𝗔𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝘄𝗼, 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘆-𝗳𝗶𝘃𝗲.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝗔𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁.
Season two, episode thirteen:
Doomsday - Part two.
- ~ -
Jackie's eyes gleamed with tears as she stumbled, swallowing harshly at the sight of her husband, his voice ringing mockingly in her ears. She clenched her hands as she forced herself to speak, voice cracking, "I said there were ghosts, but that's not fair...Why him!?"
Pete lowered his gun, eyes softening at the grief in Jackie's voice, "I'm not a ghost."
She shook her head profusely, no, she refused to believe it. She had cried over Pete Tyler more than anyone else, she still cried for him. For the years they never had. He couldn't just be here now, she refused it.
"But you're dead," Jackie croaked, soul seeming to be shredded wide open, "You died twenty years ago, Pete!"
"Jackie...do you remember when we told you about the parallel universe we went to? This is the Pete from that universe," Lynnette told her gently, she couldn't bare the look of agony that had torn across the woman's face. She couldn't bare the look Miranda and Richard shot her.
"Every decision creates a parallel existence, a different dimension where..." The Doctor began only to be cut off by Jackie's scolding look.
"Oh, you can shut up," At her words, a hint of a smile appeared on Pete's face, fond and distant, he had not worn that expression for a very long time.
And neither had Jackie, "Oh...You look old."
Pete couldn't stop himself, "You don't."
Jackie flushed for a moment, "How can you be standing there?"
He smiled, "Just got lucky. Lived my life," Remorse flickered across his face, "But you were left on your own. You didn't marry again, or...?"
There was something in his face, a barely hidden desire.
He wanted Jackie, his wife, the woman who he first met when he bumped into her friend and she yelled at him, swears falling from her lips with ease. It was over for him then, Jackie Tyler had stolen his attention and he'd never want to give it to anybody else.
"There was never anyone else," Jackie murmured, "Twenty years, though. Look at me, I never left that flat. Did nothing with myself."
She wanted Pete, her husband, the man who she had first met when he bumped into her friend and she yelled at him, swears falling from her lips with ease. It was over for her then, Pete Tyler had stolen her attention away and she'd never want to give it to anybody else.
"You brought her up. Rose Tyler. And you managed to get Lynnette to love you. That's not bad," Pete muttered softly, in this universe there was everything he wanted. A family. People who would love him unconditionally.
The fates were laughing now, coy grins spread across their faces. They, after all, had planned this since the very beginning.
"Yeah," Jackie's eyes glimmered with pride, she had done a bloody good job.
Pete smiled, "In my world...it worked. All those daft little plans of mine, it worked. Made me rich."
"I don't care about that," Huffed the woman, smiling, "How rich?"
Amusement flooded Pete, "Very."
"I don't care about that," She paused, "How very?"
A light sound fell from Pete's lips, a laugh. It rang like a distant bell, so familiar yet so far away. A breath escaped Jackie's mouth, eyes shimmering with unbridled emotions that had been buried so deep for so very long.
Pete swallowed harshly, "Thing is, though Jacks..." The nickname fell like a prayer, "you're not my wife. I'm sorry, but you're not. I mean, we both..."
Jackie's eyes glittered with heart, another fresh of heartbreak cutting into her, almost worse than when she'd first seen her husband lying on the road, unmoving. But nothing could compare to that.
The man struggled to get the words, he couldn't, "You know, it's just sort of..."
He couldn't lose Jackie for a second time.
"Oh, come here," He gasped out.
Then they were running to each other. Pete's gun flattered to the floor, unheard as the two raced toward each other. They had been apart for so long, calling out to one another, begging for their presence, for the knowledge that they were there beside them.
In a frantic array of movements, Jackie was held tight in Pete's arms, both unwilling to let go again.
They would never let go again.
Rose's breath shuddered as she pressed into Lynnette's side, her parents were together. She had spent so long sitting and wondering how they would've looked together. Would they have sung 80's songs in the kitchen? Kissed on New Years? Interrogated all of her boyfriends?
And now she would finally know.
Lynnette smiled fondly, they both deserved this.
"They're finally together," Croaked Rose quietly, voice cracking with unshed tears.
Lynnette nodded and pressed a kiss to the girl's forehead, "And they'll never be separated again."
"None of us will, right?"
"We'll be together forever."
If the fates weren't laughing before, they were now. Cackling at the naive words of little stars that could so easily blink out of existence.
Well, this existence anyway.
But that was something they would discover later.
The strings of thread were becoming taunt now.
And soon...
They would snap.
Oh, how everyone would fall. It would be a spectacle, more marvellous than Shakespeare's plays or the scenes acted on in the theatres of ancient Greece. The fates had been weaving this for a long time, the cynical puppeteers behind creation.
They had gotten so terribly bored with how dull the universe had become, wars and political arguments are all it seemed to be now.
But not for long.
It was only a matter of time.
Before the whole universe was cascaded in flames.
And what a sight it would be.
- ~ -
Still, Lynnette could hear the flames whispering quiet words.
She had not told anyone.
She felt it was wrong to do so.
