A few weeks had passed since Owen's non-death and the team had fallen back into their usual routine. It was coming up to 7pm, and although Hally, Gwen and Tosh were still at their desks they hadn't been doing much work for the past hour or so. They'd been ever so slightly sidetracked when Tosh had made the mistake of asking Gwen how her wedding planning was going.
It turned out, planning a wedding was very stressful.
Gwen shook her head. "Honestly, if I wasn't planning on becoming her daughter-in-law I would happily tell that woman where to shove it… but instead, I have to smile and say, 'Yes Brenda, of course, Brenda, lime green sounds like the perfect choice for a wedding outfit Brenda'." She growled.
Hally covered her mouth with her hand, hiding a poorly concealed smile. Ianto had come to hover behind them, listening in amusement to Gwen and Toshiko brainstorm ways to secretly 'edit' the best man speech.
"It all sounds absolutely terrifying." Hally muttered, a small smile playing at the corner of her mouth.
Gwen's face scrunched up into confusion, her attention moving to Hally. "But you were married?"
Hally scoffed. "Yes, but we didn't have a wedding." She shook her head, eyes twinkling. "It was all very rushed." She offered as an explanation.
Gwen hummed and her face split into a smile. "Well yeah, if I'd known it was going to cause me this much headache I would have definitely just eloped!"
A crease appeared on Toshiko's forehead as a thought flickered across her expression. "Do you think Jack's ever been married?"
Hally barked a laugh, earning her stares from the three.
"Well, what does that mean?" Ianto pressed, raising an eyebrow at her instant reaction.
Hally shook her head, a light chuckle vibrating in her chest. "Oh come, look at him. That man has definitely been married. Multiple times I'm guessing." Her mouth curved with a cheeky smile.
"My ears are burning, I didn't know I paid you all to sit around and gossip about me?" Jack's confident drawl floated down to them as he stepped from his office. Ianto cleared his throat and moved away from the group, acting as if he'd simply been on his way to the coffee machine. Jack stopped behind Hally's desk, bracing himself against the back of her chair. "I think I'd better send you all home before missy here, completely ruins my reputation." He playfully narrowed his eyes at her, which she returned with an unabashed grin. Gwen chuckled and the three of them began to disband, after all, they had finished their work quite a while ago.
"Don't worry, your reputation is safe for another day Harkness." Hally quipped as she turned to head home. Jack caught her by the arm, guiding her attention back to him.
"Hey, you good?" His face had softened into one of genuine interest.
She offered a short nod. "Yeah." Giving him a smile.
"It's been a lot around here, with everything." He lowered his head slightly. "Having Martha around was nice, wasn't it?"
She let out a soft breath. "Yes. I have to admit that it was. But no, I'm good. I promise."
He nodded and his hand fell from her arm, she shot him a final smile before heading home.
As soon as Hally got home she checked her emails from UNIT, there wasn't much, she'd actually been doing a good job of keeping on top of things for once. She gave herself a metaphorical pat on the back.
Holding down two jobs.
Look at her.
She hummed as she skimmed over an email.
Subject: ARCHANGEL RECODE
Software test complete.
Updates to be rolled out early next week.
Excellent.
Hally closed the computer after sending the few replied she needed to fire off, before sprawling on her sofa. She ordered food on her phone and flicked on the TV.
Look at her and her little human life.
Maybe she should get a cat?
No.
She wasn't supposed to be planning on sticking around.
Plus she couldn't imagine The Master being a cat person.
Although…?
Hally relaxed as she switched the channel over to a mindless reality TV show. She quite liked them. Her current favourite was 'Come Dine With Me'. Watching humans shouting at each other for no reason was apparently her favourite form of stress relief.
Her doorbell rang, the food, perfect timing. She hopped off the couch and buzzed the delivery driver inside, hovering by the door as she waited for him to ascend to her floor. When the inevitable knock at the door came she opened it quickly, a bemused smile settling onto her face as Armitage held out the takeaway bag towards her.
She scoffed and shook her head. "At what point does this become stalking?"
He handed her food over to her silently, his head nodding towards the inside of her flat. "Your taste in television is abysmal."
"Well, perhaps you shouldn't have bugged my flat and then you wouldn't have to listen to it." She shot him an innocent smile. "Oh God, I bet you only ever watch documentaries, don't you? Really dry documentaries." She pulled a face at him. "What do you do for fun, actually?" Her head cocked to one side in genuine interest.
A low hum vibrated in his throat as he turned to leave. Hally grinned at his retreating form, calling after him. "Byeeeee! Oh, I know what you should watch! You'd love it. Glee! Right up your street!"
She snorted to herself, and closed the door, heading back to the sofa to devour her food. When she opened the bag, she noticed a note had been taped to the cardboard box. Armitage's scrawl written across it. 7:15AM tomorrow, and an address.
"Is this where you murder me?" Hally's eyes flicked around the dark basement, strips of lights hung from the ceiling, illuminating the empty space.
Armitage hummed appreciatively as if enjoying the thought. "No. This is where I'll train you to be less of a weakling."
She scrunched her face, but couldn't exactly disagree. Armitage circled away from her, her stomach tightened in apprehension as she watched him slowly wrap a thin bandage across his wrists and up around his knuckles. An amused noise rumbled in his throat as he noticed her watching him. "I'm not Harkness. I'm not going to go easy on you."
Hally swallowed and straightened up. "Oh, I remember." She narrowed her eyes at him.
"You tap me three times to concede." Armitage cocked his head to one side, the side of his mouth curving knowingly. "But we both know you won't. So I guess you'll learn the hard way."
Hally braced herself.
"You're also going to need to come up with some believable excuses."
"Excuses?"
"For the bruises…" Armitage lunged at her, she'd been expecting his attack so she'd dodged but he'd anticipated her evasion. His fist connected with her abdomen, just below her ribs and within seconds he had his arm around her neck, nestled tightly in the crease of his elbow. His other hand braced the back of her head. He'd incapacitated her like this before, back on the Valiant. Hally let out an irritated growl, trying to wriggle her body out of his grip.
