The TARDIS landed on a grassy verge in a suburban street somewhere on Earth, and the Doctor and McKenzie burst out almost immediately, looking very confused when they found it was normal. "It's fine," the Doctor realised, looking around. "Everything's fine. Nothing's wrong, all fine."

McKenzie called over to a milkman doing his rounds. "'Scuse me! What day is it?"

"Saturday," he replied, rolling his eyes. He probably thought she had a hangover or something.

"Saturday," she nodded. "Good. Good. I like Saturdays."

"So I just met Rose Tyler?" Donna asked, stepping out after them. "Your sister?"

McKenzie nodded. "Yeah."

"But I thought the parallel world was sealed off," Donna frowned.

"Exactly," the Doctor exclaimed. "If she can cross from her parallel world to your parallel world, then that means the walls of the universe are brekaing down, which puts everything in danger. Everything. But how?" They went back into the TARDIS.

"The thing is, though, no matter what's happening, and I'm sure it's bad, I get that, but, Rose is coming back," Donna pointed out. "Isn't that good?"

McKenzie smiled, the Doctor's arm around her waist. Both of them spoke at the same time. "Yeah." Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and the TARDIS shook, making the Doctor's arm the only thing stopping her from falling over.

"What the hell was that?!" Donna asked, holding onto the railings.

"Don't know," the Doctor muttered, typing at the console with a frown. "It came from outside."

McKenzie zipped over and opened the doors, only to blink when she found empty space. "Huh?"

"But we're in space. How did that happen?" Donna frowned, knowing she hadn't felt the ship move in flight. "What did you do?"

The Doctor checked the scanner. "We haven't moved. We're fixed. It can't have," he told the scanner, and McKenzie rolled her eyes fondly. "No..." He looked up at them in shock. "The TARDIS is still in the same place, but the Earth has gone. The entire planet. It's gone."

***

Dr Martha Jones groaned as she pulled herself to her feet among the chaos the sudden shaking had caused.

"Give me a Sit Rep right now," one of her bosses demanded. "Confirm all stations still online. Can anyone hear me? Have we got contact with UNIT base Geneva?"

"What was that?" Martha frowned. "Was it some sort of earthquake, or -?" She didn't want to admit it felt like when the Judoon had moved the Royal Hope hospital, only worse, so she turned to help one of her colleagues up. "Jalandra, you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," he smiled briefly.

"Is anyone hurt?" Martha called. "We've lost power. Someone get the lights back on. DaCosta, see to it right now. Suzanne? Are you okay?"

"Martha, look at the sky," Suzanne told her, looking out the window in horror.

"Why, what is it?" the doctor asked.

"Just look at the sky."

***

Captain Jack Harkness was in a similar situation in Cardiff at the Torchwood Hub. "Whoa, what happened? Was it the Rift?" He called down to his colleagues. "Gwen? Ianto? You okay?"

"No broken bones," Ianto Jones reported. "Slight loss of dignity. No change there then."

"The whole of the city must've felt that. The whole of South Wales," Gwen Williams groaned, getting to her feet.

"I'm going to take a look outside," Jack decided. "See if you can get in contact with the Stark Tower." He ran out, and Gwen started typing on her computer.

Ianto was at another desk, activating the computer there. He swallowed. "A little bit bigger than South Wales."

***

"Luke, are you all right?" Sarah Jane Smith called, getting to her feet in her attic.

Her son brushed himself off. "Felt like some sort of cross-dimensional spatial transference."

Sarah Jane looked outside. "But it's night. It wasn't night. It was eight o'clock in the morning." She turned to look at a brick wall. "Mr Smith, I need you." The wall transformed into a computer with a loud fanfare. She rolled her eyes. "Can you just stop giving that fanfare? You just tell me what happened."

"Sarah Jane, I think you should look outside," Mr Smith stated. "I think you'll find the visual evidence most conclusive."

***

Wilf and Sylvia were standing outside their house in shock, like many others. "It's gone dark. It's them aliens, I'll bet my pension. What do you want this time, you green swine?" He brandished his cricket bat at the sky.

"Dad," Sylvia tried, looking in the opposite direction.

"Look, you get back inside, Sylvia," Wilf told her. "They always want the women."

"No, Dad, just look," she pointed. "Oh my God. Look at the sky."

***

Sarah Jane looked at the twenty six planets in the sky, her eyes wide. "That's impossible."

***

"That's just impossible," Jack breathed, standing out on Roald Dahl Plass.

***

Martha looked out of the window, swallowing. "It can't be."

***

The milkman turned around to see a blue flash, and then a blonde woman in a leather jacket and jeans popped into existence, carrying a large gun. She looked up at the sky, unsurprised. "Right, now we're in trouble. It's only just beginning." Rose Tyler powered up her gun and walked away.

***

"But if the Earth's been moved, they've lost the Sun," Donna reasoned, her eyes widening. "What about my mum? And Granddad? They're dead, aren't they? Are they dead?"

"I don't know, Donna," the Doctor admitted, wiping a hand over his face. "I just don't know. I'm sorry, I don't know."

"That's my family. My whole world," Donna breathed.

"Be fair," McKenzie said, typing at the console rapidly, trying to work out what was happening. "It's ours too."

"There's no readings," the Doctor cursed, reading the monitor. "Nothing. Not a trace. Not even a whisper. Oh, that is fearsome technology."

"So what do we do?" Donna asked.

