Disclaimer : Nothing's mine.
Here it is. The final chapter. I can't tell you how weird it had been to write the last words of this story. I've been working on it for the last two and a half years. It had been a wonderful experience and one of the biggest defy of my life.
For those of you who don't remember, I'm a French girl and the first years of learning English had been Hell, until I met a teacher who showed me everything I was missing about it. I would love to meet her again and thanked her for everything.
The other person I have to thank, without who this story couldn't have been published, is my wonderful and heroic beta Ignotus. He had been with me for two years, correcting my mistakes and deciphering my English. I could never thank you enough.
(Don't worry, there won't be any bla-bla on the epilogue.)
I wanted to thank you all of you, who had reviewed, put the story into your favs or alerts list. You have been wonderful and you have proved me that I could do it.
Now, for the last time, for the last words, please please please, take two seconds to review, even to let me know what you didn't like. Just be something more than a number on the statistics.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this story as much as I have loved writting it.
Take care and see you soon.
Chapter Thirty One
Life goes on
"To Buffy!"
Glasses clinked together and the Slayer thanked them all for being there. She sipped her non-alcoholic drink slowly and stepped away from them, taking refuge against a wall. She had a perfect view of the group. She watched them together, lost in her own thoughts.
She had a hard time believing that one year had passed since she had signed up at Torchwood. So much had happened since she'd signed on the dotted line. She looked at the smiling faces of her friends, gathered together around her and felt light and happy. But…
"So, do you have any regrets?"
She smiled at Jack who was coming her way. "Nope."
"Good."
He kept quiet for a couple of minutes and they watched the others in silence. It was like looking at a big family. Her eyes stopped on Sarah, laughing, an arm around Andy's waist. "He wants to propose."
"I know."
Buffy looked up at him. "He won't do it until she knows the truth. He wants their marriage to be an honest one."
"Buffy…"
"Jack, he has the right. Maybe he hasn't signed any contract but he's part of this. Rhys knows. Let Andy tell Sarah the truth."
"What if she can't handle it?"
"Then, we'll retcon her. But at least he will know. We owe him that."
She was right. Andy had been their liaison with the police task force since Buffy had joined them. Cadogan had liked the idea of a partnership and to be honest, the Hellmouth case (that was what they called the case that cost them so much) had shown them that working together made everything go much smoother. They didn't barge in on police cases anymore. If something looked strange, Andy was the one called to the crime scene. If he had the slightest doubt, he called Torchwood. Buffy or Gwen were the ones to intervene most of the time because of their pasts with the police. If the case was theirs, they would take it and the police just walked away. When it was closed, Jack would call Cadogan and let him know that there was nothing to worry about. If they needed help, the police chief was ready to do whatever they asked. In return, they would help with some normal police cases from time to time, offering an outside perspective and otherwise unavailable resources. It was a good partnership, something that Torchwood had missed in the past.
Jack sighed. "I'll talk to Andy."
"Thank you, Captain."
"You're welcome."
They returned to their silent watching. Rhys made a joke at Owen's expense which sent everyone laughing, except the pouting doctor.
"It's not enough, am I right?"
Buffy looked up at Jack. He had a sad and knowing expression on his beautiful face. She let her head fall against his arm beside her. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I understand the feeling."
"I don't know what I'm looking for. This past year has been extraordinary. I've found so many things! I'm happier now than I have been in a very long time."
"But you lost a lot of things too."
"Yeah, that too."
Xander had died. Willow had been non-responsive for the better part of a year and Dawn… Dawn was lying in a bed somewhere across the ocean. She hadn't woken up and no one knew if she ever would. Derek had had a hard time going on with his life and most of his life was still on hold. He spent his free time at her bedside, talking to her, reading, hoping she would come back to him. He still had hope and Buffy didn't know whether to respect him or pity him.
She closed her eyes.
"It's just… It's like I've finally found a balance. I know what I lost and I know I won't get them back. I have accepted it, as I have accepted the fact that I can never work out all the things left between us all. They lost me a long time ago, as much as I lost them. We kind of gave up on each other without even noticing it. Strangely, I'm happy about that."
He frowned. "Happy?"
"All that history between us, that's the reason why I took the job in Cardiff. If everything had been great between us, maybe I would never have come here, met you guys, and joined Torchwood. So ultimately, all the bad things and the lost friendships led me here, where I met you guys. And you were what I needed to heal."
"But we're not enough anymore."
"I don't know. I'm missing something but I don't know what. But I'm happy. That's what matters."
He put her arm around her tiny shoulders and kissed the top of her head.
"Hey, don't monopolize her, Jack!"
The Captain smiled at Gwen. "It's not my fault if she prefers me."
The Slayer rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right."
She walked away from him and toward the rest of the group. Owen was still sulking from the joke. She grabbed his arm and patted his cheek.
"Don't make that face, I love you too."
He hit away her hand in irritation. They had stopped sleeping with each other a long time ago but they had stayed close. They still joked and flirted but in a friendly way. Most of the time.
"Damn thingy!"
Tosh smiled as Buffy hit her computer.
"This thing sucks."
