Chapter 72

It was annoying that there wasn't a guide to defusing nuclear warheads. Annoying that the British Government in all its wisdom, idiocy and paranoia never created a working group to create a manual on how to do something like this.

Harry was somewhat glad that he wasn't being involved in it.

Supposedly Mansfield had called up the 'old spy network' to make this global sabotage thing come about.

According to the information he'd received from Mansfield and Six there were at least 5 Osterhagen sites around the world and used some sort of 'key' that was held by UNIT.

'Of course they are'. Harry had said when he'd found out about that part of it. It seemed it was easier to get into the top secret Osterhagen sites and sabotage the trigger mechanisms and / or defuse the warheads. Something like that, they weren't going to try and steal away the keys or the actual nuclear warheads. Supposedly moving things like that required something more than mildly treasonous actions against UNIT and their governments.

Harry wasn't really sure if it actually was treason since it was just UNIT. Pearce hadn't wanted to clarify their position so Harry decided to leave it vague. It was easier that way.

The Post Office Tower had become their central base for everything they now needed to watch out for.

Around him were the various bits of the prophecies. On another wall was a map where they'd plotted based on the landmarks in the sketches where they thought Daleks would land, or saucers might be based on what they could see in the sketches.

Now though his phone was ringing. Harry fancied it could be Daphne, he should be in his house, or at the very least he should be in one of his barns, on his property, away from London.

Instead he was here, in the Post Office Tower, LPI's base of operations in London.

Harry grabbed his phone and answered it. "Spaceship?" Harry asked the woman on the phone from Jodrell Bank. "On approach vectors with" He sighed. "Where else would it be coming if not London?" He said as the voice on the other end of the phone laughed nervously while he went over to his bag and rummaged around for his special binoculars from the 50th century and walked around circumference of the tower until he estimated he was pointing in the right direction. "I'll get back to you, just getting a visual on it. Maybe it'll leave us in peace." He said as he ended the call and flicked through the numbers for the RAF just in case.

Zooming in with the binoculars he focused in on the ship. It was black and blue with twinkly bits.

Then his phone rang again. It was Judith. He thumbed the answer button and put it on speaker. "Judith. Hello."

"I assume you're in your Skybase."

"That's Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons." Harry said distractedly. "And it's UNIT that has the aircraft carrier in the sky Judith."

"You merely have a lair to watch over the city." Commented Judith. "Like Batman."

"I hardly think so. I don't lurk up here." He said distractedly. "I assume you're calling about the blue and black twinkly spaceship."

"How very descriptive Harry. Yes. Should we worry?"

"I've been worried since we found out the Daleks are going to invade and potentially end everything in the universe. This looks like floating dough. It's registering on my binoculars as being a target so I assume it's alive." He commented.

"Well, I've got one of the portable energy scanners with me, they're definitely registering as life, though not a very high energy quotient." She paused. "From what I can understand of the energy scale."

Harry didn't bother asking what she was doing with the portable energy scanner. They still were only 'portable' in the sense that you could hold them and put the battery pack in a bag.

"I've got it because there's been some odd energy echoes emanating from around Torchwood One. You've been too busy to look into." Judith continued answering his question he hadn't asked.

"I see. Anything more to worry about?" He asked as he watched the final blob of whatever it was float into the ship. There was now a larger humanoid figure floating up. "Can you see the human sized figure?"

"Yes." Said Judith then a moment later. "Looks like the tractor beam needs a service. They dropped her."

"I can tell by the screaming in the background Judith. Can you call it in? Get the army to transport the body to Porton Down."

"I'll get on it." Judith said.

Harry assumed she paused as he did to watch the spacecraft fly up into the atmosphere.

"Well that's a relief, it was harmless." He said with a sigh.

"You should get some rest Harry." Judith said seriously.

"I should." Harry said looking at the sketches, drawings and everything else. They still didn't know when this was going to happen. He'd passed out copies of the drawings and whatnot to Pearce's Section D, GCHQ and Porton Down in the hope they could extract more information, something LPI had missed. Just looking at the images it felt like this was something big. "We need to be ready."

"You won't be ready by skipping out on sleep or quoting Captain Sexual Harassment at me Harry."

"No. I suppose I won't. Thanks Judith. You can deal with any other floating marshmallow balls." He said.

"If they start attacking London I know who to call." She ended the call.

Harry nodded to himself. "Who do we call?" He wondered aloud to himself.

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Harry leaned back in his chair and pondered several of the drawings he had and wished he had an 'enhance' button for them.

Considering they were a vision into the future, a future they wouldn't have known was coming, just being in existence they had already enhanced things quite a bit.

Mostly by making things more complicated.

He had scanned and separated out the various elements that were present in the images. Something that GCHQ and Porton Down were no doubt also doing. But he had a perspective that was different from them.

At least everyone was taking these prophecies with the seriousness they demanded.

If it turned out to be nothing they could chalk all this down to a big learning experiment on what they could do.

If however it turned out to be something. "We are screwed." Harry said to himself.

UNIT was working not to help the human race but to install nuclear warheads to destroy it. Porton Down was worried, that said something about UNIT's plan. How the Osterhagen Project had been approved scared and baffled him. How was this an option? How could it ever be an option?

Harry still wanted to call Kate Lehtbridge-Stewart and ask her about it. But 'operational security'. There were currently spies trying to make sure if anyone in UNIT decided to push the button or use their keys nothing would happen.

Whatever happened, sometime in the future, a lot of people would be in front of a firing squad. Or whatever it was that UNIT did with people who came up with plans like this.

That UNIT thought that it had or deserved this much power...Harry couldn't believe it. Even though he'd known about it for a while now he still couldn't believe it.

Harry exhaled and decided to make a cup of tea, clear his head and muse on the high contrast edited drawings and sketches again.

He'd scanned them, looked at the originals under infrared and ultraviolet to see if anything else revealed itself, he'd gone back and forth over the images especially those in the sky and that weird eye thing. Hoping the paint would reveal something else.

With that he'd managed to combine together to get a vague picture of what might be above the Earth.

Dalek saucers, Daleks and a something else, the eye thing.

Dangerous was what it was and somehow he would need to get up there, if this all came to pass and planets ended up adorning the skyline and the Daleks invaded Earth.

Harry tapped the side of his mug deep in thought.

Then as he was approaching an idea that would hopefully not result in his death his phone rang.

Which was a surprise, because Harry wasn't even sure he had his phone with him.

Reaching for it he saw it was attached to a person.

"That's the second time Section D's called." Said the person holding the phone.

"And you didn't answer it because?" Harry asked Judith who was still holding the phone.

"I'm not your secretary Harry and you seemed in deep thought."

Harry grabbed the phone from Judith. "Potter. Yes, I'm sorry I was thinking." He paused, the person on the other end asking 'about what?'. "Mostly about UNIT and their death wishes and how we might get out of things if we end up in the deep end Harry." Harry explained to Harry Pearce. "Rattigan? I can come to the Post Office Tower if you want. Now? I thought the Minister for Defence was there?" Harry asked. "Fine, yes." He ended the call. "Fancy popping up to London?"

"Pearce has discovered something about Rattigan?" Judith asked.

"More cover ups and it looks like UNIT might already be investigating." Harry mused as he grabbed his bag and locked up the barn as they walked up to the road offering Judith his hand as they reached the road.

"Is there ever traffic on this road Harry?" She asked him.

"Aside from me you mean?" Harry asked as he looked up and back the road curiously. "You're the one who arrives by it I've always assumed."

"Not often." Judith said after a moment's thought.

Harry was unsure, much like whenever he asked questions like this which Judith was answering.

He didn't bother with it as he disapparated, taking her with him, they appeared on an upper balcony of the Post Office Tower which he'd set aside for apparating. It was a small space. But appartating into the interior of the Tower felt odd.

"You should look into installing a transmat here, if we're going to be flitting back and forth." Judith said as she unlocked the door to the interior of the building.

"Interfacing with one and making it work is one thing, constructing one from scratch is another." Harry commented as he followed her in. Although he did silently admit it was on his 'to investigate' list.

Judith had already pushed the button for the lift, neither of them fancying the several flights of stairs it would take to get from the very top to where the floor they'd set aside for this whole 'thing' was.

"Potter?" Harry Pearce looked over at them as they walked out of the lift.

"I said I'd pop over Pearce." Harry said and turned his palms up. "Here I am."

"As am I." Judith said unnecessarily.

"Potter." Said another man, in uniform, Harry guessed this was the Minister for Defence. "Good to put a face to the man who's been keeping our men and women busy."

"I do try. My associate Judith." Harry said shaking the Minister's hand.

"Indeed." The Minister responded without another word taking Judith's hand. "Both of you LPI?"

"Indeed." Harry said.

"Pearce has been informing me about this..." He trailed off.