"We've got to get help," McKenzie decided. Trouble was, all the help she knew of was on the planet they currently couldn't find.

"From where?" Donna frowned, apparently thinking along the same lines.

The Doctor made a decision. "Donna, I'm taking you to the Shadow Proclamation. Hold tight."

***

At the Torchwood Hub, Ianto was flicking through channels, trying to see what people thought was going on.

"The United Nations has issued an edict, asking the citizens of the world not to panic. So far there has been no explanation of the twenty six planets which have appeared in the sky."

Click.

"- but it's an empirical fact. The planets didn't come to us, we came to them. Just look at the stars. We're in a completely different region of space. We've travelled."

Click.

"Do you know what, I look up and there's all these moons and things. Have you seen them? Did you see them?"

"Yeah!"

"I thought, what was I drinking last night, furniture polish?"

Ianto laughed with the studio audience.

"Ianto, time and a place," Jack stated, rolling his eyes.

"He is funny, though," Ianto shrugged, turning the screen off.

"Gwen, come and see," Jack called.

Up on the balcony, Gwen was talking to her husband on the phone. "Rhys, I have no idea. Just stay indoors. And can you phone my mother? Tell her, uh, oh, I don't know. Just tell her to take her pills and go to sleep. I'm going to come home as soon as I can, I promise. I love you, you big idiot." She hung up, then joined Jack and Ianto by a computer screen showing their surrounding space.

"Someone's established an artificial atmospheric shell, keeping the air and holding in the heat," Jack stated.

"Whoever's done this wants the human race alive," Ianto noted. "That's a plus."

"Is it?" a different voice asked. Jack stiffened, then rolled his eyes.

"You want to give me a heart attack, Barton?"

"Well, it is on my Christmas list," Clint Barton shrugged. The pair looked at each other, then hugged, grinning.

Natasha Romanoff looked at the screen, frowning. "Twenty seven planets, including the Earth."

Jack hugged her, then looked over her shoulder. "Captain."

"Captain," Steve returned, nodding.

"I don't recognise this one, though," Jack admitted, looking at the ginger girl with blue eyes.

"Zosia Di Angelo," she supplied, smiling.

Jack blinked. "Zosia... Di An- Wait, what? When did this happen?"

Clint laughed. "Just wait till you see the other one."

"Oi, Jack," Gwen called.

He came to her side. "Yeah?"

"Look at this thing in the middle." It was a flashing red dot. "What's that? That's not a planet."

***

"The reading seems to be artificial in construction," Mr Smith reported.

"Some sort of space station sitting at the heart of the web," Sarah Jane mused.

Luke came in, putting his phone away. "They're fine. Maria and her dad, they're still in Cornwall. I told them to stay indoors. And Clyde's all right. He's with his mum."

"Sarah Jane, I have detected movement," Mr Smith announced. "Observe."

"Spaceships," Luke grinned. Sarah Jane bit her lip, knowing they weren't likely to be a good thing at this point.

***

"Tracking two hundred objects," Martha's superior, Sanchez, stated. "Earthbound trajectory. Geneva is calling a Code Red. Everyone to battle positions." He noticed Martha on her phone. "Doctor Jones, if you're not too busy."

"I'm trying to call the Angel, sir," she excused.

"And?"

"There's no signal," she replied, shrugging. "This number calls anywhere in the universe. It never breaks down. They must be blocking it, whoever they are."

"We're about to find out," Sanchez told her. "They're coming into orbit."

***

Rose walked out of a subway, easily weaving through the panicking people.

"The end of the world, darling," a drunk man slurred at her. "End of the stinking world."

"Have one on me, mate," she told him, wrinkling her nose. It wasn't the world that was stinking.

Another alarm sounded as a shop window broke. Rose went over to see two boys stealing computers and televisions. She rolled her eyes. "Right, you two. You can put that stuff down, or run for your lives. Do you like my gun?" The boys ran, terrified, and she sat down on the floor in front of one computer, seeing the red dots approaching Earth.

***

Sylvia was sat in her living room, watching the BBC news.

"We're now getting confirmed reports of spaceships," the anchor announced. "The Pentagon has issued an emergency report saying that two hundred objects -"

"Dad? Come and see!" Sylvia called.

"- are now heading towards Earth in a regular pattern."

"They're saying spaceships," Sylvia said as Wilf entered. "Did you find her?"

"No, no, there's no reply," Wilf sighed, pocketing his phone. "Where are you, Donna? Where are you, sweetheart?"

***

"Three thousand miles and closing," Natasha reported, looking at a screen in the Hub.

"But who are they?" Gwen wondered.

Jack's phone rang, and he picked up, smiling. "Martha Jones, voice of a nightingale. Tell me you put something in my drink."

"No such luck," she replied. "Have you heard from the Doctor or Kenzie?"

"Just met Zosia, but Clint says they haven't been in touch for about a month, and I've haven't heard a word either. Where are you?" Jack asked.

"New York," Martha answered.

"Ooh, nice for some," Steve muttered.

"We're in Cardiff," Clint complained. "Cardiff!"

"Hey!" Ianto exclaimed.

"Stark Tower?" Jack guessed.

"No, UNIT," Martha replied. "I've been promoted. Medical Director on Project Indigo."

"Did you get that thing working?" Jack and Natasha asked at the same time.

Martha hesitated. "Indigo's top secret. No one's supposed to know about it."

"UNIT's been hacked since SHIELD fell," Natasha told her. "It was our best source of intelligence."

