The Doctor bundled himself underneath the car, trying to disable the ATMOS with the Sonic Screwdriver. His frustrated groan told them all that whatever he was doing wasn't working.
"He's going to choke. Doctor!" Donna screamed at him, panicking helplessly as Wilfred began to pass out from lack of oxygen.
Behind them, Sylvia marched back out of the house, axe in hand. She slammed the bonnet closed and swung the axe at the windscreen, shattering the glass. She looked from Donna to the baffled Doctor. "Well, don't just stand there. Get him out."
They managed to help Wilf from the car without injury and Sylvia and Donna helped him back into the house. Jenkins pulled up next to them, driving a black cab. "Doctor. This is all I could find that hasn't got ATMOS."
The Doctor and Hally hopped in quickly, The Doctor calling over to his companion. "Donna, you coming?"
"Yeah!" She started to run towards the cab, but her mother grabbed her by the arm, stopping her. Hally couldn't quite hear what they were saying, but it was obvious that her mother was begging her to stay, to not go with The Doctor. Wilf swatted Sylvia away, encouraging Donna to go, which she did. Turning and running to the cab, slipping into the back.
Jenkins drove them back to the ATMOS factory, The Doctor directing him over to the TARDIS. The tall blue box stood out proudly against the concrete. The Doctor, Donna and Hally got out of the cab while Jenkins headed inside the factory building.
Donna coughed, covering her face with her arm. "The air is disgusting."
The Doctor turned to her, concern flickering over his face. "It's not so bad for me. Go on, get inside the TARDIS." He paused and a small smile curved his mouth. "Oh, I've never given you a key…" He fished in his pockets for a spare, pulling it out and pressing it into Donna's hand. "Keep that. Go on, that's yours. Quite a big moment really." He considered wistfully.
Donna shot him a look of disbelief. "Yeah, maybe we can get sentimental after the world's finished choking to death."
Hally snorted in amusement and The Doctor hummed. "Good idea." Then he turned on his heel and sped back towards the factory.
"Where are you going?" Donna called after him.
"To stop a war."
Hally looked between them both, watching as Donna let herself into the TARDIS. She wasn't sure why but she turned to run after The Doctor, if she could help, she probably should.
He bounded back into the mobile UNIT HQ, barging into their conversation without apology. "Right then, here I am. Good. Whatever you do, Colonel Mace, do not engage the Sontarans in battle. There is nothing they like better than a war. Just leave this to me."
Mace straightened, his face dropping into a scowl. "And what are you going to do?"
"I've got the TARDIS. I'm going to get on board their ship." He announced.
Hally raised an eyebrow. "Wait we are?"
He looked to Martha, nudging her. "Come on." The three of them headed back to where they'd only just left the TARDIS. Except, now all that stood before them was an empty space. The Doctor scrunched up his face, running his tongue over the top of his mouth.
"Taste that, in the air. Yuck. That sort of metal tang. Teleport exchange. It's the Sontarans. They've taken it. I'm stuck on Earth like, like an ordinary person. Like a human. How rubbish is that? Sorry, no offence, but come on." He rambled.
Hally pulled a face. "Maybe you could get a puppy?" She offered, unhelpfully.
Martha looked back at the UNIT base. "So what do we do?"
"How'd they get past the shields?" Hally mused out loud, The Doctor caught her gaze meaningfully and gave her an unsubtle hum. He was trying to hint to her about something.
But what?
He took in a deep breath and rounded on Martha. "I'm just wondering, have you phoned your family and Tom?"
"No. What for?" Martha responded quickly.
Hally frowned and looked to their friend.
Oh.
Martha.
Something was wrong with Martha.
Hally hadn't really been paying attention on their brisk walk back to the TARDIS, but now that The Doctor had basically pointed it out for her, there was something different about the human. Only slightly. Hally narrowed her eyes, trying to pinpoint exactly what it was.
"The gas. Tell them to stay inside." The Doctor offered, as if it was obvious.
Martha, or maybe not Martha backtracked. "Course I will, yeah but, what about Donna? I mean, where's she?"
The Doctor hummed. "Oh, she's gone home. She's not like you. She's not a soldier. Right. So. Avanti." He lied, before he grinned and rushed off, Hally rolled her eyes at the back and forth but followed him back into the HQ, Martha bringing up the rear.
"Change of plan."
Mace turned, looking The Doctor up and down. "Good to have you fighting alongside us, Doctor."
The Doctor's face scrunched with distaste. "I'm not fighting. I'm not-fighting, as in not hyphen fighting, got it? Now, does anyone know what this gas is yet?"
