Ties Between Time and Space

✦28✦ - The Age Of Steel

Chapter Twenty-Eight
An Unexpected Getaway

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The Doctor dropped his left hand and raised his right hand, a bright light emitted from his palm and bounced off each Cybermen until they all fell to the ground. Emma's eyes widened in shock, even Rose and Mickey couldn't believe what they'd just seen.

"What the hell was that?" Ricky asked.

"We'll have that instead," the Doctor said, ignoring the question. "Run!"

A car horn sounded from behind them and they skidded to a stop. Emma almost fell into the Doctor but he caught her arm and steadied her.

"Everybody in!" a woman's voice shouted.

Ricky and his friend wasted no time and climbed into the van. Pete ran back toward the mansion but the Doctor quickly stopped him. Emma caught John's arm too when he tried to do the same.

"My wife's still in there. I have to-"

"You can't," Emma shook her head.

The Doctor glanced between the two men, they were both frantic and both wanted to save their wives but it was too late.

"Anyone inside that house is dead, if you want to help then don't let them have died for nothing," the Doctor told them. "You've got to come with us right now."

"Come on! Get a move on!" the woman from the van shouted again.

Though conflicted, Pete finally gave in and climbed inside the vehicle after Mickey. Emma kept her grip firm on John's arm, refusing to let him go and get himself killed. Maybe she didn't want to interact with him before for obvious reasons, but she wasn't just going to let him die. He was still her grandfather, a carbon copy, an alternate reality version, it didn't matter anymore.

"Please," Emma said, her voice soft and calm. "Trust me, you need to come with us." John had an inner battle with himself before forcing his emotions down and simply nodding. "Rose!" Emma caught her best friend's attention when she noticed all Rose did was stare in the mansion's direction. "She's not your Mom. She's not Jackie."

"I know," Rose said.

"Come on," the Doctor ushered the two girls.

"Finished chatting?" the woman driving the van retorted. "Never seen a slower getaway in my life."

Emma fell down beside the Doctor as the van sped away from the Tyler's mansion. Rose sat down next to Mickey, almost zoned out as thoughts raced through her mind. John and Pete looked just as distracted the further away they got from danger and the closer they got to safety.

The van was divided inside, a gridded window separated the driver and passenger seat from the storage space in the backseat. Ricky turned to face them, looking through the holes at the Doctor.

"What was that thing?"

"Little bit of technology from my home," the Doctor replied.

"It stopped glowing. Has it run out?" Mickey asked.

"It's on a revitalizing loop. It'll charge back up in about four hours," the Doctor reassured and tucked the power cell safely away in his pocket.

"Right. So, we don't have a weapon anymore," Ricky said.

"Yeah, we've got weapons," the guy beside Ricky spoke. Emma had learned from both Ricky and the woman driving the van that his name was Jake. "Might not work on those metal things, but they're good enough for men like them," he said and glared.