Jackson sat on a crate. Rosita sat at his side, assuring and stable as any companion could be. Derek and Terrance sat in front of them, watching like excited kids at a pantomime.
"The story begins with the Cybermen." The Doctor began the story.
"A long time away, and not so far from this very spot, the Cybermen were fought, and they were beaten." I said.
The most epic battle of roasts. Dalek vs Cybermen. Having no concept of elegance, only being better at dying, the best. Also universes collapsing and my past self appearing. I fell into the Void for a few seconds- not fun. Don't do it.
"Dragged back into a space without time, a time without space. The void, meant to be locked inside forever."
"But a greater battle rose up." The Doctor added. His companions came together for this battle. Planets being stolen from their proper time, their proper space, and the things we did along the way to fix it. "So great that everything inside the Void perished."
"The locks around the void faded. The Cybermen were dropped out- not exactly where they left. Or, not when exactly they left."
"They found you." The Doctor nodded to Jackson Lake.
"I fought them, I know that. But what happened?" Jackson asked. As far as he was aware, the Doctor and I hadn't explained jack shit. We weren't explaining Jack's shit. We were explaining Jack's son.
Cue drum beat. But like the funny drum beat, not the crazy Time Lord drum beat.
"Another man came to London, almost alongside the Cybermen. Jackson Lake." I explained. "A mathematician, a teacher, perhaps coming to London town for work or for vacation. He had so much luggage, and money saved up."
"He found the Cybermen." The Doctor explained. "And just like you- exactly like you- he took hold of an infostamp."
Jackson frowned. The boys turned, watching his expression most of all. "But he's dead. Jackson Lake is dead. The Cybermen murdered him."
"You never found his body. Most people would assume a conversion, but the Cybermen don't have the power for that. They've left other bodies." I pointed out. "And you have so much luggage. You don't know what's inside. You don't want to know what's inside."
"I told you the answer was in the fob watch. Can I see?" The Doctor held out his hand.
Jackson became unnerved, and unsettled. He pulled out the fobwatch. The Doctor flipped it around, showing off the engraving.
"J L. The watch is Jackson Lake's." The Doctor revealed.
"Jackson Lake is you, sir?" Rosita dropped her jaw, staring at the man that saved her life.
Terrance bumped Derek by the arm. He nodded excitedly up at Jackson Lake. Our brother wasn't watching the mathematician. Derek instead watched me.
"But I'm the Doctor." Jackson argued. "Terra, tell him. I'm the Doctor."
"Jackson Lake picked up an infostamp." The info stamp in question was initially found by the Doctor. Thing was, he's terrible at not-being-pick pocketed. "A very special infostamp about a very- I'm gonna say special- man."
The infostamp lit up. Images flashed on the wall. His first self, winding up the clock as it reached the man beside me.
"The Cybermen's database. Stolen from the Daleks inside the Void, I'd say, but it's everything you could want to know about the Doctor." The Doctor reasoned.
"It includes a few mentions of his companions." I said. An image appeared of Nine alongside Terra Two.
Then myself, beside the Tenth Doctor. I let the image linger.
"That's you." Jackson realized. He turned to the Doctor. Rosita's jaw dropped even farther, and her eyebrows went up to her hair.
"Time Lord, TARDIS, enemy of the Cybermen. The one and the only." The Doctor clicked his tongue, winking at them all. "You see, the infostamp must have backfired. Streamed all that information about me right inside your head."
Jackson put his head in his hands. "I am nothing but a lie."
"No, never." I turned off the infostamp. "You are no lie- your actions are no lie. Infostamps just tell you things. You saved Rosita. You built the hot air balloon. You defended London- defended us. That's 100% Jackson Lake."
Jackson raised his head. Instead of relief, there was only more pain. "And what else? Tell me what else."
"There's still something missing, isn't there?" The Doctor asked.
"I demand you tell me, sir. Tell me what they took." Jackson demanded.
"Sorry. Really, I am so sorry, but that's an awful lot of luggage for one man." The Doctor pointed out.
Devastation flashed on his face. Memories finally returned. Slow, fierce, and painful. This time it didn't let him go.
"An infostamp is just that- info." I assured him. "It can't damage a mind. You underwent a 'fugue' state. Your mind ran away because- because being that Time Lord was so much better than being you."
Derek continued pretending to ignore me. Terrance, though, watched me. He watched and listened. He observed and he saw. Everything before him was a new look at the sister he grew up beside. A sister that always stayed at arms length, never got too close, and he never knew why. He's getting the full picture now. He's learning who his sister really is.
I hope it makes a better picture. Not just so he doesn't snitch to Mom, which I will appreciate. He deserves to see this. He deserves this chance to grow, for us to get close. I spent too long detaching myself from this family. We needed to get closer for the sake of my kid.
"Your mind ran away because it couldn't bear to look back." The Doctor added. He swallowed, voice heavy. "You wanted to become someone else, because Jackson Lake had lost so much."
The church bells in the distance began to ring. I took a deep breath, letting any dark musings sink away. There's work to do now. Kids to save. World peace to maintain. Robots to ruin.
"That's Christmas then." My Bag opened. The all white top hat came out. As the bells continued to ring, the hat went atop my head.
Derek eyed me like I'd just snorted cocaine.
"I remember." Jackson spoke so firmly, with such an exact likeness that it struck me. "Oh my god. Caroline. They killed my wife. They killed her."
They killed Darcy, and I was just as horrified. Just as aghast. The difference between myself and Jackson Lake, he won't turn into a violent murderer. He turned into a Time Lord. Granted I've also done that to escape my problems, but it's very different when I do it.
Beeps came from behind us. A series of repetitive ping-ping-ping.
The Doctor searched for the luggage trunk. I squeezed Terrance on the shoulder. Terrance smiled at me.
"Oh, you found a whole cache of infostamps." The Doctor held up the long sash filled with infostamps.
"The noise- it's familiar." I said, before clapping my hands. "It's the call! The activation signal."
The Doctor's eyes widened. "The Cybermen are moving!" He and I ran.
Derek and Terrance quickly moved to join.
==POMW==
Children were in the streets. All dressed up in unclean rags. The kind of urchins you smell before you see. Dozens of them were led in a formation. An older man with a top hat stood at the end, expression robotically blank.
I perked up my superior top hat. "I don't like him."
"Me neither." The Doctor glanced at me. "Your hat is better."
"It is!"
Terrance caught up. He watched the crowd of kids with worried eyes. Derek continued hawking at my hat.
Rosita caught up.
"Where are they going?" Terrance asked. "Factories, right?"
"You know what's happening." Derek snapped, crossing his arms.
"That's Mister Cole." Rosita pointed to the older man. "He's Master of the Hazel Street Workhouse. Maybe he's taking them to prayers."
"Oh, nothing as holy as that." The Doctor dismissed.
I pulled my sonic out. Derek scoffed, loudly. Terrance just gawked.
"Welcome to Who Wore It Better? Top Hat Edition!" I raised it to his ear. The Cybernetic blinked in blue. "Answer- me!"
A creature growled. I kept my pace beside the elder.
"Ah. They're on guard." The Doctor cautioned. "Can't risk a fight. Not with the children."