They were her flames, fond friends that would surely be put out by them, deemed a threat. Lynnette would not allow that, her flames would thrive when they were called upon.
She shook her head.
Quietly, almost too quietly, Lynnette followed after the Doctor who crept along the hallway, toward the frantic yells of humans, the robot snaps of Cybermen, the murderous screeches of the Daleks and the rapid gunfire.
Carefully, he pulled open the door, the screams growing louder. The cries of agony fell on deaf ears, no one had any time to mourn, they couldn't, lest they allowed themselves to be open targets.
"There!" Lynnette gasped, pointing toward the metal clamps they had seen earlier. The Doctor needed it for a plan.
"Say here and look after the rest," Murmured the Doctor, pressing a swift kiss to her plan and darting off before she had the chance to say anything in response.
Hastily, he grabbed them and as he turned to run back he tripped over a fallen Cyberman. Lynnette didn't even realise she had reacted, body shooting forward like a lion's, hand grasping his arm like a viper, yanking him back to the safety of the hallway within seconds.
Miranda huffed, "At least all of those acrobatics classes paid off for something..."
"At least all that drinking paid off for something..." Hummed Lynnette mockingly.
"Override roof mechanism!" Dalek Sec screeched and the Doctor opened the door again, hidden by all the heavy gunfire.
They watched as a forcefield shimmered around the Genesis Ark, remaining as unharmed as the Daleks who seemed to pay no attention to the fire directed at them. Their mission was far more important.
But what was their mission exactly?
"Elevate!" Dalek Sec yelled again, slowly hovering in the air, the Ark following swiftly after.
Lynnette furrowed her brows, finally noticing just what the Ark looked like, "Is it just me or is the Ark in the shape of a Dalek?"
The Doctor tilted his head slightly, agreeing with her. It was odd, why would Time Lords make something Dalek shaped? He dreaded to think about it.
"What are they doing?" Gasped Rose breathlessly, "Why do they need to get outside?"
"Time Lord science? What Time Lord science? What is it!?" Huffed the Doctor, mind swirling like the storm that was usually hidden so well in his soul. He took a breath, steadying himself. this reminded him far too much of the Time War, it made his skin crawl.
He ground his teeth, yanking the door closed as he darted back down the hallway, yelling, "We've got to see what it's doing, we've got to go back up. Come on! All of you, top floor!"
Lynnette easily fell into line with him, the familiar burn of adrenalin so fond to her now.
Jackie huffed a groan, "But that's forty-five floors up! Believe me - I've done 'em all!"
Lynnette let out a laugh, "You did say you were thinking of going out on a daily run!"
"We could always take the lift!" Jake chuckled from behind them, he and Ricky leaning against the doors of the lift with smug expressions.
- ~ -
They darted toward the window.
Dalek Se floated by the Genesis Ark as it spun rapidly.
A Dalek appeared from within it as the door opened. Oh god, not another one, Lynnette didn't think any of humanity could handle one more Dalek filled with hateful, murderous intent.
Then, it shot out.
And another.
And another.
And another.
They all flooded out, an armada of Daleks, an army of them, all primed and crazed after being in the Ark for so long. Horror tore across Lynnette as tens, hundreds zipped out the Genesis Ark, the desire for murder dripping off of them.
On the ground, the fires flared, climbing up buildings as high as they could, desperate to wisp at the Daleks and bring them crashing to the ground.
Suddenly it all made sense.
The Ark was a prison.
A shuddering breath escaped the Doctor's mouth, "Time Lord science...it's bigger on the inside."
Mickey swallowed, "The Time Lords put those Daleks in there?"
"Time Lords?" Richard questioned, eyes flickering darkly to the Doctor's figure.
Lynnette glowered, "Whatever you're thinking, stop."
He rose a brow, "Why should I?"
"Because if you act on it, I'll be the last thing you ever see," She snarked, voice almost seeming to curl with venom.
Ricky's eyes glinted with something of annoyed amusement, "What for, though?"
The Doctor's attention was transfixed on the Ark, eyes glittering, hand quivering in Lynnette's own as he just managed to muster the words, "It's a prison ship!"
Rose swallowed nervously, "How many Daleks?"
"Millions," The Doctor's voice was choked with hatred, dripping off his tongue like poisonous daggers that tore at your heart like rabid animals. He watched with rage as the Daleks spread, trying not to fall into the abyss that was the Time War.
But god was it hard.
The familiar formations that hovered in blue skies once hovered in orange, the light from the twin suns making them look more monsterous than any fable on Gallifrey. Even more horrifying than the Wraiths that guarded the Matrix.
He could still hear the screams as people regenerated only to be slaughtered within the next second. And Gallifreyians took a bloody long time to die, every cell in their bodies trying to repair them. They could lie in their days, in agony until their body finally gave out and the peace of death opened his embrace for them.
A firm grasp on his hand was his only grounder.
Lynnette.
She wouldn't let him fall into the darkness. She would never let him fall. She would never.
"Exterminate all lifeforms below! Exterminate!" Screeched Dalek Sec and the Dlakes swarmed the streets, firing.
Screams filled the air.
So much louder than before.
