Hello, sorry for the long interval. Been busy and lost all motivation for the direction I planned on this taking. But I've settled on one now and I think it's better than the original plan. So I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone you recognise.

"So what's it like having a younger sister?" Rani asked as Luke took his seat in their form room.

It was Lucy's first day at the school and the first real opportunity they had to talk about Lucy without fear that she might have been listening in.

Over the past few days, they had accumulated stuff for Lucy – clothes, furniture, a school uniform, and Rani had come to see a distinct pattern in Lucy's choices. Everything was practical. If it didn't serve a basic purpose, the girl seemed unbothered with it. So Lucy's room had a bed, a wardrobe (complete with plain t-shirts, plain jeans and plain jackets), a desk, a chair and a lamp. On the desk there was a notebook and a set of pens. There were no books or films or cuddly toys or pictures or ornaments. Clyde had almost begged Lucy to pick up a football or something but she'd just shrugged and continued on after Sarah Jane.

"It's different," Luke replied. "Lucy and me are…"

The word 'incompatible' came to mind. They both saw the world very differently and, while he was more than willing to help look after the newcomer, he was thankful that school gave him something of a haven from her. Not that Lucy didn't go to Park Vale; she did but her thirteen years junior put her in the year below and Luke couldn't help but be relieved.

"It's bound to be different for a few days," Rani said. "How's Sarah Jane coping?"

Luke frowned. His mother seemed perpetually on guard since Lucy came. Her tool box had been put under lock and key, especially after Lucy had tried to liberate a screwdriver. Every knife in the kitchen need to be accounted for. And Lucy was under an almost constant watch. Not that the girl seemed to mind. She trained before breakfast, ate with them and then trained more. Luke had convinced her to start training in the lounge because then he could at least watch some telly or read a book somewhere he had some control over the temperature.

"I think she wants Lucy to have more in her life than just training. It's all she does."

"But she's not tried to kill anyone yet?" Clyde asked, trying to make it sound like a joke.

It didn't.

.

It was in first lesson when Mr Chandra came knocking. Luke frowned as the teacher's eyes fell onto him.

"Can I borrow Luke for a second?" the headteacher asked.

Clyde and Rani both turned to Luke, looking somewhat confused. But the most obvious answer for it all crossed their minds a second after: Lucy.

Luke disappeared out of the classroom and stopped in front of Mr Chandra.

"Do you know a way we can get in contact with Lucy's social workers?" Mr Chandra asked.

The young man before him faltered, trying to search for an excuse. Lucy did not have social workers. But, of course, having been adopted, she should have had at least one to make sure everything was going alright.

"She's gone away," Luke said. "Paris."
It was the first thing that came into his head.

"And she didn't take her phone. Didn't want to be disturbed."

Mr Chandra grimaced and growled about how badly the situation had been handled. When he turned back to Luke, he asked if there was anyone else he could contact to help him deal with Lucy.

"Why? What's wrong?" Luke asked, heart skipping a beat.

If Lucy had hurt anyone…

"I can talk to her," he added, not wanting to waste another second.

Mr Chandra's face filled with hesitance and then, just as quickly, reluctance. He nodded and began to led Luke down the corridors.

.

Lucy's first lesson had been history so Luke was surprised when he was led, not to the history department, but to the gym.

When he walked in, he saw that Lucy's history teacher was already there, along with most of the school's pastoral team. Lucy was also there, hitting footballs against the wall with a baseball bat.

"Lucy!" Luke shouted to get her attention.

He looked over at him causally, spinning the bat in one hand.

"What's going on?" he asked, taking a step forwards.

Mr Chandra offered a warning but Luke shrugged it off. Lucy had gone to kill him twice and hadn't done it. Luke was willing to try for a third time.

"I don't like school," Lucy said firmly.

"Mum doesn't like it when people hit things with baseball bats."

Lucy dropped the bat, albeit reluctantly. Luke slowly went for his phone, offering Lucy a small smile.

"I'm going to call Mum, okay?"

Lucy did nothing and Luke turned to Mr Chandra as he typed in the number.

"I'm going to ask mum to take her home."

