From across the room, Cass could see Mickey pick a gun up, and pulling her own out, she quickly checked the chamber, before tensing, about to run to her companion, to help him.
But an arm wrapped around her waist, and she found herself pulled back into her tether's chest, as he forced his voice into her mind, nearly yelling, You're not going anywhere! I just got you back!
Doc, he needs me! You've got Pete to keep you safe, he doesn't have anyone. And he's my companion, it's my job, my responsibility to keep him safe! She yelled back, looking up at him with a glare.
You're my tether, he simply said, I will always keep YOU safe, above all else.
A second passed, and then he added in a small whisper, Drop the walls, please love. I can't…I can't bear not feeling you.
I didn't think you'd want to, she revealed softly, dropping the barrier she'd built, allowing her emotions to float into him once more, her hesitancy and her belief that he now found her as revolting as he had the rest of the Gallifreyan soldiers.
He didn't say anything, except pull her deeper into him, his love flowing over her skin like a soothing balm, reassuring her that he didn't regret anything.
Not yet, at least.
Turning around, she cupped her hands over her mouth, yelling instead, "Micks, come on!"
"Adapt to weaponry!" Thay ordered.
"Fire power restored!" Sec announced.
The Dalek fired once at a Cyberman, immediately destroying it. Jake managed to reach the door, but Mickey lost his footing and stumbled, managing to right himself just in time and hurry to the door as well, joining them.
"Cybermen primary target." Sec commanded, as the rest of Jake's men managed to slip through the door before it closed, sealing both the Daleks and the Cybermen inside.
They quickly ran down the hall, the Doc yelling, "Jake, check the stairwell. The rest of you, come on!"
He kept his hold around Cass' hand, both because he needed to feel her, but also because he wasn't sure she would slink away, and return to the Daleks, ready to finish them off once and for all.
Mickey ran beside them, shouting desperately, "I just fell, I didn't mean it!"
Cass, understanding what he meant, grabbed his hands with he empty one, "Micks, if you hadn't done that, they would have brute forced their way into it, which would have blown up the sun, and all of us along with it."
"Exactly," the Doctor finished, quickly raising their joined hands to his lips, pressing a quick kiss to Cass', "You've done us a favour! Now, run!"
Around the bend of the corridor, they could hear a Cyberman yell, "You will be upgraded."
Another, very familiar voice whimpered, "No, but you can't! Please…"
"Jackie!"
"Mum!"
Both girls yelled at once, running towards the sound, Cass dragging her tether behind her, since she was much faster than him.
They could see Jackie cowering before two Cybermen, pleading, "Please…"
Cass untucked her gun, before lobbing it at Pete, warning, "I'd like it back, please."
The man nodded, raising it and shooting the two robots, who dropped to the floor. They could see Jackie squinting through the smoke, trying to discern who her saviours were when finally…
"Pete!" She breathed.
Cass reached behind her, tugging Rose into her arms tightly, as they watched the star-crossed couple reunite.
"Hello Jacks," Peter smiled gently.
"I said there were ghosts, but that's not fair. Why him?"
"I'm not a ghost."
"But you're dead. You died twenty years ago, Pete."
Feeling her tether about to step up, Cass pulled him back, shaking her head as she told him, Don't ruin it, it's been a long time coming.
Fine, he huffed, though she could hear laughter in his tone, I'll shut up, for a price.
What's that, then? She raised an elegant brow, watching as his small smile turned into a smirk.
A kiss.
But instead go chuckling, like he thought she would, he was surprised to feel apprehension and guilt and so much sadness flood her instead. Cass bit her lip, eyes dull with pre-emptive grief, before saying, If, by the end of the day you still want to kiss me. If you can even stand to look at me, then I'll never stop you.
His eyes narrowed, but he didn't respond, knowing the only way she would believe him was if by the end of the day, whatever was meant to occur, occurred, and he still loved her.
As though he could ever stop.
Instead, he lowered his lips, pressing them tenderly to the top of her head as they watched Jackie look at her husband and whisper, "Oh... you look old."
"You don't." He smiled back.
"How can you be standing there?"
"Just got lucky... lived my life. You were left on your own. You didn't marry again, or…?"
