Through Thick and Thin

The Stolen Earth

The TARDIS landed in a quiet suburban street. The Doctor, Donna and Shareen all promptly rushed out of the box. "It's fine..." the Doctor breathed, frantically looking around at their surroundings. "Everything's fine. Nothing's wrong, all fine! 'Scuse me," he called to a passing milkman, "what day is it?"

"Saturday." the milkman answered.

"Saturday, good." the Doctor nodded. "Good, I like Saturdays."

"So, I just met Rose Tyler?" Donna asked, the Doctor having explained about Bad Wolf on the way over from Shan Shen.

"Yeah." the Doctor confirmed.

"But she's s'posed to be stuck on that parallel world." Shareen reminded. "I mean, don't get me wrong, it'd be great to see her again, but you said that she was stuck there forever."

"Exactly." the Doctor replied seriously. "If she can cross from her parallel world to Donna's parallel world, then that means the walls of the universe are breakin' down. Which puts everything in danger, everything! But how?!"
He dashed back into the TARDIS, Donna following him.

Shareen made to follow them when her attention was caught by a rattling sound. She looked round to see the bottles on the milk float vibrating. Then the ground began to shake. "What's happening?" she asked.

"Dunno." the confused milkman replied as the shakes got worse. Flower pots tumbled over, window panes rattled and the whole Earth seemed to be wobbling.

~8~

In the TARDIS, the Doctor began working at the console, blissfully unaware that the liquid in the jar containing his severed hand was starting to bubble. "Thing is, Doctor..." Donna began, trying to lighten the ominous mood, "no matter what's happening, and I'm... I'm sure it's bad, I get that. But... Rose is coming back. Isn't that good?

Full of worrying thoughts, the Doctor just stared at her for a moment, then realising that he might get to see Rose again, he cheered up. "Yeah." he said shortly.

Suddenly, the TARDIS shuddered violently, knocking them both to the floor. "What the hell was that?!" Donna spluttered as they picked themselves up.

"That came from outside." the Doctor realised and rushed to the doors. He opened them to find nothing but space and floating asteroids outside.

"But... we're in space." Donna burst out. "How did that happen? What did you do?" she asked the Doctor as he ran back to the console.

The Doctor checked the monitor. "We haven't moved, we're fixed." he noted. "Can't have... no!" He ran back to the door. "The TARDIS is still in the same place, but the Earth has gone." he told Donna. "The entire planet. It's gone." And they could both only stare out at the empty space in horror and disbelief.

~8~

Far across the universe, in a U.N.I.T office in New York, Martha Jones recovered from the impact. "What was that?" she groaned as she picked herself up and looked at the mess the room was in. "Was it some sort of earthquake or... Jolandra, are you alright?" she asked a colleague.

"Yeah, I'm alright." Jolandra confirmed.

"Is anyone hurt?" Martha called as she got to her feet, her medical training kicking in. "We've lost power, someone get the lights back on. DeCosta, see to it right now!" Then she noticed another colleague looking worriedly out the window. "Suzanne, are you ok?"

"Martha, look at the sky." Suzanne told her worriedly.

"Why, what is it?"

"Just look at the sky!"

~8~

In the Torchwood hub in Cardiff, Jack Harkness got to his feet. "Whoa! What happened?" he groaned as he looked at the state the room was in. "Must be the rift. "Gwen, Ianto, you ok?" he called to his colleagues.

Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones were both lying on the floor nearby. "No broken bones." Ianto groaned, nursing his sore head. "Slight loss of dignity. No change there, then."

"The whole city must've felt that." Gwen mumbled, getting to her feet. "The whole of South Wales."

"I'm gonna take a look outside." Jack said, heading for the hub's exit while Gwen and Ianto checked their instruments.

"Bit bigger than South Wales." Ianto stared as he looked at his screen.

~8~

In the loft of 13 Bannerman Road, Ealing, London, Sarah Jane Smith and her adopted son Luke, a boy genius made by the Bane, recovered from the apparent earthquake. "Luke, are you alright?" Sarah Jane asked her son.

Luke nodded. "Felt like some sort of cross-dimensional spatial transference." he noted as he got to his feet.

Sarah Jane looked out of the window. It was dark outside. "But it's night." she frowned. "It wasn't night, it was eight o'clock in the morning! Mr Smith, I need you."
The chimney breast opened up to reveal a futuristic supercomputer, a fanfare playing.
"Can you just stop giving that fanfare?" Sarah Jane grumbled. "You just tell me what happened."

"Sarah Jane, I think you should look outside." Mr Smith told her. "I think you'll find the visual evidence most conclusive."

~8~

In Chiswick, Wilfred Mott and Sylvia Noble stood outside their house, Wilfred carrying a cricket bat. "It's gone dark." he said grimly. "It's them aliens, I'll bet my pension! What d'you want this time, you green swine?!" he yelled out to no one in particular.

Sylvia looked to the sky "Dad..." she said worriedly.

"Look, you get back inside, Sylvia." Wilfred told his daughter, his military training kicking in. "They always want the women!"

"No, dad, just look. Oh my God, just look at the sky!" Sylvia urged him.
Wilfred looked to the sky and his eyes widened in horror.

Ealing

"That's impossible." Sarah Jane breathed in horror as she and Luke looked out of their window at the sky.

Cardiff

"That's just not possible." Jack murmured in shock as he looked at the sky.

New York

Martha and her team looked out of the window with shocked expressions. "It can't be..." Martha whispered in horror.

~8~

"You alright, love?" the milkman asked Shareen as he helped her to stand.

"Yeah, I think so." Shareen replied groggily. "Ooh, blimey, what was that?!" She looked round to see that the TARDIS had gone. "Cosmic." she groaned.

The milkman meanwhile looked upwards. "Look..." he breathed anxiously.

Shareen followed his gaze and her eyes widened. "What the hell?!" she stared.
The sky was pitch black and full of planets, so close to Earth that they could be seen with the naked eye.
Then she heard a strange electrical buzzing and turned to see a blonde woman in a blue bomber jacket appear out of thin air, carrying an enormous futuristic-looking gun. "Rose!" she gasped.

It was indeed Rose Tyler. "Hello, 'Reen." she grinned. "Long time no see." She looked to the sky without a bit of surprise. "Right, now we're in trouble." she said grimly, cocking her gun. "It's only just beginning."

Shareen managed to snap out of her shock. "But... but how're you here, Rose?" she asked. "Peacock said that there was no way to travel between universes."

"Yeah, well, we found a way to make it possible." Rose smirked. "Where is the Doctor, anyway?" she asked, looking around at the empty street.

