"Exterminate!" the Daleks continued as they landed. "Exterminate! Exterminate!"
Jessie had had enough. "Daleks!" she called out, and they skidded to a halt, seeming surprised. She looked the black one, the leader, right in the . . . eyestalk. "You're called Daleks. I know your name. Think about it. How can I know that, hmm?" She tilted her head, stepping back and removing her lab coat. "A human who knows about the Daleks . . . and the Time War. If you want to know how, then keep us alive. That's all I'm asking. Me and my friends."
"Yeah," Saleen cut in. "Daleks. Time War. Me, too."
"Yeah," Rajesh added. "And me."
"You will be necessary," the black Dalek decided, spinning to face another. "Report. What is the status of the Genesis Ark?"
It was then that Jessie noticed the oddly-shaped container behind them. "Status, hibernation," another Dalek reported.
"Commence awakening." The black Dalek put its suction thing against the Ark. "The Genesis Ark must be protected above all else."
"I thought you said the Daleks were all dead," Saleen hissed to Jessie, not lowering her gun.
Jessie shook her head. "Never mind that. What in the name of the Nine Realms is a Genesis Ark?"
***
"What's down there?" Skye asked the Doctor later as he thought furiously. "She was in that room with the sphere. What's happened to Jessie?"
"I don't know," he admitted. Skye put a hand over her mouth and tears began to streak down her cheeks. He straightened and walked over to her. "I'll find her," he assured her. "I brought you here. I'll get you both out, you and Jessie. Skye, look at me." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Look at me." She finally did, her eyes red. "I promise you," he whispered. "I give you my word."
Skye swallowed and nodded as the Cyber Leader clomped up to Yvonne, who was sitting at her desk. "You will talk to your central world authority and order global surrender," it said.
Yvonne snorted. "Oh, do some research. We haven't got a central world authority!"
"You have now. I will speak on all global wavelengths." It raised a fist, and its eyes lit up. "This broadcast is for human kind."
The Doctor put on his 3D glasses, frowning and looking the Cyber Leader over. Sure enough, it was covered in all of that Void energy. He checked the others, seeing the same thing. "The Cybermen now occupy every land mass on this planet, but you need not fear," the Cyber Leader stated. "Cybermen will remove fear. Cybermen will remove sex and class and color and creed. You will become identical. You will become like us."
After a few minutes, there was screaming heard down in the streets. The Doctor looked out the window with Skye to see soldiers in the streets, engaged in a firefight between the Cybermen and soldiers, London burning around them. The Cyber Leader appeared confused. "I ordered surrender," it stated.
"They're not taking instructions," the Doctor said, turning to it. "Don't you understand? You're on every street! You're in their homes! You've got their children! Of course they're going to fight!"
***
"Which one of you is least important?"
Jessie turned to the black Dalek, the one who had spoken. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.
"Which of you is least important?" it repeated.
"No," Jessie said furiously. "We don't work like that. None of us!"
"Designate the least important!"
"This is my responsibility," Rajesh said, trying to get past Jessie.
"No!" Jessie whispered. "You don't!"
"I, er . . . I represent the Torchwood Institute," Rajesh said, ignoring Jessie and standing in front of the two women. "Anything you need, you come through me. Leave these two alone."
"You will kneel," the black Dalek said.
"What for?" Rajesh asked.
"Kneel." Rajesh finally did, and the black Dalek rolled up behind it. "The Daleks need information about current Earth history."
"Yeah, well, I can give you a certain amount of intelligence, but nothing that will compromise Homeland Security," Rajesh said.
"Speech is not necessary. We will extract brainwaves."
Jessie's eyes widened as three Dalek plungers enveloped Rajesh's head. He squirmed. "Don't! I - I'll tell you everything you need! No! No!"
Jessie had to turn away when Rajesh screamed as he died.
***
The Cyber Leader turned. "Scans detect unknown technology active within sphere chamber."
"Cybermen will investigate," another Cyberman said.
"Units ten six five and ten six six will investigate sphere chamber," the Cyber Leader ordered.
The two Cybermen stiffened. "We obey."
The Doctor watched them leave. "Now we'll find out what Jessie is with," he told Skye, who merely nodded, unable to speak.
***
Jessie looked back as the corpse of Rajesh fell onto the floor, and she held a hand over her mouth to avoid gagging. "His mind spoke of a second species invading Earth infected by the superstition of ghosts," the black Dalek stated.
"You didn't need to kill him!" Jessie protested.
"Neither did we need him alive," one of the other Daleks countered.
The black Dalek turned to another. "Dalek Thay, investigate outside."
The Dalek, called Thay, replied "I obey" and rolled out the door.
***
"Units, open visual link," the Cyber Leader ordered. The Doctor leaned forward when a camera link fizzled onto Yvonne's laptop. "Visual contact established."
And the Doctor's eyes widened, and he actually took a step back when he saw the Dalek roll into view. "Identify yourselves," it stated.
"You will identify first," one of the Cyberman countered.
"State your identity."
"You will identify first."
"Identify!"
"That answer is illogical. You will modify."
"Daleks do not take orders."
"You have identified as Daleks."
