Mistake

They walked through the tunnels, both Time Lords looking at Cleaves curiously. "How long would you say we were unconscious for, Cleaves?"

Cleaves shrugged. "Not long. A minute, two minutes?"

Adelaide raised her eyebrows. "I'd guess we've been out for longer."

"Well, how long?"

"An hour."

The Doctor nodded. "I've seen whole worlds turned inside out in an hour. A lot can go wrong in an hour."

|C-S|

When the trio ran into the harness room, they found Dicken, Jimmy, Buzz, Jenny, Amy, and Rory. Jenny was in Rory's arms and it looked like he was attempting to comfort her. "Doctor, Adelaide, these are all real people," Amy said to the Time Lords, "so where are their Gangers?"

"Don't worry. When the link shuts down the Gangers return to pure Flesh," Cleaves said. "Now, the storm's left us with acid leaks all over, so we need to contact the mainland. They can have a rescue shuttle out here in no time."

And then, quietly, they could hear a Dusty Springfield record playing in the distance.

Jimmy frowned. "That's my record. Who's playing my record?"

Adelaide raised her eyebrows. "Your Gangers."

"They've gone walkabout."

Cleaves shook her head. "No, it's impossible. They're not active. Cars don't fly themselves, cranes don't lift themselves, and Gangers don't…" but they all just looked towards where the music was coming from.

|C-S|

The group entered the dining hall where the record was playing from. "No way," Buzzer said, shaking his head.

"I don't…I don't believe this."

"They could've escaped through the service door at the back."

"This is just like the Isle of Sheppey."

The Doctor leaned against the table. "It would seem the storm has animated your Gangers."

Cleaves looked around the room, which was in quite a bit of disarray. "They've ransacked everything."

"Not ransacked," Adelaide corrected. "Searched."

"Through our stuff!"

"Their stuff."

"Searching for what?"

"Confirmation." The Doctor pushed himself away from the table. "They need to know their memories are real."

Buzzer sighed. "Oh, so they've got flaming memories now."

"They feel compelled to connect to their lives."

"Their stolen lives."

Adelaide shook her head. "You gave them this. You gave everything to the Flesh, all the wonder and power that is human life."

The Doctor nodded. "Human lives are amazing. Are you surprised they walked off with them?" he and Adelaide exchanged a small smile; a reminder that, despite everything that could happen and would happen to them, they still agreed on that fact.

But the fact Adelaide agreed at all…she didn't like that.

Buzzer sighed. "I'll say it again. Isle of Sheppey. Ganger got an electric shock, toddled off, killed his operator right there in his harness. I've seen the photos. This bloke's ear was all hanging-"

"Even if this has actually happened," Kimmy cut in, "they can't remain stable without us plumbed into them, can they, boss?"

Cleaves shrugged. "Guess we'll find out."

Rory looked to Jenny, who looked even more uneasy. "Are you okay? Do you need some water?"

"I feel funny. I need the washroom." Jenny ran out of the room.

"I'll come with you." Rory, glancing at the Time Lords for them to nod, hurried after her just as Dicken sneezed, making Amy jump.

"Sorry."

The Doctor turned so that he could better examine the card tower set up on the table.

"That's me," Buzzer said, noticing it for the first time. "It's good to have a hobby. So, what, my ganger did that all on its own?"

"Who taught you to do this?"

"My granddad."

"Well, your Ganger's grandad just taught him to do it, too," the Doctor said. "You both have the same childhood memories, just as clear, just as real."

Buzzer knocked down the tower. "No."

"Scared, disoriented, struggling to come to terms with an entire life in their heads." The Doctor frowned at Buzzer before moving away from the table to speak quickly to Adelaide, leaving the rest of the group to gather around the table.

"We need to protect ourselves," Jimmy said.

"Are you a violent man?" Adelaide asked him as the Doctor put some food into the microwave.

"No."

"Then why would the other Jimmy be?"

Cleaves raised her eyebrows at the Doctor. "Don't tell me you can eat at a time like this, Doctor."

"You said we'd been out for a few minutes," Adelaide continued, "when, in truth, it had been an hour."

Cleaves shrugged. "Sorry, I just assumed."