"I dunno. The TARDIS was here a moment ago." Shareen replied. "Hang on..." She took out her mobile phone and dialled Donna's number. "Damn! No answer." she groaned. "We're on our own!"

"We've got to find the Doctor." Rose said grimly. "I'm afraid this is only the beginning. Something's coming. How've ya been, anyway, 'Reen?" she asked suddenly.

"Uh, I'm alright." a somewhat perplexed Shareen replied. "It's... it's good to see ya again, Rose."

"Oh, come here!" Rose laughed, setting down her gun and opening her arms out.

Shareen promptly launched herself at Rose and the two old friends hugged each other tightly. "Oh, I've missed you, Rose." Shareen said softly into her friend's shoulder. "I thought I'd never see ya again!"

"I've missed ya too, 'Reen." Rose reciprocated. "Shireen's alright but she's not the same as you. Oh, 'Reen, I'm sorry for what I said to ya back at Torchwood." she sighed. "You didn't walk out on ya family; they drove you out."

"It's ok, Rose, it's ok." Shareen said as they broke apart. "I ran into Zara again a few months ago, ya know. Still a complete bitch. Anyway, what about you? How're you doing? And Jackie and Mickey?"

"Fine. They're both fine." Rose replied. "I mean, Mickey's nan passed away, I'm afraid, but he an' Mum are both ok. Anyway, we need to get goin'. We've gotta find a computer, find out what's happening."
And so the two old friends set off on their mission.

~8~

In the TARDIS, the Doctor and Donna were still in shock from the Earth's disappearance. "But if the Earth's been moved, they've lost the sun!" Donna gasped in horror, tears forming in her eyes. "What about my mum? Granddad? An-and Shareen? They're dead, aren't they?"

"I don't know, Donna, I just don't know." the Doctor replied, looking at the monitor. "I'm sorry, I don't know..."

"That's my family." Donna sniffled. "My whole world."

"There's no readings." the Doctor said, more to himself. "Not a trace, not even a whisper. Oh, that is fearsome technology." He ran a hand through his hair to calm his stress levels.

"So what do we do?" Donna asked.

"We've gotta get help." the Doctor decided, starting to type co-ordinates in the console.

"From where?"

"Donna... I'm taking you to the Shadow Proclamation." the Doctor replied. "Hold tight!" And he set to work piloting the TARDIS. The ride was more rough then normal, but no one cared for they had more important things to worry about.

~8~

At Torchwood, Ianto was flipping through the TV channels. Naturally, the situation had made the headlines. "The United Nations has issued an edict, asking the citizens of the Earth not to panic." Trinity Wells said on AMNN. "So far, there has been no explanation of the 26 planets that have appeared in the sky."

On another channel, Professor Richard Dawkins was making a statement. "... but it's an empirical fact, the planets didn't come to US, WE came to THEM! Just look at the stars. We're in a completely different region in space. We've travelled."

Ianto then flipped over to Channel 4, which was showing The Paul O'Grady Show. "D'ya know what? I look up and there's all these moons and things. Have you seen 'em? Did ya see 'em? I thought 'What was I drinkin' last night, furniture polish?!'"

Ianto couldn't help but laugh at that. "Ianto, time and place." Jack scolded from where he was working on a computer terminal.

"He is funny, though." Ianto said sheepishly.

"Gwen, come and see." Jack called to his other colleague.

Gwen came over, talking on the phone to her husband Rhys. "Rhys, I have no idea, just stay indoors. And you can phone my mother. Tell her, um, I dunno, just tell her to take her pill and go to sleep. I'm gonna come home as soon as I can, I promise. I love you, you big idiot." And she hung up.

"Someone's established an artificial atmospheric shell." Jack said from his computer, "Keeping the air and holding the heat."

"Whoever's done this wants the Human race alive." Ianto noted, "That's a plus." He looked at another monitor. "27 planets, including the Earth." He shook his head, wandering who had done this and why.

Then Gwen noticed a blinking red dot in-between the planets. "No, but what's that?" she said as she pointed to the dot. "That's not a planet."

~8~

In Bannerman Road, Sarah Jane had seen the red dot too. "The reading seems to be artificial in construction." Mr Smith revealed.

"Some sort of space station." Sarah Jane realised. "Sitting at the heart of the web."

Luke came up, having contacted his friends on his mobile. "They're fine. Maria and her dad, they're still in Cornwall. I told 'em to stay indoors. And Clyde's alright, he's with his mum."

"Sarah Jane, I have detected movement." Mr Smith said. "Observe." And on screen, they could see multiple red dots moving.

"Spaceships!" Luke said hopefully.
Sarah Jane didn't share her son's optimism, she had a bad feeling that the ships belonged to whoever was responsible for moving the Earth, and the chances of them being friendly were slim.

~8~

In New York, Martha's commanding officer, General Sanchez, entered the room. "Tracking 200 objects. Earthbound trajectory." he announced. "Geneva is calling a code red. Everyone to battle positions." Then he saw Martha on her mobile. "Dr Jones, if you're not too busy." he said sarcastically.

"I'm trying to phone the Doctor, sir." Martha replied.

"And?"

"There's no signal. This number calls anywhere in the universe. It never breaks down. They must be blocking it. Whoever 'they' are." Martha said as she looked at the screen, showing the red dots heading for Earth.

"We're about to find out." Sanchez said. "They're in orbit."

~8~

Rose and Shareen walked down a London street. It was anarchy; with people running about in panic while some looted shops and smashed things. "The end of the world, darlings." a drunken man shouted to the women. ""End of the stinkin' world!"

"Have one on me, mate." Rose replied wryly and pressed on with her mission. She and Shareen walked into an electronics shop, which was being looted by two men. "Right!" Rose called, catching their attention. "You two. You can put that stuff down, or run for ya lives." She cocked her gun to prove her point. "D'ya like my gun?"

The men took the hint and ran off.
"Blimey, who're you and what've ya done with Rose Tyler?!" Shareen remarked. "Anyway, let's get cracking." She set up a laptop and used her sonic pen to hack into the military data base. "D'ya like my pen?" she asked Rose good-naturedly, twiddling the sonic pen between her fingers.

"Where'd ya get that from, 'Reen?" Rose asked her.

"Little souvenir from Adipose Industries." Shareen replied then turned to the screen, which was displaying an image of the 27 planets and the ships moving towards Earth. "Looks like we've got company." she said grimly.

~8~

In the Noble household, Sylvia was watching the news "We're now getting confirmed reports of spaceships." the newsreader said. "The Pentagon has issued an emergency statement..."

"Dad." Sylvia called. "Come and see. They're saying spaceships."
Wilfred entered the room, mobile in his hand. "Did you find her?" Sylvia asked him.

