Season 4: Episode 5

"The Poison Sky"

Wilf pounded on the glass.

Donna had both hands on the window, staring at her grandfather in helpless desperation. "He's gonna choke! Doctor!"

"It won't open!" he said, panicking slightly.

Rose gave a sudden squawk, and yanked the Doctor back from the car as Sylvia rushed forward and slammed an axe into the windscreen, smashing it open and releasing the gas.

They all stared at her in shock for a moment before she snapped, "Well, don't just stand there! Get him out!"

They reached in and grabbed the man, pulling him out. He gasped for a few moments.

"Thanks!" he finally managed.

Donna stared at her mother incredulously. "I can't believe you've got an axe!"

The older woman shrugged as though it should have been obvious. "Burglars!"

Rose plucked at the Doctor's elbow. "It's getting thick."

He nodded. "Get inside the house. Just try and close off the doors and windows. You should go with them, Rose."

She snorted. "No chance. Where you go, I go. Besides, the TARDIS has to be filtering or something for me, because I can't tell any difference."

At that moment, Ross returned in a black cab. He leaned out the window. "Doctor, Miss Rose! This is all I could find that hasn't got ATMOS."

"You did great, Ross," the young blonde assured him as she and the Doctor raced toward him.

The Doctor glanced back. "Donna, you coming?"

She nodded, raising a hand. "Yeah!"

Her mother grabbed her arm. "Donna! Don't go! Look what happens every time that Doctor and his woman appear! Stay with us, please."

Wilf shook his head and pried his daughter's hand loose. "You go my darling!"

Sylvia gaped at him. "Dad!"

He shook his head and pushed Donna toward the cab. "Don't listen to her! You go with them! That's my girl! Bye!"

Donna climbed into the cab, shooting her family a guilt ridden glance. As she sat back, Rose placed her hand over the other woman's.

"I know," she said simply. "I know."

The redhead couldn't help herself, she leaned over and rested her head on her friend's shoulder and left it there until they made it back to the factory.

Upon arrival, they exited solemnly.

"Ross, look after yourself, get inside the building," the Doctor told the young man. "We'll manage."

"Will do," he nodded, speaking over the radio as he walked away. "Greyhound 40 to Trap 1, I have just returned the Doctor to base safe and sound, over."

Donna coughed, covering her mouth. "The air is disgusting!"

The Doctor shook his head. "It's not so bad for me, go on, get inside the TARDIS. Oh, never given you a key! Keep that! Go on, that's yours! Quite a big moment really!" He handed her a nondescript key.

Rose couldn't stop her hand from moving to touch her own key, hanging as ever from the chain around her neck. Donna's key looked like any other key, but her key had her name on one side in English and in Gallifreyan on the other. It had been a gift from the Doctor shortly after they'd lost her family.

"Yeah, maybe we can get sentimental after the world's finished choking to death!" The redhead snapped.

He couldn't help but grin. "Good idea! Come on, Rose."

"Where are you two going?"

Rose winked as the Doctor pulled her toward the field base. "Stop a war!"

Donna shook her head, turning the other way and heading for the safety of the TARDIS.

As they went into the base, the Doctor began speaking immediately, barking like the seasoned soldier he tried to forget he really was. "Right then, here I am, good. Whatever you do, Colonel Mace, do not engage the Sontarans in battle, there is nothing they like better than a war. Just leave this to me."

"And what are you going to do?" Mace asked curiously.

Rose noticed Martha standing there silently and frowned slightly.

"I've got the TARDIS, I'm gonna get on board their ship." The Doctor turned to Rose and Martha. "Come on!"

They ran down the alley toward the TARDIS when Rose suddenly stopped and gasped.

"Rose!" the Doctor exclaimed, catching her as she stumbled.

"She… she…" the woman blinked wide eyes at him, then took off running.

"Rose! What is it?!"

They turned a corner and found only an empty space where the TARDIS had been.

"But... where's the TARDIS?" Martha asked aloud.