Skye turned to the Doctor, her eyes widening. "Jessie said about the Daleks," she whispered. "She was terrified of them. What have they done to her, Doctor? Is she dead?"
"Phone," he hissed back.
Skye blinked. "What?"
"Phone!"
She handed it to him quickly. "We followed in the wake of your sphere," the Cyberman continued.
***
"Outline resembles the inferior species known as Cybermen," the black Dalek stated.
"So that's where they are," Saleen muttered.
"Long range scans confirm the presence of crude cybernetic constructs on the worldwide scale."
Jessie felt a vibrating in her back pocket, and she pulled it out, looking down at the Caller ID: Skye. Swallowing, she held it down, but pressed the answer button.
***
The Doctor sighed in relief when Jessie answered. "She's answered," he told Skye, leaning down so both of them could hear. "She's alive. Why haven't they killed her yet?"
Skye glared at him. "Well, don't complain!"
"They must need her for something," the Doctor muttered.
"We must protect the Genesis Ark," a Dalek voice said from the other end.
The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "The Genesis Ark?"
One of the Cybermen from down below spoke. "Our species are similar, though your design is inelegant."
The Dalek down there spoke as well. "Daleks have no concept of elegance."
"This is obvious. But consider. Our technologies are compatible. Cybermen plus Daleks. Together, we could upgrade the universe."
The Doctor inhaled sharply. "You propose an alliance?"
Skye whimpered a little. "This is correct," the Cyberman agreed.
The Dalek was silent for a while, and for a horrible moment, the Doctor thought the Dalek was seriously going to say yes. Then -
"Request denied."
The Doctor closed his eyes in relief as the Cybermen raised their arms. "Hostile elements will be deleted."
"Exterminate!"
The Cybermen were promptly destroyed, and the Cyber Leader stomped over. "Open visual link!" it ordered.
***
Jessie looked up when a large Cyberman appeared on the viewscreen the Daleks had been using to witness the interaction between the Cybermen and their Dalek. "Daleks, be warned," the Cyberman stated. "You have declared war upon the Cybermen."
"That's it," Saleen whispered. "That's the Cyber Leader."
"This is not war," the black Dalek countered. "This is pest control!"
"We have five million Cybermen. How many are you?"
"Four."
"You would destroy the Cybermen with four Daleks?"
"We would destroy the Cybermen with one Dalek!"
"Is that true?" Saleen asked.
Jessie nodded numbly. "Yeah. They could."
"You are superior in only one respect," the Dalek continued.
"What is that?" the Cyber Leader asked.
"You are better at dying. Raise communications barrier!"
Jessie watched the screen fizzle out, but her eyes widened when she saw a glimpse of the Doctor behind the Cybermen. "Wait!" another Dalek called out. "Rewind image by nine rells." It did, and Jessie smiled when she saw the Doctor. "Identify grid seven gamma frame. This male registers as enemy."
The black Dalek turned to Jessie. "The female's heartbeat has increased."
Saleen smirked. "Tell me about it."
Jessie blushed as the Dalek continued. "Identify him."
"All righty, then," Jessie said, straightening. "If you really want to know . . . that's the Doctor." The Daleks all simultaneously scooted back. Jessie laughed. "Five million Cybermen? Easy. One Doctor? Now you're scared."
***
The Doctor winced, hearing the feedback on Skye's phone. "Lost her," he muttered, handing Skye her phone back. "Communications barrier."
"Quarantine the sphere chamber," the Cyber Leader ordered. "Start emergency upgrading. Begin with these personnel."
And Skye was promptly yanked away from the Doctor, and Yvonne was taken as well. "No! You can't do this!" Yvonne shouted. "We surrendered! We surrendered!"
Another Cyberman turned to the Doctor. "This one. His increased adrenaline suggests that he has vital Dalek information."
"Stop them!" Skye screamed as she was dragged away, herself not strong enough to entirely fight back. "I don't want to go!" She looked at the Doctor, fear and terror in her eyes. "You promised me! You gave me your word!"
"I demand you leave that woman alone!" the Doctor shouted at the Cybermen. "I won't help you if you hurt her!" They didn't listen, and the Doctor turned to Skye helplessly. "Skye, don't fight!" he told her, and he saw her look at him. "I'll think of something!"
***
"Cyber threat is irrelevant," the Dalek called Thay stated as he rolled back inside the sphere chamber. "Concentrate on the Genesis Ark."
"Why are we being kept alive?" Saleen asked as the Daleks gathered around the Ark.
"They might need me," Jessie muttered.
"What?" Saleen asked, surprised as she looked at the Ark. "What is it?"
***
Skye winced when she heard screams behind plastic curtains. "What happens in there?" she asked Yvonne hesitantly.
"I think they remove the brain," Yvonne replied, sounding sick. She cleared her throat. "Sorry." She repeated it. "I think they remove the brain, and they put it in a suit of armor. That's what these things are. They're us."
Skye felt like throwing up herself, but the Cyberman next to the plastic curtain clomped up. "Next," it stated.
Skye glared at Yvonne as she was taken. "This is your fault!" she accused. "You and your Torchwood. You've killed us all!"
"I did my duty for Queen and Country," Yvonne replied numbly. "I did my duty. I did my duty." She faced the plastic curtains, swallowing. "Oh, God," she whispered. "I did my duty."
