thank you Nevalez for following
The plane landed at an airstrip a bit closer to London than where they had been previously and The Brigadier showed Marion and the Doctor to a ramp in the bottom of the plane with a Land Rover sitting on it. He pressed a button and the ramp lowered so that it was touching the ground. Zoe came too so that she could see them off.
Marion took the passenger seat and the Doctor took the driver's seat. They said their goodbyes and took the road.
"Marion, are you sure that you don't want to drive?" the Doctor asked.
"What? No, I can't drive stick shift," 'Or at all legally,'
Marion knew how to drive automatic technically, but knowing how to drive and actually having a license wasn't the same thing. She hadn't lost it or anything. She just hadn't gotten it in the first place.
She'd been busy and it wasn't like she needed a car where she lived.
"You know Doctor, there's a bit of dramatic irony to your hatred of computers," Marion said after they had been driving for a bit and the Doctor had turned into the place Marion and the other three had climbed down into the sewers.
"Oh?" Doctor asked getting out of the car.
"One day, you're going to meet a computer that spends most of its time insulting your intelligence and you as a person,"
"Oh really,"
"Oh yeah. And do you know what else?" Marion said prying open the manhole cover, "You'll consider him one of your best friends,"
"Ridiculous," the Doctor scoffed.
"You say that now, but wait and see,"
Marion climbed down into the sewers, letting go for the last couple of rungs and sliding down. She moved out of the way so that the Doctor could climb down as well. The Doctor stepped down into the sewers and looked around cautiously for any threats.
Seeing none, he retrieved the radio from inside his cloak and pulled up the antenna. Marion wondered how he might have been able to get reception this deep underground, but then figured that it was because the manhole cover was still open at the surface, and the Doctor was standing under it, that was where the signal was coming from.
"UNIT control. This is the Doctor. Is the Brigadier there, please?" the Doctor said softly into the radio.
"Hold on a moment, sir. I'll get him,"
For a bit, the only noise that could be heard was the steady drip. drip. drip. of water from somewhere.
The Brigadier finally came to the radio. "Yes, Doctor, go ahead,"
"Brigadier, we've just entered the sewers. We're going to make our way to Vaughn's headquarters. I'll give you a call when we get there,"
"Thank you,"
The Doctor put the radio back into his coat.
"Now Marion, which way should we go then?"
"Ahh," Marion glanced left and right, "I think the Cyberman we saw came from that way," Marion pointed down the right tunnel. "So, I think we ought to go that way,"
Marion made her way down the tunnel with the Doctor close behind her. She listened carefully for the sound of heavy Cybermen footsteps just in case.
Before long they came to a point where the Doctor suggested that now was the time to climb up. Marion scaled the ladder and pushed the manhole cover out of the way wrapping a leg around the side of the ladder so she could use both hands. She poked her head out and looked around and seeing that the coast was clear, she climbed up and motioned to the Doctor to follow.
They ended up only a short walk away from IE and were soon in front of the gates. The Doctor contacted the Brigadier to let him know they'd arrived and then pointed to a camera.
"You know. I could throw a rock at it. You know, to get their attention,"
The Doctor looked up at the device and then back at her. "Marion, that might break the camera,"
Marion nodded, considering that.
"I could throw a rock at it,"
The Doctor shook his head.
"No, I think it'd be best if we just stood in front of it to get its attention. They're sure to trigger the monitors and that'll get Vaughn to check them,"
"That works too," Marion murmured, "We've probably already triggered the alarms already,"
Marion walked in front of where the camera was in view and put her hands in her pockets.
"Hello!" she shouted.
The light on the camera flickered on. The Doctor joined her on the front step.
"Oh, there you are. Can you hear me, Mister Vaughn?"
"Yes?" Vaughn's voice sounded rather confused through the tinny speakers.
"I hope we haven't called at an inconvenient moment, but I would rather like a word with you,"
"Clever of you to avoid our Cyber-control beam,"
"You're right it was," Marion replied, "I'd rather not talk through the computer though. We'll come and meet you. Doctor," Marion said, without turning her head to face the man, "You remember the way right?"
"Yes of course,"
"Good, good, we'll see you soon then!"
The light on the camera blinked off and Marion dropped the fake smile off her face.
"Let's go, Doctor,"
Noone stopped the two of them on their way up to Vaughn's office and on their way in the Doctor called the Brigadier one last time.
"Brigadier. Brigadier," he whispered into the radio.
"Yes, Doctor, go ahead,"
"Ah. We're just about to enter the lion's den. I will leave the radio on as from now,"
"Right. Good luck,"
The Doctor turned to Marion, "Marion, would you mind keeping the radio in your bag? It might be a bit easier to hide it there than in my coat,"
"Oh certainly,"
Marion placed it into her bag and adjusted it over their shoulder. Then the two of them found themselves in front of the door to the office.
The entire situation had the same energy as when one is just minding their own business in an open-world video game and then the autosave icon suddenly shows up in the bottom right corner of the screen.
"Well," Marion said with a sigh, "Let's go," she pushed open the door carefully.
"Ah Doctor, oh, and Miss Henson! What an unexpected pleasure. Do come in,"
Vaughn greeted as they walked into the room and sat down in the chairs in front of his desk.
'We literally just spoke you fucker,' Marion thought but didn't say. She knew how to pick her battles. So instead she said:
"So. Cybermen huh? What's that about?"
She winced. That sounded awkward. But it was too late now. She'd said it.
