Rose continued down the corridors, the sonic screwdriver held in front of her. Yvonne Hartmann followed in her wake. As they passed two soldiers, Yvonne ordered them to accompany the two women as they made their way into an area that was marked as being under construction.
“What’s down here?” Rose asked.
“I don’t know,” Yvonne replied softly. “I think it’s building work. It’s just renovations.”
“You should go back.”
“Think again.”
Rose sighed and said nothing as she and the others made their way through the plastic dividers, going deeper and deeper into the area. The sonic screwdriver was beeping wildly. “What is it? What’s down here?” Yvonne asked.
“Earpieces, ear pods. This world is colliding with another. And I think I know which one.”
Loud, metallic footsteps rang in the distance as several Cybermen tried to flank the humans. “What are they?” Yvonne demanded.
“They came through first. The advance guard. Cybermen!”
The Cybermen quickly surrounded Yvonne and Rose as they tried to flee. They were led back to the lever room, their hands on the backs of their heads in surrender. As they entered the room, Rose raised her voice in warning to the others who were in there trying to stop the ghost shift. “Get away from the machines! Do what they say! Don’t fight them! Don’t shoot!” Rose screamed as the Cybermen raised their arms and shot at the two men fighting to get the levers back down.
“We are the Cybermen,” one of the metallic creatures said calmly. “The ghost shift will be increased to 100%.”
The levers moved to their upright position and light filled the room as the rift was activated. “Here come the ghosts,” Rose muttered angrily as the metallic thudding of Cybermen feet marched through the rift and into the room. She knew that all around the world, the ghosts were solidifying into Cybermen as they punched their way through the rift, forcing themselves into this reality.
“They’re invading the whole planet,” Yvonne whispered.
“It’s not an invasion,” Rose countered. “It’s too late for that. It’s a victory.”
Just then, a computer’s tinny voice rang through the room. “Sphere activated,” it said over and over again as read-outs from the void ship came across the monitor.
“I don’t understand,” Rose muttered to one of the creatures. “The Cybermen don’t have the technology to build a void ship. That’s way beyond you. How did you create that sphere?”
“The sphere is not ours,” the Cyberman replied.
“What?” Rose said, confused.
“The sphere broke down the barrier between worlds. We only followed. Its origin is unknown.”
“Then what’s inside it?” Rose wondered.
~*~*~*~
Down in the sphere room, Mickey and Jackie watched in horror as four creatures flew out of the opening sphere. They looked like pepper pots with a single eyestalk. “Those aren’t Cybermen,” Mickey muttered hoarsely. He recognized the description from Rose. She’d told him about the Time War and the battle on the Game Station where she’d been sent back home by the Doctor only to open the TARDIS and make her way back to him following the transmission of “Bad Wolf” that she had scattered through time and space.
“Oh my God,” Jackie hissed. She recognized these creatures as well. The last Christmas, when the Doctor had been recovering from his regeneration, Rose had frequently woken the entire flat up screaming about the creatures.
“Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!” the four Daleks said as they floated down to face the humans.
“Daleks!” Mickey shouted, bringing the four creatures up short. “You’re called Daleks.” He walked up to stare straight in the black Dalek’s eyestalk. “I know your name. Think about it. How can I know that? 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. Daleks. Time War. Me, too,” Jackie said.
“And me,” Rajesh added.
“You will be necessary,” the black Dalek said, staring straight at Mickey. Then its head swiveled to regard the other Daleks behind it. “Report! What is the status of the Genesis Ark?”
“Status, hibernation.”
“Commence awakening. The Genesis Ark must be protected above all else.”
“The Daleks,” Jackie whispered, “Rose said they were all dead.”
“Never mind that. What the hell is a Genesis Ark?”