The headmaster could not disagree with the boy's decision. After all it did seem like the best course of action.

"And if I don't want to go home?" Lucy asked.

There was a fire exit in the gym that led to the playground. Luke watched her gaze flick onto it and shook his head, trying to tell Lucy to stay. But she was gone, sprinting across the gym at a speed Luke could not hope to match. She threw herself at the fire door, opening it and rushing out. The teachers gave chase while Luke just continued to call his Mum.

"It's Lucy," he said as soon as the call was answered. "She's run away."

Luke had barely managed to get those words out before Mr Chandra came back it.

"She vaulted the fence. I'm calling the police."

"You can't!" Luke exclaimed.

He had no clue what she would do to them. He pointed out that he had called his Mum and said Sarah Jane could handle it.

"She's the only one who can get Lucy to listen."

.

Sarah Jane drove around London, looking down the streets about school. She had assured Luke she would handle Lucy and convinced him to go back to lessons and asked Mr Smith to track Lucy's phone so she could follow her. The girl was still on the move, running for ten minutes straight at a consistent speed. She didn't seem to be stopping any time soon.

Sarah Jane however, managed to intercept her at the side of a road. Horns blared as the journalist suddenly swung to the curb and climbed out of her car.

"Lucy!" the journalist called.

She wanted to get angry but she knew she couldn't risk it. Lucy had already bolted from the school and she did not like her chances against her in a race.

"How about we go somewhere quieter?" Sarah Jane offered, aware that the other drivers might get out soon and complain.

Lucy did not take it as a suggestion but as an order. She marched forwards and slid into the front passenger seat. Sarah Jane got back into her seat and began to drive.

They sat in silence for a few long seconds, listening to Lucy's breathing. Her body was quickly recovering but Sarah Jane wasn't going to risk it, nervous that the run might have put a lot of strain on her.

"There's a bottle of water in the glove box," Sarah Jane said, tapping the glove box to make sure she was understood. "And my lunch is in my bag."

Lucy pulled out the bottle and sipped at it slowly. Then she searched through Sarah Jane's bag.

"What do I take?" she asked.

"What you want," Sarah Jane replied.

"I don't know these foods," Lucy reminded her.

Sarah Jane dared a glance into her bag to remind herself what she had packed and grabbed the chocolate bar she had been willing to treat herself with, placing it firmly in Lucy's hand. Luke liked chocolate and part of being a perfect soldier meant Lucy was unlikely to be lactose intolerant.

"Are you going to…" Lucy trailed off, searching for the right word, "court-martial me?"

"No," Sarah Jane said. "But you can't do this, Lucy. What happens if you had hurt someone? Or someone had seen you by yourself and hurt you?"

"I'd fight back," Lucy said, seeming to forget the first question.

Sarah Jane sighed, wondering how Lucy and Luke could be so different. Luke's first day at school had not gone well but it had been because he worried too much about people – about what they had thought and how he was meant to fit in. Lucy's troubles were the complete opposite – she cared too little.

"Look, we're going to talk about this later. I've got a…"
Sarah Jane trailed off as she grimaced. She had an interview at a laboratory to get to, one she had been hounding them for for months. But she couldn't leave Lucy home alone – or even home with Mr Smith. She didn't think leaving an unpredictable child soldier locked in a containment vortex for a day would exactly help matters.

"You're going to have to spend the day with me. I have work so you'll have to behave whilst I'm working. And we'll talk about how we're going to punish you when we're at home and I've had a chance to talk to Luke."

Then Sarah Jane fell silent, driving off to the laboratories she was due at.

.

Luke shuffled into his classroom awkwardly. He had been talking with Mr Chandra long enough for class to change and he now had English, a class he shared with just Rani. As soon as he sat down, she was asking him questions.

"It was Lucy," Luke said. "She's run away."

"What?" Rani snapped.

"Mum's looking for her," Luke said. "And she can have Mr Smith track her phone if needed."
Rani nodded but suggested that they left the school during break to find her.

"Mum doesn't need us all going missing," Luke pointed out.