Hally wrinkled her nose, she could still smell something odd. Perhaps the gas was leaking into the HQ? It didn't look like it was. While the humans spoke with The Doctor, she took a slow walk around the mobile unit. The scent didn't follow her, it was coming from somewhere specific.
From someone.
Hally hovered behind Martha and took in a breath, unable to stop her face from pulling into an expression of disgust. The Doctor caught her eye and gave her a quick wink.
Alright, so this Martha was a clone.
Huh, so where'd the original go?
The Sontarans must have swapped them out while The Doctor had been at the Rattigan academy. But what did they need to pose as Martha for?
"It's harmful, but not lethal until it reaches eighty percent density. We're having the first reports of deaths from the centre of Tokyo City." A short woman explained to The Doctor, also in UNIT military uniform.
Mace jumped in. "Jodrell Bank's traced a signal, Doctor, coming from five thousand miles above the Earth. We're guessing that's what triggered the cars."
The Doctor gave a grave nod. "The Sontaran ship."
Mace hummed. "NATO has gone to Defcon One. We're preparing a strike."
Hally scoffed at the man's idiocy and The Doctor shook his head. "You can't do that. Nuclear missiles won't even scratch the surface. Let me talk to the Sontarans."
"You're not authorised to speak on behalf of the Earth." Mace grumbled, puffing out his chest.
Hally cocked an eyebrow, which Mace saw. His face reddened in anger at her silent command.
"I've got that authority. I earned that a long time ago." The Doctor moved past Mace, taking out his Sonic Screwdriver and waving it over the communication system. "Calling the Sontaran Command Ship. Under Jurisdiction Two of the Intergalactic Rules of Engagement."
The screen blinked and switched feeds, revealing a Sontaran. It had removed its helmet, its mouth upturned into a sneer as it regarded The Doctor. "Doctor, breathing your last?"
"My God, they're like trolls…" Mace muttered.
The Doctor shot him a withering look. "Yeah, loving the diplomacy, thanks." The Doctor turned back to the screen. "So, tell me, General Staal, since when did you lot become cowards?"
Staal hissed with rage. "How dare you! Doctor, you impugn my honour."
The Doctor flopped back into a vacant chair, propping his feet up on the desk. "Yeah, I'm really glad you didn't say belittle, because then I'd have a field day. But poison gas? That's the weapon of a coward and you know it. Staal, you could blast this planet out of the sky, and yet you're sitting up above watching it die. Where's the fight in that? Where's the honour? Or are you lot planning something else, because this isn't normal Sontaran warfare. What are you lot up to?" The Doctor cocked his head to one side.
Staal growled, shifting from left to right. "A general would be unwise to reveal his strategy to the opposing forces."
The Doctor clicked his tongue against his teeth. "Ah, the war's not going so well, then. Losing, are we?" He noted with a deliberately cheery tone.
"Such a suggestion is impossible." Staal barked.
"What war?" Mace looked at The Doctor for explanation.
The Doctor turned slightly to the side to address him. "The war between the Sontarans and the Rutans. It's been raging, far out in the stars, for fifty thousand years. Fifty thousand years of bloodshed, and for what?"
"For victory." Staal grinned, the expression stretching his small ugly face. "Sontar-ha!" Staal barked the war cry, slamming his fist into his hand. He continued the chant, The Doctor rolling his eyes. "Sontar-ha. Sontar-ha. Sontar-ha. Sontar-ha. Sontar-ha."
The Doctor aimed the screwdriver at the screen. "Give me a break." The screen flicked over to a children's television channel while they waited a few moments for the Sonataran General to stop chanting. When The Doctor flicked the screen back, Staal had indeed finished and was scowling at the camera.
"Finished?" The Doctor mused jovially.
"You will not be so quick to ridicule when you see our prize. Behold. We are the first Sontarans in history to capture a TARDIS." The video feed swivelled, revealing the blue box parked behind Staal.
The Doctor hummed. "Well, as prizes go, that's noble. As they say in Latin, Donna nobis pacem." He slowed his voice, evidently reaching out to Donna trapped in the commandeered TARDIS. "Did you never wonder about its design? It's a phone box. It contains a phone. A telephonic device for communication. Sort of symbolic. Like, if only we could communicate, you and I."
Staal grunted, swiftly boring of the conversation. "All you have communicated is your distress, Doctor."
The Doctor nodded his head to the side, sending Staal a triumphant grin. "Big mistake though, showing it to me. Because I've got a remote control." He held up the Sonic Screwdriver, wiggling it, taunting.