"General struggling isn't going to help you here." His low voice grunted from behind her. "You need to strike one area on your attacker. Hard and quickly before you pass out from loss of oxygen." As he spoke he closed his arm further around her throat, cutting off the air to her lungs. Initially, she struggled against him again, her body starting to panic. But he was right, Hally thought quickly. Her arms and legs were free. If she could strike him with enough force he might have to let go.
Hally jammed her elbow backwards as hard as she could, she was rewarded with a pained grunt and felt Armitage shift away from her, a sharp gush of air fell into her lungs but his arm remained locked around her neck. "Nearly." He grunted, she could hear from his voice that she'd at least knocked the wind from him.
Well, if that hadn't worked, perhaps she could kick…?
"You've already created a weak spot. Use it." He growled, shifting his weight to recompress her neck. She followed his advice, throwing her elbow back into his ribs again, and then again. On the fourth impact, his body shifted far enough away from hers that she could slip free from his grasp. She turned quickly, might as well strike while he was winded, and threw a punch. He caught her hand easily, using her own momentum to trip her onto her back. Before she could even consider pushing to her feet, a heavy pressure landed on her chest. With his weight bearing down through his knee, Hally weakly failed to struggle out from him.
He huffed impatiently. "Are you incapable of remembering your limbs?"
Oh, right.
Her left leg was trapped underneath him, but her right was free. She pulled it up and kicked him square in the chest. The momentum forced him off her, but he'd grabbed her ankle and pulled her along with him. He flipped her by the leg onto her stomach, his weight once again holding her down but this time he had both her arm trapped behind her back. Stuck between him and the floor, she could barely pull air in to breathe. "Now would be a good time to concede."
She glared fruitlessly at the concrete, a painful sharp breath struggling into her lungs. Armitage hummed in a low warning and with a frustrated sigh she tapped against the arm that had hers restrained three times. The weight lifted and her lungs pulled in a greedy breath as she rolled onto her back.
"Well. You lasted twelve seconds longer than I thought you would." He offered her his hand, she took it and he hauled her to her feet. "You fight with assumed strength. Which you no longer have." He fixed her with a sharp stare.
Hally rubbed her ribs. "You're fucking heavy, you know."
His mouth curved into a smirk. "And you are not. Speed is your strength. You're fast. And you have the element of surprise. Your attacker is going to assume you're weak and helpless because… well…" He motioned to her. She quirked an eyebrow. "Your technique isn't bad. But we need to integrate moves that don't rely on simple brute strength. We can use momentum and your bodyweight to add the strength back in. But speed and focus are key. Make a decision and stick to it."
He reset himself. "Again."
"Again?" She choked. Her entire body hurt.
"Yes. Again. Your attacker won't stop simply because you're tired." His eyes darkened and he came for her. They continued in a similar fashion for just under an hour, Armitage barking impatiently at her when she took too long to escape his death grips. By the time he hauled her to her feet for the last time, every muscle in her body was screaming at her in furious protest.
He nodded to himself, unwrapping his hands. "Good."
The side of her mouth twitched upwards. "Sorry, what was that?"
He responded with a silencing glare. She chuckled, looking wishfully at the floor. She would love to sit down. Instead, she leaned back against the basement wall, catching her breath. Armitage circled, shrugging any aches off. "The Disciples of Saxon want to meet."
This rejuvenated her focus. "When?"
"Pick a day you can make work. They'll be there." He bent down and grabbed his water bottle, taking a long swig.
A dark shadow had fallen across Hally's face. She nodded. "Alright. I'll text you a time, you sort the place."
He nodded in understanding. Hally took out her phone, checking the time.
"Thank you."
Their eyes met and he lowered his head slightly. "Same time tomorrow." He rumbled.
She couldn't help but exhale an exhausted laugh. "Yes, if I can still walk I'll be here."
The following week passed by painfully slowly, and not only because Armitage was littering her with new bruises and aches each morning. Tuesday evening rolled around casually as if Hally hadn't spent all week thinking about it. She'd felt on edge all day, even more than usual, like Jack was watching her. He probably wasn't. She was definitely just paranoid.
At the end of the day, Hally left Torchwood on time and headed first towards her flat, just in case Jack was keeping an eye on her. Then, she snuck out the back of her building and headed to the address Armitage had given her. Which turned out to be an empty office building. He met her down in the reception, leading her silently up and into a meeting room. Hally sat on one side of a long glass table and waited. It wasn't long before a woman entered the room. She was older, perhaps mid-fifties with long white hair that had been tied up into a severe bun.
Hally offered Armitage a short nod of thanks as he silently left the room, before he did he fixed her with a familiar look. Be nice. It said. A low hum vibrated in her throat as she turned back to the woman. It was only now, that she was faced with this imposter that Hally realised she was sharply irritated that The Master had gotten other humans involved. She schooled her expression, she could see Armitage's shadow outside the door. The woman held out her hand, her eyes not leaving Hally's face. "Miss Trefusis." She offered, her tone cold and sharp. Something glittered behind her eyes. "No need to introduce yourself. We know who you are." She added swiftly as she took a seat opposite her.
Hally placed a smile on her face. "Well, that's interesting because I don't have a clue who you are."
Trefusis quirked an affronted eyebrow, but her voice was level. "No. That was how it was written."
Hally resisted the urge to scoff. "Mmm, yes, this 'instruction manual' you're following."
"The Sacred Books of Saxon."
Hally couldn't help the wince of disgust. "Indeed."
"The books spoke of the possibility of our Master's death…" Trefusis spoke with earnest.
God, he'd created a cult.
Hally hummed lowly, the word 'our' sparking a wave of deep anger in her chest. She ignored it. She needed to hear this moron out.
"The Disciples have guarded the books, we have planned for his return, when the time was right. And now, as was written, you have come to us. Forever faithful to your Master."
Hally ground her teeth together, a low growl vibrating in her throat.