"No, no, there's no reply." Wilfred replied. "Where are you, Donna? Where are you, sweetheart?" he said worriedly to himself.

~8~

In the Torchwood hub, Gwen was monitoring the progress of the ships. "3,000 miles and closing." she reported. "But who are they?!"

Jack's mobile rang and he answered. "Martha Jones! Voice of a nightingale! Tell me you put something in my drink."

"No such luck." Martha replied anxiously. "Have you heard from the Doctor?"

"Not a word. Where are you?"

"New York."

"Hmm, nice for some."

"I've been promoted. Medical director on Project Indigo."

"Did ya get that thing working?"

"Indigo's top secret. No one's supposed to know about it."

"Oh, I met a soldier in a bar. Long story."

"When was that?" Ianto asked Jack suspiciously.

"Strictly professional." Jack reassured him.

"1500 miles, boys, and accelerating." Gwen called. "They're almost here."

~8~

"I'm receiving a communication from the Earthbound ships." Mr Smith said. "They have a message for the Human race."

"Put it through, let's hear it." Sarah Jane said apprehensively.

Mr Smith played the transmission. "Exterminate!" a very familiar harsh robotic voice said, "Exterminate! Exterminate!"
Sarah Jane's heart nearly stopped at that voice.

Torchwood

"No." Jack whispered numbly. "Oh, no."

New York

Martha got the message too and her eyes widened in fear. She knew what the message meant: the Daleks were coming and Humanity didn't stand a chance against them.

Torchwood

"What is it?" Gwen asked, puzzled to see Jack looking so frightened. "Who are they? D'you know them, Jack?"

All Jack could do was pull his two colleagues into his arms and kiss the tops of their heads. "There's nothing I can do." he said. "I'm sorry. We're dead."

Ealing

Sarah Jane had tears in her eyes as she heard the Dalek message. "Oh God, you're so young!" she sobbed, hugging her son.

London

Rose and Shareen had heard the message too. "No..." Shareen breathed, her eyes wide in terror, "not Daleks. Gimme Slitheen... giant wasps... Carrionites... anything but the f*cking Daleks!"

Rose set her jaw grimly. She should've known that the evil pepper pots were responsible for this. "C'mon." she said to Shareen. "We've gotta find Donna Noble's family."
And so the two women left the shop and looked to the sky as a Dalek saucer loomed over head and opened fire on the city.

"God help us." Shareen breathed as she and Rose turned their backs on the destruction and set off again.

~8~

In New York, U.N.I.T were getting ready for action. "Battle station!" Sanchez ordered. "Geneva is declaring ultimate code red. Ladies and gentlemen, we are at war!"

The building shook suddenly and Martha looked out of the window to see hordes of Dalek saucers descending on the city and opening fire, laying waste to anything their weapons hit.

~8~

Blissfully unware of Earth's predicament, Donna spoke up, "So go on then, what is the Shadow Proclamation anyway?"

"Posh name for police." the Doctor replied. "Outer space police. Here we go!"

The TARDIS materialised aboard a space station and the Doctor and Donna stepped out to find themselves facing a group of Judoon with their weapons aimed at them. "Sco bo tro no flo jo ko to. To to!" the Judoon leader demanded.

"No bo ho sho ko ro to so." the Doctor answered. "Bo-ko-do-zo-go-bo-fo-po-jo."
The Judoon lowered their guns. "Mah ho." the Doctor finished.

They were soon standing before the Shadow Architect; a tall albino woman with pale skin and red eyes. "Time Lords are the stuff of legends." she remarked. "They belong in the myths and whispers of higher species." She eyed the Doctor. "You can't possibly exist."

"Yeah, more to the point, I've got a missing planet." the Doctor said. For once, he wasn't going to waste time having his ego stroked. Earth had gone missing and urgent action was needed.

"Then you're not as wise as the stories would say." the Architect said. "The picture is far bigger than you imagine. The whole universe is in outrage, Doctor. 23 worlds have been taken from the sky."

"How many?!" the Doctor stared. "Which ones? Show me!"

The Architect showed him a computer read-out. "Locations range far and wide." she told him, "but all disappeared at the exact same moment. Leaving no trace."

The Doctor looked at the screen. "Callufrax Minor," he read out, "Jahoo, Shallacatopp, Woman Wept, Clom... Clom's gone?! Who'd want Clom?!"

"All different sizes, some populated, some not." the Shadow Architect said. "But all unconnected."

"What about Pyrovillia?" Donna piped in.

"Who is the female?" the Architect asked in a condescending tone.

"Donna." the Human glared. "I'm a Human being. Maybe not the stuff of legend but every bit as important as the Time Lords, thank you."
The Doctor watched her with a proud smile.
"Way back when we were in Pompeii, Lucius said Pyrovillia had gone missing." she told him.

"Pyrovillia is cold case. Not relevant." the Judoon captain cut in.

"How d'ya mean, cold case?" Donna questioned.

"The planet Pyrovillia cannot be part of this." the Architect said sceptically. "It disappeared over 2000 year ago."

"Yes, yes, hang on." Donna cut in, on a roll now. "But there's the Adipose breeding planet too. Miss Foster said that was lost, but that must've been a long time ago. And what about the Sontarans? Remember, Doctor, you told us they were tryin' to turn Earth into a clone hatchery but you didn't know why. Well, what if it because they'd lost their cloning planet?"

"That's it! Brilliant!" the Doctor exclaimed in realisation. "Planets are being taken out of time as well as space. Let's put this in 3D." He started fiddling with the computer and holographic images of the 23 missing planets popped up. "Now, if we add Pyrovillia, Sontar II and Adipose III... something missing. Where else, where else... lost, lost, lost... Oh! The lost moon of Poosh!" He remembered Dee Dee telling him about her research on the Lost moon of Poosh during the ill-fated bus trip on Midnight. He typed in commands and the four additional planets appeared.

"What did you do?" the Architect questioned.

"Nothing." the Doctor replied. "The planets rearranged 'emselves in an optimal pattern. Oh, look at that! 27 planets in perfect balance. Come on, that is gorgeous!"

"Oi, don't get all spaceman!" Donna scolded, in no mood for the Doctor's trademark inappropriate enthusiasm. "What does it mean?"

"All those worlds fit together like pieces of an engine." the Doctor explained. "It's like a powerhouse. What for?" he wandered.

"Who could have designed such a thing?" the Architect asked.

"Someone tried to move the Earth once before." the Doctor muttered thoughtfully. "Long time ago. Can't be..."

~8~

On Earth, the Daleks' killing spree was well underway. In the Torchwood hub, the team could only listen helplessly to the distress calls of armed forces being overwhelmed. "The shields are down!" they heard the captain of the Valiant say. "There's too many of them! Abandon ship!"

