Disclaimer: Nothing related to Doctor Who or the Harry Potter Series is mine. I swear. I wish I owned them, cuz then I might have a bit more money, but I don't.
Warnings: Book Two of Three (Main books anyway). Swearing. Sarcasm. I have only watched the new series, no knowledge of early Doctor Who. EWE, kind of...
Dedication: To the Writers and Producers of Doctor Who, thank you for giving me something else to obsess over, now that Harry Potter is long gone. And to the lovely people who encourage me to continue writing in their reviews. To the lovely people who encouraged me to post the next chunk. To my lovely reviewers, thank you for everything you've said.
Book 2: Stories of A Shop Girl
Summary: A Death too soon. A woman who steps up to save the world.
Rating: Dark T
Genre: Adventure/Drama
A/N: I apologise for the late-ish update. Things have been pretty hectic. I've got two midterms tomorrow. I also know it is NaNoWriMo, and I plan on working, but for me, it's going to start Tuesday. And (hopefully), I'll have the third chunk of this story finished by the end.
A/N 2: I will not be updating daily like before. It will probably be every Saturday or so. At least once a weekend. And please, if you match the criteria below, I do need someone to talk to. If you are worried about spoilers, don't be. It's all theoretical.
NEEDED:
Someone familiar with the early Who. Preferably Doctors 3-5. And someone with knowledge of Gallifrey. It's for another story, but I don't want to make things up, and I don't want to screw everything up. TARDIS files only has so much.
A/N 3: So, another new character added to the mix. And I have to say, behind Maria, Bast is one of my favourite characters. It's pronounced like the Egyptian Cat Goddess, btw. :) This is the last chapter, then the intermission. I've combined The Army of Ghosts and Journey's End. Suggestions for the name of Part three are appreciated. The Donna episodes will be coming, but in the next book. I have plans for two or three unique episodes (all of which make me giggle at how much fun I'm going to have), an episode about the Dimension Cannon, and then FOUR episodes actually from the TV Show, as well as two episodes tying everything together. :) If you have any suggestions about the story, or an idea for an episode, let me know. I'm always open for suggestions.
Part 2: Relearning Life and Death
Chapter 17: Journey's End
After swapping stories, the Doctor turned to Bast. "Alright, where to?"
"Let me just call one of my aunt's. I'm pretty sure I know where she'll be, but just want to be sure." Bast said, grinning. He disappears into the TARDIS, and the Doctor turns to me.
"How have you been?"
I give him a disbelieving grin. "You are so strange. So, we've discussed Gods and the Devil. What do Time Lords believe in?"
He ignores my question in favour of checking something on the TARDIS.
"Doctor..."
Bast comes back in grinning. "Well, we're going to Felspoon. Near the city of the hats."
"Who do you know that would be there?" The Doctor asked, frowning, but typing in the coordinates all the same.
"One of the most important women in this universe." Bast said, grinning.
We land, and Bast steps out. The Doctor and I follow, wondering who this woman could be.
"Oi!" Is all we hear before the Doctor gets slapped.
"What was that for? And who the hell are you?"
We both look at the woman, and I gasp. It was Donna Noble. Last I saw of her, she'd just pointed out the fact that my time-turner broke right before I saved her from falling off a window washer cart.
"Donna!" I call running to hug her.
"Blondie!" She says, grinning. "Are you two playing with toys again. Or is that John or David? Or have you managed to fix up B-" She get cut off by Bast.
"Aunt DeeDee, it hasn't happened to them yet. Neither of them have met you."
Donna deflates for a second. "But wait, why don't I know about this then?" She thinks for a second, "Oh, right, you probably... You're going to have to..."
I nod, understanding. "I take it we meet up again?"
She nods, her eyes welling up with tears.
"Well then, I should probably go and fix everything then, shall I?" I comment, faking a grin. I take the Doctor's hand and all but drag him back into the TARDIS, where I remove the memory of the meeting.
It was for the best.
Planet Earth. This is where I was born. And this is where I died. For the first eleven years of my life. Nothing happened. Not ever. And then I learned magic. I fought in a war. And I won.
And then I became immortal. I was locked away, imprisoned for the next century. Until he came. The Doctor. A man who could change his face. And he took me away from home in his magical machine. He showed me the whole of time and space. Twice. I thought it would never end.
"How long are you going to stay with me?"
"Forever."
