Jack was on computer duty, everyone else was bunked down on makeshift beds.
"Why are they still here?" the Doctor asked Jack, pulling up a seat beside him.
"Who?"
"Jackie and Pete."
"Jackie said she wasn't leaving until Rose was safe. Pete has learnt not to argue."
"Where's Tommy?"
"With family apparently. They were meant to be having a night out or something," Jack shrugged.
"My life is ruining everyone else's again," the Doctor sighed.
"Hey, you're not ruining anything. How's Rose?"
"Frustrated, putting on a brave face." He ran his hands through his hair and scrubbed at his scalp. "oooohhhh what a mess," he hissed.
"We'll fix it."
"So everyone keeps saying, but who's going to fix me?"
Jack smiled at him sadly. "You're not broken, just a little corrupted."
The Doctor raised an eyebrow and took a sip of his coffee, propping his feet up on the desk. Resting his head back he stared at the ceiling.
"How are you feeling? Really."
The Time Lord swiped his tongue across his bottom lip as he considered his answer. "Uh… embarrassed, angry, frustrated. Humiliated. And sick of the whole damn thing. I'm sick of him," he pointed at his head. "I'm sick of him," he pointed at the computer screen. "And I'm sick of me," he jabbed himself in the chest.
"Sick of you?"
"Yeah. I want to be normal."
"You've never been normal, Boss," Mickey stated, pulling up another chair.
The Doctor snorted. "I want to go about my day without hearing him, or seeing…." he sneered at the bad taste in his mouth from just thinking about the Rhameev.
"What do they even look like?" Mickey asked innocently.
Jack shot him a look that told him in no uncertain terms that was not the question to ask.
The Doctor looked at him and sighed. He pointed his sonic screwdriver at one of the computer monitors. The display fizzled and morphed into a picture of a distinctly human looking woman. Only thing that stood out about her was her pearlescent skin and violet eyes.
"Wow, they're fit! So they all look like that?"
Jack rolled his eyes and sighed. "That's kind of the point of them, Mickey. They're like the call girls of the universe."
"Wow.
"Don't let Martha hear you say that," he cautioned, keeping an eye on the Doctor.
He was scowling at the monitor and breathing heavily but seemed to be in control.
Jack reached out and switched the screen off.
The Doctor inhaled sharply before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a paper bag. "Jelly baby?" he offered.
"Well well. Look at this; the gang's all here" a familiar voice sounded.
The men froze, staring at each other before turning to look at the doors.
"Damn," Mickey said standing up. "There's two of you!"
Jack looked at the Doctor who glared.
"Valeyard, nice of you to join us. Keeping up with appearances these days," the Doctor said.
"Well I figured I might as well look like you when I take your place."
"Not going to happen."
"We'll see. But I notice dearest Rose is missing. Now she is the part of your life I'm looking forward to taking over the most," Valeyard grinned. He looked like the Doctor, only more harsh.
"You're not having her," the Doctor growled.
"Neither are you by all accounts. How weak can you be? Disgrace to Time Lords."
"Yeah yeah. We've heard it all before," Jack said rolling his eyes. "He's dramatic enough to be you," he muttered to his friend under his breath.
The Doctor rolled his eyes.
"I was disappointed to lose our link, I enjoyed your dark side. Still the misery and anger you exuded was enough to sustain me until I found you."
"What's going on?" Jackie called. "Oh Jesus there's two of him!"
"She'll be one of the first to go. Eugh that screeching, goes right through you. How do you stand it?"
'Rose, if you can hear me you need to get out here. He's here and I think the Doctor is gonna need all of us,' Jack prayed that Rose got the message. He could see the stress in the Doctor's demeanor but if anyone could keep him calm and on track it was Rose.
"Leave her alone," the Doctor hissed through his teeth.
"Oh for Rassilon sake. You really are soft. None of these humans are worth your concern. But that's why they created me. To be what you should have been. To correct the mistake. I've killed hundreds of Time Lords." Valeyard grinned.
"I killed them all," the Doctor said. He felt rather than heard Rose's sudden presence.
"Ah, nice of you to join us Miss Tyler. I was wondering when you might honour us with your attention."
Rose stepped out of the TARDIS and strode towards her Doctor.
