Mickey whole-heartedly believed that it would be Cybermen to emerge from the sphere, and Rose watched fearfully for the same, seeing no reason to doubt him. So when the sphere opened and four Daleks emerged, Rose honestly thought she was about to have a heart attack. Any reaction she was having, though, was immediately overshadowed by a terrified scream from Jack behind her, followed by a loud grunt and the sounds of a struggle.
As little as she dared to take her eyes from the monsters in front of her, she couldn't resist a quick look behind her.
Jack was struggling with Ianto, and it took Rose a moment to realise that Jack was, in fact, trying to force Ianto to stand behind him. His gestures were sloppy and panicked, though, and Ianto was too distracted by the creatures emerging from the sphere to really pay attention.
"Hide," Jack whimpered, tugging desperately on Ianto's arm. "Hide, Yan!"
"We can't," Ianto hissed. "There's nowhere to hide."
Even so, Jack continued pulling on Ianto's arm, and his face was the epitome of terror.
The Daleks alighted on the floor, and immediately glided towards them, grating metallic voices screeching at them from within their metal shells.
"Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"
Ianto shut his eyes and wrapped his arms around Jack as tightly as he could, bracing himself for an attack.
"Daleks!"
Rose's voice reverberated powerfully throughout the entire room, silencing the Daleks and stopping them in their tracks. Ianto dared to look, and saw the young woman advancing bravely on the monsters, discarding her stolen lab coat as she went.
"You're Daleks. Now, how would I know that? Me, a human. And I know about the Time War. Now, if you wanna know how I know, then all I ask is that you keep me and my friends… all my friends alive. Yeah?"
The black Dalek stared at her silently for several seconds before speaking ominously.
"You will be necessary."
* * *"Necessary?" Gage hissed. "Necessary for what? What the hell are those things?"
"Daleks," Rose answered as she, Mickey and Singh retreated back to stand with Jack, Ianto and Gage. "They're Daleks. They're what killed Jack that very first time."
"Oh my god," Ianto moaned, and tightened his grip on Jack yet again in response. "We have to get out of here, now!"
"Too late," Rose whispered as the Daleks glided towards them once more, and encircled them. She was quietly relieved that Ianto seemed to have Jack under some modicum of control, and hoped fervently that it lasted. She dreaded to think what would happen if Jack bolted in a panic, and was shot down by the Daleks. She didn't want to contemplate what the metal monsters would do upon discovering they had an immortal human in their midst.
On the other hand, she wasn't sure whether to feel concern that Spence was beginning to stir nearby.
"Which of you is the least important?" one of the Daleks demanded.
"What do you mean?" Mickey asked with a frown.
"Choose the least important," the Dalek ordered shrilly.
"No, sorry, we don't operate like that," Rose told them, disgust evident in her voice. She was not the least bit surprised, though, that the Dalek would not be dissuaded.
"Choose the least important!"
Singh looked around, and his gaze alighted on Jack, who was cowering beside Ianto. In a second, Ianto realised what Singh was thinking, and he focused a threatening glare on the researcher.
"Don't you fucking dare!"
"Be reasonable, Jones," Singh begged. "At least with him, whatever they do won't be permanent."
"We can't know that for sure," Gage argued. "Especially if these are the things that killed him the first time. They might just be what can kill him permanently!"
"Well, better him than us!" Singh exploded. He started to turn towards the Daleks, only to be brought up short when Ianto grabbed him forcefully by the arm.
"You sacrifice Jack now, you bloody bastard, and I will break your neck. Do you hear me?"
Singh turned grey at the promise and fell silent, though resentment remained in his eyes. At that moment, as they were trapped in a stalemate, Spence suddenly scrambled clumsily to his feet and bolted for the door.
It happened faster than any of them were capable of reacting. One of the Daleks swung around smoothly and with a cry of 'Exterminate!' fired at the fleeing man. For a brief moment, Spence was engulfed in a blue and white light, and an agonised scream rent the air. Then, Spence collapsed to the ground, dead.