"It won't be a risk. I'll win." I growled. Nobody is killing my siblings or putting them in jeopardy.
The creature growled again.
"But where are they going?" Rosita asked.
Jed was walking by. He snorted, shaking his head. "They all need a good whipping, if you ask me." The Doctor and I stopped, looking at him expectantly. "There's tons of them. I've just seen another lot coming down from the Ingleby Workhouse down Broadback Lane."
"Directions?" I asked Rosita.
Rosita nodded to an alleyway. "This way."
I stomped after her. The slower ones followed. I reached the other herd of kids by then.
"Boys!" I shouted, growling. More Cyber creatures were on the roofs.
"This is...this is!" Derek mumbled.
"The worst Christmas ever, yadda yadda yadda. I said that last year." I whirled around. Derek stood his ground. My glare sent him off his soap box. "Save it!"
"You think you can order me around!" Derek snapped. "You can't! You aren't in charge!"
"I'm more in charge than you!" It took so much to stop growling, instead switching to my 'mom voice'. "So do as you're told!"
"You aren't smart like you're pretending to be!" Derek yelled. "I don't know how you fooled the Doctor, but you aren't fooling me!"
That one hurt. It didn't hurt because he was right, it hurt because he believed it. Darcy always knew when I was playing dumb, even if I didn't. Darcy would've hit anybody who said I was pretending to be smart. Hell, any of my friends would hit somebody for it.
The brother that knew me his entire life believed the lie. Now, maybe the Doctor will too.
"We're going home! Have fun explaining all this to mom!" Derek huffed. "I'm taking my brother home! Come on, dude!"
Nothing.
I froze. Derek too.
"Dude?" Derek asked.
Even more nothing.
"DUDE!" Derek shouted.
I groaned. Great. Just great, exactly what I needed.
The Doctor rushed back. Rosita came after him, turning back and forth between us and the retreating children. "Aaron- he's gone?"
"I don't remember when he disappeared." I admitted. "You know how good I am at keeping track of my companions. There's nothing. Carl was always better at tracking-"
"Carl?" Derek yelled. "Who's Carl? Why does that matter-"
"Killjoy." An even more blank expression. "It's her, okay? It was her."
That clued him in. "Her? You mean- you mean her?! You brought her here first?" Derek asked. "Not me?"
"Of course I brought her. She's more-" I struggled to find the right words. Ones that complimented Derek, appeased the Doctor, and were worthy of Darcy. Any words fell short. Darcy deserved the best praise, and not even kissing up to my brother can make me insult her.
To my brother, he didn't see my inner struggle. He just heard 'she's more'. That's all he needed. The last bullet in the chamber, aimed right at me.
"You didn't want to bring us." Derek reasoned.
I gawked. Obviously not, but he doesn't have to phrase it like that. Hanging out with my brothers was always a mixed bag of things. Lilac needed uncles, needed family. She only has me. If I don't trust them, Lilac will notice. She will never trust them. She needed more than me in her world.
I didn't want to. I needed to.
"Wow, yeah, totally something a genius does. My brother is missing, and it's because you wanted us to be her replacements-"
I lashed out. Derek fell to the floor, holding his face. The snow broke his fall. He can use the bricks for an ice pack.
"Don't say her name. Don't." I struggled to perfectly praise her memory. Dancing along the lines she always wanted to drag me across. She should be here, definitely, and I will not let this bastard insult her by comparison.
"You punched me!" Derek complained.
"I avoided the nose- and you didn't even attend her funeral!"
Derek pushed himself off the ground. Snow clung to his clothes, dropping off him in doses. "We weren't allowed!"
"I invited you!" The first family dinner after the dust settled. I gave them the date and time of her funeral in less than ten words. No matter how much Mom & Dad tried, it's all I said that night. Lilac fell asleep to my heartbeat, instead of a story or lullaby.
"Mom told us not to go!" Derek huffed.
"Your- what?"
Derek said it again. "Mom said we couldn't go! So we didn't."
"She told you not to come?" The words were poison from my own mouth. Worse yet, they rang true. Mom cared very little for Darcy in the week they knew each other. A small part of me always thought Mom would love Darcy, but Mom gave her nothing. Dad cared if Mom did. The boys obeyed his word as gospel. "I thought you just hated her- that you were glad she was dead."
Ocean blue eyes widened. Genuine dismay and horror filled his face. "No. No, that's- that's too far. I'm not happy she's dead. I'm not a monster."
Her eyes were that same shade of blue, as a kid. I never forgot it. Derek's eyes. Mom's eyes. Terrance's eyes. Lilac's were darker, but still blue. The family eyes that skipped me. Eyes are windows to the soul, and my amber were proof I didn't have one.
Darcy was many things. She was never a soulless monster.
"I know." You're just a Dumbass.
"Carl is dead?" The Doctor spoke up. He kept his mind closed from me, but his words still carried all the emotion I wanted from him.
"Yes."
"How long?" The Doctor asked.
Ten years? Ten months? Ten minutes? It doesn't matter. The pain is always new. The pain always lasts. More than Oswin/Clara, more than Eleven, more than Martha. It's more than any pain. Darcy is a pain that always feels like the first time.
The Doctor can't understand this pain. The Master wasn't his brother. The Master never died for the Doctor, not yet. Darcy died so I wouldn't. She died so my daughter would keep her mom. Darcy gave up her second chance for somebody besides me.
I felt her leave. Our connection- twin telepathy? Maybe my soul split when she was born? I don't know. Our connection was so strong I exhaled her last breath and my heart thumped with her last. The Doctor will never understand this pain. He's not allowed to understand. How can anyone understand this? I'm more alone in my head than ever before.
"We need to get Aaron back. Okay? We're getting him back." I stated. "Kevin?"
"Yeah."
"I'm getting him back." I promised him. "I know where he is."
"You do?" Derek asked.
"The rule!" I reminded him. "When you get lost in Disney World, where are you supposed to go?"
"Biggest spot in the park." Derek answered.
I pointed off to the tower. The Cybermen tower. The direction all the kids were being guided.
"Oh!"
"It's where I'd play."
'Do you think-'
'I think he got abducted with the other kids, but I'm trying not to freak Kevin out.'
"Your brother is brilliant, Kevin." The Doctor praised. "Allonsy!"
==POMW==
Rosita led us the rest of the way. She led us on back roads, hidden away. Children were being ushered inside. Cyberman and creatures growled around them. Terrified feet rushed them along.
"That's the door to the sluice. All the sewage runs through there, straight into the Thames." Rosita advised.
"But where's T-" I elbowed him. "Aaron? You said he would be here."
"This spot is too well guarded." I tried instead.
"That's not an-" Derek froze. "There!"
I looked over. The crowd of children were being ushered inside. Terrance was amongst a group, panickedly looking up at the Cybermen guards. He even looked to be from this time, if way more clean.
He's okay. That's one load off my back.
"We need to find another way in." The Doctor guided us to another path.
This path was blocked by two Cybermen.
"Whoa! That's cheating, sneaking up. Do you have your legs on silent?" The Doctor exclaimed.