"And I met a soldier in a bar, long story," Jack shrugged.

"When was that?" Ianto asked.

"Strictly professional," Jack assured him.

"Fifteen hundred miles, guys, and accelerating," Zosia reported. "They're almost here."

***

"I'm receiving a communication from the earthbound ships," Mr Smith stated. "They have a message for the human race.

"Put it through," Sarah Jane ordered. "Let's hear it."

The audio crackled, and then - "Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!" Sarah Jane blanched, hugging her son to her.

***

"Exterminate!"

Jack's eyes widened, and Zosia paled.

***

"Exterminate! Exterminate!"

Martha nearly dropped her phone in horror.

***

"No," Jack cursed.

"Exterminate! Exterminate!"

"No, no, no, no, no!" Zosia cried, her blood running cold.

Steve put his hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "What is it? Who are they?"

"Do you know them, Jack?" Gwen asked.

Jack pulled them all into a huddle, his eyes watering.

"Exterminate! Exterminate!"

***

"Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"

"No," Sarah Jane swore.

***

"Exterminate!"

"There's nothing we can do," Jack whispered, his face ashen as he looked around at his friends.

"Exterminate!"

"I'm sorry. We're - we're dead." The horror in his and Zosia's expressions only confirmed it for the rest of them.

***

"Exterminate! Exterminate!"

"Oh God, you're so young," Sarah Jane wept.

***

Rose heard the Dalek's cries outside the shop and walked out to see a Dalek ship flying low overhead, firing at random. She walked away calmly, even as a shot took out the shop she'd just left, exploding it in a huge fireball.

***

"Battle stations!" Sanchez ordered. "Geneva declaring Ultimate Code Red. Ladies and gentlemen, we are at war."

Martha looked out the window as the building shook to see the Dalek ships shooting at the buildings of the New York skyline. She hoped they missed the Tower, noticing all its usual blingy lights had been shut down, perhaps to avoid detection.

***

"So go on then, what is the Shadow Proclamation anyway?" Donna asked, holding on to the console.

"Posh name for police," the Doctor shrugged. "Outer space police."

McKenzie finished plotting the co-ordinates and glanced up at them. "Here we go." She threw the dematerialisation lever, and they landed with a thump. Swiftly, they moved to the door and stepped out into the white-walled complex, only to be confronted by an armed troop of Judoon.

"Sco bo tro no flo jo ko fo to to," one stated.

The Doctor frowned. "No bo ho sho ko ro to so. Bokodozogobofopojo." The Judoon stood to attention, lowering their weapons, and he grinned, turning round as he followed them. "Moho."

***

"Time Lords are the stuff of legend," the Architect, a silver-haired woman in a black gown, stated. "They belong in the myths and whispers of the Higher Species. And the children of the Vortex? You two cannot possibly exist."

"Yeah," McKenzie nodded. "Whatever. More to the point, we've got a missing planet."

"Then you're not as wise as the stories would say," the Architect noted smugly. "The picture is far bigger than you imagine. The whole universe is in outrage. Twenty four worlds have been taken from the sky."

"How many?" the Doctor frowned. "Which ones? Show me." He joined the woman at her computer screen, and she put up a 3D hologram of the planets.

"Locations range far and wide, but all disappeared at the exact same moment, leaving no trace."

"Callufrax Minorr, Jahoo, Shallacatop, Woman Wept. Clom," the Doctor recognised.

McKenzie blinked. "Clom's gone? Who the hell would want Clom?!"

"All different sizes. Some populated, some not," the Architect informed them. "But all unconnected."

"What about Pyrovillia?" Donna frowned.

"Who is this female?" the Architect questioned, looking at her with a scowl.

"Donna," she answered. "I'm a human being. Maybe not the stuff of legend, but neither was she, once." She pointed to McKenzie, who tilted her head in concession. "We're both every bit as important as Time Lords, thank you very much. Way back, when we were in Pompeii, Lucius said Pyrovillia had gone missing."

"Pyrovillia is cold case," the Judoon guard stated. "Not relevant."

"How do you mean, cold case?" Donna asked.

"The planet Pyrovillia cannot be part of this," the Architect clarified. "It disappeared over two thousand years ago."

"Yes, yes, hang on," Donna held up a hand. "There's the Adipose breeding planet, too. Miss Foster said that was lost, but that must've been a long time ago."

"That's it!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Donna, brilliant. Planets are being taken out of time as well as space." He started typing at the console. "Now, if we add Pyrovillia and Adipose Three... Something missing. Where else, where else, where else?"

"Lost, lost, lost, lost, lost," McKenzie muttered, squeezing her eyes tightly shut, before spinning around and pointing at him. "The Lost Moon of Poosh!"

"Yes!" He added it in, and the holograms suddenly reorganised themselves.

"What did you do?" the Architect asked.

"Nothing," the Doctor told her truthfully. "The planets rearranged themselves into the optimum pattern. Oh, look at that," he smiled. "Twenty seven planets in perfect balance. Come on, that is gorgeous!"

"Oi, don't get all spaceman," Donna frowned, rolling her eyes fondly. "What does it mean?"

"All these worlds fit together like pieces of an engine," McKenzie explained, standing in the centre of the holograms. "It's like a powerhouse. What for?" she wondered, grinning at the beauty of it.

"Who could design such a thing?" the Architect questioned.

"Someone tried to move the Earth once before," the Doctor remembered, his grin fading. "Long time ago. Can't be."

