Chapter 13: Utopia
The TARDIS materialized in the middle of Roald Dahl Plass. Inside, the Doctor was opening up to refuel the TARDIS with energy from the Rift as he said,
"Cardiff."
Martha Jones, his companion, was surprised as she asked, "Cardiff?"
Doctor explained really quickly, "Ah, but the thing about Cardiff, it's built on a rift in time and space, just like California and the San Andreas Fault, but the rift bleeds energy. Every now and then I need to open up the engines, soak up the energy and use it as fuel."
Martha smiled as she understood and asked, "So it's a pit stop?"
Doctor looked at her and said, "Exactly. Should only take 20 seconds."
And then as if something caught his interest, his brows furrowed as he said to himself, "The Rift's been active."
Meanwhile on the Plass, Iris laughed out loud as she bolted towards the TARDIS while a man in a great coat followed after her, running as fast as he possibly could.
Martha then frowned a bit and curiously asked, "Wait a minute. They had an earthquake in Cardiff a couple of years ago. Was that you?"
The Doctor looked at her, realizing what she was talking about and his eyes widened a bit and he mumbled, "Bit of trouble with the slitheen."
Iris was almost by the TARDIS while Jack was breathing hard as he ran after her to catch up.
The Doctor kept working the controls as he said pensively,
"A long time ago. Lifetimes. I was a different man back then."
Martha looked at him, not sure what he was quite talking about. As the Doctor walked around to command other controls, the pair didn't hear Jack yell out,
"Doctor!"
Iris laughed again in pure joy and Jack had caught up to her. They both tried their best to get to the TARDIS before it would start to dematerialize.
The Doctor on the other hand, yelled out,
"Finito! All powered up."
Then he saw the scanner and frowned as he saw not only Jack, but a younger Asian girl running towards the TARDIS. He quickly pulled the lever, trying to see if he could avoid the 51st century man.
Iris and Jack heard the TARDIS begin to dematerialize and pushed themselves a bit more. Iris grabbed onto the TARDIS while Jack put his arms around her and grabbed on, putting Iris between him and the TARDIS.
Then Iris' face turned into one of unpleasant surprise as she realized what she was going to experience.
"Oh no…DOCTOR!" She said as she braced herself to go through the Time Vortex, gripping the TARDIS tighter.
The TARDIS jolted and Iris screamed while Jack yelled out
"DOCTOR!"
Iris thought she was going to really going to stay there forever in the Vortex when she felt Jack slacken a little and turned around in shock. Jack was about to die again. Iris then felt something in the back of her mind, but she wasn't sure why she was still alive while Jack wasn't. Whatever it was, she needed Jack to be with her and not drift away in the Time Vortex.
"Shit!" She yelled out and put her legs around Jack's so that he wouldn't fall off the TARDIS.
She closed her eyes and then wrapped one of her arms around Jack to make sure that nothing wrong would happen and screamed again, scared that she might fall off when suddenly, the TARDIS jolted as it landed and she fell off, hitting her head hard onto the ground and losing consciousness.
Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor looked up and quietly said, "Well, we've landed."
Martha looked at him, not sure what to expect as she asked, "So what's out there?"
Doctor whispered in response, "I don't know."
Martha laughed a little in surprise as she said, "Say that again. That's rare."
The Doctor looked at Martha and said, "Not even the Time Lords came this far. We should leave. We should go."
He seemed to think about something, trying to balance options as he finished with, "We should really, really go."
Then he looked at Martha again and after a suspenseful pause, grinned widely as he grabbed his trench coat and exited the TARDIS with Martha. The Doctor and Martha looked around, when Martha spotted two bodies lying on the ground, not moving.
She yelled out, "Oh, my God!" and ran over to the man first. She checked the pulse and said,
"Can't get a pulse. Hold on, you've got that medical kit thing."
She ran into the TARDIS while the Doctor looked down at Jack and walked towards him and said,
"Hello again."
Then he saw the girl from earlier and frowned and knelt by her side and checked her for a pulse and muttered, "Oh, I'm sorry. Who can you be and what are you doing here?"
The girl seemed to groan and come back, which surprised the Doctor since she really should have been dead like Jack. She didn't seem wrong to him like Jack did, so it made him curious. Then Martha ran out of the TARDIS and came back with the kit as he stood back up.
"Here we go." She said as she knelt by Jack, looking at the girl the Doctor was standing by, assuming that he was checking on her. Flustered, she said,
"It's a bit odd, though, not very 100 trillion. His coat's more like World War II while hers is more like 2007."
As she was getting to help the man, the Doctor looked down at Jack and said, "I think he came with us."
Martha looked up at him with confusion and asked,
"How do you mean? From Earth?"
The Doctor glanced back at the girl, whose eyes fluttered a little, looked back up at Martha and said,
"They must've been clinging to the outside of the TARDIS."
With a quick look at the TARDIS and back at the two, he continued,
"All the way through the Vortex. Well, that's very him…"
Martha took off her stethoscope from Jack and turned to look at the Doctor as she asked incredulously,
"What, do you know them?"
The Doctor looked at Jack and said, "Friend of mine. Used to travel with me. Back in the old days. Though I don't know who this lady is."
Martha looked back at the man, who was dead and said sympathetically,
"But he's… I'm sorry, there's no heartbeat. There's nothing. He's dead."
Then suddenly the man gasped out loud and grabbed onto the nearest person, who happened to be Martha, making her scream as she turned to face him. The Doctor looked at him with an unreadable expression. Martha then looked back at the Doctor, saying with surprise,
"Oh, so much for me." Then as she turned back to him, she said,
"It's all right, just breathe deep. I've got you."
Then the man smiled and looked at Martha carefully before saying,
"Captain Jack Harkness. And who are you?"
Martha smiled a little, still surprised that the man had come back as she replied, "Martha Jones."
