a message to their base. They aren't carrying Vortex Manipulators on duty, but there has to be a signal relay of some kind at the base. Time Agents have codes to warn of danger."

"They know there is danger," the Doctor said.

"Yeah, and Daniel potentially has more weapons than take out time travelers. There's no guarantee that he's used up whatever it was." The Doctor made a worried sound of his own but added nothing. "Of course, it can't be anything too strong," Jack said. "Otherwise, it would have taken out Daniel too." He shook his head. "I hate not knowing what we're going into."

"We could teleport to the Chancellery," Rose suggested.

Jack shook his head. "If I were them, I'd have added some defenses against a teleport in," Jack said. "Not sure we should risk it."

"Outside," the Doctor said. "I have some period money. We'll get a cab."

Rose blinked in surprise; money wasn't usually something the Doctor worried about when they left the TARDIS. But he'd had time to plan while she and Jack had been getting changed. Following his instructions, they hurried outside and to a main road. The cabs were simple black cars, much like the ones Rose was used to, and one quickly stopped for them.

Every passing moment felt sharp and dangerous. Daniel had teleported almost five minutes ago. If Jack was right and defenses had been activated to help keep Hitler safe, then maybe everything was alright, but the Monk had yet to show himself again. Compared to so many threats, Rose knew next to nothing about the Monk.

The car stopped in front of the Reich Chancellery only a few minutes later. The Doctor tossed money at the driver as they hurried out. More guards were on duty at the front entrance, their eyes alert and focused on them. Jack flashed the psychic paper, and they relaxed, barely, and allowed them past.

"More security than before," the Doctor murmured. "Could be good or bad."

"If I was those time agents, I'd be throwing every guard and soldier I could between Hitler and that anti-time traveler weapon as I could," Jack whispered. "We should assume that they aren't alone with him now. Which fits, Hitler had a lot more than three bodyguards."

So many questions and no time. Jack and the Doctor were both scanning with their favorite devices while Rose kept an eye on the movement of the Nazis in the building. They got a few looks, but no one tried to talk to them.

"They're out back," the Doctor said. Then he froze and exhaled. "The bunker."

"The bunker," Rose repeated. It tugged at her memory, and his reaction worried her. "What am I missing?"

"This could be fine," Jack said. He glanced at Rose and nudged her forward. "The bunker is where Hitler is supposed to die, just years into the future. Hopefully, it's just the Time Agents trying to protect him and not the Monk messing with things."

More guards were stationed at the back doors that led out into a small park behind the main building. It wasn't anything fancy but much nicer than a public park. At the far side stood a small brick building with a single door. Guards stood on either side of it, four in total and all armed. They raised their weapons, and Jack quickly presented his identification.

"You are a general?" one of the guards asked; his gaze dropped to Jack's lack of a uniform.

"Undercover," Jack explained quickly. "It's urgent."

For a moment, Rose worried they wouldn't be let in. She looked around again, checking for any signs of Daniel. She couldn't hear anything from inside, but that didn't mean anything. Jack and the Doctor said it was a bunker, and it looked a bit like a bomb shelter of some kind. Given her own experiences at Downing Street, Rose couldn't blame the Nazis for having one, but as the door opened with an ominous creak, her stomach tightened.

A set of stairs led deeper underground, and the Doctor rushed down them without a word, leaving Rose and Jack hurrying after him. It led to a short corridor with a couple of doors. One was open, revealing a room beyond that was fully furnished with a table, chairs, and charts on the walls. On one side of the room were the Time Agents, another man in the same uniform, and Hitler. On the other side, holding up a gun, was Daniel. He glanced their way and reached into the pocket of his coat.

"Stand down," Trefor ordered Daniel, his own weapon pointed at the time traveler. Trefor's eyes shifted towards them, but only for a moment. "This doesn't have to end bloody."

"A gun?" Daniel chuckled. "Really?"

"We will shoot," Trefor said firmly. "You know that. I don't want to take the shot, but I will."

The truth of that statement filled the room. Rose eyed Daniel. He was a few feet away from them. They were like the audience at the match on the stands, close enough to see but just far enough away to be unable to change the plays in motion. Hitler was surprisingly silent behind the three-man that Rose assumed was the last Time Agent.

"Where is the Monk, Daniel?" the Doctor asked calmly.

Daniel didn't look their way, but Rose thought he could see them anyway. She looked up at the Doctor, but he was watching the scene with distant blue eyes. Hitler was fiddling with a gun behind his bodyguards, and Rose swallowed as the room felt far too small.