~*~*~*~
Back in the lever room, Rose was trying to remain calm. She had no idea what was going on in the sphere room. She knew Mickey was down there. She was worried sick about him but couldn’t do anything at the moment. Yvonne had returned to her desk. One of the Cybermen marched into her office. “You will talk to your Central World Authority and order global surrender,” it told Yvonne.
“Oh, do some research,” Yvonne said sarcastically. “We haven’t got a ‘Central World Authority.’”
“You have now. I will speak on all global wavelengths. This broadcast is for humankind. The Cybermen now occupy every landmass on this planet. But you need not fear. Cybermen will remove fear. Cybermen will remove sex and class and color and creed. You will become identical. You will become like us.”
Rose moved to Yvonne’s office. Soon the humans and the Cyberman were staring out the window at the smoke and fires rising around London. “I ordered surrender,” the Cyberman said.
“They’re not taking instructions,” Rose retorted. “Don’t you understand? You’re on every street. You’re in their homes. You’ve got their children! Of course they’re gonna fight!”
“Scans detect unknown technology active within sphere chamber,” another Cyberman said as several dozen others lined up in marching formation.
“Cybermen will investigate,” the designated leader who had ordered surrender said. “Units 10-6-5 and 10-6-6 will investigate sphere chamber.”
Deep within the Torchwood archives, two Cybermen clapped their fists to their chests. “We obey.” They marched towards the sphere chamber.
“Units open visual link.” A nearby laptop began displaying what the Cybermen investigating the sphere chamber were seeing. “Visual contact established.”
~*~*~*~
“Which of you is least important?” the black Dalek demanded. The other three were still working on the strange dome-shaped Genesis Ark.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Mickey replied.
“Which of you is least important?”
“No, we don’t work like that. None of us.”
“Designate the least important!”
“This is my responsibility,” Rajesh said.
“No, don’t,” Mickey sighed, shaking his head.
“I represent the Torchwood Institute. Anything you need, you come through me. Leave these two alone.”
“You will kneel.”
“What for?”
“Kneel!” Rajesh knelt as the Daleks surrounded him. “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.”
“Speech is not necessary. We will extract brainwaves.” The Daleks moved in closer to the man and extended their plungers, surrounding his face and head.
“Don’t! I’ll tell you everything you need!” Rajesh screamed as they pulled the information directly from his mind, killing him in the process.
“His mind spoke of a second species invading Earth. Infected by the superstition of ghosts.”
“You didn’t need to kill him!” Jackie protested.
“Neither did we need him alive,” the Dalek retorted.
“Dalek Thay, investigate outside,” the black Dalek ordered.
“I obey.”
“Establish visual contact. Lower communications barrier.” Mickey and Jackie watched as a display appeared where the sphere had been.
~*~*~*~
“Identify yourself,” Dalek Thay ordered the two Cybermen. In the office high above them, Rose shifted and shuddered. The Daleks!
“You will identify first,” the Cybermen countered.
“State your identity!”
“You will identify first.”
“Identify!”
“It’s like Stephen Hawking meets the speaking clock,” Mickey whispered to Jackie back in the sphere chamber.
“…and illogical. You will modify,” the Cybermen were saying.
“Daleks do not take orders.”
“You have identified as Daleks.”
Back in the sphere chamber, the black Dalek was speaking. “Outline resembles the inferior species known as Cybermen.” The Daleks and the Cybermen continued bickering. Rose took her phone and called her mother to make certain that she was still alive. When Jackie picked up, Rose could overhear the Daleks speaking. Her mother must be inside the sphere chamber. They were talking about a Genesis Ark.
“Our species are similar though your design is inelegant,” Rose heard the Cybermen arguing with the Dalek. She moved over to study the computer display more closely. In her ear, she heard the TARDIS telling her that the Daleks and the Cybermen were all coated in Void Stuff. The Daleks had been inside the void ship and the Daleks had broken down the barrier between worlds that let the Cybermen through.
“Daleks have no concept of elegance.”
“This is obvious. But consider, our technologies are compatible. Cybermen plus Daleks, together we could upgrade the universe.”