Everyone was used to the Blonde's strange ways with technology. They had long gotten past the fact that someone so young found themselves and much of technology to be "non-mixy" things. She said that she had spent too much time nose deep in centuries old books and nights fighting centuries old demons to keep track of the real world and its new inventions. She was never going to be a computer genius, that was for sure. Tosh opened her mouth to reply when the whole world seemed to shake. She was so surprised that she fell off her chair. Around her, the systems went crazy, objects fell off tables, paper began to fly around, sirens blared. It seemed to last forever but in reality, it ended as quick as it began and the silence following the earthquake seemed deafening.
"Whoa! What happened? Was it the Rift? Everyone's okay?"
Tosh climbed back to her feet and ran a complete scan on her computers. Behind her, the other members of the team made their way to her desk.
Ianto ran a hand through his short hair. "No broken bones. Slight loss of dignity. No change there then."
Gwen looked at the screens and said, "The whole city must've felt that... the whole of South Wales!"
Seeing Owen was making his way out of the medical bay, as Jake announced, "I'm going to take a look outside," before running out.
Buffy looked strangely pale and the doctor asked her, concerned, "Are you okay?"
She gave him a shaky smile. "I don't like earthquakes. They bring back bad memories. They're a really bad omen."
"It's just an earthquake, Buffy," said Owen.
That was when Ianto whistled and said, "It was a little bit bigger than South Wales..."
As she turned to the screen, the Slayer lost more colour. She really hated earthquakes.
Buffy went from channel to channel to see what was said.
"The United Nations has issued an edict, asking the citizens of the world not to panic. So far, there has been no explanation of the 26 planets which have appeared in the sky..."
"...but it's an empirical fact! The planets didn't come to us, we came to them! Just look at the stars. We're in a completely different region of space, we've travelled."
"D'you know what, I look up, and there's all these moons and things! Have you seen them? Did you see them? I thought, what was I drinking last night? Furniture polish?"
She looked up at Ianto when he burst out laughing. Jack glared at the young man.
"Ianto. Time and a place."
The Welshman tried to defend himself. "It was funny, though."
Buffy tried to hide her smile. From the deep pit that was his medical bay, Owen swore loudly for the hundredth time since he started tidying up after the mess the earthquake caused. A couple feet away, Gwen was talking to Rhys on the phone.
"Rhys, I have no idea, just stay indoors. And can you phone my mother, tell her, um, oh I dunno, just tell her to take her pills and go to sleep. I'm gonna come home as soon as I can, I promise. I love you, you big idiot."
She hung up. Buffy was about to ask how Rhys was dealing with everything when Tosh spoke up.
"I've got the images!"
They all gathered around her screens.
"Someone's established an artificial atmospheric shell. Keeping the air in and holding in the heat."
"Whoever has done this, wants the human race alive. That's a plus," Ianto commented.
"Great!" Owen snapped. "Look at that! There are what? Thirty planets? What are they trying to do? Build their own intergalactic zoo?"
"There's twenty-seven planets, including the Earth," Tosh corrected.
As they were all looking at the screens, a big, blinking red dot appeared in the middle of the grouping of planets. Buffy frowned. That couldn't be good.
"What's that? Because that's not a planet... right?"
More red and angry dots appeared. The Slayer looked up at Jack with wide eyes. "Those are spaceships, right? We're under attack? Tell me we don't have an alien invasion on our hands?"
Her voice was high-pitched. She wasn't ready for something of this scale. It was her first major case involving an alien attack and it frightened her. It was strange to be the only one on the verge of freaking out when everyone around her seemed to have a better grip on themselves. Maybe because they had been dealing with it for longer than her? Jack's cellphone rang then. He answered and walked away from them but not far enough away to be out of her Slayer hearing.
"Martha Jones! Voice of a nightingale! Tell me you put something in my drink."
Buffy knew from her long discussions with Jack that Martha had been one of the famous Doctor's companions, before she decided to leave him.
"No such luck, have you heard from the Doctor?"
"Not a word. Where are you?"
"New York."
"Oh, nice for some."
"I've been promoted. Medical director on Project Indigo."
"Did you get that thing working?"
"Indigo's top secret, no-one's supposed to know about it."
From the strain in her voice, Buffy understood that Jack shouldn't be aware of that project.
"I met a soldier in a bar, long story."
The Blonde smiled at that. Jack and his conquests! Ianto didn't look so pleased however as he glared jealously at the Captain. "When was that?"
"Strictly professional!"
Buffy couldn't help but smiled at him. "Isn't it always, Jack?"
The captain grinned at her. Gwen was the one to break the moment.
"1,500 miles, boys, and accelerating. They're almost here."
That was when the sound exploded through the Hub's speakers.
"Exterminate!"
Never before had Buffy seen true, unadulterated fear on Jack's face. She remembered his stories, whispered in his office as they had shared their most private and painful memories. She felt her blood run cold and tightened her fists. Jack couldn't contain his surprise.
"No…"
The repeated word resonated within the Hub, a distorted, metallic noise that could make your ears bleed. "Exterminate! Exterminate!"
