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Ducking along every corner and hugging brick walls was not Lucy's favourite way to travel. Lana Hendricks, their new partner in crime, was leading the way back to the T.A.R.D.I.S. The young girl had swooped into their lives and had made it possible for them to have any kind of strategy whatsoever. She had a lot of anger, a lot she felt she had to prove and the kind of jaded indifference one tells themselves they have when no one else will listen. And perhaps some of her attitude had to do with the fact that she was only seventeen. She still had a lot of living to do, recent hardships aside. But something in Lucy's heart went out to the cunning teenager. Something told her that Lana was capable and only needed a little training to reach her full potential.
They had come to a four way intersection. At moments like these, they had to run one by one, practically flat on the ground to the other side of the street, avoiding light at all costs. This was always the most dangerous part; exposing oneself to openness, to multiple lines of sight. While the Daleks had done a decent job of rounding everyone up, there was still the odd straggler, and the Daleks knew that and they knew that the only way to deal with that circumstance was a good old- fashioned extermination.
Lana raced first across the street, combat boots hitting the pavement louder than was ideal. She reached the other side in no time though, and pressed her back against the wall, feet flat on the ground in case she had to take off running any second, and waved over the next in line after she'd checked all directions. The Doctor followed swiftly after her, not as gracefully, but much more silently. As he ran, stooping so his tall figure would not be seen, something fell out of his jacket pocket. He didn't seem to notice, but if Lucy knew the Doctor, everything he had on his person served a purpose in one way or another. That object was important and he didn't even know he'd lost it yet. It was clear when he crouched down next to Lana, copying her pose, that he wasn't going back for it either. No matter, she thought, she'd just discreetly pick it up on her own way over there.
As soon as Lana gave her a wave, Lucy dashed forward, thankful to dance lessons for teaching her how to be both graceful and silent when called for. As she ran across the road, her right arm extended out slightly and was able to grab the Doctor's lost something by the very tips of her fingers. It wasn't the sonic screwdriver, she could tell as she picked it up. As she sat down, echoing both the Doctor and Lana, she felt the object was small, round and metal. She couldn't examine it now though; it was Juliet's turn to brave open air. Juliet, also benefitting from years of dance training, made it over with no issues at all. The twins smiled gravely at each other as Juliet's back hit the wall behind her. Every neck now craned over to watch Jack Harkness charge toward them, barely having waited for Lana's signal. He was used to being in charge, and certainly didn't mind it when the Doctor took the reins, but something about being ordered around by a teenage girl who barely came up to his collar bone seemed to irk him. He had been quiet about his qualms though, and fully cooperative. Lana stood now, and motioned for the others to follow her.
As they hurried on the next leg of their journey, not far from the T.A.R.D.I.S. now, Lucy had the time to look at whatever it was the Doctor had dropped. It was a fob watch. An antique-looking silver fob watch with all kinds of strange designs on the back. It was badly scratched though, and even looked like it had a burn mark on it. Lucy frowned at the surprisingly heavy disk. It inriguied her and she had no idea why. She'd certainly never seen it before. And how special could it really be, it was a watch? The Doctor had still not even noticed its absence, so maybe it really was of no importance. She pocketed it anyway though, and resolved to bring it to his attention as soon as she had a spare moment. She then had to suppress herself from laughing out loud at the thought of ever having another spare moment again. At long last, with a back aching like it never had before, Lucy and the others were able to rise from their crouched positions. They had reached the T.A.R.D.I.S. As many times as she had thought it, it was truer now than ever before; this truly was the greatest sight in the world. The Doctor had never dropped his sonic screwdriver, or the daft looking Matter Transmographer Unit. He swiftly opened the doors, with Lana standing to the side, acting as guard again.
When all five of them were inside, Lucy felt herself breathe normally for the first time in hours. No matter what was outside, no matter what happened after or before this, she was inside the T.A.R.D.I.S. with the Doctor. She loved him and that was all that mattered. And she would follow him to the end of anything.