Jack smiled and said, "Nice to meet you, Martha Jones."
The Doctor gaped at him with disbelief and said,
"Oh, don't start."
Jack rolled his eyes, as he said, "I was only saying hello."
Martha turned back to the Doctor and said, "I don't mind."
While this interaction happened, Jack looked to the side and then saw Iris, who was still unconscious.
He rolled over, making Martha turn and look at him as he got to his knees and grabbed Iris' head and rubbed a thumb over her face as he grew concerned and whispered,
"Iris?"
He looked up at the Doctor, who noticed something in Jack's demeanor and said,
"Oh, you're friend! Is her name Iris? Lovely name. Irises are truly beautiful flowers. The blue ones are my favorite ones though, since they mean hope and faith…" The Doctor trailed off as he realized Jack glaring at him with half-amusement and half-annoyance. He then realized the unasked question Jack had for him regarding the Asian woman, and said,
"She's fine. Absolutely fine. Just unconscious. Although, she should have been dead."
Jack's eyes immediately grew wide and he was about to panic and the Doctor then realized that he scared the man and said,
"I… uh… she's fine. Don't worry about it. It's just that we traveled a long way through the Time Vortex."
Jack looked at him with a glare and waited for Iris to wake up.
"So who is she then?" Martha asked, curious as to who the girl was.
The girl had her hair tied back in one pony-tail, no makeup, a TARDIS-blue converse, gray jeans and navy-blue blouse on. On top, she also wore a black trench coat. She also had a small backpack that seemed to be lightly packed.
Jack looked up at her and smiled as he said, "Iris. She's… she's my friend… well… more than a friend…"
Martha looked up at him and saw a sad look in his eyes. The Doctor noticed and smiled a bit. But Jack looked back at Iris and whispered,
"Come on… don't do this to me again Iris…you just came back…"
The Doctor frowned and asked, "What happened?"
Jack was about to explain when Iris's eyes opened and she gasped to breathe in air. She was about to hyperventilate when her migraine hit full force and she limply fell back into someone's arms. She looked up, panic coming into her eyes when she saw Jack's face.
Her breathing became a bit more stable as she continued looking up at Jack, who smiled and said,
"Hey. Look who's here."
Iris frowned and then looked to the left a little and froze. She was met with a young-looking man with a pair of brown eyes and a familiar hairstyle and clothing. What she really noticed, was how piercing and old the eyes seemed. Eyes that didn't do the show justice despite the descriptions.
"Oh shit…" Iris muttered.
Martha looked confused and looked to Jack, who managed to smirk a little more. The Doctor looked at Iris in confusion as he said,
"Sorry?"
Iris leaped out of Jack's arm and backed away a little in surprise as she whispered out emphasizing each word,
"Oh… my… God…"
Martha helped Jack stand up and Iris looked like she had frozen in place. Jack laughed out loud and said,
"Iris Kim, meet the Doctor and his beautiful companion Martha Jones."
Jack looked at how Iris' eyes widened even more, if that was even possible. She looked like she was about to scream like a fangirl and he was about to laugh, when her eyes suddenly lost focus.
"Iris? No, no, no… not again." Jack said in panic as he ran over to her when the girl swayed.
Iris groaned, putting an arm weakly on Jack's chest, slightly pushing him away and said, "I'm fine."
Martha and the Doctor looked at each other as the Doctor asked, "Jack? What's wrong? Is Iris alright?"
Jack looked up at him and he said, "Iris has had these migraines since she came to our universe and she's been gradually becoming weaker because of it."
Jack then looked at her eyes and tried to hide his fear as he asked, "Iris, do you have your medicine?"
Iris nodded and Jack helped her take the backpack off, which Martha held to help and he quickly got the water and medications for her. The Doctor noticed how Iris' hands trembled uncontrollably and frowned. He took out his sonic screwdriver when he froze as Jack's words settled in, prompting him to look at Jack and ask,
"What did you say?"
Jack looked up at the Doctor and then realized that he just spilled Iris' secret. He hesitated before saying,
"Iris came through the Rift by accident and we've been together ever since. She came from a parallel universe."
He saw pain in the Doctor's eyes and immediately thought of Rose, but his attention was brought back to Iris, who started coughing and shaking. He noticed that she seemed to be cold and hugged her a little.
"Doctor, we haven't been able to figure out why she's really like this. Do you think you can help?"
The Doctor looked at Iris and took his sonic screwdriver out, which grabbed Iris' attention. But when he scanned it, he shook his head. He wasn't sure if what his sonic screwdriver was telling him was possible. Jack's eyes immediately dimmed with sadness before he hid his emotions, but Iris didn't miss that. She smiled weakly up at him and said,
"I think I'm ok now. Sorry, I just panicked. I couldn't believe my eyes. It's really you isn't it?"
She had turned to look at the Doctor, who was staring at Jack in confusion. Jack smiled and said,
"She knew about you. We'll explain later, but she knew that you existed and I promised her that she could see you."
The Doctor then smiled and shook Iris' hand and said, "Well, hello there then. I'm the Doctor. You're Iris right? Lovely name by the way. Named after a flower. I love flowers…"
Iris giggled a little while Martha rolled her eyes as she shook her head. The girl was young, but she seemed really nice.
But even though Iris looked cheerful, Iris wanted to desperately yell at Jack for not letting the Doctor know the truth about how she knew about the Doctor. She had intended to tell him as soon as she saw him, but something in her had prevented it. And with Jack postponing the information, she was not entirely sure that the Doctor would appreciate them holding back on the truth.
Then when time finally seemed to open up without something drastic happening, The Doctor looked at Jack who said,
"Good to see you."
The Doctor smirked and said, "And you. Same as ever. Although, have you had work done?"
Martha looked confused when Iris burst out laughing, as if she forgot that she had been in pain earlier.