And Jack stood frozen. "Oh no…"
The team wasn't used to seeing him like this. The voice, the word, their fearless Captain's obvious fear provided plenty of ingredients to feed their panic. Gwen, always the one to ask the questions first, looked at Jack pleadingly.
"What is it? Who are they? Do you know what this is, Jack?"
Jack seemed to jerk awake and looked at his team. His next move was everything they needed to know about how serious this situation was. One by one, he kissed them on the forehead, Buffy and Ianto were the last and he kept them in a solid hug.
"There's nothing I can do. I'm sorry. We're dead."
"Aren't I supposed to be the pessimistic one?" Owen tried to joke.
It didn't work.
"Jack, what do we do now?" Gwen asked.
She was seeking reassurances but Jack couldn't give them any.
"Jack?"
"We wait," Buffy decided.
Everyone looked to her. Someone had to decide something and, right now, Jack needed time to get a grip on himself.
"We stay here and keep track of what's happening outside. There's nothing we can do right now. Jack, can I talk to you in private?"
She didn't wait for an answer, grabbing his arm and dragging him to his office. Everything was messed up in there too but they barely noticed it.
"You need to get a grip on yourself Jack!"
"Buffy, you know—"
"I know that you've beaten them in the past."
"I didn't! I died at their hands! The Doctor was the one who—"
She cut him off. "Then we find your Doctor!"
He snorted. "You can't find him if he doesn't want to be found."
"Then we wait for him."
"We're not even sure that he'll be here in time."
"We're never sure of anything Jack! We can't just sit here, waiting for the Daleks to come and kill us. I won't die moping! I'll die fighting those things and every member of this team will, including you, understand?"
He nodded.
"Good, now, let's go see where we are on the end of the world scale. It's my first Apocalypse brought on by Aliens."
Later…
They gathered around the screen, looking powerlessly at the horror that was happening outside. Daleks were attacking the Valiant and there was no surprise when Jack broke the silence.
"The Valiant's down."
They watched the Air force retreat over North Africa while across the continent Daleks landed in Japan. Then, the contact with the Prime Minister's plane was lost and the invaders closed in on Manhattan. Jack was suddenly on his feet, phone against his ear.
"Martha, get out of there!"
"I can't Jack, I've got a job to do."
"They're targeting military bases and you're next on the list!"
On the other side of the line someone said, "Dr Jones, you will come with me. Project Indigo is being activated. Quick march!"
Buffy didn't know what Project Indigo was but as she listened to the frightened objection of Martha, she wasn't sure if it was going to help them or complicate things even more.
"But we can't use Project Indigo, it hasn't been tested, sir, we don't even know if it works!"
Buffy could hear their footsteps through the phone as they walked to this Indigo thing. The man was asking Martha to move faster, to put something on. On the phone, Jack seemed desperate.
"Martha, I'm telling you, don't use Project Indigo, it's not safe!"
What was safe right now anyway? Buffy wanted to ask but she kept her thoughts to herself. Maybe Martha was looking tormented then because Bossy Man decided to remind her that she took her orders from UNIT and not from Torchwood. Martha asked, in a little voice, why her and the answer seemed even more enigmatic to Buffy.
"You're our only hope of finding the Doctor. But failing that, if no help is coming, then with the power invested in me by the United Intelligence Taskforce, I authorise you to take this — the Osterhagen Key."
What the Hell was the Osterhagen Key? And why did it seem to scare Martha so much? The sound of something exploding on the other side of the line drowned out the voices for a moment. Dalek mechanical voices sounded in the distance. Whatever they decided, they were dead.
The cry was raised once more and Buffy closed her eyes instinctively. She didn't want to listen to that.
"Exterminate, exterminate, exterminate..."
"Bye, Jack."
"Martha, don't do it! Don't!"
The line went dead and Jack kicked his desk in frustration and despair. Ianto was the one to ask the question that was on everyone mind.
"What's Project Indigo?"
"Experimental teleport. Salvaged from the Sontarans. But they haven't got coordinates, or stabilisation."
"So where is she?" asked Gwen.
"Scattered into atoms. Martha's down."
One more lost. Buffy feared that it was only the beginning. There was nothing that she could do but she could feel the Slayer rising inside of her. Adrenaline and fear coursed through her veins. She couldn't sit still. She needed action.
Buffy would never have thought that a planet of six billion people could fall apart so easily and so quickly. On the screens, she could see people leaving their homes, hands up in the air as the Daleks swarmed around them.
"They can't surrender like that!" Owen exclaimed.
"There's nothing they can do," Jack answered.
The following instruction gave him reason.
"This is the Commander General of the United Nations calling the Dalek Fleet. We surrender, repeat, we surrender. Planet Earth surrenders."
One by one, they stepped away from the screen. They had seen enough. The Commander General was followed by the same metallic voice that made Buffy wanted to rip her ears off.
"Humans selected for testing will follow Dalek instructions... The Daleks reign supreme. All hail the Daleks. You will obey Dalek instructions without question. You will obey your Dalek ma..."
