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."

***

"It's all over the world," the Doctor muttered as he flipped through channels, seeing many reports on ghosts. He turned them off then turned to Skye. "When did it start?"

"My friend Peggy heard this noise in the cellar, so down she went - "

"Worldwide," Jessie said with a grin.

"SHIELD started getting reports two months ago," Skye replied, bringing out her tablet. "Just happened. People woke up one morning, and there they all were. Ghosts everywhere. They weren't on the Bus, though, but the whole planet was panicking. No sign of you, thank you very much," she added snarkily, and the Doctor huffed. "Then it seemed to sink in. Took the time to realize that they're - " She made air quotes. "Lucky."

"What makes you think it's Agent Avery?" Jessie asked.

"I don't know . . . it just felt like her," Skye replied, pulling her legs up. "That feeling when I was a child. It just . . . felt that way."

"The more you want it, the stronger it gets," the Doctor said.

Skye nodded. "Yeah."

"Like a psychic link." The Doctor nodded. "Of course you want the agent who saved you to be alive, but you're wishing her into existence. The ghosts are using that to pull themselves in. I'm sorry, Skye, but there's no feeling. Just a memory."

"So if they're not ghosts, then what are they?" Jessie asked.

"They look human," Skye pointed out.

"Sort of blurred, but they're definitely people," Jessie agreed.

"Maybe not," the Doctor said thoughtfully. "They're pressing themselves into the surface of the world. But a footprint doesn't look like a boot."

***

Jessie raised an eyebrow, sitting on the console in the TARDIS as she read something. "According to the news, they've elected a ghost as MP for Leeds," she announced, turning her tablet off. "Now, don't tell me you're going to sit back and do nothing."

As if on cue, the Doctor hopped up from below the console, and Jessie burst out laughing at the backpack he wore with some sort of hose connected to it. "Who you going to call?" he asked.

Jessie laughed even harder. "Ghostbusters!" she sang.

"I ain't afraid of no ghosts!" the Doctor countered with a grin as he ran outside, grabbing metal cones with wire connected to them. "Skye!" he called. "When's the next shift?"

"Quarter to," she replied, looking at what he was doing in bewilderment. "What's all this do?"

"Triangulates their point of origin," the Doctor replied, still working.

"I don't suppose it's the Gelth?" Jessie asked, hoping that she was wrong.

"Nah," he replied, and she sighed in relief. "They were just coming through one little rift. This lot are transposing themselves over the whole planet like tracing paper." He looked up, the huge power cable in his hand. "Jessie, give me a hand."

Jessie helped him plug in the power cable to the TARDIS console. "As soon as the cones activate, if that line goes into red - " He pointed at the line across the scanner, he pointed to the console. "Press that button there. If it doesn't stop - " He handed her the sonic screwdriver. "Setting 15B," he informed her. "Hold it against the port, eight seconds, and stop."

"15B, eight seconds," she repeated, just to be sure.

"If it goes into the blue, activate the deep scan on the left."

"I know." She pointed to the button she was sure was right. "Push that one."

He shook his head. "Close."

Jessie narrowed her eyes, shifting her finger. "That one?" she guessed.

The Doctor snorted. "Now you've just killed us."

Jessie rolled her eyes. "That one?" she asked, exaggerating her point.

He grinned. "Yeah! Now, we've got . . . " He checked her watch. "Two minutes to go?" He ran outside. Skye walked over behind her, and a few seconds later, the Doctor shouted into the door. "What's the line doing?"

Jessie looked at the scanner again as the cones activated. "It's all right," she shouted back. "It's holding!"

"You even look like him," Skye commeted.

She threw her a look. "How do you mean?" Skye raised an eyebrow, and Jessie looked down, seeing how she was at the console. "I suppose I do," she conceded.

"You've changed so much."

Jessie shrugged. "For the better."

"I suppose."

"Now, what's that supposed to mean?" Jessie asked, turning sharply. "Skye, I'd rather be here without a clue of what I'm running into than just parading into something where I know I could die."

"That's what we do," Skye retorted. "What's wrong with that?"