The Doctor turned back around. "Well, it's not your fault. Like I said, they're disoriented." The microwave dinged and the Doctor moved to take the food out.

Adelaide turned to Amy. "Amy, who was in the harnesses when you arrived?"

"Jimmy and Dicken were helping Buzzer out."

"Jennifer?"

"She was standing on her own when we got to her."

The Doctor handed his plate to Cleaves, who took it without flinching. "It's hot," he told her and Cleaves hissed, dropping it.

Adelaide nodded. "Nerve endings must not have fused properly yet."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's okay."

"Why didn't I feel that?"

"You will," the Doctor told her. "You'll stabilize."

Cleaves shook her head. "No, stop it. You're playing stupid games. Stop it!" She turned her back on them.

"You don't have to hide," the Doctor said carefully, approaching her. "Please, trust me. I'm the Doctor."

Ganger Cleaves spun with a hiss, her face half-formed. Buzzer grabbed a knife, but Jimmy kept him back. "Where's the real Cleaves, you thing? What have you done with her?"

The Doctor, ignoring the humans, held out his hand to Ganger Cleaves. "That's it. Good, you remember. This is early Flesh. The early stages of the technology. So much…" he put a hand on her shoulder "to learn."

Amy moved to stand by Adelaide. "What's happened to her?"

"She can't stabilize," Adelaide explained. "At the moment, she'll be shifting between half-formed and fully-formed."

"We are living!" Ganger Cleaves lunged at the Doctor and ran from the room, screaming.

"Let her go," the Doctor told them all, but spoke in particular to the humans.

Amy's eyes widened. "Doctor, Rory."

"Rory?"

"Rory!"

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Oh, Rory, Rory! Always with the Rory!"

|C-S|

The group ran through the monastery, trying to find their way to Rory, except most paths were blocked by pools of acid. "Explosion must've ruptured the acid feeds," Jimmy reasoned. "We're going to need the acid suits."

"No, no, no. We haven't got time." They turned and rushed to another part of the monastery. "Back, back, back!"

|C-S|

They managed to find the washroom that Jenny and Rory had gone to, and the only way they knew was because of the large hole in one of the stall doors. "Rory," Amy said.

"Of course, Jennifer's a Ganger too," the Doctor said, his eyes wide.

"Adelaide, you said they wouldn't be violent…"

"But the Doctor said they were scared and angry," she corrected.

"And early technology is what you said," Jimmy turned to them. "You seem to know something about the Flesh."

Amy turned to them too. "Do you? Doctor? Adelaide?"

Jimmy eyed them. "You're no weatherman. Why are you two really here?"

The Doctor looked towards Adelaide. "We have to talk to them. We can fix this." She raised her eyebrows at him but said nothing when he took her hand and pulled her from the room, leaving the other two just to follow.

"Wait!" Jimmy called. "What's going on? Where's the real Jennifer?"

They had just gone up another set of stairs and down a tunnel when a pipe burst in front of them, shooting out steam and making them fall back, thankfully not stepping in the acid on the ground. "It is too dangerous out here with acid leaks!"

"We have to find Rory."

"It would be safer to look with the TARDIS," Adelaide offered, making it quite clear that she and the Doctor weren't going to be separated at this moment.

Jimmy hurried to a box on the wall. "Here we go. Distress flares."

"Exit?" Adelaide asked him.

"Keep going straight. Can't miss it. But you're never going to get your vehicle in here."

The Doctor grinned. "I'm a great parker." He grabbed Adelaide's hand again and they rushed off.

|C-S|

The Time Lords stopped in the Flesh Room on their way out, hurrying up to the vat of Flesh. The Doctor scanned it one last time, making it bubble, and grinned at Adelaide before they both rushed from the room.

Behind them, a mouth appeared in the Flesh. "Trust me…"

|C-S|

By the time they reached it, the TARDIS was already half-sunk into the acid-soaked earth. "Oh," the Doctor groaned. "What are you doing down there?"

"Doctor!" she pulled him back, pointing down towards where he had, actually, been standing in a pool of acid. Quickly, he ripped off his shoes, before spinning and checking Adelaide's feet.

