Authoress Note: Welcome to Chapter 7 of Hold On. Thank you to those who have left reviews. It really does mean a lot to me that you guys are enjoying this story. I'm trying my best with writing this story out and I'm having a lot of fun with writing this out. I hope that you guys enjoy the second half of the Zygon Invasion. Without further ado Chapter 7. ENJOY!
Chapter 7
Osgood looked out the window. "Doctor?"
The plane rocked as the missile zoomed past.
"Missed!"
Leona looked out the window and her eyes widened seeing another missile headed their way. Gold shimmering surrounded the three of them as the missile hit the plane.
DWDWDW
A beach had been littered with bits of wreckage from the plane.
Osgood slowly sat up wearing a parachute harness. She looked around for her spectacles and found they had broken at the bridge. "Doctor? Doctor!"
Leona shakily got up to her feet shrugging off her harness.
Osgood shrugged off her harness and went over to where he was getting out of his sonic sunglasses safely on his nose.
He looked at Osgood. "Any questions?"
"Why do you have a Union Jack parachute?"
Leona let out a soft chuckle as she came over to the Doctor.
"Er, camouflage."
"Camouflage?"
"Yes, we're in Britain. Oh, your specs are broken. I'll fix them. You can wear mine, they're sonic."
"Sonic specs?"
"Yeah."
"Isn't that a bit pointless? Like a visual hearing aid?"
"What's wrong with pointless? I once invented an invisible watch. Spot the design flaw."
"You're talking nonsense to distract me from being really scared. It's one of your known character traits." She put on the sonic sunglasses.
"Don't look at my browser history." The Doctor mused.
The sunglasses beeped.
"Whoa!"
"Yeah, I said don't."
They reached a concrete jetty leading up off of the beach and they walked up to it.
"Why didn't that Zygon blow us up with her big bazooka?" Osgood questioned softly as they walked.
"She did blow us up with her big bazooka. This is us being blown up with a big bazooka."
"But, I mean, she seems to know what she's doing. The first thing I'd do if I wanted to invade the world would be to kill you."
"Thanks."
"I wouldn't even let you get talking, like you always do. Bullet between the eyes, first thing."
"Again, thank you."
"Twelve times, if necessary."
"Ah, yes. Why limit yourself? You've really thought this through, haven't you?"
"I'm a big fan. But she gave you a chance to get out. She hesitated. If she had Clara's memory print, she'd know better than to give you even a second. You've gone quiet because I mentioned Clara. You think she might be dead."
"Yes."
"Are you okay?"
"I don't know. I'm still in the hope phase."
"How's that going?"
"Hell. Please talk about something else."
Leona's hand went to the Doctor's and gripped it softly. She knew that he was having a hard time with Clara, maybe being dead.
They reached across the road.
"Why do they want to destroy the ceasefire?" Osgood questioned.
"Don't think of them as rational. They're different. They don't care about human beings, they don't care about their own people. They think the rest of Zygonkind are traitors." The Doctor's phone pinged with a new message. "It's a splinter group." The Doctor took it out of his pocket and saw it was Clara.
"Clara. Well, not Clara. The Zygon who…"
"The Zygon who probably killed her. Read it." The Doctor said holding it out to him.
Osgood took the phone. "It says, I'm awake."
"What does that mean? A political awakening? Why would she be sending me propaganda? She just blew me up with a big bazooka."
"Never really met Clara. Pretty strong, yeah?"
"She was amazing."
"No. Not was. Is. It's not from the Zygon. It's from Clara."
"How?" Leona questioned, her brows furrowed. How was the message from Clara?
"She's not dead. She's in a pod somewhere. They need a live feed to the information in her brain. But she's fighting back. She's trying to take control, piece by piece."
"Texting?"
"How much more human do you get? The Zygon probably doesn't even know it sent this, or why it misfired that bazooka."
"You don't know. It's just a theory."
"Yes, it's just a theory, but how's that hope phase now?"
"Worse than ever."
"Then we've got a game."
"We have work to do then. Lets just hope these Zygon's don't succeed."
DWDWDW
The Doctor, Osgood and Leona walked up to a police car.
"Hello! Hi! Hello." The Doctor said with a smile.
The policeman rolled down the window and the Doctor showed them his psychic paper.
"Doctor John Disco. It was my plane. I had a big plane for purposes of er, poncing about."
Neither police officer reacts.
"It went off with a massive bang about half a mile that way? Actually, er, It's fine. We're, we're fine, aren't we?"