But the deliberation was clear on his face. He paused for a moment and then reached into his bag, pulling out his phone. One of the things Luke had learnt pretty quickly was how to text without looking. It was a skill he had assumed would be useful considering how much trouble he seemed to find himself in but it had a particular use in lessons. He'd texted in class lots of times before and he hadn't been caught.

'Mum found you yet?' he asked, before slipping his phone away.

.

Sarah Jane was just at the laboratories when Lucy's phone pinged. She frowned, looking at Lucy. The girl opened her phone and frowned and then locked it again without a word.

"Who was that?" Sarah Jane asked. "Luke?"

"I don't know," Lucy replied, not making eye contact.

Exasperated, Sarah Jane asked for the phone. She was thankful she had forbidden either of her children from putting passwords on their phones she did not know as she unlocked it and read the message.

"He's only asking if you're safe," Sarah Jane informed her as she sent off a quick message.

Then she climbed out of the car and stared at the laboratories before her. Lucy joined her, staring.

"Welcome to X-Spansion Labs," Sarah Jane said as she led the way towards the large glass block.

The windows, which seemed to span the entire building, were tinted black and Sarah Jane had the ominous feeling that someone was watching them.

"They are working on revolutionising the way we see genetically-engineered plants. They want the world to see them as a salvation and they're doing a good job of producing new ones. Too good a job."

"Aliens?" Lucy suggested.

"Could be," Sarah Jane replied, holding open the door.

.

There was a man waiting for them in the lobby of the laboratory. He was greying and dressed in a crumpled lab coat with body language that belonged on a flustered high school teacher, not a professional scientist in one of the most advanced labs of his field. Not facing them, he was talking on an ear piece in a hush voice and Sarah Jane strained to hear it.

"Well keep it under wraps. A journalist will be here any second. She can't see."

There was a second as the man listened for a reply and Sarah Jane signalled for Lucy to stop, deciding to wait a few seconds before announcing their presence. It would stop their guide from instantly assuming they had overheard anything.

"Professor Burton?" Sarah Jane called suddenly.

The man turned abruptly and his worried expression quickly snapped into a smile. He extended a hand, grinning.

"Miss Smith, what a pleasure. I've read many of your pieces."
His eyes passed down to Lucy.

"And who might this young lady be?"

"My daughter," Sarah Jane said, "Lucy. She's doing a project on genetically modified plants for school so her teacher thought it would be good if she sat in on the interview. I hope you don't mind."

For a moment Professor Burton stared and then he shook his head. A reluctance was clear on his face however.

"Just don't let her out of your sight. There are some very dangerous things about here and we do not wish for someone to get hurt."

.

The tour and interview was going well. Lucy was keeping quiet, listening in the disinterested way she seemed to listen to most things. Sarah Jane was getting a lot for the article she was going to write as well. But things weren't putting her as ease. People were hurrying about, black clad security guards and scientists seemed nervous and busy. She was watching them with a curious eye, noting that quite a few seemed tempted to go up to Professor Burton and start a conversation until he waved them away.

"Have we come at a bad time?" Sarah Jane asked, eventually.

Professor Burton continued on, too polite to answer. But it spoke volumes. Shooting a look towards Lucy, Sarah Jane went after the professor. He had just turned a corner and they rushed after him to find him standing there, staring ahead. A security guard was slumped against a wall.

"Is he okay?" Lucy asked, moving towards the unconscious security guard.

She reached a hand out, noticing something green on his neck.

Suddenly a hand closed about hers. She yanked her wrist free, slapping the owner with her free hand. Professor Burton stumbled back, a hand on his cheek.

"Lucy!" Sarah Jane gasped, staring in horror.

"You shouldn't touch them," Professor Burton said, composing himself as the journalist offered apologies. "And I understand. What's going on here could make anyone jumpy."

Slowly the Professor knelt down. He produced a set of gloves from his lab coat and tilted the guard's head to the side. A large green patch looking like vines, was growing on his neck.

"There was a leak in one of the laboratories. Some of the chemicals we were using got out, infected the scientists in there. If they touch you, they make you like them."

