Fic: The Oncoming Storm (Slash, AU, Janto 40/40 Act 10/11)
Author: d8rkmessngr
Pairing: Jack/OMC, Jack/?, Jack/Ianto eventually, het and slash
Rating: NC-17
Summary: He left Jack on the game station. Abandoned. But then…he came back…different. An AU look on what happens if things happened differently. Doctor Who 'verse with Torchwood later on.
Warnings: Please read each chapter's individual warnings. Some parts down the road may briefly mention non-con, abuse, and/or violence. Dark in the beginning. Please note there are some dark thoughts as my boys are broken…for now. Each chapter will be labeled for your convenience.
Author's Notes: Note that "the Year That Never Was" was suggested that it wasn't fun. I took it as a challenge to somehow still find a way to instill comfort in it. If it didn't work, I'm sorry. I suck. LOL.
Disclaimer: RTD and BBC owns them. I'm just borrowing them for a while.
Warning For This Chapter: strong language, dark, angsty, VIOLENCE, torture (mostly implied, all a matter of reader interpretation), sappy maudlin
Notes For This Chapter: Note there are events/dialogue here that was referenced in DW's "Last of the Time Lords"
Prologue + Ch , Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6, Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10, Ch 11, Ch 12, Ch 13, Ch 14, Ch 15, Ch 16, Ch 17, Ch 18, Ch 19, Ch 20, Ch 21, Ch 22, Ch 23, Ch 24, Ch 25, Ch 26, Ch 27, Ch 28, Ch 29, Ch 30, Ch 31, Ch 32, Ch 33, Ch 34, Ch 35, Ch 36 Ch 37, Ch 38, Ch 39, Ch 40 1/11, Ch 40 2/11, Ch 40 3/11, Ch 40 4/11, Ch 40 5/11, Ch 40 6/11, Ch 40 7/11, Ch 40 8/11, Ch 40 9/11
Master Fic List: here
Chapter 40 "The Last of the Time Lords"
Act X: "You know what I'm going to say."
Please, don't miss.
It was Martha's only thought as she grabbed the gun out of the case. The colored vials were thankfully still intact. Her hands shook when she slotted them into the gun in the correct order. The vials bubbled and frothed as soon as they were inserted, the hiss being made when the chemicals began to mix in the chamber made her heart pound. She had practiced this move countless times. At night, in the dark, even when it was too cold to move, until her hands could snatch and twist in smooth motions on cue.
So when the golden light shot across the sky and the Doctor in the cage winked at her, Martha's hands were already in motion before she could even think of the command.
Chairs slammed into her as the ship tilted, rocked by the aerial bombardment that sizzled past the Valiant. It reminded her of the fireworks she saw one New Year’s Eve. They had flown up in an endless stream of color and sound that was both frightening and beautiful against the London Eye. Martha gritted her teeth as she landed hard on the floor, her hands scrambling for the case's contents.
"…forty percent of the rockets' signal…can't activate…"
"…from Cardiff…aiming for satellite five!"
Martha wasn't sure what was going on, but she knew Torchwood must have a hand in it and the thought they might still be alive despite Saxon's depravity charged her anew. She ignored the shouting around her, ignored the guards and the people struggling to stay up on their feet. She ignored how all the lights went dark on the bridge. She ignored the pain of crashing into furniture or them into her. She just grabbed the gun out of the attaché, snapped in the chemicals in the dark with the practiced ease borne from countless drills during cold, dark, hungry nights.
Tom Milligan's face flashed before her as well as Andy Davidson's. She still remembered the little hand on her as the young owner promised to protect her.
Her hand curled tighter around the gun. Martha raised her head, squinted in the dark.
There was a young survivor she turned over to the resistance in Africa because there was no one in his family left alive to care for him. The boy hugged her knees and cried when she told him she needed to go, that she couldn't stay with him.
Martha stood up.
Inside her front left pocket was a painted origami frog a girl made for her. It was for luck. She made it out of the waxy wrapping from the protein bar her family had shared with Martha. Her name was Megumi. She was in Japan.
The lights return and squinting under the sudden glare, Martha sighted Saxon standing on the top of the stairs as dark as death, like an executioner.
"Saxon!" Martha shouted as soon as she saw him. He spun around and stared at her with the kind of face one would wear when confronted with an approaching car. There was one awful moment when Martha hesitated but then hundreds of faces flipped through her mind like a picture book; faces who were no longer there.
Martha pulled the trigger. Maybe Docherty was wrong about her not being a killer.
"Stop!"
There were several voices telling her to stop. Lucy Saxon's scream stood out because Martha had never forgotten her at the end of the universe. She was charging towards her with the same shrill anger Martha had encountered in the silo before poor Chantho stopped her. Too late, though; Martha's finger flexed in response as Saxon's shock morphed into an angry sneer.
The gun was light but its recoil surprised Martha; that was something she hadn't prepare for. Martha staggered back with a grunt so she missed the Doctor's cage spinning towards her gun.
Martha looked up to see if her aim was true and cried out when she saw she had somehow shot the Doctor instead. No! Her gut clenched when she saw the cage drop to the floor. Even Saxon was yelling, running towards the cage with a panic Martha didn't understand.
But that's when someone from above shouted.
"Incoming transmission from five!"
"What?" Saxon was halfway down the steps when he twisted back around to the pilots. "From where? Cut it off!"
"I can't! The beam has scrambled its receptors!"
"Doctor," Martha whimpered as she dropped the gun and stumbled towards him. The ship rocked again and she fell, the cage rolling out of reach.
Just before her fingers could touch the cage, there was a giant and wordless howl. Martha groaned as her head pounded. She clapped her hands over her ears just as light from above her scorched past her and struck the cage. White fire swept across the ceiling, hot and dry and God, she couldn't see. It was like the light had burned out her eyesight.
"No! Impossible!"
Saxon's outraged call made her look up. It was like staring at the sun: blinding yet riveting. Tears sprang up as she watched the cage hover in the air then disintegrated.
"Stop the transmission! Shut it down now!"
"…can't! It's coming from the Valiant itself! The computers won't respond!"
"Doctor!" Martha screamed, her hand stretching out towards the strange blue light where the cage had vanished. The moment her fingertips touched the column of light, a charge surged up her limbs and like a telly gone mad, she saw faces she knew, faces she should know: her mother under a table, a giant insect diving at her, Owen Harper bleeding, Ianto dropping to the ground, monsters climbing out of the sewers, the sky turning wrong, a golden haired woman running towards her, thousands of machines in the alien sky, flipping, flipping, too many faces and too many things. Martha simply screamed as she thought she felt her skin bursting into flames. Martha dropped.
As soon as her fingers pulled away from the light, the frenzied images died into blissful silence. There was a moment of quiet when everything on the bridge went still, so still Martha thought she had gone deaf, but something made her look up. A haze beyond the edge of her vision glowed and beckoned. Martha stared at the trainers she knew so well.
"Tell me the human race is degenerate now when they can do this."
Her cheeks were wet when Martha sat up. "Doctor," she breathed.
"All that power and you could not see this, Master?" There was a chuckle that made the hairs on her arms rise. "What a short-sighted God."
Martha's smile faltered. She lifted her head up and gaped at the tall figure floating a meter above the floor.
The Doctor stood, youthful as she remembered him, in his suit, still in the human form he preferred. By some strange miracle, he was once more dressed in his pinstripe suit, his silly trainers, all gangly limbs, and scruffy jaw.
But his eyes…
White and glowing, the Doctor stared down at Saxon on the deck with a coldness Martha only caught a glimpse of when she first met him. His hair seemed almost golden and the edges of him wavered like he was under a heat wave.
"You have interfered for the last time, Master."
Martha felt a quiver in her guts.
This was not her Doctor.
Gwen was staring at the bottom of someone's shoe by the time all the lights came back on. The last thing she remembered was every single bulb that led to the TARDIS exploding then the ship bucked, rocked, and the floor dropped underneath her. Gwen was weightless for a few seconds before she crashed into something soft.
"Um…" Tosh sounded a little tentative and breathless somewhere down by Gwen's feet. "Do you think they heard that?"
Owen was muffled as he had so graciously cushioned both Gwen and Tosh's fall. He swore up and down. It was mostly inaudible though. Oh well, at least Gwen knew he was all right. Mostly.
"Fuc-What the hell did you do?"
"I diverted all the power of the ship into a single circuit and let it collect, forcing the current to build up in the room containing the TARDIS. It doesn't have a circuit-breaker or transformer so it overloaded."
Jesus, Tosh talked like the Doctor, Gwen thought absently.
"English, Tosh! English!" Owen demanded. His arm flopped as he struggled to pull himself out from under them.
"I made things go 'Boom'!" Tosh piped up with the sort of glee Gwen would expect to be accompanied with some evil laughter and hands rubbing together.
"So do you think it worked?" Gwen asked, still gasping because Lord, the ship hasn't stopped moving yet.
A dark, smoking metal globe rolled past them. After a beat, two others sedately followed. Gwen gawped at they traveled down the hallway past them without a squawk. The three struck a distant wall and went thunk.
"Uh…think so," Owen mumbled under her. His other arm flopped uselessly in the air. "Get up. You two gits are heavy."
Gwen panted as she rose to her feet. She staggered back to rest against the pipe they were originally hiding behind. She shared a grin with Tosh.
"Like I said before," Gwen managed out. "Brilliant."
"Okay, we better get a move on. I heard the alarms before," Owen said. His eyes darted left and right.
"Oh, that's probably because the engines cut off before," Tosh dismissed with a hand as she smoothed out her apron with the other.
"The engines…" Owen glared at her. "The engines? You mean the ones that keep us afloat?"
Tosh shot him an annoyed look. "What? They came back on. Come on, this way."
Gwen grabbed Owen's collar just as he growled low under his breath and made to reach for her throat. She jerked him back. He gestured wildly at Tosh like a traffic womble. Gwen pushed him forward. "Come on."
Something was wrong.
Ianto stood by the mainframe, staring transfixed at the dais before him.