"The Home Secretary has been briefed Potter. He's agreed given the recent past this is to be dealt with by the security services and the Defence ministry." Pearce said calmly, as though they weren't talking about bypassing the governance of the United Kingdom.

"I see. That's a bold if intelligent move." Harry commented.

"The Prime Minister has been pushing out the ATMOS device to all cars, with an 'additional rebate'." The Minister for Defence quoted, seemingly continuing a discussion he'd been having with Pearce before they'd arrived. "I'm having a hard time pushing against it being attached to defence vehicles. We've heard that UNIT already have them fitted to all their vehicles that operate in the United Kingdom."

"I bet that pleased the PM." Pearce commented.

"Do we have anything more than my hunch to counter this?" Harry asked Pearce and then looked to the Minister for Defence. "Make up something as to why they shouldn't be fitted. I won't be fitting it to any of my cars." Harry said, pausing as the Minister looked uncomfortable.

"Install it in a few vehicles for the press. That should keep the press in check with a photo opportunity or two until we deal with Potter's other problem." Pearce suggested.

"Very well." The Minister for Defence walked over to the window. "You're sure about this prophecy stuff?"

"I'm sure enough to be worried. If we prepare and it comes of nothing then...there's no worries." Harry explained calmly.

"Aside from UNIT's plan to destroy the world." Judith commented in a loud tone.

"That is another issue that's currently outside my field." The Minister for Defence commented tactfully in a tone that suggested he'd heard about it before. Then he checked his watch, then pulled his jacket down, straightening the already very straight outfit.

"My office will liaise about these movements Pearce. I have another much less interesting meeting to attend. Mr Potter." He said as he walked over to the lift. "Good day Harry."

"Now, Potter." Pearce fixed him with a look. "As you directed my department's attentions to this Rattigan you may be of assistance."

"How so?" Harry asked curiously.

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Rattigan Academy was hard to get into.

That was the problem having a smart arse like Rattigan.

Search engine creator at 12, his creation didn't have anything on Search-wise however.

The Rattigan Academy didn't have anything on Hogwarts, but it certainly had a similar air.

Of superiority, something Draco would have appreciated.

Rattigan was not the most imposing figure. But the air of superiority. That Harry recognised.

It was a little bit Draco Malfoy, Hogwarts era.

Or Ron Weasley, now.

Occasionally.

Pearce wanted another set of eyes in the building, on the ground. Supposedly Jo Portman had gone in undercover. Doing what Section D did best, finding out stuff, looking for things that might hurt the realm. Or the United Kingdom.

Something like that.

He'd decided to bypass that and had flirted with pretending to be a wealthy guy interested in investing.

But according to Myers' psychological profile of Rattigan he wouldn't be interested.

There was something weird about this guy, just reading about him. There was a vibe.

It was all a bit Xavier Institute mixed with a prison and a sprinkling of a cultist's camp.

Weird.

Harry had instead decided to apparate onto the grounds and make his way further under his invisibility cloak.

It was actually refreshing to be doing some proper sneaking around.

The building had the air of a castle, but looked a little too Gothic to be an actual castle. Harry wasn't really an expert on architecture, he fancied Daphne, Draco, Judith or Ioan could actually tell him what sort of architectural style it was. They'd also all have commentary that he should know and shouldn't spend all of his time filling his head with other knowledge like alien languages.

Jo Portman had supposedly had a look through the student's accommodation and found nothing of interest. The laboratories held some interesting equipment, but she'd not been able to identify anything untoward.

So that just meant he needed to explore the places that were locked.

The cellar and Luke Rattigan's personal private office; which took up most of the front room.

The latter of which Rattigan was currently occupying.

According to Portman's briefing Rattigan liked to stand outside after lunch and 'survey his fellows' like a little Stalin.

So the cellar, Jo had managed to shift away. She was posing as a government 'youth education officer'. Harry didn't know what that meant, or was supposed to be.

"What do you think you'll find down here?" She asked.

"Good places to put things cellars." He said as he cast a spell at the lock, it slid open not so silently.

Jo followed, closing the door much more silently as Harry stuffed his cloak into his not-so magical bigger on the inside bag and pulled out a torch. He could have used his wand, but just in case they were happened upon he didn't want even more questions and the need to do something drastic.

Stepping down the stairs they soon reached the bottom. Like the rest of the house the cellar had been renovated recently so it was almost like another room down here. Although the gloom still encroached on them.

"Does he drink?" Harry asked Jo as he cast his torch around.

"Not that I've seen." Jo said in a short tone. "Is it important?"

"Call yourself an intelligence officer." Harry said in a soft tone. "A friend of mine often said you can judge a man on the state of his wine cellar."

"Rattigan doesn't seem to like anything that would make him slower, to bring him down to the level of us." Without turning Harry could tell that she was wrinkling her nose.

"He does have an air of superiority." Harry said as they walked around the room which was thoroughly disappointing him so far. There was nothing around here except some old decorating supplies.

"Potter!" Jo hissed waving him over to one side of the room. "Is this what you're looking for?"

Harry wandered over. Thick cables dangled from the roof above. "That's definitely not in line with health and safety. Especially with children around." He commented idly. The cables terminated in a squat long box that was humming.

Harry handed Jo his torch as he extracted his energy scanner from his bag and cursed. Whatever was going on here was blotting out what he could get off of it. Rummaging around in his bag again he pulled out some pads plugging them into the scanner and the pads on to the box.

"Well?" Jo asked looking over to the stairs.

"A power source for something." Harry said. "It's something I would very much like of my own this box." He said removing the pads and checking the time. "I think I'll have a look and see what the little man is up to."

-/

Interesting. Harry thought to himself. Unlocking Rattigan's door was a bit more complicated than waving a wand at it.

Because it was an electronic lock rather than mechanical, blasting a spell at it would not get him very far in the 'don't be detected' scheme of things.

His sonic screwdriver however did make quick work and the door clicked open.

It was...a little bit tasteless.

Lacking taste.

Harry decided looking around.

Sort of faux-castle interior, it probably matched the architectural style.

Walking through he noted there wasn't a smell of chlorine coming from the pool so it was either very clean, not chlorinated or maybe not even a pool.

Something had to be chewing through the power from the power block that was in the cellar.

The vegetation in and around his office slash front room or whatever this space was intended to be was a little bit 1980s.

There were some interesting paintings around the room. Plus a surfboard, some vinyl DJ mixing decks and some chairs that probably wouldn't look out of place in some student lodgings.

Harry didn't really have a lot of knowledge of student lodgings, except when Hermione was studying when he'd dropped in to see her a few times she'd not been in her rooms but she'd told him to meet her at her friend's he'd seen inside a few.

This sort of looked like that, or rather someone had raided them to get an idea of what it should look like.

Harry wasn't really sure what to make of it all.

Turning around he saw some table football games and a fairly ugly carpet on the floor.

He was about to walk over to the desk when he turned back around the room and was glad he was alone when he turned back and realised he'd missed the elephant in the room.

Or rather the cuboid thing in the room masquerading as another bit of interior design done by a guy in his late teens or early 20s.

It had purple lighting, rotating blinky lights and...

"A palm activator." Harry said to himself. It almost called him to touch it.

But he didn't.

Also his hand wouldn't have fit.

It was too small, and the wrong shape.

Still palm-sized. Just not his palm. He could have touched the three blue lights. But he didn't.

The box had the air of being an industrially designed piece of work. Functional.

Like it was meant to be loaded onto a military transport or something.

It was a practical shape; a cube.

It didn't have anything on it though.

It looked like how one might build a transmat, maybe.

His energy scanner wasn't being very useful. Unless it was in operation he couldn't be certain without more equipment and his transmat interface equipment was large, bulky and was still in the configuration they'd used for the Daleks. They'd left it like that to extract any lingering data from that setup.

Harry frowned and walked around the cube.

It didn't have 'Made in...' written anywhere on it.

In fact it had no markings on it at all.

It was somewhat disappointing.

Harry stepped back from it and wondered if it had been built on Earth. Then changed his mind as he leaned on the desk.

It was a something, something maybe built on Earth, but not designed on Earth. If it was designed on Earth it'd either be experimental, like a lot of the other tech here or it'd be military grade.

The military didn't tend to go for purple mood lighting.

Aliens did like purple and mauve.

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"Aliens like mauve?" Pearce looked at him as though he were mad.

"It's like the blues and twos. If a spaceship is mauve and flashing it's like red and blue." Harry explained.

Pearce continued to look at him as though he'd cracked.

"I think we might need to leave this one to UNIT." Harry admitted. "Whatever this is, Rattigan has taken it global." He passed Pearce back his reports. "And has been pushing hard to make it global. Even if the Rattigan Academy is a local problem, I don't think we should direct out attentions towards him."

Pearce leaned back in his chair. "Perhaps. I would make a request however Potter."

Harry nodded a 'go ahead'.

