In a red flash, the Huntress, Kate and Cassie all appeared out of nowhere. The burning orange capsules they all held were now empty and grey. All except the Huntress were woozy and disorientated.
The Huntress started running around, as busy as ever. She knew her terrain much better now. They were in the belly of the beast, the bridge of the Discovery. It was very similar to the Salvation, but rather than being unused and unequipped it was a ruin inside from the years it rotted on the ocean floor.
Dead fish in a layer of murky, disgusting water covering the bridge floor and that water was seeping into Kate's pumps as well as Cassie's heels.
As disgusting as it is, it'll get some of the mud off I suppose, Kate thought to herself.
'Ergh! What is this disgusting place!' Cassie screamed uncontrollably. Today was getting way too much for her now. She clearly couldn't take much more.
The Huntress shot a quick glance at Cassie but turned back to her work rather than answering her. Her face was blank and full of concentration. No time for pointless conversation as Kate well observed.
In the Huntress' place, Kate approached Cassie and placed a gentle hand upon her shoulder.
'Away from Ironwood. Much safer, don't you think?'
Cassie looked at Kate and said nothing. She was breathing extremely heavy and was shivering. Moment away from a complete panic attack. Luckily, her breathing started easing as she refused to look around her at the ship. Focusing on Kate helped her nerves.
'That's it, just keep looking at me. Both eyes' Kate implored.
The Huntress stopped in her tracks and was attentive to one console in particular. As she stared and absorbed every bit of information from the screen, her hand reached into one of the blazers pockets and dialled Gray's phone before placing it up to her ear.
'So, so this is one of those ships, right?' Cassie stuttered behind her with Kate still by her side, their voices fainting into the background.
'It seems so' Kate answered calmly.
The Huntress' eyes lit up as she heard the phone being answered. 'Gray!' she shouted.
On the other end, Gray winced in pain. 'God! I can bloody hear ya! I couldn't stop the ship! The water, it's raised into the bloody sky! We're sailin' OVER London!'
'Yep, yeah I noticed. Kate, Cassie and I are aboard the Discovery. I have a plan but we need to be very careful how we do this'.
'But what about Will? He said he had a way to end it. Wasn't it your plan?'
The Huntress went silent. Her eyes were still as she zoned out the world and focused entirely on her thoughts.
Oh, Will. What are you about to try now?
'Never mind that. What else did he say to you?' she inquired quickly.
'His aboard the Fortress. He said all three ships had to be together and that he can contain the explosion. Oh, right. The Salvation is a giant bomb. Clamped missiles and everythin'. So what do we do?'.
Contain the explosion. Do that and hundreds of Sea Devils will die. There must be a small army stored aboard the Discovery and Fortress. The Salvation is just the first strike. The ships are probably powered to survive it. So...
'I've got to talk to Will. For now, I need you aboard the Discovery. And before you ask, "how do I do that?", I'm sending Kate and Cassie to help you. Head to the ships bow'
She immediately hangs up and rushes to one of the storage cabinets in the hallway off the bridge. One of the tools she pulls out is some sort of hook object and a very long bound of rope.
Cassie stays in place, bound by her fear. Kate however follows the Huntress after hearing her name mentioned. Huntress thrusts the hook and rope into Kate's hands, making sure not to be too forceful.
'I think you can see the plan here, right?'
Kate looks at the equipment and nods, with a faint smile on her face. 'I do, even though it seems like a very big risk'.
The Huntress plans her hands on Kate's shoulders and gives her most reassuring smile. 'Maybe, but it's the only one we have. Make it work'.
Kate can't help but look very sceptical at the ropes length, and the Huntress knew that she also doubted her throwing arm. Understandable, though.
'It's not the throw that will be the problem, trust me, I have that covered. Just throw. It's the part after which matters. Alright?'
Clapping her hand on one of Kate's shoulders before going back into the bridge, the Huntress gives her a large grin.
'We can win this one, so long as we all play our parts. I trust you'
'Good luck, Doc...'
Kate realises her mistake whilst making it and freezes. The Huntress can't help but smile warmly, taking it as a compliment.
'Huntress. Good luck, Huntress'
Before she could embarrass herself any more, Kate started running towards the back end of the ship. Huntress' smile faded and she turned around to Cassie. She sat there motionless, almost like she was paralysed or on pause. She knew that whatever she said right now wouldn't make a difference. She had to hope that Kate was strong enough to pull off such a stunt herself. A lot of
* * *
The phone hangs up out of nowhere in Gray's eye. He is stunned and his face is blank as his brain struggles to process everything the Huntress blurted out. He knew this kind of slowness would one day be his downfall and prayed that today wasn't that day.