Pete shook his head, turning away, "I'm sorry but you've had it - this world's going to crash and burn. There's nothing we can do. We're going home...Jack's, take this. You're coming with us."
"But they're destroying the city!" Gasped Jackie.
Pete huffed, "I'd forgotten you can argue. It's not just London - it's the whole world. But there's another world waiting for you, Jacks, and it's safe, as long as the Doctor closes the breach. Doctor?"
Lynnette swallowed.
She'd have to choose.
Whoever closed the breach would be stuck in this universe, the Doctor.
And everyone else would be on the other.
They'd be split apart.
Her family would be split apart.
Oh, god.
With a carefully hidden grief - the Doctor knowing the same as Lynnette - the Time Lord turned, a playful grin on his face, "Oh, I'm ready! Equipment right here. Thank you, Torchwood! Slam it down and it closes off both universes."
Rose furrowed her brows, "We can't just leave? What about the Daleks? And the Cybermen?"
"They're part of the problem, and that....makes them part of the solution" Smiled the Doctor, 3D glasses glinting, "Oh, yes!"
Rose let out a giggle, slightly confused by the expectant look on the man's face.
Lynnette snorted softly, a fond expression on her face, "Well, don't leave him waiting. Isn't anyone going to ask about the glasses?"
Rose grinned brightly, "What is it with the glasses?"
"I can see! That's what!" Yelled the Doctor, body strumming with energy, "Cos we've got two separate worlds but in between the two separate worlds, we've got the Void that's where the Daleks' were hiding, and the Cybermen travelled through the Void to get here, and you lot, through one world to another, via the Void."
"Lovely alliteration, dearest," Hummed Lynnette, arm handing over Rose's shoulder.
"Thank you, Firefly, I liked it too. Via the Void!" Then he scrambled to give Rose the glasses, "Look! I've been through it, see? So has Lynnette."
In front of the girl, he shifted from side to side, eyes glittering with wonder. At his very core, the Doctor always was curious, the desire to learn everything he could burning through him like a mantra.
"Reboot in three minutes," A robotic voice called from the speakers, the computer.
"What is that stuff...?" Rose gasped in amazement, hand reaching out to touch the green and black swirls that terminated off of the Doctor, hidden from the human eye.
"Voidstuff!" He exclaimed simply, a bright grin on his face.
Rose tilted her head and Lynnette smiled softly, "It's like background radiation."
"Exactly!" Hummed the Doctor, spinning the two girl's around to look at their friends, "Look at the others. And the only one who hasn't been through the Void - your mother First time she's looked normal in her life."
No one mentioned how he ignored the couple holding tightly onto one another. Lynnette couldn't find it in herself to feel sympathetic.
"Oi!" Jackie huffed.
"But the Daleks lived inside the Void, they're bristling with it," called the Doctor, running toward the wall where the breach lay, "Cybermen, all of them, I just open the Void and...reverse! The Voidstuff gets sucked back inside!"
Rose laughed, "Pulling them all back in!"
"Pulling them all back in!" The Doctor and Lynnette chimed together, sharing a glance invisible to Rose.
"Sorry, what's the Void?" Questioned Mickey.
The Doctor took a breath, "The dead space. Some people call it Hell."
Ricky lifted a brow, "So you're sending the Daleks and Cybermen to Hell. Man, Mickey told us you were good."
Rose shifted, swallowing harshly.
Lynnette winced.
She had figured it out.
"But it's like you said," Rose began tentatively, "We've all got that Voidstuff -Lynnette and I too- cos we went to that parallel world. We're all contaminated, we'll get pulled in."
The Doctor's eyes glittered with heartbreak, "That's why you two have got to go."
"Reboot in two minutes."
"Excuse me?" Snapped Lynnette.
"Back to Pete's World," He murmured, pointing toward Pete to distract him from his grief, "Hey, we should call it that - 'Pete's World'!"
The Doctor had made the decision as soon as he had decided on his plan. He would not tear Lynnette away from the people she loved, even if that meant letting her go. He should have known this would happen.
Lynnette was like fire.
And fire burned and burned until it becomes ashes.
"I'm opening the Void, but only on this side. You'll be safe on that side," He murmured.
"And then you close it..." Pete's voice cut through, "For good?"
The Doctor nodded, he couldn't bare to look at Lynnette's eyes, "The breach itself is soaked in Voidstuff - in the end, it'll close itself. And that's it. Kaput."
"...But you'll stay on this side?" Gasped Rose.
"But you'll get pulled in," Mickey huffed.
Suddenly it clicked.
Lynnette glared at the Doctor furiously, "That's why you wanted the clamps."
"I'll just have to hold on tight. I've been doing it my whole life," He hummed quietly.
Lynnette scoffed, "And we're supposed to go?"
"Yeah," He nodded.
"To another world that'll get sealed off?" Her voice was as sharp as a dagger's now.
"Yeah," He croaked.
"No," She snarled.
The very thought of being away from the Doctor was monsterous, it tore at Lynnette, and raged. She refused, she would not be separated from him, she couldn't;t be.
A rumble shook the building.
Pete jumped into action, "We haven't got time to argue. The plan works, we're going. All of us."