"UNIT's conducting an operation in a few weeks on the main manufacturing plant. I would like someone independent there." He paused and then continued. "The Ministry of Defence would also be grateful."

"Grateful enough to move some more assets into the cities?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

Pearce smiled. "Indeed Potter."

Harry leaned back in his own chair. "It's peaked my interest." He shrugged. "I can only be shot."

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What a faff about.

That's what Judith had said upon seeing UNIT's staging area. What a complete faff.

It wasn't as though LPI didn't have other things that needed seeing to. Andrew Fuller and his employers.

Cohort Dow.

Who Harry suspected were one and the same, despite not having much hard evidence linking them.

Then there was the invasion of the Earth by the Daleks and the potential end of everything.

But they still needed to get to that point, and they were waiting on GCHQ and Porton Down to finish with their analyses of everything. Hopefully they'd be having another big important meeting at the end of the week. If he didn't get blown up or shot during this faff on.

"What a complete faff." He said again to himself again adjusting his invisibility cloak against the wind from where he was perched on a neighbouring factory to the ATMOS facility.

Judith was nearby with the Defender loaded with weapons and tech in case anything went pear shaped. For now they were maintaining comms silence until they really needed to do anything.

Ioan had been sent on an investigative job, something he and his wife could enjoy, albeit with a slightly grim reason.

According to Owen Cauldwell's report on Andrew Fuller, his very thorough report, it detailed right down to what Fuller had eaten that day. Supposedly there was nothing of note that Cauldwell could discern except 'Caesar's mushroom'. A somewhat unremarkable mushroom with no appreciable magical relations, but a quick search of various databases that LPI had access to found that it was a special ingredient that some restaurants in London liked to cook with.

Ioan and his wife could investigate them and see if any had seen Fuller or anything else weird. It was something much better done in person. Plus Harry thought if they were going towards a Dalek invasion why not let Ioan have a few days off enjoying expensive London restaurants in the name of their investigation?

He didn't mind the occasional nice meal out with Daphne or Draco, but in some ways he'd much rather be sneaking around and potentially being shot at.

Harry adjusted his binoculars, they were military grade, but not his special 50th century binoculars, those were in Judith's hands. They had also set up the larger energy scanners set up to try and filter out everything going on at this factory. Their portable scanners had just been overwhelmed by whatever it was that was happening here. All they could be sure of, there was definitely some sort of large energy source here, but there was a lot of something else that he'd not been able to filter out. Nothing temporal though. So no Doctor, for now.

Harry switched his radio through to UNIT's frequencies again. There had been a lot of chatter earlier in the morning but it had settled down, now it seemed like they were waiting for something.

Then a voice came through on the main channel "Operation Blue Sky is go, go, go. I repeat, this is a go."

Harry raised an eyebrow. The voice he recognised, both from his own long since past, and his near miss with the alternate Harry and that time spent in the world ruined by the Master.

It made him a little bit reminiscent of the past, his time in the 1970s, seeing UNIT rumble onto a site.

The Land Rovers even looked mostly the same.

The big truck was new. But it didn't beat the Brigadier's mobile HQ on a plane.

Harry smirked. The Brigadier would never ride in a separate car, especially a fancy (compared to the Land Rovers) black car. He'd be in the lead Land Rover with his stick and hat ready to give orders.

"Modern UNIT." He wrinkled his nose. He hoped Kate would be doing something behind the scenes by the end of this year to shake things up a bit.

As this was all a bit of a faff.

"All workers, lay down your tools and surrender." He could just about hear these orders being given over a loud speaker.

But now, Harry thought was time to start to have a bit of a look around.

-/

Apparating to the edge of the ATMOS site he was frozen for moment as he saw the Doctor, standing with a woman watching the faff and Martha Jones.

Doctor Martha Jones he'd discovered. UNIT had rushed her qualifications through based on her 'special experience'. It was the 'special experience' that had stopped him from questioning her about that year and the multitude of other things that had gotten in the way of him doing it. But at some point they needed to have a sit down and have a chat. He was one of the few who knew what she had done, what had happened.

Harry tapped his fingers against his thigh where he had a gun and an energy weapon mounted on either side. The energy weapon was one of the Cyberguns he'd acquired and held onto following his little Hyspero excursion. He'd thrown them into his bag when he and Draco had been preparing to exit the Dalek ship. They still had significant charge in the power cells, in fact he couldn't really work out how they held their charge, or they just had an amazingly big charge.

He had left his bigger on the inside bag at home, but had fitted an expanding bag, which was more an expanding pocket into his jacket so he could stuff his binoculars in without it getting too bulky.

Watching Martha Jones, the Doctor and the unknown woman wander into the UNIT truck he mused on going after them and decided against it.

Yes, he could wander in and introduce himself.

But it was a little bit of a grey area, as UNIT was here where his authority was. They were on British soil, which meant LPI could be involved, but there was no magic involvement, as far as he could see. But due to the extended operating parameters that LPI was now involved in it means he had the highest clearance in Britain. Especially as they were currently planning for an invasion (potentially).

Instead he decided to wait, the Doctor wouldn't be able to stand being inside the UNIT mobile HQ for too long.

Harry smirked when the Doctor seemed to last less than 10 minutes inside.

Making sure the invisibility cloak was around him he followed the group.

Harry was aware from Section D that Colonel Mace was running this operation. Even if he hadn't been informed by Section D he'd recognise Mace considering he'd pointed a weapon at the Colonel and stunned one of his soldiers the last time aliens invaded en masse. That had not exactly made him a friend out of that UNIT Colonel.

His second in command on this operation was Captain Marion Price, another person Harry knew of, though didn't know.

It did make sense that she and Martha were working together on this operation given Price would have been one of the first UNIT soldiers that Martha Jones and her family would have encountered following their near-miss temporal roll back.

Harry made to follow the group and then stopped, silently cursing the plastic sheets that separated the areas. There was no way he could walk through those without someone noticing.

Watching from outside, close to this Doctor, the one with the long coat and suit, a different colour to what he remembered.

Harry cursed the plastic sheets again, they were surprisingly effective at blocking out sound, or maybe the Doctor was speaking softly.

Then, as the Doctor went to do something with one of the ATMOS devices the other woman decided to step out of the room.

Harry looked between her and the Doctor and decided to follow her.

Following her was easy, working out where she was going less so.

She was stopping to read the various signs on the factory office doors.

"There we go." She said to herself and pushed open the door.

Harry followed and looked around the corridor before pulling off his cloak, stuffing it into his expanding pocket.

'Personnel' it read on the door.

Harry pushed open the door, hoping to surprise the woman.

"Who're you then and why've you been following me?" The woman had her arms folded and was sitting on one of the desks in the small office.

Harry beamed at her. "Very observant. Travelling with the Doctor." He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah? Me and the Doctor." She nodded.

"My name's Harry Potter, I'm a friend of the Doctor's." Harry said introducing himself.

Donna looked at him, puzzled and then a realisation dawning on her face. "You're Harry Potter?" She seemed amazed. "He talks about you. His mate." She looked him up and down appraising him.

"And you are?" Harry asked.

"Donna Noble." She said holding out her hand, Harry shook it. "You're not like him at all."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"All rough hands." She said. "You've done an honest day's work."

Harry snorted softly. "I'm not sure I'd call it that. I've been shot at, spelled, had acid, hot metal and countless other things stabbed and thrown at me."

Donna watched him. "You're like him."

Harry smiled slightly. "Maybe. I think-" He was cut off as he heard some boots running down the corridor and his hand went to one of the weapons on his thigh.

"He doesn't like that." Donna observed.

"Boots?" Harry frowned.

Donna looked at him. "Guns you prawn."

"He's wearing sand shoes at the moment. My observation's still valid." Harry pointed out. "So what are you off looking for?" He changed the subject.

She pointed at him. "You're good, but I've temped in an office. Changing the subject on awkward conversations is an art Mr Potter and you're an amateur."

"I usually just wait for people to start shooting, that usually changes the subject." Harry commented casually as he opened the door a fraction to make sure Bandril storm troopers or something weren't storming down the corridor.

"They're all thundering about arresting people." She explained looking along the folders on the wall.

"That's UNIT. Well, UNIT now. Back in the day they were more about shooting and arresting aliens, not people." Harry commented.

"Back in the day? When was that?" She asked looking at him carefully.

"The 1970s, give or take." He answered.

Donna turned around again. "You worked with them? With the Doctor?" She seemed surprised, but not amazingly so again.

Harry exhaled. "I worked with UNIT for a time during the 1970s, the Doctor was there but we worked separately." He explained vaguely.

"You Harry have lots of explaining to do, especially when I tell the Doctor you're here." She said pointing at him.

Harry frowned, only slightly, but Donna noticed despite predominately having her back to him while she was looking to a folder.

"You don't want him to know you're here? Thought you two were mates." She said as she looked along the shelves.