The Doctor made a face. "Taste that, in the air. Yecch. That sort of metal tang. Teleport exchange. It's the Sontarans, they've taken it. I'm stuck, on Earth like... like an ordinary person. Like a human! How rubbish is that! Sorry, no offence, but come on!"

Rose shook her head. "She's okay, at least…"

"So what do we do?" the black woman asked expectantly.

Rose frowned, glancing over at the Doctor before turning back to the woman who was like a sister to her.

"Well... I mean it's shielded, they could never detect it," he said slowly.

"What?" Martha snapped at Rose after she noticed how the other woman was staring.

"I'm just wondering, have you phoned your family and Tom?" Rose asked carefully.

The doctor rolled her eyes. "No, what for?"

"The gas. Tell them to stay inside," the Time Lord suggested, moving a step closer to his wife.

She waved a hand. "Course I will, yeah, but, what about Donna? I mean, where's she?"

Rose shook her head slightly. This wasn't right. Something had happened to her friend.

"Oh, she's gone home," the Doctor said cheerfully. "She's not like you, she's not a soldier. Right. So, avanti!"

The three of them entered the base, the hands of Rose and the Doctor clasped firmly and tightly.

"Change of plan!" the Doctor called out, thinking fast.

The colonel nodded, smiling slightly. "Good to have you fighting alongside us, Doctor."

He shook his head confidently. "I'm not fighting, I'm not-fighting, as in not hyphen fighting, got it? Now, does anyone know what this gas is yet?"

"We're working on it," Martha said simply.

Another soldier spoke up. "It's harmful, but not lethal until it reaches 80% density. We're having the first reports of deaths from the centre of Tokyo City."

"And who are you?" the Doctor asked curiously.

With a sharp salute, the answer came. "Captain Marion Price, sir."

"Oh, put your hand down. Don't salute, his ego's big enough," Rose said absently.

"Jodrell Bank's traced a signal, Doctor, coming from 5000 miles above the Earth. We're guessing that's what triggered the cars," Mace reported.

"The Sontaran ship," the Doctor sighed.

Mace nodded grimly. "NATO has gone to Defcon One, we're preparing a strike."

Rose winced. Always attacking… didn't they understand that if there was someone in orbit, who'd come across galaxies to the planet, their weapons were obviously going to be inferior, and probably just annoy them?

The Doctor glared at the colonel. "You can't do that, nuclear missiles won't even scratch the surface. Let me talk to the Sontarans."

Mace bristled. "You're not authorised to speak on behalf of the Earth."

Rose groaned. "You had to do that, didn't ya?"

"I've got that authority, I earned that a long time ago." The Doctor scowled at him darkly. Pulling out his sonic screwdriver to connect the UNIT computer systems to the Sontaran ship. "Calling the Sontaran Command Ship under Jurisdiction Two of the Intergalactic Rules of Engagement. This is The Doctor."

Rose crossed her arms, hoping Donna was okay. She closed her eyes biefly, reaching out to the TARDIS, hoping the ship could tell her how their companion was faring. There was a moment of confusion as it seemed like someone else was trying to connect with her as well, but then she just knew that Donna could hear the Doctor talking.

The face of Staal appeared on the screen and the Sontaran smirked triumphantly. "Doctor, breathing your last?"

"My God, they're like trolls," Mace gasped.

Rose hissed at the colonel. "Yeah, loving the diplomacy, ta."

The Doctor spoke to the Sontarans. "So, tell me, General Staal, since when did you lot become cowards?"

"How dare you!" Staal bellowed angrily.

"Oh, that's diplomacy?" Mace asked Rose.

She shrugged. "You get to 900 years old, and I'll let you insult anyone you like, yeah?"

Staal glowered at them. "Doctor, you impugn my honour!"

