Sam and Dean stood at attention as the Doctor came out of the house a while later, but carrying an unconscious woman with fiery red hair.
"Could you get the door to the TARDIS?" he asked, looking up at them with his ancient eyes. Sam quickly obliged, and he and Dean followed the Doctor and the woman into the TARDIS and shut the door.
"So who is this?" Dean inquired, watching the woman as the Doctor set her on the floor of the TARDIS.
The Doctor jumped, and he seemed to look at Dean with new eyes. "She'll wake up soon," he said. "This is Donna Noble."
"Donna Noble," Dean repeated. "Okay, what's she doing here?"
The Doctor chewed his tongue for a moment, before saying, "She's wrapped up in this, just as much as you are."
"What, did an angel pull her out of hell too?" Dean half-joked.
"Not quite," the Doctor said softly, then appeared startled. "What, is that what happened to you?"
"Yeah. His name's Cas. I guess this means we're still exclusive then," Dean deadpanned.
The Doctor gasped. "Castiel. Yes, he was the one who left Raphael to go…" his eyes seemed to travel around Dean's face, inspecting every inch of him until Dean felt uncomfortable. "…to go and find you." The Doctor then pressed a few buttons on the control panel-the "TARDIS mainframe" Dean heard him mumble-before he said, "Castiel is on our side of this."
"Side? What are the sides?" Sam queried. "I mean, it's all the angels in heaven-and us-against just Lucifer, right?"
"Wrong," the Doctor said. "You really don't know anything, it seems."
"Then tell us," Dean growled.
The Doctor shook his head. "I don't think it's my place. I think our paths crossed by accident at this point, and I'll most likely run into you later when we both know more, but for now I think I should leave you in hands more capable of dealing with you." The Doctor pulled a lever, and the TARDIS lurched for several moments until stopping.
The Doctor brushed past Sam and Dean and opened the door into an alleyway. "Cardiff," he said shortly, before striding out of the alley into the sunlight. Sam and Dean, after casting a glance at Donna, followed him.
The Doctor glanced back at Sam and Dean. "Won't be long now," he said matter-of-factly. Sam and Dean exchanged a look, not knowing what they were waiting for.
Gradually, a faint noise came to their ears. It grew louder and louder, until it could be perceived as a cry: "Doooctoooooor!"
"Sam, Dean, this is Captain Jack Harkness," the Doctor said drily.
Captain Jack Harkness came sprinting around a bend in the buildings, screaming the Doctor's name as his coat whipped out behind him. His frenzied eyes passed right over the three of them, but Dean couldn't tell what he was looking for.
"Jack," the Doctor called to him. Their eyes met, and Jack slowed his pace to a trot. He came up to the Doctor.
"Who might you be?" he asked, not wary in the least but boundlessly curious.
"The Doctor, Jack," the Doctor said in an exasperated voice. "I've regenerated."
Jack's face split into a wide grin. "Doctor?" he shrieked, and picked up the Doctor into a bear hug.
The Doctor couldn't stop a tired smile. "It's been a while, hasn't it, Jack?"
Jack set him down, his face serious. "You just left me at the bar that one night…with that guy, Alonso. And I haven't seen you since."
The Doctor nodded. "Yes, I realize I should have kept in touch. But listen, it's important."
Jack nodded. "Anything you need me to do, I'll do." Dean was struck by the absolute loyalty that this man had for the Doctor.
The Doctor sighed, and said, "It's Donna. Something's happening with the angels, but to make a long story short, I had to make her remember."
Jack bit his lip. "Everything?"
"She doesn't remember the DoctorDonna. But it was dangerous for her to remember anything at all, and now she's practically a time bomb," the Doctor said heavily. "But the angels need her for…well, reasons," he said, and jerked his head towards Sam and Dean.
Jack seemed to notice Sam and Dean for the first time. A smile flashed onto his face, and he held out his hand. "Hi," he said in a smooth voice, shaking Dean's hand and then Sam's. "Captain Jack Harkness."
The Doctor hit him in the shoulder. "Not now, Jack."
Jack shrugged. "What? I was just shaking their hands."
"Just…no."
That aspect of the conversation ended, leaving Dean with the uneasy feeling he had just been hit on.
"Jack, I have another problem, though." The Doctor fidgeted. "I'm supposed to hand over Donna and Dean to the angels-"
"Hold on, what?" Dean interjected, but the Doctor waved him off.
"-because they're currently holding my friend Clara in a sort of…hostage situation."
"Not for long," Jack said, bouncing on his heels. "If you give me a couple minutes, I can bring you something that might help."
"Okay, Jack."
Jack was off and running again, and Dean took the opportunity to explode at the Doctor.
"I know I'm supposed to be here to do 'God's will,' but I don't see what handing me over to the angels has to do with it!"
The Doctor eyed him gravely. "I hate to break it to you, Dean, but I don't think God had much to do with you being…what? Brought back from hell? It's not his will the angels are playing out, it's their own."
"Yeah, I figured as much, which is why I don't want anything to do with them. If we're going to stop Lucifer, we're going to do it our way."