“You propose an alliance?”
“This is correct.”
“Request denied.”
“Hostile elements will be deleted,” the Cybermen warned as they raised their arms, preparing to unleash their weapons on the Dalek.
“Exterminate!” the Dalek shouted, shooting its laser twice. The Cybermen screamed in pain and then went still, dead.
“Open visual link,” the Cyber commander in the office ordered as the group upstairs lost contact with the ones below. “Daleks, be warned. You have declared war upon the Cybermen.”
“This is not war. 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. You are superior in only one respect.”
“What is that?”
“You are better at dying. Raise communications barrier!
“Wait!” one of the Daleks in the sphere chamber ordered. “Rewind image by nine rels. Identify grid seven gamma flame.” Jackie’s heart began pounding. It was Rose. “This female registers as an enemy.”
“The female’s heartbeat has increased. Identify her!”
“Yeah, all right then,” Jackie sighed. “If you really want to know. That’s Rose Tyler. She met your Emperor.”
“The Emperor survived?”
“Yeah, ‘til he met Rose,” Mickey laughed. “She poured the Time Vortex into his head and turned him into dust. All because he threatened people she cared about. She ended the Time War. She succeeded where Time Lords and Daleks had failed. One little human female showed both your races up. This is her mother,” he nodded towards Jackie, “and I’m her best mate. So, unless you want to get turned into dust and ash, I think you’d better leave us alone.”
The Daleks appeared to weigh this information carefully. Mickey snorted as he and Jackie moved away. “Five million Cybermen, nothing. One Rose Tyler? Now they’re scared.”
“Jackie, you should try to get away from here,” Mickey whispered. “I’m not sure what these Daleks need, but if they need a time traveler, then I’m the only one in the room. Go see if you can find Rose and get her somewhere safe.”
Jackie nodded. The Daleks were so intent on the Genesis Ark that she was able to slip out of the room unnoticed. She made her way to the nearest staircase and began climbing, hoping to avoid the Cybermen and to find her daughter.
~*~*~*~
Rose sat in the window, alone except for the Cybermen guarding her. Yvonne and the others had been pulled away, taken to the conversion chambers for upgrading. All Rose wanted to do was get away herself and find her mum and get her and Mickey out of here. In her head, she could feel the TARDIS developing a plan.
“You are proof,” the Cyber controller said.
“Of what?” Rose asked.
“That emotions destroy you.”
“Yeah, I am. Though I quite like hope. Hope’s a good emotion. And here it comes,” she muttered as the hair on the back of her neck stood up. A few seconds later, the entire lever room was filled with men in black, carrying guns and wearing masks. They opened fire on the Cybermen, killing them. Rose grinned. These must be more of Mickey’s friends from the other world. Rose dove for cover as they began firing at the Cybermen. When the shooting was over, she stood up and walked out of the office.
“Rose!” Jake said, pulling the mask off his face. “Good to see you again.”
“Jake!”
“The Cybermen came through from one world to another and so did we,” the blond man grinned. “Defend this room. Chrissie, monitor communications. Kill one Cyberleader and they just download into another. Move!” he shouted at the others. Rose stared at him. The TARDIS was indicating that all of these people were coated with a light dusting of Void Stuff.
“You can’t just hop from one world to another,” Rose sputtered. “You can’t.”
“We just did,” Jake replied. “With these.” He tossed a device to Rose. It was round with a big yellow button. A chain on it showed that it was meant to be worn around the neck. She studied it, opening her mind to the TARDIS.
“But that’s impossible. You can’t have this sort of technology.”
“We’ve got our own version of Torchwood. They developed it. Do you wanna come and see?” Jake reached up and pushed the button on his device.
“No!” Rose protested. She was too late, though. Both she and Jake were…transported through the Void and into the alternate world.
“Parallel Earth. Parallel Torchwood. Except we found out what the Institute was doing and the People’s Republic took control.”