Skye closed her eyes and turned away when she heard Yvonne's dying screams.
***
"You are proof."
The Doctor turned to the Cyber Leader, folding his arms. "Of what?" he asked.
"That emotions destroy you."
"Yeah, I am," the Doctor agreed, then his eyes widened slightly when he noticed something. No way . . . "Mind you," he said slowly, daring to believe it was possible. "I quite like hope. Hope's a good emotion. And here it comes."
Black-clad people materialized around them, and the Cybermen were promptly destroyed. The Cyber Leader tried to attack, but the obvious leader of the commandos shot him, and its head exploded. The leader of the group turned to the Doctor and took his helmet off, and the Doctor's jaw dropped. "Doctor?" the man asked with a grin. "Good to see you again."
"Jake?" the Doctor asked in surprise.
Jake smiled smugly. "The Cybermen came through from one world to another, and so did we."
***
Skye was screaming for the Cybermen to stop when they suddenly did. One of the Cybermen turned. "Cyber Leader One has been terminated."
The other Cyberman turned. "Explain. Download shared files."
Skye began to back away slowly, making sure the Cybermen didn't see her. The first Cyberman spoke again. "I will be upgraded to Cyber Leader."
And with that, Skye took off running towards the stairs.
***
"Defend this room," Jake ordered the commandos as the Doctor looked around with his 3D glasses. "Chrissie, monitor communications. Kill one Cyber Leader, and they just download into another. Move!"
"You can't just . . . just . . . just hop from one world to another!" the Doctor said, still trying to understand everything as he turned to Jake. "You can't!"
"We just did. With these." Jake held up a yellow button on a chain around his neck, and he pulled out another one and tossed it to the Doctor.
The Doctor caught it, and he looked at it in disbelief. "But that's impossible," he breathed. "You can't have this sort of technology!"
"We've got our own version of Torchwood. They developed it." Jake raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to come and see?"
"No!"
Jake pressed his button, and the Doctor felt a tug in his gut. When he looked around again, they were in a wrecked room . . . an exact replica of the lever room except for how it looked. "Parallel Earth, parallel Torchwood," Jake explained, swinging his gun under his arm. "Except we found out what the Institute was doing, and the People's Republic took control."
"I've got to get back," the Doctor told Jake hurriedly, looking around. "Jessie is in danger, and so's her teammate!"
"That'd be Skye." The Doctor froze at the voice and turned as from the doorway, the parallel Grant Ward and a few agents in recognizable SHIELD gear came in. "My wife in a parallel universe." Grant pointed at the Doctor. "And as for you, Doctor . . . at least this time I know who you are."
"Right, yes," the Doctor said sarcastically. "Fine. Hooray! But I've got to get back, right now."
"No," Grant replied simply, folding his arms and joining the two of them. "You're not in charge here. This is our world. Not yours. And you're going to listen for once."
Oh, boy.
***
"I could transport out of here," Saleen said, pulling out a yellow button on a chain from her pocket, "but it only carries one, and I"m not leaving you."
"You'd follow me anywhere," Jessie said with a snicker. "What did I do to you all those years ago?"
Saleen smirked. "Guess I'm just stupid."
"You're the bravest person I've ever met."
Saleen raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What about the Doctor?"
Jessie rolled her eyes. "Fine. Bravest mutant."
Saleen swung her gun under her arm, looking over the Daleks. "Well, I can't think what the Daleks need with me," she said. "I'm nothing to them."
"You could be. Whatever's inside that Ark is waking up, and I've seen this happen before." She remembered when the Dalek in Utah, and she swallowed. "The first time I saw a Dalek, it was broken. It was dying. But I touched it. The moment I did that, I brought it back to life. As the Doctor said, when you travel in time in the TARDIS, you soak up all this background radiation. It's harmless. It's just there. But in the Time War, the Daleks evolved so they could use it as a power supply."
"You know, it's weird to hear you talk technical when I'm used to it being Bruce and Stark," Saleen commented.
Jessie punched her lightly in the arm. "Shut up." Saleen rolled her eyes. "Seriously, though, if the Daleks have got something inside that thing, and it needs waing up - "
"They need you."
"You've traveled in time," Jessie pointed out. "Either one of us would do."
"But why would they build something they can't open themselves?"
"The technology is stolen." Jessie turned, seeing the black Dalek looking at them. "The Ark is not of Dalek design."
"Then who built it?" Jessie asked.
"The Time Lords. This is all that survives of their home world."
Jessie swallowed. The Time Lords? Then the Daleks must've come somewhere close to the Time War. "What's inside?" she asked.
"The future."
***
"When you left this world, you warned us there'd be more Cybermen," Grant explained to the Doctor. "So we sealed them inside the factories."
"Except people argued," Jake continued. "Said they were living. We should help them."
"And the debate went on. But all that time, the Cybermen made plans." Grant held out his arms. "Infiltrated this version of Torchwood, mapped themselves onto your world, and then vanished."
"When was this?" the Doctor asked.
"Three years ago."
The Doctor shook his head. "It's taken them three years to cross the Void, but we can pop to and fro in a second. Must be the sheer mass of five million Cybermen crossing all at once."
