Dancing Across Time (Book Two of The Bad Wolf Chronicles)

Chapter Twelve: Army of Ghosts

Jessie smiled as she bounded into the flat SHIELD used. "Skye! It's us!" she shouted, swinging her duffel bag into her arms. "We're back!"

"I don't know why you even bother with the phone when you never use it!" Skye shouted before running down the hallway, smiling widely.

"Shut up," Jessie laughed. "Come here!"

Skye hugged her tightly. "Oh, I love you!"

"I love you!"

The Doctor tried to make his way past, but Skye winked at Jessie and turned to him. "Oh, no you don't," she warned. "Come here!"

He squeaked when she grabbed ahold of him and kissed him. Jessie laughed hard at that, and the Doctor threw her a look over Skye's shoulder. "All right, I've got loads of washing to do," she told Skye, handing her the duffel bag she had. "And I got you this," she added, going through her pockets and finding the metal tool she had. "It's from the market on this asteroid bazaar we just visited. It's made of . . . " She shook her head, forgetting what it was, and she turned to the Doctor. "What's it called?"

He looked up from whatever he was looking at. "Bazoolium," he replied matter-of-factly.

She grinned, shaking her head. "Bazoolium. Right." She turned back to Skye. "Anyway, when it gets cold, it means it's going to rain. And when it gets hot, it's going to be sunny." She grinned. "You can use it to tell the weather!"

Skye took a deep breath. "Jessie, Doctor . . . there's something going on here."

Jessie narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"They've been coming all the time." Skye headed for the kitchen, slipping the bazoolium trinket into her pocket. She swallowed. "Just the other day, I thought I saw Linda Avery."

Jessie's jaw dropped. "Oh my God."

"What?" the Doctor asked, looking up again.

"Linda Avery," Jessie replied, swallowing. "She's the agent that found Skye. But she died years ago."

Skye looked at her watch. "In fact, they'll be coming any time now."

"She's dead," Jessie insisted.

"I know that," Skye replied.

"Then how can she come back?"

"Ask her yourself." Skye looked up. "Ten past."

There was a warping in the air, and a humanoid shape walked through a wall, and Skye nodded. "Here we are. Agent Linda Avery."

The Doctor's jaw fell open, and he quickly ran for the door. Jessie followed. "Doctor!" she shouted.

She nearly ran into him when he stopped outside the flats. "They're everywhere!" he sputtered.

Jessie looked around, seeing nobody was scared of them, when one approached the Doctor. "Doctor!" she called in warning.

He turned, but the ghost walked right through him, and he shuddered. Skye ran up, looking around. "They haven't got long. Midday shift only lasts a couple of minutes. They're about to fade."

"What do you mean, 'shift?'" the Doctor asked, looking around still. "Since when did ghosts have shifts? Since when did shifts have ghosts? What's going on?"

Skye smirked. "Oh, he's not happy when I know more than him, is he?"

"But no one's running or screaming or freaking out!"

"I know," Skye said, looking at her watch. "That's why Coulson sent me here. Here we go. Twelve past."

The ghosts shimmered out of existence, and the Doctor slowly shook his head. "This is wrong."