"There was never anyone else. Twenty years, though. Look at me, I never left that flat. Did nothing with myself."
"Brought her up." He corrected softly, head tilting towards the blonde, still huddled in Cass' arms, "Rose Tyler. That's not bad."
"Yeah."
"In my world, it worked. All those daft little plans of mine. They worked. Made me rich."
"I don't care about that," she shook her head, before asking, "How rich?"
"Very."
"I don't care about that," she repeated, before once more asking, "How very?"
"Thing is though, Jacks, you're... you're not my wife. I'm sorry, but you're not. I mean, we both…" He looked at her, clearly struggling, clearly trying to fight his love for her.
Jackie nodded sadly, understanding.
"You know, it's just sort of…" he sighed, finally giving in, tossing the gun back to the redhead,"Oh, come here."
They ran to meet each other, Jackie starting to cry as he swept her off the ground in a huge hug.
From her spot, Cass smiled softly, leaning down to whisper to her sister, "There you go. One family, whole. That kind of love, Rosie-Posie, the kind that transcends time and space itself, that's what you should aim for."
"I know," she whispered back, "You and the Doctor taught me that."
—
The Doctor opened the door to where the battle between the Cybermen and the Daleks was taking place, peering into the lab, waiting for the right moment to enter. As he was about to jump in, a hadn't tugged him back, his tether shaking her head sternly, "Nope."
"Cassie.."
"No. I'm trained for this, okay? Just…hang back here, make sure the humans are fine. It'll only take me a second." She huffed, quickly reaching up to tighten the bun in her hair, and flinging her jacket off, handing it over to him.
Tilting her head as she observed the lasers sooting from everywhere, she hurdled in, narrowing avoiding a hit to her arm, before tumbling over another, hands landing firmly on the ground, only to propel her into another flip, landing her just by the box.
Reaching in, she quickly grabbed the Magnaclamps, before running back towards the doors, keeping her flips and tumbles lower to the ground as to not drop them, before sliding on her knees, back nearly touching the floor as two laser joined where her head had been second before, and reaching the door, her tether quickly pulling her up, and into his arms.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, "I'm sorry you know how to do that."
Cass shrugged nonchalantly, giving the flabbergasted humans a smug wink, before confessing with a chuckle, "This was actually kind of fun, not gonna lie."
Rose reached over to shut the doors, but he stopped her, slipping his 3D specks over his nose, before peering in curiously.
"Override roof mechanism." Sec ordered.
Rose leaned over his shoulder, watching with growing eyes as the roof opened, and the Daleks began rising, before turning to Cass and asking, "What're they doing? Why'd they need to get outside?!"
"It needs a wide activation area," she told them, "At least thirteen square miles."
—
They finally stepped out of the lift on the top floor and rushed to the window, the Doctor dumping the magnaclamps down on Yvonne's desk on his way.
He stood behind Cass, arms wrapped tightly around her waist as they watched in horror as the Genesis Ark spun, Daleks shooting out of it, more and more of them.
Cass shuddered, as the Cybermen marched down the street only to stop as one, and fire their weapons up into the air at the Daleks, a fruitless endeavour, as it had no effect, only serving to anger the pepper-pots and cause them to retaliate.
With the humans below standing as mass casualties.
"I'm sorry, but you've had it. This world's gonna crash and burn." Pete shook his head as he stepped away from the window, "There's nothing we can do. We're going home. Jacks, take this."
He tossed her one of the yellow buttons, and she looked down at it, before yelping, aghast, "But they're destroying the City!"
Pete smiled softly, looping the button around her neck himself, "I'd forgotten you could argue. "It's not just London, it's the whole world." He cupped her face gently, whispering, "But there's another world, just waiting for you, Jacks. And it's safe. As long as the Doctor and Cass close the breach. Doctor?"
The Doctor turned from the window with his 3D specs on and a big grin, Cass smirking lightly as she escaped his clutched and ran to a nearby computer, beginning to input various commands in.
"Oh, we're ready." He exclaimed excitedly, "We've got the equipment right here. Thank you, Torchwood!"
