A/N: SORRY. LOTS OF SORRY.

The Validium Takes Manhattan

Part Six

The stairs weren't as much of a challenge now that Jane understood in less than three minutes, she wouldn't have legs to complain about. Her soggy sneakers pounded on the metal frame, hurtling her forward until she reached the small door. She loitered for a moment, it occurred to her that she hadn't really come up with a plan. The Doctor had had a plan, and that had gotten him turned into a statue.

She still couldn't convince herself that not having a plan was a benefit though. The Doctor's plan was bad. That had been the problem. The trick was coming up with a good plan. Of course, plans weren't really Jane's thing.

The longer she stood there, the less likely she'd be able to execute any kind of plan, regardless of the quality. She suspected that was exactly what she was hoping for. She clutched the screwdriver in her hand and sucked in a deep breath. She had to try something. If she came out swinging, maybe she'd catch the creature by surprise.

She nodded, decision made, and pushed out the door. Or she would have, if the hinges hadn't been firmly stuck. Apparently it had been a long time since anyone had gone through the door. Or a long time since anyone had been through the door and opened it. Nemesis was beyond needing things like doorways. The door groaned and opened only a foot before jarring to a halt.

"Frick." Jane hissed. She threw her shoulder against the door again and again, so much for the element of surprise. It finally gave way beneath her weight and she stumbled through the opening. So unbalanced that she nearly tumbled over the side. Her hands clutched at the railing, desperate to avoid finding out what life might be like as a pancake at the foot of the Statue of Liberty.

She managed to catch herself, but the relief turned to ash in her mouth as she watched the screwdriver slip from her grip and fall two hundred feet to the ground.

"Of course." Jane said miserable as she watched it.

"You should not have come." Nemesis was standing only a few feet away, the noise of the door having announced Jane's presence.

"Yeah," Jane agreed glumly. She snatched her hands back from the railing suddenly, remembering how Mary had gotten caught. She didn't want to spend her last minutes as a statue. "I was just wondering if, maybe you could… not do what you're about to do?" It was a pretty weak argument but it was all she'd managed to come up with so far.

"I am Gallifrey's shield. It is my duty to protect it from threats."

"I get that," Jane nodded. "But I've never even heard of Gallifrey before today. I'm betting no one on this planet has heard of Gallifrey. All I know is that it's in space somewhere. If you've been keeping up with the news, you'd know people aren't really into the space program any more. It's pretty badly funded and I mean, we haven't gone back to the moon in forty years."

"The threat is not an immediate one." The creature admitted. "But it is a future possibility."

"Possibility?" Jane was staggered by the informality. If a solid metal space monster had come to destroy humanity, she had expected it to have a better reason than the possibility of a threat.

"Earth has the potential to reach faster than light travel by the next millennia. Once that mode of transportation is established, colonization will likely spread. Population, if current birth patterns are maintained, will increase at a forty-five percent-"

"Listen, I'm sure the math is really interesting. But what you're saying is all this has to happen and it's still only a possibility? If everything works out the way you think it will?"

Nemesis stood still, calculating the figure silently. "There is a fifteen percent chance of a violent engagement between the two civilizations in the next million years."

"That's- are you-" Jane shook her head in disbelief. "Listen, I'm not even sure humanity is going to make it to the next decade, much less the next millennia. There is no way we'll make it another million years."

"Self-extinction would be ideal," Nemesis nodded in such a casual way it gave Jane a chill. "However I was built to deal with threats directly. Not hope they go away on their own."

"Right, you can't deal in 'possibility's and 'fifteen percent's. I understand." Jane narrowed her gaze at Nemesis and was pleased to see her sarcasm had not gone unnoticed. "You don't think you should maybe run this decision past someone in charge?"

"I was designed to act autonomous of the Council so I could act with haste."

"Do you really think haste is necessary in this situation?"

"Delaying the inevitable will not change my mind. Humanity is still a potential threat."

"Right. In a million years, we might have a skirmish with you. I get it. But have you considered that we're not the only life on this planet? Your big destruction plan to eliminate us is also going to eliminate every species on the planet." Some would probably survive, but she didn't think she needed to discuss semantics with the alien weapon that was hell-bent on humanity's annihilation. "I'm not sure how many there are exactly, but there's got to be at least a hundred-"

"Eight million, three hundred thousand, and ninety-four currently." Nemesis for the first time looked uncertain.

"Right." Jane felt much more than the fate of humanity suddenly weighing on her shoulders. "Well, do you think the Council would really approve all that? Because you didn't want to waste the time to ask permission?"

"It is not ideal," Nemesis spoke slowly. "But in special circumstances-"

"Like a fifteen percent chance of our people ever meeting?" Jane asked brightly. "And after you were specifically instructed by a native Gallifreyan that it was a mistake?"

That brought a stretch of silence. Jane's eyes flickered overhead into the gradually clearing skies. How long had it been, a minute? Two? Did it matter if the creature had missed that opportunity? It could just wait there for the satellite to come around again and there was really nothing Jane could do to stop it.

"My communications are limited to the local galaxy. I am unable to confer with the Council currently."

"Oh, I'm sure they'll understand that you decided not to double check if it was okay to extinguish eight million species because you had a bad signal. That seems like a forgivable sort of offence."

Nemesis considered her words, meeting Jane's eyes in a way that made her acutely aware of how fast her heart was pounding in her chest.

"Perhaps," Nemesis spoke after another lengthy pause. "It would be best to confirm my orders. We have not accounted potential threats among the other inhabitants of the planet."

Jane wasn't quite sure she had heard her correctly, but she was too afraid to outright ask so she just stood there silently.