"Such an ordinary being on the outside but remarkable inside. Tell me Rose," the Valeyard continued, "how does it feel to be in the presence of a true Time Lord. A heady experience I should think, compared to the poor substitution you've previously toyed with. The Bad Wolf; kept as a pet. Now that won't do. Together we shall put this universe right, we shall restore order. "
"No thanks. I've got what I need," Rose said defiantly.
"A poor excuse for a Time Lord who is impotent in more ways than one. Rose, you disappoint me. Still there is time, you will soon learn the error of your thinking."
"God, you talk such a lot of shit," Mickey moaned, keeping an eye on Martha, Jackie and Pete, as they rounded to place themselves between their Doctor and the TARDIS.
"Look. I don't want this to be a long drawn out thing, so if you just give in we can become one and it'll all be over. We can go back to being all powerful. Remember how we used to rule the universe. How planets would look to us to guide them, to police them?"
"No no no. We're not doing the nostalgia tour. I've done that once already recently. You're nothing in this universe. I'm what monsters have nightmares about, not you."
"I will absorb your life Doctor. I will take your place, and your woman.
"You may have my memories but that's all you have. I've seen entire species destroyed, civilizations left in ruins. I've witnessed solar systems vanish in the twinkling of an eye. I've seen things that would freeze your blood; I've even been responsible for some of it. So don't threaten me; ever," the Doctor snarled.
"Ah there he is! So full of fire and anger, the rage of a Time Lord. Why hide it? Show your friends who you truly are. Your soul, the very heart of you. The man who hates violence, never carries a gun or weapon but has butchered millions. You don't need to carry a weapon. We are dangerous enough."
"We?" the Doctor scoffed. "You're nothing. You don't even exist. The Time Lords made you as a punishment for me, to execute me and you failed. They had no intention of giving you my remaining regenerations. They'd have destroyed you instantly."
Valeyard bristled and sneered.
"You know nothing."
"I know more than you. Who is it Rassilon came looking for? You are a footnote."
Jack shuddered at his choice of words, an echo of the other Doctor niggling in his mind. He looked at Rose. 'That's something the dark lord would say, he thought at her.
Rose stepped closer to her Time Lord and grabbed his hand, giving it a supportive squeeze.
"No talking at the back!" Valeyard screamed, producing a gun and shooting Jack squarely in the chest.
Screams and shouts filled the air as the Doctor barely flinched. He was working hard on keeping a rein on his dark side, who was wound up and raring to go, almost begging to be released.
"Shut up! All of you!" Valeyard demanded.
Mickey and Martha ran to Jack's side. "You killed him!" Mickey yelled.
"What a shame," Valeyard smirked.
The Doctor frowned. He didn't know, Valeyard didn't know about Jack!
He crouched down beside them, seemingly to inspect Jack. "Get him into the TARDIS," the Doctor told them before standing again.
"They stay here!"
"They'll come back. But we're moving Jack."
"The TARDIS can't save him."
"I know but she'll look after him."
Mickey nodded for Pete to help him as, between them, they carried Jack to the ship.
"So little concern for your fallen friend."
"You know if you're going to try and be me, you need to learn how not to sound like a b-movie villain," the Doctor said. "I mean who says that? 'Concern for your fallen friend'." He rolled his eyes.
"Stop trying to distract me!"
"I'm not doing anything. You're just taking a really long time. Jackie!" he looked round at Rose's mum. "Could you please, put a sock in the wailing?"
Rose raised her eyebrows. 'Okay, dark Doctor is getting a bit close to the surface,' she thought.
XxXxX
Mickey and Pete struggled into the TARDIS control room. The door slamming shut behind them made Pete jump and drop Jack's legs.
"Easy!" the Time Agent complained, causing Mickey and Pete to scream.
"Guys! Guys! Calm down, it's me. It's me."
"But you were dead, Martha checked!"
"And she was right. But now I'm not; so calm down, both of you." He rubbed the spot in his chest where the bullet hit. "Damn that smarts. And another shirt ruined," he sighed. "Right. Hope this works." Jack rummaged in his pocket before pulling out a USB and running to the monitor. "Are you two just gonna stand there? 'Cause I think that asshole out there might get suspicious...wait! That might work!" He looked at their confused faces. "Oh for god sake! Look,when Rose looked into the heart of the TARDIS she became Bad Wolf right? She went back to the space station to save the Doctor. I'd been killed by the Daleks. She used the vortex to destroy the Daleks and undo anything they did; that included bringing me back to life. Only problem is she did it a bit too well and now I can't stay dead. Okay? Can we get on with saving the Doctor?"