"So, what do we have here?" Mercy Hartigan stepped out, walking in front of the Cyberman. A beautiful woman for sure, even as she aged. Her black hair was pulled back into a tight bun, complete with little braids for style. She wore a deep red gown and black gloves. In her hands, a red umbrella to look like a royal cane. She was as elegant as a queen. Even her lips were painted red to match the dress.
People have said a lot about the Cybermen. We gotta remember- they have a concept of elegance.
It doesn't even bother me that Darcy loved that same shade of red.
The Doctor tried to help her. Bless his heart, he tried. "Listen. Just walk towards me slowly. Don't let them touch you."
"Oh, but they wouldn't hurt me, my fine boys. They are my knights in shining armor, quite literally." Hartigan replied. She smiled sweetly towards the two Cybers.
"You're working with them?" I asked. It's just embarrassing to be by the Doctor when he's wrong. "You know what they've done- to people just like you? How is that possible without being converted?"
Hartigan widened her smile. "No one's ever been able to change my mind. The Cybermen offered me the one thing I wanted. Liberation."
"Who are you?" Rosita asked.
"You can be quiet. I doubt he paid either of you to talk." Hartigan commented. I reeled back. 'If I had a nickel for every time I've been called a whore in this time period, I'd have two nickels.' "More importantly, who are you, sir, with such intimate knowledge of my companions?"
"I'm the Doctor."
"Incorrect. You do not correspond to our image of the Doctor." The Cyberman stated.
"Yeah, but that's because your database got corrupted. Oh, look, look, look." The Doctor held out his hand. I slapped the infostamp into it. "Check this. The Doctor's infostamp." He tossed it. The Cyberman caught it. "Plug it in. Go on. Download."
"The core has been damaged." The Cyberman reported. "This infostamp would damage Cyberunits."
"Good try." I said, not at all meaning it.
"Thanks." He replied, knowing I didn't mean it.
The Cyberman made some beeps and boops. "Core repaired. Download." The Cybus logo in its chest moved, making space. It shoved in the infostamp. "You are the Doctor."
"Hello." The Doctor waved.
"You are Terra Stardust." The Cyberman reported.
I straightened up. Derek let go of my hand, but stayed behind me. My hands slid to my hips. "I am."
"You will be deleted." The Cyberman stated.
The Doctor and I held our hands up in surrender.
"No no-"
"Wait a sec- Wait a sec-!"
"Let us die happy!" The Doctor blurted.
"Why take the kids!" I added.
"What are children ever needed for? They're a workforce." Hartigan answered.
I tensed up. My fucking brother was one of those kids. Kids as the workforce. My brother is in the workforce. Bullshit. Fucking bullshit. The only one that gets to turn him into child labor is his big sister!
Derek lurched forward. I held him back. Soon, my brother, soon. We kill the bitches soon. Then we get our brother back.
"But for what?" The Doctor asked.
"Very soon now, the whole Empire will see. And they will bow down in worship." Hartigan explained.
"And it's all been timed for Christmas Day." The Doctor remarked. "Was that your idea, Miss-?"
"Hartigan." She answered.
"I'd've bet Hannigan." I grumbled.
"Shut up." Derek grumbled.
"Yes. The perfect day for a birth, with a new message for the people." Hartigan cheerfully explained. "Only this time, it won't be the words of a man."
"The birth of what?" The Doctor asked.
"A birth, and a death. Namely, yours. The girl as well." She smiled. It sent chills in my gut. "Thank you, Doctor and Terra. I'm glad to have been part of your very last conversation. Now, delete them."
The Cybermen marched ahead. "Delete."
Behind them, beans of electricity. The heads became covered in light. The metal bodies rattled and shook. They sank to their knees.
Jackson Lake stood a ways behind. A sash of infostamps over his shoulders. He glared at the fallen Cybermen.
"At your service, Time Lords." The mathematician nodded at us.
"Shades! Shades!" Harriman began shrieking.
The Cyber creatures came running back at us. I grabbed Derek and Rosita by their arms.
"Tactical retreat!" I shouted.
"Shades!"
Rosita pulled from my grip. I firmly allowed it. "One last thing." She rushed over, and punched Hartigan in the face.
I cheered for her. Derek gawked, frowning and his eyebrows coming together.
The Doctor went up to get her away. "Can I say, I completely disapprove. Come on."
"He never means that!" I called back as I dragged Derek away.
"Shut up!"
We escaped to a nearby alleyway. Jackson leaned against a wall, panting. I let Derek go so I could stand closer to the Doctor.
"We've gotta get him back!" Derek shouted at me. "We're not leaving him behind!"
"Of course not!" I snapped, trying and failing to reassure him. "But we can't go that way. It's surrounded!"
"But we saw him! He was right there!" Derek reached his hands up, grabbing his short black hair to tug at it. "We almost had him!"
"Cool, except if you'd gone they'd've have killed ya!" I argued.
This didn't calm him down either, somehow. His fingers left his hair, balling at his chest. Maybe he's like me in this way- the idea of death doesn't stop you from saving your younger sibling. It's something we can bond over later. After he tries (and fails) to kick my ass.
"Kevin." The Doctor cut us both off. Derek turned to the Doctor, ready to listen to his hero. "We're getting your brother back, and all those children."
It made something in me settle. It didn't make sense to me. I knew my brother would be okay. We're going to save the kids, Terrance is in that group, so he's being saved. Except hearing the Doctor said it made that feel much more real.
The Doctor looked at me. 'We're getting him back.' He promised.
'Thank you' It's all I can think to say.
"That stronghold down by the river. We need to find a way in." The Doctor said, more talking to me than anything.
"I'm ahead of you." Jackson said. The Doctor tilted his head. I giggled. "My wife and I were moving to London so I could take up a post at the university-"
"Knew it!"
"-and while my memory is still not intact, this was in the luggage." Jackson held up a bound set of documents. He handed those to the Doctor. "The deeds. Fifteen Latimer Street. And if I discovered the Cybermen there, in the cellar, then-"
"We get a dungeon crawl!" I fist bumped, holding up my fist to my brother. Derek ignored it. "It's cool! Dude, fist bump me."
Derek rolled his eyes.
"There's still more." Jackson began, looking down at the deed. "I remember the cellar and my wife, but I swear there was something else in that room. Before I thought it was Terra, but now I'm not sure. If we can find that, perhaps that's the key to defeating these invaders."
Man, I hope Terrance found Frederick. That'll be a fun little thing. He can keep that kid safe, I trust that.
"So, onwards!" Jackson started walking down the alleyway.
"Onwards!" I skipped alongside the amnesiac. "Rosita, boys, let's go!"
"Maybe she should go back-"
Rosita picked up her dress. "Don't even try."
I laughed directly into his brain.
==POMW==
Jackson went down first. His damaged infostamps at the ready.
"Delete." A Cyberman guard raised their arm. Jackson destroyed it without hesitation. He stopped on the stairs only to make sure he got the job done.
The Doctor and I stepped around him. A large device was set up in the basement. We rushed to it.
"It must've been guarding this." The Doctor knelt beside it, grabbing parts. "A Dimension Vault."
"Dalek origin again. They have a nasty habit." I started eyeing the Dalek infostamps stored inside. "Rudimentary time travel."