The moment the Valiant rocked violently, Ianto did as Jack instructed, ramming the tip of the screwdriver into the gauge. Everything lit up from the point of contact, all across the board. All the IV tubes stiffened and Jack tensed, squeezed his eyes shut as the lines first turned red then neon blue.
Ianto wasn't sure if he was glad Jack kept quiet. Jack had his eyes squeezed tight, his mouth clamped shut as the room hummed with a rhythmic thump. London's machine was completely silent, Ianto thought as he held his stopwatch with both hands. Whether that made it better or not was something Ianto refused to think about. His fingers shook as he opened the cover of his watch, closed it and opened it again.
Twenty more seconds, Ianto told himself. He rocked on his heels as he stared at Jack. Twenty more. Nineteen more.
The ship trembled around him. The floor actually dropped under his feet and there was a mad moment where Ianto thought if the ship crashed, it wouldn't be so bad.
Ianto wanted to touch Jack. Every other second, Jack's breathing hitched. Sweat dripped off his face and the jacket Ianto folded and tucked under Jack's head was already damp. But Ianto stayed back because Jack had asked him to. Ianto stayed by the mainframe, his back pressed to the corner made by the wall and the vibrating equipment.
The watch face was hard to read. His hand shook too much. The numerals kept blurring.
Ten more seconds.
"Ten more seconds, Jack. Nine," Ianto whispered. He held the stopwatch to his chest, close enough that he could feel the ticking against him.
Eight seconds.
God, Jack paled in front of him, white as he was after Abbadon, as still as in the MX-CR chamber. Ianto clutched to the watch and stared at it because watching Jack made it hard to breathe.
Six seconds.
The Doctor will come back with this, Ianto told himself. Time will be sorted. Jack said this was needed.
Five seconds.
Saxon will be dealt with.
Fou-
There was a new vibration beneath Ianto. It was sharper, quicker. Ianto stepped away from the mainframe just as a crack split the wall above him and sped towards the mainframe.
With a fierce cracking sound, the fissure went behind the mainframe and the lights began to flicker wildly. Something wailed. Something sparked.
Someone screamed.
"Jack!" Ianto twisted around. Jack had arched off the dais, his mouth open. The scream had died into an airless cry but beams of blue light shot out of Jack's eye sockets and his mouth. Ianto ran back to the mainframe, waving a hand furiously in front of him as sparks flew from the shaking mainframe. It shrieked when Jack couldn't and rattled up and down in place.
Zero. The timer on the mainframe reached the end but the machine didn't shut down, rather the screwdriver whined and the indicator lights popped one after the other.
Ianto grunted when he grabbed the toggle. It was god-awful hot and he thought he could smell his own flesh burning, but he just clenched his teeth and with both hands, he pushed the toggle switch down.
Nothing.
More sparks. The mainframe was threatening to leap off the wall.
The lights stayed on.
The timer burst into a puff of glass and smoke.
One minute was already up. The timer's dials was rolling forward now. Ten seconds. Eleven. Twelve.
Jack wasn't screaming any more, but from what Ianto saw, it wasn't a blessing. Jack thrashed, writhed, pinned to the dais by the straps Ianto had bound him with. Ianto tugged at the IV lines but they were now welded into the mainframe.
"Damn it," Ianto sobbed out of frustration. He grabbed at the lines with both hands, one foot braced on the machine. A line behind him tore out of Jack and flailed as the entire room was presently shaking.
Ianto sighted the screwdriver. He threw down the IVs. He choked when he skidded on Jack's blood on the floor as he grabbed hold of the screwdriver.
The moment he grabbed it, Ianto felt a force shivering up the screwdriver into his fingers. Ianto jerked back, startled, but encouraged by the flickering reaction on the panels, Ianto took a deep breath and grabbed the screwdriver once more with both hands and pulled.
It felt like it was trapped in stone, an Excalibur that boiled his skin as he pulled. Ianto thought he heard Jack cry out. The screwdriver edged out a bit more and a sharp agony stabbed his hands, shot up his arms and straight to his head.
Every instinct told him to let go. Every nerve screamed for him to let go. But whether because of Jack's agonized moans or the fact it felt like he was welded into the thing, Ianto couldn't…wouldn't let go.
Someone was shouting in his ear-Jack, himself, it no longer mattered-and Ianto yanked at the screwdriver with every ounce of his strength. He hollered at the top of his lungs as he pulled.
With what was close to the shearing sound of metal slicing through metal, the screwdriver jerked free. An arc of blue light danced from the mainframe to the screwdriver's tip and then exploded inches away from Ianto's face.
Hot, hot air scalded his face and a force equal to a wall slammed into him. The screwdriver fell apart in his hands. The mainframe exploded and the blast sent Ianto back. His body tingled in hard, scorching needles and they blocked out the crack his body made when he crashed into the wall. The canisters splintered and he dropped to the floor. He saw Jack limp and unmoving on the dais as glass and blue stars rained down between them. Ianto tried to call out to Jack, his hand stretched toward him but then the blue light crackled around him, took all the light away and he knew nothing more.
Toshiko thought it sounded sad.
It was just like how Gwen had described it: the TARDIS was set in the back, crates piled on either side of it like it was an ordinary box.
Owen used the key around his neck to open the door. Despite their haste and his constant prodding, Owen still staggered to a halt once he was inside. Even with the angry looking wired column towering in the center, the chamber was still something to behold.
A whale song greeted them as they stood there and stared.
"I don't understand any of this," Gwen said breathlessly, "but-God, what did Saxon do to it?"
Her, Toshiko wanted to correct Gwen, but she instead settled a palm on the stone vine.
"You sure the dynamite won't hurt it?" Owen asked. He frowned at the coral that wound up to the ceiling.
"She's tough," Toshiko murmured. "Aren't you?" She gave the rock a pat and was gratified to hear a warble she was sure was agreement.
"Jack said it'll be fine," Gwen reminded Owen as she started pulling out the bundles from Owen's pack. "How many minutes?"
"Five," Owen said curtly. "I don't want to be here when it all goes to shit."
Out of the corner of her eye, Toshiko spied Owen muttering "Sorry" as he set the explosives on the curved cage.
"Almost there," Toshiko whispered, almost to herself but there was a suspicion that the TARDIS would understand. "Hang on. Jack sent us."
Maybe it was her imagination, but Toshiko thought she heard a weak coo in response.
"Did you see this happening?"
Something was wrong. Francine stood back, Tish squished between her and Clive.
The Doctor stood, hovered, above the stairs in front of Saxon. He was no longer that short, bowed little man in the cage. His skin was smoothed out again, unruly brown hair ablaze with gold and silver. He glowed blue-white and his face…Francine could see from her angle that his eyes were completely white.
"No!" The Master staggered back a step. The pilots were cowered by the consoles. They looked so young as they stared wide-eyed at the Doctor.
"Launch the rockets!" Saxon practically shrieked at them.
Lucy broke out of her paralysis on the landing and darted up the steps to the consoles.
The Doctor said nothing, but his right palm swung towards the consoles. One of them sparked and blew. Lucy screamed and she tumbled down the steps hard.
"Lucy!"
"Doctor!"
Both Martha and Saxon were shouting. Five Toclafane blinked into existence in front of the Doctor, their spikes extended, but the Doctor, without uttering a sound, waved his right arm. There were simultaneous screams from them and they burst apart into metal ribbons and fleshy colored bits.
"Doctor, stop!" Martha cried out.
The Master began to laugh. He leaned half-slumped on the wall.
"The vortex," Saxon snarled. He clawed his own chest as he gasped. "All this time refusing, claiming honorable intentions, you finally tasted it. How does it feel, Doctor?" Saxon staggered a step forward, his fists tight and held up in front of him.
"The taste of it. Now you see, can't you? Now you see!"
"Oh God," Francine breathed. Now she knew where she'd seen those eyes before.
"Mum?" Tish whispered.
"Jack," Francine gasped. "The Doctor! He…"
It was as if the Doctor heard her. He never turned towards her but he smiled tightly to himself.
"He was never your Companion to begin with, Master. The vortex did not belong to you."
"And it belonged to you?" Saxon sneered as he was backed up against a wall.
"Yes."
"D-doctor?" Martha stammered. She got up shakily. She gaped at the Doctor above her.
"You have tampered with far too much, Master. You have gone too far."
God. Francine could feel the air cook her exposed skin. There were gasps all around. The guards appeared paralyzed, wide-eyed with fear. No one could move. Francine could feel a rage pressing down on her chest and she knew, just knew it wasn't hers.
"So now you'll kill me," the Master taunted.
"Harry!" Lucy gasped below.
The Doctor looked at Saxon. He chuckled.
"You? The last of the Time Lords?"
"It's not suppose to be like this!-It's not fair!" Saxon yelled at him even as he shrank back, sliding down to the wall.
The smirk on the Doctor's lips was unnerving to see.
"Tell me, Master…Do you know what happens now?"
Lisa kissed him softly on the mouth and he thought he heard a humming that was so damningly familiar, but before he could call out to it, Ianto jerked awake.
Like breaking out of the water's surface, Ianto gasped. He sat up coughing, his chest rising and falling as he gulped for air. God, everything hurt!
The bite of glass grinding under his palms pricked his memory and Ianto blinked away the haze that lingered over his eyes.
"Jack!"
It took a few false starts, but Ianto got up on his feet and he stumbled, slipped over glass, and banged into scorched walls before he finally fell onto the dais like an inebriated man.
"Jack," Ianto moaned when he got his first good look at him. Ianto fought down the urge to vomit and with shaky hands, Ianto pulled out the IV lines carefully and tugged at the buckles and straps that Jack had managed to twist himself in.
Jack's chest rose and fell in ragged breaths. Blood trailed down his eyes like tears, red and dark and slick, gathering with the blood streaming out of his nose and ears to pool by his head.
His fingers barely listened to him as Ianto fumbled to free Jack.
The moment the constricting torso binding fell open, Jack groaned, gurgled as he drew in a large gulp of air. Limbs moved feebly in place.