That's what I thought. But then came the army of ghosts. Then came Torchwood and another War. And that's when it all ended. This is the story of how I died.
When the Doctor lands, he misses Jackie's flat entirely, hitting a small playground. We walk to the apartment, me holding a large rucksack and my purse. When we enter, I yell, "Mum, it's us! We're back!"
She comes out of the kitchen, reminding me an awful lot of Mrs. Weasley, "Oh, I don't know why you bother with that phone. You never use it!"
"Shut up, come here!"
We hug, her crooning out that she loves me. The Doctor tries to make his way past, but Jackie catches him. "Oh no you don't. Come here!" She plants a kiss on him. "Oh, you lovely big fella! Oh, you're all mine."
"Just, just, just put me down!" The Doctor said, trying to get away.
"Yes, you are."
I pass Jackie my rucksack and laugh at the two of them. "I've got loads of washing for you. And I got you this." I pull a small necklace out of my pocket. "It's from the market on this asteroid bazaar. It's made of, er, what's it called?" I ask turning to the Doctor. He's glancing over the living room, frowning.
"Bazoolium." I nod, and turn back to Jackie.
"Bazoolium. When it gets cold, it means it's going to rain. When it's hot, it's going to be sunny. You can use it to tell the weather." I grin.
Jackie barely notices, "I've got a surprise for you and all."
"Oh, I get her bazoolium, she doesn't even say thanks." I mutter. She ignores me.
"Guess who's coming to visit? You're just in time. You always said you wished you could've met her. Who do you think it is?" Jackie asked, grinning.
I frown, "I don't know."
"Oh, go on, guess."
I give her a look, "No, I hate guessing. Just tell me."
"It's my daughter. She's on her way any minute. Right, cup of tea!" Jackie turns to the kitchen and the Doctor comes over frowning.
"She's gone mad."
The Doctor frowns. "You didn't tell me you had a sister."
"She died. About a year and a half before I met you. Oh, my God. She's lost it." I walk into the kitchen, frowning, "Mum? What you just said about her."
Jackie grins, "Any second now."
"But she's gone. I saw her body. You identified her. Do you remember that?"
Jackie gives me a look, "Of course I do."
"Then how can she come back?" I give her a look.
Jackie gives me one right back, "Why don't you ask her yourself? Ten past. Here she comes." And then a humanoid shape walks through the outside wall and stands beside Jackie.
I swallow, watching the image.
"Here we are then. Dear, say hello to her. I told you all about her."
The Doctor and I run out of the room, out to the balcony. The Doctor exclaims first, "They're everywhere!"
"Doctor look out!" One of the shapes walks straight through him. Judging by his face, it doesn't look like a comfortable sensation.
Jackie's followed us outside. "They haven't got long. Midday shift only lasts a couple of minutes. They're about to fade."
"What do you mean, shift?" I frown, "Since when do 'ghosts' have shifts? Since when did shifts have ghosts?! What's going on?!" I call out, watching them.
Jackie laughs, "Oh, neither of you two are happy when I know more than you, are you?"
"But no one's running or screaming or freaking out." The Doctor said, frowning.
Jackie frowned, "Why should we? Here we go. Twelve minutes past." The images vanish.
We go back up to the apartment, and the Doctor turns on the telly. On every channel there is something about ghosts.
"What the hell's going on?" The Doctor asked, frustrated. "It's all over the world."
I take the remote from him, and flick the telly off. I turn to Jackie, "When did it start?"
"Well, first of all, Peggy heard this noise in the cellar, so she goes down-"
The Doctor cuts her off. "No, worldwide Jackie. Big picture."
"Oh." Jackie frowned, thinking back. "That was about two months ago. Just happened. Woke up one morning, and there they all were. Ghosts, everywhere. We all ran round screaming and that. Whole planet was panicking. No sign of either of you, thank you very much. Then it sort of sank in. It took us time to realize that we're lucky."
I swallow, "And what makes you think it's her?"
"It just feels like her." She said, recalling fondly. "It just feels, right. Don't get me wrong, sweetie, you're wonderful, but..."
"I understand."
Jackie frowns, "Can't you feel it?"
"I wish I could." I swallow, "But I can't."
"You've got to make an effort. You've got to want it, sweetheart."
The Doctor frowned, "The more you want it, the stronger it gets."
"Sort of, yeah." Jackie agreed cautiously.