"Yeah. Yeah." Osgood said with a nod of her head.
"Yes, yes, yes, we're fine. Just, er, move along." He looked at the two women he was with. "Come on."
They walked away.
Osgood called Clara back. "She's answered."
"Hello." The Doctor said talking into his phone.
"You're dead."
"Yes, well, I'm dead now, and I think I might be a bit more dead in a minute. What's your plan, Zygella?"
"I don't have a plan."
"Come on, you don't invade planets without having kind of plan. That's why they're called planets, to remind you to plan it? Hey, hey! That's good! Pun-tastic. Doctor Pun-tastic! Oh, come on, that was a good one, Zygella!"
Leona bristled a little feeling that someone was following them.
"Don't call me Zygella. My name's Bonnie. My name's Bonnie."
"And you're winking at me."
"I am not winking at you. Where is the Osgood box?"
"You do know what winking means? You're sending out some very mixed messages here. You know I'm over two thousand years old? I'm old enough to be your Messiah. I am not winking at you. Where is the box?"
"We need some wheels. The van!" The Doctor said to Osgood and Leona.
They returned to a VW can parked half on the pavement and half on double yellow lines.
"Okay. Non-verbal communication. I assume that you never bothered to learn Morse code. Specs! Setting 137."
Osgood soniced the car door open.
"Tell me!"
"Okay, we'll have to try something else. Twenty questions. Where's your pod? Is it in a tunnel? Is it in London? Thanks very much. Gotcha!"
They got into the van.
Osgood sat in the passenger seat, the Doctor in the driver's seat and Leona in the back.
"Stay where you are, Clara. We're coming to get you. And for God's sake, don't let her into your memories."
"Memories? What memories? What has she got? Don't tell her where the Osgood box is, and above all, don't tell her what it is."
The Doctor hung up his phone and handed the phone back to Osgood before starting the van and drove off with a little wheel spin.
"Obviously, the Zygon could hear that."
"Obviously."
"So she's going to poke around inside Clara's mind, looking for answers."
"The mind of Clara Oswald. She may never find her way out." He said letting out a chuckle.
"I don't think I've ever seen you smile before."
"Dazzling, isn't it?" The Doctor said, smiling a little.
Leona let out a soft chuckle.
The phone beeped.
"Oh. I got a ping on Clara's phone. It's the location Bonnie sent the text from. A shopping center, south London."
"Ah, London. Perpetual city, cradle of culture, here we come! Clara, stay safe."
"She's posted a video link. This is the same place Bonnie texted from. We need to hurry."
Leona pursed her lips together. "Let's just hope that Clara is strong enough against the Zygon…"
DWDWDW
The van screeched to a halt.
The Doctor, Osgood, and Leona got out of it.
Osgood was tracking the exact location of the text and video, and had her own glasses on again.
The Doctor looked around. "London! What a dump."
"London's okay." Osgood said, looking at the Doctor.
"No, it's not, it's a dump."
"You spend an awful lot of time here, considering it's a dump."
"I spend an awful lot of time being kidnapped, tortured, shot at and exterminated. Doesn't mean I like it."
"Well, this is where the video was shot. Bonnie was here. Come on, Doctor."
They went into the Fleet Estate Center. The place was dark.
The Doctor looked around. "There's electricity in the air."
"It stinks. It smells like barbecues."
They went a few more steps in and saw why it stunk.
"Oh."
They used flashlights to look around.
"What's your name?" Leona questioned.
"Osgood."
The Doctor let out a groan. "No, no, no. Your first name?"
"What's your first name?" Osgood questioned as she looked over at the Doctor.
"Basil."
"Petronella."
"Let's just, er, stick with what we had. I need to ask you, because it's important, because it might matter."
"What's important?"
"Which one are you? Human or Zygon?"
A door opened nearby and something squelched.
They ran to find a Zygon, who in turn ran into a general store to try and hide. It turned back into a man but not completely.
The Doctor held his hands up to let him know that he wasn't going to hurt him. "We can help you."
"It wasn't me. They attacked me. They saw me. I had to." Etoine said softly.
The squelchy transformation should, but he doesn't change much, just the odd sucker. It clearly hurt him.
"It's okay, it's okay, it's okay. It's okay, it's okay."
"A commander came. She turned me back! Argh!"
"We can help. We can help you. Doctor, we can help him, can't we?" Osgood questioned the Doctor.
"I'm not sure." Etoine said softly.
A burst of electricity lept from Etoine to the Doctor who staggered briefly.