***

"The Valiant's down!" Steve reported, listening to the transmissions.

"Ooh, not good memories," Clint muttered, working at a station not far away.

"Air force retreating over North Africa," Ianto announced.

"Daleks landing in Japan," Natasha stated.

"We've lost contact with the Prime Minister's plane," Gwen informed them.

Zosia's eyes widened at what she was seeing on her own screen. "Jack! Manhattan!"

He looked at her screen, then lifted his phone back to his ear. "Martha, get out of there."

"I can't, Jack. I've got a job to do," Martha told him.

"Mar, they're targeting military bases and you're next on the list," Zosia exclaimed.

"Dr Jones, you will come with me," Sanchez ordered in the background. "Project Indigo is being activated. Quick march."

"But we can't use Project Indigo," Martha reasoned, following him. "It hasn't been tested, sir. We don't even know if it works."

"Put it on. Fast as you can."

"Martha, I'm telling you. Don't use Project Indigo," Jack pleaded. "It's not safe." Natasha looked up, her eyes wide in alarm.

"You take your orders from UNIT, Dr Jones. Not from Torchwood."

Martha put the backpack on. "But why me?"

"You're our only hope of finding the Doctor and the Angel. But failing that, if no help is coming, then with the power invested in me by the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, I authorise you to take this. The Osterhagen Key." He handed over a computer chip on a chain.

"I can't take that, sir," Martha protested.

"You know what to do, for the sake of the human race." She bit her lip as the building shook, hearing her colleagues screaming as they died, and took the key. "Dr Jones, good luck."

Martha took a deep breath. "Bye, Jack."

"Martha, don't do it! Don't!" Jack sighed as it became clear Martha had gone, hanging up.

"What's Project Indigo?" Ianto asked.

"Experimental teleport salvaged from the Sontarans," Natasha answered. "But they haven't got co-ordinates, or stabilisation."

"So where is she?"

Jack bit his lip. "Scattered into atoms. Martha's down."

***

Donna was sat on the stairs while the Architect, the Doctor, and McKenzie talked about what was happening. She could hear a heartbeat pounding, but maybe that was just her head. She hadn't had anything to drink since that foamy stuff on Shan Shen.

A young, white-haired, pink-eyed woman offered her a tray of food and water. "You need sustenance. Take the water, it purifies."

"Thanks," she smiled weakly, taking a sip.

"There was something on your back," she stated.

Donna blinked. "How do you know that?"

"You are something new," the woman said.

"Not me," Donna denied. "I'm just a temp. Shorthand, filing, hundred words per minute. Fat lot of good that is now." She sighed. "I'm no use to anyone."

"I'm so sorry for your loss," the woman said kindly.

"Yeah, my whole planet's gone," Donna bit her lip.

The woman shook her head. "I mean the loss that is yet to come. God save you." She went up the stairs, leaving Donna, and McKenzie came over, looking worried.

"Donna, come on, think. Earth," she pleaded. "There must've been some sort of warning. Was anything happening back in your day, like electrical storms, freak weather, patterns in the sky?"

"Well, how should I know?" Donna exclaimed, before catching herself. It wasn't just her family that was lost on Earth right now. "Er, no. I don't think so, no."

She deflated. "Okay, never mind."

"Although, there were the bees disappearing," Donna mentioned offhandedly.

"The bees disappearing," McKenzie repeated, raising her eyebrows skeptically. "The bees disappearing." Her eyes widened behind her visor, and she grinned in realisation. "The bees disappearing!"

"How is that significant?" the Architect questioned, watching as the Doctor and McKenzie started working on the screen again.

"On Earth we had these insects," Donna told her. "Some people said it was pollution or mobile phone signals."

"Or, they were going back home," the Doctor suggested.

"Back home where?" Donna frowned.

"Planet Melissa Majoria," he replied casually.

Donna blinked. "Are you saying bees are aliens?"

"Don't be daft," McKenzie said absently, and Donna relaxed. "Not all of them." Donna's eyes widened again. "But if the migrant bees felt something coming, some sort of danger, and escaped...? Tandocca."

"The Tandocca Scale," the Architect realised.

"Tandocca Scale is the series of wavelengths used as carrier signals by migrant bees," the Doctor explained quickly. "Infinitely small. No wonder we didn't see it. It's like looking for a speck of cinnamon in the Sahara, but look, there it is," he pointed to the wave shown onscreen. "The Tandocca trail. The transmat that moved the planets was using the same wavelength, we can follow the path."

"And find the Earth?" Donna asked. He nodded, grinning. "Well, stop talking and do it!"

McKenzie grabbed their hands. "Come on, then!" They sped off to the TARDIS.

"We're a bit late," the Doctor muttered, immediately starting to type at the console. "But it's a start."

McKenzie stuck her head out the door, grinning at the Architect. "We've got a blip. It's just a blip, but it's definitely a blip."

"Then according to the Strictures of the Shadow Proclamation, I will have to seize your transport and your technology," the Architect told her.

She blinked. "Oh, really? What for?"

"The planets were stolen with hostile intent," the Architect stated. "We are declaring war, Angel, right across the universe, and you will lead us into battle."

"Riiiight," McKenzie nodded, biting her lip. "Yes. Course I will. I'll just go and get you the key." She jabbed her thumb over her shoulder, then shut the door. The Doctor grinned at her, dematerialising the TARDIS and leaving behind a furious Architect.

***

"All humans will leave their homes. The males, the females, the descendants. You will come with us. Resistance is useless."

