.com/banners/

The latest explosions had gone off quite close to her head and she'd lost some hearing in her right ear. Bits of a car and some other hunks of twisted metal had gone flying and scraped at the arms and hands she'd flung up trying vainly to shield her face. She'd run so far and so hard that the soles of her boots were wearing off. Now sound was coming in bits and pieces; people's screams were distorted and far away sounding. Only that sound they made when they vapourised you rang clear as a bell.

Lana Hendricks had been in her room when she heard the first of it. The sounds of millions of somethings moving all at once woke her up in the first place. She'd torn out of bed, her feet hitting the cold floor with a shock. Ripping back the drape Lana saw something she'd never expected to see again. She had been only thirteen when the Cybermen and Daleks had invaded Canary Wharf and the rest of the world for that matter. They may look like fake robots with plungers and egg beaters on, but they were the scariest things she had ever come across. Not that she had a lot to compare to. Lana had watched as everywhere people filed out of their houses. Those loud, screeching, metallic voices demanded that everyone come out of their residences. Lana was not about to fall for that trap again. That first time they'd exterminated anyone who didn't comply with their orders. But their orders also involved the willful surrender of their lives. Lana and her family had only escaped because they'd been complacent until the last moment. Their turn was about to fall on them when they'd all been sucked away. Lana wished she had a better explanation that that, but that was simply what happened; the Daleks had been sucked away. That Torchwood company had hushed the whole thing up, but not before some information had leaked out. Those things were called Daleks and for some reason they'd been trying to destroy the Earth for a long time. Something kept stopping them. That was what had Lana worried. What happened when whatever stopped them stopped showing up? She'd taken self defense classes. She studied anything on extra-terrestrial life that came under her nose. Her friends had told her to forget it, and complained that she was losing touch and then stopped trying altogether.

The second time around, the entire Earth had been stolen. They'd all ended up under a terrifying new sky and once again were saved when everything looked so bleak. That had been only a few months ago. Barely a year.

Now Lana was in her last year of school and these dreadful things were back. The Daleks. Not the Cybermen. And no foreign sky above her. But that did nothing to abate her fears. The moment Lana had seen those things she knew she couldn't press her luck. She grabbed her boots from the closet and threw on a sweatshirt. She raced down the hallway to wake her parents. They were already up, teary eyed and staring out the window as she had been. They turned when she entered the room, wide eyed and frantic. Wordlessly, they threw on shoes and jackets while Lana practically shredded the carpet on the stairs to reach her younger sister's room. Victoria was just now thirteen, had only been nine the first time the Daleks showed up. She dragged the girl from her bed, explaining gently but urgently what was going on as she put her shoes on for her and draped a jacket over her shoulders. Victoria got the proper amount of fear in her eyes as she pulled her arms through her sleeves.

Lana's heart had been thumping in her throat the whole time since she'd got up; what she had to do was not easy. She led her family to a safe hidden place she'd mapped out months ago. Once she was sure they were safe inside, she dashed outside and bolted the door of the old bomb shelter. She could hear her family's muffled cries and had to choke down the tears that were trying to force their way out of her. Next she knew she needed to find whoever it was that made the Daleks go away. She had no idea how to actually stop the Daleks; they seemed undefeatable. But Torchwood had let something else slip before they'd gone all hush-hush. There was another alien who made them leave. He was hundreds of years old and he never stayed for long, but always seemed to show up just when the Earth needed him. Lana Hendricks knew she needed the Doctor.

Inside the T.A.R.D.I.S. Lucy, Juliet, Jack and the Doctor had just endured the Daleks' gloating transmission.

"What do we do? Doctor, what do we do?" Lucy already sounded on the verge of tears.

"Lucy, we've seen them before, our cousin's friend Jane was at Canary Wharf, she never made it out. And, and those things, they moved the whole Earth, all those different planets in the sky! They're back Lucy and they're never gonna stop!" Jack rushed over to Juliet and grabbed her by the arms. He peered down into her face and said in a stern voice,

"Don't be ridiculous, Juliet, you know we're going to fix this, we'll find a way!"