Jessie sighed, shaking her head. "I didn't mean that."

"I know what you meant," Skye sighed. "But what happens when we're gone?"

Jessie looked at her sharply. "Don't talk like that!"

"Really," Skye insisted. "When I'm dead and buried, you won't have any reason to come back home. What happens then?"

Jessie shook her head. "I don't know," she admitted, then blinked. "God, it's blazing," she muttered, taking off her jacket.

Skye looked confused. "I think it's rather comfortable."

Jessie put her jacket on the captain's chair, then returned to the console. "Not me."

"Well, do you think you'll ever settle down?" Skye asked, going back to her interrogation.

"The Doctor never will," Jessie said briefly. "So I can't. I'll just keep on traveling."

"And you'll keep on changing." Jessie stopped, hearing Skye keep talking. "In forty years, maybe fifty, there'll be this woman, this strange woman, walking through the marketplace on some planet a billion miles from Earth." Jessie slowly turned, seeing Skye looking at her in something she didn't want to name. "But she's not Jessie Nightshade. Not anymore. She's not even human."

"Here we go!" the Doctor shouted.

God bless you, Doctor, she thought in relief as she turned back to the scanner. "The scanner's working!" she called back to him, seeing the readings. "It says . . . delta one six!"

After a few minutes, the scanner went down, and the Doctor ran inside, the cones in his hands. "I said so!" he crowed. "Those ghosts have been forced into existence from one specific point, and I can track down the source!" He grinned, flipping a few levers. "Allons-y!"

Jessie yelped as the TARDIS jerked, sending her into the console. The Doctor tilted his head thoughtfully. "I like that," he said. "Allons-y." She grinned at him as he began to babble. "I should say allons-y more often. Allons-y!" He came around the console, pointing at her. "Watch out, Jessie Nightshade! Allons-y!" He grinned, stopping by her. "And then it would be really brilliant if I met someone called Alonso, because then I could say 'Allons-y, Alonso!' every time." She gave him a pointed look, and he tilted his head. "You're staring at me."

She smirked. "Skye's still onboard."

The Doctor slowly turned to Skye, who was sitting on the railing, her arms folded. "If we end up on Mars, I'm going to kill you," she stated.

***

The Doctor looked at the scanner as they materialized, and he raised an eyebrow as several armed soldiers surrounded them. "Oh, well. There goes the advantage of surprise," he commented. "Still, cuts to the chase." He turned to Jessie. "Stay in here. Look after Skye."

"I'm not looking after Skye," Jessie snorted.

"Well, you brought her."

"I was kidnapped!" Skye screeched.

"Doctor, they've got guns," Jessie warned.

"And I haven't," he countered. "Which makes me the better person, don't you think? They can shoot me dead but the moral high ground is mine."

He didn't give her a chance to respond before he opened the doors. Guns cocked all around him, and he held up his hands. He heard the clicking of heels, and a woman in a black dress with bouncy blond hair ran in. "Oh!" she screeched, and he looked at her in surprise. "Oh, how marvelous! Oh, very good! Superb! Happy day!"

She began clapping, followed by the soldiers. The Doctor looked around, confused, and he lowered his arms. "Er, thanks," he said awkwardly. "Nice to meet you. I'm the Doctor."

"Oh, I should say," the woman said eagerly, clapping again, followed by the others. "Hurray!"

He looked around, blinking. "You've . . . you've heard of me, then?"

"Well, of course we have!" she chirped. "And I have to say, if it wasn't for you, none of us would be here. The Doctor and the TARDIS."

He felt the need to roll his eyes when they all clapped once more, but he stopped himself from doing it. "And you are?" he asked.

She waved her hand. "Oh, plenty of time for that. But according to the records, you're not one for traveling alone. The Doctor and his companion. That's a pattern, isn't it? Right? There's no point hiding anything, not from us." He raised an eyebrow as she looked behind him at the TARDIS in expectation. "So, where is she?"