"Yes," Vaugh replied, standing up from his desk and walking towards the window. "The Cybermen. My allies. Half a decade and finally, our goals are coming to fruition,"
"And you trust them?" the Doctor said the statement like a question.
"Doctor, I've worked with the Cybermen for five years preparing this invasion. I know them, the way they think, the single-mindedness of their purpose,"
"I don't think that you do," Marion replied, "Otherwise you'd understand why allying with the Cybermen is, pardon my French, dumb as hell,"
He looked away from the window and to at her. He spoke to Marion as if she was some kind of idiot.
"The Cybermen are my allies, Miss Henson. Not my enemies,"
"Do you really think they'll honour any bargain that you make with them?" the Doctor asked.
"Because if you do then I must've seriously overestimated your intelligence. My apologies,"
Marion had thought that this dude knew the Cybermen were going to betray him and had planned accordingly. It was quickly becoming apparent that he, in fact, did not. He just was planning to betray them because he could.
"Oh, I've planned this whole operation in great detail, allowing for every possible factor," He walked away from the window and stood in front of them like he was pitching his hot new product to a couple of sharks. "It was I who contacted them in deep space, provided the means by which they traveled to Earth, and masterminded the whole operation from A to Z," he scoffed, "They have merely provided their advanced scientific skills, their might, and strength,"
"What do they get out of all this?" the Doctor asked, bringing up the billion-dollar question.
"What they want, and what they're going to get, are two entirely different things," Vaughn laughed sitting back down at his desk.
"Oh, you're a fool, Vaughn. When they get here, they'll take over," the Doctor said as if he was talking with a small and especially dumb child.
"If a group's whole objective is to get rid of anyone who isn't exactly the same as them, and you are not exactly the same as them then you shouldn't team up with them," Marion added, "The best-case scenario there is that when they kill everyone else they kill you last,"
Vaugh's affable demeanor lowered and he raised his voice.
"All Cybermen here are conditioned to obey my orders. They are directly under my command!"
"Oh, I'm sure that the Cybermen have told you that," Marion scoffed.
"And even if they didn't lie to you what about the others, out there in space? Are they conditioned to obey your commands?" the Doctor brought up.
"If they're not, I'll destroy them,"
Marion snorted.
The way Vaughn brushed that off with what was basically "If the Cybermen were going to betray me, I would simply say 'no thank you' RIP to y'all but I'm different," made Marion seriously consider if this man was simply doing a bit and going for the long con.
It just didn't seem possible that a man could be this stupidly confident without even the slightest hint of self-awareness. They had to teach something in a business school.
"What are you going to use? The Professor's machine?"
"Yes,"
"With one machine?" the Doctor reminded.
"I'll have more made,"
"But you'll have to have the Professor's help to do that, won't you?" the Doctor reminded.
"And don't forget. We've got the Professor,"
"They'll be under my command, exactly like the others!" Vaughn was shouting again.
"But you can't be sure of that, can you?" the Doctor said.
"Yup," Marion added, "I mean, I'm not being cyber controlled right now. Neither is the Doctor, or like, a good portion of UNIT. So…,"
"The Cybermen will be well under my control Miss Henson!" Vaugh said sharply, "And so will everyone else!"
The Doctor stood up suddenly from his chair, sending it backward. He slammed his hands on the table, "But you daren't take the risk! "Once the Cybermen take over, they'll destroy the Earth as we know it!"
"You're just playing for time, aren't you?"
Marion pressed the heels of palms into her eyes and groaned. It was like talking to a brick wall. An incredibly annoying and smug brick wall.
It was like having a Twitter argument.
"I'm trying to stop you from destroying the human race!" the Doctor shouted.
"Your UNIT friends," Vaughn changed the subject, "You managed to protect them from the Cyber-control as well? What are they planning?"
"I don't know what you're talking about,"
'Christ,' Marion thought, 'You're really a bad liar aren't you,'
Vaughn laughed. He leaned over to his intercom control and clicked it on. "Packer?"
The monitor in the corner clicked on.
"Yes, sir,"
"Is the radio beam in the compound aligned yet?"
"Yes, sir. It's all ready,"
"Good. Then link the beam to the invasion fleet,"
He clicked the monitor back off.
"Whatever it is your UNIT friends are trying to do, it's too late,"
"You wish,"
The Doctor didn't say anything.
A buzzing noise sounded in the wall behind Vaughn and he stood up to face it.
"Ah, there they are. Ready to give me their final report on the Invasion I suppose. You two don't mind do you?"
The wall rotated to reveal what Marion knew to be the Cyberplanner even though it looked in actuality like a half-finished industrial design product and sounded like a person trying to speak by shaking a piece of bendy plastic in front of a microphone and trying to turn that into words.
"The transporters will be launched," it was said like a statement, but it clearly was an order.
"It's all arranged,"
"The invasion fleet will arrive in two parts,"
The Doctor rushed forward to Vaughn.
"You must stop them!" he shouted. He looked at the Planner and the back at Vaughn. "This is madness! You can't trust them!"
"Don't you understand yet? I have no alternative. I can't see all these years of work destroyed. I must go on, I must!"
"Vaughn. Cybermen only have cold logic," Marion said as if she were talking to a small child "The second it seems that you aren't useful, they're going to throw you out. You're a business executive, I shouldn't have to explain this to you,"
The lights on the Cyberplanner got brighter for a moment and then it spoke again. It didn't emote, but it still sounded angry somehow.
"The first transporter fleet is being attacked and destroyed! You have betrayed us!"
"No!" Vaughn cried.
"The failure of this mission is due to you. We will now take over the invasion!"