"Jackson, is this it?" The Doctor asked. "The thing you couldn't remember?"
"I don't think so." Jackson frowned, trying to concentrate. "I just can't see. It's like it's hidden."
"Doc, it's not-"
"Not enough power." He agreed. He stood up, holding out his hand. I took it. "Come on, avanti!"
The basement had a tunnel system. The group made our way through it. I led. Mesmerizing maps is still my thing.
"What do the Cybermen want?" Rosita asked.
"They want us. That's what Cybermen are." The Doctor replied. "Human beings with their brains put into metal shells. They want every living thing to be like them."
"That woman- she said the kids were a workforce." Rosita recalled. She turned her head to me, horror in her eyes. "Those kids-"
"We need to keep moving." If I think about it again, I will get too angry.
==POMW==
The factory is disgusting. Smoke was the first thing we noticed, the fumes spreading into the tunnels. Metal colliding with metal came next, and of rocks being moved. We reached the end of a tunnel. It's a half destroyed exit. Looking out, a bright red firelight covered the room. Smoke clouded the space too.
Cybermen marched around the space. It's an established routine to keep a constant guard around the kids. The children weren't able to rest.
"Upon my soul." Jackson mumbled.
"I don't see him." Derek tried to search.
Neither did I. A clean worker is impossible to find here. He's not wearing a hat. He could be deep in the coal, or carrying heavy metal, or doing anything. I don't see him anywhere.
"What is it?" Rosita asked.
"It's an engine. They're generating electricity, but what for?" The Doctor asked.
"The birth." I bumped his arm. "The birth! It's a birth!"
"Birth of what?" The Doctor asked.
"The new king!" It's still impossible to see any sign of my brother. Every kid I can see looks nothing like him. The Doctor is asking stupid questions that don't fucking matter. "She brought up Jesus, and the Cybermen obeyed her! They want a new king!"
"We can set them free." Jackson reached for an infostamp.
The fire sword was burning a hole in my bag.
Not literally, it's fireproof. But it wants to burn this place to the ground.
The Doctor put his arms out. One to Jackson, and one to me. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no."
Fuck you, I'm gonna enjoy it.
The Doctor guided me back up the tunnel. There was another way to go that we skipped over for the engine. That tunnel held a large metal tube, a screen on the front. The number on the front continued to slowly rise.
88
89
90
"Power at ninety percent." The Doctor said. "We could stop it."
"No, if we do, the power goes out."
"Cybermen come running."
"Away from the kids, straight to us."
"Ooo, hold on." The Doctor leaned forward. He pointed at the power screen. The screen showed waves of power, and they were moving fast. "Power fluctuation. That's not meant to happen."
"Something is either going very wrong, or very right." I said.
"It's weird." The Doctor tapped the screen. He squinted at it. "The software's rewriting itself. It's changing."
As we stared, the device sparked off. The Doctor and I leapt back.
"Fire!" I yelped.
"Whoa! What the hell's happening?" The Doctor went back, since the sparks stuff. "It's out of control."
"It's going faster." I showed the number. The screen sparks made it jump up by 5. It inched up to 96 and 97.
"When it reaches a hundred-" Jackson began.
"What happens to Aaron?" Derek asked.
"And the children?" Rosita asked.
"They're disposable." The Doctor and I reasoned.
98.
99.
"When the world has screwed you and crushed you in its fist." That made me so mad. The maddest I have been in a long time. My hand went into the Bag. "When they way you're treated has got you good and pissed-"
"Terra wait-" The Doctor chased after me.
"What is she doing?!" Derek yelped.
I stormed off towards the engine room. A room full of disposable children. My brother as a disposable child- fuck that noise. Some robots are dying tonight.
"Terra!" The Doctor called out.
"Why does she have to be like this now?!" Derek complained.
"There's been one solution since the world began." I leapt out of the hole. My fire sword was already out, heated up and ready.
Except here is the thing. Darcy wasn't allowed to keep her fire sword. Her's always needed to stay in my possession- especially after all the times we got hurt.
Two swords came out. Both very hot and ready to fuck them up. It's what Darcy would want.
"Don't just sit and take it."
The Cybermen marched towards the children. They shouted their catchphrase. The children were scared, scurrying together.
"STICK IT TO CYBERMAN!" I swept the swords out.
The Cyber closest to me turned. The swords stuck into his neck, slowly coming together.
The swords came together. Its head fell to the floor.
"RANT! RAVE! SCREAM! SHOUT!" I stabbed the two swords over and over into the body. It clattered down to the floor, useless. "GET ALL OF MY AGGRESSION OUT!"
Another Cyberman marched over. "Delete-"
"THEY TRY TO STOP YOU-" The sword went into his arm. The other it caught in its hand. The swords heated up. The magic, powerful flames cut through the metal so perfectly. "LET EM KNOW EXACTLY WHERE THEY ALL CAN GO!"
"Del-ete del-e-t-"
"AND DO IT JUST AS LOUDLY AS YOU CAN!" I screamed at it.
It fell again. Useless like the rest. Useless cannon fodder blocking me from my brother. Disgusting useless shit from another dimension.
"Stick it to the man."
Time to scan. The room is still covered in smoke and red light. Having fire swords didn't help. The children were just staring at me. The few children I could see, anyway.
"Right now!" The Doctor finally rushed up. "All of you- out!"
The children continued to stare. Cybermen advanced. My fire swords twirled between my fingers.
"Do you hear me? That's an order!" The Doctor called out. "Every single one of you, run!"
"Cybers overwork ya?" The swords twirled faster. Three Cybermen got close. "Stick it to the man!"
I slashed at them. It held out their hand. Another one actually came from behind. Good news! Cybermen are slow as fuck. None of them have a fucking chance.
The second sword went at the leg, just between the joints. It shouted out a DELETE!
"Hate the way they jerk ya?" The first sword wasn't cutting so I pulled it back to stab into the palm. It sunk inside the arm. "Stick it to the man!"
Without hesitating I ripped the swords away. The limbs were torn off. It's so beautiful.
"Tired of the system? Stick it to the man!"
"All of you, come on, as fast as you can. Come on!" Jackson joined in.
"There's a hot pie for everyone, if you leg it!" The Doctor shouted.
"I will adopt all of you later!" I shouted.
"You'll what-!?"
The third tried. More and more kept coming. I stabbed one directly in the chest. It went very deep, and then I pushed it hard to stab the one behind.
"Rise up and resist 'em! Stick it to the man!"
"Go!"
"Move it! Move it! Not my brother. Move it!" Derek ushered the kids along.
"Kevin, Rosita, get them out of sluice gate. Once you're out, keep running. Far as you can!" The Doctor ordered.
"Not without-"
"I swear we will get him out! Now go!" The Doctor ordered.
Derek glanced at the Doctor, then me. "How does she even do that? She can't even play sports!"
"Why should I? Our team sucks!" I screamed.
A Cyberman marched at me. It actually managed to knock a sword away from me. I ducked an attack, Matrix style.
"Break the rules, ignore the signs, and color way outside the lines!" The Cyberman reached down for my throat. Falling to the ground, I rolled away. The Cyber followed.
