Part 2 - 'Til Death do us Part

Chapter 43 - Flux Force

Gwen had managed to persuade herself to leave her quarters and was sitting next to Miles' body, accompanied only by a quiet humming and the steady beeping from medical machines. She had been awake for a day and a half now, so was struggling to stay awake. But, no matter how hard she tried, she slipped out of consciousness.

Her dream depicted Miles waking up, of them fighting some sort of constantly glitching Helltreader alongside some other faceless people. Then they were home together, wherever home was now.

Suddenly, she was awake again. No change: he still lay peacefully. She allowed herself to sleep again: he wouldn't want her to hurt herself over him.

She was cradling a child in her arms, a girl instead of a boy this time. Suddenly, the image began to flicker to be replaced by something weird, perhaps an image of blood and bones. Something was screaming horribly; the girl was eighteen, maybe nineteen now, and she was dead.

Gwen woke up again, this time finding herself on the floor, having fallen off the chair. She sat up, shaking her exhaustion away. Miles was still unconscious and the machine still beeped steadily. However, he was soaking wet, like someone had poured a bucket of water on him. Gwen realised it was sweat; that wasn't good. She felt his forehead: burning hot. She walked outside and looked around. The doctor was tending to someone with some sort of illness. After handing them a packet of pills, he turned to Gwen.

"Is everything alright?"

"Miles has a fever."

The doctor sighed and picked up a box of medical instruments from a rack.

"Admiral Melbourne was looking for you. He said to tell you to find him whenever you decided to leave Miles."

"I have to stay with him."

"So you believe. In reality, it doesn't matter. He can't hear you. Go see the admiral, I'll check your husband is OK."

Gwen wanted to argue, but decided it was pointless.

"If he's dead when I come back, you will be as well."

"I'm a doctor, not an assassin."

She left, heading for the Valour.

Edward was in his office next to the bridge. He put down the tablet he was using as Gwen walked in.

"How is he?"

"He has a fever. The doc said you wanted to see me?"

"We have to pick your team for Flux Force. I've got you and Miles down, obviously."

"He has to survive first." She sat down in the chair facing Edward. "Put Teresa down as well. I promised her."

"Right. Who else?"

"How many people are we going for?"

"In total: five."

"So we've got three."

"Yes."

"What about the Doctor?"

"I assume you mean the Time Lord not the medical guy? He's already an auxiliary. He'll hop in if you need to do some meddling with time."

"Oh. You?"

"I have a fleet to run, and filling my stomach with people isn't what I plan to do. I already eat far too much meat...Yes Venom, it's a good thing I'm not a vegetarian."

"Peter B Parker."

"The guy you and Miles busted Kingpin with? Or a different Peter Parker?"

"Presumably neither of the dead ones; so yes, that one."

"Right. Last one."

"I honestly have no idea."

Edward tapped on the desk thoughtfully.

"There is one person I can think of. You've never met them, but they're a strange case. They're an ensign serving aboard SGC Black Pearl. They used to be someone who wandered the multiverse, one of the few of his people after Conall got to them a few years back."

"Their expertise could be useful."

"Yeah, and they can do some pretty cool and freaky stuff. Shall I write them down?"

"What's their name?"

"Darian. He's a nice guy."

"Can I meet the him first?"

"Of course. He's on duty at the moment so I'll haul him out."

The admiral stood up and walked out his office onto the bridge.

"Ops, call Captain Sparrow on the Black Pearl. Ask him to send Ensign Darian Strider over ASAP."

"Aye sir."

A few minutes later, a man walked into Edward's office. The first thing Gwen noticed was his beard which she had never seen on a Sol officer before. Darian saluted.

"Reporting as ordered, Admiral."

"At ease, Ensign. I'm sure you're aware that Helltreader will still be rearing his head every now and again."

"I have, sir. The rumours are that we're forming a force to tackle him."

"That's correct. This is Gwen, I'm sure you've heard of her."

"Of course, sir. She's infamous amongst the lower ranks for all sorts of reasons."

Gwen stood up and offered her hand. Darian hesitated.

"Not to be rude, ma'am, but doesn't touching you kill people?"

Gwen smiled and shook her head.

"Only when I'm touching a Plate which I'm not right now."

The ensign grasped her hand and shook it politely.

"Admiral, permission to ask a question about this force?"

"Fire away." Replied Edward.

"Am I here because you're thinking about enlisting me?"

"Very observant, Ensign. You are. Gwen and me are putting together a list of people and she wanted to meet you. So, Gwen, opinion?"

"Ed...sorry. The admiral mentioned you were able to do some 'cool and freaky' stuff. May I ask what?"

The ensign nibbled his nip nervously.

"Permission to speak freely, Admiral?"

"Granted."

"I don't show off my abilities. Many would kill me over them, and try to mount my head on a wall as a trophy."

"I understand. I won't force you to. Do you want to be part of Flux Force?" Said Gwen.

"Is there a pay rise?" The ensign joked.

Edward chuckled.

"New ship, new people. I'd say the hazards of that alone call for at least a comfier bed. You'll be promoted to lieutenant if you agree." He replied.

"In that case, I'll happily do it to get off regular duty, sir. There isn't much excitement at the moment. Morale is beginning to slump a little."