"Good riddance," Gage muttered, not the least bit remorseful to see Spence dead. He was, however, somewhat regretful that the bastard hadn't suffered for longer.
The Dalek turned back to them, and repeated its demand.
"You will choose, or we will choose for you."
Gage looked at Ianto, grief and distress in his eyes. Ianto realised what he meant to do, and spoke in a panic.
"Gage, no, you can't!"
"It's okay, Ianto. Just… take care of Jack, okay?"
Jack uttered a wordless cry as Gage began to step away from them, and reached out to snag his jacket in fear. Gage smiled bravely at him, and gently tried to disengage himself from Jack's grasp. Before he had the chance to put himself forward, though, Singh did so instead.
"Leave them alone. Take me, I'm the least important here." He glanced back at Ianto, apology in his eyes which Ianto accepted with a slight nod of acknowledgement.
Then, the Daleks were demanding that he kneel down, and the remaining four could only look on in helpless horror as Singh died in agony, the Daleks draining the knowledge they wanted from his skull like juice from an orange. Information acquired, the Daleks turned back to the Ark that they had brought out of the sphere with them, temporarily leaving their captives alone.
Jack collapsed to the floor, crying helplessly with fear, and Ianto quickly sat down beside him, murmuring pointless words of comfort.
"Hell of a difference from the bloke that tried to order the Doctor around in Cardiff," Mickey remarked in an unimpressed tone. "Not gonna be much use to us now if all he can do is just sit there and cry."
Ianto glared up at him.
"Go to hell. He's got the mentality of a child, and he's frightened. He doesn't have any other way of dealing with this."
"He's okay," Rose said decisively, ignoring Mickey's sceptical frown. "He's doesn't have to do anything except let us take care of him."
"Thankyou," Ianto whispered gratefully. "But what do we do? Making a run for it isn't really an option, is it?"
"No," Rose confirmed grimly. "Even if we could get the door open quickly, the Daleks are too fast. They'd take us all down before we even reached the door. You saw what happened to that other bloke."
"Spence," Gage murmured. "No big loss there, trust me."
"All human life is worthwhile," Rose countered, tension in her voice. Gage shook his head.
"Not Spence. Believe me, Miss Tyler. This world is much better off without the likes of him around. And if Jack could find a way to say so, he'd tell you the same."
"Yeah, well, I'm not so sure about that," Rose said. "But now's not the time to be fighting about it, either. Now, we just have to wait."
"Wait for what?" Gage asked, starting to sound impatient.
"For the Doctor," Rose answered, and Gage snorted softly in derision.
"Are we talking about the same Doctor who ditched Jack in the first place? Because if we are…"
Rose didn't respond. She desperately wanted to defend the Doctor, but for the first time that she could remember, she wasn't able to do so. Even as she tried to formulate an argument in her own mind to counter Gage's negativity, she recalled just that morning when her mother had demanded to know whether the Doctor would have ever gone back to Satellite Five for Jack. She remembered his reply with a shudder — a straight, unfettered 'no'. He had left Jack behind on purpose, with no intention of ever going back for him. There was no defending that.
"Something's happening," Mickey said suddenly, drawing their attention away from the stalemate. Sure enough, one of the Daleks had gone out into the corridor, and the remaining Daleks had opened a communication link with the one outside, using the wall to project an image. After a moment, they could all see what the lone Dalek was seeing.
"Oh god," Rose whispered in horror. "Daleks and Cybermen?"
"This is Hartman's doing, damn her," Gage growled. "That bloody psychotic bitch is going to get all of us killed."
"What are Cybermen?" Ianto asked, both frightened and intrigued by the metal monstrosities facing off with the Dalek. "Are they robots?"
"Not robots," Rose answered. "Well, not completely. They're humans. Human brains implanted into a cybernetic shell. Humans upgraded, to remove emotion. The Daleks are an alien race. They're the main enemy of the Doctor's people… but they shouldn't be here! The Daleks were all destroyed!"