He had wasted no time and was clanking about in the bowels of the ship, throwing objects up, seemingly at random. Lucy loved this manic ferocity he got when he was so close to accomplishing something. The Matter Transmographer Unit was now leaning unceremoniously against the control panel. Juliet was panting slightly, leaning her hands on her knees whilst trying to catch her breath. Lucy felt sorry for the millionth time for involving her sister in all this. Jack was leaning, staring at Juliet from across the room. He cared about her more than he let on, Lucy knew. Lana, Lucy realised, was still standing just inside the doorway, looking around herself, utterly bewildered. Lucy remembered that Lana had not been a part of this original group and had never been inside the ship before.
"Welcome to the T.A.R.D.I.S., Lana Hendricks. She's been needing someone like you around." Lana only briefly looked at Lucy before continuing her wide eyed scan of every surface. Once she had assured herself that it wasn't going anywhere, she crossed the metal grating and sat on a chair, feet dangling above the ground.
A loud crash came from the direction of where the Doctor was standing and the other four turned to look at what he was doing. He had thrown some rectangular hunk of metal onto the ground at their feet. The plank was about a foot long and only about five inches wide. What looked like brass semi spheres sprouted up along it, and Lucy recognized the Dalek design. This was Dalekanium.
"So what happens now? You put the Dalekanium into the Matter…thing and it kills all the Daleks?" Juliet asked, having regained her breath.
"No, Juliet, I'm not going to kill them. The Matter Trnasmographer Unit will take everything that makes up the physicality of the Dalek, shell and the being inside and turn it into something else. Then we can send them somewhere far away and we'll be rid of them." That was the idea anyway.
The Doctor didn't know how Torchwood had got hold of an MTU. There were only a handful in all of existence, and one of them had been his. Then again, he'd lost his and this could very well be his reunion with the thing. He glanced over to Lucy, as he was wont to do, and saw that she was holding up a familiar object. Speaking of something lost and then found again. Where had she gotten that? He could feel his eyes go wide and his mouth dropped open. Lucy nodded and without him having to say anything, she spoke.
"You dropped it when we were crossing that last intersection. You didn't seem to notice, but I thought I'd pick it up anyway."
"And it's a very good thing you did, Lucy." He mumbled. He looked over at Jack, who had surely recognized the fob watch which was really a Chameleon Arch. Indeed, Jack's eyes were as wide as the Doctor's and he gave him a look which seemed to say, "Is that what I think it is?" The Doctor gave him a nod as discreet as could be and held out his hand to take it from Lucy.
"I don't understand, Doctor." Said Juliet, looking from him to her twin. "It's just a watch but you're looking at it like it's, I dunno, the secret to the universe or something."
"That's because it's not really a watch, is it Doctor?" Lucy asked, her eyes never leaving his. The Doctor stared into her eyes, dark blue and probing. He nodded as he looked down at the scored surface, tracing the pad of his thumb across it. On the side, just left of the catch, he could barely make out the word engraved on it. He'd noticed it when he'd first found it. For this was not his fob watch Chameleon Arch. It was the Master's. And engraved on the side was the name, "Lucy."
Nearly two years ago, after the Master had been shot and killed, the Doctor built him a funeral pyre and burned him on it ceremoniously. He may have been destroying and enslaving the human race, but he was all that was left of the Doctor's own race and he deserved a proper resting place. The Doctor had noticed something at the base of the pyre, something about to catch flame in the glowing embers. He reached down to save it from the fire and saw that it was a fob watch. The Master had used it to turn back into himself from his human form of the Professor. Something told the Doctor then to keep the watch. He had thought at that time that it was sentimentality, but later events made him think it was something akin to fate.