The Doctor gave a quick, unamused laugh. "Yeah, I'm really glad you didn't say belittle cos then I'd have a field day. But poison gas? That's the weapon of a coward and you know it. Staal, you could blast this planet out of the sky, and yet you're sitting up above watching it die. Where's the fight in that? Where's the honour? Or, are you lot planning something else? Cos this isn't normal Sontaran warfare. What are you lot up to?"

"A general would be unwise to reveal his strategy to the opposing forces."

"Aaah, the war's not going so well, then? Losing, are we?"

"Such a suggestion is impossible."

Rose sat on the edge of a nearby table, feeling a bit winded. It made sense, being as the TARDIS was in orbit and shielded.

"What war?" the colonel asked curiously.

Shifting into teaching mode, the Doctor glanced at him and explained, "The war between the Sontarans and the Rutans. It's been raging, far out in the stars for 50,000 years. 50,000 years of bloodshed, and for what?"

"For victory. Sontar-ha!" Staal shouted.

The other Sontarans echoed his cry. "Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha!"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Gimme a break. Doctor? Anything else on this telly?"

With a worried look at her worn tone, he pulled out the sonic screwdriver and changed the channel to the cartoon, Tommy Zoom.

The colonel stepped forward. "Doctor. I would seriously recommend that this dialogue is handled by official Earth representation."

"Not now, colonel," he said shortly, putting together why his Rose was tired and dragging his gaze back to the screen. He changed the image back to the Sontaran ship. "Finished?"

The Sontaran sneered. "You will not be so quick to ridicule when you'll see our prize. Behold! We are the first Sontarans in history to capture a TARDIS."

He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "Well. As prizes go, that's... noble. As they say in Latin, Donna nobis pacem… Did you never wonder about its design? It's phone box. It contains a phone. A telephonic device for communication. Sort of symbolic. Like if only we could communicate. You and I."

The general huffed. "All you have communicated is your distress, Doctor."

"Big mistake though. Showing it to me," he continued. "Cos I've got remote control."

"Cease transmission!" Staal ordered just before the screen went black.

"Oh, well," he said, moving over to Rose's side.

"That's achieved nothing," Mace said sourly.

"Oh, you'd be surprised," he retorted as he placed a hand on Rose's arm. "You okay?"

"Be better when she's back," she admitted with half a smile. "I was trying to check on Donna, that's what sapped my strength."

He sighed, touching her face briefly. "Don't do that. I need you at top speed just now. They'll take care of themselves."

She nodded, meeting his eyes. "I'll be ready for anything, Doctor. I promise you."

Nearby, Martha seemed to be studying a clipboard, but the Doctor noticed she was paying more attention to what the two of them were saying. He strode to her and snatched the clipboard from her hands.

"There's carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides but 10% unidentified. Some sort of artificial heavy element we can't trace. You ever seen anything like it?" the woman asked calmly.

He narrowed his eyes. "Must be something the Sontarans invented. This isn't just poison, they need this gas for something else. What could that be?"

"Launch grid online and active," someone announced.

Mace nodded. "Positions ladies and gentlemen, Defcon One initiatives in progress."

Rose gasped. "What?! We told you not to launch!"

The colonel drew himself to full height. "The gas is at 60% density, 80% and people start dying, Miss Tyler. We've got no choice."

"Mrs." Her tone was cold as she glared at him, and the Doctor couldn't find the strength to tease her about being rude.

"Launching in 60, 59, 58, 57, 56… Worldwide nuclear grid now co-ordinating. 54, 53..."

The Doctor stepped toward Mace. "You're making a mistake, Colonel! For once, I hope the Sontarans are ahead of you."

The soldier running commentary began reading off a screen. "North America, online. United Kingdom, online. France, online. India, online. Pakistan, online. China, online. North Korea, online. All systems locked and co-ordinated. Launching in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5..."

"God save us," Mace whispered.

"...4, 3, 2, 1, 0…"

Nothing happened. Nothing at all. Even the screen shut off. Everyone looked around in alarm.

"What is it? What happened? Did we launch? Well, did we?" Mace demanded angrily.