"Yes," the Doctor said quickly. "Sorry. Good point. She's just a bit shy, that's all." He opened the TARDIS door, not looking around and grabbed the first person he could. He dragged her out, and he felt slight relief when it was Skye, and not Jessie. "But here she is. Jessie Nightshade." He made a show of looking her over, unable to resist an opportunity to jab at her. "Hmm, she's not the best I've ever had. Bit too brunette. Not too steady on her pins. A lot of that - " He made a talking motion with his hand, ignoring the glare Skye was giving him. "And just last week, she stared into the heart of the TARDIS and aged thirty years, but she'll do."

"I'm thirty!" Skye hissed at him.

"Deluded," the Doctor said cheerfully. "Bless. I'll have to trade her in." Skye's jaw dropped, and the woman gave him an odd look. "Do you need anyone? She's very good at tea." He reconsidered. "Well, I say very good. I mean not bad." He shook his head. "Anyway, lead on! Allons-y! But not too fast. Her ankle's going."

"Oh, I'll show you where my ankle's going," Skye growled out as they followed the woman.

"It was only a matter of time until you found us, and at last you've made it," the woman said. "I'd like to welcome you, Doctor." She flung open the double doors in front of them. "Welcome to Torchwood."

The Doctor recognized the name immediately, but when he looked around, he didn't recognize what it had turned into. They were in a huge warehouse with crates and jeeps and trucks, and - "That's a Jathar Sunglider," he said in recognition, looking at a contraption Skye was eyeing.

"Came down to Earth off the Shetland Islands ten years ago," the woman agreed.

"What, did it crash?"

"No. We shot it down." He jerked his head at her so fast he almost got whiplash. "It violated our airspace," she continued casually as if she was talking about the weather. "Then we stripped it bare. The weapon that destroyed the Sycorax on Christmas Day? That was us." The Doctor and Skye stared at her in disbelief. "Now, if you'd like to come with me . . . " The two shared a look, but followed nonetheless. "The Torchwood Institute has a motto: if it's alien, it's ours. Anything that comes from the sky, we strip it down and we use it for the good of the British Empire."

"For the good of the what?" Skye asked.

"The British Empire."

Skye wrinkled her nose. "There isn't a British Empire."

"Not yet." Skye raised an eyebrow as the woman stopped a man passing by with a large gun. "Ah, excuse me. Now, if you wouldn't mind . . . " He handed it to her, and she turned to the Doctor, holding the gun up. "Do you recognize this, Doctor?"

He did. "That's a particle gun," he answered.

"Good, isn't it?" she asked, looking it over. "Took us eight years to get it to work."

He stared at her. "It's the twenty first century. You can't have particle guns."

"We must defend our border against the alien," she said promptly, handing the gun back. "Thank you . . . Sebastian, isn't it?"

He nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"Thank you, Sebastian." She turned to the Doctor as Sebastian left. "I think it's very important to know everyone by name. Torchwood is a very modern organization. People skills. THat's what it's all about these days. I'm a people person."

"Considering her gob," Skye muttered lowly.

The Doctor, still on the whole "Allons-y, Alonso" thing, tilted his head, looking at the woman. "Have you got anyone called Alonso?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't think so. Is that important?"

The Doctor sighed. "No, I suppose not. What was your name?"

"Yvonne," she replied. "Yvonne Hartman." Something caught the Doctor's eye, and he walked over, picking up what seemed to be a black step-stool like contraption with a handle. "Ah, yes," Yvonne said, joining him. "Now, we're rather fond of these. The magnaclamp. Found in a spaceship buried at the base of Mount Snowdon. Attach this to an object, and it cancels the mass. I could use it to lift two tons of weight with a single hand." She gave Skye a look. "That's an imperial ton, by the way. Torchwood refuses to go metric."

"I could do with that for shopping," Skye commented absently.

"All these devices are for Torchwood's benefit, not the general public's," Yvonne said.

"So what about the ghosts?" the Doctor asked, turning to her.

"Ah, yes," Yvonne said, smiling. "The ghosts. They're, er . . . what you might call a side effect."

"Of what?"