"I agree," the Doctor said. "But like I said before, I don't think I'm the one who should be explaining all of this to you." He watched the street corner, and once he saw Jack running back, weighed down with something, he said, "As soon as I'm gone, I think you should call Castiel."
"As soon as you're gone?" Sam said incredulously. "So you're just leaving us here?"
"It's for the best," the Doctor said. "We'll meet again soon, I'm sure."
"Here they are," Jack panted as he stopped in front of the Doctor. The Doctor eyed what Jack was holding. They looked like…guns. Dean was surprised. The Doctor didn't really strike him as the violent type.
"We have to go, Jack," the Doctor said urgently.
"Ready when you are, Doctor," he said excitedly. The two of them raced through the front doors of the TARDIS, and with its strange whizzing noise, the TARDIS faded from view.
Sam and Dean were left with their mouths agape. Eventually, Sam said, "He just left us here. In the middle of…England." He shot a quick glimpse at Dean. "We need to call Castiel."
"Definitely." Dean looked up to the sky. "Cas, get your feathery ass to England right now."
"Dean." Sam and Dean whipped around and saw Cas leaning in the alleyway, clutching his side. He was covered in blood. It soaked through his shirt and ran in rivulets down his face.
"Cas?" Dean said, alarmed, and moved automatically toward Cas.
"It's not…safe for me to be around you," Cas grunted, sliding slowly down the alley wall. "The angels are looking for you. I've been fighting off the ones that get close, but with me here, they'll have no doubt."
"Damn it, Cas," Dean hissed, rubbing his jaw. "We need answers, and pronto."
"Dean," Sam admonished, "he's obviously not in any state to answer any questions."
"I'll do my best," Cas groaned, moving his hand from his side, looking faintly sick when it came away completely red.
"What am I doing here, man?" Dean said, shaking his head. "I thought it was God's will that you pulled me out for."
"So did I," Cas answered. "I've been gleaning information, and I think I understand what's going on. The angels want to destroy the Earth with the apocalypse so they can have it for themselves. The apocalypse is brought on by the fight between Michael and Lucifer. Michael and Lucifer need human vessels, though, and that's where you come in." Cas shifted, and gritted his teeth when more blood came oozing out of his wounds. "Dean, you are the Michael sword. You are Michael's vessel."
"Well, maybe I don't want to be Michael's vessel," Dean said automatically.
Cas shifted. "That's the whole catch. A vessel has to say yes to being possessed by an angel. So conceivably, if you kept denying Michael, it could buy us some time."
"And Lucifer needs a vessel, too," Sam concluded.
"I heard the name when I was still in good graces with Raphael," Cas said. "Donna Noble."
"Donna Noble?" Sam gasped. "The Doctor has Lucifer's vessel, then!"
"So you've met the Doctor." Cas's breathing was becoming more labored. "He and Donna Noble had a history, and he is the reason that she became the choice for Lucifer's vessel. Tragic, but true. But the Doctor is not our enemy in this. He doesn't want to see the human race destroyed any more than we do. I just hope we'll meet up with him again."
The three were quiet for a few moments, until Dean said, "Hey, Cas…so what did happen with Donna and the Doctor?"
Cas sighed. "I don't have all the details," he said, raising his eyes to the sky, "but I know it has to do with Donna's mind becoming almost merged with the Doctor's…"
"Ready, Doctor?"
The Doctor shifted as he held his weapon. "And you said this was made to stun angels, right? Only stun them?"
Jack laughed. "Of course. There's no way in heck I'd hand you a lethal weapon, Doctor. You're reserved enough as it is to use a practically painless method of getting your friend back."
The Doctor shifted. "I just never thought…I never thought it would come to this," he said sadly, looking at Donna on the floor of the TARDIS, her mind still poking at the new memories that had come flooding through the wall.
"Come on," Jack said, and opened the doors of the TARDIS.
They were back in the field in which Clara had first been taken.
The Doctor took a deep breath. "And you said Martha and Mickey?"
"I sent them a message," Jack replied. "They've been making preparations just in case the apocalypse really is nigh. You know Martha, she practically is the British government. They're loading the nuclear bunkers and warning citizens and everything."
The Doctor nodded. "Good." Martha. Defender of humanity, as always. He closed his eyes. "Raphael, it's been done."
No sooner did the two angels and one human appear than did Jack shoot both of them. Raphael and Uriel both collapsed, alive but unconscious, while Clara fell over too, still tight in Uriel's grip.
"Um, Doctor," she said, kicking her feet a little bit.
The Doctor dropped his stun gun, feeling guilty pleasure that Jack had done all the stunning and not him. Jack walked over, wrenched Uriel from off of Clara, and swept her into his arms.
"Hi. Captain Jack Harkness."
"Jack."
"Sorry, Doctor."
Jack put Clara back on the ground, and she smoothed out her dress. "Nice to meet you, Jack," she said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear and giving a shy smile.
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Well, Clara, you have a bit of catching up to do," he said.
"I never really followed in the first place," Clara admitted, and the three of them returned to the TARDIS.