Unsurprisingly, she'd not gone too close.

|C-S|

Back in the monastery, the Time Lords found a collection of acid suits lying on the ground and a group of half-formed Gangers standing next to them. The Doctor grinned. "Hello. How are you all getting on?"

"Why don't you tell us?" Ganger Cleaves glared at them.

"There are two choices," Adelaide said. "The first; tear each other apart, which I don't advise. The second; work together. Determine how we can help you."

A bit later, the Time Lords emerged from the room with the Gangers, the entire group now fully-formed. "Now, we know it's hard for you to hold your fully human form," the Doctor said as they walked. "That's why you keep shifting between the Flesh stages, but do try. It'll make the others less scared of you."

|C-S|

The group walked into the dining room, where the humans were stationed, just as Amy said: "Okay, let's not do anything at all-"

The Doctor finished her statement with her. "Until the Doctor and Adelaide get here." The entire room, which looked like they were confronting Jennifer, who must have been a Ganger, turned to look at them. "Hello."

"This is…" Jimmy said, his eyes wide.

Ganger Jimmy nodded. "You're telling me."

Ganger Cleaves sighed. "All right, Doctor, Adelaide, you've brought us together. Now what?"

"Before we do anything, I have one very important question. Has anybody got a pair of shoes I could borrow? Size ten." He pointed down at his feet. "Although, I should warn you, I have very wide feet."

Someone managed to find a pair of brown work boots that fit him, even if no one actually knew who's shoes they were. The Doctor sat at the edge of the table with Adelaide next to him, Amy behind them both. On one side was the original group, and the other was the Gangers, though Rory was standing with Ganger Jenny now.

"The Flesh was never moss," Adelaide said. "They're not copies."

"The storm has hardwired them. They are becoming people."

"With souls?" Jimmy asked."

"Rubbish!" Dicken scoffed, then sneezed.

"Bless you," his Ganger said quickly.

The Doctor nodded. "We were all jelly once. Little jelly eggs sitting in goop."

Amy grimaced. "Yeah, thanks. Too much information."

"We're not talking about an accident that needs to be mopped up. We are talking about sacred life. Do you understand?" he waited until at least one person nodded. "Good. Now, the TARDIS is trapped in an acid pool. Once we reach her," he gestured between himself and Adelaide, "I can get you all off this island, humans and Gangers, eh? How does that sound?"

"Can I make it home for Adam's birthday?"

Ganger Jimmy frowned. "What about me? He's my son too."

"You?" Jimmy scoffed. "You really think that?"

Ganger Jimmy nodded. "I feel it."

"Oh, so you were there when he was born, were you?"

"Yeah. I drank about eight pints of tea, then they told me I had a wee boy and I just burst out laughing." Ganger Jimmy laughed at the thought. "No idea why. I miss home, as much as you."

The Doctor shook his head. "Look, we're not going to lie to you. It's a right old mess, this. But as you might say up north, 'oh well, I'll just go to t' foot of stairs. Eee, by by, gum'. Or not." The entire group looked at him oddly. "Good. Right."

Adelaide touched his shoulder. "First, we need to get everyone together and safe. Then we can get everyone out of here."

Amy frowned. "But we're still missing Jennifer and Cleaves."

Jimmy stood. "I'll go and look for them."

Ganger Jimmy stood too. "I'll give you a hand, if you like. Cover more ground."

"Yeah, okay. Thanks."

"This circus has gone on long enough!" Cleaves said, making all of them turn. She had a device crackling with electricity, holding it like a weapon.

Ganger Cleaves sighed. "Oh, great. You see, that is just so typically me."

"Doctor, tell it to shut up!"

The Doctor stood, holding out a hand to Cleaves. "Cleaves, no. No, no."

"Circuit probe. Fires about, oh, forty thousand volts?" Cleaves shrugged. "Would kill any one of us, so I guess she'll work on Gangers just the same."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "It's interesting you refer to them as 'it', but you call a glorified cattle prod a 'she'."

"When the real people are safely off this island, then I'll happily talk philosophy over a pint with you, Doctor."

"What are you going to do to them?" Amy frowned at her.