"You're all right, it's done," Ianto whispered as he half-collapsed by Jack's head. He brushed an unsteady palm across Jack's brow. Jack blurred in and out before him. Ianto stroked his hair as he fought the tight binding around his chest. "Easy. Easy…"
The wheezing was horrible and Christ, there was so much blood. Ianto didn't flinch when Jack coughed and blood splattered onto his face.
"Shh," Ianto soothed. He settled a hand on Jack's forehead. He shivered. Jack's skin was beyond chilled. Ianto wrapped his left hand around Jack's wrist and felt a pulse that raced too fast to count.
Jack whimpered and his head lolled towards Ianto.
"Shh," Ianto tried again, but he couldn't stop his voice from cracking, "it's over, it's done."
Eyes fluttered open. Jack gazed blearily up at him. He tried to smile and blood trickled out when his lips cracked.
"Hello," Ianto whispered. He squeezed Jack's hand.
Hello, Jack mouthed back. His eyes glazed over and his legs kicked weakly as he tried to sit up.
"C-catch your breath. Wait. Okay? Give yourself some time." Ianto brushed a hand across Jack's damp hair. "I should have given you the stopwatch," Ianto tried to joke, "Because that was certainly not one minute."
Blue eyes cleared and Jack glanced to his right to look at the smoldering mainframe. Jack turned back and blinked at Ianto.
"It just started going wild and you were screaming and the lights and…I-I tried to shut the machine down but it wouldn't…"
Jack squeezed Ianto's hand over his, stopping him. Jack's right hand rose than flopped weakly to his side. His brow knitted as Jack tried again.
"What?" Ianto reached for Jack's right hand. "What is it?"
"D-did…" Jack coughed. "D-did…" His upper body jerked as his body spasm. Jack hacked wetly and harshly.
"Hold on. Give yourself a chance to catch your breath first," Ianto pleaded. He wanted to push Jack back down when Jack struggled to sit up. Ianto slipped an arm around Jack's shoulders and eased him up because it hurt to see Jack struggling to try.
Jack coughed and coughed. He doubled over against Ianto as his upper body jerked. His right hand lifted up again and once more dropped.
"Slow breaths," Ianto murmured as he hunched over Jack. He rubbed a hand up and down the hunched back. He tried not to think about how he could feel the ridged curves of protruding ribs and spine.
Jack stared at Ianto with such intensity, Ianto's hand stilled.
"D-did it 'ork?" Jack rasped.
Ianto wanted to shake him and shout, "Who cares?" but instead, Ianto wiped the blood trailing down under Jack's left nostril with his thumb.
"There's been no more alarms, no one's come in here, I'm sure it worked."
It must have been the wrong thing to say because Jack shuddered with the effort to swing his legs over.
"What are you doing?" Ianto exclaimed. He grunted when he caught Jack who had slid off the dais and folded up against him.
"I 'ave to 'ee," Jack said.
It wasn't enough that Jack did sound a little stronger; Jack was bent over, clinging to the dais as he tried to get his legs to move, heedless of his trousers clinging to the IV wounds that finally stopped bleeding. Ianto's knees buckled as he tried to hold Jack up.
"Jack. Wait. Wait." Ianto walked in front of him by the end of the dais. He placed one hand on Jack's chest. He could feel the hammering under his palm.
"You can barely walk right now. Let's just-" Ianto stared at Jack's unblinking eyes. Ianto closed his briefly.
"All right," Ianto whispered. "All right. Just let me help you. Let me do most of the work, okay?"
Jack's eyes crinkled and stained lips quavered to turn up. Jack tracked Ianto ducking under his left arm, tried unsuccessfully to hide a shiver when Ianto slipped his right arm around his middle.
With a deep breath, Ianto heft Jack up against him and together, they staggered towards the door, towards the Doctor.
Suddenly, Saxon surged to his feet.
"No, it won't happen like this! Not this time!"
When Saxon yanked out the familiar screwdriver out of his jacket, Francine gasped. Clive moved right in front of Francine and Tish.
The Doctor's left hand shot out towards Saxon and the screwdriver flew out of his hand. It landed spinning away below the Doctor.
"Mum!" Martha bolted towards them. Francine caught Martha in her arms. She wrapped her arms tight around Martha's head.
"Oh, Martha," Francine sobbed as she rocked her girl in her embrace. She was never going to let go. "Martha, Martha…"
"No more," the Doctor seethed. "Enough." His words echoed in the bridge. He hovered closer and stared at the Master. Saxon suddenly grabbed his throat, his mouth agape, gurgling.
"Harry!" Lucy Saxon snatched the screwdriver off the floor and stumbled to her feet and staggered towards the Doctor. "Har-"
Lucy Saxon's shout was cut off and like Saxon, her hands flew up to her throat. She was lifted an inch off the floor and she began to sputter.
"Oh God," Tish gasped.
"Martha," Francine breathed.
"Something's wrong," Martha squirmed free of Francine's hold. She stared up at the Doctor. "Mum, let go. There's something wrong with the Doctor."
"No, Martha, wait-"
Martha broke free and she weaved towards the Time Lord.
"Doctor," Martha shouted, "What are you doing?"
"It's all clear now, Martha," the Doctor breathed and his eyes burned a white light that hurt to look at. "I can stop it here. I can stop it all right now."
"You can see it," Saxon wheezed. He was flattened to the wall, held in place by an unseen hand.
"Yes," the Doctor seethed. "All you have done. All you will do. I cannot allow it to happen. I told you I would stop you."
"What are you going to do?" Martha cried out. She looked horrified. Francine couldn't understand why. Her own heart thudded against her chest as she watched both the Master and Lucy Saxon turn red with the strain.
The smile on the Doctor reminded Francine too much of Saxon.
"He wants the vortex. I'll give it to him. All of it. He can embrace it as it boils him from the inside."
"God's strength," Clive muttered to himself.
"No!" Martha shouted. She took a step towards the Doctor.
"Martha, stay away from him!" Francine called out, but when the Doctor turned towards her, his eyes narrowed, Francine's head pounded and she shrank back.
"Mum?" Tish gasped. Her hands curled on Francine's arms to brace her.
"Doctor, stop this!" Martha spun back to gawk at Francine then at the Time Lord. "This isn't you! This isn't-What's happening?"
"He can taste it now," Saxon wheezed. He laughed. "T-the gun…marked him so the vortex knew where to go." Saxon laughed. "And it went to him! All of it!"
"Marked?" Martha sounded hurt. "The formula you passed to me…it wasn't a weapon?"
Saxon kept laughing even as his feet kicked the air.
"You can hear it, can't you?" Saxon taunted. His eyes, even from where Francine was, were bloodshot. "The v-vortex is coursing through you. All that power. You c-can 'ear it. All the an'wers. You can hear the drumming."
The Doctor froze.
"Doctor," Martha whispered. She took another step, her hand reaching towards him. "Doctor, this isn't you. This isn't. It's…it's this vortex…think. Think."
"I…" The glow around the Doctor dimmed. The Doctor stared at Saxon, stared at Lucy Saxon and the aura around him flickered. "Martha. I…" He turned towards Martha and Francine caught a glimpse of brown, very confused eyes. He looked back at Saxon and his wife.
"This is not what I wanted to do," the Doctor whispered. "Not this." He bobbed in the air as the light around him faded. He traveled, still airborne towards the Master. "I only have one thing to say…"
They dropped to the floor. Lucy Saxon lay curled on the ground, gasping.
"No!" Saxon snarled. "No! No! No!"
The Doctor appeared worn and sad when he studied Saxon. "You wouldn't listen."
"No!" Saxon clawed the wall as if he was trying to break through. He spun around to glare at the Doctor.
"You know what I'm going to say."
His defiance faltered and the Master slid down the wall. He stared up at the Doctor.
"I will not allow this! No!"
Without a sound, the Doctor landed in front of Saxon. He stood there, staring as Saxon pressed back to the wall like a cornered beast. The light was gone completely from the Doctor.
"I will not listen. I won't!" Saxon snarled.
The Doctor merely walked over and crouched down in front of Saxon.
"Snap his neck," Clive muttered behind Francine.
But the Doctor did no such thing. He wrapped his arms around the Master, pity in his eyes as he dropped his head and whispered, "I forgive you."
Francine felt something hot bubbling up inside her. She couldn't understand why Martha looked so relieved, why Lucy Saxon sat there crying or why Saxon convulsed in the Doctor's hold.
"My children!" Saxon hissed. He broke free of the Doctor and scrambled away from him. "Protect the paradox!"
"Doctor!" Martha cried out. "The TARDIS!"
The Doctor scanned the bridge anxiously. "Torchwood should have taken car-"
Before the Doctor could finish, Saxon pulled out the circular disk from before.
"No!" The Doctor lunged towards Saxon, grabbed the Master but before he could do anything, the two Time Lords vanished.
A misstep sent both Ianto and Jack crashing to the floor again.
"Let's just rest for a moment," Ianto tried again. He settled a hand on Jack's leg. If anything, Jack looked worse, the more they walked.
"We're almost there," Jack panted. He stared down the hallway. Jack set his jaw and he struggled up. "I…I have to see…" Jack's knees buckled.
"Jack!" Ianto struggled to get up as Jack sagged forward.
"Got ya."
Arms on both side of Jack caught him just before his knees struck the floor.
Ianto sagged back. He smiled wearily at Owen and Gwen.
"You tried to carry him all the way up here?" Owen griped as he struggled to keep Jack upright. "He weighs a ton."
With Tosh's help, Ianto staggered up to rest against the wall.
"That's it," Ianto gasped as he placed one hand on his brow, the other on his chest, "no more cream and sugar in your coffee, Harkness."
"Are you 'alling me f-fat?" Jack managed as he straightened. Jack gulped air, patted Ianto on the shoulder and merely grinned.
Owen's eyes flitted over to Ianto.
"All right?" Owen grunted. He nodded towards Ianto's chest.
Ianto glanced down. His shirt was torn and smeared dark red.
"Jack's blood," Ianto mumbled and his eyes burned, God, the screaming.
"Whoa! Where do you think you're going?" Owen exclaimed when Jack's step slammed him against the wall and Ianto.