"No! Wait! Give me time! I can stop this opposition!"
"There is no more time!"
"I won't allow this invasion to-" Vaughn rushed forward into the alcove and was shoved backward by an invisible force.
The Cyberplanner grew brighter. "We no longer need you. A Cyber-Megatron bomb will be delivered. We must destroy life on Earth completely. Every living being,"
"Is this what you wanted!?" The Doctor shouted at Vaughn, "To be the ruler of a dead world?"
"You can't do that," Vaughn insisted, "You can't destroy the world. What about me?"
"You are of no further use to us. The Cyber-invasion must succeed. The bomb will be delivered,"
"WOW!" Marion said under her breath but loud enough for Vaughn to hear, "The group hell-bent on destroying everything that isn't exactly like them has no qualms with destroying you, a person who isn't exactly like them. What a twist! Call me Topsy the Elephant 'cause I'm shocked,"
"But if you do deliver the bomb, you'll destroy everything here. Even your own Cybermen!"
"The sacrifice will be small!"
"You can't do this! I won't let you!"
"You cannot stop us. No one can!"
"Now you're beginning to understand the Cybermen, Vaughn, you can't make bargains with them!"
"Cybermen don't care about trust. They lie! They will literally say whatever it takes to achieve their goals. How are you not getting this? They had to teach you things besides making balloon animals and painting eggs at the London School for Circus Arts,"
"I won't let them take over. I won't!" Vaughn ran to his desk and retrieved Walter's device, "You think you're indestructible? Well, I can destroy all of you!"
He pointed the device at the Cyberplanner and it glowed brightly. The brighter it glowed the brighter the Cyberplanner glowed. It made an awful noise. Like radio feedback.
"Opposition is useless. The Cybermen will-"
The Doctor ran at Vaughn. "Vaughn! Switch it off, you'll blow us all sky high!"
Marion held out an arm to stop him.
"Doctor. It's fine,"
"I'll destroy them all! All!" Vaughn shouted. He turned something on the side of the radio and the volume of the thing increased. Both Marion and the Doctor put their hands over their ears and winced.
Finally, there was a flash of light as the Cyberplanner exploded. The force of whatever field had been preventing Vaughn from attacking physically slammed into them and they all fell over.
The Doctor grabbed the machine where it had fallen and turned it off. Finally, the piercing noise stopped. Marion blinked the afterimage out of her eyes and stood up carefully. She stood up and got a face full of smoke. She coughed heavily.
"It's dead," Vaughn said looking at the smoking husk and sounding vaguely manic, "I killed it. I destroyed it,"
"That won't stop them. They're still out there in space preparing to destroy the world!" the Doctor reminded.
"Five years," Vaugh cried in disbelief, "and in less than five seconds!"
"Better that you realize that now when everything has yet to be blown up than after when everything has been reduced to dust and rubble,"
"Vaughn, listen to me," the Doctor was all but shaking Vaughn, "The Cybermen will deliver their bomb on the same radio beam they used for their invasion. You've got to turn it off, man. You've got to turn it off!"
"What?"
"Are you stupid? The one that's going to kill everyone if we don't stop it? It's gotta be turned off!"
"Marion be civil!" the Doctor turned to Vaughn, "We're all on the same side now, both fighting for our lives. You've got to turn the radio beam off!"
"The radio?" Vaughn still sounded dazed. Marion knew that she should've been a bit more sympathetic. Maybe? Possibly? But she had no interest in doing so.
"Yes," she said, sounding lowering her voice as if she was talking to a child. "The radio that they plan to use to deliver the bomb to kill everyone. The one that we should ideally be trying to turn off,"
"The radio beam! Yes, yes, Packer must-," He slammed down the button on the intercom, "Packer! Packer! Where are you?"
The video call circle thingy on the wall came to life, but instead of Packer showing up on the other end, there was a Cybermen.
The door to Vaughn's office swung open.
"Vaughn! They've taken over! The Cybermen, they won't obey! They've killed the-" he looked back into the hall. "They're coming after us!"
Despite his statement, he rushed forward without closing the door behind him. Marion quickly ran and shut the door.
"Vaughn, what have you done to us? What have you done?" he grabbed Vaughn and started to shake him.
Marion heard loud footsteps in the hallway and pressed the door closed. There was definitely something on the other side and she was positive that it was a Cybermen.
Marion felt through her bag for the doorstop and she shoved it under the door in the middle. She kicked it several times as hard as she could and then stood so that her foot was pressed against the doorstop.
A loud thud slammed against the door. Marion had to resist the urge to jump because that would get her foot off the doorstop.
"Hey," Marion said slowly. "So as much as I'd love to watch you throttle Vaughn for causing all this nonsense," there was another thud against the door, "There's a Cyberman behind this-JESUS CHRIST,"
A silver fist broke through the door. Marion backed away instinctively.
"Vaughn, maybe you should've paid your interior designer less and the dude in charge of installing basic defenses more!"
Marion didn't think she was that unreasonable in thinking that the door to a big-time tech CEO would have better structural integrity than the bedroom wall of a teen boy with anger issues. Maybe it was just that Cybermen were strong but still.
The door took one more hit and then it fell to the ground.
Packer let go of Vaughn, pulled his gun from its holster, and fired at the Cybermen quickly.
Marion backed up further and started to sprint behind the desk trying to retrieve the...Marion didn't remember what it was called. The Watkins Device.
The Doctor was already behind the table. Marion pulled the Watkins machine behind the table with her trying to figure out which spinny button on the side of the machine was the one that turned it on.