Etoine ran.
"Please! Come back! Come back!"
They ran after Etoine.
"I can't help you just now, but…"
Another bolt of electricity left Etoine and grazed the Doctor.
"Why? I was happy like this. I was happy here." Etoine said, looking at the Doctor.
"I understand."
"I can't change. I can't hide."
"Let us help you." Osgood said softly.
"No! You're Truth or Consequences."
"We're not. We're really not."
Etoine transformed a little more. "I'm not part of your fight. I never wanted to fight anyone, I just wanted to live here. Why can't I just live?"
"We're on your side." Leona said softly.
"I'm not on anyone's side. This is my home."
"Listen, we are not them." The Doctor said softly.
"I can't go back now. You've taken my life!" Etoine held his hand up, palm towards his own face.
"No, no, no! Stop! Stop! Stop,"
"They will kill me." Etoine commited suicide by his own hand.
Leona let out a soft breath and looked at the Doctor.
"There it is, Osgood. There's their plan."
They walked back through the shopping center.
"Unmask everyone, provoke fear, paranoia, provoke a war." The Doctor explained to the two women.
"Doctor." Kate said as she was escorted by UNIT soldiers.
"Kate! Are you all right?"
"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"
"It's just I'd heard otherwise."
"I'm fine. Doctor, we know where the Zygon command center is. We know where Clara's pod is. We can take you there."
"Well, how very convenient, because that's just exactly what we're looking for."
DWDWDW
Kate led the Doctor, Osgood, and Leona to the pods, with the soldiers bringing up the rear.
"Well, they like a good cave, don't they? How many of these pods are occupied?" The Doctor questioned as he looked at the pods.
"We don't know."
"Which one is Clara's?"
"Well, that's strange. It was here before."
"Doctor, I think they're Zygons." Osgood said softly.
"Oh, you cheeky little monkeys!"
Leona let out a breath. "Of course they are." Leona turned her head and listened into what was being said.
"Because I just found out why it's called an Osgood box. There's two of them." The Zygon Clara said.
"Two Osgoods, two boxes. Operation Double. What did you expect?" The Doctor said with a smile.
"What's in them, Doctor? Tell me. Now!"
"One box normalizes all the Zygons."
"And the other?"
"Destroys them."
"Which is which?"
"Ah, that would be telling."
Leona gasped when she saw that Clara stood there from a pod and was escorted in.
"Which box normalizes the Zygons, Doctor? Tell me, or she dies."
"No. This is war. You pull the trigger, you pay the price."
"Kill her."
The Zygons put their hands to Clara's head.
"The blue one! The blue one! The blue one normalizes all your people."
The Zygon Clara reaches out to the blue box, but doesn't touch it. "Are you lying? Are you lying to me, Doctor?"
"No, I'm not. And when you open up the box, you'll see I'm not lying."
She hit the top of the box. The lid opened revealing a nicely carved Gallifreyan design with two red buttons, one labeled truth and the other consequences. "Doctor?" She opened the red box and it was the same. "Doctor!"
"Yeah, I know."
"Bring him to me!"
The Zygons advanced on the Doctor, Leona and Osgood.
Kate suddenly shot them in the back of their heads. "Sorry, Doctor. Self-defense."
"You're you." The Doctor said rather surprised.
"I'm me."
"How did you survive?" Leona questioned.
"Five rounds rapid. I'm sorry, Doctor. I know you don't approve."
"Why does peacekeeping always involve killing?"
Kate dropped the Zygon communicator and grinded it underfoot.
"Is this the lot?"
"No, there are plenty more of them. They were the nearest. You are you?"
"I'm me." Osgood said, looking at Kate.
"But human or Zygon?" Kate questioned.
"Me."
"What are we dealing with?"
"Twenty million Zygons about to be unmasked. You don't know whether they are human or not. And you can't fight them, not with soldiers." The Doctor said, shaking his head.
"Which leads me to a very big question."
"Oh, I was really hoping that it wouldn't."
"The Zee-67, Sullivan's gas, the gas that kills the Zygons. You took it."
"Well, you know how it is. Daddy knows best."
Leona let out a soft chuckle shaking her head lightly.
"That's what's in the red box, yes? Of course it is. If I remember correctly, it causes a chain reaction in the atmosphere. Turns every Zygon on Earth inside out." Kate said, looking at them.
"Let me negotiate peace. You can't commit mass murder."
"Then why did you leave the gas with us?"
"The boxes are safeguards for both species. You agreed to that."