"Like a psychic link. Of course you want your daughter to be alive, but you're wishing him into existence. The ghost are using that to pull themselves in." The Doctor explained, before frowning.
Jackie blinked, her eyes going glossy. "You're spoiling it."
"I'm sorry, Jackie, but there is no feeling. Just a memory." The Doctor added sadly. "Believe me, I'd love to meet Rose's sister.
I glance at him. "So, not ghosts then. What are they?"
"Yeah, but they're human! You can see them. They look human." Jackie said, frowning.
The Doctor frowned. "Maybe not. They're pressing themselves into the surface of the world. What did you say a while back? With the Gelth?"
"A footprint doesn't look like a boot."
The Doctor is under some gratings in the TARDIS, and I'm flicking through the paper. "According to the paper, they've elected a ghost as MP for Leeds. Now don't tell me you're going to sit back and do nothing."
He jumps up wearing a backpack and holding some sort of hose thing. He grins at me, "Who you going to call?"
I laugh, "Ghostbusters!"
"I ain't afraid of no ghosts."
He exits and sets something up. "Definitely not the Gelth then?"
"Nah. They were just coming through one little rift. This lot are transposing themselves over the whole planet. Like tracing paper." The Doctor said, fiddling with the backpack.
Jackie frowned, "You're always doing this. Reducing it to science. Why can't it be real? Just think of it, though. All the people we've lost. Our families coming back home. Don't you think it's beautiful?"
I look at her. "I think it's horrific."
The Doctor jumps up and goes to plug something into the TARDIS. Jackie and I follow. The Doctor gives me some instructions.
He goes back outside, and Jackie frowns. "You even look like him."
"How do you mean?" I ask, frowning. "I suppose I do, yeah."
"You've changed so much."
I swallow, "For the better."
"I suppose."
I give her a look, "I used to work in a shop."
"I've worked in shops. What's wrong with that?"
"No, I didn't mean it like that."
"I know what you meant." Jackie sighs. "What happens when I'm gone?"
I give her a look. "Don't talk like that."
"No, but really. When I'm dead and buried, you won't have any reason to come back home. What happens then?"
"I don't know."
"Do you ever think you'll settle down?"
"I was locked away for a century. I think I'm allowed to be a little free. I'll just keep on travelling."
"And you'll keep on changing. And in forty years time, fifty, there'll be this woman, this strange woman, walking through the marketplace on some planet a billion miles from Earth. But she's not Rose Tyler. Not anymore. She's not even human."
"I never was Rose Tyler to begin with, and yes, I've never really been completely human, at least the way you view the world."
"Here we go!" The Doctor yells, and I glance down at the scanner.
"The scanner's working. It says delta one six."
The Doctor mutters something.
He runs into the TARDIS, shutting the doors. "I said so! Those ghosts have been forced into existence from one specific point, and I can track down the source. Allons-y!" He flicks a couple switches and continues to talk about his new catchphrase. "I like that. Allons-y! I should say allons-y more often. Allons-y. Watch out Rose Tyler. Allons-y! And then, it would be really brilliant if I met someone called Alonso, because then I could say allons-y Alonso, everytime. You're staring at me." He looked at me.
I give him a smile. "My mum's still on board."
She yells down. "If we end up on Mars, I'm going to kill you."
We land, and the Doctor and I watch the exterior on the scanner. People with guns. Lots of guns.
"Oh, well, there goes the advantage of surprise. Still, cuts to the chase. Stay here, look after Jackie."
I glare at him, "I'm not looking after my mum."
"Well, you brought her." He gives me a look.
Jackie interrupts us, "I was kidnapped!"
I walk up to him, and look at him. "Doctor, they've got guns."
"And I haven't." He said, grinning, "Which makes me the better person, don't you think? They can shoot me dead, but the moral high ground is mine."
I watch what's happening through a little gap in the doors. And then a hand comes in, and he pulls out Jackie. "But here she is, Rose Tyler." He blinks, and I'm going to bust a stitch holding in my laughter at his face. "Hmm. She's not the best I've ever had. Bit too blonde. Not too steady on her pins. A lot of that. And just last week, she stared into the heart of the Time Vortex and aged fifty seven years. But she'll do."
"I'm forty." Jackie said, unimpressed.
"Deluded. Bless. I'll have to trade her in. Do you need anyone? She's very good at tea. Well, I say very good, I mean not bad. Well, I say not bad. Anyway, lead on. Allons-y. But not too fast. Her ankle's going."