Lucy was frantically trying to help the Doctor fly the ship. They needed to get back to Earth and they needed to get back now. Her entire planet and her entire future were at stake here. The Doctor was eerily silent, his jaw clenched and his movements rigid and measured. How? How had they escaped? That clone of himself, the one living on a parallel world with Rose Tyler, had destroyed all of them. That was how his clone came to be on the parallel world in the first place; he'd committed genocide. Why did they always have to come back? Would he never be rid of them? He didn't want to think about the answers to those questions. He looked over at Lucy. She was harried, she was tired, she was tried. He'd put her through so much and she leaped at every chance to help him again and again. He'd do this for her.

When she ship landed, Lucy all but flew to the door. The Doctor had to run after her and stop her from tearing out onto the street. If the Daleks saw her or the T.A.R.D.I.S. they were all as good as dead. She looked at him as though he'd gone insane.

"Lucy, you can't just run out there, they'll kill you, they'll kill all of us. You've never actually dealt with them before, I have. They've no mercy, no emotion, no thoughts but to destroy everything. We need to stay here for a moment and think. We need to find out how they're doing it this time." And how they got back in the first place, he thought darkly.

Lucy was positively shaking with rage and energy. He felt it as well, but internalized it. He just leveled her with a look and she returned to her seated position on the floor. Juliet sat down next to her and grabbed her hand. Jack Harkness looked up at him and waiting for his cue. But the Doctor needed information before he would be able to move on. He couldn't go to the Shadow Proclamation again; that would take too long. The parallel universe was completely closed off so he couldn't go there to enlist help. He wouldn't anyway, the universe had to be damaged enough from all the times they'd hopped through. Maybe that was it. Maybe the Daleks had found cracks in time and come through again. Had Dalek Kahn beaten all the odds again and survived and brought them all back? He was mad enough to do so.

His answers came in the form of another blinking dot indicating another transmission. Dreading his source of knowledge, the Doctor fearfully flipped the switch and the four of them got the surprise of their life. A teenage girl was on the screen. She was standing in the middle of a deserted street. Debris and even more horribly, bodies, littered the area around her. Somewhere in the distance a car alarm sounded. It was dark outside, but no stars could be seen. She was just as shade taller than the twins. The slight breeze picked up her short spiky black hair that fell in pieces around her eyes in some spots and to her chin in others. From what Lucy could tell, her eyes were dark brown and her skin was olive tinted. The combat boots she'd no doubt hurriedly thrown on were unlaced and her sweatshirt was a bit crooked. Her face was smeared and scratched, a wound starting at her forehead and slashing diagonally down her cheek, through her eye was bleeding still, leaking into her eye.

"Doctor?" she called. Lucy looked down at what she was holding. It looked like a projector; she was aiming it directly in front of her. She was breathing raggedly. Had she run a long way?

The Doctor straightened up and, putting on his spectacles, said, "You've got him. But how is that exactly?"

"The whole city's been looted, the Torchwood Estate included. I've been keeping tabs on them for months, mapped out their security system. Didn't need to though; it was completely destroyed. Anyway, they have these things, these projectors. You can plug a frequency in and a set of co-ordinates and reach anyone you like in outer space practically. I've been trying to get you for hours!"

"Who are you?" Juliet asked, still sitting on the floor, still clenching her sister's hand.

"My name is Lana Hendricks. I've come to help you get rid of the Daleks. I was trying to do it on my own cause I didn't know if you'd show up or not. But now that I've got you it'll be easier."

About fifteen minutes later, the four of them were walking onto the deserted street they'd seen Lana standing in. Apparently, the Daleks had already "cleared this sector." Lana stepped out from an awning and came to meet them. She'd wiped her face but it was still smeared with muck and blood. Her brows sat low on her eyes, but Lucy couldn't tell if the scowl was permanent or recently affected.

"How exactly were you planning on defeating the Daleks on your own, Lana?" Lucy inquired if the girl.

"To tell you the truth, I didn't have much of a plan. I stashed my family away so they'd be safe from all this. Then I tried to get hold of you. If that didn't work, I'd vaguely considered going Rambo and try to kill any Dalek I came across. I was going to steal weapons from Torchwood as well." Lana's voice was low and a bit gravelly, like she was a jazz singer from the 30's.

"Well, we're not going to kill them all unless we absolutely have to." Said the Doctor, giving her a reproachful look.