"Bridge," Ianto explained when Jack couldn't. "He…" Ianto swallowed, "he wants to know it worked."
"I have to see," Jack wheezed.
Ianto stared at Owen, willing him to understand. The medic studied him for a long moment, before he nodded. Owen turned to Gwen and Tosh. The two nodded as well and pulled out their weapons.
Jack smiled faintly at the multiple clicks of the guns. He stood a little taller and with Ianto still tucked by his side, they steered for the bridge.
Martha barely had a chance to absorb the latest events when the console on the upper deck made a shrill noise. Tish screamed and Martha twisted to see what she was pointing at. There was a stream of black, like a swarm of bees steering for the Valiant.
The doors were kicked open just as she bounded up the steps.
"Martha!" Gwen, Owen and Toshiko charged into the room, their guns aimed even when the guards did nothing.
"You okay?" Owen called out as he gestured to the guards to back up against the wall.
"We've all six billion spheres heading straight for us!" Martha shouted back as she scanned the monitors.
"I'm guessing that's a no then," someone gasped.
Martha's head jerked up. "Jack! Ianto!" Relief twisted to dismay when she got a good look at the two. "You look awful!"
"Lovely to see you too Miss Jones," Ianto gasped back.
"Where's the Doctor?" Jack demanded.
"He disappeared with the Master," Tish told Jack.
"What?" Martha wasn't sure who said that. She examined the consoles by the main window. She clutched the pilot's chair with a clawed grip. It didn't look like there was anything on it that would help.
"Can't explain. Please tell me you've sorted out the paradox machine," Martha pleaded as the swarm flew closer. She slapped her hand on the alarm, shutting off the squeal that grew as the spheres sped closer.
"Owen?" Jack shouted out.
"Three seconds!" Owen shot back. "Two! One! Brace yourselves!"
Martha saw her father hold onto her mother, Tish hugged the railing and the others grabbed the table.
Nothing.
"I told you to check the batteries!" Toshiko shouted.
"I did. I-Tosh!"
One of the windows below burst. Tish shrieked. Buzzing, the Toclafane zipped in. Papers flew as wind rushed in.
"Take cover! Incoming!" Martha heard Jack holler. She could hear gunfire, sparks. The Toclafane just floated there.
It won't be enough, Martha thought just as she threw herself to the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the main window, the black filling the sky as they approached. Her throat closed up. Her eyes burned. God, it won't be enough, Martha despaired.
Doctor…
Just as the spikes sprung out of the dozens of Toclafane high above them, the Valiant pitched forward a little and there was a distant roar, followed by a few more, all in rapid succession.
With a combined shriek, the Toclafane dissolved into a cloud of smoke.
Martha lifted her head in time to see all the Toclafane in front of the ship vanish.
"Okay," Owen said breathlessly, "my watch may have been off-shit!"
As soon as the last sphere faded from the sky. The Valiant bucked and Martha gasped. She heard Toshiko cry out as the ship tilted and Toshiko slid towards the broken window until Owen caught her. Martha got up to see where her family was when the ship jumped again and Martha felt herself falling down the stairs. Falling…
Right into the Doctor's arms.
Martha gripped his upper arms and his face bloomed into that wide grin she dreamt about all year.
The ship tipped the other way now and she fell back with the Doctor and they crashed with mutual grunts, bellies down to the ground by the foot of the stairs. Martha found herself grinning back at him as he cupped the back of her head to bid her to duck just as a chair spun past her.
"Everyone down!" the Doctor bellowed. "Time is reversing!"
Just then, the ship rocked once more and a bulky jar skidded across the floor to sit between them.
Martha stared at the hand dancing in the bubbling water, stared at the Doctor and in the midst of the ship shaking as if falling apart, paper spinning in the air, the two looked at each other.
And laughed.
"Time is reversing!"
The meaning didn't quite absorb into Ianto's mind. He was too busy holding onto one of the conference table legs. Jack was on top of him, his arms stretched over him, holding onto the same leg.
Ianto heard Gwen yelp and Ianto reached out a hand and felt her grab his arm as she slid by him. Ianto gritted his teeth and pulled until Gwen was holding onto the leg.
Things rattled, banged against his legs. Wind whipped around him. He felt Jack press his body down over him and Gwen. The wind pulled and snapped at their legs like a rabid dog. He could hear things uprooting and flying past him. He heard Owen on the other side of the table grunt as a chair collided with his legs. Owen simply hugged Tosh closer under the table.
Too much screaming. It felt like London all over again and the fact that he couldn't smell smoke or burning bodies confused him. Jack's weight pinning him down anchored him and pushed back the large bile-tasting lump that wanted to come out but when Ianto felt his grip being pried off the table, Ianto panicked.
And then, everything stopped.
Ianto was afraid to let go of the table and judging by the way Gwen was trembling, Gwen was thinking the same thing. But then Jack shifted, patted his back and rose shakily to his feet.
The Doctor, looking remarkably exactly like himself, was climbing up to the consoles with an energy Ianto was relieved to see. The rejuvenated Time Lord slapped at a button and a shield came down over the broken window. The wind died down immediately.
"The paradox is broken," the Doctor declared. He flipped a few switches on a console. "We've reverted back, one year and one day. Two minutes past 8:00 in the morning."
The radio blared instantly after one switch. "This is UNIT Central. What's happened up there? We just saw the President assassinated!"
The Doctor grimaced and cut the connection. He grinned at everyone. "You see? Just after the President was killed, but just before the spheres arrived." The Doctor beamed at Martha.
"Everything back to normal," Martha breathed.
"Planet Earth restored," the Doctor cheered.
The tightness around his chest unraveled. "Everything?" Ianto whispered.
Gwen sounded like she was choking. "All those deaths? Japan? Cardiff? Everywhere?" She stared up at the Doctor with a scared expression.
The Doctor's face softened to understanding. "None of it happened. The rockets, the terror. It never was."
"What about the spheres?" Tosh asked in a trembling voice as she rose to her feet. She clutched Owen's hand for support.
The Doctor's eyes dulled at her question. "Trapped at the end of the universe," he said with a touch of regret.
"But I remember it," Martha's mother muttered to herself. She looked haunted.
"We're at the eye of the storm. The only ones who'll ever know."
"Then…" Jack spoke up behind him. His voice was dull. "It still happened then. All of it."
The Doctor's smile dropped completely and he stared at Jack with old eyes.
"Jack. Ah…" The Doctor's shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry. I'm…So sorry."
Ianto touched Jack's arm but Jack jerked away. Jack stared at the Doctor, his face gray and bleak.
There was a laugh coming from under the stairs.
Ianto tensed when he saw Saxon unwrap his arms from the railing, his tie skewed, his eyes dark with a humor only Saxon enjoyed.
"You would want this to never have happened, wouldn't you, Captain?" Saxon chuckled.
Ianto saw Jack clench his fists.
"All those memories, all those months, all those-"
"Master!" the Doctor roared. "That is enough!"
Saxon glowered at them. Then, he smirked.
"No," he purred, "I don't think so."
Out of nowhere, Lucy exploded, breaking free from one of the guard's hold. Startled, the Doctor and Jack stepped back just as Martha's father came down the stairs to help Owen hold her. Lucy Saxon was a woman possessed. She screamed at them, twisting as she yelled. Owen grimaced as he tried to stay out of the way of her head.
"That's enough, Lucy Saxon!" the Doctor ordered. He walked over and set two hands on her shoulders. "Enough," the Doctor repeated in a softer voice. Lucy calmed and stood there swaying on her feet.
"Yes, Doctor. Enough."
Everyone spun around and Ianto stiffened at the sight of Saxon with his screwdriver and three guards dressed in dark suits perched on the upper deck with rifles aimed down towards the lower level. Tish Jones was in front of the guards, guns pointed at her head. Martha's little sister looked pissed.
"Tish!" Martha gasped.
"Drop your weapons," Saxon drawled. "These boys here are not under Archangel's power. They joined the Ministry of Defense voluntarily." He sneered when everyone set their guns on the floor. "Oh, the wonders of the malcontent Generation X."
Jack growled under his breath and Saxon darkened.
"After everything, Jack," Saxon murmured. "You still fall in rank with him instead." Saxon frowned. "I have miscalculated." His eyes drifted to Ianto. A chill rippled down his back at Saxon's calculating stare.
"And young Ianto Jones. I have certainly misjudged your influence to his timeline as well."
"Master, it's over," the Doctor said but he froze when the screwdriver swung back his way.
"Which one, Captain?" Saxon sang out as he swiveled the device from the Doctor to Ianto. "Which one is most crucial for your timeline? Who would you choose? The Doctor?" It pointed towards the Time Lord again. "You've waited so long for him. A Time Lord who was never going to come back or…" The screwdriver turned back towards Ianto. "A mortal who will barely last a blink of your unnatural life, Jack."
"Master, stop this. You've lost-"
"Only this time!" The Master chuckled as the screwdriver went from the Doctor to Ianto like a mad pendulum. "Only this time, as a fellow scientific mind, we both know that it is through trial and error we find the success of our experiment."
Ianto could sense Jack edging forward. Jack was unsteady on his feet but Ianto could feel his anger growing like a physical force next to him.
"Who would you choose?" the Master taunted. "Uh, uh!" He smirked when he saw Owen and Jack tense. "You might come out fine, Jack, but do you really think your fragile humans in Torchwood would survive?"
Ianto saw a muscle in Jack's jaw flex but he stepped back.
"What do you think you'll accomplish?" the Doctor murmured. "The entire world has been corrected. All your work was undone. Everything."
Ianto could see Saxon's men on the upper deck fidget.
"I'm not looking to accomplish anything," the Master answered coldly before he spun towards the Doctor.
Ianto heard people shouting, bodies in motion, Jack moving away from him, but just as everything burst into life, Ianto saw Saxon, at the last moment, turn back towards him. Saxon's face twisted as a light shot out of his device.
Ianto felt a hard blow to his chest just as Tosh screamed his name and as he fell back, there was one last thought as his head struck the floor.
Jack had made his choice.
Conclusion 1/2
Additional Notes: Many thanks to soullessminion for betaing this chapter. And trtmx for her magic trick that saved my sanity! LOL.