She smiled at him. "All in good time, Doctor. There is an itinerary. Trust me."

"Hey!" Skye suddenly exclaimed, and the Doctor turned to see a truck driving off with the TARDIS. His eyes widened. "Where are you taking that?"

"If it's alien, it's ours," Yvonne recited smugly.

"You'll never get inside it," the Doctor said.

***

Jessie ran to the door when she felt the TARDIS get loaded on. She poked her head out a little to see that Torchwood woman babbling on. Skye was looking around in surprise. The Doctor, however, was looking right at her. He nodded at her, and Jessie closed the door. She ran to his coat, which hung next to hers over the captain's chair. "Psychic paper," she muttered, digging through his pockets. "Psychic paper . . . "

***

"All those times I've been on Earth, I've never heard of you," the Doctor said conversationally as they walked down the corridor.

"But of course not," Yvonne replied. "You're the enemy." The Doctor looked at her in surprise, and Skye raised an eyebrow. "You're actually named in the Torchwood Foundation Charter of 1879 as an enemy of the Crown."

"1879," he repeated. "That was called Torchwood. That house in Scotland."

"That's right. Where you encountered Queen Victoria and the werewolf."

"Oh, really, now?" Skye asked sarcastically. "And I thought you make half of your stuff up."

"Her Majesty created the Torchwood Institute with the express intention of keeping Britain great and fighting the alien horde," Yvonne continued.

"But if I'm the enemy, does that mean I'm a prisoner?" the Doctor asked hesitantly.

Yvonne nodded. "Oh, yes." The Doctor blinked in surprise. "But we'll make you perfectly comfortable. And there is so much you can teach us." She turned the corner, entering a lab. "Starting with this."

The Doctor stopped short when they entered the lab, feeling something . . . wrong. Skye gasped softly, stopping next to him as they looked up at a giant blank sphere. The Doctor's thoughts started going. "Now, what do you make of that?" Yvonne asked.

The man at a computer nearby stood up. "You must be the Doctor," he said, walking up and holding out a hand. "Rajesh Singh. It's an honor, sir."

"Yeah," the Doctor replied absently.

"What is that thing?" Skye asked.

"We got no idea," Yvonne replied.

"But what's wrong with it?" Skye insisted. Good girl, the Doctor thought, heading towards it.

"What makes you think there's something wrong with it?" Rajesh asked.

"I don't know. It just feels . . . weird," Skye replied.

"Well, the sphere has that effect on everyone," Yvonne said. "Makes you want to run and hide, like it's forbidden."

"We tried analyzing it using every device imaginable," Rajesh continued as the Doctor pulled 3D glasses out of his pockets and climbed up the ladder up to the sphere. "But according to our instruments, the sphere doesn't exist. It weighs nothing. It doesn't age. No heat, no radiation, and has no atomic mass."

"But I can see it," Skye deadpanned, and the Doctor smirked a little as he continued his examination, seeing the fuzzy stuff around it through the 3D glasses.

"Fascinating, isn't it?" Rajesh asked. "It upsets people because it gives off nothing. It is absent."

"Well, Doctor?" Yvonne called.

He didn't turn away. "This is a Void ship."

"And what is that?" she asked impatiently.

He turned around, taking his glasses off. "Well, it's impossible, for starters," he said bluntly. "I always thought it was just a theory, but it's a vessel designed to exist outside time and space, traveling through the Void."

"And what's the Void?" Rajesh asked.

"The space between dimensions," he replied. "There's all sorts of realities around us. Different dimensions, billions of parallel universes all stacked up against each other. The Void is the space in between, containing absolutely nothing." Skye's eyebrows shot up. "Imagine that. Nothing. No light, no dark, no up, no down, no life, no time. Without end. My people called it the Void. The Eternals call it the Howling." He looked down at them all. "But some people call it Hell."

Skye snorted. Rajesh threw her a look, but then turned back to the Doctor. "But someone built the sphere. What for?" he asked. "Why go there?"