"Yeah," Grant said with a snort. "Saleen said you'd rattle off that sort of stuff."
"Oh?" The Doctor looked around, looking for the ginger mutant. "Where is the Icicle girl?"
"She went ahead first." Grant sniffed. "Any chance to go and find Miss Jessie Nightshade."
"She's your partner," the Doctor said, turning to him and folding his arms as he leaned against the wall. "You do know that? Did Saleen explain?"
"She's not mine," Grant replied, walking over to a window. "She's the partner of a dead man." He nodded at the window. "Look at it." The Doctor joined him, and Jake stood behind them. The Doctor looked down at the parallel London, looking around. "A world of peace. They're calling this the Golden Age."
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. He'd heard that before. "Who's the President now?"
"A woman called Harriet Jones."
Of course. The Doctor huffed. "I'd keep an eye on her."
"But it's a lie." Grant leaned on his arm, looking at him. "Temperatures have risen by two degrees in the past six months. The ice caps are melting. They're saying all this is going to be flooded. That's not just global warming, is it?"
He couldn't lie. "No."
"It's the breach."
The Doctor groaned. Humans. "I've been trying to tell you, travel between parallel worlds is impossible! Then the Daleks break down the walls with a sphere - "
Grant looked at him in confusion. "Daleks?"
The Doctor ignored him. "Then the Cybermen traveled across, then you lot. Those discs," he said, pointing to the said object in Jake's hand. "Every time you jump from one reality to another, you rip a hole in the universe. This planet is starting to boil Keep going and both worlds will fall into the Void."
"But you can stop it?" Grant asked. "The famous Doctor. You can seal the breach?"
"Leaving five million Cybermen stranded on my Earth."
"That's your problem," Grant quipped, and even Jake looked a little startled at that. "I'm protecting this world, and this world only."
The Doctor frowned. "Hmm." He shook his head. "Grant Ward. I liked you better when you were dead." Grant blinked in surprise as the Doctor looked at him. "Now here you are, fighting the fight alone. There is a chance, back on my world." He looked him in the eye. "Skye might still be alive."
Grant faltered at that. "My wife died."
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Her partner died before she even got a chance to truly know him. Good match."
Grant took a shaky breath. "There's more important things at stake, Doctor. Help us."
The Doctor folded his arms. "What? Close the breach? Stop the Cybermen? Defeat the Daleks? Do you believe I can do that?"
Grant answered with no sign of hesitation. "Yes."
The Doctor grinned. "Maybe that's all I need. Off we go, then!"
***
He couldn't even begin to voice how happy he was to be back in the normal Torchwood, Grant and Jake with him. "First of all, I need to make a phone call." He raised an eyebrow. "You don't mind?"
Jake pointed at two commandos. "You two, guard the door."
The Doctor ran into Yvonne's office and punched in a number he knew from when Jessie made calls. Skye answered on the first ring. "Oh my God, help me!" she shrieked.
Correction. Now he was really happy. "Skye, you're alive!" he breathed in relief. "Listen - "
"They tried to download me, but I ran away!"
"Shush!" the Doctor ordered, seeing the look on Grant's face, and the small smile on Jake's. "Listen. Tell me, where are you?"
"I don't know! Does a staircase help much?"
"Which one?" the Doctor asked, and he couldn't help but smile a little at how snarky she was being. "Is there any sort of sign? Anything to identify it?"
"Yeah! A fire extinguisher!" she yelled.
The Doctor jerked the phone back, looking at it in surprise. "Yeah, that helps - "
"Wait a minute! Sign . . . it says N3!"
The Doctor nodded. "North corner, staircase three. Just keep low, Skye, we're trying our best." He hung up, putting the phone down, and he looked at Grant, raising an eyebrow. "Skye, unknown origins and last name."
Grant shook his head, but he still looked a little dazed. "She's not my wife," he insisted.
"No, she's not," the Doctor granted. "She never married in this world, and from what I've heard, never had an interest in dating after you died." He turned to Jake, holding out his hand for the gun. "Now, then, Jakey boy, if I can open up the bonding chamber on this thing, it'll work on polycarbite."
"What's polycarbite?" Jake asked, handing the gun over.
The Doctor used the sonic screwdriver. "Skin of a Dalek."
***
The Daleks turned from the Ark, turning to Jessie and Saleen. "Final stage of awakening," one of the Daleks said.
"Your handprint will open the Ark," the black Dalek told Jessie.
Jessie snorted. "Yeah, well, tough, because I'm not doing it."
"Obey." The Daleks turned to Saleen, who stiffened. "Or your female friend will die."
Jessie swallowed, looking at Saleen. "I can't let them," she said softly.
"Jessie, don't!" Saleen hissed, but Jessie stepped forward anyway.
"Place your hand upon the casket," the black Dalek ordered.
"All right!" Jessie said angrily, walking forward. "You're going to kill us anyway, so what the hell?" She stopped, inspiration hitting her, and a cause to delay. "If you escaped the Time War, don't you want to know what happened?"
"Place your hand - "
"What happened to the Emperor?"
The black Dalek turned to her. "The Emperor survived?" it asked in what seemed like surprise.