She returned his to him. She bit a cuticle off her thumb before she spoke again though. "Listen, Doctor, don't get me wrong, we all really appreciate your help. None of us would alive without you. But you're not always here. We don't know if you're going to come back all the time. So some people like me have decided to get ready for that time when you don't turn up."

"You sound like Harriet Jones…brave woman." He added.

"Lana we need to know exactly what happened. How did the Daleks get here? Did they say anything at all?"

Lana sighed gustily. "They came in the middle of the night. From the sky. Somewhere over Bristol there's supposed to be a giant spaceship. But thousands of these things came down. They demanded that everyone come outside. It was standard procedure. Come outside or get exterminated. I hid my family in a bomb shelter. They stared killing people even when they listened to them. I think they just want to kill. They just want to destroy. No other agenda." The Doctor gave Lucy a pointed look. He'd told her just how pitiless they were.

"They do have another agenda though. I'm a Time Lord Lana, the information you found about me at Torchwood is correct. The Time Lords and the Daleks have been fighting for a long time. And they always manage to find a way back. I don't know how they did it this time."

A metallic scream from behind them made them all start. "There are so many holes in the universe, Doctor!" The Dalek screeched. All five faces were riveted to the figure, all five backs straight as rods. "It was so easy for us to fall through the cracks in the void and find our way back here! Now you will come with us. You will witness the destruction of Earth!"

The Dalek waited while they all walked in front of it. They walked for almost an hour until they were led to a cannibalized military base. Daleks patrolled the boarders and parted when the five hostages came through. They were led down corridors and through countless rooms. They went down a dark and clanking lift to a sub-basement. This place was deserted. The Dalek leading them was the only one they were aware of. After another hallways full if leaking pipes and blinking lights, they came to a spacious room. Metal chests lined the far wall and three lamps hung in a row from the ceiling. Moisture seeped down the walls and it was positively frigid. But the chill in the air was nothing compared to the one the Doctor felt down his spine. Because that couldn't be Dalek Kahn sitting there in all his glory.

"How?" the Doctor called desperately from several meters away. "Dalek Caan, how did you survive, how is any of this possible?"

Something that might resemble laughter issued from the column of metal that was his nemesis. "Foolish Time Lord. You call yourself wise and yet you have no idea what is going on! How have you stood in our way for so long? We floated in the void for a long time. Dalek Caan had been fading for a long time. He gave his likeness to me and the secret of the Genesis Ark! I am Dalek Tol! "

"But that got sucked into-"

"The void! The Genesis Ark was pulled into the void years ago. It was open when it went in, and it remained open. With Dalek Kahn's knowledge, I was able to make new Daleks! And we floated until we could fall through the cracks and come to Earth! And now it will be ours!"

The Doctor shook his head, he knew it. They had damaged the universe and the ones around it so much so that anything could fall through. And it just so happened that the worst possible thing in the world fell through.

"Now watch, Doctor, as we finish what we started so long ago!" The screen behind this new Dalek turned on and showed more of the first images that had been played to them. People were killed as they ran, fire blazed everywhere and every now and then bits of buildings would fall down.

Lucy watched the screen, her eyes filling with tears. Juliet stood beside her as always, just as frightened and impassioned. Jack looked the picture of rage and his fists were clenched at his sides. Lana, at the back of the group, was shifting from foot to foot, clearly bursting with energy and yearning to do something.

The Doctor, for one, did not know what to do. How could he get them to go back into the void with no hope of return? How could he undo that damage that had already been done? They needed to escape. And he hated to admit it, but they needed Torchwood.

"Alright, Dalek Tol! I accept that you'll hold me here, but let the others go! You have no business with them."

"You would send your friends out there to die? They will not be spared if they are found!"

"Just let them go, Dalek Tol!" When the Dalek did not answer Lana indeed sprung into action. She dashed to the far wall and heaved one of the metal chests into her arms. Before the Daleks could react she had strode forward and hurled it at the Dalek guarding them. He spun away and Lana turned shouting, "Run!" as she dashed down the hall from which they had come. They heard Dalek Tol's screams of "Find them! Find them! Bring them back to me!" The Doctor pulled them into a dark recess where they waited breathlessly as countless daleks filed past. He checked to make sure the coast was clear and they made their way out of the cold building at long last. Now they just needed to pass the gates. Which were still riddled with Daleks. Lana, thinking on her toes again, ducked and walked briskly to a metal box. Opening it as quietly as she could she pushed several buttons in random order. At last, an alarm sounded in the distance and the Dalek guards left to control the imaginary situation.