"To explore?" the Doctor suggested, shrugging and leaning against the sphere. "To escape? You could sit inside that thing and eternity would pass you by. The Big Bang, end of the universe, start of the next, wouldn't even touch the sides. You'd exist outside the whole of creation."

Yvonne smiled. "You see? We were right! There is something inside it."

"Oh, yes," the Doctor confirmed with a nod.

"So how do we get in there?" Rajesh asked.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "We don't!" He ignored their looks of surprise as he jumped down from the top of the ladder. "We send that thing back into Hell. How did it get here in the first place?"

"Well, that's how it all started," Yvonne said. "The sphere came through into this world, and the ghosts followed in its wake."

The Doctor stared hard at her. "Show me."

***

Jessie slowly stepped out of the TARDIS, checking to make sure no one was around. She put the psychic paper into her pocket and checked to make sure the purple blouse she wore covered her gun. She crept over to a table nearby, and she grabbed one of the lab coats there, putting it on, then continued to walk.

***

"The sphere came through here," Yvonne explained as they came to a white room, pointing to a blank wall on the far side. "A hole in the world. Not active at the moment, but when we fire particle engines at that exact spot, the breach opens up."

"How did you even find it?" the Doctor asked in surprise.

"We were getting warning signs for years," Yvonne replied. "A radar black spot. So we built this place. Torchwood Tower. The breach was six hundred foot above sea level. It was the only way to reach it."

"You built a skyscraper just to reach a spatial disturbance?" the Doctor asked as Skye left his side. "How much money have you got?"

"Enough," Yvonne replied simply.

"Hold on a minute." The Doctor turned to see Skye looking out a window. "We're in Canary Wharf," she said, turning. "Must be. This building, it's Canary Wharf!"

"Well, that is the public name for it," Yvonne acknowledged as Skye looked around in astonishment. "But to those in the know, it's Torchwood."

The Doctor shook his head. "So you find the breach, probe it, the sphere comes through six hundred feet above London, bam! It leaves a hole in the fabric of reality. And that hole, you think, 'oh, shall we leave it alone? Shall we back off? Shall we play it safe?'" He shook his head angrily. "Nah! You think 'let's make it bigger!'"

"It's a massive source of energy," Yvonne stated. "If we can harness that power, we need never depend on the Middle East again. Britain will become truly independent." She checked her watch. "Look, you can see for yourself. Next ghost shift's in two minutes."

The Doctor blanched. "Cancel it," he ordered.

"I don't think so," Yvonne retorted.

"I'm warning you, cancel it!"

"Oh, exactly as the legends would have it," Yvonne spat. "The Doctor, lording it over us. Assuming alien authority over the Rights of Man."

The Doctor growled, getting out his sonic screwdriver. "Let me show you. Sphere comes through." He pointed the sonic at her window, and it began to crack. "But when it made the hole, it cracked the world around it. The entire surface of this dimension splintered. And that's how the ghosts get through. That's how they get everywhere." He kept aiming it, and the glass kept cracking more and more. "They're bleeding through the fault lines. Walking from their world across the Void and into yours, with the human race hoping and wishing and helping them along. But too many ghosts, and - "

He tapped the cracked glass lightly, and it shattered all around. Skye's eyes widened in astonishment. Yvonne barely blinked. "Well, in that case, we'll have to be more careful," she commented, turning to the people in the room. "Positions!" she called out. "Ghost shift in one minute."

"Miss Hartman, I am asking you, please don't do it!"

"We have done this a thousand times!"

"Then stop at a thousand!"

"We're in control of the ghosts," Yvonne told him. "The levers can open the breach, but equally, they can close it."

The Doctor stared at her, then decided to let her stew. "OK," he commented, heading to her office.

She blinked. "Sorry?" she asked.

"Never mind," he said, pulling up a chair and plopping down. "As you were."

"What? Is that it?" she sputtered.

"No, fair enough," he said, bluffing his way through and leaning back. "Said my bit. Don't mind me." He looked around. "Any chance of a cup of tea?"

A dark-skinned woman turned to Yvonne. "Ghost shift in twenty seconds," she reported.

The Doctor nodded, ignoring his pounding hearts. "Can't wait to see it!"

