Chapter 6
Messaline
The end of the maintenance tunnel was lit by a dim light tube that flickered at random intervals. The end of the tunnel was blocked by a heavy sliding door. Cobb's base of operations was just on the other side. The three champions stood in front of the door and tried to figure out how to open it.
"Do you have a sonic screwdriver like the Doctor?" Faith asked Jenny.
Jenny patted her red, velvet coat. "Never leave the TARDIS without it," Jenny assured her.
"Well, get on with the sonic magic already," Spike requested.
Jenny ran her hand over the walls next to the door. "It's not that easy," she said. "I have to have some sort of control to manipulate, and I can't find one here. The opening and locking mechanism must be on the other side," Jenny said.
"Guess that means it's up to us, Spike," Faith said, shrugging her shoulders. She put her hand on Jenny's shoulder and eased her away from the door.
"Did you guys bring some explosives?" Jenny asked excitedly while she clapped her hands.
"Not exactly," Spike said. He looked over at Faith. "You want to try what we did in the Vatican?" Spike asked the Slayer.
Faith nodded. "Exactly what I was thinking," she said. "This door can't be any thicker than the one to the restricted artifacts vault under St. Paul's," Faith estimated. Jenny watched in curiosity as the vampire and Slayer stood shoulder to shoulder in front of the door. Both had become unnaturally still. At some silent cue, Spike and Faith jumped straight up in the air. While in flight the vampire rotated to his left and Faith to her right. After completing the rotation, the two heroes kicked back with the legs closest to each other. Their feet slammed into the metal obstruction at the same instant. The combined might of Faith and Spike's jumping back-kicks buckled the door slightly at the seam where the two halves met.
"Wow!" Jenny said, impressed. She looked at the indention. "That was amazing, but the door is still shut," Jenny pointed out.
"Be ready for whatever is behind that door," Spike growled as he changed into his vampire aspect. He wedged his fingers into the small indention they had made and pulled for all he was worth. With a screech of metal, the doors slid on their tracks into the wall. Spike could hear things crunching inside the track where he had thrown the door. Faith had been right and the door hadn't been nearly as heavy as the one in the Vatican.
The solitary guard stationed at the deadlocked maintenance hatch stared like a mouse facing a pack of hungry predators. The first face he saw as the supposedly immovable door slid open was that of Saint Jenny herself, come back to Messaline to reap vengeance on those who strayed from the path her father had put out for the population of Messaline. The other two faces he saw assured him of Jenny's divinity. On one side of Saint Jenny was a yellowed hair, yellow eyed demon. The thing looked like a human, but had bony ridges on its forehead and long, sharp fangs in its mouth. The third face belonged to what the guard assumed was an angel, but he never thought angels would have such cold, fearless look in their eyes.
Spike growled at the guard who still hadn't raised his weapon. The vampire's hearing picked up on a small trickle as liquid hit the floor. Spike glanced down and saw the front of the guard's gray pants had become dark with wetness and a growing puddle of urine was forming where the liquid ran out the guard's pant leg. "Boo," Spike snarled. The guard's eyes rolled back in his head and he feinted, striking his head hard on the concrete floor. Spike raised his eyebrows, showing his satisfaction. He shifted back into human form. Spike stood in the doorway and gestured into Cobb's compound with a bow. "Ladies," he said politely.
"Why thank you, Spike," Jenny said. She gingerly walked around the puddle on the floor and stepped over the unconscious guard.
"Yep, just like the Vatican," Faith said, nodding towards the unconscious guard. Unlike the Doctor's daughter, his girlfriend simply stepped on the hapless guard on her way to follow Jenny.
Jenny walked up to a black glass panel on the wall. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her gleaming, gold sonic screwdriver. Jenny activated it and waved it around the panel. The panel sprung to life and showed a map of the General's compound. "Here," Jenny said as she tapped a location on the map. "This looks like a lab and is our best bet on finding the Tyrant Virus," she pointed out. A humorless smile spread across her face. "It's also right next to Cobb's quarters," she said.
Jenny silently headed off in the right direction and was followed by two supernatural killers. When they reached the lab, they could see blurry figures of people inside. On closer inspection, they were able to make out four heavily armed guards, a lab technician, and a gray haired man in a dark gray uniform. "That's Cobb," Jenny said, indicating the gray haired man.
Spike smiled at her. "I'll make sure he lives through the begging of this," he promised her. Jenny knew that promise wouldn't have made Cobb feel any better if he knew what was coming for him.
"He just might not have the use of all his limbs," Faith added.
The three of them snuck up to the door and Jenny examined the lock. "Simple one," she whispered. "I can open it, no problem," Jenny assured her fellow heroes. She pointed her sonic screwdriver at the lock and held up three fingers. She folded down her fingers one at a time. When the last finger was pulled in to make a fist, she pressed the stud on her sonic screwdriver. The lock burst with sparks and the sliding door whooshed open.