A feminine voice replaced the awful voice. The sound was muffled, barely audible. But Buffy could make out the words. "Can anyone hear me? The Subwave Network is open. You should be able to hear my voice... Is there anyone there? Can anyone hear me?"
She turned to the screen and saw the white noise began to form an image.
"Hey guys, someone's trying to get in touch."
"The whole world's crying out. Just leave it," replied Jack.
The woman on the screen looked more shocked than fully irritated and Buffy almost loved her immediately for that.
"Captain Jack Harkness, shame on you! Now stand to attention, sir!"
That seemed to wake up the head of Torchwood as he turned suddenly toward the screen. "What?"
He was there in an instant, looking frustratingly at the unclear screen.
"Who is that?"
Finally, the picture cleared and they could see a woman, showing her ID and introducing herself, "Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister."
Buffy couldn't tell if Jack was happy or highly irritated. It seemed to be a little bit of both.
"Yeah, I know who you are."
Harriet ignored them as she asked. "Sarah Jane Smith, 13 Bannerman Road... Are you there?"
She focused on the keyboard and muttered, "Now, let's see if we can talk to each other."
She pushed some keys and the screen got divided into four parts, Harriet, the Hub and Sarah Jane
appearing on one part each, while there was just white noise on the fourth place.
"The fourth contact seems to be having some trouble getting through."
They wondered who was supposed to be the fourth and they watched as Harriet fought to establish contact with them.
"I'll just boost the signal..."
Finally, the white noise disappeared and Martha's face replaced it.
"Hello?"
Jack exploded in laughter, "Martha Jones! Martha, where are you?"
"I guess Project Indigo was cleverer than we thought. One second I was in Manhattan... Next second... Maybe Indigo tapped into my mind. Because I ended up in the one place that I wanted to be. But then all of a sudden, it's like the laptop turned itself on."
"It did. That was me."
Buffy rolled her eyes when she flashed her ID again and introduced herself. "Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister."
"Yes, I know who you are."
The Slayer frowned. Why did every one seem to know this woman while she hadn't heard of her? It was a little annoying.
Harriet Jones did the introductions. "I thought it was about time we all met, given the current crisis. Torchwood, this is Sarah Jane Smith."
"I've been following your work. Nice job with the Slitheen."
Buffy looked at Jack. "The Sli-what?"
He ignored her.
Sarah Jane made a face. "Yeah, well I've been staying away from you lot. Too many guns!"
"All the same, might I say, looking good, ma'am."
Sarah Jane looked flattered and replied "Really? Oh." while Buffy hit Jack in the ribs.
He mouthed "What?" to her and she just glared at him. Harriet might have thought the same thing as Buffy because she looked slightly annoyed.
"Not now, Captain. And Martha Jones, former companion to the Doctor." Martha asked.
"But how did you find me?"
"This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Subwave Network. A sentient piece of software, programmed to seek out anyone and everyone who can help to contact the Doctor." the former companion asked.
"What if the Daleks can hear us?"
"No, that's the beauty of the Subwave, it's undetectable." Sarah Jane asked, visibly impressed.
"A-and you invented it?"
"I developed it. It was created by the Mr Copper Foundation."
Buffy crossed her arms. "I guess that this is all pretty helpful but we are still scattered around the world, weaponless."
Jack nodded. "Buffy's right. What we need right now is a weapon. Martha, back there at UNIT, what - what did they give you, what was that key thing?"
"The Osterhagen Key."
The answer didn't please the former Prime Minister.
"That key is not to be used, Dr Jones. Not under any circumstances!"
Torchwood felt left behind and Jack decided to fix that. "But what is an Osterhagen Key?"
"Forget about the Key and that's an order! All we need is the Doctor."
Buffy didn't like her tone and the Slayer growled, unhappy. Who did she think she was? Jack grabbed her arm when she seemed ready to snap back and shook his head, ordering her to shut up. She exhaled and turned her attention back to Sarah Jane.
"Oh excuse me, Harriet, but, well the thing is, if you're looking for the Doctor... didn't he depose you?"
"He did. And I've wondered about that for a long time. Whether I was wrong, but I stand by my actions, to this day. Because I knew, I knew that one day, the Earth would be in danger, and the Doctor would fail to appear. I told him so myself. And he didn't listen."
Martha broke their hope. "But I've been trying to find him. The Doctor's got my phone on the TARDIS, but I can't get through." Harriet said as if it was obvious. "To bring us all together, combine forces. The Doctor's secret army."
"That's why we need the Subwave,"
"Wait a minute... we boost the signal! That's it! We transmit that telephone number through Torchwood itself, using all the power of the Rift..."
The teenager beside Sarah Jane looked ready to jump up and down.
"And we've got Mr Smith! He can link up with every telephone exchange on the Earth. He can get the whole world to call the same number, all at the same time! Billions of phones, calling out, all at once!"
Jack was clearly pleased by the idea. "Brilliant! Who's the kid?"
The pride in Sarah Jane voice was unmistakable as she said, "That's my son!"
Ianto stepped in front of the screen, his hand went to his tie to straighten it as he spoke.