The Doctor had had many occasions to examine the watch, find out nearly everything about it. The Master had done something to it after changing himself into a Time Lord again. For one thing, he'd engraved the name Lucy on it. But something about the inside of the watch, something deep within its core was wrong. Months later, the Doctor realised it wasn't wrong, wasn't broken; it was changed. The Master had somehow managed to alter the way the Chameleon Arch worked. He'd reversed the settings. It could now permanently change a human into a Time Lord. But why would he want to do that? His life as a human had been miserable, but it had been temporary and the watch returned him to his natural state. Now, he could make a human's natural state that of a Time Lords. And then the Doctor realised the purpose: Lucy. The Master's wife Lucy, the one who had shot him. He was going to make her a Time Lord! How strange then, when the Doctor met his new companion, his own Lucy. This had the Doctor wondering… did the name mean only that the Master intended to change his wife into a Time Lord and then present her with the thing that did it, as a present? Or would this Chameleon Arch only work for the Master's Lucy? Was there really so much power in a name? While the Master was never one for displays of genuine affection, the Doctor thought that the engraving was merely symbolic. And he'd kept the fob watch in his pocket since that day, as well as his own.
"Thank you for returning this, Lucy. Now!" he said, much brighter than he had been before. "Let's go Transmography some Daleks! Transmograficate Daleks. Transmograform Daleks. Oh, who cares, let's go get some Daleks!"
Lana Hendricks was leading the way again, back to the army base where the Daleks were positioned. They had to repeat their stealthy process of duck and cover every time they came to an intersection. It was easier going this time; they knew the way better. But it would be light soon and that would expose them if they didn't reach the base quickly.
Once they reached the first gate, Lana hopped it and checked for patrolling Daleks. None. They all followed her into the first corridor where Lana again performed her sweep. Nothing. Now Lucy was getting worried. They should have run into something by now. The Daleks weren't exactly thick; they always had a plan, always had an endgame. There absence could only be explained by the initiation of something even more sinister. She knew at any moment, some transmission would come through, they'd all get sucked into a black hole, the Earth would simply implode, something.
She was shaking when they got to the corridor that would lead them into that big room with Dalek Tol. They still had not run into a single person, Dalek or human. Lucy could sense the agitation in Juliet, and indeed in all the others. They knew this was bad as well.
"What are we going to do, Doctor?" Lana asked. "This can't be good. Everything all of us knows about them points to them being up to something. They're not gone, they don't give up, but we haven't had any trouble from them since we left this building in the first place. I don't like it."
The Doctor was shaking his head too. "What else can we do? We've got to go in there, we'll figure something out."
"You mean you're just going to make this up as you go along?" Lana hissed furiously.
"Do you have a better idea?" When Lana said nothing, Jack took action and kicked the door open, blasting it several meters into the dank room. Lucy and Juliet gave him half exasperated, half frightened looks as he charged in, gun drawn. The Doctor followed, holding the sonic screwdriver aloft, the MTU dangling from his other hand. Lana rushed in next, rolling on the floor and whipping around to face in all directions. Lucy and Juliet hurried in, determined not to show fear. Lucy had handled a lot, that if nothing else, would prepare her for this.
All this happened in a manner of seconds and they were all quite surprised when Daleks started coming out of the woodwork. They had been ambushed. Lucy had no idea how they all fit in this one room, she had never seen so many up close.
"You have proved yourself a fool once again, Doctor! Did you not think it strange that you met no opposition from us? You walked right into our trap! And with you out of the way, we can finally exterminate Earth!" Dalek Tol finished to a cacophonous chorus of "Exterminate!" from every Dalek in the room. Juliet threw her hands over her ears and Lana was grimacing tightly. Lucy could tell Jack was just bursting to try and shoot every one of them. For herself, she wasn't sure if she wanted to cry or throw up or laugh. So many things had happened to her, good and bad, and she refused to let it end here. The Doctor was silent so far, but she could see his hand twitch around the MTU. What was he waiting for? They had a large number of the Daleks here; he could just whip it out now and blast them all. And if she was right about how the MTU worked, once it got hold of more of the Dalekanium it already had a sample of, it would keep searching until it had found every last bit and changed it into whatever the Doctor set it for. So why was he still just standing there?
"Dalek Tol, you didn't fight in the Time War with me and the rest of the Cult of Scarro. You haven't seen the things we've seen. But you know what it is to lose everything; you're made up of the remnants of them. Don't make me destroy you. Turn back now and rebuild your civilization far from Earth, far from anything else and never leave. How many times do we have to do this dance before you realise that I will never let you take the Earth? The Daleks have survived longer than they should; they've risen above nearly everything. But not me. You won't win against me, so take your chance now and go. If every last one of you leaves now and never returns, I promise you'll hear no more from me. And we can all just go on existing in separate corners of the universe."