She was going to fucking throttle him.
"Yes. Right. Can we just cut to it?" Hally managed to force out, pulling her mouth into a painful smile.
Trefusis' face twitched in shock at Hally's shortness, slightly taken aback, but she nodded all the same. "As you wish."
"These books, how does it say we bring him back?"
"There is a ritual, and for the ritual steps must be taken." Trefusis nodded slowly.
"Mmhmm…" Hally was growing impatient with her riddle-like way of speaking. "Yep. What exactly does it say? What do we need?"
Trefusis took a tablet from her bag, unlocked it and presented it to Hally on the table. She picked it up. There was an image on the screen, a photographed extract of the book in question. She skimmed over the words, as she'd assumed it was a resurrection ritual. There were physical aspects required that wouldn't be that hard to obtain. His fingerprints, his blood, his 'imprint', whatever that was. But then there were other elements required, when mixed together they created some kind of conduit buffer, moving life energy from one being into another.
Multiple beings. A crease formed on Hally's forehead. The ritual would require the passage of life energy from multiple beings in order to bring him back and the elements needed, some of those weren't elements found on Earth.
Hally pointed at the specific passage on the tablet. "These elements, they're not of Earth." She met the cold stare of the woman opposite her.
She nodded. "No. But our Master was prepared." Out of her bag, she revealed a ring. Hally recognised it immediately, The Master had worn it often on the Valiant. He'd been wearing it when he'd died. It was Gallifreyan in design, silver with a large green signet. Hally cocked an eyebrow in question, Trefusis explained. "This ring, it contains what we need."
Hally hummed to herself and nodded. "Good." She considered the other requirements. "Fingerprints and blood are easy enough to extract." Hally muttered, mainly vocalising for herself. She already had his screwdriver and his phone. Both would have fingerprints and she was sure the phone still had his blood on it, he'd been carrying it when he'd died after all. Hally cleared her throat. "I will let you know when I've extracted them. Armitage can get them to you."
The woman nodded calmly, she was unsurprised by what she was hearing.
Hally narrowed her eyes, pointing at the passage lower down on the page. "What are you planning on doing about this…?"
The transfer of life energy.
Trefusis bowed her head ever so slightly. "The Disciples of Saxon are bound to bring about the resurrection of our Master, whatever the cost."
Hally cocked an eyebrow. So that was it. They were going to sacrifice themselves.
There was a very short second where Hally considered the morality of it. But then… they were apparently willing. Could she let a handful of humans die to bring him back?
The answer was easier than it should have been.
Yes.
A thousand times over.
"Fine. And then the imprint, what is that?"
Trefusis cocked her head. "That we can extract from you. You bear The Master's imprint. A blessing. The gift of his kiss."
Hally shuddered. Her own patience in this moment was astounding to her.
Once he was alive she could kill him for this.
But he had to be alive first.
"Right."
"But, it must be extracted at the final moment. It is the catalysing ingredient."
Hally nodded. "Fine. Then we will set everything in motion."
Trefusis smiled knowingly. "It is written."
Hally groaned inwardly. "Yes, yes, yes." She waved her hand stopping the incessant waffle and stood. "Your… team will extract the elements from the ring. I will provide you with the rest. Any equipment or funding you need you request via Armitage. Once everything is set, I will set a time and a place and we will perform the ritual exactly as is 'written'. Not one thing goes wrong. Do you understand?"
Trefusis considered her. "Of course. We live by our Master's rule."
Her jaw rolled and she bit down on it. "No. Not one thing goes wrong… because if it does… I will rip this planet apart." A heated warning flashed behind Hally's eyes, she turned on her heel and exited the room without another glance back. Armitage dutifully followed her from the building. Perhaps he could sense her irritation because he remained quiet until they'd left the building.
"I will drive you home." She knew it was an offer, even though his words hinted at it being a command. She nodded and they both got into his car.
"She will be in contact with you for anything additional she needs," Hally spoke, not quite looking at him. She scrunched her face in exasperation. "Bunch of nutters."
Armitage hummed in agreement. "But, they can do it?"
"Yeah."
Hally was halfway up the stairs to Jack's office when Martha's name brightened up her phone screen. She frowned, holding the phone to her ear. "Martha. Hey?"
"Hello, you." She could hear the smile in the woman's voice. "Sorry, this isn't just a social call. I need your help. We're currently investigating a possible global threat and we need you."
Hally paused just outside Jack's door, raising an eyebrow. "You should probably call The Doctor…"
Martha made a noise that was neither an agreement nor disagreement. "It has to be you."
Hally exhaled softly, she couldn't exactly say no to Martha. "Alright."
"Excellent. We've already sent a Helicopter."
"Of course you have. Now if you could just tell Jack for me too…?"
Martha chuckled. "Oh no, I'm going to leave that conversation all to you."
"Traitor…" Hally muttered, Martha laughed and hung up the phone.
"Tell me what…?" Jack opened his office door, eyes narrowing at her suspiciously. She placed an innocent smile on her face.
Telling Jack hadn't been so bad, he'd only thrown in a few comments to guilt trip her.
"Oh, you're all leaving me for UNIT now."
"You'd better come back."
Plus, UNIT wasn't really giving Jack a choice. They had indeed already sent transport…
By air, the trip from Cardiff to London took just 35 minutes.
The helicopter landed just outside of London, in an area Hally didn't recognise. It looked like some kind of factory on a large industrial estate. Soldiers already swapped the area. Hally was led from the Helicopter over towards a long mobile unit that had been set up next to the factory. As she approached the door opened and a familiar face popped out. Martha beamed and pulled Hally into a tight hug.
"Hello, again."
Hally shot her a smile. "Hey… so what's going on here?"
"This is the ATMOS factory. We're investigating possible extra-terrestrial involvement. Yesterday, fifty-two people died in identical circumstances, right across the world, in eleven different time zones. Five a.m. in the UK, six a.m. in France, eight a.m. in Moscow, one p.m. in China. The only thing linked them, the ATMOS in their car. Come inside, we've set up a mobile headquarters in here." Martha turned to lead her inside.