"Excuse me, sorry, sorry, hello, Ianto Jones. Um, if we start transmitting, then this Subwave Network is going to become visible. I mean, to the Daleks."
Harriet knew that. They could see no surprise on her face and she was grave as she replied. "Yes, and they'll trace it back to me. But my life doesn't matter. Not if it saves the Earth."
Jack saluted her and she blushed.
"Thank you, Captain. But there are people out there dying, on the streets. Now enough of words. Let's begin!"
They all scattered, taking their places, pushing buttons, pressing keys, connecting wires. Except Buffy who just watched them. She didn't know enough about the technology and she could potentially blow the place up if she started fiddling with anything.
"Rift power activated!" Jack announced.
"All terminals coordinated!" Gwen added.
"National grid online... giving you everything we've got!" Ianto followed.
Tosh relayed the information to their allies. "We're ready."
Buffy watched, mesmerized, as everyone worked together, each one focused on their part of the work, to make the call that could bring their best chance of winning. She wondered if the Doctor knew what he created in his wake, how his simple existence, his mere presence in their lives, had changed them to the point where complete strangers, with the only common point being their knowledge of the Doctor, united together in a time of war. She knew, from Jack's tales, that the Doctor wasn't just any normal living being. But it was another thing to see with her own eyes the repercussions of his simple existence. She wondered if he was aware of just how much power he had over these peoples lives. Did he know that he had left behind soldiers?
She could feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins as sparks flew everywhere. The anticipation was making her edgy. Tosh's voice brought even more tension as she exclaimed, "Harriet! A saucer's locked on to your location, they've found you."
The woman wasn't surprised and Buffy admired her self-control. She had known from the beginning that they would only be able to join the Doctor if someone sacrificed their life and she did it.
"I know. I'm using the Network to mask your transmission. Keep going!"
Buffy watched, wide eyes, as the infernal mechanical voice rose. "Exterminate!"
It didn't faze the former Prime Minister. The Slayer wanted to scream, to break things. How could she stay here, underground, powerless, when that normal human was calmly giving her life for the planet?
"Captain, I'm transferring the Subwave Network to Torchwood. You're in charge now. And tell the Doctor from me... he chose his companions well. It's been an honor."
Part of Buffy's brain realized, as she was doing that, the signal would be transmitted by them and Daleks would locate them in no time. They would have to face the monsters and she didn't know if she was more afraid or itchy to finally be able to lash out at their enemies and make them pay for their crimes. The other part of her mind watched with horror as Harriet Jones stood up and faced the three Daleks which were smashing their way into her house. She flashed her ID and Buffy didn't roll her eyes this time as she once more introduced herself.
"Harriet Jones. Former Prime Minister."
"Yes, we know who you are."
"Oh, you know nothing of any human. And that will be your downfall."
"Exterminate!"
There was a bright flash and the screen turned to white noise. As easy as that, Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister was gone, sacrificing her life for the entire human race. It didn't stay empty for long and then someone else appeared in the empty screen. Jack was there in an instant, pushing everyone away.
"Where the hell have you been? Doctor, it's the Daleks!"
Torchwood watched in fascination as the man, who appeared to be in his thirties, that was now occupying the screen. So this skinny man was Jack's infamous Doctor.
"He's a bit nice," Gwen whispered to her teammates. "I thought he'd be older."
"He's not that young," Ianto said.
Internally, Buffy thought that he was the best looking nine hundred year old guy she had ever seen. Their little discussion was lost, covered by Martha and Sarah Jane's frantic voices. The Doctor didn't look too interested by what they were saying as he looked at them, a wild grin on his pointy face.
"Sarah Jane! Who's that boy? That must be Torchwood." His eyes stopped on Buffy. "Ooh, new face?"
Jack smiled at the petite Blonde, "Doctor, this is Buffy Summers. Buffy, this is the Doctor."
The alien frowned, "Buffy? Really?"
The Slayer threw her hands in the air, "Come on! Do you really think this the most ideal time to make fun of my name? And you can talk. Doctor's not even a name!"
The Time lord looked at Jack. "She's good. I like her. Aren't they brilliant? Look at you all, you clever people!"
The redhead with him spoke for the first time. "That's Martha. And who's," she pointed at Jack, "he?"
Jack opened his mouth to introduce himself. Buffy was ready to hit him if he started flirting but the Doctor beat her to that.
"Captain Jack. Don't. Just... don't."
She could definitely like this alien guy.
Donna exclaimed, excited, "It's like an outer space Facebook."
A sad look crossed the Doctor's face, "Everyone except Rose..."
Buffy looked up at Jack to see the exact same look in his eyes. They was no time to say anything else as the screen displaying the TARDIS turned to white noise.
"Oh no!" Sarah Jane exclaimed.
Sirens blazed through the Hub and Tosh turned towards the rest of her team.
"They've found us."
Buffy left them and went to gather her weapons. She kept an ear on what was going on in the Hub. Jack was on the phone with Martha, his voice stressed.
"Martha, open that Indigo device... Now listen to me, lift the central panel, there's a string of numbers that keep changing. But the fourth number keeps oscillating between two different digits, tell me what they are."