"Apparently they weren't," Mickey pointed out unnecessarily. Rose shook her head, but anything she'd been planning to say was lost when her mobile phone began to vibrate in her pocket. Keeping a close watch on the Daleks as they argued and traded insults with the Cybermen, Rose discreetly pressed the appropriate button on her phone to connect the call.
"What are you doing?" Mickey asked in a whisper.
"My phone was ringing. It was Mum. She's with the Doctor, so she must be okay for now."
"Good. We can just keep worrying about us, then."
"I think we might have a bit more than that to worry about," Ianto spoke up. "We still don't know what that thing is."
Their collective gaze went to the strange-looking metal casket that the Daleks called the Genesis Ark. None of them knew what it was; only that the Daleks were hell bent on guarding it and that, in itself, made Rose intensely afraid of it.
"I wish I knew," she murmured. "But I've never seen anything like it before."
"Hang on, what's going on now…?" Gage interrupted.
They returned their attention to the viewing screen that was lit up against the wall, just in time to see the Dalek in the corridor exterminate the two Cybermen.
"This is war," the Cyber-leader announced.
"It is pest control," Dalek Sec responded.
"There are five million Cybermen. You would defeat us with only four Daleks?"
"We would defeat you with only one Dalek. However, there is one thing at which you are superior."
"And what is that?"
"Dying."
"Bloody hell," Mickey whispered as the transmission ended and the Dalek in the corridor returned. "Daleks and Cybermen, and we're stuck right in the middle. Speakin' of which, why haven't they just killed us? Not that I'm complainin', mind you."
"Didn't you hear before?" Rose asked. "They need us. Something to do with that thing. They need time travellers."
"So you, me and Captain Cheesecake…" He faltered at the dark look that Rose gave him. "Sorry. Jack. So, where does that leave those other two?"
Rose looked to Gage and Ianto worriedly. The same concern had crossed her mind also.
"I don't know. I really don't know."
* * *Ianto cradled Jack to him, doing his best to comfort the older man and calm his fears. All the while, he kept an eye on the Daleks, ready to defend Jack should the Daleks turn their focus onto him. Right at that moment, though, their attention appeared to be on the Ark, and not their human prisoners.
"Hey, how's he doing?" Gage asked, sitting down beside them.
"As good as can be expected," Ianto murmured. "But he's frightened, and it doesn't help that he's one step shy of freezing. I wish I had some clothes to put on him."
"Another of Hartman's brilliant ideas," Gage muttered as he eyed Jack's near-naked form. "Subjugation through debasement. The stupid cow. Is it wrong that I'm hoping she's been killed?"
"Well, if you're going to hell for hoping that, then so am I," Ianto admitted. He glanced around and spotted Rose and Mickey a short distance away, talking quietly. He couldn't hear what they were saying; only snatches of whispered conversation.
Ianto had admit, he was far more impressed with Rose than he had expected to be. Whilst he still saw her as being at least partially responsible for Jack's circumstances, he had to concede that it took a brave person to do what she had done, and stand up to the Daleks. When the rest of them had been paralysed with fear, she had faced the metal terrors down and saved them from imminent death.
Now, though, they seemed to be caught in a dreadful waiting game, not knowing what was going to happen next.
"Yan toe," Jack whispered, drawing both his and Gage's attention.
"What is it?" Ianto asked, stroking his thumb soothingly down the side of Jack's face.
"I love you."
Ianto sighed, and brushed a kiss softly across Jack's forehead.
"I love you too, Jack."
Jack stared up at him tearfully.
"Please don't die."
Gage grimaced at the seemingly tactless statement, but Ianto understood it for what it was — just another variation on the 'please don't leave' plea. As simplistic and innocent as Jack's thought process was right then, he still understood that Ianto dying would mean losing him forever. It was a possibility that Jack apparently was not willing to deal with.