"Huh… so why'd you call just me? I'm sure Jack could help." Hally followed her. Martha didn't respond, instead, she just sent Hally an apologetic smile over her shoulder. Inside the mobile HQ, the first thing Hally noticed were more soldiers. Ah, Mace was here, excellent. Hally quelled an eye roll. Uniforms and computers and…
Oh…
Hally sent Martha a withering glare, which she took with an innocent smile, moving away from Hally to Mace's side.
Hally met The Doctor's gaze.
His face held equal surprise.
They'd been set up.
Martha Fucking Jones.
Someone moved away from The Doctor's side, beelining for her. Arms pulled her into a tight hug. Donna.
"Oh look at you!" Donna's voice cooed happily in her ear.
Wait it was Donna.
The Doctor was travelling with Donna?!
Hally snapped out of her confusion and pulled back slightly, taking her in. "Oh… Hey!"
Donna grinned. "I thought you might have been dead!"
Hally stared back at her in shock. "What… why?!"
"Oh, you know… you weren't with him anymore and whenever I asked where you were he got all moody." Donna pulled a face, shooting The Doctor a weird look. Hally coughed awkwardly.
"Right… yeah… well, not dead." Hally gave her a grimace.
Donna looked between the two, a mischievously knowing smile curving her mouth. "Wow… well, isn't this all very tense."
Martha covered her laugh with her hand, styling it out with a cough. Hally flicked her gaze back to her and frowned. "Well, Martha what do you need from us?"
Martha smiled. "I'll show you." She and Mace led them into a small private office at the back of the HQ. A curved, black device was on the table. The Doctor instantly picked it up and began to examine it with his screwdriver.
"And here it is, laid bare. ATMOS can be threaded through any and every make of car." Mace explained for them, his voice terse.
The Doctor frowned, looking up at Martha. "You must've checked it, before it went on sale."
She nodded. "We did. We found nothing. That's why I thought we needed an expert."
The Doctor pulled a face. "Really. Who'd you get?" He looked up to silent stares. "Oh, right. Me, yes. Good."
Hally couldn't quite resist the urge to roll her eyes this time. She kept her distance from the four of them as they watched The Doctor fiddle with the device. A heavy stone of betrayal was sitting uncomfortably in her stomach. She didn't want to be here. She didn't need to be here. UNIT didn't need her to fix this when they already had The Doctor. Martha and Mace slipped from the office, giving The Doctor some space. Hally took the opportunity and escaped with them, clearing her throat to pull Martha's attention.
"Martha." Her friend's name came out more as a growl. Martha turned to her and gave her an apologetic smile. "Hally."
"Did you really fly me down here, just to 'reunite' me with him?" Hally confronted her quietly, keeping her voice low. She wasn't trying to make a scene and she didn't want to alert The Doctor or Donna to her frustration.
Martha sighed, her face dropping into one of empathy. "No… we need you for something else… that was just a bonus." A grim smile tugged at her mouth.
"So what do you need?"
Martha and Mace shared a look. "It's complicated."
The click of the door behind her told her The Doctor and Donna had come to join them, no doubt watching the conversation with interest. "Well, I'm a smart girl. I'm sure I can manage." Came Hally's reply, probably a little snippy. Martha looked to Mace for approval and he nodded his head.
He turned to the others in the room, raising his voice above the low hum of gentle conversation. "Ladies and Gentlemen, if you could give us the room." Within seconds the soldiers had cleared the room, leaving only Mace, Martha, Hally, The Doctor and Donna.
"What's going on?" The Doctor's voice rumbled from behind her.
Martha swallowed and cleared her throat, something had her reluctant to explain. "Well, we've been lucky recently. This is probably the first global threat we've faced since… well…" Her eyes flicked to Hally.
She hummed in response. "So?"
Mace cleared his throat, as he so often did. "UNIT has been running perhaps at only 50%. Almost half our systems are locked."
"Locked?" Donna's confusion was mirrored by the frown on Hally's face.
Mace nodded shortly, his face growing gradually more red. "Yes, locked. Behind a firewall. Defence missile codes, planetary defence plans, extra-terrestrial intelligence."
Donna snorted. "Sorry… I don't understand. You've locked yourself out of 50% of your system?"
Mace bristled at her tone. "We didn't lock ourselves out."
Martha sent a sympathetic look over Hally's shoulder to Donna. "The systems were locked by the previous Minister of Defence."
"Well, get him to unlock it?" She quipped back quickly, as if it was the most obvious solution in the world.
Mace coughed, cowering under Hally's gaze. "Umm… we can't."
"Why not?"
Hally hummed softly, turning to look back at The Doctor and his human companion. She gave Donna a small smile. "Well, because he's dead." Then she turned back to Martha and Mace, narrowing her eyes distrustfully. "Why are you only just coming to me with this now?"
Mace shrank away from her and Martha's face fell. "Well…" She looked to her superior for help and with a cool, forced tone Mace forced his back to straighten and explained, "We did not want to run the risk of simply handing control of half the world's security to you."
An eyebrow arched dangerously and Hally stared at Mace, her eyes glittering with contempt. As if the man hadn't already handed over a huge amount of control to her. She shifted her gaze to Martha. "But this qualifies as enough of a Global threat to make it worth the risk? Plus, you called my Dad in for backup, huh?"
Martha winced, understanding how it would look. "It's not like that."
She simply hummed in response.
The Doctor took half a step forward. "What makes you think he gave her the password?" He asked quietly.
Again Martha swallowed and Hally swore she saw a flash of fear pass over her face, before the brave human squashed it back down. "It's not a password exactly… it's just… well, it's easier if I show you." She turned to Mace, who nodded and leaned over the nearest computer, pulling up a programme on the central computer screen. Martha pulled out a chair, motioning for Hally to take a seat. After scanning over the two sheepish humans, she did so. Martha rolled her lip between her teeth, lowering her voice. "We've had our best people working on hacking it, but we can't break through." Her tone hinted at an apology.