"The Valiant's down!" Jack exclaimed in horror. That ship had been designed by a Time Lord, and if the Valiant had been overwhelmed, then he knew there was no hope at all.

"Air force retreating across North Africa." Ianto reported from his screen. "Daleks landing in Japan.

"We've lost contact with the Prime Minister's plane." Gwen added, then noticed something else. "Jack, Manhattan!"

"Martha, get outta there!" Jack hollered into his phone, seeing that U.N.I.T's New York base was the Daleks' next target.

New York

Martha was bandaging a wounded soldier. "I can't, Jack. I've got a job to do." she replied into her phone.

"They're targeting military bases, and you're next on the list!" Jack told her.

At that moment, General Sanchez came over. "Dr Jones, you will come with me." he ordered. "Project Indigo is being activated. Quick march!"

And so Martha, Sanchez and a U.N.I.T private made their way through the building towards it's vault. "But we can't use Project Indigo." Martha protested. "It hasn't been tested, sir. We don't even know if it works!"

They reached the vault and the private opened it to reveal what looked like a black backpack with a computer on it. "Put it on, fast as you can." Sanchez urged Martha.

"Martha, I'm telling you, don't use Project Indigo!" Jack called over the phone. "It's not safe."

"You take your orders from U.N.I.T, Dr Jones," Sanchez said sternly, "not from Torchwood."

"But why me?" Martha questioned.

"You are our only hope of finding the Doctor." Sanchez replied. "But failing that, if no help is coming, then with the power invested in me by the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, I authorise you to take this." He held up a microchip in a plastic case. "The Osterhagen Key."

"I can't take that, sir." Martha said fearfully, knowing what the key did.

"You know what to do. For the Human race." Sanchez insisted.

Martha reluctantly took the key just as an explosion shook the building, then she heard a Dalek's voice, "Daleks one five reaching north corridor."

"Exterminate!" another Dalek cried, followed by the sound of it's weapon.

"Dr Jones... Good luck." Sanchez saluted her, then he and the private went to face the Daleks to buy her some time.

Martha swallowed, knowing she had no choice. "Bye, Jack." she said into her phone.

"Martha, don't do it!" Jack pleaded over the phone.

Martha just pulled the ripcords on the backpack and she disappeared in a blue flash just as Sanchez and the private were gunned down by the Daleks.

Torchwood

Jack kicked a table in frustration and despair. "What's Project Indigo?" Ianto asked him.

"Experimental teleport." Jack replied. "Salvaged from the Sontarans. But they haven't got co-ordinates, or stabilisation."

"So where is she? Gwen asked cautiously.

"Scattered into atoms. Martha's down." Jack replied grimly.
Gwen's eyes widened while Ianto clapped a hand to his mouth in horror. They liked Martha as she'd worked with Torchwood a few times.

~8~

At the Shadow Proclamation, the Doctor was talking to the Shadow Architect, trying to figure out what was going on. Donna sat on some steps, mulling over what could have possibly happened to her home. She was pulled from her thoughts by an Albino servant giving her a cup of water to drink. "There was something on your back." the servant observed.

"How d'ya know that?" Donna frowned.

"You are something new." the servant continued.

"Not me. I'm just a temp." Donna said dejectedly. "Shorthand, filing, hundreds of words a minute, fat lotta good that is now. I'm no use to anyone."

"I'm sorry for your loss." the servant said.

"Yeah." Donna sighed. "My whole planet's gone."

"I mean the loss that is yet to come." the servant said quietly. "God save you."
And she walked away, leaving Donna confused and unnerved.

Just then, the Doctor came over to her. "Donna! Come on, think. Earth: there must've been some warning. Was there anything happening back in your day, like, electrical storms, freak weather, patterns in the sky?"

"How should I know?" Donna shrugged. Pretty much all of her investigations had all been dead ends. But there was one thing... "Although, there were the bees disappearing."

"The bees disappearing?" the Doctor asked rhetorically. He had been wandering over that. It was odd, but he didn't think it had anything to do with this. Then he had a moment of realisation. "The bees disappearing!" he exclaimed and raced back to the computer.

"How is that significant?" the Architect asked .

"On Earth we had these insects." Donna explained as she joined them. "Some people said it was pollution or mobile phone signals."

"Or... they were going back home." the Doctor said as he typed commands into the computer.

"Back home where?" Donna asked.

"Planet Mellisa Majoria."

"Are ya sayin' bees are aliens?" Donna scoffed.

"Don't be so daft." the Doctor snorted. "Not all of 'em. But if the migrant bees felt something coming, some sort of danger, and escaped... Tandocca!" he realised.

"The Tandocca Scale!" the Architect realised too.

"And what's that?" Donna asked.

"Tandocca scale is the series of wavelengths used by migrant bees." the Doctor explained, typing things into the computer. "Infinitely small, no wonder we didn't see it. Like looking for a speck of cinnamon in the Sahara, but look! There it is, the Tandocca trail. The transmat that moved the planets was using the same wavelength, we can follow the path!"

"And find the Earth?!" Donna realised, running towards the TARDIS. "Well, stop talking and do it!"

"I am!" the Doctor replied as he after her. Once inside the box, he started fiddling with some controls. "We're a bit late." he muttered as he worked. "The signal's scattered, but it's a start." He ran back to the doors and poked his head outside. "We've got a blip." he called to the Shadow Architect. "It's just a blip, but definitly a blip!"

"Then according to the strictures of the Shadow Proclamation, I will have to seize your transport and your technology." the Architect replied.

"Oh, really? What for?" the Doctor asked, taken aback.

"The planets were stolen with hostile intent. We are declaring war, Doctor. Right across the universe! And you will lead us into battle!"

"Right, yes, 'course I will." the Doctor nodded slowly, not too thrilled at that idea. "I'll just go and... get ya a key." He closed the door and ran back to Donna at the console. He grinned at his companion and pulled a lever, causing the TARDIS to dematerialise.

~8~

In Chiswick, the Daleks were rounding people up out of their homes. "All Humans will leave their homes." one ordered as the Humans were marched out into the road with their hands behind their heads in surrender. "The males, the females, the descendants. You will come with us." the Dalek continued. "Resistance is useless."

"Where're you taking us?" a man asked, approaching the Dalek.

"Daleks do not answer Human questions. Stand in line." the Dalek retorted and trundled closer, unaware of Wilfred and Sylvia peering out from the corner of the house behind it.

"Dad, please come home." Sylvia begged. "They're leaving our street alone."

"Yeah, I've got a weapon." Wilfred said, gesturing to an object in his hands.

"It's a paint gun!"

"Exactly. Them Dalek things, they've only got one eye. Good splodge of paint, they'd be blinded."

