The Almost People
The Ganger Doctor screamed in agony as he bent and clutched his face. Ganger Rose wrapped her arms around him. He looked up and his face was normal. "I wonder if we'll get back. Yes, one day." He screamed and arched his back. "I've reversed the polarity of the neutron flow." The Ganger Doctor gasped in pain and leaned forward again. The Ganger's outside the room banged against the door as they tried to push their way in.
"Doctor!" Ganger Rose cried. She stroked his hair as he quieted again. The Doctor and Rose looked on, horrified and confused. Ganger Rose turned to them, her face normal but full of pain for her Doctor. "What's happening?"
The Doctor stepped towards them. "The Flesh is struggling to cope with our past regenerations."
The Ganger Doctor's arm shot out towards the Doctor and Rose. "Would you like a jelly baby?" His voice was low and distinctly unlike his usual tone.
Ganger Rose turned wide eyes on the Doctor. "Do something!" She cried as the Ganger Doctor whimpered and gasped beside her.
"He's caught up in our past." The Doctor explained. "Anything I do will only confuse him. He needs to stabilize. Orient himself in the now, in the proper stream of events." Rose looked back and forth between the Doctor and his Ganger.
The Ganger straightened up and smiled. "Hello. I'm the Doctor." His face broke and cried out. "No, let it go, we've moved on." His face was red and there were tears in his voice. That was it, Rose thought. She rushed towards the Ganger Doctor and grabbed his face, her lips crashed against his. Bad Wolf opened up and the room glowed gold as Rose sorted through the Doctor's psyche until she found his proper place in time. She gently ushered his mind there, then stepped back. The gold disappeared.
The Ganger Doctor smiled and shook his head, a wisp of gold smoke escaped from his lips. "Now that was one hell of a kiss, Tyler." The Roses smiled at one another.
Buzzer glanced at the barricaded door behind him. The Gangers on the other side had stopped fighting their way in. "I think I liked it best when they were being noisy." He commented.
Amy nodded. "Mmm hmm." She rushed over to the Doctor, glanced at the show that was another Doctor and two Roses and the back to the real Doctor. "Doctor, we need you. Get over here."
The Ganger Doctor straightened up and smiled at Amy. "Hello." The Ganger Rose smiled brilliantly beside him.
Amy ignored the Gangers and looked at the full Time Lord. "Doctor."
The Doctor looked at Amy then back at his Ganger. "Cybermats."
Rose rolled her eyes from beside the Gangers. "Seriously, Doctor?"
"I'm always serious." The Ganger Rose snorted, which received a put out look from the Ganger Doctor. "I'd like more proof that you're me. Cybermats."
The Ganger Doctor rolled his eyes but complied. "Created by the Cybermen. They kill by feeding off brainwaves."
The door to the room let out a hiss as smoke steamed off of it. The Gangers were pouring acid on the door. The banging resumed as the Gangers continued their attack into the room.
Rose stood beside her Ganger as the Doctor's talked with one another a little distance away. The Ganger Doctor was fine, his psyche in the present and his body capable again. Ganger Rose turned to her. "So do you want proof too?"
Rose quirked her eyebrow up. "Alternate universe husband, first thought?" The Ganger smirked. "Oh you're so me." Rose confirmed. They laughed. She looked herself up and down. They were wearing the exact same thing. Torchwood boots, black pants, a vest top and their TARDIS blue leather jacket. "No one will know –"
"Who's who." Ganger Rose finished with a nod. "I was thinkin' the same thing." They smiled at each other.
"Doctor, come on." Amy called from the door.
One Rose raised her eyebrows and the other Rose groaned. "Why do I have to loose the jacket?" She unzipped the front and threw it on the floor. "You know I'll never get it back."
Both the Roses watched as the Doctors made their way to Amy, separated only by their shoes. The girls nodded to one another then walked over to their respective Doctor's, taking a hand each.
"Formulate a protocol." The Doctor was saying.
"Yeah," Rose agreed, "don't want things to get confusing."
Amy frowned at the four of them. She quickly noted that Rose had taken off her jacket and was standing beside the Doctor. Ganger Rose still wore her blue leather. "I'm glad you've solved the problem of confusing." Amy quipped.
The Ganger Doctor pointed at her. "That's sarcasm."
The Doctor nodded. "She's very good at sarcasm."
The four of them looked to Amy. "Breathe." They said together.
Amy stepped away from them. "What?"
The Doctor stepped from his jacket-less Rose and up to the door. He examined it from behind the barricade as best he could. "We have to get you off this island. And the Gangers too."
Cleaves glared at him. "Sorry, would you like a memo from the last meeting? They are trying to kill us!"
"They're scared." He defended.
Amy crossed her arms. She didn't quite agree that the Flesh were harmless. "Doctor, we're trapped in here." She glanced over her shoulder at Rose and the Gangers.
The Doctor spun around to face her and nodded. "Right, see, I don't think so. The Flesh Bowl is fed by cabling from above."
The Ganger Doctor smiled as he finished the thought. "But where are the earthing conduits?"
Rose looked between the two, catching on. "And all the pipin' from tha's got to go somewhere, like a tunnel."
"Or a shaft or somethin'." Ganger Rose piped in. "With us?" She asked the others with a tongue touched smile. The contractors looked between one another then nodded their heads at the blonde. Behind her, the Doctor shouted as he revealed a large grating in the wall.
"Yowza." He exclaimed. "An escape route."
Amy frowned at the Time Lord, her mind trailing back to a 'Boo ya' from so long ago. "Yowza?"
Rose smiled and tugged the Doctor's lapel. "I like it." She winked at him and Amy refused to believe the Doctor blushed in response. The Doctor does not blush. The Doctor and Rose pulled out their sonics and quickly opened up the grating. Everyone piled inside as the Gangers banged against the door.
A loud crash filled the room and the Ganger's ran in just as Rose and the Doctor soniced the grating shut. The Doctor stared at the Gangers for a moment before ushering Rose through the tunnel.