"I never agreed to that."
"Yes, you did, then I wiped your memory. And you agreed to that, too. But that's why there were two Osgoods to police the ceasefire. One human and one Zygon, to keep the secrets and keep the peace."
"I'm sorry, Doctor. Truly. But the peace is failing already. Come on." Kate said moving.
DWDWDW
Clara looked at the Zygon version of herself. "It's no good, Bonnie. You can't win."
"I don't care." Bonnie said, narrowing her eyes at Clara.
"Hi! Hello! Hello!" The Doctor said coming in with Osgood, Leona, and Kate.
The two Zygons seized Clara.
"Oh, hello! Hi. Hi. Stop this. Stop this, please. Let me take both of these boxes away. We'll forgive, we'll forget. And the ceasefire will stand."
"No." Bonnie said, looking at the Doctor.
Kate went to the red box. "Doctor, which of these buttons do I press? Doctor, which one? Truth or consequences?"
Bonnie stood at the blue box. "Truth or consequences?"
"This is the moment we've all been waiting for. Make your mind up time!" He went into American Game Show Host mode. "One of those buttons will destroy the Zygons, release the imbecile's gas. The other one detonates the nuclear warhead under the Black Archive. It'll destroy everyone in London. Bonnie. Bonnie, sweetheart! One of those buttons will unmask every Zygon in the world. The other one cancels their ability to change form. It'll make them human beings forever. There are safeguards beyond safeguards. I did this on a very important day for me and this ceasefire will stand."
Leona let out a breath shaking her head lightly wondering why the Doctor was acting so odd.
"This is wrong." Bonnie said, looking at the Doctor.
"No, it's not." The Doctor said, shaking his head.
"You are responsible for all the violence. All of the suffering.'
"No, I'm not."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes. You engineered this situation, Doctor. This is your fault."
"No, it's not. It's your fault."
"I had to do what I've done."
"So did I."
"We've been treated like cattle."
"So what."
"We've been left to fend for ourselves."
"So's everyone."
"It's not fair."
"Oh, it's not fair! Oh, I didn't realize that it was not fair! Well, you know what? My Tardis doesn't work properly and I don't have my own personal tailor."
"The things don't equate."
"These things have happened, Zygella. They are facts. You just want cruelty to beget cruelty. You're not superior to people who were cruel to you. you're just a whole bunch of new cruel people. A whole bunch of new cruel people being cruel to some other people, who'll end up being cruel to you. The only way anyone can live in peace is if they're prepared to forgive. Why don't you break the cycle?"
"Why should we?"
"What is it that you actually want?"
After a long pause Bonnie made her choice. "War."
"Ah. Ah, right. And when this war is over, when you have a homeland free from humans, what do you think it's going to be like? Do you know? Have you thought about it? Have you given it any consideration? Because you're very close to getting what you want. What's it going to be like? Paint me a picture. Are you going to live in houses? Do you want people to go to work? Will there be holidays? Oh! Will there be music? Do you think people will be allowed to play violins? Who's going to make the violins? Well? Oh, you don't actually know, do you? Because, like every other tantruming child in history, Bonnie, you don't actually know what you want. So, let me ask you a question about this brave new world of yours. When you've killed all the bad guys, and when it's all perfect and just and fair, when you have finally got it exactly the way you want it, what are you going to do with the people like you? The troublemakers. How are you going to protect your glorious revolution from the next one?"
"We'll win."
"Oh, will you? Well, maybe, maybe you will win! But nobody wins for long. The wheel just keeps turning. So, come on. Break the cycle."
"Why are you still talking?"
"Because I want to get you to see, and I'm almost there!"
"Do you know what I see, Doctor? A box. A box with everything I need. A fifty percent chance."
"For us, too." Kate said.
Bothwomen had their hand poised over the buttons.
"And we're off! Fingers on buzzers! Are you feeling lucky? Are you ready to play the game? Who's going to be quickest? Who's going to be luckiest?"
"This is not a game!"
"No, it's not a game, sweetheart, and I mean that most sincerely."
Bonnie looked at the Doctor, keeping her hand still. "Why are you doing this?"
"Yes, I'd quite like to know that, too. You set this up. Why?" Kate questioned as she also looked at the Doctor.