Pairing: Jack/OMC, Jack/?, Jack/Ianto eventually, het and slash
Rating: NC-17
Summary: He left Jack on the game station. Abandoned. But then…he came back…different. An AU look on what happens if things happened differently. Doctor Who 'verse with Torchwood later on.
Warnings: Please read each chapter's individual warnings. Some parts down the road may briefly mention non-con, abuse, and/or violence. Dark in the beginning. Please note there are some dark thoughts as my boys are broken…for now. Each chapter will be labeled for your convenience.
Author's Notes: Note that "the Year That Never Was" was suggested that it wasn't fun. I took it as a challenge to somehow still find a way to instill comfort in it. If it didn't work, I'm sorry. I suck. LOL.
Disclaimer: RTD and BBC owns them. I'm just borrowing them for a while.
Warning For This Chapter: strong language, dark, angsty, VIOLENCE, torture (mostly implied, all a matter of reader interpretation), sappy maudlin
Notes For This Chapter: Note there are events/dialogue here that was referenced in DW's "Last of the Time Lords"
Prologue + Ch , Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6, Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10, Ch 11, Ch 12, Ch 13, Ch 14, Ch 15, Ch 16, Ch 17, Ch 18, Ch 19, Ch 20, Ch 21, Ch 22, Ch 23, Ch 24, Ch 25, Ch 26, Ch 27, Ch 28, Ch 29, Ch 30, Ch 31, Ch 32, Ch 33, Ch 34, Ch 35, Ch 36 Ch 37, Ch 38, Ch 39, Ch 40 1/11, Ch 40 2/11, Ch 40 3/11, Ch 40 4/11, Ch 40 5/11, Ch 40 6/11, Ch 40 7/11, Ch 40 8/11, Ch 40 9/11
Master Fic List: here
Chapter 40 "The Last of the Time Lords"
Act X: "You know what I'm going to say."
Please, don't miss.
It was Martha's only thought as she grabbed the gun out of the case. The colored vials were thankfully still intact. Her hands shook when she slotted them into the gun in the correct order. The vials bubbled and frothed as soon as they were inserted, the hiss being made when the chemicals began to mix in the chamber made her heart pound. She had practiced this move countless times. At night, in the dark, even when it was too cold to move, until her hands could snatch and twist in smooth motions on cue.
So when the golden light shot across the sky and the Doctor in the cage winked at her, Martha's hands were already in motion before she could even think of the command.
Chairs slammed into her as the ship tilted, rocked by the aerial bombardment that sizzled past the Valiant. It reminded her of the fireworks she saw one New Year’s Eve. They had flown up in an endless stream of color and sound that was both frightening and beautiful against the London Eye. Martha gritted her teeth as she landed hard on the floor, her hands scrambling for the case's contents.
"…forty percent of the rockets' signal…can't activate…"
"…from Cardiff…aiming for satellite five!"
Martha wasn't sure what was going on, but she knew Torchwood must have a hand in it and the thought they might still be alive despite Saxon's depravity charged her anew. She ignored the shouting around her, ignored the guards and the people struggling to stay up on their feet. She ignored how all the lights went dark on the bridge. She ignored the pain of crashing into furniture or them into her. She just grabbed the gun out of the attaché, snapped in the chemicals in the dark with the practiced ease borne from countless drills during cold, dark, hungry nights.
Tom Milligan's face flashed before her as well as Andy Davidson's. She still remembered the little hand on her as the young owner promised to protect her.
Her hand curled tighter around the gun. Martha raised her head, squinted in the dark.
There was a young survivor she turned over to the resistance in Africa because there was no one in his family left alive to care for him. The boy hugged her knees and cried when she told him she needed to go, that she couldn't stay with him.
Martha stood up.
Inside her front left pocket was a painted origami frog a girl made for her. It was for luck. She made it out of the waxy wrapping from the protein bar her family had shared with Martha. Her name was Megumi. She was in Japan.
The lights return and squinting under the sudden glare, Martha sighted Saxon standing on the top of the stairs as dark as death, like an executioner.
"Saxon!" Martha shouted as soon as she saw him. He spun around and stared at her with the kind of face one would wear when confronted with an approaching car. There was one awful moment when Martha hesitated but then hundreds of faces flipped through her mind like a picture book; faces who were no longer there.
Martha pulled the trigger. Maybe Docherty was wrong about her not being a killer.
"Stop!"
There were several voices telling her to stop. Lucy Saxon's scream stood out because Martha had never forgotten her at the end of the universe. She was charging towards her with the same shrill anger Martha had encountered in the silo before poor Chantho stopped her. Too late, though; Martha's finger flexed in response as Saxon's shock morphed into an angry sneer.
The gun was light but its recoil surprised Martha; that was something she hadn't prepare for. Martha staggered back with a grunt so she missed the Doctor's cage spinning towards her gun.
Martha looked up to see if her aim was true and cried out when she saw she had somehow shot the Doctor instead. No! Her gut clenched when she saw the cage drop to the floor. Even Saxon was yelling, running towards the cage with a panic Martha didn't understand.
But that's when someone from above shouted.
"Incoming transmission from five!"
"What?" Saxon was halfway down the steps when he twisted back around to the pilots. "From where? Cut it off!"
"I can't! The beam has scrambled its receptors!"
"Doctor," Martha whimpered as she dropped the gun and stumbled towards him. The ship rocked again and she fell, the cage rolling out of reach.
Just before her fingers could touch the cage, there was a giant and wordless howl. Martha groaned as her head pounded. She clapped her hands over her ears just as light from above her scorched past her and struck the cage. White fire swept across the ceiling, hot and dry and God, she couldn't see. It was like the light had burned out her eyesight.
"No! Impossible!"
Saxon's outraged call made her look up. It was like staring at the sun: blinding yet riveting. Tears sprang up as she watched the cage hover in the air then disintegrated.
"Stop the transmission! Shut it down now!"
"…can't! It's coming from the Valiant itself! The computers won't respond!"
"Doctor!" Martha screamed, her hand stretching out towards the strange blue light where the cage had vanished. The moment her fingertips touched the column of light, a charge surged up her limbs and like a telly gone mad, she saw faces she knew, faces she should know: her mother under a table, a giant insect diving at her, Owen Harper bleeding, Ianto dropping to the ground, monsters climbing out of the sewers, the sky turning wrong, a golden haired woman running towards her, thousands of machines in the alien sky, flipping, flipping, too many faces and too many things. Martha simply screamed as she thought she felt her skin bursting into flames. Martha dropped.
As soon as her fingers pulled away from the light, the frenzied images died into blissful silence. There was a moment of quiet when everything on the bridge went still, so still Martha thought she had gone deaf, but something made her look up. A haze beyond the edge of her vision glowed and beckoned. Martha stared at the trainers she knew so well.
"Tell me the human race is degenerate now when they can do this."
Her cheeks were wet when Martha sat up. "Doctor," she breathed.
"All that power and you could not see this, Master?" There was a chuckle that made the hairs on her arms rise. "What a short-sighted God."
Martha's smile faltered. She lifted her head up and gaped at the tall figure floating a meter above the floor.
The Doctor stood, youthful as she remembered him, in his suit, still in the human form he preferred. By some strange miracle, he was once more dressed in his pinstripe suit, his silly trainers, all gangly limbs, and scruffy jaw.
But his eyes…
White and glowing, the Doctor stared down at Saxon on the deck with a coldness Martha only caught a glimpse of when she first met him. His hair seemed almost golden and the edges of him wavered like he was under a heat wave.
"You have interfered for the last time, Master."
Martha felt a quiver in her guts.
This was not her Doctor.
Gwen was staring at the bottom of someone's shoe by the time all the lights came back on. The last thing she remembered was every single bulb that led to the TARDIS exploding then the ship bucked, rocked, and the floor dropped underneath her. Gwen was weightless for a few seconds before she crashed into something soft.
"Um…" Tosh sounded a little tentative and breathless somewhere down by Gwen's feet. "Do you think they heard that?"
Owen was muffled as he had so graciously cushioned both Gwen and Tosh's fall. He swore up and down. It was mostly inaudible though. Oh well, at least Gwen knew he was all right. Mostly.
"Fuc-What the hell did you do?"
"I diverted all the power of the ship into a single circuit and let it collect, forcing the current to build up in the room containing the TARDIS. It doesn't have a circuit-breaker or transformer so it overloaded."
Jesus, Tosh talked like the Doctor, Gwen thought absently.
"English, Tosh! English!" Owen demanded. His arm flopped as he struggled to pull himself out from under them.
"I made things go 'Boom'!" Tosh piped up with the sort of glee Gwen would expect to be accompanied with some evil laughter and hands rubbing together.
"So do you think it worked?" Gwen asked, still gasping because Lord, the ship hasn't stopped moving yet.
A dark, smoking metal globe rolled past them. After a beat, two others sedately followed. Gwen gawped at they traveled down the hallway past them without a squawk. The three struck a distant wall and went thunk.
"Uh…think so," Owen mumbled under her. His other arm flopped uselessly in the air. "Get up. You two gits are heavy."
Gwen panted as she rose to her feet. She staggered back to rest against the pipe they were originally hiding behind. She shared a grin with Tosh.
"Like I said before," Gwen managed out. "Brilliant."
"Okay, we better get a move on. I heard the alarms before," Owen said. His eyes darted left and right.
"Oh, that's probably because the engines cut off before," Tosh dismissed with a hand as she smoothed out her apron with the other.
"The engines…" Owen glared at her. "The engines? You mean the ones that keep us afloat?"
Tosh shot him an annoyed look. "What? They came back on. Come on, this way."
Gwen grabbed Owen's collar just as he growled low under his breath and made to reach for her throat. She jerked him back. He gestured wildly at Tosh like a traffic womble. Gwen pushed him forward. "Come on."
Something was wrong.
Ianto stood by the mainframe, staring transfixed at the dais before him.
The moment the Valiant rocked violently, Ianto did as Jack instructed, ramming the tip of the screwdriver into the gauge. Everything lit up from the point of contact, all across the board. All the IV tubes stiffened and Jack tensed, squeezed his eyes shut as the lines first turned red then neon blue.