Marion heard a few gunshots and then she heard the sound of a body hitting the ground lifelessly.
Marion fidgeted with the machine some more until finally, it made that piercing noise and started to feel warm to the touch.
She stood up holding the machine in her hands and pointed it at the Cyberman. The more she held it in her hands, the warmer it felt and Marion was certain that if she held it in her hands long enough, it'd burn her. The Cyberman went down a whole lot easier than the Cyberplanner had and Marion had only been pointing to it for a moment before it started smoking.
It made the same piercing noise as the Cyberman in the sewers had made before and collapsed to the ground.
Marion turned the thing back off and set the machine back on the desk. She shook her hands a bit as they rapidly stopped stinging.
The Doctor grabbed Vaughn by his shoulders. "Vaughn, where is the transmitter for the radio beam?"
"We can't fight them. They're too powerful. Too many of them,"
"That's not an answer Vaughn," Marion deadpanned, "Where is the radio,"
"At the compound, but they'll be there," Vaughn put his head on the table.
"Right. We must stop them. Marion could you hand me the-"
"Radio? Of course," Marion took the thing out of her bag and handed it to the man. He began to speak.
"Brigadier, Brigadier, this is the Doctor. Can you still hear me,"
"Yes Doctor, we heard everything. What do we do?" the Brigadier replied.
"There are only two possibilities. We must either cut off the transmitter of the radio beam at the compound or destroy the Cyberman spaceship,"
"How much time do we have?"
The Doctor turned to Marion pointedly.
"Uhhhh," she said, "Maybe a couple of hours? Give or take ten minutes? If we want to do something, we have time to do something before the bomb goes off but we have to do it soon,"
"Well, destroying the spaceship is going to take time. Now, we've heard from Captain Turner. The Russians are with us, but they say it'll take at least ten hours or more to get a missile that far,"
"Then there's only one chance. The radio beam," the Doctor tilted the radio away from himself and turned to Vaugh, "Wait. Vaughn. Now, Vaughn, will you help us? We must try to get to the controls of the radio beam. We'll never do it in time unless you help us!"
"You still think you have a chance?"
"Yes, if you'll help us!"
"Help you? Why should I?"
"Maybe to prevent yourself and basically everyone else on this blue rock from dying? Is that a good enough reason?"
Vaughn didn't take his head off the table as he said, "And if I survive, what future have I got? What will the world do with me?"
"Oh, for heaven's sake, stop thinking about yourself!" The Doctor shouted, "Think of the millions of people on earth who are about to die!"
"Appealing to my better nature? No. If I help you it'll be because I hate them. The Cybermen, my allies. You think I'm mad, that all I want is power for its own sake. No, I have to have power. The world is weak, vulnerable, a mess of uncoordinated and impossible ideals. It needs a strong man, a single mind. A leader!"
"Yeah, yeah," Marion deadpanned. She stood up from behind the desk and leaned against it. "If you know anyone fitting that description, let us know,"
Vaughn said something under his breath that Marion didn't quite catch. He then said, "I'll help you to destroy them because I hate them. They destroyed my dream,"
Vaugh put his head back down on the desk and Marion glared at him.
'Damn, you're pathetic,' Marion thought.
"Well, as long as you're helping us, I suppose it doesn't matter much,"
"Doctor?"
The Doctor quickly picked up the radio.
"Yes, Brigadier?"
"We have a chopper in the area. Can you get up to the roof?"
"Yes, yes, we'll wait there for you,"
"Wilco. Out,"
The Doctor lowered the antenna of the radio and put it into his jacket again.
Vaughn finally stood up from behind the table.
"Your UNIT friends are very efficient. I'll lead the way to the roof,"
The Doctor stood up quickly and grabbed the Watkin's Device on the way out.
"No, no, no, I'll take that," Vaughn snatched the machine away. "The Cybermen will be guarding the radio transmitter,"
"Oh, dear,"
"I kind of figured,"
The three of them raced out of the room. Marion shut the door behind her as she left.
It should go without saying that going up a flight of stairs to get to the roof is a whole lot easier than climbing an elevator shaft.
Vaughn got them to the roof with minimal issue and the helicopter touched down a dozen yards away.
"There we are!" Marion ran to the helicopter and climbed in. She politely greeted the pilot and scooted aside for Vaughn and the Doctor to climb inside,"
"Where am I taking you three?" the pilot asked.
"The London International Electromatics compound,"
"Understood,"
The helicopter began to rise.
Marion sucked in air through her teeth. "Those are a lot of Cybermen down there. Nothing we can't handle though,"
"UNIT sector five chopper to Command. Over,"
Marion looked out the window, and she could see the compound coming into view and he had been told to report back when he was close.
"Command here. Receiving you. Over," Benton answered.
"Coming in to land at the compound, Red sector two," the Doctor caught the pilot's attention as he pointed to the pilot's radio. "My passenger wants a word. Over,"
"Yes, Doctor,"
"Er, Brigadier. We're-we're just coming in to land at the compound,"
"Yes, well, hang on till we get there. We'll give you support,"
"But that's madness!" The Brigadier said in disbelief, "You don't stand a chance against the Cybermen without us,"
Marion leaned closer to the Doctor so she could speak into the radio. "Don't worry. We have the Professor's machine. It's proved to be very effective so far,"
"It's already made at least two Cybermen start smoking. It's a good plan!" Marion piped in.
"Well, don't take any chances," the Brigadier warned, "We'll get there as soon as we can. Where should we head for?"