"Negative, sir. The launch codes have been wiped, sir. It must be the Sontarans."

"Can we override it?"

"Hopefully not," Rose snorted.

The soldier was tapping frantically on the keyboard. "Trying it now, sir."

"Missiles wouldn't even dent that ship, so why are the Sontarans so keen to stop you?" the Doctor asked, shooting an inquiring look at Martha. "Any ideas?"

"How should I know?" she snapped.

Rose frowned and studied the woman. She knew the Doctor had noticed now that Martha was not acting like herself. At all. And if the Sontarans had harmed the woman who was like a sister to her, she was going to do exactly what the Doctor was most afraid of… she was going to call back Bad Wolf in full and wipe them from reality.

Ross's voice echoed over the radio. "Enemy within! At arms! Greyhound 40 declaring absolute emergency. Sontarans within factory grounds, east corridor grid six."

The colonel jumped as he snatched his own radio and began shouting into it. "Absolute emergency, declaring Code Red. All troops, Code Red!"

"Get them out of there!" the Doctor shouted.

Glaring at him, Mace ordered, "All troops, open fire!"

"You idiot!" Rose snapped. "Is being right more important than people's lives?"

"The guns aren't working. Inform all troops, standard weapons do not work," Ross's voice said, a tone of resignation clearly audible. "Tell the Doctor it's that Cordolaine signal. He's the only one who can stop them."

There was static from the radio then, and the colonel started screaming into the radio.

"Greyhound 40, report. Over. Greyhound 40, report. Greyhound 40, report!"

Looking at Rose's stricken face, the Doctor stood and stepped toward Mace. "He wasn't Greyhound 40, his name was Ross. Now listen to me, and GET THEM OUT OF THERE!"

The man looked up at the furious Doctor and gulped. "Trap One to all stations. Retreat. Order imperative, immediate retreat!"

After escaping the building, they stood while the colonel informed them that the Sontarans had taken control of the factory.

"Why? They don't need it. Why attack now? What are they up to? Times like this, I could do with the Brigadier," the Doctor sighed. When Rose elbowed him out of habit, he muttered, "No offence."

Mace shook his head. "None taken. Sir Alistair's a fine man, if not the best. Unfortunately he's stranded in Peru."

"Launch grid back online," a soldier said suddenly as the screens came up for a long moment, and then it went black again. "They're inside the system, sir. It's coming from within UNIT itself."

"Trace it," Mace growled. "Find out where it's coming from, and quickly. Gas levels?"

"66% in major population areas. And rising."

Rose sucked in a harsh breath and moved to the Doctor's side, gripping his hand fiercely.

Mace shook his head. "Why are they defending the factory only after we were inside?"

The Time Lord pulled his wife closer as he answered carefully. "Because they wanted UNIT here. You gave them something they needed. Something now hidden inside the factory. Something precious."

The officer took the news stoically. "Then we've got to recover it. This Cordolaine signal thing, how does it work?"

"Oh, I know this one," Rose piped, unable to hide her grin at being able to explain something. "I studied it once. The bullets. It causes expansion of the copper shell."

"Right!" the Doctor praised her proudly.

"Excellent. I'm on it," Mace said, immediately leaving.

"For the billionth time, you can't fight Sontarans!" the Doctor shouted after him. "Rose, I need your mobile."

She hands it to him. "I'll keep her here," she told him almost silently.

With a quick kiss, he ducked out of the room.

"Where's he going?" Martha asked, watching the door.

"Even aliens have to use the loo," the blonde shrugged. "How's your family been doing?"

"All surviving and healthy," she said automatically, staring at her phone for a moment.

"Wanna tell me what you got planned for your wedding so far?"

Martha glared at Rose. "Don't you think this is not the time to be discussing such trivial matters? I want to know what the Doctor is doing."

Rose shrugged, leaning against the wall. "And I wanna week where I don't run for my life or worry if I'm gonna see him again. Guess we're both out of luck."