They get lead away and I sigh. "I know you understand me. And we both know, no matter what I want, I'm going to be leaving soon. I'd like to record one of those holo-vid projection things that he did to me. If you could."
I walk out of the TARDIS with my purse and psychic paper in hand. I 'borrow' a lab coat, and walk towards somewhere. I end up outside a laboratory, where I manage to use the psychic paper to get in. Inside the room is a large, perfectly spherical ball.
"Can I help you?"
A voice startles me out of staring at the ball. "I was just..."
"Try not to look. It does that to everyone. What do you want?"
I blink, looking at him, "Sorry. They sent me from personnel. They said some man had been taken prisoner. Some sort of Doctor? I'm just checking the lines of communication. Did they tell you anything?"
"Can I see your authorization?"
"Sure." I hand him the psychic paper, and cross my fingers behind my back. Hopefully this guy wasn't another Shakespeare.
He blinks, and takes off his glasses. "That's lucky. You see, everyone at Torchwood has at least a basic level of psychic training. This paper is blank, and you're a fake. Seal the room. Call security. Samuel, can you check the door locks? She just walked right in." He turns away, and I glance at the guy who turns. I almost choke on my spit. It's Mickey. He gives me a thumbs up.
"Doing it right now, sir."
"Well, if you'd like to take a seat." The head scientist said. At least he was polite about it.
And then everything turned to chaos. Apparently a ghost shift was happening, and the sphere suddenly became 'active'. I didn't like the sound of that at all.
"The door's sealed. Automatic quarantine. We can't get out!" The head scientist kind of reminded me of Danny a little bit. Maybe he's an ancestor or something?
Mickey comes up next to me. "It's alright, Ria. We've beaten them before, we can beat them again. That's why I'm here. The fight goes on."
"Cybermen?" I ask, and he nods. "And you called me Ria?"
"I figure, he calls you Mia, and technically you're also Rose, so, Ria."
I sigh, "Just don't let him hear you calling me that. What happened?"
"We had them beaten, but then they escaped. The Cybermen just vanished. They found a way through to this world, but so did we." Mickey said.
I swallow, "The Doctor said that was impossible."
"Yeah, it's not the first time he's been wrong."
I swallow again. "What's inside that sphere?"
"No one knows. Cyber Leader, Cyber King, Emperor of the Cybermen. Whatever it is, he's dead meat." He grins.
I laugh. "It's good to see you."
"Yeah. It's good to see you too."
The head scientist, Mickey called him Rajesh, was still freaked out. "Can anyone hear me? Come on, I need help down here! I need-"
The sphere starts opening. "Here we go." Mickey said, removing his coat and ear piece. "I know what's in there, and I'm ready for them. I've got just the thing." He takes a massive gun from under the platform below the sphere. "This is going to blast them to Hell."
"Samuel, what are you doing?"
"The name's Mickey. Mickey Smith. Defending the Earth."
The sphere disappears, leaving five pepperpots leftover.
"That's not Cybermen."
I gasp, "Oh god."
"Location, Earth. Life forms detected. Exterminate!"
The Daleks are coming towards us. I think quickly.
"The Cult of Skaro. Daleks. You're called Daleks, but more specifically your called the Cult of Skaro. I know your name. Think about it, how can I know that? A human who knows about the Daleks and the Time War. If you want to know how, then keep us alive. That's all I'm asking. Me and my friends." I talk fast.
Mickey nods, "Yeah, Daleks. Time War. Me too."
"Yeah, and me."
Dalek Sec (which was strange to see, I kept expecting to see him in human form) agreed, "You will be necessary. Report. What is the status of the Genesis Ark?"
"Status, Hibernation."
"Commence awakening. The Genesis Ark must be protected above all else."
Mickey comes and whispers in my ear, "The Daleks, you said they were all dead."
"Never mind that. What the hell's a Genesis Ark?"
"Which of you is least important?"
I give him a look, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Which of you is least important?"
"No, we don't work like that. None of us."
"Designate the least important!"
Rajesh came out and stepped forward. "This is my responsibility."
"Don't." I hissed.
He ignored me. "I, er, I represent the Torchwood Institute. Anything you need, you come through me. Leave these two alone."
"You will kneel."
He frowned, "What for?"