"I have placed a monitor in your satellite to survey this planets actions. I trust you understand that any move made to even approach Gallifrey will bring me back to finish my purpose, collateral damage or not."

"Understood." Jane nodded quickly. "Completely."

"Very well. I bid you farewell." Nemesis looked up into the sky and with a metallic blur, she shot upward like a streak, disappearing from view. The remaining clouds above vaporized in a wide circle above New York and Jane held her breath, waiting for the creature to change its mind. It did not. Nemesis had actually gone.

"Hell yeah!" Jane let out a shocked whoop, pumping her fist into the air. "Hell yeah!" She shouted louder. She cupped her hands and leaned over the railing to the empty lawn far below. "I just saved the frickin' world! I'm amazing!"

Her phone chirped in her pocket, startling her from her revelry. Her coat was still soggy but the plastic baggie with her cards and phone in it had managed to stay protected.

It was a text from Ash, wanting to know how the trip was going. The trip they were both supposed to be on.

Jane started to type a frantic message, and then realized that in all likelihood, Ash wouldn't believe her. And if she did, she would only worry. Ash was supposed to be recovering from her infection, not fretting that Jane was off trying to get herself killed.

A picture, Jane decided, would be the way to go. She turned her back on the railing and cupped the phone in her hand, attempting to get both her face, and the New York skyline in the image and smiled.

"Oh well done!"

Jane nearly jumped over the edge. The Doctor had erupted from the open door, a look of concern on his face. But when he spotted Jane, alone, his face split into a grin.

"You did it!" He elaborated when she continued to stare at him in confusion. Her confusion stemmed largely from the fact that he was no longer a statue. Which was probably a good thing, but it was still a little jarring. "Ooh, selfies! Love selfies."

He took the phone from her and pulled her close. "Say 'I averted the destruction of my planet!'" The flash went off and Jane was pretty sure instead of smiling, she had a horrified look on her face. She'd be sure to send Ash the nicer one. "You did avert it, yes?" He handed the phone back with a cautious look on his face.

"Yes, I mean, I'm pretty sure. You're not metal anymore." She blurted before she could think better of it.

"You noticed!" He sounded genuinely pleased. "Yes, the process reversed itself. Which is why I suspected you managed to get Nemesis to sod off. Did you tell her about defeating the Arthropoda? Intimidation is always a good place to start for her sort."

"Uh. No. I don't know if you picked up on it before she, you know, turned you into metal, but she didn't really seem like the easy to intimidate sort."

"Oh, well, I suppose you have a point," the Doctor frowned. "So then, what did you do?"

"Well I didn't threaten her, for starters. I sort of talked to her. She said there was a fifteen percent chance that we're going to have some kind of conflict with your people in the next million years, which is absurd-"

"Absolutely. It would be much closer to a thousand years, if Gallifrey were even capable of still making contact…" he trailed off in the wake of Jane's annoyed frown. He did his best to arrange his face so that he appeared to be listening intently. "Right, not the point. Please continue."

"Well, I also reminded her that humans aren't the only species inhabiting the planet, and maybe she should check with the Council, or whoever it is that makes the approval for that sort of thing."

"You convinced her to go back to Gallifrey?" He said, a small smile pulling at his lips.

Jane shrugged, "That's what she said. Is that okay?"

"That's brilliant is what that is." His smile widened into a grin again. "When she reaches Gallifrey she'll discover the time lock and wait for it to open, since the Dalek's within are obviously the direst threat to Gallifrey."

"And…when will it open?" Jane wasn't sure if she'd bought the planet days or decades.

"Never." The Doctor's voice caught as he spoke, the good cheer melting from his face. "Jane, I was wondering." His eyes met hers thoughtfully. "Have you considered taking a bit of a holiday?"

"That was what I was supposed to be doing here. You know, seeing the sights? Getting a proper tour of the Statue of Liberty? Not fending off weaponized alien creatures."

"I suppose so. But it's a bit boring the usual way. I prefer my visits with a little more-"

"Deadly chaos?" Jane offered.

"I was going to excitement, but I suppose you're not entirely wrong." He smiled sheepishly. "Despite the interruption, you did a rather impressive job. I suspect most people would still be crouched at the bottom of the stairs, afraid of the thing that had just turned me to metal. But you, Jane, do not appear to be most people."

She flushed a little at the compliment.

"I've been traveling on my own for a while," his eyes drifted to the city, there was something forlorn in his gaze. "It occurs to me that perhaps I wasn't as…well equipped for that as I thought." She could see the lines etched into his face, it made him look older, and also sad. Whatever reasons he'd had for traveling alone, they hadn't been a pleasant one.

"Well for starters, you might try to be less intimidating with the next alien you encounter."

He snorted lightly and his gaze turned to her. "You're not wrong there. Perhaps I could use someone to remind me of that, from time to time."

The earnestness in his voice is what convinced her. There was something trustworthy about him, though she couldn't put it into words.

"And where would we go on this holiday?"

"Anywhere." His otherworldly grin was back, and she believed him.

"Alright," she finally said, surprising herself a little. But she had just saved the world, she could afford to be a little impulsive. "But I've only got a week before I have to get back home.

His grin grew wider and there was laughter in his eyes.

"I don't think that will be a problem."

Hey folks, I apologize for failing to get this last chapter out for so long, but it's finally here. This is the 'unofficial' official end for now. Unless some kind of miracle happens, this is it. If there is a miracle, I will be sure to get every single chapter finished and then put them out every week or so. BUT I sincerely doubt there will be miracles of any sort, I'm having trouble keeping up with my own projects, so it's hard to justify the time spent here. Hopefully this is a satisfying 'open' end and I want to say we really appreciated all your support! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!