"Like what?" Sarah Jane asked, staring at the infection on the guard's neck.

"Sarah Jane," Lucy called.

The journalist frowned as she looked at her daughter. She saw something close to horror in the girl's eyes as she offered out her hand to help Sarah Jane to her feet.

"What's wrong?"

"I slapped him. He twisted his neck. I saw…"

The two watched in horror as Professor Burton turned to them, a green mark clear on his neck. He reached out, his fingers stroking it gently. He shuddered.

"Help me," he whispered.

"We can try," Sarah Jane said. "But you need to promise not to touch either of us."

Professor Burton had stumbled to his feet and was staring at the two of them. A cluster of scientists rounded the corner they had just taken only to be waved away by Sarah Jane and Lucy.

Already the stain was growing as if awoken by the recognition it was there. It was climbing up his neck and disappearing down his shirt, vines popping from his neck like veins. Sarah Jane raised her watch, running a scan while putting a hand out to protect Lucy.

"You need to tell us what you've been exposed too," Sarah Jane instructed.

Professor Burton's hands were green and reaching out to grab at them.

"Run," Sarah Jane ordered.

Before she could finish the stain had enveloped Professor Burton's face. The two set off, Lucy jogging alongside Sarah Jane so they were not separated.

.

Luke, Clyde and Rani practically ran out of school when the bell rang. They rushed across the playground, Luke already bringing up his mother's number.

"Mum," he called the moment she answered.

"Luke, I can't really talk now," Sarah Jane's voice called.

Luke frowned, asking what was wrong. He could hear Lucy speaking in the background.

"Where are you?" Rani eventually asked.

"It doesn't matter," Sarah Jane said firmly.

Luke shook his head, telling his mum to stay safe before hanging up.

"She's in trouble. Why did you not push to find out where she is?" Clyde demanded, almost jumping about in his frustration.

Rani turned to Luke, looking for an explanation. Slowly the young man complied, pointing out that his mother had told him she had been working on a story and that since she had found Lucy that was probably where she had gone.

"X-Spansion laboratories," Luke informed them both.

"Then let's go!" Clyde cheered, hurrying off.

Rani stopped him, putting her hand on his.

"How are we going to get there?" she asked.

Luke paused for a second before sighing. He tugged off his school bag.

"Mum gave me some money in case of emergencies," he pointed out, checking the amount. "That'll be enough to get us there."

"And I think this counts as an emergency," Clyde grinned, pulling out his phone to call for a taxi.

.

Sarah Jane soniced the doors locked as soon as Lucy closed them behind them. The two were in some sort of laboratory and the journalist took stock of the room as she doubled over and panted. Before she had fully recovered, however, she turned to Lucy.

"Your arm… where he touched you. Infected?"
Examining her arm, Lucy shook her head.

Both jumped as Professor Burton slammed against the doors and Sarah Jane began to hurry about, looking for another way of escape.

"He's getting through," Lucy reported, leaning her weight against the door in an effort to keep it closed.

"There's another door," Sarah Jane cheered.

She tried it, frowning as she saw it was locked. However, a quick buzz from her sonic lipstick had it open.

"Come on!" she shouted, turning to Lucy.

As soon as the girl raced away from the door, Professor Burton threw it open. Tensely Sarah Jane watched as Lucy sped across the room, avoiding the scientist the best she could. Joining the journalist, they darted into the next laboratory, locking the doors firmly behind themselves.

.

Luke, Clyde and Rani frowned as they walked into the X-Spansion offices. Looking about, they saw no one, heard no one.

"Where is everyone?" Rani asked as they hurried over to the sleek white desk they assumed the receptionist should be behind.

A phone was resting out of its cradle, swaying on its chord. Papers were scattered about the desk and the floor, giving them the distinct feeling that there'd been a struggle. Rushing around, Luke slipped into the receptionist's seat and began to look through her files.

"It says Mum and Lucy got here," Luke announced.

He was continuing to work, his friend's eyes on him, when they heard a door open. Clyde looked round and froze.