"We are. But it's complicated Donna. I've known the Doctor for a long time." Which Harry admitted didn't really mean anything. "Here and now is a little complicated."

"How? He's a time traveller. You're his mate." She asked. "He does complicated."

"And we're in the middle of a UNIT operation." Harry paused as Donna grabbed a folder off the shelf and opened it up and gave a triumphant 'hah!'.

"So?" She asked.

"Technically I shouldn't be here, I'm doing it as a favour. Rattigan appeared on our radar as being suspicious." He explained.

"Rattigan? What's that?" Donna asked. Harry shook his head. "Who's he?"

"Someone who's involved." Harry explained as more boots ran down the corridor. "Just, don't tell the Doctor I'm here, I'll find him soon." Harry said as he pulled his invisibility cloak out of his pocket and threw it on. "It was lovely to meet you Donna Noble." He shook her hand while she was still open mouthed. "I hope we meet again under less fraught circumstances." He said with a smile. "But we're both friends with the Doctor."

Donna laughed as he stepped out into the corridor.

-/

Harry made his way to the roof and pulled off his cloak, dialling Judith on his secure phone, it was much more secure than using the radio, especially with UNIT buzzing around here.

"Well Harry anything interesting?"

"The Doctor's here and Doctor Martha Jones."

"I told you we should have aggressively debriefed her before all of this."

Harry smirked. "Yes Judith that's how I should reconnect with people who saved my life."

"That would explain the temporal surge that was picked up. The TARDIS arriving?"

"Very likely. Anything else?"

"Power, the regular grid power has been fluctuating a bit. There's still too much backwash of other energy around there. It's like snow at the moment."

"My energy scanner doesn't do 'snow'. It's not a 1980s TV set."

"It might as well be, do you need me?" Judith asked.

"Impatient being on the sidelines?"

Harry heard her snort. "Hardly. I want to know if I can get an egg and bacon butty."

Harry smiled. "If you want." He looked around the roof top. "There doesn't appear to be anything going on now that UNIT is in charge. I think I'll remain around here till they start to clear out people. There's still that transmat Rattigan has. That had to come from somewhere."

"No sign it's a transmat factory?"

"Well, not one that's knocking out the modern art things that Rattigan had, no Judith." Harry looked over as a door to the roof opened. "Looks like I'm about to be discovered."

"Oh no, what shall you do Harry?" Said a deadpan tone on the phone.

"I'll chat later Judith. It doesn't look like anything serious, but these soldiers are too cocky and over confident." Harry didn't wait for a reply, instead he ended the call and waited for the UNIT soldiers to walk over to him and mused through the different approaches he could take.

"Oi, what're you doing up here?" Asked one of them.

"Admiring the view." Harry said reaching into his jacket. Both soldiers tensed for their guns. "What happened to 'safeties on, lads. They're non-hostiles'?" Harry quoted one of, he assumed their superior shouting that order about.

"How do we know you're not hostile?" His mate asked.

"Well asking me is a very progressive stance." Harry said as he withdrew his security ID. "There." He held it out but didn't let the soldiers take it.

"We'll have to call it in." Said the solder who had spoken first. It was then that Harry fixed them both with a piercing gaze.

"You won't have to call anything in." He said.

"...won't have to call anything in..." They repeated.

So much for hypnotism training Harry mused to himself. "You patrolled the roof and found nothing."

"We patrolled the roof and found nothing." The repeated.

Harry snapped his fingers and watched them leave.

"Where have they been finding these soldier boys?" Harry wondered aloud to himself shaking his head and thumbed his phone calling Section D.

"Pearce! It's your man in the field." Harry said brightly.

"Anything to report Potter?"

"UNIT's being their bully boy selves, it was all a bit different back in my UNIT days." Harry mused.

"That would be the 1970s Potter, when everything was different and you weren't born." Pearce said, though Harry could hear the mocking tone in his voice.

"What of Portman has she managed to remain on scene at Rattigan's academy?" He enquired.

"Alas, Mr Rattigan has become increasingly unstable. We are observing from a distance." Pearce reported.

"I could pop back to the Rattigan Academy and have a bit of a look and then pop back here?" Harry offered the security services chief.

There was some silence as Pearce considered the offer.

"No. For now I want you there watching what UNIT's up to. Your League is the only one that knows about UNIT and everything else that's involved."

"That you trust. Technically we should all be trusting UNIT." Harry commented.

"Your tone suggests otherwise Potter." Pearce commented.

Harry beamed, even though Pearce couldn't see him grinning at Pearce's observation skills.

"Hopefully soon UNIT will work out what should take precedence, the intelligence or the taskforce."

"Presumably the UN portion as well, so they might inform the security services before they start storming random factories without informing us."

"As you said Pearce. Our government has re-signed a very favourable UNIT pact. If North Korea is letting UNIT have access to their nukes-" Harry was cut off by Pearce.

"I didn't tell you about that Potter." His tone was one of surprise. "But thank you."

Harry cursed aloud. "I hope you won't quote me on that Pearce."

"Of course not Potter. What do you take me for?"

"Alright, well we can't chat all day about government secrets. I'll continue to keep an eye out. There's unfortunately too many troopers soldiering around for me to have a good wander undetected."

"How unfortunate for you Potter."

"But I'll find somewhere interesting to have a tea break. I'll contact you again if anything worthy of your attention happens Pearce." Harry said ending the call.

-/

Harry had to hand it to Donna, for observing the simple things that he'd have missed, and UNIT had to.

The staff break room was impeccably tidy.

There were no sandwiches left in the fridge, no congealed milk in the door.

There were tea and coffee making facilities.

The instant coffee tin's seal hadn't been broken; its foil intact. The commercial sized box of tea hadn't been opened either. It was all a bit suspicious.

Harry stared at it and then grabbed at his other pocket that was also a magical expanding pocket on the other side of his jacket to where his cloak was stuffed.

Inside this other pocket he had two 'emergency rolls' they were canvas rolls of stuff in case of emergency. Inspired by Owen's tools he'd brought along when he'd conducted the autopsy of Fuller.

Except Harry's held more weapons, another Cybergun he'd thrown in, ammunition and a little bit of high explosive. The other was medical and a some food and what not. Including "Hah!" Harry exclaimed extracting a tea bag. He didn't quite trust the unopened box of tea.

Returning his rolls to his pockets Harry couldn't understand how the Doctor managed with just his pockets.

Or maybe Harry had just become used to having his bag with him that the Doctor had given him so many years ago. It had become his go to thing and not having it with him on this operation was somewhat annoying having to rely on just magic to enable him to carry everything.

Judith had suggested that meant he was carrying too much. Preparedness cost nothing.

The kettle hadn't even had the little plastic cover things taken off the plug.

Something was very odd here.

Even though the kettle boiled, the water seemed not amazingly hot, or maybe it was the air conditioning in here Harry mused to himself draining the black sugarless cardboard cup. Tea only helped so much before he stuck his head outside the break room. The floor was still full of UNIT soldiers interrogating people.

Harry sighed and wished he'd stuffed his portable energy scanner into a bag and brought that with him. Even if it had been overwhelmed from the outside, maybe within, in the eye of the storm as it were he'd have more luck.

Leaning out the door again a few minutes later Harry looked around, the area was mostly clear.

Wandering out, without his invisibility cloak he looked around.

"Somewhere around here has to be a volt meter." He muttered to himself as he looked around the factory, or if not that then some sort of diagnostic tool.

As he wandered the factory floor Harry realised he could never be a passive spy, observing and reporting back.

He wondered if that was Pearce's reasoning, a challenge to him to see how he'd do. Harry would much rather shooting, or being shot at. Either was good, at least he would be doing something.

He grinned as he passed a maintenance trolley and grabbed several pieces throwing it into an empty ATMOS storage box and made his way back to the break room.

It wasn't just bits of alien technology that he could turn his hand to, or rather had learnt how to turn his hand to. It wasn't as if Hogwarts had given a technical education in anything.

Pulling apart the volt meter and the voltage detector pens he started taping and wiring them together so he could test a theory.

There had been something even more off with the break room and that was how long it had taken for the kettle to boil. Considering the factory was currently shut down with UNIT doing its best to interrogate everyone he couldn't help but wonder where all that power was still going?

Stepping out into the now surprisingly empty, though not quiet corridor he started down to the factory floor.

He was barely two corridors away from the break room when the shouts started, not at him, and a phone rang, that was his.

It was Judith. "Harry, there's something going on looks like it's the ATMOS devices."

"How so?" Harry asked as he looked around distractedly pointing his lashed up power detector and wished again he has something more high tech. Popping out probably wasn't an option, the amount of odd energies around here meant he'd needed his invisibility cloak to wander in here. Just apparating near by had been a bit tricky.

"They're spewing a gas." Harry opened his mouth to suggest she get a mask on. "I've already got a mask on and have ramped up the energy scanners."

