Army of Ghosts, Part Three

The woman had led the three of them to a massive warehouse area. Clara looked around, noticing lots of crates. Jeeps and trucks were being driven around the area. Clara's eyes widened when she saw a flying saucer lying in a corner, half hidden by a sheet.

The Doctor pointed at the saucer. "That's a Jathar Sunglider." He pointed out. The woman nodded proudly.

"Came down to Earth off the Shetland Islands ten years ago." She told them, head held high.

"What, did it crash?" Clara asked, bending down to inspect it. She looked over at the Torchwood woman.

"No, we shot it down," she informed them casually. The air got tense. The woman continued, "It violated our airspace. Then we stripped it bare."

"That's awful!" Clara gasped. "If it wasn't attacking-"

"The weapon that destroyed the Sycorax on Christmas Day?" The woman pressed, talking over Clara. "That was us. Now, if you'd like to come with me." She gestured for them to continue walking. "The Torchwood Institute has a motto. If it's alien, it's ours. Anything that comes from the sky, we strip it down and we use it for the good of the British Empire."

"For the good of the what?" Jackie asked.

"The British Empire." Jackie scoffed.

"There isn't a British Empire." Jackie reminded her. The woman chuckled.

"Not yet."

"What's your name, anyway?" Jackie demanded, hands on hips.

"Yvonne."

"Well, Yvonne, you need to learn a thing or two about-" Clara ran over, slapping her hand over Jackie's mouth. She laughed nervously.

"Don't mind her." She said, patting Jackie's shoulder with her other hand. "Um, what are those?" Clara nodded to some giant step-stool looking things with handles on top. Yvonne nodded, looking pleased.

"Ah, yes. Now, we're rather fond of these." She walked over to them and picked one up off the ground with little difficulty. "The Magnaclamp. Found in a spaceship buried at the base of Mount Snowdon. Attach this to an object and it cancels the mass. I could use it to lift two tonnes of weight with a single hand. That's an imperial ton, by the way. Torchwood refuses to go metric." Jackie finally looked impressed by all of the alien tech around her.

"I could do with that to carry the shopping." She commented. Yvonne gave her a dirty look.

"All these devices are for Torchwood's benefit, not the general public's." She snapped. She turned to talk with a coworker and the Doctor came up behind Clara. He placed his hands on her upper arms to subtly get her attention. She turned her head to look up at him.

"I don't like the look of this place." The Doctor whispered into her ear. "Slip away and find Rose, okay? I don't think they're telling us everything, so go find out anything you can."

"Won't they notice I'm gone?" Clara asked softly. The Doctor shook his head.

"Jackie and I will make sure they don't." He let go of her arms. "Go." Clara nodded, slipping around him quietly. To distract Yvonne, the Doctor asked about the ghosts. Yvonne refused to give him an answer. Clara gasped when she saw the TARDIS being driven away.

"Oi!" Jackie cried. "Where are you taking that?" Yvonne smiled again.

"If it's alien, it's ours," she sang smugly.

"You'll never get in." The Doctor said harshly. He noticed Rose peeking her head out of the door. They made eye contact and the Doctor nodded at Clara, then nodded at her. Rose nodded, making eye contact with Clara. Rose nodded her head back, indicating that Clara take a ride in the box with her. The Doctor captured Yvonne's attention once more and Clara jogged over to the moving TARDIS. Luckily for her, the truck towing it wasn't moving very fast.

Rose opened the door wider, holding her hands out. She grabbed Clara's wrists as Clara jumped inside. They slammed the door shut, breathing harshly.

"Shit," Clara gasped. "We're in trouble, aren't we?" Rose nodded, sitting on the floor.

"What did the Doctor say?" She asked. Clara told her and she nodded. "Okay, so, once this stops moving, we'll sneak out and...?" Clara shrugged.

"Play it by ear?" She suggested. Rose nodded. Clara snapped, jumping up. "The Doctor's got psychic paper around here somewhere. That'll stop us from getting caught by any Torchwood employees."

"Didn't he take it with him?" Rose asked, getting up. Clara shook her head, grabbing the Doctor's jacket from a railing.

"Nope. He keeps it in here." She dug in a pocket, which was bigger on the inside, until she found it. "Aha! Here we go." She waved it happily. Rose beamed.

"I'll go see if we've stopped yet." Rose ran back to the door. "We're clear!" Clara set the jacket down, slipping the psychic paper in her back pocket. They walked out of the TARDIS, sure to shut the door behind them. Rose pointed out some white lab coats on a bench and grabbed them. They both put them on.

"There," Rose announced. "Maybe now, we won't even be noticed." They ran off, both in detective mode.

After a few minutes of wandering blindly, they came across a locked room that looked promising. Clara pulled out the psychic paper, wished it to show whatever was needed to open the door, and pressed it against the scanner. The scanner beeped and the lock popped open. Rose pushed the door open. They entered, looking up a a giant, black sphere just hanging in midair.

