The Rebel Flesh
Rose crossed her arms and cocked her hip at the Doctor. "I still think we should say something."
The Doctor shook his head and rested his hands lightly on Rose's shoulders. "I told you Rose, if we do, who knows who might hear?"
"You might be wrong."
"I might be right."
Rose pouted and the Doctor quickly spun around and played with the TARDIS scanner. He knew the power of that pout and he would not submit. The Doctor looked over to the Ponds and Jack. Glenn Miller played from around the TARDIS as Jack taught both the Ponds how to dance a dance from the 51 Century. Amy laughed as Jack took Rory in his arms and spun him around. The Doctor looked back to Rose.
"Whatever we do, Doctor, we have to do it soon." The two of them turned their attention to the scanner. The program running on it flipped back and forth between pregnant and not. Their faces creased in concern.
Rory smiled at Jack as the man twirled him around and dipped him over his arm. "I think I'm getting the hang of it." Jack pulled him back up. "Maybe I can try being the male now?"
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Handsome, this is a dance from the 51 Century. It's unisex. Technically, you are the male." Amy burst into laughter at the confused look on Rory's face. Jack stepped back from the blonde and turned to Amy. He held out a hand and grinned salaciously. "Your turn Red."
"Who wants fish and chips?" The Doctor called from the rotor. Rose leaned over the console and turned the music off. Rory raised his hand and turned to the Doctor.
"I'll drop you both off." The Doctor stated quickly. He turned to the console and began pushing buttons. "Take your time." He called over his shoulder. "Don't rush."
Rory looked at Rose and Jack, he frowned. "Er, and you three?"
"Things to do." Rose replied. She and the Doctor shared a look.
"Things involving other things." The Doctor finished. Jack opened his mouth but one sharp look from the Doctor cut him off. They'd talked about this, Jack knew what was happening.
Amy crossed her arms defiantly. "Well, we'll stay with you. We'll do the other things."
Rose sighed. "Amy, please."
The three other companions ran up the steps to the console. Amy didn't budge on her decision. "Whatever you're up to, I'd personally like to be a part of it." Rory frowned. He really wanted those chips.
An alarm blared. Mauve lights flashed and the TARDIS shook violently. The five time travellers collapsed as the ground beneath them tipped and shuddered. The Doctor popped back up as the TARDIS continued to shake.
"Solar tsunami." He informed them. "Came directly from your sun. A tidal wave of radiation. Big, big, big." He grabbed hold of the side of the console as it tipped sideways again. Rose fell towards him and he grabbed her with one hand before her face planted into the glass floor. She clung to him as the TARDIS tipped the other way. "Well, the gyrator disconnected. Target tracking is out."
"We're heading for earth!" Rose shouted to the other companions.
"Assume the position!" Rory and Amy ducked to the ground and covered their head with their hands. Rose and Jack looked at one another perplexed. The TARDIS shook violently for a moment longer then everything went still.
The Doctor smiled arrogantly. "Textbook landing." He winked at Rose then dashed around the console towards the door. His companions slowly gathered themselves together from the obviously anything but, textbook landing.
Jack glared at him as he passed. "Wait a minute there Time Lord!" Amy and Rory popped up from the ground and followed Rose and Jack towards the door. "Why didn't we ever get safety positions when we travelled with you?"
The Doctor paused at the door and looked at Jack like he'd never heard a more stupid question. "Because you and Rose aren't nearly as delicate…" At Amy's glare, the Doctor abruptly stopped. He coughed and smiled. Amy continued to glare. "Anyways…" He turned and exited the TARDIS.
"Stupid Time Lord." Amy grumbled. Jack, Rory and Rose followed her out of the TARDIS, amused smiles on their faces.
"Behold, a cockerel!" The Doctor declared happily as he stared up at the weathervane on top of an old stone building. "Love a cockerel." He hopped out of the TARDIS and analysed the stonework of the structure. Amy and the others exited the TARDIS. "And underneath, a monastery. Thirteenth century."
Amy raised her eyebrows. "Oh, we've gone all mediaeval." She crossed her arms and gave the Doctor a look. The alien easily avoided it and turned to inspect the ground.
Rory glanced around. "I'm not sure about that. I can hear Dusty Springfield." Amy stepped closer to her husband and tried to hear the tune. Standing behind them, Jack picked it up instantly and began whistling to You Don't Have To Say You Love Me. They glanced behind themselves and smiled at the Captain.
Rose hopped up to the Doctor where he was examining a large crack in the ground. Running between the opening was a pipe. "Danger," she read over his shoulder, "Corrosive."
"Yes," The Doctor replied as he inspected the dirt and the pattern of the break. "These fissures are new. Solar tsunami sent out a huge wave of gamma particles."
Jack nodded. "Like a magnetic quake that occurs just before the wave hits." Amy raised her eyebrows and looked over her shoulder at the Captain. She sometimes forgot he was from a completely different century and solar system.
The Doctor spun around. He snapped his fingers and pointed them at Jack like guns. "Exactly like that, Harkness."
Amy nodded at the monastery. "Well, the monastery's standing."
The Doctor pulled out a snow globe from his pocket. He held it up and shook it. Rose rolled her eyes and took it, she put it into her own pocket. "Focus." He glared at her and she raised her eyebrows back challengingly.
"Doctor?" Rory asked.
"Yeah, for now." He finally answered Amy's earlier statement. He continued to glare at Rose.
"No, Doctor, look." Rory pointed to the giant hole in the ground he and Rose had been examining.
He nodded and used the sonic on the pipe. "Yeah. It's a supply pipe. Ceramic inner lining. Something corrosive. They're pumping something nasty off this island to the mainland."
Rory looked towards a set of stairs that led into the monastery. "My mum's a massive fan of Dusty Springfield."
Rose smiled and headed towards the steps. "Who isn't? He was brilliant, wasn't he Doctor?"
The Doctor sniffed. "Bit too friendly for my tastes." He followed after Rose.
Jack grinned and called out to him. "Everyone's a bit friendly for your tastes Doctor." He turned to the Ponds. "Unless you're Rose."
The group headed across a bridge and up the steps of the building. Amy glanced around as the music increased. "So where are these Dusty Springfield loving monks, then?"
The Doctor soniced the area and looked at the readings. "I think we're here. This is it." Rose nodded at the Doctor and assessed the area.
Rory glanced around. "Doctor, what are you talking about? We've never been here before." Jack and Rose shared a look.
Rose took the Doctor's hand, he turned to her. "Hmm?"
Amy narrowed her eyes. "We came here by accident?"
The Doctor spun around and faced he Ponds. "Accident?"
Rose nodded and spoke before he could say more. "Yes, of course it was an accident. Jack?"
The man shrugged behind the Ponds. "What else would it be?" Amy turned and narrowed her eyes at Jack, then looked slowly back to Rose. She smiled brightly as the Doctor looked anywhere but at Amy.
"Ow!" Rory cried out as he shook his hand. A sizzling noise filled the silence as Rose rushed down the stairs to Rory. She glanced at the pool of fluid he had touched and calmly took his hand. Jack glanced over the side of the bridge and checked for any more.
