By the time the ghost had disappeared, The Doctor already had the information that he needed in order to find out where the power source forcing the ghosts into existence was coming from. He rushed into the TARDIS, dropping down his equipment before tugging off his coat and draping it over one of the coral struts. His eyes were alive with energy as he darted around the console, pressing buttons to lock onto the source he'd triangulated.
"I said so!" He grinned, pressing a few more buttons in order to send his magnificent ship into flight. "Those ghosts have been FORCED into existence for one specific point! And I can track down the source. Allons-y!" He flipped one final switch and the TARDIS shuddered, nearly knocking himself and Rose flat, though they both regained their balance quickly. "I like that. 'Allons-y'. I should say 'allons-y' more often. 'Allons-y'. Watch out, Rose Tyler! Allons-y! And THEN, it would be really brilliant if I met someone called Alonzo. Because then I could say, 'allons-y, Alonzo'! Every time! You're staring at me." He cut off his babbling abruptly, noticing that Rose had just been watching him with an unreadable expression on her face.
"My mum's still on board." Rose told him in a soft whisper, nodding her head to the right. The Doctor froze, slowly lifting his eyes up, and true to form, Jackie Tyler was sat on the gantries, her expression stone as she glared at him.
"If we end up on Mars, I'm gonna kill you." She threatened, folding her arms, and The Doctor looked back at Rose who simply lifted her eyebrows in response. Ah, well, this just got more complicated, didn't it?
The TARDIS engines quickly came to a stop, and The Doctor tried to ignore Jackie as she hopped down from her seat to come and join them, focusing instead on the monitor in front of him which showed him just where he'd landed. Unfortunately, it seemed as though they were now surrounded by soldiers with guns.
Guns – why did it have to be guns?
"Oh, well there goes the advantage of surprise. Still! Cuts to the chase." The Doctor sighed, before he headed towards the doors, directing his next words to Rose. "Stay in here, look after Jackie."
"I'm not looking after my mum!" Rose snapped back in response, following after him with Jackie close behind them both.
"Well, you brought her!"
"I was kidnapped!" Jackie piped up, but Rose moved in front of The Doctor to block his way, her wide eyes searching his own, obviously worried.
"Doctor, they've got guns."
"And I haven't. Which makes me the better person, don't you think?" Setting his hand lightly on Rose's waist, he moved her gently out of the way. He could understand her concern, but he had lives to spare, they didn't. "They can shoot me dead, but the moral high-ground is mine." With that, he opened up the door and stepped out, leaving it slightly open so Rose could easily see and hear what was happening.
The moment she could hear Yvonne Hartman's voice, Rose's expression hardened, and she clenched her hands into fists. This woman was indirectly responsible for all of this, and though every inch of her being wanted to go out there and shake some sense into her, she held her ground, biting the inside of her mouth as the director of Torchwood indirectly ordered The Doctor to bring out his companion.
In response, he reached into the TARDIS, dragging Jackie out with him, and Rose fought back the urge to roll her eyes as he began to insult her. Honestly, he was lucky Jackie hadn't slapped him again for that. Rude and not ginger indeed. She sighed, closing her eyes before resting her head against the door, hearing The Doctor's final cry of 'allons-y!' before she heard footsteps leading away, and she waited, knowing what would happen next. Torchwood would take the TARDIS, and when everyone was gone, then she could get out, find the sphere and find Mickey.
She didn't have to wait long.
Ten minutes or so once The Doctor left, Rose heard the thrum of an engine approach, and her lips curled slightly in disdain. She'd hate to think of what those Torchwood scientists would try to do to the TARDIS if they had the chance. In the back of her mind, she heard the ship hum reassuringly, and Rose took strength from her comfort.
The ship shuddered as the soldiers outside began to hoist her onto the back of a truck, and Rose grimaced slightly, taking a chance to peer out of a small crack through the door, before she steeled herself and made her way over to The Doctor's coat, still hanging over one of the coral struts. She reached into his pocket, digging around until she found the psychic paper, and she grinned slightly, pressing a kiss to the leather casing. It would be useless against everyone who worked in Torchwood, but this would be what she needed to get into the room with the sphere and the Daleks. She adjusted her bag and her jacket, patting herself down to ensure she had everything she'd need – there was no room for mistakes. The truck began to move, and Rose straightened her shoulders, moving back to the door, her hands pressing to the wood.
