"The Six" AU
'Journeys Converge'
Chapter Two
- All Aboard -

A/N: I don't own squat, except what I write.

I'll go back to River Run soon. Just have to get this out of my head first.

Music: Paul Oakenfold - Ready Steady Go

Danielle and Sarah Jane were herded with other people into a transport ship. It was densely packed and Sarah Jane had a firm grip around Danielle's side, completely in protective mother bear mode. There was nervous chatter all over the place and she turned to look at her saviour, or charge, to study her face. She could see Mickey in the shape, but Danielle's eyes were larger. Oddly enough, she didn't look afraid.

"Danielle or Danny?" she asked her quietly.

Danielle looked at her. "Only dad and Sarah call me Dannie."

"All right, Danielle it is," she nodded. "How did you find me?"

"Rose got the dimension cannon workin', and saw that there was gonna be trouble for you." Her eyes darted to the side a bit. "Dad wanted to come himself, but he just couldn't."

Seeing the look of pain on her face, Sarah Jane held her a bit tighter. "Is he all right?"

"It's just …" Danielle paused when she looked Sarah Jane in the eyes. Something about her made it impossible to lie. "He's sick."

Sarah Jane frowned a bit. "How bad?"

"Bad enough," she evaded.

Anything else she was going to say was interrupted by clanging from outside. Everyone turned their heads to the rear and saw the ramp lowering. "ALL HUMANS WILL DISEMBARK."

The Doctor looked like he had an epiphany. In reality though, his brain had just caught up with itself. "Rose, that universe is faster than this one. What's been happening?"

"Started five years ago," Rose began, not letting up on the hug. She saw his eyebrows arch, and nodded. "Longer than you think," she quietly commented before continuing. "Anyway, large swaths of star clusters started disappearing. No warning or anything. They just stopped being there, which is weird considering the speed of light. We contacted several other worlds in the Confederacy and confirmed the pattern. Sto and a few other planets sent scientific probes and ships, only to have them vanish along with everything else."

"Where did it start?" the Doctor asked.

She looked up at him. "We called it Grid Epsilon Delta, but I have no idea what it's called here."

It took him a split second to decide. Holding his hand up to her temple, the Doctor looked at her questioningly. "May I see?"

Rose grinned with a nod and closed her eyes. Jack and Donna watched as the Doctor placed his fingertips on her temple. It didn't seem to last long, and he pulled back. "The Medusa Cascade," he breathed. "We're here already."

Rose leaned closer as he pulled his hand away. It was completely involuntary, but she wanted that back – him back. She ended up resting her head on his shoulder.

The Doctor's head flicked to look at her sharply. His gobsmacked expression made Jack and Donna curious. "Nineteen years?"

"Yep," Rose said with a smirk, not willing to back away long enough to look at him.

"What?" Jack asked.

Rose opened her eyes and looked at him with a bit of a frown. "Nineteen linear years of hell, being separated."

Donna's eyes flew wide open with a bit of a squeak coming out of her mouth. "You don't look thirty nine. More like one of them Uni students."

"Forty eight," Rose corrected, "but thank you. Took a bit of time bouncing through different universes to find the right one, then spending quite a while in that alternate of yours. Been hell trying to keep the biddies away wanting to figure out who my doctor was."

"I'm right here," the Doctor deadpanned, then paused as something else he saw came forward in his mind. "Rose …"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you lie to me?"

Frowning, Rose pulled back to look up at him. "Pardon?" Seeing the expression of pain on his face, she understood. "She's yours," she blurted. Damn. I wanted him to find out after. Now he'll be all distracted. Shit.

"What?" he gaped at her. Rose just nodded at him with a smile. "But … it was … only the …" he stuttered.

"All it takes is once, Doctor," Rose said quietly with a smirk. "You should know that. But since you don't think about things like that, I'll let that one slide."

'Where?'

'Out of harms way. Don't worry, you'll see her soon.'

'Why did you lie to me?'

'Didn't you say it would make two universes collapse? I didn't want to torture you.'

"I would've moved Heaven and Earth!" the Doctor shouted, startling the other two in the room.

"That's why," Rose whispered.

Seeing the single trailing tear going down her face, the Doctor realized she felt horrible about it. Understanding went through him, and he wiped the tear off of her cheek. "It's okay," he murmured. "What's her name?"

"Doctor!" Jack interrupted. "We're here."

Moving to look at the monitor, the Doctor forced his emotions into a box. "The Dalek Crucible. All aboard." That box leaked when he looked up at Rose, and he grinned despite himself.

Moved into a large area, Danielle saw that they weren't being watched. Taking advantage, she gripped Sarah Jane's hand tightly and pulled her out of the small crowd. Ducking around a pillar, they found a door – locked.

Sarah Jane pulled a lippy out of her pocket and took the cap off. The red sonic inside hummed at he ball interface, and the door slid open. "Good work. Come on."

The room shifted with the thud of the TARDIS landing. The four caught their balance, and they heard a rather deep sounding Dalek voice. "DOCTOR! COME AND FACE YOUR DALEK MASTERS."

The Doctor looked pensive, and Rose took his hand completely out of reflex. 'We'll make it,' she thought to him.

Nodding with a grateful smile, he looked to the outer door. "We'll have to go out. 'Cause if we don't, they'll get in."

"Genghis Khan?" Rose teased.

"Extrapolator shielding?" Jack added.

The Doctor looked at both of them in turn. "Last time we fought the Daleks, they were scavengers, hybrids, and completely mad. But this is a fully-fledged Dalek Empire at the height of its power. Experts at fighting TARDIS and War TARDIS, and anything to do with TARDIS. Right now…

"Right now that wooden door… is just wood," he finished up his explanation with a rather hefty sigh.

Rose was interrupted from seeing Donna fade out on them by Jack. "You've got some sort of dimension jump, right?"

"Needs twenty minutes to recharge," she said dismissively with a shake of her head. "And anyway, I'm not leaving."

"What about your teleport?" The Doctor asked Jack.

He flipped his strap open and showed it to them. "Went down with the power loss."

Warbling a breath through his lips, the Doctor edged them closer to the door. "Right then. All of us, together. New old team, yeah? Donna?" He looked over to see her frozen in place, and puts his hand gently on her shoulder. "Donna?"

Whatever it was, she snapped out of it and looked at him. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry Donna, there's nothing else we can do," he said softly.

Donna nodded. "Yeah, I … I know." Her fake smile was in place, matching his.

"So!" the Doctor said brightly.

Rose gripped his hand tight. "Daleks, yeah?" She wiggled her fingers in the air with a smirk.

"Oh God," Jack chuckled.

The Doctor had a caught expression between amused and horrified. "Please don't do that again, Rose. Once was terrifying enough."

"Spoilsport," she pouted.

"It's been good, though," the Doctor said, grinning at the antics. "Hasn't it? All of us, all of time and everything we did? No worries though. Because, you Uncle Jack, and you Aunt Donna, have a niece to meet and I'm not about to orphan her."

Both of them stared, completely floored. "You … two," Donna said.

"Had a baby?" Jack finished the question.

The Doctor shrugged with a grin that wouldn't stop. "Just found out, myself."

"Talk about Sarah later, yeah?" Rose said quietly.

The Doctor beamed a wide eyed smile at her. "Perfect. Choice." They grinned at each other for a moment, then he caught himself. "Right … Blimey."

Turning, the three of them left the TARDIS not knowing that one of them was stuck in her own head again.

"Ohhhhkay," the Doctor said as he came out the door. Daleks were everywhere, from rolling in formation on multiple levels that were far away, to flying in formation over their heads; This place was completely full of them.

"Jesus," Jack muttered.