"I'm going to try my best, love," Ianto murmured. "I promise."
All three of them were startled when one of the Daleks spoke, apparently in response to something either Mickey or Rose had said.
"The technology is stolen. The Ark is not of Dalek design."
Rose frowned, confused.
"Then who built it?"
"The Time Lords," Dalek Sec replied. "This is all that remains of their home world."
"But what's inside?" Rose pressed.
Where they sat huddled together, Ianto wanted to yell at her to shut up and stop drawing attention to them all. He wondered numbly how she could appear so fearless in front of these metal monsters.
"The future," the Dalek said in answer to Rose's question. It abruptly reversed away from the Ark. "Final stage of awakening! Your handprint will open the Ark."
And suddenly, Rose radiated defiance.
"Well tough, 'cause I'm not doing."
One of the Daleks swung around smoothly to face Jack, Ianto and Gage.
"Obey, or the males will die."
Ianto grunted as Jack almost squashed the air out of him, trying to put himself between the Dalek and his friends.
"Jack…"
"No," Jack sobbed in borderline hysteria. "Won't let them hurt you! Won't let them take you away from me!"
Whether Jack's reaction was a factor in Rose's decision, none of them knew for sure because she had already started moving towards the Ark.
"Rose, don't!" Mickey shouted, but she shook her head.
"I can't let them."
"Place your hand on the casket," Dalek Sec ordered her. Rose made a show of reaching towards the Ark before suddenly stopping and turning back to the Dalek.
"If you escaped the Time War, don't you want to know what happened?"
For a hulk of metal that was supposedly devoid of emotion, the Dalek was growing visibly impatient.
"Place your hand…"
"What happened to the Emperor?" Rose cut in, and there was a heartbeat of silence as the Dalek processed what she'd said.
"The Emperor survived?"
"Until he met me," Rose answered with a casual arrogance that had Mickey smirking, and Ianto and Gage cringing. "'Cause if these are gonna be my last words, then you're gonna listen. I met the Emperor. And I took the Time Vortex and poured it into his head and turned him into dust. Do you get that? The god of all Daleks, and I destroyed him."
"She's out of her bloody mind," Gage whispered as Rose laughed right into the Dalek's face. "It's going to kill her for sure."
"She's trying to stall," Ianto muttered, trying to encourage Jack to shift enough so that he could see what was happening.
"She's going to get killed," Gage insisted, and sure enough, the Dalek finally reacted with a predictable cry that was laced with a very human rage.
"You will be exterminated!"
"Oh now, hold on, wait a minute…"
All eyes, human and Dalek alike, turned towards the owner of the voice, and Ianto couldn't help but gape. Standing in the doorway — and how or when it had been opened, he had no idea — was possibly the lankiest man he'd ever laid eyes on. The newcomer wore a brown pinstriped suit that was just slightly ill-fitted, but what really got Ianto's attention were the novelty 3-D glasses that he was wearing. It was a bizarre entrance, to say the least, and yet Ianto saw immediately that Rose and Mickey were both relieved to see him.
"Alert!" one of the Daleks shrieked. "Alert! You are the Doctor!"
"Sensors report he is unarmed."
The Doctor grinned like he'd just walked into a pub full of old mates.
"That's me. Always."
"Then you are powerless," Dalek Sec intoned. Again, the Doctor just grinned.
"Not me. Never!"
"Now he's mad," Ianto whispered, shaking his head in disbelief.
The Doctor's gaze swept around the room, and quickly came to rest on the three of them. For a split second, Ianto thought he saw the Doctor flinch, but then it was gone. Stepping confidently past the Daleks, he approached them and crouched down in front of them.
"You must be the famous Mr Jones," he said. "I hear you've been taking good care of my companion here." Without waiting for an answer, the Doctor turned towards Jack and his manic grin faded into a more sombre expression. "Hello again, Jack. Do you remember me? Do you know who I am?"