"You can't stop us, Doctor," Yvonne said, looking nervous now.

He nodded. "No. Absolutely not." He smiled at Skye. "Pull up a chair, Jessie! Come and watch the fireworks!"

"You're mad," she mouthed to him, but she joined him warily.

"Ghost shift in ten seconds," the dark-skinned woman continued. The Doctor didn't break his gaze away from Yvonne as she fidgeted. "Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two - "

"Stop the shift!" Yvonne finally yelled, and the Doctor looked at Skye in satisfaction. "I said stop!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing, and the Doctor nodded to Yvonne. "Thank you."

Yvonne huffed and looked at him. "I suppose it makes sense to get as much intelligence as possible, but the program will recommence as soon as you've explained everything."

The Doctor nodded. "I'm glad to be of help."

"And someone clear up this glass," Yvonne added, looking down at the glass chips around her feet. "They did warn me, Doctor. They said you like to make a mess."

***

Jessie avoided a few more people, then began to follow a scientist with a lab coat walking down the corridors. He stopped at a door, and he held up a badge. He entered through the door, and slowly Jessie approached. She looked down at the psychic paper, then held it up to the entry reader. She smile when it let her in. She took a few steps in, then stopped dead.

She stared up at the blank sphere, and she felt a chill go up her spine. What in the name of Odin? she wondered.

"Can I help you?"

She jumped, looking at the man who approached, the name Rajesh Singh on his shirt. "I was just," she said warily, pointing weakly at the sphere.

"Try not to look," he said, taking her arm and turning her away. "It does that to everyone. What do you want?"

"Sorry," she said, turning. Showtime. "They sent me from personnel. They said some man had been taken prisoner. Some sort of . . . Doctor? I'm just checking the lines of communication. Did they tell you anything?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Can I see your authorization?"

She shrugged. "Sure."

She handed him the psychic paper. He took a look, and raised an eyebrow. "That's lucky." He looked back up at her. "You see, everyone at Torchwood has at least a basic level of psychic training." She blinked, and Rajesh waved the psychic paper, smirking. "This paper is blank, and you're a fake." She opened her mouth to respond, but he headed for his desk. "Seal the room. Call security." He looked over at someone working on the other side of the room. "Miranda, can you check the door locks? She just walked right in."

"Doing it now, sir."

Jessie's eyes widened. No. She turned to see a familiar redhead in a lab coat wearing a silvery grey tank top and black cargo pants at another computer, smirking at her. "Saleen?" she mouthed in shock.

Saleen gave her a quick thumbs up, quickly turning back when Rajesh turned around. "Well," he said smugly, gesturing to Jessie. "If you'd like to take a seat . . . "

***

"So these ghosts, whatever they are," Yvonne said as they gathered in her office. "Did they build the sphere?"

"Must have," the Doctor agreed, still lounging in his chair. "Aimed it at this dimension like a cannon ball."

"Yvonne?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow when he heard Rajesh's voice from Yvonne's laptop. "I think you should see this. We've got a visitor." The Doctor flashed a quick look at Skye as Yvonne raised an eyebrow at whatever was on the screen. "We don't know who she is, but funnily enough, she arrived at the same time as the Doctor."

Yvonne turned her computer around, and it took everything in the Doctor's power not to react when he saw Jessie in a lab coat next to Rajesh, looking at him guiltily. "She one of yours?" Yvonne asked.

"Never seen her before in my life," the Doctor tried to bluff again.

"Good," Yvonne commented. "Then we can have her shot."

Jessie blinked, and the Doctor straightened. "Oh, all right, then," he sighed. "It was worth a try. That's . . . " He nodded to her. "That's Jessie Nightshade."

"Sorry," she said apologetically before giving a little wave. "Hello!"

"Well, if that's Jessie Nightshade, who's she?" Yvonne asked, looking at Skye in confusion.

"I'm a team member," Skye replied promptly.

Yvonne raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you travel with her team?"

"He kidnapped me!" Skye whined.