Lynnette glowered, "Fuck off."
"I'm not leaving them," Rose agreed, standing by her friend.
Jackie froze, "I'm not going without them!"
"Oh, my god, we're going!" Pete snapped.
The woman glared, snapping harshly, "I've had twenty years without you, so button it! I'm not leaving them!"
"You've got to!" Cried Rose.
"That's tough! I'm not leaving you!" Hissed Jackie.
"Mum," Croaked the girl.
"Reboot in one minute."
"I've had a life with you for nineteen years, Lynnette for four. But then we met the Doctor," Gasped Rose, "And all the things I've seen him do for me, for you, for all of us. For the while...stupid planet. He even managed to make Lynnette love him and you used to worry about her finding love all the time!"
Lynnette swallowed her tears down, "And every planet out there...He does it alone. But not anymore. We're with him now. And we'll never leave him."
She took a step back and felt him press against her.
Before she had a chance to gasp his lips were on hers, frantic and erratic. Hundreds of emotions flooded her, longing, passion, desire and most of all, love. Lynnette would scream it to the universe, she loved the Doctor.
She loved Theta.
"I love you more than creation, Lynnette Woods," He croaked, a tear flipping from his eye, "And that's why I'm doing this."
She felt a weight fall against her chest.
And a blinding flash spread across her eyes.
Then she was standing in the parallel Torchwood.
Her eyes blazed with that realisation. No way in Hell she'd let that happen.
"Oh, no you don't. Not again," Lynnette hissed, nodding at Rose, the two of them clinking the yellow buttons pressed against their chests.
Rose stumbled slightly, the constant back and forth dizzying her, "I think that was the on switch."
The Doctor's head snapped up.
He shot forward, "Once the breach collapses, that's it - you'll never be able to see her again, your mother again!"
Rose took a breath, "We made our choice a long time ago."
The Doctor was about to speak again only to be shut up by his enraged lover.
Lynnette glowered at him, hand gripping his shoulders, "You have no fucking right to make decisions for us - for me - Doctor. I will not be separated from you, you hear me?!"
"Lynnette-" He tried.
"Do you hear me!?" She yelled at him, lips curling into a snarl.
The Doctor's eyes glittered, hands gently coming to lay on top of Lynnette's, "I hear you."
She nodded, "Good," She hated the tense silence, "Now, what do we do to help?"
"Systems rebooted. Open access."
"Those coordinated over there, set them all to six, Rose. And hurry up!" Spoke the Doctor, swallowing harshly, gaze unmoving from Lynnette's.
Rose nodded and followed his order, darting toward the computer. Taking a breath, one of the Doctor's hands came to rest on Lynnette's cheek, eyes burning with such love it almost knocked him off his feet, "My Lynnette."
She smiled softly, whispering gently, "My Theta."
Miranda darted around the corner, "We have Cybermen on their way!"
Lynnette stared at her for a moment, almost relishing in her dishevelled appearance before clenching her jaw, "How many floors away are they?"
Richard huffed, "Only one."
The Doctor nodded, sprinting around the room, frantically typing on the computers, mind swirling like a raging storm, erratic and uncontrollable. he hadn't felt this crazed since the day he changed into...him.
Into the man that ended it all.
"Leavers operational."
A grin spread across the Doctor's face.
Lynnette's heart warmed at the sight, "There's that smile."
The Doctor flushed ever so slightly, "Hope and glory! Mutt and Jeff! Shiver and Shake!"
Carefully, he handed Rose one of the clamps, pulling Lynnette along with him, silently deciding that she would stand by him. He lodged it onto the wall, calling out to the girl, "Click the red button."
Lynnette shot a sharp look at Miranda and Richard, "Not that I particularly care but there have been far too many deaths today and I'd rather not add you to the list, so go find cover."
Sharing a look, the pair darted off, far away from
The Doctor nodded, "When it starts, hold on tight. Shouldn't be too bad for us, but the Daleks and Cybermen are steeped in Voidstuff. Ready?"
Rose swallowed harshly, "So are they."
A squad of Daleks were zooming toward the window, ready to attack without hesitation. The Doctor's body went rigid.
"Let's do it!" Yelled Lynnette, darting over to one of the leavers, ready to push with all of her might, her companions followed suit.
With grunts of effort, the three heaved the leavers up, gasping and grinding their teeth, the weight of the metal almost seeming impossible to lift. Finally, they managed to get them into position, the air around them starting to pick up.
"System online."
They shot toward the clamps rapidly.
Lynnette very nearly shot toward Rose's clamp instead.
She steeled herself, she couldn't protect Rose from everything the universe dared to throw in her way. The girl needed to learn how to stand on her own, she already was. Lynnette had seen it, Rose was taking control, growing braver, taking everything in her stride.
Rose Tyler was changing into a strong, independent woman and Lynnette Woods couldn't be prouder.
So, despite the irate feeling hammering in the back of her mind, Lynnette latched onto the same clamp as the Doctor. Her body pressed into his as winds began to wisp quicker, the light of the breach growing brighter.
She flinched at the blinding light, head pressing securely into the Doctor's chest, his head coming to nestle into her own.