"Link up with my house and the satellite dishes there and the non-UNIT satellites in orbit. If you've got a free hand look into what UNIT's up to." Harry said.

"I'll use my spare foot." She said.

The phone beeped. "That's Pearce trying to get a hold of me I suspect."

"Always wanted."

"And trapped in here." He said waving around his device. "I think I should remain here, there may be answers here, better than elsewhere."

"Indeed." Then Judith ended the call.

"Pearce." Harry said answering the call as Judith's call ended.

"Potter. You're aware no doubt." He asked.

"Lock down the pods. Set your systems to internal positive atmosphere. It should be safe enough to go out once you work out if the standard gas masks do anything. But-"

"Lockdown." Pearce said in a dark tone.

"For anyone in the government that can do it." Harry wrinkled his nose. "I can smell it in here." He said. "There's something very dangerous going on." He said waving his volt detector around.

"Another alien invasion?"

Harry grinned. "At least they're direct and obvious, I don't think I can stand your brand of skulking and spying."

"Anything pertinent Potter?"

Harry pondered for a moment. "Nothing..." Harry trailed off. "If you've got a moment look up the power usage for this area."

"Power usage?" He asked in a puzzled tone.

"I suspect there's something using a lot of power. Everything's off in here, yet there's still a lot of power being used."

"Very well Potter."

As the call ended Harry twisted his radio back on to listen to UNIT's radio.

"Greyhound 20 to Trap One, vehicles removed, proceeding to building..."

Harry nodded as he wandered around keeping the radio in his ear as background as he traced the cables around another corridor.

"Greyhound 40 to Trap One. I have just returned the Doctor to base safe and sound. Over."

Harry nodded on the news. Hopefully now that the Doctor was here and deadly danger was literally on the wind some things would start being solved.

But then again...this planet was defended and then it was still held to ransom by the Master. He would need to keep that in mind, even if very few people knew of those events.

Then something came over the radio that gave him pause.

"All troops. Code Red Sontaran. Code Red Sontaran." Harry stopped.

He knew of the Sontarans, in theory first hand, not that he remembered it.

Something to do with that country estate and house that he and Draco owned and what happened with the Doctor that they had briefly travelled with. His diary that he'd found, written in his hand that explained because of certain temporal ley lines and other things around it you had to be co-temporous with it to remember anything of it.

Which in theory meant if he did anything there now, it'd be fine, it was only time travellers it had this affect on.

There'd been something hosted there, he and Draco had attended, the Doctor had set it up, the King, George VI had approved. He had photos to prove it. Not that it made it much clearer. He read his diary in little bits, savouring these things he'd not remembered, seemingly knowingly.

That his diary had made quite clear, that the 'convention' had been held there with everyone time travelling there because of its natural effects. So things could be said in honesty and not have it be drawn out or forced out, by mind probe or whatever later.

An honest sort of convention. Supposedly the last one had been held more than 500 years ago, though he'd not notated how relative that number was.

The Sontarans had been one of the species in attendance.

Harry knew of the Sontarans apart from that, he'd read UNIT's files and Sarah had mentioned her encounters with them.

High gravity planet, war-obsessed race.

The Rutan Host had been in attendance at the 'convention' he written that there'd been some tension and he'd tried his hand at playing peace keeper, much to Draco's amusement.

Some sort of vent on their back was a weakness he remembered Sarah telling him about the torture she'd been subjected to on Earth in the distant future by a Sontaran. It'd left her wary of muddy fields and snakes for sometime. Which was something of an odd combination.

As he was continuing to look around his phone rang again. The line sounded awful.

"It sounds like I'm on a call to the 1960s." He observed.

"Communications disruption, something to do with the gas concentration quite possibly. I can barely see in front of me. Ioan and Akilina have battened down the hatches in a lower ground restaurant."

"Hopefully that'll keep them safe." Harry said as he walked to a window to look out at the thick air.

"Jodrell Bank's forwarded a report to us, UNIT and the security services. There's a signal 8,000 kilometres above in orbit."

Harry nodded. "A Sontaran War Wheel or something like that I would assume." He mused.

"Sontarans?" Asked Judith's muffled voice, no doubt from a gas mask.

"You've not heard UNIT's transmissions?"

"Nothing, I'll search frequencies again..." She trailed off. "Harry, I've just registered new hostiles within the building. More than 20."

"Oh. Goody. Where?"

"East of your position."

"Contact Porton Down and the Ministry of Defence throw LPI's weight behind an orbital strike." Harry said as he pulled on his invisibility cloak and put his voltage reader down and cursed his lack of a bag once more and decided to leave it behind. He could build another with the amount of tech there was in the factory.

"Will do." Then the call ended, or the communications interference became too great, which would've been very convenient.

"Time to battle the Sontarans." He said to himself, making sure again he had his wand and weapons and wondered if he could sneak up on them. Sneaking up and fighting 20 aliens obsessed with war would not end well he fancied as he took off at a swift pace.

-/

Harry was easing his way through two sets of double doors just as several blue somethings, soldiers, Sontarans he assumed rounded the other end of the corridor. There weren't as many as 20. Which was good...and bad. It meant there were others elsewhere.

Between him and the Sontarans were five UNIT soldiers.

"Sontarans within factory grounds. East corridor, grid six..." Said one of the UNIT soldiers, then another voice, Harry recognised this as Colonel Mace said. "Absolute emergency. Declaring Code Red. All troops, Code Red. All troops open fire."

"Uh oh." Harry said in a soft tone as he made his way quickly up the corridor taking cover behind a water fountain.

There was an audible click as several of the soldiers attempted to open fire.

"Guns aren't working. Inform all troops, standard weapons do not work." Harry was close enough to hear the soldier say that and didn't need his radio.

Harry barely had enough time to move as the soldiers were shot down.

All four were dead within seconds by four individual Sontarans.

"Tell the Doctor it's that Cordolaine signal."

That was when Harry started firing his Cybergun at the Sontarans as he moved up the corridor. The noise echoing around him he levelled his wand at the solider throwing him through the nearby door as weapons fire swept towards the soldier, Harry hoped it just caught his arm.

Harry continued to fire at the Sontarans as he threw himself through the door, grabbing the solider as he did and pushing the Cybergun into his holster and grabbing his sonic screwdriver; welding the lock shut and turning his attentions to the UNIT soldier.

Private Ross Jenkins according to his name badge.

He was breathing, though whatever the Sontarans' weapons were had put his body into shock. It looked like the weapons had just grazed his arm.

"Greyhound 40, report. Over. Greyhound 40, report. Greyhound 40, report." Harry cursed. Mace would just keep sending something and give away their position. Harry wasn't sure how much the Sontarans saw, he'd had his cloak around him for the most part.

"LPI Raven. Greyhound 40 safe. LPI Raven, going radio dark." Harry said into Jenkin's radio and turned it off and unplugged it for good measure and looked around.

Where they were wasn't ideal, there was a lot more ATMOS smoke around here.

Levelling his wand at the unconscious solider he levitated him to another side corridor that he hoped the Sontarans weren't using and moved him through it into another staff break room. Another one that appeared to be unused.

"Jenkins." Harry said as he unzipped them man's vest so he could get access to the man's arm.

"Ugh..." He was sweating, which wasn't a good thing. Harry looked down at the man as he quickly pulled out his emergency medical kit and started to cut away at his shirt. "What're you doing?" He started to try and get up. "Who are you?"

"Harry Potter, League of Paranormal Investigations." Harry explained. "You've been shot with an energy weapon. You're in shock."

"I know that." He said. "League of Paranormal Investigations? Colonel Mace mentioned you..." He trailed off.

"Yes. I stunned one of his soldiers once." Harry admitted as he got to the site of where Private Jenkins had been shot. Jenkin's skin was blackened, like a bruise. The weapon had practically gone through his clothing and hit the flesh. Harry pushed gently but it didn't illicit a reaction. He could see some lines spreading from it and grimaced and grabbed something from his medical kit.

"Chew this."

"What is it?" Jenkins said taking it.

"It's something magical." Harry explained as he looked at the site where Jenkins had been grazed. The best thing would be to remove the blackened area, then he could apply the potion-paste he and Ioan had been working on to stop help him recover. The chewable potion was another of their experiments basically a pain killer potion with a lot of gelling agents thrown in.

Harry had spent a good couple of hours on a potions 'trip' from testing the pain killer.

"It's a pain killer. You'll need it for what I'm about to do."

-/

Harry had to congratulate the Private. "That's a verbose vocabulary of lexicographical wonder Private Jenkins." It had taken longer than he'd thought to remove the...not so much cauterised flesh but it had been scrambled sort of. That seemed to be the standard for energy weapons.

"...Ross..." He coughed as Harry smeared the paste onto the wound that was now bleeding a much more healthy colour and started to bandage him up.