"We're not going! D'ya hear me?!" the man shouted to the Dalek, then turned to his wife and son. "Laura, get back inside the house. Simon, get inside. Go!"
His family complied while he picked up a brick from the pavement. "Get back in the sky!" he yelled and lobbed the brick at the Dalek, which just ricocheted off it's casing. "Go back where ya came from and leave us alone!" the man finished and ran back inside his house.

"Dalek attack formation seven." the Dalek ordered as it and two others lined outside the house. "Maximum extermination!"
And the three Daleks opened fire on the house, no doubt killing it's occupants.

"They're monsters!" Wilfred breathed in horror at the sight.

"Please, dad, come home." Sylvia begged and they both crept away.

They turned a corner only to run into another Dalek. "Halt! You will come with me!" it ordered

"Will I 'eck!" Wilfred retorted, aiming his paint gun and firing. A splodge of yellow paint landed straight on the Dalek's eyestalk.

For a moment, it appeared to work, but then the paint melted away. "My vision is NOT impaired." the Dalek stated, almost mockingly.

"I warned you, dad." Sylvia hissed.

"Hostility will not be tolerated!" the Dalek snarled. "Exterminate! Exterminate! Exter..."

The Dalek's top half suddenly exploded, revealing Rose standing behind it with her gun aimed at the remains and Shareen by her side. "D'you wanna swap?" Wilfred asked as the two young women crossed over to them.

"You alright, Wilfred?" Shareen asked him.

"Yeah, we're fine," Wilfred replied, "but where's Donna? Why aren't you with her and the Doctor?"

"We got seperated." Shareen replied.

"You're Donna Noble's family, right?" Rose asked the Nobles briskly. "I'm Rose Tyler, an' I need you."

~8~

Rose, Shareen and the Nobles were soon in the Noble house. Wilfred, Shareen and Rose were talking while Sylvia made tea. "I tried calling her, but I can't get through." Wilfred told Rose and Shareen.

"Yeah, same here." Shareen said. "I tried the TARDIS phone too, but neither Donna nor the Doctor're answering."

"The last time Donna phoned, it-it was from a planet called 'Midnight', made of diamonds." Wilfred said.

"Yeah, she had it easy there." Shareen commented. "Peacock an' I went through hell, though."

"What're you three going on about?" Sylvia questioned as she came back in the room.

"Look, she's out there, sweetheart." Wilfred told her. "She's travelling the stars with the Doctor. She always has been."

"Don't be ridiculous." Sylvia scoffed.

"Oh, come on, open your eyes! Look at the sky! Look at the Daleks! You can't start denying things now!"

"You're my last hope." Rose sighed. "If we can't find Donna, we can't find the Doctor. Where is he?" she wandered. It wasn't like the Doctor to not be involved when his arch-nemesis were wrecking havoc on Earth.

~8~

The TARDIS came to a sudden halt. "She's stopped." the Doctor frowned.

"What d'ya mean?" Donna questioned. "Is that good or bad? Where are we?"

"The Medusa Cascade." the Doctor replied, checking the monitor. "I came here when I was just a kid. 90 years old. It was the centre of a rift in time and space."

"So... where're the 27 planets?" Donna asked

"Nowhere." the Doctor sighed, slumping back against a Y-beam. "Tandocca trail stops dead. End of the line."

"So what do we do?" Donna asked. "Doctor, what do we do?"
The Doctor didn't reply and just stood where he was with a defeated look on his face.
"Now, don't do this to me!" Donna said. "Not now. Tell me, what're we gonna do? You never give up. Please."
But she got no response.

~8~

Earth was now completely overwhelmed by the Daleks. The Torchwood team could only listen helplessly as the commander general of the UN made a transmission to the Daleks, "This is the Commander General of the United Nations calling the Dalek fleet. We surrender. Repeat, we surrender. Planet Earth surrenders."

Ealing

Sarah Jane and Luke listened despondently at the Daleks' response, "Humans selected for Dalek testing will follow all instructions. The Daleks reign supreme. All hail the Daleks!"

Chiswick

Wilfred and Syliva huddled on their settee while Rose and Shareen slouched on the kitchen chairs in defeat as the Daleks continued to gloat, "You will obey Dalek instructions without question. You will obey your Dalek mas.."

The transmission was suddenly cut off by a bleeping sound from the women's laptop, then a woman's voice came over the computer, "Can anyone hear me? The subwave network is open. You should be able to hear my voice. Is anyone there?"

"I know that voice." Rose frowned, going over to the computer to investigate.

"Yeah, me too." Shareen agreed, joining her.

Ealing

Sarah Jane and Luke could hear the voice too. "Who's that?" Luke wandered.

"Some poor soul calling for help." Sarah Jane sighed. "There's nothing we can do."

"But look at Mr Smith." Luke said, pointing to the supercomputer.

"Processing incoming subwave." Mr Smith stated, it's screen showing mostly static, but a figure could be made out through it.

~8~

The message was being picked up in the Torchwood hub too, "This message is of the utmost importance. We haven't got much time. Can anyone hear me?"

"Someone's trying to get through." Gwen said, going over to a computer to try and clear up the transmission.

"The whole world's crying out. Just leave it." Jack said dejectedly.

"Captain Jack Harness, shame on you!" the voice scolded. "Now stand to attention, sir!"

Startled, Jack rushed over to the screen, Ianto joining him. "Who is that?" Jack wandered.

The static cleared to reveal none other than Harriet Jones, sitting in front of a computer in her home. "Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister." she introduced, flashing her ID.

"Yeah, I know who you are." Jack answered.

Chiswick

"Harriet, it's me!" Rose called to her computer screen.

"And me!" Shareen added. "Oh, she can't hear us. You got a webcam?" she asked the Nobles

"No, she wouldn't let me." Wilfred replied, pointing to Sylvia "She said they were naughty."

"Can't talk to her, then." Rose grunted. "Just have to listen."

~8~

"Sarah Jane Smith, 13 Bannerman Road, are you there?" Harriet asked, typing in some commands in her computer.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm here. That's me." Sarah Jane answered, going over to Mr Smith.

"Good. Now let's see if we can talk to each other." Harriet said, typing in more commands, and all the screens divided into four squares; herself in one corner, Torchwood in another, Bannerman Road in the third, while the fourth was still static. "The fourth contact seems to be having some trouble getting through. I'll just boost the signal." Harriet typed in more commands and Martha appeared in the fourth square

"Hello?" Martha called.

"Martha Jones!" Jack laughed in relief at seeing his friend alive and well.

~8~

"Who's she?!" Rose scowled.