This was no different to her missions back in Pete's world, really – and for now, she'd treat it as such. Lightly prying open the doors to peek out, her heart jumped when she caught sight of The Doctor nearby. Their eyes met and he nodded once, indicating she should try to find out all that she could due to their separation. His belief in her drew her to smile, and she shut the doors once more, nodding in determination.
She moved to the captain's chair, taking a seat and adjusted the monitor in front of her, keeping an eye on where she was, trying to remember the way to the sphere room. She'd followed someone, if she was remembering that right. She tapped her thumb against her bottom lip, waiting, and when the TARDIS was finally set down in some kind of storage warehouse, Rose waited for the soldiers to leave and immediately headed for the door.
Slipping outside, Rose peered around one corner, noticing some soldiers talking to one another and turned, peering around the other, only to smile at the sight of a lab coat lying forgotten on top of a nearby table. Her disguise, right – couldn't go anywhere without that.
She waited for some Torchwood employees to pass her by before slipping around the TARDIS, picking up the coat and pulling it on with ease. She readjusted her bag, making sure it was hidden under the white fabric before she held her chin high and began to walk with both confidence and purpose. She'd long since learned while travelling with The Doctor that if you acted like you belonged somewhere, not many people would question you.
Her eyes searched the sea of people around her, trying to recognise who she had followed the first time, and with a jolt, she saw him. Dressed in a lab coat much like her own, he pulled open a nearby door and exited the warehouse, prompting Rose to grin and follow after him, muttering a soft 'gotcha' under her breath.
Unfortunately, Rose had almost forgotten just how much of a maze Torchwood was, and she forced herself to powerwalk after the scientist, needing to keep up with his impressive stride. He began to get away from her at one point, and checking to make sure no-one else was around, Rose began to run, not wanting to lose sight of him. If she lost him down here, she likely wouldn't make it to the sphere chamber, and she couldn't let that happen.
Her run, however, finally brought her to a set of doors she recognised, and her eyes slowly widened. She let out a shaky breath, her hands beginning to lightly tremble. This was it; this was the room with the Daleks, the room where Mickey was waiting. She wanted to turn and run, to find The Doctor and stay by his side to ensure they wouldn't be separated, but she knew she needed to be here. She needed to keep the Daleks interested in herself, Mickey and Rajesh to keep them alive.
Pressing the psychic paper to the door scanner, it opened up with no resistance, and Rose moved inside, feeling her stomach squirming anxiously at the sight of the bronze sphere hovering in the far end of the room. She walked forward slowly as she stared at the object, torn between anger and a strange sense of hypnosis towards it.
"Can I help you?"
Rajesh's voice caught Rose's attention, and she forced herself to look away from the void ship, focusing on the man in front of her who was watching her with a mixture of curiosity and obvious suspicion. She smiled brightly at him, though she knew it wouldn't work, and nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Sorry about that, It's still my first week, just getting used to all of this alien technology, you know? I'm up from personnel, actually, I just heard The Doctor was taken into custody, but there are some inconsistencies in his file we need to sort out. I heard he came down here, but I must've been wrong, that's my mistake." She flashed him another one of her winning smiles, and he considered her for a moment.
"Can I see your authorisation?" He asked, and Rose nodded in response, opening up the psychic paper to show it to him. "That's lucky, you see, everyone at Torchwood has at least a basic level of psychic training." He looked smug, and Rose closed the psychic paper with a hefty sigh. "This paper is blank. And you're a fake. Seal the room. Call security." He instructed, and the doors closed. Rose folded her arms, a light smile still playing at her lips and didn't seem too concerned. "Samuel? Can you check the door locks? She just walked right in." Rajesh continued, and Rose had to contain her excitement as Mickey Smith turned around to face her.
"Doing it now, sir," Mickey assured him, grinning at Rose behind Rajesh's back, and Rose fought back the urge to run at him and hug him tightly. God, she'd missed that dumb face of his when he'd gone back to this universe. She hoped he'd been happy when he'd left, she really did.
"Oh alright then, s'pose I've been caught!" Rose's voice was cheery as she strode over to Rajesh's desk, ignoring the baffled look he gave her. She dropped herself down in a spinny chair, grinning openly as she cocked her head to one side.
"Let's call your boss, yeah?"
OoOoOoOoOOoOoOoOo
"So these ghosts, whatever they are - did they build the sphere?"
