![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
batsutousaiTitle: Dust in the Sky
Part: 4 of 6
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
batsutousai
Beta:tsuki_no_suzu
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Harry Potter/Tenth Doctor (minor Rose/Tenth Doctor, Martha/Tenth Doctor and Jack/Tenth Doctor)
Warnings: Slash, minor Ginny!hate
Summary: Sequel to Hanging by a Thread. Harry has a life to live now with a wife and children, but he can still find time for the Doctor, no matter what he looks like.
Fourth Part, first half
-0-0-0-
-0-0-0-
"Harry?"
"Hmm?"
The Doctor tapped the ATMOS that was giving them directions on the dash. "I don't suppose you'd know why this jeep has one of these?"
"Have to. Standard for government vehicles. Department van has one too. Some of the magical-raised really like them, since it can help you drive the car. I hate it." Harry glanced at the ATMOS with a look of disgust. "Ginny actually suggested she might be willing to drive, with one of these. Been vetoing the idea for months."
The Doctor shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder about that woman."
"You and me both." Harry eased them around a turn, then said, "She's threatening to divorce me."
The Doctor glanced at him. "What did you say to her?"
"Nothing." Harry shrugged. "On one hand, I've been talking about getting a divorce for years. On the other, she'll get the kids."
"What, you won't even be able to visit them?"
Harry snorted. "I'll be able to visit them fine, but they can't live with me." He glanced at the Doctor. "I practically live at work these days, ever since I resigned from the aurors. Got promoted to major just last week and that's been more work already. Never mind my little trips with you." He sighed. "James is four now, Doctor. He barely even recognises me. I'm just the strange man who's home sometimes and kisses him good-bye every other morning."
"I'm sorry," the Doctor whispered.
"Stop that!" Harry frowned at him. "I picked this life, not you, so stop blaming yourself. Honestly, if I didn't love my job so much, I could just quit. Potter fortune's more than big enough to see me to my old age, and probably see the kids through until they've all got jobs. But I like working with UNIT. Like being useful." He smiled. "I like getting out of the house. Having a reason to run into you."
The Doctor smiled at that. "I suppose. Still don't like the idea of you losing your kids."
Harry shook his head. "I'm not losing them, they're just moving a bit further away than down the hall. I'll just have to make time for them, now, if I want to see them. It'll probably do me some good. I'll actually have to visit, rather than just take it for granted that they'll always be there."
"I suppose," the Doctor repeated. When Harry glanced at him, he still didn't look pleased with the way things had turned out, but he didn't look quite like he was beating himself up anymore, either.
-0-
At Rattigan Academy, Harry stood back a bit and let the Doctor have fun. Harry figured that he must have been doing a pretty passable imitation of a normal UNIT soldier – sans uniform, any identifying features on his clothing and a gun, of course – since none of the kids gave him a second thought. It gave Harry a chance to look around, which he did. He saw the things the Doctor commented on, but he also noticed the kids, many of whom didn't really look like they were enjoying their time at the Academy. They looked more like they needed to like the Academy, or something horrible would happen to them.
Harry wondered what Rattigan did to those who decided they didn't like him.
In Rattigan's office – which looked more like a playroom to Harry, but what did he know? – the Doctor found a transporter, which he used, then came back down on. As soon as he got back, he jumped out of the way, leaving room for a strange armoured creature he called a Sontaran to come through. After which, the Doctor happily broke the transporter with his sonic screwdriver.
The Doctor cheerfully talked all about the Sontarans, eventually commenting on their one weakness and using a ball he'd picked up to knock the Sontaran to his knees. The he grabbed Harry's arm and they both ran for it.
After they'd gotten away from the Academy, the Doctor tried calling the base on the radio, but it wouldn't connect.
"The Sontarans?" Harry inquired.
The Doctor nodded. "And if they're blocking that, it means they can isolate the ATMOS."
"Turn left," the ATMOS said.
"Try going right."
Harry tried and shook his head. "Nope." He reached over to try over-riding the auto-drive, which he sometimes had to do with the Department van, but it beeped negatively at him.
The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and tried to use it on the ATMOS, but it had been deadlocked. Now, they could see the river ahead of them.
Harry grabbed the Doctor's hand and apparated them out of the car. They both landed on their bums, since they'd been sitting when Harry had apparated them, but they were both still alive when the jeep went off the end into the river.
"Oh, I'm going to have so much fun rubbing their dependence on ATMOS in those purebloods' faces," Harry muttered, shaking his head.
The Doctor sighed and pulled Harry into a hug. "What would I do without you?" he asked, shaking his head after the jeep.
Harry snorted. "You'd have thought of something. Now, come on. Let's go get Donna." Harry stood and reached down to help the Doctor up.
"Are we walking?" the Doctor asked, sounding pitiful.
Harry snorted. "Nah. I thought I'd just apparate us. Saves time and doesn't involve ATMOS."
The Doctor laughed. "Tell me about it."
Harry apparated them to just down the road, where they'd dropped Donna off. He led the way to Donna's house, which he'd looked up shortly after Donna and the Doctor left, just in case he needed to get in contact with her family – watching the Jones family had taught Harry a thing or two about being one of the few of the Doctor's companions who lived on Earth and who had the authority to go to someone's house and explain things when the Doctor disappeared for too long.
There, the Doctor knocked on the door and managed a smile for Donna when she answered. "This day is gone mad. How're you doing?"
Donna blinked a few times, then glanced around the Doctor at Harry, who waved at her. "Mad?" she asked, looking between them.
"You said you've got ATMOS?" Harry asked.
Donna nodded and led them over to the car. There, the Doctor started using his sonic on the ATMOS box he had with him again while Donna tried Martha's mobile and commented on the Doctor having done all that already.
Donna's grandfather, Wilfred Mott, came out to meet the Doctor and exclaimed over having met him before, when the Doctor disappeared in front of him on Christmas Eve.
"Was that before or after your stunt with the Titanic?" Harry asked, pulling out his mobile to ring Hermione. He wanted to know if they'd found anything.
"Before," the Doctor replied.
"That was you?" Wilfred demanded.