He moved to his tether's side, asking a silent question, and she nodded, pressing a button and stating, "Slam it down and close off both universes."
"Reboot systems." The computer announced.
Rose shook her head, "But we can't just leave. What about the Daleks? And the Cybermen…?"
"They're part of the problem," Cass began, only for the Doctor to finish smugly, "Which makes them part of the solution," He winked at his tether knowingly, smirking when she rolled her eyes with a fond grin, before looking back at his companion and continuing, "Well?! Isn't anyone gonna ask? What is it with the glasses?"
Grinning, the blonde complied, asking, "What is it with the glasses?"
"I can see! That's what!" He yelled happily, "'Cos we've got two separate worlds, but in-between the two separate worlds, we've got the Void. That's where the Daleks were hiding. And the Cybermen travelled through the Void to get here! And you lot, one world to another, via the Void! Oh, I like that. Via the Void! Look!" He pressed the glasses to her face, before moving in front of her, dancing around like an idiot.
"I've been through it. Do you see?"
She nodded, hand reaching out to try and touch the particles floating around him, as the computer said, "Reboot in three minutes."
"Void stuff," he explained, only for Cass to drawl in amusement, "Not what they're called, like at all. But it'll do." She turned to Rose, smiling softly, "It's like you said earlier, background radiation from travelling through the Void."
He nodded, "Look at the others. The only one who hasn't been through the Void, your mother. First time she's looked normal in her life."
"Oi!" Jackie cried in indignation, before chuckling when she noticed the face Cass was throwing the man.
He dashed back to the white wall, tugging his tether behind him, as she explained patiently, "The Daleks, the Cybermen..they're bursting with radiation, from their extended time in the Void. So theoretically, I'll open the Void, because I don't trust the Doctor to actually do it properly," she patted his cheek softly shushing his complain with a wicked grin, before finishing, "And they should all be pulled back through, directly in the Void."
Mickey approached them quietly, before gasping in realisation, remembering what she'd called this void earlier, "You're gonna send them all directly back to hell."
"I did promise Sec, he just didn't believe me." She shrugged back nonchalantly.
He grinned, turning to Jake and adding smugly, "Man, I told you MY Pilot was good!"
Rose however, frowned, "But it's... like you said, we've all got Void stuff. Me too, 'cos we went to that parallel world." She pulled the glasses off, staring at the two aliens, "We're all contaminated. We'll get pulled in."
Cass reached down, wrapping her hand around the Doc's tightly, as they smiled sadly at the girl, the Time Lord saying, "That's why you've gotta go."
"Reboot in two minutes." The computer stated.
"Back to Pete's world." He continued, injecting humour into his voice, to hide the gut-wrenching heartbreak he was feeling, "Hey, we should call it that: Pete's World. We're opening the Void, but only on this side. You'll be safe on that side."
The blonde just stared at them, speechless.
"And then you close it. For good?" Pete interjected.
Cass nodded, "The breach itself is soaked in radiation. It'll close itself down at the end."
"But you two stay on this side…?" Rose whispered in quiet realisation, as Mickey asked, "But you'll get pulled in?"
Cass kept her eyes on her sister's, trying to make her understand how hard this was for them, how heart-breaking and gut-wrenching it really was.
She felt as the Doc left her side, knew he was picking up the Magnaclamps, but she couldn't look away from Rose, her Rosie-Posie, needing her to see just how much this decision, though the right one, was hurting them.
He returned to her, raising the clamps gently, "That's why... I got these. We'll just have to hold on tight, I've been doing it all my life."
"So have I," Cass finally whispered.
The blonde blinked, "I'm supposed to go."
"Yeah,"
"To another world, and then it gets sealed off."
"Yeah,"
"Forever." Rose chuckled, shaking her head at how absurd the idea was, "That's not gonna happen."
A crash from outside shook the building, reminding them of how little time they truly had.
"We haven't got time to argue, the plans works, we go in." Pete interjected briskly, "You too. All of us."
"No, I'm not leaving them!" Rose rounded on her father angrily.
"I'm not going without her." Jackie added.
The man groaned in exasperation, "Oh, my God. We're going."
"I've had twenty years without you, so button it. I'm not leaving her."