“I’ve got to get back. My mother is in danger,” Rose snarled.
“That would be Jackie,” Rose heard Pete Tyler say. She glanced over to see him walking into the room. “My wife in a parallel universe. And, as for you, Rose, at least this time I know who you are,” he grinned at her.
“Right, yes, fine. Hooray. But I’ve got to get back right now,” Rose argued.
“No, you’re not in charge here. This is our world, not yours. And for once, you’re going to listen,” Pete said firmly. “When you left this world, you warned us there would be more Cybermen. So, we sealed them inside the factories.”
“Except people argued,” Jake picked up the story. “Said they were living, we should help them.”
“And the debate went on. But all that time, the Cybermen made plans. Infiltrated this version of Torchwood. Mapped themselves onto your world and then vanished.”
“When was this?” Rose asked.
“Three years ago.”
“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,” she muttered. The TARDIS confirmed her suspicions.
“Yeah, Mickey said you’d rattle off that kind of stuff,” Pete chuckled. They strode over to a window. “Look at it. A world at peace. We’re calling this the Golden Age.”
“Who’s the president now?”
“A woman named Harriet Jones.”
“I’d keep an eye on her.”
“But it’s a lie,” Pete continued. “Temperatures have risen by two degrees in the past six months. The ice caps are melting. They say all of this is going to be flooded. That’s not just global warming, is it?”
“No.”
“It’s the breach.”
“I’ve been trying to tell you. Travel between parallel worlds is impossible. Then the Daleks break down the walls with the sphere.”
“Daleks?”
“Then the Cybermen traveled across, then you lot. Those discs…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!” Rose shouted angrily. The TARDIS’s own thoughts were mixing and matching with hers.
“But you can stop it?” Pete asked. “The famous Rose. You can seal the breach?”
“Leaving five million Cybermen stranded on my Earth.”
“That’s your problem. I’m protecting this world and this world only.”
“Pete Tyler,” Rose laughed. “Here you are, fighting the fight. Alone. There is a chance, back on my world, Jackie Tyler might still be alive.”
“My wife died.”
“Her husband died. Good match.”
“There’s more important things at stake. Rose, help us,” he pleaded.
“What? Close the breach? Stop the Cybermen? Defeat the Daleks? Do you believe I can do that?”
“Yes,” Pete smiled.
“Maybe that’s all I need,” Rose muttered to herself, feeling the negativity that had surrounded her ever since she’d lost the Doctor begin to lift. “Off we go, then.” She, Jake, and Pete all transported themselves back to her Earth. “First of all, I need to make a phone call. You don’t mind?”
“You three, guard the door,” Jake ordered as Rose dashed into Yvonne’s office and dialed her mother’s phone.
“Mum, where are you?”
“I’m in the staircase.”
“Which one?”
“I don’t know.”
“Does it have any markings?”
“It has a fire extinguisher.”
“Yeah, that helps,” Rose sighed.
“Oh, wait. There’s a sign. It says N3.”
“That’s in the north corner, staircase three. Mum, just hang on. We’re coming to get you. How is Mickey?”
“He’s still in that room with those Daleks. Said they might need a time traveler.”
Rose nodded. She’d told Mickey the story about the first time she’d ever met a Dalek. How the radiation she’d soaked up just by traveling in the TARDIS could be used to power them and a single touch had been all it’d taken to revive that dying Dalek. Whatever this Genesis Ark was, if it was from the Time War, it might require the touch of a time traveler to activate it. “We’re on our way,” Rose said to her mother as she hung up the phone. “Jacqueline Andrea Suzette Tyler,” she announced to Pete.
“She’s not my wife,” Pete protested.
“I was at the wedding,” Rose laughed. “You got her name wrong. Now then, Jake,” she continued, grabbing his gun. “If I could open up the bonding chamber on this thing, it could work on polycarbide.” The TARDIS was sending information to her to help Rose make the necessary modifications so that the gun would work against the Daleks.