"Please, when Torchwood comes to write my history, don't tell people I traveled through time and space with her team members," the Doctor pleaded.

There was a clunk outside, and Skye glared at him. "Charming."

Yvonne stood from her chair, going outside. "Excuse me! Everyone!" The Doctor stood, and his eyes widened when he saw monitors flashing. "I thought I said stop the ghost shift." He joined Yvonne, looking around. "Who started the program? But I ordered you to stop! Who's doing that?"

"The levers," Skye said, pointing to the levers, which were moving to the on position.

Yvonne turned to the three working on the computers. "Right, step away from the monitors, everyone," she ordered. "Gareth, Addy, stop what you're doing, right now." They didn't respond. "Matt, step away from your desk! That's an order! Stop the levers!" She turned, panicked, to one of the men. "Andrew!" He ran to one of the levers. "Stop the levers!"

"What's she doing?" the Doctor asked, following Yvonne over to the woman's desk.

"Addy, step away from the desk," Yvonne ordered, but Addy kept on working, and the Doctor froze when he saw the two pods in her ears. It can't be, he thought, but the way Addy was working expressionlessly . . . "Listen to me!" Yvonne insisted. "Step away from the desk!"

"She can't hear you," the Doctor said numbly. "They're overriding the system." He looked up at the blank wall. "We're going into Ghost Shift." He pointed to Addy's ears. "It's the ear piece. It's controlling them." He swallowed, taking out his sonic screwdriver. "I've seen this before." He leaned down to her. "Sorry," he apologized. "I'm so sorry." He aimed, and he pressed the button.

Addy screamed immediately, slumping over on her desk. The two men screamed as well, before they slumped over, too. "What happened?" Yvonne demanded as he inspected Addy further. "What did you just do?"

"They're dead," he reported.

"You killed them!" Skye squeaked.

"Oh, someone else did that long before I got here," the Doctor said darkly.

"But you killed them!"

He made a noise of frustration. "Skye, I haven't got time for this." He stood, going to the center of the room.

"What are those ear pieces?" Yvonne asked, looking at Addy.

"Don't," the Doctor warned.

"But they're standard comms devices! How does it control them?"

"Trust me. Leave them alone."

"But what are they?" Yvonne abandoned asking him, and pulled one of Addy's. She yelped in shock when gray matter came with it. Skye made a retching noise. "Urgh!" Yvonne screeched, dropping it immediately. "Oh, God, it goes inside their brain!"

"What about the ghost shift?" the Doctor asked.

Yvonne checked Addy's monitor. "Ninety percent there and still running," she replied. He sighed, and she looked up at him. "Can't you stop it?"

"They're still controlling it," he muttered. "They've hijacked the system."

"Who's 'they?'" Yvonne asked.

"It might be a remote transmitter, but it's got to be close by," the Doctor muttered, thinking fast. He turned, pointing at Skye. "Skye, stay here!"

"Keep those levers down," Yvonne ordered, following the Doctor as he headed outside. "Keep them offline!"

***

Jessie's eyes widened as she watched the sphere begin to move. "The door's sealed," Rajesh said, checking the locks. "Automatic quarantine. We can't get out!"

"It's all right." Jessie turned as Saleen walked up, cracking her knuckles. "We've beaten them before. We can beat them again. That's why I'm here. The fight goes on."

"The fight against what?" Jessie asked.

"What do you think?"

***

"You two, come with us," Yvonne ordered as the Doctor tracked the signal with the sonic screwdriver.

Two soldiers going past joined them. "Yes, ma'am."

The Doctor looked down a hallway. "What's down here?" he asked.

"I don't . . . " Yvonne shook her head, looking around. "I don't know. I think it's building work. It's just renovations."

He looked at her as he walked forward. "You should go back."

She glared at him. "Think again."

He pushed aside the plastic curtains and kept walking further into the hallway. "What is it?" Yvonne asked. "What's down here?"

"Ear pieces. Ear pods." The Doctor shook his head, a sinking feeling in his stomach. "This world's colliding with another, and I think I know which one."