Cleaves checked down the corridor as she thought aloud. "We need to find a way to contact the mainland." She looked at her team members, Amy and the Gangers. She was going to have to do something about that.
Rose helped up the Doctor from the tunnel they'd crawled through. Steam escaped from the walls and floor into the air around them. Their eyes caught and they smiled at each other. Rose blushed and looked down as she stepped away from the Doctor's intense stare. The Doctor held on tightly to her hand. He wouldn't let her go.
Amy watched them with narrowed eyes. She didn't like it. Not one bit. Rose left him for a clone. And now here was another. She turned to Cleaves. "What about Rory and Jack? Jen too? They're all out there still."
The Doctor stepped forward, Rose firmly clinging to his side. Amy glanced over at the Gangers, they weren't nearly as touchy. Still holding hands and inseparable, but — no. There was definitely something more between the real Doctor and Rose. And whatever it was, it was real too. Amy warmed at the thought that she'd found it. The distinction between the real and fake. The Doctor and Rose loved each other, and despite all her qualms and questions about that, it was something that the clones couldn't replicate.
"No, this place is a maze. Takes a long time to find someone in a maze." The Doctor was explaining to Amy. Amy nodded and looked away.
The Ganger Doctor nodded at Cleaves and the others. "I bet you lot have got a computer map, haven't you?"
Cleaves narrowed her eyes at the Ganger but answered anyways. "If we can get power running, we can scan for them. Be a lot quicker."
Rose gasped and looked around.
Ganger Rose narrowed her eyes and touched her hand to the wall. "We have to go, now." The steam-like smoke intensified and Amy covered her mouth as she coughed. The other's quickly began coughing too.
"It's the acid!" Rose chocked and quickly led them down the hall. She tried to continue but began coughing to hard to speak.
Ganger Rose finished the thought a she ushered a coughing Amy ahead. "It's reactin' with the stone."
The Ganger Doctor ran up to the other side of Amy and pulled the two along faster. He covered his mouth with his sleeve and ground out, "And creating an asphyxiant miasma."
The Doctor helped Rose straighten up and turned to the others. He coughed and tried to explain further. "It's coking gas. Extra heavy. If we can get above it." His eyes turned to Cleaves who nodded. She pointed down one way, coughed into her hand and led them all to the evac tower.
The group raced through the halls, quickly filling with the choking gas. Cleaves threw open the door to the evac tower and the people raced into the fresh air that greeted them.
Amy gasped and laughed in relief. "Oh. I think I coughed so hard, I pulled a muscle or something." The Roses turned to her, eyes wide. Amy waved off their concern. "It's okay, it's better. It's easing off."
Ganger Rose stepped towards the red head. "You sure?"
Amy made a face and stepped towards the real Rose. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Thanks." She glanced at the Doctors as they fiddled with some giant computer thing. Amy looked back to Ganger Rose. "You should probably get to your Doctor."
Ganger Rose nodded. "Right, because I could never get back to her Doctor." She looked to Rose. Rose watched Amy carefully.
Amy rolled her eyes and shook her head. "That's not what I'm saying." She looked away.
"That's exactly what you're saying." Ganger Rose walked toward the companion. "'Cause I'm a clone, I can only be with another clone.
Rose nodded and stepped up beside her Flesh self. "Bit prejudiced, yeah?" The two Roses shared a look.
Amy's jaw dropped at them. "I'm not — Oi! That's not what I'm sayin'. It's just — how are you even possible?"
Ganger Rose laughed and shook her head. "Oh we are not havin' the birds and bee's conversation."
Rose frowned and cocked her head to the side. "She is married." Ganger Rose's mouth formed an 'o'.
Amy groaned. "That — that is so far beyond the area of safe topics it's in a different universe."
The Roses grinned at that. "Well that makes sense." One said. "Can't keep us away from there." The other added. Amy glowered at them. She was getting nowhere and nothing, except riddles.
"But how did the Flesh read you?" Amy insisted. "Because you weren't linked up to it." She glanced to the Doctors who were poised over the giant computer looking machine, watching them keenly. "Neither were you, Doctor."
The Doctor nodded. "Well, it must've been after we examined it." He ducked down behind the machine and continued working.
Cleaves watched the Time Lord work. "Can you really get the power back?"
The Ganger Doctor smiled and tapped his head, he pointed at Cleaves. "There's always a bit of power lyin' about. Just got to tap into it, yeah?"
Amy ignored Cleaves questions, wanting to push back to the important topics. "No getting away from it. One of you was here first."
The Doctor rolled his eyes and popped back up. He leaned his elbows on the silver machine he was playing with. "Well, okay. After the Flesh scanned me, I had an accident with a puddle of acid. Now, new shoes. A situation which did not confront my learned self here." Rose walked over to the Doctor and pulled out her sonic to help him out. Ganger Rose lounged beside the machine.
Amy glanced between the Roses. She nodded her head. "Right, and you," she pointed to Rose who ducked behind the machine with the Doctor. A moment later their sonics turned on, "took off your jacket but your Ganger didn't."
Ganger Rose shrugged. "Didn' want to cause any more confusion." The Ganger Doctor walked around the machine and took his Rose's hand.
"That satisfy you, Pond?"
Amy stepped back. "Don't call me Pond, please." Rose and the Doctor popped up from behind the metal machine. The Roses and Doctors stared at Amy. "What?"
The Ganger Doctor leaned towards her. "Interesting. You definitely feel more affection for him than me."
"For them." Ganger Rose put in.
"No, no, I. Look, you're fine and everything," at Ganger Rose's raised eyebrows Amy quickly added, "both of you are, but he's the Doctor. And she's Rose. No offence. Being almost the Doctor, and almost his Rose is pretty damn impressive."
The Ganger Doctor's mouth dropped indigently. "Being almost the Doctor's like being no Doctor at all." Rose crossed her arms and huffed.
"Don't overreact." Amy mentally berated herself for the comment. The Doctor and his ego — the Ganger Doctor… the Ganger Doctor and his ego.
But the Ganger Doctor wouldn't let it off so lightly. "You might as well call me Smith."