"Go off the script! Do what you like!" All I did was a well practiced kick up. My top hat was tilted, so I used the hilt of my sword to push it back. "They hate it, they can take a hike. Why live your life to someone else's plan?"
"Delete!" The hand sparked up. Dangerous power gathering. An instant death to a human, merely incapacitating to a Time Lord.
"Stick it to the man!" The sword swung up. Another direct shot into the hip, hitting the normal human spine. The Cyberman locked up and fell over.
My brother stood behind him. His face was dirty from coal, and his clothes were torn in places. That made me so angry again.
"Aaron! Are you okay?!" I leapt over the destroyed Cybermen to reach him. The smaller boy stood there frozen. "Broken bones, bruises, any-"
"Delete!"
Turn. Slash. Turn again.
"-injuries under your clothes?! Speak boy, speak!" I hesitated whacking him. My instincts about being a sister were overridden by my instincts as a mom.
Plus I still had the fire swords in my hands. One switched off, cooling down fast. It needed a second before I tucked it back into the Bag.
Terrance watched me.
"You good?" I waved my hand- the sword tilted away from his face - in his face. "T?"
He blinked, and took a gasp of air. "That was so cool."
Umm.
Wow.
Okay.
'Terra! There's a starting motor, or something similar. I don't know what it's starting.'
The cold sword was stored away. The other sword turned off. I held Terrance by one arm, feeling along his back for his heartbeat. He hugged me back.
'Oh- you found him.'
'Yeah. He's good.' I kissed his head. "Derek is outside. Go find him, okay?"
"Okay." Terrance backed up from the hug. "Hey dude?"
"Yeah dude?"
"Kick some robot chassis." He held up a fist.
I bumped it. "This is a robot riot!"
The boy giggled. He ran out with more of the orphans.
"THAT'S MY SON!" Jackson Lake yelled.
I turned to him.
"Terra, that's him!" He pointed at a child up in the rafters. "My son! Doctor! My son!"
I spotted him, and all the paths along the way. "On it." I grabbed the rope. "It's properly tied and everything!"
The Doctor joined Jackson. The two watched as my cold sword cut a nearby rope. The rope dragged me up in the air.
Frederick was on the ledge. He stared down at his father, shocked and fear on his face.
"They took my son-" Jackson told the Doctor, who was also telling me. "No wonder my mind escaped. Those damned Cybermen, they took my child! But he's alive, Doctor. Frederick!" He ran.
An explosion destroyed the stairs.
"Terra's got him." The Doctor assured. "You know her."
"She's very protective of children." Jackson recalled.
I landed on the ledge. The boy flinched.
"Frederick Lake?" I held out a free hand, the sword tucked away. "Your father sent me for you."
He shivered and shook.
'The motor- its finished. They're going to blow it up!' The Doctor warned. 'We need to run!'
'Nearly there.' "Come on. Hold onto me, let's get you home?"
The boy came close. I held up my arm. He hugged my side. As he clung, I tugged on the rope again. We descended back to the ground.
An explosion went off behind us. It really helped push us towards the ground.
Jackson rushed to meet me. Frederick leapt from my arms to meet his father.
I smiled, proud. "Merry Christmas."
The Doctor laughed. "Merry Christmas."
The four of us got to running.
==POMW==
We ended up back in the basement. Just as we reached safety, the tunnels imploded.
I kicked the motor. It hurt, yes, but not a lot.
"Head for the street." The Doctor ordered the Lakes. He tried fiddling with the motor. "Stop kicking it."
"Stick- to- CYBERMAN!" I kept kicking. The Doctor turned from the motor to push me back.
"Come on, Time Lords. Hurry up!" Jackson called out.
I groaned. I started to retreat. Then, I turned back, grabbed the Doctor by his suit collar, and dragged him along.
"I can't find the-"
"I'm not holding a sword."
He checked. The long metal stick was in fact not a sword. "-oh yeah, there it is. Love when you do that."
Outside- screaming and fire, chaos. Mayhem as people ran through the streets. All running away from the river. They kept looking back to see if it was following them.
And it's a big thing.
A Cyberman taller than any current building. Horrifying because it's rustic. A Cyberman built from scrap but standing oh so tall. It's very Dalek in color. Cheap, no elegance, desperate and sad.
"It's a CyberKing." The Doctor realized.
"Birth of a king! Oh it's a shame she's evil cause she's funny."
"And a CyberKing is what?" Jackson asked.
"It's a ship. Dreadnought class. Front line of an invasion. And inside the chest, a Cyberfactory, ready to convert millions." The Doctor explained.
"Bad it's really bad." I added. Jackson and Frederick stared up in horror at the contraption.
We didn't exchange a look. I started running. He ran too.
"I will walk. I will stride across this tiny little world." The Cyberking decreed, the voice of Hartigan only making it worse. "My people. Why do they not rejoice?"
The people of London screamed. They scattered and ran. Generally speaking, it's far too scrappy for even me to love it.
"Just head south. Take him south. Go to the parkland." The Doctor said.
"Make sure my orphans are fine!"
Jackson gawked up at the robot, still holding tight to Frederick. "But where are you going?!"
"To stop that thing." The Doctor said.
An explosion went off up the road.
"But I should be with you." Jackson offered.
In the show, it's because he's a well meaning man that didn't want him alone. Now? I am getting some well meaning but sexist vibes.
"Jackson, you've got your son. You've got a reason to live." The Doctor reasoned.
"You've got her." Jackson countered. "Is she not enough?"
The Doctor looked at me. I looked back. Only one thought crossed my mind. Against all our years together, all the fights we won together, all those times he lost. The friends that came and went along the way, with the brave souls ready to die for our cause. Lives that I helped save too. So as the Doctor looked at me, looking for a soul to save, one thought crossed my mind.
My boys. I promised to get them home.
The Doctor nodded, both of us in agreement. The less Jackson knows the better. We stared at the mathematician, his son in his arms.
"God save you, Time Lords." Jackson offered.
So, we ran.
==POMW==
The Doctor and I made it back to the lodgings. He went for a crate of luggage. I held the Dalek up, shaking it. "Power's low!"
"Terra!"
I looked up. Instead of Jed or even Rosita, Derek and Terrance ran to me. "Boys! Good, you're okay."
"Do they know how it works?"
"No, but I can teach them."
"You know?" The Doctor asked, eyebrows curled up. He smiled.
I shrugged. "And you've never been bored?" One too many episodes of the 'Amanda Show' and watching her mom float away forever in a hot air balloon fucked me up. I learned how to fly a hot air balloon to make sure I'd never get trapped up there. It's not a great story. Darcy laughed. She always laughed until she figured out I was serious.
"Boys, move!" I ran towards the hot air balloon. "You're gonna learn to fly the ship! It's a right of passage."
Derek groaned. Terrance ran to me.
"You heard her!" The Doctor hoisted up the new sash of infostamps. "The TARDIS is gonna fly!"
"She's insane!" Derek argued. "She doesn't know-"
I leapt into the basket. Landing, I stood up straight. The Dalek stick raised in the air like a cheerleader baton. "Step one! Untie the ropes!" I started throwing out shit that would only weigh us down. We need to rise up really high, and the wind conditions aren't exactly optimal for that.