Jack glared at Iris, and then back at the Doctor as he said, sounding offended, "You can talk."
The Doctor looked lost for a minute before smiling widely and said, "Oh, yes, the face. Regeneration. How did you know this was me?"
Jack nodded his head towards the TARDIS as he said, "The police box kind of gives it away. I've been following you for a long time. You abandoned me."
The Doctor immediately made his voice sound indifferent and avoided Jack's intense gaze as he said, "Did I? Busy life. Moving on."
Jack glared at Iris, who was holding onto her stomach, still laughing, trying to sober up. He pointed at her and said,
"And you, why didn't you tell me about his face."
Iris stopped laughing, trying to control her breathing before choking out, "Well…spoilers…" and couldn't handle Jack's mischievous face and broke into laughter all over again. This made the Doctor frown.
Jack rolled his eyes as he tried to explain.
"Iris… kinda… knows things."
The Doctor frowned as he looked at her and asked him, "What things?"
Iris stopped laughing as fear chilled her back as she stood up, feeling the Doctor's intense gaze. She looked at him, and said,
"I… the parallel world I come from…has stories about you…"
The Doctor came up to her and said, "What kind?"
Iris' eyes widened and she looked terrified and Jack pulled the Time Lord back, saying,
"We will tell you later. Right now, we need to figure out where we are."
The Doctor warily looked at Iris, not so sure what to make of the girl as they all began walking.
The Doctor was in the very front and Iris was between Martha and Jack. Martha smiled at Iris and introduced herself.
"Hi, I'm Martha Jones. Nice to meet you."
Iris smiled and said meekly, "Iris Kim…It's an honor"
Martha laughed and said, "Well that's a first."
Jack smiled and began a small talk. Iris looked at the Doctor, not sure what to say to the Time Lord when she had so many questions, when she payed attention to Jack's story.
"So there I was, stranded in the year two hundred one hundred, ankle deep in Dalek dust, and he goes of without me. But I had this."
He pointed to his Vortex Manipulator.
Jack continued, "I used to be a Time Agent. It's called a vortex manipulator. He's not the only one who can time travel."
Martha looked thoroughly impressed when the Doctor scoffed and said,
"Oh, excuse me. That is not time travel. It's like, I've got a sports care and you've got a space hopper."
Martha gasped with amusement as she said, "Oh ho, boys and their toys."
Iris laughed as Jack rolled his eyes and said, annoyed,
"All right, so I bounced. I thought 21st century, the best place to find the Doctor, except that I got it a little wrong. Arrived in 1869, this thing burnt out, so it was useless."
The Doctor, as if happy that it had turned out like that, said smugly, "Told you."
Iris coughed a little as she whispered, looking at Martha, "Says the man who will use it."
Martha looked at her and laughed while Jack, growing frustrated, said,
"I had to live through the entire 20th century waiting for a version of you that would coincide with me."
Martha then looked at Jack and then Iris with surprise as she said, "But that makes you more than one hundred years old."
Jack smirked and said, "And looking good, don't you think? So I went to the time rift, based myself there because I knew you'd come back to refuel. Until finally I get a signal on this detecting you and here we are."
Martha looked at Iris with awe too and Iris immediately shook her head and said,
"Hell no… I'm not that old. I'm from 2017 believe it or not. I came from the future to the past. Not that far of a past, but still… 10 years is still something... I hope I'm a normal human thank you very much."
The Doctor glanced at Iris, not missing how she said, 'I hope I'm a normal human'.
Martha then looked at the Time Lord with a frown and concern in her face as she asked,
"But the thing is, how come you left him behind, Doctor?"
The Doctor tried to not answer by saying, "I was busy."
Martha looked a little pissed off as she said, "Is that what happens, though, seriously? Do you just get bored with us one day and disappear?"
Jack muttered silently, "Not if you're blonde."
Iris slapped Jack's back hard, making him yelp in pain, as she glared at him with disappointment. But Martha hadn't missed his comment as she angrily said,
"Oh, she was blonde? Oh, what a surprise!"
Iris looked a little panicked then, not sure how to deal with this when the Doctor turned around, clearly annoyed as he said, "You two! We're at the end of the universe, alright? Right at the edge of knowledge itself and you're busy blogging! At least Iris seems to know what to do. Come on."
Iris looked at Jack, overwhelmed by what she just heard, and Jack smiled warmly at her and they continued walking. When they arrived at a cliff with what seemed to have a construction of sorts, Iris felt her heart tugging.
Martha was looking at it with awe as she asked, "Is that a city?"
The Doctor looked at it too as he said, "A city or a hive, or a nest, or a conglomeration. Like it was grown. But look, there. That's like pathways, roads? Must have been some sort of life, long ago."
Iris quickly cut in with, "It's a conglomeration."
The Doctor looked at her in surprise and gave her a questioning look, one of his eyebrows going up in curiosity.
Iris shrugged as she said, "It's one of the things that I just know…"
The Doctor looked at her, then cautiously asking her, "From what time did you come through the Rift?"
Iris winced as she answered, "2017."
The Doctor's eyes widened as he whispered out, "Then you know my future?"
He saw Iris' eyes darken and tear up slightly, as if remembering painful things, as she hesitantly responded with, "And some of the past that…well… that no human should really be aware of in this time period."
The Doctor looked at Iris warily, realizing that she didn't want to reveal something around Martha and Jack. He just curtly nodded his head and returned his attention to the abandoned conglomeration.
Martha whispered, still looking at the conglomeration and asked, "What killed it?"
The Doctor answered with, "Time. Just time. Everything's dying now. All the great civilizations have gone. This isn't just night. All the stars have burnt up and faded away… into nothing."
Iris looked up at the sky, noticing how dark everything was.
Jack then spoke up, "They must have an atmospheric shell. We should be frozen to death."