"No… I doubt you could." Hally murmured back, her curiosity peaked.
Martha took a deep breath and motioned to the screen, it was still loading them in. "The inbuilt security system seems to require some kind of password if you can get past the interface."
"Interface?" The Doctor asked, Martha shot him a pained look over the top of Hally's head.
"Yeah… you'll see." She lowered her head to meet Hally's gaze. "Just… it's just a computer program. Just an interface… with some level of artificial intelligence." The look on Martha's face and the warning creeping into her tone made Hally's stomach flip. She looked to the screen, bracing herself for what she assumed was coming.
"Fine. Just get on with it."
Martha hit ENTER on the keyboard and the screen blinked onto a blank grey screen. Hally waited and when nothing happened she turned to frown up at Martha.
Martha bit her lip, glancing towards the screen with apprehension. "Its voice-activated… you have to talk to it."
Hally was about to ask Martha exactly what she was supposed to ask it, when a voice crackled over the computer speakers.
"Oh, Martha Jones, back again."
Hally froze and stared at the screen.
It was his voice.
His voice.
Martha whispered gently next to her ear, reminding her. "It's just an interface."
Whatever it was must have heard her, because it chuckled darkly.
That sound. The sound she'd missed for months.
The Master's laugh.
It hit her deep within her stomach.
Fuck.
After a second or two, Hally cleared her throat. "Yeah. Got it." She mumbled unhappily.
"Oh… Hello there."
Hally tried to school herself, she had to keep calm even though her pulse was pounding inside her head. She couldn't turn into a screaming crying mess right now.
It was just an interface.
Of course, The Master would create an intelligent security system and of course, he'd be narcissistic enough to have it use his voice.
Beautiful torture.
His favourite.
Hally could feel the heat of everyone's eyes on her, waiting for her to speak. She let out a slow breath. "I want you to give me access."
The interface gave a low, very Masterlike chuckle. "Oh, do you?" He… no it drawled. "And I thought I'd taught you how to ask nicely." The Master's voice teased her knowingly.
Her eyes narrowed with irritation and she shot Martha a look. The human nodded sympathetically. "This is what I mean, you have to get past it."
"How do I get past it?" Hally whispered, her hearts clenching painfully.
She missed it.
That sound.
But it wasn't him.
But it sounded like him.
It spoke like him.
A vibration hummed over the speakers as the interface laughed. "Oh, Darling you don't get past me."
"What do you want then?" She snapped back, a spike of fury escaping.
"Mmm, you know you're sexy when you're angry."
Hally groaned and, resting her elbows on the desk, hid her face in her hands.
This wasn't happening.
She couldn't hear The Doctor behind her, but she could feel his stare. Donna made a small noise of confusion.
The interface continued, a lilting tease floating into his voice. "You know what I want."
Closing her eyes, Hally rolled her shoulders back. Showing weakness in front of this audience wasn't an option, so she swallowed her pride and grumbled. "Please Master, I'd like access to the system."
It hummed happily. "A little sarcastic, but satisfying all the same."
She shook her head, lifting it from her hands to glare at the blank screen. "Well, go on then."
"Oh, I will… but first, a little something for me. And don't lie, or I'll wipe everything and leave the Earth without any defences at all." The Master's voice took on that dangerous edge.
Hally let out an exasperated sigh, muttering to herself. "You're a fucking interface."
He chuckled softly. "Do you miss me?"
She clicked her tongue against the bottom of her mouth. "How could I possibly miss you? You're not real."
The interface hummed in childlike disappointment. "Do. You. Miss. Me?"
Hally rolled her eyes, exhaling heavily. "Yes."
It vibrated happily. "I miss you too."
Hally growled and spat. "You can't miss me. You're dead. Grief only exists for the idiots left behind."
"Oh, you're angry at me." He sang mockingly.
Hally forced the tension down into her body, scrunching her toes up inside her shoes as she quipped back coldly. "Is that supposed to be a question?"
It chuckled darkly at her evident evasion. "Is The Doctor there?"
She narrowed her eyes and after a pause asked, "Why does it matter?"
The Master's laugh rang out into the room. "That's a yes. So daddy's little girl forgave him?"
She sucked on the back of her teeth. "No. I didn't. That's not why we're here."
She felt The Doctor shift behind her.
"Oh?" The interface hummed in fake interest.
"The humans want their defences back." The cold edge in her voice didn't quite mask the slight shake.
"Ah, and forever the benevolent Queen, you're going to hand it back to them."
"Maybe. Maybe not. Depends what they want with them."
Mace made a short irritated noise to her right.
The Master's laugh hummed through the speakers. "Well, you're going to need the password."
"Are you going to tell me?" Hally hoped her audience didn't pick up on the accidental teasing tone that had crept into her voice.
"Oh, I already did, sweetheart. Let's see if you were paying attention." The screen flickered and a textbox appeared in the middle of the blank grey.
Hally frowned at the screen, the textbox didn't seem to have a character limit, so no clues there. She paused and forced her eyes to Martha. "I have no idea."
From behind them, Donna scoffed. "Sorry… What the hell is going on?"
Hally sat back into the chair, looking at the screen, hoping perhaps the answer might come to her. Trying to ignore the looks that were no doubt being passed between Martha, Donna and The Doctor.
In a lowered voice, The Doctor murmured. "Do you remember Harold Saxon?"
Donna hummed. "Oh, yeah, the Prime Minister? The hot one?"
The Doctor made a noise of visceral discomfort. Hally snorted a laugh, shooting over her shoulder when The Doctor didn't respond. "Yeah, that one."
Martha shook her head, huffing. "He was actually a Time Lord and among other things… he took control of UNIT as the Minister of Defence. Now, we need access."
"Among other things…" The interface mocked.
Donna cocked an eyebrow. "… and he's calling you 'sexy' because?"
Hally shot her a smirk. "Well… because I am." She winked at the human.
The Doctor groaned.