"Err… Guys…" he called. "I don't want to worry you but…"

A creature, head, torso and arms enveloped by thick green vines, stood there, staring at them. Its legs were that of a woman's, a black skirt or dress cutting off at the knee, high heels clipping at the floor as she stalked forwards. She watched them slowly, a surprising feat for someone with no clear eyes, and raised her hands.

Luke slipped out of the seat, glancing at other possible exits. He could see movement down one and while he was not sure if he saw a creature or not, he did not want to risk it.

"This one's clear!" Rani called from a few metres away.

She was pointing down a corridor leading off and started towards it as the boys did the same.

"What is happening?" she asked as she grabbed the door.

"Don't know!" Clyde said. "Just run!"

.

"Something must have caused this," Sarah Jane said, looking about the laboratory.

The doors to that room seemed stronger than the ones before, as if built to withstand a failed experiment. Professor Burton stood beside the door, watching them. Sarah Jane could see intelligence there, a plotting for a way to get in and a patience in knowing that the journalist and her daughter could not stay in the room forever.

"What?" Lucy asked.

"I suspect X-Spansion Laboratories were indeed working with things they did not understand – things not of this Earth. I can only assume that something went wrong and this is what prompted the… The infection."
"How do we get out?" Lucy asked. "And how do we stop it?"
She paused, waiting for Sarah Jane to offer an answer. When none came, Lucy offered her own.

"I could probably hold him off long enough for you to get out," Lucy said.

"You will do no such thing!" Sarah Jane gasped.

"I might be able to resist the infection," the girl countered and growled when Sarah Jane shook her head.

She could not let her daughter do it. They did not understand the range of protection her and Luke's perfect health and advanced immune systems afforded them but she had no intention of testing them to find out. And that went a hundred-fold when she had no knowledge of a possible cure.

"We'll think of another way," Sarah Jane assured her.

Lucy nodded. The journalist began to pace, thinking as quickly as she could. Professor Burton had done a rather good job of keeping everything quiet and Sarah Jane could not help but feel guilty that she had not pressed on with investigating the urgency and nervousness sooner. Perhaps if she had, Lucy would not be trapped in the building with her.

She just needed to think of a way out. It wasn't going to be easy. While she was able to grasp a lot of scientific concepts, she struggled with such advanced thinking as genetic-modification. And how was she meant to create a cure? She supposed Luke would be able to, so long as she got him the right information.

Luke!

School would have ended. He had enough time to be home by that point and he'd called. He must have been going out of his mind with worry. And one of the traits she loved and hated the most about her son was his need to intervene if something worried him. She loved it of course but hated it also, because it terrified her that one day she would get a call telling her that he had intervened in something too big and gotten himself killed.

Tugging out her phone, she decided to call him. What she was supposed to say eluded her but she supposed she intended to order him up to the attic to get help from Mr Smith.

"Luke?" she called as she phone was answered.

"Mum! Where are you?" Luke asked, sounded panicked.

Sarah Jane felt her heart stop, rushing to explain.

"We know you're at X-Spansion Laboratories. We're here too," the young man said.

Sarah Jane felt her heart stop and she glanced towards Lucy. As much as she loved her children, and it was a love dearer than anything she'd ever felt, there were times when she wished Archetype programming had not included being such strong magnets for trouble.

"Don't let anyone touch you, anyone. There's an infection that is very aggressive and we aren't sure of the side effects yet."

"We know about the infection," Luke agreed. "We think it's the receptionist."

Sarah Jane paled at this and shook her head. It was spreading throughout the workers. How long until it got outside? How quickly would it spread once it did? Her son and his friends seemed to have the same concerns.

"We're looking for a way to put the lab into lock down," Rani said.

Sarah Jane nodded and stood speechless for a second.

"Is Lucy with you?" Luke asked, slowly.

Despite their situation, Sarah Jane smiled. Lucy's and Luke's relationship was something she considered to be undeniably complex – brother and sister by genetics, created by different species with the same goal, two failed murder attempts already between them and it had only been a week. And while Lucy's feelings towards Luke seemed to be something of friendship (whether or not prompted by Sarah Jane's clear desire for them to get along), Luke genuinely cared about her as if she was and always had been his sister.