Pete sat heavily on the jump seat. "This world gets weirder and weirder," he muttered.
"What do we do?" Mickey asked.
"Well the Doc slipped this into my pocket just before you brought me in so I guess we plug it in." He found a USB slot and plugged the drive in.
"Now what?"
"I guess we wait. We need Valeyard in here so if you stay in here long enough maybe the Doctor can get him to come looking for us."
"Oh great. Just what we need. A lunatic with a gun in a small space," Pete moaned.
"Pete. You've gotta have a bit more faith."
"Oh I have faith. Faith that bloody alien is going to get us killed!"
Jack huffed. "He's saved this universe more times than you've….farted. If it wasn't for him, Jackie would have probably been killed by an alien invasion a million times over. So just…. ssshh."
XxXxX
"What's taking them so long?!" Valeyard demanded. His temper was fraying and the Doctor seemed to be enjoying it.
The Doctor's double stormed over to the TARDIS doors.
"They won't open," the Doctor smirked. "Not for you. They never will. TARDIS will always protect me and my family."
"Family? You chose to send two men in there to protect them rather than the woman you claim to love?"
The Doctor wrinkled his nose and tilted his head. "Rose doesn't need me to protect her, you should know that by now. Or weren't you paying attention? All my memories at your mercy and you missed some of the most important ones," he smirked.
The Valeyard sneered. "Open the door, Doctor."
The Time Lord sniffed and looked at Rose. "Fine," he huffed.
"What are you doing?!" Rose hissed.
"Ending it, one way or another."
She looked deep into his eyes and couldn't tell who she was looking at. Unnerved, she let his hand slip from hers as he neared his ship.
Martha saw her unease and squeezed her shoulder.
"Everyone comes," Valeyard demanded, pointing his gun at Jackie.
"Leave her alone, she's not a threat," Rose sneered.
"Get moving blondes one and two. You too Jones"
As the Doctor opened the door, he gestured for them to enter.
"I'll go last, thank you very much. Don't want you getting any ideas," Valeyard told him.
"If you insist," the Time Lord shrugged and filed in behind Martha, Rose and her mother.
Jackie sniffled as she saw Jack lying on the grating. "Did you have to leave him there?" she demanded, hiding her face in her daughter's shoulder.
Valeyard slammed the door behind them.
This has been far too easy! the Doctor's inner voice crowed. He just hoped that Jack and Mickey had realised what they had to do.
He spared Mickey a glance but he was too intent on looking at Martha. Moving closer to the monitor, he covertly looked at Jack, who gave a quick wink. Thank god someone is paying attention, he thought to himself.
"Uh Uh, Doctor, away from the controls," Valeyard commanded.
"Why? What are you going to do? Between you and the darker side of me, there's nothing you can do any more."
"I could just shoot you."
"Well, sure. You could but seeing as you have no clue how to take my regenerations that seems rather foolhardy."
Valeyard bristled.
"For someone supposedly so clever you really are so utterly stupid!"
"Careful Doctor."
The Doctor's look was nothing short or malevolent and everyone stepped away from him. He rushed the Valeyard and passed through him.
"Really? Not concrete yet remember? You can't defeat me," Valeyard laughed.
"Oh really?" Jack's voice sounded, punching a key on the keyboard and pulling a lever. "Defeat this!"
Light began to stream out of the TARDIS control panel, piercing through Valeyard.
"What have you done?!"
"Made you weak. There's only room for one Bringer of Darkness in this universe. I should have done this last time but I was softer then. You've done enough damage."
"You did those things Doctor. I was created from you," he called as he began to break apart. "You could still become me!"
"I know," he muttered as a dull ache started to throb in his head. "Rose! Stay back, away from the light!"
Rose moved behind him, narrowly avoiding the tendrils of the vortex.
A scream filled the control room as the Valeyard disintegrated, but as he was sucked into the bowels of the TARDIS the screams continued.
"Doctor?!" Rose shouted, reaching out to grab him as he dropped to his knees.
Clutching at his head, he couldn't feel anything but pain, like a white hot needle stabbing him behind the eyes.
Writhing around on the floor he couldn't see or hear anyone or anything. He could only hope the Valeyard was gone and that everyone was safe.