Distantly, the window shattered and within seconds the impossibly loud shrieks of the Daleks heading toward them were heard. They were powerless against the breach as it drew them in ravenously, never full, the Void constantly demanding that its never-ending abyss be filled.
Elation filled the Doctor's body as papers flew past them rapidly. Oh, how many Daleks would finally meet the bitter end they so terribly deserved. The soldier that still remained within the Doctor felt prideful, his resentment flying free.
He yelled loudly, "The breach is open! Into the Void, you go! Ha!"
Lynnette just managed a smile, practically tasting the way the Doctor's body ignited with joy from beside her, her own body humming with happiness. Finally, after all of this, it would be over.
More Daleks flew into the Void, screeching and screaming, murderous desire not ready to be lost to Death. Death was the ultimate disgrace, the ultimate failure.
Lynnette could feel the distant fires grinning in pride as a vortex of Daleks and Cybermen began to form around Torchwood tower, all unable to free themselves from the unyielding hold of the Void, desperate to have its fill of life.
The skies rumbled darkly.
Somehow just outside of the universe and inside all of it at the same time, the fates cackled. The time was almost upon them.
The time when the whole of creation would feel the heat of flames.
Just like it did long, long ago.
Oh, they remembered that era well. The rage and the fury. They wondered though, just how much worse the fires would be this time.
After all, no one had ever taught Lynnette Woods how to use her fire. Lynnette Woods had spent a grand total of twenty years suppressing her fire.
But something can only be suppressed for so long.
And Lynette was just about ready to explode.
The fates were practically on the edge of their seats now, fingers strumming against their legs as they watched in suspense, eyes flickering between the two girls with a bond almost as strong as creation and the leaver which buckled under the wind.
It shot backwards.
"Offline."
Fuck.
"Hold on!" Yelled the Doctor as Rose lurched out for the leaver.
"Rose!" Screamed Lynnette as Rose managed to grasp the leave, her grip on the clamp lost in the process.
"I've got to get it upright!" Shouted the girl frantically, shoving with all of her might, the winds blowing harshly against her.
With a yell, she yanked the leaver into its position once more. The vortex of the Void increased.
"Online and locked."
Daleks shot past them like bullets.
But Lynnette could not tear her gaze from Rose's.
"Rose! Hold on!" She shrieked to her friend whose eyes glittered with tears, the pull of the Void harsh against her.
The girl let out a cry.
"Hold on!" Yelled the Doctor desperately.
Rose let out a wail, hands gripping the leaver as tightly as they could.
The girls meet gazes from across the room, one silently begging the other to stay, to charge through it just like she had done everything else.
But Rose's grip slipped.
And Lynnette's heart splintered.
"Rose!" She screeched as the girl flew away.
If it weren't for the iron grip the Doctor had on Lynnette she would have gone after her.
Lynnette's heart shattered.
Rose couldn't die. She couldn't. Not her Rose. Never her Rose.
She had promised her that. She had sworn it to the universe. She had told it to fate.
But the fates greatly enjoyed the irony of tragic stories.
Lynnette shouted, thrashing in the Doctor's grip as Rose grew further and further away. Taking away a piece of Lynnette's heart with her. The Woods girl could almost see Death read to catch Rose but she'd fight him for her, she'd fight the entirety of creation for Rose.
Pete Tyler appeared.
He latched onto the girl.
The last thing Lynnette saw of Rose was her eyes, horrified and broken.
And then they were gone. The Breach tearing itself apart from the inside, entirely too ravenous to continue.
Lynnette's breath shuddered against the silence.
"Systems closed."
She tore herself from the Doctor's arms, racing toward the wall, desperation clawing at her like a monster, curling inside her, killing her.
Her hands slammed frantically against the white wall, far, far too white. There had to be some tiny part left of it, a part she could get to Rose through. She hit the walls again and again, at some point her hand turned to fists, her palms into punches.
She hit and hit and hit.
But Rose did not appear.
Her sweet Rose who had smiled so sweetly when they had first met, taken her into her arms and welcomed her into her heart and eventually into her soul. Lynnette's home had been there, protected by her warmth and comforted by familiarity.
That home had been stripped from her. Torn away and left her shaking, the walls that made her crumble into dust.
Lynnette Woods had become undone.
She barely registered the arms wrapping around her body, caging her in. She barely registered the feral snarl that came from her mouth. And she barely registered the shaking body of the Doctor pressed into hers.
Then, she did.
Lynnette fell into the Doctor's arms.
Lynnette's hands were bleeding, the skin of her knuckles torn open, blood on the walls.
Lynnette didn't hear herself scream.
It a ragged, torn from her throat, raw and destroyed. It was choked as she wailed, drowning in the abyss of agony. A wounded animal could not compare to her shrieks as she sunk into her destruction, allowing it to tear her apart piece by piece.
Rose Tyler was the lifeline of Lynnette's soul and without her, Lynnette's soul died.
And all that was left was fire.
Windows shattered, the pungent scent of smoke hitting like a drug. The fire's from other buildings flickered high and higher, flames wailing and whining, so ready to consume Lynnette in their embrace, where she belonged.