"Because it's not a game, Kate. This is a scale model of war. Every war ever fought, right there in front of you. Because it's always the same. When you fire that first shot, no matter how right you feel, you have no idea who's going to die! You don't know whose children are going to scream and burn! How many hearts will be broken! How many lives shattered! How much blood will spill until everybody does what they were always going to have to do from the very beginning. Sit down and talk!" He sighed. "Listen to me. Listen, I just, I just want you to think. Do you know what thinking is? It's just a fancy word for changing your mind."
"I will not change my mind." Bonnie said, shaking her head.
"Then you will die stupid. Alternatively, you could step away from that box, you can walk right out of that door and you could stand your revolution down."
"No! I'm not stopping this, Doctor. I started it. I will not stop it. You think they'll let me go, after what I've done?"
"You're all the same, you screaming kids. You know that? Look at me, I'm unforgivable. Well, here's the unforeseeable. I forgive you. After all you've done, I forgive you."
"You don't understand. You will never understand."
"I don't understand? Are you kidding? Me? Of course I understand. I mean, do you call this a war? This funny little thing? This is not a war! I fought in a bigger war than you will ever know. I did worse things than you could ever imagine. And when I close my eyes I hear more screams than anyone could ever be able to count! And do you know what you do with all that pain? Shall I tell you where you put it? You hold it tight till it burns your hand, and you say this. No one else will ever have to live like this. No one else will have to feel this pain. Not on my watch!"
Kate closed the lid of the red box and stepped back.
Leona let out a breath of relief. At least Kate had some common sense.
"Thank you. Thank you." The Doctor said as he looked at Kate.
"I'm sorry." Kate said softly.
"I know. I know. Thank you." His eyes turned to Bonnie. "Well?"
There was a long amount of silence.
"It's empty, isn't it? Both boxes. There's nothing in them. Just buttons."
"Of course. And do you know how you know that? Because you've started to think like me."
Bonnie dropped her hand away from the buttons.
"It's hell, isn't it? No one should have to think like that. And no one will. Not on our watch."
Their eyes met.
"Gotcha."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because you have a disadvantage, Zygella. I know that face."
"This is all very well, but we know the boxes are empty now. We can't forget that." Kate said as she looked at the Doctor.
"No, well, er, you've said that the last fifteen times." He soniced the memory filter in the ceiling. A loud bang was heard.
Osgood leaned an unconscious Kate against a rack of stuff.
Bonnie closed the blue box. "You didn't wipe my memory."
"No. Just Kate's. Oh, and your little friend's here, of course. When they wake up, they won't remember what you've done. It'll be our secret."
"You're going to protect me?"
"You're one of us now, whether you like it, or not." Osgood said to Bonnie.
"I don't understand how you could just forgive me."
"Because I've been where you have. There was another box. I was going to press another button. I was going to wipe out all of my own kind, man, woman and child. I was so sure I was right."
"What happened?"
"The same thing that happened to you. I let Clara Oswald get inside my head. Trust me. She doesn't leave."
Leona let out a tired breath knowing that it was finally over which she was really thankful for.
DWDWDW
Osgood, The Doctor, Clara, and Leona walked up to the Tardis.
"The Tardis." Osgood said as she looked at it in awe.
"The Tardis." The Doctor said with a nod of his head.
"What does it stand for?"
"What? You're kidding me? Surely you know that?"
"Well, I've heard a couple of different versions."
"I made it up from the initials. It stands for Totally And Radically Driving In Space. Do you want to come? All of the future, all of history, and all of the universe?"
"More than anything. But I think I have to stay. I've got a couple of boxes to keep an eye on. And a world to keep safe."
"Fair enough. Clara, would you mind er…"
"Mind what?"
"I'll see you in the Tardis, okay?"
"Er, yeah, sure."
The Doctor and Leona went inside of the Tardis.
Leona let out a breath as she looked at the Doctor. "I should go, Doctor." Leona said softly.
The Doctor gave her a soft smile. "I know."
She touched his cheek softly. "I have to admit I'm not used to you, but in time. I will be." She said softly. She placed a soft kiss on his cheek. "I'll see you soon." She backed away from him.
The Doctor touched his cheek softly. "I know." He admitted softly.
Golden swirls surrounded Leona and then she vanished from his Tardis.
The Doctor let out a breath looking down knowing that it would be a bit before he saw her again.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
This is the end of Chapter 7. I hope that you guys enjoyed it. I know there is a lot going on with this chapter, but I try to make sure that each chapter is a full episode. I don't want to be splitting episodes up. At least not while I am writing this one. This is a good question. Which episodes would you like to see in Book 2 of this series? Please leave a review and let me know what you think. I'll try my best to update this story. Until next time.