With that, Jack put an arm around Iris' waist, bringing her closer to him. The Doctor was still looking up as he said,
"Well, Martha, Iris and I maybe. Not so sure about you, Jack."
The Doctor and Jack looked at each other. Iris wasn't sure what to feel about how Jack looked a little hurt by that comment. Then Martha spoke up, still curious about the conglomeration
"But what about the people? Does no one survive?"
The Doctor looked at Martha and optimistically said, "I suppose we have to hope life will find a way."
Iris then nudged Jack and he looked at where Iris was pointing, which prompted Jack to lightly say,
"Well, he's not doing too bad."
Iris hit Jack again, which made all the others look at her as she said, "He's not doing great at all. He's being hunted."
The Doctor looked at her confused not sure how she could possibly know that, when they heard the future kind yell out "Human!" and run after the man.
The Doctor then said, "Come on!"
With that they all ran. Jack laughed as he looked at Iris and said excitedly, "Oh, I've missed this!"
Iris rolled her eyes as she ran to the best of her abilities, holding Jack's hand. When they saw the man approach, Jack let go and yelled out,
"I've got you! I've got you…"
The man looked terrified and muttered,
"We've got to run. They're coming!"
Jack pulled out his gun, which Iris grabbed from him and yelled out,
"Just run you idiots!"
She immediately fired two rounds into the air, making the future kind freeze. With that, they bolted the other direction.
Martha was looking at Iris and the man asking, "What the hell are they?"
The man, while panting, said, "There's more of them. We've got to keep going,"
The Doctor said, "I've got a ship nearby. It's safe. It's not far. It's over there."
Iris muttered, "Not going to work." And pulled the man along the other direction they needed to go.
The man then said, "We're close to the silo. If we get to the silo, then we're safe."
The Doctor looked at all of them and asked, "Silo?"
Iris immediately said at the same time as Jack, "Silo." While Martha said "Silo for me," They continued running away from the future kind.
The man, upon seeing the gates, yelled out, "It's the futurekind, they're coming! Open the gate!"
The guard immediately yelled out, "Show me your teeth!" multiple times.
Iris showed her teeth while the rest followed suit. The guard immediately looked and having confirmed they were human, said,
"Human! Let them in! Let them in!"
The gate immediately opened up and they closed it after they came inside. The leader of the future-kind looked at them and said,
"Humans. Humani…make feast."
The guard who had shot some bullets on the ground immediately said, "Go back to where you came from. I said go back! Back!"
Iris shuddered, which prompted Jack to hug her. The image of them breaking into the silo came to her mind and she wasn't sure she wanted to see their faces at the moment. Jack, while hugging Iris, muttered to the Doctor,
"Oh, don't tell him to put his gun down."
The Doctor, concerned for Iris, looked back up at Jack and said, "He's not my responsibility."
Iris laughed a little, and Jack smiled a little as he said, "And I am? That makes a change."
The Doctor noticed how Iris' shoulders shook violently as if she was trying to hold back her laughter as much as she could. Jack noticed how the Doctor's eyes softened upon the sight and smiled just a little bit, returning his attention to the situation at hand.
The chieftain of the futurekind looked at them and said, "Kind watch you. Kind hungry."
Iris felt a tug and looked up, seeing Jack holding out his hand for her to grab onto. Smiling with appreciation, she took it and followed after everyone as the guard said,
"Right. Let's get you inside."
The man that they had helped earlier, spoke, "My name is Padra Fet Shafe Cane. Tell me, just tell me. Can you take me to Utopia?"
Iris grimaced but hid it quickly, hoping nobody noticed that, as the soldier said,
"Oh yes, sir. Yes, I can."
Jack looked at her as they walked and whispered, "Do you know what's going on?"
Iris looked up, trying to see if anybody was looking at them or listening in, and when nobody seemed to be paying them attention, Iris quickly nodded and squeezed Jack's hand. Jack looked at Iris, not sure what to feel, since he just got Iris back. He didn't want anything bad to happen, but being stuck in the end of the universe without the TARDIS, it didn't sit well with him at all.
Then the guard that was taking them to the inside of the building asked,
"Who are you then?"
The Doctor perked up and said, "Hello, I'm the Doctor."
The guard looked up in interest, and said, "A Doctor?"
"Mmhmm" The Doctor said, nodding his head with a smile on his face. Iris looked at the man, noticing that this was how the Professor would learn as to who this man was. Iris sighed as they proceeded inside the building.
Then the Doctor turned around to the guard and requested for the TARDIS. Iris had tuned most of it out, not feeling so well, and then looked up as somebody came down the stairs near them, paying attention again. The Doctor said,
"It's like a box, a big blue box. I'm sorry, but I really need it back. It's stuck out there."
Jack squeezed Iris's hand, but Iris just tried to stay upright without showing too much pain. Despite the medication from earlier, the pure exertion from running tired her out, and the migraine just seemed to have increased in pain ten times more. Padra then spoke up in urgency,
"I'm sorry, but my family were heading for the silo. Did they get here? My mother is Kistane Shafe Cane. My brother's name is Beltone."
The soldier helping them said, "Computers are down, but you can check the paperwork. Creet! Passengers need help."
Iris then saw a young boy peep his head around the corner and approach them as he said,
"Right, what do you need?"
Iris looked at the boy and took in a sharp breath, accidentally catching the Doctor's attention. The Time Lord looked at Iris, a subtle look of concern in his eyes as he noticed the sweat starting to form on Iris' forehead as her skin looked pale. She almost looked like she was growing ill at an unnatural rate. He was about to ask Iris if she was alright when the soldier came up to him and asked,
"A blue box, you said?"
The Doctor immediately turned around, distracted, and answered, "Big, tall, wooden, says 'police'."