"That wasn't real," Donna insisted.
"Sure it was," Harry said. "I've still got the readings from that giant hunk scaring the hell out of everyone back in my desk. Hermione!" He turned and stepped away from the rest of the group as Donna finally got an answer from Martha. "Have you lot found anything?"
"Not really," Hermione replied, sounding frustrated. "It's still just a hunk of too-advanced technology!"
"Mmm... They were made by a race called the Sontarans. Rattigan is working with them. Don't know why yet, but the Doctor's trying the ATMOS again. Says he knows what he's looking for, now."
"Whoa!" the Doctor called as spikes popped out of the ATMOS. "It's a temporal pocket. Knew there was something else in there."
"I heard him," Hermione said before Harry could ask. "We're on it."
"You're amazing. Ring me if you find anything!"
"Will do."
Harry hung up and came over as Donna's mum came out to see what they were up to. "Hermione and them are looking into it more," he said to the Doctor.
"Mmm..." the Doctor sonic'd it for a bit more, then a billow of smoke shot out. "Get back!" he shouted, shoving them all back a bit. He sonic'd it from a distance until the ATMOS stopped billowing smoke, then stepped forward, Donna's mum complaining about how he'd blown up the car. "That wasn't just smoke," the Doctor commented, ignoring Donna's mum. "That was some sort of gas."
"But if that means they've got poisonous gas in every car on Earth," Donna said.
Wilfred got into the car, saying he'd get it off the street, but as soon as he was inside, the car started up on its own and started pouring gas out the exhaust. He couldn't get out and neither the Doctor nor Harry could get in – sonic screwdriver didn't work, and Harry didn't know any spells for breaking into cars.
Donna's mum was the one who came to the rescue, in the end. She brought out an axe from inside the house and smashed the front window of the car.
"Hmm. Axe," Harry muttered as he and Donna hurried to help Wilfred out and the Doctor kept playing with the ATMOS, trying to see if he could stop it.
Harry's mobile rang and he left Wilfred to his family while he answered it. "Potter."
"Harry! All the ATMOS devices are pouring out smoke!" Hermione cried.
Harry glanced around the street, where every car was pouring out the gas. "Yeah, I know. Get away from them. The gas seems to be poisonous. Get into the base and stay there, understand? See if you can't figure out what the gas is."
"Right. Also, did you tell Colonel Mace about what you found out?" Hermione asked, much calmer now that she had something to do.
"Yeah. We told Martha. Why?"
"Then Martha hasn't told him. He was just in here, before the gas started, asking if we'd found anything."
Harry turned to look at the Doctor, who'd given up on the ATMOS and was helping Donna and her mum get Wilfred into the house. "Hermione, I want you to tell the colonel, then. Code Red, Sontarans. Understood?"
"Sure. You don't think Martha is going to?"
"I'm not sure," Harry replied, running a hand through his hair. "It's possible she just hasn't run into him, yet. Maybe she's busy. I don't know. But Mace needs to be told."
"I'm on it. See you back at base?"
"We'll be back soon," Harry promised, then hung up and hurried over to the Doctor. "We need to get back to base."
The Doctor nodded. "Donna! Are you coming?"
"Yeah!" Donna called back. She had a moment with her mother telling her not to, but Wilfred told her to go ahead.
"Just stay indoors," the Doctor told them, motioning for Harry and Donna to walk around to the other side of a bush. Once they were out of sight of the two muggles, the Doctor said, "To the TARDIS, please."
Harry nodded and took both of their hands, then apparated all of them to just outside the TARDIS. "Oh, hell," Harry muttered and banished some of the gas before casting a bubble-head charm on himself. He couldn't see any better with the charm, but at least he could breathe. He waited while the Doctor ushered Donna into the TARDIS, then they both took off towards the base.
At the base, Harry hurried over to his team and checked them over while the Doctor talked about taking the TARDIS up to the alien spaceship.
"Have you phoned Ginny?" Hermione asked Harry.
Harry saw the Doctor grabbing Martha to go with him towards the TARDIS. "I'll do it now," he promised, pulling out his mobile and hurrying to join the Doctor and Martha. "To the TARDIS?" he asked, dialling the number for his house and hoping Ginny would pick up for once.
"Oh yes," the Doctor agreed.
The phone picked up on the other end. "Harry?" Ginny whispered.
"Ginny, I need you to take the kids down to the cellar and block off the door to the main part of the house," Harry ordered. "You'll be safe down there."
"Harry? What's happening out there?" Ginny pleaded.
"Sweetheart, just trust me and do as I say, okay? We'll work it out here, but I need to know you and the kids are safe. Now, cellar. Take the phone with you."
"Okay," Ginny replied and Harry heard Lily whimpering and James laughing a bit, which meant she had the kids and was herding them. "Don't you die on me, Harry Potter!" Ginny added into the phone.
Harry laughed. "Not a chance," he promised, then hung up. The Doctor and Martha had hurried on ahead, so Harry hurried to catch up to them. When he rounded the corner he stopped to stare at the place where the TARDIS had been mere moments before.
The Doctor was wandering around, tasting the air. "Teleport exchange," he said, mostly talking to Martha. "It's the Sontarans. They've got her." He looked a bit disgusted. "But that means I'm stuck on Earth like a normal person. Like a human. What rubbish is that?" He glanced at Harry and Martha. "Sorry, no offence."
Harry shrugged while Martha mostly ignored him.
The Doctor stared at Martha for a long moment and Harry wondered if he'd, perhaps, noticed something wrong with the young woman. Something that might explain why she hadn't told Colonel Mace about the Sontarans.
Martha finally turned to him with a frown. "What?"
"I was just wondering if you've called your family," the Doctor replied.
"What for?"
"About the gas. Tell them to stay indoors," the Doctor replied.
"Of course I will," Martha said with a little laugh, but she didn't seem too concerned about it. "Where's Donna?"
"Oh." The Doctor shrugged and glanced at Harry. "She's gone home. She's not like you. She's not a soldier." The Doctor looked back at Martha for the last bit, then nodded. "Right! So, avanti!" He turned and led them back to the base.