The two women spent several long moments in a tense silence before the colonel reentered the room and gestured them both out. He guided them to his office where the Doctor clicked off the phone.

"Counter attack," he said tightly.

"You're throwing away lives," Rose hissed.

Mace didn't answer, he only shoved gas masks at them.

"You're not going without me!" Martha announced.

The Doctor glanced at Rose, who nodded, her smile replaced by a tight, grim expression.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he said seriously.

They joined the soldiers outside, the colonel showing off his weapons.

"Latest firing stock, what do you think, Doctor?" he asked smugly.

"Are you my mummy?" the Doctor asked through the gas mask.

Rose hit his arm, then glanced down to make sure she hadn't worn that old shirt again. "Do ya have to bring that up?"

"Couldn't find you a barrage balloon, dear," he teased.

"If you two could concentrate," the man said testily. "Bullets with a rad-steel coating, no copper surface. Should overcome the Cordolaine signal."

Sighing in frustration, the Doctor tried again. "But the Sontarans have got lasers! You can't even see in this fog, the night-vision doesn't work."

Mace sneered. "Thank you Doctor, thank you for your lack of faith. But this time, I'm not listening."

"You mean there was a time when you WERE listening?" Rose asked incredulously. "'Cause it looked to me like you've been ignoring him the whole time."

He turned and pulled his mask off to address his soldiers. "Attention, all troops! Sontarans might think of us as primitive. As does every passing species with an axe to grind. They make a mockery of our weapons, our soldiers, our ideals. But no more! From this point on, it stops. From this point on, the people of Earth fight back and we show them! We show the warriors of Sontar what the human race can do! Trap One to Hawk Major! Go, go, go!"

There was a loud rumble from above and the fog began to clear. There was a moment then a familiar ship came into sight. A ship that gave Rose enough of a scare that she groaned in fear and backed away, reaching almost instinctively for the TARDIS and barely feeling her. The deadlock on her teleportation was nearly impossible to get through.

"It's working! The area's clearing. Engines to maximum!" Mace shouted.

"It's the Valiant!" the Doctor gasped.

"UNIT Carrier Ship Valiant reporting for duty, Doctor! With engines strong enough to clear away the fog," the colonel agreed.

"Woah, that's brilliant!"

"Getting a taste for it, Doctor?"

"No, not at all. Not me," he shook his head before ripping his mask off, a look of horror crossing his features as he looked around frantically. "Rose!"

She was sitting on the pavement, mask in hand. He rushed to her and pulled her to her feet, forcing her to look at him. "Look at me, love. You're safe. We're together. The Master is gone. Rose… Rose, focus!"

She blinked slowly. "I… I can't…"

"Valiant, fire at will!" Mace ordered.

The ship fired at the factory as the soldiers began to attack on the ground. The Sontarans began to retreat. Rose forced herself to return to her senses, using her connection to the Doctor to pull herself back. She couldn't fall apart, he needed her to be strong.

"East and north secure. Doctor?" Mace shouted.

He soldiers began to head away, and the two people made to follow, the Doctor hitting redial.

"Donna, hold on. I'm coming."

Martha appeared at their side just as the couple turned to take a different route.

"Shouldn't we follow the Colonel?" she asked.

"Nah, just us and you, Martha Jones. Just like old times!" the Doctor grinned manically at her, whipping out the sonic screwdriver. "Alien technology, this way!"

"Just what we need, a bit of Spock," Rose joked weakly.

He squeezed her hand, and the three of them followed the signal from the sonic screwdriver, heading straight into the basement. The very empty basement.

"No Sontarans down here. They can't resist a battle," the Doctor explained. "Here we go."

The entered a large room, and saw Martha strapped to a table, completely unconscious with a wired sort of headdress on that was most likely feeding information into the created copy. Releasing Rose's hand, the Time Lord ran over to their friend and checked her pulse.

"Ooh, Martha, I'm so sorry. Still alive, though, no worries, Rose."