Jessie smirked. "Till he met me!" she crowed. "Because if these are going to be my last words, then you're going to listen. I met the Emperor, and I took the Time Vortex and I poured it into his head, and turned him into dust." She smirked. "Do you get that? The God of all Daleks, and I destroyed him. Ha!"
The Daleks turned to her, all of them angry. "You will be exterminated!"
"Oh, now, hold on!" Jessie closed her eyes in relief when she heard that familiar voice, and the Doctor walked in, wearing those 3D glasses of his. "Wait a minute!"
"Alert! Alert!" the black Dalek screeched. "You are the Doctor!"
"Sensors report he is unarmed," another Dalek reported.
"That's me," the Doctor confirmed, walking up. "Always."
"Then you are powerless," the black Dalek stated.
"Not me," the Doctor said. "Never." He turned to Jessie in concern. "How are you?"
"Oh, same old," she said, smiling and giving him a hug. "You know."
"Good." He turned to Saleen, grinning. "And Sally Sal Saleen! Nice to see you!"
Saleen smirked, returning the fist bump he offered. "You, too, boss."
"Social interaction will cease!"
The Doctor turned to the Daleks in annoyance as the black one spoke again. "How did you survive the Time War?"
"By fighting on the front line," the Doctor replied matter-of-factly. "I was there at the fall of Arcadia. Some day I might even come to terms with that. But you lot ran away!"
"We had to survive."
"The last four Daleks in existence." He turned on his heel, looking them all over. "So what's so special about you?"
"Doctor, they've got names," she whispered in his ear. "Daleks don't have names, do they? One of them said they - "
"I am Dalek Thay."
"Dalek Sec," the black one said.
"Dalek Jast."
"Dalek Caan."
The Doctor grinned. "So that's it! At last. The Cult of Skaro. I thought you were just a legend."
"Who are they?" Jessie asked.
"A secret order above and beyond the Emperor himself," the Doctor explained. "Their job was to imagine, think as the enemy thinks. Even dared to have names. All to find new ways of killing."
"But that thing," Saleen said, nodding at the Ark. "They said it was yours. I mean, Time Lords. They built it. What does it do?"
"I don't know." Jessie blinked as the Doctor said it. "Never seen it before."
"But it's Time Lord!" Jessie insisted.
"Both sides had secrets," the Doctor said, turning to Dalek Sec. "What is it? What have you done?"
"Time Lord science will restore Dalek supremacy."
"What do you mean? What sort of Time Lord science? What do you mean?"
"They said one touch from a time traveler will wake it up," Jessie supplied.
"Technology using the one thing a Dalek can't do," the Doctor sniffed, leaning in close towards Dalek Sec's eyestalk. "Touch. Sealed inside your casing. Not feeling anything, ever, from birth to death, locked inside a cold metal cage. Completely alone." He shook his head. "That explains your voice. No wonder you scream."
"The Doctor will open the Ark!"
The Doctor scoffed, stepping away. "The Doctor will not!" he mocked.
"You have no way of resisting."
The Doctor tilted his head. "Well, you got me there. Although . . . " He held up his sonic screwdriver, raising an eyebrow. "There is always this."
"A sonic probe?" Dalek Sec asked.
The Doctor looked offended. "That's screwdriver."
"It is harmless."
"Oh, yes," the Doctor agreed, looking at it fondly. "Harmless is just the word. That's why I like it. Doesn't kill, doesn't wound, doesn't maim, but I'll tell you what it does do." He grinned. "It is very good at opening doors."
He pressed the button, and the doors to the laboratory blew in. Jake came in through the smoke with the Cybermen, all of their guns blazing. "Delete!" the Cybermen chorused. "Delete! Delete!"
"Alert!" the Daleks shouted. "Casing impaired! Casing impaired!"
"Jessie, get out!" the Doctor shouted.
Jessie began maneuvering her way through the crossfire when she tripped over wires. She fell towards the ground when hands caught her. She looked up, and her eyes widened when she met Grant's gaze. "Come on," he told her, helping her stand up.
"Saleen, come on!" Jessie shouted to her best friend, who was working on getting her way through as well.
"Adapt to weaponry!" one of the Daleks shouted.
And Sec responded. "Fire power restored!"
Jessie ran with Grant towards the doors, and she heard a sizzle, and Saleen's sharp yelp of pain. Her eyes widened when she saw Saleen jerk her hand from off of the Ark, and she and Jake ran to join them.
The Doctor sealed the door behind them. "Jake, check the stairwell," he ordered. "The rest of you, come on!"
"I just fell!" Saleen said as they ran. "I didn't mean it!"
"Saleen, without us, they'd have opened it by force," the Doctor said. "To do that, they'd have blown up the sun. You've done us a favor." He grabbed her and kissed the top of her head, and Jessie smirked. "Now run!"
***
They kept running, securing guns for Jessie and Grant, when they heard Cybermen up ahead. "You will be upgraded."
"No!" a familiar voice screamed out, and Jessie wasn't the only one who stiffened. "You can't! Please!"
Grant grabbed the huge gun from Saleen and promptly fired at the two Cybermen standing in front of them. Jessie's eyebrows shot up when she saw that both of them were destroyed in one go . . . revealing a crouched Skye behind them. Skye blinked in astonishment, and then her jaw dropped. "Grant?"