“What’s ‘polycarbide?’”
“The skin of a Dalek.”
Rose quickly made the changes to the gun and handed it back to Jake. She grabbed a sheet of white paper and stuck it on a long pin, making a white flag. With that, if they ran into Cybermen, she could distract them long enough for the others to take them down. Now it was time to find her mother.
~*~*~*~
Mickey stood with his arms crossed over his chest. The Daleks were aware that Jackie was gone. They didn’t care at the moment, though. She was no threat to them. They would exterminate her in time. “Final stage of awakening! Your handprint will open the Ark,” the Daleks informed Mickey. Briefly, he wondered if he should try to bluff his way out of this or just go ahead and do what they wanted.
“What if I don’t want to?”
“You will obey or we will find Rose Tyler and she will be exterminated.”
“Well then, what the hell,” Mickey shrugged. “You’re gonna kill us all anyway. Might as well go ahead and start with me. I reckon you’ll need a bit of a warm-up if you’re planning to go after the woman who turned the God of all Daleks into dust.”
“Well now wait a minute,” Rose said as she strode into the room.
“You are Rose Tyler. Sensors indicate that you are unarmed,” the Dalek leader shouted.
“That’s me. Always.”
“Then you are powerless.”
“Not me. Never,” Rose laughed. She studied the Ark curiously. “How are you?” she asked Mickey.
“Oh, you know. Same old.”
“Social interaction will cease!”
“So, the last four Daleks in existence. How did you survive the Time War? By running away?”
“We had to survive.”
“Why? What’s so special about you?”
“Rose,” Mickey interjected. “They’ve got names.”
“I am Dalek Thay,” one of them said.
“Dalek Sec,” the one in black plating announced.
“Dalek Jast,” the third added.
“Dalek Caan.”
“The cult of Skaro,” Rose said, repeating the words that the TARDIS was pouring into her head.
“Who are they?” Mickey asked.
“A secret order above and beyond the Emperor himself. Their job was to imagine. Think as the enemy thinks. Even dare to have names, all to find new ways of killing.”
“But that thing, they said it belonged to the Time Lords. Any idea what it does?”
“I dunno,” Rose sighed. The TARDIS had no clue either.
“But it’s Time Lord.”
“Both sides had secrets,” Rose shrugged. “What is it? What have you done?” she asked the Daleks.
“Time Lord science will restore Dalek supremacy.”
“What does that mean? What sort of ‘Time Lord science’ What do you mean?”
“They said one touch from a time traveler will wake it up,” Mickey added.
“Technology using the one thing a Dalek can’t do. Touch. Sealed inside your casing, not feeling anything. Ever,” Rose taunted. “From birth to death, locked in a cold metal cage, completely alone. That explains your voice. No wonder you scream.”
“Rose Tyler will open the Ark!”
“Rose Tyler will not,” she laughed.
“You have no way of resisting.”
“Yeah. You’ve got me there. Although,” she said, pulling out her sonic screwdriver. “There is always this.”
“A sonic probe?”
“That’s screwdriver.”
“It is harmless.”
“Yeah. But it is really good at opening doors.” Rose pressed the button and the doors blew open. Cybermen and humans poured into the room, firing their weapons at the Daleks. One of the Daleks began screaming that its casing was impaired. Another shouted that its firepower was insufficient. Rose and Mickey scrambled, keeping low to the ground as they tried to escape the firefight. Pete dove into the fray and pulled Rose to safety. “Mickey, come on!” she shouted once she was in the hallway. Mickey tried to scramble after her but fell, his hand brushing against the Genesis Ark. He wrenched it away, shaking it to try to relieve the burning. Rose turned her sonic back on the doorway as soon as all of the humans were out. The Daleks had adapted their weaponry and were firing on the Cybermen. “Jake, protect the stairwell. The rest of you come on!”