"Where are you taking us?" one man demanded.

"Daleks do not answer human questions. Stand in line."

Wilf and Sylvia were standing at the corner, watching in horror. "Dad, please come home," Sylvia begged. "They're leaving our street alone."

"Yeah, I've got a weapon," Wilf shook his head.

"It's a paint gun," Sylvia deadpanned.

"Exactly," Wilf nodded emphatically. "Them Dalek things, they've only got one eye. A good splodge of paint, they'd be blinded." He shook his head as the Daleks incinerated a house containing a resistant family. "They're monsters."

"Please, Dad," Sylvia tried. "Come home." They turned back around the corner, and found themselves facing a lone Dalek.

"Halt," it ordered. "You will come with me."

"Will I heck," Wilf snorted, and fired a splodge of yellow paint right onto the eyestalk. After a moment, it bubbled and steamed and was boiled off.

"My vision is not impaired."

"I warned you, Dad," Sylvia said reproachfully.

"Hostility will not be tolerated. Exterminate. Exterminate. Exter-!" The Dalek was cut off by its head exploding. The smoke cleared to reveal Rose standing behind it, holding her gun out towards the Dalek.

Wilf looked at it appraisingly. "Do you want to swap?"

"You're Donna Noble's family, right?" the blonde asked. "I'm Rose Tyler, and I need you."

***

Seeing as though the woman had saved their lives, they took her back to their house as she requested.

"Yeah, I've tried calling her, but I can't get through," Wilf was saying, referring to his granddaughter. "But she's still with the Doctor and McKenzie, I know that much, and the last time she called, it was from a planet called Midnight, made of diamonds."

"What the hell are you two on about?" Sylvia frowned.

"Look, she's out there, sweetheart," Wilf told her. "Your daughter. She's travelling the stars with that couple. She always has been."

Sylvia scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Oh, come on, open your eyes," Wilf urged. "Look at the sky. Look at, look at the Daleks. You can't start denying things now."

"You're my last hope," Rose admitted. "If we can't find Donna, we can't find the Doctor and my sister. Where are they?"

***

McKenzie blinked as the time rotor stopped wheezing suddenly. "It's stopped."

"What do you mean?" Donna frowned. "Is that good or bad? Where are we?"

"The Medusa Cascade," the Doctor identified, looking at a beautiful multi-coloured nebula on the monitor. "I came here when I was just a kid, ninety years old. It was the centre of a rift in time and space."

"So where are the twenty seven planets?" Donna asked.

"Nowhere," McKenzie told her, swallowing hard. "The Tandocca Trail stops dead. End of the line." The Doctor held out his arm to her, and she nestled into his side, the pair of them looking... broken.

"So what do we do?" Donna questioned. "What do we do?" She clocked their expressions, and narrowed her eyes. "No, don't do this to me. No, don't - don't do this to me. Not now. Tell me, what are we going to do? You never give up. Please!"

***

Rose looked up as there was a loud bleeping noise suddenly coming from Wilf's laptop. "Can anyone hear me?" a familiar voice asked. "The Subwave Network is open. You should be able to hear my voice. Is there anyone there?"

Rose narrowed her eyes. "I know that voice." She opened the laptop to reveal a static-ridden image of Harriet Jones.

***

"Who's that?" Luke wondered as the broadcast came to them.

"Some poor soul calling for help," Sarah Jane told him, hugging him to her side.

"Can anyone hear me?"

"There's nothing we can do."

"But look at Mr Smith," Luke pointed.

"Processing incoming Subwave," Mr Smith stated.

***

"This message is of the utmost importance. We haven't much time. Can anyone hear me?"

"Someone's trying to get in touch," Gwen frowned.

Jack sighed. "The whole world's crying out. Just leave it."

The image on the screen in front of Steve and Zosia resolved into a clear picture of Harriet Jones. "Captain Jack Harkness," she exclaimed. "Shame on you! Now stand to attention, sir."

"What?" Jack ran over, his eyes wide. "Who is that?"

Harriet held up her ID. "Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister."

Steve managed a chuckle. "Yeah, we know who you are."

"Captain Rogers. I assume by your presence that the Avengers have formed an alliance with Torchwood?" Harriet raised an eyebrow.

"Something like that," Zosia shrugged.

"And who, might I ask, are you?"

The ginger girl glanced up at Steve, who nodded. "Zosia Di Angelo. My parent's are the ones everyone's trying to find."

***

"Harriet, it's me. It's me," Rose tried, before realising neither she nor the Torchwood/Avengers alliance could hear her. "Oh, they can't hear me." She glanced back at Wilf. "Have you got a webcam?"

"No, she wouldn't let me," Wilf stated, jabbing his thumb at Sylvia, who rolled her eyes. "She said they're naughty."

Rose sighed. "I can't speak to them then, can I?"

***

"Sarah Jane Smith, 13 Bannerman Road," Harriet called. "Are you there?"

"Yeah!" Sarah Jane nodded, jumping up. "Yeah, I'm here. That - that's me."

"Good. Now, let's see if we can talk to each other." Mr Smith's screen compartmentalised to show four quarters: Harriet was in one, Torchwood in the next, Sarah Jane and Luke in the third, and the last box was filled with static. "The fourth contact seems to be having some trouble getting through."

***

"That's me," Rose sighed. "Harriet, that's me."

"I'll just boost the signal."

The fourth box flickered, then showed a young black woman. "Hello?"