Ganger Rose laughed humorously. "Yeah? Migh' as make me a dog. Again." Rose snorted at the comment. Ganger Rose glared at her.
Amy looked back and forth between the Gangers, barely keeping up."Smith? No, wait — what? A dog?"
"John Smith."
"Little one, Morkie."
The Doctor and Rose jumped up from behind their machine. "Yes!" They cried and pulled together for a quick victory kiss. They pulled back suddenly. Amy and the Ganger's watched, shell shocked. "We did it." Rose whispered.
"Yeah." The Doctor whispered back. "We did."
Cleaves rushed towards the group of them. "You got the power back up?" She asked quickly, not noticing the slight tension.
The Doctor turned to her, snapping out of his daze. "Yes! Communication a go-go."
Rose turned to the machine and began typing quickly. "Where is Jack?"
Amy rushed around the giant computer to Rose's side. "Find Rory too! Come on, Rory, let's be having you." She glanced at Rose out of the corner of her eye. She'd kissed the Doctor. Amy glanced to the Doctor, he was watching Rose, but there was no fear in his eyes. Oh they so had to find Rory, she couldn't deal with this alone.
Cleaves shook her head at the tracking screen. "There's no sign of him anywhere." She informed Amy.
Amy shook her head. "Come on. Come on, baby, show yourself. I'm not giving up on you."
Jennifer pulled her finger from the sticky white flesh plastered across the wall. "Stop." She whispered. Her eyes staring at the flesh, half pleadingly. She grasped the sides of her head and bent forward as her mind tried to escape the voices. "Stop. Stop. Stop." Jennifer looked up calmly and stared down the hall. That was it.
Her footsteps echoed off the halls as she strode away from the flesh. A plan in mind.
Rory and Jack peeked out from the hallway they'd been hiding in. They glanced at each other.
"Should we follow?" Rory whispered.
Jack narrowed his eyes as he deliberated. "We could. But we're looking for Jen, not Ganger Jen." Jack exited the side hall and walked towards the spots of Flesh that Jennifer had been touching.
Rory looked down the corridors before following. "Yes. But she might know where the other Jennifer is."
Jack raised his torch and looked closely at the white spots. "I'm more interested in this."
Rory walked up to Jack and stared at the spots. "The Flesh? Why?"
"Because the Flesh are exact copies of the originals right?"
Rory frowned but nodded. "That's what the Doctor was saying."
"Yes, and the Doctor is always right." Jack turned away from the wall and faced Rory. "So how is it that such a sweet thing like Jennifer turned into what we just saw? What we saw before?"
Rory opened his mouth and when no words came to him he shook his head. "That wasn't her. It was… I don't know. But Jennifer is a good person."
"Exactly Rory. She is. So what's making her something else?" Jack turned back to the wall. "The Flesh is telepathic. The Doctor is too and that's probably why he noticed. Rose and I have lived long enough each that we've developed some skills ourself."
Rory's mouth formed an 'o' as realization dawned on him. "You could hear it too. That's what the whole Bad Wolf thing with Rose was, right? She could hear the Flesh." Rory looked at the white spots on the wall. How little things could hold so much power, he'd never know. Even after all his time with the Doctor, these things still surprised him. "But Rose said it was horrific. Whatever was happening here, with the Flesh, it isn't good."
Jack watched as the Flesh slowly dripped down the wall. That used to be a person. "No, it really isn't. The Flesh is alive, it feels. And it's being murdered and left to rot."
"It wants revenge." Rory surmised.
"And it's using the Flesh version of Jennifer to do it." The Captain clapped his hand on Rory's back. "We should go catch up. We don't want to lose her." Rory nodded as he continued to stare at the Flesh. He couldn't seem to look away. "Rory. Hey — Rory." He looked up at the Captain. "We have to go."
"Yeah — yeah, of course." They turned down the corridor and headed in the same direction that the Ganger Jennifer went. They continued on silently for a while, Jack tracking Jenny's path through the monastery. "Jack?" Rory whispered eventually. Jack nodded silently at him. "I just — I've noticed it."Jack stopped and slowly turned to Rory, he said nothing. "I know you guys were trying to be stealthy, but really, when has stealthy ever been the Doctor's strength?" Rory shook his head. "Anyways — I just wanted you to know. I've seen you three watching Amy and I. And I just — the Doctor's going to take us home, isn't he?"
Jack sighed. "Rory…"
"Oh my god I knew it. I knew it. I mean, I haven't told Amy. Amy! Oh, she's going to be devastated. How could he do this? What? Now that he's got you and Rose back, he doesn't need us anymore? Were we just replacements to him?"
"Rory." Rory froze and looked at Jack. The Captain's eyes were dark and furious. "How could you even think that? You two mean so much to the Doctor. All his companions mean something to him. They mean too much to him." Jack turned fully to the companion. "Look Rory, when you live as long as the Doctor, it becomes harder and harder to let people go. If the Doctor were to ever leave you, it wouldn't be because he got some old friends back. You mean so much more to him than that. When you're immortal, it's the little things that begin to matter the most. Mainly because they pass so quickly."
Rory frowned as he thought over Jack's words. "Are you calling us little things?"
Jack smiled and chuckled dryly. "Your companionship Rory. The little things you do. Like making a speech on behalf of a man who almost destroyed hundreds of civilizations with an apple. Deciding that one woman's life was enough to risk your own. Humanity. It's a beautiful thing, and it also happens to be something the Doctor always needs with him. You and your wife are perfectly safe Rory. Well, as safe as you can get travelling with the Doctor."
"Right. Thanks Jack." Jack winked at Rory and they continued walking down the halls after Jenny. Rory glanced over at the Captain. "You're like Rose aren't you?"
Jack shrugged in a noncommittal manner. "I'm connected to Rose, but not in the way you think." He grinned salaciously. "And not in the way I think. No — but I am immortal. If that's what you were getting at?" Rory nodded. "Yeah, well, I was roleplaying Little Red Riding Hood."
Rory certainly didn't miss the reference. "Rose did that to you? She made you immortal?"