"She's with me."
The journalist considered tacking a 'she's safe' onto the end of that sentiment but she knew her son would realise she was lying.

.

"So where exactly are we going to find the lock down controls?" Clyde asked as they jogged along.

They could not see the receptionist behind them but they felt like constantly moving was the right thing. After all they would hear footsteps echoing about them as people moved past.

"What do you think is happening to them?" Rani murmured as they ducked into the shadows just as a security guard, skin patterned with green vines, stumbled past.

"I don't know," Luke admitted. "But was can't let this get out."

"The reception desk," Clyde said suddenly.

Both his friends turned to him with confused expressions. He nodded, assuring himself he was right and then moved to explain.

"It's like in films. They put the panic button at the front desk so it can be easily pressed. So the lock down controls could be on the reception desk."

Slowly Luke and Rani glanced at each other. Then they nodded. Resolved, the group looked back the way they had come, saw the corridor clear and headed down it.

.

"Where do you think he's gone?" Lucy asked, glancing out through the windows of the laboratory door.

Sarah Jane had been so busy trying to get readings from the rest of the laboratory that she had not been watching her daughter at all. Lucy, after all, was unlikely to find an interest in the chemicals that surrounded them and was thankfully unlikely to make a move without checking with the journalist first.

Frowning, the mother drew closer.

She stared out of the window and saw that Professor Burton had gone. Instantly her thoughts turned to her son, Clyde and Rani. She knew they were good; she knew they could handle themselves. But one touch could leave them like the professor and she had no clue if she could cure them.

"We should get out of here," Sarah Jane said, sonicking the door. "Let's see if we can find ground zero."

Lucy nodded and opened the doors, hands instinctively raised in case she needed to defend them. Sarah Jane slipped her sonic away quickly, flicking open her watch and scanning for any type of abnormal signal nearby. Hopefully they'd be able to get a warning if something did happen.

Slowly they began to make their way through the corridors.

"Why did you run away from the school?" Sarah Jane asked suddenly, watching Lucy out of the corner of her eye.

She had hoped that she might have been able to catch the girl off guard but she was heartbroken to find Lucy seemed to have been expecting an interrogation and a scolding.

"I don't like it there," Lucy explained.

Reluctance and aggression were clear in her voice but Sarah Jane did not for a second think she was going to end up on the receiving end of any violence from Lucy. She was trying to warn her away from the subject but there was very little bite to what she said. It seemed she had resigned herself to any punishment Sarah Jane was going to enforce upon her.

"Why don't you like it there?" Sarah Jane asked, curious and concerned.

"I can't…"

She stopped abruptly as Sarah Jane's watch gave an urgent beep. The journalist growled, sure she had been getting somewhere with the new addition to her family. But they had to planet to save. And whether or not the teenager had good reason to run away from the school had to wait.

There was the sound of footsteps and Sarah Jane glanced at Lucy, looking for a sign as to which direction they were coming from.

"We're surrounded," Lucy murmured.

.

Luke, Clyde and Rani almost skidded into the desk as they entered the lobby once more. Luke and Rani rushed to hold the doors and keep watch as Clyde sped over to the workspace and began to search for a button.

The only problem was there was more than one.

"Which button?" Clyde called.

"How are we supposed to know?" Rani called back from where she stood. "Just try them all!"
"And what happens if one blows up the building?" the young man shouted back.

"Why would the receptionist have a button like that?"

"In case something like this happens?" Luke suggested.

Rani and Clyde both looked at him before Clyde began to drive his thumb down hard on each button. There was a buzzing of intercoms. The speakers about the building blared. A fire alarm began to whine and then cut out suddenly.

"I can't find it," Clyde reported.

Then he knelt down, staring at the underside of the desk. That was where the button would be in a film. And there it was. A small plastic case was around it, helpfully labelled with the word 'lockdown'. Clyde flipped open the covering and pressed the large red button.

A new alarm filled the air, this one accompanied by flashing red lights.

"Lockdown in progress," a mechanical voice announced.

"You did it!" Rani cheered.