Grant gave a small smile. "Hello, Skye."
Jessie brought her hands up to her mouth, and Saleen and the Doctor shared knowing looks.
"I know they were ghosts, but that's not fair," Skye said, standing up straight. "Why him?"
Grant shook his head. "I'm not a ghost."
"But you're dead!" Skye protested, as if trying to believe it herself. "You died months ago!"
"It's Grant from a different universe," the Doctor tried to explain. "There are parallel worlds, Skye. Every single decision we make creates a parallel existence, a parallel dimension where - "
Skye sent him a dirty look. "Oh, you can shut up."
And for once in his life, at least in the time Jessie had known him, the Doctor nodded and stepped back, leaving the two of them to talk it out. Skye tilted her head, looking at Grant and looking like she was trying hard not to launch at him. "How can you be standing there?" she finally asked.
"I just got lucky," Grant replied with a small shrug. "Lived my life mostly undercover for SHIELD for Cybus." He looked at her. "You were left on your own. You didn't see anyone else, or . . . "
Skye smiled weakly and shook her head. "Never anyone else besides my stubborn S.O. It was months, though." She snorted, looking herself over. "Look at me, though. Finally got out of my van, got into SHIELD, and currently do anything techy. Not much."
"You helped bring her up to speed," Grant said, tilting his head a little, indicating Jessie. "Jessie Nightshade. That's not bad."
"Yeah."
Grant cleared his throat. "In my world, everything came clean. HYDRA was gotten rid of before they could do anything. Worked through Cybus, got my way up pretty high. Made me rich."
"I don't care about that." Skye tilted her head though, then asked a little hesitantly, "How rich?"
Grant smirked. "Very."
"I don't care about that." Followed by her asking again, "How very?"
Jessie couldn't help but smile into her hands, and Saleen squeezed her shoulder as Grant swallowed. "Thing is, though, Skye, you're not the same. I'm sorry, but you're not . . . " Skye bit her lip, obviously trying not to move forward, and from Grant's stance, it was the same for him. "I mean, we both . . . you know, it's just sort of . . . " He promptly gave up with a shuddering sigh. "Oh, come here."
She ran forward immediately, right into him, and both of them hugged fiercely, and Jessie gave them a huge grin. At least something's gone right today.
And then the Cyber Leader's voice resonated throughout the tower. "Emergency. All units will converge on the Torchwood Tower. Repeat. All Cybermen to Torchwood."
"And that would be my cue," the Doctor stated before running off. "Allons-y!"
***
Jessie watched as the Doctor looked inside of the warehouse, and she sucked in a breath when she saw the Daleks completely invincible as they shot their way through the Cybermen. The Doctor sneaked inside and grabbed two magnaclamps before dodging fire to get back. "Come on," Jessie hissed. "Please."
The Doctor made it inside, then looked back out, his 3D glasses on. He made a noise, then took them off and looked up. "Elevate," Dalek Sec announced, and it began to rise up as the roof opened up.
"What're they doing?" Jessie asked. "Why do they need to get outside?"
"Time Lord science," the Doctor muttered as the group headed back through the hallways. "What Time Lord science? What is it?" He made a decision and began to run. "We've got to see what it's doing. We've got to go back up." Jessie winced as they kept running. "Come on! All of you, top floor!"
"That's forty five floors up!" Skye protested, taking the gun Grant had offered her. "Believe me, I've done them all!"
There was a ding from behind them, and Jessie stopped, turning as Jake poked his head out. "We could always take the lift!" he suggested with a smirk.
***
Jessie followed the Doctor out of the lift and to a window, and Jessie's eyes widened when she saw the Genesis Ark open . . . and shooting Daleks everywhere as it spun. "Oh my God," she gasped.
The Doctor swallowed audibly. "Time Lord science," he said numbly. "It's bigger on the inside."
"Did the Time Lords put those Daleks in there?" Saleen asked. "What for?"
"It's a prison ship."
Jessie looked at him in horror. "How many Daleks?" she asked, not sure if she wanted to know.
"Millions."
Grant shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I've had it," he said, stepping out into the lever room. "This world's going to crash and burn. There's nothing we can do. We're going home." The commandos gathered around, and Saleen slipped on her button, Jake next to her. Grant turned to Skye, handing her a button as well. "Skye, take this. You're coming with us."
Jessie swallowed as Skye looked at him incredulously. "But they're destroying the city!"
Grant smiled grimly. "I'd forgotten you could argue. It's not just London. It's the whole world. But there's another world just waiting for you, Skye, and it's safe as long as the Doctor closes the breach." He looked over Jessie's shoulder, and his eyes narrowed in confusion. "Doctor?"
The Doctor turned, and Jessie snorted when he was revealed to have the 3D glasses on again. "Oh, I'm ready," he said with a grin. "I've got the equipment right here. Thank you, Torchwood!" He began working at one of the computers. "Slam it down, and close off both universes."
"Reboot systems," a female voice said smoothly.
"But we can't just leave!" Jessie protested. "What about the Daleks, and the Cybermen?"