Ah. Mercy. Mercy explained his hesitance, redemption stayed his hand. Lucy felt the breath catch in her chest and she had to swallow a lump in her throat. After everything, the Doctor still had mercy left in him, always would. He didn't want to destroy them and was giving them an out. She should have known better than to be hopeful that they would take it.
"I am all of the Cult of Scarro, every Dalek in one Dalek. I am Dalek Tol and you will never defeat me, Doctor! You can never destroy me! We will exterminate you!"
And before a single Dalek could fire on them, the Doctor whirled the MTU around and aimed it at Dalek Tol. He flipped a large silvery blue switch and the engine, or whatever made it run revved to life, roaring, sucking in everything around it. Had the Daleks emotions, they would be standing in awe of the bizarre machine. Instead they sat as cold metal statues, powerless against the forces about to act on them.
Reality seemed suspended. It was silent, but the silence was deafening. A frequency both too low and too high to hear played in Lucy's ears and she thought she might lose her footing. In slow motion almost, one by one, the Daleks got sucked into the MTU. The seemed not to shrink, but to evaporate into the unit, a fine and cloying mist that polluted the air even though it was beautiful. Gold and silver and white flakes of dust, once Daleks, flowed into the MTU, leaving the air around her smelling of iron and rust. It was windy, though she couldn't think why in this basement of a room. Her hair flew above her, her clothes whipped about her and she staggered when she shifted her weight. All other objects in the room seemed to shudder and vibrate, threatening to come loose from their positions and crash at will into the travelers. Her hands were held up in front of her, shielding against an unseen enemy.
Jack was shouting above all the chaos, and Lucy had no idea how she ever managed to hear him.
"Lucy! Juliet! We need to get rid of the Genesis Ark! As long as it still exists, the Daleks will find a way to come back, I know they will. Help me; I'm going to rig it with explosives!" Lucy tugged violently on Juliet, who had never seemed more solid an object in her life. She eventually bent to her sister's will however and they made their way over to Jack. The Doctor was still focused on pulling all the Daleks into the MTU. Some were crashing in through the open hallway; all the Daleks in the world that hadn't been able to fit here in the cellar. Lana was staring around herself, unsure what to do.
Jack pulled several metal discs and some wires from his coat pocket. He would insert one end of a wire into a small hole on the top if the disc and the other end of the wire into another disc. Pushing aside the first wire with another, he managed to fit two ends into each disc, connecting them; eight in all. He showed the twins where to put them on the Genesis Ark. They had to circle the whole thing, without breaking a single connection. Lucy was about to wonder aloud why Jack needed their help; he could have done it alone. But then she saw the reason; he was forcing Lana bodily out of the room. Ms. Hendricks was not going quietly either. They had to fight their way through speeding Daleks, but Lana's kicking, screaming and thrashing was making it very difficult for Jack to manoeuvre. At long last though, he managed to shove her out and drag her into another room, down the hallway, away from them and from the Daleks. He slammed the door, ignoring her shouting and pounding. He staggered back into the room, batted and tossed about by the last of the Daleks hurtling toward the MTU.
Lucy and Juliet had finished rigging the Genesis Ark and were waiting for his further instruction; demolitions were not either of their fortes.
The Doctor was buckling under the weight of the MTU. It hadn't gotten a whole lot heavier, but holding it up long enough to suck in every Dalek in existence was taking its toll on him. After what seemed an eternity, Dalek Tol was the only one left, the leader symbolically left for last to turn to dust. As the metal shell disappeared inside, the Doctor flipped the switch back and set the MTU on the floor, exhausted. He glanced over and saw that Jack had already rigged the Genesis Ark as planned. Lana was nowhere to be seen, which he took to mean that Jack had successfully stashed her away. All that was left to do was get everyone out and watch it blow. Not his usual style, but if it meant never having to deal with the Daleks again…
"Go, go, go, go, go, go!" He yelled, dashing out the door, dragging the MTU with him. Jack was already pressing buttons. When he ran out, Lucy and Juliet were right behind him.
