I'm so, so sorry I haven't updated this in ages - I hope this chapter makes up for it. Back with more Rory/Sarah drama, the three fierce girls unite (I really should've put more arguing) and the Doctor finally unites with Clara . . . Plus, the winner of my vote is revealed!
Rory slowly raised his head. His vision was swimming with blurs and flashes, crawling back into vision in front of him. The shoulder-length flow of Sarah's brown hair slipped into clarity as she too fluttered her eyes open.
"Are you alright?" Rory stuttered to Sarah.
"Ah . . . My head," she muttered, slumped up against a wall.
"Here. Let me help," Rory offered, crawling over beside Sarah. Her peered towards her head, revealing a small trickle of blood. "It must be cut. Nothing to worry about but it'll clean it up a bit." Using the small bottle of water from his pocket and an unused tissue, Rory cleaned up the wound on Sarah's head.
"Thank you."
"No problem. It's all sorted now. Make sure you get it checked over later."
"Where are we?"
Rory looked around him. The whole room was glowing with blue light through the metal room, occasionally flashing with orange and turquoise lights. He coughed. "I dunno. The Cybermen got up. We must be back in their base."
"They've changed appearance since the last time I've met them," Sarah recalled.
"I know, right," Rory agreed.
"Did you get to call UNIT?" Rory asked.
"Yeah," Sarah nodded. "They're on their way. Let's just hope the Cybermen don't have plans to kill us quickly."
"Afternoon, ladies."
Donna pulled her head up out of its slump, looking up at the figure at the entrance of the cell door. Gwen staggered to her feet, a little dazed and confused.
"Who are you?" Gwen asked, half spitting it out.
"A woman here to help you. Quick. We must leave now. The guards think they're floating in purple clouds with candy canes and a sphinx made from lollipop sticks, but that'll only last for another minute or so – I do love my lipstick," the woman grinned.
"What the hell are you talking about? You are a right nutter!" Gwen cried.
"Don't worry," Donna stuttered. "I recognise her. It's you, isn't it? The woman from the Library. Professor River Song!"
River's grin fell to a frown. "How do you remember me? The Doctor said that you'd forgotten; your memory would burn if you remembered."
"I dunno. I remember that – the Doctor wiping my memory – and now I can remember everything. My head doesn't even hurt. How is it possible?" Donna asked.
"I haven't a clue," River gulped. "Seventy nine to the power of four?"
Donna shrugged. "Why the hell are you asking me that?"
"Just checking something."
"Checking what?"
"The Doctordonna," River replied. "You no longer have a Time Lord's mind. You're just Donna. Donna and her memories without a trace of Time Lord."
"How did that happen?" Gwen gasped.
"Maybe the Doctor got it wrong?" Donna suggested. "He obviously got it wrong about you."
"What do you mean by that?" River asked, turning to Donna.
"Well," Donna stuttered, "he said that you . . . He said that . . ."
"What did he say?" River snapped.
"He said that-"
"Stop!" Gwen cried, silencing Donna before she could say anything else.
"You know too?" River asked Gwen.
"Yes. Yes I do. And we cannot say," Gwen insisted.
"Why not?" River worried. "What's going to happen to me at the Library?"
"Nothing!" Gwen snapped. "You have to understand that we cannot say anything. Now, go on. Tell us what we need to do now."
River gulped, putting her confusion and worry aside. "Something's going on. The Doctor's gone to sort it out but he's sent me to get you out of here first. Sontarans, Cybermen, Daleks, Vashta Nerada – not a scratch on the British legal system. Come on, let's go!" River, with a gesture for the others to follow, left the cell.
Gwen turned to Donna. "You can't tell her. You can't tell her that she's going to die."
"But if we tell her, she doesn't have to die!" Donna argued.
"If she doesn't die at the Library, then the Doctor will die in her place. She has to go," Gwen replied. "Neither of us can say a word. Now come one!"
The Torchwood van parked. Out stepped Clara, Jack, Sally and Larry, slamming the black doors shut as they stared up into the soft clouds amongst the blue sky. Above them, the large white wheel slowly rotated – the London Eye. They stood on the small rectangle of grass before it, staring up into the pods that spun with it.
"What do we do now? Just get on at the next pod?" Clara asked.
"I think so," Jack replied.
"He's a bit mystical, isn't he," Sally grinned. "Anyone else and this wouldn't work. He's sent us a message from decades ago to be at a certain place and a certain time – and this is the second time for us."
"Anyone got any money?" Larry asked.
"For what?" Clara wondered.
"To pay for a go," Larry answered.
Jack laughed. "We don't need tickets. We're Torchwood. We have the authority to stop it spinning at a moment's notice."
"No you don't. We're not that gullible," Clara giggled.
"You'd be surprised," Jack grinned.
"You're saying that I'm gullible?" Clara argued.
"No, I meant that you'd be surprised by our authority . . . But yeah, you are incredibly gullible," Jack joked.