"Cease transmission!" Staal ordered, and the screen went black.
"That achieved nothing." Mace huffed, glaring at The Doctor.
The Doctor shrugged, arching his eyebrows. "Oh, you'd be surprised."
The Doctor and the Martha clone were examining the breakdown of the gas elements when Captain Price, the short blonde they'd been introduced to shortly before, announced above the general humming of voices. "Launch grid online and active."
Mace shifted around to centre himself to the screen. "Positions, ladies and gentlemen, Defcon One initiatives in progress."
This caught The Doctor's attention immediately. "What? I told you not to launch."
"The gas is at sixty percent density. Eighty percent and people start dying, Doctor. We've got no choice." Mace countered, the muscles of his face straining with irritation.
Hally cocked an eyebrow. "Are you serious? You fire at them and you're dead."
"Launching in sixty, fifty-nine, fifty-eight, fifty-seven, fifty-six. Worldwide nuclear grid now coordinating. Fifty-four, fifty-three." Price began the countdown.
Mace shifted under Hally's intense gaze. "The decision has been made by the Global Council, NATO has approved. Unfortunately, it's out of our hands." She could hear the double meaning behind his words.
"It's out of your hands."
Damn, humans.
The side of Mace's mouth curved into a smug smile. "Thank you for unlocking the system for us."
The Doctor jumped in, hearing the dangerous growl vibrating in Hally's throat. "You're making a mistake, Colonel. For once, I hope the Sontarans are ahead of you."
"North America, online. United Kingdom, online. France, online. India, online. Pakistan, online. China, online. North Korea, online. All systems locked and coordinated. Launching in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Zero."
Those in the room watched the screen in silent apprehension, but as the countdown hit zero the screens blinked and died. An empty blank screen sat before them.
Mace looked to Price for answers. "What is it? What happened? Did we launch? Well, did we?"
Price was already trying to reboot the system. "Negative, sir. The launch codes have been wiped, sir. It must be the Sontarans."
The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, thoughts running wildly across his face. "Missiles wouldn't even dent that ship, so why are the Sontarans so keen to stop you? Any ideas?" He looked down at the thing pretending to be Martha.
She almost scoffed at him, giving him a weak shrug. "How should I know?"
Hally cocked an eyebrow. The clone wasn't doing a good job of pretending to be the human. But she seemed to have downloaded her recent memories, which most likely meant Martha was still alive, somewhere onsite. To maintain the link Martha would have to be close by, Hally's bet was inside the…
"Sontarans within factory grounds. East corridor, grid six." The voice of Jenkins crackled over the communication system.
Ah, yes. She would definitely be inside. They'd sent troops down to protect her, meaning they still had use for the clone.
Mace ordered all troops to take up offensive action, declaring a Code Red. Despite The Doctor's warning, Mace pushed the soldiers forward. The room listened as the engaging troops dropped off the comms, one by one. The Sontarans had slaughtered them. Finally, seeing reason, Mace crumpled under The Doctor's hard stare and called for the soldiers to retreat.
"They've taken the factory." Mace announced in defeat.
The Doctor was pacing up and down the unit. "Why? They don't need it. Why attack now? What are they up to? Times like this, I could do with the Brigadier. No offence."
Hally cleared her throat, catching The Doctor's attention. She glided her eyes over towards Martha, hoping The Doctor might catch her hint.
"Launch grid back online…" Price turned back to them, but a second later the screen shut down once again. Price scowled at the computer. "They're inside the system, sir. It's coming from within UNIT itself."
"Trace it. Find out where it's coming from, and quickly. Gas levels?" Mace ordered.
"Sixty-six percent in major population areas, and rising." She responded.
"They wanted UNIT here. You gave them something they needed. Something now hidden inside the factory. Something precious." The Doctor was thinking out loud. He shared a look with his daughter, both of them realising that the Sontarans had planned this whole thing. They'd known Martha would call The Doctor and they'd known that creating a Global threat would force UNIT to bring Hally in to unlock their defence systems. The same defence systems the Sontarans had now hacked into.
But the Sontarans were stopping the missiles. Why?
Hally narrowed her eyes. "If you were able to fire those missiles, they'd be drawn into combat. Wouldn't they?" The Doctor looked to her, as did Martha, sharp intrigue on her face. "For some reason, they're actively trying to avoid blowing us out of the sky."
The Doctor hummed. "Quite. But why?"