"That's Martha Jones." Shareen replied simply. "Now, don't start that jealous b*tch act again!" she told Rose pointedly. "It was bad enough the way Peacock treated her without you starting."

"Yeah, sorry." Rose sighed. "I just wish we could get through." She really wanted to get a chance to talk with everyone about the situation. It was even bigger than they realised.

~8~

"Martha, where are you?" Jack asked.

"I guess Project Indigo was more clever than we thought." Martha said. "One second I was in Manhattan, next second..." She glanced around at her family's living room. "Maybe Indigo tapped into my head, because I ended up in the one place I wanted to be."

Francine Jones came up beside her daughter. "You came home." she smiled. "At the end of the world, you came back to me."

"But all of a sudden, it's like... the laptop turned itself on."

"It did, that was me." Harriet said and flashed her ID at the screen. "Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister."

"Yes, I know you are." Martha replied.

"I thought it was about time we all met, given the current crisis." Harriet explained. "Torchwood, this is Sarah Jane Smith."

"I've been following your work." Jack said to Sarah Jane/ "Nice job with the Slitheen."

"Yeah, well, I've been staying away from you lot." Sarah Jane replied, nodding to her son at her side. "Too many guns."

"All the same... Might I say, looking good ma'am."

"Really? Oh." a flattered Sarah Jane answered.

"Not now, Captain." Harriet rolled her eyes. Jack Harkness' flirting was legendary. "And Martha Jones, former companion to the Doctor."

~8~

"Oi! So was I!" Rose squeaked indignantly.

"And I still am." Shareen retorted.

~8~

"But how did you find me?" Martha asked.

"This, ladies and gentlemen, is a subwave network." Harriet explained. "A sentient piece of software, programmed to seek out anyone and everyone who can help to contact the Doctor."

"What if the Daleks can hear us?" Martha questioned.

"No. That's the beauty of the subwave. It's undetectable."

"A-and you invented it?" Sarah Jane asked, impressed.

"I developed it." Harriet replied modestly. "It was created by the Mr Copper Foundation."

~8~

"Blimey, he's doin' well for himself, then." Shareen remarked.

~8~

"Yeah, but what we need right now is a weapon." Jack said. "Martha, back there at U.N.I.T, what did they give you? What was that key thing?"

"The Osterhagen Key." Martha replied, holding up the item in question.

"That key is NOT to be used, Dr Jones." Harriet said sternly. "Not under any circumstances!"

"But what is an Osterhagan Key?" Jack asked.

"Forget about the key and that's an order!" Harriet demanded. "All we need is the Doctor."

"Excuse me, Harriet," Sarah Jane spoke up, "but well, the thing is.. if you're looking for the Doctor, didn't he depose you?"

"He did." Harriet confirmed. "And I've wandered about that for a long time, whether I was wrong. But I stand by my actions, to this day. Because I knew, I knew that one day, the Earth would be in danger and the Doctor would fail to appear. I told him so myself, and he didn't listen."

~8~

"Arrogant tw*t." Shareen muttered. "Look at what happened because he deposed Harriet; his bloody evil boyfriend took over and enslaved the world!"
Rose gave her a bemused look.
"I'll explain later." Shareen waved her off.

~8~

"But I've been trying to find him." Martha said. "I've been calling the TARDIS but I can't get through."

~8~

"Join the queue." Rose muttered.

~8~

"That's why we need the subwave, to bring us all together." Harriet said. "Combined forces, the Doctor's secret army.

"Wait a minute..." Jack said, getting an idea. "we boost the signal, that's it! We transmit that telephone number through Torchwood itself, using the power of the rift."

"And we've got Mr Smith." Luke pipped in. "He can link up with every telephone exchange on Earth. He can get the whole world to call the same number, all at the same time! Billions of phones, calling out, all at once!"

"Ha ha, brilliant!" Jack laughed. "Who's the kid?"

"That's my son." Sarah Jane said proudly.

"Excuse me." Ianto cut in, moving up to the camera. "Sorry, sorry, hello, Ianto Jones. Um, if we start transmitting, then the subwave network is going to become visible. I mean, to the Daleks."

"Yes, and they'll trace it back to me." Harriet replied. "But my life doesn't matter. Not if it saves the Earth."

"Ma'am." Jack saluted the noble former PM.

"Thank you, captain. But there are people dying out there."

~8~

"Marvellous woman." Wilfred said from the settee. "I voted for her."

"Yeah, so did I." Shareen concurred. "Then Peacock went and ruined it." she muttered.

~8~

Now, enough of words." Harriet said determinedly. "Let's begin."

And so everyone jumped to it.
"Rift power activated." Jack announced as he typed in commands at a console.

"All terminals co-ordinated." Gwen piped in from her computer.

"National grid online." Ianto added as he plugged a cable into the hub's rift manipulator. "Giving you everything we've got.

"Connecting you to Mr Smith." Sarah Jane said as she and Luke worked at their super computer.

"All telephones connected." Luke added.

"Sending the number to you... now!" Martha said as she texted them the number of the TARDIS phone.

"Opening the subwave network to maximum." Harriet finished, typing in commands at her computer.

"Mr Smith... make that call!" Sarah Jane ordered.

"Calling the Doctor." Mr Smith said.

~8~

"So am I!" Rose said, pulling out her mobile.

"Right with ya, Rose!" Shareen aid, pulling out her own mobile. "I just hope the git bothers to answer."

~8~

"And sending!" Jack said, punching in a key command, and the signal was beamed out into space.

~8~

In the TARDIS, the console phone suddenly rang. "PHONE!" the Doctor yelled, snapping out of his lethargy.

"Doctor, phone!" Donna urged.

The Doctor immediately grabbed the phone. "Martha? Shareen?" he asked, only to hear a beeping noise in response. "It's a signal!" he realised.

"Can we track it?" Donna asked hopefully.

"Oh, just watch me!" the Doctor grinned, placing the receiver on the console and putting his stethoscope to it.

~8~

"I think we got a fix!" Jack yelled as the equipment at Torchwood sparked from the punishment.

Ealing

"Mr Smith now at 200%." Sarah Jane announced as Mr Smith sparked too.

Chiswick

Rose, Shareen, Wilfred and Sylvia were frantically dialling the TARDIS too. "Find us, Doctor. Find us." Rose prayed, holding her phone over her head.

"C'mon, Peacock, answer, damn you!" Shareen muttered through gritted teeth.

~8~

"Got it!" the Doctor shouted. "Locking on!"

"Then what're we waiting for?!" Donna asked rhetorically.

"Nothing!" the Doctor replied, pulling a lever to set the TARDIS off.

~8~

"Harriet, a saucer's locked in on your location." Gwen warned, checking her monitor. "They've found you."