The blonde woman nodded, scowling as the clone of their friend raised a gun and pointed it directly at the Doctor.

"Am I supposed to be impressed?" he scoffed.

She turned and pointed it at Rose instead. "Wish you carried a gun now?"

"Not at all," he said evenly, although he was panicking internally.

"I've been stopping the nuclear launch all this time," she bragged.

Rose snorted. "Whoop-de-doo."

The Doctor shook his head. "Doing exactly what I wanted. I needed to stop the missiles, just as much as the Sontarans. I'm not having Earth start an interstellar war. You're a triple agent!"

The imposter narrowed her eyes. "When did you know?"

He waved negligently. "What, you? Oh, right from the start. Reduced iris contraction, slight thinning of the hair follicles on the left temple. And, frankly, you smell. You might as well have worn a T-shirt saying 'clone'. Although, maybe not in front of Captain Jack, right Rose? You remember him, don't you? Cos you've got all her memories. That's why the Sontarans had to protect her, to keep you inside UNIT. Martha Jones is keeping you alive."

He reached out and yanked the device from the real Martha's head, wakening her with a scream as Rose spun and snatched the gun out of the clone's surprised fingers just before the copy fell to the ground in agony. Rose tossed the gun aside and rushed to envelope Martha in a tight hug.

"We've got you, Martha," the blonde woman cooed. "Me and the Doctor, we're here, you're okay.

"There was this thing, this alien, with this head..." Martha tried to explain.

"Sontaran," Rose told her as the mobile rang in the Doctor's pocket. "Yeah, stuff's been happening…"

"Oh, blimey I'm busy. Got it?" the Doctor said by way of answering the device. There was a pause as the person on the other end answered. "Take off the covering. All the blue switches inside, flick them up like a fusebox. And that should get the teleport working."

Martha pulled back from Rose and looked over, gasping. "Oh, my God. That's me."

The Doctor met Rose's eyes for a moment, then turned to work with the teleport in the room. She hovered near their recently recovered friend as the woman moved to inspect her clone.

"Don't touch me!" the copy hissed.

Martha took a shaky breath and glanced at Rose. "It's not my fault. The Sontarans created you. But... you had all my memories."

The copy closed her eyes. "You've got a brother, sister, mother and father."

The young doctor nodded, a bit emotional. "If you don't help me, they're gonna die."

Rose placed a hand on Martha's shoulder.

"You love them, and your friends," the clone said, her voice getting weaker.

"Yes. Remember that?"

The Doctor shouted from where he was working, "The gas! Tell us about the gas."

"Doctor, shut it, yeah?" his wife shushed him.

"He's the enemy!"

Martha took her clone's hands in her own. "Then tell me. It's not just poison, what's it for? Martha, please!"

The copy squeezed the other woman's hands. "Caesofine concentrate. It's one part of Bosteen, two parts Probic 5."

"Clonefeed! It's clonefeed!" the Doctor gasped.

"What's clonefeed?" Rose asked him. "Sounds bad."

He nodded at her. "Like amniotic fluid for Sontarans. That's why they're not invading, they're converting the atmosphere. Changing the planet into a clone world. Earth becomes a great big hatchery. Cos the Sontarans are clones, that's how they reproduce. Give 'em a planet this big, they'll create billions of new soldiers. That gas isn't poison, it's food!"

"Then you need to fix that faster, love," she said pointedly.

He nodded and went back to work on the teleport.

"My heart... It's getting slower," the copy said sadly.

Rose knelt next to her with Martha. "I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do."

The clone nodded, looking up at Martha. "In your mind, you've got so many plans. There's so much that you wanna do."

She gave the dying woman a watery smile. "And I will. Never do tomorrow what you can do today, my mum says. Cos..."

"Cos you never know how long you've got," the clone interrupted. "Martha Jones... All that life…"

With a sigh, the eyes on the copy closed, and both women knew she was gone. Rose hugged her friend, a bit disturbed by the all too real death of Martha's doppelganger. Martha hugged her back, then slid her engagement ring from the copy's finger.