There, he asked about the gas – which they were still working on – then tried to tell off Mace for thinking about a nuclear strike and, finally, called the Sontarans and sat down in an open chair to talk to them. When General Staal, the head of the fleet, showed them the TARDIS, the Doctor cheerfully worked Donna's name into a message and suggested she use the phone in the TARDIS to communicate, then told the Sontarans that he had a remote control for the ship. They ended the transmission pretty fast after that.
Mace set about bringing up NATO defences while Martha considered the gas sample they'd collected again. The Doctor went over to her and Harry walked over to his group, all of whom looked out of place. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"There's not a lot for us to do," Aria replied, waving at the busy room. "Hermione's the only one who knows anything about gas, and she doesn't hold up to Doctor Jones' knowledge. We're not soldiers."
"I'm sorry," Harry whispered, shaking his head. "I'd send you home, but I don't want to have to call you back again if we suddenly need you."
"What might you need us for?" Robert asked.
The group of soldiers behind them chose that moment to announce that the NATO defences were online and they were priming for launch. The Doctor spun around to yell at Mace and Harry sighed. "Other than stunning Mace so he'll stop doing stupid stuff?"
The other three laughed a little nervously and looked around Harry at the desperate Doctor and the nervous Mace.
The missiles didn't fire and the grid went down. Mace ordered them to get the grid back up and it looked like the Doctor might snap a bit more, but a call came in from one of the groups inside the building that they had Sontarans in the factory. Mace ordered them to fire and the Doctor tried to tell him to get them out of there.
The guns didn't work and the team that had run into the Sontarans was slaughtered.
When the Doctor yelled for Mace to order a retreat again, he listened.
Their forces were severely depleted by the time they got out of the factory and closed it up.
Mace motioned for the Doctor to follow him into the little side meeting room and called, "Potter!"
Harry sighed. "I'm sorry," he told his group, then hurried to join Mace and the Doctor.
Mace turned to Harry. "Do you think you can use magic to bring those Sontarans down?"
Harry crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the glass wall. "Can I? Most certainly. Do I have troops for that? No."
"You have those three–"
"They aren't soldiers," Harry reminded him sharply. "They're scientists. They don't do battle."
"Everyone here 'does battle'," Mace insisted.
"Oh? Even Martha? Even the Doctor? Because I can guarantee neither of them will be interested in fighting the Sontarans. I'd like to see you try and make them."
Mace leaned forward over the desk he was sitting behind. "Potter, you are under my command, here–"
"If we're playing the 'who's in charge' game, Colonel, I think you'll find that the Doctor out-ranks you." Harry turned to the Doctor, who was watching the argument like one might watch a tennis match. "Doctor?"
The Doctor sighed. "They're not fighting. In fact, no one is fighting. You can't fight Sontarans!"
Mace looked between the two men. "How were they stopping the bullets?" he demanded.
"You can't fight–"
"Thank you, Doctor. But I need people who can fight them anyway. That means either Potter's little band of stick-wavers need to play a part, or we need a way to shoot our guns. Do you understand me?"
Harry and the Doctor traded looks. "They're using a cordolane signal, which causes the copper to expand. It jams the guns," the Doctor said, almost looking defeated.
Mace nodded and stood. "I'm on it. And, Potter?"
"Sir?" Harry ground out.
"You might as well tell your team to go home." Mace smiled at them, then turned and left the office.
Harry muttered some under his breath, then waved Hermione towards him. When she reached him, he said, "You lot might as well go home, then. Mace seems pretty sure he's got everything in hand."
Hermione frowned at him, clearly worried. "Are you sure? I don't want to leave you, only for you to have to call us back and all."
Harry shook his head. "If it turns out Mace decides he needs you after all, I'll deal with it. Go home. Say hi to Mum and your kids for me, yeah?"
Hermione nodded. "Okay. Do you want me to check on Ginny?"
Harry shrugged. "Sure? I told her to hide in the cellar and seal herself in with the kids, so she should be fine. You can, if you want."
Hermione nodded again and squeezed Harry's shoulder, then hurried back to the other two Department members.
Harry looked back at the Doctor, closing the door. "What's wrong with Martha?" he asked.
The Doctor grinned. "You noticed!"
"Of course I did, you git. She never told Mace about the Sontarans. Hermione did that. And she doesn't seem to care about her family like she ought." Harry rolled his eyes.
The Doctor nodded. "She's a clone, made by the Sontarans, with Martha's memories."
"Of course," Harry said, nodding as if the explanation made perfect sense. "And you figured this out, how?"
The Doctor grinned. "Oh, a couple of things. Can I borrow your mobile?"
"I'm beginning to think you only give straight answers when under duress," Harry commented, handing over his phone. "Calling Donna?"
"Let it never be said you're not clever," the Doctor replied, dialling the number of the phone in the TARDIS. He talked Donna through getting around in the Sontaran ship a bit, but hung up when Mace came back in and ran out to meet him. "Think about what you're doing?" he pleaded. "More people are going to be killed!"
Mace tossed him a gas mask, then waved one at Harry, who shook his head. "I have thought about it," he told the Doctor. "And we're getting back into that factory. Now, come on."
"You're not going without me," not-Martha said, hurrying over to join Harry and the Doctor as the Doctor grabbed his coat.
"Wouldn't dream of it," the Doctor replied.
Harry cast the bubble head charm on himself again before stepping outside. When the Doctor put his gas mask on, Harry snorted. "Who's the more ridiculous-looking, do you think?"
"I refuse to answer that," the Doctor replied as they stopped next to Mace. Then, turning to the colonel, he asked, "Are you my mummy?"
Harry, who had heard about that adventure from Jack, shook his head while Mace demanded that the Doctor be serious.
Mace called down the Valiant to help clear away the gas, then had the airship use a weapon adapted from Torchwood's facilities to blow a hole through the factory. That started the strike and soldiers on the ground used bazookas to take out the doors. The soldiers started cutting a path into the building for Mace, the Doctor, Martha and Harry, all of whom hurried in.
Eventually, the Doctor split off from the rest of the soldiers and Harry and Martha followed. Down the empty corridor, they came across a room with another teleport and the real Martha, lying prone on metal bed. The Doctor ran forward saying, "Oh, Martha. I am so sorry."