'Ship's bow!' he shouted as he remembered what she asked of him.
He bounded out of the doors and ran around the ship until he was standing at the nose of the ship which charge forward on its wave elevated in about the rivers base. Gray couldn't help but look down and immediately regretted it. It brough back his fear of heights.
'Gray!'
He a heard a faint female voice calling. He frantically started looking around the area aboard the ship and found nothing. Finally, he looked ahead of him, towards the Discovery. There was Kate with a long piece of rope tied onto the railing and on the other end, a large metal claw.
'It's that a damn grapplin' hook!?' he exclaimed in disbelief. Though the ships gap was closing, they was still quite a distance apart.
'You really plan on throwing that!? It's too far!' he yelled at Kate, hoping she could hear him back. By her nods, she indeed heard him. He had to really lean over the railing to hear her response, extremely fearful of the drop down, not even adding on the even lower drop to the sidewalk.
'It's the Huntress' idea! She said the throw won't be a problem! It's the second part!'
Gray seemed puzzled, by everything honestly. 'It won't? What is the second part!'
'You climbing over!'
Gray went silent in agonising apprehension. No words would come out of his mouth and the gears running his brain simply halted. Seems that his fear of heights would be more of an issue now.
Kate meanwhile started twirling around the end of the grappling hook carefully, winding up her throw. She knew full well that it wouldn't even get halfway but she had to believe in what the Huntress told her. For not just London's sake, but Gray's. And ultimately, hers.
'Here goes nothing!' she shouted in self-motivated. This made her miss her own hobbies. Less strenuous ones, like bridge.
With whatever willpower was left in her body which was now giving her more and more grief and burning pain her swing, she let go, letting all the force of the hook dart straight forward.
She and Gray were actually astounded by how far the hook went before starting its decline. Both felt the hopelessness rise as the hook fell. At least until halfway down towards the massive wave.
From within that wave, one shot out at incredible speed. It was angled with precision and encased the hook instead and sped towards the railing of the Fortress again with what seemed like no resistance.
Almost with hastened grace, the hook spun around the bar on the railing a few times before catching the hook itself and locking its place.
'I don't believe it... She was right' Kate muttered under her breath, no taking her eyes off of the hook.
Gray's reaction was the same. Only he snapped out of this when the hook got very close to the railing, meaning his face.
'Alright, Gray! Time to climb over!' Kate shouted, now in a hurry to get back to the Huntress. She could see the city to her sides and knew exactly where they were. Really close to the centre now.
Gray swapped his panicked gaze between the rope and Kate at the end.
'Kate!'
'Yes!'
'I... Imma kinda afraid of heights!'
Kate slumped and sighed as she looked at the sight below which was enough to make her nervous and she'd fallen out of a plane once.
'She was right, this is the hardest part' Kate thought aloud.
* * *
Moments after Kate left the bridge, the Huntress set back to work on the consoles. She'd come up with a solid plan, but there were a few steps to be done before they reached their destination and the Salvation detonated. However, some of the things that needed doing were to be done alone.
She turned on her heel and looked once again at Cassie. Still unmoving, like a statue. The Huntress looked back at one of the consoles which presented a map of where they were. Time was getting short. Nevertheless, she had things to do.
The Huntress slowly eased over to Cassie and knelt down before her, looking up into her lowered eyes.
'It's ok to be afraid, you know. Aliens, invasion, all of the nightmares from your childhood coming true isn't a pushover. Come on, talk to me. If you can't talk to one of the nice ones, then that leaves you with some pretty worse alternatives.'
'I'd rather talk to none' she mumbles. Only her lips moves but they certainly tremble. The Huntress waited a moment and held her stare. Finally, Cassie looked up and their gazes locked.
'My head feels like its burning. I can't... can't process...'
'Maybe your not supposed too. As far as I can see, some people don't want this kind of life and danger. I don't blame you one bit, I mean, we're all different. Once this crisis is over, most things will go back to normal. Oh Cassie Devonport, I am so sorry you got dragged into all of this and I'm even more sorry that I have to ask you for one more favour. I'll understand if you say no, but our chances of making it through this are so much stronger with your help.'
'But... I'll remember... When all this is done with, I have to remember all of this!' she responded with her answer turning into a frantic shout.
'You don't have to. I can take the memories away if that's what you really want. Hell, UNIT can do that for you. The humans that fights the aliens, not someone that doesn't belong on your world.'
'You belong!' she argues back in a yell. Both are left stunned. Cassie was surprised the Huntress would say such a thing, yet the Huntress couldn't believe that she would even be fine with such a thing.