"Kneel." He does as told. "The Daleks need information about current Earth history."
"Yeah, well, I can give you a certain amount of intelligence but nothing that will compromise Homeland security."
"Speech is not necessary. We will extract brainwaves." They begin using their plungers to creep closer to Rajesh. I turned away, knowing what was going to happen.
"Don't! I – I'll tell you everything you need. No. No!" He screams.
His screams cut off, and the Daleks pull back. A dusty corpse falls to the floor. "His mind spoke of a second species invading Earth infected by the superstition of ghosts."
I glared, "You didn't need to kill them."
"Neither did we need him alive."
"Dalek Thay, investigate outside."
"I obey."
After a few moments, their is a view screen appears where the sphere was.
"Identify yourselves."
"You will identify first."
"State your identity."
"You will identify first."
"Identify!"
Mickey whispered in my ear, "It's like Stephen Hawkins meets the Speaking Clock."
"Daleks do not take orders."
"You have been identified as Daleks."
"Outline resembles the inferior species known as cybermen."
"We followed in the wake of your sphere."
"Long range scans confirm the presence of crude cybernetic constructs on worldwide scale."
My phone rings, and I answer it.
"We must protect the Genesis Ark."
"Our species are similar, through your design is inelegant."
We watched as the cybermen proposed an alliance with the Daleks. We also saw the Daleks shoot down the cybermen (literally).
The cyberleader contacts the Daleks directly, and I get a glimpse of the Doctor.
"Wait! Rewind image by nine rells. Identify grid seven gamma frame. This male registers as enemy."
"The female's heartbeat has increased."
"Yeah, tell me about it." Mickey commented. I elbowed him.
"Identify him."
I give Mickey an evil grin before turning to the Daleks. "Alright then. If you really want to know, that's the Doctor. And I'm Balfowd." The Dalek rolls back a little bit. "Five million Cybermen easy. One Doctor, one Balfowd? Now you're scared."
"Cyber threat irrelevant. Concentrate on the Genesis Ark."
"Why are we being kept alive?" Mickey asked.
I swallowed. "They might need me."
"What? What is it?" Mickey asked, looking at my face. He frowns, "I could transport out of here but it only carries one, and I'm not leaving you."
I give him a smile. "You'd follow me anywhere. What did I do to you all those years ago?"
"Guess I'm just stupid."
I laugh, "We're Gryffindors. Stupid, brave, foolhardy. That's us. You're one of the bravest men I've ever met."
"What about the Doctor?"
I laugh, "The Doctor's courageous. You're brave."
"Well, I can't think what the Daleks need with me. I'm nothing to them."
I look around the room, "I've met up with this group before. It caused the Doctor and I to talk about his war, and mine. When you travel in time in the TARDIS, you soak up all this background radiation. It's harmless. It's just there. But in the Time War, the Daleks evolved so they could use it as a power supply."
"I love it when you talk technical." Mickey said with a grin.
I give him a weak glare, "Shut up. If the Daleks have got something inside that thing, and it needs waking up."
"So they need you."
"I can protect myself. And besides, you've travelled in time. Either one of us would do."
Mickey frowned at that knowledge. "But why would they build something they can't open themselves?"
"The technology is stolen. The Ark is not of Dalek design."
I swallow, looking into the eyestalk. "Then who built it?"
"The Time Lords. This is all that survives of their Home World."
"You know, I'm pretty sure you'd be surprised how wrong you are."
"Final stage of awakening."
"Your handprint will open the Ark."
I give them a look. "Well tough, because I'm not doing it."
"Obey or the male will die."
"Obviously you don't know the legends of Balfowd."
Mickey looked a little ill, "Ria, don't."
"Place your hand upon the casket."
"If you escaped the Time War, don't you want to know what happened?"
"Place your hand-"
"What happened to the Emperor?" I asked with a devious grin.
"The Emperor survived?"
I gave a dark grin to the Daleks, working a little magic enough to put up a glamour of 'Mia'. Got to keep the timelines in check, right? "Till he met me. Because if these are going to be my last words, then you're going to listen. I met the Emperor, and I took the Time Vortex and I pulled it into his head and turned him into dust. Do you get that? The God of all Daleks, and I destroyed him. Ha!" I dropped the glamour.
"You will be exterminated!"
The Doctor runs into the room, wearing old-fashioned 3D spectacles. "Oh now, hold on, wait a minute."