Not-Martha reached under her coat like one might when pulling out a concealed weapon and Harry pressed his wand up under her chin. "I wouldn't, if I were you," he commented with a smile. "You know exactly what I can do with this."
Not-Martha's hand moved away from the gun and held her hands up in a surrender position. Harry took the chance to pull out her gun himself and toss it away from them. She eyed him in disgust, then looked at the Doctor, who turned to look at them. "I've been stopping the nuclear launch," she said, as if she expected it to bother them.
"Doing exactly what I've wanted," the Doctor agreed. "I needed you to stop the missiles, just as much as the Sontarans. Not having Earth start an interstellar war. You're a triple agent."
"When did you know?" not-Martha asked, looking between both of them.
"Right from the start," the Doctor replied. "Hermione told Harry you'd never told Mace about the Sontarans, and I could tell from looking at you. Reduced iris contraction, slight thinning of the hair follicles in the left temple and, frankly, you smell."
"Time Lords," Harry muttered, shaking his head.
The Doctor smiled just the slightest bit and stood over Martha's head. "The Sontarans have been protecting her," he commented, half to Harry, half to not-Martha, "to help feed the clone with Martha's memories. Martha Jones has been keeping you alive." Then he tugged the tech off of Martha's head, causing her to wake up and not-Martha to clutch at her chest, unable to properly breathe.
The Doctor helped Martha for a moment, but Harry's phone rang in the Doctor's pocket and he hurried to answer it, leaving Martha to Harry. "Good to see you again," Harry commented, helping Martha up. She hugged him briefly, then turned to stare at her clone in disbelief.
After the Doctor had given his latest instructions to Donna, he donated his coat to Martha, then directed Harry to help him fix the teleport a bit. Harry was set to sonicing a batch of wires while the Doctor went after the control box and Martha got not-Martha to tell them about the gas, which turned out to be something the Sontarans had created so they could raise their clones.
The Doctor got Donna down to the planet, then called the TARDIS back down, too. They all got into the teleport pod and the Doctor sent them to Rattigan Academy, where they found a shaking Luke Rattigan with a gun. "Don't tell anyone what I did!" he cried.
The Doctor just walked right up to him, grabbed the gun and tossed it aside, then continued on to the science labs. The girls and Harry followed him, Donna commenting on the coat Martha was wearing.
In the lab, the Doctor fixed up some of the stuff Rattigan had, talking a mile a minute about why the Sontarans hadn't wanted missiles being fired on Earth. As soon as he was done, he grabbed his creation and hurried outside, everyone following.
There, the Doctor shot off his toy, igniting the atmosphere and clearing up all the gas all over the world. When the fires cleared, only blue sky was left and the four humans laughed, Rattigan commenting on how the Doctor was a genius.
"Now we're in trouble," the Doctor said and, grabbing his toy, ran back inside.
They caught up with him in Rattigan's office/playroom. There, the Doctor told his three companions thank you and told Rattigan to do something clever with his life.
"You're saying good-bye," Donna realised.
"Sontarans are never defeated," the Doctor replied. "They'll be getting ready for war. And, well, you know. I've recalibrated this for Sontarans air. So..."
"You're gonna ignite them," Martha said.
"You'll kill yourself," Donna whispered.
"Just, send that thing up," Martha suggested, "on its own. I don't know. Put it on a delay."
"I can't," the Doctor said, shaking his head.
"Why not?" Donna asked.
"I've gotta give them a choice."
"Even when you already know their answer?" Harry demanded. "They're never defeated. They won't refuse, Doctor. You know that."
"I've got to give them a choice," he repeated. And then he smiled and whispered something Harry had heard him say before, in the Doctor's bedroom. It was something the TARDIS would never translate, but Harry had always taken it to mean, 'I love you'.
And then the Doctor was gone.
Harry turned away from the pod and apparated back to the TARDIS. There, he rested back against her and stared up at the clear sky. "Damn you," he whispered. "Damn you." He closed his eyes.
Harry wasn't certain how long he stood there, trying not to feel, before his mobile rang. He pulled it out and stared at the name – Martha – for a long moment, not sure if he wanted to answer. Not quite sure that he could.
He finally flipped the phone open and answered it. "Potter," he said.
"Here," Martha said, and the phone was handed over.
There was silence, for a moment, then, "I'm sorry."
Harry swallowed at the Doctor's voice and closed his eyes. "Don't tell me they ran away?" he said, trying for joking and failing miserably.
"No. Luke Rattigan used the teleport to switch us," the Doctor admitted.
Harry nodded. "I should go tell Colonel Mace that the Sontarans are gone, then."
"I'm sorry," the Doctor whispered again.
Harry laughed a painful sort of laugh. "If it had been me, I'd have done the same thing," he replied.
The Doctor sounded like he might apologise again, so Harry ended the call and shoved his phone back into his pocket. He stood there for another moment, breathing and reminding himself that the Doctor was still alive, the git. The stupid, self-less git.
He pushed off from the TARDIS when he felt more in control and wiped at his face, erasing the evidence of his weakness. Then he turned and walked back towards the base. He needed to let Mace know about the Sontarans.
-0-0-0-
-0-0-0-
A/N: One reviewer – from FFN, I think, but I can't remember their name – suggested cutting this chapter just before the ending of this Arc, since that two-part episode had all the companions, and since I seemed to be breaking it up by character... Thought it was a brilliant idea, myself, but I burned out a bit near the end of what I was supposed to have in this chapter, so I cut it off a bit earlier than intended. I'll work on the next bit and possibly add a bit of Harry without-the-Doctor-time to help flesh out the next chapter a bit. We'll see.
I figured you lot might be a bit sick of the wait, at any rate. XD
Until the next chapter!
~Bats ^.^x
Harry & the Doctor Series:
Hanging By a Thread
Dust in the Sky Chapters:
One | Two | Three |Four | Five | Six
The Future Doesn't Scare Me Chapters:
One | Two | ???