"Acid." The Doctor explained. "They're pumping acid off this island. That's old stuff. Fresh acid, you wouldn't have a finger." Rose glared at the Doctor over her shoulder as he left through the archway. Jack ran up the steps past the trio and followed the Doctor into the building.
Rose turned her attention to Rory's hand and her eyes glowed gold. The pain disappeared from Rory's hand, as well as any sign of injury. Amy looked on in concern. Rose nodded. "Right, let's go then. Jack'll only get the Doctor into more trouble, not out of it." She turned and headed up the steps.
Amy turned Rory's hand over in her own. "Did she mention she could do that when you two talked?" Rory shook his head. They shared a quick look then headed after the others, hand in hand.
Bells rang as an electronic voice hollered from all around them. "INTRUDER ALERT. INTRUDER ALERT."
The Doctor stopped and turned back to the Ponds. He pointed his sonic at them. "There are people coming. Well, almost."
Amy shook her head. "Almost coming?"
"Almost people." They turned down the hall to where Jack and Rose were.
Rory nodded and looked in the direction of the TARDIS. "I think we should really be going."
"Come on!" Amy ordered.
Rory groaned but hurried after his wife. "I'm telling you. When something runs towards you, it is never for a nice reason."
Jack nodded. "I should really tell you about this one time on Sirius IV –"
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Time and place, Captain." The hallway opened up into a large room. People were lying against machines, harnessed into the mechanics with their eyes closed.
Amy examined one of the machines. "What are all these harnesses for?"
Rose pulled out her sonic and scanned one of the machines. Rory looked to her. She bit her lip and said nothing. "The almost people?" He asked. Rose looked to Jack.
Amy frowned at the two newest companions. "What are they, prisoners, or are they meditating, or what?"
Rose shook her head. "They aren't sleepin' and they aren't meditating either."
Rory looked around at the people all hooked up to some unknown machine. Not sleeping, and not meditating so that just left… "Or what."
The alarms stopped and a voice called out to the group. "Halt and remain calm."
"Well, we've halted." The Doctor replied happily. "How are we all doing on the calm front?" Jack stared at the main entrance, hand on his gun. Rose grabbed his wrist and shook her head, her eyes glowed briefly and Jack quickly covered the weapon with his jacket.
A man ran in holding a spear looking object, another followed him holding the same. "Don't move!" The first cried.
The second one glared at them. "Stay back, Jen." He told the brunette woman who followed in after the two men, all of them wearing orange jumpsuits. "We don't know who they are."
Jen crossed her arms, unafraid. She looked at the group and shrugged. "So let's ask them. Who the hell are you?"
Amy looked around the room to all the people in harnesses. She looked back to the people in front of her. Rose watched as she did, she smiled. Amy was quite quick.
"Well, I'm the Doctor, and this is Amy and Rory and Rose and Jack, and it's all very nice, isn't it?" The Doctor smiled brightly and took Rose's hand. He nodded once at them. "And you are?"
"Hold up." Amy said. "You're all. What are you all? Like identical twins?" Rory looked around at the harnessed people. Jack, Rose and the Doctor all continued to watch the people with spears. Rose's eyes glowed faintly and she turned her attention to a second stairwell.
Two more people walked down the stairs. A woman and a man, both wore shelled brown space suits of some kind. The woman stepped forward with a stern face. "This is an Alpha Grade industrial facility. Unless you work for the military or for Morpeth Jetson, you are in big trouble."
The Doctor padded his pockets. "Actually, you're in big trouble." He continued to pat his pockets. Rose rolled her eyes and pulled out the psychic paper from his breast pocket and showed it to the woman in charge. Amy raised an eyebrow at their antics, beginning to think the Doctor knew exactly where the psychic paper was at all times.
The woman read the paper and eyed Rose. "Meteorological Department? Since when?"
The Doctor opened his mouth, but the woman wasn't looking to him anymore. "Since when?" Rose replied. "You got hit by a solar flare."
The woman looked down her nose at Rose. "Which we survived."
Rose laughed humorously. "Barely. And there'll be another on the way."
"Bigger." The Doctor piped in with a gesture of an explosion with his hands.
"Bigger." Rose relayed to the woman.
She ignored them. "Which we'll also survive. Dicken, scan for bugs." Rose narrowed her eyes at the arrogant woman. She was looking down at the psychic paper, checking for authenticity.
"Backs against the wall. Now." Dicken ordered, the man who had come in with the female leader. The Doctor raised his hands, a bitter smile on his face. The group of them did as they were told and lined up against the wall, back against it.
That didn't stop the Doctor from talking. Rose glanced at the man and wondered if anything could get him to stop talking. "You're not a monastery, you're a factory. Twenty second century army-owned factory."
Amy glanced at their outfits. "You're army?"
The woman looked to Amy. "No, love. We're contractors, and you're trespassers."
"It's clear, boss." Dickens declared and pulled his scanner away. Jack looked down and over at Rose. He was armed, that should have come up. Rose winked.
"All right, weatherman, your ID checks out." She tossed Rose the paper who handed it to the sullen looking Doctor. "I'm Miranda Cleaves and this is my team, Jimmy Wicks," she gestured to an older orange jumpsuit wearing man with white hair, "Buzzer Edwards," a younger man with unruly brown hair, Jennifer Lucas, and Dicken." Cleaves crossed her arms and stared sternly at the newcomers. "If there's another solar storm, what are you going to do about it? Hand out sunblock?"
Rose's lips pursed into a tight line. The adventure had barley begun and she was already completely done with the insufferable woman. She took a deep breath and emulated her best Rose Tyler Torchwood Agent voice and stance. "We need to see your critical systems."
"Which one?"
The Doctor stepped towards the leader. "You know which one." Cleaves let out a breath of defeat and led them out of the room.
Rose smiled. "Works every time."
The group was led to a separate chamber. Inside was a large bowl of bubbling white goop, connected to a futuristic looking tub. The Doctor walked around to the vat of liquid and leaned over it. "And there you are." He whispered.
"Doctor, what's that noise?" The Doctor glanced at Rose. She was rubbing her temple. Jack went and comforted her, his own questioning eyes on the vat of liquid.
Cleaves stepped towards the vat. She straightened her back and spoke to the group. "Meet the government's worst kept secret. The Flesh. It's fully programmable matter. In fact, it's even learning to replicate itself at the cellular level."
Jack frowned and stepped towards it at the same time as Rose did. "You mean its psychic?" The Doctor watched Rose ghost her fingers along the edge of the vat. Both Harkness and she were completely captivated. They could hear it, he summarised.
Cleaves rolled her eyes. "It's not psychic. It's science. Once a reading's been taken, we can manipulate its molecular structure into anything. Replicate a living organism down to the hairs on its chinny chin chin. Even clothes. And everything's identical. Eyes, voice."
Jack glared at her. "And you honestly think all of that is science? Where did you find this? Did you make it? Because if you didn't then you don't know what it's capable of."