“I just fell. I didn’t mean it!” Mickey apologized to Rose.
“Mickey, without us, they’d have opened it by force and to do that, they’d have blown up the sun. So, you’ve done us a favor. Now run!”
Ahead of them were a pair of Cybermen. Rose froze when she heard her mother begging them not to upgrade her. Pete didn’t hesitate. Grabbing Mickey’s gun, he fired on the Cybermen, dropping them.
“Pete?” Jackie said, confused.
“Hello, Jacks.”
“I said they were ghosts but that’s not fair,” Jackie shouted at Rose. “Why him?”
“I’m not a ghost,” Pete explained.
“But you’re dead. You died twenty years ago, Pete.”
“It’s Pete from a different universe,” Rose explained. “There are parallel worlds, Mum. Every single decision we make creates a parallel existence. A different dimension where…”
“Oh, shut up,” Jackie snarled. “You look old,” she said to Pete.
“You don’t.”
“How can you be standing there?”
“Just got lucky. Lived my life. But you were left on your own. You didn’t marry again or?”
“No, there was never anyone else. Twenty years, though. Look at me. I never left that flat. Did nothing with myself.”
“You brought her up,” Pete replied, gesturing towards Rose. “Rose Tyler. That’s not bad.”
“Yeah,” Jackie smiled.
“In my world, it worked. All those daft little plans of mine, it worked. Made me rich.”
“I don’t care about that,” Jackie snorted. “How rich?”
“Very.”
“I don’t care about that,” she repeated. “How very?”
“Thing is though, Jacks. You’re not my wife. I’m sorry, but you’re not. I mean, we both…” Jackie nodded in understanding. “You know, it’s just sort of…oh, come here,” he groaned as he ran over to her. Jackie ran towards him and jumped into his arms. Rose hung back, sharing a glance with Mickey. She hoped that one day, she would find that kind of love herself. For now, she was happy to see her parents reunited. Something good needed to come of this terrible day and horrible place.
~*~*~*~
Rose and the others made their way to the Torchwood archives. The TARDIS had come up with a plan that might save everything. Rose could open the breach on just this side. Anything that had Void Stuff on it would be pulled in. Of course, Pete, Mickey, and the others would need to get back to the other universe first. Rose would need one of the manga-clamps that Yvonne had shown her in passing. With that, she could hold on for dear life while the breach was open and everything was pulled into it. Then it would seal itself. Simple.
She crawled carefully through the battle-torn room. The Daleks where there – all four of them had survived. The Genesis Ark was between them and they fired their weapons at the Cybermen. The Ark had steam coming out of it. Rose wondered just what could be inside that thing. Keeping her mind focused on her objective, Rose managed to snag a couple of manga-clamps and carried them back out to the hallway where the others waited.
“Override roof mechanism,” Dalek Sec ordered. Rose watched from the doorway as the roof began to open.
“Elevate.”
“What are they doing?” Mickey asked. “Why do they need to get outside?”
“Time Lord science?” Rose muttered, sending her thoughts to the TARDIS. “What Time Lord science? What is it? We’ve got to see what it’s doing,” she said to the others as she began running back down the hallway towards the stairwells, the manga-clamps in her hands. “Come on, all the way back up! Come on, all of you! Top floor!”
“That’s forty-five floors up!” Jackie protested. “Believe me, I’ve done them all!”
“We could always take the lift!” Jake shouted as he ducked his head out of it. Rose and the others ran to the lift and took it to the top floor. Once there, she ran into Yvonne’s office and stared out the window. The Genesis Ark was opening. Countless Daleks sprang out of it, floating high in the air over London.
“Time Lord science,” she sighed. “It’s bigger on the inside.”
“The Time Lords put those Daleks in there?” Mickey asked. “What for?”
“It’s a prison ship.”
“How many Daleks?”