All of the lights crackled, sparks flying, more fires igniting.
The Doctor swallowed, trying to yank Lynnette up, away from the fires that lurched toward them. But Lynnette would not move, tears burning her skin as she curled in on herself, tearing at her hair, clawing at her skin.
Suddenly everything was wrong, her body, her world, her existence, it was all so terribly wrong. She wanted to shed it, she wanted the right body, the right world, the right existence.
A yell shot from the Doctor's lips as the fire reached one of Lynnette's feet, ensnaring her. He went to stop it, only to stop dead in his tracks.
Lynnette wasn't burning.
The fire merely danced on her skin, having seared away the cloth that hid her from it, it pressed against her like an old friend, offering every comfort it could.
He stumbled back.
The fire waited no longer.
In a matter of moments, the fire had consumed Lynnette's body. It burned away the clothing that separated them, that linked her to the shred of humanity that remained after Rose. It singed the link without hesitation.
Licking at Lynnette's skin, it curled around her, a snarling dragon protecting its priceless treasure. The oranges whispered quiet words, the yellows wrapping right against her skin and the reds snapped at the Doctor the second he stepped too close.
Lynnette Woods was not just made out of fire.
She was fire.
And when was not contained it became uncontrollable.
A wretched cry shot through Lynnette's lips, eyes screwed shut so tight she could see stars. It was agony, whose than agony. It was indescribable. Like everything she was had been torn apart, leaving her boneless and bare.
The looking glass of her mind was completely shattered.
All fragments of Rose splintered beyond recognition, falling from her hands the more she tried to grasp them.
She would never hear Rose's voice. She would never feel Rose's warm embrace. She would never see Rose again.
And Lynnette wasn't sure she could live with that.
The fire whimpered in her ears, its familiar crackle crying with her as the flames wisped her and higher, growing bigger and bigger. Now Lynnette was untouchable, the flames too venomous to all who dared to get one step too close.
She screamed again.
She screamed until her throat was torn.
She screamed until she could no longer sense the world around her.
It was just Lynnette and the fire now.
- ~ -
The Doctor was frantic.
He couldn't reach Lynnette. Flames snarled every time he got too close, they were feral, murderously protective of the girl they encased so endearingly.
He yelled out for Lynnette again and again but she never responded, she was too far away. The only things recognisable to her were the fire and the pain, raw and hot. He wondered briefly if Lynnette finally knew what it was to burn, the agony of losing Rose searing at her soul.
The Doctor could do nothing to help. And he hated it.
"Oh, my God!" A woman screamed, Miranda.
The flames screeched in rage, snapping at her as her husband yanked her away.
"Don't just stand there! She's on fire!" She shouted to the Doctor who merely stared at her with blank eyes.
Richard huffed the heat from the flames almost unbearable, "Is it you? The one controlling these flames!"
The Doctor furrowed his brows then, "What?!"
With a glare, the man snapped at him, "Everything's burned except you."
The Doctor froze then.
He was right, the fire was all around him, searing everything a dark black, furniture crumbling and smoke consuming the air and yet the Doctor remained unharmed.
He coughed, clapping a hand over his mouth to keep from inhaling the suffocating smoke. The fire was an extension of Lynnette, a reflection of her emotions.
The Doctor took a breath and slowly lowered to the floor, in front of the fire flaring on Lynnette's skin, "It's alright. It's alright," It wisped slightly, "I don't want to hurt Lynnette, I'd never want to do that."
Flickering flames calmed ever so slightly as if hearing his words, awaiting his unspoken ones yet to come.
"I know you feel that Lynnette is safest like this but she can't stay here," The Doctor swallowed, "She needs to say goodbye to Rose."
At the mention of the girl, the fire seemed to whimper, snapping back, away from him. The Doctor nodded, almost ready to stretch his hand toward the flames, "I know it hurts but it'll hurt a lot more if she can never say goodbye. Lynnette needs to say goodbye."
The flames fell almost entirely, only remaining on the fringes just outside Lynnette's body, ready to consume and protect her again. A sigh of relief swept through the Doctor, "Thank you."
They almost seemed to nod, telling him to hurry up and take Lynnette far, far away from this god-awful place.
And that's what he'd do.
Carefully, the Doctor reached for Lynnette, ignoring how the heat of her body burned at his skin. He wrapped his coat around her bare body with utter care, horrified by how limp she seemed to be.
Almost like the glue that had made her had melted, leaving only a lump of existence in its wake. He clenched his jaw. Lynnette would be fine.
She'd hurt like hell for a bloody long time. She'd have an ache in her chest that never went away. She'd constantly be reminded of Rose and feel like her chest was trying to rip itself apart. But Lynnette would be fine.
Tenderly, he placed her into his arms, her body seeming to be weightless and impossible heavy at the same time. His soul cried out at the limpid tears that streaked down her face, shining and raw.
The fire parted for him, whispering quiet goodbyes to their heir.
Richard and Miranda stood waiting for him, eyes wide.
"We must--" Miranda gasped.