"Don't be fooled." The leader patronised with a cross of her arms. "It acts like life but it still needs to be controlled by us, from those harnesses you saw."
Rory's eyes widened. "Wait, whoa." He whipped his head to the other contractors and then to Cleaves. "Hold it. So, you're Flesh now?"
"I'm lying in a harness back in that chamber. We all are, except Jennifer here." The woman pointed to the young brunette. Jennifer smiled. "Don't be scared. This thing, just like operating a forklift truck."
The Doctor joined his fingers together and leaned against the vat. He tapped his mouth against his hands. "You said it could grow. Only living things grow." He was in full agreement with Jack. Rose was standing beside the Doctor now, she watched him with questions evidently on her lips. He glanced at her and back at Cleaves.
Cleaves looked over her shoulder at him. She had made her way to Rory and Amy and looked back, a look of contempt on her face. "Moss grows. It's no more than that. This acid is so dangerous we were losing a worker every week. So now we mine the acid using these doppelgangers. Or Gangers. If these bodies get burnt or fall in the acid."
"Then who the hell cares, right, Jen?" Dicken put in. He turned to the young brunette.
Jennifer shrugged. "Nerve endings automatically cut off like airbags being discharged. We wake up and get a new Ganger."
Jimmy nodded. "It's weird, but you get used to it." He nodded pleasantly at the newcomers.
Cleaves turned to Jen. "Jennifer, I want you in your Ganger. Get back to the harness." She ordered. Jennifer nodded and left quickly.
Rose and the Doctor shared a look and smiled. They both flicked out their sonic screwdrivers and scanned the Flesh. The Flesh bubbled. Rose frowned as the sonic refused to move. Their arms shook.
"Hang on," Buzzer stepped forward but Rory quickly moved in the way as Jack ran to the Doctor and Rose, "what they up to? What you up to, eh?"
"Stop it." The Doctor pleaded. Rose gasped out in pain. Jack reached the two just as they were released from whatever had hold of them before. The Doctor rubbed his shoulder while Rose flexed her wrist. Jack grabbed Rose's face and searched her eyes, looked at her hands. She seemed fine. "Strange." The Doctor gasped. "It was like for a moment there it was scanning us."
"Looking into our souls…" Rose whispered. She turned away from Jack and looked at the vat of Flesh. Voices, so many whispering voices, all talked at once. The Doctor reached a hand out over the bubbling Flesh.
Cleaves eyed him as he did. "Doctor." She warned. The Doctor quickly dropped his hand onto the Flesh as it moved and jolted in its tub. "Get back, Doctor. Leave it alone."
"Doctor!" Rose called out, but the Time Lord heard nothing. Rose moved forward and grasped the Doctor's hand, sitting over the Flesh, in her own. She gasped as the voices bombarded her mind, no longer whispers but a yelling, screaming mess. All the voices of lost Gangers called out to Rose and the Doctor, seeking understanding.
Rose's eyes lit up. The room filled with a bright golden glow. Rose screamed. All at once her mind was invaded by the future Ganger's own. Everything they'll see, do see, have seen. The future became past and present. Don't you dare – See you on the other side – They're all you – We always survive – But he – Amy! – DOCTOR! Jack grabbed Rose around the waist and yanked her away from the Flesh. The room darkened as the gold vanished from her eyes. The Doctor dropped down beside Rose and Jack. He scanned her for injuries and looked into her eyes, hazel. He sighed.
"Rose?" He asked tentatively.
"Where's the other? Oh – and…" She gasped and her eyes flashed gold again.
"Doctor?" Cleaves called cautiously from across the room. "What the hell was that?"
The Doctor ignored her. He touched Rose's face lightly to draw her attention. "It's alright, just breathe, Rose."
Amy bent down beside Jack. "Doctor is she alright?" Rose was looking at her fingers and smiling absentmindedly. She giggled.
"Uhm. Yes. Sort of. Bad Wolf activated, it wasn't her fault. Sort of happened, but Rose's alright. She just has to reassert her psyche into our proper timeline." The Doctor looked up at Amy, who had no clue what any of that meant. "She'll be fine." He turned back to Rose who was blinking and shaking her head, already coming back to herself. "Won't you dear?" The Doctor cupped her cheek and took her hand. With Jack's help, they got Rose back on her feet.
Rose took a deep breath and stared at the Flesh. "That's horrible."
The Doctor smiled at the Flesh. "It's incredible."
"It's disgusting."
The Doctor turned to Rose. She wasn't happy, whatever she'd seen, she wasn't happy. "You have no idea." He looked back to Cleaves and the others. "No idea. I mean, I felt it in my mind. I reached out to it, and it to me."
Cleaves narrowed her eyes on Rose as she spoke to the Doctor. "Don't fiddle with the money, Doctor." She'd seen that woman, Rose, glow. What the hell had that been?
Rose glared at Cleaves. "It's alive. It isn't some piece of technology you can just throw away. They have feelings and dreams and thoughts. They aren't toys. You're puttin' yourselves into it, you're makin' it feel."
Lightening flashed outside the windows. The Doctor turned to Rose and pulled out his snow globe. He shook it once before she took it back. They glared at each other. "It's the solar storm." The Doctor informed the others. "The first waves come in pairs. Pre-shock and fore-shock. It's close." The Doctor took Rose's hand and headed towards the door.
Cleaves paid little attention to the Doctor and his friends. "Buzzer, we got anything from the mainland yet?"
"No, the comms are still too jammed with radiation."
Cleaves nodded. "Okay. Then we'll keep pumping acid until the mainland says stop." She glanced at the Doctor. "Now why don't you stand back and let us impress you?"
The tub connected to the vat of Flesh slowly filed with milky fluid. Moments later the fluid drained and a face appeared. The group of people stood around the tub and watched as the liquid slowly revealed Jenny. Her orange jumpsuit and hair was all the same. Her skin and face, however, were different. The colour was paler, with red veins easily visible. The nose was flatter, less defined. The eyes were the most different. There was redness around them, no eyebrows and the pupils were all that could be seen. Her irises were white.
Jennifer gasped and sat up, her skin tanned again, eyes coloured, nose full. Her hands grasped the edge of the tub. She looked to the Doctor.
He nodded once. "Well, I can see why you keep it in a church. Miracle of life."
Buzzer scoffed beside him. "No need to get poncey. It's just gunge." Rose snorted.
Lightening flashed again and something sounded in the distance, like softened thunder. Jack looked around at the contractors. "It isn't safe to work. We need to leave, now."
Jimmy glanced at the man, dressed in a WWII uniform. "Where do you want us to go? We're on a tiny island."
Rose nodded at the others. "We've got a ship, we can take you with us. Everyone would be safe."
Cleaves rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous. We've got a job to do." She walked towards a computer by the tub. The Doctor held up the snow globe again. "It's coming." Rose patted her pockets and frowned at the Doctor. He winked back. A ringing sounded from around them.
Jennifer looked up and over at the others. "That's the alarm."
"How do you get power?"
Cleaves typed away on the computer, completely uncaring for the storm upon them. "We're solar. We use a solar router. The weathervane."
Rose groaned. "Of course you do."