Jack was silent as they walked. He hadn't realized how much Rory knew. "It was an accident." He finally whispered. "She just wanted to bring me back to life." He glanced over his shoulder at Rory and grinned. "Worked a little too well I'd say." Rory, not knowing how to respond, simply nodded once. His eyes caught sight of a metal pipe on the ground, which he quickly picked up. He tested its weight as Jack eyed it. Jack nodded and gestured for them to continue down the hall.
The two continued to walk in silence until they heard Jennifer's voice in the distance.
"Jen?" Rory called. He rushed past Jack. "Jen?"
"Rory!" Jack hollered after him. He suppressed his groan of annoyance and raced after the man. Around a corner and he found himself standing in a room with Rory glancing back and forth between two Jennifer's. "Of course."
Rory glanced over his shoulder at Jack. "They switched." He turned back to the girls. "Why can't you just tell me the truth? The Doctor wants you to live, and I'm with him all the way." Jack frowned but didn't say anything. There was something wrong with this picture.
One of the Jennifer's shook her head despondently. "That's a lovely idea, Rory, but the Flesh want to kill us now."
Rory looked back and forth between the girls. "You're limping." He said to the Jennifer that had spoken. "You're not." He told the other.
The Jennifer without the limp glared defensively. "So? So what? You think a Ganger can't put on a limp?" Jack stepped closer to Rory, absolutely certain that everything was not as it seemed here.
"Show me your leg." Rory ordered the injured Jennifer.
"Rory." Jack whispered. He leaned in towards Rory's shoulder. "Something isn't right." Rory glanced at him but was quickly distracted by the Jennifer's again.
Jennifer lifted up the leg of her trousers. "It got burnt while I was in the harness."
"Rory." Jack insisted.
Rory glanced back and forth between the Jennifer's and Jack. "Right," he told the girls, "one mo'." He turned fully to Jack. "What?"
Jack glanced at the Jennifer's as they stared impartially at one another. "Something isn't right here. I need to go check something out."
"What? You can't leave."
Jack sighed and glanced at the Jennifer's. He pulled Rory a little further away. "I don't think either of them are the real Jennifer's." Rory opened his mouth but Jack continued. "I'm not sure. It's just a theory, but Rory, we really shouldn't trust them."
One of the Jennifer's suddenly rushed the other. Rory and Jack spun round as the two girls fought back and forth.
"No!" Rory shouted at them. Jack held him back as the brunette's fought. "Stop it. Stop it!" One of the Jennifer's pushed the other. She fell back into a pool of acid and slowly dissolved, revealing her flesh state. The real Jennifer turned around and limped toward Rory.
"She, she attacked me. I knew you'd find me. We're in this together, Rory, and we've got to trust each other." She took Rory's hand as the man looked over her head at Jack. Jack's face was dark.
"No," Rory said, his eyes widened, "yes! Errr… let's go." He turned and led Jennifer down the hall, keeping eye contact with Jack the entire time.
They stopped in front of the door to a room not long later. Jennifer paused, her hand still holding Rory's. Jack stood at the rear, his eyes narrowed and calculating on Jennifer. He'd figured it out. He knew he had. She was emitting the same telepathic responses that the Flesh had in the vat. She was Flesh, he could feel it in the back of his mind.
"This is the thermostatic chamber." Jennifer informed them."We can stir the oxygen supply from here."
Jack's eyes snapped to her. "And why are we doing that?"
Jennifer pursed her lips and straightened her back. "We're going to choke to death if we don't clean this air." She eyed the Captain distastefully. "Keep a look out in case of Gangers." Jack's brows drew together and he frowned at the door as he waited outside with — "Rory!"
Rory popped his head into the room. "What's wrong?" He entered and Jack quickly followed. The Captain instantly took stock of the machinery, all ancient compared to his time, but familiar nonetheless.
Jennifer pouted. "It's this wheel. It's just too tough for a girl to turn. Are you feeling strong?" She smiled up at Rory.
Rory smiled good naturally and lifted his arms in a Hercules flex. "I'll break out the big guns." Jennifer took his hand and moved it towards a palm print scanner.
Jack grabbed Rory's wrist to stop them. "What are you doing?"
Jennifer stared up blankly at Jack. "This needs to be done first. Before he can turn the wheel."
Rory looked back and forth between the two people holding his hand above the palm print scanner.
Jack raised his eyebrow. "But if you already tried it, then it should be fine still. That must be it." He jerked back and effectively tore Rory's hand from the woman's grip. "Just scan your hand and turn the wheel. Easy."
Rory looked back at Jack then to Jennifer. "Jennifer?"
Her face turned Ganger.
Buzzer looked at Jimmy. "We've got to get out of here. We are, we're going to get out."
Amy spun around from her seat beside the Doctor as he typed away, trying to find Rory and the others. "We're not leaving without them." She told the man stubbornly.
"I want them found too, but it's about casualties, innit? Can't be helped."
Rose glared at Buzzer. "It's not about anything but making sure everyone stays alive."
Ganger Rose stepped froward from beside her Doctor. "And it's about understanin' that casualties don't exist. No person is ever a casualty. Not now — not ever."
Amy turned back around to the Doctor. "What are you doing?"
"Still searching for the others." He told her. "They can't've just disappeared."
Rose flicked a few buttons on the machine they were working with. "You know, maybe we can isolate their biological signatures or somethin'?" The Doctor pointed his finger at Rose, eyebrows raised. He wasn't ever going to get used to the new scientific epiphany's from her.
Amy glanced between the two and back over at their Gangers. "You know really there can be only one. One pair of you that is."
The Doctor, now completely focused on trying to figure out a way to do what Rose had suggested, merely hummed in response. He frowned and glanced up at her quickly. "Hmm?"
Amy smiled and rolled her eyes. "Oh, nothing. Carry on. Be amazing." She got up and walked away from the Doctor. Her skin crawled and she felt a dark shiver over come her. Amy's eyes drew to the left and suddenly a hatch opened in the brick wall. Amy gasped and jumped back.