"Vaughn says that the transmitter controls are in the old IE factory. That's on the east side of the compound,"
"Right,"
The Pilot took back the radio. "Chopper Pilot to Command, sir. Coming down now. What shall I do, stick around? Over,"
"Yes, hover above them. It'll give us a bearing," the Brigadier answered him.
"Wilco. Out," the pilot then addressed them. "Where do you want me to drop you off?"
Vaughn pointed to a place in the distance near a few buildings. "Down there. It's as close as you can get to the radio signal without catching the Cybermen's attention,"
"Right away sir,"
It wasn't safe to land the helicopter, so the three of them had to climb down a rope ladder to get to the ground.
Marion climbed down last and as soon as her feet touched the ground, she stepped away from the ladder and allowed the pilot to pull it back into the helicopter and circle the area.
"This way,"
Vaughn took them down the road and in the alley between two brick buildings. There wasn't enough room for them to walk side by side, so they went single file with Vaughn in the front, holding the Watkin's Device, Marion in the back checking behind them every now and then just in case a Cybermen decided to go off-script, and the Doctor in the middle of the two of them.
In front of them, on the other side of the alley, a Cyberman walked past. It didn't seem to notice them but Vaughn seemed intent to change that.
He held out the machine and aimed it at the Cyberman.
The Doctor grabbed him by his shoulders and turned him away from the ally.
"What are you doing? We must destroy them!" he all but shouted.
"Well, if you WANT to let the Cybermen know that we're here and on our way to the radio tower so they can all line up and shoot at us on our way there feel free," Marion deadpanned.
Marion didn't know why she was so annoyed by Vaughn.
Wait, that was a lie. She was annoyed by him because he was like Robertson but worse and she was annoyed by Robertson because rich businessmen were awful to be around even when they hadn't accidentally made a bunch of giant spider mutants or teamed up with a bunch of alien cyborgs to try to take over the world.
"We want to get to the radio transmitter control room," the Doctor said harshly, "The Cybermen don't know we're here yet. As Marion said, let's keep that element of surprise,"
The Doctor moved around Vaughn and crept further up the alley. He gestured for them to follow him. "Come on, we'll try down here,"
They looked both ways and quickly sprinted down the way. Vaughn ran out behind the Doctor and Marion ran too, keeping her head on a swivel.
The three of them turned the corner and ended up in an area with metal rain crates piled on one side and a tall brick building on another.
Marion looked around carefully.
"Be caref-a cripes,"
From the alley between to large buildings on their right. Oddly, this one was holding out a gun instead of the typical chest canon.
Before it could shoot, Vaughn aimed the Watkin's Device at him and fired. It dropped its gun and collapsed to the ground with the warbly cry they always made as they were hit whatever rays that thing put out.
"Now they know we're here," the Doctor groaned.
"Can't be helped. At least we have a way to get out of dodge here,"
"Right," replied Vaughn. He looked towards the metal staircase of the fire escape. "Up there. We'll go over the roofs,"
They ran up the stairwell and up to the roof. They jumped over a small AC unit on the roof and to the other side of the building. Vaughn pointed down to a clearing full of Cyberman standing in formation.
"That's it. That's where we've got to get to. Down there,"
They heard a noise behind them in the distance and Marion looked up to see another helicopter joining the one already in the sky.
"The Brigadier is here," Marion observed.
"Well, that's just-LOOK OUT,"
The Doctor cut himself off when he saw a Cyberman walking up ahead and holding out a gun. Vaughn shot it with the Watkins Device. It launched itself backward to get away and it fell off the roof like a younger sibling trying to get their elder sibling in trouble be pretending they got shoved a lot harder than they had.
'Gosh, that thing packs a punch!' Marion thought. She stared at where it had fallen for a moment. "There'll be more," Marion said quickly, "We're too out in the open. We really ought to leave,"
The four cyberman squad that approached caught the Doctor's eye and with a "C'mon" he ushered them away.
They came to a fire escape ladder.
"Is this the only way down?" the Doctor asked.
"Yes," Vaughn replied.
"Come on, then,"
The Doctor climbed down, then Vaughn, and then Marion. Marion let go of the ladder when she was 4 feet off the ground.
Falling like that made her legs sting for a moment as she landed, but it was only that, a moment. She bounced her legs experimentally and then followed after the Doctor and Vaughn.
The sound of gunfire and other explosions grew louder somewhere to their left on the other side of some buildings. They stopped to listen.
"Keep moving," Marion said. "We've got places to be. Come on!"
Vaughn slowed down as they approached the destination. He pointed to a small two-floor building with a metal staircase leading to a door on the second floor.
"That's where the main control switch is for the radio beam," he pointed.
The Doctor looked around. "There don't seem to be any Cybermen about at all. That's odd,"
"They know at least someone is here," she said, trying to shake off the sinking feeling in her chest. "And they're most certainly going to send someone out to guard their one weakness aren't they?"
"They aren't here yet," Vaughn said, marching towards the building that housed the radio frequency. "So we shouldn't waste time,"
Vaughn climbed up the ladder while Marion and the Doctor looked on. Marion's leg started to bounce anxiously and as he did.
When Vaughn was a the top of the platform and getting ready to open the door, something caught the Doctor's eye. Marion saw the expression on his face and she looked too.
To the right of them, was a building with a black set of double doors with chipped glass near the top, and on the other side of the door through the chipped glass, there marched a trio of Cybermen.
Marion's vision shifted in a way that made her the slightest bit nauseous. She purposely swallowed.
"Look behind you!" the Doctor shouted.