"Daniel," the Doctor tried again. "Please, stop. This won't fix anything. It will fracture time."

"There is no escape," Hitler yelled. "You are outnumbered. Surrender now, and mercy may be shown."

"Sir," Reginold said with grit teeth. "Please, stay behind us."

"Where are the rest of the guards," Hitler demanded. "The situations never should have-"

"This is who you're trying to save," Daniel laughed, the sound bitter and broken. He locked eyes on Hitler. "I know who you are, what you're already working on. Those camps, all the death. The forced sterilizations that are already happening. The horrors that you and your government had instituted and that the people cheer on." Hand shaking, Daniel shook his head. "No one will blame me. These people protecting you, the Doctor and his companions," Daniel nodded their way. "No one really wants to save you."

"Daniel," Rose called. She risked taking a step forward. Daniel was unlikely to take his attention away from Hitler. "Please, I've seen what happens when someone changes time. It never unfolds as you hope." Another step closer to Daniel. "There are too many factors to consider." Another step. "Think about the people around him. Who would take his place? They might be worse, might be smarter and more strategic? You can't risk it."

"Yes, I can." Daniel's finger tightened on the trigger. You're still going to die in this bunker," Daniel's voice said, echoing off the walls. It glowed with happiness and purpose. Rose's heart ached to take it from him. Then Daniel pulled his hand from his coat, holding up a small metallic orb with a line of flashing lights around the center. Rose heard everyone else in the room except her and Hitler sharply inhale. "This," Daniel said. "Will cleanse the whole city. All of the Nazi officials, all those who put their heads down and pretended not to see will die before it ever goes farther." Daniel swallowed. "Your choice, I can use this and kill them all and all of us, or you let me have Hitler and save the city."

Rose rushed forward, releasing her sword and raising her empty hands. "Daniel, wait-"

"Rose!" Jack shouted. "Behind you!"

Spinning around, Rose summoned her sword on reflex, slicing it across the torso of the Monk. Red blood spilled forth from the deep gash, and Rose took a reflective step back, her mouth drying at the sight. Shock filled the Monk's face, and he stumbled away, seemingly distracted from whatever he'd been trying to do before. Keeping her sword in front of her, Rose shivered as the chaos behind her kept playing out but didn't dare take her eyes off of the Monk.

"Good reflexes," the Monk groaned. He touched the wound and flinched, bringing away a hand covered in blood. "So that's the sword…" Another groan.

"Sir?" Daniel called. Rose glanced his way, he was watching with wide eyes, but the… bomb, she guessed, was still in his hand.

The Monk's skin shimmered with golden energy. Rose's eyes widened. She remembered that from Melody. Swallowing, Rose looked at the blood on the end of her sword. The distraction was all the Monk needed. He threw himself towards Daniel, ignoring the shout of warning from the Time Agents.

The Monk grabbed Daniel's arm, ripping the Vortex Manipulator off of it with a beastly snarl and a jerk that threw off Daniel's balance. Daniel shot his gun; his wild shots hit the wall with sizzling snaps. Trefor threw himself over the shouting Hitler, forcing the man to the ground. Daniel lunged, his teeth flashing in the artificial light.

The third man lifted his weapon and fired. There was a crack and a hiss that echoed off the bunker walls. Across Rose's arms, the hair stood on end as the charge rolled across her skin. Daniel's eyes widened as the energy bolt struck his chest. The world shuddered, and Daniel dropped to the floor. The Doctor lunged past Rose, scooping the bomb out of the air.

"Until next time," the Monk hissed.

Rose's eyes jumped back to the Monk just in time to see the golden energy-consuming his body before the energy of the Time Vortex Manipulator swallowed him. The Monk vanished into the time rift, leaving a heavy and distrustful silence in the room. The Doctor knelt, pulling out the sonic screwdriver and messing with the bomb.

"Can you stop it, Doctor?" Jack asked, rushing over to him.

"Yes," the Doctor said.

The Time Agents all sighed in relief. Rose barely noticed. She walked to Daniel's body and knelt beside him, reaching for his neck. His eyes were open, and there was no pulse. Her sword shifted back to a bracelet, and a wave of exhaustion hit Rose. She closed her eyes for a moment and inhaled slowly before opening her eyes once again.