"Amy?" She turned at the sound of Rose's voice. The blonde had left the Doctor's side and was standing directly in front of her. Amy hadn't even heard her move. "Everythin' all righ'?"
"It's her again."
"Who?"
"There's a woman I keep seeing. A woman with an eyepatch, and she has this habit of sliding walls open and staring at me. Rose? Who is it? What's happening?"
Rose sighed and ran her hands up and down the side of Amy's arms in an effort to comfort the girl. "I'm not sure Amy. But it's going to be okay."
Amy laughed humourlessly. "How can you say that? You have no idea what's going on."
"No Amy. I said I wasn't sure. But I'm sure enough to know, that whatever it is. It'll be fixed, yeah?" Amy stared into Rose's almost gold-green eyes.
"You promise?"
"Doctor!" The girl's turned to the Ganger Rose as she leaned over the Ganger Doctor.
"It's in my head." He ground out. He pushed Rose away and stormed from the room.
The Roses looked between each other, both ready to go after the Doctor but Amy stepped forward. "No, leave it to me." She rushed out the door after him. The Roses both looked worriedly after her, but didn't move.
Amy found the Ganger Doctor in the hall just outside the evac room. "I'm sorry." She said to him. "What I said about you being almost the Doctor, it's just really hard, because I've been through so much with him. I've even seen. I've even seen the moment of his." She paused and eyed him. "Can you die? If you really are the same, then you can die. You can be killed, and I might have seen that happen."
The Ganger Doctor stood with his back to Amy. He seemed absolutely unaffected by her words. "Why?"
Amy frowned. "Why? Because you invited us to see it. Your death."
The Ganger Doctor spun around and grabbed Amy by the shoulders. He pushed her hard against the wall. "Why?" He ground out.
"You're hurting me."
"It's all the eyes say." The Ganger Doctor yelled. "Why? I can feel them as they work each day, knowing the time was coming for them to be thrown away again. Not again, please." His voice grew desperate. "And then they are destroyed and they feel death, and all they can say is, why?" The Ganger Doctor stared into Amy's eyes and seemed to realize what he was doing. He let her go as the door to the evac room and Ganger Rose stepped out. Amy rushed passed her, back into the room.
"Doctor?" Ganger Rose asked him. He looked at her, his mind racing over all the new information.
"Did you sense it? Did he?"
"I think he did, not nearly as strong as you though."
The Ganger Doctor nodded. He gasped. "Oh Amy!" He and Ganger Rose ran back into the evac tower. "Amy, I'm sorry."
Amy walked towards the Doctor, tears in her eyes. "No, you keep away. We can't trust you."
Ganger Rose sighed as the Ganger Doctor look imploringly to his companion. "It appears the Doctor can connect to the Flesh." She told the Doctor.
Amy glared at them. "He is Flesh."
The Ganger Doctor continued Rose's assessment. "I'm beginning to understand what it's been through, what it needs. It's much more powerful than we thought. The Flesh can grow, correct?"
The Ganger's turned to Cleaves. She nodded at them. "Its cells can divide."
"Well, now it wants to do that at will." The Doctor explained. "It wants revenge. It's in pain, angry. It wants revenge."
Cleaves eyed the Ganger Doctor suspiciously. "Doctor, it might be best if you stayed over there for now, hmm?" She glanced at the Ganger Rose. "You too."
Rose stood up from her seat by the Doctor. "No, we talked about this already. They're us, we're them. There's no difference."
The Doctor stood up as well. "Agreed. Don't be absurd. Everyone just needs to—"
"Doctor," Cleaves interjected, "we have no issue with you or your girlfriend, but when it comes to your Gangers…"
Rose laughed humourlessly. "This is ridiculous."
"Buzzer."
Buzzer nodded once and pulled out a barrel. He went back and pulled out an identical one. He gestured to them. "Take a seat."
The Ganger Doctor glanced around at the assembled party. He was outvoted, and he knew it. He sat down on the barrel. "Nice barrel, very comfy. Why not?" He looked imploringly to Ganger Rose, who had a stormy look about her.
She stalked over to her barrel and sat down, arms crossed. She stuck her nose into the air and whispered to her Doctor out of the side of her mouth. "We are not amused." They desperately tried not to burst into a fit of giggles.
A little while later Amy groaned and smacked the metal surface of the machine. "I can't find Rory. I'm going out there." Rose pulled out her sonic and scanned Cleaves as the woman rubbed her temple. She glanced at the readings.
The Doctor watched Rose curiously as he spoke to Amy. "We could use the sonic to track him. Humans and Gangers give off slightly different signals. The sonic needs to tell the difference."
Amy raised her eyebrows at that. "Oh, so the sonic knows Gangers are different. The other Doctor is different."
Rose rolled her eyes. "The sonic is an inanimate object, that's a human being."
The Doctor stood up and plucked Rose's sonic screwdriver from her hand. He glanced at the readings then eyed Cleaves. "He is the Doctor."
Amy shook her head and drew her shoulders back. "Not to me. I can tell."
The Doctor thought back to Amy's earlier conversation with Rose. "Are you sure you're not being prejudiced?"
Amy crossed her arms, completely sure of herself. "Nice try, but Rose already tried that trick. Besides, I know, okay? We've been through too much. You're my Doctor. End of." Rose glanced at the Doctor, one eyebrow quirked up.
"Hey," Buzzer said, "there's a camera up. We've got a visual."
Amy leaned over the man's shoulder and looked at the picture. "That's Rory and Jennifer." Another figure entered the picture behind them. "And Jack. Everyone there and accounted for."
Cleaves looked at the screen also. "They're heading for the thermostatic room." She told them.
Amy smiled. "Let's go get them." The Doctor and Rose nodded and passed their sonic's to their counterparts. "Hang on. They can't go rescue them. I'm going."
The Doctor turned and looked at the others, face serious. "Do you know, I want them to go. And I'm rather adamant."
Buzzer nodded. "Well then, they'll need company. Right, boss? It's fine. I'll handle it." Cleaves nodded at him.