The Doctor wasn't having a good day, not at all. He was essentially a prisoner, (though it wouldn't be the first time) he was separated from Rose, and human arrogance had nearly shattered the very fabric of reality itself. All in all, it hadn't been one of his best days, but he was just hoping he could find a way to convince Yvonne to stop the ghost shifts altogether. There had to be a way to send the void ship back where it belonged along with the ghosts. If he could do that, then he could seal the breach, too.
He sighed at her question, leaning back in his chair and lifted his feet to cross them over one another on top of her desk. She shot him a disdainful look, but he didn't react, choosing instead to try to wrack his brain.
"They must have. Aimed it at this dimension like a canon ball." He muttered in response, frowning slightly. It was plausible, definitely, but something about it all just didn't feel right. He didn't know what it was, but there was something he was missing, something big. His thoughts were interrupted by the voice of the scientist he'd met in the sphere room, and he looked up as Yvonne touched the communicator plugged into her ear.
"Yvonne? I think you should see this. We've got a visitor." Yvonne began to type at the laptop, bringing up her webcam, and The Doctor's lips twitched as he realised who this visitor was in an instant. Well, Rose had given it her best shot, he was sure. "We don't know who she is, but funnily enough, she arrived at the same time as the Doctor."
Yvonne looked at The Doctor with her eyebrows lifted slightly, clearly annoyed as she turned the laptop to show him the video image. Rose was sat next to Rajesh with a bright smile on her face, looking incredibly at ease and comfortable with her situation. "She one of yours?" She asked, and The Doctor shook his head in response.
"Never seen her before in my life," He told her lightly, and Yvonne flashed him a bright and incredibly fake smile.
"Good! Then we can have her shot."
Forcing himself to sit up, The Doctor's expression hardened slightly. Yvonne was likely calling his bluff on this, but there was no way he'd put Rose at that kind of risk, and he didn't take too kindly to having her threatened, though from what he could tell, Rose didn't seem worried.
"Oh all right then, it was worth a try. That's... that's Rose Tyler." The Doctor confessed, prompting Rose herself to speak up.
"Hello! Funny story, actually, it turns out everyone in Torchwood's got psychic training." She offered, giving him a little wave, which he returned gladly. She held up the psychic paper, and he could see her tongue touched smile through the screen. "Bloody useless, it was."
"Weeeeell, again, it was well worth a try," The Doctor admitted with a smile to her in return. He felt at ease just to see her and to know she was safe – plus she was in good spirits! Excellent, Molto bene, etc. Yvonne however, didn't look amused, gesturing with her head to Jackie, who was stood behind him.
"Well, if that's Rose Tyler, who's SHE?"
The Doctor looked back at Jackie, seeing the relief in her own face at seeing Rose was okay before she sat her jaw proudly.
"I'm her mother." She informed Yvonne, and the Torchwood director flashed a look at The Doctor, finally looking amused at his brief grimace, as though he knew what was coming.
"Oh, you travel with her mother?"
"He kidnapped me." Jackie informed her, and he heaved a quiet sigh – could she stop saying that? He didn't go around kidnapping mothers, he had better things to do, and it wasn't HIS fault she'd still been on the TARDIS!
"Please, when Torchwood comes to write my complete history, don't tell people I travelled through time and space with her mother..." The Doctor begged quietly, ignoring the offended look Jackie shot him, though he could see Rose fighting not to laugh on the screen in front of him.
"Charming." Jackie hissed at him, and The Doctor finally looked back at her, ever the picture of innocence.
"I've got a reputation to uphold!"
Outside of Yvonne's office, the whir of machines beginning to boot up could be heard, and The Doctor took note of the shock on Yvonne's face as she stood, moving immediately to her door, frowning at everybody in the room.
"Excuse me? Everyone? I thought I said stop the ghost shift!"
The Doctor followed her out of the room, his gaze focusing on three individuals in particular who seemed to be ignoring Yvonne, staring straight ahead at their computer screens. Everybody else seemed to be simply confused, unsure as to what was going on. Holding herself at full height, Yvonne continued to speak with authority, gesturing to the two levers which controlled the ghost shift, which seemed to be moving of their own accord. "Who started the program? But- I ordered you to stop! Who's doing that?! Step away from the monitors, everyone!" She ordered, and though most did as they were told, The Doctor noted the three he'd suspected were behind it continued to type rapidly.
"Gareth, Addy - stop what you're doing, RIGHT NOW." Yvonne snapped, though there was now obvious panic in her voice as she turned to the other man, her voice turning desperate. "Matt. Step away from your desk. That's an order! Stop the levers!"