“Millions.” Rose glared at them angrily. Would the damned Time War ever be really and truly over? Would she constantly have to see these nightmarish creatures? She thanked Fate that the Doctor wasn’t here to see this. The way his eyes had filled with rage and anguish first in Utah and then at the Game Station burned into her heart. Even if she was upset with him, even if part of her was angry beyond measure that he had left her, she would not wish this on him. She took a deep breath and walked back into the lever room. She attached the manga-clamps to the walls near each lever.
“I’m sorry, but we’ve had it,” Pete said abruptly. “This world’s gonna crash and burn. There’s nothing we can do. We’re going home. Jacks, take this,” he said, tossing one of the jumpers to his wife. “You’re coming with us.”
“But they’re destroying the city,” she protested.
“Oh, I’d forgotten you could argue,” he grinned. “It’s not just London. It’s the whole world.” He slipped the jumper over her head. “But there’s another world just waiting for you, Jacks, and it’s safe.” He cradled her face in his hands. “As long as Rose closes the breach. Rose?”
“Oh, I’m ready,” she said from near one of the levers. “Slam it down and close off both universes.”
“But we can’t just leave,” Mickey argued. “What about the Daleks and the Cybermen?”
“They’re part of the problem and that makes them part of the solution,” Rose grinned. “‘Cause we’ve got two separate worlds but in between the two worlds is the Void. That’s where the Daleks have been hiding.” She fingered her earring as the TARDIS continued to explain. “And the Cybermen traveled through the Void to get here. And you lot, one world to another via the Void. The Daleks lived inside the Void. They’re bristling with Void stuff. Cybermen, all of them. I just open the breach and reverse. The Void stuff gets sucked back inside.”
“Pulling them all in,” Pete laughed.
“Pulling them all in,” she agreed.
“Sorry, but what is the Void?” Mickey asked.
“The dead space,” Rose explained. “Some people call it hell.”
“So, you’re sending the Daleks and the Cybermen to hell? Man, I told you she was good,” he grinned at Jake. “But this Void stuff,” he said, realizing what could happen, “we’ve all got it. You’ve got it, too, Rose.”
“That’s what those are for,” she said, gesturing to the manga-clamps. “You all go back to Pete’s world. I open the breach on this side only. I grab on to those and hang on for dear life. The breach itself is soaked in Void stuff and it will seal itself in the end.”
“I’m supposed to go?” Jackie muttered.
“Yeah,” Rose answered.
“To another world and then it gets sealed off?”
“Yeah.”
“Forever?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“We haven’t got time to argue. The plan works. We’re going,” Pete said firmly.
“I’m not leaving my daughter!”
“Mum, you’ve got to,” Rose sighed. “This is your one chance to have the life you’ve always deserved. Your one chance to be happy. I had you for nineteen years, Mum. I want you to take this chance. For me.”
“But I’ll never see you again! You’ll be all alone!”
“And you’ll have Pete again.”
“Rose Tyler, you think you’re so brilliant with all this traveling you’ve done!”
“Mum, everyone leaves home in the end. All of us. And this way, I’ll know that you’re safe. That you’re happy. So please, mum. Do this for me.”
“That’s enough,” Pete said. He pushed the button on his jumper, sending all of them back. Rose walked over to the computers and began inputting the data that would open the breach. Her mum was back with her dad. Everything would be perfect now. Jackie would have the kind of life she deserved and Rose wouldn’t have to worry about her mother being lonely anymore. She would be well taken care of.
Just then, a flash of light filled the room as Jackie Tyler reappeared. “Sod that!” Jackie shouted. “Try sending me off again and I’ll slap you ‘til your ears ring!”
“Mum, I just want you to be happy…”
“How could I be happy without my girl? Now, come on. Let’s seal this breach or whatever and then you’re going to tell me the truth about what’s going on with you and the Doctor and why that damned alien isn’t here!”
“Mum, you’ll get pulled in! You’ve got Void stuff on you now!”