While Mace brainstormed ideas to level the playing field against the Sontarans, The Doctor slipped into the back office. Hally kept the Martha clone occupied, distracting her with wild theories about the Sontaran gas.
Mace had regained some of his confidence. "Counter attack." The Doctor slipped back out of the office as Mace and all present soldiers stood to attention and filed out of the HQ and onto the industrial estate outside the factory.
"Positions. That means everyone." He ordered, shooting Hally and The Doctor a sharp glare. Mace tossed both of them gas masks to help with the building levels of poisonous gas. Martha took one for herself and everyone secured the masks to their faces.
The Doctor turned to Mace. "Are you my mummy?"
Hally snorted but rolled her eyes when The Doctor turned to her to share in his joke. Now would have been the perfect time for a sharp comment about the relevance of that statement. But she bit her tongue.
Mace huffed. "If you could concentrate. Bullets with a rad-steel coating. No copper surface. Should overcome the cordolaine signal."
The Doctor scowled. "But the Sontarans have got lasers. You can't even see in this fog. The night vision doesn't work."
"Thank you, Doctor. Thank you for your lack of faith. But this time, I'm not listening." Mace stated, removing his gas mask as he addressed the small group of soldiers. "Attention, all troops. The Sontarans might think of us as primitive, as does every passing species with an axe to grind. They make a mockery of our weapons, our soldiers, our ideals. But no more. From this point on, it stops. From this point on, the people of Earth fight back, and we show them. We show the warriors of Sontar what the human race can do. Trap One to Hawk Major. Go, go, go."
Wind whipped up around them and after a few seconds, the heavy cloud of gas dispersed, broken and forced upwards by the powerful draft. Mace was watching the sky as the huge airship lowered towards the ground, its gigantic engines whirring loudly overhead. "It's working. The area's clearing. Engines to maximum."
"It's the Valiant." The Doctor looked up at the familiar ship.
"Yeah, no shit Sherlock." Hally muttered, watching as the engines cleared their path to the factory.
"UNIT Carrier Ship Valiant reporting for duty, Doctor. With engines strong enough to clear away the fog." Mace announced, smug pride tinting his voice. No longer needing the gas mask, Hally removed it. "Valiant, fire at will." They watched as the Valiant fired on the ATMOS factory, the soldiers, now with their functional guns, opened fire, clearing the way for Mace to re-enter the factory. They'd taken back control.
The Doctor followed the Colonel, branching off down a service corridor, following readings on the Sonic Screwdriver. Hally followed behind. The Martha clone paused. "Shouldn't we follow the Colonel?"
"Nah, you and me, Martha Jones. Just like old times." The Doctor chirped back. "Alien technology, this-a-way." He wiggled his eyebrows in Hally's direction and they descended into the factory basement. Automatically, the lights above them flickered into life, illuminating the long corridor. Two ominous doors at the end. Of course, that was exactly where they headed. "No Sontarans down here. They can't resist a battle. Here we go…" The Doctor pushed through the door and Hally slipped in after him. It was some kind of makeshift laboratory. The remains of a clone feeding tank sat in the middle. A flurry of wires ran from the tank to a holding cradle where Martha lay, motionless. The Doctor rushed forward. "Oh, Martha, I'm so sorry." He checked her pulse. "Still alive." Hally let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding.
The click of a gun drew their attention back to the clone, she had the gun trained on The Doctor's chest.
The Doctor cocked an eyebrow. "Am I supposed to be impressed?"
"Wish you carried a gun now?" The clone mocked, its face while it still looked like Martha. had dropped into a cruel smile.
"Not at all." The Doctor shot back.
"I've been stopping the nuclear launch all this time." She bragged.
Hally rolled her eyes. "Yes. Thank you. Well done."
The Doctor hummed in agreement. "Doing exactly what I wanted. I needed to stop the missiles, just as much as the Sontarans. I'm not having Earth start an interstellar war. You're a triple agent."
The clone arched her eyebrows in surprise, realising that The Doctor had figured out her deception before he'd found the real Martha. "When did you know?"
"About you? Oh, right from the start. Reduced iris contraction, slight thinning of the hair follicles on the left temple. And, frankly, you smell…" He pulled a face, Hally nodding in quick agreement. "You might as well have worn a T-shirt saying clone." The Doctor drawled.
"Although, maybe not in front of Jack." Hally muttered, cocking an eyebrow at The Doctor in mock reprimand. The Doctor hummed, looking back at the clone. "You remember him, don't you? Because you've got all her memories. That's why the Sontarans had to protect her, to keep you inside UNIT. Martha Jones is keeping you alive." The Doctor turned back to the real Martha and gently removed the cradle headset that was keeping the two of them linked.