The Perfect Sky is Torn Chapters:
One | Two | Three
DISCONTINUED
Adrenaline Rush
Part: 4 of 6
Author:
batsutousaiBeta:
tsuki_no_suzuRating: PG-13
Pairings: Harry Potter/Tenth Doctor (minor Rose/Tenth Doctor, Martha/Tenth Doctor and Jack/Tenth Doctor)
Warnings: Slash, minor Ginny!hate
Summary: Sequel to Hanging by a Thread. Harry has a life to live now with a wife and children, but he can still find time for the Doctor, no matter what he looks like.
Fourth Part, first half
-0-0-0-
"Harry?"
"Hmm?"
The Doctor tapped the ATMOS that was giving them directions on the dash. "I don't suppose you'd know why this jeep has one of these?"
"Have to. Standard for government vehicles. Department van has one too. Some of the magical-raised really like them, since it can help you drive the car. I hate it." Harry glanced at the ATMOS with a look of disgust. "Ginny actually suggested she might be willing to drive, with one of these. Been vetoing the idea for months."
The Doctor shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder about that woman."
"You and me both." Harry eased them around a turn, then said, "She's threatening to divorce me."
The Doctor glanced at him. "What did you say to her?"
"Nothing." Harry shrugged. "On one hand, I've been talking about getting a divorce for years. On the other, she'll get the kids."
"What, you won't even be able to visit them?"
Harry snorted. "I'll be able to visit them fine, but they can't live with me." He glanced at the Doctor. "I practically live at work these days, ever since I resigned from the aurors. Got promoted to major just last week and that's been more work already. Never mind my little trips with you." He sighed. "James is four now, Doctor. He barely even recognises me. I'm just the strange man who's home sometimes and kisses him good-bye every other morning."
"I'm sorry," the Doctor whispered.
"Stop that!" Harry frowned at him. "I picked this life, not you, so stop blaming yourself. Honestly, if I didn't love my job so much, I could just quit. Potter fortune's more than big enough to see me to my old age, and probably see the kids through until they've all got jobs. But I like working with UNIT. Like being useful." He smiled. "I like getting out of the house. Having a reason to run into you."
The Doctor smiled at that. "I suppose. Still don't like the idea of you losing your kids."
Harry shook his head. "I'm not losing them, they're just moving a bit further away than down the hall. I'll just have to make time for them, now, if I want to see them. It'll probably do me some good. I'll actually have to visit, rather than just take it for granted that they'll always be there."
"I suppose," the Doctor repeated. When Harry glanced at him, he still didn't look pleased with the way things had turned out, but he didn't look quite like he was beating himself up anymore, either.
At Rattigan Academy, Harry stood back a bit and let the Doctor have fun. Harry figured that he must have been doing a pretty passable imitation of a normal UNIT soldier – sans uniform, any identifying features on his clothing and a gun, of course – since none of the kids gave him a second thought. It gave Harry a chance to look around, which he did. He saw the things the Doctor commented on, but he also noticed the kids, many of whom didn't really look like they were enjoying their time at the Academy. They looked more like they needed to like the Academy, or something horrible would happen to them.
Harry wondered what Rattigan did to those who decided they didn't like him.
In Rattigan's office – which looked more like a playroom to Harry, but what did he know? – the Doctor found a transporter, which he used, then came back down on. As soon as he got back, he jumped out of the way, leaving room for a strange armoured creature he called a Sontaran to come through. After which, the Doctor happily broke the transporter with his sonic screwdriver.
The Doctor cheerfully talked all about the Sontarans, eventually commenting on their one weakness and using a ball he'd picked up to knock the Sontaran to his knees. The he grabbed Harry's arm and they both ran for it.
After they'd gotten away from the Academy, the Doctor tried calling the base on the radio, but it wouldn't connect.
"The Sontarans?" Harry inquired.
The Doctor nodded. "And if they're blocking that, it means they can isolate the ATMOS."
"Turn left," the ATMOS said.
"Try going right."
Harry tried and shook his head. "Nope." He reached over to try over-riding the auto-drive, which he sometimes had to do with the Department van, but it beeped negatively at him.
The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and tried to use it on the ATMOS, but it had been deadlocked. Now, they could see the river ahead of them.
Harry grabbed the Doctor's hand and apparated them out of the car. They both landed on their bums, since they'd been sitting when Harry had apparated them, but they were both still alive when the jeep went off the end into the river.
"Oh, I'm going to have so much fun rubbing their dependence on ATMOS in those purebloods' faces," Harry muttered, shaking his head.
The Doctor sighed and pulled Harry into a hug. "What would I do without you?" he asked, shaking his head after the jeep.
Harry snorted. "You'd have thought of something. Now, come on. Let's go get Donna." Harry stood and reached down to help the Doctor up.
"Are we walking?" the Doctor asked, sounding pitiful.
Harry snorted. "Nah. I thought I'd just apparate us. Saves time and doesn't involve ATMOS."
The Doctor laughed. "Tell me about it."
Harry apparated them to just down the road, where they'd dropped Donna off. He led the way to Donna's house, which he'd looked up shortly after Donna and the Doctor left, just in case he needed to get in contact with her family – watching the Jones family had taught Harry a thing or two about being one of the few of the Doctor's companions who lived on Earth and who had the authority to go to someone's house and explain things when the Doctor disappeared for too long.
There, the Doctor knocked on the door and managed a smile for Donna when she answered. "This day is gone mad. How're you doing?"
Donna blinked a few times, then glanced around the Doctor at Harry, who waved at her. "Mad?" she asked, looking between them.
"You said you've got ATMOS?" Harry asked.
Donna nodded and led them over to the car. There, the Doctor started using his sonic on the ATMOS box he had with him again while Donna tried Martha's mobile and commented on the Doctor having done all that already.
Donna's grandfather, Wilfred Mott, came out to meet the Doctor and exclaimed over having met him before, when the Doctor disappeared in front of him on Christmas Eve.
"Was that before or after your stunt with the Titanic?" Harry asked, pulling out his mobile to ring Hermione. He wanted to know if they'd found anything.
"Before," the Doctor replied.
"That was you?" Wilfred demanded.