"Harry." Harry folded up his kit and pulled out the other thing that was in it. "Now that we're on first name terms..." He handed Ross the Cybergun.

"What's this?"

"It's an energy weapon. Firm grip, aim it at the enemy. There's only one setting." Harry took what was left of the chewable potion and vaporised it with his wand.

"Harry? What was that?" Ross exclaimed.

"Magic. Do keep up Ross." Harry explained casually with a smile.

"Magic?" Ross asked weakly as Harry handed him back his vest.

"Magic. It's not in the UNIT manual. Do UNIT still have a manual? They were still writing it back in my UNIT days." Harry mused as he checked his gun. "No point in this." He said tucking it back into his holster.

"You were in UNIT sir?" Ross stood a little straighter.

"Don't do that Ross, you'll pull something. We need to stay limber if we're going to survive. I served as UNIT's Esoteric advisor in the 1970s." Harry explained.

Ross' eyes widened. "1970s...but..."

Harry shook his head. "Time travel was involved Ross, now, if you're done getting back into your outfit?"

His hand went to his radio. "Sir" Harry fixed him with a look. "Harry. You disabled my radio?"

"Mace would've given away our position. He should understand we've gone dark." Harry said as he withdrew his phone and tried dialling out. He was met with nothing.

"And now sir?" Ross asked watching him.

Harry checked his watch, it'd only been about 7 minutes or so fixing Ross up. "Now we go and kill the enemy Ross." Harry said. "Point and shoot, very simple. If not there's supposedly some vent on the back of a Sontaran; disables them."

"I understand sir." Ross said standing firmer.

"You're going to burst something Ross. Call me Harry or I'll stun you and leave you in a cupboard." He joked.

"Sir?" Ross asked weakly.

Harry glared at the solider. "Would you prefer I call you Private?"

"Harry. Where should we go?" He asked checking his vest and everything attached to it.

"We'll walk around and see who starts shooting at us." Harry said carefully pushing open the door. "Come on, quiet as you can." Harry said walking out.

"Sir...Harry." Ross began, following him out into the corridor brandishing the Cybergun around them. "If the goal is to be detected, why are we being quiet?"

Harry turned to Ross about to answer him when something exploded at the front of the factory. Harry grinned. "Now your Colonel Mace is starting to behave like the officers from my UNIT days. If in doubt, blow it up."

Then some Sontarans started shooting at them, obviously intent on investigating whatever the explosion was.

-/

"No kickback!" Ross exclaimed as they checked the Sontarans, kicking away their much larger weapons.

"Energy weapons often don't." Harry said as he carefully pulled off one of the Sontaran's helmets.

"Are you sure you should be-" Ross started.

"Gotta make sure they're dead." Harry said looking at the dead Sontaran. "We should head to where the action is." Harry said standing up. "Come on Ross. Let's go find someone to shoot at us."

"Sir...Harry. Is this what your League does?" Ross Jenkins asked as they pushed open a set of doors.

"UNIT's job?" Harry said as he took aim at a Sontaran who was about to shoot two soldiers running around a corner. "Not usually no."

"Then...?" He began.

"I'm actually here as a favour to the security services." Harry pushed open another set of doors. "My own fault. Curiosity about Rattigan."

"Rattigan?" Ross asked surprised.

"And ATMOS, same I suspect as UNIT." Harry said as they pushed open another set of doors. "All these corridors look the same." He muttered to himself.

"Just follow the sounds of fighting Harry?" Ross offered.

"Just follow the sounds of fighting, yes." Harry repeated but held his hand up as Ross seemed to prepare to start running. "Stride into battle. Run away from it Ross."

"Who said that?" He asked with a smile.

"I don't know. A friend of mine likes to do the opposite." Harry said as he pushed open another set of doors leading them onto one of the factory floors. The sound of fighting was louder in here; echoing out across the quiet factory. "Running towards danger, sneaking off when it's quiet."

"Duck!" Ross shouted as Harry tucked down and rolled as red energy weapons fire came shooting their way.

Harry swung around, firing at the Sontaran's feet, hitting some of the ATMOS factory equipment as he did so. As he got up he looked around. "I think I left my volt meter around here."

"What?" Jenkins asked.

"Sounds of bullets." Harry tilted his head.

"But the Cordolaine signal?" Ross asked.

"Yes, seems your Colonel at least has the UNIT ammo truck near by." Harry mused.

"You didn't have that in your day?" Jenkins teased.

"The gold, silver and teflon coated bullets came later Jenkins. The Brigadier just dealt with things by firing five rounds rapid or blowing things up with high explosives." Harry commented.

"'The Brigadier'?" Ross Jenkins watched him curiously.

"Come on Jenkins, let's find the front of this factory and see what your commanding officer is up to."

-/

Outside the factory was almost bereft of soldiers although there were several Sontaran bodies.

There was also an almighty noise of a aircraft carrier ship hovering above them, but the smoke was also very visible.

"Wondered when you'd fight your way out."

Ross jumped as Judith rounded one of the Land Rovers, she had a mask hanging from her neck and was wearing a backpack and holding another. "Don't shoot Jenkins."

"You've picked up?" Judith smirked. "You sly dog, and in the middle of a battlefield."

Harry just glared at her. She passed him the backpack.

From within he grabbed his bag.

"Your security blanket." She said in as softer tone as she could manage with an aircraft carrier hanging overhead.

Harry just raised an eyebrow. "Have you tried getting a reading closer in?"

"The TARDIS is gone. Temporal readings suggest it was here." She reported. "The Doctor went inside with the rest of the soldiers."

Harry watched as Jenkins went over to an ammunition box. "Harry! Rad-steel coated bullets."

Harry was about to turn when Judith commented. "Cordolaine signal. I heard."

"Yes." He said feeling around the bottom of the backpack he was holding and grabbed a hold of the additional battery packs. "Interesting no one's started shooting at the War Wheel in orbit." Harry nodded towards the UNIT HQ truck.

"I'll check on them. Maybe they've lost the launch codes." She said.

"I want to see where the Doctor's got up to. There's a weird amount of power being used. Hopefully I'll be able to find it." Harry said. "Still with me Jenkins?"

"Yes sir, until we find Colonel Mace." Jenkins said and offered him the Cybergun back.

"That's good enough." Harry said as he walked back into the factory stepping over the bodies. "Tuck it into a pocket or something, just in case." Harry looked and then realised UNIT didn't do the easy-to-tuck-into pocket uniforms and grabbed it back throwing it into his bag.

"I feel more comfortable with this sir." Jenkins said holding his gun.

"Indeed. Use what you know." Harry said as he powered up his energy scanner. There was still a lot of interference, but there was one anomalous signal, somewhere within the factory.

Striding through the corridors suddenly a voice shouted out "Potter!"

Harry turned around to find Colonel Mace striding towards him.

As he reached speaking distance Jenkins went rigid and snapped a salute.

"Sir."

"Jenkins." Mace nodded to Ross. "Potter." Colonel Mace appraised him and the energy scanner he was holding. "Thank you for saving Jenkins."

"Wished I'd been quicker to save the others Colonel." Harry admitted.

"You're locating something?" Mace asked.

"Odd energy signal in here. This factory's still using a lot of power. I want to know what's using it." Harry explained.

"I see." Mace said.

"I could use Jenkins, to keep my back. Make sure there's nothing going to stab me in it." Harry asked.

Mace nodded. "Very well. Potter." He fixed him with a look. "Does this situation have anything esoteric involved?"

Harry shook his head. "I don't think so. I was here investigating on behalf of Her Majesty's government. A favour." He smiled briefly.

Mace seemed to take that on board. "Very well Potter." He looked to Jenkins. "Radio if you require further assistance Jenkins."

"Sir." Jenkins said tightly.

"Come on Jenkins. Time to discover what's in the cellar." Harry strode down the corridor.

"I think it's a basement sir." Jenkins offered.

"No wine here." Harry agreed as he paused at the lift shafts as he adjusted his energy scanner. "The stairs I think."

-/

They walked out into an empty corridor.

"No Sontarans down here Harry." Jenkins said looking around, his weapon ready.

"No. From what I understand of Sontarans they like a fight." Harry said looking up and down the corridor.

"Green light sir? Doesn't look like it's part of the building?" Jenkins said. "Harry." He corrected himself.

Harry smiled broadly. "You're learning Ross. Green lights in a building like this either means someone takes the eco-standards a little too literally or..." He strode up and pulled out his wand.

"More magic?" Ross asked.

"Yes." But the door remained close. "Or not." He retrieved his sonic screwdriver and focused it on the panel by the door.

There was a 'clunk' and the door opened barely opened enough let a person through easily.

Stepping through the plastic doors together they were confronted with a body, a pool of something green and...

"Another transmat." Harry said as he rushed over to the body. "Martha Jones...ugh."