As two scientists rushed over to try to stop the levers before the ghost shift could be initiated, The Doctor's focus instead was on the only woman amongst the three, his expression grim.
"What's SHE doing?" He murmured, moving over towards her, with both Yvonne and Jackie close behind him, the former begging the girl – Addy – to step away from the desk, though of course she ignored the order. The Doctor stared at her, clicking his fingers in front of her face to try to illicit a reaction, though he didn't get one.
"She can't hear you." He finally offered as Yvonne continued her desperate attempts, focusing on the computer screen. "They're overriding the system." He looked up at the large blank wall in front of them, feeling a sickening twisting in his gut. "We're going into Ghost Shift."
OoOoOoOoOOoOoOoOo
As The Doctor disappeared from the screen, and she could hear some kind of commotion on the other side, Rose's smile instantly faded. She stood up, pulling off her lab coat, and threw it to the side. Rajesh didn't notice, too concerned about what was happening on the upper floors. She caught Mickey's eye though, and the look on his face indicated he too knew something big was going to happen very soon.
"Yvonne, I thought you said the next Ghost Shift was cancelled?" Rajesh called out, trying to get her attention, but he got no reply, and Rose tried to steel herself. They were coming. She walked over towards the void ship, standing in front of the staircase leading up towards it with her hands clenched into tight fists.
"C'mon then, Daleks, show me what you've got," Rose murmured, and as if on cue, the sphere shuddered, the shockwave sending tremors through the entire room. Mickey and Rajesh rushed up to join her, staring up at the ship in shock as it shuddered again, a sound like a crash echoing from within it.
"It's active…" Rajesh whispered from beside her, his voice filled with awe.
Another tremor rocked the room, and Rajesh turned on his heel to run towards his computer, calling for Yvonne as he checked all of the stats regarding the sphere. Rose tuned him out, not needing to know the specifics – it was active, and they were coming, so that was all she needed to know. Behind them, the door sealed itself shut, and Mickey spoke, his voice sending waves of calm through the tension held taut in her body.
"It's all right, babe. We beat them before, we can beat them again. That's why I'm here. The fight goes on." He sounded so sure of himself, Rose wanted to smile, but she couldn't force her muscles to co-operate. Instead, she shook her head.
"It's not what you think, Mick." She breathed, and Mickey looked at her, suddenly confused.
"What do I think?" He challenged, and Rose finally looked at him, her hand moving to grasp at his tightly, needing some kind of reassurance as she was forced to relay the worst day of her entire life. He squeezed her hand back, though the question didn't leave his eyes.
"Cybermen," Rose replied softly, and shook her head, turning back to the void ship with a vicious snarl on her lips. "But it's not, not down here, at least. The Cybermen are gonna be everywhere else, up on the surface, but down here? We've got somethin' worse. They broke through using the void ship and the Cybermen just followed." She flashed him a smile now, taking some delight from the look of surprise on his face. "An' so did you, yeah? It's good to see you."
"It's good to see you too," Mickey replied, squeezing her hand once more, though he looked back at the ship, even more wary than he had been before. "How d'you know that, though? If there's not some sort of Cyber leader in that ship, what is? What's worse than Cybermen?"
Schooling her expression back into something serious, Rose linked her fingers between his, fixing the void ship with a look of utter hatred.
"Daleks."
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Cybermen, of COURSE it was Cybermen!
The Ghost shift had reached one-hundred percent, and that meant they'd come through – all of them. Every single Cyberman created in the parallel universe had escaped into the void, waiting for their chance to full break through the cracks created in this universe. Torchwood had unwittingly given them the means to fully transfer through.
The three humans being controlled by the Cybermen, Adeola, Gareth and Matt were all dead, having been dead for some time, from what he could tell. The Cybermen used them, controlled them into getting what they want, and now they had a whole new world to conquer, a world that had welcomed them with open arms without realising what they were letting in.
"These Zybermen - what've they got to do with the ghosts?" Jackie asked, evidently confused, and The Doctor scowled slightly. He wasn't in the mood to deal with stupid questions, even if he DID like Jackie and enjoyed her company from time to time.
"Do you never listen?" He snapped. "A footprint doesn't look like a boot!" He peered into the light of the breach, one hand shielding his eyes
"Achieving full transfer." One of the Cybermen spoke, and The Doctor watched grimly as the ghosts marching from the light were able to revert to their full forms, stood in formation and ready for battle.
"They're Cybermen. All of the ghosts are Cybermen. Millions of them. Right across the world."