The Doctor glowered, "We mustn't do anything. I'm going to take her back to the Tardis and I'm going to keep her safe. A job you failed at doing a long time ago."
"How dare you--" Richard snapped, reaching forward.
"Don't touch her," Snarled the Doctor, "You're monsters and Lynnette managed to fight her way out of your den. I refuse to let her go back there ever again."
He didn't look back even once as he walked through the winding hallways of Torchwood, expression emotionless as he stepped over bodies freshly fallen. The fire had stretched all the way through the building to reach Lynnette it seemed.
The walk was timeless as the Doctor finally reached the Tardis, doors swinging open without hesitation. Inside, a soft, tentative air pressed against him, the Tardis murmuring soft, unneeded apologies.
She, after all, knew that this was always going to happen.
From the second Lynnette Woods and Rose stepped into her domain she knew they were going to be separated. Torn apart never to reconnect. Not truly.
The Doctor rested Lynnette on the worn chair she and Rose had spent so many days laughing on, collapsing into each other as they cackled, the Doctor watching with bright eyes. He sniffled, not allowing his tears to be shed quite yet.
Quietly he flickered the leavers, the silence of grief a familiar friend now. It smiled sadly at him, he had been in its presence far too much. The Doctor clenched his eyes closed, anger shooting through him.
How could he have been so terribly stupid?
It was never going to work.
But for a moment he had allowed himself to believe it could. He, Lynnette and Rose, the perfect family, lucky enough to be found within all of time of space. His family had been found and it had already been taken from him.
How foolish he had been.
From above, the fates watched, sated with the strings that had severed.
Don't misjudge them, though.
The fates are not cruel, nor malicious, they are merely the fates. Their very purpose is to keep the universe moving, an infinity of strings constantly created and constantly broken. They do not truly care about emotions yet understand them as necessary.
You can hardly blame them for trying to work with something they cannot truly comprehend.
The fates are only doing their job, there is no fault in that. Not even when the roles they set up are unfair.
The universe is a stage, and all life is a part of it. Some act out comedies, some act out romances and some act out tragedies.
It was the only way for creation to work, the only way for it to truly exist.
Not even the fates were immune to it.
- ~ -
When Lynnette's mind finally stopped blazing she was on the Tardis.
It was silent, too silent.
She couldn't hear the methodic thump of Rose's heart next to her, curled up in the same chair as her.
A cry wretched from her lips, broken.
Everything was so terribly wrong. Her clothes didn't fit right, far too long and far too much like the Doctor's. Her mind barely registered that it was only his coat she was wearing, her own clothing missing from her body.
She sucked in a harsh breath.
Then the Doctor was by her side.
"Lynnette..." He murmured, voice almost seeming to be an echo in the vast storm of grief she was consumed in, "I'm sorry..."
"Don't..." She rasped, bleary eyes snapping to his kind, familiar face, "Don't make it real. Please don't make it real."
His face crumbled, "Oh, Firefly...You know I can't do that to you."
"Why not? She's Rose. She's my Rosie. She can't be gone..." Croaked Lynnette, choked whimper falling from her chapped lips.
"Not gone," Whispered the Doctor, gentle eyes so unbearably soft, "Just away. She's still alive, Lynnette. Still completely alive. And you need to say goodbye."
"What? I can't say goodbye!" Lynnette hissed.
"Are you really going to risk not ever being able to say goodbye to her?" Spoke to the Doctor, staring at her.
And all the fight left Lynnette.
"How...?" She muttered.
The Doctor's hand came to rest on her burning check, "I'm burning up a massive amount of energy into a tiny crack that's about to close up. All we need to do is project ourselves and we'll be able to say goodbye."
Lynnette swallowed, "Okay."
Slowly, almost like a fawn, Lynnete unfolded her tightly curled body, bare feet not feeling the cold of the metal grates. Not the slightest part of her body felt cold, she noticed suddenly, all of her was burning hot.
The Doctor sighed, "Something happened..."
"What?" Lynnette furrowed her brows.
He hesitated, "...You caught on fire..."
Lynnette nearly choked but the knowledge settled deep in her bones, fond and friendly, "I...caught on fire?"
The Doctor nodded, "It's like nothing I've ever seen before, your clothes burnt away but your body...it was perfectly fine...It was amazing...Oh, and your eyes."
"My eyes?" Lynnette questioned.
He nodded, lifting a mirror he somehow had, "I think you'd better see for yourself..."
Lynnette gently grabbed the mirror and almost dropped it immediately.
Not because of fear and upset but because for the first time since she could remember she looked truly right.
No longer were her eyes that deep brown, they were that of fire. They blazed brilliantly, the amber in her eyes glittering like the stars. As she stared at herself, her eyes seemed to dance like flames, winking slyly at her, finally back to their rightful way.
Then, a ding echoed.
"It's time..." The Doctor whispered.
Lynnette swallowed, laid the mirror down and gripped the Doctor's hand in her own, heart thundering in her chest.
A few agonising seconds passed.
And Rose's body started to materialise. She seemed content, exhausted, eyes shimmering with tears as her hair flapped across her face, the distant sound of wind filling the room.
Lynnette's breath caught in her throat.