"How did you know where to find that?" asked Juliet.

"I told you, I've spent years checking on and thouroughly detailing the city's maps and building plans. I know London inside and out and upside down. In fact, that's the way we should be thinking. We're never going to get past every Dalek if we stay on the surface. We need to go through the sewage system. Juliet visibly blanched and swayed a bit. Jack however, was grinning and he said, "Clever, pretty and daring; I like her more and more." Lana rolled her eyes. The American Captain was good-looking sure, but he was anything but discriminatory. She led the way just outside the gates to a waiting storm drain. Fitting her fingers in the cracks, and tearing all her nails on the way, Lana lifted the cover and pushed it aside. She jumped down first, slipping a little on the ladder rungs which were slippery with something she probably didn't want to think about. Looking up, she saw the Doctor above her. She made her way steadily but surely down and watched as first the Doctor connected with the floor, then Jack, the Lucy and lastly, Juliet.

The Doctor was looking round with an ironic grin plastered to his face. "This is the second time I've had to crawl around in a sewer trying to avoid Daleks. I keep repeating myself, Lucy, remind me to try more new things when we get out of this." Lucy only rolled her eyes and offered him a sound that was halfway between a snorted laugh and a choked sob. He put his arm round her shoulders as they walked. Lana looked back at them, smirked and led the way.

"Now it's about 30 kilometers to Torchwood from here. We're gonna go straight for a while and then left I think, then left again and then an immediate right. And then I think we finish it off with a slightly right hand turn." No one said a word. They just let her lead the way.

"What exactly is the plan, Doctor?" Lucy asked very quietly. "How can we get rid of them all without killing them all? Can you open the void again and suck them all back in?"

"I probably could, but they've proved that the void is not safe, they can just fall back through. We're going to have to think of something else." He didn't elaborate though, and that made Lucy worry. Once again, he was left without an answer, but all the times before he'd been able to find one. What hope did they have now? They were being led by a seventeen-year-old girl who was a bit over-enthusiastic about the whole thing. Juliet's resolve was weakening, she knew that. Juliet herself was not weakening and Juliet could never be described as weak. But Lucy knew that in Juliet's heart of heart that she would not be here were it not for her twin. She knew that if Lucy had decided to throw in the towel long ago, Juliet would have been right behind her and would have closed the door on this whole adventure. But the wonderful thing about Juliet was that she was the most loyal person in the world.

"Here we are." Lana announced unceremoniously. They had been walking for ages. Lucy's feet hurt, she was hungry and still quite cold. Lana climbed another ladder and pushed the manhole cover away. Everyone filed out once Lana announced the coast was clear.

The Torchwood Estate must have been an impressive establishment yesterday. Today it was ransacked and partially destroyed. Captain Jack looked distressed. They walked inside, stepping over the remains of the front door. It was dark inside and unsettlingly quiet. This was a building that should constantly be filled with life and energy. Now it was ghost-like.

"Doctor, what should we look for? How will we know when we find it?" Juliet asked. She was looking all about herself, uncertain where to begin.

But the Doctor was nowhere to be found. He had already run off in search of what he needed. They could hear him clanking about in the next room. They followed him and stood aghast in the doorway.

The Doctor was standing, holding his sonic screwdriver in one hand and what looked like a large gun with the mouth of a vacuum cleaner affixed to the end. He was smiling triumphantly.

"Doctor, what on Earth is that?" Lucy asked, fearing in his desperation that he'd actually gone mad.

"This is a Matter Transmographer Unit. I used to have one of these a long time ago, lost it, never knew what happened to it. Anyway, it transfers energy, turns solid objects into dust, gases into liquids, you name it. Anyway it can take a sample of whatever you want it to transform. The Daleks have a unique feature about them, the Dalekanium plating around their shells. All I need is a sample of that and then we can suck every Dalek into the Matter Transmographer Unit and be rid of them."

"What about the Genesis Ark, we have to get rid of that for good, Doctor." Lucy added. He only nodded at her.

"So where are we gonna get a sample of Dalek-whatever?" Lana asked.

"The T.A.R.D.I.S. We need to get back to the T.A.R.D.I.S."