"They're invading the whole planet." Yvonne whispered, horrible realisation dawning upon her, and The Doctor shook his head.
"It's not an invasion, it's too late for that. It's a victory."
Yvonne's laptop began to beep rapidly, and The Doctor, Yvonne and Jackie all turned to stare at in surprise, though dread began to fill up his very being and seized his hearts at the automated voice that announced the status of the void ship.
Sphere activated. Sphere activated. Sphere activated. Sphere activated.
Rose.
Rose was down there with the void ship, the void ship that was activating and could contain unimaginable horror. He didn't want to know what was inside, but he wanted Rose OUT of that chamber even more. He moved forward towards the Cyber Leader, fixing his glare and his anger upon it, needing to direct it somewhere. He needed to know what was inside so he could save her.
"What I don't understand is Cybermen don't have the technology to build the Void Ship, that's WAY beyond you. How did you create that sphere?" He demanded, and the Cyber Leader turned towards him mechanically.
"The sphere is not ours." It responded, and all anger fell from The Doctor's face, only to be replaced by utter shock.
"... What?" He asked, completely thrown by this turn of events. If the void ship didn't belong to the Cybermen, then WHO did it belong to? Someone else had passed through the void to get here, and now, they were emerging, and he had no idea of their intent.
"The sphere broke down the barriers between worlds. We only followed." The Cyber Leader reported. "Its origin is unknown."
"Then what's inside it...?" The Doctor asked quietly, more to himself than to anyone else, but Jackie stepped forward to stare at him, fear in every inch of her face, and her words only served to remind him just what he could lose if he didn't find a way to the sphere chamber.
"Rose is down there!"
OoOoOoOoOOoOoOoOo
"I thought you said the Daleks were all dead?" Mickey turned to Rose in disbelief, recalling the story she'd told him at Christmas. She hadn't been able to tell him all of the details, she'd said it was foggy in her mind, but the Daleks were gone, she'd said that much.
"They're like roaches, Mick, they can survive anythin'. They always find a way." Rose replied quietly, and behind them, the Rajesh was still trying to contact someone to get some kind of message across, but nothing seemed to be transmitting.
"Can anyone hear me? Come on, I need help down here!" He begged, fingers typing desperately at the keyboard.
Another violent BOOM rocked the chamber, nearly knocking the three of them off of their feet, though they all seemed to recover quickly. Rajesh, abandoning his attempts to find help quickly joined Mickey and Rose, staring up at the ship as it finally stopped vibrating. Slowly, it began to open, the metal casing peeling back to reveal a bright light from within.
Letting go of Rose's hand to pull off his lab coat and earpiece, Mickey tossed them to the side, looking determined. If Rose was right, then his weapon might not be of any use, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try.
"Daleks or Cybermen, it don't matter, they'll get what's comin' to 'em." Mickey moved over towards where he'd stashed his gun, pulling it out and hefting it into his arms. Rose watched him, her expression considerably softer despite the tension radiating from everybody in the room. Before she'd had John, when she was just so focused on finding a way back to The Doctor, Mickey had kept her going, given her hope when she felt like she was losing it, and kept her grounded.
This Mickey would never know just how much she owed him, or how important he was to her, and not for the first time, she felt a stab of regret for how she'd treated him in the past. He'd always deserved better.
"This is gonna blast 'em to Hell." Mickey smiled grimly, holding up the gun to the ship, ignoring the flabbergasted look on Rajesh's face.
"Samuel, what are you doing?!" The scientist demanded, and Mickey simply smirked to begin with, shooting a look at Rose, who grinned back, though the expression lacked mirth and looked more like a grimace.
"The name's Mickey. Mickey Smith. Defending the Earth." He told him simply, and lifted the weapon once more. Admittedly, Rose did feel more reassured that Mickey had it, knowing first hand just how much damage a preacher gun could do to a Dalek. If things ran off course from here, it would help to have it.
As the ship's 'door' fully opened, Rose steeled herself as they came. Four Daleks rose from the ship, two of them carrying the genesis ark between them, and Rose stood her ground as Mickey and Rajesh stumbled back in shock. She swallowed thickly as Dalek Sec focused his eyestalk upon her, and the voice that had haunted her nightmares echoed around her, gluing her to the spot.
"Location: Earth. Life forms detected. Exterminate!"
The other Daleks joined in with his chant, their voices merging together, reaching a crescendo that could only be compared to screaming as they fixated on the humans before them.
"Exterminate! Exterminate! EXTERMINATE!"