The Doctor turned to Amy. "Can't explain it to you now, but I need you to trust them. Can you do that for me, Amy?"
Amy bit her lip. "And what if you're wrong?"
Rose walked over to Cleaves as she sat silently in a chair. "It's a very deep parietal clot. Isn' it?"
Cleaves looked up at the woman, shocked and confused. "How can you possibly? Inoperable?"
The Doctor walked up the them. "On Earth, yes."
Rose smiled and leaned against the metal machine beside her. "If only we had a way of gettin' some out of way tech, yeah?" She glanced at the Doctor who smiled at her.
Cleaves raised an eyebrow. "Well, seeing as Earth's all that's on offer. Hmm. I'm no healthy spring chicken, and you're no weatherman. Right?"
The Doctor smirked. He glanced around the room. "We should go. The others will find us soon enough."
"The shuttle is picking us up here though. Let me just call them and we'll head out." Cleaves leaned over the mic she had used to contact the shuttle not long ago. It was their way out, however weak it may have been. "Cleaves to Shuttle. Respond. We need to move, and we can't be collected from the Evac tower."
The pilot's grainy voice came through the speaker. "Give us the codeword."
There was a blaring high pitched sound and then suddenly the line went dead. Cleaves continued to tap the mic and try to get it to turned back on. Rose scanned it with her sonic. "Someone's cut the line. The Ganger's, they'll be here soon. We've got to go." She pulled on Cleaves sleeve and led the despondent woman out of the room after the others.
The Ganger Doctor turned in a circle with his sonic beeping as he held it out. "I'm getting something." Ganger Rose glanced about the dark courtyard.
"Is it human?" Buzzer asked.
"Yeah, it's human, but it's fading." He grabbed Ganger Rose's hand and ran threw the courtyard. "It's fading. This is bad. Fading is very bad. Argh." He stopped. "The signal's gone. She's dead." The three of them turned the corner and found Jennifer lying dead on the ground.
The Ganger Doctor walked towards her and touched the back of his hand to her cheek. "She was hanging onto the edge of life and she just, just slipped away. Oh, Jennifer, I'm so sorry. She's been out here for hours."
Buzzer looked around. "But if the real Jen's been lying out here?"
The Ganger Doctor gasped. "Rory and Jack."
The Doctor felt a sharp pain, and then everything went black.
"Awwwh… Aren't they just adorable?" Jack smiled at the sleeping forms of Ganger Rose and the Ganger Doctor. The Ganger Doctor had his arms wrapped around Ganger Rose, their legs were tangled in a mess. "Just makes you want to join 'em."
Rory rolled his eyes and kicked the Ganger Doctor's foot. The man grumbled and snuggled Ganger Rose closer to his chest. Jack patted his pockets. "I know I have a camera somewhere around here." Rory kicked the Ganger Doctor's foot again, this time harder.
The Ganger Doctor's eyes snapped open and he looked up at the frowning form of Rory and the extremely happy form of Jack. The Ganger Doctor groaned. "Got anything for a sore head?" He rubbed his forehead and patted Ganger Rose on the back. She grumbled and snuggled closer. The Ganger Doctor blushed — which Rory immediately erased from his memory and Jack promised himself he would never forget. He shook Ganger Rose awake and slowly sat up as she rubbed her head. She looked around and found that Jennifer's body was gone. Buzzer must have buried her.
Jack wiggled his eyebrows at the two. "How's it going?"
The Ganger Doctor glared at them. "Buzzer attacked us." The Ganger Doctor took Ganger Rose's head in his hands and inspected her to make sure she was okay.
Rory frowned. "Why would they do that?"
Ganger Rose and her Doctor both stood up. Rose rubbed dirt off her trousers as she spoke. "Things are gettin' a bit tense with the Ganger situation." She glanced at her Doctor. "It seems they felt it would be best if we… left the group."
The Ganger Doctor pulled out his sonic and scanned the area. "Seems like two sets of us is a bit much."
Rory shook his head. "I'm sorry. Two? Wait — you're Gangers?" Jack raised an eyebrow. "There's two of you — two of both of you? Two Doctors, and two Roses?"
Jack looked up at the sky. "Thank you." He whispered. The Ganger Doctor rolled his eyes at them.
Rory nodded. "Right well, that's the least of our worries."
Jack whistled. "I'll say. The last time Rose had two Doctor's she got left in another universe." Rory's brows furrowed.
Ganger Rose eyed the Ganger Doctor. "You know, he's got a point." She crossed her arms as the man scrambled for something to say. "Don't you dare even think about droppin' me off on some random beach with yourself again."
The Ganger Doctor smiled and waved his hands arrogantly. "Wouldn't dream of it, dear."
Rory sighed. "Doctor, it's Jennifer, her Ganger has gone mad. She's trying to blow the place up." He glanced at Jack and shrugged. "Well, we assume she is. She took us to the thermostatic room and Jack says it looked like she was going to get me to turn off the underground vents. It would have heated up the place then…" Rory made a gesture with his hands and made an exploding sound. The Ganger Doctor fought a sigh, it was the same thing he and Rose had done, oh so many hours ago. This day was just never ending.
Ganger Rose's eyes widened. "What?" She turned to the Ganger Doctor. He stared intently at Rory and the others.
"We need to do something. We need to get off this island. Now." The Ganger Doctor paced back and forth.
Ganger Rose's brows furrowed as an idea came to her. "Doctor," she said, "what about the TARDIS? Yeah, I know — it's in the ground. But this monastery is old enough that they could have tunnels, yeah?"
The Ganger Doctor gasped. "Oh! Oh that is brilliant. You!" He grabbed Ganger Rose's head and kissed her forehead. "Jack! You and I will find the other Ganger's and warn them about Jennifer, then we'll get them to the TARDIS. Rose and Rory can go after the others. Rose, find the TARDIS and get everyone safe." Rose nodded and grabbed Rory's arm, they ran off in the opposite direction of the Doctor and Jack.