Jack shook his head. The Doctor glanced at Rose and back to Cleaves. He pulled the leader aside from her team. Rose followed. "Please, you are making a massive mistake here. You're right at the crossroads of it. Don't turn the wrong way. If you don't, if you don't prepare for this storm, you are all in terrible danger. Understand?"
Cleaves pursed her lips at the Doctor. "My factory, my rules."
Rose rolled her eyes. "What are you, three?" Cleaves ignored her as she walked away.
The Doctor's searched the room as he thought aloud. "I need to check the progress of the storm. Monitoring station?" He smiled and turned to the contractors. "Monitoring station."
Jen nodded. "Three lefts, a right and a left. Third door on your left."
"Thank you." The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and ran out of the room. The Ponds and Jack followed.
The monitoring station and the rest of the building shook as the group of five time travellers ran into the circular room. A circular console was set up in the centre of the room with numerous screens and button attached. The thunder sounded again, louder and closer.
The Doctor ran around the console and pushed buttons as he yelled to his companions. "Waves disturbing the Earth's magnetic field. There is going to be the mother and father of all power surges. See this weathervane, the cock-a-doodle-do?"
Jack nodded and stood beside the Doctor at the console. "It's a solar router feeding the whole factory with solar power."
The Doctor smiled and laughed. "Yes! And when that wave hits?"
Rose hopped up to the Doctor's other side. "Ka-boom." She gestured with her hands the way the Doctor had earlier. An explosion.
The Doctor nodded seriously and rushed to the door. "I've to get to that cockerel before all hell breaks loose." He stopped and turned to his companions, a smile in place. "I never thought I'd have to say that again."
Rose rolled her eyes and pushed him own the hall. "Go!" She turned and pointed at Jack. "You, stay." She pointed to Amy. "You, breathe. And Rory? Stay wonderful." The Doctor appeared and dragged her out of the doorway. The two ran towards the cockerel.
"Yeah!" Amy called after them. "I mean, thanks. I'll try." She glanced at Rory who shrugged. Jack looked away.
The Doctor and Rose raced up a spiral stairway until they came across an exit. The door flew open and they paused at the image that lay before them. The sky was a molten red, with golden wisps streaking across it. Wind rushed across the earth as thunder stormed. On top of a tall tower the cockerel spun around. The Doctor tightened his grip on Rose's hand. They ran towards the tower.
There was a ladder leading up to the weathervane, as well as a box labelled 'Danger High Voltage'. The Doctor didn't even hesitate in rushing up the ladder and throwing the door to the box open. Rose waited at the bottom of the ladder, biting her nail. The Doctor pulled out the relays. He shook his hand as sparks flew, but he didn't stop. A lightening bolt struck the tower, and Rose screamed as he lost his footing and flew backwards. The Doctor crashed into his companion and they slammed against the hard stone. Neither woke up.
The storm continued to rage until another lightening bolt slammed against the monastery. The building went black.
The Doctor snuggled closer to the warmth in his arms. The scent of vanilla and brown sugar invaded his senses and he breathed in deeper. Someone sighed.
Thunder sounded.
The Doctor's eyes blinked open. He looked down at Rose, bundled in his arms. Heat rose to his cheeks and he instantly tried to fight the reaction. "Rose?" He cleared his throat, clogged because of the fall, or sleep, or air. "Rose?" Rose mumbled and snuggled in closer to the Doctor. Her nose wrinkled against his shirt and she sneezed. The Doctor leaned back and raised his eyebrows at her.
"Sorry." Rose sniffled. She frowned up at him. "You got dust on you, I think."
The Doctor glanced around. "We are lying on the ground." Rose glanced around, realised she was practically lying on the Doctor, and smiled up at him cheekily.
"Problem?" Her tongue stuck out between her teeth.
The Doctor gasped. "You cheeky Tyler." Rose laughed and rolled off of him. They got up and looked around. The area was empty, and the storm was still going above them. "Something's wrong." The Doctor mumbled to himself.
Rose crossed her arms and nodded. "Are we talkin' 'bout the missin' time or the extra psyche's walkin' about?"
The Doctor looked sidelong at her. "Both."
They made their way quickly towards the courtyard. Cleaves was standing near the base of the steps. "Cleaves," the Doctor called as they rushed towards her "you're not in your harness."
"I'm sorry, Doctor." She responded softly. "You were right." It was the nicest she'd spoken to them yet.
Rose looked around at the blackened windows of the buildings. "Power's down. Everythin's lost electricity."
"Doctor, I abandoned my team."
The Doctor tapped her chin up a bit. "Then let's go get them." The three headed towards the others. "How long would you say we were unconscious for, Cleaves?" Rose glanced at the Doctor as he asked this. They exited the courtyard and entered the monastery, all the halls were dark.
Cleaves shrugged. "Not long. A minute, two minutes?"
"I'd hazard we've been out a teensy bit longer."
Cleaves stopped walking and turned to the Doctor and Rose. Rose was being deliberately quiet. Cleaves noticed and directed her next question to her. "Well, how long?"
Rose made a face. "An hour. Probably about an hour. And with the damages the islands probably sustained and the acid all around us, I'd say a lot could have happened in that hour."
The Doctor took Rose's hand. "We should go." They ran down the hall and back into the harness room. The Doctor glanced around the room until his eyes found Jack. "Captain, status."
"A little crispy, but everyone's fine." He glanced behind himself at Rory who was comforting Jennifer. "A little emotional trauma, but it's being handled." The Doctor nodded. "No sign of any Gangers though, I don't know where they went." The Doctor and Rose gazed about the room, as if the Ganger's would suddenly appear.
Cleaves looked around at everyone. "Don't worry. When the link shuts down the Gangers return to pure Flesh. 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." Music echoed through the empty hallways of the monastery.
Jimmy stepped towards the hallway. "That's my record. Who's playing my record?"
The Doctor turned to him. "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…" The song changed. Cleaves turned in the direction of the hallway.
Rose smiled and headed towards the source of the noise. No one moved. The Doctor glanced about the room. "Someone better follow her, or else she's going to get hurt. Can dress her up, can completely cover her in bubble wrap, but you can't stop her from finding trouble." Jack laughed and headed towards the door. Slowly, everyone began to follow. The Doctor kept a close eye on each of them as they left.
The dinning hall was empty and the music had stopped playing by the time they all reached it. Clothes were strewn across the floor, bags opened and things searched. The contractors entered first and searched the room.
"No way." Buzzer breathed.
Cleave shook her head. "I don't, I don't believe this." She stopped by the clothes spread across the floor. The Doctor walked past her and sat down at the head of the table behind a house of cards.
Jimmy strode further into the room and pointed to another door. "They could've escaped through the service door at the back."
The Doctor clasped his hands and leaned them on the table. "It would seem the storm has animated your Gangers." He said it as calmly as he could. Jack stood by the door next to Cleaves. He watched each of the contractors carefully for any signs of aggression.
Cleaves kicked at the items on the ground. "They've ransacked everything."
Rose crossed her arms and leaned her hip against the table. "They were jus' seachin'."