Martha tutted, crossing her arms over her chest. "They're married."
"Right. Oh wow, that's… is that what's going on with you two?" Donna motioned between The Doctor and Hally.
Neither of them said anything, Hally turning back to the screen as the interface chuckled darkly. "Just. So." The Master's voice mused.
Hally pouted. "I mean, can I get a password clue? You know, one of those 'forgotten your password hints'?"
"Nope." The Master Interface popped the P happily. "It's just one word, darling, have you really forgotten already?"
Hally opened her mouth to retort, then frowned. "Just one word?"
"Yes, sweetheart."
"You know… you really should make your passwords more secure." She an eyebrow at the screen as if it could suddenly see her and typed into the keyboard.
P-E-T-R-I-C-H-O-R
She hit enter.
The interface chuckled, the screen blinking as it logged her in, decrypting the security and removing the firewall The Master had created.
"Clever girl. Bye for now."
Hally was still, running her tongue over the backs of her teeth. Then she looked up at Martha. "There you go." Martha gave her a small appreciative smile, shifting to let Hally get up and out of the seat, moving away from the computer quickly.
"Thank you." Martha offered softly.
Mace cleared his throat. "Yes. Quite."
The Doctor's eyes followed her as she placed herself back behind the humans. Donna's approach was measured as she left The Doctor's side to reach out to Hally. "Are you ok?"
Hally looked up at her, there was only kindness in the woman's face. She shrugged. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Well if I'd just spoken to my dead husband, I wouldn't be fine." Donna shot her a smile, eyebrows raised in gentle accusation.
Hally exhaled a soft laugh. "Yes. I'm not fine."
Donna didn't say anything else, she just pulled Hally into a tight hug. Hally let herself be held, her body needed it. She could still feel the adrenaline rushing through her blood, her muscles twitching frantically. The Doctor watched the interaction for a moment, before turning away back to Martha. They had moved on to the topic of ATMOS again. Donna pulled back, studying her face, then she turned to take a look at The Doctor. Donna hummed and nodded towards the door.
"Come on. Let's get some air."
Hally didn't really feel like denying the human, so she followed her out of the mobile HQ, more than happy to let The Doctor take the lead on whatever was happening here. Rather swiftly she'd lost all ability to care about any of it.
The sound of his laugh still rang in her head.
Donna led Hally outside and around to the left-hand side of the mobile unit. She watched as the previously dismissed staff made their way dutifully back into the HQ, back to work. Hally leant back against the unit, letting out a slow breath. Water burnt her eyes and she blinked furiously.
Donna let her take in a few long breaths before she spoke. "So, what is it then? Judgey father doesn't approve?"
Hally laughed softly, rubbing a stray tear away from her cheek. "No. He definitely doesn't approve."
"How did he die?"
A small smile curved her mouth. "A human shot him."
Donna nodded. "Well, I'm sorry for your loss." The smile Donna sent her was genuine, so caring and unapologetic.
Hally nodded. She was too tired to even try to begin to explain to Donna all the reasons she shouldn't be. Instead, she just gave her a quiet, "Thank you."
"You know, he misses you." Donna's face changed, a crease appearing on her forehead. She nodded towards the mobile unit, where The Doctor still was.
A low groan rumbled Hally's chest and she ran a hand through her hair. "I know. But I can't."
"But you want to?" Knowing sparkled behind Donna's eyes.
Hally swallowed and gave the human a short nod.
"So what's keeping you here?"
A dark look passed over Hally's face. She couldn't exactly tell her the truth. "Oh, I'm hanging around so I can bring my husband back to life. Please don't tell my Dad."
No.
She shook her head, turning her head away. For some reason, it was difficult to lie to Donna's face. "I just can't." The human stayed quiet, but Hally could feel the disbelief coming from her. The door of the mobile HQ opened and The Doctor, Mace and Martha hopped out.
The Doctor addressed Donna, nodding towards the factory. "Come on, time to take a look around."
Donna turned to him and then looked back at Hally. Evidently taking note of the fact that The Doctor hadn't even looked at her.
"Both of us?" Donna pressed, cocking an unimpressed eyebrow at The Doctor.
His eyes slid over to Hally and his jaw tensed. "Yes. All of us. Come on." He snipped quickly, walking away. Martha led the way, showing The Doctor all the areas of interest. Hally followed leisurely, not paying them any attention. Donna gave The Doctor a pat on the shoulder before leaving the group to have a snoop around on her own. Hally thought about going with her, but The Doctor wasn't paying her much attention so she could simply float around him and Martha while they looked into ATMOS.
"Ionising nano-membrane carbon dioxide converter. Which means that ATMOS works. Filters the CO2 at a molecular level." The Doctor rambled off.
Mace's face was stern, a flicker of irritation hanging over it. "We know all that, but what's its origin? Is it alien?"
"No. Decades ahead of its time. Look, do you mind? Could you stand back a bit?" The Doctor frowned, shooting Mace a stare.
Mace scoffed, affronted. "Sorry, have I done something wrong?"
"You're carrying a gun. I don't like people with guns hanging around me, all right?" The Doctor explained, his tone terse.
Mace muttered under his breath and left them. A coy smile curved Martha's mouth at seeing The Doctor undermine her superior. "Tetchy."
"People with guns are usually the enemy in my books. You seem quite at home." He quirked an eyebrow at Martha, the insinuation heavy. Hally shifted, the Laser Screwdriver in her pocket burning heavily.
Martha didn't wither under The Doctor's scrutinising stare. "If anyone got me used to fighting, it's you."
"Oh right, so it's my fault." He shot back. Hally physically bit her tongue to stop herself from jumping into the conversation.
Martha crossed her arms, not backing down. "Well, you got me the job. Besides, look at me. Am I carrying a gun?"
The Doctor paused, an inkling of confusion flashed over his face before he hid it, instead looking Martha up and down. "Suppose not."
Hally watched him. Of course, he wouldn't correct Martha. He hadn't gotten her the job. But it wasn't in The Doctor's nature to rebuke praise. Hally's upper lip twitched.