"It's a four and a nine, we could never work out what that was."
Buffy was back and Ianto was helping Jack into his coat. She knew what it meant. He was leaving, letting them deal with the mess here while he would be somewhere else.
"Yeah, that's the teleport base code. And that's all I need, to get this thing working again!" He pushed keys on his wrist device. "Oscillating four and nine. Thank you, Martha Jones!"
He hung up. Gwen handed him his gun. Tosh opened her mouth but Buffy stopped her. She closed the screen showing the Daleks heading for the Hub. This wasn't Jack's place and if he knew danger was close, he wouldn't leave while he had to.
The Captain looked at his team. "I've gotta go, I've gotta find the Doctor. I'll come back. I'm coming back!"
Owen snorted. "Right. In how many months?"
The Slayer glared at the doctor.
"Don't worry about us. Just go," Gwen said.
"We'll be fine," Ianto added.
"You'd better be!" Jack explained before looking at Buffy.
She knew what he was asking and she let a ferocious smile slide onto her face, "Go, go help that Doctor of yours. I'll keep them safe. And we'll talk about my pay raise as soon as you get your ass back here."
The Captain laughed before teleporting. The Hub shook violently, Tosh turned the screen on. The Daleks were here. They would be inside soon. Buffy felt strangely calm, she let her human side slip into that dark place, in the back of her mind and let the Slayer out to play.
The voice that would haunt her nights forever if she survived rose from above.
"Exterminate! Exterminate!"
Buffy looked up and announced, "They're here..."
They could hear them coming, exclaiming with their metallic scraping voice the same word over and over again. Buffy didn't know whether it was more frightening or more annoying. Thar kind of voice itself was a lethal weapon, it could drive anyone insane. The Dalek finally appeared. A strange little tower of metal advancing slowly on them. Those things shouldn't be dangerous, they looked so ridiculous, like some sort of bad special effect from an old sci-fi movie.
She raised her weapon and fired. She didn't like guns but her wooden stake or her sword wouldn't do any good right now. Gwen and Ianto bookended her, emptying their weapons at the threat too. She frowned when she realized that she wasn't touching her target. She stopped firing, followed by her teammates, and walked slowly towards their enemies.
Their bullets were frozen in midair, stopped by what seemed to be an invisible wall.
"What the hell...?"
Gwen was wide-eyed. Behind them, a sarcastic voice spoke.
"Maybe if you hadn't started shooting like mad people you would have heard Tosh telling you to step down and let her work."
Buffy turned to the doctor, "Do you really think that this is the time for sarcasm? What if she hadn't been able to produce that thingy? They would have shot and we would be dead. Now, Tosh, what exactly is... that?"
Tosh smiled a little given the successful result of her new project.
"It's a Time Lock! The ultimate defence programme. I wasn't sure that it was ready but what better way to test it? The Hub is sealed in a bubble. Nothing can get in."
"That also means that we can't get out, right?" Gwen asked.
"Nope," Tosh answered. "Not without unlocking the Dalek."
They all looked at the alien.
Ianto summarised the situation. "We're trapped inside.
The Slayer sighted, "It's all up to Jack now."
"Buffy, do you have a minute?"
The Blonde looked up at Gwen from her game of solitaire. "I have far more than that."
She was going crazy being locked up inside the Hub, not knowing what was happening outside. The former cop closed the door of Jack's office — Buffy's current refuge — and sat down in front of the other woman, comfortably sat in the Captain's chair.
"What can I do for you?"
Gwen chuckled. "Nice tone you've got there. Sounded like a real boss."
"I spent a lot of time studying Jack's captain tone. Whatever. What's wrong?"
The older woman put a plastic bag on the desk. Buffy took it and looked inside. Confused, she said, "No thank you. I'm sure I don't need that."
"It's for me."
"Okay, well I don't know how or why I'd need to... wait, what? Are you sure?"
Gwen took the bag back. "Of course I'm not sure! I wouldn't need to do a pregnancy test if I was sure!"
"But you have enough doubt to..."
"I'm pretty sure it's going to be positive."
Buffy stood up and went to sit beside her friend. "Are you all right?"
Tears gathered in the brunettes eyes. "I'm stuck in a basement with killer machines ready to do just that while the whole world outside is surrendering to an alien race which has kidnapped the planet. I am this close to completely losing it. And all I can think of is the possibility of being pregnant and I have this voice screaming inside my head, 'What the Hell am I doing, bringing a child into this fucked up world?' Right now, I need to control something. Doing this test, I can. But I need someone by my side."
"Are you really sure you want it to be me?"
"I don't know where Tosh is, or even Owen for that matter but I know I don't want it to be him."
"Well, he is a doctor. He could take a blood sample and run a test and the results would probably be more accurate than this little stick."
Gwen glared at her. "Do you really think this is the time to use logic on me?"
"Sorry. Well, are we going to do this test or what?"
She grabbed Jack's bathroom key and sat on the floor, back against the door while the brunette was inside. After a minute of awkward silence, Buffy called to Gwen.
"I can't do it," Gwen said through the door.
"You have to pee on a stick; how hard could it be?"