Lucy was almost out the door when Juliet turned back into the room.
"Juliet, what in bloody hell are you doing, we have to go! Now!" Lucy screamed. An ominous beeping emitted from the Genesis Ark and Lucy knew there was very little time left. But Juliet was going back in. Why?
"Juliet!" she yelled again, this time running in after her. She grabbed her twin's wrist, but she wouldn't budge from her path.
"Lucy, I dropped my mobile, that's it!"
"Okay, well you've got it, let's go!"
As they started back for the door though, Lucy knew it was too late. She felt a deep rumble under her feet and an almost electric charge in her heart. Jack had rushed forward, trying to grab for them. And now everything really was in slow motion, in Lucy's perspective. The Doctor was yelling her name, holding out his hand, and she was reaching for it, or trying to. She could tell she was running but she couldn't remember the last time her foot had connected with the ground. She felt intense heat behind her and again that rushing deafness as the Genesis Ark exploded.
The only thing that was clear was her sister. Their hands were clasped together tightly; so tight they were the same person now. Lucy felt her heart accelerate to ten times its normal speed and her brain slowed down to almost a crawl, so that she was only able to know one thing, to say one thing. Lucy's eyes locked on Juliet's, deep blue echoed in deep blue. The identical faces smiled at each other, pictures of bliss in the midst of entropy. And simultaneously, they said, "I love you."
Lucy knew it would never be goodbye, not with Juliet. And that's all that mattered as everything turned to black, as she forgot she had ever felt anything, as time and space ceased to exist. The only thing that echoed in her failing consciousness was that one phrase, the sum of all her deeds on this Earth. "I love you."
The Doctor watched in horror as three of the people he was closest to got blasted by the explosion of the Genesis Ark. He had made it almost to the end of the hallway, near the door where Lana Hendricks was still viciously pounding to be let out. Jack got a good bit of heat and was knocked off his feet from the force. And from the way that his head hit the wall behind him, the Doctor knew that he was dead. He also knew that in a matter of minutes though, Jack would get back up, in pain, but as alive as he'd ever been. It was Lucy and Juliet he was worried about. They were human and mortal. And they had been caught by the same explosion. When they crashed to the floor, he knew nothing good would happen next. He rushed forward, knowing instinctively which twin was Lucy and which was Juliet. He cradled Lucy's head in his lap, tears already brimming in his eyes. There was no way Lucy Blake could be dead. He refused to let it happen. And he'd save her sister too. And better yet, he knew how. Perhaps it really was fate that he had dropped the Chameleon Arch and that Lucy had picked it up. This fob watch had her name engraved on it; it was for a different Lucy, but enough of everything he'd experienced with her told him that this was still not a coincidence.
She could survive. How many people had told her she could survive? Her purpose was written across the stars, it transcended time. And he knew that he'd been right all along. That nagging sensation at the back of his head, that sinking feeling he knew what was coming, he'd been right. He was the one destined to ensure that she would survive. He was to make her a Time Lord.
And despite everyone saying that Juliet did not possess the same quality as her sister, he would save her anyway. Neither of them would die.
Jack had by now come back to life and was running to the Doctor, anguish in his eyes. He stroked Juliet's cheek, a softer gesture than was commonplace for the American soldier. "Help me get them back to the T.A.R.D.I.S. I know how to save them." Without question, Jack picked up Juliet, the Doctor carrying Lucy behind the Captain. Jack yelled for Lana to stand back and kicked the door in. Lana burst out, face full of rage, ready to yell at all of them for shutting her out of the most important part. But she crumpled when she saw the fallen twins and she fell into place silently behind the Doctor.
When they exited the building, Lana pushed gently in front and led the way back to the ship. There was no fear this time, no danger. But people were emerging from hiding places, breaking out of whatever jails they'd been held in. And they were looking curiously at this band of strangers. None of that mattered to the Doctor though. He just needed to get them back. Because he still had hope. Because for a Time Lord to regenerate, he could not already be dead. And ever so faintly, he could feel Lucy's pulse against him.