With a pair of gasps, the clone collapsed and Martha jolted away, grabbing hold of The Doctor in fright. "It's all right, it's all right, I'm here, I'm here. I've got you, I've got you…" The Doctor held her, Hally watched the clone. It was already dying, it wouldn't pose any threat to them now.
The Doctor's phone rang and he picked it up. Donna. Hally knelt down beside Martha, helping her to her feet. Martha froze when she spotted the clone. "Oh, my God. That's me."
Hally hummed softly, offering Martha a smile of sympathy. The human looked down at herself, no doubt suddenly feeling very exposed in only the thin medical dress the Sontarans had changed her into. Hally tapped The Doctor on the shoulder, his attention broke away from whatever he was instructing Donna to do. She held out her hand towards him. "Coat." He frowned in confusion. "Give me your coat." She exhaled quickly, sending a look over to Martha. He caught on to her meaning and shrugged the long brown trench coat off his shoulders, dumping it on her. She moved away and helped Martha into it, the human smiling in appreciation as she wrapped it close around herself.
The coat swamped her, making her look small and vulnerable. For a split second, Hally wondered if she'd looked similar, wrapped in Koschei's coat up on the Valiant after he'd been shot.
Hally looked away from her, shaking her head.
The Doctor was working on the teleport chamber in the corner of the room. It must have been how the Sontarans had infiltrated the factory in the first place. Out of the corner of her eye, Hally watched Martha approach her clone, kneeling down to try and comfort her. The Doctor listened in, calling over from the teleport, "The gas. Tell us about the gas." He manoeuvred his screwdriver around a bundle of wires.
"He's the enemy…" The clone hissed, curling up tightly.
Martha reached out, pressing her hand against the clone's. "Then tell me. It's not just poison, what's it for? Martha, please."
Conflict flashed over the clone's face and she looked like she was about to refuse, however, she shook her head and sighed. "Caesofine concentrate. It's one part of Bosteen, two parts Probic five."
"Clonefeed. It's clonefeed!" The Doctor yelped, dropping the wires.
Martha turned to him. "What's clonefeed?"
"Like amniotic fluid for Sontarans. That's why they're not invading. They're converting the atmosphere, changing the planet into a clone world. Earth becomes a great big hatchery. Because the Sontarans are clones, that's how they reproduce. Give them a planet this big, they'll create billions of new soldiers. The gas isn't poison, it's food."
Hally watched as the clone gripped Martha's hand. It was dying. It couldn't live much longer, not now that there was no link. Martha, forever the medic full of heart, held her hand as her eyes flickered shut. Then, Martha gently pulled her engagement ring from her identical hand, placing it back on her own hand.
The Doctor bounded away from the teleport pad, aiming his screwdriver at it. With a whir, the teleport jumped to life and in the centre phased in Donna. After the initial shock faded from her face, she sent The Doctor a withering glare. "Have I ever told you how much I hate you?" But a second later, her face split into a grin and she pulled The Doctor into a tight hug.
He wriggled in her grip. "Hold on, hold on. Get off me, get off me. Got to bring the TARDIS down." He waved the screwdriver at the teleport again, returning the TARDIS to its original position. The Doctor nodded towards the teleporter, wanting them all to follow him inside.
Martha took a step forward, her attention drawn to her phone screen. "What about this nuclear launch thing?" She turned the screen around to show them. UNIT must still have been attempting to launch because the screen requested permission to go ahead.
"Just keep pressing No. We want to keep those missiles on the ground." The Doctor ordered.
Donna frowned, her eyes taking in the Martha clone on the floor. "There's two of them."
"Yeah, long story. Here we go. The old team, back together. Well, the new team." The Doctor grinned. The three women joined him in the teleport. Donna turned back to The Doctor, sudden realisation on her face.
"We're not going back on that ship!"
"No, no, no. No. I needed to get the teleport working so that we could get to…" He activated the chamber and they were teleported into a room. Or an office? It was large. Highly sophisticated scientific inventions sat next to foosball tables and gaming equipment. Ah, it was a teenager's laboratory. "Here. The Rattigan Academy." The Doctor announced. Well, the decor made sense now. "Owned by…"
Hally assumed The Doctor was hinting at the boy, or she supposed he might be a man that was currently standing in front of them, aiming a gun in their general direction.
The boy, Rattigan, whimpered at their sudden appearance. "Don't tell anyone what I did. It wasn't my fault, the Sontarans lied to me, they…" The Doctor marched from the teleport, taking Luke's gun and throwing it on the floor.