Ianto wasn't sure if he was glad Jack kept quiet. Jack had his eyes squeezed tight, his mouth clamped shut as the room hummed with a rhythmic thump. London's machine was completely silent, Ianto thought as he held his stopwatch with both hands. Whether that made it better or not was something Ianto refused to think about. His fingers shook as he opened the cover of his watch, closed it and opened it again.
Twenty more seconds, Ianto told himself. He rocked on his heels as he stared at Jack. Twenty more. Nineteen more.
The ship trembled around him. The floor actually dropped under his feet and there was a mad moment where Ianto thought if the ship crashed, it wouldn't be so bad.
Ianto wanted to touch Jack. Every other second, Jack's breathing hitched. Sweat dripped off his face and the jacket Ianto folded and tucked under Jack's head was already damp. But Ianto stayed back because Jack had asked him to. Ianto stayed by the mainframe, his back pressed to the corner made by the wall and the vibrating equipment.
The watch face was hard to read. His hand shook too much. The numerals kept blurring.
Ten more seconds.
"Ten more seconds, Jack. Nine," Ianto whispered. He held the stopwatch to his chest, close enough that he could feel the ticking against him.
Eight seconds.
God, Jack paled in front of him, white as he was after Abbadon, as still as in the MX-CR chamber. Ianto clutched to the watch and stared at it because watching Jack made it hard to breathe.
Six seconds.
The Doctor will come back with this, Ianto told himself. Time will be sorted. Jack said this was needed.
Five seconds.
Saxon will be dealt with.
Fou-
There was a new vibration beneath Ianto. It was sharper, quicker. Ianto stepped away from the mainframe just as a crack split the wall above him and sped towards the mainframe.
With a fierce cracking sound, the fissure went behind the mainframe and the lights began to flicker wildly. Something wailed. Something sparked.
Someone screamed.
"Jack!" Ianto twisted around. Jack had arched off the dais, his mouth open. The scream had died into an airless cry but beams of blue light shot out of Jack's eye sockets and his mouth. Ianto ran back to the mainframe, waving a hand furiously in front of him as sparks flew from the shaking mainframe. It shrieked when Jack couldn't and rattled up and down in place.
Zero. The timer on the mainframe reached the end but the machine didn't shut down, rather the screwdriver whined and the indicator lights popped one after the other.
Ianto grunted when he grabbed the toggle. It was god-awful hot and he thought he could smell his own flesh burning, but he just clenched his teeth and with both hands, he pushed the toggle switch down.
Nothing.
More sparks. The mainframe was threatening to leap off the wall.
The lights stayed on.
The timer burst into a puff of glass and smoke.
One minute was already up. The timer's dials was rolling forward now. Ten seconds. Eleven. Twelve.
Jack wasn't screaming any more, but from what Ianto saw, it wasn't a blessing. Jack thrashed, writhed, pinned to the dais by the straps Ianto had bound him with. Ianto tugged at the IV lines but they were now welded into the mainframe.
"Damn it," Ianto sobbed out of frustration. He grabbed at the lines with both hands, one foot braced on the machine. A line behind him tore out of Jack and flailed as the entire room was presently shaking.
Ianto sighted the screwdriver. He threw down the IVs. He choked when he skidded on Jack's blood on the floor as he grabbed hold of the screwdriver.
The moment he grabbed it, Ianto felt a force shivering up the screwdriver into his fingers. Ianto jerked back, startled, but encouraged by the flickering reaction on the panels, Ianto took a deep breath and grabbed the screwdriver once more with both hands and pulled.
It felt like it was trapped in stone, an Excalibur that boiled his skin as he pulled. Ianto thought he heard Jack cry out. The screwdriver edged out a bit more and a sharp agony stabbed his hands, shot up his arms and straight to his head.
Every instinct told him to let go. Every nerve screamed for him to let go. But whether because of Jack's agonized moans or the fact it felt like he was welded into the thing, Ianto couldn't…wouldn't let go.
Someone was shouting in his ear-Jack, himself, it no longer mattered-and Ianto yanked at the screwdriver with every ounce of his strength. He hollered at the top of his lungs as he pulled.
With what was close to the shearing sound of metal slicing through metal, the screwdriver jerked free. An arc of blue light danced from the mainframe to the screwdriver's tip and then exploded inches away from Ianto's face.
Hot, hot air scalded his face and a force equal to a wall slammed into him. The screwdriver fell apart in his hands. The mainframe exploded and the blast sent Ianto back. His body tingled in hard, scorching needles and they blocked out the crack his body made when he crashed into the wall. The canisters splintered and he dropped to the floor. He saw Jack limp and unmoving on the dais as glass and blue stars rained down between them. Ianto tried to call out to Jack, his hand stretched toward him but then the blue light crackled around him, took all the light away and he knew nothing more.
Toshiko thought it sounded sad.
It was just like how Gwen had described it: the TARDIS was set in the back, crates piled on either side of it like it was an ordinary box.
Owen used the key around his neck to open the door. Despite their haste and his constant prodding, Owen still staggered to a halt once he was inside. Even with the angry looking wired column towering in the center, the chamber was still something to behold.
A whale song greeted them as they stood there and stared.
"I don't understand any of this," Gwen said breathlessly, "but-God, what did Saxon do to it?"
Her, Toshiko wanted to correct Gwen, but she instead settled a palm on the stone vine.
"You sure the dynamite won't hurt it?" Owen asked. He frowned at the coral that wound up to the ceiling.
"She's tough," Toshiko murmured. "Aren't you?" She gave the rock a pat and was gratified to hear a warble she was sure was agreement.
"Jack said it'll be fine," Gwen reminded Owen as she started pulling out the bundles from Owen's pack. "How many minutes?"
"Five," Owen said curtly. "I don't want to be here when it all goes to shit."
Out of the corner of her eye, Toshiko spied Owen muttering "Sorry" as he set the explosives on the curved cage.
"Almost there," Toshiko whispered, almost to herself but there was a suspicion that the TARDIS would understand. "Hang on. Jack sent us."
Maybe it was her imagination, but Toshiko thought she heard a weak coo in response.
"Did you see this happening?"
Something was wrong. Francine stood back, Tish squished between her and Clive.
The Doctor stood, hovered, above the stairs in front of Saxon. He was no longer that short, bowed little man in the cage. His skin was smoothed out again, unruly brown hair ablaze with gold and silver. He glowed blue-white and his face…Francine could see from her angle that his eyes were completely white.
"No!" The Master staggered back a step. The pilots were cowered by the consoles. They looked so young as they stared wide-eyed at the Doctor.
"Launch the rockets!" Saxon practically shrieked at them.
Lucy broke out of her paralysis on the landing and darted up the steps to the consoles.
The Doctor said nothing, but his right palm swung towards the consoles. One of them sparked and blew. Lucy screamed and she tumbled down the steps hard.
"Lucy!"
"Doctor!"
Both Martha and Saxon were shouting. Five Toclafane blinked into existence in front of the Doctor, their spikes extended, but the Doctor, without uttering a sound, waved his right arm. There were simultaneous screams from them and they burst apart into metal ribbons and fleshy colored bits.
"Doctor, stop!" Martha cried out.
The Master began to laugh. He leaned half-slumped on the wall.
"The vortex," Saxon snarled. He clawed his own chest as he gasped. "All this time refusing, claiming honorable intentions, you finally tasted it. How does it feel, Doctor?" Saxon staggered a step forward, his fists tight and held up in front of him.
"The taste of it. Now you see, can't you? Now you see!"
"Oh God," Francine breathed. Now she knew where she'd seen those eyes before.
"Mum?" Tish whispered.
"Jack," Francine gasped. "The Doctor! He…"
It was as if the Doctor heard her. He never turned towards her but he smiled tightly to himself.
"He was never your Companion to begin with, Master. The vortex did not belong to you."
"And it belonged to you?" Saxon sneered as he was backed up against a wall.
"Yes."
"D-doctor?" Martha stammered. She got up shakily. She gaped at the Doctor above her.
"You have tampered with far too much, Master. You have gone too far."
God. Francine could feel the air cook her exposed skin. There were gasps all around. The guards appeared paralyzed, wide-eyed with fear. No one could move. Francine could feel a rage pressing down on her chest and she knew, just knew it wasn't hers.
"So now you'll kill me," the Master taunted.
"Harry!" Lucy gasped below.
The Doctor looked at Saxon. He chuckled.
"You? The last of the Time Lords?"
"It's not suppose to be like this!-It's not fair!" Saxon yelled at him even as he shrank back, sliding down to the wall.
The smirk on the Doctor's lips was unnerving to see.
"Tell me, Master…Do you know what happens now?"
Lisa kissed him softly on the mouth and he thought he heard a humming that was so damningly familiar, but before he could call out to it, Ianto jerked awake.
Like breaking out of the water's surface, Ianto gasped. He sat up coughing, his chest rising and falling as he gulped for air. God, everything hurt!
The bite of glass grinding under his palms pricked his memory and Ianto blinked away the haze that lingered over his eyes.
"Jack!"
It took a few false starts, but Ianto got up on his feet and he stumbled, slipped over glass, and banged into scorched walls before he finally fell onto the dais like an inebriated man.
"Jack," Ianto moaned when he got his first good look at him. Ianto fought down the urge to vomit and with shaky hands, Ianto pulled out the IV lines carefully and tugged at the buckles and straps that Jack had managed to twist himself in.
Jack's chest rose and fell in ragged breaths. Blood trailed down his eyes like tears, red and dark and slick, gathering with the blood streaming out of his nose and ears to pool by his head.
His fingers barely listened to him as Ianto fumbled to free Jack.
The moment the constricting torso binding fell open, Jack groaned, gurgled as he drew in a large gulp of air. Limbs moved feebly in place.
"You're all right, it's done," Ianto whispered as he half-collapsed by Jack's head. He brushed an unsteady palm across Jack's brow. Jack blurred in and out before him. Ianto stroked his hair as he fought the tight binding around his chest. "Easy. Easy…"
The wheezing was horrible and Christ, there was so much blood. Ianto didn't flinch when Jack coughed and blood splattered onto his face.