"Through our stuff!"
The Doctor nodded once in acknowledgement of the statement. "Their stuff." He countered coolly.
Jimmy picked up some of his pictures from the table. "Searching for what?"
The Doctor looked to him. "Confirmation."
Rose walked towards Jimmy as she explained. "They need to make sure it's all real. All the things they remember, that they feel. They need to connect with their lives."
Cleaves narrowed her eyes. "The lives they stole."
The Doctor shook his head. "No, bequeathed. You gave them this. You poured in your personalities, emotions, traits, memories, secrets, everything. You gave them your lives. Human lives are amazing. Are you surprised they walked off with them?"
Jimmy looked to his boss. "Even if this has actually happened, they can't remain stable without us plumbed in to them, can they, boss?" Cleaves didn't answer.
Jennifer gasped and grasped her stomach. Rory went to her, full nurse mode. "Are you okay? Do you need some water?"
Jen shook her head. "I feel funny. I need the washroom."
Rory nodded. "I'll come with you." Rory nodded at Amy then followed Jennifer into the hallway. The Doctor caught Jack's eye. Jack nodded once and waited a moment, and then he followed the two to the bathroom.
Rory stood by the stairs to the renovated washroom, a torch in hand. "The Doctor's always saying don't wander off. First rule with him, actually. Don't wander off."
Jen stared at herself in the mirror. "I just need a minute."
"Oh, yeah. Sure. Take all the time you need." He turned away, looked back. "I've got your back. You're fine." He turned again.
Jen watched her reflection, watched for any imperfection. Her face flashed. In that moment she saw white irises and white skin with red veins. She gasped and jolted forward as a blob of Flesh fell out of her mouth and into the sink.
Rory frowned at the ceiling, his back still to Jen. "Er, Jennifer? What's up, Jennifer?" Jen turned quickly and ran into a cubicle. Rory turned around as she closed the door. "We… er, we'd better get going." Rory glanced towards the mirror. "Everything okay in there, Jen?" He looked back and a fist slammed across his cheek. Rory fell to the ground, his head slammed against the cabinet.
Jack rushed down the stairs and into the washroom. He saw the elongated arm slowly shrinking back into the cubicle, the shattered mirror, Rory on the ground, and he moved. He grabbed Rory's arm and pulled him up. The two men turned to see Jennifer's head pop out of the window of the cubicle, her neck elongated like her arm had been. Her face was Flesh, pale and veined.
"Just let us live." She hissed.
Jack nodded once. "And on that note." He grabbed Rory's wrist and the two men booked it out of the washroom. They headed down a few hallways before they slowed down a bit. "Right, the others should still be in the dinning hall, this way." They headed outside into the courtyard. Jack turned quickly around a corner and almost walked straight into a pool of acid. Rory grabbed his jacket and pulled him back. Jack whistled. "Thanks. That's one death I sure as hell can skip." He turned to Rory and smiled charmingly. Rory grimaced. Of course the Doctor would send Jack. Who else?
"Rory? Jack?" The men both turned at the sound of Jennifer's voice. Rory tugged Jack's sleeve and they hid behind a set of boxes that the acid barrels used to sit on. "Rory? Jack?" Jennifer walked past the boxes and paused. She waited, but the boys didn't come out. She turned around, her Ganger face still in place. Rory stared at her, his gasp lost somewhere in his throat. Jen left the way she came.
Rory and Jack looked at each other. "Well," Jack said, "this is cozy." Rory rolled his eyes.
The Doctor leaned forward on the table and stared at the house of cards. Buzzer nodded at it. "That's me. It's good to have a hobby. So what, my Ganger did that all on its own?"
The Doctor looked up at the dark haired man. "Who taught you to do this?"
He shrugged. "My granddad."
"Well, your Ganger's granddad taught him to do it, too. You both have the same childhood memories, just as clear, just as real."
Buzzer glanced at Jimmy. He knocked the house down. "No."
Rose walked around from Jimmy to the Doctor. She leaned on the back of his chair. "It's true. Just because they weren't born the same way, doesn't mean they're wrong or all that different. They don't just think that they're you, they are you. They feel the same for the same people; have the same thoughts, cravings, ideas. It doesn't change because they aren't the same species anymore."
The Doctor smiled and leaned back. "Trust Rose on this. She has some serious experience with this."
Rose flicked his head. "Oh hush you." He leaned his head back and smiled up at her.
Cleaves walked towards the table, away from the door for the first time. "So you've dealt with this sort of thing before?" Jimmy, Buzzer and Dicken all looked to Rose. "You've met the Flesh?"
Amy walked towards the table, always interested in more of the Rose story. Rory had told her that he'd found out about her powers, but it was clear that he had left something out. She hadn't pushed him, if it was relevant to her safety, he would have said. That, however, only made it all the more relevant to her curiosity.
Rose shook her head. "I've never met the Flesh. But my late husband was a biological metacrisis." At everyone's blank stares, Rose explained. "Basically, he was a clone. All the same memories, all the same thoughts and feelin's, yeah? He was just a bit more, alien." Rose said the last part with a smile. The Doctor stifled a snort.
Amy's brows drew together. "And you married him? He was a clone of someone you knew? What about the original? What happened to the both of them?" Amy winced. Late husband. When they'd first met, she'd set late husband. He was dead.
Rose grasped the top of the chair and leaned back. "I don't consider his original , as you put it, to be the original. They're the same man. Always have been in my mind. He didn't pick a new name, he didn't try to be anythin' else then what he was. What he'd always been." Rose leaned over the back end of the chair and hugged the Doctor. He smiled and raised his hands to her arms. "I'm not sayin' it was easy. Him and I, we fought quite a bit at first. But tha's only natural."
Cleaves shook her head. "And the man who he'd come from? He was fine with all of this? I don't believe it."
The Doctor stood up. "I'll have you know, I was perfectly fine with it."
Amy's jaw dropped.
Rose smirked at the Doctor and glanced at Amy. Oh, he was so fielding those questions. She would have nothing to do with it. The Doctor didn't seem to notice the red head's confusion. He went over to the microwave and popped in a meal.
Jimmy looked around at the people in the room. "We need to protect ourselves." They'd gotten off topic. They had to get focused, and prepared.
The Doctor turned to the man. "Are you a violent man, Jimmy?"
Jimmy paused and frowned at himself. "No."
"Then why would the other Jimmy be?" The microwave hummed as it heated the food.
Cleaves walked over to the Doctor. "Don't tell me you can eat at a time like this, Doctor."
The Doctor leaned an elbow on the microwave. "You told me we were out cold for a few minutes, Cleaves, when in fact it was an hour."
She shrugged. "Sorry, I just assumed."
"Well, it's not your fault. Like I said, they're disoriented. Amy, when you got to the alcoves, who was in harness?"
Amy shook her head, still confused from the Doctor's earlier admission. "Jimmy and Dicken were helping Buzzer out."
Rose walked to the Doctor's side. Amy tracked the movement like a hound dog. "What about Jennifer?" Rose asked.