Daniel's body was still on the floor. Hitler was shouting and sputtering, but the Time Agent they hadn't met properly, and Regnold hurried him out of the bunker room through a side door. Trefor sighed and shook his head, closing the door securely behind him and watching their group with careful eyes. Daniel still didn't move, and his death was sinking in. Rose wasn't sure how to feel. The man had been a threat, but of all the dangers she'd ever faced, his course was the most understandable. And she hated that. Rose rubbed her bracelet and flexed her fingers.

"Got it," the Doctor announced. The lights in the orb were gone, and he set it on the table with a soft thump. "That's handled."

"I assume you can handle the clean-up?" Jack asked Trefor. "Make sure no one remembers things they shouldn't?"

"We'll handle it," Trefor agreed. "Just… not sure what to say about that Monk. You weren't exaggerating when you said he was dangerous." He nodded at the device. "Radiation scan places Daniel at being from only a year after World War II so that Monk was handing out dangerous weapons well outside the general field of time."

"Yeah," Jack sighed. "Don't think he cared."

"I should take you into custody, but I get the feeling that would go poorly." Trefor eyed Jack. "And you're still with the agency in my place in the timeline. I checked."

"Make you wonder how many of us end up the cells at different points in our timelines," Jack said with a laugh. Then he turned serious. "Thanks for that, though. You're right; trying to hold up wouldn't go well."

Trrefor looked over at the Doctor, his eyes searching, but no questions came. Rose was grateful for that. It had been a hard enough day for all of them without the wounds of the Time War being poked at. Clearing his throat, Trefor made a show of checking his watch.

"That's enough time for them to secure Hitler. We best leave the bunker before anyone notices you. This mess is going to be more than enough to clean up as it is." He gestured to the staircase that led out of the bunker. "After you."

They followed the indirect order, the Doctor stepping up beside Rose to take her hand and squeeze it. Today was officially a success, but with the result being that Hitler lived, the Monk into regenerated into a form they didn't see, and Daniel, one of Hitler's victims, was dead; it didn't feel like a victory.

"Why, you three?" Rose asked as they stepped out into the warm sunshine. "Of the billions of people in the future, why did you three get this job?"

"Someone has to do it," Trefor replied. Rose stared at him, and he sighed once more. "It's ancient history to us, but all of us are descendants of Holocaust survivors. Who our ancestors were, who they married and had children with, what led to us is grounded in those camps that are coming." He shook his head; his face now pale as he looked back into the bunker. "They were people like this man, in pain, who went on to build the lives that made it possible for us to exist. Without them, we'd all be a paradox. Without that… without what is coming, we'd all be paradoxes."

"I'm sorry," Rose said softly.

"Don't be." Trefor shook his head. "You're here, and you know. It's real to you in a way that it wasn't to me when I was first prepared for this post. In a way, it will never be to my superiors at the Time Agency." He nodded towards the building. "I suggest you be on your way before I or the others change our minds."

"Right," the Doctor said. He took Rose's hand. "Take care. And… I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too," Trefor agreed. "I'm always sorry when they can't be talked down."

Shaking his head, the Time Agent headed back into the bunker, leaving the three of them standing in the small park behind a building that would be destroyed for the crimes planned there. Rose leaned against the Doctor's arm, guilt and grief warring with relief.

"Not a good day," the Doctor sighed.

"No," Jack agreed. "Glad we were here to help though."

"Yes," the Doctor agreed. "I don't think the Time Agency could have handled this alone. Not against the Monk."

"The Time Agency wasn't all bad," Jack agreed. Then he smiled a little. "But I don't miss it." His smile widened, and Rose watched his shoulders relax. "I'd miss being on Team TARDIS too much."

Rose laughed. "Team TARDIS? I'm not sure if I love or hate that."

"I hate it," the Doctor grumbled, but he was smiling a little.

"No, you don't," Jack countered. Then he exhaled. "But we should get a move on before any clean-up comes. Those three agents had their mission to worry about, but I'm not sure how leadership would react to a living Time Lord and a TARDIS."

"I have no intention of winding up in a zoo," the Doctor scoffed.

"Hey, not a zoo, but you might get stuck as an advisor, what with those extra senses of yours."

"I'm already an advisor to UNIT," the Doctor replied. "And they know how to get ahold of me."

"Yes, call me," Rose laughed. "Been that way for years now."

The Doctor smiled again, and Rose exhaled, trying to let the last of the tension drain away. The further they got from the Reich Chancellery, the better she felt. A few more blocks and one turn brought the TARDIS into view. Jack slipped around Rose and the Doctor, pulling out his key as he started humming. The former Time Agent unlocked the doors and gestured them inside with a smile. The Doctor rolled his eyes but smiled as their small team entered their home.