Author's Note: Hmm, uploading looks different today, no formatting options. Anyway, sorry to leave you hanging in the midst of an adventure. Here's the end of it. Enjoy. Furthermore, 400 reviews, woohoo! Pretty psyched. Lastly, I'm also uploading a Sherlock crossover piece which takes place shortly before the start of BW&LM. Feel free to check it out.
Disclaimer: Not mine, don't own.
They ended up, as Donna predicted, in the sewers.
"Uh oh." Rose said. They were peering around the corner of the sewers. The main entrance was heavily guarded by Cybermen, and, as Rose discovered, they'd set up patrols. Which had now detected the intruders.
The woman Rose and Donna had seen stood amongst the shiny steel creatures, looking haughty and unconcerned.
The Doctor talked with her while Rose searched for a way out of the tunnel. Something was blocking her ability to shift. She grimaced. Bloody timelines.
"Haha!" A voice interrupted her schemes as Jackson Lake and Rosita descended on the creatures with a plethora of infostamps.
"Run! Come on!" The Doctor yelled.
"One last thing." Donna said with a grimace. She stomped up to the rather more concerned Miss Hartigan and punched her in the face.
Rose grinned at her and Rosita laughed. "Was gonna do that m'self." The Victorian woman told Donna.
Jackson Lake led the group into the sewage works through the basement of his new house.
"No." Donna gasped as they entered the building. The boilers were hot and running, managed by dozens upon dozens of swarming children.
"A workforce." The Doctor said grimly, "The power levels are rising. Oh!" He thumped himself on the head. "We need to get the children out of here. But if they stop working the Cybermen will come. But once they have enough power, they won't need the children anymore."
"Doctor, calm down. We'll fix it, yeah?" Rose said.
He nodded quickly. "No, wait. It's fluctuating. Changing. Something's different."
"It's almost to a hundred." Jackson said.
"The children, Doctor?" Donna called.
"Get them out." The Doctor ordered.
Donna yelled at the children and Rosita led them in a stream out of the factory just as the cybermen descended into the vault. Rose and Jackson fired infostamps at the metal men, effectively eliminating the group which had been sent to remove the children.
"My son, Doctor, my son!" Jackson cried out, staring towards the ceiling.
"What?" The Doctor hollered back.
"They took my son. No wonder my mind escaped. Those damned Cybermen, they took my child! But he's alive, Doctor. Frederick!" He cried out, jubilant at this development. "I'm coming, Frederick." He called up to the boy, who stood immobilized with fear.
A small explosion threw him back. When he regained his feet, Rose already stood on the platform, boosting Frederick onto her back. She swung down to the floor again and handed off the boy, who was sobbing softly, to his father.
"Shall we go now?" Rose asked.
The Doctor grinned and grabbed her hand. They ran from the factory with the Lakes close behind. The Doctor stopped, almost yanking Rose's arm from its socket. Jackson raced passed them, holding Frederick tightly.
"Come on, Doctor. Hurry up!" He called back.
The Doctor plucked something from the device he called the dimension vault with a mutter and yielded to Rose's tugs on his arm, finishing fleeing the factory.
"It's a Cyberking." The Doctor said faintly as they watched the giant, steampunk, man stride about, silhouetted against the London skyline.
"And a Cyberking is what?" Jackson asked.
The Doctor opened his mouth, but Rose stopped him. "More importantly," She said, "How do we stop it?"
"Rose Tyler," The Doctor said with a grin, "You always ask the right questions." He turned to Jackson Lake, "You, take your son to safety. I believe I will need to borrow your Tardis."
Rose raised an eyebrow. What was Lake's Tardis?
"You'll see." The Doctor muttered. "Now go!" He told Lake and ran off again, pulling Rose with him.
They rushed back to the stables. "We need more infostamps." The Doctor said as he threw open a trunk and began to search through. Rose joined him.
"Here!" Rose tossed him a bandolier of infostamps and strapped one of her own on. The Doctor rushed to the door. He ran into another man who was hurrying inside.
"Jeb, perfect! Come with me." The Doctor exclaimed.
"I'm not going out there, no, sir."
"I'll give you five pounds."
"Alright."
Rose stopped dead in the open courtyard. The balloon that stood before her was magnificent. Large and graceful, and painted the loveliest shade of blue.
"Tethered Aerial Release Developed In Style." The Doctor yelled to her, climbing into the basket. "I'll be back soon."
"Oh know you don't." Rose sprinted to the balloon and vaulted into the basket. "There is no way you are leaving me behind!"
The Doctor looked at her and opened his mouth to protest.
"Good luck to you sir, miss!" Jeb called as he released the balloon from the ground.
The Doctor growled faintly and heaved a sandbag up from the floor. Rose helped and they quickly ascended to a point level with the mouth of the Cyberking.
The Doctor was unsuccessful in his negotiations with Miss Hartigan. Rose wasn't surprised. The woman gave off an aura of feeling that she was better than everyone around her. Given the amount of control she had over the Cybermen, it was likely that the woman was, in fact, much smarter than those around her. The Doctor was an exception that she wasn't used to considering. It hurt to watch her throw away her life because of the bitterness forced on her childhood, but Rose helped the Doctor shoot away the connections anyway.
The Doctor activated the bit of the dimension vault. Rose flinched. She wasn't quite expecting the sensation of a hole forcing its way into the time vortex. After a moment, she helped it along. She marked the remains of the cybermen so that they'd stay in the vortex forever. If they were ripped from it, they would decay into dust and atoms.
On the ground, they faced a grateful Rosita and Jackson, as well as a soaking and stinking Donna. Donna glared at the Doctor furiously.
"You." She leveled a finger at him, "Are going to take me somewhere nice."
"Donna? What happened?" He sputtered.
"One of those ungrateful little wretches wasn't watching where he went! He ran into me, knocked me clean off my feet."
"And straight into the sewer." Rose guessed, hiding her mirth behind a hand. "Better get you cleaned up."
"I suppose then," Jackson said, "That you won't be staying for Christmas dinner?"
The Doctor shook his head. "We have places to be, my friend. Well done, though, if anyone had to be the Doctor, I'm glad it was you. Now stay out of trouble and look after your family."
Donna led the way, stomping, back to the Tardis.
Cool, now check out 'Killing Spiders', my Sherlock crossover.