"Got it!" Terrance tugged at knots. "You ever fly one before?"
"At least twice!" I replied. "I'm basically an expert."
Terrance grinned. "That is so cool." He turned to Derek. Our middle brother didn't really move much. "She's flown a hot air balloon!"
Derek rolled his eyes. The Doctor tugged at other knots. The infostamps were slung across his back. "It doesn't count."
"You don't even know where she did it." Terrance argued. He finished the knot.
The ground began to shake. The Doctor and I glanced over. The CyberKing was firing at the citizens.
"She's gonna get people killed!" Derek told Terrance. "Cause she's faking it. I know she is! She tricked the Doctor but we know better! We need to go home!"
Terrance stared at his brother. The ground around us shook. I gripped the balloon, my other hand reaching up to activate the propane. Well it's not exactly- for simplicity's sake, I will call it propane.
"We can save the world." Terrance reminded Derek.
Derek grunted, rolling his eyes again. His hands went to his hair, tugging it in frustration. "That's not the point! Dude, she's-"
"-in charge." Terrance countered. He went to the next knot. "I'll tell mom you weren't listening."
Derek blustered. I hid a grin to myself. That's how you flip a witness. Derek tugged on another knot, frowning deep and low.
The Doctor leapt into the basket. He dragged more rope in. 'He did good.'
'Yes he did.'
'Proud?'
'You have no idea.' I giggled. That went even better than I hoped. Could've done without Terrance being abducted by Cybermen, but it all ended up okay. 'So I got the balloon ready-'
The balloon started to rise.
"Good luck!" Terrance called out.
I pulled and tugged at the balloon, helping it rise. "He's gonna need it."
"Blimey you do know how to- oi!" The Doctor bumped my arm.
I laughed. We went into the sky. My brothers got smaller and smaller. They stayed outside, watching me.
==POMW==
The CyberKing turned around to us. Her voice blurted out again. The Doctor glared fiercely, protectively. I waved like an excited child. He got out the infostamps, passing them to me. Quickly, I got to work on them using my sonic instead of his. Mine had features more tuned for this.
"Excellent. The Doctor. Yet another man come to assert himself against me in the night." Hartigan said.
My fists tightened. Now I needed something to punch. Somebody to hurt. A person to protect. Somebody needed to be behind me, and somebody needed to be bleeding below me.
"Miss Hartigan? I'm offering you a choice." The Doctor shouted. "You might have the most remarkable mind this world has ever seen. Strong enough to control the Cybermen themselves."
Hartigan was disgusted. Another emotion that the Cyberman conversion should have destroyed. That it stayed said so much. "I don't need you to sanction me."
"No, but such a mind deserves to live." The Doctor tried. "The Cybermen came to this world using a Dimension vault. I can use that device to find you a home, with no people to convert, but a new world where you can live out your mechanical life in peace."
"I have the world below, and it is abundant with so many minds ready to become extensions of me. Why would I leave this place?" Hartigan replied.
"Because if you don't, we'll have to stop you." The Doctor warned.
"What do you make of me, sir? An idiot?" Hartigan challenged.
"No. The question is, what do you make of us?" The Doctor asked.
I stood back up. The device was ready for its new purpose. My dirtied white sleeve was wrapped in the infostamps. I aimed it at Hartigan with pinpoint accuracy.
"Destroy the girl." Hartigan ordered. "That will make him useless."
"That's rude!" I fired.
The infostamps went off. Blue laser beams went off in her direction. They hit her right in her 'crown'.
She only laughed. "I was wrong. She is as useless as your weapons."
"My weapons have taken down bigger than you!" I argued. "But that's not what I was doing. No, I broke the Cyber-connection. Broke you away from their little hivemind. You're human again, Miss Hartigan, more human than you've been in years. I'd take a look at what you did to yourself."
Hartigan turned to the Cybermen. She turned and turned, flinching back from them.
Darcy. When we watched this episode, when we saw Miss Hartigan and such things, I laughed. I called her Hannigan, wanting to make Darcy laugh. For the first time in ever, my sister didn't chuckle at the episode's bad guy.
Hartigan screamed and cried out years of pain. It reminded me of how Darcy tightly held my arm for comfort. A comfort I spent years trying to give her again. Decades of pain on her shoulders, and this episode led to a very eye opening talk between us.
I offered to bring her along to Doctor Who. Darcy declined. She went to visit the Scream universe after. She said it's 'cause she wanted a clear head. It changed when I had that phone call with her trapped in a Torchwood cell. It made me drag my sister into a world that hadn't made her fully comfortable.
And my brother thought I was selfish. Maybe I am. Maybe an episode was coming that reminded me of Darcy so fucking much and with so little I could do to save her. Maybe I needed somebody I could lean on- except Lilac was too young and none of the Equestrian ponies could handle this. It's impossible to say if Freddie will be there. So my only options left were the brothers I was supposed to trust.
Terrance did the job. Derek just made me feel worse.
"Just look at yourself. Look at what you've done." The Doctor shouted.
Hartigan shrieked.
"I'm so sorry." The Doctor meant it, as he often did.
The CyberKing erupted in flames. Her feelings and fear overwhelmed the CyberKing. The emotional chip failed them as it always did. It stumbled and swayed in the air.
I raised the Dalek beam. I waited and waited. It finally beeped. The switch flipped.
Blue waves of energy floated out of it. They covered CyberKing. Before it could topple over, the robot vanished from sight.
Darcy. Did I make you proud too? Would you be proud like Terrance was? Would you shame me like Derek did?
People cheered. I looked over the edge. The Doctor leaned down.
"It's the people." The Doctor said. "They're- cheering? For who?"
No, no I don't think you would. I think you would do just like these people are. "For us." I waved down at them.
The Doctor joined in.
I searched that same courtyard. The boys were so tiny there but I waved at them too.
==POMW==
Jackson Lake walked us around the destroyed city square. The buildings still stood. The various shops and stands were gone. Fires were being put out by the cityfolk.
I walked arm and arm with Derek and Terrance. Terrance was giggling and laughing. Derek was quiet. It's no longer an angry quiet like before.
"The city will recover, as London always does. Though the events of today will be history, spoken of for centuries to come." Jackson said.
"Yeah. Funny that." The Doctor scratched behind his ear.
'Wilf's theory about cursed Christmases have started early.' I joked. The Doctor laughed again.
"And a new history begins for me. I find myself a widower, but with my son and with good friends." Jackson said. He smiled meaningfully at us both.
Oh wait no. It's to Rosita and Jed, across the courtyard with Frederick. The little boy was staring only at his father, clinging to Rosita's skirts.
"Jed is a good kid." I nodded my head.
"Take care of Rosita." The Doctor winked at me. "She's marvelous."
I laughed.
"Frederick will need a nursemaid and I can think of none better." Jackson replied. Rosita encouraged the boy. Frederick waved at us. I waved back, making Terrance wave with me. Derek pulled himself out of the hold. It gave me another hand to wave. "But you're welcome to join us. We thought we might all dine together at the Traveller's Halt. A Christmas feast in celebration, and in memory of those we have lost. None of you will stay?"