"I know, I'm using the network to mask your transmission." Harriet replied. "Keep going!"

"Exterminate!" a Dalek's voice called from outside.

~8~

The ride in the TARDIS was more violent than ever, with parts of the console room actually catching fire and the lights turning red. "We're travelling through time!" the Doctor shouted over the noise. "One second in the future! The phone call's pulling us through!"

~8~

"Captain, I'm transferring the subwave network to Torchwood." Harriet said, "You're in charge, now. And tell the Doctor from me... he chose his companions well."
Jack nodded sadly.
"It's been an honour." Harriet said bravely and she got up and turned round to see three Daleks enter her house. "Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister." she said, flashing her ID card at them.

"Yes, we know who you are." a Dalek answered.

"Oh, you know nothing of any Human." Harriet spat. "And that will be your downfall."

"Exterminate!" the Dalek retorted and opened fire.

~8~

Rose and Shareen watched in helpless horror Harriet's screen turned to static. "Thank you for everything, Harriet." Shareen murmured sadly.

~8~

"THREE! TWO! ONE!" the Doctor shouted, and the TARDIS gave one last enormous jolt, then everything settled. The fires snuffed themselves out and the lights returned to normal.

"The 27 planets!" Donna said as she and the Doctor gathered around the monitor. "And there's the Earth! Why couldn't we see 'em?!"

"The entire Medusa Cascade has been put out of sync with the rest of the universe." the Doctor replied. "The perfect hiding place, tiny little pocket of time. But we found 'em!" he grinned, then noticed something else on the monitor. "Oh, oh, what's that? Hold on, hold on, some sorta subwave network..."
He messed with some controls and the screen changed to show a four-way split screen, with the trio in one square, Torchwood in another, Bannerman Road in the third and the Joneses in the fourth.

Jack laughed in relief at the sight of the Time Lord. "Where the hell have you been?!" he said. "Doctor, it's the Daleks!"

The Doctor stiffened at this news. He should've known that the evil pepper pots would be behind this.

"Ooh, he's a bit nice." Gwen's voice said from off-screen. "I thought he'd be older."

"He's not that young." Ianto's voice grumbled off-camera.

"It's the Daleks." Sarah Jane confirmed. "They're taking people to their spaceship..." And both she and Martha started talking at once.

"... but it's not just Dalek Caan." Martha finished.

~8~

"That's Donna!" Sylvia gasped, seeing her daughter standing beside the Doctor.

"That's my girl!" Wilfred said proudly.

"Haha! We got through!" Shareen beamed, while Rose just looked at the Doctor with a small smile.

~8~

"Sarah Jane!" the Doctor grinned, looking at his old companion. "Who's that boy? That must be Torchwood. Look at you all, you clever people!"

"That's Martha." Donna said. "And who's..." she pointed at Jack, "he?"

"Captain Jack." the Doctor replied. "Don't. Just... don't."

~8~

"Doctor, it's me, I came back." Rose said to her screen, knowing that the Doctor couldn't hear her.

~8~

"It's like an outer space Facebook." Donna remarked.

"Everyone except Rose." the Doctor sighed.

"And Shareen." Donna remembered.

~8~

"Oh, I dunno..." Shareen smirked.

~8~

Suddenly, the TARDIS' screen went to static. "We've lost 'em!" Donna groaned.

"There's another signal coming through." the Doctor replied, messing with the monitor, "There's someone else out there. Hello? Can ya hear me?" he called, hoping it was Rose.

"Your voice is different, but it's arrogance is unchanged." a deep, raspy voice said, clearly not Rose.

The Doctor froze as he recognised the voice.

Ealing

Sarah Jane recognised the voice too. "No, but he's dead!" she breathed in horror.

All the screens cleared to reveal a Humanoid man sitting in a wheelchair that resembled the base of a Dalek. The man's skin was haggard with radiation burns, his eyes were fused shut and replaced by a cybernetic eye in his forehead, one hand was missing and replaced by a cybernetic one, and he had a wire brace around his skull. "Welcome to my new Empire, Doctor." the man crowed. "It is only fitting that you should bear witness to the resurrection and the triumph of Davros, lord and creator of the Dalek race."

~8~

"So that's the maniac who created the Daleks." Shareen stared. She'd long wandered who'd be insane enough to create a monster like the Daleks. Now she had her answer.

~8~

The Doctor was breathing heavily, speechless and terrified. "Doctor?" Donna asked him cautiously.

"Have you nothing to say?" Davros taunted.

"Doctor, it's alright. We're-we're in the TARDIS. We're safe." Donna soothed the terrified Time Lord.

At last the Doctor found his voice. "But you were destroyed." he said to Davros. "In the very first year of the Time War, at the Gate of Elysium. I saw your command ship fly into the jaws of the Nightmare Child. I tried to save you."

"But it took one stronger than you." Davros replied. "Dalek Caan himself."

The shot changed to show Dalek Caan; it's casing ripped open, showing the mutant inside. "I flew into the wild and fire." it said. "I danced and died a thousand times."

"Emergency temporal shift took him back into the Time War itself." Davros explained

"But that's impossible!" the Doctor said. "The entire war is timelocked!"

"And yet, he succeeded." Davros smirked. "Oh, it cost him his mind. But imagine, a single simple Dalek succeeded where Emperors and Time Lords have failed. A testament, don't you think, to my remarkable creations?"

"And ya made a new race of Daleks?" the Doctor sneered.

"I gave myself to them. Quite literally." Davros replied, pulling open his tunic to reveal all his flesh stripped away and his hearts and ribs were visible. "Each one grown from a cell from my own body. New Daleks. True Daleks. I have my children, Doctor. What do you have now?"

"After all this time, everything we saw, everything we lost, I have only thing to say to you." the Doctor retorted. "Bye!" He cut off the transmission, then got to work piloting the TARDIS to Earth.

~8~

At Torchwood, Jack was getting ready to leave, while Ianto checked his screen. "Gwen, Dalek saucer heading for the bay. They've found us." he warned.

"Martha, open that indigo device." Jack said into his phone. "Now listen to me, lift the central panel, there's a string of numbers that keep changing. But the fourth number keeps oscillating between two different digits, tell me what they are."

"It's a four and a nine." Martha answered. "We could never work out what that was."

"Yeah, that's a teleport base code." Jack replied, slipping his coat on. "And that's all I need to get this thing working again." He started typing things into his Vortex Manipulator. "Oscillating four and nine. Thank you, Martha Jones." He hung up and Gwen handed him his gun. "I've gotta go." he told his team. "I've gotta find the Doctor. I'll come back. I'm coming back!"

"Don't worry about us." Gwen reassured him. "Just go."

"We'll be fine." Ianto added.