"That wasn't real," Donna insisted.
"Sure it was," Harry said. "I've still got the readings from that giant hunk scaring the hell out of everyone back in my desk. Hermione!" He turned and stepped away from the rest of the group as Donna finally got an answer from Martha. "Have you lot found anything?"
"Not really," Hermione replied, sounding frustrated. "It's still just a hunk of too-advanced technology!"
"Mmm... They were made by a race called the Sontarans. Rattigan is working with them. Don't know why yet, but the Doctor's trying the ATMOS again. Says he knows what he's looking for, now."
"Whoa!" the Doctor called as spikes popped out of the ATMOS. "It's a temporal pocket. Knew there was something else in there."
"I heard him," Hermione said before Harry could ask. "We're on it."
"You're amazing. Ring me if you find anything!"
"Will do."
Harry hung up and came over as Donna's mum came out to see what they were up to. "Hermione and them are looking into it more," he said to the Doctor.
"Mmm..." the Doctor sonic'd it for a bit more, then a billow of smoke shot out. "Get back!" he shouted, shoving them all back a bit. He sonic'd it from a distance until the ATMOS stopped billowing smoke, then stepped forward, Donna's mum complaining about how he'd blown up the car. "That wasn't just smoke," the Doctor commented, ignoring Donna's mum. "That was some sort of gas."
"But if that means they've got poisonous gas in every car on Earth," Donna said.
Wilfred got into the car, saying he'd get it off the street, but as soon as he was inside, the car started up on its own and started pouring gas out the exhaust. He couldn't get out and neither the Doctor nor Harry could get in – sonic screwdriver didn't work, and Harry didn't know any spells for breaking into cars.
Donna's mum was the one who came to the rescue, in the end. She brought out an axe from inside the house and smashed the front window of the car.
"Hmm. Axe," Harry muttered as he and Donna hurried to help Wilfred out and the Doctor kept playing with the ATMOS, trying to see if he could stop it.
Harry's mobile rang and he left Wilfred to his family while he answered it. "Potter."
"Harry! All the ATMOS devices are pouring out smoke!" Hermione cried.
Harry glanced around the street, where every car was pouring out the gas. "Yeah, I know. Get away from them. The gas seems to be poisonous. Get into the base and stay there, understand? See if you can't figure out what the gas is."
"Right. Also, did you tell Colonel Mace about what you found out?" Hermione asked, much calmer now that she had something to do.
"Yeah. We told Martha. Why?"
"Then Martha hasn't told him. He was just in here, before the gas started, asking if we'd found anything."
Harry turned to look at the Doctor, who'd given up on the ATMOS and was helping Donna and her mum get Wilfred into the house. "Hermione, I want you to tell the colonel, then. Code Red, Sontarans. Understood?"
"Sure. You don't think Martha is going to?"
"I'm not sure," Harry replied, running a hand through his hair. "It's possible she just hasn't run into him, yet. Maybe she's busy. I don't know. But Mace needs to be told."
"I'm on it. See you back at base?"
"We'll be back soon," Harry promised, then hung up and hurried over to the Doctor. "We need to get back to base."
The Doctor nodded. "Donna! Are you coming?"
"Yeah!" Donna called back. She had a moment with her mother telling her not to, but Wilfred told her to go ahead.
"Just stay indoors," the Doctor told them, motioning for Harry and Donna to walk around to the other side of a bush. Once they were out of sight of the two muggles, the Doctor said, "To the TARDIS, please."
Harry nodded and took both of their hands, then apparated all of them to just outside the TARDIS. "Oh, hell," Harry muttered and banished some of the gas before casting a bubble-head charm on himself. He couldn't see any better with the charm, but at least he could breathe. He waited while the Doctor ushered Donna into the TARDIS, then they both took off towards the base.
At the base, Harry hurried over to his team and checked them over while the Doctor talked about taking the TARDIS up to the alien spaceship.
"Have you phoned Ginny?" Hermione asked Harry.
Harry saw the Doctor grabbing Martha to go with him towards the TARDIS. "I'll do it now," he promised, pulling out his mobile and hurrying to join the Doctor and Martha. "To the TARDIS?" he asked, dialling the number for his house and hoping Ginny would pick up for once.
"Oh yes," the Doctor agreed.
The phone picked up on the other end. "Harry?" Ginny whispered.
"Ginny, I need you to take the kids down to the cellar and block off the door to the main part of the house," Harry ordered. "You'll be safe down there."
"Harry? What's happening out there?" Ginny pleaded.
"Sweetheart, just trust me and do as I say, okay? We'll work it out here, but I need to know you and the kids are safe. Now, cellar. Take the phone with you."
"Okay," Ginny replied and Harry heard Lily whimpering and James laughing a bit, which meant she had the kids and was herding them. "Don't you die on me, Harry Potter!" Ginny added into the phone.
Harry laughed. "Not a chance," he promised, then hung up. The Doctor and Martha had hurried on ahead, so Harry hurried to catch up to them. When he rounded the corner he stopped to stare at the place where the TARDIS had been mere moments before.
The Doctor was wandering around, tasting the air. "Teleport exchange," he said, mostly talking to Martha. "It's the Sontarans. They've got her." He looked a bit disgusted. "But that means I'm stuck on Earth like a normal person. Like a human. What rubbish is that?" He glanced at Harry and Martha. "Sorry, no offence."
Harry shrugged while Martha mostly ignored him.
The Doctor stared at Martha for a long moment and Harry wondered if he'd, perhaps, noticed something wrong with the young woman. Something that might explain why she hadn't told Colonel Mace about the Sontarans.
Martha finally turned to him with a frown. "What?"
"I was just wondering if you've called your family," the Doctor replied.
"What for?"
"About the gas. Tell them to stay indoors," the Doctor replied.
"Of course I will," Martha said with a little laugh, but she didn't seem too concerned about it. "Where's Donna?"
"Oh." The Doctor shrugged and glanced at Harry. "She's gone home. She's not like you. She's not a soldier." The Doctor looked back at Martha for the last bit, then nodded. "Right! So, avanti!" He turned and led them back to the base.