The guards had only just registered the door had opened when two figures that would haunt their nightmares for the rest of their lives stormed into the room. Spike peeled off to the left and Faith went right. The Slayer grabbed the first guard's assault rifle and spun it out of his hands. She continued the motion and spun the butt of the rifle into the guard's temple, knocking him out. The other guard on her side of the room was raising his rifle to shoot at the intruders when his companion's assault rifle sailed through the air and struck him squarely on the bridge of his nose. Cartilage crushed and his head snapped back suddenly. The second guard was unconscious a fraction of a second after the first.
When Faith had grabbed the first guard's weapon, Spike rushed over to the one closest to him on the left side of the room. He moved with supernatural speed. Before the guard could figure out what was happening, he found himself sailing through the open door. He hit the far wall with a wet thud and slid down, unconscious. The final guard had focused his attention on the open door and brought up his weapon to fire at the blonde woman standing there. The vampire's fist across his jaw sent that guard into painful sleep.
The technician ducked under a table and cowered. As Cobb drew his pistol, he glanced down at the technician with contempt and then over at his greatest disappointment. "Welcome home, Jenny," he said with false sincerity. While his guards were being pummeled, Cobb had been free to raise his weapon and point it at the woman who he beleived betrayed him. With a smile of satisfaction, Cobb said, "Let's see if we can't make this one permanent." Cobb pulled the trigger and his gun went off. The General was shocked and confused when the blonde man suddenly appeared right in front of him and took the bullet meant for Jenny.
Spike glanced down at his chest where the bullet had entered his body. The General's smile faltered when the man simply said, "Damn, another shirt ruined. I should buy stock in the bloody company at the rate I go through them." The General fired twice more and saw the bullets go into the man's chest. "Will you knock that off," Spike said, more than slightly annoyed.
Faith snatched the gun out of Cobb's numb hand. "You…you should be dead," Cobb stammered.
"Already am, you stupid ponce," Spike growled.
Jenny stepped up to Cobb and stared him in the face. The look in her eyes reaffirmed the fact that she was definitely her father's daughter. Faith smiled at the similarity in their expressions when they showed their authority as Time Lords. "I have been following in my father's footsteps since we met last," Jenny told Cobb. "I have seen many beautiful and many horrible things. I have faced down my race's ancient enemy, the Daleks. They call my father the Destroyer of Worlds and the Oncoming Storm," she said slowly with a menacing cadence. "Now they have a new monster to add to their nightmares. In the language of Skaros, I am known as the Storm's Vengeance…and you will tell me where your sample of the Tyrant Virus is," Jenny commanded.
Cobb's eyes darted involuntarily to a safe on the wall to his left. Faith caught this and strode over to the safe. To Cobb's horror, Faith simply grabbed the handle and tore the locking mechanism out of place. She reached in and pulled out two glowing vials. The liquid inside each vial gave off their own light. The first one was blue and the other green. Jenny walked over to Faith and checked the vial contents with her sonic screwdriver. She nodded and Faith pocketed the vials. Just as she had done that, an alarm blared through the compound.
"Sort of a delayed reaction for the safe," Faith pointed out sarcastically.
"The safe's not alarmed, you stupid bitch. That's the perimeter alarm letting us know the zombies are getting close to the compound," Cobb spat. Spike was about to break the major bones in Cobb's hands, one at a time; but he was stopped by a shake of Faith's head. She pointed to a display on the wall that had suddenly sprung to life. It showed a bunch of red dots converging on the maintenance door they had forced open.
Jenny noticed the screen too and punched a button next to it. "Attention all soldiers of Messaline. This is Jenny and if you know what's good for you I suggest that you all run to the south entrance. Your northern perimeter has been compromised," she said sweetly. Faith ran off in the direction of the maintenance door as fast as a Slayer could run; right after she handed Cobb's gun to Spike. Jenny ran after her so she could organize the compound's evacuation. This left Spike alone with Cobb.
"Where are they going?" Cobb asked.
"We forced open that door where all the pretty red lights are headed to," Spike answered. "We also left one of your guards napping in a puddle of his own pee, so I guess Faith just went back to rescue the poor sod," he said. "As for Jenny, if she's anything like her father, she's probably coming up with something brilliant," Spike said.
Cobb's face blanched when he looked at the screen and saw how many zombies were going to invade his compound. "We need to get out of here before the zombies reach us," he pleaded.
"Yeah…about that," Spike said, rocking on his heels. "I'm not like the Doctor," he said. Spike Knocked Cobb back onto a table and grabbed a metal piece of equipment nearby. The vampire rammed the piece of metal through Cobb's thigh and into the table, pinning the General there like a butterfly specimen.
"What are you doing?" Cobb screamed as he tried to pull his leg free.
While Cobb worked in vain to free himself, Spike held up the General's gun. He pulled the magazine out and emptied the chamber. Spike thumbed all but one bullet out of the magazine before putting it back into the gun. He racked the slide, seating the lone bullet in the chamber. "Here you go, mate," Spike said cheerily as he handed the gun to a wide eyed Cobb. "Better than you deserve, but what can I say. I'm just a big softie since I got my soul back," Spike confided. With that he left General Cobb alone, pinned to a table with a zombie horde rapidly approaching.