"Doctor Jones? She's UNIT." Jenkins exclaimed.

Harry wrinkled his nose. "If this is Martha Jones." Harry set his energy scanner down as he felt for a pulse.

"Anything?" Jenkins was still poised ready for action.

"No." Harry said feeling her body down, wrinkling his nose again. There was an odd smell about her. She felt warm, so decomposition wouldn't have started but there was a weird smell about her, and this room.

"What're you doing Harry?" Ross asked watching him pat down the body.

"Trying to see if she'd been shot. No blood. No signs of internal displacement." He mused to himself. "No energy weapon damage." He said a little louder for Jenkins' benefit. He gently moved her head to look at her back, as he laid her down her hair fell away from her neck revealing an odd stub. "That's odd." He said standing up and walking over to where Jenkins was stood looking at the wire cage and the pool of green goopy water.

"Is it Doctor Jones Harry?" He asked, he'd not relaxed since they'd got into the room.

Harry shrugged and leaned over the pool. "Whatever this is and whoever that is." He motioned over to the body. "They both have the same weird smell."

"Do you know what it is?" Jenkins asked.

"I know what that is." Harry gestured at the transmat.

"Teleport, that's what the Doctor called it." Ross said. "A Sontaran came through the one at Rattigan's Academy."

Harry nodded. "Yes a transmat, teleport, whatever. Rattigan does indeed have one in his rather awkward little play office." Harry drew out his wand casting some spells. "We'll need to get outside I think Ross."

"Why?"

"So we get jump over to the Rattigan Academy." He eyed the transmat, or teleport. Whatever.

-/

"Have you found what was causing the power issues Potter?" Mace was waiting outside near the factory entrance.

"There's a transmat down in the basement." Harry paused.

"And something that looks like Doctor Jones Sir." Jenkins reported.

"I don't think it is. But it'll need checking." Harry explained to the shocked Colonel.

"We're going to Rattigan's academy." Harry said.

"Why Potter?" Mace asked.

"Because he's also got a transmat and he's obviously tied into the Sontarans and I want to know-" Anything further Harry was about to say was cut off as the sky lit up with fire.

"That can't be good." Jenkins started.

"This is what they feared." Judith said wandering up shading her eyes. "Firing the nukes. Might do this."

Harry swore. "So we get to die before it's prophesised that we get to die." Harry chuckled.

"Morose always Harry." Judith commented as the flames suddenly cleared away and they were left with blue skies.

"Come on Ross." Harry said grabbing the UNIT Private's arm while his fellows were celebrating not dying.

"Harry?" He looked to him curiously. "Where are we going?"

"Away from your celebrating chums. Harry doesn't like celebrations." Judith teased.

Harry shook his head. "Time to investigate Luke Rattigan, if he's still around. Judith?" Harry looked to the older woman.

"I'll make sure they're still ready to fire." She said at his look. "On your order."

"Thanks." Harry said checking the area with his wand and frowning. Let's walk a little ways away." He said as he casually led the UNIT soldier. "You're not easily intimidated are you Ross?" Harry asked casually as Judith walked back to the UNIT HQ truck.

"Why Harry?" Ross asked as Harry let go of his arm. "Why are we walking over here, shouldn't we get a vehicle to get to the Rattigan Academy?"

Harry shook his head. "ATMOS is still dangerous." He pointed over at the Land Rovers. The air was clear above there was still smoke coming out of them, albeit not chuffing out. Harry waved his wand again, checking the area around them. "Best exhale Ross." Harry said and grabbed his shoulder before he had time to register what was happening.

-/-/-/-/-/-/ -/-/-/-/-/-/ -/-/-/-/-/-/ -/-/-/-/-/-/

Ross breathed in suddenly and took in several things as he looked around. Harry had grabbed him and he'd felt a rush of air and now he was in Luke Rattigan's office. Doctor Martha Jones was sitting just within the teleport, what Harry called a transmat with the woman the Doctor travelled with Donna Noble.

"Harry?" The Doctor looked over at Harry in amazement.

"Harry?" Doctor Jones looked at him.

"Harry Potter." Donna Noble smiled knowingly. "How'd you do that then?"

"Magic." Harry said simply.

"You're pointing a Cybergun at us." The Doctor observed. "Where'd you get that Harry?"

"From a Cyberman." Harry said slowly, tucking it into hid holster and stepping around him. "Stand down Ross. They're mostly harmless."

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Donna watched as the Doctor jumped up and enveloped Harry Potter in a warm hug.

"It's been a while since I've seen you." Donna heard Harry say hugging the taller man back.

"Guns." The Doctor said stepping back.

"Guns?" Harry asked.

"Stabbing me in the legs." He said with a slightly bitter tone.

"That's the problem being all thin you need a good scarf to protect you." Harry smirked and then looked. "Hello Martha. Long time, you'd think."

Donna looked to Martha a wash of confusion on her face. "What? Harry?"

The Doctor had missed what Harry Potter had said. "And Ross Jenkins. You saved him Harry, clever!"

Harry Potter turned around. "Of course. Someone's got to help the people who keep the Earth defended."

Donna watched Harry, there was something behind what he had said that the Doctor had missed.

-/

Harry watched the Doctor bounce around, it had been a long time, relatively speaking since he had seen this Doctor and he said it.

"Aw...it has. And for me too Harry. You've been bouncing around the timeline all of the time. Back to the 1970s, back here. You've seen more of me than I have of you." He spun around and looked at him. "And look at you. All...guns."

Harry raised an eyebrow at the Doctor. "Two guns Doctor. Defence."

"But this isn't your territory Harry. League of Paranormal Investigations, that's you, magic and the things in between. Not...this." He wrinkled his nose looking at the cuboid.

"The Sontaran's transmat?" Harry asked.

"Teleport." The Doctor corrected.

"There's a difference?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Well..." The Doctor began. "But what about you?"

"Rattigan's ATMOS device made me curious, I was doing a favour for the security services."

"The security services?" Asked Donna who was sitting with Martha watching him and the Doctor chat.

"The spooks." The Doctor spun around. "The ones who hide in the shadows watching and keeping you all thinking you're secure."

"Making sure we're defended." Harry commented idly. Then his phone rang. "Judith. Jodrell Bank says it's gone?" Harry looked to the Doctor, the Doctor looked away from him. "No, we won't need the nukes this time. Thanks, can you check on Ioan for me? Yes, they're all here. Thanks, bye."

"Your team, your LPI? Harry Potter with his associates." The Doctor mused sticking his hands into his pockets. "Time moves on." He said.

"For all of us Doctor." Harry fixed him with a look. "I know that as well as you." He said softer. "I've known you longer than almost anyone, except maybe yourself and the Brigadier." Harry said with a smile. "And he's missed you."

"Off in Peru old Alistair. He'd have sorted this out." The Doctor said to Ross.

"Jenkins." Harry said breaking the Doctor's gaze on Ross.

"Sir?" He looked to him.

"Get out and radio Colonel Mace, you'll want to secure this site, just in case there's anything lurking."

Jenkins nodded. "Yes sir." Harry glared at him. "Harry." He said before exiting the room.

"Why'd you send him out?" Martha asked him.

"Because we're standing around chatting about other times and worlds and Ross looked like he needed something to do. Plus Mace will probably be getting tetchy." Harry explained.

"Why's that?" Donna asked.

"I stunned one of his soldiers the first time we met." Harry said with a shrug.

"When was that Harry?" The Doctor looked at him curiously.

"When the ghosts invaded. The Cybermen and the Cult of Skaro. I led some soldiers to contain Torchwood One." Harry explained watching the Doctor's expression.

"Oh." The Doctor paused. "That." He exhaled slowly. "You know about Torchwood."

"I know Captain Jack Doctor. Don't you recall how I ended up in the 1970s?" Harry asked.

"Of course." The Doctor spun around. "You're not surprised Donna about Harry?" The Doctor asked Donna curiously.

"We had words Doctor. Wanted to keep himself secret, like someone else I know." She looked at the Doctor pointedly. "Secretive."

"When was this?" The Doctor looked between them as though he'd missing something.

"When you were pulling apart the ATMOS thing." Donna said simply.

"And Donna was off looking for the records." Harry paused and nodded over to Donna. "I retired to the break room, which still had the seal on the coffee."

"There, see! I knew it." Donna smiled confidently at the Doctor.

The Doctor responded in looking confused.

"The Doctor's more of a tea person. Does UNIT do tea still?" Harry asked Martha.

"Thinking of UNIT, we should get back, see the TARDIS." The Doctor started.

"I'll give you a lift." Harry said. "Have you got a kit bag Martha? I'll be back in a moment." Harry continued quickly. He wanted a word with Martha, privately, just in case the Doctor whisked her away.

"In the mobile HQ." She replied.

Harry walked over to where he'd apparated himself and Ross into, the Doctor followed him with eyes of wonder and delight.