There, he asked about the gas – which they were still working on – then tried to tell off Mace for thinking about a nuclear strike and, finally, called the Sontarans and sat down in an open chair to talk to them. When General Staal, the head of the fleet, showed them the TARDIS, the Doctor cheerfully worked Donna's name into a message and suggested she use the phone in the TARDIS to communicate, then told the Sontarans that he had a remote control for the ship. They ended the transmission pretty fast after that.
Mace set about bringing up NATO defences while Martha considered the gas sample they'd collected again. The Doctor went over to her and Harry walked over to his group, all of whom looked out of place. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"There's not a lot for us to do," Aria replied, waving at the busy room. "Hermione's the only one who knows anything about gas, and she doesn't hold up to Doctor Jones' knowledge. We're not soldiers."
"I'm sorry," Harry whispered, shaking his head. "I'd send you home, but I don't want to have to call you back again if we suddenly need you."
"What might you need us for?" Robert asked.
The group of soldiers behind them chose that moment to announce that the NATO defences were online and they were priming for launch. The Doctor spun around to yell at Mace and Harry sighed. "Other than stunning Mace so he'll stop doing stupid stuff?"
The other three laughed a little nervously and looked around Harry at the desperate Doctor and the nervous Mace.
The missiles didn't fire and the grid went down. Mace ordered them to get the grid back up and it looked like the Doctor might snap a bit more, but a call came in from one of the groups inside the building that they had Sontarans in the factory. Mace ordered them to fire and the Doctor tried to tell him to get them out of there.
The guns didn't work and the team that had run into the Sontarans was slaughtered.
When the Doctor yelled for Mace to order a retreat again, he listened.
Their forces were severely depleted by the time they got out of the factory and closed it up.
Mace motioned for the Doctor to follow him into the little side meeting room and called, "Potter!"
Harry sighed. "I'm sorry," he told his group, then hurried to join Mace and the Doctor.
Mace turned to Harry. "Do you think you can use magic to bring those Sontarans down?"
Harry crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the glass wall. "Can I? Most certainly. Do I have troops for that? No."
"You have those three–"
"They aren't soldiers," Harry reminded him sharply. "They're scientists. They don't do battle."
"Everyone here 'does battle'," Mace insisted.
"Oh? Even Martha? Even the Doctor? Because I can guarantee neither of them will be interested in fighting the Sontarans. I'd like to see you try and make them."
Mace leaned forward over the desk he was sitting behind. "Potter, you are under my command, here–"
"If we're playing the 'who's in charge' game, Colonel, I think you'll find that the Doctor out-ranks you." Harry turned to the Doctor, who was watching the argument like one might watch a tennis match. "Doctor?"
The Doctor sighed. "They're not fighting. In fact, no one is fighting. You can't fight Sontarans!"
Mace looked between the two men. "How were they stopping the bullets?" he demanded.
"You can't fight–"
"Thank you, Doctor. But I need people who can fight them anyway. That means either Potter's little band of stick-wavers need to play a part, or we need a way to shoot our guns. Do you understand me?"
Harry and the Doctor traded looks. "They're using a cordolane signal, which causes the copper to expand. It jams the guns," the Doctor said, almost looking defeated.
Mace nodded and stood. "I'm on it. And, Potter?"
"Sir?" Harry ground out.
"You might as well tell your team to go home." Mace smiled at them, then turned and left the office.
Harry muttered some under his breath, then waved Hermione towards him. When she reached him, he said, "You lot might as well go home, then. Mace seems pretty sure he's got everything in hand."
Hermione frowned at him, clearly worried. "Are you sure? I don't want to leave you, only for you to have to call us back and all."
Harry shook his head. "If it turns out Mace decides he needs you after all, I'll deal with it. Go home. Say hi to Mum and your kids for me, yeah?"
Hermione nodded. "Okay. Do you want me to check on Ginny?"
Harry shrugged. "Sure? I told her to hide in the cellar and seal herself in with the kids, so she should be fine. You can, if you want."
Hermione nodded again and squeezed Harry's shoulder, then hurried back to the other two Department members.
Harry looked back at the Doctor, closing the door. "What's wrong with Martha?" he asked.
The Doctor grinned. "You noticed!"
"Of course I did, you git. She never told Mace about the Sontarans. Hermione did that. And she doesn't seem to care about her family like she ought." Harry rolled his eyes.
The Doctor nodded. "She's a clone, made by the Sontarans, with Martha's memories."
"Of course," Harry said, nodding as if the explanation made perfect sense. "And you figured this out, how?"
The Doctor grinned. "Oh, a couple of things. Can I borrow your mobile?"
"I'm beginning to think you only give straight answers when under duress," Harry commented, handing over his phone. "Calling Donna?"
"Let it never be said you're not clever," the Doctor replied, dialling the number of the phone in the TARDIS. He talked Donna through getting around in the Sontaran ship a bit, but hung up when Mace came back in and ran out to meet him. "Think about what you're doing?" he pleaded. "More people are going to be killed!"
Mace tossed him a gas mask, then waved one at Harry, who shook his head. "I have thought about it," he told the Doctor. "And we're getting back into that factory. Now, come on."
"You're not going without me," not-Martha said, hurrying over to join Harry and the Doctor as the Doctor grabbed his coat.
"Wouldn't dream of it," the Doctor replied.
Harry cast the bubble head charm on himself again before stepping outside. When the Doctor put his gas mask on, Harry snorted. "Who's the more ridiculous-looking, do you think?"
"I refuse to answer that," the Doctor replied as they stopped next to Mace. Then, turning to the colonel, he asked, "Are you my mummy?"
Harry, who had heard about that adventure from Jack, shook his head while Mace demanded that the Doctor be serious.
Mace called down the Valiant to help clear away the gas, then had the airship use a weapon adapted from Torchwood's facilities to blow a hole through the factory. That started the strike and soldiers on the ground used bazookas to take out the doors. The soldiers started cutting a path into the building for Mace, the Doctor, Martha and Harry, all of whom hurried in.