Jack didn't answer. He just stared at the Doctor with wide eyes. Tentatively, the Doctor lifted a hand and reached out to Jack. The young immortal uttered a frightened whimper and cringed away from him, seeking comfort that Ianto willingly gave. Grief flickered in the Doctor's eyes as he withdrew his hand. Jack's reaction gave him a tiny glimpse of the damage that had been done, and it just about broke his hearts.
"I am so sorry," he murmured, wanting to weep for his traumatised friend. Then, abruptly, he was on his feet again and walking back over to Rose and Mickey.
"How are you?" he asked Rose, and though he was smiling, she couldn't help but notice that the smile no longer reached his eyes. She couldn't blame him. After seeing Jack again for the first time since Satellite Five, she'd felt much the same.
"Oh, you know," she answered, keeping her answer flippant to try and hide her own distress. "Same old."
The Doctor gave the tiniest of nods in acknowledgement, and then turned his attention to Mickey.
"And Mick-Mickety-Mick-Mickey! Nice to see you!"
Mickey grinned back.
"And you, boss."
"Social interactions will cease!" Dalek Sec ordered, sounding somewhat bizarrely like an overbearing headmaster. "How did you survive the Time War?"
"By fighting on the front line," the Doctor answered, suddenly the picture of seriousness. "I was there at the fall of Arcadia. Some day I might even come to terms with that. But you lot… ran away!"
"God, I wish he wouldn't taunt them," Gage moaned.
"I think he knows what he's doing," Ianto murmured, but Gage snorted.
"Like hell, Ianto. You don't know that anymore than I do."
"Gage, with all respect, shut up. We have to trust him. We don't have any other choice."
Gage grimaced, but his silence told Ianto better than any words that he agreed, however reluctantly. The Daleks suddenly spoke again, the harsh, metallic voices jolting Ianto and Gage back into awareness of what was happening right in front of them.
"I am Dalek Thay."
"Dalek Sec."
"Dalek Jast."
"Dalek Caan."
And with that, fresh realisation dawned on the Doctor's face. At a glance, he seemed amused and jovial, but Ianto thought he saw something more than that in the Doctor's eyes. He thought he could see fear.
"So that's it. At last. The Cult of Skaro. I thought you were just a legend."
"Who are they?" Rose asked.
"A secret order," the Doctor explained, eying Dalek Sec like it was a particularly interesting bug. "Above and beyond the Emperor himself. Their job was to imagine. Think as the enemy thinks. Even dare to have names, all to find new ways of killing."
"That thing," Rose said with a renewed urgency. "They said it was yours. I mean Time Lords, they built it."
"What does it do?" Mickey asked, but the Doctor shrugged.
"I don't know. Never seen it before."
"But it's Time Lord," Rose protested. Again, the Doctor shrugged.
"Both sides had secrets." He looked around at the Daleks, speaking as though they were naughty children in need of chastising. "What is it? What have you done?"
"Time Lord science will restore Dalek supremacy," Sec replied cryptically. By then, all signs of humour and amusement were gone from the Doctor's face.
"What does that mean? 'Time Lord science'? What do you mean?"
"They said one touch from a time traveller will wake it up," Rose told him, and the Doctor's face practically lit up with devious glee at her revelation.
"Ah, technology using the one thing a Dalek can't do. Touch. There you are, sealed inside your casing, not feeling anything, ever. From birth to death, locked inside a cold metal cage. That explains your voice. No wonder you scream."
As the Doctor's words washed over them, Ianto realised that Jack's tremors were beginning to get worse, and that he had begun to cry and whimper in growing distress. He suspected that he knew why, too, even if Jack couldn't explain it himself. Whilst his words had been directed at the Daleks, the Doctor nevertheless had given a perfect description of Jack's life for the past hundred and six years. Jack understood, even if only at a very rudimentary level, and he was reacting accordingly.