Clint jumped into view, his eyes wide. "Martha Jones, I could kill you!"

Rose frowned. "Who's she? I want to get through."

Martha laughed. "Such a flirt, Barton."

"Martha, where are you?" Natasha asked, her relief evident on her face.

"I guess Project Indigo was more clever than we thought," she told them. "One second I was in Manhattan, next second - maybe Indigo tapped into my mind - because I ended up in the one place that I wanted to be."

Her mother came into the image behind her, smiling. "You came home. At the end of the world, you came back to me."

"But then all of a sudden, it's like the laptop turned itself on," Martha shrugged.

"It did," Harriet told her. "That was me. Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister."

Martha smiled shyly. "Yes, I know who you are."

"I thought it was about time we all met, give the current crisis," Harriet stated. "Torchwood, Avengers, this is Sarah Jane Smith."

"I've been following your work," Jack grinned. "Nice job with the Slitheen."

"Yeah, well, I've been staying away from all you lot. Too many guns." She nodded towards her young son.

"All the same, might I say - looking good, ma'am," he flirted.

"Really?" Sarah Jane blushed. "Ooh."

"Not now, Jack," Harriet rolled her eyes. "And Martha Jones," she introduced, "former companion to the Doctor and McKenzie Di Angelo."

"Oi," Rose pouted. "So was I."

"But how did you find me?" Martha frowned.

"This, ladies and gentlemen, this is the Subwave Network," Harriet announced. "A sentient piece of software programmed to seek out anyone and everyone who can help to contact the TARDIS and its inhabitants."

"Her," almost everyone else on the line corrected, glancing at each other with knowing smiles.

"What if the Daleks can hear us?" Martha asked after a moment.

"No, that's the beauty of the Subwave," Harriet assured her. "It's undetectable."

"And you invented it?" Sarah raised an eyebrow.

"I developed it," Harriet corrected. "It was created by the Mr Copper Foundation."

"Yeah, but what we need right now is a weapon," Steve pointed out.

"Mar, back at UNIT, what did they give you?" Clint questioned. "What was that key thing?"

"The Osterhagen key," she answered.

"That key is not to be used, Dr Jones," Harriet stated firmly. "Not under any circumstances."

"But what is an Osterhagen key?" Jack frowned.

"Forget about the key, and that's an order," Harriet told him. He rolled his eyes. "All we need is the Doctor and McKenzie."

"Excuse me, Harriet Jones, but didn't Dad depose you?" Zosia pointed out, raising an eyebrow coolly.

"He did," Harriet admitted. "And I've wondered about that for a long time, whether I was wrong. But I stand by my actions to this day, because I knew, I knew that one day, the Earth would be in danger, and he would fail to appear. I told him so myself, and he didn't listen."

Natasha shook her head. "If the Doctor and McKenzie aren't here, it's because they can't get here. They wouldn't leave their family to the Daleks. I know them."

Martha nodded her agreement. "I've been trying to find them. I've been calling JENSEN, but I can't get through."

Rose frowned. "Who the hell is JENSEN?"

"That's why we need the Subwave," Harriet agreed. "To bring us all together. Combine forces. The Time Lords' secret army!"

Zosia broked the moment, screwing up her face in confusion. "Mum's not a Time Lord." Harriet sighed.

"Wait a minute," Jack muttered, having an idea. "We boost the signal. That's it! We transmit that telephone number through Torchwood itself, using all the power of the Rift."

"And we've got Mr Smith," Luke added. "He can link up with every telephone exchange on the Earth. He can get the whole world to call the same number, all at the same time. Billions of phones, calling out all at once."

"Brilliant," Clint grinned. "Who's the kid?"

"That's my son," Sarah Jane told him proudly.

"Excuse me. Sorry. Sorry," Ianto muttered as he moved into picture between Steve and Jack. "Hello. Ianto Jones. Er, if we start transmitting, then this Subwave Network is going to become visible. I mean, to the Daleks."

"Yes, and they'll trace it back to me," Harriet nodded. "But my life doesn't matter. Not if it saves the Earth."

Jack, Steve, Clint, and Natasha saluted her. "Ma'am."

"Thank you. But there are people out there dying on the streets," Harriet stated.

"Marvellous woman," Wilf nodded, saluting too. "I voted for her."

Sylvia scoffed. "You did not."

"Now, enough of words," Harriet decided. "Let's begin."

Steve and Zosia stayed in view, but the others went to work.

"Rift power activated," Clint called from a nearby desk.

"All terminals co-ordinated," Gwen added, typing at another computer.

Ianto and Natasha plugged in a large, heavy power cable to the base of the water tower. "National Grid online," Natasha stated.

"Giving you everything we've got," Ianto confirmed, watching electricity run up and down the tower.

"Connecting you to Mr Smith," Sarah Jane nodded.

"All telephone networks combined," Luke reported.

"Sending you the number now," Martha smiled, typing the familiar eleven digits into her phone.

"Opening Subwave Network to maximum," Harriet said, typing at her own computer.

"Mr Smith, make that call," Sarah Jane ordered.

"Calling JENSEN," Mr Smith stated.

"So am I," Rose decided, seeing the number on a monitor behind Zosia and getting her phone out.

"And sending," Jack grinned, throwing a lever.

***

McKenzie nearly jumped out of her skin as JENSEN vibrated, a trilling ringtone echoing out into the silence of the TARDIS. "Phone!" Donna exclaimed, her eyes wide.