"It's all right for you. You can just come and go, but some of us have got to stay behind. So I've got to work from the inside, and by staying inside, maybe I stand a chance of making them better." Martha stared up at The Doctor and eventually his face broke into a smile.
"Yeah? That's more like Martha Jones."
"I learned from the best."
The Doctor hummed, a grin forming on his face. "Well."
No one was watching her, so she didn't feel that bad about the eye roll. It was then that Donna poked her head in, a triumphant grin plastered on her face.
"Oi, you lot. All your stormtroopers and your sonics. You're rubbish. Should've come with me." She announced.
The Doctor's face scrunched. "Why, where have you been?"
"Personnel. That's where the weird stuff's happening, in the paperwork. Because I spent years working as a temp, I can find my way around an office blindfold, and the first thing I noticed is an empty file." Donna held up an empty blue file.
The Doctor put down the ATMOS device. "Why, what's inside it? Or what's not inside it?"
"Sick days. There aren't any. Hundreds of people working here and no one's sick. Not one hangover, man flu, sneaky little shopping trip, nothing. Not ever. They don't get ill."
The Doctor's eyes widened, surprise and then pride lit up his face as he grinned at his companion. Moments later, Mace had ordered Martha to set up a medical post to examine the workers, to see if there was any information they could get from them. Martha looked meaningfully at Donna. "Come on, Donna. Give me a hand." The two women shared a smile and as they left together, Hally realised why.
They'd purposefully left her alone with The Doctor.
Luckily Mace was oblivious to the plan, because he stuck around.
"So this, this ATMOS thing. Where'd it come from?" The Doctor asked.
Mace frowned, surprised The Doctor wasn't aware. "Luke Rattigan himself."
An inquisitive eyebrow arched on The Doctor's face. "And himself would be?"
Mace caught The Doctor up, pulling Rattigan's file onto the screen. "Child genius. Invented the Fountain Six search engine when he was twelve years old. Millionaire overnight. Now runs the Rattigan Academy. A private school, educating students handpicked from all over the world."
The Doctor hummed with appreciation. "A hothouse for geniuses. Wouldn't mind going there. I get lonely."
He looked towards her, a lopsided grin on his face as if the pair were sharing a joke. Then he seemed to catch himself, he coughed and turned away from her, an awkward silence hovering between the two before The Doctor addressed Mace again. He wanted to visit the Rattigan Academy, and confront the maker of ATMOS.
After some childish bickering, Mace found The Doctor a UNIT Jeep, along with an escort. A young man named Jenkins. Then Mace turned on his heel and left, looking rather relieved to be heading away from the two Time Lords.
The Doctor spotted Donna and bounded over to her. "Oh, just in time. Come on, come on, we're going to the country. Fresh air and geniuses, what more could you ask?"
Donna frowned, shaking her head sadly. "I'm not coming with you. I've been thinking. I'm sorry. I'm going home."
The Doctor's face dropped. "Really?"
Donna nodded earnestly. "I've got to."
The Doctor swallowed, emotion pooling behind his eyes. "Oh, if that's what you want. I mean, it's a bit soon. I had so many places I had wanted to take you. The Fifteenth Broken Moon of the Medusa Cascade, the Lightning Skies of Cotter Palluni's World, Diamond Coral Reefs of Kataa Flo Ko. Thank you. Thank you, Donna Noble, it's been brilliant. You've, you've saved my life in so many ways. You're…" He paused, eyes widening as he studied Donna's face. "... you're just popping home for a visit, that's what you mean."
Donna grinned at him, mischief twinkling in her bright eyes. "You dumbo."
The Doctor groaned. "And then you're coming back."
Donna was enjoying herself, laughing at him. "Know what you are? A great big outer space dunce."
The Doctor went to disagree, before he pouted and conceded. "Yeah."
Donna nodded towards the car that Jenkins had acquired for them. "What's more, you can give me a lift. Come on. Broken moon of what?"
"I know, I know."
Hally wasn't too sure how she'd ended up in the Jeep tagging along with The Doctor. She supposed that she'd just fallen into an old pattern. Hally didn't say a word on the journey, barely listening while The Doctor chit-chatted with Jenkins. She could feel Donna's eyes land on her every so often, but the human didn't try to coax any conversation from her. When they pulled up near Donna's house, the human hopped out and turned to Hally.
"Come on. You're coming with me." She held out her hand, expectant.
Hally paused. "I am?" She wasn't being rude, Hally's voice held genuine surprise.
"Yes. Come on!" Donna called, already heading up the road towards her house, or so Hally assumed.
Hally made a noise of uncertainty, but between heading with Donna and being stuck in a car with The Doctor, she knew what she'd rather do, so she hopped out.
"I'll see you back at the factory, yeah?" Donna shouted towards The Doctor.
"Bye!" He called back as Jenkins drove them away.
Hally quickened her pace to catch up with Donna. Houses lined both sides of the road, perfectly kept front gardens. Hally could see some nosey neighbours peak through their front windows at them both, checking out who was walking down the road.
An older man straightened up to regard them, placing down the trowel he'd been working with, in his garden. His eyes widened at the sight of Donna and with speed that impressed Hally for his age, he straightened up and rushed towards her, waving ecstatically. He scooped Donna into a tight hug, which she returned with enthusiasm. After a long moment, they broke apart and Donna turned to introduce Hally. Donna's grandfather, Wilf greeted her with immediate warmth, ushering them both inside. He popped the kettle on, bringing out the best biscuits for them.
Hally accepted the mug of tea from Wilf, he grasped her hand, excitement glittering in his eyes. "Are you one of them aliens too? Oh, I think you are, your eyes are older than mine."
Hally smiled and nodded. "Quite a bit older, young man." She gave him a playful wink.
"Oh, I like her." Wilf grinned, motioning to Hally.