"It's two twenty six," Sally said, gesturing to her watch. "We should make a move."
"Agreed," Jack nodded, "come on."
Jack led Clara, Sally and Larry to the front of the queue, silently pushing past tourists with one flourish of his Torchwood ID. At the precise moment their watches synced at two twenty seven, they stepped into the glass walled pod and the door was shut behind them.
A lonely man sat in the pod . . . He faces outwards into the Thames, a soft glow of grey and white rippling over his shadowed body as he simply sat and stared and waited.
"Excuse me," Jack called, "this space is currently owned by Torchwood. Could you please exit the pod?"
The lonely man turned – first a little shuffle, then spinning his whole body around to face them. His hair was dark and flopping over to a side. He wore tweed under his large chin – a large red bowtie hung between them. A smile split across his face.
"Jack!" the Doctor beamed, running up to shake Jack's hand, who reluctantly wet through with it, his eyebrows raised.
"You know me?" Jack muttered, pulling his hand away from the Doctor.
"Yes! Of course you do. It's me!" the Doctor grinned, waving his hands about in the air. "Good old Eleven! A bit different from the last one but I did hope you'd recognise me."
"Eleven?" Sally stuttered. "As in, eleventh incarnation?"
"And it's you two!" the Doctor laughed jumping into Sally in a large hug. "Sally Sparrow, how's the Angels? And Larry!" the Doctor beamed, shaking Larry's confused hand. "Lovely couple!"
"You're the Doctor?" Larry clarified.
"Yeah! It's me!"
"I remember now . . ." Jack recalled. "I met you and the blonde woman back in the War. But you said you were time agents?"
"Rule one: the Doctor lies," Clara remembered.
"You gave me that folder to make. Why?" Jack asked.
"Got it on you?" the Doctor wondered.
"Here," Larry said, holding it up.
"Excellent!" he cried, grabbing the folder from Larry's hands, licking his lips with enthusiastic, glimmering eyes.
"Regenerated, then," Jack muttered. "You look . . . Young."
"Oh. Thank you," the Doctor grinned, flaunting his hair.
"Nice chin."
"I'm glad you noticed."
"Ok," Clara began, moving along the conversation, "what's going on? This file, what's it all about?"
The Doctor turned to Clara – his expression was blank, a slight glimmer of curiosity. "Oh . . . Hello," he stuttered. "Do I know you? Timelines – sorry but this might be a bit confusing."
Clara raised an eyebrow to the Doctor. "Yes, you know me. Clara?"
The Doctor's confusion remained on his face. "Ah!" he cried. "It was you! The woman I attacked – well, the woman the Zygon attacked – in that street. I'm so sorry! You must be so confused by all of this!"
"No, not really," Clara frowned, "I'm used to all of this."
"Really?" the Doctor asked, intrigued. "How so?"
Clara's expression dropped, all hope fading. "You really don't remember me?"
The Doctor frowned. "I'm so sorry . . . Did I mean something to you?"
A small smile broke across Clara's face. "Yes. Yes you did."
"Who are you, Clara?"
Clara stuttered a little, unsure of how to answer. "An impossible girl."
"An impossible girl? And what does that mean?"
"You'll have fun working it out."
"Oooh," the Doctor giggled, rubbing his hands together. "I like you!"
Clara was left, watery-eyed, as the Doctor danced to the centre of the pod, laying the papers from the file out across the table. Jack stood beside Clara, rubbing her arm in sympathy.
"You'll have to tell him at some point," Jack reminded her.
"I know," Clara stuttered. "I just don't think I can say it now. All this time travelling with him and now he's suddenly forgot . . . He doesn't have a clue who I am . . ."
"OH MY GOD!" Artie screamed, retreated back from the approaching Zygon.
"Shoot it!" Angie cried.
"There are no more bullets!" Rex shouted, pulling Angie and Artie back from the Zygon as it hissed at them.
"We're dead, aren't we?" Artie whimpered.
"No! Don't say that!" Rex cried, wrapping his arms around the two children as he shielded them.
"The Doctor will save us," Angie willed, crying onto her brother's head as she hid.
"Close your eyes," Rex instructed them calmly, his voice trembling.
"Please . . ." Artie begged.
"Spare them! They're just children!" Rex pleaded.
"Prepare for your death!" the Zygon hissed.
Suddenly, there was a large burst of red light. The large metal doors to the Torchwood Hub were blown from their hinges, flickering with flames as they were flung to the ground, sparking. A bolt of red light was fired, sending the Zygon to the floor in a violent force of energy. Rex, Angie and Artie watched, teary-eyed, as the thick smoke cleared.
Two figures stood valiantly in the smoking doorway, one small and one taller. One a dog and one a woman. A metal and a woman with her hair tied back and a large gun in her arms.
K-9 and Ace!
. . . . What will happen next? The Doctor finally realises the Zygon plan and River makes her own discoveries. Please review! :)