The soldier looked at the Doctor and then said, "We're driving out for the last water collection. I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you" The Doctor said in reply.
The soldier left them alone with Creet, and Iris trudged along with the group, not letting Jack's hand go.
They all heard Creet say, "Come on." And as they were about to follow Padra and Creet, Martha asked,
"Sorry, but how old are you?"
Creet looked annoyed as he answered, "Old enough to work. This way."
With that, they followed along. As Creet was calling the name Kristane and Beltone, Iris felt even more and more pained as if the migraine was only getting stronger as they got closer to the center of the Silo. Iris looked around the area, particularly feeling exhausted herself as she saw how the people were packed inside without much.
Martha spoke up, distraught, with, "It's like a refugee camp."
Jack lightheartedly said, "It's stinking. Sorry. No offence. Not you." As he looked at a man who glowered at him.
The Doctor had a smile on his face as he said, "Don't you see though? The ripe old smell of humans. You survived. Oh, you might've spent a million years evolving into clouds of gas and another million as downloads, but you always revert to the same basic shape. The fundamental human. End of the universe and here you are. Indomitable, that's the word! Indomitable!"
But even though the Doctor was showing a positive mood, Iris groaned out,
"Yeah? In what cost?"
Jack looked down at Iris, surprised at her words. It wasn't like her to insult the human species and he asked, "Iris what's wrong?"
The Doctor looked at her and noticed the pained look in her eyes and said,
"Iris? Are you in pain?"
Iris' eyes clouded a bit before nodding. The Doctor frowned and used his sonic screwdriver and frowned, getting the impossible signal as before. Jack looked at him with concern as the Doctor said,
"But… But this is impossible. She's just human."
Jack looked at him with surprise and concern as he asked, "What do you mean?"
The Doctor looked up and said, "It's nothing."
Jack shook his head as he said, "No, you have to answer my question. What's impossible? What does Iris having to be human make something so impossible?"
The Doctor looked at Iris, who wasn't paying them attention and shook his head. Jack was about to push him further when the Doctor put a finger to his lips, signing him that he didn't want to discuss it with Iris nearby. Jack didn't like that response one bit. The Doctor normally didn't keep such secrets unless something was terribly wrong.
Jack cautioned her with a glance and Iris quickly looked ahead, trying to think about anything but the pain. But that was the difficult bit. It just really, really hurt and it felt like it was consuming her very being. Suddenly, Padra ran forward, and Iris saw him reuniting with his mother.
Iris also saw the Doctor look at something with interest and start to sonic it. She groaned in pain and leaned onto the wall near the entrance as she led Jack towards the Doctor, who said,
"Give us a hand with this."
Jack looked at her with concern on his face, but she just waved her hand towards the Doctor. He reluctantly went to the Doctor's side while he said,
"It's half-deadlocked. See if you can overwrite the code. Let's find out where we are."
Iris watched, breathing heavily, when she heard Martha's concerned voice, "Are you ok?"
Iris stood up straight again as she replied, "I feel miserable. But I can manage."
Martha nodded and went back to the Doctor's side, still glancing at Iris with concern occasionally. Then the door opened up and the Doctor almost fell in. Jack had grabbed the man in time as he said,
"I've got you."
The Doctor said, "Thanks."
Jack smirked and joked, "How did you cope without me?"
The Doctor laughed while Martha, with awe, said "Now that's what I call a rocket."
Curiosity got the better of Iris as she gently tugged Jack's coat, wanting to see. Jack moved a little behind Iris and the girl gasped at the sight before her. But she quickly stepped back, feeling the intense heat emanating from the room and it made her feel more sick. She paled and leaned towards the wall again.
As the Doctor, Jack and Martha talked, Iris clenched the clothes around her chest, as she struggled to breathe a bit. When the trio stepped back and closed the doors, they found Iris breathing with a little bit of difficulty, hunched over.
"Iris? Iris!" Jack said, trying to help her breathe, but the pain she felt was expressed through her eyes as they didn't register what was happening.
"Doctor, what's wrong with her?" Jack asked, panicking.
"I don't know. Her heartbeat is becoming way too fast." The Doctor said, not sure how to help the girl who had just drastically became ill.
It didn't seem like she was that ill earlier, but now it was as if she was going through unbearable pain.
"You gave her medication earlier? What was that?" Martha asked.
Jack looked at her and then the Doctor as he held onto Iris as he said, "It's supposed to make her feel less pain and lessen overall effects. The previous pain medication that got rid of the migraines no longer worked. She had to change medications."
The Doctor frowned and said, "You said that she had these symptoms since she came here?"
Jack shook his head as he said, "She's fainted a couple of times, but that was because she hadn't told us. It never was such a drastic change like this before."
But Jack could only imagine how Iris had died just a few days ago, and winced. Hoping that her death wasn't the one affecting her health condition now. Then suddenly Iris grasped her head in pain, and looked like she wanted to scream. Jack held onto her, when the Doctor was suddenly distracted by an old man who called out,
"The Doctor?"
The Time Lord looked up and stood as he said, "That's me."
Then the man grabbed the Doctor's hands with excitement and yelled out, "Oh Good! Good! Good!"
The man dragged the Doctor, who looked around and said, "It's good, apparently."
Martha quickly followed while Jack held onto Iris and helped her walk to follow the group. As they entered the Professor's room, Iris saw the woman say,
"Chan, welcome, tho."
Iris groaned as Jack slowly helped her enter the room and leaned onto the wall. As the Professor was excitedly explaining things to the Doctor, Jack looked at Iris and asked,
"Iris? Please, let me know what's wrong…"
Iris breathed in shakily and said, "Spoilers."
Jack shook his head and said, "No, for this one time, you have to tell me. You're here with me and we don't have a home to go back to."