Black shapes began appearing behind the curtains. "What are they?" Yvonne asked.

"They came through first. The advance guard."

The curtains were ripped open, and the Doctor stared face-to-face with familiar enemies.

"Cybermen!"

***

"We had them beaten, but then they escaped," Saleen explained, putting an arm around Jessie and backing them up. "The Cybermen just vanished. They found a way through to this world, but so did we."

"The Doctor said that was impossible," Jessie managed to say.

"Yeah, it's not the first time he's been wrong," Saleen countered.

"What's inside that sphere?" Jessie asked.

Saleen shrugged. "No one knows. Cyber Leader. Cyber King. Emperor of the Cybermen." She shook her head. "Whatever it is, he's dead meat."

Jessie smiled. "It's good to see you."

Saleen gave her a wide smile. "Yeah. It's good to see you, too."

***

"Get away from the machines!" the Doctor ordered as the Cybermen led him and Yvonne back to the lever room. "Do what they say! Don't fight them!"

Skye ran to him as the Cybermen shot the men holding down the levers. "What are they?" she asked.

One of the Cybermen turned to her. "We are the Cybermen," it answered. "The ghost shift will be increased to one hundred percent."

"Online," a computer voice announced overhead.

The Doctor steeled himself. "Here come the ghosts."

***

Creaks and thunks echoed from inside the sphere, and Saleen took out her earpiece and shrugged her coat off. "Here we go," she muttered.

The sphere cracked open, and Jessie's eyes widened when she saw a black hole appear.

***

"But these Cybermen," Skye whispered. "What've they got to do with the ghosts?"

"Do you never listen?" the Doctor asked. He swallowed. "A footprint doesn't look like a boot."

The ghostlike forms of humans shimmered into rows in front of them. "Achieving full transfer," the Cyberman announced.

"They're Cybermen," the Doctor stated. "All of the ghosts are Cybermen. Millions of them, right across the world."

The ghosts solidified, and a full legion of Cybermen turned to face them. "They've invading the whole planet," Yvonne realized with a gasp.

"It's not an invasion," the Doctor said darkly. "It's too late for that. It's a victory."

"Sphere activated." He turned when he heard the voice from Addy's computer. "Sphere activated. Sphere activated. Sphere activated."

***

"I know what's in there," Saleen said, going to the platform under the sphere. "And I'm ready for them. I've got just the thing." She hefted a huge gun out from underneath, bringing it over. "This thing?" She grinned. "It's gonna blast them to hell."

"Miranda," Rajesh gasped, joining them. "What are you doing?"

Saleen threw him a look. "The name's Saleen," she said. "Saleen Harper. Defending the Earth." She cocked the gun. "Any time now."

***

"But I don't understand," the Doctor said, turning to the head Cyberman. "The Cybermen don't have the technology to build a Void ship. That's way beyond you. How did you create that sphere?"

"The sphere is not ours," the Cyber Leader reported.

The Doctor blinked. "What?"

"The sphere broke down the barriers between worlds," the Cyber Leader said. "We only followed. Its origin is unknown."

"Then what's inside it?"

Skye grabbed his arm. "Jessie is down there!"

***

The sphere disappeared in a blaze of light. Jessie held a hand up over her eyes to block her sight, but she saw the four objects like pepperpots glide out. Her eyes widened, and she lowered her hand in shock.

"That's not Cybermen," Saleen said, backing up.

"Oh my God," Jessie whispered in shock. No. No!

"Location, Earth," a familiar voice said as they glided out. "Life forms detected. Exterminate!"

"Exterminate!" the Daleks chorused, and Jessie swallowed hard, facing the fact that one of the things she feared the most was here. "Exterminate! EXTERMINATE!"

***

Here we go! Wrapping up the end of the book, and to who knows what end. How do you think Skye's going to react to a different Ward?

What do you think, should the rest of the SHIELD team have sort of . . . I don't know, like, a quick scene towards the end? I know what it would be if they did, but what are your opinions? Jack's team?

"Doomsday" is being written right now, so I'll have this all done (hopefully) by the end of next week!