"Well then, I'll get you a new jumper for your rank. And thank you for the report on that, lieutenant. I'll try and get something going soon. You're dismissed."

Darian saluted smartly and marched away.

"He's definitely in. I've noticed not many officers are willing to have a joke with their superiors." Said Gwen

"It takes guts, alright. You can get belted for it if you choose the wrong one."

"I'd better get back to Miles in case something has happened."

"OK. I'll sort out a meeting with Flux Force for the near future."

Miles was still unconscious. The doctor had examined him and found traces of poison. Clearly the knife was more than had met the eye. Whatever had been on it was taking its toll. He was twitching as he lay, taking quick, whimpering breaths through clenched teeth. Gwen dabbed his forehead with a wet cloth. The doctor had said it wouldn't help, but it made her feel like she was doing something. It was a day later; she hadn't slept that night. Her com badge beeped. She wiped her hand on her clothes to get the water off and tapped it.

"What?" She asked grumpily.

"It's Edward. I'm gathering Flux Force for a briefing in twenty minutes aboard the Valour."

"I know what's going on."

"It's more a 'meet the team' sort of briefing, not a 'these are your orders' briefing."

"Fine. Gwen out."

Miles let out a whine as Gwen stood up to leave. Could he tell she was there? He looked in torment in his mind. She squeezed his hand.

"I'll be back in a bit. I promise. Keep fighting it."

She wasn't sure if it was some form of the placebo effect, but the twitches seemed to become ever so slightly less dramatic.

Gwen walked to the bow of the Arachnid, to the galley which had an enormous panoramic window looking out the front of the ship. She stared into the black and blue void of the world between worlds and began to cry. What if he died? She'd be alone in the vastness of space and time, nobody close to confide in. Just a lost wanderer amongst the dimensions. He had always cared for her so much, maybe even more than her father had before he was killed. She didn't know how long she had been crying for when a tap on the shoulder brought her back to her senses. She hastily wiped the tears away and turned to see Teresa.

"You're late for the meeting. Edward asked me to come and get you."

"I need to sort myself out. Don't want everyone knowing I was crying."

"I'd hardly worry. We're all human. Anyway, it isn't obvious." She lied.

Gwen took a deep breath and nodded.

"Duty calls, I guess."

"Actually it tends to scream, especially when you're late."

Gwen followed Teresa into the meeting room.

"One missing spider." Reported the commander to Edward who nodded, ignoring the tear stains on Gwen's face so she wouldn't be uncomfortable.

Gwen sat down between Teresa and Peter. Darian sat on the end by Peter. Peter gave her a thumbs up which she returned. Edward leaned against the wall.

"For everyone's info, mostly for Darian's, this meeting is the highest level of informality. First name basis, which isn't something Sol officers get to do with me very often...or anyone for that matter. So, for those who don't know my first name, it's Edward. I'm not technically part of Flux Force but I'll be overseeing operations. So, let me give you all the details of what's going to be happening for the foreseeable future. The tracker we shot into Helltreader is still online, we just don't have a signal. When we do get a signal, it means Helltreader has popped up somewhere. That's where you guys come in. He'll be constantly glitching, so it should be easy. Locate his exact position and hit him with a device you'll be issued with. It's basically a portable collider. Any questions?"

"What sort of stuff will we be running into?" Asked Peter.

"Just about everything. Darian used to wander the multiverse, he can fill you in on most stuff when you come to it."

Peter turned to Darian.

"So, you got a superpower?"

"I have a power beyond all of you, apart from maybe Gwen and her Ethereal Plate." Replied the lieutenant.

"What can you do?"

"You'll see when the time comes."

Edward butted in before Peter could come up with anything else to pester the lieutenant.

"Anymore questions? Preferably about your mission."

Nobody spoke. Edward sighed.

"Good. Make yourselves comfortable on the Arachnid. It'll be your home for quite a long time until we can work out a way to permanently kill..."

"That hot-headed prick." Finished Gwen.

"Sure, hot-headed prick. Unless anyone wants to talk to me in private, you can go."

The room cleared apart from Gwen. Edward sat down in the seat front, turning it to face her.

"I'd ask if you're alright, but I can tell you aren't. The doctor on the Arachnid is the best there is."

"I remember him from the Resurgence."

"Exactly. And the doc on the flagship is supposed to be the most skilled. He's doing everything he can."

"If this is everything he can, I'm scared of his lack of doing anything."

"He'll pull through."

"Is that a promise?"

"I'm not the Time Lord Doctor; I can't make promises about the future. It's a reassurance."

"I'm sick of them; I'm sick of everything. When you find a way to kill Helltreader, I want to be the one who does it."

"I expected nothing less, despite there being a queue the length of the Great Wall of China to do so."

"I hope it hurts him. I hope it scares him. In fact, I want him to know exactly what's coming for him, just like me and Miles did in Auschwitz."

"Should I be worried?"

"Only if you're on Helltreader's side."

She stood up and walked out briskly leaving Edward to ponder what she had just said.

"That Plate better not be getting to her head again."

Crossovers in this Chapter

There is one but telling you would be a pretty big spoiler...