"Hold on, cariad," Ianto whispered, trying desperately to draw Jack's attention away from the Doctor. "Look at me. Concentrate on me."
Slowly, Jack's eyes came to rest on Ianto, and some of the skittishness and panic dissipated, but the tremors remained. When the Daleks spoke again, though, demanding that the Doctor open the Ark, Jack very nearly leapt out of Ianto's embrace in fright. At a loss for what else to do, Ianto gently took hold of Jack's chin and leaned forward to kiss him. When he broke it seconds later, he was gratified to see that he finally had Jack's full attention.
"Focus on me," Ianto told him again, studiously ignoring the war of words taking place between the Doctor and their Dalek captors. "I'll protect you, Jack. Trust me."
"No," Jack said hoarsely, and Ianto felt stung by the apparent rejection, although he supposed it was well deserved. Jack, however, pulled Ianto to him in a fierce, if somewhat clumsy hug.
"What…?" Ianto gasped in surprise. He felt Jack's lips on top of his head, and the older man's arms clutching him tightly. His face was slightly mashed into Jack's bare shoulder, muffling his startled exclamation.
"I'll protect you," Jack whispered tearfully. Ianto felt his heart melt, and his own arms found their way around Jack, returning the hug with interest.
"How about we try to protect each other?"
Jack sniffled miserably.
"Okay. Love you, Yan toe."
"I love you, too," Ianto whispered.
Gage smiled sadly at the innocent affection being displayed by Jack, but before he could make a comment, doors and walls suddenly exploded inwards, sending all three of them diving for cover.
There was smoke and dust, shouting and shooting, and through it all Ianto could hear Jack howling in terror. Even through his own fear, though, he was acutely aware of Jack trying desperately to shield not only him, but Gage as well. As frightened and confused as Jack was, his instinct was still to protect those he cared for.
Ianto tried to see what was happening through the dust, smoke and laser fire, but it was utter chaos, and he couldn't make out friend from foe. Then, suddenly, a face appeared barely inches in front of his own, and he yelped in fright. The Doctor reached out and grabbed his shoulder in a fierce grip.
"C'mon, Ianto Jones, shake a leg! You too, Jack. And your friend there, whatever his name is!"
Ianto scrambled to get up, and haul Jack right along with him.
"C'mon, Jack, run! Gage, help me!"
Between them, they half led, half dragged Jack through the battle and towards the door. They were just making their way past the Ark when a damaged Cyberman fell into them, knocked Jack away from Ianto and Gage and sent him stumbling into the casket. He landed against him squarely, and both Gage and Ianto winced at the sharp hiss as Jack's hand left a very clear imprint on the metal.
Jack yelled in pain and put up no resistance when Ianto grabbed his arm and propelled him out of the room.
"Ouch, Yan!" Jack wailed, holding his red, scorched hand up. "Ouch!"
"I know, love," Ianto acknowledged. "We'll see to it later, I promise. Just come quickly!"
"He activated that thing!" Mickey burst out. "He fell on it, and touched it, and he activated it! Nice going, Captain Cheesecake."
Ianto wanted to hit Mickey. Jack was frightened enough without suffering from the fear of thinking he'd done a bad thing.
"He couldn't help it! He was knocked into the bloody thing. Leave him alone, all right?"
The damage was done, though, and Jack spoke shakily.
"Yan toe? Was I bad?"
Ianto could see Jack bracing himself for a reprimand, but before he had a chance to speak any words of reassurance, the Doctor beat him to it. Stepping up close to his former companion, the Doctor spoke to Jack with absolute sincerity.
"Listen to me, Jack. It's all right. You didn't do anything wrong, I promise you. It's okay."
"But what about that thing…?" Mickey protested, but the Doctor silenced him with a hard look.
"Without us, the Daleks would have tried to open it by force, and they would have blown up the Sun to do it. Jack did us a favour. Now, leave him alone. He's scared and confused enough without us making it worse for him. C'mon, everyone. Run!"