This would be the large time she saw Rose.
Her heart tried to shatter but it couldn't.
"Where are you?" Rose tentatively asked, "What happened to your eyes...?"
Lynnette's lips just barely quirked up, "A recent development..."
The Doctor gripped Lynnette's hand harder, "Inside the Tardis. There's one tiny little gap in the universe left, just about to close. And it takes a lot of power to send this projection - we're in orbit around a supernova. I'm burning up a sun so we can say goodbye."
Rose's lip quivered, "You look like ghosts."
"Hold on," The Doctor muttered, upping the projection level as much as he could.
The Tyler girl's hand shook as she stepped forward, reaching out with glittering eyes, "Can I...?"
"We're still just images," Whispered the Doctor softly, "No touch."
Her voice whimpered, "Can't you come through properly?"
Lynnette's heart somehow splintered, "Oh, Rose..."
"The thing would fracture. Two universes would collapse," The Doctor told her, his own hand shaking with Lynnette's own.
"So?" Croaked Rose.
A breath escaped Lynnette's mouth, "Where are we? How far off did the Doctor get us this time?"
Rose allowed a giggle to sound from her, "We're in Norway."
"Norway! Right," Whispered the Doctor, with a smile.
"About fifty miles out of Bergen. It's called Darlig Ulv Stranden," Hummed Rose.
The Doctor straightened, "Dalek?!"
Rose smiled, "Darlig. It's Norwegian for bad."
A laugh shot from Lynnette's mouth, "How ironic."
Her friend nodded with a shuddering breath, "This translates to Bad Wolf Bay."
The universe singing their last meeting off to quiet, familiar sleep.
Rose's eyes glossed with tears, "How long have we got?"
"About two minutes," The Doctor answered.
Lynnette almost wanted to rip out her heart, "How did we ever come to this..."
Rose shuddered, "I can't think of what to say!"
The Doctor huffed softly, "You've still got Mr Mickey, then."
Rose's eyes glittered, "There's five of us now - Mum, Dad, Mickey and the baby."
"Rose!" Lynnette gasped, eyes wide.
The girl laughed gently, "No! It's Mum. She's three months gone. More Tyler's on the way. Lucien or Lynnette Tyler."
A soft cry escaped from Lynnette, hand clamping on her mouth and a whimper shot through her. The baby was going to be named after her. Her heart squeezed at the thought.
"And what bout you, what are you...?" Trailed off the Doctor.
Rose smiled, "I'm back working in the shop."
"Good for you," He hummed.
"Shut up!" Both girls' hummed playfully, smiling at one another.
"Nah, I'm not," Spoke Rose, "The Torchwood on this planet's still open for business. I think I know a thing or two about aliens."
Lynnette did not miss her silent message.
Rose was going to find her other version.
"Rose Tyler. Defender of the Earth!" Mused the Doctor.
Rose's eyes flooded with tears, her face on the verge of crumbling.
"You're dead, officially, back home," The Doctor said, "So many people died that day and you're still missing. You're on the list of the dead."
Lynnette's lip quivered, voice shaking with tears, "And here you are, completely and utterly alive."
A cry wretched from Rose's tears, fat, boiling tears streaming down her face as she wailed, "Am I ever going to see you again?!"
Lynnette broke.
"You can't," Whisped the Doctor, fully supporting Lynnette's weight as she slumped against him, icy tears of her own falling.
"What are you gonna do?!" Whimpered Rose
"We have the Tardis and each other. The same old life," he murmured.
"You better stay together!" Rose demanded through her tears.
Lynnette's voice could barely be heard, "Always."
"I..." Rose's sobs grew louder, "I love you, Lynnie!"
Lynnette's soul got torn apart at that moment, "And I love you, Rosie."
And then Rose disappeared.
A cry tore from Lynnette's throat as she crumbled, the Doctor falling after her.
In the middle of the Tardis, they lay together, curled so tightly around one another one might be crushed. Hot tears fell against their skin as they cried for the lost third of their family.
Rose Tyler was gone.
And she had taken a piece of both of their hearts with her.
The Doctor then went rigid, "What!?"
A noise fled into the air and Lynnette snapped her head up, eyes bleary from tears but she could still see the new, unfamiliar figure standing in the middle of the Tardis, white dress flowing.
"What!?"
"Who are you!?"
"But...?!"
"Where am I!?"
"What!?"
"Where the hell is this place!?"
"What!?"
And as the universe sets of Rose Tyler, it welcomes the noblest woman in the universe.
Goodbye Rosie.
- ~ -
Raven's Notes:
I will not confirm or deny that I shed a few tears while writing this.
But I will confirm that the first book of Infinity is finished! It has been such a journey writing this book I honestly can't believe I've finished it. There's been so much support and comments that made me wheeze with laughter(I'm lookin' at you OtterlyCanadianand Drugsthenhugs) Thank you so much for being such a big notation for writing this story and I can't wait to see you in the next book Eternity! Which should hopefully be out by the end of this week or next Monday!
Thank you so much again to all my birdies (that's what I'm calling you now lmao).
UPDATE: ETERNITY IS OUT NOW!!!!
-Raven