"They're part of the problem, and that makes them part of the solution," he said with a grin. "Oh, yes!" He then realized no one was looking at him impressed, and he pouted. "Well? Isn't anyone going to ask what is it with the glasses?"
Jessie smirked at him. "What is it with the glasses?"
"I can see, that's what!" he replied gleefully, and Jake looked at him in confusion. "Because 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 traveled through the Void to get here. And you lot, one world to another, via the Void." He got off topic a little. "Oh, I like that. Via the Void." He took the glasses off and handed them to Jessie. "Look. I've been through it. Do you see?" He moved around a little, and Jessie's eyes widened when she saw the speckles around his form.
"Reboot in three minutes."
"What is it?" she asked.
"Void stuff!" the Doctor replied with a grin.
"So it's like, er . . . " She snapped her fingers. "Background radiation!"
"That's it!" the Doctor agreed. "Look at the others." She did, looking. The only one not covered with the things was Skye. "And the only one who hasn't been through the Void, Skye. First time she's looked normal all in her life."
"Hey!" Skye shouted.
"But the Daleks lived inside the Void," the Doctor said, ignoring Skye. "They're bristling with it. Cybermen, all of them. I just open the Void and reverse. The Void stuff gets sucked back inside."
"Pulling them all in?" Jessie asked, grinning.
The Doctor nodded. "Pulling them all in!"
Saleen raised a hand. "Sorry, but what's the Void?"
"The dead space," the Doctor replied. "Some people call it Hell."
"So you're ending the Daleks and the Cybermen to Hell." Saleen smirked at Jake. "Man. I told you he was good."
"Wait," Jessie said, her mind catching up. "It's like you said, we've all got Void stuff. Me, too, because we went to that parallel world. We're all contaminated. We'll get pulled in!"
The Doctor nodded slowly. "That's why you've got to go."
Jessie's eyes widened when she realized what he was saying. "What?" she whispered in disbelief.
"Reboot in two minutes."
"Back to Grant's world," the Doctor confirmed, then looked over at him. "Hey, we should call it that! Grant's World." He looked back at Jessie, apology in his eyes. "I'm opening the Void, but only on this side. You'll be safe on that side."
"And then you close it?" Grant asked, just to make sure. "For good?"
The Doctor nodded. "The breach itself is soaked in Void stuff. In the end, it'll close itself. And that's it. Kaput."
"But you stay on this side?" Jessie asked, bristling.
"But you'll get pulled in!" Saleen protested.
"That's why I got these!" The Doctor held up the magnaclamps. "I'll just have to hold on tight. I've been doing it all my life."
She stared at him. "I'm supposed to go."
The Doctor nodded. "Yeah."
Jessie blinked. "To another world, and then it gets sealed off," she said slowly.
He nodded again. "Yeah."
"Forever." He turned away, fiddling at a computer terminal. Jessie stared at his back, then laughed, shaking her head. "That's not gonna happen."
"We haven't got time to argue," Grant said. "The plan works. We're going. You, too. All of us."
"No!" Jessie said firmly, turning to them. "I'm not leaving here."
"And I'm not going without her," Skye stated.
Grant rolled his eyes "Oh my God. We're going!"
"I've had months without you, so shut it," Skye snapped at him. "I'm not leaving her!"
"You've got to," Jessie said.
Skye sniffed. "Well, that's tough."
Jessie closed her eyes. "Skye."
"Reboot in one minute."
She ignored the computer. "I've had a life with you for years, but then I met the Doctor and all the things I've seen him do for me, for you, for all of us. For the whole stupid planet, and every planet out there." She shook her head. "He does it alone, Skye. But not anymore, because now he's got me."
She felt something go around her neck, cool and metal, and she looked down in time to see one of those yellow buttons. Cold horror filled her, and she turned around to look at the Doctor, who was staring at her sadly. "What're you - "
She felt a tug in her gut, and the next time she looked around, they were in a different Torchwood, but still the same Torchwood. "Oh, no you don't," she spat. "He is not doing that to me again!" She slapped her button again, feeling the tug again. "I think this is the on switch . . . "
She knew it was when the Doctor stormed up to her, looking at her in shock. "Once the breach collapses, that's it," he told her, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. "You will never be able to see her again. Your best friends!"
"I made my choice a long time ago," she spat back, "and I'm never going to leave you." The Doctor stared at her in shock some more, his hands going limp. She took a deep breath. "So, what can I do to help?"
"Systems rebooted," the computer announced. "Open access."
The Doctor let her go, nodding to the terminal. "Those coordinates over there. Set them all at six." She nodded, running over, and she winced when he snapped at her. "And hurry up!"
She began working, and she smiled when she heard the computer again. "Levers operational."
Jessie smiled at the Doctor when he grinned as well. "That's more like it," she encouraged. "Bit of a smile! The old team!"
"Hope and Glory!" the Doctor crowed, picking up the magnaclamps. "Mutt and Jeff! Shiver and Shake!"
Jessie raised an eyebrow. "Which one's Shiver?" she asked.
He gave her a cocky grin. "Oh, I'm Shake." He handed her a magnaclamp, and she ran over to the lever on the right side of the wall. "Press the red button," he told her, and she fastened the magnaclamp onto the wall.