The Doctor slid his hands in his pockets. "Like I said, you know me."
Jackson turned to me. "No, I don't think I do. She does."
I perked up. The Doctor turned to me with a fond smile.
We walked further down the alleyway. Derek grumbled along. Jackson laid eyes on the TARDIS. He gawked. Terrance snorted.
"Oh! And this is it. Oh! Oh, if I might, Doctor. One last adventure?" Jackson asked.
The three of us giggled. "Oh, be my guest."The Doctor opened her up, pushing the door open. Terrance winced. Oh, the people who have seen Doctor's Wife are so fun.
Jackson gawked at the interior. A thing only seen in hazy memories, beyond most human comprehension. "Oh. Oh my word. Oh. Oh, goodness me." He began walking around the console. "Well. But this is, but this is nonsense."
"I mean yeah, it's no big deal." Terrance said, as if he didn't react the same way when he saw the console the first time.
The Doctor and I giggled to ourselves.
"Complete and utter, wonderful nonsense. How very, very silly." Jackson straightened out his jacket. "Oh, no. I can't bear it. Oh, it's causing my head to ache. No. No, no, no, no, no, no-"
He ran out the TARDIS. The Doctor and I shrugged. Terrance ran after Jackson.
Derek was against the wall. He never went inside with us. Jackson leaned beside him, laughing with madness. The good kind of madness, like stepping off a rollercoaster.
"Oh! Oh, gracious. That's quite enough. I take it this is goodbye." Jackson asked.
The Doctor "Onwards and upwards." The Doctor replied.
"Tell me one thing. All those facts and figures I saw of the Doctor's life, you were never alone. All those bright and shining companions." Jackson cheered. "I suppose Terra's boys are next."
"Actually, she promised one adventure." Derek snapped. "One was good."
The Doctor frowned. "You sure?"
Derek nodded. "Mom would get upset if we stayed too long. I know your history with mom's, and it isn't exactly a good track record."
The Doctor winced. "Ah. I see she did tell you everything."
Derek glared at me. I stood closer to Terrance. My hand was on his shoulder, holding him assuringly. "Yeah. She told me."
I narrowed my eyes. Don't you fucking dare, I warned him. The glare all older sisters perfected for their annoying younger siblings.
"Wait. Your mother?" Jackson asked. "Terra didn't adopt you?"
"What?" I turned to Jackson, confused and frankly disgusted.
"We're not orphans!"
"I'm not their mom!" It took so much not to gag at the idea. Lilac deserved siblings, 100%, just not these two. I wish them on nobody. "You thought I was their mom?!" Yeah I'm old enough to be their mom, but I don't look it! Nope. Nope can't let that linger. "No, no. I'm just babysitting them for their mom. I didn't adopt them."
Jackson laughed. "You cannot blame the assumption. You told the children earlier you would adopt them!"
"I can! I will!" Turning round, I glared at the Doctor. "Did you believe that?"
"No!" The Doctor glanced at Derek. "Yes."
I glared.
"You said- well you said he was 14-" The Doctor excused. "And that you were gone for-"
The hilarity of miscommunication. He thought I left to give birth?! The fuck- no. No. "You thought WHAT?!"
"It made sense at the time!" The Doctor excused.
"Who's the dad?!"
"No one! I thought they were clones!"
"Clones?!" I yelped. Jackson was laughing. If aren't the one being yelled at, I guess this is funny. Terrance was laughing too. "Like- like Freddie and Jenny?"
"Jenny!" Terrance cheered, fond.
"Freddie?" Derek asked. "Who's that?"
"My clone. Well, he's more of a- I'll introduce you." I turned to the Doctor, and caught it. I caught it in a split second. The quick way he tried to change it.
But I saw it.
And something in me cracked.
"Yes, it's very funny. I see I was wrong. Not clones, definitely not clones. They're actual Haven residents! Not that I'm saying you lied, or anything, but I thought- well I thought you were lying for their safety. To protect your- anyway. I was wrong. They're two totally normal human boys that-"
"Jackson. Good to see you." I turned to the man. I squeezed his hands. "We'll be by for that Christmas dinner. Go get us some seats?"
Jackson nodded. "Of course! My friends, it shall be a beautiful night." He rushed back up down the alleyway.
Terrance tried to follow. I stopped him. "But you said-"
"Doctor." A line of dynamite powder lit up, slowly inching to the bomb. "I'm giving you one chance to tell me the truth." The next part took some movement and arranging. Terrance stayed behind me. I rotated until the two of us were in front of a confused and embarrassed Derek. "Right now."
The Doctor understood why I sent Jackson away. He didn't like it. "What- why?"
"Because I know what you look like when you're hiding bad news from somebody." I stated. The look is so obvious. I spent years studying it. It's a gif and meme back home too. How do you miss it? "What happened?"
"No it- it's-"
"Hey, it's probably just-" Terrance tried covering up for his hero.
I've seen his hero lick boots to taste dirt. "Tell me. Now." This isn't his best friend talking. This is Morgan Stardust, Lilac's mother. Darcy, Derek, Terrance, Junior, and Freddie's big sister. A companion of five years, having seen through so much of his shit and not putting up with it.
"Okay! Okay." He caved as he always did. The Doctor met my eyes. Suddenly I was rocked by the Look. The 'I'm so sorry' look. "It-its Rocket. Freddie. He's gone."
Oh Author no. Fuck no, please. Not him too. It can't be him too. I can't have lost half my siblings at once please.
"Freddie? But- we haven't seen him in-" Time. Timing is so important here. He's not been hiding this for long, he's not capable of lying to me for that long. He needed to be told recently, to him. What's the only time, recently, he could be told someone died?
Harriet Jones- she died getting you here
Another crack.
"…what did the Daleks do to him?"
Silence. A fucking damming silence, and that ashamed look on his face meant he knew it.
"It's the only time in the past week you were without me long enough to get bad news." I reasoned, panicked. My two hearts were rampaging inside of me. The alleyway around me fell away, the two boys behind me, the snow gently falling around us. For me, it's just the Doctor and I. "You, a Dalek prisoner. Me, thrown into a lava pit with the TARDIS. You saw something there about Fred. Tell me how they killed my brother."
The Doctor shook his head. "You don't want to know."
"He's my brother. I get to decide that. Not you." I hissed.
"He died saving Harriet Jones." The Doctor revealed.
That fucking got me. Not in a devastating way, just a confusing way. "He- what?" There's no fucking way my clone is that stupid. Or selfless.
Wait.
Oh yeah I just thought about it for two seconds.
My clone is the only one that stupid. And selfless.
"He died making sure we could save Earth." The Doctor tried to make it better. "He died a hero."
No wonder it pissed off all my friends when I played martyr. This shit sucks. "He did what? Then-? He did-" He protected Harriet Jones. Did he succeed? Is Harriet Jones walking around the Earth because my brother decided to save her? Are they both dead? Is he a full ghost at her house?
He's a full ghost.
No. No, he's a Time Lord. He's a cloned Time Lord. The terraforming will bring them back. Except he died so far from it. Will it matter?
My brother died, and everyone decided that didn't matter. The Doctor decided it didn't matter. Davros wouldn't have said it. The companions did. They told him. Our friends told him my brother died, and said nothing else. They decided telling me didn't matter.