Amy shook her head again. "She was standing on her own when we got to her."
The microwave dinged. Cleaves shook her head at the Doctor and walked away. Rose tossed the Doctor a towel which he used to pull the plate out. He trained his face against the heat and handed it to Cleaves. Rose and the Doctor watched her. "It's hot." The Doctor informed Cleaves.
The plate shattered against the floor.
Cleaves looked up at Rose and the Doctor.
The Doctor stepped towards Cleaves and took her hand. "Trans-matter's still a little rubbery. Nerve endings not quite fused properly."
"What are you talking about?" Cleaves voice shook.
Rose stepped up to them. "It's okay Miranda."
She ignored Rose. "Why didn't I feel that?" Nothing was okay.
The Doctor looked right into Cleaves eyes. "You will. You'll stabilize. Please, trust me. I'm the Doctor."
Cleaves pulled away and turned her back on them. When she turned back, her Ganger face was in place of her own. Buzzer grabbed a knife off the table, but Jimmy held him back. "Where's the real Cleaves, you thing? What have you done with her?"
The Doctor ignored the men behind him. Rose turned and made sure they didn't attack. "That's it. Good, you remember. This is early Flesh. The early stages of the technology." The Doctor reached forward with his hand. "So much to learn." Rose glanced behind herself and flicked the Doctor's elbow. He pulled his hand away. "Sorry."
Amy kept her eyes on the Ganger Cleaves. "Doctor, what's happened to her?"
"She can't stabilize." He explained. "She's shifting between half-formed and full-formed, for now at least."
"We are living." She hissed at them and Rose pulled the Doctor out of the way. The woman ran from the room.
"Just leave her." The Doctor told the others. Rose snorted into her hand.
Amy turned to the Time Lord. "Doctor, Rory."
"Rory?"
"Rory!"
Understanding dawned on him. "Oh, Rory. He's with Jack!" Really Pond, he thought, Rory'll be fine.
"Doctor!" Rose smiled at Amy and took the Doctor's hand. They headed out after the Doctor.
The path to the washroom had been obstructed by acid. Jimmy had instead led them around a different way. Amy raced down the steps to the washroom after the others. "Rory." She gasped.
Rose scanned the hole in the cubicle with her sonic. "Jen's a Ganger too." She confirmed.
"Doctor, you said they wouldn't be violent."
The Doctor turned to his companion. "But I did say they were scared and angry."
Jimmy studied the man. "And early technology, is what you said. You seem to know something about the Flesh." He turned to Rose. "You too."
Amy bit her lip. "Do you? Doctor? Rose?" Rose and the Doctor shared a look.
She took the Doctor's hand. "We can fix this." Rose promised. "We should find the others, yeah?"
They headed out of the washroom. "But where's the real Jennifer?" Jimmy called up to them as they went. They made it to the hallways and continued through the maze of a monastery.
A pipe ruptured down the hall.
The Doctor frowned at the air that hissed out of it. "It is too dangerous out here with acid leaks."
Amy shook her head. "We have to find Rory." She didn't like being away from him on dangerous adventures like this. The museum had been bad enough. She just wanted to know Rory was safe.
The Doctor nodded. "Yes. I'm going back to the TARDIS. Wait for me in the dining hall. I want us to keep together, okay. No more wandering off." He turned down the hall and when Rose followed, he stopped. "Dinning hall."
"I'm not waitin'." Rose crossed her arms.
"And what about Rory?" Amy cut in.
The Doctor looked back and forth between the two women. Both of them were angry and defiant, his worst nightmare. "Well, it would be safer to look for Rory and Jennifer with the TARDIS. And Rory is with Jack, so he should he alright. Jack's a few centuries years old after all." He turned to Rose. "Please."Rose raised her eyebrows. The Doctor sighed. "Fine."
Rose smiled brightly. She turned to Jimmy. "Way out?"
Jimmy nodded down the hall. "Keep going straight. Can't miss it." Rose nodded her thanks and disappeared that way. "But you're never going to get your vehicle in here."
"I'm a great parker." The Doctor replied ominously. Rose's uncontrollable laugh could be heard all the way down the hall. "Oi! You!" The Doctor ran after. Amy stared at the two until their shadows disappeared. Married. Now that she knew, everything they did seemed so much more personal. She'd married a version of the Doctor. Both her and the Doctor seemed to consider it him though, so did that make it him?
Jimmy opened up a white panel on the wall. "Ah. Here we go, distress flares. But we're really goin' to need those acid suits. I've sent Buzzer and Dicken to get them."
Amy nodded and cautiously stepped around the smoke hissing from the ruptured pipes. She turned to Jimmy and gave him a thumbs up. "Fine and dandy. I'm just going to find my husband, so cheers."
Jimmy paused, his arms full with a heavy box full of distress flares. "Amy, I wouldn't."
Amy spun around and faced the dark hallway, armed only with a torch. "Nor would I. What can you do, eh?"
"At least wait for an acid suit." He called after her.
Rory looked around the darkened locker room. It was empty except for Jennifer, sitting on a bench with her back to him and Jack. The Captain tugged at Rory's sleeve, he motioned for them to leave. Rory shook his head and turned back to Jennifer.
"When I was a little girl," she was saying, "I got lost on the moors, wandered off from the picnic. I can still feel how sore my toes got inside my red welly boots. And I imagined another little girl, just like me, in red wellies, and she was Jennifer too. Except she was a strong Jennifer, a tough Jennifer. She'd lead me home. My name is Jennifer Lucas. I am not a factory part. I had toast for my breakfast. I wrote a letter to my mum. And then you arrived. I noticed your eyes right off." She still hadn't turned around. Jack rolled his eyes. Rory was going to get him killed, he just knew it.
"Did you?" Rory asked cautiously as he stepped towards her.
"Nice eyes. Kind." Jen turned around and revealed her Ganger face. Rory forced himself not to step back.
He bent down so he was level with her. "Where is the real Jennifer?"
Jen pouted. "I am Jennifer Lucas. I remember everything that happened in her entire life. Every birthday, every childhood illness. I feel everything she has ever felt and more." She stood up. "I'm not a monster! I am me. Me! Me! Me!" Her face flickered and it was full-made again, not Ganger. Jennifer collapsed back onto the bench, head in her hands. She sobbed. "Why did they do this to us? Help me, Rory. Help me."
Jack sighed. Yup, Rory was going to get him killed.
Rory wrapped his arms around the crying girl and stroked her hair. "Shush, shush."
It was just a matter of when.
A little while later Rory, Jack and the Ganger Jennifer were walking through the monastery. Rory turned to Jen. "Are you sure you're feeling better? No more super-elastic punches?"
He'd meant it as a joke, but Jennifer took it as a serious question. "I'm different now. Stronger."
Rory nodded and continued walking. Jack stayed oddly silent behind them. Rory glanced at him. The Captain had his eyes on Jen, as if he was just waiting for her to break and kill them all. Rory turned to Jen. "The Doctor won't hurt you. He wants to help, Jennifer, okay?"