The three Cybermen turned and aimed their weapons up at Vaughn. The first two were downed by Vaughn with the Watkins device. The third one, however, was unaffected. It fired its gun at Vaughn's leg. From anything else, such a shot might not have been a big deal but from the Cyberman? It was enough to make Vaughn crumple to the ground, dead.
The Cyberman pivoted to the two of them and they both took a large, slow step backward.
The Doctor got closer to Marion and grabbed her hand.
"When I say run, run,"
The Cyberman pointed his gun at two of them and prepared to fire.
"RUN!"
The two of them sprinted in the opposite direction from the Cyberman and back the way they had come.
Marion weaved left with the Doctor in tow behind her. She felt a rush of air to the side of her face and heard the Doctor shout.
'That was a bit closer than what I'm comfortable with,'
They dodged left and right making it harder for the Cyberman to successfully hit one of them. Marion's feet pounded against the asphalt, practically dragging the Doctor behind her.
The further away that she got, the more her vision got back to normal and the heavy feeling in her stomach slowly lightened.
There was a point where the wide alley they raced down-turned slightly in a diagonal and that's where they finally caught up with UNIT.
"DOCTOR, HENSON, GET DOWN!" the Brigadier shouted at them.
Instantly, the Doctor let go of Marion's hand and the two of them lept to the ground covering their heads.
"Right, bazooka!" the Brigadier ordered.
From ahead of them, Marion heard the sound of a small explosion, then the sound of something rushing overhead, and then a bigger explosion in the distance accompanied by the synth-y noise of a Cyberman's death throes.
Marion took her hands off her head and slowly moved herself to a sitting position. She poked the Doctor lightly.
The Brigadier ran forward accompanied by Isobel and Zoe.
"You two alright," the Brigadier asked.
"I've definitely felt worse,"
The Doctor pushed himself up off the ground and pointed towards the building that Vaughn had died trying to get into.
"It's there, in that building. The radio transmitter control, you've got to destroy it!"
"Leave it to us," the Brigadier assured the Doctor. "Forward!" he shouted to his men.
The Doctor got himself into a sitting position that was probably more comfortable than the one he'd been in previously. He tried to get up but Isobel stopped him, holding out her camera.
"Just a second," she said, She looked into the camera's viewfinder and then over at Marion.
"Marion come a little bit closer, so you can be in the photo,"
"But I..."
Marion sighed and scooched a little closer to the Doctor so Isobel could photograph the two of them. The Doctor fixed his bowtie to be a bit more straight and adjusted his hair. Marion adjusted her red headband so that it would make her hair look a bit more presentable and popped the collar of her coat and she leaned forward a bit, resting her chin in the palm of her hand.
The Doctor put his hands in his lap and made an expression that looked a bit more serious than Marion's small smile as Isobel's camera went "Click. Click. Click." as she took photos from them at different angles as the soldiers rushed by to take out the radio transmitter.
"That's it," Isobel said as the two of them finally got into a position she liked, "That's better. Sit still,"
With the radio transmitter just a bunch of smoking rubble, they were brought back to the temporary headquarters room in the airplane.
The Brigadier walked straight towards the back of the room and retrieved the microphone.
"And for the moment, the crisis is over. The radio transmitter's been destroyed, so the Cybermen can no longer deliver their bomb. But their spaceship is still sending out its hypnotic signals. The world is still paralysed,"
The Brigadier continued to speak.
"To stop these signals, we have to destroy the Cyberman spaceship. The Russians have already launched a missile which should arrive on target in approximately six hours from now. If this is successful then the world will be released from the Cyber-control, and we can mobilise our forces to fight the Cybermen remaining on earth. In this case, I'd like all units-,"
"Hello, UNIT Control. Hello, UNIT Control. Henlow Downs calling UNIT control. Over," someone from the other end of the radio interrupted him.
"Yes, Major,"
"Sorry to interrupt you sir, but we've picked up a large UFO approaching Earth. It's standing off at about fifty thousand miles. Outside our range, I'm afraid. Over,"
"They've moved in. Why?" Zoe asked in confusion.
"Thank you," The Brigadier didn't answer her and continued to speak through the radio. "Major. Out. Get Captain Turner,"
"Right, sir," Benton pressed a button on the side panel, "UNIT Control calling Captain Turner. UNIT Control calling Captain Turner. Do you read me?"
"Why do you think they've moved their spaceship in so close, Doctor?" the Brigadier asked.
"I'm not sure. Possibly to try to avoid the Russian missile or-"
"Or…," Marion added, "They're trying to bring the bomb here without using the radio guide,"
"UNIT Control calling Captain Turner. UNIT control Calling Captain Turner. Do you read me?" Benton tried again.
"Yes, I'm afraid so," the Doctor said responding to what Marion had said, "You see, from where they were, let's say two hundred and thirty thousand miles out in space, their conventional missiles couldn't deliver the bomb, so they had to come in close,"
"But in moving in fifty thousand miles, they've come into range of the Russian missiles," Zoe pointed out, "Well, it can't be more than a few miles from them,"
"But it's going in the opposite direction!" the Doctor pointed out.
"Maybe so but-,"
After trying several times, Benton finally got an answer.
"Captain Turner here. Over,"
"Here we are, sir," he handed the microphone to the Brigadier.
"Here we are, sir,"
"Yes, Jimmy,"
Captain Turner spoke from the other side of the radio.
"Sir. Sorry about the delay but we've had a bit of a flap on here,"
"Yes, we know. Can the Russians turn their missile?"