"Don't sound so surprised," Clyde laughed, watching as metal shutters slowly began to descend.

.

"Look, you don't need to infect us," Sarah Jane said. "We can help you."
She raised her hands slowly, hoping that there was enough human left for them to understand she was surrendering. She glanced down at Lucy to see that the girl had lowered her hands from her defensive stance and the journalist felt that was probably the best she was going to get from her.

Before them stood two of the infected workers. Behind them was Professor Burton. Or what was left of him. He didn't look at all like the man who had given them the tour but Sarah Jane recognised his smartly polished shoes.

"If you take us to the lab where this all started…" Sarah Jane began.

Suddenly the lights cut out and an alarm filled the air. The journalist felt something grab her hand and jumped back as it attempted to pull her after it.

"Lucy!" she cried into the darkness, grabbing empty air in an attempt to find her daughter.

As red emergency lighting filled the corridor, Sarah Jane realised that the thing that had grabbed her hand had been a hand itself – Lucy's. An attempt to silently make an escape.

Lucy was on the other side of Professor Burton, no longer cornered. The infected man was looking at her shocked.

"I'll catch the girl. You handle the journalist," Professor Burton ordered in a voice that was distinctly not his.

It sounded distorted – like the voice of a villain from a b-list horror film.

"Run!" Sarah Jane ordered, eyes meeting Lucy's.

It was only with this word that the journalist understood how the girl could have possibly made it past the alien. Lucy did not run. She launched herself into a series of graceful and quick cartwheels before coming to a stop at the end of the corridor and springing off the wall to take the corner.

Professor Burton growled and gave chase, vines speeding to take full control of his legs. Sarah Jane watched in horror as he went but realised he was leaving the corridor free for her. She sprinted off after him, leaving the two meant to be 'dealing' with her in her wake as she turned down the corridor Lucy had not taken.

.

Rani had to admit that she had preferred it when the building had been properly lit. IN the dull emergency lighting, she could hardly make out which boy was which beside her, let alone if there was some infected scientist hiding in the shadows beside them.

"What do you think caused this?" Clyde asked, quietly.

There was something about the lighting that suggested quiet. The alarms from the lockdown had gone, especially since the situation was clear.

"I don't know," Luke admitted. "But Mum might know, if we find her."
There was a tone of worry in his voice and Rani turned to him, words of reassurance on her tongue. Then she was movement behind the group, something staggering through the eerie red light towards them.

"We need to move!" she shouted, pointing it out.

Both boys twisted around to look and then quickly offered their agreement, breaking into a run and pulling Rani with them.

.

Sarah Jane was horrified when she ducked into a laboratory and sonicked the door into locking. Both her children were out there. Luke with Clyde and Rani had been bad enough but Lucy was out there alone with one of the infected chasing her. And yes, there were two cornering the journalist, but she couldn't even think of that. Not when the next glimpse she could get of one of her children or one of her friends could be with the green vine infection crawling across their skin and turning them into one of those things.

She reminded herself that the humans were still inside. Professor Burton and the others might be still alive in there. Certainly it seemed like their bodies were still being used and that meant there was a chance.

She shouldn't have brought Lucy, shouldn't have told Luke where she was writing a story on… But it didn't matter. That was all in the past. And she needed to find a way out to offer them help. She smiled, looking about the laboratory. It was small, probably meant for only a single person to work. And the equipment there was very advanced. She scanned the bottles of chemicals, looking for something she recognised. But she couldn't find anything. There were a few labelled with aggressive looking warning signs but she dared not use them, not if there were still people inside those masses of vines.

Deciding she was trapped for the moment, Sarah Jane crossed over to the door and flipped open her scanner, scanning the creatures.

.

Lucy stared at the thing through the glass. There was no longer any of Professor Burton to be seen. His arms and legs were made entirely of long intertwined vines and his face was more like a Venus flytrap than anything else.

"Little girl," the thing cooed, stroking one long thorny branch down the glass.

Lucy leapt back, feeling a second door behind her. She twisted about, grinning as she found a large circular wheel. She spun it, opening the door as the creature watched her slowly.