"Now!" the Doctor shouted, pointing his sonic screwdriver at the teleport. The two women scrambled to their feet as Donna appeared in the room. The redhead immediately ran to hug the Doctor.

"Have I ever told you how much I hate you?" she asked him enthusiastically.

He tried to pry her off. "Hold on, hold on. Get off me, get off me! Gotta bring the TARDIS down. Rose!"

The blonde woman happily hugged Donna for him as he operated the teleport again, rescuing their home from the Sontarans.

"Right, now. Martha, you coming?" he asked cheerfully.

She looked at her cell in confusion. "What about this nuclear launch thing?"

Rose reached over and hit the response. "Just keep pressing N, we kinda want to keep those missiles on the ground, I think."

"But there's... two of them," Donna said, pointing at the dead clone.

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, long story. Here we go. The old team, back together! Well, the new team."

"The team," Rose said firmly, alleviating his babbling.

"We're not going back on that ship!" Donna freaked.

"No, no, no. No," He insisted as they began to teleport. "I needed to get the teleport working so that we could get to... here! The Rattigan Academy, owned by..."

There was a slight click and they looked around to see Luke pointing a gun at them.

"Honestly," Rose grumbled. "Put that thing down before ya hurt someone, or they hurt you."

The boy trembled, focusing on the blonde because she'd spoken. "Don't tell anyone what I did! It wasn't my fault, the Sontarans lied to me, they..."

The Doctor growled low in his throat and stomped over to him, taking the gun and throwing it across the room. "If I see one more gun pointed at my Rose…"

She put a quick hand on his arm, stopping him. "He's just a kid. A scared kid at that. He wasn't gonna shoot me. Doctor… Doctor!"

He shuddered and pulled her close for a moment. She pushed him away after a moment.

"Gas. Fix it," she ordered with a soft smile.

The Time Lord grinned at her and began assembling something with bits and bobs from around Luke's room at a manic pace.

"That's why the Sontarans had to stop the missiles, they were holding back. Because, caesofine gas is volatile, that's why they had to use you to stop the nuclear attack. Ground-to-air engagement could've sparked off the whole thing," he rambled while he worked.

"What, like set fire to the atmosphere?" Martha asked in shock.

"Yeah. They need all the gas intact to breed their clone army. And all the time we had Luke here in his dream factory. Planning a little trip, were we?"

The boy slumped. "They promised me a new world."

Rose patted him on the back. She'd always been quick to forgive and comfort people.

"You were building equipment, ready to terraform El Mondo Luko so that humans could live there and breathe the air with this! An atmospheric converter," the Doctor grinned, holding up a device before reaching out, grabbing Rose's hand, and rushing outside.

The other three hesitated for two seconds before sprinting out after them.

"That's London. You can't even see it. My family's in there," Donna said, pointing at the gas covered horizon.

"If I can get this on the right setting..." the Doctor murmured.

"Doctor, hold on, you said the atmosphere would ignite," Martha clarified.

He nodded easily. "Yeah, I did, didn't I?"

He pushed a button, shooting a flame into the sky. He stared after it and reached for Rose's hand. She stepped close.

"Please, please, please, please, please, please, please..." they chanted together until the entire sky seemed to burst into flames.

Luke gaped at the sky. "He's a genius!"

"Just brilliant," Martha praised.

"Now we're in trouble, though, ain't we?" Rose asked expectantly. "There's gonna be a very pissed off Sontaran looking for you."

The Doctor merely leaned over and kissed her quickly before running back into the building. He looked at Rose before shaking his head and pulling her into the teleport pod with him, still holding the converter.

"Right, so... Donna, thank you. For everything. Martha, you too. Oh... so many times. Luke, do something clever with your life."

Donna shook her head. "You're saying goodbye."