Iris looked towards the Professor, and Jack looked, confused, but Iris didn't say anything as she caught her breath and seemed to suddenly relax. Iris shrugged her bag off and took her medication, trying to ease the pain she felt. Jack helped her sit in the side and went near the Doctor, leaving his backpack by Iris' side.
Martha came over and asked Iris,
"What's inside here?"
Iris looked up, looking a tad bit better as she said, "Why don't you take a look?"
Martha looked at her and opened the bag, only to reveal the canister that had the Doctor's hand inside and said, "Oh, my God."
She looked at Irish, shocked that they would have a hand in a jar just inside the backpack and couldn't close her mouth. Iris laughed out loud, at the sight of Martha's shock. Jack came back and looked guilty, then looked towards Iris, glaring at her a little, who still continued to laugh at Martha's surprise.
Then the Doctor joined only to be surprised at the sight of his own hands.
Martha kept repeating, "A hand in a jar. A hand, in a jar, in your bag."
The Doctor sat next to Iris as he stuttered, "But…that…that's my hand."
Then Jack closed his eyes, sighed, and said, "I said we had a doctor detector."
The Doctor looked at Iris, who laughed at his incredulous face. "You knew about this too?"
Iris nodded as she wiped tears in her eyes as she calmed down a bit. Then Chantho looked scared a bit as she asked them,
"Chan, is this a tradition amongst your people, tho?"
Martha grew confused and lost as she yelled out, "Not on my street! What do you mean, that's your hand? You've got both your hands, I can see them."
Martha looked at the Doctor, then his hands, as she clearly saw both hands intact.
The Doctor grimaced as he answered, "Long story. I lost my hand, Christmas day in a swordfight."
Martha scoffed, as she asked, "What, and you grew another hand?"
When the Doctor said, "Ummm, yeah, yeah I did, yeah. Hello." With that, the Doctor waved at Martha with the new hand, causing the woman to lose her smile and glare at him. Then Iris looked at the Professor, wary of him, as he asked,
"Might I ask, what species are you?"
The Doctor looked at Iris and then back at the Professor as he said, "Time Lord. Last of. Heard of them? Legend or anything?"
Iris grimaced as a sharp pain hit her head when the Professor just seemed confused. The Doctor frowned as he continued with,
"Not even a myth? Blimey, end of the universe is a bit humbling."
Then Chantho sadly said, "Chan, it is said that I am the last of my species too, tho."
The Doctor then asked, "Sorry. What was your name?"
The Professor answered and said, "My assistant and good friend, Chantho. A survivor of the Malmooth. This was their planet, Malcassairo, before we took refuge."
Iris grimaced at that, clearly thinking of a horrible scenario of the species dying out. The Doctor's voice softened as he asked,
"The city outside. That was yours?"
Chantho nodded as she said, "Chan, the conglomeration died, tho."
The Doctor smiled as he said, "Conglomeration! That's what you said!" excitedly, then noticing Iris glare at him, his smiled died down when she said,
"I apologize for this man's behavior. He doesn't know when to interact correctly."
Jack laughed alongside Martha when the Doctor said, "Oh… uh, sorry."
Chantho smiled a little bitterly as she said, "Chan, most grateful, tho."
Martha then said, still staring at the hand, "You grew another hand?"
Iris looked at Martha and then back at the Doctor as he said, "Hello again. It's fine. Look, really, it's me."
With that, the Doctor waved his fingers and Martha shook his hand, the smile returning to her face as relief flowed through her. She said,
"All this time, and you're still full of surprises."
The Doctor chuckled and smiled widely while Chanto said,
"Cha, you are most unusual, tho."
The Doctor smiled bashfully as he said "Well…"
Jack grabbed their attention this time, asking, "So what about those things outside, the beastie boys? What are they?"
The Professor turned around and said, "We call them the futurekind, which is a myth in itself, but it's feared they are what we will become. Unless we reach Utopia."
The Doctor stepped in, asking "And Utopia is…?"
Iris grew tired and leaned against the wall, almost half-reclining in her seat. All she wanted now was to sleep, but whenever she closed her eyes, she remembered the pain of Bilis stabbing her. The instant fear and pain that had gripped her as she felt the knife twist in her stomach. She knew that she wasn't supposed to remember, but she did. Something wasn't quite right with her and she knew that. She wanted to ask so many questions for the Doctor, but now wasn't the time. Jack noticed Iris try to relax and a little bit of relief finally reached him. He watched her settle down and then turned back to the conversation. While the people were hunched over a screen, Iris hissed as she slightly jumped to a slightly crouching position and grabbed her head, feeling a tap of four.
Jack heard Iris hiss and went over to her when he heard the Doctor ask,
"Professor? Professor?" and he looked up, to see the Professor clenching his eyes in pain, as if he was trying to hold back a severe amount of pain.
Jack looked back down at Iris, frowning. When the Professor reacted to the Doctor's calls, Iris let out a shaky breath and slumped forward a little, shocking Jack. He quickly caught her, letting her lean on him for a while before he helped her lean back on the chair again.
He stood up and hesitantly joined the Doctor as he made sure to glance at Iris every other moment. Suddenly, Iris heard the whir of machines come to life and dread filled her heart. She remained sitting down, unable to find the energy to help as she felt drained.
She felt the gentle pulse of four beats in the back of her head and she honestly felt scared. Her hands trembled, and this time, not uncontrollably, but because she was scared. And when the Doctor seemed excited about the arrival of something, presumably the TARDIS, Iris glanced at the Professor, and she instantly dropped her head into her hands again, groaning in pain, trying to keep control of herself and her sanity.
Martha and Chantho entered the lab and Jack looked up, only to see Chantho ask the man about his condition. Jack frowned and looked warily towards Iris, who held her head in her hands just like earlier, except, she wasn't looking up. She had been like that for a while. He couldn't help but look back and forth between the two people, feeling a sense of trepidation settle in again.