Clara's eyes widened as she became transfixed by the sphere. She took a step closer. A man came up to the two of them.

"Can I help you?" He asked. Rose tore her gaze from the sphere, still in a daze from it.

"We were just-" She couldn't form the words she wanted to. The man nodded.

"Try not to look. It does that to everyone." He waited until both women had looked away from the sphere. "What do you want?"

"Sorry. They sent us from personnel." Rose lied. "They said some man had been taken prisoner. Some sort of Doctor? I'm just checking the lines of communication. Did they tell you anything?" Rose was trying desperately to act casual. To Clara, it sounded fake, but the man seemed to buy it. Almost.

"Can I see your authorization?" He asked. Clara nodded. She held up the psychic paper.

"Here's mine." She told him. She dropped her arm, swinging it behind her back. She grabbed it with the other hand. "And Rose's." The man smirked as he looked at the paper.

"That's lucky. You see, everyone at Torchwood has at least a basic level of psychic training." He nodded to the psychic paper. "This paper is blank, and you two are fakes." He turned, talking to a coworker. "Seal the room. Call security. Samuel, can you check the door locks? She just walked right in." The only other person in the room was this Samuel. He turned around and Clara and Rose's mouths dropped. It was Mickey! He gave them a thumbs up, signaling them to keep quiet.

"Doing it now, sir." He said. The man gestured to a bench.

"Well, if you'd like to take a seat." Clara and Rose sat down, too shocked by Mickey's presence to argue.

The sphere began shaking, much to the discomfort and fear of everyone in the room. The man pressed a button to an intercom.

"We've got a problem down here. Yvonne, can you hear me?" There was no answer. "Yvonne, for God's sake. The sphere is active! The readings are going wild! It's got weight, it's got mass, an electromagnetic field. It exists!" Clara looked at him, panicked.

"What do you mean, 'it exists'?" The man shook his head, running to the door. He cursed.

"The door's sealed. Automatic quarantine." He groaned. "We can't get out!" Mickey waved an arm.

"It's all right, guys. We've beaten them before, we can beat them again. That's why I'm here. The fight goes on." Rose looked confused.

"The fight against what?" She asked. Clara paled, understanding.

"The Cybermen?" She checked. Mickey nodded.

"What're Cybermen?" Rose asked. The sphere's shuddering grew worse.

"They're half robots, half people." Clara explained quickly. "They're robots with human brains and no emotions. They're deadly and want to turn everyone into one of them. And they're in there?"

"We followed them here." Mickey told her. "Me, Jake, and Pete."

"Pete?" Clara repeated, surprised. Mickey nodded.

"His wife was killed by the Cybermen," Mickey told her, trying to hide from Rose that they were talking about Pete Tyler. "He joined the cause."

Mickey hefted up a gun, pointing it at the sphere as the vibrating became almost violent. "We had them beaten, but then they escaped. The Cybermen just vanished. They found a way through to this world, but so did we."

"The Doctor said that was impossible." Clara protested, trying to make sense of everything. Mickey chuckled and shrugged awkwardly, the gun perched on his shoulder.

"Yeah, it's not the first time he's been wrong."

"So, what exactly is inside there?" Rose asked. Mickey shrugged awkwardly again.

"No one knows. Cyber Leader, Cyber King, Emperor of the Cybermen." Mickey shook the gun for emphasis. "Whatever it is, he's dead meat." Rose grinned.

"It's good to see you." Rose breathed. Mickey smiled back.

"Yeah. It's good to see you too." The man rushed over to them, eyes wide. He had, obviously, given up reaching anyone.

"Samuel? What the hell are you doing?" Mickey shook his head, eyes never leaving the sphere.

"It's Mickey." He said through his teeth. It was clear that the sphere was about to open. "And I'm defending the Earth, here."

The sphere was enveloped in a blaze of white light. Four oversized pepper pots glided out of the empty space where the sphere had been. Clara's eyes widened and an involuntary flashback hit her.

"I am Oswin Oswald." She heard herself say fiercely. "I fought the Daleks and I am human. Remember me."

Clara hadn't remembered anything about her time in the Doctor's time stream in a long time, so it was shocking at first. She clutched her head, brain pounding from the memory she wasn't supposed to have. Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground. The whole time, though, she kept her eyes on the creatures.

"That's not Cybermen." Mickey choked out.

"Oh, my God." Rose moaned, looking weak in the knees as well. The black Dalek glided the farthest out. The lights on its head flashed as it spoke.

"Location, Earth. Life forms detected." It announced. "Exterminate!" The other Daleks joined in.

"Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"

Shit, Clara thought. Doctor, where are you?

A/N: Another episode down! What did you guys think of the little allusion to AOTD? Theories on what's gonna happen? Would you be interested in this story going on into seasons three and/or four? Let me know in a review!

Until next time, lovelies.