"Martha, is that you?" McKenzie asked, answering the call, before grinning. "It's a signal."

"Can we follow it?" Donna asked, seeing the excitement on her face.

The Doctor grinned, plugging a USB lead into his fiancée's visor. "Oh, just try and stop us!"

***

There was a loud bang from the water tower, and Jack grinned as sparks flew. "I think we've got a fix!"

"Mr Smith now at two hundred percent," Sarah Jane reported. The computer was also sparking. "Oh, come on, Doctor."

***

At the Noble home, Rose, Wilf, and Sylvia were all calling too. "Find me. Find me," Rose whispered.

***

"Got it," the Doctor grinned. "Locking on."

***

"Harriet, a saucer's locked on to your location," Steve told her. "They've found you."

"I know," Harriet nodded. "I'm using the Network to mask your transmission. Keep going."

***

"We're travelling through time," McKenzie explained to a confused Donna, ducking as sparks flew from the console. "One second in the future. The phone call's pulling us through."

***

"Captain, I'm transferring the Subwave Network to Torchwood," Harriet announced. "You're in charge now. And tell the Doctor and McKenzie from me - they chose their family well. It's been an honour." Her screen fizzled away into static. Natasha and Zosia shared a look.

***

"Three, two, one!" the Doctor counted down, nearly falling over from the jolt the TARDIS gave as it arrived.

"Twenty seven planets," Donna marvelled, looking at the monitor. "And there's the Earth. But why couldn't we see them?"

"The entire Medusa Cascade has been put a second out of sync with the rest of the universe," McKenzie explained. "Perfect hiding place. Tiny little pocket of time. But we found them." She sighed in relief, then frowned as the monitor glitched. "Ooh, ooh, ooh, what's that? Hold on." She altered some controls. "Some sort of Subwave Network." The screen divided into four, showing the TARDIS, Torchwood, 13 Bannerman Road, and Martha Jones.

"When the hell were you going to tell me you had kids?!" Captain Jack Harkness demanded, his face splitting into a grin as soon as he saw them.

"Oh," the Doctor blinked.

"I fucking told you there was someone," McKenzie muttered, before grinning at the screen. "Hello to you too, Jack!"

"Doc, Kenzie, it's the Daleks," Clint stated, popping into view.

"Oh, he's a bit nice," Gwen noted. "I thought he'd be older."

Ianto gave her a look. "He's not that young."

"You better have my girls with you," McKenzie threatened.

"Hi, Mum!" Zosia piped up.

"Hey, sweetheart," the Doctor smiled.

"Zoë's with the others," Steve assured them.

"It's the Daleks," Sarah Jane cut in. "They're taking people to their spaceship."

"It's not just Dalek Caan," Martha added.

***

"It's Donna!" Sylvia cried, her eyes widening.

"That's my girl," Wilf cheered.

"Planet Earth has surrendered," Natasha was saying onscreen.

"Sarah Jane," the Doctor grinned. "Who's that boy? That must be Torchwood, and the Avengers. Oh, they're brilliant. Look at you all, you clever people."

"That's Martha," Donna noticed, pointing at the fourth box. "And who's he?"

"Captain Jack," McKenzie told her, but held up a hand, rolling her eyes at the immortal. "Don't. Just don't."

"McKenzie, it's me," Rose whispered, staring at her sister's new body in shock. "I came back."

"It's like an outer space Facebook," Donna grinned.

"Everyone except Rose," McKenzie noticed, biting her lip. She blinked as the screen went blank. "Oh."

"We've lost them," Donna sighed.

"No, no, no, no, no," the Doctor shook his head. "There's another signal coming through. There's someone else out there. Hello? Can you hear me? Rose?"

"Your voice is different, and yet its arrogance is unchanged."

***

Sarah Jane blanched, still hearing the audio transmission. "No... But he's dead!"

***

"Welcome to my new Empire, Doctor. It is only fitting that you should bear witness to the resurrection and the triumph of Davros, lord and creator of the Dalek race."

"Kas?" McKenzie whispered, paling as she felt how tightly he was gripping her hand in an attempt to stop his own from trembling.

"Have you nothing to say?" Davros questioned mockingly.

"Doctor, it's all right," Donna tried. "We're - we're in the TARDIS. We're safe."

"But you were destroyed," the Doctor reasoned. "In the very first year of the Time War, at the Gates of Elysium. I saw your command ship fly into the jaws of the Nightmare Child. I tried to save you."

"But it took one stronger than you," Davros gloated. "Dalek Caan himself."

A spotlight shone on Dalek Caan, who was looking a lot different to the last time they'd seen him. "I flew into the wild and fire. I danced and died a thousand times," he giggled.

"Emergency Temporal Shift took him back into the Time War itself," Davros explained.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "But that's impossible. The entire War is timelocked."

"And yet he succeeded," Davros shrugged. "Oh, it cost him his mind, but imagine - a single, simple Dalek succeeded where Emperors and Time Lords have failed. A testament, don't you think, to my remarkable creations?"

"And you made a new race of Daleks," the Doctor sighed heavily.

"I gave myself to them, quite literally. Each one grown from a cell of my own body." McKenzie gagged when Davros opened his tunic, revealing the remains of his chest cavity. "New Daleks. True Daleks. I have my children, Doctor. What do you have, now?"

"After all this time, everything we saw, everything we lost, I have only one thing to say to you," the Doctor admitted. "Bye!" He threw the materialisation lever, and the TARDIS flew off.