As the rest of them took off down the corridor, Ianto grasped Jack's uninjured hand.
"Are you all right?"
Jack nodded, though the fresh tears in his eyes and the way his chest hitched with barely suppressed sobs suggested to Ianto that he was far from all right.
"It'll be over soon, I'm sure of it," Ianto promised him softly. "And then the Doctor will take us far away from here, and no one will ever be able to hurt you again. Just hang on a little longer, all right?"
Again Jack nodded, still too upset to speak.
"C'mon, boys," Gage said with a hint of urgency in his voice. "We're getting left behind. Better catch up quick."
Ianto nodded, and gently tugged on Jack's uninjured hand. With a little encouragement, Jack broke into a run alongside Ianto and Gage, and the three of them hurried after the Doctor and his companions.
* * *They were surprised and a little disconcerted to find that the Doctor and the rest of the group had gotten some ways ahead of them. Ianto had a brief, frightening thought that they'd lost them, and could barely contain his relief upon rounding a corner and finding them just ahead.
"What the hell?" Gage muttered, but a wide grin broke across Ianto's face as he realised what had brought them to a halt.
"Jackie. It's Jackie, Rose's mother. She took care of Jack… Actually, she took care of both of us. Jack, look! See who it is?"
Jack looked, and a moment later the fear melted away from his face and he shouted in excitement.
"Jackie!"
Jackie had just finally extricated herself from Pete's arms when she heard the cry, and tears flooded her eyes as she spotted Jack and Ianto. Leaving Pete standing there in bemusement, she ran over and threw her arms first around Jack, and then Ianto, and then Jack again.
"You poor loves, I was worried sick! When I got home yesterday to find Ben on my doorstep with your blanket and dog, Jack… I damn near had a heart attack! Oh, come here, you."
She pulled Jack back into her arms once again.
"Wow," Rose said softly in amazement as she and the Doctor approached. "You really did take care of Jack, didn't you?"
"Told you I did," Jackie snapped. "Next time you might believe your mum."
"She did more than just look after us," Ianto said quietly, watching with a smile as Jack contentedly buried his face against Jackie's shoulder and clung to her tightly. "We owe her everything."
The Doctor smiled wistfully, lost briefly in the moment, before clapping his hands together loudly.
"All right, then, you lot. Let's keep moving!"
* * *Gage expected the Doctor to want to head straight to his ship, and so he was a little confused when they seemed to be headed in the opposite direction.
"Where the hell are we going?" he asked breathlessly as they ran. "His ship is in Bay Four, and that's back that way."
"Don't know," Ianto answered, sounding equally breathless. "Whatever he's doing, though, I just hope it won't take too long. Jack's getting flighty."
A glance told Gage that Ianto was right. The euphoria of the reunion with Jackie Tyler had rapidly worn off, and now Jack seemed to one step shy of a panic attack. Gage grasped Jack's wrist, mindful of his burnt hand, and tried to offer some reassurance.
"Just stay with me and Ianto, Jack. You'll be okay, I promise."
He had no real way of knowing if Jack really believed that. The Doctor had suddenly stopped outside the doors of the main warehouse, where all alien tech was taken for registering and initial testing. It was the same warehouse that Yvonne Hartman had led the Doctor and Jackie through after meeting them outside the TARDIS.
The Time Lord pushed the doors open cautiously, and they all had to duck as they were bombarded with laser fire.
"What the hell is he doing?" Mickey asked of no one in particular as the Doctor darted into the room. They watched as he reached the first crate, and he was just reaching for the magnetic clamps inside when he appeared to spot something else entirely. Glancing around to ensure that neither Daleks nor Cybermen were paying him any attention, the Doctor scrambled across the floor to a large Perspex display box that sat innocuously by one wall.
"Now what's he doing?" Pete hissed.
"Don't know," Rose admitted. She looked around, and quickly found Gage and Ianto's eyes. "What's in that box over there?"