Rose turned her mother around, hands on her shoulders as she stared at her intently, "You've got to."
"Well, that's tough!"
"Mum…" her voice wavered, tears very clearly in her eyes, "I've had a life with you for nineteen years. But then I met the Doctor and Cass... all the things I've seen them do for me. For you. For all of us. For the whole... stupid planet and every planet out there. They do it alone, mum."
Behind her, Cass exhaled shakily, hand reaching into her pocket and pulling out a yellow button.
"But not anymore." Rose finished, backing away slightly towards the Time Lords, still facing her mother, "'Cos now they've got me."
Suddenly, a chain was looped around her neck, and she spun around, looking at a tearful Cass, "What're you…?"
But she disappeared before finishing that sentence, Pete having pushed the button and transported all of them back into the other universe.
Cass looked down, sniffling lightly as she used her sleeve to wipe the tears off her face, feeling the Doctor pull her into his chest, his lips falling to the top of her head softly.
"It's okay," he breathed.
"I know. She's with her family. Her full family, exactly where she belongs," she nodded slowly, before pulling away from him, "We need to get going to, only around a minute left."
They quickly moved to the clamps, each grabbing a separate one, when a second later…
Rose reappeared, "I think this is the on switch…"
Cass turned to her, eyes wide at what the girl had done, "Rose… Rose, what are you doing?" She ran to her, grabbing her tightly by the shoulders, looking intently into her eyes as she tried to explain, tried to make her understand exactly what it was she was giving up, "Once the breach collapses, there is no way back! This is your family, Rose! Your own mother!"
The girl stared at her, "I made my choice a long time ago, and I'm never gonna leave either of you, because you're my family too."
Cass shook her head, backing away from the blonde, muttering, "I can't….I can't look at you right now."
She didn't know what she was losing, what she was willingly letting go of. Cass had never had a family, never one as loving as Rose's at any rate. Her mother had been ambivalent, and her father absent, at least until she'd stared into the Schism and become who she was today.
But even then, they'd so readily given her to the council, so readily cut all contact from her when asked, so as to not bias her visions.
Her family had left her, and now…now her little sister was making the same choice.
Rose flinched slightly at the words, knowing that this Cass, the one who remembered her life, hadn't had a family. She could understand her point of view, but she knew…she belonged here, with her Pilot and her sisters.
The TARDIS family.
Turning to the Doctor, she found him also looking at her with disappointment, as she asked, "So what can I do to help?"
"Systems rebooted. Open access." The computer announced.
They stared at each other, until finally, he huffed, pointing to the computer, "Those co-ordinates over there, set them all at six."
She nodded, running to do so, as he yelled, voice sounding angry, "And hurry up."
The Doctor walked back to his tether, seeing in her mind how disappointment she was in the blonde, how she'd never had any family, and here Rose was, just willingly letting her own go.
Wrapping his arms around her, he leaned close and whispered, "You've got me now. YOu'll always have me."
"I hope so," she murmured, "I really hope so."
—
"We've got Cybermen on the way up." Rose informed the pair, who'd been solidifying the clamps' hold onto the wall.
They quickly ran to her, Cass asking, "How many floors down?"
"Just one." Rose breathed, fear and trepidation finally making their way through her.
The redhead nodded, pushing her slightly away, and beginning to type command after command onto the computer, saying, "We've gotta hurry!"
"Levers operational," the computer informed them.
He grinned, and Rose smiled hesitantly, commenting, "That's more like it, bit of a smile! The old team…!"
Cass shook her head, before grabbing the blonde's hands and tugging her to a clamp, making her hold onto it tightly, "Do not, under any circumstances, let go. Okay?"
"Yes, ma'am," Rose whispered.
She shot her a small smile, before running back to her tether, who pulled her to him, both of them grabbing onto their clamp, as he called out, "Press the red button."
She did so, before turning to the Pilots again, as Cass yelled, "When it starts, just hold on tight. Shouldn't be too bad for us but the Daleks and the Cybermen are steeped in Void Stuff. Are you ready?"
Rose nodded, before pointing to the window, at the Dalek floating outside, "So are they!"