Jennifer smiled brightly and bounced on the spot. "You used my name. You used my name. Thank you." She rushed forward and kissed Rory on the cheek. Rory's eyes widened. "Amy's a lucky girl." Jen whispered.
Rory coughed and cleared his throat. "Yeah, she is." He smiled and stared off into the distance. At Jack's cough he turned down the hall. "Let's go." He headed down the hallway again, though this time he kept a greater distance between Jennifer and himself. Jack smirked to himself. He was a mini Doctor in training, making all the women fall for him without even trying.
They continued through the halls for some time before they heard some movement ahead. Jack grabbed Rory's arm and pulled him back. Jack moved to the front of her group. He rounded the corner just as Amy slammed a door shut.
"Amy!" The red head spun around and almost sighed with relief. Rory ran around the corner and Amy jumped into his arms.
"You're okay. What happened?"
Jennifer peeked out from around Rory and smiled awkwardly. Amy stepped back.
Rory raised his hand to stop the protesting he knew his wife might have. "She needs protecting." Buzzer and Dicken rounded another corner down the hall.
"Jen?" Buzzer called.
Amy shook her head and stated calmly. "No, it's a Ganger. Rory, listen."
Jack looked back and forth between Amy and the contractors. "Rory."
"No," he said calmly. He pointed at Amy "you listen." He pointed the torch at Buzzer and Dicken and stated loudly. "Nobody touches her."
The vat of Flesh bubbled in the empty room alone.
The door creaked open and Rose and the Doctor ran inside. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver as he stood over the flesh. He looked to Rose. "Come on then."
Rose frowned. "I don't think this'll work with the both of us Doctor."
"Sure it will." Rose raised an eyebrow. The Doctor sighed. "Look, it got both our DNA in it when I put my hand on it. If we do this together, it should be able to differentiate. The Flesh is smart, and it's learning." Rose pulled out her sonic screwdriver. "At a girl!"
They pointed their screwdrivers at the Flesh and scanned it at the same time. The Doctor took Rose's hand and they sprinted from the room.
Rose stayed on the stairwell when they reached the outskirts of the monastery. The Doctor rushed over to the sinking TARDIS. All that was left was the top, the rest of it had sunk into the soil.
"Oh. What are you doing down there?" He called to it.
"Takin' a nap." Rose replied from the stairs.
The Doctor spun around. "Oi! Don't get… Oh! Hot!" He looked own at his rapidly dissolving shoes and quickly abandoned them in the acid. He rushed, barefoot, back to Rose. Rose stood on the stairwell, smirking as he hopped from one foot to the other. "Oh, shut it." He took her hand and grumpily led her away.
They continued their search into the acid room. "If I can find one of those suits, maybe I can find a way to the TARDIS." The Doctor said to her as he opened the door.
Rose took the torch and searched the area nearest to her as she walked down the stairs. "Or you could tunnel under."
"Oh! Now that's…" His voice trailed off as the light from the torch fell upon a pair of shoes. Rose directed the light upwards and slowly revealed the Ganger faced Cleaves, Buzzer, Dickens and Jimmy. "Hello." The Doctor greeted pleasantly. "How are you all getting on?"
Cleaves somehow managed to look arrogant even with her Ganger face. "Why don't you tell us?"
The Doctor nodded and clapped his hands. "Well, we have two choices. The first is to tear each other apart. Not my favourite. The second is to knuckle down and work together. Try to work out how best we can help you."
The Gangers looked at each other then back to the Doctor. They nodded hesitantly.
"Wonderful!" Rose beamed at them. "Follow me." The Doctor and Rose led them out of the acid room and back towards the dinning hall. Rose glanced at the Doctor. "This better work." She whispered to him.
He glanced at her but said nothing. When they neared the dinning hall, the Doctor turned to the Gangers. "Now, I know it's hard for you to hold your fully human form. That's why you keep shifting between the Flesh stages, but do try. It'll make the others less scared of you."
Rose nodded. "And the less fear we have, the better."
Voices echoed down from the dinning hall. "I worked with Jennifer Lucas, not you." Buzzer was saying to, presumably, the Ganger Jen.
"Okay," Amy's voice said next, "let's not do anything at all."
The Doctor waltzed into the room and said with Amy. "Until the Doctor gets here." Everyone turned to him and he waved. "Hello." The Ganger's and Rose walked into the room behind the Doctor. He stepped up to the table that Amy and the others were at and set his torch down. The Ganger's and Rose lined up behind him.
"This is…" Jimmy said, looking at his Ganger.
"You're telling me." The Ganger responded.
The Doctor nodded at the Ganger's and their respective non-Gangers. "Before we do anything, I have one very important question. Has anybody got a pair of shoes I could borrow? Size ten. Although I should warn you, I have very wide feet." They looked down at the Doctor's bare feet. He wiggled his toes.
Jimmy nodded a little confused, his eyes on his Ganger. He went over to the pile of clothes that had been searched through and grabbed a pair of brown lace up boots. Rose crossed her arms and smiled as The Doctor hopped on one foot, then the other, trying to put his shoes on. Eventually, she took pity on him and sat him down on the table. He talked while she did up his laces.
"The Flesh was never merely moss." He said. "These are not copies. The storm has hardwired them. They are becoming people."
"With souls?" Jimmy asked as he glanced at his Ganger. Rose stood up and sat beside the Doctor on the table. He took her hand in his and kissed it in thanks. Amy stared at the action, completely absorbed in the way they interacted. She didn't think she'd ever be able to pay attention to what they were saying ever again.
Dicken sneezed.
"Bless you." The Doctor said. "We were all jelly once. Little jelly eggs sitting in goop."
Amy grimaced, well she heard that. "Yeah, thanks. Too much information."
Jack smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "The creation of life is a beautiful thing, Amelia. Trust me; I participate in that sport, often."
The Doctor glared at the Captain. "We are not talking about an accident that needs to be mopped up." Jack raised a hand to his heart, taking mock offence. "We are talking about sacred life. Do you understand?" They nodded. "Good. Now, the TARDIS is trapped in an acid pool. Once I can reach her, I can get you all off this island, humans and Gangers, eh? How does that sound?"
The Ganger's and non-Gangers looked at each other, doubt written clearly across their faces. Rose smiled sympathetically. "It's not goin' to be easy. Never said it was. It'll be a right mess at first, but it is something you'll be able to get through. My husband and I could do it, so can you." Rory looked to Amy who gave him a glare. Right, so she knew about Rose's husband then. He scratched his neck and looked away.
The Doctor smiled and smacked his knee. "Right, and as you might say up North, oh well, I'll just go to't foot of stairs. Eee by by gum."
Rose raised her eyebrows at him. "You never once said that when you was from the North." The Doctor opened his mouth but stopped at Rory's cough. He and Amy looked more then mildly intrigued. Oh he was not going to tell them about his past regeneration that was for sure. Rose turned to the group of contractors. "First we need to get everyone together, then get everyone safe. Then, get everyone out of here."
Amy looked around. "But we're still missing Jennifer and Cleaves."
The Jimmy's both headed towards the door; they offered to go find them.