She moved to her lever, and the Doctor did the same. "When it starts, just hold on tight," he told her. "Shouldn't be too bad for us, but the Daleks and the Cybermen are steeped in Void stuff. Are you ready?"
She nodded, then saw something moving outside of the windows. She swallowed. "So are they."
The Doctor looked and saw the Daleks moving towards them. "Let's do it!"
Jessie pushed her lever up to the on position, then ran for her magnaclamp as the computer announced "Online."
She grabbed her magnaclamp as bright light filled the room from the Void, and she clung on when a sharp wind tried to tug her away. She winced against the bright light, but she grinned when Cybermen and Daleks began flying past. "The breach is open!" the Doctor cried gleefully. "Into the Void! Ha!"
Jessie grinned at him, but there was an explosion of sparks nearby. She covered her eyes again, and then the computer made another announcement, one that made her heart almost stop.
"Offline."
***
"Jack?"
Captain Jack Harkness looked up from his files when Gwen Cooper approached. "Yeah?" he asked.
Gwen swallowed, looking next to her as Ianto Jones joined her. "Um . . . that battle a few days ago," she said. "The battle of Canary Wharf?"
Jack put his files down and straightened. Oh, yes, he knew about Canary Wharf. And it was something the Doctor had to be involved with. "What about it?"
***
Jessie swallowed, closing her eyes. She let one hand off of her magnaclamp and reached for the lever, but she couldn't reach it. She swallowed again, then let go of her clamp entirely. She flew towards the Void, but somehow, she managed to grab onto the lever. She adjusted her grip, even as she was pulled towards the Void.
"Jessie!" she heard the Doctor shout in worry.
She shook her head, gritting her teeth and pushing. "I've got to get it upright!" she called back.
She put all of her Asgardian strength into it, and she thought she heard a faint singing in her mind as she felt the lever begin to move. And finally, she managed to set it right.
"Online and locked."
***
"What about it?" Jack repeated when he got no words out of either Gwen or Ianto.
Ianto cleared his throat, looking at the files he held in his hand. "Well," he said slowly. "The casualty lists came through. Gwen and I were looking through them."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "And?"
Ianto looked very uncomfortable, and he spared one look at what he held before handing them to Jack. "Take a look."
***
Jessie felt the suction get stronger, and she gritted her teeth some more, pouring all of her strength into hanging onto the lever. She put her powers to her use, but even still, her strength was weakening. "Jessie!" the Doctor shouted to her, sounding panicked. "Hold on! Hold on!"
"I'm trying!" she shouted back, faintly.
***
Jack still wasn't entirely sure what he was looking for as he flipped through the pages, but there were a lot of names. But then he saw one that caught his eye.
Skye.
He froze, his eyes darting up to Ianto and Gwen, both of them looking at him sadly. "Keep going," Gwen whispered.
***
The last of the Daleks flew past her, but one of them banged into the wall next to her. Startled, she let her concentration slip.
And she lost her grip on the lever.
***
There were still a few more pages as Jack sincerely hoped that he wouldn't find another name he recognized. But by the looks Ianto was giving him and Gwen closing her eyes and looking away, he knew he would.
In fact, the next name he saw scared him even more.
Saleen Harper.
He swallowed, looking up at the two of them. "Tell me that's the last one," he pleaded.
And Gwen started to cry. "One more."
***
She screamed in shock as the suction pulled her in, but she could feel it weaken, but she couldn't get a grip on her powers again.
The suction stopped, but she was going too fast. She knew it. Her concentration had broken, a flaw that many had tried to correct out of her.
The last thing Jessie thought before she slammed into something and heard a sickening crack she knew was her, was that it really had been the death of her.
***
Grant looked down at the button in his hand, and he closed his eyes, putting it away. "It's stopped working," he said, turning to Saleen and Skye, both of them sitting down, Skye with tears streaking down her cheeks. "He did it. He closed the breach."
Skye wiped at her face, and even Jake swallowed as they looked at the wall where the breach was on the other side of the universe.
***
Jack found the name, and his eyes widened in shock, and he looked up at Gwen and Ianto in shock. "No," he whispered.
Gwen shook her head, sniffing. "I couldn't believe it, either."
Ianto swallowed. "I'm sorry," he offered weakly, and he had tears in his eyes, too.
Jack looked back down at the files in his hands, and he closed his eyes, making a decision. "We're flying to D.C. tomorrow," he said slowly, standing up. "The Triskelion."
Gwen nodded and left, still sniffing. Ianto squeezed Jack's arm sympathetically before following her.
Jack closed his eyes, still not believing the name that jumped out at him. She should've survived. Out of all of them, he didn't expect her.
Then again, with the Doctor, he supposed everything was to be expected.
He took one last look at the file, and the tears finally started to fall.
One of them dripped down, blurring the name, but he could still read it.
Jessie Nightshade.
**
I'm going to go dodge bullets right now, because I have a feeling a good bunch of you want to kill me now.
Yes, I killed Jessie. Well, I did say she wasn't going to be Rose! And the Torchwood team sort of makes an appearance here, too, and Jack's heading out to D.C. himself. SHIELD is going to be pissed . . .
Interlude's coming up in a moment!