"Alert. Alert. You are the Doctor."
"Sensors report he is unarmed."
"That's me, always."
"Then you are powerless."
"Not me. Never." He turns to Mickey and I, "How are you?"
I give him a smile, "Oh, same old. You know."
"Good. And Mickity McMickey. Nice to see you!"
"And you boss."
"Social interaction will cease!"
"How did you survive the Time War?"
"By fighting. On the front line. I was there are the fall of Arcadia. Someday I might even come to terms with that. But you lot ran away!"
"We had to survive."
"The last four Daleks in existence. So, what's so special about you?" The Doctor asked, looking at them.
I frown. "They called themselves the Cult of Skaro. They have names."
Mickey frowned, "Wait didn't you-" I stepped on his foot, which shut him up. I levelled a glare at him once the Doctor's back was turned.
The Daleks introduced themselves. And then Mickey had a question, "Who are they?"
"A secret order above and beyond the Emperor himself. Their job was to imagine, think as the enemy thinks. Even dared to have names. All to find new ways of killing." The Doctor said, darkly.
"But that thing, they said it was yours. I mean, Time Lords. They built it. What does it do?" Mickey asked.
The Doctor did a scan of it with his screwdriver. "I don't know. Never seen it before."
"But it's Time Lord." Mickey protested.
The Doctor frowned, but I answered, "Both sides of a war are allowed to have secrets."
"What is it? What have you done?"
"Time Lord science will restore Dalek supremacy."
I frown, "What does that mean? What sort of Time Lord science? What do you mean?"
"They said one touch from a time traveller will wake it up." Mickey commented.
The Doctor's face went a little darker, "Technology using the one thing a Dalek can't do. Touch. Sealed inside your casing. Not feeling anything ever, from birth to death, locked inside a cold metal cage. Completely alone. That explains your voice. No wonder you scream."
"The Doctor will open the Ark!"
The Doctor laughed, "The Doctor will not."
"You have no way of resisting."
"Well, you got me there. Although there is always this." He said, pulling out his sonic.
The Dalek scanned it, "A sonic probe?"
"That's screwdriver."
"It is harmless."
"Oh, yes. Harmless is just the word. That's why I like it. Doesn't kill, doesn't wound, doesn't maim. But I'll tell you what it does do. It is very good at opening doors." He clicks the switch, and the door to the lab blows in. I get a brief glimpse of Jake and a Cyberman before I duck for cover.
We manage to get out of there, but not before Mickey accidentally touches the ark.
"Jake, check the stairwell. The rest of you, come on." The Doctor said.
Mickey looked horrified. "I jut fell, I didn't mean it!"
The Doctor stopped, looked Mickey in the eyes and said, "Mickey, without us, they'd have opened it by force. To do that, they'd have blown up the sun. You've done us a favour. Now, run!"
We run, catching up with Pete. And Jackie. There is a very touching reunion between them (or, I suppose meeting).
We end up crouching outside a warehouse. "What are they doing? Why do they need to go outside?"
"Time Lord science. What Time Lord science? What is it?"
I swallow, thinking of something, "Doctor, the thing is pretty small, and if they need to go outside to open it then..."
"It's bigger on the inside." The Doctor finished, eyes widening. We run upstairs again.
We get up just in time to see the ship open. "Did the Time Lords put the Daleks in there? What for?"
I swallow, "Probably a prison ship."
"How many?" Pete asked.
The Doctor swallowed. "Millions."
Pete frowned, "I'm sorry, but you've had it. This world's going to crash and burn. There's nothing we can do. We're going home." He takes a yellow medallion from one of the others. "Jacks, take this. You're coming with us."
"But they're destroying the city." Jackie argued.
Pete laughed, "I'd forgotten you could argue. It's not just London. It's the whole world. But there's another world just waiting for you, Jacks. And it's safe as long as the Doctor closes the breach. Doctor?"
The Doctor turns around, still wearing his glasses. "Oh, I'm ready. I've got the equipment right here. Thank you, Torchwood." He runs over to a computer terminal. "Slam it down and close off both universes."
"Reboot systems."
I give him a look, "But we can't just leave. What about the Daleks? And the Cybermen?"
"They're part of the problem, and that makes them part of the solution. Oh yes! Well?" He pauses, frowning, "Isn't anyone going to ask what is it with the glasses?"