“If you can hang on, then I can too.”
Rose sighed. Jackie had tossed the jumper aside. She finished entering the information in the computers and then nodded. “Open the levers and then hang on tight, Mum. Once this is over, we’ll go home and have a nice cuppa, won’t we?”
“Yeah,” Jackie nodded, swallowing her tears. She understood what Rose had tried to do and loved her daughter for it. And yes, Rose would leave home. All children left the nest, testing their wings, and flying off to build their own lives. She hoped that Rose wouldn’t fly too far, though. She loved her daughter. Rose was a living, breathing symbol of the love she’d shared with Pete. The love she’d just given up a second chance at to stay with her daughter. Studying the other woman, Jackie knew that Rose must be hurting. Something terrible must have happened with the Doctor and Rose’s heart was breaking over it. She masked her pain in action and humor but Jackie knew her daughter. Or she thought she did. There were other factors at play and once this was all over, Jackie Tyler intended to get to the bottom of it if she had to slap half of London to do so.
“Ready?” Rose asked as she took her place at one of the levers. Jackie nodded and moved to stand behind the other. The two women pushed the levers up and then ran to the clamps. Jackie wrapped her arms around her clamp and hung on as the wind picked up. She looked over to see Rose hanging on as well. The breach opened and then everything started going crazy. Cybermen and Daleks flew through the air and into the wall, vanishing. The longer the breach was open, the more violent the wind became. Jackie thought her arms were going to be torn out of their sockets. Rose had her eyes closed as she focused on holding on.
Then, Jackie’s lever began to shift. “System offline,” the computer voice announced. Jackie glanced down to see her lever beginning to drift downwards. She couldn’t let that happen. Not after everything Rose had done to try to fix this problem. A problem that was not of her making at all! Stretching as far as she could, Jackie grabbed the lever and wrestled it back up, locking it in place. Daleks and Cybermen continued to pour through, falling into hell. Jackie was picked up until she was sideways, clinging to the lever with her hands. Her grip began to slip until she clung on with just her fingers.
“Mum!” Rose screamed in terror. “Hang on, Mum! Just a little bit longer!”
Jackie tried to get a better grip on the lever but she couldn’t. She was pulled away towards the wall, screaming. She did not want this to be the last sight of her that Rose ever had. Then Jackie felt herself slam into something solid and warm. She looked up to see Pete’s face over her own. He pressed the button on his jumper and they vanished.
Rose hung on even though she wanted to let go. Her mother was gone. Pete had saved her. She would never see them again. The breach continued to pull on itself until, at last, it sealed itself off, leaving Rose in her own world and her friends and family on the other side. Rose walked over to the wall and slumped down in front of it. She placed her hand on it, willing herself to feel through it to the other world. “Mum, this was for the best,” she sobbed. “I didn’t want to leave you but…I can’t stop traveling. I can’t just go back to that life. And I didn’t want you to be alone. I wanted you to have a life again. A wonderful life. A life that I’ll never have because…because yeah, I’ve changed, Mum. I still love you. I’ll always love you. But you were right,” her voice cracked. “I’m not the same Rose Tyler I used to be. Even if the Doctor never loves me, I’ll always love him. Even if he loves Reinette, I’ll still love him. Not because I want to but because…Mum, you gave me life. You raised me. You taught me so much. But he gave me the stars. He showed me things I never dreamed I’d see. And, in the end, when he knew I needed it, he always brought me back to you.”
Rose knelt there, leaning her head against the wall, wrapping her arms around herself, crying until the sun set. The city grew quiet as people tried to make sense of what had happened. The whole world seemed to be holding its breath. Rose stood up, dusted her knees off, wiped at her face, and walked back to the TARDIS. She wanted to find a way to contact her family on the other side. To explain herself. To apologize. But, she also knew that she needed time to herself. Time to think. Time to mourn. And time to grow.