"This peeing on a stick thing could possibly change my whole life forever!"
"Okay, if you put it that way..."
A baby, Buffy thought. She didn't know where the pang of jealousy came from. From the idea of having a baby? Of being a mother? She wasn't cut out for it. She never would be a mother, she had known and accepted that for a while now.
"Gwen?"
"Yes?"
"This baby? It's a good thing."
Buffy moved when she heard Gwen just behind the door. It opened and she found herself staring into Gwen's wide and fearful eyes.
"Look outside Buffy. How could it be a good thing?"
"Have you ever spent time with a kid?"
Gwen frowned and let herself be dragged to Jack's couch. Both women sat down and Buffy said, "There was this Slayer. When we found her, she was seventeen and already had a little one and a half year old boy. Her name was Kate. It still is actually; she's still alive. We kept her close because, having a kid, she might have been an easy target for a demon. The boy, Keith, he's so full of energy! He'd laugh at absolutely anything. He'd take in his surroundings with wonder, discovering the world with those big brown happy eyes. Spending time with him was wonderful. He's so kind, so innocent, so easily filled with wonder and excitement for new things. Kids are our future, the reason why we fight everyday. They are the ones that make us better. They bring happiness, fun, hope and love."
"Have you ever thought about having a kid?"
"I wasn't supposed to live long enough to graduate. I crossed kids off the list a long, long time ago."
They stayed silent for a little while.
"Can you look for me?" Gwen asked.
Buffy reached for the stick, the box with the directions in the other hand.
"So?"
"I'm sorry sweety. It's negative."
She watched Gwen frown.
"Are you okay?"
"What? Oh, yes.. It's okay. I'm okay. Having a baby, that was a crazy idea anyway."
The Slayer nodded. "Completely crazy."
But the look on the older woman's face was enough. She looked disappointed, a little sad and really embarrassed. "I'm... can we keep this to ourselves? The others don't need to know."
"Well, that's going to be hard."
"Buffy, please."
The blonde looked at the stick then at her companion before answering, "Well, I won't say anything but it's going to be hard to hide when you look like a whale."
Gwen stared at her, mouth slightly open and a confused frown on her face. "Wait, are you saying that...?"
"Yep. You're pregnant. Congratulations."
"Oh my God! Oh god, oh god, oh god..."
"You've said that already."
They shrieked and jumped into each other arms. Gwen was crying hard and Buffy's throat was tight with emotion. But that was before Gwen hit her upper arm with all the strength she could muster.
"Hey! What was that for?"
"You lied to me!"
"Yeah, so?"
"Why?"
"How did it feel to hear you weren't pregnant, that it was a false alarm?"
"Well, I was... disappointed."
"Yep. You didn't know it, but you liked the idea of having a baby. You just needed a little to push to realize it."
Gwen smiled, her eyes wet with tears. "I knew I asked you to help me for a reason."
Owen's voice called out, "Girls, the Daleks are leaving!"
They caught each others eye and rushed from the room. Ianto summarised the situation, explaining simply that all the Daleks suddenly left and that even their ships were keeping their distance.
"That can't be good," Buffy said.
The Daleks had done a pretty good job invading and enslaving the whole planet. Why would they just get up and leave like that? It could only mean that they had something far worse planned for them and she was sure she didn't want to know what.
"There was a spike of energy a moment ago," Tosh told them. "It lasted a couple of minutes before vanishing."
The Slayer looked behind her, at the Dalek frozen in place in the Hub's entrance. She turned towards Ianto.
"Are you sure that we have no weapons capable of destroying that thing?"
"No. Jack took the only one that could really help us. There are no other weapons powerful enough here."
She glared at the annoying machine keeping them under lock down. As soon as Tosh lifted the time lock, it would be free and they had no immediate way to defeat it.
"Maybe I could hide near the entrance, against the wall and, I don't know, hit it with something really hard with all my strength or maybe we could electrocute it," she proposed.
"What if that doesn't work?" Ianto asked. "What if your strength is not enough? The time lock won't help us then. No, it's too risky."
She pinched the bridge of her nose. He was right but, god, she hated just sitting idly by, doing nothing.
"There is absolutely nothing we can do?" she asked frustratedly.
They looked at her, a little wary of her but understanding what she felt. The difference was that they were not Slayers. She needed to move, needed to act, to do something. They were trapped inside until Jack returned. Even with all the other Daleks gone, this one was a real pain in their collective asses.
Even if she already knew the answer, she asked nonetheless, "Still no word from Jack?"
"No," Ianto breathed.
She looked at him and squeezed his hand, trying to reassure him with the simple gesture.
"Tosh, keep your eyes on the screen. If anything changes, scream. Owen, how's the medical bay?"
"Upside down."
"Clean it and make a list of what needs to be fixed or replaced. Ianto, Gwen, we're cleaning up the rest of the Hub. Put everything broken near my desk. We'll go through it later."
She didn't wait for them to answer and, trying to ignore the frozen Dalek, went to work. When she passed by Gwen, she whispered, "Leave the heavy stuff, I'll deal with it."
