Untold Knowledge (Doctor Who x Genius Fem! Oc) [Book 1]

Chapter 21: The Age of Steel

"Out of suffering have emerged the strongest of souls. The most massive characters are seared with scars."
-- Khalil Gibran

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Within the time span of only two to four seconds, every cyberman in sight were fatally shot down. Each and every metal man had a large hole burned through their torso, all of them dropping to the ground lifeless as a result. Everyone looked at the seemingly emotionless Echo with wide eyed and shocked expressions. Seeing the blank look she adopted, the Doctor took hold of her hand and gently offered his silent support. Before anyone could say anything on the unexpected casual show of power, they then heard a car horn. "Everybody, in!" a woman ordered so they had a clean get away.

"I've-- I've got to go back. My wife's in there." Pete immediately said as fear struck him again.

Echo looked at him with morose understanding. "Anyone inside that building is either dead or about to be."

When he gave her an angry and devastated look, the Doctor stepped in to avoid any possible fights. "If you want to help, then don't let her die for nothing. You've got to come with us right now." he explained quickly, feeling their window of opportunity rapidly closing. He had to figure out how to stop the cyberman invasion while also keeping Echo, Rose and Mickey safe to the best of his ability.

Once everyone was finally in the van  and driving away, they were able to have a bit of time to actually talk. "What kind of gun was that? I've never seen anything like it." Ricky asked with heavy suspicion towards all those that weren't a part of their group.

Echo didn't even look at him as she replied softly, "Don't worry about it." She then looked at her watch so as to check on the charging power cell levels.

"You're going to get more of them, or else. For all of us and then some." Ricky ordered aggressively, only thinking of ways to prevail against their enemies with anything he could.

When the Doctor heard his subtle threat towards her, he glared at the doppleganger with uncontended rage. But before he could even open his mouth to defend her, Echo glared dangerously at Ricky with hell fire in her eyes. "Show some respect, foolman." she warned with a terrifyingly calm quality. When his expression remained unchanged, she decided to put him in his place herself. "And if you don't? Well, then I must tell you the result you'd receive. What would you be if you were attached to another object by an inclined plane wrapped helically around an axis?" She then let him sit in awkward silence, then smiled sweetly. "You'd be screwed." Both Rose and the Doctor couldn't hold back their laughter the moment they saw Ricky's offended and embarrassed face.

"We've got weapons." Ricky's right hand man called Jake spoke up. "Might not be like hers, but they're good enough for men like him." he said as his eyes landed on the silent Pete Tyler.

Rose wouldn't stand for it, however. "Leave him alone. What's he done wrong?"

"Oh, you know. Just laid a trap that's wiped out the Government and left Lumic in charge." Jake answered accusingly sarcastic, his gaze remaining fixed on the man in question.

Pete looked at him with great annoyance. "If I was part of all that, do you think I'd leave my wife inside?" he demanded, furious with the lies.

"Maybe your plan went wrong. Still gives us the right to execute you, though." Ricky shot back, not yet realizing just who was in the van with him.

The Doctor immediately jumped in the second the threat had been made. "Talk about executions, you'll make us your enemy. Take some really good advice. You don't want to do that."

Ricky, however, didn't feel as though he should take his warning serious. But when he met Echo's glare while holding her blaster in view, he knew to back down while he still could. "All the same, we have evidence that says Pete Tyler's been working for Lumic since twenty point five." the doppleganger revealed. "Tell them, Mrs. M."

That was when the woman driving began to inform them of what they knew. "We've got a government mole who feeds us information. Lumic's private files, his South American operations, the lot. Secret broadcasts twice a week." she explained.

"Broadcasts from Gemini?" Pete asked, a knowing gleam to his irritated eyes.

This made Ricky raise his gun slightly in a weak attempt at showing authority. "And how do you know that?"

"I'm Gemini. That's me." he answered, retaining the strong urge to roll his eyes.

He then glared with even more raised suspicion. "Yeah, well you would say that." Ricky immediately shot down his claim.

This time, Pete let the eye roll free. "Encrypted wavelength six five seven using binary nine." When they had no response, he continued. "That's the only reason I was working for Lumic. To get information. I thought I was broadcasting to the Security Servers. What do I get? Scooby Doo and his gang. They've even got the van." he complained, feeling as though his efforts were all in vain.

"No, no, no." Mickey suddenly denied. "But the Preachers know what they're doing. Ricky said he's London's Most Wanted."

Upon hearing the claim they had made, Ricky averted his gaze from everyone. "Yeah, that's not exactly--..."

"Not exactly what?" came Mickey's immediate inquiry. It only took Echo a few milliseconds to realize just how deep Ricky truly was in the criminal world.

With a heavy sigh of defeat and embarrassment, he buckled. "I'm London's Most Wanted for... parking tickets."

Pete scoffed with not an ounce of surprise. "Of course." he grumbled, his thoughts revolving around his taken wife.

"Yeah, they were deliberate. I was fighting the system. Park anywhere, that's me." he quickly defended, not liking how the truth settled.

The Doctor smiled with amusement. "Good policy. I do much the same." he said, already seeing his true nature.

Suddenly and without hesitation, Echo leaned forward and quickly snatched Pete's earbuds out of his ears. "I'm killing them. Never know who might be listening in." she muttered as she scanned the devices with her watch.

"Lumic's overreached himself. He's still just a businessman. He's assassinated the President. All we need to do is get to the city and inform the authorities. Because I promise you, this ends tonight."

They had been driving for a few minutes longer as the Doctor became increasingly antsy to know if Echo was indeed okay. When she glanced at him absentmindedly, she found him already watching her. Averting her gaze, she then sighed. "I'm fine. I know, okay? He wasn't the brother from my dimension. But he was still him... I just couldn't handle watching him go like that again. It was hard enough the first time around."

His brows furrowed as he noted her slip of detail regarding Xander's first demise. "What do you mean 'again'?"

She then rested her head on his shoulder, to which made him wrap his arms around her in turn. "I was going to visit him after I found our parents. Only, I was a few minutes too late. I was going to rescue him... But I guess I wasn't fast enough. That's what fueled my need for justice... for revenge." she admitted softly, knowing she could trust her Time Lord with anything and everything she had, received, learned, and knew. He was the only one in all of existence she felt truly akin to. She also knew for certain that she'd never live to regret allowing herself to connect with him so completely. He kissed her temple as they enjoyed the simple pleasure of being in each other's presence. Something they'd never tire of.