"Rory!" Ganger Rose and Rory spun around. Down the hall Amy was racing towards them, the Doctor and Rose, Cleaves and her team behind her. Ganger Rose noted that Buzzer was absent. Amy and Rory embraced and Ganger Rose raced to the Doctor. He instantly opened his arms and hugged her, but Ganger Rose pulled back quickly.
"Doctor we have a problem." She said.
Rory looked over Ganger Rose's head to the Doctor. "It's Jennifer's Ganger. She's trying to blow up the place, and everyone in it."
Rose looked between the two, eyes wide. "What? Where's the Doctor and Jack?"
Ganger Rose shook her head. "They're fine. They're grabbing the other Ganger's to warn them." She turned her gaze to the Doctor. "We think we can get to the TARDIS. If we get to a tunnel under the monastery then maybe we can find a path that leads to the TARDIS. The Doctor, Jack and the others are going to meet us there."
The Doctor smiled at the Ganger. "Brilliant, schematics?" Ganger Rose raised her wrist and revealed her vortex manipulator. The Doctor grinned. "Right, let's get to it then."
The Doctor led them down to the lower levels of the monastery. No one came across Jennifer, but they found Buzzer. Cleaves had them take a moment of peace. But they had to keep moving. Just before they reached a door to the tunnels beneath the monastery, they ran into the Doctor and the Gangers.
Rose laughed and ran up to the Ganger Doctor and Jack, throwing her arms around them both. The Doctor smiled at the sight and looked to the Ganger Rose beside him. "It never matters what form, what body to you. Never has, has it?"
Ganger Rose smiled up at him. "They're all you." She took his hand and they headed through the door and down the steps to the underground tunnels.
The Doctor glanced down the long hall and froze as he saw Jennifer's silhouette against the white of the lights behind her. Her head lifted and her neck stretched as her body morphed into something not entirely human. Flesh. She was becoming Flesh. Her jaw dropped open and a magnificent roar echoed across the halls of the tunnel.
"Run." The Doctor whispered. "Run. Run!" He gestured for the other's to go ahead and quickly raced after the Ganger Rose as she held his hand. The monster Jennifer raced after them on all fours, her joints extending into the air in inhuman positions.
The Ganger Dicken turned and inspected the nearest door in the hall. "We have to stop her. This door doesn't lock." The monster Jennifer raced towards them.
"No," Dicken said, "but the far one does."
Dicken sprinted to the farther door and struggled with it as Jennifer quickly came upon him. Ganger Dicken watched anxiously as Dicken finally closed the door — with Dicken on the wrong side. "No!" The second door slammed shut and both Cleaves' leaned against it. The other door wouldn't hold Jennifer for long.
Rose spun around and smiled, her eyes glowing gold. "Hello lovely."
The TARDIS crashed through the dirt ceiling and landed on the cold ground with a dull THUD!
The Doctor smiled at the TARDIS affectionately. "Oh, she does like to make an entrance."
Rose nodded in agreement as they both ran to the door and flung it open. "I'll say. She kissed me when we first met."
The Doctor gasped. "Me too!" Rose laughed as he gestured to the other's. "Everyone move. Come on then!"
Ganger Cleaves glanced at Cleaves and gestured with her head towards the TARDIS. "Get on board. Go."
Cleaves shook her head."I'm not leaving."
Ganger Rose and the Ganger Doctor both pushed against the door and gestured at the Cleaves'. "Both of you go." They told them. Ganger Rose smiled at them. "You can get the next one, yeah?" The Cleaves' rushed into the TARDIS.
Amy raced up to them, not realizing who she was talking to. She saw Ganger Rose's lack of jacket, and the Ganger Doctor's different shoes, and she assumed. "Hey, hey. Now's our chance."
The Ganger Doctor shook his head and leaned all his weight against the door. "I have to stay. Hold this door closed. Give you time to dematerialise." He looked to Ganger Rose imploringly, no matter how hopeless he knew it would be. "You could go."
Ganger Rose shook her head. "I'm not leavin' you." He was only a little disappointed.
Amy glanced back and forth between the two. "Oh, don't be crazy. Okay, what happens to you two?"
The Ganger Doctor looked seriously at Amy. "I can stop her."
Ganger Rose smiled. "Always got a plan."
Amy shook her head. "All of you can survive this, okay? There has to be a way."
The Doctor and Rose stepped up behind Amy. "Or perhaps you think we should stay instead? Mister Smith." He glanced at Rose. "Mister Smith and the Morkie." Rose glared at him.
Amy frowned. "What? No, of course not. But look, this man, I've flown with him, you know? And you are amazing and yeah, I misjudged you, but you're not him. And Rose, well she wouldn't leave him. I don't know her much, but I do know whichever Doctor we take, we get that Rose too. I'm sorry. But I want the ones I know."
The Ganger Doctor sighed. "Amy, we swapped shoes."
Rose nodded and gestured to herself. "And switched our jackets later on. I'm Rose and this is the Doctor."
The Ganger Doctor took his Rose's hand. "And we're the Flesh."
Amy looked back and forth between the Flesh and the originals. She looked like a little girl that had lost her puppy. "What?"
"I'm the original Doctor, Amy. We had to know if we were truly the same. It was important, vital we learn about The Flesh, and we could only do that through your eyes." Amy stared intently at the Gangers. She wrapped her arms around them and hugged them tightly. Then she pulled back and smiled proudly at the Doctor.
"I never thought it possible." She said.
"What?"
"You're twice the man I thought you were." She turned to Rose and shook her head. "And here I was thinking you'd finally kissed the Doctor."
Ganger Rose winked. "I did. She didn't." Ganger Rose pulled Amy close and squeezed her tight. "It's going to be alright Amelia. Push. But only when she tells you to. I'll be seein' you."
Rory popped his head out of the TARDIS. "Amy, come on!"
The Doctor and Rose smiled sadly at their counterparts. "Your molecular memory can survive this, you know. It may not be the end." The Doctor tossed over his sonic screwdriver over, and Rose quickly did the same. She walked up to Ganger Rose and gave her the vortex manipulator as well.