"I've not done this with you have I Doctor?" Harry asked as Donna gave him an odd look.

"Nup, been through a few different things, nothing like this Harry." He said. "It's been a while since I've seen you and now, confident, calm..." His eyes trailed down to where weapons lay strapped to his body.

"Jack carries a gun. The Brigadier wouldn't be without his." Harry tried.

"What's this, how're we getting back to UNIT?" Donna asked.

"You didn't notice me and Ross pop in?" Harry wondered.

"Thought it was some sort of teleport thing like that?" Donna gestured.

The Doctor looked to Harry and grinned. "Something like that."

"Best exhale." Harry said as he took both the Doctor and Donna's arms.

"Why?"

Harry disapparated without answering Donna's question.

"Because people usually breathe in at this point." Harry commented idly and looked to the Doctor. "Are you alright Doctor?"

"Ah, me? I've been zapped, transmatted and teleported, that's nothing for me." He grinned. "And it wasn't anything for you. Thought it was limited. Two people? Apparition." He sounded out the last word.

Harry shrugged. "That's just what the handbook says, we don't need to listen to boring things like do we Doctor?"

Harry grinned and shook his head. "No Harry, we don't." Then he saw someone approaching. "Come on Donna, let's check the TARDIS."

Harry turned around and saw Mace approaching. He dashed off to the UNIT HQ truck only to be confronted by Mace on his way out.

"Martha Jones is safe, I'm just popping back. The Rattigan Academy will need some men to secure it. Private Jenkins is there still." Harry reported.

"I see." Mace said. "And Rattigan, we've had reports of the Sontaran's spaceship was destroyed."

"Seems Rattigan destroyed the ship." Harry paused. "After betraying the planet."

"An act of redemption?" Mace wondered.

Harry shrugged. "Who knows." He paused. "I'll bring Martha Jones back once she's changed."

Mace nodded again. "Very good Potter, thank you."

"Colonel." Harry said by way of a farewell.

-/-/-/-/-/-/ -/-/-/-/-/-/ -/-/-/-/-/-/ -/-/-/-/-/-/

Harry was leaning against Rattigan's desk while Martha changed in the nearby pool area.

"Thanks Harry." She said as she walked back out carrying the Doctor's coat, having changed out of the hospital gown that the Sontarans had put her in while they'd used the clone. Martha had filled him in on the details that the Doctor hadn't told him.

"It's okay." Harry paused. "I know." This phrase was laden with knowledge.

"What?" Martha said, studying him for a moment, thrown. "Is this why you took the Doctor and Donna back first?"

"Yes." Harry said simply. "I know about that year, the one that was rolled back. I've been meaning to have a chat with you for a while." He smiled sadly. "Things keep getting in the way."

"And now?" Martha asked.

"I agree with everything my alternate self did. It was one gigantic roll of the dice."

"It paid off." Martha said simply.

"A gamble far too great." Harry said and shook his head. "I didn't want to argue with you. I just wanted to say, if there's anything that UNIT hasn't provided..." He trailed off. "I know what it is you experienced."
Martha watched the anguish on his features for a moment. "How?"

"My curiosity and an ancient artefact." He explained vaguely. "Might have driven me mad knowing what I know, what you lived through, your family lived at the hands of the Master."

"Someone you knew supposedly." She asked, challenging slightly.

Harry was surprised and then chuckled. "The UNIT files. You've been snooping."

"Wanted to know who he is, who he was. What UNIT knew of him." She said.

"He was a different man then, a different face, just like the Doctor." He said.

"The Master's nothing like the Doctor Harry he's-" Martha began.

"Isn't he?" Harry asked curiously. "The Doctor offered to take the Master away from all this, the Earth and everything, even after the subjugation and rape of our planet during that year that only a handful of people remember." Harry paused, exhaling.

"You're his friend Harry, surely you know him, trust him. You know what sort of person he is." Martha tried.

"Are we talking about the Master or the Doctor?" Harry asked. "I've known them both for a long time Martha and I trust them each, as much as I know them."

Martha smiled weakly and came and sat beside him. "UNIT's helped Harry, with my mum, dad and sister but...it's hard."

"I have some local contacts, with the security services, they can help find other people. UNIT's sometimes a little bit..." He trailed off.

Martha nodded but didn't say anything.

"It is changing, supposedly." Harry continued. Maybe when Kate was fully part of the organisation it'd be better.

They were both silent for a while, Harry having lost the passion of anger and frustration he had with Martha and the Doctor in that alternate ruined world for the moment.

"I guess I should get you back." Harry said turning on his radio. "Greyhound 40, this is Raven, Jenkins are you out there somewhere, over?"

Ross came walking in at a swift pace moments later. "Sir, Doctor Jones." He said standing to attention.

"At ease Private." Martha said.

"Don't stand to attention on my account Ross." Harry said. "I've informed Mace that this site needs securing, though with no one around, perhaps you should come back with us."

"By that..." He trailed off.

"Magic." Harry beamed at him, pushing himself off the desk. "It'd be a little bit lonely here on your own in any case." He said as he held out a hand to Martha. "I know you've been through this before."

"Just breathe out, I know Harry." She said.

"Just breathe out." Jenkins repeated as Harry disapparated.

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"You didn't feel like following her in?"

"She's just dropping off his coat." Harry said to Judith as they both watched the blue box sitting in a side alley between two of the nearby factories. It was doing a good job of pretending that it was meant to be there.

"You don't think the Doctor'll whisk her away from all this?" Judith wondered.

"You could go and ask him Judith?" Harry said.

"I have my answers from a source less biased." She replied.

"He won't whisk her away. The Doctor wouldn't do that. He knows she's got a life here." Harry said reasonably, even though doubt hinted in the tone of his voice.

"And the Doctor never does that." Judith commented cynically.

"Almost never." He said thinking of Ian and Barbara. "Mostly." He added as he considered that Jo's first TARDIS trip wasn't exactly intended. "But he doesn't kidnap people." He tried to finish but then thought of Tegan. He sighed. "Not any time in this century." He finally said.

Then the TARDIS started to dematerialise.

Judith chuckled. "There goes that assumption then."

"Maybe Martha wanted to go along for the ride?" Harry wondered.

"Maybe." Judith said looking to him. "Did you want to go along too?" She asked softly.

Harry snorted. "Hardly. The Doctor had enough trouble getting me and Draco back to Earth after my sojourn to Hyspero. Who knows where I'd end up if I ran off with him now." Harry looked back to where UNIT was continuing the clear up. "I can't go rambling off in a rackety old TARDIS. After all, we've still got an invasion of Daleks and the end of the universe to worry about."

"And this attempt at the end of the world? Just a detour?" Judith wondered.

"Perhaps." Harry mused. "It is odd, this isn't what I know of the Sontarans. Maybe I should talk to Sarah, she's got a different natty computer that might enlighten."

"One that doesn't hate you?" Judith interjected.

Harry nodded. "Exactly."

"Or, hasn't this computer met you yet?" Judith asked smirking. "Maybe it'll hate you as well."

Harry chuckled. "There's always that."

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A/N:

One thing that's great about The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky is that it's lovely and linear, there's also a clock on the wall inside the UNIT HQ truck, so I know almost exactly how long everything takes to happen. However even though knowing this I've still taken a liberty or two in how long it takes for things to happen.

Harry meets Donna where and when he does because it's one of the few times where he can when she's alone and not on her way back to her parent's house.

Ross Jenkins is saved by Harry here. In The Poison Sky he dies.

Below is a "deleted scene" I've written especially for these author notes. It's a scene that I wrote because in watching The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky itwould probably be there were this an actual TV episode. But if I had it in the story it'd break the narrative flow. It's a scene that doesn't need to be in the story. This scene happens just after Ross Jenkins is shot.

Deleted Scene...

"LPI Raven. Greyhound 40 safe. LPI Raven, going radio dark."

The Doctor looked at the radio as that voice came across. Mace recognised that voice, it was the voice of Harry Potter. The man in charge of the League of Paranormal Investigations. The man who had stunned one of his men during the ghost invasion. And much as he hated to admit it, the man who had been much more prepared and capable in dealing with that particular situation.

Mace knew Potter's history with UNIT, Potter's highly classified history with UNIT and General Sir Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart. There were few people who had served with him that were still active. Potter was one of those few.

"Get him back. Harry, Harry!" The Doctor shouted, almost desperately.

"You know who that man is Doctor?" Mace felt the eyes and power of the Doctor on him.

"And you know him don't you Colonel? How do you know Harry?" The Doctor demanded.

"Harry Potter is in charge of an organisation; we share jurisdiction in." Mace paused. "He aligns his organisation with the British armed forces." He said with some finality.

"Now listen to me Colonel, Harry is exceptionally capable. Your soldiers are not. Now, GET THEM OUT OF THERE!" The Doctor shouted.