Eventually, the Doctor split off from the rest of the soldiers and Harry and Martha followed. Down the empty corridor, they came across a room with another teleport and the real Martha, lying prone on metal bed. The Doctor ran forward saying, "Oh, Martha. I am so sorry."
Not-Martha reached under her coat like one might when pulling out a concealed weapon and Harry pressed his wand up under her chin. "I wouldn't, if I were you," he commented with a smile. "You know exactly what I can do with this."
Not-Martha's hand moved away from the gun and held her hands up in a surrender position. Harry took the chance to pull out her gun himself and toss it away from them. She eyed him in disgust, then looked at the Doctor, who turned to look at them. "I've been stopping the nuclear launch," she said, as if she expected it to bother them.
"Doing exactly what I've wanted," the Doctor agreed. "I needed you to stop the missiles, just as much as the Sontarans. Not having Earth start an interstellar war. You're a triple agent."
"When did you know?" not-Martha asked, looking between both of them.
"Right from the start," the Doctor replied. "Hermione told Harry you'd never told Mace about the Sontarans, and I could tell from looking at you. Reduced iris contraction, slight thinning of the hair follicles in the left temple and, frankly, you smell."
"Time Lords," Harry muttered, shaking his head.
The Doctor smiled just the slightest bit and stood over Martha's head. "The Sontarans have been protecting her," he commented, half to Harry, half to not-Martha, "to help feed the clone with Martha's memories. Martha Jones has been keeping you alive." Then he tugged the tech off of Martha's head, causing her to wake up and not-Martha to clutch at her chest, unable to properly breathe.
The Doctor helped Martha for a moment, but Harry's phone rang in the Doctor's pocket and he hurried to answer it, leaving Martha to Harry. "Good to see you again," Harry commented, helping Martha up. She hugged him briefly, then turned to stare at her clone in disbelief.
After the Doctor had given his latest instructions to Donna, he donated his coat to Martha, then directed Harry to help him fix the teleport a bit. Harry was set to sonicing a batch of wires while the Doctor went after the control box and Martha got not-Martha to tell them about the gas, which turned out to be something the Sontarans had created so they could raise their clones.
The Doctor got Donna down to the planet, then called the TARDIS back down, too. They all got into the teleport pod and the Doctor sent them to Rattigan Academy, where they found a shaking Luke Rattigan with a gun. "Don't tell anyone what I did!" he cried.
The Doctor just walked right up to him, grabbed the gun and tossed it aside, then continued on to the science labs. The girls and Harry followed him, Donna commenting on the coat Martha was wearing.
In the lab, the Doctor fixed up some of the stuff Rattigan had, talking a mile a minute about why the Sontarans hadn't wanted missiles being fired on Earth. As soon as he was done, he grabbed his creation and hurried outside, everyone following.
There, the Doctor shot off his toy, igniting the atmosphere and clearing up all the gas all over the world. When the fires cleared, only blue sky was left and the four humans laughed, Rattigan commenting on how the Doctor was a genius.
"Now we're in trouble," the Doctor said and, grabbing his toy, ran back inside.
They caught up with him in Rattigan's office/playroom. There, the Doctor told his three companions thank you and told Rattigan to do something clever with his life.
"You're saying good-bye," Donna realised.
"Sontarans are never defeated," the Doctor replied. "They'll be getting ready for war. And, well, you know. I've recalibrated this for Sontarans air. So..."
"You're gonna ignite them," Martha said.
"You'll kill yourself," Donna whispered.
"Just, send that thing up," Martha suggested, "on its own. I don't know. Put it on a delay."
"I can't," the Doctor said, shaking his head.
"Why not?" Donna asked.
"I've gotta give them a choice."
"Even when you already know their answer?" Harry demanded. "They're never defeated. They won't refuse, Doctor. You know that."
"I've got to give them a choice," he repeated. And then he smiled and whispered something Harry had heard him say before, in the Doctor's bedroom. It was something the TARDIS would never translate, but Harry had always taken it to mean, 'I love you'.
And then the Doctor was gone.
Harry turned away from the pod and apparated back to the TARDIS. There, he rested back against her and stared up at the clear sky. "Damn you," he whispered. "Damn you." He closed his eyes.
Harry wasn't certain how long he stood there, trying not to feel, before his mobile rang. He pulled it out and stared at the name – Martha – for a long moment, not sure if he wanted to answer. Not quite sure that he could.
He finally flipped the phone open and answered it. "Potter," he said.
"Here," Martha said, and the phone was handed over.
There was silence, for a moment, then, "I'm sorry."
Harry swallowed at the Doctor's voice and closed his eyes. "Don't tell me they ran away?" he said, trying for joking and failing miserably.
"No. Luke Rattigan used the teleport to switch us," the Doctor admitted.
Harry nodded. "I should go tell Colonel Mace that the Sontarans are gone, then."
"I'm sorry," the Doctor whispered again.
Harry laughed a painful sort of laugh. "If it had been me, I'd have done the same thing," he replied.
The Doctor sounded like he might apologise again, so Harry ended the call and shoved his phone back into his pocket. He stood there for another moment, breathing and reminding himself that the Doctor was still alive, the git. The stupid, self-less git.
He pushed off from the TARDIS when he felt more in control and wiped at his face, erasing the evidence of his weakness. Then he turned and walked back towards the base. He needed to let Mace know about the Sontarans.
-0-0-0-
A/N: One reviewer – from FFN, I think, but I can't remember their name – suggested cutting this chapter just before the ending of this Arc, since that two-part episode had all the companions, and since I seemed to be breaking it up by character... Thought it was a brilliant idea, myself, but I burned out a bit near the end of what I was supposed to have in this chapter, so I cut it off a bit earlier than intended. I'll work on the next bit and possibly add a bit of Harry without-the-Doctor-time to help flesh out the next chapter a bit. We'll see.
I figured you lot might be a bit sick of the wait, at any rate. XD
Until the next chapter!
~Bats ^.^x
Hanging By a Thread
Dust in the Sky Chapters:
One | Two | Three |
The Future Doesn't Scare Me Chapters:
One | Two | ???
The Perfect Sky is Torn Chapters:
One | Two | Three
DISCONTINUED
Adrenaline Rush
.