"If I see one more gun." He growled, walking past Luke to examine what they had available to them in the lab.
Donna looked Martha up and down, giving her a nudge. "You know, that coat sort of works."
Martha chuckled and lowered her voice so The Doctor wouldn't hear. "I feel like a kid in my dad's clothes."
Donna hummed, raising an eyebrow. "Oh well, if you're calling him dad, you're definitely getting over him."
Hally laughed quietly. "Don't let him hear you, if he thinks he's got more surprise children he might explode." The two humans shared a look that Hally couldn't quite read. She moved over to where The Doctor was examining some of Rattigan's equipment.
"That's why the Sontarans had to stop the missiles. They were holding back. Because caesofine gas is volatile, that's why they had to use you to stop the nuclear attack. Ground-to-air engagement could spark off the whole thing."
Martha raised her eyebrows. "What, like set fire to the atmosphere?"
The Doctor nodded a smile brightening up his face. Hally took in a breath as it clicked where he was going with this train of thought.
"Oh…" She moved over towards the nearest workbench, checking out what Luke had on offer.
The Doctor grinned. "Yeah. They need all the gas intact to breed their clone army. And all the time we had Luke here in his dream factory. Planning a little trip, were we?" He shot over to Rattigan.
The young man shrivelled. "They promised me a new world."
"So you built an atmospheric converter…" A steady smile crept onto Hally's face and The Doctor bounded over to the cylindrical converter laid out serendipitously in front of her.
"Exactly." The Doctor shared a smile with her. Both of them had switched over into 'planet-saving mode', their own grievances forgotten for a moment.
"If I can get this on the right setting…" The Doctor pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver, altering the converters settings. He lifted the device and all five of them ran out onto the front lawn. Hally helped him set it up on the ground as Donna and Martha looked on at the smog cloud that covered the entirety of London.
The Doctor stepped back, the wired control in hand.
Martha caught on to their plan too, because she looked up at him, eyes wide. "Doctor, hold on. You said the atmosphere would ignite…"
He grinned back. "Yeah, I did, didn't I?"
"Hold onto your hats…" Hally added and The Doctor pressed down on the activation button. A pulse shot from the top of the converter, bolting straight for the sky. It hit the atmosphere with a ground-shaking KaBOOM! The Doctor stared up at the sky, crossing his fingers as the air above them ignited. Fire rolled across the sky, burning up the Sontaran gas all across the planet.
"He's a genius." Rattigan murmured.
Hally hummed, biting her lip. "Yeah, but now we're in trouble." Now that their plan had been ruined, the Sontarans would do what they did best and annihilate the planet.
The Doctor didn't speak, he swiftly picked up the atmospheric converter and ran back inside the academy.
Wait…
The gears were turning in Hally's mind.
She turned on her heel, bolting after him. "Doctor, wait!" The humans jogged after her, oblivious.
But of course, they'd had only a few moments of it being like it had been before The Doctor had to run away and try to do something stupid. Well, this time Hally wasn't going to let him. By the time she'd sprinted back into the lab, The Doctor was already starting to set the coordinates into the teleport, the atmospheric converter at his feet.
"Don't you dare!" Without a second thought, Hally grabbed him, pulling him roughly from the chamber. She shoved him further away, placing herself between him and inevitable death.
The Doctor shook his head, regret shifting off his face as he hardened his features. "We don't have time for this."
Donna stepped forward. "What's going on?"
The Doctor groaned, looking back at the confused faces behind them. "Sontarans are never defeated. They'll be getting ready for war. And, well, you know, I've recalibrated this for Sontaran air, so…"
"So he's playing the hero and is going to blow the Sontarans to hell, along with himself." Hally spat, shooting daggers up at him.
"Hal…" The Doctor tried to sidestep around her, sympathetic irritation flashed over his face.
"I said no." Hally countered. He looked at her like she was a toddler having a tantrum, refusing to let him leave on the first day of school.
"Just send that thing up on its own. I don't know. Put it on a delay." Martha offered behind him.
The Doctor exhaled, shaking his head sadly. "I can't."
"Why not?"
"I've got to give them a choice." He turned back to his daughter, hard determination on his face. Grabbing her shoulders he manoeuvred her to the side, Hally tried to shove his arms away from her but he was stronger. Any second he was going to step into the teleport. Her brain stopped thinking and her body took over. She shoved her hands into his chest hard enough that he staggered back slightly, then, not giving him a moment to recover, she swung her arm and her hand connected with the side of his face.