Why couldn't Iris have one case where she didn't suffer? Why did these things always happen to her? He thought it wasn't fair. She hadn't asked to fall through the Rift in the first place, and now she was suffering consequences for it. Not wanting to drag Iris in pain for much longer, Jack quickly returned to his work. He wanted them to be anywhere but near the Professor.
Jack saw the Doctor talk to the Professor and eavesdropped on their conversation, curious to see what the Professor needed to say.
The Professor said, "It's just a headache, just noise inside my head, Doctor. Constant noise inside my head."
The Doctor crouched down in front of the man and asked, "What sort of noise?"
The Professor replied painfully, "The sound of drums."
Jack immediately looked up, pausing his work at the response. He thought back to how Ianto had told him,
"Iris mentioned a bit earlier that what she thought her migraines were, but I didn't know what it meant." Ianto said, looking at the leader of Torchwood.
They were in Jack's office as they talked about Iris. Ianto didn't reveal any secrets, but wanted to discuss this with the man. Jack looked at Ianto in surprise as he asked,
"What did she say?"
Ianto hesitated before responding with,
"She said 'the drums'. I wasn't sure if you knew anything about what that means…"
Jack shook his head as he replied,
"No… I hope that she lets me know what it is… but I think she will tell me when she's ready. That's the one thing that Iris has always done since she came here. Of course, not always on the moment we wanted, but she always told us. I'm relying on that."
Jack frowned and wanted to pull the Doctor away from the man instantly. Instead, he crept towards Iris and knelt by her side. She had started to sweat again, and he instantly grabbed his handkerchief and dabbed it to dry her forehead. He quietly asked her,
"Is it the sound of drums that you're feeling?"
Iris looked up at him with shock and pain, clearly exhausted, and without much, she groaned and nodded as she looked at nothing in particular. Jack wasn't sure what to do, but something was affecting her the way it affected the Professor. And it was almost simultaneous too. Whenever the Professor felt pain or was out of it, so was Iris.
Then he heard the Professor say,
"I've had it all my life. Every waking hour."
Jack froze again and looked at the Doctor, who noticed the frown on his friend's face and looked towards Iris, who only could have made him frown like that. The Doctor noticed Iris' face scrunched in pain, and looked back at the Professor unsure of Jack's reaction.
Then alarms were the next thing Iris heard when she was not in as much pain, and then when the alarms were raised, she heard the Doctor say,
"Jack! Override the vents!"
Iris stood up, trying to see if she could help when Jack just stupidly ran over and said,
"We can jump-start the override."
Iris yelled out "Jack, no! It's going to flare!" the same time the Doctors said the same. Next thing she knew, Jack was electrified to death, and Iris saw him fall. She immediately ran towards him, and hit his chest multiple times as she yelled,
"You stupid, idiot! You came back from death not that long ago, and you die on me again! Don't do this to me!"
Martha came over and tried to do to CPR when Iris shook her head towards the woman. The Professor came over and said, "I'm so sorry."
Iris winced a little at the proximity between him and her, as it magnified the pain in her head a tad bit. The Doctor stood in the back as he asked,
"The chamber's flooded with radiation, yes?"
The Professor looked back and said, "Without the couplings the engines will never start. It was all for nothing."
The Doctor made eye contact with Iris, who realized what he was going to say, and smiled a little trying to reassure her as he said, "Oh, I don't know. Strikes me, Professor, you've got a room which no man can enter without dying. Is that correct?"
"Yes." The Professor responded when Iris looked down at Jack, clearly upset at what was happening.
Suddenly, Jack gasped as he grabbed onto Iris. Iris held him, reassuring him that it was ok, when the Doctor said,
"I think I've got just the man."
"Was someone kissing me?" Jack asked, looking at Iris.
Iris glared at him, shoving him back to the ground as she stomped her way back to the sofas, clearly pissed off at the joke. She wasn't in the mood to take Jack's flirtatious jokes at the moment. He had honestly scared her, even though she knew that he was going to come back. Later, Jack and the Doctor ran off to deal with the couplings while Iris waited by the area she was before. The beating was intensifying as time kept passing, spiking only when the Professor seemed to suffer from it drastically. She breathed out a little shakily again and grabbed onto the jar that contained the Doctor's hand. Making sure she had it with her as much as she could.
The moment Jack wasn't by her side, Iris missed his presence. While they were here, Jack felt like a solid, constant. And now that he wasn't directly by her, she felt the fear trickle into her system and she wanted to cry.
She was waiting when she heard the Professor ask, "But he should evaporate. What sort of man is he?"
Martha shook her head as she said, amused, "I've only just met him. Iris knows more about him. They came together. Seems like they are a couple."
The Professor glanced at Iris, who was staring off into space. "She doesn't look so good."
Martha looked at Iris, sighing. "I wish I knew how to help her, but she has been like that the entire time she's practically been in the Silo… Jack's the only one who knows anything about what's happening to her it seems."
The Professor frowned, looking at the girl with mild curiosity before returning his attention to what was happening with couplings. With that, Iris tuned out the discussion, trying to think clearly of what she had to do. But the pain that was building up in her head was so overwhelming she almost didn't know where she was anymore.
Suddenly, the pain increased so drastically Iris groaned out loud. She immediately covered her mouth so that she wouldn't make any more noise, but it was becoming almost unbearable. She fell off the chair and held onto the jar as if her life depended on it, wanting to cry out. Iris glanced up, seeing Martha look at something with shock on her face.
Iris realized what she saw. The stopwatch. She had seen the Master's stopwatch. Iris forced herself up and walked towards the group, with only one mission in mind.
She heard Martha stutter, "No, it's nothing. It's…"
Iris walked up and said almost too calmly, "Martha."