They were all absorbed in their tasks when one of the screens came to life and a man called out to them. They dropped what they were doing and ran to the screen. The man on the screen called himself the Doctor and, after an offhand comment about Gwen and her family, started talking mostly to Tosh, using words far beyond what Buffy was able to follow. She understood the most important facts though: they were back in control. The Daleks were gone and they just had to tow the Earth back into place.
Yep. Tow the planet. It was probably a good thing Andrew wasn't around to hear this.
Buffy felt the weight on her shoulders lift. And suddenly, everything was shaking and they grabbed hold of whatever they could. All the cleaning up they had done was for nought as everything around them turned to chaos again. The frozen Dalek exploded and they looked at each other, bursting into nervous laughter. Everything stopped suddenly and they were still laughing, tears rolling down their cheeks.
The baddies were gone and the planet was back in its rightful place. Everything was fine in the end. Gwen was the first one to her feet. She grabbed her things and smiled at Buffy. "I need to see Rhys."
Buffy nodded, grinning widely. "Go."
Gwen flew out of the Hub, passing by the dead Dalek like it was some old piece of junk and not the remains of one of the deadliest things in the Universe. The others glanced at her quizzically but she ignored them. She left the others and isolated herself in Jack's office once more. She called Andy to make sure everything was okay on his side. Sara and him had flown the city quickly and hid. She barely understood him because of the poor reception where they were. She assured him that everything was fine and they could come back.
After hanging up, she tried to call the police chief but failed to reach him. All the numbers she tried were busy so she tried Giles instead. There were casualties: two Slayers dead and more injured. He told her that everything would be all right. When she left the office, the Hub had been tidied up some but there was still more to do. Tosh and Owen had put their coats on. The doctor looked up at her. "We're going home."
"Okay. I'll be here, waiting on Jack. "
"I'll wait too," Ianto added.
And they ended up alone together, awkwardly looking everywhere except at each other. Continuing the cleaning effort, Ianto tried to pick up a large metal box. He visibly struggled so she walked over and picked it up easily.
"Where?"
"Follow me."
They spent the next couple of hours cleaning the Hub in silence. They were both lost in their thoughts and worry, wondering how the Earth would deal with the aftermath of this attack. Ianto was pouring her a cup of coffee when Buffy heard the distinct sound of the elevator coming down. She called softly for Ianto and he glanced over at her before his eyes landed on Jack. He put everything down and rushed to the Captain, kissing him. When they broke the kiss, the former time agent laughed.
"Well, if that's the reception I get, I need to leave and risk my life more often!"
He looked around, asking after the others. They filled him on everything that had happened since he disappeared. After, he began telling them what had occurred on the Dalek ship. At some point, they had moved to Jack's office and his sofa. Buffy was studying the Captain while he spoke. He was grinning like a madmen and you couldn't have guessed that the man had just died, nearly blown up a ship with him and loved ones inside, or that he had saved a planet from being destroyed. It seemed that the only thing that had hit him was the weight Rose lost and how he preferred it before, when she had more curves. Or how Mickey had looked all grown-up and yummy (at that comment, Buffy and Ianto rolled their eyes), how Jacky had never looked so in her element. The companions, they were what Jack thought of most after everything. Not the Daleks, not the people who died or the near destruction of the entire human race. He was happy.
"What about the others?" she asked.
"Dunno, the Doc brought Martha, Mickey and I home first. But he left me this!"
He was clenching a piece of paper in his hand.
"What is it?" Ianto asked.
"His number. Super phone or something. I can call him, no matter where he is. Or when."
"That's an improvement."
A silence fell on the room. Buffy sipped the last drop of her coffee and when she looked up, Jack and Ianto were staring into each other's lust darkened eyes. She suddenly felt very uncomfortable. She jumped to her feet and cleared her throat. "Well, I'm going to go... anywhere else."
She was almost out the door when Jack called after her.
"How was your first big alien invasion?"
She scowled. "Lame. You got to have all the fun while I was stuck here."
"Next time."
"Yep."
They didn't even wait for her to leave. She closed the door with the image of Jack almost tearing off Ianto's shirt while devouring his mouth.
"Couldn't they wait for thirty seconds?" she groaned.
Before going out, she looked around the empty Hub. Andy was with Sara. Gwen was back with Rhys, probably celebrating the news of her pregnancy. She was pretty sure that Owen and Tosh were drinking in some pub. And Ianto and Jack were... well, they were busy together.
She tuned out the sounds coming from Jack's office and glanced at a picture on Tosh's desk. It had been taken the night they celebrated her first year at Torchwood. She was smiling, Jack and Ianto on each side of her, with Andy, Sara, Gwen, Rhys, Owen and Tosh. She caressed the picture and felt a pang of guilt. She had everything and yet, it wasn't enough. They had saved her. She had come to Cardiff, her heart and soul in pieces. They had put her back together. They had healed her. Now, she was ready to move forward and she owed that to them. She knew what she wanted and what she had to do first. She turned around, leaving the Hub, a wide smile on her face. She couldn't wait to see what came next...
¤ ¤ tbc ¤ ¤