Apocalypse Rising (Book Five)

Time's Up

Bit of a lighter note . . . at first. }:)

Enjoy what little fun there is before the Tenth Caly's last episodes!

***

"Can't go a day without sprouting something scientific!" Jack shouted as they ran for the TARDIS, Lilly and Steven in the lead, David, Mica, and Holly rushing after them.

"Well, I'm sorry that Queen Elizabeth isn't fond of science!" the Apocalypse shouted back, catching an arrow in midair before it could hit Anna in the skull. "Hurry up!"

"Inside!" Jenny ran past Lilly and Steven to open the doors, the kids bolting inside. They were followed by Alice, Jack, and Ianto, helping everyone else inside. The Apocalypse remained drawing the guards' fire, ducking and dodging as everyone piled inside the TARDIS. "Sorry!" she called one last time before blanching. "Oops." She pushed Jenny inside and shut the door, an arrow hitting where her head was. "Well," she turned, smiling sheepishly. "I know what she hates me for."

"You've met Queen Elizabeth I before?" Owen frowned, brushing leaves out of his hair as Tosh checked to make sure her dress didn't have any snags in it.

"1599, when Martha and I helped Shakespeare combat witches," the Apocalypse nodded. "She didn't like me."

"You fought witches with Shakespeare?" Johnny stared at her.

"I just said that, didn't I?" she blinked.

"Cool!" Steven grinned as Holly and Mica gasped. His aunt - he refused to call her great-aunt - was awesome!

"Well," she drawled, taking a bow as David and Lilly started bombarding her with questions.

"Hearing the reports talk about her time traveling is one thing," Frobisher looked at the woman as she laughed, talking with the children as they asked her questions. "Hearing her actually say it's all true is something else."

"She's incredible," Jack agreed, nodding. "First time I met her, I caught Rosie from falling to her death. Barrage balloon, London Blitz, 1941."

"Seriously?" Gwen stared at him. He'd never mentioned this before!

"Oh, yeah," Jack nodded with a grin. "Flag Girl and her Al-Qaeda sister. Never stood a chance."

"The one from Downing Street, yeah?" Tosh asked as she walked up. "I remember her. She was very intimidating."

"The one time I saw her truly angry was when Rose was nearly killed on the last adventure I had with them," Jack said. "I made a promise then and there that I would never try to get her that angry again." He sighed. "And then I rebooted Torchwood."

"How would that have made her angry?" Clem frowned.

"Torchwood One," Ianto whispered. "Canary Wharf. That's where she lost Rose."

"Parallel world, stuck with her bastard of an ex-boyfriend," Jack nodded. "They built a dimension cannon to launch Rosie back. For nearly five years, she was stuck. And Ricky kept sabotaging it every chance he got."

"Mickey," Gwen frowned.

"No, it's Ricky," Jack shook his head. "Ricky the Idiot."

"How did she find out you restarted Torchwood?" Frobisher frowned.

Jack was silent for a while. "In Thames House," he whispered, making Ianto and Owen look at him, surprised. "When I watched Ianto and Owen die . . . I had seen something happen like that before. One time was when the Apocalypse had been in your situation, and someone came to her rescue," he nodded to Ianto and Owen. He took a shaky breath. "The other time was watching her be me. The Year That Never Was, when the Master was Prime Minister of Britain and took over the world." He shook his head. "When we were on the run and I had no idea who he was, Calypsie found out when the Archangel Network plans were sent to me. What changed me after The Year That Never Was . . . was when her real brother died there in her arms and refused to regenerate so she wouldn't look at him and see him as a monster."