"Just grab on Rosie!" Cass yelled, waiting until her little sister was holding on tightly, before turning to her tether, "Ready?"
"Ready," he nodded, reaching down the lever, "Let's do it!" And tugging it tip, immediately joining her side again, both of them grabbing onto the clamp tightly.
"Online." The computer intoned, as a white light filled the area, coupled with the sound of a strong wind. The Daleks are sucked through the window, smashing through the glass as they are pulled back into the Void.
The Doctor laughed happily, "The breach is open! Into the Void! Ha!"
Rose smiled across at the pilots as they hung in the air. Suddenly, a small explosion of sparks happened and the lever on Rose's side moved back into the off position.
"Offline." The computer droned.
Cass's eyes widened, the realisation of what was about to happen hitting her, as behind her, the Doctor yelled, "Turn it on!"
Slowly, Rose reached for the lever, all the while trying to maintain her grip on the clamp, but it was just slightly too far away. She strained to reach it, eventually falling onto it, and whimpering, "I've gotta get it upright!"
Struggling with the lever, she finally managed to pull it upright, grabbing onto it tightly as the suction began once more, except this time around, she only had a lever to grab onto.
"Online and locked." The computer said.
"Rose, hang on!" The Doctor yelled in fear, as he watched her struggle and grunt and strain under the effort to keep holding on.
But unfortunately, her effort weren't enough. With one last cry, Rose's grip finally slipped and she was pulled towards the Void, crying out loudly, until she simply stopped moving, floating in the air, surrounded by a golden cocoon.
Her eyes immediately shot to Cass, who had her mouth open in a silent scream, one of her hands outstretched towards the girl, the golden light of the vortex shooting from it. She could see a small stream of blood falling from her nose, could see the pain in her older sister's face. Could hear it in her voice as she screamed, "Just hang tight, Rosie! Please!"
And it should have worked, should have lasted long enough for the breach to close in on itself, leaving Rose on this side with them, except Pete suddenly appeared, and wrapped his arms around his daughter, pulling her back into his universe with him, right as the breach closed.
Cass dropped to the floor, both she and the Doctor immediately running to the wall, placing their hands over it, as though they could still feel Rose.
But as he shuddered, he felt a wave of pain and grief and so much guilt from her, and he turned around, only to find her kneeling before the wall, her foreheads resting against it as she sobbed, "I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry."
The Doctor hurried to her, pulling her into his arms, ignoring her flinches until she realised who he was, and began sobbing even louder, this time crying, "Please…please…forgive me."
—
"Last night I had a dream." Rose said sadly, "I heard voices and they were calling my name. I told mum and dad and Mickey. Anyone else would think I was mad. But not those three. They believed it. Because they've met the Doctor and Cass. So they listened to the dream. They were calling me, and...And that night, we packed up...Got into dad's old Jeep and off we went. Just like the dream said. Followed the voice... across the water... kept on driving hundreds and hundreds of miles. Because they're calling."
They stood on a deserted, bleak beach. Pete, Jackie and Mickey by the Jeep as Rose walked across the sand as though looking for something.
"Here I am at last. And this is the story of how I died."
—
Their figures with fading in and out of thin air when she noticed them, as though translucent, like ghosts.
"Where are you?" She breathed quietly.
"Inside the TARDIS." Cass replied, voice sounding distant and strained, as though she was holding back tears.
Swallowing, she added, "Could you call Mick over too, please?"
The blonde nodded, quickly looking over her shoulder and calling the boys name, before turning back to them, as the Doctor explained, "There's one tiny little gap in the universe left, just about to close. Cassie found it. And it takes a lot of power to send this projection, we're in orbit around a supernova. We're burning up a sun just to say goodbye."
Mickey showed up, huffing as though out of breath, before his eyes rose to his pilot, and he whispered sadly, "You look like a ghost. You both do."
They nodded slowly, and the Doctor pulled out his sonic, aiming it towards the central control and pressing a button, solidifying their image.
Both companions approached quietly, Rose's hand reaching up, "Can I t…?"
"No, it's just an image still," Cass breathed sadly, "No touch."
"Can't you come through properly?"