"Yes, sir,"
"How long before it strikes?"
"They estimate twelve point five minutes, sir,"
"Thank you, Jimmy. Out," the Brigadier lowered the receiver, "That's more than time enough for them to deliver their bomb and move out to safety, isn't it?"
"Yes, Brigadier, I'm afraid it is," the Doctor said under his breath.
"But!" Marion said, "In order for them to drop it here, the Russian missile would have to fail to blow it out of the sky. And, and I don't think it's going to do that,"
"Yes, well, this is going to be a long twelve minutes," the Brigadier said.
"Well, I suppose that we should head back to Travers' house then," the Doctor said. "I still have that circuit to fix you know,"
"Ah," said Zoe, "I had forgotten about that. That was the whole reason we stopped here in the first place wasn't it,"
"I'll come with you!" said Isobel.
"I'll be right with you three," Marion said. "I have something I need to tell the Brigadier real quick,"
"Ah. Can I ask what?" the Doctor asked.
"You can,"
"Would you give me a straight answer?"
"Would you give me a straight answer if I asked about that note the Associate asked me to give you?"
"Fair point," the Doctor said, "Alright then,". He left the main command room with Zoe and Isobel in tow and leaving Marion behind.
"What is it you wanted to tell me, Miss Henson,"
"I'll admit that this is going to sound a little bit strange but…,"
The Brigadier sighed. "But what?"
"The next time you meet the Doctor, he's going to look different. Like, you aren't going to recognize him. His hair is gonna be white and a lot fluffier. And he'll be taller too. And his nose'll be different, and he'll probably be a lot out of it. He'll look like a completely different man but he's not,"
The Brigadier stared at him in confusion.
"I know that what I'm saying doesn't make sense," she admitted, fidgeting with her hands, "But it'll make sense when the time comes and I thought you might want to know,"
Marion nodded having said what she wanted to say and turned around to leave.
"Miss Henson,"
The Brigadier stopped her.
"Yes?"
"You've said a lot of strange things since I've met you. And much of it hardly makes any sense at all,"
For a moment, Marion thought that that was the end of the statement. He had stopped her to say that she said weird things that she didn't understand and then he would dismiss her.
And then he continued. "When I met you and the Doctor in the sewers, you insisted on calling me 'the Brigadier'. I was a Colonel. And I constantly reminded you that I was a Colonel. And you said that that didn't make sense. That I was THE Brigadier and that it'd be odd to call me anything else. Imagine my surprise when I was promoted just a few weeks after the incident. So you say a lot of strange things, but I don't think it's just meaningless rambling. If you say that the next time I meet the Doctor he's going to look different, then I'll take that under advisement,"
"Oh, good," Marion replied, "That works. I'm going to leave now. Goodbye Brigadier!"
As soon as they got back to Travers' house the Doctor went straight up to the lab. Marion went to the lounge with Zoe and Isobel.
"Oh," Isobel asked, "Zoe, how'd you like to model for me again! We have some time now!"
"That sounds lovely," Zoe asked.
"What about you Marion?" Isobel asked.
Marion slid her boots off and lied down on the lounge's couch.
"No thanks," Marion replied, closing her eyes, "It's one thing to take a few photos back at the scene of some UNIT shenanigans but a modelling thing?" Marion waved her hand, "I've got plans and those plans require me to be photographed as little as possible,"
"And what plans would that be?" Isobel asked, sounding amused.
"Becoming a cryptid,"
"A what?"
"A cryptid. I want there to be just enough evidence of my existence that people wonder who I am but not enough that people can figure it out. Forty-years from now, I want people scrambling together trying to figure out who this curly-haired chick is and why she's always around when weird aliens abound,"
Isobel and Zoe stared at Marion for a moment.
"Marion are you feeling alright?"
"I'm a bit tired," Marion admitted, "I've had a very little amount of sleep and a pretty long day. Although, I bet you did too. I'm probably going to take a quick nap while I wait for the Doctor to be done. Wake me up when you're ready to go,"
With that, Marion closed her eyes.
She didn't properly fall asleep. She wasn't very good at sleeping when she knew she was going to have to get up soon. Still, she was pretty sure that being horizontal with her eyes closed and head empty was better than nothing and if the Bitch Force took her somewhere directly after this without giving her time to rest, she'd need all the rest that she could get now. So, she simply lied down and listen,
She could still hear Isobel and Zoe talking, although they were making an effort to speak in a lower voice.
It was sweet but not really necessary. Marion was perfectly okay with sleeping in a room with noisy people even if she wasn't really sleeping.
She heard the sound of movement and a chair sliding against the floor as Zoe moved around and got into different poses. Then, there would be the click, click, click, click of a camera, and then more movement and then a few more clicks, and then movement, and then clicks, and then movement, and then clicks.
"Tired?" Marion heard Isobel ask.
"No, exhausted!" Zoe replied, "Maybe Marion had the right idea,"
Marion heard laughter. "Okay, you can take a breather,"
"Thanks," The sounds of more movement.
"Thank goodness I don't have to do any more modelling for a living,"
"What is this new job of yours, then?"
"Well, because of my photographs of the Cybermen in action, I've got an exclusive contract with a publishing group. So I'll be travelling all over the world, snapping away with my little black box. What will you do now?"
"Oh, when the Doctor's finished making his circuits, we'll be off again, I suppose,"
"Where to?"
"Well, we're never really sure,"
The door to the room opened.
"Hello," A man's voice said. Jimmy Turner was Marion's best guess.