Cleaves ran into the room from the back entrance. "This circus has gone on long enough." She held up a weapon of some sort, electricity pulsed through the end of it.
The Ganger Cleaves sighed. "Oh, great. You see, that is just so typically me."
"Doctor, tell it to shut up!"
The Doctor stepped around the table towards the woman. "Cleaves, no. No, no."
Cleaves didn't move, she continued to point her weapon. "Circuit probe." She explained. "Fires about ooo, forty thousand volts? Would kill any one of us, so I guess she'll work on Gangers just the same."
The Doctor's brows furrowed. "It's interesting you refer to them as it, but you call a glorified cattle prod a she."
Rose rolled her eyes beside the Time Lord. "Doctor, focus, yeah?"
"Right, yes. Sorry. What are you going to do, Cleaves?" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jack inch towards them from the other side of the table.
"Sorry. They're monsters. Mistakes. They have to be destroyed."
Rose glared at her. "And yet you came with the weapon. They're here out of peace so we could all talk. What did you come for?"
Ganger Buzzer rushed towards Cleaves. Jack ran after him but was too late. Cleaves activated the probe and electrocuted the Ganger. He collapsed to the ground, dead. The Doctor raced towards him and checked his pulse. "Argh!" He stood and turned his darkest glare on Cleaves. "He's dead!"
Cleaves raised a shoulder, uncaring. "We call it decommissioned."
Rose rounded on the insensitive woman. "Is tha' supposed to be funny? Do you really not care? That person had a heart, and it's stopped now. You killed him – no, you murdered him. His blood is on your hands. You are responsible, and he will have justice."
Jen backed up until she was standing with the other Gangers. "What happened to Buzzer will happen to all of us if we trust you."
The Doctor raised his hands in a gesture of peace. "Wait, wait, just wait."
Rose dived at Cleaves and disconnected the probe. She pushed the woman back into Jack, who grabbed her arms and held her in place. The Ganger's ran from the room.
"You idiot!" Amy hollered at the woman. She stormed over and stood by Rose.
The Doctor turned slowly to Cleaves. His eyes were dark as he made his way towards them. Rory followed behind hesitantly. "Look at what you have done, Cleaves."
The woman shrugged out of Jack's grip. She turned up her nose and stuck her chin out. "If it's war, then it's war. You don't get it, Doctor. How can you? It's us and them now." She eyed her men. "Us and them."
They nodded. "Us and them."
A sheet was put over the Ganger's body. No one spoke of it. Cleaves and the boys wanted a war, but they knew the Doctor and his friends would try anything against it. The Doctor looked up at Cleaves, an idea in his mind. "The most fortified and defendable room in the monastery. Cleaves, the most fortified and defendable room in the monastery."
"The chapel. Only one way in. Stone walls two feet thick."
The Doctor nodded. "You've crossed one hell of a line, Cleaves. You've killed one of them. They're coming back, in a big way." He looked to the others. "Come on." They exited the dinning hall and headed to the chapel.
Amy fell back from her husband and Jack. She glanced at Rose beside her. "So… you were married to the Doctor."
Rose sighed. "Is this really the time Amy?"
Amy crossed her arms. It probably wasn't, but she didn't care. She needed something to get her mind off of the body in the dinning hall, of the half people running around, and of the lady with the eye patch she kept seeing. "Is that what Rory didn't tell me last night? I thought he was keeping something from me."
Rose looked sidelong at her. "Yeah, I mean, probably. I asked him not to tell you. I thought you'd make a big deal of it."
"It is a big deal. If you married the Doctor, which means the Doctor loves you."
"And that's a problem?" They turned down a dark hallway. Rose raised the torch in her hand higher so that the light touched more space for them to see. She glanced over her shoulder at Buzzer and Dicken behind them.
"It is when you left him behind to marry a version of him that's not even real."
Rose raised her eyebrows at Amy, unimpressed. "You and your husband. He thought the same thing. But it's not that simple Amy. What have the Doctor and I been sayin' all day? They are the same person. I married the Doctor."
"It isn't the same." Rose didn't answer. There was no reasoning with her; she wanted to believe what she believed.
At the front of the group, the Doctor had reached the chapel.
"We'll worry about the flares when we're locked inside." He was telling Jimmy. Everyone filed in. The Doctor turned to his companions. "Rory, Pond, Jack?" Rose took his hand.
A scream echoed down the halls.
Amy entered the chapel and turned to her husband and the Captain. "Come on you two."
Rory shook his head and stepped back. "Jen's out there. She's out there and she's on her own." Jack glanced between the Doctor and Rory.
The Doctor leaned out of the chapel towards Rory and hissed. "Well, if she's got any sense, then she's hiding. Rory!"
"I can't leave her out there!"
Rose squeezed the Doctor's hand. "Go! But be safe. Jack."
Jack saluted Rose and started down the hall.
Rory smiled. "I knew you'd understand." He looked to his wife.
"Get in here. Get in here!" Amy screamed. Lights flashed down the hallway. Rose pulled the Doctor and Amy back then slammed the door shut. She locked it. Amy threw herself at the door and slammed her hand against it. "RORY!"
The Doctor glared at Rose, and for the first time, he was actually angry. "You told him to go."
Rose squeezed her hands into fists. "What would you rather I do, Doctor? Tell him not to save someone? You're being ridiculous."
"Ridiculous?" Amy raged. She turned from the door and stared down the short blonde. "You just sent my husband on a suicide mission!"
Rose shook her head. "They don't want Rory, or Jack. They want us." Rose turned to the others. "Grab anything and everything you can. Barricade the door." They nodded and headed for some barrels stashed against one of the walls.
"Why?" A disembodied voice whispered from the shadows. Rose and the Doctor froze, they turned towards it. "Why?"
"Hush, love." Another voice echoed eerily.
The Doctor stepped towards the shadowed pillars. "Show yourself. Show yourself!"
The others continued to barricade the door as Rose and the Doctor slowly stepped towards where the voices had come from. "Doctor!" Amy called. She looked back and forth between the barricade and the shadows of the pillars.
Jimmy passed another barrel to Dicken. He sighed and wiped his forehead. "This is insane. We're fighting ourselves."
The Doctor took Rose's hand. "Yes. Yes, it's insane, and it's about to get even more insanerer. Is that a word?" Rose shook her head. "That's a shame." He turned back to the shadows. "Show yourself, right now!"
"Doctor," Amy pleaded, "we are trapped in here and Rory's out there with them. We can't get to the TARDIS and we can't even leave the island."
"Correct in every respect, Pond." Said the Doctor's voice. Amy frowned as the Doctor turned around and raised an eyebrow. He didn't open his mouth, but the word's continued. "It's frightening, unexpected, frankly a total, utter splattering mess on the carpet –"
"Always so cheery." Rose's voice cut in, from the shadows.
"–but I am certain, one hundred percent certain, that we can work this out." The Doctor stepped out of the shadows of the pillars, Rose's hand in his own. "Trust me. I'm the Doctor."
They both had Ganger faces.
Favourite quote from this chapter? How excited are you for Ganger Rose and the Doctor? :)