"Sorry. They're monsters. Mistakes. They have to be destroyed."

The Doctor held out his hand. "Give me the probe, Cleaves."

"We always have to take charge, don't we, Miranda?" Ganger Cleaves said. "Even when we don't really know what the hell is going on."

Ganger Buzzer rushed at Cleaves and she zapped him, making him fall to the ground, motionless. The Doctor ran to him, scanning him, while Adelaide took over the position of attempting to keep Cleaves from attacking anyone else. "He's dead!" the Doctor said, falling back on his heels.

"We call it 'decommissioned'," Cleaves corrected, smirking.

"You stopped his heart," the Doctor said, looking at the scans. "He had a heart. Aorta, valves, a real human heart. And you stopped it."

"Jen?" Rory said to Ganger Jenny as she backed away from him.

"What happened to Buzzer will happen to all of us if we trust you!"

"Wait, wait, just wait," the Doctor tried to defuse the situation, but it didn't seem to be working.

"No!" Rory shouted as Cleaves stepped forward, ready to fire at Ganger Jenny. He knocked her to the ground, snatching the probe and giving the Gangers the chance to run out of the room.

"You idiot!"

"Wait!" the Doctor called after the Gangers, but none of them stopped. "Look at what you have done, Cleaves."

"If it's war, then it's war. You don't get it, Doctor. How can you? It's us and them now." She turned to the rest of her crew. "Us and them."

Dicken nodded. "Us and them."

Jimmy sighed. "Us and them."

"Us and them," Buzzer agreed quickly.

Amy and Rory gave him quite a surprised expression before kneeling to cover Ganger Buzzer, speaking quietly together as they worked.

"The most fortified and defendable room in the monastery?" the Doctor said to Cleaves. "Cleaves, the most fortified and defendable room in the monastery?"

"The chapel."

The Doctor nodded. "Thank you."

"Only one way in. Stone walls, two feet thick."

"You've crossed one hell of a line, Cleaves. You've killed one of them. You're coming back, in a big way." The Doctor and Adelaide led the way out of the room.

|C-S|

"What about the flares?" Jimmy asked as the entire group ran towards the chapel.

"We'll worry about the flares when we're locked inside." The time travelers paused, leaving the rest of the humans to run inside the chapel. "Rory Pond." They'd heard Jenny's scream, and Rory had paused.

"Jen's out there. She's out there and she's on her own."

"Well, if she's got any sense, then she's hiding. Rory!"

Rory shook his head. "I can't leave her out there!"

"Rory!"

"I know you understand that."

Amy shook her head. "Get in here. Get in here!"

The Gangers appeared at the end of the hallway, dressed in acid suits. Rory looked back before running off. "There they are!"

"Amy," the Doctor grabbed Amy's arm, pulling her into the room.

"Rory!" but Adelaide didn't give her a chance, locking the door behind them. They moved back to let the crew barricade the door.

"Amy," the Doctor told Amy, "they are not after him, they're after us."

"Why?" a voice whispered from the back of the room. "Why?"

Adelaide turned to look into the dark and the Doctor came to stand beside her, taking her hand quickly. "Show yourself," she told the dark. "Show yourself, please."

"Doctor! Adelaide!"

"Pass me the barrel," Cleaves called.

"We need something heavy. Anything you can find."

Jimmy shook his head. "This is insane. We're fighting ourselves."

The Doctor nodded. "Yes. Yes, it's insane, and it's about to get even more insaner." He frowned. "Is that a word? Show yourself, right now!"

Amy stepped up to the Time Lords. "Doctor, we are trapped in here and Rory's out there with them. Hello? We can't get to the TARDIS and we can't even leave the island!"

"Correct in every respect, Pond," the Doctor's voice said, though it came from the shadow instead of the man himself. "It's frightening, unexpected, frankly a total, utter splattering mess on the carpet, but I am certain, one hundred percent certain, that we can work this out." Adelaide raised her eyebrows as a Ganger Doctor, his face half-formed, stepped out of the darkness and tweaked his bow-tie. "Trust me. I'm the Doctor."

A/N: I was tempted to make a Ganger Adelaide but we all know she wouldn't touch the random tub of Flesh :)