He sighed. "Sontarans are never defeated. They'll be getting ready for war. And, well, you know, I've recalibrated this for Sontaran air, so..."

"You're gonna ignite them," Martha stated, dumbstruck.

Donna shook her head. "You'll kill yourself, you and Rose!"

Martha bit her lip. "Just send that thing up, on its own. I don't know... put it on a delay."

"I can't," he said simply.

"Why not?" Donna demanded.

Rose looked at him, knowing how hard it had been for him to accept that she would have gone whether he wanted her to or not, and choose to simply bring her. "We've got to give them a choice," she answered for him, squeezing his hand to remind him he wasn't doing this – or anything – alone.

They teleported, arriving on the ship.

"Oh, excellent!" Staal crowed.

The Doctor held up the converter. "General Staal, you know what this is. But there's one more option. You can go. Just leave. Sontaran High Command need never know what happened here."

Staal scoffed. "Your stratagem would be wise if Sontarans feared death. But we do not. At arms!"

"I'll do it, Staal. If it saves the Earth, I'll do it."

"A warrior doesn't talk, he acts!" the Sontaran taunted.

"We're giving you the chance to leave," Rose tried.

"And miss the glory of this moment?"

A voice filled the air from the p.a. system in the ship. "All weapons targeting Earth, sir. Firing in 20."

"I'm warning you!" the Doctor shouted.

Staal sneered. "And I salute you! Take aim!"

"Shoot us, he's still gonna press that button! You'll all die, Staal," Rose said, hating that another race had to die to protect the universe.

"Knowing that you die, too," came the not unexpected response.

"Firing in 15."

Staal raised his fist. "For the glory of Sontar! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha!"

The rest of the Sontarans began to join the chant. "Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha!"

"I'll do it!" the Doctor nearly screamed.

"Then do it!" the general screamed back, absolutely manic now.

Rose leaned into the Doctor's side and whispered, "I love you, my Doctor."

He wrapped his free arm around her, wishing she was anywhere but on this ship about to die with him, and moved his thumb over the switch. With a shaky breath…

He was standing back in Luke's room, holding his wife and no converter. The couple looked around, completely gobsmacked as to what happened for a long moment. As Donna and Martha hurried to hug them and lavish them with statements of how happy they were to see them, the pair realized that Luke had taken their place. Rose's knees nearly gave way, and the Doctor caught her.

Now he's a hero, she told herself. She met the Doctor's eyes and shared in his sorrow at yet another life given to protect theirs.

There was quite a bit of cleanup to do, but as soon as they could manage, the four of them were in the TARDIS, teasing Martha about not coming along. Rose ducked out to the kitchen for a cuppa.

"Oh, I have missed all this, but, you know. I'm good here. Back at home. And I'm better for having been away. Besides, someone needs me. Never mind the universe, I've got a great big world of my own now!" Martha laughed, heading toward the door. "Tell Rose I'll call her soon. I want her as my matron of honour!"

She walked toward the door, gasping as it snapped shut in her face. Just as she turned to ask what was happening, the TARDIS began to shake wildly and set to flight. The jar next to the console, the one containing two severed hands, began to bubble madly.

"What? What!?" the Doctor cried, clinging to the console as he tried to make sense of what was happening.

Martha tried to make her way closer. "Doctor, don't you dare!"

He shook his head. "No, no, no! I didn't touch anything! We're in flight, it's not me!"

Donna barely had hold of one of the coral struts. "Where are we going?"

He shot her a worried look. "I don't know, it's out of control!"

"Doctor, just listen to me!" Martha cried. "You take me home, take me home right now!"


A/N: I know I haven't updated in a long time, so I posted three new chapters for you all today. Thank you so much for being so understanding and supportive while I have so many troubles in my personal life. I keep writing for two reasons - I love to write, and I love to make you all happy. Hopefully I've managed the second today. I am still here, and still working away on this story, and I hope to have more for you to read soon. Love and kisses! ~Wendi Jo