"Shh," Ianto soothed. He settled a hand on Jack's forehead. He shivered. Jack's skin was beyond chilled. Ianto wrapped his left hand around Jack's wrist and felt a pulse that raced too fast to count.
Jack whimpered and his head lolled towards Ianto.
"Shh," Ianto tried again, but he couldn't stop his voice from cracking, "it's over, it's done."
Eyes fluttered open. Jack gazed blearily up at him. He tried to smile and blood trickled out when his lips cracked.
"Hello," Ianto whispered. He squeezed Jack's hand.
Hello, Jack mouthed back. His eyes glazed over and his legs kicked weakly as he tried to sit up.
"C-catch your breath. Wait. Okay? Give yourself some time." Ianto brushed a hand across Jack's damp hair. "I should have given you the stopwatch," Ianto tried to joke, "Because that was certainly not one minute."
Blue eyes cleared and Jack glanced to his right to look at the smoldering mainframe. Jack turned back and blinked at Ianto.
"It just started going wild and you were screaming and the lights and…I-I tried to shut the machine down but it wouldn't…"
Jack squeezed Ianto's hand over his, stopping him. Jack's right hand rose than flopped weakly to his side. His brow knitted as Jack tried again.
"What?" Ianto reached for Jack's right hand. "What is it?"
"D-did…" Jack coughed. "D-did…" His upper body jerked as his body spasm. Jack hacked wetly and harshly.
"Hold on. Give yourself a chance to catch your breath first," Ianto pleaded. He wanted to push Jack back down when Jack struggled to sit up. Ianto slipped an arm around Jack's shoulders and eased him up because it hurt to see Jack struggling to try.
Jack coughed and coughed. He doubled over against Ianto as his upper body jerked. His right hand lifted up again and once more dropped.
"Slow breaths," Ianto murmured as he hunched over Jack. He rubbed a hand up and down the hunched back. He tried not to think about how he could feel the ridged curves of protruding ribs and spine.
Jack stared at Ianto with such intensity, Ianto's hand stilled.
"D-did it 'ork?" Jack rasped.
Ianto wanted to shake him and shout, "Who cares?" but instead, Ianto wiped the blood trailing down under Jack's left nostril with his thumb.
"There's been no more alarms, no one's come in here, I'm sure it worked."
It must have been the wrong thing to say because Jack shuddered with the effort to swing his legs over.
"What are you doing?" Ianto exclaimed. He grunted when he caught Jack who had slid off the dais and folded up against him.
"I 'ave to 'ee," Jack said.
It wasn't enough that Jack did sound a little stronger; Jack was bent over, clinging to the dais as he tried to get his legs to move, heedless of his trousers clinging to the IV wounds that finally stopped bleeding. Ianto's knees buckled as he tried to hold Jack up.
"Jack. Wait. Wait." Ianto walked in front of him by the end of the dais. He placed one hand on Jack's chest. He could feel the hammering under his palm.
"You can barely walk right now. Let's just-" Ianto stared at Jack's unblinking eyes. Ianto closed his briefly.
"All right," Ianto whispered. "All right. Just let me help you. Let me do most of the work, okay?"
Jack's eyes crinkled and stained lips quavered to turn up. Jack tracked Ianto ducking under his left arm, tried unsuccessfully to hide a shiver when Ianto slipped his right arm around his middle.
With a deep breath, Ianto heft Jack up against him and together, they staggered towards the door, towards the Doctor.
Suddenly, Saxon surged to his feet.
"No, it won't happen like this! Not this time!"
When Saxon yanked out the familiar screwdriver out of his jacket, Francine gasped. Clive moved right in front of Francine and Tish.
The Doctor's left hand shot out towards Saxon and the screwdriver flew out of his hand. It landed spinning away below the Doctor.
"Mum!" Martha bolted towards them. Francine caught Martha in her arms. She wrapped her arms tight around Martha's head.
"Oh, Martha," Francine sobbed as she rocked her girl in her embrace. She was never going to let go. "Martha, Martha…"
"No more," the Doctor seethed. "Enough." His words echoed in the bridge. He hovered closer and stared at the Master. Saxon suddenly grabbed his throat, his mouth agape, gurgling.
"Harry!" Lucy Saxon snatched the screwdriver off the floor and stumbled to her feet and staggered towards the Doctor. "Har-"
Lucy Saxon's shout was cut off and like Saxon, her hands flew up to her throat. She was lifted an inch off the floor and she began to sputter.
"Oh God," Tish gasped.
"Martha," Francine breathed.
"Something's wrong," Martha squirmed free of Francine's hold. She stared up at the Doctor. "Mum, let go. There's something wrong with the Doctor."
"No, Martha, wait-"
Martha broke free and she weaved towards the Time Lord.
"Doctor," Martha shouted, "What are you doing?"
"It's all clear now, Martha," the Doctor breathed and his eyes burned a white light that hurt to look at. "I can stop it here. I can stop it all right now."
"You can see it," Saxon wheezed. He was flattened to the wall, held in place by an unseen hand.
"Yes," the Doctor seethed. "All you have done. All you will do. I cannot allow it to happen. I told you I would stop you."
"What are you going to do?" Martha cried out. She looked horrified. Francine couldn't understand why. Her own heart thudded against her chest as she watched both the Master and Lucy Saxon turn red with the strain.
The smile on the Doctor reminded Francine too much of Saxon.
"He wants the vortex. I'll give it to him. All of it. He can embrace it as it boils him from the inside."
"God's strength," Clive muttered to himself.
"No!" Martha shouted. She took a step towards the Doctor.
"Martha, stay away from him!" Francine called out, but when the Doctor turned towards her, his eyes narrowed, Francine's head pounded and she shrank back.
"Mum?" Tish gasped. Her hands curled on Francine's arms to brace her.
"Doctor, stop this!" Martha spun back to gawk at Francine then at the Time Lord. "This isn't you! This isn't-What's happening?"
"He can taste it now," Saxon wheezed. He laughed. "T-the gun…marked him so the vortex knew where to go." Saxon laughed. "And it went to him! All of it!"
"Marked?" Martha sounded hurt. "The formula you passed to me…it wasn't a weapon?"
Saxon kept laughing even as his feet kicked the air.
"You can hear it, can't you?" Saxon taunted. His eyes, even from where Francine was, were bloodshot. "The v-vortex is coursing through you. All that power. You c-can 'ear it. All the an'wers. You can hear the drumming."
The Doctor froze.
"Doctor," Martha whispered. She took another step, her hand reaching towards him. "Doctor, this isn't you. This isn't. It's…it's this vortex…think. Think."
"I…" The glow around the Doctor dimmed. The Doctor stared at Saxon, stared at Lucy Saxon and the aura around him flickered. "Martha. I…" He turned towards Martha and Francine caught a glimpse of brown, very confused eyes. He looked back at Saxon and his wife.
"This is not what I wanted to do," the Doctor whispered. "Not this." He bobbed in the air as the light around him faded. He traveled, still airborne towards the Master. "I only have one thing to say…"
They dropped to the floor. Lucy Saxon lay curled on the ground, gasping.
"No!" Saxon snarled. "No! No! No!"
The Doctor appeared worn and sad when he studied Saxon. "You wouldn't listen."
"No!" Saxon clawed the wall as if he was trying to break through. He spun around to glare at the Doctor.
"You know what I'm going to say."
His defiance faltered and the Master slid down the wall. He stared up at the Doctor.
"I will not allow this! No!"
Without a sound, the Doctor landed in front of Saxon. He stood there, staring as Saxon pressed back to the wall like a cornered beast. The light was gone completely from the Doctor.
"I will not listen. I won't!" Saxon snarled.
The Doctor merely walked over and crouched down in front of Saxon.
"Snap his neck," Clive muttered behind Francine.
But the Doctor did no such thing. He wrapped his arms around the Master, pity in his eyes as he dropped his head and whispered, "I forgive you."
Francine felt something hot bubbling up inside her. She couldn't understand why Martha looked so relieved, why Lucy Saxon sat there crying or why Saxon convulsed in the Doctor's hold.
"My children!" Saxon hissed. He broke free of the Doctor and scrambled away from him. "Protect the paradox!"
"Doctor!" Martha cried out. "The TARDIS!"
The Doctor scanned the bridge anxiously. "Torchwood should have taken car-"
Before the Doctor could finish, Saxon pulled out the circular disk from before.
"No!" The Doctor lunged towards Saxon, grabbed the Master but before he could do anything, the two Time Lords vanished.
A misstep sent both Ianto and Jack crashing to the floor again.
"Let's just rest for a moment," Ianto tried again. He settled a hand on Jack's leg. If anything, Jack looked worse, the more they walked.
"We're almost there," Jack panted. He stared down the hallway. Jack set his jaw and he struggled up. "I…I have to see…" Jack's knees buckled.
"Jack!" Ianto struggled to get up as Jack sagged forward.
"Got ya."
Arms on both side of Jack caught him just before his knees struck the floor.
Ianto sagged back. He smiled wearily at Owen and Gwen.
"You tried to carry him all the way up here?" Owen griped as he struggled to keep Jack upright. "He weighs a ton."
With Tosh's help, Ianto staggered up to rest against the wall.
"That's it," Ianto gasped as he placed one hand on his brow, the other on his chest, "no more cream and sugar in your coffee, Harkness."
"Are you 'alling me f-fat?" Jack managed as he straightened. Jack gulped air, patted Ianto on the shoulder and merely grinned.
Owen's eyes flitted over to Ianto.
"All right?" Owen grunted. He nodded towards Ianto's chest.
Ianto glanced down. His shirt was torn and smeared dark red.
"Jack's blood," Ianto mumbled and his eyes burned, God, the screaming.
"Whoa! Where do you think you're going?" Owen exclaimed when Jack's step slammed him against the wall and Ianto.
"Bridge," Ianto explained when Jack couldn't. "He…" Ianto swallowed, "he wants to know it worked."