"You'd better be." Jack smirked, then he activated his Vortex Manipulator and disappeared.

~8~

"TARDIS heading for vector 7, grid reference 665." Mr Smith reported as Sarah Jane grabbed her jacket and car keys.

"But there are Daleks out there!" Luke warned his mother.

"I know, I'm sorry, but I've GOT to find the Doctor." Sarah Jane replied. "Don't move, don't leave the house, don't do anything."

"I will protect the boy, Sarah Jane." Mr Smith reassured.

"I love you." Sarah Jane said to Luke. "Remember that."
She hurried off to her car and set off.

~8~

In the Noble household, Rose was getting ready for action. "Control? I need another shift." she said into her phone "Lock me onto the TARDIS, now!" She hung up and turned to her friend. "You coming, 'Reen?"

"You bet I am." Shareen replied.

"Right, put this on." Rose instructed, taking out a circular metal device from her pocket and tossing it to Shareen. "It'll transport us to where the TARDIS has landed."
Shareen nodded and slipped the device around her neck.
"Right, we're gonna find them. Wish us luck." Rose said to the Nobles.

"Oh, good luck." Sylvia said.

"Yeah, good luck, sweethearts." Wilfred added.
Shareen gave him a cheeky wave then she and Rose disappeared in a blue flash.

~8~

The TARDIS materialised on a street outside a church. The street was deserted, with rubbish everywhere, cars abandoned and an eery silence in the air. The Doctor and Donna stepped out of the box and looked around. "It's like a ghost town." Donna shivered.

"Sarah Jane said they were taking people." the Doctor said thoughtfully. "What for?" He turned to Donna. "Think, Donna, when you met Rose in that parallel world, what did she say to you?"

"Just... the darkness is coming." Donna replied.

"Anything else?" the Doctor asked.

Donna looked away, thinking, then she suddenly saw something over the Doctor's shoulder. "Why don't ya ask her yourself?" she smiled.

The Doctor turned around to see Rose and Shareen standing at the other end of the street, Rose looking at the Doctor with broad smile on her face. The Doctor stared at her, not believing his eyes for a moment, then Rose started to run towards him and he returned the favour.

As Shareen watched them, a flicker of bronze caught her eye and she saw a Dalek trundle up with it's weapon aimed at the Doctor, who hadn't seen the Dalek as he and Rose were too focussed on each other to be paying any attention to their surroundings. "Peacock, look out!" Shareen warned, snapping both of her friends out of their tunnel vision, but it was too late.

"Exterminate!" the Dalek bellowed and opened fire on the Doctor. The shot skimmed the Doctor's chest, causing his skeleton to briefly become visible. He crumpled to the ground just as Jack appeared and promptly blasted the Dalek to smithereens with his own gun.

Rose, Donna and Shareen all ran to the fallen Doctor, Rose getting there first. "I've got you, it missed you. Look, it's me." she said, cradling him.

"Rose." the Doctor croaked, the pain from his injury setting in.

"Hi." Rose laughed weakly.

"Long time no see." the Doctor rasped.

"Been busy, ya know." Rose trembled.
The Doctor suddenly yelled out in pain.
"Don't die, oh, my God, don't die. Oh, my god, don't die..." Rose panicked.

"Get him in the TARDIS, quick." Jack said as he, Shareen and Donna reached them. "Move!"

"C'mon, all together." Shareen said, and the three women scooped the Doctor and began to carry him back towards the TARDIS while Jack grabbed Rose's gun and covered them just in case any more Daleks were around.

~8~

At Torchwood, Gwen came out of the armoury with two machine guns and handed one to Ianto. "They don't work against Daleks." he pointed out, remembering the Battle of Canary Wharf.

"Yeah? Well, I'm going out fighting." Gwen said determinedly. "Just like Owen and Tosh." Their colleagues Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato had both sadly been killed in action not long ago. "How about you?" she asked Ianto.

"Yes, ma'am!" Ianto said, taking an ammo pack and loading his gun.

~8~

Rose, Shareen and Donna had managed to get the Doctor inside the TARDIS and he was now lying on the floor, groaning and convulsing in pain. The women were beside him while Jack set the guns down on the jump seat. "What-what'd we do?" Donna asked frantically, "There must be some medicine or something!"

"Just step back." Jack advised as he joined them. "Rose, Shareen, you girls too. He's dying and you both know what happens next."

"Right, c'mon, Rose." Shareen said, standing up and taking Rose's arm.

"I came all this way." Rose sniffled as Shareen led her away from the Doctor.

"What d'ya mean?" Donna asked Jack. "What happens next?"

Before either Rose, Shareen or Jack could answer Donna, their attention was caught by the Doctor raising his right hand, which was glowing gold. "It's starting." he wheezed.

~8~

Sarah Jane was driving along when she was forced to slam on her brakes when she saw two Daleks in front of her. They both turned to face her. "All Human transport is forbidden!" the first Dalek said.

"I surrender, I'm sorry!" Sarah Jane said, putting her hands up in surrender.

"Daleks do not accept apologies!" the second Dalek retorted. "You will be exterminated!"

"Exterminate!" both Daleks said together, aiming their weapons at the terrified Human.

~8~

A Dalek trundled into the Torchwood hub "Exterminate!" it bellowed.
Gwen and Ianto promptly opened fire on it.

~8~

"Ok, here it comes." Shareen said, she and the others all stepping back to a safe distance. "At least I get to see it this time."

"See what? Will someone please tell me what's going on?!" Donna demanded.

"The Doctor's people can do this thing where they change their bodies if they're dying." Shareen told her.

"But you can't!" Rose spluttered to the Doctor, who was struggling to his feet.

"I'm sorry, it's too late." the Doctor panted, "I'm regenerating." He threw his head back and bright orange regeneration energy burst out of his skin through the sleeves and neck of his suit. Jack, Donna, Shareen and Rose could only shield their faces from the blinding light.

To be continued...

Author's notes: And here's The Stolen Earth completed. Rose and Shareen reuniting was a moment I'd planned for a very long time. I thought I'd do something different from the norm and have the OC separated from the Doctor and Donna and team up with Rose. If you cast your mind back to Doomsday, the last time Rose and Shareen were together, they didn't exactly part on the best of terms but now all that's behind them and they're friends again, though Shareen is quick to put Rose in her place when she starts the jealous act again! Revisiting this episode again, it's one of my all-time favourites as you really get the sense that this is the big one; the ultimate fight for survival. The Daleks were terrifying here and the crossover with Torchwood and the Sarah Jane Adventures made it all the more special. I hope we get an epic story like this again when RTD returns! Anyway, hope you like this chapter and see ya next time for more RTD goodness!