Martha gasped as The Doctor stumbled backwards, more in shock than from the force of the hit. Before he could right himself, Rattigan had brushed behind Hally, stepping into the teleport. The Doctor's eyes refocused in panic. "No, Luke don't!" But as Hally turned, the teleport activated and transported Luke onto the Sontaran ship. The Doctor pushed past Hally, she knew immediately that he was planning on reversing the switch, taking Luke's place.
The Laser Screwdriver was in her hand in less than a second, the sharp blast of the laser hitting the teleport control panel with an unapologetic bang, sparks flying as the shot rendered it useless.
"No!" The Doctor stared at the fizzing control panel, his eyes wide with shock. He turned on her, the expression morphing into one of fury. With two large strides, he was right in front of her. "Why would you do that?!" His eyes bulged, anger and helpless confusion rolling off him. "You let him sacrifice himself?!"
Hally was doing a slightly better job of masking her fury, balling her hands into fists to stop them from shaking. "Yes. And I'd do it again." She spat back at him, keeping her head high.
"Doctor, it was his choice…" Donna's voice floated over to them, hoping to inject some calm into the ticking bomb that was the father and daughter.
They glared at one another in heated silence. Armies had shied away from the fury that burned behind the eyes in front of her but unfortunately for her father, the jury was out on which one of them took home the stubbornness trophy. He was shaking, she could see his vein bulging in his neck. Then again, her own blood was pumping red hot through her body. He held out his hand. "Give that to me."
It took her a moment to realise that he was referring to the Laser Screwdriver, gripped tightly in the hand at her side. Her face curled into a snarl. "No."
The Doctor's wall cracked. "Do as you're told and give that to me!" He was so close to her face, practically nose to nose. She could already see an angry mark blooming on his cheek where she'd hit him.
"YOU DON'T GET TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Hally screamed back in his face. He could not control her. He would not father her. Not after everything he'd done.
The Doctor took a step back, his eyes widening. A flicker of uncertainty, of fear. Pain.
He stared at her and she stared back. There were so many things he wanted to say. She could see them all flash across his face. She willed him to open his mouth.
But he didn't.
Instead, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the room.
Typical.
Ignoring the shocked, open-mouthed looks of the two humans, Hally marched out the door.
She was so angry.
He would have blown himself up on that ship.
After everything.
Like she meant noth-…
Hally shook away the thought.
She could see The Doctor walking ahead of her. He stalked out of the academy and onto the front lawn. The fog around London had gone. Everything was back to normal. He flicked the Sonic Screwdriver and the TARDIS rematerialized in front of him. The ship opened the doors for him before he could slam them open. Donna and Martha had jogged to catch up with them and so entered the TARDIS just behind Hally. She wasn't sure what made her follow him, she could have left. Ran back to Jack. But this time, she needed to confront him, she wanted to scream at him for as long as it took to not hurt anymore.
"Running away as always Doctor." She bit as she walked up the ramp into the console room. The TARDIS gave a soft whine, sensing their anger. The Doctor braced himself against the console, dark eyes looking up at her in disappointment. "You're a coward."
"Oh, because you didn't?" His voice was low but it cut through her.
A bitter laugh fell from her lips. "Why would I stay when you don't want me here? You've convinced yourself that you're alone, that everything you do has to be on your own. Sacrifice yourself for the earth because you're alone. Keep everything inside because you're alone. You're not alone Doctor! I'm here, I've always been here but I can't stick around if you carry on completely disregarding my existence. You don't let me in! You won't let me be important to you!" Once she'd started she couldn't stop, the words tumbled from her mouth. Perhaps it didn't make sense, perhaps she was being irrational but she needed him to hear her, needed him to understand why she was so angry at him.
"That is not true!" He vehemently denied.
"Oh, really?!" She scoffed. "You think you could travel with just me huh? That you didn't instantly fill the void of a companion with Martha to have some kind of buffer? You didn't tell me about Rose, not because you were protecting me, you were protecting yourself."
Something inside The Doctor broke. "I didn't know how!"
"You can't just go around trying to sacrifice yourself at any sign of trouble!"
"Sometimes it's the only option!"
"No, it's not!"
"Your feelings are not more important than the safety of the universe!" He screamed at her.
The console room fell into a dense silence. Her breath caught in her throat and when she spoke her voice shook with effort, the emotion threatening to choke her. "I'm not saying that they are, I just want you to…"
Her voice gave out, the words wouldn't come.
See me.