Martha immediately looked at her, not knowing what to do. Iris looked at her, hiding all her pain for the moment and said, "I think you should go to the Doctor. He's going to need your help with some of the machinery, and I'm in no state to go right now."
Martha managed to hide her panic and nodded, as she said, "Alright. I'll go see what I can do."
Iris nodded at Martha, who took the hint and ran to inform the Time Lord of what she saw.
The Professor looked at Iris curiously and asked, "Is she alright?"
Iris looked at him and said, "Yeah… it's just that she had some traumatic experiences with stopwatches. I know it sounds weird, but it brought a rough memory for her."
It wasn't necessarily a lie. But the Professor didn't seem to buy it as he suddenly had a distant look in his eye, his attention solely on the stopwatch in his hand. Iris felt a stabbing pain in her head and the breath was knocked out of her. She cried out as she tumbled to the floor. Using all her energy, she crawled back to the jar with the Doctor's hand, trying to make sure to hold onto it since there was nowhere to hide it.
Martha bolted to go to the Doctor, not wanting to leave Iris alone. When she arrived, the Doctor started to say,
"Ah, nearly there. The footprint, it's a gravity pulse. It stamps down, the rocket shoots up. Bit primitive. Gonna take the both of us to keep it stable."
Martha tried to tell him what she found out, "Doctor, it's the Professor. He's got this watch, he's got a fob watch. It's the same as yours, same writing on it, same everything."
The Doctor immediately looked at his companion as he whispered, "Don't be ridiculous."
Martha looked at him with fear in her eyes as she said, "I asked him. He said he's had it his whole life."
Jack looked at her, not understanding the gravity of the situation as he said, "So he's got the same watch."
Martha looked at him, worry clearly on her face as she explained, "Yeah, but it's not a watch. It's this chameleon thing."
The Doctor cut in explaining, "No, no, no, it's this thing… this device, it rewrites biology. Changes a Time Lord into a human."
Jack immediately looked over to them, worry on his face
Martha said, "And it's the same watch!"
The Doctor tried to deny it as he said, "It can't be."
Jack looked at the Doctor and said, "That means he could be a Time Lord. You might not be the last one!"
The Doctor yelled out, "Jack, keep it level!"
Martha then said, "But that's brilliant, isn't it?"
The Doctor hurriedly said, "Yes, it is. Of course it is. Depends which one. Brilliant, fantastic, yeah. But they died, the Time Lords. All of them, they died."
Jack looked at him, worry showing on his face as he realized, "Not if he was human."
Then the Doctor yelled at Martha, desperation and worry in his voice,
"What did he say, Martha? What did he say?!"
Martha tried to remember and her face paled a little as she thought back.
"He looked at the watch like he could hardly see it. Like that perception filter thing."
The Doctor glanced at Jack, clearly remembering that Iris wasn't there with them as he asked,
"What about now? Can he see it now?"
Meanwhile, Iris felt the tap of four hitting her when the Professor came up to stand in front of her, looking at the jar in her arms like he was hypnotized. Then a great rumbling shook the surface and Iris grasped at the jar even tighter. Her head splitting with pain she never felt before. She wished that Jack and the others would hurry and come over.
Then she heard the Master, who had at some point, moved away from her, say, "Not to worry, my dear. As one door closes, another must open."
She heard Chantho grow more upset by the minute and wanted to help the lady, but the pain made it difficult for Iris to comprehend most of the things. Her world felt like it was spinning and Iris felt sick.
Iris heard the static buzzing of electricity flaring, and a painful sound and thrum of a beat of four. She tried to crawl towards Chantho to help, but her body gave out. She only managed to grab to the jar and tried to crawl away as she heard Chantho scream in pain.
"No…" Iris muttered when she heard footsteps near her.
Then she heard the Master say, "And you… I wonder if the Doctor has stooped so low to bring an ill child. But no matter, you will die anyways."
Iris felt the pair of hands snatch the jar away and Iris yelled, "No!" Suddenly, Iris felt adrenaline pump through her and she stood up, her view blurry, and tried to shove the Master, only to feel one of his hands on her throat.
Iris tried to breathe, feeling pain in her body at the sudden loss of air supply. She began coughing and whimpering as the Master said, "You can't stop me. And since you are wasting my time… I will have to make you unable to move."
Iris felt tears stream down her face as she felt the Master's fingers dig into her neck, gripping it tighter and tighter. Then suddenly, she was shoved to the ground and a foot stomped onto her shoulders. The Master seemed to be saying something to her, but she was so disoriented that she couldn't make head to tails of the voice. It just seemed to echo as it was ignored. She screamed out loud in pain and struggled as she saw black spots in addition to the splitting pain in her head.
She slowly felt exhaustion take over and lost consciousness. Her head lolled to the side, tears falling as her breathing became shallower.
The Doctor ran to the room to see Chantho on the ground dead, and he saw the Professor smirk at him with pain as he stepped into the TARDIS. The Doctor tried to unlock the door to no avail. He heard Martha and Jack in the background.
Martha had followed after him to find Iris unconscious. She immediately checked for a pulse and sighed with relief when she found one. She wasn't sure what to do when Jack yelled out for help. She stood up and went to help Jack to hold the door closed.
Jack looked down at Martha, who saw the question in his face and said, "She's got a dislocated shoulder and with that she's unconscious, but she seems to be fine."
Jack nodded, grateful, and struggled with the door with Martha. When the Master regenerated, Jack and Martha felt the exhaustion settle in and yelled at the Doctor to do something. But the Doctor eye's turned cold after realizing who the other Time Lord was. He quickly sonicked the TARDIS and froze the coordinates. After the TARDIS dematerialized, the Doctor quickly picked Iris up and went to his two companions.
He quickly maneuvered his body the best he could and sonicked the Vortex Manipulator on Jack's arm. When he succeeded, he transported them away from the end of the Universe and back to 2007.