Spike caught up with Faith and Jenny at the south doors. All of Cobb's soldiers were huddled on the far side of the entrance. The soldiers were looking at Jenny with awe and reverence on their faces. "Shall we?" Spiked asked, indicating the doors.
"We shall," Jenny said. Both she and Faith linked arms with Spike and they walked into the tunnel. When the doors slid shut behind them, Jenny turned around them and gave the locking mechanism on that side of the door a blast with her sonic screwdriver. With a gesture, she locked the doors in place. She turned around again and spoke to Faith and Spike.
"It's been terribly fun," Jenny said in a bubbly tone. "I wish I could go with you to see my Dad, but he doesn't meet me again for a while," she said, her tone growing somber.
Faith snapped her fingers as an idea hit her. "Maybe you can," she said cryptically. "Just come with us to right outside the Great Garden," she suggested.
DrW
The tenth Doctor leaned back from the microscope he was using and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "It's no use. Without a sample of the anti-virus or even the virus itself, we can't synthesize an antidote," he said.
"You mean like these?" Faith said, startling the two Doctors. She was holding up the glowing vials.
"Outstanding work, Faith," the fifth Doctor noted. "Hand me the vials and I can make an antidote," he said.
Faith gave the vials to the tenth Doctor instead. "Doc here can manage it. Spike needs you in the airlock tunnel," she said.
The fifth Doctor gave Faith a questioning glance, but conceded. "Do hurry with that," he told his older self and went out in search of Spike.
The Doctor checked the vials over and placed both of them into a machine resting on a table. "I should have large doses of the antidote ready within minutes," he told Faith. A dark thought crossed his mind. "What happened with Cobb?" he asked carefully.
"I can honestly say he was alive when we left him," Spike said as he snuck into the room. "After that, things were left in Cobb's hands," he said. There was something in Spike's tone that told the Doctor he didn't want to know more.
"If you're here…why did Faith send me off to look for you in the airlock tunnel?" the tenth Doctor asked, clearly confused.
Faith slid up to her boyfriend and put her finger on his lips. "Shush…spoilers," she said, turning the concept against him. With a deep sigh, the tenth Doctor shook his head and checked on the antidote production.
The fifth Doctor stepped through the airlock into the tunnel beyond. He craned his neck to look around for his older self's vampire friend. "Spike?" the fifth Doctor called out.
"He's inside with Faith," a young woman's voice called out. Jenny stepped out of the shadows and walked towards the fifth Doctor.
The fifth Doctor recognized the striking young woman from her statue. "Jenny?" he asked in confusion.
"Delayed regeneration," Jenny said, answering his next question before he could ask it. "And no, your older self can't come out here to see me," she said, guessing at what he might ask. "You don't meet me again until 11," Jenny explained.
"But I won't remember this meeting because the TARDIS will erase just about everything about this journey from my mind," the fifth Doctor said, catching on. "I suppose you helped Faith and Spike recover the virus and anti-virus," he said.
"Yep," Jenny said, popping the last "P".
The fifth Doctor bowed to his future daughter. "You have my thanks. I'm proud of the woman you have become," he said. The fifth Doctor saw the glint of a tear at the corner of Jenny's eye. He held out his arms wide and his future daughter ran to him. The fifth Doctor held Jenny in his arms.
"I miss you so much some times," she whispered while she hugged her father. A playful smile played across her lips. Jenny pulled her father's head down towards her and she whispered something about his future self and Faith.
"Are you serious?" the fifth Doctor said in shock.
"Yep," Jenny said. She pulled herself out of her father's embrace, winked at him, and ran off to her TARDIS.
The fifth Doctor chuckled. "What did I get myself into?" he asked, referring to the tenth Doctor.
When the fifth Doctor managed to get to the hospice ward, he found that the tenth Doctor was already there. Tegan was sitting up in bed and looking infinitely better. She saw him and yelled out, "Doctor!"
"Feeling better, are we?" the fifth Doctor asked brightly.
"Much, but I'm really hazy about how we got here," Tegan admitted.
"You'll be feeling right as rain in no time," the fifth Doctor assured her. "Spike and Faith will get you back to the TARDIS while Skinny and I retrieve the first segment," he said.
"Oi!" the tenth Doctor protested. The fifth Doctor took him by the arm and lead him to the center of the Great Garden. Once there, the tenth Doctor said, "Let's get this over with."
The fifth Doctor took out the tracer and touched the brightly glowing blue end of the pointer to the statue of the Doctor and Jenny. In a flash, the statue disappeared to be replaced by a small fragment of the Key of Time and the blue end of the pointer went back to a dull glow. As the tenth Doctor picked up the segment off of the ground, he noticed his younger self smiling smugly.
"What?" the tenth Doctor asked.
The fifth Doctor's smile grew wider and he pat his older self on the back. As they walked back to the TARDIS, "Spoilers," was all the fifth Doctor would say.