Donna chuckled and the trio headed from the kitchen into their front sitting room, getting comfortable. Wilf was so happy to see Donna, it was lovely to watch. She shared as many stories as she could with him, his excitement building with each one. "I said so, didn't I? Aliens. I said they was real. I just didn't expect them in a little blue box." Wilf grinned.
"Well, for God's sake, don't tell your mother." Wilf warned, his eyes widening knowingly.
Donna grimaced, clearly unsure. "I don't know. I mean, this is massive. Sort of not fair if she doesn't know."
Donna's mother entered the room, laundry basket balanced on her hip. "Doesn't know what? And who's she, the cat's mother? And where've you been these past few days, lady, after that silly little trick with the car keys? I phoned Veena and she said she hadn't seen hide nor hair." Donna's mother finally noticed that they had a guest, her eyes settling on Hally. "Oh, you were at the wedding?"
Hally smiled, twitching her hand in a wave.
Donna sighed at her mother's rambling. "Yes, Mum, this is Hally. And I've just been travelling."
"Oh, hark at her, Michael Palin. Are you staying for tea, because I haven't got anything in. I've been trying to keep your granddad on that macrobiotic diet, but he sneaks off and gets pork pies at the petrol station. Don't deny it, I've seen the wrappers in the car. Oh, I don't miss a trick. Now then, what were you going to tell me? What don't I know?"
Hally had to hide her smirk behind her mug as she took a sip of the tea.
Actually, it wasn't half bad.
Damn, she'd have to tell Ianto.
Donna sighed to herself and shook her head. "Nothing. Just nothing."
Sylvia tutted. "Good. Right, then you can sit there and cut out those coupons. Every penny helps. This new mortgage doesn't pay for itself. Dad, kettle on."
Wilf shot Hally and Donna a knowing look. "Yeah, kettle on." He muttered, getting to his feet and following Sylvia to the kitchen. Hally watched them interact with a heavy fondness.
Hally and Donna shared a look. Hally's mouth curved into a smirk and she muttered, "Parents, hey?"
Donna snorted in response, shaking her head. She watched Hally take another sip of the hot drink, before placing down her own mug. "So come on, cup of tea, biscuits, it's time to spill."
Hally raised an eyebrow. "Spill?"
"Yes. You and The Doctor, what happened? You were so close, are you really telling me that you're not talking over a man?"
Hally exhaled a laugh. "Partially. Both of us did things, lied, he hurt me and I hurt him and neither of us really know how to move past it."
"Well, you're never going to move past it if you avoid him for the rest of time." Donna levelled with her knowingly.
Hally shook her head, chuckling. "No, I know. But seeing him… it hurts." She rolled her lower lip between her teeth. "Looking at him reminds me of everything I've lost and I know it's not fair but I blame him for it. So right now, it's easier to stay away."
Donna nodded in understanding, she reached forward and placed her hand on top of Hally's. The moment was broken by a commotion outside, Donna got to her feet and checked out of the window.
"Come on!" She ushered Hally out of her house and back onto the street. The Doctor was checking under the car on the opposite side of the road. He rounded on them when he heard them approach.
"You would not believe the day I'm having!"
Hearing voices, Wilf followed the two women out of the house. "Is it him? Is it him? Is it the Doctor? Ah, it's you!" Wilf's eyes widened in recognition.
The Doctor frowned, before he focused on Wilf. "Who? Oh, it's you."
Donna looked between them both, her mouth open. "What, have you met before?"
"Yeah, Christmas Eve. He disappeared right in front of me." Wilf stared, wide-eyed at The Doctor.
The Doctor and Wilf introduced themselves properly, shaking hands. Donna took out her phone, trying and failing to contact Martha.
"She's not answering. What is it, Sontorans?"
"Sontarans." The Doctor corrected, running a frantic hand through his hair. "But there's got to be more to it. They can't be just remote controlling cars. That's not enough. Is anyone answering?"
"Hold on…Martha! Hold on, he's here." Donna passed the phone over to The Doctor.
"Martha, tell Colonel Mace it's the Sontarans. They're in the file. Code Red, Sontarans. But if they're inside the factory tell them not to start shooting. UNIT will get massacred. I'll get back as soon as I can." He hung up the phone and lifted up the car bonnet, examining the engine and the ATMOS device.
"But you tried sonicing it before. You didn't find anything."
"Yeah, but now I know it's Sontaran, I know what I'm looking for."
Hally crossed her arms over her chest. "If this is a battle plan it doesn't really scream Sontaran to me? Far too cloak and dagger." She pulled a face.
The Doctor turned to her, nodding frantically. "You're right… it's not typical Sontaran is it?" He frowned, scratching at his head in deep thought.
Sylvia moseyed over, catching sight of The Doctor. The ATMOS device clicked and started hissing, a thick gas began to flow from it steadily. The Doctor pushed the others back, with a sharp warning as the gas expanded around the car. He focused the Sonic Screwdriver on the device and with a bang, the ATMOS fizzed out, sparking. The Doctor ducked under the bonnet, sniffing at the remaining gas. "That wasn't just exhaust fumes, Some sort of gas. Artificial gas."
Donna looked up, taking in all the cars around them. "But if it's poisonous, then they've got poisonous gas in every car on Earth."
Wilf shook his head, getting into the car. "It's not safe. I'm going to get it off the street." Before he could start the engine, the doors locked shut, trapping him inside. Gas started flowing into the car, the windows steaming up swiftly.
Donna rushed around to the car door, trying to prise it open to let Wilf out. "Hold on! Turn it off. Granddad, get out of there!"
Wilf pulled on the handle as hard as he could, but the door was deadlocked. "I can't! It's not locked! It's them aliens again!"
"What's he doing? What's he done?" Sylvia scoffed looking to The Doctor in accusation.
The waft of gas caught Hally's attention and she looked away from Wilf in the car. The gas wasn't just inside the car, it was on the whole street. All the ATMOS devices had been activated.
"Doctor…" She murmured, drawing his attention up to the other cars too.
"They've activated it!" The Doctor stared, wide-eyed and helpless at the increasing smog.
"It's the whole world…"