Ending of the Hours (Book Four of the Bad Wolf Chronicles)

The Poison Sky

"He's going to choke," Donna gasped through her tears. "Doctor!"

Jessie shook her head before ducking inside of the car, phasing through. She began coughing on the gas a little as her Time Lord side fought her Asgardian side to be fine with the gas, and she grabbed Wilf and pulled her out with him. She stumbled a little away from the car as Sylvia grabbed Wilf. "Thanks," Wilf wheezed.

"Yeah," Jessie panted as the Doctor took her in his arms, checking her over. "Cheers, soldier."

"Get inside the house," the Doctor told them. "Just try and close off the doors and windows."

"Doctor!" Steve's voice shouted as a black cab pulled up, Ross at the wheel.

"This is all we could find that hasn't got ATMOS," Ross reported.

The Doctor turned to Donna. "Donna, you coming?" he asked.

Donna swallowed. "Yeah," she replied with a nod.

"Donna," Sylvia pleaded. "Don't go. Look what happens every time that Doctor and Bad Wolf appears! Stay with us, please!"

"You go, my darling," Wilf told her.

"Dad!" Sylvia gasped.

"Don't listen to her," Wilf told her. "You go with those two. That's my girl."

Donna nodded, crying a little as she got into the car with the two Time Lords.

***

"Ross, Steve, look after yourselves," the Doctor told them as they got out of the cab. "Get inside the building."

"Will do," Ross replied as the three of them ran inside.

"The air is disgusting," Donna coughed.

"It's not so bad for me," the Doctor said with a shrug. "Go on. Inside the TARDIS." He stopped. "Oh, I've never given you a key." He pulled it out of his coat pocket and handed it to her. "Keep that. Go on, that's yours. Quite a big moment, really."

"Yeah, maybe we can get sentimental after the world's finished choking to death," Donna commented.

He winced. "Good idea."

"Where are you going?"

"To stop a war!" he replied, and he and Jessie ran at full speed towards the ATMOS complex.

***

The Doctor separated from Jessie as she went down to check on the UNIT soldiers in the complex as he headed back to the command center. "Right, then! Here I am!" he declared. "Good." He pointed at Mace. "Whatever you do, Colonel Mace, do not engage the Sontarans in battle. There is nothing they like better than a war. Just leave this to me."

"And what are you going to do?" the Colonel asked.

"I've got the TARDIS," the Doctor replied. "I'm going to get onboard their ship." He looked over at Martha, trying not to cringe at how obvious it was that she was . . . different. "Come on."

She stood and followed him as they headed for the TARDIS, and he blinked when he saw the TARDIS was completely gone. "What?!"

"But where's the TARDIS?" Martha asked, looking around.

"Taste that, in the air," the Doctor replied, flicking his tongue out and grimacing. "Yuck. That sort of metal tang. Teleport exchange. It's the Sontarans. They've taken it. I'm stuck on Earth like . . . like an ordinary person. Like a human. How rubbish is that?" He nodded at her. "Sorry. No offense, but come on."

"So what do we do?" Martha asked.

"Well, I mean, it's shielded. They could never detect it."

"What?"