"I have to see," Jack wheezed.
Ianto stared at Owen, willing him to understand. The medic studied him for a long moment, before he nodded. Owen turned to Gwen and Tosh. The two nodded as well and pulled out their weapons.
Jack smiled faintly at the multiple clicks of the guns. He stood a little taller and with Ianto still tucked by his side, they steered for the bridge.
Martha barely had a chance to absorb the latest events when the console on the upper deck made a shrill noise. Tish screamed and Martha twisted to see what she was pointing at. There was a stream of black, like a swarm of bees steering for the Valiant.
The doors were kicked open just as she bounded up the steps.
"Martha!" Gwen, Owen and Toshiko charged into the room, their guns aimed even when the guards did nothing.
"You okay?" Owen called out as he gestured to the guards to back up against the wall.
"We've all six billion spheres heading straight for us!" Martha shouted back as she scanned the monitors.
"I'm guessing that's a no then," someone gasped.
Martha's head jerked up. "Jack! Ianto!" Relief twisted to dismay when she got a good look at the two. "You look awful!"
"Lovely to see you too Miss Jones," Ianto gasped back.
"Where's the Doctor?" Jack demanded.
"He disappeared with the Master," Tish told Jack.
"What?" Martha wasn't sure who said that. She examined the consoles by the main window. She clutched the pilot's chair with a clawed grip. It didn't look like there was anything on it that would help.
"Can't explain. Please tell me you've sorted out the paradox machine," Martha pleaded as the swarm flew closer. She slapped her hand on the alarm, shutting off the squeal that grew as the spheres sped closer.
"Owen?" Jack shouted out.
"Three seconds!" Owen shot back. "Two! One! Brace yourselves!"
Martha saw her father hold onto her mother, Tish hugged the railing and the others grabbed the table.
Nothing.
"I told you to check the batteries!" Toshiko shouted.
"I did. I-Tosh!"
One of the windows below burst. Tish shrieked. Buzzing, the Toclafane zipped in. Papers flew as wind rushed in.
"Take cover! Incoming!" Martha heard Jack holler. She could hear gunfire, sparks. The Toclafane just floated there.
It won't be enough, Martha thought just as she threw herself to the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the main window, the black filling the sky as they approached. Her throat closed up. Her eyes burned. God, it won't be enough, Martha despaired.
Doctor…
Just as the spikes sprung out of the dozens of Toclafane high above them, the Valiant pitched forward a little and there was a distant roar, followed by a few more, all in rapid succession.
With a combined shriek, the Toclafane dissolved into a cloud of smoke.
Martha lifted her head in time to see all the Toclafane in front of the ship vanish.
"Okay," Owen said breathlessly, "my watch may have been off-shit!"
As soon as the last sphere faded from the sky. The Valiant bucked and Martha gasped. She heard Toshiko cry out as the ship tilted and Toshiko slid towards the broken window until Owen caught her. Martha got up to see where her family was when the ship jumped again and Martha felt herself falling down the stairs. Falling…
Right into the Doctor's arms.
Martha gripped his upper arms and his face bloomed into that wide grin she dreamt about all year.
The ship tipped the other way now and she fell back with the Doctor and they crashed with mutual grunts, bellies down to the ground by the foot of the stairs. Martha found herself grinning back at him as he cupped the back of her head to bid her to duck just as a chair spun past her.
"Everyone down!" the Doctor bellowed. "Time is reversing!"
Just then, the ship rocked once more and a bulky jar skidded across the floor to sit between them.
Martha stared at the hand dancing in the bubbling water, stared at the Doctor and in the midst of the ship shaking as if falling apart, paper spinning in the air, the two looked at each other.
And laughed.
"Time is reversing!"
The meaning didn't quite absorb into Ianto's mind. He was too busy holding onto one of the conference table legs. Jack was on top of him, his arms stretched over him, holding onto the same leg.
Ianto heard Gwen yelp and Ianto reached out a hand and felt her grab his arm as she slid by him. Ianto gritted his teeth and pulled until Gwen was holding onto the leg.
Things rattled, banged against his legs. Wind whipped around him. He felt Jack press his body down over him and Gwen. The wind pulled and snapped at their legs like a rabid dog. He could hear things uprooting and flying past him. He heard Owen on the other side of the table grunt as a chair collided with his legs. Owen simply hugged Tosh closer under the table.
Too much screaming. It felt like London all over again and the fact that he couldn't smell smoke or burning bodies confused him. Jack's weight pinning him down anchored him and pushed back the large bile-tasting lump that wanted to come out but when Ianto felt his grip being pried off the table, Ianto panicked.
And then, everything stopped.
Ianto was afraid to let go of the table and judging by the way Gwen was trembling, Gwen was thinking the same thing. But then Jack shifted, patted his back and rose shakily to his feet.
The Doctor, looking remarkably exactly like himself, was climbing up to the consoles with an energy Ianto was relieved to see. The rejuvenated Time Lord slapped at a button and a shield came down over the broken window. The wind died down immediately.
"The paradox is broken," the Doctor declared. He flipped a few switches on a console. "We've reverted back, one year and one day. Two minutes past 8:00 in the morning."
The radio blared instantly after one switch. "This is UNIT Central. What's happened up there? We just saw the President assassinated!"
The Doctor grimaced and cut the connection. He grinned at everyone. "You see? Just after the President was killed, but just before the spheres arrived." The Doctor beamed at Martha.
"Everything back to normal," Martha breathed.
"Planet Earth restored," the Doctor cheered.
The tightness around his chest unraveled. "Everything?" Ianto whispered.
Gwen sounded like she was choking. "All those deaths? Japan? Cardiff? Everywhere?" She stared up at the Doctor with a scared expression.
The Doctor's face softened to understanding. "None of it happened. The rockets, the terror. It never was."
"What about the spheres?" Tosh asked in a trembling voice as she rose to her feet. She clutched Owen's hand for support.
The Doctor's eyes dulled at her question. "Trapped at the end of the universe," he said with a touch of regret.
"But I remember it," Martha's mother muttered to herself. She looked haunted.
"We're at the eye of the storm. The only ones who'll ever know."
"Then…" Jack spoke up behind him. His voice was dull. "It still happened then. All of it."
The Doctor's smile dropped completely and he stared at Jack with old eyes.
"Jack. Ah…" The Doctor's shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry. I'm…So sorry."
Ianto touched Jack's arm but Jack jerked away. Jack stared at the Doctor, his face gray and bleak.
There was a laugh coming from under the stairs.
Ianto tensed when he saw Saxon unwrap his arms from the railing, his tie skewed, his eyes dark with a humor only Saxon enjoyed.
"You would want this to never have happened, wouldn't you, Captain?" Saxon chuckled.
Ianto saw Jack clench his fists.
"All those memories, all those months, all those-"
"Master!" the Doctor roared. "That is enough!"
Saxon glowered at them. Then, he smirked.
"No," he purred, "I don't think so."
Out of nowhere, Lucy exploded, breaking free from one of the guard's hold. Startled, the Doctor and Jack stepped back just as Martha's father came down the stairs to help Owen hold her. Lucy Saxon was a woman possessed. She screamed at them, twisting as she yelled. Owen grimaced as he tried to stay out of the way of her head.
"That's enough, Lucy Saxon!" the Doctor ordered. He walked over and set two hands on her shoulders. "Enough," the Doctor repeated in a softer voice. Lucy calmed and stood there swaying on her feet.
"Yes, Doctor. Enough."
Everyone spun around and Ianto stiffened at the sight of Saxon with his screwdriver and three guards dressed in dark suits perched on the upper deck with rifles aimed down towards the lower level. Tish Jones was in front of the guards, guns pointed at her head. Martha's little sister looked pissed.
"Tish!" Martha gasped.
"Drop your weapons," Saxon drawled. "These boys here are not under Archangel's power. They joined the Ministry of Defense voluntarily." He sneered when everyone set their guns on the floor. "Oh, the wonders of the malcontent Generation X."
Jack growled under his breath and Saxon darkened.
"After everything, Jack," Saxon murmured. "You still fall in rank with him instead." Saxon frowned. "I have miscalculated." His eyes drifted to Ianto. A chill rippled down his back at Saxon's calculating stare.
"And young Ianto Jones. I have certainly misjudged your influence to his timeline as well."
"Master, it's over," the Doctor said but he froze when the screwdriver swung back his way.
"Which one, Captain?" Saxon sang out as he swiveled the device from the Doctor to Ianto. "Which one is most crucial for your timeline? Who would you choose? The Doctor?" It pointed towards the Time Lord again. "You've waited so long for him. A Time Lord who was never going to come back or…" The screwdriver turned back towards Ianto. "A mortal who will barely last a blink of your unnatural life, Jack."
"Master, stop this. You've lost-"
"Only this time!" The Master chuckled as the screwdriver went from the Doctor to Ianto like a mad pendulum. "Only this time, as a fellow scientific mind, we both know that it is through trial and error we find the success of our experiment."
Ianto could sense Jack edging forward. Jack was unsteady on his feet but Ianto could feel his anger growing like a physical force next to him.
"Who would you choose?" the Master taunted. "Uh, uh!" He smirked when he saw Owen and Jack tense. "You might come out fine, Jack, but do you really think your fragile humans in Torchwood would survive?"
Ianto saw a muscle in Jack's jaw flex but he stepped back.
"What do you think you'll accomplish?" the Doctor murmured. "The entire world has been corrected. All your work was undone. Everything."
Ianto could see Saxon's men on the upper deck fidget.
"I'm not looking to accomplish anything," the Master answered coldly before he spun towards the Doctor.
Ianto heard people shouting, bodies in motion, Jack moving away from him, but just as everything burst into life, Ianto saw Saxon, at the last moment, turn back towards him. Saxon's face twisted as a light shot out of his device.
Ianto felt a hard blow to his chest just as Tosh screamed his name and as he fell back, there was one last thought as his head struck the floor.
Jack had made his choice.
Conclusion 1/2
Additional Notes: Many thanks to soullessminion for betaing this chapter. And trtmx for her magic trick that saved my sanity! LOL.