Wet dropped onto her cheek, she wiped it away furiously. Hally shook her head.
"Fuck this." She turned away from The Doctor, pushing between the two humans towards the TARDIS doors. But as she reached out for the door handle, the doors locked and the TARDIS lurched violently backwards. Hally was thrown onto her back, the engines screeching into life.
"Doctor?!" Martha cried out. Hally shifted onto her hands and knees, the others had all been thrown to the ground too. The surprise on The Doctor's face told her that whatever this was, it wasn't him. The TARDIS chimed stubbornly and Hally shot the central column a glare.
"No, no, no, don't you dare!" She barked at the console. The TARDIS responded only with an irritated screech, rewarding them with another sharp shake.
Martha grabbed hold of the console. "Doctor, just listen to me. You take me home. Take me home right now!"
The Doctor had managed to scramble to his feet and was whacking the console desperately.
"What the hell's it doing?" Donna cried over the sound of the engines.
"The control's not working!" There was another jolt, knocking The Doctor back onto the floor. "I don't know where we're going, but my old hand's very excited about it."
Hally groaned and forced herself to her feet, gripping hold of the railing to avoid falling.
"Where is she taking us?!"
As if on cue, there was a loud bang, sparks flew out of the console and then… stillness. The TARDIS engine hissed irritably. They'd landed.
Without a second thought, The Doctor ran past her and out the doors. With a groan Hally got to her feet, running a hand across her face.
Great.
Donna followed The Doctor, shooting her a sympathetic look. Martha hovered by the TARDIS doors, she looked back at Hally. "Come on, we might as well go and see why the TARDIS brought us here."
Hally scowled and shot a dark look back at the central column. "She can't mind her own business. That's why she brought us here." Hally grumbled, but followed Martha nonetheless.
They'd landed in some kind of tunnel. It was dark, but electric lights had been mounted on the walls, wires lining the concrete. It looked like a junkyard, piles of scrap mounting up around them.
"Why would the TARDIS bring us here, then?" The Doctor murmured, eyes darting around the tunnel.
A persistent scowl sat on Hally's face as she looked around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
"Don't move! Stay where you are! Drop your weapons." There was a bang and suddenly they'd been surrounded. Soldiers with guns pointing at them. The Doctor and the humans raised their hands in surrender.
"We're unarmed. Look, no weapons. Never any weapons. We're safe." The Doctor reasoned. Perhaps conveniently forgetting about her Laser… wait… Hally pressed her hands against her body. Damn. She must have dropped it when the TARDIS went berserk.
One of the soldiers stared at The Doctor's hands in awe. "Look at their hands. They're clean."
The older soldier, the one they seemed to be taking orders from lowered his gun. "All right, process them. Him first." He motioned to The Doctor.
The two younger soldiers grabbed The Doctor by the arms, forcing him over towards a machine next to a chamber. They manoeuvred his right hand inside, the machine clunked and closed around his arm. "Something tells me this isn't about to check my blood pressure. Argh!" He suddenly cried out in pain.
Donna took a step forward. "What are you doing to him?" But the older man held out an arm, warning her to stay back.
The Doctor's face scrunched into a pained wince as he tried to yank his arm out of the machine. "It's taken a tissue sample. Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow. And extrapolated it. Some kind of accelerator?" With another clunk the machine released his arm, which he immediately pulled out, checking out the sore patch of skin on the back of his hand.
Martha took his hand, checking it over. "Are you all right?"
The Doctor looked from his hand and back to the machine, following the trail of wires across to the large square chamber, which had come to life, whirring. "What on earth? That's just…"
The chamber hissed and the two central panels slid open as a figure stepped out in a flurry of steam. It was a woman. Her long blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail. She was about Hally's height, dressed ready for combat. The older soldier handed her a gun as she took in her surroundings.
The time travellers stared in confusion at the newcomer. "Where did she come from?" Martha looked up at The Doctor.
He swallowed. "From me…"
Hally looked from the blonde to The Doctor and back at the machine. A tired moan of disbelief rumbled in her chest.
Donna's mouth dropped open. "From you? How? Who is she?"
"Well, she's, well…" The Doctor's voice cracked. Both he and Hally now realising exactly why the TARDIS had dropped them here. "…she's my daughter." He breathed.
The woman cocked the rifle she'd been handed and looked up at The Doctor with a winning smile. "Hello, Dad."
Hally's face scrunched with repugnance. "Fucking great." She turned her head to meet The Doctor's gaze, the look on her face hateful and impudent. "Oh. I can't wait for this."