***

"Guys, Dalek saucer heading for the Bay," Clint noticed, picking it up on radar. "They've found us."

"Martha, open that Indigo device," Jack ordered. "Now listen to me. Lift the central panel. There's a string of numbers that keep changing, but the the fourth number keeps oscillating between two different digits. Tell me what they are."

"It's a four and a nine," Martha replied. "We could never work out what that was."

"Yeah, that's the teleport base code," Jack explained. "And that's all I need to get this thing working again." He activated his vortex manipulator. "Oscillating four and nine. Thank you, Martha Jones." Gwen handed him a large gun, and he nodded at her. "We've got to go. We've got to find the Doctor and Kenzie. I'll come back. I'm coming back."

"Don't worry about us," Gwen told him. "Just go."

"We'll be fine," Ianto assured him.

"You'd better be. Avengers?" Each of them grabbed his arm, and the five of them vanished.

Almost immediately after, there was a loud boom, and rubble fell from the ceiling. "Exterminate! Exterminate!"

"They're here," Gwen breathed, looking up.

***

"TARDIS heading for vector seven," Mr Smith reported. "Grid reference six six five."

Sarah Jane nodded, running for the door. "But there are Daleks out there!" Luke protested.

She looked back at him. "I know. I'm sorry, but I have got to find the Doctor. Don't move. Don't leave the house. Don't do anything."

"I will protect the boy, Sarah Jane," Mr Smith stated.

Sarah Jane smiled. "I love you. Remember that." Then she ran out of the house and drove off in her car.

***

Rose slung her gun over her shoulder, making a phone call. "Control, I need another shift. Lock me onto the TARDIS now." She turned back to Wilf and Sylvia, hanging up. "Right, I'm going to find them. Wish me luck."

"Oh, good luck!" Sylvia nodded.

"Yeah, good luck, sweetheart," Wilf smiled.

Rose vanished in a flash of blue light.

***

The three of them stepped out of the TARDIS onto a deserted street. "It's like a ghost town," Donna sighed.

"Sarah Jane said they were taking the people," the Doctor nodded. "What for? Think, Donna. When you met Rose in that parallel world, what did she say?"

"Just, the darkness is coming," Donna said.

"Anything else?" McKenzie questioned.

Donna thought for a moment, then her eyes focused on something behind the brunette. "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

The pair of them turned, their eyes wide in shock, swiftly turning into joy. The Doctor was the first to start running, but McKenzie had barely started when she saw the Dalek.

"Exterminate!"

"Kas!" she screamed, seeing the shot graze his side, lighting him up and knocking him down. There was a flash of light behind the Dalek, and Jack shot its head off.

McKenzie was at her fiancé's side in seconds, and Rose wasn't far behind. "Hey, hey, I've got you," the brunette soothed, lifting him onto her lap and cursing as he groaned in pain. "It just grazed you." She glanced up at her sister, smiling. "Look, Kas."

"Rose," he murmured, seeing the blonde grinning above him.

"Hi," she said.

"Long time no see," he managed.

"Yeah. Been busy, you know." She blanched as his head lolled to the side, his eyes almost closing. "Don't die. Oh my God, don't die."

"Rose, move," McKenzie ordered quickly, scooping him up as soon as she had room to. To her surprise, Jack was already ushering Donna into the TARDIS, and Natasha, Clint, Steve, and Zosia weren't far behind.

Jack held the door open as the sisters ran through, the brunette carrying the Doctor, only to lay him down on the TARDIS's grating.

***

Ianto frowned as Gwen fetched a couple of machine guns from Owen's old station. "But they don't work against Daleks."

"Yeah? Well, I'm going out fighting. Like Owen, like Tosh. How about you?" Gwen countered.

He nodded, taking the gun and readying it as the Dalek approached. "Yes, ma'am."

***

"What, what do we do?" Donna fluttered. "There must be some medicine or something."

"Just step back," Natasha told her.

"Rose, do as I say, and get back," Jack ordered. "He's dying and you know what happens next."

"Come here, Kenz," Clint pulled McKenzie back behind the railings, and nodded to Zosia, who was looking at her father in horror. "Cap, you wanna deal with that?" Steve held her back, despite her struggles.

"What do you mean, dying?" Donna demanded, her eyes wide. "He can't!"

"Oh no," Rose cried. "I came all this way."

"What do you mean, what happens next?" Donna asked.

The Doctor looked at his right hand as it began to glow. "It's starting." He glanced up at McKenzie. "I'm sorry."

***

Sarah Jane's car screeched to a halt behind two Daleks. They turned around slowly, and she froze.

"All human transport is forbidden."

"I surrender!" she cried. "I'm sorry!"

"Daleks do not accept apologies. You will be exterminated."

"Exterminate!"

"Exterminate!"

***

"Exterminate! Exterminate!"

Gwen and Ianto opened fire relentlessly.

***

"Here we go," Clint nodded. "Good luck, Doc."

"Will someone please tell me what is going on?" Donna demanded.

"When he's dying, his uh, his body, it repairs itself," McKenzie explained, biting her lip. "It changes."

"But you can't!" Zosia protested, trying to escape from Steve's strong grip with little success.

The Doctor made eye contact with her, smiling a little through the pain. "I'm sorry, Zosie. It's too late. I'm regenerating."

~~~

All aboard the feels train because this is gonna get wild! Just "Journey's End" and the Epilogue to go, and then we're on book 3!!!