"Terra-" The Doctor spoke, and it was the wrong choice.
"You weren't going to tell me that?! That he did that?!" I growled. I shoved at his chest. "NONE OF YOU?! NOT ONE SINGLE ONE OF YOU THOUGHT I NEEDED TO KNOW?!"
"The Earth was still in danger-"
"My FAMILY was in danger!" All that day, I spent worrying about Lilac and Darcy. I worried about the wrong family member. My brother needed me. I didn't keep him safe like I promised. Derek was right, I just let my brothers down.
The Doctor grabbed my hands. He tried meeting my eyes. I glared at his beating hearts. "You just lost Donna! Rose! Martha! All over again! How could I tell you what else you lost?!"
"MY BROTHER WAS DEAD! I HAD A RIGHT TO KNOW!" I should've known. They all should have said something. Every single one of them should have told me. They needed to take fucking turns about it.
Freddie died for Harriet Jones, he fought Daleks by himself with probably nothing but his powers, and nobody told me anything. Oh fuck he was on that phone call. Harriet Jones was, and- and they had to have seen Freddie to know he saved her.
My brother died seconds before I joined that call. None of them said anything.
"Uhhh hey-" Another new voice.
Another brother.
One I need to save.
"Rutabaga!" I snapped over my shoulder.
Terrance grabbed Derek's hand. The two ran off. Out of our sight.
"Boys. Boys!" The Doctor called out.
I whirled around. The Doctor needed to be kept distant from them. They needed time to run. I'd follow them when I was sure he couldn't follow them. He spent all day with me, with my brothers, and continued saying nothing.
I can't trust my brothers around the Doctor anymore. Around any of these people. These brothers should never feel the pain I have, that Freddie did, that Darcy did. I need to keep these two safe. If my brothers died tonight, if I hadn't saved them, would the Doctor have ever said?
Jackson's son was named Frederick. Not even that made the Doctor say anything. It took Jackson Lake calling my brothers my kids to even bring it up. Like he'd been avoiding it. He admitted thinking about Freddie right when he met my brothers, and said nothing!
He knew, said nothing, and then decided to keep hiding it from me. People can't hide things from me. People die that way. How can I save people if things are hidden from me? He's willing to hide the fact that my brother died. What else has he hidden while claiming it's for my sake?
This asshole!
"Terra. Let me explain."
"You explained enough." I snapped. "We're going to the Haven."
The Doctor nodded. "Yes, yes right." He leaned against the TARDIS, exhaling in relief. "See you in a minute?"
Fuck that. He's lucky I plan on coming back to kick the Master's ass, or else he'll never see me again before he regenerates.
"Don't wait for me." I turned and ran.
"Terra! Come back!"
I was always faster than him. Usually I slowed down so he could catch up. Not today.
==POMW==
The Haven was a couple of turns and things away. The boys were slower, easier to track without a crowd of kids around them. I caught up to them and dragged them with me. I leapt up the stairs, threw the door open, threw the boys inside, and and slammed the door shut behind us.
Derek and Terrance were panting. I stayed pressed against the door. I needed to be sure. The cold still came from the door. It needed to be warm before I opened it again.
"Morgan?" Terrance asked.
I shook my head.
He stepped back. "Terra, right um- just. There's a guy here-"
"That's GARTH." The air changed. I swung the door open, seeing a wide expanse of beach. I finally relaxed. My brothers were safe. These two were safe. I failed the third. No, fourth, Junior isn't here. "He's my JARVIS."
"I thought FRIDAY was your JARVIS?"
I sat up. My eyes widened. A teenager stood beside Derek. About his height, dark brown hair, amber eyes, and dressed in greens.
Freddie Rose scratched at his head. "Or- wait. Yeah. Yeah cause you named her Freaking Really Idiotic Dumb Assholes, Yeah. Cause you were punching assholes when you named her."
I stared.
"Darcy told me. You named her thing Anderson Shouldn't-"
"You're alive?" I gawked.
Freddie giggled. He turned to Derek, leaning on the boy. "She forgets I'm only-"
"You're alive?!"
Freddie stopped giggling. "I...don't feel safe."
I leapt at him. Freddie yelped, dodging. He ran around Derek. I chased him. The two of us ran in circles around my brother. Our brother? I stepped aside. Freddie kept running. When I reached to grab him, he turned intangible.
Bitch!
"Don't kill me!" Freddie pleaded. He leapt off behind Terrance. The eleven year old was grinning, watching us. "She's gonna kill me but I wanna live!"
"Are you Freddie?" Derek guessed.
I knelt down, preparing to jump.
Freddie's nervous smile became confused. "Yeah?"
"The Doctor said you were dead." Derek deadpanned. He gave the boy a once over.
Freddie blinked. His smile turned to a dropped jaw.
I jumped. Terrance ducked. Freddie had no defenses, and was surprised. He screamed. Freddie tensed, waiting for an attack. I hugged him. Tight.
He slowly relaxed. "Oh."
Tighter. "Did he lie?"
"Uhh- umm- no. Not really? He didn't know. I was dead but just for a minute." Freddie said. "I stood back up like nothing happened. Dalek beams are just...weird electricity."
"They are?"
"Well I did say 'weird'." Freddie added. "Try not to think about it. Wait are you- are you guys Derek and Terrance?"
"Yeah?" Terrance perked up. "You know us?"
"Hell yeah! You're family. I know my family." Freddie cheered. "You're the first brothers she ever had. It's awesome."
"We don't know you." Derek replied. "She never mentioned another brother."
Freddie shrugged. "I mean yeah? Talking about your family outside of here gets them-"
I squeezed.
Freddie paused. "...when did you lose Darce?"
I forced myself to relax, to keep from constricting him too tight. He could get hurt. I can't hurt my siblings again. It's too much and too- it's just too much.
"Uhh- is she okay to go home with you?" Freddie asked.
"We can take care of our sister." Derek snapped. "Right, Terrance?"
"Yeah." He stepped closer to me. "I can." He held out his hand. "Hey, M, let's go home."
I shook my head.
"Lilac needs us, remember?" Terrance said. "She still tries to pay the pizza man with gold coins."
That is true. That is very true. I detangled myself from Freddie. Freddie locked eyes with me, squeezing my shoulder. I squeezed his too. "Take care of the kid. We love her here."
"She's a good kid. Tell Tuck I tolerate him."
Freddie grinned. He glanced at the boys one more time. "He still says he does the move perfectly."
"He also says that hat looks good on him." I countered. My hands were outstretched to the boys.
Freddie laughed. He vanished from our sight.
"Okay. Remember, Mom doesn't hear about how you almost died. As far as she'll ever know, we stayed home all day. I buy you guys whatever you want for lunch, even if it's more than the money Mom gave for lunch. Deal?"
"Deal." Terrance agreed. He grabbed my hand.
Derek offered no such agreement. He grabbed my hand, still.
I dragged him and only him close. "If even one word gets back to her that I didn't specifically tell you to say, remember that I know where you sleep."
He gulped.
I smiled, cheerfully. "Good! Time to go home. You guys like pizza, right?"