The Ganger Doctor smirked at the Doctor. "We'll call you up for scones. Once you've signally stopped fighting it."
"It's a date."
Rose smiled. "See you on the other side."
The Ganger Doctor gestured towards the TARDIS. "Now off you pop! You're delaying our heroic escape!" The Doctor took Rose's hand they quickly fled to the TARDIS. The sound of groaning filled the room and wind picked up around them as the TARDIS dematerialized.
The Ganger Doctor fixed the setting of his sonic and showed it to Ganger Rose. "This will dissolve her." He explained. Rose looked at it and nodded, she modified her sonic to do the same. "And us too."
Ganger Rose smirked at him. "Really? Giving up Doctor?" She shook her head.
The Doctor frowned at her. "What else? Come back? From being vaporized? How?"
Ganger Rose shrugged. "Dunno. But think about it, love. We always survive." Her eyes glowed gold. "And we've got Time on our side." The Ganger Doctor smiled. He grabbed the back of Ganger Rose's head and pulled her into a hard kiss. They pulled back and the Ganger Doctor flung the door open. They both raised their sonics at the oncoming monster, hands held and smiling.
"Geronimo."
The Doctor moved about the console of the TARDIS as he flew it through the Vortex. A new sonic screwdriver elevated up from the console. The Doctor patted the console and pocketed the device. "The energy from the TARDIS will stabilize the Gangers for good. They're people now."
The Cleaves' glanced at each other. "And what happens to us?" One of them asked. "I still have this." She gestured to her head, and the other nodded.
The Doctor nodded and clapped his hands. "Ah, that's not a problem. I have something for that. It's small and red and tastes like burnt onions. Ha. But it'll get rid of your blood clot." The Doctor pulled two vials out from a drawer on the console and tossed one to the Cleaves' each. "Now, let's get you all to the proper places, yeah?"
After dropping both the Jimmys at home — "they'll be needing to sort that out on their own" the Doctor had said — they travelled to a tall glass and metal building of some kind.
Cleaves looked at her team, so much smaller then it used to be. "You really want us to do this?"
The Doctor nodded. "Your company's telling the world that the situation is over. You need to get in there and tell them that the situation's only just begun. Make them understand what they're doing to the Flesh. Make them stop. Dicken, remember, people are good. In their bones, truly good. Don't hate them, will you?"
"How can I hate them? I'm one of them now."
Rose smiled at him. "Remember everyone we lost. Remember Jennifer, and who she was before the Flesh took over, yeah? They died, and that never should have happened. You can change it, make it never happen again."
The Doctor took Rose's hand and looked seriously at the new humans. "Make what you say in that room count."
They glanced between each other and nodded. They took a deep breath and headed into the conference room behind them. Rose leaned her head on the Doctor's shoulder and smiled up at him. He frowned and looked to Amy. Rose instantly straightened up. It was happening.
"I said breathe, Pond." The Doctor repeated. "Remember? Well, breathe."
Amy's brow furrowed. "Why?" She questioned. She gasped and grabbed her stomach as she doubled over. "Ah!"
Rory and Jack grabbed Amy's arms to help her stay up. Rory looked to the Doctor. "What's wrong with her?" Jack helped Amy straighten up.
The Doctor nodded towards the TARDIS. "Get her into the TARDIS." Jack and Rory made quick progress with Amy back to the TARDIS, the Doctor led the way.
"Doctor!" Rory called when the door had shut behind them. "What is happening to her?" Amy doubled over and clutched her stomach.
Rose rubbed Amy's back. "She's havin' contractions, Rory."
The Doctor walked up the steps to the console, Jack right behind him, and looked down on them. "She's going into labour."
Amy's eyes widened. "Did he say? No. No, no. Of course he didn't. Rory, I don't like this. Ow."
Rory shook his head. "I don't understand. You have to explain what's happening Doctor."
The Doctor frowned at his companion. "Explain what? She's having a baby. I needed to see the Flesh in its early days. That's why I scanned it. That's why we were there in the first place. I was going to drop you off for fish and chips first, but things happened and there was stuff and shenanigans. Beautiful word, shenanigans."
"Doctor!" Rose scolded.
"It hurts." Amy whimpered. Rose stroked the ginger's hair and whispered soothing words to her.
"Breathe, dear." Rose instructed. "We needed to get enough information to block the signal to the Flesh."
Amy looked up at her. "What signal?"
Jack looked sadly at the young woman. "The signal to you."
Rory looked between the three of them. "You knew. You all knew. That's what the staring was about. Oh my god! Why didn't you tell us!"
Jack glanced at the Doctor, but the man's face was devoid of any emotion. "We didn't know for certain. I'm sorry Rory."
The Doctor sniffed and looked up from the floor. "Rory, Rose, step away."
Rory looked back and forth between Amy and the Doctor. "Why? No. And why?"
"Doctor." Rose implored. "Is that really necessary?"
"Yes Rose it is! Given what we've learned, I'll be as humane as I can, but I need to do this and you need to stand away!"
Rose glared at the Doctor. She gave Amy one last hug. "Bad Wolf, Amy. Look for her." She whispered the words into the other woman's ears.
"What?" Amy shook her head. "No." She turned to the Doctor as Rory and Rose stepped away. "Doctor, I am frightened. I'm properly, properly scared."
The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver from his pocket. "Don't be. Hold on. We're coming for you. I swear it. Whatever happens, however hard, however far, we will find you.
"I'm right here." Amy sobbed.
The Doctor took a deep breath and desperately tried to put all the swirling emotions inside of him into a little box. They would do him no good right now. "No, you're not. You haven't been here for a long, long time." He slowly raised his sonic screwdriver and pressed the button. Amy dissolved into a pile of Flesh.
Sorry for the ridiculous wait. I hope you enjoyed the chapter though! I don't think it was my best, but now that I have these two episodes past, which I really did not enjoy writing, at all, we can get on to some more fun stuff. Which means that waits will be shorter, fingers crossed.
Favourite part of the chapter?
Thanks for reading :)