"Come on, little girl. Embrace us. We can make you so much faster, stronger…"

As Lucy closed the door, she felt the world suddenly get so much quieter. She could no longer hear the thing's brittle coos or the clunking of the air vents. In fact, all she could hear was the hum of a filter. She looked around the room and saw it was spotless – white and furnished with glass test tubes and metal stools.

A large glass window kept her separate from the thing and she smirked slightly, doubting he would be able to reach her. She didn't understand where she was but that didn't matter. The thing was not trying the door any longer. She was safe.

Then a crackle filled the room. Lucy glanced about and saw a speaker fitted in the corner of the room.

"Bad move, little girl," the thing crowed. "I'll give you one more chance, embrace us or I will kill you."
Lucy frowned, shaking her head. Sarah Jane had not wanted to let the thing infect her so the girl knew she couldn't let it do the same to her either. She found herself reaching for her phone even as the thing gave a frustrated sigh.

"Then goodbye," he cooed.

The thing pressed two buttons and two things happened very quickly indeed. A clunking came from the doors as two large metal beams shot out, holding the doors in place. And a red light bathed the room. A second later an alarm blared with a mechanical voice making a calm announcement.

"What did you do?" Lucy asked.

The thing was already moving away and the girl waited until he was gone before she pulled out her phone.

.

Luke frowned as his phone rang. The moment he saw it was Lucy he almost jumped for joy. He gathered Clyde and Rani around him. They had just come to a stop, sure they had escaped the thing after them. But they didn't know if they had long. The phone call was synced with them glancing about, checking that they were alone.

"Lucy? Where are you? Is Mum with you?"

"A laboratory on the western side of the building, third floor, and Mum is not with me," Lucy replied, calmly.

Luke glanced towards Rani and Clyde, urgency in his eyes. He began moving, already working out which way was west. His friends followed him loyally, glancing about for any more of the creatures.

"Are you alone? There's no one with you?" Luke asked.

Even as Lucy confirmed she was alone, Luke heard another voice. When he asked her about it, the answer he was given made his blood run cold.

"What do you mean: 'sterilisation initiated'?" Luke asked, hoping that it was not what he thought it was.

Quickly Lucy ran through the past few moments. Luke felt sick. She was in an airlock, one clearly meant to handle dangerous materials and the place was about to be sterilised. Given the strength of some of the stuff he had seen around them, he didn't think the experience would be pleasant for his little sister.

"There's got to be a way out," Clyde said. "They've got to have a protocol in case someone does end up trapped in a lab."

"I think the doors are locked," Lucy pointed out.

Luke nodded and continued on. A sonic lipstick would have been rather useful at that moment.

"Would a computer help?" Rani asked, pointing down a corridor to a bank of computers.

Grinning, Luke rushed over.

"Maybe I can hack the system and get all the doors to unlock," Luke said, sitting down.

He handed Rani his phone who rushed to offer Lucy calming words. They weren't accepted, with calm questions being asked on how Luke was doing.

Clyde was by his friend's side, encouraging him. Luke blocked it out, focusing on getting into the security features of the laboratories. He knew better than to scold his friend for the sentiment however and grinned as he got into the right part of the system.

"Here we go."

He pressed a key and nodded at Rani to tell her he was done.

"Any change?" Rani asked.

"The bars around the doors have gone," Lucy announced.

.

Sarah Jane paled as she heard the lock of the door click, open. One of the creatures stumbled in, a smile on his Venus flytrap features. The journalist put her hands up to defend herself and felt a sudden slap to the arm as the thing caught it. She gasped, staring down and watched in horror as her skin began to turn green.

.

Lucy's announcement had brought a whoop of joy from Rani but Clyde still felt

"And you can get out, right?" Clyde clarified.

"How do I open the door?"

Two sets of eyes fell onto Luke as he tried to work out what the airlocks would look like. He asked her how she had gotten in but she confessed that the door was very different on her side.

"Isn't there instructions?" Clyde asked. "Near the door or something."

He briefly explained what he assumed one would look like and beamed when Lucy said there was one.

"Then get out of there," Luke instructed.

"One problem: I can't read."