'You... you're the only reason London has a single hope right now, not UNIT! I just... I want this to be over. I can try, try to help you. Just promise me one thing'
The Huntress gently places her hand atop of Cassie clasped hands sitting on her lap, bathed in sea water and sweat.
'Just name it' she bluntly answered.
'Just promise me that when all this is over, it gets... better. That I won't be put in a mental asylum or cast off as a psycho for believing'
The Huntress chuckled a little and it clearly angered Cassie to see. 'Cassie, I can one hundred percent promise that. If you want a new job, I'm sure UNIT would even take you in, that is, if you wanted that. It would mean remembering, though'
Cassie stared down at the Huntress and her face continuously changed its expression. The Huntress could see all the emotions and possibilities flicking through her mind, binding and flipping in many directions to help her make a solid decision.
With no warning, Cassie jumped up onto her feet and started running out of the bridge.
The Huntress slowly raised herself back into a standing position and smiled as she watched Cassie run, hearing her single cry as she ran.
'Kate!!!'
Once Cassie's voice vanished out of earshot, the Huntress turned back to the large window before the bridge, looking out towards there set course. Keeping her eyes fixed on the view, the Huntress subconsciously pressed one button on the mobile phone and it started calling someone. She reluctantly held it up to her ear and waited.
The ringing stopped. A heavy-breathing man can be heard on the other end.
'Don't you dare use that device' she quietly yet demandingly ordered the person on the other end of the call. Like a captain giving a direct order, one that wasn't in the mood for any game playing or a single mistake.
'It's our answer, Huntress. What am I going to do, not take it? By the way, I'm fine. Thanks for asking' came the snarky response from Will. It was clear he was trying to be unnoticed and was clearly busy by his tone of voice.
'I have a plan in motion and it has nothing to do with a force field and hundreds of sleeping Sea Devils getting blown to smithereens. Now, get out of there!'
'There is no other way! They'll just wake up down the track and kill everyone some other way! Not everyone can be saved, Huntress!' he rebutted forcefully.
The Huntress rubbed a hand across her face in frustration before allowing her body to slump over the main console, he lower arms holding her body weight and posture up. 'I can save those people, Will. All those souls bound to the ships. I can keep the Sea Devils from waking up as well, but you have to trust me! I can do it!'
'She withered before my eyes, Huntress. The Fortress' captain, Atwood. Those people have been using what little life they have left to appear and speak to us. This was her final act and I swear to god, I will follow it and carry out her wish.'
'Even if it costs hundreds of lives. Even though it makes the death of Simone Weller utterly pointless and cruel' she quietly rebutted. Letting her disapproving and piercing words hit him like daggers. Making him feel the guilt so he could learn.
'You know, people keep asking me why I trust you and I'm now started to wonder why I have been so blind to it all. Maybe I am a fool for trusting you. I mean, look at what's happened since you fell into my life, literally!'
A knife-cuttable silence falls upon them. The tension was the thickest it had ever been between the two and even at that distance, it was beyond noticeable.
'I can't explain a coincidence, Will. What I can do is fix this mess which shouldn't even be my problem, but look, here I am. I am willing to help a race I've just met for the very first time. I trusted you and Gray with a Time Lord's greatest curse by allowing you both to witness my regeneration. My death, and my rebirth. All I am asking is from you to put aside the risk of the soldiers who sleep and focus on the people still alive within the hulls of those vessels. People I can help. Yes, they will never get to be normal or human again. But perhaps I can save them in a way they want to be saved. Oh, and do I even need to re-mention the whole of London followed by the planet? Will, give me a chance to make this right. Give me a chance to prove that I am a good person. Not a monster...'
Listening from the Fortress, Will is torn. In his ear is the Huntress pleading him not to use the device. Yet before his eyes on the table, surrounded by glowing ice left the Atwood is the device in question. All he had to do was reach out.
His choice was right before him, but deep down he had no idea which way was the right way. What choice to make.
'Are you sure? I mean it. Would you stake everything you ever cared about and ever loved on convincing me to make this one choice? Would you risk earth on this?' Will questioned her, knowing that this was the only was to earn his trust. This one answer to decide once and for all whether his mind matched his heart.
'Always'
His eyes widened and his heartbeat flooded his ears. Her voice, that word, It wasn't just an answer, no, it was what he had desperately needed.
Will grabbed a fallen piece of pipe from the floor and swung it as hard as he could at the device, destroying it. No use leaving it where the Sea Devils could use it.
'Alright then. What do you want me to do?'
Will started quietening his pace as she planned his escape from the room. His mind was still clouded by his own sureness. So much so he smiled uncontrollably, like a man whose been told his not going to die whilst lying in a deathbed.
Her answer wasn't just an answer. It was a promise.