Ianto shrugged, but Gage answered.
"It's a display case. Every couple of months, something gets pulled out of Archives and put on display. Something that no one's been able to figure out yet. Sometimes someone will come along who wasn't around the first time the thing was displayed, and they might be able to work out what it's for. I don't know what's in there at the moment, though."
"Whatever it is, it's got the Doctor's attention," Rose said.
They all watched as he lifted the lid on the box, and snatched up whatever was inside. Whatever it was, none of them could see, and it quickly disappeared into the Doctor's pocket, well out of sight. Then, he went back for the clamps, and finally made it safely back out of the room.
"What'd you take from over there?" Rose asked in confusion. He didn't answer. Dropping the clamps, he put the 3-D glasses back on and risked another look back into the room.
The Cybermen were all dead, as were the humans who had been fighting alongside them. Only the four Daleks and their Ark remained, and even as the Doctor watched, they began to levitate the Ark upwards towards a newly-made hole in the ceiling.
"Up!" the Doctor burst out as he let the door swing shut. "We have to go back up to the top of the tower!"
And they were off again, heading towards the stairwell near where they'd found Jackie, until Jake Simmonds stuck his head out and called to them. They all piled into the elevator, but Jack pulled away, fresh fear in his eyes.
"Jack, c'mon," Ianto pleaded with him. He was acutely aware of the agitation of the others behind him, waiting to get moving. "Please, we have to go!"
"Where to?" Jack asked.
"Up, of course!" Jake snapped impatiently. "We've got to get to the very top, and you're holding us up! Now, get your arse in here, you bloody prat!"
When Jack still hesitated, though, Pete snorted loudly.
"We don't have the time for this. He's either coming or he's not."
"We're not leavin' him behind," Jackie snarled. "So don't even think about it!"
"We don't have time, Jacks!" Peter exploded. Angry and frustrated, and more than a little scared himself, Pete rounded on Jack. "You get yourself in here right now, you ruddy simpleton!"
He all-but roared at Jack, before either Ianto or Jackie had a chance to stop him. Jack flinched visibly in the face of Pete's anger and, with outright panic in his eyes, he turned on his heel and bolted away down the corridor.
"Jack!" Ianto shouted after him, but it was to no avail. Jack was already out of sight around the far corner. He looked towards the Doctor and the others helplessly, and Gage took a tentative step forward.
"Ianto…"
Shaking his head helplessly, Ianto took off after Jack.
"Bloody hell!" Pete burst out, but Jackie silenced him with a painful thump to the arm.
"Shut up, you!" she choked out. "Couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you! Had to go scarin' him!"
"I'll go after him," Gage said grimly. "You all go on and do what you need to do."
"Hold on, what's your name?" the Doctor asked, staring at Gage somewhat unnervingly through the red and blue cellophane lenses of his 3-D glasses.
"Gage, sir. Gage Adams."
"Right, Gage. I need you right here, with me. I'm going to need your help."
"But Jack and Ianto…"
Rose abruptly stepped out of the elevator and into the corridor.
"I'll find them. I can find them, and get them to the TARDIS, and then meet you up in the tower."
"No," the Doctor said quickly. "No, when you get them to the TARDIS, you stay in there with them. You'll all be safe in there. Promise me you'll stay in the TARDIS, Rose?"
"But what about you…?"
"I'll be fine," he promised her. "I swear to you."
Rose stared at the Doctor for several long seconds, frowning as she tried to work out what it was that he wasn't telling her. Finally, though, she gave up and, giving her mother a brave smile, turned and hurried away in the direction that Jack and Ianto had both gone.
"She'd better be okay, or I'll have your guts for garters, you hear me?" Jackie growled. The Doctor stared grimly at Jackie.
"Trust me, Jackie. She'll be a lot safer in the TARDIS than anywhere else in this building. Now, let's get moving. We need to see exactly what's inside that casket."
* * *to be continued....