I roll my eyes at his antics, "What is it with the glasses?"
"I can see, that's what. Because we've got two separate worlds, but in between the worlds, we've got the Void. That's where the Daleks were hiding. And the Cybermen travelled through the Void to get here. And you lot, one world to another, via the Void. Oh, I like that. Via the Void. Look." He passes the glasses to me. "I've been through it. Do you see?"
I look through them, and see particles floating around him. I glance at my hand. More particles. "What is it?"
"Void stuff."
I nod, "Like background radiation."
"That's it. Look at the others. And the only one who hasn't been through the Void, your mother. First time she's looked normal all in her life."
"Oi!"
"But the Daleks lived inside the Void. They're bristling with it. Cybermen, all of them. I just open the Void and reverse. The Void stuff gets sucked back inside."
I nod, "Pulling them all in!"
He echos me. Mickey frowns. "Sorry, what's the Void?"
"The dead space. Some people call it Hell."
Mickey laughs, "So, you're sending the Daleks and Cybermen to Hell. Man, I told you he was good."
"But it's like you said. We've all got Void stuff. Me too, because we went to that parallel world. We're all contaminated. We'll get pulled in."
The Doctor frowned, "That's why you've got to go." He looks at me, "Back to Pete's world. Hey, we should call it that. Pete's world. I'm opening the Void, but only on this side. You'll be safe on that side."
"And then you close it for good?" Pete cuts in.
The Doctor nods. "The breach itself is soaked in Void stuff. In the end it'll close itself. And that's it. Kaput."
I look at him, "But you stay on this side?"
"But you'll get pulled in." Mickey protested.
"That's why I got these." He holds up a megaclamp. "I'll just have to hold on tight. I've been doing it all my life."
I give him a look. "I'm supposed to go."
"Yeah."
"To another world, and then it gets sealed off."
"Yeah."
"Forever." He nods, I snarl, "That's not going to happen." The building shakes.
Pete sighs, "We haven't got time to argue. The plan works. We're going. You too. All of us."
"No, I'm not leaving here." I say turning to Pete.
Jackie glares, "I'm not going without her."
"Oh, my God. We're going!"
Jackie hisses, "I've had twenty years without you, so button it. I'm not leaving her."
"You've got to." I say, looking at Jackie.
She glares at me, "Well, that's tough."
"Mum." I give her a look. "I've had a life with you, but then I met the Doctor, and all the things I've seen him do for me, for you, for all of us. For the whole stupid planet and every planet out there. He does it alone, mum. But not anymore, because now he's got me." I feel something go around my neck, and I turn and see the Doctor place a medallion on me. "What're you-"
And then I get sucked through universes.
I snarl, glaring at everyone, and pound the button, muttering, "Oh, no, you don't He's not doing that to me again."
The Doctor honestly looks surprised to see me. "Once the breach collapses, that's it. You will never be able to see her again. Your own mother!"
I glare at him, "I made my choice long ago, and I'm not going to leave you." I swallow, I'll chew him out later for sending me back against my will. "So what can I do to help?"
He grits his teeth. "Those coordinates over there, set them all to six. And hurry up."
I go to the terminal and remove the medallion. I glance at the security feeds. "We've got cybermen on the way up."
"How many floors down?"
I swallow, "Just one."
The computer intoned that the levers we operational.
"That's more like it. Bit of a smile. The old team."
He laughs, "Hope and Glory. Mutt and Jeff. Shiver and Shake."
"Which one's Shiver?" I ask, grinning.
He laughs, handing me a magnaclamp. "Oh, I'm Shake." We put them on the walls. "Press the red button."
I do as told.
"When it starts, just hold on tight. Shouldn't be too bad for us, but the Daleks and the Cybermen are steeped in Void stuff. Are you ready?"
I swallow, looking out the window, "So are they."
"Let's do it!" We push the levers then grab the clamps.
"Online."
"The breach is open. Into the Void! Ha!"
"Offline."
The suction starts slowing. I let go of the clamp and grab the lever, Pulling it until it's locked.
"Rose, hold on! Hold on!" The Doctor yells. My feet rise off the ground and I get a bit of vertigo. My fingers start slipping. I see the Doctor reaching for me, but them I feel my fingers loose purchase on the lever. I see him, I see his face. He's horrified. Arms wrap around me, and then I collapsed into the wall.
I was saved.
But I was on the wrong side.