The Doctor shook his head, "The whole thing would fracture. Two universes would collapse."
Mickey chuckled wetly, joking, "So?"
The Time Lords smiled sadly, all of them just looking at each other with wet smiles, until the Doc asked, "Where are we? Where did the gap come out?"
"Norway." Rose replied.
"Norway, right."
"About fifty miles out of Bergen. It's called 'Darlig Ulv Stranden'."
His head rose sharply, "Dalek?"
Mickey shook his, enunciating slowly, "Dar-lig. It's Norwegian for 'bad'."
"Bad Wolf bay," Cass couldn't help but chuckle, looking at her little sister, "Ironic."
"How long have we got?" The blonde whispered, voice cracking, as Mickey pulled her into his arms, quickly reaching up to wipe a tear off his face.
The redhead cleared her throat, answering with a heavy voice, "About three minutes. Was only supposed to be two, but I did a thing."
Mickey laughed, nodding, before exclaiming in a half-sob, half-laugh, "I can't think of what to say!"
"Me either!" Rose joined in, laughing as small tears draped down her face.
"You've still got each other," the Doc remarked softly, Cass adding, "And the rest of your family."
"There's five of us now. Mum, dad, Mickey... and the baby." Rose informed them softly, giggling when the Time Lord's eyes widened in shock at her, while Cass simply rolled her knowingly.
"It's Jackie," Mickey told him, "She's three months gone. More Tylers on the way."
"And the both of you?" His pilot asked him, "what's next?"
"Yeah, I'm... I'm back working in the shop." Rose said.
The Doc nodded slowly, "Oh, good for you." As Cass trust into laughter beside him, mumbling, "So gullible."
Rose and Mickey joined her, as the blonde gasped, "Shut up. No, I'm not. There's still a Torchwood on this planet, it's open for business. I think we know a thing or two about aliens."
"Rose Tyler and Mickey Smith. Defenders of the Earth." He nodded proudly at the two, as Cass disappeared form view, checking on how much time they might have left on the console.
Her heart dropped slightly when she realised it wouldn't be long now, and she hurried back to her tether's side, cutting him off as she said, "One minute."
Rose's face dropped, and she nearly sobbed out, "Are we ever gonna see you again?"
"No," Cass whispered. "You can't."
"What're you gonna do?"
The Doc shrugged, tugging the redhead into his arms, "Oh, we've got the TARDIS. Same old life. Last of the Time Lords."
"I'm gonna miss you," she whimpered, "So much!"
Mickey nodded from beside her, having given up on wiping his tears away, looking at his best friend, "You best not find yourself a new best friend Cassandra Oracle."
"I could never," she gasped out, before looking at the both of them, at her family, and saying, "Good-bye Micks. Good-bye, Rosie-Posie. I love you."
The Doctor shuddered, before repeating her words, giving his companion the good-bye he usually refused to, allowing her the closer none before her had.
And it was just as Rose and Mickey were whispering, "Love you…" that the transmission cut off, and Cass bent in half, sobbing lightly at the loss.
Warm, familiar arms wrapped around her, and she was picked up, only to be placed on her tethers lap as he sat on the captain's chair, crying into her neck just as harshly.
—
When they'd both finally calmed down, when she'd wiped every tear off his face, and he'd pressed kisses to her skin until she'd giggled, he whispered, "I love you, Cassie."
"Luna," she responded, speaking in a language only the two of them could understand now, a language he hadn't heard in years. Pressing their foreheads together, cupping his cheeks, she continued, "My name is Luna, and I'm your tether."
Theta chuckled wetly, still in slight disbelief that she was real, before pressing their lips together, kissing her as passionately as he had the first time they'd done this, this time around, feeling everything she was through their bond.
But they'd had to pull away when an angry voice yelped behind them, "What?"
They turned around, mouths dropping open at the sight of the redheaded bride standing by the door, Cass whispering, "I'd forgotten about this," while he merely gaped, "What?"
"Who are you?" The bride questioned in disdain.
He shook his head, still not understanding what was happening, "But.."
"Where am I?"
"What?!"
"What the hell is this place?!"
"What?!"
A/N: the end for now...to be continued in Retrocognitive!