"Ah! Here comes my dolly soldier," Marion could hear the amusement in the Doctor's voice.
"Cheeky. Zoe, the Doctor says he's almost ready to leave. I've got the Jeep outside,"
"Oh fine. But what about Jamie?"
"Oh, he's all right. He's just having a check-up at the hospital. We'll pick him up on the way,"
"Well, can I come with you?" Isobel asked.
"As long as you promise not to call me your dolly soldier in front of the Brigadier, yes. Come on,"
"Right, come on! Marion! Wake up,"
"I'm up!" Marion said, opening her eyes. She sat up from the couch and pulled her boots back on. She yawned, stretched, and followed Zoe out of the room.
After picking up Jamie, Jimmy took them back to the empty field where they had landed. They all piled out of the Jeep and over to the fence.
"Here?" Isobel asked, being rightly confused at the empty field.
"Yes. This is fine, thank you," the Doctor replied after looking around for a moment.
"A field?" Jimmy said in confusion, "There's nothing here,"
"Well, nothing visible, sure," Marion said looking out at the grass. Marion was pretty sure she could see the spot where the TARDIS was. It was like a large square-shaped area with a faint shadow with no discernible source.
"Are you sure this is the place, Doctor?" Zoe asked.
"Yes, yes," The Doctor assured. He turned to Jimmy, "Well I'm very much obliged to you, Captain,"
"Oh, goodbye," Jimmy shook the Doctor's hand.
"Goodbye to you. Goodbye, Isobel. Goodbye, everyone. Come along, Jamie,"
Marion pushed through the gate. "Come along, Zoe,"
"Now, then, where exactly did we leave it? You three try over there," the Doctor waved his arms around trying to feel for it.
Marion looked around for the shadow spot she had seen earlier. She got closer to it, and she noticed that the grass in that spot was completely still despite the faint breeze. She reached out a hand for the sourceless shadow and then hesitated. On second thought, maybe it wasn't the best idea to reach for random shadows. Then again, it was noon. It wasn't dark enough for the Vashta Nerada to cause too much of an issue if they were there right? Then again, it wasn't like her hand wouldn't grow back right?
Better her lose a hand she could grow back than Zoe or Jamie or the Doctor walking in there on their search.
Marion realized that she was being ridiculous.
She shut her eyes and waved her hand in front of it. Her hand disappeared and she pulled it back. She waved her fingers and reached out again with the same result.
"I found her!" Marion said quickly.
The Doctor walked over towards her already reaching in his pocket for his key. "So you have," he said, "How'd you find it so quickly?"
"There was a weird kind of shadow on the ground," she explained, "And when I reached out for it, it didn't strip the flesh off my bones so, I figure this must be the TARDIS,"
The Doctor felt around for the door of the TARDIS and then he unlocked it and opened the door. Marion followed him.
The Doctor went straight to the oddly colorless console room and started to pull at switches and knobs. "Why didn't you unlock the TARDIS and let yourself inside, Oh hold that button for me please,"
"I don't have a key," Marion replied. She pressed the one the Doctor had been talking about. A grey thing about the size of the pad of her thumb. The TARDIS made a rumbling noise.
"Oh, that won't do!"
"What? Did I press the wrong button or something?"
"No, no, no," the Doctor shook his head, "I'm talking about the key. One moment,"
The Doctor stuck his key into a slot on the console and flipped a few switches. After a few seconds and a god-awful grinding noise, the Doctor pressed something into her hand.
It was a small silver key and it was warm to the touch.
"Thanks, Doctor," Marion said. She placed the key in her bag.
"Now, we really ought to grab Zoe and Jamie before one of us leans on a button and sends us who knows where eh?"
"Right, right,"
The Doctor walked right back out of the TARDIS leaving the door open as he did.
"There we are, all done and ready to go. Bye-bye. Bye!"
She heard Jamie and Zoe saying their goodbyes in the distance and then they too entered the TARDIS.
The Doctor flipped a switch and pulled a lever and the TARDIS slowly dematerialized.
"Where are we going now?" Jamie asked.
"Nowhere," the Doctor replied, "I've sent the TARDIS floating around the Time Vortex. Shouldn't be anything to bother us here. You've had a bit of a long day, and I know you'll want to rest right?"
"Yes, absolutely," Marion replied. "I'm this," she held her index finger and thumb together, "from being so tired I'm basically illiterate and if whatever's taking me takes me someplace where being able to figure out what's on a screen is a matter of life and death then no one will be happy. Hopefully, we'll be able to talk more once I wake up yeah?"
With that said, Marion waved and walked deeper into the TARDIS. She grabbed a robe from her room and went to the bathroom. She took a quick shower, washed her hair, and then went back into her room. She changed into a pair of purple sleep pants and a pale pink shirt, climbed under the quilt. She taped the band on her arm and turned so she was sleeping on her stomach and clutching one of the dark grey pillows in her arms. The TARDIS slowly dimmed the lights in the room until it was dark and Marion was more or less out like the light.
(Next Chapter: Hot Chocolate With Water)
Marion: If I'm not featured in at least ONE episode of Buzzfeed Unsolved I will be very disappointed.
I've posted a bit of art on my DeviantArt page. Originally, I was going to save that image until I actually started writing the side story anthology that I intend to write at some point, but I decided to give it to y'all early.
I've got a few titles for this hypothetical series, but it's basically a series of one-shots involving Marion, but from other people's POV.
Tales from the Closet
Sweatpants, Waistcoats, Flannel, Headbands, and other Distinct Looks
The Stars Gaze Back